Finally some more FDK, Nancy.
“Would you *like* more children?”
“Yes, I suppose I would. I suppose that we’d all like children, wouldn’t we?
“Have you ever tried? I mean, Mars and Earth are in the same solar system. There may be some common origins there.”
J’on pursed his lips. “Hmm... I don’t think so. But no, I’ve never really tried. There have been a couple of
ladies... but they didn’t know my true origins, so it’s not like I could take a chance.”
“Ah. Do you have a special lady in your life right now?”
J’on smiled. “Yes. And I believe I’m in love with her. I've not felt like this since... Well, last time I felt like this, I was still living on Mars.”
“Does she know about you?”
“Yes. I told her. But I’m not sure that she truly realizes what that means.” He shrugged. “She has mentioned that she might like more children some day, but we haven’t... well, we haven’t yet. And I’m not so sure she’d like little green children.”
Fascinating! Ah, poor Jo'n J'onnz. I remember a comic book story, probably from the early 1970s, when the comics, too, had accepted that Mars is a desolate planet. In that story, Mars
was a living planet, but some horrible interstellar criminals managed to engulf Mars in a horrible, planet-wide fire that could not be put out. It killed everything on Mars. In the end, Green Lantern had to peel off the upper crust of Mars and hurl it away into space to get rid of it. In one of the last panels, we saw poor J'n J'onnz burying his face in his hands in his grief at the desolation. Poor J'on certainly deserves some happiness, particularly since I always liked him.
Zara smiled. “Ching, may I present Lady Marisol Stuart to you. She is Lord Los-El’s wife.”
Ching frowned. “Lady? I thought she was the Queen of Wheat.”
Zara sighed, “She is part Kryptonian, Ching, and I have rightfully given her the title of Lady. That’s all you need to know for now.” She didn’t want to mention the rape because of Ching being Hannah’s biological father.
Ching narrowed his eyes. <~And you have sanctioned their marriage?~>
She nodded. <~Yes, of course, Ching.~>
I'm glad that Zara supported Los and Marisol's marriage.
<~Then I believe there may be a problem. Lord K’al-El has had their marriage annulled.~>
Nooooo!!!! K'al!!!!
Jon was sitting cross-legged in the bed and was holding a pillow against his abdomen. Meowoof was sitting beside him acting like she wanted to help him in any was that she could.
Adorable!
Rya sat watching the emotions crossing her husband’s face. Finally, she softly said, “~K’al. What did you do? Please tell me you didn’t do anything without speaking to your mother. And please tell me you didn’t do anything foolish.~”
K’al took a deep breath. “~I had Los’ and Marisol’s marriage and union annulled. I really had no choice.~”
Rya put her hand to her chest and took a deep breath. Her mouth dropped open. “~You did this without speaking to Lady Zara?~”
He shrugged. “~Of course, I was trying to spare her pain from this whole fiasco. I’m quite sure that she was not aware of Los’ and Mari’s situation.~”
Where is the "strangle K'al" icon?
Lady Rya breathed hard and clenched her fists. “~Lord K’al-El. Sometimes you act too much with your head and not with your heart. You have acted with stupidity. I spoke with Lady Zara early this morning. She is well aware of Los’ and Mari’s ‘situation’ and she called Mari ‘Lady Marisol’. I’m assuming she would not have done that without cause. Did you not tell me that Lady Marisol's father was Drull? And Drull was a lower lord of Lord Nor’s house. Even though Lord Nor’s house is in disgrace, Lady Zara could still have named Mari a lower lady, and I assume that’s what she did. You have acted *shamefully*!!~” She stood up and began pacing. “~After all that Los did for us, I can’t believe you would have done all this without even speaking to him. Or without speaking to your mother. Los put his career - his very Lordship in jeopardy for us.~” She shook her head sadly. “~And now he is going to have to pay for your stupidity - for your cruelty.~”
That's telling him, Rya!
K’al frowned. “~But... she... I was trying to protect him...~”
B-llsh-t, K'al.
She shook her finger in his face. “~You were *not* trying to protect Los. You were only worried about how this might reflect upon you. As often is the case, you acted selfishly. K’al, how can you ever expect to be an even adequate leader to your people when you only think of yourself? You know that Los and Marisol are madly in love. Just like we are. And Los protected us, our love and our daughter. Unlike him, you acted without compassion.~”
Keep telling him, Rya!
K’al stood up and the set of his jaw was hard. “~How dare you speak to me like...~”
“~I’m your *wife*, K’al. I have every right to speak to you in such a manner. Now, leave me. I don’t wish to speak to you further right now. Go!~” She turned her back to him. When he didn’t leave, she picked up little Lady Jonna and left the room herself. She shook her head sadly, and not for the first time, sorely cursed her decreased telepathic powers. Lady Zara surely needed to know of her son’s idiocy.
Yes! Rya!
“Who do I tell first? Dad? Ben?”
Bear lay with his head on her lap and commiserated with her silently.
Claire shrugged. “I don’t know, honey. Not only do you have to tell them you are pregnant, but you have to tell them you are having twins.”
Twins???
Two Bark and Bear both knew that their red haired girls were very upset. But Chloe was expecting a litter. Shouldn’t that be a joyful thing?
Love the dog POV!!!
Chloe put her arms around Clark and cried on his shoulder. “I’m pregnant, Daddy. With twins.” As she started sobbing harder, she sniffed, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Claire touched her dad’s arm and softly said, “You know she would never have had sex if not for Alex. She had always planned on waiting.”
Clark nodded sadly and ran his fingers through Chloe’s hair. “We’ll get through it, honey. Shhh.... It’s okay.”
Oh, poor Chloe. I'm glad Clark is taking it so very well.
Los frowned and shrugged knowing that since there was still some damage that couldn’t be repaired that he would still have some chronic pain.
Poor Los. But that is not the worst that has happened to him.
“I didn’t think you knew. I was trying to protect...”
“Be quiet!” She sighed heavily. “Let me tell you what I found out yesterday evening. Lady Edrika is actually interested in Lord Ch’ing. You see, he has been sending her love letters that she thought were from Los. Imagine Lord Ximon-We’s surprise when his daughter told him of her wishes to marry Ch’ing. But he acted in good faith today, and he is not willing to annul the marriage of Los and Lady Edrika. And you know that Lady Edrika has a temper. She was *not* happy when she found out that she is now married to your brother - the wrong brother. And now your twin will have to pay for your foolishness.”
I really, really need the "strangle K'al" emoticon. The mess he's made of things!!!
K’al held his head high. “I did what I thought was right.”
“Well, it wasn’t right. And since Lord Ximon-We is the only member of the council aboard the ship, this is something that I can’t fix without his approval.” She shook her head sadly. “K’al, sometimes you show such promise, and then sometimes you have no compassion. I wonder sometimes if it wouldn’t have been better if Los had been the first born.”
I'm sure it would have been. Then again, if Los had been raised to be the ruler, then maybe he would have been more selfish and less compassionate than he is now.
K’al looked stricken. “So, did you really name Marisol a lady?”
“Yes, I did and rightfully so.”
He stood up, towering over his mother, and crossed his arms. “But did you know of her treachery? The title, ‘Queen of Wheat’, means nothing!”
For all his physical size, K'al is an emotional dwarf here.
She put her hand in front of her and lowered it slowly indicating that she wanted K’al to kneel in front of her. Her look said that she would tolerate no nonsense. He knelt in front of her. “I wouldn’t call it treachery, K’al. Los was well aware what her title ‘meant’. But, yes, they *both* lied to you. But you still should not have done what you did without asking your brother about it or without talking to me. Especially not after all that he has done for *you*.” She turned and left the room - leaving K’al on his knees.
And by forcing him to kneel, and leaving him kneeling, Zara demonstrated K'al's lack of stature to him. I love it.
Beth smiled. “Well, I actually have a day off from work, so I’m going out. John is getting dressed now. He said he had a rough morning so he came over to take a nap. He doesn’t live around here.”
“John?” Chloe said neutrally.
“John Jones. We’ve been dating for a while.”
Oh, that's just great! J'on J'onzz is dating Ben's mother! I love it! (And hey... I believe Beth wouldn't be averse to the idea of having a little half-Martian with J'on.)
Beth took the pantyhose from him and headed towards the bedroom. “Chloe’s here, Benjie.”
“Oh, Mom! Don’t call me that!” Then he muttered under his breath, “Makes me sound like a dog.”
You know, I have to agree. (Heel, Benjie! Play dead! Good boy, Benjie!)
“I’m glad you came over, Chloe. I thought I might visit you. I miss you.”
She blushed ever so slightly. “Yes, I bet you do.”
He pulled her into his arms and waggled an eyebrow. “Are you telling me that you didn’t miss me?”
She smiled against him and floated up just a little to see if he noticed.
Ah! She's trying to tell him without telling him!
She quickly told him about what she had found out then she said, “Claire is strong. Stronger than she thinks. She will okay. And she will get through the trial okay.”
He sat down, disheartened. “Yes, I’m sure she’ll be okay. I bet your dad would like to kill Alex.” He frowned. “I wouldn’t mind having a go at him myself. I bet I could pummel him.”
“Yes, Ben, at 6’5’’, I’m sure you could.
Ben is tall.
“Daddy knows.”
“Knows?” Ben questioned. “You mean...” He gestured between the two of them. She nodded. “How... Did you tell him?”
She shook her head no. “He just figured it out. Daddy’s... well, he’s a smart man.” She’d get around to telling Ben later that it had been her dad’s sense of smell that allowed him to find out.
No, that would be embarrassing to tell someone else, I think.
The bell went off indicating the pizza was ready. She pulled the door open and pulled out the pizza - without oven mitts. Ben didn’t notice that, either. She rolled her eyes.
Ben is so sweet, but galactically stupid, eh?
She quickly unzipped her jacket and pulled it open. She had on the Blue Fairy suit. She also changed her hair to blue.
Eh... just
how does she change her hair to blue?
“First, I’m the Blue Fairy.”
But I love her telling him.
He took advantage of that and kissed her. When he stopped kissing her because he needed to take a breath, he opened his eyes. What he saw was magic. What he saw was the milky way. He started to pull away to look at the marvelous sight around him.
You are saying that they are in space?
“You mean like Superman?” Then a dawning of knowledge crossed his face. “Wait... Superman was at your house. Last night, you acted like it was no big deal to know him... He’s... He’s...”
Chloe ran her hand through his red tresses. “Yes. My father is Superman.” She giggled. “And like I said last night, you really are a lot taller than he is.”
A very sweet revelation.
With downcast eyes, she whispered, “Does it bother you?”
He pulled her into an embrace. “Oh, god, no, Chloe. I love you. I love you so much.”
She began their descent and set them down a few feet from where they took off. “Well, that’s good to know because... Hmm.... I needed my feet on the ground for this. Hmm...” A tear ran down her cheek. “You were right, Ben. I am pregnant. In fact, I’m pregnant with twins.” She looked at him with all the hope and fears that she held in her heart.
Well, Ben is a lovely boy. He won't desert her. But, God, they're having twins. At sixteen.
Like I said, this is just a great chapter, Nancy!
Ann
