The Bestest Present Ever

A/N: Set about eight years before my fic Revelations but no prior knowledge of that 'verse is necessary. Written for the prompt: Christmas Morning.

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Lucy Kent awoke very suddenly in the small hours of the morning of the 25^th of December. She was momentarily disoriented by the unfamiliar starred ceiling above the bed but then she turned over and saw the sleeping form of her twin sister Ella and remembered they were in Smallville.

She and Ella were in their father's old room, the two nine year olds had had to fight their siblings for it in an all-night Risk tournament. Usually it was either Jason's or Sophie's room when they stayed due to the two arguing their rights as the older siblings. The room was the best to stay in not only because it was the biggest but it was their father's room and it had history.

Above the spare bed Ella was sleeping on the ceiling had been studded with glow-in-the dark stars and a single red one pinpointed where Krypton lay in the night sky. Lucy loved staring at the little red dot and thinking about the far away planet her father came from, and it gave her a strange feeling to think of how she was half-Kryptonian as well, that one side of her family once lived on a completely different world.

But there was no time to dwell on that now. Something had woken her and she wanted to know what. She could hear someone moving downstairs then there was the muffled sound of a door slamming again and Lucy realised that was what had woken her. She had always been a light sleeper but lately her hearing had been getting really good.

She held her breath for a moment but no one else on the second floor seemed to be awake. Ella was still asleep across the room, Jason was in the spare bedroom and Sophie and Dean were stretched out on camp beds in the study. Lucy couldn't wait until she was good enough to control her abilities, even in her sleep. For now she just had to put up with being awoken at odd hours.

Her parents were supposed to be sharing the pull-out sofa bed in the living room but as Lucy listened hard she could hear her Mom complaining to Grandma Martha who also appeared to be up.

"I know people still need help on Christmas, even at this hour but to just go off like that when we were discussing this-" Lucy frowned as her enhanced hearing suddenly failed and the rest of her mother's sentence was lost.

It was probably a good thing though, Dad always told off Jason and Sophie when they used their abilities to eavesdrop or look through walls. Dean had once told her, with a grin, that the most important thing was not to get caught but Lucy still felt guilty at having spied on her Mom with her super-hearing.

"Ella?" she asked quietly. Her sister didn't respond so Lucy called louder and slipped out of her bed to shake her twin awake.

"Wha- Luce, what? It's not morning yet, is it?" she muttered groggily, rubbing her eyes.

"It's about 2am," Lucy told her. "Did you hear Dad leave?"

"No, why?" Ella yawned, closing her eyes again. Lucy sighed and was about to give up when she heard the faint sound of the car door opening.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered, going to the window and pulling back the curtains. It was still dark and the thick clouds make it hard to see much of what was going on. The porch light came one, illuminating the yard and Lucy felt Ella join her as they watched their mother make her way to the car.

Lucy didn't want to use her abilities to spy on her mother because her Mom didn't have those and that would be unfair, but when Ella opened the window slightly and both girls braved the chilling wind to place their heads towards the gap the conversation could be heard clearly without even trying. And it wasn't really cheating if they weren't using their super-hearing.

"I'm going, Martha," Lois was saying firmly, "I know it's Christmas but-"

"Lois, can't it wait?" The girls shared a confused look at the pleading tone in their grandmother's voice. It seemed like they were having an argument. While arguments with her own parents were common when they were together, Lucy couldn't ever recall her Mom arguing with Grandma Martha or Grandpa Ben, ever.

"What are you two doing?" a quiet voice asked behind them, causing the twins to jump and turn around.

"Nothing," Lucy said far too quickly and guiltily.

The twelve year old in the door way frowned sceptically. "Really, because looking out the window at two in the morning must be a type of 'nothing' I've never heard of."

"Dad's gone and now Mom's leaving," Lucy told him, "she was fighting with Grandma and now she's left."

Dean frowned, "Really?" he asked, "That doesn't sound right."

"Let's go downstairs," Ella suggested, starting towards the door before the other two could say anything.

However, Dean refused to move from the doorway. "It's probably nothing," he assured them, "Dad will be back by Christmas and so will Mom, and if you don't go back to bed you'll just be tired tomorrow."

Ella turned to look back at Lucy and they nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right," Lucy said as both girls returned to their beds.

Dean frowned at them but then yawned hugely and waved goodnight. The twins waited until they were sure he was gone before kicking off their sheets and hurrying downstairs. "I hate they way they always try and boss us around," Lucy muttered, glaring back up the stairs. "Just because they're older."

"Dean's okay," Ella said with a shrug as the pair tip-toed down the hall. "Jason's gotten better but Sophie's the worst."

"I know," Lucy sighed, "remember when she made us wait for ages at the bus stop because she didn't want us with her when she went to see her friend?"

"I hope Jason takes her with him when he moves out," Ella whispered as they reached the kitchen where the lights were and crouched down.

Lucy nodded, "That would be like the bestest present ever."

"Bestest?" Ella asked with a giggle but Lucy hushed her as someone started to speak in the kitchen.

"Are you sure, Martha?" their Grandfather was asking, "Lois is older now-"

"I know, Ben," Grandma Martha sighed. "I said that too but she said she was sure. I didn't expect her to leave right now though."

Lucy and Ella shared a confused look and leaned closer. "Clark leaving while she was trying to tell him can't have helped though."

"No," Grandma Martha agreed, "but she knew who she was marrying. What will the children say when they find out?"

Suddenly a horrible thought occurred to Lucy. She tugged Ella's arm and lead her back to the stairs where they wouldn't be overheard.

"Do you think Mom's left for good?" she asked anxiously.

"What?" Ella looked at her like she was crazy. "Why would she leave for good? Where would she go?"

"When Sasha's Mom left she went to live with another man," Lucy told her quietly.

Ella gave a yelp of shock then slapped her hand over her mouth. Both girls waited a few moments but when no one came looking Ella uncovered her mouth and looked at her sister in shock.

"No way is Mom leaving Dad like Sasha's Mom left. They're so in love it's gross. And she wouldn't leave without telling us either," she added as an afterthought.

"But remember Grandma was worried about how we would find out."

"She didn't say what we were going to find out though," Ella pointed out. "Maybe she still thinks we believe in Santa and Mom's going to tell us he's not real," she suggested with a grin.

Lucy didn't see the funny side. Sasha had been sure her parents were happy together as well until she'd come to school one day in tears because he mother had left in the middle of the night and wouldn't be coming back.

"Lucy, don't worry." Ella leaned forward and hugged her sister, "even supposing that pigs can fly and Mom and Dad are breaking up do you really think Mom would just leave without telling us anything at all?"

"I guess not," Lucy admitted with a frown. She couldn't imagine their parents keeping something that big from them. "But then where did Mom go?"

"Maybe they forgot a present or something," Ella suggested. "Leaving in the middle of the night on Christmas is weird but this is Mom we're talking about."

"She might be on a story," Lucy agreed slowly.

"Yeah, and Mom wouldn't care if it was Christmas but Grandma Martha would be worried we would be upset, wouldn't she?"

"Yeah," Lucy agreed more firmly. "And Mom and Dad aren't going to ever break up," she added, more to convince herself than anything.

"C'mon," Ella said, stifling a yawn. "Let's go back to bed. I don't want to miss opening the presents. I think Mom got me an iPod."

Lucy grinned, "I hope I got one too, that would be the bestest present ever."

"I don't know," Ella sighed as they got back into their beds. "Sophie moving out and not bossing us about anymore would still top that I think."

Lucy wasn't sure she'd be able to get back to sleep with the excitement over Mom leaving and the promise of an iPod in the morning but she must have because she was awoken by a yell from downstairs.

"-couldn't have stayed for five more minutes?" Lucy sat bolt upright as her mother's voice came loud and clear from the living room.

"Lois, you know I had to leave." It sounded like Dad was back too.

Ella had woken up as well and was pulling back the curtains to let the light in. Lucy must have slept for longer than she thought. Without even speaking the twins put on their dressing gowns and headed downstairs bumping into Jason, Sophie and Dean in the hall.

"What is going on?" Sophie asked, glaring at her brother and sisters as if it was somehow their fault she was up early, even if it was Christmas Day.

"Mom and Dad are fighting, again," Jason sighed, rolling his eyes. "We may as well go down anyway, we can open the presents early."

"Clark, you said you had fixed this!" Lois cried as the five siblings made their way to the living room.

"Lois, you'll wake the kids," Clark said, trying to calm her down.

"Too late," Jason announced, pushing the door open. "Looks like you woke up the whole house," he said nodding towards the opposite door where Grandma Martha and Grandpa Ben were coming in.

"See, Lucy, I told you Mom was coming back," Ella said with a yawn.

"Pardon?" Lois asked, looking confused.

Lucy felt herself blush as everyone turned to look at her. "I saw you leave in the middle of the night and I thought you might not come back."

"What ever gave you that idea?" Clark asked, looking shocked and putting his arms around Lois.

Lucy tried to explain, "I thought it was like Sasha's parents when Mom said she was really annoyed with Dad and she was leaving..."

"But not for good - just to the clinic in the hospital to buy something," Lois explained, leaning down to hug her daughter. "I was very annoyed with your father but because I had some very important news to tell him and he left right in the middle of it."

She glared at Clark but it was clear to everyone she had already forgiven him. She knew who she married after all. "I have absolutely no intention of ever leaving him," she promised.

Martha continued, "I talked to Lois and convinced her she might be mistaken and overreacting but I certainly didn't expect her to go charging off to the hospital on Christmas morning for confirmation."

Suddenly Jason made startled noise behind her; everyone looked at him before Sophie also gave a small 'oh' and grinned at their parents. Clark grinned back and Lois just sighed and gave a tired nod.

"What?" Lucy asked, getting more annoyed when she noticed Dean had knew what it was as well and was also smiling. "What did you need to go to the hospital for?"

"You're not sick are you?" Ella asked but Lucy could tell form the way everyone was smiling that it wasn't anything bad.

As Lucy looked back toward their parents she noticed the way her father's hand rested on her Mom's stomach and suddenly she knew what was going on. Ella realised at the same time as well and gave a shriek of delight, "Oh my God," she screamed, "you're pregnant!"

Their Dad nodded as Lucy felt a massive grin spread across her face. Her brothers and sisters were hugging and she could hear Jason and Sophie teasing their Dad about how angry their Mom was going to be with him for the next nine months.

It was a while before Sophie announced that as great as this was they did have presents waiting under the tree. The family moved into the dining room, talking happily about how much fun and trouble the baby was going to cause.

Lucy and Ella grinned at each other. "We're not going to be the youngest anymore," Ella told her.

Lucy nodded. "I was wrong," she admitted, "this is the bestest present ever."

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