How Green Becomes Wood

"You won't mess anything up," Daizi promised, squeezing him tight, kissing the top of his head, "It will sound beautiful."

Dark rubbed Alec's back, glad to have made him so happy. It would sound beautiful with the live piano.
 
"I will start practicing right away," Alec promised. Once he was told what song they were playing, he started to walk out of the room.

Xander caught him by the back of his shirt. "Food first!"

"Food first," Alec agreed, spinning around to go back.
 
Even though Xander would definitely learn the song as he heard his brother practice, they still whispered the song to Alec. There was no point in loudly announcing it, after all. They deserved some level of mystery.

"Food first," Dark repeated with a quiet chuckle, bringing dinner to the table while Daizi set the table.

"We're not asking you to help perform the song because you're less interested in being a performer," Daizi murmured to Xander, "We wanted to respect your desire to stay out of the limelight."
 
"I appreciate that," Daizi replied, wishing she could put her arm around his shoulders but settling for tugging on his sleeve, "but I'd never ask you to do something you are uncomfortable with, at least not knowingly."
 
"I know," Xander assured her, tugging her sleeve in return. "That's why I also know I can tell you you can ask anything of me. Even if it would make me uncomfortable, it wouldn't be too bad or for too long."
 
"That's a question for your father," She replied as they all settled down at the table.

That weekend, Dark came downstairs after spending some time at the window, staring out at the backyard. When he walked in for breakfast he said, "Halloween is Friday. And the weather today is beautiful. There is much to be done."
 
"Today is the day to carve the pumpkins." He said with certainly, "And if you look outside, many of our leaves have fallen. So there is a pile to be built."

Daizi smiled down at her breakfast, not quite having the words to express the affection she felt for when her husband was in these sorts of moods.
 
Alec gasped and clapped his hands. "Yes! Pumpkins and leaf piles! I truly have obtained a new love for pumpkins, you know. I cannot wait to carve them!"

"So, because you love something, you want to stab it repeatedly?" Xander asked dryly as he snagged a piece of toast with extra butter.
 
"Is that not how love works?" Daizi teased.

Dark looked at them, still standing there with his hands on his hips, "Cute aggression is a real thing. That is why I am in an unending battle against my desire to eat Ivy and toss the two of you around like potato sacks." He gestured to each of his children as he said this.
 
"Oh, come on! I weigh more than a sack of potatoes! I've been working out and eating well," Alec stated, puffing himself up as best as he could. "I may have been lifted once, but I was caught unawares. You shan't be tossing me around that easily any longer!"

"Yeah, yeah, that's all fine and dandy," Xander said, waving away Alec's protests, "but what all do we have to do to prep for Halloween? And when are we building that leaf pile? Before or after destroying perfectly good gourds?"
 
Dark looked at Alec for a few moments and then bent down beside him so he was eye-level with him, "You do not want to challenge me."

"I don't carve any of the pumpkins myself," Daizi said, laughing quietly at her husband. His attempts at play never stopped being strange and she loved it about him. "But the leaf pile we need to do while it's still light out, I'd imagine. We can carve pumpkins indoors so the time matters less."
 
"Not during breakfast, no, of course not. That's a recipe for an upset stomach," Alec said and defiantly took a bite of his piece of toast, meeting Dark's look mischievously.

"Cool. Leaf piles after breakfast," Xander agreed. "Or maybe before lunch so the world has some time to warm up just a little bit."
 
"Keep your eyes open." Dark said before standing up straight and going to get his own breakfast.

"Before lunch is better, we don't want Ivy to get cold," Daizi said, turning to her baby, "Right, Hummingbird? Say it's no fun if I'm cold."
 
"And we'll have to be sure not to leave the pumpkins too late so we can scoop out the guts on the porch," Xander commented. "That's the grossest part."

"Oh! Oh! Can we use the seeds and the leftovers to make foodstuffs?' Alec asked eagerly.
 
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"I always do," Daizi answered, "Cooger loves them. I don't carve my own pumpkins, but I like cooking with the insides and the seeds. But if we empty them outside, you need to be absolutely certain we don't lose a single seed, pumpkins are impossible to get rid of once they grow."
 
"Roger that!" Alec agreed willingly. "Oh, I should ask to make sure I can take today off. This sounds like a full day kind of thing." He quickly finished cleaning off his plate and hurried out of the room to first find his phone and then call Tristan.

"Are we inviting Cooger to join us?" Xander asked.
 
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