Sam looked up when he stepped outside. The sky was clouded and the air felt heavy with the threat of rain. "Better get a move on and get the tents set up before the storm comes," he warned. With Natalie there, they didn't have the luxury of Clark setting them up in seconds.
"That's a great sign of things to come," Jordan grumbled. The kid had always hated the outdoors, which was no doubt putting him in a mood. The awkward family angle was just an added bonus. But there was a time when he wouldn't have come at all. Smallville really was working wonders for him.
"At least the RV didn't try to kill me this time," Jonathan said jokingly. He seemed to have the best of both worlds where his personality was concerned: Clark's easy way with people and Lois' pluckiness. It wasn't every teen that could have gone through everything he had and still be smiling and trying to cheer others.
"Yeah, that's always a good day anymore when someone or something isn't out to kill you," Jordan retorted.
He grinned. Jordan may have inherited Clark's powers, but he'd inherited Lois' sharp wit. And it wasn't altogether untrue.
He stole a glance at Natalie. She was an enigma. He wasn't too sure what to make of her or how to handle her. But what about that was new? If he'd been able to deal with the touchy-feely stuff, he wouldn't have had an estranged relationship with his daughters for most of their lives. He wanted to change all that and get closer to all his family, and he supposed that now included his alternate dimension granddaughter.
"Bag's not too heavy, is it?" he asked, offering to carry it for her to the campsite. Each of the men carried a tent as well and their own luggage, but he still had room to sling her bag over his shoulder.
She gave him such a scathing "Lois" look that he laughed out loud. So maybe there was a little Lois in all the kids. "Self-sufficient. I like that."
They didn't have to go far up the hill to find a clearing that was nearly flat. Nonetheless, it was long enough to realize the quiet discomfort in the group had followed them from the RV and into the woods, which was no surprise there. It was going about as well as one could expect.
As the most experienced camper, he took charge. "Okay, we'll form teams: Clark and Lois, Jonathan and Jordan, and John Henry and Natalie. Spread out and get going."
"Aye, aye, General." Lois said with a teasing smile.
Not an appropriate way to salute a general in the army, but she was making a point that this was a family vacation and not boot camp. "How about the first one to get their tent assembled can take it easy?" he offered as a prize. "The losers will take care of the cooking and the cleanup."
His son-in-law nodded at him approvingly for making a game of it.
Things got underway.
Clark was protecting his cover by being awkward with the poles and dropping them, hammering weakly and making the stakes go in crookedly. In the process, he was irritating his competitive wife. Hopefully, he ended up coming through at the last minute because if Lois lost and had to help cook, they all lost.
"Come on, honey. Weren't you a boy scout or something?" she said with complaint.
"As a matter of fact, I did go to a few meetings with my good friend, Pete Ross."
"Oh yeah, how'd that go?"
Their tent collapsed. "You can see for yourself."
She looked torn between mirth and wanting to strangle him.
The boys weren't having any better luck. Being that he had a personal interest invested since he would be sharing their tent and they weren't play acting as if they needed help, he went over to assist.
"Don't they make inflatable tents?" Jordan asked him.
"They do but putting together a tent this way is more satisfying as a skill learned."
"For who?" Jordan wanted to know.
"Come on. I'll help hold the frame, you two make sure all the joints are screwed in. I don't want to wake up in the night with canvas in my face. We need to be certain it's structurally sound."
"Finished!" called out John Henry victoriously. Was it really any surprise that the two builders of a war suit had gotten their tent up first?
He and Natalie were smiling and celebrating with high fives and dancing.
"Congratulations," he told them good-naturedly.
In fact, everyone was wearing smiles. They were all just glad to have broken the ice some with a little friendly competition. Clark and Lois came in second. And the boys had just gotten the rain-fly on before they all felt the first drops of rain. All in all, not a bad beginning to the trip minus the bit of weather about to come their way.