Last time:
Clark
She let out a deep sigh and I wrapped my arm around her. She wrapped hers around my waist and rested her head against me.
"I never knew that," I said.
She nodded. "We didn't tell you because we didn't want you getting your hopes up until I was pregnant. We finally had some tests run and it turned out that it wasn't going to happen for us. We both shed some tears over it, clung to each other and came through it stronger than ever. And we had you so it wasn't like we were completely childless..."
"I'm sorry, Mom."
"I'm not," she said, the steel in her voice surprising me. "You were enough and another kid would have made it more difficult when you were changing so much. Don’t get me wrong – we would have loved another baby as much as we loved you, but we learned to be content with the life we were given. We were given so much. If it hadn't been for your parents sending you to us, we wouldn't have had you either. We decided to be thankful for what we had rather than dwell on what we didn't."
The back door banged open. "Daddy! I he'p G'am's!"
I laughed. "I see that, bud. You're a mess. Let's go clean you up before you mess up Gran's kitchen." I grabbed him around the waist and carried him upside down towards the bathroom.
I could hear the laughter coming from behind me and I was grateful that Mom and Chris had found me and that Dad had been able to accept all that went with raising me without blinking an eye.
The squirming bundle was deposited in the tub and before long the tub was a mess instead of him.
*~*119*~*
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
The squeals coming from the tub woke me up. I was exhausted and Martha had been kind enough to offer to take care of Nate for a while so I could get a nap. I wasn't sure how long I'd been asleep, but not nearly long enough.
I yawned and headed downstairs, avoiding the bathroom, knowing that Clark and Christopher were probably having a blast playing battleships or something.
Jonathan and Martha were in the kitchen, his arms around her, her head resting on his chest.
"Sorry," I mumbled as they turned towards me.
"What're you doing up already?" Martha asked, moving away from Jonathan and towards the sink where the lunch dishes still sat.
"Christopher woke me up from the bathroom," I said with a big yawn.
"I don't know how you're even functioning," Jonathan said. "Every 90 minutes?"
I nodded. "The longest he's gone between eating in the last six weeks or so is about two hours. He's up about every 90 minutes at night. At this point, I'd even be willing to put him in another room or something and just let him cry so I could get some sleep, but he has such a hard time gaining weight still – even though he's not spitting up anymore – and I hate to let him waste calories crying." I sank into one of the chairs with a sigh.
"Lois, honey, you have to get some sleep. I know you're sleeping between feedings, but you're never going to get to REM sleep that way and you'll never be really rested," Martha pointed out.
I nodded. "I know, but I don't know what else to do."
"Well, for starters, let us help while you're here," she said practically.
"Done," I said, too busy yawning again to be enthusiastic.
"Besides, if you two are going to win the Tush Push competition at the wedding, you need to be well rested."
"They have a competition? At a wedding?" I asked incredulously.
"Well, you have to pay to enter," Martha said with a laugh. "Usually it's about five bucks. The bride and groom are the judges, though," she conceded, "actual talent doesn't always have anything to do with who wins. There's often other factors involved. Last time it was two of Clark's cousins' kids that won. They weren't very good, but they tried hard and were absolutely adorable. They were four and six," she told me. "Anyway, whoever wins has the honor of presenting the happy couple with the proceeds as part of their wedding gift. They also get the second pieces of cake."
"Cake?" I asked and they both laughed.
Would Clark want to dance with me at the wedding? I'd figured we would, but what if Lana was there? I knew the four of them went way back after all. Line dancing was one thing, but slow dancing? Would he dance with me and hold me like he did the last time we danced together if Lana was around or would we just sit those out? Sit out was more likely, I realized.
"Good as new," Clark proclaimed as he and Christopher entered the kitchen. He pulled Christopher off his shoulders and set him on the floor.
"Guess wha', Mommy?" he asked crawling into my lap.
"What?"
"I he'p G'am's do 'hores."
"You did?"
He nodded and proceeded to give me a list of things that he'd helped – or attempted to help – Jonathan do.
"He say we go fishin', too. Ca' we?"
"That's up to Gramps," I told him. "I do know that Gramps and Daddy used to go fishing all the time," I whispered. "I bet you could get them to take you."
He twisted in my lap to look at Clark, leaning against the wall. "P'eeeeeeease, Daaaaaddyyyyyy."
Clark laughed. "We'll see."
Jonathan took Christopher back outside with him – promising to keep him clean this time.
Clark poured himself a glass of buttermilk but then just stared at it as he leaned against the counter.
He didn't look up when he finally spoke. "I saw Lana at the store."
Martha looked first at me and then at him.
"That's nice," I finally said, trying desperately to keep my voice neutral.
"She got a job at Smallville EC. She's going to be the new Title IX teacher."
"That's great," Martha said, though I could hear the uncertainty in her voice as she glanced back at me. "Donna's retiring next year and I know they were worried about finding someone to take over the program. Lana's perfect for that."
Clark nodded. "She'll be in her element."
"What's Title IX?" I asked. "Little kids?"
"Pre-K," Martha answered. "Some are a year from kindergarten and some are two years. They get placed in Title IX because of some kind of qualification – it can be delayed speech or income levels or any combination of a number of things. Typically, they have pretty small classes, only eight or ten kids, so they get lots of individual attention."
"Good for her." From what I knew of her, it did sound perfect. And then she wouldn't be in Metropolis either.
Part of me felt petty for thinking it, but the rest of me didn't care.
~*~
I'd just crawled into bed that night when Clark came in.
"Hey," he said quietly. "Are you okay with the whole me seeing Lana thing?"
"Did you make out with her in the middle of the General Store?" I asked, trying to put a teasing note in my voice.
"No. Of course not," he answered with a roll of his eyes. "We talked for three or four minutes and went our separate ways. She told me about her job and seemed sincere when she said she was glad Nate was doing better."
"You talked about Nate?" I tried to keep my voice neutral that time.
"She brought him up. She said she'd heard he was doing better and she was glad. And I really think she meant it."
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
I did really think she met it. And I certainly hadn't tried to keep it from Lois. It wasn't like I'd run into her on purpose.
"Do you really think I'd kiss her?" I asked suddenly, sinking on to the edge of the bed.
She rolled onto her back before shrugging. "No. Not really. Especially not at the grocery store anyway."
"Do you really think I'd kiss her anywhere?"
She sighed. "No, not really. Only twenty-seven months until it's all over and you can do whatever you want with her and that's all I'm saying and you brought her up so you can't say that I did." She rolled over and pulled the covers up over her.
It was my turn to sigh. "Mom's got Nate tonight?"
She nodded. "Yeah. She said I needed a good night's sleep."
"You do. You don't let me get up with him nearly often enough."
"You can't nurse him."
"No, but I can give him a bottle."
"We've been over this, Clark. I can work from home and nap during the day when I need to and you can't."
"*And* we've been over the fact that I don't need as much sleep as you do."
"Well, tonight your mom's not getting any sleep, so it's a moot point at the moment, but if you keep talking *I'm* not going to get any sleep out of the deal." As thought to emphasize her point, she pulled the covers slightly higher and burrowed further underneath them.
"She's going to be at the wedding Friday," I told her.
"I figured."
"While half the town's going to be there, there's still not going to be *that* many people there and we're both likely to run into her at some point."
"I figured that, too. And like I told you before, I really don't care if you talk to her or whatever as long as you don't get her pregnant and jeopardize me and Christopher."
"I'm not having this conversation with you *again*. I'm not going to kiss her. I'm not going to sleep with her. I'm not going to do *anything* that might *possibly* result in her getting pregnant. And not *just* because it might put you and Christopher in danger. Because I promised not to. Because it's wrong. Because of lots of reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with Navance."
She didn't respond and I figured the conversation was over.
I pulled my shirt off and crawled into bed.
~*~
I looked around the reception hall for Rachel and Pete. They'd finished taking pictures at the church but had arrived a few minutes earlier. I finally located them surrounded by a number of other friends and decided to wait a bit before approaching.
Mom and Dad had staked out a table for all of us and Lois was busy getting Nate situated in the high chair. As was tradition, everyone had brought dishes for the pot luck dinner. Mom had brought a big enough dish of baked spaghetti to cover for me and Lois as well.
We waited our turn to go through the buffet line. Lois was next to me and she filled both my plate and Christopher's. I'd seen Lana from a distance a couple of times, but not close enough to talk to her – which was fine with me.
Twenty minutes later, it was time for the dancing to start. They wouldn't go straight into the line dancing – not on full stomachs. Rachel and Pete shared their first dance as a married couple and then they danced with their parents. The DJ – a guy I knew from high school – said anyone who wanted to dance was welcome to.
Mom and Dad were on the dance floor a minute later.
"Do you want to dance?" I asked Lois.
She shook her head. "I need to finish feeding Nate first." She sighed as he spit out most of the cereal. "If he'd cooperate."
"Oh, let me try, Lois," Nana said. "You go dance with your husband."
Lois sighed and pushed the cereal and spoon over her way. "Sure. Let's go."
I could sense her reluctance, but I wasn't sure why. Probably because Lana was around somewhere. "You okay?" I asked quietly as I took one hand in mine and rested the other hand on her waist, pulling her towards me.
She shrugged. "Could still use some more sleep, but your Mom's been great this week."
"Then what's wrong?"
"Just wondering why you asked me to dance," she said without really looking at me.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Because we're in front of half your hometown."
"Including my ex-girlfriend, you mean."
She shook her head. "No. Including your ex-girlfriend you want to get back together with someday."
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
I had to get out of here. Dance contest or not, I didn't really want to be here. I was happy for Rachel and Pete, but I didn't really want to be here – near Lana.
The song ended and I moved away from Clark. "I think I'm going to take Nate and Christopher home and put them to bed. I could stand to go to sleep early, too."
"You don't have to," he said quietly.
"Yes, I do." I sighed. "These are your friends and your family's friends, but they need to get to bed. We have to get up early in the morning to catch the plane. I don't want your Mom or anyone to miss this, but it's not as big a deal to me."
"What about the dance contest?" he asked.
"Ask Granny."
"Ask Granny what?" Granny asked as we sat back down.
"Would you be Clark's partner in the contest?" I asked with a big smile. "I need to get the boys home and to bed. We have to get up early in the morning."
"Oh, I can do that, dear," Granny said. "I love spending time with my great-grandsons, you know that."
"I know, but really. I’m exhausted and these are your friends and family." I smiled at her. "Just help Clark win and bring me home a piece of cake."
She smiled back. "If you're sure..."
"I'm sure." I packed the diaper bag back up and headed over to give Rachel and Pete quick hugs before I left. I hoisted Nate's car seat over one arm and took Christopher's hand. "Come on, little man. We have to go home."
"I wanna stay," he said, pulling his hand out of mine and crossing his arms in front of him, a pout on his face.
"I know. But we have to fly in a plane tomorrow so you have to go to bed. So do Mom and Nate."
"I don' yike p'anes."
Figured. Just like his dad.
I sighed and held out my hand. "Come on. Let's go."
"*No*!" He plopped down on the floor.
Clark had a serious look on his face as he picked Christopher up. "You're coming with me, young man."
They headed out the door into a hallway.
I sighed and started for the front door. I knew Clark would find me when he was done talking to Christopher.
I was waylaid several times on my way out. Everyone wanted to see Nate and they all commented on how glad they were that he was doing so well.
It took nearly five minutes to make it the forty or so feet to the door.
"He has something to say to you," Clark told me as he met me there.
"I so'y fo' not yis'ning, Mommy," Christopher said, scuffing his shoe on the floor.
I set Nate down and squatted in front of him. "Thank you for saying you're sorry."
His little arms were around my neck a second later. "I wuv you, Mommy."
"I love you, too." I held him for a long minute before pulling back. "And now it's time to go back to the farm, okay?"
He nodded. "Okay."
I straightened up to find Clark had picked Nate's seat up.
"You ready?" he asked.
I nodded, holding my hand out to Christopher.
As we headed for the door, I saw something in the reflection.
Lana.
Watching us.
*****
TBC
