Table of Contents
From Part 25:How could he
not believe that he and Lois were meant to be together?
He should have known from the moment of their first kiss.
He’d kissed other women since Lana, of course. Mostly in circumstances where the woman had seemed to expect it and to refuse would have seemed impolite. The kisses had never aroused any reaction in him; at most, a kind of mild pleasure, but very transient and never enough to make him want to repeat the experience.
No, he’d never been at all tempted to go back on his pledge, after Lana, to avoid a deeper relationship with a woman. Actually, adhering to his vow hadn’t been a sacrifice at all, he now accepted. Until Lois, he’d never met a woman who’d made him
want to try again.
Until Lois.
And with Lois he wanted everything.
********
Now read on...Much later, Lois closed her apartment door behind Clark and padded, yawning and dazed, into her bedroom. It was late, later than either of them had realised when they’d finally emerged from their kiss-dazed embrace. Not that she regretted even a second of the time she’d spent in Clark’s arms tonight!
She’d never known a man like Clark before. She’d never before known a man who could make her melt with just a touch. A man whose smile had the power to make her heart flutter. Whose voice, especially when lowered in that soft, husky tone he’d used a few times tonight, set her stomach atilt.
Deciding to tell Clark all about Claude hadn’t been easy - but it had been well worth it. That was a story which she’d kept to herself ever since it had happened. People at the Planet just thought that she’d fallen for the Frenchman’s smooth lines and thrown herself at him, foolish enough to believe that he might actually be interested in more than the obvious. No-one else knew the full truth; not even her sister. She’d never told Perry, mainly because now she felt extremely foolish for having allowed herself to be taken in by such a smooth operator. How could she have possibly believed that a reporter of Claude’s standing would seriously have been interested in a junior reporter like her?
But she’d known that she needed to find out exactly what was behind Clark’s reluctance to start a relationship with her. He wanted her. He was attracted to her; she’d known that beyond question. And yet something had been stopping him, and she’d got the impression that it had something to do with being unsure that it was what she really wanted.
Insecurity. Fear of rejection.
She’d recognised those feelings in Clark - hardly surprising, since they were reactions she’d been fighting in herself for years.
So, as an inducement to get Clark to tell her what was behind his fear, she'd decided that the best way was to explain the circumstances in her own past which had made her wary of men and relationships.
It had been a relief when he’d been so understanding, so outraged on her behalf. Even though she’d told herself that Clark would never condemn her for being so stupidly taken in, a part of her had still feared something along the lines of the behind-her-back jeers and scorn of other male inhabitants of the newsroom. Or the salacious looks and fake come-on lines they’d given her to her face.
If she’d talked about Claude sooner, Lois now realised, the incident - his treatment of her - would never have had the power to dictate her life and her relationships for so long. If she’d told someone she trusted long ago - Lucy, Perry, maybe even Cat who, she’d learned some time later from Jimmy, had surprisingly come to Lois’s defence when the men had been discussing her behind her back. If she’d told someone sooner, and they’d reacted as Clark had, blaming Claude and reassuring her that she wasn’t stupid or wrong for having been taken in, she might have been able to put it behind her long ago.
And, she suspected, the same might very possibly be true of Clark. She wished she’d thought to ask him whether he’d told his parents about that incident with Lana. Somehow, from what he’d told her of his parents - Jonathan and Martha Kent, farmers from Smallville, Kansas, and according to Clark the most loving and generous people he’d ever known - Lois was sure that if he had told them, they’d have convinced him not to judge the world by the actions of one silly teenage girl.
She hoped he’d at least gone some way towards accepting the truth of that now.
Lois yawned as she began to undress. Tomorrow, she remembered. Tomorrow, Clark was taking her to Smallville. They had to go to work in the morning, to check up on any further developments in the Luthor case and write them up for publication. Perry had let them have the afternoon off, and Clark was flying her to Smallville.
So that she could help his mother design a costume for him - a disguise.
So that she could meet his parents.
In the act of brushing her teeth, she halted abruptly.
What on earth would Jonathan and Martha Kent think of this strange city woman who’d forced her way into their son’s life, had caused him to tell her secret, dangerous things about himself and who now wanted him to use his abilities openly? Had Clark told them anything about her previously? Had he mentioned how downright mean she’d been to him when he’d first joined the Planet? Did they know that she’d tried to steal his story?
If they did, they’d hate her.
And why wouldn’t they hate her anyway? According to Clark, they’d advised him to keep his abilities a secret, for his own sake and for those who loved him. She alone had persuaded him to go public. That meant that they would be in danger.
They’d see her as interfering, someone who had no right to intrude in their family. She’d known Clark only two weeks, and already she was telling him how to live his life, suggesting that he make major changes to it.
They would hate her.
She spat into the sink, her actions seeming to mirror her thoughts.
If she was sensible, she wouldn’t go. She’d tell Clark that he didn’t need her; that he and his mother would manage just as well without her. In fact, they’d probably manage better - after all, what did she know about sewing and outfit-making and about what fabrics would go together? Not to mention which fabrics would be durable enough to withstand the kind of treatment they’d probably get from ‘Superman’ - assuming Clark agreed to the name.
No. She’d tell Clark that she’d changed her mind. He could go alone - it wasn’t as if he really needed her anyway. It would be better that way, and she was sure that his parents would prefer it.
That decided, Lois climbed into bed, snapped off the light and went to sleep.
********
“That’s Smallville, down there.” Clark pointed in the direction of his home town. He was both nervous and excited at the prospect of introducing Lois to his parents and, if they had time, showing her around a little. He could borrow the farm truck and take her into town later that evening, perhaps.
If she wanted to. She’d been strangely reluctant to come with him after all.
As they’d gathered their things together to leave the Planet, Clark had said that he’d come by her apartment in half an hour or so. She’d looked hesitant, then said, “You don’t really need me there, do you?”
Taken aback, he’d said, “I guess not... but I was hoping that you wanted to come...” Despite all his efforts to prevent it, Clark hadn’t been able to keep the disappointment entirely out of his tone.
He’d seen her bite her lip. Then she’d taken a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll be ready.”
Now, scanning the area to ensure that it was safe for him to dip lower, Clark wondered again what it was which had made her have second thoughts. Was she changing her mind about him?
But then he made himself remember the promises they’d made to each other the previous evening. About trust. And about not making assumptions. He owed it to her to trust her, and so he would do that.
“So.” Her voice seemed a little shaky. “What did you tell your parents about me coming?”
“Umm...”
To tell the truth - and he wasn’t sure that he wanted to tell Lois, though he recognised that he was going to have to - he hadn’t.
“Yes?” Now her tone was sharp; irritation - or anxiety?
“Uh... well, I didn’t exactly tell them...”
“You didn’t... exactly... tell them what?” Lois demanded, and now he could definitely identify her tone as anxious.
“That I was bringing you with me,” Clark confessed. He stopped flying and simply floated, far enough above land that they couldn’t be seen.
“Wha-? Clark, take me home
this minute!” Lois yelled.
Why hadn’t he anticipated that she would be as nervous about her meeting his parents as he was? Maybe even more so.
“I’m sorry, Lois,” he said instantly. “I didn’t tell them I was bringing you because it would’ve meant telling them over the phone that you know about me. And that wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have over the phone.”
“Because they’re going to hate that you’ve told me,” she said flatly.
He tightened his arms around her. “No. They won’t. Lois, my parents trust me. I know they want me to find someone to love, to trust - someone I can be myself with. And...” He hesitated, then decided that however nervous he was about saying it aloud, Lois needed to hear it. “And in you I’ve found that person. And I need them to know that. Trust me, they’ll be delighted. And they’ll love you.”
“So why not tell them?” Now her voice was more subdued. Her expression showed pleasure and relief at his avowal, but she was clearly still nervous.
“Because I’d prefer to explain everything face to face, that’s all. Relax, Lois, it’s not a problem,” he assured her.
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” she muttered, burying her face in his shoulder.
“Come on. Let’s get down there - you’ll see I’m right,” he insisted with a grin.
*********
Sure. And maybe next she’d be the one developing flying powers, Lois thought sardonically.
She could see the farm spread out beneath them now as Clark lost altitude, preparing to land. Lois had never been very keen on farms; she associated them with dirt, mud and unpleasant smells. Put that together with the hostility Clark’s parents would undoubtedly have towards her and she was in for a terrible time.
But it was too late to back out now. Clark had just touched down in what looked like a back yard and he was letting her slide to the ground. She looked nervously at the door just ahead, but then Clark took her hand, squeezing it warmly.
“Lois,” he said softly. “Trust me. I wouldn’t have brought you if I hadn’t thought my parents would love you.”
“But they must know... you must have told them about the way I treated you...” she protested.
His free hand came up and he stroked the back of his fingers against her cheek. “I also told them that we’re partners. And that all that stuff in the beginning was just a misunderstanding. That I think you’re wonderful.”
Lois’s eyes widened. “When did you tell them that?” Clark thought she was wonderful. A warm glow spread through her. Though she thought he was pretty wonderful too - well, apart from when he did something like springing her on his parents unannounced.
“When I called them last night,” he explained. “I told them I was coming and that I had some important stuff to discuss with them - and I also told them about Lex Luthor and about Perry teaming us up.”
“Okay.” Well, maybe his parents wouldn’t throw her out before Clark had even finished introducing her, she thought. “Well... I guess we’d better...” She gestured towards the farmhouse.
“Wait.” He tugged on her hand, drawing her back to him.
“What?”
“This.” The word was whispered against her lips as his head descended. And then all thoughts of nervousness fled as she parted her lips for Clark’s kiss.
He hadn’t kissed her all day; when he’d come to pick her up, they’d left immediately. She’d felt just a little neglected, and she hadn’t been able to help wondering whether he was having second thoughts about their relationship again. Surely he wasn’t still thinking that she wouldn’t want to be with him because of his differences? She’d thought that she’d managed to talk him out of that, and yet...
But it seemed as if she’d been worrying for nothing. Clark’s kiss was hungry, and his arms were wrapped securely around her, holding her against him loosely but possessively. She returned his kiss gladly, loving the way it made her feel.
Loving the way that being in love with Clark made her feel.
All too soon, he drew back. “I guess we’d better go in.”
“In?” Lois blinked, momentarily confused as she opened her eyes again.
Clark grinned ruefully. “Yeah - my folks’ place. Remember?”
“Yeah. I remember.” Lois took a deep breath. “Okay, lead the way.”
Taking her hand again, Clark led her up to the back door, knocking once as he opened it and strode in. The door led to a kitchen unlike any Lois had ever been in before. This wasn’t a kitchen fitted out with all modern conveniences and seemingly purely for show. Nor was it a basic, functional kitchen whose user spent as little time in it as possible, doing little more than warming up food in the microwave or cooking ‘short-cut’ meals.
It was a kitchen which people actually lived in: cooked, ate, talked and behaved as a family. It looked like the well-loved centre of family life; the aroma of good cooking still lingered, and the coffee-pot on the large pine table hinted at a meal not long finished, at which the diners had lingered for a few minutes over coffee and conversation. On the walls there were pictures; not designer art or expensive posters, but what were clearly family photographs and child-like drawings.
This was a home.
Clark might have some lingering insecurities from his late childhood, but he’d clearly grown up with loving parents in a homely environment. And Lois couldn’t help envying him.
The kitchen door opened suddenly, and a woman of about Lois’s own height, or a little shorter, came in. She seemed to be in her mid to late fifties, with casually-styled blonde hair and a welcoming expression. “Clark! I thought I heard you!” she called cheerfully as she entered the room.
Then she halted. “Clark? You didn’t say you were bringing a friend.” There was surprise in her tone, but not, Lois noted, hostility or even any sense that the unexpected visitor was unwelcome.
“Sorry, Mom.” Clark’s tone was easy; casual. He went to his mother, hugging her warmly before continuing. “It would’ve meant explaining how Lois was going to get here, and I wanted to tell you all about that here, not over the phone. Mom, this is Lois Lane, my partner from the Planet - and my friend. Lois, my mom - Martha Kent.”
“Lois, it’s lovely to meet you!” Clark’s mother exclaimed, coming right over and holding out both hands. “Clark’s told us so much about you!”
Lois blinked at the warm welcome. “He has? And you still let me in the house?”
Clark’s mother chuckled. “Oh, Lois, anyone who my son calls both brilliant and stubborn has to have something going for her! And anyway, he told us last night that, whatever happened when you first knew each other, you’d become friends. That’s enough for me. And besides,” she added with a smile, “Clark wouldn’t have told you about himself unless you were special. Oh, of course he’s told you!” she added quickly, obviously seeing both Lois and Clark’s puzzled expressions in response. “You must have flown here with him.”
“I did,” Lois confirmed.
“Well, how else would she get here?” Clark said with a grin. “I’ll explain how she knows later, when Dad’s around, okay?”
“Sure.” She smiled at her son, then turned back to Lois. “And you’re very welcome. I’m just thrilled to meet you!”
Lois bit her lip. “But I was so mean to Clark...”
Martha Kent smiled. “But you told him you were sorry, didn’t you? I’m sure you did. So it doesn’t matter now, does it? Come on in - you will have some coffee, won’t you? Clark, would you go and call your father? He’s in the barn.”
And, just like that, Clark’s mother had managed to separate her son from the woman he’d brought to the family home, Lois thought in stunned admiration as Mrs Kent ushered her further into the kitchen and Clark disappeared out through the door. Now it would come, she was sure. Now, she’d be interrogated about her attitude to Clark and in particular towards his secret.
Well, a pre-emptive strike might well be the best tactic here...
“Mrs Kent, I know what you’re thinking,” Lois began, pasting a confident but friendly smile on her face and hoping that her nervousness wasn’t obvious. “Just who is this woman who’s got her hooks into Clark? And is she planning on splashing everything about him all over the front page of the Planet?”
But Martha Kent turned a placid smile on Lois. “Call me Martha, please. And no, of course not! I know that Clark would never have brought you here if he’d thought you’d do that. He’s told us that you’re his friend, and that’s all there is to it. Now, how do you like your coffee?”
“Uh - low-fat milk and artificial sweetener,” Lois answered, feeling completely off-balance.
“Oh, I’m sorry, dear; we only have whole milk!” Martha apologised. “I’ll have to make sure we have some for the next time you come.”
There would be a next time? “Black will be fine, Martha. Thank you.”
The coffees poured, Martha produced some home-made cookies and invited Lois to sit at the large table. Joining her, the older woman then said, “So what do you think about who Clark might be?”
Martha Kent didn’t believe in beating around the bush, Lois thought, trying not to show her surprise. But then, that was usually her preferred way of dealing with things when she was investigating or interviewing someone for a story, so she could cope with that, she thought. “He told me he doesn’t know - that he could be an experiment or even from another planet.”
Martha nodded. “And what do you think?”
“I really have no idea.” Taken aback again, Lois shook her head. “I don’t know much about genetics - my father’s a doctor and a scientist, and he’s done some work in that field, but more recently he’s specialised in robotics. I guess some of what Clark can do could be explained by robotic technology, but not the flying. As for aliens from another planet... I never believed in extra-terrestrials,” she said slowly. “But then, I never believed that a man could fly, or start fires with his eyes, either.”
“That’s true,” Martha agreed. “It was a shock to all of us when Clark found that he could do things like that. I remember the day he set his homework on fire.”
Lois giggled; she was about to ask for more details, but Martha spoke again.
“Does it bother you that he’s different? That he might not be human?”
Did it bother Clark’s parents? That thought hadn’t occurred to Lois before, and yet now she wondered... Why would Martha have brought the subject up, otherwise?
“No,” Lois said firmly, looking her host directly in the eye. “Clark is... Clark. He’s a wonderful, warm, kind, thoughtful, intelligent, sensitive and funny man. He has some amazing talents and abilities - abilities which would allow him to rule the world if he wanted to, and yet all he wants to do is help. And live a normal life. He’s the most special man I’ve ever met, and I’m proud to call him my friend. And my partner. And I’ll do everything I can to protect him from anyone who would want to harm him just because he’s different.”
A brilliant, joyful smile broke out on Martha’s face. “Oh, Lois, honey, I knew you were just the woman Clark needs!”
Lois blinked. “I am? I mean, yes, I hope I am, but...?”
“Lois, Clark was hurt badly, years ago, by a young woman - not much more than a girl, really - who couldn’t accept him as he was. His father and I have always been terrified that it might happen again: that he’d find someone and fall in love, and have her reject him. I needed to know that you wouldn’t do that, Lois.”
“You knew about Lana?” Lois asked, taken aback. She’d thought Clark had said his parents hadn’t known...
“Of course we knew! Oh, Clark never told us the details, but we could work it out. Or at least some of it. We never knew exactly what he’d told her about himself, or if he’d told her anything at all. But we did know that somehow he’d found out that she would never accept his differences. And it hurt him deeply. For a long time, Jonathan and I were afraid that he’d never let himself fall in love again. And then... well, then he met you, and even when he was telling us how unwelcoming you were to him, it was obvious that you were breaking through his defences, Lois. That’s why I was so pleased to see you here today.”
Amazed, Lois could only stare at Martha.
“If you can teach Clark to love again, and persuade him that you really do love him too - just as he is - you’ll make me very happy, Lois.”
“But... how do you know I...?” Lois was almost lost for words.
“How do I know that you love my son, Lois?” Martha smiled again. “It was there in every word you said about him just a minute ago. It was there in your eyes, too. You’re not going to deny it, are you?”
Shaking her head, Lois said, “No. And... I think - I hope - he’s already learning to love again.”
Martha reached across the table, squeezing Lois’s hand briefly. “I think Clark’s chosen much more wisely this time. Welcome to the family, Lois.”
*********
...tbc
