“Oh! Clark! There you are!”
Clark looked up with a start. His partner stood in front of the entrance to the CostMart, one hand gripping the handle of an over-flowing shopping cart while the other cradled...a baby?! Never mind the questions of how and why Lois had come to California; how and why was she nursing a baby?!
“Give me a hand with these, will you?” she ordered, pushing the cart towards him and then adjusting the baby's position against her...her...chest...area. It suckled enthusiastically, unperturbed at being jostled. “I swear that one wheel is cemented in place!”
She started off into the parking lot. Clark stared after her for a moment before obediently following with the loaded cart. She led him to a car in the parking section reserved for mothers. Was that why she had brought a baby with her? Wait, that didn't make any sense! “Lois, what is all this?” he demanded.
“Oh, there was a good sale,” she replied, as if that explained everything. Keeping her grip on the hungry infant, she fished a key out of her purse. “We'll be over budget for the week, but it works out better in the long run!” She turned the key in the trunk, brought her free hand down hard against it, then gave a satisfied smile when it yawned open.
“Here, hold him for a minute so I can check the receipt,” Lois said, suddenly handing off ten pounds of wriggling baby. “Yes, that's right; here's Daddy,” she cooed, then turned her attention to the long scroll of paper sticking out from one of the bags.
“Daddy?!” Clark sputtered, feeling even more lost as he adjusted his hold on the tot. “Lois, what happened to 'Lois Lane and babies don't mix'? Or the fact that you wouldn't go out with me if I were the last man on Earth? When did all that suddenly change?!”
She stared off into the middle distance, a wistful smile on her face. “Yeah, it seems like only yesterday, doesn't it?” She glanced down at the receipt again. “Speaking of which, you wouldn't believe what this place is charging for diapers! If I were me, I'd seriously look into this blatant price-gouging!”
“If you were...what?” Clark suddenly became aware of someone standing right behind him. He turned slowly, coming face to face with...himself. “...Uh...?”
Lois looked between the two versions of himself, and the color suddenly drained from her face. “Oh...oh no...”
Clark's doppelganger wordlessly held his hands out for the child. On instinct, Clark handed the baby over. The kid snuggled up against the look-alike's chest, unaware of Clark's newfound existential crisis.
“Mr. Kent, I presume?” the doppelganger said softly.
Clark nodded. “Uh, who...uh...”
Lois stared at the newcomer while pointing at Clark. “I thought—”
“I know,” his double replied.
Lois frowned. “But why—?”
The look-alike shrugged. “I don't know.” He turned to Clark. “What brings you out to the west coast, Mr. Kent?”
It took Clark a while to find his voice. “My...uh...my aunt,” he managed. “Mom asked me to check on her, and she asked me to run some errands...” He fished Aunt Opal's grocery list out of his pocket and held it up.
Lois turned to his double again. “I thought your Aunt Opal lived in Wichita?”
“Mine did,” the doppelganger replied. “I'm guessing his doesn't.”
“What exactly is going on, here?” Clark asked, glancing around the lot for hidden cameras. His eyes landed on a large van, and he wondered if Rod Serling was standing behind it, narrating.
The other two exchanged a look. “We're just grocery shopping,” Lois replied.
“I SEE THAT!” Clark snapped. He waved both hands towards his double. “But you look like me!” He motioned to Lois. “And you have a baby! And..and apparently there's another Aunt Opal? Am I in the Twilight Zone?!”
The baby fussed in his double's arms. The man bounced a little and made shushing noises. “Okay, okay. You're right; this is a very weird situation.” His voice dropped further. “The truth is, we're from another universe.”
Clark tried to respond to that, but no words were forthcoming. “A...what?” he finally managed.
“Can we not talk about this in the parking lot?” Lois whispered. “My husband and I are having enough trouble adapting without the whole neighborhood thinking we're crazy.”
“Your...what?” said Clark.
“It's a long story,” his counterpart explained, “but the short version is that we live here now. We've been trying not to interfere with your life too much, but...now that you've seen us...”
Lois scribbled something down on a notebook, tore the page out, and handed it to him. “Drop by around ten tonight, California time, and we'll tell you everything.” She paused. “But before we go, do you think you could help us put all this stuff in the car?”
End
If the premise speaks to you, feel free to take it and run.
