“What are you nervous about?” Clark asked, squeezing her hand.
“I don’t know. It’s just.... This has all been so perfect. I know your parents like me, but I’m just afraid their going to freak out. After all, we haven’t been dating very long, and dating and marriage are different. What if they think I’m not good enough for you?”
Clark gasped. “Lois, they don’t think that. I promise you. They adore you. They know how happy you make me. They’re going to be absolutely thrilled.”
“What if they aren’t? I mean, you’re right that it’s silly to worry that they secret dislike me. I know that’s not true. But what if we tell them and rather than being all excited, they just get quiet. What if they’re disappointed? I almost think that would be worse.”
“First of all, that’s not going to happen. My mom is probably going to scream and immediately start planning the wedding. By the way, you’d better have some idea of what you want, because she’s going to start grilling you right away. My dad will just shake our hands and smile, but he’ll be secretly thrilled too. Secondly, even if they were disappointed – which they won’t be – it wouldn’t matter to me. Yes, I want them to be happy, and I want their blessing, but not as much as I want you. I love you more than anything in the entire world, Lois. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says or thinks about that.”
Lois smiled, her fears melting slightly. They reached the doorway to the kitchen and paused.
“Ah, there they are,” Martha said with a smile before turning her attention back to the stove. Jonathan looked up from his newspaper long enough to say good morning, then went back to reading.
Clark looked at Lois and shrugged, grinning. “Mom? Dad? Can we have your attention for a minute?”
The Kents looked up from their tasks, their expressions confused but expectant.
“Lois and I have an announcement.”
“Oh my god,” Martha exclaimed. “You’re engaged.” Before Lois knew what had hit her, Martha had flown across the kitchen, wrapping her arms around both of them. “Oh, I’m so excited!”
Jonathan stood, unable to mask his smile. “You’d better hope you’re right, Martha, or you’re going to be mighty embarrassed.”
Lois was sure the grin on her face, and the matching smile she saw on Clark’s, were a dead giveaway that Martha’s deduction was right on.
“Congratulations, son,” Jonathan said, shaking Clark’s hand, then pulling him into a hug and slapping his back. “You’re a lucky man.” The Jonathan released Clark and pulled Lois into a hug. “Welcome to the family, sweetheart. We’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time.”
Lois felt tears well in her eyes at Jonathan’s sweet words, and tried to fight them as he pulled away. She lost the battle though when Martha hugged her again.
“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her eyes and laughing. “I’m all emotional all of a sudden.”
She looked up at Clark and was surprised to see that he had tears in his eyes too. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. She reached up and stroked his cheek, forgetting for a minute that they weren’t alone.
“Oh! Let me see the ring!” Lois grinned, Martha’s voice bringing her back to the present. She turned in Clark’s arms and held out her hand for Martha to admire. As Martha gushed over the ring and Jonathan watched proudly, Lois rested her head against Clark’s chest. She’d finally found her home, her family. She’d been looking for this her entire life, she just hadn’t known it until she’d found it.
******
Lois was putting the finishing touches on a tray of Christmas cookies when Martha reentered the kitchen. Lois didn’t look up at first, eager to get the tray just right. She’d been helping Martha get ready for most of the morning, and now the first guests were set to arrive in a matter of minutes. Finally satisfied with her arrangement, she looked up, ready to display her masterpiece, and caught Clark snitching a cookie out of the corner of her eye. “Clark!”
Clark hurriedly shifted the other pieces to fill in the empty spot. “They’ll never know.”
Lois rolled her eyes and looked to Martha to commiserate. Men.
Martha laughed and shook her head. “Get used to it,” she said. “Old habits die hard. When he was little, I spent more time slapping his hand away from the food than I did actually making it.”
Clark stepped behind Lois and slipped his arms around her waist. “I’ll be good. I promise.”
Martha looked at him skeptically for a minute, then shifted her gaze to Lois and raised the small, wrapped box she was carrying. “Before the guests start arriving, I wanted to give you one more present.”
“Oh! No, you’ve already been far too generous.”
“Well, then consider this an engagement present. I wanted to give you this yesterday, but Jonathan convinced me it was too soon. After this morning.... Well, we both want you to have this.”
Lois was puzzled, but accepted the box. She ripped the edges and slid the paper off, revealing a plain paper box, worn with age. She opened the box and was surprised to see that it was empty except for some aged tissue paper. Her mind raced, trying to comprehend the significance of the box. Just as she was about to give in and ask, she realized where she had seen the box before.
“Oh, Martha,” she said, her voice choked with emotion.
“I told you yesterday, the angel is passed down every generation to the oldest daughter. I never had a daughter to pass it on to ... until now.”
“Thank you,” Lois said, sorry those simple words couldn’t fully express her gratitude. “I’ll always treasure it.”
Lois stepped out of Clark’s embrace and into Martha’s. Never before had she felt so loved, so much a part of a family. The idea that she had once been afraid to open her heart and her life to Clark now seemed so ridiculous. She had worried that it would bring her pain, but instead it had brought her joy beyond anything she could have imagined.
When she pulled back, she saw that Martha had tears in her eyes, and she felt matching tears pool in her own eyes. She dabbed at her eyes and sniffled before laughing. “Now, look what you’ve done. People will be here any minute and their first impression of me will be with mascara all over my face.”
Lois’ cheerful admonition lightened the moment significantly and soon everyone was smiling. She handed the box back to Martha who promised to return the box – complete with the angel this time – after they took the tree down.
Lois excused herself to go check her makeup and hurried upstairs to the bathroom. As she made a few touch ups, she couldn’t fight the silly grin from her face. Engaged. She was engaged. Unbelieveable.
Before she could ponder that thought much further, her fiance appeared in the doorway. “You look gorgeous already.”
Lois blushed as her smile widened. She watched him in the mirror as he took his time looking over her black skirt and thin red sweater, then stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. She tilted her head to the side and sighed contentedly when he nuzzled her hair, then pressed a kiss to her neck.
“Don’t be nervous,” he whispered as he continued to kiss the sensitive skin of her neck and shoulder. “Everyone is going to love you.”
Lois smiled and turned in his arms to kiss him. “Doesn’t matter,” she whispered as she pulled away, a smile forming on her lips. Clark looked at her inquisitively and she held out her left hand to admire the diamond on her ring finger. “Nope, doesn’t matter. Even if they hate me, you’re still stuck with me. There’s no going back now.”
Lois lifted her eyes to look at Clark, expecting to see him amused by her statement, but instead found that his eyes were serious and tinged with passion. “No going back now,” he repeated.
She drew her hand back and stroked his cheek gently. “Nope. I’m not going anywhere.”
Before she knew what had hit her, Clark’s lips were on hers. The sweet, gentle kisses of a moment ago had been replaced with hard, insistent kisses filled with passion. When he pulled back, they were both breathing heavily. “Mine,” he whispered before claiming her lips again. A jolt of pleasure surged through her at his possessive declaration as she remembered the conversation they’d had the night before. She was his. His to love and adore. Then he pressed her up against the counter, deepening the kiss, and she lost all ability to think rationally.
Clark’s hands settled at her waist then lifted her easily to sit on the edge of the counter. He stepped between her parted legs, drawing her close and placing one hand on the back of her neck, steadying her against the assault he launched against her mouth. Finally, when Lois was weak from his kisses, he dragged his lips from hers and sprinkled a trail of kisses to her ear and down her neck.
“This is definitely going to mess up my make up,” Lois whispered as she threaded her fingers through his hair.
Clark murmured something incomprehensible and reversed his path, working his way back to her mouth. She returned his kiss eagerly, parting her lips to welcome his sweet invasion. As his mouth explored hers, his hand wandered from where it rested on her hip down her leg to her knee, kneading her leg through the sheer silk of her stockings. His fingertips traced over her skin lightly, almost tickling. As he reversed directions, Lois hooked her leg around his waist, eliciting a moan in response. She sighed as their bodies pressed against each other, overwhelmed as always by his solid presence.
While one hand continued to explore her leg, his other slid down her back, holding pulling her even closer. Lois slid easily toward him, tightening her leg around his waist and whimpering when he slid his hand under her shirt, sparks of electricity jolting through her at the skin on skin contact.
When Clark’s other hand reached her skirt, he slipped his hand under it, massaging higher and higher. Lois moaned and untangled one hand from his hair to wander down his back, smoothing over the rippling muscles hidden by his dress shirt. She traced the waistband of his slacks, then slid her hand lower.
She needed to feel his bare skin against hers. The clothing had to go. She brought her hands between them, fumbling hastily with the buttons of his shirt. Somewhere in the distance a warning sounded, reminding her that there was something else she had to be doing, that this was neither the time nor the place. But she disregarded the thought, wrenching her lips from his and layering kisses over the skin she bared with each undone button.
“Oh, Lois,” Clark gasped, moaning in encouragement.
“Lois? Clark? The Irigs—” Martha’s statement was cut short when she rounded the corner.
“Mom!” Clark jumped back as if he’d just been scalded. He untangled his hands from under her sweater and covered his face.
“Oh god.” Lois slid off the counter and rapidly tried to straighten her clothing, her face flaming.
Martha, normally cool under any circumstance, stammered and blushed as she averted her eyes. “Well, I just came up here to tell you that the Irigs are pulling up,” Martha said, a wry grin spreading across her face. “I thought you’d want to come down....”
“We’ll be right there,” Clark said, running a hand through his hair, his shirt still untucked and hanging open.
Martha disappeared and Lois went back into Clark’s open arms, resting her forehead against his chest and giving in to her giggles. “I can’t believe that just happened.”
“I feel like I’m in high school.... Only I never got caught doing anything fun in high school,” Clark said, causing Lois to laugh even harder.
“I’m never going to be able to look your mother in the eye again,” Lois said, pulling out of his embrace and turning to face the mirror again. She straightened her hair and clothes, then repaired her make up. She watched Clark in the mirror as he took a deep breath and tried to calm down again while buttoning and tucking in his shirt.
As she made her restorations, something worked its way back into her conscious. “Mine?” she asked, her voice amused.
Clark grinned at her, stirring up the butterflies in her stomach again. Lois checked her reflection one final time and turned to look at him. After a few seconds, she couldn’t hold back her own grin. “Just don’t let it go to your head.” As she looked at him, she noticed smudges of lipstick on his mouth and neck. She laughed softly and reached up, wiping them away gently. “I marked you.”
Clark caught her hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing it gently.
“Don’t get all wound up again, farmboy,” Lois said softly, her voice full of affection. “We’ve got company.”
“I love you,” he said, releasing her hand. The passion in his eyes melted slowly into adoration and reverence.
“I love you, too,” she said, slipping her hand into his and lacing their fingers together. “Ready to go downstairs?”
Clark held her gaze for a second more, then nodded, and left the bathroom, leading her downstairs to the party.
*****
An hour later, the party was in full swing. The house was overflowing with guests and Lois was struggling to keep names straight. Clark’s best friend from high school, Pete, had arrived with his wife and infant daughter in tow, and had immediately corralled “the guys” and herded them downstairs to the rec room to watch the bowl game. Clark had managed to keep them upstairs long enough to meet Lois, but then he had been swept off.
Lois smiled as she watched Clark with his friends. Surrounded by his high school buddies, she could almost see the boy he had been once. She wandered back into the kitchen where Martha handed her a tray of cookies to replenish the table in the living and told her to skedaddle.
Lois placed the tray on the table and straightened the napkins nervously, unsure what to do next.
“Lois, right?” a friendly voice asked. Lois looked up and recognized the blonde woman as Pete’s wife, but couldn’t remember her name. In fact, she wasn’t entirely certain Pete had made introductions before dashing off.
“Yes,” Lois said, offering her hand before realizing that with her arms full of a wiggling baby, the woman couldn’t easily take it. But before Lois could withdraw her hand, the other woman shifted the baby to her other arm gracefully and shook her hand. “I’m Lana Ross. I don’t think we were properly introduced earlier. You’ll have to excuse my husband. He a sweetheart, but when he gets a chance to play with Clark it’s like they’re thirteen again.” Lois couldn’t help but smile at the woman’s casual demeanor. “Can I see your ring?”
Lois grinned and lifted her hand, so the other woman could inspect it.
“It’s gorgeous,” Lana said, releasing her hand.
“Thanks. I might be biased, but I think it’s perfect. Does every woman think her engagement ring is the most beautiful piece of jewelry ever?”
Lana laughed. “I don’t know. I’ve heard some horror stories. But I’m pretty fond of mine, so who knows.”
“Did you go to high school with Clark, too?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve known Clark all my life. We all went to preschool together.”
“Wait a minute. Lana. You dated Clark in high school. I’ve seen pictures.” For a fleeting moment Lois braced herself, assessing the woman as competition. She dismissed the thought immediately, running her thumb over the band of her engagement ring. Besides, Lana was married with a baby. She was hardly on the prowl.
Lana laughed. “I don’t know if you’d call it dating, really. We were friends. We went out in a group a lot. We went out one on one a handful of times. It was never anything serious.”
“And then you started dating Pete?”
Lana nodded to the empty couch. “Come, let’s sit. I’ll tell you the whole sordid story,” she said with a smile.
Lois followed her eagerly, intrigued by her glimpse into Clark’s early years and happy to have someone at the party to talk to.
Lana settled into the couch, and pulled a bottle from the bag she’d been carrying. Once the baby was eating contentedly, she resumed her story. “Clark, Pete and I have known each other since we were in diapers. Our moms were friends; I can’t even remember not knowing them. Once we got to high school, there was definitely something between Pete and me. I don’t know what it was exactly, but it was just never totally platonic. But we never acted on it. I don’t know if we were just scared or what. Finally, our senior year, Pete told me he had feelings for me. But I was stupid and immature and obsessed with popularity. So I told him I wasn’t interested in him like that and that I just wanted to be friends.”
Lois listened in rapt attention as Lana continued her story. “Anyway, Clark was the quarterback of the football team, the school’s golden boy. And he had no idea that Pete had feelings for me. I don’t know how he missed it, but he did. He had drifted away from us a lot by that time. We were still good friends, but he just seemed more reserved somehow. I think he and Pete had stopped confiding in each other, I know he and I had. Anyway, I decided Clark would be the perfect boyfriend for me. So I tried desperately to make myself fall for him. We went out a couple of times, but the spark just wasn’t there. And in the meantime, Pete and I were both miserable. Clark asked me to prom, I think more out of convenience than anything else, and I agreed. But about a week before prom, Pete showed up at my house with roses and begged me to give him a chance. It all seemed so romantic and dramatic that for a moment I forgot my stupidity and agreed. Of course, once Pete and I were dating, there was the problem of prom. But Pete called Clark and told him the whole story and Clark insisted that we go together. I felt bad, but Clark wound up going with our friend Rachel, and he seemed happy. I’m sure he was just as happy with her as he would have been with me.” Lana paused, a troubled yet amused expression crossing her face. “Rachel’s treated me funny ever since, though. I think she’s still laboring under the misapprehension that I broke Clark’s heart.”
Lois smiled, remembering her meeting with the Sheriff during her first trip to Smallville. “So you and Pete have been together ever since?” Lois asked. “When did you get married?”
“Well, actually....” Lana grimaced. “Remember when I said I was stupid and immature? That didn’t exactly disappear overnight. After graduation, Pete and I went away to college. Pete went to Midwest with Clark, but I went west to UCLA. Once I got out there, I was seduced by the bright lights and fast pace of the city. I decided I didn’t want to settle down and move back to Smallville after graduation, even though I knew that Pete could never be happy anywhere else. We broke up eventually, and I stayed in Los Angeles after I graduated. I was working in Hollywood, basically as a gopher with high aspirations, and dating a string of struggling actors. But after a couple of years, I realized I was miserable. I hated my job, I hated the city...and I was lonely. I missed Pete terribly. We’d broken up four years earlier and I was still thinking of him almost daily.”
“What did you do?” Lois asked, enthralled.
“I called him,” Lana said with a shrug and a wry smile. “I told him that I knew he probably had moved on and didn’t want to see me again, but that I realized how stupid I was and I’d give anything for another chance. I groveled.”
“What did he say?”
“He said, ‘Come home.’”
Lois inhaled sharply. “Wow.” As the words sunk in, Lois couldn’t keep the sappy grin from her face. “That’s so sweet.”
“Yeah, he can be pretty romantic when he wants to be,” Lana said with a smile before resuming her story. “I packed everything I could fit into the backseat of my car and left everything else. I paid my roommate two months rent to cover until she found someone else, and I drove straight through. I didn’t even go home before going to Pete’s. We were engaged in two months, married in six. That was three years ago. I traded Hollywood for teaching English at the high school directing the drama club. I love it. And now I’ve got Emma,” she said, taking the now-empty bottle from the baby and propping her on her shoulder, patting her back gently. “She’s cute,” Lois said automatically, realizing belatedly that she actually meant it.
“Thanks,” Lana said, stroking her daughter’s red curls. “She looks just like her daddy. I don’t think I can take too much credit. It’s funny. I thought I’d never have kids. That was something Pete and I always argued about the first time we dated. He wanted a house full of kids and I just wasn’t interested. Dirty diapers? Mushed up animal crackers stuck to the car seats? No thank you. But after we got married, something changed. Now I wouldn’t trade her for the world. She’s only been here for three months, but already I can’t imagine my life without her. That seems like a whole other life.” She paused for a minute. “What about you and Clark? Are you planning a houseful? Clark was always great with kids. He babysat more than I did.”
Lois was quiet for a minute, realizing that she and Clark had never really discussed it. “I don’t know,” she said finally. “I .... I’ve never really thought much about kids.”
Lana smiled knowingly. “Give it time.”
Lois pondered that for a moment, trying to picture herself as a mother. It was such an unfamiliar imagine; motherhood was such a foreign concept to her. She smiled as she pictured Clark holding a baby then wrestling with a toddler. He’d be a great father, she thought. A fantastic father. If she was going to have children, she couldn’t have picked a better father for them.
Her reverie was interrupted by Lana’s voice. “So tell me about how you and Clark got together. I’m dying to hear this story. You work together, right? So you’ve known each other for awhile now. But from what I hear, you haven’t been dating all that long.”
Lois launched into the condensed version of her relationship with Clark, highlighting their time as friends and partners before telling the story of recent events, leaving out the fact that Clark had been pretending to be her boyfriend while they were in Washington. She ended with a recap of Clark’s proposal the night before.
“Wow, that’s so romantic.”
“I know,” Lois said with a grin. “He’s really something.”
Lois and Lana continued to chat for awhile, and Lana introduced Lois to a number of folks who came over to say hello and see the baby. Everyone was delighted to meet Lois and gushed over her ring and the engagement, welcoming her to their small community. After her fourth introduction, Lois was grinning ear to ear.
“Will you do me a favor?” Lana asked finally. “Will you hold Emma for me for a minute? I’m dying to run to the bathroom and then go get a plate of real food from the kitchen. As much as I love cookies, I can’t live on them, and I happen to know Mrs. Kent’s famous meatballs are in there.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Lois said. “I really don’t know anything about babies. I wouldn’t know what to do.”
“She’ll be fine. She’s full and content,” Lana said, shifting her into Lois arms and adjusting her. “And I’ll be right down the hall. If my beloved husband was anywhere in sight, I’d foist her off on him, but he’s too busy being a guy. Thanks, you’re a lifesaver.”
And then she was gone, and Lois was left alone with the baby. “Okay, baby, it’s just you and me. Don’t panic. Your Mommy will be back any second. I hope.” She jiggled the baby awkwardly for a minute, then stopped. “You’re not so bad, are you? You’re not crying or anything. Good baby.”
Emma’s eyes fluttered shut again, and Lois felt a tug at her heartstrings as the baby stretched and settled in. She stroked Emma’s tiny hand with her finger and smiled when the baby grasped her finger and held on. “Yeah, you’re pretty cute,” Lois whispered.
Lois looked up when she heard someone say Clark’s name and saw her fiance enter the room. His eyes met hers and he smiled. Then his gaze traveled down to the baby in her arms and he looked at her, surprised. He made his way past the other partygoers, shaking hands and exchanging brief pleasantries, and was at her side in moments.
“Hey,” he said softly as he slid onto the sofa next to her. “Look at you.”
“Don’t even think about it,” she deadpanned. “We’re not keeping it.”
Clark laughed and stroked the baby’s cheek gently, then looked up his eyes so full of longing Lois could almost feel it.
“She precious, isn’t she?” he said finally.
“Yeah, she is. Do you want to hold her?”
Clark shook his head. “I’d rather watch you hold her,” he said quietly, slipping his other arm around her shoulders. He was quiet again, his attention focused on the baby. “We’ve never talked about kids,” he said quietly. “We don’t have to talk about it now, but we should. I....”
“...can’t imagine not having kids?” Lois finished.
“Yeah,” he said, meeting her gaze again. “I know you’re not overly fond of kids. But I just.... Do you think...?”
“Yeah, I do,” Lois said softly, readjusting the baby in her arms. The idea of children before had always been unthinkable. But now, with Clark, it seemed more than possible. It seemed right. “I need time though,” she warned. “Time to get used to the idea. I haven’t had good parental role models, like you, Clark. I need time to think about this, to come to terms with this and prepare myself for motherhood. It’s not something I’ve ever thought about before. Besides, I want to have some time to enjoy just being together before we have a baby.”
“I’ll give you all the time you need,” he said softly, kissing her hand.
Lois couldn’t hold back the laugh that was welling inside her. “Great. So I should be pregnant it, what, one month? Two?” Clark looked at her, puzzled. “That’s exactly what you told be about our relationship, remember?” She teased. “You told me you’d give me as much time as I needed, and here we are, less than two months later, engaged.”
Clark laughed, his eyes twinkling. “But I gave you all the time you needed, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, I was ready,” Lois said with a smile.
He held her gaze for a moment, then tipped his head down and brushed his lips across hers. She sighed gently as he pulled back just slightly, reaching up with her free hand to stroke his hair. “Mine,” she whispered, gazing into his eyes.
Clark’s eyes focused on hers as he inhaled sharply. Then his mouth was over hers again, kissing her more passionately this time. A small voice in the back of her head reminded her that they were in the midst of a roomful of people, but she pushed it aside and gave herself over to his kiss.
*****
In the kitchen, Martha loaded a tray with cookies and sweets to replenish the table in the living room yet again. She rounded the corner from the kitchen to the living room and stopped suddenly when she spotted her son, cooing over a baby in Lois’ arms. His arm was around her shoulders, holding her tight, while he used his free hand to tickle the baby. They were both focused on the baby, oblivious to everything else around them. The baby gurgled in reply, causing them both to laugh. They turned to look at each other, and smiled, gazing into each others’ eyes. Clark kissed her lips quickly, then touched his forehead to hers and dropped his gaze to the baby again.
Martha smiled wistfully, rooted to her spot, watching her son and the woman he’d fallen in love with. He was so lucky, Martha thought. They both were – to find this kind of love. She’d always worried about her boy. He was so special to her, so precious. She’d worried he would never find anyone who fully accept and understand him. But he had. She couldn’t have created a better wife for him if she’d designed one herself. And with her, Clark had a chance for the future she’d always dreamed of for him; one filled with happiness and love.
“What are you looking at?” Jonathan asked, as he approached from the kitchen.
Martha just smiled for a minute at the picture the three of them made, then responded quietly. “The future.”
