How Green Becomes Wood

When Alec came inside, the sounds of Daizi playing on her harp drifted down from upstairs, occasionally broken up by a disorder note or sound. Enkidu was downstairs, and he happily ran up to Alec, wagging his tail and running between his legs.
 
Alec quickly touched the salt and kicked off his shoes before dropping down and hugging Enkidu. "Hi! Hi! Missed you too! Good boy!" he told the dog softly as he sank his fingers into the thick, soft fur. "Such a good boy! I'm going to go say hi to Mum now, okay?" He gave Enkidu a couple more scratches before heading upstairs and making her way to the music room. Xander didn't appear to be inside, which must mean he was out in his shed working on something. Alec stopped in the doorway of the music room to watch.
 
Daizi was sitting with Ivy in the sling with the instrument rocked back against her shoulder. This position meant Ivy, who was watching carefully was within reach of the strings. At times, then, she would reach out her little arm and try to hit them, and when she managed it, it would cause a horrible noise, which would make her squeal laughing, and every time Daizi would say, "Great job, Ivy!" Neither noticed Alec.
 
Alec watched with a little smile for a bit, enjoying seeing Daizi sharing her joy with Ivy. Playing with Daizi was one of his favorite shared times, too, and it was good to watch. Finally, he cleared his throat. "I'm home," he said quietly, hoping to not startle her.
 
"Oh, hi," Daizi said with a laugh, setting the harp upright (to Ivy's dismay as it rocked out of her reach), "I didn't hear you come up. But someone decided we were playing loudly, right?" She kissed her now-grumpy daughter's head and turned on the stool to face her son, "How was school?"
 
"School was alright," Alec said, bouncing in. "There is some very interesting gossip running rampant through the student body right now, so that's fun. Kind of. Xander beat up a pair of seniors for shutting his girlfriend, Alex, in a closet, apparently." He smiled at Ivy and wagged his fingers at her playfully. "I'm sorry, did I interrupt your play time? Perhaps I should leave, hmm?"
 
"I don't know what it is about that school and absurd rumors," Daizi commented, amused, "If you could hear all the stories Dark has brought home to me over the years..."

Ivy looked at her brother and smiled, raising her hand to try to do like he did, but couldn't quite figure out her fingers, so she just brought them to her mouth and cooed around them.
 
Alec pulled over the piano bench closer so he could sit and talk to them. "Oh, and apparently I'm gay, which is news to me." He copied Ivy by curling his hands up near his mouth and cooed back at her. "Honestly, I'm not sure what to do with that information, so I think I'll just ignore it," he said, his voice muffled.
 
She frowned, "Ignoring it is probably best, regardless of if you are or aren't. But try not to let it bother you: people, especially high schoolers, operate on stereotypes because they can't cope. I can't tell you how many people have been surprised to learn I have a husband. Or how many people have been surprised to learn your father is attracted to men." Ivy smiled around her hand and cooed again, kicking her feet.
 
"That last one is a little hard to grasp," Alec admitted. "I mean no offense by it, it just is. For how eventful it was, we had a fairly narrow life. Anyway!" He clapped his hands lightly to change the subject. "What have you been up to today, and where is Xander? I thought he'd be here too. Is he out in his shed?"
 
"That's because we expect queer folk to fit into clear and obvious categories and it hurts all people regardless of how they identify." She said simply, not drawing out her point, "Yes I think so. We were trying to get him to play with us, right habibti? But I think he's already going stir crazy."
 
"Hmm. I'll go say hi and tell him I'm home, and then I'll come back," Alec told her. He smiled at Ivy and tapped her cheek lightly. "Then you and I can play together! How does that sound, huh?"
 
"That's a good idea. I'm sure he's missed you," Daizi said, standing up, "I think I've got to change her anyway." Ivy just continued vocalizing, perfectly content with everything that was happening.
 
Alec headed down to the shed and knocked before letting himself in. "Hello!"

Xander looked up from his project and held it up for Alec's inspection. "Check it out."

Alec's eyes widened as he looked at the carefully crafted cover that would hold Xander's notebook. "Wow! That is fantastic! What are those two little loops for?"

"I'm going to put a small lock on it. Probably wouldn't stop someone who's really determined, but it'll give them pause," Xander said, setting it back on his bench. "I figured, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right. I'll be done in just a minute then be inside."

"Okay. I got your work for the next week for you," Alec told him before leaving him alone and heading back to the house to see if Daizi had finished changing Ivy.
 
When Alec was walking back inside, Daizi was coming downstairs with Ivy in her arms, chatting with her happily in Arabic as they returned to the living room. It had been weeks of it pretty much just being the two of them all day, and some part of Daizi was growing bored with the routine, since it was difficult for her to go out very far since she couldn't drive and Ivy needed a carseat... but Ivy's continued excitement about their days kept her content.

Ivy noticed Alec first and squealed, which made Daizi ask, "Did you see one of your brothers or did you see Enkidu-puppy?"
 
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"Me," Alec said with a smile. "Xander will be in soon. I need to wash my hands and get my backpack into my room, but then can I take Ivy for a while? I won't get a chance once Da- Baba gets home." Mostly, he wanted to give Daizi a break before she'd have to give Dark her attention after giving Ivy attention all day - even super moms needed downtime - but he did like being around Ivy, so it wasn't much of a chore.
 
"That would be great, thank you," Daizi said, visibly relieved, "Would you like that, habibti? Spend some time with Alec?" She gave Ivy a little kiss, "She shouldn't give you any trouble, she's been in a great mood today. And we spoke to Jaddi, right? We love Jaddi." Daizi chuckled, sitting down on the couch, "It's the only screen time she gets."
 
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"She's too little for screen time, aren't you?" Alec grinned, scooping Ivy up and spinning her around gently. "Screen time is for when you're a squirmy little mouse and we need you to hold still. Huh?"
 
"She only gets screens to speak to her family who live just so far away," Daizi agreed, not truly certain if she would even give Ivy a screen when they needed her still, feeling torn between the possibly naïve opinion that she and Dark would never use screentime as a tool to keep their baby calm and content and the belief it just wasn't good for growing minds. "Jaddi Saladin agrees Xander didn't do anything wrong, by the way."
 
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