Chapter 15

The Morning After

Monday morning - Lana's loft

When Monday morning rolled around, Clark and Lana woke up where they had always wanted to be…in each other's arms. It was not until she lazily wondered what time it was that she remembered it was Monday morning and she had to be at work by the 8:30 a.m. start of class.

Clark quickly fished through his pile of clothes to find his watch, while Lana hurriedly pulled on her dress so she could run across to the house to shower and dress for school. Just as her head popped through the top of the dress, Clark grabbed his watch and said, "It's about ten 'til eight."

That was all Lana needed to hear as she gathered up the rest of her clothes, wrapped them in her shawl and raced across the yard to her back door. I can still make it if I hurry, she thought. Leave it to a man, especially that man, to completely tie my wits into a knot.

By the time Lana finished her morning ablutions and pulled on an outfit of no-nonsense slacks and a simple blouse, Clark had set out a glass of orange juice next to a blueberry bagel which had been sliced in half and slathered with cream cheese.

Lana's hair was still wet and she had no time to dry it properly, so she left it down in the hope that it would be dry by the end of first period. She headed downstairs after slipping into her shoes and saw that, by her watch, she had enough time; it was still a good 20 minutes before school started. The pounding of Lana's shoes on the treads of the stairway announced her imminent presence and Clark straightened up behind his breakfast offering.

Lana stopped when she saw Clark's smiling face. When she saw the small breakfast he had laid out for her, she thought, Awwwww…he's so sweet.

In between bites and swallows, Clark and Lana managed a hurried conversation. Clark decided to stay in Smallville one more day so he could write his article and he wanted to write it in the place where always did his best thinking, the loft. Lana assured him that the desk up there had plenty of light and a couple of wall outlets so he would be able to plug in his laptop.

Popping the last bit of bagel in her mouth, Lana grabbed her everyday purse, dumped the contents of her clutch purse from the night before inside, and headed for the door. Clark stopped her just as she made it to the door by placing his hand on her shoulder. She turned, wondering what he wanted, and Clark used his fingers to lift a small glob of cream cheese from the corner of Lana's mouth.

"There," Clark said. "now you're perfect."

She stared intently into the blue-green sea of his eyes, and forgot for a moment where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. Clark leaned in for a kiss and Lana stretched up to meet his lips halfway.

kiss

Clark looked at his watch again and said, "You'd better hurry, Lana, you've only got 15 minutes."

That broke her trance, and she said, "Oh…right…school. See you this afternoon?"

"Count on it," Clark said.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Lana turned and opened the door, but, before leaving, she asked, "Clark? Would you pinch me?"

"Sure thing." With that, Clark reached down and deftly goosed her. Lana jumped and Clark asked, "Was that what you had in mind?"

"Not quite," she said as she surreptitiously rubbed her bum, "but it will do." He pinched me and I didn't wake up! It's real! This is really happening!

During the drive to school, Lana made an extra effort to concentrate on her driving. She could not afford to have a wreck just because Clark Kent was fogging her brain. Clark, meanwhile, went back to the loft to clean up, including pulling the sheets from the sofa bed and washing them. After he got the load of sheets started, he headed over to his hotel to shower, change into something fresh, gather his belongings and check out.

An hour later, he was back at Lana's and had moved the sheets into the dryer. Pleased to find that Lana had her house set up for wireless internet access, Clark turned on his laptop to check his e-mail while he waited for the sheets to dry. Deleting the normal array of junk mail, he finally reached the ones he had been looking for, the ones from Jimmy containing the thumbnail shots from last night.

As he scrolled down the page, one thing quickly became clear, besides taking photos at the house, Jimmy had clearly gotten into the gym during the dance as there were numerous shots of Clark and Lana dancing, talking with the Rosses, drinking punch as they sat, or just looking into each other's eyes.

Clark could only admire the initiative Jimmy had shown by doing this on his own, and he quickly e-mailed Jimmy back, thanking him for his hard work, and telling him that Lana would help choose the pictures they would want when she came back.

Then, he e-mailed Perry to tell him he was going to be gone one more day so he could properly write his article. Finally, he e-mailed Lois, telling her he needed one more day in Smallville and that he had important news to relay, but it was the kind that had to wait for a face-to-face conversation.

After that, Clark took the sheets out of the dryer and remade the sofa bed before folding it up and reseating the cushions. He then setup his laptop on the desk in the loft and, after pouring himself a tall glass of iced tea, sat down to write his article.

Monday afternoon - Smallville High

When Lana had entered her classroom this morning, with three minutes to spare, she saw the pile of still ungraded sketches, she had groaned, remembering she had intended to come in early this morning and get them done. Luckily for her, that had been the only class of hers that had anything to be graded, so she had been able to get that done during her lunch hour.

During her one free period, which was at the same time as Evangeline's free period, Lana met her best friend in the teachers' lounge. Lana hid her ring from sight until she was asked how the dance went. Lana's face burst into a huge smile and she held out her ring for Evangeline to see.

"Is that…? Could that be…?" and finally, "Are you and Clarkengaged?"

"Yes!"

The two women leaned over toward each other from their chairs and hugged. The rest of the free period was taken up with a step-by-step replay of the events of the dance. When Lana reached the part where she accepted and Clark proposed, Evangeline laughed out loud, when Lana told about Clark's solo dance, Evangeline wanted to cry, and when Lana loosely sketched out what happened later in the loft, Evangeline's eyes opened wide and she blurted out, "Lana Lang got some action? You go girl!"

When the story was complete, Evangeline said, "He sounds sweet, looks like Adonis, and that photographer Jimmy had nothing but good things to say about him," Evangeline said. "Other than the fact that he's made you wait for nearly twenty years, I'd say he was perfect for you." Squeezing Lana's hands tightly with her own, Evangeline asked, "Are you sure this is the right guy?"

Lana quickly nodded her head and said, "Oh yes, he's always been the right man, ever since we first became close in high school."

"Then hold him close and don't let him go. God go with you."

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By the time her last class of the day rolled around, Lana was becoming impatient. There was a man with impossibly kissable lips out there and he was waiting for her to come home. When the final bell sounded, Lana was out of her classroom before any of her students were and she was home in record time.

Even though Clark had said he was going to be there, she gave a deep sigh of relief when she pulled up and saw his car still in the drive. Having Clark around when she wanted him to be there, instead of just when she needed him to be there, was going to take some getting used to on her part, but she relished having the chance to do so.

Lana rushed up the stairs to the loft, anxious to see her man. She was met on the first landing by Tall, Dark, and Handsome, who literally swept her off her feet for a bearhug and a thorough kissing. Easing her back down, they proceeded to the desk where Clark had the final copy of his last article for The Daily Planet.

"Here," Clark said, as he offered Lana the desk chair, "I'd like for you to go ahead and read this."

Lana sat down and began a careful reading of his work. As she came to the end minutes later, Lana was softly reading the words out loud, "…and thus, I went home to Smallville expecting to see glimpses of a past long gone. Instead, I found my future…all 5 feet, 4 inches of it.

"Thank you one and all for reading my work in The Daily Planet these past sixteen years. This story is my last one. It is time for me to move on with my life and to pursue the future I found in Smallville.

"I'll miss you all. Good bye."

Lana looked up from the laptop screen and said, "That was beautiful, Clark. You have a way with words. I'm sorry you're giving up writing."

"Oh, I'm not giving up writing, I may see if the Smallville Ledger needs a reporter that can knowledgeably cover everything from sales at the Livestock Auction Barn, to the meetings of the city council. Alternatively, I could do some free-lancing." Clark paused and squatted down on his haunches to look Lana right in the eye. "More and more, I'm convinced that my next project should be to write Superman's official biography. It's time for that part of me to retire. The world has taken enough of my time already, I need to devote the rest of my life to you."

Lana was thrilled that he wanted to be around more, but aghast that he wanted to hang up the cape and the spandex tights. The world needs him, she thought. Can't he see that?

She thought at a furious pace, while Clark shut down his word processor and turned off his laptop. By the time he had slid the laptop back into its padded carrying case, she was ready.

"Maybe you don't have to quit, Clark. Maybe you can just cut back."

"Huh?"

"Quit responding to every mugging, bank robbery, and car-jacking…that's what the police are for. Instead, save your appearances for the real emergencies, where only Superman can save the day. That way, you'll have the best of both worlds: you'll spend most of your time here in Smallville and yet you'll still be able to help the people of Earth when they need you most."

Clark tilted his head and smiled, saying, "You're serious, aren't you? You actually want me to keep up the pretense that Superman is alive."

Lana expression became deadly serious as she said, "Yes. I am serious, and don't you dare say that Superman is not alive, because he's alive in the heart of everyone that believes in him. He gives hope to the helpless, and courage to the meek. Superman is the best of what hides deep inside us all. Don't take him away from us now."

Clark looked down at the floor, unable to meet Lana eyes, and said, "It's not the quiet retirement I had hoped for, but I'll think about it."

"Good. Now, what are we having for dinner?"

"My turn, huh?"

"Yup," Lana said, "I want to see what you've learned in the kitchen."

"How does macaroni and cheese grab you?

"Notquite what I had in mind, Clark."

"Well then," Clark said, "I'll have to think of something else." He thought for a few seconds before saying, "my second choice is a meal consisting of French onion soup, a field-greens salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing, almond-crusted trout poached in milk, and a chocolate torte for dessert."

Lana's jaw dropped to the floor and she said, "You can do that?"

"Yeah, all except for the torte. I'll have to fly to Vienna to get that. There's this little bakery there that is to die for. They do things with chocolate there that ought to be illegal. It's a good thing I can't gain weight or I'd be Superfatman by now." Looking at his fiancée, Clark said, "Go on into the house and get changed into something comfortable, then do something for yourself, like maybe come up here and curl up with a good book. Making this dinner will take awhile."

Lana looked over at the sofa and said, "I may never look at that sofa the same way ever again."

"That shouldn't pose you any difficulties tonight. This time you'll be curled up on top of the cushions instead of stretched out on top of the mattress." He winked at Lana and then said, "By the way, I washed the sheets and remade the bed, so it's all ready for 'next time.'"

Lana stood up and Clark stood with her. They wrapped each other in a hug as Lana said, "You're awfully confident there's going to bea next time."

"Confident? I'm counting on it."