How Green Becomes Wood

Dark smiled slightly at the way the twins teased each other and then sat back to enjoy the quiet evening. Daizi fell asleep on his shoulder, Ivy fell asleep in his arm, and Enkidu was sleeping at his feet. Everything was quiet and he was free to enjoy the peace of their home.

During the week, he did have to spend an irritating amount of time grading and preparing for the final few weeks of the school year, and it annoying him to no end that he had to do unpaid work during break... but at least he was able to do so with Ivy in his lap, around his family, which is really what he spent most of break doing, spending time with his wife, with his baby, with his sons. Cooger came over a number of times to spend time with Dark in his shed as he worked on his carvings. It was a good week, and as it neared its end, dread crept slowly and steadily in as he prepared to go back to work, again.

His goodbye that Monday morning was longer than usual, and he lingered for a few moments at his steering wheel before starting the car. Daizi had dreaded it, too, because having him around to help her again relaxed her immensely, but she put on a brave face to not stress him further.

At school, he told the twins he hoped they had a nice day, and did his best to give them positive affirmations without making it obvious, knowing what today meant for them, too, and then went to class.

Milo didn't run into Xander until lunchtime, when he came up to him with a thick manilla envelope, wearing the museum t-shirt he had bought, "There are, um, your copies of the pictures I took."
 
"Thanks," Xander said, taking the envelope. "Get any good ones?" He opened it and slid them out with great care.

Alec leaned over to look and keened in delight. "Those are fantastic! You are good at candids, Milo, but these stills or whatever they are called are really, really great."

"That reminds me, I got something for you," Xander said, handing the pictures to Alec to look through so he could dig into his backpack.
 
"I still don't like the stills as much," Milo said, rubbing the back of his neck, "but I think the other shots are pretty cool. I didn't put any of the pictures of strangers in there, for you. Well, I put a few in of people looking really interested in your mom's work. I know she can't see it, but I thought it'd be a nice thing to have. I've got my own copies, so you can keep all of those."

When Xander started digging in his backpack, Milo immediately wanted to tell him that he didn't have to, but he remembered Xander saying that he wanted to, and he didn't know what the correct thing to say was, anymore, so he swallowed hard and said, "Oh. Thank. You."
 
"I know you don't like them as well, but that doesn't mean you aren't good at them," Alec praised. He paused when he spotted a particular picture and pulled it out more. It was Xander pulling a face in front of a dinosaur. "You didn't tell me about this one," he told Xander, grinning.

Xander blushed and muttered something as he took a couple of pieces of homework out of his backpack.

Alec turned to Milo and showed him the picture. "This one is my favorite, and I love your shirt."

Xander finally hoisted a battered shoe box tapped shut out of his bag and turned toward Milo. "Sorry about the box. It was the only one I could find that was the right size, and I didn't think about what it might mean until too late." He held it out awkwardly.

When Milo looked inside, he would find dozens of postcards from all over town, including a handful from the museum. There were too many to fit in a smaller box, but the shoe box was too big, leaving them to flop about loosely. At least their loose fit allowed other things to fit in the box. Tucked amongst the postcards was a sheet of stamps, and on one end of the box, a brand new pencil with a sharpener, a new pen, and a pack of four colored pens. Xander hadn't been sure what Milo would prefer and decided to give him options.
 
Milo took the box from him carefully, moving to sit down because he wanted to be sure he didn't accidentally drop it or something, "No, the box is okay, it's not a bad box..." He murmured, opening it up and carefully going through all of the postcards, and stamps, and writing supplies, and as he did, his face grew more and more red, until he just made a tiny little squeak of a sound when he attempted to speak. He was anxious and awkward, but he wasn't stupid, and he understood what was intended with this box. But that squeak was all he managed to get out as he sat there, red-faced and bouncing one leg.
 
Xander didn't look at him directly, instead fiddling with the edge of the manila envelope Alec laid on the table in front of him. "I thought you might... you know... want to keep a few... and maybe use a few. No pressure. But my address is in there at the bottom. If you wanted to write. You don't have to. You can just keep the cards. I remember you said you liked them."

Alec sat glancing between them and feeling as though he might suffocate under second-hand awkward. Was that possible? Maybe. With these two.
 
Milo nodded a lot and swallowed hard so he could make himself speak, "I'll write. I mean, I'll have your phone number, but, um," he swallowed, ducking his head back down, "I can, you know, send you post cards of all the places I go. Not in, you know, a Doctor Suess way, but, you know. So you can see everywhere I get to see. And if my mom and I do settle down, you can get them from all the places in the area, you know? When I get to know all of the places like this."
 
"Cool," Xander said quietly, nodding as well, staring at the table. "That'll be good. And I'll be waiting to hear that you have pictures in a gallery."

Alec watched them, biting his lip lightly. He wanted to hug them both so badly! But, instead, he focused on being invisible until needed.
 
"You might be waiting awhile," Milo murmured, still bouncing his leg. He sat for awhile in silence and then took a quick, darting glance at Xander, "My mom is picking me up after school today. She's got a brand new used red pick up truck. We're leaving tomorrow morning. But we're going out to dinner, tonight. You can come. If you'd like to."
 
"We've got a pretty long road trip tomorrow," Milo replied with a little shrug, "but I guess I get it. Will you wait with me when she comes to get me after school, though? I... I want you to meet her."
 
"Sure," Xander agreed immediately. "It'd be cool to meet her." That was a partial lie. Part of him still had a distinct picture of what he thought Milo's mother would be like and act like, and he didn't want that picture disproven, but the less selfish side of him hoped desperately to be proven wrong. He wanted Milo to have a happy life, to have a life with family, and why should he wish that kind of ill on anyone? No, the part of him that didn't want to meet Milo's mom was the angry, childish side that was hurting at the thought of losing the first friend he'd made on his own. He recognized that and felt bad even while talking himself around. There was no way he was going to turn down Milo's request. He was going to be polite, reserved, and happy for Milo if it was the last thing he did! And it might be the last thing he did with Milo. He wasn't going to ruin it by acting like a selfish brat.

"Can I?" Alec asked cautiously, raising one hand slightly.
 
"Cool," Milo replied, and then jumped at Alec's question, having entirely forgotten he was there. "If you'd like to, sure." He nodded, "My mom's really nice. We, um, spoke a lot on the phone, last night. She's really excited to see me again, she's missed me a lot."
 
"Of course she did! She's your mother, and you love each other. How can you not miss someone you love?" Alec said encouragingly.

Xander bit his tongue. "Right, then we'll all meet her right after school," he said agreeably.
 
"And I'll be able to show her this box," He said, picking it up again, "She'll think it's cool. I was sending her letters while she was away." Milo didn't say this aloud, but he was a bit nervous about them meeting her, even though it was something he knew he wanted them to do. So many people had so many negative thoughts about people like his mom, and he knew she wasn't like that, but it still felt like he was battling against it. It mattered to him that Xander liked her, and didn't just see her as... something he didn't like to say, even in his thoughts.
 
"Bet she liked that, and you'll be able to tell her about your shirt," Xander said.

Alec nodded. "She'll be so interested in hearing all of your stories in person, and I'm sure she appreciated your letters!"
 
"She said she's doing really well, now," Milo said, opening the box back up to look inside and then setting it back down on the table. He was excited. And sad. And excited. It was all weird, and he didn't really know how to process it. He was tired of moving, but he was tired of still being here. He hadn't wanted anyone to get to know him, but now some people had, and he hated that. But only some people had, and it was for the best he left before anyone else did, but he didn't want to leave the people who had. But he missed his mom, and he was so excited to see her again. So he was focusing on that, really. Because everything else was too complicated to think about too deeply.
 
Alec scooted over and put a hand on Milo's shoulder. "I'm really happy for you, that you get to be with her again," he said quietly. "It's fantastic! We are going to miss you horribly, of course, but we're glad that you get to reunite with your family."

Xander gave a quick nod, not sure what to add to that rather "mushy" statement and not about to go touching Milo.
 
Milo looked over at him with wide eyes, surprised by it, "Thank you," he mumbled, "I'm glad too." Then, he swallowed, looked down at the table, and mumbled, "I'm going to miss you too. Both of you. I'm going to miss you."

He ate lunch with them, that day. Just with them, and spent the rest of the day with the sort of heavy strangeness that comes with knowing he wasn't going to see anyone else at that school again, it was like the last day of school before summer, except only for him. It was a normal day for everyone else, but he went through the motions.

At the end of the day, he walked out of the school, and looked around, expecting to see his mom there already waiting for him. When he didn't spot her, he looked over at Xander, "It'll probably be a few minutes, she's never been here before."
 
Xander plunked his backpack down at his feet and shoved his hands into his pockets. "That's cool," he agreed. "Hard to find new places."

Alec wandered a few paces away and sat down on a tiny patch of grass so he could pull out his notebook and get a headstart on his homework. He made certain everything was quick to pack away the moment Milo spotted his mother.

"How are your grands holding up?" Xander finally asked.
 
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