Archive of Our Own ^beta

Mother’s night

Like every Christmas story, it started on a cold, snowy night.

As it was approaching Winter's Solstice, Lena, and the twins found themselves sat on the terrace at the back of their Irish house. In their duffle coats, only safe from the snow falling but not to the wind flowing through their hair, they silently meditated on their personal past year and reflected on what they wanted for the next.

Yule's celebrations always started the night before Winter's Solstice, on Mother's night. This particular night was dedicated to the mothers around them, and to the Mother of them all, Mother Nature, as they were supposed to reflect on how they treated their mothers, on how to improve their relationships with them.

Lena particularly liked this night, the ritual behind it. Her children couldn't quite see the interest for now, couldn't see the bond between them but she could and she loved being able to notice it. To see it sparkle between the three of them as they recited silent prayers to Frigg. She particularly loved to feel the presence of her own deceased mother and reminisce about the memories she still had of their time together. She appreciated reflecting on her own role as a mother, how it morphed her for the better, how she could improve the bond she shared with her children.

Just like for every sabbath's celebration, the kids and Kara had the choice to participate or not. This year, since they were welcoming Alex, Kelly and their children for the Winter break, Kara was cooking and planning their arrival for the next day. It left Lena and the kids to celebrate the first night of Yule's celebrations. The kids had chosen to participate, it was their favorite usually, but this time, they were dissipated. Distracted. They kept whispering into each other's ear, shuffling on their places, motioning towards the forest. Lena was trying hard to ignore their disturbing noises but her patience was wearing thin.

With a sigh, she opened her eyes to notice them straightening up, guilty faces watching her back. She narrowed her eyes at them suspiciously.

"What are you two up to?"

"Nothing!"

It came out too quickly for it to be honest. Beth and Liam were nine now and their parents were accustomed to their antics, to their chaotic behavior sometimes.

"Is it about a secret present?" Lena asked tentatively, rubbing her hands against each other to warm them.

Two heads shook in synchrony in front of her. Lena rolled her eyes.

"Okay, but could you please stop whispering and focus on the ritual? It's disturbing."

The two children looked guilty once more, cheeks reddening a bit. It was Beth who spoke first though.

"Sorry, Mom. Liam thought there was something in the forest but there's nothing."

"Hey!" Her brother shoved her a bit, betrayal all over his tone.

"It's true!"

"Not!"

Lena sighed once more, pinching the bridge of her nose before looking at them fight lightly on the terrace floor. As they got older, the differences between the twins were becoming wider. Liam was more interested in collecting rare gems and stones and learning about the flowers and the animals surrounding them while Beth was just like Kara, fearless and reckless, annoying her brother relentlessly to play with her and test new magic tricks. Liam preferred to be alone, in his bubble, reading and swallowing as much knowledge as he could. Beth needed her brother with her, sometimes as a scapegoat for her mistakes, sometimes just because it was funnier to be together. They still had a special bond, but they were at that age when it was better for them to be apart than to be together. Even more so for their parents' sake.

"Guys, the soup is ready."

Kara, her savior. Lena's eyes met her blue ones above the twins' heads. Kara had put her head out through the ajar double door and called for them, distracting the two terrors from their fight.

The kids scrambled up on their feet and rushed inside, fighting in front of the door because they wanted to pass it at the same time. Kara rolled her eyes and opened the door wider, watching them rush to the kitchen before crossing her arms, leaning against the door frame.

"How did it go?"

Lena came to her, sighing. "At least one of us did pray conveniently."

Sad blue eyes met hers. "I'm sorry, I know you like sharing this with them."

Lena just shrugged. "Maybe they're getting too old for this."

Shaking her head, Kara pulled her in and wrapped her in a warm embrace, kissing her forehead without saying much.

"Come on, before they drink all the soup."

Kara chuckled, following Lena in the kitchen to notice literal chaos ongoing on the stove. Soup everywhere, the kids were fighting with their bowls in their hands. Kara used superspeed to separate them.

"You two need to calm down or you'll get grounded for a week!" Kara warned, having enough.

Beth shoved her brother away one last time, earning a chastising glance from Kara, before using her finger to taste the small amount of soup still in her hair.

"Your soup is good, Jeju!"

Lena scoffed, crossing her arms. At least, the kids had the decency to stay quiet for the rest of the evening.

Later, once everybody was in bed, Beth quietly got out of her bed and out of her bedroom to tiptoe to her brother's door. She creaked it open, darkness meeting her.

"Liam!" She shout-whispered in the dark.

"I'm awake." The boy replied, annoyed. "I thought you'd never came."

"I had to wait for Jeju to be fully sleeping." Her sister explained, entering the room completely before shutting the door as quietly as possible behind her. She rushed to her brother's bed and sat heavily on it. Liam groaned.

"Shush!" Beth said, as Liam lighted up the lamp on the nightstand. "So, tell me once again what you saw."

Liam rolled his eyes, the dim light putting shadows on his face that weren't quite accurate for his personality.

"I told you, it was a wolf, I'm sure!"

"It can't be! There's no wolf in Ireland."

"It was a wolf and it was looking at us."

"Impossible!"

"Well, we still can go and see if you don't believe me!"

Beth paused, a smirk growing on her face. "Are you saying you'd be ready to go out at night, behind Mom and Jeju's back, to prove that you're wrong?"

"I'm not wrong!" Liam hissed.

"Okay." Beth replied calmly. She stood up, dusted off her blue nightdress with snowflakes on it. "Let's go see."

Going down without waking up their mothers was the most difficult. Finding the flashlight was second to that. Beth tried to use her powers to generate light but she couldn't do it for long. Once dressed warmly, with shoes on and flashlights ready, they came out by the double doors of the garden, putting the outside light on to at least see a bit beyond the terrace.

The forest was all dark and impressive, even for brave nine-year-olds. The snow had stopped falling some time ago but it was still freezing outside. Their snow boots crushed the snow under their feet as they traveled the lights of the flashlights toward the forest.

"It was somewhere there." Liam whispered.

Beth took a step above him in that direction, only for her brother to stop her with a panic hiss.

"What are you doing?"

"Going to see if there's a wolf there?"

"You're crazy! What if there's a wolf there? You're going to be eaten!"

"Don't be a baby! And there's nothing, I'm sure."

Liam huffed next to her, his breath forming a huge fog in front of him. He let his sister walk to the forest slowly, snow tracks forming around them. He followed, not without fear until they reached the surroundings of the forest.

"Beth! We should go back!"

"No, you said there was a wolf, let's see if it's true!"

Liam blamed his sister's stubbornness. And his own too. He would gladly admit there was no wolf if it meant they would go back to the house and hide safely under their covers, forgetting this story all together.

As Beth was stepping just shy inside the forest, a bush shuffled a couple of feet away from them. They both gasped in surprise. Only Beth stepped forward.

"Beth!" Liam hissed. "Come back!"

But Beth didn't listen to him. She stepped around a tree and approached the bush that kept shuffling.

"Beth!"

Liam wasn't whispering anymore. He was calling her plainly, panicking. Beth threw him a smirk and jumped behind the bush.

"Beth!"

Liam ran to the bush, alarmed that his sister had disappeared behind it. He called out her name, more quietly than before. He didn't want to be eaten too. With a shaky hand, he approached his fingers to the bush's branches.

"Beth?"

Beth's head popped out of the bush. "Boo!"

Liam startled, falling backward on his bottom. Eyes wide, he watched his sister come out of the bush unscathed. He scrambled on his feet angrily and shoved her as she laughed hysterically.

"You should've seen your face!"

"Yeah, so funny…" He grumbled, dusting the snow off him. "Come on, it's freezing. And we need to go home, it could still be out there."

Beth groaned, following him in the snow. "It was just the squirrels, Liam!"

"I know what I saw!"

As they discussed the veracity of what Liam had seen during the ritual, they didn't notice the little creature following them.

"It can be your imagination, you're always reading books with mythical creatures, it must go to your head."

"Rubbish! I can decipher fiction from reality, thank you very much." He shot back in a Lena Luthor manner.

"Well, I don't know what you saw but there's no wolf there."

A growl made them stop in their tracks. They were just a couple of feet away from the terrace now, the light thankfully bathing them in a yellow aura.

"Did you just growl?" Beth asked, shooting him an alarmed glance out of the corner of her eyes.

"No?"

"So, who growled?"

"Not me." Liam answered with difficulty.

They shared a glance before turning slowly on their heels. Behind them, a small fluffy creature was watching them, tongue lolling out, yellow eyes curious but not threatening.

"What's the…"

"I don't…"

They both took a step back only for the creature to follow them. They paused, not daring moving much. It looked like a lynx, or a wildcat, with pointy ears, big paws for its size and cute little whiskers. It was definitely a baby, though, with his white coat partially black spotted, the dots not entirely out yet on his fur.

"He's cute." Beth said.

"It's a lynx." Liam replied as if his sister was crazy to even consider a lynx cute.

"He's alone. We should help him."

Liam watched his sister approach the animal slowly, a hand extended to caress its fur. He shook his head in defeat. Knowing he wouldn't win this battle anyway, he approached too. The creature growled in an attempt at being scary but it made the kids chuckle.

"Wildcats don't leave their babies alone." Liam thought aloud.

"But Jeju said this afternoon they'd found the wildcat someone saw in their farm."

Putting everything together, Liam's face scrunched up in disgust, sharing the resentment and the sadness he heard in his sister's tone. Two days ago, a farmer closer to the town had noticed his winter food stock diminishing and had found a wildcat stealing from it. He had alerted the town which resulted in a huge hunt to track down the wildcat. It was disgusting and outrageous. Liam loved animals, he respected them dearly and knew they shouldn't intervene in the wildlife as much as humans were already intervening. Lynxes were dangerous but interesting creatures, mythical even. They deserved more respect than being hunted down for stealing food in a farmer's full stock.

"Do you think it's a girl?"

"No, I think it's a male."

With shaky hands, they rubbed the fur under his chin. The baby wildcat fell on his back, rolling around for them to rub at his belly. They chuckled, tickling him playfully.

"He must be starving if his mother had left him two days ago."

Liam nodded pensively. Their mothers had talked about it since they had heard about the hunt because Lena was furious that the villagers were hunting such an important creature. The wildcats had disappeared from their lands because of such behaviors. Kara had come home in the evening after work, informing them the wildcat had been found and put in a cage until the mayor decided what to do with it. They all knew what it meant.

It couldn't be a coincidence that Liam and Beth had found a baby wildcat scouring around their house. There weren't a lot of wildcats around them to be mistaken. And if somebody learned they had found one of the wildcat's babies, the hunters would come and take it away.

"You're right. We should give him food at least. And somewhere safe to sleep."

Beth agreed, taking the baby lynx in her arms and following her brother inside. They put him on the kitchen table, his wet fur putting water everywhere from the melting snow in his fur.

"We need to be discreet and hide it from Mom and Jeju. They won't want us to keep it, otherwise." Liam whispered to his sister as they watched the baby drink milk out of a bowl.

"Where will we keep it?"

They shared a glance, discussing silently where to keep a wildcat secretly hidden from their mothers. The garage was too obvious, their mothers would come and go in there all day so out of question. Their mother's study could be a good compromise because she wasn't supposed to work during the holidays but they could never be sure of that. The spare bedrooms would shortly be occupied by Aunt Alex and Aunt Kelly and Esme and Eliott, so neither. Their own bedrooms were risky but it was better if they wanted a chance to keep an eye on it.

"We'll keep him in mine for the night and move him from my bedroom to yours until we can find another solution." Liam said, unusually directive.

Beth agreed and that was settled. They would keep the lynx and hide it so that the villagers couldn't take it away and put it in a cage or worse.

Winter’s Solstice, Courage and Truth

The following days marked a shift in the twins' behavior. Lena and Kara couldn't believe their eyes. Liam and Beth were helping each other put the table, empty the dishwater and they never fought for their turn in the bathroom. They each helped their mothers plan activities with Esme and Eliott and even offered Alex and Kelly to put their luggage upstairs.

Was it their little family reunion over the holidays that'd put them on their best behavior? Was it the first rituals of Yule and the preparation of the log that helped them have a good head on their shoulders and finally take the celebrations seriously? Lena didn't know.

What she knew, though, was that she appreciated the shift. She loved seeing their children be helpful around the house, enjoying the time spent together and not ruining their family holidays with their childish fights.

On Christmas' Eve, the tradition in the family was to express their gratitude for something that happened during the year.

"I am grateful," Alex started, her hands on each side of her plate, throwing a side glance to her sister. "That this year, Kara didn't burn the turkey."

"Hey!" Kara threw her a napkin while the kids all laughed.

Lena chastised her wife for her behavior, because it was convenient to do so but she was totally with Alex on this one.

"It happened once!"

"No, actually it happened thrice and Lena was even there during one of these Thanksgiving."

"It was my first Friendsgiving." Lena confirmed with a grin at the fond memories flowing in her brain.

"What happened?" Esme asked, giggling.

"Kara, as usual, used her heat vision to roast the already well-cooked turkey." Alex started, meeting Lena's eyes to confirm.

Lena nodded. "But she had a tiny bit too much of alien wine." She added, showing how much with her fingers.

Esme gasped while Kelly took another sip of wine with a huge smile on her face, enjoying the story.

"But I didn't know she had powers at that time." Lena rushed to add. Gasps and giggles erupted around the table, all eyes traveling from Kara to Lena and Alex.

"But Jeju!" Beth exclaimed with a frown, as if to say she could have done better. Kara just hid behind her napkin, dramatically pitying herself.

"I know, I know."

"What did she say to go out of it that time?" Alex asked with slightly narrow eyes, drinking some water.

"That the oven was hit by a lightning." The smirk on Lena's face couldn't be more telling.

"And you believed her?" Kelly asked in disbelief, leaning on the table, hanging on their story.

"I did." Lena shared a glance with Kara. A loving one. She extended her hand, which Kara took in hers and squeezed. "I had a few glasses already, to be honest, plus, it wasn't weirder than the other excuses so..."

"Right," Alex chipped in, pointing her finger at her. "Because Kara is the type of girl who flies on the bus."

"What?!" Esme laughed while Kelly shook her head, almost disappointed. Kara only shrugged.

"What can I say? Lena Luthor had always had the knack to make me forget my words."

"Oh." Lena cooed playfully. "Charmer."

"Yours." Kara winked.

"Alright, you two. Enough cheesy lines." Alex interrupted them as the big sister she was. "Who's next?"

"Me!" Liam exclaimed from his place. "I'm grateful for all of you being here this year to celebrate."

The adults melted under his kindness while his sister shoved him away, calling him a boot-licker. Next to him was Kara, who turned her gaze to her children.

"I'm grateful that my two children have finally decided not to fight for a few days and be nice to each other." Lena nodded next to her. "You may not see it now but you're important to each other."

Beth and Liam shared a guilty glance, blushing a bit under the adults' stares. Beth then looked up to her mother and smiled at her sheepishly.

"I'm grateful my brother is always brave enough to follow me everywhere, even in the forest." She threw a smirk at him, Liam glaring at her, knowing too well how it was a jab under the belt.

"Well, look at you two!" Kelly congratulated. "Maybe we'll finally be able to make you team up for Monopoly this year."

"Don't count on it." Liam said instantly as Beth said, "Not a chance."

Lena snorted, raising her glass to Kelly. "At least you tried."

Kelly winked at her, clinking her glass against hers, chuckling at the twins' antics. It seemed that their game tradition would suffer the twins' competitive instincts once again this year.

Their cousins weren't that funny anymore. It was the first thing Beth noticed once they arrived. Esme was fifteen now and was considering herself too old to spend time with them. Eliott was only six and so too young to be left in the confidence of what Liam and herself were hiding in their bedroom. It left the two of them to take care of a baby lynx on their own.

The second thing Beth noticed was that it would be harder than they thought to take care of it. The lynx wanted to go out. Liam had explained that, as a wild creature, it was normal for Lynxy to crave for the outside world. Lynxes were accustomed to freezing temperatures and long-distance walks. Staying in a bedroom all day long had quickly become boring for him.

Which led to the third thing Beth noticed. They'd have to find a solution and fast or they would be discovered and, at that point, she wasn't sure which of their mothers was the scariest.

As she watched Liam kneel next to the impatient animal and pull out his full dinner napkin out of his pocket to give the remnants of dinner to Lynxy, Beth realized the only solution they had was to be brave enough to face the music and tell the truth.

"We can't continue like this, he needs more food."

Liam eyed her weirdly as he cleaned his greasy hands on the balled napkin. They had roasted chicken and potatoes for dinner. The grease had marked his pants throughout his pocket. Another problem to keep their mothers' eyes away from what they were hiding.

"What do you want to do? We can't tell anyone. He'll be taken and killed."

Beth's eyes traveled towards the lynx in the middle of her brother's bedroom. The baby animal was now licking Liam's fingers.

"I know. I don't know what to do." She replied with frustration. "But he's not happy here. He keeps scratching at the door and what we give him is not enough to feed him."

Liam sighed, falling back on his heels. "I know! I try to take as much as I can but Esme was looking weirdly at me, I couldn't take more."

Beth huffed. "We need to tell Jeju and Mom. They'll be mad for a minute and then they'll find a solution."

"You're telling this now! It was your idea to bring it here!"

Beth frowned, anger swelling in her stomach. "Yes!" She hissed. "Because we couldn't, for the love of Rao, let it in the snow, dying from famish or be found by a hunter! You agreed with me!"

"I did! But I didn't want to go at first, remember! I didn't have a choice. You'd take him anyway, with or without me agreeing!"

Beth huffed once more, crossed her arms over her chest and kept her face closed. She would never talk to her brother again. Only, the lynx noticed her mood and came clumsily to her, climbing on her crossed legs and pawing at her face, licking it with fervor. Beth didn't want to laugh, since she was still mad at her brother, but his smile was contagious and Lynxy's tongue was ticklish.

"Stop it!" She laughed, pushing the Lynx away.

She rubbed his fur, the lynx purring under her fingers. She shared a glance with Liam. Her brother looked sorry but she knew he would never apologize. Because he was right anyway. If she had been alone, she'd have taken the lynx back to the house anyway.

"We need to find him more food." She declared, eyeing her brother's reaction.

Liam hummed, scrambling on his legs to approach and caress the lynx. "Mom keeps the cellar full of groceries during winter in case of snowstorms. We could start with that."

Beth nodded. That was a good idea. If nothing happened. "And if there's a snowstorm?" She cocked an eyebrow.

Liam snorted, pushing the idea away with a flourish of the hand. "There's never a snowstorm at this period."

Beth smiled knowingly. Her brother had more audacity than she thought. Usually, she was the one proposing risky ideas and he was the one convincing her not to do it with at least five reasons for how it could go wrong.

"We'll see when times come." She said, rubbing under Lynxy's chin. "For now, this little guy needs food."

"Meat, if we can." Liam insisted.

Honor, Loyalty and Rigor

The snowstorm hit just after the fourth day of Yule's celebrations, on December 26th. It wasn't a small one. In the first hour, they lost electricity and almost their insanity when faced with three panicking children and a little boy scared of the dark. But that wasn't the most disturbing event on this holiday. No, what disturbed Lena was the chaos running in their house, implicitly, as if a little goblin was playing with them.

It had started with the weird noises upstairs. Lena was meditating on the day's value, loyalty, burning another pine cone with her wish in it when she first heard it. It sounded like a scratch. Claws rubbing the parqueted floor, whines erupting from upstairs.

The house was full of children so they didn't expect it to be calm but those noises weren't made by kids running around, chasing each other or even fighting each other. It didn't sound like spirits introducing them either. She was used to those, living in a family house, they had their own haunted stories to tell. But that wasn't her ancestors making themselves known either. No, it sounded more like a trapped animal.

The problem was, they didn't own a cat nor a dog. Or a mouse or a hamster, for that measure.

Running upstairs, Lena had followed the sounds to Liam's bedroom, vacant for the rest of the evening since the kids, Kara, Alex and Kelly had decided to go to the ice-skating rink in town. She had opened the door carefully, the sound totally absent now that she had been on the doorstep, only to discover the bedroom empty. She had stepped inside, leaving the door open, to light up the bedside lamp. She had observed the room suspiciously, finding nothing. She had put it on yet another spirit playing with her or a mouse traveling the house and got back downstairs to finish her ritual. The sounds never reappeared after that.

But then it was the bitten electronic cables. One evening, as she was about to put herself on work, finally, Lena found her screen cable bitten. In three different pieces. She didn't see too much in it. There were mice in the house sometimes, it wasn't unusual. They were living in an ancient house, close to the wilderness, without a cat or a dog to prevent any smaller animals entering so it wasn't a big deal. Lena had straightened herself, shaken her head, taken another cable in the drawer and started to work without thinking about it any longer.

After that, it was the disappearance of the socks, as Kara called it. The socks kept disappearing and it wasn't a laundry problem. The washing machine wasn't swallowing them. No, they were disappearing from the drawers as if somebody entered their house during the night and stole their socks.

They put it on the children's antics. Maybe they were building a fort and needed socks to knot them together and solidify their structure. Maybe they were planning a surprise puppet show with socks and had taken them to decorate them and plan their show. Everything was possible at this point so it didn't bother Lena more than that.

The last straw though was the amount of food disappearing from the cabinets.

Since they had moved in Ireland, Lena and Kara had planned for snowstorms and regular storms, because they were living close to the cliffs and Ireland was a windy country. They were also living outside of the closest town, miles away from it and she didn't want Kara to risk her life to retrieve food from the stores there in case of whimsical weather. The stores would be closed anyway so, her only solution was to stock a lot of nonperishable food in the cellar to keep it fresh during winter.

Kara needed a huge amount of calories to follow with her day and it was worst during winter, with the absence of the sun most of the time. This year, they had planned for it, like every winter. Lena had even planned for Alex and Kelly's visit and had gone to the store the week before to stock twice the amount of food as usual.

Which was why she was even more disturbed to discover her stock had already diminished without her taking from it.

"Kara?" She called out, frowning at the half-empty shelves.

Kara appeared next to her in a flash, bringing air around them, making goosebumps erupt on Lena's skin.

"Yes, honey?"

"Did you take from here to prepare dinner last night?"

Kara frowned, looking at the shelves. "No, I took what you had planned in the fridge."

"So, who took the dried beef sticks and the duck breasts and the chicken wings?"

"I didn't."

They shared a glance, finding the only other possibility in each other's eyes. The twins. It must have been the twins. But how? What were they doing with the food?

Once back upstairs with the help of their phone torches, Lena convened a reunion. The game night they had planned was cancelled because playing Monopoly with candles wasn't fun. Instead, Kara and Lena explained all the strange things happening in the house to Alex and Kelly and the children were gathered in the living room, all four of them. Now was the time to explain what was going on in the house.

"You need to be more careful! I found him in Mom's office. He didn't do anything, fortunately, but we can't leave him scouring the house." Beth exclaimed while entering her brother's room with the lynx under her cardigan.

Liam jumped off his desk chair to take him from her and caress him. "I know, thank you, Einstein! I don't know how he managed to escape though. The door was closed."

They both looked down at the animal purring under the affection.

"Maybe somebody let it go. Your door was open when we came back." Beth suggested. Liam only shrugged. Suppositions wouldn't help them solve the problem at hand for now. "Never mind." Beth rushed to say. "You said there would be no snowstorm! Mom will see right through it now!"

Liam opened wide eyes, his mouth going fish-like. "I didn't know! It's not my fault!"

"Who's fault is that then?"

Just as Liam was about to answer, the door of his closet creaked open, revealing their cousin's proud face and then entire body. Liam rushed to hide the lynx behind his back, the animal whining at the motion.

"Esme! How did you…"

"I share Aunt Kara's powers. It's a miracle she hasn't found this yet." Esme said, pointing to the animal hiding behind Liam's back.

"We have a good explanation for this." Beth said, putting herself in front of her brother.

"Oh, really?" Esme squinted at them, a small smile spreading on her face as she crossed her arms. "Go ahead, tell me it's not a wild animal hidden behind your brother's back then."

"Hum…"

Beth threw a panicked look at her brother, who didn't know much more than her how to deal with the situation. She sighed, her shoulders sagging as she turned back to Esme. The only solution they had was to come clean so… They explained everything, from the night they had found the lynx, to his mother probably being killed by the villagers, to them deciding to hide him so he could have a chance to live.

"He's a magical creature, he shouldn't be hunted down." Liam added after her sister's tirade.

Esme rubbed at her chin thoughtfully. "If he's magical, Aunt Lena would understand your point and help you keep him safe." She reasoned, which, to Beth, was a good point but Liam didn't share their opinion.

"No, she'll want us to put him back outside!" He exclaimed.

"But, Liam," Esme approached pointedly, crouching down in front of him. "You can't keep him here forever." She said softly, raising her hand to shuffle Liam's hair. "He's a wild animal. His place is in nature."

Liam looked down at Lynxy who was purring under his caress, so cute and so innocent. He realized Esme was right. They already knew it wouldn't work forever. They would need more and more food and the lynx would become restless closeted in a small bedroom. It wasn't a solution to keep him here. It would only make him sad in the long term.

As he expelled a resigned sigh and nodded, Beth came next to him to put a hand on his shoulder.

"We need to talk to Mom and Jeju."

The twins shared a look, finding an agreement in there somehow. Liam nodded once more and put Lynxy back on the floor.

"Let's get-"

"Kids! Downstairs immediately!" Their mom's voice boomed in the stairwell.

The twins looked at each other with wide eyes in alarm, then looked at Esme who smiled apologetically.

"Did you say anything?" Beth hissed to her, whispering as if their parents could hear them.

Esme shook her head eagerly. "Of course not! I swear!"

Liam sighed, grabbing his sister's arm. "Let's go down."

"Kids!" Lena called out once more, her tone showing impatience.

"We're s screwed." Liam whispered to himself.

"Coming!" Esme shouted back.

All three of them exited Liam's bedroom, leaving the lynx behind, knowing it would probably not be long before they would come back to take him.

The kids descended the stairs with sullen faces, Esme first with a small sorry smile as she lighted the way down with her phone, hiding the twins already sporting guilty faces without the adults knowing why. Lena and Kara were now sure there was something going on in the house, something their children were responsible for. They just needed to push them to tell the truth. Lena didn't wait for the three of them to join Eliott on the couch to start talking.

"So, I've noticed some things happening here." She said, showing the bitten cables in her hands and the empty papers of meat found in the trash. "Care to explain before we find it ourselves."

Liam bit his lower lip in a true guilty-Kara fashion while Beth just crossed her arms, frowning stubbornly.

Lena shared a look with Kara, who seemed to understand what she wanted her to do.

"If I go in both of your rooms right now, what will I find?" Kara asked, hands on her hips.

Liam looked up in alarm, always honest, always unable to lie, while his sister shrugged, feigning nonchalance.

"Nothing." Beth said but her brother had opened his mouth quicker, shouting, "Don't go!"

Beth threw him a sour look before shoving him lightly. Lena stepped up immediately.

"Hey, don't push your brother." She chastised with a warning finger. "Liam," She addressed her seemingly scared son. "We're listening." She stated more softly.

Liam shut his eyes close tight, shaking his head as if he was praying for the truth not to come out of his mouth. Lena sighed as Kara walked backward towards the stairs.

"Alright, you gave us no choice."

Kara disappeared in a blur to come back seconds later with the lynx in her arms, surprise and a huge frown on her face.

"I didn't expect that." She said to Lena, then sharing glances with Alex and Kelly.

"It's a lynx!" Lena exclaimed, approaching. "How did you find a lynx?" She threw curious eyes at her kids.

"We found him in the forest on Mothers' night." Beth grumbled reluctantly.

"It has nothing to do here." Kara expressed, her disappointment appearing clearly on her face.

"But we can't put him back outside!" Liam jumped from the couch and grabbed his mother's forearm, pleading. "They'll kill him!" He cried out, tears already filling his eyes.

"What if he's magical! What if he's our familiar!" Beth exclaimed at the same time, trying to convince her mother to listen to them.

Everybody paused in the room. Kara looked aside to Lena. "Is it possible?"

Lena looked puzzled. Her children may have a point. She approached them to pull them against each of her sides with the intention of reassuring them. "It is but we can't be sure."

"Isn't he supposed to talk for that or something?" Alex asked bemused, caressing the baby animal.

Lena snorted. "This isn't Sabrina the Teenage Witch and this is definitely not just a cat." She motioned to the lynx. "But I think I know one way to know if he's magical or not."

"Which one?" Kelly wondered, one hand on her hip, the other maintaining Eliott against her legs to avoid him rushing to the wild animal, which he eagerly wanted to do.

"A blood test."

"I thought you were gonna say a ritual." Alex said.

"Well, there's one but I need more power for that and Florence is out of town so…"

"Science, it is, then."

Kara frowned and rounded on her wife with her arms still around the lynx. "And you can test his blood here?"

"I…" Now that Lena was thinking about it, Kara was making a good point. "Cannot. You're right. The lab downstairs isn't efficient enough." She added for her sister-in-law. "But the one in the satellite is."

"Great. Let's go find a portal watch, mine is out since we got here." Alex said while motioning to her watch.

"And yours is out too." Kara said slowly to Lena, biting her lips and rubbing her neck. "I used it to go grab your present in the satellite without you seeing it and I forgot to put it back to recharge."

"Why did you need…" Lena stopped, made a flourish of her hand. "You know what? Never mind. There's still the backup battery in my office. I'll just grab it and come back."

She was walking out of the living room, already lighting the way with her magical hands when Kara's voice stopped her once more.

"No, you can't." She stammered. "I used that too to charge our cellphones in case we needed rescue from the storm."

Lena pinched her nose, frustrated more at the situation than at Kara for anticipating their problems.

"Don't you have a backup generator in your cellar for exactly this reason?" Kelly suddenly asked.

Lena smirked in that disbelieving and scary way only a Luthor could. "We do. But guess who bit the cables connecting the generator to the electrical circuit of the house and made it inoperative?"

All eyes turned on the baby lynx licking his paw, unbothered. Both Liam and Beth closed themselves around the animal as if to say it wasn't his fault. He was so cute he could go out with anything anyway.

"And since you can't use your powers for that long, guess we'll have to wait for the electricity to come back." Alex said.

"Yes, at least we still have candles." Kelly smiled with the candles in her hands, always optimistic.

Lena rounded on Kara who immediately looked like she had made a mistake before knowing if she had actually made one.

"Did you buy matches at the store the other day?"

"I…"

"Kara!"

This time, both Alex and Lena had cried out in frustration while Kelly just giggled, not panicking the slightest.

"It's fine, guys. We'll use our phones."

"You won't say that if it lasts a week." Lena quipped, crossing her arms.

"A week?" Little Eliott squeaked out. Lena regretted it immediately and took the six-year-old in her arms.

"It's just a joke, sweetie. We're going to be fine."

Eliott looked unsure. Lena threw an alarmed glance around, silently asking for help, before her eyes landed on her wife.

"You know what? To make it up to us, Aunt Kara will make everyone hot chocolate with her heat vision. Do you want one?"

Eliott firstly looked at Kara to see if she agreed. His aunt only winked at him, putting her hands in her pocket now that the lynx was in Liam's arms. The shadows reflecting on her face thanks to the phone light weren't that scary anymore.

Eliott's head turned back to Lena and he nodded eagerly. "Can I have marshmallows in mine?"

Lena grinned, bopping his nose with her finger. "Of course, little man."

They all headed towards the kitchen with the help of their phone torches, chatting about and caressing the lynx in Liam's arms.

"Wait!" Beth shouted, making them all stop. "If he's magical, does that mean we can keep him?"

Lena and Kara shared a look above Eliott's head. Kara's smile betrayed her intentions.

"We'll see when we'll get there." She said anyway.

"Yes!" The twins exclaimed before running to the kitchen in the dark, the lynx whining in Liam's arms.

"We didn't say yes!" Kara shouted at them, making her sister chuckle next to her.

Hospitality and Independence

Thankfully, the electricity came back the next day with the snowstorm strongly diminishing two days after they had found the lynx in Liam's room. Which meant they could finally stop using their phones to light the house and finally know the truth about the little ball of fur who had entered their lives a week ago.

"So," Alex started, hands on her hips in the middle of the basement, observing Lena prepare the material. "Tell me the plan."

It was only the two of them in the basement, Kelly and Kara occupying the kids with some board games for the time being.

"The plan is," Lena replied while keeping her eyes on the syringe. "Take a blood sample from the lynx here then go to the satellite to analyze it and come back with the results."

"Okay, and then what? You just keep him or put him back outside?"

"No." Lena frowned, almost affronted that Alex could think she was that cruel. "We can't put him in the forest. The hunters are keeping watch on the animals around here since they've found a grown lynx eating in one of the farms two weeks ago."

"Oh." Alex approached, caressing the baby animal with pity. "It explains why the twins were that determined to protect him."

Lena sighed, her eyes softening as she put gloves on. "Liam's always been very protective of the nature. They both have been very affected by the situation in town. Thankfully, it's just a baby and not a full grown one."

"Could have been dangerous indeed." Alex nodded to herself as Lena motioned for her to grab the lynx on his nape.

"Just keep him still while I take his blood, I'll make it quick."

They worked together to get the blood sample from the lynx's leg, the animal whining more because he couldn't move than at the pain it caused.

"Here you go, little guy. It's done." Alex cooed as she gathered him in her arms, rubbing his belly. "Don't you think it's weird Kara didn't find out first?"

Lena turned on her stool to shoot her a smirk. "I personally think she knew from the start but I didn't have the time to grill her yet."

Alex let out a laugh. "I think you're right."

Lena threw her plastic gloves in a bin and stood up with the two vials in hand. "Come on, let's see if this guy is magical or not."

The blood analysis was taking more time than planned. Lena didn't want to spend the day on the satellite waiting for the results so she went back home, wanting to spend as much time with her family as possible before Alex and Kelly had to go back to National City.

When she passed the portal and arrived in the middle of the living room, she found the house empty. Soon though, she heard giggles outside. Following the noises, she noticed the kids and Kara and Alex engaged in a snowball fight, the lynx trying to catch snowballs in his mouth, while Kelly was watching from the side, cajoling a crying Eliott who seemed to have one too many snowballs in the face for his liking.

"Hey!" Kelly greeted as Lena passed the bay window. "Always on right time."

Lena chuckled, putting her leather gloves on. She was known to be very competitive in snowball fights, especially when Alex was involved. In poker or in the snow, the two of them could count on the other for a good challenge.

"I guess I have to show them who's the winner here?" Lena smirked at her sister-in-law. Kelly only shook her head, chuckling a bit as Eliott perked up from her neck. Lena narrowed her eyes at him playfully. "What do you say, little man? Want to take revenge on your cousins and sister?"

Eliott seemed to think about the proposition first, glancing at his mother before nodding eagerly to Lena, making Kelly chuckle.

"Alright, come here." Lena extended her hand and took Eliott's gloved one. "We start by making big snowballs." She instructed as they walked in the snow just boarding the terrace.

Eliott giggled as he watched his aunt forming the biggest snowballs he had ever seen. His eyes, though, grew three sizes once he saw three of the balls float in the air.

"Then we put a little sparkle of magic to it." Lena winked at him, controlling the ball with a single hand. She crouched down to his height to ask. "Which one should I throw this one?"

Eliott narrowed his eyes at his family members fighting in the garden a couple of feet away from them, unaware of what would hit them. He then pointed at Kara mischievously. Lena smirked down at him as he hid behind her legs.

"I like your way of thinking, little man."

She then summoned the ball to crash into Kara's back in a flash. Everyone paused, Kara turning slowly around with a playful glare.

"Hey! Magic is cheating!"

"Oh, is it?" Lena shot back, summoning another ball to crash at Alex's laughing face. "I personally think it's fair."

Alex was still gasping on the side, as Kelly was laughing hard on the terrace and Eliott and the kids giggling and squealing, already forming other balls as quick as possible to attack Lena.

"You're so on, Luthor." Alex shot back.

"It's Luthor-Danvers, please." Lena smiled sweetly back, bowing theatrically.

She worked then with Eliott to form a wall of snow in front of them to protect them, using magic obviously to make it last a bit more against the assaults they were receiving from all ends of the garden. At one point, Kara started to float to especially attack Lena above the wall in succession of three balls. Lena giggled hard avoiding them until one hit her square in the face from the left. They all stopped, Lena's glare turning in the direction of the ball. Esme's guilty but smirking face was watching her.

"Good shot, Es'!" Alex exclaimed. "Another like that and she'll leave us alone!"

Lena's eyebrows rose at that. "Oh, this is just starting." She said in a playfully threatening tone. She rounded their fallen wall of snow to run after her goddaughter who squealed as she tried to escape.

Of course, it ended up with Esme and Lena rolling in the snow, with Lena kissing the hell of her goddaughter's cheeks as the teenager was squealing and fighting against her with a false air of disgust. And of course, Kara and Alex had to join, with the twins and Eliott piling up on the pile, making Esme grunt with each person adding to it. And of course, Kelly got everything on camera for posterity.

"Alright, time to warm you all rugrats up." She shouted out from the terrace.

After pulling off their duffle coats, gloves and scarves and putting melting snow everywhere, the kids all gathered in the living room around the fireplace, blankets around their shoulders and hot chocolate in hands. They were chatting quietly with grins on their tired faces, Liam caressing the lynx stuck to his side in a ball, already sleeping. Kara was watching them from the door frame, her heart swelling as she noticed her children share memories with their cousins, knowing their bond was getting stronger with age.

"I got the results from Brainy." Lena said for only Kara to hear as she approached her. Kara circled an arm around her waist, prying eyes silently asking her to pursue. "The lynx is magical." She simply confirmed.

Their eyes traveled back to the lynx and the kids around the fireplace, not knowing what it meant for them yet.

"So, we're keeping him."

It wasn't a question. Lena leaned her head against her wife's shoulder, Kara tightening her arm around her.

"It's not like it was a question anyway."

They shared a look, a small smile gracing Kara's face.

"Go ahead and break the news to them." She said, motioning to the kids with her chin. "We'll discuss about their punishment later. I want them to understand their responsibility now."

Lena frowned, agreeing softly. "I'll talk to Florence about it when she'll come back." She threw the kids a worried look. "I don't know if it's because they're twins, but one familiar for two persons isn't conventional."

"Don't overthink it." Kara rubbed her back reassuringly. "It's good news anyway. It means they're protected, right?"

Lena smiled back at her, confirming her thought. Normally, a familiar spirit would be smaller than that. Wild but not wild enough so they couldn't educate it. It was usually a cat or a dog or even a hare. For a lynx to be the twins' familiar was atypical but not enough for Lena to panic about it. It only meant she had more research to do on the subject and spells to throw to protect them from the repercussions it could have on their family. Especially if the town's inhabitants learned about them sheltering a lynx.

"You're right. I'll make research after the holidays."

"I don't doubt it." Kara smiled at her. "I'll go prepare dinner and see if Kelly and Alex are up to join us on tonight's ritual. Need anything particular?"

Lena pretended to think about it before smiling up at her. "Hum, just a kiss right there and I'll be good." She said, tapping on her lips.

Kara chuckled and leaned forward to press their lips together softly, her thumb caressing her wife's cheek lovingly. She pulled away too quickly for Lena's liking but they kind of had an audience so…

"I love you." Kara whispered against her cheek, kissing it with the words.

"Love you too."

"Now, go tell the kids." Kara shoved her towards the living room, Beth already watching them suspiciously.

Lena giggled before walking to the circle and crouching down next to Esme. "So, I have big news." She announced.

Not a minute later, squeals and laughter of victory could be heard from the kitchen. Kara chuckled, shaking her head as she was pealing off potatoes. She didn't need her super hearing to hear the joy in her children's tones.

After Eliot was put to bed, Alex, Kelly and Esme join Lena, Kara and the twins in the living room to meditate. It was the eighth night of Yule's celebration and for that, they were all gathered around the fireplace in a circle, welcoming the warmth of the logs burning as Lena guided them into meditation.

"Can you explain a bit more about Yule's customs?" Esme asked softly after a while.

Lena opened her eyes to see Esme was addressing her. She looked around to see everyone with their eyes closed. "Of course." She smiled, clearing her throat. "Yule is an old Nordic sabbath. To put it shortly, we celebrate the rebirth of the light since from this point of the year the daylight will last longer." She explained calmly, inhaling and exhaling. "We celebrate during twelve nights. It starts the evening before the winter solstice on December 21th this year, which is called Mothers' night, and will end on Oath's night, on January 1st." She paused to evaluate how she could summarize the rest before meeting Esme's eyes. "Each night corresponds to a value you can meditate on. Tonight is about hospitality."

Esme nodded, closing her eyes once again with her hands clasped around her knees, inhaling and exhaling quietly.

"So, it's almost finished." She replied since they were already on December 28th.

Lena didn't chastise her for talking when they all should be silent, only smiling and indulging her goddaughter's curiosity.

"It is but it doesn't mean we have to take the last values lightly." She winked back, shooting a pointed look to her children who were already chatting with each other, straightening when they met their mother's look.

"But why don't we celebrate it anymore? Why is it Christmas and not Yule?" Esme continued, frowning.

Lena smiled at her. "It's a bit long, mostly linked to Christianity and how it replaced all pagan beliefs. I have books on it if you want to learn more."

Esme nodded eagerly before closing her eyes once again, letting their circle fall in a peaceful silence. At some point, Lena opened her eyes, content with her meditation, and observed her family around her. Kara's eyes were working hard under their sockets but she seemed calm. Alex and Kelly were leaning against each other, eyes closed, with a frown for Alex. And the twins were strangely focused on their meditation. Lena almost suspected they had fallen asleep on the spot.

"You can stop whenever you feel like you pondered on the value enough." Lena announced calmly. "Feel free to do it as long as you need." She added in a soft tone.

She wrote her own wish on her now well-used paper and tore the piece with her wish apart to burn it over the candle and throw it in the bowl prepared for it. She met Esme's open eyes above the candles, clearly waiting for the next instructions.

"Now you can write what you expect to change, or what you learned on yourself on your paper, you tear the piece off and burn it with the candle, wishing for it to be realized during the next year or to be let go if it's something you want to change."

Esme frowned, hesitating over her paper, her pen circling the lines. Lena leaned over her and whispered in her ear.

"I wish for the anxiety of welcoming people in my house to go away because I think I can be a better host without all the unnecessary stress going with it." She explained, sharing a look with Esme.

The teenager seemed to understand and started to write on her paper before burning it cautiously then throwing it in the bowl. Ten minutes later, they all had their wish written on paper and burnt in the bowl, the twins already eager to move and go play. Kara let them go prepare the board game as Lena tidied up the materials they used, Alex and Kelly hanging back to help her.

"That was fun. I thought it would involve more magic tricks." Alex said while passing the papers to Lena.

"Oh, there is a trick." Lena smirked before her lips fell into a soft smile. "I just think that making it more earthy is good for the twins. They must understand magic is also a philosophy, not just powers you can play with."

Alex nodded seriously, a small smile gracing her lips. "I respect that." She said after a moment.

"Yeah, and the history behind your beliefs sounds really interesting." Kelly added, taking the candles with her. "If Esme borrows you books about it, I will certainly take a look at it too."

"Well, go ahead." Lena motioned to the shelves full of books around them. "It's all yours." She winked.

Devotion and Persistence

The next days were tainted by the sour taste of Kelly and Alex future departure. Since they were joining a party with friends to celebrate the new year, they were leaving just the day before New Year's Eve. As Kara was helping Alex fold their laundry while Kelly was preparing their luggage with Esme, Lena entered the kitchen in quick steps.

"I need to talk to you about something." She said discreetly to Kara. Not so discreetly for Alex to ignore it.

Kara nodded and followed her into the hall, not before asking if her sister was okay to be left alone. Lena didn't wait long to talk.

"I learned today that a familiar can be summoned by a mark and I wanted to discuss it with you."

Kara frowned. "When you say a mark, you mean like your coven mark?" Her eyes went directly to Lena's wrist unconsciously.

"Yes, it works exactly the same." Lena said, her hand clasping around her wrist. "But I think the kids aren't old enough to have one. I don't want them to summon the lynx in the middle of the school or I don't know, during judo practice." She said with wild gestures.

Kara smirked, already seeing their kids raising chaos. "I just think the same. The problem's solved then. We'll wait for them to be old enough to understand it first."

Lena shook her head deceptively. "That's not that simple. Sometimes the marks appear without consent just because the bond between the familiar and the witch is too strong."

Kara rubbed her chin pensively. "I see. You want to make sure they don't have it yet."

Lena nodded, lips pinched. She didn't like invading their kids' privacy but it was important for them to know if they didn't want them to summon the lynx by accident and divulge their secrets. She could already think about fifteen different scenarios of how it could turn badly.

"We'll have to find a way to see if anything has changed on them without raising suspicion."

Lena's raised eyebrow showed her skepticism. "We're talking about our kids. If Liam is innocent enough not to suspect anything, Beth will for sure."

"And what about telling them directly?"

"You know well enough that when we ask them not to do something they actually do it."

Kara sighed, the crinkle in the middle of her eyebrows showing her frustration. "Let's just think about it some more. It can wait a bit, right?"

Lena shrugged. "Not too long. I'd like to know before they go back to school."

Kara sighed once again, hands on her hips as she stared at the floor. "Right."

Lena bit her lower lips then took a step forward, pulling Kara to her with a finger crooked in her jeans belt loop. They collapsed against each other on the side table, Kara gasping a bit in surprise.

"Don't worry, darling." Lena smiled at her, caressing her wife's cheek with the back of her hand. "We'll think some more about a ruse and find out if our little monsters are already marked or not."

The solution came easily the next day in the middle of the afternoon, as Lena and Kara were helping the twins finish their homework since school was starting back a few days into January. All set on the kitchen island with books and pens all over it and the lynx on Beth's lap because 'he helps her focus', Kara was helping Liam on his English paper while Lena was guiding Beth into solving a maths problem.

"Come on, Beth. You've solved half of it." Lena encouraged her daughter, her eyes on the tea bag she was drying up on her spoon.

"I don't get how James could lose two third of his candies. Why didn't he put them in his pocket?"

Lena rolled her eyes before turning back to her daughter, watching Kara's knowing smile spread on her face above Liam's face.

"You don't have to discuss the logic. We only want to know how many candies James still has."

"He had 27 candies at first and lost two third." Beth reasoned, watching her mother for confirmation. "So, the answer is the one third left."

"Yes, so how many?" Lena insisted.

Beth frowned, her tongue sticking out as she bit into it. Her hands went to the lynx's fur, diving in it, the animal purring on her lap. The lynx was getting well accustomed to his life inside the house. With a few accidents of peeing in the middle of the kitchen or scouring the garbage at night, he mostly followed the rules and asked to be left outside twice a day. He kept following the twins everywhere and that day was a good example of how the twins couldn't let him be either.

Lena watched as her daughter's eyes traveled on the animal, a small smile on her face before it morphed into a gasp.

"Beth, don't be distract-"

"Mom, look!" Beth interrupted her.

Lena frowned and leaned over Beth's stool to see what she was showing her. There, right behind the lynx's ear, was a mark. Freshly burnt, like an old tattoo we could find on an animal. Only this one wasn't a normal animal. Lena's eyes immediately shot up to Kara's in alarm.

"What is it?" Liam asked with worry.

"Nothing." Lena reassured quickly, before touching the mark in the shape of a witch's knot, making it glow a bit.

Thankfully, the lynx didn't react to it as Beth touched it too, then Kara who had rounded the island, then Liam who watched it glow in wonder.

"What's this?" Liam wondered aloud.

Lena didn't respond at first, just passed her hand in her son's jet-black hair and found her confirmation. The mark was right there, a bit smaller, just under her son's ear. She found it quite astonishing that he didn't feel it burn on his skin.

Kara had seen Lena's fingers find the mark so she did the same to Beth. The mark was more deeply hidden, thanks to her long blond hair, and just on the other side of her ear, as if Liam and herself were two parts of the same coin.

"I guess we have our answer." Kara shot Lena a glance. They had a lot of things to explain now.

The twins took the news well. They seemed to understand they couldn't use it lightly but Lena and Kara prepared themselves for future interventions. They were kids with magical powers and a familiar. It already had havoc written all over it.

"Does that mean his mom was magical too?" Liam asked pensively.

Lena watched him rub the lynx's belly with care, smiling as the lynx rolled on the carpeted floor to have more cuddles. They had agreed to reply to all their children's questions until they didn't have any. Transparency was one of the motto in this family.

"It could be. It's not a coincidence he appeared on our doorstep on Mothers' night though. This is the night the veil is the thinner." She explained.

"That's so cool! We have our own little protector!" Beth exclaimed with wild gestures, already planning adventures with the lynx and her brother.

"It doesn't mean you can do whatever you want, still." Lena warned as Kara hummed next to her on the couch.

"By the way, you know you're both still grounded after the holidays, right?" Kara added, her tone not so stern.

"What! Why?!" The twins both protested.

"You lied to us," Lena reminded them, counting on her fingers. "You stole food and decided it was better to hide a wild animal in our house than ask for our help."

"But it was for a good cause!" Liam complained.

"Still." Kara stopped him with a hand. "You should know you can trust us. We're family."

"It also counts for all your aunts and uncles and cousins. And grandparents." Lena said. "You can go talk to them if you find yourself in need of help."

Beth and Liam both crossed their arms, pouting dramatically. "Fine." Beth grumbled.

"What will be our punishment?" Liam asked.

Kara and Lena shared an amused glance, because they both knew the twins weren't exactly grounded. They just wanted them to learn an important lesson and take responsibility for what they did.

"First, grocery shopping with Jeju to replace the food in the cellar." Lena said with a raised eyebrow as both children looked suspiciously at her.

"That doesn't sound like a punishment." Beth said slowly. Lena threw her a pointed glare to which Beth reacted by imaginary zipping her mouth close.

"Then fixing the generator downstairs with me." Lena continued.

"Okay, that is a punishment." Beth quipped while Liam pumped his fist up, happy to help his mother.

"And cleaning all the laundry you stole to make a bed for him." Kara finished.

At that, Beth and Liam looked at each other then back at their mothers.

"We didn't steal anything." Liam frowned, plainly honest.

"Don't lie, our socks have been disappearing for two weeks."

"That's not us." The twins said, strangely in sync for once.

Lena and Kara shared a weirded look. If it wasn't the kids who stole their socks, who was it? What was going on in this house? Lena was already planning how much sage she would need to cleanse the house when Liam's spoke again.

"What will happen if the hunters find him?" He asked with a serious face.

At that, Lena and Kara had already an answer. Kara smiled at her before replying.

"They won't." She said proudly.

"I did another test on him." Lena explained. "He has all the invisibility markers. He only shows up for people believing in magic."

Both kids turned their amazed gazes towards the lynx.

"Awesome!"

"Incredible." Liam breathed out like a scientist discovering a new breach.

"You'll have to take care of him though." Kara pointed out.

"As if we didn't have enough mouths to feed." Lena exhaled dramatically, giggling when Beth poke her with her elbow, as if it could upset the lynx.

"So, we can keep him forever?"

"Yes," Lena replied with a raised finger, raising her voice to speak above the kids' squeals of delight. "But only outside!"

"Yes!" Both twins shouted in victory.

"He's very cute." Kara cooed while scratching the baby lynx's chin.

"His name is Lynxy." Beth said cheekily.

Lena rolled her eyes as Kara grinned back at their daughter, knowing her wife had always wanted a pet in their house. Even if a wild lynx wasn't the best option, Lena's face softened into an easy smile. Nothing was conventional in this family anyway. And Lynxy was indeed very cute.

Oath’s night

On Oath's night, the family gathered around the brazier on the terrace with hot chocolates in their hands – covered in cinnamon for Lena and marshmallows for Kara and the kids. Usually, they would share their wishes for the next year, laughing about the usual wish for Beth to finally be able to fly like Jeju, and hugging over Kara's wish for a year full of love, just like the past one.

This time, they were all sporting tired faces and inhabited eyes, lost in the dance of the flames or watching the stars in the sky, as their minds wandered into the memories of the past two weeks, the lynx snoring at the brazier feet.

Liam was so tightly snuggled against Lena under their shared blanket that when he opened his mouth to speak, Lena shivered.

"Jeju, can you tell again the story of Flamebird and Vohc?" He asked softly, his gaze never quitting the stars.

Kara expelled a surprised breath as Beth jumped on her lap, urging her to retell the story.

"Oh, yeah, Jeju, please!"

Kara threw a sorry look at Lena who just smiled at her. "Don't you both want your mother to tell the story of the Holly King and the Oak King instead? It's more convenient on Oath's night."

Beth rolled her eyes dramatically. "We know this story already. The two brothers fight every winter solstice to share light and darkness. One part of the year, the Holly King is reigning and the other part, it's his brother."

Kara shot Lena a glance to see her reaction, expecting a wounded face but Lena was smirking a bit, daring her to say she had indoctrinated their children too much with her witch stories. Squinting her eyes, Kara suspected she just wanted her to tell the story again.

"Oh, but if you know that much about it, why don't you tell us this one first?"

Beth huffed, crossing her arms. "But the one about the twin gods is better."

"And you tell stories better than Beth, Jeju." Liam added on the pile of reasons why Kara should tell her story.

She shared a silent discussion with Lena, asking through her eyes if it was okay for her to tell a Kryptonian story on a night supposedly dedicated to Lena's beliefs. Lena only shrugged, smiling softly.

"Alright, alright!" She said with two hands, her breath forming smog in front of her mouth. "So, Rao, the Sun god created many things in our world. His first creations were Vohc, the god of creation, and his sister Flamebird, the goddess of destruction. While Vohc was sent to us to build the world, Flamebird had to destroy his creation, as an infinite circle."

The story of the Holly King and the Oak King was strangely similar in a way, Kara realized as she told the tale. One had his life dedicated to light while the other was devoted to darkness. Vohc was seen as a positive figure, just like the Oak King reigning during spring and summer. The similarities didn't stop there. It was a sibling story. One in which a brother and a sister fought to take power.

"As Vohc was reimagining the world, striving to perfection, Flamebird kept destroying his creations one after the other. But Vohc got tired of Flamebird always destroying what he did. He was tired of always being tasked to outdone himself. After Flamebird had destroyed his most cherished creation, he got really angry. So, he took revenge."

Both twins gasped, sitting on the edge of their sits as Kara retold the story. Lena shot her an amused glance. Kara secretly loved telling stories about Krypton to the twins. They were always so invested in it.

"Flamebird had a lover, who's name was Nightwing, the god of shadows. They weren't supposed to meet, since Nightwing only lived in the shadows but they managed to do it, against Vohc's will and they fell in love."

"Wasn't he her brother?" Beth asked, scrunching up her face in disgust.

Kara laughed good-naturedly. "He was also created by Rao, so technically, I guess he was."

"Ewww, gross."

Kara laughed once more as Liam shushed his sister. "It's just like that in mythology, you know how it is."

"So, what did Vohc do to take revenge?" Lena asked to interrupt any other inquiries from Beth who seemed to be distracted by what she just learned.

"Right, so Vohc created crystals. A strange form of them that could imprison somebody in the Phantom Zone."

"He didn't!" Liam exclaimed from his mother's lap, only to be shushed by his sister this time.

"Yes, he did!" Kara confirmed. "To punish Flamebird, he imprisoned Nightwing in the Phantom Zone from where he couldn't escape."

"But what did they do? Did Flamebird save him?" Beth asked eagerly.

Kara smiled softly at her. "No, she couldn't. She was desperate. She asked Rao to help her but it was too late. Even Rao couldn't destroy Vohc's creations. It was only Flamebird's job."

"But if she destroyed the Phantom Zone, it meant…" Liam couldn't finish his sentence. Kara confirmed his thoughts with a sad smile.

"It meant she had to destroy his lover inside it too."

Gasps and outraged gestures were the twins' reactions. Lena kept shooting amused glances to her wife. Kara knew how to keep them on their toes.

"So, what did she do?" Beth asked.

"Nothing." Kara said mysteriously. Seeing the kids' curious eyes, even if they already knew the story, she smiled at them. "Thankfully, their love was so strong that after some time, Nightwing found a solution himself."

"What was it?" It was Liam's turn this time to sound eager.

"He used the shadows to appear to Flamebird." Kara explained. "It wasn't ideal. They couldn't touch but at least they were together and Vohc couldn't hurt them anymore. That was enough for them."

The silence fell on them after the story, the kids stuck in their thoughts until Beth exhaled soundly.

"At least, you're not that terrible as a brother."

They all looked at her, Liam being the first surprised. He chuckled then, shaking his head.

"You're not that terrible either." He smiled at her.

Lena and Kara watched them share something purely between them, that bond, that sort of knowledge of each other they were the only ones to have. It was magical in a way. And it was reassuring to know that, even after all these childish fights, all these disagreements, they still had each other's back.

Lena noticed the slightly bright look on her wife's face, the unshed tears threatening to fall as she hid her smile in Beth's hair, kissing her softly, and she smiled at her. Maybe they weren't so bad as parents after all.

"Okay, it's time to go to bed now." Lena announced, taking Liam in her arms to carry him inside.

"Mom, I'm not a baby." He grumbled but she didn't put him down anyway, too happy to hear him complain.

"It's not that late!" Beth said behind them.

"Well, it's past your bedtime during school period and you have to accustom yourself back to school rhythm so…" Kara put her down in the kitchen. "Go brush your teeth. We'll come in a moment to kiss you goodnight."

The twins obeyed a bit reluctantly, the lynx following them upstairs, leaving their parents alone in the kitchen. Kara approached Lena as she was cleaning their mugs in the sink and circled her arms around her.

"What a busy two weeks."

Lena snorted against her, putting the last mug on the sink to dry and turning in her arms. "You can say that."

"You're not disappointed we didn't celebrate like you wanted to tonight?"

Lena shook her head, her arms snaking around Kara's neck. She rolled on her toes to kiss her softly but longingly before pulling away.

"No, it was perfect. A relaxing moment of sharing, just as it should be." She smiled lovingly.

Kara simply nodded, kissing her once again before drifting on her jaw then neck, Lena moaning softly under her attention.

"Want to go to bed?"

Lena paused, smirking. "Is that a proposition?" She felt Kara smile against her skin.

"Can be."

"Let's say goodnight to the kids first."

"Kara?"

"Hum?"

"How come you didn't sense there was a lynx in our son's bedroom?"

"Uh I guess my senses aren't as accurate as they used to be."

There was a pause. Then Lena turned back in her wife's arms, the bed sheets falling down on their bare bodies.

"You knew, didn't you?" She didn't need any light to imagine Kara's remorseful look on her face. "Of course you did." She sighed, a small smile spreading on her face.

"I just wanted to see how they'll deal with it!"

"They could've been hurt." Lena pointed out.

"They're half Kryptonian and he's just a baby, he can only scratch them a bit. Nothing serious." Lena scoffed, turning back before Kara stopped her. "I wanted to see how long they'd last before telling us."

"Well, now you know." Lena turned fully around but leaned against her wife anyway. "I swear sometimes I have three children."

Kara giggled against her and kissed her under the ear. "Not sure about that."

Kara couldn't see Lena's smirk in the dark, but she was sure it was just right there, betraying their shared unorthodox thoughts.