52. Decisions, Decisions

Alex and Lena were about to head home from the DEO when they ran into Mon-El.  

The Daxamite gasped happily and trotted over to them.  “Hey, guys! Guess what?” He pulled his wallet out, and flashed them a brand new motorcycle permit.  “I started my motorcycle training today!”

They smiled back at him.  “Awesome!” Alex told him.

“That’s wonderful,” Lena said at the same time.  “Congratulations. I know you were really looking forward to that.”

He nodded, looking a little sheepish.  “Yeah, well, the driving part is easy. It’s the not-breaking the expensive machinery that’s the hard part.”

“Oh, well, we have just the thing for you!” Lena said with a salesman’s flourish.  She had Alex open the case that contained the three red sun emitters. “Take Jessie’s.  We can make her a new one later.”

He looked down at the little device.  “Uh...Thanks? What is it?”

“It’s a red sun emitter, slash yellow sun blocker.  It takes away your powers when you put it on and press this button on the side.  Then, when you want your powers back, you just take it off, and the yellow sun that it absorbed will come back out and restore them.  Easy peasy.”

Mon-El looked delighted.  “Oh, Rao! Do you know how many things I can do with this now?”

“Like get sloppy drunk?” Alex suggested.

The man’s eyes lit up.  “That too! Awesome!”

“What were you thinking?” Alex asked curiously.

“I was thinking about how many video game controllers and keyboards I’ve broken.  You know, Winn is a very patient man until about the fourth time you break something of his.”

Lena and Alex smiled as he put the watch on, then hugged them tightly.  Even without his powers, the guy was really strong, and he squeezed the breath out of them a little.

“Thanks,” he grinned.  “I’m gonna go show Winn!”

“Winn helped make it,” Alex pointed out to him.

His face fell for a second, then picked back up, “I’ve got a better idea!  I’m gonna go show Eve!” As he hurried away from them, they heard him mutter to himself, “She won’t mind if I wake her up for this, right?”

They chuckled to themselves and hand-in-hand turned toward the elevator.

“I thought you all left a long time ago,” they heard J’onn’s familiar bass behind them.

Turning around, still holding hands, they smiled at him.  “We were just putting some finishing touches on a new project,” Alex explained.  “Wanna see?”

“Certainly,” he put his hands on his hips curiously.

They opened the case and revealed the red sun emitters, explaining what they were and how they worked.

“Excellent,” he encouraged.  “Good teamwork. I like to see that.”

Alex gave her partner an adoring smile, “We couldn’t have done it without Lena.”

The CEO grinned and squeezed her hand.  “It was your idea. I was merely helping.”

“That’s generally how teamwork works, yes,” J’onn said in amusement.  “I’m sure your girls will appreciate the device.”

“Thank you, sir,” Lena replied.

“Yeah, thanks, J’onn,” Alex said, making sure no one was around to see her hug him.  He kissed her on the head, and it was all she could do to keep from melting into him.  He was such a good father-figure. She thought about Maggie’s boss, and how he wanted to be her kid’s grandpa, and suddenly she was curious.  “Hey, J’onn? I hope this isn’t weird, but I was wondering if you were planning on having any involvement with the kids we’re having. I mean, you are like a father to me and to Kara, so I’m really hoping the answer is yes.”

He looked compassionately down at her.  “Alex, Lena, I would be beyond honored to be a part of your children’s lives.  I kind of already thought that was a given. I spend time with your girls already, don't I?"

“Oh,” Alex said, a little teary eyed.  “That’s good. I’m happy to hear that.”

Lena smiled and hugged him, not caring if anyone was looking.  “Thank you. You’ve been so good to us, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

J’onn returned the hug and patted her back.  “We all have to take care of each other. El Mayara.”

“El Mayara,” Alex and Lena repeated.

Just then, Alex’s phone started playing Kara’s ringtone, ‘I’m Walking on Sunshine.’  “Hello?”

“Hey!  The girls were wondering if you two would be home before they went to bed,” Kara informed her.

“Yeah,” she answered.  “We’re just headed out.  We got the devices fully operational.”

“Cool!” Kara chirped.  “Maybe the twins can spend next weekend with Uncle Winn, and we can use it for our own nefarious purposes.”

“I’m walking away and pretending I didn’t hear that,” J’onn grumbled and hurried off.

“Was that J’onn?” Kara asked.

“Yeah, way to traumatize the man,” Alex chuckled.

“Oh, please,” Lena scoffed.  “The man is a psychic. I’m sure he’s seen and heard plenty worse.”

“Yeah, but we’re like his daughters,” Alex reiterated.  “It’s still gotta be a bit scandalous.”

“OK, well, hurry home.  The kids need to go to bed, and you know they’ll wait up for you, if they have to.”

“Alright, we’re coming.”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

When Alex and Lena got home, they were dismayed to find Jamie crying on the couch, with Jessie, Kara and Maggie all trying to soothe her.

“I can’t block it out!” Jamie sobbed, holding her hands over her ears.

The pair rushed over to her, kneeling down on the floor in front of her.  “What’s wrong, baby?” Alex demanded.

“The people downstairs!” the preteen answered.  “The things they’re doing and saying… It’s terrible!  I’ve never heard anyone talk like that before. Why? Why would they say such horrible things to each other, and still want to have sex?  I don’t understand!”

Alex opened the case containing the red sun emitters and immediately attached it to her daughter’s wrist, pressing the button to turn it on.

Jamie calmed immediately, throwing herself into Alex’s arms and sobbing with relief.  “Thank you, Mommy!”

Alex squeezed her daughter for all she was worth, “You’re welcome, my love.  Thank Lena too. She’s the one that figured out how to get it to be fully functional.”

Jamie held on to Alex for another moment before releasing her and hugging Lena.  “Thank you so much, Lena. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart,” Lena assured her.  “You’re welcome.”

“Um, is there one of those for me?  I don’t very much like what I’m hearing either!” Kara complained.

Lena held out the last emitter to Kara, explaining how it worked.

“You guys are so amazing, thank you!” Kara sighed with relief.  “Let’s just say our neighbors are kinky.”

Everyone made various faces of displeasure, especially Jessie.  

Jamie shuddered.  "I don't plan on taking this off much. The noise levels alone are a huge relief."

"Can't you make a device that will give me my powers?" Jessie pouted.

"I'm sorry, honey, but no," Alex replied gently.  "I don't know how to trigger your powers without possibly literally torturing you, which is definitely not happening."

Jessie grumbled in frustration.

"Alright, girls, it's past your bedtime," Kara pointed out.  "Give hugs and kisses, and get moving."

Jessie was still sullen as she obediently gave love to all her parents, but Jamie was rather joyful.  "I might even get to sleep the whole night, instead of getting woken up by every little noise." She gave Alex and Lena extra big hugs for helping her out with her powers before bounding off to her room. "Goodnight!"

Kara admired her new little wrist watch, also enjoying a little peace and quiet.  The downstairs neighbors weren't the only people in the world with dirty mouths while they fucked, and they wouldn't be the last, but it was nice to block them out all the same.  Most of the time, she didn't mind hearing people having sex. She liked the reassurance of the existence of love. Not that she listened in, but when she did hear it, it was OK. She was a grown woman, and she could handle that kind of thing without getting freaked out anymore. She felt bad for her daughter who had to hear such things, and she was relieved that Alex, Winn, and Lena had worked together to make the red sun emitter.  Proud, even. She kissed her wives and told them what she was thinking.

"I'm glad you like it," Alex responded happily.

"As am I," Lena grinned.

Not to be left out, Maggie added, "I'm happy for you."

"Can we take a few minutes to just relax and make out a little?" Kara requested.  "I'm assuming you're all tired and don't want to do much more than that."

"That's accurate," Lena admitted.  "But I'm on board for a little kissing."

Kara smiled and pulled Lena into her lap.  Alex scooted closer to Maggie and pulled her close.  Both pairs closed the distance between them, locking lips in lazy affection. No one hurried or pressed too deeply, and with Kara's red sun emitter, she didn't have to mind her strength.  She could just enjoy herself. They lost track of time for a while, basking in their love like a warm fire. It wasn’t until Lena started yawning that they stopped kissing.

“Sorry,” she grumbled.

“It’s OK, my love,” Kara kissed her on the cheek.  “We’ve had a long, busy day. Are you ready for bed?”

Lena looked at her watch.  “It’s not even ten o’clock yet!” she complained.

“By the time you get cleaned up and changed for bed it will be,” Kara countered.

“Kara!  I’m not a little kid.  If I try to go to bed this early, I’m going to wake up at three o’clock in the morning!”

“OK, OK.  I’m sorry for suggesting it.  What do you want to do, then?”

“I think I just want to read for a while,” Lena replied, stretching.  She climbed off of Kara’s lap and stretched again, yawning a big yawn.

“Stop that,” Maggie yawned after her.  “It’s contagious. You sure you don’t want to watch a movie or something?”

“No, thank you.  I’m good on my blood and gore quota for the month,” Lena quipped.

Alex and Maggie snickered.

“I think I’m gonna make some rounds as Supergirl.  If nothing comes up, I’ll be back in an hour. Call me if you need me.”

“OK,” her wives agreed.  She kissed them all and zipped out the balcony door.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, Supergirl was puttering around Alex’s lab when the redhead turned on her.  “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” she snipped.

“Not right now,” Kara replied, unphased.  “I wanted to talk to you about something, actually.”

“Is it work relevant?” Alex demanded.

“Well, not exactly.  It’s about the kids,” Kara told her.

Alex sighed.  “Which kids?”

“Jessie and Jamie.”

“What about them?”

“Well, Lena was saying-”

“Oh.  I know what Lena was saying,” Alex informed her.  “She talked to me too.”

“She did?  About changing their education?”

Alex nodded her confirmation.

“Well, what do you think?”

The agent sighed.  “I think a lot of things.  I think it would be a great opportunity for the girls, but I also worry.  I can’t stop the worrying mom thoughts. You know?”

“I know,” Kara said, resting her arms on her wife’s shoulders.  “But what about what the kids want? They’ve been begging us to take them out of school for years.  This would be exactly what they’ve always wanted, only better. It wouldn’t be us teaching them, or them teaching themselves, they could have real, educated, vetted professionals teaching them.  How many people get that kind of opportunity?”

“I know, I know.  I just- I don’t know!” the redhead threw her arms in the air helplessly.

Supergirl looked back at her with all the compassion she could muster.  “Why don’t you talk to your mom about it?”

Alex nodded.  “Yeah, I think I will.”

The blonde kissed her and scratched the back of her neck soothingly.  “Whatever you decide, I’m with you. If you want to talk more about it, just let me know.  I know you, you overthink everything, and in this case, I feel like that’s a good thing. Whatever outcome you come up with, we’ll go with that.  OK?”

“OK, thanks,” the agent leaned forward and hugged her wife, trying not to melt when Kara rocked her a little.

“I love you.  I’m gonna go find something to do now, OK?”

Alex smiled.  “OK. Love you too.  Stay out of trouble.”

Kara gasped in mock offense. "I never!"  She tossed her hair and fake-stomped off.

Alex laughed with a shake of her head and went back to work.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Supergirl wandered aimlessly through the DEO until she found herself in front of the room with her mother's AI.  She unlocked the door that would only open for her and stepped inside. The AI sprung to life, and suddenly her mother was there smiling at her.

"Hello, Kara, my daughter.  How can I help you? "

"Hi, Mom.  I just came by because I wanted to tell you something."

"You can tell me anything, Kara.  I'm programmed to keep your secrets."

"It's not a secret exactly."

“You can tell me anything, Kara,” the AI repeated.

“Well, you see, I’m…  I… I accidentally got three different women pregnant, and now I’m having four babies at once.  One of them is having twins.”

“Kryptonians rarely have more than one child at a time, and even then it was only with a single partner.  This is highly unusual.”

“Yeah, especially since this is my second set of twins!” Kara exclaimed.

“This is even more highly unusual.  Kryptonians rarely have more than two children.  Population control was strict, even for the most noble houses of our race.”

“Earth isn’t as strict about population control,” Kara replied.

“Lucky for you.”

“Yes, don’t remind me.”

“I suppose congratulations are in order,” Alura smiled genuinely.

“Thank you,” Kara grinned back.   “I’m actually really excited.  I love my kids so much. They’re beautiful and funny and smart and kind and talented and everything a parent could ask for.  I know the next batch is going to be just as great.”

“I’m sure you make an excellent parent, Kara.  I’m proud of you, my daughter. I only wish I could meet your children in person.  I’m sure I would love them instantly.”

“I know you would,” Kara sniffled.   “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, beautiful girl.”

Supergirl took a few deep breaths to get a hold of herself before she exited the room and locked the door behind her.  She looked at her phone to check the time. It was still really early in the morning and everyone else was working or at school.  She wandered into the DEO main hub and sat down in an empty seat next to Winn and Vasquez. “What’s up, guys?” She looked at their screens and realized they were playing video games.

“Nothing much,” Winn answered without looking at her.

“Nothing to report,” said Vasquez, only looking at her for a half a second.

“I’m bored,” Supergirl complained.  “Isn’t there anything for me to do?”

“You can get us some donuts.  We’re hungry,” Winn told her.

Kara picked up his Nerf dart gun and shot him in the shoulder with it.

“Hey!” he complained.  “What was that for?”

“That’s really all you have for me to do?  Get donuts?”

“Pleeeease?” he pouted.  “Pretty please, with sugar on top?”

Kara rolled her eyes and groaned.  “Fine! I’ll get donuts, but then I need something to do, OK?  Snapper hasn’t given me another story yet, so I’m just dead in the water until something comes up.”

“OK, OK.  I’ll find something for you to do, but donuts first!  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.”  Kara shot out into the sky and headed for their favorite donut shop.  She bought three dozen and had eaten a full box of them before she returned to the DEO.  Winn and Vasquez were thrilled. They actually stepped away from their games and pounced on the goodies.

“Thank you, Supergirl!” the pair gushed, stuffing their faces.

“You’re welcome.  Now. What do you have for me to do?”

“Why don’t you go wander around the children’s hospital?” Vasquez suggested.  “I’m sure you’ll make someone’s day that way.”

Kara perked up.  Why hadn’t she thought of doing that before?  That was something she could do for hours without end, if they let her.  “That’s a great idea! I’m going to do that right now.”

“OK, have fun!” Winn waved at her as she swooped out of the room and off the balcony.

Supergirl spent the better part of four hours at the hospital, trying to greet every child with as much attention as she could.  The kids clamored over her, hugging her and begging her to fly with them. With a few parents’ permission, she did float around a bit with some of them, but nothing she would really consider actual flying.  They were indoors, after all.

When lunch time rolled around, she was feeling quite ravenous, so she excused herself with a few more hugs and headed out.  She called Alex in the air and asked her if she wanted to have lunch. The agent agreed to let her come back, providing she brought Thai food.  Kara was great with that deal. She zipped over to their favorite Thai restaurant and ordered all their favorites. She knew Alex wouldn’t eat much, but at least she could have all the options she wanted, and naturally, Kara would eat the rest.

The pair ate together amicably, with Kara telling Alex about her trip to the children’s hospital.  Once they were done, Alex wanted to get back to work, and Kara still had nothing to do, so Alex texted Lena and Maggie to ask if either of them had something for Kara.  Lena answered with a resounding YES, she had something for Kara to do, and to send her over immediately.

Kara was excited.  She was expecting a chance to do some investigative work into corporate espionage or something equally challenging to help her wife.  When she showed up as Supergirl, knocking on the balcony door, Lena and her secretary nearly jumped out of their skin.

“Supergirl,” Lena huffed the name of her wife’s alias.  “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

The hero frowned.  "I was under the impression that you had something for me to do?"

Lena realized Kara’s misunderstanding and thought quickly.  "Oh, yes, I have something for you to give Agents Danvers and Schott."  She pulled a USB drive out of her laptop and handed it over. “Please, don’t break it.  I have a lot of hard work on there.” She gave Supergirl a very stern look, complete with raised eyebrow.

Supergirl’s eyes widened at the veiled threat.  “That’s it?”

Lena tilted her head to the side and smirked.  “Well, unless you want to help Kara shop for baby things.”

“Baby things?”  She peeked a side glance at Jess.  Apparently Lena had told her assistant that she was pregnant because the woman didn’t blink at the announcement.

“Yes,” Lena confirmed.  “Jess and I have binders upon binders of cars, car seats, bottles, breast pumps, slings, strollers, and the like for Kara to sort through.  She should be here soon, if you want to help.”

Jess snickered under her breath at the bewildered look on the hero’s face.

“I’m only joking,” Lena laughed.  “I know you’re a busy girl. Just don’t forget to drop off that drive.”

“I’ll do that now,” Supergirl nodded seriously and backed toward the balcony.  “Have a good day, Ms. Luthor,” she said out of habit.

“It’s Mrs. Danvers now, Supergirl,” Lena reminded her, hands on her hips.

The Kryptonian grinned, but then tried to school her face for Jess’s sake.  “Right. Mrs. Danvers. I’ll be seeing you, Mrs. Danvers.”

“Are you sure you don't want to see Kara before you leave?” Jess asked the blonde.  “She should be here any minute. I know you two are friends.”

Supergirl mentally scrabbled for an excuse not to 'see Kara.'  “Uh, no. No, I’ll see her later. It’ll be fine. Bye!” and before she could be questioned further, she zipped off into the sky towards the DEO, not hearing Lena and Jess giggling behind her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

After the hero was gone, Lena glared playfully at her assistant, “You’re bad, Jess.  She’s going to figure out you know her secret, if you keep doing stuff like that.”

“Psh!” Jess waved her off.  “It’s not my fault Supergirl follows you around like a lost puppy.  She’s the one that thinks glasses and a ponytail are a disguise. It’s funny to watch her flounder for an excuse to be around you.”

"Yes, well, it's not really her fault that all her protective instincts are on high alert," Lena pointed out.  "She is trying to keep a respectful distance, in spite of all her hormones commanding her to hover. I don't think anyone fully appreciates how much self control Supergirl has."

Jess nodded thoughtfully.

They finished their conversation from before Supergirl's interruption, and then Lena instructed her assistant that once Kara showed up, to take her to the conference room down the hall where all the research was printed out, and Lena would meet her there when she was done with her current project.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Supergirl swooped into the DEO main hall and found Winn.  It actually looked like he was working this time, but upon further inspection, she saw that he was just typing a complaint to ebay about a faulty ‘action figure.’  She didn’t wait for him to finish before she jammed the thumb drive in his face.

“What’s this?”

“A thumb drive,” she stated the obvious.  “From Lena. I don’t know what’s on it. Honestly, I don’t even know if she really wanted me to give this to you, but I showed up to her office as Supergirl instead of Kara, and she gave me this to get rid of me.”  She handed over the drive.

“Alrighty, let’s see what our good friend Lena has for us today,” Winn said, plugging in the drive and opened the first folder labeled ‘Projects.’  There were literally dozens of subfolders with names like ‘Lex’s War Suit,’ ‘Lena’s Flight Suit,’ ‘Red Sun Rays,’ ‘Yellow Sun Bombs,’ and ‘Kryptonite Blockers.’  The tech’s eyes widened like a kid in a candy store, as he searched through a few folders and found research and photographs in each one. “Wow, wow, wow!” he exclaimed.  “Looks like Lena has been doing some work to make Supergirl Kryptonite proof, and she’s done a lot better job than I ever have!” He was reading through some of the documents under the ‘Kryptonite Blockers’ folder, and Supergirl lost his attention completely.

“You’re supposed to share this with Alex,” Kara told him.

“OK,” he said distractedly.  “Talk to you later.”

Supergirl rolled her eyes and went to change into her Kara clothes in the locker room.  Apparently Winn got the good stuff, while she got stroller research. She didn’t think it was rocket science to pick out that kind of thing, but apparently Lena meant business.  She drove back to L-Corp, and upon arrival, Jess whisked her away before she could even say hello to her wife. There were dozens of binders in the conference room, and Kara internally cringed.  This was… a lot. She didn’t want to do what Lena was suggesting. It was a little on the ridiculous side. And she thought Alex was bad when they were kids. Had Lena even been doing any L-Corp work the last few weeks?  Sheesh!

Overwhelming as it may have seemed, Kara figured, ‘In for a penny, in for a pound.’  She picked up the binder marked ‘Minivans,’ and started reading through it. She knew Lena was going to ask her a million questions, so she’d better be prepared.  At least she could speed read through it all. That was a blessing of her gifts on earth that she really appreciated because she didn’t have to actively hide it. It was already hidden.  She could read as many books as she wanted, and no one would question it. (Plus, it didn’t leave her starving afterwards.) Lena knew this. They loved to talk about books. This wasn’t exactly the kind of books Kara had in mind to bond over, but so be it.  Lena was her wife. Her beautiful, brilliant, loving wife, who was going to be giving her two more children, so Kara would do whatever needed to be done. Clearly this was one of Lena’s ways of coping with anxiety, and Kara was going to help soothe her.

About a half hour later, Lena poked her head into the conference room where Kara had read through eight and a half different binders.  “Hello, my darling,” she flashed her billion dollar smile, and Kara beamed back at her.

“Hi, sweetheart.  Care to join me?” Kara waved her hand at the seat beside her.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Lena lowered herself elegantly to the chair, happy to receive a few kisses from her beloved wife.  “What all have you sorted through?”

Kara indicated the stack in front of Lena.

“You’ve read through all of these?”

“She said with surprise in her voice for some reason,” Kara teased.

Lena looked to see which binders she’d gone through before unloading a barrage of questions and concerns about each one.  Kara tried to keep up, but the CEO was hardly giving her a chance to even get the answers out before she was hitting her with another question.  After a few minutes of this Kara raised her hands to indicate Lena to slow down.

“Honey, listen, I think our children’s safety is just as important of an issue as you do, but is all this really necessary?  I think your anxiety is getting to you, love.  We don’t have to research every bottle that ever existed.  It’s 2017. I think we can trust the main brands at the baby store to be safe and effective.  Right?”

“I don’t think it’s asking too much for my kids to have the best of what’s available, not just some common thing.”

Kara nodded.  “That’s great when it comes to education and affection, but honestly, a bottle is a bottle, and in the heat of the moment, you’re not going to care whether it was made in France or Korea.  You’re just going to want a goddamned bottle of milk to make the kid stop screaming.” Lena gave her a look of disapproval, but Kara crossed her arms across her chest determinedly. “I think you’ll find Alex and Maggie will most likely agree with me.”

Lena frowned.  “If you don’t want to help, fine.  I’ll do it myself. You’re the one that asked for something to do.  I thought maybe you’d want to be involved in the decision making process for buying baby things, but clearly not,” she snipped.

“Lena!” Kara said placatingly.  “I do want to help, come on, don’t be like that.”

“Be like what?” Lena huffed.  “Selfish? Stubborn? Bossy? Snobbish?  I’ve heard it all, Kara, don’t hold back.”

“No!  Nothing like that!” Kara replied in surprise.

“Then what?!”  Lena’s voice was quiet, but deadly.

“I just don’t want you to be mad at me,” the reporter answered meekly, pouting a little.  How had this gotten so out of hand? She had meant to calm her partner, not rile her up further!

“Then help me, and don’t tell me I’m crazy for wanting what I want,” Lena demanded.

“OK, I never said you were crazy, and I’m sorry for making you feel that way.  I’ll help you, alright?”

The CEO stared warily at her for a few moments, “Just like that?”

Kara nodded.  “I don’t want to fight with you, Lena.  I just want you to be happy.”

“Now you’re just patronizing me.”

Kara’s eyes widened in frustration.  She put her hands on the sides of her glasses and shook her head.  “Lena, no. That’s not true. I love you, and I wouldn’t do that to you.”

Lena’s jaw clenched a few times before answering, “Fine.  Are you going to help me or not?”

“I’m going to help you, OK?  Whatever you want, I’m yours.”

The CEO suddenly looked like she was going to cry, “I’m sorry, Kara.  I don’t know what’s got into me. You’re not Lillian, and I shouldn’t expect you to be like her.  I don’t deserve you.”

“No, you deserve so much better than I could ever give you, but I will give my life trying to be worthy of you.  You make everything in my life better. Don’t you know that?”

Now Lena’s tears fell freely down her cheeks.  “I think I’m a bit hormonal at the moment. That’s all I can say to explain my outburst.  Forgive me?”

“Always,” Kara leaned forward and wiped her tears away.  “I love you so much, Lena.”

"I love you too, Kara."  

The Kryptonian leaned forward and pressed a few sweet kisses to Lena’s lips in reassurance.  “OK. Hit me with your questions.”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Alex paced her office as she listened to the phone ring, waiting for her mother to pick up.  When she heard the soft "Hello, daughter of mine," her heart rate calmed a bit, and the knot in her stomach loosened.  "Hey, Mom. Can you talk for a minute?"

"I always have time for you.  I'm just heading home from work," Eliza informed her.

"You're not driving while you're talking on the phone, are you?  That's not safe!" Alex reprimanded.

"Excuse me, Miss ‘I Fight Aliens for a Living!’" Dr. Danvers huffed.  "I know how to use my bluetooth, thank you very much!"

Alex deflated, "Oh, right.  Sorry. Well, anyway, I need to talk to you about something."

"Yes, I'm waiting for you to get to the point."

The agent sighed.  "Lena wants to take the kids out of school and get them into private tutoring."

Eliza hummed.  "That sounds like a great idea.  I only wish I could have done that for you and Kara."

"Really?" Alex fretted.  "You think it's a good idea?"

"Don't you, dear?  It would really cut down on the bullying, not to mention catch them up to their full intellectual abilities.  Isn't that the idea?"

"You don't think it would make them stand out too much?" the redhead worried.

"Honestly, Alex, I think they stand out too much as it is.  They have all sorts of problems at school, and we all know how much attention that gets them.  Why not keep them at home? They have plenty of socialization from their dance team. I don't think they'll suffer from being taken out of school."

"They stopped taking their dance classes because they wanted to train with us," Alex explained.

"What?" Eliza replied with dismay.  "I thought dancing was their favorite thing!  I can't believe you let them quit!"

"It was their choice, Mom," Alex defended.

"Let me talk to them," Eliza demanded.

Alex sighed.  "They’re not out of school yet.  You’ll have to wait a little while."

Dr. Danvers huffed.  “What am I gonna do with you girls?  Hmm?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure out something, Mom,” the agent rolled her eyes.  

“Why didn’t you ask me about taking them out of dance?  I would have said no to that one. Jamie just told me at Christmas time that she wanted to be a professional dancer!  How’s she going to do that, if she’s not in dance classes anymore?” In her head, Alex could see her mother throwing her arms in the air in frustration.

Alex kicked the wall several times before answering, "She's twelve years old, the other day she wanted to join the circus, or draw caricatures of people on the street!  I think it's way more important to get her powers under control than to worry about whether or not they take more dance classes. They have plenty of time for that. Right now, I'm worried about her being able to control her powers under pressure.  We're going to have a boatload of babies in the house soon, and she has to be able to handle that. Mentally and physically. Can you please not argue with me on this?”

“Alright, alright,” Dr. Danvers conceded.  “It just surprised me, OK? They’ve been in dance classes practically since they could walk.  I never thought they’d give it up.”

“Well, you can feel free to talk to them about it.  I’m not worried about it.”

“Very well, sweetheart.  Did you need anything else?”

“No,” Alex answered a bit petulantly even to her own ears.  “You really think we should take them out of school?”

“Considering what Lena has to offer?  Yes,” Eliza confirmed. “I think they need the challenge.”

“Alright,” the agent breathed sullenly.  “Thanks, Mom.”

“Anytime, dear.”

They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone.  Alex took a minute to breathe, and then called Maggie.

“Danvers,” the detective answered.

Alex grinned.  “Boy do I like the sound of that.”

“What can I do for you, oh wife of mine?” Maggie asked with a grin in her tone.

Alex calmed at the sound of Maggie’s voice.  “I was wondering if you and I could have a private date tonight?”

“Oh!” the Latina said happily.  “A date alone with you sounds wonderful!  What did you have in mind?”

“Well, since we can’t go to the bar, I figured, dinner and a movie?  Or maybe just smoothies and a movie, since food doesn’t actually sound very good right now.”

“Sounds like a plan.  I get out at seven.”

“OK, see you then.  Love you.”

“Love you too.”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Jamie and Jessie were just climbing into the car with Kara when Jamie’s phone rang.  She hurried to answer it, looking at the caller ID, she smiled, “It’s Grandma!” she announced, flicking the answer button.  “Hi, Grandma!”

“Hello, dear, how was school?” Eliza greeted.

“Same stupid, boring thing as ever,” Jamie grumbled.

“I see.  Is your sister with you?”

“Yeah, she’s right here.”

“Put the phone on speaker, please.”

Jamie pressed the speaker button on her phone.  “OK, Grandma.”

Eliza didn’t beat around the bush.  “What’s this I hear about you girls quitting your dance classes?  The whole time I was there, you never mentioned it once. I’m shocked.”

“Well, we wanted to train with Mom and everybody,” Jessie explained.  “It’s fun!”

“I thought you had fun dancing,” Dr. Danvers pressed.  “Jamie, you told me you wanted to be a dancer.”

“That was before I got my powers.  Now I have to learn to be a superhero, just like Mama!” she answered.

Eliza groaned.  “You’re twelve years old.  You’ll have plenty of time to learn stuff like that when you’re older.  You’re too young to be a superhero yet.”

“The more training I have the better!” Jamie insisted.  “I want to help people.”

“There are other ways to help people besides being a superhero,” Eliza objected.

“Yeah, like me, I’m gonna be just like Mom!” Jessie announced happily.

“Oh, my God, you kids are going to give me a heart attack early,” Dr. Danvers grumbled.

Jessie was quick to reassure her.  “It’s OK, Grandma, we’re strong, and we’re good at fighting.  We’re gonna be a great team!”

“I don’t like the idea of you two fighting.  You’re going to get hurt,” Eliza complained.

“It’ll be OK, Grandma, I promise,” Jamie assured her.  “Mom wanted us to learn how to fight in case Cadmus comes after us.  I think that’s a pretty good reason to do it.”

Eliza was quiet for a moment.

“Grandma?” Jamie called.  “Are you still there?”

“I’m here,” she answered.  “I’m just worried about you, that’s all.”

“You don’t have to worry about us,” Jessie was certain.  “We’re the safest kids in the whole world! We have Supergirl watching out for us, not to mention her Superfriends.”

“They’re not called that,” Kara piped up from the front seat.

“And I have my own powers,” Jamie reminded her grandma, ignoring Kara.  “I can protect myself.”

“There’s nothing I can say to change your mind?” Eliza asked, defeated.

“Everything’s going to be OK, Grandma,” Jessie promised.  “We love you, but we have to do this.”

Dr. Danvers sighed.  “Alright, girls. Just be safe, OK?  I love you more than you know. It would really upset me to hear about you getting hurt because you weren’t being careful.”

“We will, we promise,” Jamie guaranteed.  “We love you too, OK?”

"OK, my little love bugs."

"Oh!  Guess what Mom made us!"  Jamie explained about the red sun emitters and how hers had made her day such an improvement.  It went a long way in soothing her grandmother, and by the time they were done talking, she hoped the eldest Danvers was OK.  

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Alex picked Maggie up from the police station at 7:15.  “Hello, beautiful.  Need a ride?”

The detective smirked.  “As a matter of fact I do.”  She hopped into the Porsche and sighed.  “Sorry. Long day.”

“Wanna talk about it?” Alex asked.

Maggie explained bout the murder suspects they were after while they headed downtown to where there was a decent smoothie shop.  They parked in the parking structure across the street and walked hand-in-hand through the door and up to the front counter where there was a cute butchy-type waiting for them with a smile.

After they ordered their drinks, they sat down in a booth in the corner on one side and cuddled.

“This feels nice,” Maggie breathed in relief.  “I don’t know when was the last time we had a moment to ourselves.”

“Me either,” Alex admitted.  “I kinda need to talk to you about something.”

“Oh?” the detective looked a little worried at the agent’s expression.  “OK, talk to me.”

“Well, Lena wants to take the twins out of school and put them in private tutoring so they can be more advanced, and I’m just not sure how much I like that idea,” Alex informed her.

“OK,” Maggie’s brows knit themselves together. “Why are you so unsure?”

“It’s just…  It’s my job to keep them safe, you know?  Anything that makes them stand out runs the risk of exposing their secrets.  I don’t want anything bad to happen to our family.”

“I see,” the detective nodded.  “But what about them being tutored makes them less safe than they already are?”

“What if they do something really great, and they get an award or something, and then people go digging into their lives to find out about them?”

“Did you ever win any awards when you were a kid?”

“Of course,” the redhead answered.

“And did anyone ever find out about Kara because of it?”

“Well, no, but that’s not the same thing.”

“Why not?”

“It just isn’t!”

Maggie gave Alex a compassionate look, “Honey, do you want me to tell you what you want to hear, or do you want to hear what I think?”

“I want to hear what you really think, Maggie.  What do you think this is, a game?”

“Hey, take it easy there, partner,” the detective soothed.  She waited a moment for Alex to calm down before continuing.  “Sweetheart, I’m a little worried that the real reason you want to keep those kids in school is because you hate the idea of them growing up, and this will be something that makes them more mature.”

The agent grimaced.  "That's what you think?"

"I'm sorry, I know that's probably hard to hear, but I think you should consider it."  Maggie stroked the back of Alex's hands with her thumbs. "Are you pissed at me now?"

Alex shook her head, but didn't look up.

"Listen, babe, I'm not saying you don't have a right to feel the way you feel. I'm just saying you should be honest with yourself while you're making your decisions."

The agent blinked away tears, and Maggie pulled her into a hug.  "I love you, Alex, so just know that whatever decision you make, I'll support you one-hundred-percent.  OK?"

"Really?" Alex sulked.  "You don't think it's selfish of me to hold them back?"

"I can see the wisdom in it," the detective assured.  "You're an intelligent woman, and I know how you think.  That's why I trust your judgment." She kissed Alex on the forehead.  "What did Kara say?"

The redhead made a face, "Pretty much the same thing as you, actually."  She sighed, "I wish it wasn't up to me."

“Why don’t you let the kids decide?” Maggie suggested.

“I already know what they’ll say,” Alex groaned.  “They’ve been wanting to homeschool for a long time now.  They’ll jump at this opportunity.”

Maggie gave her an understanding and sympathetic look that said it all.

“God, I wish we could drink!” Alex sipped angrily at her smoothie, wishing it was something so much stronger.

“I hear you there,” the detective raised her cup.  “What time does the movie start?”

Alex checked her phone.  “Half an hour.”

“Come on, let’s go get the good seats.”  Maggie tugged the agent out of their booth and back toward the car.  

The drive to the theater was silent as Alex sulked and Maggie tried to be supportive of her contemplation.  They watched the movie “Logan,” and by the end, Alex was bawling her eyes out. Maggie knew it was hitting a little too close to home, and she now regretted her choice of films.  To be fair, she didn’t know what was going to happen, nor that Alex would have this reaction. She held her wife as she cried, until the lights went up, and Alex pulled herself together.

“Sorry,” the agent sniffled, swiping at her nose.

“It’s OK,” Maggie gave her a reassuring smile.

“This isn’t turning out to be the great relaxing date I’d meant it to be, and I feel like that’s my fault,” Alex complained.  “I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, babe.  It’s not your fault. These things happen, and I’m glad I could be here for you, OK?  Do you wanna go play some pool at the bar? We don’t have to drink.”

Alex nodded.  “Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.”

They headed to the alien bar and snagged their favorite pool table.  When Mon-El saw them, he came over to say hello.

“Hey, ladies!  What can I get for you?”

“Just water, thanks Mon-El,” Alex answered.

He turned to the detective, “Maggie?”

“Same.  We’re just here to play pool, OK?”

“Oh!  Riiiight, right, right, because of the um-” he made a vague gesture encompassing his waist.  “Right. No drinking. That would be bad.”

Alex raised her eyebrow at him, and Maggie put her hands on her hips threateningly.  “What do you know?” the agent demanded.

“Nothing!” the Daxamite backed away slowly, and Alex grabbed him by the shirt collar.  “OK, OK, I might know that one of you is pregnant, but I don’t know which one, I swear!”

“How do you know that?” Maggie growled.

“W-when Kara told us about the wedding!  I guessed it!”

Alex shoved him away and put her hand on her head.  “Jesus Christ, who else knows?”

“No one!” he squeaked.

Knowing he was lying, Alex moved threateningly toward him again, and he hid behind a table.  “I didn’t tell anyone, I swear! They- They already knew! I did nothing! I’m innocent!”

Alex and Maggie groaned.  “Who…Knows?” the agent ground out through her teeth.

Mon-El stammered for a minute before ticking off a list of names that pretty much included everyone of their close friends and a few wildcards like Lyra, Eve, Vasquez, and Amy Noonan.

“Fuuuuuck!” Alex hollered.  “God damn it!”

“So, who is it?” Mon-El asked, pressing his luck.

“Who is what?” Maggie snapped.

“Who’s pregnant?” he clarified.

Alex stomped her foot like a child, “God damn it!  You’ll know soon enough. Until then, suffer! Maggie, let’s get out of here before I feel like drinking is an actual option because I’m pretty damn close as it is.”  The detective was hot on her heels as they made their way out of the bar and back to the Porsche. Alex wasted no time in burning out of the parking lot and speeding her way back home.  “I really want to punch something,” the agent huffed.

Maggie was strangely quiet.

“Are you OK?” Alex checked.

“I’m not sure.  I feel like I have stage fright right now.  Like now that everyone knows, I’m under some kind of pressure to do things just right.  It’s a little freaky.”

Alex grabbed her hand and laced their fingers together.  “Hey, there’s no perfect way to do this, Mags. It’s just a wing-it-as-you-go kind of thing.  You can read all the books and do everything perfectly, and things are still going to be imperfect, but that’s OK.  You’re a good person, and your baby is going to be so beautiful and so loved, and that’s all we can ask for, right? And if anyone starts judging you, I’ll be the first to pummel them, OK?  Pregnant or not.”

Maggie chuckled.  “Sounds good.”

Alex kissed the back of Maggie’s hand and was quiet the rest of the drive home.  She was giving some serious thought to whether or not she should take the kids out of school.  By the time she got home, she had made her decision, and she prayed that she wouldn’t regret it.

“OK,” she announced to Kara as soon as she walked through the door.  “Let’s do it. Let’s take the kids out of school.”