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Chapter 3: Lack of disclosure and trust.

Since their wedding four years before, Clark and Lana had lived in Paris, as neither of them had wanted to go back to Smallville (for different reasons, of course). Martha and Lana's aunt, Nell, and father, Henry, saw them very frequently. Chloe, too, often came to see them, with little Clark, who was now seven and he looked a great deal like his dad.

Clark and Lana now had five children together; 9 months after their marriage, Lana had given birth to their first child, a baby boy, whom they had named John, after Clark's dad. The following year, Lana had given birth to their second child, a girl, whom they had named Cara. In their third year of marriage, they had had two sons; first, they had had Lewis Kent, named after Lana's adoptive dad and William Kent, named after Martha's father. Their fifth and final child had been born a couple of months before. It had been a girl and they had named her Lois. Clark and Lana had a very happy marriage, but Clark had still not told Lana about his powers.

John was 4, Cara was 3, Lewis and William were 2 and little Lois was a couple of months old. John and Lewis looked almost identical to their dad. Cara looked like Clark's cousin, Kara, after whom she had been named. Lewis took after Lana's father, Henry, in terms of looks and little Lois was almost a copy of her mother. Lana knew that she should not have had favourite children, but the children with whom she was closest were her daughters.

One evening, Clark and Lana were slow-dancing together and Lana rested her head on her husband's chest, as it made her feel safe and loved, as she knew she was. As they were dancing, they slowed down to nearly a stop. Lana raised her head and looked up at her husband, her eyes full of tears.

"What's wrong, darling?" Clark asked, wondering if she were pregnant once again.

Lana smiled and replied, in a soft voice, "Yes, I've never been happier, Clark. I have five beautiful children and I have you. What could make me happier?" She paused, then added, "There is one thing which I would like to do, though, before the kids get older."

Smiling at his beloved wife, he asked, "And what's that?"

Lana hesitated, as she knew that there was something which made him not want to go home. "I want to go back to Smallville; it's where we both grew up, your mum's there, so's my dad, Lex, Chloe…I just-I want to go home, Clark, please. We've build up our lives and I always said that, once I'd done that, I wanted to go home, to where our lives began."

Clark saw the pleading look in her eyes. He nodded. "Fine, we'll go home and stay with Mum, with the kids, whilst we find a place to live." He kissed her and then they resumed his dance. The reason that he didn't want to go back to Smallville was because he knew that both Lois and Oliver spent a great deal of time there and the idea of being so close to Lois scared him, especially now that he was married with children.

Chloe and little Clark had relocated to Smallville after Jimmy's death, as Chloe felt more at home there and her dad was there and Martha, who was almost like little Clark's grandmother; Chloe had tried to contact her mother after Jimmy's death, but her mother had not been interested and Chloe had not wanted to expose her son to that.

Despite living in Smallville, she and Lois were very close and she was very close to Laura, Robert and Ella. Laura was now 8-years-old, Robert was 7, the same age as little Clark, and Ella was now 4. Chloe had no desire to marry again, as her main focuses were her son, Lois and her children and her work. She and Oliver were also good friends.

Lois's sister, Lucy, was now married to Lex Luthor and they had two sons together, Julian, named after Lex's brother, who was 5, and Apollo, who was 3. Clark and Lex had kept in contact and they were good friends.

Clark and Lana moved back to Smallville, with their five children. As they entered the farm house, John, Cara, Lewis and William raced over to their grandma Martha and she took them upstairs in order to organise sleeping arrangements.

As Clark and Lana began to unpack in the kitchen, there was a knock on the door and Lois and Chloe came in. Lois gave Lana a hug and Chloe hugged both of her friends.

"Who's this little one?" Lois asked, as she took the baby girl out of Lana's arms so that she could focus on packing.

Smiling, Lana replied, "Actually, her name's Lois. Lois Chloe Kent." She smiled to herself.

Speechless and unsure of how to receive this news, Lois's eyes fell on Clark's and for a while neither of them said anything, until Chloe remarked, "Well, let's hope that she isn't as annoying as her namesake." She laughed and the others laughed along with her, but Lois and Clark were visibly tense and this didn't go unnoticed by the former's cousin-nor by the latter's wife.

Lana shook her head and convinced herself that she was imagining things. "How are Oliver and the kids, Lois?" she tried to make her voice sound cheerful, but she felt some resentment towards the woman whom she had formerly considered a friend.

"They're fine, thanks. Robert has his first big football game in about a month. How are your kids?"

All four adults talked of their children and nothing more for a while, but Clark watched his wife nervously, knowing that she had seen the look exchanged between him and Lois.

That evening, when Clark was spending time with the children in the barn, Lana decided to go and talk to her mother-in-law. She approached the older woman, who working in the kitchen.

"Mrs. Kent, may I have a word, please?"

"Lana, you've been married to my son for four years-call me Martha." The older woman smiled affectionately at her, as the two of them sat down on the sofa.

Before speaking, Lana ran her feelings through her head and, unconsciously, fiddled with her wedding ring. "I've been married to Clark for four years and I've bene with him for longer than that. We have five children together and yet, I-I feel as if there are some things about which he won't open; things which I can't explain. And what's the story between him and Lois?"

"He and Lois are very good friends." replied Martha, carefully, as she was very aware that there had always been something more between them.

Lana shook her head. "There are things about him which I can't explain and I-I worry that he isn't really the man I married, the man I fell in love with." There were tears in her eyes now and she brushed them away. "Please, can you help me?"

An hour later, Nell heard knocking on her door and found that it was Lana. Her niece cried and fell into her arms, weeping that she no longer knew what to do. Martha had told her everything about Clark…and about his powers.

The next morning, when Clark asked his mum where Lana was, she replied that she didn't know, as she hoped that Lana just needed some time or space to process all of it.

Leaving John, Cara, Lewis, William and little Lois with his mum, Clark went to Chloe and her son's flat over the Talon, but there were not there, so he raced to Metropolis to where Lois and Oliver lived, with their children. He was determined to find out where his wife was, but he knew that she had not been kidnapped, because most of her clothes and belongings had gone.

"Chloe! Chloe!" Clark yelled, as he entered Oliver and Lois's flat.

Oliver walked into the room, followed by his children and little Clark. He made them comfortable and informed his friend, "She isn't here, Clark; she and Lois have gone for a girls' day." As he walked closer, he saw how distressed his friend seemed and he asked, in a concerned voice, "Are you ok, Clark?"

Clark shook his head. "No. No, I'm not. Lana's gone. I don't think she's been kidnapped, 'cause all of her stuff's gone. The last time I saw her was last night and she seemed really distant and distracted and when I woke up this morning, she was gone. Where could she be?"

"Will she have the mobile on?" Oliver asked, walking over to his computer.

Nodding, Clark replied, "Yeah, but how will that help?"

"If you give me her number and it's on, I can track her down. It's a clever trick I learnt from my cousin-in-law."

Clark handed him in mobile phone and Oliver typed Lana's number into the search engine and waited. As the programme loaded, Oliver remarked, "Look, Clark, this is not of my business, but does Lana know about you? About your powers, I mean and what you can do?"

There was a silence, then Clark replied, "No. No, but that wouldn't make her leave me. She loves me, with or without my powers." By his friend's face, he knew that he was wrong, but before he had any more time to dwell on the possibility that his relationship with Lana may be over, her whereabouts flashed up, so Clark thanked Oliver and supersped back to Smallville, where Lana was.

In Nell's flat, alone, as Lana brushed out her hair, there was a knock on the door. Suspecting that it may be Clark, Lana rolled her eyes, tied her hair up into a bobble, then unlocked the door and opened it. "Clark, come on. Do you want something to eat or drink?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks. Are you ok?"

Turning to face him, Lana asked, "Clark, why did you marry me?"

Clark stared at her, confused. "Lana, I married you because I loved you. You're the only one I've ever loved and you always have been."

"I didn't ask that." She observed, in a dry voice. Walking over to the sofa, she asked, "So, if you loved me, why have you lied to me for all of these years?"

Sighing, Clark shook his head. "I wasn't sure how you'd react and I wanted to keep you safe-I didn't want to put you in danger, I love you too much to ever do that and how did you find out?"

Lana glared at him. "How I found out doesn't matter-you should have told me, Clark. We're husband and wife, we're supposed to be honest with each other!" She had stormed over to him, furious and her voice had risen to a shout. Inhaling a deep breath, she whispered, "And what about Lois, does she know?"

"No."

"How long have you been in love with her?"

Clark exhaled a deep breath. "Lana, there was a time when I was in love with Lois, but I was also in love with you and I choose you, Lana! You!"

Throwing her hairbrush on the floor, his wife bellowed, "You only married me because Lana married Oliver Queen! I was your second choice!" Fury and hatred filled her eyes, then she hissed, "Get out, Clark. Get out!"

Clark did as he was told and left Nell's flat without exchanging another word with his wife.

A weak later, Clark decided to work late at 'The Dailey Planet'. He had not heard from Lana, but both his mum and Chloe had told him not to ring or go to see her.

He was brought out of his daydream by the entrance of Lois, as she sat down next to his computer. "Chloe told me what happened between you and Lana," she began, "I wish there were something I could say, but…"

"Yeah, well-not everyone has a marriage like you and Oliver!" Clark snapped bitterly and unkindly.

Lois sighed and replied, "Look, this may come as a surprise to you, Smallville, but…after-after Demi died, Ollie and I were grieving in different ways and it was hard to reach each other. For about a month after her death, we barley spoke to each other, but we worked it out." She smiled. "You and Lana will do the same. The two of you are destined for each other and I'm sure that you'll bring loads more of Clark and Lana juniors into the world." She stood up.

Clark turned off the computer and stood up too. He turned to look at Lois and whispered, "You're a good friend, Lois. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Their eyes met and Lois felt the strangest sensation rippling through her: that feeling which told her that she was still in love with Clark. As the silence filled the room, their faces began to draw closer, but, catching herself on, Lois punched him in the playful way in which she had done before marrying Oliver nine years ago and she offered to drive him home, as he was in no fit state to drive.

Upon returning to his family home, Clark and Lois stepped into the sitting room and found that the T.V was on, which Clark thought was rather strange, as his children and his mum had gone to bed hours ago. He clicked the remote and a video of Lana came onto the screen. Glancing at Lois, he clicked 'play' and watched, whilst Lois stepped back into the kitchen, not wanting to intrude.

"Clark," Lana's face was very close to the camera and Clark could see that tears stained her face, "I love you, you know that, and you love me, I've always known that. But I-I feel as if I'm your second choice and I don't want to be that-if you love Lois, tell her-don't play a guessing game with her. I thought I knew you, but I found out about you and that's all I can think about; how you lied to me for all of these years. If you'd just be honest with me, things may not have ended this way. I'm going to ask for a divorce and I'm moving back to Paris. Tell my children that I love them and that I'll come back and see them someday, when I'm ready." A new coat of tears fell down her face, as she whispered, "I love you, Clark, and I think a part of me always will, but you never loved me as much. Goodbye." The camera was turned off and the video ended.

Forgetting that Lois was there and that she had heard everything, Clark sat on the sofa and allowed himself to cry; he had lost Lana forever, the mother of his children and he could never be with Lois, because she was married.

Lois decided to pretend that she had just entered the house, though she had heard everything and what she had heard had been made her feel cold. Clark still loved her? Why had he not told her sooner? Why had he told Lana before he had told her and how was she supposed to act around him now, knowing that she felt the same way about him? She walked over him and wrapped her arms around him and he cried onto her shoulders and for that moment, Lois forgot about her love for him and she was just his friend, comforting him.