At long last, this is the final chapter! I want to thank everyone who helped with this fic – Beth (the only one I think who managed to stick through this from the very beginning), Carol, Mark, and Mary Beth! And of course, a huge thank you to all of you who reviewed. While I know there are many much longer stories out there, this is the longest story I've ever written by far and your encouragement helped a ton!
A special thanks to Carol, Beth, and Mark for their help with this chapter. The original version was just a skeleton of this before they got to it.
From Chapter 61
She moved closer to place both her hands in his. “I love you, Clark Kent, and not Clark, the reporter, but Clark the good, kind man who is my best friend and closest confidante. If you were a superhero, flying around in tights to save people, living a super-powered life, I would love you just the same. Can't you believe that?”
He looked at her with wide eyes for a few minutes before asking, “You're not angry? About lying to you.”
“You are clearly scared of your own skin,” Lois teased. “We'll need to work on that. But no, I'm not. I won't tolerate it anymore. I mean that, Clark. From this moment on, I expect you to be one hundred percent honest with me. But I'm ready to move forward.”
Clark looked at her like he still did not believe her so she moved forward until her lips had nearly touched his. She could not do it. It was too hard to kiss him. What if she was misreading the signs and he did not want to kiss her?
He moved forward the smallest amount and their lips touched. It was incredible. Lois smiled against his lips. Kissing Clark was better than kissing Superman. She felt connected to him in away she never had with Superman.
She closed her eyes and lost herself in the kiss. They were finished talking. Talking was overrated.
Chapter 62
Superman flew slowly over Metropolis. He wondered if this was going to be his last patrol here. He had no idea how he was supposed to contact Herb to go home. He had expected Herb to just show up, but he was no longer sure that was the case. He had also expected that Herb would come by if he went way off track. That had been proven wrong by Herb's not showing up the first time he kissed Lois.
Wait. There was someone on the roof of the Daily Planet building. What were they doing? Actually, there was more than one person. He swooped down closer. Was it real? Was he imagining things?
“Lois?” he asked as he landed. She nearly flew into his arms and he held her more tightly than he had ever done before. Then he pulled her away from him and pushed her to arm's length so he could look at her. He took in her short hair and slightly fuller breasts, and, most of all, the wide smile on her face. “You are so beautiful,” he whispered.
He nodded to Herb and the small man came over. “I'll give you some time to get reacquainted with Lois and say your goodbyes here. Fly back here when you're ready to leave and I'll take you home.”
“I'm really going home?” he asked.
“Yes. You did excellent work, Clark. The Guardians are very pleased,” Herb said before walking to the other end of the roof and disappearing.
“I can't believe I'm going home,” he said to Lois. “I'm never letting go of you again.”
“So, you missed me,” she teased him. “How long have you been here? Herb wouldn't tell me anything more than that it had been a long time for you since we last saw each other.”
Superman sighed. “It's been about nine months. Luthor's capture was two or three weeks ago now.”
“Oh, Clark,” Lois said. “You must have been so lonely.” She put her arms around him, but he moved away.
“We should talk. You may not want to hold me when I've told you what happened here,” Superman said, his voice soft.
“What are you talking about, honey?” Lois asked quietly, taking his hand in hers.
“I… I missed you so much, Lois,” he said. “So much. But I started to forget you. Not that I forgot you existed or anything like that, but I couldn't picture you in my mind.”
“Oh, Clark,” Lois said, moving to embrace him, but he shook her off.
“You don't understand!” he said. “You shouldn't feel badly for me. I… I cheated on you, Lois. Okay? I'm so sorry and I don't know what I was thinking, but I…”
“Clark!” Lois said firmly. “Calm down and tell me what happened. Really tell me. Stop making it out to be something awful. Let me decide.”
“You know how when you were considering marrying Luthor you asked Clark to see Superman?” he said, tears streaming down his face. He could not recall the last time he had cried this much, but… what if she did not forgive him? What if he had lost everything in his own universe because of his behavior here?
Lois nodded. “I was stupid and thought I was in love with Superman and made that silly comment about loving you if you were an ordinary man. Did the Lois here do that, too?”
Superman shook his head. “No, she didn't have a chance. I don't know what came over me, Lois, but she told me she loved me and I… I told her I loved her, too. I kissed her, Lois. Not just that time, but twice after that, too. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't…”
“Stop it!” Lois nearly shouted at him. “What is wrong with you? I told you that I knew how hard this was going to be. I told you I almost kissed the other Clark, and I was with him for a week at most. You were here for months and at the very end you got confused and you think I'm going to throw away thirteen years of marriage for that? Get over yourself, Clark. You're no better than the rest of us. You make mistakes, too.”
Superman laughed through his tears. “Are you really more upset that I'm upset than that I kissed her?”
“That you kissed who? Me essentially? Yes. Did I want you to kiss her? No, of course not. But did I expect you, too? Yeah, I sort of did. I know you, Clark. You are a lunkhead with a soft spot for Lois Lane. It's one of the reasons I love you so much.”
“I don't deserve you,” Superman said as he took his wife into his arms.
“Of course you don't,” she smiled at him. “Now kiss me, Lunkhead.”
***********************
“Well, it looks like you got a taste of kissing Clark Kent and can't stop,” Lois said as her husband let her down.
For a moment the couple on the couch did not stir, but then Clark pulled away. “Lois,” he said.
“Hmmm?” the woman on his lap replied. “I thought I told you. Less talking, more…”
“Not you,” he laughed. “Her.”
Lois turned around. “Oh,” she said. “You're her. You're… well, Superman's wife.”
“And you're... well, Lois Lane,” Lois said with a smile.
Lois stood up and moved over to her doppelganger, walking around her. She nearly bumped into Superman in doing so and stopped. “Oh,” she said. “Um… Clark explained everything to me. Everything. I understand.”
“I'm glad,” Superman said. “I meant what I said. I do care about you.”
“But I'm not her,” Lois said with a smile, gesturing to Superman's wife. “And you're not him,” she gestured to Clark. “I completely understand.”
“I'm glad,” Superman said. “Really.”
“So… um… when did you cut your hair?” Lois asked Lois.
Superman's wife ran her fingers through her hair self consciously. “I was a few years older than you. I've grown it back a few times, but Clark prefers it like this.”
“You do?” Lois asked, turning to face Clark.
Clark laughed. “I think she means her husband.”
“Oh, right. I forgot your name is Clark, too.” Lois laughed. Then she turned to Clark. “Do you like it better short?”
Clark moved behind her to bury his face in her hair. “No, I like it like this. But you'd look beautiful however you wore it.” Then picking his head up, he asked. “Does this mean you're heading home?” he asked Superman.
“Soon,” Superman said.
“Wait a second!” Lois interrupted. Looking at Superman she said, “When we talked earlier today, you said I was going to win a Pulitzer. Am I really?”
Superman's wife laughed and Lois turned to her. “Did you? Win a Pulitzer?”
“I did. And I'm guessing our lives are pretty similar. Well, except that I wasted another year not being with Clark.”
“And,” Lois said softly, “your Chad died sooner than mine.”
“What?” Lois asked. “Who?”
“Chad,” Lois said. “Your high school boyfriend.”
“Oh, right. I forgot about him. We only dated for a few weeks before that rock climbing accident,” Lois said.
“Clark saved Chad during that accident and he lived,” Superman told his wife.
“Oh,” Lois said in surprise. “Did you two…”
“We were pretty serious,” Lois said. “But he died a few years later. We were freshmen in college.”
“Oh, I'm so sorry,” Superman's wife said. “That must have been so hard for you. I was sad when Chad died, but we weren't that serious. He wasn't…”
“It doesn't matter,” Lois interrupted. “That's all behind me now. Wait. Did you say that you wasted another year not being with Clark?”
“Well, it's a long story, but yes,” Superman's wife said.
“Did you know? That he was Superman, I mean?”
Lois laughed. “That's a dangerous question to ask. It's a bit of a sore spot. No, I didn't know.”
“You didn't tell her?” Lois asked Superman.
Superman flushed slightly. “As you've probably figured out, the whole "I'm an alien from another planet and I moonlight in tights' thing is a bit hard for Clark Kent to admit to. Apparently, for many Clark Kents.”
“But she's your wife!” Lois insisted.
“Lois,” Clark said softly. “She wasn't his wife yet and I think…”
“Right,” Lois cut in, blushing. “Sorry. You did say this was a sore spot, so I should have just dropped it. It's just… sometimes I forget not to be a reporter.”
“I think I can understand that,” Superman's wife smiled.
“So,” Lois said in an effort to change the conversation, “Clark says you two have children.”
“Oh, yes,” Superman's wife's face lit up. “Would you like to see pictures?”
“Can we?” Clark asked moving to stand by Lois' side.
“This is Emily and this is Jory,” Lois said, showing the pictures in her wallet. “Emily is twelve and Jory is eight.”
“They're beautiful,” Clark said.
“They really are,” Lois agreed.
“Clark,” Superman interrupted. “I was going to take Lois to see your parents before we go. If you want to come with us…”
“Do you?” Clark asked Lois. “Mom would love to see you.”
“Are you going to take me flying?” she asked. “I've never flown with you, have I?”
“No, you haven't,” Clark smiled back at her.
“Well then, what are we waiting for?” She jumped up, knowing he would catch her.
***********************
“It's so nice to meet you,” Martha said as she handed Superman's wife a cup of coffee.
“Clark tells me you've been wonderful to him while he's been here,” Lois said.
“It's been our pleasure,” Martha said including Superman in her comment. “You probably don't need us to tell you that your husband is a special man.”
“And he missed you terribly,” Jonathan said with a smile.
“I know,” Lois said, taking her husband's hand in hers. “This was a lot easier for me. Herb came to get me for this trip about four minutes after he left and I had come for a visit just a minute ago.”
“This is so weird,” Lois whispered to Clark. “Did you get used to this living with him?”
Clark smiled. “It did take a little bit of getting used to. It was weird how he always knew what was going to happen beforehand, though.”
“Things in their universe were that similar?” Lois asked.
“Very similar,” Superman answered her. It was different being around Lois with his wife right here. Somehow it made her feel more like a little sister or something. He still cared about her, but there was no danger of his doing something stupid.
“Did you also consider marrying Lex?” Lois asked Superman's wife.
“Consider it?” Lois laughed. “Goodness, that was one of the worst parts of my life. I almost married him. Didn't back out until I was at the head of the aisle.” She paused, “I guess that didn't happen here. Since Superman…”
“Right,” Lois said blushing. “So things were different for you.”
“Yeah, Perry, Jimmy, and Jack stormed into my wedding and Henderson arrested him. It was crazy. But I'm sure it was here, too, with Lex jumping off the balcony and the cage and all,” Superman's wife said.
“What cage?” Lois asked.
There was silence around the room before Superman spoke. “Luthor wanted to kill Superman. In our universe it was just for sport, here he was fueled on by jealousy as well. So he built a cage and lined the bars with kryptonite.”
“But wouldn't that kill you?” Lois asked.
“He escaped,” his wife said. “Just before Lex jumped.”
“But… I'm confused,” Lois said. “I saw you just before that. You were fine.”
“I didn't go in this universe,” Superman said quietly and both Loises looked at him in surprise.
“You didn't?” his wife asked.
“I… I went in his place,” Clark said.
“You were in a cage?” Lois turned to him, her eyes wide. “Luthor put you in a cage?”
“I'm fine, Lois,” he said softly.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “You're really going to be okay?”
“I'm sure,” he insisted. “That was weeks ago and as you've clearly witnessed today, my powers are back.”
“Well, we should probably go,” Superman's wife stood up.
Superman followed more reluctantly, but he knew she was right. He watched his wife hug these people goodbye, but she barely knew them. This was much easier for her.
Martha came to him while he stood there watching. “We are going to miss you. You've been a wonderful addition to our family,” she said, tears falling down her cheeks.
“Thank you,” Superman said, whispering into her hair. “I've felt so at home here. You and Jonathan have really helped me feel so much less lonely. You can't know how much I've appreciated that.”
“Clark,” Clark interrupted. “I know you need to go, but maybe… well, maybe one more game of basketball before you go?”
“Basketball?” Lois asked.
“Oh, you have to stay,” Martha said.
“I promise you ladies, you've never seen anything like this,” Jonathan added.
The group moved outside and within minutes the two Kryptonians were shooting across the field, basket balls falling left and right.
“Incredible,” Lois muttered and her doppelganger laughed.
“I don't think I've ever seen Clark have so much fun,” Superman's wife said.
Lois stole another look at Superman's wife. They did look a lot alike. She was torn between wanting to speed up to the place where she and Clark were like the other Clark and Lois and wanting to slow down.
This morning, she had been ready to tell the world all about what Superman and Clark were doing. Then she found out what it was they were doing and that anger had all melted away. She was not even sure why. Clark had lied to her and she was okay with that?
She was, though, and she knew it. It was weird, but she sort of understood it. What was it that she had told Perry when he asked if she never lied to Clark? Something about it being different?
She had thought it was different – partly because Clark grew up in Smallville, but more than that because she had a bad history with men. Clark should have been more honest with her because she had been lied to in the past. Now she realized how selfish that was. She had decided that because she knew her own history and not Clark's, that she had had a harder life than he had.
If she had known at the time about what had happened when he was a teenager… Clark had saved Chad. How weird was that! She wondered for a moment – what if Clark's rescues had never been caught, so he had kept doing them and he had somehow managed to save Chad again during the car accident? She and Chad would have lived together during college and… What would have happened? They would have gotten married, probably. But what about her and Clark?
Would they have ever met? Maybe Clark would never have settled in Metropolis if that was the case? If he did, though, what would have happened to her? This morning, the answer to that would have been clear. She and Chad would have been married and she and Clark would have been best friends.
Now she knew better, though. She and Clark were best friends, but that was not all they were. She glanced down again and saw the wedding band on the other Lois' finger. She was destined to marry Clark Kent, the Hack from Nowheresville.
She watched as Clark swooped down from far above to drop a basketball through the hoop. That realization was not nearly as scary as she would have thought it would be.
She stole another glance at Lois. Could she ask her a couple of questions? Was that allowed? There was so much she wanted to know. How long had it taken her to forgive Superman for not telling her who he was? Had Lois forgiven him as quickly as she had forgiven Clark? How long were they engaged for? How had they decided they wanted to have children? She had never wanted them herself, but this Lois seemed happy enough and her children were beautiful. Did they have super powers? How did Lois, without powers, discipline super-children?
She took a deep breath, “Lois,” she asked and the older woman turned to her smiling. She was so friendly. How could Lois not hate her for what had happened between her and her husband? “I'm sorry for… well, I'm just sorry. I didn't know he was married and…”
Superman's wife put a hand on Lois' arm. “It's all right. Really. I should thank you. You could never have understood before now how hard being here was on Clark. I really appreciate that you were kind enough to him that he was able to feel that at home here. That he was able to forge a relationship with you where he cared that much.”
“How can you just forgive him like that?” Lois asked.
Superman's wife laughed. “It takes years of being married to him to learn this fully, but one thing you need to learn about Clark Kent – he may be Superman, but that doesn't mean he's not an idiot. He screws up. A lot. And when you have the responsibilities he has, sometimes it's easy for those screw ups to be big.
“Of course I didn't want him to kiss you, but I know him, so it doesn't surprise me. When I was where you are… I thought love was supposed to be easy, and if you were in love it meant that you couldn't get hurt. I know better now. It takes work and a lot of forgiveness.
“I won't lie. That was a hard thing for me to learn, but over time I realized it was worth it. I had two choices – I could learn to forgive Clark when he screwed up or I could learn to live without him. As hard as learning to forgive was, I think it was infinitely easier than learning to live without him would be.
“Besides, I'd rather forgive someone like Clark who means well and feels horrible when he does something wrong than someone like Lex – where I barely understood at the time all the things he was doing wrong and he felt no remorse for it. That's the key, I think. Remembering that no matter what he does, Clark is not Lex or Claude. Even when he hurts me, he doesn't mean to.”
“That's it?” Lois asked with a smile. “The secret to a happy life with Clark Kent.”
“Something like that,” Lois said smiling in reply. “That's not to say I never get angry at him or that I always forgive him immediately. I'm way too stubborn for that. But I do try to remember even when I'm really angry at him that life with Clark is easier, more rewarding, and more fun than life would be with someone else. Not that it's always easy to remember, but it makes me want to work through our problems rather than leave.
“And really, as husbands go. He's pretty good. He doesn't screw up too much.”
“What was that, honey?” Superman asked with a kiss as he passed by on the way to shoot another basket.
“I was just saying I thought I'd keep you,” she called after him and his laugh floated down to them.
Lois watched in amazement how comfortable they were with each other. Even though she was already more comfortable with Clark than she had been with anyone else, it was hard to imagine being that comfortable with each other.
She was about to ask Lois more questions when Superman and Clark stopped their game.
“I'm going to miss that,” Clark said.
“Me, too,” Superman agreed.
“Who won?” his wife asked.
“No one,” Clark said. “We weren't playing to win. We were just playing to… play.”
Lois looked at Superman's wife and they both rolled their eyes.
“What's the point of playing then?” Lois asked her husband, voicing both Loises thoughts.
“I love you, you competitive freak,” Superman said to his wife as he wrapped his arms around her.
Lois watched their interaction and realized she did not have any more questions for the other Lois. She did not need to know everything. It might be fun to find out on her own. Well, not completely on her own. She would be with Clark.
“Are you ready?” Superman asked his wife.
“I think so. The question is, are you ready?” she answered him.
Superman moved over to hug Martha again before saying good bye to Jonathan. “Thank you for being so understanding.”
“Thank you. You know how I feel about my son. You being here really helped him,” Jonathan said.
Superman moved over to Lois. “I… I really am sorry for all that happened between us, Lois. You mean a lot to me.”
“I'm not,” Lois said, leaning forward to engulf him in a hug. “Sorry I mean. Without it, I'd never have admitted how I felt about Clark. Thank you.”
Superman and Lois broke their embrace, and Superman turned to Clark. “I don't know if we'll ever see each other again,” Superman said quietly.
Clark said nothing for a moment, but then moved to engulf Superman, hugging him tightly. “Thank you for everything you gave up for me. I… I can never repay you for that. And for being my friend. I've… never had a friend like you before. I'm going to miss you.”
“I know what you mean. I've never had a close male friend either, aside from Jimmy and Perry…”
“And that's not the same,” Clark said.
“Not by a long shot,” Superman said. “I'm glad I came, Clark. Really. Getting to know you was worth it.”
The two men hugged once more, before Superman took his wife in his arms and flew off.
“I can't believe…” Clark said, but could not finish his thought.
“You've been blessed,” Martha said.
“First with Superman and now with Lois,” Jonathan added with a smile.
The three Kents hugged and Martha snaked an arm out to include Lois.
“Well, we should probably head back, too,” Clark said.
“But you'll come by this weekend for dinner, right?” Martha asked.
“Of course,” Lois said, surprised at how easily she seemed to have slipped into the Kent family.
“Good night,” Clark said, hugging each of his parents and she followed suit. Then Clark leaned over to pick her up.
“Ready?” he asked her.
“To go with you?” Lois asked. “Anytime, anywhere.”
