Clark was up two hours earlier than usual to make sure he got all of his chores done. He didn't want to have to think about it while his niece was around. This was far from the first time Clark had babysat his niece—who everyone called by her middle name, Nicole, since having two Marthas around quickly proved to be more confusing than it was worth—but it was the first time he'd have her for an entire weekend. It was the first getaway Lex and Anastasia had had since Nicole was born, more than three years ago.

Of course, Nicole was staying at Clark's parents' house, but his parents weren't as able to keep with a three-year-old as they were when Clark was a toddler. So when Nicole came to stay with them, Clark took on most of the responsibility in entertaining and caring for the little one. He was perfectly fine with that.

While Anastasia was pregnant, Clark had had a talk with Lex about when would be the right time to tell Nicole about his powers. Lex said he could tell her whenever he wanted to.

Clark was astonished by this. "Won't she tell people?"

Lex just shrugged. "Probably. She'll tell her friends at daycare that her uncle can lift a tractor, and another little girl will claim her dad can lift a house, and another will say her grandpa can lift the world. Her teachers will love it. By the time she's old enough to be taken seriously, she'll be old enough to keep a secret."

Clark had never gotten to show off his abilities to a child before. To his surprise, though, Nicole wasn't really impressed with his strength or speed on their own; he had to use them to entertain her if he wanted to capture her attention.

Clark was just finishing the last of his chores when Lex's car pulled up. Lex opened the door to the backseat to get Nicole out of her carseat, while Anastasia went straight over to Clark. She gave him a bright smile and a quick hug.

"Hey Anna," he said.

"Hey Clark. Thanks so much for doing this."

Clark grinned first at her, then down at his niece, who Lex was letting down onto the ground. She wore her overalls with the little purple flowers over a green-striped shirt, and a worn straw hat sat lopsided over messy blond curls.

Nicole ran directly over to Clark, bouncing on her toes and lifting her arms, blue-green eyes wide. "Uncle Cark! Make me fy!"

Clark picked up the little girl and turned her sideways, jogging zigzags and making plane noises while she put her arms out in front of her and shrieked with laughter. When her squeals turned into pants, he brought her back to her parents and set her down.

Anastasia knelt down in front of Nicole. "You're going to be a good girl and do everything Uncle and Nana and Papa tell you to do, right?"

"I know, Mommy."

Lex walked with Clark a couple of steps away from them. "You have all of our numbers," he said. "If anything happens—"

"I'll call you."

Lex nodded. "She's still taking naps after lunch. She doesn't wet the bed anymore."

"I know."

"Her bedtime is seven-thirty, but we let her listen to music until eight. Be extra careful if you take her near the horses, she'll pull at their tails. Make sure she eats her veggies, she will fight you on it. You have to brush and floss for her."

"Got it."

"Oh, and she hates her sandwiches cut into squares, you have to make—"

"Triangles. Lex, I know Nicole pretty well."

Lex frowned and glanced over at his daughter. "You know, I don't know what I was thinking, I'm not going to leave her for the whole weekend. I'll come back tomorrow—"

"Lex." Clark put a hand on his arm. "We're going to be fine. Enjoy the time with Anna. You've earned a break."

Lex winced, then looked back up at Clark and nodded. He knelt down and beckoned Nicole over. She ran into his arms.

"Bye Daddy!"

He held onto her tightly, then let her go, brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear and kissing her cheek. "I love you, Nikki."

"Love you too Daddy! Byye!"

Clark picked up Nicole, and Lex walked Anastasia back to their car.

Nicole turned toward Clark. "Make me fy! Again!"

Clark regularly wondered how Lex and Anastasia survived without superhuman endurance. Even Clark himself was almost getting tired, though it was more of a mental fatigue.

After Nicole had demanded that Clark make her fly for almost a half an hour, she'd wanted to play the box game. She'd search for items around the house and put them into a cardboard box, then make Clark use his X-Ray vision to guess what was inside. Sometimes, he got the answer wrong on purpose just to make her giggle, but after over thirty rounds of the game, he was running out of ideas for wrong guesses.

Then she wanted him to juggle furniture. He was careful, but he still made sure his parents didn't see him do it. Just because Clark was twenty-two and had graduated from college didn't mean his dad would hesitate to give him a serious lecture.

His mom sat everyone down for dinner. Both of Clark's parents coddled their only granddaughter, giving her as much extra rice and ketchup as she wanted, and it was down to Clark to try to force her to eat her peas. He wouldn't have bothered with it, but he knew Lex would ask, so he promised her ice cream after dinner if she ate everything. That didn't always work, but it did today.

After dinner, he rummaged around the pantry for cones and the freezer for ice cream. They had a half a tub of chocolate. He made sure to fill the cone before putting a small scoop over the top, then he showed it to her. "Does that look good?"

"Big ice ceam! Pese?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I dunno."

"Pity pese?" She clasped her tiny hands.

"That's already a lot of ice cream for someone who's only three."

She pouted. "Tree an a hass."

"Ah, well, I stand corrected." He couldn't resist that look. He scooped a little more ice cream onto the cone and handed it down to her.

"Yay!" She sat down on the floor of the kitchen and licked happily.

Clark made himself an ice cream cone as well, being careful not to give himself any more than he'd given her—he learned that one the hard way last time. If he wanted more, he would have to wait until after she fell asleep. He probably would—he had earned it.

He was worried that the sugar would keep her from falling asleep, but she only got through half of the scoop on top before her eyelids fell to half mast and she dropped the remainder of the ice cream cone onto the floor.

Clark let his mom take care of changing Nicole into her pajamas while he cleaned up the ice cream, but he brushed her teeth for her, and he flossed her as well. She hated flossing. She stalled by continuing to brush her teeth with water, and she tried to talk him out of it with big, watery eyes, but Clark held firm.

He sat beside her in what used to be Lex's bed and read her a bedtime story. When he finished the story, he kissed her on the forehead and turned to stand. "Now it's time to go to sleep. I'll turn on your music and—"

"Noo, nutter tory." She gripped onto his arm.

"No, your dad said 7:30."

"Pity pese Uncle Cark?" She batted her eyelashes.

Clark sighed. The girl knew what she wanted and knew how to get it. She definitely took after her dad. "One more."

One more story turned into three more stories, one cup of water turned into two, and a trip to the bathroom turned into a last kiss and cuddle from Nana and Papa, who pulled her away to the couch to read yet another story, but Nicole finally let Clark tuck her under the covers at 7:55. Clark didn't bother with setting a timer for himself to come back up and turn off the music; she fell asleep almost instantly once she actually settled down.

He plunked down on the couch beside his dad, letting his breath out. "Was I ever that exhausting?"

His dad chuckled. "Clark, you think that's bad, try dealing with a child with superpowers."

The next morning, Clark tried to wake up before Nicole to get through the chores before she arrived, but she was already awake and toddling around in the living room. He was lucky, though—she hadn't gotten into anything other than the cereal, and he managed to pluck the box from her hands just as she was about to pour it onto the floor.

"Uncle Cark! Aw by myseff!"

"I know, but I'm gonna help you pour your cereal."

"No, look! Aw by myseff!"

He took another look at her, and realized she'd gotten changed out of her pajamas. Her shirt was backwards and her shorts were inside out. He decided against bothering with that. "Oh, good work!"

"I'm big."

"Yes you are." Clark scooped her up into his arms and tickled her until she was screaming and laughing, then put her down at a chair at the table and poured some cereal and milk for both of them.

After they finished eating, he took her out to play outside. She had a stuffed ball that she liked to use to play catch, but today she wanted to race. That was easier for Clark than a lot of activities—he just had to run slow enough to let her win.

"Go fast, Uncle Cark," she said.

He shrugged and decided it wouldn't hurt to show off a little. He ran to the edge of the field and back.

He was gone for less than three seconds, but apparently she'd tried to follow him, and she'd tripped. Her lower lip trembled, and she hugged her knee to her chest.

"Oh no." He crouched down in front of her and peeked at her knee—it was skinned and starting to bleed. Lex was going to kill him.

"Ow," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears, and then she started yelling, "Oww!"

"Okay, okay." Clark super-sped into the house and came back with a first aid kit. "Let me see it."

"Don't touch it!"

"I have to clean it so I can give you a band-aid."

"Noo!"

"This will be really quick, Nicole, I promise. Then I'll make you fly as long as you want."

"W-want M-mommy an Daddy-y-y," she sobbed.

Clark was worse than dead. He gently cleaned the scrape with an antiseptic wipe—she never stopped crying—and then put a band-aid over it. "Is that better?"

"I want Mommy an Daddyyyy."

Clark swallowed hard. "I know." He picked her up into his arms and held her tightly, careful to touch her knee as little as possible. He rocked her gently and even hummed a little—he'd seen Lex do that when she was a baby—until her crying calmed.

He reached over to the first aid kit and found a pack of tissues, which he used to help her clean her face and blow her nose, then he let her down onto the ground. She whimpered and toddled away, limping a little. "Get Mommy an Daddy?"

Clark had to distract her. "They'll be home before you know it. Wanna go see your daddy's horse?"

Nicole nodded, sniffling. "Kay."

He reached down his hand, and she clung onto two fingers as he walked her into the barn.

"Onnist!" Nicole let go of Clark's fingers and ran toward the horse. She reached up to pet Onyx's nose, and Onyx nuzzled her little hand while she giggled. Nicole looked up at Clark. "Sugar?"

Clark shook his head—he hadn't picked up any sugar cubes from the kitchen, and he wasn't leaving her alone again, no matter how quick he might be. "Not today."

She stuck out her lower lip at the horse, patting her nose. "Sad Onnist. No sugar for Onnist. Sooo hungry."

Clark resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Manipulative little Luthor. He glanced around the barn and found a few apples. "Here," he said, handing one down to her. "Hold this up, keep your hand very flat."

She grinned and took the apple, laughing as Onyx licked it up from her hand. "Aw better."

They spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with the different animals. Clark was thankful she didn't try to press his hand to give treats to all of them, since some of their diets were more strict than others. She begged to ride Onyx, but Clark didn't budge on that one. He knew he could keep her safe, but he also knew Lex would want to be there for his daughter's first horseback ride.

It was a long negotiation to get her to eat her carrot sticks at lunchtime, and she stalled even longer on her nap than she had for bedtime the night before, but she didn't complain about missing her parents anymore, which Clark took as a win. He managed to get a short break in while she was sleeping, and his parents took over entertaining her for a few hours in the early afternoon so he could rest. He wasn't physically tired, but his powers didn't help much with the mental exhaustion.

They played games throughout the later afternoon. Nicole somehow managed to beat Clark at Go Fish so many times, he was almost tempted to use his X-Ray vision to salvage some of his pride.

Clark was luckier that evening. He didn't end up having to fight Nicole to go to sleep. He brushed and flossed her teeth and let her change into pajamas before putting on a kids' movie for her. She snuggled on his lap, and he gently stroked her hair—something else he'd seen Lex do—until she leaned back on his chest and fell asleep.

Clark, too, was asleep before the movie ended.

The next day, Lex and Anastasia arrived back at the farm two hours ahead of schedule. They both completely ignored Clark and his parents and went straight to Nicole, but no one was offended. Anastasia spun her daughter in the air before hugging her tightly, grinning ear to ear. Lex beamed at Nicole when she toddled over to him, but when he held her, his smile melted into a look of protective ferocity.

Anastasia went to get her into the carseat while Lex talked to Clark.

"No problems?"

"She's a master negotiator when it comes to bedtime—"

"That's my girl."

"—but she's a good kid, Lex. You're doing a good job with her."

Lex nodded. "Brushed and flossed?"

"Yes."

"She ate everything you asked her to?"

"Yeah."

"No other issues? No reason you should have called us?"

"Everything was fine, Lex."

Lex nodded, glanced at the car, then looked back at Clark with a deadly glare. "Then why is she wearing a band-aid?"