Chapter Text
J’onn J’onzz had a wife and two little girls. He was happy. So happy. But then the White Martians attacked and he lost his wife, his girls, his people, his home. He left for Earth, not knowing what was coming. He was going to keep his head down and just survive, and then he gained a group of children. He lost two daughters, but gained eight.
J’onn met the Danvers, and promised Jeremiah and Eliza to protect his girls before their deaths. And J’onn was going to honor his promise if it was the last thing he did. He went to the Danvers home and found the two girls, one scared and the other confused.
Alex and Kara.
Four year old Alex and two year old Kara were staring up at him. Alex was standing in front of Kara, who was just confused, still learning the English language. He could remember K’hym and T’ania as he looked at Alex and Kara, and he could feel the tears in his eyes.
J’onn’s eyes stayed on the girls. Kara pushed herself up and walked up to J’onn, her hand out. Alex stepped closer to Kara, following her, ready to protect her. J’onn smiled softly, taking Kara’s hand. The girl reached for his face, touching the green skin. The girl giggled, hugging him. J’onn felt his tears fall down his face. Alex just stared at him with a frown, before moving to touch his face too.
Kara said something in Kryptonese, but no one knew what she said. She reached up and wiped his tears, giving him a small smile.
“I’m happy,” J’onn whispered, looking at the blue eyes.
“Happy,” Kara repeated in English.
“Happy,” J’onn said again, nodding his head.
He held the two girls in his arms and never wanted to let go. And with that J’onn adopted the two girls, needing to protect them as his own.
Winn Schott Jr. joined their family a few months later. His father was sent to prison for murder, and his mother had disappeared.
J’onn knelt in front of the boy who was staring at the ground, his body tensed. He looked up at J’onn with tears in his eyes. The Martian’s heart broke at the look of pure agony in the boy’s eyes. He just felt the need to protect him.
“I’m J’onn,” he whispered, looking at the boy. “I have two girls, Alex who is four and Kara, who is two.”
“I’m two,” Winn whispered, looking at J’onn.
J’onn smiled. “I am going to protect you. I promise on my life, nothing bad will ever happen to you again.”
Winn’s eyes filled with tears and he jumped into the other man’s arms. J’onn just hugged him tightly while Winn cried, not letting go until the boy pulled away, knowing he needed it. And J’onn needed it too.
Kelly and James Olsen came into their lives about a year later, after the death of their father in deployment and their mother’s spiral.
Kelly held Jimmy’s hand, looking at the adult in front of her. The four year old looked sad, but his hands were wrapped around a camera. Kelly kept her brother close, and J’onn was reminded of meeting Alex and Kara the first time.
“Are you going to take care of us now?” the six year old asked, looking up at J’onn.
“I am. I have three other kids, Alex, Kara and Winn. Alex is five and Kara and Winn are three,” he said, smiling softly.
The ages caught Jimmy attention. He looked up at J’onn, curiously. “Am I going to be a big brother?”
J’onn nodded. “If you want to be. I’m sure Winn would love a boy to play with.”
“Will we be able to see mommy?” Kelly asked, a small frown on her face.
“You can visit her whenever you want. I am not going to stop you,” he answered, his eyes shifted to each child.
Kelly nodded, and that night, their family of four became six.
A year later, a spaceship landed on Earth. And J’onn was first to arrive, finding a little boy.
The boy looked scared. J’onn looked into his head, seeing his memories of his home dying. J’onn, feeling a kinship, offered the boy his hand. He took it, and J’onn flew him home, where his other kids were waiting.
The boy started to ask questions, and Kara seemed to understand him. Translating that he came from Krypton’s sister planet, Daxam. And his name was Mon-El.
(J’onn used the hologram program Kara’s parents left her to teach Kara her heritage, and made sure she still spoke Kryptonese, not wanting her to lose that.)
Kara quickly hugged the boy as hard as she could, happy she couldn’t hurt him. It didn’t take long for Jimmy and Winn to take to the boy, and J’onn wasn’t going to let him go.
Shortly after came Lena Luthor.
The three year old was just abandoned by her adoptive mother, after the death of Lionel. J’onn was alerted about the girl and he accepted, not wanting the girl to get lost in the world.
“Are you gonna leave me too?” she asked, looking up at J’onn, her eyes filled with agony.
J’onn looked at the girl, before shaking his head. “No, I am not. You can trust me.”
Lena shook her head, telling him she didn’t.
“Papa J’onn!” he heard, and he looked over to see Kara run to him, her arms opened. She looked over at Lena and smiled. “I am Kara,” her Kryptonian accent coming through.
Lena blinked, before looking at J’onn. The Martian smiled. “We’re a special family.” He stood up and showed the girl his true form, and Lena stared at him in awe.
“Alien,” Lena whispered, her small irish accent coming through.
“I am alien too,” Kara said, jumping in place.
J’onn smiled, “And Mon-El.” He turned to Lena. “Do you want to be a part of this family too?”
The green eyed girl slowly nodded, her eyes on Kara.
J’onn turned to Kara. “I hope you don’t mind sharing rooms.”
Kara shook her head, beaming. “Show her?”
“Go, and no flying or running.”
Kara pouted and grabbed Lena’s hand, pulling her away. J’onn watched with a smile.
And then, a year later, he got an eighth and final child.
But the final child was special. Biologically, they were a boy, but a peek into their head, J’onn knew that they were a girl. So he named her Nia and allowed her to be the girl she felt she was. He was glad to have his power to help her be who she was.
And with those eight children, his life was always filled with noise and love. He didn’t feel alone anymore.
-
Kelly was at the dinner table, text books opened, studying. She had enjoyed schooling, and was always at the top of her studies. She looked up when she saw J’onn walk in.
“Do you need help?” J’onn asked, looking at the girl.
Kelly shook her head. “No, I have this. Do you need help for dinner?”
J’onn shook his head. “No, go play after you’re done. I’m sure Alex wants to play spies.”
Kelly laughed. “Okay, I will.”
J’onn winked at her and looked for his eldest boy. He saw Jimmy take a picture of a plant. He looked at the image and beamed at what he saw.
“Good picture?” J’onn asked, moving to stand next to the boy.
Jimmy beamed. “Yeah, wanna see?”
J’onn looked at the image and smiled. It wasn’t amazing, but it was a start. He knew that Jimmy would improve as time went. “It’s amazing. Want to see if you take pictures of the others?”
Jimmy nodded his head. He followed J’onn as he went to look at his other children. He found Nia asleep on the couch, and Jimmy took a quick picture. J’onn picked her up in his arms and she just snuggled into his shoulder. He kissed the side of her head and went to the bedrooms.
He could hear Lena’s voice as he got closer to Lena and Kara’s bedroom, and saw the dark haired girl sitting on the ground, a book on her lap. She was reading a passage, before stopping and looking at her foster father and siblings.
“Where’s Kara?” J’onn asked while Jimmy took a picture of Lena.
The green eyed girl pointed up and he looked up to see Kara on the ceiling. He shook his head at the bright eyed five year old that was napping, tired from her Kryptonian lessons. Jimmy took another picture and followed J’onn to the boy’s room. He looked inside to see Winn and Mon-El playing a video game. The alien boy had a bowl of food next to him, while Winn was wrapped in his blanket.
“I’m going to start dinner soon,” he said, and the two boys turned to look at him.
“Yes!” Mon-El exclaimed, his Daxam accent loud and clear.
Winn grinned, and offered the control to Jimmy, who took it from him. He sat down and J’onn left the three boys alone.
J’onn went to Nia’s room and placed the small child on the bed, tucking her in and stepping out to look for his last daughter.
He found Alex in her shared bedroom with Kelly. The girl was dressed in black, a cape on her shoulders.
“What are you doing?” J’onn asked, leaning against the doorway.
Alex looked at J’onn. “Winn says something is in the closet, so I’m going to fight it.”
“And the cape?”
“I can’t be a hero without it,” Alex answered, beaming at her foster father.
“Well, I’m going to make dinner,” J’onn said, giving the girl a nod.
“For twenty people?” Alex asked, grinning.
J’onn laughed. Kara and Mon-El needed three times the amount of food, and they all learned it the hard way.
He went to the kitchen and started to make pasta for his eight children.
When the kids were sitting around the table, he smiled as he scooped food into each of their plates, giving them all a smile. He made sure he made sure to put three scoops each for the two five year old aliens, and then sat next to Nia so she wouldn’t start a food fight, another thing he learned the hard way. He started to feed Nia while his children started conversations. The boys started to talk about games, Lena was telling Kara the story she was reading, and Kelly was complementing Alex’s cape. J’onn smiled watching his children.
He mourned his family, but he wouldn’t give up his new family for anything.