Bonus points to anyone who can 'name that soap'
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DH is going to be home all day tomorrow and we're going to be cleaning for DS' bday party on Sat, so I'm posting this *early* today instead of maybe not at all. Hopefully, 51 on Mon and 52 on Wed, then Lucy's Story either Friday or the week after. I've got a bit of a buffer on it and it won't be NEARLY as long [15? parts - not sure but certainly not threatening Masques like this monster is - sort of...] and I'm hoping I can get Martha's Letters done by then too. We'll see...
Thanks - as always - to Alisha, Beth, Nancy and CarolynK
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*****
Chapter 50
*****
Jimmy paced the floor in the living room with his daughter in his arms. Barely a week old, and she had already turned his life around.
Clark came back down the stairs having carried a sleeping Lois up to bed. "How's she doin'?" he asked quietly
"Almost asleep," Jimmy said in even quieter tones, knowing Clark could hear him.
"Good."
A few minutes later, Jimmy carried the little girl upstairs to put her to bed, before coming back to sit in the chair opposite Clark. He let his head fall back.
"How do you like being a dad so far?" Clark asked him.
Jimmy smiled without opening his eyes. "So far, so good. But I have a feeling the hardest parts are yet to come."
Clark laughed lightly. "I have a feeling you're right."
"Hey, you'll be finding out yourself here in a few weeks."
"But we don't know if we're having a boy or a girl yet."
Jimmy sighed. "I swear to you Clark... our wedding night was the first time..."
Clark chuckled. "I know. I believe both of you."
"Every time the thought even crossed my mind before then, I could hear your voice in my head." His tone changed to a deep, not very good imitation of Clark. "'Jimmy, treat her the way you'd want someone to treat your own little girl someday. And I'll break you in half if you don't.'"
His friend groaned. "First, I don't sound like that and second, I never threatened to break you in half."
"No, but that's what the look you gave me said." Jimmy grinned over at him.
"I would never have broken you in half."
"Well, I know that *now* but at the time..." He laughed at the look Clark gave him. "Seriously, not long after you talked to us, Lucy and I decided that we were going to wait until she was 18 and then reevaluate and talked about what our limits were. The first time we really pushed them..." He paused. "Well, I'm not going to go into any detail or anything, but I'm sure it wasn't anywhere near as bad as you're thinking it might have been. Anyway, Lucy said you'd probably take me to roughly the cruising altitude of jets and let go."
Clark rolled his eyes. "I would never do that."
Jimmy finally sat forward and looked at him. "You're telling me that if you had walked in on me and Lucy sometime in that first year or so you wouldn't have done something drastic?"
"Well, I wouldn't have dropped you from thirty thousand feet. Left you sitting on top of Everest in your birthday suit? Maybe, but not dropped you. Had you brought up on charges of statutory rape? More likely."
"Only after I was 18. Before that... not illegal."
Clark glared at him.
"Sorry," Jimmy said with a grin. "But I think I'm starting to understand what you were talking about when you told me to treat her like my daughter. I mean Abbie's like eight days old, but the thought of her and some guy someday... Like I told you that summer, I'd rather she adopt."
"I completely understand what you're saying, Jim. Believe me, if you two had said you wanted to adopt... that would have been fine with me."
Jimmy winced. "Not a chance, man. Not a chance."
*****
Early September 1990
*****
Lois doubled over in pain. She tried to remember the breathing exercises she had learned, but they flew out of her mind with each new contraction. She knew giving birth would be painful but this was ridiculous.
And since she was at the farmhouse – by herself for the moment – there was no chance of an epidural any time soon.
Jimmy, Lucy and Abbie were in Smallville – doing what she wasn't sure. Clark was off saving the world again – or rather an airliner in trouble in Dallas – but he had promised he wouldn't be gone long. She didn't want to call for him – he had more important things to do than sit here with her while in early labor. If he wasn't here for the birth... that would be one thing, but early labor... the world needed Superman more than she needed Clark – at least for this part of it. Another contraction hit her.
Maybe.
Maybe she needed Clark more than the world needed Superman. Damn, this hurt!
She moved around between contractions as long as she could, trying to time them as best she could with a digital watch with no second counter and no one to help her.
Finally she realized that the contractions were much closer together than they should be this quickly. She'd only been in labor for about three and a half hours but she could have sworn those last two contractions were only about two minutes apart. She’d even called Laura but there was no answer at the Lang house.
Finally, she couldn't wait any longer.
"*Superman*!"
It took about two minutes, but then he was there, just as another contraction over took her and her water broke.
A spinning, whooshing sound filled her ears as she doubled over the couch.
"Lois? What is it? What is wrong?"
"Baby," she managed to gasp.
Strong hands picked her up and in seconds she was upstairs next to their bed.
"Lois, look at me."
She managed to open her eyes as the contraction subsided.
"Good girl. Now listen. I glanced at the baby – no, I didn't look to see if there were extra parts or not – but the head is engaged and well down the birth canal. It's going to be time to push before you know it. There's not enough time to get anyone. We're going to have to do this ourselves and I'll get Dr. McCorkle later, okay?"
Lois nodded.
"Honey, I need you to take your pants off and I'm going to go grab a few supplies after this next contraction okay?"
Lois nodded again. She grasped Clark's hand as the next contraction came on.
"Breathe." He made the 'hee hee whooo' sounds with her – she swore they really didn't help as much as they were supposed to – but she did it anyway.
As the contraction began to subside, she realized how hard she was gripping Clark's hand. "Guess it is a good thing you're made of steel, huh?" she asked as she released it.
He grinned at her. "Yep, sure is. Now listen, I need you to get undressed and I'll be right back."
Lois nodded and began to move slowly. This was no time for modesty. Clark *was* her husband after all and they had made love and she was sure that had involved him seeing her without clothes, even if she didn't remember it.
A whoosh filled the room and seconds later, before she had even managed to start to undress, another one filled the room again and Clark was back, arms laden with the things one needs for a home birth – a large container of water that he could boil in an instant, a plastic tarp to put under the extra set of sheets, scissors that he would probably sterilize in the water or with his heat vision, blankets for the baby, and a few other things.
"Lois," he looked at her earnestly. "Let me help you."
She nodded. She had resigned herself, in the few seconds he was gone, to the fact that she was going to need his help.
She closed her eyes and in less than the time it would have taken her to blink, she was undressed and back in the bed under a clean sheet and on top of another sheet that was on top of the tarp.
"Okay, Lois, I'm going to have to check now. I mean I glanced with my vision, but I need to check okay?"
Lois nodded, grateful that he, as Superman, had worked with Dr. McCorkle – concerned for the well-being of two of her patients among other things – so that he could help deliver a baby if the need ever arose. They had talked about the possibility that he would need to deliver this baby, but she hadn't really thought it all the way through – not even after he delivered Lucy's baby.
Clark raised the sheet draped over her legs and then looked at her. "No need to check your cervix, Lois. The baby is practically crowning already."
She nodded weakly. That would explain the burning pain. She had heard crowing was called 'the ring of fire' for a reason.
At least that was what Lucy had said. Lucy, her little sister, who had delivered her baby girl four weeks earlier, three weeks before her due date too. Clark had worried it would be awkward to see Lucy after that, but it hadn't been. Instead, she and Jimmy continued to be grateful for Clark's help in the whole matter, not holding the mistaken identity against Lois or Clark.
The next contraction came all too soon and Lois was overcome by the urge to push. "Clark," she gasped. "I have to push. I can't not push."
He spoke calmly. "Okay. I told you your body would know what to do." The contraction subsided without any productive pushing. "Next time, I'm going to help you sit up and then push – use the muscles we talked about before and push as hard as you can for a count of ten."
Lois nodded, her hair hung limply at the side of her face, drenched in sweat. How was she going to do this? It seemed like only seconds later when the next contraction started and the urge to push again was overwhelming.
Clark instantly had her propped up against pillows and supported her as she pushed. Even though he seemed solid, she could also see him appear and disappear at the bottom of the bed. He was using his super speed to help hold her and check on the baby at the same time.
"You're doing great, honey," he told her as she collapsed with the end of the contraction.
"Whatever, you... you... you man – you invulnerable, Kryptonian man. I’ll never forgive you for this."
Clark grinned at her. "Sure you will, just as soon as you hold that son or daughter of ours." The next contraction started. "This should do it, Lois. One more big push. One, two, three... *push*."
Lois gritted her teeth and bore down into her pelvis. Clark had left her side – but where he had found enough pillows to help support her she never knew; they had just appeared – and was at the foot of the bed, reaching under the sheet draped over her knees.
"Push, Lois. You can do it, honey! Here comes the head."
With a relief she never knew was possible, she felt the head of her baby pass through and she slumped back into the pillows.
"Great job." He looked at her. "With the next contraction, you're going to push out the shoulders and then the baby will just sort of fall out, okay?"
She didn't have time to acknowledge when the next contraction started.
She felt the rest of the baby leave her body and then heard the small cries for the first time.
She collapsed against the pillows in sheer exhaustion.
Clark grinned at her. "It's a boy."
She closed her eyes and let the words wash over her. "A boy," she whispered. "We have a son."
Clark nodded and laid the tiny baby on her chest. "I'm going to cut the cord and then I'll deliver the afterbirth okay?"
She nodded.
He kissed her forehead. "You did great, honey. Just rest and I can handle the rest of it from here."
A few minutes later, he looked her in the eyes. "Lois, I'm not going to lie to you, this is going to hurt quite a bit. I don't have any anesthetic, but I need to cauterize a few places. It's going to hurt."
She nodded and steeled herself for what was to come.
She felt a prick, but concentrated on the tiny baby in her arms.
Then Clark was at her side.
"That was it?"
Clark nodded. "I'll bring Dr. McCorkle to look you over later."
Lois nodded her assent. "Good idea. Not that I don't trust you, but..."
Clark laughed. "So have you decided what we're going to name this little guy?"
Lois nodded, tears in her eyes. "Yes. Jonathan Joel. After his paternal grandfathers."
She could see tears well up in his daddy's eyes. "It's perfect," he whispered.
*****
"Lois? Clark?" Jimmy called.
"Up here," Clark called back.
"Hey, what's going on?" Jimmy asked as he took in the scene in front of him.
Clark was seated against the headboard and Lois was nestled in under his arm, holding their son. "It's a boy!" he announced, a grin splitting his face.
"What?" Jimmy's eyes went wide. "Lucy! It's a boy!"
It was a minute before Lucy entered the room holding her daughter. "Did I hear that right?"
Jimmy looked up from where he'd sat down next to Lois. "Yep. A boy."
Lucy handed Abbie to her dad. "Move, honey. I've got to see this little man." Jimmy obliged. "Oh, Lois, he's beautiful," she whispered. "And she looks just like Clark."
Lois grimaced. "I think he looks more like a California Raisin right now."
Lucy laughed. "You delivered him, Clark?"
He nodded. "Lois did all the hard work," he answered quietly, kissing the side of her head. "She was a trooper."
"I'm just glad you got here when you did or I would have had to deliver him myself," Lois whispered.
"You still shouldn't have waited so long to call me," he admonished.
"Where were you?" Lucy asked.
Clark told them about the airliner and that he *could* have left earlier without it being a big problem – he was helping transport a few of the injured passengers to the triage area when she called – but he didn't know she needed him. "I talked to Dr. McCorkle and I'm going to bring her out in a couple hours. Laura's already stopped by and said everything looks good to her."
Lucy sat up straighter suddenly. "What's his name?"
Lois and Clark looked at each other. She nodded slightly. There was a catch in his voice as he answered. "Jonathan Joel, after my dads."
"That's perfect. Are you going to call him Jon then?"
"I think so," Lois told them. "I guess we could go with JJ or something though."
Clark shook his head. "He's a Jon."
Lois smiled. "Jon it is then." She yawned.
"Let me take him and you get some sleep." Clark took his sleeping son from Lois' arms and handed him to Lucy. He helped Lois move down so she was lying on the bed and pulled the sheet over her. He kissed her temple. "You did great, honey. Get some rest."
She nodded and was asleep before they left the room.
*****
Lois opened her eyes in the darkness. Giving birth earlier in the day had been the hardest thing that she had ever done. She was exhausted, but she had to go to the bathroom. This was a good sign, she knew, but moving still had to be done carefully.
Gingerly, she stood and worked her way towards the bathroom. Superman had flown to Metropolis to pick up Dr. McCorkle, who was more than willing to make a house call in this particular situation. She'd agreed with Laura, telling them that Superman had done a great job with the delivery and post delivery fixing of Lois. She guessed Lucy, Jimmy and Abbie were asleep in their room.
She was headed towards the bathroom when a soft voice stopped her. She moved down the hall and peeked into the nursery that had been Clark's room until the death of his parents so many years earlier.
"So, little Jon, that's how you got here. I delivered you and your mom was quite the trooper. Your mom and dad love you very much and no matter what happens, you are *our* son. Despite what any sort of DNA testing may say in the future, you're *our* son, mine and Lois' and we love you so very, very much."
Tears came unbidden to Lois' eyes. Whatever had started the one sided conversation, their son would never remember. Regardless of what that DNA test might say, this tiny baby was Clark's. And if she had anything to say about it, a DNA test would never be done. Clark loved this little baby as much as she did and there was never a question in his mind that Jon was his son. Genetics didn't matter. Twice orphaned himself, the baby was his in every way that mattered.
He looked up and saw her. "Hey," he said quietly. "Are you okay?"
She nodded. "Hormones still. And I heard the end of what you said."
He moved to her side, still holding Jon. "I'm going to go put him in the bassinet, but I didn't want to wake you. What're you doing out of bed anyway?"
"I need to go to the bathroom."
"Don’t move."
She nodded as he carried Jon to their room. In a flash he was back at her side. "Can you walk okay?"
"Yeah."
He wrapped an arm around her waist, supporting her as they headed back towards their room.
"I don't need any help once we get there."
He laughed lightly. "Okay. But if you do..."
"I won't," she told him.
He helped her into the bathroom, then shut the door as he left. "Seriously, if you need anything..."
"I'll let you know." A few minutes later, she did call for him. "Can you help me back to bed?"
He chuckled. "Always," he answered, opening the door.
She rolled her eyes. "Figures," she said as he picked her up.
"What?"
She smiled. "Just you being you."
"Is that a good thing?" he asked floating over to set her gently on her side of the bed, avoiding the bassinet as he did so.
"Well, I wouldn't want you to be anyone else."
"That's good. I don't know how to be anyone else."
She moved gingerly, trying to get comfortable as Clark moved in next to her.
"I know I've said it a couple times already, but I'm proud of you," he whispered, holding her as close as he dared.
"I didn't have much choice in the matter," she whispered back. "He was coming whether I was ready or not."
"Still, you did great."
"Thanks." She yawned.
He kissed her head again. "Go to sleep."
*****
"At least you don't have to worry about the whole 'how's a guy going to treat her thing'," Jimmy told Clark that night as their wives and babies slept.
Clark groaned. "No, but I have to make sure he knows how to treat a girl. A girl might be easier. I could take the guy to Everest if I needed to, but teaching a teenager how to treat a girl?" He covered his face with his hands and suppressed a scream. "Boy, that's not going to be the easiest thing I've ever done."
Jimmy laughed. "No, but you don't start when he turns thirteen. You start long before then, treating Lois how he should treat a girl; teaching him to do the same. I remember Lucy told me once that Alice told her if she wanted to find a gentleman to find a gentle man. If that's how you raise him, to be good and kind and all the other stuff, you'll be fine."
"And when he can fly off mid-lecture?"
"Somehow I don't think that'll work with Lois."
"Huh?"
"What would your mom have done if you'd decided to fly off while she was in the middle of reading you the riot act because she caught you making out with your girlfriend on the couch one night?"
Clark winced. "Invulnerable or not, I don't think I'd have been able to sit down for a week. Even if I was seventeen at the time, she would have tanned my hide."
"And you think Lois will be any different?"
Clark smiled as he shook his head. "I see your point. She is definitely a force to be reckoned with."
"At least we won't have to worry about the flying thing."
"And, you know, as close as Abbie and Jon could grow up to be, you may not have to worry about protecting her either. Jon might take care of that for you, even if he's technically not her older brother."
Jimmy laughed. "An invulnerable protective slightly younger cousin could certainly come in handy."
Clark shrugged. "Well, we don't know if the Kryptonian in me is inheritable, but Jor-El seemed to think it would be. And probably dominant."
"So there'll be two Supermen running around someday."
"Maybe."
"And maybe a Supergirl or two eventually."
Clark winced at that. "Do you know how many offers I've had for posters and all that kind of stuff? I have to have an *agent* to take care of all of it and we're setting up a foundation and everything. Can you imagine what it would be like if I had a daughter flying around? As bad as it is having women ogle me, if some kid is ogling my daughter..." He shook his head. "You think you'll have a hard time beating the guys off that little girl of yours someday..."
"Yeah, but they'll know that she could fry them to a crisp if they stepped out of line and she wouldn't be dating as Supergirl anyway. She'd be dating as whatever-her-name-is Kent," Jimmy pointed out.
"No," Clark said with a sigh. "She just won't date at all."
"I'm with you there."
"Maybe it's a good thing we had a boy instead."
Jimmy sighed. "I think I might be jealous of that."
*****
"I can't believe you're leaving." Lois gave Lucy a long hug.
"I know, but I can't stay any longer. Jimmy's got to go back to work and so do I. I've managed to make it to most of my classes because of Clark but I can't take the S-Express to school forever."
"At least you only have classes two days a week."
"I know. Besides," she whispered. "My six-week check-up is tomorrow so..."
Lois rolled her eyes. "Do you two ever stop?"
Lucy's eyes gleamed wickedly. "Not unless we have to." Her voice dropped conspiratorially. "And your check up isn't too far off either is it?"
Lois glared at her. "Don’t go there, Lucy."
"Sorry."
"Right. I'm sure you are." She hugged Lucy again. "I'm still going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you, too."
"Are you sure it's safe for you to go back?" Lois asked concerned.
"As safe as it can be. Luthor knows we're on to him and that Superman is keeping an eye on me. Jimmy has class the same time I do and I'm *never* alone right now. Even if it means keeping Abbie with me and hanging out in a conference room for a while. And I can stay with Perry and Alice if I need to."
"Luthor really doesn't like Superman, does he?" Lois said biting her lip.
"No, but there's nothing to worry about. Clark's invulnerable."
"I know but..."
"You still worry about him," Lucy said gently.
"And not just physically. Even though I know he can't be hurt, I worry about what's going to happen if he's not fast enough or can't save someone. It was one thing when he knew he couldn't jeopardize us, but now that he can help openly... I think he might take it a lot harder."
"That's what he has you for. To make him realize that he *can't* do it all."
Just then Clark landed back in the farmyard. "Ready, Luce? Jimmy and Abbie are all set."
She nodded before hugging Lois one more time. "Love you, sis."
"Love you."
Lois watched as Clark took off with her little sister in his arms, then turned to go back inside the house.
*****
Lois wiped her tears and clicked the off button on the remote.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Superman landed in the living room and quickly turned back into Clark. "Where's Jon?"
She smiled at him. "Nothing. Watching 'Ivory Tower', that's all. Jon's asleep." She pointed to the bassinet.
"I didn't think you watched that anymore."
She glared at him. "Just because we were out of the country and I couldn't watch it and then was too busy to watch it doesn't mean I can't catch up while I've got nothing to do all day."
He laughed and flopped down on the couch. "So, who's sleeping with who?'
"Well, Joey and Rachel got married and went to the hotel but Joey's mom, Gloria, got there while Rachel was in the bathroom getting ready. They'd decided to wait until they got married, and now they were and they'd been looking forward to it and the audience had been looking forward to it on their behalf. So his mom shows up and tells him that they're going to have to get the marriage annulled. He says 'no'. He loves Rachel and always has but her grandma, Sandra, and Gloria have never gotten along, so Joey and Rachel hid their relationship in high school and Joey's girlfriend – that he didn't break up with as part of their cover – found out anyway and tried to make it look like they slept together, but they really didn't. So Joey and Rachel broke up for a while but finally got back together and now they're like 20 and in college and got married and Gloria found out she was adopted and went looking for her birth mom."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
Lois glared at him as she continued. "She found her birth mom but then found out that her birth mom wasn't really her birth mom because her real birth mom was married but she was another guy's baby, but the other guy was out of the country for a year and missed the whole thing. When she found out who her real mom was, it turned out to be Sondra. So that meant she had an affair with her birth mom's husband in like the 60s but didn't know that he was her step-dad essentially. And she had a son with him. So her son is her... step-brother or something like that. Anyway, now Joey and Rachel, who are so totally sweet together and I *love* them, are going to have to get their marriage annulled. And I knew this, but Gloria didn't make it to the wedding in time to stop it and I was hoping that she wouldn't make it to the hotel in time either so they could have one perfect time together but she got there in time and Joey just had to tell Rachel that they're cousins and they cried and it was sad."
She glared at Clark who was holding his hand over his mouth. "Now I have to hope that they somehow find out that Sondra's son, Rachel's dad, got switched at birth or something. The only good part is that they switched actors and I don't like the new ones nearly as much. They don't have as much chemistry as the originals so I don't care as much." She glared some more. "And don't even think about laughing. You asked. And after all we've been through, I don't think it's too much to have such a sweet couple have a few hours of married bliss before it all comes crashing down on them. Imagine if someone showed up and told us we were cousins right before we finally..." She waved a hand towards the stairs. At Clark's raised brow, she sighed. "Fine. Not us. You're an alien. We can't be cousins. But imagine if we had to tell Jimmy and Lucy they were related after they made it to the honeymoon suite?"
He tried desperately to make his face a mirthless mask. "I'm sorry, dear. You're right. Everyone deserves a few hours of happiness. Even if they are half-first cousins."
She glared some more. "Whatever. You asked. I told you. Deal with it."
He sighed. "Fine. I won't make fun of your soap opera fixation."
"Good." She rested against him. "So, what are you making for dinner?"
*****
TBC
