How Green Becomes Wood

"Jasper Caleb Cooger. There are worse names out there." He said, "I'm really unbothered by any version of my name. Tarot gave me jasper once, said it's a stone of grounding and stability and that it wards off dark forces. I told her, I get stability, but I clearly don't ward off Dark forces. But, I'll tell you--" He turned and looked gravely at Lex, "Do you know how mad I was when Twilight got big, and the Confederate vampire with the inconsistent southern accent was named Jasper?"

~~

"I know," Daizi sighed, while Ivy gave her one of her big kisses, "Dark's lucky. She'll be thirty and he would still be able to toss her around. My time with it is limited. And she's getting so big!"
 
"I never watched it or read the books, but I can bet how much it drove you mad!" Lex chuckled. "My name's real close to a certain Scottish girl with curly red hair, so at school I got called 'Merida' a lot. Hated my real name enough as it was, and then I had to deal with that! My poor kid, he was named after the guy who wheeled me into the hospital when I was about to give birth. I couldn't think of a single name, and when the nurse said I could take the mile-high stack of paperwork home with me to fill out on my own once I figured out his name, I panicked and said, 'Tobias.' The name of the paramedic. Now he's just Toby."

~~

"At least you aren't small, so you have more time than some mothers," Alec offered.
 
"You can imagine how much Dark and Tarot liked Twilight. Especially considering Dark has those yellow-y eyes. I hated that story. I really did. Toby suits him, though, and it could be a lot worse," Cooger replied, "My parents didn't bother being clever, technically. Jasper is my maternal grandad's name, Caleb is my paternal grandad's name. They didn't want to make me a junior, which is why I'm not Caleb Jasper. Also, it'd make me a 'CJ', and my mom, I guess, had a bad experience with a CJ. Those two," he nodded towards his friends' house, "put so much thought into Ivy's name. Only for everyone to just call her Ivy. And Dark's getting more comfortable with his first name again, rather than just his initials." That was his attempt at helping Dark subtly convince everyone his first name had always legally been Ghalib.

~~

"If I'm physically strong enough," She replied, "but she's still pretty light, now. I think it'll be a few years before I can't carry her, at least, but I love picking her up like this." Daizi told them, naturally lifting Ivy up above her head to demonstrate, "I miss when she was really, really small and all she could do was cuddle, but she's more fun, now. So I know I'll always enjoy being with her. She just needs to slow down so I can enjoy it longer."
 
Lex dug out her notebook and searched the pages until she found where she'd marked down Dark's name. "What's he want to be called?" she asked, ready to write it down. "I'm more than happy to call him whatever he wants as long as it's not 'Goose.'"

~~

"Good luck with slowing her down," Xander said dryly. "She's not going to slow down for nothing."
 
"Ghalib," Cooger told him, "I don't think he's ever going to stop primarily going by Dark, at this point, but, you know, he's got a baby with an Arabic name. Doesn't want her to be embarrassed by it. 'Course, they all use her English one, since it's shorter. If they didn't call her Ivy, I bet we'd all call her Qadi, and then she'd spend her whole life saying, 'no, it's not Katie.'"

~~

"No, I know. And it's good she won't slow down. She just," Daizi sighed, "she's so big already. Sometimes I accidentally pick up one of her old onesies and I don't know how it ever fit her."
 
"Poor kid," Lex chuckled at the thought. "Ivy is a really pretty name, but if she wants to go by the other one, I'd make an effort."

~~

The twins nodded quietly. Nothing showed the passage of time like a growing baby!
 
"Her folks were overzealous, gave her a giant name. Ivy-Qadira Hala Wahid-Dark. It felt absurd when she wasn't even five pounds." He thought about it for a few moments, "I think Hala is my favourite of 'em."

~~

She couldn't see them nod, and bounced Ivy on her hip, "Well, I'm going to bring her downstairs. I think she's probably missing her toys."
 
"Good grief that's long!" Lex said in surprise. She considered and nodded. "Hala is a really good name," she agreed. "I'd pick that second over Ivy."

~~

"Alright. Have fun!" Alec said, waving at his sister.
 
"It wouldn't be so bad if she had a single surname. But they're so proud. I ain't going to be the one to tell her they gave the kid a sentence for a name," He laughed, "She'll be proud of it too, I bet. But it's pretty, you know? Absurdly long, but pretty."
 
"It is really pretty, and it might take her a while before she learns to love it, might even hate it for a while like I did 'Meredith,' but she'll come around," Lex agreed with a nod. "I always thought having two names was a good idea because then the kid can pick which one they like when they get older."
 
"Meredith isn't that bad," Cooger replied, "although you've got that TV doctor. That's actually why they gave her a double name. They wanted her to have an English name, because if she's applying to a job and puts, 'Ivy Dark,' she'll sidestep potential racism, but when she's in Egypt, she can be introduced as, 'Qadira Wahid,' and she wouldn't be perceived as a tourist. So she has a lot of options, and sidesteps anything risky. So it's good they thought of it, although it's sucky they had to. I'm glad I'll never have to, I'm not at all interested in having kids. More than happy to just be an uncle."
 
"I enjoyed being a mom, as bad as I messed up sometimes, but I'm not looking to repeat the experience," Lex chuckled. "I'm not even that good at being an aunt. My sister never trusted me, and one brother doesn't have any. Anyway, Qadira isn't too shabby of a name."
 
"I really like babies when I can hand them back. Ivy is my lil' dude. But like, it's a lot of fun to play with her, but yesterday she got into a tube of paint or something and painted herself bright red, and she's got horrible separation anxiety---I couldn't cope with any of that s***. I'm glad some people like it, Dark and Daizi love it, but I'm more than happy to be able to hand Ivy back over when she starts to stink." He squinted, "When I'm not babysitting. I like Qadira, though. Daizi told me what it means, but I don't remember. It's more fun being the twins' uncle, 'cause I get to take them out on the boat and take them fishing and whatever. I want to take them camping. I think, the four of us--Dark, Alec, Xander, and I--would have a real good weekend. I still need to get a weekend just with Dark, too."
 
"A boy's night out? That sounds like a good time," Lex agreed, nodding. "That man, bless 'im, seems like the type that will need to be pried away from his home, so I wish you luck, but he seems like he could use a good camping trip. Those boys, too." She paused. "Did he get the paint off, or is she still slightly red?"
 
"Even before having kids you really had to convince him to be social. But it's extra hard now with his baby, he freaks out about missing things. Then again," He turned his head slightly to the side, "He agreed to help out Tristan's, he may finally be settling into it. I wanted to do it earlier, but Tarot's been working on something big, didn't want our plans to risk getting in the way of hers." He fished out his phone to show Lex the picture of Ivy when she was bright red, "She's a bit pinker today than usual, but it ain't too bad."
 
"And thank god for it," Cooger replied, stretching, "Well, it's been real nice hanging out with you, but I should probably be heading home. I'm sure you're dying to get me outta your hair, too."
 
Lex watched him in amusement. His awkwardness delighted her. It was honest and refreshing after so many of they guys she'd dated who tried to hide any awkwardness, no matter how good they might be in every other way. She turned and gently fondled the head of one of the daisies before doing as she said she was going to and turning on the TV to watch as she folded.

~~

Xander did as he said and spent the night in his regular bed and not the couch. Alec did as he said and did not say a word to him, giving him his space. The night passed without any fights or arguments or anything else. It was quiet and pleasent.

The next morning, the twins got up, went about their usual morning preparations, and then set out together in Xander's van for school. They didn't argue, but they weren't fully on friendly terms yet, either. They were... neutral. It seemed to be working for them for now.
 
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