Now Presenting: The Extremely Belated 2016-2017 Holidays fic I should have written literally right after 2x08.
"So, how was your thanksgiving? Other than stopping a genocide, of course," Kara smiled, resting her arm on the back of the sofa in Lena's office.
Lena laughed and shrugged. "I did what I've been doing since I was twenty – I had dinner in my office, and instead of watching the Macy's day parade I watched the stock market."
She seemed unpeterbed by this admission, but Kara was looking at her as if she'd grown two heads.
"You... you spent thanksgiving... here? In your office? Alone?"
Lena raised an eyebrow.
"Like you usually do?"
Kara's voice had increased slightly in pitch at every question, and Lena nodded. "It's not a big deal, Kara..."
"Of course it's a big deal! Nobody should spend thanksgiving alone!" She sounded absolutely horrified at this idea, and shook her head almost as though she didn't believe it. "Why didn't you tell me? I would have invited you!"
Lena laughed and shook her head. "You make it sound like there's something special about the holidays," she said, tilting her head at Kara. "Like it's not just another excuse to throw a huge party and remind everyone you know just how rich and influential you are. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year... I think we celebrated Yom Kippur once? We're not even Jewish."
Kara's brows knitted together again. "That's... Lena... Thanksgiving is a special time... So are Christmas and New Year! And Yom Kippur too, probably, I don't know much about Judaism."
Lena laughed again, but it died out at the look on Kara's face. She shrugged and shook her head a little again. "They've never been special to me."
Kara looked absolutely scandalized now, and shook her head in denial.
A light knock at the door interrupted their silence.
"Miss Luthor? Your one o'clock is here," Jess informed her, the door a little ajar. "They're waiting in the conference room."
Lena stood and straightened her pencil skirt, and offered Kara a polite smile. "Duty calls," she sighed, and Kara stood up too, fixing her glasses.
In the short time that had elapsed since Lena's confession, she'd already formulated a plan. "Of course, wouldn't wanna keep them waiting... Why don't you come over, though? Tomorrow's game night."
Lena felt a flutter of warmth in her chest and nodded without even thinking about it. "I'd like that."
"Awesome," Kara grinned, and slung her bag over her shoulder. She picked up the last carton of egg fried rice, and followed Lena out the door of her office. "Come over around four?"
"You got it," the CEO nodded (she'd have to move around at least three meetings – but spending time with Kara would always be worth the hassle). They walked together to the end of the hallway and parted ways with a gentle wave.
Kara's plan went into action as soon as she was out of the building.
"Mom? Hi, I need a big favour..."
Kara nearly had a heart attack when Lena's gentle and nervous knock at the door came. "She's here!" she whispered hurriedly. "Everybody act natural!"
Alex frowned and looked around. "We are natural...?"
"Shh!" Kara hushed, and pulled open the door after plastering on a smile – it quickly turned genuine at the sight of the brunette. "Hi," she sighed.
"Hey," Lena laughed slightly. "Sorry I'm not more casual, I came straight from the office," she explained, stepping into the apartment nervously. "I uh, I didn't know if I should bring anything or not, but I figured a bottle wouldn't... hurt..." her confident tones turned to quiet rambles as she waved the bottle of red wine in her hand.
"What... what is this?"
The image in front of her was of Alex sitting on the sofa with a slightly smaller woman on her lap, James, Winn and Mon-El sitting together on the sofa, and Eliza in the kitchen chopping something. But the feature of the apartment was Kara's large dining table, big enough for all of them, practically shaking under the sheer amount of food that had been piled onto it.
"You're just in time," Eliza smiled softly, wiping her hands on her apron and coming forward to take the wine from Lena. "The turkey's almost done."
She took the wine from Lena's hand and replaced it with her own, squeezing gently. "I'm Eliza, Kara's adoptive mom. Kara's told me so much about you!"
Lena gulped and looked sideways at Kara as Eliza headed back to the kitchen. The blonde was looking back at her with such deep affection that Lena's heart lurched uncomfortably in her chest.
"Uh, do you, do you have a bathroom? I could use?" She muttered, wringing her hands together.
Kara nodded and took her hand, leading her through the living room, past the guests, through the bedroom and to a door just off to the side. "Don't take too long powdering your nose," Kara warned playfully. "Winn is gonna devour those glazed carrots, I'd hate for you to go without."
Lena just nodded and slipped into the bathroom. She set her small purse down on the cabinet and took a few deep breaths while she listened to Kara's retreating footsteps.
Once she was sure the blonde was far enough away, she pulled off some tissue and dabbed furiously at her eyes, willing the tears to stop flowing. She caught sight of herself in the mirror and couldn't stop the short laugh that pushed out, and then the barricades truly broke and she was sobbing quietly.
Kara was back just as quickly as she'd gone, and Lena didn't have a chance to hide her face before she'd stepped into the bathroom and wrapped the brunette up in a hug.
"Is this too much?" she whispered softly, rubbing Lena's back.
Lena shook her head. "I just," she muttered, pulling out of the hug and swallowing, her tears finally coming to an end. "I don't know what to say."
Kara smiled at her and ripped off another bit of tissue, and dabbed gently at Lena's cheeks for her. "You don't have to say anything."
She tilted her head and gave Lena the most loving, genuine smile that had ever been directed at her. "Come on, dinner's ready," she said. Kara took one of Lena's hands and tugged her from the bathroom and back into the living room, where everyone was now seated, leaving one head of the table and the spot to the left of it empty for the pair of them.
Kara pulled out one of the chairs and Lena took it graciously, then Kara settled with a sigh into the seat at the head of the table.
"Now, obviously," she started, slipping her hand into Lena's on the table so she would relax a little. "We go around the table before we start, and we tell everyone what we're thankful for. Why don't you start?"
Lena's lips parted and she looked around the table at all of Kara's friends and family. Alex's gaze was the most supportive of them all, and she offered Lena a little nod. Lena took her hand from Kara's and raised her wine glass. "I... I'm thankful for you, Kara," she sighed, looking down at her empty plate. She shook her head slightly. "No one has ever been so unashamedly kind toward me. You're so good to me, I couldn't possibly ask for a better friend." She looked up, now, and Kara was grinning in embarassment.
"Winn?" Alex prompted. Lena turned her attention to the man at her side, who she'd met before. He raised his glass.
"I'm thankful for..." He thought for a moment. "The opportunity to do something bigger, something better. CatCo was fun, it was a job I'll never forget and a job through which I made some of the greatest memories and strongest friendships, but I'm glad to move onto something new and something that is... bigger than me."
He drank, and the man next to him raised his glass. Lena recognised him as James Olsen, the photographer and Clark Kent's closest friend.
"I'm thankful for all of you guys," he said, smiling. "Each one of you helps me to be a better person, whether that person is a photographer, or a boss, or a badass," he smirked at Winn.
Eliza was up next, at the other head of the table, and she stood to say hers.
"I'm thankful for my beautiful daughters," she grinned down at the table, and Alex and Kara both blushed. "I'm thankful for the work that you do, and I am so proud of the people you have become."
Alex. "I am, and always will be, thankful for you, mom," she nodded. "You've always raised me to do what's right, and to be myself. And I didn't know who myself was for a long time, not properly, but now I do and you were there for me. I could never ask for more." She drank her glass of wine in one go and Lena found herself laughing. "Can we eat yet?" Everyone else laughed too.
Maggie. "I'm thankful for this alcoholic over here," she joked, elbowing Alex in the side amidst more laughter. "I haven't had someone who like, gets it for a long, long time. You know exactly how important work is to me, because it's just as important to you. But you also know that it could never, ever overshadow what you mean to me, and you know that work will never come between us. I'm thankful for the understanding we share." She didn't take her eyes off Alex the entire time, and Kara, Winn and James let out dramatic 'awww's.
Mon-El glanced at Lena before he raised his glass, and Lena felt Kara's hand slip into hers again. "I'm also thankful for you, Kara. You're so kind, and so generous, and so strong. If you hadn't found me when you did, who knows what could have happened to me."
Kara smiled at him politely, and after he sipped from his glass she stood, but didn't let go of Lena's hand.
"Lena," she started with a heavy sigh. "I'm thankful for you."
Lena swallowed thickly and looked away from the blonde.
"You risked everything, everything to go against your mother's plans. You made her believe you were on her side, and all along you were plotting against her. You single-handedly stopped a mass genocide in this city, one that undoubtedly would have led to the murder of aliens across the world, and I can never, ever thank you enough for what you did."
She hesitated here, feeling everyone at the table watching her closely, listening carefully in case she slipped up and let out that she was Supergirl.
"Lena," Kara said, squeezing the other woman's hand and prompting her to look up at her again. She put her wine glass down gently, and took her glasses off before anyone at the table could protest. "You're my hero."
Lena stared up at her with a look that almost seemed like awe, and she finally let out a laugh. "Is this the part where I act surprised?"
Kara frowned. "You knew?"
"It's not subtle," Maggie chimed in, and Winn's stomach gave a desperate grumble just as she finished talking.
"Can we eat now?" Alex asked.
"Well, you're already spooning that mashed potato out like there's been a national shortage," Kara smiled, sitting down again and scooping up the bowl of glazed carrots before Winn could get to them, and giving Lena a generous helping.
"I can't believe we cooked turkey the normal way when Lena and Maggie both know Kara is Supergirl," Eliza sighed, shaking her head. "This all could have been ready so much sooner!"
The rest of the meal was filled with jokes, laughter, and every now and then the comfortable silence that came with everyone enjoying their food a little too much.
Once the meal was over and everyone had moved to the couches and chairs, Lena started to pick up plates and carry them over to the sink when Kara lay a hand on her wrist. "What are you doing?"
"Cleaning up?" she responded, raising an eyebrow and setting their plates in the sink.
"Leave it, I'll do it later," Kara smiled, tilting her head adorably and taking both Lena's hands in her own to stop her touching any more dishes. "It takes me like, thirty seconds."
Lena smiled back at her and felt her heart practically overflowing with happiness. She heard everyone else break into laughter at something Winn had said, and it made her so glad. She was here, with Kara and Kara's friends and Kara's family, and all evening they had been treating her like part of the group. Like she wasn't a Luthor, she was Lena.
"How long does it take you to pour me another?"
She'd barely even blinked when Kara was setting a fresh glass of red wine on the side for her. The blonde took Lena's hands again and held both of them between both her own. "You've liked this, right?" she asked hesitantly, as another burst of laughter erupted from the sitting room.
"I have," she answered honestly, watching as Maggie stood and came over to them. "Thank you, Kara."
Maggie grabbed a beer from the fridge and cracked it open, taking a grateful glug of it as she stood beside Lena. "They're demanding your presence," she told her, nudging her gently, not wanting to push past any emotional barriers Lena might have against touch. "Winn says he has a science joke he won't tell without you there."
Lena raised her eyebrows and picked up her glass. "Then my presence they shall receive," she said, squeezing Kara's hand and making her way over to sit between Alex and Winn.
Kara's gaze followed her, and she was now stood next to Maggie, watching Lena interact with her family.
"She's nice," Maggie said softly.
Kara nodded. "Yeah, she is."
"When are you gonna kiss her?"
The question was so blunt and out of the blue that Kara took a moment to process it before reacting with a cough and a sputter. "What?"
"I said, when are you gonna kiss her?"
Kara's mouth flopped open and closed in confusion and embarassment. "We're, we're friends," she laughed.
Maggie smirked back at her. "For now, sure. She likes you, Kara. A lot. Trust me, I can tell – and I know you like her too."
"Of course I like Lena, we're friends."
Maggie scoffed and took another swig of her beer. "Okay," she said sarcastically, making her way back over to the group. "Whatever you say."