How Green Becomes Wood

If it was making her dizzy, she didn't seem to mind it much. Instead she laughed like mad as she was danced around.

The optimist that he was, Dark bit back his natural inclination to point out all the ways he could forsee things going wrong. Everyone else was delighted, and he was quite pleased too, but he was still himself.
 
"Let's eat out! I'll help buy!" Alec announced, finally coming to a stop.

"Help buy?" Xander asked in amusement.

"With those Cyr wheel payments, I can't cover the whole family, only half. Maybe the other son should pitch in," Alec suggested cheekily.

Xander considered and then nodded. "Yeah, alright. The sons can treat the parents for once."

Alec squealed in joy and spun around with Ivy like a top.
 
"Oh no, you shouldn't have to buy us dinner," Daizi said quickly, "I don't know if you realize how expensive it is to pay for all of us!"

"It is truly a touching offer, but..." Dark hesitated, not wanting to insult them or call them poor... but he ate a lot all on his own, and he didn't want to bankrupt his children.
 
"Alright, we'll split the bill into thirds," Alec grinned as he came to a spot, wobbling a little. "Let's go somewhere warm and cozy and not to fancy. Fancy is rarely cozy."
 
Dark quickly crossed the room to Alec, putting a hand on his shoulder to steady him. It wouldn't be good if his son fell, but if his son fell while holding his baby, it would be worse, "I suspect I will not be able to talk you out of it, so I suppose I can agree to thirds."

"Actually going out somewhere!" For some reason, she had thought they meant ordering food in, "Certainly---Since it's special, we should go somewhere with food we don't typically get at home, and I need time to change." She was dressed fine, but she was also in clothes which very much projected 'I work from home and have an infant.'
 
"Yes!" Alec cheered, steady with Dark's hand on his shoulder. "That sounds amazing! I'm going to go change!" He turned to Dark and held out Ivy. "Want a baby?"

"When doesn't he?" Xander smirked. "I'm not changing. I'm just fine, and so are you."
 
"Yes, how dare I enjoy spending time with my child," Dark replied, taking Ivy up into his arms, "I should change her clothes, anyway. You both look lovely, but she has thoroughly stained herself with babyfood, and if we are venturing into public, I would prefer her to look less sloppy."

Laughing lightly, Daizi said, "She'll manage to make herself messy again in only a moment, but it's worth the effort."
 
Daizi changed fairly quickly, and Dark came down not too much longer after with Ivy dressed nicely in one of her cutest onesies, and her hair carefully combed into two pigtails. Her hair wasn't long enough for the hair to flop back down on itself, so they stood more or less straight up, but that only added to how sweet they looked.

"Have we decided where we are going?" He asked, holding her on his hip.
 
"He," Alec pointed to Xander, "wants to go to Mexican food. I want to go to a diner. One that Cooger would look at home in."

"I think a diner is too low-key," Xander stated. "Mexican food is usually at least a little more up-scale, and you get an insane amount of food for the money."

"Diners have all sorts of different foods, like burgers and sandwiches," Alec protested. "Variety!"

"Mexican food has rice," Xander said as if that concluded his arguement.
 
"Flip a coin," Daizi said, going to the front door for her shoes.

"Or we can get Indian," Dark suggested, looking down at Ivy because she forced him to look at her, "I will not ask your opinion, tifla, you do not eat any of it."

Ultimately, they did decide, and had a lovely dinner out. For the most part, Ivy was well behaved during it, although near the end she got a bit grumpy because she was getting tired. Still, it was a real time to celebrate, and Daizi couldn't resist raising her glass in toast to not having any more social work visits.

That weekend seemed likely to be their final peaceful weekend until November, and Dark made the most of it, since he knew he'd have a bit of struggle during the upcoming celebrations. There was no school that Friday, and instead, he and Daizi were getting ready to take Xander out.
 
Xander had had a hard time deciding what to choose. He'd thought about suggesting going for a horse ride, but considering where he spent at least one day a week, that seemed a bit much. A lot of outdoor events and activities were starting to dry up unless they were related to fall and autumn. So, instead, he found an event at a local park and suggested they go to it. It was a "Shakespeare in the Park" type of event, but instead of Shakespeare, the troupe did many other plays and shows, often bringing in audience members to participate. It was a bit hammy and a lot of fun with raunchy jokes and improvised comedic tangents. The show only lasted about an hour and a half, and after the show, a rock band took the stage. They played the oldies and nostalgic music. I.E., stuff from when Dark and Daizi were young, and they played a lot of the songs Dark and Daizi enjoyed.
 
Shortly before it was time for them to leave, Cooger arrived to help watch Ivy, and her excitement at seeing her uncle allowed Dark and Daizi to sneak out without more of a fuss.

"I always feel sort of naked leaving the house without her," Daizi commented, "not so much because I don't have her with me, but because I don't have a giant diaper bag with me. Getting to leave the house with just my purse is so freeing, and so strange."
 
"Today I just get to have fun," Daizi said, getting into the front seat, "I'm still surprised this is what you picked, but it sounds like a lot of fun."

"I only hope I am not one of the audience members pulled on stage," Dark said dryly, unable to think of many fates worse.
 
"Eh, you get rewarded by music afterward," Xander said with a shrug, flopping into the back and buckling up. "I wasn't sure about this, but I figured if it was awful, it's free, so all we wasted was some time. Outdoor activities are weird this time of year. It's hard to find anything good that doesn't involve pumpkins, apples, or corn unless you like hiking, hiking, and, oh yeah, more hiking. Or the zoo. I figured the zoo wouldn't be cool for at least one-third of our party."
 
"I also get rewarded with music if I am not pulled on stage," Dark pointed out in a way that made his wife laugh. "We will have our fill of pumpkins, apples, and corn in the coming weeks, have no fear. And the pumpkin patch has a petting zoo."

"I don't... hate the zoo, the regular zoo, I mean," Daizi commented, thinking about it, "It's not my favourite place to go, but unlike the aquarium, I still get the sounds of the animals. I like the birds and primates a lot, because they're very vocal. And the sea lions. And some of the exhibits have tactile parts, like casts of footprints or bones. But this does sound like more fun to me."
 
Xander had a sudden, terrifying thought: what if they tried to get Daizi up on stage?? Now that could be very awkward! Or funny, depending, but probably awkward. He shook off the thought. "Yeah, this'll give you a lot more to listen to than monkeys."
 
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