Chapter Sixteen – the Conclusion
PG Version (nFic version available)
“Wow, what a bizarre couple of days it’s been,” Clark remarked to Lois as they began their descent to “Paradise”, their own personal Isle in the Fiji Islands, to begin their “honeymoon”. It was about 10:00 a.m. Friday morning there; it was Thursday evening, around 5:00 p.m. back home.
“You’re not kidding. You just can’t make this stuff up!” agreed Lois.
“And I find it amazing that with the magic of time zones, we can arrive on Friday morning, leave on Saturday morning and actually be back in Kansas on Friday night, like we promised. Pretty cool,” commented Lois as Clark gently placed her sandaled feet on the white, sandy beach.
“Let’s not talk about what happened at the Planet until the weekend is over, okay? I promised you a honeymoon and, though it will be a short one day, we’re going to make it a great one!”
“You’re right, Clark. All the issues we just dealt with will be there on Monday morning. Now, I want to hear about my “twin” and how she got here. I know you said we’d talk about it in Smallville, but I would really like to focus on getting to know your folks, not re-hashing a story they already know about. So give.”
Clark smiled. Lois was so unbelievably flexible, probably because for ten years, she lived day by day, moving to various campsites to escape the Ninjas, and never knowing even if there would a place for her to sleep, let alone eat. Now, she could be chasing bad guys one minute, and going on a honeymoon the next. She was the best!
“Let me make a fire, you get the ‘bed’ ready, and then I’ll tell you everything,” Clark promised, as he scouted the area to find dry brush. Lois opened the tote bag she had brought; she spread the fleece comforter she had purchased (just for this occasion) out on the snow-colored sand, and smiled as Clark came back, starting a wonderful fire with his eyes.
The morning sun was strong as they were facing east. It was a glorious early April morning. They snuggled up on the blanket. At least for this day, life was wonderful.
Clark took a deep breath, and began his tale.
“Let’s see, back in 1996, I was just living my life, planning my wedding to Lana Lang. We were high school sweethearts, and I thought I loved her.”
“But you didn’t. Not like you love me,” Lois interjected with a gleam in her eye.
Clark smiled and agreed. “Exactly. Somewhere, deep inside of me, I knew that I should have felt *more* than I did for Lana. But we were comfortable with each other, and she and her parents were the only family I had, since my original foster parents were killed in a car crash when I was ten.”
Lois’ eyes conveyed a deep empathy for the ten-year-old boy that he was at that time, different from everyone and with no real family to turn to for answers.
”Did Lana ….know about your powers?”
“Well, they didn’t *fully* develop until I was 18. The last power that surfaced was the ability to fly. She knew about my strength, vision and hearing powers, and speed, as I had been living with her family on and off since I was ten. I had had a need to share these abilities with someone. But they really freaked her out. Her parents never knew.”
“Really? She didn’t see how *very* cool it was? Especially the flying. How did you learn to do that?”
“I discovered it purely by accident. A bunch of us decided to jump over the cyclone fence surrounding the Smallville Water Tower after graduation. Liquor never affected me, but most of the gang, including Lana, was pretty drunk. When someone suggested climbing to the top, I knew most of them couldn’t handle it in their condition. Ten teenagers, climbing 10 flights of stairs at nighttime? Not good.”
“It was about 100 feet tall, then?” asked Lois.
“Yes, about that. It was a beautiful, clear, June night. I let them all go ahead of me so I could try to catch anyone that might fall or lose their footing. As it turned out, the guy in front of me, my friend Pete, was pretty depressed. I didn’t know it at the time, but he was always madly in love with Lana, and he was really bummed out that Lana and I were together.
“He wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing, and his foot slipped and he started to fall. I tried to catch him while holding onto the railing, but I would have hurt him more, catching him with just one arm. So, figuring that even if I fell 70-80 feet, I wouldn’t die, I threw myself off the stairs and tried to propel myself downwards to get underneath him. Imagine my surprise when, after I caught Pete in my arms, instead of continuing to fall, I started to soar back up in the air!
“It was a really good thing that everyone else was really plastered, because it was dark and they didn’t see my aerial display.”
“Wow, how exciting that must have been…to discover that you could fly like a bird,” Lois said wistfully.
“It was wonderful. I have to say, before meeting you, it was one of the best days of my life, Lois.”
“Did Pete remember what happened?”
“Well, after he sobered up the next day, he told me he kept having a recollection of flying with me, and that it seemed so real, he thought he was losing it. I told him that it was the ‘liquor talking’, not to be so ridiculous. How could he believe a man could fly?”
“What about Lana? She didn’t see anything?”
“No, thank God. My other powers made her crazy enough.”
“Wow. It seems like she was pretty close-minded. Did she know about Krypton?”
“No, *I* didn’t even know about Krypton until ….later. I had no idea why I had these abilities, I only knew that I had to hide them so people wouldn’t look at me like I was a freak. And when your own fiancée feels that way, too…well, you know, everyone wants to be liked and accepted.”
“Oh, Clark. She never accepted you…..all of you, did she?”
“Not at *that* time. When we moved to Metropolis, I would try to help out covertly when I was needed and it would always bring on an argument. She made me promise I wouldn’t use my powers. It was a promise I just could never keep. If there was a way I could help, I just *had* to.”
“So, when does the other Lois Lane enter the scene?”
“Well, it was getting dangerously close to my wedding day, and I had just stopped a robbery, so I was late for work. Just as I got off the elevator, a woman – your twin – came rushing up to me. I was shocked; she had been talking to Perry and it looked like everyone but me knew who she was.
“I’ll never forget her next words: ‘oh, Clark, I’m so glad to see you. You and Superman’. Then, she gave me a big hug and kiss…on the lips…...just as Lana was getting off the elevator. She saw the whole scenario unfold. You should have seen the look on that woman’s face,” he said, smiling at the recollection.
“Yikes,” said Lois. “She sounds really bitchy and jealous. Well, I guess I might be that way, too, if someone was kissing *my* fiancée on the lips,” Lois admitted.
“Yes, she used to be *very* bitchy. Past tense, though. She’s changed a lot since she married Pete. But I digress.
“Lana immediately introduced herself to Lois as ‘Mr. Kent’s fiancée’, and demanded to know who she was, kissing me like that. And I was as confused about it as Lana was.”
“So Lana all but peed on you to mark her territory, huh?” Lois said with a big smile on her face.
“Yes, I guess she did,” he said with a grin. “I should mention also that ‘Lois’ was accompanied by an Englishman with a bowler hat, dressed in Victorian clothing. Perry was fawning all over her, as everyone thought that she was *you*, returning from the Congo after three long years. I asked her who *she* was, and who ‘Superman’ was. She became tongue-tied. I finally found out her name was Lois Lane from the gentleman with her, who I later found out was H.G. Wells.
“The writer? The one who wrote ‘The Time Machine’?”
“Yes. Not only did he *write* it, he built one!”
“Oh, wow.”
“Yes, well anyway, Lana immediately pulled me away from Lois and started giving me Hell in the elevator, because she had seen me rush off and use my powers to stop the robbers. If I heard that ‘they’re going to dissect you like a frog in a laboratory’ story one more time………ugh!”
“Huh? *Who’s* going to do that?” asked Lois.
“Lana was always *telling” me that. She was afraid they’d take me away and study me if everyone knew I was different. She said it hundreds of times, it seems like.”
“So, this ‘Lois’ and this other guy, Wells, came from another earth, similar to ours?”
“Yes. Actually, it was hard to believe at first, but later on, I actually went *there* and it’s amazing how similar things are, but with subtle differences. Perry is still an editor over there, and James is known as ‘Jimmy’ and he’s a photographer who’s just really good with computers.
“Apparently, this bad guy from the future, Tempus, had found a way to copy Wells’ time machine and it had been tweaked to allow for inter-dimensional travel as well. He thought it would be great to take the Lois in that world away from *her* Clark, one week before they were to get married.”
Lois interrupted. “So, back in 1996, our counterparts were already in love and about to be married? Wow, what would have happened between you and I if I had never left to go to Brazzaville? We lost all those years that we could have spent loving and being a part of each other’s lives. How sad,” she commented.
“True, but remember, I was with Lana back then and if Lois hadn’t come into our world when she did, I may have married her. What broke us up was my decision to become Superman, Lois. She couldn’t handle it. Gave me an ultimatum…the suit or her. I chose the suit.”
“So how did Lois take Lana’s possessiveness?”
“Well, she pretty much ignored it. After all, she was told by Wells that ‘her’ Clark was her soul mate and she figured that all she had to do was get to know me, and she could convince me to become this ‘Superman’ persona. This way, I could help her and Wells return home to *their* world.
So, in typical Lois-cunning fashion, she informed Perry that she wanted to be teamed up with someone, because after three years, her skills were rusty, and she specifically asked for that person to be me,” Clark replied.
“That sounds like me, always finding an angle to accomplish what I want,” Lois smiled. “But how did this Tempus guy figure into things?”
“Wells had journeyed into the future, and apparently, at least in *that* earth, our descendants form ‘Utopia’, a world where there is peace and no violence. Wells had met Tempus in his travels there, and he was completely bored with the status quo of his era. He agreed to travel back to Wells’ era with him to prove to his contemporaries that his machine worked. Wells decided to make a ‘pit stop’ in 1995 because he needed Clark and Lois’ help. His machine didn’t work without gold. After he convinced them he was on the up-and-up, they walked back to the alley where he had ‘parked’ the time machine. Tempus was supposed to have waited in the machine for him to return.
“However, Tempus had walked around, getting a taste of evil and violence, and had decided to turn on Wells. After robbing a jewelry store, he took the gold and used it for fuel and stole his machine to travel back to the 60’s to try to kill ‘Clark’ as a baby, when he was just arriving from Krypton and had no super-powers yet. Of course, the ‘other’ Clark and Lois *had*to help stop him. Using a blueprint that Wells had covertly left for him, Clark built a replica of the time machine for Lois and him to travel back in time with to 1966. Clark saved his ‘other” baby self so that the Kents could find him, and the timeline was restored again. Tempus was captured and Wells brought him back in time to Smallville, 1866, where he was put in jail for crimes he committed there. But he eventually escaped again. He was on a vendetta to stop Utopia from occurring, and the only way he could do that was by separating Clark and Lois so they would never get married and have children.”
“So that explains why he tried to *maroon* Lois here, away from *her* Clark, in a world where there was no Superman,” Lois concluded. “No marriage, no kids, no Utopia.”
“Yes, exactly. He was maneuvering between both worlds. He was committing bank robbery in the ‘other’ world, then coming back here with the money, and selling weapons and making a fortune. He actually ran for Mayor, against Perry.
“He captured Lois after she left the Daily Planet building, and put her, blindfolded, on a ledge on top of a tall building. He actually ‘wanted’ me to become Superman, because he thought that the Lois, *you*, of ‘our’ world was dead. Again, no Lois and Clark, no Utopia. He just wanted the competition, I guess. I was having dinner with Lana and her parents when I heard Lois’ screams. I made my usual half-baked excuse to leave, incurring Lana’s wrath, of course, and saved Lois just as she was plummeting to her death.
“She then told me the whole ‘alternate universe’ story, just like I’m telling it to you. She showed me a picture of ‘her' Superman, and a picture of her with ‘her’ Clark. She flashed her engagement ring at me, also. I was totally shocked, completely in awe.”
“Was it pretty big?” Lois asked. “Sorry, never mind, go on.”
“We went to a ski shop and she fashioned this costume for me. Then we went flying, patrolling Metropolis, and I ended up performing my first official ‘Superman’ duty, saving a rookie cop from a thug’s bullet. It felt so good to finally be ‘me’.”
“Wow….my ‘other’ self saved you, didn’t she? Saved you from a boring unfulfilling life hiding *who* you really were, being with a woman who didn’t love the ‘whole’ man. I owe her a lot, I guess,” realized Lois.
“The biggest thing she did for me was to make me realize that Lana was not the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”
“Clark, did you fall in love with this Lois?” asked Lois earnestly.
“I felt a strong connection to her. I was drawn to her I admit it. I even asked her to stay, after Tempus exposed me to be Clark Kent. So much for the ‘secret identity’ thing. Apparently, in *their* world, a pair of glasses keeps everyone from suspecting that Clark Kent is Superman. Can you believe that?”
“Really? That does sound stupid,” Lois agreed.
“But she loved ‘him’, had to go home to him. I felt so empty after she and Wells departed. The only thing I had left to remember her by was that picture of her in the crowd, so I had it blown up. I began a quest to find you, but it was unsuccessful.
“Later on, Wells came to visit me again, because Tempus had escaped once again, and had stranded ‘her’ Clark in a time void. I played “Superman’ in her world until we were able to bring him back. Meeting my ‘twin’ was a weird experience. And, I met his parents. I have to say, he had everything I didn’t have – a wife, and two wonderful, loving parents - and I was *so* jealous of him, I hated myself for it. And, one night, while Lois was missing ‘her’ Clark, and I was so fixated with ‘her’, we almost kissed. But we stopped it, knowing it was wrong. I looked just like ‘her’ Clark so it was natural for her to transfer her feelings for him to me.
“We ended up locating Clark with the time machine, derailing Tempus once again, and when I left, Wells hinted to me that finding *you* might not be impossible. That shred of hope kept me going for the last seven years. My strange chemistry with the ‘other’ Lois was not meant to be. The feelings I had were meant for you. Somehow, somewhere, my soul *knew* you were alive, and I called out to you every night. I dreamed of flying with you, sharing ‘Superman’ stories with you….and it was ‘you’, not the ‘other’ Lois, I dreamed of. A Lois that wasn’t ‘already’ in love with a ‘Clark’. Does that sound ridiculous?”
“It’s the most beautiful love story I’ve ever heard. The weirdest, too, but very beautiful,” Lois said, her eyes misting over. “It makes me believe in soul mates. Why did you think I would be mad when you finally told me all this? Do you think I’d be jealous of my ‘other’ self or something?”
“Yes, I thought you might be. But I can tell you honestly, Lois, that what I felt for *her*, was the same as what she felt for *me*. It was like being with someone’s twin. Even though they look alike, and their mannerisms are similar, there’s something in their ‘soul’ that’s different, and you might feel a connection to them, but it’s not real. I knew that in the back of my mind, that what I felt for her was just a fraction of what I would feel for *you*, once we finally met. And, it’s true,” he said, giving her a passionate kiss.
“And the Kents? Let me guess, Wells had something to do with that, too,” said Lois.
“Yes, Wells came over here to tell me with the conditions in the Congo being so inhospitable, he wouldn’t be able to go over there and look for you. He hadn’t been able to nail down the exact time you arrived over there, and apparently, you became quite good at keeping a low profile. I couldn’t find you either, with the restrictions I was under, not being able to use my powers overtly. Trying to locate you at night over there was like looking for a needle in a hay stack. If only I had known you were using the name ‘Linda’, perhaps I would have been more successful.”
“I was in a survival mode, Clark. Trying to save myself and my family. I *had* to be good at it,” Lois commented.
“Well, Wells wandered into a *different* ‘alternate universe’ to see if there was a world out there with a Lois without a Clark. He figured he would play matchmaker and see if she would come back here with him. What he discovered was a grim world, overrun with evil Kryptonians that had survived my planet’s destruction. When they traveled to earth and discovered their super powers, they decided to take over and rule the planet. They killed that world’s Clark with Kryptonite and then shot his pregnant wife, Lois, with Kryptonite bullets.”
Lois looked at him with terror on her face. “Omigod. Omigod. That’s so horrible.”
“Clark’s foster parents had been forced to witness the entire thing. Wells managed to convince them to come back to this world. I had kept my parent’s farmhouse in Smallville, but it was run down and needed work.”
“So, I see what happened. Since the Kents of ‘our’ world were already dead, you made up a fake name for them to explain their presence in this world. And, I take it, Lana was in on this, since they use her maiden name,” concluded Lois.
“That’s right. They are considered by the townspeople to be Lana’s Aunt and Uncle from California, Joe and Mary Lang. I rent the house out to them, via Lana’s real estate agency. Since my parents died over 25 years ago, no one really notices the resemblance they bear to the Kents, *my* folks.”
“Wow, so Wells gave you a family – of sorts – back.”
“Yes, he really did. The Kents and I have forged strong emotional ties. We help each other sort out our pain at times. The lost their son and pregnant daughter-in-law; I had no family, and was chronically missing you, who I had technically never met. They understood my pain, because they had witnessed the love shared between *their* son and his wife, and were very sad for me that you weren’t here with me, in ‘this’ world.”
“Wow. Wow. This is unbelievable. I guess when they say that your life is all planned out ahead of time, it’s true. Now I can’t wait to go to Smallville and spend time with them. And maybe someday give them the grandchild they never got to spoil in ‘their’ world,” Lois hinted to Clark.
“Lois, I would *love* to have a family, whenever you are ready. I know you want to get your career back on track and get settled in,” Clark said, with gentle understanding.
“Clark, I’m already in my latter-thirties. I don’t want to be having kids when I’m in my forties. I love you, and, as much as reporting is in my blood, I lived without it for ten years and survived. I would consider having a child and going back to work part-time in a heartbeat,” Lois informed him.
“Really? Wow. Then let’s get started as soon as possible,” he whispered to her, as he held her face in his hands, his tongue entering her mouth as they kissed with a sense of urgency. He stroked her now short hair, kissing the back of her neck and gently breathing on her ear lobes. The electricity between them was amazing. Both of their nerves endings were on fire. The thought of creating a child that was the perfect blend of the two of them had an unbelievably positive impact on their libidos.
Their lovemaking was even more intense and passionate than it had been the first time they had been together. The sharing of secrets had strengthened the bond they shared. As they gave each other pleasure, Clark floated them off the blanket, to create a feeling of weightlessness.
Ecstasy having been given and received, they crashed back down onto the comforter, Clark protecting Lois from hurt with a puff of super breath to break her fall onto him. Smiling, Clark and Lois lay in the ‘spoon’ position, the sounds of the ocean waves breaking on the shore and the strong tropical sun warming their bodies, as they drifted off into a heavenly sleep.
Saturday morning, 11:00 a.m., after Clark fetched a wonderful “bagels and coffee” breakfast from a well-known coffee shop in Seattle, Washington, they found themselves saying goodbye to their favorite haven once again, and heading east toward Smallville, Kansas. Sunlight started to disappear from view, and then reappear, as they were actually traveling back in time sixteen hours to re-live Friday night all over again. Since it was now daylight savings time, it was still light in Kansas at 5 p.m. Clark decided it would be best to use the tunnel to visit his folks.
“I created this tunnel so no one would suspect that I am as close to my ‘tenants’ as I really am,” Clark explained. “I don’t need the underworld going after them as a way to get to me.” He dropped down from the sky, and opened the entrance door, which was covered with leaves and debris. They were soon flying through the underground entranceway, which ended in the basement of the Kent farmhouse.
“Clark, are you worried, then, that they will try to hurt me in the same fashion? Since it’s public information that we are married,” Lois asked, as they began walking up the stairs to the kitchen.
“I am, but I plan to be around you almost every waking minute, if I have to,” he responded. “Since they’re in Kansas, it would be very hard to protect them around the clock.”
“True. But how are you going to protect me from an exploding toilet in the women’s rest room, for example?” Lois joked. “Or a Superman rescue mission when you *have* to leave me alone?”
“All I know is, Lois, without you in it, my life’s not worth living, so I will figure it out, I promise,” he said.
[I think *I’m* the one that’s going to have to protect *you*], Lois thought and then deliberately blocked her mind so Clark couldn’t “hear” what she said.
Martha and Jonathan had coffee and tea brewing, and the smell of a baking apple pie permeated the country kitchen.
“Honey, you’re here. I heard about all the problems at the Planet,” said Martha. “I’m so glad you’re both okay.”
“Ma, Lois and I made a promise that we’re not talking shop until we have to go back to work on Monday morning. We’re here to spend time with you, and that’s that,” Clark said.
Jonathan gave Lois a big hug. “I’m *so* happy that Clark finally found you. Now we can all share each other’s lives, the way it *should* be.”
“Honey, I hope you don’t mind, but I invited Lana and Pete over, and they’re going to bring their son as well. I know they would want to meet, you, Lois,” said Martha.
“Martha, that’s fine. I want to meet *all* of Clark’s friends. And I’ve heard a *lot* about Lana. I’m anxious to meet her as well,” Lois replied.
“How old is their son, by the way?”
“About six weeks, now. His name is Christopher Peter Ross. He’s adorable. Did you know that Clark is the Godfather?” Martha asked Lois.
“No, but it makes sense. They’re all friends from high school, right?”
“Yes, I guess so,” Martha said. “Of course, we weren’t here then for Clark, but ‘our’ Clark was best friends with *his* Lana and Pete,” she said, with sadness in her voice.
“Martha, I’m so sorry about *your* Clark and your daughter –in– law. That’s so horrifying for you. Does it help or hurt to be around me and Clark, when we look so much like the family you lost so tragically?” Lois wanted to know.
“It’s a double-edged sword, truthfully, Lois dear. Thanks for asking. But knowing how *this* Clark was so sad all of the time, with no parents and no *you* to share his life with, it really gave us a purpose in life when we came here. Without that, we would have died of broken hearts,” Martha said.
“I guess that H.G. Wells character did a good thing, then, by bringing you both to *this* earth. I’m so happy that you’re here, Martha and Jonathan.”
“I can see you are just as sweet as the Lois we loved so much. Both of our sons have great taste in women,” remarked Jonathan.
There was a knock at the door. “That must be Lana and Pete and the baby. I’ll get it,” said Martha.
What she saw made her jaw drop several inches.
Wells’ time machine was parked outside on the driveway.
Martha thought she was in a house of mirrors at the amusement park. She was looking at Clark, Lois, two children that looked exactly like them, and – a carbon copy version of herself and Jonathan!
“Oh, my,” was all she could say. “Oh my. Clark! Please come to the door.”
“Mrs. Kent, I’m so sorry to stop by unannounced. But we understand that today is a special day and we came to share it with all of you,” explained Wells.
“Please, do come in.”
Clark recognized his friends from the ‘other” earth, Clark and Lois. Two small children, looking to be about 2 and 4 years old, accompanied them. They were both dark-haired, with big brown eyes, one boy, and one girl. Clark’s parents were there as well, virtually identical to *his* folks.
“Hey, Clark. Hey Lois, good to see you again,” he said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Looks like you guys have been busy raising a family, huh?” he said, smiling at their children.
The two Loises were scrutinizing each other. Ironically, the ‘other’ Lois was now wearing her hair in a longer, freer flowing style, so it was easier to tell them apart.
“Hi Lois, I’m Lois. I’m so happy to meet you, and I want to thank you for making Clark realize what a mistake he would have made marrying Lana,” she said.
“Every world needs a Superman. It was his destiny. I’m so glad to *finally* meet you too. I can relax now, knowing that Clark won’t be lonely and miserable any more, now that you’re here with him.”
“That’s sweet, but he saved *me* too. I had resigned myself to being single the rest of my life, until he came along.”
“I know, I felt the same way. Wow, we *are* like twins, except for the hair.”
“I had my hair cut short like yours was. Clark had a picture of you in the crowd from the time you were here, and I thought it looked great. But I see you’ve let yours grow out a bit,” observed Lois.
“Yes, now that the kids are a bit older, I have a little more time to play with my hair in the morning,” she joked.
“Clark, you know my parents, Martha and Jonathan Kent. You met them the last time you visited ‘our’ world,” Clark said.
“Yes, of course. So good to see both of you again,” Clark said. “And these are ‘my’ folks, Martha and Jonathan Kent, but in this world their ‘legal’ names are Joe and Mary Lang. Did Herb explain it all to you?” Clark asked as everyone shook hands in amazement. It was the strangest feeling, shaking hands with ‘yourself’.
Clark smiled. “Yes, he did. Quite a story. I’m happy it all worked out for you, and I’d really like to go over to ‘their’ earth sometime and kick those rogue Kryptonians out of power. Let me know when you want to go!”
“You bet! Sounds good to me!”
“Now, I’d like to introduce you to Kara and Jared. Kara is two and Jared is going to be four next month, in May. Kids, say hello to everyone,” Lois said, putting her arms around the children, bringing them to the forefront.
“Hi,” they said in unison. “How come you all look the same?” Jared asked.
The group laughed. “Honey, I’ll explain it to you when you’re a little older,” Lois said. “This is Aunt Lois, Uncle Clark, and Grandma Mary and Grandpa Joe. Give everyone a handshake or a kiss, now,” she instructed.
“Do I have to?” whined Jared. Lois glared at him. “All right,” he said, making the rounds of the group. “How come Kara doesn’t have to do this?”
“She will, when she’s older. For now, Kara, give everyone a hug,” Clark interjected. Kara began walking around the group of adults,giving each person a gentle squeeze.
“Wow,” Lois remarked. “They’re beautiful kids. Clark and I were just talking about starting a family. Now I’m even *more* excited about it.”
“We have some tips that will help you get pregnant,” said Lois. “Before we leave, I’ll share them with you.”
“Great! Yes, I didn’t think about that….Clark *is* an alien. Hmmm.”
Suddenly, there was another knock on the door. “Now, this time, it *must* be the Rosses.”
And it was.
Kara and Jared were excited to have a newborn to play with. Little Christopher was kissed, teased, and prodded by the two of them…and he seemed to love it, smiling back at them with his freckled face, framed by strands of curly blond hair here and there.
After introductions were made again, Lana pulled Lois over to the living room, and said, “I’m so happy you’re here. I’m sure Clark told you the whole story about what a bitch I used to be,” Lana began.
“Well, I guess you were afraid that society couldn’t accept Clark for who he was. You were younger then. It’s understandable,” Lois said sympathetically.
“I know. I let a great man walk away from me because of my own jealous fears. But truthfully, he never loved me the way he loves you ‘Lois Lanes’,” Lana said. “There’s something about you ‘Loises’…..you give him more than *I* ever could. So I’m so happy he finally found you.”
“Are *you* happy, Lana? Clark tells me that Pete always had a thing for you.”
“Yes, I am. Pete is the sweetest, most wonderful man, and he’s right for me. Just the way Clark is right for you. Clark and I have become very close again. It took several years for the bitterness to fade away, but I’m so glad we were able to put that behind us, because he’s like my best friend now. Do you know how many times I tried to fix him up with someone, and he always had an excuse? *You* were the only one he wanted, I’d have you know. He’s a one-man woman, all the way. You’re a lucky lady, Lois Lane. Congratulations on your marriage!” Lana said, giving Lois a kiss on the cheek and a hug.
“Thanks, Lana. And by the way, your son is gorgeous,” she replied. “And it was very sweet of you to help Clark find a way for the Kents to re-establish themselves as your Aunt and Uncle.”
“Thanks, Lois. I hope that we can *all* be close now. I guess, with all the people in the kitchen, we have ourselves a par-tee!”
“Yes, I guess we do,” smiled Lois. “And one where half the guests have identical twins in the room. Better get out the cameras to save this one for posterity!”
***************
And so, Clark had found *his* Lois. H.G. Wells could finally relax, feeling that things were finally right in *this* universe. Maybe now he could go home, to his era, and let things run their course without further interference. His job was done.
Lois and Clark, however, still had issues to face on Monday morning.
The END.
Watch for “Concrete Jungle Love” coming to a bulletin board near you this summer!
