Here goes!
Last time
"All right, Kent, show me how to paint this town red," he said, opening her door to his convertible.
She just glared at him as she climbed in.
"John Deere Green?" he asked, heading to his side of the car.
"Better," she nodded.
*~*20*~*
"So what else is there to do at the Corn Festival?" Clark asked, holding the pink cotton candy out so Lois could take a piece off.
She shrugged. "There's the animals being judged in the arena. The pie eating contest will start before long. The elementary school has the scarecrow contest and Smallopoly tournament going on. There will be more booths and stuff open tomorrow. Maisie will have a full menu for dinner. There will be grills with barbecue for lunch tomorrow after the barbecue competition. Dad's won the last three years," she said proudly. "His pulled pork is the best in the state – he won the state competition two years ago."
"I'll have to have some of that then. What else?"
"Tomorrow night is the dance. What else do you want to know?"
"Where we go now."
"How did I get volunteered to show you around?" Lois asked as she took another bite of cotton candy.
Clark shrugged. "That's what happens when you survive life and death situations together."
"Clark!"
They both turned to see a blonde woman walking quickly towards them.
"Mom!" He handed the candy to Lois in time to wrap his arms around his mom, picking her up off the ground and swinging her around.
"Put me down," she said with a laugh.
Clark laughed with her but obliged, keeping an arm around her shoulders as he introduced her to Lois. "Mom, this is Lois Kent. Lois, this is my mom, Ellen Lane."
Lois smiled and held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Lane."
Ellen shook her hand. "Nice to meet you. Thank you. For everything."
"My pleasure," Lois told her with a smile.
"She sure is pretty," Ellen said to Clark. Her eyes widened. "It's okay that I say that, isn't it?"
Clark laughed again as Lois blushed. "I don't know, Mom. You'd have to ask her. But we were just going to find the world's best caramel apples."
Ellen's eyes lit up. "Really? I haven't had one in ages."
"Actually, I'm not sure if Maggie's here," Lois said quietly. "They were pretty banged up last night when Dan found them." She nodded towards the food area. "We can go find out, though."
They walked over to discover that, while Maggie and Wayne weren't there, Josh was. He looked much better than he had a couple of nights earlier and told them that his parents were planning on being there the next day.
They spent the rest of the evening wandering around, watching some of the judging – the announcements wouldn't be made until the next afternoon – and sampling some of the food.
It was late by the time they made it back to the farm. Lois took care of some of her jobs around the house while Clark sat on the porch. She still wasn't sure what they were going to do for sleeping arrangements, but she put that thought out of her mind. She got the Sitkowitzes more towels and the Harrises were promised a seven-thirty wake up call. She'd taken Ellen Lane another blanket and more pillows to the Ronnicks.
By the time she made it back out to the porch, it was after eleven. She flopped onto the swing, gently propelling herself back and forth with one foot.
"Will you come with me?"
She looked over at him. "What?"
"To see my ship. I don't really want to go by myself and my parents are asleep but I don't really want wait another day either."
"Sure."
They stood and walked towards the shelter. Together they opened the main doors and went inside. Lois shut the doors behind them after lighting the kerosene lantern. She showed him how to open the secret compartment. They tugged the tarps off the top of the ship and then just stared at it.
Clark sank onto one of the rough hewn chairs as he looked at the ship that had brought him to his new planet.
Lois watched him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Any idea what those symbols mean?" she asked quietly, moving away from him to run her hand along the ship.
He moved next to her, running his hand along the other side. "Not a clue." His hand came to rest in an indentation seemingly made for that purpose. Lois' came to rest in a similar spot on the other side. After a moment, they both moved on until an egg shaped panel fell off either side. With a hiss, the top lifted to reveal the interior.
Clark ran a hand gently over the seat.
"I wonder what this is," Lois mused, her hand resting on an indentation.
"I bet that's where the globe went." Clark reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out an opaque sphere. "This."
He set it in the spot that must have been made for it and a glow surrounded them.
Lois gasped as she was enveloped by the white light, watching as a man appeared before them.
"I am Jor-El. That you are seeing this message means that you, my son, Kal-El have reached full physical maturity. This message will only be played when the globe is used in conjunction with your ship. There are other such messages that will play when the time is right. When your birth-wife finds you. If she is able. After the birth of your first child. Other appropriate times. Kal-El, you must find a way to use what you have been given, the great powers that are your birthright as the surviving member of a dead planet who is now living under a yellow sun. Do not put yourself or your loved ones in danger if there is another way. Do not deprive yourself of having a full, happy life outside of what you can do, but do what you can. Laugh often. Live fully. Love deeply."
The hologram disappeared and the light dissipated.
"Wow," Lois breathed. "There's more of those?"
Clark nodded. "Yeah. There were six, I think, that were... recorded or whatever on the globe. My parents saw the first one not long after they found me. I saw the other five when I was about sixteen, I guess."
Lois wasn't even aware that he'd moved during the presentation by his father, but there he was, his shirt brushing against her arm. She looked up at him and, for a moment, thought he was going to kiss her.
She moved away suddenly, her fingers running along the lettering on the front of ship, until her hand rested where Clark's had before. "It does seem almost hand shaped," she mused.
Clark placed his hand in the other spot – where her hand had been earlier.
*In the absence of the House of Ra, you have my blessing.*
She heard the voice in her head. It was the voice of Jor-El, she was certain. She gasped and looked at Clark wide-eyed.
"What?" he asked.
"Did you not hear that?"
He shook his head. "What was it?"
"Your father," she told him and then hesitated. What did it mean that she had heard it and Clark didn’t?
"What did he say?"
Her brow furrowed. Sure it was his father and his ship and his globe, but she somehow felt the message was for her alone. "Something about a house and blessing," she finally said.
The words were imprinted on her mind, for eternity, she was sure, but for reasons that weren't clear, she didn't repeat them verbatim.
For some reason, she couldn't.
*****
TBC
