So this ended up longer than I realized…..probably considered longer than a short story but it's not going to be a real long story either. Enjoy!
Surprise News - 1
Lois paces around the family room. Clark has been gone all night and hasn't left word. She keeps calling her news sources to see if anyone has seen Superman in the past 12 hours.
So far, no one has.
"Are you sure? He's not helping with a landslide or cave-in somewhere?" she asks the news agency on the end of the line.
"No ma'am. Usually someone in the US calls us to report that they saw him but nothing since 5 days ago."
She nods. The fire on the 98th floor in the building in New York.
"Okay, thank you."
She hangs up and touches her stomach.
Just then her almost 4 year-old daughter enters the family room.
"Mommy," Ella whines.
She walks into the family room with her hair pointing every which way and she has makeup all over her face.
Lois bites her lower lip to keep from laughing.
"Something happen?" Lois asks, setting the phone down.
Ella nods and lowers her head. "I'm pwaying dress up. I can't get the comb out of my hair."
Just as Lois starts to walk towards her daughter, the phone rings.
"Hold on, baby. This might be important," Lois says, grabbing the phone. "Hello."
"Hey, I just got your 20 messages," Chloe says on the other end of the line. "Any word, yet?"
"No…..Chlo, please tell me you're at Watchtower and you're looking him up right now," Lois says, trying not to panic.
"Lois, you need to stay calm. You getting upset won't be good for Ella. I'm sure he's just in the middle of a crises and can't get to a phone."
"But I've called all my contacts around the world and no one has seen him. Not for days."
"Days? I thought you said he left last night!"
"Right, he did….but as far as Superman goes, they hadn't seen him in a few days. But he left the house last night around 8pm."
"You sure it was 8?" Chloe asks. She starts typing away on her keyboard.
"Yeah. I'm positive. It was 8 on the nose." She smiles to herself because only she knows why she remembers that it was exactly 8.
"Okay. I'm going to check my database and also get the other JL members to check in and see if they've heard anything."
"I've already gotten in touch with Dinah, she hasn't heard from him," Lois adds quickly.
"Okay."
Lois sits down on the couch and Ella walks over to her, sensing that her mommy is upset.
"Lois…..we'll find him. He's fine, I know he is."
"I know. I'd feel it if something really bad had happened to him. But I still want to find him for peace of mind."
"I know. I'll call you back."
"Thanks, Chloe. I love you."
"I love you, too."
They hang up and Lois absentmindedly runs her hand down Ella's hair.
"Ow," she says when she runs it right into the comb. "You really do have a comb stuck in your hair."
She looks her daughter over again and shakes her head. "What are we going to do with you?"
"Get the comb out?" Ella questions, not getting Lois' teasing tone.
"Good idea. Now, this might hurt a little," she says, starting to pull the hair away from the comb. Then she realizes who she's talking to. "Or maybe not….. How did you get your hair this tangled?" Lois asks shaking her head.
Ella shrugs.
"Daddy at work?" Ella asks.
Lois pauses before answering. "Yes."
"Will he be back in time to watch the Smuwfs wiff me?" she asks.
"I don't know, honey. He has an important assignment he's working on."
"Okay," Ella says sadly.
It breaks Lois' heart.
This is going to be the hard part about being married to and having children by Superman. She'll have to make up excuses for him many times in their lives. At least until they're old enough to understand. But even then…..will they really understand?
Lois works on Ella's hair a little while longer. It actually keeps her mind off of worrying about Clark.
"There…..the comb is out, but we really need to wash and condition your hair in order to get those tangles out. I'll wash it in the kitchen sink," Lois says, standing up and taking Ella's hand.
She grabs the step stool and places it in front of the sink.
"I'm going to get your shampoo and conditioner, I'll be right back."
Lois grabs the phone and calls Chloe on her way upstairs to the bathroom.
"Any word?" Lois asks.
"Not yet," Chloe shakes her head. "The last he was seen was in Italy. A riot broke out and he was stopping that but that was 10 hours ago. No one is sure where he went after that…..so far."
Lois sits down on the lid of the toilet seat once she reaches the bathroom.
"Do you have any way of finding where the largest deposits of green Kryptonite are? We need to start looking there…."
"Lois…."
"I'm serious. I know it can't all be in Smallville. Or even if it is…."
"I can try," Chloe says, just trying to appease her cousin. "Flash is out super speeding around trying to find him. Aquaman is swimming around Europe to see if he can get any word. We have people out there looking for him."
"I know," Lois says, closing her eyes.
"Mommy!" Ella yells from downstairs.
"I have to go….mommy duties. Call me…."
"You know I will. Bye."
Lois hangs up and grabs the hair products she needs.
Lois helps Ella spend the rest of the day playing dress up. She does her makeup and redoes her hair, without getting the comb caught.
"Would you like tea, mommy?" Ella asks.
They're sitting at Ella's small table set.
"Yes, please," Lois says before checking the time again.
She hasn't heard from Chloe in an hour.
"Mommy, you're making the table shake," Ella says, noticing Lois' tapping leg.
"Oh, sorry."
Lois stops. She's trying really hard to pay attention to her daughter and not worry about her husband.
The phone rings and Lois jumps up, bumping the table as she does. Ella grabs the small china set before it falls and glares at Lois.
Lois runs to her bedroom. "Hello," she says, trying to catch her breath.
"Lois…."
"Ollie? Ollie…where is he?"
"Watchtower just got word….."
Lois sits down on the bed and swallows. Her heart starts beating twice as fast and her hands start to shake.
"What is it?" she almost whispers. Tears start streaming down her face. She prepares herself for the worst.
"He's been hurt pretty badly. J'onn Jones has taken him to The Fortress…..Jor-El will know what to do."
"How bad, Ollie? What happened?"
"We don't know exactly how it happened but he fell off of a cliff made of green K. On his way down he scraped himself on the rocks pretty bad."
Lois covers her mouth with her hand and the tears fall easily down her face.
"He also landed on the Kryptonite rocks at the bottom of the ravine and we're not sure how long he was there. Bart found him…."
"Where was this?"
"Outside of Smallville."
"I need to get to him…..can you help me? Can Chloe help me?" she asks, standing up. She starts looking around the room for something…what it is, she's not sure.
"J'onn is coming there as we speak. He'll take you. Dress warmly…."
"Ella," Lois says.
"Chloe is on her way right now. We'll take care of Ella."
Lois closes her eyes. "Thank you."
The doorbell rings and Lois hangs up on Ollie.
She runs downstairs as fast as she can. When she opens the door and lets Chloe in, the two embrace.
"How are you holding up?" Chloe asks.
"I don't know. I feel numb. How bad is he?"
Chloe shakes her head. "I don't know. Only Bart and J'onn have seen him. J'onn's on his way, did Oliver tell you?"
Lois nods.
"Lois…it was your suggestion about finding the large deposits of Kryptonite that led us to him."
"I'm glad I thought of it….."
They both notice something moving in the backyard. It's J'onn.
"Aunt Chloe!" Ella says excitedly when she sees her aunt from the top of the stairs.
"Hey kiddo….you want to come to my house and play with Henry for a little bit?"
Ella looks at her mom and then back at Chloe.
"Mommy and I were having a tea pawty."
"It's okay baby," Lois says, trying not to sound rushed. "I just got called in for work so you go stay with Aunt Chloe and Uncle Ollie for a little bit today…."
"Can I bring my dress up clothes?" she asks, looking down at the oversize clothes she has on.
Lois looks at Chloe with urgency in her eyes.
"I'll take care of this. You go get your coat and meet J'onn out back."
Lois runs up the stairs. "You be good for Aunt Chloe….I love you very much." She leans down and hugs and kisses Ella.
"Love you too, mommy," she says as she watches Lois run into her bedroom.
Chloe reaches the top of the stairs.
"Come on….I'll help you get changed into your normal clothes and you can bring a couple of these outfits with you," Chloe says, taking Ella's hand and leading her back to her bedroom.
Within a couple of minutes, Lois is dressed warmly and meets J'onn outside.
"How is he?" she asks before anything else.
J'onn shakes his head. "I have never seen him like this. Jor-El was trying to heal him when I left. He had a lot of the Kryptonite in his bloodstream."
Lois bites her lip and tries not to cry. She nods.
"He was calling for you so I told him I would bring you to him."
"Thank you," she says.
J'onn nods once and puts his arms around her waist.
"Hold on tight, Mrs. Kent….."
Lois does as he says.