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Chapter Text

Kara had moved in with Lena and Lizzie in the third week of October, 2016. Ten months later, on the anniversary of her coming out to the world, on Lizzie’s birthday, August 16th, 2017, Kara proposed to Lena.

The three of them had gone to Taneda’s and Mrs. Taneda had doted on little Lizzie, now 6 years old and just entering first grade. When Mrs. Taneda showed them to a private table upstairs with a booster chair for Lizzie, she bragged to Kara, “Now I tell people that I knew you years before the rest of the world did. It makes my grandchildren happy.”

Kara stood from her seat and hugged Mrs. Taneda a second time that day, then asked, “Send me the day of your next big family gathering. If I’m not out saving someone, I’ll come  to your event to meet your grandchildren and confirm that you’ve known me for years.”

“You would do this for me?” asked Mrs. Taneda.

“You kept my secret when I asked you to. You’ve been a good friend, Mrs. Taneda,” said Kara.

“I will do that! We don’t have a day planned yet but with holidays coming, there will be one soon!” said Mrs. Taneda. “Now I get back to the kitchen to oversee my staff, yes? You pick something good for the little one there!” And without waiting for a response, Mrs. Taneda wandered off again.

Once they were alone, Lizzie grinned at Kara with Lena wondering what was going through her daughter’s mind, but as that thought even formed, Lizzie pointed out across the bay and said, “Look! Look! Do you see it, Mommy!”

Lena squinted but saw nothing out on the bay but Lizzie was insistent. “Over there! See it?”

“No, I don’t see what you’re pointing at, darling,” said Lena.

Lizzie turned and hugged her mother around her neck. “I fooled you!”

Lena laughed. “Why did you fool me?”

“Because Kara!” replied the little girl.

But as Lena turned, Kara wasn’t in her seat anymore and instead was down on one knee with a small jewelry box that she opened.

Lena gasped, her mouth open in surprise as Kara said, “Lena, you make every day better for me. You’re there for me at every moment. I can’t imagine going through life without you. Will you marry me, Lena  Luthor?”

Lena leaned down toward Kara, cupping her face with both hands. “I’ve never been happier, more fulfilled, or felt safer than when I am with you. You’re my sunshine, my motivation. Yes, I will marry you, Kara Danvers!”

Kara had also arranged for the entire proposal to be filmed so Lena, Lizzie, and Kara later reviewed the footage and then uploaded it to Instagram. They had a huge following and this sent their fans and admirers into a tizzy.

In that first year living together, there had been two subsequent attempts on Lena and Lizzie’s lives, both of which Kara stopped. But those ended when Lena and Lillian closed off the last of Lex’s hidden funding mechanism in the Spring of 2017. And in April of 2018, they had married in a large public Earth style wedding ceremony, then held a separate, much smaller ceremony in Kryptonian style.

Thus we find ourselves in June of 2018, after Lena and Kara are married, after Lizzie has completed second grade, and with Kara having been living with Lena and Lizzie for nearly 21 months now.

*****

In the early evening hours with the sun still shining, Kara had flown Lizzie down to the park just a block from the L-Corp building, the same park which sat adjacent to the Luthor Foundation building that Lillian had purchased and from which she now ran the family’s charitable foundation.

As Kara pushed Lizzie on the swing, Lizzie remarked, “I want to fly like you, Mama Kara.”

“I can only fly because I’m a Kryptonian, honey. You’re from this world and humans don’t fly, at least not without machines to help,”  said Kara.

“I had a dream I was flying with you, beside you, not holding your hand,” said Lizzie.

“It’s always good to dream, Lizzie, but we also have to be realistic about what we can and cannot do,” said Kara gently.

“I’m smart, like you and Mommy. I’ll figure it out!” said Lizzie emphatically. Then, in classic Lizzie fashion, she changed topics. “Since we’re at the park, can we go by Mel’s Bakery?”

Kara smiled at that. “Yes, we can. Shall we get the oatmeal raisin cookies or the chocolate chip ones?”

“You know we don’t get those anymore. We get the Lizzie Luthor specials, oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies with icing!” said Lizzie.

Kara laughed, remembering when they’d gone to Mel’s and Lizzie, who was having trouble deciding what to ask for that day, had instead asked the owner, Mel Turner, if he had any oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies. He didn’t, but he suggested she come back the next day. When they did, they found the Lizzie Luthor Special, a single cookie that combined the goodness of oatmeal raisin cookies with chocolate chips. Lizzie wouldn’t accept any other kind now.

After buying a dozen of those cookies, Kara flew herself and Lizzie up to Lena’s balcony. It was almost 6:30 pm and Lena had been working late far too often so Kara and Lizzie had taken to interrupting her for dinner.

When they landed, Lizzie knocked on the sliding glass door and Lena pulled it open. Kara put Lizzie down and Lizzie took the bag from the bakery. “Time for dinner, Mommy. It’s time to stop working,” said the little girl. “And we got cookies!”

Lena laughed as she stood and said, “I see!” She leaned down to kiss the top of Lizzie’s head then took a few steps to close in to Kara. Sliding her arms around her neck, she said, “Thank you for reminding me to stop.”

Kara leaned in and kissed her then asked, “Thai tonight?”

“Thai sounds good!” said Lizzie.

Lena grinned at Kara then looked at Lizzie and agreed. “Then I guess it’s Thai tonight!”

*****

After dinner, after Lizzie had a bath, Lena and Kara read a chapter of The Hobbit to Lizzie, each taking turns. When the chapter was done, they’d kissed her goodnight, tucked her in, turned off her light, then left the room, closing the door behind them.

Lizzie had taken to using this time to think and dream about things she wanted, though she usually fell asleep really quickly. Tonight, she was going to be up for a bit longer than normal.

She had just finished talking to her stuffed animal, and was wiggling in her bed to get perfectly comfortable since she was a side sleeper. That’s when a soft glow appeared, floating above the foot of her bed. She blinked twice and rolled over to face it. It looked to be a girl just a few years older than herself. She was facing the window, at a 90 degree angle to the head of the bed so she seemed to not notice Lizzie at first.

Finally she said, softly, “Who are you?”

Startled, the floating figure turned toward Lizze and stared. “Lizzie?” The girl’s voice sounded incredulous.

Lizzie asked, “How do you know my name?”

But the girl’s attention went toward the door. She turned back to Lizzie and said, “Sorry!” Then she vanished.

Lizzie got up and ran out to the living room. “Mommy! Momma Kara! There was a girl floating in my room!”

Lena and Kara looked at each other then walked back to Lizzie’s bedroom. After turning on the light and inspecting the room thoroughly, Kara said, “There’s no sign of entry.”

Lena looked around then said, “No, but… it doesn’t feel right.”

“What do you mean, Lee?” asked Kara.

“I don’t know,” said Lena. “I can’t quantify this. There’s no physical evidence, it just feels… odd. Not dangerous, just odd.”

Turning to Kara, Lena said, “I’d feel safer if she slept with us tonight. Do you mind?”

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” said Kara. “They took Lizzie to their room, tucked her in, and in short order, the little girl was asleep again.

Chapter Text

The following morning, after Kara had gone to work and Lizzie was playing in her playroom, Lena returned to Lizzie’s bedroom with various instruments. She took all sorts of measurements but nothing showed up as out of the ordinary. Convinced that her feelings must have just been emotional overreaction, she dismissed this as just the overactive imagination of her daughter.

Dinner was calm after Kara and Lizzie came to interrupt Lena after working late again. Kara and Lena read Lizzie another chapter in The Hobbit. And then Lizzie was getting ready to fall asleep again. Unfortunately, Kara got called away for a Supergirl emergency so she ran out of the bedroom, changed, and was off into the skies.

Lena tucked Lizzie in and turned out the lights, but once again, the soft glow appeared along with the girl, floating, crosslegged, above the end of Lizzie’s bed. But this time the girl was looking right at Lizzie.

“Hi again,” said the floating girl.

“Um, hi, but why are you in my room? And who are you?” asked Lizzie.

“Oh,” said the girl looking around. “This is my room, or at least it will be. And my name is Lara. Lara Danvers Luthor.”

“How could you be Lara Danvers-Luthor? Mommy and Kara just got married,” said Lizzie.

“You’re Lizzie, aren’t you?” asked Lara.

“Yes, I’m Lizzie. Why?” asked Lizzie.

“You’re my big sister. You had the bedroom at the end of the hall until you went off to college,” said Lara. “You’re the one who taught me how to astral project. It’s kind of weird seeing you this little.”

“I’m not little,” said Lizzie indignantly, “and what is astral project?”

“You don’t  know any of that yet?” asked Lara, surprised.

“Know any of what?” asked Lizzie right back at her.

“Magic!” said Lara. “I have genes from Momma Kara and from Momma Lena so I have powers like Momma Kara but I have magic like Momma Lena.”

“Magic?” asked Lizzie, clearly not sure what was going on. “You mean like the evil witch used magic to make a poison apple? Mommy doesn’t have magic!”

Lara shook her head, “Not like that. I mean, I can think of some things and they happen. Not everything, and I have to focus really hard, but I can make some things happen just from thinking about them.”

“If I’m supposed to be older than you then why am I littler than you?” asked Lizzie.

“I guess I astrally projected into the past, when you were still little. I didn’t know you ever had this room. It was my nursery then my bedroom. I only knew that you had the bedroom at the end of the hall.”

Lizzie’s forehead crinkled as she tried to understand this.

Lara looked at her and said, “I’m 13. And you’re 22 in my time. And if they just got married, then it’s, I guess, 2018 where you are?”

Lizzie thought about it and remembered that the year was 2018. She nodded.

Lara smiled at her. “I won’t be born for two more years yet. But Mommy needs to have her magic for me to be born. She never told me how she got her magic, just that it happened before I was born,” Lara paused, then added, “because of you.”

“Mommy gets magic because of me?” asked Lizzie. “But I’m not magic.”

“You’re Lena Luthor’s daughter so you have to have magic,” countered Lara.

“But I don’t!” said Lizzie.

“It’s there. We just have to find it. Want me to help you find it?” asked Lara.

“Yes!” said Lizzie.

“Okay, come touch my hand,” said Lara.

Lizzie crawled out from under the covers and lifted her hand. Lara’s hand didn’t exactly touch Lizzie’s but Lizzie could feel something there, and after a moment, they connected.

“Now we don’t have to talk out loud,” said Lara via the mental link to Lizzie.

“Why don’t we want to talk out loud?” asked Lizzie.

“Because Momma Kara would hear us talking then come find us and maybe stop us,” said Lara. “I have to teach you this. The older you told me I have to teach you this.”

“But why?” asked Lizzie.

“Because someday soon, the only person who can save Momma Kara is you, Lizzie,” said Lara.

Lizzie sat there, frightened for a moment, but then she decided that she could be a hero too. If Momma Kara needed to be saved, Lizzie would save her, just like Momma Kara had saved Lizzie. She didn’t know how, or where, or why, or when, but she’d learn this thing called magic just so she could do it. She looked at Lara and nodded.

Lara nodded back. “We’ve done enough for tonight but start trying to make things happen with your thoughts, Lizzie. Be careful. Don’t let others see you. Just see what you can do. I have to go now though. I’ll come here every night at 8:30. Momma Lena and Momma Kara put you to bed a bit after 8, right?”

Lizzie nodded again. Lara continued, “Then I’ll be here at 8:30. We won’t work too long, but we’ll work on something each night. Goodnight, sis. Get your sleep. You’ll need it! I love you!”

“I love you, too!” thought Lizzie, as Lara vanished. And even though she’d just met Lara, she felt the strength of her sister’s love for her through their bond.

Lizzie pulled her blankets up around her and closed her eyes. A few moments later,  the door opened and Momma Kara, apparently back from her errand, looked in briefly, then closed the door.

The next morning as Lizzie got dressed, she remembered that she’d kicked her shoes under her desk, so she tried to think of her shoes coming to her feet. She closed her eyes and thought really hard about it. They didn’t move but Lizzie thought she felt something.

She tried again, this time with her eyes open, imagining her shoes coming to her. They didn’t come to her, but one of her sneakers, which had been propped up on its side, flipped over completely. She got up and walked over to her desk and picked up her shoes, then sat on the floor to put them on, still thinking about how that felt. She wasn’t sure if she had done that or if it was just an accident, but after talking to Lara the night before, she began to wonder.

Chapter Text

On the fifth night of Lara’s visits, after many failed attempts at basic telekinesis of an object, Lizzie moved something but with Lara’s help. Lara’s projected self touched Lizzie’s shoulder and tried to “guide” her through the exercise. This worked better than expected.

“I moved it!” thought Lizzie.

“Yes, you did! Good for you, Lizzie!” replied Lara via their mental link.

“I’m gonna tell Momma Kara tomorrow,” thought Lizzie, with excitement.

“If you do that, they might stop us from meeting. You can’t tell them, not yet. Not until you really can do things with your magic,” answered Lara.

“Oh, okay,” thought Lizzie in response.

“I have to go now, but try to move things tomorrow. Do little things, like move a pencil at school, okay?” asked Lara.

“I’ll try,” said Lizzie uncertainly.

“I have faith in you,” said Lara, “but I have to go now. Night, Lizzie!”

Lizzie smiled and thought, “Night Lara!” as the other girl vanished again.

The following morning, Kara looked at Lizzie while she sat at the breakfast table. “I can hear your heartbeat, you know. You seem to be having trouble falling asleep at night. Is everything okay?” asked Kara.

“It’s okay, Momma Kara,” said Lizzie. “I’m just trying to practice magic but I’m not good at it yet.”

“Practice magic?” asked Kara.

“I’m going to move things with my mind,” said Lizzie, with clear certainty in her voice.

“Oh,” replied Kara. “Telekinesis is a thing but it’s very rare, honey.”

“I’ll get it, Momma Kara! I’ll keep practicing!” said Lizzie.

That morning it was Kara’s turn to take Lizzie to advanced placement summer school sessions so she flew her there before returning to the apartment. Lizzie always loved flying to school.

Once Kara had returned, she said to Lena, “Do you think we should stop reading The Hobbit to Lizzie?”

“Why? Is something wrong?” asked Lena, looking at Kara with concern.

“She was talking this morning about moving things with her mind,” said Kara. “I don’t want her getting unrealistic ideas then being disappointed by a story.”

“Oh, every child thinks about magic, about waving a magic wand to make things happen, darling,” said Lena. “It’s just a phase. She’ll find something else to latch onto soon enough.”

Kara smiled at Lena, stepping closer, then giving her a soft kiss as she wrapped her arms around Lena’s waist. “If you didn’t have a board meeting in 25 minutes and if I didn’t have an all hands meeting at CatCo at the same time, I’d take you back to bed, Lee.”

Lena kissed her back, a light playful kiss. “Hold that thought for later, love.”

Reluctantly, they each set about for their day’s activities.

*****

Across town, after lunch and after lunch recess, students had returned to class at The Marie Curie School For Gifted Children. After a 30 minute session, the class began lining up to walk to the auditorium for a school assembly.

As they did so, one of the boys in Lizzie’s class shoved Jennifer Armand, a friend of Lizzie’s. Jennifer almost stumbled but caught herself.

The teacher turned around and said,  “What’s going on back here?”

The boy who had shoved Jennifer, named Chad Rusk. said, “Jenny here’s just a klutz and almost fell over.”

The teacher gave him a harsh stare but he didn’t stop smirking.

“My name is Jennifer!” said Jennifer.

“Quiet, children, and both of you behave,” said the teacher before returning her attention to the front of the line and the door.

“Walk with me,” Lizzie said to Jennifer, who stepped back, allowing Chad to step in front of them. But as the boy did so, he elbowed Jennifer as he passed. This angered Lizzie.

It was at that moment that the line began to move. Their class moved down the hallway, a few steps between each student. As they walked, Chad turned back and sneered at them both.

The thought came to Lizzie quickly, still angry at his bullying, “Fall down!” she thought, and as Chad turned back toward the front of the line, he fell. He caught himself as he hit the floor. He wasn’t injured but the teacher stopped the class and hurried back to him.

“She pushed me!” said Chad, pointing his finger at Jennifer.

“She was behind me, Mrs Redford. She couldn’t have pushed him,” retorted Lizzie.

“Did you push him, Lizzie?” asked Mrs. Redford.

“No!” exclaimed Lizzie. “I keep my hands to myself.”

Mrs. Redford pulled Chad out of the line and took him to the front of the class as the line began to move again. Satisfied that she’d separated the troublemakers, they continued down the hall. The auditorium was a bit of a walk from their classroom.

But Lizzie was both still angry at Chad and thrilled that he’d fallen, so she decided to see if she could do it again. “Fall, Chad!”

And Chad fell again, this time trying to catch himself with both hands on Mrs. Redford’s skirt as he fell. The teacher stopped, a look of horror on her face as Chad seemed to be trying to tear her skirt off of her. She grabbed her own skirt and held on to it, so he failed, but at that point, Mrs. Redford had had enough. She told the class to stand along the wall as she dragged Chad off to the principal’s office. Once she returned they continued to the assembly.

That evening, as Kara was pushing Lizzie on a swing after her homework was done, Lizzie asked, “Do you ever hurt someone just cause they’re bad, Momma?”

“Sometimes bad people get hurt when they decide to fight me, Lizzie, but we should never want to hurt someone just because they are bad,” said Kara. “That’s being bad in itself.”

“Oh,” said Lizzie, as she became very quiet.

“Did you hurt someone that was being bad?” asked Kara as she stopped the swing and lifted Lizzie into her arms. At 7 years old she was big but never too big for Kara.

“Chad pushed Jennifer then lied and called her a klutz when the teacher asked,” said Lizzie, “so I made him trip and he got in trouble for grabbing Mrs. Redford’s dress when he fell.”

Kara looked at Lizzie gently. “Chad was being a bully and should not have done that, but what you did is not the right way to handle that situation,” said Kara, disappointment clear in her voice.

That disappointment hit Lizzie square in her heart. She never wanted to disappoint Momma Kara. “I won’t do it again, Momma,” said Lizzie.

“That’s my girl,” said Kara, smiling at her again. “Shall we interrupt Mommy Lena for dinner again?”

“Yes!” shouted Lizzie. “Can we do pizza tonight? We haven’t done pizza in a while!”

“I don’t see why not,” said Kara. “Let’s go see what Lena wants though too.”

They did have pizza that night.

Chapter Text

The evening after pizza for dinner, Kara felt she had to talk to Lena.

“Lizzie told me she pushed a boy down who was being mean to another girl in the class,” said Kara.

“What did you say to her?” asked Lena.

“I told her that what Chad did was wrong but how she handled it was wrong as well,” replied Kara.

Lena smirked at Kara. “You saving people is rubbing off on her, but let’s make sure it rubs off the right way.”

“Agreed,” said Kara. “I want to bring this up with her teacher tomorrow at the parent-teacher conference.”

“Yes,” said Lena. “Let’s get the entire story from Mrs. Redford.”

*****

The next day, school was just a half day, with an afternoon set aside for parent-teacher conferences. The school had an afternoon summer party going on the playground for the kids. Parents had been offered slots from the early afternoon into the evening. At Kara’s suggestion, Lena and Kara had booked an early afternoon session, leaving the evening slots to people who had more trouble getting off work.

Kara and Lena entered the classroom and smiled at Mrs. Redford. They discussed Lizzie’s behavior, which was almost flawless, her attentiveness, and her current reading and math levels. Though only just having finished second grade, she was reading and doing math at closer to a late 4th grade level.

“Given your own background, Ms. Luthor, it’s no wonder that Lizzie has such talents,” said Mrs. Redford, turning to Kara, “but in some of her conversations, she discusses Krypton, Kryptonian customs, stories, and science, which I simply have no reference to understand.”

“She’s curious about my culture, the world I came from,” said Kara, “so I freely talk to her about almost anything. I’ll remind her to focus on the here and now when she’s in school.”

Mrs. Redford smiled back. “Perhaps someday you can write a book and more of us can understand. I’m sure she’s got some of the details right but, as with most children, she may have things wrong and I have no reference to tell her whether something she said is true or false.”

Kara took that opportunity to speak up. “Lizzie told me about pushing Chad, I think his name was? When he fell and apparently almost pulled your skirt down? She was sorry that she did that.”

Mrs. Redford looked baffled. “What is she sorry for? She couldn’t have pushed him. He was in the front of the line, near me, since he’d been being a bit of a bully. Lizzie and her friend Jennifer, who Chad had been harassing, were almost near the end of the line. There were at least another 15 children between them.”

Kara frowned and looked at Lena. Lena glanced at Kara and shrugged. “Maybe she was angry with him and wanted him to fall down and she blamed herself?”

But Kara gave Lena a look that Lena couldn’t interpret before turning back to the teacher. “Maybe that’s what happened. I’ll talk to her again, Mrs. Redford.”

“She’s a very sensitive child,” said Mrs. Redford. “As your wife said, she probably just blames herself.”

There was nothing unexpected in the rest of their discussion so Lena and Kara left the classroom to wander outside and find Lizzie. When Lizzie saw them, she came running over hugging Lena first then Kara, who swept her up, at which point she hugged them both again.

“They have a bouncy house!” said Lizzie.

“I’ll bet that’s fun,” said Lena.

“Can I ask you a question?” Kara asked.

Lizzie nodded, and Kara asked, “You said you pushed Chad down but when I talked to your teacher, she said you were at the back of the line and Chad was at the front, and that you couldn’t have pushed him down.”

“I pushed him down with my mind,” said Lizzie.

“With your mind?” asked Lena.

Lizzie turned to Lena and nodded. “It’s magic! Can I go back to the bouncy house now?”

Kara put her down and let her go as Lena touched Kara’s elbow. “What was that look back in the classroom?”

“Do you have any witches in your family history, Lena?” asked Kara.

“Witches? Let’s be serious here,” she said, then stopped suddenly. Taking a deep breath, she said, “My mother always talked about spells, powers, and witchcraft. My biological mother, before she died. Why?”

“I’ve not mentioned this but we were aware of magic on Krypton. And yes, we tried to study it scientifically, but it’s not observable without human interaction and interference and that always made experimental results inconsistent and highly variable. We knew something was there. We just didn’t know what. And we had direct experience as a space-faring culture with beings such as 5th dimensional imps, who appear to intrinsically possess abilities that might otherwise be called magic.”

“You’ve not mentioned this before now,” said Lena. “Why? And we’re going to loop back to these 5th dimensional imps when we get home later. Don’t think I’m letting that go!”

“I’d not encountered it on earth before but what if your mother did have abilities that we can’t yet define via science? What if you have them? And what if Lizzie also has them?” asked Kara.

“We have no proof of that,” countered Lena. Her thoughts raced. All her life she had focused on science but Kara had just confirmed that Kryptonians were aware of something that was considered “magic”. That and the fact that Kryptonians, who were far advanced compared to Earth, tried to study “magic” yet failed to get a solid handle on it, actually frightened Lena. Was there something out in the universe that science couldn’t accurately study, model, and describe?

“Yet,” said Kara. “Let’s keep an eye on our little girl.”

“That’s fair,” said Lena. “Let’s see if there’s anything extraordinary there.”

“And if there is?” asked Kara.

Lena considered this reluctantly but the scientist in her demanded to understand if such a thing were really happening. “Then maybe we need to take a trip back to Ireland sometime soon,” replied Lena.

Kara heard the uncertainty in her voice and smiled at her wife. “Maybe you’ll be the one to crack the question about magic then.”

Lizzie grew tired of the school party around 3 so they departed.  That night they ordered beef bourguignon from their favorite French restaurant with cupcakes from Mel’s Bakery.