The next morning Lana was woken up by the rustling of clothes and a small beam of light. Why was he up so early? It wasn't even dawn yet. Lana lazily sat up in the bed with a yawn and pulled the bed sheet around her body. She leisurely stood up and sloppily whipped some of her hair away from her face. Lana sauntered to the source of the light; Kal's closet. Piles of clothes were strewn about the floor along with two open suitcases and Kal was kneeling with his back to Lana in the middle of it all.
Lana smiled lovingly at his back and reached out to touch his shoulder. "morni-" Lana was abruptly cut off as Kal grabbed her wrist harshly and pulled her to him. The love that had previously graced her countenance was now replaced by horror and shock. He immediately released her as he saw her expression.
"Don't sneak up on me," Kal said as he turned back around, resuming his packing.
"I was just coming to say good morning." Lana tried to hold back her tears. Usually, this wouldn't have bothered her. It was just a misunderstanding, but in her current state she couldn't hold back her tears.
"Why are you awake? It's six and our flight isn't until one." Kal's back was still to Lana, which pissed her off even more. He didn't even have the decency to look at her when he spoke. Lana stomped her foot with a huff and began to storm out of the closet. She knew it was childish, but she wanted attention...his attention.
"Lana," Kal stood up and lightly grabbed her arm. "Don't be mad." Kal walked over to her arm held her to him, her back facing him.
"Well, what do you-" she began heatedly, but was cut off by a hand that began to lightly caress her mouth.
"You're tired," Kal whispered seductively into her hair. "I know you are." Lana felt her breath catch in her throat. She could never stay mad at him when he did that.
"Why don't you let me put you back to bed?" When Lana didn't protest, Kal took the liberty of picking her up and holding her close to him. Two steps out of the closet, her sheet fell off and she shivered against him. "Cold?" Lana nodded into his chest. He simply walked over to the door and grabbed a robe, placing it over her nude form. "Better?" Lana allowed her eyelids to close as she reveled in the feeling of being held. Kal tucked her in the bed and started to get back up again.
Lana noticed this and lightly held his arm. "Where are you going?" she said with another yawn. He paused for a minute and she took advantage of this, lightly bringing her down to him.
"Stay...stay with me." Kal reluctantly laid down next to her. After a few minutes she began to lightly rub his forearms. He didn't move as she scooted over to him, laying her head on his shoulder. "Clark?" Kal didn't respond, he was lost in his thoughts. He had arranged this whole trip in order to find away to coax out Isobel, for good. Now he was pondering, how could he do it? "I love you."
"Hmm?" Lana answered him by sweetly kissing his cheek. Kal seemed to be ignoring her. Lana didn't like this one bit, why was he acting this way? Lana glanced down at her midsection and the slight bump that was forming there.
"Claaaark?" Lana whined impatiently.
"What?"
"Why won't you kiss me!" Lana pouted like a child. With a smile, Kal gave Lana a soft kiss. Lana tried desperately to lengthen their short kiss but was turned down when he pulled away and went back to his thoughts. Sniffff. Snifffff. Kal glanced at Lana to see that tears were running down her face, again. He wasn't sure how much of her moodswings that he could take.
"Why are you crying, now?" Kal asked as he sat up and pulled her to his lap.
"Honey..." Kal's eyes widened at what she'd referred to him as. 'Honey', he never pictured himself being a 'honey'.
"What?"
"Why don't you want me?"
"Lana..."
"You think I'm getting fat, don't you?" Lana wailed into his chest.
"No, no." Kal did his best to soothe Lana, but had a feeling that it wasn't working.
"Yes you do! I know you do."
"I just thought that you wanted to go back to bed, um honey," the term of endearment felt foreign on his tongue, "I always want you." With that, he traced small circles on her hip and held her tighter. However, he knew why he was being so distant. This was Lana, and he wanted his Isobel. As Kal leaned down to kiss her, her heard a faint noise. Snorrrrrrrrrrrrre. Lana was asleep, he knew that she was still tired. Kal chuckled to himself and moved to set her down. As he did so, she locked her arms around his shoulders and shook her head. He sighed in defeat, he wasn't going anywhere.
A few hours later, Lana was finally ready to get up. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. The sun was shining over the Metropolis skyline as it poured in through the windows. Lana watched the window contently as she thought about her current situation. Surely, if Nell could see her, then she would frown at Lana's current condition. Lana did her best to shake that from her mind though, she was happy and that was all that really mattered. Her thoughts were interrupted as she finally noticed the rhythmic breathing above her shoulder. She smiled at this, after throwing a fit, she had finally gotten her way. Lana turned around to look at him and study his features. She brought her hand out to caress his face, but as soon as it made contact, his eyes flew open.
"What's wrong?" He shook his head in response. Lana leaned over and kissed him as she got out of bed and walked into the kitchen. Minutes later she returned with a tray full of fruit.
"What's that?" Kal wrinkled up his noise as he peered at the 'food' questioningly.
"Breakfast, we have a long day ahead of us." Lana sat up on the edge of the bed, but quickly scooted over to him as she decided that a warm shoulder was more inviting than a cold pillow.
"I guess," Kal said as he leisurely grabbed a piece of apple off of the plate.
"So babe, I've done some thinking about this..." Lana studied the sheets as she took a breath.
"What?" Kal was getting annoyed with her, why wouldn't she just let him do it? Why did she have to worry about everything and think about everything?
"Our situation, I think that we should put college on hold for a while. God knows that I don't have enough money to afford it right now." Lana smiled and popped a grape into her mouth.
"Lana..." Not this again, he thought that he remembered talking to her about this. However, he decided to humor her, he wouldn't have to put up with her for much longer.
"What?"
"You're going to college," he stated as a command.
"But-" she began to protest, it wasn't the sensible thing to do at this time in their lives.
"I have it taken care of. All that you have to worry about is being careful. I have everything else covered." Kal stated impatiently. He did have everything covered, he didn't know how this annoying woman could be a descendant of Isobel.
"But how?" There she went again, asking the questions. Why couldn't she just be happy knowing that it was taken care of?
"I have a lot of money in the bank from a long time ago." Kal stated plainly, giving her as little information as possible and hoping that it would appease her insatiable curiosity.
"Clark, I don't want you using your life savings."
"Don't worry about it."
"But I do..."
"You shouldn't, there's probably enough put away for the rest of our lives." Kal continued to stuff his mouth with fruit to avoid yelling at her. There was only so much annoyance that he could take before he hit his limit.
"How much?" Why was she so damned nosey?
"Don't worry about it," he used his line again.
"Claaaaark..." Lana whined as she threw a grape at him.
"What?"
"Stop telling me not to worry about it, of course I'm going to worry. It's our future."
"Lana, just trust me."
"Fine," Lana said with a defeated huff. "You win."
"I always do." Kal got up out of the bed and walked into the closet to resume his packing. "It's already eight-thirty, get up and get dressed." Kal commanded and Lana took the plate back into the kitchen and did as she was told.
After Lana's shower and beautifying process, she walked into her closet and began to search for some clothes. She grabbed a pair of sleek pants and tossed them on the chair behind her along with a black top. When she was finally done, she studied herself in the mirror. The pants were pretty tight and she wasn't sure if Isobel bought them that way or if it was because of the baby. Then she let her eyes trail up to her chest. She grabbed herself with a sigh and Kal appeared behind her soon after.
"What's wrong?" he asked as he noticed her expression.
"It's my boobs." Lana's brow furrowed in frustration.
"What about them?"
"They're getting all big and I don't like it, see how tight my shirt is?"
"I like it." Kal said as he leaned down to kiss her neck.
"I know you do." Lana managed to pry herself away from his grasp, long enough to put a black blazer on. "What time is it now?"
"About ten or so," he said as he reached his arms up and stretched them.
"We'd better get moving, but I don't understand." Lana paused as she put her hand on her hip.
"What?" Kal prepared himself to do some more explaining.
"Can't you just like fly us there or pop us over there in that magical little way that you do it?" Lana used hand motions to emphasize certain words in her sentence.
"Yeah I could, but one I'm not sure if it would make you sick, and two we're bringing luggage. Oh yeah, three, I wanted it to be normal for a change." Kal stated the last part sarcastically.
"It has always been normal."
"And I want to keep it that way, did you finish your packing yet?"
"Yeah almost." Lana had her back to him as she put a few more items in her suitcase.
"Whatcha got there?" Kal asked as he wiggled his eyebrows.
"They're called panties," Lana stretched out a pink pair in front of him for effect.
"More like shoelaces... You know that we're only staying for four days right?"
"Yeah, I know," she said over her shoulder.
"Then why are you packing enough panties for an entire month?"
"I want to have a variety," Lana quipped with a wink as she flung a pair at him.
"I'm all for variety," he said with a smile as he dodged the pair of 'shoelaces'.
By the time that Lana was finally done, it was eleven and the couple decided that it was time to head to the airport. After making a small stop at Burger King to appease Lana's sudden fry craving, they arrived at the airport and checked in. When it was finally time they boarded the plane.
"It's alright babe, you're going to be fine." Kal tried to comfort Lana as he held her close.
"But what if..." Lana was hyperventilating.
"What if what? What's the worst that could happen? If anything happened to the plane then you already know what I would do, so calm down. We're almost up." Lana covered her face with his hand as she felt the plane ascend. When they had finally steadied, the seat belt light clicked off and Lana rushed to the bathroom. So much for her not getting sick. A few minutes later, Kal came into the bathroom, after getting questioningly looks from the stewardesses.
"You alright babe?"
"Yeah, yeah." Lana opened the door and was about to step out when she was pushed back in.
"Ever want to join the mile high club?" Kal asked as he pressed her back up against the wall and began to softly kiss her neck.
"Clark Kent!" Lana protested but didn't make an effort to make him stop. He became more bold as he slowly removed her blazer and trailed kisses along her collarbone. "Clark, we can't..." Kal stopped as he heard someone approaching the door, followed by a soft knock. "Uh, someone's in here!" Lana quickly yelled and pulled away from Kal, trying to back away but only managing to sit on the toilet seat.
"Lana..." Lana stood up at the mention of her name and was now chest-to-chest with him. She reached up, on her tippy toes and sweetly kissed him.
"Good things come to those who wait," Lana said seductively as she pushed past him and walked out. A few minutes later, Kal walked out to look make it look less suspicious.
About an hour and a half later the plane was landing and Kal watched as Lana's eyes lit up. "It's so beautiful." Lana said as she pressed her small face against the window.
"Wait until it gets dark, you'll love it."
"How do you know? When did you come to Las Vegas?" Here we go with the questions again...
"Last year," Kal said, not wanting to tell her about Alicia.
"Oh?" Lana pleaded with her eyes.
"With Alicia," he said in hopes that she would stop riding him about it.
"Oh." Lana looked out the window again, not wanting him to see the look on her face.
"Come on." Kal nudged Lana as he stood up. Lana grabbed her purse and followed the line off of the plane. Once they were in the clear, they followed the group over to the baggage claim.
"Now where?"
"It's a surprise," Kal said mysteriously as he led Lana to their rented car.
"How did you set all of this up?" Lana asked with a smile.
"Connections." Lana was finally growing accustomed to his vague answers. Kal took note of this and sighed in relief. No more questions.
After about a twenty minute drive, Kal pulled up in front of an expensive looking hotel. He handed the keys to the valet and proceeded to check in with Lana in tow.
"This is where we're staying?" Lana asked, her mouth agape. Kal nodded with a smirk and walked up to the front desk. Lana sat by the waterfall in the middle of the lobby area and took in her surroundings. Moments later, a young man in a bellboy suit came to collect their bags and lead them to their room.
"Clark..." Lana trailed off as she looked around their room.
"What's wrong?" Kal asked as he handed the bellboy a small tip.
"Nothing, it's perfect. This is beautiful." Lana brought her hands up to cover her mouth, it was opened so wide that a bat could fly into it.
Lana began to explore their suite excitedly as Kal sat down on the bed, obviously amused by her reaction. Had the other one never treated her to such nice things? After Lana's independent grand tour, she jumped on top of Kal on the bed. She smiled into his shoulder as she nuzzled it with her nose. Kal abruptly sat up with Lana in his lap, a very bemused look upon her visage.
"What?"
"You didn't look at the closet," Kal said, tilting his head towards the closet.
"The closet can wait." Lana began to trail sweet kisses along his jawline. She was tempting him and he wanted to give in, badly. Reluctantly, Kal stood up and stood Lana in front of him.
"No peeking," he said as he placed his hands over her eyes and guided her over to the closet. "Open your eyes," he whispered into her ear, his warm breath lingering. Lana's jaw hit the floor, again. The closet wasn't exactly breathtaking, it was its contents. Standing in the middle of the closet was her dream dress; a white, satin, a-line wedding gown.
