"Gamenight?" Kara questioned.
"Yes!" Lucy said excitedly. "You need this Kara, we all do."
"Okay, but what are we going to play?" Kara asked.
Alex and Astra held up three bags of games from the local department store. "We have games, food and plenty of people, so let's get this started."
As usual, the first step was to pick teams, since nobody wanted to lose alone. Kara insisted on no special treatment so they rolled dice to see who would pick first. Lois rolled a six to take the first pick, and she chose Lucy. Clark frowned, then realized, it made sense so if one or the other had to stop to take care of Jon they wouldn't have to stop the game. He smiled to himself as well, he had seen the sisters going at each other for so long, it was nice seeing them try to get along. At first, he thought it was just them acting out for Kara's sake, but it seemed as if they both needed this.
They rolled the dice again and this time Eliza won. She chose Astra, to help the woman keep up with what would soon be going on. This continued until everyone got a partner. Nia chose Ruby, J'onn ended up with Alex and Kelly and Brainy made up the next team. In the end, Clark ended up with Lucy and Lois because he was the odd man out, which worked out because he ended up on a call before the first game could even begin. That left Sam teaming with Kara, which seemed like a bit of a set up to her, but she wasn't going to complain.
The first game that came out of the bag was Monopoly. Alex and J'onn immediately started trash talking.
"We got this, you are all going down." Alex bragged.
Nia and Ruby rolled their eyes together, and stuck their tongues out at Alex. Kelly laughed, "Beat us too badly and you'll be sleeping on the couch tonight with the girls." Then she winked and blew a kiss.
Lucy and Lois nodded to one another, then Lois laughed. "Don't count your properties before you purchase Danvers."
Eliza held her head in her hands, embarrassed at the way everyone was acting.
Kara just swallowed hard, whispering to Sam. "I am horrible at this game Sami."
Sam patted her hand. "Me too sweetheart."
They started playing and it became apparent very quickly that Alex and J'onn and Kelly and Brainy were the teams to beat. Surprisingly Kara and Sam were in third place until Alex added hotels to Boardwalk two moves before Kara and Sam landed there. "Sorry Sami," Kara whispered under her breath.
"We did better than I thought we would sweetie," Sam responded, squeezing Kara in a one-handed hug.
Five minutes later, the game ended and Alex started talking trash again as they counted their money. Kara counted up Alex and J'onn's winnings, announcing the total. Nia was still counting Kelly and Brainy's winnings as Kara spoke. She smirked at Alex and laughed. "Sorry Kelly and Brainy just beat you by forty-five dollars." Alex's mouth dropped open as Kelly stood up and pranced over to her side of the table.
"Close your mouth honey, you look like you just lost." Then she kissed Alex on the cheek and laughed, "Oh wait, you did."
Everybody took a few minutes to grab some snacks and something to drink, Kara made it all the way across the room on her own, although her balance was still a bit of an issue on the way back, Ruby moved fast enough to catch everything before it hit the floor.
"Thank you, Ruby," Kara said, laughing at herself.
"You're welcome, Aunt Kara." Ruby smiled as she took Kara's things to her table.
"Thanks, baby," Sam whispered while looking away from everyone. Ruby's smile just got wider.
Kara made her way back to her chair, plopping down into it. She took a deep breath, then asked, "What's next on beat up the poor sick Kryptonian list?"
Everyone laughed as Astra reached into the bag and pulled out, Trivial Pursuit, Disney Edition.
Everyone moaned, except Nia, Ruby, and Kara.
Kelly smiled, "I'm working with a living computer, we got this."
Brainy looked at his teammate and said, "Thanks for the confidence, but you obviously have not seen Kara's Disney knowledge at work."
"We got this Nia," Ruby smirked.
"Oh, really little Ms. Ruby? Sam laughed. "You win, you get off being grounded, and I will do laundry for the next month."
"What do you get mom?" Ruby asked with her eyebrow raised.
"You get to do laundry and dishes for the next 3 months." Sam smiled.
Alex just groaned this was going to be a long game.
Clark arrived back in time to catch this exchange. "Lois, you might want to give up now, Kara knows more about Disney, than Disney."
Kara smiled evilly at everyone, this was her game to lose. "Everybody but Nia and Ruby gets one pie piece each to start, any color."
"Little confident in yourself aren't you Kara?" Eliza asked, happy to see her daughter like this. Astra was equally proud, this was the Kara she remembered.
"Little One, are you so sure of your abilities." Astra smiled.
"Yes Aunt Astra, I even promise not to beat you too badly," Kara smirked.
Lucy jumped and put her first pie piece in place, followed by Kelly, then J'onn and Eliza. Then they rolled to see who would go first. Kara won and stared across the table as she moved her piece.
The first question was so easy, everyone moaned, name the seven dwarves. Kara rattled them off without taking a breath.
Nia gulped, "Uh oh!"
Ruby sat shocked, looking at her mom who was just smiling at her.
Everyone else had their turns and then Ruby and Nia's turn. They rolled and got a question they knew the answer to. So after one round, the game was essentially tied again, Kara's head start gift meant nothing to anyone now.
Kara's next turn resulted in another pie piece, and so it would continue until Kara/Sam versus Ruby/Nia seemed to be how the game would be decided. The teams were even, only a single dice roll would determine the winner. All the other teams were resigned to the fact that this game would end and they didn't stand a chance. Then Ruby piped up, "Let's go till someone answers a question wrong."
"Okay." Sam and Kara answered at the same time.
So it began, the great Trivial Pursuit challenge. Lucy and Alex split the deck and started asking questions. It was agreed that three misses would end the game. Kara missed one, only because she crossed up the live-action version of 101 Dalmations with the animated movie. "Sorry Sami."
Sam kissed the top of her head. "It's no big deal sweetheart, it's one question."
Nia and Ruby were up by one question but got overconfident and missed two back to back.
"See, we are right back in it." Sam smiled.
Lucy asked the girls their next questions, which was something historical. They missed the question and Kara looked to Sam and whispered the answer into her ear. "1958" Sam called out.
"Correct!" Lucy yelled. "And the winners are Kara and Sam. Thank God, I didn't think that would ever end."
Everyone stood to stretch, a three hour stretch of Trivial Pursuit was not what everyone was planning. They also needed to congratulate the winners, and J'onn stepped over to the bar to pick up a gift he had gotten for Kara. He carried to Kara while everyone was refreshing their drinks and food.
"This is for you, I know you have been learning to play, and-and I think it is good for you."
Kara took the gift, unwrapping it eagerly. "A chess set." She smiled, she had been teaching herself to play since shortly after she met Lena, and it had become a bit of an obsession for her. "Thank you J'onn, would you like to play."
"I would be honored."
"I'm going to go play poker with the girls, sweetheart." Sam smiled.
"Okay, thanks for teaming with me." Kara smiled.
"Of course." Sam laughed.
Astra came over then and asked to watch. "What is this game, Little One?"
"It's a strategy game in which your goal is to take the opponents king," Kara explained. "Each piece moves certain ways, and you can adjust your strategy to your opponent's playing style."
"That sounds very simple," Astra stated. "Is it truly that easy?"
"No Aunt Astra it's not, but it's difficult to explain everything, it will be easier if you watch." Kara smiled.
She and J'onn set up their pieces and began their game. Kara opened with a classic move and J'onn used a strategy she had seen before, but never attempted. Twenty-three moves later, a group had gathered around them, watching as Kara defeated J'onn in five more moves.
"Very good Kara, you not only have been studying, but you have also learned to improvise when strategy suddenly changes." J'onn smiled, incredibly proud of the young woman whom he considered a daughter.
"Let's see how she does against a Junior Chess Champion." Lois smiled.
They set up the board and started playing, 27 moves later, Lois laid down her King and yielded. "Damn girl, you are really good."
Kara smiled at the compliment as Clark came over and took his place in front of the boards. "Okay little cousin, let's see what you got." He smiled.
Astra smiled, she was enjoying this, and she was learning, Kara used each game as an example of what to do and what not to do. She was thoughtful and confident but she was not the braggart she and her friends pretended to be. All the people in this room were family and the banter was playful, meant to encourage, not belittle. She was so happy that her little one had discovered a family like this.
She was about to get up to see what the other girls were playing when Kara looked at her, pleading with her eyes. Astra smiled down at her Little One, and sat again, more than happy to be part of her life again. Alex looked and smiled at Astra, and grimaced when she heard Kara ask, "Where did you get that bruise?"
"We sparred Little One, Alexandra and I are trying to understand each other a little better. We got a little enthusiastic and some of our maneuvers landed harder than we expected. I want to apologize if this upsets you." Astra and Alex hung their heads.
"Who won?" Kara asked, smiling.
"Alexandra won and you and I need to talk about teaching moves without teaching alternatives," Astra answered. "If you are going to teach a move, you need to teach the variations, Alexandra had no idea I could defend against that kick."
"My Aunt taught me to never give away everything I knew, I was just following her advice, not to mention, other than me, what were the odds that she would face someone that knows Kryptonian martial arts." Kara laughed.
"A lesson you learned quite well Niece." Astra smiled. "Now let's see how well your cousin plays this game."
Clark opened the game with a strategy Kara had seen before. She smiled to herself because the same person that had taught Lena to play, had taught Clark. She watched and waited to see if he would adjust his strategy, and he didn't. Clark knew how to play Chess, but he wasn't as comfortable with changes to strategy as she was. While they were playing, Lena came in.
"Sorry to interrupt, I didn't realize," Lena said.
"Nonsense Lena, you are fine," Kelly responded. "Are you here to check on Kara?"
"Yes, I checked her this morning, but I have been in meetings all day and then working on some research about my mother, and thought before I go, I would check one more time," Lena said seriously.
"Well if you show me what to look for, why don't you take tomorrow off, and I will check her out, and if anything seems off, I will call you?" Kelly smiled.
"I don't mind," Lena argued.
"Lena, you need to rest and get better also, Kara wants that, okay?" Kelly wasn't beyond using the K-word to get Lena to behave.
Defeated, Lena dropped her head. "I'll take tomorrow off, just call if anything seems off, please."
Lena made her way over to where Kara was playing chess with her cousin. For once he didn't glare at her since he was busy studying, a Chessboard. Lena was confused, Kara played chess.
She stopped and watched the board, she recognized the strategy that Clark was using, it was very similar to Lex. Lex had taught Clark how to play chess, and he taught him the same strategy he taught her. But he wasn't adjusting his style to Kara's strategy, and if Lena was right, Kara would win in about four moves.
Four moves later, Clark laid down his king. "Checkmate." Kara smiled.
Astra smiled, she liked this game and was really enjoying watching her niece use her mind in this way.
"Can I check a few things, Kara?" Lena asked quietly.
"Sure, is everything okay? You checked me this morning?" Kara asked, a little worried.
"No, everything was fine, I just…Kelly convinced me to take tomorrow for myself, and I want to be sure everything is going okay."
"Oh, okay." Kara sighed.
"Would you be willing to play me?" Lena asked shyly.
"You want to play? Against me?" Kara asked back.
"If you would like."
Kara felt Astra's reassuring hand rest on hers. She took a deep breath and smiled. "That would be nice Lena."
Lena took fifteen minutes to check everything and make sure the computer was set up so that Kelly could check everything in the morning, she returned to sit opposite of Kara.
"You first Lena," Kara said, her fear of Lena momentarily forgotten as she was surrounded by family and felt almost normal.
The game started exactly as Kara predicted and Astra watched as everyone else started to gather around. They were all quiet, watching as two obviously gifted players watched the other, looking for any weakness they could find. After an hour Nia and Ruby stretched out in a couple of the chairs on the other side of the room. Lois and Clark left with Jon to head back to the condo at the hour and a half mark. After two hours Eliza and Kelly gave up and curled up in a couple of recliners. At the two and a half hour mark, the only person other than the players that were left was Astra, and she was slowly dozing off. At the three hour mark, Kara was studying the board and could not determine any scenario where she could win. Across the board, Lena Luthor had reached the same conclusion.
"Stalemate," they both said at the same time.
"Thank you, Kara, that was fun." Lena smiled.
Kara smiled back, "It was Lena, and challenging. I know I am leaving Monday after the press conference, but I play online, would you like to play?"
"That would be wonderful Kara, you can email the information, that way we can play from time to time." Lena smiled, sadly. It was dawning on her that very soon, Kara would be gone from National City.
"Lena, I'm truly sorry for what happened between us," Kara said as she patted Lena's hand.
"So am I Kara." As she rested her hand on Kara's.
Shortly thereafter Lena headed home for the night, Sam stood up from her seat across the room, where she had been watching and walked Lena to the door. "I'll make sure she sends you that email Lena." She smiled at Lena, who nodded gratefully.
At the same time, Kara was curling up beside her Aunt, ready to go to sleep.
"I'm very proud of you Little One." Astra smiled sleepily.
"Thank you, Aunt Astra." Kara yawned. "And thank you for giving Alex a chance."
"Family doesn't mean always getting along Little One, but it means supporting each other. Your sister has had a rough time adjusting to this, and she has carried decisions that would have crushed warriors many years older. I am happy you have her to protect you and to love you." Astra spoke into Kara's hair.
"I love you, Aunt Astra." Kara slurred a bit as she settled in beside her aunt, exhaustion overtaking her.
"I love you too, Little One." Astra smiled as she watched Sam move about the room, cleaning up and making sure everyone was comfortable.
She peeked over and smiled at Astra before covering Ruby with a blanket and kissing her lightly on the forehead. Astra smiled back, watching as Sam checked on each person, amazed at how caring and protective each member of Kara's family really was. Finally, Sam made her way over to them. "She did really well tonight." Sam smiled, listening to Kara snore ever so quietly, a sign that she was relaxed.
"She had the support of her entire family tonight. All of you should be commended for this, Kara needed this game night more than I think she would have admitted." Astra whispered.
Sam watched Kara sleeping, then she looked at Astra who smiled and nodded. Sam then leaned in and kissed Kara lightly on the cheek. "Good night Kara, I love you sweetheart." Then she slid her recliner closer to the bed and settled in for the night.
"Good night, Samantha," Astra whispered.
"Good night, General," Sam smiled.
Astra's final thought before falling asleep was that her niece had chosen her family very well.