Conversations on a Balcony

113

/ieiu/ and Abigail Danvers-Grant were standing on the second-floor balcony of the coffee shop across the street from Abby's new school. They were early, so /ieiu/ had thought it might be a good idea to grab drinks for them both so they could talk before Abby had to go in.

"So, what do you think?" /ieiu/ asked as she took a sip from her cup.

Abby, dressed in neatly pressed khaki pants and a dark blue polo shirt with the school's crest embroidered at the breast, looked up at her. She had a Star Wars backpack sitting on her back too and it made Kara smile proudly. "I dunno. It looks a bit scary."

"Mmmm..." /ieiu/ nodded seriously. "It's pretty big alright. But we already learned your classroom number, right?"

"Yeah, forty-six," Abby replied.

"And we already looked at the map of how to get there."

"We did," the little one agreed. "Two rights and a left."

/ieiu/ smiled. "And we definitely know our left from our right... right?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Abby sucked on her banana smoothie, making a loud slurping sound that almost made Kara wince.

"Good. Sounds like we're prepared." /ieiu/ took another sip of her coffee as she looked at her watch. "Should we go then?"

"I think so," the little girl replied. She took /ieiu/'s hand and they left the coffee shop to cross the street and walk up the path to the entrance. There were other kids around now and Kara smiled and nodded at a few of the other moms, ignoring the whispers as some of them recognized who she was.

"We have one more thing to do. Mommy will kill us if we don't," /ieiu/ added. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and crouched next to her daughter, switching the camera to selfie-mode. "Big smile for Mommy on your first day of school!" Kara carefully framed the picture, getting herself, Abby and the school's signage in the picture. She snapped it and took a second with her making bunny ears behind Abby's head with her fingers. Kara sent them both to Cat, Carter and Jordan, who were heading for the airport, and then looked adoringly at her patiently waiting child. "/ukiem khap rrip/, Abigail KaraCat-El," she said very softly.

The little girl kissed her mother's cheek and hugged her hard, whispering back to her. "/vahdhah ukiem khap rrip/."

"I'm so, so proud of you," /ieiu/ added. "And so is Mommy."

Abby grinned back proudly. "I remember everything we talked about, /ieiu/. I'll be careful and make sure to keep everyone safe."

And with a smile as bright as the sun, Kara nodded. "That's my girl."

A/N:

Translations:

/ukiem khap rrip/: I love you (familial love)

/vahdhah ukiem khap rrip/ : I love you too (familial love)