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“So...” Kara chanted happily as she put her plate down on the coffee table. Lena watched her suspiciously, knowing that tone coming from her girlfriend didn’t usually mean good things, even slowing down her chewing around her kale. “Your birthday is coming.”
Oh, that. Lena rolled her eyes dramatically, stabbing another kale with her fork in an effort to ignore Kara’s joyful glare directed at her. “I loathe Jess for telling you that,” she commented nonchalantly.
Kara groaned as she leaned over Lena’s couch in search of green eyes, but the CEO refused to look up from her salad. “Lee, it’s your birthday! It’s a great day!”
Lena shook her head. “It’s just another day in the year. I don’t celebrate my birthday since I was ten. We have been friends for three years now, you know that.”
The blonde kept leaning until she was resting her head on Lena’s lap, ignoring that they were in the middle of the woman’s office at L-Corp. She kicked off her heels and placed both feet on top of the couch, getting comfortable, but, even with the new position, Lena refused to look at her. “But now I’m your girlfriend!”
“Wait, we’re dating?!” Lena faked her best-chocked voice, glaring at her with wide eyes. “I thought we were just good friends!”
Her words, tone and faked reactions made Kara guffaw so loud that the CEO was worried Jess would burst inside her office to ask what was going on. Smiling to herself and shaking her head, Lena relaxed her features and went back to her salad, moving a cherry tomato around. Finally calming down, Kara chuckled softly a couple of times more.
“If people knew how funny you actually are...” Kara let the phrase incomplete as she shook her head with a soft smile.
Lena shrugged. “I wouldn’t get half of the things done around here.”
“Back to your birthday! You’re not going to distract me, missy,” Kara waited a couple of seconds until the brunette seemed to be done with her lunch, lowering her salad, then she took it from her hands and placed it beside her plate in the coffee table before making herself more comfortable on Lena’s lap. The CEO allowed a soft lovingly smile to adorn her lips as she started running a hand through blonde locks. “What do you want to do?” Kara asked, closing her eyes.
Lena sighed heavily. “Don’t get me wrong, darling, but I don’t feel like celebrating it.”
Kara pouted, cracking one eye open for a second. “Why not? That’s the most important day of the year.”
The CEO chuckled softly. “That can’t be further away from the truth.”
“No, it is,” Kara insisted. “It’s the day you were born. I consider that the most important moment in Earth’s history.”
Not sure how she was supposed to answer that, Lena chose to lean over and press a long kiss on her forehead. Then she let the comfortable silence fall over them as she played with Kara’s hair and looked to National City through her balcony.
She remembered Kara’s own birthday, well, Earth birthday, and how excited the blonde would become around the date. She wasn’t the type of doing big parties or calling a thousand people to celebrate, but the woman loved to spent the day with the people she loved doing small meaningful gestures. Dinner with Alex, a movie with Lena, visiting Eliza. She cared deeply about those small things because that was her way to celebrate her coming to this planet. Most times she didn’t even ask for a cake.
And if there was something Lena was always willing to do was to make Kara happy in any way she could. And if celebrating her birthday would make her happy, Lena would swallow her own dislike of the date and do it. For her.
“We can have lunch together,” Lena started softly as she tried not to scare the woman on her lap. Kara opened her eyes to look up at her, but the CEO kept her glance outside. “On my birthday. We already do that, I know, but we have work to do. Then you can make me dinner, how does that sound?”
She finally looked back at her girlfriend, who had a large loving smile on her face. Kara raised one hand to caress the side of her face, running her thumb through sharp jaw. “Anything you want. I will bring Big Belly Burger and we can go anywhere you want for dinner.”
“We will just stay in, I don’t think I will want to go out.”
“You name it,” Kara replied quickly before raising her torso the best she could as Lena leaned down for a quick peck. Once they were back in their positions, the reporter sighed happily and closed her eyes again, allowing the calm to rush over her.
“Hey, Jess!” Kara greeted the assistant with a large smile.
“Hello, Kara,” the younger woman looked over her computer screen to give her a quick smile before going back to finish the email she was working on. “Lena is inside, you can go in.”
“Oh, right, thanks.” Instead of doing what the woman suggested her to do, Kara leaned over the desk and lowered her voice while looking nervously over her shoulder to the closed door off Lena’s office. “Hey, Jess?” she whispered in a secretive tone.
Jess stopped typing as she raised one eyebrow to the reporter. “Yes?”
“Lena’s birthday is coming up and...” Kara looked around again and leaned over even more, almost climbing on the woman’s high desk. “Do you have an idea for a gift I can get her?”
“Oh,” the assistant breathed out in shock. “I, uh, I’m not sure.”
Kara sighed. “I’m thinking about it non-stop for weeks now and I can’t find something to give her. She has literally everything! And what she doesn’t have, she can buy if she actually wants it.”
Jess raised her hand to straighten her glasses and Kara copied her move almost like a mirror. “I see.”
The reporter nodded and raised one of the bags she had brought with her. She placed it on Jess’s desk and smiled at her. “Well, if you think about something, I’m all ears. I’m running out of options.” She pushed the sandwich towards Jess then turned around and started walking to Lena’s office. “See you later, Jess!”
Jess had no idea if the sandwich was bribery or not, but she honestly didn’t care about it because she was incredibly hungry, so she took a bite out of it as she settled her mind on the mission handed to her.
Lena woke up by the feeling of soft lips pressing on her shoulders and neck. She sighed heavily as she slowly gained conscience again, stretching out her sore muscles. Then she looked over her shoulder to the blonde spooning her and smiled.
“Good morning,” she hoarse out, hand raising to lock in blonde hair.
Kara took a deep breath from the crook of her shoulder, before pressing another kiss at it, the hand on her waist squeezing lightly. “Happy birthday, babe.”
Lena groaned and frowned, feeling a little of her good mood being dragged down. “Don’t remind me.”
The blonde chucked against her ear. “So I shouldn’t give you my present?”
Lena didn’t answer as she turned around until they were facing each other. Once she was comfortable again, back in Kara’s arms, she smiled up at her girlfriend. “Gimme.”
The reporter couldn’t help but laugh again. She tilted her head and leaned down until their lips touched. Kara raised her hand to cup Lena’s jaw, lips sucking gently on the woman’s bottom lip until her girlfriend opened her mouth and she slid her tongue inside. They both moaned at the first touch of their tongues before Kara started to kiss her slowly and deeply, pouring all love into it.
When she pulled out, Lena was panting and neither of them opened their eyes as Kara moved her lips to kiss her forehead. “That was a hell of a present,” Lena whispered.
Kara chuckled and coaxed the CEO to nuzzle on the space between her neck and shoulder, which the brunette was eager to do. When they both settled down again, she curled the woman’s waist with both of her arms and hugged her close. “I wish we could stay in bed all day.”
Lena hummed and nodded, nuzzling even closer on her. “You would get hungry,” teased her.
“True, but I would fight it.”
They shared a soft laugh and stayed there until Lena’s alarm went off and she had to get up to get ready to work. She jumped in the shower, made her morning routine with hair and make-up, put her clothes for the day and left the room after making sure she had her phone with her. She was expecting Kara to be playing games on her phone as usual, but she found the blonde sitting in a stool while waiting for her.
Lena made a quick stop as she looked around the kitchen counter, a little taken aback with the amount of food in display. From where she was standing in the hallway she could see chocolate croissants, scones, English muffins, quiche, and three different coffee mugs.
“I know you said you didn’t want me to go around the planet to buy you food anymore, but...” Kara sang the last word as she waved her hands towards the foods in display. “It’s a special day!”
The CEO had to blink for her thoughts to go back to her. “You grabbed all of this while I was in the shower?”
Kara nodded. “Don’t worry. The things you don’t eat you can just bring over to Jess.”
“How much time I waste in the shower?” Lena mumbled to herself as she pulled a stool for her to sit on.
She did, in fact, had to bring a lot of leftovers to Jess, but the poor woman didn’t care at all. Actually, she ate a croissant so fast that Lena thought she might choke. Lena gave her a few orders for the morning then strode inside her office while holding one of the coffees Kara had grabbed from France. She had to re-heat that, but it was still delicious.
Two hours later or so, Jess walked inside her office holding a small vase between her hands, the beautiful white plumerias stealing all of Lena’s attention immediately. “Delivery,” the woman explained as she put the flowers down on her desk.
“Thank you, Jess.”
After the woman walked out again, she picked up the large card – comically large considering that the vase wasn’t big at all – and opened it carefully. Alex’s name was the first one on top of the ridiculously colorful birthday card.
“Happy birthday, Luthor! Hope you can live a long time so my sister doesn’t get sad. Also, I think you’re dope.”
She rolled her eyes fondly before reading the next message.
“Hi, Lena! Merry Birthday Celebration Day!” That was Brainy and she made a note to sent him an article about birthday celebrations so he would understand it better.
“Happy birthday, Lena! I hope you have an awesome day and an even better new year of life! Can’t wait to see you again!” Nia, always sweet.
“Happy birthday. Hope you can celebrate this day the way you wish to.” J’onn, respectful, but warm.
She closed the card, placed it inside her open drawer with a sweet smile, then placed the flowers in the corner of her desk, where she could see it while she typed. She could kill Kara for telling them it was her birthday, and for probably making them send her a gift, but it was too sweet for her to care about it, so she would take the friendly gesture.
Nothing else happened until lunch break, but once Kara popped her head inside that was all she needed. The blonde smiled joyfully at her before closing the door behind herself and walked slowly towards her desk, looking down at the small cupcake in her hand.
“I brought you a cake!” she exclaimed happily, clearly proud of herself.
Lena shook her head. “You didn’t have to.”
“Of course I did. Alex does it to me every year,” Kara explained, putting down the cupcake on her desk, then looking up at her. “But first, lunch! I brought your favorite from Big Belly, extra fries, and a milkshake.”
“Guess I’m spending the rest of my life on spinning classes,” Lena commented as she pushed her chair back to get up.
Kara rolled her eyes. “It’s your birthday.” Before Lena could complain again, Kara pulled out the milkshake from the bag she had in her hands. “And it’s caramel.”
The CEO groaned. “You play dirty, woman.”
The reporter laughed. “Go sit on the couch.”
Lena saw when Kara’s blue eyes moved to the flowers in the corner of her desk and she nodded in approval before following her to the white couch. She put down the bag and started removing the food from inside as she told her about her morning. Lena listened carefully, stealing some fries while waiting for her burger.
Before Kara handed her the burger, though, she leaned over and gave her a loving kiss. When she pulled away, she had a large smile as she put the burger in Lena’s waiting hands. “Happy birthday,” said her again.
When lunch break was almost over, Kara walked to grab the cupcake from her desk, then pulled a small thin candle from her pocket and lighted it after sticking it on top of the frosting. Thankfully, she didn’t sing, but Lena had to blow out the candle and make a wish all the same.
Right before she left, Lena promised she would eat the cupcake later since she was too full to eat it then and Kara refused to take it with her because it was Lena’s birthday cake. In the middle of the afternoon, while reading some reports, her phone rang with a text and she grabbed it.
“Remember to eat your cupcake, babe : )”
And Lena smiled because she had, in fact, forgotten all about it. She opened her drawer and took it out carefully with a large silly smile. She took the first bite and then another text came.
“Dinner at my apartment tonight. Wait for you there.”
She replied with a quick ‘okay’, finished her cupcake and went back to work. This time, though, time didn’t seem to pass quickly enough.
In fact, when she was finally walking away for the day, it felt like she had worked non-stop for 15 hours. She wasn’t used to be so eager to go back home, but Jess seemed to understand when she waved at her on her way to the elevator. The drive back was also slow, but she found herself on Kara’s front door before she could complain about it.
She used her keys to open the door, knowing Kara would already have heard her, and slid inside kicking her heels off. Before she could shout out for her girlfriend, Kara showed up in a quick run to press a kiss on her lips.
“Welcome!” Kara smiled brightly at her. “Lasagna is almost ready.”
“You made lasagna?” Lena asked suspiciously with a raised brow.
The blonde stick out her tongue. “Eliza made it, I just had to put it in the oven.”
“Oh, thank God,” the CEO teased with a sigh.
“Ha-ha, very funny.” Kara rolled her eyes at her. “Go put some comfortable clothes while I set the table.”
When Lena walked back, the small table in Kara’s kitchen was set for two, lasagna already served in the plates and a wine glass in front of each plate. She set down with a smile. “I love your mom’s lasagna,” she commented.
“I know,” Kara replied with a smile of her own. “That’s why I asked her to make some. Also, she asked me to hug you for your birthday.”
“I will charge you for that later.”
They exchanged a happy look before grabbing their forks to eat. As expected, the lasagna was an explosion of flavors, the best ones Lena had ever tasted, and she even ate another piece as she watched Kara devour the rest of it. Once they were done and the wine was over, Kara reached inside her pocket and pulled out a slim box from it. She tapped the box with her index finger once, then she placed it on the table between them and slid it towards Lena.
The CEO, noticing the small delicate silver ribbon, sighed. “Kara...”
“It’s your birthday and I got you a gift, get over it,” the hero replied quickly with a grin.
Lena rolled her eyes but grabbed the box all the same. She pulled the ribbon away and gently wiggled the box’s cover out. The slim box revealed a beautiful delicate bracelet inside, lying on top of a black foam molded perfectly. The bracelet was made of silver, she could tell, the chain was thin and perfectly interlocked with a circle pendant right in the middle. She recognized Kara’s own handwriting on the pendant and she felt the sting of tears in the back of her eyes.
“El Mayarah”
House of El’s emblem.
“Kara...” she tried again, but this time her voice died on her throat.
“You’re a very difficult woman to buy presents to,” Kara confessed quietly. “You didn’t let me gave you anything when we were friends, but, as your girlfriend, I think I earned the right.” She chuckled in the end. “Although I had no idea what to buy you at first.”
Lena used her index finger to trace the delicate chain almost like she was afraid that it would break if she touched it too hard. After she ran her finger through all of the length, her eyes rose to meet Kara’s eyes and a soft smile. “This is beautiful.”
“Well,” the blonde shrugged. “If I’m allowed to be cheesy here, it’s not as beautiful as you.”
She was waiting for an eye roll or a scoff, but all Lena did was look back down to the bracelet. After a couple of seconds, she took a deep breath. “You said you had no idea what to give me for my birthday, but I know something.”
“What?” Kara asked in curiosity with a slight frown.
Lena looked up again, determined and with not a once of doubt in her eyes, and said, “marry me.”
“Lena,” the blonde gasped.
“I know,” Lena quickly started to defend her point, raising one hand to stop Kara. “I know we’re only dating for less than a year and we’re not even living together yet, but I know in my heart that you’re the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. And today only made things even more clear for me. I love you so much, Kara, and nothing would make me happier than spending forever with you and celebrate every single birthday by your side. So,” she took a deep breath again, green eyes locked into blue ones. “Will you marry me?”
Kara sighed deeply and reached over to touch the bracelet with two fingers. “You know, in Krypton we didn’t have engagement rings or things like that.” She pulled the bracelet out, ignoring Lena’s questioning, and slightly worried, look. The hero undid the chain and let it in front of her as she smiled up at her girlfriend. “We used bracelets for the same purpose.”
Lena gasped loudly, eyes falling back to the gift. “You...”
“I wasn’t going to propose tonight,” Kara confessed with a wide grin. “I was hoping you would use this as a symbol of my love, but...” She waved using one of her hands. “since I’m not seeing any ring around...”
Instead of finishing her sentence, she motioned for Lena to approach. When the brunette reached her arm out, Kara wrapped the bracelet around her wrist, locked it and ran her thumb over it.
With a soft smile and a glint in her eyes, she glanced lovingly at her fiancée. “Yes, Lena. I will marry you.”