How Green Becomes Wood

"I guess so," Milo said, fiddling with his camera strap. He took a little walk around the prize store, and after a little while he came bag and held up a tiny box full of seven dice of different sizes. The dice were clear resin with black 'smoke' rising in them, "These are cool."

"I'll keep my eyes open, certainly they aren't too hard to find," Sloan laughed, nudging Alec, "But failing that, we just need to wait until summer. We've got a pool in my backyard."
 
Xander nodded in approval. "Nice. You game?"

"This is true. Pool parties are excellent for jousting," Alec agreed. He went to trade his tickets for his chosen prizes, meeting Peter on the way and talked about what they'd decided to get.
 
"I used to, with my dad." Milo said, and got in the line with the rest of them. Dark had distributed his tickets amongst all of them, giving extra to the twins (and extra upon that extra to Xander for wining the contest), only saving a few for Daizi to get something. He would have saved a few for Ivy, but she won enough tickets on her own.
 
"I never got into it, but it looked kind of cool," Xander admitted. "Never had anyone to play with even if I wanted to." He glanced toward Alec, realizing for the first time that his brother was a perfect candidate for those types of games. Why hadn't he ever gotten into it?

Tom, Becky, and Peter went through first, having already gathered up everything they needed and sorted it out. Sloan was next, then Alec, Xander, and Milo.
 
Milo held up the dice, letting the florescent lights bounce off of them as much as florescents ever bounced off anything, "It was fun. I haven't had anyone to play it with, either." He followed them out, and as they approached the cars, Dark opened the trunk to try and figure out how to fit all of both twins' prizes, the stroller, and the diaper bag into the trunk.

"We've got to try to keep Ivy awake on the drive home," Daizi said, "if she falls asleep in the car seat we'll probably end up waking her when we lay her in her cradle."

Dark, meanwhile, turned to the other teens, "Have you all phoned your grown-ups? Those who need to? Are they on their way? I do not want to leave you unattended, it is getting dark."
 
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"My ride is right over there, so I guess this is goodbye for now," Tom said, hugging an inflatable google-eyed creature that looked like a cross between a cat and a dog. "See you next week at school!" He headed toward a car where a woman sat doing a crossword puzzle.

"Oh, there's my ride there," Becky said, pointing down the road toward a dark red pickup truck slowing down in preparation for the turn. "See you guys!"

Peter clicked his tongue and shuffled the massive blacket he was holding to look at his watch. "May parents promised one of them would be here. I guess they're late."
 
"We'll wait with you," Daizi said almost immediately, "but probably inside the Arcade, so we don't all freeze to death in the meanwhile."

"Do you need a ride home, Peter?" Sloan asked, putting her belongings into her car.

As they spoke, an average, but slightly beat up, sedan pulled up, and the driver was a woman who looked to probably be in her late sixties leaned out the window, "Milo, dear, are you ready to go? Goodness," her eyes widened at the sight of all of them, lingering slightly on Dark, then Peter, then back to her grandson, "Well it was a party."

"Hi, grandma," Milo murmured, getting his normal clothes from Sloan's trunk, and then even more awkwardly said his goodbyes to the crowd before getting into his grandmother's car and being driven off.
 
"Nah, but thank you," Peter said, smiling at Sloan. "Thank you for the offer."

Alec called a hello and thank you to Milo's grandmother before they left and enthusiastically waved goodbye. Xander lifted a hand in farewell. The truck pulled up, and Becky called goodbye before running over and climbing up to join her older brother. Peter drifted back toward the arcade, but before he could go inside, the dark car belonging to his parents pulled up, and his dad rolled down the window.

"Hey, kiddo! Sorry I'm late," he called.

Xander stepped to the side and set the bat in Sloan's trunk before rejoining his family.
 
Dark started the car and helped Daizi and Ivy inside, but did not himself get in until every single guest safely in their car and off the lot. Sloan cheerfully said, "Bet I'll beat you home," to the twins, since they were going to the same street, and when she did, Dark pretended not to hear it, since he knew her well enough to know she wasn't about to actually race them.

Then, finally, after everyone was buckled in his own car, he drove them back home, where he fed and walked Enkidu while Daizi settled Ivy in to sleep. Once all was settled, finally they gave the twins their birthday presents.
 
"Yeah right," Alec laughed but hugged her and told her thank you before hopping into the car.

The twins all but collapsed when they arrived home, but when the gifts came, they sat up alertly and looked at Dark and Daizi curiously. As far as they were concerned, the party was more than enough! And they had forgotten the conversation earlier.
 
The presents were, as always, carefully selected and thoughtful, and as the twins opened them, Dark and Daizi also collapsed back on the couch, rather worn out themselves. The arcade on its own had been stressful for Daizi, but navigating it while sleep deprived and coping with a baby definitely hadn't made it easier. For someone her age, Ivy traveled well, but that didn't mean she coped perfectly with a schedule change. And Dark had worked a full day before attending.

Still, Daizi smiled, resting her head on Dark's shoulder, "That was fun. It was a good party, I think. Did you both enjoy yourselves?"
 
"I think if we enjoyed ourselves any more, we'd have literally died from happiness," Alec told her with an exhausted smile, examining his gift. "This is perfect, thank you."

"Absolutely perfect," Xander agreed. "But what I can't believe is that we wore strange clothes for house without washing them. I need a shower."

"Me too," Alec agreed. "A good scrubbing shower and then maybe bedtime to dream all about today."
 
"Good." Daizi said, closing her eyes. "I had hoped it would be perfect for you."

Dark wrapped his arms around Daizi and rested his chin ontop of her head, "Go shower, and rest. There's nothing else you two need to do."

"It's good you get a full weekend for your birthday."
 
"Thank you for the best birthday ever," Alec told them sincerely as he stood up.

"It was absolutely the best," Xander agreed, nodding.

They had to take two trips to get everything up to their room, and then they took turns showering before collapsing onto the same bed. They barely fit together, but they didn't care. It had been the best day! And they were finally sixteen years old! A lot had happened since fifteen.
 
The rest of February felt normal. About a week after the twins' birthday, Milo taped an envelope to Xander's locker containing the pictures he had taken, and the roll of film, to make sure they were fully in control of their own image. Inside the large envelope was a smaller one marked with 'pictures including you two' so they could decide for themselves if they wanted to see them.

At home, Ivy was still growing, and Dark still struggled to leave her every day. She was extremely interested in her own hands and was getting closer to rolling over. In the middle of February, Daizi and Dark woke up for school feeling confused and scared, realizing that night Ivy hadn't woken at all. After rushing to the bassinet to confirm she was, in fact, still alive, they celebrated (a bit preemptively) the end of the beginning. From then on, Daizi would occasionally suggest the idea of a sleepover to the twins, but she was subtle about it.

The Saturday of Ivy's 21st (but actually 15th) week, Dark suggested they all take a trip down to the city, to see that year's art installations in the downtown park and enjoy the weather that was just beginning to warm up.
 
When Xander found the envelope, he wasn't sure what to do with it. He showed it to Alec, but Alec had no suggestions other than to maybe talk to Milo about it, but Milo was a hard one to track down. Xander felt he could probably find him if he really put effort into it, but he had too many other things to keep track of. So, the envelope went into his backpack so he could talk to Dark or Daizi about it, and then was promptly forgotten. The smaller envelope went unopened.

Xander was moderately open to a sleepover, though he didn't really see the point of them. Alec was less open, but still considered the idea. Being the more social one, they sounded like fun to him! Frightening, but fun. He was a little more positive each time Daizi brought it up while Xander stayed mostly neutral.

The twins eagerly agreed to going to see the instalation. Xander because it meant getting out of the house, and Alec because he actually wanted to see it.

"How warm is it going to be? Should I wear a coat or a jacket?" Alec mused, holding up his options for either.

"You could try neither," Xander smirked, standing in a sleeveless shirt. He ducked as Alec threw a sweater at him.
 
"Wear a jacket. If you needed a coat we wouldn't be taking her out for the day, but it's not warm either," Daizi said, while trying to put a hat on Ivy, who seemed perfectly underwhelmed by it, "Baby!" She huffed, booping Ivy's nose, "You've got to wear a hat, your little ears will get cold!" Ivy only cooed in response.

Dark furrowed his eyebrows at Xander while packing the diaper bag, "What happened to the jacket Daizi gave you?"
 
Alec pulled on his jacket and went over to Daizi and Ivy. "Ivy! Hi! Look at me!" he cheered, trying to catch her attention. "Never mind what Mama is doing, look here! Look here and hold veerrry still."

Xander rolled his eyes as he picked up the sweater from the floor. "I'll get, I was just joking," he assured Dark with a bit of a huff. He retrieved his jacket and put it on carefully. He didn't wear it often purely because he wanted to keep it nice, but he supposed not much could happen to it at an art institution.
 
Ivy did, in fact, look over at Alec, and when Daizi reached over and put the hat on her head, Ivy immediately looked back and reached up to touch the hat and would have, very likely, taken it off, if she had the dexterity to do so. "Mama got you! Yes she did!" Daizi chirped, rocking back the carsear gently, and Ivy squirmed and cooed, so Daizi leaned forward and gently poked at Ivy's tummy, which made her smile and squirm more.

"You turn sixteen and suddenly everything is a joke, is that it?" Dark teased lightly, grabbing for his own jacket but pausing as he considered if it was weird for them both to wear one.
 
"Sorry, Ivy, but it had to be done," Alec smiled, touching her arm gently. "I'll try not to gang up on you in favor of the parental figures too often."

"Better than absolutely nothing being a joke," Xander pointed out. He gestured toward the door. "Are we ever going to pass through the portal to the great beyond?"
 
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