Last Name?
By Thomas Mc

Rated: M for obvious reasons

The Parents Meet

Ellen Kennedy looked up at the facade of the townhouse. It looked like all the rest of the buildings on the street; ordinary, unexceptional, middle class. She didn't know what she had expected, maybe the S-shield or something. There was absolutely nothing about it to hint at the uniquely special people that lived inside. This was the home of Superman's family. She and her husband, Paul, were here to have dinner with Superman, Superboy, Supergirl and the rest of that very unusual family. But the most amazing thing was that her son was also now a member of that family. Her son had very recently become the husband of Supergirl. Supergirl was her daughter-in-law. She knew that her daughter-in-law preferred to be thought of as just Martha, but Ellen harbored a strong case of hero worship where Superman's family was concerned, which made it hard to get past the fact that her new daughter-in-law was also Supergirl.

It had been a little over fifteen hours since Ellen and Paul Kennedy had learned the full truth about their daughter-in-law of less than a week. The circumstances surrounding the marriage of their son and Supergirl were as just as strange as the reality of whom he had married.

Ellen felt her husband's arm tighten around her shoulders as they approached that very ordinary looking front door. She was very aware of how much her husband revered all three of Metropolis's resident superheroes. As a police officer, he had interacted with them more than the average citizen of Metropolis. She looked over at Paul and they smiled encouragingly at each other. She fervently hoped that the two of them did not make babbling fools of themselves, and embarrass their son George or his new bride.

Her gaze shifted back down to the ordinary front door as they stepped up to it. She smiled at her own ridiculous thoughts. She had felt just a tiny hint of disappointment at its bland ordinariness when she first saw it.

The next instant Paul pressed the doorbell. Instead of some heroic theme music, she heard a simple 'ding dong', and she finally had to chuckle at her unconsciously overblown expectations. Three seconds later the door opened and there stood a very nice looking guy in a grey-blue polo shirt and dark dress slacks and glasses. It took a moment for her to recognize him as Superman (the first of the superheroes, and the original man from Krypton). He looked so different without his iconic red and blue costume.

"Welcome to our home." He smiled and stepped back. "Come on in."

Ellen smiled timidly as they stepped into the home and found herself standing in the main parlor. Ellen was again surprised at how relatively unremarkable the parlor looked. The most remarkable thing about the room was the bookcase that took up one entire wall. She did notice the occasional unusual art objects scattered among the impressive array of books. Overall, it was very homey and comfortable yet, except for the bookcase, no more remarkable than her own parlor. Her musings were interrupted by Mister Kent's invitation to have a seat and make themselves at home.

The next instant, Ellen's attention was drawn to a teenage girl and a teenage boy seated at the sofa, apparently, involved in some kind of car race video game. The girl glanced at Paul and Ellen then turned off the game drawing a disappointed groan from the boy. The girl smiled at the boy. "George's parents are here. It's time for you to head home."

The boy groaned and shrugged. "OK." Then he leaned toward the newcomers and a mischievous grin appeared to match the sparkle in his eye. "Don't worry, for a house full of superheroes, they're really very nice normal people . . . except for Lucy, here." He reported in a loud stage whisper as he nudged her playfully.

"Jack!" The young girl cried as she playfully nudged the young boy back.

Jack responded with an, extremely, exaggerated recoil, thought the grin never left his face. "Okay, Okay." He looked at the newcomers. "See what I mean?"

Both teenagers giggled as he rose from the sofa. Lucy walked Jack to the front door. She opened the door. "See you tomorrow morning." Ellen caught a glimpse of them exchanging a quick kiss and quiet "I love you"s, before Lucy closed the door on Jack's retreating back.

Ellen heard a quiet sigh and turned to see Lois Lane standing there watching Lucy at the front door.

Lois shook her head. "I'm afraid that those two are already lost in each other. Then she turned her attention to Ellen. "It seems that Martha is the first of us to divulge her secret to their other half before that person figured it out. She cocked her head toward Lucy, still standing at the front door and her smile turned wistful. "Jack figured out Lucy's secret before she even knew there was a secret." She chuckled. "They were both only nine years old when he figured it out." She shook her head with a short chuckle. "Of course the fact that she had just been hit by a runaway car was a pretty big hint."

A slightly younger teenage boy Came down the stairway and stepped into the parlor. He was wearing the teenagers staple, worn out Jeans and colorful t-shirt.

"And this is our other son, James Perry." Lois explained.

James nodded at Ellen and Paul. "Nice to meet you both." He turned toward the front door. "Gotta run . . . Henry is expecting me." He gave a backward wave as he pulled the front door open. The next second the door closed behind his retreating back.

Seconds later George entered the room hand in hand with Martha. She was wearing read pants and a green blouse. She was minus her short brown wig and glasses. Rather than Supergirl's iconic ponytail, her long red hair was hanging loose. She now looked like a normal young woman that merely displayed a passing resemblance to Supergirl.

Lois turned her full attention back to Ellen and Paul. "Welcome. George has told us a lot about you and I've been looking forward to meeting you both." A small noise drew everyone's attention to the toddler that had just entered the room from somewhere in the back. She approached them cautiously and took up a half-hidden position behind Lois's legs, and gazed curiously back at Paul and Ellen. With an indulgent smile, Lois gently urged the toddler out in the open. "This is Clara, our youngest." Lois glanced down at her. "Clara is way too young to be in on the family secret, so that subject will have to be tabled until she goes to bed." She smiled and ruffled the toddler's hair. "I thought we were well past this stage in our lives when she surprised us." She shrugged as she smiled softly down at the toddler. "I guess you're never too old."

"Have a seat, get comfortable." Clark suggested as he settle on the loveseat.

Lois took a seat beside her husband and little Clara climbed into her father's lap who smiled over at her. Lois smiled back as she spoke. "Poor helpless Clark. I'm afraid Clara's already got him wrapped around her little finger." She chuckled as Clark gently touched the little girls hair.

Ellen and Paul settled on the adjacent sofa. Martha also settled on the sofa and George took up residence in the large chair at the other end of the sofa.

There followed a bit of small talk during which Paul soon began to loosen up and relax. It was a little easier to think of these people as an ordinary family in this setting and without their iconic uniforms.

Ellen however simply couldn't quite get over the fact that she was in the same room with two of the world's only three superheroes. She suspected that no matter how familiar they became, she would never fully lose her feelings of hero worship about them.

The conversation had eventually come around to their various jobs when Paul looked over at his son. "I know it's only been a week since you graduated, but I wondered how things are developing in your job hunt?"

Lois chuckled. "Did you not see George's story in this morning's paper?"

Paul and Ellen both looked at George in surprise. Then Paul shook his head. "I went straight to bed after I got off shift and never saw the paper."

Ellen spoke next. "I was so wrapped up in everything that happened yesterday and last night that I haven't even thought about the news paper."

Lois smiled at them as she responded. "Early this morning over an hour after Clark and I had sent our stories on the explosion and fire into the planet I found myself unable to get to sleep. The things I had seen on the news had left me too keyed up. I am well aware of how hard that kind of disaster can be for my family. I had thought about writing a short sidebar about it but I just couldn't find the right words. Finally, I just got out of bed and wandered downstairs to get a drink and maybe see if there was anything more about the fire in the news." She shifted her gaze to George. "I found George at the dining room table, busily typing on his computer."

George jumped in. "You know how I use my journal when I have things I need to think through."

Ellen nodded her understanding and could easily guess what he must have been writing about.

"Well," Lois continued. "Being a reporter as well as extremely nosy, I sneaked up behind him and peeked at his screen. He was just finishing what he was writing. What I saw hit me right in the gut and I asked George if he would allow me to read the whole entry. The article he had written said exactly what I had been trying to say. I convinced him to let me send the article with a little editing and his byline into Perry. Perry put George's article on the front page. Martha took George to work with her this morning to introduce him around. Perry recognized his name and hired him on the spot."

Martha jumped in as she gazed proudly at her new husband. "George is now an official reporter on the Daily Planet City staff. Early this afternoon he was given his first assignment." She grinned at her in-laws. "And I got my first assignment as his official Daily planet photographer."

Ellen was surprised at how young and human her daughter-in-law looked at this moment. Then she glanced around and caught the looks of parental pride on the faces of Lois and Clark. She also noticed the same look on the face of her own husband. She decided that before she went to bed tonight, she would check out this morning's paper.

The general conversation had moved on to other subjects when an elderly woman entered the parlor and announced that dinner was ready.

"Thanks Martha." Lois responded.

Ellen glanced curiously at the older woman.

Clark stepped in and introduced Ellen and Paul to his adopted mother. Ellen scanned the Family group. There was not even a hint of family resemblance between the elderly woman and the rest of the family. Ellen's mind was whirling with possible ramifications as they all moved into the adjacent dining room.

Dinner conversation was lively and amusing. Ellen had to rein in her curiosity to prevent herself from wandering into the superhero aspects of this family. After the excellent meal Clark's mother took little Clara up-stairs to put her to bed while everyone else returned to the parlor.

Once everyone was settled, the topic of conversation shifted to How Clark had ended up on Earth and became the son of the elder Kents. This solved the many questions that had been buzzing around in Ellen's head after meeting the woman identified as Superman's mother. Then they found themselves talking about the various aspects of being superheroes and its effect on their family.

The conversation shifted to how Ellen and Paul had discovered their daughter-in-law's secret. Is floating in your sleep a common occurrence for you?" Ellen asked Martha.

"Not really . . . only the last week." Martha responded.

"What could have caused it?" Ellen inquired of the room generally.

Martha thought a few seconds then replied. "Every time it has happened, I was dreaming about George." She glanced at George for a second and her eyes sparkled like polished gems then she smiled at Ellen. "I guess Peter Pan was right. Happy thoughts are part of the formula for flight.

This brought a chuckle from several of those at the table.

Lois commented that it was time to clear the table. Ellen opened her mouth to offer her help when Clark, Martha and Lucy suddenly vanished. The next instant the room filled with swirling air and a whooshing sound. Lois and elder Martha sat there calmly grinning at Ellen and Paul as the dishes rapidly vanished from the table. Three seconds later the table was completely cleared and the dishwasher could be heard running in the other room. The only evidence of what had happened was the gentle swirling of the recently disturbed air.

Lois grinned. "Those three can be quite handy to have around when there is housework to be done." She stood up. "Shall we retire to the parlor?"

Ellen and Paul followed the family in bemused silence. Ellen had been wondering if there was ever anything not normal in this so normal house. She now had her answered rather more spectacularly than expected.

~ o ~

Time passed and soon it was time for George's parents to head home. On the way home Ellen thought about how today had affected her. Her hero worship had not gone away, as she had half expected. In fact the more she had learned about Kent family, the stronger it had become. By the end of the evening she had become comfortable with them as people but, like her husband, her respect for what they represented and what they did for the world in general had only increased.

The first thing Ellen and Paul had done upon returning home was to dig out that day's copy of the Daily Planet and read their son's article.

Later that night as she lay in bed Ellen's mind was still revolving around the day's events. Then her mind drifted to the article in this mornings' Daily Planet. Her son had been hired this morning and already had a front-page story under his byline. The article had been so powerful that it had brought tears to her eyes. She could also see that Paul had been deeply moved by the article as well.

~ o ~

Continued in Part 9

( rev 180324)

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.