Chapter 12 - December

It was a Kent family tradition to visit the Christmas tree lot on the day after Thanksgiving, but traditions had been shaken up quite a bit in recent years, and Clark didn't return home from college until the 12th of December.

By the time they made it to the lot, supply was starting to dwindle, the crowds had died down, and the novelty of the snow and tinny Christmas music had clearly worn off for the employees.

It didn't matter to Lex. It was everything he had ever wanted.

The four of them had all piled into the truck—a new one that actually fit their family, with good snow tires—and drove into the mostly-empty parking lot. Their parents went to grab hot chocolates from the stand, and Lex and Clark started along the path.

"Running any experiments these days?" Clark asked.

Lex shook his head. "No. Maybe someday."

"Never thought I'd see the day. What are Mom and Dad using all of your money for?"

"It's sitting in low-stakes investments right now. Most of what it gains each year will be distributed to various charities we hand-picked."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"I can't imagine what Lionel would say."

Lex smiled at the thought. Most days, he didn't even think of Lionel, but when he did, he thought about what the old man would say if he could see Lex now.

"How's college?" Lex asked, even though they'd talked about it, because Clark spoke to Lex differently than to his parents.

Clark sighed. "It's good, it really is. I like my classes, I'm learning a lot, I've been able to help some people, like I used to do back home. It's just . . . I keep thinking I should be home."

"We've got it covered," Lex said. And it was true. These days, their dad mostly managed the farm rather than doing all of the chores himself. They'd modernized a lot of their methods and hired a number of farm hands. The farm was actually turning a profit.

"So how's everything really been? You know, without me?" Clark asked.

"Terrible. Farm's falling apart, Mom's losing her mind. Dad's become a dictator."

"Really."

"Nah, we barely notice you're gone."

Clark raised his eyebrows, and Lex grinned, until Clark bent down and started gathering together a snowball.

For the next few minutes, they both forgot that they were adults. Lex was soaked through his jacket, freezing cold, but not feeling any of it. It took their father finding them and yelling, "What do you think you're doing?" to snap them out of it.

Lex was breathless with laughter, though Clark looked half ashamed.

"You're gonna catch your death playing around in the cold like that," their father said, but there was no real anger in his voice. If anything, he sounded like he was teasing. He handed each of them a hot chocolate, and a moment later, their mom caught up, handing their dad a lidded cup and keeping one for herself.

"You boys find a tree?" she asked.

"Your sons have been out here acting like children," their dad muttered.

"Oh, my sons?" their mom said.

"Ooo," Clark said. "You gonna take that, Mom?"

For a second, Lex expected her to start up the snowball fight again, but she just said, "You're lucky I don't want to lose my cocoa."

Lex grinned.

The four of them walked side by side, sipping hot chocolate and looking at the sparse trees that were left. Most of them were either too bare to be worth trying to decorate, or too tall to fit in the house. They found one that looked like it might have been perfect, but their dad found some pests in the trunk, and they left it alone.

They ended up splitting up to cover the remaining ground. Lex hadn't walked far when he found it.

It was short for their living room, just by a little, but it didn't matter—they could prop it up, and that leave extra room for presents, of which there were quite a few this year. It was a little asymmetrical, but with the decorations, no one would notice.

"Hey, Dad!" Lex called, but Clark was the first to arrive, then his mom, then his dad. They all looked it over, and for a moment, Lex was irrationally nervous.

"That's the one," his dad said finally.

But no one made a move toward the tree. It sank in for Lex, deep into his heart and soul, that this—finding a Christmas tree with his family—was exactly what he had wished for. It was so banal and ordinary, he was almost embarrassed to think of what a big deal he'd made out of it in his mind. At the same time, that comfortable, mundane, familial intimacy was everything he had hoped for. It almost took his breath away, and the fact that all parts of him had been invited to the table was beyond anything he had ever imagined. There was power in the sudden realization that they all, truly, had everything they had ever wanted.

Lex felt like he needed to say something. He was glad he'd saved his news. "I've got something to tell you all."

All eyes turned toward him.

He took a deep breath. "I, ah, heard from Johns Hopkins."

"Oh?" his mom asked, eyes wide.

"I didn't get in."

"Oh, sweetie." She reached out and squeezed his arm, while his father and brother looked on in concern.

"Yeah, uh. A lot of applicants this year."

"What are you gonna do, Lex?" his dad asked.

"I haven't decided yet." He looked down, then back up at his dad. "But I got into Stanford, and I'm waitlisted at Yale."

His mom gasped, then laughed aloud and threw her arms around him. He sank into her embrace, feeling its warmth every bit as much as he did the first time she'd hugged him, and when she let go, his dad took his turn, the strength of his arms conveying his pride better than words every could.

"Congratulations, Lex," Clark said when their dad let go. "But I don't know how Johns Hopkins rejected you."

"My application wasn't perfect, Clark."

"Sounds like Stanford thought it was," their dad muttered.

"Yeah, but . . ." Clark shook his head. "You're Lex Luthor."

"I didn't apply under that name."

"Why not?"

"I didn't want to get into a school because of my fame or wealth. I wanted to be judged based on merit alone."

Clark was quiet for a moment. For a moment, Lex wasn't sure whether Clark was impressed by him, or looking down on him. Then he said, "So what happens when you get there?"

"I plan to go by the name I applied under."

Now Clark looked really confused. "Okay, what's your new name?"

Lex almost didn't hold back his smile. "Alexander Kent."

Clark's eyes widened, and he stepped forward to pull Lex into his arms. He underestimated his strength, but only a little, and Lex wouldn't have had it any other way.

When they let go, their parents were grinning ear to ear. Their dad broke the silence by saying, "Well, this tree isn't gonna chop itself down."

And the Kent family got to work.

The End