Mom had said there would be a consequence for sharing a bed with Lois and she was right.
The consequence was that Clark found himself wide awake and staring at the ceiling, unable to go back to sleep.
It wasn't just that he wanted the feel of her in his arms, because he did. But every time he closed his eyes and tried to rest, he saw his little girl and his baby boy.
It wasn't anything like the dream he'd had at the Regent, but it tugged at his heart nonetheless. The problem was, he could still feel the warm weight of his baby son in his arms as he sat on the front porch swing watching his feisty daughter shriek with delight as she and Shelby chased each other around the yard.
It made him homesick for a life that didn't exist and yearn for the children he didn't have.
Maybe it was time to talk to Jor-El and see if there was the possibility of Kryptonians and humans conceiving a child. But more importantly, a particular Kryptonian and human.
He wanted Ellen and Sam and any other kids that might come along.
He wasn't sure how Lois would feel about a big family because until a week ago, Clark wasn't even sure how she felt about him. But he liked the idea of having more than a couple of kids who would bring the farm to life with their laughter.
He'd grown up an only child and with Lucy away at boarding school; Lois had been on her own, too.
But at this stage of the game, it was a moot point because as much as he and Lois loved each other, there was still the matter of juggling his life with her and his life as the Blur.
And for Lois, juggling her life as a reporter and her life with him, Blur and all.
Every part of their new relationship was important and integral to who they were, together and apart. And at the moment, he really wanted to be with Lois.
The sudden ring of his cell phone made him start and when he picked it up off of the nightstand, he smiled at the name on the call screen.
Lois.
"This is all your fault, you know." He heard her indignant voice and tried not to laugh.
"It usually is, Lois." Clark felt the familiar rush of warmth in his chest at the sound of her voice. "But what's my fault this time?"
"I can't sleep." She huffed and he grinned.
"Well did you ever stop to consider that I'm not sleeping either?"
"You did answer that phone pretty quick." She conceded and then he heard her sigh. "This is a lot harder then I thought it would be."
"I know. Me, too."
"I mean, I thought I couldn't sleep last night because we were in the same house and once I got back to the Talon, I'd sleep like a baby. But it's even harder tonight." She admitted. "We haven't had this much distance between us in a week."
"Maybe it's harder because we ended up sleeping together last night." He suggested, though he wouldn't have changed what he did.
"Are you saying this is my fault?"
"You know I'm not." He shook his head. "It's my fault because I could hear how restless you were and I just wanted to be with you."
"And has that changed?" She asked him and Clark had the uneasy feeling she was working up to something.
"It's-" He turned his head to look at the clock and it was much later than he thought. "two o'clock in the morning, Lois and I'm awake. What do you think?"
"Then why are you still there?" Came the breathless question. "Instead of here with me?"
"Lois." His heart started to beat a staccato and his hands began to shake.
"Sleeping, Smallville. That's all." Lois assured him, but he wasn't so sure that he'd be satisfied with just sleep.
"I really think we-"
"Don't think, Clark." Her voice was becoming insistent and who was he to argue with something he really wanted? "I've got the apartment to myself and it'll only take you about five seconds to get here."
"Lois." It was becoming apparent that she wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. So he tossed the blankets back, holding the phone to his ear and stood up. "Give me a minute."
"I knew you wouldn't be able to turn me down." He heard a giggle that sounded so much like their daughter, just before she disconnected the call.
Only Lois.
And he wouldn't have it any other way.
He walked to the bedroom door and picked up his boots before walking down the hall to the kitchen stairs, so he wouldn't have to pass his mother's room. About half way down, he stopped and sighed because he realized that he was sneaking out of his own house.
He was a grown man of twenty-three and he'd been living on his own for the last three years. But the minute his mother comes home for a visit? He's a seventeen-year-old boy sneaking out of the house to see his girlfriend.
And then he found himself grinning.
He liked the idea of that, Lois as his girlfriend.
The question was, would she like the idea of him as her boyfriend?
He got a note pad and a pen and wrote out a brief note for his mother to tell her where he'd gone. The word 'consequences' bounced through his mind again as he walked out to the living room and sat down on the couch to put his boots on. He glanced upstairs before he stood up again and headed to the front door, grabbing his jacket and stepping outside.
It was such an automatic thing to do, put a jacket on, even though he didn't need to. But his parent's had ingrained in him the necessity to fit in. And even though Lois knew the truth about him, the rest of Smallville didn't.
He sped away from the farm and just over five seconds later; he was standing in front of the Talon. He hadn't considered how he was going to get in because the front doors were locked. But after he walked around to the side of the building, he saw a window on the second floor ajar and when he reached the bottom of the fire escape, he jumped.
What he saw after he stepped into her bedroom and closed the window behind him made him laugh. Lois was seated cross-legged in the middle of her bed and leaning back on her hands, waiting for him. She was wearing one of her seemingly endless pair of flannel pajamas, and the pair she had on was adorned with tractors and barns.
And before he thought about what he was saying, he blurted out, "Those look like something Ellen would wear."
Her face flushed at his comment and he mentally chastised himself for the slip.
"I'm sorry, Lois." Clark apologized to her and he knew he should have thought twice about coming. "I wasn't thinking."
"Wrong, Smallville." She shook her head and took a breath. "It seems as though you've been doing a lot of thinking."
"Dreaming actually." He admitted and sat down on the edge of the bed. "That's why I was awake when you called. I was dreaming about the kids."
"You got to see him?" Lois looked surprised and pleased all at the same time and then she smiled. "I was sorry that you didn't get the chance to see him in your dream."
"So was I." He smiled back and felt the warmth of a blush as his eyes traveled down briefly to her abdomen. "But I got to feel him move when you were pregnant and I'm sorry you didn't have that chance."
"Clark, how are we supposed to live with this?" She was frowning as she sat up and then folded her hands in her lap. "We've been given this picture of our lives, complete with kids and since I had that dream, I'm-"
She couldn't finish what she wanted to say and shook her head.
"Homesick?" He ventured a guess.
"Yea." She looked up at him with tears in her eyes and he could see how surprised she was. "How?"
"Because I feel the same way." Clark reached for one of her hands and she let him take it. "How is it that I feel like a father when I'm not? And how can I miss two kids that don't exist except in our dreams?"
"I miss them too." She squeezed his fingers. "And it feels really weird, missing kids that we don't have."
And because there was only one way that they could have them, Clark knew he needed to leave. "This was a bad idea, Lois. I really should go."
He stood up and Lois reached for his hand as she unfolded her legs and got up on her knees. "No! Please, don't leave me like this."
"I don't think I should stay, not feeling the way we are." He tried to reason, but was it with her or himself?
"Clark, please." She was begging and Lois Lane never begged. "Please."
He wanted to tell her that they couldn't do anything more than sleep, but at that moment, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to honor the deal. So instead of telling her what they both needed to hear, he only nodded and then shrugged out of his jacket, tossing it toward a nearby chair.
He didn't stop to see if it made it before he sat back down, pulled his boots off and set them under the bed. The next thing he knew, Lois' hands were cupping his face and she was kissing him.
It had only been a few hours since they were kissing each other in front of the fire, but to Clark it felt liked days. Kissing her was like breathing the air, he'd come to realize, and he couldn't live without either one.
He suddenly found her straddling his lap and her hands moved down to pull on the bottom of his tee shirt and while a small part of his brain told him that he should stop her, his heart was telling him to let things take their natural course.
Still-
"Lois, I thought you weren't ready." He barely managed to form the words as her hands kept tugging and the result was her warm skin brushing against his.
"Clark, we've had two kids. I think I'm ready." Lois' oddly sound reasoning nearly convinced him as much as her lips pressed against his did.
Nearly.
"But they aren't real." He caught her eye and her face was flushed. "They're only a dream."
He kept trying to convince her even as he sat back and pulled his own tee shirt off, dropping it behind him.
Consequences.
"A dream come true." She smiled brightly at him because she knew that she was about to get her way as his fingers reached for the hem of her pajama top and began to work the buttons through the buttonholes.
The anticipation of what they were about to do was again tempered by reason. Even when he leaned up and kissed her, continuing to undo her top. "What about wanting our first time to be at the farm?"
She leaned back and framed his face with her hands. "Our second time can be at the farm."
"You sure?" He didn't want her to regret not waiting and his hands stopped on the final button. "I can wait."
"That's very generous of you, Smallville. But I don't want to."
"Okay." He agreed softly and could feel Lois start to tremble. He hesitated to make the next move, but not because he was balking. He just wanted it to be perfect.
"What's wrong?" Her gentle query got him to look at her smiling face and he sighed.
"I just don't want to disappoint you."
"You could never disappoint me, Clark." She tipped his face up. "Just listen to your heart, it'll tell you what to do."
"I love you." He wanted her to hear that so she would be sure to understand how much this meant to him.
"I love you, too." She kissed him again. "And we'll take this as slow as you need to."
"Okay." He felt his own body start to tremble as he let go of the last button. He could have easily undone it, but he chose instead to get his arms around her waist and pull her close against him.
It seemed to be the safer option.
The action backfired on him however, when he felt the warmth of her exposed skin pressed against his and his body reacted to the intimate contact.
She tried so hard to appear as thought she wasn't aware of what had just happened. But her face flamed red and her breath hitched and the trembling got worse.
He felt her fingers in his hair as she gently massaged the nape of his neck. She seemed to be waiting, very patiently, to see what he was going to do.
Her silent question was answered with his silent answer as he moved her off of his lap. He rolled her onto her back and then pressed her down into the mattress. A soft sigh was followed by a gasp of surprise when he leaned down and pressed his lips to her abdomen.
The muscles fluttered under his lips and he smiled as her body reacted to what he was doing to her. He was getting such a sense of deja vu because he couldn't shake the feeling he'd had her in this position before.
And then he couldn't help but wonder if it had been when they'd conceived Ellen or Sam or-
The tail end of that last thought brought him up short.
A third child?
His heart started to jackhammer in his chest and he rest his cheek where his lips had just been.
"Hey, are you okay?" He felt the brush of Lois' hand in his hair. "We don't have to go through with this if you're not ready."
"It's not that." He sighed and wondered how he could explain it. But they'd been honest about everything they'd been experiencing since having those dreams and he knew he couldn't keep it from her.
He sighed again and struggled to a seated position on the bed before he reached over and closed the open material of her top over her abdomen. He then moved to the side of the bed and dropped his forearms to his knees before running a shaky hand through his hair.
"Tell me." Her voice was soft and understanding as he felt her move and then settle down next to him, slipping her hand into his. "Something's got you spooked."
"Did we ever talk about having more than two kids?" He asked, hoping she would understand what he meant.
"I remember telling you that if we could have another baby that had your temperament, I'd consider it." Her breathless answer made him flush. "Why do you ask?"
"That's what I was thinking about back there." He glanced over at her. "I could feel your stomach fluttering and I got the feeling that we'd been in this situation before when you'd gotten pregnant."
"Would you like to have more than two kids?" She asked and he could feel the tremor in her hand.
"Would you?" He didn't mean to deflect her question.
"I asked first." Lois leaned over and kissed his cheek. "So answer."
"As long as they're ours, I'd like as many as you'd want to have." He told her truthfully and he felt a smile pull at his lips.
"Your very own football team?" She laughed softly and he let out a nervous breath as she added. "I know. Another star quarterback for Smallville High."
"Or a house full of reporters." He countered and Lois smiled. "Maybe even a senator."
"Maybe." She shrugged. "It could be that two reporters, a hunky hero and a senator in one family would be enough."
"It's hard to say what kind of abilities our kids would have, seeing as how they'd be half Kryptonian." He squeezed her hand. "That's even if we'd be able to get pregnant."
"Clark, we've been talking about kids for the last two days." She sighed and the trembling in her hand got worse. "So I think it's time we go talk to Jor-El, so we know for sure."
"And what if it turns out we can't?" The thought of that made him a little sad.
"Then we'll do what your parents did, we'll adopt." She kissed his shoulder before she reached over for his tee shirt and handed it to him. "And we'll love them as much as they loved you."
"I know." He agreed as she pulled his shirt on and took Lois' hand again. "Call me selfish, but I would like to have a daughter who looks just like you."
"And I'd like a son who looks just like you." She shrugged. "But sometimes, Smallville we don't always get what we want."
"Like tonight?" They'd been thwarted again.
"Yea, about that." She smiled at him. "The next time you get me on a bed and nearly have me out of my pajamas, you'd better be prepared to follow through. You got that?"
"Shouldn't that work both ways?" He grinned back. "After all, you did have me out of my tee shirt."
"I didn't hear you complaining." Lois laughed and Clark could feel the tremor in her hand beginning to subside. "And I can guarantee that when the time comes, you won't be."
"Is that a promise or a threat?" He laughed with her, remembering the conversation they'd had after she'd figured out that Clark had talked to Lex about getting her back into Met U.
'Don't pretend you had nothing to do with this. Why would Lex call out of the blue on my behalf?'
'Look, the important thing is, you got in and you're leaving.' He'd commented. When he'd realized she wasn't walking with him, he'd turned around to see her giving him a look. And he'd found himself back peddling a little. "Because that's what you wanted, right?'
'Yea, yea. Don't get all broken up about it.' She'd paused for a moment. 'You know if I could describe my time here in one word, it would be weird. I'll look forward to the relative normalcy of the big city. But don't worry. I'll visit.'
Clark found that he couldn't pass up the chance to needle her. 'Is that a promise or a threat?'
And with a smile on her face, she'd punched him. 'See you around. Smallville.'
"Should I ask what you're thinking about?" She pulled on his arm.
"What else would I be thinking about, Lois? Except you."
"I like that answer." She smiled. "And now that I've said that, you have to go."
"I know." He reached under the bed and got his boots. "I shouldn't have come over here in the first place."
"Hey." Lois grasped his chin and held his gaze. "This was my idea, remember? And I didn't exactly let you give me 'no' for an answer."
"That's because you don't know the meaning of the word 'no'." He brushed a hand across her cheek.
"Come on, Smallville. I wouldn't be me if I didn't say no."
"True. But for tonight I think no is a good thing." He dropped his hand to pick up one of his boots and slip his foot into it. "Lois?"
"What is it?" He felt her hand on his shoulder.
"You know we can't do this anymore. Not until the time is right." He couldn't look at her and after he finished tying the laces on the one boot, pushed his foot into the other. "This is the second time we haven't made love and I think there's a reason for that."
"Because you think too much?" She laughed softly and he sighed. "Relax, Clark. I know what you're saying. And as much as I would have liked something to happen tonight, I did say I wanted our first time to be at the farm. And that's where it's going to be." She pushed on his shoulder. "So you need to go home now. Just call me when you get there."
He finished tying the laces and stood up, glancing at her pajama top and she was all buttoned up. "Just so you know I got home okay?"
"I want you to call me- " She didn't miss where his eyes had gone and she tapped him under his chin. "so I can hear your voice before I go to sleep."
"Then get into bed, get comfortable and give me about ten seconds."
"Tuck me in?" She got up to her knees again and grasped the edge of his tee shirt. Her eyes sparkled with what he swore was mischief and she gave him such a child like smile. "Consider it practice."
"You really are trying to drive me crazy, aren't you?" He leaned over and kissed her.
"Completely." She kissed him back. "So how about it, handsome?"
Handsome? That was a new one.
"Only if you promise to go to sleep." You sound like a father, Clark.
Apparently, Lois thought so too. "Yes, Dad."
"In." He pointed at the bed.
"Some bedside manner you've got." She feigned a pout as she backed up while Clark pulled the comforter and blankets back.
"Were you always this difficult to put to bed?" He asked as Lois got under the blankets and he pulled them up to her chin.
She in turn pulled her arms out and tucked them under her armpits. "The General always said so."
"I'm beginning to sympathize with him." He sat down on edge of the bed and took one of her hands in his. "I don't suppose you want a bedtime story?"
She shook her head. "How about a goodnight kiss and you can get your Blurry butt out of here."
"Sleep well, Lois."
"Not until you get home."
"I won't be long." He promised as he pressed his lips to hers, caressing the soft, warm skin and she answered with a little more pressure before she suddenly pulled back.
"Sorry."
"I'm not." He squeezed her hand and stood up. "You want some tea or hot cocoa before I leave?"
She seemed to be considering his offer and then nodded. "Some of your mom's chamomile tea?"
"You've got it." He smiled and super speeding out to the kitchen, he found the tea. In short order, he heated the water with his heat vision, steeped the tea and had it back in the bedroom in less that three seconds.
"That super speed of yours is going to come in very handy." She commented as he picked up his jacket and slipped his arms through the sleeves.
"I can see it now." Clark grinned as he stopped next to the bed. "I'm going to become Lois Lane's personal errand boy."
"Maybe." She shrugged. "But it won't go un-rewarded, just remember that."
"As if you'd let me." He took her hand for a moment before he stepped to the window. "Make sure this is locked behind me."
"Smallville, this is Smallville. What could happen?"
"Humor me." He unlatched the window and opened it.
"That's means I have to get out of bed."
"Humor me." He repeated, refusing to move until she'd tossed the blankets back and walked to the window.
"The things I do for you." She remarked as he stepped out onto the fire escape.
"Only because you want to." He replied. "I'll call you as soon as I get home."
"Yes, you will." She gave him a pointed look and Clark nodded as she closed the window. He waited until he saw her latch it and he mouthed 'Thank you' to her before he climbed down the fire escape and took off for the farm.
He walked into the house through the kitchen door, pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and pressed 1 on his speed dial. He heard the call connect and before Lois had a chance to say anything, he greeted her. "Hi, honey. I'm home."
"Very funny." He was pretty sure she was smiling.
"You're not letting your tea get cold, are you?" He asked her as he picked up the note he'd left for his mother.
"Clark, you only left ten seconds ago." And then he heard her laugh. "And it's still too hot to drink. Are you sure you didn't boil the water?"
"I was in a hurry." He smiled at the sound of it. "So I might have."
"That's all right, I can't sleep yet anyway. But I'm pretty sure that when I do, I'll be having some really nice dreams."
Was it possible to hear someone blush? Because he was pretty sure that she was.
"I will be, too." He replied as he walked up the kitchen stairs, heading to his room. "But that's not going to happen if we don't hang up."
"I suppose we have to do that if we're going to sleep." She stated the obvious. "And you want to know something? I think I'll be sleeping a lot better tonight."
"I think I will be too." Clark nodded his agreement. "And I don't think I could have said that earlier."
"Me, either." She sighed. "But I think we're going to sleep better now because we know the time is coming and we want it to be perfect."
"It will be, Lois." He promised her. "I'll make sure of it."
"With a lot of help from me."
"With a lot of help from you." Clark repeated and glanced at his watch as he walked into his room and closed the door. "But in the meantime, we need to go to sleep. Don't forget, you're coming over for breakfast tomorrow."
"And the General." She reminded him.
"It'll be fine." He tried to reassure her as he shrugged out of his jacket and hung it across the back of his old desk chair. He then tossed the crumpled paper into the wastebasket. "You and your dad seemed to get along fine tonight."
"Yea, we did. I have to admit, that kind of surprised me."
"He may keep surprising you, Lois." He walked to the edge of his bed and sat down. "Just keep giving him a chance, like you did earlier."
"It's amazing to see how much he still loves my mother."
Clark untied his boots and pulled them off with one hand, keeping the phone to his ear with the other. "I think your parents had the same kind of marriage my parents did. And just because your mom and my dad are gone, it doesn't change how much they're still loved."
He pulled his legs up onto the mattress and lay down, pulling the blankets over him. Back where he started when she'd called.
"Do you think we're like them?" He heard the breathless sound in her voice again and he had to admit how much he loved the sound of it.
"We're not married." He told her with a straight face, though he really felt like smiling.
"No kidding." She huffed. "But you know that's not what I meant."
She's being serious, Clark. Give her the courtesy of being serious, too.
"I think we are." He told her honestly. "It took us a while to get here, but I do think we are."
"And do you have any idea how much that scares me?"
"I do, because it scares me too. But you know what scares me even more?" He stopped for a moment and took a breath. "Not having you in my life."
"I'm not going anywhere, Smallville. You can count on that." And she laughed again. "Except possibly Dreamland. I've gotten really sleepy all of a sudden; you didn't put anything in this, did you?"
"There's nothing in that mug but hot water and tea." He snuggled down himself and as he slowly began to relax, closed his eyes. "I think the excitement of everything that happened is catching up with us and we need some sleep."
"I think that's a good idea." He heard her yawn and then heard the sound of her bedside lamp being snapped off. He then heard the rustle of her comforter and knew she was settling down, too. "Would you mind if we didn't hang up?"
"You want to keep talking?"
"No. I just want to go to sleep knowing you're on the other end." She admitted.
"I'm not going anywhere. So go ahead and go to sleep."
"Goodnight, Clark."
"Goodnight, Lois."
"I love you."
"I love you, too. Now go to sleep."
"I will if you stop talking." He heard a giggle.
"Lois."
"Goodnight." And except for the eventual sound of her even breathing coming through the phone, she was finally quiet.
"Goodnight, honey."
And he went to sleep with his phone to his ear.