Last time:
Clark
"My bride has just informed me that if I'm bored enough to run football plays then it's time for us to go find something more entertaining to do."
Rachel turned eight shades of red. "That is *not* what I said."
He shrugged. "Close enough and you're right." He kissed her and all of us whooped, drawing the attention of the small crowd that was left. "It's time for us to go spend some real *quality* time alone."
He stood up and grabbed her hand, whistling loudly as he did. "Ladies and gents, it's time for us to *go*! Take the birdseed home for the birds; we're not waiting long enough for some line to form." With that, he tugged on her hand, both of them laughing as he practically ran them out the front door.
The rest of us laughed, too.
Josh smacked me on the back. "Speaking of quality time, I think it's time I found my wife and had some of that myself." He'd gotten married over Thanksgiving weekend - because of Nate's surgery and everything else, we hadn't made it. I was supposed to have been in the wedding, but he'd understood when I backed out at the last minute.
I laughed. "See ya later."
"You ready, Clark?" Mom asked.
I nodded. "Let's go."
Dad grabbed Mom around the waist as I trailed them, heading towards the door. Mom laughed as he whispered in her ear and I was glad I couldn't hear what he said, though I could make a pretty good guess. Hearing would be turned *off* for the rest of the night.
I sighed.
It seemed like I was the only one not going home to make love to my wife.
*~*121*~*
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
I flopped on the bed as Christopher *finally* went to sleep. He'd thrown one fit after another – a sure sign that he was tired. I was sure all the extra activity chasing after his grandpa was the main reason for that. They'd gone fishing with Clark a couple of times and Clark had helped get some stuff done around the farm – since he could do all of that stuff faster and easier than anyone else.
I'd moved him into the spare room into his sleeping bag. Nate was sleeping for the moment, too.
I knew I should have followed the Sceves instead of them following me. I'd made one wrong turn, and they'd stopped on the deserted farm road, honked at me and waited for me to turn around.
It had sounded like they were still having a good time at the reception when I called Clark to let him know we'd made it home okay. I was kind of disappointed that I hadn't been there for the line dancing. We always had fun when we line danced. Not that we had often, but when we did, it was fun. I also knew that getting Christopher home and to sleep was the right decision. He was going to be grumpy enough on the plane ride. And I was exhausted, too.
I yawned and crawled to the top of the bed – not caring that I was on Clark's side – and wiggled under the covers.
I was asleep in minutes.
I didn't know how long it was but Nate's crying woke me up. I sighed and started to push myself up off the bed.
"I've got him," Clark said quietly.
I could see him in the moonlight coming in the window and it looked like he hadn't been back long. I sighed. He looked good. His tan Dockers fit just right across his rear as he leaned over to pick Nate up. His black collarless shirt stretching across his arms and chest accentuated his well-toned muscles.
I sighed, jealous for a moment of Rachel and Pete and what I was sure they were doing just then.
"Do you want to go ahead and feed him since you're up?" he asked.
"Sure," I said with a yawn, pushing myself into a sitting position.
"Trying to steal my side of the bed?" I could see the smirk on his face in the darkness.
"I was tired and this was where I landed," I told him, taking Nate from him and pulling the sheet up over us. The last time I'd slept on his side of the bed was the night we'd made Nate. I stifled a sigh.
"You okay?" he asked, turning from where he was rummaging through his suitcase.
"Yeah, just tired. Who won the dance contest?"
He grinned. "Ring bearer and flower girl. I had fun with Granny, though."
"I'm glad."
"I think I would have had more fun with you though; she can't twirl quite like she used to."
"You only wanted to dance with me because of my twirling ability." I gave an exasperated sigh. "I knew it."
He laughed. "You got me." He sat on my side of the bed and didn't look at me. "I talked to Lana."
"That's nice." I kept my voice carefully neutral. I'd seen her watching us as I left with the boys and it didn't surprise me that she'd cornered Clark.
"She caught me outside and wanted to talk where no one else could hear us. I stood where anyone inside could see me. Mom did and came out a few minutes later. She said she wasn't the one who told the news people that we were the Latislan guys."
"I never really thought she was."
He sighed. "I did tell her something I didn't really mean to, though."
"That you're still in love with her?"
He was quiet for a long moment. "No, that wasn't it at all. She asked me if what we'd had was just her imagination and I told her no – that I never lied to her when I said I loved her. But she asked me about Christopher – about when I told her that you weren't actually pregnant with my baby and I told her that we hadn't known he was my son for a long time."
I sighed.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I didn't really realize I'd told her until after I told her I never should have told her that in the first place – that, at the time, you were already my wife and I shouldn't have betrayed your trust."
"But you did it again." I didn't think there was any accusation in my voice.
"Yeah, I guess I did."
"You guess?"
"Most people in our family and friends circle know most of the story now anyway," he pointed out.
"She's the only one who knows that we didn't think he was your son."
"I know. And I told her that and I don't think she'll tell anyone."
"You better hope not."
I put Nate on my shoulder and patted his back until he burped then resituated him on the other side.
Would she always be the third party in our marriage?
And why did it matter?
It wasn't like Clark was really here most of the time – some of the time. Or at least not committed to staying.
"She said she wouldn't do anything to hurt me or Christopher so I can't imagine that she'd say something."
"But not me? She doesn't care if I get hurt?"
He shrugged. "You and she never got along. You probably wouldn’t worry as much about something hurting her either."
"You're lucky I'm feeding your son," I said quietly.
He looked up at me. "What? Why?"
"So I can't smack you. Do you *really* think I'd ever do anything to intentionally hurt her? I *never* wanted to hurt her. My *only* concern was protecting Christopher and if I could have done that without hurting her, I would have."
He sighed. "Okay. Maybe you're right, but your lives have been very different since we got married. She felt like she lost everything when I broke up with her because we were married. You didn't."
"That’s no excuse and you and I both know it."
He sighed. "I know."
I burped Nate again. "Would you mind to put him back down?"
He shook his head. "No. I got it."
I handed him over and quickly retreated to my side of the bed, curling up and willing myself to sleep.
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
I sighed. Mom met me in the hall and took Nate. I headed downstairs and lay on the couch, staring at the ceiling.
I didn't mean to, but I fell asleep on the couch.
It was still dark out when I heard footsteps coming into the living room.
"Clark?" It was Dad.
"What time is it?"
"Zero dark thirty." I could hear the amusement in his voice.
"Yeah, I figured that."
"What're you doing down here?"
I shrugged and then stretched. "I was thinking and fell asleep."
"Uh huh."
"I was." I knew I sounded defensive. "Did Nate keep you and Mom up?"
"He was up a couple times."
"Thank you for taking him. Lois is exhausted."
"We noticed."
"And she won't let me get up with him at home. I should probably just take him to another part of the house after she goes to sleep and not give her a choice in the matter." I yawned again. "Why don't you let me take care of the chores since I'm already up?"
Dad nodded. "Don't let me stop you. I'll start on breakfast."
I rushed through the chores and made it back inside just as dawn was breaking fully.
I went inside to find everyone else up. Lois looked decidedly annoyed at being up before absolutely necessary.
Two hours later we were on our way to Kansas City and four hours after that, we landed in Metropolis.
I sighed as I put the last of the kids' clothes away. As much as I loved visiting Smallville, it wasn't home anymore.
And it was good to be home.
~*~*~
May 2006
~*~*~
"So, you two graduate next week." Perry leaned back in his chair. "Lois, darlin', it's been good to have you back in the newsroom on a regular basis."
"Perry, I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate you working with me the last year or so," Lois told him. "I never would have made it through my internship anywhere else."
He snorted. "Like I told you before, I know a good investigative reporter in the rough when I see one. I didn't become editor in chief of a major metropolitan newspaper because I can yodel, you know. You're an investment in the future of the Daily Planet. And speaking of the future of the Daily Planet, you've both officially finished your internships."
Lois and I glanced at each other.
"And now, it's my pleasure to officially offer you jobs in the newsroom. You start the week after graduation."
Relief crossed Lois' face. She hadn't said it out loud but I knew she'd been worried that all of her time away from the newsroom – even though she'd had Perry's blessing and had worked from home – would hurt her chances of actually getting the job.
"Now, Lois, since you've had a lot less in-newsroom time, you're going to have a little more grunt work to do for a while, just to make sure you know how everything works – pay some dues, that kind of thing."
She nodded. "That's fair."
I knew that wasn't what she really wanted, but I also knew that she would take what she could get at this point.
"I'll expect the two of you to start developing your own sources and start bringing me story ideas. I imagine the two of you will work together fairly often on investigations, but it's not a permanent newsroom partnership. At least not at this point. If you two prove you can work together as well as Billy and Serena, it might, but not for a while. It took them years to get where they are."
"Thank you, Perry," I said.
"Now, the two of you are done interning and you don't start your jobs for another ten days or so, so get out of my newsroom and pass your finals, because if you don't the job offers disappear," he warned.
We laughed. "Got it," we said in unison.
We headed out of his office.
"I knew you'd be fine," I told her.
"I know, but I still worried about it."
I put an arm around her, remembering that we were in public. "So what do you want to do to celebrate?"
"We're already going to the baseball game tonight. You can buy me an extra Big Kahuna."
I laughed. "Of course." Those were her favorite baseball snacks – chocolate chip ice cream cookie sandwich.
"So what's the plan tonight, guys?" Jimmy asked walking up to us. "Angela's meeting me here at six."
Star and Andre had given us their tickets so we could go to the game with Jimmy and Angela.
I looked at Lois. "Well, we're heading home now, right? We could be back here at six couldn't we?"
She nodded. "That sounds fine to me."
"Six it is then." Jimmy grinned and smacked me on the shoulder. "Thanks, guys." He bounded off, a big smile still on his face.
"I wish I had half his energy," Lois said with a sigh.
"It's gotten better since Nate started sleeping more, hasn’t it?"
"Yeah, it is a lot better."
Not long after we got back from Smallville he'd started sleeping better and that was a relief for all of us, but especially Lois.
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
I tried to get my cap to stay on straight, but it wasn't working. I'd have to get Martha to help me with it.
"Fu'y ha', Mommy." I could see Christopher's smirk in the mirror behind me.
"Daddy has one just like it," I told him. "And he's wearing a dress."
"It's a *gown*," Clark said, walking into the room.
Christopher giggled as Clark grabbed him around the waist and hung him upside down over his shoulder.
"Do you hear that noise?" Clark asked me. "It's sounds like a giggle from a little mouse."
"I no' a mouse!"
I shrugged. "I thought I heard something, but I'm not sure what it was. Maybe it was a squirrel."
"I no' a squi'el!"
"You've got a big lump on your shoulder. You should see about having my dad get rid of that for you. I bet they could put that on display at the hospital."
Christopher giggled again as Clark tickled his stomach.
"You know it sounds a little like Nate," he told me with a grin.
"I no' Na'! I C'isto'her."
"Christopher?" I asked him, puzzled. "Do you know a Christopher?"
Clark shrugged. "Not that I know of."
He tossed Christopher gently on the bed.
"Oh! *That* Christopher! Yeah, I know him."
I smiled as Clark tickled him some more and Christopher rolled around giggling on our bed.
I looked at the clock. "We've got to get going. You're going with Gramps and Gran, okay, Christopher?"
He nodded. "I see you dere."
"That's right, but now Mom and I gotta get going."
I sighed as I checked my cap again. It wasn't too bad. Clark dropped Christopher off with his folks and he drove my Jeep towards campus.
Two hours later, we walked through the line and received our fake diplomas.
We made it back to our seats and chatted very quietly with those around us while the several hundred other students got their fake diplomas.
"Do you see everyone?" I asked Clark quietly as I scanned the Lane Athletic Building.
"They're behind us somewhere. About half way up, right in the middle."
I turned and found them after a few minutes of searching. Christopher waved excitedly when he saw me and I waved back.
We were told to stand for the final words.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor and privilege to introduce you to the *graduated* class of 2006."
There were whoops and hollers all around us. I turned to Clark to find his arms wrapped around my waist as he picked me up. My arms wrapped around his neck and I laughed as he swung me in a very tight circle.
After what seemed like an eternity, he set me down and gave me a quick kiss – the same as always when other people were around.
I smiled as I turned towards a friend who was sitting on the other side of me and one of the other guys in our class smacked him on the back.
It was the first day of the rest of our lives.
Or at least the first day of the next two years.
Because that was all we had until the threat was gone.
I kept a smile on my face until we made it outside and found the rest of our family. I noticed they'd gotten separated from the Sceves but I was sure they'd catch up in a few minutes – they knew where we were supposed to be.
We exchanged hugs with everyone and then took pictures – a friend from one of Clark's classes took one of all of us.
Nate was resting his head on my shoulder when I felt a chill go over me.
I couldn't explain it but I started looking around.
Then it hit me.
"Where's Christopher?"
*****
TBC
