It was the kind of early afternoon that Lois had come to love since she'd been living at the farm. And on that particular April day the sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and a gentle spring wind rustled the leaves on the trees.
The windows all around the house, upstairs and down were open to catch the breeze because Saturday was Martha's baking day. She knew as spring faded into summer, her mother-in-law wouldn't have many days like this once the heat settled in, so she liked to take advantage of the lovely weather.
For her part, she was currently kneeling on a garden bench planting the last of the summer vegetables for their Victory Garden. Though Martha had always maintained a garden, she and Lois had decided together to enlarge it to can and freeze as much as they could because of rationing.
They'd also gotten together with some of the other women from the surrounding farms in Smallville and decided to give a good portion of what they grew to Fort Ryan and the Olathe Naval Air Station, seeing as how they were so close.
So much was going overseas, that they wanted to make sure the boys on the nearby bases had as much fresh fruit and vegetables as their gardens could provide. Their hard work had been noted in The Smallville Ledger and The Daily Planet and while not specifically named, Jonathan had saved the articles because of the Kent women's contribution for their local 'Farm Drive'.
With all the scrap drives, rubber drives and nylon drives underway around Lowell County, the Smallville ladies just wanted to do their bit for the war effort.
Clark had told Lois that he'd wanted to do the story on their gardens but Mr. White had ruled him out, saying that he needed someone who was unbiased; and a proud husband and son didn't fit the bill. So he sent Chloe Sullivan instead, with Jimmy Olsen in tow to document the story.
Even though that spring afternoon wasn't particularly warm, Lois could feel a trail of perspiration roll down her back as she dug the soil and planted her potatoes. She was a little late getting them in the ground, but her morning sickness had left her tired and while she still wasn't feeling quite up to par, she knew it had to be now or wait until next year.
But the fresh air felt good and as an added bonus, she was able to see Clark from her spot behind the house. He was helping his father with his own spring planting, in spite of Jonathan's objections. They were the same objections Lois had been hearing since she met the Kent's, but they were objections that her husband seemed intent on disregarding.
Lois leaned back and took her hat off to wipe at her damp brow with the back of her hand and watch as he sat on the tractor, alternately checking that he was driving a straight line and then looking behind to make sure he was plowing his rows in a straight line for his father to come behind him.
He was making up for lost time, of that she had no doubt. He wasn't going to let his dad talk him out of helping anymore and Clark had somehow felt the need to plead his case to her one night as they were lying in bed.
'Dad didn't have much of a choice in being a farmer. And whether he realizes it or not, he never gave me much of a choice either. He just decided that I wasn't going to be a farmer and there was never any discussion about it.'
'Do you think you would have been happier if you had been?'
'I don't know because I never had the chance to find out. But now I'm in a position that I can find out and I'd like to.'
So, Clark had started to rise with his father in the morning to help with the chores. And when Jonathan brought him home from the train station in the evening he'd change out of his suit and into his dungarees and tee shirt to help him with the evening chores.
The one drawback to his decision however, at least in Lois' mind, was that there hadn't been any early morning lovemaking since. Granted they hadn't had the chance to make a real habit of it, but she'd begun to wake in the morning with him next to her, knowing there could be the possibility.
Lois knew her father-in-law was grateful and bothered all at the same time for the second pair of hands because his son was being deliberately disobedient. But as Jonathan followed behind him with the planter that afternoon, Lois would wager that there was an awful lot of pride in a father for his stubborn son; and she couldn't help but wonder if their son would be as stubborn.
Of course their daughter could be, too.
As she watched the Kent men plant the corn crop, in the adjacent field the wheat crop was nearly ready to be harvested. It would be a couple of months more before they could, but there was so much to do before then.
She plopped her hat back on her head and leaned over to plant another potato when Shelby started barking and when Lois turned to see what had him so riled up, his attention was trained on something high up on one of the branches; she'd bet he'd found a squirrel.
"Shelby." Lois got to her feet and put her hands on her hips. "He probably has a family to feed, so let him alone."
And as though the bushy tailed creature understood what she was saying not one, but two black walnuts dropped and bonked Shelby on the nose. He yelped in surprise and backed up before lifting his forepaw to brush at the spot where he'd been hit.
Lois couldn't help but laugh as she leaned over to run a gentle hand over his nose and he woofed softly at her. "Honestly, boy; when are you going to learn?"
He licked her hand and then trotted toward the front field while she stretched her back and decided to follow him; it wasn't often that she took the time, or had the time for that matter. When she stopped at the fence line, the pungent smell of fresh turned earth hit her nose as the sounds of the tractors echoed in her ears.
She propped one arm up on the fence as she watched her husband and her free hand went to her abdomen to rub it gently before she smiled. "Your daddy is really something, you know that?"
And if she didn't know better, Lois would have sworn that she suddenly felt something; but what it was, she had no idea. And how she'd describe it to Clark, she hadn't a clue.
"You're really in there, aren't you?" She caressed the slight swell of her body and felt the tears in her eyes. When she looked up, she saw Clark's smile as he realized she was there and she waved at him.
He really was something.
From her vantage point, she could see that Jonathan was laughing and shaking his head. Lois would wager that he was remembering his young married days when Martha would come out and watch him. She waved at her father-in-law before she turned back for the house and her own planting.
When she rounded the house, she found a pitcher of lemonade and a glass sitting on a table on the service porch. A kitchen chair had been set up next to it and Lois knew it was Martha's subtle way of telling her to get out of the sun and rest. 'The potatoes will wait a few minutes.'
Shelby had followed Lois back to the house and after she hung her hat up on the peg next to the door and poured herself a glass, she sat down in the chair and he lay down next to her.
As she sipped her cool drink and scratched the dog between his ears, it suddenly occurred to her that she hadn't sneezed once since she'd been expecting. From the moment she'd been introduced to the Kent's dog, Lois had always sneezed something terrible. But not long after she'd come back from Kansas City, where Clark had been recalled on their honeymoon, her eyes had stopped watering and her nose ceased to itch whenever the fur ball was around.
At the time, it never occurred to her why.
As she reached over to pour herself another glass, Clark's low voice was near her ear. "Allow me."
She'd been so deep in thought that she hadn't heard the service porch door or the thump of his boots as he stepped outside. When she looked up, he was smiling before he leaned down and kissed her. He put his own glass down on the table to fill it and hers before he held out his hand and when she took it, he pulled her up.
"Sorry, honey. But with only one chair out here, you're going to have to sit on my lap." His smile became a grin as he sat down and gently guided her back down.
"You couldn't have gotten your own?" She lifted an eyebrow in question, even though she was quite content where she was and she put an arm around his shoulders.
"I could have." He shrugged nonchalantly. "But I figured you wouldn't object to my seating arrangement."
She didn't, and when she told him so he kissed her again before taking a sip of his lemonade. "So how is the planting going?"
"We just got the last of the corn planted and now Dad's irrigating the wheat crop. Then after we have lunch, I'll break the sod on the back field for the soybeans while he does the midday milking." He took another sip and when Lois kissed his cheek, it was obvious from the look on his face that she'd taken him by surprise. "What's that for?"
"Because you seem happy in a way I've never seen you." She told him. "All of these loose ends of your life keep weaving into place and as they do, you get more content."
"That's because of the both of you, you know." He put his hand low on her belly. "You've given me more than a man has a right to expect."
Her G-man had a way with words.
"Well then, before your mother calls us in for lunch you can repay me with a kiss." She brushed a thumb across his sun-warmed skin. "What do you say?"
"I'm guessing that's a rhetorical question?" He smiled again and kissed her before she could answer.
He had a habit of doing that; not that she would ever complain.
Lois dropped a hand to his shoulder and kneeded it as he deepened their kiss. And the hand that had been resting on her knee found its way under the hem of the dress and full slip she was wearing and she started at the feel of his skin against hers as it traveled up her thigh.
"Are you crazy?" She pulled back and punched him in the shoulder; her face was heated with a blush. "Your mother is in the kitchen!"
"Actually, she's not." He wasn't detered as his hand rounded to her bottom and Lois surprised herself by actually squeeking in astonishment. Clark laughed and moved his hand back to the safer territory of her leg. "She told me to come get you for lunch while she went to get Dad."
"And you figured it would be enough time to do what, exactly?"
"Not what I'd really like to, unfortunately." He sighed and put his wandering hand around her waist. "What with helping Dad, there hasn't been much time for us lately and I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, too." She pressed her lips to his. "But as long as you're sleeping in the same bed with me and not away on assignment somewhere, I can live with that."
He laughed softly and kissed her cheek. "But I'm not sure I can."
"Well then, you have a couple of choices." She curled her arms around his neck. "You can go to bed earlier and I'll come with you or you can wake up earlier; it's up to you."
He shook his head in protest. "You don't need to be waking up early for me because you need your rest."
"Then calling it an early night, it is." Lois smiled at him. "See, wasn't that easy?"
"Only because you make it easy." He replied and a tap on the window of the service porch door got their attention before it was opened.
"Come on, you two." Martha stood in the doorway. "Lunch is ready."
"Right behind you." Clark promised his mother as Lois got up off his lap and he stood, taking her hand.
"I'm counting on it." She chuckled and walked back into the kitchen, leaving the door wide open behind her.
Clark had the grace to have flushed cheeks and a sheepish grin when Lois glanced at him. "We will have an early night tonight."
"Only if you don't nod off the way you've been doing after dinner lately."
"That's because I didn't have a reason to stay awake." He replied and pulled her into the kitchen, closing the door behind him.
"Well, now you do." She giggled and was rewarded with his face turning crimson.
The kitchen smelled of freshly baked bread as Martha directed them to the table, already set up with an uncut loaf, cold cuts, mayonnaise, mustard and relish; along with the lettuce, sliced tomatoes and onions. "Clark if you would slice that bread for me, we can eat as soon as your father comes down."
"What is he doing upstairs?"
"He's washing up." She told him as he picked up the bread knife. "Between following behind you with the planter and walking through the wheat to check the irrigation, he got a little dirty."
"I did offer to drive the planter." He made the first slice. "But he said that if I was serious about helping him, I was going to get reaquainted with plowing a straight line."
"And did you?" Lois asked him before she glanced at Clark's mother and Martha winked back.
His eyebrows went up as he looked at her and seemed to be trying his best not to smile. "As my wife, I think that means you're supposed to be on my side."
"There are no sides, honey." His mother reminded him with a smile. "We're all Kent's."
"Some of us newer than others." Lois remarked as she kissed her husband's cheek.
"And happy that you are." He kissed her back.
"So do I finally get to tuck into some of that freshly baked bread?" She turned toward the stairs to see her father-in-law come down with a smile on his face, holding up his hands. "I washed my hands."
"And you changed your shirt, too." She took his hands in hers and it looked as though she was inspecting his nails. "You pass."
He pulled at an earlobe and his smile became a grin. "Do you want to check behind my ears, too?"
"That will be quite enough out of you." Martha pointed toward the table. "Now sit and make yourself a sandwich."
"Aren't you eating?" Jonathan asked as he sat down.
"I will as soon as I get the iced tea. Lois, would you get the glasses for me?" She asked as she headed toward the icebox and Lois moved toward the glass cabinet. When she reached to retrieve them, Clark was there to do it for her.
She gave him an exasperated look and sighed. "You aren't really going to do that for the next five months, are you?"
"If I'm around, sure." He replied with a nod and didn't seem to understand why she was annoyed.
"If I need your help, I'll ask for it." She scolded him quietly, fully aware that they weren't alone. "And for right now, I don't."
She gave him a gentle jab with her elbow to illustrate her point, got the glasses and walked back to the table. Clark's parent's were busily making their sandwiches, trying to behave as though they hadn't heard the short exchange as she set them down.
"Clark, I was telling your mother earlier that I'll be going over to Granville next Saturday for the Grange meeting, so I'll need you to look after things for me." He said it as he was slicing his sandwich and Clark looked surprised. It was obvious from his expression that he wasn't expecting that piece of news. "I decided to go because I know I'm leaving this place in good hands."
"And I'll be going with him." Martha added before she took a sip of her tea. "The Grange ladies have been asking Jonathan when I was going to come and I thought now would be a good time."
"We'll be gone overnight, so you'll be responsible for the evening and morning milking." Jonathan took a bite and after he'd washed it down with a swallow of his tea, he continued. "I'll also need you to change the hay in the stalls. If you could take care of those two things for me, the rest can wait until your mother and I get home."
"And if you would feed the chickens and check the coops in the evening and the morning and collect any eggs, I'd appreciate it." Martha made a request of Lois. "Just put them in the egg keeper in the icebox door so they won't spoil."
Lois was about to get a real taste of what it felt like to be a farm wife because she wouldn't have the reassuring presence of Clark's mother to help her. But she figured that if Clark wanted to try his hand at being a farmer, it was only fair she got the chance to try her hand.
"I can do it." She assured her mother-in-law.
"I know you can, honey." Martha reached for her hand and grasped it. "You know more than you think you do and now you'll have the chance to prove it to yourself."
"How do you know I won't burn the house down when I'm making dinner?" Lois asked, only partly kidding.
"If I didn't do it the first time Jonathan's parents left us here alone, I know you won't." Martha gave her a look that reinforced her words and then she laughed. "Now why don't you make yourself a sandwich so you and junior-ette can eat before you finish planting your potatoes."
"Just remember your hat." Clark reminded her and Lois found herself counting to five so she wouldn't roll her eyes.
He wasn't really going to start mollycoddling her, was he?
"Yes, Dad." She gave him a pointed look, hopefully sending the message for him to knock it off. And to his credit, his face flushed and then he chuckled.
"Not for another five months, anyway." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry, honey; you bring out the Neanderthal in me."
'What is he doing here?'
'You heard him.' Lois couldn't understand why he sounded so annoyed. 'He's here because Dad asked him to find me.'
'And you believe that?'
'I don't have a reason not to.' Where was this coming from? 'And just so you understand, I don't appreciate you behaving like such a Neanderthal.'
Lois felt her face warm as she remembered their exchange on the service porch when Lieutentant Queen had come to the farm, delivering a message from her father. Clark must have remembered it too, because he shrugged. "I make no apologies for that."
"I wasn't expecting you to." She replied as she wiped a blob of mustard from the corner of his mouth. "Besides, you don't do it that often and I know it's only because you love me."
"I do." He nodded and put the pad of her thumb that was smeared with the mustard and brought it to his lips. "But I trust you, too and I shouldn't have behaved as though I didn't."
His blue eyes appealed for understanding, but all she could do was stare at his mouth and what he'd just done. It reminded her of the afternoon when he, she and his parent's were talking in the very kitchen they were now, when he'd returned from Kansas City.
He was telling them of the true circumstances of why he'd been sent back to Kansas, all the while massaging her fingers. And easily as he'd just done, he'd kissed her fingers in front of a stunned Lois and surprised parent's.
His only answer to her that early afternoon was to smile and shrug again.
He knew.
oooooo
He loved surprising her by doing the unexpected and seeing her face flush.
She didn't have any idea of how his heart would flutter furiously when she'd react to his touch in such a feminine way. Everything about her was genuine and honest and it was why he'd fallen in love with her. And even though they were married, she was still fiercely independent and he admired her for that.
If he were honest with himself, he'd have to admit that he was the one who'd changed since coming home; though it would probably be more accurate to say that he hadn't changed as much as reverted back more to who he was before he'd left Kansas.
He supposed that it probably would have come about anyway once he'd come back for good, but Lois had managed to find a way to accelerate the process by virtue of her bold personality.
It was like finding a loose piece of yarn and pulling on it, unraveling whatever it had created. In his case, it had been his hard-ass, tough as nails Federal agent and his loose piece of yarn had been his admission about the hayloft. Because once Lois knew about that and seeing his reaction to it, she'd started to tug on that yarn only to find the bashful farm boy he'd been just a few short years ago.
Clark thought that was in part why his mother loved her so much.
And it was why he loved Lois so much.
The look in her eyes as he let go of her hand were a myriad of emotions. She was a little embarrassed, stunned, pleased and keenly aware of what he'd just deliberately done. It was the way one of her eyebrows tilted up, just a little, that let him know that if they weren't in the middle of having lunch with planting and plowing still to do, they'd be up the stairs in a trice.
There'd be time for that.
His parent's observed the exchange with amused expressions, though neither said a word. They probably felt that if they pointed it out, it would embarrass Lois more than she already was. Instead, they began to talk about the Grange meeting again.
When lunch was finished, Martha told the men to shoo while she and Lois cleared up the table. He figured there was going to be some mother and daughter conversation once they were out of earshot.
He and Dad walked out the front door and Clark picked up his work gloves from the porch swing. He'd wager that his father wanted to say something to him, he just didn't know how as they stepped off the porch and headed toward the barn.
"You have a knack for surprising that girl." Dad finally commented with a smile and shake of his head.
"I can't seem to help it." Clark grinned as his father pulled down the milking stool and set it down next to Bessie in the milking pen. "Things like that just seem to happen."
"Love makes a man bold, son." He nodded his understanding and then sat down. "Because we think with our hearts and not our heads."
"But I have to think with my head, the situation being what it is."
"You do, Clark." Dad reassured him as he reached under the cow and started to milk. "It doesn't mean that you can't show your wife how much she means to you."
"With the exception of you and Mom, Lois and the baby are my whole life." He leaned against the wall of the barn. "And-"
"Remember what your mother said." His father shook his head. "We're a family, the four of us, and we'll help you any way that we can. And if you don't mind me sticking my two cents in, coddling her isn't going to make it easier."
"I know." Clark acknowledged with a sigh as his thoughts came back full circle. "But I can't seem to help it."
"It's a natural instinct for a man to want to protect his family. But you need to remember that Lois was taking care of herself for a long time before you met her and it's going to take time for her to allow you to do that."
"I know that, too."
"Then take a step back and give her some room." His advice was simple and Clark nodded. "In the meantime that back field for the soybeans won't plow itself, so you need to get moving."
Clark nodded again and left his father in the barn while he walked to the waiting tractor.
Ten minutes later he was breaking the sod, turning it over to get it ready for the next summer crop they would plant and he could see Lois back in her garden planting the last of the potatoes. She would never admit it, but she'd taken to living on the farm so easily. In between her responsibilities to the Falcon and helping his mother with the day to day business of running the house, she seemed to become more content with each new day.
He hesitated to think that it was a blessing that she'd been relegated to the farm once again, but it a strange way, it really was. She and Mom had become a real team, helping each other with the chores so that neither had to carry a heavier burden. But with the baby coming, that would need to change and knowing his wife as he did, she would find a way to keep contributing in any way she could.
By the time he'd finished tilling the soil; Lois had finished with her planting and was currently hanging the last of the wash out on the line as he drove the tractor back toward the barn. Shelby was nearby, lying in the shade of the walnut tree.
Ever since Clark found out she was expecting, he had observed his dog staying closer to Lois than usual; almost as a sentinel. Even without understanding what was happening, he had become more protective of her and Clark knew how his furry friend felt.
Shelby had taken to her from the first time she'd come out to the farm, though she didn't feel the same way, at first. But in spite of that, the golden retriever wouldn't let her alone and had eventually won Lois' grudging respect for being so tenacious.
The dog's head bobbed up at the sound of the tractor and when Shelby seemed to realize it was only Clark, he lowered his head back onto his front paws. As she pinned the last bed sheet to the clothes line, Lois said something to him and then laughed.
His chest warmed, as it usually did when he heard the sound of it and felt a smile pull at his lips; especially when he caught her eye and she laughed even more. And then as she turned toward him he heard her call to him to stop.
He pressed down on the clutch and put the tractor into neutral, setting the brake as she walked toward him with her hand on her abdomen. "How about giving us ride back to the house?"
"I can, but there's only one place to sit." He let her know, not that he'd mind.
"That's all right." She smiled at him. "We don't mind."
"Then hop aboard." He held out a hand to her and kept hers in a firm grip as she grabbed for the steering wheel with her other hand and carefully stepped up onto the floor, settled herself in his lap and putting her arms around his neck. "Comfy?"
"Very." Lois nodded and kissed his cheek. "So get this thing moving."
"Yes, ma'am." He grinned as he released the brake and eased his foot off the clutch. The tractor rolled forward and as they lumbered back toward the barn, Shelby got up with a bark and trotted behind them. Clark put his lips close to Lois' ear so she would be sure to hear him. "I don't think my own dog trusts me to look after you."
"Well he should because I do." She assured him. "And he's known you longer."
"Since he was a pup." He got an arm around her waist and held her against his chest as they rode the rest of the short distance in silence. He stopped at the white picket fence that ran along the side of the house and helped her off. Lois stepped back as he released the brake again and lightened up on the clutch to drive the rest of the way to the shed and shut it down.
With the tractor keys in hand he walked back to the house and when he opened the front door, he heard Lois on the telephone as he closed it behind him. He headed toward the kitchen and heard her say 'thank you', wondering who she was talking to.
"That was Lionel." He heard her tell his parents as he got a clean coffee mug from the dish rack. "He said that Lex has agreed to see him."
Lois had told him about her recent conversation with Lionel and that he would try to talk to his son, to find out if he would be willing to help them with Lana. Clark had been skeptical at the very least, asking her why he'd want to help them and she replied that Lex hated her.
He could see why because Lana had set out to embarrass and humiliate the man she married every chance she got and if it meant bedding unsuspecting dupes, as he'd been, then all the better.
Not that Lex hadn't had more than a few indiscreet trysts himself, but he'd been forced into a marriage he didn't want and wasn't about to play the role of a sap.
He watched Lois as she talked to his parents with an ease that no other girl ever had and knew how lucky he was to have a woman in his life who loved him and them as much as she did and cherished and protected the life she was carrying.
Things could have turned out so much differently, for the both of them.
"I wish you wouldn't look so worried." Lois' concerned voice caught his attention. "Lionel is pretty confident that Lex will help us."
"If it benefits him, sure he will." Clark sat down at the table across from his parents and she sat down next to him. "The only reason he helped with the sting operation to bring down Burke was to get out of some of the trouble he was in. And if he thinks helping us with Lana will get his sentence reduced, that'll be the only reason."
"Honey, you don't know that." His mother remarked and reached out to put her hand on his. "Maybe some time in prison has shown him the error of his ways."
"Mom, if it was anyone but Lex Luthor I might agree with you." Clark shook his head.
"Son, your mother could be right and that cooling his heels in a prison cell has been a good thing for him."
He understood what his parent's were trying to do, but it didn't make him feel any better. Why should a fellow like that be rewarded for doing the right thing, when he should be doing it because it was the right thing to do?
Lois tucked her hand through his arm and glanced into his eyes. "Sweetheart, if you feel that strongly about it, then I'll call Lionel back and ask him not to go."
In his worry, he failed to notice how his parents glanced at each other and smiled at her endearment.
But Clark only sighed, because he was in a no win situation. Of course he wanted all the help he could get to protect his family; but he sure as hell didn't want Lex getting the idea that all he had to do was cooperate when asked and that would absolve him of any of his wrongdoing.
She put her cheek on his shoulder and Clark pressed a kiss to her hair as he pressed her hand against his side. "As much as it rubs me the wrong way, we need any help he can give us. And if it means he gets a solitary cell or some time shaved off his sentence, I'll live with it."
"And once this is over, Lionel is the only Luthor we'll ever have to see." Lois commented.
"He's the only Luthor worth seeing." Dad agreed. "He's been very good to you, Lois and that makes him all right in my book."
"He'd appreciate that." Lois smiled at him. "He may not look like it, but Lionel really is aces."
"Well now that we appear to have that settled-" Mom put her hands on the table and stood up. "How about some coffee and pie before you boys get back to your chores and Lois goes upstairs to take a nap."
"Nap?" Lois' voice was a little incredulous and when he tried not to laugh; she elbowed him in the ribs for his trouble.
"You did say that Dr. Francis wanted you resting in the afternoon until your morning sickness passes; so at the risk of sounding like a mother, I'd like it if you would go upstairs and rest."
"But it's better now." Lois protested, but Mom shook her head. "I don't need to sleep."
"Then don't, just lie quietly for a half-hour." She was insistent. "And don't tell me that you need to finish planting the potatoes, because you just did."
'Damn.'As sure as he knew himself, he knew that's what Lois was thinking but would never say it in front of Mom or Dad, but then she smiled and looked at her mother-in-law. "I've got to stop telling you about my doctor's appointments."
"You could." Mom smiled back. "But if you did, you wouldn't have another woman to share this with."
"What am I, chopped liver?" Clark feigned injury and shook his head.
"Don't be smart, you know what I mean." She gave her son a pointed look. "It's because I've been through it with you and can understand what she's going through."
'But if it weren't for me-'He took Lois' hand, that was still snug against his body and lifted it to kiss her fingers.
"That's his answer to everything." Lois leaned over and kissed his cheek.
"And that's always her response." He returned the favor and got up, her hand still in his. "So how about I get you upstairs and settled in before I go back out to plow up that last field?"
"How about you turn over those keys and let me do it?" Dad held out his hand and Clark picked up the keys from the table, putting them in his hand. "If you'd chop up more firewood for me, that'd be a bigger help. It's going to be too hot to do it in another month or so and I'd like to be able to start the coming fall with a good supply."
"Sure thing, Dad."
"I appreciate that, son." He nodded and then looked up at Mom. "If that offer of coffee and pie is still good, I'll take you up on it."
"Of course." She put a hand on his shoulder for a moment and then turned for the stove. "Don't be too long, Clark; Lois needs her rest."
And with that, Lois got up and Clark walked with her to the kitchen stairs.
When they got to their room, she sat down heavily on the bed and sighed. "I'm starting to think this was a really good idea."
He wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. "Lois?"
"We're fine." She put a hand to his cheek and brushed a thumb across his skin; he really liked it when she did that. He leaned into her touch and brought his hand up to hold it there before he got down on one knee and pulled her shoes off. "I don't suppose you'd consider staying with me?"
"If I thought you'd rest, I would." He looked up into her tired face and stood. "But you'll want to talk."
"Maybe." She smiled sweetly at him and her face flushed. "Or maybe talk you into something."
"And that's why I can't stay." He mirrored her action and put his hand on her cheek. "Because I wouldn't be able to say no."
Lois nodded as she scoot back and pulled her feet up onto the bed. After she'd stretched out, Clark got the folded blanket that they kept at the foot and covered her with it before sitting down next to her. "If you need anything, you know where I'll be."
"I need a kiss before you go."
That could be dangerous.
"Lois."
"I swear, just a kiss." She promised him and giggled, running a gentle hand down his cheek. "I won't use my feminine wiles to persuade you to do anything you don't want to do."
He smiled back at her, his own face warming because they both knew it wouldn't take much more for them to make good use of their bed. "And I appreciate that."
"Good." Her other hand came up to cup his face in her hands. "So kiss me and hot foot it back downstairs before your mother comes looking for you and pulls you out of here by the scruff of your neck."
He wouldn't put it past her.
Clark brushed her hair away from her face, the softness of it felt like silk against his fingers and he kissed her. He kept it soft and undemanding, but when he tried to pull back Lois followed, not quite ready to let him go.
She deepened their kiss and even though he knew he needed to leave her be, his arms had a mind of their own and burrowed between her body and the mattress to pull her close against him. Her arms wound around his neck and her fingers found their way into his hair, while his hands skimmed her back.
It was Heaven on Earth feeling her body pressed against his, her lips caressing his with a tantalizing invitation he was finding hard to resist.
And then almost at the same time, their lips and hands became less greedy, less wanting as she relaxed in his arms. He was surprised to find that he was lying on the bed stretched out on his back, with Lois on top of him; her head tucked under his chin.
How in the heck had that happened?
"No feminine wiles, Lois?" He kissed her hair, not minding at all as he tried to slow his rapid breathing.
"I wasn't even trying." He could feel the rise and fall of her chest against his as she tried to catch her own breath. "If I was, we'd both be naked by now."
"Don't be so sure about that." He couldn't help it.
"Oh, please." She lifted her head and caught his eye. "You forget who you're married to, buster because without my even trying, we were nearly there."
"Nearly being the operative word." He laughed as she punched his shoulder. "As nice as this is, you need to get off of me now. If Mom catches us like this, I'll be the one who gets in trouble."
"Only if you insist." Her eyebrow went up and he knew she was up to something. She took her time sliding her body off of his, making sure she brushed against his manhood so she would leave him more than a little frustrated.
He closed his eyes for a moment to gather his wits about him; sometimes, she just didn't play fair. But he was consoled by the fact that she'd probably left herself just as frustrated.
When he was again sitting at the edge of the bed, he took in the sight of his beautiful wife with her mussed hair, flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes. They always seemed to do that when he pleased her. And for the first time, he could really see the swell of life in her body.
He'd gotten used to how it felt but he'd never been able to truly see. But with Lois lying on her back, the unmistakable evidence of what they'd created was there for him to see and he reached out to touch her. "Honey, I can see the baby."
He felt her hand on his arm and their eyes connected. There were tears in her eyes and a bright smile on her face. "I was hoping you'd be able to by now because we've been waiting."
A soft knock at the door got Clark to turn and his mother was there. She didn't say anything, but he got the feeling she'd caught the end of their conversation because she looked as though she were going to cry.
He gave Lois one last, soft kiss and pressed another to her tummy before he got up and walked to the bedroom door. Mom closed it softly behind him and led him to the staircase going down to the kitchen.
Before going down though, a tear slipped out of the corner of her eye. "I was just remembering the first time your dad knew you were here." She put a hand to her abdomen. "And I knew right then what a good father he was going to be. Now I see you with Lois and I know you're going to be just as good a father with your children."
With a gentle pat on his cheek, she left him at the top of the stairs to mull over her words and they warmed his heart as much as his wife's kisses did.
He was a lucky man.