Chapter Four – If I’m Alive & Well Will You Be There Holding My Hand?
Clark sighed and reached across Lois to the table beside his sofa to answer his ringing phone. He didn’t actually want to answer it, but it had been two days since they received the news about Jimmy’s death and this was the first time Lois had slept, so he didn’t want to let it continue ringing.
“Hello?” He said, his voice dull and lifeless.
“Mr. Kent? It’s Lisa from research. I’m sorry to bother you at home, but a call came for you today from a woman who said she was a friend of, uh, a friend of Jimmy Olsen’s. I said I’d pass on the message for you to call her back.”
Clark picked up a pen and notepad from the table and jotted down the woman’s name and number before thanking Lisa and hanging up. He stared at the name and the phone number for a moment, realizing something familiar about it.
Clark eased out from under Lois’ head and gently laid her down on the couch before getting up and walking over to the stack of papers on his kitchen table.
“Rachel Jackson…” He mumbled to himself, and he skimmed through the letter Kem had sent them.
‘Hmm.’ He thought to himself as he realized even the phone number looked familiar.
It was a California area code just like the one that HR had told him was responsible for the hang up calls he’d been getting. Clark thought for a moment before deciding that this girl must have been of some importance to Jimmy for him to be writing her from Africa. He picked up the phone and took it into the bedroom so he wouldn’t disturb Lois.
The phone rang several times before the voicemail picked up.
“Hey there! You’ve reached Rachel and Levi Jackson! Leave a message, and we’ll get back to you soon!”
BEEP.
“Hi Rachel. This is Clark Kent. I believe you called me at the Daily Planet regarding Jimmy Olsen…” Clark trailed off for a moment, feeling somehow strange speaking Jimmy’s name, before he gave Rachel his home phone number and told her to call him back when she had a chance.
Clark tossed the phone on the bed and leaned back against the pillows, rubbing his eyes under his glasses.
“Clark?” He sat back up when he heard Lois’ voice calling him from the living room.
“Back here, honey.” Clark replied when he heard Lois’ footsteps.
…
Lois bit her lip in an attempt not to pick up crying where she’d left off before falling asleep as she crawled into Clark’s bed next to him.
…
At midnight, Lois stirred again, obviously uncomfortable sleeping in her jeans.
“Do you want me to take you home?” Clark asked, following suit of Lois’ request from the previous night.
“Can I just stay here?” Lois asked, her voice gravelly and quiet.
“Of course.” Clark said, kissing her hair. “I’ll get you something to wear.” He said, easing from her embrace and walking over to his dresser.
…
A week later, Clark was sitting at his desk and had still not heard back from Rachel Jackson. He decided he’d try calling her again, but when he dialed her number, the phone rang only once before an automated message came on.
“The number you are trying to reach is not in service.”
Clark’s brow furrowed and he tried again, making sure that he punched in the numbers slowly and correctly.
He received the same automated message.
By afternoon, Clark had found and called seven Rachel Jacksons living in the part of California that the number originated from, but none of them knew Jimmy Olsen or Clark’s name. He dropped his phone into its place and raked his hand through his hair.
“Excuse me. Are you Clark Kent?” Clark looked up to see a woman standing in front of his desk, eyeing him with questioning eyes.
“Yes, hello. What can I do for you?” Clark asked, sitting up.
“Mr. Kent, I wonder if we could speak somewhere privately.” The woman replied.
Clark nodded and stood up, gesturing for the conference room. He glanced over his shoulder and made eye contact with Lois briefly, silently sharing her confusion with a shrug as she watched him enter the room with the woman.
“Mr. Kent, my name is Alberta Jennings. I’m a social worker with DCFS.”
Clark gave the woman a questioning expression, urging her to elaborate.
“It stands for the Department of Child and Family Services…” She said, hoping he’d catch on why she was there.
“Oh… uh, do you want us to write a story or something?” Clark asked, still unsure about this woman’s intentions.
“No, Mr. Kent. I’m here on behalf of a woman in Los Angeles named Rachel Jackson.” Clark’s sat forward, his attention now peaked.
“What about her?” He asked, genuinely curious.
“Do you know Ms. Jackson?” Alberta asked softly.
“No, not personally, but her name’s been mentioned several times to me recently.”
Alberta nodded sadly before speaking again.
“I’m sorry to have to inform you, but she passed away three days ago.”
Clark was floored.
“What? How? What happened?” He asked, frustrated that he hadn’t had a chance to speak to her.
“She had some complications during childbirth. It seems that she had an underlying condition that not even she had been aware of that caused severe hemorrhaging.”
Clark exhaled hard and shook his head.
“In childbirth you said? Is the child okay?”
Alberta nodded.
“That’s why I’m here, Mr. Kent. We were informed by a friend of Ms. Jackson’s that the father of her baby was from Metropolis but is currently travelling. You were listed as her emergency contact and next of kin on her hospital forms.”
Clark furrowed his brow. It suddenly became clear to him that Rachel Jackson was someone that Jimmy had been romantically involved with and had fathered a child with.
“Actually, we received notice from some of Jimmy’s travelling companions that he was killed by soldiers in Uganda.” Clark said, still uneasy about mentioning that letter.
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry. I guess I haven’t eased your grief any by bringing you this news.”
Clark shook his head lightly.
“So then what happens to the baby? I mean…”
Alberta nodded again.
“I’ve brought the baby with me from California. As Ms. Jackson’ next of kin, it would be your job to file the appropriate papers to place the child in foster care.”
Clark shook his head violently.
“Foster care?! No! We can’t put Jimmy’s baby in the system!” Clark said, standing up from his seat.
“Mr. Kent, there is another option. We can grant you temporary custody of the baby and take the steps towards you legally adopting her. There is a process, but being listed as Ms. Jackson’s next of kin and intended home for her child should something happen to her really gives you an edge with the system.”
Clark nodded, having calmed down slightly, and sat back into his chair again.
“So it’s a girl? She’s a girl? Where is she?” Clark was stammering over his words, still not able to grasp the fact that Jimmy had a daughter.
“She’s at the DCFS office here in Metropolis. She’ll be placed in a group home for the night, but you can come by tomorrow and sign the appropriate papers to have her released into your care.”
Clark sighed. He didn’t like the idea of Jimmy’s daughter spending *any* nights in a group home.
“Listen, Ms. Jennings, I’m adopted. I was so lucky to not have ever ended up in the system, and I am so grateful to my adoptive parents for doing everything they could to protect me. I want to do everything I can do to protect my best friend’s child. Is there any way we can do the paperwork right now? I can come down to the office and fill out anything right now. Please, just don’t let Jimmy’s daughter go another night without her family.”
Ms. Jennings nodded, smiling at Clark’s passion for a child he’d never even met.
“Why don’t you come by in an hour and I’ll have everything ready for you.” She said.
Clark agreed and escorted Ms. Jennings to the elevators before heading over to Lois’ desk.
“Perry’s office. Now.” Clark whispered to her, barely stopping on his way past.
…
“What’s going on? Who was that woman?” Lois asked as Clark pulled her into Perry’s office and closed the door.
“Rachel Jackson.” Clark said firmly.
“That’s the Rachel Jackson that’s been calling you and was mentioned in… uh..”
Clark shook his head.
“No, that was a social worker who came on behalf of Rachel Jackson.”
Perry and Lois nodded, waiting for Clark to continue.
“Rachel Jackson died while giving birth to Jimmy’s daughter three days ago.”
Perry and Lois both gasped in unison, not believing what they had just heard.
“Apparently Jimmy had told this woman if she had any trouble to get in touch with me. I’ve sort of, uh, agreed to adopt the baby. I have to go downtown to sign all the paperwork and pick her up in an hour.”
Lois sat down, silently piecing together the puzzle in her head.
“The baby was born three days ago. Jimmy’s flight had a layover in California. This girl is from California. You think he hooked up with some woman while he was there?!” Lois said, somewhat surprised by Jimmy’s actions.
Clark shrugged.
“I don’t know, but either way this girl meant something to Jimmy or he wouldn’t have given her my name. I refuse to let our friend’s child go into a flawed system.” Clark said firmly, but with an evident self conscious waver in his voice.
“Well, let’s go get her then.” Lois said, standing up from the chair in front of Perry’s desk and pushing Clark toward the door.
…
TBC
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A/N: Just something I'd like to point out - I have no idea whatsoever what the foster care system protocol is, or what forms/paperwork is required for DCFS. The Canadian system is a little different, but I tried to be vague because I don't really know enough and my research didn't give me as much confidence in my interpretation as I'd have hoped. The show messed this up too with just randomly giving Lois that little girl in Smart Kids, so I took some similar loose liberties with it :p
