INT. KENT HOUSE – MARTHA'S BEDROOM
Sheer drapes flutter back from the window as the cool night breeze penetrates inward. Martha sits in an old rocker in the corner of the room, an open photo album across her lap, her eyes closed.
Clark knocks softly at the open door and steps inside.
CLARK
Mom?
Seeing her asleep in the chair, he walks over to the bed and pulls a red blanket from underneath it. Picking up the photo album, he gently replaces it with the blanket, tucking it softly under her arms. Shutting the window, he is drawn to the open page of photos and sits on the bed to reminisce on the memories it offers him.
Themed in a sort of before and after motif, each page shows dual photographs of the Kent family in similar situations. One page shows a young Martha and Jonathan on a picnic together while the photograph next to it shows them slightly older with a young Clark. The second page shows Jonathan sitting behind Martha on a tractor out in the field with the corresponding after photo showing Jonathan and Clark in the same positioning with Martha looking on.
MARTHA
He loved you, you know.
Clark looks up at her.
CLARK
I know. I loved him too.
Clark motions to the pictures.
CLARK
I've never seen these before.
Martha gets up out of the chair, wrapping the blanket around herself, and sits next to him on the bed.
MARTHA
They were your father's idea. He put this together.
CLARK
He did?
MARTHA
Your father liked to look all tough and rugged, but he was really a sentimental baby.
Clark laughs.
MARTHA
Actually, he had already finished the first part of the album, before you came to us I mean. He got the idea into his head after looking through one of your grandmother's old photo albums. He was a family man. That was his goal in life. He wanted to run the farm, and have eight kids...
CLARK ::laughs:: Eight?
MARTHA
... all boys, so he wouldn't have to do any of the work. Actually, I shouldn't say that. He wanted one girl, at the very end. He wanted a girl because he had promised his mother when he was just a little boy that he would have a girl and name it after her.
CLARK
Nine kids?!
MARTHA
::nods:: Nine kids. Your father was an animal.
Clark cringes.
CLARK
Mom, that's gross.
MARTHA
There was actually a time, for a while there, that I thought he might leave me.
Clark looks up in shock.
MARTHA
After we had been trying for a while, and we realized that I could never...
She gets a little choked up.
MARTHA
I knew he loved me, but I also knew how important it was to him that he have a family. I just didn't want to take that away from him. So, I ran away. It was the hardest decision I'd ever made in my life, but I did it for him. He was still a young man, not to mention gorgeous, certainly the most handsome man I'd ever met. He still had time to remarry, and have his dream of a nice big family.
She looks at Clark.
MARTHA
That's what you do when you love someone. You start doing what's best for them and not what's best for you. You even start thinking that maybe you know what's best for them and they don't.
CLARK
What happened?
MARTHA
I didn't even make it to the end of the driveway.
CLARK
You couldn't go through with it?
MARTHA
No, your father almost ran me over with the truck.
CLARK
What?
MARTHA He threatened to run me over to keep me from leaving. He wasn't serious, of course...
She shrugs.
MARTHA
Or maybe he was, I don't know. He told me that he didn't care that I couldn't have a child with him, that it didn't matter to him one way or the other because what he really wanted most in life was a family... and he couldn't have that without the woman that he loved most in his life.
She smiles, half-crying, half blushing all over again.
MARTHA
"Family," he told me, "is about the love that you share, not about how many people you share it with." That was the first time we ever really sat down and considered adopting. "It's not about blood," he said. "It's about love and family." And then you came along.
She smiles at Clark and runs her hand through his hair, like he was a little boy again.
MARTHA
Your father was a good man. He was a God fearing man. He went to church. He believed with all of his heart that God put him on this Earth for a very specific reason; to be a good man, a good husband, and a good father.
CLARK
::nods:: All of the above.
MARTHA
Yes, he was. And he taught me that I was put on this Earth to be a proud woman, a good wife, and good mother.
CLARK
And you are.
MARTHA
I try. I try to be, but sometimes I'm not so sure. Sometimes, I can't help but feel selfish. I sit here looking at these pictures, and I sat at that sewing machine all day, working on your suit, and I...
She balls her fists together and punches down on the bed at her sides.
MARTHA
I want my husband back! I want my little boy back! I want my family back.
CLARK
Mom, I...
MARTHA
::shakes head:: No, no Clark. I promised your father, we promised each other that when the time came, we would let you go. We both knew that day would come. I just wasn't ready for it yet. I wasn't ready.
She cries.
MARTHA
::crying:: This house is going to be so empty without you and your father.
He hugs her.
MARTHA
::crying:: I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't mean to lay this all on you. You have enough on your plate already.
CLARK
You don't have to be sorry, Mom. You never have to be sorry.
MARTHA
::crying:: I just want my family back. I know your place is out there. I just wish I knew what my place was.
He holds her.
Sheer drapes flutter back from the window as the cool night breeze penetrates inward. Martha sits in an old rocker in the corner of the room, an open photo album across her lap, her eyes closed.
Clark knocks softly at the open door and steps inside.
CLARK
Mom?
Seeing her asleep in the chair, he walks over to the bed and pulls a red blanket from underneath it. Picking up the photo album, he gently replaces it with the blanket, tucking it softly under her arms. Shutting the window, he is drawn to the open page of photos and sits on the bed to reminisce on the memories it offers him.
Themed in a sort of before and after motif, each page shows dual photographs of the Kent family in similar situations. One page shows a young Martha and Jonathan on a picnic together while the photograph next to it shows them slightly older with a young Clark. The second page shows Jonathan sitting behind Martha on a tractor out in the field with the corresponding after photo showing Jonathan and Clark in the same positioning with Martha looking on.
MARTHA
He loved you, you know.
Clark looks up at her.
CLARK
I know. I loved him too.
Clark motions to the pictures.
CLARK
I've never seen these before.
Martha gets up out of the chair, wrapping the blanket around herself, and sits next to him on the bed.
MARTHA
They were your father's idea. He put this together.
CLARK
He did?
MARTHA
Your father liked to look all tough and rugged, but he was really a sentimental baby.
Clark laughs.
MARTHA
Actually, he had already finished the first part of the album, before you came to us I mean. He got the idea into his head after looking through one of your grandmother's old photo albums. He was a family man. That was his goal in life. He wanted to run the farm, and have eight kids...
CLARK ::laughs:: Eight?
MARTHA
... all boys, so he wouldn't have to do any of the work. Actually, I shouldn't say that. He wanted one girl, at the very end. He wanted a girl because he had promised his mother when he was just a little boy that he would have a girl and name it after her.
CLARK
Nine kids?!
MARTHA
::nods:: Nine kids. Your father was an animal.
Clark cringes.
CLARK
Mom, that's gross.
MARTHA
There was actually a time, for a while there, that I thought he might leave me.
Clark looks up in shock.
MARTHA
After we had been trying for a while, and we realized that I could never...
She gets a little choked up.
MARTHA
I knew he loved me, but I also knew how important it was to him that he have a family. I just didn't want to take that away from him. So, I ran away. It was the hardest decision I'd ever made in my life, but I did it for him. He was still a young man, not to mention gorgeous, certainly the most handsome man I'd ever met. He still had time to remarry, and have his dream of a nice big family.
She looks at Clark.
MARTHA
That's what you do when you love someone. You start doing what's best for them and not what's best for you. You even start thinking that maybe you know what's best for them and they don't.
CLARK
What happened?
MARTHA
I didn't even make it to the end of the driveway.
CLARK
You couldn't go through with it?
MARTHA
No, your father almost ran me over with the truck.
CLARK
What?
MARTHA He threatened to run me over to keep me from leaving. He wasn't serious, of course...
She shrugs.
MARTHA
Or maybe he was, I don't know. He told me that he didn't care that I couldn't have a child with him, that it didn't matter to him one way or the other because what he really wanted most in life was a family... and he couldn't have that without the woman that he loved most in his life.
She smiles, half-crying, half blushing all over again.
MARTHA
"Family," he told me, "is about the love that you share, not about how many people you share it with." That was the first time we ever really sat down and considered adopting. "It's not about blood," he said. "It's about love and family." And then you came along.
She smiles at Clark and runs her hand through his hair, like he was a little boy again.
MARTHA
Your father was a good man. He was a God fearing man. He went to church. He believed with all of his heart that God put him on this Earth for a very specific reason; to be a good man, a good husband, and a good father.
CLARK
::nods:: All of the above.
MARTHA
Yes, he was. And he taught me that I was put on this Earth to be a proud woman, a good wife, and good mother.
CLARK
And you are.
MARTHA
I try. I try to be, but sometimes I'm not so sure. Sometimes, I can't help but feel selfish. I sit here looking at these pictures, and I sat at that sewing machine all day, working on your suit, and I...
She balls her fists together and punches down on the bed at her sides.
MARTHA
I want my husband back! I want my little boy back! I want my family back.
CLARK
Mom, I...
MARTHA
::shakes head:: No, no Clark. I promised your father, we promised each other that when the time came, we would let you go. We both knew that day would come. I just wasn't ready for it yet. I wasn't ready.
She cries.
MARTHA
::crying:: This house is going to be so empty without you and your father.
He hugs her.
MARTHA
::crying:: I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't mean to lay this all on you. You have enough on your plate already.
CLARK
You don't have to be sorry, Mom. You never have to be sorry.
MARTHA
::crying:: I just want my family back. I know your place is out there. I just wish I knew what my place was.
He holds her.