A few moments after Lois and Richard left, Jason and Clark found themselves on the sidewalk outside the Daily Planet heading west, toward Clark's new home. After the havoc that Lex Luthor wrought on the city the previous September, finding an apartment had become relatively easy; in fact, Clark's landlord, Jerry Thorne, practically gave the space away. It was also perfectly situated for his needs—he was on the top level of a twelve story building, and his patio opened out to the brick wall of the taller building next to it. It was great for when one needed to make frequent but inconspicuous entrances and exits up in the air.

The second benefit to his new living arrangement was that he could walk to and from work each day. True, he could have chosen an apartment in another zip code and still made it to work on time (barring any unforeseen catastrophes), but his proximity to the office gave his "normal" life more credence. If, after an incident, he popped out of an alleyway and ran into a co-worker, he could casually say that he had taken a shortcut to work. Also, had Clark chosen the apartment he had been looking at in Gotham and a similar situation to this one had arisen, Lois would have grown suspicious over his two hour one-way commute to work each day and she would have never agreed to let him babysit.

He looked down at the child beside and beamed. This was his child…HIS CHILD! Clark would've flown up to the rooftops right now and shouted this out for all of Metropolis to hear if only he didn't have to keep so many secrets…a secret identity, secret desires for Lois, and a secret child…he let out a sigh at the thought of his burden. At least I don't have to hide my emotions right now. His feelings were so plainly written across his face that Clark doubted he'd have the strength to bury them if he had to.

"Hey Buddy," he said, gently tugging on Jason's hand, "are you hungry? Did you have dinner?"

"No, I haven't eaten yet." Jason replied, shaking his head. "Connie was s'posed to come over and make English Muffin pizzas with me, but she couldn't," he finished with a sigh, lamenting the loss of his special dinner treat.

"Well I'll tell you what. What would you say if I told you that tonight was a special night and that we could skip dinner and go straight to dessert? There's an ice cream parlor down the street from my apartment and you can have whatever flavor you want. We just won't tell your Mother, ok?" He winked at Jason and held a finger up to his lips. Looks like Lois'll have to be the disciplinarian in this relationship…it's only been five minutes and I'm already spoiling him!

"YEAH!" Jason said excitedly, giving a little jump. "Only…"

"Only what Jason?" Clark looked down in concern.

"Only...I'm not s'posed to have ice cream. Mommy says I'm lapdus…lapmis…laktis…"

Clark stared confusedly at the boy, as he tried to puzzle out what it was he wanted to say. It was then that the thought crossed his mind, and he reached into his bag to pull out the list Lois had given him. There it was, number 9.

"Jason are you lactose intolerant?" he asked, reading it off the sheet in front of him.

"Yeah, that's what Mommy says, only I'm not lacdough intolermint anymore, but she doesn't know it. I have ice cream at my friend Danny's house all the time because his Mommy lets us eat it and she doesn't know that my Mommy says I'm not s'posed to," he stated matter-of-factly. "I like chocolate chip cookie dough best."

Clark knelt down to be at eye level with him. "But don't you get sick after eating it, Buddy?"

"No." the young child replied matter-of-factly. "I haven't gotten sick since that Bad Man had me and Mommy on the boat, and that was a long time ago…" he finished, rather exasperatedly.

Yes, a whole six months ago…but it hasn't quite been long enough for me, or for your Mother for that matter…

Jason spoke up and broke him out of his reverie. "Can we still have ice cream, Mr. Clark? Please, can we? I won't tell Mommy; I'm good at keeping secrets," he said, winking at the tall man beside him.

"Ok Jason, we'll go, but you have to promise not to tell your Mother. She'd kill me."

He looked back at Clark now, a very serious expression on his face, "No she wouldn't."

Clark looked down at his little boy. What an odd thing to say…he thought as he guided Jason toward the ice cream parlor.