I definitely should be studying for my licensing exam, but things have been hard lately and writing this story helps me focus on something else instead of my depression and anxiety. That being said, because things are intense right now some of the writing is as well and this chapter focuses on Kara's struggle to understand some of the darker sides of humanity, mostly through Lena learning about how Kara coped with learning about human history and the terrible things were have done to ourselves throughout history (I was thinking about how a young kid from another planet would try and make peace with learning about the holocaust).

Lena was standing at the kitchen island leaning against the granite with her head pressed against it. Alex watched in slight amusement as her soon to be sister in law tried in vain to get off this conference call with some important investor who was in France. Alex had come over early to help Lena, Kara and Eliza with sending out the wedding invites. Eliza had come into town the evening before and was staying at the penthouse at Kara and Lena's insistence. Lena had been up early to take the call because of the time difference, but the call was pushing two hours and was now getting dangerous close to pushing Lena's last nerve. Alex had to give credit to Lena though, she managed to run the entire conference call in French despite it having begun at 5am. Lena finally saw her chance to end the phone call and Alex could make out some of her conversation with the limited amount of French she had remembered learning in high school.

Lena shut her laptop gently and made dramatic faces in Alex's direction until she finally ended the call with a quick, "merci beaucoup." When the call was over, both Alex and Eliza clapped for Lena who had to crack a smile.

"That was impressive." Lena shrugged her shoulders at Alex's comment, "just another morning running two businesses."

"You spoke perfect French for 2 hours straight Lena and didn't murder anyone, I would caulk this one up as a W." Lena shook her head as she sat back down next to Eliza.

"Well, murder this early in the day is just bad manners and the French isn't nearly as impressive as it sounds I assure you. You should hear me when I have to do it in German."

"Please, I assume Kara is asleep still cuz if she were awake she'd be all over you after hearing you speak French with the accent and everything." Alex felt a light slap on her arm from her mother. "Alexandra!"

Alex shook her head, "tell me I'm wrong mom. You've seen them when Lena speaks any language other than English. We're considered lucky if Kara waits till they are alone to do something about it." Lena blushed and Eliza rolled her eyes at Alex.

"But seriously, where is Kara anyway?" Lena nodded toward the door to the penthouse, "she got an assignment for an interview and the person asked if they could move up the date from next week to today and you know Kara, she'd bend over backwards to help someone while getting a story." Alex nodded as she began to put return address stamps on the invite envelopes.

"What's the interview for? Kara might not mind moving things up, but I can't imagine her boss is happy with that."

"Technically I am her boss, so that good news for her, but even the editor wouldn't sneeze at the chance to get this interview. They have been trying to balance the stories for CatCo and have some real journalism and this is them trying to break through."

"Who is Kara interviewing then? This doesn't sound like it's a celebrity puff piece." Lena shook her head, "you're right. She is interviewing a Holocaust survivor and their family. I guess the woman was a little girl when her family was forced into the camps. Kara said she has an amazing story about the whole thing." Lena was not paying attention to Alex and Eliza's face when she said who the person was and was only shook from her focus when she handed the final guest list to Alex and was met with no hand in which to place the paper. Lena looked up and saw mother and daughter looking at each other carefully, almost asking who was gonna bite the bullet.

"What's wrong?" Lena took her reading glasses off and waited for either woman to answer her. Finally, Alex did.

"Did Kara seem ok when she left the house?"

"She was anxious to meet this woman face to face since they had only ever spoken over the phone, but otherwise she was eager to meet her so that this woman's story could be told and reach more people because of the exposure it would get in CatCo. Why?"

"You've seen how Kara responds to human tragedy Lena and you've seen how confused and upset she gets when she learns things from history that show humans hurting each other for no reason. It's like you can actually see her actively losing faith in humanity when she learns about things."

Lena nodded: she knew exactly what Alex was trying to say. There were times Lena would come from work late and find Kara on the couch sobbing because she had watched the wrong movie on TV or left the history channel on too long. Kara always insisted it helped her learn more about Earth and human life, but Lena always cautioned her that much like her home world, Earth had its moments of darkness and they were often senseless and fueled by hate, something that Kara never understood.

"She seemed eager to prove herself Alex. I can't tell her not to go do her job just because it might make her sad."

"No, I know that. But, for obvious reasons, Kara is very easily overwhelmed when it comes to this part of history in particular. Growing up, it was probably the hardest thing she ever had to learn about in school and she had to pretend that it didn't kill her inside to hear about it. You and I grew up with it as a part of our history that we knew about, but to Kara, every single bad thing that happened was new and fresh and I'll never forget the response she had to it when she first learned about it." Lena never pushed Kara too hard on this topic, relating to how Kara coped with learning about the harsh realities of human life and history.

"What happened?" Alex looked at Eliza who took over for a bit, briefly explaining.

"The girls came home from school one day and Kara was inconsolable. The school focused on the lead up to the war, Hitler's rise to power, the Holocaust itself and the aftermath of it and it was a roughly 2 week lesson plan which ended in them going on an overnight fieldtrip to the museum in DC. It took all of us the rest of the night to calm her down and she was so desperate for me to give her a good reason why people knew something so tragic was happening and chose to do nothing. If there is one thing Kara can't stand more than human cruelty, it is indifference toward the suffering of others." Lena nodded in agreement: that was the hill Kara was always willing to die on.

"We managed to calm her down, but God I don't think I can remember a time where she was more depressed than that period of time. We begged her to take the alternative assignment that was offered as an option if students couldn't go on the fieldtrip. The exchange was the student would be asked to read a personal memoir of someone who had survived the holocaust and essentially do an in-depth report on the book, the story and tie it in with the history they had just learned. Kara considered it, but ultimately chose to go with Alex on the trip. She told me that all these people had suffered and the very least she could do was be strong enough to hear their stories and bear witness to what happened to them, even though she knew she had no way of changing the outcome. Reading the books just did not feel like enough for her." Lena smiled sadly because she could imagine a teenage Kara trying to uphold her values of integrity and justice in the face of something that had happened years before she was born.

"Did she go on the trip? I can't imagine that was easy for anyone, but with her powers, I'm sure she heard a lot of people struggling when they went through the museum."

Alex ran her hand through her hair and sighed, "yeah. She did better than I thought she would do. She put on her brave face, you know the stone cold stare she gets when she is trying not to cry or someone has hurt her feelings and she refuses to show it?" Lena nodded: she had seen Kara make exactly that face many time over the years, mostly when defending Lena's character to other people.

"I told her to stay with me and my friends in the museum so she wouldn't be alone, but she begged me to go alone, or at least not be right by my side. I told her ok, but to call for me if she changed her mind. She stayed a few exhibits ahead of me most of the day, so I never lost sight of her, but she had her space to experience it without me babysitting her. When you get to the last floor it is all focused on the Final Solution and it ends with you being able to sit in a theater watching and listening to testimonials of survivors. My friends and I sat inside for maybe 20 minutes before they left to meet the larger group outside. Kara was sitting about 6 rows in front of me and I went and sat down next to her, figuring she had had hours on her own. She had tears in her eyes, but was trying so hard to hold it together. After a few more minutes she nodded to the door and we left the theater. We walked slowly out of the museum to meet up with the other students. We were given an hour to get something to eat before we needed to be back on the bus to go to the hotel we were staying at overnight. I grabbed Kara's hand and told her we were going somewhere and didn't give her the chance to say anything about it. I asked her what she wanted to eat, she said she wasn't hungry, which was not possible, so I knew she was upset more than she could communicate. I pushed her to talk to me and she just broke down crying on this bench like a block from the museum. I let her cry and eventually she looked up and asked me why humans choose to remember Hitler's name, but doesn't seem to care much about the people he slaughtered? We went back and forth and eventually it was clear that she was upset for the obvious reasons, but her brain was telling her to find something good in this sea of pain and to her that meant finding the stories, the names of people who survived. She told me, 'I want to hear the voices of the people who saw all the bad things, lived through them and somehow survived. I want to see their stories. I want to remember their names." Lena brushed away stray tears, once again envisioning a teenage version of her fiancée demanding that the people who suffered the greatest be given the largest platform from which to share their harrowing story of survival at the hands of unspeakable evil.

"What did you do? I can't imagine Kara was any easier to negotiate with when she was upset as a teenager." Alex smiled and nodded, "right you are. I told her I would find her what she asked for, but then she needed to eat something and take care of herself. She agreed, so I took her to the closest bookstore I could find and I asked someone for help and they found all the books I asked for and I quickly handed them to Kara. I told her there were other stories, but these were all written by people who were in the camps, these were the stories she wanted to hear."

Lena thought about it for a moment wondering what better known books Alex might have suggested to her sister.

"Let me guess, Anne Frank's diary and I am guessing Night." Alex nodded and then pointed to the bookshelf in the parlor where Kara put some of her books that she wanted to keep when she moved in with Lena, but that she does not often read. "On that shelf should be a very thin book that is probably so worn you can't see the words on the cover or the binding." Lena went over and sure enough there was a book matching Alex's description. Lena had never noticed it and she couldn't remember a time seeing Kara reading it.

"Man's Search For Meaning." Alex nodded, "For the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth- that Love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love." Alex seemed rather proud of herself for remembering that quote that Kara had always loved. Lena stopped being surprised by how much Alex and Kara loved each other a long time ago, but sometimes the federal agent surprised her by upping the ante.

"She read that book so much growing up I had to replace it twice, but she refused to throw that copy you are holding away. He taps into the flaws of human beings, but somehow ends up with the theory that all human life is capable of being saved with love and through loving. I know she always had a heart of gold, but as far as I am concerned, that book is the reason that Kara is Kara." Lena had to agree that from what Alex said the book offered Kara a reason to not lose faith in humans, which ultimately was all the teenager wanted. Lena returned to the table, no longer interested in pretending to get work done in terms of the wedding invites.

"And what was her response to the other books?" Alex smiled sadly at the memory.

"We shared a hotel room that night before we came back home. I woke up in the middle of the night and looked around the room, no Kara. I found her in the bathroom reading Anne Frank's diary while sitting in the empty bathtub. I asked her why she was reading it normal speed and not using her powers and she got sort of pissed at me, saying that these people deserved her full attention, not just her using her powers to make it through it faster. I asked her if she wanted me to leave her alone and she shook her head no, so I sat down on the bathmat. I didn't say anything, I just waited till she was ready to talk. She eventually put the book down and looked at me saying, 'I know she dies'. I nodded and stayed quiet. Kara looked at the cover of the book for a while before she said anything else to me."

She was so young Alex.

She was. She was about your age when she died.

No one should die that young. Especially not alone.

Alex seemed a little lost in the memory as she explained Kara's musings of dying young and alone. Eliza touched Alex's hand gently to bring her back into the present moment. Alex cleared her throat and continued, "anyway, I didn't know what to tell her to make her feel better so I told her that she did die young, but she wasn't alone. She asked me who was with her."

Lena could venture a guess as to what Alex said to Kara next, but she gently pushed Alex and gave her space to finish her story, "and what did you tell her?"

Alex swallowed a lot of tears, "I told her that when they were in the camps, she was with her big sister through most everything. She asked if her sister survived and I told her no, they died within a few days of each other. Of course, I said that and she looked at me with these tear-filled eyes and just whispered 'I don't want to die alone, Alex'. She broke down crying harder, I climbed in the bathtub with her and let her cry. Then I promised her that I would never let her die alone. And that night we slept in the bathtub because she wouldn't let go of me." Alex was tracing the wedding invite in front of her to distract herself and while Lena knew it wasn't the healthiest response she got up from the table and returned holding one of her nicer bottles of whiskey. She poured out three tumblers of the liquid and put on in front of Alex before handing one to Eliza and keeping one for herself.

Alex drank half her drink in one shot, which seemed to allow her to shake off the complete heaviness of their conversation. Lena also drank far more than she normally did, ignoring also the time of day and nursed her drink before getting Alex's attention.

"Alex, you did the best you could with a situation that was never going to end happily. You did the only thing Kara needed, you were there for her when she fell apart and you offered her something real to comfort herself with. And you kept your promise, she isn't going to die alone and certainly not anytime soon if I have any say in it." Lena finished her drink and Alex had to crack a slight smile.

"Gonna find a way to make her live forever are you Lena?"

"Not forever, but I'll be damned if she leaves this earth without me." Alex had to smile, if for no other reason, Lena was right: Alex's promise had been kept and Kara was never going to leave this earth alone, because Lena Luthor wouldn't stand for it.

The silence that had settled over them was broken when Lena's phone rang and she smiled when she saw it was Kara.

"Hi love, how goes the interview?" Alex and Eliza couldn't hear the rest of the conversation, but Lena nodded and smiled as Kara spoke. "Ok, should we order something in or would you like something home cooked? I do believe I caught Eliza eyeing our new stove so I bet she would be happy to help us cook something for dinner." Lena smiled at Eliza who was not at all trying to hide the fact that Lena was not incorrect.

"Kara, I know you aren't hungry right now, but you will need to eat something by the time you get home." Lena glanced over at Alex who was not surprised that her sister was already pushing food away. "I know love. It's going to be ok Kara. I tell you what, how about we surprise you with dinner and you just come home when you are done? You can shower and relax and then we can have food whenever." Lena seemed sad that she had to bargain with Kara this much to eat.

"Ok. I love you too dearest. Bye." Lena gently put her phone down and looked over at Alex. "Something tells me buying her books isn't going to help this." Alex shook her head.

"Probably not, but for what it is worth, me buying her books helped her not give up on humans totally, but it wasn't what made her feel any better."

"What do you mean?" Eliza seemed to remember what Alex was referring to.

"When the girls were young, we had a neighbor up the road from us about a mile who had a couple of dogs. Kara LOVED those dogs. She would go over there and run with them outside, throw toys for them. Hell, the dogs ran out of energy sooner than Kara ever did so our neighbor loved it when Kara came by. When the girls got back from their trip, Kara went straight to their house and for weeks afterwards our neighbor would call us to let us know Kara had showed up and not to panic. They let her play with the dogs and by the time she came home she was in a better place mentally. Not happy exactly, but no tears and she would sleep with no nightmares." Lena was heartened by what Eliza said, but then she became concerned.

"Wait, are you telling me that I have to adopt a dog in order to make my wife not depressed by the awful things humans do to each other?" Eliza and Alex both laughed and Alex couldn't resist giving Lena a hard time.

"First of all, you slipping the word wife into conversations is adorable because it is SO clear you just like the way it sounds. Second, no one said you had to get a dog, just that animals calm Kara down and make her feel more grounded. So, slip you neighbors 20 bucks and ask if Kara can play with their dogs every now and then." Lena blushed at Alex's comment, but then she thought about it more. There were dogs in their building and Kara was of course friendly with all of them, but Lena wanted Kara to feel as though she had that source of comfort whenever it was needed. Lena began typing things into her phone and Alex eyed her carefully, but ultimately all three women returned to the invitation work they had set out to do that day. Alex eventually had to go into work for a while and told Lena to call if they needed anything when Kara returned. Kara managed to come home around 2pm and she tried her best to appear like everything was fine when she walked in the door and was greeted with the image of her fiancé and foster mother sitting on the couch yelling at the TV as they watched a cooking show.

"Her buttercream just split and if she serves that there is no way she can win this challenge." Eliza gestured wildly to the TV and Lena nodded her head, but then pointed to the other side of the screen. "Yeah, by that guy's cake didn't cook evenly so it is likely raw in the middle and they can't judge what they can't eat." Kara managed to crack a smile because this was what seemed to bond Lean and Eliza, other than their love for Kara. Their insane love of baking shows and cooking competitions always ended up sounding like the Super Bowl was happening. Lena turned around when the door shut behind Kara and smiled when Kara leaned over the couch top and offered Lena a kiss.

"Hey love, you snuck in on us." Kara smiled as she shed her coat and joined them on the couch. "I didn't want to disrupt the hot debate you two had going on." Lena lowered the volume and snuggled into Kara gently.

"How are you doing? That was a long day at work."

"I'm tired." That was all Kara could put her finger on and Lena didn't push her. Instead she stood up and pulled Kara with her. "Well, I do have a surprise for you, but we have to go somewhere to get it. Think you are up for that?" Kara looked so defeated when Lena got a better look at her and she realized how much Kara needed this boost.

"I don't know Lena. I kind of want to shower and lay face first in bed for a few hours and then maybe eat dinner, maybe." Lena nodded, "if that is what you want, then that's what we will do, we can go get the surprise another time." Lena meant it, but she also knew that even in her worst mood, Kara was like a kid on Christmas with good news: she couldn't help herself but be curious.

Kara shifted her weight back and forth on her feet, "would we be able to pick up dinner on the way home from getting this surprise?"

"Anywhere you want." Kara smiled and went to put her coat back on. Eliza opted to come with them so Lena called them all a car and once they got inside it was a relatively short drive to their destination. Lena got out of the car and held out her hand for Kara who looked around very confused.

"Is there a reason we are downtown and yet nowhere near my office or yours?" Lena smiled and stood behind Kara, guiding her to look across the street, "we are here to give you so much needed animal therapy." Across the street from where the car was parked was one of the larger animal shelters that National City had. Lena felt Kara's body perk up at the thought of being able to play with any animal and she had to remind Kara that she couldn't just bolt across the street. Eliza was pleasantly surprised when Kara's disposition perked up significantly.

The women walked into the shelter which was fairly quiet at the time and were greeted by a volunteer.

"Good afternoon Ms. Luthor, we have everything set up for you if you ladies will follow me." Kara followed the volunteer back into an area where there was a large lay out of toys and things for the dogs to climb on and play with when they had time out of their kennels. They put their things on a table nearby so the animals didn't start chewing on things that were valuable. Kara was positively vibrating and Lean kept having to pull Kara close to her to calm her body down and it was adorable. Another person who worked at the shelter came into the room and shook Lena's hand.

"Kara, this is Rachel, she and I spoke on the phone earlier and she agreed to have us come in to meet some dogs." Kara shook the other woman's hand and Eliza introduced herself as well.

"Well, we have a couple of dogs for you to meet and we've found it best to let the person into the play pen area and then let the dogs come to them. That way everyone is comfortable and the animals get a chance to practice being social with each other and other humans. Any questions?" Lena shook her head no and they were led into the enclosed area. Kara, being Kara, went over to the wall opposite where they had been standing and just sat down on the floor. Lena and Eliza opted for some chairs that were nearby.

"We will bring in about 6 dogs all total." Lena nodded and quickly there were a few volunteers who came in with two dogs each and one by one they were let off their leash and to absolutely no ones surprise they made a beeline for Kara. Lena couldn't help but smile and even tear up as she watched Kara's face light up as she played and pet the dogs that were so interested in her. A few minutes in, the woman that had showed them in came into the pen with one more dog on a leash. Lena looked at the dog and her heart broke a little: the dog looked to be a husky of some kind, was clearly young and looked absolutely terrified to be standing there.

"Ms. Luthor you had asked on the phone if we had any dogs that had been with us a while so I wanted to bring this little one out to meet you and your wife." Lena smiled and held out her hand for the dog who at first back away, which made Lena's chest feel tight, but she kept her hand there and spoke softly to the dog, "hey sweetheart, it's ok, I know there is just so much happening in here isn't there?" The dog eventually looked up at Lena and Lena was floored: the dogs had eyes that were somehow bluer than Kara's. The dog sniffed Lena's hand and eventually let Lean offer head pets and scratch behind their ears.

"Should I let you wife saw hello?" Lena smiled, "please." Rachel walked over to Kara and the hero looked up to see the new dog who seemed so much more fearful than the others approaching her. Kara gently moved two of the dogs that were on her lap just off to the side so the new dog could come closer.

"I was telling your wife that this little girl has been with us for a while and while a lot of people look her over because of her breed and her slow approach to people, she is the sweetest dog." Kara beamed at the dog, even though she seemed scared to come closer to Kara. Kara waited with her hand held out to the dog.

"Does she have a name?" The woman smiled, "the younger volunteers named her Elsa, cuz of the eyes and apparently I hired a lot of people who love Frozen." Kara smiled and whispered to the dog just like Lena had and when some of the other dog moved away, the dog went over to Kara and let her offer her pets. Rachel left Kara with the leash and returned to where Lean was sitting. All three women watched as the dog got closer and closer to Kara until she was in her lap, licking Kara's face. Lena pointed to the dog, "how long have you had her?"

"About a year. She is the sweetest dog and she loves people, but she wasn't in the most loving home. We don't know exactly what happened to her, but she is more afraid of men than women, but she just becomes shy, not aggressive. She is good with other dogs once she gets used to them. My hope is that in a real home, her anxiety will go down and she can enjoy being a puppy again, because she is the most living dog. Something your wife is already noticing I see." Lena looked back to Kara to see the dog was snuggled into Kara chest and was enjoying getting belly rubs while the blonde rocked her. Lena knew she had to be careful, because if given the choice Kara would likely take all the dogs home.

"And she is available for adoption?" Rachel nodded, "yep, she got a clean bill of health last week, she is spayed already and had the shots she needs as a young dog. Even got a bath and her teeth cleaned recently. A lot of people have passed on her because her breed sheds a lot and some people can't handle that they would have dog hair on things. It's not for everybody." Lena thought about the hell it would be trying to keep dog hair off her more expensive clothes, but then she looked again at Kara who had her face so close to the dog's and they were just sitting there touching foreheads and Kara looked so peaceful and the puppy in her lap seemed to be quite happy staying there. All of a sudden, Lena didn't care about her clothes and getting dog hair on them. She walked over to Kara and the puppy perked up having recognized Lena's smell from moments earlier.

"I think you found a new friend darling." Kara looked at Lena and couldn't help but beam. "She's a good girl. Aren't you? And you are such a pretty girl and you just want snuggles huh? Just snuggles." Lena was floored at how quickly Kara's mood had changed since she had arrived home and Lean realized that maybe this was something both women needed at home.

"What would you think about her getting all the snuggles she wants at our house?" Kara slowed her hands on the dog, almost as if she didn't think she heard Lena right. She looked up at Lena with watery eyes, "like, forever? Coming home with us for good?" Lena smiled and nodded, "yes dearest, for good." Lena barely got the words out before Kara kissed her hard, something the dog in between them wanted to get in on and she went back and forth kissing Kara and then Lena.

"Well, I think we have her vote too. So, what do you think? I go fill out the paperwork and you can start thinking of all the things we need for her at the pet store?" Kara nodded and seemed so blown away by what was happening.

"But, we aren't adopting a dog every time one of us is struggling, ok? Otherwise we will end up with a wolf pack." Kara agreed as Lena walked away and while Lena filled out the forms. Eliza was standing near Kara and taking pictures. She clearly sent one to Alex because Lena's phone buzzed as she filled out paperwork and the text was in all caps.

"OF COURSE YOU BOUGHT HER A DOG. AND FOUND THE ONE DOG WITH EYES MORE BLUE THAN KARA'S. HOW DO YOU PLAN ON SAYING NO TO THIS DOG WHEN YOU CAN'T EVEN SAY NO TO MY SISTER?"

Lena finished the forms and once they had everything they needed the volunteer handed a new leash to Kara who quickly clipped it onto the puppy's collar. The dog seemed to instantly look sad again, understanding that usually this meant she was going back to her kennel. Kara saw this and knelt down, so she was on the same level as the dog.

"It's ok pretty girl, we are gonna go home. You wanna come home with us? Try and steal Lena's spot on the bed?" The puppy perked up slightly and while she still wasn't sure she followed Kara as she walked toward the door. Once outside Kara acted like she had pounded 3 red bulls with all the energy she had as she walked to the car with Lena and Eliza a few paces behind her.

"You know how much trouble you are in now right? That is a whole lot of blue eyes in your house to try and say no to." Lena smiled at Eliza's comment as it mirrored Alex's.

"Maybe I like being a bit of a pushover at home. I certainly can't say it will be a bad way to come home after a long day. I will either get greeted at the door by my wife or my dog, very eager to give me kisses. There are worse things." Eliza smiled as Kara got in the car with the dog, followed by Lena and herself. They made a quick stop at the store to get supplies they would need to start off with, which then led to Kara buying any toy she thought was cute. When Kara finally admitted to being hungry Lena quickly made the purchases while Eliza called in an order for dinner to be delivered shortly after they returned home.

Once home and upstairs with all their things, Eliza went to go change before food arrived, leaving Kara and Lena to get the puppy settled.

"Lena, do you want to change her name or keep the one she had at the shelter?" Kara poured food into the bowl before walking it over to the spot they had set up for a food dish and water bowl. Kara waited and gave a general command for the dog to sit, and to Lena's great surprise she did: waiting patiently until Kara had set the food bowl down on the mat and told her to take it.

"How did you get her to listen to you? We just brought her home and they have only done basic skills with them at the shelter." Kara shrugged her shoulders and smiled, "she's a smart dog Lena. Aren't you Elsa?" The dog perked up and quickly returned to her food which she ate at a speed that rivaled Kara.

"Well, I guess that settles the name debate. Unless you actually want to call her something else." Kara thought about it and shook her head. "I think it suits her. Besides, we like Frozen too." Lena rolled her eyes because against her will was she mad to like and become obsessed with those films. Something she blamed Kara for entirely. Lena stood next to Kara as they watch the dog investigate her new house.

"You know we can talk about what you were feeling when you came home. I didn't call the shelter to ignore your feelings. Eliza and Alex both said animals helped you cope as a kid and I figured we could try it. I just didn't want you feeling like you didn't have a safe place to come home to after difficult days."

"Hey, I always feel safe with you. You know that." Lena nodded, "I know. But you have days when you struggle and it is hard for you to tell me what's wrong and I have those days myself. With Elsa in the house, we both have someone to cuddle until we calm down enough to share our feelings with each other." Kara nodded and offered Lena a quick kiss as they followed the dog into their room. Lena had sectioned off the closet in an effort to not give the puppy access to expensive outfits and shoes, but while she did that Kara was laughing. Lena turned around to see the puppy making herself very much at home…on Lena's side of the bed.

"You just had to tell her that we were coming home so she could steal my spot on the bed." Kara was laughing way harder than she had any right to and Lena rolled her eyes before rubbing her hand gently over the puppy's head and kissing the crown of her head.

"Thief." Lena smirked as she heard the door buzzer, signaling food. A noise that had both the dog and Kara running from the bedroom to answer the door. Lena shook her head and had to laugh, "I am in so much trouble."