Contributions to society extended cut edition

Chapter 1 - new family

Dates: Mother Day 2004-Mother Day 2015

“Clark!” Eliza and Jeremiah waved as the Man of Steel flew in from overhead. It was Mother’s Day and Superman was coming to make a visit. Eliza and Jeremiah may not have been his parents, but they had still helped him grow accustomed to life on Earth and, as such, he did still consider them family. So for Mother’s Day, he was coming in to say hello and thank them, once again, for all that they had done for him over the years…
“Eliza, Jeremiah,” he greeted both of them with a smile. It was when he landed that the duo realized that he had not come alone to visit and celebrate.
“Who is this?” Eliza was first to ask, a fond and curious smile on her face as she studied the young girl who had come along with Superman.
“Kara Zor-El, my cousin!” Superman replied proudly, patting the trembling girl’s shoulder. She looked as if she were trying to melt away into his shadow.
Eliza and Jeremiah both shared stunned looks, but then they began to smile brighter than the sun after a few seconds.
“That’s wonderful!” they cried in unison, surprised but happy that Superman had found another Kryptonian. That Kryptonian, meanwhile, continued to look quite scared, but the longer and longer she remained in Eliza and Jeremiah’s presences, the more and more she warmed up to them.
“I can tell that this isn’t about to be any ordinary Mother’s Day, is it?” Eliza asked Superman with sparkling eyes.
“I’m afraid not ma’am,” he replied, eyes twinkling with the same loving and laughing light. At the same time, then, Kara Zor-El finally dared to leave Superman’s shadow and step out into the sunlight, looking up at Eliza and Jeremiah with wide and curious eyes.
A few days later, Eliza and Jeremiah officially adopted young Kara Zor-El and she was thusly renamed Kara Danvers. It certainly was not a normal Mother’s Day at all. After all, how many mothers received another child as their Mother’s Day gift?
“But I cannot raise her,” Superman admitted regretfully. “And Ma and Pa Kent are getting too old to raise another child,” he added, eyes deep and imploring. “I do promise that I will try to help out as much as I can, I will send any and all funds that you may need, but will you please look after her?” he asked Eliza and Jeremiah. “In the spirit of Mother’s Day, will you be willing to play the part of a mother once again?” he gently pushed Kara over towards Eliza. Eliza’s heart warmed up immediately and she, after only one quick look at her husband, agreed at once. So once again, Eliza Danvers became a mother. On Mother’s Day, she became a mother twice over and received the strangest and most wonderful gift of all: another child.
Not long after, Kara Danvers started her first day of school. It took some time, but as the years rolled by, she began to get acquainted with her new life and home and even though there were a lot of rocky starts to be had, it did finally all start to fall into place eventually. In time, Kara even managed to get her new sister, Alex Danvers, to warm up to her. They, although it took quite a lot of time, fighting, resentment and bitterness, eventually became best friends and sisters and, at long, long last, Kara finally felt happy once again. She finally felt like a part of this new family.
Several months later, Kara finally had her first Christmas with her adopted family. Kara got her very first cellphone, but for protection, Jeremiah also gave her a second one that was only supposed to be used in emergencies and it was only supposed to be used with family. No other person outside of the Danvers household was supposed to know that second phone’s number.
“It’s for you and your safety only,” he instructed her as they set up both her phones. “If you ever find out that someone is stalking, harassing or bullying you, or trying to, you just use that second phone to call me, ok?” he asked.
“Ok,” she promised, and although the instructions did frighten her a little, the care and well-meaning nature behind the gift made her heart warm up like the roaring fire in the hearth right before her.
Then, for Kara’s first Earth birthday, the family went out to dinner at their local Olive Garden, which was know for being very pro-alien, as well as having delicious food in general. It was a good restaurant and they were sure Kara would love it! And she most definitely did. She wound up ordering a double order of Creamy Mushroom Ravioli, a double order of Fettuccine Alfredo, and a double order of Seafood Alfredo. It was a lot, but since it was her first Earth birthday, the Danvers allowed her to have it all. But the rest of them chose much smaller meals. Eliza ordered Chicken Margherita, Jeremiah ordered Salmon Piccata and Alex ordered Braised Beef Bolognese with Pappardelle.
But even when dinner was finished, the meal itself was still far from over.
“Dessert time!” Jeremiah exclaimed happily, and then the family ordered another round of food. They ordered 1 Piece Black Tie Mousse Cake, 1 Piece of Lemon Cream Cake, 1 Piece of Tiramisu, and 1 Piece of Seasonal Sicilian Cheesecake. It was quite a lot of food and the family left very, very full, but it had been a good night nonetheless and Kara fell so in love with the place that it was eventually agreed that they would go to Olive Garden once every three months as long as she and Alex could keep up good grades while in school.
“Deal!” Kara had promised fervently, already hungry for more. This earned a laugh from her foster family and all four of them had never felt closer.
But then not too long after this, Jeremiah Danvers went missing. He and his work partner, Hank Henshaw, had been tasked with tracking down an alien and neither of them ever returned from the mission. It caused a rift in Alex and Kara’s relationship, Alex blaming Kara simply because she was an alien. But in time, Alex did finally forgive Kara and she apologized for taking her anger out on her foster sister.
“I shouldn’t have overreacted and lashed out at you. It was unfair of me. It was no more your fault than it was mine or mom’s,” Alex hung her head as she begged for Kara’s forgiveness. Kara was more than happy to oblige, taking the grieving Alex into her arms and holding her close for the rest of that night. The very next night, the two sisters and Eliza went out to dinner at Olive Garden, in memoriam of Jeremiah. And for every year after that, it became tradition to go, both on Mother’s and Father’s day, in honor of Kara’s arrival and Jeremiah’s departure from the family respectively.