How Green Becomes Wood

When Alec came in, Dark as on the ground, facing Ivy, and planking, because Ivy was too, and he decided it was a competition. It was unclear how long they had both been holding this position.

"Because it's very often we are," Daizi said, not planking, "we live a very complicated life. But you don't have to worry, I think everything is okay. It was a good talk. I thought it was a good talk."
 
"Well," Dark said, only mildly strained, "Darling Ivy-Qadira here has, apparently, learned how to push herself up on her hands and feet, so I am doing her with it. For someone who is less than a year old, she is quite good."

"It means we're very close to her beginning to crawl." Daizi mentioned.
 
"That's good, right? It means development?" Alec gasped, strained but holding on.

Xander walked in, intending to ask a question, but forgot the moment he saw what was going on. "Uh... what's happening?" He asked uncertainly.
 
"Ivy is planking, so Dark is planking, so Alec is planking." Daizi laughed, "so we think Ivy is going to start crawling soon, and Dark is competing against her."

Dark said nothing, focused on his task
 
"Good job Ivy," Dark said, keeping his eyes mostly on her. They had really only been at it for about a minute or two, and Ivy had already dropped down a few times before getting back up, "You are amazing, Hummingbird. You are! You are doing so well."

Daizi laughed softly, "We need to start sewing bells onto her clothes."
 
Xander sat on the arm of the couch to watch, highly amused. Alec's face was slowly starting to turn an alarming shade of red, but he was still trying! "Crawling comes after planking, right? Yeah, might be a good idea. You know, I'd have joined, but they got a head start, so it didn't seem fair."

Alec just wheezed.
 
"We are very near to dangerous territory," Daizi said proudly, "She's already trouble. When she's mobile, we're done for."

"She might skip crawling and go straight to walking," Dark said, and Ivy dropped back down to her belly, so he cheered for her, "Great job, Ivy! You're so strong my darling!"
 
"She's just," Alec wheezed, "going to - ugh - cr-cr-crawl for..." The air whooshed out of his lungs as he face planted into the floor.

"He lasted longer than I expected," Xander remarked.
 
"He has been training hard," Dark said, resting down onto his knees and then sitting upright. "He began after Ivy started, though, so I think they ultimately tied."

"You did amazing, habibi," Daizi only lightly teased. "I should've been blanking with her, I did all that physical therapy after she was born, but it wouldn't hurt to do more work to rebuild my core. Especially since we're about to go to the beach."
 
"Sure, yes, it can become our family hobby, planking competitions," Alec wheezed into the floor.

"I've heard of weirder," Xander smirked. "And I don't think it's a bad idea."
 
Daizi frowned, lifting Ivy into a seated position, "I'm not going to compete. I'm at an unfair disadvantage. You four can have at it."

"My darling Spider, you are wonderful." Dark replied, kissing the back of her hand. "I am at an unfair advantage, likely, although I am regaining some lost strength after recuperating from my bruised rib."
 
"How are you at an unfair advantage?" Alec demanded, still on the floor. "I can barely outlast Ivy!"

"Technically, you were even with her, you didn't outlast her," Xander smirked.
 
"I am at an unfair advantage because I have worked very hard on strength and endurance," Dark replied, confused by the question. "I have been training for significantly longer."

Daizi rubbed the back of her neck, "I don't think Xander would want to hear why I'm at an unfair disadvantage."
 
"All the more reason for you to train with us and compete! So you can get better than all of us," Alec said cheerfully.

Xander thought about asking and then decided it was safer not to.
 
"I have been training," Daizi said, smoothing the front of her shirt, "and I think I'm doing better. It just takes a lot to rebuild strength there. It wasn't easy bringing her here. Right Ivy?" She turned to her baby, taking her tiny hands in hers, "But it was worth it, wasn't it habibti! Yes it was, because now darling Ivy-Qadira is here!"
 
"Cool. It's a thing now. We're working out as a family in order to compete in death games. Loser leaves the clan," Xander smirked.

That got Alec off the floor as he protested and tried to chase his brother around without endangering Ivy.

A couple of days later, it was time for the water balloon fight! Xander went out early and put up temporary barricades - mostly cardboard - around Daizi's most important or most delicate flowers. He even managed to make a few barricades, however flimsy, to hide behind around the yard. The twins filled up so many water balloons that their fingers became red, sore, water-logged nubs. It was worth it, though!

When Milo and Sloan came, they arrived to the ultimate water balloon fight arena. Alec and Xander both had a blast, and while they had a slight home advantage of being familiar with the yard, they were fairly even. Xander had great aim and a strong arm to throw far with shocking accuracy, but he was also too bold for his own good and often left himself open to attacks. Alec was a cautious player, meaning he did not actually land many hits, though the ones he did land were quite impactful, and he, himself, was excellent at dodging.

Then Xander in a pre-planned sneak attack, got the hose.
 
Sloan came wearing shorts and a bikini top, and was a fairly formidable opponent. She wasn't perfect at throwing, although she was no means the worst, but her ability to dodge was unmatched from her gymnastics training. Milo found her commitment to an honest to god dive roll impressive, and it made him wish he could use his camera. For the first time since they had known him he wasn't wearing it, because he didn't want it to get wet and be ruined. Although he, admittedly, wasn't very good at the game. His dodges weren't too bad, but the water getting on his glasses got in the way.

When Xander brought out the hose, Sloan shrieked and tried to scurry away, while Milo laughed and attempted to protect his glasses. It was at that point, though, that Dark, who had been sitting on the deck with Ivy in a tiny inflatable kiddie pool---which she adored---picked up one of the few waterballoons he had kept hidden and lobbed it in a graceful arc over the railing, squarely at Xander.
 
Xander got hit square in the shoulder by the balloon. He slow turned and glared at Dark, but because he was sitting with Ivy near the house, Xander didn't dare turn the hose on him. Instead, he made the universal sign for, "I'm watching you" and then took off running as best he could after Sloan and Milo until Alec managed to sneak around and shut off the water.

They sat on the deck, dripping wet and with towels, eating snacks including red, white, and blue popsicles. Xander and Alec compared tears and grass stains on their clothes and agreed it was worth it. It was a good time, and they laughed a lot, picked up every shred of balloon they could find, and left the cardboard barricades to dry before recycling them. It was a good, exhausting day, and the twins both somehow got sunburned despite their best efforts. At least they weren't bad sunburns.
 
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