A few hours later, Lois decided she couldn’t take sitting across from Clark another minute. She could just see that whatever future they may have had together had disappeared, like so much dust in the wind. And she had been given no say in the decision whatsoever…
Her future had been decided for her.
She left her desk abruptly, and was heading to the ladies room, but realized that she didn’t want any gossip starting up about her if she was found crying, which she felt on the verge of doing.
So she left, with just her Blackberry and wallet in hand, and called her cousin.
“Hey Lois, how are you feeling?” Chloe answered.
The tears started spilling even before Lois could speak. “Chloe… where are you? Can we talk?”
“Absolutely. Lo, what is it?”
“I don’t want to say over the phone. How about that coffee shop, over on Main?”
“Sure, I can be there in fifteen minutes.”
Lois hung up the phone, trying to shake some sense into herself. She thought maybe it was the baby hormones that were making her cry… all she knew was that she felt completely alone. The only person she knew who she hoped had a chance of understanding was Chloe.
The General would be disappointed in her, regardless of whether or not she could remember how it had all happened. In fact, because she couldn’t remember, it would make him just that more upset with her. And Lucy would simply gloat, because Lois would prove once and for all, who was the failure in the family.
All she really had left was Chloe.
~L&C~
Chloe found Lois at the coffee shop, sipping a peppermint tea. That in itself was strange for Lois. Usually it was coffee all the way.
“Hey, Lois, I’m here,” she said, waving to her cousin as she ordered her drink.
Chloe could tell Lois was faking a smile, and it just made her more anxious to get to the bottom of what was bothering her.
“So, what’s the 911 emergency?” Chloe tried to ask lightly, sliding into the booth across from Lois.
Lois looked back at her with bloodshot eyes, and Chloe could see that more tears threatened to fall.
“I don’t know how it happened, honest. And I don’t mean because I was out on a drinking binge or anything. Cause I haven’t given myself one of those kinds of headaches for a number of years. You know? It’s certainly not as much fun anymore. Not like back in the day… when I’d wander around campus in my jammies after drinking some stupid frat boys under the table…” Lois started babbling, feeling herself begin to panic.
“Lo, breathe,” Chloe encouraged, reaching across the table to pat Lois’ hand. “Start at the beginning.”
Lois took a deep breath, letting it out in a long stream. She paused to gather her courage and then looked up at Chloe. “All I know is… I have three weeks of blocked memory… and somehow I’m – pregnant.”
Chloe stared at Lois, almost as if she wasn’t convinced she’d heard correctly. “Lois, are you sure?”
Lois glared at her cousin and flashed the two pamphlets that the doctor had given to her earlier. “I don’t think you get these unless they’re sure… but Chloe, honestly, I have no idea who the father is…” Lois squeaked out, tears spilling down her cheeks once more.
Chloe became really quiet, processing what Lois had just told her.
“Does Clark know?”
Lois shook her head. “I couldn’t bear to tell him, Chloe. Especially when I don’t even know who the father is!”
“But, um… I mean, have you and Clark…?” Chloe tried to ask, pretty certain that they hadn’t slept together. At least based on the information she had at hand.
Lois shook her head. “No… we weren’t there yet. You know that… Smallville and I have just been… taking it slow. But now—“
Chloe squeezed Lois’ hand. “It’s going to be okay, Lois. Somehow, we’ll get through this. Don’t worry, okay?”
“You can’t tell him, Chloe. Please promise me…. I know I’ll have to—eventually. Just please, let me do this on my own time.”
Chloe’s own thoughts were going a mile a minute, knowing that Lois had to have gotten pregnant in the future if she had no memory of how it had happened. The two most likely candidates were either Clark or perhaps Zod… which she couldn’t even bear thinking about. But either one meant that Lois would have to know the truth sooner rather than later. Who knew what kind of consequences there would be if she was pregnant with a Kryptonian’s baby?
Chloe sighed, carefully weighing what to tell Lois. “Lois, we know that you disappeared for three weeks… are you sure the time lines match up?”
Lois nodded, seeking another tissue in her purse. “Yep. Nine weeks, and three days. It had to have happened during that time. There’s no doubt.”
“Lois, you have to tell Clark,” Chloe said directly, then back tracked, as she realized how harsh that sounded. “What I mean is, there could be more—consequences here than any of us realize. He needs to know.”
“Why? Until I know who the father is, why should I humiliate myself and destroy the trust Clark has in me?” Lois wiped her eyes as fresh tears started to flow. “And the worst part is, he was so concerned about me. He must have sent over like, five dozen roses,” Lois laughed a little through her tears. “How can I hurt him like that, Chloe?”
Chloe thought a minute, trying to think of a way to convince Lois that she needed to tell Clark about the baby. “What did they say at the hospital? I mean, do you know anything about the health of the baby? Maybe you won’t need to say anything if, uh…” Chloe trailed off, feeling a bit ashamed that she’d even suggest Lois might lose the baby.
“Don’t even say it. As much as this pregnancy freaks me out, the thought of losing it almost terrifies me more… No, when they brought me in, Dr. Hamilton ran all sorts of tests on me.
Nothing came up out of the ordinary… oh, except that I’m hypoglycemic,” Lois said, biting into the little cookie that had come with her tea.
“And you have absolutely no memory as to how you got pregnant?” Chloe asked, full of sympathy for her cousin, and for once wishing that Lois knew the truth about Clark. It would help Lois recognize the potential danger she could be in.
“No, Chloe. I don’t remember anything. Believe me, I wish I did,” Lois said forlornly.
Chloe leaned in, making sure that Lois was looking her in the eye as she tried to convey how serious this was. “Lois, all we know is that something was going on during those three weeks. You know there are weird things that happen in Smallville… You don’t know entirely what you are dealing with,” Chloe said, trying to convey the seriousness of the matter without scaring Lois any more than she already was.
“Are you telling me that I may be having a meteor rock freak baby?” Lois said humorlessly. “Please, Chloe. Obviously I know that it is not normal to have three weeks missing of your life… and it’s even crazier to wake up from it all to discover you are pregnant. Still… there is a logical explanation here. We’ll figure it out. But I’ll be damned if I‘m going to tell Clark Kent about it.”
~L&C~
Chloe entered Watchtower, feeling the weight of being a reluctant secret keeper once more.
She wouldn’t tell Clark, but she’d make sure Clark talked to Lois as soon as possible. As upset as Lois was this afternoon, surely there’s no way she would be able to hide the truth from Clark for too long.
Oliver was there doing some work on a laptop, but Chloe didn’t say much to him. She was afraid the dam would break and she’d spill everything, so instead she went straight to work to see if they had any updates on the Kandorians.
Clark blew into Watchtower a few moments after Chloe arrived, a smile beaming across his face.
Oliver shook his head sardonically, “You know, for a guy who just got a mondo case of kryptonite, you sure seem happy.”
“Well, the sun is shining, and Lois is going to be all right,” Clark said confidently.
Chloe didn’t know how long his sunny outlook would last once he knew the truth about Lois, but she couldn’t say anything about that yet.
Instead, she rambled on about what she could talk about, hoping to reassure herself in the process. “She should be fine. Dr. Emil ran every possible test on her, and she's healthy and doesn't remember a thing. Except, of course, the flowers that Clark sent to her hospital room, but who could forget five dozen roses?”
If Dr. Emil was at all concerned about the pregnancy, Chloe wondered if he would say something to Clark, patient-doctor confidentiality aside. He might have noticed something in Lois’ blood work and was looking for a good time to tell Clark… Still, Lois was healthy and strong… No matter what the personal consequences, Chloe had to believe that Lois would make it through this pregnancy.
Oliver was still teasing Clark for his over-indulgent display of his affections for Lois. “Five dozen roses. Wow. That's subtle.”
Chloe was burning just beneath the surface and consequently threw herself into work. “Look, I really don't get why the two of you are grinning, considering the fact that we're all about to die terribly tragic deaths in the not-so-distant future.”
Clark looked more optimistic than Chloe had seen him in a long time. “That's because if we do something in the present, we can change all that.”
But you can’t change the fact that Lois got pregnant in the future, Chloe quietly admonished.
Oliver came forward to put in his two cents. “Well, I vote we take Zod out right now. That way, he doesn't have a chance to take the sunshine off our shoulders.”
Clark shook his head. “No. In the future that I saw, I tried to fight Zod. All I did was turn him into a more powerful enemy.”
“Clark, just because you learned a lesson in teamwork doesn't mean we have to stop fighting Zod,” Chloe chimed in. She just hoped that however Lois got pregnant, Zod had nothing to do with it… but based on the smile Clark had walked in here with, she was willing to bet that things between Lois and Clark in the future had had its upside.
“Going up against Zod will only force him to come back with everything he has,” Clark said.
Oliver smirked at Clark’s optimism. “So, what, you think you two can just hug it out?”
“When my father said ‘save Zod,’ what I think he meant was save Zod from himself. Now, if I can befriend him, show him how good life can be here – “
With Lois in the middle of it all, one way or another, Chloe thought Zod was more dangerous than ever. “That would be a mistake. Clark, if Zod gets his solar towers online, that gives him all the power in the world and us none, including you. Zod will fly psychopathic circles around you.”
“Chloe, I've seen what happens when I treat Zod like the enemy. This time, I'm going to do things the right way.”
“Well, good luck, Clark,” Oliver said, patting Clark on the back as he headed out the door.
“Some of us have problems just dealing with earthlings… I have a meeting, so I’ll see you two later.”
When Oliver left, Chloe felt the need to say something to Clark about Lois well up in her again. She let out her frustration in a huge release of breath.
“I didn’t want to say anything with Oliver here…”
“What is it, Chloe?” Clark asked, looking concerned.
Chloe turned to Clark, leveling with him. “Look, I’ve had to carry any number of secrets for various reasons over the years, almost always needing to protect someone. But this last… I just don’t know if I can say anything, yet I can’t not say something because-- I fear that Lois is in danger.”
Chloe’s heart secretly warmed as Clark went predictably into over-protective mode. “What? What do you mean, Chloe? Was there something else that Dr. Hamilton said to you?”
Chloe knew that the words had to come from Lois herself. Chloe had gotten into trouble too many times before trying to fight other people’s battles. But she also knew that Clark needed to know what was going on. “I—I can’t say, Clark. But I beg you, please talk to Lois later. One on one, away from the Planet and other prying eyes. Maybe she’ll tell you,” Chloe said cryptically.
“Just… be gentle with her, okay?”
~L&C~
Clark couldn’t get Chloe to elaborate on what she had meant that afternoon about Lois. She kept insisting that he needed to go talk to Lois and that she might be in some sort of danger. Danger was nothing new to Lois, but the look of almost desperation that Chloe kept giving him made him think it was something much more than Lois’ typical brushes with peril.
He went over to the Talon later that evening to try and figure out what was going on.
As he headed up the steps, he slowed down as he thought he heard Lois crying. He didn’t want to use his abilities to spy on her, and resolved to figure out what was wrong with her the old fashioned way.
“Lois?” he called, knocking on the door.
“Go away, Smallville,” came her muffled reply.
“Lois, please,” he paused, but didn’t hear her move. “Lois, I’m not leaving until you open this door.”
Eventually he heard her march across the apartment and open it. “Why are you here, Clark?”
He took in her appearance, wrapped in a sweater and puffy eyes. “I don’t know… just checking to see how you’re doing. You didn’t come back to the bullpen this afternoon, and I wanted to make sure you were all right.”
She smirked, and though he could tell she had been crying, he was glad to see a bit of the Lois he knew under whatever was bothering her. “Nice try. Pretty sure Chloe said something… or wanted to say something?” she said, her chin jutting up in question.
He relented with a sigh. “She’s worried about you. But I swear she didn’t tell me anything… Just that I should talk to you. Are you okay?” he asked gently.
He saw her weaken her resolve for just a second, but then crossed her arms defensively. “I’m fine, Smallville. Really. I can handle this. Thanks for coming by, but I’ll be all right,” she said, moving towards the door to usher him out.
“Lois,” he chided softly, “I can see that you’re not fine. I thought we were—I mean, you can trust me… what is it?”
He saw tears threaten to spill in her eyes, but she smiled over-brightly to cover them. “Look, Smallville, I appreciate the concern. I just need some time to figure out how I’ll handle this. It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just need to sort some things out on my own first, okay?”
Clark nodded, intending to leave if that was what she wanted. But a sound reached his super hearing, completely unintentionally, that he couldn’t ignore.
Two heartbeats were coming from Lois, one much fainter than the other.
He was so shocked that he simply stared at her for a moment, trying to remember what she had just said. “When you’re ready, I hope you’ll let me help you,” he said huskily, suddenly wanting to bombard her with a dozen different questions.
“Thanks, Smallville. So, I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow at the Planet,” she said, reaching to give him a hug.
As he pulled her to him, he listened again --- this time intentionally --to confirm that he heard a second heartbeat.
“Call me anytime you want to talk, okay?” he said gently, pulling out of the hug, but not letting her go.
She nodded and smiled. “Thanks.”
He turned and left, waiting for her to shut the door behind him, as he needed to gather his thoughts.
Lois was pregnant.
To be sure, he x-rayed through the door, seeing Lois stand where he had left her, staring at the closed door. He hated spying on her like this, but he had to know… he looked deeper, and sure enough, he saw what he knew was already there – a baby.
He immediately felt guilty for spying on her and turned away, suddenly feeling even more confused, if not downright hurt.
Whose baby was it? Had she been seeing anyone else?
He thought he knew her well enough that she wasn’t… so what had happened?
She was obviously upset by the pregnancy…
Had it been rape?
Clark’s jaw tensed in anger, fearing someone had hurt her like that. But she didn’t startle at his touch or show any other signs that women who had suffered such a trauma usually show.
So it had to have been consensual. And he knew that Lois and he hadn’t—
Wait. The future. Had it happened then?
Lois wouldn’t remember, which would explain why she was so upset, trying to figure out how she was pregnant. Clark felt guilty that she didn’t have her knowledge of the future anymore, thanks to Dr. Emil’s treatment, no matter how vague it had been. She couldn’t remember them together… of course she was frantic!
Clark felt a flurry of emotions as he sped back to Watchtower. He felt uncertain, and yet a growing excitement if he, in fact, was going to be a father…
But Chloe had said Lois was in danger…maybe she was right to worry. He had no idea what a Kryptonian pregnancy would be like for Lois.
Clark suddenly had more questions than answers. He wanted to talk to Jor-El, and find out what he knew of any possible hidden dangers, but first he needed to talk to Chloe.
And then Lois.
And this time, she’d tell him what was going on… and he’d finally tell her, too.
~L&C~
Lois had never felt so confused in all her life.
Part of her had wanted to confess the truth to Clark, right then and there. But the fact that she couldn’t remember how she had gotten pregnant kept her silent.
She feared that she would lose Clark forever once the truth got out… she knew it couldn’t be his baby. Even if she had gotten drunk one night or was in some other way incapacitated, she knew in her heart that Clark would never take advantage of her. And yet the question remained – whose could it be?
Tears threatened to fall again as she tried to recall something, anything about those three weeks…
But Dr. Friskin knew something. Lois had the strangest sensation that she had known something about what had happened, and yet had somehow forgotten… it was as if any memory even associated with whatever had happened to her during those three weeks had been completely wiped out.
Unconsciously, she cradled the small life inside her. “How could I forget how you happened, little one?” she whispered.
It was after eight, and Lois didn’t have the patience to wait until tomorrow to go to Dr. Friskin’s. Besides, since she stopped therapy, Lois had ignored all of Dr. Friskin’s follow-up calls and didn’t really want to speak to the woman face to face.
She smiled, feeling lighter and more like herself than she had since she woke up in the hospital.
“Nothing livens up a Friday night like a little breaking and entering. Kid, you’re gonna see your momma in action!”
~L&C~
Clark blew into Watchtower, his emotions in a spin. He wasn’t sure if he was upset that Lois hadn’t told him the truth or excited over the fact that he was going to be a father. However, both women that had known had kept that secret from him. His roiling emotions exploded at the first person he saw. “Chloe, how could you not have told me that Lois is pregnant?”
“Whoa, easy on the dress down, Clark. I told you that I hate getting stuck in the middle of the web of other people’s secrets… “ she said, turning away from her computer to glare at him. Then, apparently seeing how in turmoil he was, she softened her tone. “So, I take it she told you?”
He sighed, shaking his head in wonderment. “No. I heard the heartbeat.”
Chloe nodded, realizing Clark hadn’t actually talked to Lois about the pregnancy. “Okay, so you know part one of the puzzle…” Chloe began slowly. “Part two might be a little trickier. You were the only one besides Tess who has any inkling as to what happened to Lois in the future. Any idea who the father is?”
Clark almost looked a little abashed as he shrugged. “It’s me.”
“Wow… um, well, that’s interesting. Are you sure? I mean, I know you trust Lois—“
Clark glared at her. “Chloe, I was there. Trust me. I’m the father.”
Chloe accepted that with a nod, crossing her arms and waiting for him to continue. “So, now what?”
Clark started pacing. “I need to talk to Jor-El. You were right to be worried. We don’t know what can happen… and I need to talk to Lois,” he said with just a hint of dread. “I have to tell her the truth about me, whether I want to or not.”
Chloe gave him a sympathetic pat on the arm. “Clark, what do you think you’ll tell her first? That she has a Kryptonian’s baby inside her or that you are that Kryptonian? I mean, she’s gotta know both things in pretty quick order, Clark.”
“Easy, Chloe. I am just trying to process this all myself. I don’t know how to tell her, but I will… I just hope everything will be all right.”
Chloe eyed him carefully. “And are you all right with this? I mean… I know you care about Lois, but—“
“Don’t worry, Chloe. I won’t abandon your cousin.” Clark gazed out of the large stained-glass window, his gaze softening as he thought about Lois. “I do love her,” he admitted softly. Then, he turned to Chloe, with an almost sheepish shrug of his shoulders. “Of course this isn’t exactly how I had planned things, but if everything goes well…” He suddenly smiled, optimism lighting through his eyes. “Chloe, if Lois has this baby, then there is hope for me, and possibly the Kandorians as well. It will be definitive proof that we can assimilate and have normal lives on earth… This baby… will become a symbol of hope.”
~L&C~
Lois’ lock-picking kit had gotten her in and out of many jams over the last several years.
“You’ve saved me almost as many times as the Blur,” she whispered, giving her pack a quick air kiss before shoving it back in her purse, entering Dr. Friskin’s office.
There was little security here, which, while Lois was grateful, she would prefer that her deep dark secrets not have such easy access. However, tonight she was relieved that she only had one locked door to bust through.
She found the filing cabinet, and used a generic key to open the lock. She rolled her eyes at how many mass produced keys opened the same locks of so many things.
“Labron, Laggart, Lahey…Lane,” she read aloud, digging through the files, her small flashlight wedged under her arm so she could see the names.
She snagged her file and sat down on the couch where she had been subjected to so many therapy sessions. Like most doctors, Dr. Friskin had horrible handwriting, so it took a while before Lois found what she was looking for.
“…has sexual dreams about co-worker.” “Clark?” she laughed aloud. “Really? Why don’t I remember that?” “Perhaps dreams signify desire to uncover something hidden. Obsessed with a mysterious caller. Suggested to patient that perhaps she needs to focus on the man she knows, rather than the one she doesn’t.”
“Well, that wasn’t very helpful… “ Lois murmured, closing the file. She remembered thinking that Clark was the Blur – that had been as helpful as a hole in the head. She had been convinced that Clark was the Blur, and yet the Blur had called her right in front of him… One thing she’d never forget was the crushing disappointment that she had been wrong. It had only made her feelings that much more confusing. Clark had always seemed like the kind of guy people depended on, and it really hadn’t been that big a leap of faith to believe he was the Blur… it had also relieved all her guilt she had about enjoying helping the Blur, worrying that her feelings had been so much more than altruistic. And to think, if even for a few short hours, that her Clark – who she could joke with and was falling for by the day – had also been the hero that she fell deeper for through each secret telephone conversation… well, it had been an amazing coalescing of all her feelings, a sense of rightness had filled her at the idea. But when the Blur had called her, with Clark standing just a few feet away, all those feelings became chaotic again, and her heart was once more divided. Because her heart had stirred once more when she heard the Blur’s voice, even as she had felt so right and at home held in Clark’s arms after the Blur’s rescue…
She sighed heavily at the memory, reaching to put the folder back. And, to add insult to injury, she was no closer to remembering what had happened during her three weeks of blocked memory, and no closer to discovering how the hell she had gotten pregnant.
