How Green Becomes Wood

Resigned, Dark brought Ivy back up to the nursery to brush her hair back down, then let her brush it at her insistence, and then take the brush back to fix it before gently pulling her hair back and tying in her bow.

"There," he said, turning her back around to look at her face, "There is Baba's pretty baby." She grinned at him, her big eyes bright, and for the first time in a little bit Dark took a moment to really look at her. Her smile still reminded him of Daizi's, but there was something about the shape of her face which he saw himself in. Until she began to yell at him for staring at her, he was perfectly silent, but afterwards he pulled her in close, "You are so loved, Ivy-Qadira. And so safe. Baba keeps baby Ivy-Qadira safe."

He kissed her cheek and then scooped her up and went back downstairs, hopefully before Lex and Toby made it down the sidewalk.
 
Lex and Toby took their time arriving. They knocked and waited for Xander to open the door. Lex stepped in first and cheered, "Merry Christmas!" She was wearing nice, new blue jeans and an oversized holiday sweater with a puppy wearing a Santa hat.

"Hi!" Toby called out. "Happy Holidays!" He had on new jeans, as well, and a sweater with a goofy reindeer on it.

Lex frowned as she finished taking off her boots and setting them neatly aside. "Do you prefer happy holidays? Sorry."
 
"Welcome in!" Daizi said brightly, going up to the door, "Blessed Yule, Happy Solstice. You can say what you like, we won't begrudge anyone for saying Merry Christmas."

"Can I get either of you something to drink?" Dark asked, stepping through the gate to the stairs with Ivy on his hip. Of course, she was clinging to his beard, happy as a clam.
 
"Awesome," Lex grinned. She rubbed her nose briefly. "It's nippy out there. Thanks for the offer, but I'm good."

"Me too," Toby nodded.

"Speaking of something to drink," Lex said, giving Toby a look.

For a second, he didn't get what she meant. Then he jolted. "Oh! Right." He held out a bottle with a cheery ribbon tied a bit crooked on the top. "This is for you. Alcohol-free wine."

"Pretty decent stuff," Lex nodded. "I hope you enjoy."
 
"Thank you," Daizi smiled, taking the bottle of wine, "I'll put this in the kitchen, you two should come and make yourself comfortable. Touch our bowl of salt if you've not yet---we have appetizers along the buffet table, feel free to help yourself."
 
Lex had touched the salt, but Toby hadn't, so he hastily touched the salt before following his mother inside.

"The tree looks very festive," Lex told them, "and, Ivy, you are a little Christmas elf, aren't you?"

The twins greeted Toby and shared a couple of fist bumps around.
 
"Cooger took the twins to get it but we decorated it together," Dark said, "and thank you. She already tried to destroy her bow once today."

"She yearns for chaos." Daizi nodded, "How have you been? You live right next door but I feel like it's been awhile."
 
"Been doing alright. Got into a really weird fight with the neighbor on my other side about fences and keeping chickens," Lex told her. She examined the buffet appraisingly. "Mmm, looks good! The fence fight somewhat makes sense, but not the chickens."
 
"That is why I made sure, if I was forced to have neighbors, to only have them on one side." Dark said dryly, "and for most of my time here, even that has been too many."

"What was the fence fight about?" Daizi asked.
 
"My back fence is wood, and some of it is starting to sag and look a bit weak," Lex told them. "I had a surveyer come out and checked all the legal boxes to make certain everything was good. I found out that the current fence on the other side is actually three inches into the neighbor's property, so I had the survey guy set up markers where the fence is supposed to be. The neighbor then came to complain about it? Even though the change is in her favor?"
 
"I have no idea what is or isn't allowed, and I don't want chickens. I don't have chickens. She doesn't have chickens. As far as I'm aware, no one in the neighborhood has chickens. But she comes to me and starts talking about how awful chickens are, and how it would be the worst thing ever if they came to the area," Lex said, baffled. "She was talking all sorts of nonsense about mice and lice and all kinds of nasties and the legal action she'd take if it happened. Where did the chickens come from? And why did she think I want them?"
 
Daizi laughed, "See, what you need to do now is trick her into thinking you have chickens. Play the occasional chicken noises from a speaker, make a big deal about talking about eggs. If she ever comes over, then you can say you have no idea what she is talking about because you do not have chickens."
 
Lex grinned at that. "I like it! Fight insanity with more insanity. I just might do that."

Tristan arrived then, and he had a little bit of difficulty getting out of his car and fetching his chair thanks to the banks of snow, but since Dark kept the walkways clear, once he was on the walkway, he was able to reach the door with ease and knocked.
 
"Just don't mention my name if you get in trouble for it," Daizi teased.

Dark opened the door, already looking down, "Hello, Tristan, please come in," He stepped to the side so the other man could enter more easily, keeping Ivy on his hip. So long as she was held, she'd be too distracted to ruin her hair before everyone had the chance to see her, "I hope it was not too difficult for you to get here, I did my best to clear everything for you."
 
"I wouldn't dream of it," Lex grinned.

"Happy Holidays, Dark!" Tristan greeted him as he rolled back and forth across the rug a couple of times to clean off his wheels before pulling on the wheel covers to protect the floors. "Thank you for your thorough job. It was not too difficult, no. Ah, where are the boys?"

"Merry Christmas, Uncle Tristan!" Alec greeted as he came over.

"Merry Christmas, Alec. You look incredibly festive today, though not quite as cute as your sister," Tristan grinned. "Could you and Xander do me a favor? Your gifts and the one for your parents are in the back of my vehicle. Could you grab them for me? They are clearly labeled, so you'll know exactly what to grab."

"Sure!" Alec agreed. He fetched Xander, and the pair of them went out to bring in the gifts.

Tristan rolled farther into the room to get out of the entryway. "You home is quite festive," he remarked to Dark, trying not to show too much amusement at the bright, cheery Christmas tree next to the more gothic and witchy decor. It did look good, but it was a humorous blend.
 
"The tree was my brother's doing." Dark explained, not mentioning how many ornaments he had made for it, "Last year he snuck them out of the house to set up a tree, he did so again this year. All three of them like it, so I do not mind too terribly, although the needles can be frustrating to keep swept."
 
"I can imagine," Tristan nodded. "I tried a fake tree for a couple of years, and it still shed needles. I thought that was supposed to be one of the perks of a fake tree; that it didn't shed?" He chuckled and shook his head. "I haven't bothered with a tree for a few years now because the effort outweighed the joy for me, but I do still decorate, and I enjoy other people's trees."

Alec opened the door and stepped inside. "Uncle Tristan, you are going to spoil our parents," he scolded.

"That or they are going to be annoyed with me for presuming too much," Tristan said in amusement.

Alec handed Tristan the three wrapped presents he was carrying and went to help Xander with what he was working with. It was a small tree potted in a large terracotta pot set on a small steel platform with castor wheels. It moved smoothly, but they had to work together to get it up the ramp and into the house without tipping. Xander checked that the wheels were clean, and then they took off their shoes and rolled the tree into the house. A massive black and silver ribbon with ravens wrapped around the tree trunk in a huge, perfectly done bow.

"I think he's gifted you part of the forest," Lex told Daizi in amusement. "Presuming the tree's for you."

"Yes, this is for both of you," Tristan said to Dark and Daizi, "and this is for you, Xander, and you, Alec, and for Ivy." He handed the wrapped boxes to Alec, Xander, and Ivy. Xander's was in the shape of a book, Alec's was a little smaller and in the shape of a cube, and Ivy's looked like a larger, slightly misshapen book, like there was more than one in the wrapping.
 
"We decorate for Halloween," Dark said, glancing behind him, "as of yet, this is the peak of how we handle Christmas."

Then he turned when the twins came in, staring at the tree for a moment with an unreadable expression. What was it with uncles and giving trees as gifts? It was quite lovely, though, he had to admit. Actually... he took a step closer to it, looking at the leaves, while he helped Ivy hold her gift, "Is this a fig tree?"

"He brought in a tree?" Daizi asked Lex, "You're too kind, we actually have a gift for you too. I can go grab it. And for you, Lex, I just didn't know if we were doing presents right away."
 
"I do not wish to interfere with whatever schedule you had," Tristan said hastily. "It is just... rather difficult to wrap a tree. Yes, it is a fig tree. A common fig. I hope you do not mind it. It is quite happy indoors, and if you want it to fruit all year round, you can do so by keeping it in the right temperature, but you might want to let it go dormant over the winter like it would naturally. It would be happy in the garage." He realized he was babbling a little from nervousness and forced himself to wrap it up. "I can give you more care instructions later."

"It is such a cute tree!" Alec grinned.

"Yeah, it's not bad," Lex agreed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top