I love it! It's the wonderful
Recognition - Truth by Carol Malo!
I had ready a great quote from the same story, so now I'm going to search for another...
Ok, I like how this author wrote Clark' interaction with a little girl:
"Claaaarrrrk!"
He turned, zeroed on the call and knelt in time to pluck Vanessa up in her dash at him. He sat her on his arm, and she gave him a big hug around his neck and then looked at him seriously. He could feel what was coming. Fortunately, she was as excited as she was serious, so when she began to speak, her tale came out in something akin to babytalk. "Shh," he whispered, "Tell me a secret," and he walked a distance and turned so that the fewest number of people would be likely to see her hug his neck again and whisper certain truths in his ear. As for those who could hear her talking, odds were very good they would not understand her.
As expected, in essence she warned him about flying around, it could be *dangerous*. He nodded along seriously, letting her get it out of her system, which took about 30 breathless seconds, during which time he noticed Lois was watching him. She had gotten the group of neighbors talking among themselves, he noted, and was free to turn her attention back to him. But he really doubted she could understand babytalk or lip read it, even if she could hear what Vanessa was saying.
When Vanessa had spoken her piece, she leaned back relaxed, totally comfortable with the fact that he wouldn't let her fall, and gave him a "Well, what about it, buddy?" look.
"I'll be very careful," he told her in a whisper equal to the one she had used. "This is our secret, okay?"
Simona
