Last time:
Lois
Joe blinked slowly. "Would you mind repeating that?"
Clark took over. "Lois and I have been married four years next week. We have a three-year-old son named Christopher and a seventeen-month-old son named Nate. He's had health problems but is doing *great* now. In that world, Lois was chased by a madman when she was pregnant with Christopher. I was with her when it all got really bad and the only way to protect them was for us to get married. My Lana and I were serious together when it happened and I broke her heart, too, but I had to. The whole story is a lot longer and a lot more convoluted, but I had to."
"My Joe and I weren't quite as serious," I told them. "We'd dated off and on. We'd decided to try dating seriously again, but then everything went to hell in a hand basket and that was the end of it. He offered to marry me when he found out I was pregnant, but I was already married to Clark at that point. Life wasn't easy, but we made it through a *lot* together and we're happy with our lives and we want them back, but we can't find a way to get there." I wiped the tears. "I miss my boys, so much, but the one thing we could change, I can't do. No matter what, I can't do it."
"What's that?" Joe asked.
"My mom and Lucy were killed in an accident when I was ten. We didn't know about Dave until it was too late. I can't be responsible for killing them. If I was *sure* it would get us back home, I don’t think I could, but I don't know for sure that it would and I really can't do that then."
"So where's the Lois and Clark that went to sleep here the other night then?" Joe asked. "Where's *my* Lois?"
"And *my* Clark?" Lana wanted to know, still glaring at everyone she could find.
"They're in our world," Clark told her. "Living our lives."
*~*32*~*
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
This wasn't going very well. Not that I'd expected it to. Joe was taking it better than Lana but that didn't surprise me either.
"So *my* husband and Joe's fiancé are living it up in a world where they're married with two kids?" Lana asked icily.
"Something like that," I told her. "At least as far as we can tell. I wish we knew how to switch everything back, but we don't. We gave the time doohickey to Sam and he's trying to figure out how it works."
"I'm not sure I believe this," she said.
Lois sighed. "Well, this helped convince all our parents so..." She stood up and pulled up the hem of her shirt. "Stretch marks from two babies with Clark."
I wanted to run my fingers over them again, to kiss each and every one because they meant my sons were still out there somewhere.
"Wait a minute." Lana's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Both kids are yours?" she asked me.
I nodded. "Yeah."
"But you said you were hot and heavy with that Lana when you got married. You cheated on her?" Her tone was incredulous.
"Not really." We told them the story of the cabin and what happened there and how we didn't really remember it until much later.
Lana glanced at Joe. "So you're not... special?" she asked cryptically.
"Are you sure you want to do this here?" I asked her with a raised eyebrow.
"Why not? The *wife* already knows doesn’t she?"
I nodded.
"So you *are*... special?"
I sighed. "I am, but there's one thing we've found that... undoes the specialness."
Joe glanced between the three of us. "What?"
I looked at Lois who shrugged. "I trust him enough to marry him – or the other me does anyway so... Something you don't know about Clark – and your Lois doesn't either from what I understand..."
"She doesn't," Lana interjected. "Not unless he told her and never told me."
"I'm Van-El's little brother. I was born on Krypton and sent here as a baby. I can fly and do all of the things he can." I floated slightly to illustrate my point. "In our world, I fly around in tights, too."
"He's Superman," Lois said quietly. "He doesn't use his Kryptonian name but wears the 'S' so I named him Superman."
"So are you sure that your second baby is really yours?" Lana asked coldly.
I looked at her, surprised. "What makes you ask that? Of course he's mine."
"Well, you said he had health problems," she said with a shrug. "Or is the Kryptonian invulnerable thing not hereditary?"
"I don't know if it is or not, but I wasn't invulnerable when I was little. And his problems stemmed from the valve into his stomach not being properly formed. Once that was fixed, it helped a *lot*."
"So what now?" Joe asked quietly.
Lois wiped tears off her face. "I've always cared about you, Joe. A lot, but I can't marry you in a couple weeks. I'm married to Clark in my heart; he's the one I took vows with and I just can't..."
He nodded. "I thought that was where this was going." He sighed. "I guess we need to start making calls."
I shook my head. "Not yet. We're hoping Sam can figure it out and your Lois will be back in time for the wedding."
"And if she's not?"
"We were thinking give it a week," Lois said quietly. "If it's not fixed by then, start calling off the wedding."
"What about us?" Lana asked, that same coldness in her voice.
I sighed. "The other you was my first real love, but not anymore. I love Lois more than anything and my sons, our sons, are a close second. I can't be married to you, Lana."
"So if Sam doesn't figure it out... then what?"
"Then I file for divorce," I told her, refusing to look at her. "And as soon as it's final, Lois and I get remarried. Within reason, I'll let you say or do whatever you want, but infidelity is off-limits. I never cheated on my wife, ever. No matter what universe I thought we were in, no matter who I was married to or who I was in love with."
"And I never cheated on you, Joe. I promise," Lois said quietly. "Once we realized what was going on here, what the differences were... And we won't. We agreed to that. Even though *we* are married, even though we've had two weddings, here and now, Clark Kent in this world is married to Lana, not me."
"Thank you," Joe said quietly.
"There's something else you should both know though," she said suddenly as her stomach rumbled.
"What else could there possibly be?" Lana asked exasperated. "You're pregnant?"
"Maybe," I told her, remembering that I'd mentioned that possibility but knowing she probably didn't remember it. "We'd been trying again. We'll know in the next couple days." I looked at Lois. "Or even today, depending. We haven't told Lucy, Jimmy and Dave yet, but we're going to."
"So if Sam doesn't fix this in a week, but does in a few months and everyone gets switched back, you will have ruined their lives?" Lana's arms were crossed in front of her.
Lois and I sighed in unison. "We'd really rather just go home," I answered for the both of us. "But I love Lois and she loves me so I don't know what other option there is. Marrying Joe isn't an option for her." I shot a sympathetic glance his way. "And staying married to someone I don't love isn't an option for me. Not being Superman isn’t an option for me anymore either."
"No!" Lana said emphatically, causing us to jump. "You *will* not fly around in tights while you're married to me. Clark and I had an agreement."
I shook my head. "Your Clark had an agreement with you, just like he's married to you. There is no formal process to break that agreement like a divorce. If it seems like we're stuck here, Superman will make an appearance before too long."
"We'll talk about this later," she hissed. "In private."
"No, we won't," I informed her. "Lois is involved in any decisions I make from here on out. She and I won't be sleeping together at this point, and neither will you and I, but as far as I'm concerned, she's my wife and will be involved in all aspects of my life."
Lana glared at me for a minute longer before she stood and stalked out of the room.
"Well that went well," Lois said sarcastically. "Not that I expected her to take it well." She looked at Joe. "Are Lois and Lana friends?"
"Usually they get along pretty well, but they tend to get into it over work hours. Lois wants Clark to help her with stories when Lana wants him at home." Joe shrugged. "Otherwise... They're not best friends but they don't fight or anything like that most of the time. Your parents all met a few years ago and get along great and ever since we've all spent holidays together." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
"I'm so sorry, Joe," I said quietly. "Really I am. I hope your Lois gets back in time for the wedding and not just so I can go home. You're a great guy and I hate what this is doing to you."
He sighed. "It's not your fault. I can't blame you for not wanting to go back and make sure that accident happened."
"I'd like to still be your friend for as long as we're stuck here," I told him. "If you want to be. You've been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember, even if we have lost touch since I got married. That was circumstances, not because I didn't want to be your friend."
"What about the me in your world?" he asked quietly.
"He's engaged to a good friend from high school," I told him with a smile. "They're really happy together."
"Who?"
I shook my head. "I'm not sure why, but I don't feel like I should tell you." Maybe he and Debbie would run into each other before long and something would happen here, too.
He sighed and stood up. "I think I'm going to go for a run."
"I'm so sorry," I whispered.
"I know."
He left and I turned to Clark. "That went well."
He snorted. "Yeah, right. Joe wasn't too bad, but I cringe at what Lana might demand from the divorce if we don't get out of here."
My stomach rumbled again.
"Let's get you something to eat," he said. "If you are pregnant, you need to be eating."
"I know." I sighed. "Any chance you could do your buzz buzz thing and see anything yet?"
He shook his head. "I don't think so and I'd hate to run any kind of risk."
"That's what I thought."
We headed to the kitchen where Lucy, Jimmy and Dave were eating breakfast with Mom, Martha and Jonathan.
"What's wrong with Lana?" Lucy asked as we walked in.
I grabbed a bowl and poured myself a bunch of cereal.
"You need something more substantial than that," Clark said, opening the fridge.
"I know." I turned to my little sister, tears threatening to fill my eyes again. "It's a long story, Luce. We'll tell all of you after breakfast, okay?"
Lucy shrugged. "Okay."
The room was pretty quiet as they finished their breakfasts and Clark made bacon and eggs and pancakes for anyone who wanted them.
It took four pancakes, four eggs and about eight pieces of bacon before I started feeling full. After the big bowl of cereal.
Martha sat by me at the counter while I was eating. "Does this mean what I think it does?" she asked as I helped myself to a fifth pancake.
I nodded. "I'd bet on it."
She put an arm around me and gave me a hug. "I'm happy for you."
"Thanks." I scarfed down the pancake and looked up to see my sister looking at me with a raised brow. "What?"
I sighed.
"Let's go in the living room," Clark said, "and we'll tell you three the whole story."
Half an hour later, the three of them were gawking at us.
"Time travel?" Jimmy said, finally finding his voice. "Alternate universes? Really?"
We nodded.
"Wow."
"What's the change you couldn't make again?" Lucy asked quietly.
Tears filled my eyes. "You and Mom had died in a car accident and we didn't know about Dave until it was too late."
Jimmy's grip on her hand tightened and his face turned white.
"Really?" he whispered. "No Dave? No Lucy?"
I shook my head. "No."
"I don't think I'd want to live there," he said.
"Part of me doesn't," I said honestly. "I got to spend a lot of time with Mom earlier and that was wonderful, but I miss the people in my life. Daddy isn't quite the same here – he's great, don't get me wrong, but he's still not *my* dad; the one who protected me and Christopher when he needed to because of a bunch of bad stuff we're not getting into right now but if we're here long enough, I'll tell you all about. And I'd like to spend a lot of time with you, too, Luce. I know I'm not really your sister, but I miss my Lucy a lot sometimes still."
She nodded. "I'd like that, too."
"Same with you Dave. I only know you through Jimmy who's told me a lot about you, but..." Tears filled my eyes. "I..."
Everything combined to overwhelm me.
Sitting in front of me were my sister and my half-brother, who I'd never known. I missed my sons, I wanted to get back to them, but I wanted to get to know these two wonderful people as well.
Why couldn't my life be easy?
"Nothing worth having is easy," Clark whispered.
I hadn't even realized that he'd moved to sit next to me, holding me in his arms, or that I'd spoken aloud.
I was just ready for this all to be over, to be home.
Whoever the Tempus guy was, I hoped some future version of the time police locked him away for good.
And fixed our lives.
Sent us home.
Gave us some ruby slippers.
Something.
The tears spent themselves quickly and I straightened up. "Sorry," I said. I looked at Clark. "Was I this emotional before?"
He shrugged. "I don't think so, but neither one was like this either. The bad stuff didn't come till later the first time and the second..."
"First and second what?" Dave asked.
I sighed. "I'm probably pregnant. From before we got here. You guys saw the breakfast I just ate. That's how I get a few days after. It'll probably last a week or so and then it'll go back to normal or so for a while and then at about ten or twelve weeks, I'll get so sick..." I sighed. I wasn't looking forward to that part.
Daddy walked in just then, his face serious.
"No luck?" Clark asked.
He shook his head. "No. I have no idea what that other button does and I keep hoping for some kind of owner's manual option but..." He sighed. "I don't see how to open it and look inside. I'm hesitant to start pushing that button to see what it does. The other one was pretty obvious but..." He looked at me. "I'm so sorry, Princess. I'll keep seeing what I can do, but I just don't know. I've got a few friends I trust that might be able to help but..."
A sudden stroke of inspiration shot through me. "What if we got a hold of Van-El? Maybe he knows something we don't." The rest of the family didn't know about Clark. Telling Joe was one thing, but the rest of them... not just yet would be my guess. Van-El was from a society much more technologically advanced than Earth. Maybe he knew something?
And it was a way for Clark to touch base with his brother.
Clark nodded slowly. "It's worth a shot. Sam?" He looked at Daddy.
Dad shrugged. "May as well. He's obviously had access to a lot more technology than anyone around here. Even if he's not a scientist or whatever, he may know something."
Lucy stood up. "I think I need a bit to think about all this before we get to into the sister bonding thing," she told me. "I don't mean to hurt your feelings or anything, but it's the day after Christmas. I'd planned on going shopping and I think that some mindless CostMart time might be just what I need right now."
Jimmy and Dave stood up with her. "I think we need some time, too," Jimmy said. "We'll see you guys later?"
We both nodded. "I understand," I told them. "Really."
They left the room and Clark turned to those of us left.
"Van's on his way."
"What?" Martha asked. "How do you know?"
"Kryptonians are telepathic," Clark said with a shrug. "Didn't you guys know that?"
*****
TBC
