How Green Becomes Wood

"Neha did, she's the only other one to know it," Dark said quietly, "And she needed it." He paused for a moment and then said, in an even quieter tone, "She is better today."

Then, stepping further into the house, he said in a louder voice, "It is a lot of aunts, but we deserve it, we have been outnumbering her for two years. Sometimes there needs to be more women than men here every once in awhile."

"I think we have everything in hand," Neha said sweetly, coming around the corner, "Are you hungry?"
 
Neha looked briefly to Dark, who confused Xander had the soup before and then, as keeper of it, she made him a bowl and handed it to him.

In the living room, Daizi was sat between Amty Fadia and Khalaty Amira, and it was clear just at a glance in this moment, Daizi wasn't expected to be a grown-up. Her relatives had her now, they were taking care of her.
 
"Thank you," Xander said and sat down in the kitchen to eat his soup, almost guarding it as he savored every bite. So good! So good.

Alec took their backpacks upstairs and tucked them away. After he did that, he went down and sat on the coffee table facing Daizi. "Hi, Mama. We're home. It was a good day at school."
 
"Hi habibi," Daizi said, not quite herself but looking much better than she had the night before, "I'm glad school was good. Amty Zeinab told me you forgot and were almost late this morning."
 
"It's better to be early than late, I think," Daizi said, "Although it's really common for us in Egypt to run late, but we all run late so it works out."

"Arriving somewhere too early seems like a waste of time to me," Amira said.
 
Alec pulled a face. "He knows the people, but when I try to tell him, he just gives me that long-suffering look like he's just waiting for the gossip session to end. But nope! Not Tom! It's Clarence. We share Math and biology together. He's nice, enough, I think. I haven't talked to him much, but he always has spare pencils, and he has the kind of laugh that spreads, you know?"
 
Daizi chuckled softly, "He is long suffering. He's had more than his fair share of teenage gossip, working at the school for so long. But her boyfriend sounds nice, I hope they're happy together."
 
"I hope so, too," Alec agreed.

"Are you telling her about Becky and what's-his-face?" Xander asked, wandering in. "You should get some soup."

Alec hesitated, glancing from his mother to the kitchen. "In a minute. Yes, Clarence!"

"The guy with the weird hair?" Xander asked.

"It's called a cowlick," Alec told him.

"All I know is when he sits in front of me, I feel like I'm lost in the swirl. It's hypnotising."
 
"There's something I find really sweet about high school relationships," Daizi mused, having another spoonful of the soup and shutting her eyes for a moment to savor it, remembering why her family begged so desperately for it, "There's a sort of awkwardness that comes from being so new to all of it. It's not something I'd like to relive, I don't think, but I'm glad to have those memories." She smiled softly, tipping her face down towards her bowl and leaning towards Fadia, who hadn't stopped rubbing her back since before the twins came joke, "You should get some, habibi. It's delicious."

"Ivy-Qadira wants some," Dark said, watching the way Ivy watched the bowls, "but fortunately she has not been sick enough to need the soup, so she has not been allowed to try it yet."
 
"Alright," Alec agreed. He stood and touched his mother's shoulder gently before heading to the kitchen. He wasn't sure he deserved soup, but he didn't have the willpower to say no to the special soup. He got himself some soup and sat in the kitchen eating, savoring every bite on his own. It soothed his soul just a little, giving him a moment of peace.

Xander sat on the coffee table talking with Daizi and her aunts, far more serious and quiet in his questions than Alec had been, but he had a certain humor, too, and joked with the aunts. Eventually, it was time to go down their homework.
 
When Alec touched her shoulder, Daizi placed her hand over it for just a moment and then let go, pleased he had decided to go eat. Then she directed her attention to her other son, and the aunts were just as charmed by him as they were by Alec.

By the time both twins were off doing their homework, Daizi's relatives were preparing to say goodbye. They could see the way exhaustion was creeping into Daizi's face, and since it was coming up on Ivy's next nap anyway, they left the soup with them and left, promising to be there in only a moment if anything was needed. After they were gone, Daizi sighed softly, utterly worn out. Committed to his desire to pamper Daizi, he lifted her up and carried her to bed, tucking her in. Then after he lay Ivy down for a nap, he went to sit at Daizi's bedside and didn't leave until she fell asleep.
 
The twins kept mostly to themselves, doing whatever needed done, and then once everyone else seemed more or less ready for bed, they tucked themselves into their couch bed for another night of sleep. They missed their room, but it was worth it for Amty Zeinab.

The next morning was a much calmer one with the twins remembering it was a school day and treating it accordingly. There was no mad dash, only a quiet but steady tick of movement as they followed a by now familiar regime to get to school on time. It made for a much calmer breakfast.
 
Dark was awake and eating breakfast when the twins came around chatting quietly at Ivy and to Amty Zeinab, but Daizi was still upstairs. Like before, she had elected to stay upstairs in bed for longer. She felt better when she woke up today than she had before, but she still was taking time by herself to just rest a little bit more.

When the twins entered the kitchen, Zeinab and Ivy greeted them happily and Dark gave them a tired nod over the rim of his coffee cup.
 
"Just what you see," Zeinab replied, "And you have to be certain to eat a lot, it fuels your brain for school."

Dark hugged Alec back, "When I quit my job, I thought how nice it would be to not need to wake up so early. I did not anticipate how early your sister would wake up each day."
 
"All year round, too, with no vacation days for you," Alec snickered. He let go and sat next to Xander to eat. He didn't eat as well as normal, but he was making a true effort to eat "enough."

Xander kept one eye on him but was satisfied with what he saw and cleaned off Alec's plate when Zeinab wasn't looking. "Time to get back to the daily grind. Are you sure you don't miss this?" he teased Dark.
 
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