Earth I
Lois considered her plan. First, a quick stop at an engraving shop, then to the Planet.
“And where have you been?” Perry demanded, catching sight of her as she walked into the bullpen. “And where’s Kent?”
“I left him at the INS office,” Lois told him. “But I have a feeling it’s not going to pan out. They’re just not budging.”
“Budging on what?” Richard asked, stepping over to her. He gave her a quick hug, then stepped back as she stiffened in his arms. It’s over. It’s really over.
“I promised Clark not to say anything until we knew for sure how they were going to jump,” Lois said.
“How who were going to jump?” Perry asked. He guided her to his office, Richard following them.
“The INS and Homeland Security,” she said. “You know that story Clark was working on, about immigration problems. Well, it’s personal, too. And before you say anything Perry, that’s why we started working on it together. It was too personal for him.”
There was a commotion outside the office and Lois looked out to see Superman walking through the newsroom carrying a tiny bundle wrapped in a blanket. He looked like he was ready to bolt and was forcing himself to stay firmly on the floor. She hurried out of the office, knowing Perry was on her heels. As she went, she pulled a dirty med-alert necklace from her pocket, palming it. The dirt came from a flowerpot outside the engravers.
“Did you find the village?” she asked him.
Superman took a deep breath. “They were all dead. Less than twenty-four hours.” He swallowed hard. “I don’t understand how . . .”
“There’s nothing you could have done. You can’t be in more than one place at a time,” she told him. His expression cleared a little, but the wariness remained. She reached out and took the bundle from his arms, uncovering it. It was the baby girl. The baby fussed a little, hands flailing, looking for her mother. “And is this . . .?” Lois asked.
“Yes,” Superman answered.
Lois opened her hand to reveal the necklace, making it look as though she’d found it in the blanket. She dropped it into Perry’s hand. His eyes widened as he read the engraving. Lois knew what it read: Clark J. Kent, blood type O negative, allergic to penicillin. Jason’s allergic. It stands to reason his father is too.
“Superman, who are this child’s parents?” Perry asked.
Lois held her breath as she waited for his answer.
Superman considered his answer for a long moment, as if reluctant to admit the truth. Finally: “Conza Nor-Et and Clark Kent.”
“That’s what you and Clark were working on?” Richard asked Lois.
Lois nodded. “He got married while he was down there. But then he found out he couldn’t get her into the U.S. That’s one of the reasons it took him so long to come back to the States. I asked Superman to help. I figured maybe if she was already here, it might help, only . . .”
“Only she’s dead?” Perry completed for her.
Lois nodded. They’re buying it.
“Does Clark know?” Parry asked, looking to Superman.
“I haven’t seen him,” Superman said. “I have to go.”
“Superman, thank you,” Lois said as he headed for the nearest window. He looked back at her and nodded once before disappearing.
“He’s scared to death of you,” Perry observed.
“He’s just a little off kilter,” Lois explained. “This whole thing with Clark and the INS has been hard on him, too. They’ve always been pretty close, you know.”
The elevator doors opened and Clark Kent stepped into the elevator lobby, crossing the floor to the newsroom. He noted the sympathetic looks he was getting, especially from Perry and Richard.
“No luck?” Lois asked as he came closer.
Clark shrugged and shook his head.
“Doesn’t matter now,” Lois continued. “I asked Superman to go down to find her. Everyone’s dead, except . . .” She handed him the bundle. “Conza’s baby.” The baby started to fuss a little more. No doubt she was finally hungry.
Polly stepped forward. “How about I run downstairs and get some formula and stuff?”
Clark tried to shift the baby onto one arm so he could get out his wallet. Polly shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, Clark,” she said, taking off toward the elevators.
“Let’s go to the conference room,” Lois suggested, taking Clark’s elbow. He allowed himself to be led away. “What’s her name?”
Clark paused, thinking. “Esperanza Ester,” he finally said. “Esperanza Ester Kent.”
Richard watched them go. “She’s decided,” he told his uncle. “Is that post in Paris still open?”
Perry nodded.
“I can choose my own assistant, right?”
“Of course.”
“I’m thinking of asking Penny Landis. I think she’d do a good job for me and she speaks French better than I do. Plus, we’ve hit it off the last couple days.”
“If that’s what you want, son.”
“I think that’s what’s best, right now,” Richard said, watching Lois and Clark through the windows of the conference room. Lois was hovering over Clark like a mother hen. “We’ll work something out concerning Jason. I know they’ll both be fair about it.”
* * *
“What have I gotten myself into?” Clark asked aloud as he sat down on one of the chairs in the conference room. The baby started to wail and he held her to his shoulder. “What have I done?”
“What you always do,” Lois answered, noting how natural he seemed with a baby in his arms. “What you’re best at. Rescuing people. And I can’t think of anyone who needed rescuing more than this little one.”
“I can’t do this by myself,” he protested. It finally sank in as to what was happening. What Lois had planned for him.
“You won’t have to,” she assured him. “We’ll all be here to help.”
“I don’t know if I can do this at all.”
“Nobody ever said being a parent was easy. But, welcome to the human race, Clark Kent. This is what being human is all about. From today on, every action you take, every decision you make, will take into account the needs of another person. She will never be out of your thoughts,” Lois looked out at the newsroom, to the audience outside the conference room. “Besides, your marriage-ability quotient just went up about a thousand fold. A widower with a baby.”
“And what about him? What about . . .?” He made the slightest upward motion with one hand.
“Clark, I promise you, we’ll make this work, after all, they did. And besides, despite the fact that I would like nothing more than to knock your block off for lying to me, erasing my memory, and running off for six years, I’m in love with you. All of you.”
“And I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you. And we will make this work."
Earth II
“It’s so nice to be home,” Clark Kent told his wife of ten years.
“It’s good to have you home,” Lois Lane-Kent told him, giving him a kiss.
He looked around the house. “Have they gone home?”
Lois nodded. “Not long after he donated the blood that probably saved your life.”
“I didn’t get a chance to thank him,” Clark said. “Do you they’ll make it?”
Lois nodded. “I think they have a chance, once he gets over the shock of becoming a daddy. Once they figure out that with love, anything is possible.”
“Even the impossible,” he asked with a grin.
“Especially the impossible.”
Last edited by Dandello; 10/19/19 10:07 AM.
