“Will she like the toy I picked out for her?” Jason asked as they crossed the Bakerline Bridge to Park Ridge. Before they’d gotten into the car, Jason had run back upstairs and picked out one of his old baby toys, a little blue bear with a rattle inside. Luckily, the one he chose was one of the lesser used ones and actually almost looked new.
“Jason, Baby Esperanza is a very very little baby, like your friend Joey’s little brother, remember? It’ll be a while before she can play with the bear,” Lois told him.
He looked crestfallen. “What if she loses it before she can play with it?”
“I’m sure Mister Clark will take care of it for her until she’s old enough,” his mother assured him.
They stopped in front of Perry’s house and Jason was out of his seat belt almost before Lois had the key out of the ignition. She came around and let him out of the car, grabbing his hand before he could run up to the front door without her.
They walked together up to the front door and Lois pressed the doorbell button.
Clark opened to door, carrying the baby in his arms.
“Is that my sister?” Jason was bouncing with pent up energy.
“Uh, yeah,” Clark said, pushing his glasses up with this free hand. He stepped aside to let Jason and Lois into the house. Clark gave Lois a puzzled look.
Lois shrugged and gave him a grin. “Cat, Ralph and Gil told him we were ‘friends with benefits’ before you left. He figured the rest out pretty much himself.”
“Oh,” Clark murmured.
“I told you he was a smart one,” Perry told her.
“I brought her a toy,” Jason said, holding the little bear up high for everyone to see.
Clark settled into one of the leather chairs in the living room, arranging the baby and her blankets across his arm and lap. Jason looked at her, wide eyed. The baby looked up blearily at him and yawned.
“Can she see me?” Jason wondered aloud. “Brandon’s dog, Misty, had puppies and they were born blind.”
“Well, she probably sees you as a blob right now,” Lois explained. “But in a month or so, she’ll see you much better.”
“She’s too little to play, isn’t she?” Jason commented. He looked disappointed.
“Well, all she wants to do right now is eat, sleep and grow,” Lois told him. “But it won’t be all that long before she’ll be big enough and strong enough to play with you.”
“Would you like to hold her?” Clark offered.
“Can I? Mommy, can I?” He was jumping in excitement.
Lois nodded. “Sit down on the floor,” she instructed. He plopped down on the floor facing Clark. Lois took the infant and handed her to Jason whose eyes widened in wonder.
“Mommy, was I this little?”
Lois knelt on the floor beside him, one hand ready in case the baby moved and he dropped her. “Jason, you were even littler. You were so little the doctors put you in a special box to keep you warm and so they could keep an eye on you.”
“Oh, Jimmy has pictures of me in the hospital,” he said, reminding himself. He peered down at the infant he was holding in his lap. “What’s her name?”
“Esperanza Ester,” Clark told him.
“There’s a girl in my class named Esperanza. Her name means hope, like my name means healer. What does your name mean, Mister Clark?”
“Clark means ‘man of learning,’” Clark said. “And Kent means ‘shiny,’ or ‘from Kent’ which is in England.”
“And what does Mommy’s name mean?” He looked from Lois to Clark and back again.
“Lois means ‘famous warrior,’” Clark answered, choking down a laugh.
Jason looked up at his mother in surprise. “Are you a famous warrior?”
“Without a doubt,” Perry answered him with a grin.
“In that case, we should be careful what we name babies, shouldn’t we?” Jason observed.
“That’s very true,” Lois agreed.
Jason’s expression turned pensive again. “What does Superman’s name mean?”
“Well, ‘Superman’ should be pretty obvious,” Perry told him.
“No, I mean his other name,” Jason explained. “Kalil.”
“Kal El,” Clark corrected, emphasizing the space between the two syllables. “El is the family name and means ‘star’ or ‘from the stars.’ Kal means ‘child.’ So his name means ‘star child.’”
“Do I have another name too?” Jason asked.
“Well, you have a middle name,” Alice put in.
“No, I mean another name like Superman has.”
“Jason, why don’t . . .” Lois began. Then she noticed the familiar far off look that had come into Clark’s eyes. She reached for the TV remote on the coffee table but found that Perry had beaten her to it. He turned on GNN and they found themselves watching coverage of an oil refinery fire that was raging out of control. It was only fifty miles up the coast from the city.
“Perry, keep an eye on the kids, will you?” Lois said, grabbing her purse and heading for the door. She stopped when she realized Clark wasn’t behind her. “Get the lead out, Kent!’ she ordered and was gratified to see him start to follow her.
“Mommy, are you sure you don’t want Mister Clark to move in now that Daddy’s leaving?”
She and Clark both stopped and looked back at the little boy sitting on the floor. Lois shook her head and grabbed Clark’s arm, leading him out the door. “I explain on the way,” she promised. She turned back momentarily and glared at Jason. “Listen to Uncle Perry and Aunt Alice.” The implied ‘or else’ was understood by all.
Outside, Clark took the lead, going around the side of the house. The side gate was partially hidden by shrubbery and Clark spun at high speed, stopping in front of her wearing the familiar blue and red.
“Sweeeet,” Lois murmured as he picked her up and shot straight into the air.
“Hey, I did learn something from the other Superman, aside from the fact he considers me a first class jerk,” Clark said as they leveled out, heading north-east toward the fire. “So, what did Jason mean when he said . . .?”
“Richard had an offer from our bureau in Paris,” she explained. “He’s decided to take it.”
Lois felt the air slow around them.
“Are you going with him?”
“No.”
The air sped up and she could make out the black smoke spewing into the air in the distance from the heavy oil that was burning.
“Jason has decided that his baby sister needs a mother,” she added. “He’s elected me. And he thinks I need a roommate. He’s elected you.”
“I think we really need to talk,” Clark muttered, coming to earth away from the fire and away from watching eyes. “A car wouldn’t get you here for nearly an hour, remember?”
“I caught a ride with Superman?”
“Not a good idea. Wait for Clark to come back, okay?”
She nodded, tapping her foot in impatience.
He tried to give her a stern look, failed and flew off, toward the fire.
