Thanks - as ever - to Alisha, Beth and Nancy.
I did get nearly 2 chapters of this written yesterday. Was stuck on UP and while waiting to hear back from a beta, I opened the last written chapter and moved on
. This is a Good Thing even if it means UP isn't finished yet...
Last time:
Lois
When had I turned towards him so that he was practically cradling me, my head against his chest, one of his hands brushing my hair gently off my temple?
"I'm still sorry I got you in this mess," I finally told him. "I'm sorry your life isn't what you expected it to be."
"You're safe. Christopher is safe. Those are the most important things."
"Lana is hurting, though. She wouldn't be if it wasn't for me. And even then, I think that deep down she probably wishes you were there for her."
He sighed. "She has Tim and her folks. You were right when you said I'd betrayed your trust when I told her Christopher wasn't mine. Regardless of what my plans, your plans, Lana's plans were this time last year, I married *you* and you two are my priority, no matter what."
I thought maybe I was finally starting to believe that.
I thought maybe *he* was finally starting to believe that.
And that was a relief.
*~*72*~*
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
"Ready?" I asked her.
She wrapped her arms tightly around herself and tried not to shiver. I ran my heat vision over her lightly.
"Better?"
She nodded. "It's chilly out here."
I moved to stand behind her and pulled her close to me. "Is that better?"
"Yeah. Warmer."
We were both dressed in dark clothes and I was getting ready to take her flying for the first time – the first real flight anyway. The one to the farmhouse didn't really count.
"How do you want to do this?" I asked.
"What way is best?"
"Well, with my parents, I usually put an arm around their waists."
She shrugged and pressed herself a bit closer to me – to keep warm I guessed.
"I could scoop you up and fly that way," I said. "Or we could go like this."
"This is probably warmer," she said. "I don't know how much I'll be able to see, but it seems like I'd be able to see more like this."
"You'd probably have more of a... flying sensation, too, I'd think," I told her.
"This works then." She moved back slightly more. "Just don't drop me."
I chuckled and tightened my hold on her. "Don't worry. Even if I did, I'm fast enough to catch you."
"That makes me feel so much better."
I lifted off slowly and I heard her gasp as we started soaring over the snow-covered trees. I leaned closer to her ear and smiled as I spoke. "Amazing, isn't it?"
She nodded.
As I leveled off so we were parallel to the ground, she somehow managed to move her legs between mine so her feet were resting on my heels. I wrapped my ankles a little tighter around her so she wouldn't feel like her feet were falling.
"Where do you want to go?" I asked her.
She shrugged again. "Wherever."
I hesitated. "Would you like to go to Smallville? Say hi to my folks?"
"If you want to," she said after a slight pause.
A few minutes later, we were hovering over high over the farm. I listened carefully. "Granny's asleep already and..." I listened for another minute. "My parents are alone and seem to be behaving themselves."
"Behaving themselves?" she asked.
"They were very glad when I moved out and let's just leave it at that."
She sighed. "I think my parents would still be like that," she said wistfully.
"As much as I hated them being like that in front of my friends, I always wished that..." I stopped. That Lana and I would be that way when we'd been married that long. I couldn't say that here. Now.
"Right."
We landed lightly in front of the porch and I knocked on the door before opening it slightly. "Mom? Dad?"
"Come on in, Clark," Dad called from the kitchen.
"Lois!" Mom exclaimed as Lois followed me in. "This is a surprise." She hugged Lois. "To see both of you. Happy anniversary, by the way."
Subtle, Mom.
"We were at the cabin for a couple days and Lois asked me to take her flying," I told them as I gave Mom a hug. "We ended up here."
"Well, we're always happy to have you," Dad told me. "Lois, please be sure to thank your Dad again for having us last week."
Lois smiled at him as Dad put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm glad you could all come," she told him. "It was much better than last Christmas."
I squelched the thoughts that immediately came to mind. I'd spent last Christmas with my family and Lana and her family. It had been a very good Christmas, but I knew Lois had spent Christmas with her dad and Mindy and I knew she hadn't enjoyed it very much at all.
But I couldn’t think those thoughts. This Christmas *had* been a good one. My first Christmas as a dad. My parents had been there. Granny. My father-in-law, who I really did like a lot. Jimmy, practically my brother-in-law, who was probably my best friend, was there.
And Lois.
My wife had been there.
But on Christmas, all I could think about was that she wasn't the wife I'd planned on having.
I knew that it wasn't fair, wasn’t right, to keeping thinking those things.
And things were a bit better now.
We'd spent the day watching movies and it really had been a good day once we got past the 'divorce' discussion – except for the depressing discussion about Lana and the baby, of course. I felt closer to her than I had in a long time. Sitting together in the chair had been a good move. Something about the proximity – unforced proximity – had felt nice. Like she was my best friend.
Comfortable.
Mom was saying something to me.
"What?" I asked her.
She smiled at me. "Are you three coming out for Spring Break this year?"
I looked at Lois. "I don't know. Do you want to?"
She shrugged. "Maybe? See what happens with work and everything?"
Dad yawned. "I don't know about you young kids, but it's time to get these old bones to bed."
I grinned. "You're not old, Dad."
"Well, I'm still ready for bed. I have to get up with the chickens and you two are kidless for the night."
Mom winked at me. "And since you're kidless for the night, I'm sure you don't want to hang out with your parents."
Subtle, Mom. Wondering if I'd taken her advice to heart on Christmas night. I'd certainly spent enough time thinking about what she'd said and - even if I wasn't planning on... being with Lois like she intended her talk to encourage, I had thought a lot about what my continued fixation on Lana could be costing me, us, and I thought it probably made me more open to some of the changes that had already taken place between me and Lois.
Lois pushed back from the table and stood up. "We'll get out of your hair and get back to you on Spring Break."
Hugs were exchanged all around and a few minutes later, Lois and I were outside.
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
I really should have worn a coat, I thought as I rubbed my arms. Even though I was wearing a turtleneck, I was cold.
Of course, I hadn't been cold when Clark was holding me.
I felt warmth beginning to spread from the top of my head to the tip of my toes.
"Thanks," I told him.
He moved behind me and wrapped his arms around me again.
That was much warmer.
"You're still cold."
It was a statement, not a question, but I nodded anyway.
He moved back and took his sweatshirt off. He bunched it up and then held the neck open for me.
"Won't you be cold?" I asked him.
He shook his head. "I don't get cold. Or hot."
"Are you sure?"
He held it slightly closer to me and I ducked my head until he pulled it over me and I stretched my arms into the sleeves.
The inside was warm and toasty.
"Did you heat up your jacket on that plane?" I asked suddenly, trying not to notice how good he looked in the black T-shirt or how well it showed off the muscle tone in his arms and chest.
"Yeah," he said a bit sheepishly. "I wasn't going to be cold and I figured if you could be a bit warmer..."
"Thanks."
He moved behind me again, wrapping me in his arms. I was infinitely warmer than I had been earlier.
"Where to now?" he asked softly, his mouth close to my ear.
"Where do you like to go?"
I could feel him hesitate. "Lots of places," he finally said.
"Like icebergs and Mt. Everest and the Great Wall?" I asked, the light bulb finally going on in my head.
"Um... Can I plead the fifth?"
"You're a strange visitor from another planet. No, you can't take the fifth." I surprised myself with the statement and by the fact that my voice was light and teasing.
I'd surprised him, too, I could tell. I was about to apologize to him, when I realized he was shaking.
"What?" I asked.
"You're too much sometimes," he told me between chuckles. "I think only you would have been able to accept this about me, go through what we've been through since then, and then throw it in my face like that."
I wanted to ask him what he'd thought Lana would say, but I couldn't bring myself to ruin the moment.
"Well, you're not exactly a little green man or the gross things from 'Independence Day', but I'm still going to get cold if my own personal transportation service doesn't get moving."
He chuckled again. "Do you want a whirlwind tour of the world or head back to the cabin?"
I thought for a second. "I think I'm in the mood to see Will Smith and Bill Paxton kill some of your cousins."
He groaned. "Okay. Cabin it is."
I didn't look at my watch before we left, but it couldn’t have been more than ten minutes before we made it back to the cabin. I wondered if I'd ever be able to fly with him when I could actually see the ground beneath us. Probably not – not as long as xenophobes existed.
He put 'Independence Day' in the DVD player and we sat in the big chair again, blanket pulled over us.
I was still wearing his sweatshirt and wondered if I could get away with absconding with it. The inside was still soft, even.
I was still chilled, though, and Clark held me a bit closer as I shivered. Or I thought he did.
Will Smith and... whoever the stripper chick with a kid was were running towards each other when suddenly everything went black.
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
"What...?" I started.
"Power's out again," Lois said, not moving.
"I got that," I told her.
She rested her head more fully against me and sighed. "Well, I guess it's a good thing we've already got a fire going."
"Do you really want to sleep out here?" I asked her.
She shook her head. "No, not really, but I don't want to be cold either."
"I can build a fire in your room." I heard it as soon as I said it and I felt her stiffen slightly.
I shouldn't have said it like that. We'd had such a good day. I hadn't given any further thought to sleeping arrangements. Whether I'd sleep in Lucy's room like I'd originally planned or... Sleep with Lois. With my wife. On our anniversary.
"I'm sorry," I told her a minute later.
"For what?" she said moving to get out of the chair.
I didn't let her go.
"I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn’t have *thought* that. If this is going to work, we're going - *I'm* going – to have to do better than that," I said softly.
She sighed and relaxed slightly in my arms.
I looked over the top of my glasses and lit a couple of the candles around the room so Lois would be able to see. "Why don't we go to *our* room, light the fire, take a shower and get some sleep?"
She nodded. "Okay."
"Let me help you – I can see a lot better than you can."
She stood up carefully and I picked her up carefully, cradling her in my arms as I walked towards the stairs. I knew I'd caught her off-guard, but it really was easier to make sure that she didn't trip or anything. I set her down next to the bathroom door. "Let me start the fire before you try to move and then we'll be able to see and get a shower."
The fireplace was open on both sides so it would allow for a shower by firelight. A few minutes later, I heard Lois start the water in the big tub. It seemed she decided a long soak was what she needed.
There wasn't much for me to do while I waited for her to be done, so I flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling and let my mind just sort of float – not thinking about much of anything.
A while later, Lois came out of the bathroom, dressed in what I was sure was her warmest pajamas.
"Are you going to take a shower?" she asked as she put her clothes from earlier in her suitcase.
"I think so," I said, heading towards my own suitcase and then the bathroom. I came back out a little bit later to find Lois curled up under the covers on her side of the bed.
I sighed and sat in front of the fire.
"Clark?"
"Yeah?"
"Would you..." Her voice trailed off.
"What?" I finally asked.
"Would you help keep me warm tonight?" she asked in a rush.
I stifled a sigh. As good as things had been, I wasn't sure I wanted to curl up with her for sleeping purposes.
But it was going to get cold if the power didn't come back on.
"Sure," I said, standing up and heading towards my side of the bed.
I slid under the covers and scooted closer to the middle of the bed. She rolled towards me until we were facing each other.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"I wouldn't want you to freeze or anything," I told her honestly.
"That's good."
I tried to lighten the mood. "I can't nurse Christopher, after all. Gotta keep you around for that if nothing else." I kept my voice light and teasing.
She rolled her eyes. "Glad to know the only reason you want to keep me around is as a baby buffet."
I reached out with one hand and brushed her hair off her face. "That's not the only reason to keep you around," I told her. "I'd miss you a lot if something ever happened to you. And not just because you're Christopher's mom. I know it's been a rough year, but you're my friend and I'd miss you."
"I'm glad nothing can happen to you," she said quietly. "I'm glad that Christopher will always have you, even if something were to happen to me someday."
I hesitated. "I don't know that nothing can happen to me. Remember our first night here?" I reminded her.
"You mean the night we supposedly made Christopher together?" she asked with a smirk.
The vision of her in front of the fire flashed before me for a split-second. "That's the night," I said, brushing the mental picture aside. "I would have died if it wasn't for you and I have no idea how or why I ended up that vulnerable. There's no way to know if it'll ever happen again."
She suddenly yawned.
"Come here," I said, reaching for her again. "I'll keep you warm tonight."
"Thank you," she murmured as she settled her head on my chest.
I noted again how well we fit together, even like this.
Better than Lana and I ever had.
*****
TBC
