Time

March 2019

It was a quiet day in Metropolis. Those could be rare and when they happened Clark was all too eager to stay at home with his family. He never forgot the advice his father-in-law, The General, had enlightened him with years prior. That it was the little things he missed out on while he was off defending his home. That if he could do it over, he'd spend more time with the family. That swam in the depths of Clark's brain every day.

So, while the city remained intact and others were on duty if anyone needed saving, he focused his attention on what he could do at home. Lois had just stepped out to pick up the food they ordered for dinner, which left him and his four, going on five, year old daughter Callie together. As he sat on the couch of the living room, he studied her method of play, which included Star Wars figurines supplied by his wife amongst the other dolls situated in some sort of meeting. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. He could see Lois clearly in her face, while there were elements he noticed that came from him as well. Her blue eyes were bright as she stared back at him. She forgot about her toys as she pulled herself up off of the floor and then climbed onto the couch and settled in his lap. Her face was close to his and her little hands reached up and grabbed onto each side of his cheeks as their noses and foreheads touched.

"What are you doing?" He asked with a laugh.

"I don't know." She said innocently with a tiny shrug. "You and Mommy did this before she left."

"We did," he confirmed. He pulled back and kissed Callie on the forehead. "I did that, too."

Her face scrunched up in glee. She squirmed as she repositioned herself, sitting in the same direction as him. She was then watching what he had on the television, a home renovation show he had put on absentmindedly for background noise. Curious as to where Lois was he shook his sleeve up and looked at his watch. This caught Callie's attention as her little hands went to inspect it.

"Daddy, how come your watch is different than Mommy's?"

"Because Mommy walks a lot really fast and she wants to see how many steps she takes in a day."

He was curious too as he was always having to keep up with her, superpowered or not. He left out Lois' wonder how many calories "ass-kicking" burned. With that thought voiced to him, it also helped that it had an added signal if she was in an emergency and needed him.

"But you walk a lot, too! How many steps is it to Grandpa Jorel?"

Clark held back a snicker at the mispronunciation of his birth father's name.

"I never counted."

"So, why don't you get a new watch?"

"Well, because this watch is very special."

She looked up at him curiously, wanting him to continue. He looked down and stared at his father's watch. In the year before fully embracing his destiny, he had the misconceived notion that he needed to let go of a lot from his past. Some things, past events, he made amends with, but it was the tangible things he thought he had to let go of where he had veered off track. One was the farm, which in the wake of Apokolips almost crashing into Earth, the buyer backed out, thankfully, returning ownership to he and Lois once more. The second was his father's watch. He had buried it at his grave, thinking that as he let go of the guilt he felt in his father's death, returning the watch to him was a sign of moving forward. But when the image of his father handed him his suit and said the words "Always hold on to Smallville" he realized that the watch wasn't a symbol of the past, but a symbol and bridge through all time and a reminder of his father to keep with him as he took the next steps in his journey.

"This watch belonged to the man who raised me, your Grandpa Kent."

"Do you miss him?"

"Every day. But when I look at this watch, it's like he's with me."

She nodded and he wasn't sure how much she understood. He had spoken about his father with her and showed her pictures. Lois had even put home movies on a DVD and USB drive for him as a present for him after Callie had been born. She had some semblance of the man, but being able to talk to Jor-El mixed her up with not being able to communicate with her Grandpa Jonathan. It was a delicate topic to deal with, but his daughter also was constantly surprising him with her intelligence and maturity in certain situations.

Callie was still inspecting the object and tapped on the crystal window.

"It doesn't change."

"It's not that kind of watch. You have to look at all the numbers here," he said pointing to the little writing inside, "come to think of it, I learned how to tell time from this watch."

Her interest was piqued as she asked in surprise, "You did?"

"Yeah, your Grandpa taught me."

Her eyes lit up. "Can you teach me?"

He grinned at her eagerness to learn.

"We can try." He said, unfastening the watch from his wrist so it would be easier for them to look at. "The short hand right there, that's the hour hand. That's the first number you would see on Mom's watch or on the phone when looking at the time."

He waited as she processed the information. She nodded along, the determination on her face reminiscent of one of Lois' key looks. His daughter meant business. She was going to learn how to tell analog time no matter what.

"The longer hand, that's the minute hand. That would be the second set of numbers."

"Okay. But there's no thirty on here, like when it's 7:30 and time for my bedtime. How do you know then?"

"These numbers also stand for other numbers."

She looked at him perplexed and he feared he was screwing up the lesson.

"Here, the number one, it actually means five minutes."

Her little eyes widened.

"That's weird."

"It is at first. But you just count by fives. You know how to count by fives, right?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "We count by fives to a hundred with Miss Janet. She makes us jump like bunnies in a circle. It's fun!"

"Okay, let's count together. Five….ten...fifteen…"

Callie made a little hop as they counted. Once they got to fifty-five Callie was quick to say "Sixty!" but then realized there was no sixty on the digital clock she knew.

"What happens at sixty?" She asked.

"Then it becomes a double zero. You start over with the new hour. If it was 1:59, a minute later it's…"

She thought for a moment. "2:00! Two double zero!"

"Exactly."

"How do you know it's 1:59 if we counted by fives?"

"The little lines here, in between the numbers. Each line is one minute. So, if it's on the fourth line, you have to add four to 1:55. Five plus four is..."

"Nine!" She huffed, "That's a lot of work."

"You get used to it with practice."

Callie brought the watch up to her eyes and squinted as she was undoubtedly counting.

"Is it 4:30?"

"Yes! Good job!"

She beamed, proud of herself as she promptly snuggled into him, her arms trying to wrap around his torso as she hugged him.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?" He said, lovingly giving her back a pat.

"If Grandpa taught you time using his watch and you taught me, does that mean Grandpa taught me, too?"

And there it was. The moment he was caught off guard. His daughter's brain working to surprise him. Her ability to make a connection on that level was astonishing. He also knew that she wanted to feel close to a man she wouldn't get to meet.

"Yes, it does."

She squeezed him tightly before twisting back around. She turned the watch over and let her fingers run over the faded inscription.

To JK
The love of my life.
MK

"Who put this here?"

"Grandma did."

"What does it say?"

"To JK, the love of my life, MK."

She whipped her head around and asked, "Is Mommy the love of your life?"

He smiled, remembering a video of a bachelor/bachelorette party gone awry where he drunkenly declared to the camera that if Lois watched the video twenty years from that moment that he wanted her to know she was the love of his life.

"Yes, she is." He bent down and kissed her on the forehead again. "And so are you."

Just then the front door opened and Lois walked into the apartment, balancing two bags of food with each hand.

"Hey, you two! Food's here."

"Yaaaay!" Callie exclaimed as she jumped from his lap and ran for Lois.

Instead of running for the white bags marked with "Thank you", Callie grabbed and hugged Lois' legs.

"Are my legs food?" Lois asked.

Callie shook her head. "I just missed you."

"Aw, that's sweet."

Lois tried to move, but Callie's grip kept her stationed in one place.

"A little help, Smallville."

Clark was quick to grab the bags from her hands and place them on the dining table. He turned back to see Callie still latched on.

"Mommy, you're the love of me and Daddy's life."

Lois glanced at Clark with a curious stare.

Clark shrugged and said, "It's true."

"Well, you're both the love of my life, too."

Callie let go and looked up at her mother. "What about maple donuts?"

Lois bent down and lifted her daughter up, balancing her weight on her hip.

"They have to get in line behind you, lovebug." She said, rubbing her nose with Callie's.

"Wow. You must really love us." Clark smirked.

She nodded and strode over to him. Her voice dropped an octave as she said, "You know I do. And you know what I would love for you to do right now?"

He swallowed back, the sparkle in her eyes more pronounced when she smiled. She could make him nervous and confident at the same time. He wanted to act on the feelings swarming within him, but he remembered his daughter was in their presence.

"What's that?" He breathed as he tried to slow his racing heart.

"Set the table." She said with a wink of her eye.

Reality came back with a crash. She knew exactly what she did to him and laughed as she walked away and back towards the food. He shook his head and internally vowed to get her back later that night-though it's probably what she had in mind. She was good.

Letting his hand stray across Lois' back as he passed, he went into the kitchen and grabbed the plates and utensils from the cabinet and drawer. He stopped for a moment and tuned in his hearing to the other room.

"Guess what!"

"What?"

"I know how to tell time!"

"You already knew how to do that."

"Nuh-uh. I can do it with Daddy's watch now!"

"When did you learn that?"

"When you got the food."

"That quick, huh? Hey, feet off the chair, Baby Einstein."

"Grandpa taught me."

"Grandpa?"

"Daddy said Grandpa taught him how to tell time using his watch and now Daddy taught me with the same watch and Daddy says that means Grandpa taught me, too."

"Okay, I think I followed that. That's pretty special then."

"Yup." After a beat Callie asked, "How many steps was it from here to Mr. Lin's and back?"

Clark's hearing returned to normal as he gathered the plates and utensils again. He walked out to the table and as he set the places for them he caught Lois' expression. It was a mix of wistfulness and pride, knowing how important the watch was to him and how Jonathan Kent still lived on through his lessons.

Containers of food moved about the table, the parents in the swing of portioning the food for their daughter and then serving themselves. They shared a knowing look, grateful for their family and their time spent together. What could be overlooked and seen as mundane, something as simple as having dinner was more important than anything.

Time was precious. Clark never wanted to waste a single moment.