Missing Lois (Season 5) - TOC Chapter 3 - One Step Forward, Two Steps Back - 10 Parts
Disclaimer: Inspired by the characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster and portrayed on the
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman television series, developed by Deborah Joy-LeVine. Many thanks for the above-referenced writers and to the other writers on the show for their inspiration. The plot of this story is entirely my own.
Author’s Note: I have altered the timeline of the show twice in this chapter. First, by extending the length of Lois’s murder trial (to months instead of days) and secondly, by moving Tempus’s John Doe Presidential election bid to its correct spot between the “Ghosts” and “Stop the Presses” (i.e. November 1996).
Story Notes: Just a reminder, Lois and Alt. Clark have told Alt. Sam Lane that she is really a Lois Lane from another dimension. She calls her Clark, Kal, to lessen the Clark-confusion, except in her letters to her Clark, where she calls him Clark and Alt. Clark, Kal. Everyone else in the alternate dimension (with the exception of Moonbeam / Star) thinks she is Lucy El (wife of Kal El), an old college friend of Alt. Clark's.
For a longer plot summary, please click here:
Synopsis of Chapters 1 & 2 To refresh your memory on what happened last time, please click on this link:
Chapter 2: Part 8***
Part OneDr. Klein took the bent piece of metal, which Superman returned to him. “Ok, that was the strongest metal on Earth and you crushed it like a tin can. Impressive. We’ll have to find something harder.”
Superman nodded with understanding.
“Have you tried to see how far your x-ray and heat vision work?”
“I have a decent range. But I have never measured it.”
“Ok. We’ll try that next week.” Dr. Klein pressed his lips together and didn’t speak for a moment. “As your doctor there was something else I wanted to discuss with you.”
Superman looked at him curiously and waited. And waited. And waited.
“We’ve been working regularly together for two months, now, so I feel we can talk openly about this, right?”
Tilting his head, Superman tried to see where Dr. Klein’s mind was headed.
“One of the lab assistants noticed that you come here on a fairly regular basis and advised me that you’ve been dating lots of different women, is this true?”
Superman nodded.
“You are taking precautions. Using protection, then?”
Superman’s eyes widened. “Against these women? Do I need to?”
Dr. Klein winced. “We’ve established that you are much the same in basics as a regular human male. Women are different from men, physically. You understand that, right?”
“I was engaged to be married, Dr. Klein. I do understand the difference between men and women.”
Dr. Klein released a thankful breath. “So, you are taking precautions, then?”
“Precaution from what? The only thing we’ve discovered that can hurt me is Kryptonite.” Superman was confused.
Dr. Klein wrapped an arm around Superman’s shoulder. “Then you aren’t really dating a lot of women, if you don’t understand how a woman can crush a man like a tin can.”
“No,” Superman stated. “I’m attending social events with a lot of different women for charity.”
“Phew.” Chuckled Dr. Klein. “If I had to go into dangers of ….” He shook his head.
Superman laughed. “You’d think we were discussing the birds and bees…”
Dr. Klein cringed. He took a deep breath. “I’m not a medical doctor, Superman. Understand that this is a difficult subject for me to discuss.”
“What subject are we discussing?” Superman asked, curiously.
“Sex.”
“Oh.” Superman nodded. “Oh.” Definitely the birds and the bees. His eyes went wide. “Sorry.”
“You understand my discomfort here, then. Just tell me your experience in that department and we can move on, ok?”
“But I don’t have any experience in that department.”
“You don’t?” Dr. Klein seemed a little surprised.
“Not a fact I want spread around, understand, Dr. Klein,” Superman said in his intimidating voice.
“Of course. Doctor - Patient confidentiality. One-hundred percent.” Dr. Klein smiled nervously. “You were engaged without experimenting with the test subject first?”
Superman looked uncomfortable. “My situation is different because I’m different. I’ve waited, so my first time would be with someone I trust completely.”
“I’m not a therapist, but you were engaged to someone you didn’t trust completely?”
Superman shrugged. “I thought if she would marry me, despite everything different about me, I could trust her. We never made it that far, so I’m glad I waited. Now that I’m Superman, I must be completely one-hundred percent sure of someone before I could allow such intimacy.”
“Yes, that’s a good idea,” Dr. Klein replied with a nod.
“Is there enough similarity between my genetics and human genetics for me to father a child, Dr. Klein?”
The researcher thought about this for a minute. “That’s a good question, Superman. Let’s run some tests, next week, when you come in for your appointment. But in the meantime, if you decide to take the plunge with a woman, best cover up.” Then Dr. Klein continued, clearly not wanting him to misunderstand. “Should you decide to become intimate, wear protection.”
“Of course.” Superman nodded.
***
Dearest Clark –
I cannot believe it is the first day of autumn, already. I am four months pregnant now and beginning to show. Although, you’d have to see me naked to tell. No one who does not already know will find out. Lucy El’s style of extremely baggy pants and flouncy shirts should keep my secret safe. Coat and sweater season will be upon us before we know it and the extra layers will make it easier to hide my growing belly. I miss you, terribly, and wish I could be sharing all this with you.
The nausea has finally subsided and I can eat again. Yeah! When Daddy weighed me yesterday, I had lost thirteen pounds since the first time he weighed me. Who knew that having a baby would be the best diet I’d ever be on?
My father and I snuck into the University Hospital last night and did an ultrasound on their big fancy machine. I felt almost like my old self again… or since my old self is in jail, like I was on the lam. My dad wanted a better look at the baby than he could get with his old sports ultrasound machine. He was worried because the baby’s heart rate was double a normal baby’s at this stage. I reassured him that so was yours. I even made him check Kal’s heart rate for comparison. But Kal agreed with Dad. So, we broke into the ultrasound room at 1:45AM. Dad was reassured. He could see the heart, arms, legs and even the baby’s bottom. I only saw a grey blob. He even took a photo. It still looks like a grey blob.
It was extra scary to break into the hospital without Kal’s help. I was afraid that if we got caught in person or on surveillance camera, it would cause him more problems with the tabloids. So, we will tell him about our trip this afternoon.
Kal and Mayson are still dating, if you can call it that. They meet for lunch at The Planet
or he zips over to her place for dinner. He’s trying to keep his spirits up, but this week alone, she was called away during dinner and he away from lunch. He’s still working through the 50 ‘Win a Date With Superman’s Clark Kent’ (Ralph chose the title) winners. With at least three events a week, he’s only made it through roughly half of the winners in the past two months. He’ll finish sometime during the holidays. I wish we had more news on Lex Luthor; the more we learn about him, the more I’m convinced that he has Kal’s Lois Lane.
Now, I know I didn’t tell you the detail I’m about to reveal. I didn’t want to worry you. Before you moan, “Lois” the way you do when you know I’m about to do something you don’t want me to do, please hear me out. I tell you now because if I don’t share this with someone I will burst.
Kal said that Jaxon told him that the Neuroscanner allowed one to watch through the eyes of whoever’s genetic fingerprint it was linked to. Jaxon told him that the device went haywire when Superman arrived on the scene. And the last image Junior saw on the monitors was Superman’s. That means whoever was looking at Superman has an identical genetic fingerprint to Lex Luthor’s wife! Right? Who was the person who taught Kal how to be Superman? Who wasn’t in this dimension before and might have caused the circuits to overload due to two people with the same genetic fingerprint causing conflicting visual images and auditory sounds?
Do you see where I am going? Of course, you do, which is why I love you. Kal is oblivious. He isn’t as in tune to me as you. And sometimes, I am quite thankful for that. And sometimes, it is so frustrating and infuriating - having to wait for him to catch up to my hopscotch logic - that it makes me miss you even more.
The night he told me about his interview with Jaxon, we were doing a Jericho Firestorm… Did I ever tell you that story? Well, if I haven’t, ask Perry; he really tells it best. Anyway, this dimension’s Perry, Jimmy and Mayson were listening. I couldn’t very well share my hypothesis then, without a lot of explaining and revealing of facts Kal and I want kept secret. Then that weekend, you and I started our honeymoon and I was distracted enough to forget about everything else. Just thinking about it distracts me.
The memories of our honeymoon were almost like actually being there. I mean, I was actually there. You did make love to me. She is me – just a younger me. I just didn’t remember it until it happened to her. Crazy as I sound, I have a good excuse. I am living both in the present and in the past at the same time. She is my past, but she’s living in the present same as me. I could taste your kisses. And feel your caresses. And the floating was very nice, too. Of course, it wasn’t our first time. Actually, it’s kind of funny – you got to make love to me for the first time, twice. Once with me and once with the younger me. Hold on, the baby’s kicking up a storm.
I’m back. Had to use the bathroom. Baby kicks me in the bladder. Maybe, baby’s saying, Mama, the Kryptonian in me doesn’t want to see those pictures in your head of Daddy and you on your honeymoon. I’m just joking. I’m sure our child cannot read minds. I hope.
Anyway, back to telling you about trying to tell Kal about my light bulb moment. We went on our honeymoon…. And Kal was trying so hard to be the best boyfriend to Mayson. Then I realized that I couldn’t reveal to him that his Lois is married to Lex. How am I ever going to tell him? It would a) break his heart (bet you would agree with me there) and b) ruin his new relationship with Mayson. I want to say I have high hopes for Mayson and Kal, but truth be told, I cannot.
Firstly, Kal is destined to love his Lois, if she does return, which I have on great authority, she will. It won’t matter… Well, actually, it will matter to him, very much, that she’s married to Lex. It will crush him. Part of him will always love her. So when she returns, Mayson will not like it one bit. She’s just like Lana in that regard. Secondly, even though she and everyone else here knows that Kal is SM, there’s still something about SM that she doesn’t like. Personally, I don’t understand her aversion. I love the blue suit and being flown around by you. (Kal rarely is SM around me, so I haven’t seen ‘him’ much.)
Oh, Clark. I just pictured in my head flying around with you and the baby started kicking again. She likes it when I think about you. No, I don’t know for sure the baby is a girl. It’s just a feeling.
Now, what was I writing about before I got distracted? Right, Jaxon. It’s been two months since we were shot by Lex, Jr. I mean, Jaxon was shot; the bullet kind-of passed right through my shoulder – I was phasing out of existence at that moment. (Thank you, Wedding Destroyer). I wanted to visit him in the hospital, but Kal was against the idea – said you would be, too -- and by the time I was able to sneak away undetected, Jaxon had checked out. He wasn’t staying at his apartment either; his landlady said he went out of town to recover. I got so desperate that I even asked Mayson where he was. She wouldn’t tell me – I don’t think she knew he had split, but she would never tell me that – then, the little tattle-tale told Kal I was looking for Jaxon. And I got a stern talking to.
I don’t know what it is with some men, like Kal; as soon as a woman gets pregnant he thinks he can treat her like a child and say he’s doing it to protect her. So, today… no wait today’s Sunday, it must have been Friday, I heard through the rumor mill that Jaxon has returned, mostly recovered and coming back to work tomorrow! I can finally talk to him about his stepmother. And see how accurate my hypothesis is. Then I will just have to figure out how to tell Kal and Sam that Lois is married to Lex. Ugh. Just the thought of that gives me the willies. Poor Lois.
I miss you so much. I wish there were a way I could come home. Even when you are able to get those murder charges against me dropped, Kal still won’t return the younger me to the past until I can think of a way to convince her to go willingly. He’s too noble (read as stubborn) in that regard. Reminds me a bit of you. How am I ever going to convince myself to leave you and go back to Amnesiaville? No thanks. How am I going to convince her that the past really is her true place in the timeline? That this blissful future we have together can only happen if she returns? Will she believe that I’m her… only a pregnant her? I remember how I was before I got pregnant; not ready for the responsibility, not ready for motherhood. How will I convince myself that this is really what she / I want?
Take care, husband. I love how you decorated our new apartment. If only there was a way for me to come home. I miss you too much and my fantasy dreams from our honeymoon are fading and are turning into nightmares of me pacing in an eight by eight cell. Keep the younger me safe, Clark. If anything were to happen to her… We’d disappear forever.
Ok, enough talking about the bad stuff in my lives. I’m going to sign off now and think more about you; see if I can get our baby to kick some more. Oh, how I wish I could share this with you. Have you place your hand on my belly and wait for the bump, bump of her kick. She’s quite a strong kicker. Now, if only she’d stop using my bladder as a soccer ball.
Love you always and forever, LL***
Clark flew over the trees and fields. He hadn’t been in Smallville in over a year. Lana had dragged him down to celebrate Christmas with her family two years earlier. He had wanted it to be just the two of them in Metropolis. But she said Christmas was for families and she wanted to have him spend it with hers. He couldn’t stand being around her family. All that love and joy and happiness, when he had none, hurt too much. He felt like an outsider.
But it wasn’t Christmas now. It was September. Why was his mind dreaming of Smallville? Of the Kent farm? Of the farmhouse where he had shared love and happiness with his family? He landed outside the farmhouse and stared at its dusty and neglected shell. He hadn’t been to the house in years and it certainly looked it. Was it still there? Did it still look like this? Was that tree he used to climb and dream of faraway places still just outside his bedroom window? He wanted to go home. Whose home was it now? He looked in through the window and heard the phone ring. How did this neglected house still have phone service?
Clark sat up in bed and picked up the phone.
“Clark?” It was Sam.
He looked at the clock. 4AM. Sunday morning. “What’s wrong?”
“Can you come over?”Clark was gone before the receiver fell onto the phone. Superman blew open Lois’s living room windows. “What’s the matter?”
Sam was still standing at the phone. He looked tired, exhausted. He blinked his eyes at Clark and then hung up the phone.
“I got up in the middle of the night. Old men have to do that, you know. On my way back to bed, I thought I’d check on Lucy. I’ve gotten into the habit of doing that since she disappeared two months ago. I just have to check.”
Clark blanched. “Is she gone?”
“No. No, not exactly. Maybe, I should just show you.”
They walked down the hall in silence. Sam pushed open the door. Lois’s bed was empty, even her comforter was missing.
“Where…?”
Sam pointed up. Lois was sleeping on the ceiling. Blanket draped over her, just like she was asleep in bed.
“It almost gave me a heart attack. I didn’t know what to do,” he whispered. “If she woke up there…” He shivered.
Clark smiled. “I’ll get her down.”
“Thanks.”
Clark floated up to the ceiling, scooped Lois into his arms and drifted down to the bed with her. He laid her on her bed, properly on her left side, and tucked the blankets around her. Stepping back, he bumped a picture off her side table. Picking it up, he saw it was an ultrasound photo of the baby.
“Is this?” He held it up to Sam. Sam nodded. “Wow. Wait? Where did you get an ultrasound photo?”
Sam held a finger up to his lips and they stepped out of Lois’s room. “She didn’t want to tell you. But we broke into the ultrasound room at the University Hospital this morning.”
“Without me?” Clark was shocked.
“She didn’t want to bring you. You’ve sacrificed so much for her already. She was afraid. If something went wrong, she didn’t want you to be implicated.”
Clark took a deep breath and stared at the photo.
“That’s her head, arms, and bottom. Her legs are tucked up on the other side,” Sam explained.
“It’s a girl?” Clark asked.
“I have no idea. I’m not that good at identifying body parts on an ultrasound machine. Lucy calls it a her.”
His heart was beating so loud, he wondered if Sam could hear it. It felt like he was looking at his future. Maybe, someday, he’d be sharing a moment like this with someone. A child of his own. And this, this was his little… “Niece or nephew,” Clark said the words aloud. “Wow. Family.” He handed the photo back to Sam.
“Lucy was very excited. She insisted that we print a photo, so she could show you. So, act surprised,” Sam suggested. “Should I be worried?”
“About what?” Clark asked.
“The flying?”
“Oh. That.” Clark had meant to talk to Sam about this for over a month, but he kept getting distracted. He sat down on the sofa. “This isn’t a normal pregnancy.”
Sam followed the couch opposite. “I’m not an idiot, Clark.”
Clark lowered his voice; he didn’t want to wake Lois. “She has taken on some of my… technically, Kal’s abilities.”
“Such as?”
“Super hearing.”
“Uh-huh,” Sam whispered. “She’d love that. Lois always loved to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations.”
“She also has increased healing powers.”
“What do you mean?” This interested Sam.
“I didn’t cauterize her gunshot wound with my heat vision. It had already healed when I first noticed she had been shot.”
“My Lois has always been one to step towards danger, when others would step away.” Sam shook his head.
“That’s Lucy in a nutshell, which is why I never told her about the super healing.”
“And now, flying.”
“Floating, really. If we don’t tell her that she’s flying in her dreams, she might not try to access that ability.”
Sam nodded. “She takes enough risks already. Do you think she’ll get more of these abilities? Like heat vision? A girl with her anger…” He shivered at the thought.
“I don’t know, Sam. This is all new territory for me too.”
Sam thought for a minute. “Is it possible to get a blood sample?”
“You’ve taken blood from her before, I don’t see why it should be different now.”
“I mean from you. For comparison.”
This surprised Clark. “I’ve never bled. When Dr. Klein tried to draw blood, I busted three needles before he gave up.” He patted his arm. “Impervious is impervious.”
They sat in silence. Clark stared at the photo that Sam had dropped on the coffee table. It affected him. This little miracle child. Even though it wasn’t his, it easily could have been. Just seeing the proof – even if it was a grainy photo – changed him. Pulled him towards Lois again – not physically, but emotionally. He knew he would protect her and the child as if they were his own. He would die to save them, if necessary. “Do you think she has changed, physically?” he asked Sam.
“Obviously. She didn’t used to heal herself from bullets or float.”
“No, I meant permanently.”
“Ah. That’s the big question. Will she retain these new abilities after the baby’s born?” Sam raised his shoulder with a shake of his head. “Who knows? She’s the trial case. First of her kind. Although, I wouldn’t mind if she became impervious.”
They both grinned.
“Neither would Kal, I think.”
“Could you stay?” Sam asked. “Sit in her room and make sure it doesn’t happen again?”
“Of course,” Clark answered, amazed at the trust that this man now put in him. A few months ago, Lois’s father was ready to throw him out the window for being in her room. Things had changed; Sam was still scared for her safety, but now in a completely different way. “I cannot stand guard every night or she might try to kill us both.”
“She does like things her way. For tonight, at least. So I can get some sleep.”
Clark nodded and they walked back to the bedrooms. Sam went into the guest room and Clark peered in at Lois still sleeping soundly on her bed. He set the ultrasound photo back on her bedside table. He sat down in the chair by her window and wrapped his cape around himself. He didn’t think he would be able to get back asleep.
So, Lois could float. Interesting. He wondered how different life would be for Lois and Kal if her new abilities remained. He remembered her telling him about Ultra Woman. How the emotional burden was too much for her, but that was when Kal had lost his powers. She had been alone as a superhero. It was definitely more difficult to be alone. How nice it would be to have someone to fly with; they could do anything, go anywhere. It would be wonderful to have someone with whom to share it all. Someone impervious, like him, so he wasn’t always needing to worry. Kal was always the lucky one.
If she had acquired his abilities would that mean she would also be susceptible to Kryptonite? She wasn’t from Krypton, so would that glowing green rock have the same effect on her? Not that he would ever test that theory. He remembered the bone chilling pain he felt at the debate when Tempus produced the Kryptonite. Oh, that hurt like he imagined a thousand knives stabbing a human would feel like. No, he could never do that to her. He could not risk her health or that of the baby’s. She might not have a reaction to Kryptonite, but the baby might. It was part of him… Kal.
Clark’s eyes focused on Lois again. She slept so peacefully. He wondered what she was dreaming about. Was her younger self still on trial for murder?
He had come so close to losing her. She had her bag packed – not that there was much she was going to take back with her – her photographs and few personal belongings. Lois had even said she had thought of something to convince her younger self to go back, but he hadn’t believed her. He figured she was going to wing it, think of something on the spot; that was more her style. Then she had waited day after day after day, but H. G. Wells had never come for her.
Then one morning, Lois had awakened in tears, saying she could not return. Her younger self had been arrested for murder and she was in jail. She hadn’t wanted do the switch only to end up in jail. She would wait until Kal cleared her name, although, she hadn’t known how he could. She had been holding the gun when it had gone off.
It wasn’t like she could return anyway without H. G. Wells and his time machine. Clark had been kind enough to refrain from mentioning that part to her.
Six weeks had passed and Lois’s trial began this week. But she was still worried. Kal was worried. Someone had made a hologram of her walking down the street aiming a gun at a witness. Obviously, someone wanted her in jail badly. If she didn’t get out of jail soon, this Lois would be too far along in her pregnancy to return without a ton of questions.
She told Clark that she wasn’t going to hide the truth from Kal – she would tell him everything. And he would have no qualms taking her back four months pregnant. But explaining it to her parents, his parents (although technically Martha already knew), and Perry was a completely different story. They hadn’t even been married four months ago. Although, that was not as important in this day and age.
The longer her stand-in Lois was in jail, the more likely it was that this Lois would stay here for her entire pregnancy. Clark smiled. He was selfishly happy that she was still there. He would have missed her if she had left. Since she had gotten shot, she helped him capture three more bad guys from her past. She also worked long hours with Mr. Olsen sifting through the data that Jaxon had collected. They had already discovered he was gathering information about local Metropolis utilities, media outlets, scientific laboratories and real estate.
Clark didn’t like how close she and his boss had become. It was causing talk. But a part of her didn’t care; this wasn’t her ‘real’ life. And part of him was thrilled the office scuttlebutt no longer linked his name with hers.
Mayson didn’t like Lois in the least and hated that Clark trusted her implicitly. She despised that he spent his whole day working with Lucy, when she had to sneak around just to have lunch with him. He could no longer mention Lucy’s name without Mayson rolling her eyes. He didn’t know what it was about her that Mayson didn’t like, but he knew the fact that he refused to give up his friendship with Lucy was driving a wedge in his relationship with Mayson. Clark would have to tell Mayson the truth – or some reasonable facsimile of the truth - soon or risk losing her.
He had offered to take Mayson away for the weekend. But she only agreed to go if they drove. She treated Superman with only common courtesy, like an annoying Siamese twin she had to deal with, and never failed to mention his faults. He hadn’t Mirandized that bank robber. He had done property damage when removing hostages from a bank vault. He had dangled a gangster off a building for information.
They were even running out of topics of conversation. As a rule, she didn’t speak of active investigations, so they could not discuss her work. She refused to speak about Bill Church, anymore, when Clark said that he and Lucy had found links between him and Intergang. Mayson was sick to death of the topic of Lex Luthor and thought they were trying to build a case against a perfectly innocent man.
He liked that Mayson liked Clark for Clark; he could no longer count on his fingers the disappointed expressions on his contest dates’ faces when he showed up instead of Superman. Lois had been right. The tabloids were getting bored with him already. ‘Clark Kent went out with another nobody. They danced. They ate. They talked.’ Boring. Boring. Boring.
He grinned. The tabloids had gone back to printing obvious lies. Strangely, they all had to do with intimate relations he had never had. ‘I Gave Birth To Superman’s Twins.’ ‘Superman Used Mind Control To Ravish My Body.’ ‘My Weekend At Superman’s Love Cave.’ Like he would have a cave – love or otherwise.
A few times he had had to end a date early to answer a call for help. The women were thrilled to see Superman, even for a moment, but all that the tabloids could write was, ‘Superman ditches date to save family of four.’ Not exactly bad press. He even offered to reschedule the dates. They couldn’t even fault him that.
Thanks to Cat Grant, each of the dates was informed in advance that if he were needed he would leave. None of the women seemed to mind. They had had their personal time with their hero, had gotten their fix. They were also warned that there would be no physical contact (i.e. no kissing). Cat had been a great liaison between him and the dates. She always made sure that if the date chose a formal event, she had appropriate attire. She wouldn’t let Clark arrive at a classy event with a date in jeans. She made sure that each date got a nice photo with Clark.
Lois still looked suspiciously at Cat, like it was all an act and she might jump his bones at any moment. But Lois was getting better. He was beginning to wonder if the Cat in Lois’s dimension was way worse than his dimension’s Cat had ever been.
His eyes started to droop. He tried to keep them open, but it was still early in the morning and he was tired. He had had to ‘ditch a date’ to help after a natural gas explosion in Baltimore earlier.
Soon, he was flying over Smallville once again.
“Clark!” Lois’s voice pulled him from cleaning the farmhouse. Why did he keep dreaming of the old Kent house? He blinked his eyes and tried to focus them on her.
Lois was glowing again. Her hair was shiny and bright, even if it was getting a tad bit shaggy. Her eyes were so happy, it was as if they continued where her lips left off.
He had meant to sneak out to the couch before she awoke, but instead of being angry with him, she actually looked glad… no, excited to see him. She jumped off the bed and ran to him. She grabbed his hand and placed it on her tummy. Bump. Bump. The baby was kicking. The hairs on his arms actually stood up. Wow! He smiled.
“Did you see the photo? Where did I put it?” She ran to her bedside table and brought it to him. “She’s normal. Normal! Legs, arms, head, heart. Everything is where it supposed to be. And she’s healthy. Ok, her heart rate is faster than a hummingbird’s, but nobody’s perfect.” She hugged her tummy. “Except Mommy’s little one.”
“Do you think it’s right to keep calling the baby a she? What if you’re wrong? Wouldn’t it give the baby a complex or something?” he teased her.
Lois gasped and covered her mouth. “I’m sure I’m right, but only 97% sure. You’re right. What if we have a son? Oh, thank you, Clark. You think of everything.” She ran up and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She gasped again. “Clark, you’re in the blue suit.”
He closed his eyes. Ok, here comes the explosion. What was he doing in her bedroom? Had he been watching her? Spying on her?
“Take me flying.”
“What?” His jaw fell.
“I want to see what the baby thinks of flying. I dreamed I was flying last night. I actually had a dream, a normal every-day dream, for once. I’m so sick of pacing a jail cell. Anyway, she… baby kicks more when I’m close to you. I think baby thinks you’re her daddy.” Her eyes widened. “Is that a bad thing? Am I a bad mom?” She plopped down on the bed, head in her hands, crying.
“Lois?” he asked sitting down next to her. “You’re the best mother I know. Who else would ask Superman to take her baby flying before baby was born?”
Lois looked up through her fingertips. “Really?”
He nodded.
She wiped the tears off her face. “So, you’ll do it? I haven’t gone flying since I’ve gotten here. If you don’t count being saved.”
“You’re right. This is the baby’s heritage and it needs to fly more.” Clark smiled.
Lois grinned, tears completely gone. “Exactly. Where should we go?” She bit her lip as she thought about this.
Clark almost suggested Smallville, but it didn’t feel right to take this Lois to Smallville. She had been to Smallville in her dimension. This Smallville didn’t have the Kents and wasn’t quite as nice of a place, he imagined. “Someplace far.”
“Right, the tabloids. Paris? Oooh. I would love some croissants. Pain de chocolat. Yum.”
He smiled. “Paris it is. It’s kind of chilly out today, so bundle up.” Standing up, he started toward the door. “I’ll let you change.”
“Clark.”
He turned around.
“Thank you.” She smiled. “You’re the best uncle, ever!”
Clark grinned. Uncle. He liked the sound of that.
***
As they returned to Metropolis, a couple of bags of croissants in hand, Clark saw something that sent a chill down his spine. He landed on the roof and sighed. They decided they could land faster on the roof with less opportunities of being photographed, than if they entered through her window.
“Clark, what’s wrong?”
“Mayson’s car is outside.” Did he have a date with Mayson that he blanked on? It was possible, his schedule was crazy.
“That’s strange. She never comes here. Wait.” She grabbed his hand and pressed it to her belly. “Baby had been lulled to sleep over the Atlantic, but now that we’re no longer flying, Baby’s kicking again.”
“Lois, you can’t do that in front of Mayson,” he reminded her. “She’ll get the wrong impression.”
“I know.” She gave him an encouraging smile, dropping his hand. “I just wanted you to know the baby liked flying with you.”
“Bring her over when she’s a teenager and I’ll give her flying lessons,” Clark suggested opening the roof door for her.
Lois laughed. “I thought we weren’t assuming Baby’s gender.”
“Ninety-seven is pretty close to a hundred. And anyway, I trust your judgment.”
“Thank you, Clark. That was fun. We never get to hang out anymore, just as Lois and Clark.”
“Whose idea was it for me to date half of Metropolis?”
“Guilty.” She laughed and then blanched, stumbling against him. “That’s why I had a dream about flying last night, wasn’t it? My brain was shielding me from the truth.”
“What truth?”
“About the trial.”
“I thought the trial hadn’t started yet?” He opened the stairwell door to the fifth floor.
“Her present is my past. I was able to foretell about the New Kryptonians, wasn’t I?”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “You’re panicking. Nothing’s decided yet.”
“You’re right. There’s still time for Kal to save me.” She patted her pockets, finally finding her key. Before opening the door, she turned to Clark and lowered her voice. “If Mayson’s here, maybe you should go back to the stairwell and change.”
“I always forget. Thanks, Lois.”
“Lucy.”
“I knew that.” He grinned.
She opened the door and held up the bags. “Daddy, I have croissants.” Then she stopped two steps into her apartment. “Mayson, what a surprise. To what do we owe this pleasure?”
A second later, Clark was standing behind her. “Subtle,” he whispered too low for the others to hear. “Lucy, you’re blocking the door. Mayson! Good morning. We didn’t have a date, did we?”
Mayson looked between the two of them. “That’s a good question.”
“Us?” Lucy laughed. “We just went out for croissants. There’s this great boulangerie in Paris…”
“Paris, France?”
“Shut up,” Clark whispered to Lois.
“You should really try one. Better yet, let Clark take you to Paris. A mini holiday.” She smiled, holding out the bag.
“Did either of you think to take your passports with you?”
The smile dropped off of Lois’s face. She turned to Clark. “Why did I encourage you to date her, again?” She didn’t even try to whisper.
Clark rubbed his face. He needed to shave. “Mayson.”
Mayson stood up. “Nice to meet you, Dr. Jones, or whatever your name is. Enjoy your breakfast.” She walked towards the door, pushing past Lois. “Clark. Hall. Now.”
Lois grimaced at him. “Sorry.”
“Clark, I’d like to bend your ear about something when you’re done,” Sam called from the living room as Clark went into the hall.
Mayson closed the door and held up her hand, indicating that she didn’t want him to speak. “Enough, Clark. I’ve had enough. Meet me at Clinton Street in half an hour. And bring the truth with you.” She walked down the hall with a flip of her hand.
Why? Why? Why? Clark rested his head against the door. He had been having such a good morning, too.
***
Pain de Chocolat - basically chocolate filled croissants - YUM -
Simple Recipe CommentsChapter 3: Part 2/10
