Bonus points to Michael
.
Last time:
Clark
I looked at Lois. "I won!"
She squealed and threw her arms around my neck. "You won!"
I swung her around and before I could set her down, she framed my face with her hands and kissed me square on the mouth.
I found myself starting to kiss her back when she pulled away and smacked me on the chest. "Where's my prize?"
We all laughed. I took Christopher from Mom and pointed to Pop Pop. "You've got twenty-four tickets. Choose wisely."
She looked at the prizes very seriously, muttering as she went. Should she get something for Christopher or for Mom since I never managed to win her anything?
Finally, she pointed to a stuffed yellow duck that quacked when you squeezed its bill.
"That's nine tickets," Pop Pop told her as he handed it over. "You have fifteen left."
She turned and handed the duck to Christopher who promptly tried to eat it.
She looked over the rest of the prizes again before pointing to a small black and white bear. "That one." She hugged it to her chest as she turned to look at me. She gave me her most innocent eyes and a big smile. "If you hide those pictures, I'm going to name him Clarkie Bear."
I groaned. "And if I don't hide them?"
She shrugged and picked at his ear as she walked away. "I'll probably still name him Clarkie Bear."
I sighed as I grabbed the backpack from Mom, kissing her on the cheek as she congratulated me, and took off after Lois.
I *was* going to hide those pictures.
*~*81*~*
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
Clarkie Bear.
Would I really name him that?
Yes.
I'd seen the looks on the faces of everyone when I'd announced the bear's new name. They were priceless – as was the crestfallen look on Clark's face.
Clarkie Bear it was.
And I'd kissed him.
For real.
Sort of.
And I thought he'd started to kiss me back.
It was probably part of the whole thing. He was more comfortable with that kind of thing – we'd been married almost two years; it was about time – and we *were* in front of his friends and he probably felt that he had to make it look good. There were people around who would probably report back to Lana if they saw chinks.
And I'd liked it.
I'd liked it a lot.
I wanted to be able to kiss him whenever I wanted and mean it. I did kiss him pretty much whenever I wanted – in public. I wanted to be able to kiss him and...
I shook my head quickly to stop the thought in its tracks.
"What else do you want to do?" Clark asked.
I shrugged. "You tell me."
I noticed Christopher had nodded off against Clark's back again.
Suddenly, my eyes lit up. "Are there caramel apples around anywhere?"
He laughed. "Yep. Josh's mom makes the best caramel apples."
"Well, what are we waiting for?"
He laughed again and took my hand. "Come on."
*~*
"Do you need help with that?" I asked Clark the next weekend as he tried to straighten his tie.
"No." His jaw was set. "I'm going to do it myself."
I shrugged. "Suit yourself. Let me know when you change your mind." I headed back into our room and stepped into my heels.
Jessica was getting Christopher dressed in his room. I headed towards the door when I heard Clark.
"I give. I need help."
I laughed. "Come here."
A second later, he was in front of me and I concentrated on his tie. Not on how amazing he looked or how good he smelled. I leaned back. "There. Perfect."
"Thanks."
I moved away from him, but lost my balance and found myself held against his chest.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice a bit husky.
I looked into his eyes as I nodded. "Yeah. Just lost my balance, that's all."
"Here he is," came a voice behind us.
The moment was over and we turned to see Jessica and Christopher coming into the room.
"Look at you," I said, slightly in awe. "You look awesome, little man." I held out my arms and he came willingly. "You are going to be a hit tonight."
He twisted in my arms as soon as he saw Clark. "Dada! Dada!"
Clark took him. "You are a handsome man, aren't you?"
There was a telltale beeping sound as someone accessed our wing. "Lois? Clark?"
"In our room, Daddy," I called.
The door opened a second later and Daddy walked in. I was glad that I was at least a semi-neat freak and that Clark could clean in seconds as we often had someone in here – if only for a few minutes here and there.
"You four look great," he said, reaching for Christopher who immediately reached back. He loved his grandpa. "You ready to head downstairs?"
I shrugged. "It's not like I need my purse or anything."
"Then let's go," Daddy said with a smile. "There's a few people here already and the rest will soon be fashionably late. Jimmy and his family were just getting here as I came up."
We headed down the stairs and into the Billiard Room. The pool table had been removed and the two rooms were both going to be in use. It wouldn’t be a large crowd, but it was an important kick-off to the Adoption Option foundation anyway.
The first people we saw were Billy and Serena. Daddy had invited them since it was their story that had started to shed light on the problem and they were covering the event for the Daily Planet. We exchanged greetings and Serena oo'd and ah'd over Christopher who was toddling around the room.
Jimmy and his parents came to join us. He looked rather dashing in his tux – not as good as Billy and certainly not as good as Clark – but good. I suddenly wished Lucy had lived to meet him. I wasn't sure where the thought had come from and I shoved it aside.
And then I froze.
I'd met Jimmy's mom a few times but I'd never even seen his dad.
He caught my eye and then Clark's and shook his head slightly.
"Hey, guys." Jimmy gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek before shaking Clark's hand. "You've all met my mom and this is my dad. Jack Olsen."
Jack. 'Security' in Latislan Jack.
Of course. Who else would Jimmy's dad be?'
There were hellos and handshakes all around and more people started to fill both rooms.
Jack managed to pull us both aside. "Thank you for not saying anything," he told us quietly.
"Don't they know what you do?" Clark asked.
He shook his head. "National security means I can't tell them where I am or what I'm doing. They know that much."
I sighed. "Are you still in Latislan?"
He nodded. "Daniel and I were at a function where Navance was the other day and he mentioned you three again."
Clark wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close to him. My head rested on his shoulder.
"Did you ever find out anything about the..." I hesitated. "What was on the plane?"
He shook his head. "I couldn't tell you if we did, but no we haven't and no connection to anyone else either."
I sighed. "Figures."
"I wondered when we met if you were related to Dave," he said abruptly. "I wish you could have known him."
"Me, too," I said honestly.
"I'm glad to hear your family has sort of adopted Jimmy, too. I'm not home nearly as much as I'd like and I've only heard good things about your dad." He hesitated. "I'm glad to see the three of you doing so well together. Your son is wonderful." He looked at me as he said that.
I wondered at that until I remembered that he knew the whole truth. "Thank you," I said quietly.
"You know, Clark, he really does look at lot like you," he commented thoughtfully. "Are you sure..." His voice trailed off.
Neither of us said anything and a minute later, Jimmy walked up with Christopher holding his finger.
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
Was there *any* possible way that Christopher was my son?
I'd always smiled and made a comment that neither confirmed nor denied that I was partially responsible for the adorable little man.
Theoretically speaking, could my dream from that night have been a reality or something?
I shook myself. No, of course not. How could I have been with Lois like that and not remembered it? Couldn't have happened.
Could it?
I turned to Lois. "Would you like to dance?" I asked as the music started.
She nodded. "If Jimmy doesn’t mind keeping an eye on Christopher."
He shook his head. "Nah. He's a babe magnet and you never know. I could meet some heiress at this thing."
We all laughed and I took Lois' hand, leading her to the dance floor.
With her heels on, she wasn't the right height to put my chin on her head, but she was the right height to rest our heads together as we danced – the side of my chin to her temple.
And we danced well together. We hadn't entered the line dancing contest in Smallville this year - though Danielle had urged us to. I'd danced with Mom and Nana and Granny. Grandma Davis' arthritis was acting up so she hadn't danced at all. Granny Kent and I had done the Tush Push with Lois and Dad. She'd also managed to finagle a dance out of Pop Pop. I couldn't remember the last time Pop Pop had danced with anyone but Mom and Nana. He just didn’t.
Before long, Lois and I had traded partners. We danced with Serena and Billy and Lois danced with Jimmy, Ollie and her dad, while I danced with Jimmy's mom, Jessica and Vicki.
The dance floor was fairly quiet as the finger foods made their way around the crowd. I popped a fancy hors' devours in my mouth – no pigs in blankets here – and heard Christopher's laugh behind me. I turned to see Lois holding him and twirling him around the dance floor.
I smiled as he laughed and twirled with her. She slowed down near me, but showed no sign of stopping. I moved with her. "You know, I might get jealous," I said before I could stop myself. "My wife dancing with a younger, more handsome man."
Her laugh sounded a bit forced, though I was sure no one else would notice. No one else would have heard me, so why would I have made such a... husbandly comment?
"You can be replaced," she pointed out as Christopher reached for me.
"Well, then," I said with a smile. "How about a dance with both of us?"
She smiled back. "I'd like that."
I was reminded of my parents' wedding as we moved slowly around the dance floor. I sensed many of the eyes in the room on us as we did and I was sure a picture or two had been taken as well.
It wasn't too much later, that Sam took a spot on the smallish platform that housed a string quartet.
"Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention please?"
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
Everyone in the room stilled and I saw those in the other room make their way towards us.
"I'd like to thank all of you for coming this evening. The new Adoption Option Foundation is something that has become near and dear to my heart. As some of you know, Ellen was my high school sweetheart. We broke up when she moved away our senior year and she soon found herself pregnant by someone who denied the child. Rather than telling me about it as we attempted a long-distance reconciliation, she was afraid it would drive me away. She put the baby up for adoption and never actually saw him. We got married after our freshman year in college and we went on to have two beautiful daughters."
He motioned towards me. "My oldest daughter, Lois Kent, and her husband, Clark, are here tonight with their son, Christopher. He's the adorable little guy in the tux. Ellen and our youngest daughter, Lucy, were killed in a car accident nearly ten years ago." He took a deep breath to steady himself. "One of the things our lawyer gave to me was a letter telling me about her son. I felt many things – hurt, betrayed, among others – and it was several years before I finally started looking for him. It occurred to me that something could have happened to his adoptive parents and he might need somewhere to go. When I realized he'd be eighteen, I thought he might have a brother or sister who might need somewhere... And I wanted to know the young man who was part Ellen."
He paused for a minute. "What I found out absolutely broke my heart. David John Olsen had died waiting for a bone marrow donor eighteen months after Ellen and Lucy's accident. His parents graciously allowed me access to his medical records and both Ellen and Lois would both have been matches for him. His parents had tried everything to get the adoption records unsealed but they couldn't. All they were able to find out was that his natural mother was deceased.
"Last year, my daughter and son-in-law met a young man while working at the Daily Planet. As they shared stories one day, they realized that they had more in common than they could have ever guessed. Jimmy was the biological son of Dave's adoptive parents. It has been a joy and a privilege to welcome the brother of Ellen's son into our extended family, even if he did deck me the first time we met."
There was scattered laughter and Jimmy looked abashed.
"When I heard the story from Jimmy's perspective, the idea of Adoption Option was created. It will serve as an adoption agency that promotes open adoptions, specializing in those where one or both of the natural parents have known family medical issues, such as those that exist in David Eckstein's family." He pointed towards a couple. "I would like to thank his parents for being with us tonight before they head back to St. Louis to see their son play in the World Series."
Clark couldn't help it; I knew he couldn't. He let out a loud whistle at the mention of his beloved Cardinals in the Series.
Laughter broke out around the room.
Sam smiled at him. "Have I mentioned that my son-in-law is a Cardinals fan? Though the Eckstein family has never faced adoption, they appreciate that someone in a family like theirs, with genetic kidney disease, could and they support the idea of an agency that specializes in cases such as that. We will also be maintaining a registry of mothers from closed adoptions – past and future – who are willing to have their names disclosed to their children or the adoptive families if a medical need arises.
"We will be starting an extensive promotional campaign throughout New Troy and the surrounding area. Eventually, we'd like to go nationwide – at least with the registry aspect of the Foundation and hopefully with the adoption program in general."
He moved on to the fund raising aspect of the event as Jessica took Christopher from Clark. It was past bedtime and he was starting to get more than a bit grumpy. We mingled and danced for another hour before the crowd started to dwindle and we headed back to our room.
I collapsed onto the bed, my feet still resting on the floor. "Do I get another foot rub tonight?" I asked.
Clark chuckled. "Maybe." He tugged at his tie and I was sure he was unaware how I watched him as he pulled it out of his collar before undoing his top button.
The phone rang, interrupting my contemplation of how delicious my husband looked and how there was nothing I could do about it. I grabbed the cordless phone next to me.
"Hello?"
"Lois, is Clark nearby?" It was Martha and something didn't sound right.
"Is everything okay?" I asked sitting up and motioning to Clark.
His eyes were wide as he sat next to me.
"Please?" she asked.
I handed him the phone.
"Mom?"
I couldn’t hear what Martha said, but the color left Clark's face and I was afraid he was going to break the phone if he didn't loosen his grip.
"What?" I whispered.
"He's gone," Clark said hoarsely. "He's gone."
*****
TBC
