After a quick flight back to Wayne Manor, and an even quicker costume change, the three Kents were ready to set off. Bruce, Selina and Talia were nowhere to be seen, no doubt making up for their lost time apart. With their hosts unavailable, Lara, Lois and Clark all thanked Alfred for letting them stay the night, and for breakfast. After the butler promised to give their regards to the happy throuple, the Kents headed down into the Batcave to use the transporter.

Soon, Clark, Lois and Lara had once again arrived on the Kent family farm in Smallville, via the JLA teleporter concealed in the barn. Lara had chosen to wear the new fancy white dress she had gotten from Kathy and Maya, along with the matching wedge sandals, which she was quickly getting the hang of. They took some getting used to, but she loved the extra height they gave her. 

Soon enough, Lara was skipping ahead of her parents out of the barn and up the path towards the home of Martha and Jonathan Kent, AKA the world’s most wonderful and supportive grandparents. As Lara reached the front door, she caught the familiar scent of Martha Kent’s famous homemade cookies, along with several other delicious aromas. Grandma Kent’s cooking was almost always the main highlight of every visit to Smallville.

Lara barely had time to knock before the front door opened to reveal an elderly man with a stocky build and a smile as warm as a hearthfire. It was Lara’s Grandpa, Jonathan “Pa” Kent.

“Oh, hey there, young lady!” said the kind old man. “What brings you ‘round these parts, on this fine morning? Is there some special occasion that my wife neglected to tell me about?”

“Grandpa!” Lara huffed, although she couldn’t stop herself from smirking at Pa Kent’s remark. She was in too good of a mood to pretend she didn’t secretly love her grandfather’s terrible jokes.

“Almost got you there for a second, didn’t I?” Pa Kent chuckled as he pulled Lara into a warm hug. “Happy Birthday, darlin’!”

Lara felt so incredibly lucky to have grandparents like hers. They had been present when she had first come out to her family as a girl. Despite not being as well-versed in the concept of gender identity as well as some other people Lara knew, Jonathan and Martha had soon shown nothing but love and support towards their granddaughter since her coming out.

Lois and Clark weren’t far behind Lara, and soon made their way in the front door. Pa Kent held out his hands to greet his son and daughter-in-law, allowing Lara to venture into the house and smell all the amazing aromas coming from the kitchen.

“Oh Lara!” a voice came from the kitchen doorway, and Lara turned and smiled to see her grandma, Martha Kent. “Happy Birthday! You look lovely, dear!”

“Thanks, Grandma!” said Lara, as she happily accepted the warm hug and kiss on the cheek that she always received from Ma Kent. “You like my dress? I got it at my Supergirl party yesterday.” Lara spun around to show off her sparkling new attire.

“Beautiful!” Martha said, clapping her hands as Lara curtseyed. “I’m needed back in the kitchen, sweetie. But maybe you could go show Conner your new look?”

“Conner’s here already?!” Lara said excitedly.

Martha smiled. “Oh yes, your brother got here about an hour ago, along with dear Tim. They both helped us get ready…” She would have continued, if Lara hadn’t already run off to find them.

As Lara entered the living room, she smiled when she saw her big brother, Conner Kent, AKA Superboy, lounging on the sofa. However, her attention was quickly drawn towards the figure sitting next to him...

“Hey Supergirl!” Conner cheered, leaping to his feet and pulling his little sister into a hug. “Happy birthday, Lara! You look great!” He grinned when he noticed Lara’s expression, and followed her line of sight. “Oh yeah! Almost forgot… Tim, do you wanna do your reintroduction?”

“Happy birthday, Lara…” Tim Drake said, waving awkwardly from the sofa. “Pronouns are she/her today, but I guess you figured that out...” She gave a small grin. “I guess you already heard that I came out publicly?”

The last time Lara had met Tim, she had learned that the former Robin was genderfluid. In the weeks that followed, Lara had then heard that Tim had come out to the entire Bat-family on one of her feminine days, and shortly afterwards, had written a newsletter to the hero community as a way of coming out, at least semi-publicly.

Since hearing this news, Lara had been excited to meet up with Tim on one of her female days, and had been hoping that Tim would be able to make it to at least one of her birthday parties. As the young Kryptonian stood there, taking in Tim’s appearance, she couldn’t deny that yet another one of her wishes had come true!

Tim was almost unrecognizable! She was wearing a pretty yellow sundress, along with some very fashionable high-heels, which made her look like a high-school sweetheart from a 50s movie. This was helped by the fact that Tim had curled her shoulder-length hair, and wore a little mascara, some light blush, and ruby-red lipstick. 

“You look amazing!” Lara exclaimed, once she had found her voice. 

“Thanks, Lara.” Tim smiled, brushing a stray hair out of her face. “You look lovely too!”

Conner grinned goofily at his little sister and his girlfriend. “You both look great!” He declared. “Too bad Steph’s not here, but it was her turn on monitor duty back at the tower.”

Lara felt a little sad to miss Stephanie Brown, Tim and Conner’s girlfriend, but she understood the demands of the job as a superhero. Still, Lara was delighted that Tim and Conner had made it, and immediately leaped onto the sofa next to her brother so that she could chat with Tim.

“This is so great! I’m so proud of you!” Lara cheered, making Tim blush a little. “Are you gonna change your hero name? Have you got any more plans for transitioning? I mean, I know you still have boy days, but do you still wanna…” 

She paused, as she realised that she was talking too fast, and probably shouldn’t be bombarding Tim with personal questions. “Sorry…” she muttered.

“It’s okay, Lara.” Tim said with a smile. “I’m actually gonna be talking to Dr. October soon. Gonna try and figure a few gendery things out from there. She’s very excited to work with me.” Tim leaned in a little conspiratorially, “Maybe a little too excited. I think she wants me to try a bunch of experimental treatments so my body can shift with my gender. As awesome as that might be, her partner is proof of why you don’t mess around with that kind of thing. I think I might stick with some basic HRT for now.”

Lara could understand that. Victoria was a very good doctor, but she was also very passionate towards her science. After all, Lara wouldn’t have been getting such an experimental treatment for her blockers if she hadn't been half-Kryptonian. “Hope she doesn’t get too out of hand with either of us.” The younger girl smiled. “How about Red Robin? Are they coming out too?”

Tim gave a little shrug. “I’m still trying to work that part out, unfortunately. You know better than anyone, Tim Drake can’t come out as fluid, then have Red Robin come out at the same time. Gotta wait a little while before I can do anything...”

Conner put an arm around Tim’s shoulder. “I’ve told you, babe! The perfect solution would be to pose as two separate heroes! This is a great opportunity for you to pretend to be your own twin sister or something like that. You could be Red Robin on male days, and Rose Robin on female days! Villains would be afraid of both Robins showing up at the same time! It’d be great!”

Tim smiled and kissed Conner’s cheek. “I love the support, hun. But I don’t know how I feel about calling myself Rose Robin… I might be better off changing to a different name altogether. I could have a few different outfits depending on my situation then. I’d rather capture peoples’ attention as a genderfluid hero than just confuse street thugs for fun.”

“Awe… That’s less fun… Very sweet and inspirational, but less fun.” Conner pouted, slouching over dramatically in his chair.

“You just wanted an excuse for some ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ style hijinks. Like if some night, both my personas got invited to the same place? That kind of thing?” Tim asked, smiling at her beloved idiot.

The clone nodded, still pouting. “It would’ve been both funny and awesome! And you love quick change costumes!” 

Lara smiled at her brother’s antics. They were a good distraction from any more of the invasive questions that she wanted to ask Tim. She knew first-hand how personal and intimate matters of dysphoria, euphoria, presentation and coming out could be, and she didn’t want to force the conversation. Tim would probably need to explain herself several times today if she hadn’t already, and Lara didn’t want to unnecessarily add to that.

“Still, that being said…” Tim added, after kissing her idiot boyfriend on the cheek again. “I have thought about it maybe being time to ditch the Red Robin suit and try out something new altogether...” She stroked her chin in thought, before shrugging. “But enough about me! There'll be time to think about that later.” She smiled at Lara. “How’s the birthday girl doing, anyway?”

Lara was about to tell Tim and Conner all about what had happened the day before, when her parents then entered the room. Lois and Clark didn’t seem surprised by Tim’s new look. Perhaps Grandma had told them about it in the kitchen? 

“Conner! Tim!” Lois said, giving her stepson and his partner a hug hello. “Congratulations, Miss Drake! Clark and I were so happy when we heard. You look amazing!” 

Lara had rarely seen the third Wayne sibling looking so happy. Conner gave Lois an approving nod and a thumbs up from behind his girlfriend. Superboy was clearly on a mission to make sure that Tim was as happy as could be throughout the day!

“I’m glad you two could make it. Now we’re just waiting for Kara and Donna before we begin!” Clark said with a friendly smile. “In fact, I think that’s them now…”

Right on cue, the front door opened again.  “Hello Superfam!” The familiar voice of Kara Zor-El called. The former Supergirl, now Power Girl, was wearing a favorite casual outfit of hers with distressed jeans and an open jacket. The look suited her even more since she had cut her hair short as part of her new look as Power Girl. “Sorry we’re a little late. Had to pick Donna up first.”

Kara was followed closely behind by her girlfriend, Donna Troy, AKA Wonder Girl. Donna was wearing a knee-length black skirt and suit coat, which was evidently her civilian work uniform from her job as a photographer. 

“Sorry about the work clothes.” Donna apologized, feeling a bit out of place among the other guests. “Had to come straight from a meeting at the gallery. I honestly don’t know how we’d get anywhere on time without the teleporters! Give me a moment and I’ll change.” 

Lara wasn’t sure exactly what Donna meant, as she didn’t seem to have any other clothes with her. Her surprise only increased when Donna held her arms out and began spinning in a tight circle. There was a bright flash of light, and suddenly Donna’s suit was gone, replaced by a very cute blue dress and sandals.

“There! Much better.” Donna nodded her own approval at the outfit, amused by the wide eye staring of the three younger party guests.

“That was so flippin’ cool!” Conner called out.

Tim and Lara rushed forward for a closer look, bombarding Donna with excitable questions. “How did you do that!?” “Can you teach me?” “Does it work with other outfits?” “Do you want to help me with my next cosplay?” (That last one was obviously Tim).

“Girls! Girls! One at a time please!” Kara came forward to help calm them down, though both she and her girlfriend couldn’t help laughing at the extreme reactions.

“You’ve never seen Diana transform like this before? Lara, I’m surprised at you! I thought you were her biggest fan!” Donna chuckled as she playfully teased the young heroine. “It’s an old trick my sister taught me. She used to change her uniform all the time this way. Pretty useful if you know how.”

Lara vaguely recalled seeing Wonder Woman change from her civilian clothes to her hero outfit by spinning around in a similar manner. But she had always assumed it was a trick only Diana knew, and had never considered that it could work with other clothes.

“You see it’s actually a clever bit of Themysciran science,” Donna explained. “This outfit, along with a few others, have been treated with special magic that allows me to…”

“Soup’s on!” Martha called from the kitchen, interrupting Donna. The elder Kent’s cooking smelt so good, that even Donna didn’t seem to mind her explanation of Amazon science getting cut short.

Martha appeared from the kitchen holding a massive wicker basket, while Jonathan carried a cooler and a large rolled-up blanket. “It’s such a lovely day out, I thought we all would enjoy a nice picnic outside.” 

“That’s a great idea, ma!” Clark said in agreement, moving to help his parents set up.

“I got it, pops!” Conner got to Martha first and took charge of the basket, feigning it was too heavy to lift. “Dang Grandma! You think you made enough?”

The old woman chuckled and playfully tweaked the clone’s ear, as the family and friends made their way outside. “I knew you were coming, kid. I had to clear out the whole cellar to make enough food for your appetite! Why don’t you get us set up under the big oak? Lotsa shade this time’a day.” 

Setting up the lunch spread was very quick with four Kryptonians and an Amazon willing to help. The blanket was laid out with good plates and silverware (no paper plates in Martha’s kitchen, thank you very much) and glasses of fresh pressed apple cider. Kara and Donna fetched pillows for people to sit on and two chairs taken from the dining room for Martha and Jonathan, who sometimes needed help getting up from the ground.

“Who wants what?” Lois asked, taking command of the basket and offering a selection of sandwiches to everyone before taking one herself. The sandwiches were followed by potato salad, coleslaw, homemade pickles and, of course, two different plates of homemade cookies still warm and soft. 

“Here’s a first gift for you, sugar.” Martha smiled, handing Lara a secret third plate of cookies with a small bow sitting on top of the plastic wrap. “These are for the birthday girl only!”

“Thanks Grandma!” Lara hugged her in thanks, taking the biggest cookie and biting into it before she even started on the chicken salad sandwich.

While Clark appreciated how excited his daughter was, he couldn’t turn off his dad mode when it came to Lara’s sweet tooth. “Now sweetie, just because those are all for you, it doesn’t mean you can eat them all now. Super stomach or not, you should try to limit yourself.”

“Ok dad…” Lara said, trying not to pout in disappointment. Sure, she understood her dad’s point, but no child liked to show restraint with baked goods… Still, it’d make the cookies last longer this way. 

Trying to get her mind off the cookies, Kara decided to strike up a conversation with the birthday girl. “So how is my old codename treating you, Supergirl?”

This got Lara to smile. She never turned down a chance to swap hero stories with her cousin. “It’s been great! Everyone’s been so excited to see me and they’re all so nice! Though I think you and dad have been doing too good a job without me. Not that many villains to fight most days.”

Kara laid back against the tree and sighed contentedly, “Well, there are worse things than a relaxed day on the job. Less work for superheroes means more time for a chance at a relatively normal life.” The blonde took Donna’s hand and smiled. 

Lara nodded in agreement. True being a hero was great, but there were very few young heroes that wanted it to be their entire life. Even Superman himself had taken the time for a family and a job he was passionate about. “What about you, cuz?” Lara asked through a bite of her sandwich. “How is the world reacting to Power Girl?”

Kara gave a small laugh. “Let’s just say it’s been something of a wild ride. Lots of very different reactions. Most people like the name, but everything else; the hair, the costume, the kiss, especially the kiss... Well, they’ve led to some more… extreme reactions.”

Lara leaned forward, eager to hear more of this story. Of course, anyone who knew Kara personally had always known she was a lesbian, but it wasn’t until her debut as Power Girl, where she had kissed Donna in front of a crowd of reporters, that the entire world had seen her as such. Lara understood better than others that coming out as both a superhero and queer could often lead to a very wide variety of public reactions.

Kara continued. “It’s meant buckets of love and support from the entire queer community, but… I’ve also been getting comments from folk who I’m pretty sure are parademons in disguise.” 

Donna rested her head on Kara’s shoulder. “I think my favorite was that guy who said that you shouldn’t kiss girls because men wouldn’t want to date you.” 

Kara put an arm around Donna, and happily accepted the snuggles. They helped to forget about the basement dwellers and their strange worldviews. “It’s not really anything new. I got lots of junk mail like that before. I’m just getting extra attention since I was in the spotlight recently. It should cool down again after a few more weeks.” 

Lara knew the kind of stuff Kara was alluding to. She was now starting to get why her parents had decided she couldn’t have her own fan mail box till she was 16. Right now, her dad screened any letters for her among his own and passed on some of the better ones to read. Generally speaking, the knowledge that Superman was going to read the letters first kept the correspondents on their best behavior. 

Kara smirked as she remembered some more bizarre comments. “Actually, my favorite thing about the new identity has been the people that didn’t see the news, and just assumed that I’m a new hero all together. It’s funny how confused you can make someone with a haircut and a different colored outfit.”

Lara laughed along with all the other guests. It made sense really that there were some fans who had not fully grasped who Power Girl was. She had previously spent so much time in Superman’s shadow, that suddenly becoming such a strong independent and tough heroine must have been a shock for some casual observers.

“I guess it could probably even go the other way too?” Kara added, turning to Lara. “Anyone mistake you for me with a new look on patrol?”

Lara giggled. That actually had happened a few times. “Yep! I’ve had a few people think that I’m you after getting de-aged by some supervillain, or something. Sometimes, I almost wanna roll with it. It probably means that I pass pretty well in their eyes!”

Tim laughed and joined in the conversation. “That reminds me of when I first started running as Robin. The rogues that Batman had fought before thought that I was just Jason with a new look. Never mind that I was like half his size!”

Lara tried not to giggle too much at the idea of anyone confusing Tim with Jason Todd. The idea seemed especially ludicrous with Tim sitting before her in full girl-mode. If anything, she looked more like Cass than any of her brothers!

Tim continued her story. “One of Two-Face’s thugs was actually an out of work nurse who had fought Jason before. He stopped fighting because he was worried by the amount of weight I’d seemingly lost, and assumed I was malnourished and sickly, when I was really just a string bean.”

“An especially cute string bean!” Conner added, still determined to make his girlfriend blush as much as possible.

Tim rolled her eyes and playfully shoved her boyfriend, though she did still blush a little. “Still it was a good night of patrol.” She continued. “The goon gave up and told us where the stolen goods were hidden on the condition that I had promised to have a full meal and a nap when I got home!” 

“You probably could use a few more criminals making you that offer.” Conner muttered with a sly smile, earning a chuckle from the other guests.

“Oh hush!” Tim blushed again, throwing a small piece of potato at her boyfriend. “I’ve been much better about sleep and meals since I’ve had you and Steph looking out for me.” 

Conner moved fast enough to catch the spud from the air in a way that reminded Lara of Goliath from earlier that morning. “I’m gonna remind you of that the next time I have to carry you to bed at 3 in the morning, babe.” 

While Tim and Conner continued to flirt, Pa Kent tried his best to change the subject, not out of any awkwardness, but because he knew these two could keep going for hours. “How about opening some of your presents, little lady?”

“Oh, yes please!” Lara said excitedly, perking up with incredible speed. Lois had to put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from flying up from the picnic blanket.

Jonathan chuckled good naturedly and pulled out an envelope, “Well, you already opened the cookies, so here’s our other usual...”

Lara said a quick thank you and tore it open. She laughed when she saw the brightly coloured Superman birthday card inside. She had always wondered who exactly made this sort of Superhero merchandise. Wayne Enterprises? Queen Industries? It definitely wasn’t LexCorp...

Brushing these thoughts aside, Lara smiled and read the card first before she focused on what was in it. “Happy birthday to our very own Supergirl! Up, up and away!” Lara giggled as she read the card out loud. “With all our love, Grandma and Grandpa!” Only then did she look to see what had been included in the card and got quite a surprise... 

She held up, not just the $50 bill that she usually received, but two bills adding up to $100! “Thanks Grandma! Thanks Grandpa! Thank you so much!” Lara squealed as she flew to her feet to hug them both.

“You’re very welcome, darling!” Martha said, ruffling her granddaughter’s hair playfully. “We thought with all you’ve been through this year, and everything you’ve accomplished, you deserved a little more than usual.” 

“And don’t worry, kiddo…” Pa Kent added with a warm smile. “I’ve got plenty of work on the fields lined up for you, if you feel like returning the favor.”

“Jonathan!” Martha scolded her husband, though she and everyone gathered knew that he was only joking. Lara giggled as she gave both grandparents an extra hug each.

“Our turn, Sis!” Conner said, beaming from ear to ear as he held up a wrapped package the size of a shoebox. “Tim, Steph, and I all thought of this together! Hope you like it!”

Lara took the box, but didn’t open it right away. “This paper feels… different…” She felt it between her fingers and perked up, “Did you use lead lined paper for this?”

Jonathan laughed and playfully punched his son’s shoulder. “The old family tradition, eh son?”

Clark smiled sheepishly and muttered, “Not now, Pa…”

“I’ll embarrass you then. Mother’s privilege.” Martha said, getting in on the playful teasing of her son. “At that age when Clark was still growing into his powers, we didn’t know about the x-ray eyes for a good while. It took us and Santa two Christmases and three birthdays to figure out how he was peeking at all his presents. We’ve wrapped everything in lead paper ever since!”

“Still hard to believe mister big blue boyscout was pulling a trick like that!” Conner laughed, joining in the fun. “Did you get coal from Santa the next year for peeking?”

Clark let out a sigh, though he was still smiling, “No, but there was a note in my stocking that year warning me there would have been if it wasn’t for my good behavior the rest of the year.”

Lara joined in laughing with the rest of her family. She was happy that she was considered old enough to be included in this unique family tradition, but didn’t have the heart to point out that she didn’t know how to even use her x-ray vision yet. She wasn’t in much of a hurry to try either. Focus the wrong eye muscles and she could shoot a blast of heat vision through the thing she was trying to look at after all. 

“Well don’t keep us in suspense, Lara!” Lois said, holding her husband’s hand in hers, “None of us can see through the paper and we’re all curious about what’s in it.”

Lara nodded and smiled and grabbed an edge of the paper, tearing it to reveal… her own face? She stared at it in brief confusion before tearing away the rest of the paper. “No way...” Inside the box was a plastic figurine of herself! The all-new, all-different Supergirl in mid flight, her cape and hair blowing out behind her. “This… This is the coolest thing ever!” She cried out, holding up the figure for the rest of the family to see. “How did you do this?! This is so awesome!”

Tim smiled as wide as her boyfriend’s, truly happy with Lara’s reaction. “Well, it wasn’t hard to get this made,” She began explaining, “If you happen to have a job directly dealing with research and development for Wayne Enterprises, for example. You might even suggest they look into producing merchandise of the newest popular hero, and once that idea is in their head, you might convince them into letting you take one prototype of the product as a special gift for a fan…”  

“So this is…” Lara said in an excited whisper.

“The first of many more like it.” Tim confirmed. “Well… almost like it. For your sake I suggested that the model released to the public have some different facial features. Nose shape, eye colour, that sort of stuff. Can’t make it too easy for other dorks like me to connect the dots for themselves after all.” 

The younger heroes all had a good laugh at that. They had all heard Tim’s story of how she had figured out the secret identities of Batman and Robin, when she had been no older than Lara was now. All thanks to Tim having seen the Flying Graysons as a little kid, and being a lifelong fan of Batman, on top of her remarkable detective skills.

Lara stared at the figurine in her hands. If what Tim said was true, that would mean that her’s was totally unique! Friends would see it as a misprint, a factory error, but she would know and she loved it all the more because of that! 

“Thanks Conner! Thanks Tim! I love it!” She flew forward, hugging them both tight, Conner getting squeezed a little tighter because he could take it. “And be sure to thank Steph too! It’s so amazing!”

“We have one more surprise for you, Lara.” Kara said with a smile. “A group gift from me, Donna, and your parents all together.”

“What is it?” Lara asked, looking around for where someone might have hidden one last large present. “Is this one of the surprises you mentioned earlier, dad?” She asked, her excitement starting to peak as she wondered what this mystery gift could be!

“Maybe…” Clark said softly, his smile becoming bigger and bigger as he put a hand to his ear. “Say… does anyone else hear that?” He asked, having waited for the moment that even those without super hearing could hear the faint roar of an aircraft engine.

Lara knew that sound, but couldn’t exactly place it. “It’s very close… but very quiet…”

“It’s supposed to be.” Donna commented, “Almost… invisible…” 

The answer clicked in Lara’s head immediately after that; The Invisible Jet! She looked out in the direction of the large patch of green grass at the front of the Kent homestead in time to notice the faint distortion in the air that was the only sign of Diana Prince’s preferred method of travel. A moment later, the invisible doors opened and Wonder Woman herself stepped out into the sun, in her full glory! Glittering red, blue and gold in her Amazon armor… with a large tupperware container under her arm. “Happy birthday Lara! Hello everyone! I brought a 7-Layer dip!” 

Lara let out a squeal of delight. Out of all of her father’s colleagues, Diana had always been one of Lara’s favourites. Not only was she one of the most famous superheroes of all time, she was also quite possibly the kindest and most lovable hero Lara had ever had the honour of knowing. Once again, Lara almost floated into the air from sheer joy. This time, both Kara and Donna had to hold her down.

“Diana, I told you you didn’t need to bring something with you!” Clark called to the princess of Themyscira, as she approached the party.

“You only said that to stop me from bringing a whole roast boar to a dinner party again.” Diana commented with a sassy smirk.

“That… is true.” Clark admitted. “... But you might want to bring one of them to the next JLA cookout. I’m sure they’d appreciate it. It’d be a good change of pace from Ollie’s chili.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind, now where’s the birthday girl?” Diana handed the container to Martha with a respectful bow of her head and said a quick hello to the other guests, before Lara couldn’t contain herself any longer and flew right into the Amazon, hugging her tightly,

“Diana! What are you doing here?” Lara asked, excitedly looking up at her favorite hero (Sorry Clark). 

“Paying tribute to the new Supergirl on her birthday, of course!” Diana said with a wide warm smile. “You look wonderful by the way, child! Is that a new dress?”

“Yep! Thanks for noticing!” Lara chirped happily. “I got it at my other party yesterday. Oh! Did you hear?! I fought Bane yesterday too! You shoulda seen it!”

“Your father told me all about it, sweetie.” Diana smiled, kneeling down to Lara’s level. “It sounds like you are becoming quite the young heroine, Lara!”

Lara couldn’t help but let out another squeal, and before she knew it, she was hugging Wonder Woman once more. Diana beamed down at her, happily accepting the hug from her adorable little fangirl. To think in just a few months, Diana had watched the once quiet and shy child of Superman turn into one of the happiest and energetic young girls she had ever had the honour of knowing. She just knew that Lara would soon grow up to become an inspiration to young heroines everywhere!

Once she had finished hugging Diana, Lara looked over at her parents, who were both smiling warmly at the interaction between her and the Amazon princess. They had really outdone themselves with their daughter’s surprise this year.

As Lara flew over to her parents to hug them both, Diana turned to the other guests. “Sorry for keeping you all waiting.” She said, sitting down next to Donna. “I hope I didn’t miss anything too major.”

Donna grinned at her adoptive sister. “Oh yeah, you just missed Starro attacking the cornfield.” She remarked, with a sly grin. “Don’t worry though, we fought him off pretty quickly by bribing him with Martha’s cookies.”

“Ha! It’s true what they say,” Diana chuckled. “Having me for a sister really did make you a terrible liar.” She casually held up her magical lasso. “I suppose since we both have these, there’s not much point in making your stories convincing.”

Donna shrugged. “Hey, if I can’t be convincing, I can at least be creative.” The two sisters hugged. “Glad you could make it, Diana.” 

“Me too.” Diana replied, as she reached over to give Kara a sisterly hug as well. “Lara’s probably my number one fan, so I could hardly say no!”

“Jason’s gonna be upset that his position as your number one fan has been surpassed.” Tim chuckled, overhearing the conversation, “Actually Diana, my brother Jason’s birthday is next month. Could I maybe ask you to make an appearance for him too?” 

“I’ll think about it, Miss Drake. We can talk about the details later.” Diana smiled, knowing that Jason deserved a very happy birthday too, but it would be very hard to go to every party that wanted her there.”

“Miss Drake?” Tim’s voice cracked a little and she sat up. Even in the dress and makeup; even after the newsletter she had sent out, it felt so validating for Tim to have freaking Wonder Woman correctly gender her!

“Of course Miss Drake!” Diana smiled proudly at Tim. “I can tell that today is a day where I can be proud to see you as a sister in arms!”

Tim clung a little tighter to her boyfriend, trying not to cry over how touched she was feeling right now. “Thank you so much…” After a moment to gather herself she continued, “But please, you can call me Tim.” While she enjoyed being called “Miss Drake”, there was no need for them to be so formal. 

“Only if you call me Diana.” The princess smiled and nodded, before looking over at Lara, who had just finished hugging both of her parents and was practically bouncing with excitement. 

“Please excuse me, Tim…” Diana said, turning away from the blushing Wayne sibling. “It’s time for me to speak with the birthday girl!”

“Woo hoo!” cheered Lara, as she moved closer to Wonder Woman, excitedly looking to see if she was holding anything for her to unwrap. Not that Diana would have needed to bring any gifts, as her presence was more than enough to make this party a thousand times better. Still, Lara felt like Diana might have had an extra surprise hidden somewhere...

“Greetings Lara, Daughter of Kal El!” Diana began in a tone that was much more formal and official than the young hero was used to hearing from her, “It is my honour on behalf of the Amazon nation, and my pleasure as your friend, to present you with this.” She pulled an honest to Zues scroll, with golden handles from her belt and presented it to Lara with a bowed head.

Unsure what all this formality could mean, Lara accepted the roll of paper and gently started to unwind it. There before her in gilded letters was a message which she read aloud for all present... 

 

Let it be known that the heroine known as Supergirl, if she should choose to accept it, shall be trained in the ways of Amazonian combat!

Let all prepare a fitting welcome for a proud, powerful new warrior to join our ranks!

By royal decree of Queen Hippolyta of Themyscira!

 

Lara stared at the writing, with her mouth wide open as she quietly reread it over and over again to make sure she had heard herself right. Training? With the Amazons?! She vaguely remembered Diana mentioning a potential visit to the island at some point, several weeks ago. But this was so much more than Lara had ever expected!

Lara read through the message once more, just to be sure she wasn’t dreaming, before looking up at Wonder Woman. “Does this really mean..?” 

Diana nodded, beaming with delight. “We arranged it all. One full month of Mediterranean sun, sand and training with myself, Donna, Kara, and all my Amazon sisters on Paradise Island!” 

“I GET TO GO TO THEMYSCIRA!?” Lara cried out excitedly, so happy that she flew up into the air, cheering and flying in a figure eight. This was by far one of the greatest presents she had ever received! A formal invitation to the island of Themyscira was quite possibly the most validating gift Lara could have ever hoped for!

Knowing and seeing how excited the young heroine was, all of the adults below braced themselves for impact, as Lara quickly flew down to hug everyone present!

As predicted, Lara practically knocked Diana over with the force of her super-glomp, then gave slightly more reasonable hugs to Lois, Clark, Kara, and Donna. Even Tim, Conner, and the grandparents got a hug, despite being just as surprised by the invite as Lara had been. The young Supergirl was just so happy, she wanted to share the feeling with everyone!

“Heh... D’ya think she likes her present?” Clark muttered to Lois and Diana, as he watched his daughter practically squee with delight as she bounced between family members.

Just as Lara had finished her hugging spree, a thought suddenly hit her as she suddenly realised what Diana had said…

“Wait, a whole month away from home?” It would be the longest she had ever been away from Metropolis, and due to the rules of the island, her parents wouldn’t be going with her… Well, her mom could potentially visit, but that’d still be a month without seeing her dad, Conner, Damian, Colin… Heck, she had basically gone a whole month without seeing Izzy or Laurence already! Was she really ready to ghost them again for another month!?

Sensing Lara’s hesitance, Diana placed a hand on her shoulder. “I completely understand if you are nervous, dear.” She gave a comforting smile that was warmer than the summer heat. “If you need time to decide before accepting this invitation, then we’ll all understand.”

“Don’t worry, girl!” Kara added, smiling at her little cousin. “Me and Donna will be there to help you every step of the way!”

“And you’re free to take a break from training whenever you want, honey!” Clark said, moving over to his daughter. “Your mom and I are always just a quick fly away.”

“I may even be able to grant some special visiting rights for a few of you.” Diana added. “That and Paradise Isle is moving on with the times. You are more than welcome to call or video chat with anyone else during your stay, Lara.” 

Lara stared at the scroll in her hand, and then around at all the faces smiling at her. Conner and Tim were staring at Diana and the scroll in Lara’s hand in awe, both looking almost jealous of Lara, but still happy for her all the same. Kara and Donna both wore excited grins, eager at all the potential fun to be had from Lara coming to visit. Diana, Lois and Clark all smiled warmly, showing that they would be happy with whatever choice Lara made. And finally, Ma and Pa Kent were beaming with pride for their granddaughter, delighted for the opportunity she was being offered. 

After taking in all these faces, Lara finally looked back at the scroll. When else was she going to get an opportunity as perfect as this? She was Lara Kent; the Girl of Steel! Was she really going to be afraid of a vacation to one of the most exotic and fantastic islands in existence? Heck no!

The young Supergirl took a deep breath, and smiled up at Diana. “I’ll do it!” She cried. “Look out, Themyscira! Supergirl is coming!”

“That’s my girl!” Clark said proudly, pulling his daughter into a close embrace, so proud of the little heroine. “You’re going to amaze all of them, sweetheart! I just know it!”

________________________________________________________________

The entire party cheered and applauded for Lara, happy for her and her choice. In celebration, Martha brought out the giant homemade ice cream cake she had been saving for dessert, for all to enjoy. Diana, of all people, seemed more excited by this than anyone, praising Martha Kent’s culinary skills as being, “Worthy of the great feasts of Demeter!” Martha accepted the praise with a simple smile and an offering of a second helping, which Wonder Woman eagerly accepted.

The picnic continued with much more food and laughter. With a little prompting, Lara even reenacted her fight with Bane for her family and friends, with Conner putting on an over-the-top performance as the supervillain, and an exasperated Tim as the “damsel in distress”. 

The reenactment went well, all things considered. Conner managed not to damage anything as he flew around dramatically to Lara’s blows, though Lara did end up accidentally freezing the entire pitcher of iced tea in her excitement of the climax. 

When the time came to say goodbye, Lara was sure to give everyone even more well-deserved hugs. Her second birthday party had been even more wonderful than she had hoped, and the best part was that it still wasn’t even the last one! A quick trip back to Metropolis, a change of clothes, and she would be ready for one final party!