Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville. If I did, I'd be at the beach right now.

A/N: This next chapter finds the kids and their parents facing some hard truths and tough decisions. Thanks Hana for helping with this chapter. It was a tough one. *hugs* Please R&R. Thanks!

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Chapter 3 - Parenthood

Previously:

Lara and Jonny watched their father with smiles on their faces. The other children immediately surrounded Lara and Jonny asking all kinds of questions and wanting to touch the hand that had touched Superman's hand.

They just couldn't believe their father had showed up at that particular moment. They were happy to see him, but something wasn't right.

But soon enough, they went back to playing with all the other children in the school yard, and nothing happened the rest of the day. No more bullies!

##

After making sure that everything was fine at the school, Clark returned to the office to update his wife. "Lois, I'm back." He walked up to her desk and sat on the edge, gave her a cup of coffee, and kissed her cheek. "Miss me?" Clark asked grinning.

"Well, if your look is any indication, I'd say the little excursion to the school went well." His grins were infectious.

"We can talk about that later at home. You can ease your mind for now, at least until we can talk to them about it. Don't worry, they're adjusting, and everything is fine now."

"What do you mean … now? Did something happen?" Lois worriedly asked.

Clark told her everything that happened in the school yard. She was furious.

"I can't believe this, and on their first day of school? What kind of a school is it to allow this to happen? How big was this kid anyway?"

"He looked to be about three years older and a few inches taller than Jonny, even taller than Lara. Lara is an inch taller than Jonny as you know, but that didn't stop him from picking on him and calling him names for playing with girls. Superman was pretty upset, so you can imagine how upset Jonny was. We should go down there in a few days and talk to the principal about that kid. Superman was pretty stern with him, and hopefully he learned a lesson, but just to be sure."

"Clark, do you know how cute it is when you talk about yourself in the third person? It's weird, but cute. But, I agree, we should follow-up with the school about it. Now that that's settled, do you have any idea how we're going to bring up …?" She made a flying motion with her hand, and quirked an eyebrow at him for good measure.

Clark chuckled. He just shook his head and smiled at his wife.

##

Lara and Jonny became pretty popular at school after that, especially Jonny. Everyone wanted to know how it felt to shake Superman's hand and why he came at that particular time when Adam was picking on him. Jonny such shrugged his shoulders and said that Superman heard everything, and he hated bullies as much as everybody did.

Lara was so proud of her brother. He had stood up to the bully and had refused to fight him. Jonny could have hurt him, but he hadn't. Their parents said that fighting was not an option for any of them.

Later that day on the school bus back home, Jonny and Lara couldn't help but wonder the same thing. Why did Superman show up when he did? He was usually saving lives not talking to school kids, unless it was planned ahead of time. They couldn't come up with any explanation.

After dinner that evening, Lois, Clark and the kids were in the living room watching SpongeBob. Lois was standing behind the sofa. She managed to get her husband's attention through looks and gestures. The flying gesture was Lois' favorite, it seems.

"Kids, you've seen this episode before, and your mother and I have a few questions about your first day of school. Please turn off the television, Jonny." Clark sat down on the ottoman in front of his kids. "Now, did anything out of the ordinary happen this morning before you boarded the bus?" Clark asked his children.

Lara and Jonny glanced at each other. They both answered 'no' at the same time.

Lois' mouth dropped open in shock. "Guys, when you came down the stairs, your feet didn't touch the steps. Are you saying that you don't remember, or are you hiding the fact that you both can fly?" Lois asked, coming around the sofa to face the children.

"Lois?" Clark asked shocked by her question.

"Well, Clark, we can't have them hiding this from us. It's way too important to the family. Well, kids? Answer me," Lois insisted.

"Honest, Mom, we don't remember," Lara said.

"You do believe us, don't you?" Jonny asked lip quivering.

Clark could see they were at a standstill, and he was sensing something going on. "Of course we believe you, right honey?" Clark looked at Lois expectantly.

Lois sighed. "Yes, we do, come here, guys." She sat down between them, gave them each a hug and tried to explain how important trust is to the family. "As long as you tell us the truth, we'll always believe you. You can trust us with anything, no matter what it is. Please try and remember that."

"It's getting late, kids," Clark said. "Go on and get ready for bed. We'll be up in a little while to say good night."

The kids hung their heads and headed for bed.

##

Once the kids had left the room, Clark gestured for Lois to join him outside. "Lois, when did the kids start glancing at each other before they answered our questions? I think it's a sign that they're not telling us the truth. I think you're right. They're not being completely honest with us."

"I knew it, but why would they lie to us, Clark? As long as they've been old enough to know the difference between right and wrong, we've always said 'never lie to us.' I can't tell you how upset I am about this," Lois sniffed.

"Come here." Clark took her into his arms. "We'll figure out a way to get them to open up. I have no idea why they're doing this, and you're right, Lois, it is way too important."

"Mom, Dad?" Lara asked. It was the kids, standing at the back door.

Lois wiped her eyes and went to her children. "Kids why aren't you in bed?"

"We need to tell you something," Lara said.

"Alright, let's go inside," Clark said. "Take a seat, kids. Go, ahead, we're listening."

"We lied to you earlier," Lara said. "We're sorry we did it, but we heard you talking the other day."

"First of all, no easedropping on our conversations and there had better be a good reason for lying, although there never is," Clark said, looking at Lois nervously.

"Your father is right. So, why did you lie to us?" Lois asked, as she gave her husband an 'I told you so' look.

"We heard you talking about home schooling, and we didn't want that so the other night when Lara woke up and she was floating, we decided not to tell you about it. We're sorry we didn't tell you, but we really like school. Please, can we stay in school?" Jonny hopefully asked.

"But when you came down the stairs, both of you were floating," Lois said.

"That was the first time for me, Mom," Jonny said.

"I can't believe this," Clark said. He got up and began to pace, running his hands through his hair.

"Clark, what are we going to do?" Lois asked, as she went to her children, giving them a hug. She was so worried for her family.

Clark took a deep breath. Getting upset wasn't helping. He turned to his family that he loved so much that he actually felt pain just looking at them. "Everything is going to be fine. We're a family and together we'll work this out somehow. But kids, your Mom and I will let you know your punishment in the morning. Lying will not be tolerated under any circumstances. You could have come to us with your worries. We're always here to listen to anything and everything that's bothering you. Remember that. Now, go on up to bed now. Good night."

"Good night, Mom, Dad." Lara and Jonny both said.

"Good night," Lois said. She gave them each a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh Clark, if I wasn't so worried, I'd be furious with them. They actually lied to our faces. I can't believe all this is happening. They're only five years old."

Clark took Lois in his arms. "It's going to be alright. We'll come up with a solution, I promise."

##

A few days had gone by and Lois and Clark hadn't come up with any answers as to why the kids were hovering and floating at such a young age. It had been a long day and they were at home getting ready for bed.

Clark glanced at his wife. Sometimes, when she wasn't aware of it, he would just watch her, like now. She was so beautiful. He watched as she sat at the dressing table brushing her hair. At times like these when the kids were asleep, no emergencies blaring in my ears, when Lois and I would have a few moments just to ourselves, I didn't think I could be any happier.

Lois caught her husband's look in the mirror. She knew that look well. "Feeling lucky tonight, Smallville?" Lois asked teasing him but with a sultry look.

Clark came over to her then, and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight, too tight, Lois noted. "Clark, what's wrong?" She asked, touching his cheek. "Tell me."

He took her hand from his cheek and kissed it. "I have something to tell you, and I know you're not going to like what I have say, and I can't say I blame you."

"Oh, I see. So, we both won't like this idea, so why even bring it up?" Lois asked, not wanting to hear it, but knew he would tell her anyway.

"Because there's really no other solution," he said and sighed, as he went over to the bed, sat down and ran his hands through his hair.

"Please don't say it. It's only been three days. They haven't done anything since the first day. Even school is going well. They'll be good from now on." Lois went to him, got down on her knees in front of him, and put her hands on his cheeks. "We'll come up with an answer, just give it time."

Clark took her hands down from his face and held them together. "I'm sorry, Lois. I'm taking the kids to see Jor-El this weekend. Maybe he can help us." Oh, god, the look on her face. She looks terrified.

Tears sprang into her eyes. Lois removed her hands from his, got up slowly, shaking her head 'no,' not wanting to believe what she'd just heard, and left the bedroom. Clark tried to comfort her, but she didn't want him to. She had a feeling he was going to do this. There must be some other answer, but what?

"Lois, wait, we have to talk about this," Clark whispered urgently, as he followed her down the hall.

"No, Clark, you've obviously made up your mind about this. Why discuss it now?" Lois was angry now, angry that he'd decided this and he hadn't even discussed it with her. She went to the kitchen and started slamming pots and pans around.

"Lois, what are you doing? You'll wake the children. Come back upstairs, please. I'm sorry, honey. I should have talked to you about it first. I realize now that it would probably be a shock."

Lois stopped moving pans around and stared at him. "Oh, you think so? Clark, you know how much I hate asking him for help after what he did to us, and I quote ... 'You can't have any offspring.' He got that right," she cracked sarcastically. "Not to mention that he kidnapped you and kept you away from me for a week, which had to have been the worst week of my life, I might add. And to top it all off, he treated you like some kind of a world conqueror for practically your entire life. Clark, how can you trust anything he says or does now? No, you're not taking my babies to him. I refuse to allow it."

Clark sighed. He knew she would react this way. Jor-El and Lois had a bad history, but he couldn't think of any other way to help his family. He had to convince her. "I'm so sorry." He went to her then, took her by the shoulders, and lifted her tear stained face to look at him.

"Please don't do this." She went into his arms, hoping he would listen to her.

"Please don't cry, honey. I'm sorry I upset you." He lifted her chin to look at him. "I want you to come with us. You'll be there for them. We won't let anything bad happen to them, alright? Jor-El will just talk to them, probably do a body scan, but nothing else, I promise. We need to know what's happening with the kids, and if you're worried about him taking their powers, that's not why we're going. I won't let that happen. Their powers are theirs to keep, no matter what."

"Oh, Clark, of course, I'll come." She hugged her husband as tight as she could. "I want to be there for them. I'll go with you, but if he crosses the line, I'll pull the plug on him, you can count on that."

Clark just pulled her closer, picked her up, and took his wife upstairs to bed.

##

A/N: Lois and Jor-El go way back to their first meeting in my first fan fiction story, A Lot to Talk About. It was not a pleasant experience. Thanks for reading. Remember, I do a happy dance when I see a review! *hee*