How Green Becomes Wood

"I am excited, and I'm also so nervous," She laughed, laying Ivy down on the changing table, cooing at her for a few moments before saying, "Isn't that silly? I know that even if he says he doesn't want to do the vow renewal, it'll be okay, because I know him well enough to know he's been delighted by all of this, and it's enough to have given him a special experience, but I'm still nervous."
 
"I think it makes perfect sense," Sally assured her. "It is a big thing, and I think that when we want to present something special to someone we really care about, a tiny part of us is always afraid that maybe, just maybe, we don't know them as well as we thought we did."
 
"Yeah," Daizi agreed softly, but then perked up again, "I'm really excited to see him later. I want to hear about how his day went, and if my puzzles were too easy for him."

Once Ivy was changed, she picked her up and squeezed her into a hug, "Okay, Hummingbird! You're going to go with your brothers and see Baba, okay! How fun to see Baba, right sweet girl? Right!" She peppered Ivy's head with kisses and then went downstairs to where the twins were waiting.
 
Alec spotted his mother and gave her a salute even though she couldn't see it. "We are ready and waiting to go!" He'd added a nice black jacket on top of his multi-colored shirt to tone it down just a little.

"Some of us with slight duress," Xander grumbled, tugging at his collar.

"You look fantastic, and quit fidgetting," Alec told him.

Xander grumbled again but tried to do as ordered. He was wearing all black, all nice clothes and a button-up shirt, with a silver belt, a silver dangling earring that was a solid long piece in one ear, and a nice jacket. He'd brushed his hair nicely, but it was rebelling by attempting to fall over his forehead in a very 80's bad-boy style. The look was ruined by the fact that his hair tickled and Xander kept trying to push it aside.

Alec held out his arms to Ivy. "Ready to go? You look so cute!"
 
Daizi handed Ivy over, surprised by how emotional it made her. To her memory, this was the first time Ivy was going somewhere without either of her parents, even though she knew they were just going to meet Dark somewhere. It still felt significant, and she wondered if the twins realized it, too. They had been left in charge of Ivy before, but always at home (or, wherever home was, like during vacation), but this time they were driving her somewhere, just the two of them.

"And you have the diaper bag? I put the baby puzzle into it last night, and a blanket, too, for you to sit on." Inside the bag, she had included another locked box, with no descriptions, and inside of it were what was needed. Ivy's onesie was decorated with purple hearts (not the plant, the symbol), as a clue for what key Dark needed to get the box open. Everything else was already there, "Sit underneath the tree by the swing set, okay? Where we sat on Father's day."
 
"Okay, we can do that. And the bag is already in the van. I checked twice," Alec assured Daizi, bouncing Ivy lightly. "We have everything ready to go!"

Xander stepped forward and took hold of Daizi's sleave, holding it lightly. "I'll drive very carefully," he told Daizi seriously. "Ivy will have a good time."
 
Daizi forced herself to take a deep breath and let it out, "I know you will. It'll be wonderful, it really will." After he let go, she pushed her hair back, and said, "Alright, bye. Have fun. Be sure to text me when he solves it, okay? He's going to talk with my family after he's finished, so he probably will stay in the park, but... You know. It's good to stay up to date, and you three can come home whenever you like. Thank you, really, for this."
 
"Absolutely," Xander said seriously. He tossed his keys, caught them and went to put his shoes on. "Come on, you two. We have a delivery to make!"

Alec laughed and put his shoes on, too, before taking Ivy out to buckle her in. "Here we go! We're going on an adventure!"

Sally glanced at Daizi as she watched the twins triple check they had everything before getting in and pulling out of the drive. "Are you alright, darling?"
 
The act of leaving the house without her mother, rather than her mother leaving her house without her, was too uncommon Ivy forgot to cry about it, and instead babbled and gurgled as she was buckled in. The van was unfamiliar to her, which provided more than enough of a distraction.

~~

Daizi turned slightly towards Sally, "Yeah... I'm okay. This is just the first time the twins have taken Ivy somewhere, just the two of them. She's gone places without me, and places without Dark, but she's never gone somewhere without either of us. It feels like a big deal, and it's not, really, they're just going to meet their father, but it feels... I don't know. It doesn't feel like nothing." She wasn't scared, there was no part of her which doubted they'd arrive safely, but there was something significant in it, to her.
 
Alec and Xander were both relieved that Ivy seemed too distracted to drive. Alec sat in the back with her, just in case, and Xander drove even more carefully than he normally did. They drove straight to the park, Xander parked, and then they both got out with Ivy and set up the blanket under the tree. Or rather, Xander set stuff up while Alec held Ivy and kept her out of the way until it was safe to release her. They made certain to keep her corralled on the blanket to avoid grass stains. She could get those after seeing her father.

~~

"It is a big deal, and it is quite significant," Sally said gently. "It's something quite different to entrust your tiniest little baby to someone else no matter how much you trust them and believe everything will turn out just fine. It is just... one of those things that is difficult to mark, but it is important."
 
About fifteen minutes after the twins arrived, Dark pulled into the parking lot and got out, looking around the park for clues but quickly catching sight of two heads of red hair, and walked over to them in swift strides, the quiet delight in his eyes only growing as he realized they were, in fact, his sons, and growing more when he saw his baby.

"Hello," He said, standing above them, somehow genuinely shocked to see people he recognized, to the point where it took him time to think of a response, "This is not coincidental, I imagine." When Ivy suddenly saw her father show up, she squealed with such excitement she fell over from her sitting position, and crawled over to him as quickly as she could, making an absolute ruckus. Naturally, Dark bent and picked her up immediately, without even really thinking about it.

~~

"She's growing up," Daizi sighed, allowing herself to feel what she needed, "I know she's only ten months old, but, growing up, too. It makes me really, really happy, and proud, but just a little bit sad." She hugged herself for a moment, and then, when she was ready, said, "Alright. Time to get ready."
 
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"Nope, not a coincidence at all," Alec said cheerfully. "How has your day been so far? Ours has been quite peaceful."

Xander started digging in the diaper bag for the puzzle, grumbling about how he'd just seen it. He found it finally wedged in a corner where it must have gotten jostled to. He pulled it out with great care and set it next to him on the blanket.

~~

Sally squeezed her shoulder. "With each new milestone, it is like learning about a whole new person all over again." She smiled at Daizi. "So! What glorious costume are we wearing today?"
 
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"It has been good," Dark replied, and it was overwhelmingly evident how much that statement unintentionally underplayed it, "I have been many places today, none of them expected." He sat down on the blanket with them, bouncing Ivy in his lap, "I should have known I would see the three of you. Or at least known I was going to see her, I did not expect Daizi was going to keep her from me all day."

He watched as Xander took out the wooden board and set it down, "Is this it, the next part of my hunt?"

~~

"It's in the package I had mailed to you," Daizi said, cheerfully going to the bag they had brought inside with Ivy and opening it up before holding up a black dress with a lacy pink heart on the front. It looked like it'd reach about mid-thigh on her, "I've got stockings, too, upstairs."
 
Xander smirked. "I feel like I should make you answer a riddle to get it, but I figure you have enough of those." He handed it over to Dark. "There you go."

~~

Sally surveyed the dress, and her very proper mind went blank. While not quite as proper and uptight as, say, Cera, she still had certain rules burned into her about was and was not proper to wear in public unless in very specific circumstances. She decided this was a specific circumstance and said, "That will certainly take Dark's breath away!" His and anyone else who saw her.
 
"Right," Dark replied, letting go of Ivy so he could turn the puzzle over in his hands, examining it. Of course, Ivy reached out with her little hands to 'help.' But all he had just now was the board, "Do I need to find the pieces?"

~~

"That's the goal," Daizi replied with a grin, heading upstairs to her bedroom. She didn't care much for what was proper, anyway, she had much more in her wardrobe that was more revealing than this, "I like the details on it, though. I like clothes that I can really feel."
 
Alec presented the box. "They are in here," he said dramatically. "Everything you need is here in this box!"

"Well, not everything, but enough for now," Xander said mildly.

~~

"I can understand that," Sally agreed, and she did. "It is visually appealing to hat those sorts of details, anyway."
 
"...right..." Dark said suspiciously, taking the box in hand after setting down the puzzle board, turning it over to examine it and the lock for any clues. The lock took a key, it wasn't a combination lock, so he went into his little bag and took out the unused keys he had, "You all have the answer, I suspect?" He looked down at Ivy, who had quickly stopped caring about the box and was instead back to holding onto him, "Ivy-Qadira, sweet darling, which key goes with the lock?"

Not expecting her to answer, he dangled the keys in front of her, just to play with her for a little bit.

~~

"Since it zips up, should I put it on last, do you think? Or is it better to do hair and makeup first?" Daizi asked, laying the dress neatly across her bed.
 
Xander snickered. "Good jo, Ivy. Distract! Distract! Don't let him get it easy!"

"Oh, come on! Let him have an easy one," Alec laughed.

~~

Sally glanced over the dress with a critical eye. "Dress first, make up last, and we'll put a cloth over the top of the dress just to make certain nothing falls on it. I do love the heart."
 
Dark chuckled, bouncing the keys for Ivy, "She likes them. I would let you play with them, my darling, but I do not know where they have been."

Scooping her up with one arm, he held her close to his side while dangling the keys above her. Truly, the most difficult puzzle was the one he was supposed to solve when his baby was right there.

"This key," He said, holding it up, "Baba found in Ivy's room. And this one is a snow drop. And this one is a purple heart." When he said the words to her, something made sense to him, and he couldn't help but shake his head in shame and amusement, "Ah, so my children did have the answer, then."

~~

"I'll trust you," Daizi replied, picking the dress up again, "Just let me go change quickly."

She went into the bathroom, stopping by the closet along the way for her stockings, and after a little while came out in the black and pink dress. The stockings she chose were sheer and unpatterned, "I never know which ones to pick, because I don't know what patterns overwhelm each other. I have some with spider webs, celestial iconography, skulls, lace, fishnets... I considered the ones with the stars and moon in the pattern. They're not very large."

The dress fit her gorgeously, the shape of the neckline suited her gentle curves, the straps didn't dig into her shoulders, and the ruffles of the skirt accentuated her hips, making her waist seem slimmer by comparison, but she wore it was if it were anything.
 
"Easy as cheese," Alec grinned. "I'd have worn the purple hearts, but Emma said purple doesn't look good with red hair. And Ivy looks far more adorable in purple hearts."

"She wears them way better than you," Xander agreed.

~~

It was certainly nothing Sally would wear, not by a yard and a half, but Daizi had the confidence to carry it off. Sally nodded in approval and made a couple of little adjustments for her. "It looks quite good on you. The solid stockings are a better choice than ones with patterns. It would be too much visually.
Here, sit down and I'll get started on your makeup. Do you mind a lighter skin tone?"
 
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