Thanks guys smile .

JD - yes, we all want to be loved smile . And yes she's trying to protect herself...

Sonia - LOL! Think you're the first one to find this relaxing wink . I hadn't planned on writing so much Christopher but it was a blast. I remembered my niece had brought my SIL crackers when she was pregnant and there we go...

Michael - it's hard to send off those vibes when you're puking half the time wink .

Lara - talking? Hmmm... will have to fix that. I'm not sure what all Jack Jack's powers are...

Sheila - will post in the morning, hopefully. Though I did make some real progress today! And I think that's all I'm going to say wink .

Ann - you have some interesting points - ones I've considered. One of my favorite book series is Love Comes Softly and the first book talks about just that - that it's no always fireworks and sunsets, sometimes it sneaks up on you - kind of like Lois in canon I think, though they definitely had fireworks [and Christmas lights wink ] too.

Sara - ditto what I said above. And I think you've hit it at least partially. He wants both of them to have the 'love is who you can't live without' kind of love and, right now at least, he doesn't see them having it with each other, but he does want that, not only for himself but for her too. He wants her to be happy. I think Clark feels like Lois loves him like he doesn't quite realize he loved Lana [or how you guys are interpreting it anyway wink ]. He wondered at one point what it meant that he'd been able to live without Lana even though it hadn't been easy at first. He thinks it's something she can deal with *relatively* easy - as in not like Nana dealing with Pop Pop's death [relative is a relative term there wink ].

Ann [again] - I think he wants both of them to find real love but *thinks* it *has* to be with other people eventually. He thinks that he'd have some sign by now that he's in love with Lois, but it's always possible that he's looking for the wrong signs...

More tomorrow smile .
Carol