I wake up to find Clark looking at me. Still not sure if I'm ready to call him Pa quite yet.

"Good morning Nori. You know how I told you that I should take you to meet my Ma and Pa someday?"

I nod eagerly.

"Well, since I have this day off, how do you feel about going today?" "That sounds really good to me."

It doesn't take long for me to get ready.

I'm wearing my favorite T-shirt (It's ocean blue with an otter on it. Clark had it custom made for me), a black skort, and my favorite footwear (ocean blue sandals).

"You look beautiful Nori." "Thanks. Are we going to fly?"

He's taken me flying a couple times. Such a cool feeling.

"Yeah. You ready for takeoff?"

I grin as I nod. Before I know it, we're in the air.

Clark's holding one of my hands. I have the other one in the air.

The wind feels good on my palm.

When he does a barrel roll, my smile widens. I love it when he does aerobatics with me. It's my favorite part.

It's not long before we enter Smallville. I whisper that I like it already. He whispers that he's glad to hear it.

When he land, Clark gently puts me down and, just like that, he appears in civvies.

"Sounds like Linda's here too." "Cool. I've always wanted to meet your cousin. I bet I'll like her too." "They all know the basics about you. I've left it up to you if you want to tell them about your more special qualities."

I nod, knowing he's referring to my otterness. I made that word up.

"Thank you." "You're welcome."

He opens the screen door and we walk in from the back porch.

"It already feels like a second home."

He smiles, knowing that his apartment feels like home to me.

Soon, I'm meeting Clark's...
No, my family.

It's my family too. The smiles on their faces say that louder than words ever could.

"Hi guys!"

When they all tell me Hello, I feel warm and safe. With that feeling comes the definite knowledge that I'm part of a family. In fact, I feel so safe around them, I even end up given them a show-and-tell of my "more special qualities".

They still like me. Definitely a cool thing to know.

I smile as I thank them.

Later, Clark leads me to the book room.

"I've never seen so many books before."

I smile on seeing that some of them are written by Clark.

After he tells me that he wants to talk with our family in private for a while, I look at him.

"I'll be fine here. I know you won't forget to come find me."

Once he heads out of the room, I eagerly start reading. I can tell, well enough, which ones I shouldn't read.

One of them looks really good to me.

It's called Taggerung* and it has an otter on the cover. How cool is that?

I feel like it was meant for me to read. I eagerly open it and, in my mind, start reading.

"My father always says that the life of a scholar is more rewarding than that of a cook...**"


Clark's P.O.V


"So you're her first real family?" "Yes, Ma, I am." "And her claustrophobia is..." "Worse than Hawkgirl's, Kara. The fear in her eyes...It hurt seeing it. Last night was the first time she didn't have a nightmare. One of my shirts has a tear stain on it." "Her I.Q...She's remarkably bright. Did she ever tell you what she wants to be when she grows up." "She's narrowed it down to two choices Pa."

I can't help but smile when I tell them that one of her choices is a reporter/superhero.

"Given who she has for her Pa, that's no surprise." "Actually, Kara, she hasn't really called me Pa yet. I...think she's afraid to. There's some things that still scare her. A closed closet for one. The look in her eyes when she saw a green-eyed woman on the television...She hid behind the couch. It took me 5 minutes to reassure her. She's eating her food slower but still fairly fast. The breakfast I gave Nori the morning after I found her...It was the first decent one she's had. As you noticed, she's still pretty skinny." "What kind of Mother would do stuff like that to her child? Nori may be special, but that's no excuse for making her go through hell!" "I know Kara, believe me, I know. We're both grateful the adoption went well. But I saw her wince at the sound of the gavel." "She makes a good Kent, Clark. You've done a good job taking care of her." "Well, Ma, Pa, I learned from the best."

Ma smiles.

"It's sweet of you to say that..." "But it's the truth." "I can't believe she felt like she had to ask for a hug." "Pa, I do and I really wish I didn't."

Suddenly, I hear a Thud.

Nori!

I head to the book room.

It's just the dictionary that fell. Thank God.

But it obviously scared her, because she's in otter form.

I see she finished Taggerung. Thought that she'd like that book. Though it might have brought up some unpleasant memories...
She has fear in her eyes as she looks at us.

I pick her up.

In about 5 minutes, she shifts back into a girl.

"You O.K?" "Yes...Pa."

I smile and so does everybody else.

That's my girl. My daughter.

Nori Kent.


*book in the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. I highly recommend this series.
**first sentence of the Prologue