As soon as I read that Lois had been raped in part 44, I knew that she was going to get pregnant. Why? Well, because in fics things always happen for a reason, and big events always lead to important consequences. The Newtonian principle, 'For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction', is never more true than in fiction. In real life a woman might get raped, the rapist might get run over by a bus, the woman is not pregnant, she does not have an STD, and her life goes on pretty much as usual. Not so in fiction. If a fictional heroine is raped, this is something that must have big, monumental consequences. So I knew that if Lois had been raped, she must be pregnant.
What will the fallout of her pregnancy be? There are several possibilities:
At Lois' fresh sobs, he moved closer to her. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. "It doesn't matter," he whispered. One hand moved to her stomach. "This is my baby and that's all that matters."
"What if it's not?"
Lois is going to worry that her baby is Luthor's, and we are going to worry along with her. The question of the baby's paternity is going to inject tension and suspense into the story.
I'm sure we all rather fervently
hope that the baby is not going to be Luthor's. Personally, I'm not altogether sure that it isn't. Because if Luthor is indeed the father, then that is going to give Clark the chance to prove something else to Lois:
"As far as I'm concerned, this is my baby, honey, and that's all that matters."
Clark gets the chance to prove that he is endlessly loving and dependable. Perhaps that is what is finally going to prove to Lois that Clark is the most wonderful guy that she could ever meet anywhere, because he is really and truly going to love any child of hers as if it were his own, even if he knows that it isn't.
(Personally I'm afraid I'm going to hate it if it is Luthor's child. I don't doubt for a moment that Clark is going to love Luthor's child if Lois is the mother of it, but I'm afraid I'm not going to love such a child at all. To me, it makes all the difference in the world that we are talking about fiction here. In real life, every child deserves to be loved for his or her own sake, but in the world of fiction I'm not prepared to love Luthor's rape child with Lois.)
Anyway, there are more possible plot bunnies that can be spawned from Luthor's rape of Lois:
"And what if that guy comes back around thinking this is his baby?"
"We won't let him."
"He'll want a DNA test."
Yes, I totally expect Luthor to raise a racket and to try to get either Lois for himself, or to get her child. Please remember that Lois didn't report the rape. Luthor can easily accuse Lois of having thrown herself at him and acted like a slut. He can say that she came on to him like a prostitute, and that he obviously deserves to have his baby back from such an irresponsible mother. The only way he can deign to let her raise her baby is if she divorces her husband and marries him, Luthor, instead. Remember that Luthor is going to
know that Lois was a virgin when he raped her. He can say that she was a virgin, despite five years of marriage, and that she obviously doesn't love her husband. He can say that their marriage is a sham. With his money and reputation, he can utterly smear Lois and Clark. Of course, if he tries to do it, the unofficial rules of LnC fics demand that Lois and Clark eventually emerge victorious, and that Luthor gets utterly destroyed himself. Every action engenders an equal and opposite reaction, indeed.
That said, I still wish this whole rape action hadn't happened, Carol.
Ann
