I was going to wait until Monday night to start posting this, but I got a little more buffer than I thought I would because my beta gave me back some chapters/parts earlier than I thought she would. Am a little nervous about trying to follow Triangle and HOME, though.
Speaking of betas - thanks for the help rkn! Promise, will get you the next part in a couple of days. I know you want to find out what happens next from the section you were reading.
And thanks to Queen of Capes for the name of the chocolate shop. I didn't actually use your name, but it's very similar to the name you suggested, and it was "inspired" by your name, you might say.
This is a next generation love story. However, it does focus a little more on Clark than most stories of this style do, in regards to his relationship with his daughter and with Lois. This is particularly true in the later chapters. However, I can't tell you in advance which chapters will feature Clark's POV, if that's what you're looking for.
This story is largely b-ploted. It does have an A - plot in the background, but it isn't really the focus of the story.
My interpretations of Lois and Clark's reproduction and the consquences of that are a little different than standard. This does not mean I don't respect, understand, or enjoy next generation which follows the more standard fanon concept. Because I do. But I have reasons for believing the way I do, and I think it really adds to the plot to write it this way. If anyone needs me to explain this in more detail, I would be happy to do so. However, please wait until chapter four first, where it is discussed in more detail in the story.
Oh and one last thing:
Chocolate Warning: Story reseveral literal and medaphorical references to chocolate. You might want to have some handy before you start reading. (If you like chocolate, that is.)
So..........
On with the story!
A BOX OF SWISS CHOCOLATES
Kiley Kent put the finishing touches on her latest painting. It was an oil–based piece, showing the heroism, horror and pain of war. She often painted “happier subjects”, not wanting to dwell on somber issues like this one. But this subject was important to her as well, particularly after helping survivors of the latest war, in South America, as Superwoman. She wondered if this painting would sell as well as her others had. People were used to bright, happy paintings when they came to Kiley Kent’s openings.
She stroked her long brown hair absentmindedly as she began to put away her supplies and clean up her studio a bit. It was a bright room with lots of windows and hardwood floors. Of course, she could put things away at super–speed, and she did that occasionally when she was in a hurry. But Kiley preferred to clean up and put away her things at normal speed. It gave her time to relax, especially after working on an intense, detailed painting.
Kiley was doing remarkably well as an artist, especially since she had only finished college three years ago. So well that she could actually make her income solely on the sales and promotions of her paintings. Therefore, she could choose when she wanted to work on her paintings and when she wanted to take a break. This arrangement came in very handy when she needed to be Superwoman.
Actually, she couldn’t really believe she was doing so well. She remembered the years before, when everyone expected the oldest child of Lois Lane and Clark Kent to become a reporter. Her third grade teacher had scolded her for her lack of writing skills. “You must not be trying hard enough! Any child with the name ‘Kent’ can write better than that!” Her middle school and high school teachers had almost demanded she join the school paper, saying they needed an asset like her to make it succeed. She snorted. Of course, that only made her want less to do with writing than she had to begin with, which wasn’t very much. Fortunately neither of her parents had been upset that she wasn’t ‘following in their footsteps.’ Apparently her mother had received that kind of pressure from Grandpa Lane, and she couldn’t do that to her daughter. Her father had always supported whatever his children wanted to do, as long as it was ethical. Of course, she was following in her father’s footsteps with his “other job.”
Kiley finished cleaning up and surveyed the room, satisfied. Her studio was attached to her apartment, which she was grateful. For one, it meant she didn’t have to share it with anyone. That made changing into Superwoman so much easier. The arrangement also made it easier because she didn’t have to transport across town in order to “go to work.” That meant she could work as early or as late as she wanted. Secondly, she was a rather quiet person who preferred to work alone. She was very shy about showing her paintings with others until they were finished. Even her parents, who were always supportive, rarely saw her paintings until they were finished.
So, now that this painting was done, she needed too put it on the list for her next show. Hopefully, people wouldn’t be too bothered by it. When was her next show, anyway? She wondered, looking at her calendar. June 29th, exactly one month from today. Was there enough time today to call the gallery today, or should she wait until tomorrow? Kiley sighed and used her X – ray vision to check the time. She didn’t have a clock in her studio because she didn’t want to be distracted by time while she was working on her paintings. When she needed to know the time, she simply looked through the wall and looked at the clock inside her apartment. It was 6:00PM. Was that too late to call Mr. Grant? Probably, but you never know. She sighed and exited the studio, satisfied that it was clean again. Then, entering her living room, she picked up her phone. There was no reason why she couldn’t try to reach him, anyway.
The phone was answered on one ring. “Metropolis Art Gallery”, a familiar voice said into the phone.
“Hello, Mr. Grant, this is Kiley Kent,” she told him politely.
“Hello Miss Kent!” Mr. Grant replied enthusiastically. “What do I owe the pleasure of talking to my gallery’s best artist?”
“I just thought I let you know I finished another painting that you can put on my list for the June 29th opening. I’m calling it ‘War’s Honor and Grief.’”
There was a pause. “Ummm”, Mr. Grant stammered. “That’s a different kind of painting than we usually get from you, but um, okay, I’ll put it on the list.”
“Thank you, Mr. Grant,” Kiley replied, then hung up the phone, looking around her living room. It was a pretty room, decorated in blue and purple. A few of her favorite paintings hung on the walls. One was a bright sun, covering the entire canvas. The sun had a special meaning to her, because it gave her, her father and her siblings their special powers. Another was a painting of her family. Her father had his arms rapped around her mother. Her brother, Thomas, stood beside both of them. Almost as tall as Dad, Thomas had Mom’s hair and Dad’s facial expressions. Kiley and her sister, Alice, sat in chairs in the front. While she had brown hair, a shade between her mother’s and her father’s, Alice had inherited blond hair from Grandma and Grandpa Lane. Both the girls had their mother’s facial expressions, however. She found it very special that she had painted her family portrait herself, even though had copied the painting from a photograph because she had wanted to be in the portrait as well.
Thinking back to her new painting, ‘War’s Honor and Grief’, Kiley paused. Maybe she should start to do other paintings like that when it was appropriate. She didn’t realize how much painting the battles, injuries, the destruction of life, and deaths would help her work through her feelings about that war. She always liked to keep a positive attitude, and that attitude was reflected her bright, happy paintings. But a person didn’t live as she did, seeing disasters, crime, and terror without being affected. Perhaps this was one reason why her father often reported Superman stories. It was his way of working through the pain of hard situations. Her paintings could help her that way, too.
Thinking of her parents, she realized she needed to change her clothes. They had wanted her to come to dinner at the house tonight. That meant she should probably wear an outfit not completely covered with paint, Kiley thought, grinning. After quickly changing into green top and tan pants, she spun into her Superwoman suit and prepared to fly to Hyperion Avenue. Her outfit was blue, much like her father’s, although a lighter shade, and she completed the look with a yellow cape and yellow boots as well.
However, as it was commonly known in the Kent household, a superhero’s work was never done. On her way over, she noticed a thug attacking a young woman. She quickly defused the situation and sent the scumbag to the police station. She often wondered why people had to attack others like that. Then she remembered her family and how they were doing their part to help. She smiled.
Kiley landed at super-speed, so no one would see her touch down, in the backyard behind the fence. She knocked on the door. Her brother, Thomas answered the door, who had also been invited for the evening. Thomas was two years younger than she was and had moved out to their grandparents’ farm after finishing college at Kansas State. Grandpa Kent had welcomed his assistance on the farm. He was getting to old to do the work himself, but with Thomas’s assistance, he could still do some farming. Grandpa and Grandma Kent had been invited for the night as well, but the elder Kents had opted to spend some time alone instead.
“Hey, Kiley!” he greeted her. “Dad’s got dinner all set. Come in.”
Everyone else was already seated at the table. “Sorry I’m a little late,” Kiley apologized. “I was, you know,” she explained, making the famous Kent hand signal for “superhero business.” Everyone nodded, understanding. It went with the territory in their family.
“So, the steak looks great, dad!” she exclaimed. Then she took a sip of milk “And, of course, Mom sure can pour milk!” she added, and everyone laughed. Everyone in the Kent family knew that Lois couldn’t cook. From the time they were small, Mom’s ‘duty’ in making dinner was to pour the milk because she hadn’t wanted to be left out of the preparation.
“Well, the meal wouldn’t be complete without it!” Mom laughed as well, enjoying her close–knit family’s teasing.
“Of course it wouldn’t, honey,” Dad agreed kissing her hand.
Mom smiled at him.
Kiley sighed. Her parents had always been openly affectionate toward each other. She used to be embarrassed by it when she was younger. These days, she understood a little better, particularly because of her activities as Superwoman. As much as she appreciated her family’s support and her recent understanding that painting could help her through trauma, she wished she had someone close to be with, like her father did. Would true love ever come?
“So, Thomas,” she said, trying to draw her mind to more pleasant thoughts, “how are things in Smallville?”
”Pretty good.” Thomas replied. “I’m glad to be done with college so I can really start farming. I‘m showing Grandpa some of the new techniques they taught us in college, as well as handling the more physical jobs around the farm. And he’s teaching me how his land works. “I hate leaving him alone when I have to be Whrilwind, though.”
Whirlwind was Thomas’s superhero persona. His suit was green, with lots of swirls on his costume. However, since he lived in Smallville now, his ‘superhero business’ usually consisted of bigger accidents and disasters that were announced on LNN. He had, however, been known to stop an occasional smaller-time criminal in the area.
“Don’t worry about that, Thomas,” Dad told him gently. Your grandpa is just glad you’re out there so he can still do a little farming. Besides,” he chuckled. “Apparently my parents still like time alone.” He stressed the last word.
“It must be something in this family.” Alice grumbled, looking accusingly at Mom and Dad. Alice was only seventeen, and she had not yet reached the “understanding” about her parents open affection.
“So, how is your painting going, Kiley?” Mom asked, apparently deciding to change the subject.
“Well,” Kiley replied. “I just finished a new one today. It’s a little different than my usual stuff. I’m calling it ‘War, Honor and Grief.’ It’s kind of my reaction to the war in South America where I helped with the relief effort.” I’m actually thinking of doing others if I get in to another situation like that. It helped with my pain.”
Everyone nodded. “That’s good Kiley. You need to have a release like that. I worry that you kids are taking too much on sometimes.” Dad commented seriously.
Everyone rolled their eyes. Dad was so overprotective! “We’ll be fine, Dad,” all the kids said at once.
“So, what’s going on in the newsroom?” Thomas asked. Living in Smallville, he didn’t see his parents often, although he could fly over whenever he needed to see them. Still, he liked to hear what was going on in his parents’ lives.
“Well, we’re trying to figure out what’s going on with the city council.” Mom replied. “It seems some people are noticing they’re not spending as much money on the city as they usually do. But we’re still paying the same amount of taxes. So they must be using it for something else. Something personal, maybe even illegal. It will be a great story.” Mom was getting excited, the way she always did when she was in pursuit of something big.
“That story could take a while to come together though,” Dad continued. “So Jim’s got us on other stories as well.” Jim, “Jimmy” Olsen had become the editor of the Daily Planet after Perry had passed away. Perry had wanted to give the job to Lois or Clark, but they wanted to remain work partners, having a bad experience with Lois as the editor several years before. Perry had considered appointing them co–editors in chief, but the ‘suits upstairs’ would not pay two editor-in-chief salaries. So Jimmy, who had become a reporter and a well–known photographer in the last few years before Perry died, had taken the job. After all, Jimmy was the other member of Perry’s Planet “family”, and the only other person he really trusted. And thus “Jimmy” had become “Jim.”
“We know you’ll get it eventually. You always do.” Kiley told them, realizing they needed some support to complete a long investigation. It was nice to encourage her parents the same way they had always encouraged her and her siblings.
“Thanks Kiley,” Mom replied.
“So, your are you ready for your senior year, Alice?” Dad asked, realizing everyone had talked about what was going on in their lives except her.
“Sure Dad. You know I’m on the honor role at school. I should be able to get some scholarships for college easily,” she commented shrugging. Alice was serious about her studies, tending to be a perfectionist like Mom. But she also had a very casual attitude about school, because she wasn’t sure what her ‘purpose’ in life was yet. Mom and Dad had wanted both wanted to be reporters since at least high school. Thomas had wanted to take over Grandpa Kent’s farm since he was five years old. Kiley had not found her passion for painting until she was in college, as that was when most of Metropolis had stopped ‘strongly encouraging’ her to pursue a career in journalism. But she had begun to develop an interest in art when she was in her junior and senior years.
Alice had interned at the Daily Planet last year. She thought it was okay, but she wasn’t sure that was what she wanted to do for a living. She did know that she wasn’t going to live in Smallville like Thomas, though. It was too quiet there.
The family continued to “catch up” on smaller matters and otherwise enjoy each other’s company. They had always been a close family, especially since Dad was finally able to tell all of them about his alter – ego and their heritage. But since Kiley no longer lived at home and Thomas had moved to Smallville, they didn’t see each other everyday. So Mom and Dad liked to schedule “family dinners” every couple of weeks were they could all be together again.
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Clark was glad that these family dinners were going so well. After Kiley and Thomas moved out, he was afraid that their family would go apart. But they were just as close as they ever were. Clark was overjoyed when Dr. Klien had found a way for he and Lois to have children, and he valued his relationship with them.
He was, however, glad that his oldest children had found their niches in life, like he had found his in writing, even though he didn’t see them everyday. Thomas was happy in Smallville. And his Kiley was doing wonderfully as a painter. He hoped Alice would find her way in life as well, but she had plenty of time.
Kiley and Thomas also assisted him in superhero activity, which he was immensely proud of. He hadn’t wanted to force any of his children to adopt the kind of lifestyle he had, but they accepted it without question, even though he knew it was hard on them sometimes. Lois said it wasn’t surprising, considering they had the same gentle, kind personality that he had. Of course, he told Lois she had just as much effect on their young superheroes that he had. Lois had the same desire to make a difference in the world he and the children had. And her insistence that the children drink milk, he grinned inwardly, certainly improved their health.
Lois. He loved her so. Clark was so glad he and Lois were still happily married. They had a relationship, a partnership, like his parents had. Speaking of which…
As Kiley and Thomas took off, he rapped his arms around Lois. “We’ve got some great kids.”
She rapped her arms around his neck. “I know. Hey, thanks for the chocolate cake. It brought back memories and was delicious.”
“I was hoping you’d remember that kind of cake. It completed a great first date.” They kissed.
In the next room, Alice pretended not to notice her parents. That lasted until Lois and Clark sat down next to her. “What are you watching?” Lois asked innocently.
“I was trying to watch ‘Time of Day,’” Alice replied with a hint of a grudge.
Clark smiled again. He knew Alice would grow up eventually. She was already shaping out to be a little Lois, complete with perfectionism, impatience, and a loud personality. That of course, was something of a contrast to his other daughter, Kiley, who was so patient and quiet.
Although he was loved all of his children, and was proud of all their accomplishments, he had to admit he shared a special bond with Kiley. Their personalities were so similar, so they understood each other extremely well. And he and Kiley shared the superhero duties in Metropolis, often working together in big disasters like fires, bombs, and bridge collapses. He was glad she had found an outlet to some of the pain she experienced through her painting. He hoped, however, that someday she would find the constant support from someone like Lois. As he thought this, he took Lois’s hand and kissed it.
She smiled at him.
And Alice groaned again.
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Kiley flew back to her apartment, smiling. It was so nice to see everyone again. They had finished their dinner with a dessert of chocolate cake. Kiley grinned. There was nothing like Dad’s chocolate cake to make a Kent Family Dinner perfect. Of course, Mom thought so, too, naturally. Actually, she always seemed to get sentimental when Dad served that kind of cake, for some reason. It probably had something to do with their courtship. Dad was sentimental enough about those things stuff that he would bake a cake just to remind Mom about it. It was a good thing Alice hadn’t noticed Mom’s sentimental attitude. She sighed and decided to read her new book.
The next morning, Kiley got up and ate a quick breakfast. Then, she suddenly felt like she hadn’t had enough chocolate. She felt a sudden desire for real Swiss chocolate. She visited Switzerland for chocolate at least once a month. Sometimes there was just no substitute for the real stuff. And even though she had just eaten Dad’s chocolate cake last night, this was one of those times. She flew off to Switzerland.
Once again, Kiley touched down in an alley faster than a normal human eye could see. She didn’t have any preferences on which chocolate shop she used. They all sold the same stuff, and that’s what counted. So she walked about two blocks in the small city before spotting a place called “The Choco Bean.” They had lots of choices, including fudge, chocolate candies, brownies, truffles, and variations of each in milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and nutty chocolates. She finally decided on a box which had all the varieties of chocolate candies. Once she picked up a box of chocolates, she quickly went to the cash register.
Then she took a step back. Standing behind the cash register was the most handsome man she had ever seen. He had bright blond hair, a long pointy nose, and deep brown eyes. Kiley blinked a few times. Just in time, she remembered to speak Swiss German, as this was the language of the area. “Uh…hi. I’d just…like to buy…these chocolates,” she stammered. This whole situation was catching her off – balance.
“Sure,” the man replied in the same language, although did she detect a soft accent? “I just had these made yesterday,” he said, gesturing toward her box of chocolates which he was ringing up.
“That’s great! There’s nothing like real fresh Swiss chocolate!” Kiley exclaimed. She had hit the jackpot today!
The man grinned. “I have them made every three days, at 7:00 AM, if you want them as fresh as they come.”
Kiley made a mental note to come to this chocolate shop whenever she wanted Swiss chocolate.
“By the way,” he added, “My name is Larry. I’m the owner.”
Kiley nodded. She would remember that. “And I’m Kiley.”
