How Green Becomes Wood

"But I like to cook, and I don't do it that much during the week," Xander reminded her. "Can I at least help in the kitchen?"

"I could take Ivy out to see the flowers," Alec suggested. "That would be fun! And a Saturday thing, I think."
 
"Alright, you can help me cook, and you," She lifted Ivy up to her face, kissed her forehead, and handed her to Alec, "can go with your brother. Just don't let her put anything into her mouth... And we should probably put her into a jacket first, it's not cold for us, but it'll be chilly for her, it's only April. And early April." She smoothed Ivy's hair, "But she'll love it, Mama's pretty baby loves flowers."
 
"Like Mama like daughter!" Alec said cheerfully. He found Ivy's jacket and carefully worked her wiggling arms through the sleeves. Once she was properly covered and had socks on her tiny feet, he took her out back to show off the flowers. He took her around slowly, naming all the ones he could remember. Thanks to Daizi, he knew most of them, but a few escaped his memory.

Xander washed his hands and grabbed an apron. "What's cooking tonight?" he asked.
 
Ivy was happily led around the garden, although at first she still seemed to focus more on Alec than she did at the flowers. His hair was right there, and so, so easy to grab. But when they got a little bit too near the flowers, she reached out to grab at them, too, although she couldn't quite reach, but she tried her best.

"Well, Cooger is here, so we need to make a slightly larger meal, so I thought we could make Koshari again, because it's easy to scale up. And we've still got some Baba Ganoush in the fridge, so if we put that, pita bread, and koshari out, it should be enough for everyone." She said, washing her hands before getting ingredients out, "What did Cooger pick up for you?"
 
"If you wouldn't probably choke yourself on the petals, I'd let you have one, but that would end badly," Alec told Ivy with a smile. He drew her attention to a few other flowers. "These are very special flowers. These flowers are your older siblings." He kept his voice low and gentle. "They would be so happy to know that you're here! Even if you are trying to eat them."

"Nice," Xander agreed. He followed Daizi's lead, doing a lot of the prep work for her. "A bike. Like, bicycle, not motorbike. I wanted to get one for Milo so he could have more freedom. That was before I found out he was leaving, and I forgot to tell Cooger I wouldn't need it. It is kind of small, though, so maybe he can still keep it."
 
Ivy babbled back at him, holding onto his shirt with one hand and looking at the roses. The apple tree was just budding above them, but it would be a few weeks until those flowers bloomed. Of course, she was far, far too young to understand the significance of what Alec was telling her, she just wanted to grab the roses without understanding they also had thorns. But Dark saw them from out of his workshed's small window, and he had to stop what he was explaining to Cooger to watch. The flowers were really Daizi's, he liked them but they weren't something he had needed to grieve. None of them had been easy to grieve for because they were all, except perhaps Omar, whom they had worked to name, because they had all been potentials. Some had been lost too soon to have even fully recognize them for what they were, and none had reached a point where they had a chance. But didn't stop the ache of it. And he knew he could never get rid of his box of ultrasound scans, and he'd never not regret when they didn't make it far enough to have a scan to keep. So when he caught sight of two of his children just walking through those flowers, healthy, his throat tightened, and he couldn't focus elsewhere.

"That's kind of you," Daizi smiled, working at the stovetop, "Bikes are pretty easy to attach to most cars, I think. They sell bike racks, don't they? I've only ever been on a tandem bike where I didn't need to steer, but... People take their bikes places, right? But why did you want to buy him a bike in the first place?"
 
Alec pulled her back with a chuckle so she wouldn't grab a rose bush. "Nope, nope, can't have that. You're far too young to experience that kidn of pain!" He lifted her up instead to look at the apple tree. "Here, you can play with one branch. Carefully!" He picked the sturdiest branch to hold her close to, watching her closely and ready to snatch anything from her mouth if needed, no matter the screams. "This is an apple tree. This one is the most important, but I can't tell you about that yet."

Xander didn't answer right away as he got out the pita bread. "'Cause he needs one," he said at last. "It's... it's what he needs. It's something, a problem, I can solve for him."
 
Babbling more, Ivy reached up and grabbed the branch when it was close to her. Naturally, she tried to put it into her mouth, but couldn't quite figure out how to do it, and wasn't strong enough to pull it closer to her, so, she let go and turned to Alec, plopping her head against his chest, cooing like she had just so much to say.

"I think he will really appreciate it." Daizi told him gently when he finally answered her, "You are a good friend to him."
 
Alec chuckled and held her close. "Don't worry. You have plenty of time to figure things out, and there is so much to figure out! It's a big, bright world." He turned and started walking toward the wood shed. "Would you like to see your Baba and uncle? Then we'll take another stroll around the garden."

Xander shrugged awkwardly. "I guess so. Not very good at it. Haven't had much practice in being a friend or son. I'm pretty good at being a brother, though. Lots of practice there!"
 
When Alec brought Ivy to the door of the shed, Cooger opened up the door to them, and in his usual, jovial way, said, "Hey there, you two! What have y'all been up to?" while Dark carefully placed a tarp over what was clearly the wardrobe he was making, because it was impossible for something of that shape to be literally anything else, still a bit misty-eyed.

"I didn't have practice being a mom until you and Alec came here," Daizi reminded him, "You learn to do better. I think you were a good friend to Sloan when you went to get her last night, and you're being a good friend to Milo by wanting to make sure he has good memories here before he leaves. And I know you're a good son. And you're you. Which is good."
 
"Tasting leaves, or at least trying to, and grabbing the thorny part of the flower most commonly used as a metaphor for life, or at least trying to," Alec said cheerfully. "Then we thought we'd check in. It looks like you're busy, though, so we can come back later." He glanced toward the totally-not-a-wardrobe, amused but willing to avoid seeing it any further.

"No one's me-er than me?" Xander joked. "Cool. Should get that on a shirt. You learned how to mom pretty fast, too, so I guess we're coming right along."
 
"No, it is alright," Dark replied, turning towards him and giving Ivy a smile so she was absolutely certain he was happy to see her, "We were just talking. Did you like to see the trees and the flowers, Hummingbird? You have to start being careful with what you want to touch, my little darling." As he said this, Ivy was currently attempting to eat Alec's shirt, so Dark came closer to help rescue the fabric.

"Did I have another choice?" Daizi asked as she fried the onions and gestured for Xander to take the pasta off the stove and drain the water. And I'm being serious---you may not be the friend who will hold them when they're crying, but you're still supportive. And you're still learning."
 
Alec snickered and shifted her so she was facing away from him and toward her father. "But touching and eating is the best way to learn! Kind of. Until something tastes gross."

Xander did as asked and lost all sight in the cloud of steam from the pasta. Once he could see again, he said, "Yeah, I think you're right. Otherwise, Sloan would have noped out a long time ago."
 
"That is true, I had forgotten," Dark murmured gently, rubbing his finger against Ivy's cheek, smiling back at her, but his smile didn't last very long. With one hand, he smoothed the back of Ivy's hair with his thumb, and then did the same to Alec, "I am glad you both were able to enjoy the weather."

"I am sure she would have." Daizi agreed with a little chuckle, "Why do you think you are not a good friend?"
 
Alec looked at Dark curiously. He considered asking if Dark was all right but chose not to in front of Cooger. Cooger was practically blood, but it didn't feel right. If Dark wanted to say more, he could do so. Instead, he smiled up at Dark and enjoyed the rare physical touch and affection from his foster father. "It is wonderful weather! Ivy loves the flowers. Even if I won't let her eat them."

Xander shrugged. "I guess I'm a little better now, but I'm pretty self-centered and very self-preserving. Not to mention prickly. It's not something everyone wants to deal with, and I don't blame them."
 
For his part, Cooger milled about and sort of fiddled with Dark's puzzle box, purposely not paying attention. They hadn't had too much time alone after Dark had spied them in that part of the garden together, but Cooger knew Dark well enough to have read his body language, and they were able to speak about it somewhat before Alec came up. So he wanted to give them a little bit of space.

"Do not worry my darling," Dark cooed, dropping his hand from Alec's head to his shoulder and rubbing Ivy's face again, "Soon you will get to try solid foods, and then it will not be long until you can taste the pleasant flowers."

"Everybody has traits like those. Maybe not those exact ones, but having flaws doesn't make you a bad friend, not unless you don't have enough positives to balance it out. Or if you don't let people call you out on your flaws when you need to be." Daizi told him, stirring the tomato sauce. "Self-preservation isn't a bad thing, either, necessarily. It's only negative if you really make a habit of selling people out to save your skin, and I don't think, if it came down to it, you would narc on a friend if it meant you wouldn't get in trouble. I think you'd keep your mouth damn shut, but I don't think you'd narc."
 
"I forget there are edible flowers," Alec commented. "I wonder if she'll like them?" He smiled at Ivy. "What are you going to love, and what are you going to hate? Maybe you'll love all of it!" Looking back up at Dark, Alec politely asked, "Would you like to walk through the flowers with us? Of course, we wouldn't want to interrupt your time with Cooger. You can come, too, Cooger, if you want."

Xander grinned hearing Daizi talk like that. "Never. I ain't no rat or a stool pigeon or any other dishonorable animal. I just think I'm still working on trying to get those positives a little stronger. They're better than they used to be, but not as good as they could be. Yet."
 
"Daizi and I are already talking about what we will have her try first. And I certainly hope she likes the first food she ever tries, or else it may turn her off of solids forever. How terrible." He touched her little nose and his eyes sparkled when she grabbed at his hand.

"Nah, you can take him," Cooger said with a shrug, "I'm trying to get into this box, and I don't need his dumb smug face looking at me as I try to get into it." Really, he just wanted to give his friend a little extra time with his children before dinner. Ivy went to bed early, on account of being a baby, so they could hang out more then. Breaking into the box was just a side-quest.

"You ain't no snitch?" Daizi asked, trying and failing miserably at a mafia voice, and unable to keep from cracking up at how bad it was. Upon pulling herself together, she told Xander, "The fact you want to do better is why I think you need to give yourself more credit, habibi. No man is a hero to himself, I do not want you to be so focused on your flaws and who you want to be that you forget to appreciate who you are now and how far you've come. I love how much you care about self-improvement, but you deserve to not torture yourself."
 
Alec glanced at the box and then grinned at Cooger. "Then... I shouldn't tell you that Xander could probably solve it in no time flat? If he hasn't solved it already. He can help you if you want." He bounced Ivy gently. "Come on! Let's go show Baba the flowers and all the green leaves."

Xander gave a little nod. "I'll try. I'll do my best. I guess I can't tell a mob boss anything else or you might cement my feet."
 
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