As always, thanks to Alisha, Beth, and Nancy.
Special thanks to Alisha for the fun names she inserted into the text as we tried to name Tim [because she insisted he not be Jeremy].
Last time:
Lois
Daddy kept talking about how we could redecorate the bedrooms if we wanted to. All I wanted was to make sure we got the absolutely biggest bed possible. I missed the bed from Smallville. We still kept as much distance between us as we could, but that was nearly impossible in the double bed the apartment boasted.
Two, three more weeks and we'd be here.
Then Daddy startled me. "You can stay in Lois' old room till we get the little bit of construction and redecorating done."
He and Clark had moved farther into what was going to become the nursery and were gesturing at walls and trying to decide where the doors would go best given the fireplaces between the nursery and the nanny's room and the built in shelving on both sides and where it would go best into the room that was becoming mine and Clark's.
I left the room and wandered back onto the veranda and through the door to my new home. It had been a while since I'd been in there and I wanted to reacquaint myself with the room. The bathroom was much as I remembered it and I was so glad that it had a big Jacuzzi tub. There was a kind of weird closet off the water closet. There was a linen closet in there and then another closet. Maybe I could have the main closet and that one could be Clark's.
I knew it wouldn't work that way – it wasn't big enough, but a girl could dream.
I left the bathroom and sat on the bed.
Before I realized what I was doing, I was asleep.
*~*56*~*
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
Sam and I let Lois sleep while he showed me around.
The place was beyond impressive, but Sam and Lois were as down to earth anyone I'd ever met. He introduced me to Ollie and we talked about the construction to the rooms. We chatted with Vicki who said she'd get with Lois on the decorating and for me to let her know if there was anything in particular that I wanted or didn't want. We wandered through the barn and I met a couple of the horses. We got in the Wrangler and he showed me some of the property. We'd made it back to the house and he was showing me the apartments when Lois' cell phone rang. She'd asked me to grab it as we walked out the door of the apartment on campus and I'd forgotten I had it in my pocket.
I looked at the caller ID but it only said 'unknown caller'. I frowned and answered it. "Hello?"
"Clark?"
"Yes. Who's this?"
"This is Daniel."
I groaned. "Hi, Daniel. What's up?"
"First, I wanted to see if you knew that Navance was going to be in town the week after your finals."
I ran a hand through my hair and blew out a breath. "No. I didn't know that."
"He made a comment in a news conference today that he was looking forward to seeing some 'old friends' he'd last seen around the first of the year."
I closed my eyes. "Great. I have no desire to see him and I'm sure Lois doesn't either. No, I *know* Lois doesn't either." I held a finger up to Sam who nodded as I walked away. "Why is he still so fixated on her, Daniel?"
I heard the sigh on the other end of the line. "I don't know. It could be that once he started the process, he couldn’t really stop. It could be that Lois made him too mad and now he's trying to get some sort of revenge or something. It could be... to throw us off something else."
"Could be."
"Get her out of town," Daniel advised. "Don't be anywhere near campus while he visits his nephew."
"We're moving in with Sam soon," I told him. "That'll help with security at home at least. It's a gated drive and you'd need GPS to figure out your way around this place."
"That’s good. How much does Sam know?"
"That we're the couple from Latislan. No more than the official news reports except our names."
"So not about any of the other?" he asked warily.
"No." Sam didn't know about Mindy and the guns or that I wasn't the father of Lois' baby or that Navance was still threatening us.
"Are you going to tell him any of it?"
"Should I?"
"If you're living there, he probably needs to know that there could be a security issue."
I sighed. "Probably. I'll tell him before we move in."
"Be careful," he said quietly. "Take care of her."
"I will," I said, with less conviction than I should have.
"Tell her I said 'hello'."
"Will do."
The line went dead.
"Everything okay?" Sam asked when I returned to where he was looking out the window. My parents would love the view.
I sighed. "Navance is going to be in town in a few weeks. Daniel thinks we probably shouldn't be here while he is."
Sam frowned. "Why is that? I thought it was over when you two got married and left."
I hesitated then spoke. "Sort of. The marriage has to last at least five years after the birth of the baby for his paternity claim to be invalidated."
"I don't remember that."
"He changed the law after we left." I stared out over the fields, not looking at Sam.
"Is that why you stayed married to Lois?" he asked, moving a step closer, looking slightly menacing.
"It was one of many factors," I said honestly.
"Is he threatening her? The baby? You?"
"He's sent a few letters."
"Threatening letters?" he pressured.
"Lois is going to kill me," I muttered. I was going to have to tell him more of the truth – but not that the baby wasn't mine; that we were just biding our time until we could file for divorce. "Daniel and Jill and whoever else they told at the State Department, and probably some people at the FBI, are the only ones who know about the letters. His nephew goes to Met U and he's run into us or just Lois accidentally on purpose a few times, just to let us know he's watching."
"Why is that?"
"Because if Navance has any proof that the marriage is... one of convenience or just to keep him away from the baby, then my paternity claims are invalid under Latislani law."
Sam looked thoughtful. "Would U. S. courts actually do that though? Would they let Navance take the baby of two married American parents?"
"Jill and Daniel said no, but would you want either Lois or the baby to live through that nightmare? Court dates and paparazzi, publicity. Always being branded as 'that kid'. How many people still remember Elian Gonzalez?"
He nodded. "Good point. Wouldn't want that." He thought for a moment longer. "I'll talk to Ollie and we'll get started on security arrangements and all of that. One of the guys Ellen and I went to college with – a guy named Allie – has a security firm that arranges security for VIPs all the time. I'll get a hold of him and go from there."
Lois' phone rang again. This time the ID was from the house. "I think it's Lois." I pushed the button. "Hello?" I nodded confirmation at Sam. "We're over in the apartments. We'll meet you... In the kitchen," I repeated after her. "Be there in a minute."
I followed Sam out of the apartment, shutting the door behind me.
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
I fumed the whole way back to campus.
I could *not* believe that he'd told my dad.
If I let myself calm down, I'd understand why, but I didn't want to let myself calm down.
"Why the hell did you tell him?" I seethed once the door was shut.
"Because he heard me talking to Daniel," he said.
"Why were you answering my phone?"
"It was an unknown number. Your doc's office is an unknown number. You had a test done the other day. I didn't *think* they'd call on a Saturday but you never know."
"I already got the results and everything's fine," I informed him.
"Well, thanks for letting me know," he said sarcastically.
"If you were home, I might," I muttered.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
I forgot he could hear that stuff. "Just that you haven't been home long enough to talk to since we got back from Smallville."
"I've been working and studying," he pointed out. "I thought working was a good thing. You're in no shape to at the moment and we needed a place to live after school gets out."
"And were you actually planning on telling me how much you make so I could help you look? Even if it was just an online search or two? Or is that just one more of those things that is different about us?"
He shrugged. "I've looked. There's nothing that we'd want to live in on what I make and I knew that."
"And you didn't bother to tell me?"
"So you could feel guilty? You've said several times you do."
"Yeah, I do. So?"
He changed the subject. "Listen, Daniel called. Said Navance was coming and we should get out of town while he's here because he said he wanted to see us."
I could feel the color leave my face. "What?"
"He said at a press conference that he wanted to see his good friends he hasn't seen since New Year's."
My hands went to my stomach and I sat on the bed. "He wants to get to me. To the baby."
He nodded as he sat in one of the chairs. "Probably. Or to at least freak you out."
I didn't say anything for a long minute. "I knew he was coming but..."
"You did?"
I nodded. "Jill called the other day while Daddy was here. I didn't see you again until today and today I was stressing about the whole Mindy thing."
"Yeah."
"At least Daddy told us that she's moving out."
"Means that we have a place to live. Would you have moved in if she hadn't?"
I shrugged. "I don't know."
He sighed. "Where do you want to go after the semester ends?"
I looked at him quizzically. "The house, I guess. Where else would we go?"
"Your dad suggested the cabin," he said without looking at me.
"Which would you prefer?" I asked.
"Security's easier at the house. With the driveway and alarm system and all."
"House it is then." I managed to stand up and headed to the bathroom.
~*~*~
May 2004
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
The next couple of weeks flew by and before I knew it we were packing to move to the house. I was *not* going to miss this place.
Construction on our new room wasn't quite done, not with the additional security measures being put in place in that wing. The rest of the house, too, but especially there.
We'd talked to Vicki several times and a super king size bed had been ordered. I'd seen her sly wink when she realized what we wanted. I was sure that she had no idea what the real reason was.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.
Acting 'normal' in public for a few minutes here and there was one thing.
Acting 'normal' in Smallville while never leaving the farm was something else – there they knew we weren't truly 'normal'.
Acting 'normal' there... That was a whole different matter.
I sighed. We were going to need to talk about that. How we were going to pull that off.
Should we just tell a very select few the truth? About everything but the true paternity?
I shook my head to myself. No. Too many people knew too much already.
"We need to talk."
Lois' voice shook me out of my reverie.
"About what?" I asked her.
"How we're going to pull this off," she said.
"I was just thinking the same thing."
"And?"
"We could tell your dad more of the truth," I suggested. "And maybe Vicki and Ollie."
"No." She shook her head vehemently. "I can't risk them letting something slip."
"That was my thought, too."
"So what do we do?" she asked quietly, as she sat on the bed.
I floated in mid-air. It was more comfortable than a chair or the love seat. Lois started a bit. I hadn't done much... 'special' stuff in front of her and it still seemed to catch her off guard when I did.
I sighed. "Well, in front of them act like we do on campus, I guess. The quick kisses and stuff." I rolled onto my back, threaded my fingers together behind my head and stared at the ceiling.
"What else?"
I shrugged as best I could. "When else will we see people?"
"Watching a movie together or something."
"Whenever possible, one of us holds the baby?" I suggested.
"And when that's not possible?"
"Sit together, I guess. Pretend. Stay in our room as much as possible being 'newlyweds'." I moved enough to make finger quotes.
"I guess."
I sighed. "There's something else that occurred to me though."
"What's that?"
I was sure I was turning eighteen shades of red. The package Mom had sent didn't help. "Sleepwear."
"What about it?"
She hadn't worn any of my clothes since we got back from Smallville. I wasn't sure why but I'd found all of my clothes back in my drawers once the next round of laundry was done.
"You... We..." I sighed and didn't look at her. "We don't exactly dress like newlyweds at bedtime."
"I am *not* sleeping naked," she practically yelled at me.
"That's *not* what I was suggesting," I shot back. "I was just thinking that maybe I should sleep without my shirt in case someone comes to get us for something or if I have to go to the kitchen to get a drink or something at night." I shrugged. "That's my preference anyway. I hate sleeping with a shirt on."
She nodded. "That works."
"And, um..." I floated over to the dresser and got something out of one of the drawers. "Mom sent you this."
I tossed the box to her.
"For after the baby's born," she read. She pulled out a nightgown. "I am *not* wearing this, Clark."
I sighed. "I didn't figure you'd want to, but at least I can tell Mom I gave it to you."
The nightgown wasn't all that revealing – I didn't think so anyway. It was dark green with cream lace and spaghetti straps. It was long enough that it would probably go to her knees and there was a robe that went with it. It didn't look like it was too low cut, but what did I know?
"I was just thinking that you might want to wear something a little more... something than sweats and T-shirts after the baby's born. Not all the time, but every once in a while, in case you run into someone while you're out and about or... well, for the same reasons as me."
She fingered the satin. "You're probably right."
"Nothing too... you know," I said, embarrassed.
"Don't worry," she said, the same shade of red I probably was. "I have no intention of wearing anything you might see Lana in someday."
Lana.
I hadn't let myself think about her like that in a long time, but a sudden vision of her in front of a fireplace came to me. She wasn't wearing anything then as I looked down at her. I closed my eyes and tried to will the image away. When I opened them again, instead of Lana in front of the fire, it was Lois lying there with me.
Would I ever not be conflicted about this?
She was saying something else.
"I'll go get a few things, maybe even a maternity gown or two since I have a couple months left."
I nodded. "Sounds like a good idea, I guess."
"At least we have a place to go," she said quietly.
"Yeah." I looked around. "There's not much left. I can do it fast if you want and then we can load the truck and head over in the morning."
She rolled awkwardly and then slid under the covers. "Good night."
"Good night," I said, but knew it would be a while before I slept.
*****
TBC
