How Green Becomes Wood

"Yes I do." Daizi replied, but couldn't really explain it. She did need to worry about him. Of course she did.

Dark looked over at her and placed his hand on her knee, "We will give you space. But we are not going anywhere, so if at any point you do want to talk about something, we will still be here. Deal? And I will call your therapist back about the family session."
 
"I understand," Alec agreed.

Xander raised a hand. "Wait, so does that mean no school meeting? Sweet."

Alec glared at him. "Thank you for reminding them. I'm sure they have the school thing thoroughly in hand as he said, he's been then longer than we have."

Xander shrugged. "Yeah, as a teacher, not a guardian and parental figure. That's different."
 
"No, we are going to have the school meeting," Dark said, looking up at them from where he sat, "and I was not about to forget it. I just need to schedule it. In my experience the first one is typically held without the student present, because the school wants to make sure the adult is aware of the issue to give them a chance to fix it before overcomplicating things."
 
"Oh goody, so the adults can gang up on the poor kid when he's not there to defend himself and avoid misunderstandings," Xander said dryly.

Alec gave up frowning at his brother or elbowing him. "I'm sure it will be a quick, smooth meeting, and I do not think anything will be different if I am there or if I am not. It'll be fine."
 
"It is not ganging up on him. We will just be discussing the grades themselves so I can look at them, and listen to where your teachers think the problem is. Sometimes it is as simple as the student loses their assignments, or they are too busy in the evenings so they need a study hall. It is just a start. And I will not keep a word of it secret." Dark explained, trying to calm them, but then, after a moment, he took a breath and decided to be honest, "if at any point, these notices had been shown to me, or you had spoken up, we might have avoided this meeting in the first place. This is what the school does in this situation, regardless of if we like it or not, this is protocol."
 
Alec shifted uncomfortably. It was his fault. He should have said something. That's what Dark was saying. It was true, he had to agree it was true, but it still felt horrible having it pointed out like that. It made him instinctively want to get defensive even if Dark was right and not trying to make him feel bad. Dark was just trying to point out facts. He didn't know what to say, so he said nothing.

"Those notices are easy to lose, and it's a silly system anyway, giving a kid a note to take home to their parents that is likely going to get them into trouble," Xander huffed. "Aren't you on texting terms with these people? How come none of them contacted you directly?
 
"I do not know," Dark replied, "I asked on the phone call, and I am going to ask again in person. I presume it has something to do with fairness, since not all students have the same opportunity. All I have to go off of is what they tell me and what you tell me, and neither side has been communicating clearly."

Daizi sat quietly by his side, until eventually she got up, feeling overwhelmed and tired, "It doesn't really matter. We're having this meeting regardless of how it got to this point. We're here now. Debating every tiny detail is just going to start a fight none of us want to have because none of us are actually upset with each other, just with the circumstances."

As she spoke, Enkidu got up from where he lay near Ivy's cradle, stretched, and walked over to lay his head on Alec's lap.
 
Alec looked down at the dog a moment. Then he started stroking Enkidu's head, studying the shape of the dog's face as he slipped his fingers into the thick fur. "Good boy," he whispered, grateful for the dog's weight on his legs. Enkidu wasn't upset with him, at least.

Xander scratched at the back of his neck. "Just confused, that's all. And not used to having someone the school could and would call."
 
Daizi took a short second to reach into Ivy's cradle and stroke her cheek. Before giving birth when she was worked up and worn out like this, she'd be able to rub her belly, but now she didn't have that. Seeking out her infant daughter wasn't the same. She didn't understand why. And she couldn't remember what she used to do. Then, she turned back to face the rest of them, her greasy hair slipping out of its loose bun because she hadn't used any pins or hair ties to keep it up. "Confused about what?" She asked, desperately trying to hide her own desperation. Having grown up with Dark, she knew some people couldn't just talk, they couldn't just share what was bothering them. Or wouldn't. The difference felt semantic. But she wished they would just be honest and open, because otherwise what were they supposed to do?
 
Xander hesitated, eying Daizi. She looked more like a scary hag now than she had the day they'd arrived on the house's doorstep with Dark and Daizi had wanted to startle them. She was starting to scare him just a little, or, at least, unnerve him. "Nevermind," he said slowly. "Like you said, the meeting is going to happen, and probably nothing is going to come of it, so it doesn't matter. It's just a thing. It'll be gone soon." He stood up and started moving toward the stairs. "We should leave you two to rest or whatever."
 
"Okay," Daizi replied, not going to force them to stay when the conversation wasn't helpful. "I'm just going to take a shower." She didn't know if Ivy would sleep long enough, but at that moment, she really just wanted to be alone in the hot water. And it was nearly impossible to find the time to wash up, she wanted to just risk it.

"I will text you when dinner is ready," Dark said, gently taking Daizi's hand.
 
The twins slipped away back upstairs, taking shelter in their room. Alec huddled on the corner of the bed, back against the wall, hugging the pillow to himself. Xander started to say something but then fell silent. After a bit, he got out the music player and carefully handed it to Alec, letting him have the headphones for once instead of himself. Then Xander sat on the other end of the bed, back against the wall, and sat quietly while Alec closed his eyes and listened to music. Xander wanted to point out all the ways Alec could have avoided this, but for once, he held his tongue. What had happened had happened. Now it was time to figure out how to live with it.
 
It was by some miracle Ivy didn't begin to scream again until Daizi had just stepped out of the shower. Since Dark had heard the water shut off shortly before, he pushed himself up off the couch, scooped up his daughter, and headed upstairs with her while simultaneously checking if she was dry. Not too long later, husband and wife were slumped silently against each other at the foot of their bed while Daizi nursed and her wet hair soaked Dark's shoulder. It would be better. It would have to get better.
 
The next day, Mrs. Smith of the CPS stopped by again, but she barely stayed long enough to see Ivy was alive and healthy before hurrying on her way. She seemed a little distracted and a lot rushed, but still spoke professionally before hurrying away.

Soon, it was time for the teacher's meeting about Alec, and, by an extremely unfortunate coincidence, the meeting with Mrs. Anderson was later that same day. It was a lot to pack into one day, but it did mean that everything could be taken care of in one fell swoop.
 
Even the brief CPS visits further stressed an already stressed household. Dark slipped down to the basement after for some time and returned a bit later, tired from rigorous exercise but calm.

On the day of the meetings, Dark went alone to the teacher meet, since bringing Ivy to a high school seemed like a death sentence, but he came back home to pick up the rest of them for the meeting.

The drive was tense and silent, or would have been silent, if it weren't for Daizi doing everything she could to keep Ivy awake so she would sleep through the meeting. Which meant Ivy was cranky in the car, although not fully crying.

The drive was short but felt long, and finally they arrived outside the office building, and headed inside.
 
Xander sat in the front seat, and Alec sat behind him, both of them staring out the window with every bit of attention they had. Both nearly fell out of the car, eager to get away from the tension and the fussing of Ivy, but slowed when they approached the office building. Xander eyed it suspiciously as he hadn't been here before then walked next to Alec and gently took his hand. Alec didn't look at him but gripped his hand tightly as they walked inside. He didn't want to face what lay before them, but he knew he had to.

Mrs. Anderson met them at her office door and pulled it open wide before stepping back, smiling as she nodded to them. "Welcome! It is good to see you. Xander, it is especially good to meet you." She was a small woman, rather plain in appearance, but professional in tan slacks, a white shirt, and a pink sweater. She gestured to the room at large, inviting them in.

Xander eyed her suspiciously before looking around the room. A small, neat desk stood tucked off in the corner, and the small room seemed centralized around two short couches and two plush chairs arranged in a square. A rug of abstract patterns with muted colors lay between them with a small table in the center. A couple of small plants stood in the corners, and the large window let in a lot of light, giving the whole room a light and airy feeling. There was no artwork on the walls and only one single cabinet.
 
"Hello," Daizi smiled politely, holding her cane. Dark stood to her left, holding Ivy's carrier and the diaper bag (she was already in the process of falling asleep, as planned, now that her mom wasn't annoying her) and he nodded politely to Mrs. Anderson, "It's too early to leave her with a sitter, but we're hoping she'll sleep through it."

They both followed the twins inside the office, letting them have first pick of where to sit, and then Dark helped Daizi find a seat. Then, he set the carrier on the floor in front of him so he could slightly rock her with his foot, which served the dual purpose of keeping her calm and disguised his anxious foot tapping.
 
"Oh, I fully expected to see little Ivy here. I just hope we do not disturb her," Mrs. Anderson said with a warm smile. She settled into one of the two individual chairs and picked up a folder, carefully opening it to the right page. Setting it on her lap, she looked over the group and smiled again. "Thank you for agreeing to this family session. I really do hope we'll see some things this way that we might not have seen otherwise."

"Like what, a purple hippopotamus?" Xander mumbled from where he sat on one of the couches with Alec.

"I suppose that is within the realm of possibility," Mrs. Anderson agreed. "Before we get started, I do want you all to know that if at any time you wish to stop, we can absolutely stop. You do not have to have a reason or explain it to me, we can just stop the session. If you are uncomfortable, I would like if you could tell me and try to express why you are uncomfortable, but you do not have to. No one is forced to say anything they do not wish to. Does everyone understand?" She included the entire group in her glance, but she lingered a little on Xander and Alec.

"I understand," Alec said meekly while Xander grunted.

"Good. So, let us begin by just taking a moment to breathe." She led them through a short round of breathing exercises, hoping to calm the obvious agitation and help those involved to focus. "Does anyone have any questions?"
 
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"I just hope she does not disturb this," Dark said before he and Daizi both agreed to Mrs. Anderson's terms, and followed along with the breathing exercises as instructed. Both of them had gone to therapy for so long they were apparently unbothered by the requests and were not about to begin arguing with her.

"Dark and I go to couples therapy semi-regularly," Daizi told her, "just to check in. So we're sort of familiar with the process."
 
"That is excellent! I love to hear about couples who are preventative," Mrs. Anderson said. "Alec has been a privilege to work with, and he speaks so warmly and highly of you, but lately it seems as though there has been a lot of stress in the home?" She gave Dark a concerned look, inviting him to speak on the topic.
 
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