Turner Child, Geno beast: Thank you!
Fictionaddict24: Lol. Don't worry, all of that is already written.
Stupid me: Lol. That was six words; but yeah, poor Lana and Jo'an.
Monaivendork: Thank you; and I'm happy you were just kidding about hunting me down;)
Clois Harley: Don't worry hun, Clois can still make Jo'an in the future.
So loong: You guys are so spoiled! Lol. Four days is not a long time. We have to wait a full week to watch Smallville on Fridays.
LoisLaneRocks: Lol, Thank you so much; and I really think it will be more appropriate for Lois to do the smacking instead of you. That's her baby; although you guys seem to like Jo'an so much, it's kinda scary sometimes;)
Batgirl2992: Thanks!
Laura Redmond: Lol. Longer? I definitely won't get any sleep then. I am sorry you think the chapters are so short; but all my chapters, except for the first one, are at least 1,500 words; also, the holidays hours are taking away all of my time. I hardly ever get home before 12am anymore. Sorry.
Quathis: Lol, no, in Clark's thoughts, I mention how it had been nearly 3 hours since he spoke to Chloe, who was in the ladies room with Jo'an. That was where I left off with the Chloe, Jo'an, Oliver scene in the previous chapter; but I kinda rushed this chapter so I'm not surprised if things didn't come out right. Once I'm done with this story, I'm going to go back and fix everything.
Briellehalliwell1018: It always makes me nervous when you guys yell at me with the all caps thing. I'm sorry, but as Lana said at the end of the chapter. Jo'an can still be conceived. Thank you for reviewing; I'm glad you enjoyed it;)
Gladius Grim: Thanks! The 'Jo'an talk to me…er daddy' slip tickled me. Thank you for that! I always need the laugh.
Anita the angel: Sorry, I can only update when I say I will. I'm sorry you're feeling so tense; but I hope you still enjoy the story.
Clois 16: Lol. Quit rushing me, Lois will be there soon. I did mention Clark passing her on his way in. Oh, and it makes me feel bad when you guys cry. Remember, Clark and Lois can still make Jo'an in about a year.
Katlynne: I'm sorry you had such an awful day hun, but I am glad I was able to cheer you up some.
Lilbit4: No need to apologize, and I know Clark and Lois are gonna have a hard time with this. I feel bad for them.
Foxicully: Yes that was a bit of drama there, lol. And it is nice to know that people from all over are enjoying this story. It makes me feel good. Thank you for that;) Lol. I did enjoy the title of the story as well, I was just being a bit silly I guess.
Mayicita: Thank you! It was a pretty heavy chapter. And even though I don't like Laa either, I'm glad you acknowledged that she did do the right thing. She could've let Jo'an die; but I think if she did that, Clark would never forgive her…so in a way, she really didn't have a choice now that I think about it.
The bloody drover: I know right? I thought it would be funny if they were still a little nervous about the touching.
IceQueen825: Lol. Thank you; I had so much fun reading your reply. I'm still laughing at the fact that your mind is always in the gutter.
Solipoli: You're welcome!
Faithfullyfallen417: Lol. I am not evil.
gigga: Lol, thanks! I try.
Jeremy Shane: Thanks! Stupid Lex indeed.
Fan: just like in the show, Lana was infected; but just a little;. She didn't have enough kryptonite in her system to hurt Clark. She didn't become dangerous to Clark until she absorbed the kryptonite bomb. Hope you understand now.
Joanne loves bb, C im am a dragon, Clois fan: Thank you!
Laby Anne Boleyn: Lol. Those exams are very important hun, so don't worry about me.
Crazy4fanfic2008: Seriously? Why does everybody call me evil? It's just a story guys. Lol, JK. I know what you mean.
Ladyevenstar22: Honey, I don't think you're confused. I think you're in denial. Sorry about that.
Darthphoenixfire, Lois Joanne Lane, and troyellacloisgarmor: You know what I just realized; I posted the wrong chapter for chapter fifty. I accidently posted the rough draft. Before I posted the chapter I switched dinner with Ollie with Lois's ride home. You guys were supposed to read the Chloe, Jo'an and Oliver scene first. Sorry about that.
Nequam-tenshi: Yes he does.
Julianna: Thanks! I'm so happy you like this so much. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.
iheartBL: Thank you! I'm glad I can keep you on your toes, not too thrilled about the almost tears. Not trying to make anyone cry. I promise. It makes me uneasy.
Garces 01: Thank you! Long time no see! I hope you like the rest of the story. You really put a lot of pressure on me there; with the bit about knowing the end would be "awesome"
~~{(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)}~~
Lois still has the nervous smile on her face as she gets out of her car; she can still feel her heart racing from the anticipation of spending a whole night alone with Clark; and she still doesn't quite know what she actually wants to happen.
That's when she hears the scream…a child's scream; and the next thought she has after that is of her own child; Jo'an. But it can't be Jo'an; Jo'an was…is in Metropolis with Chloe and Oliver; and she doesn't see Oliver or Chloe's car anywhere around.
In the back of her mind, she does realize that her daughter doesn't necessarily need three hours and a car to get from point Metropolis to point Smallville; but at the same time, she knows that her daughter wouldn't dare run away again; not after the long talk she just had with the child. So that couldn't have been Jo'an screaming like that. It was someone else's child.
There's no time for the denial theory to recede, or for her to feel guilty for wishing pain on someone else's child, before she spots a sudden eerie glow in the barn. Seconds later, she hears Clark yell out a frightened, "Get away from us!"
She doesn't know who he's talking to; someone dangerous enough to scare Clark and make her baby scream obviously, meaning Lois doesn't have a fighting chance; but she doesn't care.
She realizes all of this subconsciously though; it's without a thought that she races over to the barn as fast as her human body will allow her.
The first thing Lois sees when she bursts through the barn doors is some kind of glass cage. She can't help it. Her eyes are automatically drawn to it because it's dead center in the middle of the barn.
Inside of that cage is Clark…only, she doesn't recognize him for who he is at first; and it's not just because he's turned around, his back facing her.
Clark is a very tall man, even when he's sitting down, even when he's laying down, even when his shoulders are hunched over because he's 'moping' for some reason or other; but that man in the cage, he's a very small man. He looks exhausted, utterly defeated; he just doesn't look like Clark at all; and all of this she can see without having seen his face.
"Clark?" Lois calls softly.
He doesn't respond to her; he never even looks up to acknowledge her presence. He just stays as he is. That's when Lois first notices the way he's rocking back and forth; like he's trying to put a small child to sleep.
She walks toward him; each step getting slightly more unstable than the previous one.
"Clark," she calls just a little louder; but her voice is still no louder than a whisper.
He still doesn't respond to her, not until she takes a step into the cage; and even then, he doesn't respond to her verbally. He just turns his head a little and looks up at her.
Immediately, her eyes slide down to his arms. It was the look on his face that made her do it, as well as the tears in his eyes. She's never been a mother before; and he's never been a father before; so she can't say that she's seen that look before; but instinctively she knew what it meant.
They'd lost their child.
"Clark, what happened?" she hears herself ask quietly. She realizes that she's having a moment; that she's suffering from shock and some extreme forms of denial. That's the only reason she hasn't rushed to his side and snatched the child from his arms. That's the only reason her eyes are still dry and her throat is still clear.
Clark doesn't answer Lois's question. He just turns his attention back onto the motionless child in his arms.
Lois watches him kiss Jo'an's forehead and tell her how sorry he is.
She begins to shake her head from side to side slowly as the shock and denial begin to ebb away.
Then Clark tells their daughter how much he loves her; how much he'll always love her; and Lois snaps out of her stupor immediately.
The way he's talking to the child…it's as if she's…as if she's….
Lois rushes to Clark's side and tries to take Jo'an away from her father; but he doesn't let go of her.
"Give her to me!" Lois yells.
Clark blinks at Lois slowly. He doesn't want to let Jo'an go, not ever; but the way Lois looks right now; the look on her face…it's scary. Not her usual "he just screwed up" scary; but she looks…deranged. It's the only word that comes to mind and he sticks with it. Not a lot of words have come to mind since his daughter…got hurt.
As soon as Lois has Jo'an in her arms, all denial and shock fly out the window. Her baby isn't smiling, or laughing, or talking, or crying, or screaming. She's not moving at all.
"Do something!" she yells at Clark.
Clark doesn't respond. What can he do?
"Who did this?" she screams while rocking Jo'an back and forth.
Clark doesn't respond at first. The Toyman probably did it; but he suspects Lex is the mastermind behind it. It seemed like something Lex would do; have him save hundreds of children, distracting him from the one child he should have been protecting all along, but had neglected. Yeah, it was very Lex-like. He would love the irony; as well as reinforcing the theory of how superheroes are meant to be alone.
"Clark!" Lois yells when he doesn't answer.
"Lex," he answers quietly.
"Find him," she rebuttals immediately.
"Lois, it won't help"-
"Find him!" Lois yells louder.
Clark looks at Lois. He watches the way she's rocking the still child in her arms for a second before kissing both of his girls and doing as Lois asked. He knows that finding Lex won't help his daughter; but he has a feeling that it might make him feel just a little bit better if he gets the chance to wrap his hands around the older man's neck until he stops breathing.
As soon as Clark leaves, Lois pulls Jo'an up closer to her face, and buries her face in the child's hair.
"Jo'an?" Lois sobs.
No answer. She doesn't expect one; but she wants one. She wants one so bad.
"Jo'an please; don't leave me."
Still no answer.
"Jo'an, answer Mommy, please," Lois pleads as she begins to cry in earnest.
She'll probably never stop.
Answer Mommy when she's calling you!
Jo'an remembers that. Her daddy yelled it at her because she didn't answer her mommy at the lake; and because she didn't answer her mother, she almost drowned; she almost died. She doesn't want her mommy to ever die.
But she's too tired to answer. She wants to sleep.
"Junior, please answer mommy. Please baby."
"Mommy?" Jo'an mutters. She's too tired to talk, but her mommy just called her 'baby', just like she used to. She misses her mommy so much.
Lois pauses with the rocking and crying for just a second. She thought she just heard her daughter speak.
"Junior?" Lois asks hesitantly while staring down at Jo'an's face. She doesn't want to get her hopes up. She's too afraid that her child's voice had been a figment of her imagination; that her brain just let her hear what she wanted to hear as some twisted form of a coping mechanism.
"Sleepy."
Lois's heart skips not one, but about four beats. They weren't important anyway. Her baby spoke. She saw her lips move.
"Junior, open your eyes," Lois says softly.
Jo'an nearly frowns. She doesn't want to open her eyes. She wants to go to sleep. Opening her eyes is not how she's gonna get any sleep.
"Sleepy," she says again.
Lois starts to panic. She doesn't want Jo'an to go to "sleep." Not ever.
"Baby please, open your eyes for Mommy," Lois pleads.
Jo'an whimpers. She wants to go to sleep; not because she's sleepy; but because she's hurt all over, and she instinctively knows she wouldn't feel anything if she was asleep.
Lois watches a tear form at the corner of her child's eye; and when it begins to slide down the side of Jo'an's face, she moves her hand to wipe it away; but then Jo'an speaks and Lois pauses at her words.
She doesn't know what to do. Her daughter just said, "Mommy, I hurt." How bad of a person would it make her if she asked Jo'an to open her eyes anyway? How selfish would it make her to ask her child to endure the pain just so that she wouldn't have to suffer the loss of said child?
"Don't cry," Jo'an mumbles in alarm. She can't go to sleep if she knows her mother is crying. She hates it when her mommy cries. Lanes don't cry.
Lois doesn't answer her. She can't. Her daughter is going to die because she can't bring herself to make the child stay up and endure more pain. How can she possibly stop crying?
Jo'an sighs deeply when she realizes that her mommy's not going to stop crying. She opens her eyes slowly. It hurts so much; but she does it anyway. Maybe if she does it, her mommy will stop crying so she can finally go to sleep.
"Hey, there's my beautiful baby," Lois sobs when Jo'an opens her eyes before kissing the child's face over and over again.
"Stop crying," Jo'an whimpers.
"Okay," Lois laughs shakily. Her daughter's face is set in the most adorable pout she's ever seen. Maybe she'll be okay. But then Jo'an closes her eyes, trying to go to sleep again, and Lois starts crying again.
Jo'an starts to get irritated with Lois. She opened her eyes already. She answered her already. Why can't she go to sleep now?
"Mommy, stop crying. Please," Jo'an whimpers.
Lois pulls Jo'an closer to her chest. "I don't want you to leave me," she tells the child.
Jo'an sighs deeply. She needs somebody else to tell her mother to let her go to sleep. She's not listening to her. Where's her daddy? He'll do it. He was just here a minute ago? She heard him. Or Aunt Chloe, or Uncle Ollie. They can maybe make her mommy listen to her.
That's when she remembers something important about her aunt and uncle. They're still in the van. Her daddy is supposed to go get them. That's what the man on the phone said.
~~{(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)}~~
A/N: next post will be Friday December 11th. I know you probably don't trust me because I was late with this one; but in my defense, I was supposed to be off Sunday, but I got called into work and I didn't have the time to finish it. I haven't been off in nearly a weak and my hours have gotten extremely long because of the holidays. I never get home before 12am anymore; but I'm off Thursday, for real this time, so there's no reason you shouldn't have your YMDS fix Friday morning before I leave for work;)
Also, I wanted to do a Christmas fic for you guys; so if you can answer these two questions for me, I'll really appreciate it. You can answer in a reply or send me private message. Either way is fine.
Rating? K, K+, T, or M…..personally I would love to do a K+ rated fic; but it's up to you.
Who? Lois, Clark, Jo'an, Martha, Bobo (Bart), Victor, Ollie, Chloe, A.C., Bruce, Dick, Kara, Tess, etc….the top 8 or 9 characters are who I will use. Personally I think it would be fun to have Ollie and Bruce there together. I think that it would be funny to see who gets Joey the better gift; but again it's up to you.
As always, majority rules!
