How Green Becomes Wood

Noor raised her eyebrows at Alec and then went back to drawing. She didn't recall asking for his life story a after-school special.

"None of us would like to see what would happen to us if you had landed in them." Dark replied, rising back to his feet and brushing out his clothing.

~~

"So you just expect me to remain silent?" Saladin asked.

"Yes." She answered solidly before leaning forwards, pressing her hands together, "Baba. I love you. You're my father. We don't have Mama, and we don't have Omar, but we have each other, and I want to share my life with you. I like to share my life with you.

Saladin looked down at her hands, at first noticing she wasn't wearing her wedding ring, but then he remembered she had been wearing it on a necklace to prevent it from scratching Ivy's delicate skin, and he was about to sit back when he noticed something out. Reaching out, he took his daughter's hands in his, making her breath catch in her throat, because it seemed like maybe she was finally getting through to him. But then he tapped his pointer finger against the ring finger on her left hand, and she tried to pull her hand away. "What is this?"

"What's what, Baba?" She asked, freezing as his finger once more tapped against the delicate red line tracing her ring finger.

"This red line."

"It's nothing." She said, finally drawing her hand back to herself and rising to her feet, going to the door, ignoring the sounds of her father standing next to her.

"You really expect me to remain silent about that man when these are the things he makes you do?" He asked, his voice tightly controlled.

Stopping just short of the doorknob, Daizi told him, "He didn't make me do anything."

"You really expect me to believe that?" Saladin asked, "Truly? Daizi. I thought you would be smarter than that, and how will you tell Ivy not to get such ugly things? This is exactly what I have been talking about."

Turning around to face him yet again, Daizi put her shoulders back, smiled grimly and said, "It is a thin line on my finger, Baba. So people can see I am married even on occasions when I cannot wear my wedding ring. That is all. You are welcome to be as angry as you please, but do it quietly, so the rest of us can enjoy being with each other."

And with that, she shut the door and went downstairs, pausing only briefly in the hallway to push down her feelings before stepping out onto the porch and asking, "Does anybody want dessert?"
 
"What are you drawing?" Alec asked Noor politely just before Daizi stepped out.

"Game called on account of dessert!" Xander called and trotted toward the house, showing more speed now than he had during the entire game. "Coming!"

"Ooo, dessert!" Alec grinned, quickly gathering the pencils.
 
"Just the flowers," Noor replied, and after a bit of hesitation, turned the drawing pad towards him. It was incomplete, but it was pretty and clearly inspired by impressionism.

"It isn't that fancy," She warned them, resting her arms on the railing, "We're saving the nicer treats for Saturday."

As he went up the stairs, Dark paused for a moment, noticing the tension around Daizi's eyes and in her shoulders, but he walked on as if he did not, holding open the backdoor for everyone else, waiting until they all had gone inside before attempting to ask about it.

"Thank you for saving my flowers," Daizi said, cutting him off before he could ask, "We have Basbousa."
 
"That's really pretty!" Alec praised as he stood. He held the swing steady for Noor. "I like your style. I'm still trying to find one I really like."

"That stuff is delicious!" Xander said firmly. Glancing back, he said to Hassan, "If you leave the ball there in that corner, we can do this again later. Or tomorrow or whatever."
 
"Thank you." Noor replied, holding onto the drawing pad until Alec was able to return to Dark all the clothing he had stripped off to play soccer, then she gave it back to him so he could put it away.

"You'd want to play more?" Hassan asked, "Cool! Yeah, I'll put it there. But, you know, you gotta work on your footwork, you can't be losing balance like that! If we had goals with nets, then we'd be able to actually try and score points."
 
Alec took his supplies and shifted them to one hand as he trotted into the house and paused to give his mother a hug. Then he hurried off to put his things away before rejoining the group. "Thank you for dessert, Mama!"

"I can look into doing something like that, sure," Xander agreed. "I think I might have some stuff that might work."
 
"It's my pleasure, habibti," Daizi replied, and would have set about serving the entire family if her aunts hadn't already beaten her to it.

"More football will need to wait to tomorrow," Marwan said, checking the time on his phone, "I think we should be heading back to the hotel after this. Saladin, I believe your AirBNB is near us, we have a rental car. I would be glad to drive you there."
 
"Tomorrow we may not be," Marwan replied, "You'll probably get to meet with other relatives, but I think we had planned to do some sight seeing tomorrow."

"I want to get really good, authentic American food," Hassan grinned.
 
"There are some really nice places to go visit!" Alec said enthusiastically. "The trees are changing colors, there are stands here and there for farm fruits, and all sorts of fun things!"

"American food depends on where you are," Xander said, "but I'd suggest a truckstop diner. If you think your stomachs can handle it. That's about as American as you get for food."
 
"Oh, we have some places in mind. We're waiting until after Ivy-Qadira's birthday to go to Daizi's museum, because we need our best guide, but we really wanted to see the city." Marwan assured Alec.

"Is Truckstop Diner the name of it?" Hassan asked, eyes wide and down for the challenge.

"Ya Allah," Dark murmured, rubbing his face, "He talks so much about 'good grease.'"

Like Dark, Noor and Yasmin made a face at those two words, but Hassan only grinned more brightly and leaned in towards Xander, "What is good grease?"
 
"It's grease that tastes good, adds food flavor, and does not instantly make you regret your life choices," Xander said, flatly ignoring Dark. He'd brought it up one time! Maybe twice. Every time it'd been brought up since then, it had been brought up by Daizi and Dark. He couldn't figure out if they had been that offended by it or thought it was truly hilarious. "A Truckstop Diner is a style of diner. The big trucks, big rigs, uh, semi trucks..."

"Peter says they are called 'loris' elsewhere," Alec offered.

"Right, those things. It's a place for long-haul truckers to stop and get some food for a cheap price." He named three that he knew he and Cooger liked. "One of those places should be good."
 
"Hayil," Hassan replied, nodding, "Baba, can we go?"

"We'll talk about it," Marwan replied, ruffling his son's hair, "Daizi, do you know who is arriving tomorrow?"

"Rashid, Fadia, and her family. But I think Eman may not be arriving until Friday." Daizi replied, sitting back, "Then we have everybody. Nobody is visiting on Friday, because we have to prepare for the party, and Dark had an appointment tomorrow."
 
There were a lot of people still to come! It was nice to know that they wouldn't all be coming at the exact same time, that they'd have a little bit of relief, and more than anything, it was nice to know how much Daizi's family wanted to be with her and support her.
 
After everyone finished their dessert, they made their goodbyes and soon enough the house was empty except them five and Amty Zeinab, who had set about cleaning up everything with the same intensity as Dark. Daizi waved until the door was fully shut and then, after locking it, her shoulders slumped and she stood still. Then she tipped her head back and turned away from it, holding everything down inside.
 
Xander nudged Alec's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go out back," he muttered quietly.

Alec nodded, and the pair of them slipped away to give their parents some privacy. This had been hard for them, but how much harder had it been for their parents? They weren't certain who had it harder, and it didn't matter. They needed some time and space. So, the twins went out into the garden and found a quiet spot out on the grass to sit and do a little decompressing themselves.
 
Daizi wouldn't say anything about it until after Ivy was in bed. She was getting a bit cranky from all the strangers and the stress applied to her schedule, so it was for the best the next two days would be quieter again. They all needed it.

"Spider?" Dark asked, walking into his room and finding Daizi sitting at the vanity table and brushing out her hair. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." She said solidly, not turning her head at all.

"When you came out onto the porch you looked different." He went to the closet to hang back up his suit jacket and put away his cufflinks before beginning to undo the buttons on his shirt.

"I spoke to my father. We came to an understanding."

"Oh?" Dark asked, walking over to her, surprised. "And... do you think it will hold?"

"It must."

Sitting down on the bed, he watched her stiff, cold movements before saying, "That has a ring of finality to it."

"It does."

"Daizi..."

"What."

"I want you to have a relationship with your father."

Daizi set her brush down on the vanity table and turned around to face her husband, her face shadowed, "I do too. But if he can't keep to one simple request, then he doesn't want to have a relationship with me. I'm not going to break my back for a man who wouldn't step in a puddle for me."
 
The next day was quieter. The twins mostly kept to themselves, and Xander took advantage of the extra time in the morning to get some work done out in the shed. Alec tried to behave normally, but even he couldn't deny the fact that he was a bit clingier, and he went out of his way to do small things for his father. Small words of appreciation. Small gestures of love and kindness.

As it got closer to time for him to go to work, Alec asked Dark, "Are you still available to pick me up after work?"
 
Both Dark and Daizi noticed the change that had come over both boys and it only solidified Daizi's decision. She was different, too, which made Zeinab more nervous than she already was. But they could talk that evening, she knew it was necessary. There wasn't time the night before.

"Remind me, which time do you get out of work?" Dark asked, wearing only a t-shirt and dark pants for once, rather than his full outfit.
 
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