CHAPTER 3

Previously:

"I just x-rayed Dad before he left and...well..."

"Well...what?" Lois asks him.

"He wasn't wearing his Superman costume under his clothes."

The night before

Oliver was about to take a sip of his beer when he sees Clark enter the club. "Hey, boy scout, where's the misses?" winking at him.

"She's at home sleeping," he replies; walking over to the bar and sitting down next to Oliver. "I'll have a beer," he tells the bartender.

"So why are you here and not snuggling with her?"

"I didn't feel like snuggling," taking the beer and gulping it down.

Oliver's eyes widen with surprise as Clark finishes off the beer, then orders another one and finishes that one off too. "What's wrong?" he asks as Clark swipes Oliver's beer and polishes it off too.

"Nothing," he replies; getting up from the chair. "I feel like dancing," walking a little unsteady towards the dance floor.

Boy scout wants to dance? Now I know that something's wrong. And since when does alcohol affects him? He grabs Clark's arm; forcing him to turn around. "I never thought I'd ever have to ask you this question but..." pausing a moment. "Are you drunk?"

Clark laughs at him. "Me? Drunk? That's absurd," scoffing at the notion. "Alcohol doesn't affect me at all," throwing Oliver's arm off.

"I think you are," grabbing his arm again. "Did you come in contact with red or blue kryptonite?" lowering his voice.

"Not that I know of," throwing Oliver's arm off again. "Don't you think I've earned the right to blow off a little steam once in a while?"

"Of course I do," Oliver replies.

"Then why don't you leave me the hell alone and let me do just that - okay?" He suddenly slaps his hand against his mouth. "I think I'm going to be sick," dashing away.

I better make sure he's okay, quickly making his way to the men's room and finding Clark on his knees hunched over the toilet bowl. "Feel better?" he asks.

"No," he says in a weak voice as he starts to stand up.

He loses his balance, but Oliver quickly wraps his arm around Clark's waist to steady him. He helps him over to a chair in the corner. "So what's going on with you?" he asks as he walks over to the sink and wets a paper towel, then returning to Clark.

"Lois is pregnant," he murmurs under his breath.

Oliver stares at him in shock. He says, "What did you just say?" just as Clark passes out and falls to the floor.

Oliver looks down at an unconscious Clark, then whips out his cell phone and makes a call to his chauffeur. A few minutes later, Oliver and an unconscious Clark are on their way to Oliver's penthouse. Oliver sends his chauffeur home and brings Clark into the spare bedroom; depositing Clark onto the bed.

He goes into the living room and makes a call; frowning when he gets the voice mail. "Hey, Legs, it's Oliver. I just wanted to let you know that Clark is sleeping off a bout of drinking. Now I don't understand how on earth he got drunk. Maybe you have some idea? Anyway, I'll bring him home in the morning. I didn't want you to worry about him. I'll come by the Planet to make sure he's okay. Bye," hanging up the phone.

"Ollie?"

He turns around to see his wife stepping out of the elevator. "There you are," slipping his phone into his pocket and giving his wife a hug and a kiss. "I missed you," he tells her after their lips pull apart.

"I missed you too," smiling up at him. "So anything interesting happen while I was in Brazil?" sitting down on the couch and removing her shoes.

"This is Metropolis," he replies with a smirk as he sits down next to her. "There's always something interesting happening."

"But?" she queries as she unbuttons her blazer.

"How did you know there was a 'but'?" looking curiously at him.

She just rolls her eyes and punches him on the shoulder. "How long have we been married, Ollie?"

He rubs his shoulder. "That actually hurt," a frown on his face. "Are you taking lessons from Lois?"

"So are you going to tell me what happened?" she asks him.

"Okay," he replies. "Clark got drunk tonight and he's sleeping it off in our spare bedroom."

Her eyes widen with disbelief. "Since when can Clark get drunk?"

"I have no idea," shrugging his shoulders. "I'll ask him in the morning when he wakes up."

"Well you better make sure you have some juice and a couple of aspirin for the headache he's bound to have," getting up from the couch and looking down at him.

"I didn't tell you everything," he continues on. "Lois is pregnant."

She sits back down with a thud. "I don't believe it," staring at her husband. "Wasn't today the twins high school graduation?"

"That's right," his arm laying on top of the couch behind her. "My guess is that they found out about the blessed event tonight because I talked to him just before the ceremony and he was fine."

"I can't even imagine having another child at our age," she remarks.

"I know," a thoughtful look on his face. "I'm happy with the two children we have," a smile on his face.

"Me too," smiling back at him, then standing back up. "I think I'm ready for bed," extending her hand to him. "Care to join me?" she says teasingly.

"Do you even have to ask?" a smirk on his face as he takes her hand and pulls her into their bedroom.

The next morning (continued)

Lois stares at her son in shock. "You're absolutely sure he wasn't wearing his costume?"

"I'm absolutely positive," shaking his head.

"This is bad," says Debra. "This is so bad."

"You better believe it," Lois replies. "He's definitely having a mid-life crisis." She looks at her two children. "I better get ready for work. Can you take care of the chores that your father neglected to do this morning?"

"No problem," they both say at the same time.

"Thanks," giving them a small smile as she walks up the stairs. She enters the bedroom and walks over to the closet to pull out the outfit she was going to wear that day. As she lays it out on the bed, she notices the wedding portrait of her and Clark on the bureau. She picks it up and flicks his image with her finger. You better snap out of it soon if you know what's good for you.

An hour later...

Lois steps off the elevator and walks towards the office that she shares with Clark; hoping that he'll be at his desk working. She opens the door and is disappointed to see an empty office. He better be working on a story, frowning to herself as she sits down at her desk and logs into her computer.

"Hey, Legs."

She looks up to see Oliver standing in the doorway. "Hi," leaning back in her chair. "What brings you here?"

He glances over at Clark's desk. "I see your husband is conspicuously absent," indicating the empty chair.

She eyes him curiously. "You don't sound surprised that he's not here," getting up and walking over to him with her hands on her hips. "Do you know something that you're not telling me?" her eyes narrowing.

"Can I sit down first?" looking down at her.

"Alright," walking back to her chair. "Sit," pointing to Clark's chair.

He rolls his eyes as he sits down. "The reason I came here today was because I'm a little concerned about him," he tells her. "I saw him last night and he was not acting like his usual self."

"Where did you see him?" a worried look on her face.

He hesitates before speaking again. "Do you really want to know?"

"I'm his wife of over twenty years. Of course I want to know."

"Alright," telling her what happened.

She doesn't say a word until he's finished. "I didn't check the voice mail," she says after he's finished. "So did you talk to him this morning at all?"

"No," shaking his head. "I went in to check on him and he was gone. I had no idea what time he left or where he went."

"I can tell you what he did this morning. I received a call from Jimmy telling me there were reports of a naked flying man."

"I heard those reports," Oliver replies. "That's why I came directly here. I called the farm first and Jason answered the phone. He told me that he and Debra decided to postpone their trip indefinitely."

"I told them to go and have a good time," picking up the phone and beginning to dial.

He takes the phone from her and sets it back down. "That's what I told him. I got them to change their minds after I reassured them that we would contact them if we needed them."

"Good," releasing the breath she had been holding.

"So...you're pregnant, huh?"

"Yeah," nodding yes. "It was a total shock to me."

"I take it from the way Clark was behaving last night that it was a shock to him too."

"It was," a wistful look on her face. "First Clark fainted, then he got rid of his father's old recliner and bought a new one, then he flew around naked, then he put on leather pants and a jacket and just took off. That's how he reacted."

Oliver reaches over to take Lois' hand in his. "If there's anything I could do..."

"I appreciate it, Ollie," resting her other hand on his.

Oliver lets go of her hand. "I better go," standing up and looking down at Lois. "I have a board meeting this morning and it wouldn't look right if the CEO is not there," winking at her as he walks towards the door.

"Ollie?"

He stops in the doorway and looks back at her. "Yes, Lois?"

She gets up from her chair and walks over to him. "Thanks," giving him a hug.

"You're welcome," hugging her back.

"What the hell is going on here?"

They both look up to see Clark standing there...

TO BE CONTINUED...