Ah look at this. A chapter with no Lois and Clark
. You've been warned
.
Thanks - as always - to my amazing betas.
Here's hoping I can find inspiration for the last two chapters...
FDK welcome
.
*****
Chapter 12
*****
Jimmy drew lazy circles on Lucy's back. "You never did tell me what you and Lois talked about yesterday in Paris."
Lucy sighed. "I told her how wonderful the week was basically and how I wished they were experiencing that, too. She told me that they did have their first date last week after Clark took us to the island and their second date was Friday night. And he kissed her."
"He told me about it. He said it was amazing."
"That's what she said, too."
"Well, maybe it'll happen soon for them then."
"I hope so, but I wouldn't hold my breath. She also told me some of the stuff that my mom had told her. I'll tell you about it some other time, though, but it does explain some things," she said glancing at the clock. "If we're going to get anything done before we have to go to work..." she reminded him with a sigh.
"You mean lazing around in bed isn't enough?"
She laughed. "That's all we've done for a week."
"I know. I just hate that the honeymoon's over."
"It's not over," she told him. "We just have to work in the middle of it."
"And classes start in two weeks."
"Well, we're only taking one class each so it won't interfere too much."
Jimmy sighed. "Guess we better get some stuff done around here."
Lucy rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom, calling over her shoulder as she went, "Last one out makes the bed."
*****
Lucy finally arrived home two hours after Jimmy got off work. She looked around and sighed. Their first day home and there were already work clothes strewn about the apartment.
Grumbling a bit, she walked down the stairs, picking up Jimmy's clothes as she worked her way around the living room. She could hear the shower running and picked up a pair of sweat shorts and a disgusting T-shirt, wrinkling her nose as she did. She tossed all of it into the laundry hamper, continuing to mumble under her breath.
She walked back out into the kitchen and sorted through the new mail - they'd sorted through the mail from the last week that morning. She picked up one envelope and stared at it for a minute. There was no return address, she noticed as she flipped it over in her hand and was addressed to only James B. Olsen. It wasn't a credit card offer or other piece of junk mail. It was even hand addressed.
She looked on the table to see if she could find whatever had come in it, but there was nothing.
"It's from my dad," came Jimmy's voice from behind her.
She turned to see him leaning against the brick archway between the kitchen and the bedroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair and chest still wet.
"A letter?" she asked curiously.
He shook his head. "A check. The address on the check is the one where we sent his invitation but the postmark is from the west coast."
"Just a check?"
He nodded. "Said 'congratulations' on the memo line." He turned from where he was leaning and picked it up off the nightstand, flipping it over and over in his hands. "Part of me wants to rip it up and throw it in the trash," he said quietly.
"Why is that?" Her tone was equally quiet as she leaned against the table, sensing that he wasn't ready for her to be close to him.
He shrugged. "I haven't heard from him in two and a half years. I haven't seen him since right after our first date for like ten minutes and it was five years before that. We didn't even get his card back saying he wasn't coming to the wedding. I didn't expect him to actually show up, but I would have thought he'd have the courtesy to at least let us know for sure. I’m not sure I want to accept anything from him."
"That makes sense," Lucy said slowly. "But what about the other parts of you?"
Jimmy sighed and moved to sit in one of the kitchen chairs, still holding the slip of paper in his hand, staring at it. "Another part of me says it's a lot of money and even with what Lois and Clark have done for us, we'd be stupid to throw it away."
"I can understand that, too."
He reached for her and wrapped his arms around her as she settled herself on his lap, resting his head on her shoulder. "I would rather have just had him show up, make nice with Mom and everyone than have a bunch of money."
"I know." Her arms went around him as best she could and she just held him. "Are there any other parts of you?" she asked long minutes later.
"A couple. One says tear it up and mail it back. One says send him a long letter detailing all of the feelings and stuff I've had over the years – how he abandoned us and all that, but I'm not sure I want to do that."
"Why not?" One hand played with his hair.
He thought for a minute before answering. "I think I'm afraid of what he'll say back or, even worse, that he won't say anything. And then there's the part of me that says to send him a wedding picture, write 'thanks' on the back, cash the check and buy something we really want with it or put it in savings or something."
"What do you think is the way to go?"
"Well, I really want to tell him off, but I think just sending a picture is probably the best way to handle it."
Lucy nodded slowly. "It's probably the most adult, mature way to handle it."
"Do I have to be adult and mature about it?" he asked with a sigh.
"No," she started thoughtfully. "I don't guess so, but you're not a teenager anymore..."
"I'm a married man, a professional." He sighed. "Well, a professional gopher anyway, but on my way to being a true professional in a job that I love. Being mature about it is probably the way to go. And turning down two grand isn't very mature I don't think."
Lucy didn't say anything for a minute.
"What do you think, Babe?"
"Well, in your experience with your dad, will he come back at some point with strings attached to it? You know, something like, 'I sent you money for your wedding ten years ago and now you need to do this for me'."
He shook his head. "I don't think so."
"Then I think keeping the money is probably the right thing to do."
"Me, too."
"And I think the grown-up, mature thing to do would be to either write a thank-you note and send it with a picture or just send the picture with 'thanks' on the back like you mentioned."
He sighed and buried his face in her neck while he tried to regain his composure. "I'd much rather have him here," he finally whispered. "When he was here, he wasn't a *great* dad, but he wasn't bad either. He came to some of my soccer games and Little League games as a kid. We went to baseball games sometimes. And then he just left. I mean, I know there was a lot more to it than that. Mom never really said too much about it but I know that they were having problems for a long time before he left, but I didn't know that at the time.
"I mean, at first I heard from him all the time. He'd call or come by at least once or twice a week. Then it was a call and a postcard or letter a week. Then it was every couple weeks. Then once a month and by the time he'd been gone for a year and a half, it was cards on birthdays and Christmas and then not even that the last couple years. I know Mom got child support until I graduated from high school, but that's it. I saw him when we started dating my junior year. Before that was sixth grade."
"I'm so sorry."
Jimmy shrugged in her arms. "Most of the time, it doesn't bother me much. I've got Perry, who's been much more of a dad to me that mine ever was, even in the early years. He's taught me more about being a man, and now a husband, than my dad ever did."
"Still..." She kissed his forehead softly.
He pulled back to look at her. "Have I ever told you how glad I am that you said you'd go to that football game with me?"
Lucy smiled. "Not recently."
"I am," he said seriously. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
She kissed him lightly. "You won't have to find out for a very long time."
"Good," he told her before kissing her again.
Later that night, they settled into bed – for the first time since their wedding, going to bed purposefully rather than falling asleep in each other's arms after making love together.
"I'm sorry about the clothes and stuff," Jimmy said softly as he curled up behind his wife.
"It's okay," she told him as she snuggled back into him.
"I didn't want for you to come home to clothes all over the place and stuff our first real night here."
"I will admit to being a bit annoyed when I got home but after I found out why... Where'd you go anyway?"
"I rode my bike to the batting cages. I felt the need to do something physical to work out the frustration and stuff. If Clark was here, I probably would have called him for a basketball game. He'd let me be quiet but competitive and intense without pushing me about what was wrong, but since he's not... Anyway, I rode over there, threw some pitches, hit some balls, ran out of change which made me even more mad since I was upset over a two thousand dollar check from my dad, rode the really long way home and was all yucky by the time I got back here so I just stripped and got in the shower. I was going to pick them up when I got out, but you were already here."
"It's okay. Really. I'd rather you didn't make a habit of it but today was... extenuating circumstances."
"I did throw the hardest pitch I've ever thrown."
"Really?"
He nodded behind her. "Yeah. I just imagined I was throwing it at my dad and BAM! There it was."
"I'm sorry he's not here for you."
"I know. But I've got you now."
"It's not the same."
He sighed and kissed her shoulder. "I know we have to be at work early and we're not planning on doing anything but sleep, but do you *have* to wear pajamas to bed?"
"You are."
"I'm wearing boxers."
She shrugged. "You know the deal."
He sighed. "Fine. Be that way." Another kiss to her shoulder offset his words. "I love you."
"Love you."
*****
"OLSENS! My office! NOW!"
"Duty bellows," Jimmy whispered as Lucy stashed her purse in the locking bottom drawer of their still-shared desk.
"You missed him and you know it," she whispered back.
"It was quieter when he was in Graceland with Alice."
They hurried into the editor's office, taking seats close together on the couch.
Jimmy's arm stretched along the back. "What's up, Chief?"
Perry leaned against his desk. "Well, now, Jim. You've been wanting to do a little bit of writing, right?"
He nodded.
"And Lucy, you've been wanting to do a bit more photography?"
She nodded.
"Well, this is something that you can both work on together. It's nothing big. Probably no more than a paragraph or two tops, but will help you get your feet wet." He reached for a sheet of paper and handed it to Lucy. "Coates Emergency Shelter is getting a new playground." He rolled his eyes a bit as he continued. "*Albie* Chow donated a nice, big new playground to them. Now, this story itself isn't big, but I want the two of you to approach it like you were writing a longer piece on the Shelter itself. In fact, I actually want you to do that. It's unlikely that I'll have a place to run it, but it'll be good practice for you. I want you to take a bunch of pictures and all that, too. You guys decide what approach to take and all that." He moved back behind his desk. "Now the unveiling is in about an hour so you two better get your cameras and get moving."
They scurried out of the office, talking briefly to Cat as they did, asking if she could help them get a few minutes with Albert sometime soon. She said she'd let them know later.
Before long, they were entering the Coates Emergency Shelter.
"Can I help you?" Santa asked.
They glanced at each other.
"We're with the Daily Planet," Jimmy told him. "We're covering the new playground for the paper."
"That's great!" He started walking, motioning for them to follow. "Today, I'm Santa."
"I'm Jimmy and this is my wife and partner on this, Lucy Olsen."
Santa stopped long enough to shake their hands. "Partners? I'm surprised this story is big enough for that."
"Well," Lucy told him. "We're both still students at UNT Met, too. Our boss is having us write a longer piece about the Emergency Shelter in general. If it's good enough, he'll run it, too." She glanced at Jimmy. "I wouldn't hold my breath on that one, though. We'll do our best, of course, but we're just students."
"Well, let me see what I can do to help then. Maybe we can get you two a real story instead of two sentences below a small, blurry picture." Santa led them to an office area, shutting the door before he pulled his beard down. "I get the 'Christmas in July' thing, but this suit is a bit warm this time of year."
"I bet," Jimmy said with a smile.
"Well, let me get you two some information on the Shelter." He pulled a folder out of his desk. "It's all in there in more detail, but basically we take kids who are pulled out of their homes with nowhere to go on an emergency basis. We do have a more formal orphanage as well, but it's in a different part of town. Here, we take kids who don't fit in any of the foster home spots available or sibling units that we don't want to separate but don't fit yet. We can house up to thirty kids at any given time, from birth through seventeen."
"You take babies?" Lucy asked, looking up from her notepad.
He nodded. "Sometimes, babies are taken from the home. Sometimes, a teen mother is taken from the home and brings a baby with her."
"Aren't teen mothers emancipated?" This came from Jimmy.
"They can be, but they have to apply for emancipation. If they do, it's automatic at that point, but if they don't, then they're still in the care of their parents or other guardians. Sometimes, we'll pull a fifteen or sixteen year old – or even younger occasionally – out of a home and they'll bring their child with them." He handed them a few more pamphlets before standing back up and resituating his beard. They followed him out of the office and down the hall. "Right now, we have a six-day-old baby girl. Her mom is currently in prison with no relatives or anyone else to take care of her. They had a foster family placement arranged, but it fell through at the last minute. I'm not sure why."
"That's so sad."
"Most of these stories are, Mrs. Olsen."
Jimmy glanced at her with a slight smile as she spoke. "Lucy, please."
"Lucy, then. Are you familiar at all with how the foster care system works?"
Lucy hesitated. "Sort of. My parents died when I was fifteen and my sister was seventeen. She married her... high school sweetheart, for lack of a better term, and they were granted custody of me until I was eighteen or out of high school."
"You were lucky. No chance of bouncing from home to home or anything like that."
"My brother-in-law comes from a small town in Kansas. He was orphaned when he was ten and he bounced around a lot until about his sophomore year in high school or so, I think."
Santa nodded. "That can be pretty typical. Was he adopted?"
"Well, he was as a baby. He was a foundling, but in high school he moved in with some of his parents' best friends and he lived with them for about three years until he graduated high school and moved back to his parents' farm before moving here to marry my sister."
"Here we are," he said, stopping in front of a door. He opened it quietly. There was one of the child care workers in a rocking chair holding a tiny baby, giving her a bottle. "This is Danielle," he whispered.
"Can we take some pictures?" Jimmy asked quietly.
Santa nodded. "As long as you don't use her face you can."
Lucy took a couple of pictures as the worker burped the baby.
Santa turned to her. "Would you like to hold her?"
Lucy glanced at Jimmy, wide eyed. "Can I?"
"Sure."
Lucy handed her camera to Jimmy as the worker stood up carefully to hand her the tiny Danielle. Lucy settled her into the crook of her arm and sat in the rocker. She didn't even notice as Jimmy snapped a number of pictures of the two of them sitting in front of the window. She finally looked up at her husband. "Do you want a turn?"
Jimmy shifted uncomfortably. "I might break her or something."
Santa laughed softly. "You'll be fine. Here, Lucy, let me have her." Lucy passed the baby over and stood up. "Now, Jimmy, have a seat."
Jimmy sat down and Santa carefully placed the little girl in his arms. He looked at her for a long moment. "She's so tiny," he whispered.
"She's a newborn," Lucy whispered back.
"Still." Jimmy rocked carefully. "Hey, little girl." He stroked her cheek with one finger. "You're beautiful, you know that?"
Santa glanced at the clock a few minutes later. "Okay, we've got to get downstairs for the playground opening. Albert Chow should be here in a few minutes..."
"He's coming?" Jimmy asked, surprised as he handed Danielle back to the worker before standing up.
Santa nodded as they left the room. "He donated the playground equipment and the money to make the area itself safer and fenced in better and so on."
"Maybe we'll have a chance to talk to him," Lucy said quietly to Jimmy.
He nodded as they walked outside onto the new playground.
*****
Lucy held the picture as she sat at the desk.
"What's that, Darlin'?" Perry perched on the edge.
Lucy smiled at him. "One of the pictures from the Emergency Shelter." She handed it over.
"Well, look at him," the editor said softly.
She nodded. "He's a natural, isn't he?"
The picture was of Jimmy, holding Danielle and stroking her cheek, a look of wonder on his face.
"Sure is."
"Don't tell him I have that, would you? I don't want him to think I'm dying to have a baby just yet or anything, but I love that picture of him."
"He won't hear it from me," Perry promised. There was a twinkle in his eye as he spoke again. "I take it that means I won't need to be handling maternity leave for you anytime soon?"
Lucy laughed as she shook her head. "Not planning on it. We want to wait until I've been out of school for a couple years before we start a family."
He nodded. "Well, one of your pictures made the paper. Small, on an inside section, buried between things no one really cares about, but it's there. Jimmy's got a paragraph next to it."
She grinned. "That's great! I don't care if no one will actually see it! Well," she conceded. "I do care, but that's not the point." She glanced at the clock. "Anything else before I get out of here?"
He glanced around. "Where's that husband of yours?"
"He left a couple hours ago. He came in early today."
"Well, don't let it be said that I'm not a sucker for young love or something like that. Did you two write that longer piece?"
Lucy nodded. "It's almost done, I think."
"Well, try to get it to me by tomorrow, would you?"
"We'll finish it up before we get here tomorrow afternoon," she promised.
He clapped her on the shoulder. "See that you do. See you tomorrow, Darlin'."
Lucy gathered her things and headed home.
*****
"What's this?" she asked as she walked down the steps in the apartment.
"Merry Christmas in July," Jimmy said with a grin.
She looked around. There were tiny colored Christmas lights around the living room, but it all snapped into place as she glanced towards the bedroom.
She laughed. "Mistletoe?"
"What are you talking about?" he asked innocently as he stood in the archway to their room.
She walked towards him, tossing her purse to the side as she did. She joined him under the mistletoe, kissing him softly.
"Clark wouldn't ever let us have mistletoe around," he reminded her, wrapping his arms around her.
"Do you blame him? Knowing what we know now?"
"I don't think that had anything to do with it. I think he just didn't want me getting that close to you."
"How close?" she whispered.
"This close," he whispered back as he kissed her.
Long minutes later, he smiled back down at her. "I knew this was a good idea. And you know what we haven't done yet?"
"What's that?" She followed his eyes up to the loft where she noticed a white glow. "What did you do?"
He kissed her again before taking her by the hand and leading her to the stairs. "I'll show you."
There were white Christmas lights illuminating the area softly, she saw when they made it up there.
He looked at the ceiling in surprise. "Now, how did that get there?"
Lucy looked up and laughed. "More mistletoe?"
He shrugged. "Even if Clark had let us have mistletoe, he wouldn't even let me up here, much less let me put mistletoe up here, so I thought I'd walk a bit on the wild side. We said we wanted to come back up here sometime and we haven't yet so..."
She pulled him close. "You know you don't need mistletoe to kiss me, right?"
"I know, but this way you can't refuse." He grinned before kissing her again, walking her back towards her old bed.
"Trying to get me in bed, are you, Mr. Olsen?" she asked, more than slightly breathless.
"You better believe it, Mrs. Olsen."
She laughed as they landed on the bed. "Good."
*****
"Have I told you you're insatiable?" Lucy asked as Jimmy wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"Not this week."
"Well, you are," she told him looking at the mistletoe hanging above their bed. "But we have to get up and finish that story for Perry in the morning so..."
He sighed as he walked behind her towards the bed. "We need to get some sleep."
She nodded. "That does not mean, however, that I won't take full advantage of the mistletoe once we're done. If we get done in time before we have to leave for work."
"We'll hurry then."
"I'm sure we will."
*****
October 1989
*****
"Where are you two off to?" Perry asked.
"We're off," Jimmy told him.
"Oh, I know that, I'm just curious. You're not usually in such a hurry."
"We're taking pictures for the Coates Emergency Shelter. Their brochures and stuff have pictures of kids who have kids of their own now. We volunteered to take some new ones for them," Lucy said.
"That's great, kids. You two have been volunteering over there anyway, haven't you?"
Jimmy nodded. "We try to get over there at last once a week or so."
"They should have the new promotional material before the Christmas season so hopefully, they can get some donations and a bunch of their kids are going to be on Angel trees and stuff."
"That's good. Get out of here, you two. Don't want them waiting on you."
The next day, they left the darkroom very satisfied. "There's some great pictures here, Babe. You did a good job," Jimmy told her, looking at a picture of two kids racing down one of the sets of slides.
"You took some great ones, too," she said, passing over a picture he took of a young boy holding Danielle with the help of one of the workers. The little girl was still at the shelter waiting placement. Her older brother, Joel, had joined her in the shelter a few weeks after their first visit. "That's a great picture of Joel and Danielle."
"I heard they have someone who wants to adopt him."
"But not her?" she asked quietly.
He shook his head. "I don't get it. He's a great little boy and she's a doll. Why wouldn't someone want both of them?"
Lucy sighed. "I don't know." She sank in her chair. She'd finally gotten her own desk, which had been situated at a right angle from his. "Sometimes I wish we could take them home," she said quietly.
He reached for her hand. "We can't, Luce. We've been over that."
"I know."
"Maybe someday we'll be able to adopt a couple of kids in addition to any we have of our own, but it's going to be a while before anyone would seriously consider us as adoptive parents."
"I know, but still..."
He held her hand and rubbed it gently. "I know." He tugged on it gently, until she rolled next to him, glad it was late enough that the newsroom was fairly deserted. "Come here." He wrapped an arm around her as best he could. "They'll find a good home for her."
"I hope so."
*****
TBC
