Thanks again to everyone who read/voted for LtL
.
Thanks also to Nancy, Beth, Alisha and Queenie!
Last time:
They'd gone back inside where they'd been told that Martha and Jonathan would allow them to live in the little house on the other side of the farmyard – at least for the time being. She could have stayed at the farm – or Clark could have stayed at her house – for the night, now that their parents knew they were married, but she decided to go home alone and pack her things. Clark was doing the same at the farm. She was sure Clark was glad for a few hours' reprieve before they moved in together.
She didn't say anything to her parents as she went to the garage to try to find a few boxes she could use to pack a few things in. Clark and Jonathan would be over with their trucks first thing in the morning and she needed to be ready.
"There's a couple empty tubs in the closet in the basement," Ellen told her. "We can probably move most of your clothes and things in the drawers, so no need to pack them all."
"Thanks, Mom." She turned and headed towards the house.
Ellen put her arm around Lois as they walked inside. She stayed in the living room with Sam, while Lois headed for the basement.
Ten minutes later, Lois had locked herself in her room with a couple of Rubbermaid tubs and a few trash bags. Before she did anything else, she took the rings out of her purse and put them on as she did every night.
Packing her room didn't take long – pictures came off the walls, a few frames from the top of her dresser and desk she wrapped in T-shirts. She hesitated before she put the first item in one of the tubs. She dug around in her bottom drawer and pulled out the nightgown and robe she'd worn on their only night together as well as Clark's boxers and the shirt he'd worn. She wrapped them all in a trash bag and put it on the bottom, covering it quickly with other items, burying it beneath them. She didn't need the reminders and she didn't want Clark to find them – not yet.
When she was finished, she looked around her childhood room one more time before she changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed.
Alone.
Chapter 13Lois sat in the truck with Clark as they pulled away from her house. No. Her parents' house. It wasn't hers anymore. She was glad it was Sunday. The rest of the school had a week to go and if they'd done this on a weekday... Well, she was glad they didn't have to deal with half the town watching. She was also glad Lucy had spent the night at a friend's house.
The things from her room were loaded in the back of Clark's truck. Jonathan's truck held the couch and love seat from the basement along with the small entertainment center and television that had been down there.
At least they had furniture; some place to sit besides their bed.
And at the moment they were still hoping that they could push their two beds together without a big height disparity.
Or that was the official story at least. Lois suspected that the beds would stay apart if Clark had anything to say about it. Her mom had packed a set of their king sized sheets and a comforter they didn't use anymore.
"That was nice of your parents," Clark said suddenly.
"What?"
He nodded towards the truck in front of them. "The furniture from the basement."
Lois shrugged. "We were the only ones who were ever down there anyway. Mom, Dad, Lucy, they all prefer to be upstairs and really we spent more time down there because we could sit closer and kiss more."
"Still it's nice of them."
"Yeah."
There was a long silence.
"I appreciate them coming over to help, but it'd be kind of nice if they hadn't. I could probably have it done a lot faster and easier."
"Probably."
The rest of the ride was quiet and a few minutes later they pulled into farmyard.
"We already moved my stuff in," Clark said as he got out of the truck.
"When did you have time to do that?" Sam asked.
Clark shrugged. "Last night and this morning. It wasn’t much, really. Dresser, desk, bed, clothes in my closet."
Lois sighed. It had probably taken him all of about five minutes to do it all. This would probably take longer.
She went around to the back of the truck and lowered the tailgate, picking up one of the tubs as she did.
"Hey!" Clark took it from her. "We got it. You go inside and direct traffic."
She took it back. "I'm not an invalid. It's not that heavy." She turned and walked in the small house.
She'd never been in there, but it looked like Clark had done a good job working on it before...
She shook her head slightly and walked further in. She walked into the living area – on the small side but well situated. There was a fireplace in one corner and room for the entertainment center on the wall next to it. Straight through it was the kitchen with a pass through counter in between the two. She'd look in there later – not that she could cook. She went down the short hall to the right of the living room. On the left was a small bedroom with Clark's desk in it. In front of her was the small bathroom. To her right was what she guessed was the master bedroom.
Or the bigger of the two rooms anyway.
She sighed and set the tub in the corner near the fireplace. It wasn't see-through, but shared a chimney with the one in the living room.
"We thought we'd bring the bed in first so you can figure out where you want it," Clark said from behind her, causing her to jump slightly.
"Let's just hope they match up okay." She looked around the room, finally pointing to the other wall. "That's probably our best bet for fitting them next to each other and still having room to walk."
Clark nodded as Jonathan and Sam set the mattress and box springs in the hallway. The metal frame from Clark's bed was already set up and it only took a minute for him to position hers next to it.
"Which side do you want?" Clark asked, moving his box springs easily into position.
"I don't care."
Clark sighed and set it carefully in the frame, positioning his mattress on top of it before moving to get hers out of the hallway.
"Not bad," Ellen said as he set the mattress in place. "They're almost exactly the same height. We'll finish in here, Clark – at least until you get the dresser in here."
He nodded and left.
Ellen pulled the set of sheets out of the bag. They worked together, silently making the bed.
By the time they were finished, the dresser and side table had been brought in. Lois sat on the bed and looked around. "I think this as good as it's going to get."
The bed was on the wall opposite the corner fireplace, flanked by mismatched side tables. Across from the bed, next to the fireplace, was her dresser. On the wall to her left, starting about a foot past the end of the bed, was Clark's chest of drawers. On the right, next to the door, was the door to the small closet. The closet door had just enough room to open without hitting the bed.
Ellen sat next to her. "I think this is probably the best way to arrange it." She put her arm around Lois. "Maybe spending more time together like this is what Clark needs to spark his memory."
"Maybe."
Clark poked his head in the door. "You want your desk in the other bedroom?"
Lois nodded. "That's fine."
"That's about it then."
"Thanks."
Ellen picked up the notepad and pen sitting next to her on the bed. "You guys'll want to get an egg crate for the bed when you go to Independence. They're the right height but it'll help with where they meet if you do."
"Thanks, Mom." Lois took the list from her and blanched slightly. There was easily a hundred dollars worth of items on it and probably closer to two or even three. It wouldn't clean out her bank account, but...
"Dad and I talked about it and we're going to give you guys a little bit of seed money as a late wedding present. It's not much but it should cover most of the list."
Lois gave her mom a big hug. "Thank you," she whispered.
"You're welcome, sweetie."
"Hey, Lois!" Sam called from the other room. "You want to come look at this?"
Lois stood at the hallway and looked around the living room. A few inches to her left was the entertainment center. It was only about four feet long and ended several feet from the fireplace. To her right was the opening to the kitchen and then the pass through window. On the wall opposite the entertainment center was the sofa, with an end table on either side and an oversized chair she didn't recognize angled between the couch and the pass through window. Across from the kitchen was the main entrance. From where she was standing the door was in the middle left of the wall. To the right were several windows and the enough room for the love seat underneath them. If they opened the door much past ninety degrees, it would hit the love seat so she'd have to remember that. A coffee table was in front of the sofa.
"I didn't think you'd want to put the entertainment center any closer to the fireplace," Martha explained.
Lois nodded. "That makes sense. Just in case."
"Right."
She shrugged. "It looks fine to me. I don't have any other ideas. Where'd the tables and that chair come from though?"
"The tables were Granny's mom and dad's," Jonathan said. "They left them here when they moved. There's a small table in the kitchen, too. The chair was one they left, too."
"Thank you so much," Lois whispered, tears filling her eyes.
"Well, all we're providing is the roof," Martha told her. "The utilities are listed separately on our bill, so we'll let you know each month how much you owe. Same with the phone. If you want to connect the satellite, we already pay for that, but you have to pay for the extra receiver and any costs that go with getting it set up out here. And food, gas, clothes, everything for the baby – that's all you guys."
Lois nodded. "I know. Thank you for the roof at least."
Her parents both gave her and Clark hugs and then left, followed quickly by Martha and Jonathan who did invite them over to the house for dinner.
Lois leaned against the entertainment center, trying not to think about what this day would have been like if Clark had his memories.
Carrying her over the threshold into the house.
Carrying her into their room.
Lying with her on their 'new' bed.
Making love together.
She sighed. "I'm going to go take a nap."
Clark looked up from where he was sitting in the oversized chair. "Are you feeling okay?"
She nodded. "Just tired. I didn't sleep well last night."
She turned and went back to her new bedroom, crawling onto her side of the bed and, eventually, falling asleep.
*****
Clark sighed as Lois walked towards the back of the house.
He *wanted* to remember, but he just couldn't.
Like a dream that was barely out of reach.
When he'd kissed her the night before, it had felt so right, but awkward at the same time. It was by far the most intense kiss he remembered having with her – though obviously not the most intense she remembered. Not if they'd... made love repeatedly.
Obviously, they'd spent hours over the last couple years perfecting their kissing technique, but he didn't remember it. She knew exactly where and how to touch him – he could tell that it came to her with practiced ease – but he didn't. He felt awkward and like a sixteen-year-old on his first real date, his first real kiss, and in some ways it was. He'd kissed Lois before, since he'd lost his memory, but not much more than a brush of lips – something she'd informed him was about eight times less than their first kiss on their first date.
Something in him knew they were so right together, but at the same time, he didn't really know her like he felt like he should if he was going to spend half his time making out with her.
Or... more now that he knew they were married.
He looked up tires crunched in the farmyard. Clark sighed again as he saw Pete's truck. He'd forgotten they were supposed to spend part of the day together.
"Hey," Clark called as Pete hopped out.
Pete looked puzzled. "What're you doing over there? I didn't think anyone lived there."
Clark rubbed back of his neck. "Um, Lois kinda sprang something on us last night. I mean, she didn't mean to – she was hoping I'd remember but..." He hesitated. Were they telling people? The whole town would know soon enough but...
"What?"
"Um, apparently, the day before I forgot everything..."
"When we all thought the world was ending..." Pete continued for him when he paused.
"Right. Apparently we flew to Metropolis and got married and..." He ran a hand through his hair. "She's pregnant."
Pete leaned against his truck. "Wow."
"Yeah. No one knows yet – except our folks so..."
"Not even Abby will hear it from me," Pete promised.
"Anyway, we moved in Gramps' and Granny's house this morning. She's taking a nap. With everything else, I completely forgot that we were supposed to do something today."
"No problem. I'll get out of your hair. Congratulations, man." Pete smacked him on the shoulder.
Clark looked at the small house. "Just let me leave her a note. I know I mentioned it to her yesterday."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." Clark jogged back inside and scribbled a note for Lois before returning to get in Pete's truck. "What're we doing?"
"Josh wanted us to come over and play basketball, if that's okay with you."
Clark nodded. "Yeah. I don't think I'm going to tell him about all this yet, though. I probably shouldn't have told you. We haven't talked about telling anyone or anything so..."
"Won't hear it from me."
Ten minutes later, they pulled into the yard as Josh bounded down the steps.
"You guys ready to lose?" he asked.
They spent the next hour playing basketball, finally stopping to get a drink and catch their breath.
"So, Clark," Josh started, "rumor around town is that two trucks full of furniture left Lois' house and headed your way."
Clark sighed. "All around town?"
"Yep. Dad heard it from Jerry at the feed store. I think he heard it from Chad Andrews. So what's the deal?"
Clark looked at Pete, who shrugged. "I guess we got married during the whole world ending thing and she just found out she's pregnant. She was hoping I'd remember before she had to tell me, but no such luck."
Josh winced. "I'm happy for you guys – you've always belonged together – but that's got to be hard on both of you."
"Harder on Lois, I think," Clark said quietly. "I don't remember what I've lost. I have this sense that I'm missing something, but I don't remember it. She does. If I did it wouldn't be an issue."
"Right."
They headed back out to the court and continued playing.
But Clark's mind wasn't on the games and he lost, soundly.
*****
Lois woke up feeling a bit better.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed, stopping in the bathroom before heading out to the living room. Clark was nowhere to be seen, but there was a note on the coffee table.
'Think I got everything put up that I could. Pete came over like we'd planned earlier this week. I think I mentioned it to you last night. I'll be back in a bit – hope you enjoyed your nap. C'
Lois sighed. Of course he wasn't just sitting around waiting for her to wake up.
Well, she wasn't going to sit around waiting for him to get home either. She grabbed the list her mom and Martha had made, found Clark's keys and the money her parents had given her, stopping to write her own note on the bottom of Clark's before leaving.
She drove to the CostMart in Independence where she started looking for the things on the list. She tried not to imagine if she'd been doing this with Clark – her Clark, the one who remembered. She could picture him trying to convince her that the smaller, shorter towels were the way to go instead of the big bath sheets; insisting that they needed another DVD – one they'd seen a million times and wouldn't end up actually watching; maybe even trying to convince her that she needed something new from the... intimates department to go with the new house.
She, of course, would try to convince him that he needed something, too.
She happened passing the men's socks and underwear as she thought it. She stopped when she saw the boxers. She ran the navy blue St. Louis Cardinals silk boxers through her fingers. They were Clark's favorite team. The Kansas City Royals were closer but just weren’t any good and Jonathan had grown up listening to the Cardinals on the radio. He'd passed the love on to his son. She and Clark had even driven to St. Louis with Martha and Jonathan one weekend the year before to go to a couple games. They'd stayed with Clark's Aunt Opal and it had been a blast.
On impulse, she dug through the boxers, picking out a couple different pairs and sticking them in the cart. Once he remembered, then she'd give them to him.
It wasn't long before she had an overflowing cartful and she headed towards the checkout.
She loaded everything into the back of the truck and headed for home.
Her new home.
With Clark.
Would he be there?
Would he sleep with her at night?
Or would she wind up sleeping alone again?
As much as she'd enjoyed making love on their wedding day, she missed being in his arms. The best nights' sleep she ever remembered was the night at the lake. They hadn't really slept *much* but what sleep she'd gotten had been great. She felt safe in his arms, loved, protected, cared for, in a way she didn't anywhere else, not even with her dad and he was pretty good at all those things, too.
She pulled up near the house and began to unload her purchases. She was on her third trip inside when Pete's truck pulled in. She grabbed the box of plates and headed for the door, not stopping to greet either one of them and glad she'd taken the boxers in first and hidden them.
By the time she'd set the box in the kitchen, they'd brought everything else in.
"So I guess he told you?" she asked Pete.
Pete nodded. "Yeah, but Josh said it's all around town already that you moved out here today."
"Great," she mumbled. "Just what I need. All of Smallville wondering how pregnant I am and half wondering if we already got married quietly while the other half wonders when Clark's going to make an honest woman out of me."
"The pregnant thing isn't all around town," Clark told her as he sat on the couch. "For all anyone knows – except Pete and Josh – you're moving out here to help me remember or something."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? You have to work tomorrow at Maisie's. Ten to one the first place everyone looks when they see you is at your ring finger. Then they'll start asking not-so-subtle questions about us and if we're still planning on getting married before too long since you don't remember anything and when we want to start a family and all of that. Believe me, all of Smallville thinks I'm pregnant."
"She's right," Pete said from his spot on the love seat.
Clark looked at his left hand. "I don't even have a wedding band, do I?"
Lois sighed and headed towards the bedroom. She emerged a minute later, unwrapping the yarn from around it. "I wore it at night," she told them. She finished with the yarn and handed it to him. "Here."
"Thanks," he said taking it and looking at it for a minute before sliding it onto his finger. "Did I at least have an engagement ring for you?"
She held up her left hand where she'd put her rings while she was in the other room. "You said you got them the last time you were in Kansas City."
She turned to Pete. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you guys. It was kind of spur of the moment when we thought the world was ending. We were going to tell you that weekend, after we told our folks, but then Clark didn't remember and..."
"Right," Pete said quietly. He looked at his watch. "I gotta get home and shower. Abby and I are going out tonight. You guys wanna make your foray into Smallville society?"
Lois looked at Clark who shrugged. "Mom invited us over for dinner but I think that was because we don't have any food yet."
"Why don't we call you?" Lois said finally. "Let us talk to them and make sure Martha isn't making extra for us or something. Or I'll call Abby."
Pete nodded, giving her a big hug as he got ready to leave. "Congrats, Lolo."
She smacked him. "You know better than that."
"Sorry." He grinned.
"No, you're not."
"You're right."
"Can we at least go to Parsons or Independence or something if we go?" Lois asked him.
Pete nodded. "Sure."
"Thanks."
Another quick hug and a wave to Clark and he left.
"Which would you rather do?" she asked him quietly, walking into the kitchen, beginning to unpack her purchases.
He followed her and started looking through the bags. "I don't care. What about you? What do you want to do?"
Lois tried to hold back the tears as she stuck the silverware holder in a drawer. "Make love," she mumbled. That was what she really wanted to do. It wasn't going to happen, but that was what she wanted.
"What did you say?"
*****
TBC
