Alex took a deep breath before she knocked on the door. She heard a fumbling from inside before the door opened. "Alex." Maggie looked surprised to see her.
"Hey, uhm….can I come in?" Alex questioned.
"Uhm," Maggie looked into the apartment before looking back to Alex. Alex scrunched her face up, seeing that the light was off in her apartment, or at least the main light. She looked further into the apartment seeing the side lamp was on, and she could see a few candles flickering. "Yeah." Maggie opened the door further and Alex saw a woman sitting on the couch, two glasses of wine on the table. She felt her heart sink, getting a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Eh, on seconds thoughts I'll let you get back to your date." Alex turned around and started to walk back down the hall.
"Alex, wait," Maggie walked out of her apartment and chased after her. "It's not what it looks like," Maggie raised her voice as she picked up her pace, reaching her hand out and grabbing Alex's arm, spinning her around to face her. "The main light blew out," Maggie told her. "I don't have another lightbulb so it's candles and the side light till I go to the store tomorrow."
"And the woman?" Alex questioned.
"It's Rachel." Maggie told her.
Alex scoffed. "And you just happened to forget to tell me she was coming?"
"I didn't know," Maggie argued back. "She just turned up this afternoon."
"How convenient." Alex mumbled.
"Alex, c'mon," Maggie reached forward to touch her arm, but Alex shrugged away. "You really think I'd cheat on you?" Maggie questioned, feeling a little hurt.
"Well you walked out on an argument… you've cheated before…" Alex gave a little shrug as she stopped talking.
"I can't believe you'd throw that in my face," Maggie spat. "That was years ago, and I wasn't even with you then." Maggie said.
Alex looked downwards, staring at the picture in her hand. She cleared her throat before handing it out for Maggie to take. "Emmi wanted me to give you this." Alex told her. Maggie took it from her and looked down to the underwater scene, smiling as she traced her finger over the fish, starfish, mermaid and treasure chest. As Maggie looked back up, she saw Alex had already turned and started to walk away.
"Alex, please will you just stay and talk to me," Maggie said, walking further down the hall. "This is stupid."
"Just," Alex turned around, holding her hand out. "Go back to Rachel." Alex said, hitting the button for the elevator.
"Alex." Maggie spoke softly, stepping forward, once again trying to put her hand onto Alex's arm. She opened her mouth to talk again but the elevator pinged open and Alex walked in, hitting the button for the ground floor. Maggie thought about stepping forward, to block the doors from closing, but then decided not to. Alex clearly didn't want to talk anymore and if they did, with the mood Alex still seemed to be in, it would only make things worse. She sighed lightly and watched as the doors closed, before she walked back down the hall and back into her apartment. She closed the door and leaned her head back against it, sighing loudly.
Rachel stared at her, her lips pursed. "I'm sorry if me turning up uninvited has caused something with your girlfriend." Rachel said.
"We were already mid fight before this happened, so…." Maggie trailed off, looking down once again to the drawing in her hand.
"If you want me to go to a hotel, it's okay," Rachel told her. "I uh…" Rachel stood up from the couch. "It's no bother."
"No," Maggie shook her head. "It's fine. You are my friend and I said you can stay," Maggie told her. "I just…" Maggie trailed off, walking over to the breakfast bar, putting the picture Emmi had drawn her down. "It's just hard right now, you know. To get things how they were," Maggie turned back around to face her friend. "I uh…we get through one thing then…" Maggie shrugged, holding her hands out to the side.
"Well relationships were never meant to be easy," Rachel told her. "You two are just back together, you are trying to work through the kids issue and Alex's drinking," Rachel walked closer to Maggie. "Is there anything else that's happened?"
"Uhm," Maggie rubbed the back of her head as she bit her lip. "It's complicated." Maggie sighed lightly knowing she couldn't get into the whole alien DEO metahuman father thing.
"Well like I said, relationships often are," Rachel said. "But you should go after her," Rachel told her. "Talk it out. Don't let it get to far."
Maggie shook her head. "She's not going to listen tonight. She's in this mood and she's just not…." Maggie clicked her tongue, feeling her eyes gloss over with tears. "I love her so much," Maggie squeaked as she felt a lump her throat. "But this is hard. It's just so hard right now."
"Hey, c'mon," Rachel stepped forward and rubbed Maggie's arms, showing her some comfort. "You'll get through this. Sometimes you have to put up with the bad times to make way for the good." Rachel told her, still rubbing her arms.
"I guess so," Maggie murmured. "C'mon." Maggie grabbed Rachel's hand and lead her towards the door.
"Where are we going?" Rachel wondered.
"Bar," Maggie answered. "Need something stronger than that wine." Maggie said as she opened the apartment door. Rachel wasn't sure it was the best idea, but she stayed quiet and followed Maggie out of the apartment, making note that at least she'd be there to make sure Maggie didn't drink herself into too much of a state.
Alex put the cereal on the table before looking over to the couch where Emmi was sitting, watching morning cartoons. "Emmi come and have some breakfast." Alex told her, Emmi jumping down from the couch, her Peppa Pig teddy being held close to her as she ran across to the table and climbed up onto the seat. She left her Peppa Pig close by on the table before she picked up her spoon and started eating her cereal.
"What will we do today Miss Alex?" Emmi questioned before taking another spoonful of cereal.
"I'm not sure." Alex gave a little shrug as she ate her eggs on toast.
"Can we see Miss Maggie?" Emmi wondered. Alex pursed her lips.
"Uhm, not today." Alex shook her head and Emmi pouted.
"What about Mr Winn or Miss Kara?" Emmi asked.
"Well they are both working today but you will maybe see Kara tonight." Alex told her.
"Why not Miss Maggie?" Emmi questioned, giving a sad pout. "I've not seen her again."
Alex exhaled lightly. "She's just very busy with work," Alex told her, and Emmi frowned. Alex knew that she'd need to go talk to Maggie at one point. She hated what she was doing to them. She knew she needed to work through what happened with Cadmus and her father and stop taking it out on Maggie. Maggie loved her and just wanted to help her. "I promise you'll get to see her soon, okay?" Alex said, and Emmi nodded before she took a drink of her apple juice. Alex looked around as there was a knock at the door. She felt her heart jump, wondering if it was Maggie coming to talk. She nervously walked over to the door and unlocked it, before looking through the peep hole, feeling surprised to see her mother at the other side of the door. She opened the door, welcoming her mother into the house. "Mum," Alex gave her mother a hug. "What a surprise."
"I told you I was coming soon." Eliza told her.
"Yeah, you did." Alex rubbed the back of her head as she glanced over to Emmi, Eliza's eyes settling on her.
"Oh, who's this?" Eliza questioned, Emmi staring over at her as she kept eating her breakfast.
"This is Emmi," Alex told her. "She was saved from a Cadmus mission," Alex said. "Uhm, we're still figuring out what to do with her." Alex informed her, Eliza giving a little nod as she walked over to the table.
"Hello, I'm Eliza. Alex's mum," Eliza told her as she took a seat opposite her, Alex going into the kitchen to make her mother a coffee. Emmi stared up at Eliza, but she didn't talk, she just kept eating her cereal. "So," Eliza looked around to Alex. "What's been happening here?" Eliza said, and Alex took a deep breath, going to fill her mother in on what had happened with Cadmus and about metahuman Jeremiah.
Maggie groaned as she walked down the hall, rubbing the side of her head. "Good morning," Rachel said before she glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. "Just," Rachel added, seeing it was almost noon. Maggie groaned again as she took a glass from the cupboard and put it under the water dispenser on the fridge. Maggie scrunched her face up, looking like she was going to be sick as she could smell bacon and eggs. "Sorry, I helped myself to breakfast. Hope that's okay."
"Yeah, fine," Maggie gagged before taking a drink of her water. "Maybe open the balcony doors though to get rid of the smell," Maggie said, her hand going onto her chest as she swallowed. Rachel stifled a laugh as she walked over to the balcony doors and opened them, letting some air into the apartment and hopefully for Maggie, the smell out. "Hope the couch wasn't too uncomfortable." Maggie gestured to the couch where Rachel had spent the night, the pillow and blanket neatly gathered at the end.
"You kidding? It was comfier than my bed." Rachel replied.
Maggie stifled a laugh before scrunching her face up, rubbing the back of her head. "You mean you've still got that springy old mattress?" Maggie questioned.
"Guilty, officer," Rachel laughed as she sat up on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. "So, you feel better now you drank half the bar last night?" Rachel asked, watching as Maggie put two tablets into her water, letting them fizz up before she took another drink.
Maggie shook her head. "Problem with that is, while I felt better last night because I was in happy alcohol land, I now have a major headache and the problems with Alex are still there." Maggie sighed, rubbing her hand over her face.
"I feel partly responsible for that," Rachel pursed her lips. "I mean, she clearly came around here last night to sort things out with you and I just made it worse."
Maggie shook her head. "You did nothing wrong," Maggie told her. "She just jumped to conclusions and wouldn't stay to talk things over." Maggie was rather surprised with Alex. It wasn't like her to act this way.
"You should go talk to her." Rachel told her.
"Yeah," Maggie leaned over the breakfast bar, once again rubbing her hands over her face. She wanted to talk to Alex, of course she did, but right now, she was fearful things were going to get even worse. She thought it might be a good idea to let Alex calm down first because she didn't want things to escalate even further between them. "I do, I just. I need to time it right."
"Of course," Rachel gave a little nod. "So, you up for showing me National City today or would you rather I just went out on my own?" Rachel asked.
"We can go out," Maggie said, finishing her water. "I'll just go get ready." Maggie said before disappearing down the hall, hoping that the next time she saw Alex, they'd be able to work things out.
Emmi was sitting up on the breakfast bar, watching Bubbles as she swam around the fish bowl. Alex had filled Eliza in on Cadmus and Jeremiah and they'd talked about Kara and her new relationship with James, and she'd even told her she wanted Emmi to stay with her permanently. That was when Maggie was brought up, because of course, the decision wasn't only Alex's. "Ahh," Alex shook her head. "I keep making things worse with her," Alex exhaled. "I accused her of cheating on me. She wouldn't ever…." Alex trailed off, shaking her head at herself once again.
"Well what made you think she was?" Eliza questioned.
"She had a friend over and the lights were low….I just jumped to conclusions." Alex told her mother.
"I see," Eliza glanced over at Emmi who was still engrossed with her fish before looking back to her daughter. "Well, only you can go and make it right." Eliza said.
"I know," Alex twisted her lip. "But I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't want to talk to me. I've been horrible."
"She loves you," Eliza told her. "She moved back hundreds of miles to make a go of things with you again," Eliza leaned forward, putting her hand on top of Alex's, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You'll be okay."
Alex let a puff on air escape between her lips. "I know I'd not forgive myself easily."
"I didn't say it was going to be easy," Eliza told her. "But, I know you two can work this out," Eliza said. "Especially if you are going to care for that little girl over there." Eliza said, looking back to Emmi once again.
Alex looked over to her, a smile etching on her face. "I don't think Maggie is ready for this," Alex spoke quietly. "She says she'll raise and love my children, or child to start with," Alex corrected herself. "But it's always in the future," Alex pursed her lips. "And I was okay with that, at first," Alex said, rubbing her hands together. "You know, we'd just got back together, we were getting used to being us again," Alex said, Eliza giving a little nod. "We'd do the whole marriage thing first, then get the house and the dog and then in a few years' time the kids would come," Alex looked up at her mother, her lips pursed. "But now Emmi is here and I…we've got this connection already and I…." Alex clicked her tongue. "I want to look into her staying with me permanently, but I'm scared it'll be too much too soon for Maggie. For us."
"Well there's only one way to find that out," Eliza said. "You need to go talk to Maggie about all of this." Eliza told her.
"What if we aren't allowed?" Alex questioned. "What if she has more family here on Earth?" Alex asked her mother. "What if she gets placed somewhere else because it's not like I can just rock up and say I want that one, can I?" Alex noted. "And we are unmarried lesbians."
"Well lesbians are allowed to adopt, you know." Eliza told her daughter.
Alex stifled a laugh as she gave a little nod. "Emmi, come here please," Alex looked over to the breakfast bar. Emmi stood up on it and before Alex or Eliza had the chance to tell her not too, she jumped down, landing softly on the floor. "Careful." Alex told her as she ran across and climbed up onto her knee, Alex wrapping her arms around her and kissing her temple.
"You don't want to fall and hurt yourself." Eliza added.
Emmi glared at Eliza before looking around to Alex and whispering something in her ear. "Yes, she know about that." Alex told her.
"Well then you know I can fly so I can be careful when I jump and land." Emmi said, and Eliza and Alex laughed.
"So, Emmi," Alex cleared her throat. "Do you have any other family on Earth?" Alex questioned.
"Uhm." Emmi scratched the side of her head, looking a little confused.
"Like grandparents or aunts or uncles." Eliza said, helping to explain what Alex had meant.
"Oh," Emmi shook her head. "Ma and Pa didn't have any brothers or sisters," Emmi answered. "And their Ma's and Pa's went to Our Eden before I was born." Emmi told them, seeing they both looked a little confused. "Our Eden is like Heaven."
"Ah, I see," Alex said. "Did you have any friends from Warlees here?" Alex asked her.
"Uhm," Emmi scratched the side of her head. "Just Neil and Leo who lived next door. They were nice. They were boyfriends," Emmi told them. "But they were taken on the ship too."
Eliza and Alex exchanged a glance. "So, there's no one who could look after you?" Alex questioned.
"I thought you and Miss Maggie were going too," Emmi sounded sad, like she was on the brink of tears and the thought of not getting to stay with Alex. "Don't you want me?" Emmi bowed her head.
"I do sweetie," Alex admitted. "Hey, Emmi," Alex rubbed her cheek, causing her to look back up at her. "I'm going to try, but its not just up to me, okay?" Alex told her.
"But I want to stay with you and you want me to stay," Emmi told her. "It's fine."
Alex looked to Eliza for a moment before looking back to Emmi. "I know but it's a little more complicated than that," Alex told her. "But I promise you that no matter what happens, you'll be loved and kept safe, okay?" Alex said and Emmi nodded, before cuddling into Alex, Alex rubbing her back as she looked back to Eliza, exhaling lightly, knowing that she didn't want to have to give Emmi up.
Thoughts?