How Green Becomes Wood

Ivy got up and attempted to toddle over to him, but ultimately decided it took too long and instead crawled until she made it to her brother.

"What would you like to do?" He asked, eyeing the shirt Xander was conflicted about, "It does not matter which pile you put it in, it will end up in the same place."
 
Alec scooped Ivy up and held her up high. "You'll get faster and faster the more you do it! You'll be a wee speed demon!"

Xander plopped the shirt down and picked up another. "Game night. Big room, games on both ends, different decor, one main event for each side."
 
Ivy giggled, reaching down for his face, and excitedly yelled, "Ack!" It was just another great day! And her brothers were home, finally!

"That seems like a good idea for a party," Dark agreed with a nod, "We will need to find a good venue for it, and quickly, so the pair of you need to come up with a guest list."
 
"Ivy!" Alec cackled, lowering her so she could reach his face. "Hi, you!" He glanced toward his father. "Sloan, Becky, Emma, and Peter!"

"Sloan and Milo and..." Xander trailed off, hesitating. "Uh, someone else."
 
"You would invite Peter also," Dark pointed out casually, hoping Xander recognized Alec was only inviting one more person than Xander was when mutual friends were removed from the equation.
 
"Peter, too," Xander agreed with a nod.

"You know," Alec said thoughtfully, "we aren't exactly best of friends with him, but we've sat next to Austin nearly every school day for months now. Maybe we could invite him?"

Xander shrugged. "It's a thought. That'd be six people if we invited him, too." He frowned at Alec. "What about your friend, Tom?"

Alec shook his head. "He's been doing pretty much every extracurricular he can fit without resorting to somehow doubling himself. I'll invite him, but I can pretty much guarantee he won't be able to come."

"Plan for seven, just in case, expect six?" Xander suggested, to which Alec nodded.
 
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Dark nodded, satisfied with that, and took out his phone to check the calendar, "Your birthday is on the weekend this year, so we can easily host it the day-of for you. Take some time to think up what decorations, food, and games you will want. If we are hosting it away from home we need to find a venue fairly quickly."
 
"Nice," Alec grinned. "That is a perfect!" He swung Ivy around and around. "A birthday, a birthday! A birthday just for us!" he sang to her.

"Won't be hard to get you a list," Xander told Dark. "I can get my side drawn up today."
 
"It's no problem," Xander assured him. "Better than playing dress-up at the thrift store."

"Hey, I had a blast! I still have my outfit," Alec told him.

Xander ignored him. "Are we still getting together with our Uncle on Friday?"
 
Alec had put Ivy up on his shoulders and was carefully holding her in place. "Do you think everything will be lower so that Uncle Tristan can reach it better? In that case, Ivy will be able to reach it more easily."

Xander folded a pair of pants and set them aside. "I dunno. How common is it to find rental places built for wheelchair height?"
 
"I imagine the furniture will be lower," Darl replied, momentarily questioning what it will do to his knees, but was distracted by Ivy on Alec's shoulders, "Please do not hold her that way, you will not be able to catch her if she falls backwards."
 
"Ah, Ba," Alec sighed, knowing he had a good hold of Ivy's hand and a bit of her shirt. He leaned forward and gently slid Ivy forward and around into his arms where she landed safe and secure. "Touch down! Are you ready to go undo all of Ba's hard work? He and Xander are almost done folding, so now's the perfect time!"
 
"You know how she squirms," Dark said calmly. Once he had looked up the safety of that hold because he wanted to carry Ivy up there and was frightened out of it, at least for now. "Come here, Tifla," he looked up at Alec, "Did I tell you I ran into Emma's parents yesterday?"
 
Alec grimaced as he set Ivy down.

"Oh, so that's how that got started," Xander said mildly.

"Shut up," Alec muttered at Xander. "Emma mentioned her parents had met you, yes. You were quite impactful, I hear."
 
"We only really spoke about work and Ivy," Dark replied, holding up one hand, "They thought she was adopted. And called me 'Mr. Mom.'" He was not particularly pleased about that comment.
 
Xander snickered. "Mr. Mom?" he repeated, amused. "What does that mean? Other than the obvious."

Alec shrugged, trying to pretend it wasn't a big deal. "They just told Emma to be careful in case you guys were into the stereotypical goth stuff. The bad kind. Since she'd already met you, and you played it cool, Emma doesn't think you are into anything bad."
 
"I think it means I am both a stay-at-home parent and a man, and therefore I must me a masculine mother rather than a father." Dark said flatly, and then because he felt obligated to do so said, "I get those sorts of comments regularly. But I am glad to know the Satanic Panic is alive and well."
 
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"It's not a panic, it was just concern," Alec protested. "I'm sure you'd be concerned if I started dating someone who's family was mixed up in something you were certain was a cult."
 
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