How Green Becomes Wood

"Oh, do you hear them, my darling?" Dark said, standing to wash his plate, "suddenly snacks are welcome. Wallah, we cannot surprise them, we try to do something nice and they doubt us until it is convenient!" He glanced back at the twins with a little gleam in his eye proving he was just joking.

"Oh I know, dear. It is truly a horrible conundrum we have." She couldn't hide her grin.

"Since I am so generous and so kind and so caught up in the holiday spirit, I suppose I will still make them. This time."
 
Alec pouted at Dark, fighting back a smile. "You are truly terrible sometimes!"

"I guess they can't be blamed," Xander said. "They're basically sleep-deprived cavemen right now. We can't hold them accountable for what they say or do."

"True," Alec mused.
 
"I think we are a little bit more elegant than cavemen," Dark said, returning to the table to get Daizi's plate to wash it for her.

"Oh, I could have got it," She said as she stood, "and we've discussed this before, our notion of 'cavemen' as stupid and brutish comes from defunct science, early modern Homo sapiens were just as intelligent as we are today and had rich culture and communities, and Neanderthals had the same cranial capacity as AMHs."

"Yes, but I was referring to the modern conceptualization of the caveman, not the reality. And you let me sleep this morning, I can wash up." He bent to kiss her, and she didn't even make an attempt to hide the somewhat dopey look she had on her face as he pulled back. Since, like Xander said, they couldn't be held accountable.

After a few seconds she pulled her wits together, and she turned towards the twins, wrapping her hair around her fingers, "Alright, so... What now?"
 
Xander rolled his eyes at Dark and Daizi but didn't even bother trying to argue or comment. Instead, he vigerously wiped down the counters to get them clean.

"Now we open gifts!" Alec answered Daizi's question. "Together as a family! Come on!" He hurried toward the tree and knelt down to look over the gifts neatly placed there. "The question is, who gets to open first? In what order? We could go for the free-for-all method, but I like being able to show it off as we open them."

"I like the free-for-all and then we can show it off after they are all open. Less waiting," Xander said, following Alec.
 
Dark and Daizi followed them, sitting near to the swan cradle, both stopping to talk to Ivy, although neither picked her up. If they were going to be opening presents, it seemed foolish to hold her, since it would require so much passing her back and forth.

"Well I'm blind," Daizi pointed out, "so if everyone is opening presents all at once, I will have no idea what is going on or who is where."

"If one of you wants to hand out the presents, we can go in a circle. You both can go first, decide between yourselves, and then we can just go in a circle from there," Dark suggested.
 
"Deal," they both agreed. After that came a ten-minute long debate as to which should open what present. Finally, Alec agreed to open his first, but they paused to pass out the gifts to the rest of the family. Dark, Daizi, and Ivy each received a gift from both Alec and Xander, and the twins had given each other gifts.

Alec opened his gift from Xander first. It was nothing more than an envelope, but when Alec read the paper inside, he crowed in delight. He turned the page toward Dark and Daizi but didn't offer it up, just vaguely showed them. "It's a signed promise that he'll play with Peter and I in our band without a single complaint for the rest of the school year!" He grinned, turning the paper to read it again.

"I might renew it for the summer. Might!" Xander emphasized, taking his time to open his gift. He got the wrapping off and stared for a big before laughing out loud. He turned the box so Dark at least could see through the plastic window. It was a unicorn, about nine inches or so tall, and black as night. It was heavily built and had fluffy feet like a draft horse, posed so it seemed to be tossing its head with its silvery horn.
 
"Without a single complaint?" Daizi asked with a grin, reaching out to hold Dark's hand, "Xander, you should've allowed yourself at least one complaint! But I'm glad, it's good you're getting the band back together, I'm sure you'll all enjoy it."

Dark chuckled at the sight of the unicorn and explained it to Daizi, who laughed and said it sounded like Dark if he were a unicorn. Then, Dark gave Daizi her gift from himself: a choker necklace. A horizontal silver crescent moon hung from it, concave side up, and on the opposite edge were three stones. Between two purple amethysts was a single opal, representing their three children's birth stones. He had chosen that length specifically so it would layer nicely with the moonstone necklace the twins had made her earlier in the year and she wouldn't have to choose between them. Thrilled, after having Dark help clasp it, she nearly tackled him into the couch--although this was, partially, because it had been a year since he had last given her something and she could respond by throwing herself at him full force.

He was immensely glad he had only just set down his cup of coffee. But ultimately he knew by the joy on her face and what she whispered in his ear that it he had spilled, as long as neither of them were burnt, it probably would have been worth it.

Together they opened Ivy's gift from them for her. She was too young to really have a real place in the Carnival, but Dark had carved a little version of her in a little hummingbird bed and said he was going to add it by where Mama's booth was. Also in the package were some toys she'd be able to play with in a few months. Ivy watched the items when they were moved in front of her but was much more interested in her parents' happy faces.

Then Daizi gave Dark his present: a very nice fountain pen engraved with his name. It was mostly black, with some bronze trim and a gold nib. With it, she gave him a bottle of ink. It too, was black, but sheened red. And, for good measure, she threw in a couple face masks saying, "We can wear them together, because it's not really easy for us to go on dates right now, but this is a quick thing we can still do together."
 
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The twins paused to admire both Daizi's necklace and Dark's pen. When they saw the pen, they gave each other surprised then gleeful looks. That pen would go perfectly with the gift they'd gotten Dark.

"We collaborated on this gift," Alec said, carefully handing Dark one oddly wrapped package.

Xander handed him the second half. "You can open them in either order," he remarked.

The smaller package that Alec handed Dark was tube-shaped and slightly squishy while also firm, giving a little under pressure but retaining its shape. When opened, the torn packaging would reveal a leather travel kit for art supplies, pens, pencils, brushes... just about anything that would fit in the little pouch pocket. A flap on the top would protect the pencil tips when it was rolled up but also folded out of the way for easier viewing. Two larger pockets on either end offered a place to store small items such as erasers, small rulers, or pencil sharpeners, and the whole thing could be rolled up and tied shut with a band of flexible leather. The only decoration was Dark's initials embossed on the outside corner. It wasn't quite perfectly made, some of the stitching was uneven and the edge of one of the side pockets not quite straight, but in all, it was a sturdy, durable item.

The second, larger package turned out to be a large, 8- by 10-inch notebook. The pages were staggered throughout with four unlined followed by four lined pages that made up the nearly 200-page-thick book. The outside was, again, leather, a thicker, more resistant leather than the travel storage roll, but still somewhat flexible at the edges. Again, it could be tied shut with a leather belt, and again the only decoration was Dark's initials in the corner. Like the art roll, the book, too, bore signs of being homemade with slightly uneven page edges, and the leather belt was perhaps a bit too long, but again, it was surprisingly durable and decently made.

Interestingly, it was not completely empty and untouched inside. On the first page, there was a drawing in Alec's careful style of Dark, Daizi, Ivy, Enkidu, the twins, and even the spider and the rats peaking out from behind legs or perched on a shoulder unobtrusively. It was signed, "To our new father on our first family Christmas. Xander and Alec."
 
Before opening up the sketchbook, Dark's eyes were bright and gentle as he examined the two pieces, "These are... these are really beautiful. I really like them."

"What did they get you?" Daizi asked, pressing herself closer to him, and he passed them over to her so she could feel them, and recognizing their shape, she lifted her head and beamed, "These are wonderful!"

It wasn't until Dark took them back from her that he opened up the sketchbook and saw Alec's drawing. Immediately he fell silent, examining it closely. After what felt like maybe too long, he looked up at them again, and said, "Thank you." A moment or two later he explained to Daizi what it was and then got up to show the drawing to Ivy, talking through every face in the picture like it was a storybook, "See?" He told her, "That is our family, Ivy. Alec drew our family, do you like it? I love it." Returning to the couch, Dark looked again at the picture and then up at the boys, a flash of varied emotions traversing his face before setting the sketchbook and the art case down on the coffee table.

Then he gave Xander his present and Alec's his, allowing them to decide for themselves who was going to open theirs first. Xander's gift was a set of higher quality leather working tools engraved with his name and Alec's was a wooden music box that played the song Daizi sang him.
 
When Dark fell silent, Alec all but held his breath watching him. He didn't relax until Dark started telling Daizi about the picture. Then his face lit up like the sun even though he tried desperately to keep himself as composed and quiet as Dark. He didn't even come close to Dark's stoicism, but it did keep him from crowing in delight. He simply said, "You're welcome," and moved on.

Xander saw immediately how Dark felt, and he only gave a tiny nod of satisfaction with a little smile. He glowed on the inside, jubilant that his hard work had paid off. Dark liked them! And they hadn't fallen apart the moment they'd been messed with.

Alec opened his gift first and sat listening to the song with a smile. He gave Dark a quick hug in thanks for the gift and listened to it through twice.

While Alec was listening to the song, Xander opened his gift and grinned at the tools. "Nice," he stated, turning them over in his hands. "Very nice!" He felt unworthy of these tools, but he was determined to get to the point where he did feel worthy!

Once they'd finished examining their gifts, Xander gave Daizi his gift first, and then Alec handed over his. Both were small, but Alec's was surprisingly heavy. Xander's was a leather hair barrette, an oval of nicely treated leather with the imprint of a dragonfly on it that held the hair in place by a small stick that went through the two holes at the opposite ends of the leather. It was a dark piece of leather, likely from one of the saddles he'd taken apart to reuse.

Alec's gift was two small candles. Both were customized scents that had a QR code on them. When scanned with a phone, a song that went with the scent played. In this case, he'd requested two of Daizi's favorite English songs. Sadly, the company was small and didn't have access to many non-American songs outside of famous movies.
 
Daizi loved both of her gifts and expressed her affection heartily, although Dark needed to talk her through using the QR code. Once she learned it was there, she'd be able to replicate it, because it was big enough she didn't need precision to scan it. She didn't listen to the full songs, but she did listen to just enough to be sure she recognized them. Then, she had Dark help her put the clip in her hair so it looked nice before getting up and hugging Alec tightly and then thanking Xander in an emphatic, but non-physical way.
The music box had been her idea, but since Dark had been in charge of making it, and he had been the one to engrave Xander's tools, she felt like she needed to contribute independently. So, she gave the twins a present each. To Xander, to compliment his tools, she gave him leather stamps: braided designs, a compass, and a number of other useful patterns for decorating his pieces. To Alec, she gave three music books: one with Iraqi songs, one with Egyptian songs, and one with English/American songs.
 
"These are going to come in handy!" Xander grinned, looking through the pieces. "There's a lot of good patterns here."

"We haven't forgotten Ivy," Alec assured Dark and Daizi, setting aside his books for now. "We weren't sure what to get for her now while she's so little, so we got her a pair of guardians."

Xander pulled the last two gifts out from under the tree and handed them to Dark and Daizi. "I guess you'll have to open them for her."

The gift handed to Dark was a stuffed brown bear. A Syrian brown bear, to be exact. Unlike many stuffed bears that were more comedic in style, this one actually looked more or less like a real bear. It was semi-posable, with legs that could either make it sit, stand, or lay flat, but it was still incredibly soft and hugable.

The gift handed to Daizi was that of a hippo. Its stubby legs did not pose, but it could stand easily and had plenty of room around its middle for good hugging. It was a much cuter version of its real-life counterpart.

"I read that in Egypt the hippo represented protection of motherhood as well as protection in general," Alec told Daizi. "I thought it would make a good guardian.
 
"Thank you," Daizi smiled, turning the hippo over in her hands, "She'll love them when she's older."

Dark looked at the bear and made it sit politely on the couch before standing and lifting up Ivy, so she could experience her presents, "My sweet girl," he cooed, sitting back down and picking the bear back up, "Look at what your brothers gave you?" He bounced the bear towards her and touched its nose to hers and his eyes lit up.

"They're going to keep you safe, Hummingbird!" Daizi grinned, also showing the hippo, but only briefly to prevent her from getting overstated.

"I think she likes them." Dark stated, and propping Ivy up slightly, "Say thank you, baby..." He waited for a moment to see if she would make any noise and when she didn't, he shrugged and said, "She is learning."
 
Alec just laughed. "I'm glad she likes them! They can watch over her until she's old enough to play with them."

"You wouldn't believe how long it took him to pick out an animal, either," Xander grinned.

Alec made a face. "You took time, too!"

"Yeah, it took me long enough to look up what species of bear lived where," Xander drawled.
 
Ivy sneezed and Dark kissed her head, murmuring something to her in Arabic. He was completely unable to resist his daughter's cuteness, and never had any defenses against it since the day she was born.

"Why did you choose a bear?" Daizi asked, finding it interesting that he specifically searched for whuch bear species lived in Iraq.
 
Xander shrugged. "They seem like a good protection-type creature. Symbolism and all that. They say teddy bears guard kids when they sleep, so I figured I'd get the bearest of the bears. Besides, bears make me think of the Professor. He's more like a black bear or something, all dark and stuff, but the Syrian works too, I guess, even if it does look more like honey and sunshine threw up on it."

Alec twisted his face. "Ew. So gross."
 
"He reminds me of a bear too," Daizi agreed, flopping herself against her husband and smiling up at him. There was a lot she could say on why... about how warm he was in their bed at night or how cute and grumpy he was when he first woke up or how strong his arms were but her children didn't need any of that information, that was for her alone. "Her new toy bear will keep her safe, too. And the hippo."

Dark looked down at Daizi and told her, "You do not remind me of a hippo," before looking at Alec and confirming, "but I do appreciate the symbolism of it. She is a very loved baby."
 
"No, she most definitely is not a hippo," Alec assured him. "That one is symbolism alone. I'm not sure what Mama reminds me of as an animal, and I wasn't sure a spider was a good idea. At least, not until she knows not to pet all the spiders. She's more likely to run into spiders than she is hippos, so I wanted it to be safe."

"Not to mention a spider would be tough to hug," Xander said dryly. "Too much leg, not enough body."
 
There was something Dark could have said regarding hugging a spider, but just like Daizi, kept quiet. "She is also a raven to me," He said instead, looking down at the way Daizi grinned and ducked her head away at hearing Alec call her 'Mama' for the second time that day.

"There might be hippos. I like it for her, it connects her to her story. And they'll look really nice in her room. Right baby?" She asked, leaning in towards Ivy, who kicked her legs slightly but was growing sleepy again.
 
"Oh, a raven is a good one. I didn't think of a raven," Alec frowned.

"That's because you only think in rainbow colors," Xander said, examining the back of the box his unicorn was packaged in. He frowned and picked at the tape, trying to figure out the best way to release the unicorn.

"Black makes the rainbow shine that much brighter," Alec retorted.
 
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