In honor of tomorrow's Kerth awards, I decided to post this sooner rather than later.

So...things went "boom" here....

Wow. That was a fantastic part. My theory on the reason for the title was correct. The 'doubt' is over the owner of the 'seed'. How will they prove who it is? I'm sure they will want to know, but that means DNA tests and what is Clark going to say at that point.

In fact, why hasn't he told her already. They've been dating for weeks. And it's not even the off/on complicated dating of season 2/Dan 'cause you can forgive Clark for not telling Lois during those circumstances. Instead, I get the impression that this is going very well. Especially as they just told each other I love you. Which, was just wonderful, by the way. I loved it. Just ... tell her Clark, tell her already!

Personally, what I think Clark would do in this situation is ask Lois to marry him. She would point out that it could be Luthor's child, but he would say it didn't matter. He loves her and wants her to marry him. Once she said yes, then he'd tell her CK=SM.

I figured at least a few people might realize that "seed" should be taken quite literally.

Why hasn't Clark said anything? Fear, plus they've only really just started to get comfortable in their relationship and admit their love. And now with the baby coming, he's going to feel like he really can't say anything - how can he throw in "hey, guess what? I'm Superman," when Lois is faced with what to do about the baby? (Read: He's not going to want to pressure her into feeling like she has to keep it because it might be Superman's kid.)

Glad you enjoyed this installment!

Clark wouldn't ask this early on. I think it would feel too "shotgun wedding" to him. (Even though he really, really wants to marry her, baby or not.) He would want to make sure that Lois knew he was asking because of his feelings, not because of their situation. If Lois even wants to keep the baby.

Well now we're in for some drama, aren't we? This is a real problem. The rationale in both of your posts above are definitely valid. Of course, the longer he doesn't tell her, especially if it is his super-powered child, the more angry she's going to be - who knows what kind of danger a hybrid pregnancy could bring? But why would he even assume it's his? It's more rational to think Lex is the father - Clark is an alien, so why would his DNA even be compatible with a human's?

Lois has an interesting decision to make, too. Terminate the pregnancy if she believes that Lex is the father - she's not likely to want his child or disrupt her own life and career, and I fully believe that Lois is pro-choice. But if she believes it could be Clark's, if she has that "Seed of Doubt" and knows that she already loves him, she may be reluctant to terminate the pregnancy.

Or have the kid, go on TV so that Maury can say, "Lex, you ARE the father!", and sue him for child support.

Susan, all valid points. Clark has no reason to believe that he is the father, but he also has no reason to think that he isn't. He hasn't ever had any fertility testing done. But, cue around "seed" of doubt for him to mull over.

Lois definitely has her plate full - keep the baby and risk it being Luthor's? Terminate and risk killing Clark's child? Pre-birth DNA testing and risk the (very slight) chance of miscarriage? Carry the baby to term and give it up for adoption (so as not to terminate but also not to complicate their lives/careers/be reminded constantly of what Lex did?

(I also agree that Lois strikes me as the type to be 100 pro-choice, while Clark strikes me as pro-life but willing to defer to whatever Lois wants to do.)

to Maury!

And. Here. We. Aaare...
I swear I ran through the chapter thinking: "If DC ends it without telling us what's wrong with Lois, I'm going to cross the ocean by swim and force her to publish the revelation-stat!"
But you were a good girl...
(Something tells me Clarkie won't find the strength to reveal his secret in the foreseeable future...)

Nope. Clark's going to find it very difficult to find the courage to reveal his secret now (even though he wants to tell her!). And no, I'm not evil enough to make you wait a week to find out Lois' diagnosis. It's more fun to let you know and ponder how Clark will take the news!

Never has being late to give FDK felt better...cause it's technically Friday already here, I am dying to read the next part, and thankfully it's only a couple short days off .

Wow DC, really great part! Awesome all around, in every way. And yep, my predictions based on the title were correct, also . When Lois mentioned being pretty "tired" (while waiting for the pizza to arrive with Clark), I took that as a sign the realization of everything was coming fairly soon.

And now a lot to figure out. Possiblities that the child could be Lex's. Possiblilities that the child could be Clark's. Clark caught with his secret still a secret--with a lot of mental anguish as to when to out himself. Being in love and trying to navigate it all. Very excited to read more .

The "I love you" scene was amazingly WAFFy, btw. Loved it, read it (and swooned ) multiple times...

Thank goodness it is almost the weekend !
Laura

Hi, Laura!

Feedback is always welcome, no matter when it comes in, believe me! My muse is always hungry for comments.

Glad you enjoyed the part. I figured at least a few people would correctly foresee the pregnancy. I'm glad you picked up on at least one of the subtle hints at Lois' condition - another being her hunger (matching Clark slice for slice on the pizza).

The "I love you" scene was fun to write. It's such a scary new place for them to be in, even though (or perhaps especially because) they've already explored the physical aspects of their relationship.

Lots of things for them to figure of - Clark's secret, what to do about the baby, how this will impact their relationship.

New part coming soon...very soon. Late tonight, if I get the chance.

They will definitely need to talk about it. If Lois even hints at an abortion, Clark will have to step up and reveal the secret. If there is any chance, and at that point it is better than 50/50 that he is the father then Lois could be aborting a super baby and we can't have that.

They will start talking options in Chapter 11. Clark's secret, however...

I think Clark would want to support whatever Lois' decision would be. After all, he has zero reason to believe that Kryptonian and human DNA can combine in reproduction. He also has zero reason to believe that it won't. Still, adding on the pressure of possibly aborting a super baby isn't something Clark is going to want to do - he would view it as unfair to throw more pressure on her - especially if Lois is undecided on what she might want to do about the pregnancy - factoring in that she may carry to term and then choose to have the child adopted, especially if the baby turns out to be Lex's.

Well, the beauty of fanfic is that we can. The reality of the law in our country is that she can.

What indication do we ever have, up until season 4, that would lead someone to believe that Lois wants a child? From the beginning, she's presented as a career - driven woman of the '90s who came from a broken home. She can't even keep a plant alive. In this story, she was raped one month ago, and it will take a lot longer than a month to process those feelings. She slept with Clark once - she's really just getting to know him. Tell her that she might be having an alien baby and she'll more likely have nightmares than fantasies.

Point is, I could easily believe that Lois would terminate this pregnancy in this story's situation. I could easily also believe that she'd make a different choice. The lady or the tiger? That's why I really like this story - it's balanced on a very interesting question.

Wow, thanks. Glad you like the premise of the storyline. The beauty is, Lois can be 100% certain of her decision and then make a different choice. She can be ready to abort and change her mind last second. She can decide to keep the baby, find out it's Luthor's, then give it up. She can decide to adopt out the baby, see it for the first time, then decide she can't part with it.

I think we *do* get *small* glimpses into Lois' innate desire to one day be a mother in the series. She might hate the way things are going with Aimee in Smart Kids, but there's a genuine, almost motherly caring for the kid there too, and I do think Lois was genuinely sad to give her back at the end of the episode. And the way Lois held baby Clark in Tempus, Fugitive - granted, she's holding the love of her life as an infant - but there's a very "new mother" fear mixed with tenderness there.

She might not want a child at that very moment - career and Pulitzer desire and all - but I believe there was always that (albeit, distant) desire to one day have a husband and child(ren).