How Green Becomes Wood

"If it gets better, I hope it stays better for another eighteen years," Daizi commented, "I think we have some snacks, but I'm not sure what's still left."

Dark looked down at Xander, and without even attempting to disguise a thing he felt, said, "I will always have your back, Xander."
 
Xander looked away, unable to quite meet Dark's eyes. "Yeah," he said quietly, "I believe you. But this was... You know, school crap. It's kind of different. To me, I guess. You just... didn't even question. Thank you." He shook himself, uncomfortable even if he was genuinely grateful, and headed toward the kitchen. "Don't eat all the snacks!" he called after Alec. "We need to make a basket for Toby!"
 
"You are welcome." Dark replied, stalwart as ever. Inside, his heart squeezed with pride and about half a dozen other emotions he couldn't immediately name. Although he didn't feel like he had done anything special, Xander's decision to thank him, even though he knew it wasn't easy---that meant some to him. He couldn't wait to tell Daizi about that conversation later, after everyone else had gone to bed.
 
The twins worked on a basket to give to Toby and took it over later that day. Lex politely thanked them and told them to take back thanks to Dark for what he'd done in the meeting. The twins agreed and took Lex's words back to Dark. They asked for no details, just passed on the message.

The next couple of days went by fairly smoothly. There were a few bits of friction between Xander and a couple of the other footballers, but nothing much, and he ignored them as best he could. Other than that, it was class, homework, and some chatting with friends. Not much else. Toby came back to school on Tuesday, and everyone other than his close friends avoided him. He didn't seem to mind.
 
Before going to bed that night, Dark talked with Cooger to let him know what happened. The next day, then, Cooger called Lex to see how she and Toby were doing, and if there was anything he could do to help. Meanwhile, Dark spent what free time he had that week learning how to build a skateboard. It wasn't something he could do in a week, since he needed to wait for the proper wheels and hardware to arrive, but until then, he ran tests on shape and scale.

On Thursday, as they had every month, Dark and Daizi quietly celebrated another month of their daughter's life. Dark had been working to make sure every additional month of her life to take a picture of her, so they would be able to look back on the collage of her growing up during her first year. Of course, the usual suspects received this photograph.

Then, the next day, another school week was over, and both Dark and Daizi were looking forward to the weekend.
 
Lex appreciated Cooger calling. She hadn't texted him about it because, well, it was mostly to do with Toby, and she didn't want Cooger to feel like she wanted him to be a father figure. She'd spent most of the day with Toby or by herself calming down. She hadn't been particularly proud of how she handled the group. Had it been more one-on-one, she would have had a better handle on herself, but a whole room full of smug faces... It wasn't much of an excuse, she knew. When Cooger called, she was happy to talk. She vented a little, mostly frustrated by her lack of ability to really do anything. He was seventeen, old enough to take care of himself, but he was also so sensitive. She couldn't protect him from everything, and she didn't want to, but the lack of any kind of empathy from so many people, adults and teens alike, frustrated her. It gave her flashbacks to her own childhood and the world she'd moved away from in an attempt to escape. It was just too confusing to deal with. Talking to Cooger did help, though. Toby seemed okay afterward. Still hurt, but okay.

Shortly before the twins were due to arrive home on Friday, a familiar motorcycle pulled up in front of the Dark-Wahid household, and Lance got off. He strode up to the door with his helmet under his arm and tapped lightly on the door. If no one answered, he would ring the bell, but he did not want to risk waking Ivy if she slept.
 
Although Cooger had no interest in taking on any fatherly duties, he did care about Lex, so he cared about the people she cared about, so he listened while she vented, although he had absolutely no idea how to help or what advice to give, besides saying kids were ***holes. But he did his best.

On Friday, Daizi heard the quiet knock and opened it up, not knowing who was out there. Ivy was, in fact, completely awake, and loudly and happily making full use of her voice inside. "Hello?" She asked, since of course she couldn't see who was standing there, and since it was so soft, she wasn't sure she heard an actual knock.
 
"Good afternoon, Dr. Wahid," Lance greeted her cheerfully and respectfully. "It's Lance. I figure I'm a bit early for the boys, but I hope you don't mind I stopped in a little early?"
 
"Oh, not at all," Daizi replied, stepping aside to let him in, no longer feeling much anxiety at his visit, especially since soon it was likely the twins would be officially and permanently theirs, "They are still at school, Dark and Ivy are both in the living room. Can I get you anything?"
 
"If you happen to have that lemonade of yours, that would be great," Lance said, his eyes lighting up hopefully. "If not, water is just fine, thank you, ma'am." He wiped his boots off thoroughly before carefully easing out of them and remembering just in time to touch the salt.
 
"We've got a little bit," Daizi smiled, "You can go wait in the living room, and you still don't need to call me ma'am." Instead of going straight to the kitchen, she poked her head into the living room to let Dark know Lance was there, in case he hadn't already heard, and then went to poor Lance a glass of lemonade. She didn't make it daily, but it seemed like a nice easy treat on Fridays to welcome the weekend for the boys. Sometimes, she or Dark would also bake, but they didn't do thay every weekend, so it was a bright surprise when they did.

In the living room, Dark was sitting cross legged on the floor, holding Ivy up in a standing position and helping her practice balancing when they were only holding hands. It wasn't going great, but Ivy was having fun, because everytime she toppled over, Dark would tickle her and then swoop her in the air before setting her back down on her two little feet. Yet, when Lance walked in, his greeting was reserved as ever, although he did try to get Ivy to wave hello.
 
"Good afternoon, Mr. Dark. Well, loom who's getting so big!" Lance laughed, greeting Ivy happily. He crouched down in his stocking feet with holes in the toes and grinned at her. "How old are you now? Ten months?"
 
"Eleven months, as of yesterday," Dark replied with no small amount of pride, "and a few weeks shy of ten adjusted. But her pediatrician says she is catching up."

Ivy stared up at Lance and dropped against her father---this man wasn't quite a stranger, but she didn't really know him either, so although she smiled at him, she fell immediately into her familiar space.

Coming back into the living room, Daizi handed Lance his glass of lemonade, "It's hard to believe she's almost a year old. I never thought I'd get to plan a first birthday party, at least not one for a human."
 
Lance thanked her for the lemonade and shifted to sit in a chair. "She's looking mighty fine! Strong and healthy! Smart, too." He sipped his lemonade appreciatively. "So. Today is my last visit," he announced.
 
"Very smart," Dark agreed, scooping her up with one arm to her delight so he could sit on the couch. It seemed more proper, given they weren't just speaking with a friend.

He and Daizi sat in shared silence at the announcement, trying to work out together what they say to that. Finding words first, Dark asked a clarifying question, "Because of the adoption?"
 
"Yep," Lance said with a nod. "You still have the legal mumbo-jumbo to follow until the adoption is finalized, and you can call me if you ever need anything or just have a question, but as far as my home visits go, this is the last one. It's another mile marker on the path to being the legal parents of those two boys."
 
Daizi reached out, searching for her husbands hand, and seeing so, he grasped hers. "You'll have to forgive us for being excited to hear that," Daizi said, trying not to grin too brightly, "I hope you don't take it personally."
 
Lance chuckled and shook his head. "I take no offense. You've got every right to be excited. I'm excited for you!"

The van pulled up outside, and the twins headed in. Xander came in first and called, "Mama? Ba? Is that Lance's motorcycle?"
 
"It is, yes," Daizi called back, "he's just here for his normal visit." She really didn't know what else to say about it, it was hard to imagine that after all this time, finally, they would just get to be normal parents.

"His final visit." Dark added, with quiet satisfaction.
 
The twins scrambled in, qnd once shoes were off and the salt touched, they headed to the living room where Lance greeted them both with fist bumps.

"How's it going, kiddos?" he grinned. "Staying out of trouble?"

"Mostly," Alec grinned.

"Pretty much," Xander confirmed.
 
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