Missing Lois - TOC Author’s Note: The “Lois” in Chapter 5 and 6 refers to alt-Lois. Canon Lois will be called “Lucy” to help lessen the confusion between the two characters.
Story Notes: This story is mostly set in alt-dimension, although visits to the canon dimension do happen from time-to-time.
- Clark = Alt-Clark unless otherwise noted (such as when we are in the canon dimension, then 'Clark' is canon Clark)
- Lucy El = pregnant canon Lois avoiding the curse by hiding out with alt-Clark, aka Lois's secret identity
- Kal = Lucy El's husband's name, or what Lois-Lucy and alt-Clark call canon Clark
- Lois = alt-Lois, wife of Lex Luthor
- Lola Luthor = ‘wife’ of Lex Luthor; alt-Lois, if not referring to Clois (Cloned Lois)
- Ultra Woman = the costume Lucy/Lois wore to Perry's 'Come as Your Favorite Superhero' party
- Sam Lane = alt-Lois's Dad, Lois's doctor & roommate
- Mayor White = aka Perry White, former Editor-in-Chief at the DP
- James Olsen = owner of the
Daily Planet, Lois-Lucy's friend
- Cat Grant = helping alt-Clark out with PR on his '50 dates' charity winners and social columnist at the DP, now Acting Editor-in-Chief at the DP
- Barry Balson = Superman beat reporter for DP
- Lex Luthor = no explanation necessary, same bad guy as always, this time bald
- Junior = Lex Luthor, Jr., Lex's first born son, creator of the Neuroscanner
- Jaxon Xavier = Lex Luthor's son and spy at
The Planet, does website design and research for the paper
- The only people who know canon Lois's true identity are alt-Clark, Sam, Moonbeam (alt-Star) and Dr. Klein. Alt-Clark told Mayson Drake that Lucy El is his sister-in-law and that he has a twin brother, but not about the other dimension. Mayson didn't believe him (thinking instead that Lucy was a con-artist).
***
What happened in Chapter 5: Part 7...At the Christmas Eve breakfast, Perry gave Clark the third degree for not revealing his true identity to Lois and then tried to convince Clark that Lois was entirely the wrong woman for him and his super image. When Clark admitted he didn’t have the self-control to stay away from Lois, Perry taunted him – in front of Lois – for not having bought his ‘secret girlfriend’ a Christmas gift.
Superman arrived at Lois’s apartment that night with a Christmas tree, only to find her asleep on the couch. He ended up decorating the apartment and tree by himself. As he was carrying Lois back to bed, she awoke and their ‘date’ began with Lois asking him 101 questions, including about his sexual history. She wanted to make sure he had had enough experience to know the difference between love and sex. Superman once again admitted that he loved her, because he had fallen in love with her while they had been searching for her. When he left for the night – after telling her that he could not be seen with her anymore because of Lex Luthor’s threats – Superman admitted that he had only made love to ‘Lois Lane.’ In her bedroom, Lois discovered that Mr. Amazing’s Christmas gift to her was a roomful of chocolates from around the world.
***
Part 8Lucy pulled herself out of bed. Ugh. She yawned. What a nightmare. She felt like she had lived through sixteen Christmas Eves, each worse than the previous, but her Clark once again had saved the day. She smiled, wishing she had taken him up on that little time travel excursion to his parents’ house he had offered. She could be there right now, making love to her husband. She closed her eyes and thought about that with a sigh.
She dragged herself out to the living room, then rubbed her eyes. Where in the world was she? Disneyland? Weren’t they just going to skip Christmas this year? Oh, crap, that’s right. Her roommate was a jolly Christmas elf. God, Lucy wished she could drink coffee. Dimensional humor sucked. At least one of the Lois and Clark couples just had to be obsessed with the holidays, didn’t they? She sighed.
Lucy poured herself a glass of orange juice and tried to pull her robe tighter. How did she get so big? Her belly was bigger than her boobs and she still had what? Six or seven weeks to go. How was she going to hide this baby from anyone for much longer? Especially her roommate? She finished her orange juice and returned to her bedroom. That robe was definitely making her look pregnant, not fat. She shook her head. She missed being able to be herself at home. Grabbing a big bulky sweater from the laundry pile, she put it on over her pajama top. There. Now she just looked fat, not pregnant. She wanted to lie down on the bed and cry.
There was a knock at the door and Lucy stumbled down the hall to answer it. “Who is it?” she asked. She really hoped it wasn’t Lex Luthor. She didn’t want to deal with him again. Ever. Been there, done that. Scratched him off her list with both permanent marker and White-Out.
“Clark and Sam, sweetie,” Sam answered. “We’ve brought breakfast.”
Lucy opened the door and let them in. “Can I please have caffeine? Just today,” she begged Sam.
“No, Lucy. Not with your high blood pressure.” He kissed her cheek. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Sam.” Lucy turned to Clark. He looked like she felt. “Up late, Clark?”
He took a quick glance around. “Couldn’t sleep.” Then he kissed her cheek and caressed her belly. “Merry Christmas, Lucy. How are you two feeling this morning?”
“Fat.” She waddled away from the front door and plopped herself down on the sofa. “Wasn’t there a point recently when I lost weight instead of gaining it?”
“There will be again, soon.” Clark reminded her. “I brought croissants and pain au chocolat from Paris. Your favorite boulangerie.”
Lucy blew him a kiss. “They were open? Oh, Clark, you’re the best.” She watched him look around again.
“She’s not up, yet. Mrs. Claus was up late last night decorating the apartment.”
Sam nodded, looking around. “It looks nice. She does love the holidays.”
Clark slyly grinned and Lucy raised a brow at him. He ducked quickly into the kitchen with the pastries. Guess Lois had some Super help with the decorating. Lucy wasn’t going to get involved. If they screwed up Superman’s life, that was their business. She done playing chaperone. At least, they hadn’t woken her up. But then again, she had been sleeping like a hibernating bear recently. “I wonder if the speed healing will mean no stretch marks. That would be a bonus.”
Sam brought her a blanket and sat down next to her. “How are you feeling?”
Hadn’t they covered that? “Fine, Sam. No pain. No dizziness. Just exhaustion. Hey, Clark, ever hear of an elf from the fifth dimension who calls himself Mister…”
Clark came out of the kitchen, bringing a steaming mug of hot cocoa with whipped cream for her.
Lucy sighed appreciatively. “How do you do that?” He always knew what she needed. No matter what the dimension Clark Kent was simply the best.
Sam clapped. “Oh, that looks good.” He went into the kitchen for one of his own.
Clark handed a mug to her with a slight bow. “For you, milady.”
“I love you, you know,” she said. “You give me hope that I’ll survive this dimension and make it home again.”
Clark knelt down beside her with a grin. “Who knew the power chocolate had over you, Lois?” he murmured, gazing up at her. He glanced over his shoulder down the hall, then back at her, lowering his voice even more. “I love you, too.”
Lucy took a sip of her cocoa. “You going to tell her today?”
Fear showed in his eyes. “God, no.”
She placed a reassuring hand on his arm. “She’ll still love you, you big chicken.”
Clark gulped and she could see that he didn’t believe her.
“How could she not?” She smiled at him.
“Merry Christmas!” Lois came in full of energy and bounce, fully showered and dressed. “I’ve got the new Elvis Christmas CD. Gift from Perry.”
Clark rolled his eyes with a smile at Lucy as she groaned. “We’ll survive,” he told her. Then he stood up to greet Lois.
Lucy murmured with a sigh, “You might, but I won’t.” She watched him glow just at the sight of his Lois.
Sam sat down beside her again. “Missing Kal?”
Kal’s wife pulled her gaze away from Clark and turned to Sam. “More every day.”
“Does he look at you the way Clark looks at her?” Sam asked, staring at Lois and Clark talking about Superman’s croissants.
“Uh-huh.” She nodded taking another sip of cocoa. This Clark used to look at her that way, too. It was hard to let go. “Facing the inevitable, instead of fighting it?”
Sam nodded. “You, too?”
“That obvious, huh?” Lucy asked with a nervous chuckle.
“It’s hard when someone you love stops looking at you like that. It must be especially hard when he also looks exactly like someone else you love.”
Lucy swallowed. “Yeah.”
“I’ve got gifts!” Lois chimed in, sliding a pile out from under the tree.
“I thought we weren’t exchanging gifts this year,” mumbled Lucy.
“That was before Lois returned,” Sam murmured.
“Great.” Lucy pressed her lips together. Couldn’t she just wallow in misery over missing her husband?
“Lucy.” Lois handed her a box.
“Uh, thank you, Lois,” Lucy said sitting up. She hadn’t expected anything from the queen of sour grapes.
“Clark.” Lois handed him a similar box.
“Thank you, Lois.”
“Just a little something I had made up for team Superman.” Lois grinned nervously.
Clark and Lucy exchanged a worried glance and started to open their gifts.
Lucy opened her box and a roll of laughter escaped. “Thank you, Lois. I love it.”
Clark glanced over at her. It was a t-shirt, XL, which read on the front
Not Lois Lane and on the back
Not Lola Luthor. He chuckled and then glanced down at his gift with even more dread.
Slowly, he opened his box and then glanced at Lois with a gulp. “Ah, thanks, Lois. You know, I’ll never wear this, right?”
Lois laughed. “You can around your apartment.”
Clark pulled out a blue Superman t-shirt with a red and yellow Superman ‘S’ on the front, then he turned it around for Lucy and Sam to read the back.
Lois Lane’s Personal Super Hero. Lucy laughed at how accurate it was. “Aww. Isn’t she sweet?” She looked over to Lois. “Are you sure that box was meant for Clark?”
Lois glared at her. “Of course.”
OK, Lucy had to fix this. She couldn’t have Lois hating her. “I’ve got a gift for you, too, Lois.” Lucy put her hand in Sam’s and he gave her an extra pull to get to her feet. She went into her room and returned a few minutes later. “I’m sorry, I didn’t wrap it.” She handed a business card to Lois. “Merry Christmas, Lois.”
Lois looked down at the card. “Moonbeam Mayhem, Attorney at Law, Divorce.” She looked at Lucy with tears glistening in her eyes.
“She’s the best – psychic, really. She’s waiting for your call,” Lucy told her.
“Thank you, Lucy.” Lois actually hugged her. It must be the holiday spirit.
Sam smiled. “She’s good, Lois. Trustworthy, too. She’s right on the first floor, so you don’t even have to leave the building.”
Lois didn’t look thrilled about staying within the building, but she smiled politely anyway. “I’ll just put this in my room.”
Clark’s brow furrowed. “Wait a minute, Sam. This is your friend on the first floor?” He looked at Lucy. She nodded.
“An old friend, actually,” Lucy replied, sitting back down on the sofa.
“How can you have an old friend, here, Lucy?” Clark asked, apprehensive. “I thought I knew everyone you knew here.”
“I do have my own life, Clark. Besides she remembers me from back home.”
His eyes widened and he knelt down next to her, lowering his voice. “So, when you say psychic, you mean,
psychic?”
“Wouldn’t it be nice to see Lex’s next step before he makes it?” Lucy asked innocently.
“I could kiss you,” he whispered staring up at her.
Lucy swallowed, patting his hand and placing a smile on her face. “That’s just the Elvis music. Here she comes. Merry Christmas, Clark.”
Clark continued to stare at her for a moment, and she wondered if he was thinking of Perry’s Halloween party as she was. “You do too much for me,” he whispered. He kissed her cheek before he stood up.
Lois’s eyes squinted as she looked between the two of them. Lucy tried to put an innocent expression on her face, but feared that just made her appear more suspicious.
Clark reached under the tree and pulled out a rectangular gift, handing it to Lucy. “From Kal.”
“No!” she gasped, glancing at the card. He had written on the note,
Open when alone. She looked at Clark with love and a heartfelt smile. “Excuse me.” She placed her hand in Sam’s again and got another pull off the couch.
As she tottered down the hall to her room, she heard Lois say to her father, “Wow, I didn’t realize how weak the high blood pressure made her. Is she okay?”
“She’ll be fine. Now, where’s that gift I made for you?”
Lucy closed her bedroom door and sat on her bed. She took a deep breath, then tore the paper. It was a framed photo from her and Clark’s wedding. There were her Mom and Dad, Perry and Jimmy, Martha and Jonathan, Mike – her guardian angel – and, of course, the most handsome man she knew. Tears welled up in her eyes. “Oh, Clark, I love it,” she murmured.
“
I knew you would,” she heard him reply.
She sat on her bed, staring at the photo as his and Lois’s conversation drifted in and out.
“
How did you get her a gift from her husband? Daddy said he’s off on assignment somewhere,” Lois asked Clark.
“
Superman brought it back with him,” he replied. “
He knows how much she misses him.”
Lucy smiled. Good ol’ Superman.
“
How romantic.” Lois sighed. “
What did she get you?”
Nothing, thought Lucy. She really was a heel.
“
She did me some favors this week without telling me.”
“Clark,” Lucy spoke aloud to him. “It’s bad when I can hear you smiling at her from the other room. She’s bound to notice how much Clark Kent is in love with her if you don’t tone it down a little.”
She heard him chuckle in response.
“
Is something funny?” Lois asked.
“
That’s some t-shirt you got her,” Clark told her. “
That should stop Lex.”
“Nice save,” Lucy murmured.
“
Let’s go grind some coffee, Lois,” he told her.
Lucy giggled softly. Guess he didn’t like her eavesdropping.
Sam knocked on her door. “Everything okay?”
She held up the photo to him.
“Wow! Your mother looks great,” he said sitting next to her on the bed. Then he coughed at an attempt to cover his faux pas. “I mean you make a beautiful bride, sweetie.”
Lucy set down the photo and hugged him. “Thanks, Daddy. I love you, too.”
“I thought I could give Clark a moment alone to give Lois her gift.”
“That’s trusting of you,” Lucy said, with a raised brow. “Why the sudden change of heart?”
Sam held up a note card, which he then handed to her. “Clark’s gift to me.”
Lucy opened the card.
I promise to be a proper gentleman to Lois Lane at all times. No signature, but in Clark’s handwriting.
“Really?” She laughed.
Sam nodded.
“Wow, Sam. You know what a promise from him is?”
“An iron clad contract.” He beamed. “He’d kill himself before breaking it.”
Lucy laughed. “Better not show that to Lois.”
“I know.” Sam tucked it into his pocket with a smile. He gazed at her, taking her hand. “I wish he had given me a similar card when I moved in here with you.”
“Oh, crap, that promise applies to me, too,” she gasped in sarcastic shock. “At least my virtue is safe, now.” She laughed, rubbing her huge tummy.
“Ha. Ha.”
“Come on, help this beached whale return to the party.” Lucy slid the photo under her pillow before Sam pulled her off the bed. “I’m sorry I don’t have anything for you, Sam,” she said, holding on to his arm.
“You gave my daughter back her sight. I’m good.”
“I don’t know, Sam. That was a two-edged sword.” Lucy shook her head.
“I know she’s a wildcard sometimes. But she doesn’t want Lex to get her either. She’ll be good.”
Lucy raised a skeptical eyebrow and patted him on the chest. “You keep believing that, Sam.”
And I’ll keep an eye on her, she thought. She didn’t trust Lois an inch. She knew herself and she knew that this Lois was sneakier than she was.
***
Lois straightened the waist of her new dress from Clark, the sweetie, and checked her hair in the mirror. She was going to have to get it cut one of these days. She hated that it took forever to dry, and the weather in Metropolis was too cold to just let it air dry. If they would just let her out of the apartment…
It seemed almost ridiculous to dress up to see a lawyer, but she wanted to make a good first impression. Her back pay from Mr. Olsen had finally arrived, and after taxes and deductions for her rent for the past three years, she wouldn’t have much to live on if they didn’t hire her back on full time at the paper. Mr. Olsen said he would rehire her in a minute, just on the recommendation of Perry, but he had promised his new editor sole hiring and firing rights for the news staff as part of his deal.
She had met with Gareth McTinney on Monday afternoon, and he seemed like an upright sort of guy. He knew what he was doing. Firstly, he arrived a week early to start as editor, because he was so appalled at Cat Grant’s handling of the whole Lois Lane rescue story. According to Lucy, he had left London this weekend, after Christmas, and walked into the bullpen first thing that morning, fuming mad. He didn’t want anyone from the
Daily Planet to be portrayed as a fool, especially by his own paper. He told Lois that he was sure there were “halfwits” on the news staff, but he certainly wasn’t going to advertise it on the front page. Cat had been demoted back to gossip – even worse, Hollywood Celebrity gossip – and shipped off to California for three months to cover the award circuit. Lois smiled wickedly. Good riddance.
Gareth had called Lois in to apologize for Cat’s imprudent headlines about her rescue, but he hadn’t hired her back full time though. He agreed with Cat on one thing: the Superman story. She could do freelance for the
Daily Planet until she turned in all she could find out about the Man of Steel. Cool nickname, she thought, for Mr. Amazing. If she was indeed the best investigative reporter the
Daily Planet had ever seen or even in the top two – hello, Clark Kent – she had to prove it by bringing in something new about Superman. Something that nobody knew about him. Since she was still working on figuring out what everyone else did know, it was an uphill battle. And as she also didn’t want to alienate Mr. Amazing himself by revealing what she
did know, she felt stuck in a ravine without a rope.
Lois was still trying to figure out a way to get herself access to the
Daily Planet’s archives to read the old articles about him. She was sure that would be her goldmine. But she was still under what felt like house arrest. Clark said Superman was too worried about her safety to let her walk around without an escort. So her father or one of the police cadets that Perry had assigned as her and Lucy’s bodyguards, or – if she was lucky – Clark accompanied her whenever she left the apartment. In the past week, she had gone to the grocery store once. The
Daily Planet building once. And just out for a stroll to get some fresh air once. She was going stir crazy.
Lex Luthor was still out and about in Metropolis. Apparently he was shopping for a new home. Lovely. Jaxon kept bothering Lucy and Clark trying to find her whereabouts, but he was lucky to get the time of day from them. She hadn’t even met Gareth at his office, but at Mr. Olsen’s… so that Jaxon wouldn’t be appraised of her location. Mr. Olsen had his legal team working on a way to fire Jaxon Xavier, but technically he hadn’t done anything illegal. The website he designed was outstanding, and his research was second-to-none apparently. Lex Jr. was also still out and about somewhere in the world, doing who knew what. Her safety was still at risk. So home she stayed. Bored stiff. She wished she hadn’t left her laptop in the Congo all those years ago, when she had climbed into the shipping crate full of illegal guns. Then, at least, she would be able to surf the web for information about Superman and also feel some connection to the world at large.
Lucy and Clark were still tight-lipped about him as well. And Mr. Amazing could have been just a blur in the sky it seemed as far as she was concerned. Lois hadn’t seen him at all for three days. Oh, sure, she heard this and that from Lucy, Clark, and even Barry – who was feeling bad about the whole rescue interview fiasco, too – as well as the radio and the TV, about the whereabouts of the Man In Blue, but she saw nothing of him personally. On the fourth and fifth day, she had seen him, but he was flying off to some emergency somewhere. She didn’t think he had even seen her. And here it was seven days since their intense Christmas Eve date and she still had no idea when or where they would next meet up. She wouldn’t be surprised if it would be days still. No notes. No contact whatsoever. If it weren’t for the boxes of chocolate in her bedroom to keep her company, she had almost begin to wonder if she had dreamed up the whole thing. This was New Year’s Eve and she was trying to keep her hopes up for at least one appearance and a kiss.
Mr. Amazing loves me, she kept telling herself. He told her that she had been the only woman with whom he had ever been intimate. A Cheshire cat sized grin slid onto her lips. So, he hadn’t been intimate with Ultra Woman. Good to know. Lois Lane one, Ultra Woman zero.
Lois reckoned the best way to see her man was to get started on getting rid of her husband. So, here she was standing at the mirror by her front door, checking herself before walking into the elevator and going down a whole four stories to the ground floor to meet with Moonbeam Mayhem, Divorce Attorney at law. At least she didn’t need an escort to visit people within her own building. She sighed. Her father was going to escort her to Moonbeam’s anyway and then head out to Uncle Mike’s for lunch. She wanted to go to Uncle Mike’s for lunch. He made the best chocolate raspberry torte. She shook her head. If she kept eating chocolate like she was, she would soon look like Lucy. As it was, she was exercising three hours every morning just to work off all the calories of the chocolates she had eaten in the dark of the night before. A vicious cycle. But it kept her occupied.
“Ready, Princess?” her father asked.
“Clark did say he’d be dropping by for dinner, right?” She winced. That sounded a little too anxious. Seeing Clark was the only thing keeping her withdrawal symptoms for Mr. Amazing at bay. He distracted her from missing Mr. Amazing; sometimes, she worried, too much. He was kind and funny and friendly – and present. Somehow, he was like her Amazing patch. Whenever he was around, she didn’t miss Amazing so much. She sighed. Not a good sign.
Lois hadn’t thought much about the crush she and Amazing had briefly discussed that Clark Kent might have on her. He liked her, as far as she could tell, just as a friend. Anyway, he had that secret girlfriend. She wondered how close of a girlfriend she was. He had spent most of Christmas with them… saying – when she pushed him on the subject – that he had been able to spend Christmas Eve with his girlfriend instead. She was spending Christmas with family. And here he was spending New Year’s Eve with Lucy and her. Where was this so-called girlfriend? Stuck at home, he had told her. Must be some snowstorm.
“Yes, Lucy’s been teaching him how to play cards.” Her father’s words brought Lois out of her reverie and back into the present. “Maybe you two could help Clark with his poker. Apparently, he loses whenever he plays Perry.”
“Lack of a poker face,” she analyzed. “With Clark, what you see is what you get. He doesn’t know how to hide anything; it’s right there plastered on his forehead.”
Her father looked at her as if he didn’t believe a word she said. “Shall we go?”
They rode down the elevator in silence while she contemplated that expression she had seen on her father’s face. As they stepped out, she turned to him. “Daddy, is there something I don’t know about Clark?”
Her father shook his head. She didn’t know if he meant ‘no’, or if he just couldn’t believe she was asking such a stupid question.
“If there is anything you want to know, I’m sure Clark would tell you, Princess. He’s a pretty honest guy,” he responded.
She shrugged. “See, lack of a poker face.”
Her father shook his head again and knocked on the door.
“Coming, coming!” Moonbeam called from inside. Didn’t sound too professional to Lois.
The door opened and Lois’s jaw dropped. “Star!?”
“Lois!”
The women embraced.
“You’ve met?” her father stammered.
“Daddy, this isn’t Moonbeam. This is my friend, Star. She used to do my psychic readings before I left for the Congo,” Lois explained.
“I told you not to go on that trip, if I recall properly.”
Her father’s jaw dropped this time.
“Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.” Lois rolled her eyes.
Moonbeam moved away from the door and they walked inside. “Really? Who told you that you’d miss out on true love if you went on that trip? Me. As it happened, you disappeared and I realized you would end up married to the worst man imaginable. And someday, you were going to need a divorce lawyer when you finally did make your way back to Metropolis. So, I went to law school and changed my name to Moonbeam. More professional, don’t you think? I practically had to beg Lucy to give you my card. Of course, that was before they found you; before they even realized you had married that jerk. How’s Lucy doing anyway? I haven’t seen her in forever. She’s as big as a house, isn’t she?”
Lois’s mouth opened and then closed. And then opened and closed, again. She looked at her father, who smiled and shrugged.
“Have fun, Princess,” he told her with a kiss to her cheek. “Bye, Moonbeam. We still on for tonight?”
“Wouldn’t miss it, Sam.” She beamed with a wave, shutting the door behind him.
“You’re dating my father? Isn’t that a breach of legal etiquette or something?” Lois finally gasped.
“Sit down, Lois. Perry invited him to City Hall’s soiree and he couldn’t invite you, because your psycho husband is still after you, and well, Lucy, she just wouldn’t go, not after… and so he invited me. We’re going to have fun. That’s all I see.”
“Sorry.” Lois shook her head, sitting down on the sofa. “That just came out left field.”
“That’s okay, I’m used to it.” Moonbeam waved it off. “So, I’ve filed a petition for a restraining order against Lex Luthor on your behalf, being that he’s followed you back to Metropolis and tried to kidnap you. Failed, but still tried.”
Lois smiled. Lucy hadn’t been kidding. Moonbeam was exactly the type of divorce lawyer she needed. “Great!”
“I’ve also drafted up a new will I want you to look over. I’m guessing you don’t want him having access to anything of yours, including your body after you die… in case you die before this whole divorce is finalized.”
Lois leaned forward. “Will it ever be finalized?” she asked anxiously.
“Sure. We’re going to do a sneak attack on him. He won’t know what hit him.”
Lois felt an overwhelming surge of emotions. “Star, can I just say I love you?”
Her lawyer held up her hands. “Whoa there, girl, my name is Moonbeam, now. I can see….” She stopped and tilted her head to the side and then smiled brightly. “You’ve met him. Oh, Lois, I’m so happy for you. It took you three, no, almost four years, to finally connect up with your true love. Oh. Oh. Oh.” She hugged her and Lois melted.
Mr. Amazing was her true love; she knew it and her heart swelled. He was the one she was supposed to have met if she hadn’t gone to the Congo? She couldn’t believe her rotten luck. Why hadn’t she listened to Star in the first place? Lois knew now that she did love him.
“You must be ecstatic. Tell me, how long did it take you to realize that Clark was the one? Five minutes? Ten? An hour?” Moonbeam snapped her fingers. “Lois?”
There were birds chirping and twinkling lights shining around her head.
Clark? Clark Kent was her true love? No, that couldn’t be right. “But he’s not Mr. Amazing,” she finally stammered.
“He’s not?” Moonbeam studied her for a minute. All sixty seconds of a minute. “Oh. I see what happened. You’re confused. My mistake. I should have seen that. Never mind.”
“
Never mind?!” Lois’s face fell as her heart sank. “Are you saying I lost out on true love with Clark, again, this time because of Mr. Amazing?” She knew there was a connection between her and Clark. She had sensed it the first time she had read his first story in the
Daily Planet. She had felt it that first time they had touched. Oh, what had she done? How was she ever going give up Mr. Amazing’s wonderful chocolate sensation for Clark’s ho-hum vanilla?
“No, I’m saying that your Mr. Amazing is your true love. I got my lines crossed.”
Lois felt like a deer caught in the headlights.
What? Mr. Amazing was indeed her true love? How could he be her true love when she had just convinced herself, not two seconds before, that Clark was her true love? That wasn’t true love. That was cheating on true love. She felt like she had just been clobbered by a baseball bat. The stars and chirping birds were back. She felt lightheaded, almost faint.
“Lois, are you okay?” Moonbeam waved a hand in front of her face, but she couldn’t focus. “You look like you have low blood sugar. Let me get you a cookie and some water.”
Lois lay down on the sofa. How could she do that to Mr. Amazing? Given him up so easily? For plain old Clark Kent of all people. Why if Mr. Amazing was her true love was she so drawn to Clark? Nothing made sense anymore.
“Here you go, Lois. Nibble on this and see if it makes you feel better.” Moonbeam handed her a shortbread cookie and set the glass of water on the coffee table.
“Did you say I was confused?” Lois asked, taking a bite of the cookie.
“Yes. But don’t worry, not for very much longer. When you finally see the light…” Moonbeam’s eyes opened wide as her jaw followed suit. She stood up and started pacing.
Lois felt better and sat up. She had never seen her friend so agitated. “Star… Moonbeam, are you all right?”
Moonbeam stopped pacing and turned to Lois. “We’ve got to get started on this divorce. Today. No time to lose. You’ve got a busy month ahead of you.”
“I do?”
“Yes, now, what do you want from Lex Luthor for all of your pain and suffering? Fifty million? Five billion? What?”
Lois sighed. “My freedom and my name.”
“That’s it?” Moonbeam sat down beside her, picking up her legal pad.
Lois nodded. “That’s it. I don’t want his money. I never did.”
“I can get you your freedom, but it will take some sacrifices on your end and a bit of time.”
“I can wait.”
Moonbeam raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Lois Lane, you are the most impatient woman I have ever met.”
Lois chuckled. “For Mr. Amazing, I can wait.”
Moonbeam shook her head like she didn’t believe her. “Even if it means you can’t make love with him again for over a year?”
Lois gasped, choking on her cookie. “Another year?” She had been going crazy just because she hadn’t made love to him during these last ten days.
Moonbeam slapped her on the back. “Don’t worry, it’s not going to be that long before you’ve got him where you want him again.”
Lois sighed with relief.
Thank God.“Now, I cannot guarantee your name. Actually, I’m pretty much not going to be able to get that for you.”
Lois raised an eyebrow. She figured it would be easier to get her name than her freedom. Star always did speak to her on another level, seeing things Lois could never understand until it slapped her in the face. Like that trip to the Congo. She should have listened to Star on that one.
“Lois, I’ve got to tell you that to get what you want, you’re going to have to give up some things you aren’t going to want to lose. Something you thought you always desired. Something you never knew you wanted.” Moonbeam gasped and she placed her hand on Lois’s arm, her eyes sad. “I’m so sorry, Lois.” She hugged her. “So sorry.”
Lois had no idea what Moonbeam was talking about, but it didn’t seem good.
Moonbeam caught her breath and then continued. “It’s not going to be easy. And, frankly, it’s going to be painful. But if you can withstand all that, you will end up with what you want and more. Your life will finally be happy, so happy I’d even call it super.” Her eyes opened wide. “No! Really? Wow! I didn’t see that coming.”
“What?” Lois was dying of curiosity, now.
Moonbeam smiled mysteriously. “Lois Lane, let’s just say, be glad you’ve got me under attorney – client privilege, ‘cause, honey, you’re going to need it.”
“Oh.” Lois smiled, understanding finally dawning. Moonbeam must have realized who Mr. Amazing was. She did say her life would be Super. And happy. Happy would be nice for a change.
*** End of Part 8 *** CommentsChapter 5: Part 9
