Family Tree

by HYPERFocused
Jonathan Kent rushes down the steps of the Metropolis University Student Center, around the corner past the library, and into the girls' dorm. It's fifteen minutes 'til curfew, and he has a delivery to make.

The girl is sitting on the couch in the dorm's front room, textbook in one hand, and glorious red hair twirling in the other. She's beautiful, Jonathan thinks.

He watches her a moment, waiting until she gets to a stopping place. She smiles up at him when he says her name, "Martha", and returns her borrowed class notes.

He holds the daisies behind his back.

Martha presses the flower inside her Econ 2113 textbook. She hated to throw the other daisies away, but they're finally past their prime. Three weeks have passed since her first date with Jonathan, and the time has flown by.

He's different than the other boys she's dated. He's a man. Mature and strong; she feels protected in his presence, but not belittled. He treats her like she's somebody special.

The girl who buys her textbook when she's done with it smiles as the flattened flower slips out of the pages. The flower is forgotten; Jonathan and Martha's relationship is preserved.

Jonathan places the ring in the dirt of the geranium plant. He takes it to Martha's small apartment, and asks her for help repotting it. She cries when she brushes the clumps of soil off the velvet box.

The ring belonged to his maternal grandmother, who would have adored Martha Clark, and welcomed her into the family. He only hopes the Clarks will someday find him worthy of their daughter.

He tells her he wants them to build strong roots, and that she is the loveliest bloom in any garden. A rose blush flushes her cheeks, and she says yes.

The hospital room is filled with bouquets: hothouse roses, deep purple irises, and yellow crocuses. Martha lies on the bed pale and afraid. There are no answers for this, their second loss in as many years.

Jonathan grips her hand tightly as she sleeps, trying to lend her some of his strength. He wishes they could afford the kind of doctor they need. He feels like a failure as a husband.

He pulls the baby's breath out of every arrangement, and throws it away. He waits for her to wake up, so he can tell her what she already knows.

It's a lovely autumn day, and Martha feels almost light-hearted when she and Jonathan walk into Nell's flower shop. She vows not to let Nell get to her, and ignores her pithy little comments.

The sight of little Lana, a smiling fairy "pwincess", makes up for her aunt. The girl waves her sparkly wand, and Martha can almost believe in wishes.

The tulip petals are soft and silky as a baby's skin. The stems are sturdy, and don't get crushed when the truck turns over.

When they find the boy in the wreckage, the flowers are trampled in the mud.

Martha follows the trail of white Bradford Pear blossoms, down the hall, and up the stairs. Looks like Clark has been in the tree again. He's her little monkey-boy, and she loves him dearly.

She just wishes he would talk. He's full of grins, and even giggles, but he hasn't said a word to them yet.

Sighing at the clumps of dirt marking Clark's journey into the house, she's stopped in her tracks at what she sees next. Her little boy, eight foot tree, roots and all, in his hand. "Pretty, Mama" he says, smiling, holding it out to her.

Clark is sixteen, and just discovering himself when the first delivery is called for at the Luthor estate. He always volunteers to make the run, and it isn't to visit his truck.

He imagines Lex is as smooth and sleek as fruit just off the vine. He wants to touch that firm flesh, press it for juiciness and taste it for tartness. Lex clearly is the prize-winning growth.

Clark finds himself on bended knee, holding out the box of white tulips in supplication. Lex leans down to take them from him, and does not let go when their hands brush.

It's almost a slow day in Metropolis, so Superman feels justified taking an hour to span the globe picking native flowers for Clark's wedding. The loft has been decorated with sunflowers, pear blossoms, white tulips and violets. Caroline will carry the exotic bouquet, to show the mix of farm and city that make Clark and Lex's relationship so strong.

Chloe and Wally fly in for the nuptials, but Wally disappears in a flash when the dancing starts. For a runner, it's surprising he has two left feet.

Martha and Jonathan twirl in the moonlight, and watch their son, in love.

Jonathan's death hits everyone hard. Unexpected, his heart had just stopped in the middle of the field. Clark berates himself for not checking him more often, and Lex reassures him he couldn't have known.

"You can't be there every day, and you know he hated showing weakness."

Lex is surprised how profoundly he is affected by the man's death. It had taken a long time for Jonathan to accept him, but finally, Lex felt like Clark's father loved him - more than his own did.

"He was a good man, Clark," Lex says, pulling his partner closer. "So are you."

There are lines around Lex's eyes and mouth when he and Clark bury Martha Kent. Luthor research dollars have gone a long way to extend her life, but they cannot prevent her from joining her husband, many years after his passing.

They tried to give her a life post Jonathan. The Kent farm had been turned into a bed and breakfast. Caroline comes home with a hotel management degree, and helps her mother run the place.

It's a sunny day when Clark replants the old Bradford pear, to give his parents some shade. "Pretty, Mama" he says, holding Lex's hand.

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