How Green Becomes Wood

Inside, Dark had just finished de-sticking Alec and pulling out the splinters. It looked like he'd probably be fine but he still disinfected it to be completely safe. "There," he said, "How does that feel?"

As he said this, Cooger nudged open the door, holding the tree, "Merry Christmas!" He cheered loudly, catching everyone's attention.

Staring blankly at the sight of Cooger parading a living tree into his home---and, to be honest, playing the part he knew they wanted him to---"What is that."

"What do you think it is, Desert Boy?" Cooger teased, marching straight towards the living room, "It's a Christmas tree!"

Dark scowled and crossed his arms, because he knew it was more amusing for them if he acted displeased and looked down at Alec, "Lumber work?"

"I can smell it from in the kitchen," Daizi chuckled, coming around with Ivy on her hip, "Hummingbird, your brothers and Uncle Cooger brought a Christmas Tree!"
 
"We needed to fell a tree. Felling trees is what lumber people do," Alec said with a little shrug and a smile of satisfaction.

Xander followed with the point of the tree. "The tree has arrived. Christmas now begins."
 
This new event made Ivy forget all about her book because she was so confused about what was happening.

"Alec!" Cooger called, "Come help make sure I'm lining the tree up properly with its base!"

Dark watched the needles fall from the tree as they walked through the house and sighed before taking Daizi's hand and following the parade into the living room. Enkidu was very, very busy sniffing.
 
Alec trotted forward. "You're on your way, Santa! Hang on, let me get down." He knelt to make it easier as he took hold of the base and guided the tree. "There we go... Left... Perfect! Hold it steady!" He tightened the screws on the base to hold the tree nice and tight. "Alright! I think that's good. Do you want to double-check to make sure it's tight enough?"

Xander held the top of the tree stable, trying to keep it straight. "Is it still straight?"
 
"Yes, it is straight." Dark said dryly, his arms folded across his chest.

"Perfect!" Cooger said, getting down to make sure the tree was properly set, and after he was satisfied said, "Right, now we need to get an absurd amount of water to fill this up. Trees need a hell of a lot to drink!"
 
"Why would we have buckets?" Dark asked.

"Use the big measuring cups," Daizi advised them, bouncing Ivy on her hip as Cooger trotted after them to join the assembly line of water filling.
 
"Because people have buckets. They are very useful," Alec grinned as he fetched the cups.

Alec and Xander filled up the tree stand, trucking the water back and forth steadily. It took a while, but, finally, they were done.
 
"Alright," Cooger said, taking his pocket knife out, "Stand back. It's time to unveil her." Then, he went about slicing open the netting so all of the branches fell open dramatically, suddenly filling their living room with a beautiful tree of just the right size. While Ivy laughed at the surprise of the tree falling open, Cooger looked to the twins, "Y'all were right. This one sings for sure."
 
"Oooo, it's so perfect!" Alec squealed softly, clapping his hands. "Uncle Cooger, this is magnificent!"

"Pretty darn awesome," Xander agreed, nodding in satisfaction.

Both twins turned and looked at Dark expectantly.
 
The tree was very impressive, Dark couldn't deny they had chosen a good one. But he looked at their faces, so he knew he had to sigh heavily and say, pretending to begrudgingly accepting, "It is a very nice tree. You picked well."

Cooger laughed loudly and slapped Dark on the back, "Look at that, we nearly got a smile outta you! Come on, we gotta decorate it. Where do you keep the ornaments and lights we put up last year?"

"I will get them."
 
"Ba is mildly impressed!" Alec cheered. "Did you see that, Ivy? Not even Ba can fully deny the allure of the Christmas tree!"

"No matter how much he might want to," Xander smirked, watching Dark. "Do you need help carrying stuff?"

Alec went to fetch the new ornaments and started carefully laying them out out of Ivy's reach.
 
"I have one box for the lights and garland, the other for ornaments," Dark answered, "The box with the lights should be by where the tree stand was, I have the ornament box out in my shed, I can go and get that one if you get the one with the lights."

"Aren't the ornaments at a bit of a risk because of Ivy?" Daizi asked, cautiously walking closer to the tree, holding one hand out in front of her so she didn't find it using her or Ivy's face.

"Nah, we'll just put the breakable ones out of reach," Cooger promised.
 
"Right," Xander agreed. He went out to grab the box and bring it in from its off-season resting place. He wondered briefly at Dark keeping the box in his shed. Perhaps he made ornaments for the tree after all!

"Not all of them are breakable, but we'll make certain the ones that are are we'll out of her reach," Alec assured her. He took her hand and guided her to the tree. "Hear it is!"
 
"It's softer this year," Daizi smiled, "and it smells beautiful."

"I made sure we picked one that wouldn't be too pointy with Ivy crawling around all he time," Cooger said, quite pleased with his foresight as he took Ivy from her. Now that he was done with the bulk of the tree work, he wanted to properly greet his niece.

"It should be lights first when we decorate the tree, yes?" Dark asked, setting the box of ornaments down on the coffee table. The fact he kept it in his shed this whole time said much about what his activities had been over the past year.
 
"I guess so, yes," Xander said. He opened his box and sorted through it carefully. The lights were neatly coiled, yet they still managed to tangle just a little. It was the ultimate skill of Christmas lights. "Where's the outlet we're plugging it into? We should plan from there so we don't accidentally short ourselves or something."
 
Dark went around and indicated where a good starting outlet would be, "That should be near enough. Do you need help stringing them up?" He was, clearly, the most able to reach the top of the tree.
 
"Definitely once we get higher," Xander told him.

"We can get down low, though," Alec said. "I can take one side, Alec the other, and, Mama, you can supervise since we lost Uncle Cooger to Ivy."
 
"I'm still paying attention," Cooger griped holding Ivy above his head, "But only so many of us can help with the lights."

After looking up the tree, Dark said, "It is best to start at the bottom, I think. It would be easiest to hide the cords."
 
"Then at the bottom we start!" Alec said, plopping down.

Xander and Alec passed the lights patiently back and forth, winding them round and round until they reached the middle of the tree. Then Xander took a break while Alec passed the lights to Dark until he couldn't easily reach. Xander started hanging the new ornaments on the tree, pausing to hand Daizi's hers since she wouldn't be able to see it hanging. The others Xander thought Dark could find and figure out for himself who's was who's.
 
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