How Green Becomes Wood

"I can promise Daizi will not be upset if you ask to play with her, we both take pleasure in either of you showing interest in her. Even though it is clear you both have accepted her, it is still comforting." He glanced at Alec, "Just---do not to up to Daizi and say, 'Can I play with her so you can take a break?' It will not feel the same."
 
"Hmm, quite right," Alec agreed with him. "Puppies and babies are ah-dor-ah-bull, but you are ah-dor-ah-ball! There's quite a difference there."

Xander had heard the car drive up and came down to open the door for them. "What's different?" he asked, puzzled. "And are there any more bags?"

"Yes to bags," Alec told him. "Do you think our Ba is adorable?"

Xander looked up at Dark. "Yep," he said without hesitation. "Especially when he's in a frowning mood." He went out to get a load from the trunk.
 
Dark grumbled, taking the majority of the bags, "I am not. You both need to return to the doctor, clearly." As he walked into the house, he said, "I fear what you both find adorable if you think I am."
 
"Baby animals," Dark answered, setting down his bags so he could take off his shoes and touch the salt before picking them back up and bringing them to the kitchen, "Ivy. Certain moth faces." He shrugged, putting things away, "Fruit bats and urcine bears."
 
"Some moths have faces like butterflies, but some have fluffy, sweet faces. Some spiders do too." Dark answered, pausing with a little smile as he heard Daizi singing to Ivy in the living room, "Some moths lack mouths, because their adult lifespans are so short, so they have big bug eyes, fuzzy bodies, and no probiscus."
 
"That's adorable?" Xander asked incredulously at the same time as Alec exclaimed, "That's adorable!"

The twins quickly helped Dark put everything away, and then Alec scampered to the living room. "Mama! We have a very important question for you. It's really, very important."
 
Daizi sat up from where she was lying on the couch, keeping Ivy up on it with one hand, "Oh? What's that?"

Unable to quite manage sitting up on her own while on the soft couch, Ivy stayed flopped over but squealed emphatically at the sight of her brother.
 
"Do you think your husband is adorable or not?" Alec asked.

Xander walked over and crouched near the couch. He offered Ivy his fist for a fist bump. He was still patiently trying to teach her fist bumps.
 
"I---" Daizi frowned, having never really considered it before, and she couldn't just answer it automatically, despite how much the sound of her husband swearing at the sound of the question made her want to, "I think he is very endearing. I love how grumpy he can be, especially in the mornings. But I don't think he's adorable per-se, because he's not... I mean, he can be cute, when he's upset and comes up silently to me and hugs me tightly, I think it's incredibly endearing, but I don't think 'adorable' would make it on my top-ten list of ways to describe him. He can be sweet, though, to the right people."

Ivy looked at Xander's fist curiously and reached out, but only ended up grabbed onto it, rather than returning the gesture.
 
"Ah, so he's not adorable. I stand corrected," Alec said, nodding solemnly. He glanced up at Dark with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "He's CUTE! You are so right."

Xander sighed and let her hold his fist for a moment before gently pulling free and rubbing his hand on his shirt roughly. "We're getting there," he told her.
 
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