This story is a sequel to "The View" and "View From the Other Side".
Warning: It is a next gen-ish story, so don’t say I didn't warn you when a six year old appears
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A View of Life's Greatest Gifts
by Alicia U.
Aah, Sunday afternoon. Time for peace, relaxation, and NFL football! Clark Kent didn't often get the chance to spend an entire afternoon lounging in front of the TV -- nor did he usually want to.
But if Lois offered him the opportunity . . .
Far be it from him to turn it down! Especially if the alternative was spending an afternoon with Ellen Lane!
Lois had taken their daughters to visit their grandmother at noon and didn't expect to be back until dinner time. Unless Ellen really got on her nerves.
Then they were bound to return in less than two hours!
Clark almost felt sorry that Lois had dragged their little girls along with her. He also felt a little sorry for Ellen -- if he knew his daughters, they had not gone to see her without a fight. They just didn't like her. She wasn't exactly the grandmotherly type. Nor was she really the motherly type.
His mother on the other hand . . . now that was the picture perfect grandmother. She had been an exceptional mother and now she was the best grandma a little girl could ask for.
Ellen just didn't relate well to little children. Clark was a bit shocked the Lois and Lucy had turned out as well as they had. She treated the little kids like they were adults and got mad when they didn't understand what she was trying to tell them.
It was hard on both sides and the parents always seemed to be stuck in the middle.
Ellen got easily frustrated because she couldn't relate to her grandkids. The girls hated her because she wasn't nice to them. Lois and Clark were stuck telling their daughters how their grandma didn't hate them and telling Ellen that it was okay to tell a six and seven year old that they weren't her real grandkids.
Fleetingly, Clark wondered what Lois had offered the girls to get them to go with her. Probably ice cream or McDonalds for dinner. No, to get the girls to go with her to Ellen's house, she probably had to promise them ice cream for *breakfast* for a week.
Clark settled back into the couch with a can of beer, a large fully-loaded pizza, and the remote control, happy that Lois had decided to let him stay at home today. He wasn't sure if he would have had the energy to face Ellen today.
He'd been busy as Superman the last few days and was almost feeling a little worn out. And being even slightly weary was not good for preparing a defense against Ellen Lane.
An afternoon of football was just what he needed! At 1:00 he could choose from the Bears vs. the Raiders, the Browns vs. the Chiefs, or the 49ers vs. the Bengals. Easy choice -- he had to go with a team that had Kansas in its name -- even if Kansas City *was* in Missouri. So Browns and Chiefs it was! And then at 4:30 his team, the Buffalo Bills, was playing the Metropolis Meteors. Six hours of pure football fun!
But he still felt sorry for his wife and kids having to spend the day with Ellen while he got to relax in front of the TV.
No so sorry that he was going to turn off the TV and head over there himself.
Just as Clark took the first bite of the first piece of pizza, before the opening kick, the front door burst open. He could hear little footsteps running down the hallway and, sure enough, a few seconds later, a short girl with long red hair, bright green eyes, and a large smile stood at the end of the couch.
"Hi Daddy!" she exclaimed excitedly.
Clark patted the seat next to him indicating that she should sit down. He wasn't sure why she was back or where Lois and his other daughter were, but he was sure she'd tell him. Lois didn't call the girl her little chatterbox for nothing!
The little girl climbed up onto the couch and slipped under Clark's arm, snuggling close to him.
"There's my little angel," Clark said as he planted a soft, affectionate kiss on the top of her head.
"I'm not little, Daddy," the little girl said defiantly, her green eyes flashing sparks of anger.
The football game temporarily forgotten, Clark couldn't help but laugh at her defiant expression. She reminded him of someone else he knew very well. He hid his laugh with a cough and said, formally, "I'm sorry, my big princess Samantha."
Samantha, but not named after Sam Lane. That was something he always had to tell himself. He and Lois wouldn't have named her Samantha if it had been their choice. Her birth parents had given it to her, naming her after her birth father.
"You are forgiven, Mr. Daddy," she said in an equally formal voice followed by a childish giggle. "Ooh, pizza! Can I have a piece?"
Clark smiled at her abrupt change of mood. If only Lois were that easy to pacify!
"Sure, honey." He grabbed a small slice of pizza and handed it to the little girl.
"Where's your mom and sister?" he asked as Samantha chewed her pizza in silence.
"At Grandma's," she answered simply.
Clark wanted to ask her why she hadn't gone with them, but Samantha was quicker than he was.
" I wanted to stay home with you. Whatcha doing?" she asked, pointing at the TV.
Clark knew there was something deeper than the little girl just wanting to stay home with her father, but he decided not to question it right now. Since Samantha had a habit of changing subjects without warning, he knew it would come up again shortly. Besides, Samantha's version was bound to be completely different from Lois's version anyway.
"Watching football."
Samantha was different than his other little angel. Where his older daughter enjoyed more traditionally girly things like dancing and dolls, his younger daughter loved football. For a six year old, she was incredibly knowledgeable about the game and the teams. She knew even more than Lois did!
"NFL or college?" Samantha asked excitedly. "Is Midwestern U playing OSU?"
Clark wrinkled his nose. Even though Samantha had picked up his love of football, she wasn't rooting for the right team. "It's Sunday, honey. College games are on Saturdays."
"Oh yeah, I forgot." Samantha grinned at her father, knowing just how to rile him up. "So OSU kicked Midwestern's tushie yesterday, right?"
Clark rolled his eyes. "You just like OSU because their uniforms match your hair."
"So? You're just mad because your team lost!"
This time Clark was the one to change the subject. He certainly didn't want to get into a discussion about college football with a six year old! "Why didn't you go to Grandma's with Mommy and Lisa?"
The little girl scrunched her face up at the mention of the word grandma. "Because I hate her."
"You hate Grandma?" That couldn't have been a sufficient reason for Lois to excuse her from the trip. And why had she allowed Samantha to come back and not Lisa?
"Yes. She is a mean, mean, mean, mean, mean, mean Grandma. And I hate her."
Clark was almost afraid to ask, but he did anyway, "Why do you hate her, sweetheart? Did she do something to you?"
Her green eyes clouded with tears, the little girl said, "Daddy, Grandma Lane told me you're not my real daddy and Mommy's not my mommy."
Clark took a deep breath trying to control his anger. He wasn't sure what had happened between the little girl and her grandmother, but his daughter obviously hadn't taken it well.
How was he going to explain to a six year old that she was adopted and what that meant? The girls had always known they were adopted, and Lois and Clark had always tried to tell them as much as they could about their biological parents, but they were never sure if the girls understood.
Now it was obvious that they didn't. And Ellen certainly hadn’t helped.
Sobbing, Samantha continued, "You're my daddy, aren't you, Daddy?"
Instantly, Clark responded, "Of course I am, baby, of course I am."
"And Mommy's my mommy?"
Clark stroked her hair, hoping to calm her down as she sobbed into his shirt. "Of course she is, Sammie, of course she is."
When the little girl had finally cried herself out and had pulled away from her father, going back to eat the rest of her abandoned slice of pizza, Clark knew that he would have to tell her more about adoption. He wasn't sure how much she'd actually understand, but he knew he had to counteract whatever Ellen had done.
"Honey, your mommy and I are not your birth parents, but we *are* your parents."
"Huh? So Grandma was right? And you lied to me?"
Before she started crying again, Clark continued, "No, of course I didn't lie to you, sweetie. You know how Mommy and I told you and Lisa that you're adopted."
"Yeah," Samantha said, still on the verge of tears.
"Do you know what adopted means?"
She shook her head quickly.
Clark took a deep breath. This was going to be harder than he thought. "Honey," he began. "You and your sister are adopted. That means you have two sets of parents."
"Two sets of parents?"
"That's right! And we both love you so much! Let me tell you a little story."
Samantha nodded quickly, still getting used to the idea of having two sets of parents.
"Almost forty years ago, there was a little boy in Kansas . . ."
"Daddy, you're from Kansas!"
"I know, sweetie, it was me."
"Okay, what do you have to do with this?" She looked at him quizzically, not sure what he was trying to tell her.
"Let me tell the story," Clark said laughing. Another trait Samantha and Lois shared was their legendary impatience.
"Okay, okay, get on with it."
"Okay, I guess I won't tell you the whole story then. I'll just get to the good part. My parents died right after I was born. But I was really the luckiest boy in the world."
"You were?"
"Yes, believe me, I was. You know why?"
"Why?" Samantha was now listening in rapt attention.
"I was adopted, too."
"You were?"
"Yes. Grandma and Grandpa Kent were the best parents a boy could ever hope for. They took me in, raised me as their son, and gave me all the love in the world."
"Grandma and Grandpa Kent aren't your real parents?" Samantha bit her bottom lip, trying to digest everything she had just learned.
"Oh no, honey, they *are* my real parents. They're the only parents I've ever known and the *best* parents a boy could hope for."
"But what about your real parents?"
"Not my *real* parents, sweetie, my *other* real parents. I think they gave me to Grandma and Grandpa Kent for a reason. They loved me so much, they gave me to a family that would love me unconditionally."
Samantha considered it for a second and said, "My other real parents died too. In a car accident right after I was born."
Clark nodded slowly. He hated that his daughter knew how their parents had died, but he and Lois didn't want to hide anything from them.
Samantha continued, "But they loved me so much, they gave me the best real parents in the world." Then she added, "And the best real grandparents in the world, too."
"Exactly, baby," Clark said with a smile, trying to prevent a tear from falling down his cheek.
"So is it okay for me to love them as much as I love you and mommy?"
"Oh, Samantha, of course it's okay to love us all! They loved you and Lisa so much! And so do we."
"Just like your other real parents loved you."
Clark nodded. "And just think, your parents gave your mommy and me the best gift imaginable."
"What did they give you, Daddy?"
Clark kissed the top of her head and said, "You, sweetie. They gave me you."
The End
