How Green Becomes Wood

"Way back in high school, I got into this embarrassing fight with this girl because she wouldn't stop bullying me," Daizi recalled idly, "Do you remember that, Goose?"

"I remember you threw your bag in her general direction and screamed more consecutive curse words in Arabic than I think I've ever heard you say since," Dark replied.

"To be fair, she left me alone after that."

"Yes, I think pushing the blind girl to acts of physical violence generally makes someone reevaluate the choices they have made in their life."

"Now I just keep pepper gel on my keys but if I'm caught unawares I have to be able to do something," She sighed, pressing her knee against Dark's, "I keep trying to get your father to try and prepare me. He always tells me it wouldn't be fair."

Dark glanced down at her, wondering if she recognized how anytime they play-fought---not a euphemisms---he was able to overpower her almost immediately.
 
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"If you're ever in a situation like that, Mama, just break your stick and stab as hard as you can repeatedly until you hit something," Xander told her. "Your stick is a pretty useful weapon. You can also hold it vertically between you and whoever's trying to hurt you to keep them from being able to get anything around your neck."

Alec looked around and shook his head. "This is hardly a conversation for a morning like this!" he complained. "Come on, Ba, talk about something more cheery. Like how many crows it takes to make up a murder or something."
 
"That's a good idea..." Daizi had to agree.

Dark turned to her and gently held her hand, "At least, my darling, you know when you are with me, no harm will come to you." Then, he kissed her knuckles. A faint blush crept into her cheeks against her will, but the way his r's rolled and his calm confidence tickled her brain. Frankly, it was criminal. It was too early in the morning for him to be suave.

"Three crows is a murder," She said anyway, still letting Dark hold her hand, "Two is an attempted murder. But it's unclear how many ravens are necessary for an Unkindness."
 
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"Well, they say three's a crowd, so maybe it's three for them, too," Xander remarked.

"Four is a party, I think!" Alec said cheerfully.

"You think two is a party."

"True. I can also have a party by myself, so even one can be a party!"
 
"It is strange to me how large our gatherings have become," Dark mused, "Except for Halloween and the occasional other event, we had very small events."

"I'm really looking forward to how our Christmas will be this year. We'll actually be awake for it!"
 
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Alec grinned and spun in a slow circle around the kitchen. "This Christmas and New Year's Eve are going to be epic!"

"In that we'll all be awake and ready for them," Xander drawled.
 
"We are not doing anything for New Years Eve?" Dark asked, frowning deeply. He was under the impression it would be quiet, but Alec's comment stressed him. His eyebrows furrowed even more deeply when he realized January 1st was only 17 days away.

Daizi rubbed his shoulder but didn't respond to his question---as far as she was aware, it wouldn't be anything major, but they may have Cooger over. "It's been nice getting to be the center of our little community."
 
Alec stopped his spinning to smile at Dark. "Sure we are! We're saying hello to the new year and goodbye to the old one before probably passing out in bed seconds later. Sounds like fun to me!"

"Snacks. Gotta have snacks," Xander confirmed. "And something to toast with at the stroke of midnight. Ginger ale?"

"Perfect," Alec agreed. "A lovely little party of four since Ivy will be sound asleep."
 
Dark watched Alec warily before saying, "As long as it is only that."

"It's still a couple weeks away," Daizi said, bumping her shoulder against his before picking up Ivy and settling her in his lap, "You will be asleep, sweet girl, because Mama and Baba aren't going to deal with a grumpy little baby all night."
 
"It's a big deal when you are old enough to stay up to midnight," Alec said.

"Officially stay up with the grownups and not pretending to be asleep while pinching each other under the blankets," Xander said dryly.

Alec nodded. "It is nice to escape New Years without a dozen little bruises."
 
"I was allowed to stay up for it beginning pretty young," Daizi recalled, "I know for a few years I was allowed but would end up falling asleep on the couch. My brother would always make a bet about when I'd fall asleep. I don't even remember the year I finally made it."
 
"Nope," Xander said. "Just thinking that while I like the kitchen, it's not the place I want to spend my entire morning when there's a perfectly good couch."

"He's being annoying," Alec giggled, helping Dark.
 
"We can go to the living room," Daizi said, standing up with Ivy on her hip, "I'm sure your sister wants to play by now anyway. Don't you sweet miss Ivy-Qadira? But we also have presents to open."
 
Alec's eyes widened. "I almost forgot about the presents!" he almost whispered in excitement. "I wasn't sure we would get one!"

Xander almost blushed, feeling awkward already at the attention gifts brought, but he couldn't deny his own bubble of excitement. "We have something for you, too."

"I left it upstairs!" Alec gasped. He turned and ran for the stairs while Xander walked to the living room. He came down quickly, panting a little, holding an envelope.
 
"You didn't need to get anything for us," Daizi told them, touched they'd think to do something for them. In her mind, this anniversary was more about the them than it was about her and Dark.

When they came downstairs, Dark had taken out two envelopes and set them neatly on the coffee table. Seeing the twins also had brought an envelope, he sat back and said, "I see we all had a similar idea."
 
"I hope that's okay," Alec said, flushing. "We kind of put everything toward your Christmas gifts, but we wanted to get you something for this." He set his envelope carefuly on the other side of the table so they wouldn't get mixed up.

"I hope we didn't get everyone all the same thing," Xander joked, knowing just how impossible that would be.
 
"At the very least, we know you both didn't get the same thing," Daizi grinned while Dark handed Alec and Xander their respective envelopes.

Inside Alec's were tickets for the entire family--except for Ivy--to go see Hadestown in the week between Christmas and New Years. It had been something they had spoken about doing many times before, so they hoped it wouldn't feel a bit cheap, but he loved musicals and they wanted to guarantee they'd be able to take him. Since it was a gift, they bought slightly nicer seats than they had originally planned to.

Inside Xander's was a note promising once the weather was right, they'd take him kayaking, again as a full family, but again without Ivy.

"Of course," Dark explained, "We will find things to do with her too, but she will have many activities without the pair of you invited, so it is okay for you both to do things with us without her."
 
"This is so cool!" Alec squealed excitedly, looking at the tickets. "We're going to Hadestown! I've heard some of the music, and it's fantastic! This is great!"

"Nice!" Xander crowed in satisfaction, looking at the promissory note. "This is going to be great. Now I can't wait for the weather to get nicer."

Alec hesitated and then turned to Xander, holding out the tickets. "Will you be the ticket guardian, please? I don't want to lose them."

"I gotcha," Xander promised, taking them and carefully tucking them into a pocket where they wouldn't get bent.

Alec then indicated for Dark and Daizi to open their envelope. Inside was a promissory note much like what they'd given Xander, but theirs was for four nights of babysitting, theirs to redeem whenever they chose.
 
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