I did manage to make it on the boards for a few minutes today but not sure when I'll be back to check FDK etc.
Thanks, as always, to the usual suspects for helping make this better than it was - Alisha, Beth, Nancy, and CarolynK.
*****
Chapter 49
*****
It was their first night in Smallville. Lucy and Jimmy were settled in the guest room. Clark's old room was going to be turned into a nursery for one or both babies to use as needed.
Clark had just finished locking up the house when he heard something that tore his heart out. He zipped up to their room to find what he feared.
Lois in tears.
"Hey, what is it?" He gathered her in his arms as she cried. He wasn't sure how long it was before the tears slowed down. "What is it?"
"You weren't the first," she whispered. "I tried to pretend it wasn’t possible that you weren't, but after what Lucy heard..."
"I know, honey." He held her tighter.
"You should have been the first one to make love to me."
"What he did was the furthest thing from making love there could be," Clark reminded her, unable to keep the anger out of his voice.
"Still. You should have been the only one..."
"I know."
"He took that from us, even if I don't remember it," she whispered.
"But you don't remember it. I know it's a small consolation, but I'm glad you don't."
"I think I am, too."
"I know it's not the same, but since you don't remember it, we'll have another first time together and that's the one that you'll remember." One hand played with her hair as he spoke. "Not *him*. You'll remember being with me."
"Tell me about it," she requested quietly.
"About what?"
"That night – when we were together. I want to know. More than what you told me before. I know I don't remember it, but I want to know what happened through your eyes. I mean, you told me some – generalities – but I want to know what happened with us."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded against him. "I know how your memory works so I know you remember every second. And I want you to tell me about it. I want to know about the first time you saw me, touched me, made love to me. Your reactions to that. My reactions to you the first time..." She choked up as she tried to finish.
He was silent for a long moment then he started to speak. "I came home and you were standing there, in the doorway to our bedroom, dressed in one of my shirts and underwear and nothing else. You said 'hello, handsome' but I couldn't say anything back. Even though I'd been hoping for it to happen that night, I was in shock or something. You accused me of ignoring you, which I could never do when you looked like that. I asked if you were sure and you reminded me that I'd told you not to wear one of my shirts unless you wanted me to take it off. You started unbuttoning my shirt and kissing your way down my chest." He paused. "Remember how you asked me once if I could feel pleasure?" She nodded. "Believe me, it wasn't a problem. If anything, it was so intense, it was overwhelming. And then... I kissed you. It wasn't anything like our other kisses had been up to that point. Even the most intense ones when we were making out weren't anything compared to that."
"I wish you could show me," she whispered.
"Me, too," he whispered back as he proceeded to tell her all about that night.
*****
"Why didn't you guys tell us?" Lucy asked without looking at her sister and brother-in-law. Jimmy was taking the tape out of the VCR.
"Tell you what, Luce?" Clark asked, looking up from where he was sitting next to a sleeping Lois.
"About Luthor."
Clark sighed. "We weren't *sure* anything happened until you were kidnapped. We guessed Lois might have been drugged when she couldn’t remember anything about that night and with the headache she had... You've seen her with migraines, right?" Lucy nodded. "Take the worst one you've ever seen her with and multiply it by like eighty-two and you might be close to how it was that day."
Lucy winced. "That bad?"
Clark nodded. "Once we came to the conclusion she'd been drugged, she just knew – instinctively – that she'd been raped. Even though she didn't remember anything about it, she knew."
"So why didn't you tell us?"
He ran a hand through his hair as Jimmy sat back down, pulling Lucy to him. "We didn't want to. To be honest, if she hadn't been pregnant, we probably wouldn't have said anything about that night. It's part of the reason why we're both seeing Dr. Friskin. She still has issues to work through from growing up and the whole Paul thing, but this, too. I have some things I'm still working through, though not as many. I blamed myself for a long time – for not realizing that something was wrong with her, for not realizing..." His voice trailed off. He really didn't want to discuss certain aspects of this with the younger couple.
"That it wasn't her first time?" Lucy asked quietly.
He nodded. "Dr. Friskin made me think about a lot of things – things Lois had said too for the most part – that made me realize that there probably wasn't much of anything – if anything at all – that should have tipped me off. She'd taken a shower so no cologne or anything like that. We know for sure now that he used a condom so... that explains that. Her words were clear, her... reactions certainly seemed normal. It would have happened that night anyway – she was planning on it and I was hoping for it. She never said or did anything that made me thing that it wasn't what she wanted." He sighed. "I still think I should have known but..."
"Well, the pheromone stuff Lucy told us about seems like it was supposed to heighten the attraction, right?" Jimmy asked thoughtfully.
"I guess."
"Well, he said she didn't show any attraction at all, so that's good."
"I guess."
"But she was certainly attracted to you, right?"
"Attraction was never the problem, Jim. It was a lot more than that and you know it."
"I know, but... that's got to be some small consolation, right?"
Clark sighed. "I guess."
"And he said he used... you know," Jimmy pointed out. "You already told me that you guys didn't."
"I know."
"So odds are the baby is yours," Lucy said quietly.
"But even the most effective birth control fails," Clark said quietly. "And we still don't even know for sure that I can have kids with a human being."
"Didn't Jor-El indicate you could though?" Jimmy asked.
"He said he *thought* I would be able to, but there was no way to know for sure. And there's still the chance that there could be... some other reason besides being Kryptonian that I can't have kids – or I could have ended up with a female who couldn’t have kids so there's really no way to know at this point without a DNA test which we don't dare risk." He sighed. "I'm so sorry you got dragged into the middle of all this, Luce. I didn't think he'd actually try anything like that."
Lucy shrugged. "I'm okay. The baby is okay. It's not your fault."
"She's right, CK. And without you we might not have found her at all."
"Still, it's our fault..."
Jimmy rolled his eyes. "You do that all the time don't you?"
"What?"
"Take responsibility for things that aren't your fault?"
"I don’t do that," Clark replied indignant.
"All the time."
"Okay, sometimes. Maybe."
Lois chose that moment to stir, pushing herself into a sitting position. She yawned and tried to stretch her back out. "What are we talking about?"
"Clark trying to take the blame for things that aren't his fault," Jimmy told her.
"He does that all the time. Which one are we discussing now?"
No one said anything for a long moment. Finally, Lucy broke the silence. "I asked Clark why you guys didn't tell us what happened and he told us a little bit about it. It sounds like the odds are well in favor of Clark being the father of the baby – at least to us." She looked to Jimmy for confirmation.
Jimmy nodded. "That would be my guess."
She sighed and settled in next to him. "Ours, too, but..."
"It's got to be hard," Lucy said quietly. "Not knowing for sure."
Lois nodded. "That's a big part of the reason why it's been hard – for me at least – to be excited about this. Once I started feeling him move, it got easier, but..."
"That's why it's seemed like something's been off with you two," Jimmy said.
"Maybe." Clark shrugged. "*We're* fine, but it has been hard. I think what you guys saw as 'off' was us not being comfortable talking about all this because we hadn't told you everything."
"*We* are fine," Lois reiterated. "And this baby will never know she wasn't wanted, because she is, very much. The circumstances surrounding her conception leave something to be desired but she'll be very loved, regardless."
"And there's no way Luthor will get his hands on him," Clark said, his face set in a hard line. "No way." He pulled Lois close to him. "Not a chance."
*****
"How'd it go?" Lois sat on the couch, feet propped up on a couple of pillows. They'd been in Smallville for a week and a half and Superman was staying fairly busy, but not too busy. Jimmy and Lucy had gone to Smallville to pick up a few groceries and weren't supposed to be gone long.
Clark spun out of the suit and into jeans and a T-shirt. It had taken some practice, but he'd figured out how to do a spin change thing. "Fine. Pretty easy actually."
"Good."
"It's a lot easier to find a missing little boy with x-ray vision or whatever we're calling it than without. He wasn't very far from where he went missing, just hiding in a little alcove/cave thingy where no one would see him."
"I'm glad you found him."
"Me, too." He floated into position, stretched out next to her in mid-air. "That's something we need to talk about though, that we haven't yet."
"What's that?"
"What kinds of things Superman responds to, especially until we get the whole Luthor thing wrapped up."
"Well, we're not in Metropolis and Smallville isn't exactly the hotbed of petty crime Metropolis is so I think random muggings aren't really high on the list right now."
"True."
"Once we're back in Metropolis, maybe you can do some of that, but for now..." She struggled with what the answer should be.
"Major catastrophes and instances when emergency services might not be able to handle it themselves?"
"Yeah, something like that."
"Only in North America. And maybe the Caribbean."
"Why?"
"So I can hear you if you scream for me."
She nodded.
"And never gone more than a few hours at a time. Nothing like Hurricane Gilbert for the moment."
She nodded. "I would appreciate that."
He reached out to touch her still-expanding stomach. "*You* and the baby are more important than any forest fire or any airliner in trouble or anything else."
"Thank you."
"Clark!" Jimmy came running in the front door. "Lucy's water broke and she's contracting like crazy. She's in the car."
Clark disappeared in a flash and reappeared carrying Lucy. He moved quickly up the stairs to the spare bedroom Lucy and Jimmy were sharing while they were here.
"It's too early," Jimmy whispered as he helped Lois up.
"Only three weeks," Lois reminded him. "That shouldn't be too bad."
"Still."
Lois moved as quickly as she could – Jimmy still at her elbow – up the stairs to Lucy's side.
Lucy was in the center of the double bed. Lois moved to one side, Jimmy to the other.
Clark looked uncomfortable. "Luce, I'm gonna need to see if I can figure out how far you're dilated."
She shook her head. "Jimmy can. One of the classes we took..." Another contraction over took her.
Clark looked at his young friend. "Okay – then I'm going to go downstairs and get what I need in case we're going to have to deliver this baby, okay. You two help her get undressed. I'll get a tarp and clean sheets – take the comforter off, put the tarp down and then the bottom sheet. Use the top sheet to cover Lucy with, okay?"
Jimmy nodded nervously and Lois began to take over. "Come on, sis. Laura Lang's a mid-wife and Clark helped her get things ready for her next delivery all the time."
Lucy nodded and Jimmy helped her get undressed while Lois worked on the bed. She called to Clark once she was under the sheet and Jimmy had checked to see if she was dilated.
"How far, Jim?" Clark asked as he walked back in. Dr. McCorkle had given him – as Superman – a crash course in how to deliver a baby just in case this situation arose. One woman had even agreed to let him assist in delivering her baby. She'd been awed that he wanted to.
"At least eight centimeters," he replied grimly. "This is going way too fast for a first baby. She's been having contractions off and on for a couple of days but nothing too serious. We thought they were just Braxton-Hicks," Jimmy told him.
"I called Laura," Clark told them. "She's on her way, but she wasn't home so it could be a while before she gets here. We're on our own until then."
Lucy was lying on her left side, crying between contractions, clinging to Jimmy's hand. They all breathed a sigh of relief as the contractions seemed to slow down, not much, but enough for her to have a little more time between each one.
Suddenly, she let out a little cry. "You have to check again," she managed to get out. "Something feels weird."
Jimmy swallowed hard. "Let Clark, honey. I know he's your brother-in-law and all, but he's the one who worked with Dr. McCorkle."
Lucy nodded and they helped her roll over onto her back.
Clark looked grim. "I think it's time to push, Luce. The baby's coming."
She nodded and, in a relatively easy first delivery, twenty minutes later, Clark caught a baby in *his* first solo delivery. "You want to do the honors, Jim?"
Jimmy moved, looking at Lucy with tears in his eyes. "It's a girl," he whispered.
Lucy fell back onto the bed as they cut the cord and Jimmy wrapped up the baby in a blanket and handed her to her mother.
"Luce, you did great," Lois whispered, kissing her sister's hair. "She's beautiful."
Lucy had tears falling down her face. "She looks kinda gross."
Lois laughed. "We'll get her cleaned up and you'll see."
A few minutes later, Clark had finished delivering the afterbirth then looked at Lucy. "You look pretty good, but I do need to cauterize a bit, okay?"
Lucy nodded, her attention still on her new baby.
"It's probably going to hurt."
"Okay," she whispered.
Fifteen minutes later, a voice called up. "Hello? Where are you guys?"
"We're up here, Laura," Clark called back.
A minute later, the mid-wife entered the room. "I see I missed all the excitement," she said with a smile.
"You missed Superman," Clark told her. "He did the actual delivery and fixed Lucy back up as best he could, but if you could take a look at her..."
"Of course," his former foster mom replied. "Lois, Clark, why don't you two go relax and Jimmy and I can handle this in here?"
*****
Lois settled down on the couch, next to Clark. "You did great, Clark."
"I don't think I've ever been that scared in my life," he whispered into her hair. "What if something had happened that I didn't know how to handle?"
"Nothing did."
"But now we have a newborn living with us," he said with a grin.
"It'll be good practice?"
He laughed. "Something like that. It may make it harder for you to sleep and you're already having a hard enough time getting a good night's sleep as it is."
Laura chose that moment to come back down the stairs. "She looks good. It was an easy first delivery and the baby looks great, too. A little small, but not bad at all. I’ll keep an eye on her and call me if you have *any* questions. For now though, she was nursing like a champ when I left."
Clark closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Laura."
Laura looked him straight in the eye. "Tell Superman he did a great job."
Clark nodded. "I will next time I see him."
"How about you, Lois? How're you feeling?"
Lois yawned on cue. "Tired."
"Well, you're next and with a newborn in the house, you need to rest when you can."
Lois nodded. "I know. I think I'm going to go take a nap."
"Good idea." Clark helped her stand up and then she waved him off as he started to help her up the stairs.
"Stay here. I'll be fine."
Clark watched as she went up the stairs before sitting back down.
"Worried about her?"
"A little. She's being chased by a megalomaniac who kidnapped Lucy thinking she was Lois."
"I read about that in the paper and about the appearance of Superman and how he saved Lucy."
The look she gave Clark made him slightly uncomfortable. Was it possible that she knew? If she suspected, he certainly wasn't going to confirm and would find a way to try to deny. He really needed to start wearing glasses again as they'd discussed. "It should have been Lois," he whispered. "If he'd gotten her, we never would have found her. Not even Superman, whoever he is."
"Why does he want Lois?"
Clark shook his head. "It's a long story, a personal story, that I really don't want to get into."
Laura nodded. "Okay." She glanced at the clock. "I've got to get home, but I'll come by and check on Lucy and the baby soon."
"Superman said he was going to fly her OB out whenever she was ready. I'm sure she'll be grateful for you following up on Lucy."
"Tell her to call me if there's anything I can do or any questions I can answer or whatever."
Clark nodded and showed Laura to the door.
*****
"Here," Clark whispered, pulling the pillow off Lois' head.
"What?" she asked grumpily.
"Ear plugs," he answered with a grin.
"If Abbie would sleep, I wouldn't need them."
"She's only a couple days old."
"Who knew someone so little could make so much noise?"
Clark thought for a moment, then stood and held out his hand. "Come on."
"Where are we going?" she asked taking it and allowing him to help her stand up.
"It's a surprise." He swept her up into his arms and out the window. A minute later they were in the sky, above the clouds. He lowered her legs until she was standing in front of him. She shivered slightly in the night air and he wrapped his arms around her a little more tightly.
"We don't do this nearly often enough," she whispered.
"What's that?"
"Fly for the fun of it."
"No, we don't."
"Promise me we can go more often?"
"Of course. We probably need to be a bit careful until after the baby's born though."
"I know." She smiled at him. "I can't even hear Abbie up here."
"I can."
"That hearing of yours." She yawned. "So how are we going to get any sleep?"
Clark shifted so they were horizontal, with her tucked in next to his shoulder as they had fallen asleep so many nights. "First, we drift for a while and then..."
"Then what?"
"Then I have a special place for you to sleep where Abbie won't bother you at all."
"Where?"
"It's a surprise."
They floated there for what seemed like an eternity until Lois started to doze off. He floated them back towards the farm, not worrying about being seen because he could tell the only people around were his family and the cloud cover hid the moon making it nearly pitch black. He floated them in through the open door to the hayloft, gently settling them on the quilt there. "I'll be right back," he whispered and disappeared for a split second. He returned with pillows and her favorite blanket, shutting the door to the hayloft as he did so.
Soon they were nestled under the blanket and sound asleep in the silence of the currently uninhabited barn.
*****
Jimmy glared at them as Clark floated them in through their open bedroom window. "Guess you two got some sleep?"
Clark smiled sheepishly at him, setting her on the ground. "Lois needs her rest."
"So where were you?"
"Hayloft."
Lois smacked his arm. "You've been trying to get me to sleep in the hayloft with you since the first time we were here."
He pulled her close to him. "I succeeded."
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, you did." She looked at Jimmy sympathetically. "How's Lucy?"
"Tired. Abbie was up all night. Seems she's got her days and nights all mixed up."
"Why don't you two try to get some sleep and we'll take care of her for a little bit?"
"She'll probably sleep for you," he mumbled.
Clark laughed. "We'll do our best to keep her up today. Well, this evening anyway. That way she should sleep tonight. It may take a couple of days but that should work."
"Um, Clark," Lois interrupted. "Lucy's nursing. How are we supposed to feed her?"
He shrugged. "We'll give her a bottle for her next feeding so Lucy can get some sleep. She's nursing well, Laura said, so it shouldn't hurt for her to have one bottle and we do have a couple cans of formula around here."
"Well, Lucy's feeding her right now, so it'll be a couple hours before she's hungry again anyway."
Before long, Lois held her niece in her arms while Jimmy and Lucy got some sleep. "She's so tiny." She stroked one cheek.
Clark sat next to her, one arm holding her close. "I know. And think, in a few weeks, we're going to have one of those."
Lois glared at him. "I'm not ready for that."
He laughed. "You don't have much of a choice."
"I know."
"And think of all the practice we're getting." He kissed the side of her head. "Why don't you hand her over and go get some rest yourself?"
"I slept better last night than I have since she was born."
"You're still tired, though, aren't you?"
She yawned on cue. "You know me too well."
"That's a good thing, right?"
She nodded as she carefully handed Abbie over. "I'll see you in bit then. If you get in over your head, come get me." She kissed him before standing and heading towards the stairs.
*****
Inspector Henderson, Superman, Perry as well as a few others were continuing the hunt quietly. Lois and Clark had told Henderson the whole story. He’d agreed that there wasn’t enough evidence to do anything to Luthor over the incident in Tokyo – which had happened on U. S. soil even though they were in Japan at the time.
They were watching Luthor as well as his assistant Mrs. Cox and a man named Nigel St. John. There was nothing to connect them to any crimes, but Lucy thought she’d heard the name ‘St. John’ and one of the men she’d overheard had a British accent. St. John, it was discovered, was a former member of Her Majesty’s Secret Service, so it seemed likely that his accent would match.
St. John had had a couple of clandestine meetings with someone in Army fatigues but without any of the usual insignia that went with the uniforms. Police resources and Perry’s network of informants were unable to identify the men from the pictures taken covertly. There were whispers of something called ‘Bureau 39’ but no one knew what it was or if it even still existed.
Clark landed near the porch of the farmhouse with Perry and Alice. Little Abbie was four days old but this was the soonest Perry could get some time off to see their new 'granddaughter'.
Scant moments later, Alice was holding the baby, cooing as she did. Lois and Lucy were both asleep, but for very different reasons. Perry, Jimmy and Clark conferenced in the kitchen.
"What have you guys found out?" Clark asked Perry.
"Before we get to that... Alice picked up some stuff she didn’t show you because she was in a hurry to get here, but I’m sure she will when we get back."
"What’s that?"
"Superman merchandise. It’s popping up everywhere."
Clark groaned. "Great. Just what I always wanted. Dolls that look like me."
"Action figures, man," Jimmy reminded him with a smack on the back. "Not dolls."
"Same difference," Clark muttered.
"Anyway, Alice and I got to talking about it and had an idea." Perry handed Clark a card. "This is an old friend of mine. Well, friend might be a bit strong, but he's a good man and ethical as the day is long even if he doesn't really come off that way sometimes. His name is Murray Brown. The Daily Planet has received all kinds of calls about Superman. There's going to be action figures and posters and everything else you can think of. He's a lawyer who represents famous folks. Not the sleazy kind, but the good guys. He can help you set up a foundation or something to handle that so no merchandise can be made without your approval."
Clark nodded. "That's probably a good idea. But what am I going to with that money? I mean, what is Superman going to do with that money? It's not like he's going to fly his girlfriend somewhere for dinner or something," Clark pointed out.
Perry grinned. "Alice and I had a bet about how long it was going to take you to start talking about yourself in the third person."
"Well, whoever said today wins apparently."
Perry clapped his hands together. "She's going to make me enchiladas this weekend then. I love them, but they're a lot of work so she doesn't make them very often. But seriously, you could set it up as a charity and donate to worthy causes. Set up a camp for orphaned kids or helping get food to those who need it in third world countries, whatever you think is good and keeps with whatever image you want Superman to have. My advice would be to avoid political stuff, but..."
"I agree with you, for what it's worth.
Jimmy gave an exasperated sigh. "I'm all for a Superman foundation and all that but are we any closer to finding out who kidnapped my wife?"
Perry turned to him. "There's no tracks to Luthor that we can find. We're still following St. John and he's met with some paramilitary types that we haven't identified."
"What about the two guys who actually grabbed her?" Jimmy asked him.
"Dead. Found in Hobs Bay two days ago. They were weighted down and probably killed not long after the kidnapping took place."
"Any leads on who killed them?"
"Not that anyone's saying."
"What about the pheromone Lucy said they mentioned?" Jimmy asked.
"Well, I did some research," Clark said. "Pheromones are a chemical substance secreted by animals which produces specific responses to other individuals of the same species."
"We talked to Dr. Klein about it," Perry added. "He said pheromones would only work if the person is already physically attracted. Then it would override normal restraints. Apparently, there has to be some kind of animal magnetism to begin with and pheromones would inhibit the part of the brain that acts as an intellectual defense mechanism and, when combined with GHB, would be a very popular date rape drug."
"Well, according to what Lucy said, she wasn't attracted at all to Luthor," Clark started.
"Thank God," Perry and Jimmy muttered under their breath.
"Any idea who Miranda might be?"
Perry shook his head. "No. We're still at a dead end there, too."
"What about the military guys that showed up at the Planet wanting to get at Superman?" This question came from Clark.
"We identified the leader as a man named Jason Trask. He used to be part of Project Blue Book."
"The Air Force got out of the U.F.O. business in 1969, Chief," Jimmy pointed out.
"Well, Trask used to be a part of that group. He disappeared into thin air along with a bunch of other guys from that group."
"Think they're still on an unofficial U.F.O. hunt?" Clark asked.
"Well, I got livin' proof standin' right in front of me that U.F.O.s do exist," Perry reminded him.
Clark grinned suddenly. "Hey, my ship was an I.F.O."
The other two men gave him puzzled looks.
"Identified Flying Object. Nothing unidentified about it."
Jimmy groaned and Perry rolled his eyes.
"Fine. I got livin' proof of extra terrestrials standin' right in front of me," Perry amended.
"You got me there. Me and E.T. are distant cousins, you know."
"Seriously, I've heard whispers about something called 'Bureau 39' but that's all I've been able to find out."
"What could that be?" Jimmy asked.
"I have no idea," Perry sighed. "Just that it's some sort of paramilitary thing."
"Could that be who St. John is meeting with?" Clark asked.
Perry thought about that for a minute. "It's possible. I'll mention that to Henderson when we get back."
Lois chose that moment to walk into the kitchen. "Any leads, Perry?"
Perry hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I was just tellin' Clark and Jimmy what we've got, which isn't much. I'll let them fill you in while I go see that new grandbaby of mine."
*****
TBC
