As we came in after our trip to get blood drawn, I turned to Clark. “Shall we call your mom or go visit?”
He looked thoughtful for a moment before asking, “Which would you prefer?”
I was torn. It felt like information we should share in person. On the other hand, I just really did not feel up to the flight. Taking in the look on my face, Clark took my hand. “If you don't want to go, we'll do it over the phone.”
I leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. “Thanks, Clark, but that's not fair to your mom.”
Clark smiled slightly, “There are so many things wrong with that statement I'm not sure where to start. First off, I do love my mother and think she's the best mother in the world, but my main concern right now is you, not her. Secondly, what if we didn't have Superman Express at our disposal? Lots of people have relationships with their parents that don't involve the ability to visit for a couple of hours whenever they feel like it. And lastly, like me, my mother is more concerned about you than herself right now and will completely understand if we decide to call.”
I smiled. He was right. “Then let's call her,” I said as I gripped his hand in mine.
We sat on the couch holding hands, each with our own handset. “Hi, Mom,” Clark said when she answered.
“Clark,” she answered. Her voice had a slightly strangled quality I recognized from when she called to check up on Clark after a tough rescue. As with most things these days, it brought tears to my eyes. “Is Lois there?” she asked before Clark answered.
“I'm here,” I said, trying to hide the sound of imminent tears from her.
“So,” Martha said, trying to prod us on. “What did you learn? Is everything okay?”
I fully expected Clark to answer, but after a moment of silence I looked up and realized why he hadn't. My husband, who had spent so much of the last couple of days being so strong for me, broke in the face of his mother's concern. Tears rolled down his cheeks silently. When he saw me looking at him, his hold on my hand tightened.
I removed my hand from his to run it through his hair in an effort to calm him slightly. Then I remembered my mother-in-law waiting on the other end of the phone. “We're not sure, Martha,” I replied.
“I'm going to get Jonathan on the phone,” she said before I could explain further.
I placed the phone down for a moment to wrap my arms around Clark. I drew his head down to my shoulder hoping that this would pass. “Everything could be fine,” I whispered.
Clark's head nodded against me and then through his handset I heard Martha's voice again. Clark sat up and I picked up the phone again.
“Lois? Clark?” Martha asked.
“We're here,” I assured her.
“What's wrong, honey?” she asked.
“We don't know,” I explained. “At my ultrasound the baby looked a bit smaller than it should have, about a week and a half smaller.”
“What does that mean?” Jonathan asked and his voice was choked, too. For a moment, I wondered how much this conversation stirred up old feelings from their failure to conceive.
“We don't know,” I said again. “There are lots of possibilities. The baby may have been slow to implement which will set it back, but it could still be fine. We could be wrong about when we conceived.”
“Are those likely?” Jonathan asked.
“No,” I admitted. “The most likely scenario is that either Kryptonians have a longer gestational period than humans or that something happened a week and a half ago and the baby stopped growing.”
“What happens if the baby stopped growing?” Martha asked, her voice strained.
“I'll have a miscarriage,” I said, my hand on my stomach again. I knew it was silly. The baby did not have ears yet – it could not hear us saying the awful word, but I still felt this need to protect it from the thought.
Martha sniffled, and for a moment neither of them said anything. “How can you find out?” she finally asked.
“Well, that's what we were waiting on. We had a blood test done the other day to look at the levels of my pregnancy hormones. We had another done yesterday to see if they had dropped.”
“And?” Jonathan prodded me.
“And the lab lost her blood work,” Clark said.
Martha laughed slightly, “Figures. So now what?”
“I went for another blood test today and we'll find out tomorrow what it said.”
“So what will it tell you?” Jonathan asked.
“Well, it will at least give an indication of what my body thinks is going on. If the levels are not rising properly, then…” my voice trailed off, not wanting to say it again.
“And if they are rising properly?” Martha asked.
“Hopefully it means that my side of the baby is slowing things down,” Clark said. “But it could also mean that things aren't okay and Lois' body hasn't caught on yet.”
“How will you know the difference?” Jonathan asked.
“We'll have to wait. Have another ultrasound in a couple of weeks and see what it says,” I explained.
There was silence on the phone for a minute before Martha, her voice sad, finally said, “We're so sorry you have to go through this. But hopefully it's just a minor blip in the road.”
“And regardless, Martha and I are here for you for whatever you need,” Jonathan added.
“Thanks,” I said softly.
“No thanks necessary. We love you,” Martha said.
“We love you, too,” Clark said, his hand tight in mine.
“Well, let us know when you have the results?” Martha asked.
“Of course,” I said.
I looked at Clark when we hung up the phone and then moved closer to wrap my arms around him, holding him tightly. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“For what?” he asked, his voice muffled as his mouth was lost somewhere beneath my hair near my neck.
“For being you. For being strong for me when this is hard for you, too.”
Clark pulled away to look me in the eye. “It's hard for both of us. But I know that as much as I want this baby, it's different for you. You're the one that's pregnant. And you have all those hormones making you weepy,” he smiled at me.
I swatted him lightly. “Well, thank you anyway,” I said huffily.
“Lois?” Clark asked and when I looked back at him, he placed his hands on my arms tightly. “I love you. Whatever happens, we'll get through it together.” I nodded my head in agreement.
“I love you, Clark,” I said before we moved forward to embrace each other tightly.
**************
It was awhile later that I remembered my parents and told Clark what I had been thinking earlier. “I kind of thought I would tell my mother that I had lied to her earlier. But now…”
Clark pulled me closer to him. “I'm sure she'd understand if you waited to tell her until we actually knew what was going on. But if you want to tell her now, that's not a problem for me.”
“I don't know. But I feel like my parents have been making this effort to build a relationship with me and I should reciprocate that.”
“Okay,” Clark said. “Shall we call them and invite them over?”
“No, let's go there,” I said. “I want to be able to leave when we're finished.”
Clark smiled at me. “I'll get your coat. Do you want to call them first?”
“Yeah, I'll do that.” I paused a minute and then picked up the phone. “I sort of wish Lucy lived closer. I'd like to tell her before my folks, but I don't feel like it's the sort of thing to tell her over the phone and I'm not up for a flight to California.”
“I know it's not ideal, but Lucy would understand if you told her over the phone. But didn't your parents say she'll be here in a couple of weeks? So, you'll have a chance to tell her in person soon if you'd rather.”
I paused while I thought about it. “You're right. Lucy will understand. I'm going to call my parents to see if we can see them tonight and then I'm going to call Lucy.”
“Do you want me to get on the phone?” he asked, but I could tell he was hoping I would say no. Clark liked Lucy, but they did not have that much of a relationship. I'm sure it worried him a little having her know his secret.
My conversation with my parents was fast. My mother was surprised we wanted to come over, but seemed pleased. I took a deep breath before dialing Lucy's number. I glanced at the clock while I dialed. It was 3pm here which meant noon for Lucy. I hoped she would be home.
“'Lo?” came her voice.
“Lucy, did I wake you?” I asked.
“No, sorry, Lois, I was just caught up in something. How are you?”
“I'm okay. I heard you were coming out for a visit?”
“I know, I'm sorry. I would have told you before them but they called me before I had a chance. Are you mad?” Lucy asked.
“Of course not. I can't wait to see you. And meet Ben. It sounds serious.”
“Lois…” Lucy paused and I think I guessed what she was going to say just as she said it. “Ben and I are engaged.”
“Oh, Lucy, that's wonderful! Although, I guess it does mean you are going to stay in California.”
“You and Clark should come visit us here, Lois. You'd love it.”
“Maybe sometime,” I said. “So when is the wedding?”
“We haven't set a date yet. We wanted to get a chance for Ben to get to know you. Besides with Ben's new promotion we wanted to give him sometime to get used to things. So what's going on for you and Clark?”
I paused. If telling Lucy was hard, telling my parents was going to be impossible. “Well, actually, I'm pregnant.” That seemed like a nice, easy place to start.
“Oh, Lois, that's terrific! Do you know if I'm going to be an aunt or an uncle yet?”
I laughed, “It's a bit early to know the baby's gender, Luce, but I'm pretty sure you'll be an aunt either way.”
There was a pause before Lucy laughed. “Right. Sorry. I'm an idiot. So how are you feeling? Any morning sickness?”
“Some, but the weirdest thing. Grape bubble gum seems to calm my stomach. Don't ask how I figured that out. But um…” I hedged, not sure how to get to this.
“What is it, Lois?” Lucy's voice came through the line and I could hear her concern.
“We're not sure. There are some issues with the baby. It's not as big as we would have expected it to be.”
“Is that bad?” Lucy asked.
“It doesn't have to be,” I explained. “It could be nothing. Or it could be something.”
“What are the most likely options?” she asked.
“Well, on the negative side, the baby could have stopped growing and I'd have a miscarriage,” I explained.
“Oh, Lo, are you and Clark alright?” Lucy asked and in that moment I was glad I told my little sister now even if I did it over the phone. I could feel how much she cared for me in her words and tone of voice.
“We're nervous, but okay,” I told her.
“Is there anything I can do?” she asked.
“Just get over here to help us take our minds off this,” I joked.
“Will do,” she laughed. “So what is the most likely positive explanation?”
“Well, there are a couple. Most are unlikely. But one possibility is this baby has a longer gestation than other babies,” I could feel my heart pounding as I said the word.
“Gestation? That's the time in the womb, right?” Lucy asked.
“Yes.”
“Why would this baby have a longer gestation?” Lucy asked, sounding thoroughly confused.
“Lucy, this is a secret you can't tell anyone. Not even Ben yet,” I said.
“Lois, you're scaring me. What is it?”
“The baby is half-Kryptonian,” I paused, my heart still hammering in my chest.
“Kryptonian? Superman is the baby's father?” Lucy asked in disbelief.
“Yes,” I said simply.
“But I don't understand. You love Clark. Why would you…”
I cut her off before she got carried away. “I do love Clark, Lucy. The baby is Clark's.”
“The baby is Clark's?”
“Clark is Superman, Lucy,” I said quietly.
For a moment Lucy didn't say anything. Then I heard her expel a large gulp of air. “Clark is Superman? You are married to Superman?” she asked.
“You can't tell anyone, Lucy. Anyone. Besides his parents and me, and Perry and Jimmy, you are the only one who knows right now. Although we're going to tell Mom and Dad later.”
“I think…” Lucy paused. “I think Dad knows.”
“What?” I said, my voice suddenly loud.
“I think Dad knows. From when Superman was really sick. Mom and I were on the phone talking about it at some point and she said she was surprised Clark wasn't jealous of how close you were to Superman. Of how much time you spent with him when he was sick. Dad got on the phone and told us to stop gossiping, that from what he had seen he thought you and Clark had a really good marriage. It didn't make sense to me at the time and I wondered a bit if Dad was siding with you as it made him feel better about his wanderings in the past, but now, I think…”
I didn't say anything. What Lucy was saying made sense, but I was still surprised. He had never let on that he knew.
“Oh, Lois, thank you for sharing this with me,” Lucy's voice broke into my thoughts.
I smiled. “I'm glad that I could,” I told her.
“Can I talk to Clark?” Lucy asked. I was surprised. She had never asked to talk to him before.
I called to Clark and told him that Lucy wanted to talk to him. Looking surprised as well, he picked up the handset. “Hi, Lucy! I heard Lois asking about a wedding date, so I'm guessing you and Bed are engaged?” he asked.
“Well, yes, but that's not why I wanted to talk to you,” Lucy said.
“Well, congratulations anyway,” Clark replied.
“Clark, I'm sorry about the baby. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything is okay. That you are just slowing things up.”
“Thanks, Lucy,” Clark said, his voice soft.
“And I wanted to thank you for trusting me with your secret. I won't tell anyone. I promise.”
“Thank you, Lucy,” Clark said again.
“I won't even tell Ben for now. But I can tell him at some point, right? I mean, I'd hate for him to find out when we come to visit you and he sees your baby flying about the apartment.”
Clark laughed. “Well, since I didn't start flying until I was nearly twenty, that seems unlikely, but I understand your point. Of course you can tell him sometime. But maybe after we've met him first?”
“Of course,” Lucy said. “Oh, I can't believe you guys are going to be parents. I can't wait to see you.”
“Me neither,” I said. I felt all warm inside. Lucy was such a grown up now and I loved the fact that she'd talked to Clark personally. And her positive attitude about the baby made me feel more positive, too. I was even smiling when we got off the phone and headed to my parents.
