Chapter 1

Sam would have cleaned up his cabin before his grandsons came to visit, but there wasn't much to clean. Jon had done a great job the last time he was there, and Sam lived a pretty quiet life.

He sat on his front porch and waited for the car to pull up. When it did, he went over to help the boys with their overnight bags.

Sam wasn't sure what to expect, after having seen the dynamic between Clark and Jon, but in some ways, it was worse than he had expected. Jon was friendly and greeted him with a smile, but Lois kept her eyes on her boys, as though she didn't trust them, and Jordan just kept watching Sam, scowling a little.

"I'll be back to get them before 11 tomorrow," Lois told Sam.

"Thanks, sweetie."

"If either of them gives you any trouble—"

"I'm sure I can handle it."

"I still wanna know about it."

"Go home, Lois. Enjoy your date night." He'd insisted on that: if Clark and Lois were going to do better parenting their kids, they'd need each other's support.

"OK." She looked past him and shouted up to her boys, "You be good!"

They chorused their assent, albeit less than enthusiastically. She went back to the car, and they went into the house.

Sam watched to make sure Lois got out okay, then he went to check on the boys. They'd left the living room; he headed down the hall and heard them whispering in the guest room.

"I don't think you're being fair."

"Fair? Jon, he whipped you!"

"OK but, like, don't you think I had that coming, just a little bit? I mean, Granddad saw me go all aggro on you in that training session—"

"Which wasn't your fault!"

"It kinda was, I was the one who took the X-K."

Sam knew enough of the history this family had with eavesdropping to know that he needed to either leave them to it, or let them know of his presence. He chose to step into the room, holding out their overnight bags. Both of them looked up at him like deer in the headlights.

"Everything OK, son?" Sam fixed his eyes on Jordan.

"Y-yes, sir. I mean... respectfully..." Jordan shook his head. "Are you gonna punish Jon more?"

"Well, that's up to him." Sam turned to Jon. "Jon. Have you done anything this week that needs punishing?"

"No, sir. At least..." Jon swallowed, his face paling. "Not that I know of..."

"He's done nothing wrong," Jordan said. "If you hurt him—"

"Neither of you are here to be punished."

"But...but Dad said you needed to keep an eye on us."

"Jordan, I'm gonna be frank with you. I'm keeping an eye on you in the same way you're keeping an eye on Jon." He gave Jordan a pointed look.

Jordan's brow furrowed, then realization washed over his face. "But...you can't be..."

"That said, I'm not in the habit of allowing disrespect under my roof. That goes for all three of us. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir." Jordan didn't smile with his lips, but Sam could see the hints of it in his eyes.

"Good." He straightened up. "You boys hungry?"

"Starved." Jon grinned. "Can we go to that burger joint?"

"I was thinking tacos."

"Even better!"

Sam nodded toward the hall. "Let's go."

"Ready?" John asked.

"Yeah, let's do it."

"Scared?"

"You're the one who's stalling."

"Go!"

Both of the boys crammed the hot sauce-soaked tortilla chips into their mouths, and both of their faces turned bright red as they grimaced. Jordan squeezed his eyes shut; Jon tapped his hands against the table, staring at the cup of soda in front of him, then over at Jordan. Sam tried not to roll his eyes at them as they both began to sweat.

Finally, Jordan grabbed the soda and started downing it, spilling it down his front.

"Whoo! What now?" John punched him in the arm. "What did I tell you? Who is the wimp now?" He picked up his own soda and started drinking.

"I want a rematch," Jordan said, but he winced. "I swear, the soda's making it worse."

"Yeah, that happens," Sam muttered.

Just then, the waitress arrived with their food. Sam thanked her as she placed on the plates, and he was pleased to see that both boys did the same, between sips of soda.

"This place is awesome," John said. "How come my parents never take us here?"

"It's a bit of a drive, and you haven't lived in Smallville all that long."

"Yeah, that's true I guess."

Jordan had gone quiet. Sam would have assumed it was just because he was eating, but he had lowered his head also, and he was eating a lot slower than John was. Sam would have to keep an eye on that – he was pretty sure it had started as soon as I mentioned his parents. Sam had worried about John and his relationship with Clark and Louis, but he didn't think about the fact that Jordan would be in an even worse situation. He should have. Technically, Jordan was an older sibling; Lois had always been incredibly protective of Lucy. John was the one who wore his protective instincts on his sleeve, but Jordan had a lot of the same genes.

By the time they had finished the first round of tacos, though, and John had proposed another ridiculous eating competition, this one having to do with how fast they could eat, Jordan had perked up, seemingly having forgotten his stress. The boys had cleared the table before Sam had even eaten his fill; he had to call back the waitress to order more food.

By the end of the night, the kids had downed so many tacos and so much soda, Sam wondered how their parents could afford to feed them. It was one of the most enjoyable evenings Sam had had in years.