Clana story told back and forth with flashbacks. I do not own any DC/WB characters. Superman created by Siegel & Shuster. Thank you for viewing/reading and please leave a review! :)

Kisses in Kansas

May 2015

Lana Lang-Ross knew the gravel road she was driving on like the back of her hand. The crunching sound of the gravel underneath the weight of her Jeep Cherokee came to stop when she put her car in park a few feet away from the Victorian farmhouse the Kent family called home for as long as she could remember. Except, as of last fall, there was only one Kent still living there. As Lana stepped out of her car, Martha Kent waved to her from the wrap-around porch. Lana smiled and waved back. She walked around to the passenger's side and retrieved the home-made casserole she had baked. The front porch steps still softly creaked like always as Lana ascended them.

Martha looked up from her cross-stitch craft and saw the dish Lana was carrying.

"Did you make me food again, Lana? Really, you don't need to go the trouble. I'm more than capable of cooking for myself."

She rested the craft in her lap and smiled. "But I really do appreciate it, though, dear."

Lana sat the dish on the front porch ledge and joined the older woman on the wooden porch swing.

"I know, Martha, but it's the least I can do. How are you doing?" Lana asked.

"Some days are better than others," Martha admitted. "I know it's been almost six months ago but I still expect to wake up and see Jonathan laying there next to me in bed. Other days I'm OK. But then just the other day, I went to that new Walmart they built right off the highway, you know? I'm standing in line and I just burst out crying. No warning, whatsoever. Talk about embarrassing."

Martha shook her head at herself and Lana's heart ached for the woman who had been like a second mother to Lana almost all her life. Lana placed her hand on Martha's shoulder and said:

"You're still grieving. Losing Jonathan was a big loss. To you, to me, to everyone in Smallville who knew him."

"To Clark, too, although I think he's having a rougher time than me. Although, he doesn't want to admit it." Martha added. She looked up at Lana and gave a weak smile. "He can be so stubborn. He rather just bury himself in his work and his…" Martha paused trying to come up with the right thing to say. "His adventures as you-know-who instead of dealing with whatever is bugging him. But you already know that, don't you, dear?"

Yes, Lana knew Clark Kent very well and his tendencies to overload himself and bottle up all his negative emotions.

Martha got up from the porch swing and walked over to the patio table and offered Lana a glass of sweet tea. As she poured the drink, Martha asked:

"Where is your Clark, Lana? Clarkie Jr?"

Lana smiled as she took the glass from Martha and Martha sat back down on the swing.

"Martha, he's in school right now. Hard to believe it but in a few more weeks, he'll officially be a fifth grader."

Martha's eyes widened. "My God, a fifth grader already?! Oh, where does the time go, Lana?"

"Tell me about it," Lana whispered.

The two women quietly sipped their iced tea before Martha asked about Clark Jr's father, Pete Ross.

"He's still goes back and forth from his house in Topeka to his office in D.C.," Lana answered about her politician ex-husband. "He got re-married last year. Well, I'm sure you've already heard that. He still comes to see Clarkie at least once a month."

"And how are you, Lana?" Martha asked.

"I'm OK," Lana replied. She took a sip of tea and said: "My alterations business is going well. Clarkie's doing well in school. He's a little shy but he still has plenty of friends. Life is good. Same-old-same-old, I guess." She let out a chuckle. "I guess that's better than drama, huh?"

"No argument there," Martha agreed.

Lana took a moment and surveyed the farmland that stretched out before her. There wasn't much that time hadn't touched. The cows and the chickens had long since been sold at a farm auction. The John Deere tractor Jonathan had taught Clark how to operate sat broken down and rusting inside the equally neglected barn. Out in the pasture on the north side of the house, Clark's '97 Ford F-150 sat abandoned and dusty, the For-Sale sign still stuck in the windshield.

"Clark called me this morning," Martha said. "He's coming home for a while."

Lana was surprised but tried her best to hide it. "A while? How long is awhile?"

Clark never stayed home for very long. Not that he never wanted to, but he had his own life he built in Metropolis and he was Superman. It was more than enough to keep him busy. There always seemed to be something or someone demanding his attention at any given moment and he was always more than happy to be of help to someone in need. Last time Lana saw him was at Jonathan's funeral last November. She'd never seen someone look so broken-hearted as he did then at the grave-site when listening to the minister read from the book of Psalms. Lana knew Clark wouldn't have come alone. She had a feeling a few of his Justice League teammates were among the mourners but which ones she wasn't sure because their faces were disguised by sunglasses, wide-brimmed hats, and long overcoats. Clark also had brought his fiancée with him, Lois Lane. Lana never had a chance to talk to him alone except for one fleeting moment of eye contact between the two of them.

I'm sorry, Clark, Lana had thought when their eyes connected. I'm so, so sorry for your loss.

Clark gave her a nod as if to say he understood what she was saying with her mind and that was it. He and Lois were back in Metropolis the next day.

"I'm not really sure," Martha was now saying. "He said "awhile" over the phone. He didn't really give a time-frame. But I do hope he does stay longer than two or three days. He's going through so much right now. I mean, at first it was losing Jonathan and then now the thing with Lois…"

"What thing with Lois?" Lana inquired. God only knew. That woman was impossible to please.

Martha frowned and then sighed. She drained the last of her iced tea before she answered:

"Oh, um…I guess I forgot to tell you…"

Martha paused again and Lana felt her stomach tightening into a knot. What? What was it? Oh, God, what if it was Lois was pregnant? Lana didn't doubt Clark would make a good father but Lois as a mom? Was there even a single maternal instinct anywhere in the Daily Planet's star reporter's body?!

"Clark and Lois," Martha said. "They…um, broke up. The engagement is off."

Lana took a moment to digest the news. She always thought she would jump for joy if she ever heard about the dissolution of Clark and Lois' relationship, but instead she sat froze on the porch swing. Clark had been head-over-heels for Lois for quite some time. Lois, on the other hand, seemed to take her sweet time warming up to him but she had the hots for Superman, oh yes, indeed. So, when she finally found out Clark and Superman were one in the same, it was a different story, Lana supposed. I guess Lois figured the country boy from Smallville, Kansas was all right after all. It was all way too convenient in Lana's opinion. But Lois made Clark happy, so Lana let it be. It was all she could do.

Several thoughts raced through Lana's head. Good riddance… Clark dodged a bullet, didn't he?! Ha, ha! She never appreciated him anyway…

But the look on Martha's face made Lana keep her mouth shut. Martha looked disappointed but Lana figured it was mostly for her son. Martha was always pleasant to everyone, but Lana had a sneaky suspicion Mama Kent wasn't too fond of Lois Lane either. She was thinking about how her son just lost a father and now a break-up with a woman he was crazy about and how he was going to cope with both losses.

"So, uh, what happened?" Lana finally asked. "Did he tell you?"

Martha shook her head. "No. He didn't go into much detail. But if I had to guess, I think it might have been a mutual decision."

A mutual decision?! Lana thought. She couldn't imagine Clark and Lois amicably deciding to part ways. He probably just made it sound that way to his mother over the phone.

"So anyway, I just hope Clark hangs around for a while. He told me he took a leave of absence from the newspaper and from the Justice League. I said, good, let them other super-beings save the world without you for a change, Clark. Come home." Martha said. She looked at Lana and added:

"He'll be glad to see you again, Lana. I know you two didn't have much time to talk at the funeral. Maybe you can finally catch up with each other."

Catch up with each other. Yes, that would be nice. It had been a long time since Lana and Clark had a real conservation with each other. So much had changed. The days of their youth together seemed like a lifetime ago, but Lana remembered them very well. At one point in her life, it was safe to say Clark Joseph Kent was the only thing she ever wanted but she had to let him go.