How Green Becomes Wood

As she drove home, Claire sang along happily to the radio, and as soon as she was home, she went to talk to her mom for a long, long time, before going to her bedroom to text her friends about every moment of it while lying on her bed with her stuffed cow squeezed beneath her. She had been on dates before, but none which had left her feeling like this.
 
After work, Xander went to pick Alec up. Normally, Dark did that, but Xander had a little extra time and didn't mind the drive. He didn't remember Alec's mood and happy sighs until he was halfway there. He braced himself and waited for Alec to come to the van.

Alec was still riding high, but some of the newness had worn off. Instead of sighing sappily the whole way home, he hummed along with the music Xander had going between telling Xander about his day. When they got home, Alec went to Daizi and offered her a rose. "For you, Mama!"
 
"I think I truly know what love feels like," Alec sighed happily. "It was the most amazing hour and a half that I have ever spent! Oh, and I have a little flower for Ivy." He gave his little sister a small pansy, which was an edible flower, and he'd washed it twice. Just in case.
 
Some parents may have heard that remark and simply chuckled to themselves, amused at their child's naivety. Others might feel offended, questioning how their child could say they had never felt love before when they had been so loved. Others still may shrug it off entirely, viewing the statement merely as a dramatic fancy.

But Daizi was a romantic, and if anyone knew what it meant to be in truly and purely in love, it was her. Once, Dark had said the most miraculous thing about her was her ability to simply love. All she could do, was brush Alec's hair back with her hand and say, in a voice both kind and firm, "I'm happy for you. It sounds like it was really special." It didn't matter to her if this current love of his would be permanent or fleeting: he felt it now, and it was enough.

Ivy, though, being so little, only took her flower and, cooing, held it up to try to show it off.
 
Alec sighed happily and hugged her. Then he gently pulled her into a silly little dance around the living room. "I just saw her a few hours ago, and I cannot wait to see her again! I know I see her at school, but it's not the same, you know? And she is so kind! So incredibly kind, with such a beautiful personality, and I love her bows!"

Xander came in and looked down at Ivy. "Whatcha got there, Mini?"
 
"I hope I get to meet her one day," Daizi replied, following him in his silly dance, "You have to call her, or text her, and this is important," she twirled her around, "Some people will try to tell you to wait three days after a first date to reach out, but don't listen to them, they don't know what they're talking about."

"Ah-wa!" Ivy said, toddling over to Xander and holding the flower out to him.
 
Alec gasped in shock as he led Daizi around the coffee table. "Three whole days?! Other people must be insane! I will text her. Very, very soon! And you will meet her. I'd love to invite her over. Is there a rule I should or should not listen to for that?"

Xander leaned over and took the flower. "Very pretty. It's a nice one." He handed the flower back to her. "Do you like the color?"
 
"I don't believe there are many hard and fast rules," Daizi told him, "but I think that's usually reserved for when the relationship is serious."

"Yeah," Ivy nodded, trying to be gentle when she touched the flower, but still ultimately crushing a few petals despite her best efforts.
 
"It might be a bit, then," Alec admitted. He gave Daizi a spin as best as he could with their height differences and let the dance end. "I should text her. Or maybe call her! I should call her. It's so old-fashioned to call. I think she might like that. Unless she hates phone calls? I don't know if she's the kind to hate phone calls. I have so much to learn!"

"Good try," Xander praised her. "It's a pretty flower."
 
"What you do then is you text her asking if you can call," Daizi told him, squeezing his hand for a moment.

"Yeah," Ivy agreed, and left to go play with her toys, the poor flower increasingly crushed in her fist.
 
"Okay!" Alec agreed happily, returning her squeeze. He scampered off to his room to text Claire. He thought about his text a long time and reworded it several times before finally sending it. Hey! I had a really nice time today. Thanks for suggesting Boba and Bears. Do you mind phone calls?

"Mama, Mini has a flower she's squishing," Xander reported. "Just so you know."
 
No, not at all! Claire texted back, although it was only a half truth. An enjoyable phone call had to be from the right person and for the right reason. Alec, certainly, was the right person.

"I'll keep that in mind," Daizi replied, "Do you have an eye on her? I sent your father out to his shed, and have been trying to cook while occupying her."
 
Alec grinned and called Claire's number. "Hey. How are you and your beautiful bovine, Beryl, doing?" he asked when she picked up.

"Yep. I can keep an eye on her," Xander agreed. He mock glared at Ivy. "Are you going to cause trouble, Mini punk?"
 
"We're okay!" Claire replied, her phone on speaker and lying in front of her, "We've just been hanging out and reminiscing about how fun today was. How are you?"

Ivy blew a raspberry and hurried into the living room, the bells on her anklet jingling as she went off.
 
"Doing great! I haven't actually gotten my Dr. Suess bear out of his box yet," he admitted. He set his phone on speaker and set it aside so he could pick up the bear in its box. "I should do that now. Today was a lot of fun. I agree. Is it... too eager of me to say I am really looking forward to when we can do it again? I don't want to pressure you or anything."

Xander snorted and followed her. "You are your mother's daughter."
 
"I'd love to!" Claire replied without any hesitation, "Id do it again tomorrow, if I could. But that probably is too soon. But next time let's do something other than the mall."

Once in the living room, Ivy sat herself down in front of the cabinets below the TV, dropping the flower she had been carrying. She had seen her parents go into it. She wanted to know what was inside. But, it had a child-safety lock, and, reaching up to touch it, she was trying to figure it out.
 
"Absolutely!" Alec set his bear on his bed and smiled at it happily. "If the weather's nice, maybe we could go to a park? I hear one of the parks in town has a scavenger hunt."

"And just what do you think you're doing, Mini?" Xander asked sternly, trying not to be too amused.
 
"A scavenger hunt sounds like a blast! I was also thinking we can play mini golf sometime? I've not been in years," Claire said, shutting her eyes and imagining him helping her to hit the ball.

"Ann," Ivy said, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to solve the puzzle, "This!"
 
"Mini golf would be amazing fun," Alec agreed. He hoped he wouldn't make a fool of himself. "How do you feel about newts? The scavenger hunt is a newt scavenger hunt to find 12 life-sized newts following... newt clues!"

Xander pointed to it. "That is a 'No Mini.' That is what that is. A 'No Mini.' I can't open it." He could, but he wasn't going to for her.
 
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