35. Happy Birthday, Twins!
Lena, Alex, Kara and Maggie were piled bonelessly and sated in Lena’s bed the last weekend of January.
"Are we doing anything for Valentine's Day?” Lena wondered.
Maggie made a noise of disgust.
“What?”
“I hate Valentine's Day,” the detective huffed.
“Why?”
“The ridiculous notion that you need a manufactured holiday to prove that you care? It just proves that people are patsies willing to throw away money on cheap chocolate and wilted roses. Makes me want to puke. I hate Valentine's Day.”
Lena raised her brow, “Wow!”
“Oh-kay…” said Alex.
“But it's the kids’ birthday! Kara exclaimed.
“Now that's a celebration I can get behind,” the Latina confirmed.
“Oh, man! I can't believe they're going to be twelve!” Alex lamented. I'm so old!”
“Oh, stop!” Lena rolled her eyes.
“Twelve!” Alex whined. “How did this happen?”
Lena smirked. “I believe we just demonstrated how that happened.”
“Yeah, minus the condoms,” Alex scoffed.
“Why did you guys do it without condoms?” Maggie asked. “That's, like, Sex-Ed 101.”
“I didn't think that I could get her pregnant! We're from two different planets!” Kara defended.
“I guess nature showed you,” Lena chuckled.
“Ye-ah,” Alex drawled. “No kidding. I miss my cute little babies! Now my babies are so big! Next year, they’ll be teenagers! I can’t handle it! Can’t they go back to being babies for a while?” She fretfully buried her nose in Kara’s neck.
“I don’t wanna have to potty train them all over again,” Kara mused.
“Oh, God, me either!” Alex agreed. “That was a nightmare!”
Lena kissed her bare back. “See? There are reasons to be thankful that they’re so old.”
“Yeah, no potty training, no diapers, no middle of the night feedings,” Maggie added. “Preteens are good.”
“Yeah,” Alex sighed, trying to calm herself. “Preteens are good.”
“Yes,” Kara agreed. “And our preteens are very good.
“Right,” said Lena. “So what are we doing for their birthday? We could go to Hawaii for the weekend, where it’s warm!”
“Yes!” Maggie exclaimed.
“Lena, no!” Kara groaned.
“Damn it, Kara! Why do you have to ruin all my fun?” Maggie slapped the blonde on the ass, getting more the opposite kind of reaction than she was going for.
“Mmm, that’s not what you were saying a little while ago,” the Kryptonian teased.
Maggie slapped her a few more times.
“Stop, or you’re gonna get fucked,” Kara warned her.
“I could go a couple more rounds now,” she smacked Kara’s ass and bit her on the shoulder. Maggie shook her hand out, “I think this is hurting my hand more than it’s doing anything to you.”
“I think you might be wrong,” Kara climbed between Maggie’s legs and pressed her erection against her center. “I’d call that something, wouldn’t you?”
Maggie chuckled and reached for the condoms. “Here’s a little something for your something.”
Kara grinned and put the condom on. “Orange is one of my favorites.”
“They’re all your favorites,” Alex laughed.
“What can I say? I love colors!”
XXXX
The next morning while everyone was getting dressed, Lena said again, “We never discussed what was happening for the twins birthday, thanks to those two horndogs over there. What are your plans?”
“OK,” Kara took a deep breath before she listed off, “On the Sunday before their birthday, we were planning a party with the whole gang, and then on their actual birthday, since it’s during the school week, we’ll just have a nice family dinner out somewhere. Then Alex and I usually celebrate Valentine’s Day either the day before, or the day after, but now that Maggie is a big ol’ sour puss about it, I don’t know what we’re gonna do.”
“I’m not being a sour puss about it!” Maggie complained.
“What would you call it?” Alex challenged.
“It’s called, I show my love and devotion every day that we’re together, I don’t need a made-up holiday that forces me to go to ridiculous lengths to be ‘romantic.’ You want a romantic dinner? You got it. You want flowers and chocolates? Sure. But why force them on us on a day that doesn’t really even represent anything?”
“I just don’t understand why you’ve got all this venom towards Valentine’s Day. You weren’t like that at Christmas,” Lena stated softly.
“Can we just drop it?” Maggie huffed.
“I’m kinda getting the vibe that there’s more to this than what you're saying,” Alex said.
The Latina rolled her eyes. “I said drop it!” She started to stomp away, but Lena stepped in front of her.
“Maggie, wait!” The CEO took hold of her hands and spoke gently, “Please, sweetheart, you're safe with us. Talk to us. We love you. Don't shut us out.”
The detective deflated. “OK, fine! You wanna know why I hate Valentine's Day? I had this friend when I was 14, Elisa Wilkey. We'd hang out in her parents' basement, watching horror flicks, and smoking cigarettes. She was the first girl that I knew that I liked in a way that was different. And I thought that she liked me, too. And so on Valentine's Day, I put a card in her locker declaring my feelings, and asking her to the dance. Well She gave that card to her parents. And then they called my parents. And that's how I was outed. And then my dad kicked me out, and I had to live with an aunt for three years.” Maggie’s eyes were filled with tears by now.
“Oh, honey,” Lena pulled her in and hugged her tightly. “I’m so sorry.”
Alex and Kara hugged them from the sides.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Alex soothed.
“Me too,” said Kara.
The twins wandered into the bedroom, wondering where everyone was, since they were probably hungry. They saw everyone hugging and squeezed themselves in.
Maggie sniffled to try to compose herself.
“What’s wrong, Maggie?” Jessie asked.
“I was just telling a sad story, that’s all,” she answered.
The kids kissed her several times each. “Don’t be sad. We love you.”
“Thank you, girls. I love you too. Let’s go get breakfast, hmm?”
“Yeah!” the twins cheered.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Maggie was frustrated. She’d been wracking her brains for days trying to think of what to get for the twins’ birthday. She knew what they liked, and she could find plenty of things to buy for them, but nothing really felt special enough. She wandered through the kid’s section at the department store, looking for anything that would catch her eye, but everything seemed too stupid. She thought about buying them some Star Wars Lego sets, but she didn’t want to accidentally step on any Legos in her bare feet in the near future, so she passed by them. She thought about buying them skateboards, but Alex put the kibosh on that one. She thought about buying them new clothes, but felt like that was too generic. She wanted something that she knew the kids would love.
Maggie walked through the toys three times before giving up and starting back toward the front of the store. However, on the way, she passed the art section, and she finally knew what she would get them. She grabbed them each a set of pro-grade sketching pencils, pro-grade erasers, sketchbooks, one huge set of colored pencils to share, a few fine-tip black markers, and a ridiculous amount of scrapbooking stickers. Then she searched out a pair of messenger bags and pencil boxes to store the stuff, and lastly, at random, some googly eyes of assorted sizes, just because she thought they were hilarious.
When she was finished, she sought out the gift wrapping section, bought a couple of Supergirl gift bags and some tissue paper, and then searched for a couple of birthday cards. While she was in the card section, she was bombarded with Valentine's Day stuff. Of course, her first reaction was to be annoyed, but then she remembered how upset her partners were that she hated the holiday, and she melted inside. She had the most wonderful girlfriends that anyone could ask for. She didn't deserve a single one of them, let alone all of them. She would make an effort for them, and only them. She picked out a hand full of cheap, cutsie cards, and called it good. Baby steps.
Once she was finished shopping, she hopped back into the Porsche and headed home to her own apartment. The car still smelled like the sex she had with Lena on their lunch date. She breathed in the scent with utter satisfaction. The sound of Lena’s cries still echoed in her ears. She smiled to herself. It was a good day.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
“Checkmate!” Jessie said gleefully.
“Oh, man!” Jamie lamented. “ I almost had you!”
Alex smiled at them in the rearview mirror. The girls were being very good, and just playing on their travel chess board in the back seat of the Cadillac. They were all on their way to the bakery to let the twins pick out their birthday cake, so it would be ready on Sunday.
“OK, babies, we’re almost there,” Kara told them. Why don't you put the game away for now?”
“OK, Mama,” the girls obeyed, and not two minutes later, they were pulling into the bakery parking lot. As soon as they entered the store, the twins started drooling, bouncing around the room, and oohing and ahhing over everything.
“You guys, chill,” Alex said.
Kara just giggled at them.
“Mom! I want a cake shaped like the Death Star!” Jessie pointed to a display.”
“Keep dreaming! That’s way too expensive!” Alex huffed.
“We could ask Lena!” Jamie suggested.
“No!” Kara objected. “We can’t go around asking Lena for everything. We have to do some things for ourselves!”
“Yeah, besides,” Alex added, “You already convinced her to get you that bounce house thing. I think that’s more than enough asking Lena for things for your birthday.”
“I have cakes with Star Wars figurines, or I could just print a picture of the Death Star on the top,” the bakery owner offered. She was a youngish woman, with strawberry blonde hair tied in a messy bun on her head, and a roguish grin on her face.
“Yeah!” the girls cheered.
The baker showed them the pictures of the Star Wars character figurines in her book.
“You guys need more Star Wars toys like you need another hole in the head,” Alex rolled her eyes. “How about we just get the picture printed on it and call it good?”
The twins pouted, “Mom! Please!”
The agent sighed. “Alright, fine!”
They put their order in, ordered a cupcake for each of them now, and as they left, the twins literally skipped back out to the car.
Alex chuckled to herself. She loved her kids so much. They were such happy-go-lucky things most of the time, and when they were being especially cute, like today, it was hard to deny them anything. What was five extra bucks to make the kids extra happy? “Finish your cupcake before you get back in the car. We don’t want frosting all over Sarah’s seats, or Lena won’t let us drive her cars anymore.”
“Are we going biking now?” Jessie asked.
“Yep,” Alex answered, taking a bite of her cupcake. “We have to drop the Caddy off first.”
“Why?” the twins wanted to know.
“Because our parking garage doesn’t have the security for a hundred-thousand dollar car,” she told them. “It barely has enough security for our own beater van.”
“Maggie and Lena are still coming, right?” asked Jamie.
“Yep. They’re waiting for us to come home.”
“OK, let’s go!” Jessie bounced up and down.
“Let me see your hands before you get in the car!” Kara demanded.
Jessie presented her hands to her Mama for inspection.
The Kryptonian examined her fingers for stray messiness, using a tissue to wipe them off. “OK, all clear. Jamie?”
The elder twin showed her clean hands, “See?”
“Alright, let’s go!”
XXXXXXXXXXXX
“Lois!” the twins squealed as the Kents came through the door with Alex.
“Hi, girls!” Lois grinned and threw her arms open, and the girls ran to her.
“What am I, chopped liver?” Clark pouted.
“Hi, Clark,” the twins hugged him too.
“How was your flight?” Kara asked, hugging them both as well.
“Oh, you know, the usual,” Lois sighed. “Crying babies, snoring old men, not enough leg room, blah, blah, blah. A plane is a terrible place to get any work done.”
“You’re really here for the whole weekend?” Jessie asked excitedly.
“The whole weekend!” Lois answered brightly.
“Woohoo!” The twins bounced around her with glee, making everyone laugh.
“Lois, Clark, this is Maggie,” Alex introduced her girlfriend.
The Kents each shook her hand pleasantly. Kara had talked to the couple about their relationship before they got here, so there wouldn’t be any surprises. They were staying at Lena’s for the weekend, so they wouldn’t exactly be able to hide much, anyway. The Kents were a hard sell on the whole Polyamory thing, but eventually, Kara got them to come around to it for the most part. At least enough to get along for the twins birthday.
“Come on, we’ll show you to your room!” Jamie grabbed Lois by the hand and pulled her toward the hallway, while Clark followed with the luggage.
Alex went in search of Lena. She found her in the shower. “Hi, baby,” she greeted the brunette with a sweet kiss.
“Hello,” Lena answered in that low sultry tone, “Come to join me?”
“Heh. No, as tempting as that may be, I came to let you know that Lois and Clark are here.”
“Bummer dude,” Lena said, using one of Maggie’s phrases.
Alex chuckled. “Get outta there, and come be social. It is your house, after all.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Lena wasn’t thrilled about the Kents being around, but she allowed it for the kids’ sake.
Alex wandered back into the living room where Maggie was sitting by herself, texting on her phone. “You OK, babe?” she asked with a kiss.
“Yep,” the detective answered, not looking up from her texts. “Hey, how do Lois and Clark feel about drinking?”
“Lois loves wine as much as Lena.” Alex curled up close to Maggie and peeked over her shoulder. “Who’s Martina Lopez?”
“An old friend from college. She just got engaged.”
“Cool.”
“Yep.”
Alex eavesdropped on Maggie’s texting a few more moments until Kara and the twins came out from the bedroom, giving the Kents a tour.
“Babe, you wanna get us some drinks?” Maggie requested.
“Oh, yes, please!” Lois responded happily.
“Sure.” Alex headed for the kitchen and poured four glasses of wine, while Kara grabbed some waters for the kids and sodas for herself and Clark.
Lena finally came out of the bedroom, hair dried, and in her ‘casual’ clothes. “Clark, Lois, hello, welcome. Sorry I took so long.”
“No problem,” Lois answered, shaking Lena’s hand. “Thank you for having us. You have such a beautiful home.”
“Thank you,” Lena smiled genuinely. “Dinner should be here any minute.”
“Yay!” the twins cheered. “Mom, can we have a soda with dinner, please?”
Alex pursed her lips in thought to make them think she was going to say no.
“Please! We’ve been good!”
“OK,” she conceded, “But nothing with caffeine.”
“Woohoo!”
Alex chuckled. The kids really were being good, and they had been ever since the incident at school. Something about the way Jessie stood up for Jamie really seemed to help them bond in a whole new way. Alex didn’t know it was possible for the girls to be any closer, but apparently, it was. She also attributed their good behavior to the wonderful example put forth by Lena while she was under fire for her mother’s trial. They watched her stand tall and proud without lashing out, and even though she cried a few times, she still kept a positive attitude. Alex was so proud of all of them. “Gimme kisses!” she demanded.
The twins grabbed her and smooched her. “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, babies. I love you.”
“Love you too!” the twins ran to the fridge to pick out which soda they wanted.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Kara hummed happily along with the music playing in the background. She was just putting the finishing touches on the party decorations in the pavilion beside Lena’s building, along with Alex, Lena, Maggie, Clark, and Lois.
The twins and Eliza were out going for a ride in Winn’s new Toyota Mirai. Lena had been serious about buying him a car for helping her prove her innocence in the whole Corben case. It was worth it to see him cry. He was quite proud of the zero-emissions, hydrogen fueled, futuristic-looking vehicle, and he was forcing everyone to ride around in it. Not that it was a hard sell. It was a very nifty car.
A rather posh-looking man and woman wandered into the courtyard and smiled at them. The man had dark hair and a short, well-groomed beard, and the woman had curly, bright red hair. Kara half expected them to announce they were some sort of royalty or something.
“Hello,” the blonde greeted them with a smile of her own. “How can I help you?”
“Hello,” the man said, “We're the McCormicks. This is Paula, and people call me Mick. We live on the twelfth floor.”
Lena came up beside her and took the lead. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. McCormick, I'm Lena Luthor, I live in the penthouse. This is my best friend Kara Danvers.” They all shook hands.
“Miss Luthor,” Mrs. McCormick spoke with awe, “It's such a pleasure to meet you!”
“Is it?” Lena asked disbelievingly.
“Indeed, it is,” added Mr. McCormick. “You’re quite the brave woman, and we admire your courage for going through all the things you’ve been through.”
“Oh,” Lena never knew how to react to people who genuinely liked her. “Well, thank you very much,” she said with a smile.
“May I ask, what’s the occasion?” Mr. McCormick asked.
“It’s Kara’s twin daughters’ birthday. They’re turning twelve on Tuesday,” Lena answered.
“Aw, I remember when our girls were that age,” Mr. McCormick mused. “They were so determined to be grown up.”
“And now they are,” added Mrs. McCormick.
“Which brings us to why we’re here,” Mr. McCormick raised his finger in the air. “Our daughters are visiting with our grandkids today, and we’re quite afraid we won’t get away with telling them they aren’t allowed to play in the bounce house. We’d be willing to make any kind of donation to your party, if you wouldn’t mind letting our little ones play a bit? They’re six and four.”
“Aww!” Kara clapped her hands together. “I bet the girls would love that! They love little kids. And we have everything we need. You don’t need to give us anything.”
“Nonsense!” Mr. McCormick waved her off. “We can’t come to a birthday party empty handed! That’s just plain rude. As if we’re not being rude enough inviting ourselves over.”
“Oh, don’t be silly!” Kara told them. “The more the merrier!”
“What sort of things do your girls like?” Mrs. McCormick pressed.
Lena answered for Kara, knowing she was going to keep denying them, “They love Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter-”
“Oh, our kids loved Harry Potter! We know just what to get them!” Mr. McCormick said happily. “Listen, we’ll be back before you know it.”
“Thank you so much!” Mrs. McCormick said, shaking their hands again. “You all are too kind.”
“Not at all,” Lena smiled. “What time is your family arriving?”
“Sometime within the next hour,” she answered.
“Perfect! We look forward to meeting everyone.” They all waved as the McCormicks left the courthouse.
“Aww, they’re so cute!” Kara gushed.
Even Lena looked impressed.
As their new acquaintances walked out, their old family friends the Kavanaughs came in, arms loaded with babies and presents. They all greeted each other with hugs, and they all got to meet the newest Kavanaugh baby that was only born three weeks ago. Her name was Sophie, and Kara couldn’t get over how cute she was! She sympathized with Alex about missing their babies. There was just something so precious and special about a newborn that nothing in the world could compare to.
Not long after, the twins finally came back, and as soon as they saw the Kavanaugh toddlers Cobie and Lauren, they were squealing like banshees. They ran to them and scooped them up and kissed them all over their little faces. The little ones loved every second of it, giggling and squawking and giving kisses back. Kara couldn’t stop grinning at them. It was the cutest thing to see her kids with the Kavanaugh kids. It was definitely true love, that was for sure.
“Can we hold the baby?” Jessie asked their mothers.
“Wait until she wakes up, OK?” Sophie's mother Casey requested. “Give the rest of us hugs, will you?”
The twins happily hugged the rest of the Kavanaugh gang, giving extra big hugs and kisses to their Grandma Maureen and Grandpa Dan.
“Can we play in the bounce house now?” Jessie begged.
“Yes,” Lena answered. “Go nuts. Just be careful to make sure the little ones don’t get hurt.”
“Woohoo!” The girls ran with the toddlers in their arms to the giant bouncy castle. They climbed through the little door and held the little ones’ hands as they hopped around and around.
“Shayla!” Jamie shouted as her best friend came in the door. “Come on!”
Shayla and her two younger brothers Devonte and Trey ran to the castle and joined them, leaving their mother behind to deal with the presents.
“Hey, Kadera!” Alex and Kara greeted her with hugs.
“Hi, guys!” Kadera squeezed them. “It feels like it’s been forever!”
“I know! We need to have you guys over!” Kara suggested.
“Yes, that would be great!” Kadera said.
Alex and Kara lead her into the group and introduced her to everyone, “This is Kadera Jackson. She’s Jamie’s best friend’s mom. She works for the state, but don’t ask her about parking tickets.”
Everyone chuckled and pulled Kadera into the conversation.
James and Lucy came next, followed by a few girls from the twins’ dance class and their parents. Next came Mon-El, Eve, J’onn and Douglas. Finally, the McCormicks showed up with their two redheaded daughters and two little redheaded grandkids. Kara called the twins over to meet them.
“Jessie, Jamie, these are the McCormicks,” Kara told them. They live here in the building.
“Call me Mick,” Mr. McCormick stuck his hand out to the girls.
“Hi, Mick!” the girls shook his hand enthusiastically.
“And I’m Paula,” Mrs. McCormick offered her hand as well. “And these are our daughters Christina and Stephanie, and our grandkids Tyler and Reese.”
“Hi!” the twins greeted the small children with glee in their eyes.
Little Tyler held up a present to Jessie. “Happy birthday!” he said in his cute little boy voice.
Little Reese held out a gift to Jamie. “Happy birthday!” she squeaked.
“Aww, thank you!” The girls knelt down and opened their arms, and the youngsters flung themselves at them.
The McCormicks and Kara all awwed. Kara herself was melting into all sorts of puddles of goo inside.
“Do you wanna come play with us?” Jessie asked the kids.
“Yeah!” they answered, and off they went, leaving Kara with the presents. Apparently, they didn’t care about cake and presents half as much as they cared about the silly bouncy castle. All the kids were in there going nuts, but no one was fighting or getting hurt, so she wasn’t worried too much. All four of the little kids were getting star-child attention from the older kids, so she just relaxed. Until she heard something off in the distance…
XXXXXXXXXXXX
As Alex was chatting with Kadera, Kara speed-walked up to her with That Look in her eyes. The one that said Supergirl was needed somewhere. “Kara!”
“Alex!” Kara panicked. “I- I forgot that thing!”
“Yes!” Alex agreed with her. “You should definitely take care of that thing! Go! Hurry!” She shooed her wife away with a wave of her hand.
Kadera gave Alex a look of her own in question.
The agent zipped her lips.
The party was in full swing. Kids were bouncing around the castle, adults were all socializing, the sun was shining. So, of course, there had to be a Supergirl emergency. Why couldn't Clark have gone? She looked around the courtyard for her wife's cousin. He was nowhere to be seen, either. He must have gone, after all. She made eye contact with Lois, but the reporter just shrugged. Then she looked for J’onn. He was gone too.
Suddenly, the twins’ phones started pinging like crazy. The girls ran and checked their alerts, “Mom! Supergirl is fighting someone! Or… something.”
Alex looked over her daughter’s shoulder to see a live video news feed of Supergirl and Superman facing off with a weird fish-headed guy with very long, sharp claws on the ends of his webbed fingers. She recognized him as a Joltorian from the DEO’s list of escaped criminals at large from Fort Rozz. This guy could slice a person to pieces in one swipe, if he wanted, but even a small nick from his claws could poison someone, and they’d be dead in hours. They’d been trying to find this guy for ages, but he was always too elusive. It was unusual for him to be out in the open at all, let alone fighting the Supers so publicly. She grabbed her phone and checked her messages. Her orders from J’onn were to stay put. He had a requisition team already on their way.
Everyone at the party that had a phone was watching the live news feed. The Joltorian had some sort of weapon similar to the ones Lillian Luthor was passing out a few months ago. He pointed it at Superman, and the Kryptonian man went flying into the building behind him. Next, he aimed at Supergirl, and the Maid of Might dodged a few shots before getting hit as well. Luckily, both Kryptonians came right back out of the gates, like nothing had happened. They dodged shot after shot of the blaster, trying to get close to the Joltorian, but he was too good of a shot. The Supers circled the air around him trying to fly faster than he could shoot without getting anyone else around them killed. Finally, both the Kryptonians were circling so fast, you couldn't even see their faces anymore - just a red and blue blur. One of them snatched the weapon away and destroyed it in the blink of an eye, then they were wrestling with the creature to get him into the containment cell brought by J’onn’s strike team. All in all, it was a relatively quick capture. She watched as the crowd around the Supers cheered and took pictures. The pair of Kryptonians shook a few hands and hugged a few children before shooting back into the air and ‘disappearing’ into the clouds.
When the three alien heroes returned to the party, the twins ran to Kara and hugged her. “Mama, are you OK?” they whispered.
“I’m OK, babies,” she hugged and kissed them. “Go play. Everything’s fine.”
Alex hugged her as well. “Are you sure you’re OK?” she spoke softly.
“I’m fine,” Kara insisted.
Alex rubbed her palms up and down Kara’s arms.
“Ow!” Kara exclaimed.
Alex’s heart clenched. Her wife wasn’t supposed to say ‘ow.’ “What is it?”
The reporter rubbed at her left bicep, and they could both see blood seeping through her shirt.
“Shit!” the agent hissed under her breath. She flagged down J’onn. “Kara’s hurt!”
“I’m fine!” the Kryptonian insisted. “It’s just a little scratch. It’ll heal.”
“Kara, Joltorians are poisonous!”
“We need to keep a close watch on you until we know the effects of it’s poison on Kryptonians,” J’onn insisted.
The reporter groaned. “I’m fine!”
“Well, at least, let’s go bandage your arm and change your shirt, so you’re not bleeding all over everyone at a kids’ birthday party.” Alex grabbed Kara by her non-injured arm and dragged her upstairs to take care of her.
“I’m really worried about you, Kara. Those Joltorians aren’t just poisonous, they’re deadly!” She wrapped some gauze around the cut in her wife’s arm. It was just a surface scratch, really, about two inches long, but it was a very angry red. “We should really get you to the DEO to check this out and make sure you’re not going to die.”
“I don’t want to leave right in the middle of our kids’ birthday party!” Kara pouted.
“Fine. But as soon as the party is over, you, me, and Mom are going to the DEO to figure this out.”
Kara huffed. “Fine.”
They headed back downstairs to find another couple of strangers talking to the twins and Lena. As they were walking towards them, the couple handed the twins each a fifty dollar bill.
“Whoa!” the kids said in unison. “Thank you!” They hugged the strangers and put the money in their pockets. When they saw their parents, they shouted, “Mom, Mama, lookit!” They showed off their new money.
“Wow, what do we have here?” Alex asked.
“Hello, we’re Andy and Prue Trudeau. We live on the tenth floor. We just thought we’d pop in and say hello. We won’t stay and crash your party.”
“You didn’t have to give the kids money like that,” Kara told them.
“Oh, please!” Mr. Trudeau waved her off with a grin. “Every birthday kid needs a little pocket money!”
“Pocket money, huh? Well, thank you very much,” Alex said. “I’m sure the girls will put it to good use.”
“I’m sure they will too,” Mrs. Trudeau smiled. “Happy birthday, girls. Hopefully, we’ll see you around!”
“Thank you!” the twins called after them as they left.
“Boy, you guys are already making out like bandits, and you haven’t even opened your presents yet!” Alex commented cheerfully.
“Yeah!” the twins agreed. “Can we have our cake and ice cream now?”
“Sure thing, kiddos.” Alex called Clark over and asked him to bring down the ice cream from the freezer upstairs. Clark took James with him, and they came back down with six different half-gallons of ice cream.
“Alright, everyone!” Kara called to the crowd, “We’re going to light the candles and sing ‘Happy Birthday,’ then we’ll all have cake and ice cream!” The crowd cheered. “Everyone out of the bounce house for a few minutes!” That elicited a few unhappy sounds from a few kids, but they all got out and got ready to sing.
Alex lit the candles on the cake - just a ‘1' and a ‘2' - and let Kara lead in singing. The twins closed their eyes and made a wish before blowing out the candles together. Everyone cheered, and another set of strangers wandered in. This was a middle-aged Japanese couple with a pair of teens following behind.
“Hello!” the woman greeted the twins. “We're the Satos!” They all waved. “We live on the fifth floor.”
“Hi!” the twins greeted them, mouths stuffed with cake.
“A little birdie told us it was your birthday, so we thought we'd stop by and wish you well.”
“Thanks!” the girls grinned.
The woman reached in her purse and pulled out a couple hundred dollar bills, handing one to each of the twins. The girls just stared at the money for a while, then looked to their mothers for permission.
“Oh, my goodness!” Kara exclaimed. “That's really not necessary!”
“I know, cash is so impersonal,” Mrs. Sato said. “We would have bought actual gifts, if we had known ahead of time.” She shoved the bills at the girls until they took them.
“Do you wanna stay and play with us?” the girls asked the teens.
“Sure,” the girl answered for both of them. The boy seemed rather shy.
“Here, have some cake and ice cream!” said Jessie.
“Thanks!” the girl said. “I'm Tracy. This is my brother Jake.”
“It's nice to meet you!” Jamie said. “Here!” she offered the teens some cake.
“Thank you!” they both said with a warm smile.
Everyone had their fill of cake and ice cream, and the kids all went back to playing in the bounce house. It was a madhouse of giggling and squealing, and all the youngsters were having a blast. Even some of the adults snuck into the castle a few times. After a while, Kara could tell that the kids were getting tired, even though they were still going crazy. She called them out again for the girls to open their presents. They had a veritable mountain of them on the table in the corner of the pavilion.
Alex and Kara got them each a whole new outfit, including shoes, also new dresses, new pajamas, and little Minion slippers. Eliza got them matching earrings, and necklaces with their birthstones on them, and a set of kids ‘cook’ books that didn’t involve actual stove usage. Maggie got them a ton of art supplies. Lena got them each necklaces that had their names written in cursive in gold lettering, and a chess strategy guide. The Kavanaughs got them a ton of crafting supplies. The Kents got them each 3D puzzles. Winn got them each a new phone. James and Lucy got them two giant Lego Star Wars sets. Mon-El and Eve got them a couple of movies that had just come out. Douglas bought them a couple of Zumba dance/exercise video games. J’onn got them a nightlight that showed constellations on the walls and ceiling in the dark, along with a guide to the stars. Shayla and her family got them season one of ‘Liv and Maddie’ on DVD. The friends from dance class got them some flavored lip gloss sets, new purses, a new book series, a jumbo art set, and some candy. The McCormicks got them Elder Wands and necklaces with the Deathly Hallows charm on them. By the time the kids were done opening their presents, they were yawning, and they hadn’t even had dinner yet.
The girls cuddled up into Alex's embrace. “Mommy, I'm hungry,” Jessie whined.
“OK, pizza will be here any minute now.”
As if on cue, the pizza delivery guy walked into the courtyard with a huge stack of pizzas.
“Pizza!” the kids all cheered.
Alex had to help the delivery guy navigate through all the bouncing children to the pavillion for multiple trips before all the pizzas were all delivered. Honestly, she’d never seen so much pizza in all her life.
Everyone mowed down and had their fill. By the time they were done eating, the twins had dark circles under their eyes to prove their tiredness to Alex. She let them play just a little longer before she called out to the crowd. “Alright, everyone! Thanks so much for coming today! Don't forget to grab your gift bags on the way out!”
The twins collected as many hugs as possible, as people shuffled out. “Thank you so much!” they told everyone. “Thank you, thank you!”
The crowd dwindled down to about half, leaving just the Superfriends and the Kavanaughs. Everyone pitched in with the cleanup, and it was finished in no time. The adults chit chatted for a bit while Jessie and Jamie got to finally hold little baby Sophie. Jessie started crying after a minute of holding her.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Kara asked.
“She’s so beautiful, Mama. Why can’t you can mommy please have a baby?”
“Jessie, we talked about this a million times,” Kara answered.
“I can take care of her, so you don’t have to!” Jessie insisted.
Kara shook her head. “I’m sorry, baby, but that’s not how it works. The parents are the ones that have to take care of the baby, not the kids.”
Still crying, Jessie kissed the baby’s head and snuggled her close. “I love you, little baby Sophie,” she whispered. Sophie cooed happily from the cuddling, and Jessie smiled through her tears. “She so cute!”
Eventually, it was time to send the twins upstairs to take their showers for bedtime. Alex sent everyone away, and the foursome plus Eliza, Clark, and Lois headed back upstairs.
“We should make sure we’ve got everything,” Lois informed them. “We’ve got to leave in about an hour. “Kara, are you sweating?”
“No,” Kara answered automatically.
Alex swiped the side of her face, and her fingers came back wet. “Um, yes you are.”
“I’m fine!” Kara insisted.
“You’re going to the DEO,” Alex demanded. “Let’s go.” She called Douglas and had him come back. Luckily he hadn’t gone too far yet because she needed Lena and her mother to come with her. She didn’t have an antivenom for this creature, and she needed their help to make one quickly.
Maggie volunteered to stay behind with the kids and the Kents and wait for Douglas to come back. She didn’t want to be in the way at the DEO, so she would wait here at Lena’s.
It didn't take long for them to develop the antivenom, since they already had the Joltorian in lockup. It did take a while to kick in, though, and they were at the DEO until almost midnight. By the time they came back to Lena’s they were all exhausted. They expected to just go back and head straight to bed, but when they arrived, they found the twins, Maggie and Douglas sitting around the kitchen table with cocoas and chips and candy spread everywhere, and what looked like a poker game going on. Maggie and Douglas even had Red Vines hanging out of their mouths like a cigar.
“What is all this?” Alex huffed.
“We couldn’t sleep with you guys being gone,” Maggie confessed. “So we decided to play a little game until you got back, or until we got sleepy.
“Aww,” Kara cooed. “Well, we’re home now, so let’s all get to bed. Everyone has to get up tomorrow.”
They helped clean up the poker game mess, and gave hugs and kisses so they could go to bed. “Goodnight, girls. I love you.”
“Love you too, Mom!” they hugged her tightly. “Thanks for everything.”
“You’re welcome, my loves. Now go to bed. You have school in the morning.”
“OK!” The girls went to bed, and the adults followed suit. They were all exhausted.