The Breath of Angels

Nefertiri's Handmaiden

Disclaimer: I don't own Superman. I swear.

Note: Part V in the Evidence series, by popular demand. MUCH LONGER than any of the other EVIDENCE stories.

Clark Kent was not, as most people might expect he should be, a nervous wreck. It's certain that most men about to become fathers – even for the second time – were complete wrecks when the time came.

It was true that, of course, he'd been one step down from a complete psychopath during Lois's pregnancy, going out of the way to make sure she didn't lift anything heavier than a pencil, going into spasms if she did anything more strenuous than type an article. He'd even enlisted Jason in his almost Nazi-like regime of protectiveness. Soon Jason was helping carry the lighter groceries. It had driven her half crazy, but she'd loved him for his thoughtfulness.

But now that the time had come, he seemed completely calm. A serene, but excited, smile graced his handsome features as the hospital staff hustled Lois off to a room, following at a close distance. Perry and Jimmy showed up within the half-hour mark, and Clark handed Jason off to them for safe-keeping while he waited with Lois.

Perry took one look at his relaxed smile and said, "Hot damn, Kent. Aren't you nervous?"

Clark's smiled shifted, his eyes taking on a strange look. "Everything is going to be fine. It's going to be a wonderful day." Then he turned and headed back to Lois's side.

Perry stared at him leave in fascination. "Huh. I never knew he had it in him. Hell, he gets jumpy when I ask him to tell me what time it is."

When it was time for her to go into labor, they'd told him he'd have to wait in the waiting room with everyone else. He raised a single eyebrow, stood up straight, and dropped the projection that was Clark Kent.

"Do you really think you could keep me away from her right now?"

The doctors had been forced to admit that no, they didn't think they could. One of the nurses got him some scrubs.

She squeezed his had so hard that he irreverently thought that it was good he was invulnerable or he'd have a couple cracked fingers.

But he wouldn't have missed it for anything.

He could hear the steady, though rapid, heartbeats of his wife and new daughter, and knew everything would be okay.

Once it started it was actually over quite quickly. And then his little girl was in the arms of the doctor. First he heard only the sound on her heart. Then, abrupt and soft, came the first intake of breath into her tiny body. She wailed loudly for a moment, and then quieted, breathing steadying.

He held out his arms. The nurses looked at him. "We need to clean her up first."

He just raised that eyebrow again. The doctor handed him his daughter. There, in his arms, was the most perfect little thing he'd ever seen.

Her heartbeat resonated in his head. In that moment, it drowned out every other sound in the world. He smiled down at her like an idiot. Leaning down, he showed her to Lois, who was panting and sweating and crying and smiling like the most beautiful thing in the world.

"Look, Lois. Look what we did."

She smiled wider.

"Mr. Kent? We really do need to clean her up now."

He reluctantly handed the little girl to the nurse. The others were preparing to take Lois back to her room. He looked at her, torn between his wife and his daughter.

She smiled tiredly. "Stay with her." Clark smiled back, kissed her damp forehead, and followed the nurses as they carted his daughter off to the infancy ward. When they laid her into her little plastic crib, he took his place at her side.

The nurses smiled knowingly. "Would you like a chair, Mr. Kent?"

He smiled back at them and shook his head. They left him in piece. For a moment he watched his little girl, listening to her heart and her breath.

That sound. It was like what angels must sound like when they breathed.

Before too long he couldn't resist the urge to pick her up again. Gently, he lifted her into his arms and rocked her gently. She stirred in his arms and made a little squeaking sound. Turning, he strolled softly to the window, where the light of the midday sun streamed into the room. The warm rays of the yellow sun beat down on him and his daughter. He levitated half an inch off the ground, too happy to stay earthbound.

The little girl scrunched up her face for a moment in the new light and a whine came from her throat. Then, slowly and blinkingly, she opened her brilliantly blue eyes.

Clark smiled down at her, whispering, "Hello," but she didn't stay focused on him for long. Instead, her little eyes turned to look out the window toward the light.

He started laughing, the deep sound re-attracting her attention. She looked up at him again. He couldn't contain it. "Yeah," he murmured to her, "It does feel good, huh?"

A nurse came in, and he lowered himself to the floor before she could notice. "Mr. Kent? Your wife is asking for her. She says she won't sleep until she sees her."

Clark smiled and nodded. "That sounds like Lois." He headed out the door, baby in his arms. The nurse placed her hand on his shoulder gently.

"We should but her in the bassinette for moving her."

He looked at her as though she was crazy. "Miss, there's no way I'm putting this baby down."

The next moment he was past her and on his way to Lois' room.

All he saw was Lois, for a moment. She looked exhausted and gorgeous, to his eyes. She grinned tiredly and proudly, and he beamed back. Very carefully, he sat on the bed and handed her their daughter.

She started to cry.

"Shhhh," he murmured, brushing her hair back. "Shhh…"

She composed herself after a moment and then hiccupped slightly. "I'm just so happy."

He could only smile back stupidly in his joy.

It was at this moment Perry, Jimmy, and Jason entered. Perry and Jimmy stalled at the door and smiled at the pink bundle in Lois's arms, but Jason started forward with curiosity. Clark picked him up easily and set him on the bed. He climbed around his mother's legs and peered at the little baby in his mother's arms.

He looked curious and thoughtful for a moment, and then his little face broke into a smile.

"She sure is tiny."

Clark and Lois laughed. "Yes, she is. But she'll get bigger, you'll see," Lois agreed.

Clark watched as his son stared at the little girl. He seemed itching to take some action, but wasn't sure how he'd be received. Clark knew what he wanted.

"Jason, would you like to hold her?"

The little boy nodded enthusiastically. Clark nodded seriously. "Alright. Come here and sit in my lap." Jason scrambled over to him. "Okay, Jason. Hold her like this," Clark said as he demonstrated the proper way for Jason. "And be very careful. She's very little and she's very fragile. You have to be gentle." Jason nodded his head solemnly. Slowly, Lois set his sister into his arms.

He looked down at her, smiling widely.

"I think she looks pretty like you, Mommy."

Clark smiled and nodded in agreement. "She sure does."

Clark took his daughter gently back from Jason, who shuffled over to hug his mother. He whispered very softly in her ear, so only she and Clark could hear, "She has a pretty heartbeat."

Fresh tears started rolling down Lois's face and she hugged her son close as Clark smiled at them fondly.

Just then, an elderly nurse with cropped white hair came in carrying a clipboard. Perry and Jimmy shuffled around to let her through the door. The elderly woman smiled warmly. "Just a few last details and paperwork to deal with, Mr. and Mrs. Kent." They nodded in response. "Well," she said, "we'll start with the most important things for the Birth Certificate. Do you have a name?"

Clark and Lois looked at each other, smiled, and answered simultaneously.

"Lara."