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“Banana Muffins?” Clark asked as he walked into the kitchen having just come in from taking care of the morning round of chores on the farm.
“For the boys,” Lois responded as she worked on mixing the batter.
“I can’t believe they’re turning 16 today, it doesn’t feel like it’s been enough time,” Clark lamented as he contemplated the batter Lois was mixing.
“It really has gone by way to fast,” Lois agreed as Clark stuck his finger into the edge of the bowl.
“Hey,” Lois swatted his hand away playfully.
“I was just making sure they tasted okay,” Clark shrugged, giving a sly smile.
“Uh uh,” Lois replied with a shake of her head and a grin and then sobered up a bit. “Hey, are you okay, there was a lot of tossing and turning last night?”
“Couldn’t get comfortable,” Clark said casually, matter of fact.
Lois turned away from the mixing bowl on the island and turned her full attention towards her husband. “That never happens to you,” Lois crossed her arms and looked her husband up and down appraisingly, letting mild concern come through.
Before Clark could respond, the boys entered the kitchen. “Happy birthday,” Clark said before Lois could press further.
“Thanks,” Jordan muttered as he took a seat at the table.
“Does this mean I can take my driving test now?” Jonathan questioned excitedly as he opened the refrigerator and pulled out an energy drink.
“We can go next week, but seriously, no energy drinks for breakfast,” Clark said before Jonathan could open the can.
“But it’s my birthday, and I didn’t sleep, like at all,” Jonathan protested.
“You’ll bounce back, even without the energy drink for breakfast,” Clark chided.
“You didn’t sleep,” Lois probed suspiciously.
“I couldn’t get comfortable,” Jonathan shrugged as he put the can back in the refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of juice.
Lois looked over at the kitchen table where Jordan had taken a seat. “Did you sleep?”
“Um…” Jordan looked at this brother, attempting to figure out if this were some sort of trap. “Not really, no.” Jordan finally answered honestly.
“Lois, sometimes people just don’t sleep well,” Clark said as he picked up his coffee mug from the coffee maker on the counter and then turned back to where Lois was loading up muffin tins with batter.
“Dude, Jordan,” Jonathan said from where he had turned around from rummaging through the cabinet for juice glasses.
Lois and Clark turned to look to where Jordan was hovering about 3 feet above the kitchen table.
Jordan, suddenly aware of what happened, looked around the kitchen before crashing unceremoniously to the kitchen floor.
“What,” Jordan asked confused as he stood up, rubbing his back. “That’s never happened before.” Jordan huffed.
Clark put his hands up in a reassuring gesture, “Sometimes, flying can take some getting used to when your first learning, you’ll get a handle of it.” Clark said as he lifted his coffee cup to his mouth and then lowered it suspiciously, looking inside the cup.
“What?” Lois asked, as she continued to prod through the strange morning they seemed to be having.
“It’s frozen,” Clark said as he continued to inspect his coffee cup.
“Clark,” Lois gave her husband a knowing look.
Clark pulled his phone out of his back of his pocket and quickly tapped on the screen a few times. “Massive solar storm,” Clark explained.
“Wait, what does that even mean,” Jonathan asked looking between his dad and brother.
“It just means there is a lot of extra solar radiation, and it tends to make things…complicated when dealing with powers,” Clark explained, talking around the subject.
“What…complicated, how, I don’t get what you are trying to say.” Jordan asked, panic rising in his voice.
“It means you and your dad are going to stay on the farm today while this passes,” Lois decided for them.
“What, I have a history test today,” Jordan groaned. “Ms. Miller always makes it so hard to do make ups.”
“We just need to a keep a low profile until this passes,” Clark reassured as he looked back down at his frozen cup of coffee and contemplated melting it with his heat vision.
“Fun,” Jonathan said. “I’ll let you know how the history test….ahhh.” Jonathan said, suddenly taking a step back from where he had been looking at his brother and then rubbing his eyes.
“What was that?” Jordan asked.
Lois and Clark turned expectantly towards Jonathan, waiting for an answer.
“I…I…don’t know,” Jonathan said as he opened his eyes tentatively.
“What did you see,” Lois pressed.
“I…it just lasted a second.” Jonathan stumbled over his words.
“Jon, what did you see,” Clark pressed again.
“Nothing, just my eyes playing tricks on me.” Jonathan covered.
“Okay, no one is going to school today,” Lois decided.
“What, no, I just didn’t get much sleep last night and that’s all, it was nothing, seriously,” Jonathan tried to avoid getting stuck at home. He had finally gotten back into school after spending a decent part of the year as persona non grata at Smallville High.
“Then you can stay home and get some rest,” Clark explained as he continued to stare contemplative at his coffee cup.
Lois sighed and turned her attention to Clark, “Just remember, we’ve got Lana’s Build Back Better thing on Main Street this afternoon, and my dad’s come over tonight for the boys’ birthday.”
“We’ll get it under control before then, but your dad cannot find out about this, the last thing we need is him building up some narrative in his mind about three out of control Kryptonians, you know how he gets.” Clark reassured.
“I’m not…” Jonathan started to protest but Lois just gave him a look and the shake of her head.
Lois’s phone pinged before Jonathan could argue further. “It’s Chrissy, we have a meeting with the new web designer, and I can’t be late. Can you take the muffins out of the oven when they’re ready?”
“We’ve got this,” Clark reassured. “I’ll call the school, it’ll be fine. I’ll make sure the muffins don’t burn.”
“Alright, but you’re not immune from this either,” Lois said as she turned Clark’s full cup upside down and the frozen block of coffee stayed firmly waged in the cup. “Try to stick around here, maybe…”
“Lois, we’ll be fine,” Clark reassured as Lois once again as she finished gathering her stuff.
Lois gave a smile as she patted Clark’s arm and then turned her attention to the boys. “Happy birthday,” she said as she squeezed Jordan’s shoulder from where he was sitting at the table. “Happy birthday,” she said, turning her attention to Jonathan, giving his arm a quick squeeze.
“Thanks mom,” Jordan responded.
“Thanks,” Jonathan repeated.
***
After breakfast, Clark got the boys out to the front yard.
“Alright,” Clark started, “We can learn to control the solar flares that come off these solar storms, it’s just about mindfulness and feeling the change in the energy coming off the sun.”
“Wait, what do I have to be here for this, I thought I was supposed to be resting.” Jonathan asked from where he was standing in the yard.
“Because you might just find this information useful,” Clark replied, “And anyway, do you think you could actually get any sleep if you tried?”
Jonathan huffed dejectedly, “I’m not even sure why I had to stay home from this, I mean, I’m not like you and Jordan.”
“Hey Jon?” Jordan asked.
“What?” Jonathan shrugged his shoulders, confused.
“Why are you standing so far away from us?” Jordan asked, Jonathan had stopped about 20 feet shy of where Clark and Jordan were standing.
“Huh, what, I’m not, I’m standing….I’m right….” Jonathan stumbled over his words, putting his hand out in front of him.
Jonathan reached up and rubbed his eyes and then looked around before actually walking to where Clark and Jordan were standing.
“Wait, what were you seeing?” Jordan pushed once Jonathan settled on a spot.
“I told you before, it’s because I didn’t get much sleep last night,” Jonathan tried again.
Jordan started to argue “Jon, why are you…”
“Jordan, get down,” Clark yelled, urgently but without panic in his voice. Jordan dropped to the ground as Jonathan released a stream of heat vision exactly where Jordan had been standing a moment before. Clark’s eyes glowed bright red from where he was standing, and Jordan also had to work to control his own glowing red eyes from releasing a stream of fire.
“What was that?” Jordan asked once everyone’s eyes had returned to normal and he pulled himself off the ground, dusting off his jeans as he stood.
“Solar Flare,” Clark explained.
“I…I…didn’t mean to,” Jonathan said, obviously not fully comprehending what had just happened.
Clark reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “I know, it’s just a solar flare, they’re hard to control and that was a pretty big one. We’ll work on this, okay.”
“But I don’t have powers,” Jonathan countered back.
“You obviously do today,” Jordan added, trying hard to temper the excitement. He had dreamed of Jonathan having powers for so long and it seemed like another, more organic opportunity.
“Once the solar storm passes, we can go see your grandmother, see what her thoughts are on the situation, but with how…unstable…we all are today, it’s best we stay on the farm.” Clark decided.
“But I don’t understand, why would I just have powers today, during this thing?” Jonathan pushed forward in his inquiry.
Clark pressed his lips together and looked at Jonathan, “I don’t know, we’ve always known that you and your brother could absorb some solar energy, but it was just a matter of how much and if it could be stored and converted. It could be that solar flares are the amount energy you need for powers, and this is a rare occurrence or…Jordan,” Clark quickly changed topics when he realized that Jordan was hovering a few feet off the ground. Clark reached up and grabbed Jordan’s ankle, pulling him back to earth.
“Or what?” Jonathan asked desperately once Jordan was resettled on the ground.
“Or you could have powers permanently,” Jordan filled in the blanks.
“Possibly,” Clark speculated, “And your grandmother will be able to confirm all of this, but for today, we need to work on controlling the energy from the sun storm.”
“So, how do we do that?” Jordan questioned, Clark’s hand still firmly on his shoulder to make sure he stayed firmly rooted to the ground.
“By focusing on…” as Clark spoke a steady stream of ice left his mouth, freezing the spring grass solid.
“By focusing on what?” Jonathan teased with a shake of his head. There seemed to be something novel about their always in control father suddenly back to square one with his own powers.
“We need to focus on the radiation of energy. It is not something you usually notice because it is consistent. Your body is already used to adjusting for small fluctuations, but we just need to work on focusing on these bigger swings, especially given the soral storm causes a normal influx of radiation in addition to the surges.” Clark explained, this time successfully getting out a sentence without more ice coming from his mouth.
“That still doesn’t make any sense,” Jordan replied to Clark’s explanation.
“It helps to just stand in the sun and just feel the changes in energy, just work on a heightened awareness,” Clark tired again. “Just feel the energy coming from the sun.”
“Like a plant,” Jonathan asked, skepticism thick in his voice. “You want us to just stand in the sun and soak up the suns energy, like a plant.”
“Not like plant, more like….” Clark trailed off, looking around the farm. “More like a solar battery.”
Jordan threw his head back in frustration, “At least plants are actually alive.”
“Dad, are you sure this is like a thing, can’t we just go back inside, it is our birthday,” Jonathan attempted to reason out.
Clark shook his head, “I think outside is the best…Jordan down,” Clark switched, bellowing urgently again as Jordan hit the grass and Clark shifted out of the way, this time Jordan released a stream of heat vision into the grass while Jonathan’s traveled across the corn fields. Clark was able to control his own heat vision, but his eyes still glowed a bright red.
Joran picked himself off the ground for a second time, extinguishing the small grass fire with his cold breath. “Best birthday every,” Jordan said sarcastically.
“As I was saying, I think it is best we stay outside so we don’t destroy the house,” Clark continued on, as if they had all not just finished with uncontrolled heat vision.
“Yeah, but dad, do we really have to stand outside, feeling the energy of the sun all day?” Jonathan pushed back.
“We should get an awareness of what it feels like so that we are at least able to prevent the worst of things and maybe work towards going to the thing on Main Street tonight, it would mean a lot to Mrs. Cushing if we could be there.” Clark made another attempt at getting the boys on board with the plan.
Jordan and Jonathan both gave him the most unenthused look possible.
“You know what also helps, working on getting excess energy out, we are getting a lot of it from the sun right now and maybe throwing around the football around will help even things out.” Clark changed tactics as he headed towards the barn.
“I can’t believe this is how we are spending our 16th birthday,” Jonathan lamented once his dad was out of ear shot.
“Jon, how were we going to spend it? Sarah dumped me, you dumped Candice, the football team hates you and they haven’t had much to do with me ever since I quit the team,” Jordan responded as he scuffed his shoe against the dirt that was a mix of ash and slush from his heat vision and corrective ice breath a moment ago. “It was a history exam and eating lunch with Natalie. It’s not like we missed a lot.”
“Oh, well, don’t forget, if we can get this under control, we get to go to Main Street for an event supporting local businesses,” Jonathan said sarcastically, getting in the sprit a little bit.
“Ah, yes, local business, a passion,” Jordan continued.
“It should be,” Clark said as he came back with a basket of footballs. “It’s how we pay the bills and buy groceries, and turns out, teenage boys eat a lot.” Clark reached into the basket and pulled out a football. “Let’s give this a try.” Clark said, gently tossing a football towards Jonathan.
Jonathan reached and wrapped his hand around the ball, only to hear a small pop and then the slow hiss of the ball deflating. Jonathan inspected the broken ball carefully, looking for the point of failure.
“You have to be careful,” Jordan chided.
“I…wait…you think I did this?” Jonathan questioned, still examining the ball.
“It’s okay, maybe we should try something that takes less precision and more energy. We could try running a bit,” Clark decided.
“Wait, I don’t know if I can…you know.” Jonathan trailed off.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Clark said, “Come on, just through the back 40, stop before you get to Hubbard’s farm. Let’s go,” Clark said, taking off just a split second behind the boys, making sure they were on a solid course before following along.
“Woah,” Jonathan said as he stopped short at the edge of the property less than a second later, super speed being very much a thing, at least for today. “That was a rush.”
“More so than usual,” Jordan agreed, from where he had stopped next to Jonathan.
“It’s the influx of solar energy from the solar storm,” Clark explained. “That it was I meant about being aware of the additional energy from the sun. Come on, let’s ago again, back towards the barn.” Clark encouraged, this time, taking off before the boys and letting them follow.
The superspeed exercises seemed to be working, the boys and Clark seemed to avoid any uncontrolled heat vision as Clark lead the boys through a serious of increasingly more complex drills around the farm as the morning turned to early afternoon.
“I feel like I could go forever,” Jordan said when they stopped in front the barn to regroup.
“You say that now,” Clark offered. “But once this passes…wait, another solar flare is coming, take a deep breath and focus.” Clark advised, calmer, focused, more ready to coach the boys through the influx of solar energy. Clark was able to maintain his demeanor without his eyes glowing red. Jordan’s only flashed for a minute and Jonathan made it through without an ocular release.
“Oh, I could feel it this time,” Jordan explained. “It was sort of like a wave.”
“Exactly,” Clark agreed. “Alright, I think we have time for another hundred laps around the farm. Let’s go.”
They made it through the rest of the afternoon without slowing down even though they had run hundreds, if not thousands of miles around the farm. There had been a few more solar flares, but by the last one, both the boys had learned to notice the influx of solar energy and clamp down on any uncontrollable powers.
“Alright, are you guys sure about going to this thing on Main Street this afternoon?” Clark pressed once the boys came downstairs freshly showered and dressed in clothes that were not splattered with mud from the farm.
“Yeah, we’ll be fine,” Jordan reassured for both of them.
“Jon?” Clark asked. Making sure they were both on board.
“Dad, we’ve been running laps around the farm all day, I think we can handle one event.” Jonathan decided.
“Alright, just stay close, pay attention to fluctuations in energy, and find me if anything at all feels off, understood?” Clark confirmed with the boys.
“Yeah, we’ve got this.” Jonathan agreed.
***
Clark was surprised to find that Main Street was pretty dead considering that the town had set up a small festival on Main Street to promote Lana’s newest mayoral initiative. The boys had gone off to find the snacks that had been laid out for the event.
“Hey,” Lois said as she left the Gazette to meet Clark by the bench outside. “How are the boys,” She asked quietly, looking around to make sure no one was listening in.
“Everything seems to be under control, I mean it only took about a thousand laps around the farm, but everything is pretty evened out.” Clark explained. “It may be a few days before they sleep, but I think they can handle this.”
“And you’re doing okay,” Lois checked, reaching down to thread her fingers through his, knowing her husband was not one to ever put his own needs first.
Before Clark could respond, Lana came walking up a clip board in her hand.
“Lana, this is a great event,” Clark gave a pleasant nod.
Lana sighed as she looked at the mostly empty street. “I was really hoping people would come out and we could get them excited about the loan program. We’ve done advertising in print, TV, and Radio, we’ve hosted seminars about the program, created an easy-to-use website and a walk-up desk at city hall where local business could easily and quickly apply for a loan. I just don’t understand the hesitancy.”
“Oh, well…” Lois started as she shared a look with Clark, searching for what to say next.
“Wait, how about you guys,” Lana looked at Lois and Clark with an idea. “You haven’t applied for a loan yet, how about the Gazette, certainly there is something you could use the money for.”
Lois looked back towards the Gazette and then back at Lana. “Well, I would have to talk to Chrissy about it, she does own half the paper and really she makes more of the business decisions anyway.” Lois side stepped Lana’s question.
“How about the farm, family farms count as small businesses under the program. Surely there is some investment you could make, new equipment, or you could hire an additional hand for the season.” Lana probed further.
Clark looked to Lois as he formulated his answer, “Oh, well, we don’t really need it, we have…book royalties, so we have the cash we need to get the farm going for the season.” Clark said as he rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable with the conversation. It was not exactly a lie, both he and Lois had written books that supplied enough in residuals to pay the mortgage.
“Yeah, but it’s a zero-interest loan, you could take out the money and then invest what you have, that way you make money off your money, and it could help getting the boys through college. And look, it would mean a lot of if the town knew the two of you had taken money. I think I could get others interested as well.”
Lois and Clark shared another look, as if deciding who was going to talk first.
“What?” Lana asked, looking between the two, trying to decide why they were being so cagey about the idea.
Lois stepped up to address Lana’s probing. “Look, Lana, we aren’t really looking to take on more debt right now, we kind of got burned by those reverse mortgages as well.”
“But, you know I didn’t know what I was doing.” Lana pushed back. “That was Edge’s program, this one is different.”
Clark stepped up and took up the conversation, “Lana, we understand you just thought you were helping, and you did, my mom did a lot of good with the money she got, but we also had to make big sacrifices to keep the farm and the only reason we didn’t lose the farm was because we had jobs outside of Smallville and we had the money to buy the farm back.” Clark explained, carefully.
Lois picked up where Clark left off, “It’s just, we understand the hesitation with taking out more debt that feels too good to be true. We really don’t need it and if it made sense for us, we would take you up on the offer. But we also understand why folks in town may be hesitant.”
“You don’t trust me?” Lana accused, agitation thick in her voice.
“Lana, it’s not you, it’s just the idea of debt in general,” Clark back tracked. “I think a lot of folks are probably feeling this way. Why not just give the money out in grants, the returns should pay off in economic benefit for the community and it is meant to be money for the community.”
“I thought if we did loans, the money would last longer. As people pay back the money, we would be able to redistribute, and the money would cycle through Smallville businesses for years to come.” Lana tried, but her logic fell flat when compared to Clark’s idea around the grants.
Lois cocked her head and she worked on the advice she wanted to offer, “I think that only works if people are comfortable with taking the money in the first place.”
Lana nodded, “Yeah, I guess so. At least we have burgers and hot dogs coming soon, you can stay for that at least. I’m sure they boys will eat enough that this whole thing doesn’t feel like a total waste.”
Lois and Clark shared another looks before Lois again stepped up. “Actually, it’s the boys’ birthday today and my dad’s on his way over. We need to head out soon.”
***
Clark and the boys had only been at Lana’s Main Street event for a short while but even so, by the time they arrived home, Clark could already feel the energy surging and he knew the boys would be even more uncomfortable, having less experience than this sort of thing.
“Grandpa’s almost here,” Jordan declared, cocking his head, and listening from afar from his place in the front yard.
Clark sighed, “I was hoping the three of us could get a few more laps in around the farm, but he’s just about to pull up.” Cark said just at the gravel started crunch as Sam’s truck made its way up the drive.
“We’ll be fine,” Jonathan reassured, as if he had any authority on the subject.
Clark wanted to protest, mainly on the fact he was not so sure he would be okay which meant he was even more worried about the boys, but before he could say anything Sam was getting out of his truck, a grocery store birthday cake in his hand.
“There’s my grandsons, 16, I’m not sure where the time went.” Sam said, looking at the two boys in the yard.
“Hey Sam,” Clark greeted, “We’re running a little behind and I haven’t gotten dinner started yet, but it shouldn’t take long.” Clark said as he moved up the front porch to usher his family inside so they could progress towards dinner.
“We can turn the ball game on,” Lois offered, knowing her dad was the sort who seemed to enjoy nodding off while sports played in the background.
“Boys, do you want to help in the kitchen,” Clark directed the boys. Usually, he would have given them the night off from helping, but he also did not want to leave them unsupervised. At a minimum, they could slip out the backdoor to blow off some steam if it seemed like the needed it.
“But, it’s our birthday,” Jordan started to protest.
“Just help your dad,” Lois commanded, putting an end to any arguing as they headed into the kitchen,
“Jon, can you work on the salad, and Jordan, can you get the table set.” Clark said as he put a pot of boiling water on the stove for the pasta.
Clark watched as both the boys moved around the kitchen with careful, measured movements. At least they both seemed to take the solar flares seriously.
“Another Solar Flare,” Clark said as he felt the sudden surge in energy.
The boys both tensed, stopping their tasks and pausing. Jonathan was holding a knife as he worked to get the lettuce for the salad chopped and Clark could hear the muted sound of the plastic handle cracking under his grip.
Clark looked over at Jonathan who was examining the handle of the knife, “I’m okay, I can keep it under control,” Jonathan said lamely.
Clark looked over to the living room where Sam was giving Lois a detailed rundown of the statistics for each player. Apparently, Sam had really taken to baseball in retirement.
“Are you guys going to be okay for dinner, your mom can step in and finish up and we can go catch a few laps around the farm,” Clark offered.
“I’m good,” Jordan said quickly.
“Oh, yeah, no I can make it,” Jonathan agreed.
“Are you sure,” Clark asked, considering if he should make a decision for all of them and decide they were going to go for the run. But, they had all made it through the last solar flare with only a broken knife handle as a causality and it was unlikely to do much besides unnecessarily stress Lois out with last minute dinner prep responsibilities. She had a limited repertoire when it came to the kitchen and this dinner was not one of the things on the list.
The boys nodded as Clark worked on assembling the pasta dish the boys like so much.
By the time everyone had taken their seats at the kitchen table, Jordan’s foot was smacking anxiously against floor and Jonathan’s fingers were tapping against his thigh. Clark attempted focus on anything else, but found his hearing drawn to the anxious mannerism of his children.
“You boys taking your driving test soon?” Sam questioned as he served himself a helping of salad.
“Huh?” Jordan asked, unfocused on what was going on a at the table.
“Driving test, are you taking it?” Sam asked again, confused at the situation.
“Next week,” Jonathan said absent mindedly, his eye unfocused.
“And Jordan, how about you, are you still playing piano in the musical in a couple of weeks,” Sam questioned.
“Huh?” Jordan asked, appearing to not have picked up what Sam was saying.
“Yeah, Jordan’s still playing in the musical,” Lois confirmed on Jordan’s behalf.
“Right,” Sam nodded, confusion increasing at this odd dinner. “Clark, I saw that they are expecting a pretty brutal hurricane season this summer, I expect that means things are going to be busy.”
“Boy, it’s a big one,” Clark said, ignoring Sam’s comment.
Clark braced his hand against the table, and the boys did the same and their eyes all glowed an unnatural red.
“What’s going on,” Sam demanded as the everyone’s eyes returned to normal, “And since when does Jon have powers?”
“Dad,” Jordan said already pushing up from the table and stumbling out towards the backyard. Jonathan followed behind and Clark after him. There was a faint woosh as they started to run laps around the farm. The need to release the excess energy from the solar flare pressing. \
“Lois?” Sam turned to his daughter and the only remaining person left in the kitchen. “Do you mind explaining exactly what is going on.”
“It’s nothing,” Lois tried to cover, though it quickly fell flat.
“It’s not nothing, Jon’s never had powers before and Clark is never out of control, at least without a good reason,” Sam pressed on.
Lois wrung her hand nervously, trying to figure out the best way to explain things to her dad. “Look, it’s a solar storm, it will pass soon and then all of this will be over.”
“You’re telling me there are three out of control Kryptonians just out in the world and you didn’t want me to know,” Sam shot back.
“Dad, it’s not three out of control Kryptonians, it’s my husband and my sons, your grandsons and we are dealing with this, safely. They have been here, on the farm all day and nothing has happened. Clark has this under control.” Lois said as she started to work on clearing the table. “And this is exactly why we didn’t want you to know, because you would overreact and go all national security mode.”
“Lois,” Sam put his hand out as a peace offering and soften a bit. “I didn’t mean it like that, I’m just concerned is all.”
“I know, and there is no reason for concern, which is why we didn’t tell you,” Lois countered.
Sam nodded, seeming to calm down from his earlier outburst. “But how about Jon, I thought, well, I though he was like us.”
Lois shrugged, “He’s Clark’s son too, this was always a possibility, but we don’t know if this is just something that happens during a solar storm or an always thing.” Lois confessed as she went out the back door towards the patio and Sam followed along.
With a woosh, Clark and the boys were standing in front of the patio. “I think that was the worst of it, usually there are a couple of really big ones towards the end, but I think that is it.”
“So, not the 16th birthday you expected,” Sam said as the boys made their way up the patio.
“No exactly,” Jonathan agreed.
“How often does this happen, Clark?” Sam asked, looking between the boys.
“Yeah, that’s actually pretty good information,” Jordan agreed.
Clark shrugged, “Every few years.”
“Wait, has this happened since we’ve been alive,” Jonathan probed, catching on.
Lois and Clark shared a look, “A few times.” Clark said.
“Why didn’t anything weird happen then,” Jordan asked.
Lois scrunched up her nose before responding, “Do you remember that summer we stayed on the farm and neither you slept for a week?” Lois looked between her two sons.
Jordan and Jonathan both shrugged.
“That was one time and then once when you were three, that was especially taxing.” Clark added.
Sam nodded, “Boys, I think I’m going to head home, let you guys figure this out.” Sam said as he clapped Jordan on the back. “And Happy birthday.”
“Thanks Grandpa,” Jonathan said.
“Thanks,” Jordan echoed.
“Night Dad,” Lois said as Sam walked down the stairs to his car.
“Night Sam,” Clark said.
“So, I expect none of you guys are going to sleep tonight, and we have the complete Seinfeld box set.” Lois offered up as they headed back in the house. “Do you guys think you’re settled enough for that at least.”
“Sure,” Jordan spoke for both him and his brother.
“I’ll make some popcorn.” Clark offered as they walked back in the house.
Jonathan got the first DVD queued up, Lois found extra blankets from the linen closet, and Jordan stoked the fire in the fire place. Clark returned with a giant bowl of popcorn. He took a seat on the sofa, and Lois snuggled in close. The boys seemed content enough sitting on the floor like when they were little, stretched with most of the blankets from the house.
It was not how any of them expected to spend the boys’ 16th birthday but none of them would have traded it for the world.