A/N: Written for Bistyboo's 12daysofclois. Written in the future of my 'Supermen' universe, but I kept it intentionally vague, so it contains no real spoilers. Of course, it isn't neccesary to have read the fic to understand this, but I wouldn't mind if you do... -
This contains spoilers for SR, but really, I don't know what you're doing here if you haven't seen that one. Titel comes from Gloria Estefan's 'Christmas through your eyes.' which is an excellent song to listen to while reading this. Thanks to Bistyboo for coming up with the magnificent idea, and to BeatriceOtterfor the beta.

Enjoy your Chrismas eve, and have a very very merry Christmas!

Christmas through your eyes

The first thing Lois noticed as she opened the door was the trail of needles that started at the front door and lead all the way through the hall. She shook she snow from her hair and dumped her thick coat on the end table near the door.

Following the green needles, Lois walked to the living room where the trail crossed the room to the tall Christmas tree that stood near the piano. Lois stared at it. That tree had most certainly not been there when she left for work early this morning.

"Look what Dad and I bought!" Jason, clad in his pajamas, looked at the tree proudly. "I carried it in myself."

"Yes, I can see that." Lois inwardly bemoaned the state her house was in, but she smiled and stroked her son's damp hair. "It looks great. We just have to decorate it now and it'll be absolutely perfect."

"Can I help?" Jason asked hopefully.

Lois threw a doubtful look at her watch, but she was spared an answer when a new male voice sounded.

"It's too late for that now, Jason." Clark walked into the room, his hair just as damp as his son's. "You mom and I will decorate it tonight, but-" Clark quickly pecked Lois on the lips before scooping up Jason from the ground in a fluent movement, "we'll save the angel, so you can put it on top tomorrow morning."

Jason gave a great shout of laughter as Clark blew a raspberry on his stomach, and he twisted in his father's arms.

"Come on, kiddo. Let's get you to bed." Clark threw a still giggling Jason over his shoulder and marched out of the room in a way that reminded Lois oddly of her father. She smiled as the sound of their laughter sounded from Jason' bedroom, but her smile fell when she spotted the needles scattered all over the floor.

With a sigh Lois resigned herself to having to clean the place again. She left her suitcase on the op the piano and walked over to the cupboard the grab the vacuum cleaner.

She knew it had been a wrong movement as soon as she started to lift the machine. A sharp pain started at her waist and shot through her back. Lois hands flew to her sides, dropping the vacuum in the process. She had to fight hard not to let out a long string of vile curses, knowing that her son's sensitive ears would pick up on it easily. Instead she hit the door with the palm of her hand. God, that hurts!

Limping like an elder woman, Lois slowly made her way back to the living room—her back hurting with every step she took—and carefully let herself sink down upon the soft cushions of the couch. Within a few seconds, Lois felt Clark's strong, warm hands on her back.

"I can't even lift a stupid vacuum!" Lois exclaimed in frustration.

"Shh." Clark's experienced hands traveled down and found the right spot in the small of her back. Lois hissed when the practiced pressure caused her to feel pain and relief at the same time.

It wasn't the first time that her back had ached like this, and Lois was immensely grateful to have a man who could actually give a proper massage. The pain in her back slowly lessened as she let Clark work on her back, enjoying the sensation of his pressing fingertips. In fact, she enjoyed it so much that she involuntarily let out a small moan of disappointment when he ceased.

He kissed her neck and put his arms around her, holding her close. "You know you shouldn't be carrying heavy-"

"A vacuum isn't heavy," Lois objected.

"It was too heavy."

"No, it wasn't, Clark. I'm pregnant, not fragile."

Clark merely stared at her.

"Alright. It was too heavy." Lois lifted her arms is defeat. "My eight year old son carries full grown trees, and I can't even lift a vacuum," she grumbled.

"You don't need a vacuum," Clark said with a wink. He got up from the couch and his form blurred as he moved through the room at superspeed. The needles on the floor vanished miraculously, and Clark had returned to his place on the couch before Lois' back had begun to cool down.

Lois looked between Clark and the impeccable floor. "No, you're right. You're much better than a vacuum."

Lois shifted to lean against his chest comfortably, and she'd started to doze off a little when Clark suddenly spoke up.

"So, you like the tree then?"

"It's nice." Lois commented lazily, looking at the tree standing tall and straight.

"I told you a real tree is better than a fake one."

"Ah, but a fake one doesn't loose its needles."

"A fake one doesn't have the smell."

"There are sprays for that."

"That's not the same."

Lois smiled, enjoying their playful little banter. Apparently, Clark did too because his eyes sparkled as he leaned sideways to give her a kiss. "We should decorate it." He managed to mumble, lips still pressed to hers.

"Do we have to?"

"I promised Jason it will be decorated when he wakes up."

Lois pulled back a little. "Can't we accidentally forget?" She waggled her eyebrows. "I know something else we can do when Jason is asleep."

"Now, now, Mrs. Kent." Clark gently bit on her bottom lip. "You don't actually suggest that Superman breaks his promise?" He moved away from her in a second. 'Better get this over with quickly. Can you hand me those lights for the tree?"

Lois pouted but leaned forwards to pull a large brown box on the table closer, and—ignoring the dull pain in her back—lifted the lid. Inside was a jumbled mess of fragile glass objects wrapped in toilet paper for protection, but Lois located the lights quickly. They were lying on top after all.

After handing the box to Clark, Lois gave to contents of the box a closer inspection, unwrapping some of the ornaments. "Lucy and I used to do it with my mother."

"Used to do what?"

"This. Decorating the tree. The General always said decorating was a woman's thing, unless you were decorating a person." Lois looked at the gleaming and glittering silver bell in her hands. "But I think he secretly did like the tree once it was all set up," she added with a smile. Clark paused halfway his work to look at her. Lois had to hold back a snicker at the sight of him, tangled in the lights.

"With us it was the other way around. Pa and I would decorate the tree together. Ma would busy herself in the kitchen, making Christmas cookies and hot chocolate. It was tradition in my father's family for the men to put up the tree."

Lois pondered this as Clark redirected his attention to the lights. "And when your father died?"

"After Pa died, I did it alone." Clark fastened the last light and stepped back to admire the result. "But I left only a few years later."

"Now, you don't have to do it alone anymore. We'll do it together." Lois held up the silver bell and Clark have her a lingering kiss.

"Right, what else is in there?" Clark looked at the brown carton box and Lois assumed he used his x-ray vision the scar the contents.

"How about I choose the ornaments and you put them up?" Lois suggested. "So I won't feel entirely useless, sitting here on the couch."

"Alright." Clark gave Lois another quick kiss before taking the silver bell. "Sounds fair."

Lois looked at the mass of toilet paper and unwrapped the top bundle. Out fell a large silver ball she recognized was part of the collection she'd bought the previous year. Lois handed it to Clark before delving in the box again. The second and third balls she unwrapped were silver too, but the fourth was purple and the fifth was yellow. Lois wrapped the last one up again and put it aside.

"What's wrong with the yellow one?" Clark inquired.

Lois looked at him as if he'd gone mad. "It's yellow, Clark. Bright yellow. Silver and purple is fine, but silver, purple and yellow is horrific." She waited a moment before adding teasingly; "Even a man who wears red, blue and yellow should be able to see that."

Clark shrugged. "I like a multi-colored Christmas tree."

Lois sat still for a moment before unwrapping the yellow ball again and tossing it at Clark, who caught it deftly. "A multi-colored tree it is."

The contents of the brown box steadily diminished, as the amount of toilet paper strewn around the couch grew, and every ornament Lois unwrapped came with a memory of earlier Christmases.

"Oh, I remember buying this one." Lois held up a golden ornament shaped like a bird. "Mother and I were doing some Christmas shopping and she never wanted to buy anything but balls, so I secretly slipped it in the shopping chart when she wasn't looking." A smile crept on her face, recalling the memory. "She didn't find out until we unpacked it at home, but she refused to put it up." Lois looked at the bird again. "I now see why." She laughed. "It's hideous."

Clark's eyes twinkled as he snatched the bird from her fingers and put it prominently on a branch at the front of the tree.

Lois looked back in the box and noticed for the first time the plastic bag that was buried under all the toilet paper. She pulled it out and curiously peeked inside. More toilet paper. "What's this?"

"Oh, that's my stuff." Clark answered. "I added it to the box when I moved in."

Lois opened the bag and unwrapped the first bundle she saw. As the paper fell away, Lois stared at the object in her hand.

"A painted light bulb?"

"Yeah." Clark stepped closer. "My Ma made that one."

Lois moved her thumb over the image of a snowflake. 'Why did you paint light bulbs?"

"Because buying new ornaments every year was too expensive." Clark shoved his hands inside his pockets.

"Too many super-problems?"

"Yup." Clark ticked them off on his fingers. "Super-strength, super-eyes, super-breath-"

"Super-breath?" Lois repeated.

"Yeah, that one was the worst. I had a cold and I really had to be careful in which direction I sneezed."

Lois looked in the direction of Jason's bedroom, where her son was now slumbering peacefully. "Should I be getting worried?"

"No, I think we're safe for a year or two."

Lois unwrapped more painted light bulbs, but also discovered a couple of painted walnuts and a few wooded objects.

"That one was made by me.' Clark suddenly said, causing Lois to look closer at the object she held. It was painted wood, shaped like… well… What is it supposed to be? A red star? Krypton?

"I remember making that one in school. I must have been five or six years old, it was one of the first things I made." Clark walked closer to the couch, a fond smile on his face. "I was so offended when Ma couldn't immediately tell it was Santa Claus."

Right. Santa Claus. Lois looked at the object and recognized the shape, now that she knew what it was supposed to be. So that explains all the red and white. Lois pushed herself up from the couch—Clark quickly grabbed her elbow for support—and waded to the sea of toilet paper to hang the ornament right next to the glittering golden bird. "There," She stepped back. "now it's our tree."

"Not quite." Clark dove in the box and pulled out one of the last bundles. As he unwrapped it, Lois recognized the dark green ball with its curly silver letters spelling Jason's name.

Clark hung it under the bird and Santa Claus. "Now it's our tree."

Lois wrapped her arms around Clark—slightly awkward because of her large belly—and rested her head on his shoulder. "And tomorrow, Jason is going to add the crown."