A/N: What can I say? It's been a productive weekend…
Ch 11 – Yuletide
Clark smiled as his parents embraced under yet another strategically placed sprig of mistletoe. Christmas had been a welcome distraction from his other worries this year. He decided it was time to play Santa. Grabbing a couple of wrapped gifts from the counter, he yelled out his intentions to his parents and headed out of the door.
Clark stopped the truck outside of Chloe's building and shut off the ignition. Just as he prepared to climb out, he noticed her leaving the building, a colorful scarf wrapped around her neck.
"Hey Chloe. Merry Christmas."
Chloe looked up surprised to find him there. "Clark, hi. What are you doing out here?"
Clark handed her a lumpy package. "I came by to drop this off."
"Oh," Chloe smirked. "Wow. Thanks. I've got one for you too. Hold on."
Chloe reached into the bag she was carrying and pulled out a gift.
"Should we…" he started.
"Yeah, let's go on three."
They laughed and ripped into the gifts.
"Just what I wanted," Clark exclaimed in mock excitement as he fastened the Sponge Bob watch around his wrist. He held the matching boxers up with raised eyebrows.
Chloe shook her head and donned her new elfin-style winter hat, complete with ears. "Hey, we all agreed to the gag gift deal this year."
"Where's Lois?" he asked, glancing toward the front door of the building.
Chloe frowned. "Lois? You thought she was here?"
"Yeah… Last night she told my mom that she was off to do the 'Christmas With Family' thing. Her dad is still gone, so I figured that meant she was coming by here."
Chloe shrugged. "She came by last night. She stopped by on her way to see her sister."
"Sister?" Clark asked, startled by the new information.
"Yeah. Lucy." She glanced at her watch. "She's in a boarding school upstate. But they don't really get along very well. 30 minutes and they are at each other's throats, so she's probably visiting her mom by now. "
Clark's head tilted in confusion. "Her mom? But her mom's dea…"
Lois' mom was dead. There was only one place you visit dead people. "Oh," he finished.
Chloe rubbed her hands together to get warm. She didn't understand how Clark always looked comfortable in any kind of weather. "My dad is settling down for his long winter's nap now that he's full of turkey, so I'm headed over to Lana's. You want to come along?"
Clark's thoughts were elsewhere. "No thanks. I told my parents that I wouldn't be out long." He reached into the truck and pulled out another gift. "Could you take this to her for me?"
Chloe raised and eyebrow as she accepted the package. Clark Kent passing up a chance to obsess over Lana Lang was not a usual occurrence in Smallville. Then again, it probably would have been pretty uncomfortable since he'd learned about Lana's new boyfriend.
Waving, Clark started the truck and headed home. After parking, he ran up to his room and used his new laptop to connect to the Internet. A few minutes later, he said goodbye to his parents and hit the road.
"You should warn a person before you sneak up on them… especially in a cemetery. I came here to visit a grave, not end up in one," Lois told her visitor as she turned around to see his face.
Clark merely smiled and shrugged. Somehow, she had known it was him before looking. He handed her a covered cup and sat on the bench beside her.
"How'd you know it was me?"
"I don't know. I think that I'm beginning to get this sixth sense about you." She lifted the cup and raised an eyebrow in question.
"It's Hot Chocolate. There was a gas station down the road that was open."
Clark turned his attention to the gravesite they were sitting next to. A light snowfall had covered the area with a dusting of snow. He wondered how long Lois had been sitting there.
"Those are pretty flowers," he commented, referring to the white lilies that had been laid on top of the tombstone. "Lilies are out of season aren't they?"
Lois sipped her drink and nodded. "I ordered them flown in from New Zealand. Lilies were her favorite. Mine too." Sighing, Lois tightened her jacket around her. "Not that I'm not grateful for the hot chocolate, but what are you doing here?"
Clark tucked his hands into his jacket pockets. "I thought maybe you could use a friend."
"Don't tell me you went to every cemetery in the city."
"No. Actually, I found it on the Internet. With your dad being in the service, that narrowed it down some. Then I just searched for your mom's name."
"The Internet… that's pretty good sleuthing for a farm boy."
She smiled, but continued to look ahead, lost in her thoughts and memories.
"Nice watch," she said, noticing it when he ran a hand through his hair. "Are you wearing the matching boxers?"
"No," Clark laughed, blushing. "Was this your idea?"
"Nah. I was just part of the post-purchase consultation. I needed to make sure I didn't get you the same thing didn't I?" She laughed and bumped him with her shoulder. "I see you as a briefs kind of guy anyway."
They were silent for a few moments.
"When you said that you were going spend Christmas with your family, we thought you would be at Chloe's. Why didn't you just stay and have Christmas with us? You know you were welcome to."
"Yeah, I know. Watching your family go through your traditions, I realized that even as dysfunctional as my family is, we have a few traditions of our own."
"Like visiting your sister."
She let out a short laugh. "Something she probably wishes I would not do."
"Chloe mentioned that the two of you didn't get along."
"That's putting it mildly."
Clark had questions but decided to allow Lois to tell him what she wanted in her own time.
"Lucy was just a baby when our mother started getting sick. Dad couldn't juggle his job, mom's cancer, and two kids too well, so, we got shipped around a lot. Mostly Luce, though... Growing up, I had to be the heavy. Having a big sister that acts like your mom is not easy. Turns out she's more and more like me, and we clash because of it."
"She didn't want to come here with you?"
Lois smiled and rose from the bench.
"She's going through this angry phase right now. She doesn't remember Mom- yet another thing to hold against me. I had more time with her."
Lois' gaze strayed back to the grave. "Besides, Mom's not there. She's here," she finished, touching her chest.
She turned to Clark and reached a hand out to help him stand. "Want to walk some?"
Nodding, Clark allowed himself to be pulled from the bench. "Have you talked to your dad?"
"He's unavailable. That usually translates to on assignment, outside of the country." She gave him a wry smile.
"So what else is on your list of traditions?"
Clark grinned at Lois' expression. "I just figured we had a couple of hours to kill."
"Okay, if you think you're up to it… there is one more thing I usually do after this."
Clark narrowed his eyes at her grin and followed her to her car.
"I don't think that I've ever gone Christmas Tree Hopping before," Clark said.
They had spent the last hour canvassing the streets of Metropolis, trying to find the best decorated tree in the downtown area. They were currently in the middle of Centennial Park, having ended their hunt at the largest tree in the city. Clark jumped as a poorly formed snowball hit the back of his neck, sending wet trails of melting snow beneath his collar.
Lois laughed and lifted her hands above her head in victory. When Clark bent down to gather snow for retaliation, she yelped and took off running.
Since Clark had called to let his parents know that he would be driving back with Lois, they weren't up waiting for them when the duo stomped into the kitchen a couple of hours after midnight.
"That's the last time I let you drive!" Lois whispered as she shook off her jacket.
"I'm a safe driver."
"Safe! You drive 5 miles under the speed limit! I think I saw deer running past us."
Clark smiled. He'd purposely done it because he knew it bothered her. He followed her as she headed up the stairs. As they climbed, Lois stooped to pick up a fallen piece of Mistletoe.
"Well, who am I to buck tradition?" She smiled, turning and holding the leaf over Clark's head.
His eyes widened as she leaned closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. A slight fluttering went through his stomach as the faint smell of shampoo mixed in with the smell of winter night air exuded from her hair.
"Thanks for today, Clark. You're a great friend," she said softly, placing a kiss on his cheek.
Smiling, he returned the embrace. "Merry Christmas, Lois."
tbc
