My Weird Little Brother
Lois and Clark – The New Adventures Of Superman
By Thomas Mc
Rated: PG
Submitted: Oct 2023
Author's Notes : This is a standalone 'Alternate Universe' story. What if Clark had an older sister? This story is told from the viewpoint of that older sister.
An Unrelated Family
In the doorway of the small nursery, Jonathan and Martha stood, with their arms around each other's waist and looked in at the sleeping two year old child they had named Clark. Two years ago, not long after learning that she was unable to bear children, their son Clark had, literally, fallen from the sky in a small alien looking spacecraft (though they had considered many theories, that was the only thing that made any kind of sense). He couldn't have been more than a month old at the time. Without a second thought they had taken in the (space?) alien baby and, with the help of a few very close friends, adopted him as their own.
Almost in tandem, their gaze shifted to the other occupant of the room. Yesterday, the five-year-old girl sleeping in the newly added child's bed had come to Martha and Jonathon in a more mundane but equally sudden way.
The little girl's name was Susan Johnson. Her father had been killed in a freak farming accident three years ago. Martha and Jonathon had stepped in to help her mother run her farm. Three months ago, her mother had been diagnosed with an aggressive and untreatable form of cancer. Four days ago, her mother had died and Susan had come to live with them until the courts had decided where she would end up. Yesterday they had been informed that her mother's will had named Martha and Jonathon as Susan's legal guardians with explicit permission to adopt her if they so wished. The mother's will also gave her small farm to them to help pay for any expenses. On the small bedside table sat a decorative Disney themed lamp and a studio photo of Susan and her parents. It had been taken less than a month before her father's death.
Now the supposedly childless couple found themselves with two precious children to raise.
Martha leaned into Jonathon's comforting embrace as she softly commented to him. "She is such a sweet child to have been through so much loss." She sighed as she frowned. "One is orphaned at such a tragically young age and the other was just a new born babe cast adrift by who knows what." She shook her head then looked up into her husband's somber face. "I wanted to give you a family but to have our family born of so much tragedy breaks my heart." A single tear slid down her face. "I just hope that we can be what she needs … what they both need."
Jonathon nodded. "At least we are not strangers. Our home is a familiar place to Susan and it is the only one Clark has ever known." He tightened his embrace. "What she needs most right now is unconditional love." He shifted his gaze from their new daughter to his wife. "And that, my love, is something that you have in abundance." Much like his best friend Wayne Irig, Jonathan was a man of few words which gave them additional weight when he did speak.
The two of them exchanged a hug then took a couple of steps into the nursery. The little two year old boy was partially covered by a small blue blanket, with a tiny mysterious stylized red and yellow 'S' symbol in one corner. Martha reached in and pulled the blanket up to better cover the little toddler. For a moment they looked down at little two-year-old Clark snuggled into his crib. The blanket would soon be too small for the little boy and would be relegated to the old suitcase under her bed where she kept the few mementoes recovered from the ship he had arrived in. Martha's expression became a soft smile. "At the rate he's growing, he will outgrow that crib before long."
Jonathon shrugged. "Just one more thing that we will deal with when the time comes."
They then crossed to the child's bed where Susan was shifting restlessly in her sleep. Martha placed her hand on Susan's shoulder and softly spoke a few gentle words to her. Susan quickly settled and the frown on her face softened into a look of contentment. Martha smiled at her new daughter as she straightened the yellow blanket that covered her.
Martha straightened up from the small bed and took her husband's hand as she continued to gaze at the little girl that lay there. "What are we going to do with the property her mother left to us." She shifted her gaze to her husband. "I just don't feel right keeping something that rightfully belongs to her."
Jonathon nodded. "I agree. Tomorrow morning, when we meet with the lawyer, I'm going to see if he can give us some advice on how to protect what belongs to Susan."
Together they turned and made their way to their own bedroom. The last few days had been a blur of difficulties and jumbled emotions. Tomorrow they would begin the serious process of initiating the formal adoption of Susan and begin turning four totally unrelated individuals into one solid, and hopefully, happy family.
~ o ~
Two weeks later, Martha, Jonathon, Susan and Clark were seated at a table, facing the impressive bench of County Judge Ben Johnson. Ben was the first cousin of Susan's Father, Henry Johnson. Judge Ben was quietly looking over the small stack of legal documents. After several seconds, Ben looked up at the four people currently facing him. It occurred to him that, if this adoption went through, it would almost make Jonathon his cousin-in-law which brought out an amused snort from behind the papers he was perusing.
The two children were trying their best to avoid fidgeting with Susan being the more successful at it. Of course Clark was only two years old and Susan had just turned five, two weeks before her mother died.
Ben Thought back to the last time Jonathan and Martha had been in this court before him. They had petitioned the court to adopt the infant Clark. According to the documents, the tiny infant was supposed to be the illegitimate son of a distant cousin of Martha's. Ben had known at the time that they had actually found Clark abandoned in a field. The distant cousin fiction was the result of a little conspiracy cooked up by Judge Ben Johnson, Sherriff Paul Harris, and Jonathon Kent just to deflect any unwanted attention. He had suspected that there was much more to it than that. The night Clark had been found, a brilliant falling star had been seen by several people throughout the county. And the way those secretive government types had invaded Smallville just days after that falling star had seemed highly suspicious. Somewhere deep in a corner of Ben's mind was the suspicion that there was a link between the shooting star that had illuminated the night sky and the Kent's discovery of the infant Clark. Some very out there theories had run through Ben's mind after the government types had appeared. Ben had locked those suspicions away in the deepest recesses of his mind and vowed never to speak of it to another soul, unless Jonathon were to bring it up himself. But these suspicions were what had driven his decision to go along with the ruse.
Ben's mind wandered further back to a particular day in elementary school. Ben had been out on the school playground when he noticed a younger red headed boy being bullied by a much larger kid. Before he could react, another small dark headed boy had stepped out and placed himself between the bully and his victim. After a moment of admiration for the dark headed boy's bravery, Ben stepped up beside him. Ben was a year older, and nearly as large as the bully as well as being a strong farmer's son. The bully quickly backed down.
Ben introduced himself to the younger dark headed boy who turned out to be named Jonathan Kent. Jonathon was also a farmer's son and lived on the other side of Smallville. The bully's potential victim, though smaller, was the same age as Jonathan and named Wayne Irig. That day began a lifelong friendship between those three boys. It wasn't long before others began to refer to them as the three musketeers because of the way they would often step in to help others.
Five years later, Paul Harris, a young man destined to become the future Sheriff, became a member of this little group. This turned the three young musketeers into the four young musketeers. Sherriff Harris had been instrumental in getting Ben involved in protecting Jonathon, Martha and little Clark from the rudely inquisitive government agents.
Ben dragged his thoughts back to the present. Jonathan was as stable and honest a man as Ben had ever met. Martha had turned out to be a natural born mother. Ben thought that no child could ever find a better set of parents than Jon and Martha. Ben and his wife June had even named Jon and Martha as godparents to both of their little twin girls.
Another thing Ben was aware of was how Jonathon and a lawyer friend of Ben's had placed Susan's family's farm into a special trust in Susan's name. This insured that it would be there for her when she became an adult. Jonathon and Ben were named as trustees so that Jonathon could maintain the farm until Susan was old enough to claim her heritage, if she wished.
Ben picked up his pen and signed the adoption papers then announced that the adoption was approved and banged his gavel to finalize the decree.
Susan was now named Susan Johnson Kent. She smiled for the first time in three weeks as Jonathon and Martha both hugged her simultaneously. She now officially had a family again.
Disclaimer: This story is based on the television series "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman." The recognizable characters and settings in this story are the property of D.C. Comics, Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions, and anyone else with a legal right to them, and I have no claim on them whatsoever, nor am I profiting by their use. The story, however, is a product of my own imagination. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans.
