Thanks so much to everyone for everything - for reading and commenting and joining me on this [much shorter
] journey.
Thanks, as always, to Alisha, Beth, Nancy and Queenie for their valuable help!
Last time:
Clark
"We're home," she whispered.
I nodded against her. "We are."
She yawned again. "Do you mind if we go right to sleep?"
"Not at all," I told her. "Hold still."
I zipped around the room and a minute later, she was curled up in my arms and we fell asleep.
The last thought that ran through my head sort of amused me. Not the sentiment but the phrasing.
There's no place like home.
*~*39*~*
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
"Mommy? Daddy?"
I sighed inwardly. I was even dreaming Christopher's voice.
Or was I? It came flooding back to me.
"Mommy?" The voice came again as I felt a tug on the comforter. "Daddy?"
I opened my eyes and saw my son, a look of joy and disbelief on his face.
"Mommy?" he whispered.
I nodded as I reached for him. He buried his head in my shoulder and cried. "I mis't you, Mommy."
"I missed you, too, bud," I whispered, tears streaming down my own cheeks. I felt Clark's arm reach over me until his hand rested on Christopher's head.
I wasn't sure how long we lay like that, but eventually Christopher pulled back and crawled between us. "I d'eam you come back."
"You woke up for a minute when we looked at you last night," Clark told him. "Mom told you to go back to sleep."
He nodded. "I 'member. Where you go?"
"A bad man took us away," Clark told him quietly. "We worked as hard as we could to get home as fast as we could. We missed you and Nate *so* much."
He nodded. "We miss you, too. Ot'er mommy..." He stopped.
"What is it, bud?" Clark asked him.
"Didn' know wha' e'se to ca' dem. Ca' dem mommy an' daddy," he said without looking at us.
"It's okay," I told him quietly.
"Had to p'etend dey were mommy an' daddy."
I couldn't lie to myself and say it didn't hurt some that he'd called another me 'mommy', but I wasn't about to tell him that.
"It's okay," I told him again.
"Dey were nice, but no' you."
"Were you a good boy?" Clark asked him.
He nodded.
"Good."
"G'ampa know you home?"
"Yes," I said. "We saw Grandpa last night."
"G'amps and G'ams?"
"No, we haven't talked to Gramps and Grams yet," Clark said, kissing his hair. "We wanted to see you first thing this morning."
"You should f'y to see dem."
We exchanged a glance over the top of our son's head.
"Well," Clark said slowly, "we'd have to get tickets to get on an airplane..."
Christopher shook his head almost violently. "No. F'y. Like Unca Be'nie and da ot'er daddy."
Our eyes met again, this time wide in shock. "What are you talking about?" I asked cautiously.
"Like Sup'ma'," he said quietly.
"What?" Clark asked him.
Christopher looked between us with tear filled eyes. "I know Daddy Sup'ma'. I know I not supos'd to know but I know."
"How do you know that, buddy?" Clark asked after I nodded my agreement with his silent 'I don't think we can deny this' look.
He shrugged. "I know Unca Be'nie Va'-El when he come to da house."
Our eyes stayed wide with shock. He'd known that day?
"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked him.
He shrugged again. "Was a sec'et."
Clark nodded slowly. "Yes, it is a secret. A big one."
"I not tell anyone."
"I know you won't." Clark pulled him into a big hug. "I love you, little man. I missed you so much."
"I miss you, too, Daddy." Christopher rested his head on Clark's chest for a long minute.
Babbling sounds from the other room broke up the moment.
"I'll get him," I said, giving Christopher another kiss and rolling over.
I headed into the boys' room, my eyes filling with tears as I saw Nate standing there in his crib.
He raised his arms immediately, squealing and smiling as he did. "Momomomomomom!"
"Hey, big guy," I managed to say around the lump in my throat. He was so big. And so healthy. I could tell how big he'd gotten when I picked him up; how much heavier he was.
"Daddy?" he asked as he laid his head on my shoulder.
"Daddy's in bed with Christopher," I told him as we walked back into our room.
We spent about twenty minutes just sitting with the boys before we decided it was time to get up and face the day.
~*~*~
December 2007
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
We'd been home for seven and a half months.
There had been tearful reunions with family and friends. All had been ecstatic to hear that we were having another baby.
Mom and Dad had been so glad to see us. They'd enjoyed spending time with Clark, but just as his parents had said, it wasn't the same.
Jimmy had welled up when he'd heard that his counterpart was married to Lucy and was expecting a baby. Lois and I had both been surprised when he and Gina – Ashley's cousin – hit it off.
Bernie and Ashley were happy, in love. They were more openly affectionate than they had been before we left, but I thought the Kryptonian culture he'd been raised in had ingrained deeply a reticence for PDA. Though he was more comfortable with it, I didn't think he'd ever be as comfortable as I was with Lois – but I'd been raised with very openly affectionate parents and grandparents.
Perry had surprised us. We never told him the whole story and he never asked, but some of the things he said told us that he'd known something was off. As he often reminded us, he hadn't become editor of the Daily Planet because he could yodel.
Lois had been put on bed rest again in mid-July, after we'd attended Lana and Chad's wedding. They were so happy and we were so happy for them. They'd even emailed to say that they were expecting their first baby already. Lana had confided in Lois that after the mess she'd made of her life the spring of our freshman year, Chad had suggested they wait until marriage – because he knew that, deep down, she was afraid that was all he wanted from her like some of those guys had. Apparently, their first time together was as lucky for them as our first two had been for us. Or pretty close anyway.
As for me and Lois, we'd spent time with family and watched our baby grow in a way we hadn't with the boys. We had spent days together and eventually planned to take that first honeymoon – maybe when the baby was weaned. Lois had *loved* her wedding present, even if the other Lois had driven it first. A nearly new Jeep Cherokee that was now being supplemented with a minivan. Neither of us were crazy about that but the room made sense for us with three kids. I'd thought about selling my truck – the one I'd had since high school – but it was always nice to have a truck around so we'd kept it. It had sort of become a work truck for Sam and Ollie and whoever else needed it.
Sam had gone above and beyond, completely remodeling the two apartments on the other side of the house. It was now one big apartment with a big master suite and three smaller bedrooms, a small kitchen – a kitchenette really because we ate most of our meals downstairs – a living area and an office. He said it was because he was so glad to have us home safe. The boys, however, had insisted they wanted to share a room so the fourth bedroom was currently a playroom. Jessica had moved into the suite in the basement so that she could have a bit more privacy but she continued to take care of the kids for us, just as she always had.
We had moved in to the new apartment in early August. Lois had lain on the couch and directed. She was good at that.
Lois had brought a few pictures back with her from the other universe, including one of her and her mom that I caught her looking at often. It was hard for her, missing her mom, but being home, with our sons in particular, more than offset her sorrow.
And then Lois had gone into labor, early labor still, but she tended to have pretty quick labors so we didn't waste any time heading towards Metropolis University and the Ellen Lane Memorial Medical Building.
An hour after we got there, the epidural had taken effect and I could see the relief written all over her face.
An hour after that... we had another baby.
"It's a girl," I'd told her with a grin.
She'd collapsed back onto the bed, a smile crossing her face. "A girl," she'd whispered.
"And as beautiful as her mom," I'd whispered, kissing Lois on the forehead as Dr. McConnell place the tiny baby on Lois' chest.
And she was. She had lots of dark hair – even for three weeks early – and I knew it wasn't parental bias to say she was the best looking girl baby ever.
It wasn't all that long before the boys came in and we'd taken a family picture in the delivery room. Lois would hate it, I was sure, because she looked like she'd, well, just given birth.
We named her Larellen Lucille, just as we'd discussed before, but the names had even more meaning after our unexpected trip to another universe. We'd been careful to avoid *too* much pink froo froo and Ellie had soon settled into the family as though she was always meant to be there.
It was now Christmas Eve – barring any more unexpected time travel, our first Christmas as a *real* family.
I took a framed copy of our family picture from the week before and the small black box I'd hidden in the secret closet with my Suits in the new apartment – we kept everything that could be identified with the other universe in there, like the copies of the Daily Planet with the 'Lois Lane' byline on them. I went to the main master suite that no one currently occupied. I carefully programmed and opened the window.
I stepped carefully through. I set the picture frame and a Christmas card quietly on the dresser.
"Who's there?"
The soft female voice startled me.
"It's me, the other Clark. Merry Christmas," I whispered.
"What're you doing here?" Ellen asked, pulling a robe around her as she walked towards me.
I pointed towards the dresser. "I brought those for you."
"A girl?" she asked, picking the picture up. "That's wonderful."
"Larellen Lucille," I told her. "Ellie."
I could see the tears in her eyes. "That's great. How's Lois?"
"She's doing great."
"Clark?"
I heard Sam's voice but when I turned I was surprised to see Sam in the empty room on the other side of the time window.
"Ellen?" he whispered hoarsely, choking up as he realized who I was talking to.
"This is the other Ellen," I told him quietly.
Tears streaked down his face. "You look wonderful."
"So do you," she whispered, tears in her own eyes. "I'm so sorry..."
He nodded. "I know." He swiped at his cheeks. "I still love her," he managed to get out.
"I know. She knows."
They held each other's eyes for a long moment.
"Take care of yourself and those grandkids," she told him.
"I will."
Ellen turned to me. "You, too. Take care of them and take care of yourself."
"I will," I said, leaning to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Wait," she said, turning around and picking up another frame. "Here. It's not very recent but..."
I looked at it – a picture of Sam, Ellen, Lois, Lucy, Jimmy and their new little girl. "Thank you."
"Take care," she whispered again, looking directly at Sam, and I stepped back through the window.
Sam held his fingers to his lips and held his hand towards her. She did the same.
He turned away, tears still flowing down his cheeks.
I waved and closed the window.
"Daddy?" Lois asked, wandering into the room holding Ellie. "What's wrong?"
He smiled. "Nothing, Princess." I took Ellie from her and he pulled Lois into his arms. "I just saw the other Ellen, that's all."
"I miss her. I miss both of them," she told him.
"I do, too, but it was nice to see her just once more." We headed out to the living room and they sat on the couch together. "I used to pray for that, you know," he told her, one arm around her shoulders, the other hand holding the pictures. "To just see her and Lucy one more time." Tears continued to flow. "It's like an unexpected answer to prayer."
We sat there for a while before Ellie decided that she was done being patient and she was ready to eat. Lois gave Sam one more big hug and he headed towards his room.
I put my arm around her shoulders. Hers went around my waist and she leaned her head on my shoulder as we headed towards the apartment.
"I love you," I said quietly as we lay in each other's arms a while later.
"I love you," she told me moving just enough to kiss me lightly.
As I watched her nursing our daughter – something that never ceased to amaze me – it hit me that, even before I'd realized it, this – a woman I loved more than life and who loved me the same way, kids I treasured – this was what I'd spent my whole life praying for.
And my prayers had been answered.
*****
TBC
