Thanks, as always, to Alisha, Beth and Nancy for their fabulous help!
Pictures of the Lane house can be found in the FDK thread. Remember, I said they had money and lots of it. Joe said something to Clark to the effect of 'if you thought the cabin was nice, you should see the house'. The links are to larger versions especially of the second floor, though I recommend you read both of these parts before scurrying off to look at the pics since there may be some minor spoilers in them
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Yes, I spent WAY too much time searching for what I wanted and then WAY too much time editing the second floor floor plan but hey... it was fun
. Ignore the sky editing in the exterior pictures... Just go with it... That particular part of the house needed to go away so it did...
Last time:
Lois
As I stared out the window, hugging the pillow to me, I felt it again.
The baby moved.
Tears filled my eyes as I remembered the first time I'd felt it – when Clark was with me. It had been very nice, sharing that with Clark; sharing something about this baby with him besides my evening sickness or whatever it was. Of course, then Cruella had come along and ruined it.
I rested my hand on my stomach and waited. A minute later, I felt it again.
Tears streaked down my cheeks. It wasn't like I wanted to share all this with Clark, necessarily, but this wasn't how I'd pictured having my first baby. When I'd thought about having a baby, I figured I'd be out of college for a while, married for a few years to a guy I loved and who loved me. We probably would have had a lot of fun trying to get pregnant and then spent the next nine months getting a nursery ready and reveling in the changes. I would have been scared that he wouldn't find me attractive when I was the size of a house, but he would reassure me that there was nothing sexier than knowing I was having his baby.
This wasn't what I would have pictured and certainly not what I would have chosen.
I hadn't wanted a baby. I didn't even remember having sex. But now that this was happening... I wouldn't stop it. I *wanted* this baby. I could begin to imagine what my mom had gone through her senior year of high school when she was pregnant with a baby that wasn't my dad's, but I wasn't going to give this baby up for adoption.
I'd been thinking again about meeting my half-brother's family and I wanted to, but that meant talking to my dad and I wasn't sure I wanted to do that. I knew he didn't know the reason for the distance between us the last few months; that he didn't understand. Mindy had the wool completely over his eyes.
Maybe I'd just email him.
I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, but they went across the hall. I closed my eyes, willing myself to sleep before Clark came up.
*~*54*~*
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
I nudged the door open with my knee, glad that Lois hadn't shut it all the way behind her.
She'd rushed upstairs as soon as we pulled up to the apartment building, muttering about needing to go to the bathroom.
I should have offered to leave her in Smallville and drive the Jeep back, then fly her home so she wouldn’t have to spend two days in the car, but I hadn't thought about that. The only good thing was the email I'd gotten from Lana that said she'd be driving herself back.
Mom had cried when she read my paper and I could tell Dad had tears in his eyes by the time he was done. Of course, I'd barely talked to Lois the whole week.
It had been really nice to not have to pretend it was real. While Mom and Dad didn't know the whole story, they knew enough to know that we weren't a normal married couple and that we weren't in love. They didn't expect us to be holding hands or kissing or curled up on the couch together when we watched TV.
I'd spent a lot of time with my dad working around the farm, doing things that he would have a hard time doing getting ready for the year. I mended fences and helped fix the tractor and chopped the old oak tree that had finally fallen into firewood and put it all in the woodshed to dry for next winter.
After spending a week in Smallville – or rather on the farm because neither of us actually ventured into town after we dropped Lana off – we'd spent the two quietest days of my life driving back to Metropolis. We'd stayed at the same hotel in Indiana as we had with Lana but that time we each took a bed to ourselves rather than being forced to share with my ex-girlfriend in the room.
I set the bags down next to the bed in the apartment and sighed. I'd managed to forget just how small and run down this place was. I headed back down to the Jeep to get everything else and when I got back I found Lois unpacking her clothes.
I would have volunteered to do it for her, but she was almost done and it didn’t seem like we were speaking though I wasn’t sure exactly why.
I sighed and started to unpack my bags. We moved around each other without really speaking – just the occasional muttered 'excuse me' or 'sorry'. When I was done, I got out my laptop and started work on another assignment while Lois took a shower and got ready for bed. I noticed that she was wearing her own pajamas. Only one night while we were gone she had worn her own – the rest of the time she'd worn some of my clothes that she'd absconded with a couple months earlier when her clothes didn't fit but she didn't have any maternity ones yet.
I heard her mumble 'good night' as she crawled under the covers. I'd hoped that – aside from the road trip with Lana – we'd be able to be friends again and work on getting back to where we were before we got stuck in Latislan, before we got married, over Break, but instead something had happened that made things worse.
I didn't *think* it was telling her the truth about myself but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what it was.
~*~*~
April 2004
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
"Come on in," I said, leaving the door open behind me.
He didn't say anything as he took it in. "I don't remember this place being quite this small."
I shrugged. "You were young and in love, Daddy." I couldn't flop on the bed anymore but I did climb far enough on it to sit sort of cross-legged. My stomach was in the way.
He looked at the love seat and decided that sitting on one of the kitchen chairs was a better option. It was a smart choice. He looked around some more. "I remember it being a lot nicer, too."
I sighed. "It's closing the week after finals for a reason."
He looked back at me in shock. "What?"
"They're renovating it starting in June. We'll have to move in a few weeks."
"Where are you moving to?"
I shrugged. "We haven’t found a place yet." We hadn't looked. I'd called around some, but I didn't know what we were going to be able afford or anything like that. I didn't even know how much Clark was making.
He started to say something but the phone interrupted him. I sighed and rolled until I could reach it.
"Hello?"
"Lois, it's Jill."
I hadn't heard from anyone in the State Department in a couple months. This could not be good. I closed my eyes to brace myself. "Hi, Jill."
She sighed. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this but... Navance is going to be in Metropolis in a couple weeks."
I felt the color leave my face. "What? Why?"
"He's going to be in the States anyway and wants to see his nephew while he's there."
"Okay." My insides were starting to shake. I sighed. "Thanks for the heads up."
"Get out of town while he's there if you can."
"I'll talk to Clark," I promised.
"I gotta run, but I'll let you know if I hear anything."
"Thanks, Jill."
She hung up and I set the phone back in the cradle.
"Who was that?"
"Jill from the State Department." I took a deep breath to try to pull myself together. "She had some news for us."
"Ah."
I didn't elaborate and he didn't ask any more questions.
He'd looked like he had something else on his mind, but instead he stood. "Listen, Princess, why don't you and Clark come over for dinner on Saturday. There's something I want to talk to you about."
"What's that?"
He shook his head. "We'll talk then."
"I'll see if Clark's working or not. I'm not sure what his schedule is this weekend." I actually knew that he wasn't scheduled for Saturday night, but he'd been picking up extra shifts since we got back from Kansas. I didn't know if it was a money thing or a 'so I have a legitimate excuse to be out of the house' thing, but it didn't really matter.
Something had happened in Smallville and I didn't understand what it was. I didn't care about the whole 'alien' business. He was – generally speaking – a nice guy and it didn't matter to me where he came from. I still couldn't quite put my finger on what it was that had happened between us – was it me? Was it him? Was it some combination of the two? There was something eating at my insides that I couldn't quite place.
Daddy was saying something and I mentally shook myself. "We'll try to be there. Promise."
He held out a hand and helped me up, pulling me into a big hug. "I love you, Princess."
"I know. I love you, too."
"Are you and Clark doing okay?"
"Still getting to know each other and all that," I said honestly.
He kissed my forehead. "Take care of my grandbaby."
"I will." He held me for another minute, then left.
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
I whistled as Lois punched some numbers into the keypad. "Nice," I said as we drove up the tree lined drive, catching glimpses of a very large house as we did. We'd planned to have dinner there at least one other time, but it had been canceled so this was my first visit.
She shrugged. "Usually. When *she's* not around."
She drove up the long drive and pulled in front of what was practically a small castle on the top of a small hill. I could see horses in the distance and a barn nearby. The house was surprisingly modern with a brick and rock exterior and even a turret or two. I counted at least six chimneys and I couldn't even venture a guess as to how many bedrooms it had.
Lois pulled to a stop at the front door and we got out of the Jeep.
"Are you ready for this?" I asked quietly.
She shrugged again. "I guess."
We headed inside and Lois told me a little bit about it.
"Mom and Daddy built this while she was pregnant with me. Their plan was to have a lot of kids and maybe be foster parents someday and they wanted plenty of room. Besides that, they were young. They had more money than they had any clue what to do with. They actually paid cash for all of it." She took a deep breath. "I think Daddy's planning on me filling it with kids now." She didn't stop long enough for me to respond to that.
She opened the door and I noted hallways along either side that led to what would have to be the 'wings' of the house. We went up a few steps to a foyer with a library on one side and a formal dining room on the other.
"Dad! We're here!"
"Lois!"
A woman with short blond hair came into the dining room through another door.
"Vicki!" I watched as they hugged for long minutes.
The other woman turned to me and held out a hand, which I shook, while leaving the other arm around Lois. "You must be Clark. I can't believe Lois hasn't brought you by yet, but..." She glanced at Lois disapprovingly. "...she hasn't been home much either."
"Sorry, Vicki." Lois sounded contrite. "Clark's been working a lot and I've either been sick or..."
Vicki spoke softly. "I know what happened in August. I know why you didn't stay home."
Lois nodded, biting her bottom lip. "I figured you probably did."
A beeping sound came from another room and Vicki gave Lois another hug. "I've got to go check on that. We'll talk later, okay?"
Lois nodded.
"Nice to meet you," I said politely.
"You, too." She gave me a mock glare. "We'll talk later, too."
I smiled. I had a feeling I was going to like her.
Lois led the way past two sets of circular staircases – one on each side – and into a big living area. Open through the second story, it was bigger than any living area I'd ever seen with lots of big windows on the back wall. The view was spectacular. Pastures with horses and beyond that forest which I was sure blended into New Troy National Forest.
She tossed her purse onto one of the chairs and went through one of the sets of doors onto a big porch. She leaned up against the railing and stared over the property.
Sensing she wasn't quite ready to talk about whatever it was that was bothering her – and I really had no clue what it was, except that we were here with her dad and Mindy – I asked about something else.
"Tell me more about this place." I turned my back to the rail and leaned against it.
She sighed. "Total square footage is something like 23,000. Twelve bedrooms, sixteen bathrooms, not including the basement. All of the bedrooms have their own bathrooms, plus three half baths on the main floor and one upstairs. Over the garage in the west wing are basically two, two bedroom apartments with a door between them, complete with their own kitchens. There's a total of like six staircases: the two main circular ones you saw already, one on either side leading to each wing, another one leading upstairs near the kitchen. There's one there leading to the basement, too, and another leading downstairs from near the east wing. There's two more wrought iron circular staircase in a couple other places."
She sighed again. "Sometime when I'm not as big as this place, I'll give you a tour." She pointed to another house not too far from the barn. "That's where Vicki and her family live. Her husband, Ollie, takes care of the outside stuff and she's the housekeeper and cooks sometimes, like tonight, does laundry, stuff like that. Their sons help out sometimes, too, when they're able to. Ollie manages the guys that help him take care of the grounds and the horses, too."
She turned and looked at the house with me. She pointed to the left. "That's where the garages and those two apartments are." She pointed to the right. "In the east wing... On the main floor is a billiard room, a large... ball room or entertaining room, I guess you'd call it where Daddy hosts fancy fundraisers for different causes, a wet bar, one of those half baths, and two offices. On the second floor of that wing are three bedroom suites. In the main part of the house on the second floor are four more bedrooms suites, an office area and a computer area. I think there's... nineteen total fireplaces, but not that many chimneys because a lot of them share." She pointed to the two doors to our right. "Through there is the Master Suite. It's got a sitting room and a huge bathroom, closet area. Mom and Dad never lived in there though. They lived on the second floor with me and Lucy." She shrugged. "Daddy stayed upstairs near me after Mom and Lucy died. I think that's where he and Mindy are still living."
"It's nice," I finally said.
She snorted. "You are the master of the understatement. It's way beyond nice and you and I both know it. Mom and Dad didn't think that we should be raised as stereotypical rich kids though. He spent most of his life in a trailer park and Mom started working when she was fifteen. They both worked their way through school. We always had to help clean up and do chores and all those kinds of things. Daddy didn't buy me my first car. I paid for half of it and he matched whatever I had saved up from doing extra work for Vicki or Ollie or whatever. And he got me the Jeep for graduation, but I also had to trade in my Honda, which was worth about... a third or so of what he paid for the Jeep." She looked around. "If it hadn't all been paid for, we wouldn't have been able to keep it all. Compared to what a mortgage payment or whatever would be, upkeep is fairly inexpensive. It was built with as many cost saving features as they had – all the energy efficient stuff that was available at the time and Dad's added more since then as practical. Don't get me wrong, it still costs money, but not nearly as much as if Dad was still making payments."
I nodded. "That makes sense."
"And he rented out stalls and stuff in the barn to other people to bring in some extra money so that helped, too. Ollie gives riding lessons from time to time too and he did that for a while. Usually when he does, he uses our horses and that's the end of it. For a while, he split his lesson fees 50/50 with Dad since he was using our horses and equipment and stuff but Dad was having a hard time paying the bills."
"Princess!" Sam came out of the same doors Lois and I had.
Lois gave him a hug. "Hi, Daddy."
"Hi, Clark." He held out a hand and I shook it.
"Hi, Sam." I smiled awkwardly at him, not sure why we were here and why I had a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach about it.
He put his arm around Lois. "Vicki said dinner's ready and Mindy's looking forward to seeing you again and to meeting Clark."
Lois' smile looked forced and her tone was off. "Can't wait, Daddy."
*****
TBC
