Part SevenIn the predawn hours, Lois crept down the hallway of the old homestead. She dressed in a faded pair of blue jeans and navy Met University sweatshirt over a white t-shirt. The weather supposed to be in the eighties today, yet this early it was a balmy forty-eight degree.
She had slept in Clark’s old bedroom like she had done when she had stayed last year. When she got back from the hospital last night Clark was working on something in the barn. Lois, exhausted from the day’s events and went to bed. So she wasn’t sure when Clark came inside and got some sleep. Clark didn’t need as much sleep as everyone else since he wasn’t normal. He wasn’t like everyone else and that is what made him so special in Lois’ eyes.
As Lois walked into the living room she found Clark passed out on the couch. His glasses were on the coffee table. He looked so peaceful as he slept. She could sit down and watch him sleep for hours. She knew he needed the rest. As she heard him breathe in his sleep she reached over, brushed his hair back away from his eyes.
Lois didn’t want to wake him so she got started on her day as Martha had suggested. She began by making some coffee finding everything where Martha had told her it would be. Then she did something she rarely ever did - she cooked breakfast. Lois had found some eggs and bacon in the refrigerator and knew the basics and got busy. Soon the house filled with the smell of bacon frying on the stove, fresh coffee, and eggs over easy.
As Lois stood there buttering the last of the toast Clark walked up beside her.
“Breakfast smells delicious,” Clark emphasized as he grabbed a piece of bacon off the plate.
“I went to the hospital last night,” Lois conveyed, not being able to look in his eyes. “Your dad woke up and told me about the history of the homestead and your family.”
“I heard the stories so many times growing up about the great Nathaniel Kent.”
“I hear that his great great great grandson is pretty terrific,” Lois stated with love and sincerity in her eyes and touched his arm. These were the moments she missed the most in their lives. The little moments of flirting with the man she loved.
“I’m not a farmer, Lois. You and I both know,” Clark sighed as he pulled away from her. “My parents knew that and let me leave for college to pursue Journalism. Now, this farm is in trouble because I was selfish.”
“Why? Because you didn’t want to do what every other Kent did in the history of Smallville,” Lois questioned. “Clark, if we did what was always expected of us I would have turned to medicine like my father wanted me to. We wouldn’t have ever met. I don’t know about you, but I’m elated that you chose journalism and the Daily Planet. You are the best thing that has ever happened in my life,” Lois admitted as she stared at his lips. She wanted to kiss him; it had been so long since she had felt those lips on hers. She wanted to give in and to feel those arms around her. Her body ached for his; for any contact of his, and suddenly she gave in as she leaned over and kissed him.
***
One moment Clark told Lois how selfish he was being and the next he was feeling her in his arms. He couldn’t get enough of her as his heart raced and his desire for her built. He had missed the feeling and at one point he thought he would never be able to have her again. Clark swept his hands through her hair and pulled her closer to his chest as they kissed passionately.
Suddenly a knock at the kitchen door broke them apart. Clark stepped back from Lois, turned to the door, and used his x-ray vision to see the neighbor.
“Lois, open your eyes and close your mouth,” Clark smirked as he touched her lips. “It’s Wayne Irig from next door.”
Lois leaned back against the counter as Clark hustled over to the door.
“Hi, Wayne,” Clark announced, opening the door to see the neighbor. “What can I do for you this morning?”
“I heard your dad woke up last night. I wanted to know if you needed any help on the farm. My grandson needs something to do for a couple of weeks and I already have a couple of farmhands working on my farm,” Wayne asked, looking inside the house trying to see Martha.
“My mom is still at the hospital with my dad. I know we don’t have much to pay your grandson,” Clark responded putting his hand through his hair.
“Clark, it’s my grandson. He just needs something to do so he isn’t running around causing trouble,” Wayne replied. “He won’t stay at my place during the day because he says ‘Grandpa is too old’, but if he hung around here he could help you out and maybe your dad until he is better.”
“Clark, I think it’s a great idea,” Lois interrupted coming up behind him. “Mentor his grandson about the life on the farm and it might just be what all of us need.”
“You would be doing me a big favor, Clark,” Wayne mentioned as he shifted his feet. He knew how hard it had been for the Kent’s the past few months and how much help they needed.
“Fine, he can come by around noon. I need some help with putting up a new fence on the back of the property line,” Clark stated as he looked back at Lois then at Wayne.
“Thanks, Clark. His name is Dylan and he will meet you at the property line at noon. You are doing me a big favor, son,” Wayne commented before he waved and walked away.
“See, maybe, this Dylan will help lighten the load for you,” Lois assumed as she turned back towards the kitchen.
“It’s not his responsibility to take on this farm, it’s mine.”
“Yes, but remember you are not alone in this. I didn’t just come here to Smallville to see how you were doing. I came to help and that is what I am going to do. If we ever plan on having a future together, you have to let people help you, even if it’s making sure you eat and sleep like a normal person,” Lois explained while she grabbed the coffee mug on the counter and handed it to him. “Now drink this and eat some breakfast.”
Clark shook his head at the amazement of this woman before him. Smallville, cooking breakfast, doing anything on a farm, and taking care of him wasn’t the woman he had met a couple of years ago. Eternally he thought this is what life with them would be like, just them having breakfast together, enjoying their time together, yet the circumstances leading to this moment was not how he imagined it - especially at his childhood home.
Lois folded up the blankets on the couch and took them into Clark’s bedroom along with the pillow. For a moment, Lois imagined them laying together in his bed together after a long day working together on the farm. As much as this wasn’t the type of person she was, she would do anything for him including cooking, cleaning, and helping on the family farm. After taking care of the blankets, Lois went back into the kitchen to find all of the dishes washed and Clark nowhere to be found. She didn’t expect everything to be figured out in one breakfast, but at least she made progress.
A few minutes later she was outside at the entrance of the barn looking into the hay-filled barn with a couple of stables for the horses the Kent family once had. She filled the large cup that was on top of the white bucket of chicken feed and went back outside to the chicken coop. The chicken coop was a replica of the barn with several entrances for the chickens to lay eggs. Chicken wire wrapped around a forty by sixty perimeter with over twenty chickens inside. Lois had figured he had left her the tasks that her mother would normally do, which of them was to feed the chickens and check for eggs.
She opened the gate to the chicken coop and winced at the crowd of chickens around. The chickens wandered around and many of them noticed the lady carrying the cup of food.
“You might want to be careful, some of them can get a little territorial,” Clark stated as he stood in the beyond the backside of the perimeter.
“Your mom told me to be careful of a couple of them with the red streak in their hair,” Lois explained as she tossed the feed around the ground.
“Oh yes, Lucy and Ethel, are the feisty ones. Reminds me of a petite alluring brunette I know that has a feisty side to her,” he replied with a smile across his face.
“I’ll remember that,” she said as one of the chickens began to peck at her right leg.
“I have to drive into town for some supplies. Would you like to come with me,” Clark asked as he put his hands on the chicken wire.
“Sure, if we can stop by the hospital and see your parents.”
“Lois,” Clark exhaled. “I’m not ready to see how frail my dad is.”
“Is that what you are scared of,” Lois wondered as she walked over to the man she loved. She couldn’t believe he was being so forthright with his feelings.
She turned around and walked out of the fenced-in area. Lois couldn’t be there for Clark physically and emotionally with chickens pecking at her leg. She wanted to hug him, hold his hands, soothe his worries away.
Clark walked around to Lois and realized he had to finally be honest with her. He walked towards the house and sat down on the steps of the front porch. He put his hands on his knees, nervous about this moment, as he looked out into the fields.
Lois followed him, sat down next to him, and let him take his time. She knew he had to be worried about everything going on, but she wasn’t sure what he would say.
“You know my parents refinanced the house when I went to college,” Clark stated as he kept his eyes focused on the fields, hearing the sounds of the farm such as the chickens clucking, the cows mooing, and the sound of the wind across the fields of corn and wheat. “I worked two jobs and went to school full-time, yet they still refinanced. I didn’t know about it until recently.”
Lois patted his left hand, feeling the tension in his hand that was still on his knee. She had questions about certain aspects of his college years, but this wasn’t the time to ask.
“I had some of my powers like the super-speed by then, so having two part-time jobs and still getting to class on time and studying wasn’t that difficult. I didn’t realize back then that my parents were already hurting for money. I was the first one in my family to go to college, so my parents were going to do anything to make sure I went. I mean I even had a scholarship for some of it. I just didn’t realize they had to refinance the house,” he explained as he took in a deep breath. “I traveled so much after college and sent them money. I couldn’t settle into one place because of my powers.”
“Was Metropolis the first time you settled somewhere,” Lois wondered as she looked over at him.
“Yes, it wasn’t just Metropolis, it was the Daily Planet, and you that made me realize I could stay in one place. Before Metropolis I would move anytime I rescued someone afraid of getting caught. My dad would tell me that if I was found out, I would become a lab rat if I was ever caught. So once I moved to Metropolis, we decided that it would be best for a secret identity.”
“The space shuttle - Prometheus,” Lois questioned, remembering back to the moment the man in a red, blue, and yellow suit showed up in front of her on the shuttle.
“We were watching the launch here together when there were problems, and I flew in to help.”
“Thinking back it makes perfect sense why you had to be two people and keep your secret. In the beginning, everyone wanted information about Superman and who he was, where he was from?”
“Lex was the biggest threat back then, and, well, Trask was until Rachel shot him,” Clark remembered those first few months.
“I was so scared that I had lost you that day,” Lois admitted, “there were so many moments that first year that I thought I had lost my best friend.”
Clark sat next to her, realizing that if they had just been honest with each other back then, maybe, they wouldn’t have had to deal with so much heartache. If he had been honest with her, in the beginning, maybe she would not have Luthor fixated on her so much. Now with the troubles at the farm, he knew what he had to do, but was it for the best. He had to tell Lois what he was planning on doing from now on.
“I don’t think I can be two people anymore, Lois,” Clark sighed as he looked over at her. “My parents have lost so much because of me. I think it’s time I come back to Smallville full-time and give up being Superman.”
Lois sat there in shock. What did this mean for them? The Daily Planet? The people of Metropolis that depended on Superman? And the world? What would the world be without Superman?
**Notes** This has been a long time coming, I know. I am not even sure if anyone even remembers me or my stories. Here is my next Chapter and I am back to writing daily even if it is a few sentences. By the way, I do not have beta anymore, unless there is anyone that would like to help me. I do run my stories through Grammarly though for basic grammar mistakes.
Previous Chapters can be found
Here.
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