Here's the final part.
A huge thank-you to Iolanthe for her fantastic betaing. Also to Bob for helping with the science bits.
From Part 13 ...
Sarah swung into the hotel room. “Guess what?” she breezed.
Lucy came through the door. “What?”
Sarah sidled up to Lois, a mischievous grin on her face. “There’s a drop-dead gorgeous guy dressed in a tux waiting outside the church.”
Lois gulped. “There is?”
Sarah nodded exultantly.
“But it’s not even one o’clock yet,” Lois said.
“Guess he doesn’t want to miss it,” Sarah said.
“Or he wants to make sure you know he’s there,” Lucy said.
Lois shot to her feet. “I’m going to him.”
Part 14
Clark Kent sat on the bench outside the church, his elbows on his knees, his forehead slouched on the crest formed by his tightly clenched fists.
Three hours - more than three hours - to wait. Three hours until he would know if Lois would come to their wedding or if his self-doubts had cost him the only woman he would ever love.
Then he heard it ... the low, dulcet thrum of a heart. His own heart leapt in recognition and his head jolted up.
Lois.
Dressed in track pants and an old sweater.
His breath snagged in his throat – as it always did when he saw her.
“Hi,” he said, sounding like he’d had to push the word through viscid mud.
“Hi,” she replied.
He moved to the far end of the bench and patted the space. “Would you like to sit down?” he asked. “Next to me?”
She sat, ramrod straight, shoulders rigid. “You look great,” she said.
He winced. “It means nothing unless ...”
“You have doubts?” she asked, her eyes troubled.
“About what I want - no,” he said. “No doubts at all. About whether I’ve ruined the best thing in my life - yes, I have grave doubts.”
“Why?”
“Because if I was in your place, I’d be considering whether this is what I really want.”
“Why?”
He chanced a peek into her eyes – beautiful brown eyes he would willingly drown in. “Because being married to someone who tries to pretend he doesn’t need you right at the point when he needs you most sounds like a pretty shabby deal.”
“If you throw in a spectacular chest, it’s an OK deal,” she said, her face blankly incompatible with her words.
Clark felt the stirrings of a smile, but smothered it, held captive by the solemnity of her expression.
“I’ll smile if you will,” she offered, her face still unreadable.
He unchained his smile – and the breath he hadn’t known he’d throttled. She smiled back at him, detonating the thousand dormant pockets of excitement within him.
Clark held out his hand to her and she grasped it. “I’ve been an idiot,” he said.
“Yes,” she agreed. “But, considering the circumstances, I understand.”
“You are amazing,” he said. “And I am so sorry.”
“I know.”
“Do you have time to stay and talk for awhile?”
“Sure I do.”
“It won’t make you late? I mean …” Clark grinned, a little hesitantly. “Don’t you have a wedding to prepare for?”
“Meh, I’ve got plenty of time.” Lois’s eyes danced. “The groom is a *very* patient guy.”
The dual prong of her words hit him and Clark could do no more than stare at her, grinning. It seemed an eternity since the last time she’d bantered with him.
But her words carried so much more than a little dig at his past. They carried her promise ... and her anticipation ... and her desire ... for their future.
Which left him breathless. Speechless. And *very* impatient.
He needed to extricate himself from this conversation. For hopefully the last time, he needed out. He doused his thoughts and cleared the accumulated mass of emotion from his throat. “I know you have questions,” he said. “Please give me the chance to give you answers.”
“Do you love me?”
“With everything I am.”
“Do you believe that I love you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to marry me?”
“More than anything.”
“Do you believe that I want to marry you?”
He pushed through his doubts. “Yes.”
“Do you realise that you don’t have to always understand; sometimes you just have to trust what I tell you?”
“I’m trying to learn that,” he said honestly.
“So ... no more doubts?”
Clark slowly shook his head, feeling the oppressive tension that had been building since the warehouse begin to dissolve. He released a long, ragged breath. It was going to be all right.
Better than all right.
In just a few hours, he was going to marry Lois. “I can’t wait,” he breathed.
“Is that why you are here so early?” she asked with a teasing grin.
“I went to your room yesterday … twice,” Clark said, as the hopelessness of the empty room swamped him again. “I wanted to tell you how sorry I am. Then this morning, I went again and you still weren’t there. Jane told me no one had stayed in your rooms. I ... I wondered if ...”
“I’d left?”
Clark nodded. “So the only way I could think of to show you how much I want this was to arrive here early and ... basically parade myself in front of the church, hoping you’d see, or someone would tell you.”
“Wasn’t that risking grievous embarrassment if I had already left town?”
“Lois... if you’d left ...” He couldn’t continue.
She slipped her hand from his and shaped it along his jaw. “I’m not going anywhere,” she pledged, as her eyes sank deep into his. “Not without you.” Her lips grazed across his. Then she backed away, reclaiming his hand. “Ready for more questions?” she said.
“Go right ahead,” he said, hearing the new buoyancy in his voice.
“Did the Honduran adoption agency ever call back?”
“Yeah. It seems hundreds of people saw the photo of Rosa with Superman and they were inundated with offers to adopt her. They placed her with a family from Philadelphia, but then realised the other orphans could benefit from the publicity, so they called everyone who had enquired and asked if they were interested in adopting a different child. ”
“And are you?”
“Not right now,” he said. “Maybe one day, but only if my wife and I decide together.”
“Your *wife*?”
He grinned. “My wife,” he confirmed, loving how those words sounded on his lips.
Lois smiled, then pushed on. “You had a bond with Rosa,” she said. “Are you sad she won’t ever be a part of your life?”
“Just a little,” he admitted. “But she has a family now, a new life.”
Lois paused, seemingly unsure of how to phrase the next question. Then she plunged ahead. “I’ve watched you struggle with the changes since the warehouse.”
“I know,” he said with a small smile.
“What has been most difficult?”
Clark thought for a moment. “Learning to live with the reality that I could lose everything I have ... everything I value. I mean – the people I love, their safety, their health, my health … even my life. I could lose it all and there may be nothing - absolutely nothing - I could do to prevent it.”
“It’s the same for all of us,” Lois said quietly.
“I know,” he replied. “And I’ve never, *ever* thought of myself as being better than humans, never looked down on them or anything like that … but my respect for them has increased so much. I want so much to help, to save, to rescue, to make their lives a little less uncertain.” Clark lifted his hands in stifled frustration. “Except now, I can’t.”
Lois started to say something, then stopped.
“Go on,” he urged.
“I’m not sure I should say it.”
“You think my powers will return,” he guessed.
Lois nodded. “It’s who you are.”
“Will you be disappointed if they don’t?”
“For you, yes. For me, no.” She hurried to explain. “Please don’t think I’m only marrying you because I’m sure your powers will come back. I’m marrying you because I love you and that won’t change whether you get super again or not.”
“If my powers don’t come back, will you regret marrying me?”
“Never.”
Clark took a moment to simply bask in the newly-restored closeness he felt with this remarkable woman. He had missed her. “Do you have any more questions?”
“Why did you allow Trask’s men to take you from your apartment?”
“I heard them outside my door. I heard them say if I wasn’t home, they would get you instead.”
“Did you think about flying to me and whisking me away?”
“Yes, I did,” Clark said. “But I didn’t want us living with the knowledge that someone was threatening you. I knew I wouldn’t have wanted to leave you and you would have found that restrictive. So I decided to allow myself to be captured, discover their plan, make a super escape, nail the bad guys and write the story.”
“Keeping both me and the secret safe?”
Clark grimaced. “That was the plan, yeah.”
“It was a good plan,” she said, her fingers tender on his face again.
“Except for the kryptonite,” he said ruefully.
“Except for the kryptonite.”
“They blew a gas into my bedroom,” Clark continued. “Which had no effect on me at all, but I figured I should pretend it did. They came in, dragged me out of my bed and took me to the warehouse.”
She hesitated, then asked. “After the warehouse ... why couldn’t you let me share what you were feeling?”
It was a reasonable question. Completely reasonable. And one Clark was willing to answer. Except he had no answer. “I don’t know,” he said.
“I think I do.”
“You do?”
She nodded.
“Would you mind explaining it to me?”
“Hiding things about yourself had become a part of your life,” Lois said. “You needed to do it. Your life would have simply been ... no life, if everyone had known. So when you got into a new and strange situation ... you naturally went from hiding what you do to hiding what you felt.”
That made sense – hiding from everyone else. But not from Lois. “I shouldn’t have shut you out,” Clark said remorsefully.
“No,” Lois replied lightly. “But hey, we’re both still learning this relationship thing, so I’m willing to overlook it.” She grinned big. “This time.”
Clark felt his simmering emotions surge again. “What did I ever do to gain your love?” he asked wondrously.
“You showed me who you are ... the important bits first ... your goodness, your patience, your trustworthiness, your integrity. None of those have changed.”
He smiled. “Any more questions?”
“Two.”
He feigned a rollicking sigh of relief. “I may just survive this.”
She grinned. “First question ... do you have anything you’d like to ask me?”
“Who is Sally Smallville?”
Lois shook with laughter. “My rival for your affections.”
He grinned, because her laughter was contagious, but he was a long way from understanding. “You have no rival.”
“When you disappeared, I knew I was bugged and I needed a reason why I wasn’t acting like a distraught girlfriend, so I told Henderson you’d been lured away by Sally Smallville.”
“You told Henderson a story, so Trask, who was listening, wouldn’t be suspicious when you didn’t ...?”
“Didn’t report you missing. Didn’t look for you. Not publicly anyway.”
Clark still didn’t really understand, but it didn’t matter now. “Last question?”
“Are you sure you’re ready, farmboy?” she teased. “I’ve left the hardest one ‘til last.”
He grinned, his apprehension gone. “I’ll always be ready for you, honey.”
She smiled. Her eye-sparkling, full-curvature, cheekbone-emphasising smile that reached deep inside him and hugged his heart. “Wanna get married?” she asked. “Today?”
He grinned as the sweet harmony of joy and excitement whirled through him. “More than anything in the world,” he said.
“Then I should go and get ready.” Lois stood and nodded to the church building. “I’ll see you at four. In there, at the top of the aisle.”
He stood. “I’ll be there ... waiting for you.”
“You do that, farmboy,” she said, with a parting smile.
Clark watched as Lois walked away. Then with a leap of irrepressible exuberance, he turned towards his car to begin what he expected would be the most drawn-out three hours of his life.
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Clark stood at the top of the aisle, his heart hammering.
Lois was late.
Five minutes late.
And it felt like five hours.
Then he heard a murmur from the congregation and spun around.
In the arched doorway of the church was the most enthralling sight he had ever seen. More beautiful than all his imaginings.
So beautiful, she was printed, immediately and indelibly, on every facet of his memory.
Lois, his bride ...
He stopped right there. That was enough to take in.
Lois. His. Bride.
She glanced sideways with a laughing comment and Clark dragged his eyes momentarily to his father – his dad who glowed with pride. It brought a smile to Clark’s face, but nothing else could hold his attention, not with Lois about to begin her journey towards him.
Lois and Jonathan stepped forward together, steadfast in movement, sure in purpose.
Lois looked radiant. Looked like a woman about to wed the love of her life.
Clark slid his forefinger under his glasses and brushed away the trace of moisture that had settled on his lower lashes.
Lois’s attention floated right, seeking him. Their eyes merged and he smiled. When her smile widened in response, his heart overflowed. If he lived forever, he would never be able to find the words to tell her how much he loved her.
Each step brought her closer. Closer to him ... closer to beginning their shared life together.
Then she was with him. Clark reached across to shake his father’s hand. Jonathan pulled him close and encompassed him in a hug. “We love you, son,” he said.
Clark could only nod as his father backed away to stand beside his mother. Clark smiled to her and felt her happiness flow through him.
He stepped back to his place and feasted his eyes on Lois. She was looking at him, a sure smile on her face. She really did have no doubts. Her shoulders lifted and her out-breath carried a chuckle of uninhibited joy. Clark felt the coils of his stomach begin to unfurl. It really was going to be all right.
Within seconds, looking at her wasn’t enough. Clark needed to touch her. He looked to her hand and saw the charm bracelet adorning her wrist. He’d asked her for it - so he could have the star charm added - but she’d evaded his request and told him they’d see to it after the wedding.
Lois spun it so he could see the gold star lying next to the trio of palm trees. She flipped it over and he saw the letter ‘C’ engraved on it. Her eyes met his. “For you,” she mouthed.
Clark held his hands towards her and she connected with him, forging an unbroken circle. He gently squeezed her hand and was rewarded with her smile, shot directly at him. He wished he could tell her something of his feelings, something of how much he loved her, how incredibly grateful he was to have her in his life, to be loved by her.
But maybe she understood without words, because as he stared, a tiny, glistening tear emerged from her eye and flitted down her cheek.
Clark heard the minister clear his throat ...
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Lois felt the wave of her happiness bubble through her like the soft spray of newly-poured champagne.
Clark was smiling again.
Really smiling. Looking like it was impossible for him *not* to smile.
Nothing else mattered.
“Family and friends,” the minister began. “We are gathered here together in the sight of God and the presence of these witnesses, to join together Lois and Clark in holy matrimony.”
His pleasant voice washed easily over Lois. It seemed as if everyone, including the minister, had receded into the background. There was just her and Clark.
Her hands were cocooned in his larger ones. Her eyes looked up into his. He didn’t seem nervous at all now. He just looked incredibly happy.
The minister came to the end of his preliminary comments and invited Clark to speak.
Clark hesitated long enough for his smile to widen as he gazed down at her. “Lois,” he began. Her name sounded like a caress from his lips.
She responded with a little smile of encouragement.
“For most of my life, I thought I wouldn’t find you,” he said. “Then, one hundred, thirty-three days ago, I happened upon the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”
His mouth curved into a grin that transported her to his bedroom and again, she saw him – coming through the door, wearing nothing but a towel, a pair of glasses and a look of flustered confusion.
Lois giggled, quickly dropped her eyes and gathered her scattered composure. When she looked up again, Clark was still grinning.
“Within a moment,” he said, as his grin was overtaken by solemn resolve. “I loved you. Within a day, I knew I would love you forever.
“And as I’ve come to know you, I’ve realised that your beauty is so much more than skin-deep. I love your energy and your courage and your tenacity. I love how you enter a room and the world brightens. I love how, with a single glance, you light up my heart.
“You inspire me, Lois. Inspire me to be a man worthy of your love.
“Thank you for finding me. Without you, I could never be whole.”
Clark stopped speaking, but his eyes didn’t stop communicating his love. Lois wanted to reach for his face, to touch the tiny speck of dew that had formed in the junction of his eye.
“I love you, honey.”
He said it so low, if she hadn’t seen his lips move, she would have wondered if her mind had received the message directly from his eyes.
“Lois?” the minister prompted.
Lois inhaled deeply and smiled into his eyes. “Clark,” she said. “You dismantled my world. I used to believe that real love and total trust existed only in the pages of a fairy tale. But piece by piece, moment by moment, word by word, you dissolved my barriers – and you did it just by being you.”
His hands tightened around hers, firm yet gentle. The dewdrop in his eye had swelled a little.
“Then, you reconstructed my world,” she said. “You showed me love, you taught me trust. You became my rock – my loving, constant, dependable rock. I love your inner strength – a strength that always supports, never demands. I love your integrity - how you always choose to live by your principles.”
The dewdrop seemed poised of the edge of eruption. Unable to resist any longer, Lois slipped her hand from Clark’s and reached up to stroke it away with her thumb.
He thanked her with a smile and she ensconced her hand back in his.
“I love you, farmboy,” she said, lower than a whisper. “I will always love you.”
He grinned, because he’d heard – or read her lips.
The minister led them through their vows.
“Do you Clark, take this woman ...?”
“Do you Lois, take this man ...?”
“... in sickness and in health ...”
“... until death ...”
“With this ring ...”
“... I wed you ...”
“With all that I am ...”
“... I honour you.”
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Clark squeezed her hands, beaming.
And then ... “You may kiss your bride.”
Clark slipped his hands from hers and lifted her veil. As he put it over her head, he leant in close and she caught a whiff of his wonderful coconut gel.
Then his lips found hers and Clark kissed his wife.
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Clark started the motor and eased the car away from the small gathering of family and friends who had shared their wedding. The vows had been pledged, the rings exchanged, the register signed, the toasts raised, the banquet eaten, the wedding finery replaced with travelling clothes and the good wishes received.
Now, it had come to this. Lois - his wife - and him.
Together.
Alone.
Married.
A part of his mind - a small, wayward part - still speculated that this may be nothing more than the most phenomenal dream. That Lois Lane, beautiful, independent, brilliant, gifted, sexy –
His mind vaulted ahead two hours.
Two hours.
Two long hours.
Again, Clark mourned the loss of his powers. If only he could sweep her into his arms and fly her to their hotel room in Tulsa. Although, if he had powers, their destination probably wouldn’t be Tulsa.
Clark pushed aside the yearning for the things that were not and concentrated on the things that were. He moved through the gears and then held out his hand to Lois. “Have I told you how much I love you?” he said softly.
She weaved her fingers through his. “Not in the past few minutes.”
“I love you, Lois Lane.”
“You can use my new name if you’d like to.”
For a moment he didn’t comprehend. Then, when he did, he cast a questioning glance sideways. She answered with a little smile. “I love you Lois ... Kent,” he said, still not sure it was what she wanted.
“I love you too, Clark Kent,” she said.
“You want to be Lois Kent?” he said, trying to keep the surprise from surfacing in his words.
“Not at the Planet,” she said. “I want to be Lois Lane and work with Clark Kent. But other than professionally, I’ve decided I’d like to be Lois Kent.”
“I didn’t ... expect ...”
“You really didn’t think being married to me would be without surprises, did you farmboy?” she teased.
He grinned. “Not for one moment.”
“Are you tired?” she asked casually.
Exactly how loaded was that question? “Not ... really,” he hedged.
“So you want to drive to Tulsa?”
“I’m not too tired to drive if that’s what you’re asking,” he said.
She moved her hand to his thigh, half way between his knee and his hip – higher than she had ever touched before. She seemed oblivious. He most definitely was not. “I wasn’t sure we would feel like the long drive, so I made other plans,” Lois said.
“You did?” he squeaked. Her hand was gently kneading into the muscle of his thigh, diluting his ability to concentrate.
“I offered our hotel room to your parents.”
He wasn’t firing on all cylinders. Not mentally, anyway. “Uh?”
“I want to spend my wedding night in your bedroom ... with you.”
“My bedroom?” he gulped.
Lois laughed. “Pull over for a moment, Clark,” she said.
He pulled onto the side of the road. She undid her seatbelt and wriggled closer to him. Her hands captured his face and she lured him into an effusive kiss that drove every coherent thought from his mind.
When she withdrew, she licked her lips and grinned. “Uhmmm,” she said.
“Uhmmm,” he echoed.
“We met in your bedroom,” Lois said, low. “I want to go there with you now ... and this time, you won’t need the towel.” She moved back and refastened her seatbelt.
“It’ll take ten minutes,” he murmured.
“Let’s go.”
Who needed superpowers?
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Clark pushed open his bedroom door and then turned to his bride. “May I carry you?” he asked.
Lois nodded her consent. He bent low and gathered her into his arms. He hadn’t held her like this since he’d lost his powers; it felt so good.
Clark stepped into his bedroom, and keeping her close, lowered her to her feet. The room was toasty warm. He shut the curtains and switched on the light.
Then he faced her and searched for a hint of what she’d like him to do now. Specifically.
Lois gazed back steadily, a faint smile playing around the mouth that was slowly driving him crazy. “How many times have you kissed me, farmboy?”
He hadn’t been expecting that. “Hundreds,” he guessed.
“And of those hundreds, how many times have you wished you didn’t have to stop?”
“Every single time,” he rasped.
She grinned impishly. “This time we won’t have to stop.”
Clark covered the distance separating them in two steps. He didn’t kiss her mouth – not yet. Instead took possession of her hands and kissed the shiny new wedding ring on her finger.
When he straightened, he found her eyes and allowed himself to be drawn into their depths. “You were the most beautiful bride imaginable today,” he told her earnestly. “The first moment I saw you, standing with my dad, looking so composed, so absolutely assured, you took my breath away. I felt so privileged that you were marrying me. I will always be honoured to be your husband.”
Her fingertips caressed the back of his neck. “Do you know why I looked so sure?”
“Why?”
“Because it was *you* waiting for me.”
Then he did kiss her – a featherweight touch at first, relishing the timelessness, then with a freedom that, until now, had been confined to his dreams.
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Lois felt her happiness ripple throughout her body. The last obstacle had been cleared. They were here – together, married and finally free to fully express their love. “You were the most gorgeous groom,” Lois said between kisses.
She felt him grin, although his kisses didn’t subside. Then he drew back. His hands rested momentarily on her shoulders, then slid down her arms. His fingers settled on the lowest button of her blouse. “Can I undo this?” he asked.
She chuckled, remembering. “Just that one?” she teased.
“For now.”
“Yes.”
He undid it and immediately his hands rose to her next button. “Can I undo this one?”
She nodded. “Can I ask you a question?”
He undid it and moved to her next button. “If I can undo this one.”
“Deal,” she said. His fingers brushed against her skin as he undid the button and her reaction sizzled. She had a question ... something she was going to ask him.
“What’s your question?” he murmured, his eyes on his task.
That reminded her. “Did you ever peek?”
His eyes moved up and met hers, undaunted. “No ... yes. Can I undo this one?”
“What does ‘no and yes’ mean?” she asked. She wanted to know, but the conversation was fast becoming secondary to the sensation of his touch.
“No, I never x-rayed through your clothes. Ever.”
“Ever tempted?”
“Oh, yes,” he groaned. “More times than you could imagine.”
“And the ‘yes’?”
“Can I undo this one?”
“If you answer my question while you undo it.”
His fingers leant into her blouse to undo the button. When it hung loose, Clark said, “I’m taller than you. Sometimes that, combined with the style of your neckline ...” He left his words hanging as he moved to her top button. “Can I ...?”
“Please do.”
He slipped the top button from its hole and pushed open her blouse, revealing lacy underwear. “Lois,” he breathed.
Lois slid her fingers across his shirt, pressing hard enough to track the definition of his muscles. “Are you feeling overdressed?” she asked.
He nodded, eyes still anchored a little below her face.
“Is it OK if I undo all your buttons?” she asked.
“Go ahead,” he said, distractedly.
A short time later, they were both naked.
And then, Clark Kent made love with his wife.
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After, Clark held her close, her head on his arm, as the delicious heaviness ebbed through his body. “Lois?”
“Uhmm.”
“It was *your* strength that got us through,” he acknowledged. He shuffled onto his side, so he could see her face. “Your belief, your drive, your certainty.”
“Clark, I still don’t fully understand why you expected I would be unsure about marrying you.”
Her words made him surprisingly uncomfortable considering the intimacy they had just shared. “It’s not that easy to explain.”
Lois smiled. “That’s OK.”
He brushed back the lock of dark hair from her cheek. “It’s just ... you’re so perfect. You’re so ... you’re everything I’m not – daring, intuitive, independent, passionate, fiery ... beautiful, sexy ...” Clark glanced away. “I thought my powers balanced the ledger a bit.”
Her hand glided across his chest, drawing heat wherever she touched. His mind was struggling to deal with anything beyond how incredibly grateful he was to have her with him like this.
“Clark,” she said. “You’re everything I’m not – careful, considerate, grounded, compassionate, kind, selfless ... that’s why us together works so well. We’re two halves of the same whole.”
Clark surrendered to the lure of her hand. He found her mouth and began to kiss her with no intention of stopping any time soon.
But she pulled away and his eyes shot open. “And anyway, your powers are back,” she said blithely.
Clark didn’t understand. Maybe it was an obscure reference to his performance in bed. He could hope, anyway.
“I know there’s the whole fantasy of the earth moving ...” she said.
“Yeah?” he said uncertainly.
“But I think it did.”
Clark felt his face split with a wide grin. “That’s ... uhmm ... good.”
“Did you feel it?”
“I .. ah ... wasn’t really concentrating on the earth.”
With a swift movement, Lois was lying across his chest, her face only inches from his. “I think we were floating,” she informed him.
“Floating?” he choked.
“Yes, Clark,” Lois said earnestly. “Floating ... like I was with ... Superman.” She kicked away the covers, bent her knees and lifted her feet high. “Which ankle did I break?” she asked.
“Which ankle?” he faltered.
“I broke my ankle skiing. X-ray my ankles and tell me which one has a scar on the bone.”
His world clouded over, certain he was about to disappoint her. “You said my powers didn’t mean anything to you,” he said quietly.
“I said I loved you whether you had powers or not,” she corrected. “You do ... and I love you.”
“Lois,” Clark sighed. “I *don’t* have powers. I’ve tried every day since the warehouse. I just can’t do the things I used to do.”
“Yes, you can.”
He studied her, his heart soaring at the possibilities, his mind not daring to believe.
“Yes, you can,” Lois repeated.
Clark squirmed a few inches up the bed so he could get a direct sighting on her feet. He summoned his x-ray vision.
Nothing happened.
He tried again and suddenly, her skin faded to nothing and her bones appeared – one with the clear evidence of a break.
Clark closed his eyes and sank back into the bed, his heart pounding. When he opened his eyes, Lois was contemplating him with a ‘told-you-so’ look which just begged him to kiss her extravagantly. “So which one?” she said with a wide grin.
“Your right ankle.”
“Good guess,” she teased.
“It wasn’t a guess,” he said, still dazed.
She laughed. “I *know* that.” She buried her hands deep in his hair and kissed him. “Lift me,” she directed.
His hands circled her waist.
“Not like that,” she said. “Lift both of us.”
Clark tried and they didn’t move. He increased his efforts, trying to remember precisely how he did something which once had required no conscious thought. Then he felt the mattress drop away and a sliver of cold air shoot along his bare back.
Lois wriggled up his chest and looked over his shoulder. “We’re six inches above the mattress,” she announced.
They dropped back onto the bed with a soft thud.
Lois stared at him with a provocative blend of desire and mischief. “Making love with your wife seems to have been restorative,” she said with a sultry smile. “And that was only once.”
“What are you suggesting?” he asked hoarsely, although he had no doubts at all what she meant.
“That if you want your powers back, we have a lot of work to do.”
“I think we could manage that,” he said thickly.
She took his face into her hands and locked into his eyes. “Welcome back,” she said. “*Super* man.”
