Lena decided to pass down the company to Dawn on her 60th birthday as she believed her daughter was finally ready to take over on her own. The next day, Kara and she bought a house in Midvale and soon moved in.
When the women bought the house they made sure the backyard was huge and connected to the beach. On the left side of the backyard, there were three dog houses and a small park for their grandchildren. At the end of the long yard, the grass changed to concrete as they built a pool. That way it was easier for the old couple to keep an eye on their grandchildren from their home when the kids wanted to swim.
On the right side of the yard was where Lena decided to create her own 'little' garden. An extra fence was placed in the length of the yard, giving a fair amount of ground on the right side for Lena to plant whatever her heart desires. Finally, the middle of the backyard was an open space with grass, perfect for the dogs to run around or for the kids to play games.
"Lena? Come here for a second." Kara called.
"Coming" her granddaughter replied.
"Can you take this water bottle to your grandma?" the woman asked and the girl nodded with a smile.
Little Lena opened the door that led to the backyard and headed outside. The door closed with a thud as she let it go, walking towards the right side of the yard. “Nana?” The eleven-year-old called out.
“I’m right here.” Lena replied and stepped out of the shed.
“Uzheiu told me to bring you this.” The young girl said and passed a water bottle to the woman.
“Thank you sweetheart.” Lena smiled and placed the tools she was holding on the ground. She removed her gloves and grabbed the bottle, taking a sip of the cold water.
“Your garden looks really pretty.” The girl said as she looked around.
Lena surprised herself when she found out how much she enjoyed gardening. She started with some tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber but she slowly added flowers over time. Her meticulous work ethic had unsurprisingly followed her into this new hobby. Walking into the garden, one would gaze upon a sea of gorgeous, colour-coded flower beds.
First encountered were the jasmine plants that curled up the archway and lit up the entrance with their tiny ivory petals when in season. Walking through the arch, ivory daisies and hibiscus flowers smiled up, harmonizing with the jasmine.
Lovely daffodils and buttercups were in the flower bed next to them, along with mighty sunflowers that reached up as high as they could. More daisies, this time Gloriosa ones were further along the pathway, accompanied with more orange-hued flowers the further in one ventured.
Delightful pink flowers entered the picture next, groups of chrysanthemums, roses and even carnations. Some heuchera plants even made themselves known here and there, their intricate leaves a wonder by themselves.
The true glory, one would argue, flowed out then; a spectacular amalgamation of violet and blue. Once one crossed another arch draped in purple bougainvillaea, violets and bluebells sprouted up in two opposite flowerbeds. Lilacs took over a whole section of the garden at the far back, while a big patch of aster flowers of many varieties kept the back wall from view.
The peonies in the pots were especially adorable to Lena, though she made sure her dahlias did not overhear.
Her garden had so many colourful flowers Kara told her it looked like a unicorn's puke.
“Thank you.” Lena answered with a smile. She watched as her granddaughter scanned the sea of flowers. “You know.” she started and placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “I need to plant these new flowers. Do you want to help me?”
“Really?” The girl gasped and looked at her grandma with stars in her eyes.
“Yes. But if you are going to help me you need to go change clothes, put your hair in a ponytail and put on a hat.” Lena pointed out and booped her granddaughter’s nose.
“Okay, I will be right back.” the girl said and rushed to the house.
Lena moved farther down her garden where she intends to plant the Gardenia. She started digging the small holes where she wanted the flowers before waiting for her granddaughter.
Five minutes later the little girl rushed out of the house, her green braided hair swishing left and right behind her as she ran. Kara and Loren followed lazily behind her. The girl entered the garden and walked to her grandma at normal speed, following the no running in the garden rule.
“Are you ready?” Lena asked with a smile that got wider when she noticed the girl’s supergirl hat.
“Yes.” the girl gushed and knelt next to her grandma.
“Hello, Lenas.” Kara called out and the two gardeners turned around. The tall woman was balancing Loren, their five-year-old grandson, on her waist while holding her phone up. She was obviously recording her wife and granddaughter spending some quality time together.
Lena blushed but turned back to the dirt. After leaving L-Corp she decided to stop dying her hair black. Now instead of ink-black hair, she dotted grey with a few white streaks. She felt insecure the first time she let the grey hair grow out but she was in the security of her walls and in a town that no paparazzi could find her or anyone to recognise her. And even when she had to go to National City for the investor's meetings, Kara compliments outnumber any insecurity she had.
Kara also spotted her own grey hair and age lines now, but it was all fake as she used an image inducer. Underneath that, she was still her beautiful, buff, age line-free, blonde self. She usually didn’t wear it in their house but since she loves to take pictures with her grandkids it’s safer to keep it on.
“Grama.” The little boy exclaimed and reached over the fence.
“Hello, little one.” Lena said and stood. She reached over the flowers and touched the boy’s nose, making him giggle.
“Loren wanted to come to watch what you two were doing.” Kara stated. “And I’m here to record it.” she added with a smile.
"Can we start now, Nana?” the little girl asked.
“Of course. Let's start by digging the holes.” The green eye beauty said and knelt next to her granddaughter. She passed a trowel to her and told her where to dig. Kara was cheering her granddaughter on while the little girl struggled with the dirt.
Soon Loren got bored, something Kara was expecting, and she let him down on the ground. The little boy rushed to Zeus, a white great dane that Kara and Lena adopted a year ago. The large dog raised his head when he noticed the little boy rushing to him. He stood and his tail started wagging as he got excited about playing games with the boy.
Meanwhile, Lena helped the little girl dig the hole for the flowers. “I think that’s deep enough.” The woman said and little Lena gave a serious nod.
The shorter woman explained every step to her granddaughter as they slowly planted the gardenias. Kara was watching with a smile on her face. She suddenly turned her head to the house before speaking. “Liran and Roan are here.” she said and turned back to the gardeners.
Little Lena didn’t hear her as she was filling the hole with soil but her wife gave her a nod of acknowledgement.
The back door opened and the two Nhelanis walked to the backyard. “Mommy.” The little boy yelled and rushed to his mom. The woman easily picked him up and hugged him before patting Zeus on the head.
“What are you doing here? I thought I would fly the kids home later tonight.” Kara asked her son when he got closer.
“We decided to spend the weekend here if you don’t mind.” The man said and leaned on the fence like his mother when he got closer.
“ Daddy ! Look.” the little girl exclaimed with a huge smile. She was pointing at the flower she just planted.
“That's a beautiful flower, Lena.” Liran told his daughter with a huge smile.
“I planted it with Nana.” the girl added.
“You did!?” The man exclaimed with the same energy. “Well, let me come around so I will have a better look.”
“Can you bring me two labels from the shed on your way?” Lena called out before starting digging the next hole.
“Yep.” the man answered while walking to the entrance of the garden.
Kara felt something hugging her leg and she looked down to find Loren looking up at her with a huge smile. The boy giggled before releasing her leg and running after Zeus.
“Loren, stay close.” Roan said as she was walking towards Kara. “Hi.” She greeted with a smile.
“ Mommy! ” The little girl exclaimed. “Look what I planted.” she once again pointed to the flower with a huge smile.
“That’s beautiful.” Roan answered with the same energy.
“Got the labels, mom. Found a marker too.” Liran said as he walked through the archway.
“Thank you.” The older woman took the items from the son and looked at her granddaughter. “Now, on these, we will write the dates we planted the gardenias and the name of the gardeners.” She said as she wrote ‘Big Lena & Little Lena’ on one of the wooden labels.
“Can I name them?” Little Lena asked and the grandmother couldn’t say no.
“Of course. What do you want to call them?” She asked as she wrote her's and her granddaughter’s name in smaller letters.
“This one is Gary and that one is Dory.” The girl said with all seriousness.
“Gary and Dory it is.” Lena answered with a serious nod and wrote 'Gary' on the first label. She put the first label close to Gary and scooted to the side. “Let’s plant Dory.” she said with a smile and Little Lena cheered.