I wrote for the exact number of hours I work on Sunday, no more, no less, and I managed to include everyone's topic, including yours ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
innusiq. All of them have been combined in one way or another. Here were the topics used:
Family Vacation
Puberty
Grandchildren
Martha
Alienness
Making Up
Apologies
Scrapped Knees
Virginity/First Time
Holidays
Kids Interrupting Sex
Out to dinner
Blood
Birds and the Bees
Mornings
Panic
Unexpected Truth
Anniversary
These will be put into the memories section, too. I hope you enjoy!
Family, Friendship & Love: Snapshots of Life
Twenty-Eight Days
“It would be a marvelous investment opportunity…” The words faded, becoming a buzzing noise in the background, when Lex saw Superman enter the charity reception. Lex’s heart gave a lurch. It was the first time he’d seen Clark in person in twenty-eight days.
Superman’s bright red cape twisted around his ankles when he stopped to shake hands with the current Mayor. Lex couldn’t take his eyes off Clark, drinking in the familiar face like a man dying of thirst. He knew Clark had seen him even if he wouldn’t look in Lex’s direction.
Lex took a gulp of his drink, eyes following Clark around the room as Superman greeted everyone but him. It hurt badly. He excused himself, not knowing or caring if he’d interrupted the sales pitch he wasn’t listening to anyway, and retreated to the restroom.
The men’s room was empty, thankfully, and Lex set his empty glass on the sink before leaning heavily on the faux marble countertop. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. The fluorescent lighting made his skin appear sallow and emphasized the lavender circles under his pained eyes that the concealor couldn’t fully hide.
“Clark,” Lex said quietly, staring at himself in the mirror. “I know you can hear me. I’ve made an appointment with Dr. Mathers for tomorrow at ten. Please, be there. My apologies don’t seem to mean anything to you and I- I- ” His throat tightened and he swallowed past the painful lump roughening his voice. “We have to fix this, Clark. I don’t want lose you. I can’t—”
The restroom door opened and Lex cut off abruptly. He turned on the water and lowered his head, blinking rapidly. He washed his hands as whoever entered went over to the urinals. When he was sure his face wouldn’t give away his inner turmoil, he dried his hands and returned to the reception.
The Mayor was on the raised platform behind the freestanding microphone, giving his speech. Superman stood slightly to the side, behind him. Lex tried to catch Clark’s eye, but he still wouldn’t look at him. His heart twisted painfully. Please, he thought. Please, Clark, don’t let our partnership end.
“…and Superman has stopped by to say a few words, so I’ll turn the microphone over to him. Superman—” The Mayor moved aside as those present clapped politely.
Superman stepped up to the microphone and graced them with a small smile. “Thank you, Mayor Overton. And thank you, everyone, who has donated your time or money to the Metropolis Safe Haven program. Ten years ago, I helped my first person, a fifteen-year-old named Claudia, from being raped in an alley in the Slums. She had been living on the streets for months, with no money and no safe place to go. The first time she’d run away from home, the police took her right back to her abusive mother. The second time landed her in the juvenile justice system and child services placed her in a foster home just as abusive as the one she though she’d escaped from. Running away again landed her in that alley.
“I remember, after taking care of the would-be rapists, I had wanted to fly her home. She told me that she was home. She thanked me and disappeared down the alley,” Superman said. “It wasn’t until later that I realized I may have stopped the crime, but I hadn’t rescued her at all.”
Lex remembered that first night, too, and the silence the pervaded the penthouse. He’d found Clark at three in the morning sitting on the floor in PJs room, watching her sleep. He’d sat down beside Clark and quietly held his hand the remainder of the night.
“The next morning, I went to someone I thought could help, someone who had the resources and who I’d seen fight viciously in protection of his own children. Within days, the Metropolis Safe Haven program opened its first set of doors to runaways and abandoned children,” Superman said. “Lex Luthor, will you come up here?”
Lex took a shaky breath and forced his feet to move. The crowd murmured around him. He hadn’t expected this. He climbed the steps onto the platform and kept his features carefully blank as Clark looked at him for the first time in nearly a month. Emotions churned inside him, but he couldn’t let them show.
“Mr. Luthor is the driving force behind the Metropolis Safe Haven program,” Superman said, facing the microphone again. “His efforts and donations have not only kept the program alive, there are now twenty-two Safe Haven homes open in Metropolis with full time staffs of social workers, psychiatrists, and lawyers working to protect our city’s children. Please, give your recognition to Lex Luthor.”
Those present began clapping as Superman stepped back from the microphone. Lex glanced at him, but could see nothing but polite appreciation on his face. Lex fixed his expression into a gracious smile. He didn’t offer his hand to shake, because if he touched Clark, he might not let go. Instead, he stepped up to the freestanding microphone, clasping his hands behind his back.
“Thank you,” Lex said into the microphone. “It’s nice to be picked out of the crowd, but if it hadn’t been for your continued donations, the program wouldn’t be the success it is today. So give yourselves a hand.”
The well-dressed crowd clapped again, as Lex stepped back and the Mayor took his place in front of the microphone. Standing right next to Clark, Lex kept a smile plastered on his lips, facing forward.
The smile faltered when he felt a familiar broad hand caress from his shoulders down his back. Clark tugged lightly at Lex’s hands until they unclasped and entwined his fingers with Lex’s behind Lex’s back. The lump returned to Lex’s throat for an entirely different reason. He knew, then, that everything would work out all right.
-End
The Truth Unexpected
“I know that you both said some nasty things to one another. Most couples do when they fight,” Dr. Mathers said, attempting to get to the root of the problem. He’d counseled them successfully in the past and knew he’d succeed again. They were a couple who wanted to stay together and only needed assistance getting over a bump in their long-term relationship, rather than making a last-ditch effort to save something both had already ended in their minds. “Now, Clark, do you think that Lex believes you are a whore?”
Seated across from the psychologist on the love seat, Clark glanced at Lex and shook his head. “Not really.”
“Not really,” Dr. Mathers repeated, studying their non-verbal reactions. “You seem to be unsure.”
Lex tensed. Clark looked down at his hands. “I don’t mind living off his money.”
“You pool your paychecks, do you not?”
“Yeah, but mine doesn’t matter much,” Clark said. “I could quit if I wanted to and not have to worry about anything changing.”
“Anything changing with your lifestyle, or anything changing with your relationship?” Dr. Mathers asked.
“Both, I guess.”
“Would you like your lifestyle to change?”
“It’s fine,” Clark said. “Lex’s money has never meant anything to me.”
Dr. Mathers saw Lex nod slightly to himself. He made a note on his pad of paper that neither perceived Lex’s wealth as a problem. “Would you like your relationship to change, then?”
“I love Lex,” Clark said defensively, immediately. “I don’t want our relationship to end.”
“But perhaps I am right in you wanting it to change?” Dr. Mathers pushed gently.
Clark clammed up, looking towards the window in the office. Lex’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, focusing intently at a point somewhere past Dr. Mathers’ shoulder. Dr. Mathers circled one of the words on his paper. “Lex indicated before that he was unhappy with your working all of the time. As money isn’t the problem, could you be using work to avoid being at home?”
Clark was silent for a long moment before mumbling, “Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Subconsciously, perhaps, then,” Dr. Mathers said. “If you’re not at home, you don’t have to face the fact that you’re unhappy with the way things are between yourself and Lex.”
Pain splashed vividly across Lex’s face, though he continued to stare at one spot. Clark shrugged. Dr. Mathers skimmed his notes. “Lex mentioned that it was approximately seven months ago when he noticed that you were gone a lot. I want you to think back, Clark, and try to remember if something happened that could’ve caused this dissatisfaction. Did you have a fight with Lex? Or perhaps one with your parents or Lex’s father? Maybe one of your co-workers mentioned something about your relationship.”
Clark looked down at his hands again. Dr. Mathers noticed him rubbing his empty ring finger. He glanced at Lex’s hands, but noticed he wore no rings. Losing a ring was mostly likely not the problem. However, it meant something to Clark by his non-verbal cue. He changed tracks. “How long have you and Lex been married?”
“We’re not married.”
Lex turned sharply, an incredulously look on his face. “We’ve been together for eighteen years.”
“He didn’t ask me that,” Clark said with bite. “He asked how long we’ve been married.”
“Clark, we’re as close to married as two gay people can be.”
Clark glowered. “No, we’re not. The closest to married two gay people can be is married.”
“Is that what you want? A commitment ceremony after all this time?” Lex said. “I don’t see why, but—”
Clark let out a small yell, shifting to face Lex on the small couch. “I want you to marry me, you moron!”
Lex appeared taken aback. “Are you proposing?”
“No! Yes! Gah!” Clark threw his hands in the air. “I thought you would ask me the same day the news came out, and I waited and waited, thinking you had some sneaky way of doing it, just like you tricked me into signing the Domestic Partnership Agreement all those years ago, but you did nothing. You didn’t even mention it. It took me a week to realize that you weren’t playing around and didn’t want to marry me.”
“Clark, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would I ask you to marry me? Not that I wouldn’t love to in a heartbeat,” Lex added quickly, “but there’s no reason to do so. It’s not like we can actually legally get married.”
Clark’s mouth fell open. Dr. Mathers spoke up, since Clark seemed too stunned to continue. “Lex, the Kansas legislature passed the bill allowing homosexuals to legally marry last February.”
Lex stared blankly at him. It was obviously Lex hadn’t expected that answer at all. “What?”
“You didn’t know?” Clark started to laugh. “You didn’t know? Mr. I-Only-Watch-CNN didn’t know his own state finally gave us the same rights as everyone else?”
“Stop laughing at me.” Lex glared briefly at Clark before his brows furrowed in confusion. “How did I miss this? It had to be front page news.”
“It was, for a day,” Clark said, wiping the corners of his eyes. “Then, the Sentinals attacked and the news became all about them.”
“I don’t remember. February was very busy for me at LexCorp and PJ or Sam must’ve taken the newspaper again.” Lex shook his head. “Unbelievable. You’d think someone would’ve said something.” He gave Clark a look. Clark cracked up again, and Lex’s mouth curved into a bright smile.
Dr. Mathers drew a happy face on his pad of paper and penciled in a reminder to shop for a wedding gift.
-End
Eew!
“Dad’s back!” PJ careened around the corner, using the doorjamb to catapult herself down the hall. “Sam! Dad’s back!”
Sam poked his head out of his lab and nearly got clipped by the seventeen-year-old running past. He glanced back at his experiment in progress, but the pull of seeing his dad at home, finally, was too great. He took off after PJ, his white lab coat flapping behind him. “I didn’t see him.”
“He flew in through the window with Papa Lex,” PJ said. “I saw them when I was outside in the back yard.”
They thundered up the stairs to the second floor of the large house and down the hallway to their parents’ bedroom. PJ reached the door first and flung it open wide. “Dad—”
Sam’s dad and Papa Lex were naked, Papa Lex lying on top of Dad, having sex on the bed. They scrambled to yank covers over them at the intrusion. “PJ! Knock first!” Papa Lex yelped.
“Like I wanted to be mooned by you. Eew!” PJ covered her eyes with her hands and stumbled out of the master bedroom. “I’m going to need therapy! I saw my dad’s butt!”
Sam blushed. He gave them an embarrassed smile. “Sorry. Glad your home, Dad. Bye.”
He left the room, closing the door behind him, and went to find PJ to commiserate with her, because eew was right.
-End
The Birds and the Bees
“Sex.” Lex folded his arms and loomed over his eleven-year-old daughter. “Aside from the fact that you’re not allowed to have it until you’re married, and even then it’s iffy, it is my job to give you the Talk.”
“Did you lose a bet?”
“Don’t smart off,” Lex said. He had, in fact, lost the coin toss, not a bet. “Despite being a woman, Colleen feels it’s a parents’ duty to speak to their children about the birds and the bees.”
“I already know all that stuff, Dad,” PJ said, sprawling into the corner of the worn leather couch in the family room. “I learned it at school.”
“In class?”
PJ rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Gray’s sister, Leeza, got knocked up. She was puking in the bathroom at school.”
Lex was shocked. “Leeza’s only thirteen.”
“She got her period when she was twelve,” PJ said. “Once you have that, a baby is just a sperm away.”
Lex’s own baby just said the word “sperm.” He might need to sit down for this one. “Thirteen is too young to be having sex.”
PJ shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”
“No big deal.” Lex sunk down on the edge of the coffee table. “Sex is a very big deal.”
“Cammie’s mother said that you used to sleep with anything that walked on two legs when you were a teenager.”
Cammie’s mother was in for a world of pain. “It was wrong of me to do that. Sex is supposed to be special. Something you share with the person you love.”
“Oh, please.” PJ scoffed. “You didn’t even love Dad when you got him pregnant with Sam.”
Lex’s mouth fell open. “How do you know about that?”
“Sam told me ages ago when he was freaking out about being gay,” PJ said, examining her blue painted nails. “You know, he’s got about a hundred boxes of condoms in his dresser drawer in hopes that he doesn’t get pregnant. I told him that he actually has to have sex for that to happen.”
Lex didn’t know whether to be relieved or not. “You do know you can’t tell anyone.”
“Because I really want the world to know that my dad pooped me out his butt.”
“PJ, I’m serious.”
“I know, I know, geez.” PJ sighed heavily. “I promise won’t tell anyone.”
“Good. Now, back to the topic at hand.”
“If I swear to use the condoms from Sam’s drawer, can we declare this conversation over?”
Lex rubbed his hand over his bare scalp. Next time, he was using the trick coin.
-End
If You Had Wings
Clark stared at the shelves upon shelves of bright pink and blue boxes and wondered how in the world he got roped into doing this. Didn’t they have a personal shopper? He could’ve sworn they had a nanny, too. Unless this was some sort of fatherly right-of-passage no one had told him about.
“Smallville! What are you doing here?”
Clark cringed when he heard Lois Lane’s bellow at the other end of the aisle. He pushed his fake glasses up his nose and turned in her direction. “Oh. Hi, Lois.”
Lois’s shopping cart clanked as she wheeled it up to him. Inside the cart were a box of cereal, milk, and ten cans of instant coffee. She glanced at the shelves and grinned. “Having a heavy flow day?”
“Something like that,” Clark said. “Colleen called. PJ got her first period.”
Lois squawked with what was possibly glee. “That’s precious. Your little girl, all grown up.”
“Don’t remind me.” Clark gazed over the many selections again. “I’m supposed to bring home supplies for her, but…” He gestured helplessly at the boxes.
“Here. Let Aunty Lois help Daddy out.”
“That is very disturbing. Don’t ever say it again.”
Lois waved her hand dismissively and then plucked three boxes off the shelf. She held them out to him. “One box of ultra-thin maxis with wings, one box of night time maxis with wings, and one box of slender unscented easy-glide tampons. There are instructions inside as to how to use the tampons, so you won’t have to explain it to her, Mr. Mom. She can decide on her own if she wants to use them or not. Not all women like the feel of tampons.”
“Thanks.” Clark took the boxes. “Do I need to explain to her about these wing-things?”
“They’re pretty self-explanatory, Clark,” Lois said.
“Oh, good.” Clark was relieved.
Lois cackled. “Bad enough she’s bleeding out her twat, huh?”
“Lois! This is my daughter you’re being crude about.”
“Don’t be such an old man.” Lois smacked him on the arm and returned to her cart. “Congratulate PJ for me on becoming a woman, and remind her to use condoms so she doesn’t get knocked up.”
Horror washed over Clark, as Lois clanked down the aisle. He looked at the boxes in his hands that proved his daughter was now a woman. But maybe if he put them back…
-End
Morning
Clark’s eyelids fluttered open and it took him a moment to recognize where he was: in Lex’s bed. Sunlight spilled through the tall, gauzy curtained French doors that lead out onto a small stone balcony. He could hear morning birds twittering outside. A smile spread across his lips and he buried his suddenly heated face into the pillow.
A hand settled on his lower back beneath the sheet and bashfulness warmed by happiness filled him. Sprawled on his stomach, he turned his head and peered through half-lowered lashes at Lex. “Hi.”
“Hi.” The corners of Lex’s lips curved, one side higher than the other, and he had a soft look in his blue eyes. “How did you sleep?”
“Wonderfully,” Clark admitted shyly.
“Are you sore?” Lex asked, his hand sliding lower over the swell of Clark’s buttocks.
Clark shook his head minutely. Tingles raised where Lex’s hand ran over his bare skin. His morning erection pulsed, trapped between the bedding and his abdomen.
“You might be when you move.” Lex shifted further onto his side, smoothing his hand upwards. “Most virgins hurt for a day or two after their first time.”
“If I am, I won’t complain.”
Lex’s smile grew. “I won’t apologize, either.”
Clark laughed lightly and snuggled into the pillow. “Are things supposed to be this easy the morning after?”
“I’ll admit I was worried.” Lex tugged on the hair at the base of Clark’s neck. “You’re my best friend. I don’t want anything to screw that up, including any six-beer-queer moments.”
“We were drinking some zillion-dollar wine,” Clark corrected.
“You know what I mean, Clark.”
“Yeah.” Clark inhaled slowly and sighed. “Let’s make a promise not to get weird with each other.”
“Promise made,” Lex said softly.
Clark found Lex’s other hand and squeezed it with his own. “Promise made.”
-End
Holiday Inn
It was after ten when Lex pulled the SUV to a stop outside the automatic doors to the Holiday Inn. In the passenger seat, Clark rubbed his hand over his face, a yawn cracking his jaw. A sleepy voice piped up from the back seat. “Are we there yet?”
“Yes, Sam, we are,” Lex answered. He glanced in the rearview mirror. PJ was asleep in her car seat behind him. Sam barely had his eyes open as he looked out the side window. “I’ll go check in.”
“Okay,” Clark said. He started packing things up strewn on the floor around his feet.
Heat and humidity slapped Lex in the face the moment he left the vehicle. Summertime in Kentucky was about as pleasant as summertime in Kansas. Lex’s cotton shirt was already sticking to him by the time he entered the lobby. The Holiday Inn wasn’t his first choice of hotels, but they were in the middle of Nowhere, Kentucky, and it was the nicest hotel they’d seen off the highway.
The carpet in the lobby was blue, the walls a cheery yellow, and the television hummed in the background. A young man around Clark’s age was behind the desk in a blue polo shirt that matched the carpet, the hotel’s name emblazoned where a logo would be. His gold nametag said his name was Chris, Front Desk Clerk.
“Hi, checking in?” Chris asked, rising from his chair behind the curving wood counter.
“Yes, please,” Lex said, taking his wallet from his pocket and took out his driver’s license and credit card. He doubted anyone in this part of Kentucky knew who he was, let alone someone at a Holiday Inn.
“All right. How many in your party?” Chris typed something into the computer on the desk behind the counter.
“Four. Two adults, two children.”
“Will you be needing a crib?”
“No.” They’d packed the port-a-crib and every other item a two-year-old could conceivably need in the back of the SUV.
“Okay. Smoking or non-smoking?”
“Non.”
“All right. We have two rooms available: one with a king-sized bed and a foldout sofa, or a standard room with two double beds.”
“King-sized, please.” Lex rubbed his neck as he rolled out the kinks. He’d need the room to stretch out after the drive. He couldn’t believe he’d let Clark talk him into driving to Tennessee instead of flying. He couldn’t believe he’d let Clark talk him into driving to Tennessee, but Clark had wanted to go on another family vacation like the few he’d taken with his parents and thus it was done.
“All right. If I could have your credit card and driver’s license, please.”
Lex handed them over as the automatic doors swished open. Sam wandered inside, looking rumpled and tired. “Papa Lex, I have to go to the bathroom.”
Lex glanced around the lobby, but didn’t see a men’s room door. “Do you have a restroom?” he asked Chris.
“It’s down that hall to the left,” Chris said.
Lex looked where Chris pointed and frowned. He couldn’t see down the hall from where he stood and wasn’t about to let his seven-year-old go off alone. “Can you hold it a minute, Sam?”
“No.” Sam fidgeted at Lex’s side, his own version of the potty dance.
“Clark,” Lex said under his breath. He couldn’t leave his credit card and license with Chris, either. “Little help.”
Clark came inside carrying PJ almost immediately. He looked just as rumpled as Sam, wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
“I’m glad you came in,” Lex said. “Sam needs to use the bathroom. It’s down that hall to the left.”
“Okay.” Clark passed off PJ and held out his hand to Sam. “C’mon, squirt. I’ll take you.”
Lex watched as they walked out of sight and adjusted PJ in his arms. She hung like a ragdoll over his bicep, blowing bubbles in her sleep. He turned back to Chris and found the desk clerk staring contemptuously at him. “Yes?”
“Nothing, sir. If you’ll just sign here.” Chris put a printer receipt on the counter along with a pen. Lex scrawled his signature. Chris gave back his license and credit card, as well as two key cards in a small flap folder. “Your room number is 118. If you drive around to the side of the building, you’ll see another door that your key card will open, and your room will be first on the right. Check out is at 11:00 a.m. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No thanks.” Lex took the key cards and headed for the automatic doors. He was almost to them when he heard the words he knew had been forthcoming.
“Fucking fags,” Chris muttered, but not quietly enough.
Lex’s step didn’t falter. He re-adjusted his hold on the perfect baby girl that he’d made with Clark and stepped outside into the hot Kentucky night.
-End
Scrapped Knees
“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.”
“I know. It’ll only sting for a moment.” Martha knelt in front of her granddaughter and blew lightly on the disinfectant sprayed onto PJ’s scrapped knees. “Do you want to tell me how you got hurt?”
PJ looked exactly like Clark once did as she eyed Martha, debating on whether to confess or not. Martha felt her heart swell. She'd been blessed with two beautiful grandchildren that she loved to pieces.
“I was just following the cat,” PJ said finally, her shaggy dark hair falling over her eyes.
“And where did the cat lead you?” Martha prompted.
“All over the place! In the garden, under the porch, in the barn, up in the loft, down in the hay, and back outside.”
Martha read between the lines. “From up in the loft down in the hay, huh? Did he jump?”
“Yes.”
“Did you follow?”
PJ shrugged. Martha took that as an affirmative. “Do you want to know why the cats can jump without getting hurt?” She waited until PJ peered up at her. “That’s because they have four legs. Humans only have two, so we have to be very careful how high we jump from. There’s a rule about it.”
“What’s the rule?” PJ said, sounding a bit skeptical.
“You can jump from as high as you are tall,” Martha said, smoothing PJ’s hair back from her face. She needed a haircut. “That’s the rule. Promise me you’ll follow it?”
“Yeah,” PJ sighed the word, kicking her feet lightly. “Can I go back outside now?”
“Of course you may.” Martha rose and watched as PJ bolted for the door. The kitchen screen door slammed behind her. Her voice floated through the window on the summertime breeze. “Cat! Hey cat! I’m coming to get you!”
Martha shook her head with amusement and put away the disinfectant. The boys were certainly going to have their hands full.
-End
PJ’s First Thanksgiving
“Damn it!”
“PJ, it’s okay.”
“It’s not okay! What about this can possibly be okay, Mark? My parents and Sam are going to be here any minute and I burned the turkey!”
“We can order something.”
“Order something from where? It’s Thanksgiving. Nobody’s open on Thanksgiving.”
“Somebody’s bound to be for reasons just like this. Why don’t you call Lionel? He’d probably know. Didn’t you say he never celebrates Thanksgiving when you invited him.”
“Yes. Yes, he did. Good plan. I knew I married you for a reason. I’ll go call him. Where’s my cell phone?”
“Bedroom.”
“Bedroom. Doorbell. Oh God, please let there be a restaurant open on Thanksgiving.”
*~*
Seated on soft pillows on the floor around a low, rectangular table, PJ leaned against her newly wedded husband and smiled, as the laughter from her family filled the paper-screened room. Sushi wasn’t exactly the same as turkey-and-stuffing, but it wasn’t the food that mattered anyway.
“Happy Thanksgiving, everyone,” Mark said, raising his saki in a toast.
“Happy Thanksgiving!”
-End
Flying Over the Moon
It wasn’t that he didn’t know Clark was an alien. Clark had told him point blank the same night he’d told Lex that Sam was their child. Sam was a walking, always talking product of Clark’s alienness. But he, like Clark, looked and acted so ordinarily human all the time that Lex just didn’t really think about it.
For their first anniversary together, Clark took him flying, and everything changed.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Clark whispered into his ear, as they soared high above the checkerboard farm fields.
“Yes,” Lex agreed, his answer tossed into the wind. Clark held him around his torso, his feet hooked over the backs of Clark’s ankles. The layers of clothing kept him warm and goggles protected his eyes at high altitude.
The sun was a sliver on the horizon, a deep orange ball setting in the dusk. Below, farms looked tiny, divided by lines of road. Miniature homes and businesses populated the area over which they flew.
No plane or helicopter surrounded him. No hang glider or parachute kept him safe. It was only Clark’s arms holding him aloft, protecting him and sharing with him something he’d once dreamed. It was like dying all over again, sailing on a heavenly breeze. It was freedom.
And Clark had given it to him.
Lex blinked the moisture from his eyes and clasped Clark’s arms a little tighter. “Are you okay?” Clark asked almost immediately, with concern.
“I’m perfect,” Lex said in a slightly roughened tone. “Fly me over the moon?”
“Anywhere, Lex,” Clark kissed the edge of his ear, “Always.”
-End
innusiq. All of them have been combined in one way or another. Here were the topics used:Family Vacation
Puberty
Grandchildren
Martha
Alienness
Making Up
Apologies
Scrapped Knees
Virginity/First Time
Holidays
Kids Interrupting Sex
Out to dinner
Blood
Birds and the Bees
Mornings
Panic
Unexpected Truth
Anniversary
These will be put into the memories section, too. I hope you enjoy!
Family, Friendship & Love: Snapshots of Life
Twenty-Eight Days
“It would be a marvelous investment opportunity…” The words faded, becoming a buzzing noise in the background, when Lex saw Superman enter the charity reception. Lex’s heart gave a lurch. It was the first time he’d seen Clark in person in twenty-eight days.
Superman’s bright red cape twisted around his ankles when he stopped to shake hands with the current Mayor. Lex couldn’t take his eyes off Clark, drinking in the familiar face like a man dying of thirst. He knew Clark had seen him even if he wouldn’t look in Lex’s direction.
Lex took a gulp of his drink, eyes following Clark around the room as Superman greeted everyone but him. It hurt badly. He excused himself, not knowing or caring if he’d interrupted the sales pitch he wasn’t listening to anyway, and retreated to the restroom.
The men’s room was empty, thankfully, and Lex set his empty glass on the sink before leaning heavily on the faux marble countertop. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. The fluorescent lighting made his skin appear sallow and emphasized the lavender circles under his pained eyes that the concealor couldn’t fully hide.
“Clark,” Lex said quietly, staring at himself in the mirror. “I know you can hear me. I’ve made an appointment with Dr. Mathers for tomorrow at ten. Please, be there. My apologies don’t seem to mean anything to you and I- I- ” His throat tightened and he swallowed past the painful lump roughening his voice. “We have to fix this, Clark. I don’t want lose you. I can’t—”
The restroom door opened and Lex cut off abruptly. He turned on the water and lowered his head, blinking rapidly. He washed his hands as whoever entered went over to the urinals. When he was sure his face wouldn’t give away his inner turmoil, he dried his hands and returned to the reception.
The Mayor was on the raised platform behind the freestanding microphone, giving his speech. Superman stood slightly to the side, behind him. Lex tried to catch Clark’s eye, but he still wouldn’t look at him. His heart twisted painfully. Please, he thought. Please, Clark, don’t let our partnership end.
“…and Superman has stopped by to say a few words, so I’ll turn the microphone over to him. Superman—” The Mayor moved aside as those present clapped politely.
Superman stepped up to the microphone and graced them with a small smile. “Thank you, Mayor Overton. And thank you, everyone, who has donated your time or money to the Metropolis Safe Haven program. Ten years ago, I helped my first person, a fifteen-year-old named Claudia, from being raped in an alley in the Slums. She had been living on the streets for months, with no money and no safe place to go. The first time she’d run away from home, the police took her right back to her abusive mother. The second time landed her in the juvenile justice system and child services placed her in a foster home just as abusive as the one she though she’d escaped from. Running away again landed her in that alley.
“I remember, after taking care of the would-be rapists, I had wanted to fly her home. She told me that she was home. She thanked me and disappeared down the alley,” Superman said. “It wasn’t until later that I realized I may have stopped the crime, but I hadn’t rescued her at all.”
Lex remembered that first night, too, and the silence the pervaded the penthouse. He’d found Clark at three in the morning sitting on the floor in PJs room, watching her sleep. He’d sat down beside Clark and quietly held his hand the remainder of the night.
“The next morning, I went to someone I thought could help, someone who had the resources and who I’d seen fight viciously in protection of his own children. Within days, the Metropolis Safe Haven program opened its first set of doors to runaways and abandoned children,” Superman said. “Lex Luthor, will you come up here?”
Lex took a shaky breath and forced his feet to move. The crowd murmured around him. He hadn’t expected this. He climbed the steps onto the platform and kept his features carefully blank as Clark looked at him for the first time in nearly a month. Emotions churned inside him, but he couldn’t let them show.
“Mr. Luthor is the driving force behind the Metropolis Safe Haven program,” Superman said, facing the microphone again. “His efforts and donations have not only kept the program alive, there are now twenty-two Safe Haven homes open in Metropolis with full time staffs of social workers, psychiatrists, and lawyers working to protect our city’s children. Please, give your recognition to Lex Luthor.”
Those present began clapping as Superman stepped back from the microphone. Lex glanced at him, but could see nothing but polite appreciation on his face. Lex fixed his expression into a gracious smile. He didn’t offer his hand to shake, because if he touched Clark, he might not let go. Instead, he stepped up to the freestanding microphone, clasping his hands behind his back.
“Thank you,” Lex said into the microphone. “It’s nice to be picked out of the crowd, but if it hadn’t been for your continued donations, the program wouldn’t be the success it is today. So give yourselves a hand.”
The well-dressed crowd clapped again, as Lex stepped back and the Mayor took his place in front of the microphone. Standing right next to Clark, Lex kept a smile plastered on his lips, facing forward.
The smile faltered when he felt a familiar broad hand caress from his shoulders down his back. Clark tugged lightly at Lex’s hands until they unclasped and entwined his fingers with Lex’s behind Lex’s back. The lump returned to Lex’s throat for an entirely different reason. He knew, then, that everything would work out all right.
-End
The Truth Unexpected
“I know that you both said some nasty things to one another. Most couples do when they fight,” Dr. Mathers said, attempting to get to the root of the problem. He’d counseled them successfully in the past and knew he’d succeed again. They were a couple who wanted to stay together and only needed assistance getting over a bump in their long-term relationship, rather than making a last-ditch effort to save something both had already ended in their minds. “Now, Clark, do you think that Lex believes you are a whore?”
Seated across from the psychologist on the love seat, Clark glanced at Lex and shook his head. “Not really.”
“Not really,” Dr. Mathers repeated, studying their non-verbal reactions. “You seem to be unsure.”
Lex tensed. Clark looked down at his hands. “I don’t mind living off his money.”
“You pool your paychecks, do you not?”
“Yeah, but mine doesn’t matter much,” Clark said. “I could quit if I wanted to and not have to worry about anything changing.”
“Anything changing with your lifestyle, or anything changing with your relationship?” Dr. Mathers asked.
“Both, I guess.”
“Would you like your lifestyle to change?”
“It’s fine,” Clark said. “Lex’s money has never meant anything to me.”
Dr. Mathers saw Lex nod slightly to himself. He made a note on his pad of paper that neither perceived Lex’s wealth as a problem. “Would you like your relationship to change, then?”
“I love Lex,” Clark said defensively, immediately. “I don’t want our relationship to end.”
“But perhaps I am right in you wanting it to change?” Dr. Mathers pushed gently.
Clark clammed up, looking towards the window in the office. Lex’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, focusing intently at a point somewhere past Dr. Mathers’ shoulder. Dr. Mathers circled one of the words on his paper. “Lex indicated before that he was unhappy with your working all of the time. As money isn’t the problem, could you be using work to avoid being at home?”
Clark was silent for a long moment before mumbling, “Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Subconsciously, perhaps, then,” Dr. Mathers said. “If you’re not at home, you don’t have to face the fact that you’re unhappy with the way things are between yourself and Lex.”
Pain splashed vividly across Lex’s face, though he continued to stare at one spot. Clark shrugged. Dr. Mathers skimmed his notes. “Lex mentioned that it was approximately seven months ago when he noticed that you were gone a lot. I want you to think back, Clark, and try to remember if something happened that could’ve caused this dissatisfaction. Did you have a fight with Lex? Or perhaps one with your parents or Lex’s father? Maybe one of your co-workers mentioned something about your relationship.”
Clark looked down at his hands again. Dr. Mathers noticed him rubbing his empty ring finger. He glanced at Lex’s hands, but noticed he wore no rings. Losing a ring was mostly likely not the problem. However, it meant something to Clark by his non-verbal cue. He changed tracks. “How long have you and Lex been married?”
“We’re not married.”
Lex turned sharply, an incredulously look on his face. “We’ve been together for eighteen years.”
“He didn’t ask me that,” Clark said with bite. “He asked how long we’ve been married.”
“Clark, we’re as close to married as two gay people can be.”
Clark glowered. “No, we’re not. The closest to married two gay people can be is married.”
“Is that what you want? A commitment ceremony after all this time?” Lex said. “I don’t see why, but—”
Clark let out a small yell, shifting to face Lex on the small couch. “I want you to marry me, you moron!”
Lex appeared taken aback. “Are you proposing?”
“No! Yes! Gah!” Clark threw his hands in the air. “I thought you would ask me the same day the news came out, and I waited and waited, thinking you had some sneaky way of doing it, just like you tricked me into signing the Domestic Partnership Agreement all those years ago, but you did nothing. You didn’t even mention it. It took me a week to realize that you weren’t playing around and didn’t want to marry me.”
“Clark, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would I ask you to marry me? Not that I wouldn’t love to in a heartbeat,” Lex added quickly, “but there’s no reason to do so. It’s not like we can actually legally get married.”
Clark’s mouth fell open. Dr. Mathers spoke up, since Clark seemed too stunned to continue. “Lex, the Kansas legislature passed the bill allowing homosexuals to legally marry last February.”
Lex stared blankly at him. It was obviously Lex hadn’t expected that answer at all. “What?”
“You didn’t know?” Clark started to laugh. “You didn’t know? Mr. I-Only-Watch-CNN didn’t know his own state finally gave us the same rights as everyone else?”
“Stop laughing at me.” Lex glared briefly at Clark before his brows furrowed in confusion. “How did I miss this? It had to be front page news.”
“It was, for a day,” Clark said, wiping the corners of his eyes. “Then, the Sentinals attacked and the news became all about them.”
“I don’t remember. February was very busy for me at LexCorp and PJ or Sam must’ve taken the newspaper again.” Lex shook his head. “Unbelievable. You’d think someone would’ve said something.” He gave Clark a look. Clark cracked up again, and Lex’s mouth curved into a bright smile.
Dr. Mathers drew a happy face on his pad of paper and penciled in a reminder to shop for a wedding gift.
-End
Eew!
“Dad’s back!” PJ careened around the corner, using the doorjamb to catapult herself down the hall. “Sam! Dad’s back!”
Sam poked his head out of his lab and nearly got clipped by the seventeen-year-old running past. He glanced back at his experiment in progress, but the pull of seeing his dad at home, finally, was too great. He took off after PJ, his white lab coat flapping behind him. “I didn’t see him.”
“He flew in through the window with Papa Lex,” PJ said. “I saw them when I was outside in the back yard.”
They thundered up the stairs to the second floor of the large house and down the hallway to their parents’ bedroom. PJ reached the door first and flung it open wide. “Dad—”
Sam’s dad and Papa Lex were naked, Papa Lex lying on top of Dad, having sex on the bed. They scrambled to yank covers over them at the intrusion. “PJ! Knock first!” Papa Lex yelped.
“Like I wanted to be mooned by you. Eew!” PJ covered her eyes with her hands and stumbled out of the master bedroom. “I’m going to need therapy! I saw my dad’s butt!”
Sam blushed. He gave them an embarrassed smile. “Sorry. Glad your home, Dad. Bye.”
He left the room, closing the door behind him, and went to find PJ to commiserate with her, because eew was right.
-End
The Birds and the Bees
“Sex.” Lex folded his arms and loomed over his eleven-year-old daughter. “Aside from the fact that you’re not allowed to have it until you’re married, and even then it’s iffy, it is my job to give you the Talk.”
“Did you lose a bet?”
“Don’t smart off,” Lex said. He had, in fact, lost the coin toss, not a bet. “Despite being a woman, Colleen feels it’s a parents’ duty to speak to their children about the birds and the bees.”
“I already know all that stuff, Dad,” PJ said, sprawling into the corner of the worn leather couch in the family room. “I learned it at school.”
“In class?”
PJ rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Gray’s sister, Leeza, got knocked up. She was puking in the bathroom at school.”
Lex was shocked. “Leeza’s only thirteen.”
“She got her period when she was twelve,” PJ said. “Once you have that, a baby is just a sperm away.”
Lex’s own baby just said the word “sperm.” He might need to sit down for this one. “Thirteen is too young to be having sex.”
PJ shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”
“No big deal.” Lex sunk down on the edge of the coffee table. “Sex is a very big deal.”
“Cammie’s mother said that you used to sleep with anything that walked on two legs when you were a teenager.”
Cammie’s mother was in for a world of pain. “It was wrong of me to do that. Sex is supposed to be special. Something you share with the person you love.”
“Oh, please.” PJ scoffed. “You didn’t even love Dad when you got him pregnant with Sam.”
Lex’s mouth fell open. “How do you know about that?”
“Sam told me ages ago when he was freaking out about being gay,” PJ said, examining her blue painted nails. “You know, he’s got about a hundred boxes of condoms in his dresser drawer in hopes that he doesn’t get pregnant. I told him that he actually has to have sex for that to happen.”
Lex didn’t know whether to be relieved or not. “You do know you can’t tell anyone.”
“Because I really want the world to know that my dad pooped me out his butt.”
“PJ, I’m serious.”
“I know, I know, geez.” PJ sighed heavily. “I promise won’t tell anyone.”
“Good. Now, back to the topic at hand.”
“If I swear to use the condoms from Sam’s drawer, can we declare this conversation over?”
Lex rubbed his hand over his bare scalp. Next time, he was using the trick coin.
-End
If You Had Wings
Clark stared at the shelves upon shelves of bright pink and blue boxes and wondered how in the world he got roped into doing this. Didn’t they have a personal shopper? He could’ve sworn they had a nanny, too. Unless this was some sort of fatherly right-of-passage no one had told him about.
“Smallville! What are you doing here?”
Clark cringed when he heard Lois Lane’s bellow at the other end of the aisle. He pushed his fake glasses up his nose and turned in her direction. “Oh. Hi, Lois.”
Lois’s shopping cart clanked as she wheeled it up to him. Inside the cart were a box of cereal, milk, and ten cans of instant coffee. She glanced at the shelves and grinned. “Having a heavy flow day?”
“Something like that,” Clark said. “Colleen called. PJ got her first period.”
Lois squawked with what was possibly glee. “That’s precious. Your little girl, all grown up.”
“Don’t remind me.” Clark gazed over the many selections again. “I’m supposed to bring home supplies for her, but…” He gestured helplessly at the boxes.
“Here. Let Aunty Lois help Daddy out.”
“That is very disturbing. Don’t ever say it again.”
Lois waved her hand dismissively and then plucked three boxes off the shelf. She held them out to him. “One box of ultra-thin maxis with wings, one box of night time maxis with wings, and one box of slender unscented easy-glide tampons. There are instructions inside as to how to use the tampons, so you won’t have to explain it to her, Mr. Mom. She can decide on her own if she wants to use them or not. Not all women like the feel of tampons.”
“Thanks.” Clark took the boxes. “Do I need to explain to her about these wing-things?”
“They’re pretty self-explanatory, Clark,” Lois said.
“Oh, good.” Clark was relieved.
Lois cackled. “Bad enough she’s bleeding out her twat, huh?”
“Lois! This is my daughter you’re being crude about.”
“Don’t be such an old man.” Lois smacked him on the arm and returned to her cart. “Congratulate PJ for me on becoming a woman, and remind her to use condoms so she doesn’t get knocked up.”
Horror washed over Clark, as Lois clanked down the aisle. He looked at the boxes in his hands that proved his daughter was now a woman. But maybe if he put them back…
-End
Morning
Clark’s eyelids fluttered open and it took him a moment to recognize where he was: in Lex’s bed. Sunlight spilled through the tall, gauzy curtained French doors that lead out onto a small stone balcony. He could hear morning birds twittering outside. A smile spread across his lips and he buried his suddenly heated face into the pillow.
A hand settled on his lower back beneath the sheet and bashfulness warmed by happiness filled him. Sprawled on his stomach, he turned his head and peered through half-lowered lashes at Lex. “Hi.”
“Hi.” The corners of Lex’s lips curved, one side higher than the other, and he had a soft look in his blue eyes. “How did you sleep?”
“Wonderfully,” Clark admitted shyly.
“Are you sore?” Lex asked, his hand sliding lower over the swell of Clark’s buttocks.
Clark shook his head minutely. Tingles raised where Lex’s hand ran over his bare skin. His morning erection pulsed, trapped between the bedding and his abdomen.
“You might be when you move.” Lex shifted further onto his side, smoothing his hand upwards. “Most virgins hurt for a day or two after their first time.”
“If I am, I won’t complain.”
Lex’s smile grew. “I won’t apologize, either.”
Clark laughed lightly and snuggled into the pillow. “Are things supposed to be this easy the morning after?”
“I’ll admit I was worried.” Lex tugged on the hair at the base of Clark’s neck. “You’re my best friend. I don’t want anything to screw that up, including any six-beer-queer moments.”
“We were drinking some zillion-dollar wine,” Clark corrected.
“You know what I mean, Clark.”
“Yeah.” Clark inhaled slowly and sighed. “Let’s make a promise not to get weird with each other.”
“Promise made,” Lex said softly.
Clark found Lex’s other hand and squeezed it with his own. “Promise made.”
-End
Holiday Inn
It was after ten when Lex pulled the SUV to a stop outside the automatic doors to the Holiday Inn. In the passenger seat, Clark rubbed his hand over his face, a yawn cracking his jaw. A sleepy voice piped up from the back seat. “Are we there yet?”
“Yes, Sam, we are,” Lex answered. He glanced in the rearview mirror. PJ was asleep in her car seat behind him. Sam barely had his eyes open as he looked out the side window. “I’ll go check in.”
“Okay,” Clark said. He started packing things up strewn on the floor around his feet.
Heat and humidity slapped Lex in the face the moment he left the vehicle. Summertime in Kentucky was about as pleasant as summertime in Kansas. Lex’s cotton shirt was already sticking to him by the time he entered the lobby. The Holiday Inn wasn’t his first choice of hotels, but they were in the middle of Nowhere, Kentucky, and it was the nicest hotel they’d seen off the highway.
The carpet in the lobby was blue, the walls a cheery yellow, and the television hummed in the background. A young man around Clark’s age was behind the desk in a blue polo shirt that matched the carpet, the hotel’s name emblazoned where a logo would be. His gold nametag said his name was Chris, Front Desk Clerk.
“Hi, checking in?” Chris asked, rising from his chair behind the curving wood counter.
“Yes, please,” Lex said, taking his wallet from his pocket and took out his driver’s license and credit card. He doubted anyone in this part of Kentucky knew who he was, let alone someone at a Holiday Inn.
“All right. How many in your party?” Chris typed something into the computer on the desk behind the counter.
“Four. Two adults, two children.”
“Will you be needing a crib?”
“No.” They’d packed the port-a-crib and every other item a two-year-old could conceivably need in the back of the SUV.
“Okay. Smoking or non-smoking?”
“Non.”
“All right. We have two rooms available: one with a king-sized bed and a foldout sofa, or a standard room with two double beds.”
“King-sized, please.” Lex rubbed his neck as he rolled out the kinks. He’d need the room to stretch out after the drive. He couldn’t believe he’d let Clark talk him into driving to Tennessee instead of flying. He couldn’t believe he’d let Clark talk him into driving to Tennessee, but Clark had wanted to go on another family vacation like the few he’d taken with his parents and thus it was done.
“All right. If I could have your credit card and driver’s license, please.”
Lex handed them over as the automatic doors swished open. Sam wandered inside, looking rumpled and tired. “Papa Lex, I have to go to the bathroom.”
Lex glanced around the lobby, but didn’t see a men’s room door. “Do you have a restroom?” he asked Chris.
“It’s down that hall to the left,” Chris said.
Lex looked where Chris pointed and frowned. He couldn’t see down the hall from where he stood and wasn’t about to let his seven-year-old go off alone. “Can you hold it a minute, Sam?”
“No.” Sam fidgeted at Lex’s side, his own version of the potty dance.
“Clark,” Lex said under his breath. He couldn’t leave his credit card and license with Chris, either. “Little help.”
Clark came inside carrying PJ almost immediately. He looked just as rumpled as Sam, wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
“I’m glad you came in,” Lex said. “Sam needs to use the bathroom. It’s down that hall to the left.”
“Okay.” Clark passed off PJ and held out his hand to Sam. “C’mon, squirt. I’ll take you.”
Lex watched as they walked out of sight and adjusted PJ in his arms. She hung like a ragdoll over his bicep, blowing bubbles in her sleep. He turned back to Chris and found the desk clerk staring contemptuously at him. “Yes?”
“Nothing, sir. If you’ll just sign here.” Chris put a printer receipt on the counter along with a pen. Lex scrawled his signature. Chris gave back his license and credit card, as well as two key cards in a small flap folder. “Your room number is 118. If you drive around to the side of the building, you’ll see another door that your key card will open, and your room will be first on the right. Check out is at 11:00 a.m. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No thanks.” Lex took the key cards and headed for the automatic doors. He was almost to them when he heard the words he knew had been forthcoming.
“Fucking fags,” Chris muttered, but not quietly enough.
Lex’s step didn’t falter. He re-adjusted his hold on the perfect baby girl that he’d made with Clark and stepped outside into the hot Kentucky night.
-End
Scrapped Knees
“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.”
“I know. It’ll only sting for a moment.” Martha knelt in front of her granddaughter and blew lightly on the disinfectant sprayed onto PJ’s scrapped knees. “Do you want to tell me how you got hurt?”
PJ looked exactly like Clark once did as she eyed Martha, debating on whether to confess or not. Martha felt her heart swell. She'd been blessed with two beautiful grandchildren that she loved to pieces.
“I was just following the cat,” PJ said finally, her shaggy dark hair falling over her eyes.
“And where did the cat lead you?” Martha prompted.
“All over the place! In the garden, under the porch, in the barn, up in the loft, down in the hay, and back outside.”
Martha read between the lines. “From up in the loft down in the hay, huh? Did he jump?”
“Yes.”
“Did you follow?”
PJ shrugged. Martha took that as an affirmative. “Do you want to know why the cats can jump without getting hurt?” She waited until PJ peered up at her. “That’s because they have four legs. Humans only have two, so we have to be very careful how high we jump from. There’s a rule about it.”
“What’s the rule?” PJ said, sounding a bit skeptical.
“You can jump from as high as you are tall,” Martha said, smoothing PJ’s hair back from her face. She needed a haircut. “That’s the rule. Promise me you’ll follow it?”
“Yeah,” PJ sighed the word, kicking her feet lightly. “Can I go back outside now?”
“Of course you may.” Martha rose and watched as PJ bolted for the door. The kitchen screen door slammed behind her. Her voice floated through the window on the summertime breeze. “Cat! Hey cat! I’m coming to get you!”
Martha shook her head with amusement and put away the disinfectant. The boys were certainly going to have their hands full.
-End
PJ’s First Thanksgiving
“Damn it!”
“PJ, it’s okay.”
“It’s not okay! What about this can possibly be okay, Mark? My parents and Sam are going to be here any minute and I burned the turkey!”
“We can order something.”
“Order something from where? It’s Thanksgiving. Nobody’s open on Thanksgiving.”
“Somebody’s bound to be for reasons just like this. Why don’t you call Lionel? He’d probably know. Didn’t you say he never celebrates Thanksgiving when you invited him.”
“Yes. Yes, he did. Good plan. I knew I married you for a reason. I’ll go call him. Where’s my cell phone?”
“Bedroom.”
“Bedroom. Doorbell. Oh God, please let there be a restaurant open on Thanksgiving.”
*~*
Seated on soft pillows on the floor around a low, rectangular table, PJ leaned against her newly wedded husband and smiled, as the laughter from her family filled the paper-screened room. Sushi wasn’t exactly the same as turkey-and-stuffing, but it wasn’t the food that mattered anyway.
“Happy Thanksgiving, everyone,” Mark said, raising his saki in a toast.
“Happy Thanksgiving!”
-End
Flying Over the Moon
It wasn’t that he didn’t know Clark was an alien. Clark had told him point blank the same night he’d told Lex that Sam was their child. Sam was a walking, always talking product of Clark’s alienness. But he, like Clark, looked and acted so ordinarily human all the time that Lex just didn’t really think about it.
For their first anniversary together, Clark took him flying, and everything changed.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Clark whispered into his ear, as they soared high above the checkerboard farm fields.
“Yes,” Lex agreed, his answer tossed into the wind. Clark held him around his torso, his feet hooked over the backs of Clark’s ankles. The layers of clothing kept him warm and goggles protected his eyes at high altitude.
The sun was a sliver on the horizon, a deep orange ball setting in the dusk. Below, farms looked tiny, divided by lines of road. Miniature homes and businesses populated the area over which they flew.
No plane or helicopter surrounded him. No hang glider or parachute kept him safe. It was only Clark’s arms holding him aloft, protecting him and sharing with him something he’d once dreamed. It was like dying all over again, sailing on a heavenly breeze. It was freedom.
And Clark had given it to him.
Lex blinked the moisture from his eyes and clasped Clark’s arms a little tighter. “Are you okay?” Clark asked almost immediately, with concern.
“I’m perfect,” Lex said in a slightly roughened tone. “Fly me over the moon?”
“Anywhere, Lex,” Clark kissed the edge of his ear, “Always.”
-End
May I just comment about the width of the journal? It's a little bit to narrow when you read. *shrugs* I mean, you can totally change it, you know? Help with the reading and stuff. And maybe I'm over reacting. *g*
Again, great stories.
“Here. Let Aunty Lois help Daddy out.”
“That is very disturbing. Don’t ever say it again.”
Bwahaha! I'm with Clark on that one.
I'm a little surprised Lex didn't teach Chris a few manners. But I guess he was just too tired.
A wedding!!!
Lex's butt!!
*is in love*
:D
I just hope there's a prompt in the upcoming Wednesday 100's that inspires you to write the wedding!
I love them all!
That was so an awesome treat!
Cheers!
I'm so glad they finally made up. And to find out why they were really fighting to begin with. *snort*
There were so many great moments here that I can't mention them all, but the Holiday Inn scene is one that's going to stick with me.
Ah, and I can tell that Cammie's mother and Chris are probably gonna be out of jobs and bankrupt like immediately. ^_^
These were all so wonderful! Yay for the making up! My favorite one was The Truth Unexpected. Just perfect. These all made me very happy. Thank you for doing this.
I hope this helped your Sunday transition!
Awww!
In my mind's eye, I see Martha embroidering a baby pillow with "Grandchildren Are The Best Revenge." for PJ's christening...this part just cracked my shit right up! These mini-stories are simply amazing and I am in awe. ::bows & fan-grrls:: Relationship angst, inadvertent child-scarring (Eww!), progressive state laws in the Mid-west, classic Butterball Turkey Hotline disasters and the piece de resistance - Dear Aunty Lois and her helpful free advice.
You do realize Aunty Lois is gonna *have* to baby-sit... preferably while Ms. PJ is still stalking that cat...
Don't worry about the wedding stories, they'll happen whenever. Although I'd bet money that Mark only said 'yes' to PJ so she'd stop continually violating the restraining order. Or the contractions were two minutes apart and counting...
I'm gonna shut up now so I can go back and re-read.
::hugs!::
Thank you!
Monica
All of these were just -perfect-.
*applauds*
*hugs you*
xoxo,
Monica
Great job!!
M
Again loved loved loved it and can't wait for next weds.
I loved that you gave an explanation for the estrangement between Lex and Clark which came up in some drabbles, and I also loved the glimpses into their past, their first time, the sex ed for PJ, the simple complications of traveling with kids.
OT I have not been commenting for a while because of a family crisis which is pretty much o.k. now. I expect to comment again in the near future after I have caught up in my reading, but since I love the "Family, Friendship and Love"-universe so much I could not resist reading those shorts before everything else.
Weeeee!
Let me just say (again) that I adore this universe. Thank you for writting and sharing FFL. Thank you for all the added drabbles and ficlets. Thank you, thank you, thank you.