The White’s house was simpler than Clark had imagined it would be. It was a big Craftsman style house in one of the older suburbs of Park Ridge west of New Troy Island, four bedrooms, two and a half baths thanks to a recent remodeling. Perry and Alice had kept with the 1920’s theme in the furnishings, real wood, real leather. In fact, it reminded him of how the other Lois and Clark’s house looked. Functional, homey, unpretentious really, but real. No fabulous fakes here, no photo-wood or vinyl pretending to be something else.
“Clark, you look all done in,” Alice observed. “I made up your room, first one on the left at the top of the stairs. Why don’t you get a little nap before dinner? I’ll have Perry get your bags.”
“No, I’ll go get them,” Clark insisted. “They’re pretty heavy.”
Wordlessly, Perry handed him the key to the trunk of the Acura.
“Perry, what’s really going on?” Alice asked as soon as Clark was out the door. “How the devil could those two disappear off the face of the Earth for three days and come back with a baby that can’t be more than a day old?”
“I’m not sure,” Perry admitted. “It could very well be, most likely is, everything Lois and Clark have told me. Clark got into a relationship while he was away traveling, found out she was pregnant, tried to get her into the country, couldn’t. Then Lois found out, got involved, got Superman involved. And I will bet you anything that Clark would pass a paternity test if it was required.”
“So, what can we do to help?” Alice asked. The baby had started to fuss again. Alice handed her to Perry and started rummaging through the bag of baby things. “She’s probably hungry again, poor thing . . .”
“Lois fed her before we left,” Perry said. “I’m not sure she trusted Clark to do it yet. I have no idea what she has planned.”
“Neither do I,” Clark answered, shutting the front door behind him. “But I’m positive I’m not going to like it much.”
“You’ll get through this,” Perry promised. “Tomorrow we’ll see what the lawyers downstairs can do about getting a birth certificate for our little princess here.” If Perry hadn’t been looking, watching for it, he might have missed the flicker of . . . what? Worry, fear, something else]/i] . . . that crossed Clark’s face. [i]We are definitely going to talk, boy.
“Aren’t they libel and copyright attorneys?” Clark asked.
“They’re clever fellows. At least that’s what they tell me,” Perry said, gently bouncing on the balls of his feet to sooth the baby in his arms. It’d been a while since there’d been a baby in the house, since Jason was a baby in fact. Jerry’s widow and kids and Keith and his wife and kids lived away from the city. Perry and Alice didn’t see them very often.
“And I’m sure they’re capable of doing more than just keeping Lois and Ralph out of jail,” Perry continued, grinning. “At least you’re not on that list . . .yet. But I have hope.”
“Go get settled in, take a nap,” Alice ordered. She’d found the formula and bottle in the bag.
“Yes, ma’am,” Clark said with a faint smile and took his bags up to the indicated room. He locked the bedroom door behind him and unpacked some of his things. The room had a large window facing the back yard. He opened the window, leaning out to look around. There were tall trees blocking the view of the window from the neighboring houses.
He was tired and he really couldn’t remember the last time he’d been able to unwind enough for a good couple hours sleep. He didn’t need much sleep, could go days without it, but he did need dreamtime. He hadn’t been getting much of that either, not since Luthor stabbed him in the back with a kryptonite shiv. He had nightmares, would wake up sweating and more tired than he’d been before he fell asleep.
He took one last look around the yard, shed his street clothes, then launched himself into the sky at just less than the sound barrier.
In the stratosphere the sun’s light was less filtered. It felt good just to float where the sound was muted to near nothingness. He dozed and dreamed. Lex Luthor stalked his dreams, his nightmares. After a short while, he opened his eyes and headed back to the White’s home, back to his new responsibilities. What have I gotten myself into?
* * *
Lois, Richard and Jason sat down to dinner. tandoori chicken, biryani, chapathis, amti.
“Mommy, where did you go with Superman?” Jason asked.
“Well, Clark and I went to Superman’s Fortress of Solitude to find out some things from Superman,” Lois began.
“Mister Clark was with you and Superman?” he asked. He frowned at her, obviously confused.
“Yes, he was,” Lois said. “Why?”
He just looked at her, bright blue eyes, troubled. “Nothing, Mommy.” He toyed with his food, watching his mother carefully.
Lois continued, trying to ignore Jason’s eyes on her. “Well, then Mister Clark told us a secret he hadn’t wanted to tell anybody at work. . .”
“Mister Clark told you his secret?” Jason asked. He looked more confused than before.
“Yes, he told us he got married while he was on his trip and he was trying to get his wife home to Metropolis so they could have their baby here. I asked Superman to help him.”
Jason just looked at her like he didn’t believe her story. “Did Superman help?”
Lois looked over to Richard. He was pointedly staring at his plate.
“Yes and no. He found Clark’s baby girl and she was okay and he brought her to Metropolis, but her mother was dead,” she told he son. “Clark’s pretty upset,” she added.
“Does this mean I have a baby sister?” Jason asked. He gave his mother a speculative look.
She looked over at Richard again. He was staring at Jason, mouth open in surprise.
“What makes you think that, kiddo?” Richard asked.
“If Mister Clark is my bio . . .biol …”
“Biological?” Lois suggested. Jason nodded his head.
“Biological father, then his baby girl is my sister, too,” he explained.
“Jason, who told you that Clark was your biological father?” Richard choked out.
“People at your work,” he said. “Miss Cat, and Ralph, and Gil all said Mommy and Mister Clark were ‘friends with benefits’ before he ran away.” He looked between the two adults at the table. “What does that mean, friends with benefits?”
Trust Cat and Ralph to put the worse possible spin on the whole thing. “Um, it means that before Mommy met Daddy, Mister Clark and I were very close and did grown-up things together,” Lois explained, trying to keep her expression neutral.
“And I heard you tell Mister Clark I was his son, when we were at the hospital,” Jason added.
Lois looked at him, wide-eyed. “You heard me say that?”
Jason nodded. Lois looked over at Richard again. He was staring back at her.
“Clark was at the hospital that night, too?” Richard asked. “He didn’t mention it to Perry or me. In fact, we’re not sure where he took off to after I left to look for you that day.”
“Clark is a reporter, remember? He went to cover the disaster, got hurt, ended up at Met General about the same time they brought in Superman. I saw him there as we were leaving,” she told him. “We started talking and it just came out.”
Jason looked at her, worried, eyes bright with tears. “Mommy, did Mister Clark run away because of me?”
Lois’s heart broke. “Oh no, honey. Mister Clark had something he absolutely had to do, that’s why he left. He didn’t know about you. Even I didn’t know about you before he left. But if he had known, I know for a fact he would never have left.”
Jason nodded his head, brown hair falling into his eyes. He gave his mother a tremulous smile.
Richard sighed and Lois gave him a curious look. “You said you had something to talk to me and Jason about?” she reminded him.
“Maybe now isn’t the right time,” Richard said. He ran his hand through his hair. Lois couldn’t remember the last time he looked so . . . concerned, distressed?
“Richard, we promised never to keep things from one another . . .” she started. He stared at her. “Not that I’ve done a very good job of that,” she added. I told you I didn’t love Superman, and now you find out I was sleeping with Clark?
He snorted. “Yeah, that’s an understatement,” he said, then promptly looked ashamed. “You guys remember I told you a couple weeks ago that there was an opening in Paris?”
Lois nodded, sensing where he was going.
“You told me you weren’t interested in moving, so I didn’t think any more about it,” he said. She nodded, not saying anything, letting him continue at his own pace.
“Considering what’s been happening, everything that’s happened, Superman, Clark, Luthor,” he went on. “I’m taking the post in Paris. I’m leaving next Monday.”
“And you decided this without bothering to talk to me? I’m your fiancée, for God’s sake,” Lois said. She wasn’t surprised, really. A little hurt that he’d made the decision without letting her explain, without giving her a choice. Angry, definitely.
“Lois, you disappeared for three days without a word to me.” He held up his hand as she started to protest. “I know you told Perry you were going to be out on a story and it might not pan out. But you didn’t talk to me. Even when you came back, you called Perry, not me. What am I supposed to think?”
“That I’m dedicated to my job?” Lois suggested.
“Lois, I fell in love with a woman who as it happened, was on the rebound from an encounter that . . . well, probably shouldn’t have happened but did,” he said. “I was in love with a woman who I didn’t really know, who never showed me who she really was, because she wanted to leave the past behind. But that past has come back with a vengeance and now I’m seeing the woman you used to be, the one who was in love with a hero who can fly. How the hell can I compete with that?”
“You’re not being fair, Richard,” she protested, but she knew her complaint was weak, even in her own ears.
He just looked at her a long moment. “You’re the one who’s not being fair, to Clark. I can only imagine what he’s going through right now. And if you hurt him the way I know you can, he may never recover.”
“Clark is stronger than you think,” she told him. She pulled off her engagement ring and set it on the table between them.
“Lois, Superman is afraid of you. What chance has Clark Kent got?”
