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I hope you're all having a great week so far, and I hope you enjoy.
Chapter Twenty
The first thing Lois did when she got home was make herself a pot of coffee.
Because of what had happened with Jon-El and the medical attention that he had urgently needed, the few hours of sleep she had gotten had been a long time ago, and she was exhausted.
Thankfully, he hadn't gotten pneumonia yet. Though Lois knew better than to count her blessings.
The doctor had been optimistic that he would heal quickly and correctly even under the yellow sun, but she wanted to see him back a couple of times to make sure.
Of course, Lois and Clark were unopposed to that idea.
By the time they got home though, she knew that she wouldn't have much time to sleep before having to go to work. So she messaged Chrissy telling her that she would be late, then came up with a plan for her day.
She would send the twins off to school, then take a nap. Once she woke up, she would have another cup of coffee, then head to work.
Plus Clark would already be there and it would be nice to have someone at home with Jon-El if he needed anything.
"You okay, Lois?" Clark asked as he walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist.
Lois smiled, then leaned into his hold. "Yeah, just tired," she said. "And thinking about Jon-El."
Clark nodded against her shoulder. "I know," he said. "Me too."
Lois turned around and looked up at him. "I don't wanna give him away again," she said. "I want him to be ours. I want him to be a Kent."
Clark hesitated at Lois's declaration, but Lois didn't feel any hesitation at all. She wanted this. Jon-El was one of her children now.
"I do too," he told her. "But it's up to Jon-El to accept us as his family. Those people who he grew up with, they weren't very supportive. I can't imagine that he would want to jump right back into a family if that's what he grew up with."
Lois nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she whispered.
"But we'll be there for him," Clark said. "No matter what. Even if he leaves the second he turns eighteen, we'll always be waiting for him."
Lois smiled. She was so thankful that her husband understood. She knew that not everyone would understand their choice, but the boy needed someone, and she smiled at the idea of her husband being behind her on this one.
"We need to change our rules for him," she said. "The ones we have? They're not good anymore."
Clark nodded. "I agree," he said, then leaned down and kissed her. "But now isn't the time. You should try to get some sleep. We can talk about this more later."
"But what about?" she began, but Clark cut her off.
"I'll make sure that the boys get to school on time," he said. "I don't have to get that much sleep, remember?"
Lois stood up on her tiptoes and kissed her husband. "How could I ever forget?" she asked in playful annoyance. If there was one super power that she wanted, it was Clark's ability to be able to go days without sleeping.
"Get some sleep," he said. "I love you."
Lois smiled. "I love you too."
Jon-El slept on and off for most of the day.
He woke up a few times to take pain medication and do his breathing exercises, but for the most part, he slept.
He had to admit that it was nice to be able to get away from the unwanted thoughts and pain. It was nice to be able to spend the whole day in the guest room of the Kent's house.
But by dinnertime, he wanted nothing more than to get up and stretch his legs.
He stood up as slowly as he could. It didn't hurt, but after a day of being in bed, he didn't really want to accidentally fall over either.
He made his way down to the kitchen, but he hesitated when he saw all four of the Kents sitting down for dinner.
By the looks of it, Clark had made burgers, and there was fresh salad and fries. It sounded much better than the few crackers Jon-El had eaten throughout the day when he took his medication.
Clark looked up at him and smiled. "Hey!" he greeted, his voice as cheerful as always. "Are you hungry?"
Jon-El nodded. He wasn't sure if he had been hungry when he walked down the stairs, but he was definitely hungry now. Clark made some of the best burgers that Jon-El had ever tasted.
"We made you a plate too," Lois said. "Come sit with us."
Jon-El nodded, then sat down in his normal spot beside Lois.
Jon-El looked over across the table at Jordan, who, for the first time that they had been eating meals together, smiled back at him. There were no hints of heat vision in his eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Jordan asked. There was no malice in his voice, he seemed genuinely concerned.
Jon-El hesitated for a second. Jordan had apologized and forgiven him, but Jon-El was still hesitant to trust so quickly. Was he just trying to seem nice? Like he had before the conversation that led to him punching Jordan?
Jon-el shrugged. "I'm okay," He said.
"That's good," Jordan said. "Busted ribs suck."
Jon nodded. "Yeah…"
For a second, Jon-El wanted to know what they were talking about, and how and why they knew what busted ribs felt like, but he decided against asking it.
And once Lois handed him his plate of food, all of the thoughts about asking the twin's experiences with broken ribs were forgotten.
Jon-El tore into the food without a second thought.
The meat was thick and juicy, the smoky flavor of the grill accompanying the rich taste of the beef. The bun was toasted and crunchy, but still soft enough for Jon to bite through easily. The prison food had been awful, perhaps some of the worst food that Jon-El had ever eaten, Clark's food was always amazing, but these burgers? They were like manna from heaven.
When he was over halfway through his burger, Lois cleared her throat.
"Jon-El, can we talk to you after dinner?" she asked.
Jon-El hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah, sure," he said, though nerves began to settle into his stomach.
Why did they want to talk to him? Was it about what had happened with the guard? Was it because something happened at the DoD? He didn't think he had done anything wrong.
Suddenly, the other half of his burger didn't seem so appetizing…
He picked at his food for the rest of dinner, then watched as the twins muttered their thanks for the dinner before taking their plates to the sink and washing them.
"Are you done eating, Jon-El?" Jordan asked.
Jon-El looked up at him. Once again, there wasn't any sign of hate or malice on his face. It looked like Jordan genuinely cared.
It was a bit weird to see if Jon-El was being honest.
He nodded. "Yeah, I think so."
Jordan reached out. "I can take your plate then so you can talk to Mom and Dad."
Jon-El forced a small smile onto his face. "Thanks."
"Come with us," Lois said as she and Clark stood up.
Jon-El nodded, then followed them into the office. It was the last place that he wanted to be right now, but he wanted to try being obedient.
Once they all sat down, he couldn't hold it in anymore.
"What's going on?" he asked, though he could hardly hear it over the sound of his heartbeat.
"Do you remember the rules we gave you when you first came to live with us?" Lois asked.
Jon-El's skin crawled as he remembered the rules that made him feel like a prisoner in a place that was supposed to be his home. "Yes, Ma'am."
Lois looked over at Clark, then back at Jon-El. "Well, we want to change them," she said. "We want you to feel like this is your home, not like this is just a different cell."
Jon-El frowned. He understood the words that Lois was saying, but he couldn't wrap his mind around what she meant.
They wanted this place to be his home.
He swallowed harshly at the thought.
"For starters, you're allowed outside of the farm if you have someone with you," Clark said. "With Ally still out there, it still wouldn't be wise for you to be alone, but you can spend time in Smallville if you wish."
Jon-El could hardly believe his ears. He was going to be allowed off of the farm. Sure, he had to be supervised, but it was freedom that he thought he would never be able to taste again.
"Curfew is still 10pm, but exceptions can be made for things like parties or events if you ask us beforehand and we trust the people in charge," Lois said. "Does that sound fair?"
Jon-El nodded. "Yes, Ma'am," he said, though he could hardly get the words out. It was more than fair. It was better than he ever deserved.
Clark grabbed something from his pocket, then placed it on the desk and pushed it towards Jon-El. "If you're going to be away from the farm though, we want you to have this."
Jon-El picked up the dark gray device. It wasn't heavy, or at least not as heavy as it looked. He flipped open the lid and looked at the button on it.
"It's an ELT," Lois told him. "Whenever you use it, Clark will be able to come and help you. It's only for emergencies though."
Jon-El looked up at them, then back down at the device. It looked so unassuming, but he had the power to summon Superman with it.
He swallowed. He didn't deserve that. What made him any more special than anyone else who was crying out for help?
"Thank you," he said, and he tried to ignore the fact that his throat had tightened up. "I don't deserve this…"
"Of course you do," Clark said. "It keeps you safe. Ally is still out there, and we don't want her to hurt you."
Jon-El nodded, but couldn't find the words to say. How could he? He wasn't used to these kinds of gifts, and he had been given one of the most precious things in the world.
"Next, we have your room," Lois said. "Originally, we told you that it was a privilege. That you had to keep it clean or you wouldn't be able to have your own room. We'd still like you to keep your room clean, but we won't take your room away from you. It's your space, and it's something you'll never lose."
He had forgotten about that. It had been easy to keep his room clean, and it only ended up getting dirty the few days he had been sick. But it was his now… It wasn't a guest bedroom, it wasn't a spare room or a storage room… It was his.
"One day soon we'll go pick out some stuff to make it your own," Lois said.
Jon-El frowned. "What kind of stuff?"
Clark shrugged, but the smile stayed on his face. "Whatever you want. Paint, bedsheets, rugs… Anything you want to make it yours."
Jon-El had thought that he didn't deserve the ELT, and he still did, but he definitely didn't deserve this. He wasn't sure what he had done to make the Kents so nice to him…
"Um, thanks," he told them. He didn't know what else to say. They would try to deny it if he said that he didn't deserve it, and would they take it away if he didn't act grateful enough?
"We'll be continuing to monitor what you watch, but since you're starting school soon, you probably won't have as much time to watch anything," Lois said.
Jon-El's eyes widened. "School?" he asked. There was no way. He had never been the biggest fan of school, but he never expected that he would be able to finish up his education.
Lois nodded. "It's an online school, but yes," she said. "We'll be getting you registered soon."
He nodded, though he couldn't help but feel a little bit of disappointment. From what he had heard about Smallville High from the twins, it was probably for the better that he was going to be doing online school, but that didn't change the fact that he wouldn't be getting a regular school experience.
"Most importantly though, we want you to know that you will never be kicked out again," Clark said. "We want you to be able to live a life free of the fear of not having a place to call home, and we are hoping that we can be that place."
Jon-El could hardly believe what he was hearing.
"Obviously, hurting the twins isn't allowed, but we'll hear you out and punish you the same way we would punish them," Lois told him. "We won't threaten a DoD cell anymore, and we're not going to kick you out for a heat of the moment punch."
Jon-El could hardly breathe. They weren't going to throw him back in a cell. They said that they would never do that again.
Of course, time would tell to see if he could believe them. His father had made a lot of empty promises too…
"Does all of that sound fair?" Clark asked. There was no harshness to his voice, nothing that made Jon-El think that he was being pressured into answering dishonestly.
"Yes, sir," he told them. And it was true, these rules were fair. In fact, they were beyond fair. He wasn't sure why they thought that he deserved any of this. "Thank you."
Lois smiled, then looked up at Clark before looking back at him. "There's still a few hours before curfew, why don't you go find something to do?" she suggested.
Jon-El nodded. "Okay," he said, then stood up to leave the room.
Before he walked out though, he turned around. "Thank you for changing your rules, and for allowing me to come back here," he told them.
He didn't tell them that he would try his hardest to obey their rules, to earn his keep. He wouldn't have blamed them if they had kicked him out and told him to fend for himself.
And yet, they brought him back. They wanted him to be able to call this place his home.
But only time would be able to tell if he would be able to.
Thanks for reading! Love y'all!