As soon as they got home from the honeymoon, Kara reluctantly had to hit the ground running by shooting the first episode of her new television show. She'd agreed to another job only on the condition that shooting began only after her honeymoon, which the director, of course, readily agreed to. After all, there was no way they were going to let their rising star go to replace her with anyone else. Kara had made a name for herself since working with Lena, and now every director who was anyone knew her name and wanted her in their shows and films.

Despite the struggle of conflicting schedules, Kara found herself thrown into her work. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with her wife; it was simply that she felt driven to create something. It wasn't the popularity and fame that drove her. It was the moment she watched the finished project come together on screen. Kara was thirsty for it, and she took her art seriously. In the beginning, all she'd been worried about was making sure not to make Lena look like a fool. Now that she was established and doing her own work, she took pride in the final creation.

Lena supported her, of course, in the same way that Kara supposed Lena in her endeavors. So, when Kara had to shoot the final episode of her latest show late at night, the brunette didn't complain.

Kara's last shoot started normally enough, though nerves were running high from the pressure of creating the perfect finale for the show.

"You look nervous," a young man addressed Kara, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

Kara jumped slightly at the sound of his voice.

"No," Kara answered, after regaining her composure. "Just focused."

"Sorry to throw off the groove," the man chuckled.

"Yeah… You're the singer in the band for the final scene right?"

He nodded with a smirk and said, "At your service." Kara almost rolled her eyes at the cheesy line before the young man added, "It's good that you're not nervous. You've got no reason to be. I've seen you act. You're fantastic, honestly. Anyway, I'm—"

Just as he was about to introduce himself, Kara saw him grin and look over her shoulder at someone approaching.

As Kara spun around to see who he was looking at, she heard him say, "Oh, hey, bubba."

When Kara saw her wife behind her, white-knuckle gripping a bouquet of flowers, her mouth dropped.

"Hello, Jack. How's that Mercedes, asshole?" Lena hissed.

"I've since upgraded," the man countered.

Kara quickly realized that this was Lena's ex, and her eyes subsequently nearly bugged out of her head.

"Did I just catch you flirting with my wife?" Lena asked, taking a threatening step towards him.

"She's pretty," Jack confessed nonchalantly.

Just as Lena dropped the flowers to the ground and cocked her arm back, Kara reacted like the crack of lightning and grabbed her arm to hold her back. Before the brunette could assault the cocky musician, Kara gently pushed her aside and slammed her fist - hard - into the man's jaw, sending him reeling.

"One more word to her, and I'll break your nose," Kara warned, panting from the effort of throwing her whole weight into the punch, just like her father had taught her to.

To his detriment, Jack ignored the blonde and grinned up at Lena with a bloody smile, saying, "You always liked it bloody, didn't you, bubba?"

The rage in Lena's eyes was unmistakable, and by this time, the cast and crew of the show were rounding on the small group. Just as the director was about to intervene, Kara swung forward, bringing an avalanche of pain crashing into Jack's nose, which almost immediately began to pour like a broken faucet.

"See you in court," Jack warned them, gritting his teeth.

Lena laughed and pulled Kara back before she could hit him again. (She would have.)

"See ya there, dipshit," the brunette agreed. "Good luck finding a lawyer with an empty wallet."

Kara was still scowling at Jack when Lena pulled her away.

Of course, after Lena's comment about his being too broke to find a lawyer - he'd never been good with money - Jack decided not to press charges against Kara for the assault. There was no way he'd win in court against the best lawyer money could buy.

The director thankfully called off the shoot for the day and postponed it, given their loss of a full band for the final scene. Obviously, he'd grumbled and scolded Kara for her conduct, but given that most people knew Lena's history with the musician, he decided not to pull Kara from the show. Besides, she was the star. Without her, the whole project was over.

"That was insane," Lena breathed, once they were alone in the car.

"What do you mean?" Kara asked, pushing her hair back out of her eyes.

"You're hot as fuck when you get angry… when it's not at me, I mean."

Kara laughed and rolled her eyes, saying, "Hardly."

"No, really. You should've let me handle it, but it was pretty sexy to watch you get all intense and protective of me like that…"

"Of course I'm going to protect you, Lena," the blonde answered, brow furrowing. "You're my wife. I would never let anyone hurt you."

"I know," Lena whispered with a smile, cupping her wife's face in her hands. "Thank you, baby."

When they kiss, Lena kept her lips over Kara's for a long while, until the kiss became so deep that Kara had to pull away, breathless.

"Hey, easy," Kara laughed. "Save some of that for when we get to bed. It's late as fuck."

"You're not too tired?"

"Never too tired when you wanna fuck, baby," Kara giggled.

"I do."

"Good. Let's go home."

~!~!~

After an exceptionally long night of lovemaking, where the women only had about three hours of sleep, Kara woke to her partner moving around the room and making noise.

"What time is it?" Kara groaned, reaching for the alarm clock.

Lena smiled and stopped Kara's hand.

"It's five forty-five."

"What the hell are you doing? Come back to bed."

"I gotta go, baby."

"What? Why?"

"There's an early morning meeting I want to go to."

"What the fuck meeting is this early?"

"Um…" Lena started, hesitating as she dropped her gaze.

"Lena?"

"I, um… It's an N.A. meeting."

"As in—"

"Narcotics Anonymous."

"Holy shit, Lena," Kara gaped, sitting straight up in bed. "I'm so proud of you! I didn't—"

"Let's not make a big thing of it, okay? I'm gonna—"

"I'm proud of you," the blonde said again, smiling. "Have fun."

"As much fun as I can at N.A.," Lena laughed.

When Lena turned to leave, Kara called out, "Hey, Wifey. Get back here and give me a kiss goodbye!"

"I really shouldn't," the star commented with a playful smirk. When her wife looked confused, she explained, "If I kiss you, I'll get back in that bed and tear your ass up like we just got married."

Grinning, Kara scrambled out of the bed, cupped Lena's face in her hands, and planted a quick, wet kiss on her lips.

"Love you. Bye!" she cried, gently shoving the brunette towards the door.

Rolling her eyes, Lena called back, "Love you, turd."

~!~!~

Lena's meetings went well for a long while. So well, in fact, that Kara asked her if she could tell Eliza that Lena had been going. Of course, the celebrity had no qualms about this. She knew, thanks to personal, direct experience with Eliza over the years, that the woman wouldn't judge her. In fact, she'd likely be proud. So Lena agreed.

"Mom, can we talk?" Kara asked, when Lena had left for a photoshoot and she'd gotten her mother on the phone.

"Of course, baby girl. What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"No, Ma. Nothing's wrong. It's actually… It's Lena. I wanted to talk to you about her a little bit."

"Honey, if—"

"No, no. It's nothing bad, I promise. She's going to meetings!"

"Meetings? As in…"

"Yeah! She's sticking with her treatment and doing really well in her sobriety. She told me that even with the stress from work, she'd not having cravings anymore."

"That's great, honey. I'm very proud of her. And you, for supporting her wife while setting healthy boundaries."

"I learned all I know from you, Mama."

Kara could hear the smile in Eliza's voice as the woman replied, "I think you married the right girl, baby."

"How do you know?"

"Because after her overdose, when things hit rock bottom, even when she wanted to give up, she never did. Not on you, not on your relationship, not on herself."

"She was stubborn for a bit in the hospital, but you're right. She listed to me and what I had to say, because she cares about me and us and everything we've built together. I'm proud of her, too, mom. And I'm so glad she's part of our family and that you and Alex have welcomed her with open arms."

"Oh, sweetheart. You know I love Lena like she's my own."

Beaming, Kara answered, "You're the best mom ever, you know."

"No, dear. Just the luckiest. I've got three beautiful girls to look after."

"You don't need to look after us, Mom. We're—"

"You might be grown-ups, but you'll always be my babies, Kara. Understand?"

Chuckling lightly, the blonde replied, "Yes, Mama."

"Thank you for calling, my sweet girl. I'm proud of you both and I'm very, very glad that you two are both happy and doing the work together."

"Love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, sweetheart. I'll let you get back to what you were doing."

"I'll call you later this week," Kara promised.

"Already looking forward to it."