* * * * *
Lois
* * * * *
Lois bought two tests, one with the plus and the minus signs, and one with the pink and the blue. They both gave the same result: Positive.
Now what? she thought miserably. She had never been pregnant before. In fact, she had never even had any pregnant friends, and had no idea what she was to do next. Was she supposed to send out an announcement? Make reservations at a hospital? Tell someone?
Let’s see, she thought, who should I tell first? Mother, so I can get screamed at for 'throwing my life away'? Lex, so I can be promptly dumped? Oh, I know, why don’t I get the Planet to just put out an announcement on the front page, so the entire world can be informed at once?
The Planet…. Well, maybe putting something in the paper was a bit extreme, but it might help to tell Perry, at least. He had kids of his own; maybe he’d know a thing or two.
Of course, having and raising the baby wasn’t her only option -- she knew that. And despite what her mother might say about destroying her life, Lois knew in this day and age, having a baby wasn’t necessarily a career killer. More like… a career hurdle. A bump in the road. But certainly not the end of the world.
Perhaps it was the fighter inside her, but Lois knew even then that she wanted to keep this baby and give raising it a shot. Why couldn’t she be an ace reporter and an ace mother? Just because her parents had totally dropped the ball raising her didn’t mean she was doomed to raise a screwed-up human being. No, she could totally do this. Why couldn’t she? Why shouldn’t she?
One thing was for certain, though: she was not going to tell Clark the baby was his. Never. Let him think she’d gotten knocked up by a random source, but never, ever, ever would she let him know that their night together had left any permanent remnants. She could just picture his reaction if she told him the truth. Let me do something. Let me help you. Or worse…. What if his wholesome Kansas upbringing required a ring before a baby? What if he insisted they tie the knot immediately, lest they disgrace the entire Kent family tree?
Shotgun wedding or no, eventually everyone was bound to know that she was pregnant. Her heart hit rock bottom when she pictured Superman’s reaction. How would she ever be able to convince him she loved him, now?
She cried herself to sleep that night.
The next morning, there was a knock at the door. A telegram. Of all things, a telegram from Lex telling her he had enjoyed her good company these past few months, but that it seemed their relationship had run its course. She was stunned. She was being dumped via telegram! Why? Did Lex have spies in the drugstore where she’d bought the pregnancy tests? Was it just a crazy coincidence? Did it matter? No, it didn’t, she supposed. Lex would’ve probably dumped her anyway once she’d told him.
And now she was alone. One hundred percent alone. Choking back tears, she dressed for work.
Lois had given up driving since her first dizzy spell -- it was just too risky. Now she either walked to work or took a taxi. This morning she chose to walk, figuring the spring air would do her emotions some good.
She was just passing the park when she became aware of an altercation about twenty feet away from her. A fight? A mugging? Before she could even process what she was seeing, she heard a familiar whoosh, and a flash of red and blue. Superman was there, breaking up the tussle. Her heart began to beat rapidly. Please don’t let him see me! she thought fervently. She ran a hand through her hair and let it fall against her face, hiding her profile.
Hiding from Superman! It had come to this! She felt silly, but didn’t know what else to do. She was sure that somehow, he’d be able to tell her secret just by looking at her. He was Superman, after all. What couldn’t he do?
“Lois!”
Oh no, he’d seen her! He was coming toward her! Act natural. She turned toward him with a winning smile.
“Hi, Lois!”
“Hi, Superman,” she said sweetly. Yeah, you keep that eye contact, Mister!
“How are you?” he asked.
“Good,” she lied. “You?”
“Fine.” He folded his arms across his chest. “I read all your articles about the Beymer Trial. Sounds like a pretty exciting…” he trailed off. “Lois -- are you all right?”
It was happening again. A dizzy spell. Not now! she thought. Please, not now!
Her last conscious thought was that it felt awfully good to be in Superman’s arms. Almost as good as being in Clark’s….
* * * * *
Clark
* * * * *
It took every ounce of willpower not to eavesdrop on the conversation between Lois and her doctor. Clark was dying to know what was being said -- not only because he was so concerned about Lois, but because he was pretty sure that when Lois got out of the exam room, she was not going to be forthcoming with information. Sure, maybe it wasn’t any of his business. But he cared about her so vehemently, he felt not knowing what was wrong was asking too much of him. He had to know. He loved her.
“You didn’t have to come,” Lois said to Clark, when she was finally released. “But thanks,” she added, when she saw the pitiful look on his face.
“No problem. So… um… is everything okay?” he asked, trying to sound light-hearted, like his very essence didn’t depend on the answer to that question.
“Low blood sugar,” Lois said. “Mixed with low blood pressure. A deadly combination,” she added jokingly. “Nothing to worry about.”
He didn’t believe her. He wanted to, but he could tell she was holding something back. Why, Lois? Why don’t you trust me? Why don’t you let me in on this?
But he didn’t voice any of this. Instead he said, “Perry said to make sure you got home okay, so I called a taxi….”
“Thanks, but I’m really feeling a lot better now, and I think home is the last place I want to be. Let’s just head to the Planet.”
“You sure?”
She nodded.
* * * * *
Lois
* * * * *
Back at the Planet, Perry was none to thrilled to see his star reporter. “Lois Lane, what are you doing here? I want you to take the rest of the day off!”
“Perry, I’m fine!”
“That’s not what I hear!”
“What have you heard?” Lois asked challengingly.
“Well, according to Superman--”
“Superman!” Lois cried. “Look, I know he’s the one who told you guys I was in the hospital, but honestly! How many times has he rescued me? Like, a million? And how many times has a rescue by Superman prompted you to give me a day off? Really, Perry, if this becomes the norm, I’ll probably never be stepping foot in here again.”
“Lois, honey, we’ve known each other a long time. And I know something’s not been right with you lately. You’ve been unusually quiet… you barely even say ‘good morning’ to me anymore, and -- well, this little trip to the hospital….”
“Which was nothing,” Lois tried to assure him.
Perry leaned back in his chair, sighed, and shook his head. “Okay, maybe, maybe not. I can’t say you look sick; heck, you look like you could run a marathon and not feel winded. In some ways, I think you’ve never seemed better.”
“See? So I’m fine.”
“Fine people don’t pass out on street corners.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Perry, please. It was a one-time thing.”
“Are you sure there isn’t anything you wanna tell me?”
They locked eyes for a good solid minute. Lois knew she’d have to tell Perry the truth sooner rather than later, but telling him now would mean he’d have won this battle. And she wasn’t about to let that happen.
“Nope, nothing. Now, can I get back to work, please?”
“Go,” said Perry, giving her a wave of his hand. He’d known Lois long enough to know when she wasn’t going to budge. “Oh, but send Kent in here, would you?”
* * * * *
Clark
* * * * *
“I don’t know why she’s been acting different, Chief.” Clark tugged at his necktie nervously. “Maybe it has something to do with that gunman in the courthouse?”
“Could be,” said Perry, “but she’s been acting funny for longer than that. I know I didn’t see much of her when she was covering the Beymer Trial, but something’s been up with her for a while, now. I thought if anyone would know something, it’d be you. You’re her partner, after all.”
“Sorry, I… I really can’t say.” Clark just hoped his body language wasn’t giving him away. Actually, Chief, Lois has been acting strange ever since we slept together. Oh, didn’t I ever tell you about that? Yeah, Lois and me, who’d have thought? Oh man, if he were to ever let it slip… Lois would definitely be on the warpath.
Perry scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I guess she was pretty shook up by that whole Nightfall thing, we all were, but shoot, the Lois Lane I know is more resilient than that! Gosh, I’m just worried about her.”
“I know,” said Clark. “I am, too.”
“Well, just keep an extra eye on her, would ya?”
“I will,” Clark promised.
* * * * *
Lois
* * * * *
Lois dialed her mother’s phone number, then promptly hung up before it could so much as ring. Ughhhh! This is maddening! She was now, by her calculations, three months pregnant, and she still hadn’t told a soul. And it was eating her up inside. She just had to tell somebody before she went crazy!
Lucy… she could call Lucy. No, wait, Lucy was on a roadtrip with friends, Lois remembered. She doubted any of Lucy’s pals owned a car phone. Unless Lucy were to call her, Lois had no way of reaching her until they returned.
Perry… maybe it was time to tell Perry. It had been a week since their meeting in his office -- enough time had passed that she could tell him the truth and still hold on to some of her dignity. But it was getting late; maybe she should wait til tomorrow.
She felt an unfamiliar, strange sensation in her belly. Was it a kick? Was this baby old enough to be kicking? Maybe it was indigestion she was feeling. No… not likely. She’d heard tales of morning sickness, but she hadn’t experienced an ounce of that. The dizzy spells were the only symptom of her pregnancy -- if that’s what they even were. No, up until this very moment, her stomach had felt better these last three months than ever before. It was almost as if this baby was doing the exact opposite of what babies were supposed to do. Dizziness aside, she felt better, physically, pregnant, than not.
Weird.
The sensation subsided almost as quickly as it appeared. Shrugging, she turned toward her dresser and began to change into her nightclothes. It was a bit early for bedtime, but she wanted to lie down and process some of her swirling thoughts.
She laid on top of the comforter and stared up at her ceiling. With one hand, she caressed her slightly-rounded belly. She closed her eyes.
Her mind began to drift and she thought of many things. The baby. Her parents. The Planet. The story she was working on.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, how long she’d been lying on the bed, but there came a time when she was suddenly aware of the fact that she felt like she was floating.
It was a strange, wonderful feeling. Like flying -- with Superman. High above the Earth, where nothing could touch her, nothing bad could hurt her. Just her and Superman, alone, together. Her in his arms, with his sweet, gentle, perfect way of touching her. Just like he had that night….
No, wait, that was… that wasn’t Superman, that was Clark. Oh well, no matter, she thought, as her thoughts continued to come and go in waves. That’d been quite nice, too. Except… Oh, Clark… it should never have happened! But it had happened, and it had been amazing. But… we were colleagues, friends… we should never have….
The first rays of morning light hit Lois’s eyelids and shook her out of a deep sleep. As she opened her eyes, two thoughts struck her: one, morning had come much too quickly, and two, she was pretty certain that last night, she’d been floating.
But now she felt the bed securely beneath her. No, she hadn’t been floating, only dreaming.
I guess pregnancy makes you a little loopy, she mused. She checked the clock beside her bed. She still had another half hour before her alarm was due to go off. Maybe I’ll just lay back and try to have just one more of those dreams….
* * * * *
Clark
* * * * *
“Hey, Lois, looks like you’ve been dumped,” Cat Grant’s surly voice rang out across the newsroom. “How does it feel to shunned by the second-richest man in the world?”
“It feels great,” said Lois. “And I’m surprised, Cat. Lex and I broke up over a week ago, and it took you this long to get the memo? For shame. I think you might be slipping.”
Clark couldn’t help grinning at Lois’s sassy retort. He loved that about her, that she could hold her own, even when she was being ridiculed. Of course, if it were up to him, the ridicule wouldn’t happen at all. Darn Cat, anyway. But at least Lois had the tenacity to put Cat in her place.
Cat’s news came as no surprise to Clark; he’d seen the Planet’s society section earlier that morning. The pages were splashed with photos of Lex Luthor and his new leading lady: A former model, an heiress, a budding fashion designer. The word was out: Lex Luthor and Lois Lane were no more. Not that they’d ever been anything more than dinner and dancing partners, really. At least, that was what it seemed like to Clark. Never a cause for too much alarm, just some minor jealousy. If it had progressed further than that… well, Clark wasn’t sure what he would have done. He knew who Lex truly was, and if Lois had actually fallen for Lex… well, he would have had to make some drastic moves.
“Lois, Clark! My office!” Perry’s voice called.
Clark stood up quickly. He met Lois’s eye as she hurried past him toward the Chief’s office. He arrived after her and shut the door.
“What’ve we got today, Chief?” Lois asked. “A murder? Kidnapping? Scandal? I need some excitement.”
“Whoa, there, cowgirl,” Perry said, chuckling. “Okay, I can see you’re in fine spirits this morning. Is this just so I’ll stop buggin’ you about your health? Well, maybe it’s working.”
“So what’s the story?”
“Hold your horses. Sit down, you two.”
Clark and Lois sat in the two chairs across from Perry’s desk and leaned forward to hear what Perry had to tell them.
“There’s this woman, Ronna Salvatore,” Perry explained. “Lives over in Metropolis Heights. She called a little bit ago with a tip. Seems she might know somethin’ about all those robberies and muggings on the west side. I checked her out, and she seems to have some familial connections to the Simone crime family. So I thought, hey, maybe she knows somethin’ about somethin’ and is willin’ to talk.”
“I’m game,” said Lois.
Clark nodded.
“Good. Here’s her address.”
They hailed a cab and rode in silence to the Salvatore home. When they reached the place -- an impressive, Victorian mansion, by the looks of it -- Clark paid the cabbie and he and Lois started up the walkway.
“Why don’t you let me do the talking,” Lois said. “You know -- she’s a woman, I’m a woman -- I’m sure I can get something out of her.”
“Whatever you say,” Clark said.
“Fine,” said Lois, feeling a mite ashamed for being so bossy. But she felt a pressing need to be in control -- someway, somehow. This was her way.
They rang the doorbell and a maid answered the door. “Welcome,” the maid said, in a heavy accent. “Mrs. Salvatore is downstairs in her office. She asked that I show you the way.”
They were escorted to a doorway, which led to a flight of stairs. Without a word, they descended the steps. At the bottom, they found themselves in a room with three closed doors.
“Which one do you think it is?” Lois asked absently, before calling out, “Mrs. Salvatore?”
The door to their left opened, and a woman clad in a black dress appeared. She held a gun in her hand.
“You’re just in time,” the woman said darkly.
This was not good. Clark quickly lowered his glasses and x-rayed the gun. Loaded. He made a move to put himself between Lois and the woman, and tried frantically to think of a way to get them both out of the situation safely.
Lois kept her cool. “Mrs. Salvatore?” she asked, as if she hadn’t even noticed the gun.
“Formerly Mrs. SalvaTORE,” the woman spat. “My good-for-nothing ex-husband can KEEP his last name for all I care, along with everything else he’s probably going to get!”
“Ma’am,” Clark said, putting out one hand. “Just calm down, please. Tell us what we can do to help you.”
“You can HELP me by taking back those LIES you printed about my brother in the paper!”
“Uh, help us out, here,” Lois said. “Who is your brother?”
“ARTHUR MONROE!”
The Monroe Story. Four, five months ago? Clark racked his brain for details. “I remember the story,” Clark said. “If you’ll just put down the gun and talk to us calmly, I’m sure we can get to the truth about your brother. If we misrepresented him in any way, we can print a retraction….”
“I don’t want a RETRACTION! I want my life back! YOU HAVE RUINED MY LIFE! So help me I will KILL YOU BOTH!”
* * * * *
Lois
* * * * *
“Ronna, Ronna, Ronna,” a smooth-sounding voice broke through the void. A man stepped through the door directly opposite the stairs. He, too, was brandishing a gun. “Please excuse my sister,” he said suavely. “She gets a bit excited. Good afternoon, Ms. Lane, Mr. Kent. Won’t you step into my office for a moment?” He nodded toward the room to their right.
“Arthur Monroe,” Lois sucked in her breath. She remembered that greasy-haired jerk. She could have sworn he was in prison. Yet here he was, in his sister’s basement, with a gun. “I guess we don’t have much of a choice, do we?” she muttered.
Arthur laughed menacingly. “I guess you don’t.”
“What do you want from us?” Lois demanded, as she and Clark were forced into the third room, a windowless box with cement walls.
“We only want you to suffer the way you’ve made US suffer,” Ronna said sweetly, as she handed her brother a length of rope. “Here, Arthur, I’ll let you do the honors,” she said.
For a moment, Lois wondered if she should make a desperate move -- take a flying swing at Ronna, a swift kick at Arthur. If she could survive a bullet to the head, she was sure she could somehow survive this altercation. But could Clark? No, with two guns in the picture, better to just play it safe. Superman would surely get them out of this… eventually….
So there they were, in a position that was not altogether unfamiliar to the two of them. Held captive by a madman -- and madwoman, in this case -- intent on revenge.
The door to their cell had been locked and they’d been left alone for fewer than two minutes when Clark blurted: “Lois, there’s something I need to tell you--”
Lois opened her mouth to protest, but then thought better of it. Clark had been trying to talk to her for months. She had pushed him away over and over. And where had that gotten them? Here, that’s where. Tied up in a lunatic’s basement, their backs to each other, with two crazy people out there with loaded weapons. How much worse could it possibly get?
“There’s something I need to tell you, too,” Lois said before she could stop herself. She checked herself. Should I? Should I tell him everything? Oh, what the heck. I’m sick of keeping this secret from everybody. Besides, now’s as good a time as any. When Clark didn’t reply, she continued, “So, um… something really strange has been happening to me… for a while, now. That gun in the courtroom -- it shot me, Clark -- I felt the bullet hit me… but it didn’t hurt me. And just now, I… I’ve somehow managed to undo the ropes… I think I’ve broken them, actually….”
She turned to face him. His eyes were wide with -- was it fear? Horror?
“Say something, please,” she whispered.
“I’m Superman,” he said quietly.
She blinked. The room began to spin.
“Lois? Lois, are you okay?”
She became aware of the fact that she was lying in his arms, and he was looking at her with deep concern.
It all made sense now. Complete, off-the-wall, amazing, thrilling, terrifying sense. It was so simple. Her resistance to bullets. Those strange sensations. The floating feeling. She was… he was… they were….
She lifted her head and looked directly into his eyes. “Clark… why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I-- I wanted to, but--”
“Do you know what you’ve put me through these last three months?!”
“What I’ve put you through?” he gasped. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Men! They were so… clueless! “I’m pregnant!” she told him matter-of-factly. “And it’s yours, thankyouverymuch.”
There. It was out. She watched with some amusement as his jaw dropped and his eyes got very wide.
“And I have news for you, mister,” she went on, sitting up. “This baby is definitely giving me a taste of the Superheroics, and I’m not so sure I like them! Sure, they’ve saved my life a couple of times, but if you think I’m raising this child on my own, you’ve got another think coming, pal.”
“You’re-- you’re sure that you’re--” Clark said, gazing at her in wonderment.
“Darn sure.”
“Lois, I wouldn’t dream of letting you do it alone,” he told her.
She watched his expression closely. She believed him. How could she not? This was Clark, who was always faithful, always patient, always there for her, whether she wanted him or not. And yet -- he was also… (she still couldn’t quite wrap her mind around it)… Superman. He was the man that she’d loved since that first day -- the day he’d saved her, then flew her over the city and through the open window of the Daily Planet newsroom. Who had told her he’d “be around” when she asked how she could find him. The man who’d turned her heart completely to mush with that one look. The man who she’d secretly saved her heart for ever since the beginning. The man she feared she could never have.
And here he was now, right in front of her. But not only was he that man, but he was also Clark. Lois could stand it no longer. Her lips raced toward his and she kissed him. He seemed taken aback, but only for a second; then he responded eagerly. She began to run her hands through his hair, and she felt his hands caressing her body.
“Hey, you two! Cut that out!” Ronna Salvatore was back, standing in the doorway to their cell, looking peeved. “And how’d you get untied?”
Lois slowly broke away from Clark and gave him a wily grin. “Do you want to take her, or should I?”
“Why don’t you let me get his one?” Clark said.
And with one more kiss, he stood up to make his move.
