How Green Becomes Wood

When the twins walked away, Daizi, not realizing they were still watching, sunk down in her seat, and for a few moments just sat there, running one hand through her hair. She was, truly, thrilled to learn Xander wasn't actively ignoring Ivy's existence, but in the brief moment where she perceived herself to be alone, she knew it was just one stressor removed from many. But it was really good to lose that fear.

After taking that little bit of time, she stood up, and went upstairs on cautious footsteps to put on socks and change her shirt, before going back down to sit on the couch near Ivy, planning to just take a little nap.
 
Alec and Xander exchanged brief concerned looks, but there was nothing they could do but keep trying to keep the house ticking over as best they could. Xander scrubbed the floors again, just to be sure, and then went to work on his homework. Alec got laundry going, awkwardly sorting the colors and hoping for the best. He went to his room and opened his workbooks but didn't even start trying to do it. What did it matter in the long run?
 
Not too long after Daizi fell asleep, Dark came home from the store. He was took great care when he came inside to be quiet, knowing there was no guarantee the family would be awake.

Finding both his wife and baby asleep, Dark quietly set the purchases down on the counter, preheated the oven, and slipped upstairs to knock on the twins' door.
 
Alec opened the door almost instantly. Xander sat at his desk with his headphones in trying to make sense of calculus. "Hello! Welcome home," Alec greeted Dark happily.
 
"Hello," He said in a low voice, trying to keep quiet to not disturb anyone, "I wanted to tell you: when I was at the store, I saw that pie you and Xander really like. I picked it up, and some icecream, I'm heating up the oven for it now."
 
Alec blinked in surprise. "Really? Oh, thanks! What's the occasion?" He tipped his head curiously, immensely pleased that Dark had thought of them and spent the extra time and money on something they liked, but also slightly puzzled. Had Daizi told Dark about what had happened and Dark wanted to reward them? Highly unlikely scenario, but the only one that came to mind.
 
"You are welcome... there is no occasion," Dark replied, equally confused, "I know you like it, and I know it is hard to find, so I when I saw it I decided to pick it up. That is all."
 
"Oh. Thank you." Alec backed up and touched Xander's shoulder. "Hey, he's home. And he brought pie."

Xander pulled the earbud out of his ear and glanced up between Dark and Alec. "Pie? Cool. What's the occasion?"

"No occasion, just pie," Alec told him.

"Sweet," Xander nodded. "Be down in a minute to help unload the store stuff, then. Gotta finish this problem." He stuck his earbud in again and turned back to his math homework.

Returning to the door, Alec said, "Xander says thank you," as if Dark hadn't been standing right there to hear the entire conversation. "Do you need help unloading the car? I'll come help."
 
"Oh, no, take your time. I am sure I have it covered, you should do your homework," Dark said, quite pleased to see Xander was, for once, prioritizing school, "Have you finished yours, Alec? If not, really, it is no problem to bring them in myself."
 
"I can come help," Alec assured Dark. "I don't have anything that I need to finish right now." He stepped out of the room and started down the hall. "Is Ivy still sleeping downstairs? I don't want to wake her."
 
"I think she is. Her and Daizi both, which is great news. Sometimes..." He was about to comment how sometimes Daizi would have the chance to sleep but not take it, but decided against it because he knew the look Alec would give him if he had. Even though, it wasn't the same! It was by no means the same! Most of the time when Dark stayed up, it was his insomnia, not a choice. And he had spent many nights crossing the house like a shadow because of it.

"How was everything while I was at the store?" He asked instead.
 
Alec hesitated, not sure what to say. Finally, he settled on, "There was a bit of excitement, and Daizi had a bit of a fright. You should probably ask her about it when she wakes up." He headed out to the car and helped him get the bags to bring inside. "Was it a successful trip out?"
 
"Oh?" Dark asked, looking down at Alec with mild concern in her eyes, "I will have to do that... There was not really anything notable it, besides finding that pie. But it was good to get out of the house. It was weird to be somewhere that wasn't here, the pediatrician's, the car, or the hospital."
 
"It is hard to, where am I supposed to go? And I feel needed here," He replied, "I like being around my family, and if I am not here, I spend all my time worrying about you four. I think, what if Daizi is finding it hard to cope, what if Ivy's blood pressure dropped, what if Xander tries something experimental and accidentally cuts off his finger, what if you have..." He paused, stopping himself from saying, 'what if you have a panic attack,' "decided to try to cook something, but forget about it, and set the kitchen on fire? My therapist is going to increase my anxiety medication. But really, I do not know where I would go. Cooger's, I suppose."

He turned when Xander came, "I believe we got everything, but you can help us put it all away."
 
"Isn't that what cell phones were created for?" Alec pointed out with a little smile. "If you're like this now, I can't wait to see what you're like when Ivy starts crawling."

Xander frowned at Alec, having missed most of the conversation. "Like what?"

"Nevermind," Alec told him and handed him a grocery bag. "Here, cold stuff."

Xander took the bag and started putting things away rapidly. "Pie smells good."
 
"At least then she will be taking regular naps," Dark pointed out, "and it will be easier to throw you all into the car and we can go to state parks and aquariums, although Daizi cannot go go aquariums, and all those fun places people take terrible staged photographs at and I do not need to stress, and we all get to spend time together." He looked over at the boys and then smirked, "and then when you are worn out and near passing out, I am free to do whatever it is I feel like doing without guilt."
 
Xander rolled his eyes and huffed as he finished putting away all the cold items.

"After school and constantly waking up when Ivy cries, we're already pretty worn out as it is," Alec pointed out cheerfully.

"I'm going out to my shed unless you need something," Xander said, walking toward the back door.
 
Dark frowned. One of the things that really bothered him was how the twins could hear Ivy cry at night, "I am sorry. I wish there was something I could do about that. Do you want earplugs? For sleeping they come in this big jar, they are not expensive. I do not want her bothering you at night---The time in life the brain grows most rapidly is during infancy, but time it grows secondmost rapidly is during your teenage years, and you need sleep for your brain." He thought about it, "I actually might have some--I will look. If not, I will pick some up or order some. See, though, it is a good thing she is in our room and not the nursery, could you imagine how bad it would be if instead of only walking just out of bed to get her and quiet her, we had to walk all the way to the room next to yours? And how much more loudly you would hear it? But at least her lungs are strong, now."
 
"It's alright," Alec assured him. "It doesn't happen every time, and I'm sure we'll be fine. It's not for forever, after all." He stepped back and stretched. "I'm just glad she's here and home. You're so much happier now. Well, mostly happy. There are some certain visitations I think we could all do without, but other than that." He sniffed. "When will the pie be ready?"
 
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