The kid is a little small for their age, or at least that’s what everyone else tells him. They're a few inches shorter than they should be and much lighter than is healthy (though that one Clark could guess on his own; the poor thing’s mostly just skin and bones).

They like Pa well enough and Ma’s propensity to feed them almost every hour has really put her in the kid’s good graces, but neither of them get even a fraction of the adoration that Clark finds himself on the receiving end of.

Clark’s their entire world. They grab onto him like it’s all they can do; either they've got a hand latched onto his clothes or they're trailing after him like a persistent shadow.

Clark feels like he’s a little in over his head. He feels it whenever he sees their eyes widen and their lips crawl up in their approximation of a smile over something so mundane that they're experiencing for the first time; or whenever they're rushing around the fields in hemmed overalls and chasing after butterflies; or whenever they fly away after getting frightened by God knows what; or whenever they cling to him after a nightmare like Clark’s the one thing keeping them afloat.

Normally, a kid is a lot of responsibility, and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. A kid who’s spent their entire life in a lab that clearly didn’t treat them well is even more responsibility, one that Clark’s not so sure he should take on. He’s not completely irresponsible and he’d always been a bit more put together than his peers, but he’s not exactly 'parent material.' He’s got a job that has him working long hours, an apartment that has just enough space to house himself, and his responsibility as Superman on top of it all. Add that to his complete inexperience around children for more than a couple of hours and Clark is certain that literally anyone else is better suited to watch over the child.

The weird thing is that everyone who’s aware of the situation thinks that Clark’s the one who should take on the responsibility.

He's watching them play in the driveway with Krypto, restraining himself whenever Krypto tackles them happily to the ground. There's some lemonade and snack waiting for them, but they haven't shown any interest in anything but playing some elaborate game of fetch with Krypto.

They stop eventually, walking up the porch with Krypto at their heels. They're staring at him with those intense little eyes of theirs and Clark finds his heart clenching, no matter how creepy it actually is. "Hey, kiddo," Clark says. "Need something?"