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It's a big day for the three of them. Kara and Alex are already over the moon and Eliza can't help but feel the same way. Today is going to be amazing.
They are going to National City's Pride Parade, it's Kara's and her first one to attend. Alex went to the one the year before but she kept it a secret so they didn't get a chance to go with her.
Alex came out shortly after that as a lesbian and half a year later Kara outed herself as queer.
If Eliza is being honest, she knew that Alex wasn't straight since she was in kindergarten. It was pretty obvious when her kindergarten best friend started to 'date' (if you can even call it that in their age) a boy of their group and Alex started crying and said that she wanted to marry her because she loves her.
It was more of a surprise when Kara told them that she didn't care about a person's gender, only about them as a person. She doesn't call herself pansexual though. She isn't a fan of labelling herself, she understands why people want to do it but she doesn't feel the urge to clarify who she is into, so she just sticks with 'queer'.
But when looking at it now, it makes sense. Kara is a person full of love, always has been, she never cared about anything but someone's soul, about their personality.
When Alex opened up about her sexuality, she cried and sobbed her heart out, hoping and begging that Eliza and Jeremiah would accept her.
To be honest, they were a bit shocked that Alex would even think that they wouldn't accept her, they've always tried to be tolerant and loving, no matter what.
But after they told her, that they support her, that they still love her and that nothing will ever change that, she finally understood that she has nothing to fear in this family.
Seeing how her family was super supportive, Kara decided to come out too.
She actually came out with a cake, a chocolate cake with white fondant and little rainbow flags on it. She also had a banner what said 'guess what, it's a queer'.
The thought makes her laugh every time she thinks about it.
It makes Eliza proud to have two amazing daughters that are who they are and stand up for themselves and for what they believe in. They are both amazing, independent and kind women and she couldn't be any prouder of them.
That's one of the reasons why she decided to go to pride with them as a 'proud mom'.
She couldn't understand it, but there are a lot of queer people that aren't accepted by their families. Eliza just doesn't understand how parents could resent their children for being gay, that they could not love their child for something as normal as love, how they could kick them out for being themselves.
It breaks her heart how ignorant humans can be. It breaks her heart to watch the news and see yet another attack on the LGBTQ+ community. It breaks her heart that people still have to be afraid to be themselves.
She can't count the many times she had cried over how LGBTQ+ people get treated and that's why she wants to bring as much love as she can in the world and in the community.
She heard about these parents that go to pride and give people, who aren't accepted by their families or loved ones, hugs. She loved the idea immediately. These people deserve as much love and support as possible and she will give them exactly that.
They are making their way to pride in Alex's new car, the streets are already full of people with different flags and big smiley faces. They are all dressed differently, some are wearing 'normal' clothes, some are wearing costumes and some are fully naked with only body paint on them.
She saw some drag queens and she felt a rush of joy.
It made her smile that everyone could just be themselves here without weird looks and being judged by anyone.
Alex is clad in a black top, black ripped skinny Jeans, Doc Martens and a leather jacket, with the lesbian flag drawn on both her cheeks. Her red hair openly flowing in the soft breeze.
Kara is wearing a light blue Jean's, a white top ( this will make your arms look great Kara. The ladies will love it, Kara .) white converse and suspenders in the colour of the rainbow flag. Her hair is in a tight ponytail to stop them from getting into her face. And she has a sign with 'free hugs' written on it.
Eliza herself is wearing normal blue jeans, black shoes, a black shirt with the caption 'proud mom' written on it, in the colour of the pride flag and in big letters. She also made herself a sign that reads 'free mom hugs' and on the back 'i love my queer daughters'.
She has always been a hugger (that's probably where Kara got it from).
She loves to make people feel loved and safe. And she wants to give this feeling of safety and love to everyone, especially to the ones that need it most.
It can be quite a lot to be on a pride parade when you know that your family doesn't accept you and she wants to make these people feel less alone, she wants them to know that they are amazing and loved, even though their families can't see that.
They are looking for a parking lot, which takes a few minutes since the streets are full of people and cars .
After what feels like hours, Alex lets out an Aha! and pulls into an empty parking lot.
The three of them decide to stay together and to not split up, her daughters don't want to leave Eliza to herself (even though she offered) it's just better to be there as a family they say. Together.
After a few minutes of making plans, they get out of the car and step into the sun that is shining down on them. Alex takes a few bottles of water and Kara takes some snacks with her. Of course, she does.
They walk to the crowd that is waiting for the parade to finally start. They still have five minutes so they make their way to the end of the crowd. They do that so Kara won't get claustrophobic (what happens sometimes when there are too many people).
At the end of the queue are mostly parents with their children and older people that aren't that fast anymore. It makes Eliza happy that there are parents that don't raise their children with hate but show them that it's okay to be queer.
They see an older lesbian couple holding hands and talking with each other. They are both holding a lesbian flag and have a sign with them that says "I'm with her. Since 45 years".
They must be around 80, it warms her heart and Kara must feel the same way because she lets out a noise that sounds like a strangled 'awwww'.
They make a halt at the end of the queue and get ready. Kara close your shoelaces .
She isn't accepted by anyone she knows, so why would she be by some stranger, by people that don't know her?
Half a week ago she came out to her 'mother' and guess what, it didn't go well.
"Mom please listen" Lena tried to get Lillian's attention since she came home, which was over an hour ago, but the woman just won't stop arguing with some client or investor on the phone.
When she finally got off the phone after another 20 minutes, she went straight in the kitchen, not even sparing Lena a glance when she, again, said her name and waited for her mother to react.
In the kitchen, Lillian once again yells at the staff for making her tea too strong.
Lena gives the guy, Tommy, a little smile that screams 'I'm sorry please don't take it personally' even though he should take it that way because Lillian means everything personally.
After another 'Mom, please. I have to tell you something' Lillian finally turns and looks her in the eyes.
Lena swallows soundly, Lillian's cold eyes scream disinterest. She wanted her to listen but having her adoptive mother looking at her like that is just not something she is comfortable with.
Lillian gives her a look that says 'hurry, I have better things to do'.
Lena instantly scrambles for words. "I have something important to tell you. I really hope you will accept it. Will accept me. It has always been a part of me, it won't change anything, it won't change me. I'm not a different person because of it, I just want to be honest about who I really am and-"
Lillian interrupts her with a bored look on her face. "Come to the point Lena. I don't have all day"
She takes a deep breath and tries her best to collect her thoughts.
There isn't a way to say what she is about to say in a different way so she just blurts out:
"I'm gay."
She takes another deep breath and continues "I'm a lesbian, mom"
Lillian doesn't look that uninterested anymore.. but her face takes a look of disgust and anger.
Lena's heart sinks.
"You are what?! I did not raise you this way. I did not raise you do be a disappointment, a disgrace…” she takes a step to Lena “but you've never been anything else, have you?"
She takes a deep breath and looks pointedly at Lena.
"You will leave this house. Now. And you will never take a step near MY family again. You have never been a part of us, you have never been a Luthor. Lionel would turn in his grave if he knew that you are a dyke."
Lena's heart clenches when hearing these words.
It stings. It stings more than she ever thought it would, more than she would admit. She always prided herself with the fact that she was not Lillian's daughter.
That she wasn't a Luthor, but it still hurts. A lot.
Lillian turns and walks in her room without as much as sparing Lena a last look.
She stays there for a few moments, processing what just happened.
She has to leave. She has to leave.
After the shock was overtaken by fear and bitter devastation she walks into her room with slow and quiet steps.
She looks at everything that's hers, everything that she has to leave here now.
She gets to work and puts everything she really needs into her three suitcases. She packs almost all her clothes, her favourite books, all the things she needs for school and everything else that comes to her mind.
When everything is packed away, she takes the handles of the suitcases in her hands and walks over to her door.
For one last time, she turns around to look into her room. The place where she lived since she was four.
She never felt at home here but her room was where she could be alone by herself and for once forget the rest of the world.
It fills her with nostalgia, pain but also with relief.
She's always been afraid in this house, she never felt safe in the mansion. How could she? It is cold and dark. There is nothing that reminds of happiness and that is what she won't miss at all.
With that thought, she steps over the doorstep.
Without looking back she walks over the lawn and straight to her car.
Now, half a week after Lilian kicked her out, she has her own apartment.
Thankfully she has left all the money on her bank account and she still has the trust fund that she will get when she turns 18 (that means in two months). Lionel put enough money for a lifetime in that bank account so Lena would never have to worry.
Her dad was never a good man but she is beyond thankful for that.
Her apartment is near the university, she can walk there in less than 5 minutes what makes her life a little bit easier.
She still has her Tesla but she prefers to walk, it's better for her health and also for the environment, even though her car is probably environment friendlier than any other car.
She still didn't really process what happened a few days ago.
She didn't shed any tears. Other people probably would have, but they just wouldn't come out. It’s like her body fights against having and showing any emotions caused by her family.
She knew that her mother wouldn't be enthusiastic about it, but she didn't think that she would go that far and kick her out.
If she would feel comfortable with coming out to the world, she could just go to the press and expose her family as a bunch of homophobes. But she isn’t ready for anyone else to know yet.
She knows that one day people will know since she is a person of interest for the press because of her family and the possibility of her taking over Luthor-Corp but that doesn’t mean that they have to know now .
Also, she doesn’t know how the world would take it. There are a lot more people like Lillian out there.
As a queer person, you, unfortunately, have to live with people hating you without a reason.
She knew that even before she admitted her own queerness to herself.
She's always seen the close-minded people in the world, the ignorance and the hate. She just never thought that this hate would go against her one day.
But she was naive.
So, so naive.
But she still hopes that she can be out and proud one day.
She heard of National City Pride a few weeks ago, before Lillian kicked her out, she thought about going a few days ago but came to the conclusion that she shouldn't. Why would people she doesn't know accept her when her own mother can't? She was also afraid that people would recognize her but she also knows that there will be a lot of people, nobody will even notice her.
So after thinking about it again, she decided to go to Pride tomorrow.
It’s her first one and she is really excited but also a bit sad that she has to go alone. She doesn't know if she will fit and she is afraid of being all alone the whole time.
She’d feel even more lonely when she is all alone under her people.
She feels lonely most of the time but she always told herself that its because she never met a person like herself (Though statistically she probably did).
She always thought that once she met some of her queer family, she won't be alone anymore, that she will have good people in her life for once, people that really care about her.
Maybe that was only a dumb teenage dream. She will probably find out tomorrow.
The next morning she wakes up with her alarm blaring into her ear. With a loud groan, she stretches over the left side of her bed to reach her alarm clock. It reads 9:30, that means that she got at least 7 hours of sleep in the night.
It's not ideal but in the week, she sleeps even less. As a student at the best university in the country, maybe even the world, you don't get sleep and with her 3 PHDs, it's even worse.
But that doesn’t matter today because in a few hours she is going to be at her first Pride. She is so excited, she could jump in a circle but her anxiety is just as high.
She crawls out of her bed and gets ready for the day. She takes a shower and brushes her teeth while in the shower, when the water suddenly turns cold she jumps and makes a fast exit out of her shower.
She dresses in a bathrobe and makes her way to the kitchen. For breakfast, she eats a bit yogourt with fruits since she doesn't feel like she can get any more food down.
After she is finished with cleaning up the kitchen she makes her way back in her bedroom and then to her walk-in-closet.
She already laid her clothes out the day before, so she wouldn't need to worry about not finding something to wear.
She chose a black top, outworn black jeans and a pair of black converse. Finishing the outfit with a pair of big Ray-Bans to hide her face. She still doesn't want to get recognized, better safe than sorry as they say.
After putting on fresh underwear and the clothes she packs everything she needs into her black purse she decided to take with her. She puts some cash, a bottle of water and her phone in there.
She wishes she could have a pride flag, preferable her flag. She wishes she could march with everyone else with pride and happiness but she knows that she is going to be ashamed and lonely instead
With a sigh, she shakes these thoughts out of her head. Today there will be no negative thoughts, at least not until she got dIsappointed at least once.
With a last look at herself in the mirror, she steps out of her apartment. When she saw the amazing wheater, she decided to walk there, since it isn't far away.
The way is short and she only needs 7 minutes. She decides to stay somewhere in the middle of the crowd, hoping that there will be so many people that nobody will recognize her.
Someone at the beginning of the parade announces that it’s about to start. They also wish everyone to have fun and tell everyone to just be yourself.
The anxiety in Lena rises exponentially when the crowd starts to walk. She feels like the people around her are suffocating her with their closeness, like walls closing around her.
Her breathing gets harder, her hands get sweaty and her heart feels like it's going to jump out of her chest.
Panicking she looks around to see if she can find a way to escape the crowd. On her left side is an open way and she instantly runs. She bumps into a few people but she can’t think rationally so she doesn’t even turn around to see if they are alright.
When she is out of the crowd she can breathe again. She takes a few deep breaths to calm her still too fast heartbeat and swipes her sweaty palms on her pants.
After she calms down she takes a sip of the water she brought and thinks about if she should keep walking or if she should go home.
After a few minutes of thinking she decides to stay, she will just walk somewhere where it isn't that full of people,
She waits a bit so she is almost at the end of the parade, takes a deep breath and continues walking.
Thirty minutes into walking she's seen a lot of people. She saw a lot of couples in different variants, she saw groups of people, she saw people that were alone like herself, she saw drag queens, she even saw people dressed like Jesus but the people that made her heart ache the most, were the moms , or rather the mom because there was only one at the end of the parade.
The moms are women, that offer hugs to LGBT members. They are all moms that are accepting of their children no matter what their sexuality or their gender identity is and they are trying to give some love to, well… people like her.
Lena’s heart aches when she sees the woman, with a shirt and a sign that tells that she is one of the moms , because she doesn't have an accepting family, accepting parents like her. She isn't welcome at home because of her sexuality. Her mother wouldn't even look at her after she came out.
Her mother broke her heart in a way she was too proud to acknowledge until now. Lillian ripped out her heart when she kicked her out. She was never a loving or a good mother, but she was still...her mother. Not biologically, but she raised her since she was 4.
Lillian's opinion still mattered to her. She doesn’t want it to, but she can’t change it either.
Since she saw the blonde kind-looking woman, she cast her a few looks. Out of curiosity, she tells herself but she knows that it's not just that, but she can't stand the truth, that she wants a hug. Desperately needs a hug.
After catching herself looking at the woman once again, she physically shakes her head and casts her look back to look in front of her.
Little did she know that the blonde woman was watching her all along.
Eliza watched how the woman was acting since she came to the end of the crowd. In the beginning, she looked rather distressed but she relaxed after a few minutes.
Her eyes were still sad and she looks anxious but the tension left her shoulders and she stopped fidgeting with her hands.
Kara seemed to have noticed her too, she cast her curious looks since minutes now.
The girl seems to be alone since she hasn't talked to anyone, she looked around a lot and took in the people around her. After 15 minutes she turned around to look at the people behind her and her eyes fell on Eliza's shirt. After she read it her eyes took a sad, distant look, the woman evidently tried to avoid eye contact with everyone and Eliza could only imagine why.
The brunette had a heartbreaking look in her eyes, she looked lonely and ready to bolt.
The next ten minutes the woman cast them, even more, glances, she must have noticed that Kara and Alex were her daughters because she now had a longing look on her face whenever her eyes fell on them.
Eliza thought about going over to her after she saw the look she gave her when she first looked over, but she didn't want to scare her away. Now it's different though, right in front of them was a parent walking with their child, both had wide smiles on her faces.
The mom must've been around 80 and the daughter maybe 60. The daughter got emotional after seeing all these happy faces and the mom went over and hugged her daughter.
They held each other for a while and the brunette couldn't take her eyes away. Her eyes looking watery and bloodshot, it broke Eliza's heart to see someone suffering like this. After a few moments of more watching, little tears started running down her cheeks and Eliza couldn't stand still anymore.
Fortunately, someone at the front of the march announces that they have some technical problems, so they have to stop walking for a few minutes.
She takes a step to the side to tell Kara where she is going and hands her her sign, Kara gives her a sad smile, indicating that she also saw how the woman struggled, and a short nod.
With that Eliza slowly makes her way to the still upset looking woman. The moment she stands right in front of her, the brunette lifts her head and their eyes meet.
The other woman looks shocked but after a short moment her face takes on a mask of indifference.
Eliza is a bit taken aback but she gets it. She decides to try and make the girl feel at least a tiny bit better.
“Hey Honey, are you okay? You look a bit lost”, she says with a little smile to show the girl that she doesn't have bad intentions.
The brunette looks a bit taken aback by the kind words but after a moment her mask is back on. Her jaw tenses. “I’m fine”, she answers through gritted teeth, never meeting Eliza’s eyes.
Eliza's heart sinks a bit at the icy tone, but she won’t stop trying. “Are you sure? I've seen you looking at me and my daughters and I wanted to see what's made you feel this”, she stops to find the right word,”...sad.”
The girl blinks sheepishly at getting caught looking at them. “I haven't been watch- Wait. No. I'm not looking sad, why would you say that?!” At the last part, she tries to look more composed and less sad, what does not work, her eyes just can't hide the sadness in them.
Eliza sighs. “Please don't be like that, you don't have to act all strong. I can see that you are hurting. We don't know each other but I can't stand to see anyone like this. You can talk to me if you need to, that’s what I’m here for.” She tries to make her face look as open and trustworthy as possible to show the girl that she can be open with her.
Her armour seems to falter, her eyes get softer but don't lose the sad look they hold, her shoulders lose their tension and she looks directly into Eliza's eyes.
She must be really desperate to talk to someone since she didn't even try to keep her walls up.
The girl is looking for words, her mouth opens a few time but nothing comes out. After a few more tries to say something she ducks her head as if she is ashamed of her lack of words.
She huffs out of frustration, looking desperately to say something she clenches her jaw and Eliza can see how her eyes slowly fill with tears.
Eliza's heart clenches and she can’t help but take the girl’s fidgeting hands in hers to give her some kind of comfort. The girls’ eyes rise from the ground to meet Eliza's.
“What's your name honey?” Eliza asks with a warm voice.
With a gentle voice, the brunette answers: “Lena.”
Eliza sends her a smile and says: “Nice to meet you, Lena, I’m Eliza.” She turns around and points behind her “and these two are my daughters. That’s Alex”, she points at Alex, “and this is Kara” she says while looking at Kara which is currently trying to hide that she's been watching them.
Lena only nods in acknowledgement but her eyes linger on Kara for a moment, Kara catches her look and Lena ducks her head after being caught. Eliza doesn’t comment on it since there are more important things at the moment.
“So” Eliza starts, “do you want to talk about what bothers you? It's totally fine if you don't but you look like you could use someone to listen. I’m here.”
“I don't- I’m- My mom… she kicked me out after I came out to her”, the last part comes out with a little sob and Eliza is instantly alarmed.
She strokes her hands for a moment and makes a decision. “Come here, Let me give you a hug”.
Eliza lets her hands go and takes the girl into her arms. Lena melts into her but Eliza can feel that she tries to hold back the tears and sobs. “You can let it out, honey”.
That's the only thing Lena needed to let go, the sobs break out of her and wreck her body, tears stream down her face on Eliza's shirt. Lena grabbed handfuls of her shirt but she couldn't care less.
Eliza lays her hand on Lena's head, strokes her hair and sways a bit, just to show her that she is there and that Lena is safe.
They stay like that for a few minutes, Lena's sobs slowly fade away, the tears stop a bit later and they just stay there, Eliza holding Lena and giving her the comfort she needs.
Lena is the one who breaks their hugs. She clears her throat and wipes her face seemingly embarrassed, Eliza reacts quickly. “No sweetie, don’t. There is no reason to be embarrassed, we won't ever judge you. It’s okay to be hurt and to show emotions, don't try to shove them down. You didn't deserve what your mother did, nobody does. I'm so sorry that your mom can't see behind her prejudices. This is in no way your fault, don't even go there, You deserve people that accept you and that love you for who you are. Do you understand, sweetie? It's her loss if she can't love you for who you are, other people will.”
A few more tears fall down Lena’s cheeks but not because of sadness but because of Eliza's loving words. “Thank you, Eliza, thank you so much, but..” she stops.
When Eliza thinks that she won't continue she pushes: “Yes?”
Lena sighs, “but I don't have any family or friends that love me.” she ducks her head.
“Well,” Eliza starts, “now you do.”
Lena’s head snaps up, taken aback her mouth stays agape. “I- I’m-”
Eliza interrupts her “You don't need to say anything honey, you won't get rid of us if you don't want to.”
Lena smiles but then frowns, “Us?” Eliza grins, “Yes us, my daughters won't think any different, they will welcome you with open arms, literally. Speaking of them, are you okay with meeting them?”
Lena hesitates “Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother… Maybe I should just go.”. Eliza won't have that “Lena, of course, you won't be a bother, please don't ever think that.”
With a boost of confidence, she answers: “Okay… let's do it but if you want me to go, I will leave right away.”
Eliza sighs, they will have to work on that.
They make their way over to Alex and Kara. Kara is acting like she hasn't been watching them since Eliza went over to Lena and Alex is on the phone texting, probably with Kelly her not-yet girlfriend.
Standing in front of them Lena looks like she is ready to bolt. Kara seems to sense this because she takes a step to Lena and gives her a bright smile. Eliza knows that Kara is a hugger when meeting new people but it looks like she is holding back, she tries not to overwhelm Lena. Eliza is once again proud of how understanding and loving her daughter is.
“Hey, I’m Kara, it's really nice meeting you. I've been worried about you but you look better now, I hope Eliza could help you.”
Lena stutters for a moment and blushes slightly, “I- I‘m Lena. Its uh it’s nice meeting you too. And yes Eliza has been amazing.” she has a warm smile on her face.
Alex was watching their interaction rather interested, Alex can sense the still anxious energy that goes out from Lena so she tries to look less intimidating, holds out her hand for Lena to take and says: “Hello, I’m Alex, nice to meet you.”
Lena nods slightly, takes her hand and says “My pleasure, I’m Lena”
Eliza is not gonna comment on how different the introductions went between them.
At that moment the parade starts to walk again, it looks like the technical problems are solved. Eliza looks to Lena and asks: “Do you want to walk with us?”
Lena just nods and sends her a smile.
They walk for half an hour, talking about their lives, finding out mundane things about each other. Lena fits perfectly to them and she already build some kind of connection with Kara.
Eliza has mostly seen the girl in pain today and right now seeing her laughing freely at something Kara said, makes her heart jump with happiness for the girl.
Kara asking Lena something brings Eliza back out of her thoughts, “Hey, how do you identify?”
Lena first looks a bit taken aback and frowns, but after a moment she seems to remember that she can trust Kara and quietly says something to Kara, it's so quiet that Eliza can't make it out.
Kara smiles broadly and says “Will be right back.” and with that, she is gone somewhere in the crowd. Lena looks a bit perplexed but doesn't say anything.
A few moments later Kara comes back with her hands behind her back. She gives Lena an encouraging smile and orders her to close her eyes.
Lena does it without further asking, she closes her eyes and gives Kara her hands as ordered.
Kara lays something into her hands and tells her to open her eyes again.
The moment Lena lays eyes on the little flag with the orange and pink colour tones, her eyes start to fill with tears. She looks shocked, surprised but also beyond happy like she's never thought that anyone could be that kind to her.
It melts Eliza's heart to see Lena waving the little flag for a moment before throwing herself into Kara's arms to thank her, forgotten her shyness. Happy tears streaming down her face she beams first at Kara and then at Eliza over Karas back.
It was a good idea to go to pride this day. not just did they hopefully change the life of someone but someone also changed their lives.
Eliza is sure that they will never forget this day, that a new chapter of their lives just started, at least for Lena and Kara.