How Green Becomes Wood

"With my parents we'd go to Cracker Barrel in the morning for breakfast and just get fast food on the way home," Cooger said, "Or we can just eat whatever they have here, but I don't know if it's actually good. They've got great fudge, though, if you want to get a bit."
 
"Probably for the best," Cooger nodded, "I'm still gonna get some of the fudge though. It's real good. Then we can pick up the tree and secure it to the truck, unless you want to do something else here before we leave?"
 
"Nah, I think I've had enough Christmas for now. I need a break before we start setting up the tree when we get home so I can stay festive," Xander replied.

"I wouldn't mind wandering a bit more, but for the sake of Xander's festivity tolerance, I can be done now," Alec said cheerfully.
 
"You know, maybe a little bit of fudge might be good," Alec said, trailing after Cooger hopefully.

Xander snorted and followed at a distance, not really wanting fudge, but totally planning to steal a few bites from Alec.
 
Cooger grinned and walked that way. Without even sampling, he bought a bit of almost every fudge in the case. Not huge amounts of each flavour, but enough so he'd be able to enjoy it for a good amount of time yet. After Alec got his, he went to retrieve the trees so they could strap them down to the truck bed.
 
Alec and Xander helped Cooger with the trees, getting them fully strapped down, and Alec even yanked as hard as he could in every direction to make sure it wouldn't move. That done, they piled in with Cooger, this time with Alec sitting in the back and taking up more than his far share of space, quite happily.
 
Cooger switched back on the Christmas music when they were back in the car, as though they hadn't been hearing it all day, and sang along to it while they drove to get something to eat. Since he ate almost anything, he let the twins pick, and after they had their fill, he took them home.

"Do either of you know where you put the tree stand after last year?" Cooger asked once they parked in the driveway.
 
Alec sang along heartily in the backseat, and Xander hummed along quietly, pretending not to be enjoying it as much as he did. They enjoyed eating, too, and Alec even stole a few bites off of Xander's fare. Something he almost never did.

Xander hopped out first with Alec behind him. "Yeah, I think I can find it. It should just take me a minute. It should be with the rest of the stuff, I think. Makes sense. I'll go grab it."

"I have no idea where any of it is, but I doubt Ba got rid of it," Alec told Cooger.
 
"Great," Cooger grinned, "Okay, so what I'm thinking is you go and find it. Once you've located it, Alec, you distract your folks so they don't see what's going on, and then once it's in position, sneak back to me so we can all get the tree inside."
 
"Distract them? With what? What could possibly distract them that long?" Alec wondered out loud. "Alright, I'll give it a try!" He hustled inside, wishing he didn't have to take off his shoes as he stepped in. "Hi! I'm home!"
 
"Just long enough to get the stand set up, the water we'll put in after the tree is in place." Cooger assured him.

"Hey habibi," Daizi said, swiveling towards the door. She was lying against Dark, who had Ivy in his lap and was reading a story to her, "Where did Cooger end up taking you?"
 
"Out working with lumber," Alec said. He held up his hands. "I managed to get a little bit of tree sap and splinters in my hands. Would you please help me get them out? They are frustratingly tiny! Oh, and Xander will be in in a minute. He wants tea." He'd had to quickly rub his hands against the tree trunk to get them sappy and splintery but not deep splinters. Little annoying ones.
 
"Did he not give you gloves?" Dark asked frowning, standing up, "Yalla, let's go look. Of course he'd send you home sticky and wounded."

"He probably thinks you are used to dealing with someone sticky," Daizi said, pulling Ivy into her own lap, "I'm sorry Baba has to stop reading your story."
 
"Sorry, Ivy," Alec told her. "But Ba has to fix his brother's mistakes. How annoying! Mama, would you make us some tea or something warm? Please? It's so cold and wet out there!"
 
"I suppose so," Daizi said, standing up and picking up Ivy who was feeling a bit grumpy about this disruption because she was enjoying storytime, "Come on, Hummingbird, let's make your cold sticky brothers some tea. We'll go back to reading afterwards."
 
Xander stood outside watching through the window. The minute his parents were out of the room, he moved with surpreme caution and opened the door. Then, still in shoes, he guiltily tiptoed across the living room floor as quietly as possible. He set up the tree stand, made absolutely certain it was in the right spot, and hurried back out to Cooger.

"Right, let's go!" he told Cooger. "The tree stand is ready, and they are just in the kitchen. Want to lead the way in all your Christmas cheer?"
 
"I think I have the solution for that." Xander went to the door and opened it just enough so that the tongue of the latch wasn't in the groove. All it would take was a small nudge to open it. "Okay," he said, hurrying back. "Just give it a tap with your boot, and it'll swing right open. If Ba sees it, he'll think you rammed the door open with the tree." He took the end of the tree. "Let's ho-ho-ho!"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top