Prologue

Clark Kent adjusted his tie for the sixth time since leaving the apartment with his wife Lois earlier that morning. He was nervous, and so he had a right to be, after all to day was the day he and Lois were going to adopt their first child. Clark had always known, after learning about his true heritage and origins that he would never be able to father a child one day, but the idea of adopting a child had actually come from Lois's sister Lucy. The thought of adopting had never really crossed Clark's mind at first, but now that he thought about it, adopting sounded like the perfect idea. After all, he himself was an adopted child as well. It wasn't long after that that Clark and Lois went down to Metropolis United Charities to see about adopting a child. When they visited, they immediately fell in love with a dark haired brown-eyed little girl who was no more than nine months old. After a couple more visits, they made their decision to adopt the little girl and take her in as their own daughter.

And so, here they were sitting in the waiting room of the main office for the head director United Charities to call them in. Again Clark adjusted his tie as the thought of finally becoming a father hit him like punch from one of his toughest enemies and boiled up the nervousness he thought he had set aside. Lois noticed the seventh time her husband's hand went to adjust his tie and felt the corner of her mouth twitch into a curling smile as she reached over and set an assuring hand upon his knee.

"Clark, calm down." She stated gently as Clark looked over at her with a raised brow over the brim of his glasses and a nervous smile upon his face. "Are you positive about the name?" Lois asked.

Clark nodded his head in response before verbally answering her. "Yeah, I'm positive." He replied, and then suddenly perked up as he heard through the walls of the office his last name being spoken between several people. Looking over at Lois, he smiled again, but this time it wasn't sheltered in nerves but drenched in a sense of excitement.

Seeing the look change upon her husband's face so suddenly, Lois couldn't help but grin at him, as she knew he had used his sense of super-hearing to hear something that apparently caused him to become rather excited. At that same moment the door to the main office opened a woman who looked to be in her late forties early fifties dressed in a feminine business suit. "Mr. and Mrs. Kent we're ready for you." She stated while holding the door open with her hand and smiling at them.

Both Clark and Lois stood to their feet and walked over the office. Stepping inside they were ushered to a pair of cushioned chairs seated before a large polished oak desk where behind it sat a balding man with white hair and black rimmed eye glasses. The man behind the desk stood up and extended a hand out towards the Kents as they came towards him. "Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Kent, it's good to see you again." He stated while shaking hands first with Clark and then Lois before they sat down.

"Thank you Mr. Wood." Lois returned while setting her purse down upon her lap.

Mr. Wood smiled at them both while sitting down in his chair behind the desk again. "Now, all the papers have been drawn up and are ready to be signed." He stated while opening a white folder upon his desk and paused a moment while looking at the Kents with a small smile upon his weathered face. "Now, I do believe we need a name for our little girl to be adopted under."

Lois nodded and then looked over at Clark, as she knew he would love to be the one to declare the girl's new name to be written down upon the adoption papers and birth certificate. Clark smiled at his wife's reassurance and urge for him to go ahead and state the name of their daughter, and then looked over at Mr. Wood. "Her name is Laura Martha Kent." He stated while feeling a fluttering jitter welling up in the pit of his stomach.

Nodding at this, Mr. Wood wrote down the name upon the papers and certificates before then turning the documents around and pushed them forward towards the Kents. Handing them both a pen each, he watched as they took their turns in singing each piece of paper upon the appropriate lines. In ten minutes everything was squared away and the adoption had officially taken place, Mr. Wood pressed the button on the intercom set upon his desk. "Mrs. Johnson would please have Mr. and Mrs. Kent's baby brought in."

Clark could barely keep himself sitting still in his seat as he waited for his daughter to be brought into the office and given over to him and Lois. As he sat there listening to his wife talk with Mr. Wood, Clark decided to see just exactly how far away Laura was from them, and casually looking off to his right, Clark focused his eyes a bit and then the material of the wall peeled back as his x-ray vision gave him a view to the other side. And there, coming around the corner in the hall was Mrs. Johnson holding the nine month old in her arms dressed in a powder blue jumper and wrapped in a red blanket. The baby girl, now known as Laura Kent, was awake and looking about the hall as she passed by. Her big brown eyes taking in everything that her small mind could understand. Clark looked away and held one biggest grins across his face that he had to feel upon his own face since the day he married Lois.

There was a buzz on Mr. Wood's intercom and he pressed the button to end the buzzing. "Yes?"

"She's here Mr. Wood."

"Ah, good, come on in Mrs. Johnson." Mr. Wood grinned over at the Kents as he lifted his fingertip off the intercom. The door then opened behind them and in walked Mrs. Johnson and little Laura Kent wrapped up in her blanket. Clark and Lois turned in their chairs as they came in and then stood up immediately.

Mrs. Johnson grinned at them while turning Laura about enough so that way she could see her new mom and dad, even though they were people she had seen before. Almost as quickly as Laura had taken sight of the face she would soon be calling dad, her tiny face pulled into a baby grin as she then giggled lightly. If weren't for the fact that kryptonite was his known weakness, then that little girl's smile and laugh would then be his true weakness. Mrs. Johnson didn't have to come any further as both Lois and Clark had crossed the expanse to take the little girl into their arms. Mrs. Johnson handed Laura over to Lois first who held the little dark haired angel in her arms for a moment while grinning brightly at her.

"Hello Laura, I'm your mommy." She stated in greeting to the little girl she had seen on so many other occasions, but today was something very different and it wasn't just any other occasion. "And this," Lois began while looking over at Clark with a broad smile upon her face and shifting the tiny girl in her arms in preparation of handing her over to him. "Would be your daddy."

Clark took Laura in his arms and smiled down at her as she looked back up at him with a tiny smile upon her own face. "Hello Laura." He greeted her and in response had the little girl raising a hand up at him as if she wanted to touch his face to say 'hello' back. Clark felt himself becoming weak in the knees, but it was a good weak in the knees feeling that he enjoyed very much. Here she was, the precious little life entrusted upon him to raise and care for as his own child. Clark Kent knew that at this very moment he had fallen in love, not in the since of a man and a woman, but it was with this little girl that he had fallen in love with and would come to treasure for the rest of his life.

After a few more things were taken care of at Metropolis United Charities, the Kents were finally able to take their daughter home back to their apartment where things were already set up for her arrival. The new family of three arrived home a half hour later, and the whole time Clark held his daughter within his arms. Entering the apartment, Lois led the way of course and flicked on the wall light to illuminate the small home. Stepping aside she watched her husband enter with their daughter. Lois couldn't help but smile gently how incredible it was to watch someone like her husband, a man known to the rest of the world as the greatest superhero, cradle the little one in his arms and stare down at her in such an affectionate manner.

"You are going to end up tied around her little finger before she's even able to utter a single word to you." Lois teased while shutting the door and locking it before following after Clark into their bedroom where they had the crib set up. They had decided that even though they had a second room in the apartment, one that would later be converted from a small office into Laura's bedroom when she was old enough, they would keep the crib in their bedroom so that way Laura was right there when she needed attention.

Clark looked over at his wife with a grin upon his face. "She had me since the first day we saw her." Clark replied while looking down at Laura, who was looking about the hallway as they walked down it, her big brown eyes taking everything in while she remained rather quiet. "She is a quiet baby." He commented as they entered the bedroom finally, Lois again flicking on the lights.

"Indeed she is." Lois agreed while going around to the small lightly tan colored wooden crib she and Clark had set up the night before. "Who knows, maybe she'll end up just like you when she's older. A mild-mannered citizen of Metropolis who just so happens to now be the daughter of Superman." Lois grinned as Clark set Laura down within the slated walls of the crib. "That reminds me, are you going to give her a Kryptonian name as well?"

"I had thought about it, but there's a part of me that doesn't want Laura caught up in that heritage, but it's a small part." He added in while looking over at Lois.

Lois nodded her head in understanding to this, and then gave her husband a hug. "You do what you think is best. If you give her a Kryptonian name, I think it will only just further bring her deeper into your heart. But like I said, you do what you think is best." She stated while then placing a tender kiss upon his lips. "I'm going to go get dinner started." Lois said while dropping her hug from about him. "Try not to have too much fun without me you two." She laughed while speaking to not just Clark but also to her daughter who was sitting up in the crib staring at her. After Lois spoke, Laura gave a baby's laugh at this and smiled.

Leaning down into the crib, Lois planted a kiss upon Laura's forehead and then headed out of the room. Clark watched his wife leave and then looked down at his baby girl with a smile. "Laura Martha Kent, my precious daughter." He murmured quietly as the two of them stared at each other for a quiet moment or two before Laura gave a noise that sounded like a 'uh?' as if she were wondering why her dad had grown so quiet. "Your mother is right. And because she's right I now exactly what I want to give you." Clark stated while reaching down and picking Laura back up in his arms. Holding her so that way they could continue to stare at one another on an eye-level, Clark felt his face growing a soft affectionate smile that was directed at Laura. "I would name after my mother, but you hold a likeness already to her name's sake." He stated, partially to himself while still contemplating what it was that he wanted to give her. After another moment passed in which there was silence, Laura reached up and set a hand upon her father's cheek and gave a small cooing noise that only children her age made in an attempt to speak.

This simple gesture given to him caused Clark to tear up a bit as he wondered if this was how his father, Jonathan Kent, felt when he was raising him from such an early age as well. Laura bounced a bit in her father's hold while giggling to herself for some apparent reason, but kept her hand upon his cheek the whole time. The sheer innocence of this tiny girl amazed Clark as he watched her stare up at him with a smile and continued to make baby noises as she was talking to him. He smiled softly at her and then placed a kiss upon her forehead. "Welcome home, Ka – El."