Metamorphosis – Chapter 39

Lois walked into the kitchen leaving Clark and Cameron in the living room while her father, the General, followed behind with a grim expression. The ones he used to give her when she skipped out on her classes or did something equally rebellious to get on his nerves.

"Do you mind telling me what's going on?" her father ordered.

Lois opened the fridge and reached in for the pitcher of orange juice and then grabbed another bottle that contained breast milk.

"I thought it was obvious. I brought Clark to meet his son"

"We decided to wait a little longer…"

"No," Lois says sternly. "You decided. I never agreed." Lois saw the concern all over her father's face. As far as timed pregnancies goes, hers went the normal nine months, and after Cameron was born, her dad had gotten softer. It weirded her out at first and she's still getting used to him playing the loving grandfather.

"I'm all right, dad. I'm safe, alive and healthy. And in case you've forgotten, Cameron actually has a father and he has right to know him. And it goes both ways"

"And I don't disagree"

"Good, now let's drop it." Lois throws the bottle of milk towards her father and he catches it easily. He placed it in the microwave to heat it up at an appropriate temperature. "And keep away from your clubs, you're dangerous with those things," she adds with a smile.

"At least tell me what kind of person this… Clark guy is?"

"What do you want to know?"

"His last name would be a good start"

Lois sighed. "You're not gonna do a background check on him! He's done nothing wrong"

"He got you pregnant," he reminded her.

Lois laughs at the accusation. "It was consensual." Upon realizing the topic being discussed at hand, she backpedaled. "Why are we talking about this?"

"Because you wouldn't talk about it before, that's why"

"You weren't exactly the go-to dad I would call for advice," she points out matter-of-factly.

"Lo, I'm trying here"

"Look. His name is Clark Kent and he's from Smallville. He moved out to Metropolis a few years ago and he had no idea about Cameron whatsoever, so please don't give him the third-degree. We're long past that phase of our nonexistent parent-child relationship"

"I'm just looking out for you"

"I know that and I thank you… but this is something I need to make right myself"

Sam took a peek out into the living room and saw Mr. Kent still carrying his son carefully but this time, upright by his shoulder looking out into the city through a window. He's just going to have to trust his daughter on this one.

"And you see that place over there?" Clark points out to Cameron, who was now wide-awake and his attention fully on Clark. "That's the Daily Planet and it's located right in the heart of Metropolis." Cameron looks out into the city, unfamiliar with the landscape but enamored by it all the same.

Clark continued speaking regularly to him. "That's where I took your mommy for our first date." Cameron smiles, giggling. "Yeah, you like hearing about mommy, huh." Clark kissed his son's cheek gently. "That's okay, I love hearing about her too"

Cameron laughs, his fingers touching Clark's face then hugging him. Clark loved feeling this way.

"You're definitely a Kent," he mused proudly.

Lois watched from behind, enjoying the scene between father and son. She's imagined this moment since she learned she was pregnant.

She left her grumpy father in the kitchen, she didn't want to get another lecture from him… actually, they came out more like debriefings.

Clark turned when he realizes Lois's presence behind him.

"Hey, how did it go?"

"I'm still alive," she joked, looking at herself from top to bottom.

"He didn't seem happy to see me"

"Don't mind him. He didn't expect you"

"Based on his reaction, I take that he didn't know who I was"

Lois shook her head admittedly. "He knew of you but when I found out I was pregnant, the first thing he would've done is order you to get tested or something. It's not the first time he's done that. Like I mentioned earlier, when he saw me unconscious, he ordered a battery of tests. I've never been fond of hospitals, so being poked and prodded into just proved my point why I hate it so much"

"I understand you were just trying to protect me." Cameron begins to make some noise, reaching out to his mother. "I think he misses you"

Lois smiles. "Good morning, sweetie," she greets her baby with a kiss to his forehead. Cameron giggles happily in response. She made no attempt to take him away from Clark. "He's actually the best-behaved baby I've ever been around"

Clark quirked an eyebrow.

He takes a wild guess. "Babysitting?"

"Actually, it was the Peace Corp. There were a lot of orphaned babies in Africa. It's one of the reasons why I pursued journalism so seriously. America has so much while they had so little. I wanted to make a difference, even if it was a little"

"If it matters any, you made a difference in my life"

Lois is touched. "That's sweet, but I can't take all the credit. You're parents raised you well. I just hope I can be the type of mom Mrs. Kent was too you"

"I have a feeling that you're going to do just fine"

Lois had been right, one look from Cameron and Clark felt like he would do anything for him. It amazed him how much power a child so small holds over him in such little time.

"Clark, there's still some things I need to tell you"

"What about?" Having their son in his arms, for a while Clark had forgotten everything that's transpired between them over the past year.

"About why I stayed away," she softly answered.

Clark turned, caught slightly off-guard.

"Okay"

He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the whole truth now.

"Do you want me to put Cameron in his crib first?" he asks.

"No. You're less inclined to get upset with him in your arms," she says a little sarcastically.

Clark grinned. "So that was your ulterior motive." He held Cameron out in front of him. "You see that, Cameron. Mommy's very sneaky"

Cameron looked back and forth between mommy and daddy, a smile that looked almost like a smirk was obvious on his face.

Lois had to chuckle before getting serious.

"Clark…"

"Hmm," he responded, holding Cameron back to his shoulder.

"There's something I want to warn you about." He already doesn't like where this conversation is heading. "Cameron can't get anywhere near Kryptonite"

Clark looks up, alarmed.

"I thought you said that he was normal"

"He is, but he's still a part of you. Even though he's human, he's also part Kryptonian. When Lex visited me in the hospital, he brought one with him, and it…"

"It hurt you, didn't it," he said more like a statement than a question.

Lois nodded.

"How bad was it?" This part, he wished he didn't have to hear but for their family's sake, he had to.

"I spent a good month in recovery after I was exposed," Lois says hesitantly.

Clark instinctually pulled Cameron closer to him, letting his chin touch against his small head and closing his eyes to listen to his heart beat, as well as Lois's. He wanted to make sure they were both all right at this moment, that's all that mattered to him now.

"I'm sorry"

"It wasn't your fault"

Clark looks at his son, scared about what this could mean. "Was he hurt?" Even the idea of him getting the slightest scratch filled him with fear.

"I was only a few months into the pregnancy when it happened, there were no lasting effects and our baby wasn't developed anywhere near enough to make any significant damage"

Clark breathed out a sigh of relief.

"You must've been scared"

"It all happened so fast. Dad grilled me for hours about the father… but I knew if I told him, there were a lot of questions needing answering"

"I would've done it," he snapped up in response. He didn't mean to sound forceful.

"I know. That's why I chose to play it by ear. As far as anyone knew, they thought I had an infection and I wanted it to stay that way. I don't want the government anywhere near our child, Clark"

"You didn't have to protect me; I've been doing it my entire life. I should've been here for you, for the both of you"

"It's not just you now, it's our son. I trust my father but I don't trust the world. Yes, I didn't attempt to contact you during my pregnancy, and yes, I still kept it to myself three months afterwards. That didn't mean I wasn't thinking about you. I thought about you all the time"

"I missed you so much"

"I missed you too"

Clark breathed out again. Everything is always complicated. "Did they figure out what it was?"

"No. When they realized that it wasn't contagious, most of their fears subsided. Dad though kept a watchful eye on me throughout the duration of the pregnancy. It's strange, you know. I learned more about my father this past year than I have my entire life"

"I'm glad you two were able to reach a compromise"

"We're still arguing," she scoffs amusingly. "But the conversation doesn't end with one of us hating each other, so I say that's a vast improvement." She paused for a moment thinking about the other people in their lives. "How's Chloe doing?"

"She misses you too"

"Is she angry?"

"Oh, she's gonna be pissed off… but she'll be happy to see you," he concludes, lightening the discussion. Clark knew he had to confront Lex soon but at the moment, he was completely content to get to know his son and the woman he continued to love despite the year they spent apart.

Lois sighs. "I should practice my graveling then"

Clark smiled. "You do that." He bounced Cameron carefully on his knee, giving off the impression he was a baby riding on a horse. "In the meantime, you think we can introduce him to my parents?"

Lois would love nothing more.

To be continued…