stands_for_hope | The Double K Farm for At Risk Youth

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once upon a time on the kent farm

The Double K Farm for At Risk Youth - How it Starts

It had been a hard year for the Kents.

The loss of a father, a husband, had hollowed out mother and son, though thankfully they'd managed to make due on the farm between the both of them. But that was just the financial parts. The farm felt empty without Jonathon Kent, their home felt empty, and Clark...

Clark was so angry with everyone, with everything. It wasn't fair.

He could do so many things, so many things, but he hadn't been able to do anything when his father's heart had given out. He hadn't been able to do anything when Jonathon Kent had dropped dead in a field while Clark was at school. He'd just been there to get pulled into the office, take the phonecall from his mother.

It was doubly hard to go through his days now. Before, there'd been a bit of a barrier between the people who liked to tease him; Jonathon Kent had been respected and folks had looked out for Clark because of it. They still looked for him, but now it was more about sympathy and less of a willingness to put themselves between him and trouble.

That's why he was here. Twelve years old, pushed against a chain link fence, holding onto the fence pole for their sake as much as his own. Anger boiled up inside him, anger enough to make his eyes start to lighten to red, anger enough to make him want to do things he couldn't do, shouldn't do. Because people were mean and cruel and they picked on weakness like a pack of jackals, even if the weakness was feigned.

I can't do it. I can't hurt anyone.

It was like a screen door trying to hold back a tidal wave. He was shaking and his eyes were so hot. He just hoped he could hold on long enough for them to get bored. Long enough for someone to wander by. He just had to hold on.

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"How cool are you that you can just whip up a quiche?" Michael was grinning, shaking his head with amazement, but he cooked up a few more anyway - figuring on quite a few to make sure their boys and their guests had plenty of food.

That got a soft laugh out of her.

"I like to think I'm pretty 'cool'," she offered with a smile as she mixed together the large bowl of eggs and cream and butter. A quick lean into the fridge got her a couple of crusts she'd made up the day before.

"But I didn't know quiche was 'cool'. I just know it's one of Clark's favorites."

"To me," Michael said, pan sizzling as he poured another pancake onto the hot surface, "quiche was always one of those fancy people foods. I got used to it being a finger food at some of the Foundation parties. That and caviar - which I still think is talked up more than it's anything else. Just tastes like salt to me."

"It can add a unique taste to certain dishes, and if you have it by itself," Martha mentioned absently, "but for the most part, it's just a show offy way to add a bit of salt, like you said."

Roll out the crust, put it in the pans...

He nodded his agreement, watching her movements between pancakes. "Yeah - I was always the odd man out when the Foundation had their fundraisers. They needed me there to show off Kitt, but I was always awkward at trying to talk to the rich people. ...Except for one time. One time, I took a whole bunch of Japanese execs to a pool hall and bar for chili, taught them to sing Home On The Range - it was great."

She looked over at him for a moment as if trying to gauge whether or not this event had actually occurred... and then she started laughing into her hands, pulling away from the counter so she didn't spill.

"Oh god above, you would, wouldn't you?"

"Would?" He looked over her, his grin bright. "Did! You can ask Bonnie - she was there. They all got cowboy hats, sang until dawn; I think one of them ate about four bowls of chili and tried to buy the recipe off the chef, but this was Texas chili, so you know he didn't sell it. Best time I ever had trying to raise funds for the Foundation."

She chuckled a few more moments before pushing herself back up to standing, still giggling along the edges a little.

"That's... that's fabulous, Michael. That is absolutely fabulous."

"Sometime, I'll take you to one of the fundraisers. You might like it - it can be fun if you know how to look at it." And he had to admit, part of him was imagining her in one of those beautiful sequined dresses even if it meant he had to be in a tux.

Martha may have been imagining him in a tux, even if it meant she had to wear one of those overly-done up dresses.

"Take me? Well..." and she blushed just a little, "I'd certainly love to go. We'd just have to ask my sister to watch the boys for a night or so."

"Maybe we could make it part of our vacation," he suggested. "Now's a good time to do it, while the boys are still little enough to all fit in Kitt's backseat. I was wanting to drive them out to California, stopping by Vegas so they could see the lights..." And if they happened to include a fundraiser in that, maybe while Kitt watched the boys, well, surely it wouldn't be so hard...

She considered it for a moment before nodding.

"That sounds perfect. I'll have to see if I can get my father to lend me a couple farm hands to tend things, make sure there's enough water for everything."

Michael grinned. "And I know how important water is. Some things, I remember."

"Yes, you do," she agreed before taking a deep breath in and getting back to her work on the quiches. One was going to be spinach, the other one mushrooms, both of them packed with cheese. She couldn't get that protein into her son with meat so she'd find other ways.

"So... this afternoon, would you like to work out an itinerary with me? We've got all sorts of options, and with Kitt, we don't really have a time limit... He can drive all night while we sleep in the car, if we wanted to."

And he wanted Martha's input. He wanted to know what she wanted to see, not just what he wanted all of them to see.

"I think," she said as she started pouring the mixture into each pan, "that sounds perfect. There isn't much that we can do while they're doing the testing and having that to surprise the boys with at the end sounds like a lovely way to end the day."

"At some point, I need to get some clean clothes for me and Mike. I'll get my atlas out of Kitt's trunk, and we'll be able to sit and plan," he smiled. He loved the idea. A road trip for all of them. He was looking forward to it more than he thought he would.

"There's a load of clothes you're welcome to pick through in the trunk in that guest room. See if anything fits first. Mike can borrow from Clark for the moment, after all."

Michael nodded. "Okay, I'll give that a look - and honestly, I'm betting Mike and Clark might end up about even, especially if Mike inherits my height. He's got his mom's eyes, though." He remembered that. Linda had always had interestingly brown eyes.

"I don't have the first clue how Clark's gonna turn out when it comes to his frame," Martha noted thoughtfully as she tucked the pans into the oven.

"Though I'm gonna guess broad enough. He's already got a set of shoulders on him."

"Bucky, too - and I don't know about Mike. He could turn out narrow like me or... who knows. I think Steve's going to stay narrow, though." That was an educated guess.

"I think Steve's going to stay narrow, but I'll put odds on him ending up a stringbean. Tall and long."

"I hope so." And then, with a faint smile, he admitted, "I've been kind of making sure that Sarah hears from the right people so she and Steve can get their medical issues taken care of."

"I'd noticed that," and she smiled just a little, "Sarah and I do talk on occasion, after all, and the timing was too right. You're doing them both a lot of good."

Even if she privately thought that Sarah may be fading with or without the help.

"It's what we do." He shrugged. "Part of working with the Foundation - helping people. --Aha, there's the shower. Somebody's on the way down."

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