A/N: I know it has been AGES! I'm very sorry, but now I return with good news: I've made this story my NaNo project this year. For those unfamiliar of NaNoWriMo, I've basically challenged myself to write 50.000 words for this story, by the end of November.
I can't promise to upload every day, but know I'm working on it daily, aiming for an average of 1667 words per day. That's a little over a chapter a day!
Alex tried not to smile when she noticed how close Maggie sat down next to her in the booth, Kara across from them. A knowing glance her sister threw her way, told her she should get her heart rate under control, and fast, before the detective would be able to tell as well.
"So tell me, Little Danvers, what's good?" she heard Maggie ask, while scanning over the menu.
"Alex usually only orders coffee, and I the rest of the menu," her sister smiled. "High metabolism," she pointed at herself.
"I did notice you sneak off a lot yesterday at the fundraiser, to the kitchen I assume?"
A guilty grin appeared on Kara's face.
"So only coffee, Alex?" the focus of the detective changed sisters and Alex felt her heart rate go crazy again. "That's not very healthy," she added with a smile.
Oh god, those dimples would be the end of her.
"I'm not big on eating when I just woke up," Alex offered, "my stomach can't handle more than coffee for at least a few hours."
The other woman simply smiled at her, before looking at the menu again.
"Okay, Little Danvers, since food is your thing, I trust your judgement. I'm craving something sweet, but not too sweet, that will fill me up just enough to complete my run after this," she said, and put the menu down.
Kara was almost glowing when she raised her hand to signal a waiter.
***SANVERS***
"This is delicious," Maggie said, after taking a bite of what the younger sister had ordered for her.
From the corner of her eye, she could see the older sister carefully sipping her coffee, which must still be way too hot to drink.
"So this is tradition on Sister Sunday? Brunch?" she asked, curious about the tradition.
"Usually I go over to Kara's in the morning, and we get here a lot earlier, but today I overslept and Kara came to wake me up," Alex overshared.
Maggie thought it was cute, but caught herself before she voiced that thought out loud.
"Then we watch movies and talk about everything and nothing and by lunchtime, I order potstickers from that Chinese place Kara likes," the oldest sister continued, her sister too busy cramming the different types of food in her mouth. "And evenings are pizza."
"A day full of fast food and movies then?" Maggie asked. "Sounds healthy enough", she laughed.
Alex simply shrugged.
"It's tradition," she said, refocusing her attention on her coffee.
"Alex, mom's coming," Kara suddenly said.
"How…?" Maggie started, but she wasn't able to finish that sentence, for the oldest Danvers woman entering the cafe.
"Alex, Kara, I'm happy to see you," their mother smiled, but she didn't need to be a detective to notice that the smile wasn't very sincere when looking at her eldest daughter. "Maggie, are you joining Sister Sunday now?" she asked.
"I ran into them on my morning run," she felt compelled to explain, unsure of how to handle this situation.
She tried to find Alex' gaze, but found only panic.
They hadn't talked about this, about what would happen outside of the fundraisers. A rookie mistake, Maggie realised now, but it was too late now. She would have to play this by ear.
"Lucky you," Eliza Danvers said, not noticing her eldest daughter's panic. "I've tried to join in several times, but they never let me."
"That's because you're our mother," Kara said, "you wouldn't understand our traditions."
"You mean I wouldn't approve of your eating habits," her mother said, eyeing the foods spread out on the table.
Maggie was grateful of the small distraction Kara had provided, and made good use of it by putting her hand on Alex' thigh and squeezing it lightly. It helped gaining the doctor's attention, and Maggie gave her wink that she hoped was comforting. She noticed the doctor exhaling deeply, as if she was letting go of a breath she had been holding.
***SANVERS***
As soon as she noticed Maggie winking at her, Alex knew everything was going to be alright. The detective had her back, and they would talk about this later.
"Can I bring you something, ma'am?" the waiter came, having noticed the extension of their party.
"Just coffee please," Eliza answered, and then refocused on her daughter's date. "So Maggie, were you able to enjoy yourself last night? At the fundraiser I mean, I don't need to hear any other details," she added, gaining a shocked "Mom!" from both her daughters and bright red on Maggie's cheeks.
"I had a wonderful evening," the detective answered, still looking like an overripe tomato.
"Mom, you're embarrassing Maggie," she decided to try and save the other woman.
"I'm sorry," Eliza said, "I had no intention in embarrassing you, Maggie, I was simply trying to prevent you from embarrassing me."
"It's okay, Eliza," the detective said. "I wasn't expecting that question, that's all."
Alex was very happy with the woman sitting by her side. She played her part like a pro. And that was what it was, she had to remind herself. She was only playing a part. It wasn't real.
But it felt so real, Alex thought, why does it feel so real?
She looked at the woman on her left, who was having a serious discussion with her sister about stealing her food, and Alex couldn't help but smile. Kara had thought herself to be sneaky, taking part of Maggie's food while she was distracted by Eliza, but the detective had caught her righthanded.
"I'm a cop, Kara," she said while laughing. "This is what I do."
Kara had the decency to at least look a bit guilty.
"You should've just asked," the dark haired woman added, making a giant smile magically appear on the younger Danvers' face when she pushed her plate to the other side of the table.
"I thought I had raised you better," Eliza shook her head.
"It's okay, Eliza, I was about to leave anyway. I still have my run to finish," Maggie smiled.
"I'll walk you out," Alex quickly rose to her feet.
Maggie simply smiled and grabbed a hold of her hand.
"It was nice to see you again, Kara, Eliza," she said and gave a little wave with her free hand, before heading for the exit.
Once outside, Maggie stopped and forced Alex to look at her.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," the doctor smiled. "It was just a surprise, my mom showing up over here and it made me realize we hadn't talked about what would happen after the fundraiser…"
"Rookie mistake, Danvers," the detective grinned. "But I was serious last night that I don't have anyone that could be bothered about us… faking it, for a lack of a better term. So I'm cool with whatever you want to do," she said, meaning every word of it
This, this thing with Alex, it wasn't bad. She liked being around the doctor, it felt nice. So it wouldn't bother her if they decided to continue their little act.
"Seeing my mom like this, it's been a long time ago that she was actually this civil to me… I'd hate to ruin that now by telling her the truth," Alex said, lost in thoughts. "But that would mean we would have to act like it as well at the precinct, because if your partner would find out it isn't real, he'd hurry over to my mom in no time to tell on us. Look at how fast he was at spreading the Lucy story yesterday."
Maggie nodded in agreement, and pulled the other woman closer, until their bodies were flush against each other.
***SANVERS***
For a second there, Alex forgot how to breath again. How does she do it, she wondered, I'm not normally like this.
"What's your passcode?" she heard Maggie ask.
"What?" she asked confused.
"Your passcode. Of your phone."
Still not knowing why the detective needed it, she told her. That's when she felt something leave her back pocket.
Time stopped for a second after that.
Soft lips were pressed against her cheek, and they were gone too soon.
"You almost look as if you were enjoying that, Danvers," Maggie laughed, typing away on what must be Alex' phone. "But it makes a nice screensaver."
It took Alex a second to realise that the other woman had taken a picture of them.
"I sent it to myself, so now I've got your number as well," the detective smiled, dimples on display.
"Smooth," Alex grinned, finally regaining her footing in this game. "Are you this smooth with all the girls?"
"Just the cute ones," Maggie flirted back.
The sight of the dark haired woman looking at her like that, Alex just had to kiss her. So she pulled her back closer by the waist and crashed her lips onto the other woman's.
"See you around, Danvers," Maggie smiled, after pulling back a little.
"See you tomorrow, Sawyer," Alex waved, before heading back inside.
