Thank you all so much for the wonderful feedback! I'm so glad you are enjoying it. I'm glad the "divorce annulment" concept was a hit as well as Clark's book. And we'll definitely see more of Dr. Booker. She was integral in teaching them to process their trauma years before, and they both trust her to help them open up to each other and communicate as they work through this transition.
As someone pointed out privately, Clark's book definitely is an homage of sorts to the Soul Mates episode. It's different in that the stories in his books are not past lives that they led, but reimaginings of struggles they faced in this lifetime set in the past. But it definitely is meant -- both in this story for my readers, and as a message from Clark to Lois within the story -- to be a reminder of the fact they are soul mates and have witnessed first hand how their love has been tested in this past and survived. The title of the book Time and Again, is taken from this bit of dialogue from the Soul Mates Episode.
Clark/The Fox: Yeah, but why am I here? I mean, I'm not even from this planet.
HG Wells: Perhaps Clark Kent isn't, but your soul -- comes from a place beyond planets, beyond Time. Where we all come from. You see, time travel has given me a glimpse at the Great Design. Enough of a glimpse to see that the power of this universe is energy, and the power of your love is what brings your souls together, time and again. That's the one absolute -- wherever she is, you are.
I had never heard anything about a divorce annulment. I'd never even considered the concept. It's brilliant, it's absolutely inspired, and I wish I'd come up with it.
So I did a search on divorce annulment and found that yes, you can annul a divorce in Kentucky under certain conditions. My very brief Web search found only one firm there which discussed the issue, along with another site including a brief mention of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, and Nebraska where a divorce can be reversed. But legally that's a different thing, even though the result would be the same.
My concern at this point is that Lois "doesn't want it [the divorce] to count." That almost sounds like denial, perhaps even a "ridiculous self-delusion." I understand her deep desire to be really, honestly, openly married to Clark, but those years are gone and she can never get them back. Their shared journey through those hard times to this point is part of their relationship, and it's a major contributor to where they are now, both separately and together. To ignore those hard times would be to ignore a big part of who they each are and who they are together. It makes me wonder if this is the next big hurdle they must overcome.
First of all, I love so much that you googled divorce annulment. It never occurred to me that anyone would do that. And I never imagined that such a thing existed. Secondly, as you suspect, the real issue here is Lois' self denial and her lack of understanding/unwillingness to admit how much those years affected them individually, as a couple, and as a family. As much as she might want, they cannot simply be swept under the rug and forgotten. I don't want to say too much for fear of spoilers, but you've just hit on the central theme for the second half the story. This will absolutely be addressed in detail. And I'm so glad that you posted this concern because it really affirms for me that the transition of "will they/won't they get back together" to "how do they heal this damage and move forward" is working in this section.
