How Green Becomes Wood

"Y'all are coming to my family's place for that," Cooger said, not remembering if they had been told that before, "Dark and Tarot ain't Americans, obviously, so they only really celebrate it 'cause my family drags 'em into it."

When he followed them into the house, he reached over to touch the decorations, "It's not like Dark to use damaged decorations. Are you sure they're not meant to look that way? Although, with the storm we had when the kid was born, they might've gotten broken."
 
"A couple were damaged, but mostly they just look..." Xander paused, not sure of the word.

"Ruffled," Alec supplied. "They just need a bit of tidying. A lot has happened, after all. Do you want a drink? Something to eat?"

They paused long enough to remove their shoes and touch the salt before heading farther into the house. Alec knelt to greet Enkidu, hugging the dog gently.
 
"Eh, then tidy away, then. It's your house, you're both neater than I am. And yeah, I may as well stop in for a drink. No harm in it."

He followed them in, and just like the twins, he took off his shoes and touched the salt, having been around for more than long enough to know the drill. Then he went into the kitchen and, even knowing he should be more cautious and cunning, came right out and said, "Hey, you two good? You don't gotta lie to me, 'cause y'all're both higher on the shit ladder than me. Dark and Daizi are new parents living out of a hospital, and you're teenagers who suddenly accured new responsibilities and this whole haunted place to yourself. I just got an excuse to see my people more often. Oh, and Dark asked I pick you up from school."
 
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"We're neat for their sakes more than ours," Xander replied, heading to the kitchen to sort out what they had to offer Cooger.

Alec hugged Enkidu a little more, drawing comfort from the dog's fluff. "Sloan offered to give us a ride, so we have that covered," he told Cooger, letting the dog go. "You don't have to worry about it. We're doing fine. It's strange to be alone again, but it's just temporary. They'll be back soon, and thing will be different, but at least we'll be together again."

"The responsibilities are fine," Xander assured Cooger, showing him their options. "It's just keeping things ticking over and looking good enough that certain people don't pass out when they walk through the door."
 
"Alright, sounds good. Call me up if you want a ride to the hospital, though, alright? Or if you need something." He poured himself something non-alcoholic to drink, since he still had the drive home ahead of him, "I wouldn't worry about keeping the place perfect. Either he'll come home too tired to care or he'll crack under the pressure and start taking time off from standing guard to come here and clean. It relaxes him, so. I bet it'll be in his near future."
 
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"Cool, then I guess slacking off is a plus for once," Xander smirked. "Works for me."

Alec joined them to get a glass of juice. "I hope he comes sooner rather than later, before he completely cracks. He should come home and sleep at night, at least once in a while. How is he going to have the energy to take care of the problems that may or may not arise if he doesn't rest?"

"You know full well that if he does that, there's no way he'll actually rest," Xander pointed out dryly.
 
"And that's the problem with him," Cooger agreed vehemently, with just as much passion as either boy, "He needs to sleep, he can't sleep. He tries to sleep at the hospital, but the bed is too small, and I'll bet he spends half the night worrying if Tarot is getting any sleep and the other half checking to make sure Ivy is still breathing. But if we send him home, he'll just spend a third of the night worrying about Tarot, worrying about Ivy, and a third feeling like a bad husband and father for not being there to support them, which we all know is ridiculous, but it's Dark, so he will tear himself to shreds over it like he always does. And it doesn't matter how many times we all rationally explain to him he doesn't need to think that way, because it's not the rational part of his brain he's fighting against." Cooger huffed, taking a sip of sparkling water like it was whisky, "and that's not even considering how Tarot will handle being left alone in that place overnight. Theoretically, in a few days she'll have the freedom he has, and then she can just use that little pump and give a store of milk to the nurses and let them take the night shift and she and Dark can go home together and sleep here, but she'd never do that and if she tried, she'd just be awake all night too. And the worst part, out of all of it, it knowing they're not even being stubborn. They're trying to hard: I've been there when y'all weren't, I've caught him lying in that damn bed trying his absolute best to get some actually restful sleep in the two hours he's got before the kid wakes up."
 
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Alec and Xander stared at Cooger in silence over the rims of their respective cups. Finally, Alec spoke up, speaking slowly as if offering up a serious thing for consideration. "Have you considered drugging him?"

"Are you absolutely certain a light tap over the head is out of the question?" Xander asked, bobbing his cup toward Cooger and speaking as thoughtfully as Alec.

"Hmm, there's always cannabis," Alec mused. "You can get it in a specific type of way that does not give you a high, but does relax you enough to help with sleep. I read about it in a study on insomnia. Some say even if they do use the type that gives them the high, as long as they go directly to bed, it doesn't affect them."

"That's probably our best bet right there," Xander said. "Special brownies."
 
Cooger turned his head to the side, blinking as he tried to comprehend what they had suggested, "Drugging him?" He whistled, tipping his chair back, "I mean shoot, it'd work, I bet. But see the problem is, if he found out, he'd be real pissed off. 'Cause if he slept deeply enough that the baby crying didn't wake him..." He shrugged, crossing his arms, "but then again, sometimes the end justifies the means, ya know? But, at the same time, Ivy was born Friday morning, and we're only coming up on Sunday evening now. Maybe we should wait a few more days to let 'em adjust before we decide to do anything drastic..." He finished the rest of his drink, "But if nothing changes, we can talk more, so he don't hurt himself."
 
"I agree, we should wait a little longer, but hold it as an option for his sake," Alec agreed.

"And make sure he's here at home. Maybe when he comes home to shower," Xander suggested. "Then he'll actually be comfortable."

"And we'll give him just a little to encourage sleep, and his body should take care of the rest," Alec nodded. "Meanwhile, you," he indicated Cooger, "can be at the hospital with Daizi so she's not alone."

"But this is only for later, but before he completely breaks from exhaustion," Xander concluded.
 
"He'll absolutely lose his mind if he finds out about it," Cooger cautioned them again, but then stood, bringing his glass to the sink, "but we can't let the man fall apart, so I guess we're co-conspirators now. But we probably should use something other than weed. I don't know why you're always trying to get people to eat weed brownies, I remember Tarot mentioning when her morning sickness was bad you suggested she eat weed brownies... God, do you remember that? It feels like years ago, now. It's hard to even connect that to now."
 
"Because I didn't want her to starve to death, and there are no known side effects of occasional usage in pregnancy. I thought not starving to death was worth the minute risk," Alec said primly. "And a one-time tiny dosage would have no side effects for sleep help. It certainly beats trying to use over the counter stuff, drinking him into a stupor, or, worse, bashing him over the head." He shot Xander a look.
 
Cooger held up his hands, "Look kid, I didn't want her to starve to death either, and I want him to be able to sleep too, but you do also sound like a drug pusher." He laughed, "and man, that baby is a lot sweeter than you'd expect her to be considering she tried to starve her mother and is causing her father's insomnia to make a reoccurance."
 
"At least it's a natural supplement I'm suggesting that has medical research backing it, not like some other stuff," Alec said.

Xander eyed him, wondering exactly how much research Alec had done about the stuff and why. Normally, he didn't think twice about his brother's random knowledge, but this was a reoccurring topic. He decided not to mention it and followed Cooger's change in topic. "Yeah, she's pretty cute, I guess, for an accidental menace."
 
"Dude you don't gotta sell me on weed, I've been doing my own 'research' on it since all that existed of the two of you was an egg inside your mom," Cooger replied blandly, still teasing, "And yeah, dude, they got lucky. Most premies look like naked mole rats, but if we were in England they'd probably be able to hire her out to that vintage baby show with the nuns."
 
Both twins stared at Cooger. Alec looked quizzical but blank. Xander looked slightly disgusted because of the egg joke but also mostly blank.

"So, when do you need to head bqck out?" Xander asked.
 
"Well shoot there are only so many things you can say about a baby." Cooger replied, "I used to date a girl who watched the show. It's all giving birth and soft spoken British women giving emphatic speeches. Anyway, I'm in no rush to get home, 'cause I don't work on Sundays, but I was probably going to head out soon. Don't wanna bother y'all, I'm sure you're tired too."
 
"You don't have to rush out," Alec assured him. "If you want, you can stay longer." He was tired, but no one was ever going to accuse him of being a bad host. "Do you want something to eat?"

"We do have some stuff we can grab for you," Xander agreed. "Or you can take it with, if you want."
 
"Oh no, you don't gotta feed me. I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself," Cooger assured them, "take care of yourselves first. My life hasn't changed all that much, remember? I should go check on my cats anyway."
 
"It'll change a lot if you stick around this group too much longer, I think you're life is going to change a lot," Xander said dryly. "Next thing you know, you'll have a girlfriend!"
 
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