Chapter 21

Kara, Lena, Lori and Eliza all make their way towards Lena's car, which is parked right out front of Kara's apartment building. Lori is still holding Eliza's hand as they walk towards the car, which has caused both Kara and Lena to have smiles on their faces, happy to see how much Lori has taken to Eliza, and how much Eliza is taken with Lori too. Due to Lori and Eliza holding hands, and walking in front of Kara and Lena, it does allow Kara and Lena to both slightly touch hands against one another as they walk side by side, giving off a hint of wanting to hold each other's hands, even though they know they can't, because if Lori sees that she may have a lot of questions.

"Can I sit in back with 'liza please?" Lori asks, cutely, as she looks back at Lena and Kara, once they have arrived at Lena's car.

"That's up to Eliza, darling." Lena says, with a loving smile.

Lori now turns and looks up at Eliza, all while still holding her hand.


"Can you sit in the back with me, 'liza. Please?" Lori asks, in a cute voice.

"Of course I can, honey." Eliza says, with her own loving smile.

Lori just smiles very widely at Eliza agreeing to that.

The group all then get in the car, with Eliza helping Lori get into her car seat, before getting into the back of the car and sitting next to Lori. Lena is the one who takes her seat in the driver's seat, while Kara rides shotgun next to the brunette.

"Okay. Are we all ready to go?" Lena asks, once she turns the engine on.


"I think so." Kara nods.


"Yeah. We are all good back here. Right Lori?" Eliza says, as she looks at the 3-year-old.


"Right." Lori nods, cutely, again.

"Okay." Lena says, with a bit of a chuckle in her voice, "It's going to be about a half an hour drive to the petting zoo, depending on traffic."

Lena then begins driving the car, and over the next half an hour the foursome listen to some music on the radio, while also chatting with one another about various things. Eliza spends her time talking to Lena about some scientific things which go over Kara and Lori's heads, but while they do that Kara just turns back to look at Lori, and pulls funny faces at the 3-year-old, making her giggle. Soon though, once Eliza and Lena finish talking, the Danvers matriarch starts up a conversation with Lori, asking her a bunch of questions, clearly in an effort to get to know, and understand, this little girl better. While Eliza does this with Lori, Kara and Lena don't really talk with one another. They are both just happy to glance at each other every now and again, and shoot happy smiles at one another. Kara and Lena know this isn't a bad thing. It is a good sign for a relationship when you can be completely comfortable just being in the presence of another person, and not feeling like you have to say anything.

The group all soon arrive at the petting zoo, with Lena pulling up into the parking lot at the front of the place. As they pull up, Kara can see that there are enough spaces in the car park for at least 100 cars to be there, but there are only about 5 other cars there right now, all of whom are likely the employee's cars.

"Wow.... when you said you booked a petting zoo.... I thought maybe you'd just booked a private tour.... So we'd be going backstage..... Not this." Kara says, as she looks around at the emptiness of the car park.

"Oh, yeah.... Well, places like this usually have days that they reserve to be booked out completely by a private individual, or a company. As this is a relatively small business, I was able to do it, by, of course, paying a decent amount of money. However, for anything larger than this, like Disneyland or something, I doubt there is any amount of money that I could pay that would make them close it for a day just so me, and the people I bring with me, can go inside the park by ourselves." Lena explains.

"Yeah.... well.... maybe that's for the best. The whole fun of Disneyland is that there are a bunch of other people there. It just adds to the magic of it all." Kara replies, "It being just us here today, will also add to this, as it will make things feel more personal with all the animals we will get to see!"

"Yes. I hope so." Lena smiles, "That was my intention at least. That, and also making sure to keep Lori's privacy secure."

"I understand that." Kara nods.

The group all then begin to get out of the car, with Kara, Lena and Eliza all getting out, and Kara then quickly going to Lori's car side door, and helping the 3-year-old out of her car seat, picking her up in her arms as she does so. Lori just happily cuddles closer to Kara upon the blonde doing this, and Kara plants a kiss on the top of Lori's head.

"Isn't that cute?" Eliza says, with a smile, as she looks at Kara and Lori.

"Yes. It is." Lena smiles, as she stands next to Eliza, looking at Kara and Lori too.

Lena and Eliza continue to look at Kara and Lori for a few more moments, before Kara eventually looks up at them, and notices the pair looking at her and Lori. Both Eliza and Lena quickly look away, a bit embarrassed that Kara caught them staring.

"So uhhh.... Lena..." Eliza begins awkwardly, as they start walking towards the entrance to the petting zoo, "What animals do they have here?"

"Oh well, this is technically both a petting zoo, and an animal sanctuary. So, outside of the basic farm yard animals, the other more exotic animals are all rescue animals, who are either going through rehab at this zoo, with the aim eventually being to release them into the wild once their rehab is complete. Or alternatively, these animals are here just because they can't be released back into the wild, which I know usually is when an animal has lived in captivity for so long that they have lost all their instincts to hunt and gather their own food, so they wouldn't survive long." Lena explains.


"I see." Eliza nods.

"Anyway, to answer your question. I know there are sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits, horses, chickens, and maybe some donkeys. Then, as for the more exotic animals, they have some non-poisonous snakes, various different types of birds, different types of monkeys, and a few other things. They are all mostly the smaller animals. I think the biggest animals they do have are some elephants. However, when I was reading online about this place, it explained that the elephants are really not for guests to see. This place wasn't suited to house elephants, however, the owners of this place found out about this pair of elephants who were being rescued from a circus, and the rescue organisation was struggling to find a place that could take both of the elephants. Apparently they are a male and female elephant, who are basically a couple, who have been together for the last 25 years. If this place didn't take them, they would have had to separate the two elephants, and send them to different zoos, miles away, where the pair would never see each other again. The owner of this petting zoo heard about it, then just arranged for various areas of this petting zoo to be updated for the arrival of the two elephants." Lena says.


"Wow.... That's amazing." Kara says, listening to the story about the elephants, "I'm glad this doesn't sound like it's one of those zoos which are just for tourist, and a peak behind the curtain shows that the animals really suffer in the zoos. This is a place that actually cares for the animals."

"Yes." Lena nods, with a smile, "I didn't want to take Lori to a zoo, like the one you described, as while you may see a larger variety of animals, you would see them at the expense of actually paying so those animals would continue to be trapped in those zoos, for profit, rather than living free healthy lives in the wild."

"Well, it's good we won't be seeing any of that today." Eliza says.


"Yeah." Lena nods.

"What animals are you most excited to see today, Lori?" Eliza asks the 3-year-old.

"Uhmmmm..... Mommy said we can get to feet some sheep, even some baby sheep! I was to feed the sheep! I want to stroke the sheep, and give it kisses!" Lori says, excitedly.

All three adults simply smile at Lori saying that, it being so very cute, and what they have all come to expect from Lori, or at least, certainly Kara and Eliza.

"Yes. There will be sheep here, Lori." Lena smiles, "But we have to remember, we need to be careful with the animals. They are not toys to be played with. So, if they don't want you to hug them, or for you to give them a kiss, then you should let them be. You don't want to frighten them."

"Yes, mommy. I know. But I'm not scary." Lori says.

Kara, Eliza and Lena all chuckle at Lori saying that.


"No, you are not, darling. However, the animals we are about to see are just that, animals. They are not used to being around humans. They are not meant to have humans coming up to them and hugging them out in the wild. So they don't really know humans, so are a bit uneasy around them sometimes. Maybe that won't be the case here, because these animals might be used to humans because of the zookeepers, but maybe not. We will have to see. I just don't want you to be upset if an animal you want to play with doesn't want to play with you." Lena explains.

"Yes.... mommy.... I think I understand." Lori says, with a nod of her head.


"Good girl." Lena says, as she walks over to Lori, who is still being held in Kara's arms, and cups the young girl's cheek, in a sign of affection.

Lena, Eliza and Kara, carrying Lori, then all walk up to the entrance to the petting zoo, where Lena spends about 2 minutes speaking to someone, before they are all ushered inside the petting zoo itself. Once they are inside, they are greeted by a man, who looks to be in his 50s, wearing the same type of gear you might expect a zookeeper to wear, including shorts. In fact, he is kind of wearing the same sort of get up as Steve Irwin might have done. Although, there probably isn't any crocodiles for this zookeeper to wrestle in this petting zoo.

"Hello, my name is Dr Mark Solas. I am the owner, and head zookeeper of this sanctuary." The man says, "It is a please to meet you all. Forgive me, if you feel I am being rude, but I do read the news, and you are Miss Luthor, correct? We corresponded via email to set today up?"

Right now Dr Mark Solas is looking directly at Lena, and of course it isn't surprising that he knows what Lena looks like, Lena is a pretty photographed woman, with her face being plastered everywhere when she testified against Lex, at his trial. Then also being plastered everywhere when she recently moved L-Corp to National City, and renamed the whole company.

"Yes, I am Lena. It's nice to meet you." Lena says, with a polite smile, as she sticks out her hand, which Dr Solas shakes.

"A pleasure." Dr Solas smiles, "And may I ask who else you have in your group today? I know you mentioned you were arranging this for a young'un, and may also have a few other people in your party too."

"Yes." Lena nods, "Well, this is Eliza, and this is Kara. Then, Kara is holding Lori."

"Good to meet you all." Dr Solas nods, as he looks at Kara and Eliza.

"Hello." Eliza smiles.


"Hi." Kara says.


Dr Solas then walks closer to Kara, who is still holding Lori. As the man does this, Kara literally feels Lori tighten her grip on her, clearly not wanting Kara to let her go right now, and maybe being a little afraid of this new person, who she hasn't seen before.

"Hello, Lori. May I ask how old you are?" Dr Solas asks, in a polite, and calming, voice.

Lori simply shakes her head no, which makes Eliza and Lena chuckle.

"Ah, I see. Is that a secret?" Dr Solas asks, clearly not ready to give up on talking with Lori.

Lori shakes her head no once more.

"Hmmmm..... If it's not a secret, then perhaps I can guess?" Dr Solas says.

Lori doesn't say anything, or shake her head yes or no.

"Hmmmm..... I think..... I think you must be..... 40 years old!" Dr Solas says.

Lori shakes her head no very dramatically at the zookeeper saying that to her.

"Okay." Dr Solas says with a chuckle, "Hmmm.... how about..... 5 years old?"

Lori shakes her head no again.

"4 years old?" Dr Solas asks.

Lori shakes her head no once more.

"Ah, well, I very much don't think you are 2 years old, or younger. So, that must mean you are 3 years old!" Dr Solas says, in another warm voice.

"Yes." Lori says, in a shy voice, while also nodding her head yes.

"Okay. Well, shall I tell you a secret, Lori?" Dr Solas says.


Lori nods her head yes again.

"We have a few animals here, who you are going to see today, who are the same age as you." Dr Solas says.


"Really?" Lori asks, in awe, now actually speaking up.


"Yes." Dr Solas nods, with a cheerful smile, "Now, what animal do you all want to start off with."

"SHEEP!" Lori says, eagerly, clearly coming out of her shell now, after how Dr Solas was so good with her.

Dr Solas just chuckles at Lori saying that, while Kara, Lena and Eliza all smile warmly.

"Very well. We shall go see the sheep first." Dr Solas says, "It's actually pretty lucky, as not only are the sheep one of the nearest animal enclosures, but it's also their feeding time about now. So you may all actually get to feed them. Unfortunately that won't be the case with all of our animals. Some of them have dietary needs we need to closely monitor, while others just are not appropriate to be fed by anyone other than our trained zookeepers."

"That's okay." Lena nods, "I already informed Lori that she needs to be careful around some of the animals, because she very much would like to hug one of the sheep, but I told her the sheep may not want her doing that, and she needs to respect it."

"Ah, yes." Dr Solas nods, as he glances at Lori, and starts to walk, with Lena, Eliza, and Kara holding Lori, following the owner of this petting zoo. "That is true. Some of our animals really do not want to be touched or held by us. Although, we do have quite a few animals that don't mind it at all, and are rather affectionate to humans. As for the sheep, most of the sheep probably won't care too much about Lori stroking them. They might be a bit too bug for Lori to hug. However, there is a lamb who was born a few weeks ago who Lori might be able to cuddle with a bit, and even feed the baby a bottle of milk."

"YES!!! I want to feed the lamb!" Lori says, eagerly.

Lori now kind of struggles in Kara's arms, signalling that she obviously wants Kara to put her down, so that she can walk herself.


"You want to go down, huh?" Kara says, "Okay."

Kara then puts Lori down on the ground, and Lori quickly moves over to Lena's side, taking her mothers hand. Lena just so happens to be walking next to Dr Solas. Eliza and Kara are now also walking side by side, behind Lena, Lori and the zookeeper.

Dr Solas then continues to talk to them all as they walk along, giving more information about the zoo, and everything they do to help the animals, which even includes breeding them, if the animals are healthy enough to do so. However, Dr Solas made it very clear that they do not forcefully have the animals breed or anything, and have no intention of taking the babies away from their parents, to potentially sell them for profit. The breeding all just happens naturally, as it would between animals in the wild. Plus, a lot of the animals here, beyond the farm yard animals, are actually considered to be threatened or endangered species, so breeding is very much encouraged. Obviously most of this conversation about animal breeding goes completely over Lori's head, but she is just happy to hold Lena's hand, and look around as they continue to walk towards their destination.

Eventually, after going through a few gates, the group arrive at an enclosures which very much looks like it just houses a bunch of different farm yard type animals, in several different pens, which are separated by wooden fences. As they walk into the area, and look around, the group can see pens for goats, sheep, rabbits, pigs, and a few other farm yard animals. Of course, the first pen that they walk into, is the one with the sheep in. Presently, all the sheep are just standing around, eating some grass, and don't even seem to take notice of the group of humans, and one alien, walking in.

"Here we are." Dr Solas smiles, "This is the enclosures we keep most of these animals in, but only during the opening hours of the petting zoo. The smaller animals, like the rabbits, which don't really need much space, and need more secure fencing to make sure they don't escape, due to them being so small, are kept in their enclosure all the time. However, as for the larger animals, like the pigs, goats, and these sheep, we move them into these enclosures every morning, before the zoo opens. This allows our zookeepers to closely monitor all these animals, and also do basic check ups on them, if needed. Plus, they are basically on display for the public to see. But, once the zoo closes, we take them out to large fields we have behind this area, where they are all free to roam and graze, and generally stretch their legs. Of course, all the animals are separated by species, as we don't want any trouble occurring by fights or anything, which are rare, but can happen. I'm saying this, because I don't want you to think we keep these sheep here all in this enclosure, which is rather small, given their size, all the time."

"Of course. It's nice to know you don't just lock these animals away here all the time." Lena smiles.

"Agreed." Eliza nods.


"Can I feed the baby sheep now?" Lori asks, eagerly.

Dr Solas chuckles at Lori asking that.


"Hmmm...." Dr Solas says, as he looks around, "It looks like the lamb, and her mother, are not out of their pen yet. They might be inside back there, as this pen allows the animals to go inside to a sort of stable area, and out here, whenever they choose. How about we go have a look, and see if we can find the lamb, and its mom, and get some milk for you to feed it Lori?"

"Yes!" Lori nods, eagerly.


"Great." Dr Solas smiles, "Unfortunately, not everyone will be able to come with us, as too many humans walking about might overwhelm the sheep, as the inside area isn't too big. So perhaps one adult can accompany myself and Lori, then we will come back out with the lamb?"

"Okay." Lena nods, and then turns to look at Lori, "Who do you want to come with you Lori?"

"Uhmmmmmm....." Lori says, as she looks between Kara, Lena and Eliza.

After a few moments though, Lori's eyes soon settle on Eliza.


"'Liza! Can you come with me pleaseeeeee?" Lori asks, in a cute voice.

"Of course I can, honey." Eliza smiles, lovingly, "As long as that is okay with your mom?"

"Yes, it's okay." Lena smiles, so happy to see how well Lori has taken to Eliza, and Eliza to Lori once more.

"Very well." Dr Solas says, "Let's go."

Lori then takes Eliza's hand, and the two begin following the man into the sheep stable area, leaving Kara and Lena standing out in the pen alone, other than about 4 sheep that are eating grass around them, but none of them are closer than about 10 feet.

"Lori really likes Eliza." Lena says to Kara, with a smile.


"Yes. I can see that. Eliza has always had that sort of warm personality, that's hard to dislike. I felt it ever since I arrived in her home, despite me being traumatised from seeing my whole world destroyed." Kara explains.

Once Kara says those words, Kara realises she just slipped up and said her 'whole world', however, Kara then just hopes that Lena thinks she was using a metaphor, rather than being literal.

"Yes." Lena nods, shooting Kara a sad sympathetic smile, "I'm happy you had someone like Eliza."

"Yeah. I'm happy too." Kara smiles.

Lena and Kara then fall silent once more, just looking around them at all the animals, and occasionally glancing in the direction of the barn, to see if Lori, Eliza and Dr Solas are coming back out.

"Hey." Kara soon says to Lena.

Lena now turns to look at Kara, and before she can say anything, Kara takes her in for a kiss. Lena is surprised by this, but she soon melts into the kiss, growing a smile on her face as she kisses Kara. Just as they part from their kiss though, Lori, Eliza and Dr Solas, who is now holding a baby lamb in his arms, come walking out of the barn. Eliza, for her part, quickly puts her hands over Lori's eyes, for a few moments, pretending to just be playful with the 3-year-old, when in fact, she was just trying to make sure Lori didn't see Kara and Lena kiss. Hopefully that worked.

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