Chapter Text
Lena looks at the small elementary school building and sighs. She is hand and hand with her daughter, who is starting the first grade today. Marley's nervous excitement is infectious, but unfortunately for Lena she seems to only be feeling the nervous part of it. She's reluctant to take her daughter inside the building because this is
first grade.
She had done preschool and, of course, kindergarten, but this is somehow different for Lena. It's grade school. Soon she will be dropping her daughter off at the doors of a big high school, not allowed to walk her in like she can now. It's not the only reason Marley and Lena have been standing by their car hesitantly (well, Lena is the only one being hesitant. Marley is buzzing with so much excitement Lena thinks she might actually explode). When Lillian, who has never actually met Marley, by the way, found out that Lena had enrolled her daughter in public school she was infuriated.
"Are you trying to raise an uneducated child, Lena? She will never get into Harvard or Yale after going to a public school!"
Lillian said those words with such disgust that Lena had to hang up the phone. She wasn't willing to fight her mother on this.
However, Lena can't help but doubt her decision. What if public school isn't right for Marley? What if she really doesn't get a good education and it is all Lena's fault? She can't stand the possibility that her daughter might not succeed in life due to her actions as a parent.
Lena hastily turns around opening the car door, "Marley get in the car we are going home." The large grin immediately falls from Marley’s face, her cheeks, still clad with baby fat and innocence, droop with a frown. "Why? I want to go to school!" There's a slight whine to her voice and Lena is unsure whether she should scold it or not. As a child she would have been without a doubt, but she knows better than to reference her childhood when it comes to raising her own child. She goes with the latter, not scolding her daughter for simply being disappointed. Instead, she decides to be honest. Not too honest of course, she can't mention Lillian because Marley is completely unaware of her grandmother's existence and Lena prefers to keep it that way.
"I don't think this school is the right fit for you, sweetie," Lena smiles sadly, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder and lightly pushing her into the black SUV.
"Won't Mrs.Danvers wonder where I am?" Marley pouts from the backseat when Lena gets into the car.
"Mrs.Danvers has plenty of other children to look after, Marley, I'm sure she will be okay."
Lena takes Marley to IHOP for breakfast that morning. It's Marley's favorite place to eat, but her disappointed pout still doesn't break even when Lena allows her to eat six pancakes, two more than she would usually allow her to eat.
Hours later, after arriving back to the penthouse, Lena sighs, noticing that her daughter's mood had yet to change.
"You're really upset about not going to school, huh?" Lena asks, sitting on the couch and patting the cushion beside her. Marley sits next to Lena and glares at her. "I just don't think it's the right fit for you, Marl."
Marley groans and gets off the couch. She returns to the living room moments later with a bright pink paper in her hand. "Mrs. Danvers class was going to be so much fun, Momma! It says we are going to practice reading and writing and math and I already know that! It would have been easy!"
"I think it's better that you have something that challenges you a little more," Lena replies. She kisses her daughter's forehead before exiting the living room and heading towards her office where she makes a few phone calls that she had been putting off to spend time with Marley. After making the phone calls, Lena decides to fill out a bit of paperwork too, but it isn’t long before she can hear Marley moping around the penthouse being
extra
loud. The TV had been switched on and off a total of six times and it seems like Marley had trudged back in forth between her bedroom and the living room every five minutes since Lena had been in her office.
It’s while Lena is making dinner that her personal phone goes off. Lena’s hands are covered in flour, but she quickly cleans them off, curious as to what the notification on her phone could be. She is used to her work phone going off at all hours, but her personal phone usually didn’t go off at all. She only really spent time with Marley and she was far too young to have a phone.
It’s an email and Lena rolls her eyes, almost not bothering with it, but she looks anyway because she had washed her hands.
From: [email protected]
Subject: First Day of First Grade
Hello!
I missed having Marley in class today! Today was the day students typically spend getting to know their teachers, but if you want to bring Marley in an hour early tomorrow I would be glad to summarize the day for her and hopefully make her more comfortable for the school year! I also enjoy meeting my students parents so I can put faces to names! :)
I hope nothing too extreme caused Marley to miss school and I hope to see her tomorrow!
Regards,
Kara Danvers.
Lena can’t do anything but blink at the email. There wasn’t one teacher that Lena had as a child that she remembered taking an interest in her, but this teacher, Marley’s teacher, was emailing her about her child when they hadn’t even met yet. Lena wondered for a moment if this had anything to do with her last name. Maybe the teacher is an avid Lex follower that wanted to get to him through Lena. God knows there are plenty of those. She quickly shakes that thought off though. She had done everything to separate herself from her family name. Between moving to National City and changing LuthorCorp to L-Corp, the only other thing she could do is change her last name, and of course, she had tried.
She thought about her possible reply while continuing to cook. Do you even reply to an email like that? To a teacher? She guesses you do, as you would with any professional person, but how will she explain to the teacher that she didn’t take Marley to her class today because she feared her teaching wouldn’t be good enough for her child? She sighs, remembering her own childhood education.
“Your mother and I have decided to send you to a school where you can really excel, Lena. You will start after Christmas!” Lionel says cheerfully. Lena, only eleven at the time, looked to Lex confused. He shrugs.
“Oh, don’t beat around the bush Lionel, she has to know at some point. We are sending you to a school in Ireland. You will have a much better education there. Now, what do you say, dear?”
“When?” Lena asks, her eyes wide.
“The twenty-sixth,” Lionel replies and Lillian scoffs.
“What do you say, Lena?” She asks again.
Lena gulps, “Thank you, Mother.”
Lena remembers how she had no say about her education and she knows now that if she had the choice, she would have never chosen to go to boarding school. Not at eleven anyway, when she still had hope that her mother loved her.
But this isn’t boarding school she is considering for Marley. She isn’t making the choice to send Marley to another continent, she is just trying to make sure she has the best education possible. Besides, does Marley even know what's best for her at six? She decides to talk to Marley about it over dinner anyway. In the meantime, she sends a quick reply to her teacher voicing her concerns in the most polite way possible. Not at all like a Luthor.
Subject: First Day of First Grade
Hello.
Thank you for emailing me about Marley. I began having some concerns about the education she might receive at Central Elementary School. I have very little experience with public schools so you can see why I might be hesitant. However, Marley was very excited to go to school, to your class specifically. I am looking at my options and if I find that Central Elementary School is the best one for Marley, I will ensure her attendance daily.
Lena Luthor
It’s less than five minutes when Lena’s phone goes off again.
From: [email protected]
Subject: First Day of First Grade
Please let her come! For one day and you can even sit in and watch to see if you like it. I know that public schools are underfunded, but I do my best to make do with what I have and the kids are always learning. I hope to see Marley and you tomorrow morning, Mrs. Luthor.
Kara Danvers
P.S. SHE WILL HAVE THE BEST TIME!
Lena can’t help but chuckle at the unprofessional email, realizing that there is no way this teacher is any older than her, probably younger even. She considers taking Marley to the school the next day just to meet this Kara Danvers.
At dinner, Lena and Marley sit across from each other in their usual spots. Marley picks at her food, which is quite unusual for her. Lena is used to her going back for seconds by this point.
“We could try out the elementary school at Smythe Academy,” Lena suggests. Marley’s face scrunches up and she drops her fork on her plate. “Pumpkin, you did preschool and kindergarten there. I know their students get a good education.”
“Smythe Academy is boring, Momma. We can never talk and we don’t even get recess! I want to go to a real school like the ones on TV.”
“I don’t think even Mrs. Danvers class will be like the ones you see on television,” Lena says, though she isn’t really sure because how would she know?
“Mrs. Danvers is already my teacher,” Marley states. She's right. Lena had known that since June. She was the one who had gotten Marley excited to be in Mrs. Danvers class. Lena hated letting Marley down. She didn’t want her to feel that feeling, like she did so many times in her childhood.
“One semester,” Lena breaks. “One semester in Mrs.Danvers class and then we will enroll you somewhere else. If you fall behind we will get you a tutor.”
With that, Marley’s grin from that morning reappears and apparently her appetite does as well because it’s not long before she is shoveling her food into her mouth and taking her plate back to the kitchen for seconds and thirds.
Lena remembers nearly six years ago how different things were. She had just moved to National City and she was finally starting to be treated as a normal human. People didn’t avoid her like the plague when she walked by and she had a good reputation. For the first time ever, a Luthor had a good reputation somewhere.
Of course there were the little things. Magazine articles printed about how she only wanted the Luthor’s money and that’s why she took over LuthorCorp. There was even an article about her trying to get her last name changed. She had no idea how that got leaked, but it did, and it was a disaster. Her father called her then and had plenty to say, but he was mostly understanding. It was then that she found out that she is a Luthor. Not just adopted, but a real Luthor. To this day she isn’t sure if that makes her happy or upset.
It was a random day in December that changed everything. December 13th to be exact. It was nearly one in the morning when Lena had finally decided to head home from the L-Corp office. In the beginning she always had so much to do. Even with Jess taking on a quarter of the workload, Lena often stayed the night at L-Corp. For some reason she decided to go home that night. She needed a shower and sleep in a real bed for once, she deserved that, she thought. When she stepped outside of her office, though, she nearly tripped over something. She turned on a light, hoping it wasn’t a bomb or something, but what she saw was not anything dangerous. There was a box, a pink blanket over top of it. Immediately she thought they were kittens or puppies. It wasn’t the first time someone had left them at L-Corp, knowing they would find good homes. Lena kneeled down and pulled the blanket from the box.
It wasn’t that she hated babies or feared them really, but she jumped back colliding with her office door upon seeing a small, human, face stare up at her. She wasn't expecting a baby to smile at her when she looked into the box. A kitten she can do. A puppy? Sure. But a baby? She wasn’t sure she had ever even been within twelve feet of a baby.
“Shit,” She mumbled. She picked up the note that was folded up beside the child. It read:
Lena Luthor,
Her name is Marley. She just turned seven months old on the 7th of December. I can’t take care of her anymore. I’m going to be deported in a few days and I want Marley to have a good life here. Somewhere where she can make it with someone who will make that possible. You. I sent a package to your home containing everything she owns. It isn’t much, I’m sorry. Please raise her right for me.
“No, no, no, no,” Lena paced the lobby frantically. There were other papers. Adoption papers. All Lena had to do was sign to make it official, but she couldn’t possibly take care of a child. She looked back to the baby. She was cute, Lena would admit that. She had a pile of curly blonde hair on her head and her blue eyes shone like the ocean. At the eye contact, Marley screeches happily, reaching her arms out for Lena. Hesitantly, Lena picked her up and as soon as she did she knew it was meant to be.
The next day Lena and Marley are back in front of Central Elementary School, except today there are no other kids in sight and only two other cars. Lena briefly wonders which one is Kara Danvers. The black truck or the blue volkswagen beetle?
“Momma we are actually walking in!” Marley shouts excitedly.
Lena chuckles, but puts on her parent voice, “Keep your voice down, Marley.”
When they enter the school Lena is shocked at how small everything is. Even the ceilings seemed lower than a normal building. Lena remembers her elementary school and how everything felt so big and intimidating. So cold and uninviting. She shutters at the thought. Maybe this is better for Marley.
“123, 125,” Marley counts the numbers, skipping through the hallway, her hand barely holding onto Lena’s. “Why do the numbers skip?” She asks loudly, looking at Lena.
“Even numbers are on that side and odds are on this side,” A voice says. Lena looks up from Marley to the source of the voice; a woman with blonde hair and a radiating smile. It’s almost like she contains the sun itself, Lena thinks for a moment. “You must be Marley!”
Marley nods. She releases Lena’s hand completely running and hugging the woman, “Are you Mrs. Danvers?”
The woman laughs, “I guess I am! But just call me Miss K. It’s easier.”
“Not misses?” Lena asks, “I just assumed you were married so-”
“Me? Married?” She laughs again, almost flustered, “Not a chance. I’m single as can be.”
Lena raises an eyebrow in amusement and the teacher turns bright red.
“Sorry! It probably wasn’t professional to say that. It’s my first year, I’m still getting the hang of things. Please come into the classroom!”
Lena walks behind Marley and Miss K, following them into the classroom. Lena looks around, noting how much different this classroom is to the ones she had seen in her childhood. There are bright colors plastered on every wall. Toys and games scattered on different shelves. Books, bean bag chairs. Everything Lena thought didn't belong in the classroom. Or maybe it was Lillian who thought that. There were times she still had trouble deciphering her own thoughts from her mothers.
“So it's your first year teaching, Miss Danvers?” Lena asks.
“Oh, you can call me Kara. I mean only if you want! I understand if you find it unprofessional, but I normally have my students parents call me Kara. It just seems like it makes it easier to communicate with them, you know? I mean you guys are my peers so it just seems natural that you-”
“Kara. Got it.” Lena smirks. Kara’s cheeks are red again and she quickly diverts her attention to Marley.
“Yesterday I had all of the students design their own name tags for their desks,” She hands Marley a piece of paper and crayons, “Do you know how to write your name?”
“Momma taught me cursive at the beginning of kindergarten!” Marley flashes her a smile.
Kara looks impressed, “Wow! Well, maybe just print your name so the others can read it, okay? You can look at everyone else's name tags to get ideas, too!”
“Thank you Miss K!” Marley hugs her again before taking a seat at a desk.
“I was hoping we could discuss the semester syllabus,” Lena says to Kara, taking a seat in the chair in front of her desk.
“Syllabus? Oh! Right syllabus,” Kara says, sitting in her desk chair. “See I don't really have a syllabus, Miss Luthor. I plan on challenging each kid individually and teaching what is right for them as a whole. I hope that doesn’t concern you too much.”
“No, no.” Lena smiles one of those Lillian smiles, the ones that even the other person knows are fake. “It will be interesting to see how that plays out. I’ll get Marley a tutor if necessary.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem Miss Luthor. I will ensure Marley is challenged even if she is the smartest child in the class.”
“Oh she is. And please, call me Lena.”
“Lena,” Kara rolls the name in her mouth almost causing Lena to turn red. “Well, Lena, tomorrow I will be giving the kids a pretest and splitting them into groups based on their scores. That way I can make sure each child is getting the challenge they need.”
“And what happens when my child tests higher than everyone else?”
“No offense to you or Marley, but some of these kids seem pretty smart. I doubt Marley will have to be in a group all alone.”
“Marl, what's 122 times 34?” Lena asks.
Marley continues coloring and without skipping a beat, she replies, “4,148.”
Kara’s eyes are wide and Lena leans in closer to her, “Marley has been reading since she was two. She finished the fourth Harry Potter book last week. I taught her long division on her fourth birthday. Tell me, are there any other kids in this class that you think could match her intelligence level?”
Kara licks her lips, clearly intimidated by Lena, “Maybe not completely, but there is one little girl who I think would challenge Marley really well. She needs some healthy competition to push her; they both do. If you think having Marley skip grades or go to some prestigious private school where everyone is like her is a good idea, you’re wrong. She would be challenged, sure, but what about her socially, Miss Luthor?”
Lena raises an eyebrow, “I don’t follow. She's fine socially.”
“Miss Luthor, I don’t mean to pry, but how many children her own age does Marley know?”
“The kids from her kindergarten class.”
“And how does she interact with them?”
Lena sighs, “She doesn’t. She preferred the teachers company.”
Kara nods. “I am here, not only to teach your child things like math and science, but also how to socialize correctly with her peers. That's a life skill she will always need. She may not ever need to know the chemistry she will learn in high school, but the social skills she will learn while being there? It’s the most important thing you learn in school.”
“You’re passionate. I like that,” Lena says, causing Kara to fidget with her glasses. “I told Marley we would try one semester. I’ll make my decision after that.”
“You won’t regret it,” Kara grins. “I think Marley will really enjoy the class! And I hope to get to know you too! As the parent of my student of course! I mean, what other way would I mean that? It would be completely unprofessional otherwise and trust me, I am very professional, I promise. Nothing unprofessional about me at all.”
“Your tendency to stumble over your words does have me wondering about your capabilities to teach a classroom of twenty-four six year olds, but other than that, I’m sure your level of professionalism is out of this world.”
“I can manage with the kids. It’s some of their parents who are incredibly attr-,” Kara freezes, quickly catching herself, “Intimidating. Incredibly intimidating.”
Lena stands up, “You find me intimidating, Kara?”
“I- uh, I-”
“Hi Miss K!” A child, smaller than Marley, but probably around the same age enters the room, swinging her backpack around her body.
Kara quickly stands up diverting her attention from Lena, who is smirking at how easy it was to fluster Kara.
“Oh, good! Marley, this is one of your classmates, Ruby.” Kara takes the backpack and jacket from Ruby and hangs them both on a hook. “Honey, why don’t you sit next to Marley and get to know her?”
“Is this the little girl who you think might challenge Marley?” Lena asks, looking at the young child skeptically.
“Oh, no. Ruby’s very intelligent, but this isn’t who I was talking about. I just think the two of them will get on really well.”
Lena nods. “I’ve decided not to stay, but if it’s alright with you I would like to come back after school and discuss some more.”
“Of course, Lena. And don’t worry about Marley. She is going to love it.” Kara smiles bashfully and Lena leans down to kiss her daughter's forehead before heading to the door.
“Have a good day!” Kara calls out.
Lena turns and smirks at the teacher, “You too, Miss Danvers,” Lena leaves with a wink. Of course she knows that it is inappropriate to flirt with your daughter's first grade teacher, especially in a school setting, but there’s just something so rewarding about being able to fluster someone like that. Lena likes the power she holds and that's exactly how she explained it to herself. It’s not like Kara was one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen. And it's definitely not like she lost all control of herself the second she saw her. That would be crazy.
“Sam is in your office, Miss Luthor,” Lena’s assistant, Jess says as soon as she exits the elevator.
Lena gives Jess a blank stare, “Sam?”
“She holds the position right below you, Miss Luthor. Surely you know her?” Lena lowers her eyes unsure, “Well, anyway, she wanted to talk to you about the upcoming gala. She is supposed to plan it.”
Lena nods heading into her office. Sure enough a brunette woman who looks vaguely familiar is sitting in a chair waiting for Lena’s arrival.
“Sam! Nice to see you again!” Lena smiles.
“And you, Miss Luthor. I didn’t know our girls were attending the same school.”
“Are they?”
“My little girl is Ruby.” Sam nods her head.
“Oh, yes. I did meet her. She seems like a good kid.”
Sam opens a file and hands Lena a sheet of paper with lines, “Anyway, I need everyone in the building to write the names of the guests they plan on bringing to the gala. Obviously because you are the CEO, your plus ones are endless. I just need you to have that back to me by Friday.”
Lena shakes her head, uncapping her pen and writing “ Marley Luthor” on the first spot. “That will be all.”
“You’re not bringing any friends?” Sam asks.
“I said that will be all,” Lena pushes the paper toward her, diverting her attention away from Sam and to the computer, allowing Sam to find her own way out.
Lena found herself quite excited walking into the elementary school this time. She likes Marley’s teacher a lot. Being the end of the day, parents are lined up at the front of the school waiting for their children and children are screaming throughout the hallways making the place seem entirely too small. When Lena finally gets to Kara's classroom, she sees Kara, Marley, and another child sitting at the desks coloring. Lena stifles a laugh when seeing Kara crammed into a desk meant for six year olds.
“Hello?” Lena asks, walking into the classroom. They all three turn around simultaneously. Kara stands up and quickly straightens her dress.
“Being productive, I see,” Lena jokes, which never goes over well as most people can never tell if she is joking or not.
“Oh! Well the kids just wanted to have a coloring contest and I though-”
“It’s fine, Kara, honestly. Your pictures both look great.” Lena smiles.
“Lena, this is Emmie. She is the other little girl I was telling you about this morning. She’s incredibly intelligent for her age.”
Lena looks to the child who is even smaller than Marley. Her straight brown hair is combed back into a ponytail and she wears a leather jacket that is at least two sizes too big. “Emmie, It’s nice to meet you. I’m Lena Luthor, Marley’s mother.”
The little girl stands up, pushing her hand out of the large sleeve, “Emmie Danvers. Pleasure.”
Lena takes her hand, surprised by the firmness of the six year olds hand shake, “Danvers?” Lena asks, looking to Kara.
Kara smiles, finally standing from the desk, “Not mine. My sisters. Emmie is my niece, but I promise I'm not biased.” Lena nods and Kara looks back at the two kids, “Emmie why don’t you show Marley the gym? You two can play there until I’m done talking to Miss Luthor.”
Emmie nods, grabbing Marley by the hand. “Your niece looks nothing like you. Does she get her looks from your sister’s husband?”
Kara laughs, “God, no. She’s Alex in and out,” She shows Lena her phone, a picture of Kara, Alex, and another woman. “That one is Alex.”
“Who’s the other?” Lena asks.
“Marley’s other mom,” Kara says nonchalantly, “Alex is gay.”
Lena froze, scared that for some reason, Kara would ask her about her sexuality. It was kind of well-known that Lena had dated women, but not since she adopted Marley. She had never publicly addressed it either and definitely had never actually told someone that she is gay.
“Lena?” Kara had been talking, but Lena had been too caught up in her thoughts to notice.
“Sorry,” Lena smiled. “It seems like you have an amazing family, Kara. You’re lucky.”
Kara smiled back and muttered a thank you before sitting down and motioning for Lena to do so as well.
“I’ve been thinking that I would like to help with funds for the class. Maybe for better technology or something along the lines of that.”
“Oh!” Kara says, her eyes wide with possibilities, “Well, unfortunately, I don't think I can take a donation personally. You would probably have to go through the school, so it would be fair to everyone.”
“That’s easy enough,” Lena says pulling out her checkbook, “How do I ensure that this will go for the education of the students and not to some ridiculous playground toy?”
“Uh, you would probably have to create a grant. Then you can make it as specific as you want. I would talk to the principal. I can give you her contact information,” Kara suggests.
“That would be perfect, thank you.”
Kara writes down the principal's email and phone number and hands it off to Lena.
Casually, Lena leans over the desk, “I really appreciate your help, Miss Danvers. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Still leaning on the desk, Lena extends her arm out. Kara gapes, almost forgetting how to talk.
She quickly takes Lena’s hand upon realizing that she had been staring and stutters her way through a goodbye. As Lena sways out of the room Kara can’t help but stare and when she’s gone, she collapses, laying her head on her desk mumbling, “What. the. Fuck.”
“That’s a bad word, Aunt Kara.”
Kara sits up, looking at her niece, “As if you haven’t heard worse from your mother. Go get your stuff from your locker, I have to call your mom.”