December, 24th – Christmas Eve – Night

Lois was finishing to get dressed. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress, and was putting some lip-gloss in her lips when somebody knocked the door. She opened it, surprised to find Clark holding a small bouquet with lilies to her. Her apartment was also with Christmas decoration while White Christmas was playing in her CD player.

"Merry Christmas!" he said with a smile.

"Clark!" Lois said with a smile before hugging him. "You are early! Come in!"

"Yeah, everybody is already downstairs, but I wanted to give your Christmas gift before the party."

"Ohhh, you shouldn't, Smallville."

"But I want to." Clark insisted, and Lois laughed.

"Okay."

Clark gave her a small white package. She looked at him, suspiciously.

"What's that?"

"Open it."

"Okay, Mr. Mysterious."

He looked at her little tree, all done up, but still looking a little droopy and brown. Lois opened the box and saw a beautiful, glowing, star-shaped crystal on the box. She was dazzled.

"It's beautiful… I've never seen anything like it. Where...?" Lois said astonished, looking at the crystal star.

"It's one of kind, Lois. You won't find any other one like this." Clark explained, as Lois looked at him, suspicious. "I made a special request."

"Wow."

Lois placed it on the top of her tree. It glowed beautifully.

"Thank you, Clark… It's a wonderful gift. I loved it."

"I'm glad you liked, Lois."

They stood there, looking at the tree. Her hand warmly slipped into his. He looked down at their intertwined fingers, then at her. Their eyes met. A beat. The music stopped. Silence. They didn't look away. They moved closer to one another. Then, somebody entered, interrupting their almost kiss. It was Martha and Chloe.

"Hey, we were looking all over for you." Chloe said with a smile. She had noticed how Clark and Lois had parted away. "Are we interrupting something?"

"Don't be silly, Chloe. I was about to take the turkey downstairs." Lois said as Chloe and Martha noticed the star glowing on top of the tree. "Wow, beautiful tree, cousin. And that star is gorgeous."

"Isn't it? Clark gave it to me."

"Did he?" Martha said, suspicious of him. While Lois was distracted picking the plate with the Turkey, Chloe approached Clark, with a smile in her face.

"It's beautiful, Clark. Where did you get it?"

Clark looked at Lois and then at Chloe, smirked and gestures skywards.

"Really? But I thought you couldn't…. you know…" Chloe whispered very low so Lois couldn't listen. "Fly…"

"Yeah, so did I… but this morning I was… running and then… I was flying for the first time. I almost hit the barn." Clark explained, still with his voice low, so Lois couldn't listen. "Anyway, when I was able to manage the flight, and believe me I spend the morning practicing, I did a made a little trip up there and picked this for her."

"It's beautiful, Clark."

"Thanks."

"So, you guys are ready?" Lois asked, as she and Martha carried the Turkey. "You are going to get stuffed. I went all out. Turkey, cranberries, potatoes, stuffing... Hey, did you know you have to make stuffing? It doesn't just come on the side?"

"Yeah, Lois. I know." Clark said, as they went downstairs to find Jimmy and Perry among the guests, for their surprise.

"Jimmy, what are you doing here?" Chloe asked, surprised. "I thought you would be in your mom's by now."

"Yeah. Well, I called her and said I would be there tomorrow for the Christmas lunch. But tonight I just wanted to spend the night with my girl." Jimmy explained with a smile, as Chloe grinned at him.

"I can't believe you did that!" she said, giving him a very passionate kiss. "Thank you."

"You welcome, bright eyes." Jimmy grinned and gave her a big box. "This is for you."

"What's it?"

"Open it." Jimmy suggested, as Chloe opened it and saw a big blue book with all the pictures Jimmy had taken from her yesterday. "I thought you would like to have your own book."

"I loved it, thanks." Chloe said giving him another kiss.

"Mr. White?" Clark asked, approaching Perry, while Lois was helping Martha to put the turkey in the table. "What are you doing here?"

"Mrs. Kent invited me." Perry explained, as Clark nodded with a smile. "Besides, I want to talk to her." he said, pointing to Lois, who walked towards them and stopped beside Clark.

"With me?" Lois asked, confused. "Why?"

"Well, I read your article about the toyman in The Inquisitor. It's good, Lois. It's actually very good. But…"

"But…"

"You don't belong there. You belong to the Daily Planet. I can see you are destined to be a great reporter, kid. Talents like yours can't be wasted in the Inquisitor. You belong with the big league. What do you think?'

"Are you serious?" Lois asked surprised with Perry's offer. "Me? Working on the Daily Planet?"

"Deadly serious." Perry said, but still smiling. "So, what do you say?"

"Hell, yes. Yes, of course. Thank you, Mr. White." Lois said grinning, still surprised with Perry's offer. "Or should I call you... chief?"

"God, please no. Anything but chief. Don't ever call me, chief."

"Okay, then. Thanks, Perry."

Later, at Midnight, everybody was exchanging gifts when Lois approached Chloe with a big red box. "That's for you, Chlo."

"Thank you, Lois." Chloe said with a smile. She opened the box and, surprised, saw to see a porcelain doll exactly like the one she had when she was a kid. "Lois… it looks like…"

"Lilly. I know. Look, I don't think you remember but the doll your mother gave to you when you were four… after she left, you broke your doll. Maybe you forgot about that because it was such a difficult time for you, but I didn't. I didn't steal it, Chloe, but I threw away her broken pieces. I didn't know that she meant that much to you. That's why I bought an exact replica of it."

Chloe was speechless and with tears in her eyes. "I don't know what to say, Lo. That's the best Christmas gift I've ever got." she said hugging Lois kissing her in the cheek. "Thank you."

"You welcome."

"By the way, Mr. White told me you'll start working with us by Monday and I'm so happy about it. It was about time. I have a present for you too." Chloe said, as she gave Lois a blue box. Lois looked at her suspicious before opening it.

"Chloe!" Lois said surprised when she looked at the golden plaque with Lois Lane written on it. "I don't know what to say..."

"You can put it in your desk in the Planet. Everybody will have to learn your name there and know you'll be a great reporter someday."

"Wow. That's the second time I hear that today. You guys have a lot faith on me don't you?"

"Of course we have, Lois." Clark interrupted, and Lois look at him and smiled. "Because you never gave on us either. That's what friends are for."

"Okay. It's your time now, Smallville." Lois pulls Clark's hand to the middle of the Talon without noticing they had stopped in the right spot where there was a mistletoe hanging on.

Chloe and Jimmy grinned amused.

"Hey Jimmy, could you help me with something?" Chloe whispered with a naughty smile.

"Always."

"Okay, I have an idea…"

TBC