#konthad

Clark woke the boys up early, smiling at how peacefully they slept in Thad’s bed. “Hey, fellas. We’ve got a big day planned,” Clark whispered. Thad sat up and wiped his eyes with his palms. He glanced down at Conner and smiled. Conner rolled out of bed and hugged Clark before heading to the bathroom. Thad was relieved that Conner didn’t explain why he wasn’t in his bed. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m alright now… I couldn’t sleep,” Thad confessed. Clark crouched beside the bed. 

“Bart, I know it can be tough being this far from home. I’m not even from this country. Did you know that?” Clark asked. Thad shook his head. “I was born far away, but I was raised here by my Ma and Pa, and they taught me one very important thing. A house is a place but home is just a bit of you scattered in meaningful places. I hope you can make this place one of your homes this summer, Bart.”

Thad didn’t completely understand, but it stuck with him. “Mr. Kent?” Thad whispered. “Thank you for letting me stay here.” 

“Thank you for coming. Conner’s so happy to have you here,” Clark smiled, “Now, you should go and get ready.” Thad nodded.

**

Thad and Conner sat on top of the spider climber in the park, and Thad lost his balance and grabbed Conner’s arm. Conner held his hand, interlacing their fingers. “I’ve got you,” Conner whispered. 

Thad puffed out his chest, holding his breath as he tried to figure out something tough to say, but he couldn’t find anything. So, he said something genuine instead. “I don’t know what I’m gonna be when I grow up… I don’t know why it scares me so much,” Thad confessed, “I wanted to live… But I don’t want to grow up. I’m scared of what will happen when I do.”

Conner frowned. “I think we’ll be friends when we’re grown up,” Conner whispered. And it took the weight off of Thad. 

“How are we gonna get down?” Thad asked. 

Conner giggled and let go of Thad’s hand. “Okay. I’m gonna go first, and you follow me,” Conner replied. He turned around and started climbing down. Thad waited until Conner was on the ground before he started climbing down after him. His foot slipped, and he yelped as he fell backward. Conner caught him and fell on his back. Clark and Lois rushed over, and Conner started laughing. 

Thad rolled onto his hands and knees and started apologizing profusely. “Conner, I’m so sorry. Are you hurt?” Thad asked. He helped Conner up and dusted the wood chips off. 

“I’m okay. You’re not that heavy,” Conner reassured him. 

Thad saw Conner’s scraped elbow and held back tears as he reached into his bag for his first aid kit. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he turned Conner’s arm over to get a better look. He sprayed Conner’s elbow with antiseptic and wrapped his arm. “Does it hurt?” Thad asked. Conner shook his head before hugging Thad. 

“I’m okay, Bart. I’m okay,” Conner whispered. 

**

Thad took a picture of Conner cutting apples at the table. “Feel better?” Conner asked. Thad nodded. “You sure?” 

“I’m okay. Hey, I was thinking about what you said earlier. Do you really think you’d want to be friends with me when we grew up?” Thad asked. Conner drizzled lemon juice over the apples he cut and started on another apple. 

“Sure. I wanna be friends with you forever. I think we’ll be friends forever,” Conner replied without looking up, “You’re my best friend in the whole world.” 

Thad smiled, growing quiet as he snapped a picture of Clark while he used a cookie cutter to cut the dough into perfect circles. “You’re my best friend, too,” Thad whispered as he reached for the mood ring around his neck. 

Thad set his camera to the side and washed his hands before helping design the boxes. “What’s the bake sale for?” Thad asked. 

“Oh, it’s not a bake sale. We’ve got a booth at the fair,” Conner answered. He was so heavily focused on his task that he never looked up from his apples except to look at the boxes. “Where’d you learn to draw like that?” 

“My dad’s an artist. I help him paint sometimes,” Thad replied. 

“Do you think you’d want to do art when you grow up?” Conner asked. 

“It’s not a fiscally responsible plan of action,” Thad recited, quoting his other grandfather of the same name. 

Conner knit his brows together, grinning as he looked at Thad. “Bart, I don’t know what that means, but I think you should do what you like,” Conner replied. Thad shrugged. “Too many people live lives they don’t want thinking they’ll get to be happy later. Why not be happy the whole time?” 

“He’s got a point, Bart. Journalism is a hard business to get into, but Clark and I struggled to be the best investigative journalists we could be. If we didn’t take chances on dreams that seemed impossible, nothing in the world would have…”

“Color,” Clark finished Lois’ sentence without looking up from his dough. 

“Besides, you’re good at it already,” Conner added. 

**

At the end of the day, Thad grew quiet while they cleaned up to get ready for bed. “Bart, can I tell you a secret? I’m so nervous about going to middle school. You’re not in middle school yet, huh? You’re only going to sixth grade. Aren’t you?” Conner asked. 

“Oh… Um, my homeschool is K-through-twelve. So, I don’t have middle school or anything like that,” Thad answered. 

Conner took off his glasses and squinted at Thad. “Do you ever get lonely?” Conner questioned. 

“Not really… If I’m not with you, I like being by myself. It’s not so bad,” Thad whispered as he climbed into bed. He held his breath for a moment, wondering if he’d have to tell Conner he was still frightened to sleep on his own. That was the last thing he wanted to do. 

Conner dropped his socks in the hamper and yawned. “When I was eight and you were seven, you got really sick… I asked if you remembered meeting me at the fair. You said no… Do you still not remember?” Conner asked. 

That was the one white lie Thad told Bart. He didn’t want Bart to know he was pretending to be him that night at the fair, so he convinced Bart he was there and didn’t remember. “Uh-huh. You bought me a corndog and gave me this,” Thad whispered as he showed Conner the original mood ring from that night. Conner climbed into Thad’s bed. Thad sank into the pillows, finally able to relax. He squeezed the blanket in his fists. 

“Do you mind if I sleep here?” Conner asked. Thad shook his head. “Do you eat scrambled eggs?” 

“Uh-huh. I love scrambled eggs,” Thad whispered. 

Conner closed his eyes and rolled close to Thad. “I’m gonna make you some eggs tomorrow… Do you miss your family saying they love you before bed?” Conner questioned. 

“A little bit,” Thad whispered. 

“I’ll say it until you go home, then… I love you, Bart,” Conner whispered.