Nequam-tenshi: don't cry! I'm sorry.
C im am a dragon, Jeremy Shane: Thanks!
Tessfan: Lol. I've heard that before.
Wtchcool: I know, but Jo probably would feel bad about even mentioning it to Lois now; the poor kid. She gets her guilt tripping from her daddy.
Hannah: Thanks! I feel sorry for her too.
Mayicita: Thanks! I was so worried about that chapter; and the fact that I had to leave for work, so I kinda rushed it. I'm glad you think it turned out well.
Laura Redmond: thanks! And sorry for the none-Clois moment.
LooneyTLuna: Aww don't cry! I wasn't trying to make you cry; but it was the only way I could think for Lois teaching Jo not to run off. I couldn't think of anything else.
LoisLaneRocks: Thank you! I'm glad you were satisfied; and you managed to make me blush a little with all that praise!
B. Davis: Lol. Nice try. I think the waiting is good for ya…sort of. I'm so glad everyone likes how Lois handled Jo'an. I was really iffy about that.
Jade2nightwing: I agree. Poor kid.
Quathis: You're totally right. Lana did witness the goodbye kiss after breakfast after all. Thank you so much for reviewing.
Briellehalliwell1018: Thank you! I had a wonderful thanksgiving; and I'm so happy you enjoyed the chapter; but you guys are making me feel bad. I really wasn't trying to make anyone cry. I swear.
Geno beast: I know. It's the pits. It's a really messed up situation.
Katlynne: Lol. Thanks. It really wasn't that short of a chapter hun;)
Ladyevenstar22: I honestly have no idea. It's just kind of how I deal with my goddaughter if I don't feel like spankin' her. If I tell her she's hurting me, or if I cry…she's a good kid. She doesn't like me to cry; of course, I'm totally faking it; but oh well. My godson on the other hand, he could care less if I cry, it doesn't hurt him. So I just have to spank him...or take away his video game. He nearly dies then. Lol.
Readingred: Don't worry, it is all figured out;)
Lois Joanne Lane: Thank you! I'm really glad you liked that chapter!
Stupid me: Lol. Drama indeed; and I'm sure you're not the only one who wants Jo'an to be their daughter. She's such a cutie.
Gladius Grim: Thank you! You really seem to be enjoying this story and I appreciate it immensely.
IHeart You13: Wow what a review! And I feel so bad that you only got 4 hours of sleep. That sucks. But at the same time; I'm so happy you enjoyed yourself so much!
Fan: OMG! I'm so sorry! Why is everybody crying? I didn't mean it. Honest, you're making me feel awful. As for the time travel rules; they're kinda neither; but I can't really elaborate.
IceQueen825: Lol. Don't think so hard about the time travel rules. I do realize how confusing and irritating it can be. Lol, you should be ashamed of yourself . That is a totally selfish reason to want Jo'an to stay longer;)
Clois fan: Lol. It is quite the dilemma; and I think this is my fifth time writing this; but I really wasn't trying to make anyone cry. Sorry.
Crazy4fanfic2008: Lol. Well thank you. I'm so glad you think I'm still doing so well, makes my head swell;)
Gigga: Lol, how does it feel to be caught up? I'm glad you're still enjoying this; and thank you!
Cloismycel: Whoa, long time no see! Glad you're all caught up now!
Laura Redmond: Thank you! I forgot about that story. I'll think about it, but more than likely if people keep asking, I'll probably end up doing it. I'm a pushover that way;)
~~{(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)}~~
Oliver watches his niece look over the menu and realizes something. He's an idiot. What kind of a person takes a six year old to this kind of restaurant. This kind of restaurant, which has candles everywhere serving as their only source of lighting, furniture that came from a tree so rare and fine it probably, and more than likely, had a name; and the walls... They were so rich with colors, reds, oranges, greens, browns, they appeared to be…snobby for lack of better word. Oliver would bet a lot of money that no one ever touches them for fear of not being worthy enough. Yeah, a wall so snooty the snooty are afraid to touch them. What was he thinking?
He'd made reservations for two here so that he and Chloe could have their meeting; and when he realized Jo'an would be coming along, he just called the restaurant up and changed his reservation for two to a reservation for three. If he was smart, he would've cancelled the reservation all together and taken his niece to Burger King. Kids like that kind of stuff.
"Okay," Jo'an says before putting the menu down and smiling at Oliver. "I know what I want."
Chloe smiles over at the child. Her niece told her that she's been here before; but if Jo'an pronounces anything off this menu correctly, Chloe's going to kill Oliver for spoiling their niece. Jo'an shouldn't be able to pronounce half of the words on the menu; not even if they were fed to her and she was asked to regurgitate them back immediately. Jo'an is a product of Lois and Clark. She should want french-fries and milk.
"I want French fries and Pepsi," Jo'an says seriously.
Chloe laughs; she was close.
"Joey, I don't think they make French fries here. Why don't I order your food? I'll get something you'll like, I promise," Oliver answers.
Jo'an folds her arms over her chest and scowls at him while working her jaw from side to side.
It makes Oliver gulp a little. Jo'an can be just as intimidating as Lois at times; then he thinks back to when Chloe gave him the same exact look just a few days ago, and how nervous he'd been then. It'd probably be in his best interest to steer clear of all three of the Sullivan/Lane women.
"Uncle Bruce would make them do it," Jo'an announces sourly.
Oliver waits a beat before responding with an, "Uncle Bruce? Who is Uncle Bruce?"
"My uncle," Jo'an answers simply.
Chloe hides her laugh behind a couple of coughs. She doesn't know for sure, but she's pretty sure her niece is being evasive on purpose.
"Well does this Uncle Bruce have a last name?" Oliver rebuttals.
"Yes," Jo'an says, giving him another evasive answer and making Chloe laugh even harder. She's stopped pretending to be coughing and is feeling no guilt whatsoever for letting Oliver know she's amused by their niece's antics.
Oliver sends a brief scowl Chloe's way before giving his niece his full attention once again.
"Well?" He asks.
"Well what?"
"What is it?"
"What's what?"
"His last name?"
"Who's last name?"
Oliver works his jaw from side to side, just as his niece had done earlier, as Chloe starts wiping tears from her eyes. She's laughing that hard; but it's not that funny. Not to him.
"Your uncle's," Oliver tries again.
"Which uncle?"
Oliver takes a deep breath. This child…he's going to…to…He takes another deep breath before continuing.
"Joey, what is Uncle Bruce's last name?"
"Oh? That uncle," Jo'an smiles. But that's it. That's all she says. He waits a few more seconds to make sure; but still nothing.
"Well?" He asks.
"Well what?"
"Chloe, make her stop!" Oliver practically shouts in absolute horror. Jesus! The kid can go all day…just dance circles around him and-
"Jo, go ahead and answer Uncle Ollie, I think he's had enough," Chloe laughs.
She gets an immediate "Okay" from Jo'an. Then she turns a little to address Oliver. "What are you going to do when you have your own kids? I'm not going to always be there to help."
"Yes you will, I'm not having any kids unless you're there to keep them from doing…that," he nods his head in Jo'an's direction.
Chloe goes silent kind of abruptly; and her face begins to slowly turn red, confusing the crap out of Oliver.
"I'm sure you'll find someone to help you," she answers after a few seconds.
Oliver mentally kicks himself in the teeth. He had to. He'd just put his foot so far down his throat…what was he thinking when he said that?
It's quite simple really. He hadn't been thinking. It just kinda came out; and it's the truth. He would very much love for Chloe to stick around; maybe help him out with his kids if he had any; maybe even be their mo-
"Wayne," Jo'an says after her aunt and uncle seem to be finished talking. Well, they haven't said anything to each other in a long time so that must mean they're done anyway.
Oliver blinks a couple times as his niece pulls him out of his reverie. Wayne? Why did she just say…then he remembers; and honestly, how could he have forgotten that he'd he asked his niece to give him the last name of her uncle. But…
She just said Wayne…as in Bruce Wayne…as in the Bruce Wayne of Wayne enterprises. Had to be. But…
"Since when is Bruce Wayne your uncle?"
"Since always," Jo'an shrugs. Uncle Bruce has been her uncle for as long as she can remember, and she can remember back pretty far. "Are you going to tell them to make me French fries like Uncle Bruce does? Please, Uncle Ollie?"
"So…you've been here before…with "Uncle Bruce?" is Oliver's answer.
"Yep."
"So…he always makes them make you a special dish?"
"Yep."
"So…you guys come here a lot?"
"Well, sorta…not here a lot; but wherever we go, he lets me have French fries."
"So…he takes you a lot of places?"
"When he comes to visit for pleasure not business," Jo'an answers, lowering her voice a few octaves to imitate her uncle's deep voice when she says "pleasure not business." Her uncle's very strict. She learned quickly not to bother him when he came over for "business."
"And how often does he come over for pleasure?" Oliver asks.
"Oliver," Chloe sighs in exasperation. She has an idea of where this is headed.
Oliver tries, but he can't seem to stop himself. He can't understand why he feels irritated; almost jealous. He knows he's not Jo'an's only uncle. She's got A.C and Victor…even Bobo whom she absolutely adores; but for some reason this Uncle Bruce thing just doesn't sit right with him.
"Who's house do you like to come over to the most; my house or Uncle Bruce's house?" Oliver asks flat out. And when Chloe rolls her eyes at him, he ignores her. He doesn't care that he sounded like a kindergartener. He really wants to know.
"You're house is fun Uncle Ollie,"
Yes!
"But Uncle Bruce has way better toys."
"Oh?" Oliver sighs deflatedly; and he feels even worse when Chloe sends him a smile that's somewhere between sympathy and amusement.
"What kind of toys?" Oliver asks. Not because he's gonna go out and buy bigger and better ones for Jo'an to play with; but because…because…
"Really big dangerous ones," Jo'an answers excitedly; a little too excitedly for someone who just said a "toy" was dangerous. "I'm not allowed to play with them." She finishes after a pause.
Oliver and Chloe both raise their eyebrows. The way she just emphasized the word "allowed", it almost seems as though she's played with these "dangerous" toys before anyway.
"Hey Jo, you ever played with Uncle Bruce's toys before; even though they're dangerous?" Chloe asks.
"Not by myself."
"With Uncle Bruce," Oliver concludes angrily. Who was he to let his niece play with dangerous toys? He would never let Joey play with dangerous toys. Bruce is an unfit par…uncle.
"Nope, with Dick."
"Dick?" Oliver scrunches his face as if he just came across an unpleasant smell. "Who is this Dick?
"Mommy calls him Grayson, he's my uncle."
Oliver Closes his mouth. The child has too many freakin' uncles.
Chloe gives a little giggle and stands up. "I'm going to the bathroom."
"Me too," Jo'an announces, standing up as well. She doesn't have to go; but her uncle keeps asking a lot of questions, and she answered them all as nicely as she could so that maybe he could get her the French fries but he just kept asking more!
Oliver watches them go, smiling as Chloe reaches down and grabs Jo'an's hand. She'll make a wonderful mother…
Six minutes later, Oliver frowns and looks down at his watch. How long does it take to use the bathroom? He calms down almost immediately, and mentally shakes his head at himself for overreacting. It's common knowledge that ladies take longer in the bathroom than men.
~~{(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)}~~
Lois smiles as she drives passed the "Welcome to Smallville" sign. She'll be home in about fifteen minutes.
Then said smile is quickly replaced by a nervous frown. She'd spent exactly fifteen minutes at the Daily Planet before realizing that she wasn't going to be able to get any work done; that she couldn't concentrate on anything.
And it was all Clark's fault.
He kissed her; and it wasn't one of those bumbling accidental pecks he'd given her while rushing away to take care of an emergency just this morning. He kissed her on purpose…in front of everybody; in front of her cousin, in front of her ex, in front of their daughter, and in front of her…Lana.
And she kinda liked it. Okay, so she liked it a lot. And that's why she can't stop smiling. But it's also why she can't stop frowning as well.
She's alone. Her daughter begged her for a whole six minutes to stay the night with her aunt and uncle; mostly because her time at the Daily Planet had been "boring" and she didn't want to ever experience that again. Then there was Oliver and Chloe, who kept saying she wouldn't be a problem; that they really didn't have anything special planned; and that they'd just take her out to dinner with them; and then each of them added a pretty please and a puppy dog pout onto their pretty faces.
In the end, Lois was forced to cave. The only reason she wasn't going to let Jo'an stay the night was because she had school in the morning; but her daughter reminded her that she could just run to school really fast; or if she didn't want her to go by herself, her daddy could run her to school really fast. So Lois didn't have an excuse to take the child with her. Not that she needed one; but she didn't have the heart to bore the child to death; not after she'd just made her cry so hard. Jo'an deserved a little fun.
Lois smiles slightly as she remembers what happened next. After she kissed her daughter goodbye; and warned her to make sure her uncle and aunt don't do any "wrestling", she realized she still wasn't dressed for work. She swore softly then; but her daughter told her not to be mad; and that she could take her home "real quick".
Before Lois could even think about an answer to that; she was lifted off the ground, not very high; but she was off the ground and in the arms of her daughter; her six year old daughter. She didn't have enough time to think about how weird it was before she was being set back down…in her bedroom…at the Kent Farm.
Whoa.
That had been what she told the child; and in response, Jo'an just shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal; like she does it all the time…and she probably does.
They both showered and changed; and then Jo'an zipped them back to Oliver's.
Lois can remember just how adorable Jo'an looked before she left her with Oliver and Chloe. She was wearing a dress; a green one with a white sash that she'd picked out because it was the color her uncle thought she looked best in.
The thought makes Lois frown…yet again. As happy as she is about Oliver being a constant father figure for her daughter in the future, she can't help but think that her daughter should've been picking out dresses based on what her father, Clark, likes to see her in.
That's on her list of things to talk to Clark about when he gets home.
Lois checks the time; her nerves coming back quickly. She'll be home in thirteen minutes. Alone.
She sent Clark a text hours ago; telling him that they needed to talk…tonight.
He text back almost immediately with a, "before or after Jo'an goes to sleep?"
That was when the nervousness first started; that was when she first realized that a Jo'an with Oliver and Chloe makes an alone Lois and Clark…all night.
She sent a text to Clark, telling him that Jo'an wasn't going to be there, he sent one back a second later asking where she was.
He didn't text back immediately when she told him where Jo'an was, and where she would be all night; and it worried Lois a little. Of course she realized there was a good chance he was busy dismantling a bomb; but then, there was also a chance that he realized what a Jo'an with Oliver and Chloe meant for a Lois and Clark as well. That they'd be alone…together…at night.
But then he sent a text that said "I'll be home as soon as I can," and she couldn't stop the smile that just appeared out of nowhere and fastened itself onto her lips. They were like a family; a real family.
~~{(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)}~~
A/N: next post will be Thursday December 2nd .
