Chp 15 – Connections



-- Smallville – August 2010 --

"Da-dee, it's bref-fast," Cole called as he saw Clark enter the kitchen. "I got cereals!"

Clark laughed as the toddler waved at him with a spoon in his fist.

"They look more like Cheerios to me, Buddy," Clark said, leaning over the boy's hand.

Martha glanced at them from her position at the stove and smiled.

"Yup," Cole agreed. "Cereals."

"Yup," Clark mimicked, grinning and ruffling Cole's hair.

"Want some?" Cole held out a handful of the circular pieces.

Clark frowned. "No, I'm going to wait for Mi-mi's eggs… but I will have some of those baby fingers!" Growling, he grabbed Cole's hand and pretended to gnaw on it, sending the boy into peels of laughter.

"Not my fingers!" Cole squealed as Cheerios fell from his hand to the floor.

"And just who is going to be cleaning that up?" Martha asked, laughing at the scene her two boys were making. As she turned back to the oven, her attention was drawn to the staircase.

"Lois, good morning. Did you sleep okay?"

Lois had been watching the interaction between Clark and Cole silently from the staircase. Having been discovered, she went the rest of the way down the stairs. The playful scene around the high chair stopped and Clark turned to her with a worried expression.

"Yes. I slept fine, thank you," Lois answered.

"Well, come sit down and I'll fix you something to eat. How would you like your eggs?" Martha asked, trying to assuage the tension that Lois seemed to be carrying.

Lois's eyes were riveted on Cole, who had stopped laughing when his father had turned to the new arrival. He was watching her curiously.

Lois bit her lip and shook her head, fighting off the emotions that threatened to surface. "I'm really not hungry, but thanks. I'm just going to go outside for a little while."

She shot a smile in Martha's direction, quickly strode across the kitchen to the door and stepped outside. Three pairs of eyes followed her retreat.

"I'll go make sure…" Clark began as he headed toward the door.

"Clark," Martha called, halting his motions. "I think she might need some space, honey."

"But…"

Martha set a plate on table. "Eat your food, sweetie. She'll still be here when you're done. Cole, tell Daddy what a clean plate is."

"Make a Happy Plate, Da-dee," Cole warned, collapsing into giggles when Clark growled at him again.


Lois exhaled in relief as the screen door closed behind her. It was all too much to handle. Seeing Clark and Cole sharing a relationship that she was missing out on tore at her soul.

If life were fair, the scene in the kitchen would have been heartwarming. She would have been able to walk into the room jovially, kiss her son good morning, eat her breakfast, and laugh with her family. But life wasn't fair.

Lois moved to sit on the porch swing, gazing at the familiar scenery of the Kent Farm.

"Hey Shelbs," she greeted as the dog rose from his reclined position and padded over to her.

When he hopped onto the swing next to her, Lois chuckled and steadied the chair. "Well at least someone is happy to see me around here."

Shelby seemed content to lie next to her on the swing and she drew comfort from idly stroking his fur as her thoughts drifted.

After a while, a movement at the door drew Shelby's attention, and Lois turned to see Cole peering at her through the screen door; his nose flattened by the mesh.

"Hey," she said softly. She was saddened by how unfamiliar they had become to one another. A little over a year ago, this little boy had been her baby. Now she wasn't even sure how to approach him.

"You want to come outside?" she asked, getting up from the swing and walking to the door.

Cole's head tilted back as he looked up at her, but he didn't respond. Glancing through the screen into the kitchen, Lois met eyes with Martha. Martha smiled and nodded, gesturing for Lois to open the door.

With a trembling hand, Lois grasped the handle and opened the door so Cole could join her on the porch. He darted past her as soon as it was wide enough for his little body to get through. Lois watched as he scurried to the area of the porch where his trucks were piled and sat down to play.

Lois closed the door and headed back to the swing, smiling as Cole made sounds to accompany the movements of his trucks. Every so often, he would look up at her to see if she was watching him. If she happened to turn away, he would get a little louder until she turned back.

Pleased with even this small progress, Lois felt tears come to her eyes and sniffed, using the back of her hand to wipe them away.

"You have an owie?"

Lois blinked and looked at Cole. He was watching her with a concerned expression.

"No, sweetie. No owie," Lois answered with a laugh.

Cole frowned at her and then pushed himself from his seated position. He walked over the swing and squinted at her face. "Are Yyu crying?" he asked.

Lois just smiled and shook her head. "Do you want to sit on the swing with me and Shelby?"

Cole turned to look at his trucks and then glanced at Shelby. The dog chose that moment to move his head into Lois's lap. That seemed to help Cole decide, and he stepped closer to Lois and held his arms out for help getting on her lap.

"Move doggie," he commanded as he leaned back into Lois chest.

Grateful that he was allowing her to hold him, Lois fought the urge to wrap her arms around him as tight as she could. She didn't want to scare him.

"You want to hear a story?" she asked. Her mind filled with memories of the times she used to sit and rock Cole in his room, reciting stories to him even before he could understand them.

"Sure," he replied lightly. "The lela-phat one."

"The elephant one?" Lois asked to clarify.

"Sure!" It was his latest word, so he always liked to throw it in when he could. "Da-dee knows it."

"Good choice. I like that one, too. I taught it to Daddy," Lois laughed.

"A long time ago, in a place far, far away, there lived a big family of elephants, and they all had little bitty noses, just like yours…"


When the story was over, Cole slid from Lois's lap and headed in the direction of the porch stairs. Shelby jumped from the swing and moved to the stairs, blocking Cole's access. The dog turned his head to Lois, as if wondering if she was going to help him keep Cole in line.

"Hey, where are you going?" Lois called.

"I have to help Papa," Cole answered, lightly pushing Shelby in an attempt to get him to move. "Buttons needs some bref-fast."

Glancing at Shelby, who was not budging, Lois tilted her head. "How about waiting for Papa to come back. He doesn't let you go alone does he?"

Cole studied her for a minute, trying to figure out how she knew the grown-up rules. Lois watched as the little wheels turned in his head. It struck her just how much he had grown up while she was gone.

"Can you take me?"

Lois shook her head in wonder at the angelic face. With those eyes, she didn't think she would ever be able to say no to anything he asked.

"Sure, let's go find Buttons."

As she took his hand, Shelby moved out of the way. "It's all right, Captain," Lois addressed the dog. "I'll take it from here."

Shelby barked in reply and found a spot on the porch to lie down.


"Can I go too?"

Martha turned away from the window to see her son giving her his best puppy-dog look. They had been watching Lois and Cole on the porch.

Martha laughed. "Go ahead," she relented.

A huge grin flashed across his face as he reached for the door handle.

"Make sure that goat doesn't get overfed!" she called as he darted out of sight.


Around an hour later, Lois returned to the porch alone. Seeing her outside, Martha stepped through with a mug.

Moving to stand next to Lois at the railing, Martha handed the mug to her. "It's not coffee. It's something that will help with the dehydration. My mother's recipe."

"Thanks," Lois said with a small smile. She was always amazed at Martha's intuition.

Martha studied Lois's profile for a moment. She remembered how the young woman had barged into their lives six years earlier. "So the boys left you to fend for yourself, huh?"

Lois set the mug on the railing, wrapping hands around it. "Yeah," she said laughing. "Mr. Kent told Cole he could 'drive' the tractor and Clark went to stack some hay, or something."

Martha frowned slightly at Lois's formal reference to her husband. "Lois…"

"I just want to say thank you," Lois interrupted. "For taking care of him. He looks great… and big. I know it had to be quite a shocker to have a baby delivered to your front door."

"Not as much as finding one in a cornfield."

Lois let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah. I bet." She released a breath and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She slowly turned to face Martha. "Mrs. Kent…"

"I thought we'd gotten past the Mr and Mrs point a while ago."

Lois's gaze flicked away from Martha's. "You're probably wondering why I didn't tell you about Cole… before… y'know."

Martha reached out and placed her hands over Lois's fidgeting ones. "Why don't we go sit down in the kitchen?"

"Do you mind if we sit out here?" Lois asked. "It's crazy, but after living outside for the past year and a half, I think I'm a little claustrophobic."

Martha's eyes narrowed in question.

"It's a long, complicated story," Lois sighed, grimacing as she met Martha's eyes. "But, then what isn't?"

They moved to sit down and Lois focused her attention on her hands.

"Honey," Martha began. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Right, just drop a line in one of the Christmas Cards. 'Happy Holidays. I'm pregnant. Love Lois,'" Lois quipped. "The truth is, there were so many times when I would reach for the phone and start dialing… but then I would convince myself you deserved to get the news in person, and I'd hang up. Then I'd decided that Clark should know first… and then I had Cole, and the more excuses I made, the easier it was to put it off."

Lois sighed and turned to face Martha. "I'm really sorry that you found out the way that you did. I think part of me was afraid of the fallout. When my dad went ballistic, I kind of just… I didn't want you and Mr. Kent to be disappointed. You guys mean a lot to me… but I know I made it worse by not telling you. Calling, sending pigeons, or something… anything," she ended sarcastically.

Given the circumstances, Martha was happy to see the spark of humor. She reached out and took the young woman's hand, determined to show her support. "It would have been nice to know earlier, but we are grateful that he got to us and that you made it back safely. You didn't go through the pregnancy alone did you?"

Lois swiped at a tear. "Oh not at all. Cat was there, and Perry was awesome. Everything was fine."

Martha could see the effort Lois was putting into making everything upbeat, but she knew that something was missing. "Cat told me that you and your dad aren't speaking. What about your sister?"

"Lucy? Uh, Lucy's AWOL," Lois scoffed. "She and I had a… disagreement. She got in trouble and called me for help, but I wasn't exactly in a position where I could jump up and go to the rescue like normal," Lois explained, gesturing towards her midsection.

"Did she know you were pregnant?"

"No. It never really came up. She had to call The General, and when he found out what trouble she'd gotten herself into, she blamed me. And then he blamed me."

"Sweetie, I'm sorry." Martha said sympathetically. "I'm sure it would have been nice to have your sister there for you."

"Well, she's a Lane, and we tend to have a wild streak," Lois replied.

"So, about Cuba…" Martha started, fixing a maternal look on Lois.

"Cuba…" Lois repeated uneasily.

"Clark has been rather tight-lipped on the subject. Didn't you two use…"

"Ah!" Lois interrupted. "No. I mean, yes." Lois held up a hand as she began to explain. "We weren't really prepared for… it, so Clark didn't… wasn't." She sighed. This was a torturous conversation piece. "I was covered. Birth control. So it was all quite surprising. Cole was, I mean."

Martha's gaze narrowed. Obviously the control had been lacking in more than one area. "Could you have missed taking a pill one day or something?"

"No," Lois laughed. She quickly sobered when she realized Martha wasn't as amused. "The General didn't have much experience with girls, but he had heard the stories of plenty of boys and men through the years. So our Sweet 16 parties were held at the OB/GYN. He didn't buy the whole one-a-day thing, so he had us implanted. The things are supposed to havea six-year life cycle, so you can imagine my shock, and his fury, when mine didn't seem to work. Or in his words, when it stopped keeping the soldiers out of the fort. He thinks I purposely had it reversed just to punish him. Everything's always about him…"

Lois sighed and made a mental reminder with herself to talk to Clark about his potency. She had noticed the ring he was wearing and thought it would be information his wife should have. Her mind stuttered at the word wife. She wondered who it could be. Had the woman been playing mother to her son as well?

"Was the pregnancy… normal?"

"Like I would know the difference," Lois answered lightly. She saw the concerned look in Martha's and tuned away. "Except for a really nasty case of morning, noon, and night sickness for the first two weeks, my doctor said everything was fine. And here I was thinking I just had the flu."

A thought occurred to Lois and she abruptly turned back to face the older woman. "Cole hasn't done anything strange, has he? I mean, he hadn't before, but Clark never talked about how early it was when he started going all super-human… Cole did have pretty stinky diapers when he started solid foods, but the pediatrician said that was just… Has he been sick at all? Because he was never sick. Not even a cold…"

Martha laughed and shook her head. "No, honey. He's just been a normal little boy. I don't think we need to worry about Cole showing any signs of his heritage for a few years at least."

"His heritage," Lois repeated softly. One parent with a nose for trouble, and one who always had a nose in it. "I almost missed all the fun."

"How in the world did you get back?" Martha asked, having heard part of the story from Clark that morning.

"I was able to get to the Fort, and I walked from there."

"You walked!" Martha exclaimed.

"Well, I hitchhiked some, but mostly I walked. Good thing I studied those Smallville maps when I was bored, right?" Lois quipped, attempting to be light.

Martha stared at her with her mouth agape. It was no wonder that the poor child had fainted from exhaustion the day before. "Why didn't you call us from the Fort? We would have come to get you."

Lois looked down at the hand that still held hers. "I needed to be sure that no one would be able to track me here."

Martha squeezed her hand. She could see in Lois's eyes that she believed the threat wasn't over.


tbc