Prompt: How long does it take for Alex to feel like little Vega's mom?
It takes almost eight months for Alex to really and truly feel like Vega's mom. Vega starts babbling earlier than most babies, but between the Kryptonese and English mixture that's fed to Vega, it's a little harder to tell what her first real word is really. Kara swears Vega's first word came right before Vega was seven months old and that the word was salite, which is the closest Kryptonian really gets to the word cousin, but Alex is a little dubious about that. She hasn't heard the characteristic tones of Kryptonese come out of Vega's mouth yet, though that doesn't mean she hasn't heard the baby trying. She doesn't ever disillusion Kara to what she wants her to believe. Vega's first word in English will be just as special as her her first in Kryptonese because she's of both worlds equally so there's no need to have a contest about which language was first. She does not need to take one more thing away from Kara with doubt.
Alex is damn sure what Vega's first word is in English, though. She's sitting at the dinner table, finishing up feeding Vega her last serving of pureed peaches for the day. After she wipes Vega's face of the last of the goo and goes to clean up everything Vega starts to babble again.
"Yeah, baby girl, that all sounds very interesting. I know, peaches are totally the best food in the galaxy, just don't tell Kara because she's convinced that title goes to chocolate pecan pie." Alex smiles up at Vega and Vega smiles back, giggling.
"Mama!" Vega reaches towards Alex and giggles again. And then of course she very clearly says "Salite!" with just as much joy and Alex wants to eat her DEO polo she's so fucking not fucking once has she called herself Mom or anything like it to Vega's face, but she had to have picked it up somewhere, some educational TV show that they entertain her with at the DEO while she's out on missions or something and then she put the pieces together in her little brilliant baby brain just to drop that little bomb on Alex right when she wasn't suspecting.
"Mama?" Alex asks.
Vega reaches for her again. "Mama!"
Alex blinks and blinks and blinks again. Mama. Vega thinks of her as her mother. She doesn't know any better, not really, but…she was the one who put the pieces together. That has to mean something. Her opinion is not weightless just because she is a small child. Vega is Kryptonian and probably smarter than Alex understands even now. And if she has chosen to call Alex mama, then maybe she should pay attention. Because she's been dancing around the feeling for a while. She feels as if she shouldn't feel like a mother and should in equal measure because she's a damn train wreck emotionally about eighty percent of the time. But.
She just stares at Vega as the pieces start to click inside her. Vega is her daughter. Her daughter. There is no other word for it. That is what she is. Alex can't run from that anymore. And she is Vega's mother. There's no running from that either because she knows she would rather die before running from this child in front of her.
"Yeah, Vega baby, Mama." She stands to kiss Vega on the head gently. "Mama loves you. I always will."