How Green Becomes Wood

"That is not something we need to deal with." Dark answered. Then he stopped. With great effort he added, "Thankfully. And there is never a concern of choosing who to visit."

Daizi squeezed his knee beneath the table and said, "I imagine it will get much safer. I don't imagine anywhere she lives manages to not be surveilled."
 
There was a pause - not a fully uncomfortable one - as Sally and Jack considered what to say to Dark's statement. When Daizi continued the conversation, Sally took the topic and continued with it.

"I wonder how bothersome it would be to work at that level of government," she mused. "You and I know governmental work isn't always fun at our levels!"

"Red tape is a pain in my... posterior," Jack said. "At least there's Jen."

"Bless Jen and her bulldozer heart!" Sally sighed. To Daizi and Dark, she explained, "Jen is the one who is our main front to all things governmental, red tape, lawyers, all of that."
 
"We thankfully don't have too much governmental oversight at my museum," Daizi said, thinking about it, "Obviously there's some, there's so many forms we need to fill out when we're planning studies with living people. And the grant applications are brutal. Our administrator helps us with a lot and it is also why we have interns. It's an awful thing to say, but sometimes I can't be asked to fill in the risk assessments, just let me edit them."
 
"Something with the dead zoo, I'd guess," Daizi suggested, "I imagine you'd be good at identifying the species that come into the collection, although I'm not all that familiar with most of it."
 
"Don't worry, my love, I won't abandon you just yet," Jack chuckled as Sally pouted.

"Good," Sally sniffed, still pretending to be annoyed. "You're one of the few people worth talking to outside of my department."

Jack snorted. "I won't use that against you later."
 
"It's probably for the best, although it would be nice to have someone to talk to on the train rides," Daizi said, "and to be there when I got off it. There were some unsavory sorts there sometimes, it's one thing I'm really glad to have a break from."
 
"There was a pretty frightening moment during my second trimester," Daizi admitted, lightly touching her wrist, "but I think it's been so long, if that person even still hangs around there, he won't think to look for me anymore. And I'm not pregnant now, so I feel a bit more capable of defending myself."

"And we can always have one of your coworkers meet you at the platform again," Dark added, shifting against her.

"It was really only the one incident in all my years taking the train to work, I don't think I need to be too worried."
 
Sally frowned but nodded. "Alright, I trust you'll know if you need to change anything."

"We could look into getting you a guard dog," Jack suggested, not serious.

"They just got a new cat. I don't think they need a new dog," Sally said.
 
"Worst case, I'll just start bringing Enkidu and my husband," Daizi said, also not particularly serious, "between the two of them, I'm certain I'll be left alone. And that is true, nobody ever hassles me when I'm with him."
 
"Maybe one of your boys will get a job in the same area and will take the bus with you," Sally remarked. "I'm hoping Peter will work in the same building as us and, yes, blatantly take advantage of nepotism, but it doesn't seem as though that is where he is leaning." She sighed, melancholic. "They grow up so fast! And each stage is different and interesting in its own way."
 
"Maybe, but it won't be much help until they're high school graduates," Daizi pointed out. "I'm going to go back to work in April, I think. I can understand wanting them closer, but it's probably for the best to have at least one family member not working in the same field as the rest of you, it might keep conversations fresh. Do you know what Peter does want to pursue?"

"It is very strange to have both a toddler and teenagers." Dark said, reflecting on how different life stages are.
 
Sally nodded. "I suppose this is true. As long as it is similar enough that we all share the same language. He is actually considering a career as a biostatistician, if you can believe it."

"Todders and teenagers, I think you'll come to find, are scarily similar," Jack said dryly. "Things like forgetting how chairs work, insatiable appetites, and making up their own language. Not to mention how often they drop things. Everything. And both are easy to bribe with shiny things and candy. Teens tend to be more specific about the shiny thing or candy, but my point stands."
 
"It's really all outside of my field of knowledge," Daizi admitted, "I have no frame of reference for if being a biostatistician should be shocking to me or not. But I know he's very impressive at maths."

Dark looked over at Jack for a few moments and then, after a moment said, "So you can imagine why it is very strange to have three simultaneously. But I do think the differences, few though they may be, have a pretty strong impact on how you have to parent them."
 
"That's fair," Sally chuckled. "It is a very demanding field that is incredibly important, but usually overlooked and unknown. He wants to focus on biodiversity and helping wildlife, primarily. I'm very proud of him, if that's what he chooses to do, but I know it is far from an easy road."

Jack snorted and nodded. "Very true. At least a teen you can have a rational conversation with them, even when it's about something they did when even they aren't sure why they did it. And toddlers are much better at cuddling."
 
"I know somebody with a master's degree in Political Ecology," Daizi said, "It seems like another side of the same goal, it's very important work."

"You can sometimes have a rational conversation with a teenager," Dark replied, "I also think having both at the same time... some of the similarities are a bit reductive, at least in terms of the daily experience. I am sure in retrospect it may appear otherwise."
 
Sally's eyes widened. "Now there is an intense job!"

"Good point," Jack chuckled. "At least teenagers have better hand-eye coordination when it comes to feeding themselves."
 
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