Best of you

Lana sat comfortably on the blanket, as she looked on at a sight that filled her heart with joy and love. Clark was putting Laura slowly in the water of Crater lake, as he was trying to teach her how to swim.

This is so beautiful… I'm so glad we decided to take this pic nic today. Heh… they look so cute together… It's almost as if Clark was born for fatherhood… but what am I talking about? Considering who his parents were, it's no wonder he is so good at it… This is so right… this is how it should be… Too bad we lost all this time apart from each other… But… if we hadn't… then I probably wouldn't have Laura… I don't even want to think about how that would be… I mean… I wouldn't trade having her with anything… but Clark should have been her father… not that son of… well… he gave me Laura… so… he wasn't all crap…

And Clark proposed… He was so wonderful… Too bad we have to wait for all this crap with the Luthors to subside… but he's right… I don't want that moment to be clouded by the Luthors in any way… I wonder where he wants to get married? …At the state my finances are now, I certainly couldn't afford anything fancy… not that I would want anything fancy… All I care about is right here with me… Now that I think about it… I wouldn't mind getting married right here just the two of us… eh… unfortunately that's not how it works… heh… Laura could have been the witness… I wonder how she will take Clark actually living with us… She seems to like him a lot, and she said she liked having him around… Well if I had to pick a guy to be Laura's father, there's no one else in the world better suited than Clark… he'll be a wonderful father for her… Super I might say… heh…

"Laura move your arms sweetie…" said Clark as Laura flailed her hands a bit awkwardly. Lana burst into laughter when she saw that.

Clark smiled. "Well… you're moving them alright." But as he didn't want to make her sad, he started moving her in the water.

Laura, when she realized she was moving she started laughing and didn't even move her arms or legs at all. "fast… fast…" she shouted through her laughter.

"Well… you see Laura… the point is to move your arms to go faster…" said Clark trying to reason with her.

"FAST!" shouted Laura again.

"Or we can do this of course…" said Clark obliging and moving Laura faster.

Lana meanwhile was laughing her heart out. "Oh… you think this is funny? She's very stubborn… I wonder where she got that from?" teased Clark.

"Hah…" she makes a motion of answering a phone. "Hello Kettle… This is Clark… You're black!"

"Hah… Hah… very funny..." and then admitted under his breath "Witty comeback." During his teasing with Lana though, Clark had slowed down, and Laura had to remind him.

"C'ark?"

"Hmm" mumbled Clark as he turned to her.

"FAST!"

"Oh right…" he picked up the pace again, only this time he also started making engine sounds, which caused Laura to laugh even harder.

"You're already spoiling her!" shouted Lana from the pic nic blanket laughing.

Clark turned to her. "Won't you join us already? I want to see that red bikini you shown me in the house."

Lana raised an eyebrow when she heard that remark. "Hold your horses mr. Kent… let's keep this PG…" she said smiling teasingly.

"Oh believe me I am… my R thoughts go a bit… well … a lot further than that…" he shot back smiling.

Lana feigned being shocked. "Clark… well you've insulted me, so now I won't come in at all and you won't see it."

Clark stopped what he was doing and turned to face Lana with puzzlement in his face. "Really?"

This of course produced a whine from Laura. "C'ARK…" she said in complaint.

Lana started giggling again. And Clark shot her an mock- evil look as he kept on moving Laura fast on the water.

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Later in the afternoon they ate some of the delicacies, they had brought with them.

"Clark… I was wondering… I have to do something about a job… I mean my finances are precariously close to being extinct."

"Have you searched at all… I mean… what exactly do you want to do?"

"Well… to tell you the truth I would want to do what I know to… I want to pick up my old job… I know that it's difficult to find something like that and in the beginning I just want something to carry me, but I would want to end up doing that…" said Lana thoughtfully.

"Well…" started Clark hesitantly. "I can't help you in that a lot, but I do have a sort of surprise for you. I would have kept it for a more appropriate moment, but since you brought it up…. How do you feel about owning the Talon again?"

"Clark… I would like to help you run it any way I can, but I can't take it from you, it's out of the question."

"No you don't understand… it's not mine to begin with…"

"Hmm… what? Who's is it?" asked Lana surprised.

"Well… My mother left it to you."

Lana just looked at him unconvinced. "Yeah right…"

"Lana I'm not joking. I spoke with out lawyer about the whole will thing and he told me that my mother had left you the Talon. I just wanted to wait till the perfect time to tell you… but I guess this is as good as any…" he said smiling sheepishly. "Surprise!"

Lana was speechless. "I… I can't believe me she left me the Talon… I mean…" she found herself struggling to find the words to say, as she was getting more and more emotional.

"She always said you were like a daughter to her…"

Lana started tearing up as she hugged Clark. "I loved her so much Clark."

"I know you did honey… She loved you too… more than you know…" said Clark softly as he stroked her hair.

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As Lana was playing hide and seek with Laura, Clark's mobile phone rang.

"Hello…"

"Hello Clark…" Answered Lionel on the other end.

"What do you want Lionel? This is not a very good time." Said clark annoyed as he distanced himself from Lana and Laura.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me and to inform you that I won't be troubling you again. As far as I'm concerned, I owe you big… So whenever you need something, don't hesitate to seek me out."

"You know what pisses me off the most Lionel… Is that for a fragment of a second, I had actually believed that you might have changed… Until of course I realized that it was all along another one of your schemes to get Luthorcorp from your son… Isn't that right? Aren't you Luthorcorp's new mystery CEO?"

"Clark… What I told you about my goals, was as honest as I have ever been. Luthorcorp is much better off in my hands, and be assured that the world also is better off with Luthorcorp in my hands."

"Well… you better hope you're right, cause if the contrary happens, then you'll find me in front of you in the blink of an eye." Said Clark menacingly.

"Oh I know that clark…"

"And what about your son… You helped him a lot by throwing him out of Luthorcorp."

"I didn't throw him out of Luthorcorp. He's just not the CEO any more. I will make him understand that it was for his own good."

"Yeah right… you went behind his back and tricked him out of his company. That will make him trust you for sure."

"His company? Have I been forgotten so easily? Lex wouldn't be who he is if it wasn't for me. Luthorcorp wouldn't exist without me. … His company… Pah… Besides I didn't trick him I bested him… plain and simple… and I did it with his own best interests in heart… he will see it… in time…"

"Whatever… I don't want to have to deal with you ever again… Do you understand me Lionel?" said Clark menacingly.

"Understood Clark… Goodbye."

Clark put the mobile in his pocket and turned to look at Lana and Laura sitting on the blanket, looking at him expectantly and a bit scared.

As he walked towards them Lana spoke. "Clark is everything ok?"

Clark went over to them and sat down opposite them taking their hands. He smiled sweetly at Lana. "Yes Now it is…"

As they returned to the town, Clark realized that he had to go to his place to get some extra stuff he needed. He wanted to superspeed over there, but Lana insisted on them driving all together.

Clark got in the apartment as Lana and Laura waited outside.

The minute Clark entered he realized someone else was also in there.

He then noticed in the dark living room Lex sitting on the couch looking at him.

"I have been waiting for you Clark."

To be continued…