And now, for the final part!
Last time, on "A Long Time in Coming" (part 1 of 2):
“Clark! Don’t do that!”
“But… is it the baby? Is the baby coming? Ooh, I should have known this would make a Kryptonian baby come! And they kept talking about trying spicy foods and all that…”
Lois was exasperated. “No, the baby’s not coming! I have to, um, go to the bathroom.”
“But we just left home twenty minutes ago!”
“Just find a gas station or something. Please!”
And now, the final part!
* * * * * *
“You’re here!” Martha said as she opened the door. “We were worried sick.”
Clark gave her a hug. “We had to stop nine times so that Lois could go to the bathroom.”
Lois rolled her eyes. “Two. We stopped twice. That’s really not unreasonable for someone who has a bladder the size of an acorn!”
“And how often do you think an acorn has to stop to pee?”
Jonathan laughed.
“Oh, stop it, you two,” Martha said. She gave Lois a hug. “Let me look at you. Oh, darling, you look just about done. Has your belly button popped out yet?”
“Mom!” Clark exclaimed, laughing. “Give Lois a chance to get settled.”
“Belly button popped out?” Lois asked as she was led into the kitchen.
“Oh, definitely, sweetie. It’s as good as a turkey timer, or so I’ve heard.”
* * * * * *
“Knit one, purl one…” Lois stopped and stared at the tiny piece of knitting in her hands. “Martha, what if you forget what stitch you were on?”
Martha came over to take a look. “Oh, dear, I think you dropped a stitch.”
Lois sighed. “Isn’t crocheting supposed to be easier? Can I try that? At least there’s only one needle.”
“You don’t have to do either, Lois. Just because you’re having a baby doesn’t mean you suddenly have to turn into a model 50s housewife.”
“But Clark can knit perfect little booties. It can’t be *that* hard.”
Clark held up a tiny knitted blue bootie and grinned.
“You’re jinxing our baby, Clark. Make the next bootie pink,” she told him.
“But then they won’t match!”
“Perfect. Our baby can be an individualist right from the start.”
“He’s also been knitting since he was ten, Lois,” Martha said. “He’s had plenty of time to practice. Do you know how much yarn he went through when he was a kid, trying to knit a sweater at super-speed the night before Christmas?”
Lois laughed. “Did it turn out?”
“Well, he had plenty of time to go back and fix his mistakes, so it turned out fine. Unfortunately—“
“Mom!” Clark protested.
“Unfortunately, since he’d waited so late to start his presents, he hadn’t known that I was just about out of yarn after making a few scarves myself. So all that was left was this ugly, muddy brown that usually looked much better when mixed with other fall colors like maroon and green. He made sweaters for Jonathan, me, and his grandparents all with the same brown yarn.”
Lois laughed. “And I bet you still have yours.”
“I’m sure she threw it away years ago,” Clark said.
“Oh, no, it’s right here,” Martha said, digging into a chest at the corner of the sofa. “We keep extra sweaters down here for when it gets cold in winter.”
A knock sounded at the door.
“I’ll get it!” Jonathan called from the kitchen. “It’s probably Wayne Irig, anyway.” He walked out into the living room and opened the front door. He almost had to jump back when the door opened with a thud.
“Where is she? Where is my grandchild? I want to see my grandbaby!”
“Mother!” Lois said, dropping her knitting on the floor.
“Lois!” Ellen said, stepping into the room and looking around. “Where’s my grandbaby?”
Lois reflexively glanced down.
Ellen stopped. “Lois, honey, don’t take this the wrong way… I know you don’t usually lose all of the pregnancy weight right after the childbirth, but you look as though you’re still pregnant!”
“I, uh, well…”
“She hasn’t had it yet,” Jonathan said firmly, shutting the door behind Ellen.
Ellen sank onto an easy chair. “Hasn’t had it yet? But that’s ridiculous. It’s been eleven months!”
“Hey, who shut the door?” they heard a man’s voice call from outside.
“Who’s that?” Martha asked Ellen.
“Oh, that’s Sam.”
“You came together?” Lois asked as Sam pushed through the door, looking somewhat sheepish and carrying two colossal suitcases.
“Yes. Didn’t I tell you, we got back together? Oh, no, that’s right, you were busy having your baby in Smallville without me.”
Lois looked to Clark for help, but it was Jonathan who responded.
“Lois hasn’t had the baby yet, Ellen.”
“Dad!” Clark exclaimed.
“Well, that much was quite obvious, Ellen,” Sam said. “She’s starting to look like she’s about to have twins.”
“Dad!” Lois exclaimed.
“How is it possible that you haven’t had the baby yet, Lois?” Ellen asked. “Martha, do you have anything to drink?”
“Of course. Water, milk, orange juice, or lemonade?”
“Dad, can I talk to you in the kitchen?” Clark asked.
“You don’t have any vodka, I suppose?” Ellen asked in a sardonic voice.
“Me, too,” Lois said, heaving herself off the rocking chair, only to sink back down.
Ellen turned wide eyes on her daughter. “Lois, you aren’t supposed to drink while you’re pregnant!”
“I meant that I wanted to talk to Jonathan in the kitchen. How about I’ll bring you an orange juice?”
“Fine, fine,” Ellen said, waving a hand in Lois’s direction.
Lois followed Clark and Jonathan into the kitchen.
“Dad, what are you doing?” Clark asked. His voice sounded calm, but Lois could hear the faint sound of splintering wood as he clenched a kitchen chair.
“Lois, Clark, the two of you have kept Lois’s parents in the dark for long enough. I didn’t say a word when you arrived here and Martha learned that they were still in Metropolis, knowing nothing. But now that they’re here, you can’t possibly hide the truth. And I won’t have you tell another crazy lie. Lois, they’re your parents, and they deserve your respect.”
Lois was stung. “I—“
“We had our reasons for not telling them, Dad. It wasn’t from a lack of respect. The more people who know about our secret, the more chance that it will get out.”
“But you wouldn’t be concerned if Perry White learned your secret, would you?” He looked Lois in the eye. “You are worried that if your parents find out the secret, they’ll let it leak out. You don’t trust them to keep it secret.”
Lois could have argued about the danger it would put her parents in… but that wasn’t the real reason that she didn’t want to tell her mother, and she wasn’t going to lie to Jonathan. “Yes.”
“So, you have a choice. Either you decide that you don’t trust your parents with the truth, or you tell them everything. You may not realize it now, but if you keep them in the dark about who Clark really is, then ultimately you’ll have to shut them out of your life. When the kids start showing their powers and can’t always control them, you can’t have the in-laws around to observe anything and make sudden clever deductions. And even before then, letting your parents get to take part in your child’s life will always be a risk. Lois, your father is smart, and he’ll probably put two-and-two together after enough times of seeing Clark disappear just in time for a Superman rescue, or Clark accidentally chop his fingers off only to emerge whole.”
Clark took Lois’s hand and laced his fingers through hers reassuringly.
Jonathan went on. “Or, you can decide now that having your parents in your life is worth the risk. You can tell them the truth about Superman and your child, and impress upon them the importance of keeping the secret. You can let them help you take care of your child, especially during the days when you can’t risk a regular babysitter because of what the kids might do. And you can let them try to be a part of your life and make up for the times that they made mistakes in your childhood.”
“Why is it that I suddenly feel as if I’m back in high school and failed chemistry?” Clark muttered.
“You’re right, Jonathan,” Lois said. “Clark, we have to tell them. What kind of a lie could we possibly tell them now, anyway? That I’d had an affair with Superman?”
Jonathan laughed. “Not so far from the truth, if you believe the tabloids. Now let’s go back in there and tell them.”
Clark nodded, and the three walked back into the living room, Lois holding her stomach as she walked through the doorway.
“Mom, Dad,” Lois said as she entered, “I have something to tell you.”
Ellen and Sam looked up expectantly.
There was no point in dragging things out. “Clark is…Superman.”
Ellen burst into laughter. Sam shouted, “I knew it!”
Ellen’s laughter stopped as abruptly as it started. “Knew it? You mean…”
“They’re telling the truth, of course,” Sam said. “When have you ever known Lois to lie?”
Clark and Lois exchanged a quick look.
“Well, about the important stuff, at least. Why, I’ve known since about the first time I met Clark. Too many little details that didn’t fit. I am a scientist, after all.”
Martha sat down. “Oh, my.”
“But--what--how--it’s not possible!” Ellen spluttered. “My daughter, married to Superman? Why didn’t you tell me?” she wailed.
“But what does this all have to do with the baby?” Sam asked. “I mean, I suppose that means the baby is half-Kryptonian—oh.”
“Oh, what?” Ellen asked, looking from Sam to Lois. “Why does it matter if the baby is half-Kryptonian? Does this have something to do with the baby’s powers?”
“No, it’s because we don’t know how long Kryptonian mothers carry their babies,” Sam said. “Or, do we?” He looked at Clark.
“No, sir.
“We found Clark when he was just a baby. He landed in a tiny spaceship in a field nearby.”
“So the baby could take two years, for all we know,” Sam said, looking with fascination at Lois’s stomach.
She groaned. “Oh, please, no.”
Ellen smiled. “You know what this means, Lois?”
“Yes, Mother?”
“It means I get to be here for the birth, after all! What are you going to name her?”
* * * * * *
Lois looked at the red circle she’d marked around her original due date on Martha’s calendar. Then she flipped forward three months to today’s date. She sighed.
“Lois, staring at the calendar is not going to make the baby come faster,” Clark said, walking over to stand behind her. Then he saw the calendar… “Lois.”
“What?”
“I don’t think writing “no baby” on all of the days between the due date and today’s date will help, either.”
“Well, I already tried knitting. I’d offer to try milking the cows, but I’m not really confident in my ability to get out of this chair.”
“You could try talking to the baby. I’ve heard that research says a baby can recognize his mother’s voice from inside the womb.” Clark sat down again on his chair across the room and picked up a book.
“Don’t be polite, baby,” Lois whispered, patting her stomach. “Be aggressive. Be assertive. Go after what you want. And don’t let anybody try to hold you back.”
Clark didn’t even look up from the book he was reading. “But do what your mother tells you.”
“Good idea,” Lois said. She patted her stomach again. “Obey your mother and father. And use your superpowers wisely.”
As she tried to think of any other important bits of wisdom to impart, she felt a sudden pain grip her abdomen.
“Hey!” she exclaimed, annoyed. But only for a moment. “Clark?”
He was at her side in an instant. “Was that…”
“I think so.” She smiled up at him, and when she saw his face as a blur she realized she was crying. “I think it’s time! At last!”
“Twelve months to the day.” Clark laughed. “Who’d have known?”
“Any Kryptonian woman, I’m sure.” Lois massaged her stomach. “That really wasn’t bad, so far.”
Clark wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “I love you, Lois,” he whispered.
“So romantic,” she said with a smile.
“I just realized that these are our last moments together just as a couple. Before, you know, our little boy appears.”
“Or our little girl.”
“Little whoever. We’ve been hoping and dreaming and praying for this baby, but at the same time, it’s sort of the end of an era.”
Lois wiped more tears from her eyes. “Clark, stop it. You know pregnant women are emotional already.”
He touched her tearstained cheek. “I just wanted to tell you. I love you, my Lois.”
“I love you too, Clark.” She grimaced suddenly and clutched her stomach. “Another one, I think,” she managed to hiss through the pain.
“That’s pretty close together, isn’t it?” Clark asked. “I’d better get Dr. Klein.” Without another word, he disappeared.
“Martha! Jonathan! Mom! Dad! It’s time!”
Martha and Ellen came bursting into the room, looking excited and frightened. Sam followed at a more sedate pace and offered to fetch Jonathan from the barns.
Before either of the fathers had returned, Clark had arrived with a startled-looking Dr. Klein in tow.
“Uh, hello, Lois, parents. You know, Clark, I was rather in the middle of something. Is this really an emergency?”
“Yes!” Lois gasped.
“Lois’s contractions have started,” Clark explained.
“Oh, is that all—“ he started, looking annoyed. Then light suddenly came into his eyes. “Oh! Finally!”
“Yes, finally!” Ellen said, flopping down on the couch. “Only three months overdue.”
“Maybe not overdue for a Kryptonian baby,” Sam said.
Lois held her stomach again as another started. “Dr. Klein, aren’t these rather close together?” she asked once it had passed.
“Well, this is the first one I’ve witnessed. How close have they been?”
“A few minutes, I think.”
“A little close together, perhaps, but not extraordinarily so. Now, what room were you planning to use as the birthing room? We should make sure everything is ready.”
“It’s been ready for three months, Doctor,” Martha said. “All it needs is a laboring woman. And eventually a baby.”
Clark offered Lois an arm. She started to take it, then pulled back. “Wait,” she told him. She grabbed the calendar she’d been marking, found the day’s date, and marked “Baby!”
“You know, Lois, first babies can take a while to be born,” Dr. Klein told her as they started towards the room. “It might not actually be born today.”
Lois gave him a look.
* * * * * *
Lois cried out in pain and Clark shuddered, pacing the room faster as he tried to deal with the powerful emotions that threatened to overcome him. Lois was in pain! He had to save her! But he couldn’t, there was nothing he could do to make her pain go away. He wanted to be strong for her, to do everything he’d learned during their long-ago childbirth class… but he couldn’t seem to bring himself to calm down and be a help to her. He knew his pacing was only aggravating her further.
A pillow hit him in the head. “Quit the pacing or get out!” Lois cried. “Please! I can’t stand it!”
He looked at his mother, who was holding one of Lois’s hands. She nodded at him.
“All right,” he said softly. “Call me if you need me.” He kissed her sweaty cheek and then slipped out of the room.
“Exiled, huh?” Jonathan asked as Clark walked out.
Clark sat on a chair and put his head in his hands. “I can’t believe I’m falling apart like this, Dad. I don’t know what to do.”
Jonathan looked thoughtful. “You know, son, if your mother and I had gotten pregnant when we were first married, I probably wouldn’t have been in the delivery room for the birth. That used to be the domain of women. Nowadays men are encouraged to be there, but it’s hard on a man, especially a man who loves his wife. Oh, sure, she’s the one going through the pain, but to my way of thinking, it can be harder to watch the one you love in pain and not be able to stop it than to be in pain yourself.”
Clark nodded. “But I *want* to be there for her, even if it’s hard. I just don’t know how.”
“Let her call you names,” Sam suggested. “It worked for Ellen. And let her squeeze your hand. At least you won’t come out of the delivery room with a new baby and two broken fingers.”
Clark smiled and ran his hand through his hair. “Okay, I’ll try again. Thanks.” He walked back into the room.
“Clark!” Lois exclaimed, reaching out a hand as soon as she caught sight of him.
He took her hand. “Squeeze as hard as you need to. I’m here. And this time, I’m staying.”
* * * * * *
Hours later, the tension in the room was finally broken with a baby’s wail. Lois and Clark had a tiny, perfect baby boy.
“A boy!” Lois exclaimed upon hearing the sex. “Are you sure?”
Martha laughed. “Quite sure, dear.”
Lois stroked her newborn son’s head. “All that work for a boy.” She grinned up at Clark. “He’s beautiful, though, isn’t he?”
“He looks just like you, Lois,” Clark whispered, staring down at the tiny face. “So sweet. I’m so proud of you.” He laced his fingers through hers and brought them to his mouth for a kiss.
“I’m proud of me, too. But I’m not so sure I ever want to go through this again.”
Clark smiled. “At least we know, now, how long a Kryptonian pregnancy lasts. Or at least a half-Kryptonian one. Next time we’ll be prepared.”
“Next time!” Lois exclaimed.
“Mom says you’ll forget it after a while, and I know you’re going to want a girl again someday. Although…” He hesitated. “I don’t think I could stand to see you go through that again.”
“It is true what they say, though,” she said, touching the baby’s tiny, swollen cheek. “Once it’s over, and you see the little one you brought into the world… well, I guess I can see how one forgets the pain.”
“I love you, Lois,” Clark said, leaning over the baby in her arms to kiss her.
“I love you too, Clark.”
The door opened and Jonathan and Sam entered, looking uncomfortable.
“You can see him,” Lois said, flashing her father and father-in-law a smile. They crowded around the bed next to Ellen and gazed on their grandson’s tiny sleeping face.
“He’s still a pretty small baby,” Dr. Klein remarked as he helped Martha clean up. “I didn’t bring a scale with me, but I’d guess probably six pounds at the most.”
Sam was looking down at the baby with awe. “He’s so tiny! Surely you and Lucy were never this small, Lois.”
“Do you think he’ll have super-powers, too?” Sam asked.
“Maybe,” Clark said. “Maybe he’ll only have half my powers, since he’s only half-Kryptonian. At least we’ll be better-prepared than you were!”
“I kept my supply of Spandex, you know,” Martha said. “Just in case.”
Lois laughed. “Already planning his superhero career, I see. Do I get some say in it?”
“Probably until he gets enough super-power to lift you up. Then you might need me to step in.”
“What are you going to name him?” Ellen asked.
Clark reached out a hand to touch his son’s soft cheek. “David,” he said. “It means ‘well-beloved.’ And it was David who slew Goliath.”
“We thought he might need a strong name if he’s going to fight all of the super-villains in Metropolis someday,” Lois added.
“David’s a good name,” Jonathan said.
“I’m glad you’ve finally arrived, little David,” Lois whispered to her baby. “Your father and I are happy to see you.”
Clark touched his new son’s forehead gently. “Very happy.”
Martha coughed. “Jonathan,” she whispered, “Did we remember to tell them about the terrible twos?”
The end.
