How Green Becomes Wood

About half an hour later, the remaining aunts, and Cooger arrived, laden with food and gifts. Zeinab burst into the room, carrying the bright pink 'seive,' which she set down on the little table by the bed, "Finally! I'll tell you, I do not like the kitchen in that house. I really should have cooked in your house, my dears. Honestly. But it's all ready, and finally!" She quickly put on hand sanitizer before picking up Ivy, "My sweet baby niece can have her true welcome to the world!" She half turned towards the twins, "Did you know, originally, it wasn't until this day a baby acquired a gender? Isn't that interesting?"
 
Both Alec and Xander stared at the pink sieve. Pink seemed so... unnatural. Still, there was nothing saying Ivy might like pink over something like green or brown. It was just strqnge olin a way they couldn't identify.

"What can we do to help?" Alec asked. "Or is it better we stay out of the way? There's not much space in here after all. "
 
The pink sieve was... traditional. Or, at least, somewhat. Dark didn't know exactly how old it was, he didn't know the history behind the commercialization of the celebration which would probably be tied to the addition of modern Western notions of boy colours and girl colours. However, he knew that every one of these things he had been too, girls got a bright pink one, and boys got a bright blue one, and that was that. As an individual, he didn't love it, but it wasn't his culture, so he didn't say anything about it.

"Oh, there's plenty of room, plenty," Zeinab swore, flapping her hands, bustling over to help Daizi up, "Look at you, habibti, a wonderful picture of a new mother. Oh." She pulled Daizi into a tight hug, rocking her slightly, and she murmured something private to her, "You're so tall. I remember when all of us were assembled here to do this for you."

"I'm as surprised as you are," Daizi murmured, truthfully, being hit with another wave that this was real, and this was another thing she was about to do, that she never thought she'd have the chance to. Neha helped her to put Ivy safely in the sieve that was so pink Anish Kapoor would be banned from looking at it while Amira handed out motar and pestles.

"If you feel better on the sidelines," Fadia said, "and don't feel comfortable really participating, because it's unfamiliar to you, you can take pictures. But when we have the candles, then it's your turn to be in it, okay?"
 
"It's really just a party," Amira said, "You don't have to be so stiff about it. Amty Zeinab is going to be banging the mortar and pestle, and Khalaty Neha, Amty Fadia, and myself will all tell Qadira how she should behave. You two, Dark, and Saladin basically just get to enjoy it, so you can take pictures then. I know the family back home will want them."
 
"I don't want to be in the pictures," Xander and Alec said as one.

After a short pause, Alec said, "At least, not the face. Please."

"I'm looking forward to getting this party started!" Xander said, moving the conversation along.

"What are the mortar and pestles made out of?" Alec asked curiously. "I thought they were supposed to be stone, but that doesn't seem right if you are going to be banging them."
 
"You don't need to be," Daizi promised, respecting their boundaries, but was disappointed, since they were family, but she guessed she couldn't see them anyway, so it didn't really matter. Suddenly, a new thought popped into her head: since Ivy had been born, they had stopped calling them parental terms. Which made her wonder, anxiously, if maybe because of her daughter, they had stopped seeing her as family. Daizi had tried her best to treat them the same as she always had, but she was focused elsewhere. Then again, Ivy was only a week old, that meant it was still acceptable to be fixated on her, right? Surely she wasn't expected to move on so soon?

"Mine is copper," Zeinab said, "and I've rung it at Saladin's birth, and Fadia's, and their brother Rashid's, and at Daizi's, and her brother Omar's, and at all my grandkids', and about half a dozen others."

"And you'll never die because of spite alone," Amira commented, "so you'll be ringing it a century after the rest of us have died."

"That's true," Zeinab agreed with a grin, "someone's got to keep the family together."
 
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The twins fetched their candles and flipped them on and off a few times, snickering and playing with them as teens were want to do. They just wanted to make sure they worked. Several times over.

Xander waited until the others were distracted to inch closer to Dark. "If you want a picture that includes us, you can take it," he mumbled. "Just... not shared around. We like it better that way."
 
"That would be nice," Dark replied, "It is a big day for us, it would be good to have a picture with the whole family in it. And I am sure one day she will like to see it."

Then the family gathered together, and the actual celebrations began. They made sure the clanging wasn't too loud, so it didn't disrupt the other rooms, but were loud enough to feel like it was doing anything. Daizi, very gently, rocked the sieve, her face glowing with the joy that her family managed to be there, and that she actually got to be on this side of the narrative. They were welcoming her baby to the world. Hers.

At first, Dark stood near the twins to translate the commands the family was giving: Obey your mother ("And not your father!" Zeinab added, joking and not maliciously. It was a common joke made at basically every ceremony), follow God, be bold, but he slowly quieted as he watched it all. His daughter, his wife, and their family. Getting to celebrate their traditions. And suddenly he was hit with a heavy feeling of how he had none of this. In his whole life, he had four family members, and none of them were from his culture. Daizi's was close, but not the same. Ivy could be, but with the unequal balance of relatives, he saw for the first time, she would almost definitely grow up feeling much more Egyptian than she did Iraqi. They had been saying Amty and Khalaty, but every woman in that room, besides Daizi, was a maternal aunt.

He was so happy for Daizi and Ivy, but as he watched it all, he also felt so, so alone.
 
Alec and Xander listened intently, nodding along as Dark translated. They noticed when he stopped, but they didn't think much of it, figuring he was just lost in the moment. They knew enough Arabic to more or less piece together what was happening even if the details were completely lost to them. It was utterly fascinating, but they tried their best not to act like a pair of tourists and were as respectful as they could be. It was a curious thing watching a child get introduced to the family. Welcomed to the family, really. It wasn't something they were accustomed to, but it was a joyous occassion.
 
When it became time, they set the sieve down on a cleared spot on the floor, Ivy still in it. "Hey, Goose?" Daizi said, holding out her hand, "Will you help me?" Normally, when the mother stepped over the baby seven times, she did it unassisted, but since she was blind, she was terrified she'd misjudge how big she'd need to step and walk on her newborn. Having someone to guide her made her feel much more secure, and the only person who seemed right was her husband. The rest of the family put out gifts on the ground around Ivy: baby clothes, jewelry, money, all sorts of things.

Then Daizi began to take her seven steps over Ivy, while all the aunts, in unison, said in Arabic, "The first step in the name of God, the second step in the name of God, the third..." all the way until the seventh was concluded. Then the family, all together, cheered. They scooped up Ivy, still in the sieve, and who was really being a real trooper about the whole ordeal (really, she only fussed a little bit during you pestle clanging) and set her carefully on an end table they had moved into the center of the room.

"Okay!" Zeinab said, gleefully, going over to the twins, "Now it's your turn again, you have to take your candles and just walk around the table, okay? There's nothing to it. Normally it's for littler children to do, but you're the closest we have."
 
The twins shared amused glances but turned on their lights and took their places.

"I guess we could have commandeered some of the other little kids around here, like Alice," Xander muttered.

Alec snickered as he held up his candle. "First, never let Alice hear you call her a little kid. Second, I think the room is full enough. Third, they aren't even kind of family."

"Good points," Xander agreed.

The pair fell silent and started marching around the table, trying to maintain an equal distance between each other as they went round and round. They couldn't help grinning, and Alec occasionally smiled at Ivy as they went. They weren't sure how many times they were supposed to go around - Alec guessed seven - and they hoped someone stopped them before they got dizzy.
 
Eventually, the aunts and Saladin cheered like they had at the conclusion of the seven steps, indicating the twins had successfully done their duty, "Typically," Neha said, "our families both had done where the mother would carry the baby all through the house, and the other children would light the way, but a lot of families these days just have the kids walk around the table like you did. So we modified it to fit the location."

"I really don't mind all the modifications," Daizi said, "it makes it unique for her. And it's a good story for when she's older. Right, habibti?" She leaned over and brushed her finger against Ivy's cheek, beaming when she felt Ivy turn her face, "You're being so good, Hummingbird! Isn't she?"

"She's a very good baby," Saladin agreed, just a bit misty-eyed from watching his granddaughter be welcomed into the world officially, "she's very calm. You screamed through yours."

Daizi paused for only a second before saying, "She gets it from her father." There was the subtlest hint of an edge in her voice, but she was smiling, and she didn't wait for Saladin to have a chance to respond before saying, "Wait, we have to sing the song! Right?" Upon it being confirmed, they all began singing an Arabic song together. It was a little awkward at first as they were trying to figure out who was leading it, but soon enough they were having fun again.

For his part, Dark joined in quietly during the chorus, but clearly didn't know the verses. It was still hard to cope with, feeling sort of like an outsider at a celebration for his own child, but he was doing his best to carefully seal those feelings in a box to be dealt with at a later time. Daizi's joy at it all was enough for him, and when she made a little comment to praise him, he tried to fight off a tiny smirk, feeling strongly, once again, that she was the best person he could have found.
 
Alec and Xander stood near Dark as they held their candles and vaguely hummed along to the tune. They had given up trying to figure out what it meant, and there was no way they were going to even attempt to sing it. Humming was a reasonable option, they felt, so they hummed along, watching Ivy in amusement. It was fun and interesting, but despite the rest of the family's attempts, neither of them felt in any way that they were actually a part of this group. It wasn't a bad thing in their minds, and they held no bitterness about it, it was simply a thing. They were onlookers to a foreign celebration, tourists, nothing more. This was Ivy's family, not theirs. And they were glad for her and for Daizi. It was about time something worked out for Daizi.
 
When the song in, Zeinab gave out little gift bags, which were all just full of nuts, candy, and chickpeas. When she gave each twin one though, she winked at them, and whispered, "Our secret." Inside, she had stashed about fifty dollars each, which, had they known her, they'd know was extremely typical for Zeinab.

Then finally, it was time for the food. Ivy had to be put back into her cot, to protect her body temperature, since she had spent so much time just out in the open, and there was lots more bustling until everyone had a plate of food and a cup of the thick, yellow, warm moghat.
 
The twins peeked into the gift bags and looked at each other with wide eyes. That was a shock to them! What should they do with it? They opted to set them carefully aside where they wouldn't get lost, forgotten, or mixed up with the others. They'd figure out how to thank her later.

Xander sniffed the moghat suspiciously then tried a little taste. "Huh. Sweet and spiced."

"It's nothing like what we have here," Alec admitted, gingerly sipping small amounts.

"It's got a lot of good spices," Xander agreed.
 
Zeinab chuckled when she walked away, their silence deafening. She went to go stand by her great-great niece, peering over into the cot. Dark stood near her, along with Fadia. Daizi was sitting on the edge of the bed again, drinking with a newfound appreciation.

"It's really good for lactation," Neha said brightly, not for a moment considering how that fact might freak out two teenage boys, "Daizi, we brought you home extra powder, so you can keep making it until Qadira's been weaned."
 
((I didn't realize she was still there, I thought it was a hand the gift and keep going thing or else I'd have had them say something. XD ))

Xander almost spit his drink out but managed to catch himself. Lactation?! That was mother's for their... That was not supposed to be for boys! He didn't want to grow.... No, that wasn't possible, was it? It couldn't be! Right?

Alec kept a smile transfixed on his face as he very, very carefully set his drink off to the side. Then sidestepped away from it. Carefully.
 
Dark glanced over at them, "It does not work like that," he informed them, if it did, it wouldn't be customary for everyone to drink it." He had gone to plenty of Sebous with Daizi, who, historically, was always really quiet after, and neither of them had ever had an 'issue.'

Daizi couldn't really respond to the concern, though, as she sat on the bed, listening to all the happy chatter around her, all she could do was think about how happy she was, and how warm the room felt with so many of the people she loved there with them.
 
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"That's good to know," Xander said as he set it off to the side.

"Very good," Alec agreed. He picked up his cup but didn't drink out of it right away. "It's really tasty. And the food smells good."
 
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