How Green Becomes Wood

Alec nodded. "I think I want some alone time in my room. Um. When will we be doing the candle lighting? Do we need to wait for dark?"

"It would make it more dramatic," Xander agreed.
 
"Perfect," Daizi smiled, "I'm looking forward to it. We have all eight candles ready."

"Is there anything else you need from us?" Dark asked, "I know we have talked about it, but I want to check in on if there is anything you want us to say or do during it."
 
"Um, no, I don't think so?" Alec said slowly, looking at Xander again.

"Since this is a first time, I kind of figured we'd sort of see what happened," Xander admitted. "We have the script and all that, but improvisation is welcome, I guess?"
 
"I just wanted to make sure." Dark said.

Daizi hummed slightly, turning her head towards Ivy, "What about your sister? We can wait until after she's gone to bed, one of us can hold her..."
 
"I don't mind if she's a part of it, but maybe it would be better if she wasn't?" Alec asked slowly. "For her sake, I mean. We will be lighting candles and things, and what if she tries to touch it?"

Xander added, "I don't mind if she's a part of it, either, as long as she doesn't get hurt or get too bored."
 
"If it is after dinner, we will be preparing for her to go to bed, so she will probably be all snuggled up and just watching. Or your father or I could put her in the baby sling and wear her." Daizi suggested.
 
"I think so too," Daizi agreed, turning her head to smile at her daughter, "She should be there for family things, even if she is too little to understand."

Dark fed Ivy another spoonful of soup and said, "She will have questions, some day. Because of days like today and adoption day, she will grow up knowing you both are adopted, but I do not know when she will recognize exactly what that means and what it entailed."
 
"Yeah, she should be involved," Xander agreed.

"It means we were chosen family, and we have a lot of chosen family, like with Cooger," Alec said with a smile.

"Kind of with Tristan, too," Xander said thoughtfully. "Technically blood family, but we chose to be more than that."
 
"That is not what I meant," Dark said carefully but chose not to go more into it because he did not want to bring the mood down. Just as he knew Ivy would one day learn about his history, he knew one day she would have to learn what this adoption had cost her brothers, that their mother had to die for their family to exist. She would learn how they had lived on the street and been abused. Even if the twins never told her, she would have those questions. She would guess, he supposed, when she began to ask why she had no grandparents. Or one grandparent, technically. She'd ask why. And he feared it would hurt his sons, her brothers, to have to try and answer those questions, when they'd have to navigate how to disclose those difficult parts. He knew what it was like to struggle with those disclosures.

It had been nearly a week and his head was still hammering, trying to decide if he'd say yes or no to that interview. It hung over him like the sword of Damocles. Ivy would have questions. Or maybe she would but would not want to ask for fear of the answer, which he suspected the twins grappled with. And they'd know when she grew curious what it was like to be on his side and staring down this chasm at someone much younger, much less prepared to know.

"I didn't realize you felt so strongly for Tristan," Daizi commented, only vaguely sensing the cloud which had drifted back over her husband as he did his best to pretend like he wasn't stewing.
 
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"We'll sort out what she is and isn't confused about when we get there," Alec said brightly, unaware of what his father really meant. "Shell have questions, but we won't know what they are until she asks them, and when she asks them, then we can answer!"

Xander had an idea, but he chose not to follow that line of thought. Instead, he answered his mother. "He's an uncle. He's not to Cooger's level to me, but he's alright for a bonus uncle."

"Wouldn't Uncle Cooger be the bonus uncle?" Alec asked curiosly.

"Cooger came first," Xander shrugged.
 
"Cooger would be distressed if you called him a Bonus Uncle," Daizi said, "He takes his role very seriously."

Dark was still dwelling, but he pulled himself out just enough to say, "There is not a standard number of Uncles, so I am not sure if Bonus Uncle is a needed term."

"That's true," Daizi agreed, "Especially in my culture and your father's, where basically every adult in your life is called Aunt or Uncle out of respect."
 
Xander shrugged. "I don't know if it's like that here. Probably not since you get bonus mom or dad and stuff."

"Having them be regular aunt and uncle makes more sense," Alec said.
 
The twins looked at Daizi and gave each other a confused glance.

"We aren't?" Alec said slowly. "It was more of a joke than anything, and now we're comparing cultural things?"
 
"No," Alec chuckled. "Not at all! It's like the joke of having a favorite. We dont reallyhave a favorite."

"Oh, I'm very serious. Cooger is absolutely the favorite uncle," Xander said gravely.
 
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