How Green Becomes Wood

"Alright, then, let's go!" Xander said, standing up and taking hold of the sled's rope.

Alec carefully got on behind Ivy and put his arms to her sides. He didn't want to crowd her too much, just offer her support to keep her falling in any direction. Xander started going slowly, working to not jerk the sled, and then settled into a nice, steady pace.
 
Just like with the wagon on her birthday, Ivy was confused for a few moments and before beginning to enjoying the ride and laughing. Cooger, Dark, and Daizi watched or listened for a little while, having brief, hushed conversations about how after nearly fourteen months, Xander was finally able to pick up his sister, about the snow, about sledding, and then Cooger said goodbye and headed out, needing to go pick up Lex and Toby.
 
Alec helped Ivy wave to Cooger as he drove away, and then he held both her hands up high and called, "Faster! Faster!"

Xander picked up the speed, heading away from Lex's place, glancing back continuously to make sure they were both safe and settled as he hurried as fast as the snow would let him.

Lex and Toby were out front making a snow... thing. It was more or less roundish in shape and had multiple stacked levels of varying sizes, but calling it a snow person would have been more than generous.
 
Cooger waved back and then went up Lex' driveway, hands in his pockets, and over the sounds of Ivy's delighted screeched, he said, "Sorry it took awhile to get here. What are y'all up to?"

Meanwhile, Sloan stepped outside, saw her friends racing with their sister, and went to wait in front of their house for them. Unfortunately for the twins, it gave her time to talk a bit with their parents to learn about their snow day.
 
"Hey, Mr. Cooger!" Toby grinned, waving at him. "Making a snow goon! What do you think?" He gestured to the snow mound proudly while his mother watched, amused.

Xander carefully turned the sled around and dragged them both back toward their parents.

"Hi, Sloan!" Alec yelled as they got closer. "Check out our reindeer!"
 
Cooger looked over the mound for a few moments and said, "Looks pretty good for a Goon. Should probably add some Snow Henchmen for balance. Goons are for hire, Henchmen are in it for the love of the game."

Sloan chuckled, "He looks about ready to guide a sleigh on a foggy night."
 
"Oh, good point," Toby agreed.

"Let's do that after we go freeze our butts to some snowmobiles," Lex grinned.

"Right. Let's go!" Toby agreed with a grin.

Lex gave Cooger a peck on the cheek. "Thanks for picking us up. Ready to head out?"

"Hardy har har," Xander complained, pulling up in front of her. "Do you want to give it a go? Or do you want a ride?"
 
"I'm all ready, got a thermos of hot chocolate in the truck and everything," Cooger replied, heading towards the truck, casually popping the passenger side door as he headed that way.

"It does look like a lot of fun," Sloan said dryly, "but I gotta be really careful not to get injured right now. Can't risk dashing through the snow."
 
Toby and Lex got settled, Lex next to Cooger, and they started happily and playfully arguing over what music to listen to as they drove.

Alec got up carefully, making sure not to overbalance Ivy. "Want to hold onto Ivy? You can have a ride! I'll help pull so we can go faster."
 
Cooger let them pick what ever they wanted while still teasing them for their music choices and tried to hype up his tastes as if half of it wasn't able to be accurately described as 'divorced dad rock.'

Sloan looked down at the sled for a few moments but then shook her head, "Sure, why not. I guess if your sister is on there I can trust you won't get too rowdy and knock me off."
 
"I would never do that to you!" Alec huffed.

Xander shrugged. "I might, but not with the mini, nah. Climb on!"

The twins waited until they were sure Ivy and Sloan were both seated and secure. Then they pulled away, gradually gaining speed. They both glanced back often, making sure Sloan and Ivy were both okay and having almost as much fun pulling as they would riding.
 
Sloan held firmly to Ivy, a bit nervous about the toddler going flying because her snow suit was slippery, but since Ivy was clearly enjoying herself, Sloan was able to relax a little bit. Even she couldn't totally deny being pulled around in the sled was kinda fun.
 
The twins took care of Ivy and Sloan, and even if it had been just Sloan, they wouldn't have done anything too extreme. Especially since she made the remark about not wanting to get injured right now. They might have done some small things, but nothing big. With Ivy also on board, it was a smooth ride.

Finally, they pulled themselves out and all but collapsed in the snow in front of their parents.

"Delivery!" Alec panted out. "One baby and one teenager!"

"It's a buy-one-get-one offer," Xander groaned, laying on the ground and staring upward.
 
"I can't lie, guys, you make pretty good sled dogs," Sloan replied, staying seated until she knew who was going to take over watch of Ivy. "The two of you could deliver medicine all across Alaska."

"It's just what I ordered," Daizi replied, finding Ivy by the sounds she was making and picking her up, freeing Sloan, "I better get you inside, habibti! It's cold out here!"

Dark, meanwhile, walked up to where Xander was lying, stopping just short of him and looking down. "You worked hard."
 
Alec waved from where he sat in the snow. "Bye, Ivy! Have fun warming up!"

"Good play is hard work," Xander told Dark seriously. He squinted. "You are a very long way up from here."
 
"Oh, we will," Daizi replied as she went inside, "Enjoy the snow!"

"Yes." Darks said, "I am. I am sure it is not my best angle." Then, he moved his hands from behind his back and dumped half a bucket of snow he had prepared down onto Xander's chest, careful to avoid his face, before moving on and dumping the rest into Alec's lap.
 
The twins both yelped and scrambled in the snow. They erupted upward and started flinging snow at Dark, some of it flying toward Sloan, more by accident than by design. Xander found his snowball pile and started trying to pelt Dark.
 
"You may consider that your penance," Dark replied, doing his best to block the snow as he retreated back inside the Necropolis, whistling for Enkidu to follow.

Sloan laughed at the display, brushing the snow off of herself, "Your parents were planning that the whole time you were giving Ivy her first sleigh ride."
 
The twins' eyes narrowed.

"You knew?" Alec demanded. "You knew about it all along?"

"I am betrayed," Xander stated.

"As am I!"

"There is only one response to this betrayal."

"Agreed."

The picked up snowballs and started deliberately pelting Sloan's torso.
 
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