HER
She sat in the nursery, holding her cooing infant, leaning her head on her husband's shoulder. The nurse had just finished feeding the babe and had left to tend to her own child.
"What a gentle and quiet nature he seems to have!" she said. "I hope that he grows to take after you, to be meek and mild-mannered."
"I am convinced that he takes after me, for another reason."
"What reason is that?"
"He fell in love with you at first sight."
She blushed.
She reflected on how much her life had changed in only one day. When she had awakened that morning, her heart was besieged by disappointment, resentment, and shame. These had been rooted in a self-centered desire to be validated in the eyes of others. If she had been in that same state of mind when they found their son, she would likely have seen him as the answer to her own spiritual distress, placing on a tiny child the responsibility of giving her a sense of wholeness.
But God, in His wisdom, had revealed to her how she needed to correct her heart. By helping her to find wholeness first on her own, He had prepared her to be the kind of mother that she ought to be. Her child was not a remedy to any problem of hers, but a generous and unconditional blessing. 'My cup runneth over,' she told herself.
She said to her husband, "His christening will come later, of course, but I feel moved to say a prayer for him right now. Will you join with me, dear?"
"Happily, my love."
"Almighty God," she began, "hear our prayer of thanksgiving for Your kindness in giving us this bountiful gift. We ask You, dear Lord, to enable us to provide this child with all the care and protection that he will need, to love him as You have loved us."
"Give us wisdom, dear Lord," her husband continued, "to properly instruct him, to raise him into a man who will hold to righteous principles. One who will stand for truth, justice, and the ways of good. Amen."
"Amen," she echoed.
The child seemed to gurgle in agreement. Her husband placed his finger gently into the tiny palm. The babe smiled and squeezed his father's finger.
"Well!" her husband exclaimed. "I think he is going to be a strong one! That actually hurt a bit."
They both chuckled.
THE END
A/N: Thank you, everybody, for the faves and reviews. It was my son's idea to put Superman in 19th-Century England, and it was his idea for the Bingleys to be the parents. He will be the one to do any continuation of this. I asked him if I could write the origin story because I wanted to go deep on the childless parents.
While I was writing this, I asked my son if there are any Superman stories that are written from the point-of-view of Mr. and Mrs. Kent. He said that there might be some in fanfics, but in the commercial stories the Kents get very little attention.
I still have a few story ideas of my own kicking around in my head, but they are longer stories that will take a lot of work, so I have no idea when I will publish again. But I continue to lurk and read. See you around!