This is in response to the Kerth 2020 weekly challenge week 2 that can be found here:
Kerth 2020 challengeTitle: Gone Too Soon
By Daytonagirl8991
Rated: PG
Summary: Lois and Clark suffer a devastating loss. WIll they be able to recover from it?
Notes: This came from listening to the song: Gone Too Soon by Daughtry. (Possible Hanky warning for this fic as it starts kind of dark)
This is an introspective fic in Clark's POV; as such there isn't much in the way of dialogue. Now on to the story.
The sound of Leaves crunching underfoot is the only sound as a solitary man walks through the quiet cemetery. The landscape is undeniably beautiful, if one could call a cemetery that. The leaves have turned to their fall glory and the rising sun seems to have been made as a brilliant spotlight to showcase each leaf perfectly.
The quiet of the surroundings helps sooth Clark’s turbulent mood as he follows the path through the trees winding through the rows of gravestones. A bouquet of flowers clutched in his hands as he walks.
Clark turns off the path to walk across the grass to a grave marker in particular. Once he reaches it, Clark kneels and brushes a few stray leaves from the stone. He then places the flowers in the stone vase next to the marker. He pauses as he reads the words on the small stone, although he had long since had them memorized.
Lara Elizabeth Kent
September 20, 1999
Our Little Angel
Only one date marks this little gravestone; only one date was needed. The tiny life that is buried here only shined on earth for a brief moment, but a moment none the less.
The date. It was five years ago. He and Lois should be planning a birthday party for today. They should have an excited little girl, eagerly anticipating the moment where she could blow out the candles and open her birthday presents.
But instead, he is here at the place that he and Lois buried all the hopes and dreams that they had had for their baby girl. He always wonders what their daughter would be like. What would she have become? Would she have been a journalist, or a doctor, maybe a lawyer, or could she have even became President?
As he sits on the grass in front of his baby’s grave, his mind can’t help but replay the events that had led to this spot five years ago.
The day that Lois had told him that she was pregnant had been among the happiest days of his life. They had hoped and prayed for that day for so long that they thought it would never happen.
After dinner that night, where she had frequently slipped the word ‘baby’ into their conversation, she had presented him with nondescript white box tied with a twine ribbon, attached to a small card that simply read: “A little surprise for you…”
“What’s this?” Clark had questioned as Christmas had passed a few weeks before and his birthday was still a few weeks away.
“Open it and find out.” Lois had answered, obviously anxious for him to open his gift.
Doing so he had found the contents confusing for a few moments as he read the card on top:
“The only thing better than having you as a husband will be our BABY will have you as their DADDY!”
He swears he had sat there dumbly staring at that card for several minutes as the words repeated themselves over and over.
“Really? We’re having a baby?” Was the only thing that he could think to say when he could remember how to articulate words again.
“Yes…” Was all Lois could say before Clark had lifted her up and gave her a scorching kiss as they floated several feet above the living room floor. It was awhile before either say another word.
They had made love with such intensity that night that if it were possible Lois would have gotten pregnant again.
That night had also been one of the first nights that Lois had caught him watching her sleep. He couldn’t help it, he was fascinated by the amazing woman had agreed to be his wife and now making him a father.
He had often wondered on those nights what their baby would be like. Would it be a boy or girl? Who would the baby look like? Would they inherit his powers, or would they be completely normal?
A six months, they had learnt that the baby was going to be a girl. Clark had surprised Lois by being ecstatic about the prospect of having a daughter.
It was that very night that they agreed on the name: Lara Elizabeth. Lara- for the mother that Clark never really knew but loved him enough to put him in the lifeboat that was his spaceship even though she herself was facing certain death. And Elizabeth- for Lois’s beloved Grandmother who was the only person in her childhood to give her the love and support she had needed through the divorce and her mother subsequent drinking.
They had painted the nursery a soft pink accentuated by other pastels. They had bought baby clothes and had a baby shower jointly thrown by the Grandmas-to-be. Clark spent evenings reading the storybooks they had gotten to Lara; successfully getting the baby to calm her gymnastics practices and allowing Lois to get much needed rest.
Everything had been so perfect for them that Clark should have known that the proverbial shoe was about to drop.
Lois was going to make a quick run to the store to get supplies for Clark to make dinner that evening when he returned home from work. Lois had been on maternity leave and was close to two weeks overdue.
Their baby had been taking her good sweet time in making her arrival. Their doctor had not been concerned however, she assured them that the baby is in the proper position and everything is on track. They did make an appointment to induce labor at the end of the week if labor didn’t begin before then.
She had been loading the bags into the back of the jeep when a series of gunshots had rung out. Lois had attempted to dive for cover. But being as pregnant as she was, it was next to impossible. By time she got behind the jeep, she had been shot 3 times. One bullet had lodged in her shoulder, one went through her left thigh. But the one that did the worst damage was the one that went into her stomach.
By time that Clark had arrived as Superman, Lois had already been shot. He had felt powerless as Lois had been tended to by the paramedics. He had left and came back as Clark so he could be recognized as Lois’s husband and be able to stay with her as they rushed her to the hospital.
When Lois had gotten to the hospital, they rushed her into surgery to try to save both her and their unborn daughter. It could have been hours or days while Clark paced the waiting room waiting for news about Lois and the baby.
Eventually, the doctor came out and gave him the news that would shake Clark’s world to it’s very foundation. While Lois had survived and would eventually recover, Lara had only lived mere moments. The bullet had entered Lara’s tiny body and had struck a vital organ. She had probably bled out before the doctors could even get to her.
They had decided to have a funeral for Lara instead of the suggestion of cremation. As brief as their daughter’s life had been, it deserved a proper burial and they deserved a chance to say goodbye. They were surprised by the amount of people who had came to the funeral and offered their heartfelt condolences. Martha had made a beautiful white dress for Lara in preparation for her baptism; instead it became her burial dress. Lara was buried in a white casket that had been not much bigger than a shoe box. Her tiny casket had been so small that Clark alone had carried it to the gravesite.
And while such a tragedy could have put a strain on a marriage, and Clark had to admit that they had weathered a good amount of grief and guilt; their marriage had come through stronger. It had helped that in their healing process they had found a cause to champion that had quickly became more than just dealing with their personal loss, but making a difference.
They had been shocked that the shooter, who Clark had captured before he realized that Lois had been a victim, was only prosecuted for the crimes related to the shooting; but none involving the death of their baby. They had found that while their circumstances were unique, the problem of a pregnant woman loosing her baby by an act of violence was tragically a common occurrence
Researching the laws, they had discovered that since Lara, and other victims like her, hadn’t been born: the legal system didn’t recognize them as being separate individuals. Lois and Clark hadn’t had to say anything to each other as they both knew their common goal would be getting the laws changed.
Some good had come out of Lara’s death, Clark consoled himself. Because of Lara, it is now a capital crime in New Troy if a crime committed on a pregnant woman killed her unborn child.
Today the governor is signing that bill that had been dubbed Lara’s Law into effect. And Lois and Clark plan to be there to look on as he signs the document. With a photo of their "Non-person" daughter laid out in her burial dress on a backdrop of pink satin, looking as if she is simply sleeping or a little doll. Neither him or Lois had wanted a photo of their baby in her casket.
While it is too late to get justice for Lara, it is her legacy to protect other unborn children and make sure that if another family faces the same grief as them, they will not be told that the son or daughter, that they had began to bond with and love, wasn’t considered a ‘person’ and that their loss wasn’t important enough to see justice.
“We did it, Baby girl. It took five years, but it’s finally done. Happy Birthday, Lara. Your mother and I love you and still remember you.” Clark says as he gets up from the grass.
He needs to get back home to get ready for the bill signing. So, with more than a few glances back, Clark begins to walk down the path to go back to the jeep where Lois is waiting for him.
She would have come with him except Mariah, their second daughter, who is even more of a miracle than her sister had been, and only 6 weeks old, had decided that it was breakfast time as they had arrived at the cemetery. Lois should be done nursing by now.
Once back to the jeep, Clark will allow Lois to visit the gravesite while he watches Mariah. They have hours before they have to be at the signing ceremony after all.
As the Jeep comes into view, Clark can’t help but realize that he had been blessed by the family he has. While the couple will always mourn the loss of Lara and always wonder what could have been for her, they have found the way through the clouds of grief to be happy again.
