Kara poked her head through Lena's office doors and was met with a growing smile on Lena's face.
"Kara? What a lovely surprise! Come on in! I didn't know you were coming. Jess did not even announce you…" Lena said cheerfully as she got up and went around her desk.
"Well, you're the one that said that I was to be shown in right away whenever possible, not me…" Kara said a little more playfully than she had intended to.
Lena could not help but smile from hear to hear as she walked toward the couch. "That I did! And I meant what I said," Lena admitted as she sat down, gesturing for Kara to do the same. "Surprise visit to L-Corp?" Lena asked playfully.
"More like surprise visit to its CEO," Kara replied with smiling eyes as she sat down opposite Lena.
"And what business do you have with the CEO of L-Corp, Miss Danvers?" Lena carried on with her playful tone.
"Well, I wanted to know what she had planned for Thanksgiving," Kara answered with the same smile in her eyes.
Lena's face suddenly clouded over almost imperceptibly. "Depends, is the reporter asking or the friend?" Lena asked, never letting go of her playfulness.
"Well, the reporter, of course," Kara joked. "You know me, always putting my work before my friends." They both burst out laughing. This statement could not be further away from the truth.
"Then, you should know Miss Danvers, I never give statements about private matters to the press," Lena teased her friend.
"Bribe?" Kara exclaimed cheerfully holding up the bags of Chinese takeaway she came with.
"If I could be one to be bribed with food, but we all know that's you." They both burst out into laughter anew.
"Well, I wanted to see you and I had something to ask you and it was lunchtime, so I thought to myself why not kill three birds with one stone," Kara explained.
"So, what is this about Thanksgiving?" Lena asked intrigued.
Kara flashed a grin at Lena and carried on with the reason of her visit. "I am celebrating Thanksgiving with a few friends and family members at my place this year and I immediately thought about you and how I would love for you to be there with us," Kara confessed.
"You really thought about it and thought about me being there with all of you?" Lena asked, unbelieving.
"Of course!" Kara exclaimed cheerfully with the brightest of smiles.
Lena put her hand on her heart. "Kara, I'm so touched," she confessed in a soft voice. "I would love to come, I'd be honored. But under one condition," she added mysteriously.
"Which one?" Kara asked clueless.
"That you let me cook something," Lena answered, a smile all across her face, as she made herself more comfortable, resting her elbow on the couch and her head on her hand.
"Oh you cook? I didn't' know it was one of your hidden talents, Lena," Kara said happily surprised. "Of course, of course, cook away, cook away! I'm looking forward to your cooking. Wait, wait, it means you're coming? I am so happy, I'll have you there with us! I already wanted you there and when I learned that your mother and you didn't get along and with Lex in prison and your father not around anymore, I knew that this is where you belonged…" Kara started to ramble on.
Lena opened her mouth to say something but decided against it after a few seconds.
"Lena, I'm so sorry. It was so inconsiderate! What a moron!" Kara cursed herself putting her hand to her mouth. Oh Good Rao, Kara, come on!
"It's okay Kara, really. That's my family for you! You didn't make 'em who they are, you can't change 'em and I learned to make peace with that a long time ago, "Lena replied, caught off guard.
"Lena, it's okay to be upset. You don't have to pretend when you're with me. I am your friend," Kara answered her as she wiped a tear away from the corner of Lena's eye, with a small smile.
Lena took Kara's hand in hers. Kara made her so comfortable that she started to pour her heart to her with an ease she had not suspected once more. "My mother does not love me, never has and never will. And, she can't be bothered to spend Thanksgiving with me. She always prefered Lex and never let me forget it just like she never let me forget that I was adopted. Now that my father is not here anymore and Lex is in prison, as sad as it is, I only have her and I thought for a moment, somehow, things would change between us but they haven't. I don't know what came over me. Honestly, I don't know why I still care. I am grown woman…" Lena trailed off, tears coming up to her eyes once more.
"You care because she is you mother and you want her to love you. You're always going to care," Kara told Lena in a soft voice. "I am so sorry you had to go through that, Lena. It's hard to grow up without the love of your mother. But you're wrong, she's not the only one you have left. You have me. Remember what you told me the night I barged in your office for that favor about Roulette? You knew I would be there for you when the time came. Well, you were right, I am here," Kara comforted Lena, finally letting go of her hand to give her a tight hug.
"Thank you, Kara," Lena said in a soft voice before they broke apart.
"If it's any consolation, you'll fit right in. You know almost everyone which is good and you won't be the only one with estranged and/or deceased parents for Friendsgiving. This is what we call it. We are each other's family," Kara explained with a warm smile.
"And you want me to be part of this family?" Lena asked still unbelieving.
Kara nodded frantically. Lena flashed a bright smile at her. She could not put into words how she was feeling about Kara just implied and decided for a change of subject. "So, tell me, who will be there?" She asked in a soft voice.
"Well me, for starters!" It made Lena laugh. "I believe you've already got acquainted with my friend Winn under that table at your fundraiser," Kara teased her friend. Lena made a funny face at her, grabbed a cushion and threw it at Kara. "I've invited Mike as well," Kara carried on, arms in front of her face, protecting herself from any further attack.
"Of the interns?" Lena asked in a chuckle at the way Mike described himself to her that day.
"Himself!" Kara chuckled. You know James too. He's CatCo's interim CEO, he was at your party as well." Lena nodded. "You remember my sister Alex."
"You don't often forget the woman that saved your life," Lena teased.
"Right," Kara conceded in a smile. "And, finally, you're gonna meet my foster mom Eliza. She has so much love to give and she can't help but be everyone's mother. You're gonna love her!" Kara promised cheerfully.
"You have a foster mom?" Lena asked, her face suddenly clouding over once more.
"My parents died in an explosion when I was thirteen. The Danvers took me in shortly after that," Kara explained casually.
"I am so sorry Kara, I had no idea. And here I am, complaining when you went through so much worse," Lena said guiltily as she averted her gaze.
"Hey, everyone's situation is different. They can't be compared. Whether it was my parents or the Danvers, I was always surrounded by love, I have always felt wanted and safe. And with Alex I have discovered the amazing gift that it is to have a sister. So, I can't imagine what it feels like to grow up without love and to lose the only person that ever made you feel welcomed and that you adored to madness. I guess it gets very lonely." Lena nodded. "Besides, everyone deals with what happens to them in their own way. It doesn't make your feelings and your pain less real or less important than someone else's," Kara explained her point of view to Lena as she tilted her head to try and make Lena look back at her.
"I guessed I did not realize how much it hurt me. It did me so much good to talk about it with you, Kara. I don't think I have ever been comfortable to ever talk about it with anyone. You're an amazing friend," Lena confided in Kara as she took back Kara's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze."I don't know how you can be so warm and loving and cheerful and always ready to help others with everything you've been through. If you had not told me you had been adopted too, I would never have guessed," Lena confessed.
"I'd lie if I said it doesn't hurt anymore but I'm truly okay now, do not worry for me. I love my life, my friends and my family. I still think from time to time to imagine what my life would have been like if my parents had survived but it would not be what it is now. And as painful at it still is sometimes to have lost them and as a child, I can't imagine my life without the people I've grown to love. As awful as it sounds, they wouldn't be in my life had my parents not died," Kara admitted.
"Kara Danvers, you never cease to amaze me. This was a great life lesson. I sense there's a lot to be learned from you," Lena complimented her friend, with a twinkle in her eyes.
Kara blushed."Pff, nonsense," she brushed off the compliment with a smile. "Eat away, it is gonna grow cold," Kara said as she emptied the content of the bags on the coffee table and handed Lena a takeaway box.
"I should warn you about the Danvers Thanksgiving tradition." Kara sparked Lena's interest.
"Do tell!" Lena asked intrigued.
The rest of their weekly lunch is filled with chatter and laughter while they are eating away, from their own takeaway box and from each other's, both relishing in the moment and in their beautiful friendship and wishing Thanksgiving could come sooner.