Prompt: Lena sees Stef's implants for the first time
Lena was getting real tired of waiting in hospitals for her wife to come out of surgery. Although, this time she was alone since it was a fairly routine surgery and Stef had said she'd prefer not to have all the fuss and for the kids to just go to school. When the nurse came to get her, she felt a familiar wave of relief but didn't feel any real worry when she warned that her wife would still be groggy. This was Stef's third surgery in just over a year. Lena knew what to expect. At least this time hadn't involved any bullets.
"Hey, honey," she cooed as she approached the bed and took hold of Stef's forearm.
"Hey," Stef croaked back.
"How are you feeling?"
"Fabulous." Stef gave her a loopy grin, her eyes still half closed, her face puffy and pale.
"Well, you look great," Lena said with a smirk before placing a light kiss to her forehead, pleasantly surprised at how alert Stef already was.
"Just wait till you see these bad girls." Unable to raise her arms, Stef pointed toward her chest with a single finger, wiggling her eyebrows while her wife rolled her eyes.
"Let's give it a day, shall we?" Lena tilted Stef a playful smirk.
"You don't wanna see my frankenboobs?" Stef's dramatic, incredulous tone was muddled by her fatigue and slightly slurred speech, making her sound drunk.
"You're what?" Lena raised her eyebrows even as she laughed.
"Frankenboobs. Y'know, like Frankenstein."
"Yes, babe, I got the reference." Lena nodded, a hint of laughter still in her voice.
"C'mon. You have to make sure they're not hideous. What if I want a refund?"
Grinning, Lena shook her head. Not even anesthesia could suppress her wife's terrible sense of humor. "I'm pretty sure they were sold 'As Is'."
A moment passed and although she tried to feign a smile, when Stef's tired eyes turned up to meet her wife's, Lena could see the distress in them. "Please?"
Lena's eyebrows drew down and her lips worried together at seeing her wife's insecurities so unmasked. She didn't like blood and the idea of seeing Stef's incisions so soon post-surgery made her stomach a little queasy. But her wife was seeking some kind of reassurance and she would always do whatever was necessary to ease Stef's mind. She squeezed her arm and nodded. "Okay."
With careful hands, she pulled down the blanket then opened either side of the hospital gown. Thankfully, most of what was visible was bandages along the underside of each breast, stained on the edges with the sickly orange of iodine and small blossoms of blood in a few places. The fresh, purple scars from her mastectomy ran in jagged horizontal lines from the outer edge to the center of each breast. It was strange to see her wife with breasts that were different from the ones she knew so well. It wasn't a bad feeling. Just a little surreal, even after the weeks since her mastectomy. Now her breasts sat up much higher on her chest, which the surgeon had said would lessen once all the swelling went down. They were similar in size – a decision Stef had included her in, though Lena had just wanted her to go with whatever made her comfortable. But the shape was so different, the particular pattern of freckles she was used to was gone, and as Stef laid on her back they didn't settle on her chest the same way. It was all the little ways she had known they would be different but that she hadn't really been able to prepare for until faced with it. Even with these drastic differences, what struck Lena the most was an overwhelming sense of gratitude. These breasts, different and unfamiliar as they were, were healthy. Their scars were proof that they were safe, that Stef was safe and healthy, and that she would remain that way for a long time. It didn't matter that they looked different, or that they wouldn't feel the same. With time, Lena would grow to know them just as well. They were perfect because they were Stef's and that was all Lena cared about. It's all she would ever care about.
"Lena?" Stef asked when she had stayed quiet too long, lost in her own thoughts.
Lena looked at Stef with warmth and love, a smile spreading across her face. "They look great," she said with conviction.
"Really? They're not horrifying and disturbing?" Lena didn't miss the hint of genuine worry behind the exaggeration.
"No. They're perfect." Lena took hold of Stef's hand. "But I might have to start calling you Frankenstef," she teased, her smiling eyes glimmering down at her wife.
Stef shot her as incredulous a look as she could muster under the circumstances. "Maybe we should call them Frankenleft and Frankenright."
"Uh, uh!" Lena gave a dramatic shake of her head, making her curls bounce around her face. "We can't disrespect Kitten and Vixen by renaming them! Not after everything they've been through!"
The nicknames, a running joke from years ago, made Stef laugh which then turned into a wince.
Lena grew serious, leaning closer over the side of the bed. "Honey, are you okay? Are you in a lot of pain? Should I get them to give you more pain meds?"
Stef shook her head, an appreciative smile tugging across her lips. "I'm fine, love. I just can't laugh."
Lena relaxed at the reassurance. "It's a good thing your jokes are so bad then." Stef narrowed her eyes as Lena gazed down at her. She ran her fingers through her short hair and took a deep, settling breath.
"What?"
"I'm just glad this is all over and that you're okay."
"Me, too, love."
"But after this, no more surgeries, okay? I've had enough of hospitals to last a lifetime."
"Promise."
Lena leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to Stef's lips as the familiar tranquility of their love settled around them. Nothing mattered except that Stef was here and she was whole. They had faced their most monumental challenges together in the last year, fighting for this life they shared. And after all of it they had come out standing, still by each other's side, and stronger than ever. There had never been a doubt in her mind that this surgery wouldn't change a thing between them because a couple of battle scars were nothing in the face of their love.
