Last time:
Lois
I took a deep breath. I hated what I was about to say. "Okay, then. I won't ask you not to see her, but I do ask that you be discrete." I hurried on. "If you're sure, then thank you."
"I'm sure."
"Can we please agree to keep all of this to ourselves then?" I asked, more tears leaving my eyes. "Can you let her believe that I'm actually having your baby? Can you not tell your parents? We can't let anyone know the truth." I knew how close he was to his folks.
He hesitated. "Okay. You're right. The best way to keep this all quiet and away from Navance is if no one else knows. Not your dad. Not Joe. Not my folks. Not Lana."
I nodded. "Okay, then."
"We'll stay married. We'll convince him that it's real and I won't let him near either one of you." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as me.
I swiped at my face again. "Well, let's go then."
He nodded and after a brief second, grabbed my hand and we headed back towards Daddy.
*~*27*~*
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
I couldn't tell Lois the things Navance had said to me when it was just me and him.
How he'd take her and the baby and no one would ever see them again.
How he wouldn't make her his wife – which would offer her some legal protections – but would torment her and have his way with her on a regular basis and show her just enough of her child to make her realize how he or she was being raised until she finally begged him to kill her.
And more.
The man was an animal.
I couldn't let him get his hands on Lois or the baby.
My heart was breaking at the same time. I'd have to break up with Lana. I wouldn't be able to marry her this summer like I'd planned. I was going to break her heart, even if I did tell her the whole truth.
Except I couldn't tell her the whole truth.
I couldn't tell my parents the whole truth.
I had managed to make myself grab Lois' hand as we walked towards her father, but Jill had intercepted us and taken us to another room.
"This is a secure conference," she told us as we sat in front of her laptop.
Daniel appeared on the screen. He looked tired. "I'm sorry, you two. I knew he wouldn't be happy, but I didn't think he'd try anything like this."
"It's okay, Daniel," I said. "You couldn’t have known."
"Have you two decided what you're going to do yet?"
I realized Jill had left the room.
"No." "Yes."
Lois and I spoke at the same time.
I glanced at her but continued quickly. "We're staying married."
Daniel breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. I hate what it's doing to you two but it's the safest way for everyone. But that also means you have to make it look good. I'd recommend not telling anyone the whole truth until the five years are up unless something happens. Let everyone believe the 'hypothermic at the cabin' story as long as possible. That means you need to change your name as soon as you can, Lois, and no hyphens or anything. You should probably consider at least partially naming the baby after someone in Clark's circle – a family member or long-time family friend or mentor to solidify the idea that the baby is Clark's and that you two are serious about this. It means you can't be seen alone with either Lana or Joe, regardless of whether you continue the relationships on the side. And I would strongly encourage you not to, because you never know who might see something they shouldn't."
He looked at something over the camera out of our view. "I have to go, kids. Your names won't be released from here. It's already blowing over in the States so hopefully you won't end up in the limelight."
"Thanks, Daniel."
Lois was glaring at me.
"I wish I could have done more," he said. "Good luck and let Jill know if there's anything you need."
Before we could say goodbye the connection was cut.
"Why?" Lois asked quietly.
"Why what?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because I care about you. I care about your baby. And I can help protect the two of you from him. I won't give him any reason to come after either one of you."
She sighed, as though finally accepting it. "What're we going to do?"
"Stay married."
"Where are we going to live? What are you going to tell Lana? Your folks? How do we act like it's 'real'?" She used finger quotes to emphasize her point.
I closed the laptop. "Your dad said he'd already arranged for an apartment on campus before he knew we were planning on getting an annulment, so that's taken care of. Our scholarships cover it, he said. We won't tell anyone anything but the public story, but we should still keep it as close to the truth as possible. That we were together in a hypothermic induced haze at the cabin that night, but we both thought we were dreaming." I put thoughts of the dream I'd actually had out of my head. "You didn't know you were pregnant until we were in Europe and we'd gotten lost and ended up in another country." I sighed. "You didn't have your passport with you and knowing that you were having my baby, we decided to do the right thing and get married before we came home."
I ran a hand through my hair. "As for pretending it's real... I guess living together will go a long way towards that. Holding hands. Not seeing Joe and Lana in public without each other." I tried not to cringe. "Kissing when we see each other or one of us leaves when we're in public."
She nodded. "I guess that's all we can do." She sighed. "Daddy's probably wondering what happened to us."
"Probably." Should I tell her what he'd said? I probably should. "You should probably know that while you were asleep, he asked if I was planning on being a dad to your baby. He asked me to at least think about staying together and trying make this work for the sake of the baby." I didn't think Lois would take it well if she knew he'd also asked me to consider it for her sake.
"That doesn't surprise me," she said. She scrubbed at her eyes with the heels of her hands. "I guess we better get this show on the road." She pushed back from the table and stood up.
I stood up, too, and after a slight hesitation, took her hand as we left the room.
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
Why was he agreeing to stay married to me?
If it was anyone but Clark, I'd say it was to get in bed with me. Even Joe would have had that in the back of his mind.
But Clark...
If there was one thing I was sure of it was that Clark had no desire to... Not get me into bed, because we'd slept in the same bed more than once and it seemed likely we would again at some point in the future.
I was sure Clark had no desire to make love to me.
I knew that if it was Joe instead of Clark, he'd want it at some point in the not too distant future and if Joe was my husband, we probably would – if not on our wedding night then not too long after. But with Clark...
I couldn't explain the twinge of... something. Disappointment? Regret? Envy? Something that knowing my *husband* didn't think about me like that – would never think about me like that – stirred deep inside me. It wasn't that *I* wanted to get naked with him, but it wasn't something I would rule out either – now that we were married. But I knew he didn't feel the same way.
And while that *shouldn’t* bother me... it did.
I had to end up married to the one guy...
I shook my head as we neared Daddy. There was no point in even thinking about it.
"Everything okay?" he asked as we got there.
I nodded, trying to look convincing. "Everything's fine." I pasted a smile on my face. "Just ready to get out of here."
Clark nodded. "What do we need to do to get into that apartment on campus?"
Daddy stared at both of us for a long minute. "I'll call Darrell. He's the head of housing. He had a couple move out unexpectedly and there's no waiting list for that building. I'm not sure why. It's where your mom and I lived when we were in college and it was pretty nice. I know it's been renovated at least once since then, but..." He shrugged. "I'll let him know that you two want it. You probably won't be able to get in until tomorrow though since it's already after five." We'd started walking towards the front of the airport, a porter pushing our luggage on a cart. "You can stay at the house tonight, if you'd like, rather than your dorm rooms."
I didn't look at Clark and he didn't look at me.
It was one thing when we thought this was temporary – and he'd slept on top of the sheet anyway – but this was a whole new ballgame now.
"Thanks, Sam," Clark said hesitantly.
"I don't know, Daddy," I said uncomfortably. Had his girlfriend put two and two together yet? Had Navance or one of his minions contacted her yet? Or had *they* put two and two together?
He got a knowing look on his face. "Tell you what? Why don't I put you two up at the Lexor for the night? As a wedding present?"
I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks."
Clark was looking at me oddly, but I didn't want to discuss it here. I shook my head slightly and he kept his mouth shut.
Before long we were standing in front the counter at the Lexor and we were being checked into the honeymoon suite as Clark and Lois Kent.
Daddy gave me a big hug and whispered, "Congratulations, Princess." He pulled back and said in a normal voice, "I'll call Darrell and pick you two up about eleven – that's checkout – and we'll work on getting you into the new place."
A minute later, we were in the elevator and I slumped against the wall.
"Want to tell me why we're here?" Clark asked quietly.
"I don't really want to spend the night all happy in front of my dad and everyone else and we have no idea what the girlfriend knows about us – if anything – and I didn't think that was going to be a good idea."
He sighed and nodded. "Good points."
The elevator opened and let us out onto our floor. I used my key to open the door and walked in without really looking around. My stomach suddenly roiled and I bolted for the bathroom.
"Are you okay?" Clark called a few minutes later.
I left the bathroom and settled on the big chair. "I've been better." I pulled the throw blanket over me, hugging my legs to me. Under the blanket, I fiddled with the still-unfamiliar wedding band. "You?"
"It's a big adjustment," he said, stretching his legs out on the couch.
"I'm sorry."
"For what? You're right. Going to your house..."
I shook my head. "For everything. For getting on that plane. For following her. For all of it."
He sighed. "It's not your fault. You're not the insane dictator."
"No, but I'm the reason we were there and I'm the one who apparently ticked him off."
"Look, we're friends right?"
I nodded.
"Okay. I wasn't going to let you go by yourself and I'm glad I didn't. What would you have done if I hadn't been there?"
I shrugged.
"Okay, then. Let it go. We are where we are and we have to deal with the hand we've been dealt at the moment."
"Well, the day after the baby's fifth birthday, we can file for divorce. I doubt we'll be able to get an annulment after that long, even if we haven't..." I waved a hand towards the bedroom.
"You're probably right."
"And I won't hold you to any paternity claims or child support or anything like that either."
"Thanks."
"Do you want that in writing?" I asked, suddenly wondering if he'd believe me.
"No. I believe you and that's probably not a good idea even if we used a lawyer with confidentiality and all that." He looked around the room. "Can I get you something to drink or something?"
I shook my head. "No. I'm fine. Thanks."
"Do you want to play some games or something?"
I shook my head again. "No. I'm getting pretty tired and I'd like to get the travel grime off of me."
"Why don't you go take a shower then get some sleep?"
I sighed and pushed up from the chair. "Sounds like a good plan."
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
I could hear the shower running. I'd reassured Lois that we'd deal with the hand we'd been dealt, but I wasn't quite sure how we were supposed to do that – how *I* was supposed to do that.
How was I supposed pretend that I was in love with Lois when every time I closed my eyes I saw Lana?
How was I supposed to stay married to her for five and a half years?
How was I supposed to do this?
One day at a time was the only answer I could come up with. One hour at a time. One night at a time.
Maybe the apartment would be big enough for a decent couch or a fouton or at least have clean carpet so I would have some place to sleep. Or maybe we'd have room for an air mattress.
I couldn't just float in my sleep. It would be a lot easier if I could. Or maybe I could just say I was sleeping on the floor and really float an inch or so off the ground.
Before long Lois came out of the bathroom and said it was my turn. I nodded and headed to the bathroom with some clean clothes and assorted toiletries. After a very long, very hot shower, I headed back out into the suite.
I figured Lois would be asleep in the very big bed but she was nowhere to be found. I glanced through the wall and saw her sound asleep on the couch.
I sighed. I felt slightly guilty but she actually looked pretty comfortable. I floated myself onto the bed and stretched out. I wasn't too sure about the whole satin sheets thing and figured that sleeping on top of the comforter was probably the best bet.
I glanced around a bit more – my eyes resting on the heart-shaped tub. I'd hoped I'd be able to take Lana someplace like this for at least one night on our honeymoon. Not our wedding night because we'd probably stay in Smallville for that – unless I flew us somewhere – because I knew neither one of us would want to wait long enough to drive to Kansas City or Topeka or Wichita or Branson or something. We'd want to get somewhere alone, preferably with a bed, as quickly as possible.
I closed my eyes.
I was married to Lois.
I was going to stay married to Lois.
I probably shouldn't be thinking about Lana like that anymore.
No.
I knew I shouldn't be thinking like that about Lana anymore.
I'd vowed before God to be faithful to Lois for as long as we both lived. I'd mentally added something along the lines of 'or until we get home and get this annulled' but that wasn't the point.
And I was sure that being faithful meant I didn't think about my girlfr... my *ex*girlfriend like that anymore.
Ex-girlfriend.
I was going to have officially break up with her. I was going to break her heart. It was breaking my heart.
I was going to have to tell Lois – my wife – that I was going to have to see the woman I loved – who I had loved since I was six – when she got back from Europe and tell her that it was over.
For the first time in a very, very long time, I actually cried.
*****
TBC
