PROLOGUE

"Have you seen my anniversary tie?" Clark asks Lois as he searches in vain throughout his closet.

"It's on the bed," she replies.

He looks over at the bed and sees it laying on one of the pillows. "How did you know I wanted to wear it?" picking it up and walking over to the vanity where Lois was carefully applying her lipstick.

"You wear it only for special occasions," winking at his reflection in the mirror.

He smiles back at her and rests his hands on her shoulders. "You know me so well," softly kissing her neck. "How about if we get to know each other again?" his lips moving down her neck towards the base of her throat.

"Now, now, Smallville," gently pushing him away.

"Come on," trying to kiss her again.

"Later," she tells him as she gets up from the bench. "I don't want to be late for yet another event because you want to get to 'know' me," poking her finger at him.

"Alright," pouting a little as he wraps the tie around his shirt collar and starts to tie it. "I can never get the hang of this," frowning as he continues to struggle with it.

"Let me do that," pulling the tie off him and wrapping it around her neck. "Sometimes I think you do that on purpose just so that I could touch you," a coy smile on her face.

"I swear I don't," shaking his head.

"Uh huh," she scoffs as she ties it loosely around her neck, then removes it and drapes it over his head and tightens it. "How's that?" turning him to face the vanity mirror.

"Perfect," turning back to face her. He notices the smile on her face. "What is it?" he asks her.

"I was just thinking about the first time I ever tied your tie," lightly touching his cheek.

"I remember," a smile appearing on his own face as he remembers that long ago day...

I realize hand to eye coordination isn't one of your strong suits. Here. Let me help you with that.

Lois, I'm not sure what I'm going to do without you.

Oh, come on Clark. Your future's laid out right in front of you. You're gonna go to community college...major in agriculture, probably minor in law enforcement. Then you and Lana will have a nice little church wedding.

Excuse me?

It's written in the stars, and you know it. It's only a matter of time before you join the bowling league, take over the family farm and then...well...you and Lana can bring little Clark Jr. into the world.

I think you're hallucinating.

No, hallucinating would be imagining Clark Kent going off to the big city to make his mark on the world. I'm just being realistic.

"It's ironic that it was you who brought 'Clark Jr.' into the world and not Lana," ducking his head to avoid her swat.

"Very funny," a small frown appearing on her face.

He's about to reply when there's a knocking on the bedroom door. "Mom? Dad? We don't want to be late, so are you ready to go yet?"

"We'll be down in a minute," Clark tells him.

"Okay," he replies.

They listen until his footsteps disappear. "He turned out to be a wonderful young man," a wistful expression in her eyes.

"Both our children turned out to be wonderful," pulling her into his arms for a hug.

"I still can't believe that they're graduating from high school today," burying her head in the crock of his neck.

"I know," his nose in her hair. "In a couple months they'll be off to college and we'll be free to do all the stuff we've been putting off."

"I can't wait," lifting her head up to softly kiss his lips. "So where should we go first?" she asks him.

"How about Fiji?" looking down at her. "It's supposed to be really beautiful down there," he says with a smile.

"I love that idea," kissing him again.

"Good," he says after pulling his lips away. "That's settled."

"We better get going," she says with a smile.

"Okay," taking her hand and leading her out of the bedroom.

A few hours later...

"This is a great party," Chloe says to Lois as they're both getting something to eat from the buffet.

"It sure is," agreeing with her. "It was a good idea to have a combined graduation party for both our kids," picking up a piece of shrimp and dipping it into cocktail sauce. "Umm," moaning as she takes a bite.

Chloe rolls her eyes. "Can you keep the moans down? Please?"

Lois looks over at her. "Excuse me?"

"You heard what I said," Chloe tells her. "In fact, I'm surprised that Clark hasn't shown up already to drag you into the coat room," winking at Lois.

Lois' eyes widen with shock. "Are you saying that...that..."

"This is me, Lois," smiling at her. "Don't you think I figured out why you and Clark are usually late for these kind of events? Although I am surprised you weren't late for this one," winking again at her.

"I had to stop him," Lois admits at last.

"I thought so," a smirk on her face. "Jimmy is the same way. I don't know why," shrugging her shoulders.

"Can we please talk about something else?" desperate to change the conversation.

"Sure," Chloe replies. "So I've been meaning to ask you how it went with the doctor earlier today?" she asks as they walk towards their table.

"She says it's peri-menopause, but wanted to do a few tests just to make sure. In fact, she was supposed to call me by now. I hope everything is okay," a worried look on her face.

"I'm sure that everything is fine," Chloe reassures her; resting her hand on Lois' shoulder.

Lois' cell phone rings all of a sudden. "That must be her," flipping open the phone and checking the caller id. "Yep, it's her. Will you excuse me for a moment?"

"Sure," sitting down at the table and watching as Lois heads toward the door that leads to the outside garden.

"Have you seen Lois?"

Chloe looks up to see Clark standing there. "She got a call and just stepped outside," she tells him.

"Thanks," flashing her a brief smile as he puts down his plate and heads for the door. He finds her sitting on one of the benches and just staring at the phone in her hand. "Lois?" sitting down next to her. "Lois?" he asks again. Her head turns and stares at him. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" taking her hand in his.

She pulls her hand away and stands up, then walks over to stand by one of the pillars. "I just got some news from the doctor about my tests and..."

"And...?" walking over to stand in front of her.

"I'm pregnant."

Clark stares at her in shock. "W-What did you just say?" his eyes widening.

"You heard what I said," finally looking up at him. "Apparently I didn't skip my last two periods because of peri-menopause. I skipped because I'm two months pregnant," biting her lower lip nervously.

He looks down at her and takes her into his arms. "It's going to be okay," holding her close and caressing her back. "We're going to love this baby as much as the kids we already have, okay?" softly kissing her head. "Okay?" tilting her head up and gazing at her.

"Okay," sniffling a little.

"Okay," smiling down at her.

"I think I'm going to go to the ladies room and freshen up," taking a tissue out of her pocket and dabbing her eyes with it.

"Okay," using his finger to wipe away a tear.

She smiles at him and gives him a kiss. "I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful and understanding husband," touching his face before turning on her heel and walking away.

He watches her until the door closes behind her. Then he's about to sit down on the bench when it suddenly hits him.

Pregnant?

His eyes roll in the back of his head and he collapses onto the floor in a dead faint.

To Be Continued...