Lori and Clark – The New, New Adventures of Superman – MMC V 6 14/32
By Ken Janney
Warning: This story is rated PG-13.
Disclaimers: The characters in this story are property of DC, December 3rd productions and Warner Bros. No Copyright infringement is intended. I have just borrowed the characters for a short time.
Previously:
He handed it to Lori as she handed him CJ. He said, “My dear, this pendant is for you to wear when on New Krypton. According to our calculations on New Krypton with your current pendant you would be able to survive the higher gravitation, but, that would be all. This pendant has a double sized piece of the Star Sapphire Kryptonite and a correspondingly larger piece of the red K. If our calculations are correct you should, with this, retain your powers even on New Krypton. It is our belief that you may have need of them.”
As soon as the pendant hit her hand Lori felt her powers surge. She was careful, when she closed her hand on the pendant that she didn’t crush it in the process. She said, “Thanks, Herb, this is greatly appreciated.” She turned to Clark and said, “Well, it sure looks like role reversal. On New Krypton, I’ll be the superhero. At least I won’t have to worry about maintaining a secret identity.”
Herb said, “I will return CJ to you as soon as you return from your mission.” Herb pulled his TaDT from his pocket and entered the space and time coordinates. A portal opened in front of him and he stepped through, carrying CJ with the diaper bag over his shoulder. The portal closed itself as soon as they had passed through.
As the portal was closing behind Herb another memory from that time suddenly hit Lori and she started laughing hysterically.
Clark and Teri looked at her like they thought that she had lost her mind.
Noting their expressions, Lori started laughing that much harder. After a couple of minutes she started to settle down and she said, “Clark, think back to when we had CJ! Do you remember the prescription?”
For a moment Clark stood there thinking back and suddenly he started to laugh and Lori joined in with him. By the time they settled down they both had tears running down their cheeks.
Observing this behavior Teri started to have some doubts about the sanity of her grandparents. She asked, “What prescription?”
Walking over and putting her arms around her granddaughter Lori said, “It’s a prescription that Herb has to deliver to us in the past when he drops CJ off with us.”
Mystified, Teri asked, “What prescription? CJ doesn’t take any medicine! He’s very healthy.”
“Honey, the prescription isn’t for CJ, it’s for me.”
“Are you sick, uh, were you sick, back in the past, I mean?”
Lori started laughing again, “No, Sweetie, I wasn’t sick and the prescription wasn’t for medicine, at least, not exactly and Gramps and I had to work on it together. It was just … a surprise, that’s all.” She gave Clark a sidelong glance and a wicked little grin as she finished, “A very pleasant surprise.”
Lori had an inscrutable smile which totally mystified Teri, but, as she watched her grandmother and grandfather put their arms around each other and kissed. This put all of her fears at rest. Her grandparents loved each other and all was right with her world as a result.
And now:
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Chapter 13 – Into the Past
June 13,1997 – 11 PM
348 Hyperion Ave., Metropolis
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Universal Locator designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 local designation - Prime
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It had been a very eventful day in which Lois and Clark defeated Mensa. Even though Ellen Lane had as a result of Mensa’s machinations been made aware of Clark’s secret identity the malfunctioning ‘Bummer-Be-Gone’ had wiped that knowledge from her mind.
Now, it was later at night and Lois and Clark were in bed. Lois was lying on her side with her head on Clark’s chest as they discussed the day’s events.
With a relieved sigh Lois said, “Well, my parents are back to normal, clueless that their son-in-law moonlights in tights.”
Clark smiled at that vision and then he said, “I guess knowing that I’m Superman brought them nothing but unpleasantness. So now that memory is gone.”
Lois nodded her agreement before she added, “I don’t think mother remembers being mad at Daddy either.”
Clark had felt her nod against his chest and kissed the top of her head before replying. “Apparently not, because I caught them kissing on the terrace.”
Lois smiled, lifted her head and kissed his bare chest. This was such good news. For years she had had to deal with the bickering and animosity between her parents and now it looked like that might just be coming to an end.
Even with this good news Lois was still bothered about other things, namely the meeting they had had that afternoon with the social worker about the possibility of adoption. Clark had been given a score of 97 while Lois had been scored, lower, 17 actually and that included 5 points for being an American citizen. The social worker had called her a thrill addict who dangled over the jaws of death on nearly a daily basis, most of the time needing to be rescued by Superman.
With a deep sigh Lois said, “I’m sorry,” as she played with the hairs on his arm.
Clark was bewildered by this statement coming apparently out of the blue, not related to the current topic of discussion. He raised his head from his pillow, looked down at her and asked, “For what?”
Lois repeated, “I’m sorry that Daddy can’t find anything wrong with STAR Labs data. He doesn’t think we’ll be able to have kids.”
Clark, always ready to comfort her looked at her and assured her, “Honey, I have not, for one second,” as he was speaking Lois raised her head from where it was lying on his chest so that she could look him in the face as he spoke, “doubted in us. We live the impossible. A child is something brought about by love, isn’t it?”
Lois gave a small, hesitant nod of assent as he continued, “Then that, above all else has got to be possible for us.”
Lois started to shift her position, moving up so that they could share a kiss, but just then Clark’s superhearing kicked in and he got a startled look on his face.
Lois saw the look and asked worriedly, fearing that he was going to be called away from her for an emergency, “What, what are you hearing?”
With a mystified expression on his face he said, “I’m not sure.”
Lois anxious now asked, “Wha, what does it sound like?”
With a look of uncertainty he said, “I can’t actually believe what it sounds like,” as he started to get up out of bed.
They both got up and put on robes and moved downstairs. Clark flipped a switch at the head of the stairs which turned on the lights. Clark had a look of concentration on his face as he followed the sounds he had been hearing and led Lois through the living room and into the dining room where they had placed Clark’s old bassinet.
As they opened the sliding door a look of wonder came over their features and Lois put her hand up to her heart as Clark reached into the bassinet and picked up a note.
Lois just stood there staring as Clark read the note, “Lois and Clark, this child belongs to you.”
Lois was stunned and simply stood there gawking as she looked down and saw a three or four month old infant under a blue blanket with the El family crest on it.
Lois, without realizing it had been holding her breath and suddenly took a gasping breath. As the baby started to cry she moved over, leaned and pulled back the blanket. As she did she started to smile. Then she reached in with both hands and picked the baby up.
Just then they heard Jonathan call, “Son?” as he and Martha, Sam and Ellen all came trooping downstairs because they had all heard Lois and Clark move downstairs. They were all tying on their robes as they descended the stairs. Jonathan continued, “Is everything alright?”
Sam asked, “Is everything okay?”
Ellen said, “We saw the light. Lois???”
Clark came around the sliding door and let out a sigh and then said, “Yeah, yeah, everyone, everything is absolutely fine. Uh, Mom and Dad and ah, Mom and Dad, ah, we have something to tell you.”
As he had been speaking Lois had been moving out of the dining room and had been coming out behind Clark so that she couldn’t immediately be seen. When she stepped around Clark they could all see that she was cradling the baby in her arms. There was wonder and joy on all of their faces when they all saw the baby.
Martha was the first to come out of her stupor and ask, “Where did he come from?”
Clark answered, “We don’t know, he just appeared in the bassinet with this note.”
He handed the note to Martha and she gave it a close examination before saying, “If I had to guess, I’d say that this was your handwriting.”
Startled, Clark said, “Let me see that,” as he reached for the note again.
As he looked at it more closely a look of wonder came over his features and all he could do was stand there, transfixed, staring at the note. Lois, seeing his reaction moved into a position where she could look at the note herself. Now that they were in better light and Lois could make out the note clearly she said, “Yeah, that sure looks like your handwriting, but, how could that be?”
Clark snapped out of his stupor and used his microscopic vision on the note. When he did he could make out additional writing but not really writing, just the impressions of letters, like someone had written on the top sheet of a pad and the impression of what had been written was impressed on the sheet underneath. His look of wonder turned to one of surprise as he said in a whisper to Lois, “There’s more. We’ll look at it later.”
Not content to wait, Lois carried the baby over and handed him to Martha and asked, “Can you watch him for a few minutes?”
Martha, with a look of pure joy on her face said, “I’d be happy to.” She turned to Ellen and said, “How about it Ellen? Let’s go over and sit a spell.” Martha and Ellen moved over to the couch with Jonathan and Sam following to stand behind them and watch.
Clark moved over to a secretary in the corner and picked up a pencil and then he and Lois moved back into the dining room. Using the side of the pencil point he ran the lead over the sheet to bring out the impression. After he did this he showed the results to Lois.
It read,
“PLEASE TAKE CARE OF ‘OUR’ SON. HIS NAME IS CLARK JUNIOR. WE CALL HIM CJ. HERB WILL EXPLAIN.”In a hushed tone so that their parents wouldn’t hear Lois said, “That figures! We should have known that Herb would be mixed up in this somehow. Wow, Clark junior? What could that mean? It has to mean that we can have children. Bernie’s data must be wrong somehow. Oh, Clark, could it be possible?” She clutched his arm in hope and expectation.
Clark said, “I don’t know, Sweetheart. Look closely, there are quote marks around the word, our. That has to mean something. There are a couple of possibilities. First he could be adopted or second it could be almost like a sharing, his and mine. The, him, in this case obviously being me in the future. Like I said, children are a product of love and we have enough for a large family. I guess we just won’t give up hope, but, still, he could have been adopted.”
“The note said that Herb would explain, but, it was written that way probably so that Herb wouldn’t know that we had that extra information. If he shows up we can’t let on how much we know. Let’s get back in there with the rest of them.”
Clark put the note in the pocket of his robe and Lois removed the blanket and stuffed it in a drawer before they both moved back into the living room.
Clark spoke to Jonathan and asked, “Dad, would you mind helping me move the bassinet upstairs to our bedroom?”
Jonathan, realizing that this was simply an excuse to get him alone, probably to talk said, “Sure thing son,” and he moved over with Clark to the dining room.
Clark pulled the blanket out of the drawer and showed it to Jonathan before putting it in the bassinet with the shield down so that it wouldn’t be visible. Upon seeing this Jonathan gave a start and gave Clark a questioning look. Clark shook his head and reached to pick up the bassinet as Jonathan did the same. They carried it upstairs and once in the bedroom Clark took the blanket and placed it on a shelf in the linen closet. Then he showed Jonathan the note.
Jonathan asked, “Just what does this mean?”
“It was obviously written by me in the future and sent with the baby which means that he is *my* child, either with Lois or by adoption. That might mean that Lois and I can have children. All we can surmise at this point is that he comes from the future and for some reason had to be sent into the past for protection. There’s no way to tell just how far in the future though. I just wonder what we were going into that made it necessary to place him in the past for safety.”
“Well, son, it sure looks like one way or the other he is yours. I’m sure that you will take good care of your son.” Jonathan had a little catch in his voice as he finished, “My grandson.”
Clark said, “I guess we need to get back downstairs with the rest.” Clark walked over to the closet and stuffed the note into the folds of the blanket and then turned and followed Jonathan downstairs.
Lois had gone back into the dining room while the grandmothers were watching their charge, had found the diaper bag and started going through it to see just what it contained. She found enough supplies for a couple of day’s worth of diaper changes. Not recognizing the brand name or even the design, she realized that it wasn’t too different from what was available to her. After all, how radically would something like that change over time? She even found some bottles of breast milk that were still cold because of the packing around them. Feeling how cold they were she knew that virtually no time had elapsed in transit. She took the bottles into the kitchen and placed them in her refrigerator until they would be needed. She silently thanked whoever had packed that bag for thinking about that little item. It would be hours yet until they would be able to pick up any formula.
Lois walked back into the living room and simply stood in the doorway watching the two grandmothers doting over their grandchild. She had to believe that he was their child, that note said so in almost so many words.
She saw CJ yawn and realized that he must be tired and so she walked over and addressed Martha, “I think I need to put him to bed. We can spend some time getting to know him tomorrow.”
Martha, somewhat reluctantly, nodded and passed him over to Lois.
Lois led the procession as they all ascended the stairs with Clark bringing up the rear and closing up. At the top they all separated with the grandparents returning to their separate rooms and she and Clark entering their bedroom. Lois walked over to the bassinet and laid CJ down. She turned to Clark and asked, “What’d you do with his blanket?”
“It’s in the closet.”
She walked over and pulled out the blanket and when she did the note fell to the floor. After she tucked CJ in she retrieved the note and took another look at it. She asked, “What do you think the actual story is?”
“We really won’t know until Herb shows up, but, it sure looks like he is our child, so he’s obviously from the future. I just wonder what we were getting into that made it necessary to send him into the past for safety.”
Lois was standing at the side of the bassinet and Clark was behind her with his arms wrapped around her as they both stared down at the sleeping child with awe in their eyes. Lois said, “Well, I guess when the time comes we’ll recognize it and obviously Herb knows all about it so we aren’t going to have to send out an SOS. Clark Junior, I just can’t get over it. Our son. He’s a little miracle. Are we going to be able to handle it? I mean, are we ready? This is so sudden! We didn’t have nine months to get ready for this. What kind of a mother am I going to be?”
With a light chuckle at her babble, Clark replied, “A totally amazing one. You know, we could stand here all night and stare at him, but, if we did we wouldn’t be any good to him tomorrow. We need to get some sleep.”
“You’re right, but I just can’t get over it. Here he is! Proof that we can have children or at least that you can have children. What if he’s your son, but not mine? The way that note was written, it could be that way too.”
“Let’s not worry too much about that just yet. Let’s wait until we hear from Herb. Maybe he’ll give us more information when he gets here.” Clark released his arms from where they had been wrapped around her waist and started to untie the belt of his robe.
With a sigh, Lois started doing the same thing as they headed for the bed. Lois threw her robe over the foot of the bed and lifting the covers on her side slid in and snuggled up to Clark with her head on his chest. For a few minutes she lay there just enjoying cuddling and she started drawing little figures on his bare chest. Slowly after a few minutes her fingers stopped moving and Clark heard her mutter, “A little miracle,“ just before she fell asleep. Hearing this Clark started to smile as he pulled her in closer. A few minutes later he was also asleep.
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