Gaaah, Barbara! The beginning of this chapter was scary. I'm not that much of an A-plot fan, so... <shudder> Ah, but it was very well written, almost poetic and hauntingly prophetic.
Finding the right tree had been less complicated than Clark had thought. It was much more difficult to look at Lois without wanting to touch his lips against hers.
<sigh>
Hadn’t he promised himself to be careful? Hadn’t he wanted to withdraw before things got out of hand? But that was precisely the problem. He hadn’t been with a lot of women and he didn’t know how far was too far.
Oh, how sweet! Poor Clark!
Now it was too late, Clark had crossed the threshold and was already lost. He was in love and he would be until the end of time. The only problem was that hell would freeze over before he became Lois’ lover.
After this I'll be pestering you to show us hell as the newest ski resort!
The real issue was that he wasn’t able to predict Becca’s reaction. After they had been on their own for about five years now, she wasn’t going to accept Lois easily. He could understand that. Becca might feel replaced and maybe she would be afraid of losing his love. He didn’t love Becca less because of his feelings for Lois, but would his little whirlwind understand? Maybe she would even mistake his friendship with Lois for an attempt to replace her mother.
Ah, poor Clark, the caring, responsible single father.
“Does she have to be here?” Becca asked, shifting uncomfortably. Clark knew at once that Becca was speaking of Lois, and honestly who else could she have meant?
“I invited Lois,” Clark explained. “You remember that she helped us yesterday, don’t you?”
Becca nodded, but she didn’t seem convinced. “You don’t really like her,” she stated.
“Becky, honey, that’s not true,” he replied with a sigh. “I do like Lois. When you were asleep, yesterday, we decided to try and be friends.”
Becca gave him a shocked, disbelieving glance as if he had started cooperating with the enemy.
Very well written. I love it.
“You kissed her!” Becca said accusingly.
“It was just a kiss under the mistletoe, Becca.” Clark hoped that he wouldn’t blush and he was glad that Becca had only seen and not felt the kiss. Otherwise, there would not be the slightest chance that she would agree to his statement. “It didn’t mean anything beyond that.” At least so much was true, Clark mused. He might be longing for a meaning that went deeper than the superficial Christmas kiss, but there hadn’t been any. “I’ve kissed her, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to marry Lois. And I don’t think she would agree for that matter.”
“Good to know that you got that one right, Clark,” Lois mentioned from behind.
Yeah, well. Being a single parent and starting a relationship with a new person while trying not to hurt your child - that's a toughie. At least, so far, Lois seems willing to help him
not to start a relationship with her. Sigh.
Anyway, the Christmas tree was a real beauty. If the sight of it didn’t distract Santa so much that he fell from his sleigh, Clark didn’t know what would.
How sweet!
“Years of practice, Lois,” he replied. “Come on, let’s join Becca. I’m glad that you’re here this evening. It would have been lonely, just the two of us.”
“But she doesn’t like me, Clark,” Lois said somewhat miserably. “Children don’t like me.”
Poor Lois.
He handed Lois the box so she could decide which color she preferred. He noticed her longing glance towards the red ones. With an almost inaudible sigh, Lois took the blue ones.
I would have taken the blue ones right away!
He knew that the chances for a six were smaller than those for any other number
Actually, I'd say that the chances of getting a six would be one divided by six, which would be a little less than 17%. The chances of getting a one would also be 17%, and the chances of getting a two would also be 17% etcetera. However, the chances of getting any other number than six would be almost 83%.
“So, you think I’m not trying, huh?” Clark replied and kissed the dice before he threw it. He got a six. A little later, Clark’s position was getting increasingly better than it had been before. He smiled. “And you think I’m not trying?” he said teasingly.
Lois and Becca glanced at each other conspiratorially. It didn’t take long before Clark had lost all the progress he had made. Lois had allied with Becca.
How cute! Becca and Lois are allies!
She was whispering, incoherent words that didn’t make much sense. But what he heard made him think of the day before. She wanted to see Superman, and honestly, he wanted to see her as well, dressed in that suit.
Hmmm. I'm one of those who believe that Clark
wants to have his powers. I don't know if you agree with me, but the way I'm reading your story, your Clark seems to want his powers, too. And he seems to like his ability to use his powers to impress Lois.
Clark couldn’t believe his own words. He was willing to leave in order to be able to cheat on himself. He was losing his mind, he definitely was. He gave Lois his best puppy dog eyes. That was even more ridiculous. He wanted to pull her in an embrace; he wanted to feel her body against his. But he knew that she wasn’t ready for that, she wouldn’t let him.
He
is going to use his powers to sweep Lois off her feet!
“Good evening, Lois,” he said, his voice firm and self-assured in his heroic persona. His feet touched the ground.
“Superman!” she whispered. She blushed and looked down in order to hide it.
“I hope you are doing well.” He was behaving so foolishly. He wanted to see her, but he didn’t really know what to say.
“Yes, Superman,” she replied.
“Merry Christmas, Lois.”
How sweet and awkward.
“Where do you come from?” Lois wanted to know. “Why don’t you fly during the nights? I mean, hardly anyone has ever seen you doing that… Can’t you fly at night? But you are…flying I mean. And it’s dark, isn’t it? What is your favorite food, if you eat, that is? Do you need to eat? Are you human? Or from another Planet? Oh, Superman! There is so much I want to know about you!” She stepped closer to him and he could read on her face that she was afraid that he’d pull away. He stayed.
This reminds me so much of the first Superman movie with Christopher Reeve.
Lois watched him in complete amazement. She knew that she was one of the few persons who had seen him fly into the darkness. And she was even surer now that he hadn’t been in her hotel room accidentally the day before. But how did he know where she was? She would ask him that the next time she saw him. Lois glanced at the dark sky. She knew that he would return.
Sweet ending. This was a very good story, Barbara.
Ann