Okay - so in our last chapter, Clark made a little slip - or two - with his powers and subsequent explanation. And now I'm totally freaked out that the reactions aren't going to be 'right' and... and... and... If they're not, blame Alisha
.
Okay - not really. She rocks. [and has great fic hiding on her HD and a muse that's not cooperating]. So anything out of place is my fault. In my mind at least, these characters aren't entirely canon from the show - they're different. Perry and Alice don't have kids, he's not QUITE the workaholic, etc.
Just a note: Jimmy on the show is 7-8 years younger than Lois/Clark [Lois is 26 in the pilot and Jimmy is 20 in the Clark is chocolate and Dan is Rocky Road ep near the end of S2]. This Jimmy is about 2 years younger than Clark and a year younger than Lois making him age appropriate for Lucy who is 18 mos-ish younger than Lois.
I am planning on posting more Martha letters on Friday with part 12.
Bonus points to the person who realizes who the *other* person from canon is [one is way too obvious for points
]. And really it shouldn't be too hard because there's only a couple of new characters here...
Chapter 11
*****
Numbly and quietly, the four non Kent members of the Whites' present household went back into the living room. Clark, knowing his secret was now out, swept the room several times with his heat vision, warming it up to a more comfortable temperature.
Perry looked around, puzzled. "How did that happen? It warmed up in here in the last few seconds."
Clark sighed, grateful for Lois' hand in his in a sign of moral support. "I did it." He nodded to the seating area in the middle of the room. "Have a seat everyone and I'll explain everything." Once they were seated, he began his story from the beginning again. "In 1966, there was a meteor shower in Smallville, Kansas. One or more of the larger meteors hit the town hall, destroying it."
"That was one of our trivia questions last night," Jimmy interjected.
"Don't interrupt, Jim. Let Clark tell his story." Perry glanced disapprovingly at the younger man.
"Sorry, C. K." Jimmy leaned back in the oversized chair and pulled the blanket closer around himself and Lucy.
"That was the night that my parents found me in Schuster's Field. I was in a small spacecraft, wrapped in a blanket. My parents followed one of the meteors and found me instead. My parents had been unable to have children, despite years of trying and the best help that doctors could give them in that day and age. When they found me, they weren't sure if I was from another planet or maybe a Cold War experiment from the U.S.S.R., but they didn't care which I was. If I had actually been a little green man, I think they would have still adopted me," he added ruefully.
"They took me home and reported me as a foundling. Ads were put in the appropriate papers, but of course no one claimed me. They raised me as their own. I didn't know until last year that this... globe that came with my ship held a hologram of some sort with a message for my parents that told them pretty much everything about what was going to happen to me." He smiled ruefully. "It would have been nice to know about that several years ago, but it's still good to know that I'm 'normal' for someone like me on Earth.
"By the time my folks died when I was ten, we knew I wasn't normal. I was strong, I was fast – much stronger and faster than any eight or nine year old should have been. And I was practically invulnerable. I could lift tractors or move the fridge so Mom could clean behind it. I made it around the farm – about 4 miles – in just under two minutes. Even though I fell out of my tree house several times in those years, I was never hurt. The first few times I had some minor scrapes, but by all rights, I should have broken more than one bone at least a couple of times."
Clark took a deep breath and launched into the story of his parents' death, staring into the fire the whole time. When he was done, he stopped to take a breath and look at those around him. He could see tracks where tears had flown down the faces of Lucy and Alice. He could feel dampness on his shoulder where Lois' head rested. He was grateful, though they hadn't been as close in recent months, for her arm around him, supporting and comforting him.
"So, about a year ago, Lois found out my little secret and we went to Colorado where I had buried my ship and the globe and things that came with it when I rented out the farm."
"When did you go to Colorado? I don't remember you two being gone." Lucy ignored the look she got from Perry because she was truly puzzled.
"Well, see... I'm not just fast and can see through things, I'm also able to fly. Fast. So I flew us there several times. About that time, this globe that came with me from Krypton..."
Perry abandoned his own admonition. "Pardon me for interrupting, son, but Krypton? What in the name of Elvis is that?"
"It's my home planet. According to the message Jor-El, my birth father, gave my parents, it exploded not long after they sent my ship off. I'm the last survivor, the last son of Krypton, Mom said. In the message he left for my folks, he said that Krypton lived under a red sun and that the yellow sun here would give me special abilities and it has. I can fly and see through things. I can bend metal with my bare hands. I can lift just about anything. I'm invulnerable. I can also freeze things with my breath and start fires with my eyes. We found this letter from my mom in the ship that said that they'd gotten a message from Jor-El themselves about a month after they brought me home that explained a lot of it. Jor-El left at least 5 messages on the globe. We've seen three of them but haven't made it back to Colorado since early last summer."
A look of understanding crossed Jimmy's face. "That's how it's stayed so nice in here – relatively I mean – even with the fire. You've been warming it up haven't you?"
Clark nodded. "I didn't want it to get too warm because I didn't want to raise suspicions, but I have tried to keep it a bit warmer than it would have been otherwise."
"Well, hey, C. K. – warm us up!" Jimmy exclaimed. "No sense in being cold when we have heat vision around."
Perry laughed. "He's right, warm us up."
Clark sat stunned. "You guys are all really okay with this? With me being an alien?"
Jimmy shrugged. "We all have secrets. There's something different about everyone. You're a good guy – besides being Lucy's brother-in-law and guardian. I like her so I have to go through you – so I don't see what the big deal is? Except that maybe you could take us to the Caribbean or something and out of this ice storm."
They all laughed at that.
"Well, hell's bells, son. Having those special things about you will certainly help you as an investigative reporter. Now, Jimmy's right – heat this place up, would you?"
Clark laughed and obliged, sweeping his heat vision around the room and then focusing short bursts on the other two couples. "How's that?"
Jimmy pulled Lucy a little closer. "Now, not too warm, you hear?"
*****
"Are you guys really okay with all this?" Lois stared at the cup of hot chocolate in her hands, as though mesmerized by the lighter swirls. She was curled up in the oversized chaise reminiscent of the one Clark had held her in on prom night. It was what her Grandma Lane had called a 'grandma chair' and she had spent many happy hours as a very young child curled up with her grandmother in a chair similar to this one, but without the built in leg room.
Perry was stretched out on the couch with his broken leg propped up. Alice sat in the glider with her legs on the matching stool. Both had blankets tucked around them. Jimmy and Lucy were under a blanket in the other grandma chair with a separate ottoman.
Clark wasn't there. He'd left earlier to do what he could to help without raising suspicions. He figured he could help move trees and took Perry's chainsaw with him. He promised to try to bring back some wood for the Whites to use the next year after it had dried out. He'd bundled up in a heavy winter coat loaned to him by Perry so he wouldn't look out of place and said he probably wouldn't be back for a while. He'd kissed Lois on the cheek and left.
They'd whispered about it briefly after everyone else had dozed off again. He'd told her of his plan for the day and said that she had his permission to answer any questions they had as best she could. She'd wanted to ask him how he could have been so careless, but just couldn't bring herself to do that.
That was two hours ago. The five remaining current residents of the White home had cleaned up after a big country breakfast cooked courtesy of Clark and his abilities, insisting that they would do it even though Clark had volunteered to do that as well.
They'd chatted about trivial matters but Lois had finally decided to take the proverbial bull by the horns.
The room was quiet after she asked her question as the other four occupants of the room sat thoughtfully, but no one spoke for a few minutes.
Perry finally spoke up. "Well, darlin', it was a shock. I'll even admit that I woke up this morning wondering if it was a dream, but seeing Clark fry those eggs ended those thoughts." He thought for another minute. "And I'll admit that the journalist in me sees a potentially huge story here. A Pulitzer story even. I won't lie about that, but don't worry, I won't print it. Of course, Alice and I have only known you two for a couple of days, so there's no sense of being..." He thought carefully about his word choice. "...lied to isn't quite right, but that's the best word I'm coming up with. Kept in the dark. Not trusted. But I have a very, very well developed ability to read people. It's served me well over the years and the instant I met you and Clark, I knew that you two were good kids and that you would soon be part of our family."
Jimmy chimed in. "Like I said last night, everyone has secrets; there's something different about everyone. Granted, Clark's differences are bigger than most, but it doesn't change that he's a good guy. He's already helped me out several times in the couple months I've known him. I've been over several times for study sessions while you were working and I honestly wouldn't have been able to pass the first semester of my math class without him. The fact that he comes from another planet doesn't change the fact that he cares a great deal about Lucy and you and even me. And people in general. I mean, he's out there doing what he can to help recovery efforts and I'd imagine that even with trying to be unnoticed, he'll do more today than just about anyone else."
"How long have you known, Lo?" Lucy asked quietly.
Lois thought for a minute. "I guess it was March of last year."
"That recently?" The question came from Alice.
Lois nodded. "Yeah. Clark felt bad that he hadn't told me before we got married, feeling that I hadn't made the decision to marry him with all the facts, but it doesn't change who Clark is. He was walking me home from work one night and someone attempted to mug us. He demanded that we give up our wedding rings and when I refused and struggled with him, his gun went off and the bullet it Clark. Whoever it was ran off and I freaked out. Clark asked if I trusted him and then he flew me to Colorado. He told me what he knew about his origins and his... powers. That's where he buried his ship when he moved here. He dug it up to show me and the globe he talked about started to glow and we saw the first message. It was so sad in so many ways. It was obvious that Lara, his mother, especially loved him very much. And Jor-El, his father, did too, but he was usually too busy working, but the way he looked at Lara when the tremors started... the way he tried to cover her and protect her and the ship they were building... Clark – Kal-El was his name – was in some sort of protected bassinet or something so he was safe. But Jor-El loved Lara – it was obvious and it was just as obvious that they both loved Clark.
"The technology is far beyond anything on earth. It wasn't just a projection or like a movie or something. That's how it started each time, but then it was like we were in the lab with Jor-El and Lara. We could feel the ground shake when the tremors came. The planet was dying. Something about core disintegration or something. The last time we went was right after graduation and we saw the third message. I haven't been back with Clark but I don't think he's been back either.
"Martha left Clark a number of letters for big events in his life – birthdays, graduations, wedding, and stuff. She also left one in the ship for him to find. It told him what the message they saw from Jor-El said. It also said that there would be a set of five messages, but also others he would see at appropriate times or something like that. We thought maybe she meant they'd be like her letters but high tech. We didn't feel it was safe to keep the globe here in Metropolis. We don't live in the safest area and, to be honest, Lu, we were afraid you might find it or see something you shouldn't before we were ready to tell you. So Clark reburied it all and it's still there. Jor-El said earth was chosen because the people here were so similar to Kryptonians and that Clark wouldn't be out of place."
"One thing I want to know is how it affects your daily life?" Alice asked.
"Well, not too much but some," she admitted. "Clark doesn't actually need to eat much so that saves us food money. He gets most of his energy from the sun rather than food. He usually takes incredibly short showers – if Lucy isn't home or is already asleep, he can take a shower, dry off and get dressed in like 15 seconds. He speed reads and has an eidetic memory so school is generally very easy for him. So is reading manuals to fix old cars. He fixed up the apartment in like 3 days. It was an absolute disaster when we rented it. I don't know how I didn't suspect something then, but everything was so overwhelming anyway, I was just glad that I had less to do. School had already started again and we were still at the Lexor for a couple more days and I just didn't realize how *much* he actually did or how fast. He doesn't need much sleep which means he can work more – like delivering papers so early and delivering pizzas at night."
She took another sip of her hot chocolate. "That makes me feel a little guilty sometimes. He does so much more than I do, but he says it makes sense. He can clean the apartment from top to bottom in less time than it would take me to remember where we keep the vacuum cleaner. He told me the night I found out all of this that he floats in his sleep sometimes. I've never caught him actually floating, but he's woken me up a time or two when he landed back on the mattress." She thought for another minute. "I guess it does affect my life more than all of that though. If he'd been from earth, I don’t see how we'd be together because no one else would have been crazy enough to want to marry me at 17 and 18 and take on my little sister as a foster child. No offense meant by that, Luce, but let's face it – very few guys would do that and be able to continue to go to school and do all that he does."
The phone rang, distracting them from their conversation and Perry was suddenly ensconced in a newspaper crisis. Alice decided that, after being up in the middle of the night for Clark's story, it was time for a nap. Jimmy, being a teenage male, was dozing off within minutes.
Lucy went to the kitchen to get some more hot chocolate and Lois followed her.
"Are you mad, Lucy?"
Lucy looked up at her, wide-eyed. "No, Lois. Of course not."
"You don't think we should have told you?"
"Someday? Probably, but there's a lot of very good reasons you didn't. I didn't sleep at all the rest of the night last night and at first I was mad, but then I remembered all the crazies out there and realized you were probably right to protect me. But what about you?"
"What about me?"
"You *married* Clark without knowing about all of this."
"Yeah, but when should he have told me? At summer camp when I was twelve? In a letter? The day after our parents died when he proposed? In the two or three days after that when we were planning their funeral? Or as we walked into the wedding chapel?"
"Good points." Lucy sat in one of the kitchen chairs. "Why did it take him so long to tell you?"
"It was only three months. It's not something he finds easy to talk about at first. Once someone knows – the five of us that is, no one else does – it's easier for him to talk about it, but actually telling someone..." Lois sighed. "On our honeymoon, Aunt Louise sent us a bag full of games and one of them was full of questions designed to get to know other people better. A couple of them were about things like space travel and aliens and a few generic questions I answered with examples about space travel and aliens... never in a favorable light I might add. It was all just so sci-fi that I couldn't even begin to fathom that I might have married someone who started his life on a different planet. He told me later that he wasn't hurt by the comments or anything, just afraid of what I would think when he finally told me the truth."
"And?"
"And what?"
"When he told you the truth?"
"I was okay with it. I mean it's overwhelming but it had already saved his life once that night. That guy shot him right in the stomach. And it was probably good that I already knew him better by then because it doesn't change what makes him fundamentally Clark."
"I guess so."
"I know so." Lois smiled at her younger sister. "I think Alice and Jimmy have the right idea. A nap sounds wonderful, don’t you think?"
Lucy yawned, then finished the last of her hot chocolate. "Sure does." She stood from the kitchen chair where she'd sat down halfway through the conversation. "You coming?"
Lois nodded. "Yeah. In a minute." As Lucy left the room, Lois tried desperately to stop the tears that were threatening. She'd felt closer to Clark the night before than she had in months. Sure, they slept in the same bed, and he always spooned with her at night as they fell asleep – except for the rare occasion when one of them, usually him, came home late to find the other already asleep. At least once a week, she woke in the morning to find herself blissfully pinned down by one of Clark's arms thrown across her stomach while he slept on his, sometimes finding their legs had also entwined during the night.
Sometimes – but very rarely – she let herself imagine what it would be like if she ran her hands over his arms and his back and maybe even kissed his soft skin. He had a mole over his top lip that just begged to be kissed, but she never let her imagination get out of hand. She knew – no matter how much he'd tried to convince her in the early days of their marriage that he would never leave – that someday she'd be on her own. Marriages didn't last. Certainly not teen marriages based on cheating the foster care system. He'd offered so many reassurances those first few months – a life with his best friend, he'd said, much less than many marriages were based on – but a big part of her was afraid that those words had only been designed to convince her to do more than just sleep with him, and when they'd been married six months and they still hadn't...
Then came that night... She'd finally changed her name. It had made him happy that she had, she knew that. But... did he have any idea how much he'd hurt her when he just left her sitting there and didn't even come back after his – very long – shower? At the same time, she admitted to herself, it wasn't even close to the first time she'd mentioned the possibility that they wouldn't work long term and he was probably sick of it.
What he didn't – couldn't – know or understand were the dreams that still plagued her at night so often. She'd noticed that she didn't have nightmares the mornings she woke up with Clark close to her, but she refused to contemplate the implications of that or why the dreams came more often since that day last summer.
Alice came through the swinging door, interrupting her thoughts. "Here you go." She wrapped a blanket around Lois' shoulders and sat down in the chair next to her, rearranging her own blanket as she did. They sat thus for several minutes before Alice spoke again. "How are you holding up, Lois?"
She shrugged. "I'm fine, Alice. You guys are the ones who had a bombshell dropped on you."
"But neither one of you were planning on sharing this with anyone, especially not the editor of the Daily Planet."
"We trust Perry and the rest of you. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to about it sometimes."
"Lois," Alice began, "I don't want to overstep my bounds but... Is everything okay with you and Clark?"
Lois looked up sharply. "Of course it is," she said with much more conviction than she felt.
Alice looked at her thoughtfully. "I've been around a lot of years, Lois, and I'm usually pretty right about these things."
Lois sighed. "Life isn't easy, Alice. That's all it is."
"No," Alice said slowly. "Life isn't easy, but I think the two of you have probably had a more difficult time of it than most the last year or so."
"Maybe," she shrugged. "But that's just the way it is. We'll graduate in a couple of years and Lucy will be out of high school and old enough to live on her own. We'll get jobs and then we'll move on."
"Together?" Alice asked quietly.
Lois stared at her now empty mug. "That's the plan."
"But you don't really believe it, do you?"
Tears welled up in Lois' eyes. "I have to," she whispered. "I just have to."
*****
"Let me see your schedule." Clark held out his hand. They'd been home for two days after spending a week at the home of Perry and Alice White. The power was back on to most of the city and classes were starting in just a few days.
"Wow. Talk about déjà vu." Lois handed over the piece of paper she held in her hand.
Clark sighed as he looked at the sheet. "Well, that's where the déjà vu ends. We knew we weren't going to have classes together, but I hoped we'd at least be able to work together at either the Star or the Metropolitan, but our schedules are almost completely opposite."
"I was afraid of that."
Clark chewed on his lip thoughtfully. "Maybe I could talk to Professor Paul and see if we can change things around a bit so we can have at least a couple shifts a week together."
Lois sighed. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Making waves my first semester at the Star?"
Clark shrugged. "Paul's a good guy. I bet he'd help us out if he can."
"Yeah, and Perry would get us on at the Planet if he could too, but he can't. Their internships and research or other jobs we'd qualify for are already full and we can't freelance for them while we're working at the Star."
"Maybe. I'll put out a couple feelers with him and see how set these schedules are. We're in class at the same time, but we're almost always at opposite papers. Surely, we can switch that around or something."
"Don't push it too hard, Clark. We can still eat lunch together most days. That's something, but I don't want to risk either one of us at either paper."
Clark reached over and grasped her hand lightly. "I won't jeopardize either one of our spots anywhere but I would like to see you from time to time."
Lois smiled at him. "I would too. The semester won't be easy, but maybe next fall, we can make requests or something that'll make our schedules line up better."
Clark stood and kissed the top of her head. "I've got to get ready for work. You're right. Things will work out somehow."
*****
February 1986
*****
"Hi."
Clark looked up from his backpack. "Hi." He stuck his Political Science book in the bag and zipped it up.
The young blond stuck her hand out. "I'm Mayson."
He shook it and smiled at her. "Clark."
"Um," she pointed towards the front of the room. "Professor Manning said that you might be a good one to ask for help."
He shrugged. "I do okay. What's the problem?"
She grimaced. "Political Science. I don't get it."
Clark laughed. "Well, if I can help I will, but my schedule's pretty full right now. I'm a Journalism major, so not only do I have classes, but I also put in pretty full weeks at both the UNT Metropolitan and the Metropolis Star. And I work too. But if I can, I'd be happy to help you."
"Wow. You are busy."
Clark shrugged. "That's the way it goes. Gotta pay the bills. I have a family to help support."
"You help support your family?" She looked surprised.
He grinned. "Somebody's got to do it. Lois helps, of course, as much as she can but Lucy's still in high school. Lois is a Journalism major too, and she's determined I'm not going to beat her to graduation even though I have a year's head start on her. She's taking overloads this semester and plans to keep it up."
"So you have your hands full?" She walked along side him as they left the classroom.
"Yeah, but it's all right. I love my family." He shrugged. "That's the way life is. You do what you have to."
They stepped out the door into the cold February sunshine. "Where are you headed, Clark?"
"Lunch. You?"
"Me, too." Mayson smiled. Lunch. This could be good.
*****
Lois slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed towards the cafeteria. At least lunch was one more expense they didn't have to worry about. She only had about thirty minutes before she had to head over to the campus paper, but that meant she had twenty minutes to spend with Clark. It was about all the time she had these days. If she was going to graduate in three years, with Clark, she had little time for anything but studying, the paper and her internship at the Star. She'd even had to quit her fast food job. She didn't miss it, but with the rent from the farm and her internship stipend, they didn't actually need it. She didn't have any time for it anyway. And things seemed to be getting a bit better since the ice storm and its inadvertent revelations.
She heard Clark's laugh before she actually saw him. She smiled to herself. When she let herself think about it, she loved his laugh. Her eyes sought out the source, then narrowed perceptibly. Who was he with?
A blond co-ed sat next to him, one hand resting on his arm. She must have said something funny because Clark laughed again.
Didn't that hussy know he was married?
Her eyes came to rest on his left hand.
His ringless left hand.
After his ring broke, she'd wanted to get him a new one, but it just wasn't in the budget. He'd reminded her that they knew he was married and that was all that really mattered. They'd get a new ring after graduation, when money wasn't so tight. He knew where he belonged after all.
She'd believed him too. That it wouldn't matter if anyone else knew if he was married. They knew and that was enough.
And so there was no obvious outward sign that he was married. She knew he carried her picture in his wallet but...
This woman was obviously into him. Surely she wouldn't be so brazen if she knew he was married.
The only conclusion she could come to was one she didn't like.
She turned and fled the cafeteria before Clark and the hussy saw her.
He hadn't told her he was married.
It was the only logical answer.
*****
"How come you weren't at lunch today, Lois?"
Lois rolled over in bed. Of course, he'd know she wasn't sleeping. Drat that hearing! He'd told her once that he could tell by her heartbeat when she was sleeping. He'd also told her that he could hear her heartbeat when she was coming unless he was completely engrossed in something. At lunch she should have been close enough for him to hear her but he hadn't noticed she was nearby. What did that mean?
"I went over to the paper early." She didn't even bother to open her eyes. No need to mention that she'd stopped behind the building to compose herself – the tear tracks would have been obvious otherwise. She could hear him taking his shirt off and unzipping his jeans.
"Oh? I would have gone with you."
"I know, but I just had something I wanted to run by Professor Paul."
"Did you even eat?" There was a slightly accusatory tone in his voice.
"I grabbed something out of the break room."
"I saw the break room today. There wasn't much in there."
"You must have missed it." She felt his side of the bed depress as he sat down. Before she knew it, he was next to her.
"I wish you'd come to lunch. There's someone I wanted you to meet."
"Who's that?"
"Her name's Mayson. She's in my political science class and asked if I could help her with it. She's an English major but wants to be a lawyer eventually."
"Mayson, huh?"
"Yeah. I think you'd really like her."
Lois managed to stifle a snort. "I'm sure I would."
*****
Lois had told Clark she had a psychology study group during lunch the next day. She didn't, but she was curious. Clark didn't have his political science class that day, but would the blonde be with him anyway? She stood outside the cafeteria, knowing Clark had planned on eating there as he always did. She peeked through the window with a direct line of sight to the table they usually occupied.
Sure enough, he was there and that blond hussy she assumed was Mayson was there too.
Even though she could only see part of his face, she could imagine the twinkle in his eye as Mayson laughed at something he said. She watched as the blond smacked him lightly on the arm and said something in return.
Something that must have been hilarious because Clark was laughing with her.
She'd seen enough.
*****
"Hi, Clark. This is Mayson." Lois resisted the urge to throw the answering machine across the room.
"Listen, I'm having the hardest time with this whole Electoral College thing. Great for someone who wants to be a lawyer someday, huh? Your notes are so much better than mine. Could you give me a call and help me out?" Lois refused to write the number down and didn't reset the machine when the message was done. Let Clark get his own message. If he even figured out it was there.
*****
"Lois, did you talk to Mayson yesterday?"
Lois, as she had been the last two nights, was already in bed by the time Clark returned home. "Who?"
"Mayson. The girl from my political science class."
"Oh. No. I didn't talk to her."
"That's odd. She said she left a message but there wasn't one on the machine. Maybe she talked to Lucy."
"Maybe." Lois opened her eyes just the slightest bit, just in time to see Clark take his shirt off.
She sighed. Of course Mayson was attracted to him. What woman in her right mind wouldn't be? What woman *not* in her right mind wouldn't be?
She knew she'd be asleep seconds after he wrapped his arms around her. She was *that* exhausted these days, even before this whole Mayson business started. At least she didn't have to fend off a husband who wanted...
She closed her eyes tightly. Was that it? Was that part of the reason why Clark never pushed her for more? Was he getting 'more' somewhere else?
Maybe sleep wouldn’t come so easily after all.
*****
Lois ate her cereal over the sink. She'd hardly slept a wink, thoughts of Clark and Mayson together permeated her mind. Lucy had already left for school in the Honda and Lois would take the Metrolink to campus rather than the Datsun to save on gas. She was grateful that Lucy was finally able to drive herself and she didn't have to get up early enough to take Lucy to school before she headed to class. Clark had been gone for a couple of hours already, delivering papers.
Or had he?
It occurred to her that he could be done, especially with his morning route when it was dark out, in mere minutes if he wanted to. Could he be doing that? Finishing quickly and then heading off somewhere else?
To someone else?
He worked hard. He delivered papers to vending machines twice a day, seven days a week. He was taking a full load of classes at school. He worked on the school paper. He worked at the Star. He delivered pizza on the weekend and picked up odd jobs here and there building shelves for this neighbor or assembling furniture for that one. He deserved more than she was giving him.
If he'd found it somewhere else... Well, she'd just have to suck it up and live with it. If she wasn't willing to give him what he needed, she guessed going somewhere else to get it was to be expected, no matter what he'd promised on their honeymoon.
Well, if he could pretend everything was normal, so could she.
She took a deep breath and steeled herself for the day to come. She'd told Clark she had another study group today so he wasn't expecting her for lunch. Would he eat with *her* again? Should she show up anyway? Just to see their reactions? Maybe that was it. Maybe she'd meet Clark, and presumably Mayson, for lunch today after all.
Or maybe not.
*****
TBC
