Words

February, 2015

At eight months old, Callie bounced on her legs in the playpen, trying to steady her weight, and tumbled over. She stretched her little arms out, her fingers flexing as she tried to grab the plush yellow dog that was only a foot away.

"Is this what you're trying to get?" Lois asked as she crouched down and pushed the toy closer.

"Ayyayayaya!" Callie squealed as she finally had the toy in her grasp. She placed her mouth on it and looked up at her mother. She let out a giggle and smiled.

"Doggie. That's a doggie." Lois said pointing to the stuffed dog.

"Doh ah ah."

"Doggie." Lois stressed again.

"Doh ah ah." Callie babbled then laughed.

"Close enough." Lois shrugged as she brushed back Callie's hair from her forehead. "You'll speak actual words in no time."

"Ba ba ba ma." She said dropping the dog.

"Mama." She pointed to herself and repeated. "Mama."

"Mama."

Lois clapped and Callie tried to copy her.

"That's right. Mama. We've got to just get that dada out of you."

Callie had been advancing quickly in milestones, which was expected with her Kryptonian genes. The speech was coming along. Lots of babbling with easy consonants and vowels. Lois had been convinced that when she first said "baba" when being held by her grandma she was actually speaking an Eastern European language and referring to the word for grandmother. Clark had been the logical one and consulted his books, refuting the claim. More recently, Callie babbled "mama" as they were putting her in the crib one night, which caused Lois to have a mini breakdown.

"Clark, she said 'mama'. Did you hear it?" She said, with tears streaming down her face.

"I did, Lois." He said hugging her from behind. "It's amazing. You're amazing."

"I just-I know I'm a mom now, but to hear her make that sound. It-it just-" she sniffed back more tears. "It just means something so real and so special."

"That's because you're special." He said kissing the top of her head.

"You are, too. Pretty soon she'll be combining syllables that will make you a blubbery mess."

"I can't wait." He said as he tucked Lois' head under his chin and they watched their child fall asleep.

Lois' phone started to ring and brought her out of her memory. She smiled when she looked at the Caller ID.

"Smallville, what's the ETA on your landing?"

She felt a gust of wind and her hair flew upward. Suddenly, her husband was right behind her giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Right now."

Lois twisted around in his arms and looped hers around his neck. Her fingers danced and toyed with the red cape off his shoulders.

"There you are."

They bent their heads and kissed, but broke away as Callie banged her toys on the ground and squealed in delight seeing her father miraculously appear. She reached up while bending her fingers and trying to get his attention to pick her up.

Clark let go of his wife and swooped down and brought his daughter up into his arms.

"How's my little girl?"

Callie squealed again and gurgled.

"She's getting better with her sounds. I swear, she's going to be making sense soon."

He chuckled. "The books say she's understanding more and more." He bounced Callie in his arms. "Can you say Dada? Dada."

"Da!" She exclaimed.

"That's the first part. Halfway there or she's telling us 'yes' in Russian."

"Dada." He encouraged her again.

"Dah ahyaya."

"She's circling it, Smallville. She's actually ahead of the curve according to that book."

Clark eyed her curiously.

"Yes, I read a chapter of the book you always have your nose in."

Callie then made a slurp of an "s" noise and adding a "ma" at the end.

"What was that, lovebug?"

Callie repeated the sounds. Lois cocked her head to the side. "Did she just say 'sma'?"

Callie giggled and flailed her arms at her father. Realization dawned on Lois

"Oh my god, I think she's trying to say your name!"

"That's a little ways from Dada."

"Not Dada, you dodo. She hears me call you Smallville all the time."

Callie reacted again, looking at her father when her mother used the nickname.

"She understands that. Oh my-who's got the smartest baby in the world?" Lois' eyes widened as she declared, "I do!"

"Lois, she's mimicking sounds. And that was hardly an "s". That sound is too hard for her age."

She pointed to their child. "Smartest baby in the world."

"Every new parent probably thinks that."

"Our baby is half Kryptonian." She countered.

He nodded, understanding her point. "She's still just mimicking what she hears."

"Exactly and she understands what it's referring to, which is you ."

"Great, so my daughter will be calling me Smallville before Dad?"

Callie reached again for her father, grabbing at the button fastener on his shoulder that held his cape and trying to put it in her mouth.

"No, no, no," he said, guiding her hands away from the choking hazard. "We don't eat buttons."

Lois watched the interaction between Clark and their daughter. It always warmed her heart to witness the two of them. She particularly loved the moments when Clark would lay on the couch with Callie on his chest. She always seemed to fall fast asleep in that position and Lois could understand why. And even though he tried to cover it with book facts and patience, she knew that Clark was eager to hear Callie call out the precious term he'd been longing for.

"Whether it's a variation of 'sma' or 'da', she's reacting to you. She knows her daddy." She said, tickling Callie's stomach.

He grinned at her reasoning. "You're right."

"Often am." She sang. "Look, she even dressed up like her favorite hero. Her blue onesie is just like yours."

He slowly turned his head to her with a glare of his eyes. Lois closed her mouth, her lips sealed tightly, trying to keep a laugh from escaping.

"I told you to stop calling it that."

"I think it's adorable." She said, letting a couple chuckles out. "It's like a 'Who wore it best?" She turned to look for her phone on the side table. "I should get the camera."

"Okay. I'm changing." He said handing Callie off to Lois.

As he walked down the hallway to the bedroom, and out of sight, Callie reached in his direction.

"Dada."

Lois' eyes grew in surprise. She looked down at her daughter and asked, "Did you just say Dada ?"

"Dada." She uttered again.

"Smallville, get back in here!" Lois called out.

Clark raced from the bedroom, now in front of her in a gray T-shirt and dark jeans.

"What? What is it?" He asked, immediately checking the baby.

Callie slurred part of her speech again, making a sound Lois swore was "sma".

"No, say what you said before. Dada. She just said it twice when you were gone."

"I think it's just wishful hearing, Lois."

"It is not. She said it." She bounced Callie in her arms. "Come on, baby. Say it again for Daddy."

They waited, but their daughter just squealed and giggled. Clark smiled back, her laughter infectious. A long string of gibberish then came out of her mouth.

"Is that right?" Clark asked, acting as if they were having a conversation. He looked at Lois and asked, "Did she eat yet?"

"No, I was just about to prepare it."

"I got it."

Clark stepped away again, out of sight behind the wall that blocked part of the kitchen.

"Dada." Tumbled out of Callie's mouth.

"Not cool. I don't like this game of making Mommy look crazy." Lois said, shaking her head. "I know I said you're smart, but that's a little too smart."

She thought quickly how she could reveal the new word in their baby's vocabulary. She smiled as she connected her daughter's reaction to what, or who, wasn't visible.

"Honey, can you just adjust your hearing to the living room while you're in there."

"Whatever you say, Lois." He called back.

"Dada!" Callie squealed, hearing his voice but unable to see him.

After a few seconds, Clark slowly walked out from behind the wall and then froze.

"Did she just-?"

"I told you." Lois said pointedly and turned Callie toward him.

"Dada!" She squealed again when he reappeared in her vision.

Even though he was only twenty feet away he sped over and grabbed their daughter, raising her up as high as he could toward the ceiling.

"Say it again. Dada."

Callie cackled. "Dada!"

"Dada."

"Dada!"

"Such a beautiful sound." He whispered.

Lois could see his eyes becoming glassy and overcome with emotion. She plucked her phone from the side table and started to take a video as Clark would hold Callie in the air, swoop her down with sound effects, then move her back above him again. She seemed like she was having the time of her life giggling at the flying motions. He coached her again on saying "Dada" and she reciprocated the word, flailing her arms and feet as if she could sense how happy it made him. Lois stopped the recording and savored the image in front of her. Clark looked over at her, his watery eyes saying everything from "thank you" to "I love you" in one gaze.

"Who's that Callie? Who's the beautiful woman right there?" He said pointing at Lois. "Is that Mama? Where's Mama?"

Callie turned to look at Lois, recognizing her as "mama".

"Mama! Wahma ahma?"

"Is that a question?" Lois asked. "Are you already asking questions, my little reporter?"

She walked over to her husband, sandwiching Callie between the both of them. They stared at each other in matching regards of amazement. Amazement at their child, their love, and their life.

"I don't think I can ever express what I feel when I look at the both of you." Clark confessed. "How I never thought I could ever love so intensely. How my heart is so full." He looked down at Callie then back to Lois. "Coming home to this. It makes me fight so much harder when I'm out there."

Lois brought her hand up to graze the side of Clark's face.

"That's how you show it, Smallville. Your determination to make this world a safer place, whether it's with a cape on your back or with a pen in your hand. When you come home, we're bathed in your warmth and light and love. We know."

"Whether it's with a cape on my back or with a pen in my hand, I wouldn't be able to do it without my partner by my side."

He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.

"Partner, hmm?" She hummed.

"Soulmate?" He supplied in exchange and gave her another quick kiss. He added, "Love of my life?" Then repeated the action.

She nodded as they broke apart. "All really good titles."

He raised his eyebrows playfully. "I have plenty more...Miss Lane."

"You certainly have a way with words. You should look into a career with that." She smirked.

They were lost in their own world until Callie started to fuss between them. The couple smiled down upon her, brought back to domesticity and parenthood.

"Okay, little one. We know you're hungry." Lois said as she combed back the dark soft hair on Callie's head.

"You want to get her set up in the chair and I'll put the meal together?"

"Sounds like a plan." She said as she grabbed Callie from him. As Clark started to disappear from their sightline, Lois asked her daughter loudly, "And who do you want to feed you those icky vegetables?"

Callie raised her arms. "Dada!"

"Yes, Dada!" She agreed.

Last time Lois attempted the new assortment of vegetables they were introducing, a spoonful was flung in her hair. Since Clark had the better reflexes, she figured this would be a job for Super-dad. She wore a wide grin as she walked toward the kitchen opening.

"You heard your daughter, Smallville. Chop, chop."