Eris grumbled to herself as she looked over the files sitting before her. She had gone above her max number of employees and chose eight normal with two managers. Now she would have to call them and let them all know they were hired.
Her phone buzzed and the screen lit up as it sat on the table to her right.
Eris smiled down at her cell phone as it rang. She slid the green button to the side and brought it up to her ear.
"Hey, Dick! How are you!"
"Hey, Aunt Eris. Everything is good. I was wondering if Damian and I could come visit for a while." Dick asked and she could just imagine the large toothy grin on his face.
"Of course, you can! I'm afraid you guys will have to share a room and bed though. Lois is temporarily living with us until she signs a lease on an apartment. She can't decide which one she wants." Eris bounced in place. More of her boys were going to be here. Yay!
She would have to have Jon and Jordan pair up in one of their rooms for a while.
"How long will you two be staying?" She asked as she stood to head outside, wanting to let the boys know right away. Her thighs ached deliciously as she walked, and she blushed at the reminder of last night.
She stepped out onto the porch and melted at the sight she was greeted with.
"Just for a week or two. Damian could only get away with missing school for that long. Dad let the school know he was going on a vacation, and he got all his schoolwork ahead of time." Dick informed her. There was a rustle following his statement.
She gave a nod as she watched Clark and Jon play catch with a football while Jordan sat on the steps in front of her, playing a game on his switch. It looked like he was playing Animal Crossing.
"When are you coming?" Her question had him shouting at someone, but his words were muffled.
"Looks like we will land tomorrow in Kansas International Airport." Eris quickly pulled her phone back to Google. Looks like a few hours away.
She placed the phone back to her ear with a smile. "Alright, text me the time you land, and I'll be there to pick you two up." She grinned.
Dick went to say something when it sounded like the phone was dropped and she giggled.
"Please bring the Camaro, Aunt Eris." Damian's voice drifted through her speaker. Her eyes softened. Such a gentleman. She looked over at Clark, catching his eye for a moment before he turned to throw the ball to Jon.
Just like his uncle.
They had six different cans of paint in the cart. Eris stood before a shelf with different shades of gray.
Damian stood at her side dutifully as well, arms crossed as he too examined the paint cans.
Bruce had given her plenty of cash that she and Clark needed for a few small home renovations, and that included repainting every room.
Dick stood further down the aisle looking at the greens.
Clark was standing in front of the browns, frown on his face. "Why are there so many different shades of each color?" He pouted. A hand tugged at his jeans, and he looked down to see Jordan pointing out a shade of brown that was one of the only ones here that didn't look like a shade of poop. A light tan with a hint of gray.
"Nice find, bud! This wouldn't look bad in the kitchen."
"That one!" Jon's voice drifted from further down and Clark turned to spot Dick reaching for the top shelf while Jon bounced in his steps.
"Mint! Nice choice!" Dick praised as he lowered the can and grabbed one more. Clark smiled. "Looks like your brother found the color he wants in his room. What color do you want?" He smiled down at Jordan who tilted his head, face pinched as he thought deeply.
"Blue." He spoke finally and grinned up at his dad.
They turned around saddled up alongside Eris and Damian. The blues sat between the grays and greens.
A pastel teal drew Jordan's attention, and he reached up to grab it only to fall short. Damian was at their side instantly, grabbing the can and handing it to Jordan with a small smile.
"Hey, babe! The gray on the top shelf, three from the right. Wouldn't that be perfect for our room?" Eris asked as she grabbed onto his arm and shook it to gain his attention. His eyes traveled down and followed her other arm to where it was pointing. A light gray with a bit of blue. Perfect.
He reached up easily and grabbed a can to get a better view of the color label. "Rainmaster. I like it."
The beaming smile his wife gave him in return had the man melting in his shoes. He smiled down at her fondly before grabbing one more can and putting it in the cart, Damian following his lead with the color for Jordan's room.
"Dick let out a snort as he approached. Looks like we got a theme." He said as he took one of Jordan's blue cans. "Drizzle." It caused the group to chuckle and giggle as he turned Jon's green to face them. "Sea Salt."
Jon broke out into cute giggles.
Clark chuckled and began adjusting the items in the cart. "Alright. A gray for the living room, a gray for our room, blue for Jordan, green for Jon, a blue for the guest room, tan for the kitchen… we need paint brushes, pans and rollers."
Dick appeared over his shoulder. "And tape! We need tape to protect the windows and fixings."
Eris smiled happily as she watched her boys argue over which brushed and tape would work best.
A hand slid into hers and gave a small squeeze.
She looked over and her silver eyes locked onto an emerald green. She smiled softly and squeezed Damian back before slinging an arm over his shoulder and pulling the teen into a side hug.
Eris looked at the clock for the fifth time in the last hour. The Snapdragon's grand opening was at noon today. Though she had finished setting the store up for opening a couple weeks ago, finding the staff needed was a process she didn't think would take as long as it had.
This was the main reason Dick and Damian had come to visit. They both wanted to support their aunt to the fullest. The others would have been here too, but a case in Gotham had Bruce, Tim and Jason occupied.
Eris finished up taping the last bit of her window before turning to look around. She hardly recognized the house right now. Everything was covered in plastic, tape, and newspaper. She smiled. Soon they could start painting.
"Hey! Get back here you demon!" Dick shouted as he chased after his brother, a large wad of tape stuck in his black locks.
Eris slapped a hand to cover her mouth as an ugly snort got caught in her throat. Her eyes widened and she looked around to make sure no one heard or saw her and froze at Clark's wide, teasing grin. He was staring right at her.
She glared and ripped her tape open, holding it out as a threat.
His hands shot up in surrender, shoulders shaking as he repressed a laugh.
Eris' glare intensified and she pounced on him. She let out a laugh as Clark dodged and spun her around, sweeping her up and off her feet with a deep and pleased sounding laugh.
She squealed as he tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of rice and followed after Damian and Dick, who had left the house. Dick chased a grinning Damian across the lawn, anger dissipated and a playful smile in place.
Jordan and Jon were playing on the tire swing, both staring at their cousins as they ran. The twins shared a look before taking off after the pair in a fit of giggles.
Eris flipped the open sign to close and sagged in relief. Everything had gone amazingly.
The people of Smallville seemed to have loved her bookstore.
She grinned and spun around to face her family and employees. They were all smiling at her. She said her thanks and sent her worker's home.
She smiled at her family as they helped her clean and close up.
Tomorrow was Sunday and the opening manager she had hired was in charge tomorrow. Eris wouldn't have to go in at all. Clark told her after he watched the two managers, she had hired all day, that they would be trustworthy to run the store while she was away.
Sometimes, her husband's powers were a real help. If only she could tell when someone was lying or nervous like he could.
As they all piled into the two vehicles they had brought, Eris was ecstatic. Tomorrow would be spent painting the entire house.
"Does this shade have too much blue?" Eris pondered out loud as she stared at the wall above their fireplace.
Eris turned and looked at the boys behind her. Jon stood with a roller in hand as he stood beside his dad. Eris looked to Clark, and he shrugged, hands in his front pockets.
"I still like the Huntsman's Tribute." Clark said with a bewildered look on his face, as if he were confused as to why she would ask him.
Eris winced and looked back at the wall as Dick let out a loud and over dramatic groan. She heard the sound of a palm hitting flesh and hid a grin. Damian snickered as Dick rubbed at his arm, shooting a glare at his brother.
Eris gazed at the brown Clark liked. "Nope. Definitely not right for the living room, Clark. We can paint the back entryway that color." She shot him down.
Clark's shoulders slumped and he let his hand fall to his chest in defeat.
"It looks like poop." Jon spoke.
Eris shot him a look and Clark let out a dignified, "Hey!"
"Jon, watch your mouth." Eris pointed her brush at her son, causing Jordan to let out a giggle.
She spun her arm towards her husband, pointing at his chest. "He's not wrong though. It does look like poo."
Clark pouted and she pressed a kiss to her palm and blew it at him.
Jordan picked up a roller as well and sent pleading eyes up at his mom.
"Mom, can we please just pick a color?" He begged.
"Oh, come on guys! This is an important decision. This is something we will be seeing every day! A mark of our own, to make it more like home." She tried to stress out her reasoning.
Jordan crossed his arms, roller tucked under his arm. "If you would make a decision."
Eris's eyes narrowed and she stepped up to the stool that held the cans of paint. She dipped her brush back into the light gray and brought it up to rest inches from Jon's face.
"What about this color? Do you like this color?" She asked and Jon gave a shrug.
"I guess it's okay." He said, voice filling with confusion.
"Yeah?" She grinned and Jon watched her wearily.
"Um. Yes?" It came out as a question.
Eris lashed out, swiping down from her son's shoulder to his chest with the paint. She was glad she had made everyone wear old clothes, or in Dick and Damian's case, clothes they wouldn't care about if they got paint on them.
Jon let out a squeal and leap backwards, staring at his mom in shock.
Jon quickly dipped his roller into the brown paint. "Someone's just asking for the poop tribute!"
Eris gasped. "Anything but your dad's color!" She said as she tried to dodge Jon's roller and failed.
"Hey!" Clark cried out. He picked up a brush and dipped it. "I take offense to that!"
An all-out war started, and when three of the six people had advantages such as training, Eris, Jon and Jordan were at a disadvantage.
Clark froze, roller raised up and ready to strike at Dick when he froze up, Dick and Damian noticing his posture right away, their keen eyes always on alert.
Eris paused and looked at her husband in worry.
"Clark?" And he was gone. She smiled softly and gazed at her sons as they gaped openly at the spot their father had just been.
"I guess now that you two know he is Superman, he doesn't need to hide it when he needs to go help save people." She grinned before lashing out at Jordan, catching him in the cheek and smearing paint up into his hair.
"Mom!" And the war started up once more.
Damian paused as he took in his family. He smiled fondly, turned his back to the scene and pulled his phone out to take a picture. He smiled down at it.
Jon and Jordan had teamed up and had Dick pinned to the ground, a roller on his face and a paint brush slashing at his chest. Eris was standing above Dicks head, head thrown back and arms crossed as she gave a wicked sounding fake evil laugh. Only part of Damian could be seen, half of his face, a smudge of paint on his cheek.
"Get him my minions!" She cried out around the laughter that filled the room.
Damian grinned, sent the picture to Clark and his father before jumping back into the fray.
"Ooooooookayyy. What in the world did I miss?"
Everyone froze and looked toward the direction the voice had come from.
Lois stood near the door, eyes wide as she looked at the mess in front of her.
"I was only gone for fifteen minutes tops to change! It was hard to find crappy clothes." She looked between her family members. How had she not heard anything?
Her eyes widened even more as she watched them exchange looks before grinning. Lois didn't like the look in their eyes.
They all raised their weapons and pounced.