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“Kara, we’re here-” Alex stepped into Kara’s apartment with Esme in tow, but paused when she saw all of the plants everywhere.
“Oh hey, you’re here,” Kara was just finishing up watering her many plants when Esme ran over to her.
“Auntie Kara,” She wrapped her arms around Kara’s legs.
“Hey Esme, are you ready to go to the Garden Centre, and help me pick out some new plants?” Kara leaned down onto one knee to look at the little girl.
Esme’s smile grew as she jumped up and down, “Yes. I’m so excited.”
Alex finally walked over confused, “Kara, why do you need more plants? You look like you have enough already.”
“Alex, there is a sale today, and Esme is already excited. Besides, you can get one if you want,” Kara pointed out.
Alex shook her head, “No, you know I can’t keep plants alive. The last one you gave me was dead within two weeks because I kept forgetting to water it.”
“Actually, I think you were watering it too much,” Kara pointed out.
“Whatever,” Alex shrugged. “The point is, I don’t need plants, and from this apartment, it doesn’t look like you need any either. How many do you have? It’s like a jungle here.”
“Um… I think, maybe fifteen? I’m not sure. I have a couple aloe plants because aloe works great on cuts, I have a money tree over there that’s getting pretty big, some hanging plants, even some vegetable plants,” Kara explained. “As I said though, there is a sale, and I haven’t been there in a week, and I wanted to see if there is anything new. It is fall after all. They might have poinsettias.”
Alex rolled her eyes, “If you say so. Are you done watering so we can go? I don’t want to get stuck in rush hour later.”
Kara nodded, “Yes, let’s go.”
XXXXXXX
Alex parked in the parking lot for the Walsh Garden Centre, before they all got out and walked into the garden center.
“Alex, make sure you grab a cart, please,” Kara pointed out as she and Esme walked in holding hands.
Alex rolled her eyes again, annoyed that she not only got roped into this, but that she was now the pack mule for her sister, and daughter, “I got it Kara.” She pulled out one of the carts, and then followed them into the center.
It was a nice place, it had flowers lined up at the beginning, you could get customized flower pot sets for special occasions, with cards. There was a section for getting different types of garden gnomes, and garden tools, fresh vegetables from their gardens, even a section for canned goods and spices, and of course the section Kara and Esme were in, which was the plant section.
As Alex was pushing the cart closer, she noticed Kara and Esme looking at a rather large tree, “We are not getting that, how would it fit in the car?”
Kara laughed, “I told you your mom would be against it.”
Esme laughed too, “Mom, you’re so funny. Auntie and I were just looking at the size of this tree, and wondering if it has fruit or not.”
“This particular tree doesn’t actually produce fruit.” A voice behind them had answered.
Kara knew the voice, and turned around to look at the store owner, “What’s the point of a tree if it doesn’t produce fruit?”
“It’s just nice to look at,” The woman smiled, “Kara, if you keep coming back here, I might just have to hire you to the staff.”
Alex looked between the two of them, “Kara, you said you haven’t been here in a week.”
The woman laughed, “Is that what she said? Kara was here yesterday. In fact, Kara is here so often, as I said she’s probably more knowledgeable than some of my staff.” She turned to Alex, putting out her hand, “I’m Lena, Lena-”
“Luthor,” Alex shook her hand. “I know who you are. Everyone knows who the Luthor’s are. I’m Alex.”
Lena nodded, “Well don’t believe everything you hear. I’m not like my family.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Alex said. “This is my daughter, Esme.”
Esme looked up at the woman with a smile, “You’re very pretty.”
Lena leaned down onto one knee, “Thank you Esme. So are you. Are you here to pick up something for your mom?”
Esme shook her head, “No, my mom isn’t very good at keeping plants alive. I’m here to help my Auntie pick out something new.”
Lena looked up at Kara, “Of course. I’m sure your Aunt's home is starting to look like a jungle by now.”
“You have no idea,” Alex deadpanned. “I don’t even know why we’re here.” She leaned against the handles of the shopping cart.
Lena looked over to Kara, “So what brings you in today, Kara? Did you finally decide on the bonsai you wanted to get? Or are you looking at something else this time?”
“A bonsai… You were looking at a bonsai tree?” Alex asked, “You do know the level of care those plants need right? I know that and I can’t keep a plant alive to save my life.”
Esme looked up at Lena, “It’s true.”
“What? It’s the one plant that I don’t have. So when I was here last-”
“Yesterday,” Lena reminded.
“Yes, I was looking at getting a bonsai, but there are so many different shapes, and sizes, and ones with more leaves, or less leaves, some that change in the year, some that you have to trim,” Kara rambled off the different choices as if she did a lot of research.
“Oh, I see you took me seriously when I told you to do some research,” Lena was surprised that Kara actually did as she was asked.
Kara smiled, “I always take you seriously Lena,” She placed a hand on Lena’s arm just for a moment.
Alex noticed the brief touch and looked at Esme, who was too focused on the nearby plants to see anything. “So the bonsai’s are on sale then?” Alex asked.
Kara turned, “Yes. There is a sale on bonsai trees, which is why I was looking at them.”
“So which one will you be choosing then, Kara,” Lena asked, walking in the direction of the trees.
The crew followed behind, Alex pulling up the rear with the shopping cart.
Esme’s eyes lit up when they walked past a little gnome decoration, “Mom, look at this! Could we get it for the yard?” It was a little gnome holding a basket of flowers.
Alex smiled, “Sure. Then we can say we have flowers without having flowers.”
“Yes,” Esme pumped her fist in excitement before picking it up and putting it in the cart, gently. She turned around and realized Kara and Lena were gone, “Oh no… Where did they go?”
Alex shrugged, “Who knows. Let’s go look at the bug repellant. We need to get something for ants anyways.”
“Okay,” Esme and Alex wandered off in a different direction leaving Kara and Lena alone.
“So, as I had said yesterday. These are your choices, but as this is your first tree, I would suggest going with something smaller, and then work your way up,” Lena pointed to the bonsai trees in her shop.
Kara nodded, “Esme what do you-” She looked behind her and Alex and Esme were nowhere to be found. “Where did they go?” She took a few steps and couldn’t see them.
“Did you want to go look for them?” Lena asked, ready to walk away from the section.
Kara shook her head, “Nah, I’m sure Esme or even Alex pulled them into another area. They will appear at some point.”
“Are you sure?” Lena asked, wanting to make sure.
“Yes,” Kara looked over at Lena knowingly, before she looked back at the trees. “So which do you think would be the better choice?”
“This one,” Lena stepped closer to one in a ceramic pot, that was on the smaller side, but still had several leaves and branches to maintain, in a bed of white rocks. “This one would be perfect.” She picked it up and handed it to Kara.
Their hands touched briefly as Kara picked it up from Lena, “Thanks, then I will go with this one.” They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment.
“You two need to get a room,” Alex’s voice appeared behind them.
Esme looked up at her mom confused, “A room, but we’re in a store.”
Alex looked down, “It’s an expression honey. You know how you don’t like when your Mama and I kiss in front of you-”
“Ugh…” Esme made a face at the thought.
“Yeah well, that’s what those two should be doing from that look,” Alex tried to explain. “Did you find a plant or not?”
“It’s a tree, but yes,” Kara corrected, before she put the ‘tree’ in the cart. She looked back to Lena, “Thank you for helping me.”
Lena nodded, “That’s what I am here for,” She said, placing a hand on Kara’s arm, before letting go, and looking over to an employee waving her down. “It looks like duty calls.”
Kara nodded, “Thanks again.”
Lena gave another smile, “It was nice meeting you, Alex, and Esme. Maybe I will see you again,” Before she walked away in the direction of her employee.
Kara watched her walk away mesmerized by Lena’s beauty, but also how caring she is in terms of assisting customers. It’s not every day that the store owner is seen on the floor of a store.
“You need to ask her out on a date, Kara,” Alex stated, knowing that Esme was over looking at something else in the store.
Kara looked back quickly pulled from her trance confused, “What? What did you say?”
“I said that if I didn't know any better, I’d think you were in love with that store manager,” Alex said standing up tall from the cart to look at her sister. “You should go over there and ask her for coffee or something.”
“What? No, I couldn’t. What if she’s not into women,” Kara said, swiping away the idea immediately.
Alex laughed out loud, “Oh she’s into women. The way she was looking at you… Not to mention Kara, how many ‘store managers’ help you when you walk into a store?”
Kara shrugged, “I don’t know.”
“Exactly,” Alex added. “Now, can we pay, so I can get home. If we don’t leave, Esme is going to make me buy out this store.”
Just as she said that Esme was walking over with yet another thing she found, “Mom, look at this little dinosaur!”
Kara chuckled at the little girl, before they walked over to the till to pay, and left the store.
XXXXXXX
Later that evening, Kara was trying to find the perfect spot for her new tree. Should it go in the kitchen so that it has more light, or should it go on a shelf in which the sunlight only comes through the window for a couple hours a day.
She was in deep thought, when her front door opened, and someone came in. The person had been carrying something because she heard the bags touch the surface of the island before steps made their way in her direction.
Moments later, arms came around Kara’s middle as she was looking at the table the bonsai was on, “Where do you think I should put it?” Kara asked the person behind her.
“So you didn’t do any research like I had suggested?”
Kara chuckled, turning in the arms of the person, “Lena, I did some research, I just couldn’t find anything specifically about sunlight. Besides, you’re the expert. I thought I’d wait for you to tell me.” She ran her hands up Lena’s arms around her neck, before pulling her in for a kiss.
“You have no idea how much I wanted to kiss you at the shop today,” Lena said, feeling warm from the kiss.
Kara nodded, “Me too.” She leaned in once more before, turning back to the tree, “So thoughts.
“This will do fine,” Lena said. “It will get enough sunlight in front of this window, just make sure you monitor how dry the dirt gets.”
Kara nodded, “Great, so what did you bring me.”
“I brought us some chinese food since I ended up having to work later than I thought,” Lena said, following Kara where the food lay on the island. She put a hand on the small of Kara’s back, “Sorry about that.”
Kara picked up a wonton, and looked at Lena, “It’s fine. You still came over, that’s what matters.”
Lena leaned in and placed a kiss on Kara’s cheek, before she walked around to get some plates from the cupboard, “Your sister and niece seemed nice. Even though I’m certain your sister doesn’t like me.”
Kara swallowed her wonton, “My niece loved you. She wouldn’t stop talking about the pretty lady that helped us at the store. My sister though, she’s only had problems with your brother. I’m sure once she gets to know you, she’ll love you like I do.”
“Well, let’s hope not to the extent you do. I don’t need to deal with the antics of two Danvers,” Lena laughed at the very thought, which caused Kara to laugh.
“That’s not what I meant. I want you all to myself,” Kara grinned at the thought. “I do think though that we need to start telling people about us. My sister told me that I should ask you out on a date.”
Lena handed a plate to Kara, and asked, “What did you say?”
“I talked myself out of it, but being in that store with you and not being able to fully be with you, was tough. I don’t want to hide us anymore,” Kara said, putting her plate down and walking around the island. “You and I have been hiding this relationship for months. I don’t want to do it anymore. Not after seeing that two of the most important people in my life really liked you.”
“I would love that,” Lena agreed with what Kara was saying, before pulling her in for a hug. “You are the most important person in the world to me.”
“Then it’s settled,” Kara nodded. “Next time we have a game night, you are invited.”
“It’s a deal,” Lena smiled, before pulling Kara in for another kiss.
Neither one of them knew what they were missing until they went to that game night and realized that Lena fit in with the little family that Kara had made for herself. Alex was still wary of her, but she was certain that over time, Alex would grow to love her. Lena did have one thing though, she did have Esme’s heart. From the moment that little girl saw her, she wanted to be around her, which warmed Kara’s heart because being an aunt was one of Kara’s most treasured things.