The next day at work, Lois was once again burying herself in work, but not with the same fervor that she had yesterday. She smiled when she thought of earlier that morning. It had started off well. There'd been no nightmares of Clark and Lana getting back together that she'd dreamed the last couple of nights. Evan had wanted to hold her hand on the way out to the car and he wanted them both to stay with him when they dropped him off at Martha's. She had been tempted to say "I love you" like Clark did when they left, but she wasn't exactly sure how far she was allowed to take her role. He still had a mother after all. She had just waved instead. She kept thinking about him putting his little hand in hers. It had warmed a special place in her heart. She wondered if maybe she did want a baby after all. She wasn't about to tell Clark though. She didn't want to sound wishy-washy. There was just so much to think about that she hadn't thought about before. She had made the realization that her problem all boiled down to one thing. She was afraid that they couldn't have a baby of their own, but oddly enough, this truth wasn't as alarming to her as it had been last night. She certainly wanted a child of her own, but she was grateful for Evan. She was finally coming to terms with the situation they'd been placed in and she knew for sure that she and Clark could and would survive it.

"Lane!" Perry called.

Lois shook her head as she went into his office. He always sounded like he was ready to chew somebody's head off. "Yes?"

"Where's that husband of yours?"

Clark was off saving the day as usual. There was a huge catastrophe in Australia and it looked like it was going to take him the rest of the day. "Evan got sick. He had to go get him," she lied. Having a kid certainly made the excuses better.

"I've got a story for you then. The police chief is having a press conference on the Rowan murder case. Cover it."

2 hours later, Lois had finished calling the story in. It wasn't an exciting piece, the police had no idea who the murderer was, but there had been a rash of similar cases. It looked like a serial killer. She knew Clark would want to get on this case. She did too, of course, but she was still feeling drained. Perry had told her she could have the rest of the day off to help tend to Evan. That would have been fine except Evan didn't need any tending to. She decided to call Lucy instead. She lived in Metropolis now and she hadn't seen her in awhile, not to mention she had to be told about Evan.

They met over a late lunch. Neither one of them had eaten yet.

"Lois, you don't look well," Lucy said, as she gave her sister a greeting hug.

"Thanks, Luce."

The waitress came and took their orders.

"So?" Lucy asked.

"So what?" Lois asked back.

"You look like you have something on your mind."

"Clark and Lana have a 5 year old son."

"What and he didn't tell you?" Lucy said, her eyes flashing. She came to her feet. "Where is he? I'll go kick his butt for you."

"Relax. He didn't know either. Lana didn't tell him until she needed somebody to watch him over the summer."

"Then let me at Lana and I'll kick her butt."

Lois laughed. She'd needed that. It's not that other people hadn't been on her side through this like Clark and Martha, but nobody could be on your side like a sister. "Sit down. If anybody's going to kick Lana's butt, it's going to be me."

Lucy sat down, "Have you told Chloe?"

"No, not yet. She travels so much, it's hard to keep track of her. We tried calling. She's supposed to visit later this month, so I guess we'll tell her then."

Lucy looked pleased that she knew first. Lois knew she was a little jealous of Chloe because she felt like Chloe had taken her place while Lois was living in Smallville. Chloe was nice to confide in at times and when Lucy had been too wild to be a confidant, Chloe had filled the role, but Chloe also felt the need to take everybody's side. She felt a loyalty toward Clark and Lana as well as to her cousin. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing because everybody's viewpoint was presented, but sometimes she wanted a little family biasness and that she could only get from Lucy.

"Have you told Dad?" Lucy asked.

"Not yet."

"Good luck with that. So how are you taking this?"

"Better than a couple of days ago. I really like Evan. I think you'll like him too when you meet him."

"Takes after his father rather than his mother, huh?"

Lois tried to frown, but ended up smiling instead, "Stop that."

Lucy smiled back.

Their sandwiches came.

"Oh, Lucy," Lois said, making a face. "What did you order? That smells awful. It's making me sick."

Lucy looked at her strangely. "It's just turkey." She pulled off the bread and drew it closer, "And mayonnaise."

Lois put her hand over mouth. "Get it away. It must be a funny brand. I don't think I want to eat here anymore."

"Well, at least it doesn't have tomatoes," she said, pointing at Lois' sandwich and taking a bite out of her own. She saw that Lois wasn't eating. "Aren't you going to eat your own nasty sandwich?"

Lois pushed it away. "No, I can't eat it now."

"You want to go somewhere else?"

She shook her head. "I'll just wait until supper."

Lucy looked at her with narrowed eyes. "You're taking care of yourself, aren't you?"

"I'm not starving myself if that's what you mean. I've just been feeling under the weather since I found out."

"Is it just nausea that's been bothering you?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I've been dizzy and tired too. I chalked it up to the situation, but maybe I am coming down with something."

"You better go to the doctor," Lucy told her in a commanding tone.

"Who's the older sister here?"

"I mean it. If you don't, I'll call Clark and tell him to make you go."

"Yes, ma'am," Lois said with a mock salute. She stood up, "You know I think I'm going to go ahead and get out of here. Your sandwich isn't smelling any better. Thanks for meeting me though. I knew I could count on you to cheer me up."

"Call me and tell me what the doctor says."

Lois rolled her eyes as she walked away. "Goodbye, Lucy."

TBC