Chapter Text
Maggie placed her foot carefully down, standing on tiptoe slightly to avoid leaving a boot imprint in the soft mud around the edges of the rock that she’d chosen as her stepping stone. Every track she left, every trace brought her pursuers one step closer to finding her, to catching her. And when they did, it would be game over.
Every boot imprint, every snapped twig, every sound, every movement could be the difference between life and death. The forest around her was so deathly quiet that at times she was even afraid to breathe, in case the tiny whisper of air from her lungs might echo around the area like the cacophony of a foghorn, announcing her presence.
She didn’t know how many of her people survived or if she was the only one left. From her perch high in a tree she’d seen Wallace go down. All it took was one misstep, and he was tumbling down the mossy hill. They’d fallen on him like a pack of starving hyenas, but he didn’t go down without a fight. He must have taken one of them out before, because he lay still even as they grew closer, but as soon as they were in range, he opened fire. Two of them went down in heaps before the rest returned fire. His entire torso was red splatters spread up onto his face by the time they stopped. Talk about overkill. Out of range to help, Maggie could do nothing but snap a salute for her fallen comrade and, once they had left, climb down and circle back the way his killers had come, letting their tracks hide hers. It was an old trick, but the best ones always were.
Not for the first time, Maggie thanked her lucky stars that she was, as Alex so often put it, vertically challenged. While many saw it as a disadvantage, Maggie saw it as an opportunity. It meant she could slip through gaps that a taller person would struggle with. It gave her a definite advantage, and she was determined to use it as much as possible.
Like now, for instance. This fallen log she’d discovered had a hollow beneath it. A dip that would be a tight squeeze, even for her, but she was confident that once she was inside, she would be safely tucked away from the world and could afford to take a breather at last. God knows she needed one. She’d been on the run for… a quick glance at her watch told her it was coming up on twenty-one hours. Twenty-one hours of playing stealthy, putting every single one of her survival skills to the test as she evaded capture, running on an empty stomach and no sleep.
Until she was safe and not so exposed out in the open as she was now, she could relax. But not before then.
Dropping down and shining her flashlight quickly into the dip to check it was empty, she took the backpack from her shoulder and shoved it through, clicked off the flashlight again and tucked it back into her pocket, then very carefully dropped onto her stomach and shimmied and crawled her way down into the hollow, dropping the few feet into the gap that had apparently once belonged to the root ball of a tree - though not the same one as had fallen to cover the hole now. There must have been a storm at some point that had uprooted some of the older and less sturdy trees.
After checking out through the small gap to make sure nobody had seen her, she sat herself down against the wall of the dip, drew her knees up to her chest, then pulled her pack towards her and delved inside. Her hand emerged from the pack seconds later, brandishing a vegan energy bar which she ravenously, but also as quietly as possible, ripped into and then took a large bite from.
If she’d gone any longer without eating and the rumbling growls of her stomach had given her away… well. That would just be plain embarrassing.
After two energy bars and a good amount of water to rehydrate herself, she glanced at her watch again, the hands and numbers illuminated in the darkness of her hiding place. Quarter to six in the morning. Exhaustion was very definitely setting in now, but she couldn’t allow herself to fall asleep. Not yet. She had to keep moving, had to stay alert. If she fell asleep and those hunting her came upon her hiding place and caught her off guard? It wasn’t worth the risk.
No, better to keep moving, power through the exhaustion and sleep when this was all over. Whenever that would be.
Without a cell phone (it was the first thing she’d ditched when she went on the run as it would be far too easy to trace) and with no radio to call for backup, she also had no idea how any of the others were doing. At least she’d managed to take out a couple of her pursuers in the early stages and steal their ammo clips. If she was found now, she wouldn’t go down without a fight, that was for sure.
After another quick sip of water, she stuffed everything back into her pack, then froze.
That was a footstep.
Was it?
She couldn’t be sure. A light wind had picked up and was rustling the leaves of the trees, masking all other sounds. She was starting to become paranoid, hearing sounds that weren’t there, her imagination getting the better of her. Except—
There! That was definitely a twig snapping!
Holding her breath and straining her ears, she could just about make out the sounds of hushed whispers and more footsteps. People were close by, doing their best to keep quiet. But now she was on full alert, her senses had sharpened, becoming almost superhuman as the survival instinct kicked in again.
One hand reached down slowly, blindly in the darkness, reaching about for the sidearm on her thigh and as quietly as she could, she unclasped the holster and slid the sidearm free. Then, so slow it was almost as if she wasn’t moving at all, she inched closer and closer to the gap she’d crawled through, trying to peer out and get a better look at whoever was out there. Was it some of the others? Or was it their pursuers? Whoever it was, they were trying to be quiet. Trying but, unfortunately for them, failing.
As she continued to peer out, a pair of bright red boots suddenly dropped down into her line of sight with a less than gentle thud that caused the ground to tremble all around her, and a few miniature landslides of dirt to trickle into the dip with her.
With a crack that echoed through the forest and sent a few birds squawking as they took flight, the entire log was lifted up, exposing Maggie for all the world to see, before it was dropped to one side with another earth shaking jolt.
“Supergirl?!” Maggie gasped, looking up at the superhero towering above her. “How did you— “
“No time,” Supergirl shook her head as she extended a hand to Maggie to pull her out of the dip. “We have to go. Now.”
“Right,” Maggie nodded, allowing herself to be pulled from the hollow by the hero, then knowing the drill, stepping in close and wrapping her arms around Supergirl’s neck.
Supergirl wrapped one strong arm around her waist, but before they could take off, her hand jetted out. An incoming projectile had streaked toward Maggie, and Supergirl snatched it from the air in one quick movement and peered at her hand, heroically, saying, “Ewwwww!” Red paint and the broken covering from the paintball slid from her hand and fell in globs to the ground below. “Okay, gross.”
Maggie snapped off three shots, one red splat into the chest of each cadet that stood gaping at the superhero, before sliding her paintball gun back into her leg holster. “At least it goes with your uniform. Up, up, and away?”
“Ugh.” With a final wave of her hand to flick some paint free, Supergirl pulled Maggie close, and the two took to the air. Below, the three now eliminated uniformed cadets stared up in confusion as they watched Maggie being whisked away by Supergirl.
Maggie couldn’t help but chuckle as she wondered how they would explain this to the other trainers at the academy. But then another thought crossed her mind, and raising her voice so she could be heard over the roaring of the wind in her ears, even though she was pretty sure Supergirl would have no trouble hearing her if she spoke normally anyway, she asked, “Not that I don’t appreciate you swooping in to my rescue back there, but you do know that was only a training exercise right? I wasn’t in any actual danger.”
“I know,” Supergirl said, glaring at the paint on her free hand again. Then with a blast of freeze breath, she froze it solid before flexing her fingers. The paint fell away, flecking and drifting off as they flew.
“So what’s the emergency? What’s so important, it couldn't wait until the exercise was up in three hours?”
“Alex has gone into labor.”
<><>
“You’re sure she’s gone into labor?” Maggie asked for the fifth time as she and Supergirl hurried side by side through the labyrinth of hallways, trying to find their way to the maternity wing. “It’s too early. She’s not due for weeks! She can’t be in labor now. Is she sure it’s not just Braxton Hicks?”
“Hey, when I asked her the same thing, she all but bit my head off,” Supergirl shrugged, taking one long stride for every two of Maggie’s. “She also growled something about not having a medical degree just so that she could tag a few extra letters onto the end of her name. If she says she’s in labor, I’m gonna believe her.”
“But it’s too early,” Maggie shook her head. “She’s only thirty four weeks. The scan three days ago showed the baby hadn’t dropped, and she wasn’t dilated. This can’t be happening now. It’s too soon.”
Supergirl shrugged again. “With the mood Alex is in, I didn’t question her. I might be bulletproof, but I’m not stupid. She’s this way.” Pointing to a hallway that diverged off to the left, Supergirl led Maggie into the open area of the recently refurbished maternity wing, and over towards the nurses station. “Okay, are you good from here? I need to go and get Eliza.”
“Sure, I’m fine,” Maggie nodded gratefully to the superhero. “Fly safe.”
As Supergirl took her leave to go and fetch Eliza, Maggie walked over to the nurses station. “Hi there, I’m looking for Alex Danvers? I’m Maggie Sawyer, her partner.”
“Room 3B,” the nurse at the station smiled, pointing to a room just a little further off to the side.
“Thanks,” Maggie nodded, hurrying towards the room, hesitating for a moment outside the door, then knocking and opening it to peer inside.
The room was empty.
She turned back to the nurse with a concerned expression, pointing into the room. “Uh, where—”
“Mags!” Alex’s voice called, and Maggie spun on the spot to see Alex walking towards her. “Hey, you made it. I was getting worried. When I called the Academy, they said you’d gone and got yourself lost in the woods so good that even they’d lost track of you. I had to send in the big guns to go find you.”
Walking was perhaps too loose a term, but Maggie considered ‘waddling’ to be far too inelegant a description for what her fiancée was doing, as she headed over, one hand resting on her lower back, the supporting her rounded abdomen.
“What are you doing out of bed?” Maggie exclaimed and rushed forward only to be swatted away by Alex in irritation as she walked straight past her room and carried on down the hallway, Maggie falling into step beside her.
“I got bored.”
“You should be resting!”
“I should be walking,” Alex shook her head, then reaching a point in the hallway, she turned and started back the way they’d just come. “Walking is good. I don’t do sitting. Sitting is for people who aren’t me.”
“And how long have you been walking up and down these halls like this?” Maggie asked as she realized that Alex had some sort of route already planned out, which she was now walking as if on autopilot.
“I lost count after twenty something laps.”
“And how long have you been here?”
“Uh… I called Kara just after midnight, so some time after that. What time is it now?”
Maggie glanced at her watch again. “Twenty past six. Damn Danvers, you must be exhausted!”
Alex opened her mouth to reply, then closed it again. Then reconsidered her words. “You’re a fine one to talk. How’d it go, by the way?” Reaching out her arm and offering a hand to Maggie, Alex smiled expectantly. Not sure if Alex needed physical support, or just wanted some comfort and reassurance from Maggie, the Sergeant complied and took Alex’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze and an arm to lean on if she needed it
“Technically, I wasn’t caught, so that counts as me escaping. The fact that Supergirl literally carried me away is sure to cause a bit of controversy, but still. As long as they catch at least four of the other detectives who were playing the role of fugitives with me, then that will count as a pass for them.”
Alex nodded thoughtfully for a moment as they turned at the end of the hall then headed back the way they’d come again. This time she didn’t pass her room, however, but turned and headed inside. Maggie followed curiously and watched as she sat herself on the edge of the bed, wincing a little, before patting the bed beside her. “You look dead on your feet. You’d better sit down before you fall down. And then you can tell me how you evaded capture for… how long?”
“That’s the pot calling the kettle black, if ever I heard it,” Maggie chuckled, even as she did as she was told and perched on the bed next to Alex. “And it was twenty one hours. I could have gone all the way and lasted all twenty four, my last hiding spot was pretty sweet. Until your sister found me. You can tell her that using her x-ray vision is cheating, by the way.”
Alex didn’t reply. Instead she sat sniffing in a somewhat exaggerated fashion as if she’d just caught a whiff of something.
Then she turned to Maggie with a smirk. “You smell like forest.”
A million retorts flashed through Maggie’s mind. In the end, she settled with a shrug. “... that’s fair.”
“So come on then? Details.”
“Okay, so it started off yesterday morning, all I had with me was my pack of survival gear, one paintball in my pistol, five detectives who were playing the roles of fugitives with me, and two hours to get myself lost in the woods before the rookies came hunting us…”
<><>
Today was Saturday, which meant no school and cartoons with breakfast. That was how Phoebe remembered when it was Saturday. And Sunday meant no getting out of bed before the big hand was on the twelve and the little hand was on the seven. Mommy and Mamá called it Sunday lie-in, although one or both of them were usually up before Phoebe anyway, so she didn’t really understand what a lie-in was, or why she couldn’t leave her room until after seven o’clock. It must be a grown up thing. Maybe she’d understand when she was a grown up.
As she passed her parents’ room now, she peered inside to see that the bed was empty. Not an unusual occurrence, so she didn’t think anything of it. As her feet, in their pink fluffy unicorn slippers, navigated the stairs carefully and her hand held on tightly to the banisters so she didn’t fall, Phoebe decided that something must be wrong, because she couldn’t smell breakfast cooking, and the tv wasn’t on.
Even if Mommy or Mamá were at work, whoever wasn’t working would still be in the kitchen making breakfast, and the tv would be on. Aunt Kara would usually be on the news, and Mommy might be saying bad words because the wooden spoons had jammed the drawer again, or Mamá might be saying that Aunt Kara was just being a show off as usual.
So when she shuffled into the kitchen, palming her blonde hair from her eyes, and saw the woman sitting at the kitchen counter with a laptop open in front of her, dressed in a blue suit with long raven hair that was all shiny under the kitchen lights, Phoebe knew that something was definitely wrong.
She stopped in the doorway, looked all around and saw no sign of either Mommy or Mamá and then frowned. “Am I being kidnapped?"
The woman jumped slightly but quickly stilled, as she turned to look in Phoebe’s direction, emerald eyes sparkling as one corner of her deep red lips turned up. "If I had a dollar for every time I thought that I'd... Hmmm, I probably do. No, you're not being kidnapped. Don't you remember your mother waking you last night? She's in labor. I'm your Aunt Kara's friend, Lena. I'm going to babysit you."
Phoebe thought for a moment. Mommy had come and said something to her last night in her dream. And then she’d kissed her on the forehead and told her to go back to sleep again. And Aunt Kara talked about Aunt Lena all the time, so it must be ok.
Shuffling over to the kitchen counter, she scrambled up onto the bar stool beside Aunt Lena then pushed the sleeves of her rainbow pajamas up to her elbows. "Aunt Kara's right. You are prettier than glazed doughnuts. Can I have some cereal, please?"
“Prettier than… I don’t know if I should be offended or complimented. Alright, let’s get you some cereal. Where do you keep it?”
“That cupboard there,” Phoebe pointed to one of the top cupboards, third from the left. “But not the blue box. The blue box is Mamá’s, and it’s icky. Mine is the box with the rainbow on it.”
“Icky?” Aunt Lena raised an eyebrow as she peered inside the cupboard. She pulled out the blue box, giving it a curious glance, before returning it and pulling out Phoebe’s cereal box. “So I take it icky is another word for healthy?”
“That’s what Mommy says, yup. She also says mine are in a box labeled beeties. I don’t know why they’re called beeties, but Aunt Kara loves them. We have to hide them when she comes over to play.” Phoebe paused and considered for a moment. “We have to hide all the food when Aunt Kara comes over. Except Mamá’s. Aunt Kara doesn’t touch hers. Mommy says it’s because it's vegetables, and Aunt Kara doesn’t eat vegetables. Do you eat vegetables, Aunt Lena?”
“Yes, I love vege— I’m sorry, what did you call me?”
“Are you having breakfast, Aunt Lena?” Phoebe continued, swinging her slippered feet back and forth on the stool happily. “You can have some of mine if you like. But mine isn’t vegetables. Mine has marshmallows and sugar and unicorns and rainbows. I wanted the Frozen one, but they didn’t have any in the shops, so Mommy said I could have it next time, but then the next time they didn’t have it either, or the time after that, so I got unicorn cereal instead, but I still really want my Frozen cereal because it has little mellow Olafs and Svens.”
“What are Olafs and Svens, and why are they mellow?” Aunt Lena asked, not commenting on her familial status.
“Olaf’s got a carrot for a nose. That’s a vegetable. Do you eat vegetables? I do. I love carrots and peas and, and carrots and, and potatoes but Aunt Kara says they’re not vegetables, and Mommy says they are. Sven eats carrots too. He always tries to eat Olaf’s nose because it’s a carrot.”
“Complicated relationship those two have,” Aunt Lena said, as she pulled a container out of the refrigerator. “Oat milk, do you drink… By the look on your face, I’m going to assume this falls into the category of icky.”
“It’s bleurgh,” Phoebe shook her head, pulling a face. “Why are you wearing funny shoes? Do you want to wear slippers? You can borrow Mamá’s slippers. I know where they are. I can go and get them. I know where they are. You can wear them. Mamá won’t mind. Probably. Maybe we should call her and ask. Can I ask her?”
“No, no, we don’t need to call your mother, either of your mothers. They’re both very busy right now with the new baby, remember?”
“Is baby here?” Phoebe’s eyes perked up as she sat up taller on the stool. “Can I see baby? Is it a boy or a girl? I think it’s a girl. Mommy won’t say, and Mamá won’t say either. Do you know? Is it a girl? Elsa’s a girl. I think she should be called Elsa. Elsa’s my favorite. She wears pretty dresses and sings and goes like this and snow goes whoosh out of her hands like this!” She threw her hands out to demonstrate her point. “Whoosh, whoosh like this and then snow goes whoosh and she’s got a castle and a sister called Anna. Will my sister be called Anna?”
Aunt Lena stared wide-eyed and unspeaking for several moments. “Milk. You need milk. I’m just going to,” she poked around in the fridge, and finally sighed with relief when moving the orange juice produced a familiar carton, “milk! Ready for your cereal?”
“Yup,” Phoebe grinned. “We need cartoons as well. Saturday is cartoon day. That’s how I know it’s Saturday because Phineas and Ferb are on, and I’m allowed to watch them. Sometimes, Mamá lets me watch Frozen, but that’s only if we don’t have chores to do. Do we have chores to do, Aunt Lena? I’m good at chores. Mommy says if I eat all my vegetables I’ll be as strong as Supergirl, but Supergirl says I won’t because Supergirl doesn’t eat vegetables. She eats doughnuts. But I’m not allowed to eat too many doughnuts because they make me sick. Can we watch Disney Plus, please? Elena of Avalor might be on. We need to tell Mamá what happens. She likes Elena. She’ll be sad that she missed her. Who’s your favorite princess? Mamá likes Elena. My favorite is Elsa and Mommy likes Belle. Aunt Kara says she’s like Rapunzel with her long yellow hair. I’ve got yellow hair like her too. Mommy says that Aunt Kara is more like Sleeping Beauty because… I don’t know why. Do you know why?”
“Um… because she’s beautiful?” Aunt Lena said, as she carefully poured what seemed to be a measured amount of milk into the bowl on top of the cereal. “I’m not sure how else to answer that. Do you need some sort of booster seat?”
“I’m good,” Phoebe shook her head, then pushed her hair back out of her eyes again and looked at her sleeves for a moment. “Oh. Help please?” The sleeves of her dressing gown had slipped back down at some point, so rather than try to push them back up again herself, she just held both arms out to Aunt Lena instead.
“Oh, of course. What am I doing?”
Phoebe frowned, then waggled her arms about. “Sleeves.”
“Sleeves,” Aunt Lena repeated. “Oh, push them up! Of course. Let me roll them for you.” And she did, in a rather painstakingly slow process that held them securely in place and had them quite even as Phoebe huffed in barely concealed frustration at the amatuer with whom she’d gotten stuck. “There, all done. Anything else?”
“Why do your shoes make noises when you walk?”
“It’s just what these sorts of shoes do. It’s how you know they’re good. It’s an announcement of sorts. It lets everyone know I’m coming and that they have to be on their best behavior because I’m the boss.”
Phoebe studied her up and down for a moment, then shook her head. “You’re not my boss. Mommy is. She’s everyone’s boss. Is she your boss too? Why do people have to know you’re coming? Can’t they see you?” Phoebe gasped suddenly and then grinned. “Are you too little? Is that why they can’t see you? I’m little too. So is Mamá. You can be on Team Short Guys with us!” She held out her fist to Aunt Lena, still grinning. “Mommy’s in Team Short Guys too, even though she’s big. But shhhhh, don’t tell anyone. It’s a secret.”
“I am not little.” Aunt Lena’s teeth ground, and she pulled herself up just a little straighter (if it was possible). “That is not why I wear heels no matter what Kara says. Just… eat your cereal and mind your business. I’ll turn on the TV for you when you’re done.”
Phoebe’s hand dropped back to her side, and her bottom lip jutted out in a pout. “But I usually have cartoons with my breakfast.”
“Do your parents let you eat in the living room?”
“Uh-huh,” her head bobbed once and blonde hair slipped back into her eyes again. She quickly palmed it away once more. “But only on Saturdays. Which is today.”
“It is,” Aunt Lena said, as she lifted the bowl and headed toward the living room. Her heels clicked until she reached the plush carpet that smothered the sound. Phoebe followed along, grabbing up the remote even before Aunt Lena had placed the bowl on the coffee table. “Should I put a towel down or something?”
“I’m not an animal,” Phoebe scowled, as she sat herself down on the carpet in front of the TV and pulled the bowl towards herself. “Mamá says I am sometimes, but she’s being silly. She doesn’t mean it. And if I do drop anything, Gertrude will eat it anyway.”
“Gertrude? Who’s Gertrude?”
“Our doggie. She’s asleep on Mommy and Mamá’s bed. Shall I go and get her? She needs her breakfast too. And Link will be hungry too. Unless he caught another mouse. He’s not allowed mouses, but he keeps catching them, and then Mommy tells him off and has to put them back outside again.”
“I’m assuming Link is a cat.”
“Yup,” Phoebe nodded, grinning as she scooped up a spoonful of cereal. “He catches birdies and mouses and frogs and birdies and leafs. He brought in a leaf once, and Mamá thought it was something else. She said a bad word, and Mommy told her off.”
“I bet she did. Speaking of telling someone off, I need to send a quick text to your Aunt Kara about this dog and cat situation of which I have just now become aware. Why don’t you enjoy your cereal. I’ll just be a moment.”
“Okie dokie pokie,” Phoebe nodded with a grin as she settled down to do just that, using the remote to turn theTV on. It was already pre-set to Disney Plus, so she had no problem finding her cartoons.
<><>
Halfway across town in the maternity ward of the Luthor Memorial Hospital, Kara grimaced as she looked down at her phone.
Lena: “We need to talk. I agreed to watch over one child, one apparently chatty child. No one mentioned a dog.”
Lena: “Dogs need to be walked and other things. I don’t really know. I feel ill prepared for this, Kara.”
Lena: “Is there a schedule posted for this Gertrude? Please update me.”
“Everything okay, Little Danvers?” Maggie asked.
“Yeeeeaaaah. Lena just texted me.”
“Is everything okay?” Alex glanced across anxiously from the bed, her eyes fixed on her sister. “Is Phoebe alright? What’s wrong?”
“Phoebe’s fine. I’m the one who’s in danger.” Kara adjusted her glasses. “I may have forgotten to tell Lena about Gertrude.”
“Kara,” Alex groaned in frustration, as she scrubbed her face with one hand. “You had one job,” she muttered into her palm. “ One job. Explain to Lena about babysitting Phoebe and the animals.”
“I know, but you weren’t supposed to go into labor yet, and to be fair, I also had to find Maggie in the middle of the woods and get Eliza and bring them both back here, so that was at least three jobs. And I hadn’t even had breakfast yet so, pfft, how about a thank you for finding an adult to watch your child before dawn on an empty stomach?”
“As long as Phoebe’s behaving,” Alex sighed, allowing her hand to drop back to her side again. “Is Lena okay with Trudie? Mags, you might have to call our neighbors to take her for a bit, otherwise. Teri and Keith said they would if it was going to be a problem for Lena. Which it sounds like it is.”
“I can ask her,” Kara said, as she typed a text back. “You want me to give a message to Pheebs?”
“Tell her Mommy loves her and… oh, I dunno. I hope she’s being good for Lena, or something. Oh and don’t talk poor Lena’s ear off, or she’ll never agree to babysit again. And not too much TV. And not too many sweets. And make sure she brushes her teeth and her hair and chooses something sensible. And no, her panda onesie is not considered something sensible. Neither is her Supergirl costume. Mom still hasn’t repaired the cape on it yet.”
“Babe, chill,” Maggie said. “Just tell her we love her and listen to Lena. Tell her we’ll see her as soon as her little brother or sister is ready for a big sister hug.”
“And if Lena has any problems, Kara, any at all, she’s to call one of us straight away. I mean it. She can’t just throw money at the problem and hope it goes away. Having kids doesn’t work like that.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I know.” Kara’s brow creased heavily and she frowned, as she stared at her phone.
“ Any problems at all,” Alex repeated. “Doesn’t matter how big or how small or how insignificant they might seem, she is to call us straight away. She should have my number. Mags, has she got yours? Actually,” Alex paused for a moment, her brow dipping. “Have you even got your phone on you?”
“Aww, crap, no. I left it at the academy. You have yours?”
“Somewhere,” Alex nodded, looking all about, then patting the mattress on either side of herself. Finally her eyes turned to the overnight bag sitting down next to the bed. “Should be in there, somewhere. I hope. Hold on, let me just check.” She went to get up out of the bed so that she could fetch her bag.
“Um, Maggie, what did you tell Phoebe about Lena?”
Alex paused, glancing to Maggie, a knowing look on her face. “What did you do?”
“Me? Why do you think I did something?”
“Because you’re you, and clearly, Phoebe has now said or done something to poor Lena. You know she’s a damned copycat, especially when you do stuff she’s not supposed to do. Or do I need to remind you of the f-bomb incident in the middle of the mall? Or the road rage incident in the supermarket? How about when I caught her trying to have some of your beer, and you openly encouraged her?”
“Okay, in my defense—” Maggie cut off suddenly, as Kara stood behind Alex, waving her hands and shaking her head, “I have none. You’re right, babe. But honestly, I don’t know what I did this time. I barely ever see Lena except when she’s going somewhere with Little Danvers. Like most of the stuff I say about her is just how she’s with Kara. It’s not bad.”
“Did you tell Phoebe Lena was her aunt?” Kara said as she glanced down at her phone and then looked up again.
“Did I who now what?”
“And I quote, “She’s precious, but she keeps calling me Aunt Lena. I don’t want to correct her in the middle of this. The first thing she asked me this morning was if she was being kidnapped, and as a child who's been there, I’m certainly not going to encourage that particular trauma”.” Kara looked up from her phone again. “I sure didn’t tell her that.”
“Uh… Alex?”
“Our baby thought she was being kidnapped?” Alex was mortified. “Oh the poor thing. I knew it was a mistake to leave her. I should have brought her with me.”
“Okay, okay just chill. Kara, call your girlfriend so we can talk to Phoebe. Alex’s labor doesn’t need to be any more premature.”
“Okay, I’ll just— She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Kara, phone, dial,” Alex glared. “Now.”
“I’m dialing. I’m dialing. Try not to pop out a baby and—”
On speaker, Lena’s voice rang out clearly in the room. “Kara?”
“Lena! Hey, how are you?”
“We’re well. How’s Alex?”
“Oh, you know, ready to deliver the baby herself. She’s gone through her chart at least three times. The doctor isn't here right now. I’m worried he may be sending out his resume.”
“Nonsense. I’m sure Alex is just being thorough.”
“Lena, hey, is Phoebe there?” Alex called out, motioning for Kara to bring the phone closer to the bed so that they could all gather round it.
“Hold on,” Kara said as she brought the phone over to the bed. “Lena, Maggie and Alex are here. They want to talk to Phoebe.”
“Of course. Let me put this on speaker.” The noise of the TV in the background increased. “Phoebe, please pause your show. Your mothers would like a word with you.”
“Mommy, Mamá.” The sound from the TV suddenly stopped. “Is there a baby? Is it a girl? Is her name Elsa?”
“Not yet, Pheebs,” Alex grinned, visibly relaxing at the sounds of her daughter’s voice. “Not long now, though. Are you okay, Sweetie?”
“Yeah, Mommy, I’m eating cereal and watching Princess Elena with Aunt Lena. Why can’t I go see you and baby?”
“The baby’s not here yet,” Alex replied gently. “There’s lots of waiting around and sitting still. It’s very boring. At least you get to have fun with Lena, right? It wouldn’t be fun here with us.”
“Okay. I can come visit baby as soon as she’s born?”
“Of course, you can, Sweetie. We’ll call Lena as soon as you can come and visit. How does that sound?”
“Okay, Mommy. Can I stay up until baby is born?”
“Maybe,” Alex replied carefully, looking to Maggie for a moment. “We’ll see.”
“It depends on how late it is, Pheebs,” Maggie said. “When it gets closer to bedtime, we’ll know if the baby is almost here or not. You don’t want to be sleepy when the baby shows up, do you?”
“I won’t be.”
“Well, we’ll talk about it.”
“That means no.”
“That means let us have a baby right now and don’t give Lena any trouble, got it?”
“Yes, Mamá.”
“Okay, give us a minute to talk to Lena, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Hey, Mommy and I love you. You know that, right?”
“Yeah. I love you too.”
“To the moon and back again.”
“And back again.”
There were a few moments of quiet, then there were the sounds of the TV in the background again. It was Lena’s voice that spoke next. “Maggie? I’ve taken you off speaker, and Phoebe’s gone back to her show. Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, fine. Alex is a champ. Listen, how’s Phoebe holding up? Kara said something about her being worried she was being kidnapped.”
“Oh, that. She just didn’t recognize me at first. You know how children are.”
“Uh, kids don’t usually assume they’re being kidnapped,” Alex frowned, as she shifted a little in the bed. “Has she been behaving? Not given you any trouble?”
“She’s fine though I do think she’s taking nutritional education from Kara. I assume if I try and sneak some kale into her for lunch, it won’t go over well.”
To the side, Kara began fake gagging.
“Oh, Phoebe eats vegetables, just not the salad kind,” Alex smirked at her sister’s antics. “She’s more of a carrots and peas kind of girl.”
“That’s a start, I suppose. It’s definitely more than Kara’s tater tots and ketchup version of vegetables.”
“Do not diss the taters!”
Ignoring Kara, Maggie asked, “Hey, our neighbors Teri and Keith said they’d take Gertrude if we needed a dog sitter. I can give you their number.”
“No need. I’ve already made arrangements for the pets.”
Alex glanced nervously at the others, before she hesitantly asked, “What arrangements?”
“The nice people at Fantasy Tails are on their way over. Gertrude and Link will be spending the day being pampered.”
Alex blinked. “Okay, I get Gertrude because she’s a dog but… they do that sort of thing for cats too?”
“Why wouldn’t they? I’ve never had a pet, but I told them what I wanted, and they agreed readily enough. I assume it’s commonplace. Don’t cats enjoy the same care as dogs?”
To the side, Maggie rubbed her fingers together in the commonly recognized sign for money.
Alex rubbed the back of her neck, and shrugged. “I, uh… I guess there’s only one way to find out.”
“The company has excellent references. I’m certain your pets will be in safe hands and have a lovely day. Now, Kara gave me a rather quick briefing on Phoebe’s schedule before whisking me away to your residence, and I have the list you left me, Alex, but is there anything else?”
“Uh, I don’t think so. Is there anything, Mags? Have we forgotten something? Aside from telling Lena about the pets.”
“No allergies, she’s obsessed with Frozen like every girl her age, watch the sweets, but Lena’s got that covered from having to deal with another child—”
“Hey!”
Maggie grinned at Kara. “Oh, did you leave the car booster seat at the house?”
“It’s in my car,” Alex nodded. “We didn’t bring my car, we fle—” her eyes widened as she quickly caught herself, but then reeled in panic, trying to find a way to finish that sentence.
“On a bus?”
“Hahaha. That never gets old. You know where Alex’s keys are, right?” Kara asked.
“Candy dish by the front door. Yes, and I have all of the emergency numbers, know where all of the exits are including windows, in case of fire, and the fire extinguishers are located. I’m assuming the word gross written next to raisins on the snack list was Kara?”
“Raisin cookies are why I have trust issues.”
“Lovely. Well, I think we’re all set here. I’m sure Phoebe and I will be fine today. I’ll make sure she stays busy. She’s very small. How much trouble can she be?”
“Did she seriously just ask that?” Alex asked, squinting her eyes closed and pinching the bridge of her nose for a moment.
“Respect the short guy squad. It sounds like you two are all set though. If anything comes up, anything at all—”
“I won’t hesitate to call. Don’t worry about us, Maggie, just worry about Alex and the new baby. Your family is growing. Enjoy this moment.”
“I would if I wasn’t bored stiff of sitting around waiting,” Alex grumbled. “Nobody tells you about this in the fine print.”
“Oh, I hate waiting. That’s definitely not something I look forward to with having children.”
“When?” Kara asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry, I mean… I know you want kids one day, but that sounded like you’ve been thinking about it more and—” As she caught sight of her sister and Maggie watching her, Kara shook her head. “Never mind. Just have a good day with Titch. I’m going to go find Eliza and rescue whatever doctor she’s cornered. Bye!”
“Goodbye, Kara, Alex, Maggie. Congratulations to you both again. Keep me apprised of the situation there, and if you have any problems at the hospital—”
“We’ll use your name and get priority seating. You got it, Luthor,” Maggie said.
“Excellent, then I’m going to… Dear Lord, that’s a large dog. Phoebe, don’t feed the dog cereal. I’ve got to go.”
The German Shepherd, Gertrude, ignored Aunt Lena’s presence, as she sniffed at the cereal.
“Trudie, no. This is not your bowl. Sit.” When Gertrude did so, Phoebe looked up. “Aunt Lena, Gertrude needs her food. Mommy says she can’t have people food, or it will make her butt stinky.”
“Your mother is a wise woman. Can you show me where her food and bowl are kept?”
“Yup,” Phoebe bobbed her head as she stood up, then picked up her bowl, carefully walking with it and trying (but failing) not to slosh milk over the sides as she headed back for the kitchen, Gertrude padding along beside her obediently. When she reached the cupboard, she motioned with both hands and the bowl towards a cupboard, sloshing even more milk over the side, which Gertrude began to lap up with her big tongue. “No Trudie! Back! No!” Phoebe scowled, putting her tiny body between the huge dog and the spilled milk. The dog obeyed, backing up a few paces, then watching curiously. “Aunt Lena, you have to hold out your hand and say sit, so she knows she’s got to sit,” Phoebe explained.
“Oh, like this? Gertrude, sit,” Aunt Lena said with one hand extended.
“Nu-uh, you have to hold your hand like… like…” Phoebe looked about for a moment, then put the bowl of half eaten cereal on the floor because she couldn’t quite reach the counter. Then she showed Aunt Lena how to do it by holding her own hand out, palm facing the dog, before making a downwards motion. “Trudie, sit.”
Gertrude sat immediately, head cocked to one side, as she paid Phoebe her undivided attention, waiting for any other commands. Phoebe grinned up at Aunt Lena. “Just like that. See? You try it, Aunt Lena. I bet she listens to you too. She’s a good doggie and does as she’s told, but she eats a lot. She’s like Aunt Kara. You have to watch her with food because she eats it all. And she’s not allowed people food. Especially not grapes. We can’t have grapes because they’re very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very bad for her.” She counted the verys off on the fingers and thumbs of both hands as she said them.
“No grapes. Understood.” Aunt Lena picked up the bowl from the ground, placing it on the counter and out of the reach and curious gaze of hungry dogs. “Just give me a moment to clean this up, won’t you? Then we’ll get Gertrude all fed.” It was only a few minutes of Aunt Lena carefully balancing on her perilously high heels as she wiped up and then cleaned the floor. “There, now where’s the food?”
“Can I wear your shoes? Mommy lets me wear her boots sometimes. They’re good for stomping.”
“We could perhaps buy you shoes that were more appropriately sized for your feet. I don’t think you could walk in these, dear.”
“I think I can,” Phoebe nodded. “If I hold onto things. I can walk on stilts. I have stilts outside in the garden. Do you want to see them? They have strings you hold and they make a noise like a horsie and they make me almost as tall as Mamá.”
“Phoebe, I think Gertrude is starting to wonder if she’s going to eat today. Perhaps we could feed your pet and then debate the strengths of height altering devices?”
“Oh. Good idea. You’re really smart. Aunt Kara says you are. Trudie’s food is in this cupboard. You have to get one of the tins and smoosh it in her bowl and then you get the tub of biscuits and scoop one, two scoops of the dried pebbles on top, and then she has to sit and give you both her paws before she’s allowed to eat because that’s good manners. And Link has the teeny tin because he’s in Team Short Guys too and he doesn’t have pebbles on the top of his. Just smooshed tin in his bowl. And he doesn’t have to sit and give you his paws because Mamá said that trying to teach him to do that would be like trying to get Aunt Kara to eat icky foods.”
With a little coaching from Phoebe, Aunt Lena was able to replicate the instructions. As soon as she pulled the tab on a can, Link came running in. “Hmmm, now you remind me of Kara.” Aunt Lena placed the cat’s food down but held onto Gertrude’s as the dog eyed her with barely contained enthusiasm. “Yes, you have much better manners than Kara. So both paws?”
“Yup. You have to ask for one first. Then you have to say ‘other one’ and she swaps them over because she can’t give you both together. That’s just silly.”
“Silly me. Gertrude, paw,” Aunt Lena said, holding out her free hand. Gertrude did so readily, slapping a paw into Aunt Lena’s palm. “Now the other one, please.” Gertrude was already switching before Aunt Lena had even finished the sentence. “My, aren’t you a smart girl. Kara could take lessons from you in manners around food. All right, let’s get you fed.” As soon as the bowl was on the ground, Gertrude fell on it and ate with vigor, not even seeming to breath. “Okay, now she does remind me of Kara.”
“Mommy says that too,” Phoebe giggled.
“Do you want to finish your cereal so we can get you dressed for the day and go to work?”
“Go to work?” Phoebe frowned. “Who is going to stay here with me if you’ve got to go to work? I’m not allowed to be left on my own. Mamá and Mommy say I’m too much trouble to be left on my own.”
“I’m sure they just want to keep you safe. That’s why you’ll be going with me to work today. Won’t that be fun?”
“I get to go to work with you?” Phoebe asked curiously. “But I’m not a grown up. I can’t work. Mommy says that’s child labor.”
“Not to disagree with your mother, but I was going to work with my father on weekends when I was your age. It let us spend time together and allowed me to learn how the business was run. How do you feel about science?”
“I’m not allowed to run inside,” Phoebe shook her head. “I’ve got to walk because I might get hurt or hurt someone else. What science are we doing? I like science. Mommy and Mamá do science at their jobs. Do you work with them? Is Mommy your boss? She’s everyone’s boss. She’s a feral agent.”
“A feral agent? I’d correct you, but I don’t think you’re wrong. No, I don’t work for your Mommy. I own my own company. Would you like to see it?”
“What’s it called?”
“L-Corp.”
“That’s a silly name. Why is it called that? Did you call it that? I wouldn’t have called it that. Is that where we’re going? Why do you own it?”
“Tell you what, you finish your cereal and get dressed for the day, and I’ll answer any questions you have, to the best of my ability, on the drive over to L-Corp.” Aunt Lena held out a hand. “Deal?”
Phoebe considered for a moment, then held up her right hand, her little finger extended as all the rest remained curled in a loose fist. “You have to pinky promise.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize this was going to be contractually binding.” Aunt Lena hooked her pinky with Phoebe’s and gently pulled. “Pinky swear.”
“No!” Phoebe scowled. “You can’t swear. That’s bad. Mommy will tell you off if you do.”
“Then it’s a good thing she’s not here. Now, food, clothes, then let’s go. Time is money.”
“What does that mean?” Phoebe frowned. Then she pointed to her bowl. “I can’t reach.”
Taking the bowl from the counter, Aunt Lena headed toward the living room with Phoebe trailing her. “Save the questions for the car ride. I have a lot to teach you.”