Chapter 2: All in the Family

Kara pulled up her sister's contact and placed the call, pacing back and forth as she waited for Alex to pick up. Her earlier fatigue was forgotten, and she needed to burn off some of the nervous energy coursing through her system.

She didn't have long to wait. A groggy sounding Alex picked up on the third ring. "Kara, what's the matter?"

One thing that Kara appreciated about her sister, she didn't waste time and got right to the point. If Kara was calling her in the middle of the night, there was bound to be a good reason.

"Can you come over?" Kara asked. "There's uh, there's something I need to talk to you about?"

Alex sighed. "Can it wait until tomorrow?"

Kara bit her lip and glanced toward her bedroom. "I guess? I just was really hoping that…"

"Who is it?" Kara heard Maggie question drowsily in the background.

"It's Kara, go back to sleep," Alex urged in a hushed voice.

"You know what? Never mind, this can wait until tomorrow morning," Kara hurried to assure her sister. Kara knew Alex would come if she insisted, but she hated interrupting her time with Maggie. Her sister and fiancee had been kept just as busy as Kara in the wake of the attack on National City.

"Are you sure?" Alex asked hesitantly, the exhaustion in her voice easy to detect.

"Yeah, positive," Kara insisted with false confidence. "I'll see you in the morning. Go back to sleep. I'm sorry for waking you two up."

"If you're sure," Alex trailed off, and Kara heard her suppress a yawn.

"Absolutely. Sleep," Kara commanded. "Good-night." Kara ended the call before Alex could ask again if she was sure. She placed her phone on the counter and contemplated her next move.

There was no way she could contact Lena until she had spoken to Alex about the situation. She wasn't even sure how she was going to start to broach the subject with her friend. While she made every effort to stay in touch with Lena, both of their schedules had been crazy over the last half-year, and they weren't able to spend as much time together as they once had.

Kara was wondered if some of that distance had been due to her revealing that she was Supergirl. Lillian's taunt at the Fortress of Solitude, and her certainty about Lena's reaction to being kept in the dark had gnawed at Kara. Not wanting to risk Lena finding out accidentally, or worse, have her mother tell her, Kara had finally revealed the truth to her friend.

Lena had appeared to take the news in stride. She had been a little hurt, but she hadn't cut off contact, and she didn't seem to hate her, as Lillian had claimed. Lena's claims that she was often too busy to meet up for lunch were also not that hard to believe. Kara thought if there was one person that had been busier since the invasion than Supergirl, it was Lena.

The Luthor heiress had dedicated herself, her company, and her sizable fortune, to helping to restore the devastated city. Kara knew she blamed herself for the destruction, and she had tried to assure her friend that she couldn't have known. Lena had thanked her for her kindness but insisted that she didn't deserve absolution.

Kara sighed. No, she definitely wasn't going to talk to Lena until she had a chance to talk this through with Alex. While she knew there was no way she was going to be able to sleep with this issue hanging over her, she figured she could at least change into her pajamas and be comfortable.

Not wanting to risk waking the small bundle on the bed, Kara levitated a few inches off the ground and floated into her bedroom to retrieve her pajamas. Clothing in hand, she floated herself into the bathroom to change. Once changed, Kara floated herself over to the couch and flopped down.

Her stomach growled loudly, reminding her of her earlier plans for the evening. Getting up, she was on her way to the kitchen when a knock sounded loudly on her door. She hurriedly sped over, not wanting to risk another knock waking the baby. She pulled the door open and found Alex and Maggie standing in her doorway.

"Alex?" Kara asked confused. "What are you doing here? I said it could wait until morning."

Alex gave her a knowing look and brushed past, Maggie following closely behind with a slightly apologetic smile.

"If you called me in the middle of the night, it had to have been important," Alex insisted. She settled herself at the kitchen island. "Now, spill. What has you so worried?"

"Can you keep your voice down," Kara asked, looking unconsciously toward her bedroom.

Alex frowned, and followed her sister's gaze, realization dawning. "Is someone here?" Alex hissed, but thankfully, quietly.

"Yes, but it's not like that," Kara insisted.

"What's it like then?" Alex inquired, still frowning.

"So, earlier tonight, I had a visitor," Kara began hesitantly. If it was this difficult to tell her sister, she really didn't know how she was ever going to tell Lena.

"Kara…," Alex said, her voice trailing off warningly.

"Babe, just let her tell it," Maggie urged, rubbing her hand over Alex's back in soothing circles. "She's clearly more than a little freaked out." Kara smiled at Maggie in thanks. Alex sighed, and crossed her arms over her chest, but remained silent.

"It was Mon-El."

"Mon-El is here?" Alex demanded, sitting forward once again, her agreement to remain silent already forgotten.

"No," Kara answered with a shake of her head. "Not anymore." Kara paused, drawing in a steadying breath. Just say it. "But his daughter is," Kara finally spit out. She looked at Alex, waiting. If she knew her sister at all, she wouldn't remain silent for long.

"I'm sorry," Alex said with a shake of her head. "I thought you just said that Mon-El's daughter was in your bedroom." Kara nodded, still silent. Alex compressed her lips together and just stared at Kara. Kara waited. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" Alex finally demanded, pushing herself away from the table. Only Maggie's hands placed firmly on her shoulders kept her seated. "How is that even possible?" Alex paused a moment, a look of alarm crossing her features. "Is it..is it yours?"

"What? No!" Kara hastened to assure her flustered sister. "No, she's not mine," Kara repeated, more calmly.

"So, what in the hell?" Alex demanded.

Kara sighed. Alex was taking it about how she figured; not well.

"When I came home tonight, Mon-El was waiting for me."

"With his daughter," Alex repeated, as though still seeking clarification.

"With his daughter."

"How is that even possible?" Alex asked. "I thought the lead in the atmosphere would still prevent him from returning." Alex's expression changed from curiosity to alarm. "Is the atmosphere clearing? Have they developed an immunity? I need to call J'onn." Alex made to stand, but Kara reached across and placed her hand on her sister's; staying her retreat.

"Earth still isn't safe for Daxamites," Kara quickly reassured Alex. "Mon-El was only able to be here because his suit had lead filtration, and even that didn't last long."

Alex relaxed at the news, but her gaze quickly sharpened and her head swiveled toward Kara's bedroom. "Well, then how…" Alex trailed off.

Kara drew in a deep breath. Now for the hard part. "Her mother is human." Alex furrowed her brow, but remained silent, correctly anticipating there was more to come. "Lena Luthor."

Maggie was the first to respond. A low whistle, accompanied by a slight shake of the head. "Didn't see that one coming."

Kara was starting to worry about Alex since she was sitting quietly. It wasn't like her sister to not voice her opinion on a subject, and if Kara was sure of one thing, it was that Alex certainly had an opinion.

"Alex?" Kara inquired softly, biting gently at her bottom lip.

Alex held up a hand, one finger extended, silently asking for another moment. "I'm going to kill him," Alex finally muttered. "And Lena," Alex added as an afterthought.

"Alex, it's not like that," Kara insisted, a blush staining her cheeks. Just the mere thought of what Alex was implying caused Kara's stomach to twist uncomfortably.

"What's it like then? Because it sounds like your ex-boyfriend dropped by to leave you his baby, with your best friend no less, before taking off again."

"Well….that's not entirely wrong," Kara conceded, "But it's not that simple."

Alex crossed her arms and stared at her sister. "Then please explain it to me, Kara."

Kara sighed. "When Rhea kidnapped Mon-El and Lena, she also took a genetic sample from each of them. She was convinced that their marriage and eventual heir, would cement her uncontested rule over Earth. With the Daxamites reproductive technology, that sample was enough."

"And she's currently in your bedroom why exactly?" Alex asked.

"Mon-El has to focus on finding his people a future. A new planet to call home. He realized that that uncertain future was not what he wanted for his daughter. He wanted her to have a better life; a life here on Earth."

"Uh huh," Alex muttered, looking unimpressed with the Daxamite's reasoning. "So, he just dumped his kid with you and took off?"

Kara shifted uncomfortably. Alex wasn't wrong, but the say she said it made it sound far worse than it actually was. Kara found herself in the familiar position of having to defend Mon-El. "He just wanted a better life for his daughter," Kara protested weakly.

"I will assume the fact that baby is currently sleeping in your bedroom means that Lena has no idea? Oh wait, let me guess, he wants you to break the news to her?" Kara nodded silently, and Alex snorted. "Of course he does."

"Babe, chill, this isn't Kara's fault," Maggie cut in gently. The detective sent Kara a sympathetic gaze. "What's your plan?"

Kara shrugged. "Tell Lena?" she responded uncertainly. "That's why I called. How do you tell your best friend that she is the mom to a half-alien baby with your alien ex-boyfriend?" Kara shook her head at the oddity of the statement.

Maggie chuckled. "That is definitely a new one."

"Do you have any suggestions?" Kara asked desperately.

Alex snorted. "They don't exactly cover this in the DEO field manual."

Kara crossed her arms and scowled at her sister. "Thanks for the help."

Alex threw up her hands. "What do you want me to say, Kara? If there's anyone to be mad at here, it's Mon-El, but he is conveniently gone. What if Lena wants nothing to do with the baby? Can you contact Mon-El to come back and get her?"

Kara instinctively started to defend Mon-El, before closing her mouth and shaking her head. "No. His people are getting restless and the backtracking to get here already had them on edge. He didn't exactly leave a forwarding address."

Alex simply shook her head. "Typical."

"What's her name?" Maggie interrupted, changing the topic before they could engage in a circular argument.

"Alina," Kara responded, shifting her attention to the detective.

"Is she cute? I'll bet she's cute," Maggie continued.

"I haven't really gotten a good look at her her," Kara admitted. "She's been asleep the whole time." Kara stopped talking abruptly and tipped her head towards her bedroom. "Oh Rao, I think I jinxed it," Kara said, looking at Alex and Maggie with an expression of mild panic.

Alex held up her hands. "Don't look at me." Alex folded her arms across her chest. Kara's super hearing was not needed to detect the angry cry that filled the air a moment later.

"What am I supposed to do?" Kara asked, looking back and forth between Maggie and Alex.

"Probably should have thought about that before agreeing to take keep it," Alex muttered, assiduously avoiding eye contact with her sister.

"Not helping, Alex," Kara muttered right back.

When the baby continued to cry, Maggie threw up her hands in exasperation. "Oh for crying out loud." The detective quickly covered the short distance to Kara's bedroom, and a moment later, the crying stopped. Making soft shushing sounds, Maggie made her way back to the kitchen.

Kara cautiously made her way over to inspect the new addition. With the exception of Kal-El, she hadn't really spent any time around babies. Kara reached out a finger to gently peel the blanket away, to finally get a good look at the baby's features.

She felt her breath catch when tiny green eyes blinked owlishly back at her. If she had had any doubt about Alina's parentage, it was gone. Those were Lena Luthor's eyes in miniature.

Maggie smiled when she caught Kara's smitten expression. "I was right; she's adorable." Maggie glanced at her girlfriend. "C'mon, Danvers, don't you want to come meet the newest member of the gang?"

Alex shook her head, looking at Maggie as though she had lost her mind. "I'm good, thanks."

"Don't tell my you're afraid of a little baby," Maggie teased, slowly edging closer.

"I'm not afraid," Alex scoffed, leaning slightly away. "Babies just aren't my thing."

"Big, bad, DEO agent, afraid to hold a tiny little baby," Maggie taunted, continuing to move forward.

"There's a difference between fear and disinterest," Alex insisted.

Kara frowned at her sister. "Alex, be nice!"

"How am I being mean?" Alex demanded. "I just don't want to hold it."

Maggie laughed, tucking the baby snuggly against her chest. "Just a bit of helpful advice, Danvers; people really hate it when you refer to their babies as it."

As if to voice her agreement, Alina let out an angry cry.

"See that?" Alex said, pointing at the crying infant. "That is exactly why I don't want to hold it, her," Alex quickly corrected herself.

Kara looked from the unhappy baby to Maggie. "What's the matter with her?" Kara asked anxiously.

"At this age? It's either a diaper, a bottle, or a nap."

"Oh! Mon-El said he left some bottles in the fridge." While Maggie checked to see if the only remaining option was the culprit for the infant's unhappiness, Kara sped over to the fridge. Grabbing the bottle she hurried back over. "Here." She tried to hand the bottle to Maggie but the detective shook her head.

"You can't give a baby a cold bottle," Maggie explained. "You have to heat it up first."

"On it." Ever wanting to be helpful, and also wanting the crying to stop, Kara took the quickest option available.

Seeing her intent, Maggie tried to intervene. "No, Kara, you can't…" But it was too late. A concentrated blast of heat vision hit the bottle, and in seconds Kara was covered in a hot, frothy, milk explosion.

Alex snickered and shook her head. Kara glared at her sister and tried to shake off some of the mess.

"...heat milk like that," Maggie finished unnecessarily.

Kara flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry."

Maggie laughed it off with a shake of her head. "No need, you caught the brunt of it. But you may want to grab another bottle since I have confirmed it is not a diaper issue."

Kara nodded and hurried back to the fridge. Grabbing the bottle she turned toward the microwave before once again being halted by Maggie. "Nope. Grab a pot and heat up some water. You have to bring it to temperature evenly. If you pop it in the microwave you risk hot and cold spots."

Alex looked askance at her girlfriend. "How is it that you know so much about babies?"

"Cousins. Lots, and lots of cousins." Maggie flicked her gaze between the two sisters. "How is it that you two know so little?"

"Keeping my alien sister a secret was kind of a full-time job," Alex rejoined.

Kara tuned out the banter between Maggie and Alex, but she was unable to tune out the continued unhappy cries of Alina. She filled the pot with water and gave it a quick blast of heat to bring it up to a simmer. Popping the bottle in, she set the burner and impatiently waited for the bottle to come to temperature. She frowned down at the bottle; this whole process just seemed hopelessly slow and primitive.

"How do I know when it's done?" Kara directed the question to Maggie a little desperately. Maggie was bouncing the baby gently in an effort to appease her; it wasn't working.

"When it's warm, but not hot."

"Right…" Kara grumbled at the inexact measure.

"Just squirt a little on your wrist to test the temperature."

"I'm fireproof."

"Right...Squirt a little on Alex's wrist to test the temperature."

"What? Why my wrist?" Alex demanded.

Maggie raised her eyebrows and nodded at the still crying baby. "Would you rather hold Ali?"

Alex huffed, but pushed her sleeve back, exposing the skin on her wrist. Kara squirted a little out and looked at her sister questioningly. "Feels fine."

"You're sure?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Yes, Kara."

"I just want to be sure," Kara insisted defensively. She handed the bottle to Maggie. They all breathed a collective sigh of relief when the baby latched on immediately, and silence once again descended.

Kara looked at the baby, nursing contentedly, a small smile gracing her lips. She really was adorable. She just hoped that Lena felt the same. Lena. Thoughts of the brunette brought her back to her original problem, and the reason for Maggie and Alex's presence in her apartment.

"Should I bring her with me tomorrow when I go to tell Lena? How could she say no to that face?" Kara asked.

Alex and Maggie shared a silent look. "It may be better not to blindside her," Maggie finally answered.

Kara frowned. "You don't think she'll want to see her daughter immediately?"

Maggie glanced at Alex again, but the agent remained silent, more than happy to let her fiancee handle this particular conversation. "I think this is going to be a shock to Lena, and she may need a little time to wrap her head around the news." Maggie laughed softly. "Women aren't really used to getting the 'surprise you're a mom' talk."

Kara's frown deepened, along with her worry. Kara looked at the tiny bundle Maggie held. She couldn't imagine someone not wanting her. Kara reached out and trailed her finger delicately over the nursing babies cheek. "Who wouldn't want you?"

Alex snorted. "You mean besides her father?"

Kara shot her sister an annoyed look. Even though she had initially urged Kara to give Mon-El a chance, she was not the Daxamites biggest fan. For the most part, Alex had refrained from commenting on Mon-El since his departure, but the current situation had broken that restraint.

When Maggie also shot Alex an annoyed look, the redhead held up her hands. "Okay, I get it, not helpful. Last time."

Kara turned her attention back to Alina and frowned. "What am I going to do with her if I can't take her with me?"

"We'll watch her," Maggie immediately offered.

"We will?" Alex asked, surprised.

"Yes, we will," Maggie repeated firmly. "You go tell Lena, and Alex and I will take care of the peanut." Maggie smirked at her girlfriend. "Since I know how much Alex likes shopping, we can go get her some things. She is going to need more than what little Mon-El packed for her."

"We should probably take her by the DEO anyway," Alex added.

"Why?" Kara asked suspiciously. It wasn't that Kara didn't trust her sister, or the DEO, but she felt vaguely uncomfortable with the idea. The DEO was in the business of capture and containment, not childcare.

Alex read Kara's trepidation easily. "Relax. I just think it would be helpful to run some tests on her so we can get an idea of what we are dealing with. If we are going to find her floating out of her crib, it's better to know sooner rather than later."

Kara shook her head. "Daxamites can't fly under Earth's sun."

Alex laughed softly. "Kara, it was an example. I just want to get a baseline on her. We know she's not affected by the lead, but who knows what else we are dealing with. If her metabolism is even a fraction as accelerated as yours or Mon-El's we are going to figure out how to keep her properly fed."

Kara frowned. She hadn't even thought of that, and she should have. When she had first landed on Earth, she had been constantly ravenous. When Kal-El had left her with the Danvers' he had neglected to mention her increased metabolism and caloric needs. Luckily, being scientists, the Danvers' had been quick to figure it out.

"That's a good idea," Kara finally conceded. "Mon-El also left a data drive with everything the Daxamite doctors had put together information on her."

Alex nodded her head. "Good, we won't have to start from zero."

Alina finally finished her bottle and yawned sleepily. Maggie placed the bottle on the counter and placed the baby over her shoulder, bouncing her gently and tapping her back. Kara realized just how little she knew about caring for an infant.

"Hey, you guys want to spend the night?" Kara asked hopefully. When Alex looked at her doubtfully Kara rushed to explain. "It will save you time in the morning. Since you'll already be here."

"Uh, huh," Alex replied knowingly.

Maggie bumped her shoulder into Alex, careful not to use to much force lest she disturb the baby. "Of course we'll stay," Maggie answered, taking pity on Kara.

Kara smiled at Maggie gratefully. "Thanks, Maggie, you're the best."

"I call dibs on the bed," Alex called out.

Kara rolled her eyes at her sister. "Fine." She was pretty sure she wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.