Thanks, as ever, to Alicia, Nancy, Beth and - new addition - Cat!
Last time:
She followed him into the house. She took in the country hominess and the spinning piece of art that looked like it was made out of tractor parts or something.
"Have a seat," he said, motioning to the couch. "Can I get you something to drink?"
She didn't want to exchange pleasantries or discuss the merits of buttermilk versus skim or hog futures or corn futures or...
Their future.
She finally blurted it out.
"I'm pregnant."
The only sound was that of a glass shattering.
"What?" came his voice from the kitchen.
"I'm pregnant."
Chapter 5
The glass he was holding fell to the ground and shattered around him.
Had he heard her right?
Pregnant?
"What?" he asked, his voice sounding strangled even to his own ears.
"I'm pregnant."
He looked at the broken glass on the floor. It could wait. He turned and walked to the living room, sitting in the chair across from her. "Wow," he said. "I didn't know what you wanted to talk about, but that sure wasn't it." He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't guess we used protection, did we?"
She shook her head as she perched on the edge of the couch. "Not that I remember and I’m not on the pill or anything like that."
He wanted to ask her what she remembered, if she knew why he woke up with a headache, why he didn't remember. He was in shock, staring unseeing at the coffee table.
She startled him when she stood. "I won't ask you for anything. Work's been crazy so I haven't had a chance to call a lawyer. I would have figured you would by now but that's why I haven't. I'm heading back to Metropolis in a minute. I just thought you should know before you read it in the paperwork and I was in the area on business so..."
He nodded. "Where do we go from here?" he asked quietly. Divorce was one thing but now that there was a baby involved... He did the mental math. She had to be near the end of her first trimester.
She shrugged and laid a slip of paper on the table. "Here's my address in case you get to a lawyer before I do. This week's going to be crazy, too. I've been working like ninety hours a week so..."
"Is that good for you? For the baby?"
She started walking towards the door. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine. I just thought you should know."
"Wait." Clark stood to look at her. She had one hand on the door and didn't turn around. "What..."
The phone rang.
"Go ahead," she said quietly. "Answer it."
He sighed and headed for the kitchen. "Hello?" He listened for a minute. "I can't right now, Mom. I'm kind of in the middle of something." He listened again. "I'll call Wayne and see if he can get out there. Where are you exactly?"
By the time Clark hung up the phone and turned around, she was gone. He immediately took to the air, hovering high enough up that he couldn't be seen from the ground, but he couldn't find her car. If she'd headed straight for the highway, which was only half a mile or so from the farm, she was long gone.
After ten minutes of futile searching, he landed back on the porch before climbing into his mom's car and heading out to help them with their tire problem.
He pulled in behind them on US 75 near Independence.
"I thought you weren't coming," his mom said as he got out.
"I wasn't. The... thing I was in the middle of ended rather more abruptly than I expected."
"What was it?" Jonathan asked, pulling the jack out of the trunk of the car.
Clark took it from him heading towards the truck. He jacked up the truck and started to remove the flat tire.
"Lois," he finally said as he pulled the tire off.
He could see his parents exchange a look.
"What?" Jonathan finally asked.
"She showed up at the office about an hour ago, asked if we could go somewhere more private to talk so we went to the farm. She told me she's pregnant, gave me her address to give to my lawyer, the phone rang and by the time I turned around she was gone. I couldn’t find her anywhere."
The only sounds were of the cars zipping by.
Martha finally spoke. "Do you want to repeat that?"
"She's pregnant," Clark said, tightening the lug nuts on the spare tire. "Apparently..." He paused and sighed. "We didn't use protection," he finally went on. "And she wasn't on the pill. She left before I had a chance to say anything else."
"What're you going to do?" Martha asked.
He sighed as he lowered the truck back to the ground. "Go to Metropolis, I guess. She said she wouldn't ask me for anything when she called her lawyer – I guess she's been too busy lately – but wanted to tell me in person since she was in the area on business."
"Did she say what she was planning on doing?"
Clark leaned against the car and cleaned his hands on an old towel. "I can't imagine her seeking me out like that, even if she was in the area anyway, if she was planning on getting an abortion. And she said she wasn't going to ask for anything which would seem to indicate she's planning on keeping the baby, but beyond that... I don't know."
"Well, let's get off the side of the road and we'll talk more at home." Jonathan climbed in the driver's seat of the truck as Martha got in the other side.
Twenty minutes later they were seated around the kitchen table. Clark fingered the piece of paper she'd left behind.
"What now?" Martha asked quietly.
"I move to Metropolis," Clark told them. "I hadn't planned on it – I was thinking about heading back to China after Bill comes back next week – but I'm not going to run out on her or the baby. I'll pay child support or whatever but I want to be part of my child's life."
Martha and Jonathan exchanged a look. "Um, listen, son," Jonathan said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. "We don't know this girl, anything about her, but are you sure the baby's yours?"
"It doesn't matter," Clark told them quietly. "Since I'm her husband, then legally this baby is mine regardless of who the biologically father is. And if it's not my baby... well, then we're not even sure I can have kids with a human female. This baby is legally mine and may be my only chance to have a child but I don't want to make her uncomfortable or whatever so I guess I go to Metropolis and hope that I can be a part of my baby's life without resorting to nasty custody battles." He sighed. "I'll call Bill tomorrow and see if there's anyone who can take over for the rest of the week or leave after this week's paper is out."
"What'll you do for work?" Martha asked him.
He shrugged. "Bill knows Perry White. I'll see if he can help me get an interview at least. If not or if there isn't anything available at the Planet, I can always get a job doing construction work or on the docks or something. Manual labor isn't an issue either physically or for my ego. Well," he conceded, "maybe for my ego but I'll do what I have to do to help take care of Lois and the baby, if she'll let me. If she won't, then I'll start a college fund or something."
"What about the marriage?" That came from Jonathan.
Clark swirled the little bit of buttermilk left around in his glass. "She talked about lawyers so I'd guess we're getting a divorce."
"Is that what you want?" That was from Martha.
"No, not really," he said. "Not now anyway. I'd like to at least get to know her a bit and see if this whatever it was that drove us to get married and..." He turned red. "...you know is real. There's a physical attraction there, at least on my part, and I enjoyed our afternoon together. I'd rather see if we could work something out first instead of just calling a lawyer and calling it quits, but if she wants a divorce, I don't know that I have much of a choice." He leaned back in his chair and idly traced the line of the wood grain on the table. "This just isn't how I pictured this part of my life going. A wedding I don't remember to a woman whose last name I still don't know. Don't see her for two and a half months and then she shows up to tell me I'm going to be a father and she's calling her lawyer."
"It's going to be different this time," Jonathan pointed out. "You can't pull your stunts in Metropolis. You can't pull up and leave if you want to be a part of this baby's life. And in a big city like Metropolis, someone is going to catch you on film or something. And if they do, it's not just me and your mom you have to worry about anymore. If anyone found out about you and then found out that you have a child who's *not* invulnerable..."
Clark sighed. "I know. I'll be careful."
They talked for a while longer and then he went to call Bill.
*****
Lois watched as he answered the phone, waiting until his back was turned to slip out the screen door, being careful that it didn't slam behind her.
"I'll call Wayne and see if he can get out there." Clark's voice drifted out the open windows. "Where are you exactly?"
She climbed into the car as quietly as she could, being careful not to make any more noise than necessary as she pulled out of the driveway.
She'd told him. She'd done what she'd come to do. She'd managed to get out without truly being rejected, but she hadn't seen any indication that he wanted anything other than a divorce.
Just like she did.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she turned onto US 169 and merged with other traffic.
She made it all the way to Thayer, Kansas before the tears started to fall. Ten minutes. That had to be some kind of record or something, right?
Lois spent the rest of the drive to Kansas City swiping at her cheeks. By the time she reached the Marriot near the airport, she was almost under control. Once settled into her room, she decided to hit the fitness center to work off some nervous energy.
By the time she made it back to her room, she was exhausted and she hadn't gone nearly as far as usual. Was she out of shape or was the baby taking that much out of her already?
She ordered room service before taking a shower. When it arrived, she curled up on the bed to eat, trying to block out the memories of Clark feeding her chocolate covered strawberries in bed and in front of the fireplace after they got out of the Jacuzzi.
There had been champagne and strawberries and chocolate waiting in the room for them when they arrived, but they'd been too busy doing... other things when they arrived and she'd forgotten about them when she'd headed for the bathroom to soak in the tub. When they got out, they'd gone back to bed together and, once sated again, he'd opened the champagne and they'd taken turns feeding each other strawberries. It had been a nice day for February, but the evening had been plenty chilly and they'd ordered pizza to eat in front of the fireplace once the strawberries were gone. They'd talked while they ate – him clad only in his boxers and her in his shirt again.
At least until he'd asked for it back, a mischievous grin on his face as he held his hand out.
She'd stood and done a bit of a striptease for him – something she wouldn't have believed herself capable of – and they'd made love in front of the fireplace before he'd floated - *floated* - them back to bed where they'd fallen asleep in each other's arms as he murmured sweet nothings into her hair.
Floated.
She frowned. That was something she'd refused to dwell on – those... abilities of his. He'd said he was an alien and he'd shown her a number of the things he could do.
That meant...
That meant that the baby...
That meant that the baby was... half alien?
He certainly didn't seem like an alien.
He very certainly didn't *look* like an alien.
But what about the baby?
The tears had started again as she put the rest of her dinner on the side table and crawled under the covers.
She wrapped herself around one of the extra pillows. What she needed was Clark.
His strong arms holding her, the solid presence of his body curled around hers, his warm breath on her neck as he would occasionally lightly kiss the skin of her shoulder or neck until his deep, even breathing told her he was asleep.
But what she needed was an ideal that he – or any man – could never hope to live up to.
His physical presence was one thing, but to trust him with her heart was something else.
First Joe, then Paul... No. First her father. Then Joe. Then Paul.
Her father had cheated on her mother so many times she doubted he knew how many women there had been.
Joe hadn't cheated on her. They were still friends – sort of. But when she'd told him she wasn't going to sleep with him after prom, she'd found herself dateless two days before the big event. All told, it was probably better because he and Debbie had gone together and had gotten married the year before. By all accounts, they were happy together, but he'd still dumped her because she wasn't going to have sex with him.
Paul... Paul she'd slept with. He hadn't been her first, but her break-up with Dan her sophomore year of college had been entirely mutual. With Paul, she'd thought she was in love with him and he with her. They'd dated for nearly three months before she'd actually slept with him. Two weeks later, she'd come home early to find him in bed with her roommate. He'd been sleeping with Linda the whole time. After she threw him out of the room in only his underwear, he'd proceeded to tell the entire newsroom at the college paper how she'd teased him mercilessly for weeks, always backing out at the last minute and then, once she'd finally gone all the way with him... Hot tears stung her eyes as she remembered what she'd overheard. The story was that he'd spent two weeks trying to teach her 'the basics', but that she'd failed miserably at that.
Part of her wished he could have seen her with Clark. Not in an exhibitionist sense, but because Clark had brought out a side of her – and her of him, it seemed – that Paul probably couldn't even dream of. He'd been wrong about her, probably because of what she now knew to be his own inadequacies.
She was pretty sure she'd dodged a bullet with Claude. He'd dated Jennifer, a girl on the city beat about a year older that Lois. Rumor had it that he'd stolen her story notes while she slept then written the story himself. There were also rumors that it was going to be nominated for a Kerth.
Why couldn’t she have met Clark under other circumstances?
Like on the playground in elementary school. Grown-up together. High school sweethearts who couldn’t wait to get married.
As it was, she had Clark had gotten married after only four hours or so. The first time she'd seen him since the next morning when she'd freaked out and run away, he was with another woman. Line dancing, but he'd had her arm around her when they walked off the floor. If she hadn't known he was an adopted only child, she might have thought the girl was his sister.
Maybe she wasn't his sister, maybe she was his cousin or something.
No. That wasn't the way Lois Lane's life worked.
She closed her eyes and sighed, a single tear streaking down her cheek onto her pillow. She imagined him behind her, his legs tucked in behind hers, his chest against her back, one hand resting protectively on her stomach.
With that image in her head, she finally went to sleep.
When she woke, she was as alone as she'd been when she went to sleep but with the light seeping in from around the drapes, the mirage of the night before dissipated and she felt even more lonely than ever before.
She took a shower before heading to the airport and back to Metropolis.
"Lois!"
She'd barely walked off the elevator Wednesday morning when the bellow made her wince.
"My office! Now!"
She sighed and headed towards Perry. He motioned towards one of the chairs as he sat behind his desk.
"Care to tell me why you're two days late getting back?" he asked.
"No," she said. "I've worked every day since I got back ten weeks ago. I had a bit of personal business to take care of. I have more than enough vacation days to cover it and I really don't want to go into any more details."
He stared at her for a long moment before nodding. "Okay. But if that ever happens again, I want more than an email telling me about it."
"Fine."
"Now, what did the doctor say?"
She hesitated. "I'm fine overall. He wants me to take it easier, not work as much. Take some vitamins and iron. Follow up with my own doctor later." She wasn't ready to tell him she was pregnant. She hadn't been ready to tell Clark the day before, much less anyone else.
"Good. You've been workin' way too hard." He tapped his pencil against the edge of his desk as he stared at her for another minute before nodding slightly. "You're getting a bit of a promotion."
Her eyes widened but that was the only outward indication of the stunned feeling inside. "How much is the raise?" That was important if she was going to raise a baby on her own.
Perry chuckled. "Not as much as you'd like. Anyway, I’m hiring a new guy to take your spot. I want you to spend the next few days showing him around."
Her face fell. "Perry," she whined. "Please don't make me."
"Okay then."
She breathed a sigh of relief.
"You can keep your old job and he can have the promotion."
"*Perry*!"
"So you'll do it?" he asked, trying to hide a grin.
"Doesn't mean I'll like it," she muttered.
"You don't have to like it. Just do it and don't run him off. His name is Myerson and he's waiting at the desk across from yours."
She glared at him again before leaving the office.
Lois spent that day and the next two attempting to not run Myerson off but it wasn't easy. He was probably a decent reporter, but he didn't have what it took to keep up with her – pregnant or not.
She spent her evenings crashed on her bed watching sappy movies and trying to make a plan. She'd have to look into how much daycare cost and whether or not she'd be able to utilize the Planet's daycare facility. She was going to need a new apartment at some point. Maybe not *right* away, but before too long she'd need more space.
Thursday night, after three days of training Myerson and the stress that went with that, she found herself at the bar in the kitchen staring at her Excel spreadsheet.
She had an appointment Friday morning with her OB/GYN. Then she'd find out what her portion of her prenatal care would be. She'd gotten online and done some searching about what she'd need when the baby was born, what she'd need the first few months, the first year.
Between the necessities like a roof over their heads and food and childcare and car insurance and everything else, she found herself staring at the file hoping that more money would just magically appear.
Even with the raise, it was going to be tight.
She pinched her nose with her thumb and forefinger. She'd told Clark she wouldn't ask him for anything, but it was looking like she might have to. Not alimony or anything like that – she couldn’t see a judge granting it anyway. Not when she was a gainfully employed reporter and he a drifter. But child support. She might have to ask for child support.
She hated the thought.
Would he even want to be a part of the baby's life?
Probably on some level when he was in the area. If she asked for child support, he'd probably want to be around a bit more and she really didn't want any more entanglements with Clark Kent than absolutely necessary.
Kent. That was his last name. She'd discovered that much in Smallville.
She sighed as there was a knock on the door. It was either a salesman or Mrs. Tracewski who'd locked herself out again.
Lois tied her frumpy robe more tightly around her as she looked through the peephole but didn't see anything. She frowned slightly and undid all the locks, leaving the chain in place.
Her jaw dropped and her heart stopped when the door opened and she saw who it was.
She closed the door and undid the chain before opening it more fully.
"What're you doing here?"
*****
TBC
