Here is part four. This is the section that discusses how I believe Lois and Clark would have been able to reproduce and some of the results of that.
Some readers may be confused about this. Feel free to ask me for clarication on the process, or the reasons why I think it's the most logical conclussion.
Some readers will probably also disagree with the plassiblity of this process. I am prepared for that and am willing to defend my reasoning in a polite fashion. However, if too many people think it's distracting them from enjoying the story, there are things I can do to change it. It's isn't really part of the plot, though, so hopefully that won't be an issue.
So........
On with Part IV!
A Box of Swiss Chocolates
The next day, Kiley decided to start painting one of her scenes of the Alps. She looked at her sketches, trying to decide how to put it on the canvas. Should she put the mountains in the background or the foreground? And what about the picture of the golden eagle?
She was in a much better mood today than she had been a couple of days ago. She was glad she had decided to visit Larry yesterday after all, as well as get some more drawings for her painting. She smiled. Life was pretty good right now.
Suddenly she sneezed. What was that all about? Was there too much paint in the room? It didn’t usually bother her. She continued working on her painting.
A few hours later, she decided to take a break to get something to eat. She liked grilled cheese sandwiches when she ate alone. There was something enjoyable about eating something simple. Maybe it was to make up for her complicated life. She put down her supplies and headed for her kitchen.
Her kitchen was spread out, complete with all the standard appliances. She had decorated it in light blue and green. She picked up a frying pan made of steel and placed it on the burner. Then she made her sandwich and placed it in the pan. Although she didn’t like to use superspeed in her everyday life, she had no problems with using some of her powers to cook. Or at least to protect her from heat. So she never bothered with pot holders.
Kiley sniffed. Her nose was starting to run. Why was that? She continued cooking her grilled cheese happily. Finished, she poured herself a glass of milk. She liked to drink milk with her meals; it reminded her of her childhood. The image of her mother telling everyone she was the one who would pour the milk as Mom stubbornly grabbed everyone’s glasses, flashed through Kiley’s mind. She smiled.
She finished her meal and cleaned up. Now should she work on her painting again? She paused and opened her latest box of chocolates. How was it possible for chocolate to be that good, anyway? Was the man as good as the chocolates? Or was he, as the saying goes ‘too good to be true?’ She had decided to give him the benefit of doubt last night, and she was glad. She was looking forward to their next date. Still, a kind Luthor…was that possible?
Kiley sneezed again. That was the second time today that she had sneezed. And her nose was getting clogged, too. Was she getting a cold? She hoped not. Not only were they annoying in themselves, but she couldn’t be Superwoman with a cold. She could infect some of the people she rescued. Besides, it wouldn’t do for people to realize some of the superheroes were vulnerable to human diseases.
Of course the fact that she and her siblings could catch colds, flues and other diseases was something of a surprise to her parents, especially considering they had received Dad’s powers.
It probably had to do with how they had been conceived. She didn’t understand all of it, but apparently Mom and Dad had been told early in their marriage that they could not have children together because Dad was Kryptonian. They had been devastated. However, about six months later, their family doctor had told dad that he had read about a new little – known treatment that would allow him to alter his DNA enough so he could reproduce.
Her parents had been ecstatic and quickly began the procedure. Dad was asked to produce sperm which was then taken by Dr. Klien and a sperm was very delicately altered. Dr. Klien then cloned the new altered sperm so there would be enough of the altered sperm to fertilize. Then they had used artificial insemination and Mom had gotten pregnant.
Her parents and Dr. Klien had been very pleased with the procedure and they had repeated it two more times, thus giving Kiley her brother and sister. But it had a side effect. Because of the DNA altering, Kiley and her siblings were only humans with superpowers. That meant they could get sick, be drugged, and needed to watch cholesterol.
That was probably one of the reasons why Mom always insisted on her children drinking milk, Kiley said to herself. Her mom wanted her children to have a healthy immune system. It was also the one of the reasons she insisted they avoid alcohol. Besides her mother’s own history with living with an alcoholic, drunken super-powered people could cause a lot of damage with their strength and loose tongues.
Of course the benefit of having human genetics was that drugs also helped her when she was sick. Speaking of which, she wondered if she had any cold medicine, as she sneezed again. She needed to blow her nose.
Kiley continued working on her painting that afternoon with a box of tissues handy. It was annoying to have to blow her nose or sneeze every so often, but it wasn’t really a big deal. Still, she should mention to her father that he needed to handle all of the emergencies for the next few days.
What time was it? Would he be at the Daily Planet or at home? She walked into her living room. It was 5:00PM, so it could go either way. It depended on how many stories her parents had worked on today, how many calls for Superman her father had already received, and whether her parents had anything else planned for tonight.
Kiley decided to try the Daily Planet first. She dialed her father’s number.
“Daily Planet, Clark Kent” he answered.
“Hi Dad, it’s Kiley,” she responded.
“Hi sweetie, what’s up?” he asked cheerfully.
Kiley sniffed again. “Well, I think I’m coming down with a cold. So I’d like you to remember that I probably won’t be available to answer calls for help for a few days.”
Her father’s voice softened. “Sure, that’s fine. But are you okay? You’re living by yourself. Do you need me or your mother to come check on you?”
Kiley sighed. Dad and his over protectiveness again! “Dad I’m going to be fine. It’s just a cold. It’s more annoying than anything else.”
“Yeah, I know I guess. I just don’t like to see you get sick. It’s too bad you didn’t inherit my ability to resist disease as well as invulnerability,” Dad replied as he sighed as well. “Are you sure there isn’t anything I can do for you?”
“No Dad!” she sighed in exasperation. “Just answer all the superhero calls for the next few days. I’ll see you later. Say hi to Mom for me. And Dad? I love you.” Then she hung up the phone.
Maybe she would watch a movie tonight, since she wouldn’t be able to go outside. And she was all done painting for now. She sneezed again. Cold medicine! She needed cold medicine.
Kiley checked her medicine cabinet. There was a bottle of night – time cold medicine in there, but it was the kind that made a person drowsy. She didn’t want to go to sleep quite yet. She’d save it for right before she went to bed.
For the time being, she’d simply keep the tissues handy. So what movie should she watch tonight? She walked over to her DVD cabinet. It was wooden but painted with green and pink swirls. She had decorated it herself. Even though she usually painted paintings rather than furniture, she had enjoyed it immensely. Looking at it now brought a smile to her face.
Well what movies did she have? She preferred old movies. But she had several different kinds of those. There were the classics, including Casablanca, Affair to Remember, and Gone with the Wind. There were tearjerkers like, Schindler’s List, Love Story, and Ghost. But the movie she finally decided on was Heidi.
Heidi took place in what was becoming one of her favorite places to visit, Switzerland. It showed the beautiful Swiss Alps and the countryside through the eyes of an eight – year old girl
Watching Heidi gave her hope that things could work out between her and Larry. Surely a relationship that was surrounded by such beautiful countryside had to succeed, right? Besides Heidi was able to get what she wanted by the end of the movie. She was able to return to her grandfather and Switzerland without losing her friendship with Clara and her family. That meant there was hope for her as well, Kiley thought to herself.
She grabbed some tissues and blew her nose again. It would, however, be more pleasant if she could finish the movie without sneezing!
Maybe she should just take some cold medicine and go to bed.
The next morning, Kiley felt worse. Not only was her nose completely clogged, but her throat was very sore. And she felt very weak. So much for her cold being only annoying!
She should probably call Larry and tell him she wouldn’t be coming tonight after all. There was no way she was going to be able to fly tonight. Besides, she didn’t look very appealing. She knew her nose was red and swollen because she had to blow it so often. And she didn’t feel very appealing, either.
How was Larry going to find her attractive now? Lex Luthor always liked beautiful women. Surely his nephew would be the same in that respect. And she certainly wasn’t beautiful today. She sighed and took some more cold medicine and got back into bed. Maybe she could sleep it off.
Hours later she woke up again. She really did need to call Larry. She certainly couldn’t stand him up again, she thought as she remembered how upset he had been when he had thought she stood him up before. She stretched and got out of bed. Then she blew her nose again. Gosh she felt awful!
Kiley used her X – ray vision to scan her apartment. She could find his business card quicker that way. And since she didn’t have the strength to look all over her apartment by normal or superspeeed, that seemed to be the best option.
She found the card upstairs on her dresser. It was a good thing she had kept it after all. She remembered what happened after finding out Larry’s last name was Luthor, especially after she looked up more information on Lex Luthor and found the connection to her mother. She had considered throwing the card away, ripping it up, or even throwing it into the sun. Fortunately she had decided to keep it “just in case.”
So now it looked like she was about to call Larry Luthor. Was she ready for this? Didn’t calling someone indicate a more serious relationship? She sneezed again. Would he even recognize her voice with this stupid cold? Then she pictured the way his face looked when he had thought she had stood him up. She grabbed the card.
She was still going to have to go back downstairs in order to use her phone, though. She wished she didn’t have to walk all the way down there. This was one occasion where she would have used superspeed in her own home. She didn’t really need the extra time to think and relax. But flying would have simply taken more energy out of her.
Ten minutes later, Kiley finally made to the phone in the living room. She used her fingers to brush her hair before picking up the phone. Then she quickly dialed the number. “Hello,” said the person on the other end in Swiss German.
“Hello,” Kiley replied in the same language. “I’d like to speak to Larry, please.”
“One moment, ma’am.”
Larry picked up the phone. “Hello, Kiley! What’s going on?”
Kiley sniffed again. “Well, I, uh, don’t feel well. I have a cold. So I don’t think I’ll be able to see you tonight.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Larry replied sympathetically. “Maybe I could come over and bring you some chicken soup or something,” he added, trying to be helpful.
That was not going to happen on so many levels! Kiley thought to herself. In the first place, she couldn’t very well tell him she was in Metropolis. He thought she was staying in Switzerland until she finished her artwork, instead of flying over when she needed to. Besides, there was no way she was going to let him see her like this!
“Well, I don’t think that would be a good idea….I wouldn’t want you to catch my cold,” Kiley said, glad that she came up with a logical reason.
“I’m not worried about that. Do you have anyone to take care of you? It’s lonely to be by yourself when you’re sick. Let me come over.”
“No, really I’ll be all set.” Kiley insisted. Then she quickly hung up. That conversation was becoming uncomfortable. Still he was right. It was lonely to be by yourself when you’re sick. She blew her nose again. Maybe she shouldn’t have ‘chased Dad off’ so – to – speak so quickly yesterday.
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Meanwhile, Lois and Clark were walking back to the Jeep. They had just finished interviewing one of the city council members.
“He knows more than he’s saying, Clark.” Lois commented, frustrated.
“I know,” he replied. “His heart rate was over 150.”
Lois nodded, glad that her husband agreed with her assessment. Then she burst out laughing.
Clark looked confused. “What’s so funny?”
“I love your ‘Smallville expressions,’ Clark,” she replied grinning.
“Huh?” he asked. Then suddenly his eidetic memory kicked in. “Miranda,” he grinned, as well, remembering one of the earliest cases in their partnership. When he had said “her heart rate is over 150”, he had explained it by saying it was an expression. Lois had said that it must be a Smallville expression.
“Well, I’m glad you like them, because I’ve got plenty of them,” he teased his wife. “That’s what happens when you spend the first eighteen years of your life there.”
“Well,” she laughed and bumped her hip with his. “I’ve got plenty of Metropolis sayings, too. After all, I’ve lived here all my life.”
“I love’em.” Clark replied. He put his arm around her.
“You know, Smallville expressions and traditions always make me think of family. The closeness everyone has there. I’m glad we have that with our family, too. In fact, I was thinking of going to visit Kiley tonight. She’s got a cold, you remember. I just think it would be a good idea to check up on her. Maybe make her some chicken soup.”
Lois nodded. She could understand that.
So when they got back to Hyperion Avenue, Clark quickly made some chicken soup and headed over to Kiley’s. He hated it when his kids got sick. Why couldn’t they inherit his invulnerability to diseases as well as bullets, fire, and other such things? And he took it especially hard when his Kiley got sick. He knew it was just a cold, but he was still hoping to make her feel better somehow.
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Kiley had spent most of the rest of the day lying on her blue velvet couch. She felt awful. She knew she should get something to eat, but her strength had almost disappeared today. How could she get up?
Suddenly she heard a knock on the door. Who was bothering her today, of all days? “Kiley?” She heard her father’s voice. “I’ve got some chicken soup for you.”
Thank goodness for Dad! He had come after all. “Come in, Dad,” she commented softly.
He opened her door and stepped inside. “Gosh Kiley! You look awful. Why didn’t you call me earlier, sweetie?
Kiley sneezed. “I guess I didn’t think about it for a while.” That was true. When she was trying to decide what to do about Larry this morning, she certainly hadn’t thought to call her father. “And then I didn’t want to bother you after I’d told you I’d be okay. But I’m glad you’re here, Dad.” She smiled weakly at him.
Her father sighed. “Well, I’ll get your soup warmed up. He took the lid off the container and used his heat vision until it was warm, but not too hot. Unlike her, Dad had no problem with using his powers to make everything quicker, whether it was super-speed or heat vision.
Then he handed the container to her very gently and took a seat next to her on the coach. He sat with her for the rest of the night as she finished her soup, drank juice, and took naps. She was glad she wasn’t lonely anymore.
A Box of Swiss Chocolates
