How Green Becomes Wood

Inside, Dark was in the kitchen, trying to teach Ivy how to bake. Of all messy play, this was what he found to be easiest to do with her, because even the dog could help clean. Sure enough, Enkidu was lying right by them, patiently waiting while Ivy maniacally slammed a potato masher into a metal bowl her father held steady for her while giving her gentle praise. When the door opened, he turned towards them to welcome them both home, seeming fairly content.
 
Xander put his backpack near the door leading down, and Alec put his backpack leading up. They headed into the kitchen and watched Ivy for a bit.

"What are you making?" Alec asked with a small smile. "Potatoes?" Now he really couldn't talk about it.

Xander didn't say anything, just leaned against the wall to watch.
 
"I'll eat it," Xander offered. "I like banana bread."

"And he'll eat almost anything," Alec said as cheerfully as he could manage. He wasn't going to upset Ivy. "Are you enjoying squishing bananas, Mini?"

Kiki came trotting into the room and started demanding Alec's attention until he picked her up.
 
Turning to look at her brothers, Ivy grinned with a splotch of banana paste on her tan cheek. Dark had put her hair up in a ponytail to try to keep it from being full of banana, but she didn't have an apron.

"I think Daizi likes it," Dark said, cracking an egg into a bowl. Hnding the bowl to Ivy, he said, "Ivy-Qadira, can you pour this in with the banana?"
 
"I need to get cleaned up and stuff before I get to work," Xander said.

"I need to sort out my homework," Alec said.

Both of them waited to see if Ivy would actually put the egg into the bowl before leaving.
 
Again, Dark turned towards his twins, his usual frown on his face as he examined them each in turn, "Let me know if you need anything. I will get you when this is ready."

For Ivy, it didn't take too much prodding for Ivy to tip the egg bowl over into the bigger bowl with the banana, so while giving her deserved praise Dark gave her the bowl of vanilla to tip in next.
 
The twins clapped politely, impressed that Ivy managed to get all of the egg into the correct bowl. Then they headed in their different directions. Xander went downstairs and sorted out his school stuff, taking a moment to journal his thoughts and what he was feeling. He was not as consistent in journaling as he felt like maybe he should be, but big stuff always got written down. It helped him process things and get a better handle on what he was feeling, even if he wasn't sure what the next steps should be. Just getting a handle on things helped. It meant he wasn't going to lose his temper as easily.

When he finished, he headed upstairs to the bathroom and to check on Alec. When he poked his head in, Alec was laying on his bed staring at the ceiling, the folder with his project on the bed beside him. "So," was all Xander said.

"I know," Alec said quietly.

"You gotta talk to them."

"I know. Just not in the middle of banana bread."

Xander nodded. "Okay. Long as you know." He left Alec there and headed out to his shop.
 
Downstairs, Dark was calmly talking to his daughter in Arabic, very much enjoying the time spent teaching her how to bake a very simple recipe. When he could, he tried to offer her choices of what to add. After feeding Ivy a chocolate chip, she agreed to add them to the bowl. Walnuts she also wanted, and Dark praised her for good taste. After she said she also wanted the dried cranberries, he began to suspect she just wanted to dump everything in, but then she said no to the cinnamon. It seemed plausible the result would be a mess with how much was added, but he liked giving her options.

Once it was in the oven, Ivy watched through the oven door for a little while before growing bored and toddling off to play. Checking the time, Dark saw he had some time before he'd have to get dinner started, so he went to sit in the living room with her. Of course he wanted to go check on his sons, since they clearly came home upset, but he wasn't comfortable leaving Ivy totally unattended on a different floor.
 
After a while, Alec came down. He hoped he'd given Dark and Ivy enough time to at least get the bread in the oven, and when he saw that they had, he stepped into the living room. "Ba?" he asked, uncharacteristically nervous. "I... Well, Xander and I, but he's out in his shop right now, but I can go get him. Should I go get him?" He took a deep breath. "I mean. We have something we need to talk to you about. Maybe you and Mama together? I'm not sure. It's important."
 
Despite already sitting up straight, Dark sat up even straighter when Alec came in nervous and stumbling over his words, "I was wondering if something happened. Daizi is at work, would you want to wait until she comes home? Are you okay?"
 
"There's no physical damage, and it's nothing that's time sensitive, so in that sense, yes, I'm okay," Alec assured him. He glanced at Ivy. "The biggest thing is, I don't want to talk about it in front of Ivy, even if she wouldn't understand yet. And you'd have to tell Mama later, anyway. So I guess waiting until she gets home is the best choice?"
 
Dark looked over at Ivy, who was sitting next to Enkidu, happily petting him with both hands and rubbing her cheek against his fur. It was hard to imagine something she wouldn't understand but his son wouldn't be comfortable saying around her. Looking back to Alec, he promised him, "We can wait, but is there anything I can do for you in the meanwhile?"
 
Alec considered and then shook his head. "No. Thank you. I'm going to go out and find some weeding to do for a while, I think. My brain is not in homework mode right now."
 
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"Yes, please. I do like banana bread," Alec said stoutly. He smiled and waved to Ivy, and then fetched his yashmagh before heading outside. The knot in the pit of his stomach told him he should say no to banana bread, but he refused to allow that to dictate him anymore. He might only be able to take two bites, but he'd consider two bites to be a win. He wasn't going to worry his father anymore than he already had, or would when he told him about what was going on.
 
About an hour later, the bread was done and Dark, carrying Ivy on his hip, went to alert both of his sons. It smelled nice enough, although he still had suspicions about chocolate-walnut-cranberry-bananna. But he knew he'd eat it and pretend it was great because Ivy had worked so hard on it.
 
Alec came in from the garden, lightly dusted in dirt, and Xander came in from his workshop, smelling of leather and oils. He handed Dark a small coin purse he'd made for inspection. It was a simple pouch with a flap that tied shut at the front. Both investigated the banana breat with increasing suspicion.
 
Dark gave suitable praise to the pouch, remarking it seemed likely to fit easily in most pockets and certainly most bags. When he sliced the banana bread, he told them, "Everything that is in here is, technically, on lists of suggested additions. I am uncertain if they are expected to be done all at once, but your sister insisted."
 
"Okay. Ivy delight, then," Alec remarked. Tried a bite. He stopped. "This is... interesting," he mumbled.

Xander chewed thoughtfully. "It kind of works?" He said as if suspicious of his own tastes.
 
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