Clark had just finished placing the last of the Christmas gifts under the tree when he heard a car pull up outside. It was late, and he wasn't expecting anyone, so that meant it could only be one person . . .
"Smallville! I know you're in there, and you're not sleeping because the lights are on, so get out here and help me!" yelled Lois Lane.
Clark rolled his eyes and walked to the front door. Subtlety was never Lois's strong suit. He slipped on his boots and jacket and made his way through the snow to Lois's SUV. She had the trunk popped and was sitting comfortably in the front seat reading a magazine.
"Lois, it's December 24th. What are you doing here? Don't you have your own family to pester over the holidays?"
Lois glanced up from her magazine and glared at Clark. "Believe me Smallville, the last place I want to spend Christmas is with you, but since staying with the General at base camp is always a traumatic experience and Chloe's here, I'm really left with no other choice. Besides, your mom? Totally awesome cook." She grinned.
"I'm glad to see you're okay with taking advantage of someone whose been nothing but hospitable to you."
"I'm not taking advantage of your mother Clark, I'm merely . . . okay, taking advantage of her. But she invited me."
Clark laughed. "Yeah, right. Like my mom really invited you for Christmas - " Lois stared at him. Clark sighed aloud. "How long are you staying for this time?"
"Do you treat all your guests this badly?"
"No, only the ones I truly and deeply despise."
"Oh. Good to know. Now can you help me unload the gifts from the back of my trunk? Some of them are kind of heavy and I figured that since you grew up on a farm, you can't be entirely useless when it comes to heavy lifting."
"Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment," Clark said as he moved around to the back of the car. He paused as he looked at all the gifts and realized that not only were there over 20, but that some were addressed to his mother and father. "Lois, you bought gifts for my family?"
"Yeah, well, I kinda figured I owed them something for letting me stay here pretty much whenever I needed to. It's my way of saying thanks."
"So," Clark said slyly, "is one of them addressed to me?"
A small smile crept onto Lois's face. "I don't know, there might be. I guess you'll just have to wait until tomorrow and see."
Clark shook his head and smiled. He knew that Lois was annoying, sarcastic, violent and a multitude of other things, but sometimes she was downright evil.
"Well don't just stand there and look pretty Smallville, get to work!"
Lois put her magazine down and stepped out of the car. Clark handed her a few gifts to take inside and, surprisingly, she complied. As Clark expected, he was forced to take all the other 17 or so gifts in on his own, and once he was done, he found Lois making herself comfortable on the couch, cradling a mug of hot chocolate.
"Lois, I thought you were strictly a coffee person. Didn't you call hot chocolate 'juvenile?'"
"It is. But it's cold and your mom only has that instant stuff. It tastes awful. Too bad I already bought her gift, if I had of known that's all you had around this place nowadays, I would have bought her some gourmet stuff. From someplace exotic like Africa."
Clark rolled his eyes and looked at his watch. "I'll see you tomorrow morning Lois. I'm beat and want some sleep, so I guess you have to take the couch. Sorry."
"Jeez Smallville, you just gonna bail on me? It's only midnight! All the good TV's on late. Plus, they're airing Miracle on 34th Street and that's my favourite. Please stay down here and watch it with me?"
"Lois, for the millionth time, stop calling me Smallville! And give me one reason - wait, scratch that - one good reason I should stay down here with you."
"I made you hot chocolate."
"Lois, you could try not to lie blatantly to me when I can clearly see you did not - " Clark stopped mid-sentence. There, sitting on the coffee table, was a steaming mug of hot chocolate, topped of with four huge marshmallows. "Lois . . . y-you made me hot chocolate?"
"Try not to look too surprised Clark." Clark stared at her mouth agape. "Okay, I guess this is a little out of the ordinary, but it was cold outside and I figured you'd want something to warm up with. Plus, you unloaded the gifts for me."
"Wow, Lois, thanks. I'm just gonna go throw on something more comfortable."
"If it's more flannel, don't even bother coming back down here."
Lois. She was a strange one. Sometimes she could be the most dryly sarcastic person on the face of the planet, while other times she could be genuinely kind. You just couldn't read people like Lois Lane. Clark came back downstairs and Lois was surprised to see he hadn't dressed in flannel, but had gone for a more casual look, opting for Grey Met U sweatpants and a blue t-shirt. He checked the fireplace and was pleased to find wood inside and ready for burning, so he took out a match and struck it. Within a few minutes, the fire was roaring and providing much needed warmth.
"So, Lois, why did you really get yourself invited to Christmas with my family?" Clark asked as he sat down beside Lois on the couch.
"I already told you Smallville, I didn't feel like spending Christmas at the base and - "
"I meant the truth Lois. I know you, and the story you gave me outside definitely wasn't true. It actually sounded a little rehearsed . . ."
"Shut it Smallville. My issues are none of your business," Lois snapped at him.
"See, you must be lying. I usually don't get that much of a reaction back when it's the truth. So, spill it."
Lois sighed. She looked at Clark, and he just stared right back at her. There was no lying to Clark Kent. That was a lesson she had learned long ago. "Fine, fine, I'll tell you. I wanted to be around a family. Like, a real family. The General wasn't exactly a great father to me growing up, and I didn't have a normal family dynamic, so you can obviously guess my Christmases were never that great. But after being around you and your parents Clark, it just felt so . . . so . . . normal. And I liked that. The feeling of normalcy, even if it is just all in my head."
"Believe me Lois, we're far from normal. In fact, normal isn't really a word used to described this family. We're pretty much the opposite end of the spectrum of normal."
"Oh spare me. If you spent one Christmas on an army base, you'd be calling some of those meteor freaks Christmases normal."
Clark laughed. Lois didn't have any idea what he was really like, and that saddened him slightly. As much as he hated to admit it, he and Lois were forming a bond of friendship, and that just meant he would have to hide his secret from one more person that he cared for. Their conversation about "normal" carried on into the early morning until they drifted off. What seemed like only minutes later, Clark was awakened by a loud "Ahem" from behind him. His eyes flew open and as he went to sit up, he found his path was obstructed by a large object. As his eyes came into focus, he realized it was Lois, still sleeping.
I swear, she could sleep through a meteor shower, even if the house was falling down around her.
"Clark." His father's voice snapped him out of his daze.
"Mmmhmm?" he said sleepily, rubbing at his eyes.
"What are you doing down here? And more importantly, why is Lois asleep on your lap?"
"Well, Lois came over late last night and said that mom had invited her over. I helped her unload presents from her car and then we started watching a movie, and I guess we must have fallen asleep."
"Do you believe him Martha?"
"Jonathan! Of course I do! Do they look like they've just . . . you know . . ." Martha said awkwardly.
"No, I suppose not, but I think you should wake her up now son. It's already 11:30, and if we're going to set up for tonight, we're gonna need all the help we can get."
Clark nodded. His father was right.
"Lois," he called out. "Lois, wake up."
Lois mumbled something that sounded like 'the helicopter's falling' before her eyes fluttered open.
"Clark? Who . . . Wha- . . . Where am I?" She gazed at her surroundings, taking everything in. "Oh man, I was having the weirdest dream . . ."
"Apparently," Clark snorted.
Lois noticed Mr. and Mrs. Kent behind her. "Good morning," she said with false cheeriness.
"Good morning Lois," replied Martha. "I hope you're planning on sticking around for the party later tonight."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world Mrs. Kent. Clark was telling me just how delicious your turkey was before we fell asleep."
"I was?" Clark said, confused.
"Umm, yeah. And he was telling me how you guys pretty much stick with the traditional open gifts Christmas morning routine, so, go ahead."
"Lois, it would be rude to open gifts in front of you," Jonathan said. "We wouldn't want you to feel left out or anything."
"Please Mr. Kent, the least you could do is open your presents in front of me. Hell, you could wag them in front of my nose and flaunt them and I still wouldn't care. After all you've done for me, it seems reasonable."
"Are you sure about that Lois?" Martha asked. "We really wouldn't mind postponing it for awhile."
"Actually," Clark said, "Lois does have one gift."
"What you talkin' 'bout Smallville?" Lois asked, intrigued.
"Well, this was kind of a last minute thing, and it wasn't supposed to be a Christmas gift but, it'll do. I'll go get it. You guys start without me." And with that, Clark ran (at a normal speed) out to the barn.
He came back a few minutes later to find wrapping paper, ribbons and bows tossed all over the floor.
"Clark, thank you for the lovely sweater honey," Martha told him. "And Lois, thank you for the antique tea set. How did you know it belonged to my great-grandmother?"
"A wonderful invention I like to call the internet."
"Well, thank you so much, I'll make sure this goes on display somewhere safe . . . at least until the next natural disaster strikes."
"Oh come on Martha, don't say that," Jonathan said. "And Lois, thank you for the toolbox as well. I have to say, those rusted ones out in the barn just weren't cutting it anymore."
"Anything I can do to make your life easier Mr. Kent. You've let me live here for free for a few months now, and I've hardly helped out at all. I figured I could at least get you something that would help out."
Clark eyed, Lois and she met his gaze. From what he could see, the only gifts left were those addressed to him, but they were all written in his parents familiar handwriting.
"Looking for something Clark?" Lois smirked.
"Huh? Oh um . . . no, I just uh . . ." Clark stuttered. He knew she had been watching him glance around the room, there was no getting out of it now.
"Did you take me seriously when I said I got you a gift? Do you trust me? Hmmm?"
Clark sighed. No reason to lie to her now. "Yes Lois, I believed you. I thought that you had actually bought me a gift, but now I see that you haven't — "
"Why do you say that?" she interrupted.
"Because there's nothing here."
"Nothing you can see."
"Huh?"
"I guess you're not the brightest bulb in the box, huh Smallville?" she said as she pulled out a gift from behind her box. It was small, covered simply in blue wrapping paper, tied with a red bow and topped off with a yellow bow. "Surprise."
Clark blinked. Lois hadn't lied to him? She had bought him a gift. Weird.
"Uh Lois . . . th-th-thanks . . ." he managed to squeak out.
"Don't mention it . . . seriously. If this gets out, I will kick your ass. Now, ahem, what's that little package you got in your hand Clarkie?"
Clark shuddered. He hated when she called him that. But nonetheless, he did have a gift for her.
"Like I said, it's nothing much, just a little homage to your time here in Smallville."
"Well don't just stand there . . . gimme gimme gimme!"
They smiled at each other and exchanged gifts. As Clark delicately tore the wrapping paper off his, Lois dug into hers and ripped it to shreds. The wrapping paper gave way to a brown leather book, with the title "Memories" on the front cover. She flipped it open and discovered that it was a photo album, full to the brim. There was a bunch of photos Lois hadn't even realized were in existence: her messing up Clark's hair after she had successfully dunked him, she and Chloe lounging at The Torch, her serving coffee at the Talon, Clark's first game as the Crows quarterback, even a copy of her first article at The Torch, typo and all.
"Clark, I don't know what to say." For the first time in her entire life, Lois Lane was speechless.
"Yeah, well I figured that once you got back to your life in the city and Smallville was just a distant memory in your mind, you'd need something to remember us by."
"Well, don't leave me hanging, finish opening yours!"
"Okay, okay."
Clark finally finished pulling the tape of the paper, and pulled out a small black box. He opened it and inside he found what looked like a Smallville seniors ring. He sighed, knowing that it contained Red Kryptonite. Lois was trying to do something nice, but once again, his stupid "heritage" got in the way.
"It's not real meteor rock," Lois told him, seeing the expression on his face.
"What?" Clark said, surprised.
"Chloe told me you had sort of an allergy to the stuff, so I went and got one made without the real stone. The jeweler guy told me that it was garnet or something like that, and I thought it looked fairly similar to the original and got it for you. Now you have one just like the rest of the seniors."
"Wow, Lois, thank you," Clark said as he slipped the ring on his finger. Lois may not have known it, but this simple gift meant more to Clark than she could ever begin to comprehend.
"So, are you just gonna stand around Smallville?" Lois asked with a glint in her eye. "We have a party to get ready for."
9 HOURS LATER
The Kent household was packed to the brim, full of familiar faces and strangers, but Clark managed to seek Chloe out in the crowd.
"Well, looks like the party started without me!" Chloe's voice shouted out.
"Chloe! We thought you weren't gonna make it!" Clark shouted back.
Chloe made her way through the sea of people to the couch where Lana, Lois and Clark were sitting.
"Clark, I think you know me well enough by now to realize I would never in a million years miss a Kent Christmas party," Chloe said. "I just had to pick up Mike."
"Mike? Who's Mike?" Clark asked.
"I am," replied a voice from behind Chloe. A brown haired man dressed simply in khakis and an olive button-down shirt stepped in front of Chloe. "The name's Mike Dawson. It's good to finally make your acquaintance Clark. I'm Chloe's boyfriend."
"Boyfriend? Umm, cuz, was there a little something you forgot to tell me about the last time I spoke to you?" Lois asked.
"Actually, I forgot to mention it the last few times," Chloe giggled. Lois shook her head.
"Well, we have a lot of catching up to do. Lets go get a drink and I can learn all the dirt on your mysterious suitor here."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Chloe said as she and Mike began to make their way to the kitchen.
Lois started to follow them, but was stopped when someone grabbed her hand. She turned around and saw that it was Clark.
"What do you want Smallville? I'm busy." Lois waited for Clark's reply, but it never came.
Instead, she found herself being pulled into his embrace. He planted a quick yet passionate kiss on her lips and then pulled away. Lois blinked a few times and then stared wide-eyed at Clark, completely taken aback.
"What the hell was that for?"
Clark smile mischievously. He pointed upwards. "Mistletoe. I'm not the kind of guy who breaks tradition Lois. What? You really didn't think I'd just kiss you for the hell of it, did you?" His grin widened.
"You're a weird guy Smallville," she said to him as he turned and walked away.
She wiped off her lips and smiled to herself. Although she had always pegged Clark "Smallville" Kent as meek farmboy, she was learning that with Clark, what you saw isn't always what you got and she was starting to like that. Maybe she had been too quick to judge him after all... nah. Lois had been with her fair share of guys, and Clark definitely didn't fit her profile of an ideal man. What was he going to do, sweep her off her feet? She highly doubted it.