“Come on down,” Jonathan offered, gently coaxing his son. “Tell me what’s wrong. Your mother says you’ve been up there ever since you got home from school. You’ve missed dinner already. And your mother’s peach cobbler. Come on down,” he repeated softly. “It’ll be dark soon.”
He's missing Martha's peach cobbler?
Clearly this is a serious situation.
“Someone giving you a hard time about it?” Jonathan astutely guessed, slipping into what Clark called “Papa Bear” mode. He was fairly bristling with anger that someone would dare bully his son over anything, let alone something as wonderful as having an adoptive family.
Clark nodded once. “Billy Butcher and Nick Goddard,” he confirmed.
Jonathan is not one to be messed with when it comes to his family. After all, this is the man who told Martha's mother to 'stuff it'. Billy and Nick are in for it!
Clark shook his head as he tried to give some order to his racing thoughts. “So, let me get this straight. I dropped out of the sky in a space ship. You found me and decided that some unattended alien would make a great son. You lied to everyone, including me, about where I came from to stop me from being taken away and experimented on. No one was ever the wiser and I happily grew up being more or less just like everyone else…until I started being able to outrun the local trains, see through walls, and hear things that are miles away.” He slumped in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair again.
“It’s a lot to take in,” he said to no one in particular.
No kidding! DC, a scene like this one was particularly hard to write. It took a lot of thought, prayer, time and consideration over the years for just how they would explain to their son that he was not simply left on their doorstep. They were taking a great risk lying to the courts and everyone about Clark. If that doesn't show they love him fiercely, nothing could.
Clark felt a beginning of a chuckle tickling the back of his throat and he let it out, though it was restrained and low, not at all the deep belly laugh of his father. “It’s funny,” he mused after a moment, shaking his head to clear out his sudden lightened mood. “I started the day feeling miserable, my missing past making me feel like I’d popped out of thin air. Now that I’ve talked to you, I still don’t have any answers but…I’m okay with that. Because now I know I came out of thin air…in the best possible way, into the best possible family I ever could have wished for.”
Clark you are a smart young man!
DC, great story!
