How Green Becomes Wood

Dark watched Ciara silently. Then he reached out his arms and said, "Ivy-Qadira, come here, Baba." Ivy turned her head towards him and seeing his open hands squeaked and took two stumbling steps, which she could only do because she was holding tightly to the chair, and then tumbled to the ground. Once she did, Dark stood and picked her up, "You are trying so hard, my darling." As soon as she was near his face, she had his fingers dug deeply into his beard and melted into his arms.

"We just had chicken brought here," Daizi told Ciara, "So I think we can move to the dining room if you're hungry."
 
"Yes, thank you," Ciara said, rising and brushing her hands briefly over her skirt to dislodge any wrinkles. She watched Dark for a moment and finally had to ask, "Does that not... hurt? What she's doing?"

"She does it all the time," Alec told his aunt as he stepped into the room. "Everything is set up and ready!"
 
"No," He chuckled almost inaudibly, "No, it does not hurt. At least, not most of the time. Sometimes she accidentally pulls. But she has always grabbed at hair."

"We work really hard to teach her to be gentle, for Enkidu's sake," Daizi explained, "And I suppose for our sake, but mostly for his."
 
"Oh. That is good," Ciara said lightly. When she thought they weren't looking, one hand went to her reddish-bronze hair pulled up in its usual tight bun. It had begun to lighten over the last couple of years, but she was not so displeased by that that she wanted it yanked out. She followed the others to the table and took the chair Alec pulled out for her. "Thank you, that is kind of you."

"I hope you like fried chicken," Alec said, moving to sit next to her. "It was something we would get with Mum on special occasions, so we thought it was appropriate."

Xander sat opposite Ciara and quietly placed more napkins in her reach.

"I have been known to eat a bit of chicken, yes, though it has been some time," Ciara admitted. "This is what she started going to as a favorite? Coddle was always a favorite of ours growing up, and I am afraid it had nothing to do with chicken. Usually."
 
Dark set Ivy into her high chair and then went into the kitchen to fetch her dinner, because he did not feel even a little bit comfortable feeding her fast food while Daizi brought a pitcher of one of the many delightful lemonades she made to the table. As she took her seat, she asked, "What is Coddle? I have never heard of that."
 
"It is essentially stew made from leftovers, though you do not have to wait for there to be leftovers," Ciara told her. "It usually has sausage, bacon, potatoes, and onions. Beer is a common ingredient, but not entirely necessary. It goes quite well with soda bread."

"That sounds really good!" Alec looked at Xander. "Think you can make that?"

"Probably?" Xander said hesitantly.
 
"That sounds lovely," Daizi said, figuring out her plate as she spoke, "Dark and I don't eat pork, but I am sure there is a way to circumvent that. Does your family have recipes for it? Or for the soda bread?"

Dark turned towards Ivy, gently spoon feeding her, trying not to distract the rest of the conversation. "I know, my dear," he spoke calmly and quietly, wiping the excess mush off on the edge of the bowl before bringing it to her mouth, "You are very interested in feeding yourself. But Baba must be certain you get some in you, and not only on you."
 
"Yes, I imagine we do. I have never been much of a cook, but I do have some of my mother's recipes," Ciara said with a slight nod. "I believe Coddle can be made with beef, though it would change the flavor profile somewhat. Soda bread is quite easy to make. When I was young, it was my job to make it. Once upon a time, I could do it without a recipe, though I doubt I have retained that knowledge. I would be happy to teach you another day." She carefully and delicately picked the meat off the chicken bones with a fork and speared it before eating it.

Xander was eating his piece with his fingers, as always. "I'd like to learn that, yeah. Are they Irish?"

"Yes, with some American influence," she confirmed. "My grandmother, your great-grandmother, was highly invested in ensuring we did not forget where we came from."

Alec focused on his chicken pieces, trying to copy Ciara's fork technique. How did she do that? She got the bones remarkably clean and never touched them with her fingers!
 
"I think family recipes are so important," Daizi said, eating using only her right hand, although like Xander, she didn't use utensils. A good amount of Arab foods were eaten without them, it didn't phase her. "My family has this soup recipe on my mother's side, I don't believe anything binds us together more than it." She turned her head to the side, "Goose, you should eat, you don't want the chicken to get cold."

Dark took a subtle glance at Ciara, considered the usual catastrophe of Ivy's meals, and said, "No, it is okay. How recently did your family arrive here?"
 
"My great-grandparents on my mother's side arrived here in [date] with their two children," Ciara explained. "Two boys. One sadly died in a lumber accident, leaving behind a widow but no children. The other, my grandfather, married my grandmother, who had also come over from Ireland, and had my mother. On my father's side, he came from Ireland with his parents when he was twelve years old in [date]. He was able to tell us a few stories of the Emerald Isles, but he did not talk about it much."
 
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"Really? That's interesting, you're much more recent to here than I would have guessed." Daizi mused taking a sip of lemonade. She turned her head towards the twins, "I believe that means you are eligible for Irish citizenship, since your grandfather had it. You're hardly American at all, it seems."

"You should speak to my former colleague, the music teacher at their school. Her family is from a small island off the coast of Galway, she has six sisters and her parents still on the Island." Dark mentioned, while Ivy took the spoon from him, much to his mild distress, knowing what was to come, "She emigrated for college."
 
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"Did she? That is a noble endeavor," Ciara said with a little nod. "It would be interesting to speak with her should our paths cross." She watched Ivy with mild wariness. She was not well-versed in baby mannerisms, but this did not seem to bode well. She took a sip of her lemonade and looked at it appreciatively.

"What about family back in Ireland? Do you have some there?" Alec asked.

Ciara inclined her head. "Yes. There is quite a clan on my mother's side that still lives there. My father's side, I regret to say, I have no been able to keep in contact with. There are political reasons and other such things that caused friction in the past. Friction that no one seems to be interested in fully smoothing over, and I am afraid I have not put much effort into doing the smoothing."
 
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"She is a fascinating woman," Dark commented, watching Ivy closely as she accidentally got her food on her cheeks. Admittedly, her skills were improving... but she was still an eleven month old. It could only go so well. That is what her bib was for. "Her career should be elsewhere, I hope one day it will be."

"It's hard keeping in contact with some of my family, and I grew up there and visit often. With an ocean in the way... Even though we're all more connected than we've ever been," Daizi told her empathetically. "Especially when they're more distant in terms of relations."
 
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"I couldn't be more grateful for that," Daizi sighed, "I don't think I could cope without it. I'd have to move closer, and then I don't know if I'd have such a perfect family here."

Ivy squeaked in her high chair and nearly knocked her bowl over, but Dark caught it with amazingly quick reflexes, only getting a bit of it onto his hand.
 
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Ciara tensed when she saw the bowl flipping, and she raised an eyebrow when Dark caught it, impressed by him. "Yes. I plan to go visit my mother's clan sometime this next summer. It has been quite some time, and I thought that perhaps it is about time I use the vacation time I've been saving up." She glanced at the boys. "It is still some time away, but perhaps you might be interested in joining me."

"Wow," Alec said, brightening. "Really?"

"After a conversation with your parents, of course," Ciara warned. "They would need to agree to this, but is it something you would be interested in?"

"Yes," Alec said firmly.

"We'd have to figure out visas," Xander grumbled. "And we might have other stuff to do... but it could be fun, maybe."

Alec looked at his mother and father. "What do you think?"
 
That was a sudden thing to drop on them. Dark took a quick glance at his wife as he wiped his hand and she paused.

"You wouldn't need a visa," Daizi said first, as she and Dark tried to silently get on the same page, "You have a strong passport, and could get citizenship, if you wanted." She had always thought the first time the twins left the country, she'd be taking them to Egypt.


Tugging lightly on his beard, Dark said, "I do not... believe there would be a problem with you going, necessarily." He didn't... know... how he'd feel about Ciara being solely responsible for the twins, since they really didn't see each other much. But he didn't want to presume he and Daizi were invited. By her phrasing, he guessed not, but if they were... Ivy would not even be two years old, next summer.

"I think we'd probably need to know more about the plans," Daizi concluded, "I don't want to keep you away from your family, but I'd still feel better to know more about what the trip would be like before sending you off."
 
"I think it sounds like a grand adventure!" Alec grinned.

"I don't know," Xander said hesitantly. "It's a lot."

"I understand. I merely wished to bring it up as a possibility. There is a lot of time to make any plans," Ciara assured them. "I am not expecting an answer tonight or even next week."
 
Recalling the time Alec expressed deep anxiety at any travel, Daizi couldn't help but feel proud at how much he had grown. "I don't think we'd say no, when it came to it, if they wanted to go, but we really need to know more details about it." Was it wrong to be disappointed it meant she wouldn't be the first to take him abroad? "It's a really lovely offer, Ciara, sincerely."

Ivy squeaked again, getting a little wiggly in her chair, feeling a bit frustrated from the lack of attention.
 
"Of course. I do not have any details currently solidified, but I can send you some basic outlines of a possible itinerary next week," Ciara offered. "At this point, I can adjust quite a lot about it - should you agree for them to travel and should they desire to travel."

"I think it sounds like a lot of fun, but I'm not sure about a few things," Alec admitted. "And I won't go if Xander doesn't want to."

"No pressure," Xander said dryly.

Alec shrugged. "It would be no fun without you. Why would I want to go without you?"

"Fair enough. I am a walking party," Xander said.
 
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