LAST TIME:
Clark helped his wife shift into a more comfortable position before moving into the front seat. She winced, feeling another wave of pain, but concentrated instead on holding her new son close. They drove off towards the hospital, and Clark was beaming proudly as he glanced every few seconds at Lois and the baby in the rear-view mirror. In his excitement over seeing his child finally arrive, he’d failed to notice that Lois was still bleeding...
NOW CONTINUE ON...
* * * * *
Clark Kent rushed into the emergency room, announcing his wife had just given birth. Two staff members followed him to the Jeep with a gurney, and Lois and the new baby were transported to an examination room. A nurse attended to them at once; under her supervision, Clark was allowed to cut the umbilical cord. The nurse then snapped blue hospital bracelets on all three of them before lifting the baby boy from Lois’ arms. She laid him in a bassinet and gave him a quick evaluation.
“You delivered this baby yourself, Mr. Kent?” the nurse asked in astonishment.
Clark blushed and squeezed Lois’ hand. “Well, Lois did most of the work. The only position I played was catcher.” Clark gave the doctor and nurse a quick rundown of the labor and delivery.
“Well, it’s no wonder she had a hard time. You’re looking at a ten-pound baby,” the nurse announced.
“No way...” Clark stammered. Lois’ eyes were big with disbelief.
“If not ten, then close to it,” she said. “We’re going to take him to the nursery for his first checkup, and we’ll know for sure.” The nurse glanced over as a doctor entered the room.
Lois looked up at Clark. She saw him looking wistfully at their new son. “Go,” she said softly. “Go with him. One of us should be there with him...”
“Are you sure?” Clark asked.
Lois nodded and smiled weakly. “I imagine I’m going to the maternity ward soon. Go, Clark.”
He leaned over her and kissed her tenderly. “I love you, sweetheart.” He started after the nurse, who had already wheeled the bassinet halfway down the hall. Before Clark got very far, he heard the doctor utter two words that stopped him in his tracks.
“She’s hemorrhaging.”
Clark was suddenly ice-cold from head to toe. He rushed back to Lois’ side as things went from bad to worse. Everything was changing so fast. There was a buzz of activity surrounding Lois, as two nurses held her legs apart. The doctor had donned a pair of latex gloves and was assessing the situation. Lois shrieked, writhing in pain as the doctor worked to discover the source of Lois’ condition. There was so much blood...
Clark could only watch helplessly as the color slowly drained from his face. Why hadn’t he noticed...?
Lois screamed. Clark gripped her hand and pleaded with the doctor. “Please... Can’t you do something for her pain?”
The doctor looked up briefly. “I was hoping we could stop the bleeding quickly, right here. Right now. But I’m afraid we’re going to have to take her into the O.R. We need to find the source of the bleeding so we can stop it. This happens a lot of times when the placenta isn’t born right away,” he explained.
‘Damn.’ Clark could have kicked himself. He’d delivered babies before. He knew better! Lois looked up at him, a panic-stricken look on her face. “Lois, honey, you’re going to be all right,” he said, choking back tears. He leaned over her, kissing her lips softly.
He was interrupted by an anesthesiologist, who slipped a mask over Lois’ nose and mouth. “A few deep breaths, Mrs. Kent...”
The last words she heard before drifting off into a numb sleep were Clark’s. “I love you, Lois...”
* * * * *
Clark was a wreck. If his x-ray vision was back to normal, he would have peered through the operating room doors to see how the surgeon was progressing with Lois. But then, did he really want to see...? Filled with mixed emotions, he walked up three flights of stairs to the nursery and found all the new babies lined up by a window. He was a little sad that he’d missed much of his son’s first hour.
When he saw his baby, he had to smile. The infant was wrapped in a light blue blanket and wore a yellow cap on his head. He was sleeping peacefully, and was the best-looking baby in the bunch, hands-down, Clark decided. His bassinet was labeled ‘Baby Boy Kent, 10 pounds, 2 ounces.’ *Ten pounds, two ounces...* That was a very big baby for anyone to deliver, especially his petite wife. She’d worked so hard to bring their beautiful baby into the world. He wished he could have bore the pain she’d experienced. Lois’ strength put his super-strength to shame. He wondered, his heart aching with worry, if the Kryptonian gestation was shorter than that of humans. Maybe the baby should have been born at six or seven months...
But then, Lois would have been fine if he’d thought enough to coach her through delivering the afterbirth... This was his fault. He hadn’t been thinking. All that had been on his mind was seeing his son’s first minutes. How could he not notice the bleeding...? So much had drained from Lois’ body as the doctor examined her. His chest tightened just thinking about it. The doctor’s gloved hands, dark red and wet... he shook his head, trying to push the image out of his head. He thought, instead, of how Lois looked when she first held the baby; she was peaceful and beautiful and smiling.
After what seemed like ages, he tore himself away from the window and headed off to find a pay phone.
He dialed his parents’ number. “Mom...? Get Dad on the other line.” He heard his father’s voice join his mother’s.
“Clark? Did Lois--?” His mother’s voice was filled with anticipation.
“She had the baby! It’s a boy!” Clark couldn’t stop himself from smiling.
“Oh! Oh my God, Jonathan, we’re grandparents!” Martha squealed.
Jonathan was equally thrilled. “Son, this is incredible! How’s the baby? And Lois?”
“The baby is great. Just perfect. He’s so healthy. He’s ten pounds and two ounces.”
“Ten?! My goodness, I knew it was going to be a big baby from the way she was carrying it, but ten! Wow. Is she okay? Did she have a hard time?” Martha questioned.
Clark sighed. “Mom... we didn’t make it to the hospital. We had to deliver the baby in the car by ourselves. It was... really rough on Lois. No drugs. It took... so long.”
Jonathan lowered his voice. “What about... *Superman*?”
Clark hesitated. “Let’s just say... he wasn’t feeling too well.”
Martha understood and jumped in, gasping. “Kryptonite! Honey, are you okay?!”
“Feeling a little better now,” Clark added cryptically. His parents could hear his voice wavering.
“And Lois...?” Martha asked.
“She was in so much pain. And when I finally got her to the hospital, she was losing a lot of blood... She’s in surgery now.” He took a deep breath, struggling to keep his composure. “It shouldn’t be long now, before she gets out. She did so well. She was so brave, Mom. If something happens to her--”
“Clark,” Jonathan interrupted, “if anyone can get through this, it’ll be your Lois. She’s a strong girl and a fighter, too.”
Clark smiled. “You’re right, Dad. Do you want me to come pick you two up?”
“That’s up to you, honey,” Martha said gently. “Why don’t you wait until Lois is out of surgery?”
“Sure, Mom. I think I better stay close by until she’s awake.”
“Good thinking, son. Have you settled on a name yet?”
“Benjamin John Kent.” It dawned on him that this was the first time he’d spoken his son’s name. It sounded so wonderful, now that he had a face to match with the name. “I’ll call you as soon as I can.”
“We love you, Clark,” Martha said happily. “And we can’t wait to meet our grandson!”
* * * * *
Forty-five minutes later, Lois was moved from the recovery room to the maternity ward. The surgeon assured Clark that Lois would make a full recovery after enough rest. They’d managed to stop the hemorrhaging successfully. She had received a blood transfusion already, and was currently on IV with a second one. She was asleep and peaceful. Clark was grateful that Lois was finally numb to the pain she’d experienced all day.
He sat beside her, brushing the curls from her forehead. He took her hand loosely in his and kissed it lightly. She looked lovely, and Clark could barely wait for her to wake up. He wanted her to be with him, to enjoy their baby together. A nurse came to the room and asked if she should bring the baby’s bassinet to the room. Clark nodded with a smile.
* * * * *
Before anything else, she was aware of a very warm yellow light shining against her closed eyelids. She shifted a little and felt sore all over. Moving was not a good idea yet, she decided. Awakening was an effort. She felt like her eyes were glued shut. The first thing that she became aware of was a soft, comforting sound. A voice.
Clark’s voice.
“...just you wait, Ben. Wait until you get a good look at your Mommy. I think you’ll agree that she’s the most beautiful woman in the world. And the sweetest. And the bravest. She worked awfully hard to bring you into the world, she makes me so proud. She’s absolutely brilliant. She amazes me every single day.”
Lois struggled to open her eyes, and when she finally succeeded, it was well worth the effort. There was Clark, her husband, standing in front of the gauzy yellow curtain as the early-morning light spilled through. Diffused, it backlit the new father’s profile. Lois couldn’t bring him into focus, but she didn’t need to. She could see him holding the baby in front of him, his head inclined so that father and son were nearly forehead-to-forehead.
“You are going to just love her,” Clark continued to the baby. “I do. More and more every day.” He kissed the top of the infant’s head.
Lois felt an immense love for her husband and new baby. She smiled, secretly happy that she’d caught Clark’s first heart-to-heart with his son. She couldn’t be prouder. “Clark?” she said softly.
Clark looked over slowly and smiled, ear-to-ear. Lois was awake! He looked back down at the baby. Little Ben’s inquisitive eyes watched his father intently. “Ben? What do you say we surprise Mommy?” Clark walked over to Lois’ bedside carefully, holding the baby as if he was holding the most precious thing in the world. And he was. Quite literally.
Before saying another word, Clark helped Lois sit up a little and laid the baby in her arms. Lois had a lovely, amazed expression on her face as she looked at Ben. Now she was fully able to appreciate him. His tiny fist grabbed on to her finger immediately. “Uh oh. That’s some grip he’s got there,” Lois said with a little laugh. “I think he might take after his Dad...”
Clark beamed. He leaned over the bed and kissed Lois on the temple. “How do you feel, honey? You had me scared for a while there.”
“Drained. Sore. I’ll be all right,” Lois replied, far too distracted by her incredible, new son to pay much attention to her pain. “Hello, Benjamin,” she whispered. Ben’s eyes darted upwards to meet her gaze. “Hey, he already knows his name!”
“Well, we worked on that while you were asleep. He’s pretty smart. Picks up on these things fast!” Clark announced. “Wait till you see him in the nursery next to the other babies, Lois. He stands right out.”
“I bet,” Lois smiled, touching Ben’s chubby cheek. She looked up at her husband, and back at her baby. “We’re parents. Wow...” she mused, her eyes meeting Clark’s again.
“I know. Amazing,” Clark replied, leaning over the bed once more to capture Lois’ lips in a soft kiss. “This is the biggest journey we’ve ever taken.”
Lois smiled, her brown eyes sparkling. “Well, we’re taking it together, so it’s bound to be an adventure.”
THE END!
