How Green Becomes Wood

"Daizi chose it." Dark said, looking lovingly at her, "I asked her to name me."

"Ghalib means to overcome or to defeat, and Marzuq means blessed, prosperous, or successful." She rubbed his arm, unable to say it was perfect for him, because it simply was him.
 
Daizi frowned, still holding Dark's forearm, "It is not 'on the nose.'" She remembered the exact moments the names came to her.

"It is the only name I do not mind hearing people call." Dark told them, "and it is... very nice to know my name was chosen by someone who loves me."
 
"Thank you," Dark said quietly, raising his drink slightly back to Xander, and then he turned and took Ivy out of her high chair and held her in his lap, "It is a nice feeling. I do not know how much I will use it, but I feel better having a full name again."
 
"I think you will use it more than you think, but not as much as we might want," Alec grinned. "I think it's fantastic. Really. Awesome!"

Xander nodded. "Are you going to make it fully official and sign all the documents and stuff?"
 
"I am already in the process of it." Dark told him, taking a sip of his drink, "Very recently into it. Which makes it the... second time I have officially changed my name? Third if you count my change of surname, but that was not exactly through proper channels, I took advantage of lost documents."
 
"Are you planning on changing your name?" Daizi asked in a teasing tone.

"It really is not complicated," Dark told them, "I will need to go before a judge and submit it in at least two newspapers, which is irritating, as I am only going from two initials to two words beginning with those initials. I do not think the world needs to be made aware of that, and I am very near to hiring a lawyer to argue an exception given the nature of the change."
 
"I think hiring a lawyer would be a lot more expensive and far more of a hassle than just doing the newspaper thing. Just pick two of the least read newspapers," Alec suggested.
 
"It would be. But I detest the idea of it." He patted Ivy on her back, "You are the only announcement I would ever enjoy putting in the paper, if it were still a thing people typically did." He ran his thumb down the back of her hair moved her closer and she happily snuggled against him, sucking on her fist.

"It will be grand, I don't think anyone reads those columns anyway. Oh no, someone's grandfather will know." Daizi pointed out.
 
"What do you want to bet Aunt Ciara reads those?" Xander mused.

"I could see her doing it," Alec admitted. "Oh, you should mention it to her. She might like the heads up."

"Either way, it's a good name," Xander approved.
 
"And mention it to Lance," Daizi mentioned, her face glowing with joy for her husband. Over the past weeks since it had been decided but it was kept secret between the two of them, she found so much joy in murmuring it to him and hearing the way he reacted. She couldn't wait to propose to him and say those two beautiful words.

"Thank you," Dark said with a small nod, "I agree. It is a good name. Daizi chose well."

"You overcame so much," She murmured to him lovingly, "What else could I have chosen?"
 
"I think Alec and Xander are lovely names, even when they're together," Daizi said, "We joked about making Ivy's middle name Alexandra. Ivy Alexandra sounds very regal, and it made us laugh to imagine introducing our children Alec, Xander, and Ivy Alexandra. It was never something we neant seriously, but it was fun to talk about."

"Had she been born under kinder circumstances we may have had the energy to introduce her as Alexandra as a joke before revealing her true name," Dark murmured, standing his baby up in his lap.

"I don't think there was ever a chance where I'd hold her in my arms for the first time and think about making a joke about her," Daizi replied, remembering how all encompassing that moment was and knowing perfectly well it would've been equally overwhelming had Ivy been born on time.
 
"Good thing the poor kid missed out on that fate," Xander quipped. "That's pretty bad."

"I think it's sweet... while being bad," Alec laughed. "She's too precious for a joke. Far too precious!"
 
Looking down into Ivy's bright, smiling face, Dark couldn't help but kiss her cheek and forehead, hugging her as tightly as he dared. "Yes, that is true. Maybe we would have announced Alexandra if the two of you pestered us about telling you the name early. But not when we announced her. Hearing her cry and seeing her for the first time are two of the greatest moments in my life."

"Ah!"

"Yes they were, Hummingbird." Running his fingers through her dark hair he told her, "Baba was so happy to meet his baby."

"It would have been funny to hear your reactions," Daizi giggled, imagining a protracted silence followed by a forced attempt to be positive about it, "But I was too focused on getting her her to even think about making jokes about her. And now that she's here, she means too much. I cannot joke about the two of you, either. I can tease you, but I can't make jokes about you to someone else. You're too important."
 
Alec smiled as he watched them. He wouldn't say it out loud, and he knew they'd protest, but he knew that Ivy was far more important than they were. And that was actually not a bad thought to him. It did not make him feel less important to Dark and Daizi. It was just... what it was. And looking at Ivy, could anyone blame them? Knowing everything they went through to get to this point, could anyone be upset? He didn't think so. Ivy was supremely precious, and they all loved her.

"What's the difference between jokes and teasing?" Xander asked, honestly curious.
 
Ivy grabbed onto her father's hair and beard, babbling at him, and Dark responded to her as if everything she said was very important and very serious.

"I don't know if this is the actual definition, but to me, making jokes about someone is when you make fun of them without them being involved, but when you're teasing them they're part of it and are able to throw it back at you." Daizi tried to explain, but found it difficult to express the subtle differences between two subtle topics, "I guess I feel like a joke is at someone's expense but teasing is... It's like, when I was telling Dark how he'd be awful if could be pregnant, I was teasing him, but if I went to my friends and made a joke about how much he likes to clean, it just feels differently."
 
"That tracks," Xander said seriously. He stood and started cleaning up. Since Dark and Daizi had made dinner, it only seemed fair that he clean up.

Alec watched Ivy and Dark for a bit before also standing to help clean.
 
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