It was a typical Saturday in the not so typical Danvers household. Kara and Alex were working on homework as they did most days. Alex spent hours trying to teach Kara American History and everything else she would need to know in order to pass her classes.
Now that their relationship had improved Alex was a lot more open to filling Kara in on the different human traditions that happened throughout the year. Right now it was fourth of July, which was only a week away.
"So humans throw a party in order to celebrate independence?" Kara questioned. Human traditions were confusing to the Kryptonian.
"Yep," Alex answered. "But human 101, don't say human. People automatically assume everyone is human."
Unknown to either sibling Eliza Danvers was watching her two daughters. She backed out of the doorway and grabbed her keys. For the first time since Kara had come to Earth Eliza trusted that the two girls would safe if left home alone for a few hours.
Kara nodded. "What kind of things do people do for parties?"
"Well we always have a BBQ," Alex began. "Plus fireworks and it's a family tradition to watch Independence Day. With Dad gone…" Alex trailed off.
Kara patted Alex's head as carefully as she could. Even though she had been here for a few months already she was not used to her powers. "Um Alex," Alex looked at her sister, "what's a BBQ and fireworks?"
Alex laughed. "Sorry Kara, I forget you don't know about this stuff. A BBQ is a cookout that we do outside. You know that big, black thing in the backyard?" Kara nodded. "That's the barbeque. We grill food on it. Plus we hang out outside by the pool and adults drink alcohol. We drink sodas and eat chips and dip. Fireworks, hmm…" Alex tapped her chin in thought. "It's kind of hard to explain. It's sort of like your heat vision but with different colors and bigger."
Kara's eyes widened. "That sounds amazing," Kara breathed. "Do hu… I mean people normally invite others to these BBQ's?"
"Yeah all the time," Alex confirmed. "Are you thinking about Clark?"
"Yes," Kara confessed. "But I doubt he would want to come." Kara looked down. Her not so young cousin was always too busy with work and saving the world.
"We can talk to Mom later," Alex offered.
Kara shook her head. "No, it's fine." She stared at the math homework that she had started working on. "I should get back to this."
Alex sighed. She felt bad for Kara. She lost everything when Krypton exploded and then got stuck spending twenty years in the Phantom Zone. On top of that her only living relative happened to be Superman. In the time that Kara had lived with the Danvers Superman had never visited.
Twenty minutes had passed and Kara had yet to make progress on her math work. "Alex I don't get this," Kara complained. Alex spent the next hour teaching Kara about polynomials.
"Why don't we take a break and get a snack?" Alex suggested.
The Danvers sisters made their way downstairs and to the kitchen. Alex pulled the refrigerator open. Clark had informed the Danvers of the amount of calories a Kryptonian ate. He had even offered money to help cover the costs but they had declined. They had more than enough money. Since that day Eliza kept the fridge fully stocked with food.
Alex pulled out a meat and cheese platter and two sodas. "Grab the chips," Alex instructed.
Kara went to the pantry and grabbed two bags of chips and some cookies. She dumped them on the counter. "Do you think Eliza will be mad?" Kara asked. "It's almost dinner time."
"I doubt it. Mom knows how much you need to eat," Alex answered grabbing a cookie. "If anything she will be mad at me for spoiling my appetite."
Kara single-handedly finished off the platter in record time. A bag of chips was also demolished with some help from Alex as well as a pack of cookies.
"Girls," Eliza yelled from the front door.
Kara and Alex jumped up. Alex started cleaning up the mess as quickly as she could. She blinked and the mess was gone. Kara had cleaned everything in seconds.
"Coming Mom," Alex yelled back. Kara winced at the volume. "Sorry Kara."
"It's fine. I have to learn to control it somehow," Kara said.
She made her way to the front door with Alex right behind her. "Pizza," Alex exclaimed seeing the five boxes of pizza in her mother's hand.
"Kara, take these boxes to the kitchen please," Eliza requested. Kara did as she was told. "Alex, come help me."
Alex followed her mom to her car. While out getting pizza Eliza had found a shelter and decided to get a surprise for the two girls. A surprise Alex had been asking for, for years.
Alex's eye widened when she saw her mother taking out a Golden Retriever puppy from the back seat of the car. "You got us a dog," Alex whispered. She dropped to her knees so she could pet the adorable puppy.
"I did," Eliza confirmed. "Here take the leash so I can get the rest of his stuff." Alex took the offered leash and waited for her mom to grab some of the dog supplies, including a bed, bowls, food, treats and a tennis ball. "We can get the rest after we eat."
"Kara," Alex called in excitement.
Kara came into the living room. Her eyes widened at the sight of the puppy. "Wha…" she backed away in fear, bumping into the cabinet behind her.
"Mom got us a dog," Alex said happily as she sat on the ground, playing with the puppy.
"Kara," Eliza called softly. "You don't know what a puppy is, do you?"
"No." Kara shook her head, still afraid of the tiny creature on the floor playing with her sister. She was fairly certain the puppy couldn't hurt her. From what Kal-El told her only Kryptonite could actually harm her. But still she was unsure. It made her uncomfortable.
"It's okay Kara," Eliza said walking over to her newest daughter. "Dogs are companions. They are friendly, well most of them are. There are some mean ones but in general dogs are nice. We feed them and take care of them. They are safe. Come see him."
Eliza led Kara over to Alex and the puppy. "Pet him Kara," Alex encouraged. "He won't bite."
Kara reached out and petted the tiny puppy. She was terrified of hurting him. "He's soft," Kara said in awe. Kara gasped when the dog licked her. "Eww."
"It's okay. That means he likes you," Alex laughed. The puppy went back to licking Alex's face.
"He's cute," Kara said, relaxing now that she knew no one was going to get hurt.
"We still need to come up with a name for him," Eliza pointed out.
The room was silent for a few second. "What about Shelby?" Alex suggested. "Did you have a dog named Shelby?"
Eliza nodded. "Kara, what do you think?"
"Shelby is good," Kara said with a shrug.
"Shelby it is," Eliza agreed. "Welcome to the family Shelby."