Last time:
Clark
"He's going to be fine," I told her again, a bit more forcefully, hoping that she'd believe me – hoping that I'd believe me. I had an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach that there was something we were missing or something, but I wasn't about to tell her that.
"I know. Now go home, get some rest, and bring Nate's big brother back in the morning."
"Yes, ma'am."
She glared at me and I laughed.
"Sorry. Yes, Queen Lois of Lane, ruler of Lane and Duchess of Kent."
"Better."
The nurse chose that moment to walk in. "Sorry about the delay. Let's get you checked out so you can get some rest."
"I'll see you in the morning," I said quietly, kissing her one more time on the forehead.
I squeezed her hand slightly – and she squeezed back – before I headed out the door and home.
*~*111*~*
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
"Mommy!" Christopher came running into the room ahead of Clark. "Where baby?"
I laughed. "The baby's name is Nate," I told him as he crawled up on the bed next to me.
"Where Na'?" he asked as he settled in. "I mi' you, Mommy."
"I missed you, too, little man."
"Where Na'?" he asked again.
Clark laughed with me as he set down the diaper bag.
"He's in the nursery right now," I told them.
"Everything okay?" Clark asked.
I nodded. "Dr. Shanks hasn't been around yet. They won't bring him in until after he's been checked out."
Clark sat in one of the chairs. "How'd he do overnight?"
I sighed. "I actually haven’t seen him again," I admitted. "They said that he wasn't holding his temperature still so they had him under the heat lamps. He was doing better but by then it was almost time for Dr. Shanks."
"Everyone sends their love and says they'll be up later," he told me.
"That's good." I'd managed to get a shower and wash my hair and actually felt half-human again.
"You look great," he told me before taking a bite of his breakfast biscuit. They must have stopped somewhere on the way.
I grimaced. "I feel better, but I can't imagine that I look good."
"Daddy go' ole M'Don'ds for bre'fas'," Christopher told me.
"Did Daddy let you eat in my car?" I asked, giving Clark a look.
Christopher nodded. "I tol' him no, bu' he sai' okay."
I laughed. "It's okay. *This* time," I added, a warning tone in my voice. "Daddy knows you're not supposed to eat in Mom's car."
Clark just grinned.
There was a knock on the door. "Someone's looking for his mom," the nurse said, pushing a portable bassinet in front of her.
I read the numbers off the band on my wrist and she matched them to the ones on Nate's wrists.
"Are you ready to try nursing?" she asked.
I glanced at Clark. He shifted uncomfortably. "Hey, bud, why don't you hold your little brother for a minute and then we'll go look at the other babies while Mom feeds him?"
"'Kay."
Clark stood and took Nate carefully out of the bassinet.
I shifted slightly and helped Christopher position his arms to hold him. I helped support Nate in his arms.
"Hi, Baby," Christopher said quietly.
"Nate," I reminded him.
"Hi, Na'."
We sat there for another minute.
"Okay, Christopher, let's go and let Mom feed Nate, okay?" Clark said, carefully taking Nate from Christopher.
"'Kay, Daddy."
Clark handed Nate to me as Christopher climbed down off the bed.
They left and the nurse worked with us to get Nate to latch on. By the time he was done trying to breastfeed, we'd decided that he had good technique for such an early baby but wasn't quite strong enough to get what he needed. The nurse left as Martha, Jonathan, Nana and Granny arrived. I passed Nate – and his bottle – off to Martha who showed him off to everyone else. They all used the hand sanitizer and passed him from person to person.
"How are you feeling, Lois?" Nana asked.
"Tired," I told them honestly. "I didn't get much sleep last night. It was nearly 1:30 by the time the nurse left and they come and check on me every three hours or less so..." I shrugged. "I've been up for good since about seven. And they try to be quiet in the hallways and stuff, but they're not always successful. And I really prefer my bed at home," I said with a sigh. "Or even the bed in the boys' room."
They all, especially Martha and Jonathan, gave puzzled looks at that.
"Christopher was up every three hours or so the first few weeks he was home. I slept in there so he wouldn't wake Clark up. Clark was working and I wasn't so I didn't see the point in neither of us getting any sleep. I figured I'd probably do the same this time. Regardless, I'll sleep better once I get home."
"When are they releasing you?" Jonathan asked.
"Probably tomorrow. If they want to keep Nate another day, they can probably keep me another day. They said that was a possibility. It depends on his temperature and blood sugar. Overall, he's doing really well for a 35 weeker, though." I shared a look Martha and Jonathan at that.
"He looks great," Granny said as she took him from Jonathan. "What's his full name again?"
"Nathaniel David Kent, after Jonathan's and my grandpas and my half-brother."
"Nat would have liked that," Granny said quietly. "No one's been named after him, as far as I know, anyway."
"We talked about William," I said in equally quiet tones, "but it was too soon for Clark. We'd talked about David as a middle name last time, too, but decided that we wanted to use both of Clark's dads instead and that we'd use David if we ever had another boy." Actually, I'd said I'd use David if I ever had another boy – I just hadn't dreamed it would be with Clark and I knew he hadn't either.
Speaking of that first boy... He bounded back in followed by Clark. Even with all the grandparents around, he made a beeline for me. That was unusual. Normally, he was all about the grandparents – because they let him have more candy than Clark and I did, I thought.
I thought he'd missed me the day before and that was why he was a little clingy – or it could be a new baby thing.
"Hey, Nate brought something for you," I told Christopher. "He wanted to give you a present for being such a good big brother."
I nodded at Clark who pulled the presents out of the duffel bag.
Christopher opened the first present. "Ja' Ja'!" It wasn't really Jack Jack, but it was an Incredibles blanket. We'd already decided he'd get an Incredibles toddler bed before too long – it had been ordered and was in storage because you never knew how long the bedroom sets would actually be in stock and we weren't too worried about him out-growing the Incredibles.
Nate had made it back over to Martha by the time he finished his bottle.
"Here." I tossed her a burp cloth. "Christopher spit up a lot when he was little and I think Nate's going to, too."
As though on cue, he spit up a good portion of what he'd eaten, somehow managing to miss the burp cloth completely and got it all over Martha's shirt.
"Sorry," I told her.
"Nonsense. Occupational hazard being a grandma. I think he needs his britches changed though. Where's the diapers and stuff?"
Clark dug the diaper changing stuff out of the bassinet base and Martha proceeded to change him for me then swaddled him back up.
"I hol' baby Na'?" Christopher asked.
"Sure." He and I resituated a bit and Martha set Nate carefully in Christopher's arms. "Are you ever allowed to pick Nate up without Mom or Dad's help?" I asked him.
"No," he said seriously. "Or G'anma or G'anpa or 'icki or..."
We all laughed.
"That's right. You can only pick up baby Nate if someone helps you."
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
I noticed for the first time how much Nate looked like Christopher had when he was little – at least as much as an eighteen-hour old could look like anybody.
I stayed at the hospital most of the day. Dad and Nana took Christopher home for naptime; Mom and Granny had gone shopping for baby clothes. I tried not to compare this time to last time, but I couldn't help it and felt guilty all over again for how I'd treated both Lois and Christopher when he was born.
"What?" Lois asked quietly.
It was just the three of us for the moment. I sitting in the rocking chair holding Nate and I'd thought she was asleep but I guessed she woke up.
I sighed. "Regretting two years ago," I told her.
She winced as she sat a bit further up in bed. "That was a long time ago, Clark. You've more than made up for it. Christopher will never remember and you've made so many good memories with him since then."
"How do I tell him that someday?" I asked. "I mean, not any day soon, but when he's having a kid of his own and asks me what it was like or he wants to know everything about Navance. How to I tell him all that?"
"You don't unless and until the time is right," she said. "I don't plan on telling him about Navance until he's about thirty. I don't think the name means anything to him now, and if I have anything to say about it, it won't until he's more than old enough to understand."
I wondered what she'd tell him about me and my role in our break up and everything else. I wondered what I'd tell him. And when. And how.
I shook my head slightly. Not today. "I know. I don't want either of them to know about all that until absolutely necessary. And maybe not even then."
Sam chose that moment to walk back in. "Sorry I didn't get here earlier. Had an appointment about the patent thing and then a meeting at Adoption Option." He made a beeline for me. "How's my grandson?"
He held out his arms and I handed Nate over. "He's good. And don't worry about it – my family hasn't been gone all that long. How'd the meetings go?"
"Good," he said, settling in on the couch. "The patent should be going through any day now and we're expanding Adoption Option all along the east coast. We're hoping to have offices in every state east of the Mississippi in the next year or so."
He was still on the cutting edge of reconstructive joint replacement and all that. He had another patent on its way – something about hips this time, I thought. If it was anything like the rest of his inventions, my *great*-great-grandkids wouldn't have to worry about money.
"How're you feeling, Princess?" he asked Lois.
"Not bad," she answered. "Didn't sleep well and Nate's a spitter, but other than that..."
He was a spitter – so far. We'd noticed he did better with the breast milk – either from nursing or what Lois was able to pump – but he spit that up, too. And lots of it, it seemed like. It wasn't worrisome yet, but definitely something to keep an eye on, Dr. Shanks had said. It looked like he'd be able to go home the next day, but we'd have to bring him back daily for weight checks for the rest of the week.
"Do you mind if I go get a bite to eat real quick?" I asked Lois suddenly.
She shook her head. "No, go on. Daddy'll keep me company."
"I'll be back in a bit then," I said, walking towards her. "Try to get some more rest, okay?"
She nodded as I kissed her forehead. "I will."
I headed to the cafeteria two buildings over. It wasn't great but it would do. I got something for myself and an extra piece of chocolate cake for Lois. I got the food to go and went back to Lois' room.
She was asleep when I got there and I breathed a silent sigh of relief. She needed the rest – the next few weeks were likely going to be hard enough on her.
"She fell asleep as soon as you left," Sam said quietly, cuddling his grandson close.
"Good."
"He looks great, Clark. I didn't want to say anything yesterday but I was a bit worried about him being so early – no matter what the amnio said."
I nodded my agreement as I set my food up on the side table. "Believe me, we both worried enough, but once her water broke... She already started blaming herself before he was even born – that if she hadn't gone to work yesterday, even though she still took it really easy, he wouldn’t have come. Kristi told her that no matter what she'd done, he probably would have come yesterday."
"Probably." He looked at Lois. "I do need to talk to you later," he said so softly I could barely hear.
I looked up, surprised. "What...?"
He shook his head. "Not here."
I looked at him for a long moment and nodded. "When we get home."
We stayed at the hospital for a few more hours – Christopher came back with his grandparents and great-grandmas for a while. I went home with the rest of them at bedtime and put Christopher down for the night. I had the oddest feeling that he might end up sleeping with me quite a bit over the next few weeks until Nate got the hang of sleeping through the night.
Sam was his new office – well, new since we'd taken over his old one – on the other side of the second floor. I headed over there as soon as Christopher was in bed, making sure to set the security system as I left. Something about what Sam had said didn't sit well with me.
"What's up?" I asked as I walked in, taking a seat across from his desk.
He handed me a piece of paper. "That's a photocopy, but that came certified mail early this afternoon."
I saw red as I read it. "To my son's new half-brother," I read aloud, seething. "Who the hell does he think he is?"
"An insane dictator," Sam said with a sigh. "It was accompanied by a gift that I sent over to the FBI."
"Thanks." I ran a hand through my hair. "I don't suppose you know anyone who specializes in assassinations, do you? While making it look like natural causes, of course."
He laughed. "You know, there were times I thought Mindy might be up to something no good, but it was never anything I could put my finger on. We could always ask..."
I wasn't sure what to say to that. I was sure I knew a lot more about Mindy than he did, but that he knew – or suspected – anything, surprised me. And I didn't really know all that much.
I sighed. "At least he didn't threaten Nate," I finally said.
"No, he didn't, but whenever Nate isn't home but isn't with one of you two or Christopher for whatever reason, he'll have his own security, too. For now, at least."
"Three more years," I sighed.
"Then what?"
"According to current Latislani law – at least last I heard – his claim is invalid if Lois and I are still married when Christopher turns five. Of course, it's possible that he'll change the law again like he did last time. If he could find a way to make some sort of valid claim on Nate he probably would – like if he was in the country around the time of conception or whatever..." I let a deep breath out slowly.
"Well, you know all of you are welcome here as long as you want, but even if you guys end up moving out for some reason – jobs across the country or whatever – I'll make sure that security is something you'll never have to worry about."
"Thank you, Sam," I said sincerely. "That means a lot to me." I choked up momentarily. "There's no way I could afford to protect my family like this. I'd do whatever it took, you know that – even if I had to set them up in an igloo at the North Pole – but all this... The security guards, the lockdown systems, everything else... There's no way." I looked back up at him. "Thank you."
"I'm not going to let anyone get to my family either. And I can afford all this, no problem. You do what you can to take care of them, and I'll do what I can." He sat up, leaned forward his forearms resting on his desk and he looked straight at me. "And what you can do is keep acting like you and my daughter are living the greatest love story since Hans Solo and Princess Leia."
I was sure my eyes were wide as the proverbial flying saucer as my head jerked up to look at him.
"What?" I managed to squeak out.
"You heard me," he said, leaning back in his chair. "So do you want to tell me the whole story or should I keep pretending to be oblivious?"
*****
TBC
