It was hard to believe that it was already Christmastime.
Though, being at the Daily Planet with Chloe was not exactly how Emmeline had envisioned spending the holiday.
But they didn't have much of a choice unless they wanted a bunch of less-fortunate children to not get their donated Christmas presents.
As far as Emmeline was concerned, she was thankful for the distraction. Christmas was a bit more of a difficult time for her this time around.
Completely out of options, Chloe called the one person she knew would be able to deliver all the presents single-handedly.
Clark Kent.
Even after all this time, Emmeline was reeling over all the information she had received. The night Clark had saved her from becoming one with the pavement after a huge fall from a skyscraper, he had sat her down and explained everything he knew about who he was and answered any question she had about him. And there had been a lot.
Suddenly, so much made sense about him. She recalled all the times she and Chloe had longed for the day when they would understand how Clark did the amazing things he did. Now that the day had come and the mystery was over, she wasn't sure how to handle everything.
One thing was for sure. She loved being in the loop. Ever since Chloe had discovered the big secret, Emmeline had unintentionally been left out of a lot of things between her and Clark. Now she didn't have to be excluded anymore.
"So, then they put me in charge, and I've actually gotten a really great response," Chloe explained once Clark arrived at the Planet. "I mean, I have doubled the number of Toys For Tots the Planet collected last year."
"Okay, so what's the problem?" Clark asked.
"Well, the presents need to be delivered tonight, and the teamsters are on strike on Christmas Eve."
"So, instead of calling FedEx, you called me?"
"I realize it's a lot to ask, but, I mean, you do run faster than a speeding bullet and I know you don't want to disappoint all those underprivileged children, do you?"
"Chloe, you didn't have to go there."
"Well, you know it's true. I mean, you'd be helping out a really great cause. Not to mention saving my career."
"It's just, I promised Lana that I would—"
"I'm sure she'll understand. Or at least she'll understand whatever it is that you make up to tell her. Please?"
Clark sighed heavily. He could never refuse her. "All right."
Chloe happily bounced up and down. "Yay!"
"I'll deliver a few on my way to the party."
"You're my hero. I knew you'd come through."
Emmeline smirked a little. "But you might be delivering more than a few."
Chloe opened the door to the room her desk was in and let Clark step in before her. His mouth dropped open when he saw the massive number of presents piled up all over the room.
"Chloe, this isn't Toys for Tots. It's Toys 'R' Us. How many are there?"
"Uh, a couple thousand, give or take. Now, I Mapquested these addresses and the sooner you can get started, the better. Here comes Santa Claus."
Chloe eagerly put a Santa hat on top of his head. She and Emmeline laughed as she took a picture of him.
Clark just smiled and rolled his eyes.
Then in a flash, he began speeding around the city to deliver all of the presents.
Chloe sat down at her computer and began working again while Clark fulfilled his task. "I'm really sorry you're here with me, Em, instead of out celebrating," she said.
"Hey, you asked me and I agreed to come up. Besides, it's not Christmas without my best friend, so I'd rather be spending time with you than celebrating alone anyway."
"Didn't you and your dad make plans?"
"Well, we thought about going to the Kents' Christmas party. But I didn't want to. I wasn't really in the mood for partying."
"Someone's lacking in Christmas spirit."
"You're the one who's here alone working."
"Okay, point made."
"We'll probably do something tomorrow, I guess. We're kind of just figuring this one out as we go."
"Yeah, I understand. Dad and I were the same way a few years ago. First one's always the hardest."
"Yeah…"
"Well, you're always welcome to come over to my house tomorrow and spend Christmas with me and my dad."
"Thanks. We might take you up on that offer."
Chloe sipped her coffee as she continued to work on her computer while Emmeline made a game out of paper airplanes.
"Merry Christmas, Chloe, Emmeline."
The two girls looked over to find an old man dressed in a Santa outfit.
That was weird. Emmeline hadn't heard the door open.
Chloe laughed lightly. "Santa?"
"Suit gave me away, huh?" the 'Santa' laughed.
"Uh, what, uh, what…what do you want?"
"More specifically, how did you know our names?" Emmeline asked.
"I met a friend of yours, young Clark Kent," 'Santa' answered. "He told me what you all were doing, how you were giving up your respective Christmas Eves. I figured you could use a little help."
"Shouldn't you be, you know, standing on a street corner with a bell?"
"Come on, let me give you all a hand, take a little bit of the pressure off. I am familiar with the job, you know."
"I don't know."
"Give me a chance. Worst-case scenario: I make off with a few free squirt guns."
Chloe looked over at Emmeline for her opinion.
"What could it hurt?" she told her. "Besides, I feel like it would be terrible to turn down Santa offering to help with presents. It just seems…paradoxical."
Chloe sighed and turned back to face Santa. "Well, we definitely could use all the help we can get."
'Santa' laughed in agreement.
"And at least no one's gonna accuse you of being a scab in a Santa outfit."
Chloe and Emmeline turned around and walked to one of the other desks.
"All right, um, I've organized the addresses from east to west, so if you just—"
When the two girls turned around, not only was Santa gone but so were all of the presents. At least three hundred presents gone in the span of two seconds.
Chloe and Emmeline looked at each other in confusion.
"You don't think…" Emmeline started.
"…No," Chloe responded hesitantly. "That's impossible. There's no way…is there?"
With all of the presents delivered, Chloe and Emmeline decided to go to the Kents' Christmas party after all. Emmeline called her dad and told him she would meet him there.
She was hesitant about attending, but she knew it would be good to get out on Christmas Eve and spend time with him.
"Clark!" Chloe called. "Come here, you've gotta hear this."
The three of them sat on the bench beneath the window in the dining room.
"So, then I turn back around and your tubby little miscreant is gone along with all the toys," she explained
"Yeah, right," Clark scoffed. "The same guy, the drunk Santa, the guy who I just talked off the roof of a building."
"Yes, honestly, Clark. I mean, I'm sure that I was tired enough to have imagined Santa, but there is no way I could've dreamed away all of those Whiffle balls and Game Boys. Maybe he really is…"
"Yeah, right."
"Come on, Clark, there's a chance."
Emmeline smiled. "You should know nothing's impossible."
"Look, everybody, it's snowing!" Martha announced.
Everyone looked out the window and did indeed see white flakes falling from the sky.
"Oh, we are gonna have a white Christmas!"
The party-goers rushed outside to fully admire the beauty of the falling snow.
Clark and Lana happily kissed and hugged one another. Emmeline's father put his arm around his daughter's shoulder.
"Merry Christmas, sweetheart," he said softly.
"Merry Christmas, Dad."
"I love you."
He gently kissed the top of her head.
About a half-hour later, Chloe came up to Clark. "Hey, have you seen Em? I can't find her."
"Did she leave?"
"No, her dad's still here, but he hasn't seen her either."
Clark looked out the kitchen window. "I think I know where she is."
He headed outside into the snow and went up to the loft.
When he climbed the stairs, he found Emmeline sitting on the couch. When she heard him coming, she quickly turned her head, and he could tell that she was trying to hide the fact that she was crying.
"I think this is the first time you've ever been up here without me," he told her.
"Sorry, I just…needed to get away for a minute."
"Well, I don't call this the Fortress of Solitude for nothing." He slowly took a seat beside her. "What's up?"
Emmeline sniffed and wiped her cheeks again. "It's just, um…this is my first Christmas without Mom. And it's just…a lot harder than I thought it was going to be."
Clark's brow furrowed in concern. "I'm so sorry. I didn't even consider how you must be feeling this time of the year."
"Dad and I have tried so hard to enjoy the holiday, but a part of me wonders if I can ever really enjoy this time ever again without her."
Clark pulled a small box out of his pocket. "I was going to give this to you later, but now seems like a better time."
Emmeline took the box from him and undid the wrapping. When she opened it, inside sat a small golden heart-shaped locket.
"Open it," Clark told her.
She did so and her mother's smiling face greeted her. Inside was a picture of Emmeline and her mother taken just over two years ago.
Tears of joy filled Emmeline's eyes to replace the sad ones. "How did you get this?"
"Your dad helped me find the best picture to put inside."
"I love it so much, Clark. It's perfect."
"Now you'll always have her with you."
"Will you put it on for me?"
"Sure."
She handed Clark the necklace and then pulled her hair away from her neck. Clark carefully clasped the necklace together. Emmeline looked at the locket then back at him.
"Thank you. This kind of makes my present to you look pretty lame."
"Oh, come on, I seriously doubt that."
Emmeline pulled an equally small box out of her purse. "Here."
Clark carefully opened the box and saw a gray band inside.
"It's, um…a ring made of lead," Emmeline told him. "I put your initials on the inside. It was just supposed to be, um…my first step in protecting you. Like you've always protected me." She shook her head. "It's stupid."
"No, it's amazing. Really, Em, this means so much to me, you have no idea."
He took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto his third finger.
"And I think it suits me pretty well."
Emmeline smiled a little. "Merry Christmas, Clark."
"Merry Christmas, Em."
Lex looked out the window of his hospital room at the falling snow.
The dream, or whatever it was, that he had had while in surgery was still so vivid in his mind. All of it from the surprising joy he felt at living the middle-class life to the hatred for his father who refused to help him when he begged him to the devastation at watching Lana Lang die right in front of him.
There was one particular thing that stuck out to him. When he and his son had been out to buy a Christmas tree…
"Wow!" Alex exclaimed as he admired the tall tree before him.
"Wow is right," Lex answered. "Lana said…" He paused and quickly tried to correct his mistake. "Your mom said—" He cut himself off again when he finally saw two familiar faces. "Clark?" he called as he ran over to him and the girl beside him. "Hey. Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to see the two of you."
"Did Lana have the baby?" Emmeline asked excitedly.
Lex's face fell when he realized these two people were just more characters in the strange universe he had found himself in. "Uh…no. Not yet. I was just—"
"Uncle Clark, Uncle Clark, make me fly!" Alex cried as he ran over to him.
"Hey!" Clark smiled as he picked up the boy. "Hey, I missed you, little guy. Come on." He began spinning around with him held tightly in his arms.
Emmeline smiled at the sign of affection. Clark was just as wonderful with kids as ever.
"I'm sorry I haven't been around lately. Things have been crazy at the Planet."
"They've been a little more than crazy," Emmeline smiled broadly as she faced Lex. "He got promoted."
"Yeah, now I'm a full-fledged reporter."
"Combine that with the clinic you helped me start, we're going to be making a pretty decent living."
"…I helped you start?" Lex asked in surprise.
"Yeah, we already have a ton of clients and all of them are finally getting the help they need. Thanks again for everything."
"Yeah, uh…no problem."
"Oh, Chloe had some big news too. Apparently, her book is getting published next month."
"Wow. That's-that's great."
"Turns out that publishers love the idea of a LuthorCorp exposé. It's the kind of material they've always wanted. She's eternally grateful. I'm sure you'll hear all about it at the party tonight."
Clark came over to them with Alex still in his arms and set the boy down right by his father.
Emmeline looked at Alex with wishful eyes. "Hopefully, we'll have one of our own soon."
"Um, what do you mean?" Lex asked.
Emmeline looked up at Clark and smiled. "Well, we've been keeping it a secret, but…"
She held up her left hand, and Lex saw a sparkling engagement ring on her finger.
"He popped the question yesterday. We're planning on announcing it at the party tonight, so you're sworn to secrecy."
"My lips are sealed," Lex smiled.
Clark put his arm around her. "All right, Miss 'I Promised I Wouldn't Tell Anyone'. Let's get your tree and get out of here."
Emmeline laughed lightly as she laced her fingers through his. "Okay, okay. Bye, Lex. Bye, Alex."
"Bye," Lex waved.
"See you tonight!"
"Yeah. See ya."
He watched the couple walk away to continue picking out their tree.
So if he ended up with Lana, Clark ended up marrying Emmeline? He supposed that made sense. The two of them were inseparable.
With each passing moment he spent in this alternate world, he longed to make it all a reality.
It was the looks on their faces that Lex remembered most. They were so…happy. So in love.
He wanted that. He wanted that with Lana.
And he was going to get it. He would have her, and he would have the money to save her, and he would have the power to give her anything her heart desired. He would have everything.
And he didn't care who he had to hurt to gain it.
