We had decided to not tell Perry and Jimmy about the potential problem with the baby right away, but once the new ultrasound also did not show conclusive results, Clark thought that it was time to tell them. I agreed, but was just not feeling up to another uncomfortable conversation. So, after a long discussion, we agreed that Clark would go into the paper the following day to tell them.
I tried to get some work done while Clark was gone, but for some reason I just could not concentrate. After writing the intro for a piece I was hoping Clark could finish when he got home, I got on to the important business of staring out of the window.
Evelyn's words had given me some hope and I was feeling noticeably less nervous and upset than I had been before we saw her, but I was not completely relaxed. It was hard to be, given that Evelyn was not. She had explained that in reality, this was about as good as she could have hoped for and the only reason she was not telling us she was 100% certain that things were fine was because she wanted to be completely honest. And of course, it was still early and even if the baby appeared fine now, she could not promise we would not have a problem later on. She assured us that while it seemed a long way away yet, once we reached twelve weeks, it was unlikely something would happen, but until then, she just could not be sure.
I respected that, and like Clark, I appreciated it. I knew that while it would have been nice to have had a definitive answer, I would have been heartbroken if she had told us that everything was fine now, only to tell us at the next appointment that she was wrong.
Still, it would have been nice to know for sure.
I was thinking about this when Clark opened the door. The look on his face surprised me and I immediately started trying to determine what went wrong when he whispered, “Oh, honey,” and came toward me to wrap his arms around me.
It was not until that moment that I realized I was crying. “I'm fine,” I said to him.
He leaned back slightly to run his fingers across my cheeks. “Then why are you crying?” he asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don't know. I didn't realize I was.” Clark smiled at me, probably thinking I was crazy. “Stupid pregnancy hormones,” I mumbled and Clark leaned forward to kiss the tip of my nose.
“You're cute,” he smiled at me and at the impish look on his face, I swatted him gently. “I brought you a present.”
“What?” I asked, hoping for some chocolate. I had run low on my stash of chocolate bars at home and while Clark had offered to get me some more, I had told him not to. Given my feelings the last few weeks, I had taken to eating way too much chocolate and while I was not eating as much other food as normal, so it was not leading to weight gain, I also knew that chocolate was not the best source of calories, particularly for the baby. But now it had been three or four days and I really wanted some chocolate.
Clark turned his head and I followed his eyes to where Jimmy was standing in the doorway looking unsure. “Jimmy!” I said, suddenly happy to have company. We had been homebodies nearly since my morning sickness kicked in. I was just too tired and sick to want to go out and when that lessened, the stress of the baby just kicked in. As much as I wanted to see our friends, I could not bear the thought of it. I was so focused on the baby, and I knew they were not. They shouldn't be. But it sounded like work to have to pretend I was able to think of anything else.
I guess the unintended seclusion had gotten to me, though, as I was really glad to see a friend.
“Are you okay?” Jimmy asked, his eyes filled with concern.
“Yes,” I laughed. “It's just the pregnancy hormones. They make me weepy. I'm actually perfectly okay.”
“Oh, good,” Jimmy smiled, his eyes showing his relief. He came in more fully and moved to embrace me. “It's good to see you, Lois. The paper is quieter without you.”
I laughed, “Friendlier, too?”
Jimmy smiled. “I know what's good for me. I'll stick with quieter.” I laughed at him and smiling he said, “I brought you a couple of Double Fudge Crunch bars. I figured you'd probably like the extra chocolate right about now.”
He held two candy bars out to me. “Jimmy, I love you!” I exclaimed. “Thank you.”
“Hey!” Clark mock shouted from the kitchen where he was making sandwiches. “I offered to bring you chocolate more than once!”
“You're timing was off,” I told him, eagerly opening one of the bars.
I offered a piece to both Jimmy and Clark, before settling comfortably on the couch. “So, are things slow today?” I asked Jimmy.
“No,” Jimmy shrugged. “Clark just told us about the baby and I thought I'd take an early lunch break to come see you. It sounds like things are getting better now.” he said.
“I think so,” I said, quietly, remembering again how much I wished they were perfect.
Clark came back in with three turkey sandwiches. Jimmy took one and I took half of a second. “It would be nice to know for sure,” Clark said as he grabbed my hand with his free one.
“Still, I think it's all going to work out all right in the end,” Jimmy said. “It sounds like everything looks normal now.”
“It does,” I said, appreciating Jimmy's positive attitude. Like Lucy's a couple of weeks ago, it made me feel more positive.
**************
I was lying on the couch, my head in Clark's lap while he watched a football game. I was not quite asleep yet, but close. It had been a rather full day. Jimmy had stayed for about an hour before heading back to work and then at 5:30, Perry and Alice had come over with dinner. It had been good to see everyone, but all the activity had me feeling a bit worn out.
“Sometimes I forget that Jimmy is not really a kid anymore,” I said to Clark during a commercial break. “He seemed so mature today.”
“Well, I think Jimmy's always been a bit mature for his age. He just… he knows how to act young,” Clark said. “But I agree. He's been very perceptive recently.”
“Mmmhmm,” I agreed sleepily, thinking that this was what I had been trying to get at.
“He was great on the ride over here this afternoon,” he said softly.
“How?” I asked.
“I don't know,” Clark said, clearly trying to think of what he wanted to say. “I guess it was a couple of things. He spent a lot of time asking about me, making sure I was okay.”
I sat up. “Are you okay?” I asked, suddenly worried. It was so easy to get caught up in my emotions and forget that Clark was going through this, too.
Clark ran a hand through my hair. “I'm fine, honey. Really. Better than fine, even. I feel like… well, like things are getting back on track. And even though I wouldn't choose to go through this again if we had the choice, I feel even closer to you now than I did before.”
“Me, too,” I said, squeezing his hand.
With some gentle pressure on my shoulder, Clark eased me back down to his lap. “But, Jimmy doesn't know that,” Clark said. “And he has no way of knowing that you've been great at keeping my spirits up, so it was just… nice, I guess, that he realized that this was happening to us and not just to you.”
“Clark, I haven't done anything,” I said, surprised to hear him say I had kept his spirits up.
“Yes, you have,” he insisted gently. “Both actively when I was upset, but at other times, too. I can't explain it, but I don't think you even realize how often you do small things that make me feel better.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“Like taking my hand. Like lying here like this. It makes me feel better to be close to you.”
I smiled slightly, “I don't do that for you. I do that for me.”
“I know,” Clark leaned down to kiss me lightly. “And that's why it makes me feel better. Because I know that whatever happens, we'll handle it together.”
“So what else did Jimmy do?” I asked, smiling broadly.
“Oh, just asked a lot of questions about you. Talked about how hard it must be for you – to have all these changes going on that you can't control.”
“Like crying for no reason?”
“Exactly like that. He was just… really sympathetic to how we both must be feeling.”
“We're lucky,” I voiced the thought I knew Clark was thinking as well.
“Very,” Clark agreed, kissing me again before getting drawn back into the game.
**************
I liked Ben almost immediately. Before I met Clark, I was a big believer in first impressions. I still was to some degree, although I was more open-minded now. I had learned, very well, that some people are shy upon meeting others for the first time, and you can be surprised by what you can learn about others if you withhold judgment for a little while.
Ben, though, made a great first impression. First off, he was nervous at meeting us. But something about his mannerisms made it clear that Ben was not like Clark – he was not normally shy at meeting others. Of course, unlike Clark, he probably did not have a big secret to hide. Still, somehow Ben managed to get across that he was nervous mostly just as it was important to him that we like him.
That energy or whatever, emanated from him and mixed with unconsciously reaching for Lucy's hand and the way he looked at her when she was speaking made it clear within the first few moments I met him that he was desperately in love with my sister and he got how amazing she was.
Aside from that, though, he was just a really nice guy. Lucy had asked if she could tell Ben I was pregnant and about the news of the baby aside from his or her Kryptonian origins. Clark and I thought that was perfectly reasonable, so Ben knew before he met us.
His reaction when he first met us was perfect – when Lucy introduced us, he smiled broadly. “I'm so glad to meet you both. Lucy talks about you all the time, so I feel like I know you already.”
“It's good to meet you, too, Ben,” Clark said, reaching out to shake hands.
“Oh, and Lucy tells me congratulations are in order!” Ben said, his joviality matching my sister's typical exuberance.
“Thanks,” I said quietly, holding my hand out to him.
Ben moved past my hand to give me a hug. “I'm sure everything is going to work out just fine, but I'm sorry you have to go through this stressful situation,” he said as he pulled away. He managed to strike just the right balance of sadness while still sounding hopeful and it made me smile.
Lucy and Ben were only able to come out to Metropolis for a long weekend. With Ben's new promotion and Lucy's new job, they were hesitant to take too much time off. But it was enough time for all of us to know we liked Ben.
I think Ben got that, too, as he seemed more relaxed the second day. Or maybe he just decided he liked us and that helped. Either way, long before the weekend was over, he seemed like part of the family.
Lucy waited until just before they left, when she was sure we all liked him, to tell Mom and Dad about their engagement. I could tell immediately that Mom was excited. I think secretly Mom had always wanted to plan a wedding and given that the only chance she had had was to help me with the few things I had been allowed to decide on in planning my disaster of a wedding to Lex, she was hoping that her chance was finally here.
“That's so exciting,” Dad said and his joy was also apparent. “Do you know where you want to get married? Is there someplace near you?”
“Well,” Ben said, “we had talked about a wedding on one of the bluffs overlooking the Pacific, but in the end we decided on a wedding in Metropolis.”
My mother positively beamed at this.
“Lois,” Lucy turned to me. “I was hoping you would be my maid of honor and I know you won't be able to travel a lot in a couple of months.
“You're getting married in Metropolis for me?” I asked, feeling a strange mixture of touched and confused.
“Well,” Lucy shrugged, “I still have lots of friends here anyway. And it's closer for Ben's family, too, so it just made sense. So will you? Be my maid of honor, I mean?”
“Of course,” I said, giving Lucy a huge hug and then, BAM the pregnancy hormones struck again and I started to cry. Or maybe it was not the pregnancy hormones and I was just happy.
“Oh, Lo, are you alright?” Lucy asked, holding me tighter.
“I'm fine,” I said, a bit bitingly. I was getting tired of being a crier.
Clark rubbed my back, “Give her a minute and it will pass,” he said, leaning over to kiss my temple.
There seemed to be a moment of silence before my mother figured out that I did not want to be the center of attention. “Well, actually, since Lois is married, she'd be the matron of honor,” she pointed out.
“I think I like being a maid more than a matron,” I replied and everyone laughed, the tears ceasing.
“So, do you have a date set?” Mom asked.
“Not yet,” Ben replied.
“We are going to wait a couple of weeks to see what the new due date is for Baby Kent,” Lucy explained.
“We were thinking maybe a few months after the baby is born,” Ben added. “Give Lois some time to recover before Lucy starts making demands on her.”
“This way you'll be used to it,” Lucy smiled at me. “I'm pretty sure I can be slightly less annoying than a newborn.”
**************
I was in surprisingly high spirits when we showed up at Evelyn's a week and a half later. With Lucy's visit, a trip out to Smallville, and Jimmy and Perry stopping by a couple of times, we had been busy and the time with others had forced me to focus on other things.
Still, I felt a bit nervous up on the examination table and I gripped Clark's hand tightly as Evelyn started the ultrasound. We sat for a few moments in silence while she moved the probe around. Then she stopped for a moment, looking at the screen.
A minute later, she removed the probe. As I sat up, she turned to us, a huge smile on her face. “It's too soon to hear, but I could see it,” she said.
“See what?” I asked.
“The movement caused by the heartbeat. You're baby's heart is beating,” she announced to us proudly. “The baby is fine.”
