Hey, lovely readers!

It's been a minute, huh?

Thank you all so much for the encouragement through follows, bookmarks and, especially, your reviews. I treasure every single one of you. 3

I've had a really difficult few months, but I'm feeling better now, so updates should come more regularly. *insert the fingers crossed emoji*

I hope you enjoy this update. :)

Kara arrived at Lena's office via the balcony.

Lena didn't need to have super senses or to be facing the tinted glass doors to pick up on the telltales of Kara's super arrival. Lena's trained ears were always able to pick up on the distinct, familiar swoosh of the superhero's cape. Then there was the gentle thud that usually followed it as the hero landed on her balcony before she would formally clear her throat and call Lena's name in a business like manner to announce her presence.

However, that was before.

Before, when Kara kept from Lena the fact she was Supergirl.

Before, when Lena kept from Kara the fact she knew her best friend was also National City's superhero.

This was the first time Kara visited Lena as Supergirl after they both revealed to the other that bit of information they withheld in their attempt to protect one another.

Now, instead of the clearing of a throat, there were two short taps on the sliding door and not even a second later a melodic, "It's just me," reached Lena's ears as well. Had it been any other day, Lena's reaction would have been a ducking of her head and a warm smile spreading on her face as she turned her body in the direction of the friendly sound so she could welcome her best friend into her office.

This Monday afternoon wasn't one of those days.

"That's still not an entrance. One day it'll get out that I installed this balcony for you, and people will believe it." Lena's words were out of her lips before she had time to filter them. Honestly, there was nothing wrong with what she had said, she was used to teasing Kara and vice-versa, it was natural to their relationship, the easy back and forth banter that filled her heart and made her life easier, lighter. But the tone she used this time… It had her pressing her lips together and taking a deep breath.

"But that would be just transparent journalism since you did install this balcony for me." Kara approached Lena's side and placed a hand on her shoulder in greeting before circling the desk towards the couch.

"Yeah, but people don't need to know that," Lena said flatly.

"I knew you were going to admit it one day." Kara's voice was playful as she said that, but there was a trace of a frown on her expression as well. "You look pale."

"Thank you, Kara. Is that all you came here to tell me?" Lena said curtly and Kara visibly flinched.

Lena closed her eyes and inhaled soundly. She used her index and middle fingers to firmly press against her brow. She rolled her chair back to make room for her to stand and she finally looked in Kara's direction and noticed there was definitely a crease between her friend's eyebrows and she looked a little upset. "Sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No, no. I'm sorry. Please don't apologize," Lena was quick to say, her palms up in front of her in a sign of apology. Lena took a seat next to Kara and continued in a hesitant, remorseful tone, "I'm snapping at everyone who crosses path with me this afternoon, apparently. I even had Jess cancel my 2 pm meeting because it was with one of our nicest investors and I didn't want to inadvertently be rude to her."

"It's okay." Kara's small smile seemed sincere but Lena still felt a pang of guilt inside her chest, for the way she reacted to her friend ever since she stood foot inside her office.

Lena sighed and sank further into the sofa. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. Her shoulder was barely touching Kara's and she could feel the warmth of her best friend's skin seeping through the blue layer of her uniform.

"Hey, it's okay. Really." She opened her eyes and Kara was looking at her with the softest of smiles, but a worried look was still in place. "I'm not offended or hurt. I was rather blunt with my statement. I guess I could have flourished it a little bit." Kara finished with a lighthearted tone, bumping Lena's shoulder with hers.

"You were expressing your worry and I snapped at you. That wasn't nice. I'm really sorry. It doesn't justify it, but it's like a switch was flipped inside me in the past few hours and now every little thing is out to get under my skin." Lena tried to rationalize what happened, but in reality, she wasn't so sure herself. In one minute she was laughing with an investor over the phone and in the next, she was cursing everyone's existence.

She had read briefly over the weekend about the mood swings in the early stages of pregnancy as hormones ran rampage in her body trying to prepare it to accommodate the baby, but she didn't think it would be something so unexpected and uncontrollable. She'd had a few episodes of tearful reactions to things and situations but this consuming, irrational irritability… This was the first time it happened and she didn't like it all the fact that she could shift to this cranky persona without any notice.

Not to say that she didn't mind the crying over silly things such as a commercial or for not being able to find her phone charger (yeah, it happened that morning and it wasn't her proudest moment)... Because she did, but the thing with this snappy, annoyed mood was that she could inadvertently hurt people; people who were being nothing but kind and loving towards her. People like her best-friend, who was full of good-intentions and selfless care.

Lena's eyes prickled and she looked up trying to get a grip on her emotions and not burst into tears. She let out a sharp, shuddering breath. Kara scooted closer to her and laid her head on Lena's shoulder for a couple of seconds before she placed her hand above Lena's.

"What can I do to make your life easier today? Besides not commenting on your complexion, of course." Kara arched an eyebrow and squinted her eyes a little for dramatic purposes.

Lena wouldn't admit it out loud, but just being near Kara for a few moments had some of the tension who settled over her body in the last hours leaving her. "Now you're just trying to provoke me."

"But you see, I know you're trying very hard to fight a smile right this second, so I know you're not really annoyed, Miss Luthor."

Lena shook her head and allowed the muscles in her face to ease into the smile she was in fact fighting. "What has brought you here this afternoon, Supergirl?"

"Well, I was flying around when I saw you all alone in here, no meetings, no phone calls, so I thought I'd drop by to say hi. Now that I can just fly in through the balcony you totally didn't build for me." Kara shrugged, but a soft smile lifted the corners of her mouth.

Lena shook her head in amusement. "I really like this." At Kara's eyebrow twitched in what Lena read as confusion and she continued, "This aspect of your life being in the open to me."

"Me too," Kara almost whispered, her cheeks had a light pink coloring them that wasn't there just a few seconds ago. Lena smiled at that.

"And you're always welcome to use the balcony," Lena added softly, reaching out to squeeze Kara's hand just as Kara's face broke into a triumphant smile.

The only sounds in the room were of keys being pressed and papers being turned or shuffled; a few hums and mumblings cutting through the silence now and then.

Kara didn't leave except for a few moments where she flew out of the office and came back wearing her normal clothes and carrying a satchel with her laptop inside, which meant she was going to set camp on Lena's couch and work from there until some Supergirl emergency came up or they had to leave for the night.

Lena quite enjoyed that, having Kara across the room as they quietly worked. It was something Kara did occasionally, when she wanted to escape from Snapper. "Also, it's quiet in here and the company isn't so bad," she almost shyly revealed to Lena the day this tradition started.

Knowing Kara was Kryptonian made Lena read what hadn't been said there, and it took a lot of self-control for Lena to not just step forward and envelop her friend in a hug. Kara had a private office at Catco., but from the times Lena had visited her, she noticed the walls were thin, and people were always on the move and talking loudly. She couldn't imagine the amount of effort Kara had to put into blocking out all those sources of sounds. Lena was glad she was able to provide her friend with a calming place where she could just sit and work, away from the uproar of a news office.

But today Lena was sure Kara had stayed because she could sense Lena needed her around but wouldn't ask for it, and for that Lena was grateful.

It was almost seven now and Lena was just finishing up the quinoa salad Jess brought her before she went home. She didn't eat lunch that day because she spent her lunch hour fighting back the persistent nausea and all she had to eat between the hours of lunch and now was a small bowl of berries and some dried fruit she snacked on every hour or so.

"I was going to call you later tonight, actually." Lena spoke as she got up to pour herself some water.

"Now you don't have to anymore. Not that you can't anymore, I'm always happy to take calls from you. I'm just saying that since I'm already here-"

Lena's quiet laughter interrupted Kara's rambling. "Water?"

Kara answered with a shake of her head. "Sorry. What was that you wanted to talk to me about?" She refocused and Lena noticed Kara's cheeks getting a little redder. Something Lena knew was linked directly to her rambling episode. They weren't as frequent anymore, but they still made an appearance sometimes. Lena thought it was endearing.

"I don't suppose you see a regular gynecologist, do you?" Lena asked as she sat back on the couch, minding the scattered pair of shoes she took off before dinner.

"I don't see gynecologists at all, actually," Kara closed her laptop; apparently she had finished work for the night as well.

Lena sighed. "I thought as much."

"Is there something wrong with the one you've been seeing? Do you need me to-" Kara's face closed off and she was about to get up when Lena smartly outstretched her arm in front of Kara blocking her way.

"No need to go all best friend superhero on her. There's nothing wrong. Addison is one of the very best, in fact. It's just that she practices in Metropolis."

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh.'" Lena chuckled. "I had my annual checkup just before I moved here and the idea was to keep seeing her once or twice a year when I traveled back, but this isn't just routine checkups anymore…" Lena placed a hand on her lower abdomen in a completely unintentional action.

This was the first time, or at least she thought it was, that she had the instinct to place her hand on her stomach while she talked about her pregnancy. She'd seen women do that when they were expecting but she never gave it much thought. But now that it was her… It was both a milestone gesture in embracing this new reality and a startling one too. If she was going to keep this pregnancy hidden from the outside world for the time being, she would have to pay closer attention to the placement of her hands as well from now on.

She shook her head trying to get back on track to what she was saying and she found Kara looking at her with a curious look in her eyes. "Plus, I don't want to risk anyone who doesn't need to know finding out about any of this for now."

Kara nodded in understanding, her eyes flicked quickly to the hand still resting on Lena's stomach and back to Lena's eyes; a warm expression on her face. She had noticed it as well, Lena realized. However, she chose not to point it out. Lena was grateful she had a best friend who not only knew just the right things to say, but one that also knew when not to say anything because she was aware Lena was still processing whatever was going on. "I could ask Alex about her doctor's contact info? You moved here not long ago, so I don't think she'd get suspicious?"

Lena's brows knitted in thought. "That could work. Are you sure you don' mind asking her?" Lena knew that if Alex prodded for more information Kara would end up lying to her sister in order to protect her secret and Lena wasn't comfortable with the idea of putting Kara through that.

"Of course I don't! Don't worry. We're getting together for breakfast tomorrow, so I'll ask her then and get back to you. Does that work?" Kara answered animatedly.

"It's perfect. Thank you, Kara."

"Do you feel like walking home with me?" Lena asked once she closed the sliding door behind her.

"I thought you were tired?"

She was. Earlier she even went as far as admitting to Kara that she would probably collapse on her bed as soon as she crossed her bedroom threshold. She only hoped her nausea would give her a break so she could rest. But when she closed the sliding door of her office she felt a pleasant breeze washing over her and she decided a stroll home would do her some good. Plus it would help with digestion; something she didn't even gave much thought to before last week. "I am, but it seems so nice out and-"

"Hey, I don't need any convincing. I'm happy to. I was just making sure you were really up to it?"

"You're a good friend, Kara Danvers."

Kara blushed and Lena felt her own face warm up.

"You're not so bad yourself, Lena Luthor."

Lena stopped by Jess's desk on their way out so she could use the phone to call her driver while Kara kept walking to put away the dirty dishes she collected on their way out.

"So… I told Jess," Lena said as she joined Kara inside the elevator.

"Miss Luthor?"

Lena knew what her assistant wanted before she even looked up. The strong aroma of freshly pressed coffee invaded her nostrils and Lena sighed contentedly, almost a Pavlovian response to the fragrance. Until she remembered she wasn't supposed to indulge on the drink anymore, and her shoulders dropped the slightest before she rested her pen on the white surface of her desk and redirected her attention from the papers she was just signing to the woman before her on the other side of her desk.

"Your coffee, Miss Luthor," Jess announced quietly as she laid the steaming cup in front of Lena.

"Thank you, Jess." Lena had two options, she could go on with her newly acquired routine of throwing the coffee away as soon as Jess left the room or she could disclose the news of her pregnancy to her secretary.

Lena knew she had to tell her. Firstly, because they spent so much time around each other and Jess handled most of her meals during the day, not to mention her agenda, and if this morning sickness business insisted on imprinting itself to Lena's routine for the foreseeable future, Lena was sure adjustments would have to take place at work as well.

Secondly, and probably most importantly right now, because there was no way Lena could bring herself to drain another perfectly brewed cup of coffee down in her bathroom sink another day. That was probably a crime in some places, she was sure. The borderline cruel irony of that wasn't lost on her either. When almost every other smell sent the contents of her stomach into what felt like a centrifuge cycle, the aroma of the one thing she had to forgo made her mouth water in delicious anticipation of the hot, dark liquid that would never make it to her lips.

"Hey, Jess, wait a minute," Lena called gently after the woman who had just started walking back towards her own workspace.

"Yes, Miss Luthor," Jess turned. "Do you need anything else?"

Lena bobbed her head and brought her hands together in front of her, resting her wrists at the edge of the desk. "Sort of... I won't be drinking coffee in the mornings anymore, or at all, from now on." Jess' puzzled look prompted Lena to keep talking. She took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

If Jess was shocked or surprised, it didn't show in her features, but Lena noticed the exact moment that the corners of her mouth lifted in a slight smile.

"Congratulations, Miss Luthor. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help you. I understand it's a very taxing process, so if you need me to go over your schedule and make adjustments or if there are any new food preferences, I'll be happy to make the new arrangements right away."

"Thank you, Jess," she tilted her head. "I'm experiencing some morning sickness, so I'm in new territory regarding my food preferences at the moment. I ask you not to order anything for me without running it by me first, if that's okay?" Jess knew Lena's food orders by heart, so unless Lena called and asked for something specifically, Jess usually took care of ordering her lunch, but now some changes would have to take place.

"That's not a problem at all, Miss Luthor. Anything you need."

"Also, other than you, Kara's the only one who knows about this, so I'd appreciate if you were discrete about it. You always have been, but I need to make sure this is kept under wraps for a bit longer."

"Of course. Don't worry about it, Miss Luthor." Jess made a zip sign on her mouth and Lena let out a small chuckle.

Jess walked over to Lena's desk once again and gestured towards the cup of coffee. "Should I-"

Lena nodded, "Thank you, Jess. I'm very lucky to have you working with me." Jess ducked her head at the praise, and Lena made a mental note to verbalize her appreciation for her employee more often. "That will be all for now."

A while later when Lena exited the bathroom she found a steaming cup of peppermint tea waiting for her on her desk, and Lena smiled.

"You did?" If Kara tried to keep the surprise out of her voice, she didn't succeed. "How do you feel about that?"

"I feel good, I guess?" Lena rested her back on the pristine steel, mirroring Kara's stance on the opposite wall. "I mean, I am afraid that once I start telling people there will be this abundance of personal questions and questions about topics I'm not sure how to even answer them to myself yet. Or worse, that they'll ask about things that I haven't even considered yet or those idiotic questions about balancing work and being a mom… But, while I know we regard each other greatly, she's never been one to pry into my personal life. She sometimes takes charge of my meals and coffee intake, but that's kind of in her job description, so."

"I'm proud of you." Kara told her softly. She adjusted her glasses, "Are you going to tell anyone else on your staff?"

Telling people was not something that was on the agenda for the next several weeks, but there were some people who needed to know in order for them to keep doing their best work.

"I think I'm going to talk to both of my drivers tomorrow. I think they should know." Lena didn't voice her worries about the possibility of being involved in an accident or a kidnapping or however else the people with vendettas against her last name could attempt to hurt her, but the look she saw on Kara's face let her know that Kara was thinking the same thing.

"I think that's a good idea. They're good at what they do, and they're also loyal."

"Kara?" Lena raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

After the incident with Alana, Lena went over every employee she'd had working close to her and ran new backgrounds checks there were more thorough than the law would allow. She even went as far as hiring a private investigator.

Now, she had a suspicion her best friend had done something similar.

Kara's face twisted. "I might have used the federal database to run background checks on the people who work the closest to you?"

Lena heard when Kara held her breath in expectation.

And she waited for the words of reprimand to leave her lips, but none came.

Lena should be annoyed by Kara's actions, right? That was a justifiable reaction. She was very capable of looking after herself and taking the necessary precautions to ensure her safety. Sure she found herself in some dangerous situations, but she was only human, and the number of threats on her life was more than she should have to handle in several lifetimes. Only she couldn't find an ounce of aggravation in her at the moment, just, relief. For so long she could rely only on herself, and now…

"Thank you, Kara." She said simply, eyes shining; and Kara exhaled loudly in relief. Lena couldn't hold back a laugh at that just as the elevator stopped.

Kara exited it first and extended an arm in invitation. Lena promptly settled on her best friend's side as they strode towards the busy street.

"Is it pushing if I ask you if you're up to stopping for ice-cream on that charming parlor on the way to your place?" Kara's voice was full of hope and there was no way Lena would deny her that tonight.

"Sure, it'll be my treat."

The blissful grin on Kara's face was worth the added risk of throwing up.

I'd love to read your thoughts!

Your comments were the push I needed to write this one.