Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic It's a Wrong Christmas (2/2)

Part 1

Author's Note: I apologize for breaking this into two parts. I tried, but it was just too long as one part.

*** Part 2 ***

Lois ran down the damp sidewalk, through the crisp night’s air, hoping that she wasn’t crazy, that this vision she had seen wasn’t insanity.

Lois looked through the crowd of people, searching for Clark, but still didn’t see him as everyone came together as a group to sing. As they finished the final verse, a plume of soot and ash came out of the large fireplace on the side of the dining hall.

When the smoke cleared, she saw a pair of black boots hit the ground with a thud. A tall man in a red suit with white trim bent down and emerged from the fireplace. Santa!

Clark? Lois wondered. Was this where her partner disappeared off to? Were these his friends and his plans?

As he stood up, Santa indeed had his traditional belly and his long white hair and beard and red hat. His cheeks were certainly rosy and his eyes had the brightness of… Lois’s jaw dropped.

“Ho ho ho,” Santa chuckled and his belly shook. He drew out his big red bag from behind him. “Oh, deary, dear. Am I so early? Everyone is still awake!” The voice was deep and low and, though he had added a bit of an accent, Lois would recognize it anywhere.

From inside his bag, Santa started to pull gifts, some wrapped, some not, for the horde of children that now surrounded him – each one received a gift, no one was left out. He greeted each child by name and said something personal as well. She saw his black boots lift off the ground a couple of inches as he stretched over the heads of some of the taller kids to reach a small child in the back of the group.

Lois nodded to herself. Yep. Super Claus!

She stopped herself short before crashing into the tall iron gates surrounding the courtyard of the old stone building. She took a few calming breaths, which she could see as fog in the air, and pushed the gates open. She approached the large wooden door and pressed the buzzer, begging the universe to let her please not be too late.

“Hello,” said a friendly older woman opening the door. “How may I help you?”

Lois blinked at the woman with a momentary loss for words. How could she explain why she was there? Finally, she decided on the truth. “Have I missed Santa?”

The woman laughed, and gestured towards a large room full of bright lights and music. “See for yourself.”

Inside Lois found a huge crowd of children dancing or playing a game. The room was awash in holiday décor, almost the complete opposite of Clark’s apartment. Wreaths, bouquets of balloons, boughs of holly, garlands of pine, streamers, and lights of all colors had been strewn around the room as if every hand in the place, no matter how small, had been called to assist in the decorating. A huge tree teetered off in the corner, so tall it almost bent at the top where it scraped the ceiling. Other than that one comparison, it did not match the one at the Luthor House in the slightest. Handmade and bought ornaments covered from lowest boughs to tallest point; she could hardly see the pine needles. This was indeed the tree she had pictured earlier, the one, which had made the Luthor House children’s Christmas trees seem more sad, more fake, and less perfect. Several long tables with remnants of a holiday meal had been abandoned to one side of the room. There were adults scattered about, here and there, but mostly there were children, laughing, happy, and cheerful children.

Lois sighed into a smile. This was what her Christmas had been missing.

The woman from the door joined Lois. “Do you see Santa?” the woman asked.

Lois just shook her head, still in awe in what she did see, almost as if she had stepped out of her dreams into this room. “Lois Lane, Daily Planet,” she said, out of habit.

“I’m Judy, the Metropolis City Orphanage’s director,” replied the woman. She nudged Lois and pointed beyond the tree, where Santa knelt resplendent in his white hair, his beard, his belly, and his red fur suit and hat, dusted with soot, talking to a small girl.

The girl seemed almost in tears as she was speaking to the man in red as she stared down at a ragdoll in her hands.

“Samantha is one of our newest guests. Sadly, she lost her mother to cancer just last month,” Judy explained, as Lois watched Santa shake his head, unable to grant the little girl her wish.

“I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!” the girl screamed, throwing the doll at Santa. She ran away across the room, plowing directly into Lois and knocking her to the floor.

Not knowing what else to do, Lois surrounded the girl with her arms, so she wouldn’t tear into anyone else. Samantha burst into tears and latched onto Lois with all her might. This girl’s tears reminded Lois of her partner’s tears, when he had told her of his parents’ death. Finally, Lois herself succumbed to tears as well.

How could Clark not fear commitment when the dearest people in the world to him were torn from him so suddenly as a child? How could he not feel afraid to reveal the truth of his past to her, after bouncing around from home to home, being rejected time and time again? And what had she done? She had pushed him away. She had rejected him and told him he wasn’t worthy of her love. Yet, after all that, Clark kept coming back. He never gave up. He kept trying to break down Lois’s own terrifying walls she had built to keep others out, because he loved her. Her! She felt like the least deserving person of his love, the most unlovable person imaginable.

Samantha stopped crying and pulled back, staring at Lois. “Why are you crying?”

“Because a friend of mine lost his parents, and I was mean to him when I shouldn’t have been. I shouted at him and told him I didn’t care,” Lois said, glancing up and seeing Santa standing not so far away and holding the doll he had been trying to give Samantha. He looked almost as lost as she felt. “I forget sometimes that deep inside he’s just a little boy, who is scared and frightened, and who, occasionally, will say and do stupid things he doesn’t mean. We all do. I came here looking for Santa, hoping he’d find my friend and tell him that I forgive him, if he’ll forgive me.”

Samantha wiped her face with the back of her hand. “I hate to tell you this, lady, but Santa’s got a busy night tonight. He won’t have time to look for your friend. Maybe he can in a couple of days, when he’s had time to rest.”

Lois chuckled through her tears, wiping her cheeks with her hands. “I don’t think he went far. Maybe Santa will see him while he’s traveling around the city.”

“You know Santa can’t grant wishes. I asked him for my mommy back, and he said he wouldn’t give her to me,” Samantha said conspiratorially.

“I bet if he could, Santa would bring her back here in a moment, but there’re some things in the world that are even stronger than Santa’s magic. There are some things that even Santa can’t do,” Lois said with a sniffle. “And this is one of them.”

“But I miss her. I miss her,” Samantha wailed, flinging herself back against Lois’s chest.

Lois closed her eyes and squeezed the little girl. Another tear dripped down Lois’s cheek. She too was no stranger to sorrow.

Santa came over to Lois and handed the doll to her. “I’ll see what I can do about finding your friend, Ms. Lane,” he said hoarsely.

Samantha’s tears had even brought tears to Santa’s eyes, making them sparkle more than ever. He let his hand hover above the little girl’s head for a moment before drawing it away without touching her.

“Thank you,” Lois whispered, as he moved away. “You’re right. He needs me.”

Santa glanced over at her and nodded once, before stepping into the fireplace and setting his finger beside his nose.

“Santa! Santa! Wait!” Samantha yelled, pulling out of Lois’s grip and running over to the large man in red. “The lady didn’t get a gift. Do you have anything in your bag for her?”

He took the sack off his back and peered inside. “Let’s see,” he murmured, reaching down to the bottom of the bag.

“It’s okay, Santa, I don’t need…” Lois said, approaching him.

Santa reappeared out of his sack with a black and white fuzzy teddy bear and held it out for her. “So you never have to be alone, Ms. Lane,” he said, holding it out to her.

Lois sniffled, and then laughed, taking the bear. “Thank you. I’ll think of you whenever I hold him, Santa.”

He smiled at her, set his finger back against his nose, and disappeared up the chimney.

*

Clark sat on top of the orphanage’s roof for a minute longer than he had meant to, trying to stop the tears from his eyes. He had kissed Lois so passionately the night before, and then ran out on her, and she still hunted him down and begged him to forgive her. How had she known Superman was going to be at the Metropolis City Orphanage? He shook his head. Had that been another one of those psychic visions, or had she followed Clark there from his apartment? Had she thought Santa was Clark not Superman?

Time for him to face the music. Clark stood up, took a leap into the air, and came back down spinning out of Jonathan’s old Santa suit, and back into Clark Kent’s suit. He pulled his glasses out of his breast pocket, put them on, and ran his fingers through his hair. He took another deep breath, and entered the orphanage’s kitchen through the side door.

There were a few pieces of pumpkin pie left, and they smelled almost as good as the pie Martha was cooling on the counter, when he had stopped by that afternoon to pick up Jonathan’s Santa suit. It smelled so good, it almost tempted him to try to take a bite, but this was neither the time nor the place.

“What are you going to name him?” he heard Samantha say.

He was glad the little girl’s tears had abated for the moment. He had hoped the ragdoll would help her feel better, but instead it had made her feel worse. She hadn’t wanted a doll; she had wanted her mommy back. Lois was right, as always; there were some things that were outside of his abilities. He couldn’t bring someone back from the dead.

Clark shrugged. Well, not, at least, without a time machine.

He walked into the dining room from the kitchen. He hadn’t taken more than five steps, before his favorite brunette approached him.

“Clark, I was so worried. He found you!” she said, giving him a hug. “Santa found you.”

“Hi, Lois. I was helping out in the kitchen… Um… about last night…” he paused, running his hand through his hair. How could he apologize for kissing her so thoroughly under the mistletoe and then telling her that he wished it hadn’t happened when he was so glad it had? “I know I shouldn’t have…” He began.

“The mistletoe, I know. I shouldn’t have hung it up. I got it, Chuck. I understand. It would have been like you leaving a Double Fudge Crunch bar on my desk and telling me to save it for Christmas. The temptation was too great,” Lois said, stepping back. She pointed her finger in his face. “Don’t do anything that stupid again! You have some major explaining to do before I’ll give you access to my lips again. For now, you aren’t allowed to kiss me without my say so.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, bowing his head to hide his grin.

For now.

*** Epilogue ***

Lois and Clark walked down the street from the orphanage, side by side until her boots slipped on a patch of ice. Clark caught her with one arm and pulled her against him to stop her from falling. After that, they continued walking; only now Lois held on to his arm. He wasn’t complaining.

“What do you feel like doing?” she asked.

That sounded like a loaded question to him. Personally, Clark was happy doing what they were doing. He could walk like this all night. He sighed. But she could not. His first option would be a romantic dinner for two, followed by taking her back to his place, and making love to her for… he took a random guess… the next ninety years, but that option wasn’t available to him either.

An idea struck him. It was wild, impetuous, and crazy. More likely than not, it would backfire on him. Clark had been sure the kiss from the night before would’ve caused Lois to explode like a firework and yet, she forgave him. Since he seemed to be blessed with luck on his side tonight, he decided to take the risk. “Let’s go to the store and get a carton of ice cream.”

Lois looked at him as if he had lost his marbles. “Clark, you don’t eat ice cream.”

“I know. It’s not for me,” he replied, turning the corner and heading for the market down the block.

She shrugged, finding the suggestion acceptable, as he knew she would. “I vote chocolate.”

“How’d I guess,” Clark said with a laugh.

Less than half hour later, their cab pulled up outside an old townhouse in the suburb of North Bridge, which looked as if it were overflowing with people.

“What is this place?” Lois asked, after they had stepped onto the sidewalk and had paid for the cab.

“I’ve been invited to a party. I wasn’t going to go because, frankly, I hate parties, especially family Christmas parties, but I owe someone a favor, so…” he said, giving her a sheepish grin.

“Fine, Smallville,” Lois replied, passing him the bag with the ice cream. “I’m guessing this isn’t for me.”

“It’s pot luck,” he explained, shifting the ice cream to the other hand and holding her elbow as they walked up the front stoop.

“Anyone I know?” she asked as he rang the doorbell.

“Actually…”

The door flung open and there stood a tall older woman with short auburn hair. She looked exactly like Clark imagined Cat would in twenty years. She was dressed more conservatively than Cat, but the years had been kind to her. “Why, aren’t you handsome?... er… a handsome couple,” the woman said.

“Is Cat here?” Clark asked.

Lois’s hand slipped down to his and twisted his arm behind his back. He imagined that would be painful for anyone else, instead he shook his hand free and placed it against the small of her back to keep her from escaping.

The woman gave him a startled expression. “You’re friends with my Kitty?” she sputtered with excitement, glancing between them. “Both of you?”

“Yes, we work with Cat, and she invited us. I’m Clark Kent, and this is Lois Lane. I hope it’s okay that we came. We just finished a big story, and we weren’t sure we could make it,” Clark said, producing the gallon of ice cream. “We understand it’s pot luck.”

“Oh, gosh. Where are my manners?” the woman said, stepping away from the door to let them inside. “I’m Betsy Grant, Cat’s mother. Joe, my husband, is around here somewhere. Why don’t you put that ice cream on the dessert table? I’ll go get you a scoop.” Cat’s mother headed through the packed living room towards the kitchen.

As they followed, Lois hissed under her breath, “I can’t believe you brought me here! Cat’s going to be furious. I’m sure she invited you as her date, not to bring a date.”

Despite everything, Clark couldn’t be happier with Lois’s choice of words, even though he knew he had no right to be.

They arrived in the dining room. There were two buffets and the dining table covered with food. They found the one with the desserts and drinks. Lois poured herself some punch.

“Cat told me specifically that she was inviting me ‘as a friend’,” Clark whispered. “Apparently, her mother is one to become excited by the thought of her daughter getting married. Cat didn’t want to give her another false hope in that regard.”

Lois choked on her fruit punch. He didn’t know if it was the alcohol she wasn’t expecting it to contain, or from the preposterous idea of Cat walking down the aisle. “Cat?”

He shrugged. He would love to see Cat find someone who loved her as much as Clark loved Lois. Although, he guessed finding one’s soul mate was more a matter of chance than the norm. Clark had been lucky in that regard. He had already known his true love’s name and address when he arrived in this dimension. He just hadn’t known that her True Clark had already staked a claim.

“Anyway, with you here it proves to her family that Cat has more than just male friends,” he murmured.

“We’re not friends,” Lois grumbled to herself, taking another sip of her punch.

Betsy Grant returned with an ice cream scoop and some dessert bowls.

“Thank you, Mrs. Grant,” Clark said, serving Lois some ice cream before she went off like a nuclear bomb.

“Please, call me Betsy,” Cat’s mother said, lowering her voice. “Mrs. Grant is my mother-in-law.” She rolled her eyes in a familiar manner. “She’s around here somewhere. Just don’t ask her to sing, or she’ll never stop.”

Clark laughed. “I’ll try my best.”

“I’m so glad Kitty finally invited some of her friends from the city,” Betsy said, grinning at both of them and setting a hand on their arms. “I was beginning to wonder if she had any friends at all.”

“Don’t worry yourself on that account,” Lois reassured her. “Cat is extremely popular.”

Clark handed his partner the dish of ice cream before Lois could tell Cat’s mother how popular.

“Now, if we could only find my Kitty a good man, so she could settle down and start working on my grandchildren,” Betsy lamented.

Clark picked up a brownie and shoved it into Lois’s mouth before she could tell Betsy how much practice Cat already had in that department.

“We’re working on that,” he lied through his teeth, and then patted Lois on the back as she started to cough.

“Thanks, Clark,” Lois said, when she could speak again.

“I’ll go see if I can find my Kitty. She’s around here somewhere. In the meantime, eat, drink, and be merry,” Betsy said, disappearing into the crowd.

“I take back everything I said earlier. This party is going to be a riot.” Lois nudged Clark. “‘We’re working on that’?” she scoffed.

Clark shrugged sheepishly. He knew that line was going to come back to haunt him. “What was I supposed to say?” he answered, pulling a bottle of water out of a tub filled with ice and cans of soda pop.

“‘Don’t hold your breath’, perhaps?” Lois said, chuckling.

“I haven’t given up hope for Cat,” he replied.

“You could always marry her,” Lois suggested facetiously, or in what he hoped was jest, before she walked back into the living room.

“I haven’t given up all hope for us either,” Clark murmured. As Martha had reminded him that morning, there was still hope.

“Kitty!” Betsy shouted up the stairs. “Come down here and join the party, dear. Your friends are here.”

“My friends?” Cat called back down with suspicion, a moment before she peered down the stairwell. She was dressed elegantly in slacks and a red blouse, and had pulled her auburn locks back into a loose braid at the base of her neck. She spotted him and a familiar grin appeared. “Clark!” Cat gushed, rushing the rest of the way downstairs and into his arms with one of her entire body hugs. “You made it!”

“Cat?” Lois sputtered in surprise.

Cat turned and enveloped Lois in their embrace. “And Lois, too. Wow! Thanks for coming, you guys. Have you met everyone? Let me give you the grand tour.”

“You look good,” Clark said, meaning it.

“Yeah, I didn’t recognize you,” Lois said wryly.

“Did you expect that I dress like I do at the office with my family?” Cat said, and rolled her eyes. She introduced them to her three brothers, Peter, Matt, and Nate, and to Matt and Nate’s wives. Then, with her arms hooked around Lois and Clark’s elbows, Cat dragged them around to find her father, her uncles, aunts, grandmother, and cousins. There were nieces and nephews, and friends of the family, whom she didn’t bother introducing them to, although they did stop in front of the parish priest for a ‘how do you do’.

As Cat had predicted they would, everyone welcomed them. She seemed flushed with excitement that they were there. It was so unlike the ‘family Christmas party’ at the Lang’s house, Clark was very glad he had come, happy to give Cat so much pleasure so easily. He glanced over at his partner; even Lois seemed to be having a good time.

Maybe Lois and Cat would come out of this as friends.

Even Clark knew that wish would stretch this Christmas miracle to its breaking point.

End of Christmas Story, but continued in Wrong Clark (See TOC link below)

Comments

To read more with these characters, please check out Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Clark

Disclaimer: Inspired by the characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster as they were portrayed on the Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman television series, developed by Deborah Joy LeVine. The characters do not belong to me; they belong to themselves (although Warner Bros, DC Comics, and the heirs to Siegel and Shuster might disagree). Many thanks to all the writers on the above-referenced show, especially Deborah Joy LeVine, Dan Levine, and Bradley Moore. Everything else is original.

Lois's flashback is from my last year’s S1 (canon) Christmas episode Jolly St. Clark .