Previously: Clark and Michel finally got the globe to explain to them why they look so similar. ToC----------
Dinner with his parents felt different for Michel, tonight. For as long as he could remember, this little house in Paris had been the one place on Earth where he'd felt like he truly belonged. Now, as he sat in his usual seat at the table, across from the two people who'd been his anchors all his life, he couldn't help feeling like a foreigner.
His mother's recounting of her day washed over him as he let himself imagine what his life would have been like if he had been sent to Kansas with his brother, or if Clark had come to Paris with him, or if they'd somehow never needed to leave Krypton at all. Would he still have felt like such an outsider, growing up?
"So then, just as the discussion returns to Voltaire, he stands up on his desk and says—Michel, what's wrong?"
His father lowered his wine glass. "What an odd thing for him to say," he commented.
His mother shot her husband a reproving look, then turned back to Michel. "Dear?"
Michel looked between his parents — and they were his parents, regardless of the stunning revelation he and Clark had uncovered earlier. He set his fork down. "Mama, Papa...have the two of you considered that Clark and I might be...brothers?"
They glanced at each other. "Yes," his mother said softly.
Michel's eyebrows shot up. "You have?!"
"You are very similar," his father pointed out. He leaned back in his chair and sighed deeply. "Plus...that ship..."
"It is why we knew it could never be safe for you to associate with him," his mother said.
Michel's jaw fell open. "You want to keep my from my own brother?!" he sputtered.
"We want to keep you from danger," his father explained. "He is not a safe companion, Michel. We've explained this already."
"But, he's my brother!" Michel blurted out, striking the table hard enough to rattle the dishes.
His mother grabbed her wine glass to steady it, but made no comment on his outburst beyond a slight frown.
"Michel," his father said softly, reaching over to rest a hand on his arm, "Mr. Kent is not our son. You are. And we are your family. We only want what's best for you. Do you understand?"
A thousand thoughts raced through Michel's mind, and a thousand visions of a life where two little outsiders at least had each other. For a brief moment, he envisioned telling his parents that they could have two sons or none at all! In the end, he slumped in his seat. "Yes, Papa, I understand."
**********
"You've been awfully chipper this morning," Lois groused when they finally broke for lunch.
Clark grabbed his coat from behind his chair and followed her to the elevator. "I guess I am," he admitted. "I found out something big, yesterday."
"Oh?" Lois's sour expression lightened considerably. "Got a new lead for our story?"
He shook his head. "Nothing like that. It's something...personal."
The elevator arrived with a soft chime, and they both stepped in. "What is it?" Lois asked once the doors were closed. "Good news?"
"I guess you could call it that," he replied with a grin.
"Clark!" She smacked his chest. "Spill it, already! What's got you floating around like the Bills just won the superbowl?"
He laughed. "Okay, okay!" He looked her in the eyes, unable to stop smiling. "Lois, I'm a twin."
Her shocked, wide-eyed expression nearly sent him into hysterics. "You're...what?!"
"A twin," he repeated.
"But, how could you be a..." The elevator dinged, and they had to hurry out to avoid being crushed by the tide of people rushing into it. In the relative quiet of the lobby, she tried again. "How are you a twin? Wouldn't your parents have noticed?"
"Well, I'm adopted," Clark said mildly, somewhat surprised that she hadn't already realized after their trip to Smallville.
"Oh!" Lois blinked. "Huh. I guess I never...huh."
She was quiet as they walked to the diner, seemingly lost in her thoughts. By the time their food arrived, however, she had once again found her voice. "So, what's his name? Or her name; you didn't actually say you had a brother, did you? Do you look alike? Have you met him? Or her. Do they live nearby?"
Clark had to suppress the laugh long enough not to choke on his sandwich. He swallowed carefully before answering. "It's Michel," he said, still chuckling.
Her eyes widened. "Dr. Renaud?!"
Clark nodded and returned his attention to his lunch.
Lois seemed no longer interested in her own. "So...what happened?"
"What do you mean?" Clark asked around a bite of sandwich.
"Well, you grew up in Kansas, and he lives in France. How did you get so separated?"
...Uh oh. Clark took another bite of his food to buy some time while he thought about how to answer her. "We just...did, somehow," he began. "We were infants at the time... Our records were lost," he added in a flash of inspiration, thinking about his globe.
"Incredible," Lois commented with a shake of her head. "So some pencil-pusher can't do his job right, and one of you ends up getting shipped overseas?"
"It does sound that way, doesn't it?" Clark agreed, getting back to his lunch.
"So, what about your parents?" she asked.
"Oh, they're thrilled," Clark replied. "Mom wants to throw him an official Welcome-To-The-Family dinner." He took another large bite.
"I meant your birth-parents," Lois explained. "What country were they from?"
A piece of tomato lodged itself in Clark's windpipe.
"Were they American? French? Something else?" Lois continued.
Clark hoped he didn't look as panicked as he felt. Why had he even gotten himself into this conversation? In retrospect, this was a pretty obvious line of questioning, and he couldn't think of any safe answers. Even inventing whole-cloth biographies for everyone involved would just create more problems down the road...
"Clark?"
"It's...complicated," he settled for saying.
"Complicated how?" Lois asked, resting her arms by her untouched plate and leaning forward in open curiosity.
"Well, uh...we...we're still finding out their story," Clark blurted.
Lois waited. When no further information was forthcoming, she said, "Well, what do you know?"
"I know that we're identical twins," Clark replied. "I know that after all these years, I finally have my brother back, and I know it feels amazing."
Lois conceded a smile and patted him on the arm. "It is amazing." She looked down at their plates, his nearly empty and hers still piled with food. "I should probably get this boxed up."
TBC...FDK Thread
