Happy New Year!
I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday! I myself have been luxuriating in lots of chocolate and cookies (stuff that I can't afford at school), just enjoying not having to do anything. For some strange reason, I've managed to drop a dress size this holiday season at the same time.
Anyway, this story was writing itself before, but then I started suffering from a bit of a block. Maybe it's the food and laziness.
Still, with the help of my BR, it's slowly passing and I'm starting to write again.
I hope the new installment satisfies, and I wish everyone a prosperous, happy new year!
Kicking off 2006...
Last chapter... Ducking her head to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, she said, “Okay then, I guess I’ll go wash up and get ready to bed. And…thank you, Clark.” With a soft touch on his arm, she turned and went upstairs.
When she reached the landing, she couldn’t help but succumb to the urge to poke her head inside of each child’s room to have a look. What beautiful children – and they were hers. She felt sad that she couldn’t remember a thing about them…anticipating them, seeing their first steps or hearing their first words. At least she had no memory of labour and changing diapers, she thought wryly. She still didn’t know the first thing about kids or raising them, but she made a silent vow to her children that she’ll be the best mother she could possibly be to them. With that, she headed towards the bedroom in which she had awoken completely disoriented a couple hours ago.
Future Perfect 5/? An annoying sound insinuated itself into Lois’ head, which was gradually getting louder and louder. For
crying out loud, what kind of disgustingly inconsiderate person would have their TV on this loud at this time of night? Lois turned over away from the noise and buried her head under her pillow.
“Mama.”
Who’s mama? Ugh, if she could hear the words this clearly, these people were getting WAY out of line. Maybe she should make a call down to the front desk to complain about the noise. Then, she felt her shoulder get shaken softly.
“Yeah, I know, Luce,” mumbled Lois, “Someone should tell them to
shut up. What is it, three in the morning?” She rolled over but kept her eyes closed.
She heard a sniffle. “M…Mama.” The tiny voice trembled.
Wait, that’s not Lucy or a TV. Then, it all came back to her. Right, eleven years gone, the mother thing and now she’s “home” with her family in a strange world which had progressed while leaving her behind. She remembered. She opened her eyes to see a teary, frightened little girl standing by the side of her bed with a black teddy bear in her arms. Sitting up groggily, she said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you, sweetie.” Noticing that the child still looked scared and somewhat shell-shocked, she added hastily, “Oh, I wasn’t telling you to shut up! I was just dreaming that…well, never mind. What’s wrong?” The tear tracks winding down Lori’s round cheeks were still wet and glistening.
Still looking a bit doubtful, Lori replied quietly, “I had a bad dream.”
“Oh! Well…” Lois said, grasping at straws, “Um…you’re awake now, and uh…don’t worry, none of it was real. You’re fine.” Lois sort of just looked at the child, not quite knowing what to do.
Finally, Lori reached her arms out to Lois and Lois caught on, swinging Lori up onto the bed with her and cradling her in her lap. As Lori wiggled around to find the most comfortable spot in her mother’s embrace and settled down, Lois mused that it was like hugging a mini-furnace. So warm and soft and surprisingly sweet-smelling. This was pleasant, and she felt like she could handle this. Her mind returning to the present, she gently drew Lori’s hair back from her face and asked, “Do you want to tell me about it?”
Unfortunately for Lois, the little girl’s sniffling grew louder and she started to cry again. “Mama, you were gone.” the child accused, looking Lois squarely in the eye.
“I’m really sorry about leaving like that today, sweetie.” The guilt Lois originally felt and the tiny, upset person sobbing in her arms made her feel like scum.
“I was so scared! And there were monsters and scary people and they were chasing Jack and me and I fell. And then I called for you and I was crying and I was crying and you weren’t there.”
Meanwhile, Lori’s sobs were reaching a crescendo and it was all Lois could do to smooth her hand over Lori’s hair and back in what she hoped was a soothing way, while murmuring, “I’m
really sorry, honey. I know I hurt you…all of you, but I really didn’t mean to.”
Lori seemed to calm slightly before she continued, “And then I called for Daddy, but they had krypt-“
“Lori!” Clark burst in through the door with a little more volume and drama than necessary, in Lois’ opinion, and immediately swept Lori out of Lois’ grasp. “Honey, did you have a bad dream?”
Part of Lois felt relieved, but another part of her was rather annoyed that he just took her away from her like that. She was Lori’s mother, after all, and she thought she was handling things fine.
“Daddy!” Lori exclaimed as the waterworks came back with a vengeance.
Good grief, thought Lois, the girl was expert at playing the daddy pity card; it put Lois’ own skills at the same age to shame. Then again, her father never paid her the kind of attention Clark gave Lori.
***
Clark’s heart pounded in his chest as he tried to think quickly. He was about to gently press Lori’s face back to his chest so that she’d hopefully stop talking, but he was too late.
“Daddy, I called for you but they had kryptonite and you were hurt and I was hurt too and so was Jack and I couldn’t help you and I was so scared and Mommy wasn’t there,” she said all in a single breath and hiccupped.
Uh oh. That was just the thing he was trying to stop Lori from mentioning. Lois didn’t remember anything about Superman; in fact, if the last thing she remembered was in 1992, she had no idea who Superman was at all. He knew he was just putting off the inevitable, but he didn’t relish going through the whole revelation thing again with her, considering how it went last time. Trying to find a way out, he began, “Lori, honey-”
“What’s kryptonite?”
Darn it. How should he answer her?
“It’s the
rock, Mama.”
“What rock?”
“The green one!”
That’s it. His darling daughter had said more than enough for the day. “Listen, Lori, pumpkin, come take a walk with Daddy and we’ll see if some hot chocolate will make you feel better, okay? Let’s go.” With a brief glance back at Lois, he quickly walked down the stairs into the kitchen.
When he heard Lori crying earlier he was about to go tend to her, but he stopped himself when he saw her head to Lois. He wanted to give Lois a chance to re-acquaint herself with her daughter, and he really enjoyed watching the scene unfold. As soon as he smelled danger, he rushed into the room at the nick of time. Unfortunately, even that wasn’t enough to stop Lori from spilling the beans.
Stroking Lori’s cheek softly as he looked down upon her head on his chest, he gently said, “Lori baby, Mommy doesn’t remember anything about Superman, so-”
“She doesn’t?”
“No she doesn’t, sweetheart. So, we don’t want to give her something else to worry about on top of everything, right? Of course we don’t. That means we’re not going to mention anything that has to do with Superman for the time being, okay?” Clark requested as he propped Lori up so that she was level with him, and he established eye contact with her.
“But Mama loves Superman. She’ll want to remember him. I think she’d like to hear about Superman,” Lori said reasonably.
The girl was too smart for her own good…just like her mother, Clark thought wryly. “Honey, it’s a lot to take in, going from not remembering anything, to being told about having a family, to learning about some man with superpowers who flies around helping people. Just trust Daddy on this one, okay? No talking about Superman. Not even with Jack.”
Lori looked hesitant, but to Clark’s relief, agreed.
“Good girl.” he said as he put her down with a kiss. “Now, would you like marshmallows in your hot chocolate?”
They were both so focused on just one another that neither of them noticed the petite, long-legged figure at the top of the stairs pad pack into the master bedroom with a look of suspicion on her face.
***
Sunlight poured onto Lois’ face and she turned over with a groan, trying to put off waking up for as long as she could. The delicious smell of coffee made her perk up, and the laughter filtering into her room piqued her curiosity. Realizing that she was up and wouldn’t likely be able to fall asleep again, she gave in and opened her eyes.
Lois noted that her room was very bright; she liked that. When she ran out the night before her mind was awhirl, so she didn’t really look at the room closely. She took the opportunity to look around and found that she really liked the décor, even though it wasn’t as edgy as she’d usually like. The draperies, furnishings and bedding all looked very stylish in a comfortable, unisex way. It looked like a very nice, neat-but-lived-in couple’s room. She looked in the closet and all the drawers to learn where everything was. Then she groomed herself, got dressed and went downstairs.
“Hello?” Lois said as she padded into the kitchen.
A mini tornado hurled itself into Lois’ legs. “Good morning, Mama!”
“Good morning, sweetheart,” Lois replied as she pulled Lori up into her arms and settled the child on her hip. She was only a little surprised when Lori planted a kiss on her cheek, and she kissed Lori back in return.
“Good morning, Mommy!” Jack said sweetly, his lips puckered and ready to kiss.
“Good morning, honey,” Lois said as she bent down to receive his kiss and reciprocated.
“Good morning, Lois,” Clark said affectionately.
Lois noticed that he looked very handsome and she almost wanted to return his warmth, but she held back. He wasn’t as innocent as he appeared; she thought she could trust him, but he was hiding something from her! So instead, she settled for a polite good morning. Lois noticed that his smile faltered.
“Mommy, you forgot to kiss Daddy good morning!” Jack said pointedly.
“Jack,” Clark said, flustered. “Remember what we said about not making Mommy uncomfortable?”
“No, no, it’s okay.” Lois said as she set Lori in a chair. She eyed Clark warily before stepping to him and quickly pressing a kiss to his face, then separating from him just as suddenly. Lois couldn’t help but notice how good Clark smelled. She was annoyed at the way her hormones were making her stomach flip at the most inappropriate things…mainly everything Clark did. Lois Lane was not a cougar!
“Daddy!” Lori whined and motioned at Lois.
“Alright, alright. Fine.” Lois said slightly impatiently as she walked back to Clark’s side and waited for his slightly hesitant, hasty kiss. She wasn’t prepared for the chill that raced down her spine when Clark’s lips touched her, making them blush.
Changing the subject to hopefully quell the awkwardness, Clark announced, “We’re having pancakes! Do you want some?”
“I don’t really eat breakfast, but thanks. A coffee would be good, though,” Lois said.
“But Mama, you say that it’s important to have breakfast! We always eat breakfast together,” Lori protested.
“Oh! Well, I guess I’ll have some then.”
At the breakfast table, Clark poured a mug of fresh coffee and set it down in front of Lois. Before Lois even began to reach for it, Jack had already poured in a package of sweetener with just the right amount of low-fat creamer and Lori began mixing.
Impressed, Lois said, “Thanks, you two! It’s perfect.” The children beamed at her as she took a grateful sip.
“How many pancakes would you like, Lois?” asked Clark.
“Just one,” said Lois. “I mean two.” Lois corrected after noticing Lori’s furrowed brow, all ready to protest about proper breakfast nutrition. How bossy and headstrong! She knew what she wanted and just had to get her way. On the other hand, Lois thought, that kind of determination and guts will get her far in life. Biting into a pancake, Lois cried delightedly, “They’re fantastic!”
“We helped Daddy make them,” Jack said proudly.
“They’re really good. I’m glad that you two like helping around the kitchen and aren’t like me in the cooking department. The stuff I cook is inedible.” Lois said with a laugh.
“But Mama, you’re a great cook!” said Lori. “I love your waffles!”
“Those are out of a box,” said Jack, rolling his eyes. “But I like everything else you make!” added Jack when he saw the stern look his father sent him.
“I cook now?” asked Lois incredulously.
“Uh huh. You make the stuffing for Daddy’s turkey every year. We also make cookies together every Christmas, and we’re making them today!” said Lori with shining eyes.
“We are? Stuffing and cookies. That’s…uh, that’s great,” said Lois uneasily. How was she going to pull all that off? Were they really expecting her to?
Just then, Clark got this strange faraway look in his eyes and he stammered uneasily, “Lois, kids, I need to…to, uh, go grab a couple ingredients because I’ve just realized that we don’t have them yet. You should start the cookie baking without me and I’ll join you later.”
“But Clark, what do I do?” Lois asked helplessly after Clark’s rapidly departing back.
At Lois’ pitiful tone, Clark turned around to give her an apologetic look and said, “Lois, there’s some chilled sugar cookie dough in the fridge. Roll it out, cut out shapes, decorate and bake them.” With that he turned again and fled the house.
Now that Lois was left with the two kids, she had no idea what to do and she was starting to feel anxious. Then she thought, these are her children and she’s their mother; she should be able to handle them. Not only that, but so far they seemed to be fairly well-behaved. Lois decided to just face the situation head-on and wing it. Pasting a smile on her face that was just a touch too bright to be natural, she said, “Alright! We’ll just have to start without him, then. Can you two tell me where you normally keep the cookie decorations?”
After about 20 minutes Lois had found everything, laid them out nicely, rolled out the dough and was beginning to cut shapes out of it with the help of the children. Then, they began decorating and Lois felt a wave of pride. She was handling everything like a pro, getting along well with the children and making the cookies with the finesse of a seasoned cookie-baking mother.
She found her children to be the least annoying and most beautiful kids she’d ever met. Their intelligence, kindness, curiosity and strong understanding of the world as well as their unique personalities amazed Lois to no end. Her heart swelled with pride and happiness knowing that these were her children. She was probably biased, but she didn’t care.
A wave of silence passed through them during a moment when all three were particularly focused on decorating their cookies. Lois decided to turn on the television to keep some sound running throughout the house. What she saw knocked the wind out of her.
***
TBC...I apologize, but I've got to admit, I really love cliff-hangers.
For the record, let it be known that I didn't do this just to be evil; I had to leave a buffer for myself but I didn't want to make the post too short, so I left it at about one page. My goal is to finish this before class starts again because I'm awful, awful, awful at time management. I'll be back soon!
