There is quite a bit of build-up, so don't take this chapter as an indication of an easy ride! This story is just beginning...

Chapter One

Kara Danvers is not a morning person. People tend to think she is with the sunshine and rainbows the public claims she exudes, but she would care to disagree. Alex, for her part, knows how much she values her sleep. Others have learned along the way. She'd much rather be up at all hours of the night than during the ungodly hours of the morning.

So it had come as a huge surprise when she learned that Lena outdid her in that arena. If someone had asked her if Lena outdid her in terms of running a business? 100%. Cooking? Sure. Still managing to look down on people when she is, without a doubt, shorter than them? Absolutely. But not being a morning person? She never would've guessed it. After all, even then, she knew that Lena's brain rarely took a break.

So it came as a huge surprise the morning after their first night together when she woke to a slumbering Lena curled into her chest, arms snug under her chin. She had expected Lena to be the one moving, the one typing away at emails, the one trying to cook breakfast before the other woke up. Or, as she feared from their "sleepovers" before they actually got together and admitted their feelings, the ones after movie nights and crying nights and nights where they were just too tired to leave, she'd be gone already. The bed would be cold without her, perhaps not even a note in her place. She had liked the version she got much better.

Now, after being married so long, she's not surprised that she's roused to waking before her wife even stirs. And that's not even considering the fact that their daughter is making enough ruckus in the kitchen that anyone in the apartment could hear, gifted with super hearing or not. She blinks blearily, tightening her arms around her wife as she stretches lightly. She smiles through her fatigue as she sees Lena looking so peaceful, so content, in her arms, in her sleep. She hates to wake her. "Lee-" she says softly, nudging her carefully. She presses a kiss to her forehead. "You have to wake up, sweetheart."

"Mmph," Lena groans as she nuzzles further into Kara's chest.

Kara chuckles, which only causes Lena to grumble further as her head is jostled. "We need to get Madeline to school," she murmurs. "And get to work," she adds as an afterthought.

"Five more minutes," she whines.

Kara slides her hand up Lena's arm, scratching lightly when she gets to her skull. She marvels at Lena's gentle sigh of content despite her gloomy attitude. "I'm sorry, but we can't." Her breath tickles across Lena's eyelids. "Madeline's already up. Most likely trying to make the breakfast we were supposed to make for her."

Lena peeks one eye open. "How is she our child?"

Kara chuckles. "No idea."

"It's too early."

"Agreed," Kara says, finally untangling herself much to Lena's protests.

"I'll go do damage control in the kitchen." She yawns. "Join us in a few?"

As Kara stands, Lena quips, "Are you sure you're the best person to be on kitchen duty?"

Kara shrugs, a playful glint in her eye. "Well, unless you want to loosen that death grip on your pillow…" she trails off, trying (and failing) to hold back a grin at how quickly Lena adjusted her position once she lost Kara as a snuggle buddy.

Lena cuddles further into her pillow. "Nevermind."

Kara shakes her head before pressing her lips to the crown of Lena's head. "See you in a few."

"Mmkay," she mumbles.

Quietly, Kara shuts the door behind her before padding down the hall toward the kitchen, only to be stopped in her tracks. Eyes widening, she asks, "Whatcha doing?"

Madeline promptly whirls around, seemingly caught by surprise. Kara wouldn't be surprised—Madeline loses track of the world around her, super hearing be damned, when she is focused on something.

"Juju," Madeline says, her breathing quick. Kara knows if Madeline was a more dramatic child, she'd have had her hand over her heart. Of course, that's not who Madeline is.

"I'm sorry for startling you," she says, coming closer. "But I was also a little caught off guard by your…" she pauses, trying to think of the word as she waves her hand at the mess on the counter, "experiment?" Her voice raises at the end in question.

Madeline looks down, closing her eyes in shame. "It was supposed to be the perfect breakfast." She huffs quietly. "But the pH was altered and trying to fix it only made it worse." She sighs at the mess around her. "I'm sorry," she says, looking up into her mom's eyes.

Kara gives her a tiny smile, pulling her into her warm embrace. "Things happen, little one," she whispers, rubbing her back. "It's okay."

"I didn't mean to make such a mess."

"It happens," Kara repeats. She looks at the clock, eyes bulging slightly. "It's only five?" She pulls back, holding her daughter at arm's length. "In the morning?"

Madeline ducks her head sheepishly. "I set my alarm for four-fifteen." She bites her lip. "I wanted to make my breakfast."

"I thought your mom and I overslept again," Kara says with exasperation. Madeline nods like this wouldn't be an uncommon occurrence. She only giggles at her mother's playful glare. "But why so early? We would've made you something." She scans the pantry. "We have all the stuff for chocolate chip pancakes. That already is the perfect breakfast."

Before she can respond, Lena stumbles into the kitchen, none too gracefully. "Is something burning?" she mumbles, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"No," Madeline and Kara answer simultaneously.

"Okay," Lena yawns. She takes a seat on the bar stool.

"Wait," Kara says, turning to face her wife. "You thought something was on fire and you just walked in here like nothing was wrong?"

Lena shrugs, head drooping dangerously close to the marble countertop. "With you two in the kitchen? I'm used to it," she says. "Besides, you'd save me." She grins sleepily.

Kara shakes her head. "Thanks," she says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Everything is fine. Madeline was trying to make the perfect breakfast."

"Pancakes?" Lena asks.

Kara grins, pointing to Lena. "I knew I married you for a reason," she teases. "But no, she was trying to invent a new breakfast."

Madeline nods, her stomach rumbling. "I just," her brows furrow as she searches for the proper phrasing, "I need to be amazing today. I wanted something to help me get there."

Lena opens her eyes a little more, propping her head against her hand. "First of all," she says, tenderness in her gaze, "you already are amazing. The evaluators today will see that." Madeline deflates, feeling safe to do so under her mother's loving gaze. "Second of all, I get that you're nervous. And you should eat especially well this morning." She stands up and makes her way over to the fridge. "So how about stuffed avocados? With cottage cheese and walnuts." She pulls out the cottage cheese before grabbing the nuts from the pantry. "Superfood at its finest."

After running the idea through her head, she nods. "Perfect brain food."

Kara looks between the two of them, pulling a face. "That sounds disgusting," she says with a grimace. When neither of them seems to care, she turns away, heading toward the bathroom for a shower. "I can't believe I love a bunch of health nuts with no taste buds."

She hears Lena giggle behind her and shakes her head until she hears a "That's the time?" and is forced to laugh herself. Yeah. She loves these dorks.

"Why are you here so early?" Chloe asks, strolling casually through the double doors of the auditorium.

Madeline shrinks in on herself slightly, trying to cover the light blush dusting her cheeks. "You know why." When Chloe sits in the seat beside her without a word, she continues. "I didn't want to be late."

"You never are," Chloe says simply.

Madeline nods, but the tightness between her shoulder blades remains. "I know. But what if there was an accident or what if I forgot something or…" she pauses. "Today is a little too important. I felt better being earlier." She chuckles, the love in her voice peeking through with her next words. "Well, as early as my moms would willingly leave the house."

Chloe merely nods. "Do you think this will start on time?"

"If their school creed is anything to go by, they may even start early," Madeline jokes.

Chloe furrows her brows. "That'd be unfortunate for most people." She turns toward Madeline. "But not for us."

Madeline smiles. "Nope."

The next ten minutes pass in relative silence, but it's a comfortable, easy silence. A thinking silence, Madeline muses. That is until a tall, stern man approaches the microphone. Clearing his throat, he begins. "On behalf of the Cardinal Academy, welcome. As I hope you are aware, our program is known for developing the brightest minds of every generation." He adjusts the pin on his lapel, seemingly to straighten it. Madeline notes that he made it more crooked than before. It's almost annoying. "To do so, we have maximized our students' exposure to content and the resources at their disposal. We have engineered top-of-the-line techniques for the acquisition of knowledge through careful experimentation and analysis."

Chloe leans over. "Is this an advertisement or an introduction?" she whispers.

Madeline looks around the room, a bit on-edge as she whispers back. "More like an ego-boost." Chloe can't help but agree.

Tuning back in, they hear, "And today, we will be putting you to the test. A series of tests, actually. To see if you would be a good fit for our establishment." Madeline sinks in on herself. She wants this, more than almost anything. She's been begging her parents to let her audition since she was seven years old. She tries to remember that as the nerves set in. Her mothers weren't wrong, she thinks. This is a rather cutthroat school. "To begin, please head to the laboratory in room 233A.

She follows the crowd blindly, breathing deeply to quell her rising panic. In one-two, out one-two-three-four-five. The only other comfort she finds is the never-failing steady beat of Chloe's heart.

Once she arrives, she sits next to Chloe at the back right table. A new representative, a woman in a stark white coat, commands everyone's attention at the front of the room. Once the students quiet, she begins. "In front of you is a white envelope and a range of lab supplies. You are to complete the task in this envelope within the hour time limit." She walks down the aisle, her gaze piercing. "I hope you chose your table mate well," she stops between the back tables, pausing, "you will be partners for the remainder of the audition process." She slowly scans the room. "Either you are both accepted," she begins walking once more, "or neither of you will be joining the Academy." Madeline hears the elevated heart rates and panicked breaths even over the din of her own racing thoughts. "After all, we want the top minds, the brightest minds. The ones always thinking of the possibilities, anticipating the next play." Like chess, Madeline relates. The woman rings the bell on the teacher's desk. "Your time starts now."

"And then she stared at us the entire time," Madeline explains over dessert. "Every time she walked past you it was like she was staring into your soul." She passes Kara the can of whipped cream after re-topping her own sundae. "And the paper kept ripping. I was worried it was my own strength, that I wasn't focusing hard enough on controlling my powers, but it ripped for Chloe too and she's always so gentle." She lets out another breath. "The equipment was clunky, too. Like something that is consistently oiled and hot glued together. I think they gave us difficult equipment just to test us. This whole thing was a test. Even our partners."

Lena tilts her head. If this were any child other than Madeline, she'd wonder if the situation was being exaggerated. "I'm sorry it was so stressful, darling."

Madeline shrugs. "It will be worth it if I get in."

Kara gives her a warm-hearted smile, placing her hand over her daughter's. "When you get in."

Lena nods, placing her palm over her daughter's other hand. "We have no doubts."

Madeline's naturally bright eyes light up. "Thanks," she says quietly. She looks up to meet their gazes. "But now I have no hands for ice cream."

Kara laughs, a deep belly laugh. Their daughter definitely has comedic timing when she wants to be funny. "So what else did you have to do?" Kara asks.

And looking at her daughter and wife giggling quietly together, lost in a world of science and love and endless possibilities, Lena smiles. How did this become her life? Time flies, sure, but even after eighteen years of friendship and fifteen years of marriage—twelve with her precious Madeline—she still can't believe it sometimes. They've laughed, they've cried, they've celebrated, and they've worried, only to come out happier and stronger than ever before. With them, she's learned to be vulnerable, to trust, to hope.

Similarly, Kara smiles as she watches her daughter come to life, generally so quiet and collected. She reminds her a lot of Lena in that way and, she supposes, a bit of herself back on Krypton. She loves that side of Madeline; after all, it's who she is. She would never change her. But she loves this side of her, too. The little girl so eager to explore. She smiles even wider, heart fluttering in her chest, as she hears Lena's little sigh of content. She feels her eyes on her without having to look. It's calm, and it's peaceful. She doesn't know how her life ended up so perfect, so much of a home. But it has. Alex started it, Lena continues it, Madeline embodies it. Because this place? It's a place she can be weak and she can be strong, a place where she can love and be loved in return. She can do it all.

And as for Madeline? With a quick glance between her mothers, she ducks her head with a soft, joyous grin. Yeah, her life is pretty great. Scratch that, it's the best life she could ever hope for, no matter what those evaluators decide.

I hope you enjoyed the start-up. Comments feed the soul :)