Chapter 1

It's amazing the changes in life a week can bring. 7 days. In that span of time, life could go from comfortable and established, to a jumble of mixed emotions and awkward living.

That was what Lois Lane was thinking as she walked into the Daily Planet. It was her first morning back since the entire Lex Luthor incident five days before; Perry White had given her the days off to recollect herself again. But the truth of the matter was, things would never go back to the way it had been for the past five years. Lois sighed as she walked into her cubicle and slumped into the chair. There were tons of files lying on her desk; apparently even though she was gone from work, there were still stories that only Lois could cover.

Ignoring the mess on her desk for the moment, Lois looked over to her Fiancée's desk, where her son, Jason, was sitting on a chair furiously drawing with the crayons.

Lois smiled. There was no doubt that her son was busy drawing pictures of Superman again. The boy had taken quite an interest to the man of steel, and she couldn't blame him, after all, how could the boy not take a liking to his father, even though Jason didn't know that Superman was his real father.

That thought caused a flurry of different emotions in Lois. She had been thinking about it all weekend. Superman was Jason's father. Of course, she'd known that before, but had tried to deny the thought to herself.

When she first found out she was pregnant, it had been about a month into her pregnancy, and the news had hit her like a ton of bricks. She had no recollection of sleeping with anyone during the past month, and the only person she could remember being even romantic with had been Superman. But that thought had been ridiculous to her then. She had never done more than kiss the superhero, never had the time. And he was gone anyway, had disappeared. She just thought it off as Immaculate Conception – after all, that was known to happen, right? It was no more than a week after that that she had met Richard. Richard White was a good man. He had come to work for his uncle, the editor, and had met Lois the first day on the job. He'd asked her out to dinner on the spot, and Lois had agreed, eager to have something to do to keep her mind off the heartache she was feeling. They'd had a good time, and had soon started a relationship. Lois told him about the pregnancy right away, not wanting to make him seem as if she was leading him on.

But surprisingly, he didn't care. He'd helped her through the pregnancy and was there when Jason was born, immediately stepping into the father position though he wasn't the biological one. They'd told everyone that they'd been dating secretly, that the baby was Richard's, and that the baby had been born early. Though Lois was grateful for Richard, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. As her pregnancy had progressed, little parts of Lois's memories of that night in the fortress of solitude had come back. But not all of it. Lois only remembered the night of passion, not much more. She had known then that Superman was definitely her child's father, but had decided to ignore that information. After all, Richard was stepping in to become Jason's father in every way that mattered. Lois had then put Superman in the back of her mind, and had thought of him as little as she could. She and Jason had moved in with Richard, and two years later, Lois had accepted his proposal. As the years went by, thoughts of Superman came less and less frequently.

Then all hell broke loose. Just as quickly as he had left her life, Superman had entered it again, swooping in to save the failing plane that day last week. She'd tried to ignore the feelings she had suddenly acquired; feelings she had assumed long gone. Going on that little flight on the top of the building hadn't helped the situation either. Lois closed her eyes as she remembered how close she had come to kissing him that night. He had done the right thing to stop her; after all, he stood for all that was right, didn't he? It didn't help when Richard questioned her later on about her feelings toward Superman. What could she tell him? She couldn't tell him about the near-kiss, nor the knowledge of Superman being Jason's father, so she lied – well, kind of.

And after that it had just gotten worse. She had gotten Jason and herself stuck on Lex Luthor's boat, and Lex had held up a stick of Kryptonite too close to her son for her comfort. Who is that child's father? She'd said Richard; far too scared that Lex would pick up on anything. It rocked her to the core when she had seen Jason throw the piano across the room- there was no doubting it that he was superman's son once that had happened. She hadn't had much time to think about her son's newfound powers though, with everything that had happened afterward. The near drowning, the flight to get superman back, the coma.

Lois shivered. It still rocked her to the core when the image of Superman lying on the hospital bed came to mind. He looked so fragile, so vulnerable. She had known then that she had to tell him the truth, and had whispered in his ear about his son when she knew Jason couldn't hear. Superman and her could tell Jason together once the time came. They still had to talk about all that though.

Clark Kent was sitting at his desk, staring at the computer screen. He was supposed to be writing an article on the earthquake that had struck the city, but couldn't focus. His mind was off, wondering about the new revelation he'd been told. He had a son. A son. All this time, thinking he was alone, but he wasn't. He'd gone off, looking for Krypton – for the possibility of another kryptonian. But another one like him had been there all along. He still couldn't believe it.

His attention wavered when he watched Lois walk into the office. She looked tired. He watched her sit down in her chair and close her eyes. What he wouldn't do to be able to go over there and comfort her now. He cringed. He wanted to do that. But he had no right. She wasn't his, hadn't been for years. He sighed, blinking back unshed tears.

"Hi, Mr. Clark!" A small voice brought him back to reality. He looked down to see his son, his son, staring back at him. A sincere smile crossed his face.

"Hey Jason. How are you?" He noticed then that Jason had gotten his blue eyes, and when Jason smiled, he realized that his smile remind him of his own.

"I'm good. Can I sit over here and color?"

Clark laughed. "Of course." He pulled a chair from another worker's desk, something he'd get yelled at for later, and motioned for Jason to sit down. Jason sat down, and silently got to work coloring. Clark turned back to his computer screen, and began writing. A comfortable silence bestowed father and son. Then, Jason squealed with delight.

"Ta-da!" he said, holding up a sheet of paper and smiling proudly. Clark turned to Jason, and grinned hugely at the drawing. It was him, well, the Superman him, on top of a cloud.

"It's a great drawing, Jason. I'm sure your mom will love it." Jason shook his head.

"This is for you." Jason handed it to Clark, who couldn't help but feel joy and hope. Maybe there was a chance for him to be involved in his son's life.

"You like Superman, don't you?" Jason looked over at Clark and tilted his head, with a look on his face that said, "Well, duh". Clark chuckled. It was a look that Clark had seen on Lois's face a million times. The thought of Lois made Clark take a quick glance over at her desk. Lois was still sitting back with her eyes closed. Clark started to worry again, but he quickly looked away as right then Lois opened her eyes. His attention went back to Jason, who had started to draw another picture of Superman. Clark was content to just sit there and watch Jason.

"Jason! What are you doing here?" Both father and son immediately looked up to see Lois staring at them, hands on her hips. Jason smiled sheepishly.

"I was visiting Mr. Clark."

Lois stared at him. "What did I tell you about bothering people when they are working?" She then turned to Clark. "I'm so sorry about him coming here." Clark waved her apology away, and then smiled.

"He's been great. He's really a great kid, Lois." He noticed the look of pride that rushed across Lois's face.

"Thanks, Clark."

Jason tugged on his mom's skirt. "Mommy? Can I stay with Mr. Clark for a while?" Lois looked down at her son, then at Clark. Both father and son wore identical puppy dog pleading looks. Lois was startled a moment by how alike they looked, then shrugged it off and laughed.

"Maybe later, Jason. You better go back to your dad's office now." Lois didn't notice the pained look that when across Clark's face. He gulped. He didn't think he'd ever get used to Richard being called Jason's father.

A defeated look appeared on Jason's face. "Fine." He got up from the chair, and then turned to give Clark a hug. Clark closed his eyes and reveled in the feeling of having his son so near.

"Bye Mr. Clark!" Jason then ran to Richard's office, and Lois smiled at Clark before following her son. Clark sighed and closed his eyes, his heart clenching. When he opened his eyes, he used his x-ray vision to look through the wall at what Lois, Richard, and Jason were doing. They were sitting around a desk, Jason in Richard's lap. Clark watched for a moment before turning back to the computer screen.

He longed to be in Richard's place. Yet it was Richard who had been there for them, and he knew that. Clark knew that both as Superman and himself he had a lot to do before he could even think of letting himself be a starring role in Lois and Jason's life. He put his head against the computer screen.

Things would turn out alright.

They had to.