Chapter 13

Jonathan cautiously pushed Tess' door open. "Essa Wakey?" He knew his Dad would get mad if he woke her.

Tess smiled at him from her dresser. "Yes, Jonathan. I'm awake." She looked back to the mirror in front of her and continued apply concealer. She may use the entire bottle but at least no one could see the bruises any more.

Jonathan ran in and jumped on her bed behind her. "Mas tee." He reminded her.

"How could I forget?" Tess smiled at him via the mirror. "You've been reminding us constantly." She put down the concealer and carefully examined her face for the multi-coloured bruises that were gradually starting to fade.

"Day!"

"Yes, we're going today. We may get there sooner if you stop annoying Tess." Clark said, walking past the door, carrying a load of dirty laundry.

"Sowie," Jonathan looked at his Dad. "Now?"

"In a little while." Clark said from the laundry room. Let me put this in the machine and let Tess finish getting ready. Women take a lot more time."

Tess raised an eyebrow. "Really? Says the man who spent 20 minutes trying to tie a tie."

"It's complicated!" Clark retorted indignantly. "It took me longer than expected."

"Whatever you say."

Clark closed the now full washing machine and programmed it. "Are you ready now or do I have to wait twenty minutes?" He leant against her doorframe.

She turned to him, "What do you think?" She had masterfully concealed all the bruises that marred her face and wore a bright blue jacket over dark jeans.

"Beautiful."

A small blush rose on her cheeks. "I meant if you could see anything."

"Oh right." Clark blushed as well. "No, you look fine."

"Essa Pretty." Jonathan said, "Now mas tee."

Tess walked over and picked him up, settling him on her good side. "My my, someone's impatient."

"He gets that from you." Clark said. "And the puppy dog eyes."

"I don't do puppy dog eyes. You taught him that."

"Whatever you say." Clark smiled as she brushed past him and he caught the scent of her floral perfume. He closed his eyes and started a mental mantra. You don't like her like that. She's a friend. She's raising Jonathan. She's a friend.

Tess paused in the kitchen when she realised Clark wasn't behind her. "Are you coming?"

"I'm coming." Clark zoomed past her and opened the door for her. "See?"

Tess walked out the open door. "And they say chivalry is dead."

Tess walked slowly down the row of Christmas trees in the Smallville Town Centre Market. "Too small." She frowned at one. "Too skinny. Too fat. Too small again."

"Tess, it's almost as tall as me!" Clark objected, pointing at the last one she looked at.

She turned with a knowing smile. "Exactly. A Christmas tree should be bigger than all people in the house."

"Why?" Clark asked; he'd never heard that rule.

"Because I say so." Tess replied, walking backwards.

"Who put you in charge?"

She grinned over her shoulder. "Jonathan."

Clark looked up at the small boy on his shoulders. "You created a monster." He whispered.

"I heard that!" Tess called from ahead of them.

"A very pretty monster. But a monster none the less." Clark added more loudly.

"That's better." Tess said before stopping in front of a tree. "This is the one."

Jonathan looked up at it. "Mas Tee!"

Clark's eyes widened. The tree was at least half a meter taller than him and twice as wide as him. "Tess that's bigger than our roof."

"No it's not." Tess rolled her eyes. Men and spatial orientation. "The star might touch the roof but it will fit."

"Tess!"

She rounded on him, hands on hips. "You owe me."

"You're pulling out that card now?" Clark didn't believe it.

She nodded. "Yep. So get the tree Clark."

The owner of the shop walked past, chuckling. "Just give in son. The woman's always right."

Tess smile grew. "See, I'm always right."

Clark hung his head, resigned. They would get the tree. Jonathan started playing bongo drums on the back of his head. "Mas tee. Mas Tee."

"Between the two of you, I can't win can I?"

"Probably not." Tess shrugged then leant against a pole. "But you can try."

Clark could see exhaustion eating at the edges of her cat-ate-the-canary grin and her colour fading. "There's a children's café across the street. Why don't you go sit down and grab a coffee and let Jonathan play while I get the tree?"

"I'm fine." She shook of his concern.

"Tess… Please?" He took Jonathan off his shoulder and set him on the ground. "Go with Tess to the play café, and be good." Clark told him.

Jonathan took Tess' hand and started leading her to the play café. "Pay. Now."

"Play," Tess corrected automatically. She looked at Clark. "Fine," she sighed. "Want me to grab you one?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. Go, sit down. You look terrible."

"Gee thanks." Tess started walking away.

"Tess, I didn't mean that! You look beautiful." He called after her. Why do I always say the wrong thing?

She waved a hand at him but didn't turn around.

Clark scuffed his work boot against the snow covered concrete. Dammit.

Tess walked into the café and let go of Jonathan's hand. "Go play," she told him. "But be careful."

"Kay." He ran, slowly for him but still quickly for someone without abilities. Tess watched him enter the jungle gym and start talking animatedly to little girl dressed in pink. She smiled. This is what Jonathan should have: normality. She lined up beside a tall dark haired man, waiting to be served.

The man turned to her and smiled. "That's a cute boy you've got there."

"Yeah," Tess smiled proudly, watching as he let the little girl go down the slide first.

"Well mannered too. My little girl seems to adore him already." He nodded to the girl in pink. "And Samantha is usually shy."

"She's yours?" Tess asked. "She's adorable."

"I certainly think so, but I'm biased." He grinned then held out his hand. "James Davidson."

"Tess Mercer." She shook his hand. "And he's Jonathan." They watched as Jonathan helped Samantha up the mini rock wall.

"Think we should start planing the wedding?" James jokingly asked.

"Oh God please don't say that. It seems like just yesterday he was learning to crawl and now's he's running at the speed of light." Almost literally, she added silently.

He chuckled. "I know what you mean. They grow up so fast."

"Too fast." Tess motioned to the free counter. "You're up."

"What do you want? It will be faster if we order together."

"A small Café mocha, heavy on the chocolate." Tess told the waitress who was waiting semi-patiently for them to make up their minds.

James gave her his order and they went to a table to wait. He pulled out her chair for her.

"Thank you." She said as she sat down, gently placing her fractured arm on the table.

James looked at it. "I'm guessing there's a story there."

"Not really," Tess lied with the ease of too much practice. "Too busy watching Jonathan and fell down the stairs."

"Ouch." He groaned sympathetically.

"It's not that bad. Clark and Jonathan make a huge deal out of it but it's not that huge." She shrugged.

James frowned. "Clark's Jonathan's father?"

Tess nodded. "Yeah. But what about you," She changed the subject. Tess was always cautious when discussing her family with strangers. "What do you do when you're not chatting up women in a children's café?"

He laughed. "Straightforward, I like that." Humour glimmered in his brown eyes. "I'm a partner in Davidson and Rodger."

Tess leant back, impressed. "Oliver was just complaining about you last week."

"Oliver?" James shook his head, not knowing who she was talking about.

"Oliver Queen. I consult with him when I get bored of playing house." Tess explained with a smile.

"Now, I'm impressed." James. "Brains and Beauty, a rare combination."

Tess blushed. "Not really."

He reached for her hand, taking it in his. "I beg to differ."

Jonathan was by Tess' side in a flash. "No iss." He frowned at James. He reached up and took Tess' hand away from the man's.

"Jonathan be polite," Tess chastised him. "This is Mr Davidson. His daughter Samantha is who you've been playing with."

"Essa no iss." Jonathan repeated firmly now glaring at James.

"Essa?" James asked.

"It's what he calls me." Tess explained quickly before turning back to Jonathan. "Baby, why don't you go back to playing it's –"

Jonathan cut her off. "No iss. Daddy iss Essa. No iss."

"Are you trying to say kiss?" James guessed.

Jonathan nodded, still glaring angrily at him. Tess blushed, realising what Jonathan meant. "Jonathan!"

"It's ok." James said. "No need to be embarrassed. Sammie comes up with some crazy ideas sometimes too." He didn't realise that her blush wasn't because of him but because of the conversation between her and Clark the previous week. He continued on, "And it's not like we weren't giving out the signals."

"James, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Tess apologised. She should have seen the man's blatant flirting earlier. It had been so long that she'd forgotten the signs. "I'm kinda…"

"Let me guess- Clark?"

Tess nodded sheepishly. "I'm sorry. It's complicated."

James sighed and leant back in the chair. "It always is. Oh well, no harm no foul right?"

Tess nodded. "Thank you for understanding." She looked to Jonathan who was watching them avidly. "You can go back to playing young man. I won't kiss anyone, I promise."

Jonathan looked at her as though weighing up her promise then ran back to the jungle gym.

"Smart boy." James said with a smile. "Saw right through me."

"You should see what his father can do."

After an hour of standing in the snow, Clark finally reached the counter, dragging the bulky pine tree on the cart behind him with exaggerated effort.

"Ah, the man with the bossy wife." The elderly man behind the counter recognised him.
"Though I could say that about most wives."

"Oh Tess isn't my wife." Clark said quickly with a shake of his head.

"And why the hell not? I can see it in your eyes son." He told him. "And she's got great taste in trees. It's the most expensive one here."

Clark sighed. "Of course it is." He handed over the money and the man handed him back a rose. "I didn't pick this."

The man looked at him knowingly. "But you need it don't you son? For that boo-boo you made with you non-wife?"

Clark realised he was right. "Thank you sir." He turned to go. "Have a good Christmas."

"You too! And don't wait too long. You never know when someone's gonna swoop in and take her from you." He sounded like he was talking from experience.

"I won't sir." Clark held the rose in one hand and dragged the tree to the truck parked in an abandoned alleyway. Checking no one was looking his way; Clark lifted the tree onto the truck's roof and secured it with rope. He stood back and admired his handiwork. He had to hand it to Tess – she did pick a good tree. Clark walked across the road and heard her musical laughter.

"Really? You like pride and prejudice?"

"No but I knew you would." A man chuckled with her. "You look like a classic sought of woman."

Clark walked into the café to see her smiling at a tall dark, handsome man. He looked like a prince out of one of Tess' fairytales. "Very astute," She said, still smiling.

Clark walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder possessively. "Ready to go?"

"Sure." Tess looked up at him. "Clark, this is James. He's been keeping me entertained while you were getting the tree."

"I'm sure he has," Clark said through clenched teeth. "Where's Jonathan?"

"In the ball pit. Good luck getting him out. We tried before but it didn't work." Tess answered cheerfully.

Clark walked over to the ball pit, almost stomping in anger. "Jonathan!"

Jonathan leapt out of the ball pit, littering the ground with colour balls. "Dada!"

Clark picked him up. "Time to go."

Jonathan fingered the forgotten rose in Clark's hand. "Pretty."

Clark had a sudden idea. "Like Essa." He knelt down and gave the rose to Jonathan, careful to hide it from Tess' eye line. "Give this to Essa and say from Dada. You got that?"

"Fro Dada." Jonathan mangled the first word.

"Close enough." Clark shrugged and gently pushed him forward.

Jonathan ran to Tess, rose outstretched. "Fro Dada." He repeated what Clark had told him to say, holding out the rose.

Tess smiled and took it then looked up at Clark. "Thank you. It's very sweet." She stood up and James followed suit. "It was nice to meet you James."

"Likewise Tess. And when you get sick of complicated, find me. "He smiled at her.

Clark helped Tess into her coat, staring daggers at the man just as his son had done before. "Good bye."

"You've got a keeper there Clark." James said as they were leaving.

"I know." Clark said, wrapping an arm around Tess' waist and taking Jonathan's hand.

She looked up at him, surprised at the possessiveness of his actions. "Clark, if I didn't know any better I would say that you were marking your territory."

"And if I am?" Clark said boldly. He didn't mean say it. It just came out.

"Then you taught your son well. He was doing the same."

"Really?" Clark smiled down at this son. Someone's getting desert to tonight.

Tess nodded. "And James helped me figure out what is means." Clark helped her up into the front seat of the truck as Jonathan climbed into the backseat.

"And what does it mean?"

"Kiss." Tess said simply, looking up at Clark to gauge his reaction.

Clark froze. "Kiss?"