Warning: In this story Clark Kent/Superman has been missing presumed dead for ten years. Not seen again after the Nightfall Asteroid incident.
Aftermath 5
Rachel closed the cellphone. "They'll catch the first flight tomorrow."
Mad Dog Lane tried to say something but the mother made her wait, counting, "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine "
Another part noted the phone was "one of the new smartphones. A pda, a camera, audio recorder, the works. It made a note to ask Rachel how she liked it, how was the battery life, internet access, did it use an SD card or the older Compact Flash, if she got one she'd need a better case, knowing her she'd bust the screen in the first month. Did it use Mobile Windows or the PalmOS. It seemed like the PalmOS was losing out to the Mobile Windows platform. And it did use Outlook, she'd hated outlook at first but now that she was used it and all her contacts were in it and Jimmy had helped get it working on her home PC and she knew that PlanPlus had some add ons for both platforms but she didn't know how well her "Do It Now" addon would work if she started to use one and she really depended on it to help her sort and track her E-mail, so many of her contacts were by E-mail these days, it allowed her to at home with her son and still be productive but also meant she had needed to learn to back things up regularly, she recalled Clark backing up her novel for her once years ago when she thought she had lost it, he'd be amazed to know that now she was organized and backed up to dvd daily, Clark , <large mental sigh> How can you still miss someone so badly so many years later and how could she still miss him after the way he ran out on her, no be truthful Lane after the way you drove him away. It's no surprise that he hasn't answered her letters but she'd have thought the Clark Kent she knew would have wanted to at least meet his son, "
Another part of her was still holding Mad Dog Lane down , still counting "111, 112, 113, 114,115"
A hand was waving in front of her face "Ms Lane, Lois?", Rachel sounded concerned.
"Who do you mean will catch the next flight? The Kents, Clark's parents? No questions, he looks like Clark and they hop a plane? Sounds like a routine you and they have down pretty well, no questions, he looks like Clark and out they come, do they do this a lot? Just how many kids does Clark have that it can become this routine? I hope they have a lot of money because must get rather expensive flying off to Timbuktu on a minute's notice. Do you know how much I debated about talking to them? I've spent years trying to decide if I even want them to know Jon exists and just like that you turn my life, my son's life upside down and inside out without so much as a by your leave or mother may I. How can you think they will even want to meet Jon? Have they been through this so many times that you don't need to ask if they want to meet yet another grandchild? I keep asking myself is Jon better off not knowing them or knowing them and how could I expect them to react to some stranger calling up out of the blue hey here's you grandson that you've never met switch into nurturing grandparents for a child you have never heard of by a woman who hounded your son to have sex with her than when he did called him every name in the book and ran him away from a job he loved than hounded him about his bastard son till he hid out and started using an alias to avoid her. I don't know these people I've never even met them the one time I had a chance to go to Smallville on a story I foisted it off on Kat Grant off because no way am I going somewhere with Clark Kent when I'm having trouble keeping my hands off him because work relationships are always bad, at least they've bad for me so I've never met the Kents and have no idea how they will react to a grandson turning up one day. No I sent Kat and they had to deal with her, and she was delighted to have some alone time with Clark Kent, and oh what the Kents must have thought about her and all this while a madman tried to kill them and their son and oh right now I know who you are you were the sheriff in Smallville who shot that madman Trask the one who tossed me and Clark from an airplane and tried to,kill Superman with a missile, so these people who have never met me are going to now drop everything and fly to metropolis to meet a grandson that they have never heard of and have no reason to believe is really their grandson based on a 30 second phone call. And never mind that how do I introduce them to Jon after avoiding the subject of a father that wants nothing to do with him I should say by the way here are your grandparents Kent and their son is your father and I never told you because he wants nothing at all to do with us, you or me, nothing at all and oh by the way once these new grandparents of yours get to know you or me they'll disappear and oh I guess they really don't want anything to do with you either and lets face it my own parents are bad enough without adding an unknown set ..."
She stopped as Jon stood in front of them, smiling at Rachel.
"Its the Lane babble gene, My mom and Aunt Lucy and Grandmom all do it but not my Granddad, so I'm hoping its a sex linked characteristic, something only the females can inherit."
Rachel just smiled back thinking "Oh yeah, that's Clark's smile and the Kent family charm."
Before she said anything Jon was speaking again.
"So Mom, who is flying out and why is the world famous, award winning investigative reporter freaking out about it?"
Lois licked her lips and swallowed a couple of times. She looked at Rachel but Rachel just smiled back keeping silent. Lois took a deep breath and let it out, another breath, than "Your grandparents."
Jon looked puzzled, "Together? When did they start speaking and what happen to Helen?"
Lois looked blank "Helen?"
"The redhead Mom? You know the one with the really short skirts that he wanted me to "bond" with last month? I thought they were in Cabo San Lucas, fishing, golf, beaches, teeny bikins, drinks with little sticks, and so forth?"
"Oh that bimbo" a large sigh, "no not them." Lois licked her lips and took another deep breath, "In for a penny in for a pound"
"MOM!"
She took another breath, licked her lips again and looked at Rachel than back at Jon "Your grandparents Kent, your father's parents."
Jon froze absolutely still. Until that moment Rachel hadn't noticed that he had never really stopped moving. But now it was noticeable, now he was completely motionless.
"My father's parents?"
