Father's Day--Kel
Notes: Written Father's Day 2002. Dedicated to Rogue, who--like Whitney--lost her father earlier this year. Dedicated also to all fathers, and all their children.
Lex hated Father's Day. It was nothing but a joke to him; a day where he was supposed to honor the world's biggest bastard just because they happened to share a genetic tie and the same last name.
Lex had never had a father, only an enemy.
Lionel hated Father's Day. It was nothing but a joke; a day where fathers were supposed to be reminded of how much they were loved by their children.
Lionel had never had a child, only a successor.
Clark hated Father's Day. It only served to remind him of how he'd come to this world. Jonathan Kent was the best father that Clark could have ever wished for, but sometimes, he yearned to know his real father, yearned to know where he had come from, and why he was here.
Clark would never know his real father.
Jonathan Kent hated Father's Day. It only served to remind him of how much strife had been between himself and his father Hiram. Hiram Kent had been a good father to Jonathan, but there had been so many problems, so many harsh words, and so many things unsaid.
Jonathan would never know if his father knew how much he had been loved.
Chloe Sullivan hated Father's Day. She loved her father, and after almost losing him and being separated from him, she treasured her time with him all the more. Her father was probably the most important man in her life, but Father's Day only reminded her of the fact that her father was growing older, and that one day, he would no longer be there for her.
Chloe never wanted to think about life without her father, because he was all she had.
Whitney Fordman hated Father's Day. His father was gone, and Father's Day only renewed the ache inside, tore open the newly-healed wound and poured his blood all over his father's tombstone. His father had at least died knowing that Whitney was fulfilling all his dreams, and that was the only consolation the blond quarterback had.
Whitney never wanted to think about his father ever again.
Lana hated Father's Day. Both her parents had been killed, and along with her father, everything else she'd held dear died. Her sense of herself, of who she was and what she would become died with her father, the man who would have helped to shape her into a woman that he could be proud of. She'd never felt as safe with anyone else as she had with him, and those memories were slowly slipping away in the mists of her mind as she grew steadily older.
Lana never wanted to forget her father.
Lex picked up the phone with a heavy sigh, and dialed the number of his father's office. After three rings, Lionel answered. "Lionel Luthor."
There was a long pause before Lex said anything. "Happy Father's Day, Dad."
Lionel looked down at the Luthor signet that resided on his pinky, and rubbed his fingertip over the two intertwined L's. He had not expected Lex to call, and yet was glad to see he had. "Thank you, son. That… means the world to me."
Lex sighed softly. His father was nothing but an old man now, who had made so many mistakes in the past. Mistakes that Lex knew he had to forgive. "Would you like to go out for dinner, Dad?"
"I'd like that, Lex."
Jonathan looked down at the granite tombstone at his feet. "Hey, Pops. I know… I know we didn't have the best relationship in the world, but… you did the best you could. I know that now." He dropped to rock on his heels in front of the stone. "You've shown me the things that I do and the things that I don't want to do with my son… the mistakes I don't want to make. I just… I wish things could have gone better between us. So many things were said…"
He was interrupted by a second set of footfalls, and turned to find his son standing a few steps back from the gravesite, hands clasped behind his back. "Dad?"
"Yeah, Clark?"
"Happy Father's Day, Dad. I love you." Clark crossed the few steps of grass between them, and hugged Jonathan tightly. "I heard what you said… we're fine, Dad. We're always going to be fine, because you're always going to be my father."
Chloe watched as her father opened the card she'd created on her laptop. She'd used pictures of the two of them together, from her infancy on up to the cookout just a few weeks ago. In all of them, they'd grown up together, and that was the message she'd used on the inside of her card.
Of all the people in the world that I could have grown up with… Dad, you were the best friend I ever had.
Gabe Sullivan choked up as he read the sentiment on his daughter's card, and said nothing as he turned around and pulled her into his arms.
"Happy Father's Day, Daddy."
Whitney knelt by his father's headstone. "I love you, Pop. I miss you so much." His hand tightened on the unforgiving stone. "It's not…. It's not fair. You weren't supposed to leave me yet, Pop. There was still so much…" Whitney's voice cracked. "I just wish you were here." His fingertips rubbed over his father's name carved into the headstone. "You were supposed to be here, Pop. You were supposed to see me graduate high school, supposed to see me make it on my own… supposed to see me be a father in my own right. I just… I hope I can be as good a father as you were."
Lana sat on the grassy space between her parents' graves. "Hi, Dad. I'm sorry it's been a while. I got so caught up in finding out about Mom's graduation speech, and then starting up the Talon, and then Whitney's father… I haven't had much time for myself lately, and less time for you. But I won't let that happen again. I promise. I can't afford to forget you, Dad… my memories of you are all that I have. It's not like Mom… I've got her diary now, and her voice on the tape, but… I don't have you like that. I have to fight for you, Dad. I won't let you slip away from me ever again."
The End
Fathers are wonderful people
Too little understood,
And we do not sing their praises
As often as we should...
--from Fathers Are Wonderful People by Helen Steiner Rice