Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They are the property of the writers, creators, and producers of the Smallville television series.
Story Note: Jonathan and Martha Kent have taken in Martha's sister's child. Martha's sister and her husband died in a car accident soon after Jessie was born and the 9 year old girl has been raised by her paternal grandmother. It's sometime during the second season and Clark is in the 10th grade.
It's breakfast time at the Kent Farm. Jonathan and Clark are sitting at the dining room table as Martha is bringing in food. Jessie comes down the stairs slowly.
"Hi, Sweetheart. Perfect timing. Breakfast is ready. You can sit here." She pulls out a chair across from Clark and Jessie sits down.
Clarks smiles across the table at her. "So. How was your first night on the farm?"
Jessie frowns back at him. "I kept hearing this weird noise, like something was dying."
Clark laughed. "That's just the cows."
"And I certainly hope they aren't dying," Jonathan added with a smile.
Martha brought in the last of the food and sat down. "After breakfast I though we'd go into town and get you registered for school. Then maybe we'll do a little shopping. How does that sound?"
Jessie made a face. "I could lose the school part, but shopping sounds okay."
"What grade are you in?" Clark asked her.
"Fifth."
Martha looked confused. "But you're only nine."
"I skipped second grade," she clarified.
"You must be really smart," Martha observed.
Jessie shrugged. "Or maybe everybody else was just really dumb."
Not knowing how to respond, Martha changed the subject. "How do you like your room? If there's anything you want to change, it's okay."
Jessie shook her head. "No. It's great. I like it. Really."
Clark chugged the rest of his juice and stood up. "Gotta go. I'm late. I was supposed to meet up with Pete before school."
He kissed his mother and hurried towards the back door. "Bye, Jessie."
"Bye," she called back.
That afternoon Jessie was waiting on the porch when Clark came home from school.
"How'd it go today?" he asked her pleasantly.
"Fine, I guess. The school was lame but shopping was even lamer. I can't believe you don't have a single video game store."
"People around here don't have a lot of time for video games, I guess. Who's your teacher?"
"Some old lady. I forgot her name."
Clark dropped his book bag on the porch and thought for a moment. "Let's see. Fifth grade would either be Mrs. Foust or Mrs. Bremmer."
"Bremmer," Jessie confirmed.
"She's nice," Clark said. "One time I forgot my homework and she was totally cool about it. She just told me to bring it the next day."
"So, you're telling me it's okay not to do my homework?" Jessie asked with a twinkle in her eye.
"Hey. That's not what I said and you know it."
"Relax. I'm kidding," Jessie said as Clark was turning a little red.
Clark and Jessie turned to look as a large truck pulled into the driveway.
"Looks like your stuff's here," Clark said.
"Finally. I was beginning to think I was going to die of terminal boredom before it showed up.
"Kent?" asked the driver as he stepped out of the truck.
"That's us," Clark confirmed.
"That's you," Jessie corrected.
"Sign here," said the man as he pushed a clipboard at Clark.
"Where do you want it?" asked the man getting out of the passenger seat.
"Upstairs. Second door on the right," Clark told him as he handed back the clipboard.
For the next 45 minutes the two moving men plus Clark carried box after box up to Jessie's room. When they were finished and the truck had gone, Clark and Martha spent the rest of the afternoon helping Jessie put things away. Everything but the electronics.
"Jessie, I'm not sure you're going to be able to keep all of this in your room," Martha said vaguely.
"All of what?" Jessie asked.
"Well, the TV and DVD player for example."
"Why?"
Martha and Clark exchanged looks.
"Your Uncle Jonathan and I don't really think it's such a good idea for a child to have a television set in their room."
"That's dumb," Jessie said.
Clark looked up sharply and waited for his mother to scold her for being rude, but Martha simply said, "Well talk more about it tonight."
"What about my stereo?" Jessie asked.
"I think the stereo is fine," she answered.
"You've got enough DVDs and CDs here to open a store," Clark noted.
"You can borrow them anytime you want," Jessie offered.
Clark reached out and ruffled her hair. "I don't have a whole lot of down time, but I'll keep it in mind. Thanks, Squirt."
Clark glanced out the window and saw his father's truck coming pulling in. "Dad's back. I'll go give him a hand with the grain sacks."
"Thanks for your help here, Clark," Martha said.
"Yeah. Thanks," Jessie added.
That night after dinner Martha and Jonathan discussed what to do about the many things that had arrived for Jessie that day. It was decided that she could keep the television in her room but that she had to ask permission to turn it on. She was allowed to watch one hour of television a day, two on weekends. She could use the time for video games, DVDs, or TV shows. It was her choice as long as the total time did not exceed the time allowed. And she was only allowed to watch it after her homework and chores were done.
Chores were another topic of conversation that evening. It was explained to Jessie that on a farm everyone had to do their share. Her share would consist of taking care of the chickens, weeding the garden, helping with meals and cleanup, and keeping her room clean.
As the house rules were being explained to her, Jessie said nothing, but inside she was fuming. If they thought they were going to push her around and tell her what she could and couldn't do they were nuts. Jonathan asked Clark to show her what to do with the chickens and garden after school the next day.
"You could give her a ride home from school," Martha suggested. "It's her first day," she added when Clark hesitated.
"Okay. I'll pick you up out front at 3:00."
The next day Clark was in front of the school as promised. On the way home he took Jessie by the Talon and introduced her to Lana, Pete, and Chloe. They all made an effort to make her feel welcome and she took an instant liking to Chloe, especially.
As they were leaving, they met Lex coming in.
"Hey, Clark. Who's the little woman?" he quipped.
"This is my cousin Jessie. She's going to be living with us now. Jessie, this is my friend Lex."
Lex smiled and offered his hand. "Well, it's easy to see who got all the looks in this family. Nice to meet you, Jessie."
Jessie smiled and shook hands with Lex.
"Clark, you'll have to bring her by the mansion. I'm sure we can find something interesting for her to do there."
Jessie's eyes got wide. "You live in a mansion?" she asked him.
"Yep," he confirmed.
"It's not haunted or anything is it?" she asked cautiously.
Lex leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Come by some dark stormy night and let's find out."
Not sure whether he was serious or not, Jessie raised one eyebrow and looked at Clark, who shrugged noncommittally.
Clark opened the truck door for her. "Come on. We'd better get home and get started on our chores."
"Sure thing, John-Boy," Jessie said as she climbed into the truck, shaking her head. "I can't believe this is my actual life now."
When they got to the farm, Martha was waiting on the porch to hear all about her first day. She told her that she didn't have any homework since it was her first day. Martha went inside to start dinner and Clark carefully explained to Jessie how to take care of the chickens. He also showed her how to weed the garden. Jessie only half listened as she had no intention of doing either.
Clark left her to get started. As soon as he was out of site, Jessie went to the screen door and peeked inside. Martha was in the kitchen. Jessie crept around to the front door and eased it open. She quietly walked up the front steps to her room. Piece of cake. She had been playing her video game for about 45 minutes when there was a knock on her door.
"Jessie?" It was Uncle Jonathan. Crap.
She turned off the TV and quickly grabbed a book from her shelf. "Come in," she called in her sweetest voice.
Jonathan opened the door and stepped inside. "Nice try," he said as he felt the TV.
"Would you mind explaining to me why you aren't outside weeding the garden?"
Jessie said nothing.
"Or maybe you can explain why you're watching television without permission."
Jessie still said nothing.
"Jessie, I'm going to make this real simple for you. The next time you break the rule about this TV it's coming out of your room.
Jessie suddenly found her voice. "You can't do that! It's mine!"
"And it will still be yours. You can visit it in its box in the barn."
"That's not fair!" Jessie shouted.
Jonathan was surprised at her outburst. "Don't raise your voice to me, young lady. Now, if you don't want it taken away, I suggest you follow the rules. Understood?"
Jessie sat down on her bed and crossed her arms.
Jonathan tried again. "Is that understood?"
"Yeah."
Jonathan decided he might as well make all of his expectations clear at once. "Make that Yes, Sir, please."
"Yes, sir," Jessie parroted through clenched teeth.
"Thank you. Now you get outside and take care of your responsibilities. When you finish out there you can come in and help your Aunt Martha with dinner."
"Oh, goody," Jessie said sarcastically.
He opened the door and waited for her to leave. Grudgingly, she did. She stomped down the stairs and slammed the screen door on her way out.
As he passed through the kitchen, Jonathan gave his wife a doubtful glance. "I think maybe I'm getting too old for this."
The next week passed in pretty much the same way. School, homework, chores, and dinner. Once or twice she managed to get her chores done to satisfaction and was allowed some TV time. She and Clark spent Saturday night playing her video game. She beat him, but she had the distinct impression that he let her win.
On Sunday afternoon, she and Clark were outside playing a game HORSE. He always spotted her HORS but he still usually won. As they were playing, a car pulled up. It was her teacher, Mrs. Bremmer. Double crap.
"Hello, Jessie. Clark."
"Mrs. Bremmer. Hi," Clark greeted her as she got out of her car. "What brings you out here?"
She glanced in Jessie's direction. "I was hoping to talk to your parents. Are they home?"
"Sure. They're right inside. Would you like me to call them?" Clark offered.
"Don't bother. I'll just ring the bell. Good to see you Clark."
"Yeah, you, too."
When she was out of earshot, Clark leaned down to Jessie. "What'd you do?"
Jessie stared after her teacher. "I have a feeling it's more about what I didn't do."
"Homework?" Clark guessed.
"Among other things," Jessie said cryptically.
When Mrs. Bremmer left, Jessie's presence was requested in the house. As it turns out, in addition to not doing her homework, Jessie had ignored most of the other classroom rules.
She had been reprimanded three times this week for talking back to her teacher, twice for being disruptive in the hallway, once for throwing food in the lunchroom, and four times for leaving the classroom without permission. Needless to say, Jonathan was livid.
"This is not acceptable, young lady," he informed her.
"Jessie, how could you get in so much trouble in just a week?" Martha asked.
"I'm gifted?" Jessie suggested.
"This is not funny, Jessica!" Jonathan yelled.
"Jonathan." Martha cautioned.
"Jessica, go to your room. Your Aunt Martha and I need to talk about this."
Jessica gladly left them to do so. After a few minutes, Clark tapped on her door and stuck his head in.
"What'd they say?" he asked.
"They're discussing it," she told him.
"Oooo. That can't be good."
"I don't care. What's the worst they can do?"
"You really don't want to go there."
"Why not? What'd they used to do to you?" she asked.
Clark flopped down on the bed and thought it over. "Well, it depends on what I did wrong. Sometimes I got grounded. Sometimes I had to do extra chores. Once they made me miss this really awesome Monster Truck show I was supposed to go to with Pete."
"What do you think they'll do to me?"
"Hard to say."
"What should I do?" she asked him.
"My advice? Go downstairs and start apologizing your butt off before they come up here to you. Tell them you realize what you did was wrong and that you won't do it anymore. Then throw yourself on their mercy."
"You think it'll work?"
"I think it's your best shot."
Jessie took Clark's advice and, much to her relief, it did indeed work. She was grounded for two weeks, which didn't really bother her since she didn't know anybody around here anyway. All in all, she got off extremely easy. There was, of course, the emphatic, BUT THIS HAD BETTER NOT HAPPEN AGAIN as she was dismissed.
Dinnertime had become something of a challenge. Jessie was not very big for her age and Martha worried that she was not eating properly. She bent over backwards to cook things she thought Jessie would like but more often than not Jessie left her plate more or less full at the end of the meal. One night, the dinnertime drama finally came to a head.
"Jessie, you'd better finish up there," Jonathan said as he noticed her still full plate.
Jessie scrunched her nose. "I don't like it."
Jonathan took a deep breath and looked at her evenly. "Sweetheart, this is getting to be habit with you. You wouldn't eat corn, or peas, or carrots. Now, last night your Aunt Martha specifically asked you what vegetables you liked and you said broccoli. So, she made broccoli just for you tonight. Now, what's the problem?"
"It's gross." Jessie said simply.
"But you said you liked it," Jonathan reiterated.
Jessie smiled a sweet fake smile. "Guess I was wrong."
"I like it," Clark offered.
Jessie sneered at him. "You'd eat anything."
Clark shrugged weakly. She had a point.
Jonathan struggled to stay calm. "Well, like it or not, there it is, per your request, so you can just eat it anyway."
"Or not," Jessie said, pushing her plate away slightly.
"Now you listen here, young lady…" Jonathan began.
"Jonathan." Martha interrupted.
"No, Martha. We are not going to do this every night. Now she asked for broccoli, you made broccoli, and she's going to eat it."
"You can't make me eat that," Jessie informed him.
Jonathan leaned towards her slightly. "Well, I can make you sit there until you do."
"Wanna make a bet?" Jessie asked boldly, getting up from her chair and walking to the stairs.
Jonathan turned in his seat. "Jessica! You come back here and sit down. Now!"
Jessica started up the steps, not hurrying, but not taking her eyes off her uncle. Jonathan got up and she quickly ran the rest of the way to the top.
Martha got up and rushed to step in front of her husband. "Jonathan, wait."
"Martha, something has to be done about that child's behavior."
"Jonathan, she's been through so much in a very short amount of time. She's still just getting used to everything. She just needs a little more time."
"Martha, you and I both know that what that little girl really needs is a trip across my knee."
"Just let me talk to her. Please?"
Jonathan knew when he was beaten. "Fine," he relented. "But just make sure she knows that we aren't going to put up with any more of this kind of behavior."
"I will," Martha assured him. "Why don't you cut you and Clark a piece of pie?" she suggested, which produced a smile from Clark.
"And people say girls are easier," Jonathan half-joked.
"Did I ever act like that?" Clark asked him.
Jonathan thought for a moment and shook his head slowly. "No. You were an easy kid, Clark. A pleaser. You always did your best to do what you thought we wanted.
There's just a goodness in you, through and through. Like your mother."
"And Jessie?" Clark asked.
Jonathan smiled slightly. "Jessie's more like me. I saw it in her eyes tonight. It was like looking in a mirror. I could see it all. Rebellion. Defiance. Stubbornness. Don't get me wrong. There's goodness in there, too. But it's going to be quite a challenge keeping the goodness on top. Now I know how my father felt."
"So you were a problem child, huh?"
Jonathan shook his head as he remembered. "I could get in trouble for something one minute and turn right around the next minute and do the exact same thing again, right in front of my father, just to spite him."
Clark was amazed. "Why?"
"I wish I knew. If I did I'd probably have a much better idea how to deal with Jessie. All I know is that my dad never backed off. He stayed right on my butt until I eventually did the right thing."
"Sounds pretty harsh," Clark said.
"I thought so, too…at the time. Now I realize that if he hadn't stayed on top of those rebellious tendencies I might not have turned out to be the fine upstanding citizen you see before you today," he said with a sly smile. "How about giving me a hand with these dishes?"
Upstairs, Jessie had gone to her room and closed the door. She had been there no more than two minutes when she heard a knock.
"Who is it?" she asked, not quite able to mask the nervousness in her voice.
She was relieved when she heard Aunt Martha voice answer from the other side.
Jessie walked over and opened the door a crack.
"Can I come in?" Martha asked.
Jessie opened the door wider and stepped back. Martha came in and sat down on the bed.
"Come over here sweetheart. I want to talk to you," she said, patting the spot next to her.
Jessie sat down next to her and looked down at her hands.
"Look at me, Jessie," Martha said.
Jessie did.
"I know you love your grandmother very much and it must have been so hard for you when she had to go to the Nursing Home."
"I could have taken care of her," Jessie said softly.
"No, baby. You couldn't. She needs the kind of care that only a professional medical staff can give. Besides, do you think she'd want you giving up your entire childhood to look after her?"
"I wouldn't have minded."
"She would have."
Jessie shook her head. "She wouldn't have known. Since the stroke she never even knew I was there."
Martha put her arms around the little girl. "Jessie, sometimes things happen that are hard to understand. I don't know why this happened to your grandmother anymore than I know why I lost my sister so soon. Your mother and I were so close when we were growing up. I thought my heart was going to break when she died. But when I saw you I knew I hadn't really lost her completely. She lives on in you."
Jessie thought for a moment. "I know Grandma is totally out of it and all, but do you think she knows I'm okay?"
Martha squeezed her. "I'm sure she does. And we just feel so blessed to have you. When your Uncle Jonathan and I adopted Clark I was so thrilled to finally be a mother. But as happy as I was, somewhere inside I still wished for a little girl. And now I have you."
Jessie smiled at that. "I'm glad, too. It's just…"
"Just what?"
"I don't think Uncle Jonathan is quite as happy about it as you and me."
Martha pushed Jessie back enough to look her in the eye. "Jessie, that's not true. Your Uncle Jonathan loves you very much. He's a wonderful man. He's loving, and kind, and generous, and understanding. Most of all, he's fair. You always know where you stand with him."
"He has too many rules," Jessie criticized.
"I guess that's because he has a tendency to expect the same high standards from others that he demands of himself."
"I guess I should apologize to him, huh?"
Martha smiled. "I'm sure he'd appreciate that."
Martha stood up to leave. "I'd better get the kitchen cleaned up."
"Can I help?" Jessie offered.
"Thank you, Sweetheart."
When they got back downstairs, Jonathan and Clark had finished their pie and were clearing dishes from the table. Jessie noticed that her plate had been cleared and that the dreaded broccoli was in the trash where it belonged.
"Uncle Jonathan?" she said hesitantly.
"Yeah?"
"Umm…"
He squatted down to her eyelevel. "What is it, darlin'?"
"I'm sorry for the way I acted."
Jonathan smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "Apology accepted. And, thank you."
Jessie smiled back. "You're welcome."
Martha walked past them and into the living room and to everyone's surprise put a CD into the stereo and turned it up.
"How would you like for me to show you how your sister and I got the kitchen cleaned up when we were kids?"
Jessie nodded emphatically as "That Old Time Rock and Roll" began blasting from the speakers.
Clark stared in shock as he watched his mother pick up an armload of dishes from the table and dance them back into the kitchen. Jonathan took his cue from her and did likewise. Once they had deposited the dishes on the counter, they indulged in a little spin and dip before returning for another load. Clark and Jessie exchanged glances, shrugged, and chimed in. Before long the kitchen was spotless and Jessie had decided that she might just be happy living here after all, rules or no rules.