By five o'clock, Kelsey had yet to return home from work. Lois and Clark were getting worried as Kelsey was the type of girl that always called if she was running even just a few minutes late. Clark was pacing the downstairs waiting for Kelsey to get home when the sound of a motorcycle close by caught his attention.
Going to the front door, Clark opens it in time to see a black motorcycle slow to stop a outside the brownstone. Clark breaths a momentary sigh of relief when he realizes Kelsey is on it; before he notices the young man that's driving it. The boy looks about 18, and has shoulder length brown hair. He is wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a gray t-shirt.
"Thanks for the ride, Aaron." Kelsey said as she gets off the back of the motorcycle. Kelsey watches as Aaron rides away, before turning to head up the stairs to the brownstone. "Hey Dad." Kelsey said as she climbs the steps and went inside the brownstone.
"Where have you been, Kelsey? And who is that boy?" Clark asks as he shuts the door.
"I had a meeting after work. And Aaron is a friend, Dad. He works with me at the pool. He heard me say I had to be home by 5 earlier today. Aaron knows I roller blade to work, so he offered me a ride home so I wouldn't be too late."
"Kelsey, you know as well as I do that if you could've gotten yourself home on time without getting a ride from a guy on a motorcycle."
"Yeah, I'm suppose to say to Aaron: 'Thanks for the offer. But I'm Superman's daughter and I can run from Metropolis to San Diego in under two minutes.' At best, that would get me committed to a rubber room, with no sharp objects. At worse, not only would I blow the family secret, but probably get us all put into labs to be experimented on."
"That's not the point, Kelsey; you know you're also suppose to call when you're going to be late."
"Did you check your cell phone at all?" Kelsey asked. Not even bothering to wait for an answer, Kelsey ran up stairs at super speed. The sound of the girls' bedroom door slamming not even a second later, indicated that Kelsey was still angry.
Seconds after Kelsey went upstairs, a beeping noise from his jacket drew Clark's attention to his cell phone. Flipping it open, the screen showed he had a new text message. Hitting the button to read the message, Clark notices the message was sent an hour ago from Kelsey's cell phone. It reads:"Have important meeting after work. info on swim lessons. home asap. love Kels."
"What was that about?" Lois asked as she came out of the bathroom. She had heard the door slam and noticed the irritated look on Clark's face.
"Kelsey's upset with me because I lectured her about getting in touch with us when she's gonna be late. I didn't get the text message she sent to me earlier. Plus, when she does get home she's on the back of a motorcycle with some guy."
"This guy, is he about 18, about 5'11", got shoulder length brown hair, wear torn clothes, riding a black motorcycle, and named Aaron?" Lois asked.
"You know about him? Am I missing something?" Clark asked stunned that his wife not only knew about this boy, but even seemed to be ok with the situation.
"Yes, Clark. Kelsey introduced me to him one day when I picked her up at the pool. He works with Kelsey and seems to be a fine young man. He's an honor student and is QB1 on the varsity football team. His parents are Claire and Tom Chapman. Claire is President of the school board and Tom is a Pastor of the New Life Christian Church.
"How do you know all this?" Clark said as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"Kelsey. Aaron is no stranger to her, Clark. I'm sure if you gave her the chance to explain who Aaron is, then you'd realize that. Aaron also seems to have a crush on Kelsey. Which is mutual, if I might add."
"Kelsey's too young for that."
"Clark, Kelsey is 16 years old!" Lois pointed out, "I know to you: Kelsey, and Brooke, will always be your little girls; but the fact is they're growing into smart, beautiful, young women- that I am extremely proud of. And I think you need to begin to trust their judgment."
"I think I should go talk to her." Clark said as he stood up.
"Well hurry up, you still have to get ready to go."
Clark leaves the room and goes down the hall way. He stops at the door to his daughters' bedroom. He knocks on the door instead of going in incase Kelsey was changing out of her lifeguard clothes.
"Kelsey?" Clark opens the door, and finds Kelsey on her bed looking through a book.
Clark walks over and sits on the edge of Brooke's bed. Giving Kelsey space, but still wanting to be down on her level.
"I know you wouldn't make us worry on purpose, Kels. I guess I overreacted and jumped to the wrong conclusion when you weren't home on time. And..."
"Dad, you're beginning to babble." Kelsey interrupted.
"Kels, what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry. Mom and I didn't get your message and we were worried about you. Then you get a ride home with that Aaron guy, on a motorcycle. I guess I have trouble sometimes realizing that you, and your sister, are growing up; and young men are going to start coming around and wanting to date one of you. I think it's hard for any Dad to let their daughters go." Clark noticed just how late it was getting by noticing the time on Kelsey's alarm clock. "We'll talk more about this tomorrow, ok?"
"Ok."
Ten minutes later, Clark and Lois was ready to go and giving their final instructions to the kids in the living room.
"Boys, when we take something apart..." Clark said promoting the boys to continue.
"We put it back together." Jon-Kyle said, looking up from a magazine.
"Correctly." Clark added for good measure.
“You guys behave yourselves. Remember no friends over; and there's food here, so no pizza.We'll have our cell phones on so you can reach us if there's an emergency. We'll be home by mid-night. Kelsey is in charge until we get back.” Lois said, “What have I forgotten?”
“To go get in the car,” Kelsey said.
"Lois, it’s going to be time to come back before we even get there.” Clark said. "Kelsey, remember to make sure all the doors are locked..."
"And the alarm set." Kelsey finished for him. "Dad, I've got everything under control."
"Behave and have a nice evening." Clark said as he and Lois walked to the door. About two minutes later the sound of the jeep leaving could be heard and the kids knew their parents had finally left.
"Go get your runners. We're gonna go get something edible to eat." Kelsey said getting up from the couch.
"I'll get the bank." Jon-kyle said as he super-sped upstairs. He came back down in a few seconds carrying a jar full of money. The kids had kept the jar in a secret hiding place in the linen closet in the bathroom they shared. It had become an unspoken rule that it was only to be used for getting food or help if at any time the kids found themselves on their own.
After everyone got their running shoes on; they went outside on the side walk. None of them even bothered to stretch before they disappeared in four blurred streaks of color down the street. All the kids had begun developing superpowers between the ages of eight and ten years old. The girls had developed them earlier than the boys, and seemed to be able to control their powers quicker. Dr. Klein had hypothesized that the reason the girls had developed Kryptonian traits so early was that maybe Kryptonian females, like Earthlings, developed and matured at a faster rate than their male counterparts.
Less than a minute later the kids were at the a pizzeria on the opposite side of the city. The Pizzeria had been their choice because they sold ready to eat pizzas without need to place an advanced order. In under five minutes, the kids were back home preparing to eat their dinner.
"Mom and Dad will flip out if they found out that we got pizza." Jon-Kyle said as the kids sat down on the couch to watch a movie and eat their pizza.
"That's why we won't tell them; will we, Brooke?" Kelsey said looking straight at Brooke.
"Why do you always look at me when you say that?" Brooke asked.
"Because you're the one that always cracks first." Sammy said before taking a big bite of his pizza.
"Hey you've seen Mom and Dad in full interrogator mode. I mean they should work for the CIA or something." Brooke argued in her defense. At that moment the phone rang.
"Hey guys shut up. that's probably Dad." Kelsey said as she grabbed the phone.
"Hello, Oh hi Dad. Yeah everything is going great. We're just going to watch a movie. Yeah see ya later." Kelsey hung up the phone.
"Do you think he suspects anything?" Sammy asks as Kelsey hung up the phone.
"No. Let's just enjoy the movie." Kelsey said as she sat down and grabbed a slice of pizza.
************
At the banquet hall, Clark had just returned to his and Lois's table.
"So how are the kids?" Lois asked as Clark sat down.
"They're good, they're at home watching Lethal Weapon 2." Clark got a slight smile as he said: "and eating pizza."
"I bet they broke into their money jar in the bathroom to pay for it." Lois said.
"I wonder if the kids realize we're on to their schemes?" Clark mused out loud.
"I doubt it. Kids always like to think they can fool their parents." Lois said. "Ours are even more determined to do it, given the special circumstances."
Yes, it was safe to say that having to parents that are investigative reporters and a Dad that moonlighted as a superhero; the Kent children could rarely get away with anything.
