Two plus six plus five equals family

Chapter 9

Kara dropped the plate she'd meant to put on the table when she heard Krypto barking while one of the children was crying hysterically. "Oh Rao," she gasped, sharing a concerned look with the other adults, who were all hearing the same thing.

Lena rushed to the bedroom Lizzie and Lyra shared with Jamie, but neither one of them was crying. Her heart thundered in her chest while her youngest daughters went to hide under the bed. She followed Kara into the next bedroom, where Lorraine was bawling her eyes out.

"Please, she didn't mean to," Larissa pleaded, whimpering. "Please, Lena. Please, Kara," she said, voice desperate.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Kara replied, keeping her voice soft, barely audible with Lorraine's crying. "We're not angry. Can you tell us what happened?"

Larissa glanced at Lorraine, who only cried harder and louder. "She wet the bed, Kara," she answered, casting her eyes down to the floor.

"Okay," Kara said, taking a deep breath. "Accidents can happen, sweetie," she said to Lorraine, cautiously approaching her bed. "We're going to get you fresh clothes and new sheets, it is okay."

Lorraine continued crying and when Jamie walked in and went to hug her, she shoved the little girl away, roughly. Her eyes widened when Jamie fell and she looked at her own hands with a mixture of horror and shock.

Jamie sniffled when she hit her head. "Mama," she cried, running off to her mothers.

Lena felt at a loss, not knowing how to deal with Lorraine who was crying inconsolably and had portrayed a brief outburst of anger. She cringed when her daughter's crying turned into screaming.

Kara wanted to cry along with Lorraine, that was how powerless she felt. Back on Krypton she'd helped a bit with Kal-El, but he was a calm baby who cried very little. Raising children, six children, was difficult, especially when all six of them were traumatized.

"Can you bring my piano here for a moment, El?" Lena asked in a whisper.

Kara didn't ask why and went to get Lena's piano, taking it into the bedroom where Lorraine was still crying and screaming.

Lena sat down behind her piano and began to play.

Mama's little girl paints the world with her magic wand

Mama's little child breathes new life to the morning time for me

Though we're apart, her thoughts follow me

When I come home, Lorraine smiles with the dawn

Lorraine smiles, and she radiates the glow around her halo

When she plays, Lorraine smiles

On a summer day, Lorraine smiles

A new day, Lorraine smiles

Kara listened as Lena played and sang. She breathed out in relief when Lorraine's cries slowly subsided. "Can you hop out of bed, sweetie?" she asked gently, smiling. "I'm going to put new sheets on your bed, it's all good."

Lorraine ran out of the bedroom, into the kitchen where Jamie was rubbing at her eyes. "I'm sorry, Jamie," she said, chewing her bottom lip.

Jamie looked up at Lorraine and smiled, stepping forward to hug her. She frowned when her cousin tensed. "I forgive you," she replied, still smiling as she let Lorraine go.

"Forgive," Lorraine whispered, tilting her head to the side. She looked at her hands and shook her head.

Lizzie exited her bedroom and wrapped her arms around Kara's leg, wailing when Kara tried to place her in the high chair.