How Green Becomes Wood

"Right." Dark replied with a tiny smirk, "and when was the last time Daizi snuck off somewhere without telling anyone? I think her point stands." Then he turned as the front door opened and his wife and child returned, "Welcome home."

Ivy squealed with joy and excitement when suddenly her father was there, and there was no option but to hand her over almost immediately, "She missed you," Daizi grinned, "Did you have a good time?"
 
"It was great!" Alec told her. "There was all sorts of jumps and flips and twirls and only a couple of falls. Xander liked it, too, and Baba did not get dragged into any fights!"
 
"Was getting into a fight a possibility?" Daizi asked turning to Dark with a raised eyebrow.

"It was touch and go for a minute there." Dark said sardonically, bouncing Ivy a bit higher, "Alec tried skateboarding. He did fairly well."
 
"It was a lot of fun! I think I bruised a few places, but I was wearing the appropriate protective gear. I bet you'd enjoy it if we could find a good way for you to give it a try," Alec told her. "There were also scooters. I didn't know people could do those kinds of tricks with those little things! You might like a scooter better."
 
"I think if they could set up giant versions of those bumpers they have in bowling, I would do just fine," Daizi laughed, "I like when Dark and I rent a tandem bicycle, because I can sit in the back without needing to steer, but it feels the same. You should take ibuprofen tonight so you'll hopefully be less sore tomorrow."
 
"It was nice, we brought some berries over to Lex, but then stayed to talk for a little while. Ivy was very sweet to her, she even allowed Lex to hold her." Daizi said happily, deciding she did feel somewhat lighter after their discussion earlier.
 
"Wow, now that's impressive," Alec said in surprise. He grinned at Ivy. "Did Lex strike a special chord for you? Huh? Good job being brave!"

From upstairs, Xander called down, "Do we have enough berries left for a cobbler or something?"
 
"Oh, now that there's a possibility of berries, you decide to engage," Daizi laughed, tipping her head back, "Yes, we have more than enough berries for cobblers and jams and anything else you might want."
 
"I dunno how to make jam, but I can give it a try, if you want," Xander called back down.

"Why don't you come down here to have a conversation at a civil level?" Alec yelled up the stairs.

"What's a civil level and by which cultural definition?" Xander retorted.

Alec frowned. "Huh? It's all the same!"

"No it ain't! Just ask the tall guy down there or a Japanese person or an Italian!"
 
"Jam isn't too hard," Daizi called back up, standing up on the bottom stair.

"Do not call me the 'tall guy.'" Dark huffed, then to Alec said, "He is correct, different cultures do have different accepted levels of closeness and volume, but I am not sure which culture allows for yelling through the house."
 
"Yeah? You know how to make jam?" Xander called back curiously. "You wanna show me how sometime? That'd be cool."

"Loud people, I think. And people too lazy to walk down the stairs!" Alec raised his voice for the second sentence.

"Am not! You could always walk up."

"It's four to one! You should come down!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!" Xander grudgingly started down the stairs.
 
When Xander finally came downstairs she told him, "I do know how to. It's not too complicated, but it is really easy to get wrong, which is why I don't do it too often. But it's very satisfying when you get it right. Cooger tried to get me to get into canning so we could have enough food prepared to survive the apocalypse, once, but I told him he's not turning me into a post-apocalyptic housewife."
 
"There's no perfect time, whenever you want, I suppose. I think your schedule is tighter than mine," She told him, her face brightening up a little bit. This was good, she was going to get to do something with him, and she wouldn't have to feel distressed for not doing enough with her sons. "What kind of jam do you want to make? We can do really any mixture of berries, and we can add spices or herbs, too."
 
Xander considered this thought for a minute. "How about we start simple with one berry? I dunno, what's a good berry to start with?"

"Strawberries!" Alec chirped. "Do strawberry jam! I love strawberry jam!"

"I'm good with strawberry. Are you good with strawberry?" Xander asked Daizi.
 
Daizi chuckled slightly at Alec's exuberance, "Strawberry is perfect with me. It's a good time for it, I think, because our strawberries are just going out of season, so it'll be a nice way to finish them up."
 
"He may not be helping to make them, but I'm certain he'll help to eat it." Daizi laughed, walking to the kitchen, "We may even be able to do it tonight, if you'd like. I need to check if we have everything."
 
"Sure, sounds good to me," Xander agreed, following her. "What all do we need?"

Alec grinned as he watched them go. "I will be first in line for tastes tests, and maybe I'll suggest a few recipes, too!" He mumbled to himself happily, rubbing his hands together. He headed for the stairs and his laptop for berry recipe research.
 
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