How Green Becomes Wood

"I hope the cereal did not get into the gears," Dark commented idly, some genuine nervousness creeping in.

~~

"Just wait until you meet the Aunties. They don't typically come stateside, but it's not like they're taking Ivy to Egypt for her first birthday." Cooger replied, turning back to his work, "'Course, you're not required to go to any of it. People are busy, even when they're not. You know? Getting an invitation don't mean you gotta go. Dark only visits my family on Thanksgiving, and that's 'cause if he doesn't come, he'll make my mom cry. Anyway, for her birthday, if you do go, she's young enough it won't matter much. As long as you don't bring one of those really annoying, loud toys, Dark and Daizi are going to be over the moon all day. It's gonna be the first time they let the kid have sugar, though, and that'll be fun."
 
"That was the first thing I checked. It's all good," Xander promised.

~~

Tristan glanced at Cooger, wondering if the big red-head could read his unease or if he was just trying to be preventative. "Thank you for the advice. I am certainly going to have to think about it," he said at last. "I am glad for them. I do not know their full story, nor do I wish to pry, but I can see how much Ivy means to them, and I can see how much they love the boys. It brings me a lot of joy, even when I am awkwardly attempting to figure out what one says to a picture of a baby for the seventh time." He smiled, teasing lightly.
 
"Good." Dark nodded, "I would have been rather... disappointed, were it damaged without ever having been solved."

~~

Cooger laughed, "Ah, that's an easy one. You look at it, and you say, 'She's the cutest baby I've ever seen,' or 'She looks a lot like her mother,' or 'She is getting so big.' If you cycle through variations of those, you'll be fine. But I actually really like the kid--she's my first niece, even before the twins I had nephews. I mean, sorta, technically I'm a first-cousin-once-removed, but, uncle is easier--so I don't mind it so much. But that's the sequence, because even though I like the kid, she looks the same when sleeping most of the time."
 
"It'll be solved," Xander said bluntly. "Don't worry about that."

~~

"Fair enough," Tristan chuckled. "She is very, very cute, and I am interested, but, yes, there are only so many things I can think of to say about a sleeping or smiling child."
 
"I cannot wait for when it is." He replied, considering if Xander was too raw for him to tease, and ultimately deciding against it.

~~

"You weren't there for when she was in the NICU. Impossibly tiny baby, able to absolutely nothing, but brand new, so anytime I wasn't currently visiting the hospital, I got pictures of this very pink baby nonstop. But, I in a way it was helpful, because it was such a strange time, they proved s*** was real."
 
Xander grunted in acknowledgment and kept cleaning. He didn't have the heart to tell Dark that for a while he did not try to work on the box because the box represented a lot of good things, and he was in a low place. He hadn't wanted to taint the box. But things were starting to look... better? So, soon he'd be back at the box, and he knew for certain that he wasn't far from solving it.

~~

"I cannot imagine how difficult and surreal it must have all been," Tristan said seriously.
 
Dark let the topic drop and returned to cleaning up, knowing he needed to make the best use of Ivy's naptime to get things back in order. It was a never ending battle, and he knew it was only going to get worse.

~~

"It was weird," Cooger agreed, "But it turned out okay, you know? Everything worked out."
 
Xander worked beside him in companionable silence, learning as he went how to clean more efficiently.

Alec came in eventually and watched them for a while. He stepped forward as if to help but then drew back. He turned and went to the living room, fetching his notebook as he went. He could make better use of his time elsewhere.

~~

"And speaking of things working out, this looks great," Tristan said, waving a hand to the now orderly back room with its happy daisies. It looked a lot more cheerful now that it was not a disaster zone. "Thank you for all your hard work."
 
When Daizi woke up from her nap, she sat up having absolutely no idea where she was or what time it was for a few moments, due to how deeply she had passed out. Stretching deeply enough to crack her back, she got out of bed, smoothed her hair, and after checking if Ivy was still asleep, went downstairs while rubbing her eye with the heel of her hand.

~~

"Ah, it was no problem at all. Gave me something to do. Is there anything else you needed?" Cooger asked. If he was honest, normally he didn't work on Sundays, but typically if a repeat client called him the way Tristan had, he knew it was pretty serious.
 
Alec spotted her first and smiled. "Good morning, Mama! Kind of. How do you feel?"

~~

Tristan fished out Cooger's payment and checked to make certain he had the right amount plus a tip before carefully rolling over to Cooger and handing it over. "No, thank you. This has helped so much! It is perfect, and now the flowers have fresh water to last them a few days. Thank you so much for your help, and be sure to take some with you. Take two dozen. One for you, and one for your chickens."
 
"Better, I think," She stifled a yawn as she shuffled back into the living room, "It's a good thing Ivy takes naps, I don't know what I'd have done otherwise."

~~

Briefly, Cooger thought about declining payment, but this was literally his buisness and he came in on his day off. "You're really desperate to offload these flowers," Cooger chuckled, agreeing to take the two dozen flowers, although he wasn't sure what he'd do with the ones not going to his chickens. "Are you sure these aren't fenced? I don't wanna get caught up in a crime."
 
Alec walked over to her and gave her a gentle hug. "We'd have taken turns so you could sleep. And Ba, too, if he would."

~~

"They might be considering I ordered 20 and received two hundred and seven," Tristan said dryly. "They even miscounted when filling the order that I did not place."
 
Daizi hugged him back, "I know, Habibi. Thank you. She's a lot of work with a full night's sleep, it's much harder without one. And he wouldn't have slept, I think, but he'd have tried."

~~

"Maybe I shouldn't feed them to my chickens then, but I'll save them for next fourth of July," he joked, knowing Tristan would only understand half of it, "Well, I'll see you around, pal. And remember: She's getting so big, she looks like her mother, she's the cutest baby you've ever seen in your life."
 
"Ba is cleaning as we speak, and Xander is helping him," Alec reported, giving her a little squeeze before letting her go.

~~

Tristan chuckled and nodded. "Thank you, Cooger. I will write them down so I don't forget."
 
Her concern thinly veiled, she said, "That man..." as she pulled away from Alec, "But it makes him happy. Who am I to judge?"

~~

Cooger tapped the side of his nose with a wink. Then, he turned, waved, and left, accidentally crushing the two bouquets of daisies as he went. He decided he'd drive over to Dark's place first, and it'd give him time to think about what to do with the second bouquet.
 
Alec shrugged. "He seems to be doing... okay? Not great, but okay. From my perspective."

~~

Tristan made sure everything was cleaned up and locked up before heading out. Time to face getting into the car. Maybe it was time to start considering a more accessible vehicle, but he liked how compact and simple his car was. It was his mobility challenge for good and bad, but on days like today, it was looking more bad than good.

He made sure his wheels were locked and his chair secured. Then he pushed himself up out of the chair and against the car where he could grab the luggage rack on top and lock his knees. Then it was a matter of juggling the back door, folding his chair, and tossing it into the back. By the time he awkwardly shimmied his way into the driver's seat, he was soaked with sweat and shaking, but he'd made it! Now he just had to do this one more time in reverse when he got home. The price of maintaining his independence on bad days.
 
Briefly turning her face towards the ceiling, Daizi considered all the things Dark worked hard not to let the twins see, and all of the things he worked hard to not let anybody see, and said, "He is doing okay. We're all just a bit tired and raw today, I think." She cupped his chin in her hand, "Make sure you take care of yourself too."

~~

As Cooger drove, he kept glancing over at the daisies and annoying himself by realizing they made him hum an Avril Lavigne song he didn't realize he still knew the words to. That was Daizi's fault, but in this case the similarity in names was coincidental. Soon enough, he parked in the driveway of his friends and knocked on the door. Once upon a time, he'd just let himself in--he had a key to the door and permission--but a few years ago, predating the twins' arrival, he learned it was a bad idea, so. He knocked.
 
"I will," Alec promised. He hesitated, wanting to ask questions, but not sure if he could deal with the answers and the potential weight of them. Dark seemed to be carrying something, but he didn't know what. Was it about this whole mess? Or something else? Was it about Ivy and he'd been struck a lot deeper than he'd let Alec see? Was it's Alec's fault? Or did it have nothing to do with any of this whatsoever?

He was saved by a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" He went to open the door and smiled truly happy to see a friendly face. "Hi! Come on in!" He stepped aside so Cooger could enter. "Ivy is napping right now."
 
"How're you doing, kid?" Cooger asked, kicking off his boots and touching the salt, "That girl is always sleeping when I come over. I swear she plans it."

Dark came around the corner, grim faced and arms crossed, "Who invited you?"

"You look like s***." Cooger replied.

"Have you seen yourself?" After a moment they greeted each other like two very old friends always did. Then Dark asked, "What made you decide to visit?"

"Ah, I helped Tristan out today. Guess you didn't do good enough." Cooger chuckled, "now I've got twenty four daisies, and I can't feed that many to my chickens. I'd ask if you need any, but I'd guess you've been forced to take some already, too."
 
Xander came in with a frown and finally allowed his curiosity to win. "What is up with the daisy thing?" he demanded. "Why is everyone coming here with daisies?"

"They are all for Daizi, of course," Alec joked.
 
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