How Green Becomes Wood

"Yep. She's going to be one in just a few days." A brief smirk crossed Xander's expression. "I'm kidding you. I know that's like your nightmare. My dad just asked if there was anyone we wanted to invite since it's going to be mostly strangers we don't know." He turned to Alec, who was picking through his lunch. "Hey. You want to invite anyone to Ivy's party? Sloan, maybe."

Alec considered carefully. He didn't dare invite the first person who came to mind - not yet - but maybe it could be fun to have a couple of other friends. "I could ask to see if anyone wants to come join us. Peter?"

"He'll be there since his parents will be there," Xander reminded him. "What about that girlfriend of yours? Becky?"

Alec jolted at the word "girlfriend" and then realized Xander meant "girl who is a friend." "Oh, she'd love to come. I'll see if she has time."
 
"It does sound pretty overwhelming." He fiddled with his camera straps, staring down at the ground. He'd have a pretty bad time. But a bunch of people? Presumably having fun and celebrating a pretty big milestone? There'd be some pretty cool pictures, he bet. Babies got a cake to smash, didn't they? That'd have some pretty cool action shots, he bet. He hated talking to people, definitely, he preferred being in the background of places.
 
Xander glanced at Milo and the camera. "If you want to come, you're welcome to, and my folks would understand if you had to split early, but the pictures could be pretty cool. If you wanted to. But it's going to be wild, I'm not going to lie. I think you can find some places to stick to the background, but there's no guarantee."

Alec was texting Becky since she was across the room with some drama club friends, and he told Xander, "Becky can't come, but Tom can. What's the dress code?"

Xander texted his father, Couple of potentials, asking about it now. What's the dress code?
 
It is a one-year old's birthday party. I do not believe there is a dress code. If it would be inappropriate for school, it is probably inappropriate for the party, but we would not expect black tie.

"I... I might think about it," He replied, looking up at Xander, "Your sister is kinda cool, for a baby, you know. I like taking pictures of parties and stuff. That was cool about when you threw that big party for Sloan. The pictures."
 
"You did get some pretty great pictures," Xander said, showing the answer to Alec. "I'll tell my folks to count you as a possible, then. Better to plan for one extra and get a no-show, in my experience."

"Tom wants to come, Peter will be there, and we'll have to ask Sloan when we see her next," Alec told Xander. "So that's two definites, one maybe, and one we still need to ask."
 
"Okay. Cool." Milo nodded, a little surprised how many people wanted to go to the party, "I think her first birthday will have more guests than any of my parties ever had, even before I started moving around all the time."
 
"All of the adults are related to our mother," Alec told Milo as Xander texted Dark about the people who wanted to come. "They are all incredibly excited and flying over from Egypt to join them. And to see their vow renewal. Our parents are letting us invite people mostly to keep us teens company while they do adult stuff and fuss over Ivy."
 
Contrary to the twins' opinion, it was actually Daizi who had suggested the twins invite their friends. Dark was certain they'd be fine being just with Peter and when he saw the total of who was now coming, he made a mental note to limit the number of friends who could come to the vow renewal reception (he was firmly against allowing a gaggle of unknown teenagers to the ceremony, regardless of what Daizi said). Nonetheless, he took the note down.

"Oh, that makes sense," Milo nodded as they went into the cafeteria, "Yeah. It's good of them to care."
 
"We'll keep a spot reserved for you," Alec promised.

"Ivy will be a great picture subject... thing," Xander agreed. He spotted Sloan and went to ask her if she wanted to come to Ivy's party. He had no idea if she'd want to come or not, but she was their longest time friend and literally lived across the street.
 
"I'd say babies don't pose well, but I hate posed photography," Milo replied, sitting down and letting the twins talk to people. It wasn't really his preference to sit in the cafeteria, but since the twins had such an intense week, he decided, maybe, it'd be good for him to. Because he did really want to be a good friend to them.

"You're inviting me to your infant sister's birthday party?" Sloan asked, unable to not find it amusing, even though she could guess she was at risk of getting in trouble, "Sorry, I know it's a big deal, it's just not a party I anticipated getting an invite to."
 
Alec smiled at Milo. "I think babies are cute, but being involved with the raising of one as more than a sibling is still a terrifying thought to me. But you want kids, right?"

"It's not something I ever thought I'd invite someone to, but here we are," Xander drawled. "No offense taken if you don't want to come. There's going to be a million people neither of us knows."
 
"Yeah, I do," Milo nodded, slowly taking out his lunch with the furtive movements of someone who half expected it to be taken from him, "I mean, not until I'm like, thirty. I don't want kids now. But one day."

"I mean, gosh, it's a hard decision," She grinned, "Is the birthday girl aware you're inviting people without consulting her, I wouldn't want to offend her on her special day."
 
"Wow, clear until 30? That's, like, half our lifetime away!" Alec said, nibbling on his sandwich. "I'm thinking it might be nice to have a family, maybe like around 25 ish? But, you know, I have quite a lot to do before then! Like date."

"I thought I might keep it a surprise," Xander snickered. "Someone else she might know."
 
"Maybe, but it's a fraction of our total lifetime," Milo replied, not looking up as he peeled his orange, "I want to go to college, so that's four years, on average. I'll graduate around the time I'm twenty-two. I'll probably be eligible for need-based grants, probably not academic ones because I moved around so much, but if I do well on my ACTs and SATs, I may be able to get some, so if I go to community college first and then a local state school, I could probably get away without student loans, and graduate without being in debt, especially because I'd also be working. But if the job market is as tough as it is now, I may find it difficult to find a job with a sufficient wage. I don't want to rush into marriage, because my parents got divorced, and even though I was too young when it happened to remember it now, I've heard from them both how stressful it was, and really taking the time to know the person seems to reduce risk."

Milo dropped the peel neatly on top of a napkin to be thrown out later and began carefully separating all of the slices and lining them up, "I also don't want to start having kids until I have a house, because I don't want my kids to have to move around like I did, so," He waved one hand and looked up, "Thirty seems as early as possible, it'll probably be a bit later. How young would you have to get married if you wanted to have kids at 25?"

"That's a risky game," Sloan teased, "but, to be fair, I am her coolest neighbor. It'd be pretty rude not to invite me, after all, I invited her to my gymnastics competition that one time, I think. I actually don't remember if she was there, I know Mr. Dark was."
 
"Wow, that's very well thought out," Alec said, impressed. "I hope it goes really well for you. I agree, I think really getting to know someone does help a lot, and I think going in with the determination that unless one or both of you really screw up, divorce isn't an option, I think that helps. Mama says dating a few different people so you get an idea of what you want in someone is important. I'm not sure if I agree, but she has had just a little more life experience than I have, so she's probably right. Either way, being honest with yourself and the other person and really getting to know each other is likely the best advice ever."

He peeled off the crust and started eating it separately. "I feel like college is in my future, but I haven't figured out what I want to study yet. I haven't decided what I want to do with my life, really, other than a few smaller details. So, if I do go, and I graduate at 22 with or without loans, let's say I met the person I think I want to marry sometime around then. I'm all for dating while in college, but maybe not getting married even though I know it's done. So let's say we dated. I suppose I could be getting married as early as twenty-three." He paused, fiddling with the last of his crust. "That is terrifying. Why does twenty-three sound so much younger than twenty-five? I just want us both to be young enough to really be able to keep up and enjoy our children, you know? And we would have the benefit of having at least my parents around for wisdom that comes with age and stuff, but maybe... I don't know. Maybe I'm being too optimistic. Still, people used to have kids that early all the time and it was fine. Maybe we just sell ourselves short these days."

Xander couldn't remember if Ivy had been born by then or not. All he remembered was a bunch of cheering from Alec's friends. "Yeah, so if you want to come and show her someone who's almost as cool as her brother showed up, you're welcome to."
 
"I think, when you think about people having babies at 25, you have to think about, you know, how life was. It was easier to have just the one income, even if you didn't go to college. I also don't know how happy they all were, you know? I've heard a lot of really upsetting stories about people who felt obligated to get married and have a family that young," Milo replied, thinking carefully about it, but lacking most of the relevant information about the past when people had kids early, "Plus, in the past, people didn't have birth control that was as effective. So a lot of people would get pregnant and then rush to get married so it wasn't a scandal, or they needed kids to take over their careers since life was so hard, depending on how back you go."

He sat back for a few moments, thinking through what Alec had said, and then, curiously, asked, "How old are your parents? Your adopted ones."

"Right. Cool, I'll go then, why not? Who knows, maybe my mom has hand-me-downs saved from when I was that old I could pass along," Sloan grinned, "Then she'll really be cool."
 
Alec pondered this. "You could be right, and that totally did happen, but, in truth, I think people and situations are pretty much the same no matter the generation, and folks love horror stories. That's why you see the worst news and the worst-case scenarios before any good things. Some people are married in bad circumstances and it's terrible, and some make it work and truly love each other, and some land a spot somewhere in between. Life is just... life. You know? People make good choices and bad choices, and sometimes things go bad no matter what choice you make. I think a lot of people could easily be happy married with a kid or two at twenty-five, but then some people... well, you're right. For some, it's better if they never got married, and that's really okay. I might not get married after all, and while I would kind of like that kind of companion, I don't think it would break my heart. I don't intend to live my life for it. I actually wouldn't be surprised if it didn't happen." He paused. "My parents? Uh... thirty... ish? Um, almost forty?" he stammered, trying desperately to remember. "Ba isn't forty yet, I don't think. We were talking birthdays just the other day and he said his age. Darn it! I can't remember!"

"Sounds cool. See you then, and see you tomorrow," Xander said, offering Sloan a fist bump.
 
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"Well, yeah, people are the same," Milo agreed, "but like, the laws and stuff are different. You know, norms. And people always end up kind of following the norms, even people who think they're really extreme and rebellious still end up following some things, I think. My mom has, you know, her issues, which kinda, go against norms and, you know. But you'll never find her standing backwards in an elevator, because in an elevator, we all stand facing the door." He sat back, and then looked at Alec for a few moments, "So, your dad is almost forty, and he has a baby that's just about to turn one. Do you think he's too old to really enjoy and keep up with your sister?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, and then," Sloan replied, returning her fist bump.
 
Alec wondered briefly if people followed laws because laws were the normal, or if laws were created because there was already a trend in that direction, or if laws were just made by and for the people with the loudest voices like baby birds getting fed. Then he decided that wasn't the point of this conversation and maybe he shouldn't bring it up now. Maybe later. Besides, he had no idea what the answer was or if it was more complicated than that or what, so it would just be a random musing that likely wouldn't go anywhere. He shook off the thought. "Well, that one's a little different for him because she's a literal miracle child. No matter what, he's going to force himself to keep up even if it's hard or if it was really easy. But if we take him now with his personality just like it is and look only at the age thing, I think he'll have a harder time than if he was ten years younger, especially as she gets older."
 
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