Chapter Nine: A Human Too
Clark was somewhat amused the next day when Caryn went off to shop for a wedding dress with Aunt Lois. Chloe suddenly decided she had a cold. Clark didn't know who she was trying to fool. She never got sick and was healthy as a horse because of her meteor power. Sure, she got a little cranky once a month like most women, but Chloe didn't catch colds or flues. Maybe saying "I'm coming down with a cold" was Chloe code for "I have cramps". Clark wasn't going to question his wife directly about this at all. He assumed it was either that, or Chloe was feigning. Either way, she had decided she didn't want to go shopping for a wedding dress with her daughter which seemed beyond weird.
Clark also knew that Chloe's stubbornness was stronger than Kent super-strength. There was no way he was going to persuade Chloe to go shopping, which made his day slightly harder. He was counting on Lois, Chloe, and Caryn to shop for the day. He had asked Mark to stop by so they could talk things out. He didn't want Caryn to influence his conversation with Mark nor did he want Chloe present.
Clark built up his agenda with Mark as he sipped his coffee. Mark's reaction to the news, that he was Superman, still concerned him. Clark felt a particular need to apologize. He regretted not having told Caryn just to be honest and tell Mark in private where Mark felt most comfortable. That certainly wasn't at the Kent family dinner table between the main course and dessert. Mark had been eased into the secret with all the subtlety of a streaker at an airport terminal.
He hoped that Mark and Caryn would consider living in the farmhouse. It was much larger now as Clark had doubled the size of the house over the last ten years to help out several family members. The rooms were empty now and Clark didn't think it made any sense for Caryn and Mark to rent.
Chloe had spent the night explaining to Clark how she had been invited back to the Daily Planet albeit in a very odd way. Clark wanted to get Chloe back to the Planet. Their marriage had been a partnership of raising Caryn, farming (to keep up appearances), and then taking care of his mom. That really wasn't the life Clark had wanted to give Chloe. He was sad to see Chloe talk without the gusto and enthusiasm she used to have about reporting. He didn't want to see Chloe settled, he wanted her back up again, ready to take on the world and he thought he found a bright side to Caryn's wedding that would help.
He just needed to convince Mark.
*/*/*
"Ooh!" Lois said as Caryn stepped out from behind the screen. Caryn was in a traditional white hoop skirt, with delicate lace and tiny, tiny buttons holding together the fitted bodice.
"I can't say I like wearing a corset." Caryn massaged her ribs showing Lois where the pinch was.
Lois came to Caryn's side and helped her onto a small box. The hem of her dress was elevated off the floor and it was easier to drape the skirt over the hoops and adjust the train. Lois would have died first before wearing something so, "Gone with the Wind" but Caryn liked it and it was a classic style for a young bride.
"Are you sure you like it?" Lois asked.
"I like how my waist looks so tiny."
"Yeah, it's more flattering than some empire waist thing." Lois agreed.
Lois took a few steps back and used her camera to send images to Chloe's handheld computer.
"Smile Caryn, you looked bummed."
"I can't believe Mom didn't come," Caryn complained. "I'd be happy wearing her wedding dress, but I know it would never fit me."
Caryn clutched the front of the dress to move the skirt. The store attendants rushed over and stopped her.
"Oh sorry," Caryn said. "I know better than that. I'm not used to all this bulk."
"Maybe you would like something less formal?" A clerk suggested, "Arianna, why don't you get the new Von Mur." With that, a very tiny Japanese woman turned around and headed towards a heavily beaded, knee-length dress as two other employees started to unbutton Caryn.
"I don't recall Chloe and Clark getting married in anything formal. It was all very casual. Heck, if I remember right, Chloe wore jeans."
"Aunt Lois, I saw the wedding picture last night."
"Clark and Chloe didn't take pictures," Lois answered. "You've got me confused. What did you see?"
Caryn was in mid-conversation with the employees. "This dress is very beautiful, but I suppose it would be a bit ridiculous given that I'm getting married in a country church in Kansas. Something soft and simple would probably work just fine."
"Time and setting matters," the store owner said. "What sort of theme are you having?"
"No theme. We just want simple." Caryn said. She was standing in just her bra and panties. "Like my mom's. It was antique white, and the veil was long, and I think... She didn't have sleeves. It's hard to tell."
"Oh," Lois sighed. "I know what dress you're talking about." She sat on the plush green couch in the fancy dressing room and patted the empty space next to her.
"I think we might have something like that," the owner smiled back. "Let me step up front and take a look."
"Maybe I shouldn't be telling you this, if you don't know," Lois started. "That picture you saw, I have one just like it. I hid in a place Chloe doesn't know about. It was from your Mom's first marriage."
Caryn swallowed to Lois's revelation.
"You didn't know?"
"No. My dad and mom love each other, like, a whole lot." Caryn said. "It never occurred to me." But then she shook her head thinking about the picture she saw of both her mom and her dad together. "That can't be right. Dad was in a suit standing right next to her."
"Were they standing at the top of the stairs to the loft?"
"Yeah."
"Clark was Chloe's escort because your Grandpa couldn't do it," Lois said. "Clark gave her away."
"My Dad could never do that."
"I don't think it was easy for either of us to watch, actually," Lois said between sips of ice water. "Those were in my pre-secret days, but, I think that wedding started your parents down the path of emotional honesty. Lots of things changed after. They were the best of friends, and then, they were more. A lot like another two people I know." Lois winked.
"Ah, best friends first and then lovers," the owner sighed. "I love going to those weddings. I see the happiest bridegrooms there." She held up a strapless gown that seemed to be borrowed from the 1950s with a matching cape. "Why not give this one a try?"
*/*/*
Even though Mark had visited the Kent household more the once over the course of four years, he had never been shown everything on the farm. His visits isolated him mostly to the house or to the barn. Sometimes Mark and Caryn would walk the property line along Hickory Lane back and forth in a very long pace. Caryn had pointed out the landmarks of the property during the walks. Yet he had never ventured into the recesses of the cornfields or pastures with her. Following Clark Kent around gave him a better appreciation of the size of the property.
Clark was taking him to the back edge. Looking around caused the landmarks Caryn had shown him over the years to coalesced in a brand new way. The line of trees to the north separated the corn fields from the pastures. The trees were watered by a river. Mark saw that the Kent property was blessed to have a small stream that cut through the field where they stood.
"My father was the first organic farmer in the family," Clark said, "but we're lucky." Clark pointed out the line of trees and the road, "This is really the field that gets it done. It's naturally irrigated most summers, except in severe droughts. This farm is too small to afford the irrigation machines, unless..." Clark motioned with his eyes to a field of prairie grass nearby.
"Unless?"
"Unless some brave Kent wanted to break that land." Clark pointed. "The back forty. Virgin prairie."
Clark waited to see Mark's reaction to Clark's idea.
"I have no idea how to farm," Mark stated matter-of-factly.
"Caryn does. It's not hard: It's just a lot of labor. My father wanted me to take the back forty, and to be honest, I never really wanted to do it." Clark paused. "Mark, you and Caryn farming this land... I'd give it to you. You'd have roots for the first time. A place that will remember you. It's a good home, for when you have your own family."
Mark shoved his hands into his winter coat and took a couple of steps away from Clark. This was not the conversation he was expecting to have with Caryn's father, not after all the excitement from last night. All morning long he had been worried that Superman would scrutinize him because he wanted to marry his little girl.
Mark had been expecting some sort of warning from him, a lecture or a history? Maybe an inside scoop to the life of an alien. He didn't know what to expect, but he wasn't expecting Clark to suggest he become a farmer.
"It's a fine idea but Caryn's a model. She has a career. I'm a drummer in three bands." Mark said. "I don't know where we'd have time." Mark wanted to go on and add a statement like, "I don't have super-speed". He thought mentioning the alien thing might be rude so he kept quiet.
"Caryn has to give up modeling. It was a short time thing and she knew it when she signed her contract. It's too high profile. Lois can do only so much with misdirection within the media. If you said yes, you'd have a home. It would be a place no one could take away."
Mark thought about how much he hated his transient childhood and never having a home to call his own. He even hated traveling with the band. Part of the reason he fell in love with Caryn was that she had managed to always show up to watch him play. Caryn was his roots, his foundation. Mark's eyes clouded over at the thought. He didn't hate the offer, he just never considered himself to be the 4H type.
"Well, it's just an idea." Clark added, "We want to move to Metropolis where we'd be closer to the Daily Planet. I can't bear to sell the place, and even being as fast as I am, I can't manage a farming operation and work as a reporter. We still rent the fields out. So, my reasons for suggesting this aren't entirely unselfish."
"You forget saving the world. You'd have more time for that." Mark started to close the distance between himself and his future father-in-law. "I'm not great with words. I'm sorry about last night. I was a real jerk."
"I think I'm the one that should be apologizing. Your reaction was warranted." Clark shrugged. "We might have told you sooner. I do feel guilty, but really, it's on the need to know basis. You need to know what you're getting into, son."
Mark shivered at Clark's endearment. "Okay, this isn't personal, but please don't call me son. I've been called son by nearly every Tom, Dick and Harry in the state of Kansas growing up. The only person that gets to call me that is my actual father, whoever he might be."
"Yeah, I get it," Clark said. "You and I are more alike than you'd think though." Clark perked up his head. "We can talk about this more later. I hear my mother waking up from her nap, we better turn around."
Clark started to turn and trace back their steps. Mark followed suit.
"Your hearing's that good?"
"Caryn's is better. They say when one sense goes another becomes more sensitive. You may not know this about her, but Caryn was born blind. She didn't develop sight until she was three months or so. And even then, it wasn't great sight. She had cataracts and Chloe and I pulled every resource we had to find an optometrist we could trust to work with her."
"Caryn never told me that. I really thought I knew everything about her when I asked her to marry me."
Clark laughed. "Chloe and I have known each other for over twenty-five years and there's still stuff I learn about her. Caryn's a lot more like Chloe when it comes to secrets."
"The blindness, it's not because of the half and half thing?"
"We don't know for certain. She grew out of it. The yellow sun does wonders for our bodies. Now she sees like any other human, but not like I can."
"So, Caryn can't do x-ray or heat vision?"
"No. Honestly, Chloe and I didn't care if Caryn manifested all our powers or none of them. We were so happy to have her."
"She told me once she was premature."
"Yeah, she was. She was four pounds. Chloe hovered over her constantly. We were afraid of losing her like we lost her older sister during childbirth."
"I'm sorry." Mark felt his forehead crinkle up in concern and sympathy. Now that the secret was out in the open, Mark was a little surprised how chatty Caryn's father was.
"You guys might have a hard time like Chloe and I did. I just don't know. After Elaina died, Chloe finally believed that I loved her more than anything. When Caryn brought you by the house the first time, I saw the same more-than-friends spark Chloe and I share in the two of you. I'm glad you're not an intergalactic dummy. Marrying a friend is a powerful thing."
They walked in silence for a few more minutes. Mark had always believed, the way Lois Lane reported him in the Daily Planet, that Superman couldn't be touched by anything. He was an alien with cosmic powers. He harvested bad guys and made the world safe. He had compassion but not anxiousness or worry. The idea that the guy next to him, crawling between the rails of the post-n-notch wooden fence, could be touched by so much sadness, removed Superman's façade more than Clark taking off his glasses.
Yes, Mark knew that Superman had been raised by undisclosed humans, but he didn't know that Superman was a human too. It must have been terribly lonely for him.
"I think you're right, sir," Mark said, following Clark's steps up the drive and to the porch of the house. "We are a lot alike."
