"Please explain to me what the difference is between a pinch and a dash." Lois asked herself as she read the recipe again. She ran the back of her hand across her forehead in frustration and sighed when she realized that she'd just dusted herself with flour.

"Come on Lois." Clark's amused voice teased from the other side of the newspaper as he sat at the kitchen table behind her, being of absolutely no help. "Even I know the difference."

"Then what is it?"

"If I tell you that, then you'll never learn." He laughed and Lois really wanted to smack him; he'd been in rare form since he'd rolled in from Kansas City the afternoon before. Clark had been coming home for nearly a month and for the first time, she wished he hadn't.

"You aren't helping, so why don't you beat it." She sighed again and called for his mother. "Mrs. Kent!"

"Clark, why don't you go outside and chop some firewood for your dad." Lois heard her walk in from the parlor. "We used so much this past winter and I know that he doesn't want to get caught shorthanded come October."

"Mom, that's five months away; I think we have time." He answered.

"Clark." Her voice was firm.

"Yes, ma'am." Lois heard the sound of the newspaper being folded and a chair being pushed back as Clark got up from the table. She heard the sound of his boots as he walked out of the kitchen and through the parlor, toward the front door.

Mrs. Kent walked to the counter and came to a stop next to Lois. "Honey, it's as simple as it sounds. Watch." And she proceeded to show Lois exactly what it was as she grasped some salt between her thumb and forefinger. "That's a pinch. It's meant to enhance the flavor, not change it."

"So what is a dash, then?" She asked, but Mrs. Kent never got the chance to answer when there was a knock at the front door. And to Lois' surprise, after she heard the door opened, was that the voice coming from the front porch sounded like Lieutenant Oliver Queen.

"General Lane asked me to contact her but she doesn't appear to be at home." She heard.

"That's because she's here." Lois knew that tone and she smiled at Clark's mother. Mrs. Kent smiled back before she picked up a dishtowel to wipe the flour off of her forehead.

"You'd better go rescue him."

"Clark or Lieutenant Queen?" She asked.

"I think you know, so go." Mrs. Kent added as she undid Lois' apron and whisked it off as she nudged her toward the parlor. "It never hurts to make a good impression."

Lois walked out of the kitchen, toward the front door and the lieutenant had his cap tucked under his arm, looking really amused. Clark on the other hand, did not. "Lieutenant?"

"I thought we'd gotten past the formalities." He smiled at her. "It's Oliver, please. Would it be all right if I come in?"

Clark blocked the door and wouldn't budge until Lois gave him a push and glared at him before she smiled at the young officer. "Of course it would, please come in."

"Thank you." He walked into the house and she showed him into the parlor. "This is a nice place you have here Agent Kent. The general has mentioned how he always feels at home."

"That's because it is a home." In the months she'd known him, Lois had never known Clark to be deliberately rude and frowned at him in embarrassment as he stood just inside the parlor with his arms folded across his chest.

"And it seems as though Lois is doing a better job of welcoming you than my son." Mrs. Kent walked in from the kitchen, sparing a glance at her inconsiderate offspring and held out her hand. "Lieutenant Queen, welcome." And they shook hands. "Please sit down. Clark, why don't you help Lois get some iced tea for our guest."

There was that disapproving tone again.

"Yes Agent Kent, why don't you help me." Lois leveled a look at him before she grabbed his arm and pulled him with her into the kitchen. She walked to the service porch door, opened it and pushed him outside before pulling the door closed behind them. "Do you want to explain to me what that was all about?"

"What is he doing here?" He frowned.

"You heard him." Lois couldn't understand why he sounded so annoyed. "He's here because Dad asked him to find me."

"And you believe that?"

"I don't have a reason not to." Where was this coming from? "And just so you understand, I don't appreciate you behaving like such a Neanderthal."

"I wasn't." He started to say until Lois cut him off.

"Oh you most certainly were buster, and I don't like it." She glared at him.

"Well what am I supposed to do?" He sighed. "He shows up unannounced and acts like he knows you."

He couldn't be.

It surprised her, to say the least and her eyebrows went up because there couldn't be any other reason for his behavior. "You're jealous."

"I am not." He sounded a little too defensive and seemed to realize it. "Why would I be jealous?"

"You are." The idea that he would inadvertently reveal his insecurities about her, in spite of the fact that he was in love with her, was something she didn't expect. "Why?"

"I'm not jealous." He insisted even as his cheeks flooded with color and Lois knew she was right. "I just didn't like the way he looked at you."

"And what way was he looking at me that you didn't like?" This was something she had never experienced before with any other man and it illustrated again just how deep his feelings for her went.

"Like he has the right to." He caught her eye and Lois felt her own face warm as she smiled.

"Clark, I don't care how he looks at me; I never did. I just care how you look at me." She approached him and her smile grew wider as he backed up.

Her answer seemed to catch him off guard because he suddenly stopped. "You do?"

"I do." And she laughed as the opportunity she'd been hoping for finally presented itself and she put her arms around his neck. "Because I love you."

Mr. Kent was right.

He said the words would be there when she was ready, and they were. Although, it seemed that Clark was having a hard time believing was he was hearing. "What?"

She took a breath and felt her heart begin to race as she saw him swallow and his face flushed again as he tried to process what she was telling him.

"I think you heard me." Lois now understood how her own disbelief must have sounded to him. "But I can always repeat it."

And then he smiled as he drew her close against him. "I'd like that."

She pushed herself up on her toes and tightened her arms around him before she repeated it quietly in his ear. "I love you."

"I love you too." He said just as quietly, on a contented sigh and she knew he'd been waiting for weeks to be able to say that to her and then admitted. "And I was jealous."

"You didn't have a reason to be." Lois leaned back in his arms so he could see her face. "I'd be blind if I didn't see how handsome he was." And when Clark frowned, she put a hand on his cheek to keep his attention. "But he's not you and that makes all the difference."

He nodded before he pulled her back into his embrace and held her as his hands lightly roamed the length of her back. There didn't seem to be anything else to say, having declared their feelings for each other, so Lois decided to bask in that knowledge and enjoy his gentle touch before a soft tap on the kitchen window caused her to start.

Clark let her go as the door opened and Lois turned around. "I was starting to wonder why the kitchen was so quiet." Mrs. Kent laughed softly. "And now I know why. The two of you were out here spooning instead of getting the tea."

"I actually brought him out here to give him a piece of my mind." Lois shrugged self-consciously.

"I imagine that you did." Clark's mother smiled at her. "But at the moment, we have a guest sitting by himself in the parlor. So if you would come back inside I'll get the tea and you can find out why he's here."

Lois felt as though they'd been chastised as she walked into the kitchen. But with a brief touch on her arm from Mrs. Kent, she knew that it wasn't the case.

Lieutenant Queen stood as Lois walked back into the parlor, followed closely by Clark. "Mrs. Kent was wondering where you'd disappeared to."

"My apologies Lieutenant." She said as he sat back down and Clark took a seat in the overstuffed chair. She sat down next to him on the arm and he took her hand. When she glanced down at him, he smiled back at her unapologetically. "It was something urgent we needed to discuss."

"Did you get everything straightened out?" He smiled at them.

"We did." Clark answered as his hand tightened around hers.

"That's good." The lieutenant nodded and started to get up off the sofa and promptly sat down again as Mrs. Kent walked in from the kitchen.

"Please don't get up." She requested as she set a tray down on the coffee table and then sat down next to Lieutenant Queen. She handed each of them a glass before picking up her own.

"I was just about to tell Lois why I was here." He started to explain before he looked at her. "The General is still at Fort Harrison on maneuvers. He knew that you were scheduled to have dinner with him tomorrow night and it doesn't look like he's going to be home in time."

"He's going to be sent to the ETO, isn't he?" Lois already knew what his answer was going to be, but had to ask anyway. "That's what all the mountain training is for."

"You know I can't answer that." He told her. "The General will be sent where he's needed and when that's going to be, not even he knows."

It suddenly occurred to Lois that the lieutenant should have been with her father and wasn't. "If Dad is at Fort Harrison why are you here? I thought you would have gone with him."

"If I weren't being recalled to Hawaii, I would have." She hadn't expected that news. "It's been in the works for about a month and I'll be headed back in another week or so."

"Can you tell us why?" Mrs. Kent asked before she took a sip of her tea.

"I can't really go into too much detail, Mrs. Kent. Something seems to be brewing and the Army wants all of it's officers that were at Fort Shafter before Pearl Harbor was bombed, back in place. I haven't been given any more information than that."

"Were you there when it happened?" Clark let go of Lois' hand and sat forward.

"I was." The lieutenant nodded. "And I knew some of the fellows that were stationed aboard some of the ships and now they're at the bottom of the harbor."

"The Arizona?" He asked quietly.

"And the Utah and the Oklahoma."

"I'm sorry." Lois sighed.

"So am I, they were a good bunch of guys." And he added with a sad smile. "Even if they were in the Navy. In any case, I thought you'd be relieved to know that I'll be leaving."

"I don't understand." Clark looked confused and Lois wasn't sure what the lieutenant was getting at.

"I know that my initial interest in Lois was something that bothered you, even though you would never have admitted it." And his smile brightened. "But I never stood a chance with her because she only had eyes for you; though she wouldn't have admitted it either."

Had she been that transparent? Had he?

"I've never had much experience being turned down by a woman, especially someone as lovely as Lois. And I must admit it made me try that much harder to get her to warm up to me." He admitted with a laugh. "But it seemed the more I tried, the more she made it clear that she wasn't interested.

"And you made it very clear in the way you treated her, that your interest in her well being was much more than professional."

"I was just doing my job." Clark explained, but Lois didn't miss the defensiveness in his answer.

"Then why did I get the feeling that if I got too close to Lois you'd do what you had to, to defend your territory?" He asked because he seemed to hear the same thing, though Lois wasn't sure she liked being referred to as someone's territory. Even if it was Clark.

"Agent Kent, you always behaved professionally and I'm not trying to call that into question. But what's in a man's heart isn't always something he wants to acknowledge and the situation being what it was, I'm guessing that you didn't."

"Given the circumstances, I couldn't."

The lieutenant nodded. "That's why the General things so highly of you and why he trusts you."

"And I've always tried to remember that."

"Good." He nodded again. "So should I take that to mean that circumstances have changed?"

When Clark didn't respond, the young officer had the grace to look embarrassed and shook his head. "My apologies, Agent Kent; it isn't any of my business." And he sipped his tea.

Clark glanced up and caught Lois' eye and they smiled at each other and then he looked across at their guest. "Circumstances have changed."

"I'm glad to hear that." The lieutenant smiled again before he finished his glass and set it down on the tray. "If you'll excuse me, I really need to get back to Fort Ryan. I only meant to stop by for a moment to give Lois her father's message." And he stood. "Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Kent."

"It was very nice to meet you, Lieutenant." Mrs. Kent stood up, took the hand he proffered and shook. "I'll see you to the door."

"If you ever find yourselves with a reason to come over to Oahu, please let me know and I'll give you a personal tour of the base." He looked at Lois, but she had the feeling he meant it for her and Clark. "The islands are an experience that you shouldn't miss." He tucked his cap under his arm and followed Clark's mother to the door.

"Now what do you suppose he meant by that?" Lois wondered quietly.

"It sounds like I never had anything to worry about." He answered with a soft laugh.

"And you didn't believe me." She scolded him before she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Even after I told you that."

"Honey, it wasn't you I was worried about because I trust you." Clark shrugged. "I just didn't think I could trust him."

"And now you know different." Lois smiled at the endearment; it seemed to come so naturally to him and he smiled back at her.

"And it occurs to me that I never got to kiss you earlier."

"For what?" That's it Lois, play the ditzy dame.

"Maybe I should escort you back out to the service porch and remind you." He pushed himself out of the chair and took her hand again.

"Or better yet, escort her back into the kitchen and help her with that recipe." Mrs. Kent walked back into the parlor. "After all, you did seem to think you knew a thing or two about cooking."

"Well I didn't exactly live on roots and berries for five years." Clark laughed and his mother gave him a disapproving frown.

"There's no need to be smart, now."

"I'm sorry Mom." The smile remained. "But if it's all the same to you, I'd like to take a detour out to the service porch, first."

"You don't need to do that, just stay here." Mrs. Kent shook her head in amusement before she turned around and headed for the front door. "I'll be out in the barn helping your dad." She told them before she walked out of the parlor and went outside.

And then they were alone.

"Are you sure?" To anyone else but Lois, the question would have seemed to come out of left field, but she knew what he was asking. She'd told him that she didn't want to tell him that she loved him unless she was absolutely certain.

"I knew it when you kissed me in the barn, I just didn't know how to tell you." She admitted to him as she put her arms around his neck and his face flushed in embarrassment.

"I did a little more than kiss you, Lois."

"I wasn't objecting."

Clark laughed as he shook his head and put his arms around her. "As I recall, you were."

"Only because you were trying to help me tuck my blouse in with your dad standing just outside the barn." She felt her cheeks warm. "If he hadn't been there, I wouldn't have stopped you."

"I'll have to remember that." He teased. "Maybe the next time we find ourselves in the barn?"

"I know we've already had this discussion." Lois felt the need to remind him. "Besides, we don't need to be in the barn for you to kiss me."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "And why would I want to do that?"

"Because you love me." She brushed her fingers across his cheek. "And because I love you."

"I'm glad to hear it." Clark nodded just before he kissed her and Lois smiled. "What are you smiling at?"

"I was just wondering about something." She smiled at him.

"What's that?"

"What's a dash?"