Oh, how scary! How frightening! The baby may have stopped growing! How utterly helpless you would feel. And this would be happening just as Lois is investing all her emotional energy into preparing for her expanding family, so that the idea of losing that growing family and that little baby would be so heartbreaking. Worse, it might be emotionally paralysing.
There is another possibility than the really horrible one that the baby has stopped growing. It could be that it is simply growing more slowly than a fully human baby would. Now that it is six weeks old, it is the size of a four-and-a-half weeks old human baby. If this is what the problem is, then a fully human baby grows one and a third times as fast as a human and kryptonian one. But guess what that means? If Lois's pregnancy is going to take one and a third times as long as a normal pregnancy, then she is going to be pregnant for twelve months! No way anyone is going to believe that her pregnancy is in any way normal! What is Cat, gossip reporter, going to report about that?
This was adorably sweet:
Luckily, while I was struggling with what to do – I wanted to take the day off, but knew I could not take off for the next several weeks, Perry came over.
“Go home, honey,” he said quietly.
“What?” I asked as I noticed Clark glance up at us.
“You look awful,” Perry said, the compassion in his voice taking the sting out of his words. “Go home. Work from there if you can. If you can come in for staff meetings, I'd appreciate it, but other than that, you can work from home until you feel better.”
“Thank you, Perry,” I said, feeling tears building behind my eyes.
Perry smiled. “Just take care of the little one, darling',” he said to me. “And Clark,” he said over my head. “You should stay home, too. Take care of your wife.”
Oh please, don't let the baby die and rob Perry of the chance of being a "grandfather" of it!
I liked how you made Lois feel that her relationship with Clark was growing even stronger:
Clark went out occasionally to interview people for our stories and more often than that for Superman duties, but he was by my side as much as he could be. I was a little nervous about the baby. You hear so many stories about couples that fall apart after the arrival of a baby. But while I was still a little nervous, the week that followed eased those fears some what. I felt like all the time alone together made us closer together and I felt reassured that even thought things were going to change in a big way once the baby arrived, we were too strong together for it to cause problems we could not work out.
Jimmy had come over in the evening ostensibly to bring us some paperwork, but it was clear it was largely to check on me. Anyway, we were just chatting, when he pulled some gum out of his pocket.
“You want a piece?” he asked Clark.
Clark wrinkled his nose. “Sorry, Jim. I've never been a fan of grape bubble gum.”
“I'll have some,” I said. Even as I said it, I wondered why. I hadn't had grape bubble gum since I'd been a kid and given my inability to keep much of anything down right now, it was a weird choice. But within minutes of chewing it, I felt better.
It was the strangest thing, but Clark went that night and bought six packs of grape gum for me and I continued to chew them for the next several weeks.
Grape, as in grape fruit? Gaaah. I'd have to be really sick before I'd want something that tastes so bitter. Grape fruit for breakfast? No, thanks. Admittedly, though, if this is Lois's only pregnancy craving so far, it is not strange at all, and good luck to her if it works!
“So, how are you feeling?” Evelyn asked as we walked in.
“I'm good now,” I told her. “I was feeling really nauseous until a couple of days ago, but I'm feeling better now.”
When I had read through this part for the first time, I thought back on the disappearance of Lois's morning sickness and thought that perhaps it had gone away because the baby had died. But now I see that Lois has only been okay for the last couple of days, probably three or four days, and there is the possibility that the baby stopped growing about ten days ago. The timing doesn't match. Of course, Nancy, you know that we will all be so sad if there is somethng really wrong with the baby. Please let it be okay!
“But, if that is the case, if the baby has stopped growing, what happens next?” I asked.
“Well, we want to be sure, of course,” Evelyn said. “But if that was the case, and we left it alone, your body would catch on eventually and you'd have a miscarriage.”
My hand went immediately towards my stomach as if I could shield the baby from the idea of miscarrying.
I was so touched by this, as if Lois's body and mind would want to do different things with the baby.
“So,” I said, my voice quieter than I would have liked, “I should come back on Saturday for another test?” I asked.
“Yes,” Evelyn said, “although unfortunately, I won't be here. My sister is getting married,” she said apologetically. “But maybe Bernard?” she looked at him.
“I'm sorry, I can't,” he said. “I have a road trip with the Bio Bikers this weekend.”
“The Bio Bikers?” I couldn't help but ask.
Bernard blushed. “It's just a group of scientists, mostly biologists, who like to ride motorcycles.”
That was just so endearing - Bernard Klein and the Bio Bikers! But I wish he could have that road trip on another weekend.
“We can go anywhere we need to, Evelyn,” Clark reminded her.
“Oh,” she smiled slightly. “Right. The closest place that uses the same lab is in Platslum County.”
“Not a problem,” Clark said. “We'll go there on Saturday,” he said as he held me even closer to his side.
The Platslum County? I don't know why, but the name in itself sounds slightly evil to me.
Well, like Perry said to Lois - take care of the little one for us, Nancy!
Ann
