Thor the Superdog (We are not naming him that)

By JoyfulTemplar

It wasn't unusual for Kara to watch Carter when his father couldn't be counted on to take care of his son while Cat was away on business trips. Cat preferred to take her business trips solo, so Kara normally used that peaceful time at the office meticulously rearranging the furniture, tidying, and prepping for their next issue. Picking up Carter from school, making sure he got fed, did his homework, and went to bed at decent time was hardly a chore; in fact, Kara looked forward to their time spent together. Carter Grant had a hard time opening up to people, in the beginning it took hours before Carter would muster up the resolve to speak to her, now Carter confided in Kara and asked for advice. Kara tried her best to always be on time to pick Carter up, years of having to deal with his father forgetting to pick him up from school or Cat rushing in late had conditioned Carter to fear the worst when people were late. Kara made sure that his dinner plate was placed exactly like he liked it with none of the food touching. And Kara always took the same route from the school to the Grant's Harbor Heights Mansion.

If Carter needed her to do these little things, she understood. Kara often rearranged furniture to exact measurements to ensure symmetry in a room whenever she is stressed. Kara liked having her desk ordered in an exact fashion because she liked the look of it, she tried not to let it bother her when one of her coworkers would drop paperwork or packages on her desk and disturb her system. Everyone had their ways of coping. Kara saw a lot of herself in Carter, more than she actually wanted to admit. That fear of abandonment never really leaves you, so you'll take what control you can get.

It was Alex's suggestion that Kara try to socialize Carter a little bit more. Alex was a pro at getting quiet preteens to come out of their shell with ice cream, movie marathons, and hundreds of hiking expeditions. Alex had always been Kara's rock when she came to Earth, that one person Kara knew she could count on. Having Alex in her life made her adjustment to Earth a lot easier. Whether it was crawling under the dinner table because the popcorn machine scared her, or rearranging Alex's childhood bedroom twenty-six times until it was exactly how Kara liked it, or being a literal body guard for Kara from bullies at school. Kara wanted that for Carter, that solid support. She knows she's not Alex, but she hopes that Carter will at least always have someone he can come to if he needs it.

So over the past year, Kara made a point to include Carter in more activities. She brought him along on her nature hikes with Alex, and Carter would spend hours sketching in his little field journal as Alex lectured him on local flora and fauna. Kara made it a weekly ritual for her to pick Carter up on Tuesday's and grab ice cream and French fries from their favorite mom and pop shop before Kara brought Carter into the office. She took him to the movies with Winn, and watched him stare enraptured at whatever sci-fi movie they were seeing this time. Winn and Carter would then spend the following dinner dissecting the movie for plausibility and speculating on future plotlines. Kara introduced Carter to new art exhibits that caught her eye, small ones that didn't have a lot of traffic yet, but interesting and beautiful. Kara and James had taken Carter to the National City Art Museum seven times, James was always eager to point out his favorite prints. Kara preferred art with lots of color, James liked art that used shadows and light to accentuate the piece, and Carter liked the weird modern art and abstract things. Kara thought she was doing a pretty awesome job at this whole supportive thing until Alex gently pointed out that maybe Carter should do more things with his age group, rather than his mom's employees.

Kara had thought a lot about it, but in the end it was a combined effort that got Carter more involved with kids his own age. Carter's classmates were the scions of old money and practically dripped wealth. Carter's quiet introverted nature and his mom's new money fortune made Carter a perfect target for harassment. Apparently, having your mom's "hot blonde assistant" come pick you up from school also didn't fly over well with Carter's classmates or his teachers. Carter never said a word to Cat or Kara about the verbal harassment. It wasn't until Alex picked him up from school for Cat that they found out that months of verbal harassment had turned into physical harassment. Kara got worked up just thinking about it. The school really had no idea how lucky they were that Alex was the one to pick Carter up from school with a bruised face. Alex wasn't prone to emotional outbursts or vicious impulse decisions like Kara and Cat. Oh no, Alex got even when you least expected it.

Over ice cream Alex coaxed the truth out of Carter. Carter was terrified to tell his mother, but Alex suggested a compromise. Alex would tell Cat about the bullying, and Alex would find a reputable gym to teach Carter self-defense. The gym Alex found actually specialized in defense training for women recovering from assault cases, but also had a kid's class that was geared to help kids who had suffered child abuse gain some sense of security and confidence. Alex taught a seminar for one of the women's classes there once a week. Later, Carter had convinced his mom not to sue the school, but the Headmaster still leapt into the closest classroom when he saw Carter walking down the hall. Three days a week Carter would learn how to disarm someone, use someone's height advantage against them, and where to hit to get away fast. Kara and Cat supervised from the bleachers with the other parents and a protective eye. But slowly, Carter gained a little muscle and some confidence. The other kids in his class were as slow to trust as Carter, but after a few months Cat was receiving invitations to birthday parties in the mail and Carter brought friends home for dinner for the first time. If Alex or Kara minded the tag a longs on their weekend hiking trips the certainly didn't show it. In fact, those hiking trips morphed into cookouts at the park with Carter's friends and their parents. Kara didn't mind as long as it made Carter happy.

Cat couldn't deny the change in her son since she let Kara take a more active role in his life. He really blossomed under Kara's attention, he talked more, wanted to spend time outside, and pursued interests that actually made him happy. Cat had assumed Carter would make a friend or two at least by the time he hit high school, but she never expected that she would be hosting a pool party for Carter's self-defense class. Cat hadn't asked Kara to invest so much time into her son's happiness. It just happened. One day she's calling Kara by the wrong name, the next she and Carter are having Easter Lunch with Kara's sister, Kara's foster mom, that Winn boy, Olsen, and the tolerable Lane. It was the strangest sort of cobbled together family of orphans and outcasts she had ever seen, but damn it, it was her little family.

And Carter had never been happier. Even when Carter's father called to cancel or rearrange plans one of them would make a point to fill that hole. Kara typically insisted on a messy painting session in Cat's studio, Alex would bring a science project for them to work on, Winn always brought a new video game and something for Carter's Supergirl memorabilia collection, James took Carter bowling and day fishing, and Lucy brought he laptop stocked with funny YouTube videos and enough candy to keep Carter on a sugar high for hours. For years she had tried her best to be all her son needed, now she couldn't be happier to be wrong. Her little family was weird, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

So, that's why when Cat was called to be the Key Note Speaker for the International Free Media Conference, she had no problems asking Carter if it was okay for Kara to watch him for the weekend. Carter had been thrilled, and Cat felt content heading to the company jet that her son would be well looked after. The conference was a disaster. Utterly disorganized and all the talks ran over, she didn't find any new solid networking opportunities, and the catering was subpar. Cat just wanted to get home, have a glass of M&Ms and cuddle up with her son and Kara. Cat definitely did not think too closely about that little runaway thought. Especially after that squid alien incident. At this rate she's going to have to move Kara to writing for Feature's section of the Tribune before she professed her undying love to her or something equally mortifying. Besides the girl had spent three years as her assistant, she really should be pushing her for better opportunities. Cat could be selfish and keep Kara as her executive assistant until Kara asked to be moved, but for once she just wanted to do something nice for the girl.

Kara was nothing if not competent, and had never gone behind her back with something before. So imagine her surprise when she came home to the Mansion to find Carter rolling around with a Golden Retriever puppy on the floor, and Kara staring at her like a deer caught in the headlights holding a chew toy. "Mom, you're back! Look his name is Thor!" Carter had hugged her then thrust the offending canine into her arms. It whined adorably. Cat glared at Kara over Carter's head as she gave the pup a pat before setting him down on her very expensive carpet to resume playing with her son. "Kara, why don't we go over some of the conference materials. We'll be in my study if you need us, Carter." Carter's distracted reply was enough proof that this was going to be a painful conversation. Kara followed her, clearly terrified, to the study.

When the door closed, Kara's survival instinct kicked in, "Cat! Miss Grant, umm. I can explain. So after Carter's self-defense class on Friday, Lucy suggested that we all go volunteer at the downtown animal shelter because it was having an adopt-a-thon and Carter loves animals. And it seemed like a good idea at the time. He was having so much fun playing with the dogs, and the next thing I know he's begging me to let him adopt Thor. And I just panicked and said yes. And. And that's how we ended up with a puppy." Kara looked very much like a scolded Golden Retriever herself with the wet-eyed look she was giving her right now. Cat pinched the bridge of her nose. "You know, I never thought I would have to play the mean parent to you with Carter. But what the hell were you thinking?" Cat began to chew furiously on a handful of M&Ms "Now I have to be the bad guy because you made a snap decision about our son without consulting me." Kara who had been holding back tears dropped the stress ball she had snagged from Cat's desk in shock. Did she just say? Damn it Catherine, pull it together. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You're right I had no right to make that kind of call. I don't live here. I'm not…" Cat didn't let her finish the sentence. Instead she cocked her head to the side as if she had just heard something interesting far away, like an ice cream truck. "You're apologizing?" "Of course I am! I put you in a bad position and it's all my fault..I.." Cat let her head thud against her desk. "Miss Grant?" the concern in Kara's voice was still tinged in fear. Of course she would apologize. Of course she would own up to making a mistake. "Damn you Kara Danvers, we're keeping the damn dog. But you better be here to help with the training and upkeep. You got yourself into this mess, so you'll have to see it through."

Kara stood wide eyed mouth falling up and down trying to find words. "Don't make decisions like that without consulting me again, understood?" realizing she was being let off easy Kara's entire body relaxed. It was amazing to Cat how much pent up tension Kara could hold. She really need to loosen up. Nope, nope, nope let that thought fly right out the window. Cat shooed Kara out the door, she needed something a little stronger than M&Ms. Distantly she could hear the sounds of playful barking and sure enough just as Cat finished pouring her scotch, Kara and Carter appeared with the dog on the front lawn that her study over looked. Kara was demonstrating how to properly hold the leash as you walked the puppy. Carter appeared to be paying rapt attention. The sun was setting and the lawn was bathed in gold and red light. Cat could smell the dinner Kara made wafting in from the kitchen. Cat leaned her forehead against the cool glass and sighed. She had a family.

End.

Author's Note: After all that angst yesterday, I tried to write some fluff. There's some found family feels in there too. Prompt: Person A returns home from a business trip and is greeted by Person B's guilty smile and a puppy. Constructive feedback welcome! Hope you Enjoyed! - AJ