How Green Becomes Wood

Ivy giggled, pressing her face against the glass and before she could be corrected, turned around with a huge grin, the blue light from the water shading half of her face, "Baba!"

"I see them, Hummingbird," Dark replied, the wonder on his baby's face making his heart nearly overflow with the love he felt for her. Giggling, Ivy turned back to the class and tipped her head back as she watched them float peacefully. "Do you like the--. ...Them. Ivy? They are very beautiful."
 
Alec sighed, melting a little. "Ba, Ivy, you two need to stop. You are being criminally cute. You're not supposed to upstage the animals."

"Not to mention you have at least three people who look like they'd say on the spot if you asked them to marry you," Xander drawled, keeping one eye on the other aquarium patrons who were watching them.
 
Dark looked over his shoulder at the boys and then back at Ivy, gently pulling her back into his arms and giving the top of her head, "It is time to move on, Tifla," He cooed softly to her, standing back up, "But maybe we can return later, okay?" Cradled in his arms the way she was when she was much smaller, rather than held on his hip like she more frequently was these days, Ivy still grumbled, wanting to continue to look at the jellyfish, but Dark shook his head and said, "There is so much more to see, my darling, and your brothers deserve to see what they like also." He raised his head and looked at Xander, "Tell me more about the signs you were reading. They sounded interesting, I do not know much about fish."
 
"Maybe we could vet her a jellyfish lamp," Alec suggested. "Then she could have jellies whenever she wants!"

"Well," Xander said slowly, pleased if slightly surprised Dark was pulling Ivy away, "according to the jellyfish sign, they aren't really fish, so the people in the know just call them jellies."

"I wonder if they refer to the different types as flavors," Alec mused.
 
"Maybe," Dark agreed, "Or I could replace her mobile. What do you think, my darling?" He asked, kissing her tummy, unbothered by any of the looks he got as he talked and cuddled her and then he stopped, looked at them, and said, "Jellyfish!" Then, with a soft, content exhale, said, "I think the type of jellies Ivy liked would be apricot."
 
"Yes, Jellyfish," Xander smirked, knowing Dark hadn't remembered the name. "Come on. Let's go look at the swamp things."

"Turtles!" Alec squeaked excitedly. "Look at the turtles!"

"There are five types in the tank, all native to the area," Xander said, reading the sign. "There's signs over there. Each type has its own picture and info. Nice."

"Let's see if we can find all five," Alec urged. "Ivy, can you see the turtles?"

"There's a few other animals in here, too," Xander said, reading farther down the sign.
 
Dark adjusted how he held Ivy so she could see the tank, "Do you see the turtles? Do you see solhovah? Where are they?"

Ivy looked at the tank, not seeing anything at first, but when a turtle swam by she jumped like she was surprised and then pointed at the turtle, squeaking excitedly.

"Very good, my daughter," Dark said, bouncing her, "How many more turtles are there?" While she looked in the tank excitedly, Dark looked at his sons, "I feel like I am on Sesame Street."
 
"All the cartoons show turtles popping out of their shells," Alec mused.

"They also show people getting blown up with no consequences, so I'd say they aren't to be trusted with facts," Xander remarked dryly. "Oh, there's a bog turtle!" He pointed out the dark, greenish turtle slipping thorugh the high grass.

"I spotted the spotted turtle!" Alec said, pointing out the near-black turtle with tiny yellow spots along its carapace. "So, these five are pandemic?"

"Endemic," Xander said, checking the sign again. "There's thirteen species total, but not all of them like swampy areas like this."
 
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