Work Text:
"Mommy" Lena was finishing getting ready for work when her daughter showed up at the room with an upset expression.
"What's wrong, sweetie?"
"I can't do my homework."
Just like any other Luthor, Lori was as smart as she was stubborn. She was always trying to do everything by herself, whether it was tying her shoes or playing a game, if someone invaded her space the situation became a problem until she managed to resolve everything on her own. That's why it was always a little surprising when she came to ask for help with school, of course Lena is aware and involved with all the activities, but in a safe distance to let the child get comfortable.
"Let me see what it is." She knelt down to Lori's height and picked the paper of her hands. It was a printed drawing of a tree, each branch ending in an empty square above the words mother, uncle, grandfather and other relatives.
"I have to glue a picture of the people in my family."
"Alright, we can look for some magazines and albums for you to cut out."
"But that's wrong." The girl said angry and crossed her arms over her chest.
Lena analyzed the paper more closely looking for the big problem, but it looked like a completely normal family tree. "Sorry baby, but I don't understand what the problem is."
"Here, it is wrong." Lori placed her little finger over the space written father, her eyebrows furrowed as if it bothered her deeply.
"Oh, I can see why. We can leave this side of the tree blank, I'm sure your teacher won't mind." Somehow she seemed even more upset, her lower lip started to tremble and her green eyes filled with tears.
They had already had this conversation a few months ago when Lori started pre-school and noticed that some children had a father and a mother, just like in cartoons and movies. It was the highlight of her 5 years, but it seemed like everything was perfectly fine, even she thought it fun to know how different each family could be. The sudden change caught Lena off guard.
"Oh baby, don't cry" she said in a soft tone, pulling her daughter into a hug. "Not everyone has a dad, just like not everyone has a mom. Every family is special, what matters is that there will always be people who love you."
"I know, but where will Kara stay?"
"What?" Lena moved a little so she could see Lori's red face.
"I want her to be on the tree so I can show my friends that she's our family too, but there's only one square for mom." She spoke frustrated, this was a very simple situation that Lena didn't seem to understand.
"Do you want to tell your friends that Kara is your mom too?"
"Is she not?"
"She... actually, Kara..." She was speechless, her brain was divided between thought the situation was adorable or totally freak out because this was never a subject discussed with her girlfriend. What could she say to not hurt a child's feelings?
"Why can't Kara be my mommy too?"
"Lori..."
"Adam said his mom reads bedtime stories and his dad plays at the playground with him. You both do those to me."
"I know it might be hard to understand, but it's not that simple."
"But you love each other and I love you. Why can't Kara be my mommy too?" Another wave of tears was very close to hitting Lori and it was breaking Lena's heart.
"It's okay." God, why did this conversation have to happen with Lori before Kara? "Let's make a deal: we're going to do this lesson tonight, we go to Kara's apartment and she helps us choose who gets which place in your tree. Does it sound good?" She extended her hand and hoped, asking all the forces in the universe, her daughter to accept.
"Okay." She said unsure as she gave a handshake. Lena had never breathed so relieved in her life, now she just needed to find the courage to explain this to her girlfriend.
[...]
Spending nights in the loft was more udual than in their own apartment. It started when Lori was still a baby because she slept better next to Kara – of course it had nothing to do with Lena also sleeping better in the arms of her, until then, best friend. After they started dating two years ago, the habit only got stronger, at this point Lori had her own bedroom and Luthor constantly got lost between which of her things were in the penthouse or in the loft – it would probably be a lot easier if she just moved to live together, but that was a topic for another day, she had too many worries at the moment to think about.
"Kara!" As soon as they walked through the door, Lori ran into the blonde's arms, who easily picked her up into a hug.
"Hi, ukiem. I missed you so much today." The girl laughed when Kara hugged her tighter.
"You're crushing me."
"I'm not sure if I heard you right. Did you say you're loving it?"
"No!" The laughter got louder when Danvers started rocking her from side to side. "Mommy, help."
"What a shame, fighting against a little child." Lena joined in the joke by poking the woman in the ribs.
"Hey, two against one isn't fair."
"Well, you're the only one here with superpowers, I think we're balancing things out."
"Two Luthors against one Super seems unfair to me."
"But I'm a Super too, Super and Luthor." Lori said proudly, making Kara laugh and Lena remember why she was so anxious all day long.
"Sweet, go take a shower before we have dinner. Then we can continue Super VS Luthor." The girl got down to the floor and ran until she disappeared into her room.
As soon as they were alone, Kara wrapped an arm around her girlfriend's waist, pulling her close. "I missed you too."
Lena approached in a kiss that for a moment made her forget about everything else. The blonde placed her free hand on the back of her neck, deepening the contact, this was what they both craved all day.
"I missed you too." She whispered when they separated breathlessly, one inch was the distance that separated a new kiss. Kara smiled and leaned forward to continue what they had paused, but Lena forced herself to stop her. "We need to talk first."
"Everything is fine?"
"Yeah, it's not bad at all, I guess."
"Well, you didn't make it sound very optimistic." Kara let out a nervous laugh, she was visibly worried about the sudden change.
"Sorry, it's just been on my mind for too much time."
"So tell me what it is, let's see what I can do to help."
Lena took a deep breath before saying anything. She was nervous about a possible negative reaction, she knew it was unlikely, but she didn't want to make the mistake of taking her girlfriend's feelings and presence for granted. "Lori asked me a question this morning and I didn't know what to say."
"That's not surprising, what was the issue this time?"
"She wants to know if you're her mom." Kara opened and closed her mouth a few times without any sound coming out, this made a sudden need to explain herself grow inside Lena. "I didn't want to put you against the wall like that, so I didn't say anything back immediately. If you don't feel comfortable with her calling you that, it's okay, I'll make sure she understands."
"I wasn't expecting that right now."
"It also caught me by surprise. Sorry, I'll talk to her."
"No, that's not what I meant." She hurried to explain, seeing the disappointment that Lena couldn't contain. "Lori seeing me as her mother is far from a bad thing. It's actually pretty easy to understand where she got it from, we've basically been living together since she was born."
"That doesn't mean you need to take on that obligation with her."
"Zhao, maybe you didn't realize, but I did this 5 years ago." The brunette wanted to argue, but she had nothing to say. Kara had been there since she found out about the pregnancy, they had been raising Lori together since the beginning. "I understand if you don't want her to see me like this, you are her mother regardless of my role in your lives. But if you're asking me if I'm comfortable with it, the answer is absolutely yes."
A soft smile appeared on Lena's face as she leaned for a hug. "Have I already told you I love you?"
"It's always good to hear it again."
"I love you, Kara Danvers. I don't know what I did to deserve you in our lives."
"You don't need to do anything to deserve me. You are an amazing person, the smartest and most beautiful woman I have ever met. I love you too."
[...]
“Hey ukiem, Lena told me you wanted help with your homework. We can do it when we’re done here.”
Kara made dinner while Lori and Lena took a shower, now the three of them were eating Mac n cheese while watching tv. It wasn't exactly the ideal healthy night, but it was Friday and Lena was allowing herself to relax and just enjoy the moment.
"No, I got it." Lori said distracted, very focused on her own food.
"What dou you meant?" Lena questioned.
“I already got it, look.” She ran to her backpack that was near the front door and came back with a piece of paper, holding it with both hands in front of her face so the women could see.
In each of the squares on the branches of the tree, the names of the family members were written in colorful letters. On the last branch, above all, was Lori. Below, on the left side, “Lena” had been written with a green marker, followed by Lex, Lilian and Lionel. On the right were all the Danvers; at the base were Eliza and Jeremiah, then Alex and Kelly, coming to Esme. But what really caught their attention was that where the word “father” used to be, they could now only see a scribble and next to it was written “mother” in blue and red letters, just above it they saw Kara’s name.
They looked at it in amazement, as if their daughter had discovered the cure for cancer while attending preschool. Because they weren't just looking at childish handwriting, there was the family they had built over the years. Lena had a smile that went from ear to ear and Kara could barely contain her emotion to not start crying. The brunette pulled her daughter onto her lap and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“That’s perfect. I'm so proud of you"
“Me too, you did a wonderful job.” The blonde said with such love that Lena felt her heart melt.
“Are you still going to help me glue the picture?”
“Sure, I’ll get some albums.”
Kara picked some photographs that they could cut. They spent several hours laughing and telling the histories behind the moments recorded, Lori laughed at the comic touch they gave to each one of them. Lena didn't want the photos in her daughter's homework to be taken from police pages, so they looked for some old magazines that showed the younger Luthor family, the girl barely recognized Lex because at the time it was taken he still had hair.
At the end of the night, they were both cuddling Lori into bed after one last story, this one taken from one of her many children's books.
"Goodnight, darling." Lena left a kiss on his forehead.
"Goodnight, mommy."
Kara leaned in too and kissed her. “Have sweet dreams, ukiem.”
“Good night, mama.” Danvers gasped loudly and Lena would have laughed if she hadn't been impacted by the moment too, so she pulled her girlfriend by the hand to the room they shared so Kara's excitement wouldn't wake Lori up.
If this excitement lasted all week, causing Kara to repeat "Lori called me mama!" for all the Superfriends several times, no one could judge her. After all, these little moments reminded her that she had achieved what she dreamed of since the day she lost her entire planet, a family.