Chapter 21

Her babies were eight weeks old. She was exhausted. She was physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. It was after eight and she'd managed to get something resembling dinner on the table. Still, after another endless day of taking care of her crying babies, she didn't have an appetite. Clark, on the other hand was eating and she stood behind him, angry.

She was wringing her hair dry with a towel as he ate his food, watching television, and ignoring her. She'd squeezed in a three minute shower while he enjoyed dinner, mildly oblivious to her exhaustion. A week ago she was tired, but still pulling through. Three days ago she beginning to wear thin. Now, she was losing it and she had nowhere to put her anger that was appropriate, so she was starting to release it onto Clark. She watched him tend to his food and icy breaths came out of her as she filled the dishwasher.

"I'll do that later," he said to her. "Why don't you sit down?"

"I want the house clean before I sit down," she replied warily. "I want to be finished."

She shut the dishwasher abruptly, and then she tried to calm herself.

"Would you take out the trash?"

"Yeah, after this is over," he chewed, his eyes not leaving the television.

All unreasonable fury rose up inside her and exploded. She threw the hairbrush she'd been holding against the wall, startling him.

"Dammit, Clark!"

"What is the matter?" he asked, his own patience breaking as he stood up.

"I'm losing my mind! I'm going crazy here! I'm alone all day with two tiny babies, no one to talk to, no one to help me and it's driving me nuts! I'm tired, Clark, and your little super-speed clean up twice a day isn't enough anymore!"

"Alright, just calm—"

"Don't! Don't tell me to calm down. Don't patronize me right now. I have four weeks left before I have to go back to the Planet and be human, and I'm more tired now than I was when I was pregnant! And on top of that I feel like I'm losing everything I am…I was, everything that I had, because of you!"

Tears gathered in her eyes, tears of loss, of fury, of pure exhaustion.

"I used up every cent of the money my mother left me to make this home for you, for you to come home to. I am at home raising your children while you go off to work everyday. I haven't seen anyone but my immediate family since two days after they were born…I feel like…" she trailed off in anger.

"Lois—"

"I don't even get to enjoy my children because I can't hold one without the other one needing my attention! I hating what I'm becoming, who I am, and I…I can't stand here right now."

She tried to run from him, from her disgust with everything as she dashed up the stairs only to find him right in front of her. He'd flashed his way there, making it there before she did. She raised her arms up, clamping her hands into fists and gently rested them against his chest.

"Don't do that!" she cried.

He enclosed his arms around her, stroking her damp hair.

"Okay, look at me," he said, bending down so he was at her height. "Tell me what you want. We can switch places right now and you can be the one to go back to work and I'll stay home with the babies. You're the reason I'm there at all and everyone knows that."

Her fingers reached into his shirt, pressing. Her heart began to ache, begging for some sort of answer to make the pain stop.

"Lois, talk to me. I can sell the farm and give you the money. You can have some security from that. We can sell this house if you want and go anywhere you want. I'll do anything you want but I won't let you walk out on me."

She couldn't process anything that would take layered thinking at the moment. She gripped onto his shirt with clenched hands, her anger leaked out in waves.

"Help me," she whispered.

She knew she was angry and unreasonable, but even tired she wanted Clark's help, like always. He lifted his fingers into her hands, and even with circles under her eyes, she wanted him to make her feel like she was beautiful. That she was more than just a mother, twenty-four hours a day.

"Clark."

It was one word, but the intention was there.

Clark learned, in that word, that he had to be the strong one.

"Make it stop, just for a minute, let it all be blank in my mind."

He turned her gently against the wall, kissing the lips that turned back to him…wet, sliding, and insistent.

The straps of her nightgown easily came off her shoulders, and Clark's fingers collected some of the moisture from their open mouths. She turned her face against the wall, the cool temperature of it feeling good against her heated skin. His thick fingers moistened the dark skin around hardening nipples, awakening something that had been shut off inside of her for so long.

She wanted her sanity restored so she could do all that she needed to do.

Make the difficult decisions.

Love without selfishness.

Decide if she would go back to work and at what stage throughout the rest of her life.

But right now, she just wanted him to touch her and take her back to reason, to give her a moment about her that had nothing to do with the babies or the house or the next bill they had to pay or grocery to buy.

He devoured her mouth again, spreading her legs from behind her, sliding his hands very slowly down her stomach. He pulled the distracting material of her nightgown out of the way, sinking his hand beneath it, cupping her waiting body, feeling the sensitive area there.

She arched her body back against his and twisted her neck so she could more effectively kiss him. The hot velvety wetness of their mouths collided as she demanded his fingers touch her, bring her to a high, and ease the ache unfolding inside her.

"I love you," she gasped, shocked slightly at her own words, and when his fingers slipped inside of her.

She moaned slightly, adjusting, and felt him bite the outer shell of her ear.

"Say it again," he said to her.

"I love you, baby," she whispered softly, and he began moving them inside of her.

XxX

The sunlight slowly peaked over her closed eyelids, awakening her slowly. At first she considered pulling a pillow over her face but then, she peaked at the clock.

12:14!

"Shit!" she exclaimed, shooting up out of bed and regretting that action immediately. "Oh!" she cried out, slapping her hand to her forehead. "Did I drink last night?"

No, no, I just had a lot of sex. Is there such a thing as a 'sex' hangover? She didn't remember how many times they'd done it or how they got to the bedroom…did they do it in the bedroom?

"Oh my God," she whispered, throwing the covers off her.

I killed my children! Why haven't they cried? It's afternoon and they haven't woken me up. My kids are dead because I had sex!

When Lois went into her son's room, she rushed over to the crib, only to find out Jonathan wasn't there. In his place were flowers and a card. Freaking out, she tore it open as only Lois would do.

Dear Mommy,

We hope you're going to get a peaceful day. Dad took us for a trip so you could have the day off. We know how hard you work to take care of us. We know you love us and that sometimes we drive you crazy. But we're yours and we love you and we hope we're good most of the time.

Love,

Ellen and Jonathan

Smiling for a brief moment, Lois instantly got Clark on the phone.

"Good afternoon, Lois," he said, bright and cheerful.

"Where are they?"

"They're fine. You just enjoy your day."

"No, I'm serious, where are they? Are you at the Planet?"

"Yes, I'm here, everything's fine. Please, would you just relax and let me take care of something for once?"

That was like asking Lois to walk on nails.

"How can I relax when I don't know where they are?"

"They're with a friend of mine, Lois."

"Is the house baby proof?"

"Lois, they're eight weeks old, they're not toddlers. Could you please?"

She exhaled. "Fine, but if there is one hair missing from either of their heads, it's gonna be your ass."

"I'm glad your day off has made you so happy," he smiled into the phone. "By the way, be ready by four to go out."

"Go out? Go out for what?"

"That's all I was told."

She plopped the phone off, collapsing on the couch, amazed to have no one in the house but herself, and for once to not have the responsibility of taking care of someone else. Since the house was perfectly clean, thanks to Clark, she decided to check her e-mail for the first time in days. Answering friends who'd thought she'd dropped off the face of the earth and miscellaneous work e-mails, she managed to be caught up in about an hour.

After that she showered, dressed and got herself ready for whoever was planning to show up. Organizing the hundreds of photos she'd taken of the babies since they were born, she put together three packages of pictures for Mrs. Kent that she'd been meaning to send for over a week. She turned on some of the television shows she'd been meaning to watch on her DVR that she'd been too tired to watch whenever there was a spare second.

Only getting halfway through, the door-bell rang. Opening it, her mouth fell open in shock.

"Chloe!" she cried out, amazed at her cousin's abilities.

"Hey, look who I brought."

Lois's long-time friend stood beside Chloe on the front porch. Lois hadn't seen her at the baby-shower, which had devastated her.

"Carrie!" Lois said, coming out on the front step to hug her.

"Hey Lois," Carrie said, deeply embracing her. Carrie wiped Lois's brown strands of hair from her ear and whispered, "I told you all that sex would finally catch up with you."

Lois pulled back and slapped her on the arm.

"Shut up. As I recall I was the one with steady boyfriends and monogamous relationships and YOU were the one out until five in the morning!"

"This is true," Carrie confessed. "But I did bail you out of jail."

"Oh she's one of the…how many was it?" Chloe asked, teasing. "Four?"

"You are both hilarious. Get in my house!"

"Well, we have only a few minutes for gifts and reunions. We have an appointment!" Chloe informed Lois, and it didn't take them long to get into Carrie's car and set off for a girl's day out.

XxX

The next morning, thousands and thousands of miles away a ringing interrupted the peaceful couple sleeping.

"Don't answer it," she murmured, nuzzled in his arms.

"If I don't, she'll just call back," her lover said back to her.

She sighed, tired eyelids awakening slowly as the call went to voicemail. She turned slightly so she faced him.

"I want her gone. I want her out of our everyday lives. She seeps into everything and it's too invasive. I'm sick of it. Put her somewhere else."

Before he could reply, she was calling again. Brown eyes met his blue.

"I think she's making my point," she said to him.

"I'll put her in charge of Luthorcorp in Metropolis."

A wide grin emerged on Lana Lang's face. She brought his lips to hers.

"Thank you. Now turn your darn cell phone off until at least 7:00. Didn't you say you didn't have to go in until later today?"

He gathered her close.

"That's right."

~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~