Lois was all packed, it was time to leave. Clark entered her apartment.
"Hey Lois, you ready?" He asks.
"I think so." Lois responded.
She was nervous. Lois and Clark were headed to Kansas. They were going to spend Christmas with Clark's mother, Martha. Lois liked Clark's mom, but this was the first they'd be getting together since Lois and Clark became a couple. Not to mention the fact that their relationship had been a little rocky since the Batman ordeal a few weeks ago.
"I got the plane tickets here." Lois says.
"I'd still offer to fly us." Clark says.
"I'd really just rather prefer to do it this way." Lois says.
"Okay." Clark concedes.
The two head to the airport. With just two days until Christmas, it was packed. Clark wasn't used to waiting in long lines like this when heading home. He was getting antsy.
Lois for her part was trying to delay their arrival time. She was so nervous about saying or doing anything wrong in front of Mrs. Kent that she wanted this flight to take as long as possible.
Eventually the two boarded their flight and the plane prepared to take off.
The stewardess got on the intercom to greet everyone.
"Good afternoon everyone. Our non-stop flight from Metropolis to Kansas City with be taking off shortly. The flight time for today is estimated to be three hours and five minutes." She says.
Three hours and five minutes, Lois thinks to herself. That's how long she has until they get there. Then of course the drive from the city to Smallville. That'll add a little more time.
Clark was eager to get home. It had been a few months since he was last home and he was excited to see his mother again.
Lois sat on the plane writing in her journal. She had been writing in it for years. Her hope was to one day write her memoir. Plus, writing in here meant she didn't have to talk to Clark on the plane. Or the guy sitting to her left either. Of course, she'd quickly reach the final page of her journal. And at the worst time too. Now she had to sit there in awkward silence with Clark next to her.
Clark stared out the window. To most people the view of the clouds outside an airplane window is awe-inspiring. To Clark it was mundane as he flew in the clouds every day.
Finally, the plane landed. The two got their rental car and headed for Smallville. This was it. Lois couldn't avoid it anymore. It was time to head to the Kent family farm.
Lois and Clark pulled up and saw Martha shoveling snow off the front side walk.
"Ma, what are you doing?" Clark asks.
"Sorry Clark, I wanted to have this done before you got here, but we got hit with another blast of snow about an hour ago." Martha says.
"I should be doing that." Clark says.
Clark takes the shovel from Martha and quickly gets the sidewalk shoveled.
"Don't think I can't do things on my own Clark." Martha says.
"I know, I just want to help out." Clark says.
Martha turns to Lois.
"Hello Lois, how are you?" Martha warmly asks.
"I'm fine Mrs. Kent." Lois says.
"Please call me Martha." Martha says.
"Martha." Lois chokes out.
"Let me help you with those bags." Martha says.
"I'll get the bags." Clark says.
"I can get them. Oh, Clark always wants to help with everything." Martha says.
"You're telling me." Lois says.
The three enter the house. It wasn't too large, but it felt like home. Lois didn't really know that feeling. She was always moving from place to place with her family growing up.
"So how's the farm?" Clark askes.
"Oh, you know, it was a smaller harvest this year, but it keeps me going." Martha says.
"I should have come down." Clark says.
"Oh, Clark I'm not inept. Plus, I've still got two hands on the farm. Of course, Jordan is talking about going back to school next year." Martha says.
Jordan was one of the hands on the farm. He was in his early twenties and had been helping out Martha for the last four seasons.
Clark looked out the back window. He saw the barn door rotting off in the back.
"I need to fix that door this spring." Clark said.
"Oh Clark, I can take care of it." Martha says.
"No no, I'll do it." Clark says.
"If you insist. Could you show Lois to your room? Lois, you'll stay in Clark's room and Clark, you can stay on the couch." Martha says.
"Sure Ma." Clark says.
Lois and Clark head up to Clark's room. When they walk inside, Lois looks around. The room looks like it was inhabited by a ten-year-old boy. There was Kansas City Royals memorabilia scattered throughout.
"I never realized you were such a big baseball fan." Lois says.
"I loved baseball growing up. My Pa didn't always have the time or money to take me, but he'd make sure to take me to at least one game every season." Clark says.
"Did you ever play baseball?" Lois asks.
"I wanted to, but once I got my powers, my Pa wouldn't let me. He was afraid I'd hurt someone." Clark says.
"I never really thought of that." Lois says.
"It was a bit of a sore spot between us. But I understand now." Clark says.
"Your father sounds like a good man." Lois says.
"I wish you could have met him." Clark says.
"Me too." Lois says.
"Hey you two, dinners almost ready." Martha calls out from downstairs.
The three of them sit down to a nice meal. The night went on and Lois began to loosen up. Clark and his mother just seemed so comfortable together. It was so unlike her and her parents.
The next day was Christmas Eve. Clark was heading to town to get groceries for Christmas dinner, and a few last-minute gifts as well.
Lois wasn't thrilled about this. Now she was going to be stuck spending the day with Clark's mom. Martha was going into town as well today to drop off some items for charity. Lois was helping her pack the truck.
"Thank you for helping Lois." Martha says.
"Of course Mrs. Ke- Martha." Lois says.
"You sure have a lot of stuff here." Lois continues.
"When you get to be my age, you realize how much stuff you have that you don't need. But someone else can get some use out of it." Martha says.
"This one is heavy." Lois says.
"Let me get that for you dear." Martha says.
"Oh no-
"Lois I've been working on a farm my whole life. I can lift a box." Martha says.
"It's too bad Clark isn't here. He could have this done in seconds." Lois says.
"Ha, you should have seen the way he used to speed through his chores." Martha says.
"He still does." Lois says.
"Lois, I'm glad you're here." Martha says.
"Yeah?" Lois says, surprised.
"I haven't had anyone to talk about Clark with in years. Not since Johnathan." Martha says.
"It's weird- Not that Clark's weird but it's just- how do you raise someone like that?" Lois asks.
"He's my son, I raised him the same way I'd raise any other child." Martha says.
"But his powers." Lois says.
"He didn't get his powers until he was a teenager, but Johnathan and I always knew there was something special about him. And did you know after he got his powers, he made the decision himself not to use them." Martha says.
"Why?" Lois asks.
"Clark wanted nothing more than to be like the other boys. But even before he had his powers, he never really fit in." Martha says.
"He is one of a kind." Lois says.
"That's why Johnathan and I worked so hard to make him happy. It took nearly everything we had, but Johnathan made sure to take him to a baseball game every year." Martha says.
"That's so sweet." Lois says.
Just then, Clark drove up. His arms were full of paper bags as he made sure to get all the items on his mothers list. Martha went to help Clark with the bags. Lois watched on. Here was the most powerful man on earth, and he genuinely was a kind hearted farm boy. His upbringing was so different than hers. All this resentment she had over the Batman story was rapidly melting away. Clark Kent was who she was falling in love with. And not just the all mighty Superman, but the farm boy, Clark Kent was grabbing hold of her heart.
That evening after dinner, the three of them sat in the living room.
"Every year on Christmas Eve, we have a tradition where we each open one gift. Clark you start with this one." Martha says, as she hands Clark a present.
Clark opens it to find a white gift box. He opens the box to find a new Superman suit.
"This is great Ma, I needed some new ones." Clark says.
"Lois, this one is for you." Martha says.
Lois takes the present. It's heavy. She opens it. Lois sees a new journal with a metal cover. The cover is engraved with two cursive letters "LL".
"This… is… great." Lois says, shocked at how thoughtful the gift was.
"Clark tells me you like to write in your journal a lot." Martha says.
"I actually just filled it up, I needed a new one." Lois says.
Lois then hands Martha her present. She's worried it won't be good enough. Martha opens it. It's a statue of an angel.
"Why Lois this is lovely." Martha says.
"Clark says you have a collection of them." Lois says.
"I do, and I think this one is going to go right in front." Martha says.
"Now who wants hot chocolate?" Clark asks.
The three of them enjoy each other's company in their first Christmas together.