Last time:
Lois
I lay down on the couch, back facing the edge. Clark floated on his side next to me and began working his magic on my back. Over the last several months, he'd learned where it bothered me the most and the best ways to help work out the knots.
"Is Nate behaving tonight?" he asked as he massaged.
"So far," I told him. "We'll have to see if Ellie lets me sleep though. My legs have been all twitchy lately as I try to go to sleep. Last night wasn't too bad, but it seems like half the time I get so close to asleep and then they twitch and wake me up."
"Ask Kristi about it," he advised. "Or your dad."
I sighed. "I may if it doesn't get better soon."
"Don't wait too long. You need to get as much rest as you can now before baby keeps you up all night. You don't want to go into that already sleep deprived."
"Yeah, I know." I wished I could just sink into the mattress, flat on my stomach, like I had so many times in the past but my stomach was just too big.
I still felt much better than I did when he'd started. Before I realized what he was doing, he'd scooped me into his arms and was carrying me to the bed. He set me gently on my side.
"There you go. Get some rest. I'll be back in a bit."
It *was* pretty early still. "Okay," I said with a yawn.
I burrowed under the covers as the baby kicked me again. "Behave, Nate or Ellie," I whispered. "Be good to Mom, would ya? We've got three more months, you and me, and we need to work together, okay?" I sighed as I settled further in under the covers. "I love you and so does your daddy."
*~*108*~*
June 2005
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
Three more years.
I realized that I was more grateful that in three years the threat to Christopher – and Lois – would be over than I was that my marriage to Lois would be over and I'd be free to see if Lana was still free or whatever.
I had long since acknowledged to myself that the odds of us getting back together were probably about the same as the Cubs had of winning the Series without lifting their ban on goats.
But if, once Navance was no longer a threat, I didn't at least talk to her and see where we stood, I'd probably regret it.
I watched Lois, very pregnant, reading a book to Christopher. Was this where I wanted to be?
With Christopher and this new baby? Sure. That was easy.
But Lois...
I loved her, very much, but I wasn't *in* love with her. I knew what it was like to be in love and I wasn't in love with her.
And she'd made it abundantly clear that, even though she was in love with me – and I didn't think that had changed – she didn't want to stay married just because I had nowhere else to go or because I felt obligated to her and the kids or something like that. For the moment at least, she was open to the marriage extending but only if I was in love with her.
And I wasn't.
Would I be?
There was no way to know that.
Was it possible?
I guessed it was.
Was it probable?
That I didn't know. I hadn't thought it would be probable that we'd ever make love either but we had.
Repeatedly.
But only in one eighteen hour period or so.
I sighed as I watched them together. He was pointing out each of the puppies in the Poky Little Puppy book. Lois was counting them as he pointed and he was repeating the number after her.
I couldn’t *make* myself fall in love with her, could I?
I didn't think so.
But somehow our little family would end up split. Either the kids with me or the kids with Lois or one would go with me and one with her. Either way, I knew it would tear Christopher apart. Probably the new baby too, but wouldn't he or she be too young to really understand at that point?
I shook my head. I wasn't going to think about it anymore. Not today. It was Christopher's second birthday, not a day for thinking about those kinds of things, but rather a day to celebrate.
I noticed Lois rubbing her stomach absently and frowned. She'd been doing that a while earlier, too.
Christopher hopped down and ran to the cabinet to pick another book. I walked over and leaned on the back of the couch. "Are you okay?" I asked quietly.
She looked up at me. "What?"
"Are you okay?" I asked again.
"Yeah," she said, a bit surprised. "Why wouldn't I be?"
I shrugged. "I've noticed you rubbing your stomach several times today and I wanted to check on you."
She winced and pressed on the left side of her belly. "Nate or Ellie is just giving me a hard time. Trying to come out my side two months early."
I could see her shirt move as the baby did and the odd look on her face relaxed. "Are you sure that's all it is?"
She nodded.
"No cramping or Braxton-Hicks or anything like that?"
She rolled her eyes. "Don't be a worry-wart."
I saw her shirt shift back. She gave an exasperated sigh and pushed back.
"You'd tell me if something was happening right?"
"Yes, I would. I promise. I'm only about thirty weeks. It's another couple weeks before Kristi said she's going to have me take it easy," she reminded me. "But I've been taking it pretty easy anyway when I'm home. I just don't have the energy to do too much."
I frowned. "You were taking it a lot easier last time, weren't you?"
"Maybe some. I wasn’t interning like I am now, but I’m not working either so..."
Christopher saw Sam outside and headed for the door.
"Christopher," I said sharply.
He stopped and looked at me – biting his lip, just like Lois did sometimes. "Wha', Daddy?"
"What do you need to do before you go outside?"
"As'," he said contritely.
"That's right."
"Daddy, I go ou'si' wit G'an'pa?"
"What else?"
"P'ease?"
I nodded. "Make sure he sees you before you go down the stairs."
"'Kay." He struggled slightly to open the door and headed out onto the deck. "G'an'pa!"
Sam stopped and looked up and him as the door slammed shut behind him. Christopher walked carefully down the stairs – at least as far as we could see him.
I turned back to Lois, hopping lightly over the couch after making sure no one was around. I settled gently next to her. "You'd tell me?"
She nodded. Sam and Christopher moved back into our line of sight out the window. "Do you think he realizes how different his life is?"
"Who? Christopher?"
"Yeah."
Usually Scott and Steve had a pretty easy job. There was a nice surveillance room set up in the basement that kept the whole exterior of the house under their watchful eyes at all times. A minute or two after Christopher went outside, Scott was out there as well, keeping his distance, but keeping an eye on him nonetheless. "No, I don't think he does. He doesn't know anything different."
"How do we explain it to him someday?" she asked quietly.
"Hopefully, by the time he's old enough to understand, it'll be long behind us."
She rubbed her stomach absently again. I didn't think she noticed the slight strain on her face. "I'm going to call Kristi," I told her.
"What? Why?"
I put an arm around her and pulled gently on her shoulders until she leaned against me. She stopped rubbing as the strain eased. "Humor me," I said quietly. "I don't think you see it, but every time you start rubbing your stomach your face tenses and it's worrying me a bit."
I thought she was going to protest, but she didn't and that surprised me. Maybe she wasn't quite as calm as she was acting? She just nodded.
I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and searched until I found her number. They were coming over later for Christopher's – small – birthday party, but it wouldn't hurt to talk to her now.
I invited her and Kevin and Karly over for lunch before the party and she said she'd take a look at Lois first thing.
A few minutes later, Ollie showed up with my parents, Granny and Nana.
We spent some time chatting with them. Kristi and her family showed up not too much later. The three of us headed upstairs to our room.
Lois lay on the bed while Kristi used a Doppler wand to check the baby's heartbeat. I knew the heartbeat was fine – or at least it sounded find to me – and she confirmed it.
"Everything sounds good," she said, handing Lois a Kleenex to wipe off her stomach.
I breathed a sigh of relief until I noticed Lois rubbing her stomach again, her face tensing slightly.
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
I breathed a sigh of relief when Kristi said the heartbeat sounded good.
"Right there," Clark said, suddenly pointing at me. "See?"
"What?" she asked him.
Kristi's hands were suddenly back on my stomach and she frowned.
"What?" I asked, looking back and forth between them.
"How often?"
Clark shrugged. "That's the first I've noticed in about an hour. It was every fifteen minutes or so a couple times earlier."
"What?" I asked again, more demanding this time.
"Are you not noticing that?"
I rolled my eyes and struggled to sit up. "Obviously not."
Kristi sighed. "It looks like mild contractions. Nothing too serious at this point – I don’t think you need to go to the hospital or anything like that."
I could almost feel my heart stop. "Is everything okay? I haven't noticed anything except that he – or she – seems to be trying to come out my side today and I keep having to push back to get him to shift."
Clark sat next to me. "I didn't think you were really noticing them, but I could tell when you started rubbing your stomach..."
"They're not bad," Kristi reassured me. "I do want to do a quick pelvic exam, just to be on the safe side and then you're going to take it easy. With your history of pre-term labor, we're going to have to be careful with this one."
Bed rest? Was that what she was talking about? "Bed rest?" I asked.
"Modified, most likely." She squeezed my hand reassuringly. "I'm going to go find some gloves. Why don’t you go ahead and take your bottoms off and I'll be back."
Clark stood up. "I'll go get them for you. I know where some are downstairs." He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. "I'll be right back."
"Do you want me to leave for a minute?" Kristi asked as Clark left the room.
I shook my head. "No, just hand me that blanket, would you?"
She handed me a blanket that was hanging over the back of the couch. I draped it over my middle and lay down, wiggling out of my clothes before scooting up to rest my head on Clark's pillow.
"How are you?" she asked quietly. "Really?"
I shrugged. "My husband isn't in love with me, but I'm having his baby. Things are peachy."
"I'm so sorry, Lois."
I sighed. "It's a lot better than last time. For the most part, Clark's been great, but the threat is still there, constantly there. Like being on call all the time or something, I'd guess. You can never really rest because you never know when that next call – or threat – is going to come. It's been over a year since the last – the only – real threat, but the letters still come every few weeks. I still run into his nephew every once in a while. I still get calls from the State Department when he's going to be in the country. It's like living with the sword of Damocles." I swiped at my cheeks. "Three more years and we should be free of him."
"What will that mean for you and Clark?"
"Divorce, most likely. Kids who want to live with their dad and his 'real family'." The bitterness crept in. Since he'd said something to me about always being the one to bring up Lana or the divorce, I didn't think I'd brought it up again, but it was seldom far from my mind.
"You don't think Clark sees Christopher and this baby as his real family?" she asked astounded, handing me another Kleenex.
"Did I tell you Christopher is his son?" I asked her suddenly.
"What?"
I nodded. "After... we made this baby, we both realized that the dreams we'd had at the cabin were probably real and Christopher probably really is his son. We don't know *for sure* but..."
She brushed the hair off my face as a beeping sound let us know Clark was on his way back in. "I'm glad."
"Thank you."
Clark walked in and a minute later was sitting by me while Kristi checked to make sure I wasn't on my way to the hospital.
"Slightly effaced but that's it," she told us, snapping off the glove. She gave me her best stern look as she pulled the blanket back down. "You *are* going to take it easy. If I have to chain you to a hospital bed, I will, but I don't want to."
I nodded. "So what does that mean?"
"It means, you lay down as much as you can – left side is preferable. I'm not going to put you on any kind of time limits or anything at this point, but..." She frowned. "I don't guess it's probably wise for you to move over by the elevator is it?"
"No," Clark said. "It's probably not. It'd probably be okay for us, but we want to be near Christopher and we wouldn't want to move him over there."
She nodded. "Well, I know you're going to hate this, but your house is the size of DisneyWorld. We'll get you... something. A wheelchair or motorized scooter or something because I don't want you walking down to the kitchen when no one else is around to get something to eat. You can take something with wheels to the elevator and take it down. Understand?"
I sighed. "Yes, ma'am."
"Write down whenever you notice a contraction. I know you probably won't notice all of them and that's okay."
"What about Christopher's party?" I asked. "I can't miss his party."
She smiled. "You can sit and direct things, but after that, you have to take it easy."
"Got it. I'm turning into Joey for the next few weeks."
"Joey?" they asked simultaneously.
"Good grief," I said with a roll of my eyes. "From 'Friends'. He's about as lazy as they come."
"Then, yes, you're turning into Joey."
"Hey," Clark said suddenly. "I know it's not November, but you could write your novel."
I glared at him. "I am *not* writing 'The True and Amazing Adventures of Wanda Detroit'. If you want to, you can, but it's so not my thing."
Clark had come up with that title on my birthday when I told him I was thinking about writing an original novel the next time I attempted NaNo. It was supposed to be about a singer down by the docks who died without ever finding her true love.
Yeah. Right.
Maybe I could manage to get Abby and McGee married off on some undercover assignment where she realizes she's in love with him and he wants nothing to do with her even though she's pregnant with his baby. But then right as the assignment ends some months later – because it's a long undercover assignment, of course, he realizes he's in love with her and the baby and wants to make a family with her. Or maybe that would work better with Tony and Ziva.
Or maybe not.
Kristi interrupted my thoughts. "Okay. Get dressed and Clark here is going to carry you downstairs."
I started to protest, but one look from both of them told me it was better to listen to her.
"Yes, ma'am," I said meekly. They talked in the hallway for a minute – about what was going to practically be a jail sentence, I was sure – while I got dressed.
"Okay," I hollered, irritated. "Clark can come scoop me up and carry me on downstairs now."
A second later I was in his arms as he carried me towards the elevator.
"Thank you," he said quietly as we separated from Kristi.
"For what? I'm going to be an irritable..." My voice trailed off.
"Probably," he conceded. "But thank you for not fighting it and for letting me call her earlier."
"I want this baby to be healthy as much as you do," I told him, trying not to snuggle down in his arms and rest my head on his shoulder.
But I couldn’t stop myself.
"I know," he said as my head made contact. "But you could have protested and..."
"I probably still will," I informed him. "But that doesn't mean I won't listen."
He set me down as we neared the living room. Most of the guests had arrived – Billy and Serena, Jimmy, the Sceves, Vicki and family, Kristi and family, Clark's family.
"Where's my birthday boy?" I said loudly. "Let's get this party started."
*****
TBC
