Clark awoke a little before 5 am. He smiled as he realized last night had not been a dream. His arms were gracefully around Lois as she snored quietly next to him. She looked so peaceful that he did not have the heart to wake her and explain that he had to leave. Instead, he slowly rustled away from her, silently put on his suit, and flew out the window. He returned minutes later to leave a single red rose on her pillow. He grazed her cheek with his hand once more, and then quickly went back to his room in the house and got dressed again in his usual outfit for work at the Daily Planet.
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Lois' alarm rudely woke her up at 5:15. She slammed her palm down on the snooze button, and then rolled over to see if Superman was still next to her. She sighed when she saw the rose left on the pillow.
"Always a romantic." she giggled as she picked up the flower and placed it on her dresser while she got ready for work.
Lois was picking out which shoes to wear when her alarm sounded again at 5:30. She rushed over to turn it off again, but paused when she began to smell pancakes.
"What the…?" she began to say after finally switching the alarm to off. She walked slowly downstairs and into the kitchen to find Jason already dressed for school and staring at the stack of pancakes in front of him.
"Mom!" he shouted as he ran to hug her. "Look what Clark made."
"Clark?" she asked.
"Good morning, Lois." Clark said as he retrieved the syrup from the microwave. "Pancakes?" he offered.
"Clark, you know Jason can't eat this stuff. He's allergic to almost everything."
He laughed and then said "Yes, I know. I prepared one of his shakes for him five minutes ago. The pancakes were for you."
She looked down at Jason as he smiled back at her. "See Mom. I told him how you always prepare it." He held up the shake proudly and then walked back to his seat at the table.
"I don't know what to say. Thank you Clark." Lois managed to say as she sat down and placed a couple pancakes on her plate.
"Please. It's the least I could do after you gave me a place to stay." He gave her his token half smile and handed her the maple syrup. "Go ahead and dig in. I'll just finish making Jason's lunch and then I'll have a couple myself."
Lois' eyes widened a little. She was so surprised that Clark was helping out so much after only half a day of living with her and Jason.
"I could get used to this." she thought as she took the first bite of her pancakes.
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"Lois!" Perry yelled from the conference room.
Lois practically jumped at the sound of his voice. Her thoughts had drifted back to her unforgettable night with Superman more than once today, and Perry had interrupted a rather realistic reenactment in her mind.
"I'm coming Chief!" she yelled back as she walked over to the conference room.
After she closed the door, Perry began chastising her about not getting the latest scoop on Superman's most recent save.
"He captured ten criminals in under a minute during that bank heist yesterday afternoon. I told you I wanted that story for the front page this morning, and now we will be lucky if it makes the afternoon addition. What exactly were you doing last night instead of writing that article?"
Lois choked at the thought. "Uh, I was taking care of Jason. He, um, had a cold."
"Oh. Well, is Jason here now?" he asked in almost a whisper.
"No Chief. He's at…" she began.
"THEN WHY AREN'T YOU WRITING?" he yelled again. Lois knew she had no excuse to give Perry. He was in one of those moods where you just had to give him what he wanted without questions.
"I'm on it." she said and turned around to leave.
"Lois, wait." he said in a surprisingly calm tone. "I'm sorry I went off like that. I know you're under a lot of stress with Richard leaving. We just all have to leave our personal issues outside and focus on the paper when we are here."
"I know. I'm sorry for flaking. I'll get it down to the printer in a half hour so that it will make the afternoon addition." she said and then walked out to Clark's desk.
"Clark. Can I ask you a big favor?" she said in the sweetest voice she could come up with.
"Sure. Anything." he said as he stuffed some papers into a folder.
"Look, Perry is gonna keep me here until I finish that article on Superman. I'm supposed to pick Jason up in fifteen minutes. Do you think you could swing by the school and get him today?" she asked hopefully.
"Don't worry about it. I'll take a cab over there in a minute. Let me just pack up my stuff. I can write the rest of my articles at the house and email them to Perry tonight."
"Oh Clark, you're a lifesaver!" she said as she flung her arms around him and kissed him quickly on the cheek.
"You have no idea." he thought to himself.
"Okay. Well I will be home as soon as I can. Feel free to order anything you want for dinner. I have a pile of takeout menus in the kitchen. And here…" she said as she grabbed her keys, "Take my car. I'll take a cab home."
He took the keys from her and then headed for the elevator. He turned around to say he'd see her tonight, but she already looked deep in thought as she typed. "Hopefully parts of those thoughts are about Superman." he mused as the elevator doors closed in front of him.
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"Your move." Jason quipped as he stared at the chess board.
"You're tougher than I thought." Clark said with a small laugh. He had to admit that Jason's chess skills were pretty advanced for a five-year-old.
Lois had called around 6 to say she wouldn't be home until closer to 8. Apparently there had been some new story about the senator that just couldn't wait until tomorrow. Clark understood that she had to stay because he knew firsthand how stubborn Perry was. He had gone ahead and ordered Chinese for him and Jason, and agreed to play chess when Jason had asked him a half hour ago. With only two pawns and a king left, Clark was trying desperately to survive Jason's strategic attacks.
"Clark?" Jason said, breaking his concentration. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure. But if your asking how I will get out of this game alive, I'm afraid I don't have an answer." he laughed.
Jason smiled briefly, but then continued in a more serious tone. "When are you gonna tell Mommy that you're Superman?"
Clark gaped at his son, not at all prepared for what he had just stated.
"Um, uh, what are you talking about?" he stammered.
"You're Superman. You have super strength and can fly faster than a speeding bullet, right?"
"Jason, maybe I should be getting you to bed. I think you're delirious." Clark said quickly as he scooped the kid into his arms.
Before Clark could stop him, Jason took off his glasses and held them behind his back. "See, I was right. You are Superman."
Clark stopped walking and tried to think of something to say to defend himself. Jason then put the glasses back on and put his arms around Clark's neck.
"It's ok. I won't tell anyone. I just wondered why you haven't told Mommy since she loves Superman." He pulled away and looked at Clark again.
"Jason, how did you find out?" Clark asked amazed.
"I saw the "S" under your suit." he said as if it was nothing.
Clark still felt frozen in place. Jason was already developing X-ray vision. He hadn't developed that power until he was a teenager. He began to wonder just how long it would be before his son was flying in the air.
"Clark? Are you okay?" Jason asked concerned.
"I'm fine. I just…I didn't realize you knew. How long have you been able to see through things?"
"I didn't see through anything." he smiled. "I saw you changing in the alley one day when Dad had me in his office."
Clark sighed with relief. He was glad to hear Jason wasn't coming into his powers to early. Clark had felt like every time he developed a new ability he lost some of his childhood. He figured since Jason had used the word "dad" when talking about Richard that he had not figured out Clark's relation to him.
"Clark! Jason!" Lois called as she opened the door.
Clark quickly looked at Jason, but he was way ahead of him.
"I told you I will keep it a secret. I promise. Goodnight Clark." he whispered and then disappeared upstairs.
"Clark. There you are." Lois said as she entered the living room. "Where is Jason?"
"Uh, he got tired and went to bed." he said as he began to put the chess game away.
"Oh. Well, I'm pretty tired, too. I think I'm going to turn in early." She did her best impression of a big yawn and then practically ran upstairs.
"Turn in early. Sure." Clark chuckled to himself. He knew she was secretly hoping Superman would show up at her room again. He was secretly hoping he would be able to as well, but right now all he could think about was Jason. He still was processing the new revelation that Jason knew he was Superman.
Something else Jason said also stuck with him.
"I just wondered why you haven't told Mommy since she loves Superman."
"He's right." Clark thought. I can't keep up this charade when her feelings are on the line. If she can't love Superman and Clark, then there is no point taking this any further.
"I can't see her as Superman again until she knows who I am." he said aloud and then went up to bed.
He hated having to ignore her calls for him at the balcony that night, but he was too busy planning how he would tell her.