Disclaimer: Me? Own Smallville? I wish...

Author's Note: Okay, like I said, this is AU and totally revised. Some of you may remember it from before, but I've gone through and changed a lot of stuff, so you may want to reread it.I've completely made Emma Kent up. She's my creation, like Frankenstein. Okay, that was a lame joke. Anyway, I'm not exactly sure how old Jonathan is for real, so at the beginning of this story, he's almost eighteen. This start's when the baby's born and follows up through the Smallville years. This is very important: pay attention to the dates at the beginning of each chapter! It's going to skip around a bit, especially later on.


In my daughter's eyes I am a hero

I am strong and wise, and I know no fear

But the truth is plain to see

She was sent to rescue me

I see who I want to be

In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes

Everyone is equal

Darkness turns to light

And the world is at peace

This miracle God gave to me

Gives me strength when I am weak

I find reason to believe

In my daughter's eyes

-Martina McBride


February 16th, 1983-

Seventeen-year-old Jonathan Kent impatiently paced the length of the St. Joseph's Hospital waiting room, back and forth. "What could possibly be taking so long? It's been hours!" he paced again, glancing at his clock. Ten minutes after midnight.

"Takes a long time to have a baby, Jonathan." His father, Hiram Kent, answered sleepily. "Why don't you sit down for a few minutes, huh? You're making me nervous with all that pacing."

"I can't help it." Jonathan wrung his hands. "I'm so nervous. What if it's a girl? How can I raise a little girl by myself?"

"The same way you'd raise a little boy." His mother, Tammy, answered. "With love. Now, sit down."

"I'm worried about Penny." Jonathan said. He kept on pacing. "What if something happens? What if she changes her mind?"

"She can't change her mind, sweetie." Tammy replied. "She already signed the papers to give you sole custody of the baby."

Jonathan shrugged his shoulders, finally plopping down into one of the chairs. He chewed his thumbnail, thinking over the events of the past year; the events that led up to this very night in the maternity ward.

A year before, he had met Penny Landry at a party. She was from Granville, the closet town to Smallville. Needless to say, they had become very close very fast. Six months later, she told him she was pregnant. They had discussed abortion, which Jonathan was totally against. They couldn't raise the baby together; Penny's parents had forbid her to ever see Jonathan again. Finally, talk of adoption came up. Jonathan had almost gone along with it, but he changed his mind at the last minute. He talked it over (more like fought it over) with his parents, till they finally agreed to let him keep the baby and raise it on his own. Penny had signed papers stating that after the birth, she'd never try to contact Jonathan or the baby again. And that was that.

Now, the time had come. Jonathan had wanted to be in the delivery room, but Penny said she didn't want him in there. He had a sneaking suspicion that Penny's mother was behind that, because she was in there with her. Jonathan had no idea where Mr. Landry was and he didn't care. The only thing that mattered now was his baby. They'd been waiting for nearly six hours. How much longer could it take?

"Did you finally decide on some names?" His mother asked, taking his hand. She was just trying to take his mind off what was going on in the delivery room.

"I'm thinking Adam if it's a boy." He said. "Adam Joseph Kent. What'd you think?"

"I think that's a fine name for a boy." Hiram told him. "But what if it's a girl?"

Jonathan shrugged. "I don't know yet. I was thinking Sara or Elizabeth. Maybe Leanne."

"You haven't picked one out yet?" Tammy asked.

"I can't decide. I know next to nothing about little girls. How can I pick out a name for one?"

"You never seemed to have any trouble naming female animals." His father remarked.

"Da-ad." Jonathan groaned. "That's completely different! You can stick a female animal with a name like Mitzie or Cocoa and it's fine. You can't do that with a baby girl."

Hiram opened his mouth to retort, but before he could Dr. Bennett came out. Jonathan jumped from his chair.

"Is it over? Is the baby okay? Is it a boy or a girl?"

The doctor laughed and held up his hand. "One question at a time, Jonathan. Yes, it's over and the baby's fine." He smiled. "It's a girl. Congratulations!"

Jonathan felt like dancing around the waiting room. He hugged his parents. "A girl!" He kept saying. "I have a girl!"

"Come down to the nursery and you can see her." Dr. Bennett told him.

Jonathan was practically skipping to the nursery, his parents following behind him. His mind was reeling. A girl? He had a boy's name all picked out, but a girl? Out of all the names he had picked out, he liked Elizabeth the best, but he wasn't sure if he wanted that for his daughter's (his daughter!) first name.

"Here we are!" Dr. Bennett announced. "If Mr. and Mrs. Kent don't mind waiting outside for a few minutes, I'll take Jonathan in to see her."

Jonathan barely heard his parents answer. He followed Dr. Bennett into the nursery. There were two other babies in the room besides his, two boys. He could see her; she was lying in an incubator, wrapped in a pale pink blanket. The tag on the front read simply "Baby Kent".

One of the nurses, her nametag read 'Rose', lifted the baby out of the incubator and placed her into Jonathan's arms. He smiled down at her in her little blanket. She had a tuff of white blonde hair. He touched her cheeked and her eyes fluttered, opening long enough for him to see they were a very dark blue. And just like that, a name came to him.

"Emma." He told his parents a few minutes later when they entered the room. "That's what I'm going to call her. Emma Leanne." He had no idea where it came from, but he knew it was the perfect name.

One week later-

"Waaaaaahhhhhhh!"

Jonathan sat straight up in his bed. Emma was crying. He looked at the clock, realizing it was time for her next bottle.

"Come on, Cookie." He whispered, lifting her out of her crib, kept right next to his bed. "Let's go."

He carried her downstairs, trying to keep her quiet by singing. "Hush little baby, don't say a word, daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird won't sing, daddy's gonna buy you a diamond ring. And if that diamond ring turns brass, daddy's gonna buy you a looking glass."

He sang quietly, trying to remember all the words to the song, as he made Emma her bottle. He did like his mother had shown him, testing a drop of the warm milk on his finger, to make sure it wasn't too hot. It wasn't. He sat down in the living room, in an old rocking chair, still humming the song. He watched as Emma drifted back to sleep, the bottle still in her mouth. He was thankful that it was the weekend. He was still attending school, his mother watching Emma during the day and in the middle of the night. But not on the weekends. On the weekends, Jonathan did it. Football season had just ended, thankfully, so he didn't have to worry about that.

He wondered where Penny was and if she ever thought about their baby. He kissed Emma's soft forehead. She was the most beautiful baby he had ever seen. He had always heard that newborn babies were supposed to be ugly, but not his baby. She was perfect. Jonathan sighed and leaned back into the chair. Would it always be like this, just him and Emma? Who would want to marry a guy who already had a kid? He wondered. He still planned on taking some courses at Metropolis U next fall. Maybe he would meet someone there.

Hey, you never know. It could happen.