"You're going to go to community college, major in agriculture, probably minor in law enforcement. And then you and Lana are going to have a nice little church wedding. It's only a matter of time before you join the bowling league, take over the family farm, and then, well, you and Lana can bring little Clark Jr. into the world."
Lois started awake. It was strange that those words said such a long time ago should come to mind now all these years later. She shivered and wrapped herself in one of the blankets on the bed. It was a crisp morning, the sun barely up, and Clark had left the window open.
She smiled and shook her head as she went over to shut it. Some wives argued with their husbands over leaving the toilet seat up. She had to deal with him leaving the window up.
He didn't arrive before she left for work. He didn't turn up at work either, and she had to make a flimsy excuse to Perry. By the time she got home, she was worried. She hadn't seen anything news-wise that warranted him being gone so long.
Thinking perhaps it was something intergalactic, she called The Watchtower. Green Lantern sat at the phone currently. "Have you heard from my husband?"
"Not today. Is something wrong?" With a touch of the alarm, he could alert the whole Justice League. It was an extremely comforting thought.
"Not yet, but I'll let you know. You will call me if you hear anything?"
"Of course."
Forcing herself to take a deep breath, she called Martha next. She didn't want to alarm her unnecessarily but maybe she had heard something. "Hi, Mrs. Kent?"
"Yes?" A pause because she didn't recognize her right away.
"This is Lois."
"Lois, I haven't heard from you in such a long time," she said, warmth entering her voice immediately. "How are you?"
If you counted Sunday as a long time though she loved the woman too dearly to insinuate such. Who knew though? Living alone on the farm, maybe two days felt like an eternity. She knew she would feel that way if she were stuck on a farm. "Have you heard from Clark?"
"Of course. He's still right here, but I think-"
Lois hung up. She knew it was rude, and she would apologize to Mrs. Kent later, but she was so angry with Clark. How dare he take off for an entire day and not tell her?
They hadn't been married long, but she was pretty sure a husband was supposed to tell his wife where he went if he was going to be gone for so long, especially when said husband put his life on the line on a nearly daily basis. Maybe she'd been too lax on that point because she generally didn't require explanations when emergencies arose, but there was a difference between being gone a few minutes or even hours versus an entire day.
She didn't know if he was annoyed with her and he'd gone to seek advice from his mother, though she couldn't remember any serious fights in recent memory, but whatever the case, he was going to get it when she got there.
That's why she wasn't watching her speed when she got into Smallville. She was too busy fuming at Clark for pulling the stunt that he had. She groaned when she saw the flashing red and blue lights.
She pulled over to the side. There was corn as far as the eye could see. What did she have a chance of hitting? Never mind all the things she had hit while in Smallville from a naked man to a dog.
She wondered if the cop who pulled her over was married. If so, he or she was bound to let her off with just a warning when she explained her situation.
She watched as the officer got out of the police car. His hat shadowed his face, and Smallville wasn't exactly known for their street lighting. She could see he was nicely built even in the jacket he wore and the little light. There was something oddly familiar in the way he walked up.
Still, she got the shock of her life when she rolled down her window and got a good look at the sheriff's face. "Clark?"