A really fluffy story that takes place about a year after the meteor shower. A story for my dad the most wonderful person I know.
Disclaimers: I don't own anything. Nothing! Really! I swear!
Sundays at Sears
By: Molly
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clark Kent walked through Sears, his tiny hand tightly gripping his father's much larger one. He looked in awe at all of the pretty things in the store. There were gold things that sparkled and brightly colored clothes that he yearned to touch. It was his first time in the mall and he was enjoying himself immensely.
Daddy had told him early that morning that they'd be shopping for a birthday present for Mommy. This made Clark happy. He liked to do nice things for his parents, like the time that he'd drawn a picture of a puppy for Daddy. Daddy had smiled proudly, kissed him on the cheek, and put it on the refrigerator. That had to be the proudest moment of Clark's life thus far. Daddy had driven him to the mall and walked him into a store called Sears, a funny name, Clark thought. Daddy had given him careful instructions. He was supposed to hold his hand at all time and not wander off. Clark didn't mind, he liked holding Daddy's hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jonathan smiled down at his son as they strolled through the mall. God, he loved Clark. Sure ever since he and Martha had found him, loved him, and given him their last name, he hadn't spoken a word, but he didn't need to. He was still a very affectionate little boy. Sometimes, for no reason at all he'd jump up onto Jonathan's lap and smother him with kisses. He did the same for his mother too. Jonathan loved everything about being a father, every kiss, every hug, every time Clark fell asleep in his arms watching TV. Teaching him new things, watching him experience things for the first time. It was all parental bliss for Jonathan.
The mall was a new experience for Clark and it amused Jonathan to no end the way Clark looked at everything wide-eyed and open-mouthed. It had taken a lot of patience and energy to drag a transfixed Clark away from the brightly colored scarves sold over by the handbag department. Clark had stared at the scarves, his eyebrows knitted, his face all scrunched up and cute, as if they were a code he was trying to decipher. It was adorable but they didn't have much time. Jonathan didn't have much stamina when it came to the mall, Martha Kent could tell you that much.
"What do you think Mommy wants?" Jonathan asked, bending down so he was eye-level with his son.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What do you think Mommy wants?" Daddy asked Clark.
Clark thought about it. Everything was so beautiful, he almost couldn't decide. Finally, he pointed over to the gold things that sparkled. They were the prettiest things in the store he decided. Mommy would love them because Mommy loved pretty things.
Daddy grinned. "Good choice, honey. Mommy would love some jewelry. Now we just have to find one that suits her best."
Clark smiled as Daddy lead him over to the things he'd called jewelry. Daddy thought he'd had a good idea. Daddy talked to a pretty woman that stood behind the counter for awhile before bending down to talk to Clark again.
"Which one do you like?" He asked, gently brushing hair of Clark's face.
Clark looked at the vast array of sparkly jewelry. There were so many things, each one seeming prettier than the last one. The pretty woman looked impatient but Clark paid no attention to her. After five long minutes, Clark pointed to a ring that seemed to sparkle more than all the other ones. He smiled at Daddy, who got the soapy smile he sometimes got when they were together.
"That one?" Daddy asked. Clark nodded. Daddy ruffled his hair a little bit. "It's beautiful," he commented and Clark glowed with pride. "We'll take that one," he informed the pretty woman, who gave a bored sigh.
Daddy reached into his back pocket for his wallet, momentarily letting Clark's hand go. Clark, forgetting everything his father had told him, caught sight of a box on the other side of the store. In the box was a little figure that spun around and around. He wandered over to it, promising himself that he would be back before Daddy knew a thing. Daddy was currently talking to the pretty woman about the price of the ring.
Clark loved the boxes as soon as he saw them. A tiny woman in a little pink outfit spun around while tinkly music played the kind that was played at some of the church benefits. The box was pink and had little pink shoes all over it, and flowers, pretty colored flowers. He smiled as he watched the woman twirl around. He wanted to show them to Daddy. He knew Daddy would love them as much as he did, if not more. He turned around, but suddenly stopped. He couldn't see Daddy. All he saw was a sea of legs moving all around him.
Clark felt scared. None of the legs among the ones he saw were Daddy's. He looked all around him but he couldn't find Daddy or the jewelry counter. Still in a daze he walked in a random direction towards numerous racks of clothing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jonathan was having a hard time reasoning with the woman behind the counter. She had gone off the go help somebody else before Jonathan could open his wallet. No matter how many times he tried to get the woman's attention and remind her that he had been at the counter first, she simply ignored him. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
"It'll just be another minute," he told Clark, finally looking down at where Clark was supposed to be. Panic seized him when he didn't see his son.
Trying to remain calm but failing miserably, Jonathan looked all around him for some hint as to where his son wandered off to. With Clark's speed he could have been anywhere. Jonathan couldn't see much through a throng of people pushing their way through Sears. It seemed as if the entire population of Smallville- if not Kansas, itself- went to the mall.
Cursing under his breath Jonathan strode briskly towards a few clothes racks. He had no clue where Clark was or where to start, but he had to start somewhere. He did remember that Clark had been almost as impressed with some of the clothes he saw as he was with the jewelry. He liked bright colors so Jonathan headed towards the section of women's clothing that no woman in their right mind ever went to. Clowns would refuse to wear these clothes on the basis that it would make them look ridiculous. So of course Clark would be fascinated with it.
"Clark?" Jonathan called out frantically, zigzagging his way through racks of clothes. "Clark?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clark wandered aimlessly past racks of clothes. Tears were sailing down his cheeks quickly, and he was frightened. Everything that had once seemed amazing and fun now seemed scary and unfamiliar, especially the people. The only people Clark really knew were Mommy and Daddy. Sure, he knew some other people, but not well. Sometimes he played with Petey Ross, but that was about it. Everybody that was around him were people he didn't know, smelling nothing like Mommy and Daddy, wearing clothes nothing like Mommy and Daddy's clothes.
Clark felt a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. He'd never been sick before but now he was certain he was. Daddy sometimes got stomachaches and Mommy would take care of him, and sometimes the other way around. He wished Mommy or Daddy were there with him now to tuck him into bed and bring him hot soup.
Clark weaved his way through racks of clothing. He couldn't remember exactly where the jewelry counter was, but he hoped he was going in the right direction.
"Clark?"
Clark's ears pricked up, and he wiped his tears on the sleeve of his jean jacket. He would recognize Daddy's voice anywhere. Clark stepped up on the leg of one of the clothing racks and looked all around him. He could just spot the top of Daddy's head. He was standing in a section that had a lot of pretty clothes in it. A smile broke out over his face, as he zipped towards his father.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jonathan was about to give up and go back to the jewelry counter and see if maybe Clark had gone back when a bright blur knocked him over. Stunned, Jonathan lay on the carpet of the store. He smiled. Clark.
Clark hugged him tightly, eliciting some amounts of pain but Jonathan said nothing. He wasn't about to complain. He smiled the same soapy smile and hugged him back, still lying on the ground. Jonathan kissed Clark on his forehead, gently moved him off of his body, stood up and picked him up. Clark wrapped his arms around Jonathan's neck and lay his head on his shoulder.
"I love you, Daddy," Clark whispered in his ear.
Jonathan was so stunned he almost dropped Clark. It was the first sentence Clark had ever said and he would remember it for the rest of his life. Suddenly he was laughing and crying at the same time. He'd never been happier in his life.
"I love you too, baby," he replied, hugging Clark tighter than he ever had, reveling in the sound of his son's voice and giving him another kiss. "I love you, too."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clark grinned happily as they once again walked through the store *together.* Daddy was carrying him like he'd never let him go and Clark liked that. He hoped Daddy never would put him down. Clark talked a lot, getting himself used to it. Once he started he found he didn't want to stop and Daddy seemed to like it. He laughed a lot and kissed him just about every ten seconds. There were tears in Daddy's eyes which Clark didn't understand but Daddy seemed so happy Clark soon forgot that he was crying.
They went back to the jewelry department and bought the sparkly ring from the woman behind the counter. Clark no longer thought she was pretty because she was being very mean to Daddy. After that, Clark managed to get Daddy to go over and look at the pretty box with the twirling pink woman inside. Daddy agreed that it was beautiful and decided they should buy it for Mommy because she'd love it too.
The woman they bought that from was a lot nicer than the jewelry lady. She smiled a lot and gave Clark a lollipop. She wrapped up the box in fascinating purple tissue paper and then put it in a white box. Clark had to remember to take the tissue paper when Mommy opened it.
"Daddy?" Clark asked.
"Yes, baby?" Daddy replied, and Clark smiled because he liked it when Daddy called him baby.
Clark had to think about his next words carefully before they said them because he was still a little shaky on speaking.
"What does 'sexy' mean?" Clark asked innocently.
Daddy stopped. He was still smiling but he looked a little uncertain. "Um, why?"
"The lady at the flower shop called you sexy." Clark paused. "What does it mean?"
"I'll tell you when you're older," Daddy replied. And they kept walking, Daddy still smiling proudly because his baby had talked.
Clark experienced something else that day for the first time.
Ice cream.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mommy unwrapped the first present, the beautiful box. She gasped in awe, and brought Clark in for a hug.
"Oh Clark, it's beautiful," Mommy told him, kissing him on the top of the head. "Thank you."
"He picked it out all by himself," Daddy told her. "Open it up. I think he likes the ballerina."
Mommy opened up the box carefully, and wound the gold knob in the back. The dormant ballerina began twirling again, her plastic arms raised gracefully over her head, the tinkly music playing around her. Clark, having put the magic purple tissue paper in his jeans pocket, was enchanted by the woman all over again. So enchanted that he almost spoke. But he stopped himself before he could.
Clark thought Mommy liked the ring better than the box because when she opened it she actually cried. After seeing Clark's worried expression Daddy told him she was crying because she really liked it. Clark didn't understand why, but he knew Mommy liked it when she hugged and kissed him again, and then hugged and kissed Daddy on the lips for a long time. When Daddy and Mommy stopped kissing they were red in the face but smiling at each other.
Daddy winked at Clark, his cue for the third and final present. Clark stood up to his full height. With chocolate cake smeared around his mouth, he gave her the present, hoping he'd got everything just right.
"Happy Birthday, Mommy. I love you." Clark paused, and Martha swept him up into her arms, crying, again from happiness.
"And what does 'sexy' mean? Because Daddy won't tell me."
THE END.......
Disclaimers: I don't own anything. Nothing! Really! I swear!
Sundays at Sears
By: Molly
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clark Kent walked through Sears, his tiny hand tightly gripping his father's much larger one. He looked in awe at all of the pretty things in the store. There were gold things that sparkled and brightly colored clothes that he yearned to touch. It was his first time in the mall and he was enjoying himself immensely.
Daddy had told him early that morning that they'd be shopping for a birthday present for Mommy. This made Clark happy. He liked to do nice things for his parents, like the time that he'd drawn a picture of a puppy for Daddy. Daddy had smiled proudly, kissed him on the cheek, and put it on the refrigerator. That had to be the proudest moment of Clark's life thus far. Daddy had driven him to the mall and walked him into a store called Sears, a funny name, Clark thought. Daddy had given him careful instructions. He was supposed to hold his hand at all time and not wander off. Clark didn't mind, he liked holding Daddy's hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jonathan smiled down at his son as they strolled through the mall. God, he loved Clark. Sure ever since he and Martha had found him, loved him, and given him their last name, he hadn't spoken a word, but he didn't need to. He was still a very affectionate little boy. Sometimes, for no reason at all he'd jump up onto Jonathan's lap and smother him with kisses. He did the same for his mother too. Jonathan loved everything about being a father, every kiss, every hug, every time Clark fell asleep in his arms watching TV. Teaching him new things, watching him experience things for the first time. It was all parental bliss for Jonathan.
The mall was a new experience for Clark and it amused Jonathan to no end the way Clark looked at everything wide-eyed and open-mouthed. It had taken a lot of patience and energy to drag a transfixed Clark away from the brightly colored scarves sold over by the handbag department. Clark had stared at the scarves, his eyebrows knitted, his face all scrunched up and cute, as if they were a code he was trying to decipher. It was adorable but they didn't have much time. Jonathan didn't have much stamina when it came to the mall, Martha Kent could tell you that much.
"What do you think Mommy wants?" Jonathan asked, bending down so he was eye-level with his son.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What do you think Mommy wants?" Daddy asked Clark.
Clark thought about it. Everything was so beautiful, he almost couldn't decide. Finally, he pointed over to the gold things that sparkled. They were the prettiest things in the store he decided. Mommy would love them because Mommy loved pretty things.
Daddy grinned. "Good choice, honey. Mommy would love some jewelry. Now we just have to find one that suits her best."
Clark smiled as Daddy lead him over to the things he'd called jewelry. Daddy thought he'd had a good idea. Daddy talked to a pretty woman that stood behind the counter for awhile before bending down to talk to Clark again.
"Which one do you like?" He asked, gently brushing hair of Clark's face.
Clark looked at the vast array of sparkly jewelry. There were so many things, each one seeming prettier than the last one. The pretty woman looked impatient but Clark paid no attention to her. After five long minutes, Clark pointed to a ring that seemed to sparkle more than all the other ones. He smiled at Daddy, who got the soapy smile he sometimes got when they were together.
"That one?" Daddy asked. Clark nodded. Daddy ruffled his hair a little bit. "It's beautiful," he commented and Clark glowed with pride. "We'll take that one," he informed the pretty woman, who gave a bored sigh.
Daddy reached into his back pocket for his wallet, momentarily letting Clark's hand go. Clark, forgetting everything his father had told him, caught sight of a box on the other side of the store. In the box was a little figure that spun around and around. He wandered over to it, promising himself that he would be back before Daddy knew a thing. Daddy was currently talking to the pretty woman about the price of the ring.
Clark loved the boxes as soon as he saw them. A tiny woman in a little pink outfit spun around while tinkly music played the kind that was played at some of the church benefits. The box was pink and had little pink shoes all over it, and flowers, pretty colored flowers. He smiled as he watched the woman twirl around. He wanted to show them to Daddy. He knew Daddy would love them as much as he did, if not more. He turned around, but suddenly stopped. He couldn't see Daddy. All he saw was a sea of legs moving all around him.
Clark felt scared. None of the legs among the ones he saw were Daddy's. He looked all around him but he couldn't find Daddy or the jewelry counter. Still in a daze he walked in a random direction towards numerous racks of clothing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jonathan was having a hard time reasoning with the woman behind the counter. She had gone off the go help somebody else before Jonathan could open his wallet. No matter how many times he tried to get the woman's attention and remind her that he had been at the counter first, she simply ignored him. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
"It'll just be another minute," he told Clark, finally looking down at where Clark was supposed to be. Panic seized him when he didn't see his son.
Trying to remain calm but failing miserably, Jonathan looked all around him for some hint as to where his son wandered off to. With Clark's speed he could have been anywhere. Jonathan couldn't see much through a throng of people pushing their way through Sears. It seemed as if the entire population of Smallville- if not Kansas, itself- went to the mall.
Cursing under his breath Jonathan strode briskly towards a few clothes racks. He had no clue where Clark was or where to start, but he had to start somewhere. He did remember that Clark had been almost as impressed with some of the clothes he saw as he was with the jewelry. He liked bright colors so Jonathan headed towards the section of women's clothing that no woman in their right mind ever went to. Clowns would refuse to wear these clothes on the basis that it would make them look ridiculous. So of course Clark would be fascinated with it.
"Clark?" Jonathan called out frantically, zigzagging his way through racks of clothes. "Clark?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clark wandered aimlessly past racks of clothes. Tears were sailing down his cheeks quickly, and he was frightened. Everything that had once seemed amazing and fun now seemed scary and unfamiliar, especially the people. The only people Clark really knew were Mommy and Daddy. Sure, he knew some other people, but not well. Sometimes he played with Petey Ross, but that was about it. Everybody that was around him were people he didn't know, smelling nothing like Mommy and Daddy, wearing clothes nothing like Mommy and Daddy's clothes.
Clark felt a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. He'd never been sick before but now he was certain he was. Daddy sometimes got stomachaches and Mommy would take care of him, and sometimes the other way around. He wished Mommy or Daddy were there with him now to tuck him into bed and bring him hot soup.
Clark weaved his way through racks of clothing. He couldn't remember exactly where the jewelry counter was, but he hoped he was going in the right direction.
"Clark?"
Clark's ears pricked up, and he wiped his tears on the sleeve of his jean jacket. He would recognize Daddy's voice anywhere. Clark stepped up on the leg of one of the clothing racks and looked all around him. He could just spot the top of Daddy's head. He was standing in a section that had a lot of pretty clothes in it. A smile broke out over his face, as he zipped towards his father.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jonathan was about to give up and go back to the jewelry counter and see if maybe Clark had gone back when a bright blur knocked him over. Stunned, Jonathan lay on the carpet of the store. He smiled. Clark.
Clark hugged him tightly, eliciting some amounts of pain but Jonathan said nothing. He wasn't about to complain. He smiled the same soapy smile and hugged him back, still lying on the ground. Jonathan kissed Clark on his forehead, gently moved him off of his body, stood up and picked him up. Clark wrapped his arms around Jonathan's neck and lay his head on his shoulder.
"I love you, Daddy," Clark whispered in his ear.
Jonathan was so stunned he almost dropped Clark. It was the first sentence Clark had ever said and he would remember it for the rest of his life. Suddenly he was laughing and crying at the same time. He'd never been happier in his life.
"I love you too, baby," he replied, hugging Clark tighter than he ever had, reveling in the sound of his son's voice and giving him another kiss. "I love you, too."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clark grinned happily as they once again walked through the store *together.* Daddy was carrying him like he'd never let him go and Clark liked that. He hoped Daddy never would put him down. Clark talked a lot, getting himself used to it. Once he started he found he didn't want to stop and Daddy seemed to like it. He laughed a lot and kissed him just about every ten seconds. There were tears in Daddy's eyes which Clark didn't understand but Daddy seemed so happy Clark soon forgot that he was crying.
They went back to the jewelry department and bought the sparkly ring from the woman behind the counter. Clark no longer thought she was pretty because she was being very mean to Daddy. After that, Clark managed to get Daddy to go over and look at the pretty box with the twirling pink woman inside. Daddy agreed that it was beautiful and decided they should buy it for Mommy because she'd love it too.
The woman they bought that from was a lot nicer than the jewelry lady. She smiled a lot and gave Clark a lollipop. She wrapped up the box in fascinating purple tissue paper and then put it in a white box. Clark had to remember to take the tissue paper when Mommy opened it.
"Daddy?" Clark asked.
"Yes, baby?" Daddy replied, and Clark smiled because he liked it when Daddy called him baby.
Clark had to think about his next words carefully before they said them because he was still a little shaky on speaking.
"What does 'sexy' mean?" Clark asked innocently.
Daddy stopped. He was still smiling but he looked a little uncertain. "Um, why?"
"The lady at the flower shop called you sexy." Clark paused. "What does it mean?"
"I'll tell you when you're older," Daddy replied. And they kept walking, Daddy still smiling proudly because his baby had talked.
Clark experienced something else that day for the first time.
Ice cream.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mommy unwrapped the first present, the beautiful box. She gasped in awe, and brought Clark in for a hug.
"Oh Clark, it's beautiful," Mommy told him, kissing him on the top of the head. "Thank you."
"He picked it out all by himself," Daddy told her. "Open it up. I think he likes the ballerina."
Mommy opened up the box carefully, and wound the gold knob in the back. The dormant ballerina began twirling again, her plastic arms raised gracefully over her head, the tinkly music playing around her. Clark, having put the magic purple tissue paper in his jeans pocket, was enchanted by the woman all over again. So enchanted that he almost spoke. But he stopped himself before he could.
Clark thought Mommy liked the ring better than the box because when she opened it she actually cried. After seeing Clark's worried expression Daddy told him she was crying because she really liked it. Clark didn't understand why, but he knew Mommy liked it when she hugged and kissed him again, and then hugged and kissed Daddy on the lips for a long time. When Daddy and Mommy stopped kissing they were red in the face but smiling at each other.
Daddy winked at Clark, his cue for the third and final present. Clark stood up to his full height. With chocolate cake smeared around his mouth, he gave her the present, hoping he'd got everything just right.
"Happy Birthday, Mommy. I love you." Clark paused, and Martha swept him up into her arms, crying, again from happiness.
"And what does 'sexy' mean? Because Daddy won't tell me."
THE END.......