Table of Contents Author’s Note: I’d like to thank Terry, Ann, AnKS, Laura, PJ, JD, and snarla2 for their wonderful comments. FDK rocks!!!
Chapter 2: Daddy Didn’t Hear (Cont)“Okay, so what do we do now?” Lois asked as they reached the curb.
“Catch the bad guy?”
What, right now? she thought in disbelief.
“Mm, I was thinking more along the lines of ... your place or mine?” Lois ran her hands seductively across his chest.
“I’m pretty sure mine’s a single.”
“So that leaves my place.”
“Lucy’s there. What about a hotel?”
Lois’s eyes lit up. “The Lexor.”
“Mm, right under Luthor’s nose.” Clark leaned in and kissed her. “You are good.” Lois beamed.
“Okay, so my place first to get a change of clothes, then your place. Or do you want to get your stuff while I’m getting mine and I’ll meet you there?”
“What about I drop you off at your place, zip back to my place, grab my stuff, and zip back before you’ve even opened your suitcase. Especially if Lucy is there.”
“Just don’t do any zipping in the buildings.” Lois grinned as she led him into the nearby alley.
The next morning the phone woke Lois and Clark. Lois groaned into her pillow, leaving Clark to roll over and answer it. “Hello?” he yawned into the phone. He suddenly sat up, all signs of sleep gone. “Yes, send him right up.”
“What is it?” Lois muttered sleepily.
“Mr. Wells is here!” Clark exclaimed, pulling on a robe. Lois didn’t need any more incentive. She immediately reached for her own robe.
“I guess a shower’s out of the question,” she muttered as she pulled it on. Clark laughed and threw her the deodorant. There was a knock at the door and Clark lowered his glasses to see who it was.
“It’s Mr. Wells; the older version,” Clark stated before going to the main room. Lois took a moment to run a brush through her hair. She had just entered the room when Clark exploded.
“What do you mean you don’t know how we got here?”
“You didn’t use your soul tracer gizmo?” Lois asked, reaching for Clark.
“No, I’m afraid that when I found out that history was changing I had no idea you had been taken into your past let alone your younger selves. I’m afraid I don’t have any idea who could’ve done it. They must’ve used the Soul Tracer, but why?”
“I’ll bet it was Tempus.”
That no-good, time traveling—“Where is your Soul Tracer?”
Yes, Lois thought.
Very good question!“Oh no, that Soul Tracer wasn’t mine. I’d borrowed it from a rather scientific fellow in the future.”
What! Lois thought frantically.
“You mean you don’t have it! We can’t go back! No! We have to go back! Mr. Wells, go back to your time machine, find your friend, and come back here with that soul tracer gizmo, and take us home!” Clark tightened his hold around her waist.
“Now, before I do that Miss Lane, can you tell me what you were doing before you came back in time?”
“Clark was telling me that we were gonna have a kid no matter what Dr. Klein or that woman from the adoption agency says,” Lois said with venom.
“That’s right, you went to sleep; I went for a quick patrol and joined you later.”
“That must be why I got here first,” Lois mused.
“Could be, but you looked like you were sleeping normally to me.”
“But how does that help you?” Lois asked in confusion.
“Well, I had come to see you that very night—”
“How do you know when that happened? Just how complete is Kent history in Utopia?” Lois asked, aghast.
Do they have our lives on videotape or something? she thought with scorn.
“Oh no, my dear, you told me all about it.”
“I did?”
When did I do that? Lois wondered.
Why would I do that?“Well, no, you didn’t. Your older you did.” Mr. Wells’ eyes twinkled; Lois gave a tentative half-smile.
Ah, she thought,
déjà vu, again.“Nice to know I have a future.” Clark gave her a quick squeeze. “But were you there before or after history changed?”
“I’m afraid it was after—”
“But you spoke to my older me before—”
“Oh yes, you were quite insistent that I go back-in-time to that night and tell you ... that you are indeed compatible.”
“We are?”
“Oh yes, but it appears I was a little late. You see ... your three-year-old answered the door.”
“Excuse me?”
Our what-now? she thought in surprise.
Lois glanced at Clark, who looked as shell shocked as she was.
“Yes indeed. Quite a commanding personality.”
“Commanding?” Clark’s mouth twitched at the edges.
Don’t even think about it, Clark, she thought, glancing up to glare at him briefly before looking back at Mr. Wells.
“Demanded to know who I was and what I wanted.”
Lois realized the enormity of that statement with the widening of her eyes. “But that would mean that last night—”
“I guess it is possible. We didn’t use protection last night.”
“But we haven’t used protection since Dr. Klein—”
“Apparently he got his calculations wrong.”
Obviously, Lois thought.
“You remember, my dear, when we first met how I told you Utopia was founded—”
“—by Superman’s descendants.”
Descendants, Lois thought, starting to panic.
Plural. More than one.“Oh my God, you mean we had to go back in time to have kids?”
How many kids? She finished the question silently, not sure she really wanted to know at this point.
“Gee thanks, honey.” Clark sounded offended.
“What?”
What did I say? Lois thought frantically.
“You make it sound like I was too old to have kids.”
“You? What about me? I got ten years max!”
“Oh, no, no, no, Mr. Kent. Your eldest just got, ahem, older.”
Eldest? Lois practically screeched to herself.
“Wait a minute, how do you know that this was our child?”
Good, Clark, she thought, taking a desperate hold on this tenuous lifeline.
“A very distinct resemblance. I do have a photo. But it would tell you the gender. Do you want to see it?”
“Yes,” Lois answered immediately. “I’d be begging them to tell me at the ultrasound, anyway, if it’s true.” She turned to Clark, realizing he hadn’t had a chance to answer. “Unless you don’t want to know. Because I can understand if you don’t. I can wait.”
“Lois—”
“At least, I’ll try to wait. The ultrasound will be hard but—”
“Honey—”
“Once we get through that it should be okay. Unless I can ask you to look for me—” Lois suddenly found her mouth otherwise occupied.
Clark held her firmly by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “Honey, I want to know as much as you do.”
“You do? You don’t want it to be a surprise?”
“Honey, if you really are carrying my child do you really think I wouldn’t want to look?” Lois melted.
Clark, you are such a sweetheart, such a sentimental softy.Mr. Wells cleared his throat, recalling them to his presence. “This used to be your wedding photo.” He held out a photo frame. Jimmy, Ellen, Sam, Clark, Lois, Jonathan, Martha, and Perry all stood as they did in the original wedding photo; but Lucy stood in place of the celebrant, Lois wasn’t wearing a wedding dress, and her arms were full of an ecstatic mix of Lois and Clark.
“She’s just as beautiful as her mother,” Clark breathed, his eyes glistening.
“I think she looks more like you,” Lois answered through her tears. “We’re having a girl!” She threw her arms around Clark’s neck.
“Yes,” Mr. Wells beamed. “You are having a girl. And she appears to be quite a handful.”
“Why? What did she do?”
“She delighted in telling me that she sneaked out of bed. Quite proud of the fact that ... Daddy didn’t hear.”
Clark suddenly snapped his head towards the window. “Looks like Daddy has to save a man in the sewer,” he said, extracting himself from Lois.
“Not dressed like that you’re not,” Lois stated, eying his robe. Clark looked down, grinned, and spun into tight-fitting black jeans and a black tank.
“Better?” he asked.
Oh yeah! Lois drooled.
“I’ll be right back.” A quick kiss and he streaked out the window, quickly followed by the usual sonic boom.
“Mr. Wells,” Lois started reaching for the picture. “May we keep this?” She started tearing up again.
“Of course, my dear,” Mr. Wells answered. “I did take it from your house.”
“Thank you!” Lois found herself gazing down in wonder at the photo.
“And don’t be surprised if it ... changes.”
“Changes?”
“Well, that photo won’t be taken for another three years. Anything could happen in that time.”
The sonic boom and sudden breeze in the room hailed Clark’s return. “Come on, honey. We’re going to be late for work. Unless you want to wait for Mr. Wells to come back with the Soul Tracer?”
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