Work Text:
Pairing: Lois/Clark (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman)
Setting: post-canon
“What’s your favourite Christmas memory?”
Maybe it was the wine that made Lois ask, or just how warm and comfortable she was, lying on the couch with her head in her husband’s lap, still eating candy she probably should have left alone a while ago.
“That’s a tough question,” Clark considered, removing his glasses and rubbing at his forehead. “I have a lot. Some of them even include you,” he teased, leaning down and kissing her nose.
Lois couldn’t help but smile. “No, before that. Before Metropolis and the Planet and me. What’s your favourite childhood Christmas memory?”
She knew what was coming, and maybe that was why she asked. Perhaps all Lois really wanted was somebody else’s rose-tinted memories to push out her own that were not so pleasant. A happy family Christmas in Smallville. Jonathan and Martha and Clark, all around a log fire, an over-sized real tree in the corner, decorated to the nines, presents and food galore, but more importantly, love and warmth and family.
“Lois?”
It was the concern in Clark’s voice that drew her attention to the tears on her cheeks. She laughed at herself as she wiped them away, but it was a hollow sound.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just...” she began to make excuses, only for the words to die in her throat the moment she met Clark’s soft brown eyes. “I guess I just can’t help wishing that my childhood Christmases were so nice,” she confessed then.
“I wish that for you too,” he told her, gently moving her hair away from her forehead and planting a kiss there. “But we can’t change the past. What we have at least a little control over is the future, and I plan for us to have a lot of very happy Christmases together. In fact, as far as I can, I’m going to make sure that’s exactly what we have.”
Lois smiled at him, knowing he meant every word. She reached up then, her fingers caressing his cheek. “We’ll both make sure of it,” she assured him. “I’m sure together we can make every Christmas just... super,” she teased, to lighten to mood.
They were both smiling widely as he pulled her up and kissed her lips.
“Thank you,” she said softly, when they parted.
“For what?” Clark looked almost as confused as he did curious.
Lois sighed. “For being more than just Superman,” she told him, shaking her head when she realised that probably didn’t make sense as an explanation on its own. “For being Clark Kent,” she tried again. “For being the man I fell in love with, twice over. The same one I want to spend every Christmas with for the rest of my life.”
She didn’t need him to say he felt the same way about her. Lois was well aware that he loved her, that he would do anything for her. They had that in common, only where Clark was concerned he really could do some incredible things. Still, when he kissed her then, she knew she had her own special ‘powers’ too. She was the woman who Superman loved, but more than that, she was the woman that Clark loved and trusted and wanted to be with, not just for Christmas, but for always.
There was no greater gift than the true love that they shared. Lois would never even consider asking for more in her life. She already had everything she could ever want. Somehow, she couldn’t help but wonder if the universe was trying to redress the balance, after the disappointing start she had with her fractured family, but it couldn’t be true. What she had now seemed so much more than she deserved, but she would take it, holding on tight for as long as it lasted, trying never to ask for anything more.