(Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas, Gracie! Hope you have a great one! Love you!)

(Don't own Smallville)

Ever since Clark came into his life, Jonathan worried. He loved the boy, so he worried about him, his origins, the possibility of losing him... He worried. But what worried him most of all was when the tiny boy slept, for sleep was seldom peaceful for the child. Nightmares plagued his sleep more often than not, and that did not slow down or cease as the years went by. If anything, the trials he was confronted with as a teen, including finding out his heritage, destiny and his biological father's AI, just made the nightmares worsen tenfold. Or worse, come true.

Clark was sixteen now, and Jonathan did not like that the nightmares persisted, much less that he could do next to nothing to protect his precious son from this torment. His otherwise quiet night ended with a scream coming from his son's room

"NO! PLEASE! STAY WITH ME! DADDY!"

Jonathan felt his heart shatter, scattered across space and time themselves. Because of the nature of what his son did, helping people and stopping those doing evil, he often had nightmares of retaliation from said perpetrators. They always centered around himself or Martha being used against Clark. So he did what he always did. He ran up the creaky stairs to his son's room, with a speed akin to his son's, and cradled the teen in his arms as best he could. After stilling from flailing about, his son's baby blues flew open and relief flew from his lips

"Daddy! You're ok!"

The farmer could not help but smile as he ruffled his son's hair, pressing his lips against the raven locks crowning his son's head.

"We both are. I love you, Clark."

His son snuggled into his side and smiled

"Love you too, Dad. Mine or yours?"

The question related to a very familiar occurrence post-nightmare. Either parent, sometimes both, would stay the rest of the night guarding the teen who guarded all of Smallville. The only matter up in the air was if Jonathan would remain with Clark in the teen's room, or if Clark would take Martha's space in the bed, since she was visiting a friend.

Moving to a sitting position, teen still glued to his side, Jonathan replied

"Let's go to mine."

And so, they went. Once they were settled under the covers and Jonathan was almost asleep, both Kent men spoke in unison

"Merry day before Christmas Eve."