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Kara can hear the world outside, can hear the cars and people below, can hear a plane flying nearby, she can hears birds chirp and dogs bark, the city alive on this Tuesday afternoon. Usually she’d be out there with them, at CatCo writing an article, wearing red and blue flying through the sky with the plane, or visiting her wife for a late lunch.
But not today, today she’s curled up in bed, tucked against Lena’s side, her whole world in her embrace.
She blocks out the rest of the city, blocks out everything but the woman in her arms, can feel Lena’s chest rise and fall from where her head is resting, can hear quiet breaths and a steady beating heart beat.
Three heartbeats actually, hers, Lena’s, and the reason they’re curled up on their bed instead of out with the rest of the world like they’d usually be on a weekday afternoon.
“What about Lyla? Or Liam? Or Lizzie?”
Lena laughs. “Sticking with Luthor naming tradition, I see.”
Kara splays her hand across Lena’s stomach, so warm under her touch. “Well, this baby is half Luthor, after all.”
Kara can’t see Lena’s smile from where her head is pillowed on Lena’s chest, but she can hear it in her voice. “This baby is also half Danvers and Zor-El, so what about Alura, or Astra, or Alex.”
“I think if we name our kid Alex, things could get a little confusing.”
Lena threads her fingers through Kara’s atop her stomach. Kara watches as they tangle together, fitting perfectly together, just like they always have. “I like it when you say ‘ our kid ’.”
Kara grins, a giddy feeling rushing through her, the same feeling that had washed over her when Lena had said she’d wanted kids too, the same feeling she’d had when Lena had taken the pregnancy test this morning and it had come back positive, the same feeling that she’d had when the doctor had confirmed the results. “I like that I can say it now. Our kid, our daughter. ”
“You think it’s a girl?” Lena asks.
Kara tilts her head up so she can look at Lena, meets green eyes looking down at her. She wonders if their baby will have those same green eyes, those same dimples, the same perfect nose that Kara suddenly has the urge to kiss the tip of. She’s just happy, okay?
“You don’t?” she asks. She can’t explain it, but she just knows, she can feel it deep inside her, the tiny heartbeat that Kara can hear under her hand belongs to their daughter.
“I think it’s too early to know right now.” Lena’s clearly trying not to smile, pressing her lips together. Kara has the urge to kiss them now too, so she does. She tilts her head, Lena clearly getting the intent as she meets her halfway. Warm lips slot against hers and it’s utterly perfect, this whole moment, this whole day, Kara wants to just stay here with Lena forever.
Kara grins as she shifts away, but not too far, just enough to see crinkled eyes watching her. She’s not the only one that feels stupidly happy right now. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see then.”
Lena laughs. “I guess we will.”
“We have so much to think about, don’t we? A name is only the tip of the iceberg.” There are so many things, every single thing they’re going to buy, clothes, a car seat, a cot, a stroller, all of it, needs consideration. Then there’s things like which school to send their kid too, is their house a good place for a child to live, should they move, should they put off getting a dog now? And that’s just after he or she is born, there’s everything before that, what Lena can and can’t eat, their birth plan, are they happy with their doctor, the list is never ending.
“We do.” At least they’ve talked about some of it already. “But can we start thinking more about that tomorrow? Because I’m enjoying this right now and I really don’t want to move.”
“You’re enjoying this, huh?” Kara grins, snuggling even closer. “That’s good to know.”
Kara feels lips press against the top of her head. “Don’t act like you’re not enjoying this too.”
She very much is. She’s just so happy, so happy that Lena’s in her life, so happy that, by some miracle, that Lena fell in love with her too, agreed to spend the rest of their lives together, and now she’s so happy that the little family she’s found is about to get bigger. She’s not planning to move anytime soon either.
The message tone on her phone goes off beside them.
Unless that happens.
Kara sighs, reluctantly untangles herself from her wife’s embrace.
“Of course,” she grumbles, already missing Lena’s warmth even though she’s still right beside her. She’d planned for a long afternoon with Lena and it didn’t involve leaving this bed. “Duty calls,” Kara sighs, turning her phone so Lena can see too. “Alex wants both of us at the DEO.”
“Do you think we could call in sick?” Lena jokes.
Kara misses the ‘ jokes’ part.
“Are you okay?” Kara frowns, suddenly worried. “Is it the baby? Do we need to go to the doctor?” Or maybe if they told Alex that Lena is pregnant, she could-
“Relax, darling, it was a joke, I’m fine.” Lena kisses her, Kara feeling the sudden tension melt away under her touch. “Let’s go see what Alex wants, shall we?”
Kara changes quickly into her suit while Lena grabs a jacket, the air cool outside even in the afternoon sun. Kara watches as she does up the buttons and she can’t help but wonder how long that particular jacket will fit her, how long her other clothes will fit her as their baby grows inside.
“You ready?” Kara asks, fingers skimming across Lena’s stomach as she steps close. She smiles as she focuses on that tiny heartbeat again and thinks about everything it means.
Lena tangles their fingers together. “Come on, Supergirl.”
The flight over is short, unlike the first flight they’d taken together, the first time Lena had willing stepped into her arms instead of taking her car home. Kara had offered Lena a lift and Lena had accepted, tentatively stepping into Kara’s waiting arms. Kara had intentionally flown slower than necessary that night, just to hold Lena for that little bit longer.
They land on the DEO balcony, Kara again holding on a few beats longer than she has to before she lets her wife go. Before she lets her wife and their unborn child go.
Kara’s pretty sure her smile is just a permanent fixture now, too happy to be able to control it.
“Stop smiling so much, people will know something’s happened,” Lena says, brushing her thumb across Kara’s lower lip as she does. That does nothing to help her smile, neither does the clear smile Lena is suppressing on her own face.
She can’t blame either of them for being happy right now, but they’ve decided not to tell anyone just yet about the baby. They know the stats, they know they should wait until the end of the first trimester to tell anyone, know that the rate of miscarriages drops dramatically after that, and that’s not something she wants to think about, but it’s something they have to take into consideration. It means they have about a month of hiding this pregnancy before they’re going to tell people, which means Kara really needs to stop smiling so much.
“Okay,” Kara nods. “No more smiling.”
Lena pecks her lips. “Maybe a little smiling, you are Kara Danvers, after all.”
Kara sticks out her tongue at her wife as Lena takes her hand, tugs her in the direction of the control centre where she can see Alex waiting for them.
Act natural , Kara tells herself, which is really hard when she can feel Lena’s hand warm in hers, can hear a quiet heartbeat coming from her side, when she can think of nothing but how excited she is to be a mom, to be having a baby with Lena.
“Hey Alex, what’s up?
“There-“
Alex gets one word out, just one, before her eyes narrow on Kara and Kara knows she’s not acting as natural as she’d hoped.
“Are you okay?”
“Me?” Kara asks, much too loudly and high pitched to sound natural. “I’m fine.”
Calculating eyes run over her. Kara tries very hard to stand still and not think about her wife and everything the future is going to bring for them.
“You interrupted lunch,” Lena cuts in. “She’s still thinking about the burger she left behind.”
Alex doesn’t buy it. “She looks happy over leaving her lunch?”
Lena’s hand tightens in hers, her lie failing.
“I’m excited about getting back to it, so can we get on with this? I’m hungry.”
Alex curls up her lip in disgust. Kara knows immediately it’s not about her fictional burger.
“You two were, you know…” Alex waves her hand between them. “Weren’t you? Gross, I didn’t need to know that. Stop looking so happy, I don’t need to know anything that happens behind closed door with you two, thank you very much.”
“We weren’t!” Kara exclaims, cheeks going red. Because they weren’t, they may have later but that’s beside the point. Kara looks to Lena for help, who’s still trying to suppress her smile, but for a different reason this time.
“How about we get on with whatever you needed us for so Kara and I can get back to our alone time?” Lena asks, wiggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manor.
“Lena!” Kara exclaims, cheeks on fire now. She’s embarrassed but Kara must admit that it does work in terms of distracting Alex and getting her back on the topic at hand.
There’s a still a slight curl of disgust as Alex continues, which Kara must admit is pretty funny, a good distraction for herself too.
“There was another attack at the warehouse last night, we want to get the last of the weapons moved here so they’re safe, we just need you to take a look at the last ones and make sure they’re safe enough to move.”
A few weeks ago, Kara had found a warehouse full of alien weapons. There’s an anti-alien group that’s recently made its home in National City and over the last few months there have been increasing attacks, targeting aliens and alien rights activists, some of which have been linked back to weapons they found at the warehouse. Since they discovered the warehouse, there have been zero attacks in the city from this group, except for the attempts to get their weapons back so it’s obviously them.
It’s ironic that they’re using alien weapons when they clearly hate aliens.
“Of course,” Lena nods, Alex’s statement clearly addressed to her. “When do we leave?”
“As soon as possible, we’ve heard chatter of another raid attempt and we can’t let them get their hands on any of the weapons, they’re too dangerous and they clearly want them back.”
Kara freezes. “Do you really think that’s the best idea?”
“What?” Alex asks.
“Lena going there when there’s an imminent attack coming.” What if something happens to her. “I should come with you.”
“You know you can’t,” Alex answers. “They’re still removing the kryptonite.”
That’s how she’d found the place, had felt the effects from the rock when she was nearby and she knows that’s there, but what if…she can’t even think about what if, she knows she just needs to be there in case something happens, she doesn’t want Lena going into the field alone.
“Don’t worry,” Alex continues. “I’m going too, I’ll protect her if anything happens.”
That doesn’t necessarily help, because now both Alex and Lena are going to be willingly stepping into danger, some place she can’t protect either of them.
“But-”
Lena cuts her off, a placating hand on her arm. “The last few raid attempts have been at night, we’ll go in now and be out as quick as we can. We’ll be fine, I promise.”
“I-“ Kara looks to Lena, for back up or an idea, she’s not sure. “I’ll wear the suit! Then I’ll be fine and I can protect you if anything happens.”
“Kara, honestly, what’s with you today? You had no problem with either of us going there a few days ago. You grinned and told us to have fun.”
A few days ago she didn’t know her wife was pregnant, and, okay, she’s always been protective of Lena, always worried about her safety, always wants to be there for her, it’s something they’ve both had to talk about a lot, find a balance between them, Kara’s job being dangerous too, she knows she’s not the only one that worries. But now it’s not just physical danger she has to worry about, but the emotional damage too. Lena’s job as CEO is stressful enough as it is, she doesn’t need the extra stress of something else too, pregnant people shouldn’t be stressed!
And then what if something there is harmful to babies, some sort of radiation from one of the devices, or one of the weapons activates and they can’t stop it. Or the kryptonite! The baby may be human but who knows what effects it could have on a pregnant woman and her unborn baby.
She can really feel herself starting to panic now, her breaths coming faster, her heart beating double time in her chest.
“I don’t think you should go,” Kara blurts, not being able to hold it in, surely there must be someone else who can go. Lena is smart and maybe no one here matches her brains but surely Winn and Brainy combined could-
“Can I talk to you for a minute alone?” Lena asks, her hand moving from her forearm to rub gently over Kara’s bicep.
The touch calms her, a little anyway.
Lena doesn’t look angry, or upset, she looks worried. Oh Rao, now she’s causing extra stress for Lena, she’s the one who’s meant to be looking after Lena, she’s the one who’s promised to protect her, always, and here she is making things worse.
The hand on her arm moves to her cheek, runs a soothing line under her eye. “Breathe, darling.”
Even Alex looks worried now as Kara takes a deep breath. The air fills her lungs, she holds it in for a moment before she lets it out slowly. Kara uses Lena’s touch to ground her, listens to her steady heartbeat, listens to the quieter one that comes from Lena’s stomach.
“I’m sorry,” Kara shakes her head slightly. “You’re right, I’m being silly, you should go.” She really really doesn’t want her too, but she knows she can’t make the choice for Lena, it’s her choice whether she wants to go or not, even if it scares her.
“Can we talk?” Lena asks again. Kara nods, then Lena surprises her when she continues. “With you too, Alex?”
Alex nods, even if she is a little confused, but she leads them to her office, away from listening ears of other agents.
“Kara,” Lena says softly when the three of them are alone. “I know you’re worried, but everything will be fine, Alex will protect me if anything happens, you know she will.”
“I know, I know,” Kara says, leaning into the hug Lena offers. “I’m just scared and I hate that I can’t be there for you.” For the both of them. “Not to mention you should be keeping your stress levels down, which this definitely isn’t.”
“I think both my job as a CEO and the fact that I’m married to a superhero means my stress levels are always going to be a little high.”
Kara pulls away from the hug, in favour of pressing her forehead to Lena’s instead. “I hate that I worry you.”
A hand soothes across her cheek again. “You worry me too, but we both knew what we were getting into when we married each other. I wouldn’t change anything we have, I love our life together, even when you scare me with your superhero antics sometimes.”
“Do I really need to be here for this?” Alex cuts in, looking mildly uncomfortable when Kara pulls away. She’d forgotten they weren’t alone.
“Yes, because there’s something we have to tell you.”
Kara shoots Lena a surprised look, the “ really ” must be clear on her face because Lena nods.
“I figured we were probably going to tell her sooner rather than later anyway, I know you wouldn’t be able to hold on to the secret for long.”
Kara smiles, finally feeling herself relaxing completely.
“And with that smile, she’s bound to guess something was up eventually.”
“What’s going on?” Alex asks, looking between them.
“You tell her,” Lena says, a hand slipping into her own, giving it a gentle squeeze. “She’s your sister.”
Kara grins, lets all her excitement bubble up, spread through her and squash all her worry from before, all the feelings she let get a bit out of control. She knows Lena can take care of herself, knows Alex would never let anything happen to her, knows that at the slightest sign of trouble, she’d be there, kryptonite or not, she’ll always be there for Lena, for her family.
“We’re pregnant.”
Alex’s mouth drops open.
Kara settles her hand across Lena’s still flat stomach. “We found out this morning, we’re having a baby.”
Kara has superspeed but she barely has time to react as Alex basically throws herself at them, wrapping them both in a tight hug.
“You’re having a baby?” Alex asks into the hug, clear awe and excitement in her voice.
Lena laughs. “Yes we are.”
Alex pulls away, but stays close. “Okay, at least I understand the weird behaviour from before and the sudden protective streak.”
“I’m always protective of Lena. And you,” Kara says.
“You are, but you may have gone a little overboard this time,” Alex points out.
“Which we’re going to have to talk about, aren’t we?” Lena says. And they will, it’s always been a balancing act between the two of them, requires constant open and honest communication.
Kara sighs. “We are. I’m sorry I sort of freaked out back there.”
Lena lifts their joined hands, presses a kiss to the back of Kara’s. “I can assure you I would’ve reacted the exact some way if the situations were reversed. This is a new situation, one we’re going to have to work out how to handle together.”
Kara certainly likes the idea of them doing anything together.
“But us talking is going to have to wait, until after we’ve dealt with these alien weapons.”
Kara nods, swallows down her sudden fear.
“I’ll look after her, I promise,” Alex says, this time it’s her that runs a soothing hand over her arm. “The first sign of trouble and we’ll get out.”
Everything is fine, it turns out. They get all the weapons catalogued and transferred to the DEO without a hitch. It may not have stopped the anti-alien group, but it’s definitely going to make them have to rethink their plans, hopefully giving Kara enough time to find them and stop them before they hurt anyone else.
“I told you I’d bring her back in one piece,” Alex says when they arrive back at the DEO.
Kara hugs her wife extra tight, even though she’s fine.
“We’re going to have to rethink your involvement on DEO operations,” Kara says, getting the frown she’d been expecting from Lena. Before Lena can argue though, Kara continues. “I’m not sure how much longer this outfit is going to fit you.” Kara’s a big fan of this particular look.
Lena rolls her eyes. “I think I have a little while left before that happens.”
Not long though, soon their baby will be big enough that Lena will start showing. She really can’t wait, even if it means Lena won’t be able to wear this particular outfit for a while.
“Are you ready to go?”
Lena nods. “Yeah, just let me get changed first.”
“Or you could just wear that outfit home…?” Kara trails off suggestively, throws in a wink for good measure. Alex may have been wrong with her assumptions before they arrived here but that doesn’t mean they can’t have some fun now.
“Kara Danvers-Luthor, do you like this outfit?” Lena asks, a quirk of her eyebrow. They both know the answer is yes. Despite her own words before though, this is what makes her blush.
“Let’s go see if we can make another baby,” Kara laughs.
“That is definitely not how any of this works, disregarding the fact that I’m already pregnant.”
Kara can’t control the grin on her face. “Yes you are.” That’s not something she’s going to forget anytime soon. She drops her hand to Lena’s stomach, Lena’s hand coming to rest over hers. Not exactly subtle in the middle of the DEO but she hopes no one is watching.
Lena smiles, Kara getting caught in green eyes that watch her with soft affection. “Yes I am.”
---
Lyla Alexandra Luthor-Danvers is born seven and a half short months later.
Kara immediately wants another one.
Two years later, Lucas Zor-El Luthor-Danvers is born.