Lana fell back into the armchair and put her aching feet up on the hassock. Lionel swept magnificently in from the nursery. He looked almost as tired as she felt. What with Lex being Lex, and there having been only one of him, Lana was pretty sure that rainy days in Metropolis had never been as hard on her husband the first time he was a father. Ordinarily she tried to shield him from the girls' rambunctious antics, but being eight months pregnant had slowed her way, way down. Lionel had taken up the slack -- Laci's first-grade teacher had expressed a little concern about her new idiosyncratic way of looking at the myths and fairy tales they'd been reading in class. Fortunately, vacation had started almost immediately afterwards.
"How are you, m'dear?" Lionel asked her. He settled himself onto the hassock and started rubbing her feet.
"You are the best husband ever, did you know that?" Lana smiled.
She loved his low, knowing chuckle. "You are the only person who would ever think so."
"Mmmm, that's nice. And I'm the only person who has to think so!" she added in fake indignation.
Laci came in. "Thank goodness those little girls have finally settled down!" she declared decidedly. Laci had never been one for naps. "What are we going to do now?"
Lionel and Lana looked at each other.
0o0o0o0o0
"Those little girls" woke up an hour later. Laci scurried away, trailing hair ribbons, to boss them around some more, and Lana heaved herself up out of the armchair to make dinner. Lionel stooped to give her a hand up. She couldn't help giggling.
"You're adorable with your hair in pigtails. You should wear it like that all the time."
Lionel snorted and kissed her on the forehead. "Men have died for less."
"Best husband ever!" she threw back at him as she left the room.
"You'll convince me yet!" he replied, and went to stop Laci from putting the baby in the hamper.