Okay, okay! I know I said I was going to torture you all by making you wait for part seven, but my muse insisted on writing it and posting it before we left. So here it is!
By this time tomorrow, I'll be in Philly. Woo-hoo! I hope I can get internet access while I'm there, but in case I don't: Bye, everyone!
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From Part 6: Her eyes grew misty, and she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Clark picked her up and carried her into her bedroom.
**********
Good sense, innocence cripplin' mankind
Dead kings, many things I can't define
Occasions, persuasions clutter your mind
Incense and peppermints the color of time
Who cares what games we choose?
Little to win, but nothin' to lose
Incense and Peppermints, meaningless nouns,
Turn on, tune in, turn your eyes 'round
Look at yourself, look at yourself. **********
And now, part 7: Clark stepped off the elevator and slowly made his way towards his desk. As he sat down, he stole a glance at Lois. She was so beautiful! It took every ounce of his willpower to keep from walking up to her and kissing her good morning. Even though it was just “a favor for a friend,” last night had been the most incredible night of his life. It was magic. It was a religious experience.
He’d tried to hide the depth of his feelings for her, partly because he didn’t want to scare her, but also because he didn’t want to shred every chance he might have had at getting her to notice Clark Kent. After all, what woman would even consider dating a farmboy from Kansas when she had America’s number one superhero returning her affections? He’d failed, though. He just couldn’t surpress his love. As soon as they’d started, the words “I love you” had slipped from his mouth. What Lois must be thinking!
He wondered idly if that had contributed to the awkwardness afterwards. Once it was done, they were so---uncertain---around each other that he’d felt incredibly relieved when he heard the screams and gunfire coming from Wilson Park. Come to think of it, that place seemed to be a magnet for calamitous, high death-toll disasters…
He looked at Lois again and caught her looking at him. The eye contact seemed to burn them, and they each turned back to their own desks. She looked pale and nervous about something. Probably wondering if he knew about her and Superman, Clark mused. After all, “Guys talk.”
He wished that he could explain to her that he was different; he wished he could tell her---*show* her---that if she let him love her, he would treat her like the most precious jewel in the universe! He wanted to marry her. He should! If she was going to have his baby, what more incentive did he need to go up to her, get down on one knee…
Clark sighed. It wasn’t him she wanted. It wasn’t him she’d asked to father her baby. Maybe someday she’d return his love, but that day was a long way off. In the mean time, he could just be there for her, the way he’d always been.
**********
Lois tried in vain to focus on her work. Last night had been incredible! If Superman hadn’t confirmed for her that it was his first time, she wouldn’t have believed it!
His first time. She was his first! Lois sucked in a breath as the depth of what happened last night began to sink in. She was the first woman Superman had ever been intimate with. She was going to have his child. He’d blurted out that he *loved* her!
And She’d almost ruined it by crying Clark’s name!
She’d bit her lip as hard as she could to keep the word back, to keep from accidentally crushing the very soul of the man with her, the man she often fancied as her future husband or boyfriend. But even though she managed to keep the scream from getting past her lips, she’d still crushed him by causing him to think he’d hurt her! She’d desperately tried to explain that he didn’t, that she was all right, and he seemed to accept that, but the look of horror and guilt on his face when he’d thought he hurt her would probably haunt Lois forever!
Lois buried her face in her hands. What kind of a woman gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance to sleep with the man of every woman’s dreams, and spends the whole night thinking about a co-worker?
**********
Lois paced up and down in front of the bathroom door. Why wouldn’t that stupid timer ring? It was only set for twelve minutes, but it felt like an hour had gone by already!
After she’d realized how she really felt about the “hack from nowheresville,” Lois had been unable to meet Clark’s eyes for a few days. Oddly enough, he seemed too distracted to really notice. Fortunately, it wasn’t too long before they were speaking again, and soon they were back to their old routine. Sort of.
Right now, though, Lois had more important things to think about besides how she felt about whom and why. In a few short minutes, a little plastic stick was going to tell her the future. What it wouldn’t tell her is if she’d done the right thing.
Lois groaned. Had she gone too far this time? Was it really worth altering her life---and the lives of others---just to spite nature? Ooh, she was in it deep this time.
“Oh, please be negative!”
But then, could she live with herself knowing that she had an opportunity to experience the miracle of childbirth but was too chicken to take it? What if down the road---*way* down the road--- she got married and decided she wanted children? This was her last chance to have a child of her own, a little miniature version of herself to care for.
“Oh, please be positive!”
But who was she kidding? She wasn’t the motherly type! She’d probably be tearing her hair out after day one! And what about her career? She still needed to win that Pulitzer! A child would just slow her down and get in the way!
“Please be negative!”
But then, when Nightfall threatened the earth, she’d been willing to perish with everyone else just so she could experience what was happening. At least this was an experience she could survive.
“Please be positive!”
“Lois?”
She turned. “Superman?”
“Your, um, window was open, so I dropped in. Is that okay? I mean, I can leave if you want…”
“Oh no! It’s okay. Please, stay. I was just---you know…”
“---Having second thoughts?”
She sighed. “Yeah. It’s kind of scary, you know?”
He nodded. “I know. This is the rest of your life we’re talking about. Whatever happens, that’s what you have to live with. A child or permanent infertility.”
“I keep thinking that whatever choice I make is the wrong one.”
“Then it won’t matter which one you pick.”
She looked at the grin on his face and smiled briefly. Then she launched herself into his arms. “Superman, I’m scared!”
He held her, tightening his arms around her. “Lois, it’s going to be okay. Whatever happens, it’ll be okay. You’re a fighter; you can handle anything! And whatever happens, I’m here for you.”
She sniffed. “Thanks. Superman, whatever happens, I want to thank you for being such a good friend. You’ve done a lot for me in all the time I’ve known you and---well anyway, thanks.”
“You’re welcome, Lois.”
They stayed in their embrace until a buzz from the oven told Lois that the twelve minutes were up. “This is it, the moment of truth. Keep your fingers crossed!”
Superman smiled and held up crossed fingers while Lois disappeared into the bathroom.
“Well, Lois? Is it good news?”
When Lois came out of the bathroom, tears were streaming down her cheeks. She smiled and held up the test. “Congratulations! It’s positive. I’m officially pregnant.”
**********
TBC
