I hope this lives up to expectations. Comments welcome.
Home: Vendetta -- 9/Probably 10
by Nan Smith
Previously:
Mariann got to her feet. The thought of the sandwiches in the kitchen was suddenly very attractive. There was still a mystery to solve, but she could wait. It was enough to know that Lori was safe and apparently relatively unhurt.
Through the wide, front window, she saw the headlights of a small car pull up into the driveway. A moment or two later, the door opened, revealing Meriel Olsen, a small, dark-haired girl and a tall blond man with a handlebar mustache. At the same instant, John Olsen and Marilyn emerged from the kitchen with two enormous trays of sandwiches. "Come on in," he invited them. "You're just in time for dinner."
**********
And now, Part 9:
"Okay, we're getting close," Rhonda said. "The baby's head is crowning. On the next contraction I want you to give it everything you've got."
"Okay!" Lori panted. She grasped Clark's hands tighter and felt him squeeze hers reassuringly.
"Just a little more, he said. "We're almost there."
The tightening of the muscles in her lower back warned her. "Here it comes!"
"Take a deep breath," Clark told her. "Now push!" She felt him brace her shoulders as the muscles clamped down. Lori closed her eyes, only wanting it to be over.
"Here comes the head," Rhonda's voice said. "Lots of thick, dark hair. All right, relax. Stop pushing!" she commanded. "Pant, Lori. I need a second here -- okay, great."
"What's wrong?" Lori gasped.
"The cord was around the baby's neck. Let's just get it untangled. Good...Okay, on the next one, push again. We're almost done."
The next contraction was already building. Her world had narrowed to Clark's head next to hers, the strength of his arms and hands holding her tightly and his voice encouraging her. "Okay, honey, now," Clark's voice whispered in her ear.
Blindly, she obeyed. If she could do this, all the pressure and pain would be gone.
And suddenly it was over, and Rhonda was holding something red and wrinkled, and the loud, healthy wail of a startled and outraged newborn baby filled the air.
"What is it?" Lori was surprised at how faint her voice sounded.
"You tell me." Rhonda held up the howling, red, squirming little creature so that its parents could see.
"It's a girl!" Clark said. "We've got a daughter!"
"Oh, Clark!" Lori could scarcely believe it. She burst into tears.
"Hey, what's the matter, honey?" Clark asked.
"I'm just so *glad* she's here!" Lori sobbed. "I was so afraid I'd never see her!"
Clark's arms tightened around her, holding her safe and close. "Well you did," he said. "She's fine. And so are you."
"Yes, she is," Rhonda said, a smile in her voice. "Let's just get this young lady cleaned up a little and then her daddy can hold her. I think it's your turn, Clark, after all this time." She turned to hand the baby over to the nurses. "And in the meantime let's just take care of the last details here."
Lori's attention was all on her tiny daughter. Her tears dried up as she strained to watch what the nurses were doing.
"Seven pounds," someone said. "Apgar scores nine and ten. Everything looks good."
"Ouch," Lori said absently. "What color are her eyes?"
"Blue," Clark said. "They'll change color after a while. Don't worry." He held her hand between both of his. "She's beautiful, just like her mother."
**********
It was nearly midnight when Clark came out into the waiting area, to discover it full of people. It seemed that his prediction of the entire family at the birthing center, giving the staff a nervous breakdown, wasn't far off. Rob and Mariann were seated together on one of the couches and Lori's mother was sound asleep, her head on her husband's shoulder. Lori's sister, Marcy, was seated in an armchair, and apparently the staff of Metropolis General had moved in as many chairs as would fit. John Olsen sat up as Clark entered the room, and got to his feet. "How is she?"
"She's all right," Clark said. "More shaken up than I like, but Lori's tougher than she looks. She's going to be all right."
"I know," John said. "She's had a rough day, though."
"And people tell me *I* have a talent for understatement," Clark said. "Anyway, she's sleeping right now. I want to get back to her in a minute but I thought I'd let you know what we've got." He grinned. "It's a girl. Heaven help us all."
"That's for sure," John said, but he grinned as well. "The world has no idea what you and Lori have unleashed on them, poor souls."
"They'll learn to live with it." Clark crossed the room to his in-laws and gently shook Rob's shoulder. "Rob?"
Rob's head jerked up. "What? Oh, Clark. Is she okay?
"She's fine," Clark said. "Pretty tired, but that won't last. I thought I'd let you and Mariann know that you have a beautiful granddaughter. We've named her Mary Lucille."
"Can we see Lori?" Mariann asked.
"Well, she's asleep right now and I don't want to disturb her. Rhonda has Mary under observation in the newborn nursery just in case, because of everything Lori went through, today. She doesn't expect any problems, though. If you'd like, you can go by the nursery and see her. We had our family pediatrician examine her a little while ago and he says she's fine."
Rob got to his feet and Mariann joined him. The entire crowd of family members followed. John was the last to leave and before he did, he turned to Clark. "Mariann's asking questions about the showing the family made today, while we were hunting for Lori," he said. "I thought you should be ready with some answers."
Clark nodded. "I thought that might happen. Thanks for giving me a heads up."
"No problem," John said. "And now, I think I'll go see my new great aunt, and goddaughter." He followed the crowd of relatives from the room.
Clark turned to retrace his steps to Lori's room and almost collided with a small man with a mustache and old-fashioned glasses, wearing a waistcoat and a bowler hat. The automatic apology died on his lips. "Wells!"
The little man nodded. "I came to offer my congratulations, Mr. Kent." He smiled delightedly. "I've just seen little Mary. She's a lovely baby -- simply lovely. The final cornerstone of Utopia has now been set in place, in spite of everything that Tempus could do. I hope you will give my felicitations to your beautiful wife as well."
"She was nearly killed today," Clark said.
"I know. But it could be said that close brushes with death are part of her 'karma', I believe the term is -- and although it isn't the way I would normally phrase it, it describes the soul of the woman who was Lois Lane." H.G. Wells looked earnestly at him. "It has never changed, all down the centuries. Nor has yours. You were destined to love and protect her from the beginning, just as she was destined to stand at your side to bolster your strength when you falter, and inspire you to be a hero."
"Yeah," Clark said, "I kind of figured that out." He couldn't help but smile at the little man. "It's nice seeing you again, Herb. I hope there aren't any more disasters in the offing."
"Not at the moment," Wells replied with an answering smile. "I trust you will continue to guard them both well, however. Not all the pitfalls have been navigated yet. Goodbye for the present, Mr. Kent, and again, my congratulations on the birth of your beautiful daughter."
Clark watched until the little man's figure had vanished around the corner. Then he turned and went back into Lori's room to sit beside her while she slept.
**********
Lori awoke to the smell of food and the knowledge that the sun was shining across the foot of her bed. For a moment she blinked at her surroundings in puzzlement before memory came back. She had escaped Gaia's Children, Clark and Rhonda had found her and she and Clark had watched their baby girl born last night in this very room.
"Good morning, Ms. Kent." She looked around as a woman clad in a blue outfit decorated with pink flowers came through the door carrying a tray. "I'm Karen. Are you hungry? I’m sure you’ll want to know that your little girl is off the observation list. We’ll be bringing her in shortly."
"Is she all right?" Lori asked.
Karen set the tray down on her over-the-bed table and pushed the button to lift Lori into a sitting position. "She's fine. The staff voted her the prettiest baby in the nursery. Dr. Klein wanted her kept under observation over night since you had such a terrible time yesterday, kidnapped by those horrible Gaia's Children persons. It was a miracle that they found you when they did."
"It sure was," Lori said, wondering if everyone on the floor knew of her adventure of the day before. She took a sip of the hot coffee on her tray, grimaced and added sugar and artificial creamer to it.
"Your husband was here most of the night," Karen told her as she bustled briskly around, straightening Lori's room. "He went home a little while ago to change his clothing. He asked me to tell you he'd be back soon, and not to worry about the press. No one is being allowed in except your family -- but a Lieutenant Chow from the police wants to see you later this morning. Do you feel up to talking to her?"
"Sure," Lori said. "I'd like to have a shower first, though. I feel pretty sweaty and sticky."
"Dr. Klein will be here to examine you in a little while," Karen said. "After that, the shower is yours." She nodded at the tray of rapidly disappearing food. "You seem to have a good appetite."
"I didn't eat much, yesterday," Lori said. "I had my mind on other things."
"I imagine so." Karen shook her head. "I'd have been terrified."
"I was pretty scared," Lori admitted, "but I had to keep believing that someone would find me."
Karen nodded understandingly. "Well, fortunately, they did. The authorities are launching an investigation of the whole organization after the bombing of the Daily Planet, yesterday. It was all over the news."
"Good," Lori said, around a mouthful of scrambled eggs. She followed the last bite of eggs with the remainder of her carton of milk. "I'm done."
"That was fast," Karen said. She picked up the tray. "I'll let Dr. Klein know you're finished with breakfast."
"No need," Rhonda's voice said from the doorway. "How are you feeling this morning, Lori?"
"A little sore, but pretty good," Lori said.
"Good." Ronnie smiled at Karen and waited until she had departed before she closed the door. "Let's have a look at you, here."
"I'm a mess," Lori said. "I need a shower. Big time."
"Don't worry about that," Rhonda said with a grin. "I've smelled worse. When I'm done here you can shower and get yourself all fixed up for Clark and everybody else that wants to see you and little Mary. She looks just like pictures of Annie when she was born. Clark went crazy with a camera while it was happening."
"Thank heavens for small favors," Lori said. "He didn't have time to grab one this time."
"Don't kid yourself," Ronnie said dryly. "We've already seen pictures. Clark's pleased as punch. You don't need to worry, though. If he took any embarrassing ones, nobody's seen them as far as I know." She winked at Lori. "You've made my grandpa awfully happy, 'Grandma'."
"Ronnie!"
The doctor chuckled. "All right, I won't tease you. We're all a little punchy from everything that happened yesterday, but you can bet everyone's happy to have you and little Mary Lucille back."
"I sort of remember seeing a lot of costumes when they were lifting me down," Lori said, "but I wasn't really paying attention."
"I'm not surprised," Ronnie said. "Well, let's get this over with and then you can take your shower. Clark and some of the others are already waiting outside but I told them that they were going to have to give you a few minutes, so let's not waste them. And after you've had your shower we'll bring in Mary."
**********
Clark was waiting for her when she came out of the shower. "Hi, honey. Ronnie said I could come in and wait for you." He stood up. "You look like you feel a lot better."
Lori walked straight into his arms. "Oh, Clark!"
He hugged her gently. "How do you feel?"
"Better, now that I've had a chance to clean up."
"No after effects from yesterday?"
"Well," Lori said, "I had weird dreams last night. I dreamed you and I were flying and you were carrying Fred. You dumped him on an iceberg in the Arctic."
"Sounds good to me," Clark said. "Unfortunately, Velma has him and he's been begging her not to put him in the same cell with his friends. Carla, Meriel and Jonas caught him and between the two of us, Velma and I wrung your location out of him."
"Gosh," Lori said. "Ronnie wasn't kidding when she said the whole family was looking for me."
"Pretty much," Clark said. "Carla and Meriel helped the most, though, I think. Meriel got your laptop and Carla used the information you had stored there on Gaia's Children to break into their membership list. I'll tell you the whole story later, if you want to know anything else."
"I'll think about it," Lori said. "I guess the barbecue got called off, huh?"
"No. Just postponed until you're back home. Everybody feels like celebrating."
"Ronnie said you took pictures!"
"Well ... yeah," Clark admitted, sheepishly. "I promise no one will see anything embarrassing, but I wanted a record of this one's birth to go along with the other four."
"Well ... Okay," Lori said. "Just as long as I get to double check before you show any pictures of me to anyone."
"Okay," he said with a smile. "Don’t worry. I’ve been careful about what I let people see." He glanced in the direction of the door. "They’re bringing Mary in now. Are you ready to get better acquainted with our new little girl?"
Lori swallowed and nodded. "I can hardly believe it's over."
"It's not," Clark said. "It's just beginning."
There was a knock on the door and then it swung open. Karen entered, pushing a clear bassinet before her. Lori could see a tiny bundle wrapped in a pink blanket inside the bassinet.
"Here you are," Karen said. "Who gets to hold her first?"
"I held her last night," Clark said. "I think it's Lori's turn."
"That's good," Karen said. "She's been fussing a little. I think she's ready to meet her mommy and maybe have a little breakfast."
Lori had taken her place in the newly made bed and now she looked at her husband. "Could you give her to me, Clark? I've held little Robbie, but --"
"Sure." Clark lifted his daughter gently, cradling her small, dark head with one hand. Karen watched professionally and nodded. "I guess you've handled babies before."
"A few," Clark admitted. He smiled down into his daughter's red, puffy little face and Lori felt a lump form unexpectedly in her throat. The baby's eyes opened and focused instantly on her father. Carefully, Clark transferred his tiny burden into Lori's arms.
Mary's eyes switched instantly to Lori. She looked down at the tiny, warm bundle in her arms and was surprised at the sudden fierce surge of protectiveness that washed over her.
The baby wiggled a little and began to whimper. Lori looked quickly up at the nurse. "What does she want?"
"She's probably a little hungry," Karen said with a smile. "Why don't you see if she'll try to nurse?"
"What do I do?" Lori asked.
Karen smiled. "Well, the first thing you have to remember is that she can't nurse through a nightgown ..." With a smile she showed Lori how to help her baby latch on and after a false start or two, Mary Kent was engaging in her first meal.
"She won't nurse for long," Karen told her. "Your milk won't really come in for another day or so. Right now she's getting colostrum, which is important for a lot of reasons. By the time the milk comes in she'll be all ready for it, and will know what to do." The nurse looked at Clark. "If you need any help, just call."
"We will," Clark said. He smiled at Lori and settled down in the chair by her bed. "I think we'll be all right."
Karen departed and for several moments silence reigned in the room, broken only by the faint sounds of effort from Mary. The silence was interrupted by a light knock on the door.
"Is it all right to come in?" Mariann's voice said.
Clark glanced at Lori for permission and then got to his feet. "Sure," he said. "Breakfast is being served."
Mariann entered the room, followed by Rob.
"Hello, Mother," Lori said. "I hope you don't mind that I'm feeding her."
"Of course not," Mariann said. She leaned over the bed to get a good look at the baby. "She's beautiful."
"She certainly is," Rob said. "She certainly has a lot of hair."
Lori looked down at the fine, dark curls on her daughter's head. "That could have come from either of us -- but she has Clark's eyes -- and eyelashes."
"Are you all right, honey?" her father asked. "We were all pretty worried about you yesterday."
"I'm all right," Lori said.
"Clark said you were being held in the bomb shelter," Mariann said, "but they found you on the roof. What happened?"
"I shorted out the lock on the door and got out," Lori said, as matter-of-factly as she could. "The only way out of the house was through an upstairs window, so I crawled out onto the roof. I figured Clark would be looking for me, so it seemed like the best place to hide. I guess they never did figure out that I'd escaped."
"Not until it was too late," Clark said.
"Clark," Mariann said, "I need to know something. The media is reporting that your family showed up in force like that because of the bombing of the Planet, but it wasn't because of the bombing, was it?"
Clark shook his head. "No. It wasn't."
"It was about Lori and the baby." Mariann glanced again at the baby girl who was now sleeping soundly in Lori's arms. Lori adjusted her gown with one hand. "I know your family helps each other, but I've never seen anything like this."
"I know," Clark said. He glanced at the door. "I don't want to talk about it here. There's too much chance of being overheard. Lori's coming home tomorrow morning. Once we're safely in the apartment, together, I promise I'll tell you everything. All right?"
Mariann hesitated and nodded. "All right."
There was another knock on the door and Lori glanced around. Velma Chow stood there. "Hello Clark -- Lori. May I come in?"
**********
"I hope Mother doesn't make a fuss," Lori said." She was sitting on the sofa in their apartment while baby Mary slept soundly in her bassinet, nearby. She told herself firmly to relax. Mariann and Rob were on their way up, and the moment of truth was at hand.
Clark sat down beside her and slipped an arm around her waist. "We'll just have to tell them the truth," he said. "Your mother and father want what's best for you. Neither one is likely to do anything to harm you or their granddaughter."
The door chime announced the arrival of Rob and Mariann, and Lori took a deep breath.
"Open," Clark said. He kept his arm firmly around Lori's waist.
The door opened, revealing Mariann and Rob.
"Come in," Clark said.
Mariann entered ahead of her husband, and looked uncertainly at Lori. Lori tried to smile, but her face felt stiff and unnatural, so she gave up the attempt. She didn't like to feel on the defensive with her mother. She had spent many of her childhood years feeling that way, and the sensation wasn't pleasant, but now she found that she was back in the old mode. Her mother and father were bound to disapprove of the fact that Clark was so much older chronologically than she was, even though he appeared to be a man in his late twenties. Well, it didn't matter what her parents thought. She had chosen her husband and nothing anyone could say was going to make her change her mind.
Her father glanced once at her face and she saw him frown slightly. That figured. Rob had always been able to read her more accurately than Mariann could and he was undoubtedly already aware that she was in defense mode.
Clark's arm tightened around her waist for just an instant. "It's all right, honey," he said, and got to his feet. "Can I get you some coffee?"
"Yes, thanks," Mariann said. She looked nervously at Rob, evidently sensing the tension in the air.
Clark disappeared into the kitchen. Rob looked at Lori again. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
Lori shook her head. "I hope not," she said.
"Lori's a little worried that you're not going to like what I'm about to tell you," Clark said, stepping into the room with the coffee. "There was a reason that the family turned out in force the way they did. Finding Lori -- and little Mary -- was absolutely necessary."
"I know that," Rob said. "But I think there's more than that." He accepted a cup from Clark, and Lori saw that he was smiling slightly. "You know," he said, "since you told us about yourself, about being one of the supermen, I've been looking at every piece of information that I could find about all of you, from the first Superman on -- and I noticed something interesting that made me wonder."
"Oh?"
Rob nodded. "There's a variety of appearances between them," he said, "but they all resemble you. And you --" He hesitated. "You look exactly like the first Superman. I noticed it while I was comparing pictures of the members of your family but I figured it really wasn't any of my business."
"I wondered if anyone would ever notice that," Clark said. He sat down next to Lori. "The answer, of course, is that you're right. As I told Lori, before I asked her to marry me: there's only ever been one Superman. The original. I'm Kal-El. I came to Earth as a baby, but I was born on Krypton in the Earth year 1966."
The words dropped into silence. Finally Mariann spoke. "But that would make you well over a hundred, Clark. You can't possibly be that old."
"I'm a hundred and thirty-three," Clark said. "The explanation is in my molecular structure. It's dense. After I became an adult, it slowed my aging process to a crawl. Physically, I'm the age of a human of about twenty-eight or twenty-nine. It's the same with all of my super-powered relatives. It seems to have some influence on the aging of the non-super-powered relatives as well, but not anywhere near as extreme. The thing that matters, though, is that Lori knew all of this before she agreed to marry me." He put an arm around her. "I love her more than anything else on the face of the Earth. She's my world."
Rob looked from Lori to Clark and back. "I think I understand," he said. "Marilyn told us that there's some kind of emotional bond between you and Lori that has to do with your telepathic ability."
"That's right," Clark said.
"You wanted to know why they all came to help," Lori said. "They came because Clark needed them. He's the head of the family."
"That wasn't all," Clark said. "In case you haven't noticed, honey, every one of them that has met you likes you, too. You're the center of my life and my family knows it. They care about you, sight unseen -- and they're all very proud of you."
Mariann looked from one to the other, and there was a troubled look in her eyes. "You'll outlive Lori," she said. "Have you thought of that? She's going to age at a faster rate than you. Will you still feel the same when she's an old woman?"
"Yes," Clark said. "You didn't ask about my first wife. Her name was Lois Lane. She lived to be a hundred and eight, and for a woman born in the mid-Twentieth Century, that was very unusual. I had the same kind of bond with her as I have with Lori. To me she was as young and beautiful on the last day of her life as she was on the day I met her, and it nearly killed me when I lost her. Lori will age at a slower rate than other people because of the energy field I produce, but even I can't completely stop it from happening. I only wish that I could. What I can and will do is love her and be faithful to her for as long as we both live."
For some time, no one said anything, and then Rob nodded slowly. "I think," he said, "that nobody can ask for more than that. If Lori is satisfied, then no one else has any right to object."
Lori raised her head to look at her mother. "Do you understand?" she asked. "I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to marry Clark. I'm happy with him and I don't want to do without him, ever."
Mariann bit her lip but she managed to smile. "Lori, I promised your father -- and myself," she added almost irrelevantly, "that I wouldn't interfere any more with your life or Marcy's. I may not completely agree, but your father is right. If you're satisfied, then it isn't my place to object."
A whimper from the bassinet interrupted the intense discussion and Lori went to pick up her baby. "She's wet. I need to change her."
"I'll get the wipes and a diaper," Clark said. He vanished for a split second and returned with the promised items. Lori took them and began to change her daughter.
Mariann came to bend over her tiny granddaughter. "She's starting to lose the squashed look," she said. "I can see you in her."
"Can you?" Lori said. "I think she looks more like Clark."
"She's a perfect blend of both of us," Clark said.
"With super powers when she grows up," Mariann said. "How will you manage her when she's a teenager?"
"The same way he and Lois handled their children," Lori said firmly. "The same way any good parents handle their children. With love and discipline. And I've got a few experts in the field that I can ask questions if I need to."
The door chime sounded at that moment, and Clark spoke. "Open," he said. Lori looked up, a little surprised, to see Superwoman, Tan-El, Puma and Shooting Star in the doorway.
"I thought," Clark said quietly to Rob and Mariann, "that you would like to meet Mary's brothers and sisters."
**********
tbc
