Second Chances

On His Own

"And now, we welcome these stellar new heroes, into our family, of truth, justice, and good-doing." Conner Kent smiled as he kept his eyes glued to his television set. He still couldn't believe that Garfield was finally joining the Justice League. "Way to go, Gar.", he whispered to himself. "What was that, Daddy?"

Conner looked down at the six-year-old girl sitting on the ground below him. She wore a ballerina tutu, lots of bead necklaces, and a plastic princess tiara in her wild blond hair. But perhaps the most notable feature was her ice-blue eyes, that matched those of her father. He smirked at her as he picked her up and put her on his lap. "Nothing, Becky. Just happy today, I guess."

Little Rebecca Kent snuggled closer to her daddy as they watched the current members of the Justice League present the new recruits with their membership cards and a handshake of congratulations. Just then, they overheard a baby's cry. Conner was just about to get up when Becky stopped him with a small hand to his chest. "I'll get it!" She hopped off his lap and towards the cradle.

Conner looked around at the house. The floors were littered with old takeout containers, the dirty dishes were piled in the sink, the undone laundry hung on the furniture. He watched Becky pluck her baby sister from the cradle, bring her back to the couch, climb back next to Conner, and attempt to rock her back to sleep. "Its okay, Molly. I'm here. Daddy's here. Its gonna be okay."

Conner searched the room. "Where's your brother? I thought he'd be back from school by now." As if on cue, the front door opened, and in walked a ten-year-old boy, with hazel eyes, and dark hair similar to Conner's. He wore a Superman T-shirt, and blue jeans, with a Batman backpack slung over his shoulder. His old, dirty sneakers made scuffing sounds as he dragged his feet inside the house.

Conner stood on his feet, dusting off his white button-down shirt and black dress pants, and put his hands on his hips. "Dylan Louis Kent, where were you?" "Yeah!", Becky cried, not tearing her eyes off of Molly. "You missed the beginning of the Justice League induction!" Dylan tossed his backpack onto the floor and shrugged, as if it were no big deal. "Eh. That thing's overrated."

"Overrated?", Conner exclaimed, following his son to the refrigerator. "You used to love the Justice League! You started the tradition of watching the Inductions live on TV every time!" Dylan got himself a can of soda. "Guess I grew out of it." Conner snatched the can out of his hands before he could take a sip. "That doesn't explain why you're home so late. Where have you been?"

Dylan adverted his father's gaze. "I...I was in detention." "Detention?!", Conner shouted, making Molly cry even louder. "You got detention? For what?!" Dylan walked back over to his backpack and pulled out a piece of paper with red marks all over it. Conner took the paper and gave it a look over. "You got a 22 on your math test?" "Its fractions, Dad! You know I have trouble with that!"

"Dylan, this is the fifth failed test you've brought home in a month! Not only that, you're missing some homework, you gave in your science project four days late, and you got three D's on your last report card! Your grades are slipping! If you don't shape up soon, your teacher's gonna send me in for a talk! Is that what you want?!" Dylan glared at his father. "Go ahead! Talk to her! Maybe then, he'll see why I'm flunking—'cause my dad's a lazy bum!" He ran upstairs to his room and slammed the door.

Conner sighed, running a hand through his hair. He loved Dylan, of course, but the poor boy had too much of his father in him. He was as stubborn as a mule, with a hair trigger temper that reminded Conner of his young self all too well. Just then, the doorbell rang. He turned around to see Bert the mailman standing in the doorway, waving at him to come outside. "Becky, I'll be right back.", he said, walking out and leaving his daughters alone in the house.

"Hey, Bert.", he said as he stepped outside. "What's up?" The mustached man reached into his mailbag with a sorry expression. "Thought you might not want the little ones to see when you got this." He handed Conner a big yellow envelope, which had already been opened. The mailing address said it was from Santa Prisca. Conner reached in and pulled out the papers inside. "Divorce application. And she already signed it."

Conner felt his senses go numb. "So...this is really happening." Bert placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, pal. I never thought Summer would have the guts to go through with something like this." Conner shook his head. "I thought she'd at least have the decency to give this to me in person. But than again, she's surprised me a lot in the past few months."

Conner clutched the papers in his hands tighter. "Its just...I don't know how I'm going to tell the kids. Becky's had to take on so much responsibility at such a young age, and Dylan's been so difficult to handle since his mom left. Today, he got kept afterschool because he's failing. And Molly? She's never gonna know her mother, and I can't tell whether that's a good thing or a bad thing!"

He looked on the verge of tears. "How could Summer do this to them? To me? To us? I thought we were a team. I thought we were in this together. And then, out of nowhere, she just bails on me and the kids six months after Molly's born." A single tear slipped from his right eye. "I just...I don't know how I'm gonna handle all this on my own."

Bert smiled weakly at him. "Stay strong, Con. The best part about living in a small town like Riverdale? You can always depend on your neighbors to help you when you need them most." He straightened up. "Well, better get back on my route. See you around, Conner." Conner nodded. "Bye, Bert. Thanks." He turned around and went back inside the house, slipping the divorce papers into his shirt to hide them from the kids.

Becky had finally gotten Molly to stop crying. "Daddy, look! Daddy, look!", she cried. "They're giving the last member his card thingy!" Conner looked at the TV screen to see Miss Martian giving Beast Boy his membership card and a hearty handshake. Conner smiled seeing M'gann. It had been twelve years since he had quit the Team and moved to Riverdale, but he still cherished seeing M'gann whenever she was on the news.

She's gotta be married by now, he thought, sitting back on the dirty, stained sofa. Probably with kids. He looked at the files tucked away under his shirt and found himself drifting into the land of "What If?". I wonder what would have happened if I stayed on the Team., he thought. Would M'gann and I have gotten back together? Maybe if I hadn't quit, I'd have married her and not Summer.

He glanced at his daughters. But then I wouldn't have had Dylan, or Rebecca, or Molly. He sighed. There was no point in wondering "what if?". The harsh reality was, his wife had walked out on him and their family, with only her own personal needs and desires in mind. For the first time in eleven years of marriage, Conner was on his own.