5 ⓢ kids

[supes]

[Clark stayed up late last night penning a few letters, but eventually he had crawled into bed with Lois and fallen asleep with his arms around her, just like most nights. He wakes up just as he fell asleep, too, nose against the top of her head, his entire universe reduced to the warmth of her body and the smell of her shampoo. Even better: it's been a month and he's still never tired of getting to call her his wife.

It's a pleasant bit of harmony in the castle, interrupted only by the occasional world change, weird outfit or supervillain uprising.

Today, that interruption comes in the form of a little girl practically launching herself into their bed, landing on top of them in a clumsy thud, with a very, very shrill (but joyous) shriek.]

It's moooooorning! What's for breakfast?!

[Then Clark finds himself very, very awake.]

Comments

[childofkrypton]

[Who is this girl and what is she doing here, Chris is confused. And also currently peeking around the door of his bedroom, wondering what's going on.]

[loisfuckinglane]

[ The impact causes Lois' eyes to flash open, and she jerks upwards as if a grenade had landed in between them all.

But it's got a particularly toothy grin for a grenade, and as her eyes focus on who's yelling, a wide smile breaks across her own face in response. ]

Ella? [ Immediately, she reaches for the little girl, drawing her close for a big hug, amazed at all the differences in her since they saw her one year ago.

"Wake up, Mommy! I'm hungry!" ]

[supes]

[A grin spreads on Clark's face as he sits up, eyes following Ella as she moves into her mother's arms. Their daughter, back again.]

Ah, just who we wanted to see!

[But Chris hasn't gone unnoticed, either; Clark can see him in the hall, and he beckons for the kid to join them, and then pats the bed beside him.]

Chris! C'mere, kiddo. Your sister's here.

[childofkrypton]

[Chris just clings to his door a little harder and backs up a bit, watching all of this with big eyes and a really unsure face. Sister? He doesn't have a sister. And he thought Mommy and Daddy couldn't even have a baby. Where did she come from? Does this mean he's going to have to share his room? He's going to have to share Mommy and Daddy? What if they want to spend all their time with her instead? Is she normal like Mommy or does she have powers like he and Daddy do?

Chris is just staying rooted to the door for the moment, gradually going into Jealous Sibling mode. That his spot on the bed!]

[loisfuckinglane]

[ Lois is still busy hugging Ella, and brushing her hair back to get a look at that startling mix of features - hers and Clark's, impossibly. But when Chris doesn't join them on the bed, she looks up, and then scooches over, pulling the little girl with her. ]

There's plenty of room, sweetie. We want you to meet someone.

[supes]

[Clark waits a moment, but when Chris doesn't come, he gets out of bed to cross the room to the door. When he reaches Chris, he kneels down to his level, smiling but concerned.]

What's wrong, Chris?

[childofkrypton]

Is she... is she really your daughter? [He is confused by this. Maybe... she's from their home and she just showed up?]

[loisfuckinglane]

[ It's Ella who answers, turning around and saying oh-so-confidently: "Of course I am. Who are you?" ]

This is your brother, Ella.

[supes]

[Chris's reaction doesn't surprise Clark, especially given how hard Chris has struggled to have them as parents in the first place. Clark can't say he knows how it feels to be envious of siblings, given that he always dreamed of having them, but...

He lowers his voice, for Ella's sake.]

Every year, the castle has a week where the adults get babies. Ella is ours. [He offers his hands out to pick Chris up. No matter how old you are, kiddo, Clark will still pick you up.] She's as much our daughter as you are our son, Chris. Nothing's going to change that.

[childofkrypton]

[He shoots a tiny glare at Ella and takes Clark's hands, grateful for the small reassurance.] Does that mean she's only going to be here for a week...? [He says it quietly back.]

[loisfuckinglane]

[ Meanwhile, to keep Ella from overhearing... all that, Lois works on distracting her. ]

How about you pick what we want to have for breakfast today. Would you like that?

[ Her eyes light up, and she nods vigorously. ]

So what do you think? Pancakes? Eggs? Pork chops? [ The last suggestion causes the girl to start giggling wildly, and Lois grins in response. She draws her close enough to suggest in a half-whisper: ]

Maybe you should ask your brother what he thinks.

[supes]

Just a week, yeah. [A sober nod, hands curling around Chris's.] And that means your mom and I are gonna spend a lot of time with her, because we don't get to spend time with her any other week, okay? It doesn't mean we're going to ignore you, or love you any less, or spend any less time with you. It just means we're all going to spend a lot of time together this week. The four of us.

Alright?

[childofkrypton]

[He bites his lip, looking down and nodding a little. That makes him feel bad for feeling relieved she was only possibly going to be around for a week just a moment ago. That wasn't fair to Mommy and Daddy. And you weren't supposed to judge someone before you even really met them too.]

I'll be nice, I promise.

[loisfuckinglane]

[ Right as little Ella comes bounding off the bed, while Lois slings her legs off the side and stretches.

"Mom said to ask what you want for breakfast. Even though I get to pick!" she announces, both of Chris and her dad simultaneously. ]

[supes]

[He smiles, giving Chris's hands a gentle, reassuring squeeze before turning to look at Ella with a grin.]

How about a huge breakfast with all the things we all like, huh?

[childofkrypton]

[He said he would be nice so...] I want whatever you want. [He still looks a little hesitant about this whole suddenly having a sister thing though.]

[loisfuckinglane]

[ She seems to enjoy his response and hops down in between them.

"I want ... blueberry muffins!!" And with that, she races out of the room, giggling madly. Lois is on her feet in a flash, moving towards them. ]

You heard the girl.

[supes]

[Clark lets go of Chris to stand up, and he ruffles Chris' hair affectionately as his eyes move over to Lois. His wife. He has a wife and two kids, at least for this week. It's perfect.]

I think blueberry muffins are a good choice.

[childofkrypton]

I like muffins too. [He can deal with that choice. He's sticking with Clark, following wherever the older Kryptonian goes.]

[loisfuckinglane]

[ Ella leads the way through the halls, and Lois moves to Chris' other side to scoop up his hand. ]

We could have chocolate chip ones, too.

[supes]

I'm pretty sure I have my mom's recipe book somewhere in my room, so even better -- they'll be Kent family specials.

[childofkrypton]

[Chris brightens at the mention of chocolate chips and gives Lois a happy light squeeze of his hand.] Yeah! Those are my favorite.

[loisfuckinglane]

How'd I guess? [ doo doo doo down to the kitchen they descend ]

[supes]

New psychic powers? Or maybe just months of breakfasts.

[childofkrypton]

That would be so cool if you got psychic powers! Then you could get the scoop on people without having to ask them a bunch of questions!

[loisfuckinglane]

Don't tell anyone, but I sort of like asking the questions.

[supes]

[Grin]

Getting answers is sometimes better when you ask them, too. It's nice to know how people feel or how people want to be seen, not just what they think... not to mention it's not fair to read people's minds without their permission.

[childofkrypton]

[He ponders this for a moment, then gives a little nod.] Yeah. That's true. I wouldn't like it if people read my mind without my permission either.

[loisfuckinglane]

[ Ella sees that as an opportunity and skips ahead next to him.

"Why not? Are you thinking baaaad things?" ]

Ella...

[supes]

[Frown. Such a bully :'(]

Thoughts are personal, Ella. Lots of things can't be shared, whether they are good, or bad, or anything in-between.

[childofkrypton]

I am not! [He frowns a little at Ella.] It's what Daddy Clark said.

[loisfuckinglane]

[ Lois goes and scoops the little girl up into her arms. ]

Would you want us knowing everything you think?

[ She seems to chew on that a moment, before shaking her head vehemently. ]

[supes]

Exactly, Ella. [he reaches for Chris' hand again, though.] So we don't worry about what other people think, or pass judgement on them.

[childofkrypton]

[Chris gladly takes Clark's hand, still looking not very thrilled with Ella, but he doesn't say anything else about her teasing. He looks up at Clark.] Does she have any powers like us...?

[loisfuckinglane]

[ The girls' eyes widen at that.

"You have powers too?" ]

[supes]

She has powers, too, but we'll see what they're like when she's older. Conner has different powers than me, and he's half human like Ella. [Smile.] Have you met Conner, Chris?

[childofkrypton]

[He shakes his head.] I dunno who that is.

[loisfuckinglane]

I bet you two would have all kinds of fun together. [ Maybe too much, is what her glance at Clark conveys... Let's not let Conner babysit, k ]

[supes]

[He smiles at Lois, but he gets it completely. Yeah, Conner doesn't get to babysit. Kara, yes, Conner, no.]

Conner is my cousin, sort of, but he's closer to your age than mine. Your mom's right -- you'd have a lot of fun. I can just imagine what kind of trouble you two would get up to.

Ahaha my Conner muse is like Hey! I would be a great babysitter!

[childofkrypton]

You have a cousin? But I thought you were the only one who survived Krypton...

[He likes the idea of having other Kryptonian family to play with, though. Any family of Clark's has to be a nice person, he's sure of it.]

LMAO yeahhhhh about that...

[loisfuckinglane]

A couple cousins, actually.

there's one on reserrrrrve

[supes]

I thought so too, for a long time, but there are a number of us out there.

yeeees so excited

[childofkrypton]

How many? The only people I know about is everyone from the Phantom Zone...