How Green Becomes Wood

Sloan's eyes widened at Xander's comment and laughed awkwardly, shifting her weight and trying to figure out how to respond to that statement. Even as upset as she was with her mom so much of the time, there was something about hearing her being called a bitch hurt. "Well." She shrugged, "It's not an experience unique to me, I mean. I've had other friends express similar things. I don't think it's that uncommon, given the expectations placed on women and girls. You should ask your mom about it."
 
"Alright," Xander said with absolutely no intention to do that. He doubted Sloan knew exactly how... passionate Daizi was about subjects like that. He had no doubt she had a lot of wisdom, but he needed to be steeled before tackling subjects like that with her. He started to walk away, but he noticed Alec glaring at him. He thought back over what he'd said and had to concede his brother was right. He paused and turned partially toward Sloan. "I shouldn't have said that about your mum. Sorry. I'm annoyed when I hear people treat you like that, but I shouldn't talk like that. She's still her mum and she's probably just doing what she thinks is best even when it's not. Sorry. I won't say anything like that again."
 
"Thanks." She replied, exhaling slightly, relieved it was settled to easily, "It's a little tough, you know, but I think that... given everything I've dealt with with her... Her talking about marriage to me at an early age isn't really that big of a deal, you know?"
 
"I guess it's perspective. Seems like a big deal to me, but I hate stuff like that," Xander admitted with a little shudder. "But, you're right. It's not a big deal. Anyway, I won't say it again." He offered her a fist bump before heading for class.
 
"Thank you," She repeated and then took a breath, then smiled and with a teasing voice said, "I'm gonna get you back, now, okay, so stay sharp, kid. I'll see you later." And then, she went to her own class.
 
"I'll watch my back," Xander assured her dryly. Then he and Alec went to class.

The rest of their day went by smoothly with Xander catching up with Milo after school and talking photography with him while waiting for the bus. Xander intended to take his new van even though he hadn't cleaned it yet to the picture place, and while Alec was curious to see the process, he said he'd be staying home to look after Ivy so Daizi could have some time off.
 
The rest of the week went on about as usual for Dark and Daizi, without much to note. Dark offered to help Xander clean out his car in between his childcare duties and... the grading. And lesson planning. Really, that was the worst part of being a teacher, the endless amount of homework he also had to do, even when he wanted to relax with his family. College professors had it right, having a TA to handle the details.

Sloan's week was complicated. Friday morning she left her house arguing with her mom over how she was choosing to wear her sweater that day, and the school day couldn't pass by quickly enough, because at least studying with Becky meant she had a li8ttle extra time outside of the house.
 
Xander worked hard on his van in every spare moment between school, working in the shed, and homework. Alec pitched in, and Xander even allowed him to draw a couple of little pictures on the dashboard where there were a couple of ingrained scratches or lines that he couldn't get out. Finally, it was clean! And with Xander including him so much with the car, Alec started feeling a lot more accepting of the car and Xander's freedom. It was a strange thing, but one he was slowly getting used to. Alec finally talked to his therapist about his codependency issues during a shorter zoom meeting, and she gave him some tools to help cope in a healthier manner.

Becky stood in the doorway to her house watching for Sloan, and when Sloan pulled up, she squealed and waved with both hands, her twin high pigtails bouncing in excitement matched only in her pink and green outfit. She looked a bit like a preppy Barbie doll, but she looked genuinely excited to see Sloan.
 
"Hey Becky," Sloan said, walking into her house, and hoping it wasn't weird she wasn't matching Becky's excitement. She was glad to be there, and all, but she wasn't a squealing, jumping-up-and-down kind of girl, and she didn't want that to be upsetting, "I brought highlighters and gel pens to make flash cards."
 
"Flash cards! You're the best," Becky grinned. "Come on. My room's upstairs. She started leading Sloan through the open plan dining/kitchen/living room towards the stairs at the back. The room was mostly white, but the furniture, large pictures, and all the accents were bright solid colors.

Two men stood chatting near the oversized kitchen island turned to look at Sloan when she came in, and one of them, dressed in jeans and a Hawaiian shirt, held up a hand. "Hold up, there. Who's your friend, Becks?" he chuckled.

Becky sighed dramatically but stopped and turned. "Sloan, this is my dad, Hank, and my other dad, John. My mom's out in the backyard."

Hank held out a hand to Sloan. "I'm the original dad until this interloper stole her mom away." He winked.

"Not that you made it that hard with those shirts," John smirked. He had on a plain blue shirt with a light striped pattern.
 
Sloan walked through the house, looking up at the bright colours. It all made a lot of sense for Becky, and when she saw the two men, she had a brief moment of excitement upon being told they were Becky's dads. Which was quickly diminished when she realized the actual situation, "It's nice to meet you both," She said, "I'm just here to help her study."
 
"Uh-huh, sure, I'll bet there will be a lot of studying going on," John teased lightly.

"About as much studying as we did when we had a study group at her age," Hank chuckled.

Becky rolled her eyes and took Sloan's arm, pulling her gently toward the stairs. "Yes, Dad, Yeah, Bub, we are actually studying. Sloan's a serious scholar! I'm not going to waste her time!" Quietly, she whispered, "Quick! Before they start competing with dad jokes!" and hurried for the stairs.
 
"They're not that different from my dad then," Sloan commented and didn't hesitate to hurry upstairs to the bedroom, "I think the worst part about them is that dads don't even think they're funny, they just like annoying you with them." She still had some questions for the family dynamic, but they seemed a bit rude, so instead she just set the bag down and began getting out her things, "Did you know handwriting notes rather than typing them helps you to remember them better?"
 
"Ugh, absolutely!" Becky moaned as she let Sloan into her bedroom. Unlike downstairs, her bedroom was not white. Instead, it was a pale pink with vibrant blue trim. Her bed was a daybed with a trundle that had already been made, although it was still tucked under the bed. A neat white desk stood on one wall, and her small closet looked like it was going to explode through the partially closed door. Becky kicked off her thick-soled shoes, dropping her height by a good inch and a half, and grabbed a couple of pillows from the bed, handing one to Sloan before sitting down, herself.

"I didn't know that," she said, dragging over her notebooks. "And you can ask. Everyone who comes over when they're both here wants to ask."
 
"Well..." Sloan said, taking off her shoes more carefully and then stretching her feet out of habit, "Are they... poly? Or did your mom and your bio dad divorce, if they were ever married, and wanted to stay close?" A number of other options went through her mind: infertility and a very involved sperm donor, Hank came out, Hank and Becky's mom had a short fling...
 
Becky giggled. "Sorry, you're taking this better than most, but your expression is great. Sadly, it's not as interesting as being poly. Your second guess is better. Mom and Bub - don't ask why I call my bio dad that, long story - were married right out of highschool. It may or may not have been a shotgun wedding because of me and my highly religious grandad, they've never confirmed, but they lasted until I was four before they realized that they made way better friends than married partners. Thankfully, they didn't try to put me in the middle like most divorced people do and did their best to co-parent. I'm not saying it was perfect. I may have been little, but I still remember a couple of the fights they had while trying to work things out the first year or so. Then my step-dad, he's been friends with my dad since forever, and he was always hanging around. I was eight when he finally confessed to my mom that he'd loved her for, like, years and couldn't get over her even when he tried because she thought of him as one of her closest friends. A total best friend's girl situation. So rom-com I can't even! But six months later, wedding bells, and voila! Here I am with two dads and a mom who somehow are all best friends. Weird enough for you?" She grinned mischievously at Sloan.
 
"Huh," Sloan replied, nodding as she put all of the pieces together, and refraining from mentioning how, it seemed, Sloan's mom never took particularly long to get married, "That's cool. I think it's cool when people break the 'rules' we're told families are supposed to be like for the sake of their own happiness. It sucks bad when you know they'd be happier divorced but refuse to for whatever reason... So I've heard, anyway. Family is complicated."
 
"Way complicated," Becky agreed.

Just then, a light tap sounded on Becky's door. Becky called for them to come in, and her mom walked in, dressed in a light blue dress, her hair done up nicely. It was a nicer outfit, but not fancy. She smiled at Sloan and Becky and held up a tray of what looked like granola bars. "Brain food!" she said cheerfully. "And here's some milk."

"Thanks, Mom," Becky said, taking the plate and setting it off to the side before accepting the glasses of milk. "Oh, goody, granola bars."

"I can always trade them for tofu bars," her mom teased.

"I mean, yum! Granola bars!" Becky said with a bright smile.

"That's what I thought," her mom chuckled. "Okay, we're going to be heading out in a few minutes, and we won't be back until after nine. Try not to stay up too late, and have a good time." She pulled the door shut as she left.

Becky offered Sloan a granola bar. "They really aren't that bad," she admitted. "I just like teasing her because she's on a super health kick right now. Right! So! You said that writing notes by hand helps with memory?"
 
"Thank you, Ma'am," Sloan said, sitting upright and smiling politely and accepting the milk and granola bars without any complaint. "I hope you have a nice night."

Then when the door was shut and Sloan was certain she couldn't hear footsteps anymore, she said, "It's okay, I've got an Almond Mom. And I'm an athlete, so... Sometimes you just have to go with it. And yeah, it's supposed to! Something about connecting neural pathways."
 
Becky gave Sloan a sympathy wince before turning fully toward what they were supposed to be studying. She was easily distracted, but just as easily guided back to the correct subject, and she really was trying to learn. She did her best to not annoy Sloan, but she could help a bit of overflowing enthusiasm every time she got something right.

Then, shortly before 7, Xander sent Sloan a text. Still at Becky's place?
 
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