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It was supposed to be Clark and Lois’s first Christmas together in their new house, when Malah and Brain called them.
They had been working on dismantling what was left of CADMUS and had just discovered a secret, very remote base hidden away in the side of a mountain. It had been surprisingly easy to break in and unleash their mutants on the defense system, but then they had found out why.
This particular base wasn’t building weapons, or suits of armor, or anything like that.
No.
That became apparent the moment they made it to the basement and found a solid, reinforced cell.
The rest of the basement was a medical laboratory, so they had been expecting a monster to be locked away in the cell.
It had been a shock when the door opened and they were faced with a small, terrified, child.
It was an even bigger shock when Brain started going through the computers and found that the kid was part Kryptonian, with records indicating that he had been cloned using blood Lex had ‘acquired’ after a bad fight with Superman.
Which meant that the kid was Clark’s.
A single phone call later, and Lois, Jimmy, and Clark were being led through the wreckage and down to the basement.
The kid refused to come out from under the thin cot, and screamed and cried in fear when any of them came into his room.
Documents put his age at just over three years old, with countless more documents and records cluing them all in on just why he was so afraid.
They had been testing him, almost daily, trying to find some way to trigger his kryptonian abilities. And then, as if it couldn’t be any worse, Malah found a series of emails from Lex Luthor.
He was upset about the three years of constant failures and had started talking about ‘restarting’ the program.
Once they read that, Jimmy had had to take Clark on a walk outside to calm down.
They were all horrified and upset, but that was only scaring the kid more.
That had been nine days ago, and while they had managed to get the kid home, not much had improved.
Conner, as they had decided to call him, barely ate, slept under his bed, didn’t speak, and tried to hide whenever he saw them.
They had, however, found that he was enthralled by the Christmas decorations they had set out.
As small as it was, however, it was still a start.
Yyyyy
“Do you want to see something really cool?”
Even though she whispered, Conner gasped and ducked back behind the couch.
But then, for the first time, she saw him peek back out again. His eyes practically sparkled as he gazed up at the tree.
“I’m going to turn it on. I’m moving this way, okay?”
Conner watched her closely as she scooted off of the recliner and onto the floor, where she plugged in the string of lights they had wrapped around the tree.
Conner’s jaw dropped.
“I told you it was really cool.”
Conner slowly sat down beside the couch. His mouth closed, but his awed gaze didn’t waver once.
“This is our Christmas tree. Have you heard of Christmas?”
Conner shook his head.
“Well, every year, we decorate the house like this. If you're feeling up for it at some point, we can go on a walk and you can see the neighborhood. Everyone’s houses are all festive and gorgeous. But anyway, on Christmas eve, we’re going to bake chocolate chip cookies and leave a plate beside the tree. Do you want to know why?”
Conner tilted his head and looked over at the currently cold fireplace.
“We do that because a magical man named Santa Claus visits to bring gifts for all of the children in the house.”
Conner didn't look any less confused, but he was sitting there, not scurrying off, so she kept talking.
“He's going to come down through the chimney, take our gift of cookies, and leave toys, or treats, or books. I remember one year when I was a little older than you I tried to stay awake all night, because I wanted to see him. But I fell asleep before he came and missed him. When I woke up, though, I had the whole Sisters Grimm series. They were some of my favorite books when I was young, and I stayed up late every night for months reading them.”
He wearily eyed the fireplace and played with his sleeves.
“Don't worry. Santa Claus is a good guy. He spends all year long up in the North Pole, which is the coldest place on earth, keeping track of who's been naughty or nice.” She winked conspiratorially at him and held a finger to her lips, like she was imparting him with some great secret. “Do you think you'd like to help with the chocolate chip cookies this year? We can snag a couple for ourselves.”
Conner didn't respond, and Lois let him admire the tree in silence.
Yyyyy
It was over a week before she brought it up again.
“Conner, do you remember when I told you about Christmas?”
Conner nodded, but otherwise didn't tear his attention away from the freshly baked chocolate chip cookie in his hands.
His eyes were wide, his cheeks were streaked with chocolate, but he slowly savored each and every bite.
“Well, today is Christmas Eve. Do you remember what that means?”
Another small bite into the warm, gooey treat.
Conner gave a half nod, but then shook his head.
“That's okay. Come here. Why don't you give me a hand?”
She got down a small plate and handed it to Conner, who ate the last bite of his cookie before taking it.
“Thank you. Now, how many cookies should we leave for Santa?”
Conner frowned and stared at the sheet pan of cookies.
And then down at the empty plate.
And then back at the cookies.
And then back at the empty plate.
“He goes all ‘round the world?”
“That's right.” Lois knelt down to his level, letting him take his time.
Conner scrunched his face up, thinking hard.
It was moments like this that she was really able to see just how much he looked like Clark.
“And that's really far?”
“It is.”
“Then,” he held up the plate. “lots?”
“Lots of cookies?”
He nodded.
“Okay. Santa's getting lots of cookies this year.” Lois declared. “You want to sit up here and help me load the plate?”
He nodded, so Lois took the plate and set it on the counter before picking him up and setting him beside the plate.
“Here. You hold this, and tell me when you think we've got enough.”
With a dutiful nod, Conner held the plate tightly in his lap while Lois arranged a stack that progressively grew larger and larger.
“Enough!” He exclaimed when he shifted and almost dropped a cookie. There were only eight, but Conner was still only three.
“You know what?” Lois helped him down from the counter and guided him slowly out to the living room. “I think that this is the perfect amount.”
“Santa's gonna like it?”
“I'm sure Santa will love it.”
Conner looked over at the fireplace and almost said something, but then just grew quiet and started playing with his hands.
“What is it, kiddo?”
Clark had been called to help out with a major emergency, so maybe he was missing him?
But Conner just shook his head.
“Are you sure?”
The smallest nod was her only reply. She tried to push just a little bit more, but stopped when she saw he was getting stressed.
“Okay. How about we get ready for bed? Tomorrow morning when we wake up, we'll have Christmas.”
Conner brightened up a little and hurried off down the hall to the restroom to brush his teeth.
Bedtime was easier than normal. Instead of a story after getting changed into his pyjamas, Conner very quickly climbed up into bed, tugged the blanket up over himself, and closed his eyes.
“Do you want Clifford?”
Conner shook his head, eyes still closed.
“Goodnight Moon?”
Conner again shook his head.
“Do you just want to sleep?”
He snuggled down deeper under his blanket without a word.
“Alright, kiddo. Goodnight. Sleep tight and we'll see you in the morning.”
Conner didn't give any sign that he'd heard her, but as she was closing the door and turning off the lights, he rolled over and pulled a hand out from under the blanket to wave at her.
Lois waved back and headed for her and Clark's room, quickly distracted by scrolling through news reports and texting Jimmy, trying to keep tabs on how Clark was doing.
The monster he was fighting was tough, but not so tough that two Kryptonians couldn't subdue it.
An hour after Conner had been put to bed, Clark flew back through the sliding balcony door, and Jimmy sent a text that Kara had returned safe as well.
“Hey. Sorry I'm home so late.” Clark sighed and changed out of his suit.
Lois turned away at the sight of bruises on his back.
She knew how hard it was on him, having his abilities. He was a lifelong believer that those who could help others, had a duty to do so.
It terrified her to think of what Conner had gone through, before his abilities had even had the chance to show themselves.
“How did bedtime go?”
“We left out cookies for Santa, and he's been in bed ever since.”
Clark grunted and rotated his shoulder after pulling on his nightclothes. “I can hear him snoring. Are you ready?”
She grinned and padded softly over to the closet. “Ready.”
Silently, they gathered up all of the gifts they'd gotten for both each other and Conner, and piled them into a sheet. Lois grabbed the corners, and Clark grabbed Lois, lifting her and flying them down to the living room.
They were about to land, when Clark suddenly stopped.
“What?” Lois whispered.
“The couch. Look.”
She looked away from the tree and saw immediately what he did.
Conner, sound asleep and curled up with a stuffed dog Ma and Pa had gifted him, had snuck downstairs to wait for Santa Claus.
As quickly as they could, the two of them arranged the gifts, turned on the tree, and then hurried back upstairs with the cookies to wait for him to wake up.
Yyyyy
It had been a few months since Conner joined their family, and while they still had plenty of issues, he was actually settling in remarkably well.
“Conner, psst. What do you think? Should we go easy on him?” Lois whispered, showing her Uno hand to just him. The three of them had started a habit of family game time, in between dinner and bedtime.
Conner examined the cards closely, looking very serious despite the eggnog on his upper lip and the tip of his nose. He was still getting the hang of the game, but she waited silently, letting him take his time.
Finally, he looked up at her and shook his head, tapping the card he'd selected.
“Great choice. Clark?”
“Next round Conner’s on my team.” Clark grumbled as Lois smugly threw down a draw four.
“What color should we pick, Conner?” She prompted.
Conner reached out and tapped one of these small squares on the card. “... Red.”
“Red? Perfect. You heard him, Clark. We choose red.”
Clark laughed and drew four. And then kept drawing. “The one color I don't have.” He grumbled playfully, drawing more and more cards. “Do you two have all the red one-, oh! Here we go!” A red seven was added to the top of the card pile.
“Watch this.” Lois nudged him before playing a red draw two.
Clark drew two, and then dropped his head.
“Still don't have any reds?”
“Still don't have any reds.” Clark confirmed.
Just then, they both heard a small sound.
One they hadn't heard yet.
A soft, little giggle.
Clark and Lois shared a happy, excited look.
They knew to not make a huge deal out of Conner coming out of his shell, to avoid overwhelming or scaring him, but it was still a big moment.
Clark and Lois were still only dating and had just made the big step to buy a house together before finding out that Conner existed.
The few conversations that they had had regarding whether or not they wanted kids and when always ended the same.
With a string of maybes.
They both wanted to be parents.
Eventually.
Lois wanted to work on her career more, while Clark was still fairly new to being Superman, and more than a little concerned that that part of his life would end up putting a child in danger.
Add to that the fact that Clark was an extraterrestrial and they weren't even sure if having kids would be a possibility. They both agreed that if they couldn't, then they were more than happy to adopt.
But in the end, those conversations had all been ‘what ifs’.
They hadn't been even remotely ready for kids.
Especially not a traumatized half Kryptonian toddler.
As each day passed, however, and the three of them worked to grow closer, despite how they'd come together, Lois and Clark both came to the same conclusion.
Conner was theirs, and they didn't have any regrets.