FDK goes here.

Next scheduled post:
Saturday either before 10AM or after 1PM [taking the kids to see the new VeggieTales...]

Chapter 33 Preview
Thanks .
Carol

Heh,...

Yay for the third kid and here's to hoping he/she will get to meet their big brothers!*smirks evilly in Lana's direction*

As to Lana... she comes across as very possessive and controlling. I so do not envy her Clark! I can't possibly imagine he's happy. Not allowed to help people, not getting to know his older brother... Here's to hoping the universe hop brings him to his senses.

Slow part, but necessary. Curious as to the meeting with Van-El and the steps that will bring them home.

~Sira.

I sincerely hope the Clark from this universe divorces Lana once he gets back. It seems she controls his every breath. Her possessiveness is sickly. He's a puppet in her hands.

How dare she? She's speaking to the most powerful man on world!

YAY, Clark! It's time somebody puts a limit to this bossy witch.

Andreia

Well, I can't hope that the current universe's Clark divorces Lana when he gets back. Any more than I hope that Joe and Lois break up. What I do hope is that Lana sees time-traveling Clark in action and realizes what her Clark could be and loves him enough to allow him to be that. Utopia can still be brought about by Clark and Lois' children if Clark and Lana and Joe and Lois' children marry.

Carol,
Wow! Are you sure there are only 7 more parts left? I do hope they will get to their lives in time without having to call off the wedding and starting divorce proceedings (for all that to happen 7 parts aren't enough, am I right?). <g>

I definitely can't leave for vacation while they are still in the wrong world! Would you mind sharing the rest with me before I leave tomorrow night? Please with sugar on top. Could be an early birthday present for me (it's Feb 22)!

Natascha

/whispers/

Natascha - check your inbox. But only because it's almost your birthday.

/end whispers/

Hey, no fair, she got peeksies! *pouts*

First of all, I can't say I hope Clark and Lana of this universe divorce. Number one, because I don't really believe in divorce unless there are extreme circumstances. The Lana and Clark of this universe don't seem to have it. I can understand why Clark would want to divorce Lana in this universe NOW, because really, she isn't HIS wife. But Clark and Lana of this universe seem to have a realitively good marriage.
Second of all I don't think Lana is a witch.

She's upset because her husband is basically telling her he doens't love her and will divorce her in a few weeks if things don't change. From the standpoint of a woman who believes they have a happy marriage and are planning on having kids, that's a lot to take in. It would make anyone angry and hurt.


I'd really like to see Lois and Clark start to worry about the condition of their kids, not just "we miss them."
I can understand why they didn't think about that right away, because they had so much to take in all at once.
And when they were traveling through time, I think adrenline made them to busy to think.

But that's not true anymore.
And like I said before, I don't think their kids are fine at all.


First of all, there is that worried anxiety most parents have when they're away from their kids too long. And in this case, they can't even call them to make sure they're okay.

Second of all, if the Lois and Clark from this universe ARE in their universe, that Lois and Clark DON'T know Christopher and Nate.
They may know how to take care of children, to a certain extent, but they don't know THESE KIDS.
Does Nate still need to drink Pedisure? What are their favorite foods? What makes them feel better when they're upset? When is the right time to give in and the right time to put their feet down? What do they like to do for fun? Is there anything they prefer to do with just Dad or just Mom?
These are NOT things you can find out in a few days. (Which are how long that Lois and Clark having been caring for the kids, which is probably akward for them, adding to the difficulty.)


Third, as I have said before, Christopher is perceptive. He seems to have signs of early telapathic ablities. I assume this means he would notice these Lois and Clark are NOT his parents, even without noticing they act differently.
Three year-olds oven have fears of abbandonment when their parents leave them (even just for a few hours). "Don't they love me anymore?"
They also have fears of never seeing their parents again. (Which, in this case, could be a very REAL fear.)
All these fears will probably be exagerated in Christopher's case because they haven't come back in FEW DAYS and NO ONE CAN TELL HIM WHERE THEY ARE.

Now that Lois and Clark are beginning to reflect on the realities of this situation, I would think they would think about these things and seriously worry about the condition of their kids.

/waves/

Just popping in - hopefully time for more detailed response later but we have one of the kids' friends coming over tomorrow [and dropping her off in an hour or so] and Grandma coming over tomorrow night so... House is looking better, but not a whole lot...

I'll say this - I can see both sides of the divorce argument but...

*If* this Lois and Clark truly believe they're stuck in this universe with no way to get home, is it right for them to:

Lois/Joe:
Go through with the wedding [and the wedding night?]
Postpone the wedding indefinitely leaving Joe in limbo?

And if so:
Stay with Clark, a married man?
Lois is essentially a single mom again?

Clark/Lana:
Keep trying to get pregnant?
Stay married to her 'for real' and all that entails?
Stay married legally but stay with Lois so 'Clark Kent' is cheating on his legal wife?
Clark is essentially single though still married to Lana legally and having a baby with Lois?

All four of them end up still in relationships but not really and not free to move on either together [L/C] or separately [L/J].

Or get a divorce/call off the wedding, move on together and let Lana and Joe get on with their lives instead of living in limbo indefinitely?

I'm with Sara on this one. Lana has just been tossed a complete curveball and I don't think any of us would deal with that well. Hopefully, at some point, most questions will be answered and this Lana more fully fleshed out - if I do write those snippets that are floating around in my head about this universe. In UP, she will be some but probably not enough for some of you.

That said, I have a sinking feeling that no one is going to be happy with the rest of it for one reason or another [either they divorce or don't; not enough of this universe shown if they're here very long; too much of this universe shown or here too long; 'fix' is too easy; 'fix' is unbelievable [assuming it gets fixed of course ]; etc.] but I guess that's the way it goes.

/sigh/

Thanks .
Carol

Well, you made me like Lana in one universe, there is *no way* you could make me like her in two universes!

I'm so sad for Lois and Clark...but I fully expect you to make things happy in the end...or we may be after you with pointed sticks. Fair warning.

I'm looking forward to see how you fix this!

Amber

Lois is pregnant again! I like it. But I feel sorry for everybody. However, I will disagree with Sara. I don't think it's right to divorce lightly, although I'm not nearly as strict about it as Sara seems to be. For example, when Lois is married to Lex (who pulled the wool over her eyes and deceived her about the kind of man he really is), I don't give two hoots about her 'responsibility' to honour her marriage to him. I don't think she has any such responsibility in the first place, given Lex's character. Admittedly, when she is married to a likable guy like Joe or Chad, then divorce isn't something she should consider lightly.

But the circumstances in this fic are extreme. This Lois and this Clark are married to each other, only not in this universe. This Clark and this Lana, however, have never been married to each other. Technically they are married, but they have never exchanged wedding vows or rings. I don't think Lana can claim the right to be married to this Clark. She is indeed married to a Clark, only not to this one. I feel very sorry for her for having lost her Clark, but as I said, I don't think she has the right to lay claim to all other Clarks in all other timelines, just because she was married to the Clark who belonged here. So in other words, if Clark has to stay in this reality - which I fervently hope not - then I think he should divorce Lana.

But things should get better - Van to the rescue. Oh well.

Ann

I agree with that. I am very sorry for Lana and Joe to have this curveball thrown. I hope they know that everyone is doing everything they can to get their spouses/fiancees back. But now that Lana knows the truth, the fact that Clark walks, talks, and looks like his counterpart doesn't give Lana any more claim over him than if he were a total stranger. And why would she want to stay married to a stranger, one that doesn't have any memories of life with her? I hope she'll realize that her real husband is missing because he is. That's what's the most important here.

Anyone remember CC's Through the Window/And Back Again? A similar topic was addressed. Clark's worst fear was that one Lois was as good as another, but he was wrong. They're all different people just as you guys and I are.

The only reason I'd hate to see Joe and Lana be broken up with is because I'm hoping at some point their real significant others will be found, and it would, pardon my french, blow chunks for them to show up and find out they aren't together anymore. But it's also not fair for Lois, Clark, OR Joe and Lana to stay married to complete strangers.

Hm. :p Not sure what I really addressed, but somewhere in there is my spare change on their divorce.
Great part!
JD

Michael

I could be wrong, Ann but it seems to me that you think that I believe OTOH Clark divorcing Lana would be unacceptable. I don't.

Like you had said, these are extreme circumstances. This Clark NEVER made vows to Lana. And Lois is pregnant, which means he needs to support her. He's going to have a harder time doing that if he's still married to Lana.

What I was saying was that the Clark that DID marry Lana shouldn't divorce Lana. (Assuming they can get back to the correct universes in time.) They will probably have problems, because he has been to a universe where he is married to someone else with two kids. And unlike Lois and Clark, HIS wife isn't with him.

But I still think they should give their marriage a chance. Some people seem to think the Clark that is married to Lana would see how great it was to be married to Lois and have children with her that he will come back and want to divorce. THAT is what I disagree with.

I am in the camp "each L&C is different." So I now think (imho), it would be wrong for the OTOH Lois and Clark to live the lives of this universe's L&C (i.e. with Joe, with Lana).

Although, I'm curious to know how the other L&C are coping with married life and two sons. If and when they get back, would they have altered perspectives? Would we get to know them?

Superbly awesome story!

/waves/

No time. Will post probably after 2 ET.

Thanks!
Carol