"Dibs on the last potsticker!" Kara called as she grabbed the food quickly putting it into her mouth.

"That's cheating!" Alex countered pushing her shoulder as they sat on the couch.

"Well, we hadn't have a sister's night in a while, I've missed eating this" she said with a mouthful.

"Sorry, my schedule has been crazy"

"Well, we are here now" Kara radiated a smile "What have you been up to? I feel like we have so much catch up to do"

"That's an understatement" she mumbled taking a swing at her beer.

"What?" Kara asked and Alex cursed her super hearing.

Alex resigned to the idea and laid the beer down "Well, I know that Lena mentioned you about doing a bit of research with some doctors"

"Oh! She told you already?! That's great!" she jumped in the couch positioning right in front of her "And? Are you going to take her upon the offer?"

Alex felt her breath caught on her chest "I already did" she began "I had my appointment with Doctor Eriksen, I turned out to be a pretty good candidate and I'm going ahead with the process" she said in one go "Oh, and I've already narrowed down the donors to my three top choices"

Kara blinked several times before reacting and rushing forward hugging her as tightly as a human could take it "Those are wonderful news!" she celebrated before letting go and looking for her eyes "You could have told me before, I would have gone with you to the clinic, what if they had been bad news? You don't have to hold things in, like when you met Maggie in secret"

Alex felt the jab, but knew Kara had no malice in asking, so she just relaxed her shoulder trying not to get defensive "I feared that if they were bad news I would had raised our hopes in vain"

"Alex" Kara reproached looking at her with soft eyes "that's exactly why you need someone by your side, so you don't have to carry all the hurt by yourself"

"I-I did have someone" she provided

"Oh, you told Eliza already?"

"No, she still doesn't know actually" she rolled her eyes "but, um, I didn't went to the doctor alone" she said biting into her lower lip.

"J'onn?" Kara guessed.

"…Lena. She was there with me"

Kara tried not to flinch, she had to get used to the idea that her friend was now as close to her sister as she was to her "I'm glad she was there for you"

"Yeah, she's been really…" she tried to find the right word, sweet? Kind? "helpful" Alex spited out knowing that was not even close to what she wanted to say.

Kara nodded knowing they were navigating a touchy subject for both of them.

"So, when it's your next appointment?"

"In about two weeks?"

"Hey…I want to be involved in this" she opened up to say "this is major for you and I want to be there for my sister"

Alex melted at her words "I would love to have Auntie Kara holding my hand as I panic though the whole thing"

"Auntie Kara, I like the ring of that" she chuckled.

"Lena came up with it" she smirked.

Kara allowed another moment to pass before reaching for her hand "Hey, I'm really glad Lena has been there for you and the other way around. You two are probably my favorite people in the world, so…it's nice that you look out for each other"

Alex swallowed "She's really important to you, isn't she?"

Kara actually laughed "You do keep count on how many times I've been close to dying to protect her, right? You've given me multiple lectures about it"

"I know, I didn't meant as Supergirl, well yes you are Supergirl, you have no division on that matter, but I-I meant as in…you care" she stressed the last word.

"Of course I care" Kara answered as if it was obvious but judging by her sister's growing frustration the Older Danvers was implying something else "She's my best friend, she's saved my life too in many forms"

Alex was absolutely losing her nerve, she always knew Lena's and Kara's relationship was something very special, but she could never quite pinpoint if it was something strictly platonic, their mutual grand gestures were a very grey area for the Agent. And never before had that bothered her, not until she had chip in her own feelings into the table. She couldn't bare the idea of hurting either of them by getting involved.

"I guess what I'm trying to ask is…do you love her?" she finally said out loud.

Kara sheepishly shrugged smiling in her adorkable way "Absolutely. I love her dearly" she said heartedly leaving Alex speechless "I would risk everything for her, I have been willing to die to keep her safe" she looked back contemplating "Just as I would risk everything for you, it's that kind of love" Kara lastly said not noticing how her sister breathed in again, how her heartbeat had actually accelerated at the sound of that.

"Just like me?" she repeated.

"Don't get jealous, we share the same last name, you have that advantage over her and of course you'll always be top priority, but I do love her just the same" Kara giggled completely missing on the relief that washed over her older sibling "Let's grab dessert now, to celebrate you getting pregnant" she rushed to the kitchen leaving the Agent to her own devices.

Alex leaned back gazing at the ceiling sighing loudly. At least she could be reassured that her sister didn't look at the Luthor in a romantic way, which brought her such peace of mind. But as she gazed at the Super going through the fridge she came to realize she wasn't ready to tell Kara that she indeed had very strong and unpredicted feelings for Lena. She needed a little time to sort out all that was going through her head and suddenly through her heart.

On top of that, she was still to figure out if the CEO was the one pinning over the reporter and if not if then maybe…she could have her by her side…for real.

The soul thought made her blood rush to her cheeks as she hugged a pillow to her chest feeling like a child, it had been so long since she last allowed her feeling to take the reins and now she was helplessly letting them steer through the whole situation.

Kara juggled the bag of food as she reached Lena's office at L-Corp. The CEO was glued to her computer as per usual, but Kara's not so subtle entrance sure distracted her enough to look up.

"Kara!" she stood up going to help her "Are we feeding an army?" she took two of the bags.

"Alex told me you have been here since like seven in the morning? Don't pretend like you ate breakfast"

Lena chuckled "Guilty" she put them down on the table "Italian, I see"

"We needed to mix up the menu" she smirked taking a seat "How's work?"

"Challenging" she raised a brow "should I ask the same or is there going to be a meeting at CatCo I should attend to?"

"Please, do come to CatCo and show them who's boss" she mocked "James is getting a little bit too comfortable"

"I'll make sure to give him a scare later" she laughed lightly opening the food.

"So" Kara said after taking her first bite "Alex told me a few days ago that she's getting pregnant, guess she did like the idea you proposed"

"Appears to be so" she couldn't hide her smile "I'm really happy for her"

"Me too, love the whole Auntie Kara thing" she mocked "It sure is going to be a huge change" she mentioned "her whole life is going to take such a turn. I'm not going to lie, I am a little bit worried, I'll have to really talk her into leaving the field work for a while, like a long while. She won't be able to put herself in risk anymore, not if another person is going to depend so fully on her"

"Didn't really considered it like that" Lena admitted "But I guess that if this is something she loves even more than her work then it will be an easier decision. It will take time to adjust and it will be challenging but completely worth it" she said with such conviction it made Kara raise a brow.

"I'm sure you are right" she took another bite "Besides, she'll have us to help out" Kara raised her shoulders "I'm ready to babysit and believe it or not I have nerves of steel, I'm sure I could handle any emergency" she said confidently, puffing her chest out.

"Then by all means, be my guest and take care of all the diapers" she teased as Kara reconsidered that her super smell was going to be very compromised.

"Hey, you won't get off so easily, we'll be team Aunties, we need to stick together"

Lena chocked for a brief second as she finally swallowed her bite. For some reason the innocent joke had hit her hard. It all became a little bit too real. Alex was going to be a mother, have a kid of her own, and she only figured in, at best case scenario, as Kara just had described, an aunt. Alex was really building her life now, how did she hope to be part of it?

"Wow there, you okay, Lena?" Kara asked concerned giving a light tap on her back.

"Yes, I should chew more" she avoided.

"Maybe if you had breakfast you wouldn't be as hungry" Kara joked going back into the conversation, but Lena couldn't stop wandering what the future might hold.

Half an hour later Kara's phone rang as she was requested to go cover a story.

"Duty calls" she announced.

"I hope your boss pays you fairly for your effort"

"I'm already forming an union"

Lena chuckled "Thanks for lunch"

"Gladly" she smirked back "So, Friday same time?"

"Sorry…I have …something on Friday"

"Oh, another project already?"

"You could say that"

"Huh, Alex didn't mention anything"

"No, Alex isn't helping me on this one" Lena provided biting the inside of her cheek.

"Ow, ok. Well, best of luck"

"Same" she hugged her goodbye and as soon as Lena was alone again she gazed around, her empire of loneliness gazed back at her.

Alex finally made the decision and called the clinic and let them know about her absolute resolve as to which donor she had picked. Now that she had taken such a huge step forward it felt like an obligation to inform one more person. She dialed the number dreading every second that passed her by, hoping that no one would answer on the other side, but then there it was, her mother's voice.

"Alex, hi"

The red head felt her throat go dry "Hi" she chocked out "is this a good time?"

"Sure, I was just about to be done with the chores" she heard movement as Eliza took a seat "must be something important for you to call, that doesn't happen often"

Alex closed her eyes allowing the jab "Fair" she said "And…it is"

"Are you ok? Is Kara ok too?"

"Yeah, we are both alright" she assured her "It's actually good news…well at least for me" she messed her hair up trying to find a way to say it.

"You found someone new?" Eliza guessed making Alex panic.

"No!" she yelled just like she would when Eliza stormed through her room when she was a teenager, caught red handed perhaps.

"Ok, ok, sorry" Eliza said in mocked indignation "then what is it?"

How should she say it? 'you may become a grandmother in about 10 to 11 months?', 'I've come to the resolution of being a single parent and perhaps I'll need your help managing my financials?' Nothing sounded sincere or moving, so she just went ahead and said it "I've decided I want to have my own family, I went to a specialist and I'm undertaking the procedure to get artificially inseminated and have a kid"

The line was completely silent for a long moment and Alex had to wonder if maybe the connection had been interrupted "Mom?"

"I'm here" came a distant reply and Alex already regretted half her life decisions.

"Look, I know it's going to be challenging to raise a baby on my own, but I have people that care for me and-"

"And I'll be more than happy to be there too" she cut her short "Alexandra, this is amazing" she said, her voice cracking with emotion "I'm so happy for you. This is something you wanted, I'm so proud you are following your dreams. I always feared you would involve yourself too much in your work to actually live up your life, but now...I'm just so happy"

Alex finally caught her breath unaware that she had started crying "Thank you mom"

As the next date with Doctor Eriksen approached more people close to Alex were clued in into what was happening in her life. J'onn had been the supportive father figure that filled her with confidence and courage, James had made a few jokes but ultimately promised he would be there if she ever needed anything. Even Superman had been in the loop offering to have them over if they ever needed a break from the big city during the pregnancy.

It was all finally coming together for Alex and the fear of failure was fading away.

She grabbed her phone after a debrief and dialed Lena's number trying to ignore how her heartbeat was drumming on her ears.

"Agent Danvers, hi" Lena answered

"Miss Luthor" she corresponded.

"Is this my weekly call to make sure I haven't blown up the city?"

"I don't get paid enough to keep tabs on your attempts" she joked as well being the first to break the façade "How you been? Sorry I haven't reached out sooner"

"It's okay, I'd imagine you must be having a handful right now"

"A little overwhelmed but incredibly happy"

"I'm glad" she said earnestly.

"So…what have you been up to? I've hardly heard form you either"

"Well, you could say I have been swamped with a little event of my own" she offered selecting her words carefully.

"Oh, are you planning another unveiling? I can help if you are working on another prototype"

"No" came Lena's fast response "I mean, I am not doing anything at the lab at the moment, this is more of a…personal project. Not L-Corp or CatCo related"

"Ow, I see" Alex felt a tad awkward to be left out of it, even if she knew she had no business being involved "II hope it turns out to be great"

"Thanks…I really hope so too" she said in an unusual soft tone.

"Well, um…I-I'll meet with Doctor Eriksen, have the first trial, I guess I called because I am a little nervous and you are the only one that knows how this whole process has been so…"

"You'll do great" Lena assured "And remember, if the first time doesn't work that doesn't mean you have failed, it just gives you the opportunity to try again"

Alex smiled to herself "Thank you, Lee. You always know what to say"

"You know I'm here for you" she answered giving Alex the glimmering hope to ask.

"Um, hey, if it's not too much to ask…can you…can you come with me to the clinic?"

The line went silent for a moment before some incoherent syllables were vaguely pronounced and finally the CEO's voice came through "I'm…I'm so sorry, I don't know if I will be able to make it" she said "I have this appointment"

"Oh, it's-it's ok, I should have figured your schedule would be full" Alex replied feeling a knot on her throat

"If it finished on time I'll be there" Lena offered

"Yeah, sure don't worry about it. You need to take care of your enterprises" she said trying to ease up her own feelings. Lena had always dropped everything to meet her, at the oddest hours, at the worst possible time, at every call, but of course Lena had other things going on, she was the most influential woman on National City, her time was valuable and she had already invested so much of it on her.

"Miss Luthor, you have a call on line 2" came a voice from the background.

"Well, I should let you go back to work" Alex took her cue being glad something had cut off the moment.

"Ok, take care, Alex. And…keep in touch"

"Sure, same"

Alex rested both her hands over her stomach as she gazed at the ceiling at the dead of night. If all went according to plan, soon she would have a baby growing inside her and that meant forming a family. But suddenly something clouded her mind as she tried to picture her life with Lena Luthor in it. The CEO had said one time at dinner that she didn't picture herself as a parent, as a couple, as having a family. Maybe their goals did strive far from each other. Alex couldn't bear the idea of going through what Maggie was like again. Of course, Lena had stated were she stood regarding marriage and family, Alex couldn't say that had been unforeseen but it still hit her. How could she fit in into her life?

Lena picked her purse as she exited the office.

"Your car is outside, Miss Luthor" her secretariat announced "Same destination as the last few days?" she ventured to ask holding the phone against her cheek.

"Yes, tell the driver to take a different route, though. The press tends to follow my routine"

"Of course" she smiled back and didn't push for any more information, Lena was definitely giving her a raise.

Once inside the car she noticed the box next to her "Is this what I ordered?"

"Yes, ma'am" the driver nodded looking through the rearview.

"Perfect" she smiled to herself already enjoying what was to come. As soon as they arrived, she marched to the building with the box tucked under her arm ready to meet her so called 'appointment'.

"Miss Luthor, just in time, she was getting restless" the woman greeted her as they reached a secluded room. Just as the door swing opened, expectant eyes gazed upon her.

"Hello, Ellie" Lena said with a smile on her face.

"Hi!" she jumped from her chair running to stand right in front of her.

"I'm sorry I'm a bit late today" Lena said as she placed the box in front of her "Are you ready to play?"

"What game did you brought?"

Lena handed her the box "It's called 'Pente', have you heard of it?"

"Pente? As in…five?"

Lena smirked "Yes, it's pretty much like tic-tac-toe, but you have to form a row of five"

"Great!" the girl took the package back to the table.

"I'll leave you two to it" the woman smiled taking her leave.

"Yes, thank you" Lena said over her shoulder sitting at the table where the kid was already inspecting all the pieces "See, the board it's a grid of 18 for 18 squares. You can play in whatever space you want and I can do the same, we have to block each other and whoever gets five of their chips in a row first wins"

"Are there more rules?"

"I guess we can go thought them as we progress" she offered.

"Ok" she nodded taking all the transparent gems ready for a match.

"So, how you been?" Lena asked as she laid down her first chip.

"Good, I guess" she shrugged "But no one wanted to learn how to play Chinese Checkers with me, they played tag instead, I'm not very fast" she explained with a grouchy face.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, we can play that later if you want"

"That'd be fun" she smiled widely "But I still want to do this first" she said showing her excitement to learn something new, to figure out how to go about an unknown scenario and obstacle. Lena couldn't help but to giggle softly.

"Is there any game you would like me to bring so we can play together?" the Luthor asked as she blocked another row on Ellie's plan, knowing full well that if she didn't play her best the girl would notice.

Ellie's eyes sparkled at the offer "Any game?"

"If I can find it, I'll bring it" Lena assured.

The 7 year old fidgeted with her hands "Well….it's not a game, it's that okay?"

Lena was a bit aback but didn't hesitate "Sure, what would you like?"

"Can we go to the park?" she asked "I like the swings, we used to have some here but the older kids pushed us down so they had to take them away"

"Ow" Lena felt incredibly off at the petition "I-I don't know if they would let us leave the facility…I'd had to ask"

Ellie's smile dropped a little but didn't diminish her radiant gesture "It's okay. They only let out some of the kids"

"Is that why Mrs. Johnson says you keep running off? To get to the swings?"

"Well…no. I just like going out from time to time, it gets kind of crowded here but at the same time no one wants to do what I like so…" she shrugged her shoulder uncomfortably gazing away from the board.

"It can feel lonely even when you are in a room full of people?" Lena guessed receiving a small nod in return as innocent eyes questioned how she could understand the feeling.

"I-I can only imagine" Lena cleared her throat unwilling to admit that she had lived that first hand…that some days she still felt like that. "Well, I'll ask Mrs. Johnson if maybe she can plan a little trip to the park for all of you, maybe that way you can go to the swings" she offered already planning a way L-Corp could patron the event without any media finding out.

Ellie's smile fell short at her words, so she just gave small hum in return, her eyes evading Lena's as she placed another chip on the board. Not much was said after that and when dinner time came around Mrs. Johnson opened the door to announce their session was up.

"Okay sweetie, you have to clean up for dinner now" the woman called from the door as the little girl got down from the chair.

"Thanks for playing with me again"

"I'll see you Friday" Lena smiled softly as the kid gave a short nod in return going to the exit.

"We are so thankful to you for coming to spend time with her so often, Miss Luthor" the woman said "Ellie has shown real improvement, she doesn't run off anymore and on the days she knows you'll come she behaves particularly well"

"I should be the one thanking you for letting me visit and making all of this possible"

"We are just glad to have volunteers playing with the children"

"And speaking of playing… I was wondering if there's any way L-Corp could held a day at the park for them? Ellie mentioned she misses the swing and I would gladly cover all the expenses and transportation so they can all have a day out, a nice pic nic, a visit to the movies, whichever activity you see fit"

"Miss Luthor, that would be great, I couldn't thank you enough"

"You can thank Ellie" she answered "I just don't want any of this on the media tracing back to me, I would like it to be anonymous if that's not a problem"

"Not at all" Mrs. Johnson beamed "I find it kind of strange Ellie would say she misses the swings, though" she mentioned casually "We have a set at the back" she pointed.

"Oh, really? She said since older kids were misbehaving you had to take them away?"

"We did for a week but that was months ago" the woman replied "Did Ellie not told you?"

"Well, I just asked her what game she wanted to…" and it hit Lena. She asked what they could play together and Ellie wanted to be at the swings with her, not by herself. That's why the proposition of a day at the park with all the other kids didn't suit her, it was not the activity, it was who she was with. "I…" Lena traced back "I guess she just wanted to go outside the building" she offered.

"That does sound like her" Mrs. Johnson huffed.

"Anyways, I'll make sure to make a deposit tomorrow" she redirected the topic "I just need your bank account number"

"Of course, I'll have our secretariat give you all the information"

"Perfect" she followed her out as a million questions raced through Lena's mind. Suddenly she had the urge to look for the girl and promise her she would be at the park, that she would sit at the swings by her and make sure no one would tease her or make her feel out of place. She wanted to reassure her she would always be on the other side of the board no matter what game she chose, that she wouldn't leave her alone, that even if she felt lonely she would stay by her side… but a part of her feared all the same of getting too close… of letting her in, of walking into her life… she was afraid of turning into Lilian or Lex, of becoming a beacon of hope just to leave her in the dark the moment after… it scared her to belong in a family again…