Life at thirty-something

by ANNAFLORINDA

Follow the lives of: Lois and Clark Lane-Kent are new parents, with their twins; Lex and Tess Luthor have a more challenging relationship; Chloe Sullivan, Lois's cousin, is married to Jimmy, with a baby, but not all is at it seems and Oliver Queen is Clark's old friend and has a complex history. How will they all fair? AU. Established Clois, Olicity, Chimmy...

4. Chapter 3: Made in the second

I do not own Smallville.

Chapter 3: Made in the second.

Less than a week later, the marriage of Tess and Lex was being tested and this problem was brought to the attention of Lois and Clark at dinner on a Saturday evening. Lois and Clark agreed to leave Ben and Jane with Chloe and Jimmy for a couple of hours and Tess did the same with Alexander and James. Clark knew that Felicity had gone to New York shortly after Lois's parents had left, so he did not know if she and Oliver had discussed the matter of her job offer or if Oliver had proposed, but he was certain that if Oliver had proposed that the former would no longer be so much of an issue. He had told Lois what Felicity had told him about her job offer and she had agreed that Oliver would be heart-broken if Felicity left him, but conceded that it may be the best thing for her.

An hour before leaving for dinner with Lois and Clark, Tess finished ensuring that her sons had all they needed, before making her way into the bathroom to do her make-up and clothes. As she was doing this, the door creaked open and she knew that it was her husband.

"Lex, can you not find your cufflinks?" Tess inquired in a steady voice as she slipped her earrings through her ear loops. Lex shook his head, smiling. "No, I've found them-I can't find you, my dear." When Tess made no response, he mumbled, "That line worked when we were 20."

Rolling her eyes, Tess snapped, "Yeah, well, we aren't 20 anymore, Alexander!" She only called him by his full name when she was very annoyed with him, so he knew that he had done something to annoy her. She turned around and found him standing directly behind her. "Lex, I don't have time for this."

"Yeah, you never do anymore." He hissed. Their eyes met, both as fiery as the other and Tess asked, in a similar tone, "What's that supposed to mean?" Lex tried to walk out of the bathroom, but she demanded, "Lex Luthor, tell me what you meant by that snarky remark right now!"

Lex froze with his hand on the door handle, before turning around to face his wife. He kept his voice low so as not to alarm or scare their sons. "What I meant was that ever since James was born-which has been four years, by the way- you haven't really been interested in me or spending any time with me."

Tess stared at him. "Lex, what are you talking about? We see each other every day? We have breakfast together and dinner, most of the time, and we have family time in the evening"-

"I mean time to ourselves-without the boys!" Lex glared at her, with fury in his eyes. "I wasn't like this after Alexander was born, so why are you being like this now? Am I boring now-or is it that I can't give you anymore children, so therefore, I'm useless and serve no purpose. You don't need me anymore." Their eyes met and Lex could see shock but also anger in Tess's eyes. There was a long silence, before he flung open the door and stormed out, leaving Tess in the bathroom on her own. She sank down on the floor and tried to prevent the tears from falling, but it was no good; they began to fall and she began to cry, like she had never cried before. The only time she remembered crying like that was after her mother gave her up for adoption, because she had been lost and alone. Why did she feel that way now, when she was by no means, alone, lost or vulnerable?

An hour later, Tess and Lex arrived at the restraint, after not having spoken to each other since their encounter in the bathroom. Tess knew that her brother would notice something, but she also had the feeling that Clark was hiding something from her and she was beginning to wonder if the secret he was keeping was about Lex. She also knew that whatever Clark knew, Lois would also know, as the two of them shared everything…as she and Lex had once done.

Upon seeing Tess and Lex, Clark noticed that his sister seemed to be very uncomfortable and he wondered whether to ask her or not, but he decided against it and decided to ask her when the two of were alone. The meal was a very awkward one, as Lex and Tess refused to talk or even look at each other. Lois and Clark exchanged a look and they knew that something had happened between the two of them. Clark attempted to get Tess to talk, which she did do, but she would not even look at her husband and Lex did the same thing when speaking to Clark or Lois. When the meal came to an end, Clark invited Tess and Lex to their house for a while, after collecting their children from Chloe and Jimmy's. Clark wanted to try to talk to Tess alone, so that he could try and work out what was wrong between her and Lex. He knew that Lex would not tell him.

Tess sent Alexander and James into the kitchen to play, whilst Lois and Clark carried Jane and Ben into the sitting room and sat down with their babies on their knees. Tess sat down on the chair, not saying anything to either of them. She and Lois had never had a proper conversation, but Lois was surprised that she was not talking to her brother. Just as she was about to leave so that her husband and Tess could have some privacy, Lex walked in and marched over to Tess, as if she were his enemy, not his wife. This body language was noticed by both Lois and Clark and they suddenly began to feel very awkward. Lex's lips curled slightly as he said, "Tess, I need to talk to you."

"Then talk." Tess fixed him with her deadly stare and did not blink when their eyes met; she knew what Lex wanted to talk about, but she did not want to have that conversation now. Lex sighed and murmured, "It's about our conversation earlier." He indicated the room next to the living room. Slowly, Tess glared at him and walked through the door, waiting for him to follow her. "What do you want, Lex?"

Lex ran his hands over his head. "Look, what I said in the bathroom, they're feeling that have been bubbling under for a while and I didn't tell you."

"We are husband and wife-we are supposed to tell each other everything." Tess remarked in a calm, yet icy tone, with her eyes fixed on her husband. "I know exactly what you meant Lex, but I didn't marry you just to have kids-which was the implication of your words, by the way-and if you really believe that, you're an idiot." She began to make her way to the door, but Lex moved in her path. "You can't leave until we discuss this properly-like a proper couple." He was trying to keep his voice soft, which was proving to be very hard. He and Tess had always been very well-matched in terms of being argumentative.

Tess inhaled a deep breath, "What I meant was that this isn't a conversation I want to have now. I have to take the boys home." Before she could make her way out of the door, Lex grabbed hold of wrist with his hands and murmured, "I won't let you walk away from me, Lutessa. We have to get past this and we will."

"Let go of my arm!" Tess demanded in the same tone as her husband. When he did not loosen his grip, she repeated it in a louder voice so that Lois and Clark could hear. Their eyes met and Tess could see fear and pain in Lex's eyes, but also anger. She pulled her arm out of Lex's grip, glared at him and walked back into the living room. Lois and Clark had heard every single word and were now feeling very uncomfortable. Lex walked back into the room. Tess walked over to her adoptive-brother and forced a smile, "Thanks for the food, Clark. We need to be making tracks, don't we?" There was a tone in her voice which Clark had never heard before and he was becoming very concerned about the relationship between Tess and Lex.

As soon as Alexander and James were in bed and asleep, Lex walked into his and Tess's bedroom and saw that she was preparing herself for bed. "Tess," he began in a gentle voice, "I'm sorry. Did I hurt your wrist?"

Continuing to stare into the mirror, Tess answered, "Not physically, Lex. I've known you long enough to know that you like to have control over everything and everyone-I suppose I'm one of the few things or people whom you cannot control."

Lex sat down on their bed and whispered, "I love you, Tess, you know that?"

"Love isn't the issue for us anymore, Lex," Tess replied in a very harsh voice, before turning around to face her husband, "now I'm going to go and sleep downstairs on the coach. Don't tell me you'll go and do it. Tomorrow, for the sake of our boys, just… be normal. We'll sort this out."

"Why do you love them more than you love me?" Lex inquired in a barley a whisper. "You'll do anything to spare their feelings, but when it comes to me, it's as if you don't care anymore. When did we become this couple, Tess?" He looked into her eyes, but she did not look back. "I'll see you in the morning." With that, she turned away and walked out of their bedroom and downstairs. There, she settled down on the sofa and closed her eyes, trying to close out the problems of the world.

The next morning, as Lois and Clark made breakfast for themselves and Lois fed Jane and Ben, Lois asked, "Do you have any idea what all of that was about last night?"

Clark shook his head. "I don't know, but I didn't like the sound of it. I know that Lex is possessive, he always has been, but I never thought that he'd hurt Tess."

"Maybe he didn't-maybe we hurt it wrong." Lois remarked, before biting her lip. "If they got divorced, it would be very hard for you, wouldn't it?"

Kissing Jane and Ben on the head, her husband sat down. "Yeah, it would. I mean, Tess is my sister, so ultimately, my loyalty would have to be to her, but… Lex is one of my best friends…I don't think that it'll come to that, though. They've been married for ten years. If they gave up every fight, they would have been divorced after their first week of marriage." Clark knew that this fight had been different from the other fights Tess and Lex had had in the past, but he did not want to admit that to anymore, even though he knew that Lois was thinking the same thing.

Their thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the front door and Tess walked in. "Hey, bro. How are you today?" Clark smiled wearily, wondering why Tess was at their house at 8:00 in the morning, but before he could ask, he received a text from Lex, asking him to meet him at his house. Sighing internally, he said, "I gotta go. Are you ok?"

Tess forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, Clark. Don't worry. I can talk to Lois." She was really dreading being alone with Lois as the two of them had never had a conversation, despite Lois being with her brother for the past ten years. Clark smiled, then he and Lois briefly kissed, he kissed the twins and left the house, grabbing his jacket as he left.

As the door closed, Tess slowly sat down at the table. In order to break the silence Lois asked Tess if she wanted coffee, which her sister-in-law declined. A short silence followed, then Lois asked in a soft voice, "Do you want to talk about what happened last night?"

Tess suddenly burst into tears and Lois stayed still, unsure of what to do. She passed her a tissue, but that did not seem to help. The door opened and Oliver and Felicity walked in. Upon seeing Tess crying, Oliver knelt down next to the chair and murmured comforting words; the two of them had been together for two years, so they knew each other very well. Tess buried her head in Oliver's shoulders as she sobbed, "It's Lex. We've fallen into a dark pit and I'm not sure how to get out-or even if we can get out! Despite everything, I love him and he loves me! How did we end up here?" She slid off the chair and into Oliver's arms, sobbing out her heart. Felicity knelt down next to her boyfriend and Tess on the floor and murmured words of reassurance. Lois sat there, with Ben in her arms, wondering why she was so useless when it came to comforting people, apart from when it was Clark or Chloe.

A couple of minutes later, Tess stood up and regained her composer. "Tess, are you sure everything's ok?" Felicity inquired, worried about the other woman. Tess forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." Her eyes met with Oliver's and she knew that he knew that she was lying, but she also knew that he understood her need to carry on. She accepted Lois's offer of coffee and picked Jane out of her highchair to have something, someone to hold and Jane was very comfortable in the arms of her adoptive-aunt.

Oliver and Felicity left shortly after this. When they were back at Felicity's flat, she remarked, "You knew how to comfort Tess when she was upset, Oliver. You obviously know each other well."

"We dated, we knew each other, obviously." Oliver frowned and asked, "Felicity, is everything ok? You've been acting a bit strange since you came back." His girlfriend chuckled and smiled, "Yeah-I forgot that you can read me like a book and that goes both ways, by the way." She paused, before adding, "I know who you were in love with, before you were with me and I can tell that you don't feel that way now."

Sitting down on the sofa, Oliver asked, "Is that what's been bothering you?"

"No, that isn't what's been bothering me recently." Felicity bit her lip. "Last weak, when I was in New York, I was offered a new job, in a leading IT role. It would mean finally escaping my parents' company and proving to them that I'm my own person-not just their daughter."

A smile spread across her boyfriend's face. "Felicity, congratulations. If you want the job, then take it!" He paused, then asked, "Why has that been bothering you?" Felicity weaved her hands through his as she answered, "The job is in London."

"Well, we can work that out-I mean, I can go to London to see you, you can come here. We can work that out, you don't have to worry about that." Realisation dawned over his face and he murmured, "You don't want us to make it work, do you?"

With pain in her voice and eyes, Felicity insisted, "It isn't like that, Oliver. I want to stay with you. I want the job and it's in London…. I think that I need to explore everything before I make a final decision. I know this sounds crazy, but I've known for all my life." Tears began to fall down her. "But there's a part of me that doesn't want to leave you, because I love you, but the other half of me is telling me to take the risk." There was a silence, then Oliver murmured, "You should go. If this is how you feel, then go. Explore everything and everywhere you've ever wanted to go but only if you can look me in the eye and tell me that you don't love me anymore."

Felicity inhaled a deep breath. Why was Oliver asking her to do that, he knew that she still loved him? Their eyes met and Felicity whispered, "I don't love you anymore, Oliver Queen." She maintained eye contact so that he would believe her, before standing up and walking away, leaving Oliver heartbroken. Felicity's heart was broken too, but she believed that ending their relationship was the best thing to do for both of them, despite how much it was hurting them.

Clark finally arrived at Lex and Tess's house and he walked into the living room and saw Lex playing with Alexander and James. "Lex," he said his name to catch his attention.

Lex walked away from his sons and led Clark into the hall so that Alex and James could not hear him. "I haven't seen Tess this morning, she left before I woke up? Have you seen her, how is she?"

"I don't know, I didn't really see her." Clark replied, maybe a little too quickly, but he did not want to feel as if he were betraying his sister. "Lex, what happened between the two of you last night?"

Shrugging, Lex replied, "It started off as just a normal argument and I expressed some feelings that I've had for a while and… then that was it. Later, at your house, I tried to talk to her and she went mad with me again and tried to walk away from me. She's never tried to do that before."

"Is that when you grabbed her arm?" Clark asked in a very careful voice, avoiding looking at Lex in the eye. The shock and pain of what Clark was suggesting was evident in Lex's eyes and he insisted, "Clark, I know that I'm not the best husband in the world, I would hold my hands up to that, but I resent the implication that I would ever hurt Tess-it was a natural reaction. Are you honestly telling me that, when you and Lois have a fight, you don't grab her wrist to prevent her from walking away from you?"

Clark stood there in silence for a couple of seconds before shaking his head and murmuring, "No, if Lois wants to walk away from me, there must be a reason." He looked down at his shoes, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable with the entire situation.

Later that day, Lois took Jane and Ben to the park, as Clark had been called into work. She sat with them, watching them play together and she was glad that she could see both herself and Clark in the twins. Her thoughts were interrupted by Tess's voice as she asked, "May I join you?" She had James in her arms, whom she set down on the matt next to Jane and Ben and soon he ran off to play on the play equipment. Tess smiled at her son as he played and then Lex appeared and began to play with Alexander and James. Tess smiled to herself and whispered to Lois, "That's what he used to be like-how he is with the boys, that's how he used to be with me. How I wish I could turn back time and make him that person again."

Lois stroked Jane's hair as she remarked, "He obviously loves them."

Tess nodded, but her eyes turned sad. "Yes, he does, more than he loves me now. I never thought that that would ever happen, but it has…. I don't think that would have happened if I'd married Oliver." The latter part of what she said she had not intended to say aloud, but Lois heard it and sighed to herself, as she realised something: Tess had loved Oliver more than she had loved Lex.

There was a silence, then Tess remarked, "It didn't used to be like this, but after our fights-and we're having a lot of them now- we-we can't seem to be able to find each other, find the person we fell in love with, I mean. I know it sounds crazy and maybe it's all in my head, but I have a feeling that Lex may be hiding something very big from me and I think he's hiding it because he's so afraid of what it would mean for our marriage." Lois shifted on the matt uncomfortably, as she knew what Lex was hiding from his wife, but she knew that it was not her place to tell her. If anyone was going to tell Tess, it had to be Lex himself.

That evening, when Tess arrived home with her sons, Lex was standing in the hall waiting for them. He took James in his arms and led Alexander into the kitchen by the hand and Tess followed. She was shocked to see that Lex had made and laid out dinner for the four of them. Slowly, she sat down. As the meal began, she finally met Lex's eyes and smiled at him, showing her gratitude for making dinner for the family, but when it came to bedtime, as she had done the night before, she slept on the sofa and she very disappointed when Lex did not go downstairs to speak to her about what was happening with the two of them.

Meanwhile, Jimmy arrived home in the early hours of the morning and was shocked to find that Chloe was sitting in the living room, waiting for him. She kissed him on the check and led him into the living room, where they sat down on the sofa. "How was your day?" Jimmy stiffened and moved away from her, as he mumbled, "I don't wanna talk about it. Let's go to bed."

"Jimmy, if there's something bothering you, we should talk about it." Chloe insisted, trying to look into her husband's eyes. "We are married, that's what married couples are supposed to do." She could see the darkness in Jimmy's eyes and she was almost fearful of what was troubling him. He forced a smile. "And we will talk about it. Tomorrow, when Nicky is at his friend's." With that, he stood up and walked away. Chloe sat there in silence, wondering why he was being so cold with her and wondering if someone had told him something about her which he did not know and she was thinking of the things in her life which would cause him to react like this and she could not think of any, apart from one, but there was no way that he could know about that or was there?

When the morning came, Chloe quickly washed and dressed and dropped Nicolas off at his friend's so that they could play. After speaking to his friend's father for a while, she kissed her son goodbye and left to go home.

Jimmy was standing in the kitchen, waiting for his wife to return. "Chloe," he whispered her name as she entered the kitchen, "yesterday, at work, somebody said something to me which made me think: he said-he told me that you only married me because you were pregnant. That isn't true, is it?"

Chloe stared at him and asked, "How can you believe that, Jimmy? I married you because I loved you. I wouldn't have married you if I didn't love you and I do, so very much. More than you can understand!"

Jimmy turned to face her and Chloe saw that there were tears in his eyes. "It's an interesting point, though, isn't it? I mean, we'd only been together for a couple of weeks when we married. What kind of normal relationship is that? And we made love after being together for a couple of days, is that a normal thing to do?"

"I don't know," Chloe admitted, "you're the only boyfriend I've ever had." She paused, then began, "Jimmy, this is ridiculous! I told you I was pregnant with Nicky, you proposed a couple of days later and I accepted. I don't understand why you're so troubled by this now! If you believed that my acceptance was insincere or as a consequence of my pregnancy, why did you not say so at the time? But it isn't true, Jimmy!"

"I wanted to believe that it was sincere, but… now I'm not so sure." Tears began to fall from his eyes as he spoke those words.

Chloe shook her head, forcing back the tears. "What are you saying, Jimmy? Why are we having this conversation now? We've been married for a year, why now?" There was a long silence, then Jimmy walked over to her and took hold of her hands. He rubbed them as he whispered, "I love you, Chloe, I always will. You are the love of my life"-

"And you're mine." Chloe interrupted in a fragile, breaking voice as tears began to fall down her face, "you're the love of my life, Jimmy. That's why I married you."

Jimmy looked down at the ground and inhaled a deep breath, before continuing, "-But I think that we need a break from each other."

Chloe stared at her husband in shock. "What do you mean 'a break from each other'? Are you talking about a divorce or legal separation, because, Jimmy, we can work through this, I know we can."

Jimmy looked into her eyes and smiled slightly. "I know we can. Chloe Sullivan and James Olsen can work through anything, but I think our relationship was too rushed, so we need to take a step back and.. see how things go and when things are back to normal, we can go back to normal, living as husband and wife. I only want to do this if you agree with me. Do you think this is what's best for us, Chloe? Be honest with me."

Cloe pulled him into a hug and buried her head in his shoulders, which meant that he could feel her shaking with pain. Exhaling a deep breath, with her face still hidden in his jumper, she whispered, "Yes. I think it's the best thing for us, but it's tempory, because we will be together again."

"We are meant to be together, Chloe. I'm sure of that and I thought that from the first time we met." Jimmy's heart was breaking just as much as Chloe's and there was a part of him which wanted to rescind the offer of legal separation, but he also knew that Chloe had only just accepted it, so it would not be fair to go back on what he had told her. He hugged her back, feeling very safe and loved in her embrace, as he always had done and was sure he always would.

Half an hour later, Lois ended her conversation with Chloe and re-entered the kitchen to her husband and babies. "Is Chloe ok?" Clark asked, as he wiped Ben's mouth. Lois sat back down and pulled Jane onto her knee as she replied, "No, she isn't. She and Jimmy had a massive argument and they've decided to legally separate for a while, he's going to rent a flat nearby."

"What was the argument about?" Clark inquired and Lois replied that she did not know. She sighed and asked, "Have you heard from Tess or Oliver?"

Sighing, Clark nodded. "Yeah, Oliver and Felicity have broken up and she's moving to London. She told Oliver that she didn't love him anymore. I don't believe her, but sadly, I think Oliver does. I haven't heard from Tess or Lex, but what Lex said yesterday… it made me shudder inside."

"Hmmm… well, he has always been possessive, but, despite what we heard that night, I don't think that he'd ever hurt Tess. He loves her too much."

"If he loves her so much, why did he cheat on her?" Clark snapped. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed again. "I know that they love each other, but it obviously isn't always enough. The same for Chloe and Jimmy. They love each other so much. There is a pattern, though- both Chloe and Jimmy and Tess and Lex married very soon after they began dating. Maybe that means that they didn't have the time to…get used to each other and have arguments before they married."

Lois chuckled as she remarked, "Well, we certainly didn't have that problem." Clark smiled at her, with great love in his eyes. "No, we did not. We took our time with our relationship and that's paid off. But I always knew that you were the one for me."

"I know. Even when I didn't like you, I had a connection with you, one which I can't describe, but it was deep and I think I know why now." Their eyes met and they smiled at each other, knowing what the other was thinking. Clark stood up and walked past the door and suddenly saw the look of disappointment on Lois's face. He followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at the binbag which was next to the door, so he picked it up. "I'll take this out, then." He said, in a casual voice.

The anger in Lois's eyes continued began to build and Clark was very confused as to what the cause was. Lois set down the twins in their playpen in the living room, before returning to the kitchen, with her arms folded, looking very annoyed. "If I hadn't said, would you have picked up that binbag?"

Clark frowned and replied honestly, "Well, no, but… I have, that's what matters."

"No, it isn't! You should do these things without me having to remind you. I know that you work so hard, Clark, but on the weekends, I would love it if you actually did some contributions to the house besides the cooking! I spend my entire week keeping the house tidy and then you come home and completely trash the place! Have some feelings!"

Utterly perplexed, Clark chuckled. "Lois, this is insane. I've picked it up and I'm going to go and do it. Why do you have to be so dramatic and blew everything out of proportion?"

"I'm blowing everything out of proportion?" Lois raised her voice, her eyes fiery with anger. "I wasn't the one who, a couple of weeks ago, who was jealous of a couple of baby twins because they were having the attention of my wife! That was you, Clark!"

"Lois, I was being honest with you about how I felt!" Clark snapped, becoming angry himself. "If helping out with the house meant so much to you, you should have told me that was how you felt and I could have helped, which would have prevented this argument!"

Lois walked over to him and looked into his eyes, before murmuring, "I shouldn't have to tell you, Clark- you should get know. We are a partnership, after all." With that, she walked back into the living room to check on Jane and Ben.

Clark stood in the kitchen silent, before taking the rubbish outside. He sighed, wondering how such a small matter could turn into such a massive argument. He knew that Lois was stressed about the twins and the babies, but he did not know that she felt that strongly about it. Meanwhile, Lois was sitting playing with the twins, keeping her tears of anger and sadness from falling; she was so angry with Clark for not contributing to their housework. She stroked Ben's hair and inhaled a deep breath to calm herself down.

That evening, Chloe and Clark helped Jimmy to move his things into a flat where his grandfather lived. It was 10 minutes away from where he had lived with Chloe, which meant that he would be able to see his son and Chloe as often as he wanted. Clark was helping Jimmy in order to avoid Lois, as the two of them had not spoken a word to the other since they had argued, but that was normal for the two of them, as they were both as stubborn as the other and they knew that it would be resolved by bed-time.

Tess returned home from work and Alexander and James ran over to her and pulled her into hug, saying that they had missed her. Kissing them, Tess looked up and saw Lex and her feeling in her heart was one of aching. As soon as the boys were gone, she followed Lex into the kitchen. "Tess, I'm so sorry if what I said or did the other night hurt you. I know that you love me and I love you, so can we work on this, make it work, please? I'm sorry for being such a jerk." Tess sighed and looked down at the ground. "This is also my fault, Lex. I've been so focused on Alex and James that I haven't been paying attention to you. I am sorry and we have to make this work."

"Have to make it work for us or for our sons?" Lex asked in a careful voice. Tess looked into his eyes and smiled slightly, but did not reply, so he inhaled a deep breath and continued, "Well, my father has said that he needs me in Smallville foe about a week, so I'll go there for about a week. Is that ok and when I get back, we can have a proper talk. Ok?"

Sitting down, his wife fixed him with her piercing green eyes and asked, in a stale voice, "Can't we have the talk now?" There was a silence, then Lex shook his head. "No, I think that we need time apart for a while. I'm sorry." He walked over to her and kissed her on the head. He lingered there for a couple of seconds, before straightening up and leaving the room. He called down Alexander and James, said goodbye to them and left. As soon as the door was closed, Tess pulled her two sons into a tight hug. After that, she tried to call Clark.

When Lois arrived home, after spending some time with Chloe and Nicolas, she saw how dark the kitchen seemed to be and how quiet it was. Walking into the kitchen, she saw that candles were laid out. Clark walked over to her and put down his mobile phone. "That was Tess, Lex is going to Metropolis for a couple of weeks."

"Did you do all of this for me?" Lois asked in a fragile voice. "And you've tidied the house as well?"

Clark nodded. "Yes. Jane and Ben are with Oliver for the night. I recreated the room to be the room when we first declared our love for each other." Lois smiled and sighed. "Smallville, I overreacted this morning, I'm sorry it wasn't fair to you."

"No-you were right. We are a partnership, therefore, you have to act like it." Clark walked over to his wife and took hold of his hands. "You know, one of the differences between you and I and Tess and Lex-even Chloe and Jimmy- is that after you and I fight, we can find each other, whereas they can't. That's one of the many reasons that made me fall in love with you." They chuckled slightly, before Lois stood on his feet and they began to dance slowly around the kitchen with the candle light. Looking into each other's eyes, they could see the love they had for each other. "I love you more than I can express." Lois whispered, with tears of joy forming in her eyes.

Clark smiled and whispered, "I love you too." They shared a light, loving kiss, before Lois rested her head under Clark's head and closed her eyes. They stayed in that position, enjoying being with each other. Clark finally closed his eyes too, soaking up this moment with the love of his life, as they continued to dance in silence. They did not speak, as there was no need to do so; in their hearts, they knew how they felt about the other and that was what was important.