By Abigail Jolie (hazlett@m6.sprynet.com)
Summary: There's only one part of Nana and Grandpa Kent's house six-year-old Marty isn't allowed to enter — a locked closet, and Marty knows where Nana keeps the key. When Marty gets her chance, she opens the door and finds photo albums and scrapbooks … and a picture of her mom and Superman grown-up kissing. What could *that* mean? It's a mystery that needs solving.
Note: This goofy little story was inspired by that Christmas song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." The other day, for some unknown reason, I had the song stuck in my head, only my FoLC brain automatically switched the Santa Claus to Superman, and so this story was born.
All normal disclaimers go here, except for any to do with ABC because they stink and L&C is no longer theirs.
Dedicated to Dean, who I miss already.
***
The rain pounded on the roof of the Kansas farm house. Marty Kent sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the room she was sharing with her younger sisters and brother.
Marty generally thought of herself as brave, the adults in her life told her often that she was just like her mommy. Her mommy was brave. She *was* brave about most things; she'd stand up to a bully any day. Once a man had tried to entice her into his car, and she'd yelled at him good. When it came to thunderstorms, however, she wasn't at all brave.
Her daddy had said it was okay for her to be scared of thunder and that she didn't have to be brave about everything. She still didn't like being scared of thunder, it was dumb of her. Really, she wasn't *scared* of it, she just couldn't sleep during a storm.
She rocked back and forth in the chair and watched her siblings sleep, Christa was just four. Her birthday had been last week. Marty decided she liked being older, six and three months was much better sounding than four. The twins, JJ and Annabelle were only two.
Marty was suddenly aware that she was wasting valuable time. If she couldn't sleep, she should be using this time to explore. She smiled to herself. This was a great opportunity to check out the locked closet downstairs. She knew where the key was hidden, she'd seen her grandmother put it away.
She had tried once before to uncover the secrets of that closet. Her father had caught her. She'd gotten quite a talking to for that one. But her parents weren't here this time. She, Christa, JJ, and Anna were staying with Nana Martha and Grandpa Jon so her parents could "spend some 'alone time' together." This of course made no sense, how could they be alone if they were together? Grown-ups were strange sometimes.
Marty stood up quietly and tip-toed into the hall. She stood perfectly still, listening. Her grandpa was snoring, the rain was beating steadily outside, and thunder crashed occasionally. She continued down the hall to the stairs.
The stairs were a problem, they creaked like crazy. Getting an idea, Marty climbed onto the banister and slid down slowly. At the bottom she hopped off grinning, she really was smart.
Once in the kitchen she pulled herself onto the counter top and opened the first cabinet. Sure enough a key hung on a hook inside the door. She grabbed the key and left the kitchen for the living room.
Crossing the living room quickly, Marty stood in front of the closet. For as long as she could remember, she'd wondered what was in this closet. It was the one locked door in her grandparent's home, the one place she wasn't allowed to go. She'd asked her mom about it. All she would say was that one day when Marty was older, she could see what was in there. She'd been five when she'd asked. She was six now, she was older.
Marty fumbled in the dark as she put the key in the keyhole and turned it. She heard the lock click open. This was it. She pulled the door open, half expecting a monster or an empty room. What she found were shelves, five shelves lining the inside of the tiny closet. There were three boxes on the first shelf, several photo albums on the second, the third shelf had one long white box on it, and the top two shelves had spare blankets, a flashlight and some batteries.
Marty scratched her head in puzzlement. *This* was the big secret. Hmph! Well, now that she was here …
She switched the closet light on, pulled the boxes from the first shelf and opened one: newspapers. She took one out, the headline announced: A WORLD WITHOUT SUPERMAN. She pulled out a few more and found they were all newspapers and they all had to do with Superman. Marty checked the next box, magazines, all with Superman on the cover. In the third box she found video tapes, they were marked things like; Top Copy, Newsline, Evening News.
This was very weird! What was with all this Superman stuff? Marty put the boxes back and pulled one of the photo albums from the next shelf. Superman again! Why did her grandparents have photos of Superman locked away in a closet? She looked briefly at each album, some were more scrapbooks than photo albums, but they all had to do with Superman. The last album was the most disturbing. It held more photos of Superman (big shock), only in many her mother was with him. In a few she was kissing him. Really kissing him, not just friendship kissing.
Marty put the album away hastily and moved to the next shelf, the one that held the long white box. She eased it down carefully and set it on the floor in the living room. Slowly she pulled the top off, inside was a folded blue blanket. It was incredibly soft, she was instantly in love with it. She pulled it out of the box and unfolded it onto the floor. She gasped. There, in the middle of the blanket, was the world famous symbol of truth and justice, Superman's 'S' shield.
Suddenly Marty heard noises upstairs. Her grandparents were moving around. She quickly stuffed the blanket back in its box and put it back in the closet. She shut the door and relocked it. Footsteps could be heard moving toward the room she should have been sleeping in. Marty ran to the kitchen and climbed the counter, rehanging the key on its hook. She shut the cabinet door and ran back to the living room. She turned on the TV and turned the sound really low. The footsteps were coming down the stairs. Marty jumped onto the couch and closed her eyes.
"Jon, it's okay, she's down here," her Nana's voice said.
She felt herself being lifted and carried back upstairs. Her Nana laid her back on the bed next to Christa and kissed her forehead.
Marty breathed a sigh of relief as Nana shut the door. Her brain went into over-drive, why did Nana and Grandpa have all that Superman stuff? More importantly, why was her mommy kissing him? Superman was a friend of her mommy *and* daddy. He always seemed pleased when her mommy talked lovingly about her daddy.
Marty looked at the clock, 4:30 a.m. There was no way she'd get back to sleep, and she could hear her Nana downstairs, probably starting breakfast. Maybe if she went down now, she'd find a way to ask Nana about her mom and Superman without giving away what she'd seen in the closet. But what could she tell Nana about her being up so early, she usually slept late.
There was a sudden very loud clap of thunder. Marty smiled. Maybe thunder wasn't so bad after all. She got up and found her robe, then she went downstairs to the kitchen.
"Nana?"
"Marty! What are you doing up?" Nana said, Marty decided she sounded worried enough.
"The thunder woke me. Earlier too, I went downstairs to watch TV an' fell asleep again." Marty added that last part as an ingenious afterthought.
"I know, I carried you back to bed," Nana said.
"Well, I don't wanna go back to bed this time, I wanna help you cook," Marty said, looking at Nana with the puppy dogs eyes her father used to get something he wanted.
"Okay, but don't blame me if you get tired this afternoon."
"Thank you!" Marty flashed her biggest smile. "I won't."
"Why don't you go put on some warmer clothes, you'll catch cold like that," Nana said.
"'Kay, I'll be back." Marty went back to her daddy's old bedroom and got dressed in jeans and a long sleeved green shirt. She pulled her shoulder length dark brown hair into a ponytail holder of the same color green. She went back downstairs.
"That was fast," Nana exclaimed.
"Uh-huh." Marty tried to sound distracted.
"Is there something bothering you, sweetie?"
Marty sat down at the table. "Well … "
"What is it?" Nana asked.
"Um … See I was … uh … wondering if Mommy … well … " Marty stumbled over the words.
"If your mommy what, dear?" Nana said, patiently.
"Did Mommy ever love Superman?" Marty asked.
Martha dropped the flour she was holding. It spilled all over the floor. "Um … What?"
"Well, I saw this picture of Mommy and Superman *kissing*, just like Mommy and Daddy kiss." Marty said. "So I was just wondering … "
***
" … if Mommy ever loved Superman." Nana was repeating that morning's question to Lois on the phone. Marty was listening from the stairs. She had been unhappy with Nana's answer to her question, she'd told her to ask her mommy about it.
"Uh-huh," Martha said. "Okay dear, see you tonight." Marty scrambled back to her room. "Marty!" Nana's voice called. "Time for lunch!"
"Coming!" Marty called back. She walked downstairs to the kitchen and sat at the table. Anna was already seated and JJ was in the living room, jumping on the couch.
"JJ stop jumping on the couch! Come in here and have some lunch," Nana said, dishing soup into six bowls. She put one in front of Marty as the back door opened.
"Hi Marty!" Christa said. She hopped onto her seat, next to Marty.
"Hi," Marty replied.
"When's Mommy coming?" JJ asked. Sitting across from Marty.
"Tonight, at five." Nana said. She sat down next to Grandpa Jon. Superman's going to fly you all back to Metropolis after dinner."
"Yay!" Anna said, clapping her hands.
"Is he staying for dinner?" Marty asked.
"No, he can't." Nana said.
"How come he never stays?" Christa asked.
Marty saw her grandparents exchange looks. "He has to make sure that no one needs him," Grandpa Jon said.
"Doesn't he get bored, saving people all the time?" Marty asked. She was finding she had more and more questions about the Man of Steel. Like, was he really made of steel?
***
Around four, Marty was painting in the living room when Christa came running in. "Hey, Nana, come push me an' the twins on the tire swing!"
Martha raised her eyebrows. "Please," Christa added.
"Marty will you be okay alone for a few minutes?" Nana asked.
"Uh-huh," Marty said, almost too eagerly.
"Okay, if Grandpa Jon comes back tell him I'm out back."
"Yeah," Marty said.
"Come on, Chris," Nana said, taking the little girl's hand.
As soon as they were out the door, Marty got the closet key from the cabinet and unlocked it again. She searched through the last photo album until she found what she was looking for. A picture of her mommy and Superman *really* kissing, it was attached to a newspaper article about some lady who sprayed people with … a big word Marty couldn't read, it started with P, and made people think they were in love or something like that (she figured it hadn't affected Superman, he was super) she hadn't read all of it. Marty took the photo and article out and put the album back. She locked the closet again and returned the key to its place in the kitchen. Then she ran upstairs and put her find in her back- pack.
***
"Okay girls, I'm going to fly your mom home first, then you two, then the twins, and then your dad," Superman said to Marty and Christa. Their mom and Nana also stood on the front porch.
"Jon! Come say goodbye!" Nana called. Grandpa Jon appeared at the door with JJ and Anna and came out. "Clark went to the bathroom."
"He always has to go to the bathroom!" Christa said. The adults laughed.
"Ready Lois?" Superman asked.
"Yep," Lois said. "Bye Martha, Jon, thank you *so* much." She hugged them and wrapped her arms around Superman's neck. "Let's go."
Marty noted that it seemed very natural for both her mom and the hero. Moments later Superman was back, without her mom.
"Ready girls?" he asked. It sounded familiar to Marty.
"Bye Nana, Bye Grandpa," she said, hugging her grandparents.
"I love you. Bye-bye," Christa said, also hugging them.
"Goodbye, girls," Nana and Grandpa Jon said together. "We love you."
Superman picked Marty and her sister up and the world blurred. Soon they were standing next to their mom in their backyard. Superman disappeared, and then returned with the twins.
"Kids, why don't you go put your bags away," Lois said. "Superman will go get Daddy."
"'Kay, Mommy," Christa said. "Come on, babies, let's go," she said to the twins.
"We not babies!" they replied, following Christa.
"Bye Superman." Marty said. She went into the house.
"Yeah, bye Superman!" Christa said running up the stairs, the twins scrambling after her.
Marty shook her head and smiled. Her sister was a ball of energy. She started to climb the stairs, but remembered something she had to tell her mom. She set her bag down and walked back toward the patio door.
Marty stopped in her tracks when she caught sight of what was going on outside. Her mommy and Superman were kissing! She was actually seeing this. She was horrified. She ran upstairs into her room.
What did this mean? Her friend April's parents had stopped living together, stopped loving each other, because April's mom was kissing another man. Now April had to live with her mom sometimes and her dad sometimes. Marty didn't want that to happen. She thought her mommy loved her daddy, they were always kissing or looking at each other in a silly, mushy way.
Marty flopped down on her bed. She took a deep breath, and calmed herself. What should she do now? Should she tell Daddy? No, not yet, first she had to get to the bottom of this.
Marty hopped down the stairs, feeling excited with the prospect of solving this mystery. Her parents were in the kitchen, laughing together. Something about this didn't seem right to Marty. Her mommy had just been grown-up kissing Superman and now she was laughing with Daddy. Suddenly her Daddy got this look on his face. Marty was pretty sure it meant he was remembering something, because he always seemed to return videos when it crossed his face.
"I … think I'll go for a little walk," he said.
"Okay, good luck," Lois said, kissing his cheek.
'Good luck?' Marty thought, why would you wish someone good luck if they were going for a walk? She'd think about that later. Right now she more important things to do. "Mommy, can I go play with Maggie?" Maggie MacGills was Marty's best friend in the whole world, and she had a feeling she'd need Maggie's help with this case.
Lois looked at the clock. "Sure sweetie, but it's six o'clock, so you can only play for an hour and a half."
"That's okay. I'm gonna call her so we can meet in our club house." Marty said. Their club house was in the MacGills' backyard, her daddy and Maggie's daddy, Rob, had built it last summer.
***
"Your mommy was kissing Superman?!" Maggie said. "Oh, no."
"Yeah, this is bad, huh?" Marty said. They were sitting together on the floor of their club house, eating chocolate cookies Maggie had brought.
"So what are you gonna do?" Maggie asked.
"Well, it seems to me there's some big grown-up secret to all this," Marty said. "And I think you and me should find out what it is."
"Cool!" said Maggie. "We'll be like reporters!"
"Yeah," Marty said. "M&M, the hottest reporters in town."
"M&M, that's good, now we don't have to fight about who's name goes first." Maggie said. "So what do you know so far?"
"Well," Marty said. "let me tell you what I found at my Nana and Grandpa's house … "
When Marty had finished her story, Maggie thought for a moment and said, "Maybe your daddy and Superman are brothers!"
Marty's mouth dropped open. "Maybe, yeah, that would be why Nana and Grandpa have all that Superman stuff."
"But why wouldn't they have told you?" Maggie said. "And it still doesn't tell us why he and your mommy were kissing."
"Hmm," Marty said. "Hey, Daddy told me once he was adopted. That means Nana and Grandpa aren't his real parents,"
"I know what adopted means," Maggie said.
"Okay, well maybe Nana and Grandpa are like Superman, but they don't want anyone, not even Daddy, to know. Maybe Daddy doesn't even know Superman's his brother!" Marty exclaimed.
"So you're saying your Nana and Grandpa are from … What's Superman's planet? Krip-something?" Maggie said.
"Krypton, you dumbo!" a voice from outside the club house said.
Marty and Maggie jumped up and looked out the window. It was Maggie's older brother, Andrew. He was ten and thought he was a grown-up.
"Andy! Get away from our club house!" Maggie yelled.
"Geez, relax!" Andy said. "I just came to get Marty. Her dad is here, she has to go home. Why do you want to know Superman's home planet?"
"None of your beeswax," Marty said. "We'll be there in a minute."
"Fine," Andy said, shaking his head as he walked away.
"We can talk about this more at the beach tomorrow," Marty said. Their parents had planned a day trip to a beach an hour outside of Metropolis. Everyone was going, Marty, her parents and siblings, Maggie's mom Beth, her dad Rob, Andy, Maggie's twin brother Henry, and their younger brother Scott, who was two. "We need to get a better look at Superman, see how much he looks like my daddy."
"How?" Maggie asked.
"I think I have a plan." Marty said. "I'll tell you 'bout it tomorrow." As the girls left the club house Marty bumped her arm on the door.
"Marty, you hit your arm on that nail!" Maggie said, pointing to a nail sticking a little out of the door frame. "Are you bleeding?"
Marty looked at her arm. "No, and it didn't feel like I hit the nail."
"Well you did, I saw it." Maggie said.
Marty shrugged and started toward the front yard. Maggie followed.
Clark was talking to Beth on the steps of the MacGills' house. Henry was chasing Christa and Anna around the yard.
"There's my girl!" Clark said putting his arm around Marty's waist he lifted her up and held her under his arm. "I haven't seen you hardly at all today. You've been over here all evening."
"When are we leaving for the beach tomorrow?" Marty asked, giggling as her dad bounced her up and down. "Stop it, Daddy!"
"Nine-thirty," Clark said.
"Can I ride there with Maggie?" Marty asked. Her dad set her down.
"Of course," Beth said. "But you two will have to sit in the way back."
"That's all right," Marty said. She loved the way back seat of the MacGills' car because it was backwards and you got to look out at the cars behind you and wave and make silly faces at them.
"Henry," Clark said.
Henry stopped chasing the girls and looked up. "Yeah?"
"How about if you ride with us then?" Clark said.
"Yeah!" Chris said.
"Yeah!" Anna echoed.
"Okay," Henry said.
"Then it's all settled," Beth said. "Marty, you'll ride with us. Henry, you'll go with the Kents."
"Good," Clark said. He looked at Marty, Chris and Anna. "Ready girls?"
"Uh-huh," Chris said.
"Carry me?" Anna asked. Clark picked her up and took Chris's hand.
"Sure," Marty said numbly, he had sounded an awful lot like Superman when he'd said that. Maybe they really were brothers.
"Bye Marty!" Maggie called. "See ya' tomorrow."
Marty shook her head and waved to her friend. "Bye Maggie, see you in the morning."
***
It was storming again, but Marty didn't think she'd be able to sleep if it was completely calm and quiet outside, because there was a storm raging in her head as well.
Was her mommy in love with Superman? Was Superman her daddy's brother? Where Nana and Grandpa from … Krypton too? Was she Superman's daughter?
The last thought had come to her as she brushed her teeth. Maggie said she had caught her arm on the loose nail in the club house. She believed her, Maggie wouldn't make something like that up, but her arm wasn't cut as it should be. Only Superman wouldn't cut his arm on a nail, so was she his child? It was possible, if her mommy was in love with Superman, that she was. She needed to test this theory. She didn't want to get mad at her parents if it wasn't true.
Marty got up and looked out her window. She saw the car in the driveway and got an idea. First she had to make sure everyone was asleep, and this gave her another idea. Standing on her bed she stared at the wall separating her room from the twins'. She thought hard about seeing what was on the other side, and suddenly she could. She could see the twins sleeping in their beds. She swung her head around and looked into Christa's bedroom, yep, there was Chris sleeping in a tangled ball with their father's old teddy bear.
Marty dropped into a sitting position on her bed, her x-ray vision turned off. Okay, this meant something. She was probably Superman's little girl. She started to cry. She loved her daddy just fine, she didn't need a Super one, plus this meant her parents had lied to her for more than six years.
Or did her parents even know? Did her daddy know that Superman, his maybe-brother, was her real daddy. Did her mommy know? She wasn't exactly sure *how* babies got made, but she knew it was something mommies and daddies should be doing only with each other.
Marty found a picture of Superman that she'd cut out of the Daily Planet. He was standing all tall and brave, arms crossed next to Beth and Lois. It was right after he'd rescued them from a bad lady trying to make a colony of smart women.
Marty looked down at the picture. This was her daddy? A man who was always flying off to save everyone, a man who never even stayed for dinner.
***
"Maggie," Marty whispered, even though she was pretty sure no one could hear them. They were at the end of a long dock, throwing bread to the fish. "I've got to tell you something."
"What?" Maggie asked.
"Superman's my real daddy."
"What?!" Maggie said.
Marty explained about her arm not getting cut and seeing through the walls.
"Wow," Maggie said.
"I know," Marty replied. "Before I tell my mommy and daddy and Superman that I know, I want to find out if Superman is Daddy's brother."
"Okay," Maggie agreed. "How? Oh! Can you fly?"
"No, I can't fly, I tried last night, but I can sort of float." She floated slightly above the dock. "See."
"Cool! Cool! Cool!" Maggie said.
"Yeah, except this means my daddy's not really my daddy, and I love him," Marty said and started crying.
"Oh Marty," Maggie said, wrapping her arms around her. "It's okay, I'm sure there's a big grown-up secret that explains all this, just like you said."
Marty sniffed and wiped her eyes with the tee-shirt she wore. "Yeah, now we've got to find out what it is."
"Okay," Maggie said. "How do we find out if Superman is Clark's brother?"
"I'm gonna ask him," Marty said.
"Ask him!" Maggie repeated. "How do we find him?"
"We jump off this dock and pretend to drown," Marty said.
"What! No way! We *would* drown, I can't swim, neither can you, Marty!" Maggie said.
"But Superman will come save us before we do, plus I can float, I won't let you drown," Marty said.
"Our mommies are going to be really angry that we jumped off," Maggie warned.
"We'll say we slipped," Marty said. "Please, Maggie!"
"You promise we won't drown?" Maggie asked.
"Yes," Marty said.
"Okay," Maggie said. "But only 'cause I want to help you."
"Thank you," Marty said. She hugged Maggie and they joined hands.
They walked to the edge of the dock and looked down into the dark water. They both closed their eyes, and held hands tighter. "On three," Marty said. "One … Two … Three!"
Marty gasped as she pushed her head out of the water, Maggie was next to her, thrashing about with one arm and holding on to Marty with the other. Marty was finding she couldn't really float that well with Maggie's extra weight.
"Marty!" Maggie gasped.
"Call for help!" Marty said.
"Help, Help, Help!" They called together. Marty went under and then surfaced again. She could see people running down the dock.
"Help!" they called again.
Suddenly he was there. Superman lifted them both out of the water and set them on the dock. Marty was so frightened, she forgot her question. Maggie too clung to the hero for dear life, really. Lois, Beth, and Rob had reached the end of the dock. Marty wondered where Clark was.
"Girls! What happened?" Beth asked taking Maggie in her arms.
"We fell," Marty said. Her mother might have hugged her tight, but Superman was still holding her. He seemed to notice this and set her down.
"Thanks, Superman," Maggie said.
Marty looked up at him. "Thank you."
Suddenly Superman got this look on his face, one she'd seen before. "I have to go, someone needs help," he said and flew off.
Marty felt weak in the knees. She stumbled and her mother caught her. Oh it all made sense now, and it was so simple, why hadn't she seen this before. She started sobbing out of relief.
"Marty?" Maggie said. She hadn't expected this.
"Oh, Maggie!" Marty cried. "It's okay, everything's okay! Superman *is* my daddy!"
"What?!" All the adults said together.
"Well, that's what you said before but … " Maggie was very confused.
"No, Maggie! *Clark* is my daddy *and* he's Superman!" Marty said.
"*What*?!" the adults said again.
Maggie shrieked, "Of *course*! Why didn't we think of that before?"
"I don't know!" Marty said. "But I guess we're not very good reporters."
THE END :-) Of this story …
* Another author's note: I had a few requests that I write more stories about my other Lois & Clark kids: Laura, Jordan, and Kyle, don't worry, I'm working on it. Since I couldn't decide between the two L&C families I've created, I decided to use them both, so you'll just have to roll with me :) The stories about Marty, Christa, JJ, and Anna are completely unrelated to the ones I will be writing about Laura, Jordan, and Kyle. Just think of them as alternate universes <eg> - AJ
(isawmom.txt)