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Synopsis of Chapters 1 - 8 Missing Lois - TOC ***
Where we left off in Part 7...“Why are you pushing me away, Lois?”
“
I’m pushing you away?” Her anger flared. “That’s rich, Clark. I told you I’m sorry. I told you that I love you. That I want to move forward past this. I told you the truth even when I knew you couldn’t handle it. I even got on my knees and begged you to stay. What more do you want from me, Clark?” She knew she was melting down in the newsroom again, but she couldn’t control herself when she was this livid. At this point, she didn’t care what anyone other than Clark thought of her.
He stared at her, clearly without an answer.
Lois scoffed with a shake of her head. “When you figure that out, let me know.” She shooed him away.
“What are you so angry at me for?” he asked, soft as a hiss, standing up. “You’re the one who betrayed me, remember?”
Lois closed her eyes. She had no idea why she was angry. Then something flashed into her head and she spoke it without thinking, “You haven’t asked me one question about our daughter. Not one.” She covered her mouth after she said it. She hadn’t meant it. The look of pain that shot across his face told her that her barb had hit its mark. He backed away from her and returned to his desk without another word.
Needless to say, Lois wasn’t surprised when Clark didn’t come home for dinner. She didn’t know if the mudslides in Southern California really needed his help or if he was once again avoiding her.
***
Part 8Clark went to Lois’s favorite boulangerie in Paris and bought her some croissants for breakfast. He could still hear her words echoing in his head,
You haven’t asked me one question about our daughter. Not one. She knew more about Lara than anyone and he hadn’t asked her one question about her pregnancy or the delivery or anything. He had been more interested in all the other activities she had participated in while in the other dimension, especially her night with the other Clark. Here she had spent a year ‘abroad’ and he hadn’t asked her about her main reason for being there. He scanned the living room as he approached the townhouse. It was empty. He touched his feet down on the living room carpet and then closed the window before spinning into his work clothes.
Penny walked into the living room from the kitchen with Lara’s bottle and jumped with a start, almost dropping the bottle. “Clark! I didn’t know you were here. Lois said that you had left already.”
“I didn’t mean to startle you. Where’s Lois?”
“She’s already left for the office.”
“Oh. I ran out to get some croissants for breakfast. I’ll just bring them to her at work.”
Penny smiled. “How sweet.” She sighed.
Great, just what he needed.
“Are you done fighting?” Penny continued.
Clark raised a brow.
“Right. None of my business. Just that Jimmy mentioned some tension at work. Wow, I think I hear Lara calling for her bottle. Excuse me.” She ran half way up the stairs and then stopped. “You know she wasn’t crying, don’t you? Super hearing and all. Sorry. You probably don’t like to be lied to.” She turned around and finished going up the stairs.
Clark shook his head. “Not as a rule. No.” He let go of a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. That was close. They still hadn’t admitted to Penny that he was Superman nor did they want to. But she didn’t need to actually catch him flying into the house. Out the front door, then.
Clark stopped at the coffee cart outside of the
Daily Planet and wondered how Lois was taking her coffee these days. He would have to watch her more closely. Perhaps croissants would be enough. He ordered his heavy cream, three sugars and extra caffeine coffee and went inside.
Getting out of the elevator, he scanned the newsroom for his wife, but did not see her anywhere. Didn’t Penny say Lois left early for work? Maybe his wife had some errands to run. He took one of the pastries out of the bag and then set the rest on her desk.
Clark’s heart still hurt. He wasn’t ready to move back into their bedroom, let alone their bed. But he felt bad for giving her the silent treatment for over a week now. Even though he missed Lois, his wife, his best friend, he wasn’t ready to forgive her.
Half an hour later, Lois still hadn’t arrived at work. He sat at his desk, staring at her empty desk. Where was she? He closed his eyes and listened. No cry for help. Not that she would expect him to come, if she called nowadays. He sighed. What a mess they were in. Jimmy came by and dropped a folder off on Lois’s desk.
“Jimmy, you seen Lois?” Clark asked him.
His friend grinned. “She called in and said she had a dentist appointment this morning and would be running late.”
Dentist appointments two days in a row? That was strange, unless she had a toothache she hadn’t mentioned. Although, if she had mentioned it, it wasn’t like he was around to listen. He sighed.
Clark watched as Lois sailed in an hour later. He held up a folder and then watched her with his x-ray vision as she unloaded her briefcase and noticed the croissants. She glanced over and him and smiled. Who else would bring her croissants and pain au chocolat from Paris? She slid her chair towards him.
“Thank you,” she said, raising her pastry.
“I wanted to apologize for missing dinner last night. Last minute emergency.”
“It happens.” Lois smiled, taking another bite.
“I hate breaking dates with you. Disappearing without explanation. I know how much that bothers you.”
She raised a brow. “Was that a date?”
Was it? Lois had refused lunch because of a dentist appointment and rescheduled for dinner, hadn’t she? “How are your teeth? Any cavities?”
His wife shook her head. “You’d think that they’d be in worse shape after this past year. But nope, clean bill of health.” She held up the folder that Jimmy dropped off on her desk. Clark had already read it, but he didn’t tell her that. “Background check on one Mindy Huckaby. She didn’t exist before nursing school. I’ve requested to see her application. She didn’t get financial aid either. Paid her tuition in cash.”
“Who does that?” Clark asked, reaching over to her croissant bag to steal another.
“A Luthor,” Lois said, pulling the bag away as she rolled back to her desk. “Hey, these are special apology croissants. I’m not sharing.”
Was that a smile? His wife was so beautiful when she smiled. It lit up her entire face. Then he remembered that she cheated on him. His return smile died on his lips. With a sigh, Clark returned to his desk.
Then his brows came together. How had she gotten a dentist appointment so soon? Those took months to book with their dentist. And if she had a clean bill of health, why had she gone back this morning? Had she been to the dentist at all? If not, where had she been going instead? Lois was still lying to him.
His wife went to the nursing school later that morning when they refused to fax over Mindy’s application, citing privacy laws. When Clark asked Lois about having lunch when she returned, she admitted catching a bite while out. He would try that night at dinner, then.
But that night, Sam Lane joined them for dinner, cutting off any opportunities for him to ask Lois more questions about her missing year. She fell asleep in the rocking chair with Lara. Clark carried one and then the other to bed. He held Lois in his arms a few minutes longer than necessary. He really did miss cuddling with his wife.
The next morning, he was gone before dawn. Earthquake in China. He hoped Lois would still cover for him at work, even though he hadn’t asked her to. He was gone until late in the afternoon. When he finally sat down at his desk, he was too exhausted to work. Natural disasters were some of the worst things to deal with. They drained the sunshine right out of him.
He glanced over to his photo of Lois and Lara. There was a post-it note stuck on it.
Valentine’s Day. 12:04 a.m. Bobby BigMouth dinner was written in Lois’s hand.
Clark stared at the note. What did it mean? Bobby BigMouth came to dinner after midnight on Valentine’s Day? Not in this dimension.
Clark turned to ask Lois, but she wasn’t at her desk. Gone, again. He continued to stare at the note as he wondered where Lois disappeared off to.
“CK, you don’t need me tonight, right?” Jimmy asked. “Lois said that Bobby BigMouth was coming tonight for dinner. I promised Penny I’d take her out and she just called, so I’m going to break out early.”
Clark waved him off. If Penny was off work, then Lois was at home. Oh, right, cooking dinner for Bobby BigMouth. No conversation again tonight. He covered up that part of the note and looked at the top section of the note again.
Valentine’s Day. 12:04 a.m. What did that mean? He plugged the date into his computer, but nothing pertinent to any of their stories came up. He glanced back at the photo of Lois and Lara and picked up the phone, dialing home.
“Okay, you got me stumped,” Clark said. “What does it mean? ‘Valentine’s Day. 12:04 a.m.’”
Lois laughed. “Clark, it’s the answer to the question you’ve been wanting to ask me all week.” A buzzer sounded. “Got to go. See you at dinner.” She hung up.
“The question I wanted to ask her…?” Clark leaned back and tapped his finger on his forehead. His eyes scanned his desk again, stopping on the photo of Lois and Lara. He felt a chill down his spine as a smile spread over his lips. Lara’s birthdate! His daughter was born on Valentine’s Day – February 14th, 1997, at 12:04 a.m.
Sitting up, Clark clipped off the section of the note reminding him of their dinner guest. Then he picked up his – Clark’s – agenda and flipped over to the middle of February adding the post-it note to the Valentine’s Day page. He ran his finger over the note again.
How did Lois know he would need a pick-me-up when he got back from China? He sighed. Because she was Lois Lane, his wife, the woman who knew him better than he knew himself. Clark grabbed his suit jacket and ran out of the office. There was a girl he owed a kiss.
He landed in the living room, spun back into his business suit and ran up the stairs. The crib was empty. She must be down in the kitchen with her Mommy. He went down to the kitchen and found Lara sitting in her high chair playing with her gavel rattle. “Hello, beautiful.”
“Hello, hand…” Lois started to say and then realized he wasn’t talking to her. She turned back to the stove. He picked up their daughter, kissing her cheek.
“Lois, can I borrow you for a moment?”
She turned around, her eyes damp. “What is it, Clark?”
He hated it when she cried, especially when she hid it from him. Especially when he knew he was the one who caused the tears. Clark held open his free arm. “Lara needs a hug. Let’s make a sandwich.”
Lois stepped up to them and kissed one of her daughter’s cheeks as he kissed the other. He enclosed his other arm around his wife. Lara filled them with her love.
His wife broke away and ran out of the kitchen.
“Ooops, sweetie. Mommy must need to fix her face.”
Lara touched his face.
“Yes, sweetie. I know I’m making Mommy sad. She made Daddy sad, too.” Clark rested his head against his daughter’s. “Yes, I still love Mommy… I know. I’d like to see Mommy happy, again, too.” Clark kissed her cheek. “Can you show Daddy a picture of Mommy? Your favorite memory of Mommy?” He closed his eyes and watched her show him the memory of when she ran down the stairs and pulled Lara into her arms. Then he saw himself, wrap his arms around the two of them, a family at last. Surrounded by Lara’s grandparents. That was the day his missing Lois had showed up, the day of the ‘hot leads’.
Clark cleared his throat. “That was a good memory, Lara, sweetie. Do you know what one of Daddy’s favorite memories of Mommy is?... Let me show you.” He closed his eyes again and thought of their wedding day and how Lois looked up on that hill with the sun setting behind her. “What?.. Yes, that’s Mommy. That’s a memory of Mommy before she was your Mommy… What? After she was your Mommy?... Okay, let me think?” He closed his eyes and showed Lara a picture of Lois’s face when they first saw Lara in the bassinette.
“What do you mean, that’s not Mommy. Of course, it is.” Lara touched his face. “You couldn’t hear that Mommy and she couldn’t hear you?” His brow wrinkled in thought. “I don’t know, sweetie. Why could this Mommy hear you but that one could not?” Was it because this Lois gave birth to Lara and the other one hadn’t, yet? Had her biology changed with carrying his child? Is that why she had semi-super hearing and could communicate with Lara while the stand-in Lois could not?
The door bell rang. He shifted Lara to his hip. As he approached the door he scanned to see who their guest was. “Lois, Bobby’s here,” he called.
Clark could hear her sniffling. “Be right down,” she called back. He didn’t want to make her cry, especially around Bobby BigMouth or their marital woes would be all over town by morning.
He opened the door. “Evening, Bobby.”
“Hi, Clark. Hello, angel. Does Uncle Bobby get to hold you this time?” Bobby said, holding out his hands.
Clark shifted his daughter away from Bobby. “No.”
Lois came down the stairs wiping her eyes. “Hi, Bobby. I made lasagna. I’m sure it’s not as good as your Mother’s, but it’s edible.”
Bobby leaned towards Clark. “Modesty? I thought you married Lois Lane?”
“I heard that,” she called from the kitchen.
“Wow? Does she have Ultra Woman hearing or what?” Bobby chuckled.
Clark smiled. “What.”
“Oh, no. Of course not. I mean that’s one of the biggest mysteries of the decade. What happened to Ultra Woman? God, she was hot. I mean, Superman’s super, but who wouldn’t want to be rescued by Ultra Woman?”
“Bobby, my daughter.”
Bobby covered his mouth. “Oh, right, sorry, Clark. That was PG talk. I’ll tone it down. I forget that these little nippers are like sponges. They soak up everything around them.”
“You have no idea,” murmured Clark, heading for the dining room. He shifted Lara back to his shoulder and as he did so, his daughter touched his face. Suddenly, an image of Ultra Woman and Superman both touching Lara at the same time came into his head. They were slightly blurry, but he could still recognize them.
“Oh, my God!” Clark gasped. She was showing him images from the other dimension. Of the other Clark and the other Lois. Uncle Super and Aunt Ultra.
“What’s the matter?” asked Bobby.
Clark cleared his throat. “Diaper change. Excuse us,” he stammered, rushing her upstairs, slowly for him. He sat down in the rocking chair in her room. “Okay, sweetie. Can you show Daddy that picture again? Of Uncle Super and Aunt Ultra?” He closed his eyes. Why was this image so blurry, he wondered. The room was dark, except for one bright light behind them. He could feel the warmth and love that Lara shared with them. Then he heard a voice that sounded like Sam call to the other Clark. They turned around and through Lara’s eyes, he could see the blurry outline of Lois laying on some sort of surgical table.
Clark gasped and the image went away. That was the day she was born. That was why the image was so blurry. Her eyes hadn’t developed enough to see well, yet.
“Wow, princess. That was a great gift you gave me. Was that the first time you met Uncle Super and Aunt Ultra?” he asked, kissing her forehead. “You can show me more pictures of them later. Okay, sweetie. When it’s just the two of us.”
“Clark?” Lois called.
“Just a minute,” he said, then lowering his voice. “We should probably check your diaper while we’re up here.”
Clark came back downstairs a few minutes later, still a little stunned by the information he had learned about his daughter this day. Her birthdate. That Superman, Ultra Woman, and Sam Lane were all present at her birth. That shouldn’t surprise him. But Lois hadn’t yet told him anything about Lara’s birth. For a second, it actually felt like he was there. True, he saw it through his daughter’s eyes, but it was more than what he knew before.
Lois and Bobby were already seated at the table. Clark set Lara in her high chair and smiled at them. Lois raised a curious eyebrow at him. As she began to serve the food, Clark kissed her cheek and whispered, “You look beautiful tonight, Honey,” into her ear. She dropped the serving spoon.
“Excuse me. Clark.” She stared at him. “Not while we have guests, please.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” he said with a smile, sitting down.
Lois’s hand began to shake as she scooped food onto Bobby’s plate. She cut another piece of lasagna. Clark held out his plate as her noticeably shaking hands poured food onto his plate and onto his thumb.
“Oh, my God, Clark. Are you okay? This food is scalding,” said Bobby.
Clark looked down to his thumb under the steamy food. He raised his eyes to Lois’s. “Ow. Ow. Ow.” Wasn’t that what a human would say in this situation? He set down his plate.
Lois jumped up and grabbed his arm. “Come on, cold water is what you need,” she announced, dragging him into the kitchen. She turned on the cold water faucet and stuck his hand in the water.
“Lois,” he whispered with a slight smile. “I’m fine.”
“I’m not,” she said, slapping his chest. “You hardly talk to me for two weeks and then you whisper compliments in my ear? How could you do that when I’m sitting next to Bobby BigMouth? Are you crazy? I almost burst into tears right there on the spot, Clark.”
He took his hand out of the water and lifted her jaw, placing a soft kiss on her lips. She slapped his chest.
“I told you not to do that,” Lois stammered, tears running down her cheeks. “Clark, now look at me!”
Clark turned off the faucet and lifted Lois into his arms. “Lara showed me an image from the day she was born.” He smiled.
All the color drained from Lois’s face. “What?” she gasped. Taking a swallow, she tried again. “What did she show you?” The tears had stopped and her hands began to shake again.
“Bonding with Ultra Woman and Superman. And then a brief glimpse of you.”
Lois exhaled and placed a smile on her face, but it was still pale.
“Lois, is everything all right?” he asked, setting her feet back down on the floor.
His wife nodded, yes, but did not speak the word. “Water,” she whispered.
He got her a glass of water and she drank a large gulp.
“Okay,” she said, setting down the glass and drying her cheeks. “How do I look? Like I’ve been crying?”
Lois indeed looked like she had been crying after a terrible fright. He needed to do something to add color back to her cheeks or Bobby was sure to ask. He pressed an intense kiss onto her lips, a Superman kiss, likely to cause dizziness in the faint of heart. Lois wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back with almost matched intensity.
“Are you all…?” Bobby asked, pushing open the kitchen door. “Ooops, excuse me.” He disappeared back into the dining room.
Slowly, Clark pulled out of the kiss, wondering for a second why he had ever stopped kissing this woman. “Wow.” Then he remembered, but the tingling feeling from the kiss had melted some the edge off his anger.
Lois fixed her hair, then straightened her clothes, her cheeks now quite rosy. She smiled at him, saucily, and returned to the table.
Clark took a deep breath, trying to erase the desire to pull her into another such embrace. “Wow,” he murmured again, shaking his head. He straightened his tie and then he, too, returned to the dining room. He sat back down and smiled.
“How’s your thumb?” Bobby asked.
“Thumb?” Clark asked. “Oh, yes, my thumb.” He held it up. “All better now. All it needed was a magic Mommy kiss.” He stared at his wife. She blushed demurely and started to eat her food.
Oh, God. Clark realized. He loved that woman. He needed to forgive her and get her back into his life. He just didn’t know how.
***
After Bobby kindly filled them in about the current exploits of one Mindy Church and they filled him with food and sent him on his way, Clark carried a sleeping Lara up to bed. He caught Lois’s wrist as she passed him in the hall on the way to the bedroom.
“Can I talk to you?” he asked.
“Always.” Lois smiled.
Clark followed her to the threshold of the bedroom, not wanting to enter. Knowing if he did, he would stay and he wasn’t ready to do that yet. She sat down on the bed and started to undress. Clark swallowed. Focus, he told himself. “Lois, can you tell me about Lara’s birth?”
His wife froze half way between being dressed and undressed. “No, Clark. It’s late. We’ll talk about it another time.” She placed a smile on her face and continued changing her clothes. “I’m tired.”
It wasn’t a real smile that she put on her face. Lois didn’t want to tell him about Lara’s birth. He would have to press it another time. Clark stepped into the room and kissed her cheek. “Good night, Lois.”
She sighed. “Good night, Clark.”
Clark closed the door behind him and released a breath. He closed his eyes and listened for his wife’s cries, but didn’t hear any. He walked down the hall to the guest room.
***
Lois held the hands of a little blond girl with ringlets, who couldn’t be more than three. They were spinning around in a circle, dancing in the field out behind the Kent farmhouse. The little girl’s laughter echoed in the air. Suddenly, her feet flew into the air as Lois spun faster and faster and faster.
“Fly! Fly! Fly!” the girl called.
“No, Lara, you’re too young to fly.” Lois chuckled. “Daddy didn’t start flying until he was eighteen.”
Martha leaned against the kitchen door, watching them. “Who wants some strawberry shortcake?” she called.
“Me! Me! Me!” the little girl called, letting go of her Mother’s hands.
“Lara, no!” Lois gasped as her daughter flew through the air.
Clark appeared out of nowhere, catching her in mid-air. “Did someone say strawberry shortcake?”
“Daddy! Take me flying!” begged Lara.
“Not right now, little one, Grandma’s got shortcake.” He smiled at Lois. “Strawberry.”
Lois wrapped her arm around his waist and walked with them to the picnic table out back of the farmhouse. Martha brought out a big bowl of strawberries and a platter of biscuits. Lois ran inside and grabbed the bowl of whipped cream and a pitcher of lemonade. Plates and cups were passed around.
Clark zipped inside and brought out his father. “Come on, Grandpa. Strawberry shortcake. You can tie flies anytime.”
“No whipped cream for you,” said Martha to her husband. “You know what Doc Simpson said about your cholesterol.”
Jonathan rolled his eyes.
“Roll your eyes all you want, Grandpa Kent,” said Martha, scooping berries onto Lara’s plate. “I want you around for a long time.”
“Martha,” Lois said, pouring the lemonade. “Is this lemonade or limeade?”
“Lemonade.”
“It almost seems green in the light.”
“It’s because we are surrounded by Earth’s plenty, my wife,” said Clark, holding up his hands to all the green things growing around them.Lois started tossing and turning in her sleep. “No, Clark. Don’t drink that!” she mumbled.
“It’s just lemonade, Honey. I’ve drunk my mom’s lemonade for years.” Clark tilted back his head and took a long swallow.“Clark, no!” Lois screamed.
“Lara. Don’t drink the lemonade, baboo,” said Lois, taking away her cup. “This doesn’t feel right. Martha, where did you get the water for the lemonade?”
“From the well, like all the water on the farm,” answered Martha, looking at Lois like she had lost her head.“No. No. Not well water,” Lois murmured, tossing and turning.
“See, Honey. Tastes like lemon…” Clark started coughing. “Lemonade…” He coughed some more. He looked at Lois with a trace fear in his eyes.
“The groundwater. It must have been contaminated by the chunk of Kryptonite that you destroyed in the creek.”
“No.” Clark shook his head, still coughing. “Couldn’t be.” He pulled himself off the picnic table bench and stumbled for the kitchen. Lois followed him. He passed through the kitchen and lay down on the sofa. “Lois.” He held up his hand to her. “I can’t breathe.”
“What can I do? Tell me what to do?” she whispered.
His back arched as if in pain. “Kiss me goodbye, Honey.” He cupped her jaw in his palm.“No, Clark! No. Don’t die. You can’t die. I can’t live without you. Clark! Clark!” Lois screamed.
Clark rushed into the room and took hold of her hand, shaking her shoulder. “Lois, Honey. I’m right here.”
“Oh, my God, Clark! No!” Lois cried, waking herself up, hitting him in the chest.
“Lois. It’s all right.” He grabbed her fists. “It was just a dream. I’m right here. I’m fine.” Clark ran his fingers over her hair.
“Clark?” Lois’s eyes focused on him. He was there. Sitting right next to her. Alive. Well. She wrapped her arms around him. “Oh, Clark! You didn’t die. You didn’t die.” She laid her head on his shoulder and cried.
*** End of Part 8 *** Comments
