How Green Becomes Wood

"Non-zero, but I cannot say for sure how high the probability is," Dark replied, "Should I take a picture of the two of you with the kangaroo to send to Peter?"

~~

"No," Cooger chuckled, "He's an aardvark. His whole family are aardvarks."
 
"Yep," Xander said.

"Yes. Absolutely yes," Alec grinned. He grabbed Xander's arm and pulled him over to what looked like the best spot for the picture. He posed in his usual cheery self. Xander posed in his usual stoic self. They stood back to back with a kangaroo in the background.

~~

Lex looked at him blankly, having no idea what an aardvark was. It sounded like a made-up word to her. She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're making that up."
 
Dark crouched down slightly so the angle of the photograph wasn't wholly unflattering to his smaller sons, and then angled to make sure the kangaroo was fully visible. After he took it, he walked closer to the twins to make sure they liked it.

~~

"I'm not," Cooger replied, fighting for his life not to laugh, "He's an aardvark, I'm telling you."
 
"Looks good," Xander said after giving it a close look.

"Hey, the kangaroo's even looking over. That's great luck," Alec noticed. "That's a good picture."

~~

Lex pushed herself up so she could face Cooger more directly. "Then what the hell's an aardvark?" she demanded, her tone caught between annoyance and bewilderment.
 
"Who said it must be luck?" Dark said, daring to be glib for a change as he sent the photograph to both of them. "Come, we must show Ivy her beloved aquatics."

~~

"It's not a bear!" Cooger replied, unable to fight back a grin, "I don't know, it's a mammal of some kind, but it sure as shit ain't a bear!"
 
The twins snickered, and Alec guided Ivy to be with her father so he could push the stroller. Xander hopped along behind, and when they got to the aquatics section, he took advantage of a bench to take a break. Alec sat with him for a moment and used the time to send the picture to Peter.

~~

Lex crossed her arms. "Jasper Caleb Cooger, are you laughing at me because I don't know what some exotic animal is?" she accused. "And 'some kind of mammal that's not a bear' ain't exactly the best of helpful descriptions!"
 
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Having to slow down to a speed their nineteen-month-old could keep up with was a bit agonizing, but Ivy looked so proud to be hurrying along with her family. There was another big, internal building where the penguins and some select fish were kept, as well as (oddly) vampire bats, but from the outside they could see sea lions both above and below the water by going down a ramp. Inside a second building in the aquatic area was an entirely separate, large indoor exhibit purely for the dolphins.

When they approached, one sea lion was sitting on a rock honking while the other two were swimming back and forth. This made Ivy's eyes widen and stamp her feet in excitement, "Yalla!" She chirped, squeezing tightly to her mother's hand.

~~

"I'm not laughing," Cooger defended himself, "But I don't know what to tell you! They ain't a bear, they ain't a cat, or a marsupial I'm pretty sure, but I don't know what they are!"
 
Alec was absolutely fascinated by the penguins and was possibly more reluctant than Ivy to leave. Both twins glued themselves to the bat exhibit and watched with wide-eyed fascination every tiny bit of movement they could see in the nocturnal creatures.

When they go to the sea lions, Alec grinned at Ivy. "She's definitely her father's daughter!"

~~

Lex snorted and relaxed back onto the couch. "I'm going to have to go to the library now and figure out what the hell an 'Aardvark' is, then."
 
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