Chapter Text
“Why do we have to do this again?”
“It’s the suburbs, pumpkin. We have to greet the neighbors. Plus, your peanut butter cookies are to die for. They would love it.”
When they reach the neighbor’s door, Lena takes a deep breath before she presses the doorbell.
The door opens to a middle-aged couple and Kara greets them, “Hi, I’m Kara Danvers, we just moved in next door. This is my roommate, Lena.”
“I told you to stop introducing me to people like that!” Lena scolds Kara and turns to their neighbors, “I’m so sorry, my wife likes to make jokes in social situations. Hi, I’m Lena, we’re the Danvers. Nice to meet you.”
“Hi, I’m Dinah Lance and this is my husband Quentin. Welcome to the neighborhood,” the lady greets them and bends down to look at the little boy who is hugging Kara’s leg, “and who is this little one?”
“This is our son, Conner. Conner, say hi,” Kara nudges her son lightly but he doesn’t budge, “sorry, he’s a bit shy.”
“We have two daughters, although they’re a lil bit older to play with Conner,” Dinah stands up again and offers both Kara and Lena, “but they don’t mind babysitting if you need babysitters.”
“That sounds great! Oh, here, this is from us,” Lena gives them a small jar of cookies, “I hope you’re not allergic to peanut butter.”
“We love peanut butter cookies, thank you so much.”
They exchange more pleasant greetings and bid each other farewell. When they wave goodbye from the neighbor’s front porch, Kara whispers to Lena, “That wasn’t so bad, right?”
“One down, nine more houses to go.”
“You okay there, buddy?” Kara asks as she picks Conner up.
“I’m not shy, Mama. You told me not to talk to strangers,” he says in a pout.
Lena just smiles and touches Conner’s face gently, “Sweetheart, they’re our neighbors, you can say hi to them.”
“Okay, Mommy.”
“Let’s hit the next house.”
--
“Conner’s in bed. I think he loves his new room,” Kara says to Lena who is going through some documents on the desk in their bedroom.
“Are you sure we have to send him to public school? We can afford the private school, we still have the trust fund money,” Lena looks over the spreadsheet again.
“We didn’t even touch the trust fund money when we bought this house. Let’s keep it for his college,” Kara puts her arms over Lena’s shoulder to reassure her, “Plus, we went to see the private school and he didn’t like it. I think we should send him somewhere he’s comfortable.”
“Can’t you keep homeschooling him?” Lena asks as she rests her head on Kara’s arm that’s draped over her.
“He’s getting smarter than me, I can’t keep up.”
“He’s 8, darling.”
“He’s so smart for his age. He's basically a mini you.”
“No, he's not. He's more you than me.”
“The other day he wanted an afternoon snack, so I made him nuggets, but he requested apples instead. What 8-year-old wants apples instead of chicken nuggets?”
“Darling, stop feeding him those processed foods so much.”
“It’s okay,” Kara kisses Lena at the top of her head, “I ate the nuggets.”
“What would I ever do without my two kids?” Lena ponders.
“You only have one kid.”
“Two. The one I birthed," Lena stands up and kisses Kara on the cheek, "and the one I married.”
--
“She’s so cute, Kel,” Kara says as she carries Maya while Lena just coos at her.
“Don’t drop my baby,” Alex warns Kara, reminding her of the incident.
“That was one time! It was an accident! He looks fine now. Right, Jeremy?”
The 12-year-old looks at Kara in disbelief, “You dropped me when I was a baby??”
“See? He’s fine. Doesn’t even remember a thing.”
“I was just a baby, Aunt Kara!” Jeremy huffs and raises his hands, while the adults all laugh at his gesture. He goes upstairs to his room, where Conner follows. He always looks up to his older cousin, following him wherever he goes.
“Where are my grandkids?” Eliza asks when she comes out of the kitchen with a tray of tea. Lena stands up and helps her pour out the tea for everyone.
“Jeremy is in his room, Conner followed him like usual. You want to hold Maya, mom?” Kara asks as Eliza smiles and opens her arms to receive the baby.
Alex and Kelly look over warmly at Eliza who is holding her granddaughter. Alex grips Kelly’s hand tight and smiles at Kara. Kara notices and smiles back, just enjoying this silent moment between them. It seems with age, they have toned down their bickering, and just rejoice in the moments with their family all together.
“Mommy, Mama, can I follow Jeremy to go to his friend’s house? They said they’ll be playing a new game,” Conner asks as he climbs down the stairs with Jeremy right behind him.
“What kind of game, Jeremy?” Lena asks.
“It’s just a racing game, Aunt Lena.”
“You can go if you promise to listen to Jeremy, okay? You have your watch with you?”
“GPS activated,” Conner smiles as he shows Lena his watch.
“Bye, sweetheart. Have fun.”
Kara has her arm over Lena on the couch as they watch Eliza coddle Maya, “I want one.”
“We already have one.”
“I want another one.”
“Then, you carry it this time.”
“But you look so good with your pregnancy glow.”
“No, I felt bloated and sick the entire time. And I don’t want what happened in the delivery room to ever happen again! That was embarrassing,” Lena says loudly followed by laughter from Alex and Kelly who clearly remembered what happened.
“Everyone had a good time!” Kara defends herself.
“Not me! My legs were spread out, I just had a baby come out of me and you had to blast ‘Circle of Life’ and high five all the nurses!”
At Lena’s rant, everybody starts laughing, even Eliza. Maya stirs in her sleep when the atmosphere is filled with raucous laughter.
“Not too loud, you’ll wake the baby,” Eliza reminds everyone.
“Yeah, Kara. It’s your turn to carry a baby,” Kelly says in a softer tone.
“You didn’t take turns,” Kara smirks and subtly points out how Kelly carried both Jeremy and Maya.
“That’s because my wife gets daily back rubs and foot massages for every single day that she’s pregnant. Right, honey?” Alex confirms with Kelly and Kelly kisses her, “That’s right. And I’ll do it again.”
Lena looks at Kara and smiles, “I’ll get pregnant again if I can get daily back rubs and foot massages.”
Kara ignores Lena’s requests and lies her head on the couch, “Eh, too much work. I think one kid is enough.”
Lena hits Kara lightly on her chest, shakes her head and says in a fond tone of voice, “Idiot.”
--
“Uncle Lex!” Conner runs to Lex and hugs him tight.
“Hey there, kiddo. You’re so big now!”
Lena follows right behind and gives Lex a hug as well. Lex gives Lena a kiss on the cheek and looks at Kara, “Hi, sis. Kara.”
“Lex,” Kara greets Lex as she sits down immediately on the metal chair. The visitor’s room is buzzing with other inmates and their own visitors.
Kara sits by quietly while she just watches Lena and Lex having a conversation, mostly Lena just telling Lex about Conner. Conner interrupts sometimes to tell Lex his stories too.
After half an hour of talking, Conner pulls Lena by her sleeve.
“You want to get something from the vending machine?” Lena asks and Conner nods.
Kara is about to get up to bring Conner but Lena stops her, “It’s okay, I’ll go with him.”
Kara sits idly by and taps her fingers on the table, while she waits for her wife and son to come back.
“Still awkward around me, huh?” Lex points out, “It’s been almost 15 years since your article, Kara.”
“Not awkward just....” Kara pauses and admits, “yeah, it’s awkward.”
“Are you visiting mother next?” Lex asks and Kara nods at the question, “Lena wants to visit the both of you today before Conner starts school next week.”
“She must be happy getting to know Conner.”
“He’s a great kid.”
“I know. I’m just as happy you let Conner come to see me.”
“Lena wanted Conner to get to know you.”
“Not you?”
Kara wonders if she should tell Lex the truth, and she does anyway, “I’m slowly coming to terms with it. Plus, Lena has a point, Conner has a right to know his uncle.”
“I can’t thank you enough. When I get out of here, drink’s on me,” Lex promises.
Kara just laughs softly, “How long do I have to wait? 25 more years?”
“20 with good behavior,” Lex smiles.
“Conner can drink by then.”
“The three of us then. Me, you, Conner, and beers.”
“Sure,” Kara looks down and smiles, wondering if it’s even possible to imagine such a future.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
“No, not just this, thank you,” Lex reiterates, “For everything. For giving Lena the family she deserves.”
Kara looks over at Lena who is still by the vending machine with Conner, “She deserves the world.”
--
“Ma, is that?” Conner cries out excitedly when Kara shows him the pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries.
“Good luck breakfast! For your first day of school!”
“I love good luck breakfast!”
Lena, however, is fussing over the preparation for their first day and checks Conner’s bag, “Do you have everything?”
“I double checked everything last night, Mommy. Just like how you taught me.”
“His lunch,” Kara points to the sandwich bag on the counter but Lena already has it in her hands, “Got it.”
Kara just watches as her son gulfs down the pancakes. “Slow down, buddy. Excited for your first day?”
With his mouth full Conner replies, “Nora said we’ll be in the same class, and I can’t wait to sit in a classroom!”
“Which one is Nora?” Lena asks as she stabs the strawberry on her plate, no appetite for the pancakes.
“Three doors down on the right,” Kara replies and gestures wildly to her own hair, “the dad has blond hair.”
“Oh, yeah. Okay. Do you have class today?”
“Yeah, just one class in the morning. It’s okay, I’ll make sure to pick him up. Eat something other than strawberries for breakfast, please.”
Lena takes a few bites of the pancake and Kara smiles. They both look over at Conner who is enjoying his own meal immensely.
“Buddy,” Kara bends down and looks at Conner, “I’ll pick you up at 2, okay? Do you remember our meeting point?”
“The big tree by the flagpole.”
“That’s right. Are you done with your pancakes?”
Conner nods and Kara points him to the sink, “Okay, go wash your hands.”
“Go get ready and wait for Mommy in the car,” Lena instructs as she eats a few more bites of her pancake.
“Bye, buddy,” Kara kisses Conner on his head, “Have a great day at school.”
Kara takes away the empty plate in front of Lena and wipes down the table. Lena just watches her wife in the pink apron who is cleaning up the kitchen table and she just chuckles to herself.
“What’s wrong?” Kara asks when she notices.
“Do you remember our first picnic?”
“The one we had in Midvale?”
“No, my very first one. Where you dragged me out of our apartment and all we had was yogurt and beer.”
Kara smiles to herself at the memory, “Yeah, why?”
“Do you remember how I said you look like a nice girl, like you have the image of a devoted wife? Cleaning and cooking at home?”
Kara stops her cleaning, looks down at her apron, and back at Lena, “Oh. My. God. What did you do to me?”
“Have a nice day at home, devoted wife. Wait for me in bed when I come back,” Lena teases as she kisses Kara goodbye.
--
“Sweetheart?” Lena stops the car by the roadside when she sees Conner clutching his stomach.
“I’m having a stomachache.”
“Oh, it’s just first day jitters, sweetheart.”
When Conner doesn’t reply, Lena starts to worry, “Do you want to go home? I’ll drive you home right now. We can continue homeschooling.”
“Mama said I have to go to school or else the only friend I will ever have is her.”
“Mama has a point,” Lena agrees, it does sound like something that Kara would say.
Lena, however, can’t stop worrying about her son. Watching him having the jitters is making her nervous as well. Lena knows it’s not healthy to coddle her son and shield him from the world yet she can’t help but to feel like the overprotective mother that she is.
“Mommy,” Conner calls out for Lena.
“Yeah?”
“Are you having a stomach ache too?”
“Yeah,” Lena smiles as she notices she’s clutching her own stomach as well, “I’m sorry, you got the nerves from me.”
“Mama said I got your smarts too.”
“That’s right, you’re so smart. Like Mommy,” Lena smiles even wider and tries to calm Conner down, “We got this, right? You can survive school. We’re smart people.”
Conner nods, “We got this.”
Lena continues to drive and drops Conner off in front of his new school.
“You remember your classroom?” Lena asks and Conner nods.
“Be nice to your teachers. Make some friends. Go be a kid.”
Conner hugs Lena goodbye, “I love you, Mommy.”
“I love you too, sweetheart. Have a great first day.”
--
“Is Conner asleep?” Lena asks the moment she arrives home from work.
“Yes, I put him to bed half an hour ag—”
Lena grabs Kara and kisses her, hard. So hard she shoves Kara against the wall, and kisses her more while her hand is on Kara’s throat, giving a slight pressure.
“Hello, pumpkin,” Kara whispers breathlessly.
Lena shoves Kara even harder and whispers to her ear, “Don’t hello pumpkin me. You know exactly what you were doing when you sent me all those pictures.”
Kara gives a smug smile, “I was just being a devoted wife, remember? Which one was your favorite? Mine was the one of me lying on the bed wearing nothing but an apron.”
“Just shut up and kiss me,” Lena directs and Kara easily obeys as they make their way to the bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes behind them.
--
"Mama, who's my daddy?" Conner asks Kara on the couch one Sunday morning.
"I’m your daddy," Kara answers without looking up from the newspaper.
"What?"
"Kara!" Lena yells at her wife from the kitchen, having overhead the entire conversation.
"You don't have one, I picked you off the streets," Kara gives another answer after getting yelled at.
"What!?" Conner shouts in disbelief.
"Kara!!!" Lena yells even louder as she walks into the living room and sits beside Conner, "Sweetheart, what's with the sudden question?"
"Nora told me she has a daddy and a mommy. And when I said I don’t have a daddy she said I was weird."
Lena rubs her son's arm up and down gently to put his mind at ease, "Well, some families have a daddy and a mommy. You just happened to be in a family with two mommies."
"A Mama and a Mommy."
"That's right. And there's families with two daddies, or just one daddy or one mommy. Some families just have grandparents or nannies. Not everyone is like Nora's family, and that's okay. Do you understand that?"
"I think so."
"And it’s not weird at all. Maybe Nora just doesn’t know about all the different families, so you can tell her that, okay?"
"Okay."
Lena picks Conner up and places him in her lap, hugging him tight, "The most important thing in a family is that we all love each other. Like how I love you."
"I love you too, Mommy."
Kara, who has been listening to everything from the couch, clears her throat loudly and Conner turns around to look at her.
"I love you too, Ma."
--
"The real struggle is that people don't realize how limited we are in our own opinions and our own thoughts because we are extremely limited. We're limited by our experience, by the information that we consume, by our upbringing… and the fact is that we don't know how much we don't know."
Lena opens the door and walks inside Kara's office, "Darling, we need to…"
She stops when she sees Kara talking in front of her computer, with a finger in the air, signaling Lena to stop talking.
"Yet we formulate all of our opinions on those very limited sets of experiences. And the way that journalism works to liberate that is that you get so much exposure to so many different points of view, so many different contexts, so many walks of life and current issues, that it sort of opens up your mind. And it is our job as journalists to properly convey the truth and open up the minds of others as well."
Lena mouths out the word sorry and she slowly closes the door.
"Sorry, I didn’t know you had a class," Lena apologizes when Kara walks into their bedroom an hour later.
"Not a class, I was just on my student’s podcast. No biggie. Why?"
Lena tries to remember why she barges into Kara's office earlier but her memory fails her, "I forgot what I wanted to say."
Kara smiles, "You're so cute."
"Being forgetful is cute now?"
"It is when it's you."
Kara jumps on the bed and lies besides Lena, "Pumpkin, I've been thinking. Now that Conner is in school, I think I want to pursue that PhD I've been talking about."
"That's a great idea. I'm sorry you had to put that on hold to homeschool Conner."
"Are you kidding me? I get to spend time with my son and wait for you at home every single day. It's the best sabbatical ever."
"Darling, after you get this PhD, you'll be a professor?"
"Yeah, and I get to teach more advanced classes as well. Maybe do my own courses and create my own syllabus."
"Mmm, Professor Danvers," Lena comes closer to Kara and whispers, "teach me something."
"Yeah, what do you want me to teach you?" Kara smirks.
"Teach me how to satisfy you."
"You have to take a course first, pumpkin."
"Is there a course on Pleasure 101?"
"Are you sure you want to enroll for that class? You look equipped for an advanced class."
"I want to know the basics, Professor Danvers."
"Oh, I'll teach you the basics," Kara bites her lower lips as she gets even closer to Lena, "the first lesson is 'The Art of Fingering'."
"Oh, fingering! Fingers! I just remembered why I was looking for you! Midvale food fair is in two weeks, Conner wants to try the fish fingers and custard this time around. We need to tell your family we're visiting."
Kara lies on her back and sighs, "Way to kill the mood, pumpkin."
"Sorry," Lena laughs regretfully as she gives a few consoling pats to her wife's arm, "teach me more next time, Professor."
--
"Mommy! Mama! Where are you?" Conner calls out for his parents.
When Lena comes out to the living room she stops in her tracks when she sees what Conner is carrying. Kara runs over when she realizes it as well.
"Can we keep it? Please?" Conner begs as he holds a puppy.
"Buddy, we've talked about this. Mommy is allergic," Kara looks back at Lena who looks helpless as she can't come nearer to them. "We can't keep it. Where did you get the puppy anyway?"
"Mister West gave it to me outside! He said his dog just gave birth to lots of puppies and he let me keep one!"
"Okay, let's go back to Mister West's house and return the puppy, okay?"
"But I want to keep it!"
"I'm sorry, buddy. Mommy's allergic, remember?"
"This is stupid! I hate this!"
Conner stomps out of the house and Kara follows. But not before she looks back at her wife, "Go stay in our room. I'll return the puppy and clean up here later."
"But Conner…"
"Just stay in our room, Lena. I don't want your allergies to get worse. Please? I'll handle this."
"Okay."
--
"I've talked to West and he took back the puppy. The living room is also clean. I think I've vacuumed everything."
Lena was sitting on the bed, not reacting to anything she is saying, so Kara walks and raises her hand to her wife's face. She wants to check whether Lena's allergy was triggered at all.
"Are you okay? Are you itchy? Can you breathe?"
"Just let him keep the puppy! I'll stay in a separate room, I'll take my pills, I'll, I'll…" Lena rants with tears in her eyes, her feelings bursting open at Kara's touch.
Kara crouches down and looks at Lena directly, "Don't do that. You have sacrificed so much for this family. You don't deserve to be stuck in a separate room. You deserve to be in a room with all of us. I'll talk to Conner."
"I don't want to be a bad mom, Kara. He already likes you more than me."
"That's not true, you’re not a bad mom."
"Of course I'm the bad mom, Kara. You’re the fun mom. He's your buddy. I'm the mom who won't let him keep his puppy."
"Don’t say that. We're a family, remember? Who are we?" Kara reminds Lena.
"Best parents ever."
"That's right, and the best parents ever don't have bad moms or fun moms. You’re mom mom. You keep us together, you keep us in check, you’re Mommy. Also, you carried him. If anything, he should like you more."
"But he doesn't."
"Then, he's a stupid kid."
"Don't call our son stupid!"
"If he doesn't love his Mommy, I'm disowning him," Kara makes a joke with a straight face, but she can’t fight off the smile that spreads across her lips.
"Kara, stop!" Lena laughs, shaking her head slightly at the inappropriate joke her wife is making.
Kara brings her hands up and touches Lena’s face again gently, her thumbs wiping away traces of tears.
"I’ll go talk to him, okay? Trust me, he doesn’t hate you. He just doesn't fully understand yet. Not to mention he has a really short temper."
"Gee, I wonder where he gets that from?"
"He gets your stomach aches whenever he's nervous."
"At least he has your wits," Lena smiles with a twinkle in her eyes.
"And your brain," Kara smiles back.
"The best and the worst of us."
"He's perfect."
"I know."
"He's a good kid. I’ll go talk to him, okay?" Kara kisses Lena’s forehead and stands up.
"Thank you."
--
"Hey, buddy."
When Conner sees his Mama coming into his room, he pouts and climbs onto the bed to lie down, facing away from Kara. Kara sits by the edge of the bed, her hand gently placed on Conner’s leg.
"Listen, you understand that Mommy is allergic to dogs, right? Do you know what happens if you play with a dog around Mommy?"
When Conner is still giving Kara the silent treatment, Kara continues.
"At first, Mommy will start to sneeze. And her nose will get red like she has a cold. Remember when you had that cold? That wasn't fun, right? And Mommy will feel like that all the time. Then, if it continues, Mommy will get rashes, it's like these red patches on your skin and it gets really itchy. Mommy will start to scratch all the time, and she'll be really uncomfortable. Do you want that to happen to Mommy?"
Conner turns around and answers softly, "No…"
"And if Mommy stays with a dog in the house, Mommy can get really sick."
"How sick, Ma?"
"Long time ago, I had a dog. And I was being stubborn like you right now and kept the dog in our house. One day, Mommy got sick, like really sick. She couldn't breathe and she had to go to the hospital. I knew she was allergic and I still kept the dog. I was being such a dick back then."
Conner sits himself up and calls Kara out, "Don't say that word, Ma. That’s a dollar in the swear jar."
"Sorry. But I was,” Kara looks at Conner and gives a sad smile to her son, “I did a lot of stupid stuff back then but the number one thing I regretted the most was harming your Mommy like that. We don't want Mommy to get sick, do we?"
"I don't want Mommy to get sick."
"I know you don't. You're not a dick like me, you're a good kid."
"You said the word again, Ma."
"Sorry. Can you go tell Mommy you're sorry for yelling? I know you didn't mean to."
"Okay."
When Conner gets up, Kara says, "Then bring her to the kitchen, okay? I'll make you both some hot chocolate."
Conner stops just by the door and grins, "Extra marshmallows in mine?"
"You know it, buddy. Just don't tell Mommy."
"I think she knows."
"Just don't tell her anyway."
"Okay,” Conner agrees and reminds Kara, “You owe the swear jar three dollars."
Kara looks at Conner with confusion, "Why three? I only said dick twice."
"That's the third dollar," Conner points to Kara and laughs.
"You're too smart for an 8-year-old, do you know that?" Kara shouts as Conner leaves the room.
--
“I'm sorry, Mommy. I don't want you to get sick,” Conner comes into the room and hugs Lena immediately. Lena hugs her son back as hard as she could and kisses him on the top of his head, holding back her tears.
“Mama told me if you're around dogs too much, you can get sick. That's why we don't have a dog.”
“Yes, that's right. I'm sorry, Conner.”
“I'm sorry I yelled. I didn't mean it.”
"Oh, sweetheart. I forgive you. I'm sorry we can't keep a dog in this house."
“It's okay, Mommy. I love you more than any dog in the world.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.”
Lena breaks off the hug and looks at her son’s face who is genuinely sorry.
“How about… we go to the park next weekend, and you can play with the dogs there? How’s that sound? We just have to ask their owners nicely,” Lena offers a compromise to her son.
“Won't you get sick?”
“I’ll watch from afar, don't worry.”
“Really, Mommy?” Conner smiles and Lena swears to herself that she would do anything to protect this smile of his.
“I’ll ask your Mama to supervise you. The both of you can play with the dogs and I’ll take lots of videos and pictures of you. Is that okay? And you'll wash and clean your hands after playing with the dogs, alright?”
“I can do that. Thank you, Mommy!”
“My smart boy,” Lena hugs and kisses Conner again.
“Mama told me to bring you to the kitchen. She's making hot chocolate.”
“It's late, why is she making hot chocolates?? And is she putting extra marshmallows in yours? It's almost your bedtime.”
“I told Mama you knew about that,” Conner leans in and whispers, “don’t tell Mama I said that.”
Lena just smiles, “It’ll be our secret. You can have just a few sips, okay? And then it's time to brush your teeth and get you to bed.”
“Okay, Mommy,” Conner agrees and takes Lena’s hand to pull her towards the kitchen. Kara greets them with two mugs of hot chocolates and a smile. Conner happily gulps down his drink, and tells Lena how Kara owes three dollars in the swear jar. Kara looks at his son in disbelief as he rats her out while Lena just smiles at the banter between the two of them. After Lena reads Conner a storybook and puts him to bed, she finds Kara and gives her a big hug.
“Thank you, Mama.”
Kara hugs Lena back and kisses the side of her head, “Any time, Mommy.”
--
Lena sits back down in her office chair and rubs her shoulders. Back-to-back meetings make her miss those days in her labs. Facing equipment and other engineers was way less stressful than facing spreadsheets and CEOs. She looks at her phone on the table and sees a bunch of messages and voicemails.
She lets the voicemails play on loudspeaker as she checks her emails from this morning.
“Pumpkin! I picked up Conner from school. He wants a desk! Did you remember our desk agreement? I almost forgot about it! You owe me a futuristic desk! Love you!”
“Pumpkin! I decided instead of buying a ready made desk, we’re going to build a new one! Let me know if this is a good idea or a bad idea!”
“Pumpkin! Sorry I forgot you have back-to-back meetings today. I bought a small desk from IKEA! We’re going to build it today!”
“Mommy, Mama is not following the instructions or listening to me. Please come back home. I don’t think Mama can build this desk for me.”
Lena laughs when Conner left a voicemail, she could just imagine Kara struggling to build the desk back home. She picks up her phone to look at the messages. It was mostly from Kara, sending her pictures of various desks, and then more pictures of her smiling with a screwdriver, with Conner in the background looking worried.
Lena picks up the phone and calls Kara, “Hi darling, sorry I just finished my meeting. I got all your messages.”
“You’re too late. Desk is bought and built. It looks great.”
“Are you sure? Let me talk to Conner.”
“Do you not trust me?”
“Just pass the phone to him.”
“Hi, Mommy.”
“How’s your desk, sweetheart?”
Lena could hear Conner start to whisper so Kara wouldn’t overhear him, “It looks unstable, can you fix it Mommy?”
“You better be telling your Mommy that your desk looks great!” Kara yells in the background.
“I’ll fix it later when I come home, okay? How was school? What did you learn today?”
“Today we learned about the solar system! I already memorized all the planets!”
“That’s amazing, sweetheart. I’ll try to come home early and fix your desk and you can tell me more about the planets, okay? Can you pass the phone back to Mama?”
Without missing a beat, Kara admits her mistake immediately the moment she has her phone back, “Fine, I’ll leave the desk alone. Please fix it when you come home. I love you.”
“I love you too, idiot.”
--
Lena walks into the kitchen to hear the end of a call between Kara and someone.
“Next time you’re in town, coffee’s on me! Thanks again for the call. I’m so happy for you! Bye!”
“Who are you happy for?” Lena asks.
Kara has a huge grin on her face as she replies, “Do you remember my student, Nia? Nia Nal?”
“Was she the one who wrote the immigration article you showed me last month?”
“Yes! That article won the SGCW Excellence in Journalism award. The same one I won all those years ago.”
“Wow!”
“Right? And she called me up personally to thank me. Said my class was the one that inspired her to pursue this career,” Kara shakes her head in disbelief, her smile never drops since the call.
“That’s amazing, darling,” Lena comes to Kara and kisses her, “you must be so happy.”
“It’s weird, it feels like I’m the one who won the award. I’m so proud of her.”
“You should be,” Lena smiles, “my wife, shaping the minds of tomorrow.”
Kara hugs Lena, “Thank you, pumpkin. Ahhh, I’m so happy. Let’s go out for some ice cream.”
Conner runs out of his room and stops right in front of his parents, “I heard ice cream.”
Lena bends down and gives a teasing look to Conner, “You didn’t hear me when I told you to clean your room, but you can hear your Mama mumbling out the word ice cream from the kitchen?”
“I’ll… clean my room after some ice cream?” Conner smiles cheekily and Lena relents.
“One ice cream. And if you don’t clean your room by today, that will be your last ice cream ever,” Lena warns.
Conner looks at Kara for help but Kara just tousles his hair and grabs his coat, “Ready for your last ice cream ever?”
Conner has his eyes wide open at Kara’s words, “No! I’ll clean my room after! I promise!”
Both Kara and Lena laugh at Conner’s response as the three of them head out of the house for some ice cream.
--
“I got Lance's kid to babysit Conner tonight,” Kara says in a sultry voice as she hugs Lena from behind.
“What’s tonight?”
“Are you pretending to forget like our 5th anniversary or have you really forgotten about tonight like our 8th anniversary?”
“I’m kidding,” Lena turns around and kisses Kara, “I know it's our 10th anniversary. Wow, I can’t believe we’ve been married for 10 years.”
“It feels longer,” Kara smiles.
“I love you just the same,” Lena smiles back softly and rubs the tip of her nose with Kara’s.
“I love you too. Pick you up at 6?”
Lena laughs at Kara’s yearly tradition, “Sure, 6 it is. Did you make sure you got the reservations this time?”
“Very funny,” Kara smiles.
--
Kara puts down the tray of burgers and fries on the table and sits down opposite Lena in the booth.
“I can’t believe the cashier remembers us from last year. We must be the only idiots celebrating their anniversaries in Big Belly Burger,” Lena laughs.
“I think they remember us as the idiots who dance in Big Belly Burger every year,” Kara laughs as well.
“Let’s never stop coming here,” Lena says with a smile, the same smile that makes Kara’s heart flutter every time.
“Every year, until we’re old and wrinkly,” Kara smiles back, “or until this place closes down. Whichever comes first.”
Lena snorts, then laughs before she takes a bite out of her burger, “Don’t jinx this place!”
--
“Happy Halloween-a-Birthday, Mommy!” Conner shouts as he jumps onto the bed, waking Lena up.
“Oof, sweetheart. Careful,” Lena says and grabs Conner, pulling him into a snuggle, “Thank you. Where’s my birthday kiss?”
“Let me go,” Conner says as he struggles to wiggle his way out of Lena’s embrace, embarrassed by the love and affection his Mommy is showing him, “I’m a big boy now.”
Lena plants lots of sloppy kisses on his face, “You will always be my little baby.”
“Come on, get up! Today I helped Mama with your birthday breakfast!”
“Yeah? What did you make?”
“You have to see it for yourself,” Conner grins and skillfully slips out of Lena’s arms when she loosens her hold, “I’m free!”
“Not for long, come here!” Lena jumps out of bed and chases Conner down.
When Lena steps into the kitchen she has the shock of her life, “Oh my God.”
Kara points to all the orange colored meals on the kitchen island, “We have pumpkin oatmeal, pumpkin pies, pumpkin breakfast casseroles, pumpkin french toast, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin spiced lattes, and my specialty pumpkin chocolate chunk pancakes!”
Lena looks at all the food, and again at her wife and son, both grinning widely looking proud and showing off their work.
“You do know pumpkin is not actually my favorite, right? You only call me that because I wore that orange sweater that one time.”
“What??” Conner says in a shock as he looks at Kara, feeling betrayed by Lena’s admission, “Ma, you told me you call Mommy pumpkin because she loves pumpkin!”
“Did I? Oops,” Kara laughs as Conner crosses his arms and pouts.
“Guess we’re having pumpkins for all our meals today?” Lena asks with a raise of an eyebrow.
“I think we have enough to last the whole week,” Kara laughs and comes over to kiss Lena, “Happy Halloween-a-birthday, pumpkin. I love you.”
--
“Is this your costume?” Lena cries out exasperatedly when she sees Conner in just a white sheet with the holes cut out for his eyes. She looks at Kara angrily, “You had months to work on it!”
“It’s a classic!”
“It’s lazy!” Lena takes a closer look at her son’s costume, “This looks like you just cut out the holes minutes ago. Kara Danvers, did you forget our son’s costume?”
“I swear, this is the costume he wants!”
Lena turns around, closes her eyes and whispers silently to remind herself what she is putting up with, “I love her, I love her, I love her, I love her…”
Conner nudges Lena and says, “Mommy, I really wanted this costume. I asked for this from Mama.”
“Really, sweetheart? Are you sure you’re not just covering for your Mama again?”
“Yeah, don’t you like this costume? I’m a spooky ghost!”
“You look spooky, alright,” Lena smiles at Conner then looks at Kara, “sorry I freaked out, I thought you really forgot about his costume.”
Kara smiles nervously and hugs Lena, “It’s okay. Go get his pumpkin pail. I left it in our room. We’ll wait for you outside.”
After Lena goes inside, Kara kneels down and whispers to Conner, “Thanks, buddy. I owe you one.”
“10 chocolate bars. And full size, not the fun size.”
Kara laughs at Conner’s blackmail, wondering who he gets it from. Now she regrets teaching Conner all those tricks and pranks over the years.
“5 bars,” Kara bargains.
“7, or I’ll tell Mommy.”
“Deal.”
Lena comes out of the room with a pumpkin pail and looks at both Kara and Conner who have suspiciously wide grins on their faces. She decides to let it go.
“Okay you two, ready for trick-or-treating?”
--
“You don’t want to play with the dogs, sweetheart?” Lena asks Conner while they’re seated on the bench at the park.
“No, I want to sit here with you,” Conner scooches closer to Lena so Lena drapes an arm over him, pulling him close.
Kara sits beside Conner on the bench and teases him, “Mommy’s boy.”
“Stop picking on our son,” Lena scolds Kara and gives Conner a kiss on his head, “You’re just jealous.”
“Hey, buddy, who’s your favorite? Mama or Mommy?”
“Don’t ask him that! Why are you making him choose?!” Lena berates Kara but Conner answers immediately, “Mommy.”
Kara laughs loudly, a deep belly laugh and tousles Conner’s hair, “Good answer. Mommy’s my favorite too.”
Lena just shakes her head at their antics, they look more like best friends rather than mother and son. Sometimes Lena gets jealous of their dynamic with one another, but she knows Conner and Kara love her just the same. And that fact alone makes her happy.
“Darling, they have a water fountain in this park,” Lena points out to the huge water fountain in the middle of the park, right in front of them.
“You want to make a wish, buddy?”
“How do you make a wish?”
“I’ll teach you, come on.”
Lena stays seated and tells Kara, “Go, I’ll stay here.”
When they reach the fountain, Kara rummages through her pockets and takes out a coin. She bends down and tells Conner, “Think of something you want. That will be your wish and no, you cannot wish for more wishes.”
“How did you know I was gonna ask for that?”
“Because you’re my son. Remember, your wish has to be reasonable.”
“What’s reasonable?”
“It has to be not that big, but not that small. Something you want that is just right. Do you have something in mind?”
“I think so.”
“And you can’t tell me or it won’t come true.”
“Does it really work, Ma?” Conner asks skeptically.
Kara turns around to look over at Lena, then back at Conner and smiles, “It worked for me.”