Please, please read over the next couple of posts very carefully and slowly or you will miss a LOT. Do not skip ANYTHING or you could miss something very, very important.

Ch. 17

After they visited the hospital the group went to survey the farm. After inspecting the property they found that the only meteor strike they received was the one to the house. The house would take couple of weeks to rebuild at a normal pace. Jonathon and Clark prepped the barn so that they could live there until the house was back in shape. When they were done moving some of the surviving furniture from the house into the barn, Jonathon decided that it was time to ask Clark about what had happened over the last few days. Chloe and Martha were in the kitchen trying to salvage enough cooking instruments so that they wouldn't have to go into town three times a day to eat, so Jonathon knew that they wouldn't be interrupted.

"Clark, before we go inside and help your mother and Chloe with the kitchen I want to talk with you about what happened during and after the meteor shower."

"Ok, but I'll warn you dad, it's a little extreme and I will stop if you get too excited or angry. I don't want you to have another heart attack and with all of the stress your body has been under over the last few days it's especially that you listen to the story without getting too excited."

"Clark, I'm a grown man and I can handle my own health issues, thank you very much. Now tell me what happened."

Clark told him the very short version of his trip to Antarctica and then his flight into space where he rescued the girls who had been kidnapped. He told his dad of the fights that he had won and of their escape back to Earth. It was at this point that Jonathon had to interrupt his son, no longer able to hold back his words.

"You're telling me that both Chloe and Lana know everything?" Jonathon said in a low voice that approached a whisper.

"Pretty much. There are probably a few things that I forgot to tell them, I mean, it would take days to tell them everything, but they know everything that's important."

"How'd they take it?" Jonathon asked, worried about his family and how this could affect them.

"Chloe took it very well. She actually found out about some of my powers around a month ago but never told me because she wanted me to trust her enough to tell her." Clark said with a smile.

"How did Lana take it?"

Clark's smile disappeared. "Not as well. She was almost catatonic because of all the trauma she's been through over the past couple of days. Finding out about me didn't help any. She wouldn't even speak to me at first, but she seems to be over that now. I think she'll be ok, but I don't think she'll ever feel completely comfortable around me again. I thought that it would hurt more for her to reject me, but it doesn't. I'll be sorry to lose her as a friend but that's all. This whole mess has made me realize that I haven't been in love with Lana for quite some time."

"What, exactly, made you realize that?"

"A lot of things really, but one of the big reasons was Chloe. I looked at the two of them side by side, for the first time in a long time, and I realized that I don't even like Lana all that much. She's ok as a friend, at least some of the time, but she isn't who I thought she was. I had an ideal picture of her in my head that simply didn't correspond to reality. Chloe, on the other hand, seemed to be far more than I have ever given her credit for. Chloe showed a lot of courage, compassion, and a gentleness of spirit that I had never thought that she possessed. You should have seen her looking after Lana, dad. She was like a mother bear protecting her cub. I think I may have started falling for Chloe over the past couple of weeks and never noticed it until right then. This incident forced me to analyze everything around me, including the feelings that I have towards certain people." Clark said while staring out the barn door.

Clark turned to face his father as he said what was in his heart.

"Dad, I'm in love with Chloe."

"Are you sure? This has been a pretty rough time and you may be a little mixed up." Jonathon said. He was concerned that perhaps Clark was turning towards Chloe because of the sense of rejection he had received from Lana. Jonathon knew that no relationship could be built on such a shaky foundation and still endure.

"Dad, this time it's not just about how I feel, it's also about who she is. Yes, she makes me feel good and gives me the 'warm fuzzies' you once mentioned, but that's not why I love her." Clark paused here for a moment to gather his thoughts.

"I've realized that there are two kinds of romantic love in this world, the love that you say and feel, and the love that you show though actions and knowledge of the other person. The love that you say and feel, the kind that only makes you feel those 'warm fuzzies', is all well and good, but it can be very fleeting and fickle. It does nothing, produces nothing, and endures nothing. That's the love that I had with Lana.

The other type of love is the one where, while you may indeed feel those 'warm fuzzies' at times, that's not really what the relationship is about. This love shows itself in the way you treat the other person, as if they were valuable beyond anything else in your life. It shows itself in the things you do for the other person, giving of yourself so that the person that you love can feel secure in the knowledge that you love them because you have demonstrated that love again and again. You demonstrate that kind of love not only in the short moments that seem to so often define and redefine our lives, but also in the everyday moments that can slowly but surly shape our lives.

Sometimes this shows up by doing simple things for the other person, or by the giving of unexpected and thoughtful gifts. Sometimes it's just cuddling with the other person. It can even be shown simply by talking to them about everyday events around the dinner table. I haven't truly demonstrated that kind of love to Chloe because of two reasons. One, I didn't understand it before now, and two, I foolishly let the fleeting love that I had for Lana blind me to the kind of love that I could have with Chloe.

Chloe, on the other hand, has demonstrated this kind of love to me, at least as much as I would allow her to. Yes, she has made some mistakes, but she's just a fallible as the rest of us and I won't hold those mistakes against her. She has helped me time and time again, many of those times at the cost of her own heart. She has talked with me and gotten to know me. She has given me advice when I needed it the most and she has helped me to get through the good times, the bad times, and the times in between. She has been a rock that I could depend on, a helper in my times of need, even when I lied to her and treated her badly. She has stayed with me and I intend to do the same for her from now on.

It may take a while to show her exactly how much I care for her and even more time to erase the scars that I've given her, but I will be there every step of the way until that happens and she can once again trust me with her whole heart, knowing that I would never again hurt her. When that happens, I fully intend to ask her to become my wife."

Clark finished his statement, never once flinching or looking away from his father's eyes, which had become suspiciously misty.

Jonathon put his hand on Clark's shoulder and said "I always believed that one day you would figure this out Clark. You've gone from a boy to a man over the past few days, not mentally or physically, but in your heart and soul. You would never think to say the words that you just spoke unless you meant and understood them. They are simply too foreign a concept until you truly feel and understand them. I'm more proud of you today than I have ever been in my life and I would love to have Chloe as my daughter. Although, to be strictly honest, I never thought that she would be the one that you would finally fall for, but I am very glad that you did fall for her." Jonathon said with a slight tremble in his voice from the tears of joy and pride that he was holding in.

"Thanks dad. That means everything coming from you." Clark said, in just as emotional a state as his father was.

"Come on, I want to go inside and grab your mother. We have a few things to discuss together and I think you could use a little time with Chloe to talk." Jonathon said as he slapped his son on the back

"Thanks dad." Clark said as they both turned and walked into the house.

TBC

Well, I'm pretty sure that we're nearing the end of the story. Just thought you might want to know. I really hope that you enjoyed this last update a lot because I enjoyed writing it more than any other part of this story. I felt absolutely inspired when I wrote it. Maybe it's just me being me, but I think it's my best update so far.