What? It's not Monday yet? Oops
.
Seriously, I made some real progress on this yesterday and today. Finished three chapters [*finished* them - they were already well started] so I'm going to go back to the MWF posting schedule but since I didn't this week... I'll go ahead and post this today.
Now to get this done... I think I'm still looking at the 15 chapter range. I hope to get the Martha Letter's finished by then as well.
Thanks, as always, to Alisha, Beth, Nancy and CarolynK.
*****
Chapter 4
*****
Two Saturdays later, she sat in a little café downtown. Jimmy had to work all day and they hadn’t been able to go to the football game the night before because the Honda was now incapacitated. The radiator, she thought Clark said. They were down to one car for at least another week. It meant carpooling with Lois or driving the rust bucket to school – depending on the day.
And she hadn't *really* been in trouble for being two minutes late. Lois and Clark both knew red lights happened sometimes and it wasn't like she made a habit of being late. She hadn't told them about the incident with Jaxon and she wasn't planning on it. She looked up at Jimmy walked in.
"Hey." He kissed her cheek and sat down across from her. "Sorry I'm late. My boss can be a real tyrant sometimes. I had to finish up something for him before I could go."
She smiled at him. "No problem. I don't have anywhere to be anyway. Lois is working a double again so they can pay to get the radiator fixed. It'll be at least another week before it's fixed. Clark's at the Star now and then delivering pizzas later so I've got all day." She held up her history book. "I brought something to do, just in case."
They'd eaten lunch together several times since going to the football game and spoke on the phone nearly every night. Unsurprisingly, Jimmy had asked her to be his partner in their photography class and she'd agreed instantly. Because there was no way Lois or Clark would let her go out on a school night and they'd both been working Fridays and Saturdays since, an official date had been postponed until she could find a night where at least one of them was home to meet him.
They spent the better part of the next hour talking before Jimmy glanced at his watch. "Oh, man! I gotta get back." He shoved the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth and took a big swallow of soda. "Would you like to come with me? I can show you around a little bit. And if you're with me, he's less likely to yell."
"Sure." Lucy was glad for any reason to extend their limited time together. She gathered her things. "Let's go."
Five minutes later, they walked off the elevator and into the Daily Planet newsroom.
"JIMMY!"
"Great. The boss bellows. Come on. Let me introduce you and then I'll have to get back to work." They hurried down the stairs and across the room. "Hey, Chief. This is Lucy. I've told you about her. Lucy, this is Perry White, editor of the Daily Planet."
Lucy extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. White. I've heard a lot about you."
He shook her hand. "Not from this fellow, I hope."
Lucy laughed. "Some, but mostly from my sister."
"Who's your sister? Do I know her?"
Lucy shook her head. "I think you met her in passing once or twice on school field trips, but she's been dying to work here since she was like four. She and my brother-in-law are journalism students at UNT Met."
"Oh, well, that's great. Now, I'd love to chat a little bit more, but I've got a paper to get out and Jimmy here has another stack of research to do. Friaz stuck a whole bunch of folders on your desk, son. You better get to it before I hire Lucy here to do your job."
"On it, Chief." He kissed her quickly on the cheek. "I'll call you when I get home."
"Okay."
Perry had turned to head back to his office. "That won't be till midnight if you don't get moving." He looked at Lucy again. "It was nice to meet you, Lucy. Jimmy's talked a lot about you. I hope I can get to know you better before long."
"That would be great, Mr. White."
The editor's expression softened slightly. "Now, Jimmy, make sure she gets out of here okay, then get right back up here." He went back into his office and gave Jimmy a look that clearly meant he needed to hurry up.
"Come on, Luce. Let's get you out of here so I can get done."
*****
November 1985
*****
Lucy walked off the elevator and into the Daily Planet newsroom. She was wearing an almost new pair of slacks [from the thrift store down the street – she doubted these had been worn more than once or twice] with a new top [from the same store, still with its original tags for nearly four times what she paid for it] and a blazer that she borrowed from Lois. Jimmy waved her over to his desk where he was talking on the phone.
"Come on, Henderson. Perry's gonna have my hide." He paused. "Okay. If I can get him to send someone down there, you'll give it to them?" Another pause. "I knew I could count on you. I'll have Perry send one of the city guys down as soon as he can. You're a lifesaver." He nodded into the phone. "Thanks again. I'll talk to you later. Bye." He hung up and turned to Lucy, standing to give her a hug. "Hey. You look great."
She sat in the offered chair. "Who was that?"
"That was this guy down at the police station. One of the city reporters wanted some information about a suspect in that arson over on Bessolo and he won't give it to me. Something about being 'wet behind the ears'."
"Ah." She looked around. "I really didn't get to look this place over. It's incredible. I can see why Lois and Clark are so enamored with it."
"Me too. I'm going to be a photojournalist here someday. I just have to work my way up the ladder."
"That's what they all say." She smiled at him.
"Olsen." Perry stuck his head out of his office. "You get that information yet?"
"Sorry, Chief. Henderson will only give it to a 'real reporter'." He used finger quotes while rolling his eyes. "He said if someone can get down there in the next hour, he'll give it to them."
"Okay. I'll get someone on it and then we're on our way out. Danny's covering the night shift. If he just won't mess anything up, we'll be okay."
Forty-five minutes later, they sat in the Whites' living room chatting about life in general. Lucy told Perry and Alice her abbreviated life story.
Alice retreated to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on dinner, while Perry spent nearly half an hour on the phone with the night editor, muttering under his breath the whole time about the idiots who foisted the inexperienced hack on him.
Jimmy showed her around the first floor of the house, pointing out some things that Perry had shown him over the past few months. "Listen, I talked to Perry earlier and he said he and Alice were going to make themselves sort of scarce later so we can at least be kind of alone for a few minutes. There's something I want to talk to you about."
Lucy nodded. "Jimmy," she started, pausing, uncertain. "There's something that I need to talk to you about, too, but it's not something that I want to talk about in front of them – though they seem very nice – but something I want to talk about before things go much further with us."
Jimmy started to say something else, but was interrupted by Alice's announcement that dinner was ready.
*****
Jimmy held her hand and led her to the enclosed porch. It was a little chilly, but not too bad. They sat on the wicker love seat and Jimmy put his arm around her.
"This is nice," she said quietly. "Just the two of us, even if it is only for a few minutes. Almost like a real date."
"Well, I'd like to meet Lois and Clark sometime soon so that I *can* take you out on a real date."
"I know. They're just so busy. Between school and work, they're rarely home."
"That has to be hard on them and their relationship."
Lucy thought about that for a minute. "Yeah, it probably is. I never really thought about it before, but it can't be easy trying to make a relationship work when they see each other for half an hour a day or so until they both almost literally pass out from exhaustion."
She stared out the window that looked over the Whites' backyard. Jimmy's free hand took one of hers. "Lucy, there's something I wanted to ask you."
"Okay."
"You told Jaxon that I was your boyfriend and I was wondering if you'd like to make it official. Well, sort of official. I want to meet your sister and stuff before making it really official, but... I like you a lot and I know I don't like the idea of anyone else taking you out."
Lucy smiled at him. "I'd like that." She bit her lip. "There's something I need to talk to you about before I can honestly say I'd like to be exclusive, though."
"Okay."
"I have to know that you'll never just leave." She held up a hand as he started to protest. "I mean, I know that we're young and the odds of us actually ending up together long term, statistically, are pretty slim, but I just need to know that if we end, for whatever reason, you won't just leave. You won't send me a 'Dear Lucy' letter from college in a couple years or just start avoiding me at school or whatever."
"Okay."
She turned to look at him. "I mean it, Jimmy. I'm not asking for a lifetime commitment or anything, but I have serious abandonment issues and I'm not going to get into them right now, but I need to know that you'd never just leave without talking to me about it. Can you at least promise me that?"
"Yeah, I can do that." He gently pulled her head to his shoulder and stroked her hair with one hand. "I promise I'll never just leave. Even if things end between us someday, we'll talk about it."
"Thank you."
They sat in silence for a few minutes before they heard Perry call that it was almost time to take Lucy home. Jimmy stood and pulled her up with him. One hand rested gently on her waist and the other tipped her chin. Before she realized what was happening, his lips were on hers in the lightest of kisses.
It was over as soon as it had begun, but it sent tingles to Lucy's toes.
He smiled at her. "Ready?"
"Ready."
*****
"I'm so sorry, Lucy. I'll be there as soon as I can, but I'm probably going to be thirty or maybe even forty- five minutes late. I'll call when I leave."
Tears filled Lucy's eyes. She mentally berated herself. It wasn't like he was cancelling; he was just running late. "Okay. I'll let them know. I'll see you in a little while."
"Who was that?" Lois looked up from her studying as Lucy hung up the phone.
Lucy sank onto the couch. "Jimmy has to work late. He's still coming but it's probably going to be an hour or so before he gets here instead of fifteen minutes. Is that going to ruin dinner, Clark?"
He shook his head. "No, I just put it in the oven. I'll take it out and put it back in later."
A tear made its way down her cheek. Clark returned from the kitchen and sat next to her on the couch, pulling her into a hug. "It's okay, Luce. Work happens to all of us."
"I know, but I just wanted tonight to go so well."
"I'm sure it will. It's just going to start a little later than planned."
Lucy was grateful to her brother-in-law. He always seemed to know the right thing to say.
An hour later, she sat nervously in the kitchen as Clark answered the door. As Clark and Jimmy came down the stairs, she and Lois walked towards them, catching the tail end of the conversation.
"...I can introduce you sometime if you'd like."
"Introduce us to who?" Lois asked.
"Jimmy knows Perry White." Clark told her.
Lois' eyebrows shot up. "You know Perry White?"
Jimmy shrugged. "Yeah. He kind of adopted me. They don't have any kids, Perry and Alice, and my dad's not around so we're kind of family now. But don't tell anyone." He winked at them. "It would ruin his reputation." He gave Lucy a peck on the cheek and took her hand. "Lucy's met him a couple times now."
Lois shot daggers at her sister. "You've met Perry White and you didn't tell me? Or Clark?"
Lucy shrugged. "I didn't think it would be a big deal. It's not like I could get either one of you jobs or an internship or anything, but he's a very nice man."
"Not when he's yelling at me," Jimmy grumbled.
Clark indicated that they should head to the kitchen. "So when you asked if you could go to Jimmy's boss' house..."
Lucy nodded. "That's where we were."
"And Perry White brought you home?" Lois demanded.
"Yeah."
"And you didn't invite him up – or us down – to meet him?"
"Lois, get over it." Lucy rolled her eyes. "If the opportunity ever arises again, I'll make sure to introduce you. But, since you've met Jimmy now, I'm hoping we can actually go on a real date without Lisa and Jessica or the Whites as chaperones."
"We'll see."
*****
Lucy walked Jimmy out to his car. "Well?" she asked.
"I like them." He leaned up against his car and pulled her into his arms. She rested her head against his shoulder. "Do you think they'll let me take you on a proper date now?"
"I hope so. I think they will. I know Clark liked you and – honestly – when it comes to my love life, he's much more protective of me than Lois. I mean, Lois is protective, but Clark takes the big brother/guardian/dad-type thing to a whole new level."
"He just wants to make sure you're not getting involved with someone who's going to hurt you."
"Yeah." She pulled back and looked at him. "You're not going to hurt me are you?" she asked with eyes narrowed. "Because I'm taking Karate for my PE credit this year."
He cringed. "I have no intention of hurting you." One hand tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I can't promise I'll never hurt you, but I can promise I won't do it on purpose. And I promise I won't ever leave without talking to you because I know that would hurt you more than anything."
Tears filled her eyes. "Thank you, Jimmy."
"You know, this is our sixth date." He smiled at her.
"It is."
"I'm thinking it's high time I kissed you for real."
"I'm thinking it is too."
He took a deep breath and swallowed. "Then here we go." He cradled her face in one hand and lowered his lips to hers.
He brushed her lips with his own and then pulled her closer and kissed her more deeply. After a moment they both pulled back. Jimmy rested his forehead on hers. "I think that was worth the wait."
Lucy nodded against him. "It definitely was."
Jimmy gave her another quick kiss. "I think I better go before Clark decides I'm not one of the good guys after all."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Another kiss and she pulled back. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"
"You better believe it." One more kiss and he got in his car and drove off.
Lucy watched until he was out of sight then went up the stairs, hoping she wasn't in for a repeat of the Spanish Inquisition.
*****
"How'd it go after I left?"
"Pretty well actually," Lucy admitted. "We were all pretty tired but both of them said that they liked you and that it was okay for me to go out with you on a real date. Clark said it wouldn't surprise him if you didn't want to though – not after Lois did everything but shine a light in your eyes to find out more about the Daily Planet."
Jimmy laughed. "It wasn't too bad. I've gotten much worse from Perry."
"I'm sure you have."
"So, when do you want to go on our first official date?"
"You still want to go out with me after all that?" Even though she was fairly certain she knew the answer, she held her breath while she waited for Jimmy's response.
"Of course I do. So how about Friday night?"
"Sounds good. I can't wait."
*****
December 1985
*****
Two weeks before Christmas, Lois and Clark managed to get an evening off at the same time. Perry gladly gave Jimmy the night off too and now the four of them were decorating the apartment for Christmas.
Jimmy winked at her and hung a sprig of mistletoe in the middle of the arch leading from the living room to the bedroom. She knew it was only a matter of time before he managed to maneuver them under there at the same time.
Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, they were under the mistletoe. It had been completely accidental – on her part at least – but there they were.
"I guess this means I have to kiss you now."
Lucy smacked him lightly on the chest. "Guess so. I wonder why you put it there of all places though."
"Oh, no reason. Just a way to make sure you think of me every time you walk through here."
Lois groaned. "Just kiss him already, Lucy. We have to get the rest of this done and it's not getting any earlier."
Lucy glared at her sister, but only for a second. At least she hadn't insisted on taking the whole 'none of that while you're under our roof, young lady' route. A glance at Clark told her that he might though.
Jimmy grinned as he leaned in to kiss her. It wasn't a short kiss, but it certainly wasn't a long one either. Neither one of them wanted to make out in front of either Lois or Clark and they both knew that Lois and Clark wouldn’t let them.
Lucy waited most of the day for Lois and Clark to manage to find themselves under the mistletoe. They were so rarely home together for such a long period of time. Surely they'd take any chance they could get for a good make-out session. Wouldn't they? As the evening wound down and Lucy realized that they hadn't been under the mistletoe at all – in fact, she was certain that neither one had used that archway at all once Jimmy put the sprig up – she began to wonder, but filed it away for further reflection later.
And that's what she did.
Jimmy had left and she climbed the stairs to her loft – after taking a shower and doing the rest of her before bed routine – and resolved to think about that a bit. She thought back over the nearly a year that her sister had been married. When was the first time she saw them kiss? Nothing sprang to mind. When was the last time? Nothing there either. Okay – it wasn't unreasonable that it could have been a while since she'd seen them together in a situation where a kiss would be called for – their schedules were all so busy that they were rarely in the same room for any extended period of time.
She assumed Clark kissed her when he left for his paper route in the mornings, since he woke her up before he left, but she had no way of knowing – and little desire to set her alarm clock that early to find out. She shuddered lightly to think about what else she might wake up to. She knew they'd never kissed in front of her when one or the other came home at night. Of course, they were all three usually pretty tired by then. Clark would often drop a kiss on Lois' head, but that's it. She'd always thought it was for her benefit – because they knew she had no desire to see them making out.
But... she thought about every time she'd come down the stairs in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. She was careful to limit her intake of fluids late in the evening so she wouldn't have that problem, but it still happened from time to time.
Had she *ever* seen – or heard – anything she shouldn't have?
No. The answer was a resounding no. She would certainly have remembered that and the memory would have been seared into her brain. She never remembered seeing clothes lying around the apartment when she came home unexpectedly early or evidence of birth control anywhere – surely they were using birth control, weren't they? There was no way they would want to add a baby into this mix just yet. She'd seen them spooned together in bed a number of times, but that was it. She knew Clark slept without a shirt on, but Lois usually slept in a t-shirt and shorts – or flannel pajamas in the winter – not exactly Victoria's Secret, though, she admitted to herself, it didn't take lingerie to turn a guy on. While lacking in practical experience of any kind, she knew that much.
So, what did all that mean? Lucy honestly had no idea, but she wasn't about to ask questions to find out.
*****
January 1986
*****
Lucy sat in a chair Jimmy had pilfered for her. The Daily Planet newsroom was virtually vacant. The ice had come in with a vengeance and parts of the city were already without power. The worst ice storm in years, a thick coating was wreaking havoc on traffic as well as felling trees and weighing down phone and powers lines to the point of breaking at times. Power poles were going down as well.
"Do you think Lois and Clark will let me stay with you guys?" Jimmy asked his girlfriend. "My mom's out of town and it would take me hours to get home now."
Lucy nodded. "I don't know why they wouldn't. The apartment's not too far from here – we can walk it if we have to. It won't be fun, but the subway's not running in places and it doesn't seem worth it to have Clark try to drive over here."
The phone rang. "James Olsen."
Lucy smiled at the use of his more formal name. She listened as he 'uh huh'd a few times and 'sure'd a few more then hung up.
"That was Perry. We're all invited over to their house if your apartment doesn't have power. They don't have any but have a fireplace and a gas stove so they can cook."
"I'll call Lois and see what she says."
Ten minutes later, they were on their way out of the Daily Planet and in Jimmy's car. With no power at their apartment, the Kents were on their way to the home of Perry and Alice White in another car.
Grateful that no trees were down to block the roads, the young couple pulled into the driveway nearly an hour and a half later – over twice the amount of time it should have taken.
*****
They spent the evening playing games, huddled in the living room, close to the fire. The Trivial Pursuit game ended in a tie when Lucy and Jimmy answered their final question in tandem. They listened to Perry griping about his broken leg and how he should be at the Planet trying to coordinate things. Instead he spent part of the evening on the phone with Dave, the night/interim editor, but otherwise managed to put the paper mostly out of his mind.
Clark had brought the mattresses from the spare bedrooms into the living room. The two married couples, obviously, each shared one, complete with sleeping bags zipped together for Lois and Clark and the regular bedding for Perry and Alice. Lucy and Jimmy were on the other mattress but...
"I wish we could zip our sleeping bags together," Jimmy whispered.
"I know, but there is *no* way Clark would go for that," Lucy whispered back. "Perry might, Alice and Lois probably not and Clark... forget about it."
"It'd be warmer. Can't we make that argument?"
"We could, but it wouldn't work. Why do you think they put us closest to the fire? Because we don't have anyone else to keep us warm."
Jimmy reached out one hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. "I know."
"Hey, you two, quiet," Lois hissed. "Some of us are trying to sleep. And no, you're not going to zip your sleeping bags together."
"Caught," Jimmy whispered even more quietly. He leaned over and kissed her softly. "Good night."
Her hand caught his as he started to pull it away. "Good night." She laced her fingers with his and closed her eyes.
Lucy wasn't sure how much later it was when a noise woke her up. Clark was following a hobbling Perry into the kitchen.
"What was that?" Jimmy whispered next to her.
"Clark and Perry just went into the kitchen," she whispered back.
"I thought I told you to go to sleep," came a very grumpy whisper from Lois and Clark's bed.
"Sorry. Clark and Perry just went into the kitchen and woke us up."
Lois sat up suddenly, a strange look on her face as she stared at the blazing fire. She scrambled off the mattress and headed towards the kitchen.
Lucy looked at Jimmy then followed her, a sleepy and bewildered Alice right behind them.
Lois pushed open the door to see Perry sitting at the table and Clark pacing around the kitchen. Clark had stopped to look at Perry when they heard him speak.
"I was about three months old when my space craft landed in a field in the middle of Kansas."
Lucy could only stare at her brother-in-law as he turned to stare at them.
*****
TBC
