Oh, Nancy, be sure, I can pronounce supercalifragilisticexpialadocious. But you could try "Streichholzschächtelchen" instead 
that's tough ( and I've heard even impossible) if you're first language is English.
Okay, a "little" bit of rambling ahead...
Nancy and a few others are unhappy about Clark's problems with the Child Services. I can understand that, but I don't know how much I can do about it. If anything, this isn't an East Coast, but a Central European thing. I've been in the USA for just a week and I don't claim to be an expert. That doesn't mean that I know how likely Clark were to face such problems in Germany. What I can tell for sure is that the government in my country is stronger than in the USA, and I'm surely influenced by that fact.
When I started writing Becca's story I only knew a few basic incidents that had to happen, most of the story was and still is a process of development. I often curse myself for digging such deep holes into my story that I have problems to get out of them again. However, Clark's problems are established now, and I'm not going to correct previously posted sections for the sake of getting this out of my plot.
I should mention that my main purpose is not to give Clark an especially hard time. Lois would surely be enough to do that.
Lois and Clark know each other for a little over a month and certainly you as much as I want them to end up together. And that shall happen quickly, not with a delay of another year or so, like it's in the series.
A Clark without problems is boring for Lois. Clark is the kind of guy that she wants to end up married with, but he isn't exactly the man that girls like Lois fall for in the first place. I guess she likes the thrill of danger and the mystery, we both find in Superman and Lex Luthor. I think Tank put it brilliantly in his TOGOM story. If Clark is in trouble, Lois is more likely to get closer to him.
Maybe better authors than me would have found a different and more likely solution. 
Thanks to LaraMoon, my amazing beta-reader who keeps defending me. I appreciate that . 
From Part 2: Clark leaned forward, seemingly reading a paper, but he didn’t even see a single black letter. The noises of the newsroom faded and left only those that were repeating over and over in his head.
Part 3: 10 years ago…
Clark couldn’t remember a day that had ever been so good. He went down the main street of Smallville and it was already getting dark. Right next to him was the most beautiful girl in the entire town. Lana Lang had agreed as he had finally dared to ask her out on a date. Clark still couldn’t quite believe it, but it was true. She held his hand and smiled at him, laughed as he joked and seemed to be enjoying his company. Her hand felt so very small in his that Clark was afraid he might break it by accident. She looked nice in her summer dress and her long blonde hair lay softly around her face. Clark felt a rush of excitement as he walked with her down the street. They were having a light conversation, nothing special, really. But she was with him and that was more than Clark had ever expected to happen.
Smallville’s youth was meeting downtown. There were several of Clark’s schoolmates and most of them were just kissing their girlfriends. Clark wondered what it would feel like to kiss Lana. He wouldn’t kiss her tonight. This was just their first date and maybe she wouldn’t want him to kiss her. And Clark wasn’t exactly sure if he would be ready for it. He had kissed before, but that had never been particularly wonderful. It was just wet and nothing he was eagerly wishing to repeat. But then, he had never kissed a person that he was in love with.
A couple of years ago Lily had been determined to learn what a real kiss was. Since she didn’t have a boyfriend at the time, she had decided that Clark was the right partner to find out about that issue. He hadn’t been convinced, but his protests were futile. She had just dismissed his argument that he was her cousin and therefore not the right partner. Lily had told him that he was adopted and not related to her. For some reason Clark always used the same weak arguments. He should really try to find something more convincing. When Lily had gotten tired of discussing this with him, she had just kissed him and Clark had been too startled to pull back. He hadn’t been prepared for the following attacks, either. Lily had just amazing skills in preparing a surprise attack.
Lost in thought as he was, Clark didn’t see the fist that met his jaw a split second later. He hadn’t been fast enough to duck away. Clark was taken by surprise and he staggered back. He heard laughter and a whimper from the guy who had punched him. Clark wasn’t hurt, he had felt the contact, but that was pretty much all.
“Hey, geek!” one of the guys that had approached him shouted. They hardly even noticed that their friend was hurt; they were too busy with mocking Clark. He watched the guys in front of him closely. They were already drunk; wasted, really.
“Would you just leave me alone, please?” Clark pleaded, touching his jaw as if the punch had caused him pain as well. He had a look at Lana and to his relief she seemed okay. Clark heard steps from behind him, someone was pushing him and he stumbled forward at just the right moment. This time, he had had the time to react.
“You’re not gonna take out the town beauty,” one of Clark’s attackers shouted.
The guys shot each other a glance and started laughing. Clark could tell from the looks in their eyes that he was supposed to be the punching bag for the evening. That had last happened in Junior High and after that he had earned some respect by being a good football player. But maybe the combination of alcohol and the beautiful girl at his side had changed that. As Clark saw the next fist, he fell to the floor before his opponent hurt himself. Inwardly, he cursed. He felt anger well up inside him, because these idiots were blowing his whole evening and he could hardly do anything about it. He remembered his father’s words. Clark wasn’t allowed to really fight against these weaklings. And he was far too angry to just defend himself without hurting them. Instead he had to swallow his male pride and play along. If they didn’t stop soon, he would have to pretend to be sick for a couple of days… “Clark, are you completely mad?” Lois interrupted the flashback. “Did you just promise to bring Perry an interview with Superman?” She sounded rather impatient. As Clark looked up at her, he saw her disbelieving glance. She hardly hid her anger. “How do you think you will get it? He never gives interviews, not even…” Lois closed her mouth in a sudden movement as if she wanted to prevent something from slipping out.
It dawned on Clark that she had wanted to say *not even me*. It had to have been tough for her to be turned down by Superman. And honestly, her smile had made it really hard for Superman to say no. And now, he, Clark Kent, who didn’t even have the benefits of being the most beautiful woman in town dared to think that he could get such an interview? Not to mention that he was still a greenhorn in the reporting business.
“Lois, I’m not…” Clark tried to explain.
She didn’t let him finish his sentence. “And who was this woman at your desk? Was she a source?”
“Lois, that’s…”
“She can’t have been a source,” Lois answered her own question. “So what did she want with you and your daughter?”
He could see Lois biting her lip. Obviously she hadn’t wanted to admit that she had eavesdropped. Clark couldn’t help the anger that welled up inside him. He didn’t want to talk about it, he just wanted to close his eyes and let all his problems disappear.
“First, you accuse me of being mad and then you want me to discuss my private life with you?” Clark snapped. “I could do with some good days, really,” he grumbled and got up to search for another place to be alone. He needed to think and he needed to do that on his own.
“I thought we are friends, Clark. Who is she? Are you dating her?” Lois asked, softly.
“Dating her? I am not dating that… that… bitch!” Clark yelled, furiously. Lois stepped back, startled and he could see fear in her eyes. That cut him deeply. Defeated, he sank back on his chair and buried his face in his hands. “I’m sorry, Lois,” he murmured weakly.
“Clark! What’s the matter? I never heard you use such words! Are you sure you don’t want to tell me about it? Maybe I’d be able to help.” Lois offered.
“I don’t think this is going to help, really. But okay, I’ll tell you. Just not here.” Clark got up and headed for the elevators. Lois couldn’t solve his problems. Clark wasn’t really sure whether he was comfortable with her knowing about this. But on the other hand he was quite sure that she would want to find out anyway. His choice of words to describe Mrs. Edwards was just too much of a hint for Lois not to become curious. And if he didn’t tell her the truth, maybe Mrs. Edwards would find an ally in Lois Lane. If Lois thought that he really had something to hide, maybe Mrs. Edwards could convince her that Clark Kent was more dangerous than he seemed to be.
Lois followed Clark, still shocked by his sudden outburst. Her natural curiosity had found a new mystery to solve. Lois hadn’t really expected to find one in Clark Kent’s life. But then, she wasn’t really able to tell how much of a secret was necessary to make Clark Kent leave the room. Maybe he just had another boring story to tell. The mysterious lady was maybe just a woman that his daughter had had trouble with. Perhaps he was embarrassed by the fact that he hadn’t been able to watch Becca. But Lois didn’t really believe that. Clark knew which buttons to push to make Becca do what he wanted her to do. Lois was just astounded how nice the girl was, most of the time.
And Clark loved his little Rebecca too much to fuss over a small mistake she would have made. He was so relaxed with her that even Lois started to believe that raising a child might be fun. Of course, she knew better; Lois wasn’t that naïve. She had seen the two of them for little over 24 hours. She didn’t think that this was enough to judge.
Clark left the newsroom and headed out of the Planet. His pace was rather quick and Lois had a hard time keeping up with him. But she managed and honestly, the more difficult it got to follow her partner, the more curious she became. He slowed down as they reached a park close to the Planet that was deserted, for Metropolis standards. Clark turned around and faced Lois. His gaze was worried and she could see him chewing on his lower lip.
“So who was that woman?” Lois asked.
“She works for Child Services. They have been searching for a reason to take Becky away from me for quite some time now,” Clark replied in a low voice.
It wasn’t easy for him to tell her that. Lois could see it in his eyes. His whole body was tense and Lois bet that he’d rather have a long date with the dentist. But she couldn’t really understand what he was talking about. Was he overreacting? Lois hardly thought it possible that Becca should be a candidate for Child Services. If there was a happy little girl on this Earth, it was Becca.
“What?” Lois said shocked. “Why? You are the perfect father, why would they do that?” she voiced her doubt.
Clark looked at her and smiled sadly. “Various reasons. Let’s just say I had some problems in my youth. I was out with a girl and a few guys attacked us. I tried to defend the girl. I never intended to hurt anyone but it happened. That wasn’t the only incident. I can’t really explain that to you, now. When Lily died, Child Services ran a check on me and unfortunately they discovered something they called violent tendencies.”
“Violent? You?” Lois asked incredulously.
Clark just nodded. Lois watched him closely. She couldn’t imagine that Clark was even capable of violence. She rather expected him to be the kind of guy that didn’t even defend himself if he was attacked. Well obviously he *had* defended himself.
“They decided to have a closer look at us. But things got really bad when Becca was about five years old. She didn’t sleep well at night because she was afraid of the dark. She often woke up screaming in the middle of the night. A curious neighbor didn’t believe that they were just nightmares. I tried to tell him, but he wouldn’t listen. He called Child Services and informed them. Last but not least, Becca’s maternal grandparents never believed that I was her real father. I guess they couldn’t live with the fact that Lily and I were cousins.” Clark made a brief pause and looked at Lois. “I was adopted,” he added, to dismiss the idea of inbreeding.
“Wow,” Lois sighed. Obviously Clark had more interesting secrets than she had ever expected. She understood now why Child Services were interested in him. “Clark, why didn’t you just prove to them that you are Becca’s father? That would solve a lot of problems.”
“Lois, please drop that topic,” Clark pleaded.
“I’m serious Clark. It might help! Is it the money?” she asked, remembering that paternity tests were still expensive.
“It wouldn’t help, Lois.” Clark replied bluntly. “Trust me, it wouldn’t. They’d still think I’m violent. And now please drop the topic. I’ve told you what’s bothering me, but I’m not going to discuss this with you further. Becca is none of your business.” He turned to leave the park, but Lois grabbed his hand to hold him back.
“Clark, I’m trying to help you. We could write an article. To do this properly, we would need evidence. A paternity test might come in handy. I’m sure when Perry hears about this he would lend you the money if this is the problem. Child Services can’t do this to you. That’s arbitrariness and we can stop them. We are investigative reporters for Heaven’s sake, Clark. Don’t act like you are helpless.” Lois started thinking through their options. Maybe there was some scandal they could dig out? Clark might receive an official apology. She got all excited at the prospect of dealing with governmental agencies.
“No, Lois. I don’t want anything published about me or about Becca. I’m not going to tell Perry and you shouldn’t do that either,” Clark said firmly.
“But Clark, you don’t want to spend the rest of your life proving that you are a good dad. A paternity test would be useful if this ever goes to court.” Lois insisted. She could see Clark rolling his eyes. Lois didn’t understand why he was so reluctant to take her advice.
“I can just hope that it will never go that far,” he replied and headed out of the park again.
“Clark, don’t you dare go now. Tell me what’s so bad about that test. Are you afraid that Lily lied to you?” Lois asked, now really determined to solve the mystery that was Clark Kent.
“She didn’t lie to me, Lois. Can we please go back now?” Clark shifted his position uncomfortably.
“Clark, I’m not the enemy, I’m just trying to help. So would you please tell me what this is all about? I know that Becca is entirely your daughter. So what should you be afraid of? We can think of a solution to get rid of them.” Lois wondered why she hadn’t already given up. He was so darn stubborn that it drove her right to the edge. She wanted to slap Clark’s face to get a little bit of reasonable thinking into him. But she managed to stay calm. “I just want you to take a test to prove who the father is.”
“Oh yeah, and you think a test will tell you who her father is, huh?” Clark replied, almost angrily. “It can’t tell you, Lois. This test doesn’t say who changed the diapers or who got up late at night to soothe a crying baby. I saw Becca’s first steps, I listened to her mom as she sang her to sleep and I almost worked 24 hours a day to earn money and go to college. This test just tells you about the conception, but nothing about what happened afterwards. I’m the person she calls ‘Daddy’, but I’m not the one who got her mom pregnant.”
“You’re not? But you said…” Lois whispered, shocked. She took a few steps back to sink down on a park bench.
“I said that Lily didn’t lie to me. She never claimed that I was Becca’s father,” Clark explained. “Lois, you are not going to tell anyone and you are not going to use this in a story. Nobody knows this but my parents and Becca. I will lose her if the authorities ever learn about this.”
Suddenly Lois could imagine why Child Services assumed that Clark Kent could be violent. He seemed threatening and Lois felt that he would be able to do a lot of things when it came to defending his daughter.
“I won’t tell,” Lois promised. “Where is Becca’s biological father? Do you know him?”
“I do know him, yes. He left Lily as soon as she told him that she was pregnant with his child. I don’t know where he is now, and honestly I don’t really care. I only met him once or twice.” Clark seemed more relaxed now. “Lois, I’m sorry that I lashed out at you. That was uncalled for. But surely you see now that a paternity test would only make things worse.”
“Yeah, I see that now.” Lois replied softly.
“Lois, I forgot to tell you that I saw something interesting in the folder Jimmy gave us.” Clark suddenly changed the topic.
“You actually read that?” Lois asked, disbelievingly.
“Um, speed reading classes,” Clark muttered. “Come on, let’s go back to the Planet and find out why all these buildings were set on fire.”
to be continued...
