How Green Becomes Wood

"Of everything I have ever made, that exhibit is what I take the second most amount of pride in. I value it higher than most of my garden. Not all of my garden, but most of it." She bounced Ivy up slightly, "I guess it's third most, then. I took Ivy to see it, but she's a little too young to understand, if you can believe that. Pryce said she liked the room with all the stained glass in it."

"I liked that room too," Milo said in a quiet little voice, "I thought the pictures would be pretty."
 
"That was a really good room," Xander agreed. "He took a lot of good pictures, too. At least, I assume they were good. There was one where he started laughing, so I'm not sure if that one will come out. Not sure what he was laughing at." He gave Milo the quickest of winks.
 
"I'm just really glad you both had fun. Now you can convince your brother to come visit, too. Not that I think he'd take much convincing." Daizi said, walking with their little group out of the museum, "It was weird for me to stop in the photography exhibit, it's been set up so much since I was last here, I had have some guidance to navigate it. Most of our exhibits I don't have that issue with, because I'm so familiar with them from beginning to end."

Milo had questions regarding this, but he didn't really feel like it was acceptable to ask them. He already felt like he pried a lot into their home lives, and had asked questions that were probably inappropriate... but the dynamic was fascinating to him. He wouldn't go so far as to call it incomprehensible, but it was so... specific, and unique, and it fascinated him.
 
Xander glanced at Milo and could practically see the question mark floating over his head. He considered asking Milo to ask the questions or trying to make way for the questions, but he worried that might be a bit much for him. So, instead, he said, "That's gotta be weird having your second home rearranged. Who guides you here when you have issues? The Doc we met? Pryce?"
 
"Pryce walked me today," Daizi said, "and Clara, my boss. You remember her, don't you? She helped you to visit me here on my birthday, and she also stopped by the hospital Ivy's last week there. She'll be joining us for lunch, too. But I'm friends with a lot of my coworkers, so there isn't really one specific person."
 
She shook her head, wrapping her arms securely around Ivy as they stepped outside. It wasn't cold out, but she still wanted to make sure her baby remained perfectly warm and comfortable. It wasn't a long walk to the restaurant, and it was popular enough with the museum employees that she trusted, in a group like this, she'd make it without using her cane. "No, I don't get to mess with it. It's not my job to set it up to begin with, I help plan things, but I'm not authorized to mess with it once it's on the floor."
 
"Dang. That'd be cool if you could mess with it, but I guess there's protocols and junk you have to work with or you get problems," Xander shrugged. "I read once about some pretty bad museum security once. Some lady who worked with rare documents kept telling the administration how shoddy it was, and when they wouldn't listen to her, she decided to prove it. Walked in the front door, took the documents out in broad daylight in front of witnesses, and no one stopped her. She took them to her boss, who decided that maybe they should have some real security."
 
"Oh my god," Daizi laughed, "I think I would collapse if someone did that to our museum, even if we were right. We've got pretty good security, I think. I hope. We have alarms if you even get too close to an object, my hair has crossed the threshhold before and I've been fussed at for being too close."

The restaurant she brought them to was light and airy, but not particularly expensive. Although she allowed her boss to pay for her meal, she did be sure to pay for Xander's and Milo's, telling them she knew they would pay for her the moment they could. Once it was just Milo and his singular trusted friend again, he was able to talk more freely, and then he asked Xander all the other questions he had on his mind that he had been too afraid to get the answer to before.

At her table, Daizi had a wonderful meal catching up with her coworkers and when everyone had finished eating, she got up to walk with the two teenagers back to the museum parking lot so Xander could drive all of them home, and after Milo had been dropped off, she looked somewhat tiredly at her son and asked, "How does it feel? Now that you're the one who gets to drive all of us?"
 
Xander happily if a bit awkwardly answered all of Milo's questions. He didn't mind the questions, but he wasn't exactly a smooth conversationalist and wanted to try to make sure he got it right. It was fun to see Milo open up, though, and he bounced a couple of questions back at him, both serious and joking.

Later, after Milo had gotten out of the car, he sat watching to make sure Milo got inside safe before pulling away. "It feels good, but kind of... heavy," he said after a moment of thought. "I like it. It's freeing, but it's also... responsibility. I didn't think it'd feel like this. Not that it's a bad thing at all."
 
Daizi smiled softly, leaning her head against the window like she would when Dark was driving. "I think that just means you're growing up. You're closer to being an adult than you are to being a kid, at least in some ways." Somehow, despite never knowing him as a little kid, it made her sort of sad. She liked them being her little baby birds.
 
"I sure spent a lot of time looking forward to something that's pretty heavy," Xander muttered and then fell quiet. After a moment, he said, "Thanks. For today. It meant a lot to Stitch. I mean, Milo. I think he'll have a good memory to take with him when he leaves."
 
"That's life. Everything comes with some sort of cost, even the best things. Even the things that make you happier than you knew you could be. People talk all the time about shooting for the moon because if you miss you'll land amongst the stars, but they don't talk about how if you do reach the moon, you've still left the Earth behind. But growing up means learning to live with the weight of maturing, and learning to live with the bittersweet parts of life." She shrugged, reaching back to check on Ivy, "That's why I think so many adults prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate. They've had time to adjust."

Then, she fell quiet too, only perking up when Xander thanked her, "You're welcome, habibi. I'm really glad I was able to put something nice together for the both of you. And it's nice knowing that, when he does leave, you'll have a good memory with him to take with you."
 
Xander glanced at Daizi. He hadn't thought of it that way, that he'd have a good memory of Milo, but she was right. He'd have a memory he could share with Milo. He might never see Milo again after Monday, but he could remember him and carry those memories with him. If Milo got copies of those pictures to him, he'd even have actual pictures. That was something he didn't have about many other good things. He tapped the steering wheel lightly before making another turn. They'd be home in a few minutes, and he was content to spend those minutes in silence, thinking.
 
Daizi didn't push the conversation either. It was nice to just sit in silence with him. She felt successful as a mom, respected as an employee, and missed by her friends. It had been a good day for her, and although she'd not admit it, it warmed her deeply to know how much Xander knew about her work, and how proud he was of it. She took the time in the silence to listen just to the sound of Xander breathing, to the sound of him thinking, and turned her head away to smile out the window. He was growing up.

When they parked, she got out, unbuckled Ivy, grapped the diaper bag, and went inside to greet the remainder of her boys.
 
Xander made sure Daizi and Iby were all right before following her inside. He kicked off his shoes and touched the salt before turning to locate Alec, already knowing he'd be somewhere close.

Alec sat on the floor with a large sheet of paper laid out on the floor and held in place with small items around the edges. As per his therapist's suggestion, when he was away from Xander, he tried to find a task to focus on, just one task, for the duration of Xander's absence. Preferably something that would bring him joy. This time, he'd chosen art. Despite his love of color, his favorite medium for his personal art was pencil, keeping it black and white and simple. He had filled most of the paper with wide, sweeping images and tiny details tucked in the edges and corners.

Xander walked over and sat next to Alec, watching him draw in silence. Alec didn't even look at Xander, but he smiled at his brother's presence.
 
Inside, Daizi found where Dark was waiting for her, handed Ivy to him, and then plopped down next to him. It wasn't something she really wanted to admit, but she was tired. In the months since having Ivy, she had lost a bit of stamina for long days like that, even wonderful ones, and she was glad to be back home with her husband, who was more than happy to have two of his favourite people back home again.

"You are both worn out, it seems," Dark teased lightly, pulling her in with one arm while supporting Ivy with the other.

"What have you been up to all day?" She asked, shutting her eyes as she curled up against him.

"Carving. Xander's wardrobe is nearly finished, I am rather proud of it. But I was reading in here when you came in, so I had something to do while I waited to see you both again."
 
Xander closed his eyes and leaned over against Alec's shoulder. Alec set down his pencil and put his arm around Xander, holding him close as they listened to Dark and Daizi talk. Xander was exhausted. Happy, yet sad. Happy because it had been a really, really good and fun day, but sad because he felt that a friendship was over. Maybe he was even grieving for a loss that hadn't happened yet. Alec could feel his conflict and just held him.

After a bit, Xander sat up, and Alec turned to smile at Daizi. "Welcome home! Was Ivy as much of a hit as we expected?"
 
"Oh, they loved her," Daizi said cheerfully, staying perfectly positioned under her husband's arm, "Even my coworkers who had met her before were amazed at how big she's gotten. Most of them haven't seen her since she was a newborn."

"She has a curious ability to make even people who do not like babies adore her," Dark commented, lifting Ivy closer to her face. Much like her mother and eldest brother, she seemed very tired. It had been a very long day of being adored.
 
"We missed you, Mama, but I'm glad you three had such a good day," Alec told her, scooting over to touch her knee. Then he hugged Xander again. "Now for the rest of the week to be relaxing, rejuvenating, and... uh... re... revitalizing!"

Xander snorted and gently pushed him away. "You're a dork, but you're not wrong. Time for some fun for the rest of the week!"

Alec laughed and pushed him back, starting a light tussling match where they both tried not to land on Alec's work.

For the rest of the week, the twins did mostly just that. Xander did hang out a little bit with Toby next door because it was something interesting and different, but the pair mostly stuck together, driving around, practicing their music, their art, and whatever else they wanted to do. Xander did take some time to work in his shop, but they mostly took the opportunity to relax and enjoy themselves and not think about Monday.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top