How Green Becomes Wood

"Well, if she comes to visit during a break time, she won't be alone much," Alec pointed out. "In the meantime, what if we scout out areas around here she might like and have some fun in the process? There's a lot around here to see."
 
"Why would she come here just to be alone?" Milo asked, frowning, "She's alone all the time in New Mexico, because I wasn't allowed to move in with her, why would she come here just so she is alone some more?"
 
"Oh for crying- I give up!" Alec groaned in exasperation. Was Milo on something today or just very distracted? "Never mind. Forget I mentioned anything. What postcards are those?"
 
Milo blinked, slumping his shoulders, really not understanding what he was saying incorrectly. What else could he have meant by well, during break, she won't be alone much? "There's, um, the Georgia O'Keefe museum, the Museum of International Folklore, Cimmaron Canyon State Park--she found it after realizing we can't see the Grand Canyon--and Meowwolf. I'm really excited to go to Meowwolf."
 
"It's like... this giant art installation," Milo tried to explain, "It's meant to be sort of trippy and disorienting and cool. At lunch you should pull up videos of it, it's really cool. I knew about it before my mom decided to move there. I've wanted to go for a really long time, actually."
 
"Then, when you go, you'll have to send back pictures!" Alec encouraged him.

Xander gave a slight nod. "And a postcard."

"If it was closer, I'd suggest we help you move and then all go together, but I'm not sure that'd be helpful or feasible," Alec mused. "Not to mention, you'd probably want to go to at least one of these things with your mum first before sharing time with friends."
 
Milo began tucking the post cards away, taking one last look at his mom's handwriting as he did so, "There's a lot I want to do with her. I mean, it'd be cool if you visited and stuff, but I haven't been able to do anything with her in..." he quickly gave up trying to count, "a long time. And we were supposed to have done all these things over the summer, but we weren't allowed to. It's still dumb."
 
"Maybe, but now you've had a chance to catch up on your education and build up a good foundation for when you transfer to a school near her," Alec pointed out patiently. "And now you have a chance to do other things! Might not be as cool, but still cool, right? And you have friendship practice for New Mexico now, too."

Austin came in seconds before class started and gave them all a quiet nod before taking his seat.
 
"Yeah, I guess so." Milo replied, but it didn't really make him feel any better, and after learning from that near-fight they only avoided by the footballers fighting each other, he also didn't understand why they didn't seem to get why he wanted this so much. "I just... I want to live with her again. She's better now."
 
Alec would have said something, but the teacher was calling them to order. So, he sat back and tried not to appear too antsy. There was so much he wanted to say! It clogged his mind up. Of Course Milo wanted to live with his mother! And of course he didn't like living with his grandparents because they didn't do things the way he was used to. But, on the other hand, considering how many times Milo's mother had relapsed and the fact that it took the state to mandate she get some help, of course his grandparents would keep him for longer to make sure she could keep things together. And, comparatively, it had not actually been that long since she'd been out. But Milo was acting like some sort of tragic teen lover or a Stolkholmed person. The only good things that could possibly happen to him would be with his mother! How did he not see that was kind of weird? And possibly unhealthy? How could he not let himself have just a tiny amount of fun here and now?

He took a deep breath and tried to reason with himself. It was just a hard morning for Milo. Again. Having just gotten the postcards, everything was fresh, and his mother had likely said how much she missed him. It was only natural he'd be gloomy. Alec needed to have a little patience, that was all. Milo would cheer up and maybe be open to something happier later. Or tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow could finally be a better day.
 
For his part, Milo was still mad at his grandparents. He didn't care if it had been months, he still adamantly felt he should have been involved in the conversation, rather than being commanded. He wasn't five, anymore. And he still missed her. She was all he had for so many years, and then it was ripped away, and he was still dealing with that, and it wasn't like anyone talked about it with him. And he was pretty sure that he was the last person alive who loved his mom. That wasn't fair, either. She was a good person, he knew that, even if nobody else did.

After class let out, he followed the twins to their next one with his hands down and his head in his pockets, just trying to get through the day.
 
"I don't actually know if she is, but she works hard. She's a waitress, you know, so she works hard, and by the time I'll get to move there, she'll have been there for awhile. I'm hoping I get to go this year, but if not, the second I turn eighteen I'm moving that way, and by then she'll have two years in, so she'll probably be earning more by then. She adopted a beta fish."
 
"Rough, good work. Don't see no reason why you shouldn't get to go once the school year ends if she's stayed on the straight and narrow and so have you," Xander remarked calmly despite the twinge in his gut. "You'll be going. What's a beta fish? And don't say a fish, I got that much."
 
"I thought I'd be going last year, and they decided to not let me," He pointed out flatly, "and I shouldn't have needed to do anything to earn it, I didn't do anything wrong. A beta fish is those sleek fancy fish with the really dramatic fins. They sell them in cups at pet stores. My mom's is blue with red fins, like the reverse of how Alec had his hair, and he's named Bug because he's got really big eyes."
 
"Yeah, they're not like goldfish that keep growing," Milo replied, "That's what my mom said, anyway. She also got a little snail called Stew, because they hate other fish, and their own reflection, but are chill with snails."
 
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