Forever and All Eternity: A Christmas Eve Lullaby

By Laura Davies <brightfeather1.geo@yahoo.com>

Rated: G

Submitted: December 2002

Summary: Lois and Clark share in a special evening in this Christmas vignette.

Disclaimer: These characters, with the exception of the baby ;), do not belong to me; I'm just playing with them for a while.

Author's note: Well, this popped into my head the other night, so I thought I'd write it down and share. Thanks to Lote and Melisma for betaing this! This is set in the same universe as my Forever and All Eternity series, but it's not necessary to have read any of those to understand this.

***

Clark climbed the stairs and headed towards the nursery. There were distinct advantages to this being Kiley's first Christmas, he thought. After all, she was too little to notice that the presents were out early and that her little stocking was already filled.

Between the usual Christmas villain showing up, Superman being extra busy with holiday crimes, and the hustle at the Planet of trying to get together stories for the next day's edition, they hadn't had as much time as they liked to spend together with the baby. He entered the baby's room quietly, sat down in the double rocking chair next to Lois, and kissed her softly. "Hi, honey," he said quietly.

He picked up their copy of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and began to read it softly as they rocked back and forth. As usual, Kiley was more interested in playing than sleeping, so the story was punctuated by her attempts to get the book and put it in her mouth. At eight months old, she was getting to be more of a handful every day.

Clark finished the story and took his giggling daughter's tiny hand in his.

"Hey, punkin'," he began happily. "And how is Daddy's little sweetheart tonight?"

Kiley simply wrapped her hand around one of his fingers and smiled. She turned to Lois and tugged on the front of her mother's shirt.

"Hungry, Kiley?" Lois asked with a smile. She unfastened her shirt and bra and prepared to let her daughter nurse. She kissed her baby gently as Kiley latched on. Softly, she began to sing to her.

Clark put his arms around his wife and child as Lois began to sing Silent Night. They rocked back and forth slowly as Lois's soft voice filled the room. It wasn't long before Kiley's eyes began to drift shut. Lois handed the sleepy baby to her husband as she fixed her clothes.

Gently, Clark rubbed his daughter's back until she burped, before laying her down in the crib and covering her up. Her eyes fluttered open and she stared up at her father. Lois came over to stand beside him, and noticing that her baby wasn't quite asleep yet, began to sing O Little Town of Bethlehem softly. Lois brought the song to an end as Kiley's eyes finally closed. They walked to the door, flipping off the light and shutting it most of the way as they walked out of it.

Quietly, they tiptoed across the hall and entered their room. "Clark, I don't know about you, but I'm really tired tonight," she said, suppressing a yawn.

Clark smiled and leaned down for a kiss. "I am too, sweetheart," he said softly. "If Superman isn't needed urgently, I'm staying here with you all night."

Quickly, the couple got ready for bed and climbed in. Lois laid her head on Clark's chest, comforted by the steady sound of his heartbeat, and drifted off to sleep.

Clark sat up for a little while longer, marveling that it was the first Christmas of his adulthood that he had everything that he'd ever wanted—Lois, and their baby. He held Lois close to him and brushed a kiss against her forehead. His head shot up as he thought he heard a sound coming from the baby's room.

Silently, he slipped out of the bed and went to the baby's room. Clark walked over to the crib to check on her. Upon finding that nothing was wrong, he stood there for a few minutes, watching her sleep. A little while later, he smiled as a pair of small arms slipped around his waist and he felt his wife plant a kiss in between his shoulder blades.

Lois laid her cheek against his back briefly before he turned around to face her. "Hello, beautiful," he said softly as he leaned down and captured her lips in a sweet, but brief kiss.

Lois took his hand in hers. "She's fine, Clark," she began softly. "Our little alarm clock will wake us up soon enough… come back to bed."

Clark smiled mischievously. "Kiley got a Christmas lullaby to go to bed… do I get one, too?"

Lois laughed softly and tugged him towards the door. "You just might."

THE END

Merry Christmas FoLCs…