Sorry so hit and miss with this. RL has been working overtime around here. Hope I still have a reader or two for this.
It's back to the fluff... mostly. Enjoy!
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The first rays of sunshine came through her window the next morning and prodded her to wake up. Lois stretched, long and slow, uncoiling the tension in her muscles as she did. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Clark standing in her doorway watching her.
"Hey," she told him softly.
"Hey," he replied. He walked over and sat down, carefully placed his hands on either side of her, then leaned to kiss her. "Good morning," he said when he leaned up.
"Good morning."
"Let's pack up the kids and take a trip," he said suddenly.
"Where to?"
"I don't know. Somewhere, anywhere."
"We could... go to the beach," she suggested.
"I know this place down the coast where you can rent a cabin right on the ocean," he replied. "Or we can stay at the resort in Folly. It has its own water park."
"The kids would love it." She struggled to sit up, gratefully taking his hand so he could help her. "Can you get away?"
"Already called Perry... just in case. He said we've been plugging away pretty hard, so..." He pushed her hair off her shoulder so he could kiss her there. "Want to go? We can stay as long as three days."
"Will we... have to share a room?"
His eyes went to hers. "Only if you want to. And only to sleep. I don't expect a thing other than a beautiful smile or two."
She kissed him soundly. "Let's go."
His lips spread into a smile and he kissed her again, moaning when she allowed him to deepen the touch. He drew back and stood up. "I'll pack up the twins while you get ready. We'll stop for breakfast."
She was left to watch him walk away- a sight she certainly appreciated. The view from this side was incredible. An hour later, they'd grabbed a couple of bags, said good-bye to Clark's parents, and set off for a bit of fun. They spent the next three days at a full service resort in a beach community a short drive from Metropolis. They spent the days on the beach, in the water park, or exploring the town. They shopped, ate wonderful food, and laughed more than they had in a while. They chose a room with a king-sized bed and tucked their twins in between them at night. Though they held hands constantly, touched frequently, and kissed often, they wisely kept everything else modestly tame. They'd made an unspoken agreement to share this time together as a family.
They went home with their first set of professional pictures, having had them taken at the resort. The sitting had been in the pool area on the bottom floor and the photographs turned out remarkable. They had tons of snapshots as well. It had been a wonderful trip, giving them much needed time together.
****
Work set in with a vengeance upon their return. Lois ventured into the Planet three days a week, just to get her feet wet, she'd said. The other days she stayed home with the twins and wrote about the things that happened to her. Clark, however, was running himself ragged. The Planet called early every day and Superman called late every night. Things at home were a struggle to keep a grip on. He and Lois fought a lot, over work and more personal things. One week faded into two until they both snapped. He had flown from one rescue to another and hadn't made it home in two days. When he finally walked in the door, Lois was sitting on the couch in the den staring at the television.
"I almost called the cops," she said as she glanced up at him. "I thought someone was breaking in."
"Lois, please don't start tonight." He walked through the den toward the hallway. He was beat. Too beat to spar with her tonight. They'd done enough fighting the last couple of weeks.
"When am I supposed to start?" she asked him. "You're never home long enough for me to look at you let alone say anything to you."
He turned and let out a frustrated sigh. "Okay, let's hear it."
"Go to hell," she spat at him and shot to her feet.
"Very mature, Lois," he said and followed her into the kitchen.
"Mature?" she asked as she turned around to gawk at him. "You don't even know what that word means! You, in all your mature, *super* glory, fly in and out of here, barely stopping long enough to even know what your kids look like anymore."
"I know what my kids look like!"
"Oh, yeah. I bet you have no idea." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Did you even check your messages today?"
He looked away, putting his hands on his hips while he waited for the next round of her barking. And that's what it seemed like today. He'd seen too many people die today to placate her.
"Well, Mr. 'I'm so on top of things it doesn't matter if anyone needed me', go upstairs and take a look at your son."
"What?"
"Go look at your son!" she ordered and pointed in that direction. When he didn't move, she stomped over to the switch on the wall and slammed her hand on it to cut it off. "Fine. But don't get your sorry butt up and look at him tomorrow." She stormed out and up the stairs. It felt as if the whole house shook when she slammed her bedroom door.
Clark heaved a frustrated sigh and walked over to click off the TV, cut the rest of the lights, and headed upstairs. He wasn't even going to check to see if there was dinner for him. He'd seen the take-out packages. Besides, he was much too wound up to eat. He just wanted a hot shower and to fall in bed. He paused at the top of the stairs and glanced at the room the twins slept in. Deciding to see what Lois thought was so damn important, he walked over and peered inside. Gasping in shock by what he saw, he rushed over to kneel beside Collin's bed. The boy's small left arm was bound in a brace and lying on a mound of pillows. His little fingers were blue and swollen, his knuckles scraped badly.
Not wanting to touch him for fear he'd hurt him, Clark jumped up and hurried into Lois' room so he could find out what was wrong. He didn't bother to knock and she looked up in surprise on her way out of the bathroom. "What the hell happened to him?"
"He fell off his bike." She grinned sadly. "He was so excited. He called you six times to tell you he'd learned how to ride without his training wheels." Her smile faded and she reached out to pull the covers down on her bed. "He swerved to keep from hitting Perry and over corrected. I heard it crack from twenty feet away."
Clark felt like he'd been kicked in the gut. He snatched his phone from the case on his side. Thirteen messages. They'd called him so many times.
"Don't even think about smashing that phone before you listen to that kid's messages. I want you to hear how he felt." She climbed into her bed and pulled the cover over her lap because she'd remained sitting. "Perry was more upset than Collin because she just knew it was all her fault."
Large tears filled Clark's eyes and he looked away. Hadn't he learned his lesson before about leaving his family hanging?
A soft cry from the other room pulled him from the impending self-pity trip he was about to take and he hurried into the other room. Collin was whining, trying to move his arm.
"Hey, big guy," Clark said softly as he kneeled beside the bed. "Don't move your arm."
"It hurts," the boy cried.
"I know, son. Maybe we can give you something to help with the pain." He looked up when Lois held out her hand. He took the two small pills she was holding.
"I go potty," Collin said as he struggled to get up.
"Here..." Clark placed the pills on the nightstand and reached down to lift the boy up. "Daddy'll help you." He carried him down the hall to the bathroom and brought him back when he was done. Once he had him settled, he propped his arm back up and helped him take the pain medicine. "Should he take so much?" Clark asked Lois, who was still standing by the bed.
"One was not enough. I guess he's his father's son."
"I called you," Collin said as he looked up at Clark with pain filled eyes.
"I know. I was busy and couldn't answer."
"You not call back," Collin said as large tears spilled from his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, baby," Clark said, crying himself. He lifted his hand and smoothed Collin's hair off his head. "I should have called."
"I ride by myself," came the tired voice.
"I know. Mommy told me." Clark leaned to kiss his head. "I'm really proud of you," he said softly.
"Don't cry, Daddy. I okay."
Clark smiled through his tears. "I love you, Collin."
"I lub you, Daddy." He smiled and closed his eyes.
Clark continued to rub his head until Collin was back asleep. He gently kissed his swollen hand and stood up. Lois had left them alone and Clark stopped in the hallway to listen to his messages. Collin's excited voice talked so fast he barely understood that Collin had told him about riding his bike with no training wheels. Another excited message. By the third one, the boy wasn't as excited. One simply asked, 'where are you?' The last two sounded as if the little guy's heart was broken. One from Lois telling him to call. Another blessing him out. Then a frantic call-
'Clark, where the hell are you? We're on the way to the emergency room.' She sobbed. 'Collin broke his arm'.
One from his mother. One from his father. There was one from Jack. Clark had never heard so many colorful words from the young man. The last one was from Jimmy. The other man sounded disappointed more than anything.
Clark closed his phone and leaned his head back against the wall, guilt and regret washing over him. How could he have done this to them again? Hadn't he learned his lesson from the first time? He lived with them now. How could he? Yes, his job at the Planet was important. Yes, being Superman meant a lot to him. But nothing meant as much as the people in this house. He opened his phone and called his mother's phone. It was off at this time of night, but he left a very apologetic message to her and his father. He left similar messages for Jack and Jimmy before he looked in on the twins once more, then headed toward Lois' room. The light was still on and this time she'd left the door ajar. She was sitting in the middle of her bed working on her laptop. He didn't say a word until after he'd sat down on the bed.
"How did you get him to the ER?"
"Ambulance. Alice brought your folks and Perry to the hospital and Jimmy came to bring us home." She didn't look up at him, just kept working.
"Will you go with me tomorrow to pick out another car?"
"It's being delivered in the morning."
He just nodded. Leave it to Lois to have taken care of that on her own. They should have bought a second car long ago. Most days he left the Jeep for them, but for some reason he'd taken it two days ago when he left for work.
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah, me, too." Still typing.
"I should have learned from when I made the mistake the first time about my incessant need to help."
"Yeah, and you'd been doing so good. How do you spell...? Never mind. Got it."
"I know the only way I can make this up to any of you is to show you how I feel."
"Uh huh," she replied and kept typing.
He sighed when he realized he wasn't going to get anywhere. "I really am sorry," he said softly and stood up. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed toward his room. He felt so bad he thought he was going to break down right there in front of Lois.
Lois looked up as he disappeared into the hallway. Poor guy did sound horrible. Maybe she could have been a bit more compassionate.
Why? He wasn't compassionate this afternoon. He wasn't anything. She'd needed him, needed his strength. She'd been so sure she was going to break down before she could help Collin.
Glancing toward the hallway, she shifted and dropped her feet on the floor. Damn him, she cursed as she walked toward his room. He was hurting and she couldn't stop herself from going to him. It didn't matter that his pain was his own doing, she needed to see him, hold him. His bedroom door was open, but the bathroom door was closed. She could hear the shower running and when she stepped over to the door, she heard Clark crying. He'd never done that, never even hinted he could. Sure, she'd seen tears in his eyes, but this was raw, biting pain. She wanted to go hold him now, desperately. The door was locked though, an obvious indication he wanted to be alone.
Clark finally pulled himself together and decided that feeling sorry for himself wasn't going to repair his fractured relationship with his family. He finished his shower, pulled on his underwear, dried his hair with a towel, and headed in to bed. He didn't even know Lois was in his bed until she reached out to touch his back after he sat down. His head snapped around and their eyes met.
"I still love you," she whispered.
"I love you, even if I haven't showed it very much lately." Clark swung his legs around and laid down on his side to look at her across the darkened space between them.
"Will you let me hold you tonight?"
He blinked. "After all I've done to hurt you?"
"Love is love," she told him, something she'd heard from Martha earlier that day. She'd broken down when they got home, so upset from Collin getting hurt while in her care. Through her sobs, she'd wondered why any of them would want her around. The older woman had smiled and said, 'Love is love.' She also said, "'You can't stop it just because you're hurt or angry either'". Smart woman, Lois had thought. Very smart woman. No matter what Clark had done, she loved him desperately and in doing so that meant she needed to support him the same way he'd done her countless times over the last few months.
Clark moved over until his head was lying on her shoulder. She held him the way he did her, smoothing one hand over the arm that was thrown across her stomach. "I don't deserve any of this," Clark said after a long while.
"You deserve to be happy, just like everyone else. I think sometimes you stay away because you think if you mess up bad enough, you'll start to believe you don't deserve us. Then if you were to lose us, you wouldn't be so disappointed."
"Do you feel like that?"
"All the time at first. But then... Clark, I'm so in love with you, there's no way I could lose you. We might fight. We will disagree. But I don't want to ever be apart from you."
"I don't want to be apart from you either," he said. "And I'm going to make a change. I'm not alone and it's time for me to treat you guys like I should."
"Then you think we can go out again?" she wanted to know.
He laughed softly, tightening his hold on her. "Yes, ma'am."
"Will you stay home tomorrow and help me with Collin?"
"Absolutely. You can go to the Planet if you want to."
"Nah. I want to stick close to my little man."
"Okay." Clark closed his eyes and before long, the stress and frustration caught up with him.
He and Lois slept in a tangled web of arms and legs, restless and anxious. But they woke up with a clearer understanding the next morning.
****
Collin sat on the porch steps staring at his bike. Every now and then his little finger went over to his other arm to scratch as best he could. His cast itched him. He couldn't wait to get it off.
"Hey, big guy, whatcha' doing?" Clark asked as he sat down beside his son. It had been six weeks since Collin had broken his arm. Clark was taking him in today to get the cast off.
"I wookin at my bike." He'd been riding it with his broken arm for three weeks now. He loved his bike.
"Ready to show off without that cast?"
"Tink I could have a new one for my birstday?"
"A new one?"
"Uh huh? I big boy one?"
Collin had seen a bike in a catalog that first week after breaking his arm. The sleek, black racer had been all he'd talked about since then. It came without training wheels. Lois had declared it huge, even though it was still small enough for their boy. "Maybe," Clark said as he rubbed the boy's back.
"Daddy, will you work all da time affer my cass off?"
"No, son. I work four days now. No questions." He'd worked that out with Perry the first week after the accident. He needed to be home with his kids more and the only way to do that was to work less. He really didn't need the money anyway, but liked being a journalist. Perry understood his need for his family was greater than his desire to have a career. Besides, Clark did more work in four days than most men did in two weeks. Lois helped him out, too, so the Planet hadn't lost.
"How 'bout Superman?"
"Well, he's grounded unless it's something really big. No more going two days without taking a break or coming home."
"Pomise?"
Clark ran his hand over the side his son's head. "Promise. You ready to go get that thing off?"
"Uh huh." Collin stood up and ran inside. He came back out, followed by Lois and Perry. They were dressed and ready to go.
"I thought you two were staying here?" Clark wanted to know.
"Perry wants to see for herself that Collin is okay." Lois rubbed the top of the little girl's head.
"Then let's go," Clark said as he bent to pick his daughter up. "He's okay," he told the girl again for the thousandth time.
"Okay."
Clark buckled her into her seat in Lois' new SUV. She'd chosen a monster of a vehicle- an Excursion, one of the larger ones. It comfortably seated eight, large enough for them all to go places together, Lois had explained when it was delivered. They had actually looked at that model, moving it to their short list. Hers was black with an appropriate amount of chrome. Jack said she looked like she worked for the Secret Service. Clark was just thrilled she had a car at home all the time now.
"When are you gonna let me drive?" he asked as he buckled himself into the passenger's seat.
"When are you gonna let me wear your cape?"
Clark leaned over on the console so he could grin at her. "That can be arranged tonight," he said softly, waggling his brows at her.
Lois snorted at him. He was relentless. Since Collin broke his arm, they'd reached a new level of understanding. He was home now when he should be. When he was working, he called at least three times a day, even when she was working, too. He cooked on his days off, made sure his parents had ample time alone, and told her as often as he could he loved her, which was about every other minute. They also touched more, held hands sitting on the couch, and talked about everything. Weekly date nights were a religion, ranging from elegant dinners to baseball games. There was also one day of the week that was spent with the twins- swimming, having tea parties, going to the carnival, and just about anything else you could think of. Clark had groveled to his friends and spent as much time as he could with them as well. Cook-outs were a favorite weekend event. He'd reverted back to wonderfully attentive and completely irresistible.
Irresistible on all levels. He positively exuded sexuality. Though they hadn't shared another night like the one in the den, they did have pretty heavy make-out sessions. He wasn't shy about touching her either, often patting her on her rear or touching her more intimately when they kissed. She wasn't quite as bold about touching him, but didn't protest when he did either. And his incredible restraint had impressed her to no end. It had earned him immense trust in her eyes. It had also made him nearly impossible to resist. Lois had decided on more than one occasion that it was time to cross that final threshold, only to chicken out half way to his room. She didn't mind a bit sleeping in his arms, and her body begged him to lavish more attention on it. But she also accepted his need to hold back. Poor Clark spent more time showering lately, and it wasn't because of his need to get clean. She wanted to give him what he needed, but her mind just wasn't as cooperative as her body.
"You'd really look good in it," Clark whispered. "Of course, you'd look good out of it, too."
"Clark," she said and cut her eyes toward the back.
"Relax. They're watching cartoons." Lois' truck also had a television in it, to keep the twins occupied when they went somewhere. It was invaluable when traffic was backed up.
She glanced at him. He had that look on his face- the one that told her he was more than ready to become lovers. And right now, so was she. "Tell you what... you sit over there and be a good boy, and I'll think about trying it on for you soon."
"Mmm, the images that creates..." He sat back and sighed dreamily. He'd give anything to see her in his cape. Nothing but his cape.
A little while later, Collin was making a face as he stared down at his pale arm. "It tinks!"
"We'll take care of that," said the nurse and brought over a pan of soapy water to carefully wash his arm.
"See, Perry," Lois told her. "His arm is just fine."
"It doesn't hurt?" she asked Collin.
"Nope." He moved it to prove his point. The break hadn't been very bad, so he'd only had a cast up to his elbow. "I ready to ride my bike!"
"Isn't that how you broke your arm?" the nurse asked.
"He hasn't slowed down a bit," Clark informed her.
"Good. Take care of this arm," she told Collin as she dried it.
"I will."
They walked out a few moments later, the twins admiring their stickers. Clark reached over to grasp Lois' hand as they made their way to the car. She looked up at him and smiled. Talk revolved around the birthday party coming up in a few days. Dinner was eaten out by the pool that evening to allow Collin to swim without his cast sleeve on. He also rode his bike.
