Remember... this is Lois reading Clark's paper. Non italicized text in <> is her thoughts, etc.

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Martha

I turned his head until he looked me in the eye. "Clark, if a grown up man doesn't want to be your daddy, then he's not man enough to live with us. Ever. I wouldn't ever marry someone who doesn't love you as much as I do and if I never find someone like that, I have you and that's more important. I love you more than I love the idea of being married again."

<That sounded like Martha, too. Could I be that kind of mom? Would I be when Clark left after the baby's fifth birthday?>

"You were married to my daddy?"

"Yes, I was, sweetheart."

"And you loved him?"

"Very much."

<I wouldn't be able to say that, though. Would I? Would I love Clark and he'd leave us anyway? Would he love us by then? And not leave?>

"Do you think there's another man out there who would love both of us?"

"I don't know, sweetie. But until we find one, it's you and me okay?"

He nodded. "And Nana and Pop Pop."

I laughed. "And Nana and Pop Pop."


*~*2*~*
June 1990
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~

I met the man I call my Dad when I was five-years-old.

<He had to mean Jonathan. Right? Surely there wasn't someone else I hadn't heard of, was there?>

"You have a date tonight, Mama?" I asked.

"I do." She hunted through her jewelry box looking for her other earring.

"Is he going to be mean like that Mr. Smith was last year?"

"I hope not."

"Is he going to be nice like Mr. Johnson?"

Mama laughed. "Mr. Johnson is nice, Clark." I knew Mr. Johnson was nearing eighty, but said he loved me like his own grandson and even let me call him Pop sometimes.

<I suppressed a giggle at that.>

"Is he going to be nice like my daddy was?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know. He seems like a nice man, but I don't know if he's going to be as nice as your daddy until I've talked to him a while."

"Does he know about me?" I didn't look at her as I spoke.

"Yes, he knows about you." Finding the earring at last, she slid it into her ear and fastened it.

"What's his name?"

"His name is Mr. Kent. He lives over on the farm by Josh. He's been in the Navy and just came home to help his mama take care of their farm since his brother is moving to Arkansas."

<It was Jonathan. It had to be. Unless this guy was Jonathan's brother or something.>

"That's nice of him."

"That's very nice of him." She found her watch and put it on.

"And he doesn't live far away like Mr. Smith did."

"No," Mama said slowly. "He doesn't."

"So if he does turn out to be nice like my daddy, we wouldn't have to be far from Nana and Pop Pop."

"No, we wouldn't, but Clark?"

"Yes, Mama?"

"Even if things go well with him tonight, and I decide to see him again, that doesn't mean we're going to get married. It might be a long time before we decide to get married, even if he does turn out to be a nice man." She looked me in the eyes. "And I don't want you saying anything to him about it, okay?"

"Okay."

~*~

I hid at the top of the stairs when I heard the knock on the door. This Mr. Kent better treat Mama right or I would have something to say about it. I wasn't sure what that meant but Pop Pop had said it once so I thought it.

<I giggled again at the idea of Clark standing up to Jonathan when he was little.>

Mama opened the door and I heard them saying something I couldn't quite make out, but I guessed they were saying hello.

"Clark?" Mama called.

"Yes, Mama?" I called back.

"Can you come here please?"

I hesitated, afraid I was going to be in trouble for sitting there, and then made my way slowly down the stairs.

"Come here, son." Mama smiled at me and held out her arm. I practically ran to her, almost hiding behind her leg. "Mr. Kent wanted to meet you before we left."

I looked up. "Hi, Mr. Kent."

The larger man knelt down so that we were eye to eye. "You know, Clark, I don't think I'd like it too much if some strange man came to my house and took my mama out to dinner and a movie without knowing something about him first."

<My eyes filled with tears. I could see why 'He Didn't Have To Be' was one of Clark's favorite songs.>

"Yes, sir." I wasn't sure what he was talking about, but I'd found it was always best to agree with grown-ups.

"So, what if you came with us? I wouldn't want you to stay up worrying about your mama."

I looked up with wide eyes at Mama. "Can I, Mama? Can I come?"

A single tear streaked down Mama's face. "Of course you can. If Mr. Kent wants you to come, then that would be wonderful. You know I always love spending time with you."

My small hand reached up and brushed away the tear. "Then why are you crying?"

<A tear streaked down my face as well. I would cry, too, I was sure, if someday Joe, or someone else asked me out and wanted to take my son or daughter with us.>

"No reason," she smiled. "So what do you say? Are you going to come with us?"

A wide grin split my face and I let go of her leg to jump up and down. "Yes!" I quickly tamped down my excitement. "I'm in my pajamas. I can't go to town in my pajamas."

"Well, we better get you changed. Come on." Martha pushed me towards the stairs. She turned to the other man before she followed. "We'll be right back." I knew she was almost crying again. "Thank you," she said quietly. I wasn't sure what she was thanking him for.

He smiled at Mama. "I'll be waiting."

~*~

I sat by the window in the old pickup truck. I knew it had been washed that afternoon. Mama sat between me and Mr. Kent. I liked Mr. Kent. I bet Mr. Kent was trying to impress Mama with the clean truck. A clean truck probably would impress her – clean little boys sure did.

<I was quite sure that clean little boys and trucks both impressed Martha.>

We went to Maisie's Diner for dinner. I got to have a cheeseburger and fries *and* a milkshake. Mama always made me get water on the rare occasions we went out to eat. I'd dutifully ordered water just as usual, but Mr. Kent had been the one to suggest a milkshake.

After dinner, a drive by the movie theater showed the only choices were a girly princess movie or something Mama and Mr. Kent had indicated was for 'grown ups'.

Instead, Mr. Kent suggested we go for a drive and watch the stars for a while. Before long, the truck was parked on the little road near Shuster's Field. The three of us climbed in the back of the truck and Mr. Kent spread a blanket out for us to sit on.

I talked for a while about my friends and the frog I'd found the day before and how my Mama was much nicer about frogs than most other mamas. Nana was, too. Grandma Davis would never, ever let a frog in the house and neither would aunts Jenny or Deborah. Aunt Dorrie might but she lived a long ways away.

<I wasn't so sure about the frog thing. Maybe I was having a girl...>

There was a slightly weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I decided it was because I'd never been on a real date before. Before long, I dozed off, my head resting on Mr. Kent's shoulder as they continued to talk quietly. Well, I guess they did. I was asleep. I wasn't sure how long I'd been asleep when I suddenly jerked awake.

<Poor Clark. That was about how I'd felt the first time I went on a real date, too.>

"Mama, I think I'm gonna be sick." The words barely made it out of my mouth, when my dinner followed – all over the nice Mr. Kent.

Mama helped me to the side of the truck where the rest of my dinner found its way onto the ground. I could hear Mr. Kent moving around behind me. When I thought I was done, I sat back in Mama's arms.

"Here," said Mr. Kent, holding out a Thermos of water. "Take a sip and swish it around then spit it out."

I nodded and did as I was told. Mama held me close to her and pushed my hair back out of my face. "Are you okay, Clark?"

"I dunno. My tummy still hurts."

She looked at Mr. Kent. "I'm so sorry, Jonathan. He's never sick."

He smiled back at her. "It's okay. It's just one of those things, but I think we better get this little guy home."

Mama nodded. "That's probably best." She helped me climb down and into the cab, keeping me close to her the whole time.

Mr. Kent changed shirts, I noticed. He must have kept another one in the truck just in case a five-year-old threw up on him or something.

I knew Mama had loved Chris, but I'd never thrown up on him. If Mr. Kent still wanted to be part of our lives after I threw up all over him, maybe he was a good guy after all.

~*~*~
September 1990
~*~*~

I was lying in bed a few months later, when I heard Mama and Mr. Kent talking on the porch and I wanted to go sit with them. I remembered the night I'd gone out there when she was talking to Mr. Smith and that hadn't turned out so well. Maybe going down there wasn't such a good idea after all.

But this was Mr. Kent. He liked me, even though I'd thrown up all over him. He'd even taken me fishing a couple of times. I loved to fish but Pop Pop couldn't fish much anymore because of his roomba something that made his knees hurt. And Grandpa Jerome had died before I came to live with Mama and my Daddy Chris. That's why my middle name was Jerome. Mama was the only one who ever used it though and then only when I was in trouble.

I hated getting middle named.

Would she middle name me if I went down to sit with them a bit tonight? I hadn't seen Mr. Kent in nearly a week because he'd been busy on his farm.

Finally, I decided it was worth the risk.

I went downstairs and pushed the screen door open. "Mama, can I sit with you for a little while?"

Mama smiled at me. "If it's okay with Mr. Kent."

I looked at him hopefully and he smiled at me too. "Of course. Come on, Clark. Come sit over here."

I climbed between them and rested my head on Mama as she wrapped her arm around me.

"You know," Mr. Kent said seriously. "There's something I've been wanting to ask your mama and I think it's only right that I ask her with you here too, because it affects you."

I had no idea what he was talking about. It sounded like grown-up decisions and I didn't get to help with grown-up decisions. Getting to help with this one made me feel very grown-up indeed.

<There were tears in my eyes. I was sure I knew what was about to happen.>

He cleared his throat and then stood up and wandered around the porch for a minute looking kinda nervous. I knew he'd been really nice when I'd thrown up on him, but I didn't know if I could be as nice as he was if he threw up all over Mama. And he looked a little green around the gills, as Nana might say.

After a minute, he came back and bent down in front of us, putting one knee on the ground. He pulled a box out of his pocket and opened it.

It was a pretty ring. It wasn't like the one Mama wore on her right hand. She said she wore it on the right because she was a widow. A widow was a lady whose husband had died, she told me. This was like the one Nana wore with the ring that was like the one Mama had. She wore them on her left hand because Pop Pop was alive.

She gasped. "Jonathan!"

"Martha Clark Davis, will you marry me?"

Marry him? He wanted to marry Mama? "Does that mean you'll be my Daddy?" I asked, not noticing I'd interrupted them.

He looked at me very seriously. "I'd like to be your Daddy. I'd like to be your Mama's husband. I love both of you very much and I want to help take care of you."

I stood up and looked at him carefully then knelt down next to him. "Mama, will you marry Mr. Kent?"

<I smiled through my tears. That was so sweet.>

She wiped the tears from her face as she nodded. "Of course I will." She reached out and touched Mr. Kent's face. "I love you too, Jonathan."

He took the ring out of the box and looked at it closely. "I know this isn't an engagement ring, and if you want me to get you one I will – gladly. But I was thinking. Chris was a big part of your life for a very long time and he is always going to be a part of your heart and part of Clark's, too. Would it be okay with you if you still wore Chris's engagement ring with my wedding band?"

I didn't understand Mama's tears as she took the ring off her right hand. Mr. Kent stuck the other ring back in the box and took the one my Daddy Chris had given her.

He put the ring on her left hand and she kissed him. That was yucky and I couldn't help but make a disgusting noise.

Jonathan laughed and stood up and swung me around. "We're gonna be a family, son."

It was the first time he'd called me son. I think he almost had a few times before, but he'd stopped himself.

He was right. Mama and I were a great family. And we had Nana and Pop Pop but Mama's brother Jerry was talking about wanting to move here and help with the farm and it would be a tight fit for all of us. He was married with three little girls of his own and I would have to share my room with a girl. No, thank you.

Was that why Mama was going to marry Mr. Kent? He was still holding me and Mama had come to stand next to him and his arm was around her. "Mama?" I asked.

"Yes?" Her eyes were still bright with tears, but her smile was bright.

"Are you marrying Mr. Kent because Uncle Jerry is moving here and there's not enough room?"

"No! Clark, I love Mr. Kent and I'd marry him whether Uncle Jerry was moving in or not."

"Good." That was settled.

~~~~~
Martha
~~~~~

Jonathan had asked me to marry him. He was a dear, wonderful man, but I knew before we could actually get married, I needed to tell him about Clark. The whole truth about Clark.

<How could she do that? That would a hard thing to do, telling someone that your son was found in a spaceship. I was going to have a hard enough time telling whoever it was that finally decided he was willing to take on me and my baby the whole truth; I couldn't imagine that.>

The next day, I called Wayne Irig up and asked him to deliver the crate that he'd been keeping for me since Chris died to the Kent farm. A couple days after that, he did.

Then Jonathan called. "Martha, do you know anything about this crate Wayne just dropped off?"

I sighed. I hadn't known when Wayne would get around to it. "Yes, I do," I said softly. "Instead of going to dinner in town tonight, can we stay at your house and I'll tell you all about it?"

"Of course. Can you tell me what it's about?"

"Clark." That was all I would say. "Please don't ask anymore right now."

"Okay," he replied simply. "I'll pick you up around six?"

"No, that's okay. I'll drive over." I thought he'd understand, but on the off chance that things went terribly wrong, I would have a way home.

"I'll see you then."

~*~

I was nervous when I got there. Jonathan asked if I wanted to eat first. He wasn't the world's greatest cook, but he made a mean barbeque sauce and knew his way around a grill.

<I was nervous for Martha, even though I knew the eventual outcome. Had Jonathan been accepting right away? Or had it taken time?>

His mom had moved into the little house on the other side of the farmyard a few weeks earlier. I think she knew Jonathan was going to propose to me and didn't want me to feel like she was part of the package. She was, of course, but that wouldn't have stopped me from marrying him. She made the world's best potato salad and had brought some over soon after I arrived then retreated to her own house.

I only picked at my dinner and Jonathan picked up on it immediately.

He finally set his fork down. "What is it, Martha? Are you having second thoughts about marrying me?"

Tears filled my eyes. "No. I want to marry you very badly. But I have something to show you, something to tell you and after that, you may not want to marry me."

"What is it?"

I wiped my mouth on my napkin even though I hadn't eaten a bite in over ten minutes. "Where did Wayne put that crate?"

"In the barn, like you asked him to."

"Well, let's go."

We walked to the barn and I had him pry the top off, but told him to leave the tarps in place. They were more worn than I remembered, but it had been five years.

"I haven't told you the whole truth about some things," I finally said, sitting on one of the milking stools. "I'm sorry if that hurts you, but I had to be sure before I told anyone else about this. Chris was the only one who knew. Even Wayne only knows that he's been keeping a crate for me."

Jonathan pulled up another stool and sat down near me. "Well, I can't say that I'm happy that you've kept something from me, but you must have had your reasons."

"I did," I said softly, still refusing to look at him.

"And I can't imagine what it might be that you're about to tell me that would make me not want to marry you."

"Before I tell you the rest of the story, how much do you know about me and Chris and Clark?"

He shrugged. "I remember you and Chris being inseparable since kindergarten. I wasn't surprised to hear you'd gotten married. Other than that, I know you weren't married very long but that you had Clark."

"Clark isn't my biological son," I said quietly. "He wasn't Chris' either."

Jonathan nodded slowly. "I'd heard that he was the son of an old friend of yours or something."

I chuckled wryly. "Try or something."

He looked at me, puzzled, but didn't say anything.

"One night, we found Clark, abandoned. We weren't married yet and knew that no one would let us keep him if we weren't so we went to Oklahoma and got married that night. We told everyone an old friend from college had contacted me and her dying wish was for us to raise her son. We drove back up here and fed him and put him to bed and then..." Even though I knew I'd been married to Chris and Jonathan knew I'd been married to Chris, it was still a little weird to talk about. I took a deep breath. "We made love for the first time – the only time – and then he was called to the Irig's. He saved Josh, but the ceiling collapsed on him."

"Oh, Martha. I had no idea that you were only married that long."

I wiped the tears away. "It's okay. We had a wonderful few hours together and if I could have Chris back but Josh would die instead... Well, I wouldn't do that. Wayne came by the next morning and told me what happened and told me to call him if I needed anything. I called him a few days later and had him build a crate around something wrapped in tarps and asked him to store it for me indefinitely without asking any questions about it. And he did. He has. When I called him the other day, it was the first time we've talked about it in five years."

"Well, I haven't heard anything so far that's going to make me not want to marry you."

"I'm getting there. I haven't told you how we found Clark. We were driving near Shuster's Field and we saw a light in the sky. We pulled over and investigated. There was something in the field and in it was Clark."

"What was it?"

I pointed to the crate, but didn't say anything.

"Can I look now?"

"Brace yourself."

He looked oddly at me, but nodded then moved to the side of the crate. He pulled the tarps off then gasped. "What's this?"

<I could imagine what he was feeling. I was feeling many of the same things, I was sure. I wondered if I'd ever get to see it or if this... revelation was the last of what he was willing to share with me and this was only because he was forced to? Or was this all some sort of sick joke of some kind?>

"A spaceship of some kind," I whispered. "Clark was in it."

"Is he..." Jonathan hesitated. "Is he an alien?"

I shrugged. "We didn't know. All we knew was a little baby had literally dropped in our laps and we weren't about to tell anyone. Chris was afraid someone would take him from us and dissect him like a frog. We didn't know if he was from another planet or an experiment from the Soviet Union or even from our own government. We went to Oklahoma and got married. We were planning on it and Chris had bought the engagement ring six months earlier but hadn't actually asked yet."

"So when do we get to the part where I don't want to marry you?"

I smiled through my tears. "Well, if I haven't scared you off yet..."

He sat back down and took my hand. "You haven't."

"We wondered – if he was an alien – if he would be different from us when he grew up. Or – if he was an experiment – if he'd been genetically enhanced. I’m sure you've noticed things about him. He sees a little better than most kids. He's faster than the first graders even though he's only going into kindergarten. He's stronger than other little boys and he hears a lot better too. Except for the time he threw up all over you, he's never been sick – not even an ear infection. I don't know what that means for him growing up, but I have a feeling that he could be challenging. Not because he's not a good boy, he is, but because of his heritage – whatever that is."

<Experiment? Genetically enhanced? Alien?>

Jonathan nodded slowly. "I can see how that might be, but I still don't see why I wouldn't want to marry you."

"It's one thing to ask you to raise another man's son. It's another to ask you to raise a little boy who could very well be an alien."

"You and Chris didn't turn away a little boy who needed you, why would I?"

<Was that it? Was that why Clark did what he did?>

I squeezed his hand a little tighter. "I didn't think you would, but you never know." I stared at our joined hands. "Do you understand why I couldn't tell you until I was sure?"

He smiled at me and tugged on my hand until I moved to sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me gently. "I do."

"Remember those words, Mr. Kent. I hope you're going to need them."

"I am," he said softly and kissed me again.

~*~*~
October 1990
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~

Two weeks later, Pop Pop walked Mama down the aisle. Mama and Mr. Kent had decided they didn't want to wait and that two weeks was more time to plan than Mama had had for her wedding to Daddy Chris. I stood there next to Mr. Kent in my best Sunday suit and tried not to tug at the neck. My shoes were too tight and I couldn't breathe right but it was hard not to squirm even though Nana had just reminded me not to a few minutes earlier.

Preacher Rob, Maisie's husband who'd been there the night Daddy Chris had saved Josh, said some stuff I didn't really understand. Something about deers and loving. I loved deer. It was good and Mr. Kent knew how to make it right – just like Pop Pop did. Then he said something about holding peas but I didn't have any so I stuck my hands in my pockets. Then Mama and Mr. Kent said some stuff to each other about loving cherries. I think I was hungry. Everything had to do with food and Nana had made cherry pie for later.

<I tried hard not to laugh at Clark's interpretation of wedding vows, but sobered as I remembered my own. And Clark's. Had he thought about holding peas or loving cherries when he married me? Instead of thinking about holding peace and cherishing?>

Then Mr. Kent put the ring on Mama's finger and Mama put one on his. Then Preacher Rob said Mr. Kent could kiss Mama so he did. It was yucky, but they were both smiling when they were done. I figured I'd have a lot of that to look forward to in the future. Them kissing that was.

Mama was moving into Mr. Kent's – I mean Daddy's – house that night. She'd already taken all of our things over there. Well, he'd helped and I had my own room over there, but they told me I had to stay with Nana and Pop Pop one more night. Lana said something about them wanting to be alone to fight over who got which side of the bed since they'd sleep in the same bed now and they wouldn't want to fight over it in front of me. I didn't see what the big deal was, but I didn't understand grown-ups. I'd tried kissing Lana and didn't see why they wanted to do that all the time. She'd pushed me down and told me to not ever do that again.

<That's what he'd been talking about in the car. I could only wish that Lana had never changed her mind.>

We had dinner in the church rec room and I got to eat cherry pie *and* cake. Two pieces of each. And a piece of pecan pie that Rachel's mama brought. And my new Granny Kent had made her famous potato salad so I had some of that too. My tummy didn't feel good after that, but I didn't throw up on Mr. Kent – Daddy – this time. Grandma Davis was there, of course, and happy for Mama and Daddy, but she didn't cook much anymore or I would have had to eat some of her fruitcake. I didn't like it but Mama would want me to eat some, to be polite.

<He could eat all that at age five? It was possible he might even be able to eat my cooking some day if that was the case.>

Daddy and Mama danced then asked if I'd like to dance with them. I said I would but I didn't think I wanted to dance with any other little girls. I'd tried dancing with Lana while they were dancing by themselves, but she pushed me down again. Daddy laughed and said that someday I would. I told him he was wrong.

He picked me up in one arm and wrapped the other around Mama. The three of us just kind rocked a bit, but I guess that was dancing.

There with Mama and Daddy, we'd gone from something's missing to a family.

Looking back, all I can say about all the things he did for me...

I can only hope that I'm at least half the dad that he didn't have to be.

<There was something I couldn't quite put my finger on that was bothering me, but I couldn't quite place it so instead I closed the folder and spoke to Clark.>

*****
TBC

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