Chapter 3: Homecoming

Lois took a long gulp from her water bottle, as condensation dripped from her hands down her arms. Lois threw the water bottle back into the cooler, and slammed the cooler shut. She wiped her moist hands on her forehead and into her hair in an attempt to cool off.

The summer heat was raging down on the construction crew, just as the house and barn were almost completed. It had seemed to be a slow process to rebuild everything, and Lois was looking forward to all of it being done. But now the heat had slowed everyone down, and the construction lingered on.

Lois' frustration was growing with every sweat bead that ran down her back. All she wanted was everything completed, but her patience was waning. Already this morning she had yelled at two guys who were slacking in the back of a truck, drinking beer. It was ten o'clock in the morning and they were already trying to get hammered. Lois had literally jumped onto the truck bed and dragged them back to the work site.

By now Lois had gained a reputation by the construction crew as a hard ass. No one wanted to get in her way, which was how Lois liked it. She found it required very little bullying now to get what she wanted from the crew. Mostly she asked for them to work longer hours or milk the cows for Mrs. Kent.

Lois had insisted on managing the construction, with the help of the construction supervisor; while Mrs. Kent tried to keep the farm alive. Though Lois hadn't had a lot of experience in construction- just what she had seen on the army bases- she knew nothing about cows or corn. The arrangement seemed to work, much to the chagrin of the construction crew.

Pulling out a list, Lois looked at what still had to be done: put in kitchen cabinets, fix the plumbing in the bathroom, finish painting the house, and finish the electrical wiring in the barn. It could be done in a week, as long as nobody had a heat stroke.

As Lois was about to walk to the back of the house to finish painting, she saw a figure walking up the driveway. She squinted into the sun and shaded her eyes with her hand to see who was coming. Her heart beat faster as she realized it was Clark.

She had hoped for and dreaded this day since everything had happened. She wanted Clark there to help, but Lois had no idea what to say to him. Lois fumbled for the walkie-talkie attached to her hip, determined not to be the one to tell Clark about his father.

"Mrs. Kent are you there?" Lois asked hopefully. Then urgently asked, "Has anyone seen Mrs. Kent?"

"Uh... I think she's in the field Miss. Lane," came the static response.

"Well somebody go get her and tell her he son's back," Lois ordered.

"Now?"

"Yes, now!" Lois responded. "Do you think I want you to wait until next week? Hurry."

"I'm going," replied the voice on the headset, then, to anyone other than Lois, the voice asked mockingly, "Who gave her a walkie-talkie?"

She chose to ignore the comment, instead preparing herself for what was about to happen. As she clipped the walkie-talkie back, Lois noticed Clark was now right in front of her. She studied him, not finding anything different about him physically. No scars or scratches, like she had from being banged up by the construction. Not tan like she was from working all day in the sun. The man wasn't even sweating, and he was wearing a jacket. Lois swore sometimes that Clark wasn't even human.

Lois did notice a change in Clark's eyes though. They were still the same bright blue that both intrigued and annoyed Lois. But what was behind his eyes has changed. There was more experience, more knowledge, more wisdom there. And, from her personal experience this summer, she was able to notice more responsibility. It almost seemed that Clark held the weight of the world in his eyes.

She also noticed his confusion. And in an instant Lois felt sympathy for him, knowing his world was about to fall apart. God, I hope that construction worker is running.

"What happened here, Lois?" Clark finally asked, breaking the longest silence that had ever occurred between them.

"Hey Smallville. How've you been? Nice of you to show up," Lois' voice dripped in annoyance as she considered his question the most stupidest question in the world. "What was that thing that happened? Wow, great question. Let me think about it."

"Lois don't start with me. Just tell me what happened." replied Clark with the same amount of annoyance.

"The meteor shower. That's what happened. Do you remember that?"

"How much damage was there?" Clark asked, ignoring Lois' irritation.

Lois sighed, trying to calm herself down. "Pretty much total damage," Lois replied, softer this time. "We're almost done with the reconstruction. There's some wiring left in the barn, and couple more things left with the house."

Clark looked bewildered. He had expected destruction, but not this much. "Everything was destroyed?"

"Pretty much," Lois answered.

"What about my parents?" Clark asked urgently. "Are they okay? Where are they?"

"Um..." Lois started.

"CLARK!" came a cry from the other side of the house. Mrs. Kent rushed to Clark's side and embraced her son. Tears were streaming down her face, as she sobbed into Clark's chest.

Clark quickly wrapped his arms around his mother, relieved to see her. He did his best to soothe her, reassuring her that he was okay.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Mrs. Kent stepped back from her son and looked at him. Lois, not quite comfortable being in the middle of the family reunion, quietly left them alone to resume her work. She was relieved that Clark was back, that Mrs. Kent finally had something to be happy about, and that Lois didn't have to deliver the heart breaking news to Clark.

"Clark, it's so good to see you. Are you okay?" Mrs. Kent asked.

"I'm fine Mom. What about you? Lois told me that a meteor hit the house."

"We need to talk. Let's go to the barn. I don't think there are any workers in there."

Mrs. Kent took Clark's hand and led him to the barn.

"Mom, what do we need to talk about?" Clark asked apprehensively.

"I have some bad news."