Chapter 12

(Martha stands in front of the oven, her back to the door.  She is in her nightgown with a robe pulled over it.  She hears the door open.)

Martha (Pulling a sheet of cookies out of the oven): "How's the flying going?"

Chloe: "Hi Mrs. Kent."

(Martha turns around with the cookies in her hands.  Jonathan walks in behind Chloe.)

Martha: "Oh, hi Chloe!"

(Martha sets the cookies down on the island in the middle of the kitchen.)

Martha: "What brings you here at an hour like this?"

Chloe: "Well, I was wondering... Mrs. Kent, could I possibly stay here for a little while?"

(A look of worry hides behind Chloe's eyes.  Martha sees it.)

Martha: "Is everything alright, Chloe?"

(Chloe opens her mouth to speak, but Clark and Lana enter.  Jonathan crosses over to the freshly baked cookies.)

Martha: "Hi, Lana!"

Jonathan: "Ouch!"

Martha (Turning back to Jonathan, scolding him): "Jonathan, I just took those out of the oven!"

Jonathan (Wrapping his arms around his wife): "But they look so good."

(Martha shakes her head, laughing silently to herself.)

Martha (Turning back to Chloe and Lana): "You two are welcome to stay for as long as you want."

(She walks over to the island, shooing Jonathan away from the cookies.  As she does, Chloe, Lana, and Clark sit down in the family room; Chloe and Lana sit on the couch, Clark in the armchair.  Martha takes out a plate and slides the cookies on to it.  She sets them down on the table in the family room.)

Martha: "Well, I'm going to get to bed."

(She looks at Jonathan.)

Martha: "We have to get up early tomorrow."

Jonathan (Taking the hint): "Right, Clark, you can get some blankets out of the closet.  There's plenty of room in the barn."

Clark (Reaching for a cookie): "Thanks, dad."

(Jonathan ruffles Clark's hair before he walks up the stairs following Martha.  Clark stares blankly off into space, idly chewing a portion of the cookie he bit off several moments before.  Lana and Chloe exchange a glance.  Chloe raises her eyebrows.)

Chloe: "So, Clark..."

(Clark continues chewing the cookie, not noticing her speaking.)

Chloe: "Clark?  Hello?"

Clark (Snapping out of it): "Oh, sorry!  Just kind of zoned out for a second, there."

Lana: "Tired?"

Clark: "No, just... thinking."

Lana: "About what?"

Clark (Smiling): "Just my parents... my... biological parents."

Lana: "It's too bad you never got to know them."

Chloe: "Yeah, I wonder, what brought them to give you up?"

Clark: "Something tells me they wouldn't have if they had had a choice."

Lana: "Well, there loss, right?"

(Clark smiles and bites off another piece of cookie.)

Clark (Swallowing): "Come on; let's go out to the barn and let my parents sleep."

(Chloe and Lana stand as Clark quietly walks up the stairs.  Several seconds later, he emerges from the stairwell holding several blankets.  Neither the intrepid reporter nor the raven-haired beauty catches how quickly Clark got the blankets, though.  It is too late for them to notice such things, and both are developing dark circles of drowsiness under their eyes.  They silently follow Clark out of the house.)