How Green Becomes Wood

"You still can," Daizi called, "She is not a finite resource, she's allowed to play with multiple people." The cheerful tone of her voice hid the fact that almost immediately hearing Xander protest about how it was his turn to play with his sister, she put down what she was holding and immediately buried herself in Dark's chest, not caring if she disrupted him. It didn't matter that it had been ten months since Ivy was born or that it had been proved time and time again that both boys adored her--that intense and clear desire to spend time with her still came near to overwhelming her.

Thank God, she thought, as Dark held her. The sound of both boys as Ivy squealed with laughter---it didn't matter how certain she had been for months everything would be okay between the three of them. It still soothed the deepest, most vulnerable part of her.
 
"She's totally finite! I blink, and she's going to bed or nap time or something. My turn!" Xander yelled - but not too loudly so he wouldn't scare Ivy.

"I got her first! She's mine!" Alec declared. He scurried around the coffee table, "running" away with Ivy as delicately as he could while still trying to make it fun.

Xander "chased" Alec around in a circle after them both. "Give! You're not sharing!"

"No!"

The pair ran around the living room, making several laps, until Xander "tackled" Alec onto the couch, and all three control-fell onto the cushions.
 
The whole time Ivy was scurried around with, she screamed with laughter. She had absolutely no idea what game this was, but it was so much fun! She turned held tightly to Alec, not knowing who to look at or what to do.

Dark poked his head out of the kitchen, watching the calamity and taking a quick photograph of the three of them--he'd draw it later, but there was no chance he'd get the details right if he tried to sketch it while they were moving, and anyway, he had to hold his wife who was absolutely beaming. Still, when Alec was 'tackled' while holding Ivy, despite seeing how clearly controlled and safe it was, he could not help but tense up in concern--but Ivy almost immediately popped her head up with what might have been the biggest smile he had ever seen and clapped her hands from the excitement.
 
"Ha. "My turn," Xander half-laughed, holding onto Alec far more than he was touching Ivy.

"Fine, fine, your turn," Alec laughed in defeat. He shifted so Ivy could sit or stand on his lap, whichever was her preference, and propped her up gently. "What are you going to do with her."

"Hmm. Good question." Xander squinted at Ivy. "What am I going to do with you, eh?"
 
Looking at him with bright eyes, Ivy held her arms up above her head, her only way of asking to be picked up. She didn't understand yet that Xander couldn't do that, so she asked with bright eyes and a big smile.
 
Xander's smile wilted a little at her gesture. Then he tried to rally himself. "What if you show me patty cake?" he offered, hesitantly holding out both hands.

Alec glanced between Ivy and Xander. He inched closer so he could sit as near Xander as physically possible. Maybe that would satisfy Ivy? "Yes! Patty cake! Ivy, can you show us patty cake?"
 
"You have to start it," Dark said from the kitchen before quickly slipping back through the archway so it definitely didn't look like he had been watching them. Just an---unrelated coincidence. Yes. Ivy lowered her hands slowly, not really understanding why she had not been picked up, and she watched Xander, bouncing up to try and make him smile.
 
"How does patty cake start?" Xander grumbled to himself. Then he remembered and started stumbling through the steps with Alec encouraging him. They both smiled at Ivy and did their best to be cheery for her.
 
It didn't take long before Ivy recognized the game and joined in. She still struggled to get the motions down properly, but she did fairly well, and babbled as she did so, recognizing there was meant to be something people said during it. She came nowhere near the correct motions for 'mark it with a b', but she was committed to moving her arms about. Despite how simple and sort of mind-numbing the game was, she looked like she was having the best time.
 
The twins cheered with Ivy and willingly played it again and again until they felt their hands were going to fall off. Then Alec put Ivy on the floor, and Xander sat with her playing with toys and stacking blocks for her to knock over. Alec stayed nearby but let Xander lead.
 
Although she did knock over some blocks, she really tried to figure out stacking them. Her coordination was not quite good enough, so often when she tried to put one on the other, they toppled over, but she kept trying, until the temptation to knock down one of Xander's big stacks was too great. Knocking things over was much, much easier anyway.
 
Xander watched her in amusement, mostly stacking his own blocks but occasionally helping her to stack hers. At least she hadn't figured out how to throw things yet. She probably had a good arm on her.
 
For someone so often wiggly and excitable, it seemed that once she had a task she was interested in, she focused seriously on it. Especially when Xander was helping her to stack, even though she kept accidentally knocking it over without quite understanding the correlation, she was entirely set on trying to get the blocks stacked.
 
She was quite fun to watch, Xander had to admit, and a tiny part of him had been certain he'd never find a way to play with her because everyone else's methods seemed to involve touching in some way. But he'd found a way! At least for now.

Finally, it was time to get up off the floor, and Xander hit a snag. How to get Ivy up. He hesitated, hovering, wanting to do it himself, but he just couldn't bring himself to pick her up. Alec stepped up and gently scooped her up, giving Xander a gentle nudge.

"My turn," he whispered playfully, but with a gentle note that said he understood his struggle.
 
Ivy sat looking up at Xander, not understanding his expression at all. Trying to understand him and solve this mystery, she held up one block to him and cooed. When Alec picked her up, she nestled into him, wrapping her little arms around his neck, settling happily down with him.

Dinner came at just the right time, because both Dark and Daizi knew if it came much later, Ivy would start getting cranky, and it was better to feed her before getting to that point, for the sake of her brothers who were being so good to her.
 
"Ready for dinner, Ivy? Ready for food?" Alec asked Ivy as he carried her into the kitchen with Xander tagging along behind. "Ivy is going to be an architect! Or a builder!"
 
"Is she really?" Daizi asked excitedly, helping to finish setting the table while Dark set the food out. "I think she would be marvelous at that. Habibti, what kind of houses do you like?"

Ivy squeaked, reaching out for her mother, and Dark, solemly, nodded and said, "Art deco. It is better than brutalist. I would disown her if it were brutalist."
 
"What is Primarism? I've never heard of that before," Daizi asked, taking Ivy and snuggling her in close. "Hummingbird, what are you going to do when I set you down? You still need your dinner!"
 
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