AN: Thanks to those of you who left a review. Over 200 hits, but only 10 reviews. I figured some of you were going to wait and see where I was going with this. So now Jason is seven. If you read Shadow of my Father, there is a scene when he goes flying with Superman told in a flashback. That scene happened when he was seven, so you could consider that part of the story.

Many thanks to htbthomas for the beta and for her encouragement. Eviefan, DragonFlame27, Leigh1986, AgiVega, Saavikam77, mistressbabette51, Shadeslayer 390, MrsMosley, and Hellish… I'm continuing this for you!

Age 7 – Forever Hold Your Peace

"There, you look cute. How're you doing?" Daddy asked me, fixing my bow tie and flattening down my hair.

"I'm great." But I didn't like being called cute. "What happens if I fall when I'm walking with Mommy?"

"You won't fall. So, don't be nervous. Just go really slowly and take it one step at a time."

I nodded. "How are you doing?"

"I'm… good. Nervous, but good." He looked nervous.

"Why are you nervous?" It seemed strange to me that Daddy would be nervous about anything. He was always so sure about everything.

"Just… the wedding. You know."

No, I didn't know. "Are you nervous about marrying Mommy?"

"Yes," he said, quickly changing his answer to, "No." He sighed and looked down at me. "Someday when you get married, you'll understand."

I made a face. "I'm never getting married. Girls are gross."

Daddy laughed at me. "You say that now, but trust me, you'll change your mind sooner than I'd like to think."

There was a knock on the door. It was my Uncle Perry.

"Hey there, Jason. Don't you look cute."

Blech.

"How're you holding up?" he asked, handing Daddy a glass of champagne.

"Oh, you know."

"Yeah, I know."

They both got very quiet and looked down at me.

"Hey, Jason," Daddy said, bending down to look me in the eyes. "Do you suppose you could go check on Mommy and see if she's almost ready?"

"Sure," I smiled, and headed out into the hall.

Mommy was getting dressed on the other side of the church. Grandma and Aunt Lucy were with her. They would probably fuss over me when they saw my tux and tell me how cute I looked. Grandma liked to pinch my cheeks, which I hated. Maybe I could manage to stand out in the hall and not have to actually go in the room. Maybe I could just talk to Mommy through the door. Then I wouldn't have to get my cheeks pinched.

I came around the corner of the sanctuary to find Mr. Clark sitting all alone in the corner. His head was down and he looked so very sad. I don't think I'd ever seen him look so sad. I wondered what was wrong.

"Mr. Clark?" I asked. "Are you all right?"

He looked up at me, surprised. "Hi, Jason. You look…" He smiled brightly at me.

"Cute?" I said with a frown.

"Yes. That suit is very cute."

I stuck out my tongue.

"Is there something wrong with that?" he asked, laughing at my face.

"I'm a little tired of hearing how cute I am in this thing. Grandma gets all pinchy about it."

"Pinchy?"

"Yeah," I said. "My cheeks."

"Oh." He took a deep breath. "I heard that you are going to give the bride away."

"Yeah," I said, sitting next to him on the bench. "My grandpa died a couple of years ago, so mom doesn't have anyone to walk her down the aisle. I'll probably trip and fall, but Daddy said not to be nervous. Which is weird because he's nervous, too."

"Richard's nervous?" he asked suddenly.

"Yeah, and I don't know why. He loves Mommy and she loves him."

Mr. Clark looked away for a second.

"Besides… they should be…" I couldn't say it. I shouldn't say it.

"What?" Mr. Clark asked. "They should what?"

This was embarrassing, but I knew Mr. Clark wouldn't tell anyone what I thought. He was good at keeping secrets. "Well, they should be married. I mean, they are my parents. All the kids at school have parents that are married. Well, unless they're divorced. But still, people should be married when they have kids. I think so, at least."

Mr. Clark looked at me very strangely. He looked sad and almost confused. I hadn't meant to upset him. I'm not even sure what I said that had made him feel that way. I wanted to cheer him up.

"I'm sorry if I made you sad," I said, looking down at the floor.

"Don't be sorry, Jason. This doesn't have anything to do with… I'm not sad because you…" He looked at me again and then covered his face with his hands. "This is just a hard day for me, Jason."

I didn't understand. He knew my mom and dad. He was their friend. Why would today be hard for him? Unless…

"Don't you want my mom and dad to get married?" I asked.

His eyes met mine as I waited for his answer.

Slowly – almost carefully – he said, "Jason. Your father loves your mother very much. I know that for a fact. And I know that your father wants to marry her more than anything. He wants you to be a family. But—"

He looked away from me.

"But what?"

He spoke very softly now. "Sometimes the things we want aren't always the things that are right."

That made me angry. "You don't think it's right for my mom and dad to get married?"

He turned to look at me once more, this time in concern. "I'm so sorry, Jason. I didn't mean to upset you. I shouldn't have said…" He took a deep breath and added, "I'm messing up a lot today."

"But you never mess up."

He smiled a strange smile at me. A sad smile. "Oh, trust me, I've made some pretty big mistakes in my life."

"Really?" Superman makes mistakes? I didn't believe him.

"Everyone makes mistakes, Jason. Even when we think we're doing the right thing, it can turn out to be the worst thing we've ever done."

I was so confused. He wasn't making any kind of sense. "I still don't see what that has to do with my mom and dad."

He leaned forward and smiled. "You're a good kid, Jason. No, you're a great kid. Richard and Lois deserve to be happy. They deserve to be married. And you…deserve a real family."

That made me smile. But I still had to ask, "Does that mean you're not sad anymore?"

He shrugged. "I'll probably be sad for a while, but I'll make you a deal. Promise me that you won't let my bad mood upset you any more and I promise that you won't see me frown again today."

"Sure." I nodded. "As long as I don't trip and fall in front of everyone."

"Just go slowly," he said. "One step at a time."

My mouth hung open. "That's what my daddy said!"

"Really?" He sounded surprised and thought for a moment. "Well, maybe your daddy doesn't give such bad advice."

I giggled. "Actually, Dad said I needed to see if Mommy was ready."

"Then you'd better go."

I turned to run off, but stopped to say one more thing. "Hey, Mr. Clark? Mom and Dad are going on vacation and I have to stay with my grandma. So…maybe Superman could come and visit me tonight before I have to leave."

He smiled a big smile this time, which made me feel really good inside. I made Superman smile.

"I think he'd like that."

"Okay," I said, and I ran off to find my mommy.

I got my checks pinched a record number of seven times that day, and I did trip a little when I walked down the aisle with mommy. But then I stuffed myself silly with cake when Mommy wasn't watching and had such fun dancing and playing around at the reception. It wasn't until later that night when Superman came to see me that I realized I hadn't seen Mr. Clark at the reception at all.