Thanks for your comments, everyone and sorry for my delay in replying. As it turns out, the Fourth of July is only fun when you're in America. Abroad, as a US government official, you're supposed to go to swanky, boring parties with people who don't care that it's your Independence Day and shake a lot of hands and engage in a lot of small talk. It takes up a lot of time and it's way less fun than going to a barbecue.
Ann, sorry for making your emoticons cry. I know the intolerable waiting is cruel to the characters and not terribly nice to the readers, either. But I hope to try to convey as accurately as possible the hell that waiting can be.
Thanks for your comments, DW. It's good to know that you thought the characters thoughts and feelings were well expressed. Will they grow apart? I suppose time will tell...
Thanks, BJ, and you're right. Clark's performance was the very essence of heroism. After New Krypton, that should be seen as no less than an extraordinary achievement. But how can it not be overshadowed by what they've just learned?
Thanks for your comments, Iolan. I know this part was angst filled. More is coming up soon.
Cookiesmom, I take your point that a kid without superpowers isn't really a tragedy (the world is full of them and most of their parents seem perfectly okay with it), but I think what Lois and Clark both know is that this kid, were he or she to be without powers because of this event (as opposed to because of an accident of genetics), may well feel cheated out of his/her destiny. S/he would have a whole family of heroes and s/he would just be ordinary. It might be a pretty tough thing to deal with.
SJH, I'm not sure a vacation would help right now. I think they just really want the waiting to end. Which is ironic and painful because when Lois was pregnant with Jon, what she really wanted was for Clark to be able to experience that with them. As for Clark having his head stuck somewhere, I think he's currently in a lot of pain, too. I know it makes him frustrating as hell, but I hope it's realistic, too.
Evelyn, I think you're right about their needing to talk and to be there for one another, and that Clark is really working hard to short-circuit the unhelpful thinking. Thanks for your comments.
Michael, I'm glad you liked the line, it's kind of how I imagine Lois's sense of humor works, even when there isn't anything terribly funny about her situation.
Hi Artemis. I'm glad you thought the portrayal of emotions here was realistic. I don't know that either one is really capable of ignoring the other's pain, but at this point, I don't know that Lois is capable of really trying to alleviate Clark's pain. He has realized that no matter how much this sucks for him, it's worse for her and he needs to step up.
More is on its way (and Happy 4th of July to all the American FOLCs. To the British FOLCs, no hard feelings
).
Rac
