27. A Very Danvers Christmas

When Kara woke up on Christmas morning, she laid Alex down on the couch, letting her stretch out, and then went to make the coffee.  She grinned to herself thinking about all the great gifts they had to give. She was so excited! Christmas was just the best! She prayed to Rao that everyone would like their presents.

Alex did not rouse at the first smell of coffee, like Kara thought she would, so she just let her sleep.  She did have quite a bit to drink the night before, after all. The Kryptonian wondered how long she would have to wait for everyone else to wake up.  She was impatient to see the looks on everyone’s faces. She was quite tempted to do something to ‘accidentally’ wake everyone up, but she restrained herself.  She was supposed to be an adult, after all. She busied herself by taking a shower instead. A real shower, not a self-pleasuring one today. She had spent the night breathing in her wife’s temporarily-closed-for-business pheromones, so she didn’t have the same problem today as she did yesterday.  By the time Kara had finished washing up, Lena and Eliza were sitting at the breakfast table drinking coffee and chatting softly.

“Merry Christmas!” the Kryptonian greeted them cheerfully, kissing them each on the cheek.

“Merry Christmas, Kara,” they both responded happily.

“Did you sleep OK?” she asked them.

They both nodded.

“Yes, I didn’t realize Maggie would be such a cuddly sleeper,” Lena chuckled.  “She’s almost as snuggly as you are.”

“Yep,” Kara confirmed.  “We are cuddly, snuggly people.  What can I say?”

“You needn’t say a thing.  I love it.”

The reporter beamed.  “I’m glad.” She gave the CEO a squeeze and kissed her on the head.

“I'm surprised the girls aren't up yet,” Eliza commented.  “They're usually up by now on a normal day. Christmas morning they're always up early.”

“They had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night,” Kara warned her.  “Hopefully they won't be too grumpy today.” She heard Alex stirring on the couch.  “Same goes for their mom.” She got up and poured Alex a cup of coffee, taking it into the living room.  “Merry Christmas, Alex. You want some coffee, sweetheart?” she spoke gently, stroking Alex’s arm.

“Mmmph!” Alex pulled her blanket over her head.

“Alright, baby, when you're ready for it, it's here,” she sat the mug on the coffee table and went back in the kitchen.  “Shall we get started on breakfast?” she asked Eliza and Lena.

They both answered in the affirmative.  They divided up prep between them, and before they knew it, they had piles of bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, bagels, and fruit.  It was a Christmas breakfast feast. Kara was as proud as could be. She was surprised that Lena could cook. Embarrassingly enough, she assumed the CEO just let others do that for her.  She was a workaholic, after all. But the Luthors were always full of surprises, and in this regard, Lena was no different. At least her surprises were usually good ones.

The twins must have smelled the food because Kara didn't even have to go up to get them.  They trudged down the stairs, rubbing their eyes, and when they saw all the food, they lit up, and Kara could have sworn they started drooling.  Those were her kids, alright.

“Merry Christmas!” Kara exclaimed, throwing her arms out for them.  

They ran to her and kissed her with smiles on their faces, “Merry Christmas, Mama!  Merry Christmas, Grandma!  Merry Christmas, Lena!” They hugged and kissed the other two women as well.

“Your mom’s still on the couch,” Kara told them.  “Go get her,” she grinned mischievously.

The twins smirked and ran and pounced on Alex, making her squawk.  “Merry Christmas, Mommy!” they sing-songed loudly.

“OK, OK!” Alex protested, as the kids continued to bounce on top of her.  “I’m up, I’m up! Geez!”

The girls hugged and kissed her.  “Merry Christmas!” they repeated.

“Merry Christmas!” she kissed them each and reached for her coffee.  “Yuck, it’s cold.” She got up and wandered into the kitchen.

“Merry Christmas!” Kara greeted her with kisses.

“Merry Christmas, Angel,” Alex replied, handing her mug over.  “Will you heat this back up, please?”

The Kryptonian took the coffee cup and gave the liquid a quick blast of her heat vision.  “There you go, baby,” she handed the mug back with a grin.

“You’re the best,” Alex told her.  “Good morning, Mom. Good morning, Lena.  Merry Christmas.” She kissed them both in greeting.

“Merry Christmas!” they both replied.

XXXXXX

Alex looked around, “Where’s Maggie?”

“She’s still sleeping,” Kara told her.

“I’ll go get her.”  The agent made a cup of coffee and headed upstairs to wake her girlfriend.  She sat down on the edge of the bed and threaded her fingers through those gorgeous, long, dark locks.  “Maaaaggie,” she whispered. “Merry Christmas, beautiful.”

“Mmmph.”  The detective rubbed her eyes and yawned.  “Merry Christmas.”

“I brought you some coffee,” Alex told her.

“I love you,” Maggie mumbled.  She sat up and took the proffered mug, sipping it with relish.  “Mmm, your mom has such great coffee.”

“Yep.  She’s kind of a perfectionist, so she demands only the very best of everything.  In this regard, it’s a wonderful thing.” She leaned over and gave the detective a kiss.  “Breakfast is ready and waiting! Shall we?” She stood up and held out her arm.

“Um, I need a shirt?” Maggie reminded her.

“Right.”  Alex grabbed Lena’s Yale hoodie that was hung up in the corner and put it on her girlfriend.  “There. Now, let’s go. I’m starving.”

“Says a Danvers,” Maggie teased.

Alex chuckled.  “Right you are.”  They headed downstairs, where everyone was in the dining room waiting for them.

“Merry Christmas!” the whole group greeted them.

“Merry Christmas!” they chimed back.  Alex and Maggie found their seats, and they all dug into the food.

“You’re wearing my shirt,” Lena commented, across from Maggie.  She was biting her lip in that sexy, bashful way she had.

The detective looked down at what she was wearing, like she didn’t even know.  “Oh. I needed a shirt… Alex put it on me. Is it not OK?”

“No, it’s very OK,” Lena answered a little breathlessly.

Now, it was Maggie’s turn to bite her lip.  She chuckled as she and Lena shared a long, loving gaze.  Alex’s heart was melting a little from all the warmth. She grinned too.  It was a good way to start Christmas morning.

“You made three double-toasted bagels?” Maggie commented, after examining all the food.  “You know, I can barely get through one, right?”

“Yeah, well, you’ve got the kids eating them now, so you don’t have to feel pressured to eat them all, I promise,” Kara informed her.  “Or any of them, really. I mean, there’s plenty of food.”

They all dug in heartily.  Alex and Kara had to tell the girls to slow down several times because they were so eager to get to the presents.  By the time everyone was finished, even the Kryptonians were happily rubbing their full bellies.

Jessie was barely able to keep herself in her seat.  “Presents?”

“Uh-uh,” Eliza protested.  “You know we clean up first.  Don't even try that.”

The twins both pouted, but scrambled around, gathering up dishes and taking them to the kitchen.  That was one way to motivate them, Alex supposed. They all helped clean up, so they were finished in a jiffy, took their showers, and then they could finally get to present time.  The girls were so excited they were bouncing around like popcorn.  Their excitement was contagious, and they had everyone grinning as they settled into the living room.  

“OK, who's presents should we open first?” Kara asked, rubbing her hands together.

Maggie raised her hand.  “I just have a small present for each of you for now because your real presents were too big to bring.  You just get pictures of those, for now.” She handed them each her gifts. “Except for Eliza. She gets her gifts now.”  She handed everyone a small box and an envelope.

Eliza and Kara had their cameras ready, as they watched the girls open their boxes.  Inside each was a little four-inch long ceramic stingray. The girls cooed happily at them.  

“In honor of our first family outing together,” Maggie told them.  

“Aww,” the girls hugged her tightly.  “Thank you, Maggie!”

“You guys open yours too,” she told the others.  Kara’s figure was an otter, Alex's was a seal, Lena’s was a sea lion, and Eliza’s was a seahorse.  They all awwed and hugged her in thanks. “I know you weren't with us when we went to the aquarium,” she told Eliza, “But he was too cute to resist.”

“I love it,” Eliza assured her.  “Thank you.”

“You're welcome.  Now you kids can open your other one.”

The girls ripped open their envelopes to reveal photos of their real presents.  They gasped when they saw what they were. “Maggie, you got us bicycles?”

“Yep!  It's one of my favorite things to do, and I was hoping we could all go together.”

The kids thanked her profusely, and hugged and kissed her over and over again.

“Alright, alright,” she chuckled.  “You're welcome already.”

Alex, Kara, and Lena opened their envelopes to reveal their own bikes.  Eliza’s envelope, however, contained a gift certificate to a local spa and salon that Alex said her mom loved.  They all seemed quite surprised.

“Wow, Maggie, this is just too much!” Alex exclaimed.  I had no idea you were doing all this!”

“It's fine,” the detective assured them.  “My apartment looks like a bike factory, but you guys are more than worth it.”  They all hugged and kissed her in thanks.

“I feel like it's going to be hard to follow that,” Lena commented.

“Why don't you go ahead and try anyway?” Kara grinned at her.

“Alright.”  Lena lifted up the first of the two sets of gifts she'd gotten for the girls.  “Here you are.” She smiled sweetly at them, and they mirrored her in response before they even opened the presents.  “I hope you don’t mind, but I was thinking similarly to Maggie - that I would get presents that we could use for family time.”

Alex thought there would be some sort of games inside, but when the girls tore off the wrapping paper, she saw little machines on the boxes.  

“Beginning Robotics Kit,” Jamie read.  Her eyes lit up, “We’re gonna build robots together?  Awesome!”

Jessie was similarly excited, clapping her hands with glee.  “This is so cool!”

Both twins hugged and kissed Lena.  

Alex was surprised the kids liked that gift so much.  She’s never gotten them to be much into science before.  Maybe they just really liked the idea of spending time with Lena.  That wouldn’t be any stretch of the imagination.

“OK, Lena has a couple more for you,” Kara told them.

“Oh my goodness!” Jamie exclaimed in surprise.

“Wow, OK!” added Jessie.

Lena handed them the second set of gifts, informing them, “These are each for both of you to share.”

They tore open these gifts to find two different-sized chess boards.  One was a big, heavy wooden box, where the lid was the game board, and the pieces fit inside.  The other was a smaller lighter wood that folded in half, and the pieces fit inside a little black velvet bag with a drawstring.

“Some of my best memories from when I was a girl are of playing chess with my brother.  We would play for hours on end. I was hoping to pass down the tradition to you girls. Both boards are hand-carved, and the little one is a travel board that has tiny magnets on the bottom to hold the pieces on top.”

The girls looked really sad.  “These are so beautiful…” Jamie’s voice was so soft you could barely hear it.  “But Lena, I’m so sorry, we don’t know how to play chess.”

The brunette smiled.  “Did you think I wouldn’t teach you, silly girls?”

This cheered the kids right up, and they hugged her for a long time before they let go.  “Thank you, Lena,” they both said.

“You’re welcome, sweet girls,” she kissed them each before she let them go.  “For the grownups, I have something a little smaller.” She passed around four small, slim boxes to the adults of the group.  They all opened their boxes to find necklaces. Eliza’s was a gold and silver diamond encrusted pendant of a double-helix. Kara, Alex, and Maggie’s necklaces were all the same white gold four-leafed clover, with an emerald surrounded by tiny diamonds in the middle.  “I got us all these matching necklaces because, well, there’s four of us, and you all are the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I am so lucky to have you. I hope that’s not too cheesy.” She blushed lightly.

Alex looked at the others to see if they were as moved as she was by this gift.  They were. She inspected the jewels with fascination and tried to remember that something this extravagant was probably worth pocket change to a Luthor.  “Wow, Lena, this is so beautiful. I don’t think it’s cheesy at all. I love it. Thank you so much.”

“I love it too,” Kara added breathlessly.

“Me too,” Maggie was not to be left out.  There might have even been a tear or two in her eyes.

The three of them thanked her and kissed her.

“Eliza, I’m sorry, I don’t have a very special reason for buying your necklace.  I just thought it was really cool, and since you’re a bio-engineer, I had hoped you might think so as well.”

“I really do,” the eldest Danvers replied.  “Thank you so much.” She gave Lena a hug and kissed her on the cheek.

Lena bit her lip, which Alex was learning was a nervous reflex of the brunette’s.  Obviously she didn’t expect such a warm thanks for her gifts. Her heart ached for Lena and the way she grew up.  She wasn’t used to hugs and kisses and praise, so it was always a surprise to her when the Danvers and their friends were so loving.  The agent hoped to change the CEO’s heart standards so that getting rebuffed wasn’t her first expectation of people. She also hoped that between Lena’s own efforts, along with Kara/Supergirl’s that the world would see Lena differently than the rest of the Luthors.  She was just the absolute best, after all.

XXXXXX

Lena was so glad everyone liked her presents.  She subtly sighed in relief. She was the most nervous about giving her partners the matching necklaces in front of Eliza.  They weren’t much, but they were perfect in her eyes to convey the message she felt in her heart. It was far too early to give rings, but there was no harm in matching necklaces.  She was worried Eliza would give them dirty looks or something similar, but the woman just smiled compassionately at her, and that was the end of it. She was going to get the girls necklaces with their names on them, but she figured she’d save something to give them for their birthday.  They’d gotten plenty of gifts from her already, after all.

“Shall we give Maggie and Lena some presents?” Kara asked the twins.  “They haven’t gotten anything at all yet!”

“Yeah!”  The girls scrambled around, apparently looking for something specific.  When they found what they were looking for, they happily bounced over and gave the identical-sized gifts to Lena and Maggie.  Lena was excited because the girls were so excited. Whatever it was, she hoped she didn’t disappoint them with her reaction.

She tore off the paper and opened the box to find an eight-inch stuffed dolphin (Maggie’s was an orca), and a photo album with a silver frame on the front, with a picture of all of them standing outside the Aquarium.  When they flipped through the albums, they found all kind of pictures that Alex and Kara had taken during their outing, along with a few drawings that the girls had done specifically for them, and a CD that read “Aquarium Trip 2016.”  She started crying immediately, without having any way of blocking it.

“Baby, what’s wrong?!” Kara exclaimed, jumping up and kneeling at her feet.

She sniffled and tried to compose herself, so she could speak.  “I’ve been asking Alex for these pictures for weeks!  I thought she was just blowing me off.”

“Aww!” Alex got up and knelt in front of her as well.  “I’m so sorry! I didn’t know I was hurting your feelings!”  She hugged Lena tightly for a long time, until she’d calmed down.  “We started putting these together, like, the day after our trip. I wasn’t about to ruin the surprise!  I’m so sorry I hurt you in the process!” She kissed the brunette several times.

“Alright,” Eliza said, trying to politely separate them by clearing her throat.  “What’s next?”

Alex and Kara returned to their seats.  “We’ve got a couple for you, Mom.” The redhead pulled out two boxes from the pile and handed them to Eliza.  The first box was another photo album. Lena was impressed by the Danvers women’s taste and knack for finding beautiful things.  She couldn’t really tell what was in the album, but Eliza was smiling adoringly at the photos, and telling her daughters how perfect they were.  The second gift was a personalized T-shirt that said, “Eliza means ‘Best Grandma Ever!’” Dr. Danvers laughed, but she still seemed to love it.

“We wanna give you your presents next, Grandma!” Jessie told her.

“Yeah!” said Jamie.

“Alright!” said Eliza indulgently.  “What have you got for me?” She held her hands out with a grin.

The girls gave her two rather large square packages, looking more excited than anyone, and just barely bouncing in place.  Dr. Danvers opened the paper to reveal two large scrapbooks with ‘2016’ written in giant foam numbers across the front and each girl's name on one.  They were quite similar to the baby books Lena had seen when she first met the twins. It must be a family tradition of sorts.

Eliza looked briefly through them with the biggest smile Lena had seen on her face yet.  In the books, there were drawings, photos, poems, et al. “I can't wait to look through these!  You guys are getting so grown up!” She hugged and kissed her grandkids. She was clearly one proud grandma, that was for sure!

Lena wondered if she would be allowed to look at these books, or if they were for Eliza’s eyes only.  She was quite curious to see what the girls thought was important enough to document for their grandma.  

“Alright!  What's next?” Dr. Danvers asked, rubbing her hands together.  

The twins brought out another set of gifts, these of different sizes.  They raced to see who could give her their gift first.

“Hey!  Chill!” Alex demanded.

They stopped short of shoving the presents in Eliza's face.

Eliza took the larger package and opened it to reveal a cream colored cashmere sweater.  It looked quite snuggly in Lena’s opinion.

“My, this is beautiful!”  The elder Danvers pulled the sweater on over her blouse.  “How does it look?”

“Awesome!” Jessie told her.

“Perfect!” Jamie replied.

Jessie’s box was relatively small, and inside was a photo frame Christmas ornament with 2016 written on the bottom.

“Oh, you found a good one!” Dr. Danvers exclaimed.  “Ready?”

“Yeah!” the girls answered and sat down at her feet.  The three of them looked at Kara and grinned while she took their pictures.  Lena thought that they must have done this a thousand times for it to be so practiced.  No wonder they tortured the kids with making them wait for everyone to take a shower. There were lots of pictures being taken!

“They take a picture every year and put it in the ornaments for next year,” Alex informed them.

“That’s awesome,” Maggie told her.

“Agreed,” said Lena.  Kara showed them a few of the others from previous years.  They were so adorable! Especially the ones of the kids when they were little!  Lena had never met a more precious pair of children in her life. She was so grateful that she got to be in their lives.

“Don’t forget the other one,” Alex reminded her kids.

“Oh, yeah!” Jessie said, running over and reaching inside the tree for a tiny box that fit in her hand.

“You got me something extra?” Eliza asked curiously.

The girls nodded their heads animatedly as Dr. Danvers unwrapped her next gift.  

“Aww, you found a pair of earrings just like the ones I lost,” Eliza exclaimed happily.  “Where did you find them?”

“At the mall,” Jamie informed her proudly.

“Excellent!” she laughed.  She hugged and kissed the girls until they begged her to let them go.  “Shall we give your moms their presents?”

“Yes!”  Jamie grabbed an envelope out of the tree, and Jessie pulled out a rather heavy box.  “Open the big one first!” Jessie demanded.

“OK, Kara you do it,” Alex indulged her.

The blonde grinned and excitedly tore off the wrapping paper to reveal a large KitchenAid mixer.  “Oh, yes! Thank you so much! This is even better than the one we wanted!”

“Thank Rao!” Alex sighed.  “It's been hell since the old one broke!”

“‘Old’ being the operative word,” Jamie fussed.

“OK, now this one!” Jessie snatched the envelope away from her sister and thrust it towards her mother.

Alex took the envelope from her daughter with a chuckle.  “OK, OK!” She opened up the envelope and pulled out a drawing and a gift certificate.  She looked at the drawing and laughed, then read off the certificate, “Paintball Pete’s.  Good for four sessions. Sweeeet!” She was grinning from ear to ear.

“Cool!” Kara said happily.  “That sounds like a great anniversary date!”

“For sure!” Alex agreed.

“No dinner and dancing for you two, then, hmm?” Lena asked.

“Not this year, but we have in the past,” Kara told her.  “We've been together so long, we like to mix it up.”

“That sounds really fun,” Maggie commented.  “I've never played paintball before.”

“Never?!  You gotta try it, it’s so fun!” said Kara.

“You know, there are four passes here,” Alex waved the card at them with a smirk.

Lena bit her lip.  She’d never played before either, and she was a little afraid she might make a fool of herself.  However, the competitive side of her was quite intrigued, and she imagined that, no matter whether she was trounced or not, it would still be a fun adventure.  She let go of her lip and grinned. “As long as we’re not infringing on your time together.”

“I know this may seem a little strange, but even though it’s Kara’s and my anniversary, the thought of not having you guys with us makes me kind of sad,” Alex said.

Kara smiled compassionately.  “We are a team now, after all.”  Her smile was contagious, and soon she had everyone grinning.  This was one of Lena’s favorite things about her. She had the ability to light up a room in an instant, just with her sweet, toothy grin.  “OK, what’s left?” the Kryptonian asked the kids.

They went back to the tree and pulled out more presents.  These were handed to Lena and Maggie. “From Mama,” Jessie informed them.

The two of them grinned and thanked the twins before opening their boxes.  Inside were a handful of different colored tank tops with the crest of El printed on the chest.

“Is this your way of marking your territory?” Maggie teased.

Alex laughed loudly.  “That’s one way to put it!”

Kara pouted.  “It’s not marking my territory!” she defended.  “I just wanted you guys to have something to make you feel like you belong to me.  But like, in a good way, not in a possessive way. I know it may be cheesy to you, but where I come from, sharing a house crest is important.  It’s sharing love and family and emotions. It’s not going around peeing on things so no one else can have them!” She turned her nose up at the very idea.

Maggie looked apologetically back at her.  “I’m sorry. I didn't know. And to think of how many times I’ve teased Alex about wearing hers.  Thank you. I like belonging to you.”

Kara smiled again.  “Good.” She smirked mischievously, “I like owning you.”

“You better watch it!” Maggie threatened with a Look and an accusing finger.

They all laughed together.  “Ok, my turn,” Alex said.

The girls brought out another set of gifts and handed them to Lena and Maggie.

“Boy, do I feel spoiled,” Lena grinned.  

“I know, right?” Maggie agreed.

They opened their boxes to find a coffee mug each.  Lena’s was shaped like a beaker with a handle, with measuring lines and everything.  Maggie’s had the butt of a gun for a handle and said, “Give me my coffee, and nobody gets hurt.”   Alex was such a goofball. They thanked her with hugs and kisses and laughter.

“I have a couple more to give,” Eliza informed them.  She pulled out a couple of gift bags and handed one each to Lena and Maggie, who blinked in surprise.  They were heavy!

“Oh, wow, you didn’t have to do this,” Maggie protested.

“Nonsense!” Dr. Danvers insisted.  “It’s Christmas!”

Lena felt a little silly from the way she was grinning, but she just couldn’t help it.  This was positively the best Christmas ever, and the gifts were just the icing on the cake!  She took her bag and opened it. Inside was a very nice bottle of Cabernet. Inside Maggie’s was a bottle of the good tequila.

“Awesome!” Maggie exclaimed with a toothy grin.  “This is the best!”

“Indeed, it is,” Lena agreed.  “Thank you, so much.”

“Yeah, thanks a million,” Maggie added.  They both hugged her tightly.

“I think that might be it for the grownups,” Kara said.

“Nope.”  Alex went over to the tree and picked up an envelope, handing it to her mother.  This is for everyone here.”

Dr. Danvers opened the envelope and pulled out a handful of theater tickets.  She read the play title aloud, “Hamilton.”

The girls’ eyes nearly bugged out of their heads as they jumped up and down, squealing in delight.  “Yes! Thank you, Mommy!” They squeezed the daylights out of her, thanking her profusely.

“You’re welcome,” Alex told them, getting kisses.

“When is it?” Jamie clasped her hands together in excitement, still bouncing.

“The end of January.”

The girls clapped their hands.  “Yay!”

“Where’s my kisses?” Kara demanded.  

The girls ran over and kissed her too.  “Thank you, Mama!  You guys are the best!”

“No, you’re the best!” Kara play-argued.

“No, you’re the best!”

“No, you!”

“No, you!”

“Alright, alright,” Alex broke it up.  “We’re all the best.  Go us.”

The twins giggled.

XXXXXX

“OK, I believe all that’s left is for the twins,” Eliza said, after examining the rest of the gifts.

Maggie inwardly sighed with relief.  All these gifts were great, but she was tired from being on her period, and she just wanted to curl up and watch a movie or something equally as lazy.  And that bottle of tequila was calling to her.

“Woohoo!” the girls cheered.  They opened up another half-dozen gifts each - new Star Wars pajamas, The Hunger Games series book sets, and a few movies and video games - plus the silly things and candy that were in their stockings.  Maggie would never stop being amazed at how the twins could both be as smart as they were and still think it was fun to play with silly putty. It must be a kid thing.

“Alright, let's get cleaned up a little bit here,” Eliza requested.  She went to the kitchen and brought back a garbage bag, and the twins scrambled around picking up wrapping paper and throwing it away.

“Can we watch ‘White Christmas’ now?” Kara asked with big, pleading eyes.

“I don’t know why not,” Dr. Danvers answered.

Maggie wasn’t sure what ‘White Christmas’ was, but she was certain she wasn’t going to like it.  Christmas movies just weren’t her thing, and chances were, if Kara loved it, Maggie wouldn’t. It was one of the few problems the two of them had run into together.  However, she did want to watch a movie, so she would have the excuse to cuddle and fall asleep. Lena’s shoulder was looking more and more comfy by the second. If only she had a blanket.

As if summoned by magic, the twins ran into the hall closet and grabbed a bunch of pillows and blankets and passed them around to everyone.  Maggie grabbed a big, fluffy comforter and draped it over herself and Lena, cuddling into the CEO’s side. Alex and Kara scooted closer to her to snuggle in as well, and the twins went and curled up with their grandma.  Good thing Eliza had this big ass sectional!

‘White Christmas’ was even worse than she thought it would be.  Not only was it one of those old-timey movies that Kara loved, but it was a musical too.  God! She wanted to shoot the TV, so she tried to close her eyes and go to sleep to block it out.  It didn’t work. She had to listen to the whole goddamn thing, with Kara, Lena and the twins singing along the whole way.  At least they could sing. That was one small mercy.

She wondered briefly if it was still too early to open the tequila.  They hadn’t even had lunch yet. At home by herself, it wouldn’t have even been a question.  She’d just pop the top off and have at it, but here, she didn’t want to be a bad influence on the kids.  Stupid morality. She knew she was being grumpy, but she couldn’t help it right now. She was trying her best to stay quiet and not cause trouble.  It was Christmas morning, after all, and the twins were having a great time. She didn’t want to ruin anyone’s fun. She settled for focusing on Lena - her smell, her heartbeat, her breath.  And her voice was so beautiful. It was quite helpful in settling her irritation. When the movie was over, the twins complained about being hungry, so they all put their gifts away in their rooms and met in the dining room, where they would have sandwiches because the fancy stuff was coming later.

About halfway through lunch, Jessie wanted to know, “Are we gonna go for a walk after this?”  

“Maggie doesn’t look like she’s gonna make it that far.” Jamie commented.

“I’m fine,” she lied.

“You can go take a nap, if you need to, sweetheart,” Alex stroked her hair.  “No one will think less of you, if that’s what you need. And you’re not going to miss out on anything.  We’ll just be here hanging out.”

“But it’s Christmas!” Maggie protested.

“All the more reason to do whatever you want,” Eliza pointed out.

Well, if they were going to gang up on her!  “Alright, alright.” She finished her food and went upstairs to lay down while the rest of the group cleaned up and went for a walk.  She fell asleep as soon a as her head hit the pillow. When she woke up, she could hear Lena’s voice from downstairs.

“Alright, remember, you don't have to go straight for the kill right away. Sometimes we need to wait for the right opportunity to strike.  This game is all about taking out your opponent strategically.”

Maggie snorted at the nefarious-sounding way Lena had chosen to teach the girls to play chess.  She got up and headed for the bathroom. She’d lost track of time when she laid down, so she had no idea how long she’d slept.  She washed up quickly and headed back downstairs.

“Hi, honey!” Kara greeted her from the kitchen table.  Lena and the twins greeted her cheerfully as well. “Feeling better?”

“Mostly,” Maggie replied, pouring herself some coffee.

“Can you play chess, Maggie?” Jamie wanted to know.  They had both game boards set up on the table, and each adult was playing against one of the twins.

“Yeah, I know how,” she answered.  “Though I highly doubt I’d stand a chance against your Mama or Lena.”

“No harm in trying,” Lena commented idly.

“Maybe.  Where’s Alex?”

“She and Eliza are in the living room watching a Cut Throat Kitchen marathon,” Kara informed her.

She chuckled.  “Works for me. I’m gonna go in there with them.”  She kissed them all and went in the living room.

“Hey, beautiful,” Alex greeted her with a big grin.  

Maggie’s heart leapt.  How did this woman do that to her?  “Hey, yourself,” she greeted warmly.  “Got room for me?”

“Of course!”  Alex patted the cushion next to her and reached her arms out toward her.

She curled into the agent’s arms and sighed with contentment, getting a kiss on the head in reply.

“I love you,” she mumbled.

Alex kissed her head again.  “I love you too, darling.”

They watched TV for another hour or so, until Eliza declared that it was time to cook dinner.  She assigned them all jobs, and soon the kitchen and the dining room were both bustling with activity.  Eliza took care of the hams and pies, while Kara peeled potatoes, Lena and Maggie chopped vegetables, Alex made sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole, and the kids prepped cookie dough for later.  According to Alex, the girls were expert cookie bakers, thanks to their grandma. Maggie was looking forward to baking cookies, especially because she knew the girls would make it more fun. They’d been happy and giggly all day, which was made especially hilarious in their little elf costumes.  

Kara had put on Christmas music in the background, and she, Lena, and the twins were all singing merrily along.  Maggie didn’t even mind. They were all really good singers, and they could even harmonize together, so it was actually pretty fun to listen to them.  Soon, all the prep work was done, and they just had to wait for everything to cook, so they all circled around the little table in the kitchen and watched the girls play chess with Lena and Kara.  They got their poor little butts whooped, but they seemed to like the challenge, and they were learning as well as Maggie would have expected. Lena was a good teacher. It wouldn’t be long before they were experts at it.  She had a feeling Lena would be the one getting whooped very soon. She hoped she got to see the look on the CEO’s face when that happened. It was going to be priceless.

God!  The food smelled so good!  By the time it was ready, Maggie’s stomach was growling like crazy.  The kids set the table, while the adults helped set out all the food.  Anything that Kara thought might be a little bit off-temperature, she gave a quick blast of her heat vision, and they were good to go.  They all sat down to eat, and Maggie had a brief flashback of celebrating Christmas with her blood family as a kid, where they would all sit down to dinner, and before anyone could eat, someone would have to pray.  The Danvers had no such restrictions, and it felt a little rebellious to be eating without saying a blessing, but in a fun way. It made her grin and enjoy her dinner all the more. Her blood family was nothing to her any longer.  This was her family now, and they couldn’t get any more perfect.

When dinner was over, they were all stuffed, and they took their time lazily cleaning up and putting things away, then spent the rest of the night baking cookies and playing trivia games and laughing.  It was the best Christmas Maggie had ever had, by far.