Oliver held Ashley tightly and stroked her hair gently. She was upset and a little guilty, but Oliver didn't want her to think like that.
Oliver kissed the top of her silky head. "Now, don't feel bad. You didn't let me down. I still think you can be the Green Arrow," Oliver said.
"I don't think so, Dad. I feel as if I'm too young sometimes," Ashley sniffled. Oliver felt her tears fall through the material of his shirt. Oliver knew the best thing for her was to let her be the Green Arrow in her timing, not his.
"You just let me know when your ready. I'll put all your stuff in the weapons room," Oliver said. Ashley looked up at him in surprise.
"You aren't upset?" Ashley asked. Oliver wiped her face gently with his hands.
"No. Me and your mom love you very much," Oliver said, kissing her forehead gently.
Once everything was okay with them and her tears had subsided, Ashley went back to the living room to be with her company. She went to join Jason and the others. Not long after that, her and Jason went out to the front porch to have a more private talk. She didn't know what to say to him about not being Green Arrow awhile. She decided to let him ask questions. They sat on the swing rocking back and forth.
Meanwhile in the Barn up in the loft, Lois came in there as Clark was going through his things from his past. She saw that he held a picture frame of Lana when she was in High School. Lois knew the two were lovers in the past. But she often wondered if Clark sometimes missed being with her. "Thought you might be in here. You miss her, don't you? Do you ever wish it was her you winded up with instead of me?" Lois asked. She didn't know how that popped into her head.
"Stupid question. I was only in love with Lana because I was a boy. It's you I love. I wouldn't trade you or the kids for her," Clark said, kissing Lois's nose gently. She wrinkled her nose like a rabbit. She always did that when Clark kissed her nose and it made her look adorable.
"I do love you, Smallville," Lois said.
"I love you too," Clark said, stroking her face gently.
"Do you still love me when I'm pregnant?" Lois asked.
"Are you trying to tell me something?" Clark asked.
"Yes. Smallville, I'm... I'm going to have a baby," Lois said. Clark felt as if he had been sucker-punched between the eyes.
"A baby? A real baby?" Clark asked, sitting down on the worn sofa that his father had put into the loft when Clark was 10 or 11.
"Of course a real baby," Lois said with a mixture of smugness and irritation. Clark grinned.
"A baby. I have wanted to be a dad again, but Jon and Linda's birth was so hard you. We can't go to a hospital because of the baby being half-Kryptonian," Clark said.
"I know, but I took a home pregnancy test and Chloe took me to Dr. Hamilton and I'm two months pregnant," Lois said.
"Why don't we go tell the others. Mom and Dad will be thrilled," Clark said, standing up. He felt as if he was flying. The news was wonderful! Now he knew how Oliver felt when his three-year-old son, Todd, was born.
Everyone had been excited to hear about the baby news that day. Clark had picked her up and twirled her around and Lois felt a bit sick when he did that, but she had only smiled. At first, she had been worried that Clark might not like another baby coming into the family, he had been shocked, but then grinned like he enjoyed the news. I shouldn't give him such a hard time, thought Lois.
Lois couldn't help but feel giddy. She was married to Superman! Not many women could say that, she reminded herself. Both her and Clark had come a long way from not being able to stand one another, to falling in love with each other. She still couldn't figure out why he loved her so much. She had to laugh every time she remembered how she'd found Clark in the cornfield that first night she arrived to Smallville. She had called him Amnesia Boy. Laughing more to herself she also remembered that time when Clark picked her up off the floor and she had actually liked it. Even then she had felt drawn to him like fate was trying to pull them together even then. But she eventually grew on Clark like she did everyone else.
It was now the next day, and Lois was on a stake out just by herself watching Lex Luthor's every move. She had heard that Lex was working on a top secret project, and she was determined to see what he was up to. She followed him secretly in her car to a nearby graveyard. It was an expensive plot, plus he had others following him. Better stay far behind them thought Lois as she popped in some chewing gum. She slowly got out of the car and began to follow, hoping Clark wouldn't drill Jimmy in twenty questions to find out where she was.