Chapter 16 “Thank you”

December merged seamlessly into January, and January faded into February as the constant downpour of rain continued to pound on people’s heads or – if they were lucky – umbrellas. The only difference was that the temperature rose a couple degrees, warming the air, but doing nothing to change to chilliness in the wind. Of course, the chilliness didn’t bother Clark, but the rain was still annoying. He wiped the wet hair out of his face, spending particular attention to his forehead, as he held the door open so Lois and Jason could enter his apartment.

“Ah…” Lois looked around. “It’s cosy, I think it suits you.”

“You’ve been here before.” Clark said confused, wondering how she could have possibly forgotten she’d stayed here for a couple of days.

“Well, yes, but I wasn’t really paying attention last time, was I?” Lois took off her drenched coat. “But I like it.”

“It’s small.” Jason observed.

“Anybody up for a cup of hot chocolate?” Clark suggested, looking at Jason in particular. His suggestion was greeted with a loud cheer, and Clark chuckled.

“Come on then, Mister. You can help me make it.”

Jason ran into the kitchen, and Clark followed, smiling at the boy’s enthusiasm.

“Right. First thing we need to do is get everything we need. So what do we need for hot chocolate?

“Chocolate!” Jason replied immediately.

“Of course…” Clark pulled open a drawer and picked up a can with cocoa powder. “What else?”

This one was a little bit more difficult, and Jason had to think for a while before he replied; “Milk?”

“Very good. You get the milk, it’s in the fridge… no, the blue carton, yes, that’s the right one.”

“Now what?”

“Now we make hot chocolate…”

0o0o0o0o

When Clark and Jason emerged from the kitchen ten minutes later they were greeted by a great shout of laughter from Lois. Clark grinned self-consciously, knowing he had to look ridiculous. Jason had knocked over the can of cocoa power in his enthusiasm, and the powder had billowed up in their faces, colouring them both very brown indeed.

Jason marched in front, clad in an apron way too big for him, proudly bearing a platter that held three steaming mugs.

“Why thank you.” Lois said through her giggles as she took a cup from the plate Jason courteously presented to her.

“My god, you’re completely covered.” Lois wiped some of the powder from Jason’s sleeve. “What did you do in there?”

“We made hot chocolate, Mommy.”

“The cocoa got knocked over.” Clark explained, sending Lois into a fresh wave of laughter.

“Oh, Clark. You’re terrible!”

Clark didn’t correct her assumption that Clark had been the one doing the knocking, and she took a sip.

“Hmm, it’s … -” Her eyes widened “- er… sweet…”

Clark took a sip from his own cup. Sweet didn’t even begin to cover it.

“Jason? Are you sure you only put two scoops of sugar in it?”

Jason nodded his head too quickly, and didn’t quite look Clark in the eye.

Clark took another sip. It was really way too sweet, but he didn’t think he had ever tasted anything more delicious, simply because his son had made it.

He leaned back in his seat and took a deep, contented sigh.

“Tough day?” Lois smiled at him.

“Perry made me write that article about NilsCorp board members.”

Lois groaned. “You should have refused.”

“Somebody has to write it.”

“Yes, but that somebody doesn’t always have to be you.”

Clark shrugged, and Lois rolled her eyes.

“Really, Clark. You’ve got to start standing up to yourself. You’re a nice guy, and a good reporter. You deserve better than those crappy stories.”

Clark felt himself warm at her words, but decided not to go too deep into the reason why he didn’t stand up to himself.

“So, how’s your story going, Lois?”

Lois raised one eyebrow. “Which one?”

“From the col – er, Stanford & Young.” Clark said, catching himself before he mentioned collapsing buildings, not sure how she would take it.

“Oh, dead end. The guy didn’t call me, and I’ve got no clue where to look for him.”

“So, you’re dropping it?”

Lois shrugged. “Unless he shows his face again.”

There was a lull in the conversation, but it was a comfortable one, and Clark contented himself with sipping his sugary hot chocolate while listening to the wind howling outside.

“Really, Jason. We need to get you cleaned up.” Lois said after a couple of minutes, eyeing her son.

“You could run him a bath.” Clark suggested.

Lois nodded at him, and made to stand up, but Jason leaped out of his chair to stop her.

“I want to do it myself.”

“Well, OK.” Lois sank back in her chair, unsure. “Just make sure the water isn’t too hot.”

Lois and Clark sat in silence, side to side for a moment, before Lois broke the silence again.

“Clark?”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever thanked you.”

Clark looked up.

“I seem to remember you thanked me for the coffee once.” Clark joked, but Lois didn’t laugh.

“No, I’m serious. You’ve done a lot for Jason and me. You’ve helped me out though I was never really nice to you and you spend all this time with Jason, even though you don’t have to… Every time I’m feeling bad, I talk to you, and somehow you manage to make me smile again… and I just realise that I’ve never really thanked you for any of it.”

“Ah, well, you don’t have to thank me.” Clark looked away. “I like spending time with Jason.”

“And he likes spending time with you. You’re great with kids. You’d be a great father.”

Clark felt his face flush and started to fidget with his clothes, hoping that Lois wouldn’t notice.

“Why are you still alone?” Lois suddenly asked.

“Oh, I don’t know…” Clark replied evasively.

“Are you one of those people who wait for their one true love?” Lois asked with a grin. “You know Clark, I don’t really believe there’s such a thing.”

“No?”

“No,” Lois’ eyes misted over for a while. “I used to believe in it, but I’ve learned the hard way that there’s no such thing as a perfect partner. I bet if you look around, there are lots of people nearby who could be good for you. It doesn’t have to be love at first sight, you know”

“R – Right.” Clark stammered. It was love at first sight, and you wouldn’t believe how near… “D – Don’t you think you should check up on Jason?”

“What? Oh, yeah. Maybe I should.” Lois walked out of the room and Clark breathed a sigh of relief, letting his head fall in his hands.

He heard Lois’ and Jason’s voices and then footsteps returning to the living room; he quickly schooled his face into a more neutral expression.

“Well, Jason is fine, but I’m afraid your bathroom isn’t.” Lois said, looking apologetic.

Clark managed a goofy smile.

“Oh, well. I’ll have it cleaned in no time.”

“It’s really messy.”

“You underestimate my cleaning skill.”

“You underestimate my son’s mess-making skill.”

“I think I got a pretty good idea of that in the kitchen.” Clark replied grinning, wiping some of the cocoa out of his hair.

“That was him?”

“Oh, yeah.” Clark nodded, and Lois laughed.

“You know, I meant what I said about you helping me.” She said, leaning against the doorpost. “After – you know – after Richard died,” Her face fell a little. “I didn’t know what to do or who to turn to. My mother and sister live too far away and Superman, well – he’s never there, unless I throw myself off a building.”

“I’m sure he would have come if you’d called out for him.” Clark objected, berating himself for not checking up on her more often.

“I guess, but talking to him was just very awkward because – ” Lois sighed.

“Well, it was just awkward. But with you… I don’t know… I feel comfortable around you. Like I don’t have to pretend to be strong. You’re a good friend, Clark, I feel like I can really talk to you.”

Clark smiled at her. He could never have dreamed half a year ago that his determination to befriend her would turn out to be this successful.

“You can. You know I’m always here to listen.”

Lois beamed and Clark saw an emotion flicker across her face that he couldn’t quite place.

“Really. I don’t understand why you’re still single.” Lois walked to the table and started clearing away the mugs. “I’ve never even seen you with a woman. Did you ever have a girlfriend?” She asked with a laugh.

“Uhm, yeah.” Clark muttered.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. At High School. Lana.”

“Why did you break up?”

Because she found out I possess Kryptonian superpowers…

“We grew apart.”

“Hmm, yeah. That happens. There hasn’t been anyone else since? Maybe you should change your image. You know, get a new suit, and lose the glasses. You’ve got nice eyes you know, you shouldn’t hide them.”

Clark looked at her back as she retreated into the kitchen.

“What’s wrong with my image?”

Lois turned around and seized him up, an amused glint in her eyes.

“Well, excuse my saying so, but you look a bit … dorky.”

Clark put on a fake hurt expression.

“Gee, thanks!”