Okay, it's taken me the last hour to get this thing posted. It's amazing some times what a good swift kick to you computer does for it's 'attitude'. I usually read the parts immediately after I post, but I'm not going to this time. If you find anything wrong, let me know. There is one sentence that Lara says that I know is incorrect, but she is four, so what does she know?

[Linked Image] Meowoof has heard your pleas and has made an appearance. She brought some friends.

<Around speech indicates telepathic thought.>

~Around words indicates Kryptonian speech.~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Chapter 29

Clark held his hand up. "So it seems earlier tonight that Chloe and Claire decided to make a hero appearance." He turned back to the twins and grinned. "Have you two thought about how the names Purple Pixie and Blue Fairy are going to sound when you are older?"

Chloe shrugged. "Well, nobody would ever think about us being so strong, would they?" Claire nodded in agreement.

He looked at Jama, "Don't get any ideas."

"I'm in no hurry, Daddy. I can't even fly, yet."

"Uh.. huh..." He turned to Los and K'al and introduced everyone in the room. Then he smiled at Caitlyn and put his arm around her. "And as for why Caitlyn is here, well, we are engaged."

There were lots of smiles, a troubled look, and a frown in the room, but nearly everyone said congratulations, and when Jon started clapping, everyone followed suit. Everything became very noisy.

Lara, who was still sitting on Caitlyn's lap, smiled up at her. "When are you going to get married?"

Caitlyn shrugged. "I'm not sure, Lara, but I hope soon."

"Good. I like you a lot." Then she whispered in Caitlyn's ear. "I know you aren't my real mother, but can I call you Mommy? I've never really had a Mommy."

Tears filled Caitlyn's eyes, and her hands flew to her mouth. She turned to look at Clark with wide eyes.

He smiled at Caitlyn and lightly nodded. He told her with his eyes that it was her decision, but he silently hoped that she would agree. After all, Lara deserved to have a Mommy, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


A New Hero Part 30


Caitlyn smiled and hugged Lara. "Yes, Lara, you can. I'd be honored for you to call me Mommy. But I want you to always remember the person that gave you life because she's your Mother. Okay?"

"M'kay. Her name was Lois Lane Kent, and she loved me, and she loved my Daddy. She won something called a Puzzle, too!"

Clark smiled, but instead of correcting Lara, he lightly bit his lip. He closed his eyes tightly as he heard someone say, "Pulitzer, Lara. Mom won a Pulitzer." He took a deep breath and blew his breath out in a deep sigh. He thought - prayed, 'Oh, Lois, you know how much I love you. I would never want to dishonor you. I hope you know that.' His eyes were wet with threatening tears. He sat for a moment and then felt a a calming peace come over him. It was almost as if Lois was there with him. He opened his eyes and looked around almost expecting to see her. He shook his head lightly and smiled as he heard Lara speak.

Lara said frustratedly, "That's what I *said*. A Pulizzle."

Clark just shrugged and rolled his eyes as he looked over at his daughter. "So, Lara. If you know about me, what do you think happened to me?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You know - when I was in the hospital."

She took a deep breath and said seriously, "Ohhh. That. Well, got hurt climbing a mountain, but some mean man hurt you, too. You have broken bibs, and you hurt your back."

Clark realized that it was obvious that Lara didn't quite understand everything about 'Superman'. She obviously didn't realize that he wasn't supposed to get hurt. "Ahh... Well, Lara, the word is 'ribs', and yes, I guess you could say I have some broken ribs, but that was from the surgery."

"Surgery? Oh, you mean like Mommy? She's a surjean."

Clark smiled. Children were so wonderful. She had already totally embraced the idea that it was okay to call Caitlyn, Mommy. "Umm... I had to have... umm..."

Caitlyn said, "Lara, your Daddy was hurt bad enough that some things inside of him needed to be fixed. I fix things inside of people."

Lara's eyes were big. "Ohhh... Wow!" She turned to Clark and said with great concern, "Did that hurt?"

"It hurt after that. I was pretty much asleep during the surgery." That wasn't entirely true, since anesthesia seemed to work differently on him and he was actually awake - mostly without pain - during the surgery, but he wasn't sure how to even begin to explain that to Lara.

Clark heard Los think to Jon, who had been helping in translation, <~I wondered what was wrong with
Father.~>

Clark looked over at him and smiled.

Just then, Meowoof, and the two dogs - a Golden Retriever / Chow mix and a Keeshond - came running through the room. Meowoof had been having such lovely fun with her friends, Two Bark and Bear, but when she saw all these wonderful people in one room, she stopped so abruptly that the blond Two Bark nearly ran into her.

Clark laughed, "What's wrong, girl? Have you been missing all the fun?" With that, Meowoof and the two dogs lay down in the middle of the room to join the family meeting. Sapphire, their very solitary black cat, was already there, lying on top of a bookshelf. Brook called him a 'snooty bird'.

Brook spoke up then and said, "Daddy, why do you have broken ribs from the surgery?"

Clark thought that perhaps he shouldn't have said anything about that. "Well, uhh.. I don't know how to explain that. It's because, I, uh, had lung damage..." He looked at Caitlyn for help, but she just smiled at him sweetly. He gave her a puppy dog look and whispered, "Please..."

Caitlyn acquiesced. "Okay, Brook. We had to break a few ribs in order to repair the lung damage."

Clark wondered how in the world she could make it sound so simple, when he knew that thoracic surgery was anything but.

Jama said, "And you did this?"

Caitlyn answered, "No, I was the main surgeon involved with his abdominal surgery. He had a total of four surgeons the first time and two the second time."

Lara looked at her Daddy. "You had to have it done twice?" She said incredulously. Clark nodded.

Brook said, "Why?"

"He had a lot of bleeding that we couldn't stop without more surgery, Brook, honey." Brook just nodded.

Clark looked around. No one was really saying much now, so he said, "Does anyone have anything to say while we are all here together?" Everyone shook their heads no. "Okay, then. Goodnight."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Catherine Grant-Olsen had her arms around her husband and the kissed him passionately. She brought her leg up and rubbed it against him suggestively. "So, Jim, honey, what was that you said about Clark? Something about Clark getting upset? Now why would he get upset?"

"What do you mean...Mmm.... Cat?" Jimmy said, hoping he sounded convincing in his lie.

She sighed and sat down at the table. She should know by now that her old ways couldn't get Jimmy to tell her anything. He wasn't a kid anymore. That was for sure. "Okay, I'll play along." She smiled at him. "When is Clark coming back to work? And I hope you aren't sending him on any more assignments involving mountain climbing - if you *did*, that is."

Jim Olsen sat down across from Cat. "Okay, Cat, I can play, too." He leaned on his hands and looked in her eyes. I don't know when Clark is coming back to work. He's been in pretty bad shape." He raised his eyebrows and teased her with his eyes. "You know, he was hurt pretty bad."

"Oh, yeah. He hurt his back. Umm-hmm." She sighed and crossed her arms. "Come on... *Jimmy*. Tell me what's going on. You've been really upset the last month or so, and I don't think it's because Clark hurt his back. Something else is going on."

Jim gave her a half grin. "What makes you think.." He sighed. "You're not buying it, are you?"

"No way." She ran her fingers through her hair in a nervous gesture. "Now tell me."

Jim looked into the living room to make sure Trace was still still watching television. "Okay, but you realize I might get killed for this, don't you?"

"Oh, come on, don't exaggerate."

Jimmy closed his eyes and rubbed his face. He leaned towards Cat and whispered, "Just remember that Trace in the next room, so don't yell or get overly excited. And Cat, you can't tell anybody this. Umm... Clark is Superman."

Cat jumped up and yelled, "*Oh, my God*!"

Trace hollered, "Mom! What's wrong?"

Jim answered Trace. "It's nothing, Trace. You're Mom just saw a mouse."

She sat back down. "A mouse? You really think I'd be upset by a mouse?"

Jim shrugged, "It was the first thing that came to mind." He shook his head. "You know, I kind of thought you'd figured it out. I thought maybe that's why you were pushing."

"Oh, hell no! I thought he was on some kind of big story that he might let me help with. We have worked together a couple of times, and I'm still hoping for a Pulitzer. No, this isn't what I expected at all. No wonder you've been so worried and upset." Jimmy nodded. She ran her hands through her hair again. "Wow. Clark Kent is Superman. How long have you known?"

"Hmm.. About fifteen years. I had my suspicions for a couple of years before that, but I kept my mouth shut." He leaned toward her again. "You do realize that this is a secret, don't you, Cat?"

"Oh, yeah, like I'm going to do something to make Superman mad at me. I might have been a gossip columnist at one time, but I know when to keep my mouth shut."

"I know, honey. I.. just had to make sure." He leaned over and kissed her.

Neither one of them noticed that Trace was standing outside the kitchen door listening to their conversation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jenni and Zared lay quietly in bed. She caressed his face and kissed his cheek. "Do you know how much I love you Zared Kent?"

Zared smiled, "Do you know how much I love you Jenni Kent?"

"Jenni Kent. I like that."

Zared ran his fingers through her hair. "You are so beautiful."

She smiled as she ran her hands over his chest. Zared did not have the bare chest his dad had. He didn't have a lot of chest hair, but he did have some. Jenni ran her finger through the soft hair. "This isn't exactly the wedding night I'd dreamed of. I'm sorry we can't have a real wedding night. I called my doctor today and asked him again and he said no. I asked Caitlyn what she thought, too. She said the same thing." She let her hand slip lower. "But maybe I could.."

Zared tensed up and moved her hand. "Oh, Jenni, there will be plenty of time for that. You just need to heal now and take care of our little girl." He raised his head up and said with alarm, "Wait! Is it okay that I'm even sleeping in the bed with you? Maybe I should sleep on the floor." He started to sit up.

"No, it's fine, honey." She pushed him back down. "I'm taking hardly any pain medication now. Besides it will be nice to just actually sleep in the same bed together."

He smiled, "You promise to tell me if my being in the bed hurts you? If I need to sleep on the floor? Promise?"

"I promise honey. I love you." It had been a long day and Jenni was tired. She was asleep within minutes.

Zared watched his beautiful wife as she slept.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clark was so tired. He had said good night to most of his kids, and all he wanted to do was go to bed himself. He was sitting at the kitchen table and put his head on his arms. "Hmmm... Caitlyn. Are you ready to go to the lab? Are you sure this needs done tonight?"

"Well, I... I'm being too much of a scientist, huh? Maybe the information is in that data orb. I think if I draw some blood, that will give me plenty to work with, and I have the stuff to do that with here."

Clark nodded sleepily. "Good." He stood up and rubbed his forehead then turned toward the stairs.

Los and K'al had also been sitting at the table. Los looked at Caitlyn and smiled. "You makes... Father happy." Caitlyn smiled and lightly blushed.

K'al nodded. "Hmm... Cait..lyn... Sorry, you name.. little hard."

Caitlyn interupted. "Not many people call me this any more, but how about Caity? Is that easier?"

K'al tried saying that, "Cait..y." He nodded. "Easier."

Los touched her arm. He seemed slightly embarrassed and bit his lip. "Need... we need know... umm... facilities. How work?"

Caitlyn's eyes twinkled and her hand went to her mouth. "No one has thought to show you this! Oh, my. Why would we expect.... I'm so sorry. Come. Come with me."

They proceeded to the nearest bathroom - a half bathroom. Caitlyn showed them the toilet and the 'proper' way to use it. When she flushed it, they both jumped. She smiled. "It's okay." Then she showed them how to use the sink. She turned and headed back to the kitchen, trying hard not to giggle at everyone's stupidity.

She was sitting at the table when Los and K'al returned. Both sat down. Los said, "I... start to tell you sooner, but I be... inter.. inter..."

"Interrupted?"

He nodded and smiled. "I be like... you."

"Huh?" She shook her head, not understanding. "Come upstairs with me. I'm worried about your Father, and that's where I have the stuff to draw the blood with."

K'al said, "We don't go.. trip?"

"No, no trips tonight. I realized that I'm being too much the scientist."

K'al nodded. "Los... understand. Healer he."

Caitlyn was surprised. "A healer? You mean like a physician? Like me?"

Los nodded. "Yes. I be like you."

They entered Clark's bedroom. He was sitting in bed typing on his laptop.

Caitlyn pursed her lips. "Clark, I thought you'd be resting."

He nodded. "I just wanted to write something really quick." He smiled at her, turned the laptop off, and closed it.

"Oh." Then she said excitedly, "Did you know that Los is a physician?"

Clark shook his head no. "Los, you are very young to be a physician."

Los answered, "~Things on New Krypton are still hard - easier than they used to be, but they are still hard. We have a shortage of healers. Sometimes, when someone, such as myself shows certain talents in science - and telepathy - they are quickly schooled in the healing arts. I have finished all my Healer education and have one more...umm... year of training with other healers.~"

Clark quickly translated for Caitlyn, then looked back at Los. "Remember to try to speak English. Feel free to speak Kryptonian with the older kids on occasion, but remember to try to speak English for the most part."

Caitlyn smiled. "Yes, I've noticed that they are learning quickly."

K'al ducked his head. "Los know it well. He hold back for me."

Clark smiled, "K'al, I think you are doing very well - much better than you think." Then he turned to Los. "Is what he says true? Are you holding back?"

Los thought a moment about whether he should tell the truth then nodded. "A little. He is the heir. I should not shame him."

K'al interrupted, "~I've told you that doesn't matter in private matters.~" Then he muttered, "Sorry. It's easy forget English."

Caitlyn said, "Maybe they have your knack for languages."

Clark nodded. "Yes, that's possible. I've learned some languages in just a couple of days." He looked at Los. "So you can help Caitlyn with all her questions about Kryptonians?"

He nodded then addressed Caitlyn, "Do you still want blood samples? I'm quite willing." K'al nodded his agreement. She nodded then proceeded to get the equipment to draw blood samples. Los looked at his father, took a deep breath, and said, "Jon explained some of what happened to you. May.. I examine you?" Los gave Caitlyn his arm so she could draw blood. She quickly drew blood from both of the young men.

"Uhh... I... Hmm..." Clark hesitated. He didn't want to be examined by yet another doctor. How about tomorrow? I'm pretty tired right now, and I feel somewhat nauseated."

"I believe I can help with that. And I can show Caity.. umm... things."

Clark grinned broadly. "Caity, huh?"

She shrugged her shoulders slightly. "They were having a bit of a problem with Caitlyn. That's what my grandmother calls me." She sat down beside Clark. "Let him examine you, honey."

He sighed heavily and closed his eyes.

K'al spoke. "Tired of... be prodded?"

Clark opened his eyes and said, "Exactly."

K'al said, "Yes. Suffered I prodding... by Los, when I was sick."

Clark chuckled. "What was wrong?"

Los thought for a moment then said, "Nothing serious. Bad stomach virus." He pursed his lips then said, "Please get undressed."

Clark got up and walked to the bathroom and came back wrapped in a towel. He lay down on the bed, resigned. He shook his head. "K'al said it right. I'm tired of being prodded and poked and..." Los ran his hands over Clark's abdomen but was just barely touching him. Clark gasped.

Caitlyn cried, "Clark?!" Then she looked at Los, "Los? What?"

"I'm okay, honey. It just took me by surprise. It's... He's using telepathy."

"Ohhh." Caitlyn was curiously confused. "I guess telepathy would... definitely be useful."

Los nodded. "Yes. Please. Give me your hands. I can teach you what I'm doing. You won't be able to do it like I do, but you should find it helpful. You may even be able to use it on human patients." As he held her hands, he showed her how to direct energy. Then he said, "Can you feel this? She nodded.

She nodded, then her eyes got wide. "Oh, my... goodness. That's amazing. It's like... it's like I can see things but not really... it's..."

"It's hard... explain. Right?"

She nodded.

"I... understand."

Caitlyn turned toward the door as she heard scratching noises. She smiled. "K'al, will you let Meowoof in?"

"Let... in." He looked slightly perplexed for a moment, then said, "Oh! Open the door for the cat." Then he added excitedly, "I like the cat... as long as she don't take... my... umm... tongue."

Clark and Caitlyn both chuckled. Clark said, "She won't, K'al. It's just an expression. I guess it is a pretty strange one, isn't it?"

K'al nodded as he opened the door and picked up Meowoof. He sat back down on the love-seat and began petting her. She responded by purring. K'al responded by smiling. "Purr... Marvelous."

Los and Caitlyn turned back to Clark. Los said, "Cait-y. When I put our hands over a certain area, please think of what you did during surgery."

She cocked her head sideways and said somewhat fearfully, "You are going to read my mind?"

"Only what I ask you to show me. Nothing else."

She nodded in understanding. "Okay."

She and Los continued their shared examination of Clark. Finally, Los removed Caitlyn's hands, pulled the towel loose, and began doing a more in depth hands-on examination of his Father. Clark immediately winced. Los said softly, "Sorry." Clark just nodded.

Caitlyn looked over and noticed that K'al had fallen fast asleep. She smiled. "He almost looks like a little boy, rather than the ruler of an entire world."

Los stopped the exam and raised his eyebrows. "Have no doubts. Although Mother is the regent, he has taken on more and more duties. He has recently been trying to negotiate a difficult treaty with a group of people who were refugees from another planet and wanted to settle on our world. They just seemed to think that 'settling' on our world meant taking a major part in our government and displacing part of our citizens. I think they had nefarious intentions, and neither of us is convinced that they are really refugees. He finally told them that if they didn't want to abide by *our* terms that they weren't welcome. They laughed because they said he was a little boy. He nearly killed their leader. They left."

Clark swallowed hard. "He.. he..."

"He was defending our world, Father. Would you not do the same?"

Clark nodded and said, "I hope they aren't going to cause trouble."

"So do I. We have had relative peace since you defeated Lord Nor. We do not relish the idea of war."

"No one does," Clark answered.

Los again began his exam. He suddenly slipped his hands between his father's legs and moved one of them to the side as he continued his exam. Clark blushed lightly and rolled his eyes. Los blushed a bit himself. "Forgive me. I suppose it is a bit embarrassing to have your son examine you... in such a way." He covered his Father back up with the towel. Clark just shook his head yes. He moved his hand back to Clark's upper abdomen. He took Caitlyn's hand in his. Can you feel that? She nodded. "That's a very small organ that can cause nausea and dizziness if it is out of alignment. It's very difficult for this to happen, but you showed me it was damaged. You did a very nice job of repairing it." He looked up at his Father. "Have you not felt like eating much?"

"No, but I have been able to eat a little more the last day or so. But then I don't need to eat at all."

Surprised, Los asked, "What do you mean you don't need to eat? Of course you need to eat."

Clark said, "I take it you don't know what happens to Kryptonians on Earth?"

Los just shook his head in confusion.

"I can seen that's a good thing to keep from the Kryptonian people, but I'm surprised that you don't know. I wonder if K'al knows. On Earth, the yellow sun acts like a solar battery to Kryptonians. We are virtually invulnerable. The only reason I got hurt was because Kryptonite was used."

"Yes, I know about the yellow sun and the near invulnerability, but I had no idea you didn't have to eat. What an amazing thing. Do you not have a shield against Kryptonite?" Clark shook his head no. Los grumbled, "Figures." Then he sighed. "Perhaps we can help with that. Cait-y, I'm going to show you how to align this small organ." He looked and her and thought, <It will hurt, and he may regurgitate.> Caitlyn's eyes got wide as she realized that he spoke to her with thought.

A moment later, Clark was in the bathroom throwing up. Caitlyn was at his side. After rinsing his mouth and brushing his teeth, he looked out the door. "Are you done with me?"

Los nodded. "For now."

Clark walked back out of the bathroom, dressed in sleep shorts rather than a towel. "I take it that was supposed to happen?" He said ironically. Los nodded. He sat down on the bed and rubbed his stomach. "Your English seems to have vastly improved. What gives, Los?"

"You should feel some better. Do you?"

Clark nodded. "A little."

"Good. Yes, my English skills are much better than I let on. Even though K'al says it doesn't matter, I can never take a chance on doing something like speaking a language better than him in front of others. If I do that, then I might forget in front of the 'wrong' people. As he said, I've had far more interest in this language than he has. He has had many other things more important that have kept his attention. And he will be speaking it as well as I in a couple of days."

Clark took a deep breath and sighed, shaking his head a little. "I don't understand all the intricacies of Kryptonian society. Some of it seems bizarre."

Los looked perplexed. "I know this country doesn't have royalty, but would it be so different in countries on Earth that do have royalty?"

Clark laughed. "Well, I don't know about that as a whole, but I surely can't imagine Prince Harry ever letting his brother King William kick his butt in polo." Caitlyn joined in the laughter at the joke.

Los just looked between the two but decided not to pursue the issue. Maybe Jon or Zared could enlighten him
about the subject of Prince Harry, King William, and polo. He decided to ask about their relationship instead. "So the two of you are entering into a Ceremony of Union?"

Clark nodded. "We just say marriage."

"Oh. When are you getting married?"

Caitlyn smiled. "Well, we are visiting some of my relatives in Kentucky next weekend. Maybe then."

Clark leaned toward her. "How about sooner?"

She blushed lightly, but her eyes twinkled.

Los said, "Father, I hope you do. I would very much like to join in the celebration. I'm sure K'al feels the same."

Clark looked at Caitlyn for confirmation and she nodded. Clark smiled broadly and said, "Done."

Los replied, "Good." He paused. "Father. As you can see, K'al is very tired. So am I. Is.. there.."

"Oh, yes, absolutely. I'm sure there are many things that we are assuming that you know. *Please* don't hesitate to ask about anything. Okay?" Los nodded. "Mom and Dad are back downstairs in the blue guest room. Is is okay for you to share a room?" Los nodded. Clark looked at Caitlyn and said, "Caitlyn, will you show them to Zared's room?"

Los pouted. "You are going to have us sleep with Zared and Jenni?"

Clark smiled and shook his head no. "No, they are downstairs."

Los seemed greatly relieved. "Oh, okay. I would hate to disturb them while they are in the bridal chamber - or the equivalent of that."

"Well... um..." Clark just stopped speaking and decided to say nothing about Jenni's and Zared's particular wedding night circumstances.

Los said, "That would be terribly embarrassing. I.. I had to interrupt K'al once with an important message... and somehow I ended up having to do it instead of Mother or Trey."

Clark's mouth fell open. "K'al is *married*? I mean *married* married?"

"Oh." Los raised his eyebrows. "Yes. I suppose you wouldn't have known that... K'al and Lady Rya underwent the Ceremony of Union about six of your months ago. Mother thought it was a bit too early, and it was unusual, but they were so in love that Mother didn't want to chance... umm... uh... you.. know... an accidental pregnancy when they weren't married."

Clark nodded and thought that he could relate - really well.

"And well... Such a pregnancy, while not unheard of, is.. not considered... proper among nobility. It could have caused a rift among the Houses."

Clark twisted his lips. "Is this acceptable among those that aren't nobility?"

"Acceptable? It's just looked at differently. I mean, concubines do get pregnant."

Caitlyn shook her head. "Concubines." She looked at K'al. "He has concubines?" Then she drew back a little and said to Los, "Do *you* have concubines?"

Los became very flustered. "No, no. I... no. K'al doesn't either."

Caitlyn continued, "I mean.. the idea of having a harem is.. well..."

Clark interrupted. "They don't use the word concubine to mean additional wives. It's a.. prostitute." Then he rolled his eyes. "Legalized prostitution."

"I didn't realize the word meant something different here." Los mused.

Caitlyn said, "Well, surely these legal prostitutes are on birth control, aren't they?"

Los pursed his lips. "Well, no, they aren't. At one time, yes, they would have been. But you must understand that New Krypton was settled with only 1000 Kryptonians. Birth control is very rare and strictly regulated."

Clark said, "So every woman is expected to have children?"

Los nodded. "It may seem unfair, but harsh situations often require harsh solutions."

Clark asked, "But what if a woman doesn't want children."

"She isn't required to raise her children, but we have only had one case of that happening in our nearly 50 Earth years on New Krypton. That may seem strange, but families have always been very important among Kryptonians, so nearly everyone has embraced the idea."

Caitlyn said, "So, is there like.. a quota?"

"No, but it is suggested that every woman have at least three children."

"Hmmph. Interesting." Caitlyn stood up, "Come on. I'll show you Zared's room."

Clark said, "Wait... So if a noble impregnates a concubine, then is the child nobility?"

"It depends on the level of the noble. If the noble is of a high enough level, and the noble names the child as his, then the child is considered the lowest level of nobility. It is rare that the child would not become nobility."

"Hmmm.... Okay, but Lois wasn't nobility, but yet you called Jon, Lord Jon."

Los answered as if this was the most logical thing in the world and his father should understand it. "You were married to Lois. When you married her, she became a lower lady. Your children are all Lords and Ladies."

Clark chuckled at the idea of Lois having been - or Caitlyn becoming - a 'lower lady'."

Los shook his head. "If you had a child, and you weren't married to the mother, then the situation would be very different. And if you had a child with a noble woman.. and you weren't married. Like I said. That's not a good thing."

Caitlyn was smiling but close to tears from trying not to giggle. "So what happens if a Lady has a child with someone she isn't married to?"

"It's the same... But... that doesn't occur as often since there are no men concubines."

Caitlyn narrowed her eyes a bit and looked at Clark skeptically. "Hmm... Sounds very complicated."

Los touched K'al on the shoulder. He awakened immediately. "Come... We sleep."

K'al nodded. "Yes, be I... tired."

Los smiled, "Be I... also.

Both of the young men followed Caitlyn. Caitlyn stopped and said, "Here's the bathroom in case you need to go." She took a few steps further and opened Zared's door and turned on the light. "Here you go. You probably need something to sleep in. I'll ask Clark." They both nodded.

She returned to find that Clark had pulled on a t-shirt and was heading towards the sitting room with his laptop under his arm. "What are you doing?"

"I feel a lot better. I want to sit up a while and write. I thought we might talk, too."

She just shook her head. "Stubborn." Then she sighed. I'm going to get a couple of pairs of your sleep shorts and a couple of t-shirts for them to sleep in. Okay?" He nodded.

She returned shortly and saw Clark typing furiously. "Don't burn up the keyboard, hotshot. I guess your muse really did want you write, huh?"

"Yeah. Think I'm going to get this novel done. It's past due, so I'm sure my publisher would appreciate it." She sat down beside him and watched him, fascinated at how fast he could type.

He smiled. "This is slow compared to what I can type when I'm at full 'power'."

"Uh-huh. How many keyboards do you burn up?"

"Weellll.... I usually always make sure I hook up a separate keyboard to my laptop so I won't burn up the laptop, too. Does that explain it?" She just smiled. He typed for while longer then he and Caitlyn just sat quietly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zared was still watching Jenni an hour later when his dad contacted him.

<Zared.>

<Oh, please don't tell me there is some kind of emergency.>

<No, no emergency. I just knew you were still awake and wanted to say goodnight. And Zared, I know you aren't getting to have much of a wedding night, but when you do, I *promise* not to be in your head.> Clark gave Zared a mental smile.

<Dad! If you were down here, I'd throw a pillow at you.>

<Sorrrry. I love you, Zared. I just couldn't resist teasing you a little.>

<Oh, Dad! I love you, too. Good night. And Dad, behave yourself! Don't forget the example you want to set for the other kids. Jon and Brook have both caught you in bed with Caitlyn.>

<Why, Zared. I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. I'm still recovering, you know.>

<Uh-huh. I thought you said you didn't know what I was talking about. I know she's with you right now.>

<We're in the sitting room, Zared. Look and see. No monkey business going on, I promise.>

<Okay. Yeah, I see you. Love you.>

<Hey, Zared. Have you told Jenni about the telepathy yet?>

<No. And I'm not going to until I absolutely have to.>

<Hmmm.... You better tell her before you slip and say something back to her that she is thinking.>

<Okay, dad. I will. I promise. What brought that up?>

<Just thinking about my own relationship.>

<Oh. Does Caitlyn know about that?>

<Yes. She knows.>

<Hmmph. Hey, Dad. How did you know about.. about the barn?>

<Because I'm the one that found you, Zared. And I saw a little more than I wanted to see...>

<You... found... You... saw...>

<Not intentionally. I'm sure you've already seen a lot of things... and felt a few things, too... that you didn't intend to.>

Zared snapped, <Don't remind me about the 'intrusion' incident! I.. You... couldn't believe how that upsets me.>

<I know.>

Zared sighed in frustration. <So am I to understand that Gramma finding me in the barn was a set-up?>

<Something like that. I talked to her, and we decided maybe it would do more good to deter you if she caught you instead of me. Worked, didn't it? You straightened up your act.>

<Yeah. It did. Good night, Dad. Love you.>

<Love you, too, Zared. Congratulations.>

Zared watched Jenni a while longer then drifted to sleep himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caitlyn and Clark had been sitting companionably when she noticed changes in his facial expression. She decided he must be communicating telepathically. She watched in amazement.

Finally he turned to her and smiled. "What?"

"I was just watching your face. Who were you talking to?"

"Zared. I was just telling him goodnight."

"Oh. Speaking of which. You need to say goodnight, too. I know you say you feel better, but you need to rest. Okay?"

He sighed and closed his eyes. "Okay." He stood up and headed towards his room. "So when are we getting married? You gonna stay with me tonight?" He said as they entered his room.

"Hmmm... No. Not til were married."

"Well... I'm sure there is somewhere we could get married at 1:00 am. Las Vegas doesn't do that anymore. Maybe Atlantic City."

"Actually, you can do that in Troy City, about 30 miles from here."

"Yeah, I know where it is, but I didn't know they offered twenty-four marriage." He waggled his eyebrows. "Wanna go now?"

She swatted his arm. "Clark! I'm tired. *You're* tired."

"I'm serious." He quickly changed clothing. "Come on, m'lady. You're driving." He took her by the hand and led her down the stairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A very pretty lady with long dark brown hair appeared in the music room of the Kent family home. She fumed that the T-5 did not bring her to where K'al and Los were. Now what she was she supposed to do? She looked up and noticed the large black oddly shaped 'thing' with legs that sat in one corner of the room. It had a seat in front of it. Along the side of the thing where the seat was, she noticed strange, skinny long blocks that were black and white. She wondered what ever in the world the thing could be. She knew she shouldn't approach the strange thing, but curiosity won out. She walked over to it and lightly touched one of the blocks. It pinged. She touched another one - a different ping. Her hand slipped. Bang! Ping! Ping!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Jon heard the noise. He was with Hannah in the den and had fallen asleep there. When he sat up, Hannah awakened. "What.. Was that my piano?" He frowned. "I'm going to go see."

"Oh, Jon. It's probably just one of the cats. I'm going to go to bed." She motioned toward the door. "You should go to bed, too."

"The door is supposed to be shut so the cats can't get to it." He stood up. "But you're probably right." He kissed her lightly then headed towards his room.

~~~~~~~~~~~

She was very frightened and began breathing rapidly. Hide. Where could she hide? Behind the thing! If she was lucky, no one would find her there. She could see through the window that it was night outside, and she couldn't try to find K'al or Los until daylight. She prayed she would be safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

tbc

Feedback thread

~~Even heroes have the right to dream.~~