In a particular brownstone on a shady street tucked in the corner of New Troy were for restless beings. Their minds were ablaze with hot emotions, deep questions, and hidden fears. Each of them tried to stay distracted by some tedious household chore or another.
Clark Kent sat on the comfy couch in his living room. In front of him was a pile of laundry. Mostly work clothes that his mother had washed earlier that morning. As he sat there, matching up socks and folding underwear he let his mind wonder over the events of the last few days.
Actually the excitement had begun late last Sunday. He and Lois had spent the day in the park walking aimlessly through the trees. Just holding hands, talking and thanking whatever higher power controlled the universe they were happy and together. Their story about the prison break in Florida had been ground breaking and they were eager to have the time off to prepare for another workweek.
It wasn't until they got home and started to cook supper that they realized they only had one week left until vacation. Clark had casually reminded his wife that she had a physical the next day and might want to double check the time of the appointment so she wouldn't be late. Agreeing with the logic, Lois made her way to the calendar that the couple religiously wrote down their scheduled events. She stated that her appointment was for 10:30 AM on Monday, and then her eyes grew wide and she spun around to face her husband.
It was funny to think they had forgotten to make plans for vacation, but not all that absurd. In a business when you ride one story to the finish then immediately jump on top of an equally complicated and dangerous situation it's surprisingly easy to lose track of time. And apparently they had. It took one phone call and all their plans were set. They were bound for Kansas and not a moment too soon. Although they both put on a happy face when their honeymoon was interrupted and the City Counsel story won them kudos from all their colleagues, if they could go back in time they probably would have never answered the phone when Perry called.
It was on a rare occasion that the newly weds got to spend uninterrupted time together. So it was no wonder the couple spent the whole week trying to focus on anything but the clock and silently willing the date to change. Clark had known from the moment he woke up that that Friday would be the longest one ever. But as it turned out it wasn't all that boring.
If anyone other then Dr. Klein had told him his father was alive Clark would have played it off as a hoax. But the Dr. seemed so serious and concerned that he couldn't refuse to at least go to Star Labs to check out the situation. Even in the waiting room as he paced back and forth, his patience diminishing with every step Clark was searching for ways to discredit the facts. Perhaps he was too much of a reporter for his own good.
But it all changed, everything, when he stepped into that hospital room and saw the man laying in the all white room surrounded by machinery. Something in him shifted and he immediately knew it was true. It went beyond recognizing him visually. Besides he didn't really look the same from the images of the globe anyway. After all, it had been thirty years. No, it went deeper then that. Much deeper. Something deep in his heart, his soul even, clicked on and he was bombarded with forgotten feelings. He could swear that in that instant he remembered the lyrics to a song his mother would sing to him at night. He could swear he could hear her laughing at some cute gurgling noise he used to make.
That feeling was only heightened when he heard Nul speaking Kryptonian to his father. But rather then being comforting he felt empty. For the first time he truly felt like an alien. Not only was he different from earthlings, but now he realized he didn't even speak his own damn native language. It was crazy, this mixed up jumbled mess of emotions. So when that nurse came in and he was forced to leave he joined Lois in the hallway. They were headed to the drinking fountain when the room started spinning and soon he had his face in the toilet.
He couldn't imagine a worse feeling then that. Well, he didn't have to imagine it because soon he was at the forefront of misery. His father's heart had stopped right before his eyes. Clark never knew the meaning of panic until that moment. The screams of that heart monitor sent him hurtling into the hallway. His own screams echoing through the building. The rest was blur that he barely remembered.
The next clear memory was getting dressed late that morning and driving to the Daily Planet. Of course Perry had been very understanding but it didn't curb his tension. How embarrassing it had been to cry in the middle of the lobby, but Lois was no less then perfect. As always.
Clark heard the buzzer sound on the dryer upstairs and immediately recognized his wife's soft footsteps gliding down the hallway and into the laundry room. He felt his heart begin to race and suddenly he needed to be with her. It was like a craving stemming from a long standing addiction.
Laundry abandoned, Clark Kent took the stairs two by two and headed to the direction of his beautiful wife.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
Martha tossed her quilting aside. She let her frustration filter out in the form of a long exasperated sigh. This was crazy, she thought, absolutely crazy. She should be engorged in her work. She was, in fact, quilting a baby blanket for her first grandchild, but she was too distracted to quilt or doing anything else, for that matter.
When they finally entered the brownstone in the wee morning hours, everyone was exhausted and went to bed. Considering the gravity of the situation Jonathan and Martha insisted on staying at the brownstone. Which was promising to be a long while. But no less then four hours later she had been awake. She made breakfast and then began to pluck away at the huge stack of laundry in the hamper. She had done five loads worth of work clothes and load of Superman Suits. After that she'd set her sights on washing the windows, then dusting then cleaning the bathroom. Anything to keep her mind off of the horrible wails Clark had issued the night before in that hallway of Star Labs.
It worked for a while and then when she least expected it one of his screams would stream through her mind like a bolt of lightning. She would shutter and gasp, sometimes a tear would roll down her cheek. Each time it happened it took longer and longer to recover.
Finally with all the chores done she resigned herself to think of happier matters. A baby was growing and soon it would be born. It needed a blanket. Every baby has to have a blankie from its gramma. So Martha sat in a blue plush armchair that sat by the window in the guest bedroom. She didn't hear her husband enter the room and walk behind her. But when she felt his work worn but incredibly gentle hands rest carefully on her shoulders she felt a tear come to her eye. If there were ever a time in the word that she needed him, it would be right then and there. The bond they had formed over the years was one of the only things keeping her sane, and without it, she was doomed.
"How you holdin' up, Martha?" He asked while rubbing his wife's shoulders in soft circles.
"Oh Jonathan, I'm so worried."
"The kid's will be fine, you know. Clark got the shock of his life last night, but I know my son, he'll bounce back, he's good like that. And Lois, she's nothing if not strong."
"I wasn't talking about the children, Jonathan. I was talking about you."
"Me?" Jonathan quirked his brow in question. Martha removed his hands off of her shoulders and guided him around the chair so she could look at his face.
"I know it's scaring you. That fact that Clark's biological father is alive is scaring you Jonathan I can see it in your eyes." Jonathan felt his eyes mist up. He'd been avoiding that topic and part of him wished that he still could. But eventually he'd have to face it, and he'd rather do it alone with his wife then risk adding more pressure to his son's already stressful life.
"I don't want to lose my boy, Martha."
"And he doesn't want to you lose you, I know he doesn't."
"What are we going to do, seriously, Clark was right in that waiting room, what the hell are we going to do?" Martha thought for a moment before answering.
"Well, right now, all we can do is wait. See how Jor-El heals and then when we know something definitive we'll sit down as a family and figure out where to go from there."
"And what if this Jor-El character wants to take our boy away?"
"Jonathan-"
"It could happen."
"I think we need to give him the chance to explain himself. I mean there is so much we could learn from him, and he's going to need some lessons of his own." Jonathan furrowed his brow in confusion. "Think about it Jonathan, he's never been to earth before, everything's going to seem different and odd to him. He's going to need us just as much as we need him."
"He has to live Martha, there's just no way in getting around it."
"He will."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
……………………………………………………………………………................
"Mmmmmm.. Where did that come from?" Lois' voice was low and husky with spent passion. With her head on Clark's chest the young couple lay naked in a heap on the laundry room floor. It never occurred to them that Jonathan and Martha were a few doors down and they should probably cover up with a blanket.
No, in that moment nothing else mattered. Not Jor-El's failing health or their parent's presence, or the Daily Planet or Superman. Nothing. They could both stay sprawled on the floor forever and think nothing of it.
The gentle cycle of Clark's raising a falling chest was soothing and threatened to put Lois to sleep. But the smell of his body conjured up more intense memories of fluid motions. Motions that were much more intimate, much desired and well received.
Clark had initiated their love making when he came sailing into the laundry room, but Lois was happy to assist in the process. He said nothing as he grabbed the full laundry basket and flung it in the far corner of the room. He sat her on top of the dryer and peppered her skin with hungry kisses, which she gleefully returned.
Soon the clothes came off and the couple enjoyed the vibration of dryer in a new and all around more pleasing way. Lois immediately recognized this sex. It was Clark's I'm-stressed-out-and-need-a-release sex. They'd had this kind of sex many times when Clark had come home in the Suit from a particularly brutal rescue.
She was happy to help to relieve his tension and although that form of sex was more needy and frenzied and lacked a little of the passion that usually dripped from their encounters, Lois understood completely and never complained.
And today she was happy that Clark was after this particular kind of attention. She was glad for many reasons, the most practical reason was that in her emotional state she doubted if was capable of a soft slow encounter. Her thoughts were simply too chaotic and choppy for that.
She knew early on, when it was still in the making out stage that this would be the perfect way for the both of them to get some of the pent up aggression out while channeling the power it caused into an activity they both enjoyed.
When the encountered on the dryer was done and Clark lifted her and set her on the floor for round number two, Lois was ready and waiting. By the time round number four was over, however, both Lois and Clark were out of energy. And so they collapsed on the floor in each other's arms. Both of them basking in afterglow and feeling much more relaxed. In his euphoria induced delirium Clark hardly heard Lois speaking and even after he realized that she had it took him a moment to get his mind and tongue to work in unison.
"I don't know, but I needed that." He answered finally.
"Me too." Lois breathed sexily. "You're an animal, you know that?" She teased.
"Damn straight." In the distance Clark heard the phone ring and the soft voice of his mother pick it up. Only moments later Martha Kent was headed into the laundry room and right as she was about turn the corner, the door slammed in her face. Confused, she knocked a few times.
"Be out in a minute." Clark informed her and she found herself laughing out loud when she heard Lois giggling from behind the door. At least her and Jonathan didn't need to feel guilty about barrowing the guest bed for some stress relief anymore.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
"You wanted to see us, Mom?" Clark asked as he and Lois entered the kitchen hand in hand. If he didn't know better he'd swear that his parents were just as doofy and hung over as he and Lois were. He brushed the thought aside and tried to focus of what his mother was saying.
"That was Dr. Klein from Star Labs, if seems there's been a change regarding Jor-El."
"Is something wrong?" Lois asked before Clark could speak.
"Actually it sounded like good news."
"Then what are we waiting for, lets go!" And with that, the family filed out the door and went to meet with Dr. Klein.
