First of all, thinks for agreeing with me, Terry!
Ann, I've come over to your side. He needs to tell Lois right about now who else he really is. She needs to know the whole man, whether he thinks he's good enough for her or not.
Second, I love your suggested revelation scene....
Lisa tries to hint to her mother to get closer to Clark, but they both rebut the suggestion. The conversation goes on long enough for Lisa to come to a boil and blurt out the truth. After thinking about it, Lois slowly removes Clark's glasses and looks at him for a moment. Then she slaps him as hard as she can and snarls, "Don't pretend that hurt, Superman!"
Pefect!!
But let's get back to the actual story:
“It's not all bad,” her father said. “It makes finding time to study a breeze. We'll find things for you to do while your mother is in bed.”
At the mention of her mother, Lisa felt guilty. Her mother should be here with them, even if she'd agreed that this might be too dangerous for her to be near.
Lisa is right. It's wrong to shut Lois out.
“So you are telling me that someone bought your necklace for a thousand dollars. You wouldn't happen to have a card or anything…”
Lois hung up with a frustrated sigh.
“At least we're starting to get an idea why your guys aren't getting things done these days. Somebody's been buying up the necklaces before our guys can get there.”
Who is that someone? Lana Lang? But how can they find out?
Lois smiled slowly. “I talked to an old woman who got suspicious and wrote down the license number of the car.” She held the card up in the air. “I don't suppose you'd know someone who might…?”
Joshua shrugged and said, “With Clark's resources, I'm sure we'll be able to find something.”
Go, Lois!!
“My father used to take me fishing near here,” he said. “Our farmhouse wasn't far away and it was close enough to walk.”
“It must have been nice to have a mom and dad,” she said. As the expression on his face changed, she hurried to say, “Not that I'm blaming you. I'm just saying…”
“They were the best people in the world,” he said. “Everything that's good about me came from them.”
Love this. Lisa just happened to tell Clark that she missed out on having him around when she was younger, but then she tells him that she wants to hear about his childhood, not talk about her own.
“What happened to them?” she asked.
She knew something had happened from the sound of his voice, the sad sense of finality that came when adults talked about people who had died.
“They had a car accident when I was ten.” He closed his eyes. “I was fast even then…but I wasn't fast enough.”
“You saw it?” Lisa asked, a sense of horrified fascination entering her voice.
“I still see it sometimes,” he said. “Losing your parents…you don't get over it, especially when you are a kid.”
He reached out to her, and she took his hand. He pulled her up and he gestured in the direction of the sun.
“Would you like to see where I used to live?”
Lisa nodded. She couldn't imagine seeing her mother die and losing everything.
I'm glad that Lisa realizes how unbelievably important Lois is to her.
As they walked, Lisa tried to think of something to say. “Who took care of you?”
“People hired by the government,” he said. “Foster parents.”
He glanced back at her and said,”That's never going to happen to you.”
“I know,” she said. “My mom has family.”
Her uncle Mike would take her in. Her Aunt Lucy would too. If absolutely necessary, Grandma Ellen or Grandpa Sam would step in. For all that they were sometimes rough and didn't agree with her mother, Lisa had no doubt that they would step in to help her.
She was blessed that way, she realized with surprise. Her father hadn't had anyone when he was growing up, and she had no doubt that he had gone through the same things he she was going through.
It's interesting that Lisa immediately thinks of her mother's family when she imagines the horrible prospect of losing her mother. I just don't get the impression that she would be similarly devastated if she lost her father. And she isn't thinking to herself that her father would take her in if her mother died.
“You didn't have anybody?”
“I had an Aunt Opal,” Clark said. “But she was too sick and old even then to raise a child. There wasn't anybody else.”
Lisa squeezed his hand and said, “You've got me now, Dad. You aren't alone anymore.”
Calling him dad was new and it felt strange, but when she felt him tightening his grip in hers, she knew she'd said the right thing.
I love how Lisa is comforting Clark.
Lisa tightened her hand in his. It was creepy and it made her wonder if her father was entirely stable, but she could understand what it was like to be lonely. She knew what it was like not to be able to turn to anyone and to face the world alone.
In her case, it had only been from fear her mother wouldn't understand. In his, there had literally been no one. He'd been the last of his kind in the universe, and there had been no chance anyone was ever going to be there for him.
Beautifully written.
“My mother doesn't mean it,” Lisa said.
“What?”
“When she pushes you away.”
“I'm not sure I know what you mean.”
“She does it to everybody. She's had to be the strong one my whole life, and she hasn't had a lot of time for guys.”
I love how Lisa is trying to play matchmaker!
“I'm not taking relationship advice for you about your mother.” Her father stared at the sky.
“You married that woman didn't you?”
“Yes.” He said. He glanced at her. “So?”
“Obviously you need some sort of advice. I've always heard you were supposed to marry nice people.”
“She was nice!” he said. “Well...sort of nice.”
“Sort of nice doesn't cut it. If you are planning to spend the rest of your life with somebody, they'd better be really nice.”
Indeed, he should spend the rest of his life with someone really nice like Lois!
“That's why she shouldn't get involved with me,” he said. “I'm sort of nice at best.”
He smiled at her, as though it was a joke, but she knew better.
Lisa scowled and said, “Not from where I'm sitting.”
The adult world was more complicated than she wanted to admit. How did you take a prince who thought he was a frog and convince him of the truth?
Maybe you should get Lois to kiss him?
Beautiful, Shayne. Perfect!
Ann
