How Green Becomes Wood

"I like them too." Dark replied, looking down at his plate for a moment before raising his eyes again, "She did earn it. Her very first word."

"We have to try to get her to say it again, so we can send it to the family," Daizi said, squeezing Ivy one last time before setting her into her high chair, "Or maybe we'll let her surprise them."

"Are you patient enough for that?"

"Absolutely not."
 
"Let's finish dinner, then you can show her all the flowers and see if she'll say it again on camera," Xander suggested.

Alec nodded. "A little break might make her more willing to talk."
 
"That makes it sound like you're playing good cop, bad cop," Daizi grinned, picking up Ivy's spoon and feeding her a mouthful of her dinner, "A little break might make her talk."

"I wonder what she will say next." Dark said, "Before we know it, we will be able to have full conversations with her."
 
"She'll totally say my name next," Xander said. "Or fist bump."

"No, she'll say mine because it's easier!" Alec protested.

Xander squinted at Ivy. "Well? Are you going to tell us? Or do we have to wait you out to see what your second word is going to be?"
 
"I hate to say it," Dark said slowly, his gaze passing between his sons, "But I believe it is almost certain she will say Mama and Baba before either of your names. They are simpler sounds, and she spends more time with us."

"Sometimes I thought she's come close to yelling for me when she's upset," Daizi said warmly, "but it's hard, because I wish she could say Mama and Baba at the exact same time, so neither of us have to hear her choose which one to say first."

"I hope she says Mama before saying Baba," Dark said easily, "You have earned that much."

"So have you," Daizi argued, but Dark only shook his head.

"You have earned it more."
 
Xander rolled his eyes. "Not this argument again. You've both earned it equally in very different ways. And I know exactly how to make it come out fair."

"This should be good," Alec muttered.

"She says 'Baba' when she means 'Mama,' and 'Mama' when she means 'Baba.' There. Even stevens."
 
"But we know that isn't what she means," Daizi pointed out.

"I did not give birth to her," Dark argued against Xander's stance that he had earned Ivy saying his name just as much as Daizi had, "And I did not spend those early months alone with her all day, nor do I feed her from my own body. It would only be right she says Mama first." And, he thought, but wouldn't say, Daizi needed it more.
 
"You worked hard every day whether or not you wanted to be away from home, you suffered agonizing anxiety over, well, everything, you literally carried her mother when she needed it, you keep the house clean no matter how exhausted you are, you clean her and feed her now that you can, you hated being away from them both in the early days - and that counts for something - you walk her when she's fussy, you devote every spare second of every day to her, and you support her mother in everything she could ever possibly need," Xander pointed out. "Mama deserves it, too, and I bet wants to hear her say 'Mama' as soon as possible, but that doesn't mean you don't deserve a good 'Baba.'"
 
Dark looked away, shrugging, "She will eventually say it regardless. I am okay if she says it second. It is not I believe she should not ever say my name, but..." He gestured, "If it is something I am okay with it, surely that is enough. I certainly believe I deserve to hear my name, which is why I will be particularly annoying if she says either of your names before mine, but you were not there for it."

"You can't always use the fact I gave birth to her to privilege me," Daizi pointed out, reaching out and squeezing his hand.

"I can and I will," He argued, "but I have not in many months, so, I think if we are talking about who deserves what, I surely deserve to sometimes use that card."
 
Many months? It was, like, two, tops, Xander thought, but he might be wrong. He decided to accept what he could get and said, "Long as you at least take second place." He took a drink. "She's totally saying 'fistbump' next."

"Nah, she's saying her own name next with how often we say it to her," Alec laughed.
 
"Fist bump is difficult," Dark said, watching how Ivy interacted with her mother, "and only you say it to her."

Daizi grinned brightly, lowering herself so her face was closer to Ivy's, "Her name is very possible. Ivy? Can you say Ivy-Qadira?" Ivy cooed back at her, lightly hitting her hands against the tray of her highchair. In a sing-song voice, Daizi repeated I-vee-Qa-deee-ra, and Ivy only blew a raspberry back at her. Laughing, Daizi repeated the noise, which made Ivy laugh, and after Ivy did it a second time, once more Daizi tried, "Say, I-vee-Qa-deee-ra," and it went about as successfully as before. Still, Daizi was glowing as she talked and joked with her daughter. Both of them looked absolutely delighted.
 
"I bet she will, eventually," Daizi said, scooping up Ivy again once she finished eating, "Are you going to say Zahra again, my darling? Come on, sweet girl, let's go see Mama's zuhuur, and you can tell me all about them."
 
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"Bye, Ivy! Have fun with the zahar!" Alec called, waving to her.

Xander snorted and started clearing off the table. When Xander's back was turned, Alec snuck a quick look at his phone before starting to help.
 
Ivy waved back to Alec while Daizi happily brought her outside. Of course, Dark planned to follow, since Daizi wasn't exactly the best videographer, but he paused before he went, "What do you keep checking your phone for?"
 
Alec blushed and hastily shoved his phone into his pocket. "No reason!" He checked to make sure Xander wasn't paying attention. He wasn't. "Earlier I might have maybe said something a little harsh to a friend, and now they will not text me back," he admitted in a low tone.
 
Alec winced at that comparison but said, "I think the low end of Xander being surly. So... somewhere in the middle? I did apologize, but I guess sh-they are a bit sensitive about such things."
 
"I said, I think within about a minute-ish of saying it, 'I'm sorry. I haven't had a good day,' and that's about as far as I got. I was going to say how that's still not an excuse, but they walked away before I could finish," Alec explained. "So I texted them a more full apology, three times, but I haven't heard back. Part of me wants to keep texting, but that's not a good idea."
 
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