How Green Becomes Wood

He pointed his thumb at his paint-covered adorable and highly impressionable niece, "If you think the second she gets too excited she ain't gonna give us a hug, you haven't spent enough time with her. It don't matter what I do, she will cover us in paint."
 
Lex thought about pointing out the distinction between Ivy accidentally getting paint on them and deliberately painting another person, and then she decided that was a problem for her parents. Gleefully, she swiped a finger across Coogers cheek, leaving a purple streak.
 
Ivy watched this curiously from where she sat, spreading more of the paint across the paper.

Cooger raised an eyebrow at Lex, and with his fingers in green paint, put two streaks on her opposite cheek.
 
"Well, well, well," Lex grinned. "It looks like we're going to war now, don't it?" She picked up the cup of paint with the least amount in it and dolloped a generous amount with her thumb. That paint then went in a swooping sweep right over Cooger's brow and a firm (but careful not to hurt) tap on the end of his nose.
 
Cooger looked from the paint on his hand back to Lex, and an idea came into his mind, but he decided against it. He was about to paint on Lex's face again, but before he could, Ivy stood up, walked right through the paint, and as expected, gave him a big hug. Then, giggling, touched his face, grinning at the hand print she left behind.
 
Lex laughed heartily. "Ha! Good job, Ivy! Get his face!" She looked at the little footprints left on the deck. "Aw, so cute! Good thing it washes off." She looked at Cooger, grinning. "Now what are you going to do? You've been pinned by Cuteness!"
 
"Ivy," Cooger said, putting both hands on her shoulders since she was covered in paint anyway, "This is very important. I need you to go and give your Aunty Lex the biggest hug of your life."

This seemed like something Ivy might be inclined to do when he turned her around to face Lex, but then Enkidu came up, curious about his humans. Seeing Ivy so covered in paint, he walked right through her drawing on the ground and came up to sniff her face. Laughing at this, Ivy started petting him with her paint covered hands before hugging him instead.

"lex." Cooger said, slowly looking from this to his girlfriend, "i think we will die tonight."
 
Lex stared at Enkidu, hoping hard that the homemade paint would wash out of dog fur, and also wondering how to wash a dog. Then she laughed and leaned over to hug Cooger. "Oh well! In for a penny and all that!" she giggled.
 
Wiping his thumb on his arm, he grinned at her and said, "Now I do," before taking out his phone and taking pictures of Ivy and Enkidu together, and of their foot/paw prints on the deck, "I think while she's distracted, we may want to pick up the paints."
 
"I've got paints if you can keep them corralled," Lex said. "I didn't even think that maybe we should leave the dog inside."

She picked up the papers and the paints, cradling everything carefully so that nothing would spill. Once she had everything orderly, she opened the door, slipping out of her sandals as she stepped inside. Her bare feet didn't have any paint on them, but her shoes might. The pictures she laid out on the kitchen counter with care, and the paints she rinsed quickly down the sink, putting the bowls aside to wash later. First, there was a dog and a child to take care of.

"Maybe we should hose her off with the dog," Lex suggested, stepping outside and back into her sandals.
 
"No, me either," Cooger chuckled, shaking his head, "We should've seen it coming."

While Lex was inside, Cooger did his best to keep Ivy distracted so she wouldn't notice she had lost access to the paints. Then, once Lex returned she looked up and said, "She'd probably love it. Do you think it's warm enough though?"
 
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