Superman: Dawnbreaker (DC Icons #4)(58)

Just as Clark finished replacing the tarp, he spotted Jonathan standing in the barn doorway. He was wearing the same clothes from the night before. “You came back,” he said, entering the barn and coming to stand alongside Clark.

Clark nodded. He could tell there was something wrong by the blank look on Jonathan’s face, and he knew it was their difficult conversation the night before. Clark softened, studying the new lines of worry on the man’s face. And he realized something: all the traits he most valued about himself—his work ethic and principles, the way he treated others—were the direct result of being raised by Jonathan and Martha. Talking to Gloria had made him understand this. If he’d had to crash-land on Earth from another planet, he couldn’t have done any better than the Kent farm.

Clark stood up to face Jonathan. “Dad,” he said, “I owe you an apology.”

Jonathan held up his hand. “The things we kept from you all these years…I’d understand if you never—”

Clark moved forward and hugged his dad.

When they separated, Jonathan was teary-eyed. “Your mother and I…we love you very much.”

“I love you guys, too.” Clark looked at the spaceship again, an anger suddenly rising in his throat. Someone had tried to break into the barn to steal a piece of his story. “You don’t think anyone knows about this, do you?”

Jonathan shook his head. “Even if those men had made their way in here before you could run them off, they wouldn’t know what they were seeing. No one can activate the holographic message without your hand—that much we do know. It’s more likely they would think we’d built this ourselves or stolen some kind of government tech and hidden it away in here.” Jonathan put a hand on Clark’s shoulder, adding, “We do need to find out what they wanted, though.”

Clark nodded as he and his dad looked at each other.

It almost seemed as if his dad was giving him permission to use his powers, without actually saying as much.

“Come with me,” Jonathan said. “Your mom has something to show you.”

The two of them walked up the hill together in silence. And when they went through the front door, Clark found his mom sitting at the kitchen table with a medium-sized wrapped box in her lap. He was surprised to see a fire going in the adjacent living room. He hadn’t spoken to his mom since he learned about his true origins, and just seeing her made the world feel a little more sensible. He dropped his backpack and went over and hugged her.

She hugged him back, whispering in his ear, “I wish I could take away all the confusion, Clark, but just remember: your greatest strength is inside here.” She tapped the side of his head with her finger.

Clark nodded as they separated. Before he could say anything, she handed him the box. “It’s a little early for a birthday present,” she said, “but now feels like the right time.”

“What is it?” Clark asked.

She motioned toward the package. “See for yourself.”

His dad cleared his throat. “We meant to give it to you sooner. But it never quite seemed appropriate. Until now.”

“I also had a little trouble with the material,” Martha added.

Clark turned over the box, trying to imagine what could be inside. He tore through the comics-section wrapping paper and lifted the top of the repurposed box. Inside was a bright, spandex-like material. Only denser. Stronger. Colored a familiar blue and red.

He unfolded it, assuming it was a coat, and held it up.

It wasn’t a coat.

“I made it from the blankets inside your ship,” his mom said. “It’s for you to wear whenever you need to use your powers.”

Now his mom was saying it was okay to use his powers, too?

“Hopefully, this will cut down on the amount of clothing you ruin,” she added with a grin.

It was some kind of bodysuit. All in one piece. The entire body and legs were a deep navy blue that shimmered unnaturally. There was a red-and-yellow symbol on the chest that looked like an S inside a diamond. And a deep red cape draped from the back.

Clark tried to hide his confusion. They didn’t expect him to actually wear this, did they? He looked up at his mom and dad. “Uh, thanks, guys.”

His dad was beaming. “It’s an amazing suit, isn’t it?”

“It’s, uh…” Clark didn’t know how to phrase it without hurting any feelings. “I’ll definitely wear it when I’m practicing my powers around the farm.”

He made sure his mom was still smiling. The last thing he wanted to do was offend her.

Martha came over and took the suit out of Clark’s hands. “Watch this,” she said, throwing it directly into the fire in the living room. Flames quickly engulfed the bright fabric.

“Mom!” Clark shouted.

Martha pulled the tongs off the tool rack and reached them into the fire. She pulled out the suit and tossed it to Clark. Not only was it entirely unharmed, but it was still cool to the touch.

“It’s some kind of strange space material,” his mother explained. “Unlike anything we have here on Earth.” She lifted the bottom of the cape and pulled as hard as she could. The material stretched, then snapped back into form. “Doesn’t rip. Doesn’t burn. Doesn’t stain. It’s really something.”