From Chapter 7:
After a taxicab ride back to Balboa Park, Wells waited until the area was free of bystanders; he then turned off the cloaking device, making the time machine visible once again. He set the geography control, forgetting that his default Smallville setting was the Kent farm. The trio strapped themselves in, Wells clicked 'OK' with the mouse, and soon, they found themselves materializing right in front of 7-year old Clark Kent, playing outside in the yard which fronted a *very* familiar yellow house!
~~~~~
8
The Loises screamed; Wells spouted "Oh, dear!" and Clark became all wide-eyed, running into the farmhouse, shouting, "Mom! Mom! There's a UFO outside!" as he (almost) flew out of sight.
Since it was too late to avoid being seen (or heard), Lois and LL, of like minds, stepped out of the machine and walked toward the front door, nearly colliding with the young Clark and his mother who were running back out of the house. Both Loises gasped at the sight of a thirty-something-year-old Martha Kent. How attractive she was, with long, gently flowing, auburn hair and the same great smile their Marthas had. Clark, of course, was absolutely adorable at age seven. What a little doll!
Wells trailed behind tentatively, letting the Lane women handle this uncomfortable situation.
"Mrs. Kent?" asked LL. <Weird, looking at your future mother-in-law, when we're about the same age. This will be the only time I'll get to meet Clark's mom. How sad.>
"Yes, I'm Mrs. Kent. Call me Martha. You gals don't look like aliens to me. What are you doing here, on our property, and what is that?" she questioned, pointing to the time machine.
Figuring that it was safe to assume that Martha Kent had to be somewhat open-minded (since her only son came to her via a rocket ship), LL decided to try the candid approach.
"Can we talk inside – in the kitchen? Without Clark hearing us? This might be a bit much for a 7–year old to take in," she advised her. <Thankfully, Clark's powers really haven't kicked in yet. I think he told me his super–hearing arrived when he was 14 or so.>
"I don't see why not. Why don't you start out by telling me your names; I generally don't invite complete strangers into my home," she replied, winking. "Once I know your names, you won't be strangers any more, will you? You obviously know mine and my son's, as well as his age."
"My name is Linda; this is my twin sister, Lois, and this gentleman's name is Herb. We're so pleased to meet you, Martha," LL replied.
"Nice to meet you all. Won't you come in for tea and pie?"
"That's very gracious of you, Mrs. Kent," Herb noted, finally locating his speaking voice. "May I say that you have a lovely home here?"
"Well, thank you, Herb," Martha said. "My husband, Jonathan, is out working in the corn fields. He'll be along shortly."
They settled into the aromatic kitchen, their appetites whetted simply by the smell of Martha's heavenly baking.
LL caught little Clark spying at her out of the corner of his eyes, as if he knew her.
"Honey, don't you know it's not polite to stare?" Martha chided him. "Now, go play outside!"
"All right, Mom, but it's not fair! I never get to hear the good stuff!" Clark said in a whiny, nasal tone of voice.
<Well, he's only seven; he's allowed to have "whining time",> LL thought, with a visible grin.
After he left, and was spotted riding his pony in the front yard, through the kitchen window, LL took a deep breath. Since this Martha was technically LL's mother in law, Lois was letting her take the lead.
"Martha, we know that Clark is not from this earth," she began. "And, believe it or not, we're from the future."
"I think I need to have my husband here," she stammered, turning white. "He needs to hear this, too. Otherwise, he won't believe me!"
As if he had magically heard her, Jonathan marched through the front door, and plowed his way into the kitchen. "Martha? What in tarnation is going on here? What's that contraption on our front lawn, and who *are* these people?" he bellowed. The two Lane women were taken aback by the thirty-something Jonathan Kent's rugged handsomeness. He was a real hottie!
The trio had to give credit to the Kents. They were, as expected, open-minded, as they spun their tale of Krypton, the future, and even telling them about parallel worlds, and that one of the two ladies seated in front of them would someday marry their only son. Of course, they couldn’t tell them about their untimely demise, three years hence, or that their son would be an orphan twice, in one lifetime.
"Martha, the reason I'm here is… you see, in the future, I'm a newspaper reporter, and so is Clark (they hadn't told the Kents about "Superman", or Clark's soon to be developing "powers", not wishing to push their credibility too far). "It is very important that this article, seemingly written by you, be published in the Smallville Press," LL told her, handing her the finished product, expertly written by the Lane women.
"Why? Who is 'Lenny Thorul'? Why would it be written by me? I'm just a housewife," Martha argued, after perusing through the said article.
"Martha, believe me, you have lots of talents you've barely explored," Lois chimed in. "My mother-in-law, an older version of you, is a talented painter, and a darn good writer as well."
Martha beamed, and smiled at Jonathan. "OK, but still… I'm not clear why I have to be the author on this, and how I should know some high school student from California! I've never been there… how am I going to convince some editor to publish this?"
"Martha, there is such a thing as a 'letters to the editor' page, in the Smallville Press, right?" LL began, as she was prepared for exactly this response from her.
Martha nodded. "Yes, I suppose so."
"Well," she continued, "all you have to do is submit this with a cover letter stating that you recently visited California and that Smallville High School could benefit greatly if they utilized some of the techniques that Coronado High School employs. As an example, you interviewed one of the top students in the school. Believe you me; they'll publish this without question. It's great human-interest stuff. And, one last request: please send a copy of the article to Lenny's house in Coronado, California. Here is his address," she said, handing her the paper that he had written his address on.
"Why 'M. Kent' and not 'Martha Kent'? Why is it so important? I'm still not clear on this," she said, as a rebuttal.
"'M. Kent' to protect your privacy; and, all I can tell you, without revealing too much of the future, is that this student, Lenny Thorul, will be a key player in our – me and Clark's - future together."
"All right. If it affects Clark's future, I'll do it. Would you folks like to stay for dinner?"
The ladies looked at Herb. "Mrs. Kent - that would be lovely. After that, though, I'm afraid we simply must depart," he responded, smiling and rolling his eyes at the Lane twins. He hated to admit it, but he was having more fun traveling with the two Loises than he ever had before!
~~~~~
LL realized that she would always remember the strange but amazed look on the faces of Martha, Jonathan and even little Clark as the time machine started to dematerialize right in front of them. How sad that Clark only had three more years remaining with these wonderful people. How much closer she now felt to her husband, having met the fine human beings that had shaped his formative years. Truly their influence had made him the person he was today, and LL was so grateful that he was her husband; so lucky that Clark actually loved and cherished her enough to wait seven years for her return! She felt tears welling up in her eyes as they materialized back in the present-day Smallville.
Kara and Jared came running over to their mother, screaming in excitement.
"Herb, how much time has passed since we left?" Lois asked, hugging her children tenaciously. She had really missed them, and hadn't realized how much until she saw their sweet faces again.
"Almost 24 hours. I must leave right away to go rendezvous with your spouses. I'll be back momentarily," he advised, as they exited the machine.
"We'll be here, anxiously awaiting your return", LL said
"Key word *anxious*," added Lois. Again, the machine disappeared from view.
"The first thing we need to do is to get out of these wretched 70's clothes," remarked Lois. "Let's go change upstairs; then we'll tell the Marthas and the Jonathans how we met Clark's parents."
It was difficult to explain to the Kents and the Langs that they were just sitting in this same kitchen, albeit thirty years ago, with Clark's "real" parents. Everyone in the room became choked up, as it truly was a Greek tragedy that their time with Clark was cut so drastically short. Just at that moment, the time machine re-materialized and CK and Clark, thankfully, emerged with Herb. They looked just as silly in their farmer outfits as they had when they left.
The Loises tore out of the kitchen, and literally threw the front screen door open in their excitement at seeing their Clarks, once again. Wells turned his head, as he was uncomfortable and embarrassed by the kissing and hugging going on, and proceeded to walk back into the farmhouse kitchen where "Joe" and "Mary" and Martha and Jonathan were gathered.
While the Clarks apparently had their own bizarre story to tell about their trip, unfortunately, finding a complete cure for Kryptonite poisoning had not been in the cards. "We got some ideas that we're going to share with our own Dr. Kleins that might be a tad helpful," is all that they would say. It appeared that whatever it was that happened over there would probably greatly upset the "Langs", and so little more was said about it. The Loises, however, couldn't wait to share their story, babbling incessantly about the Hotel Del, the ghost they had both seen, the interview with Lenny Thorul, and lastly, meeting Clark's parents.
"Honey, do you remember meeting us when you were seven?" LL asked her husband.
Clark took a moment to try to reflect on his earlier childhood. Since his parents had died, he had lost many of the memories he'd had of them; the child psychologists told him that this was a coping mechanism. All at once, an image formed in his mind of *his* Lois; how he had been staring at her when he didn't think she'd notice, and how his mother had reprimanded him for it. "Omigod… I *do* remember. The UFO!" he exclaimed. "You guys were the 'aliens!'. I remember going to school the next day and telling Pete and Lana about it, and they didn't believe me! Wow, I blocked that memory out until just now. Unbelievable!" he breathed. "Lois, honey," he cooed, looking at LL, "I couldn't stop staring at you, and I never knew why. That had never happened to me before. I thought you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen."
"Clark, do you know anyone over at the Smallville Press?" LL inquired, completely changing the subject, as only a Lois Lane could. Their lightning-fast minds got bored too easily.
"Huh? Honey… we really were *fated* to be together… we just proved it… and you want to know about the Smallville Press?" he exclaimed. Her apathy at his revelation had poked a gaping hole in his now-deflated love balloon. "That's not very romantic of you," he protested.
"I know, sweets, I love you too; but I *really* need to check their archives for a certain 'letter to the editor' with your mother's by-line!" she responded.
Clark shook his head in amazement. "You really keep me on my toes, honey. Yes, I worked there as an intern in college. You really want to go there, now?"
"Yes, but sweets… you need to change. We're not going anywhere with you looking like 'Farmer Brown'! Please get rid of that awful hair color, too," she instructed. "No offense, Marthas… but … ick!"
"None taken," Mary said. Both mothers laughed. "They do look pretty repulsive!" commented Martha.
"Double-ick for you too, over there," Lois said, referring to her husband. "Please lose that 'Mr. Green-Jeans' look and become that man I love again, huh? You look like the 'Hack from Smallville' that I met ten years ago!"
Several minutes later, two typical-looking Clark Kents re-emerged and greeted their spouses accordingly.
"Sooo much better," LL cooed, kissing him passionately. "That's my Clark."
"Hi sexy," Lois purred to CK, causing their children to scrunch-up their faces and look away. They always did that when their parents were too lovey-dovey in front of them!
"I hate to break up this lovely party, but I believe it's time that Martha, Jonathan, CK, Lois, Kara, and Jared return to their earth," asserted Wells. "The time vortex requires their presence in their own universe at this time."
Sounding ominous as it did, no one was about to argue with Herb, who had been so gracious as to grant their time and dimension-traveling wishes at will. Everyone kissed and hugged. As a parting gift, Wells went back into his time machine and emerged with two devices that looked like pager-type phones.
"Since all of you have become so friendly, when there is a full moon, you can call each other with these instruments," he stated. "Then you can catch each other up on your lives until the next time we all get together."
"Wow… Herb, that's a wonderful gift," Lois gushed, kissing him on the forehead. "You know, there was a time when you weren't my favorite person," she continued, recalling all of the issues they'd had with Tempus, "but you have earned my respect and friendship now, and even then some."
"Ms. Lane, that's the greatest compliment I've ever received. Thank you so much, my dear. And you two are like the daughters I've never had," he said, giving both of them a hug. "I'll never forget our stay at the Hotel Del. It was quite memorable."
"Just because you had a crush on Lenny's mother Lena," LL teased. "Hey, why don't you go back there and romance her?"
Wells smiled. "Now, *there's* an idea. No, no! Of course I can't do that, it would change history. Don't you go putting ideas in my head, Ms. Lane!"
Final hugs and goodbyes said and done, Wells and the Kent family dematerialized, an aura of sadness hanging in the air.
Lois broke the silence first. "Ok - at least I can be called 'Lois' again, that's a relief! But it was great, having a twin sister for a day. It's so great we can call each other, every full moon!"
Clark smiled, "Yes, I'm really starting to like that Wells guy, after all. He has definitely redeemed himself in my eyes."
~~~~~
"Superman" and Lois landed about ¼ mile from the offices of the Smallville Press, and Lois watched in admiration while her husband spun into his Clark clothes once again. They walked over to the building, entered the lobby, and Clark, flashing his Daily Planet press pass, asked the receptionist if they could be allowed access to their paper's archives. Knowing who Clark Kent/Superman was, the woman was rendered speechless. She got up from her desk, attempting to suppress a broad smile, and walked them over to a secure room. She punched in the access code, which Clark immediately committed to memory, and finally spoke. "Take as long as you would like Mr. and Mrs. Kent. If you need assistance, please come get me." Apparently their marriage was *big* news in Smallville.
"We will do that," Clark said to her, flashing that great illuminating smile her way.
Once inside the archives, Lois went right into her investigative mode, ready to get right down to business.
"We have to check all the letters to the editor from May 16, 1973, on, Clark. You can do this faster than me," Lois conceded. "That's why I'm willing to make you my partner at the Planet," she said coyly, rubbing up against him, giving him a quick kiss on the lips.
"Bribery will get you everywhere, Lois," he grinned. They located the hard copies of the newspaper from almost thirty years ago, and Clark began reading through them at super-speed. "Is this what you are looking for?" he asked, handing her the paper.
It was in the "Letters to the Editor" section, dated June 7, 1973. The letter began:
Dear Editor,
Recently my sister and I took a trip to California. Not only did we visit the famous Hotel Del Coronado, but we toured the local high school, and I interviewed one of their top students. I believe that Smallville High School can benefit greatly from some of the techniques utilized by the Coronado High School, and I would like to share them with all of you.
(Lois' article about the tour she took of the high school followed).
One student in particular, Lenny Thorul, caught my attention. His mother, Lena Thorul, is a reservations clerk at the Hotel Del, as it's affectionately nicknamed; and, as any proud mother would, she bragged about how fabulous her son was. I sought him out while my sister and I were touring the high school, and he was just as wonderful as she had said.
Lenny Thorul is not only a top student, but a model son as well. Understanding his mother's financial worries, he cut our interview short so he could seek part-time summer employment to help her out. Aware of the rising costs of college, he has stellar grades, hoping to land a full scholarship to the University of California at San Diego. Lenny hopes to be a business owner some day, wealthy enough so that his hard-working mother can enjoy an early retirement.
I can only hope that my son, who is seven, will share these values as well some day, and that I am as inspirational a mother to him as Lena Thorul obviously has been to her son, Lenny, in Coronado, California. .
(The article went on to discuss the Hotel Del's guest accommodations and concluded shortly thereafter).
Sincerely,
M. Kent
Lois gasped after reading the article. "Oh my God! I didn't write that part," she blurted out. "She knew we would read it again, someday, in the future. She knew it, and she added that part!"
"Honey… what the devil are you babbling about?"
"This last part:
I can only hope that my son, who is seven, will share these values as well some day, and that I am as inspirational a mother to him as Lena Thorul obviously has been to her son, Lenny, in Coronado, California. "Your mother wrote that! It was her gift to you from the beyond! What a sweetheart she is… I mean, *was*!" Lois exclaimed. At that, she turned to look at her husband.
Clark's eyes misted over. He had spent so many years trying to file away the memories of his parents in a dark, furtive part of his mind and heart. Today, the cabinet had been unlocked, the drawer was wide open, and a floodgate of raw memories and emotional pain was overwhelming him.
"Sweets, let it all out. I know that you've never really grieved properly for your parents. They were wonderful too," she said, crying with him as well now. "I'm so sad for the lonely, heartbroken child you must have been. If only I could have been there to help ease your pain." Lois and Clark were clinging to each for dear life. They really had "saved" each other from a lifetime of loneliness.
"Honey… you're here with me, now, and, as they say, 'better late than never'," he said, smiling through the tears.
"I wonder if she ever mailed a copy of it to Lenny, like I asked her to," Lois mused. "I'm sure she did. She knew it might be important to our future."
<"Sweets, I can't believe how great of a kid he was. It's so sad that he couldn’t best his inner demons. Must be some real evil lurking in those Luthor genes.">
<"Well, I don't know if any of this is going to help defeat him, but I guess it does give you a bit of insight.">
"Guess it's time to go. Let's ask the receptionist to make us a photo copy of this article," Lois said, as they left the room and headed back towards the lobby.
"Good idea, honey. I think I'll have it laminated. My mother, speaking to me from the past. It's very special. I'll always cherish it, Lois. Thank you, I'm so glad you guys came to visit us that day!"
"No problem, Propaganda," Lois grinned. "It was my pleasure. You sure were adorable back then!" <A little bit of a whiner, but a cutie nonetheless!>
~~~~~
TBC
