One year ago today, I got married.

Huh.

It's that time again. Gone from basically now until sometime Saturday afternoon. Be nice to the internets while I'm gone.

Happy Holidays!

My dad's watch kind of fits all three. It's old because he had it as long as I can remember, given to him by my mom on one of their anniversaries. It's new because it wasn't mine to start with, so it was an addition to my wardrobe. And it's borrowed because he didn't exactly give it to me, not that I think he minds in the least that I have it.

It's not even that fancy a watch. The band is a generic black leather. The face is square and silver, the numbers gold on a marbled white background. The back is scratched and worn, but the engraving is still legible: “To JK, The love of my life. MK.” The batteries never last long and the only reason the leather hasn't worn through is because I save it for special occasions.

It's one of my most prized possessions and I almost let it go. Stubbornness will do that to you, sometimes, especially when it's combined with grief. I don't know if I'd actually miss it if Lana never found it, or if I'd have gotten over it. Part of me thinks I would, the other part isn't so sure. It's not like it's the only thing I have left of my dad's, but somehow, it seems all that more important.

I guess I'm just glad I didn't have to find out.

[RP] Character Relationship Meme
Comment here with one of your character's name for a big block of text about how mine feels about yours. Return the favor!

"When a woman tells a man about her feelings, she doesn't want him to fix her, she wants him to shutup and listen" ~ Emily Prentiss from Criminal Minds

Marriage is something Clark has always known was something that doesn't just fall into place all on its own. It takes work – sometimes a lot of it and sometimes it's hard – but when you know you're with the right person, it's worth it. Every single time.

Eirene is worth it. Clark knows this. And honestly, their first year of marriage has gone pretty darn well if he says so himself. He knows it's the next few years that will truly test them and he means to get them through with flying colours. He meant it when he said 'forever'.

Adding a baby into the mix has been a bit of a curveball, but he wouldn't change that, either. Zoe Mara is the light of his life and he's hopelessly and helplessly wrapped around her tiny baby finger. Has been since before she was born. Not that it's any surprise; Clark has always liked kids and having one of his own was something he wasn't sure could ever happen.

What has been a surprise has been her early development of abilities. Her strength amazes even Clark (not that she's even anywhere near remotely as strong as she will be one day) and they've got the teleporting down to a bit of a science, which basically means Eirene tracks her the second she poofs away while Clark frets. She hasn't gone to Africa yet.

But perhaps the most interesting thing Clark is learning out of all of this is just how differently he and his wife react to it all. Clark worries; Eirene rejoices. Clark gets upset; Eirene wants to throw a party. Clark upsets Eirene by being upset; Eirene gets quiet and holds Zoe close. It's not the best way to handle things, he's realized.

So as New Year's draws closer, Clark has already decided what his resolution will be: He's going to do what he used to be really good at and listen to his wife when she tries to explain to him why he doesn't need to worry so much about their daughter. He's going to ask Eirene how she feels about things, instead of concentrating solely on his own reaction, and take what she says to heart. Because while marriage may take work all by itself, parenting takes cooperation of the highest degree and Clark is never putting either of those things in jeopardy.

Clark has lived his life wanting to be normal. For the longest time, he thought he was, even though he knew he was stronger and faster than everyone else. It maybe made him a little bit special, but he was still just a regular farmkid in a small town in the middle of nowhere, Kansas, so far as he was concerned.

Finding out you're an alien can throw you for a pretty big loop, one that can take you years to get over, if you get over it at all. Clark isn't always sure the people who do know actually understand what that put him through. Sometimes he thinks they understand perfectly and yet at others, he wonders if they have any comprehension at all. But then, having your very species put into question isn't exactly something everyone goes through. Which he knows is the biggest part of the problem; when you're not normal, when your circumstances and very existence aren't an everyday (or even a once every hundred years thing), there's nothing for anyone to look back on to determine how to deal with it. It's foraging completely brand new territory and mistakes get made. It's inevitable. That doesn't make it any easier or make him feel any less alone at times.

But Clark has, despite himself some would say, grown up a little bit since then. He's accepted the fact that he's never going to be like everyone else. He may not like that knowledge all the time, but it's there. He's not normal, not even by the standards of his actual people, apparently. He's unique no matter where he is or who he's with and that's just the way it is. He's forging new territory, whether he wants to or not. He's creating his own normal. And that's becoming more and more okay with him as he goes along in life. One day, he might not mind it at all.

Nothing. I don't forget anything. My mind was once described as a “steel trap”. It's not exactly the blessing most people think it might be, because there are definitely a lot of things I'd rather forget, but can't.

However, I don't remember everything all at once all the time. It can take me a moment or to to dredge certain details up, but rest assured, there in my mind somewhere. All it takes it the slightest nudge and I can usually remember an event with crystal clarity within a matter of seconds. This tends to happen about things I don't want to remember at times when I least want to remember them, but that's just the way it goes. Murphy's Law, or something.

The only things I actually don't remember are the first three or four years of my life. I guess that's not unusual, though, because it seems like most people don't. The one area I'm actually normal and it's something for which I wish I wasn't. There are events that took place in those four years that I really would like to have some memory of, but I don't. Murphy's Law again, I guess.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of good things in my life that I'm happy to be able to remember, especially from when I was younger. And I know I'll never forget all the people who meant so much to me that I'll never get to see again. I guess when it comes down to it, it's a blessing and a curse. But then, most things are, aren't they?

*sent to a certain apartment in Gotham, along with a round trip, open dated, first class plane ticket to Metropolis*

Happy Birthday!

Just a little something for our favourite coffee fanatic. And there's a room available for you for the Christmas holidays.

Love,
Clark, Eirene & Zoe Mara

I promise I did not cheat in any way, shape or form. This is the real, actual result I got.

You Are a Cow

You are a kind, nurturing, and caring creature. You are deeply connected to the world around you. You have a good intuition, and you sense what people need from you. You are happy to give as much as you can. You are a very placid creature. Because you remain so calm and cool, people seem to underestimate your mind. You are extremely intelligent and aware, but you don't always show it. You're more likely to reflect on your thoughts than share them with the world.

I can't... I can't do this. Not again.

I can't.

It's not fair.

Halloween with a super strong, teleporting baby is interesting. Ren won the war, so Zoe wore this to the kids' party at the Smallville Rec Centre.

I've been putting up with elephant noises all afternoon. From both of them. I have a feeling it's going to be a long night.

It's Daddy-Daughter Day. Not a holiday you'd find on any calendar, but Clark thinks it's a good enough name for a random Sunday. Eirene is out visiting her parents and having some well deserved time away from baby. She may not have wanted some, but Clark knew better; you can't spend every minute of every day cooped up in a house with an infant and not need a break now and then. Besides, with him working every day at the Planet and then trying to put the finishing touches on their own house in his time off, he feels like he hasn't been spending enough time with Zoe. Today was the perfect opportunity and he jumped on it.

Clark has quite possibly been in his glory all morning. It didn't matter that he got cereal splashed on his shirt, or that pulling diaper duty all by yourself really isn't all that much fun. Nothing could ruin his mood and being able to make his daughter laugh.

They spent their time wisely, reading books, playing with toys and Clark explaining every little thing Zoe dared point at and ask, “Da?” She now knew what sheep were and probably more about cows than anyone her age ever needed to know. But it'll be necessary later, he justified, so there's no harm in planting the knowledge in her now.

He arranged her blocks in colours for her, pointing out each shade, sang the alphabet song (the English one, anyway) a few dozen times and even managed to work in some constellations when they happened to walk by the chart he has hanging in the hallway. He kept that explanation pretty simplistic. She has plenty of time to learn about spacial components and light speed. ...well, at least a few years, he hopes.

But it wasn't all education. There was peek-a-boo to be played, silly stories acted out with her stuffed toys and quite a few rounds of airplane, complete with Daddy making engine noises. Before Clark knew it, it was time for lunch.

“Da?”

Clark peered over his daughter's fuzzy head to see a picture of Eirene being grabbed at. “That's Mommy. You're such a pretty girl because of her, you know that? Can you say 'mommy'? 'Mama'?”

Wide blue eyes just stared back at him and then Zoe giggled. He grinned back and carried her into the kitchen, getting her strapped into her seat. “You can do it. 'Mama'. She'll be so surprised when she comes home.”

“Maammmmma!”

“That's my girl!” He turned away for a second to grab her bottle. And when he turned back, Zoe was gone. She hadn't slipped out of the straps on her chair, she hadn't fallen. She was gone. Disappeared.

Vanished.

Clark could do nothing but stand there, dumbfounded, bottle in hand and wonder how, exactly, he was going to explain this to his wife.

You Should Dress Up As a Dog

You are a friendly, playful person who embraces life heartily. You are truly carefree and able to live in the moment. You can be a bit suspicious of strangers at times, but you are always welcoming of old friends. You are intelligent and sensitive. You tend to know what people need from you, and you're happy to help them out. You are very loyal and selfless. You are content to be a good friend... no strings attached.

Free for all. Go for it.

1. Eirene
2. Zoe
3. Mom
4. Chloe
5. Kara
6. Lois
7. Kendra
8. Dad
9. Lara
10. Lana

It's the memory of, in some cases, but they're important enough to count for me.


[[OOC: Multiverse prompt because I said so.]]

1. Have you ever thought about getting your lip pierced?
No.

2. Does a kiss make you feel better?
They're nice, but do they always instantly make me feel like everything's fine? No.

3. Have you ever passed out on the bathroom floor?
I don't think so. I tend to save that for the barn.

( more... )

It's October 16. Why is this important? Well:

- Zoe is six months old today.
- It's the twentieth anniversary of the first meteor shower in Smallville.

[locked to those who know]

Zoe also displayed her first burst of super strength. By throwing our rocking chair through a wall. Yeah. And it's also my twentieth anniversary of arriving on Earth. The universe is laughing at me, isn't it?

[/locked]

Life goes on.

Kents don't hide, not from anything. They stand up strong, take on whatever the world wants to throw their way and deal with it the best they can. They're a rural minded family, to be sure, and they've even been called reclusive by some. But hide? Never.

Clark wishes he had that part of the Kent DNA. His whole life has been about secrets and lies, purposefully leading people down the wrong path. Hiding. He can't even say he puts on a good public face, because he was really bad at it when he was younger.

He used to wish things were different, that one day,m he wouldn't have to hide any more and everything would be fine. Clark knows that isn't the case now, which doesn't exactly make him feel better about what he has to do, but it's an odd sort of comfort. He just has to go about life the way he was taught to growing up and over the years, his skills have improved.

Sometimes, he can even hide from himself.

[Locked like the most lockingest thing EVER, unless you're family]

1. My planet blew up and pretty much everyone who didn't leave in time died. My parents made arrangements to send me away, none of which I remember because I was barely a few months old. They didn't come with me. Basically, my entire species is gone. That in and of itself is something I regret enough, but there's more. I was sent to Earth and some of the fragments from my planet, now meteors, followed along. Those meteor destroyed a town in rural Kansas, and those meteor rocks have done more damage to the human population in the area than can ever be truly understood. All because of me.

2. Just... everything that happened in the days immediately following my 16th birthday. I blew up my spaceship at a time when I thought non one was at the farm. Little did I know that mom and dad had started to drive back to see where I was. The shockwave from the blast hit their truck and they crashed. They both made it out more or less unscathed, except that my mom was pregnant. She'd finally been able to conceive the baby she always thought she couldn't have, and she lost it because of the accident. Because of me.

3. Because of #2, I ran away and lived in, well, what can best be described as a permanent drug high for the better part of three months. I robbed banks. I stole cars. I beat a few guys up within an inch of their lives. One of them was my Dad.

4. Speaking of my Dad, I killed him. It was the happiest day of both our lives. Lana had agreed to marry me and Dad won the State Senator seat. Then Lana was in a car accident and died. I begged Jor-El to help bring her back and in my grief, I didn't hear his warnings. I could only change it once and the balance for him bringing me back to life would still have to be repaid. I thought he meant eventually, not that night. So I went back and Lana was okay. I made sure she stayed that way and instead, my Dad had a heart attack and died. I don't regret saving Lana. But killing the man who's meant the most to you your whole life is something you never forgive yourself for.

5. Letting the other Zoners out when I was freeing myself from the Phantom Zone. I hadn't known it was part of the deal, or that it was even possible for others to escape with me, but they did. And they killed a lot of people before I managed to catch up to them all and stop them for good. In the process I got to be impaled by a giant vine, shot at with nuclear blasts, almost had my spine ripped out of my body, had my mind taken over and made to believe I was actually living in a mental institution and that my whole life had been one big, long delusion and the final kicker, I created a clone of myself that was actually stronger than me. Who managed to come back even after we thought we'd dealt with him to, well, seduce my girlfriend at the time and decide to kill me so he could take over my life permanently. So all in all, I think it rounds out the list nicely.

[/locked]

1. My height
2. Not being able to talk to girls. Who weren't Chloe.
3. The truck. And then that truck. And then that truck.
[locked]
4. Thinking I was human.
5. Thinking I'd never know anything about where I really came from.
[/locked]
6. Thinking I knew what I wanted.
7. Thinking I knew who I wanted.
8. Not being able to accept responsibility for my actions.
9. My job.
10. Thinking that if I lost any part of the family I had, that I'd never get any more.