“We are here!” Kara singsong and the kids cheered from the back seat. She jumped out of the car as soon as Lena turned off the engine and opened the back door, helping Alex out of his seat first. “Touch the doughnut and don’t let go, okay?” she said and the little boy placed his hand on the gas door where a sticker of a doughnut was.
Lena opened the door on the other side and started unbuckling Dawn out of her baby seat while Kara was opening the stroller. The blonde pushed the stroller closer to Lena and walked around to unbuckled Luna.
Soon, Lena was pushing the stroller with the twins. Alex was on her side holding her beach dress with a huge smile and Kara was behind them carrying all their beach items as naturally as possible.
The stroller was specially made for sand, making Lena’s job easier to push the two girls to a great spot close to the water. “I think this is a good spot.” She announced and stopped.
Kara slowly lowered the items on the hot sand, not wanting to get a death glare for dropping them like last time. She grabbed the two umbrellas and started setting them up while Lena laid the beach mat on the ground.
“Can we go in the water now, mommy?” Alex asked excitedly.
“Wait a little bit more, sweetheart.” The ravenette told him with a smile and pushed the stroller under the first umbrella. “Stay under the umbrella for now, okay?”
The boy nodded and turned to his sisters. “You guys are going to love the beach. It’s so cool.” he gashed. He started telling them stories from other times he visited the beach while the two parents set everything up. The little boy stopped when Kara finished with the two umbrella’s and Lena set the three beach chairs around the mat. “Now!?” he babbled making the women smile.
“Come here. Let me put some sunscreen on you first.” Lena said and opened one of the bags. Kara removed the two girls from the stroller and sat on the beach mat with them in her arms.
“Alright. You are ready.” the younger woman said, pinching her son’s cheeks. The little boy giggled and stepped to the side. He was waiting for one of his mothers to accompany him to the water. Lena picked Luna into her arms, the little girl giggling. “Go with Alex. I can take care of the girls.” she whispered to Kara.
“Are you sure?” The blonde asked. When Lena nodded she softly placed Dawn next to her wife. She put Alex's House of El air floats on his arms and picked her son up.
“Yeaaahh!!!” The boy's giggles were heard as his mother was running with him to the water.
Lena had no worry that Kara would keep their son safe. She is Supergirl and a protective mother after all. What she worried is what people will think if Kara seemed like she doesn’t pay enough attention to Alex.
It happened one of the first times the family went to the beach. Pictures of Kara throwing Alex on the air a bit too high or Alex playing under the hot sun while the two women were talking under the umbrella. It broke her heart when a bunch of articles stated she was a bad mother because of those pictures. Since then, they are trying to be more careful when they are on a public beach.
Lena finished with her own thick layer of sunscreen, put on her huge hat and picked her two daughters up. She slowly moved to the water and smiled at the coolness. It was quite a hot day. Kara had a huge alien fight the previous day so the ravenette thought a day with the hot sun shining down to her wife would be just the thing.
The girls started giggling and moving when the water touched their little feet. Kara was by her side in an instant, their son swimming a few inches behind her. The blonde took one of the giggling girls and held her on her hip. “Are you ready to go in the water.” she asked excitedly the two-year-olds.
The girls nodded and the two women started lowering themselves in the water with the girls. They stopped when the water reached the girls' armpits. They spend the next thirty minutes in the water, teaching the girls some basic swimming lessons before Lena took Dawn from her wife and left the water.
She worried that a crazy mother would call her out for keeping her young kids under the sun for too long. She also didn’t want to get another sunburn.
She placed the girls on the ground and removed their air floats. She passed them their baby bottles with water and sat next to them. She smiled at her wife and son playing in the water. The two kryptonians came out of the sea a few minutes later and both of them grabbed their own water bottle.
“Can you set up the second umbrella closer to the water?” Lena asked.
Kara took another sip of her water before putting it back in the cooler bag and placing a kiss on Lena’s forehead. She moved the umbrella closer to the water and Alex followed her with his bucket and toys. Soon Luna and Dawn patted their way to them and the three kids started creating a sandcastle. Kara sat on the chair under the sun while Lena stayed under the safety of the umbrella, reading her book.
“Mommy, can we eat?” Alex asked after an hour. Lena looked up from her book with a smile.
“Of course, sweetheart.” The pale woman answered and sat back up. She looked at her wife who was clearly asleep. “Can you wake your Jeju and go help the girls come back here?” She asked.
The six-year-old nodded with a smile and rushed to Kara and pulled her arm, waking her up from her sleep. “Jeju, Jeju! Wake up! It’s time for food.” he excitedly said and when he was happy with his mother awakening he rushed back to his sisters.
Kara yawned and looked at the kids with a smile. “Hey, who is the other boy?” she asked confused.
“He joined them a few minutes ago.” The green eye beauty said as she unpacked the sandwiches.
“This is Liran.” Alex said as soon as he was near them. “Can he join us for lunch?” he asked when the other boy stopped next to him with a worried smile.
“Of course. We got plenty of sandwiches.” Kara answered and passed the sandwich to the boy. His eyes and smile got wider and grabbed it with a soft thank you.
The family spent most of their day at the beach. Jumping in the water, playing games and building sandcastles were the main activities but soon it was time to leave. Kara and Lena quickly cleaned the kids from most of the sand and collected their stuff. Alex hugged the other boy before following his mothers.
Lena paused as they were leaving and looked around. “Alex? Where are Liran’s parents?” she asked and her son shrugged. Lena’s eyes followed the boy who just sat in the shore. She looked around, trying to find anyone who was looking over him.
“Honey? Everything okay?” Kara asked.
Lena signalled to her to move closer. “I have a bad feeling. No one seems to look over him and he was quite hungry.”
Kara stared into her wife’s green pools and then back to the kid. She placed the items back on the floor. “Do you want me to go or do you want to?” she asked.
Lena looked back to the kid. “Stay here but keep your ears open” she answered and walked closer to the four-year-old.
“Hey, Liran.” She greeted and sat down next to him. The boy’s face lit up and waved. “Where are your parents?” she asked.
The boy pointed at the sea and Lena furrowed her eyebrows.
“Where exactly.” the woman asked and looked at the sea. There were still people swimming, maybe it's one of them.
“They went on a boat ride with their friends.” The boy added and his smile dropped.
“When was that?” she asked.
“Two days ago.” the boy mumbled and Lena’s eyes went wide.
“They didn’t come back?” She asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
“Well,” the boy said and scratched his head. “My parents' friends let their older daughter look after me and her siblings while they went on the ride. A few hours later they came back but not with my parents. They told me they will be back soon. Then they collected their stuff. They offered to take our stuff to their car too and I told them okay.” he said with a shrug.
“And your parents?”
He shrugged again. “I think they are still in the sea. But that’s okay. They are great swimmers. They will be back soon.” he said with a huge smile and looked out at the sea.
Lena turned back to her family and spotted Kara talking on the phone. By the features on her face, she was worried too. She turned back to the boy and pushed his dark hair back from his face. They were oily. “How about you join us today for a nice shower and warm food?”
The boy thought over it and shook his head. “I don’t want to worried my parents when they return and not find me here.”
Lena sighed and looked back at Kara who was still talking on the phone. “I promise you that if your parents show up on the beach, I will have someone to tell them where you are.” She said with a small smile.
The boy hugged his belly and looked up at her. His green eyes reminded her of her own. "I am hungry...” He looked back to the sea. “You promise someone will be here?” He asked and the woman nodded. “Okay.” he replied with a smile and got to his feet. He held her hand while walking back to the others.
Kara was holding her son who was mostly asleep. “Alex is on her way. She said J'onn will head to the sea and try to find something.” She said when her wife got closer. “She will take the kids home.” she added.
No more than fifteen minutes later Alex show up. The redhead parked her car right next to Lena’s and got out. “Hey guys.” she greeted.
“Hey, Alex. This is Liran.” Kara introduced.
“Hello, little man. I’m Alex.” she greeted with a smile.
The boy gasped. “You have the same name as my friend.”
The women laughed. “That’s because I’m his aunt.” she answered with a smile.
“Are you the one that’s going to wait for my parents?” he asked with a hopeful voice.
“Yeah.” Alex answered, not having the heart to say that J’onn will be the one and she was here just to take Alex and the twins home. She passed her keys to Lena and the two women with the boy entered her car.
When they drove away, Alex closed the doors of Lena’s car before entering and driving the kids to their home.
The couple drove to the Luthor Children’s Hospital and tried to act as natural as possible. The doctor saw them straight away, no surprise there, and the two women waited outside the examination room.
“What if someone took pictures and they say I kidnapped him.” Lena suddenly said with a worried face.
“But we didn’t really kidnap him." the blonde insisted. "I repeated what I heard to Alex and she will start an investigation.” she added and hugged her wife.
“Mrs Luthor-Danvers?” The doctor asked as he exited the room. He looked worried and looked around, not leaving the side of the examination room door. The two women walked closer and he whispered. “If it was someone else I would call the proper authorities but I trust you.” he looked at the confused look the couple had and opened the door.
The two women followed him inside. They stopped in front of the examination table and looked at the boy sitting on it. Gone was the boy they met on the beach. His skin was a blue hue and his brownish hair was now greenish. His ears were a bit pointy and when he bink, his eyelids closed sideways. He was sucking on a lollipop and when he saw them he grinned and waved. Among his normal teeth, they could spot small fangs on the top and bottom teeth.
The women smiled and waved back. “There was an image inducer on him. I accidentally removed it while examining him.” the doctor whispered.
“Okay.” Lena nodded, still looking at the boy who was happily sucking on his lollipop. “Can you still examine him or..?”
“I would suggest finding someone who knows more about aliens. And if I may Mrs Luthor-Danvers, I believe it would be great if we have at least one expert here.” the doctor added and Lena nodded. The fact there was no alien doctor in this facility was a mistake she should have never made.
“Thank you, doctor.” The younger woman said. She moved to the boy and placed the image inducer back on him. “Did your parents have one too?” she asked.
“Yeah. They told me to never take it off but I don’t understand why.” He shrugged.
She smiled at him and activated the image inducer. She then helped him with Alex’s beach shirt he borrowed. Lena picked him up and he leaned on her shoulder, yawning.
“We are going to look after him. Thank you, doctor.” Kara whispered and shook the man’s hand.
The couple walked back to the car, Liran already asleep in Lena’s arms. Kara stopped at Big Belly Burgers drive-thru before heading home. The kids will have many questions but the food will distract them enough.
The little boy woke when they arrived at the private parking lot. He was holding Lena's hand as they entered inside the private elevator. He glanced at the many bags of food Kara was holding but did not ask for any even if he was starving.
“Mommy! Jeju!” Alex greeted when the door opened. “Is that Big Belly Burgers?” he gasped making the women laugh.
“Yep. Come help me set up the table.” Kara said as she moved to the kitchen.
“LIRAN!” The blonde boy exclaimed when he saw his friend and hugged him. “What are you doing here?” he questioned.
“Liran will stay with us for a few days.” Lena said. Smiling at her excited son. “Where is your aunt Alex?”
“She and aunt Kelly are bathing Luna and Dawn.” the boy said as he followed his Jeju around. The blonde set up the table and helped Liran on his chair. She placed a burger and a portion of fries in front of the boy and her heart broke when she saw his big eyes staring at the food.
"Is this for me?" he asked in a whispered.
"Yes. But eat slow. You don't want a tummy ache, okay?" Kara replied. The young boy nodded and started eating.
“Hey, guys.” Alex greeted a few minutes later. She was balancing Luna on her waist.
“Why is Luna in Dawn’s pyjamas?” Lena asked and moved to her daughter. She chuckled at Alex's confused face.
Kelly appeared from the hallway, holding Dawn. “So I’m holding Dawn and not Luna?” she asked, surprised.
The girl tried to escape Kelly’s arms, reaching for Kara. The blonde moved close and picked her up. “Hi.” she happily sighed and hugged her daughter.
“Who is this?” Kelly asked with a smile and kneeled next to Liran's chair.
The boy got a fry that Alex passed him and he looked at Kelly. “I’m Liran.” He announced and happily ate his fry.
“Nice to meet you Liran. I’m Kelly.” She introduced herself.
“Thank you for looking after them.” Kara told her sister while placing Dawn on her high chair.
Lena placed Luna on her own high chair and kissed her forehead. "Would you guys join us?" she asked.
Alex and Kelly joined them for dinner and the kids talked about their day at the beach. When they finished dinner Kelly took the kids to the living room to play and watch TV while Kara, Lena, Alex and Liran headed to the bathroom.
“Why do you need me here? You guys have three kids. Pretty sure you can handle another one on its own.” Alex whispered as she closed the door.
“Just wait.” Kara said and grabbed a towel from the cabin.
Lena removed the boy’s shirt and placed him in the bath. “Can you shower on your own or do you need help?” she asked.
“My mom always washes my hair. Can you do it for me?” the boy asked with a hopeful smile.
“Of course.” she answered. “I will remove your image inducer now, okay?” the boy nodded and Lena turned it off and removed it.
Kara looked at her sister's shocked face and smiled. “Told ya.”
“Can you guys leave?” Lena asked. The boy was close to her ear no doubt the one who asked for privacy.
“Of course.” Kara smiled. She pushed Alex outside the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
“What kind of alien is he?” Alex whispered yelled.
“We have no idea.” Kara answered. She sighed. “Any updates from J’onn?” she asked.
“Not really but I should inform him that we are looking for aliens and not humans.” she said and picked up her phone.
Kelly and Alex left a few minutes later and Kara stayed in the living room with the kids. When an hour passed she walked back to the bathroom to make sure everything was okay. She knocked on the door and when Lena answered she entered.
Lena was sitting on the floor next to the bathtub. Kara moved closer and looked inside the filled bathtub. Liran was laying on his stomach and playing with toys underwater. The blonde raised an eyebrow at her wife.
“He asked to spend some time underwater because he wasn't allowed to go without his parents.” Lena answered.
“Okay..?”
“Don’t worry. He has gills. He also has webbing between his toes.” The younger woman added.
Kara sat opposite Lena. “You should go shower. I can stay with him.”
The other woman looked back in the bathtub. She placed her hand in the water and poked the boy on his shoulder. He looked up and poked his head out of the water.
“I will go shower. Do you want to get out or stay in the water? Kara will look after you.” she asked.
“Can I stay?” he turned to Kara and asked.
“Of course.” The blonde answered with a soft smile.
After Lena showered and Liran decided to leave the water, they all sat on the couch and watched a movie before putting the kids to bed. Alex insisted that Liran should sleep in his room but since his bed wasn't big enough, the boys slept in one of the guest rooms.
A whole week passed until the DEO found Liran's parents. J’onn said they were killed before were bounded on bricks and thrown in the ocean. Whoever killed them must know that they could breathe underwater thus they had to eliminate them before throwing them in the sea. They only found one image inducer and it was broken as someone stepped on it.
The DEO opened a murder case for the two aliens but Lena and Kara chose to tell Liran it was an accident until he got older. The DEO attempted to take Liran from them but the way Lena glared and Kara almost used her heat vision at the agent who tried to get close put a stopped to that idea.
There was no way they would let the little boy go into a system where no one will confirm his safety. So they adopted him, making him part of their own little family.
When the DEO managed to find the little boys house, it was broken into and mostly destroyed. All the pictures were ruined, scratched out, burned or drew on. Anything else they could save from the house Lena took it to a storage unit for Liran to have in the future.
The two women told Liran to keep his image inducer on in public as it will be safer for him. The couple explained to the young boy how some people did not like aliens. The wanted to make sure he understood how important this was.
Soon everyone was talking about Lena Luthor adopting a child. Within a few days, articles of her adopting a child whose parents were murdered were all over the place, even pictures of the first time he met the little boy was found. Thankfully, most articles have the decency to blur Liran's face.
It was a year later when they went back to the beach. Luna and Dawn were playing in the sand with Lena while the boys were with Kara in the water. The blonde was making sure Liran wasn’t staying too long under the water so he wouldn’t look suspicious.
The ravenette tried to ignore the ‘hidden’ paparazzi who were obviously taking pictures of her and her family.
“Mommy. I’m hungry.” Dawn said and walked closer to her, her small arms hugging her.
“Okay. You and Luna head to the bags I will call the others.” Lena said and stood waving at Kara. The blonde saw her and she picked up the boys like two sacks of potatoes. She easily carried them out of the water while the boys giggled and tried to escape.
She put the giggling boys down on the beach mat before taking a seat on the beach chair. Lena passed them their sandwich and they started eating while chilling under the umbrellas for a bit.
The kids were asleep on the beach mat when Kara sat straighter on her chair because someone was walking close to them.
“Hello.” The young man greeted with a smile. He was holding a polaroid camera.
'That's a bold move for a paparazzi' Kara thought.
The two women raised their eyebrows and glanced at each other. “Hello.” Lena greeted. “How can we help you?”
The young man’s smile stayed on and scratched his head. “I’m working on an assignment for my university. I’m trying to see how many pictures I can take of strangers by asking them and how many will let me keep the picture.” he declared. “But you can keep the picture instead if you want.” he added quickly.
“Can I see the camera?” Lena asked. The young man passed the polaroid to Lena and after an inspection, she nodded and passed it back. “We are going to keep the picture.” she announced.
The young man smiled and raised his black glasses. He placed the camera in front of his green eye and took the picture. He pushed his glasses back on as he waited for the camera to print the picture and shake it in the air before looking at it with a huge smile. She passed it to Kara. “Thank you so much. For everything.” he sighed with a huge grin on his face.
“It's just a picture." Lena answered. "You are welcome.” she added while waited for Kara to pass her the picture since she was trapped under Alex and Luna.
“Oh! I know that little guy.” The young man added as he pointed to Liran. Kara was looking at him suspiciously as he was looking through his bag. “Ah here it is.” he pulled out a picture, looked at it for a bit and passed it to Kara.
It was a clear picture of Liran and his parents. They were smiling at the camera. Even though they still had image inducers, she could spot similarities between Liran and his parents.
“Thank you.” the blonde said with a huge smile and passed it to Lena who was still suspicious.
“Why do you have a year old picture with you? I doubt you would have to do the same assignment.” Lena asked. She was still wearing her glasses so the young man could not see her glare but he gulped at the raised eyebrow.
“I.. I..” he sighed. “I can’t lie to you. I saw the articles about Liran’s parents and I was trying to find a way to give this picture to him.” He said looking at the two women who looked at him suspiciously. “I also thought you might want a picture of the family that was with them.” he added and passed two more pictures.
The first picture was a family of five. The mother was blonde and the father had brown hair. One of the kids was a teenager while the others looked around ten. The second picture was both families together. At the bottom, the date of the picture was clearly shown.
“Do you think these will work?” Kara asked as she passed the pictures to her wife.
Lena nodded and looked back at the young man. “Thank you” she said with a smile
“No problem.” He said, a grin permanently on his face. Lena was going to ask for his name but Luna woke up, asking for water.
The blonde passed the water bottle to her wife and looked back up, but the young man was gone. A small folder was left where he was standing and Kara picked it up. She opened it and found another picture inside. She gasped when she saw it and turned it to Lena.
It was the same picture with Liran and his parents but this time they didn't have image inducers on. ‘My camera can filter out the image inducers.’ A sticky note said behind the picture.
The two women looked at each other but couldn’t speak. The kids started to wake up and they wouldn’t ruin their day for this. Not now with the kids around.