sonia
NINE
"Are you sure everything is okay?" Clark questioned Chloe as he dropped his bag into the trunk of her car.
When he had returned from doing his chores a week ago, he felt as if he had walked into an alternate universe. Every time he had tried to get Lois alone to talk to her, something would interrupt them. He had expected for things to change after that night… but he had been hoping the change would have been for the better.
All three of them were finished with finals, and Lois and Chloe were planning on taking summer school as part of their claim on the Family Housing docket. In the meantime, they had two weeks of freedom before it was time to start hunting for used textbooks again.
The one time Clark had been able to get Lois alone was during her second child birthing class. While she had looked particularly annoyed with his presence, she hadn't objected to it when he had entered the class late and quietly sat on the floor beside her. He had been surprised that Chloe hadn't come, and when he'd asked, Lois had whispered something to the effect of not telling her about the classes yet.
The week before, the class had led to a night of intimacy he had never imagined possible. After stumbling further into the room with Lois wrapped in his arms, he'd tripped over a stray shoe and dropped her on the bed. Giggling, Lois had seemed willing to overlook his clumsiness and scooted across the mattress to make room for him. By the time he'd fumbled through the clips on her bra, getting his fingers tangled twice in the process, they both were overcome with laughter.
Kissing him sweetly on the lips, she had thanked him for trying and flawlessly re-hooked her bra with one arm in a move that he would never be able to replicate. In the end, Lois had fashioned him into her personal body pillow and mumbled something about 'next time' before drifting off to sleep.
After the class this week, instead of talking about what that 'next time' might entail, the trip home had been mostly filled with awkward silence. At least it was silent until Lois had started trying to convince him that it was time for him to take a trip home. Eventually, he had agreed that it was time for him to try to make some peace with his parents.
Chloe threw her small bag into the trunk alongside his. "Nothing is wrong," she assured him.
Clark frowned at her response. The more logical answer would have been something along the lines of 'everything is fine.' When her eyes suddenly widened, he turned around to see what was causing the stir. A grin spread across his face as he saw Lois standing on the front stoop with a bag at her feet.
"You decided to come?" After a few days, Clark had given up on approaching the topic of their night and tried to sway her resolve to join him and Chloe on the trip to Smallville. He knew she wasn't ready to confess to his parents yet, but he believed that she would be able to help him think up a good cover story.
Lois stepped off of the stoop and used a hand to reclaim tangles of her hair from the wind. "Two weeks before the grind of school and work starts up again… I figure I could use a weekend in a place where the national pastime is watching the grass grow."
Clark laughed happily and bounded past her toward the apartment. "I'll lock up and get your bag," he offered as he went.
Chloe's gaze narrowed slightly as Clark left them. "You just made his millennium."
Lois's shoulders drooped a bit. "I'm not going for him."
She sighed and gave up on smoothing her hair. "Listen, I just figured that I could use one normal weekend at home before my world changes… One last time to see the folks before they start looking at me like…" Her statement faltered when Clark bounded back to them with her bag in his arms.
"Ready?" he asked.
Chloe glanced at Lois and then back at Clark. Letting a small smile appear on her face, she nodded. "Yes. Let's go."
Two hours later, Chloe and Clark were chatting as scenery flew past outside of the windows. Lois was lying across the back seat amongst the pillows they had brought along pretending to be asleep.
Her stomach churned with nerves. She couldn't count the number of times she had almost yelled out for Chloe to pull the car over to the side of the road. She knew that her fears were unrealistic; while her appetite had increased immensely, there was little to show for her body's new occupation as incubator. For some reason, she just had a feeling that Martha Kent would take one look at her and know.
Swallowing, she pushed herself upright. Her back would be killing her by the time they arrived at the farm if she continued to feign sleep.
"We didn't wake you, did we?" Clark asked, turning to look at her over his shoulder.
"No," Lois answered, moving the pillows so she could get comfortable. "What are you planning on telling your parents about being MIA for the past few weeks?"
Chloe glanced at Lois in her rearview mirror. She wondered if Lois was thinking of letting the Kents in on the truth.
Clark shrugged. "I figured that we would just tell them I've been living with you guys… It's true."
Lois focused her attention to the fields of cows that they were passing. "What do you plan on saying that you were helping with?"
"I don't know… Rent?"
Chloe was forced to smile at his naïve answer. "I don't think that you adding money from some non-existent job will justify running away from home in their book."
Lois chuckled wryly and shook her head.
Looking from one cousin to the other, Clark shrugged. "Well, what should we say?"
Lois suddenly wished she had stayed asleep. As much as she didn't relish the thought of lying to Clark's parents, it was something they were going to have to do. "We've got a little over an hour to figure it out."
"Home, Sweet, Home," Clark announced as Chloe drove the car under the wooden ranch archway.
After they all climbed out of the car, Lois took a moment to gaze at the sky. She had missed the quiet tranquility of watching the last finger-like rays disappear from the sky at dusk.
Hearing the sound of the screen door slap shut, Lois turned to find Martha and Jonathan Kent watching them from the porch. The three friends looked at each other briefly before they began walking across the drive toward the house.
The two young women followed behind Clark as he climbed up the steps to the porch. Once on the landing, he grinned. "Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad."
Lois felt a pinch of envy when Clark was welcomed with tight embraces from both of his parents. After all, he had essentially abandoned them without a plausible explanation, and yet, he was still welcomed with open arms. It had never worked that way in her family.
Even having witnessed the interaction between Clark and his parents, Lois was still taken by surprise when she was pulled into a hug by Martha once Clark had been freed.
"Lois! I was wondering when you would finally come home to see us."
"Well, work and school… you know."
Martha pulled back far enough to look at Lois with a teasing frown. "School, huh? Isn't that just how college kids are? They get a little taste of freedom and only decide to come see the parents when it's time for laundry."
Laughing, Martha released Lois and hugged Chloe. "Please tell me that you don't treat your father like this."
Chloe laughed. "Not at all. As a matter of fact, I'm driving out to Greenville tonight to stay with him for the weekend."
Lois turned and shot Chloe a panicked look. She hadn't expected her to leave.
"Oh, that's too bad, but at least you can stay for dinner, right?" Jonathan asked.
"We don't want you to go to any trouble," Lois piped. "I was actually considering joining Chloe…"
"It's no trouble at all, Sweetie," Martha interrupted. "And Shelby would be quite disappointed if you didn't stay at least one night with us."
As if summoned, the dog jumped against the screen door and pawed at the handle until it swung open.
"I guess that's better than going through the window," Lois muttered, turning away and bracing herself for Shelby to launch at her as normal.
Shelby skidded to a halt just as he was about to pounce upon his favorite target. Quizzically, he began sniffing the air around her as if afraid to get too close.
Puzzled with the change of events, Lois shared a questioning glance with the other humans around her. Calmly, Shelby approached Lois and muzzled her hand with clear affection.
"I guess he missed you," Clark said, reaching down to scratch behind the dogs ears.
"I guess so," Lois replied after a slight hesitation. Feeling eyes on her, she turned to see Martha studying her curiously.
"Of course I'll stay the night," Lois answered quickly, hoping to divert the attention that was on her.
"Great," Jonathan said, reaching out to place a hand on Clark's shoulder. "Why don't you guys bring your stuff in and we'll go and add settings at the table."
"Since I'm not bringing in my bag, I'll help you set the table," Chloe offered, following the elder Kents into the house.
Lois followed Clark back to the car so they could retrieve their bags. "They know."
Clark turned to face her with a frown. "What?"
She glanced at the house and then back to him. "They know," she insisted gesturing toward her midsection.
Clark smiled and used Chloe's key to open the trunk. "No they don't, Lois. You're just being paranoid."
Lois glared at him and moved to stand between him and the car. "You guessed it! What makes you think they wouldn't?" She pushed herself away from him and kicked a rock off the drive. "I knew I shouldn't have come."
"Lois, wait!" Clark walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders lightly. "There is no way they could know about the baby. I have hardly seen them for more than a few hours combined since I've moved in with you and Chloe."
He ducked his head to force her to look into his eyes. "My parents wouldn't automatically guess that me coming to Metropolis to help you and Chloe equals pregnancy." He grinned. "We'll just stick with the plan…"
Lois reluctantly nodded and walked back to the car. When she bent to pull her bag out of the trunk, Shelby, who had been closely trailing her since their encounter on the porch, began barking loudly.
"What's got into you, Cujo?"
Shelby continued barking until Clark reached out and took the bag from her. He didn't seem to notice Shelby's strange behavior.
Lois narrowed her eyes at the dog for a moment before shrugging it off and following Clark back to the house.
Martha handed Chloe the napkins and silverware with a smile. "I'll bring the plates out in a minute."
When Chloe disappeared into the dining room, Martha grabbed her husband's hand and led him to the far corner of the kitchen. "It's Lois."
Jonathan favored her with a soft smile. "I know. It's good to see her isn't it?"
"No, Jonathan. Lois is the one Clark said he had to help. She's pregnant."
"Martha…" he replied doubtfully. "That's a stretch…"
"I don't think so, Honey. She's picked up a little weight…"
He glanced out of the window. "How can you even tell? She looks the same as when she left. Besides, everybody gains weight with those non-organic meals on college campuses."
Martha shook her head at her naïve husband. She felt that the brunt of his protest was just his brain buying time to process the possibility that she was right.
"Shh," she commanded, seeing Clark and Lois enter the kitchen. Patting Jonathan's chest, she stepped away from him and started pulling plates from the cabinet. "It's time for dinner."
Lois released a breath as the last plate was cleared from the table. Dinner had been uneventful for the most part, and she was ready to concede that Clark had been right about his mother not having a super ultrasound-enhanced sixth-sense.
As it turned out, while it was obvious that Clark's parents were looking forward to having a private audience with their wayward son, it hadn't affected the family atmosphere during dinner. The past hour was spent with light conversation about Met U professors and funny anecdotes from Lois and Chloe about working in the different recesses of the Daily Planet.
The only snag that Lois had run into was forcing herself to stop eating after her second plate, even though Clark had gone for thirds. As she was planning a midnight rendezvous with the plate of leftover fried chicken, Martha placed an apple pie in the center of the table.
"Would anyone like coffee with their pie?" Martha asked. When she received nods from Jonathan and Chloe and a 'no thanks' from Clark she turned to Lois. "Lois?"
"Oh… I don't think…"
"It's decaf," Martha assured her offhandedly. Catching herself, she quickly continued, "I figured that you were tired from your trip and wouldn't want anything that would keep you up."
Lois's eyes flicked to the faces of the other people sitting at the table, but they were all laughing at something Clark had just said and weren't paying attention to her and Martha.
"Sure… thanks," Lois replied desperately feeling the need to gain her composure back. "I'm just going to run to the bathroom…"
Safely insulated behind the bathroom's closed door, Lois almost wished that the pea-size bladder that had tormented her earlier in her pregnancy was back. Right now, she had no reason to be in the bathroom except to see the panicked eyes of the woman in the looking-glass.
Dreading going back down the stairs to face the closest person to a mother she'd had since she was six, Lois stepped past the stairwell and slipped into Clark's room. Running a hand along the wall, she took in the small changes to the room that had occurred since the time she had been there. Her tour stopped at the window and she took a moment to stare wistfully out at the late evening sky.
"I'm sorry, Honey," Martha's voice said from the doorway.
Not trusting how she would feel once she looked at Martha's face, Lois focused her gaze down on the windowsill. There was no reason to keep up a charade when the gig was up. "So am I."
Martha entered the room and sat on the bed. "Are you okay?"
Lois laughed, resorting to her aloof persona. "Considering…" She vaguely gestured at her body. "I'd have to say yes."
"Lois," Martha chided, knowing full well which barrier Lois was in the process of erecting. She patted the bed next to her. "Come here."
Lois tentatively lowered herself onto the bed. She opened her mouth, but feeling unsure of what to say, she closed it without a word.
Martha took a moment to study Lois as she sat with her eyes locked tightly on the clasped hands in her lap. As a mother, her heart pained her to enlighten the young woman on the consequences of risky behavior… but that lecture was obviously unnecessary. She felt that even though their acquaintance had been rather short, she knew the character of the woman in front of her as if she were her own daughter. Guilt was something that Lois didn't need help allocating.
"You look beautiful."
Lois blinked at the tears that suddenly threatened to fall. Hormones made her emotions so quick-fused that she was having trouble controlling them… especially when she wanted to.
"They say that you're supposed to glow… I guess I must be a neon sign if you could take one look at me and know what's going on."
Martha smiled and reached out to wipe away the errant tear that was dislodged when Lois blinked. "I needed a little bit more than one look."
Lois laughed at the mental image of Martha doing a double and then a triple-take. "I guess I can unbutton this thing, then," Lois quipped, reaching down to undo the button on her blazer so that the blue shirt underneath was fully visible.
Martha smiled at the sight of the thickening around Lois's middle. She couldn't help but sigh in amusement. "Aw, look at you… Both of you."
Conversation stilled as both tried to think of what to say next.
"I guess that without Clark around, Mr. Kent is overworked with keeping the farm going," Lois commented, silently apologizing for being the reason behind Clark's abandonment of his farm duties.
Martha knew what Lois's underlying message was. "Well, we've known for some time that Clark was bound for a life beyond that of a simple farmer. It has always been part of the plan to hire extra hands and lease out some of the land. Clark's decision to move out only shifted the time table up a bit. Some things are just fated to happen. You can't find blame in that."
Lois nodded, and silence settled between them once again.
"Are you scared?"
"Terrified," Lois admitted in a rush of breath.
Martha smiled and kicked her shoes off, sliding back on the bed to lean against the headboard. Shuffling the pillows at her back, she beckoned for Lois to join her.
Lois hesitated for a moment before following Martha's example.
"My mother and I used to do this all the time," Martha explained. "All of our best talks happened when we were camped out on my bed."
Lois leaned her head back and gazed at the ceiling silently.
After a moment, Martha reached out and took her hand. "Motherhood is always a terrifying experience. It doesn't ever get less scary, but you get better at handling it. I'm sure that you'll do a remarkable job."
"You might not think that when you get the whole story," Lois scoffed.
Martha held her hand tighter when Lois started to pull away. "Try me," she commanded softly.
No time like the present, Lois mused to herself, closing her eyes. "The week of finals, I planned a cram session at the library one night after closing the Talon. I might have sidetracked to a party or two on the way back… or on the way there…" She swallowed, nervous about what she was about to confess. "No studying got done, but I did learn first hand that a couple of drinks plus a hot guy equals 9 months of water gain."
Horrified, Martha sat up and looked at Lois. There were a thousand things she could say right at that moment, but none of them would help the situation. "Does…Does he know?"
Lois cleared her throat. "I'm still working that part out. I… uh… can't remember who he is, exactly…"
"Can't remember?" Martha repeated incredulously.
"Yeah… there was a point there where I thought I'd been drugged…"
"Lois!" Martha exclaimed in shock.
With a heavy sigh, Lois finally met Martha's wide-eyed gaze. "…But what I do remember is too clear for that. I wasn't drugged. Irresponsible, no doubt, but not… forced."
Martha's brow creased with worry. How any of this could be possible, she didn't know. "Are you certain?"
Lois nodded. The moisture in Martha's eyes had rendered her silent. She could only imagine the disappointed thoughts going through the older woman's mind. When Martha released a heavy sigh, Lois looked away.
"Lois… If you need anything…"
Martha's offer was cut off with a soft knock on the door frame.
"I just wanted to make sure everything was all right." Clark looked from his mother to Lois where they were sitting on the bed.
"Its fine," Lois replied, sliding to the edge of the bed and swinging her legs back over the side. "We were just catching up."
Jonathan stepped up behind Clark. "Lois, Chloe says that she's planning on heading out pretty soon."
"Right," Lois answered, realizing that the Kents were due a private talk. "I'll just… go… see her." She finished the sentence with an odd hand gesture to indicate that she was going downstairs.
Leaving her shoes where they lay, she rose from the bed and walked to the door. Clark moved to get out of her way, but they ended up stepping in the same direction to avoid each other.
"Sorry," Clark offered, standing still and allowing Lois to step around him.
Shooting a forced smile at both Clark and his father as she finally managed to get past, Lois headed down the stairs. She had to make herself to slow down so that it wouldn't appear that she was fleeing the scene.
Chloe glanced up as Lois hit the bottom landing. "Something chasing you?"
Lois took in a breath and slowed her pace even more. "Not yet."
Chloe frowned. "What happened?"
"Nothing… They know."
"They kn… Oh." Chloe let out a low whistle. "I could stay tonight and go see my dad tomorrow. Or, better yet, you could come out to Granville with me, if you'd like."
Lois smiled and shook her head. "No. Thanks, though. I'm part of the reason he's in this mess… and I think we both will have some explaining to do. So consider me facing my issues straight on, starting tonight."
Chloe perked at the possibility that Lois was finally ready to do some digging. "Really? All of them?"
At Lois's glare she laughed. "I'll be back tomorrow with my Sherlock jacket and deerstalker. We'll figure this out. Okay?"
As Lois leaned to return Chloe's farewell hug, she didn't know whether to be relieved or anxious about that promise.
Clark sat on his bed looking up at his parents. The difference in their standing height to his seated height made him feel like a young child again.
"I feel for Lois just as much as you do, but what you just said is absurd," Martha exclaimed looking at her son as if he had suddenly sprouted wings.
Jonathan was right there with her, having been brought up to speed on the entire situation 10 minutes earlier. "Now that we know who you were helping and why, what you did makes more sense, but this is not right, Clark. She's pregnant with a baby whose father she hasn't quite figured out yet…"
The stressed older man ran a hand through is sandy-colored hair. "Helping is honorable and all, Son, but… a proposal?"
Martha placed a comforting hand on her husband's arm. "Marriage is about love, not duty, Clark."
"Maybe it's about both." Clark frowned, slightly miffed that the reaction his parents had given hadn't been the one he was counting on. "I love her."
Martha couldn't hold in her surprised laugh at her son's response. This wasn't the first time he had told them he was in love, nor the first time he wanted to prove it with a drastic move. Caught up in their conversation, none of the room's occupants noticed when Lois silently backed away from the doorway.
Jonathan sighed. "Son, neither you nor Lois deserves to be put in a position to make a major decision like this under these kind of circumstances. Is this really about you falling in love with her, or does it just boil down to protective urges?"
Losing patience, Clark threw up his hands. "Does it make any difference at this point?"
"Yes," Martha replied softly. "It makes all the difference in the world. Especially for Lois."
"I know that I love her and that I want a family. I want Lois and the baby to be my family."
Jonathan sighed. His son was so stubborn sometimes, something that wasn't always a good trait. "Does she love you?"
Clark shrugged. "I guess we'll find out, won't we?"
"Clark, that's not normally the way it works," his mother admonished.
"Nothing about this entire thing is normal," Clark retorted. "I'm not even normal!"
"Clark, slow down," Jonathan warned. "I think you've learned that something like this cannot be rushed…"
"You guys like Lois! This isn't anything like Alicia." Clark seemed to be genuinely exasperated with his parents. He thought that he was doing the right thing by discussing it with them first.
When he had been under the influence of Red Kryptonite and married Alicia on a whim, they had gone ballistic. That mistake had been annulled, and this time he was trying to keep them involved… even though his first thought had been to do otherwise.
"We love Lois," Martha corrected. "But that's not the point. If the two of you were in the same place emotionally and mentally, this would be an entirely different conversation. I don't think Lois is anywhere near ready for something like this, Sweetie."
"I'll wait until she is," Clark declared solemnly.
Jonathan and Martha shared a glance. Clark wasn't seeing the full picture of what he was suggesting.
"Marriage is also about honesty, Clark. Are you planning on telling Lois about your abilities?"
Clark thought about how to answer his father's question. He couldn't risk Lois rejecting him over his uniqueness. Not now. "Eventually."
"Clark…" Martha started in a warning tone.
"She's got enough to worry about without having to deal with aliens on earth right now."
"Son, can't you see that you are going about this all wrong?" Jonathan huffed.
Clark shook his head and stood. They didn't understand how much he needed her. Hell, he didn't even truly understand it.
"Just be happy for us," Clark pleaded, turning and leaving his parents alone in his room.
Jonathan rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. "How do you see this one ending up?" he asked his wife.
"I don't know," Martha answered, tightening her hold on his arm. "After everything that I've heard tonight, I can't make heads or tails of any of it."
Clark smiled when he located the source of the dual heartbeats he had taken to monitoring. One of the rhythms was slow and soothing, while the other one was much faster. They both were life.
Grinning widely, he jogged up the stairs to the loft.
"Hey."
Lois turned from the telescope and smiled. "You're alive," she observed.
"Barely," Clark retorted, walking over to stand beside her.
They both stared into the sky, silently tracing the paths of the stars with their eyes.
"Lois…"
"Don't," she interrupted.
"You don't even know what I was about to say."
Lois turned to face him. "I know that you are an honorable and noble soul, Clark Kent. Whatever you were about to say doesn't matter, because the answer is no."
She reached up and placed a hand against the side of his face. "But, thank you."
"You're always trying to save me… This time I think that I'll return the favor." Rubbing his cheek gently with her thumb, she leaned up to place a chaste kiss on his lips.
"Good night, Farm Boy."
TBC