"Put this on the coffee table, please." Alex carefully handed Lena a mounded bowl of buttered popcorn. She watched as Lena cradled the bowl against her chest, each step exaggerated comically slow.
When the bowl landed with a thud on the requested spot, Lena spun and grinned at Alex. "I did it, Momma! I did it!"
Alex held out her arms. "You did. I'm so proud of you, baby." She braced for impact as Lena ran unsteadily across the apartment and jumped. "Oof!" The grunt was only partly for show. Despite her willowy frame, Lena was an armful. "Auntie Kara will love the popcorn you made for her, baby."
A heartwarming giggle vibrated against Alex's neck. "She wuvs all food, Momma. 'specially potstickewz."
Laughing along with Lena, Alex danced them around the kitchen with Lena nestled on her hip. "That's true. She's been like that since she was a little girl. Your auntie eats more than you and me and Grandpa J'onn and Grandma Eliza and…"
A Little hand pressed over her lips. "Momma!" Lena said, rolling her eyes. "You don't gots say all the names."
"I don't?" Alex acted surprised. "Are you sure?"
Green eyes peered up, impatience clear. "I smart. Don't need no reminder. Auntie Kara eats more'n all of us together."
Alex pressed a smacking kiss to Lena's cheek as she scanned the kitchen. Popcorn, chips, M&Ms, and rice crispy treats on the coffee table. Another dozen bags of popcorn on the counter for Kara's after dinner snack. "That's why Auntie Kara's motto is El Mayarah. Eat more together," Alex misquoted with a mischievous wink.
It sent Lena into another round of giggles.
"Let's check the freezer. I put ice cream in there this morning, but sometimes a monster sneaks in and eats it all!"
The body in her arms froze. "Monster?" Lena asked in a tiny voice.
"Mmm." Cold air chilled Alex's face as she peered into the packed freezer. Pint after pint of rocky road, chocolate chip cookie dough, and Oreo cookie containers were stacked until the space threatened to split at the seams. "It's about this tall." Alex held her hand out in an approximation of Lena's height. "With long, dark hair and big green eyes!"
Lena's head shot up. "That's me, Momma! I not a monster," she said with great insult.
"You're not?" Alex managed to slip her free hand between them and tickled Lena's tummy. "Let me check."
"Momma, no!" Little hands batted futilely at the fingers drawing gasps and helpless giggles. Bare feet battered Alex's back and thighs as she tried to wriggle free.
Alex finally stopped, and Lena slumped against her and panted. Spates of giggles erupted every few seconds then slowed to a stop. "Mean Momma. No like tickles."
"Sorry, baby. I had to make sure you weren't a monster. Must be Big Lena. I'll have to check her when she comes back." Big Lena would skin Alex alive if she so much as tried to tickle her. Alex grinned, imagining that scene.
Her fantasy was interrupted by a knock at the door. "I wonder who that could be?"
"Down! Down! Down!" Lena turned into a wild child, pushing at Alex's shoulder. Twisting and turning in order to get out of Alex's hold.
"I'm sorry," Alex responded. She tightened her arms, stilling Lena's bid for freedom. "Is that how we ask for something, Little girl?"
Lena continued to thrash against her.
"Someone needs a time out." Alex carried Lena, now a whining dead weight, to a corner of the living room decorated with a small red chair. She picked up the chair and turned it to face the corner. It took a long minute, during which the knocking on the door resumed, to untangle from Lena's suddenly octopus-like arms and legs.
She set a pouting, tearful Lena in the chair. "I sorry, Momma. No corner!"
"Five minutes." Alex pointed to the corner.
"No!" Lena wrapped her arms around her stomach and kicked her feet defiantly. "Not gonna!"
"I won't start the timer until you turn around," Alex said firmly. "And poor Auntie Kara will have to watch the movie with only Momma for company. You know you're her favorite; she'll miss you."
Lower lip trembling, Lena shook her head. "Is Movie Night. Auntie Kara 'n me…"
"Won't get to watch the movie together if you don't turn around right now." Alex tapped her watch. "Five minutes, baby. Show Momma you want to make better choices." She waited patiently as Lena, tears now streaking her cheeks, swung around in her seat to face the hated corner. "Starting now, baby." She made a production out of turning the dial on the kitchen timer kept on a nearby shelf.
The buzzing tick of the timer and Lena's soulful sniffles followed Alex to the door. She opened it, one finger pressed to her lips.
Kara peered over Alex's shoulder at Lena and hugged Alex even tighter than normal. She knew Alex hated to punish her Little girl. She slipped off her coat, hanging it on the row of pegs inside the entryway and stepped out of her shoes. Two boxes sat on the floor, wrapped in shiny blue paper with red ribbons.
A squeak announced the chair (and its occupant) moving. "Another minute." Alex turned to catch Lena's glare before she whipped her head back around toward the corner.
"Wow!" Kara walked to the coffee table and peered at the food. "This is awesome, Alex."
Kara was the worst actress on the planet. On any planet. Alex played along, though, appreciating what her sister tried to do. "Lena made it all just for you. Auntie Kara's her favorite," she announced, checking on her Little girl. Still staring at the corner; although, there was a lot of shuffling and swaying.
"I can't wait for my movie partner." Kara grabbed her stomach. "I'm starving. Snapper is a horrible human; he made me rewrite my article a million times. I missed lunch."
The timer dinged, interrupting Kara's lament about missing her usual cart worth of hot dogs and her demon of a boss. Holding up a finger to keep Kara from resuming her tale, Alex strode back to the chair and it's wiggling occupant. She dropped to a knee next to Lena. "Are you ready to say 'hi' to Auntie Kara?"
"Please, Momma?" Tear-drenched green eyes peered through thick lashes.
Alex smiled in approval. "There's my polite baby." She blew a raspberry against Lena's neck, laughing along with Lena's giggles. "Come on. I think Auntie Kara may have brought you a present."
Lena's squeal could have shattered glass. "Presents!"
Hiding her wince at Lena's piercing shout, Kara picked the Little girl up and whirled her around. "I have to bring my favorite niece something special for Movie Night."
"What about for your favorite sister?" Alex mumbled softly enough that only Kara would hear. "I bet you didn't bring me anything."
Kara glanced over Lena's shoulder and winked. "I think Momma's got some jelly on her nose, Lee. She wanted a present, too." Settling Lena against her hip, Kara managed to bend over and pick up the two boxes. "Come on. Let's open these before Momma tries to steal them."
The living room was dark, lit only by the flashes of light and color from the television. Popcorn littered the floor. Alex didn't care. She cuddled Lena closer, peering through the soft strands of the Little girl's "hair" as it waved back and forth.
"Momma?" Soft fleece tickled Alex's chin as Lena turned her head.
Alex glanced down at Lena's face as it peeked from the head of her Scrump onesie. "Yes, baby?" She felt Kara inch closer on her other side a second before a dark blue fleece arm wrapped around her waist.
"Ohana means 'family,'" two voices whispered together.