Thank you all so much for hanging in there with me. I promise, next time, I'll have it planned better. 
*Huge* thanks to my beta readers for always being so supportive and quick to reply!! This wouldn't have happened without you. The lot of you kind of grew along with the story, so thank you to Diane, TEEEJ, Saskia, Paul, and one who shall remain nameless -- you know who you are! Thank you all so much!!!
I need to give a very special thanks to Wendy here, for helping me find a road map to finishing this last part when I was stuck and the muse was fussy. I'm not sure this story would have been finished without your help. Thank you Wendy!!! 
~~~~~
Family. The word took on a whole new meaning now. “So,” she wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “I guess we figured out that compatibility thing after all.”
“Oh, Lois!” he choked. He held out his free arm and she went to him, sliding her arm around his waist. She brought a hand up to stroke Kallie’s soft dark hair and looked up at Clark.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Lois.” He kissed her tenderly. “I love you, too.”
***
~~~~Part 20~~~~
A short while later, Lois was sitting on the couch next to Clark as he held Kallie. Martha and Jonathan sat opposite them on the other couch, just watching them. They’d come down shortly after Clark had arrived, and there’d been another tearful reunion. No one had spoken of what had happened while Clark was gone, and Clark didn’t say anything of what he’d endured on New Krypton. They simply sat and basked in the knowledge that things were right again.
Lois looked at her family.
Family.
She couldn’t stop marveling at that word. It had never meant more to her than at this very moment. She rested her head on Clark’s shoulder and looked down at Kallie in his arms -- arms that were so strong, yet so gentle. She felt Clark lay a kiss on her head, and she smiled.
If only they could stay like this forever.
But Lois knew that wasn’t possible. They had to deal with real life at some point, and she’d have to tell Clark what their immediate future held. She’d have to tell him what she’d done.
Martha’s yawn caught her attention. The older woman spoke, breaking the calming silence, “Jonathan, maybe you and I should try and get a little more sleep before we have to get up.”
Jonathan nodded and stood slowly. Martha rose as well and headed towards her and Clark. She smiled down at Clark and held her arms out. “Here, we’ll take Kallie upstairs with us and give you and Lois some time alone.”
Lois watched Clark as he leaned down to place a kiss on Kallie’s head before he reluctantly handed her to his mother. Martha cradled Kallie carefully in her arms and smiled at her son. “It’s so great to finally have you home, Clark.”
“Thanks, Mom. I can’t even tell you how wonderful it is to *be* home.” Clark ran a gentle hand down Kallie’s arm. “Really wonderful.” He smiled up at his parents. “See you in the morning.”
When Martha and Jonathan had left the room, Clark turned to Lois. He stared at her with such a soulful gaze -- full of love and regret and longing. “Lois.” He reached his hand up to cup her cheek, and she immediately covered it with her own. Such a simple touch, but she’d missed it so much.
“Clark,” she said softly.
He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers, moving his hand down to rest against her neck. “God, how I’ve missed you.”
Everything -- all the pain and grief and love -- hit her at once, and she started to sob. He gathered her in his arms and held her tight. She’d missed those arms, his embrace. In his arms, she felt so safe, so loved. She just held on to him fiercely and listened as he told her that everything was going to be okay. He was here now, everything had to be okay. It would be.
Hopefully.
But she pushed away the thoughts of the difficulty to come. Clark was home and all that was all that mattered right now. Everything else could wait.
***
Clark held Lois until her sobbing died down to a light whimpering, and finally just a few sporadic sniffles. He hated that he’d caused her so much pain, and that he hadn’t been there to comfort her all those months. He’d missed out on so much, not just being there to comfort her. He tried not to think about it, but he couldn’t. He’d missed everything. The moment Lois would have come to him and told him she was pregnant. He’d give anything to have heard those words from her -- he’d only ever dreamed that that was possible. And that proud moment that he’d tell his parents, Perry, their friends - he’d missed that too. All the months that Lois had been pregnant, and all the little moments that came with that -- gone. The birth of his first child, a little miracle that he and Lois had created, that moment was gone too.
He shook his mind from those thoughts. He was here now, and he’d never leave her again.
Clark pulled back from her gently and lifted her chin up so he could see her eyes. “Come on, why don’t we try and get a little sleep?”
She nodded, but didn’t move. She didn’t want to leave his arms -- he knew that instinctively -- but that was okay with him because he didn’t really want to let her go. He slid an arm under her legs and moved the other around just below her shoulders so he could carry her upstairs. He smiled when she nestled her head in his neck and wrapped her arms around him as he stood with her in his arms. He made his way up the stairs and into his old room. His bedroom was different when he glanced around. Better. Lois had obviously made it hers as well, and that made his heart swell. This room was *theirs* now.
Clark came to a stop near his old bed and let the arm under her legs fall gently down so her toes touched the floor. He let her slide along his body until she was standing on her own, but he still held her close, needing that proximity to assure him she was really there, that he was really home. He cupped her cheek once again, running his thumb against the smooth skin of her face. He stared for a long moment, just taking in the sight of her. The woman he loved more than life itself, whose visage had kept him alive on New Krypton. Her eyes looked a little more tired than when he’d seen them last, and her hair was longer now, but she was still his Lois. His beautiful Lois. The mother of his child. Just the thought of her, of the fact that he *had* a child, took a hold of something deep in his gut. And suddenly, the force of all his emotions brought his lips to hers. Her lips parted willingly, and he delved his tongue in to explore her mouth. The taste, the feel of her, was overwhelming. The relief of being home, in her arms, flooded him again. He wasn’t sure now, as her hands grasped at the back of his head and threaded through his hair, how he’d ever had the strength to leave her. Their bodies seemed to meld together, and time slipped away for a moment. Finally, Clark felt the need for air. Even though he had his powers fully functioning, she still had the ability to take his breath away. He rested his forehead against hers as they both took a moment to recover.
Clark pulled back slightly and searched her eyes, wondering if she wanted to make love. He longed to be with her again, needed to be with her. But he’d been gone so long, and she’d just had a baby. He wasn’t sure what the rules were here. He needn’t have worried because she ducked her head shyly and nodded. For a moment, he wondered at her bashfulness, but dismissed it when she brought a hand up to cup his cheek and smiled at him warmly.
He smiled back at her and kissed her forehead. Stepping away from her for a moment, he pulled back the covers on the bed, and turned back to her. Months ago, he’d thought he’d never see her again, but now here he was and all he could do was stare. She moved closer to him, breaking his trance, and he raised his arm to brush her cheek with the back of his hand. “Lois, my beautiful Lois.”
Clark pushed all other thoughts to the back of his mind and concentrated on just her. He ran his hands down to the top button of her shirt and slowly began to unbutton it, revealing her to him. He took the light material and guided it off of her shoulders, letting it slide off her arms and to the floor behind her, watching her watch him. There was a touch of anxiety in her eyes, but nothing that told him to stop. It’d been quite some time for *both* of them, he was sure his eyes betrayed the same of him. He could hear her heart racing, matching the pace of his own. Clark smiled at her gently, hoping to reassure her as well as himself, before he returned to the task he’d begun. The bra she was wearing was a simple white and her breasts almost seemed to overflow from it. They were larger than he remembered.
Lois caught his gaze and smiled shyly at him. “Breastfeeding,” she explained, “They’re… it makes them bigger.”
He smiled at her. He hadn’t thought about that. An ethereal light shone through the window -- the glow of the waning moon or the timid sunrise, he wasn’t sure -- and illuminated Lois like an angel. She was curvier now, more… well… more, and she’d never looked more gorgeous. Take it slow, he told himself, take it slow, you have all the time in the world. He straightened again so he could look at her. He ran his fingers along the top of her bra and trailed down to the fastening of her slacks. Her eyes held a trace of uncertainty, and he paused.
“What’s wrong, Sweetie?”
She shook her head and looked away. “Nothing.”
He cupped her cheek and waited until she looked at him. “Lois, what’s wrong?”
“Look at me, Clark.”
“I am.”
“That’s not what I mean, I’m… I’ve changed.” She clanked down at her figure and back up at him embarrassed.
Her figure had changed, he could see that, but he thought it only made her more attractive. “Oh, Honey.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “You,” he paused to make sure she was listening to him, “are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and the fact that your body’s a little different…” He ran his other hand over her bare stomach. “…a little curvier, doesn’t make me want you any less. If anything, it makes you even more desirable, especially considering it’s because you had *our* baby. Only you know how much that means to me, Lois. And if there’s any doubt that I don’t want you…” He pulled her into his arms and placed gentle pressure on her lower back, making sure their hips were in contact. “There shouldn’t be.”
“Oh, Clark.”
The whisper of her voice caressed his neck and only increased his ache to be with her. Whatever doubts or insecurities she’d had, seemed to disappear and she started to kiss his neck. He closed his eyes at the sensations she was stirring inside him. After a moment, she stopped and he opened his eyes. She was inches from his face and the nervousness he’d seen earlier had all but vanished, replaced by a hunger. The same need he felt. Their lips met in a rush of passion, stoking the embers within him into a raging fire, and suddenly he couldn’t get enough. She began working to free him of his shirt as he guided them to the bed.
***
Lois lay in his arms after they’d made love. She was quiet, not sleeping, but pensive. Despite the passion they’d just shared, he could tell something was wrong. Maybe she’d grown to resent him in the time he’d been gone. She’d seemed more than relived and happy to have him home, but he’d noticed a faint emotional barrier between them. He tried not to think that she might not *really* want to be with him any longer. He hoped the horrors he’d committed on New Krypton didn’t show. He hoped she couldn’t tell how different a person he was now. He’d changed, and he dreaded the thought that Lois might not like who that person was. War had changed him to say the least and he was ashamed of what he’d done. She hadn’t said much about the scars she’d seen, she’d only ran her fingers over them and looked at him sadly. The scars didn’t concern him that much. They’d already begun to fade since he’d been back on Earth, but there were emotional scars that were far deeper. Scars that would never heal, memories of death and destruction… Memories of murder. Maybe Lois could see that. See that he was a murderer.
But maybe he was just paranoid about it. Maybe there was something else on her mind. “Lois?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she said unconvincingly.
Clark shifted on to his side so he could face her. “Lois, what is it?”
She wouldn’t look him directly in the eye, nor did she say a word.
He wasn’t sure what to think, but he did his best to push his fears to the back of his mind. Better to find out what was wrong first. He reached up to stroke her cheek and held back a sigh of relief when she didn’t so much as flinch. “C’mon, Lois, you can tell me.”
Lois finally met his gaze, and Clark could see her eyes were moist with tears. “I… I did something really stupid. I… a lot of things happened while you were gone and…” She trailed off and looked at him uncertainly, and blurted out the rest. “Everyone thinks Kallie is Superman’s child.”
Clark felt his mouth open to speak, but no sound came out. He barely registered that Lois had recoiled from him ever so slightly, as if he’d be mad. Mad? Was he mad? Truthfully, he wasn’t quite sure what she meant or if he had even heard her right. “What do you mean ‘everyone,’ and why would they think that?” He tried to keep his tone non-accusatory, which wasn’t too hard because he was confused.
A few tears rolled down her cheeks, and he reached to wipe them away.
“I don’t know where to start. Everything’s just so complicated.” Her voice broke on the last word, and he could tell she was trying her best not to fall apart. She took a deep shuddering breath and began. “Three months after you left, the day the doctor confirmed the pregnancy, there was a knock at my door. I can’t even tell you how relieved I was that it was you on the other side of the door. Only it wasn’t you, it was the other Clark, the one from the parallel universe.”
Clark started. He hadn’t expected that. At all. And he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He was glad she wasn’t paying attention to him. She was playing with the edge of the pillowcase as she spoke, but he wasn’t sure if she was avoiding eye contact or lost in the memory. He didn’t want to upset her by his reaction because she seemed so distraught. He watched her fingers play over the material as she continued.
“He said that H.G. Wells had brought him to our universe to protect your secret, that Wells had told the other Clark that he’d seen the future and it was a dismal one because people had found out your identity. They never forgave your deception. So… Wells thought it would be best to bring the other Clark here for a time to prevent the future he’d seen.
“He only stayed about a month, and Wells saw fit to take him home after that. Though, I don’t know how wise that was. He wouldn’t tell us when you were coming home, just that you were. We had to explain your absence again somehow. It was the only way I could think of. The other Clark and I staged a fight and now everyone thinks that Kallie is Superman’s child. I’m sorry, Clark. I’ve ruined everything.”
He stayed silent for a long time, trying to absorb everything she’d told him. She kept a wary eye on him. She was scared of his reaction, but he didn’t know what to say to assure her. He felt so many things. Anger. Jealousy. Sadness. Envy. None of which he wanted to tell Lois about. She was anxious and extremely upset. He longed to say something to comfort her, but he was stuck for words.
The other Clark had been here. Taken his place. Pretended to *be* him. What did that entail exactly? Instead of making him angry, the thought of just how much this *other* Clark had needed to “play” him made him want to cry. He’d most likely kissed her. That made him angry. But what really upset him was the fact that his counterpart had stolen from him. All those moments he’d missed. *He’d* gotten to have them. Somehow, that made missing out on those moments so much worse. Almost unbearable. But Lois was right beside him, visibly distraught and apprehensive about his response. As saddened as he was, he didn’t want to upset Lois any more than she already was. And of course there was still the issue at hand, the one that had her most concerned, and really, the one that should be of his immediate concern as well.
“Lois…” His voice sounded strained, hurt.
Their eyes met finally, and Clark was struck by the fear in her eyes. Not scared of him, but by what he would say.
“I don’t really know what to say, this is all so overwhelming.”
She looked down at the pillowcase again. “I… I understand if you’re mad at me. I -- I’m sorry.”
“I’m not mad.” It would be best to lock away all this emotions right now. Lois was in a fragile state. They could deal with them later.
Lois glanced back up at him, uncertain.
“Yes, I’m feeling innumerable emotions right now, but I can’t be mad at you. All of this was out of your control. I’m sure you did what you had to do.”
“Oh, Clark.” She gave him a watery smile, relieved that he wasn’t angry with her. “What are we going to do? I’ve made such a mess of things. Our life, our future, Kallie. How are we going to explain why we’re back together after what I said? How are we going to keep Kallie safe when everyone thinks… well, knows that Kallie is Superman’s child?”
Clark thought for a moment. “Lois, did you ever substantiate what you said? I mean, how far did it spread?”
“No, I never gave a comment, but since it happened at the Planet, word spread pretty quickly and the tabloids ran in like a hungry pack of wolves. We didn’t let the rumor die, Clark. We couldn’t. How else would I explain why you’d left?”
“I don’t know, Lois. You’re right, I wouldn’t have left you for any other reason. I have a hard time imaging leaving you for *anything* ever again. And I won’t.”
“I know, Clark, I know.” She ran her hand through his hair and then cupped his cheek. “How on Earth are we going to fix this?”
“Couldn’t you say it was pregnancy hormones? That you were mad at me and flew off the handle, saying the meanest thing you could think of to say? And afterwards, you just didn’t know how to fix it. Not to mention, I was nowhere to be found.”
He watched her mull the idea over in her mind, and a smile formed on her face. “I think that could work.”
“See? We’ll be okay.”
“Yeah,” she said softly. “I hope so.”
Clark cupped her cheek. “Don’t worry, Lois, I know it’ll be rough, but we’ll get through it. We always have.”
She smiled warmly at him.
“C’mere.” He laid again on his back and brought her close to him, wrapping his arms around her. She snuggled up close to him, and rested her head on his chest.
“I love you, Clark.”
“I love you too, Lois.”
Clark closed his eyes as he listened to Lois’s breathing relax until he knew she was sleeping. He extended his hearing and the sound of four other heartbeats filled his senses. Lois. His mom and dad. And his daughter. Clark smiled as he drifted off to sleep. He was finally home.
The End
