MamaXunicorn: I didn't mean to offend you or your work when I wrote that. A lot of people do send Richard off to London, most commonly, as a way to get him out of Clark's way. In fact, someone had just told me I should do that right before I had answered your last review, which was why I added that. Anyhow, thanks for the idea regarding how to reveal to Lois who Clark really is...I'll keep it in mind when the time comes.

ClarkR: Your review cracked me up! You certainly got the comedy in it that you wanted. And your idea about Jason and Clark was a really good one. And thanks for the info regarding the virus...any small step I can take to keep my stone-age piece of junk machine with me is always welcome.

D-scarlet: That's a good idea, too, and one I had actually been thinking of. I'm just not sure when he should go see her. Let me think about this for awhile...

CindyB: Ooh, the crystal! I completely forgot about it! Thanks so much for the idea. And I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much.

Vgerland: Thanks for the suggestion. And I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much.

Starlightxxv: I'm glad I achieved that "uniqueness" I was hoping to find, then.

ReadingRed: Don't worry about not having any ideas for me. The others have already given me a few, so I've got plots to last me the next few chapters, at least. Maybe by then my own creative juices will be flowing again and I will be able to come up with my own plots.

A/N: Thank you so much, everyone, for all the great ideas! I think I'm set for at least the next few chapters, so I appreciate it a lot.

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A few days later, Clark flew Jason to a place that had been a very important part of his upbringing: his parents' farm. Martha heard the tell-tale sonic boom that let her know her son had come for a visit and ran excitedly to the back door to greet him. The sight that greeted her, however, took her by even more surprise.

She glanced from Clark, who had switched back to civilian clothes, to Lois Lane's little boy - the one she had seen leaving the hospital with Lois when Clark had been so ill. Lois must know who Clark is, she thought to herself. That's the only explanation that makes any sense.

"Clark?" she finally asked, coming up to her son and glancing pointedly down at Jason.

"Hi, Ma," he grinned, abashed, kissing her on the cheek. "This is Jason." He held out his arms to pick up the boy, who complied willingly. "We have a lot to talk about, and I have a lot to tell you, but not out here, OK?"

She tilted her head, trying to figure out what he was about, but nodded and turned her attention to her young guest. "Jason, do you like hot chocolate?" she asked.

"Is it made with soy milk?" the four-year old replied. "I can't have the reg'lar kind."

"Jason has a long list of allergies, Ma," Clark explained, carrying Jason up the back stairs and holding the door open for his mother. "Don't worry, though; I'll go get the soy milk."

"Don't be silly, Clark!" she admonished, pulling out a kitchen chair for Clark to set the youngster on. "I have some soy right here."

"You do?" he regarded her suspiciously as she pulled the tetra-pak box out of the refrigerator. "Why?"

"Ben's granddaughter came to visit him last week when we went to see you," she began, measuring the cocoa, sugar, vanilla, and a little water into a small saucepan. "She's still here visiting him, and she's lactose intolerant."

"And you have the soy alternative around for when Ben brings her by on his evening visits," Clark supplied.

Martha nodded, checking the temperature of the chocolate sauce and adding a measured amount of the soy to it. She poured the finished drink into a mug, added a few homemade marshmallows and placed it in front of Jason, reminding him of the high temperature. For herself and Clark, she poured some tea.

"Now, suppose you tell me what's going on?" she requested, sitting down next to her son and nodding towards Jason. "Why do you have Lois Lane's son with you, and why do they know your secret?"

"My mommy doesn't know yet," Jason supplied, happily licking the marshmallows off the top of his drink. Martha turned startled eyes towards Clark, who squirmed uncomfortably.

"Jason, why don't you take your chocolate and sit with Lady on the porch?" he suggested. "Just stay on the porch," he added, thinking the boy might find it fun to explore the farm.

Once he was comfortably out of earshot, Clark turned to his mother and began his story. "This is such a mess, Ma. Jason's mine, and everyone knows it, but nobody knows it." At her confused look, he clarified himself.

"Lois and I had a, a, thing, I guess, before I left. But she doesn't remember it, so for the last five years she thought that Jason was her fiancé Richard's son. Until they were kidnapped by Lex Luthor and Jason threw a piano at one of his goons."

"Oh, my," Martha breathed, eyes going wide, nodding for her son to continue the story.

"So now Lois knows that Jason is Superman's son, but doesn't know that he's also Clark's son. And the rest of the Planet staff - Richard included, apparently - has figured out that Jason is Clark's son, but doesn't realize that he's also Superman's son. Lois wants Superman to be able to get to know Jason uninterrupted, so she has gone along with the office gossip that Clark is the father of her child, and has asked Clark to be able to take care of Jason while she and Richard are away on assignments, instructing him to leave Jason's window open at night to let Superman in to see his son."

Martha nodded slowly, before gradually giving way to the urge inside of her to laugh. Pretty soon she had to release her hold on her tea cup for fear of spilling the tea inside, or breaking the cup from the vibrations caused by her laughter.

"This isn't funny, Ma!" he demanded, eyes desperate.

"No, it isn't," she agreed, sobering herself slightly. "But, oh, Honey, I was afraid this day would come. You're beginning to talk about yourself in the third person!" Suddenly she had a thought. "Clark, if Lois doesn't know who you are, then how does Jason?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "He was sitting on my lap the other day at the Planet and was drawing a picture of me turning into a policeman, but when I glanced down at the drawing, it was Superman turning into a policeman." He knit his brows, flipping through the scenes in his eidetic memory. There was some small detail that was niggling at him...

"That's it!" he finally announced, suddenly remembering what had been picking at his brain the last few days. "I was talking with Richard and Lois at the Planet a couple of weeks ago, just after I came back. Jason was there, too, staring at me, then turning his attention to the television behind me, where there was a story on Superman saving that shuttle launch. There must have been a photograph of Superman on the television screen directly behind me, and Jason picked up on it." He shrugged. "That's the only explanation I can think of, anyhow."

"But how did he put together that you're his father? Or is he going along with Lois' story, too?"

"No, he knows," he shook his head. "After I pulled Lois, Jason, and Richard out of Lex Luthor's sinking yacht and put them back in their plane, I went to see Luthor on his little 'island'. You know the results of that encounter." He rubbed the still-healing stab wound on his back as she nodded soberly.

"Well, it was Lois that saved me, pulling me out of the water and pulling that Kryptonite shard out of my back and throwing it out of the plane so I would heal. What I didn't know until Lois mentioned it to me, Clark, when she dropped Jason off is that it was actually Jason that saw Superman in the water, from the helicopter." He glanced outside to see his son sitting next to his mother's golden lab, slowly petting her as he sipped his chocolate.

"He showed Richard where I had gone under the water, Richard landed the hydroplane there, and Lois jumped in to pull me out. I'm thinking if Jason inherited my strength and my sight, maybe he inherited more of my powers and heard Lois when she whispered it into my ear in the hospital that Jason is mine."

"What did Lois tell you when she asked you to go along with this plan of hers?" Martha inquired. "She must have said something she thought was a plausible excuse for why she thought you had to pretend to be Jason's father."

"She told me the truth: that Superman is Jason's father," he replied honestly.

"And when are you going to tell her the truth?" she asked pointedly. "She needs to know the truth, Clark. She's the mother of your child, for goodness' sake."

"I know, Ma. I will tell her, eventually, but I can't right now. Luthor's still out there, and if she knew my secret and he got a hold of her again, there's no telling what might happen!" he defended.

"Clark Jerome Kent, you cannot seriously expect that Lois would tell your secret if she knew it, do you?" Martha demanded, eyes blazing.

"She's a reporter, Ma," Clark pointed out rationally. "It's her job to find out people's secrets and expose them." He sighed.

"On basic principle, no I don't think she would tell my secret," he finally admitted. "But I don't want that secret to ever place her in danger. It's bad enough that Jason knows."

"That's another thing, Clark," Martha leaned back in her chair. "You can't seriously expect a four-and-a-half-year-old to keep a secret like this, do you? Especially from his mother? It's not going to happen."

"Jason's very bright for his age, Ma," Clark argued weakly.

"I'm sure he is," she replied calmly. "But so were you. It's that whole Kryptonian gene pool that makes you both brilliant; I'm sure it is. But Clark honey, when you were Jason's age, you were telling me everything. We didn't have any secrets from each other. And Jason will be the same way. He might be able to keep your secret for a week; maybe two, but no longer." She took a deep breath and pressed her point.

"And do you really think that Lois would ever let you spend time with Jason again if she found out you had him lying to her? Forget it, you might as well kiss your relationship with your son good-bye," she insisted. "As both Clark and Superman. And then I'd never be able to get to know my grandson, and that is something, I'm telling you right now, I will not let you destroy!"

Clark smiled at the ferocity in his mother's voice. He knew she had been disappointed and feeling guilty when she found out she couldn't have children, and that both she and his dad had considered his unexpected landing in their field a miracle, of sorts. She must be thrilled at the thought of a grandchild to spoil, he mused. Do I really have the right to take that away from her? Face it, Kent, you know Lois well enough to know that everything your mother just said is true.

"You're right, Ma," he finally admitted. "Lois would never forgive me for telling her son to keep secrets from her. It's just, she's known once before, and you didn't see the look of anguish on her face. How can I put her through that again?" he wondered.

"She's strong; she'll get through it," Martha replied. "She's gotten through everything else that's been thrown her way, hasn't she? Honestly, from what you've told me of her, her life could almost be a movie, or a television series, or a comic book, or something." She smiled at her son knowingly. "So could someone else's life, who shall remain nameless," she winked.

"It's getting late; I should get Jason home and in bed," Clark mentioned, noticing the darkening skies.

"Does Mr. White know you were taking the day off?" Martha asked suddenly, not wanting her son to get into trouble for missing any more work than he already had.

"He's sending me to Houston to cover the shuttle launch on the fourth," he replied. "He let me off a few days early to have some time to spend with Jason."

"Then stay here," Martha requested. "Jason can stay in your room and you can have the guest room. Please, Clark?"

Realizing that his mother needed to spend time with his son as much as he did, he nodded his agreement, calling Jason in from the porch, explaining the plan to him, and sending him upstairs for his bath.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, he recited to himself, musing on the odd situation he currently found himself in. His mother was right; Lois needed to know, and soon.

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Poll Question: Should Clark tell Lois his secret, should Jason tell her, or should she find out on her own by accident?