How Green Becomes Wood

"Oi, is that Alec?" Xander called, coming upstairs.

"Yes, it's me. Who else would it be?" Alec asked, puzzled.

Xander went straight to Ivy, seeming to ignore Alec. He knelt down and looked at Ivy very seriously. "Mini, who is that?" he asked, pointing to Alec. "And who is this?" He pointed to himself.
 
"That's right," Xander said proudly.

"Oh, did she finally name you?" Alec asked excitedly. "That's so cool! Wait, what did she say?"

"Ann," Xander provided, offering Ivy a fist bump.
 
Xander flinched at the grab but fought to keep from pulling away. "We already went outside, Mini."

"Oh, is it outside you want? If you wait for me to change clothes, I can take you," Alec offered.

Kiki trotted into the room and straight to Alec where she started rubbing all over his legs.
 
Alec knelt down and held out his arms, hoping she'd let go of Xander. "Want to come say hi to me first? I haven't gotten a hi. Then we can go outside."

Xander felt a bit of sweat gathering at the base of his neck. His hands were shaking slightly. "But first, you have to let go and go say hi to Ack. Then we'll go out."
 
"Go say hi to your brother Alec," Daizi told Ivy, which was enough to get her to finally toddle over to Alec and lean briefly against him, but she was much more excited about going outside.
 
Alec heaved a sigh. "I guess I am not the favored brother any longer," he said, but he was watching Xander worriedly. "I need to change my clothes, and then we'll go outside, okay, Ivy? I don't want to get my work clothes dirty."

Xander stepped out the second Ivy was distracted and went to the kitchen where he scrubbed his hand hard. He didn't hurt himself, but his fingers were distinctly red when he finished. Deep breaths and a few shakes of his arms helped him calm down. There. It was okay. Nothing was wrong. He was okay, and he hadn't made Ivy cry. That was good.
 
"Babies are fickle," Daizi replied, listening to Ivy jijgle off towards the door, "Your father said Xander took her outside, showed her bugs, and taught her to play fetch with Enkidu. It's too many new, fun things."
 
"That is a lot of new things," Alec agreed, standing up. "I'm going to run and change really fast, and then I'll be happy to take her out. Do you want to come with us? Or have alone time with your special person?"
 
"We'd be happy to have you!" Alec assured her. He dashed upstairs and changed rapidly into something he didn't mind if it got stained or ripped, and then he was back downstairs. He scooped up Ivy and pretended to eat her belly before showing her her shoes and coat. He was more than happy to help her into her clothes, and then out they went!
 
Daizi pulled on a light jacket and followed after them, taking a deep breath, "I get to start working in my garden soon. I'm excited for it." Ivy immediately hurried out into the yard, not sure where she was going, but feeling excited to go to it.
 
Alec made sure Ivy got down the stairs safely. "What needs to happen in the garden?" Alec asked. Most of his current knowledge was about either a garden later in the year or cut flowers as he hadn't paid much attention to Daizi's garden other than to pull weeds.

Xander came out after a minute and sat on the steps to watch.
 
"Right now, I need to remulch everything firstly. There are some plants that I know already will need pruning, and some seeds I need to start germinating," Daizi explained, "Basically, right now, I need to do all the chores needed to make sure it's all ready for Spring."

Ivy was going through the yard, crouching down, and picking up any small pebble she found to look under it.
 
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