While I'm working (slowly) on Mother's Day, I'm also working on another, shorter, Home story. It's fairly straightforward and doesn't require a lot of wheels within wheels plotting like the other one. Since my life is more than normally hectic right now, and I don't have a lot of time to spend on the more complicated one, I've taken to writing shorter stories in the meantime, just so I don't get frustrated by not being able to write. The other one is still in the works, but probably is going to progress very slowly. I'm almost done with the next section, but it's not quite ready, so in the meantime, I present this little offering.
Just a note to Tank: In spite of the beginning, most of this story is not about "The Child". <g>. If you'll just be patient and get past the first part, you'll see what I mean. Most of this initial section is just the set-up.
Home: Circle of Fate
By Nan Smith
Rated: PG
Disclaimer: The familiar characters and settings in this story are not mine. They belong to DC Comics, Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions and whoever else may have any legal right to claim them, nor am I profiting by their use. Any new characters, settings, and the story, itself, belong to me.
Introduction: This story is part of the Home series and will make more sense to anyone who has not read the previous stories if you read the short story, "Home". Quickly summarized, it is a Soulmates-type of story, wherein Lori Lyons is the next incarnation of Lois Lane at the end of the 21st Century.
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Home: Circle of Fate
By Nan Smith
"Haven't you had that baby yet?"
Lori gritted her teeth and managed to smile at Penelope Brown without cracking her face. The refrain of "Haven't you had that baby yet?" was beginning to grate on her nerves. Normally a relatively even-tempered woman, the last few weeks of her pregnancy had seriously frayed her temper as well as her self-control. Between impatience, hunger and sheer fatigue, her usual buoyant temperament was in abeyance. Even Clark had been tip-toeing carefully around her for the last week, as she had the disturbing habit of breaking into tears upon hearing that the sky was blue and the grass was green.
"It's not due for another three weeks," she informed Penelope.
"Oh. Are you sure it isn't twins? You look ready to have it any minute!"
"Quite sure," Lori said, reminding herself that grinding her teeth was bad for the enamel and made her jaw hurt.
From somewhere she heard a whoosh of air and an instant later Clark jogged around the corner of the hallway that led to the news service's morgue. Lori guessed that he had decided to intervene before his wife was arrested for murder.
"Hi, honey. Hi, Penny. Lori, John would like you to see him in his office."
"Why didn't he call me on my wrist talker?"
"He did, but you didn't answer. Are you sure you remembered to turn it on?"
"I guess I forgot," Lori said. "Sorry."
"That's okay," Clark said, quickly. "No rush."
"I'd better go," Lori said. "Bye, Penny."
A moment later, waiting for the elevator, Lori leaned against her husband's side and rested her head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Clark. I guess I'm pretty hard to live with, aren't I?"
His arms went around her at once. "I can take it," he said. "It won't be much longer now."
She fought back tears. "I'm surprised you put up with me. I'm such a grouch, and you're being so sweet about it."
He kissed the top of her head. "You can grouch at me as much as you want. You're just tired and uncomfortable. Besides, your body is getting ready to have our baby and your hormones are changing around again. That's what's making you cry so much. If you were able to get more rest, you'd probably feel better, too."
"Yeah, probably." She looked up at his face with its sympathetic expression and wiped away a tear. "How come you're so smart?"
He chuckled. "Been there before. If you think you're a grouch, you should have seen Lois the first time. The only reason I survived the last month was because of you-know-who."
"Really?"
"You'd better believe it. Next to that, you're Little Merry Sunshine."
"I'm glad of that," Lori said. "I guess I learned something along the way, then."
"I guess so." He kissed the tip of her nose. "Besides, you're the woman I love. That makes all of it worthwhile."
The chime announcing the arrival of the elevator sounded and the doors slid open. Clark let her enter first and followed. "Newsroom," he said.
The elevator glided into motion. Clark put an arm around the place where her waistline had been and Lori felt the baby give her a sudden sharp kick to one lung. "Ow," she said. "I guess there's no doubt about it being a superbaby."
"Nope," Clark said. "How's your back?"
"It hurts," Lori said. "But it's been hurting for a couple of months now, so that's no surprise."
"I think we're going to be sleeping on air tonight," he said quietly, "and probably every night until this part is over. You'll be able to sleep better; trust me."
"I guess you did that before, too," she said. "It's a good idea."
"Well, I don't see why not," Clark said reasonably. "Fun and games isn't the only thing it's good for. I should have suggested it before."
In spite of herself, she laughed. "You never change," she said. "Even when I look about as sexy as a beached whale."
"Trust me," Clark said, turning her to face him, "you're just as unbelievably sexy as you were when I met you. Maybe even more."
He bent to kiss her, and Lori was barely aware of the doors opening until she heard John say, "Will you two quit that? You're on company time!"
Clark slowly straightened up, unruffled as always, and let Lori exit ahead of him. Greg snorted and shook his head. "At this rate you're gonna have a dozen kids, Kent. Don't you two ever quit?"
"Nope," Clark said, cheerfully. "Why should we?"
Lori heard Andrea laugh. "Whatever it is that she's got, I wish I had it," she remarked.
Lori could feel herself blushing. Clark hadn't removed his arm from around her waist as they headed down into the newsroom and she saw that John was grinning faintly. "You wanted to see me, Boss?" she asked.
"Yeah. Come on into my office."
Lori and Clark followed him into the editor's office and Clark pushed a chair forward for her. "Want a doughnut?"
Her stomach rumbled on cue. She accepted the doughnut with a smile of thanks and bit into it. "What's up?" she asked, around the mouthful.
"I was wondering when I need to schedule you for maternity leave," John said. "I know you've been holding out until the last minute, but face it, Lori, you need to be able to get a little rest and you're not getting it at work. Your baby is due in barely three weeks."
She sighed. "I know, but I'm going to be bored stiff, stuck at home."
"Probably," John said, with a certain sympathy, "but this baby is going to be more and more of a strain on your system until it's born, you know. You eat almost constantly now, and you're cross and tired most of the time. Don't think I haven't noticed. I haven't seen any sign of your usual sunny disposition for nearly a month."
Clark didn't say anything. Lori scowled at John, knowing he was right but unwilling to admit it.
"Can I compromise?" she asked finally.
"It depends. What's your suggestion?"
"How about half-days for the next couple of weeks?"
John cocked an eyebrow at Clark. "You were right."
Lori glanced accusingly at her husband, who grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, honey. John was talking maternity leave, and I told him you'd never go for it."
"He did say you might suggest half-time, though, and practically twisted my arm until I said I'd agree if you did," John said, a little wryly. "All right, it sounds fair but if you have any more problems, you'll have to take full time off. Deal?"
"I guess so," Lori said. Clark had actually done her a favor, she realized, by preparing the path for her half-time suggestion. "Thanks."
"Don't knock yourself out with gratitude," John said. "You go home at one, starting today. All right?"
"Yeah, yeah." Lori got to her feet. "Can I go, now?"
John waved her away. "Sure. Go out and bring me in a story."
She had the distinct impression that her editor was trying not to laugh as she left his office.
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It was just past two AM when Clark awoke with the suddenness that usually meant that his super-hearing had picked up an emergency of some kind. His nerves tingled with alarm, but around him, the noises of the city were just as they always were. Here and there were the sounds of various minor crises but nothing that would call him away from his home at this hour.
He and Lori floated in mid-air, a sheet wrapped loosely around the pair of them to give her a feeling of security while she slept, but for the first time in weeks she was sleeping soundly. This was the obvious solution to the problem, and he kicked himself for not suggesting this method of sleeping as soon as he had realized that the size of the growing baby was seriously hampering her ability to get a good night's rest. He lay stretched out in mid air, one arm around his wife, trying to figure out what it was that had awakened him.
He had been dreaming, he realized suddenly, vaguely uneasy dreams where he had searched for Lori, and where a formless evil hovered over them, threatening his wife and his world. The uneasiness had crystallized into the jolt of alarm that had brought him awake, and even now the feeling lingered.
But it had been just a dream, he reassured himself. Lori was right here beside him. He could hear her heartbeat, and the rapid heartbeat of their unborn baby, as she slept soundly in his arms. There was no reason for this suffocating sense of dread. No reason for his heart to be racing in his chest, but he couldn't seem to banish the feeling. It was as if the evil presence in his dream were here in their house, or somewhere nearby, watching and waiting to catch him off his guard.
Lori shifted in his arms and he saw a little frown between her brows, as if what she was dreaming about wasn't particularly pleasant. He'd better relax, he told himself, or he was going to awaken her and break into the first good night's sleep she had had in weeks. It wasn't like him to get so upset over a dream, anyhow.
The details of the dream were fading now, as was the way of dreams, but the sense of menace remained. He put his free arm protectively around her, enclosing her in a circle of security. It was only a dream, he told himself firmly. Nothing more.
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tbc
