Fic - One Rotten Apple
Title: One Rotten Apple
Author: moviefreak4634
Rating: PG
Pairing: Chloe/Clark, mostly offscreen Lois/Oliver
Summary: Chloe and Clark babysit Laura for the night, and chaos ensues.
Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville or its characters.
Previous stories in this verse include Seeing Green and The Tea Party.
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Tears filled Laura’s eyes as Connor watched in horror. He hadn’t even done anything except touch her stupid rabbit, and she’d started crying. Laura was so dumb.
Connor folded his arms across his chest and stomped over to the couch. He didn’t know why Laura had to come here so often anyway. The only good thing about her visits was that Uncle Ollie usually came with her, but he hadn’t this time. No, this time Connor was stuck in the house with stupid Laura and her stupid tears and her stupid rabbit.
“Connor,” his dad called from the kitchen.
“I didn’t do anything,” Connor called back. It was true. Laura was just stupid.
“Connor,” his mom called this time, a warning in her voice. Stupid Laura. Now he was going to get yelled at.
“I didn’t do anything!” he yelled instead and ran upstairs to his room, slamming the door behind him.
Back at the kitchen table, Chloe sighed. Clark put his hand over hers, and she smiled wearily at him.
“It’s just for today,” he said.
“That’s easy for you to say,” Chloe replied. “You get to leave in a few hours, but I’ll be stuck here with the Troublesome Two.”
Clark grinned at the name, and Chloe offered him a real smile this time. “I can stay if you want,” he said, but Chloe shook her head.
“No, you have important things to do - fighting crime and all that.” She waved her free hand at the papers spread out across the table. “They should be asleep soon, and I have this article to finish.”
Clark leaned across the table to kiss her. “I love you, you know.”
“You better.”
When Clark pulled away, he whispered, “Laura’s coming.” Then he got up to check on dinner.
Sure enough, Laura appeared in the doorway. Her right thumb was in her mouth, and her left hand clutched her favorite toy, her rabbit Mr. Cotton.
“I want my daddy,” Laura said around her thumb.
Chloe sighed. Oliver and Lois weren’t supposed to pick Laura up until the morning. Once again, she wondered how Lois had managed to talk her into this.
“Come on, Chlo. Do it for me?”
Chloe glared at her. “Lois, I told you. Clark and I are busy - at the Planet and with his Superman duties. We can barely handle Connor, and he and Laura don’t exactly get along.”
“It’s just for one night. It’ll be fun, and then Oliver and I can be alone. Together. With just each other.”
Chloe made a face. “Stop. I don’t know, Lo.”
Lois lowered her voice and leaned in conspiratorially. “We’ll watch Connor for you for a night, if you and Clark…” She trailed off.
Chloe glanced over at Clark, watching him for a moment, and finally sighed. “Okay. We’ll take Laura. But just for one night.”
“You’re the best, Chlo.”
“Yeah, I know,” Chloe muttered under her breath as she lifted Laura into her lap. She glanced over at Clark, who was busy fussing with dinner. Damn her irresistible husband.
Then she turned her attention back to the little girl on her lap. “Laura, your daddy’s not coming back until morning. What’s wrong?”
“Connor tried to take Mr. Cotton,” Laura mumbled. “I want my daddy.”
Chloe sighed again. This was going to be a long night. “I told you, Laura, you’ll see him in the morning.”
Laura frowned, and her eyes screwed shut. She was obviously on the verge of yet another round of tears. “I want my daddy.”
Frustrated, Chloe looked up at Clark, who was watching them, a grin on his face. She raised her eyebrows, nodding at Laura. He didn’t get to just stand there and laugh at her expense.
Fortunately for Clark, he got the hint. “Laura,” he said, walking over to the two and kneeling beside the little girl. “Would Mr. Cotton like some carrots?”
Laura made a face and shook her head. “No, Mr. Cotton doesn’t like carrots. Carrots are icky.”
Clark looked confused by the rabbit who didn’t eat carrots, and Chloe tried not to laugh.
“What does Mr. Cotton like then?” Clark asked.
“Cookies?” Laura sounded hopefully, but Chloe knew there weren’t any cookies in the house.
Apparently, Clark remembered this too because he said, “How about juice? Does Mr. Cotton like juice?”
Laura looked thoughtful, and after a moment, she held the rabbit to her ear as if listening to something. Finally she nodded. “Yes, Mr. Cotton likes juice. Juice, please.” She gave him a bright smile.
Chloe gave him a smile too, and as Clark moved away to get Mr. Cotton’s juice, she mouthed a thank you at him.
“Dinner’s almost ready,” Clark said when he came back with Mr. Cotton’s juice.
Chloe nodded. “I’d better go get Connor. Right after I clean up this mess on the table.” She stood up, placing Laura on the chair she’d left.
“I got it,” Clark said.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, go.” He gave her a brief kiss. “Good luck. You’ll need it.”
“Yeah,” Chloe said, patting his chest lightly before heading for the stairs. “Your son could give you a run for your money in the brooding department.”
“Hey. Our son would be just fine. If only someone hadn’t made him so stubborn.”
“Connor gets all his best traits from me.”
“Pigheadedness is not a good trait.”
“Oh, you know you love it,” Chloe called from the top of the stairs before going to knock on Connor’s door.
“Go away,” Connor called from inside.
“Connor, it’s dinnertime.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Chloe knew that wasn’t true. Connor was always hungry, no matter how much he put away at each meal. He was just upset. Chloe opened the door and stepped inside the room.
Connor was sprawled across his bed facedown. “Go away,” he said again.
“No. It’s dinnertime.”
Connor rolled over to his side, facing away from her. “I told you. I’m not hungry.”
“And I don’t believe that. Is this about Laura?”
Connor didn’t say anything, so Chloe took that as a yes. She walked over to the bed and sat down beside Connor.
After a moment, Connor said in a small voice, “I didn’t do anything.”
“Oh, Connor,” Chloe sighed, putting his hand on his arm. “I know you didn’t.”
“But you yelled at me.”
“No. Your father and I just wanted to know what was going on. Laura can be-” She paused. “A little hard to handle, and we didn’t want it to get worse.”
Connor rolled over onto his back and looked up at her. “Laura’s stupid.”
Chloe smiled and brushed his unruly dark hair off his forehead. “No, she’s not. She’s just little.” And, thanks to Oliver, she was used to getting her own way all the time too.
“No, she’s stupid.”
“Connor,” Chloe said. “You can’t talk about her like that. She’s family.”
“Does she have to be?” he asked.
Chloe smiled again. “Yes, but how about to make up for it you can have an extra slice of pie at dinner?”
Connor grinned up at her. Then after a moment, he asked, “Mom? Can we go have dinner now? I’m starving.”
Chloe grinned and nodded. “I thought so.”
Connor and Chloe made it downstairs where dinner went off without a hitch. That was, until dessert.
“No,” Laura said.
Chloe bit back a grin as she glanced at Clark and Connor, who looked simply dumbfounded.
“Laura, it’s apple pie,” she said.
“I don’t like it.”
“See, I told you she’s stupid,” Connor said from his end of the table.
“Connor,” Chloe said, her voice sharp. “If you want that extra piece of pie, you will apologize right now.”
“Sorry,” Connor quickly mumbled.
Laura burst into tears again just as Clark asked, “How come he gets an extra slice of pie?” Chloe shot him a look.
“I want cookies,” Laura said through her tears.
“Well, we don’t have any, so it’s either pie or nothing.”
“I want cookies,” Laura repeated. “And I want my daddy.”
“Laura-” Chloe started but cut herself off as Clark got up and went to the kitchen. He came back about five minutes later with a box of store-bought cookies that Chloe knew for a fact he’d had to run out to get. Clark opened the box and handed Laura a cookie, and immediately, she stopped crying.
“Mr. Cotton wants a cookie too.”
Clark opened the box again and started to hand Laura a second cookie, but Chloe took it and broke it in half. “Mr. Cotton can have half a cookie.”
Laura considered but didn’t protest, instead taking the half from Chloe and eating her cookie happily.
Chloe looked at Clark. “Clark. Kitchen. Now.”
Clark followed her meekly into the kitchen where she turned on him. “You shouldn’t indulge her, Clark. She gets enough of that from Oliver.”
“But she was just going to keep crying and crying.”
“And I was handling it.”
Clark looked like he was going to argue that point, but instead he conceded, suddenly seeming in a rush to finish this conversation. “You’re right. I was wrong. Like always.”
He pulled her in and kissed her forehead. “I hate to do this, but I have to go.”
Chloe waved him off. “No, it’s okay. Go. We’ll be fine.”
“You sure?”
She nodded. “Go.”
When Clark got home late that night, Laura was asleep on the couch, and Chloe was next to her in the chair. Beside them both was a half eaten box of cookies. Clark smiled and shook Chloe’s shoulder gently.
“Hey,” he whispered. “I’m back. What was that you said about not indulging her?”
Chloe glared at him, but when he picked her up to carry her up the stairs to bed, she snuggled against him.
“You know I was right,” she mumbled into his chest.
“Of course you were,” Clark said and kissed her forehead. “Of course you were.”
Author: moviefreak4634
Rating: PG
Pairing: Chloe/Clark, mostly offscreen Lois/Oliver
Summary: Chloe and Clark babysit Laura for the night, and chaos ensues.
Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville or its characters.
Previous stories in this verse include Seeing Green and The Tea Party.
------------------------------------
Tears filled Laura’s eyes as Connor watched in horror. He hadn’t even done anything except touch her stupid rabbit, and she’d started crying. Laura was so dumb.
Connor folded his arms across his chest and stomped over to the couch. He didn’t know why Laura had to come here so often anyway. The only good thing about her visits was that Uncle Ollie usually came with her, but he hadn’t this time. No, this time Connor was stuck in the house with stupid Laura and her stupid tears and her stupid rabbit.
“Connor,” his dad called from the kitchen.
“I didn’t do anything,” Connor called back. It was true. Laura was just stupid.
“Connor,” his mom called this time, a warning in her voice. Stupid Laura. Now he was going to get yelled at.
“I didn’t do anything!” he yelled instead and ran upstairs to his room, slamming the door behind him.
Back at the kitchen table, Chloe sighed. Clark put his hand over hers, and she smiled wearily at him.
“It’s just for today,” he said.
“That’s easy for you to say,” Chloe replied. “You get to leave in a few hours, but I’ll be stuck here with the Troublesome Two.”
Clark grinned at the name, and Chloe offered him a real smile this time. “I can stay if you want,” he said, but Chloe shook her head.
“No, you have important things to do - fighting crime and all that.” She waved her free hand at the papers spread out across the table. “They should be asleep soon, and I have this article to finish.”
Clark leaned across the table to kiss her. “I love you, you know.”
“You better.”
When Clark pulled away, he whispered, “Laura’s coming.” Then he got up to check on dinner.
Sure enough, Laura appeared in the doorway. Her right thumb was in her mouth, and her left hand clutched her favorite toy, her rabbit Mr. Cotton.
“I want my daddy,” Laura said around her thumb.
Chloe sighed. Oliver and Lois weren’t supposed to pick Laura up until the morning. Once again, she wondered how Lois had managed to talk her into this.
“Come on, Chlo. Do it for me?”
Chloe glared at her. “Lois, I told you. Clark and I are busy - at the Planet and with his Superman duties. We can barely handle Connor, and he and Laura don’t exactly get along.”
“It’s just for one night. It’ll be fun, and then Oliver and I can be alone. Together. With just each other.”
Chloe made a face. “Stop. I don’t know, Lo.”
Lois lowered her voice and leaned in conspiratorially. “We’ll watch Connor for you for a night, if you and Clark…” She trailed off.
Chloe glanced over at Clark, watching him for a moment, and finally sighed. “Okay. We’ll take Laura. But just for one night.”
“You’re the best, Chlo.”
“Yeah, I know,” Chloe muttered under her breath as she lifted Laura into her lap. She glanced over at Clark, who was busy fussing with dinner. Damn her irresistible husband.
Then she turned her attention back to the little girl on her lap. “Laura, your daddy’s not coming back until morning. What’s wrong?”
“Connor tried to take Mr. Cotton,” Laura mumbled. “I want my daddy.”
Chloe sighed again. This was going to be a long night. “I told you, Laura, you’ll see him in the morning.”
Laura frowned, and her eyes screwed shut. She was obviously on the verge of yet another round of tears. “I want my daddy.”
Frustrated, Chloe looked up at Clark, who was watching them, a grin on his face. She raised her eyebrows, nodding at Laura. He didn’t get to just stand there and laugh at her expense.
Fortunately for Clark, he got the hint. “Laura,” he said, walking over to the two and kneeling beside the little girl. “Would Mr. Cotton like some carrots?”
Laura made a face and shook her head. “No, Mr. Cotton doesn’t like carrots. Carrots are icky.”
Clark looked confused by the rabbit who didn’t eat carrots, and Chloe tried not to laugh.
“What does Mr. Cotton like then?” Clark asked.
“Cookies?” Laura sounded hopefully, but Chloe knew there weren’t any cookies in the house.
Apparently, Clark remembered this too because he said, “How about juice? Does Mr. Cotton like juice?”
Laura looked thoughtful, and after a moment, she held the rabbit to her ear as if listening to something. Finally she nodded. “Yes, Mr. Cotton likes juice. Juice, please.” She gave him a bright smile.
Chloe gave him a smile too, and as Clark moved away to get Mr. Cotton’s juice, she mouthed a thank you at him.
“Dinner’s almost ready,” Clark said when he came back with Mr. Cotton’s juice.
Chloe nodded. “I’d better go get Connor. Right after I clean up this mess on the table.” She stood up, placing Laura on the chair she’d left.
“I got it,” Clark said.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, go.” He gave her a brief kiss. “Good luck. You’ll need it.”
“Yeah,” Chloe said, patting his chest lightly before heading for the stairs. “Your son could give you a run for your money in the brooding department.”
“Hey. Our son would be just fine. If only someone hadn’t made him so stubborn.”
“Connor gets all his best traits from me.”
“Pigheadedness is not a good trait.”
“Oh, you know you love it,” Chloe called from the top of the stairs before going to knock on Connor’s door.
“Go away,” Connor called from inside.
“Connor, it’s dinnertime.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Chloe knew that wasn’t true. Connor was always hungry, no matter how much he put away at each meal. He was just upset. Chloe opened the door and stepped inside the room.
Connor was sprawled across his bed facedown. “Go away,” he said again.
“No. It’s dinnertime.”
Connor rolled over to his side, facing away from her. “I told you. I’m not hungry.”
“And I don’t believe that. Is this about Laura?”
Connor didn’t say anything, so Chloe took that as a yes. She walked over to the bed and sat down beside Connor.
After a moment, Connor said in a small voice, “I didn’t do anything.”
“Oh, Connor,” Chloe sighed, putting his hand on his arm. “I know you didn’t.”
“But you yelled at me.”
“No. Your father and I just wanted to know what was going on. Laura can be-” She paused. “A little hard to handle, and we didn’t want it to get worse.”
Connor rolled over onto his back and looked up at her. “Laura’s stupid.”
Chloe smiled and brushed his unruly dark hair off his forehead. “No, she’s not. She’s just little.” And, thanks to Oliver, she was used to getting her own way all the time too.
“No, she’s stupid.”
“Connor,” Chloe said. “You can’t talk about her like that. She’s family.”
“Does she have to be?” he asked.
Chloe smiled again. “Yes, but how about to make up for it you can have an extra slice of pie at dinner?”
Connor grinned up at her. Then after a moment, he asked, “Mom? Can we go have dinner now? I’m starving.”
Chloe grinned and nodded. “I thought so.”
Connor and Chloe made it downstairs where dinner went off without a hitch. That was, until dessert.
“No,” Laura said.
Chloe bit back a grin as she glanced at Clark and Connor, who looked simply dumbfounded.
“Laura, it’s apple pie,” she said.
“I don’t like it.”
“See, I told you she’s stupid,” Connor said from his end of the table.
“Connor,” Chloe said, her voice sharp. “If you want that extra piece of pie, you will apologize right now.”
“Sorry,” Connor quickly mumbled.
Laura burst into tears again just as Clark asked, “How come he gets an extra slice of pie?” Chloe shot him a look.
“I want cookies,” Laura said through her tears.
“Well, we don’t have any, so it’s either pie or nothing.”
“I want cookies,” Laura repeated. “And I want my daddy.”
“Laura-” Chloe started but cut herself off as Clark got up and went to the kitchen. He came back about five minutes later with a box of store-bought cookies that Chloe knew for a fact he’d had to run out to get. Clark opened the box and handed Laura a cookie, and immediately, she stopped crying.
“Mr. Cotton wants a cookie too.”
Clark opened the box again and started to hand Laura a second cookie, but Chloe took it and broke it in half. “Mr. Cotton can have half a cookie.”
Laura considered but didn’t protest, instead taking the half from Chloe and eating her cookie happily.
Chloe looked at Clark. “Clark. Kitchen. Now.”
Clark followed her meekly into the kitchen where she turned on him. “You shouldn’t indulge her, Clark. She gets enough of that from Oliver.”
“But she was just going to keep crying and crying.”
“And I was handling it.”
Clark looked like he was going to argue that point, but instead he conceded, suddenly seeming in a rush to finish this conversation. “You’re right. I was wrong. Like always.”
He pulled her in and kissed her forehead. “I hate to do this, but I have to go.”
Chloe waved him off. “No, it’s okay. Go. We’ll be fine.”
“You sure?”
She nodded. “Go.”
When Clark got home late that night, Laura was asleep on the couch, and Chloe was next to her in the chair. Beside them both was a half eaten box of cookies. Clark smiled and shook Chloe’s shoulder gently.
“Hey,” he whispered. “I’m back. What was that you said about not indulging her?”
Chloe glared at him, but when he picked her up to carry her up the stairs to bed, she snuggled against him.
“You know I was right,” she mumbled into his chest.
“Of course you were,” Clark said and kissed her forehead. “Of course you were.”