- Chapter 37
Staring out the car window as Clark drove them home from the office, Lois couldn't help but notice that the leaves on the trees were shades of red, orange and brown now rather than the green they had been not very long ago. She still couldn't believe that it was October, let alone October ninth. Every year time seemed to pass more quickly, and ever since she'd had children time seemed to fly faster by the day. Jacob was going to be seven in less than a month. Seven! How the hell was it that her baby boy was in first grade and almost seven years old? She could remember with so much clarity the day he was born, the first time she saw him after the doctor placed him on her chest, the most beautiful little thing she had ever seen. Now he liked to ride his bike with friends, and had even asked about playing soccer or baseball in a league that those same friends played in. She and Clark had been torn about what to do; they both wanted to let him play, and so far he was only fast and invulnerable, but what if he suddenly got super strength during a game? The other kids would be at risk, and Clark couldn't guarantee to be there to protect them.
"What are you thinking about?" she heard Clark ask, and after a second she answered.
"After being kidnapped and laid up while recovering, I missed the first week of September, and even then I was barely ready for it to be September. I was just getting used to that idea and now it's nine days into October! That means Jacob's almost seven, which means not long from then Cass will turn five and right after that Devon will be two. I don't think I'm ready for my babies to be that old, especially my oldest baby." Frowning as she sighed, Lois turned her head to look at Clark, who glanced over at her and half smiled, Lois doing the same back out of habit. It didn't last very long, though, as she decided to share what else was bugging her, the thing that had been in the back of her mind all day. "Her due date is tomorrow, Smallville, and I still haven't heard from her. I thought she might at least have questions, or want some elaboration about one thing or another."
"Are you sure that she's even started reading all the information that you put together for her? Maybe she didn't want to mess with it, instead choosing to ignore the information until later, until after she had her baby and was in a better frame of mind." Clark shrugged as they exited off the highway towards their subdivision. "I wish there was something that I could say to help you feel better, but you've done everything that you can. It's up to Vicki now."
"I'm just afraid that she'll choose to try and forget that Chloe used to exist, that she used to be somebody else. If she does then I'm pretty sure she won't be wanting to see me anymore. How are you supposed to forget a life you barely remember when a reminder of that life is a friend?" Closing her eyes and letting her head fall back against the headrest, Lois sucked in a long breath before letting it out slowly. She needed to get out of her head, to find some way to focus on something else. When she had seen the date after getting into work that morning Vicki's due date had popped into her head out of nowhere, and the rest of her day and been spent wondering if she was still pregnant or if she had given birth whenever her brain had a free moment. Lois thought she might have caught a break with it being a busy day. "What are the odds that the kids aren't rambunctious tonight?"
"Depends on the child, but I'm guessing that all three will be themselves, which means that Cassidy is your best chance at having a calm child. Why don't you put her to bed tonight and I'll take care of Devon and Jacob."
"Thank you," Lois said as they pulled into the long driveway leading up to the house. "I appreciate that, but considering the way Devon has been clinging to me ever since I went missing, I don't know that I'll have the option of skipping bedtime with her." Undoing her seatbelt as Clark parked in front of the garage, Lois got out of the car, slinging her laptop bag over one shoulder and her purse over the other before walking up to the front door, which Clark was holding open for her. Once inside, it didn't take but a few seconds before she heard the sounds of her brood, or at least of Devon, off in the direction of the living area.
"I still can't believe the size of this place," Lois heard Clark mutter behind her, and she couldn't help but smile as she dropped her purse on the little table next to the front door.
"Well, technically you've only lived here for about six weeks, so you've got two more weeks. Two months is about how long it took me to get used to the size of it." When Bruce had told her that he was going to buy them a house in the Grand Mesa subdivision outside of Metropolis, Lois had been in denial about the type of house they would live in once back in the city. Once she and the children had moved in, denial had turned into disbelief that they lived in a house valued in the millions of dollars on two acres of land. Six bedrooms, not including the basement, which was giant. Six full bathrooms and a couple partials, a sun room for Clark... it was basically a house that they could never have afforded, but was perfect for their situation of Clark having to fly off unseen. Bruce had certainly had them in mind when buying this house. "If it takes you longer than another two weeks to stop muttering about how big the house is, then I will have to start teasing you about it. Might even get the kids in on the act."
"I'll keep that in mind." She could almost hear him adjusting his glasses as he rolled his eyes.
As they turned a corner, Lois couldn't help but break out into a smile as Devon caught sight of her and started running, Lois setting down her laptop bag just in time to sweep up her youngest child into a hug. "Well hey there, Devon," she said as her daughter hugged her.
"Mommy!" Devon said loudly right next to Lois's ear, her head jerking away as much it could before shook it, using a hand to rub at her ear. "Missed you."
"I missed you too, Girly," Lois said as she carried her and blinked as the ringing in her ear started to die down a little bit. She was just glad that Devon hadn't missed her more or else she would be deaf in her left ear. Settling Devon on her hip as they approached Jacob and Cass, she found Jacob reading on the floor and Cass coloring at her little table. "How are my other two children doing?" she asked, both of them looking up as if they hadn't heard Devon yell in her ear a moment ago.
"Good, Mommy," Cass said quickly before looking back down to her coloring.
"I'm good, Mommy," Jacob said, flashing her a quick smile, a big bright one bearing a close resemblance to her own, before looking back down to his book. She couldn't tell what it was, but it looked like something for school so she didn't want to interrupt him. It was amazing that at six years old he was all ready better about school work than she had been for most of her academic career, although it was at his age that her mom had died. Bouncing from school to school had made taking her school work seriously a lot more difficult as her school work could be one thing on a Friday and totally different on a Monday because she was starting at a new school. If she had any say, Jacob had switched elementary schools for the last time when they had come back to Metropolis.
Spotting Clark out of the corner of her eye as he walked into the room, she turned and faced him, running a hand over Devon's back as she rested her head against Lois's shoulder. "Anne go home for the night?"
He nodded. "Yeah, she just left. Said goodbye to the kids for the evening when she saw the headlights of the car pulling up the driveway." His head tilted a little, the way it tended to when he heard something in the distance, and there was a gust of wind, but Clark hadn't moved. Well, he had, as he was now holding a ringing phone, but she was used to a gust of wind accompanying his exit to help somebody. Now that he was going out and saving people again, that was once more a constant event in her life. He held out the phone to her, smiling. "The ID says it's Vicki."
Eyebrows shooting up, Lois traded Devon for the phone, Clark taking her and walking towards the other children as she put the phone to her ear. "Vicki, hey," she said, walking out of the living room just in case her children decided to be loud. "How are you?"
"I'm okay. Sore back, sore feet and a sour disposition to go along with Braxton-Hicks contractions that have been coming and going all day but refuse to turn into the real thing. I know this is a weird request for a Thursday night, but do you think you could come to Gotham? I was hoping to talk to you in person, and you have the express travel option at hand."
"Yes, of course I can come out and talk." Lois had to hold back from doing a little celebration dance, and she wasn't going to question why Vicki wanted to talk face to face rather than over the phone. "Give me a few minutes to change clothes but I should be there in about ten minutes."
There was a moment of silence before Vicki spoke. "That's really cool. And weird, considering you're in Metropolis right now."
"You get used to it. See you in ten." Hanging up, Lois stepped out of her heels and picked them up so she could get upstairs more quickly, jogging to the stairs and taking them two at a time before jogging to her bedroom. Slipping out of her work clothes and tossing them in the direction of the hamper, she put on a pair of jeans and an old t-shirt before getting some shoes on. She was about to head out when she remembered that it was October, and despite it being unseasonably warm in Metropolis it was probably cool in Gotham. Walking back into the closet, she grabbed her favorite of Clark's flannel shirts and pulled it on, rolling up the sleeves and tying the bottom so she didn't look like she was a kid wearing an adults clothes. Grabbing a hair tie off her dresser as she exited the room, Lois pulled her hair back into a ponytail as she went back downstairs, grabbing a credit card and ID out of her purse and slipping them into a back pocket before finding Clark where she had left him and the children in the living room. "Hey, I need a ride. Normally I would ask nicely, but Vicki wants to talk face to face and I don't want to keep her waiting."
Clark got up off the couch and walked over to her, his tie loosened and collar button undone. "That can be arranged." Lois blinked and he was in his Superman getup, which still left her a little breathless. She thought it was nice that they were almost a decade into their marriage and longer in the relationship and he still had that effect on her. Jumping up into his arms, Lois closed her eyes and tucked her face into his chest, all too familiar with ending up with a bump on her head after a quick takeoff knocked her against his chest of steel. "You ready?" he asked, and Lois nodded. Next thing she knew she felt herself being lowered to the ground next to Vicki's apartment building. Opening her eyes, she shook off the dizziness that tended to accompany Super travel. She had never investigated it, but she doubted moving that quickly was good for a human's equilibrium.
"Thanks," she said quietly, looking up at him and smiling as she patted him on the chest. "Now go make sure the three haven't found a way to cause mayhem in the last twelve seconds. They are my children, after all." Clark simply raised an eyebrow at her before taking a step back and disappearing from sight. She figured that was an appropriate response to saying that her children could cause mayhem in record time. Taking a second to make sure that her credit card and ID were still pocketed and her hair was still in a ponytail, as on occasion she had been known to lose a hair tie or some other random object on her person in the middle of a super flight, Lois found everything was in order and her equilibrium restored before walking around to the side of the building where the door to Vicki's apartment was. Taking a second to collect herself, Lois knocked on the door, with only a few seconds passing before it opened to reveal Vicki. "Hello again," she said, smiling as she stepped inside.
"Hi," Vicki said, smiling for a second before wincing, a hand going to the top of her stomach. Lois found her eyes going wide as she watched Vicki close her eyes and breathe slowly for thirty or forty seconds before she seemed to relax, checking her watch before shrugging at her. "The last few have gotten quite a bit stronger, and a lot more consistent."
"How consistent?"
"That's four in a row that have been seven minutes apart. I would have mentioned it on the phone but I thought they may slow down or stop again."
Unbelievable. Vicki finally wants to talk and she goes into labor! "Yeah, see, not so much Braxton-Hicks anymore. This is about the time when you want to think about going to the hospital."
"Birthing Center," Vicki said, slipping into some sandals that were next to the door. "And if you don't mind, do you think you could drive me there? Jeff had to work late tonight since he was going to take tomorrow and next week off for when I eventually went into labor."
"Of course." Lois had to take a moment to think about what was happening, trying to remember all the things that Vicki would need. She wasn't used to being on this side of going into labor. "Ok, so, do you have a bag ready?"
"Jeff and I kept one in his car and one in mine, so we're all set. And the directions to the birthing center are set in the GPS, so we're good on that front."
"Excellent. Um... pillow? Pictures? Any other assorted items that I'm not thinking of?" Lois asked as she opened the door for Vicki, taking the keys from Vicki as she settled her purse on her shoulder. Patting her pocket to assure herself that her credit card and ID were still there, Lois was suddenly very glad that she had thought to grab them for a just in case situation.
"I think we're all set." Following Vicki out of the apartment, Lois pulled the door closed, making sure it was locked before following to a nearby car. Opening the passenger door for Vicki, she closed it behind her before walking to the driver's side and getting in. She noticed Vicki start messing with the GPS after she got the car started and was pulling out of the parking spot. She saw a route come up on the screen as Vicki pulled her hand away, a very distinct voice telling her to turn right out of the apartment complex. "You set your GPS voice as Darth Vader?"
"No, Jeff set it as Darth Vader as a joke a couple months ago and I didn't ever bother to change it back to the default. It's not like it isn't a cool voice to have giving you directions." It was only a few seconds after she spoke that Lois heard her start sucking in deep breaths before releasing them slowly. Glancing over her shoulder as she merged onto a highway as directed, once in traffic she looked back to Vicki, one eye on her while the other was on the road. She could tell that they were headed away from the city, which made her glad that it wasn't rush hour. "Just under seven minutes," Vicki said. "Guess I should call Jeff, let him know what's going on."
Lois couldn't help the smirk that stole across her face. "Yeah, I hear husbands like to be informed about this type of thing."
"It's odd. I wanted to talk to you tonight about you being part of my life, everything out in the open. I realized as I read more and more of the information and had more dreams in which I was starring as Chloe how much you loved Chloe, and how much she loved you. I mean, I'd heard you talk about her before, and I knew that you loved her, but I don't think I realized how much you loved her until it hit me that you thought you had gotten her back only to find that I wasn't her. I can't imagine what that's like, seeing a dead ringer for somebody you love, somebody you thought you had lost, only to find out that it's not her."
Switching lanes to pass a slow car, Lois licked her lips, trying to decide what to tell Vicki. It didn't take her long to realize that she, too, wanted everything out in the open. "When you told me that Bruce was your friend, I came to Gotham the next day ready to rip him a new one, and I lit into him for hiding you from me. All I ever wanted to know was that Chloe was safe and that she was happy. There weren't always a lot of either of those things in her life once she moved to Smallville. I called him an arrogant bastard for not telling me Chloe had lived through the bombings after saving Jacob and Cass, but once he explained the situation I made a choice to respect Chloe's choice to embrace the life you had made for yourself, to get to know Vicki Vale. It tore me up inside that Chloe wasn't getting to experience your happiness herself, but I knew I couldn't try to take this away. You were a journalist, same as Chloe. You had fallen in love with Jeff and decided to have a baby. When the choice is watch you to live a happy life and be a little part of it or find a way to bring back my cousin who had demons that haunted her and watch her barely live, it's an easy choice, no matter how much I love Chloe." Looking over for a second, Lois smiled. "I meant it when I said that Chloe Sullivan is Vicki Vale, but Vicki Vale is not Chloe Sullivan. You look the same, and at your core there's a lot of Chloe, but the mannerisms and the little things that made Chloe so distinctly Chloe are gone." Noticing Vicki closing her eyes and breathing slowly, Lois looked back to the road and waited until she heard Vicki stop breathing so deliberately. "Phone?" she asked.
"Ear piece is in the cup holder." Grabbing it, Lois quickly got it situated on her left ear as the GPS told her to exit. "I know I'm not her, and I know that I'll never be what you lost. I couldn't be her if I wanted to be, but I would like for you to be part of my baby's life. You will, technically, be one of its few blood relatives on my side of the family, after all, and the only one that knows my baby exists."
Swallowing back the urge to weep tears of joy, Lois checked her mirror before changing lanes to get over into a turn lane. "I would love that." Once they had turned, Lois started recognizing the area. "Doesn't Beth live in this area?"
"Yeah, about five minutes from the birthing center. She'll be the second call you make for me. It should be dialing Jeff now."
Lois could hear it doing just that, and it wasn't long before Jeff picked up. "Vicki, hey. I shouldn't be too much longer. I'm just finishing up a few things and then I'm on the road home."
"You might want to rethink that," Lois said, taking a right as directed by the GPS.
"Lois? What are you doing on Vicki's phone? Is everything okay?"
"Vicki is fine, but it's a more painful version of fine than she's used to." Vicki pointed at a building down the street just as Lois heard the GPS telling her that it was coming up on the right. "Vicki called me to talk tonight, but as it turns out your baby decided she had other plans. We're just arriving at the birthing center now."
"Okay. Tell her I'll be there as soon as I can, and that I love her."
"Will do," Lois said before tapping the button on the side of the ear piece to hang up. "Jeff's on his way and loves you. Clark always likes to say 'I love you' a lot, but he went overboard with it during the two labors he was present for. Not sure if that's him or just a guy thing in general." Spotting a parking spot right in front of the building, Lois got the car parked and had retrieved Vicki's bag from the backseat before helping her out of the car. "I'm curious as to why you chose a birthing center," Lois said as they slowly walked towards the front door of the building. "Not that I'm judging, as I gave birth to Devon in a birthing center, but that was because they didn't do any blood tests. As you can imagine, given her father it was best to avoid that type of thing."
"One would think so, yeah," Vicki said as they walked inside. "The reason I decided on a birthing center is because it offers the option of a water birth, which is what I'm going to do."
"Really? I did a water birth with Devon, but that was because the midwives suggested it as a way to be a little more relaxed near the end of labor, and said that being born into water was an easier transition for the baby. Not sure that I believe there's anything easy about being born, and I know there's nothing easy about it on the mom side of things, but it was a little more relaxing. For me, anyway. Let's hope it helps you out, too." Arriving at the front desk, Lois flashed a quick smile at the nurse. "Vicki Vale Powers," she said, pointing at her as she did so.
The nurse nodded and started typing on her computer, asking, "How far apart are your contractions?"
"Just under seven minutes."
"Has your water broken?" Lois shook her head as she heard Vicki say no. "Have you called your OBGYN?"
"She has not, no," Lois answered when she noticed Vicki was doing her breathing thing again. "The only person we've informed is the father, who is on his way. I assume that you can contact the OBGYN for her?"
The nurse nodded, and without looking up continued. "What is your name and relation to Mrs. Powers?"
"Lois Lane Kent and I'm her..." Trailing off, Lois found herself at a loss for what to say. The nurse had asked the million dollar question without even realizing it. She didn't want to presume and say cousin, but at the same time she almost didn't want to presume and say friend, as Vicki had invited her back into her life but they hadn't exactly reestablished a friendship yet. There was still a lack of definition, leaving Lois without an answer to the question.
"She's my cousin." Her head snapping to the side to look at Vicki, Lois found herself swallowing back tears again, working her jaw in shock as she tried to find words but kept coming up empty. All she could do was smile tremulously at Vicki, who smiled back. The nurse came around from behind the desk and started guiding Vicki back through the halls, Lois taking Vicki's phone from her and following a few steps behind, calling Beth and letting her know what was happening while Vicki changed into a gown and got checked out by the nurse. When she was given the okay to go in, she found Vicki starting a contraction, this one lasting longer than any of the previous ones had, going over fifty seconds before it began to let up.
"You didn't have to tell the nurse that I'm your cousin," Lois said as she sat down next to Vicki's bed once the tightness in her face ebbed.
"Another thing I was going to talk to you about is the idea of family. People don't get to choose the family they're born into, but they do get to choose the family they make later on. I have Jeff, Beth, Sam... I don't really have anybody in my life that started out mine, though I'm technically in the middle of my uterus changing that. Anyway, I know that everybody has embraced me and that Beth tells me she loves me whenever we talk, but it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't married into it. Don't get me wrong, I'm okay with that, and am amazed at how they've embraced me. It doesn't mean they love me any less, and I've come to be as close to Beth as I've ever been to anybody besides Jeff." Vicki smiled for a second, adjusting her position in the bed as she did so. "But I want to be selfish. I told you before about how I want the happiness everybody else has. Well now that's not just limited to husband and baby. I want the whole package. Maybe it's because I'm about to become part of a family, forever, or maybe it's because I realized how much you and Chloe loved each other, how much love I felt when I was Chloe in my dreams, and how much it must have hurt to strike up a friendship with her doppleganger to make sure that her replacement was happy. I'm not Chloe, but I want to feel the familial connection that Jeff has with Beth, at least to a degree, and you're my closest chance at that. So if you'll have me-"
"Of course I'll have you. Are you kidding?" Lois asked, unable to help but laugh a little at the idea that she would reject this chance. "I would have been giddy had you simply said that you wanted to resume our friendship. This... this is a better option than I ever could have imagined!"
"Good, I'm glad. Now, on a more immediate note, I know it was in the information you gave me, but my brain isn't working at top efficiency right now, so do women in our family have a history of long or short labors, or is it varied and there no telling how much longer and more painful this will get?"
Lois didn't have it in her to tell her that there was quite a bit more pain to come, but she could at least give her some good news. "Actually you're in luck, because my mom had me in nine hours and my sister in six, Aunt Moira gave birth to Chloe in seven hours, and my children were born in eight hours, seven hours and five hours. I don't know how big they told you they think your baby is, but let me tell you, my last was over nine pounds and to squeeze that out in five hours was tough. It was faster, so hooray, but she was two pounds bigger than either of my other two, in a hurry and willing to use her head as a battering ram. Unfortunately I think that was a preview of things to come with her, the impatient little bugger. I love her like crazy, but pretty sure she's going to turn out to be my clone." Hearing footsteps approaching, Lois looked back over her shoulder to find Jeff walking in, looking every bit like a guy that had hurried over from work. Getting up, she let him sit down in the chair as Vicki started having another contraction. Slipping out of the room, Lois pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the time before calling Clark's cell rather than the house, just in case Devon had conked out early.
Three rings in Clark picked up. "You need me to bring you home all ready? That's can't be good."
"Actually, I don't," Lois said, unable to stop herself from smiling as she leaned back against the wall just outside the room. "Vicki went into labor. We talked about a few things between her contractions and I'm going to stay until she gives birth." Spotting Beth walking down the hallway, Lois waved and pointed into the room, Beth smiling and walking inside with a quick wave. "She told the nurse that I'm her cousin, Smallville."
"What? Why? Is she remembering more stuff?"
"I don't know specifically what more she has remembered through dreams, but whatever it was seemed to make her realize how much Chloe and I loved each other, made her feel it instead of hearing me talk about it. And on top of that, she wants to have her own family members! She's not Chloe, but to have Vicki in my life, to get to be close to her... this is a good day, Smallville," she said, shaking her head. "This is a really good day."
Trying to ignore the crushing grip Vicki had on his hand as she went through yet another contraction, having had less than a minute to recover since the last one, Jeff could only watch her as she tried to breathe steadily. She was doing an amazing job of it as far as he could tell, not that he had a frame of reference. He had been in the hospital but nowhere near the delivery room when Beth had given birth to Jenny and Liv, figuring his job of being Uncle Jeff didn't start until the babies were born and ready for public viewing. This was something more of an intense experience than that had been. He was still waiting, but watching Vicki endure hours of labor had been a much more trying experience than sitting in the waiting room with various friends. Looking over as he heard footsteps coming into the room, Vicki's doctor came to the bed as Vicki started relaxing, at least as much as she could relax. The doctor started pulling on a latex glove, saying, "I'm going to check you real quick, Vicki" Looking back to Vicki, she was just staring at the ceiling, the hand that he wasn't holding wiping some sweat off her forehead. "Almost eight centimeters, one hundred percent effaced, +1 station. Congratulations, you've made it to transition. Now the real work begins."
"What?" Jeff said, hearing Vicki say the same thing at the same time.
"Yeah, that's usually the reaction I get from first time parents."
"Oh God, another one," Jeff heard Vicki say through gritted teeth, her grip tightening on his hand again.
"Once this contraction is over," he heard the doctor say, looking up at her as Vicki did her breathing, "we should go ahead and get her in the tub. It should offer a little relief. Are you going to get in with her?" Jeff nodded, looking back to Vicki as he heard her breathing change, seeing that she was also nodding. "Ok, then once we get her in there you should go ahead and get changed." Once Vicki's grip started to relax Jeff stood up, helping Vicki up and off the bed. He slowly guided her over to the tub, pulling off her gown for her before helping her get in. As she slowly lowered herself into the water she let out a long sigh, Jeff letting go of her arm once she was settled, resting on her legs with her arms draped over the side of the tub. Walking over to the bag Vicki had brought, he dug out the pair of swim trunks stuffed at the bottom and was about to walk into the bathroom to change when he felt a hand on his back. Turning, he found the doctor standing behind him. "Transition can last fifteen minutes or more than an hour," she said quietly, "but in my experience it's when most women hit the wall. Mental and physical exhaustion hit like a ton of bricks because transition is another level of intensity. Vicki's going to feel like it will never end, but she's progressing well, and is going quickly for a first time mom. You need to be prepared to talk her through it, tell her she's strong enough to keep going."
"Yeah, of course," Jeff said, glancing over the doctor's shoulder to see if he could spot Vicki, but the angle was wrong. "That's why I'm here. Nobody knows how strong she is better than I do, and I won't let her forget it."
Standing next to Beth outside of Vicki's room, Lois crossed her arms over her chest, trying not to yawn as Beth did. Jeff's sister was standing on one side of the closed door while Lois stood on the other, and Lois thought that neither could be accused of being relaxed, yawns or not. Others from their huge group of friends had stopped by through the evening, all excited but none deciding to go the distance. Sam had lingered the longest before asking Beth to call her in the morning because she had an early patient whose appointment she didn't feel comfortable canceling. Letting her eyes drift shut, she let her head rest back against the wall. "This is worse than being the one in labor," she muttered. Realizing what she had said, Lois opened her eyes and looked over at Beth, who was smirking at her. Lois shook her head and checked the time on her phone, finding that it was nearly 3am. "Christ, I must be more tired that I thought for that sentence to have made it out of my mouth."
"You're not used to being the one waiting for a baby to be born, are you?"
"No," Lois said, standing up straight so she wasn't tempted to close her eyes and rest her head against the wall again. That only led to saying things that weren't true. "I don't have many friends. Well, any friends, really. I have acquaintances, such as other parents at my son's school or in my older daughter's playgroup, but friends? My best friend was always Chloe. I had actually thought I would be in the room when she gave birth. She was in the room with me when I had my son."
Beth looked over at her, "I thought I read in that glut of info you gave Vicki about Chloe and her family history that you have a sister, and a niece. Didn't you have to wait then?"
Frowning, Lois recalled the morning that Lucy had given birth, or at least her side of that morning. "No, I did not. She went to the hospital around 6am and had given birth by 9am. I didn't hear about it until my brother-in-law, who was a photographer for the Daily Planet, came into the office to get Clark and I in person. No morning sickness, she looked amazing throughout her pregnancy and had a three hour labor. I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as karma because after some of the exploits of her youth, she deserved, like, 23 hours of labor. Not that I would actually wish that on her, of course," Lois said, shrugging, "but the saying 'You reap what you sow' does not seem to apply to her in a karmic sense."
"I know faster than usual labors run in your family, but three hours? Jesus." Lois couldn't help but nod as Beth sighed. "I did nineteen. Twice. I can't imagine giving birth in less than ten hours, let alone in three. That's absurd."
"Yeah, well, my sister caught a serious break. If she ever decides to have another baby and it all goes that smoothly and quickly again, I will be convinced that karma is nothing more than wishful thinking."
"I'm done. I can't do it anymore." As Vicki relaxed back against him, Jeff's fingers entwined with hers, he felt her shaking, which had been happening for the last ten or fifteen minutes. The doctor had told them that it was perfectly normal, same as when Vicki had thrown up after a contraction a few minutes ago. Knowing how taxing birth could be after all his female friends and his sister had looked absolutely spent was a different animal than watching Vicki shake uncontrollably and throw up over the side of the tub.
"I love you," he said quietly, his mouth next to her ear. "I love you so much, Vicki. You're the most amazing woman I've ever met, and the strongest woman I've ever met. You've taken on crime organizations all over Gotham and are still here and kicking. The only other person that can say that and who has had the same success you have is Batman, so having a baby? Just another day for you."
"Quit with the bullshit, Jeff. It's too hard."
"You haven't quit anything since I met you. You're almost there. It's a marathon, and based on how quickly your labor is going your doing the twenty-six miles on a bike. Plus, you're going to be the only one to win the over/under because Beth, Chuck and I all took the over. As competitive as you are, I think that's a hell of a goal to achieve. Plus, you know, actually having the baby."
"I love you, Jeff, but that is the dumbest reasoning I've ever heard."
She tensed up again after that, her grip tightening as another contraction started. Hearing her start grunting as the contraction progressed, which was new, the doctor walked up to the side of the tub, taking a knee next to it. Waiting for the contraction to end, she smiled at Vicki as she relaxed back against him again. "Your contractions are a little more spaced out and it sounds like you're pushing."
"Huh?" Vicki said as she took long deep breaths, sounding to Jeff like she was trying to catch her breath.
"Involuntary pushing. Completely normal." The doctor reached down into the water to check Vicki, only taking a second before she smiled a little wider and pulled her hand back out. "Congratulations. You're fully dilated and the head is at +3. Are you feeling any urge to push during contractions?"
"What does it feel like?"
The doctor chuckled quietly as she stood up and pulled the glove off her hand. "You'll know it when you feel it."
"Wait!" Vicki called out, beating Jeff to the punch. "I don't know how to push."
"I prefer to let women do physiological pushing rather than coached pushing. The counting to ten, the potential for burst capillaries in your face... I only do that if a woman is pushing but not getting much out of it. Your body knows how to push. All you have to do is follow your urges." The doctor walked to the other side of the room, picking up a chart and writing something on it, leaving them to stare at her.
"You're giving birth in a tub and your doctor says that she isn't going to coach you through pushing, that your body will know how to do it." Looking back at Vicki, whose head was resting against his shoulder, he said, "Are we hippies who weren't aware of it, or do you just have a hippie doctor and you didn't tell me?"
"No, this is news to me, too."
"Outstanding."
"All right, Vicki, the baby is starting to crown. Next contraction give it everything you've got. Dad, are you going to come around and catch the baby?"
Looking up at the doctor, Jeff couldn't hide his surprised at what she had just asked him. Vicki really had found some hippie OBGYN. That, or the medical profession was a lot different when it came to delivering babies than he had always imagined. "I wasn't aware that was an option."
"If it's okay with mom, then as long as the cord isn't around the neck you should be fine. Just come around to the side here, and once the head is delivered I'll let you take over." She apparently could see how he was handling the idea and winked at him. "Don't worry, I'll talk you through it."
"Go ahead Jeff," he heard Vicki say, and as he collected his thoughts he moved out from behind her to the side, now getting a full view of what exactly was going on down there. There was a mirror mounted just outside the tub so they could watch, but he had been focusing on talking Vicki through it rather than staring intently at her vagina.
All at once, Jeff thought it might be the most beautiful and one of the strangest things he had ever seen. A fleeting thought of calling it disgusting went through his mind, but that was a word he refused to associate with the birth of his child. Hearing grunting again, he didn't look up this time as Vicki got louder, the head slowly emerging. "Okay Vicki, breathe now instead of pushing. I know your body is telling you to push, but breathe." The doctor reached into the water, a hand under the head as it turned towards him and he caught sight of his child's face. He'd never seen anything more beautiful in his life. "All right, dad," the doctor said, pulling her hands away. Move around here." Jeff did as instructed, moving closer to Vicki. "Keep one hand under the head and rest the other against Vicki's perineum. Let the baby stay under water for a few seconds once its out before lifting it up and onto mom's chest, okay?" He could only nod, still transfixed on the baby's face as he put his hands where instructed. Hearing Vicki grunting loudly again snapped him out of it and he watched as the shoulders slowly emerged, and then the rest of the little body followed. Making sure his hands were properly placed, he waited as long as he could make himself before he lifted the baby out of the water. "Oh my God," he said quietly as a strong cry rang out a few seconds after removing the baby from the water, tears starting to blur his vision as he smiled.