“The kid’s mother is an Amazon,” Bruce said, “and the father’s a Kryptonian. You realize you’ve just handed me influence over the most powerful child of the twenty-first century.”
“I thought you agreed rather quickly,” Clark said, smiling. “Our child ought to have an actual human—an exemplary, mortal human—to serve as a moral compass. You’re right about me, Bruce. Trust is the center of my world. I don’t know if that makes me an expert on it, but I’ve thought about this a lot, and you’re wrong about you. You’re a man who deserves my trust. Our trust. Our child’s trust. I can’t think of anybody else, frankly, who does. Over all the years, despite our differences, there has never been a moment when I did not trust you.”
Finally, Superman managed to flabbergast the Batman. Bruce Wayne rose to his feet and put both arms around Clark, who got up to return the embrace. Diana almost cried, but she was an Amazon after all. Robin brought the check, and by the time Clark and Diana looked down, it was clutched in Bruce Wayne’s tight fist.
How did he do that? Clark wondered.
“So when do I get to see my godchild?” Bruce asked as he thumb-printed for the tab.
“About seven and a half months,” Clark said.
“No, I mean how often?”
“I’m sure we can work out some sort of shared custody arrangement,” Diana said as the register clerk in the Hawkman suit looked at the name that came up and gaped out from under his beak and head-wings. “The baby shouldn’t spend all its time in seclusion with us. After all, we wouldn’t want the child raised by an isolated society of zealots.”
“Touché,” Bruce said. “The child of Superman, Wonder Woman—and Batman. Can you just imagine?” The aging Batman’s voice filled unmistakably with wonder until he asked, “So have you given any thought to a name? Bruce is good.”
Clark chuckled. “Bruce?” Clark looked around for a moment. He thought the Batman had pulled another of his disappearing acts, but he found his friend standing inside the door, idly staring at the two men getting up from their table across the room—the elderly little pastor and the tall redhead. There was no reason Clark and Diana needed to keep our presence from Bruce Wayne, other than the secret fun they had doing it. “Bruce? Maybe you’d like a lift to the airport?”
“Sorry,” he said, “just wondering.”
“About?” and I suppose if Bruce asked, Clark would tell him who we were, but he did not.
“Your personal torah,” Bruce said. “Wasn’t that what you used to call it?”
“Yes,” Clark said. “Truth, justice, and the American way.”
Diana took both men’s arms and huddled against them as they walked outside into the light.
“Going to be quite a kid, that’s for sure,” Bruce said.
That night, we all dreamed.
About the Authors
ELLIOT S. MAGGIN has written stories about his heroes—both real and made-up ones—since he was very young. He started publishing them at sixteen, when a boys’ magazine accepted his time travel story about Winston Churchill and the Boer War. He has written at least five hundred comic book stories, including serving, on and off, as a principal writer of Superman comics from 1971 until 1986. He has written television, film, animation, journalism, speeches, and technical manuals, and designed software games. He is the author of two earlier bestselling Superman novels, Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday. Kingdom Come is his fifth novel.
Mr. Maggin has also raised horses, run for public office, taught at various high schools and colleges, and spent several winters skiing to excess. If he had not become a writer and still had managed to escape law school, he would probably have been a cowboy. He is the father of two and the husband of one. Like many of the characters whose company he enjoys best, he has grave primal doubts and knows very little for certain, but he essentially believes in everything. Even you.
MARK WAID has authored a broader range of well-known comics characters than any other writer in the history of the medium, having penned adventures for such comic book stars as Superman, Batman, the X-Men, Captain America, Spider-Man, and Archie. Mr. Waid also serves as a comic book historian and has fielded questions from such diverse sources as Time, Variety, the Library of Congress, and the Museum of Modern Art. He lives outside Philadelphia.
ALEX ROSS is an art school graduate and an ad agency survivor. His fully painted art has brought him critical acclaim and multiple awards, and has helped pave the way for the acceptance of other painted comics in the industry. His first major work was the best-selling, four-issue miniseries Marvels (Marvel Comics) in 1993. Alex Ross’ next major project came in 1996 with the critically acclaimed painted series Kingdom Come (DC Comics); like Watchmen and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, it is considered a seminal work in the industry. Mr. Ross paints covers for many comics, including the monthly award-winning series Astro City (Homage Comics). His most recent work is Uncle Sam (Vertigo/DC Comics), on which he collaborated with writer Steve Darnall. The artist formerly known as “Sunshine,” he lives and works in Chicago.
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