Conversations on a Balcony

105

A/N: A little domesticity for the Danvers-Grant family. No balconies in this one!

Kara was at the restaurant waiting for her girls, a glass of ice-water sitting in front of her. She was smiling happily to herself, formulating the beginnings of a training plan for her older daughter, when she spotted her family crossing the large dining room.

Cat looked slightly harried as she wheeled Olivia in her stroller to the both, holding Abby's hand too. "Hi, Sweetheart. Sorry we're a bit late. Traffic was worse than I expected."

To her surprise, Kara got up and cupped her cheek to kiss her, allowing everything else in the room to fade out for a moment. "You're amazing, Cat-El," the younger woman said softly as she stroked her daughter's hair at the same time. Abby was hugging her around the waist like she was a giant teddy bear. "Thank you for bringing the kids to me. I missed you all." The older woman looked down almost shyly, amazed after all their years together at how loved Kara could make her feel with a handful of words. They grinned at each other then and the hero grabbed her older daughter up into her arms for a snuggle. "Hi, Baby Girl. Did you have fun at the park?"

"It was SO cool, /ieiu/," Abby replied excitedly. "TherewerefountainsandotherkidsandImadeanewfriendHernameisCarolineAndIgotverywetandMommysaidIcanhaveice-creamforlunch!"

"Wow," her mother replied. "That all sounds amazing!"

Cat didn't bother correcting her child as she undid the straps of the stroller and took Liv into her arms. Then she laughed, as Kara made grabby hands at her, and passed their baby daughter to her too.

The waiter approached the table uncertainly, chuckling as he saw Kara squeeze her way into the booth, an almost five-year-old glued to her left hip and a three-week-old in her opposite arm. "I'm Brandon," he said. "And that is Impressive parenting."

"Practice," the hero chuckled. "The one on my right will have an apple juice please and…" She looked at Cat, eyebrows raised. "What would you like?"

"I'll take a water please," Cat replied with a smile.

"What about the baby?" the man teased.

"It's ok," Kara replied. "That's my job." With a broad smile, the server headed off to get their drinks. The hero setted down with Liv in her arms and inhaled a deep breath of her scent as she kissed the top of her head. "I can't believe how much I miss her when she's not with me," she murmured. "When did she last eat?"

"When we got back from the park so… a little over an hour ago," Cat replied.

Kara was almost disappointed that it wasn't time for a feed. Nursing was something she loved to do. It offered her a connection to her daughter that she wished she could have had with Abby too. "Ok," she smiled.

"How did the interview go?" Cat asked as she buttered some bread and gave it to Abby to munch on.

"Thanks, Mommy," the little girl said as she leaned against her /ieiu/.

Kara frowned a little. "On paper, he looks amazing of course but, Cat… he totally sucked."

"Oh?" The older woman's tone rose in surprise. "Personality-wise?"

The younger blonde shook her head. "I tried to break the ice by asking him a pretty generic journalism question… and he started mansplaining at me. He clearly had NO idea who I am."

Cat chuckled. "Let me guess. He lost you at… He didn't do any research and had no idea that you have two Pulitzers?"

Kara rolled her eyes. "Yeah… kinda. Is that vain of me?"

The older woman shrugged. "Kara, a two second Google search of your name would have given him enough info to at least PRETEND he knew who you were. Lack of initiative is most definitely a red flag."

"Yeah," the hero replied with another shrug. "Nia didn't like him either. He called her Sweetie and asked her to get him a coffee because she just happened to be at Noonan's and brought me one back."

"Oh shoot," Cat chortled. "What did she say?"

"She told him lowly interviewees didn't get coffee, turned on her heel and stalked out. I could barely hold it together. Then he had the gall to complain that SECRETARIES were all too big for their high heels these days. That was the point where I had him escorted out of the office." She adjusted her glasses. "By security."

The older woman looked down, shaking her head as she laughed. "Good old boys. Soooo freakin' annoying." She reached across the table to stroke Liv's hand as Brandon came back with the drinks.

"Can I get you started with any appetizers?" he asked, his eyes on Cat as he shot her a charming smile.

The older woman skimmed over the menu. "Southwest egg rolls… potato skins…" She felt a nudge against her leg under the table and smiled. "And three portions of pot stickers." She felt another more insistent nudge. "Make that five portions. I really like pot stickers." Cat felt a caress this time and set the menu down as Kara continued helping Abby color on her placemat.

"So," the hero began as she colored a star in yellow with her left hand. Cat was always amazed at her wife's ambidexterity. "Abs, Mommy and I wanted to talk to you about some stuff."

The little girl nodded as she colored a tree in purple. It reminded Kara of one of her favorite trees on Krypton and her breath hitched for a moment with sudden emotion. "Ok," Abby replied amiably.

"This is kinda grown up stuff," Cat added, and her daughter's eyes lifted in amazement.

"Grown up stuff?"

"Yeah," the Kryptonian agreed. "You're going to be going to school in a few weeks and we wanted to talk to you about using your powers."

"Oh…" Abby's face fell and become closed off. Cat and Kara exchanged a worried look. "I know that I can't use my powers around the other kids. I might hurt them by accident. I don't want to hurt anyone, /ieiu/."

"It's not just that," Kara replied gently. "It's…"

"/ieiu/," the little girl interrupted. "Mommy and I talked today. I know it's not bad to use my powers if I use them just with you and I don't want to get Supergirl into trouble so… I won't use them. I promise."

The hero shook her head in amazement and looked at her wife again. "What the heck were we so worried about? Our kid is four going on forty."

The older woman leaned back in her seat and shrugged. "Clearly we underestimated how smart our daughter is."

A little smile touched Abby's lips as she carefully colored inside the lines of a fire engine.

"And that brings us to our next thing," Kara said. "Abby… Mommy and I were thinking about your powers and…" She stopped suddenly as Brandon came back to the table to deliver the appetizers. "Thanks."

"Welcome," the server said, his eyes once again landing on Cat and lingering this time.

Kara frowned a little as he turned to leave. "A photo would last longer," she muttered, making Cat laugh softly. Then she looked back at her child. "Anyway, Mommy and I wanted to see if you'd like to start flying with and learning about your powers from Supergirl."

Abby's eyes lit up with joy. "Really? Really, /ieiu/? I can really go flying with y…?"

"Supergirl," Cat interjected. "You can go flying with Supergirl, Baby."

"YAY!" the little girl exclaimed. "That would be awesome!"

"Yeah…" Kara replied, tears welling again unexpectedly. "It really, really would."

Liv wriggled restlessly in her arms and she popped a pot sticker into her mouth, thanking Rao again for the blessings in her life as Cat gazed lovingly at her.