Alex leans against the kitchen bar, wiping her hands with a towel, and wonders exactly how she got here.
How they got here.
How Winn, how her little brother, laughing a full laugh beside J'onn, has grown so much the past year. No longer a scared boy, he runs into missions with her now; his hands still shake with a gun in them, but they're working on it, and he still remains behind the scenes helping Guardian, a genius there in his own right. He's come so far and holy hell is she proud of him for calling Lyra out in her anger, in her abuse, for working through his own issues with fear and trauma left over from his father's shouting and leaning on her, on Maggie, on James and Kara and Lena, especially Lena, for help.
How Lena, curled securely into Alex's sister's side, has woven herself seamlessly into their family. She is a rock for Winn, giving him a stress relief by testing his brain with new prototypes and experiments, by telling him how smart he is, and allowing him to do the same. Lena had come in with her own family problems, her own family issues, and god, her ability to understand Winn sometimes takes Alex's breath away. Lena had nobody before them, but her ability to allow them all to lean on her without wavering is astounding. It had been Lena who'd held her hand for 3 days when Kara came down with a dangerous Kryptonian virus, her having had no immune system to fight it. When Maggie's parents had shown back up one day, and Alex had been out of town, it had been Lena to come pick Maggie off the floor and wrap her in blankets, to watch over her until Alex got home. Lena's almost as good at reading Kara as Alex is, now, and she's grateful for her help because Kara carries the world on her shoulders, and sometimes Kara forgets that Alex does, too, and holding the world off her sister's shoulders while bearing her own? It isn't always easy, but she'd do it if she had to. She's thankful those days are barely there, anymore.
Kara has grown so much this year, it's almost as if she's staring at a completely different woman. Gone is the girl with the slumped shoulders and the crinkle and the self doubt that had dated Mon-El and been so, so broken down. Kara practically is the sun now, with Lena's hand on her lower back and her nose in Kara's neck. She's never seen her sister happier, and to watch her heal with Lena, with Kathy this year, to become Kara Zor-El, not just Kara Danvers or just Supergirl, to have finally found a balance, is a beautiful thing to watch.
How in the hell Kathy, who's seated between Kara and Maggie couch, Maggie's hand on her arm to keep her from buzzing, from floating in happiness, is here with all of them, is 14 years old today. She's come so far from the near starved, wide eyed little girl they'd found on a mission shortly after the Daxamites left. Their littlest Danvers sister stands just barely to Alex's bicep, her tiny tiny frame offset by her thick, dark curls that cascaded down her back. It's been a year, with Alex and Kara and everyone having to accept that holy shit there's another, and helping Kathy overcome the extreme sensory issues her partially Kryptonian DNA gives her. Maggie is wonderful with her, patient and loving when even Kara reaches the end of her line. The little girl- our little bird, Alex- cause she was hatched, get it?- is the reason they're all under this roof, because Alex and Maggie had taken her in, had bought a house together, to allow the girl to grow up as normally as possible.
They call it, affectionately, the frat house, because sometimes it feels like everyone lives there. Alex and Maggie have their room, of course, as does Kathy- a small one, just off theirs, with calming yellow paint and a nook perfect for reading- but they didn't plan on Kara and Lena moving in halfway through the year, unable to take not living with Kathy as well. Winn slept in the basement guest room more often than not, claiming it convenient for emergency DEO runs. Alex knows, however, that Winn never got a house with a family to grow up in, and so when he "forgot" to renew his lease last week, all of his things had been moved in to the large renovated basement. M'gann and J'onn have their own room as well, though they tend to stay at their house down the street most nights. James crashes on the couch after a lot of movie nights, a lot of game nights, but most nights when he's Guardian or just James Olsen, he spends at his own apartment. Still, their door is a revolving one as most down time, most family time, is spent in the 2 story Danvers-Sawyer household.
Kathy squeals, drawing everyone's attention to her, as James throws her over his shoulder and runs around the room, causing everyone to laugh jubilantly at the girl's joy. Maggie turns, picking up Alex's gaze, and motions to the seat beside her on the couch, which Alex takes immediately. Reaching over to peck Maggie's lips, she reaches for the bottle of water she'd left on the coffee table earlier. Lena and Winn are mercilessly tickling a giggling Kara, while James throws a still-hysterical Kathy into the middle of their pile, never ones to miss out on a giant tickle fight. Maggie reaches up to scratch Alex's scalp soothingly, and Alex melts in to her willingly, earning a wink and another peck from Maggie. J'onn and M'gann smile at them from across the coffee table, his arm thrown protectively over her growing stomach and her head resting easily on his shoulder. Maggie sighs contently when Kathy crawls out of the dogpile to curl up on her lap, Maggie willingly allowing her to play with her wedding ring in order to calm down a little.
"Thanks Mags, and 'Lex, for the cake. And for the new books. And.. everything else. Love you." Kathy mumbles, staring at Maggie's hands as Alex shifts to pull the girl into both their laps.
"You are so welcome, bird. Thank you for completing our family." Maggie looks over at Kara, who's heard the exchange, and scoots over to kiss the girl on the head, an action that Maggie and Alex both repeat.
Their family, Alex thinks.
What it was always supposed to be.
honestly? idk. didn't wanna study o chem anymore, this came out.
come find me on tumblr laurarasmith we can chat
I have a lot of headcanons for littlest Danvers, Kathy so like hmu for those or with prompts or whatever idek