Second Choice: 8/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
For the first time, Judge Grant allowed a smile to soften his expression. "Well, at least you seem to realize what you're getting into," he said. He took off his glasses and polished them with his handkerchief, examined them carefully against the light of a tall lamp and replaced them with careful precision. "My great grandparents left Boston, Massachusetts to move out west," he said. "He was eighteen and his bride was seventeen. They were married for seventy-three years, through twelve children and every sort of hardship that people could face in those days. Both families opposed the move, but they went in spite of it all." Clark found he was holding his breath while the older man spoke. "I see a lot of determination in both of you. If you bring it into your marriage, then you have as good a chance as they did." He turned to the big desk that sat against one wall and opened a drawer to remove a paper. "I've looked over your paperwork, and this medical report gives me the right to sign the license." He picked up an old-fashioned fountain pen and affixed his signature to the document. "Now, if you'll come with me --" He went to the door and opened it for them. "My wife and our housekeeper, Mrs. Napier, will be the witnesses."
**********
And now, Part 8:
Forty-five minutes later, they landed back at Porcupine Gulch and reclaimed their car. Clark opened the driver's door ceremoniously for Lois, who slid into the driver's seat. He shut the door and went around to get in next to her. She stared at the bands on her ring finger and then looked almost shyly at Clark. "I'm Mrs. Clark Kent," she said, wonderingly. "Lois Kent. What's everyone going to say? They'll think you're the baby's father, and that you and I --"
"I *am* the baby's father," Clark said firmly. "If anyone doubts it, they can ask me. I'm married to my best friend and the most beautiful woman any man could wish for." He reached out to take her hand and held it, running a thumb across the engagement ring and the gold band next to it. "And I'm going to stand next to you and applaud the loudest of anyone when you bring in that first Pulitzer, Lois Lane Kent."
She blinked back tears. "Will I?"
"You bet you will," Clark said. "We're just beginning to show the world what we can do together."
She sniffed slightly. "I'm sorry. I don't usually cry this much. I don't know what's the matter with me."
He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. "Well, I'm no expert but I've done some reading about pregnancy and childbirth. From what I read, I think all the extra hormones your body is producing right now is probably making you more emotional than you usually are."
"What were you doing, reading about that?" Lois asked. "No, what am I thinking of. You read the whole Smallville law library for me, too."
Clark shrugged. "What can I say? Guilty as charged." Come on. Let's get back to town and we'll get busy moving things to the farmhouse. Does your mom know where the three of you are going?"
"I told her that the landlord was terminating our lease, and that I've found another place. She's not happy about all the work of moving but I don't think she'll make much of a fuss. She'll be too relieved that someone else did the work. What I'm worried about is what's going to happen when she wants a drink," Lois said, with a trace of bitterness.
"I don't know that there's anything we can do, at least for now," Clark said. "Your mom's a grown woman. We don't have the authority to tell her she can't drink."
"I know. But that doesn't mean we have to buy it for her!"
"No; of course not. On the other hand, if she wants to go to town, we can't keep her a prisoner," Clark pointed out practically. "We're going to have to focus on getting her to see that there's a problem -- and not letting Lucy come to harm. When we get back, I'm going to borrow Wayne's big pickup and start moving your stuff. I cleaned the whole farmhouse yesterday from top to bottom, including all the furniture. Lucy's got one room in the attic for herself. It's warm and comfortable, and as big as the master bedroom, so she'll have a lot more room than she's got now. The other one is a storeroom and we'll put anything we can't find a place for in there unless you have a better idea. Your Mom's got my old room, which is bigger than the one she has at the apartment. We --" He hesitated and could feel his face growing warm. "I fixed up Mom and Dad's room for us. My stuff is already in there, and I'll put yours with it. You can show me how you want it arranged after we get everything over there -- unless you want me to sleep on the couch or something."
"Don't be an idiot," Lois said, in her usual direct way. "I'm married to you and we'll share the room. It's not as if I'm a vir -- well, you know -- anymore."
"That's not important now," Clark said quietly. "This is *my* baby, and if Ronnie tries to say otherwise, I'll take care of it. But I'm betting he'll be too relieved to be off the hook."
She looked at him silently for a long minute. "It's not important," she repeated. "It's your baby. You know what people will think, don't you?"
"I can't say that I care," Clark said, honestly. "I'm married to the woman of my dreams. Why should it matter what other people think?"
"I guess it doesn't," she said slowly, looking at him oddly. "The woman of your dreams?"
He met her gaze with complete honesty. "You've been that since the first time I saw you."
"Okay." She seemed to shake herself slightly. "I only wish I'd known. Well, let's go ahead and take the bull by the horns. Don't forget, we have to pick up Lucy at seven."
"I haven't," Clark said. "You can do that while I'm making dinner for us. I'm the cook, remember. You've promised faithfully that you won't try to help. I'm counting on you to keep your promise."
She smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "Smart-a*s ." The banter seemed to have overcome her slight attack of nerves. She started the engine, backed skillfully out of the parking place and turned the nose of the little blue car toward Smallville.
**********
By the time Ellen Lane returned to the apartment, Clark had the last load of belongings from the apartment packed efficiently into the pickup. Ellen stood on the sidewalk, swaying slightly and staring as he hoisted the last item into the bed of the truck and padded it carefully against damage. "What's going on?" she demanded of her daughter, who emerged from the door of the building at this fortuitous moment.
"Today's our last day," Lois said. "Clark's helping us move things to the new place."
Ellen looked slightly dumbfounded. "I didn't know that was today."
Clark didn't say anything. Ellen must have stopped at Roscoe's Bar on the way back from her bridge club meeting, he thought. He could smell the whiskey on her breath. At least he hoped that was where she'd gotten the liquor. If she'd gotten it at the bridge club meeting, they had more problems than he'd realized.
"I told you yesterday," Lois said, sounding tired. "Anyway, get in the car and we'll follow Clark."
"What about Lucy?" Ellen asked, looking around as if she expected her younger daughter to appear out of thin air.
"She'll be back from her camping trip at seven," Lois said. "I'm supposed to pick her up at the elementary school."
"Oh," Ellen said. She opened the passenger door. "Where are we going?"
Lois turned on the engine and looked over her shoulder before pulling out into the street. "We're going to follow Clark."
Clark smiled to himself. Lois, as he had expected, was dodging her mother's questions. Once they got to the farmhouse would be time enough to explain.
"What are you wearing on your hand?" Ellen clearly hadn't had enough to drink not to notice the obvious.
"A wedding set," Lois replied shortly.
"Why are you wearing a wedding set?" Ellen demanded. "I've never seen that before."
"Mother," Lois's voice sounded stiff to him and he recognized the note of irritation combined with defensiveness in her voice, "I'm trying to pay attention to traffic. I'll explain everything when we stop."
"This is the road out of town. Just where are we going?"
"The place I got for us is a house outside of town. It's bigger than the apartment and less expensive."
"It's not some dump, is it?"
"No," Lois said. "It's nicer than the apartment."
"How did you find this place?"
"Well, you weren't paying any attention to it, so I figured I'd better or we'd be camping out in Tuttle Park," Lois said.
"Lois Lane, I won't be spoken to that way!"
Lois didn't answer. Clark concentrated on his driving. It would be best to get Lois and Ellen out of the car before Lois murdered her mother.
"What kind of place is this?" Ellen asked.
"It used to be a farmhouse," Lois said.
"A farmhouse? Lois Lane, I am not living at a farmhouse!"
"It's not a farm anymore," Lois said shortly. "It's just a house. At least look at it before you make up your mind. Then if you want to rent in town, you can do what you want." Clark cringed slightly but surprisingly, Ellen didn’t answer.
The farm was ten miles from the edge of the actual town, and Lois managed to dodge her mother's questions for the duration of the trip. Clark turned into the gravel road between the white fence posts and led the way into the dirt area in front of his parents' farm. His farm. It now belonged to him. He'd dealt with all the paperwork the week before. It was the seventh of July and he had been immersed in a great deal of legal details for the past three weeks, getting the place ready for Lois and her family.
Lois's car pulled up behind the truck and she cut the engine. Ellen opened the door and got out, looking around at the farmhouse and the other buildings and Clark found himself thankful that he had sanded and painted the entire house and barn so that everything looked neat and tidy. Perhaps a good first impression would help reconcile Lois's mother to her new dwelling.
Lois also got out. "It looks nice," she told Clark.
"Thanks." Clark handed her the house key. "Why don't you and Mrs. Lane go on inside, while I get the rest of your things unloaded."
"All right." Lois turned to her mother. "What do you think?"
Ellen wrinkled her nose. "Well, it isn't as bad as I thought it would be."
"Come on inside," Lois said.
Ellen trailed Lois up the steps onto the front porch, still looking around with an air of distaste. Clark opened the back of the truck and began hoisting down the boxes.
A few minutes later, Clark entered the house. Ellen was wandering around the first floor, examining the premises. Finally, she returned to the living room and sank onto the newly cleaned and renovated sofa.
"Well, Mother?" Lois asked. "What do you think of it?"
"It will do, I suppose," Ellen said, a little grudgingly. "It's better than I expected." She turned to look at Lois's hand. "Now, young lady, I want to know where that wedding set came from."
"It's mine," Lois said, a little defiantly. "I'm married."
"Married! You can't marry! You're underage!"
"I'll explain," Lois said. She looked at Clark and he moved to her side and took her hand.
"Lois is married to me, Mrs. Lane," Clark said.
Ellen stared coldly at him. "She can't be."
"I am," Lois said. She opened her little handbag and removed the marriage certificate. "Look."
Ellen took the paper, an expression of disbelief on her face. After examining it, she looked up. "I demand an explanation."
**********
"You're *pregnant*?" Ellen stared at Lois and then turned to glare at Clark. "You got my daughter *pregnant*?"
"Clark didn't," Lois said. "It was someone else. I already told you that. Clark found out and asked me to marry him."
"You don't expect me to believe a cock and bull story like that?" Ellen said coldly. "Do you take me for a fool?"
"It's the truth," Lois said.
"Why didn't you tell me? Your father would have arranged an abortion!"
"That was *exactly* why I didn't tell you!" Lois shot back. "The baby's father offered to pay for one, too. I couldn't do it!"
"That's not important," Ellen said. "You’re a child. You have no idea what’s best for you. Now you've ruined your life, and what your father is going to say I don't know. God, I need a drink!"
"I can get you a cup of coffee," Clark offered. "I'm afraid there isn't anything else in the house."
"Well, you just head right back to town and get me a bottle," Ellen commanded.
Lois glanced at Clark and shrugged. "I'm only eighteen," Clark said. "I'm not allowed to buy liquor."
**********
In spite of the unpromising beginning, however, Lois persuaded her mother to temporarily forego the drink long enough to examine her bedroom upstairs and to direct Clark where to put her boxes of possessions. It was impossible to prevent her from haranguing Lois about her actions but when Clark had offered to take her place, Lois had shaken her head. Clark had withdrawn while Lois undertook the task of soothing her parent’s ruffled feathers. Reconciling her to the situation was probably beyond their ability but eventually she had run down, at least temporarily. By the time evening rolled around, the remainder of the load had been moved into the house, arranged in various places or stored in the attic and Clark had returned Wayne Irig's truck to its owner. At six-thirty, Lois set out in the Lane car to pick up her sister and Clark began to prepare dinner in the farmhouse kitchen that he remembered from his days as a child. He was carefully measuring rice, before pouring it into the boiling, salted water, when Ellen Lane stepped into the kitchen.
He smiled at her briefly while turning the temperature on the rice to medium, and covering it. Ellen stood in the doorway, watching him without expression. Clark stirred his homemade chili carefully to prevent the mixture from scorching, covered it and lowered the heat. He glanced at Ellen Lane. "Is there something you needed, Mrs. Lane?" he asked.
Ellen shook her head slowly. She looked around the room, seeming to take in every detail. Clark saw that the water was boiling for his vegetables and turned to dump the fresh broccoli that he had brought earlier from Smallville Market into the steamer. He covered the vegetables, turned the heat to low and set the timer. "Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes -- just about the time Lois gets back with Lucy," he added.
"I'll give you one point," Ellen Lane said. "You can cook."
"Thank you," Clark said. "My mother taught me the basics when I was a child. Nettie Irig taught me a lot in the last couple of years, too."
"Why did you marry my daughter?" Ellen Lane asked abruptly. "If you were going to pay for an abortion, why ask her to marry you?"
"I never offered to pay for an abortion," Clark said.
"She said you did."
"Not exactly. In any case, it doesn't matter. I love Lois. I wasn't going to let her go through this alone, no matter what I had to do."
"You're too young to know anything about love," Ellen said shortly.
Clark didn't answer. Ellen eyed him narrowly for a moment. "What are your plans, now that you've ruined my daughter's life?" she asked finally.
Clark ignored the rider. "I'm going to attend Midwest U this fall, majoring in journalism. Lois and I talked it over and she's going to night school this summer to get some credits. Then she's going to Smallville High for the first semester in the fall. The baby is due in January, so after that, she'll go back to night school to finish. That way one of us can care for the baby while the other one is in school. After that, we'll see. She wants to go to college, for a degree in journalism, too, and I intend to help her to do it."
"How?" Ellen asked.
"We have a year to figure it out," Clark said quietly. "We’ll manage. I didn't marry Lois in order to ruin her life."
Ellen gave a faint snort. "You should have thought of that before you got my daughter pregnant."
Clark didn't reply, but turned to take dishes from the kitchen cupboard. His mother's Blue Willow china was clean and shining, ready to be used. He recalled her saying to him once that she used it because if she saved it for special occasions she would have been deprived of the enjoyment of eating from it most of the time. Matter-of-factly, he went into the farmhouse’s small dining room and busied himself with setting the table. He had just finished when he heard the car pull up outside and a moment later Lois, followed by Lucy, entered the living room.
Lucy stopped in the doorway, staring at the set table. "Wow! We're eating at the table? What's for dinner?"
"Chili," Clark said. "I hope you're hungry."
After dinner, Clark went into the kitchen to tidy up while Lois saw to it that her sister was shown her new bedroom. She returned a short time later to inform Clark that Lucy’s new sleeping quarters was apparently a success. Lucy had been dazzled by the attic bedroom. Ellen, on the other hand, was apparently grousing about the lack of anything to drink for a "nightcap".
"She says she's going to town tomorrow if she has to walk," Lois added.
"Well, we kind of expected that," Clark said. "We're going to have to give her time to get over everything that's happened before we can even start to change things."
Lois nodded soberly. "She was after me again for marrying you instead of getting an abortion," she added. “She’s already pushing the idea that I should have the abortion and divorce you. She says she’s going to call my father tomorrow. We’re going to have him out here next.”
"I know. I heard."
"I don't think she's ever going to believe me." Lois’s chin was set in what Clark had begun to recognize as her most stubborn mode. “I will *not* be pressured into doing something I don’t want to do. I don’t care what Mother and Daddy say.”
Clark dried his hands on a dishtowel and put his arm around her. "It doesn't matter what your mother thinks," he said. "I said it's my baby, no matter what and I meant it. And you’re an emancipated minor now. Your parents can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do."
"It's just so infuriating," Lois said. "I told her the truth and she refuses to believe me. I guess I should be used to it by now."
Clark didn't answer but the thought crossed his mind that Ellen Lane was one of those women who sought out grievances and never let go of one, in order to always have a weapon at hand with which to pummel the object of her ire. It had been after he'd ceased to date Lana that he'd realized that Lana was much the same. Once again, he thanked his lucky stars that he had somehow had the good fortune to meet Lois when he had. Things might not have gone as he and Lois had wished or planned, but she'd spared him a great deal of grief and he could only be grateful for that small side effect of the larger situation.
“If I refuse, she’s threatening to move out,” Lois added, “and take Lucy with her.”
Clark sighed. “If she does, we’ll deal with it,” he said. “How long do you think she can take care of Lucy, considering how much she drinks?”
“Not long,” Lois said.
“That’s what I thought,” Clark said. “Your dad doesn’t have any idea, does he?”
“Daddy never stayed at home long enough to know how much Mother drank,” Lois said. “He knew she did, that was all.” She fell silent, and Clark kept quiet. He knew that Look. Lois, figuring out angles and methods, was unmatched. “After Mother and Lucy are asleep, do you think you could fly us to Metropolis?”
“Sure,” he said. “Why?”
“I need to talk to Daddy in person.”
“Won’t he be in bed?” Clark asked.
“Maybe. Maybe not,” Lois said. “It won’t matter. I need to talk to him before Mother does.”
“All right,” Clark agreed. “If that’s what you want to do, we’ll do it.”
**********
In the course of his previous travels, Clark had been to Metropolis once or twice. At eleven o’clock at night, the city wasn’t even near to quieting down, if it ever did. In Smallville he’d heard it stated that they rolled up the streets at nine o’clock. Certainly the nightlife of the town got much quieter after nine in the evening. Metropolis certainly didn’t. The huge city was lit up like a Christmas tree, cars jammed the thoroughfares, stores were doing a thriving business, movie theaters were still receiving customers and he could hear music going full blast from hotels and private homes. It sounded as if the city was one vast party that had no prospects of ending any time soon. It was loud, it was exciting, and it drew him like nothing ever had.
He and Lois coasted on the air above the huge, brawling, energetic city. They flew past the downtown business district and passed over the Daily Planet Building. That hadn’t been chance, and he x-rayed the structure beneath him just out of curiosity.
The evening shift was underway, he saw, and the pace was a little slower than it had been the two previous times that he had flown over the building and peeked into its newsroom, but it still fascinated him. His ambition to someday work here was no less intense in spite of recent events.
“I wanted to work there someday,” Lois’s voice said.
“You will, if you want to,” he said. “We’ll make it as long as we work together.”
“Do you think so?” Lois asked.
“I know so.”
“When you sound like that, you make me believe it too,” Lois said. “Right now, though, we need to find my father. Let’s try his office first. It’s on Broadway, near Third Avenue.”
Clark obediently changed direction. A few moments later, they dropped onto the roof of the office building where her father worked. Clark’s x-ray vision had told him that Lois’s instinct had been correct as usual. Sam Lane was in his laboratory. As Clark watched, he turned off the lab's lights and entered his office.
The building was naturally locked but the roof entrance was less resistant to the methods they could bring to bear, largely because it was unobserved. Clark’s laser vision drilled a neat hole directly through the lock casing and they slipped inside. They descended the stairwell, courtesy of Clark’s speed and, a moment later, emerged into the hallway where Sam Lane’s office was located.
The night watchman, Clark determined quickly, was not on the floor. As a matter of fact, he was two floors down, strolling along a deserted hall and whistling softly to himself.
“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked Lois in a whisper.
“No,” she told him. “But can you stick around nearby -- just in case I need you?”
“Sure,” Clark said. He floated upward to merge with the shadow next to one of the unlighted ceiling fixtures. “I’ll be waiting.”
**********
tbc
