Chapter 2: HealJordan and Jon tentatively approached the couch as their mom searched for the sunlamp.
"Are you cold?" Jon asked, looking at the blanket their mom had tucked around him.
Superman opened his eyes. "The blanket helps."
"So you are?" Jon asked.
"When I'm hurt, I can't stay warm as well. Your mom knows that."
"Do you need another blanket?" Jordan asked.
"No, but thank you, Jordan."
Jordan beamed.
Superman knew his name.
"Good news, we have a sunlamp!" Lois declared, carrying it in with her and looking around for an outlet. "Bad news. The only outlet I can find is in the boys’ room."
"That's okay! He can use our room!" Jon assured.
"Yeah!" Jordan agreed.
Their mom looked at Superman.
"You'll be on the floor. The beds in there are too small and the cord isn't long enough to reach the outlet even if they weren't," she said, holding up the pathetically short, three foot long cord.
“That’s fine,” he said with a tired smile.
“Alright. Do you think you can get up?” Lois asked, glancing at the angry bruise.
“If I can’t, I’m sure you’ll find a way,” he said before slowly sitting up. He closed his eyes and bit back a groan.
“We don't need to rush. Jon, Jordan, go set up a spot against the wall near the outlet. You can take the pillows and blankets from your dad's and my room,” she said, taking a seat beside Superman.
Jon and Jordan dashed off.
“You get the pillows,” Jon delegated.
“Okay!”
Jordan grabbed every pillow he could see, and within ten seconds they had more or less stripped their parents' bed.
Jon led them into their room, dumping their parents' blankets on the floor before kneeling down and situating them into a skewed rectangle to serve as a very rough sleeping bag as fast as he could. It ended up looking like a rectangular nest. Jordan followed it up with the pillows, placing them at the far end.
"There!" Jordan said as their mom entered the room with the sunlamp.
"Good job, boys," she said, smiling approvingly at their work as she put the lamp down beside the nearby outlet. She then returned to the hall.
"Ready?" Lois asked Superman, who was leaning heavily against the wall just beyond the doorway.
"Yeah." With Lois' help, Superman entered the room and lowered himself onto the makeshift bed.
Jon and Jordan kept their distance, watching anxiously. It was so surreal seeing Superman dependant on another person, and seeing how easily he looked to their mom. . . .
Mom was . . . what did his teacher once call Superman? Oh, ‘epic’. Well, their mom was epic too, Jordan decided as Superman laid down and their mom positioned the sunlamp after plugging it in.
Jordan swallowed. He really hoped this worked.
She turned it on.
Superman sagged in relief the moment the light touched his skin.
“It’s working!” Jordan said, pointing at Superman’s side.
The bruising shifted in hue, slowly changing from purple and blue to brown and yellow, although the gray starburst remained stubbornly fixed.
“Feeling better?” Lois asked as Superman clenched his jaw and closed his eyes.
“Yeah, I can just feel– YOUCH!” He grabbed his side and curled in on himself.
“What’s wrong?!” Lois cried, grabbing his shoulder as Jon and Jordan gasped.
Panting, Superman slowly relaxed. “Ribs healed. Wow, that hurt.”
“Sounded like it,” she said, before biting her lip. “Here, let’s reposition this."
She aimed the lamp a bit better, targeting the yellow edged gray starburst still plastered across his side like a large hand.
"It's not healing," Lois stated, confused and concerned.
"I'm sure it will in a bit," Superman said, trying to sound reassuring.
"You should be now though," Lois countered, about to continue before glancing at Jon and Jordan who were both watching her anxiously. She took a deep breath. "Okay, at least the bruising is gone and your ribs have healed. How do you feel?"
"Much better than I was," he said as he closed his eyes for a long moment.
"Superman?" Lois asked.
He didn't respond.
"Hey, Superman," she pressed again, and Jordan was astonished when she gave Superman’s cheek several firm pats. “Hey.”
He opened his eyes. “Huh?”
“You fell asleep on us,” she said, and Jordan could tell she was worried.
Jordan was worried too.
Was it normal for Superman to just fall asleep like that? Did he normally sleep?
“Oh. Sorry,” Superman said, blinking up at her.
“I’m going to make a call,” she said, before quickly adding, “Don’t worry. I'm not calling in the DoD, but I think we should inform them. They might have information they can give us.”
Superman nodded in understanding. “Okay.”
“In the meantime, you should go ahead and sleep. I’ll leave the lamp on,” Lois said, before turning to Jordan and Jon. “And you two need to get ready for bed. It is way past your bedtime. Can I trust you two to be good and actually get to sleep so Superman can get some rest or should we move you two to the living room?”
“We'll be good and quiet, Mom,” Jon immediately promised with Jordan nodding beside him.
"Alright. I'll be back to tuck you two in soon," she said before going to her room to make the phone call.
For the first time ever, Jordan and Jon got ready without complaint and were climbing into bed within five minutes. Superman appeared to be deep asleep.
Their mom came in a bit later and, before Jordan knew it, he was staring at the ceiling covered with long shadows thanks to the sunlamp.
Not that he minded. He couldn’t sleep in the dark and appreciated the large 'nightlight'. Granted, it was doubtful any monsters were nearby with Superman in the room, hurt or not.
He turned his head, finding Superman still asleep on the blankets and pillows he and Jon had placed on the floor.
It was crazy.
And SO COOL.
They were helping Superman!
After a while, he looked over at Jon who soon looked back. Jon smiled, just as bewildered and excited as he was with everything that had happened since coming in from cooking s’mores.
Jordan suddenly frowned.
Where was Dad?
Mom had said it would take him a while to get back with their food from the store, but this felt like a
long time. Too long.
Superman suddenly rolled over, bringing his hand to his injured side and rubbed it. He opened his eyes, confused, as he sat up.
“Superman?” Jon whispered. “You okay? Should I get my mom?”
“I’m okay, it’s just itchy. I guess that’s a good sign,” he said, trying to look at the mark.
It did appear to be smaller.
Superman laid back down and made sure to be under as much of the light as possible.
“What’s it feel like? The light?” Jordan asked softly, nervously.
“The light?” Superman asked, taking a moment to process the question. “It feels . . . like a soft blanket. Like feathers on my skin. Why?”
“Just wondering. Does the sun feel that way to you too?” Jordan asked, shifting forward on his bed, curious.
“The sun is much stronger, and when I really need it, it feels . . . hm, like warm sparkling water, spreading over and through me," Superman said, smiling.
"Wow!" Jon exclaimed. "That sounds cool!"
"I love the sun. It does feel nice," Jordan admitted shyly, before looking down with a frown.
"Jordan?" Superman asked, concerned. "What's wrong?"
Jordan, to his shame, sniffled.
"He's remembering something," Jon pointed out helpfully.
Jon always knew.
Jordan nodded.
"What? What's wrong?" Superman asked, and Jordan was amazed how gentle and earnest his voice was.
"They . . . they said I was weird," Jordan said, wiping his eyes.
"Weird? Who? Why?" Superman asked.
"At school," he muttered, trying not to cry more than he already was.
He couldn't be a baby in front of Superman!
"I said the sun tickled and they laughed and said I was weird and that that’s not how the sun feels at all." He ducked his head. “They . . . they were mean.”
And they had been, but he didn’t want to explain how much or say what else they had said.
“Oh, Jordan,” Superman breathed. “Come here.”
Jordan obeyed, getting out of bed and joining him on the floor, but he felt really confused. He looked up at Superman.
His voice sounded
so familiar.
And then Superman pulled him into a hug, never minding his injury or bare skin.
“Kids can be mean sometimes, and I’m sorry they were mean to you,” he said, embracing him. “But you know, if you’re weird, then so am I.”
Wow.
He was like Superman!
“Really?” Jordan questioned into his shoulder, closing his eyes and fully relaxing.
Superman gave hugs as good as Dad.
“Really, bud.”
Jordan opened his eyes, finding Jon staring at Superman. He looked as confused as Jordan felt and Jordan knew he had noticed what he had.
Jordan pulled back a little and looked at Superman. Really,
really looked.
“Dad?” he asked before he could stop himself. He didn’t move, uncertain, confused, and, yes, a little scared.
He couldn’t be right, could he?
Superman’s eyes widened in shock.
Just like his dad did whenever he or Jon did something unexpected or when their mom surprised him.
Superman swallowed and took a slow deep breath before giving him a hesitant smile.
“Hey, bud,” he finally greeted.
“Dad!” Jon shouted.
Their dad,
Superman, lifted his arm, motioning Jon to join them. He then promptly hugged them both.
None of them moved for a long moment, though Jordan caught Jon’s eyes as they stared at each other in excited bafflement while still in their dad's embrace.
“What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
Jon and Jordan both startled and turned to find their mom standing in the doorway, concerned. Supe–Dad chuckled nervously.
“They, uh, figured it out, Lois,” he said from the makeshift bed on the floor.
Lois’ eyebrows rose sharply. “Wha–? How!?”
Their dad focused back down to Jordan questioningly.
“He . . . he sounded like Dad. And he hugged me," Jordan mumbled.
Their parents looked at each other in their special, silent way. Finally, their mom relaxed with a sigh and knelt down on the bunched up blankets.
"Boys," their mom said, her voice the most serious they had ever heard. "I need you to listen to what I'm about to tell you. This is very important."
Jon and Jordan glanced at each other before looking back at her.
"You must
never -ever- tell anyone who your dad is. This secret is very important. It keeps us safe," she said.
"Safe?" Jon asked.
"There are people who really don't like Superman. If they knew he was really Clark Kent and had a family, they would. . . ." Lois trailed off.
"They would come after your mom . . . and the two of you," Clark finished solemnly.
Jordan frowned. "You mean . . . like the person who hurt you?"
That was . . . scary.
"Yes." Clark looked down, sad, regretful, and apologetic.
Jordan and Jon looked back at each other, and Jordan felt bolstered in knowing he wasn't alone.
"We won't tell anyone," Jon promised. Jordan nodded wholeheartedly.
"Okay," Lois said, though by her tone they knew the discussion was only temporarily on hold.
Pushing that aside, they looked back at Superman, their dad, and suddenly grinned.
He grinned back. "When I feel better, how about I take you two flying?"
"Yeah!" they both agreed.
"Which will be no sooner than after we have all gotten some sleep and after breakfast,” Lois firmly declared.
"Okay . . ." Jon and Jordan both sighed.
Clark stood up, lifting them both before setting them down on their feet on either side of him.
"Let's gather all of this up and head to bed. Tomorrow is going to be really busy," Clark declared happily.
"Hey, look, you're all better!" Jon exclaimed, pointing.
The mark that had been on his dad's side was completely gone. His dad gently prodded it.
"You're right," he said, pleased.
“That’s so cool. I wish I healed that fast,” Jon said.
Clark gave their shoulders a squeeze. “Maybe one day, you will.”
“Clark?” Lois asked questioningly.
“Jordan is feeling the sun like I do. Now that they know, I think we should ask my father to check them again.”
“Your . . . father?” Jon asked, confused.
Jordan was confused too. He knew Grandpa Kent had passed away when their dad had been a boy, so who could he be talking about?
Clark smiled. “You’ll see, but first, bedtime.”
Jordan suddenly yawned and things moved quickly from there. Before he knew it, his parents had tucked him and Jon in and they were alone in the room with the hall light on instead of the sunlamp.
“Jordan?” Jon whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Our dad’s Superman.”
Jordan grinned in the darkness. “Yeah.”
This was the best camping trip ever.
“Do you think he’ll make s’mores for us with heat vision?” Jordan asked softly after a moment.
Jordan could almost hear Jon grin as he whispered back, “I hope so!”
“Go to sleep, boys!” their dad called from the other side of the cabin. “And . . . maybe.”
Jon and Jordan failed to completely stifle their excited giggles.
~The End~
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