First of all, my computer is dead and is in the shop. It's been slower than watching paint dry for the last couple of weeks, and now that we're out of the holiday season, I've been able to bring it in and get it taken care of.

I'm at the library now and if anyone doesn't mind I'm going to post the first couple of pages for Aromossa.

You haven't been forgotten, sweetie. Just stupid computer luck.

Thanks to Carol M for helping to beta this and inspire me with BS and cheers. This is only the beginning and I hope it will be a fun ride.

Merry Christmas, With Chaos

The elevator opened and Perry White's two stars reporters exited quickly, each going their own way. No friendly joking, no playful barbs shared, no affectionate touches between them - just passive hostility.

Hells Bells! His newsroom was on the verge of an impending implosion.

He reached into his desk drawer, pulled out a tin of paava leaves and chewed on them anxiously. *Something* had happened between the two partners a few days ago – something pretty major. This was not one of their usual spats where Clark would tiptoe around Lois for a couple of days, and then things between them would return to status quo. No! This was a potential Norcross and Judd all over again. He'd experienced firsthand what that had done to his newsroom years ago, and by Graceland, he was not going to let this happen again.

Just maybe a bit of a separation was in order. Get them the hell away from each other so they could cool off and clear their heads. Make them miss each other like crazy until it knocked some sense into their empty heads. Yeah, that sounded like a good first step.

Perry leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes wearily. This wasn't going to be easy, but somehow he had to find a way to make it work.

******

Martha Kent paid their taxi fare while her husband, Jonathan unloaded their luggage from the trunk. The busy street in front of the Daily Planet whirled with activity. Martha subconsciously looked to the skies to catch a glimpse of her super powered son.

They had come on the spur of the moment after Clark's phone call the other night. He had sounded so down and discouraged. He'd been so hopeful in the past few weeks about his and Lois' relationship, maybe thinking that the tides were turning and that there was the chance that he would realize his dream of finally building something more between them then just best friends and work partners.

A couple of days ago, Clark said that he'd finally asked Lois out on a date. From what her son had told her, she'd panicked and ran. Now they were barely speaking two words to each other.

This sounded like a cry for Supermom.

The older couple worked their way through the crowd with their bags of luggage, twirled through the revolving front door and headed towards the elevators. Who knew what state they'd find their son and his girl!

******

Jonathan let his wife out of the elevator first and sighed deeply. He hadn't wanted to interfere with his son's love life, but Martha was hell bent on getting involved. Or so she *said* that she just wanted to be there for Clark. Sure, he was all for lending an ear and giving his son advice if he was asked, but he couldn't help but think that coming to Metropolis was bordering on meddling.

Shrugging his shoulders, he hoisted the luggage from off the floor and headed for Perry White's office. It was a standard routine for him and Martha to leave their bags there until they were ready to go to Clark's apartment.

He watched his wife fuss over their son at his desk and decided to give them a few moments of privacy. It wasn't like he hadn't seen Clark in a while. His super son had flown to see them just before this blow up with Lois. Clark had been so excited about finally grabbing the bull by the horns and asking her out on a date.

They had encouraged him whole-heartedly and had sent him off with hugs and well wishes. The next night he called sounding so discouraged. Lois had now turned him down twice – once before when he'd told her that he loved her, and then again, the other day when he asked her out on a date.

Now Christmas time was here, and his wife was in full mothering mode. Her son just had to be happy for Christmas, and she was dragging him, Jonathan, along for the ride.

He knocked tentatively on Perry's office and was immediately pulled inside.

"Perry?" Jonathan gasped as he tried to recover his balance from being hijacked inside the editor's office.

"Sorry there, Jonathan, but I'm going out of my head here!" Perry stated animatedly. "I saw a friendly ally and over-reacted. Have a seat, 'cause you're gonna need it."

Jonathon grinned knowingly. He definitely knew what this was all about.

"I'm almost at my wit's end, and I haven't a clue as to what's happened. They're both tighter-lipped than Elvis in a health food store!"

"Sorry you've had to get the full brunt of their falling out. Let's just say that Clark wanted to leap and Lois wouldn't play froggie." Jonathan tried to explain.

"Huh? I didn't figure Clark to be that type of guy!"

"Oh, no! It's nothing like that," Jonathan blurted to the defense of his son. "He just asked her out and she turned him down flat."

"She turned him down?" Perry buried his head in his hands before looking back up at Jonathon. "That little girl is nuts about him and she refuses to admit it to herself. Anyone with a heartbeat can see that they're crazy about each other."

"I know, Perry." Jonathan sighed. "That's why we're here a few days early before we were supposed to be for the holidays. Martha has it in her head to try to 'fix' things. I just don't see it working."

"Fire and ice! Gasoline and matches!" Perry boomed at Jonathan still on his own tirade. "All it's gonna take is one big spark and their fates are decided! Either my newsroom is restored to peaceful tranquility... or I'm heading for retirement!"

Jonathan sighed in defeat. He was caught up in this merry-go-round of love-matching whether he wanted to or not.

"Okay, Perry. What's the plan?"

The editor leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Now here's what I've been thinking..."

*****

TBC