310. Chapter 310

The last time Alex gathered them all to make an announcement, it was a little bit anticlimactic.

James and Winn had blinked for a moment, and thought about it for a moment more, and immediately it made sense that of course Alex was dating a woman, and of course that woman was Maggie.

The most dramatic thing that happened that night was Winn trying to play geometry with sticks.

So they’re not sure what to expect tonight, and Kara’s not spilling.

“Maybe they’re getting engaged,” James suggests, and Kara just grins and adjusts her glasses.

“Or maybe that supposed mission out of state the other week was really a shotgun wedding in Vegas,” Winn suggests.

“Mr. Schott, they returned with three members of Cadmus in handcuffs, in what way does that strike you as a fake mission?”

Winn’s voice goes up slightly and it reminds Kara forcibly of Cisco, and she smiles to herself.

“They could’ve had some downtime, we don’t know!”

“Hi guys,” Alex interrupts, face a combination of flushed and terrified and excited.

“Look at them holding hands like that, see, totally shotgun wedding!” Winn splutters, as Alex and Maggie cast him identical mock glares.

“We didn’t get married, Winn,” Maggie sing songs as she plops down next to him, her hand still in Alex’s vice-like grip.

“What’s up, Alex?” James asks, and J'onn looks on with soft eyes.

Alex looks, wide-eyed, at Kara, at Maggie. They nod and Alex gulps and Alex fiddles with Winn’s bottle of beer and Alex speaks.

“So since I’ve come out, as gay, I’ve been… doing a lot of research. Learning a lot of things. About… about queer life. And about myself.”

“I knew those lesbian movie nights were a good idea!” Winn high fives Maggie, and she laughs softly and shakes her head, her eyes fixed supportively on Alex.

“And I’ve been learning new concepts… identities… well, not new, but things I didn’t know… possibilities I didn’t know were there. And I’ve been realizing a lot of things… about myself… and who I am. Inside. And I… who I am is… do you guys know the word nonbinary?”

J'onn smiles proudly and James cocks his head and Winn raises his hand like a proud nerd in math class.

“Neither one extreme nor the other!”

“In terms of gender, Winn.”

“Sometimes it means neither woman nor man; for others, it means both; for still others, it means different things at different times,” J'onn supplies softly, and they all turn to him with identical expressions.

“I’ve lived long lives on two planets,” he waves them off, gesturing back to Alex, still wearing a proud, soft smile.

“Is there a different pronoun you’d like us to start using for you, Alex?” he invites, and Alex could cry with relief, and squeezes Maggie’s hand, hard.

Maggie brings it to her lips and kisses each knuckle.

“They,” Alex says, softly at first, but then they clear their throat and look into Kara’s warm eyes as they say it louder, stronger.

“They. I want they pronouns. It just… it fits me better than… than anything else. I just didn’t know it was a possibility before.”

“And you’re still okay with Alex, or do you want us to go with something else?” J'onn prompts into James and Winn’s silence.

“I like Alex. Or… or Al. I like Al… a lot. But Alex is… Alex still fits.”

Maggie kisses their hand again, and Kara nudges her shoulder into James and tosses her hand toward Winn.

“You two are awfully quiet,” she speaks her sibling’s fear for them, and Maggie rubs her thumb across their hand as they wait for the boys to respond.

“No, no, I’m sorry Alex, I’m not… I’m just processing, that’s all. Come here,” James gets up and leans over and Alex hugs him hard and trembling and terrified.

“Is it okay if I have questions?” he asks, and Alex nods nervously.

“Do you want us to treat you different? Like, I want to treat you how you want to be treated, and I guess now that I’m thinking about it, I’ve treated you kind of like a sister. Do you need me to adjust that? Treat you more like a brother? Or both? Or neither? Or different things at different times? Is it okay to ask that?”

Alex grins and nods and touches his shoulder. “Yeah, I said you could ask. Uh… you know I don’t know yet? I like… I like feeling like… like the boyish parts of me are acknowledged, that makes me really happy… like, Winn, when you call me dude, it makes me feel really proud. Like you see me, you know? But I don’t think I would want to be treated basically like one of the guys all the time. I still feel like a lesbian. So there’s that. I guess I’ll let you know what I like and don’t like as it happens?”

James nods and smiles at them, and reaches out to touch their hand. “I’m really proud of you, Alex. Al. You’re amazing, you know that? Whatever pronouns you use.”

Alex grins again and suddenly Winn is up and suddenly Winn’s arms are around their shoulders.

“I never had a brother or a sister. Then I got James, and then I got you. And Maggie. And now I have a brother and a sister and a sibling, and it’s… I always wanted a full family. I love you, Alex. I love you so much.”

Alex pats his arm and pulls their head back to look at him. “You alright there, Winn?”

“I’m just proud of you, okay?”

They smile and kiss his cheek.

“You’re not so bad yourself, Winn. You can get off me now.”

“Yes soldier,” he murmurs as he scurries back to his seat.

“And you knew already,” they say across the table to J'onn.

“I had a feeling, Al. And your brothers aren’t the only ones who are proud of you.”

Alex bites their lip and Alex battles tears. “You’re not disappointed? Because you don’t have two daughters anymore?”

Their voice cracks and everyone reaches across the table toward their hands all at once, because suddenly not a single Superfriend has dry eyes.

“Alex. I watched you grow up, and I watched you turn into the finest child any man could ever ask for. You’re a protective sibling, a loving partner, a brilliant doctor, a fearless agent. And you’re the best child any parent could ever ask for. I’m not losing a daughter, Alex: I’m not losing anything. I’m gaining a child who’s learning more about themself, who’s growing more comfortable, more happy, within themself. And that is all I could ever want for you, or for your sister.”

Before he’s even finished talking, Alex is up and across the table and kneeling next to his seat and burrowing themselves in his chest.

“I love you,” they whisper as Maggie squeezes Winn’s hand and Kara cries happily into James’s shoulder.

“I love you too, Alex. I love you too.”