Intro

No one could have guessed it, but Percy turned out to be an excellent father. He was thirty-five and seven days when Clara came into his life, and was thirty-five and seven days when this little bundle of joy became the light of his life.

She looked like him, everyone would always say. She looked a lot like him. But she definitely had her mother's mind. By age three she could write beautiful cursive and do long division in her head, By four, she was graphing logarithms in record-setting time. A few months later, multi-variable calculus was out of the way, and with that came the end of what her father could teach her. At that point, he realized she should be sent to school.

It was a hard decision for him; Doctor Jackson's job at the Aquarium had flexible hours, so he relished in being able to spend countless hours at home or at the park with Clara. It was odd, sometimes, to be having an intelligent conversation over a game of chess with a four year old (who always beat him at said game). But he loved her. He loved her with all his heart. Sometimes he felt like she was the only thing keeping him sane, his little daughter. Being a single parent was made easier by having a hyper-intelligent child, but he certainly did not take advantage of it in order to be with her less. In fact, he went out of his way to be with her every second he could.

But it had to be done. Eventually, she was the one who convinced him that school would be for the best. She was in Kindergarten by the fall.

Chapter One: I'll Grab the Fishing Gear

"Alright children," the young teacher cooed. "Lots of you went to preschool, I know. So we're just going to fill out this little sheet so we can see where everyone is at. Take one and pass it down, and remember to use the name of the person you're passing to; we need to learn everyone's names."

Clara rolled her eyes. She knew everyone's names already, of course. And she just hated being pandered too. And to think, she could have been spending this afternoon at the park with her dad, fishing or playing in the-

"Clara, dear, pass those papers," the teacher's annoying voice cut off her thoughts.

"Yes, Mrs. Myrkle," Clara sighed. "Here you go, Anna," she said, taking a paper for herself and passing the stack to the left.

"Thank you, Clara," Anna droned. God, what a tool. "Here you go, uhh.."

"I'm Sarah," the next girl in line pouted indignantly.

Clara tuned them out and looked down at her paper.

Solve: 4+1=?

Wow, really? She picked up the…colored pencil Mrs. Myrkle had placed at every desk. She shook her head disgustedly and pulled a black ballpoint pen out of her pocket.

The math section took her all of ten seconds; basically the time it took her to glance at each of the ten problems and quickly write the answer. Next came the English section.

English: What country do you live in, and what state?

Clara rolled her eyes and looked around the room. Children were scribbling wildly, drawing flowers and trucks on their papers, or simply drooling on them. A few were looking at their colored pencils as if they were some strange devices from mars.

She glanced back down at her paper and realized that this was the last question. She decided to have some fun with it.

I live, and was born in, the United States of America. In and before 1776, this land was a territory of the United Kingdom. But that year, a committee of merchants, politicians, bankers, plantation owners, and other notables issued to the King of England a proclamation. They were angered at prohibitive tariffs and wished independence. This 'Continental Congress' decided to declare independence on July 2nd of that year, and ratified the wording of the declaration, written by Thomas Jefferson, on July 4th.

Long story short, a war was fought. Despite valiant leadership by General George Washington, we would have lost in a most horrible fashion if it were not for the timely intervention of the French. Their armies and fleets evened the playing field, and Dutch/Spanish attacks on British possessions in Europe kept that great Empire distracted long enough for us little worms to weasel our way out of the British colonial bubble. Lucky us, huh?

Finally, with the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the Brits recognized our independence. Though taxes and general welfare did not improve as a result of Independence, the lives of the already rich people who orchestrated it did improve. Oops.

Anyways, our country grew, fought a few more wars, almost got recaptured (thank god Napoleon kept the Brits busy), fought a few more wars, grew some more, and really stepped onto the world stage for the first time with the onset of WWI. Then we retreated back into our little happy bubble for awhile before a big economic fart and another big war forced us to come out for good.

As for states, I live in Virginia, the Old Dominion State…

Eventually, the finely written cursive essay took up most of the front and back of the paper, except a little box that said 'doodles.' Clara took the opportunity to practice a little calculus there.

"Hand in your papers, Children," crooned the teacher.

_a few hours later_

"God, you look bored Dad," Clara announced the moment she walked in the door.

"Yeah, well," he said, smiling at his daughter and bending down to plant a fond kiss atop her head. "Not much to do without you around."

"You should get out some," she suggested. "Maybe go on some dates. Most men your age are married, you know."

"And you should lay off those romance novels," Percy admonished.

She laughed, which made him smile. "Seriously, though."

"Naw. You're all the female I need around here."

She put her hands on her hips and made a disgusted face. "Ew. I'm not here to satisfy your sexual needs."

Percy did a facepalm. Clara laughed.

"It was a joke, Dad. I know that's not what you meant."

"I almost forgot to laugh," Percy said dryly.

Clara studied her father for a moment. "You had a woman once, didn't you?"

Percy nodded sadly.

"And you're still in love with her on the inside, I suppose," Clara continued.

"Yeah. She was… amazing. And she was my best friend, too. Ever since I was twelve…"

"Is she dead?"

"I think so."

"Is she my mo-"

"How was your day at school?" Percy asked, obviously not happy discussing this long-lost love of his. "Did you go easy on the genius-ness like I told you too? No need to freak out your teacher on the first day."

Clara grinned sheepishly and handed her father a note from the principle. "Yeah, about that. Principle says that she's never seen anything quite like me, and that I should probably get out of the school and get some private tutor. Oh, and something about a very cynical view of my nation's history."

He snatched the note and read it hurriedly. "Wonderful," he said, not a milligram of sarcasm in his voice. "Wonderful! Now, let's go to Burke Lake Park, shall we? I'll get the bikes and start up the car!"

Clara nodded happily. "I'll grab the fishing gear!"

Chapter Two: Details at Eleven

Clara's age: Five years, eight months

The doctor's visit probably wasn't a great idea, but Percy was afraid that Child Protective Services would come to take his kid away if he didn't bring her in for a checkup at least every once in awhile. He warned her not to be all 'genius' during the appointment.

The waiting room was torturous. She leaned on her father's shoulder, completely bored, as the other kids amused themselves with the strange block games and picture books. It disgusted her, quite frankly. Such tools.

The nurse at the counter noticed, and offered Clara a lollipop.

"No thanks, but I noticed you've got the latest issue of Scientific American back there. I haven't had a look at it yet; do you mind if I borrow it for a few minutes," Clara responded quite politely.

The nurse's eyes widened and she said 'okay' quite shakily, handing the magazine for the little girl. Clara was deeply engrossed in an article about Ion Drive propulsion within seconds.

Percy glanced at his daughter, then up at the shocked nurse, and said, "I'll take the lollipop, though."

That got them bumped up on the waiting list.

"So, you haven't been for a checkup before?" the doctor admonished. "It's particularly important to show up regularly, especially with children that age."

"Oh, I trust her to spot and report any problems she has in detail," Percy said, communicating his amusement to Clara with a shared smile.

The doctor gave Percy the 'I've got CPS on my speed dial' look. "Come now. Even older children don't do that on their own."

"Well she does."

The doctor just rolled his eyes and gave up. Another silly patient. And he had a full schedule, too, probably with a lot more silly patients on it. "Now, I assume she's not on any medications-"

"Okay!" interrupted Clara, finally snapping. Percy rolled his eyes. "First of all, do you have any idea how completely rude it is to incessantly talk about someone in the third person while they're sitting right next to you!"

The doctor looked at the five year old in shock.

"For your information, I'm perfectly fine! A picture of health! I eat my veggies, run, and exercise my brain with some chess and calculus-"

The poor doctor's jaw dropped a few more inches. Clara was really enjoying this now.

"I'm right as rain! Super-duper! Out of this world! Positively transcendent, I daresay!"

"Now, what did I say about modesty, Clara," mocked Percy.

"-Primo! Out and out healthy! Up to par! Absolutely hale! Compos mentis, if you catch my drift."

"Oh…okay," the doc stammered nervously, backing slowly out of the room. "Uh, yes. Picture of health-"

"Already said that one," Clara pointed out. Percy nodded in agreement.

"Yes, well, I…that concludes this appointment. Uh, I hope to never, well, that is, we hope to see you, uh, soon?" the doctor stuttered unsurely

"Now, that's not very nice. Cause if you see me soon that means I'm sick" Clara said, putting on her fake pensive face. "Wishing illness on your patients isn't a very polite way to do business."

"Uh, right. I'll keep that in mind. Toodles!" the doctor said, leaving the room.

Percy and Clara looked at each other for a few seconds, and then abruptly burst out in uncontrollable laughter.

"Ho… heh, that was the best," Percy panted between laughs.

"Tell me about it," Clara choked out. "Did you see the look on his face!"

"Oh, that was great. Let's go to another doctor's office," Percy chuckled and held the door open for his precious daughter. "Come on, let's skedaddle before they send the child psychologist in."

"We can do this every weekend! Go freak out doctors!" Clara exclaimed, bounding out the door, her jet black ponytail bouncing happily along behind her.

"I can see it now," Percy said, making a box with his hands at arm's length, in imitation of a TV screen. "Clara Jackson: Terror of Northern Virginia Pediatric Clinics. Wanted for inducing deadly shock in a number or prominent doctors."

"Details at eleven!" Clara finished happily.

I don't know what's wrong with me lately. I'm definately way too happy. I suppose it's unavoidable; Cross Country is a blast, I've finally got the plot all sorted out for the book I've been working on, the weather has been great, and some other work of mine has been getting great reception. Anyhow, I've got a few more of these little stories planned for you all. I've got to skedaddle now. Toodles, everyone, and happy reading!

Oh, and please review ;)