Now we're done.

Let me give a shout-out to three of the best beta readers on the planet! In no particular order, may I present to you Iolanthealias, Female Hawk, and Darth Michael, all of whom labored long and fruitfully over this with me. If you like some particular bit, it's a better than even bet that one or more of them helped me make that part better. You guys/gals rock!

All I have to do now is get it ready for the archive. Heads up, Labby!

Ah! Lois is pregnant! I thought so! I hoped so! Yay!

(And I'm sure it was the herbal medicine that did it. Not that I believe much in herbal medicines myself, but this was the Amazon stuff!)

The portrait of Bernie Klein was quite adorable, too. But my favorite part of the epilogue is probably this sentence:

Awwww!!!!

Thanks for this lovely epilogue to a great and truly original fic, Terry!

Ann

Great epilogue. I was hoping this was where it was going! Got to love those Amazons and their herbal medicine.

That is just so funny and so was Bernie!
Great story.

Artemis

Thanks for the kudos. And:

Heh heh heh.

Adorable. Would have loved to have seen Clarks reaction but I guess you want it to end here. Glad it all worked out. Laura

Wonderful ending! Great story, very well told. Thank you!

Aww, thanks And it's been a blast. Plus, I got to skip the nasty delays between most parts

Great story, Terry. Now, I just need to figure out the nomination categories for this story

Michael

Unfortunate.

I suppose I can just ignore this so-called epilogue and pretend that it ended after the last part.

Great story, Terry, not a great epilogue

Tank (who doesn't consider children a part of any happily ever after)

Terry,

I've been reading this story for the last several weeks and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Wonderfully told! I hope you'll write more soon.

Hey, y'all! Thanks for all the lovely feedbacks! They all look great. And I'm honored that someone might consider this Kerth nom-worthy.

With the wealth of terrific stories out there, I'll have no chance for best story. And I don't think this could be nominated for best original character, because Diana and her BFFs didn't come from my cranium. It's not an elseworld tale or an alt-verse tale, nor is it a next-gen fic (despite the epilogue). So unless there's a guest-star category, I'll just console myself that someone thinks so highly of my work.

Something I didn't state explicitly in the epilogue was that Lois once again beat Wonder Woman. Diana condemned Lois to the Amazons because she hadn't given Clark a child (as if that were a business transaction) for five years. Now she will. And although it probably wouldn't dawn on either Lois or Clark right away, at some point they're going to realize that Diana will find out. And then they'll have another laugh at Diana's expense.

Anyway, thanks for all the nice words, y'all. Makes me feel all warm and tingly inside.

Until next time!

Terry (who wonders if other authors review feedback from long-completed stories?)

Woo! Sorry that I'm late to responding to this. Got a job, and I've been falling behind on everything! Blah @ Darth Real Life.

This epilogue was absolutely wonderful!! It was quite funny (gotta love the awkward Dr. Klein), and it was a very happy ending for Lois! I bet Clark will be quite excited as well.

There were several parts that I loved in here--you handled it wonderfully.

This story was quite fun to read! I really enjoyed it. You did a terrific job!

Terry, do you not want this in the 2011 Kerths? If you do want to have it in, please let Tricia know. I don't think it needs much more editing at all.
regards
Artemis

I'm just catching up on my long fiction I missed over the last year and this story is terrific.

It's a different view of the Wonder Woman that I recall from the old TV show and Superfriends, but as I've heard rumors about an old relationship (in comics) between her and the Man of Blue, I totally can believe your version of things. I love that this super powerful woman is only "wonder woman" because she out seeking a mate to help her conceive her daughter. Ironic! Love it!

Although, I know Clark has the greatest ability to forgive of any man I've ever seen (fiction or otherwise), I still can't see him forgiving Diana any time soon.

I was a little confused by one part (I think in the prologue*), maybe you addressed this in earlier comments, but didn't Lois think at some point that she had been pregnant or "conceived" when Diana accused her of being baren? Then you kind of left that tease hanging without explanation.

I love how Clark never once falters in his love and devotion to Lois. It was a beautiful thing to behold. Lois is one lucky woman.

I kept wondering (from your opening warning) if you were going to have Clark fight Diana at some point and then realized it was his letting lose of his anger after on Paradise Island and threatening the women after they had allowed this fight to go on. I didn't find anywhere near as bad as you led me to believe after that warning. (phew!)

I'm always amazed that when it comes to some things (like old ancient laws) that one has to follow that people are real sticklers. Why couldn't they have just put Lois on a plane and sent her home -- no harm, no foul. Especially since she had been kidnapped for this fight anyway. Nobody but Diana thought it fair that Lois should have to fight, but instead of doing what would be right -- they all said, 'well, since the battle has been announced'... <<shakes head>> This isn't a criticism of your writing / story / plot as I totally bought that -- just a comment on how they kind of deserved what they brought upon themselves (Superman's wrath) for going along with the fight when they knew in their hearts (and minds) that it was wrong.

I wondered if they were going to ask the healer for help conceiving, but I guess she gave it to Lois anyway. Unlike Tank, I liked the Epilogue! I would have liked an extra scene with Lois telling Clark, but Bernie's distraction with his own love-life was

* Okay, I checked the Prologue and it wasn't there (unless the Archive version differed). Maybe I'm just imagining things.

Hi, Virginia! Thanks for the kind words on this story. I think your confusion on Lois' pregnancy comes from the comments for the epilogue. I mentioned that Lois beat Diana in yet another way, by having Clark's (or Superman's, in Diana's view) baby. And while that was never the competition between them, it would gall Diana even more because it was one of the justifications she used for the Challenge of the Wiles.

Remember also that any peaceful society must be ruled by its laws and not its rulers. Look at Afghanistan today, for example, and see how hard it is to get the various warlords to submit to a central government ruled by existing laws, not ones that are announced at the beginning of a term and subject to change at any moment. Hippolyta had no choice but to allow the contest. Under Amazonian law (at least as I portrayed it here), this challenge was part and parcel of both their legal code and their culture and could not be ignored. Yes, Diana was wrong to do what she did, and she paid the price for it - in the Amazons' court of law. The butt-whooping Lois put on her was really just a bonus prize.

(The readers are gently invited to imagine the legislative session wherein the ancient Challenge of the Wiles was repealed.)

I'm glad you enjoyed the story. I like to allow my readers to fill in some of the parts themselves, which in this case includes Clark's reaction to Lois' news. And don't worry about Tank! He's an old curmudgeon who's a self-confessed kid-disliker, so anything hinting at a next-gen storyline won't be to his liking. But that's okay because he's such a good writer. This sandbox is big enough for all of us to play in.

See you on the boards, Virginia!

Yes! This sandbox is indeed big enough for all of us to play in! We all know how to nicely share our toys and put them back in the toy box when we are done. In this case, Diana and the entire Amazon society was given something serious to chew on. My guess is the Challenge of Wiles both ancient and modern will be stripped from their law code.

Love the little flirting segment between Bernie and Sarah! How cool is that! He's my favorite of all the semi-regular characters. Wish he was in the series from the beginning!

Again. Thanks for an excellent story, ending with Lois expecting! Yay!