After the intensely emotional previous two parts, this part was a much-needed breather. It also described how Lois and Clark marshalled their attack - and, strangely enough, their defence! - against Paul Smith, Dr. Snodgrass and the Star.
This is potentially a huge story – sexual misconduct by one of the most respected professors on campus and being protected by the Vice-President of Student Affairs *and* collusion with the Star?
Perry is right, this is huge indeed!
Perry was great in this part. He was perfect as Lois and Clark's surrogate father - immediately seeing Lois and Clark as soon as they came to see him, asking them how Lucy was doing, and wanting to know why they were not in class. And, of course, ready to fight by their side to bring Paul and Snodgrass down, and possibly take the Star down a notch or two. And he is giving them jobs at the Planet - on one condition:
"However, I also realize that the two of you are skipping class to be here today aren't you?"
They nodded guiltily.
"Well, since you're already here, I won't give you a hard time about it today, but," he looked at them sternly. "There's only three weeks until the semester's over and if the two of you don't pass and graduate, then you'll both be out of jobs. No more skipping class, you hear me?"
That's great! Perry is looking after his two surrogate kids.
I was a little worried that Perry assigned Cat to work with them, because she has never struck me as a very serious reporter. But I would really like it if you gave her the chance to prove herself here, Carol.
The last part of this chapter was my favorite. That is where Lois and Clark talked to each other. In the previous chapter, Clark said to Lois that they should never let a day go by without really talking to one another, even if it was only for a few minutes. This was great:
"I never said thank you."
"For what?"
"Last night." She plucked at the long sleeve pajama shirt she was wearing. "I know how much spending money you have and I know how much all of this must have cost, so thank you."
Lois is opening up to Clark and acknowledging what he has done for her. She trusts him now.
Clark smiled at her. "It was my pleasure. It was the least I could do. I know you've needed some new pajamas and stuff and I thought you'd rather have some new stuff last night."
"You thought right." She stared at the floor for a minute. "I'm sorry I thought you had some ulterior motive."
"It's over, remember?"
"Yeah. But still, you must have been saving up for something to have this kind of cash."
"I was."
"Do you mind if I ask what?"
He smiled again. "Our first date."
"What?"
"Remember – after graduation, I was going to take you on our first official date."
She nodded. "I remember. I just didn't think you did."
"We talked about it last night, remember?"
She thought for a second and then nodded. "My brain isn't functioning at its full capacity right now, but you're right. We did."
"I don't think a day's gone by that I haven't thought about it at least once."
"Wow." She thought for a minute.
Clark is happy that she thanked him, and he is glad to tell her what he wanted to do with the money: take Lois on their first real date. And not a day has gone by without him thinking about that first date. That is just lovely.
And now that Lois has started thanking Clark, she needs to thank him for how he has looked after Lucy for her, too:
Lois nodded. "That's something else I never thanked you for."
"What?"
"Talking to them about... you know." She made a vague gesture towards their room.
"You know about that?"
"Yeah. I asked her about it on her birthday a couple years ago and she said that you'd pulled both of them aside after they'd been dating a few months and talked to them."
"I meant to mention it to you but..." He shrugged. "We weren't exactly having deep conversations on a regular basis."
"I know," she said quietly. "That's my fault and I'm..."
He moved and held a finger to her lips. "No more, remember?"
She nodded. "I won't say it, but thank you anyway."
"Part of my job."
She played with the edge of the tablecloth. "It should have been my job. *I'm* her sister."
"We're both her guardians. Or we were anyway."
"Still..." She refused to look at him as she spoke again. "Do you think they have?"
Clark shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think so. When I talked to them, I strongly encouraged them to wait at least until after high school. I was afraid that they wouldn't last that long or that after Jimmy graduated and moved on to college, they'd grow apart. And I didn't want them to rush into something they might regret. But she turned 18 last summer... it's not really our place anymore."
"Not legally, but she's still my little sister."
"Mine too."
I just loved how Clark said that Lucy was his little sister, too. And she is to him, because they are family.
"I think Lucy expected us to camp out under that mistletoe," Lois said quietly.
Clark stared at the floor. "The thought's crossed my mind more than once – what she thinks about... us."
"It's none of her business what's going on between us."
"I know, but someday, she's probably going to come to you for advice. Either because things aren't going as they'd hoped in that area or because it's finally about to happen or whatever."
Lois sighed. "Probably. Can we move to Europe so she can't reach me?"
This really made me wonder. The way you have written Lucy and Jimmy, I don't think they have had sex yet. When Lucy feels ready to do it for the first time and she comes to Lois for advice, what will Lois's relationship with Clark be like by then? Will she know anything about sex that Lucy doesn't? I hope she will!
And Lois and Clark are going shopping. Good.
But I think the sweetest part from this chapter was this:
"My mom always thought I'd marry a brunette. Lana didn't have a chance."
Lois cocked an eyebrow at him.
"In the letter she left me for my first date, she said she couldn't think of any girl in Smallville that she wanted me to end up with and in the wedding letter she said that, in her mind's eye, she could picture me and my bride on our wedding day and she pictured a brunette."
"I bet it wasn't anything like the picture in her head," Lois said softly.
"No," he answered slowly. "But she also said that the location and the clothes didn't matter, but that I was marrying my best friend and that was the most important thing." He reached out with one hand and gently caressed her face. "And I did. You know that, right? I married my best friend and, despite the problems we've had and the struggles we've faced, there's nowhere - *nowhere* - else I'd rather be."
That's just lovely!
Ann
