Capítulo 44: 44. Confessions
Maggie sat sobbing quietly in the women’s restroom at the precinct. She’d been having to sneak off all morning in order to hide her crying. She still couldn’t believe that she was pregnant. It was completely unthinkable. She’d always been adamant that she’d never have any kids. She didn’t want to repeat the cycle of hurt and rejection that her parents had ingrained into her by having a kid she never wanted, but she’d told Kara she’d go ahead with it. What was she thinking?
Someone knocked on the stall door, “You alright in there?”
Apparently, she hadn’t been quiet enough. “I’m fine,” she muttered.
“Doesn’t sound like it,” the person on the other side replied.
“I said I’m fine!” Maggie barked. “Leave me alone!”
The officer sighed and walked out without saying anything else. Maggie thought she was safe, but the next thing she knew, someone was calling into the restroom. “Sawyer! Chief wants to see you!”
“Fuck!” she hissed under her breath. She tried to pull herself together, splashing water on her face and trying to get the red out of her eyes. It didn’t work. She took some deep breaths and headed toward her boss’s office. It felt like she was headed to the gallows as she knocked on the office door.
“Come in!” the chief called.
Maggie opened the door and trudged inside.
“Close the door,” he told her.
She closed the door and stood just inside it, arms crossed over her chest, trying to look nonchalant but failing miserably.
“Sawyer, what’s going on with you?”
“Nothing, Chief. I’m fine.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit,” he barked. “You’re not fine. Did someone die?”
She shook her head.
“Did you and Lena have a fight?”
“No, nothing like that,” she muttered.
“Are you injured?” he pressed.
She shook her head.
“Then what?” he demanded.
Maggie fidgeted a bit under his scrutiny. “Look, I can’t tell you, OK?”
“Sawyer, I thought you could tell me anything,” he said a little gruffly.
“Not this,” she said, barely keeping it together.
The Chief got up from his desk and crossed the room to stand in front of her. “I’m gonna hug you now, OK? Don’t punch me.”
Maggie started to laugh, but once his arms were around her, it turned to sobbing again. She let him hold her and whisper little soothing things in her ear until she calmed down again. When she stopped crying, he let go, but kept one hand on her shoulder.
“Whatever it is, it’s obviously taking its toll on you,” he commented. “Why don’t you take a day or two to sort yourself out?”
“No, thanks, I have work to do,” she declined. “I’ll be fine.”
“Sawyer, come on now. That’s an order. Take the day off.”
She resisted the urge to start crying again. “Fine.” She turned and headed back out the door. She knew exactly where she would go.
Fifteen minutes later, she was sitting in the car in the clinic parking lot, but she was struck by indecision. She never wanted to get pregnant, but she never wanted to have an abortion, either. She fully believed in a woman’s right to choose, and she was fully ready to choose herself until she pulled into the parking lot. Not that there was anything particularly scary there, but she just felt wrong about it all of a sudden. Really wrong.
Maybe it was because she knew how badly it would hurt Kara. The Kryptonian would forgive her eventually, but it would still hurt her deeply. She was pretty sure Alex and Lena would support her no matter what she did, but Jessie would never forgive her. She wasn’t sure how Jamie felt. She’d kept oddly quiet about everything that morning, but Maggie was sure she wouldn’t be too happy.
She sat there for a good half-hour before finally deciding to leave. She still had plenty of time to come back if she wanted to. Her heart was still heavy, but not as bad as before. She decided to go home and get drunk, then halfway there, she remembered pregnant women weren’t supposed to drink. That pissed her off, and she cursed at the air for a minute. Drinking was one of her favorite things. She stopped off at the grocery store to get the best vegan ice cream they had, not the cheap stuff she usually got. She deserved it, after all of this.
She went back to her own apartment. It felt strange to be there. They were practically living with Lena by now, and when they weren’t at Lena’s they were at the Danvers’ place. This tiny apartment didn’t really feel like home anymore. However, she didn’t want to spend the day alone in Lena’s huge penthouse, so she would stay here for now, vegging out and feeling sorry for herself.
She changed into more comfy clothes and stretched out on the couch to eat her ice cream. When she was finished, she just laid down and started thinking about being pregnant. It set her tears off again, and she cried until she fell asleep. It had already been quite an emotionally draining morning.
She was startled awake by her phone around noon. Alex was calling her. She thought about not answering it, but then went ahead and did it anyway, “Sawyer.”
“Hey, beautiful, wanna do lunch?” Alex asked gently.
“Mmm,” she hummed as she thought about it. “Are you buying?” she fished.
The agent chuckled, “Sure thing.”
“I suppose so,” Maggie agreed. “Pick something up and meet me at my apartment, will ya?”
“You’re apartment?” Alex asked, confused.
“Yeah. I’ll explain when you get here.”
“Aright. See you soon.” Alex hung up the phone.
Maggie got up and splashed some cold water on her face. It felt good on her puffy eyes. When she was done, she went back out to the living room and turned the TV on as a distraction. She didn’t usually watch daytime television, so she spent quite a lot of time just channel surfing until Alex showed up.
At the redhead’s knock, she got up and answered the door. Alex greeted her with a big kiss, “Hey, babe.”
“Hey, yourself,” Maggie responded. “Oh, you went to Rosario’s, nice.” She took the food bags and started digging through them. “Oh, this is how I know you love me.”
Alex smirked. “Gotta take care of my girl! Enjoy it while you can. We’ll be puking our guts out in a few weeks.”
Maggie frowned. She’d forgotten about morning sickness. “Damn it,” she muttered.
“You wanna talk about it?” Alex asked, not beating around the bush.
“Yeah, but let's sit down and eat while we talk.” Maggie grabbed the food and led the way over to her tiny kitchen table where they sat down and started divvying out tacos. “It’s just… I don’t know how people can bring kids into this world knowing what’s out there. There’s so much that could go wrong. I mean look what kind of bullying your kids have had to deal with. You had to go to court because it was so bad.”
“True, but-”
“And these are Supergirl’s kids. We’re gonna have to be constantly watching our backs!”
“Not necessarily…”
“And what are we gonna tell everyone?” Maggie continued. “How are we going to explain that all three of us are pregnant without telling everyone Kara’s secrets?”
“The only thing I can think to do is to just tell everyone we did it on purpose.” Alex adopted a Valley Girl voice, “Like, oh my God, Maggie, wouldn’t it just be so amazing to all get pregnant and raise our kids together?”
Maggie pressed her lips together in amusement. “I’m not sure how many people would go for that explanation. They’ll say we’re all crazy.”
The redhead scoffed, “Please! Do you know how many times I’ve had to act crazy just to cover for Kara? That’s old hat for me.”
“Well, I’m not used to it,” Maggie grumbled.
“We might still have an OB that knows about Kara’s secrets already. I’ll call my mom and ask her.”
“Don’t do that!” Maggie exclaimed in a panic.
“Why?” Alex frowned.
“Because then you’ll have to explain to your mom why you need to know this!”
“She’s gonna find out eventually. Better sooner than later.”
“No! I don’t want people to know until the last minute!” Maggie barked. “I’m still not one-hundred percent sure I’m not going to terminate it. I wish the girls didn’t know about it. I wish no one knew but me, so I didn’t have to feel so guilty about not wanting a baby!”
Alex put her hand on Maggie’s knee. “Babe, you have to do what’s right for you. If you genuinely think that you can’t handle this baby, and you’re positive it will only do more harm than good, then there’s only one thing you can do. But I think that some part of you secretly wants this baby, or you wouldn’t have given in to Kara so easily.”
Maggie just stared disbelievingly at her.
“I’ve seen you with all kinds of kids, Maggie, and you’re a natural. They love you, and you love them.”
“That’s because I can give them back. I don’t have to be responsible for them.”
“Not my kids! You don’t get to give them back. Plus, I’m pretty sure that you could convince Kara and the girls to make sure that you never have to change a diaper or wash a dish for the rest of your life,” Alex chuckled.
“Sure, I just have to go through the easy parts of carrying them for nine months, and giving birth to them, and nursing them, and that kinda stuff. No problem,” Maggie rolled her eyes.
“I’m just saying, you’re gonna have help,” Alex reminded her. “You don’t have to do this alone.”
“You guys are gonna be busy with your own babies!” Maggie snapped. “You won’t have time for me!”
“That’s not true, Maggie! I will always make time for you! Always! Look! Look at where I am right now! With you! I love you, Maggie! Nothing is going to change that!”
The detective cried into Alex’s arms, taking comfort in her partner. She was getting really tired of crying today. At least this time, she had Alex to lean on. “So you think I should keep it, too?” she sniffled.
“It’s not my call,” Alex said stroking her face. “I mean, do I think you can do it? Yeah, of course I do. You can do anything. And yeah, I think it would be cool, if we both had kids and those kids grew up to be best friends, but there’s no guarantee of what’s going to happen, so that doesn’t mean you have to go through with it. You have to do what’s right for you.”
“What if I don’t know what’s right for me?” Maggie whimpered. “I got sent home from work today because I couldn’t stop crying. So I went down to the clinic with every intention of going through with it, but once I got there, I couldn’t do it. I don’t know why.”
“It’s a big deal, Maggie! It’s not like they got your order wrong at Burger King, and you can just throw it out. Maybe you need someone to go with you.”
“Maybe,” the detective mused. “Maybe it’s Rao’s way of telling me that I should keep it.”
Alex raised her eyebrows, “I thought you didn’t believe.”
Maggie shrugged. “I don’t know what I believe anymore. My life has been turned upside down so many times now, but also, my life has never been more amazing. Kara says that Rao brought us all together. Maybe she’s right? Plus, I love our family, and I love Kara, and I don’t want to hurt her. She lost her whole world. A whole planet full of people just gone, and we’re all she has left. If I give her this, maybe I give her back a little piece of the home she lost. Maybe that’s been Rao’s plan all along.”
“That’s exactly how I felt when I first got pregnant with the girls. I wanted to give something back to her after everything she’d lost. There’s nothing Kara loves more in the world than her kids. I bet you she’s already picturing our new family and trying to pick out names.”
“I’ll name my own baby!” Maggie huffed.
Alex smirked. “So does that mean you want it?”
“I don’t know! Maybe! I still need time to decide.”
“That’s fine, Maggie,” Alex assured her. “That’s fine. Take your time. You have a few weeks still. It’s fine.”
The detective nodded, “OK. Thanks, Alex.” She felt quite a bit better now.
“You’re welcome, my love,” Alex gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Now, eat. If you’re gonna be pregnant, you’re gonna need it. Kryptonians eat a lot.”
“I noticed.”
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Lena shook herself out of her daydreams for the millionth time. She hadn't been able to focus on her work all day. All she could think about was being pregnant and all the things that came along with it. It was bad enough that she was three days behind in her work thanks to Kara biting her. Now she was getting even more behind.
The intercom buzzed on her office phone, “Miss Luthor? Miss Danvers is here for you.”
Lena rolled her eyes. “Alright, send her in.”
“Hi, sweetheart,” Kara practically skipped into the room. She was carrying a bag from their favorite sushi place. “Look what I've got for you,” she sing-songed. “I'm not letting you skip lunch anymore. You’ve gotta stay healthy now.”
Lena made sure the office door was closed before answering, “Kara, I’ve been pregnant for all of one day. You don’t need to shove food down my throat.”
“I’m not shoving it down your throat!” Kara complained. “I just need to know you’re eating. Kryptonian babies eat a lot!”
“They’re not eating anything yet, they’re barely more than two cells put together right now! Don’t start being over-protective of me already. I can’t handle it.”
Kara pouted.
“No,” Lena pointed an accusing finger at her. “Don’t start that, either.”
The reporter really laid it on thick, pouting harder and batting her eyelashes.
Lena chuckled, “No! Now, stop it.”
“Only if you come eat with me,” Kara replied with a smile.
“Alright, alright. I’m not getting much work done anyway. I can’t concentrate. All I can think about is the fact that I’m pregnant.”
“In a good way, or a bad way?” Kara wanted to know.
Lena shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know that it’s either. I just can’t stop thinking about it and all the stuff we’re going to have to do to prepare. Not the least of which, we need to get a house big enough for everyone. My penthouse isn’t gonna cut it.”
Kara lit up at the prospect of getting a house, “Yes! I’ve been wanting us all to move in together!”
“Well, now you get your wish,” Lena said wryly. “We can start looking anytime, although, I don’t want to buy anything until we know how many babies we’re having. Maybe that’s something you can take care of, oh jobless one.”
“I can do that!” Kara chirped happily. “I can do all the shopping too, if you don’t want to do it.”
“Well, I do have a company to run,” Lena smirked.
“We should be able to get a pretty decent house, if we put all our money together,” Kara mused.
Lena frowned. “Kara dear, we’re not doing that. I’m buying a house big enough for all of us to have plenty of room without tripping over each other. Maybe we’ll even get a pool,” she added thoughtfully.
“Lena!”
“Don’t start, Kara, I mean it!” the CEO huffed. “We need a big place, and I can afford it. End of discussion.”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“No!”
“Yes! Now, stop it! Alex and Maggie will back me up on this, so just let it go.”
The blonde started pouting again.
“That won’t work.”
“Since when did you start becoming impervious to my pouts?” Kara harrumphed.
“Probably around the time I found out that you knocked me up without my permission,” Lena retorted.
“But that was an accident!” the Kryptonian whined.
“Doesn’t make me any less unexpectedly pregnant,” the CEO replied matter-of-factly. “Come on. Let’s eat.”
“Alright,” Kara said petulantly. She pulled out their trays, and they dug in.
“How come you didn’t go hunt down Maggie?” Lena wondered.
“Alex and I were talking on the phone earlier, and she convinced me to let her talk to Maggie first. I think they’re together now.”
“What are you gonna do if she decides to go ahead and get an abortion?”
Kara’s face scrunched up in anguish. “She said she wouldn’t.”
“Under duress.”
“Nuh-uh!” the blonde denied.
“Yes, you and the girls were all pressuring her.”
Kara teared up again, “I don’t want her to get an abortion! I can’t handle that!”
“What about her? What about what she can handle?” Lena defended. “You saw how upset she was when she found out she was pregnant. What if she carries that level of bitterness around with her well past the child’s birth? Hmm? Don’t you think the kid’s gonna notice that his mother resents him?”
“That won’t happen,” Kara insisted. “Maggie’s not gonna resent her child.”
“You can’t promise that!” Lena huffed. “Trust me. I know what it feels like to know that one of your parents is bitter towards you. It doesn’t feel good. You don’t want to force another child to go through that, do you? Especially when it’s your own child?”
“Of course I don’t want any of my children to go through what you went through! But Maggie isn’t Lillian. She would never treat her children that way.”
“Maybe not on purpose, but bitterness always comes through somehow, even when they’re being nice to you. The kid’ll sense it.”
“Lena! Why are you being like this? Did Maggie say something to you?”
“No, I just want you to really think about what you’re doing to Maggie and to this child before you force her into having a baby. Or worse - two.”
“I’m not forcing her!” Kara insisted.
“What would you call it?” Lena wanted to know.
“I’m just asking her not to get an abortion!”
“How is that different?”
“I can take care of her baby, so she doesn’t have to! I’ll do anything she wants! Anything to keep her from being resentful!”
“Now you sound like Jessie,” Lena sighed and shook her head. Kara just wasn’t getting it. She hoped Maggie was faring better with Alex. It wouldn’t do if both Danvers were so anti-abortion. She poked at her food, suddenly not very hungry. She would have to call Maggie when Kara left, just to check up on her. She spent the next half hour trying to talk some sense into the Kryptonian, but it was like talking to a brick wall. Every time Lena made a point that Maggie had a right to an abortion, Kara had a parry of doing xyz to stop her. Finally, she was so frustrated, she got out the CEO tone, “Kara, get it through that thick Kryptonian skull of yours - Maggie. Doesn’t. Want. A baby.”
Kara made a noise of dissatisfaction and stood hastily. “I have to get back to work. I’ll see you later.” And with that, she left, making a show of stomping her feet as she walked down the hall. It reminded Lena of the kids when they were acting out.
“Brat,” Lena said under her breath, wondering if Kara heard it or not, but not caring if she did.
“Is everything alright, Miss Luthor?” her assistant Jess poked her head in the door.
Lena gave her a small smile. “Everything will be fine, Jess, thank you. Miss Danvers and I don’t always see eye-to-eye, but that’s never stopped us before. We all get stuck in our ways sometimes, right? But she always comes around. She’s got a good heart.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Jess smiled back at her. “I’ll leave you alone, then.”
“Thanks,” Lena turned and picked up her phone, dialing Maggie.
“Sawyer,” came the usual brisk greeting.
“Hello, my love,” Lena said softly. “How are you holding up?”
Maggie sighed, “Hi, honey. I’m OK. I had lunch with Alex, and we talked about some stuff.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
“Like, she says I still have time to decide on what I want to do, so there’s no rush. She also thinks, if I do it, I should take someone with me. I went down to the clinic today, but I couldn’t go in. Something was holding me back.”
“Maybe you were just feeling guilty because of what Kara said.
“Maybe. Maybe Rao was speaking to me and telling me to keep it.”
“Maggie, be real.”
“I am! I mean, I know it’s a little silly, but what if Kara’s right, and Rao has been orchestrating this whole thing? I mean, how else would we all get pregnant at once like this?”
“I have my suspicions about that, but I can’t confirm or deny it yet.”
“What are your suspicions?”
“I’d rather not say right now, if you don’t mind.”
“Why?” Maggie demanded.
“It’s not a theory I want to make known unless I have some evidence,” Lena replied simply.
“And how do you plan on getting that?”
“You know what? I might go look right now. I’m not getting any work done here today. I might as well accomplish something.”
“Where are you going?” Maggie demanded. “I wanna come.”
“Alright. Meet me at the Danvers apartment in twenty minutes,” Lena told her.
“You got it. What are we looking for?”
“I’ll tell you when we get there.” Lena gathered up her things and told her assistant Jess to cover for her. She was going to get to the bottom of this mystery. When she arrived, Maggie was already there waiting in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee. “Hi, baby,” Lena greeted her with a hug and a kiss.
“Hey, babe,” Maggie responded, melting into Lena’s arms in search of comfort. She made a little hum of satisfaction, “That’s what I needed.”
“You OK?” Lena checked.
Maggie nodded. “Yeah. For now, anyway. Now, will you tell me what we’re looking for?”
“Come with me,” Lena grabbed the detective’s hand and lead her to the bedroom. She immediately went to the drawer where Kara kept her condoms and pulled them out. Once she removed them from the box, she started a careful examination of them. It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for. “Yep. Just as I suspected. Someone tampered with our condoms.” She showed Maggie, pointing out the tiny, nearly imperceptible holes poked all the way through every single one of the little packages.
“Jesus fucking Christ! You think Kara did this?” Maggie asked angrily.
Lena shook her head. “No. I think a certain twelve-year-old in our lives has been quite unhappy with her lot in life lately. Maybe this was her newest way of acting out?”
“Jessie does seem like the most likely culprit,” Maggie said thoughtfully, her anger abating. “That makes this a whole lot more complicated, doesn’t it?”
“I imagine so.”
“It’s no wonder she reacted the way she did. She’s not likely to respond well to me getting an abortion, if she went to this much trouble to get what she wanted.”
“I concur. The big question is, what do we do now? Do we talk to her on our own, or should we show Kara and Alex and let them deal with it?”
Maggie sighed as she thought about it. She just stared at the condoms for a moment before saying, “We should really tell Kara and Alex. They’d kill us if we kept them in the dark. Then we should all deal with it together.”
“Alright. I’m calling Kara.” Lena pulled out her phone and dialed her other partner.
“Hello?” Kara answered icily.
“Kara, Maggie and I need you to come to your apartment right now. There’s something we need to show you.”
“Is this about what we were talking about earlier?”
“No, this is something different.”
“Are you there now?” Kara asked.
“Yes,” Lena answered, then she heard a bunch of wind in the phone, rattling her eardrums.
“I’m here,” the Kryptonian told her and hung up the phone. It only took her a few seconds to find them in the bedroom.
Maggie handed over the roll of condoms without a word.
“Is this some kind of a statement? We used condoms! I’m sorry! I-”
“Kara, shut up and look at them,” Maggie snapped.
The blonde looked down and examined the packages in her hand. It took a second, but finally she let out an nearly inaudible gasp that let Lena know she saw it. “Oh, no!” she whispered. “No, no, no,” she said, as one after another of the condoms on the roll were proven to have been tampered with. “Who would do this?” she whimpered.
“We have our suspicions,” Lena said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Kara looked worried, “Me?”
“No, Kara, think about it,” Maggie prodded.
“Alex?”
“Try again.”
Kara’s eyes widened at the implication. “M-m-my kids would never do this! They hate sex! They think it’s the worst thing ever!”
“Maybe not, if it can give them what they’ve been wanting for so long,” Lena suggested. “Jessie especially.”
Kara sat down on the bed in a daze. “Great Rao.”
“You can say that again,” said Maggie.
“I can’t believe anyone would think to do this, let alone my own kids,” Kara looked deeply grieved. Slowly, she pulled out her phone and dialed Alex, leaving a message to call back as soon as she was on her way home. After she hung up, she turned to her other two partners, “I’m so sorry, you guys. I don’t know what to say.”
“Clearly, you’re not the one who owes us an apology,” Lena assured her.
“That’s debatable,” Maggie crossed her arms over her chest.
Kara got down on her knees in front of the detective, “Maggie, I’m sorry. From the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I can do to make it all up to you, but I will do anything for your forgiveness.”
“You can start by making sure I never change a diaper in my whole life.”
The blonde jumped up, grinning ear to ear, “Deal!” Of course, any talk like Maggie was keeping the baby would make Kara happy. “Lena wants me to do all the shopping too, so there’s that. What else? Oh! I’ll move all your boxes when we move!”
“Move? Oh, Lord. That’s just one more thing! Arg!” Maggie complained. “I want to help pick out the house. How are we gonna figure out who pays what?”
“I'll take care of the house,” Lena told her, “And everyone else can use their budgets for food. These kids are gonna eat us out of house and home!”
“And Kara’s letting you get away with this?” Maggie asked, surprised.
“No! Kara is not letting her get away with this!” the blonde answered, hands on her hips. “She just distracted me when we were arguing about it.”
Lena rolled her eyes. “Right.”
“Well, I’ve got news for you, Kara, if I’m gonna have this baby, I’m gonna be comfortable doing it, and I damn sure am not gonna let you stop that from happening, just because you have some God-forsaken pride issue,” Maggie snarled.
“OK, OK,” Kara said, raising her hands in surrender. “I’ll do whatever you want, Maggie. Whatever you want.”
Lena hid her amusement at Maggie manipulating Kara. She deserved it at this point. “Well, now that that's settled, how about we all get back to work until later?
“I'm probably gonna stay here,” Maggie informed them. “I got sent home from work because I was crying.” Kara and Lena both fussed over her upon hearing this news. Normally, she would fight off such a thing, but today, she was apparently feeling just needy enough to let them. She let Kara hug her, even going so far as to appear to enjoy it.
“Would you rather I stayed here with you?” Lena offered.
Maggie nodded. “You wouldn’t mind?”
“Not at all, love.” It’s not like she was getting anything done in the first place.
“OK. I’ll be back in a couple of hours, I guess. Love you both,” Kara said, kissing them and heading out.
Lena and Maggie moved to the living room and cuddled up in the loveseat together. Maggie practically melted into Lena, and Lena was sure to hold her tight. There was one question the CEO still had, though, “Do you still believe this was Rao’s doing?”
The detective took a minute to answer, “Maybe not his exact doing, but I get the feeling that, one way or another, I’m going to have some form of angry god on my hands if I terminate this pregnancy, so I’m pretty much stuck.”
Lena hated that this kind of irrational talk was coming out of her partner’s mouth.
“Either it’s gonna be the Christian God, or Rao, or a Kryptonian, but somebody’s gonna be pissed, no matter what. I’d hate for the reason that Jessie gets her powers to be that she found out I ‘killed’ her brother or sister, especially after she put so much effort into making sure they existed.”
OK, that was slightly more rational. “Babe, I don’t want you to feel pressured to have this baby. You can’t think this way.”
“I can’t help it, Lena. I never wanted to be a mom, but now that I’m pregnant, I’m scared of having an abortion. Isn’t that the first cruel thing a parent can do to their child?”
“Isn’t it sometimes the most merciful thing a parent can do for their child?” Lena countered.
“Do you think it would be more merciful for me to terminate?”
“If you don’t think you can love them and care for them the way they need, then yes.”
“What are you going to do?” Maggie inquired. “Are you keeping yours?”
“Yeah,” Lena answered tenderly, “I’m keeping mine.”
“Why?”
“Well… I guess because I always kind of wanted kids of my own someday. I was going to just let the twins be my kids, but when Kara was so happy about me being pregnant, she kind of won me over to wanting to be happy too. Right now, I’m still in shock, but I’m getting there.”
“But you think I should terminate mine?”
“I think you should be able to make the decision for yourself without Kara making it for you.”
“But shouldn’t Kara have a say? I mean, she is the… the… ‘father’ or whatever.”
“It’s your body, it’s your say,” Lena insisted.
“If that were completely true, I wouldn’t be pregnant in the first place.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I didn't get a say in getting pregnant, even though it’s my body.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Lena stroked her hair. “I’m so sorry that choice was taken away from you.”
“I feel bad now for reacting the way I did in front of the kids. Jessie is clearly emotionally unstable right now, and she only sees this as a fulfilment of a need, not a betrayal of trust. Maybe it’s weird, but I’m not mad at her. I just feel bad that she felt the need to do this. It makes me more resolved to keep it, and let Jessie have her way. I can just make her do all the work of diaper changing and things like that, like she said.”
“Maggie, you shouldn’t let guilt be a part of your decision making process,” Lena chided.
“It’s not guilt,” Maggie answered plainly. “It’s resolve. There are a lot more factors in this mess than just whether or not I wanted to be a parent. What if I get an abortion, and Jessie tries something more extreme the next time, and she really hurts herself? Or kills herself, even! That’s more guilt than I can live with. I’d rather just have the damn baby. Or babies. Whatever. At this point, I’m willing to risk it.”
“Are you sure about this, Maggie?” Lena was really concerned that Maggie was giving in so easily all of a sudden. “You don’t have to make the decision right now. You still have time to decide.”
“I’ve decided,” the detective insisted. “You pushing me is just making me more resolved.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push you.”
“It’s fine. I love Jessie more than words can say, and if this is what it takes to snap her out of her depression, then I’m going to do it. I can’t bear it for her to keep on being so lonely and sad all the time. She’s been so serious lately, have you noticed?”
Lena nodded. “Yes, I know, she’s upset that Jamie has powers and she doesn’t.”
“It’s more than that, though. She feels like the whole universe is against her. I don’t want to perpetuate that. I want to let her have a win for once.”
“Alex and I are both still going to have our babies. She’ll get what she wants, even if you don’t have one.”
“I know, but… She already knows about it. It might be different if they didn’t know, but they do, and there’s no going back from that.”
“You could always say that you lost it,” Lena suggested.
“The kids wouldn’t fall for that. They’re too smart.”
“I guess, if you're sure,” Lena said uncertainly.
Maggie sat up and looked Lena in the eyes. There was still sorrow there, but also the resolve that she had claimed. “I'm sure.”
Lena leaned her forehead against Maggie’s. “I guess we’re in this for the long haul, huh?”
“I guess so,” the detective agreed.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Alex checked her phone as she got out of work and saw she had a voicemail from Kara. The reporter’s message couldn’t have been more vague about what she wanted. Then Alex headed out to pick up the kids from school. They had smiles on their faces - Jessie especially - and when they got in the car, they greeted her enthusiastically with hugs and kisses and “I love you’s” galore. Alex wasn’t sure what to do with herself with all the attention. Usually the kids were to big for such public displays of affection. “What’s got into you?” she asked them.
“We’re just really happy about you know what,” Jessie answered. Then she whispered, “The babies.” She bounced giddily in her seat after she said it.
“I can’t wait for them to be born!” Jamie agreed. “It’s gonna be so awesome!”
Alex raised her brow at them in the rearview mirror, “It’s gonna be pure chaos. None of us are ever going to get any sleep again for the next eighteen years. And that includes you two. Jamie, you especially, are going to have to go through some extra gentleness training. Newborn babies are very delicate, and we can’t have you hurting them.”
“I would never hurt them!” Jamie insisted.
“And we’re gonna make sure of that,” Alex replied. “We’ll also be taking some pregnancy and baby care classes, and you two will be joining us.”
“Cool,” said Jessie.
“That sounds like fun!” said Jamie.
“I’m glad you think so,” Alex huffed. “It’s just one more thing for us to do, when we’re already really busy.”
“We can help with stuff, Mom,” Jessie insisted.
“Good, you’re going to have to, especially if everyone has twins!”
“Oh, my God, that would be so cool!” Jessie exclaimed.
“No, it wouldn’t,” Alex countered. “It would be insane. You don't understand how much work it is to have a baby.”
“It’s OK! We can do it, Mom!” Jamie assured her. “We’ll help you with everything we can. We promise!”
“Yeah, we promise!” Jessie echoed.
Alex melted inside. The girls were really looking forward to this, and they wouldn’t be spooked by her apparently. It was pretty adorable how excited they were. Alex couldn’t blame them. This was something that they’d wanted for quite a while now. She remembered when she and Kara had first talked about having a baby with them a few years ago, how happy they had been. Then how confused and upset they were when they were told there wouldn’t be any babies. “How are you guys gonna deal with having more siblings than you can even hold at once?”
The girls smiled with all their might. “It’s gonna be so awesome!” said Jessie brightly.
Alex rolled her eyes and just smiled. At least the twins were happy about it, and not jealous. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “I almost forgot to call Mama. She wanted me to call her on the way home.”
“I wanna do it!” Jessie pulled out her phone and called Kara. “Hi, Mama! ... Mom said she was supposed to call you, but I wanted to… Yes… No… OK… She says she’s on her way home, so don’t go anywhere. She needs to talk to you about something,” she told Alex.
“OK,” we’ll be home in ten minutes,” Alex informed them. Jessie passed along the message to Kara and hung up the phone. True to Alex’s word, they were home in about ten minutes, and when they arrived, Kara, Lena and Maggie were all sitting in the living room waiting for them. Alex felt a little bit of dread wash over her from the situation. Why was everyone here like this? Did Maggie go to the clinic after all? She hoped not. She really wanted Maggie to keep her baby (babies?), even though she said she’d support her no matter what. That was true, but it didn’t change what she wanted in her heart. “What’s going on?” she demanded.
“Girls, go to your room for a minute,” Kara ordered. “Turn on some music or something, so you’re not listening in.” The twins grumbled, but did as they were told. As soon as they were in their room, Kara pulled Alex into the master bedroom and opened the drawer of the bedside table. She took out their roll of condoms and showed them to the redhead. “Look,” Kara said.
Alex looked at the roll, “What am I looking at?”
Kara pointed at a spot on the first condom. “Look, there are tiny holes in every single condom on this roll.”
“Oh, shit!” Alex exclaimed. “Who did this?”
“Everyone’s money is on Jessie,” Kara informed her.
The agent sighed heavily. “Shit, fuck, damn.”
“You can say that again,” Kara grimaced.
“I take it Maggie and Lena already know about this?” Alex checked.
The blonde nodded, “Yeah. They’re the ones that found it.”
“Arg!” Alex threw her hands helplessly in the air. “Why would she do this?” She went into the hallway and banged on the twins’ bedroom door. “Jessie! Come here!” she hollered, so they’d hear her over their music.
“What?” the younger twin answered the door.
“We need to talk to you,” Alex told her. “Keep your ears to yourself,” she told Jamie. “Come on,” she crooked her finger and turned to lead the way back to the master bedroom.
Jessie followed her curiously. “Did you guys figure out a way to trigger my powers?” she asked hopefully.
“No,” Alex answered. “That’s not what this is about.” When they were in the bedroom, Alex turned back around and revealed the roll of condoms in her hand.
Jessie looked back blankly at her. “What’s that?”
“We think you know,” Kara spoke up.
The preteen shook her head and reached out to take the roll from Alex. She examined the packaging, but all they said on the wrapper was XL. If Jessie really didn’t know what it was, there wasn’t anything to tell her. “Is it candy? There’s holes poked in the packages. I wouldn’t eat it.”
“They’re not candy,” Alex told her. “They’re condoms, and yes, someone poked holes in them. That’s the problem.”
“Condoms?” Jessie exclaimed, throwing them on the floor and jumping up on the bed like they were going to bite her. “Ew! Gross! Why would you let me touch that? Ew, ew, ew!”
“They’re not used!” Alex explained. “We want to know why there are holes in them!”
“I don’t know! Why are you asking me?”
“You seem like the most likely culprit.”
“I didn’t do it!” Jessie insisted, still standing on the bed.
Alex looked to Kara.
“She’s not lying,” the reporter confirmed.
“Go back to your room,” the agent told her daughter. “And send your sister in here.”
Jessie leaped off the bed toward the door and ran out. “Jamie!” She shouted as she ran down the hall. “Mom wants you!”
Jamie was slow to appear. “Yeah?” she said, slipping into the room.
Alex picked the roll of condoms off the floor and held them up in view. “Do you know what these are?”
The preteen made a face, “Condoms?”
Alex and Kara looked at each other.
“And do you know what’s wrong with them?” Kara asked.
Again, Jamie was slow to respond. After a beat or two, she shook her head, “N-n-no.”
“I think you do know,” Kara accused.
Jamie shook her head again, but she’d never had a good poker face.
“Jamie, how could you?” Kara spoke softly. Alex could hear the hurt in her voice. “This is such a huge betrayal of trust.”
The younger blonde started crying, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for everyone to get pregnant! I was just trying to make life better for Jessie. I was afraid she was going to kill herself trying to trigger her powers! I thought that if Mom or Lena could have a baby, then maybe she would calm down and stop hurting herself!”
“You don’t get to just magically make a wish and pick who gets pregnant when you do something like this!” Alex snapped. “I can’t believe you would even think this up! Let alone carry it out!”
Jamie just stood there and cried.
“Living room. Now.” Alex pointed her finger imperiously at the doorway, and her sobbing daughter trudged out into the hallway.
“Jessie! Come on out!” Kara knocked on the door as she followed the other two.
When everyone was in the living room with Maggie and Lena, Alex announced, “Jamie has something she wants to tell everyone.”
Jamie was crying so hard, it was hard to understand what she was saying. “I’m s-sorry! It was me. I di-did it. I poked holes in all the c-c-condoms. I wanted someone to have a baby so Jessie would s-s-stop being so upset all the time. I didn’t mean for everyone to ge-get pregnant all at once.”
“Jamie, how could you think was an OK thing to do?” Lena asked.
“I knew it wasn’t right, but I couldn’t think of anything else to do!” she whimpered.
“How many times have we all told you guys that we didn’t want any babies?” Maggie asked, much more gently than Alex would have expected. “Now, we’re going to have a minimum of three. That’s extreme enough in itself. Then add the possibility that we might have six babies, and we have extreme and utter chaos. You have no idea what you've done.”
“We’ll help!” Jessie interjected. “We already promised Mom that we’d help, no matter what!”
“You’re damn right you’re gonna help!” Maggie huffed. “Jamie is on diaper duty for life!”
“I promise you that,” Alex assured her. “In fact, Jamie is now at your beck and call. Your personal assistant for life. Please feel free to ask her to do whatever you want, whenever you want. That goes for Lena too. You can both call her up on whatever whim your heart desires.”
“One-AM cravings?” Kara smirked.
“Call Jamie,” Alex joined her.
“Five-AM projectile vomiting?”
“Call Jamie.”
“Three-AM exploded diaper?”
“Jamie.”
Jamie now looked horrified. So did Lena and Maggie, for that matter.
“If I’m projectile vomiting, how am I gonna call anyone?” Maggie wanted to know.
“Desperation finds a way,” Alex answered. “I know this from experience, trust me.”
“Ugh!” said Lena, “Can we not talk about vomiting, please?”
“Sorry,” Kara told her. “It happens. Let’s talk about names!”
“Kara!” Maggie threw a pillow at her. “We don’t even know what we’re having yet. Slow your roll. What we really need to talk about is how we’re going to explain to everyone that we’re all pregnant at the same time. Anybody? Anybody? No?”
Everyone shrugged.
“We’ve got a few weeks still,” Lena reminded her. “We’ll figure it out.”
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