How Green Becomes Wood

The baby fussed a little having been set into unfamiliar arms but quickly calmed down. Daizi adjusted her shirt slightly with a small frown, and then shifted in her seat, wincing.

"I think I could never have any more children after her even if I wanted to," Daizi murmured, "all that fire and energy must have gone into her alone. All her doctors are very impressed with how well she's doing."

She gladly took her baby back, snuggling her close, "It's good Dark was finally able to sleep. He was up for as long as I was."
 
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Sally made certain Daizi felt secure with Ivy then sat back. "I think this little one is going to fill your house with the joy and energy of a handful of children," she said fondly. "She's a feisty little sweetheart." She glanced toward Dark. "I made certain there was enough food for you both, so hopefully he will have what he needs, but have you gotten any sleep yet, dear?"
 
"A little. It's hard. I can't sleep for more than two or three hours at a time, because I have to feed her. But if I'm asleep Dark's up, and he's completely taken over changing her, since if he can't feed her, he thought it was only fair. He really loves her... and you know, I don't remember him ever leaving my side the whole time I was in labour."
 
Sally gently squeezed Daizi's arm. "I am very happy for you," she said gently. "Truly, very happy. Just remember, you don't have to do everything, and you will have bad days. When you have those bad days, call me. I will never be too busy to come look after her while you take a shower or a nap or just have some alone time. It's very important that you remember that, okay? Shaken babies most commonly happen when a mother is at the end of her tether and feels she has no way out, and with postpartum hormones mixing everything up, it can be a confusing time. Of if you need someone to get some things from the store, or drive the twins, or literally anything. I'm just a call away, okay?"

Her offer was for Dark, as well, as she knew he would also be likely to push himself hard to be a better parent.
 
It was a perfectly reasonable and kind reminder, and Daizi knew that, but as she sat there holding the baby she wanted so badly, being reminded of shaken babies made her flinch and hug Ivy closer, "I'll remember that. Thank you." It was her very first day with her, and she was stressed, and anxious, and still trying to come to terms with the fact this was real. Daizi took a breath, trying to sort through all the complicated and conflicting emotions, "I'll call."

She traced her finger over the baby's features, "She's very pretty, isn't she? Dark says he thinks she'll have my eyes. I said 'I hope not,' considering my eyes don't work. He said, 'that is not what I meant,' and I told him I knew that, but couldn't let him get away with a comment like that. She's got his hair though, I guess. It feels different, but everyone said baby hair doesn't feel like adult hair."

Internally, Daizi felt guilty for brushing off the real importance of Sally's comment, but she just couldn't bring herself to engage with it. It was too soon. And she was ashamed of finding it to be too soon, because she knew logically how important it was to be reminded that sometimes she would need help, and when things got hard, she wasn't alone. But all she could imagine after that mention of the shaken baby was accidentally hurting the little, fragile girl in her arms, and she didn't want to think about that.
 
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"Don't tell Peter, but I think she is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen," Sally said warmly, not surprised or offended that Daizi had changed the subject. It wasn't a happy subject to talk about, and as long as Daizi knew her support system was there waiting for her, it was enough. "Visually, she does, indeed, have his hair, though it might change as she gets a little older. I love baby hair because it is so soft and silky. She does have your eye shape, I think, and she seems to be using them. Would you like for me to describe anything about her? Or has Dark thoroughly explained everything?" It was a gentle tease to lighten the mood.
 
Daizi beamed at the compliment, "He's been very thorough. And he had my dad send him pictures of my baby photos so he can try to pick out what features are mine and which are his. And I know it doesn't really work that way, but we're still going to try..." She hummed, only lifting her head when she heard Dark stir on the bed, "You know, I've always said beauty doesn't matter, so this whole time I've been saying I'm not going to talk about how she looks outside of the facts... But then she had to go and be born the most beautiful baby in the history of the world... And premie babies are all supposed to look like wrinkled rats. But not her."
 
Sally bit her lip to keep from laughing. "No, indeed," she agreed, straight-faced. "Not a wrinkle in sight, and she is truly beautiful! I am so excited I got to meet her." She touched Daizi's arm again lightly. "Truly, a miracle! Thank you for letting me be a part of it."
 
"I'm glad you were able to come. You've made everything so much easier." She leaned against Sally as best she could with how they were sitting, and gave her a warm smile, "But you know, you said you'd be sure to stay here long enough to meet her, but since she was supposed to be born in November, you're obligated to stay at least until then. You don't get to dip out now."
 
Sally giggled and put an arm around Daizi, hugging her gently and taking care not to disrupt Ivy. "Very well, I promise to uphold my promise and remain stationed here for the foreseeable future. I shan't leave until at least Christmas! Well, after Christmas."
 
"Well you've got to stay until the new year, it's Dark's birthday! And in February the twins turn sixteen, certainly Peter will want to be here for that..." She trailed off, worried about reaching a date Sally would entirely reject.

Thankfully it didn't turn awkward, because around that time, Dark awoke, and sat up, first with his back to them as he squinted at the hospital wall, trying to remember where he was for a few moments until the sleep had cleared enough from his mind

Although Daizi couldn't see him sit up, she knew the sound well enough that she said, "Did you sleep well, darling? Sally is here."

He turned to face the two of them, still clearly groggy, and he said, "Hello, Sally," as he ran a hand through his hair to smooth it. The moment he caught sight of his baby, his eyes lit up (perceptibly even to those who hadn't known him long or well enough to have learned to read his expressions), and stretching, he got out of bed, and gently took her from her mother. He murmured something sweet to their baby in Arabic and held her against his exposed chest, "I am sorry," he earnestly told Sally, "I would button it, but... Thank you for coming."
 
Sally chuckled as she watched Dark. "Eventually, you are going to have to put her down," she teased. "Although, with how tiny she is, you might forget you're holding her before you get tired."
 
"My parents rarely picked me up as a baby, and I turned out... mostly okay." Dark replied cooly, "rarely putting her down could not possibly be worse for her development."

"She's not even a full twelve hours old, she's new enough it's justified to only want to hold her," Daizi sighed, shifting uncomfortably.

Dark nodded sternly, dryly joking, "Besides, soon I need to go home, check on the boys, and gather our belongings. Imagine knowing you had to go away from Peter when he was so young, even if it is only for an hour or two."
 
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"I was drugged within an inch of my life when Peter was that young, so I have no idea if he was with me or not," Sally said cheerfully. She checked her watch. "I should probably go back to work, but they will be alright without me for a while longer. Daizi, dear, would you like for me to stay with me until your darling returns?"
 
"I don't want to keep you from your job," Daizi said quickly, and then after a pause said, "but it would be nice if you stayed. Otherwise it's just me and her and the nurses in... this place." For the most part, she had been able to push aside how much she hated hospitals, and being in a private room helped. And being exhausted after labor helped. And being able to focus on her new baby definitely helped, but she didn't know how she'd start to feel if left alone, especially with how much Ivy was sleeping. Then she'd just be alone in this room, that beeped, that smelled like it did...

Dark saw the look on her face and came back to kiss the top of her head, "I will be back before you know it, Spider."

"You're coming back for her,"

"For both." He promised, "but I think I am going to have to just change her diaper and go. Cooger should be here soon..." He sighed, gently rubbing his thumb against Ivy's tiny head, truly not wanting to leave her, but knowing he had to.
 
"Has she started soiling already?" Sally asked curiously. "I have only Peter to compare with, and he waited a good fourteen hours." She hid a smile behind her hand. "No wonder children hate when the parents get together, especially with a new baby. We discuss all sorts of private affairs as if it is nothing."
 
"Not yet, but I keep checking, because we were told premies eat more so..." He shrugged, "she has already eaten a few times."

"And falls asleep immediately after," Daizi remarked, "the doctors said because she's so young the act of eating takes a lot out of the poor sweet girl... But I guess some babies her age still need a feeding tube, so she's really very advanced."

Dark looked over his shoulder and gave a wry look to Sally, "Peter is lucky that her birth means I am on leave, or else you would have just given me far too much power as his teacher."
 
"Yes, but I trust your professionalism," Sally replied calmly. She turned to Daizi. "Honestly, work is rather dull these days. I think I prefer too busy to not busy at all, so I am more than happy to play hookey, I believe you call it? I can stay until your husband returns."

In truth, she had a lot of paperwork that needed to be done, but Daizi was worth a lot more than a couple of hours filling out reports in triplicate.
 
"How I call it?" Daizi laughed, "I still think in Arabic, you can't hold me responsible for American slang. Thank you for staying, though. It's good to have someone else here."

Dark took a quick peak inside the diaper, and finding it still dry, brought her back to his chest for one last snuggle before he left, murmuring more sweet little sentences to her, again in Arabic. One of his greatest concerns was she would not learn their language, and so made a point of using it with her. Looking into her face, he chuckled and said, "It is strange to look into your eyes, Daizi, and see them focus."

Only a few minutes after this, Cooger came in, for once on time, with food (different from what Sally had brought), champagne, and premie baby clothes he had collected from some of his clients. He greeted Sally, whom he had never met before, as if she were an old friend, slapped Dark on the back, hugged Daizi and slid her a chocolate bar like a drug deal, and gave big greetings to his niece before all but forcing Dark to set her down and dragging him from the room, hardly giving him time to button up his shirt, knowing if he didn't, Dark never would have left.
 
"He is a rather friendly fellow," Sally remarked, amused. Despite having lived in the Middle East where physical affection was even more prevalent than here in the United States, she was still English through and through, which made exuberate greetings - physical or not - awkward for her. She'd heard a bit about Cooger and had been braced for his friendliness, but some habits never changed. "Now, then, are you prepared for her first bath? I was utterly terrified with Peter."

Sally continued to ask questions about happy, light things, focused entirely on Ivy's firsts, not so much out of actual curiosity - though if Daizi said one word about not having something, Sally would be putting it on her personal shopping list - but to keep Daizi focused on the joy and the things to look forward to. The less she thought about the immediate surroundings, the better.
 
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