Note to Reader: This is a sequel to Christmas Wishes. A few people mentioned that they wouldn't expect Lois to take the news well after learning the truth and I completely agree. But it makes for a happier one-shot not to delve into those issues. Needless to say, the Lois I envision is not happy when she finally grasps the truth. But I don't think she'll be mad forever…maybe only until Valentine's Day when 12 Days of Clois returns?
Old Acquaintances
The world was spinning around Lois Lane. She wasn't sure what had just happened. It was as if Superman had possessed the body of Clark Kent. Her thoughts were muddled, trying to comprehend how this had happened. Was this some sort of weird dream? A hallucination brought on by stress? Or was it the practical joke of an angel with a sense of humor who happened to overhear her wish?
For the briefest of moments his warm lips grazed her own, inviting her – beckoning her – to kiss him back.
But she didn't.
She stood motionless, paralyzed by confusion. Then she said to herself: Lois Lane, don't look a gift a horse in the mouth… Literally. Normally she would have smirked at the joke in her head but she was still too confused. Instead she decided, however it was that Superman had come to her in the form of Clark Kent, this was what she had wished for; this was what she wanted. She heeded her instincts.
He had begun to retreat from her stiff reception, mistaking her confusion for rejection. Lois awoke from her stupor, breaking free from her paralysis. She reached for him, cupping her hands around his face, bringing him to her and she began kissing him more passionately than she ever kissed anyone before.
His lips were sweet and familiar; his breath was unnaturally cool. His strong hands supported her as he ran them slowly down her back while he returned her kisses. Lois was momentarily transported to a time six years ago, back before he left and everything changed.
Warm tears rolled down her cheeks. She couldn't contain them.
He must have felt them because he pulled back. He used his thumb to wipe away a stray tear, "Please don't cry, Lois."
"You don't understand," she tried to hold back, but this seemed to only make her cry harder. Between sobs she managed to mutter, "It's like I've been dead for these last six years. And just now… I felt alive again."
He stared back at her, unable to contain the sheer bliss in his eyes upon hearing her speak those words.
She put her fingers up to his cheek, first to make sure that he was real, and then to feel the contours of his face, trying to comprehend what had happened to Clark Kent.
She stood there mesmerized by the man in front of her. She was still crying but he gently stroked her hair and assured her, "Shhhh. It's going to be OK."
He suddenly stiffened and pulled away. "Someone's coming."
She watched as he bent down to pick up the pair of glasses Lois didn't recall dropping.
"It's Richard," he added. He looked at her one last time with longing, sighed, and put on the frames.
The man in front of her had the appearance of Clark but he was unrecognizable to her. No, after everything that had just happened she didn't see Clark Kent anymore. But she didn't see Superman either. The man standing before her was a stranger.
He put his hand on her shoulder, "We'll talk more later."
The heavy door creaked open and Richard emerged on the rooftop. "I've been looking all over for you."
Lois looked at her fiancé and then back at Clark. Couldn't he see what she saw? Didn't he see this stranger, this weird hybrid of Clark Kent and Superman?
Richard stared at her, waiting for her to say something; Lois felt as if her mouth was locked shut.
It was Clark who broke the silence in an awkward, high pitched voice that seemed utterly foreign to her. "We were just talking."
Even though she wasn't quite sure she recognized him, the guilt in his voice was palpable. Richard's eyes darted suspiciously from Clark to Lois.
"Was she smoking again?" Richard asked Clark.
"No…no," he replied in a way that only seemed to confirm Richard's suspicions.
"Come on, Lois. We should get home to Jason." He turned to Clark and tried to lighten the situation, "The sitter is charging us an arm and a leg for working Christmas Eve."
Richard put his arms around Lois who was still frozen in place. He escorted her toward the doorway but stopped abruptly. Her heart pounded in her chest. He knows, she thought. He must have figured it out.
"Clark…" Richard called out. Her heart beat faster. "Lois still has your jacket."
She was dizzy and for an instant she thought she would faint. But instead, she slipped her arms out of Clark's suit coat and handed it back to him.
………..
Richard and Lois drove home without talking. Six blocks from The Daily Planet Lois' thoughts began to clear. Things fell into place and she truly started to understand what had been revealed to her: Superman was Clark Kent.
She was sick to her stomach. The magnitude of it all had finally sunk in.
"Stop the car!" she demanded.
Richard just looked at her. She put her hand on the wheel and shouted again, "Stop the car!"
He slammed on the brakes and the car came to an abrupt stop. She opened the door, got out, and threw up on the corner of Broadway and West 53rd street.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and got back in the car.
"You OK?" Richard asked.
"Yeah," she lied.
They drove the rest of the way home in silence.
……….
Lois finished wrapping the presents and placed them under the tree. She took a bite of the cookies left out for Santa, as she had done the five Christmases before. She took off her dress and hung it back in the closet and then changed into her nightgown. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. She went through all the perfunctory motions of her bedtime routine.
Richard was already in bed, looking at The New Yorker. She knew him well enough to know that he wasn't really reading. This was just a way for him to avoid eye contact – and conversation.
She slipped herself under the covers. He put the magazine down on the nightstand; he reached for the light but hesitated.
"You didn't come after me."
"What?" she asked, clueless about what he was referring to. Couldn't he see that she had way bigger things that she was trying not to think about?
"When Cat said those things, I walked away. You didn't come after me."
She had no response.
Richard turned out the light.
…………
Jason woke up only a few hours after they had gone to bed. It didn't matter. Lois hadn't slept. She watched as he excitedly opened his presents.
He tore open the wrapping paper to reveal a bright red fire truck. He ran over to Lois and hugged her, "Thanks, Mom!"
"Anything for you, kiddo." For an instant as she hugged him back she forgot her worries. And then she realized this was his son too. Clark Kent was his father. For an instant, she felt nauseous again.
Lucy and her husband came over mid-morning, along with their three kids to celebrate the holiday. Perry and his wife Alice joined them as well. Lois and Richard were able to keep up their façade as a happy couple. They had gotten used to performing by now.
She was able to keep it together through the whole day of Christmas celebrations. It was nine o'clock at night and their guests had all gone home. Richard was tucking Jason into bed while Lois was doing dishes in the kitchen, trying not to think about what had happened the night before, trying not to relive the feeling of his lips kissing hers, trying not to remember the utter confusion and betrayal she felt.
She couldn't take it any longer. She needed to talk to him. Lois grabbed her cell phone out of her purse and scrolled down the list of names. He wasn't there. It jumped from "Christopher M" to "Cleo". She checked under K. He wasn't there either. She went back to see if she had filed him under CK. She hadn't. God, how many times had she wanted to call up Superman… and now that this was a legitimate possibility, she didn't have Clark's number. She had the numbers of people she hadn't spoken to in years. Why didn't she have his number, her colleague whose desk was ten feet away from her own and who also, she now realized, happened to be the father of her child.
"Ahhh!" she groaned in frustration. Jimmy would have it, she decided, as she dialed his cell phone.
"Hey, Jimmy, it's Lois."
"Hi, Lois. Merry Christmas."
"Yeah," she grumbled in response. "Look, do you have Clark's cell phone number? I can't seem to find it."
"Is everything OK?"
"Yeah, everything is fine."
"Did something happen?"
She was trying not to raise her voice in frustration, "Nothing happened, I just need to talk to him."
"Oh," Jimmy answered on the other end of the line.
"It's something about work," She decided to add, realizing how suspicious she must sound. She grabbed for a pencil and paper from one of her kitchen drawers.
"He doesn't have a cell phone. I thought you knew that."
"What do you mean he doesn't have a cell phone? Who doesn't have a cell phone in this day and age?"
"I dunno. I guess he's old fashioned… or cheap. I have his home phone number though."
"He's in Kansas, or at least that's where he told me he'd be." God, he could be anywhere around the world right now.
"I've got that number, too. I was trying to get as many numbers in my cell phone as possible. I'm up to a hundred and thirty-three right now. Pretty impressive, huh?" Jimmy boasted. "It's ten more than Gil has right now…although he might have added some since I asked him."
"Great." Lois tapped the pencil impatiently. "Can I get the number?"
"Yeah, hold on. It's under Clark Kansas…"
Lois wrote down the numbers as Jimmy dutifully read them off. "Thanks, Jimmy."
"No problem. Tell him…" Before Jimmy could finish his sentence, Lois had hung up. She could apologize to Jimmy later. She dialed the number to Clark's home in Kansas.
"Hello," an old woman answered. It was his mother – no, some poor woman he had swindled into pretending to be his mother. She must be in on his ruse. What lengths he would go to in order to fool the world!
"I need to speak with Clark. Now."
The woman paused, most likely taken aback by Lois' brazenness. But she didn't care.
"One moment. Whom should I say is calling?"
The mother of his child, she thought, but decided not to answer that way. "It's Lois."
"Oh," she heard the woman on the other end reply. "One moment."
In the background, Lois could hear the woman's voice, "Clark, it's…" and then she heard him interrupt, "I know." He picked up the phone.
"Hi, Lois."
"Merry Christmas," she replied facetiously. "I need to talk to you. In person. How soon can you be back in Metropolis?"
"In less than a minute." She knew this to be true, but it surprised her nonetheless. "Meet me at my apartment. It's safe there. I'll be home by the time you get there."
Damn it. She didn't know where he lived. "What's the address?" She asked while trying to make sure she sounded sufficiently mad.
"Thirty-eight thirty-eight Shuster Avenue. Apartment number 12."
Damn it, she cursed again inwardly. She didn't know where that was. She didn't have the audacity to ask for directions; she was trying to keep the upper hand. I'm going to have to Mapquest his apartment. As if this whole situation couldn't get any more pathetic.
"Fine!" She slammed her cell phone shut.
To be continued…