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Back to the Planet part 2

It was four days later when Clark returned to the farmhouse. He had rescued all the trapped people he could find and had shored up most of the buildings that threatened to topple. He had even evacuated hospitals to nearby cities when the aftershocks threatened those buildings.

Lois had watched his progress on the television and known that he would soon be returning. She was no longer dazed; she was firing-point mad at him. She couldn’t wait until he arrived to rip into him. He had kept a secret from her for over a year and when he had finally shared it with her he had dumped her unceremoniously at his parents’ house and gone away leaving her feeling anxious and awkward. She would teach him how to share a secret!

Martha and Jonathan watched her silently and knew that Clark was in for a bit of trouble. They had shared his story about the space ship that landed, shown her his baby pictures, explained how Clark always wanted to help but never knew how to accomplish that until he invented Superman. Then they had just waited as they watched the head of steam that was gathering in Lois. Martha had debated with Jonathan whether they should share the fact that Clark was deeply in love with her, or should they leave that one for Clark to spill. In the end, as Lois got madder they decided that it was all Clark’s baby and he would have to finish the story. His parents had gone as far as they could go without harming his cause, and he was on his own to smooth out the trouble that was about to happen.

As fate would have it, Clark did not arrive at the farm until after midnight. The house was all quiet, so he went to bed on the sofa. He was exhausted from four days of non-stop rescue work. He drifted off into a state between sleep and a coma. If Lois had come into the room and exploded, he most likely would not have awakened. His subconscious took over and he floated about three feet in the air above the sofa. This is how his mother found him the next morning when she went down to start breakfast. She carefully put a blanket over him and went into the kitchen. Shortly thereafter, Jonathan also come down and looked in his son’s direction, but did not say anything to the airborne figure. About an hour later, Lois came down the stairs and gasped at the fellow who looked so much like Clark, but was hanging in mid-air like he was suspended by a wire. He did not move a muscle at the sounds of footsteps or Lois’ response to his position. She was just about to give him a punch when Martha come up behind her and asked her to come into the kitchen. She reminded Lois that Clark had had a rough few days and needed to recover before they really got into the discussion of the hour. Lois was chomping at the bit to tear into him, but she backed off because of the kindness of Martha and Jonathan in this situation.

After breakfast, Lois went with Martha over to the Irig’s house to deliver some canned jelly and jam that Martha had preserved. She picked up some fresh produce in exchange and brought it back to the house with them. When they arrived back at the Kent‘s, Lois went inside and to the living room to see if Clark was awake yet. He was nowhere in sight, but she could hear the water in the shower upstairs running. Even though she had been mad for almost four days, Lois was not looking forward to the battle that she was expecting with Clark. He had hurt her, and when her pride was affected, she was not a rational or a kind person. Mad Dog Lane had reappeared and she had rabies! Lois knew that she was going to say something that would hurt him, but she could not seem to talk herself out of the fight.

When Clark came back down the stairs, it was normal, farm boy Clark with the flannel shirts and ragged jeans. Gone was the god in a cape! Lois steeled herself for the fight and sat down on the sofa. He walked
over and sat down next to her.

“Lois, do you understand all about who I am now? Do you realize that I have been living a double life and trying very hard to keep all the different parts separate? Please, let’s not let this discussion become a battle.” Clark leaned over and took her hand in his larger one. He looked her right in the eyes, and some of the steam she had built up seemed to dissipate.

“Well, Clark, I just want to know why you did not think I was trustworthy enough to know this about you? Your mother and dad told me how you have hidden your talents and assorted powers all your adult life, but I thought you and I were close enough that we would be able to tell each other anything. Why couldn’t you tell me about this?”

“I do trust you with my very life. I knew that if there was anyone in Metropolis that I could trust, it was you.” Clark put his other hand over the one holding hers. “This sharing my identity thing is so new to me that I am still making all kinds of mistakes. Superman appeared about a year ago, and it has just lately gotten to the point where I am relaxed in the part. The fear of discovery by someone unkind to those I love or wanting to eliminate me kept me stiff and more military in action. I do not know any other way to keep the two separate. I just knew that if you did not figure it out, I was sure that no one else would either. You were my safety net to test whether I could pass as Superman and still remain Clark Kent. I was just getting to the place where I wanted to tell you all about myself since I was comfortable enough to trust myself in public.”

“I don’t think this is the way to tell someone about earth shattering news! You cannot just dump me off at the parents’ house and fly off to be the good guy when you clearly were wrong about your method of sharing the secret. I needed to know that the person who wanted me to forget about marrying Lex was my friend and partner Clark Kent, but also that he was Superman. I needed to know that you trusted me enough to share this secret. I needed to know that you respected me enough to trust me the way I trust Superman. I needed. . .” Lois trailed off. The look on her face told Clark that this was not the end of the discussion.

“Lois, think back with me. When I told you that I loved you as Clark, you told me you did not feel the same way toward me. When you spoke to Superman, you told him that you would love him even if he was an ordinary man. That was the same man who you had just told you could not love. I was heartbroken that you did not see through the ruse to the real man. But since you did not see Clark Kent inside the man in a
cape, I had to turn you down. I set about to prove that Luthor was not a good man who was worthy of marrying you. I wanted to tell you so much just how I felt about you. It just never seemed to be a proper time to share it with you. And, by the way, I do love you!” He leaned over and gently placed a loving kiss on her forehead.

“A while back, when you were recovering from the trauma of the aborted wedding, I told you that I would love to make long range plans that involved both of us.” Clark shut his mouth suddenly and looked over at Lois. He was afraid he had said too much. What if she still did not want the man named Clark, but would do anything with the guy in the cape?

“But, Clark, you hurt my feelings. You did not trust me enough to share your secret. How am I supposed to get over that slap in the face? How am I supposed to look at you with love in my eyes when all I can see is betrayal? I see a man who treated me like a child when you gathered me up and set me down here in Smallville with minimum facts and a lot of questions. I needed you to be a grown up that treated me as a grown up. I needed you to trust me. I needed you to be available to answer all my questions. I needed to be respected and honored. When did I ever make you think I was so weak that you had to coddle me?”

Clark sat very still for a minute, thinking how to answer those questions. He knew that his life and his future happiness depended on how he answered the questions.

“Honey, I love you. I want to share everything with you. I want us to walk off into the sunset, hand in hand. I want us to be old and gray sitting on the front porch talking to our great-grandchildren. I am just a little slow about how to go about making you realize that this is nothing personal that I took so long to tell you. I never told anyone before, for any reason. You are my first, my only, my everything! I love you!”

About the time he turned his head to see if he made any headway in his appeal to her, Lois’ face reflected that he was pushing too hard in an area where she was not comfortable. It took most of the day for them to hash out their differences. Martha and Jonathan stayed in the background and let them talk. Lois was so incredibly hurt that Clark had treated her almost like a child, but she also seemed to grasp the fact that he had no point of reference about how to handle this sensitive subject. Eventually Lois started to ease off the hurt feelings and seemed to understand what Clark was saying to her. At the end of the day, they were no longer upset with each other and when they went to their separate beds that night, it was with a truce between them.

*******************

When they arrived back in Metropolis, Lois stashed her suitcase in the bedroom and walked back out into Clark’s living room. “Tonight, do you think maybe you might want to stay with me in the bedroom instead of living on the couch? I think it might be time for us to make a few plans for the future. Maybe we can start with seeing just how much we have in common instead of how much we have that is different.”

In answer to her, Clark moved toward her and planted a wet one on her mouth. He had never in his life been happier. A few days before, he wondered if Lois would ever forgive him for the mistakes he had made. Now, he was kissing her, with her delicious body tight against his. Forgiven or not, this was a wonderful place to be.

“Lois, will you marry me? Not tonight, but soon? I don’t want to wait to make you mine.”

“YES!” The word was also felt by both. She went back to kissing him, and it was Clark who reluctantly pulled away.

“Honey, I know we are in love, but there is no rush to push this to the next step. Let’s enjoy being together, enjoy getting to really know each other, and then we will enjoy getting to make love. I do not want to have sex with you; I want for us to make love.” Lois knew what he was saying, but she kept
kissing him down his neck and into the collar area of his shirt. He pulled her back against himself and let go a big sigh. She was all he ever wanted, and she was here right now. Life was good! Lois had forgiven his stupid clumsiness in how he handled the Superman identity.

“Let me throw a few things into a bag, and let’s repack your bag because you and I are going on a trip. We do not need to go to work tomorrow, but we need to find you a wonderful ring. I know just the place in Hong Kong. You will love it.” Clark bolted toward the door of the bedroom and in the process taking Lois along. They packed enough clothes to be gone a few days and left by the balcony in the rear of his apartment.

As they arrived in an alleyway in Hong Kong, Superman spun out of his suit and into a nice pair of chinos and a blue knit shirt. Lois looked at him with admiration. He was such a great man, and not hard on the eyes at all.

Clark walked into the Hong Kong Hilton and asked for a room with a good view of the city. Shortly after checking in and going up to the thirty-fifth floor to the two room suite, Clark took Lois by the hand and marched down the street to a jeweler he knew. Lex Luthor had spent over a half-million dollars on Lois’ engagement ring, and Clark wanted to see if he could find one that was even closer to Lois’ taste. After the fiasco of Lex’s wedding, she had donated the engagement ring to the Superman Foundation. She had admitted to Clark that she was never completely comfortable with the choice Lex had made for her. She had different ideas of what was a good looking ring.

Inside HK Jewelers, Clark spoke to the owner in a language that Lois did not understand. They grinned at each other as the owner went into the back room and took a black velvet case from the walk-in safe. When he opened it, Lois gasped. Inside were some of the most beautiful, crystal clear diamonds sparkling in the reflection of the store lights. Clark explained that they would choose the stone or stones first, then they would choose a setting for it or them. He wanted her ring to be as individual as she was, so they would create it from scratch. She looked at the case and shook her head. How in the world would she select one stone from all those beauties in the case? She had not thought much about what she did like, only what she did not like about the ring Lex gave her.

It took Lois over two hours to choose a stone and a simple yellow gold solitaire setting. Clark assured her that she could have any diamond, any multiple stoned ring, and her choice of a setting for it. They stood by the glass partition separating the jeweler from the store and watched as he carefully placed the flawless one carat stone Lois had chosen in the simple gold band. Clark was amazed that Lois wanted such a plain ring. He, after all, would have gotten her a ring that would have made Elizabeth Taylor envious if she had wanted it. The look of happiness on Lois’ face told him what she thought about her choice. And he was having a horrible time keeping his feet anchored to the ground. Happiness had that effect on him, and Lois definitely made him happy.

*******************

Lois and Clark stayed in Hong Kong for two nights and Clark did the tourist guide act for Lois. He knew his way around the city and knew quite a few places for them to visit. In the evenings, Clark and Lois slept in the same bed but did not do anything to start the heat between them. It was rough to sleep next to each other and just lightly kiss each other goodnight. They had discussed the fact that they needed to know each other better before they gave in to the passion that was just below the surface in their relationship. Neither was completely comfortable with a sexless romantic relationship, but they both agreed that it was a temporary state, and would soon be changed. Clark was sure he was forgiven his transgression of not sharing Superman’s secret with Lois and Lois was sure she was forgiven the temper she showed in rebuking him for his stupidity. They both were planning a future together, and knew that there were still some lingering problems that needed to be worked out before they took the final step to seal their relationship. So they relaxed and enjoyed playing tourists that were in love. It tickled Clark when he caught Lois looking at the sparkler on her left hand. (And he caught Lois looking at it often in the two days after the purchase.) She was embarrassed at first when he mentioned she was looking at the ring, but she got where she agreed that it was a perfect ring and she was just so happy to have it on her finger. That made Clark grin.

The second evening in Hong Kong, Clark began to tell Lois about his being a prisoner in the cage that Bill Henderson found in the basement of the Lex Towers. He told Lois how the green rock, kryptonite, was ground up and painted on the bars of the jail that Lex had made for Superman. He explained how he had escaped only because of the sloppy egotism of Luthor. If Lex had not thought he had won the hand of the fair maiden Lois and wanted to rub that fact into Superman’s face, if he had not gotten so careless with the key and left it within reach of the cage, and if Clark had not been able to rally his strength just enough to escape, the whole future that they were planning would never have had a chance to begin. Lois listened to the story with rapt attention. So many questions that she did not even know she wanted to ask about that time were answered. That explained Clark’s appearance after her wedding and the fact that Superman did not try to rescue Lex as he committed suicide. There was no Superman to do any rescues, thanks to the cage Lex had constructed. They both agreed that they needed to follow up on the cage with its kryptonite and save Superman from ever having this happen to him again.

Lois explained to Clark what she was thinking when she told Lex she would marry him. He realized that Lois was insecure about all relationships, but he did not realize that she settled for continuity instead of love because she really did not think she was entitled to love. She had experienced so little love in her life. She told him about how her mother was cold and indifferent to Lucy and her. Her father was too preoccupied with his job and womanizing to give her any affection. And when it came to the romance department, she had settled all her life for the convenient. If someone showed affection toward her, she had talked herself into thinking that she was in love with that person. When all the relationships ended after sex, she thought she was incapable of having a loving relationship. She melted into Clark’s arms and told him, halting in speech as she tried to get it right, that he was the first person who made her feel completely loved and cherished. That evening, after both had bared their souls with to each other, it was hard not to find comfort in the other’s arms. They had agreed not to make love on this trip, and both realized that they were just getting to the hard part of understanding each other. Making love would cloud up the progress that they were making. So, both of them kissed the other lightly and promised to work even harder to learn about the thought processes of the other so that they could lovingly seal their relationship. Both agreed it was too important to rush into something before they were completely ready.