So, this story does start slow, but I hope that you enjoy where we end up. Let's get on to it!

Getting Lois to sit still for five minutes is a challenge. Getting her to wait for a full-body scan was almost impossible. She had a million and one reasons as to why she couldn't let me do a complete medical scan. A story's deadline was coming up soon; She had to make an important phone call; There was a crisis in Bolivia that needed my personal attention. Okay, so there was a crisis in Bolivia, but Kara and the rest of the league were handling it. I did not need to go there personally. I knew that. She knew that. It was a thinly veiled excuse to prolong the inevitable. She did not want to be examined. She did not want to stop moving. Not even for a moment. It was kind of infuriating. Sure, I could have forced her to sit still. But I would never do that. It was not the kind of man I was. I would not harm my wife. I would have to convince her to cooperate.

"Lois, please, just lay still for a little while longer."

"You said that 20 minutes ago!" She whined.

I sighed. "That was 5 minutes ago, not 20. The scan has been working for almost 6 minutes. It needs another two to three to finish up."

She tried to sit up but stopped the moment I shot her a dirty look. "Shouldn't this thing be done already? I mean all this fancy Kryptiotan Tech should be light years ahead of us."

"It is, Lois. But I'm not just doing a body scan. I'm doing a full molecular scan. It will allow me to get a breakdown of our children's DNA and RNA. Then I can check for any abnormalities. See if there is anything that I need to address." I stared at the data coming across my screen. So far, it was encouraging. They were healthy and doing well. Which was a huge relief. Of course, I would not know for sure until I had the time to go over the scans with a fine-tooth comb. I refused to leave anything to chance.

"It's going to take me a few days to double and triple check this data. I'll set the computer to go through their DNA molecule by molecule. Then crosscheck known human and Kryptonian diseases. Which will take a few hours to run. Then I'll need to double-check its results. Of course, this is the first time that our species have been mixed. So there's a lot of guesswork involved. There may be issues that come up that have never been seen before. It's hard to say until I go over the data. Fortunately, both human and Kryptonian genomes have already been fully sequenced. That will speed it up quite a bit. Which is good. The window to make genetic changes is closing. Soon, they will be too old to make permanent widespread changes. Hopefully, everything's fine and I don't need you back on that table. But I want to make sure."

I didn't stop for a second as I explained. There was a lot to tell her and I did not want her to fixate on any one thing too much. This was a lot to unpack and I knew that. She wasn't going to understand half of it. She didn't get into this sciencey-medical stuff. Still, she was my wife and the mother of my unborn children. She had every right to know what was going on. So, I held nothing back. Even if her eyes glazed over on me. I kept going.

I pulled up a holographic representation of our children then showed it to her. "I'll also be able to create an accelerated simulation of your gestation. I can simulate several different possibilities. Like 'Will our children develop powers while in the womb?' If that is likely then I can simulate different ways to prevent it. Keeping both you and our children safe. I don't want to lose any of you. This will help me do that."

I finally took a breath. Which was long enough for Lois to grumble. "Sorry for asking." Shortly afterward the scan ended and she sat up. "You know, Smallville, sometimes you talk too much. You could have just said: I'm doing this to protect you and the children and it would have been enough."

I sighed again. "I could have, but that would be so imprecise. I am doing so much more than that. Lois, I'm ensuring our children's future! Doesn't that mean something to you?"

She kissed me on the cheek. "Of course it does, you idiot. It means everything. I just didn't need all the details, that's all. It's kinda scary if you ask me. I could do better without them. It will help me sleep at night." I tried to interject but she cut me off. "Look, I trust you, Clark. Our children couldn't have a better expert on their side. That doesn't mean that I need a play-by-play. Just tell me what I need to know next time and leave the rest out, okay?"

I made my apologies then shooed her away. I meant it when I said that this would take a long time. I had to be certain that they would be okay. It took almost three days to pour over every detail. By the time I was done I had memorized both of my children's genomes. My son checked out. He wasn't likely to be as strong or have as many powers as I had, but he was healthy. I did not need to interfere. I could let him be. It was my daughter that concerned me. There was a defect that would cause her human and Kryptonian metabolisms to clash. She would not be able to break down nutrients correctly and her solar batteries would never form. If nothing was done she may never make it out of the womb. I could not allow that to happen. I had to operate.

The trick was operating on her while inside Lois while not harming Lois or her brother. It would take the utmost precision. It would take me a while. I did not want to cause any harm. They were my children. I refused to be the instrument of their death. I would have to go slow. Meaning that I would need Lois's cooperation on this. For she would have to be knocked out during the process. I would not risk her moving a centimeter. She had to be absolutely still. The only way to ensure that was to put her under. Lois was not going to like it.

By the time that I got home, Lois was going over some case notes. It looked like she was after intergang again. Which did not make me happy. Intergang was dangerous. They could hurt her or the babies. I was already stupidly attached to them. I just wanted to make sure that they were safe. Alas, danger was part of her job. There was no escaping that. Just as it was with my job. I had to let her do her thing. And so long as she didn't go to see Mannheim in person I would let it go. I planned to volunteer to do whatever crazy stunt she had planned. And she had something planned. That was obvious. I knew my wife too well. She was up to something. Something that she hadn't told me about yet. Something that I probably wouldn't like. But that was a discussion for another time. I was here to discuss the results of my efforts.

Lois looked up when she heard me behind her. "Hey, Clark, finished already?"

I chuckled, "Lois, it's been three days."

She checked her phone. "So, it has. Sorry, for not noticing, but I have been chasing down leads for days."

"Not in person, I hope."

She waved me off. "Of course not. Do I look that stupid to you? I've got two little ones to think about." I sighed. Thankfully, even Lois had some sense sometimes. "It doesn't matter. Since you'll be going in my place."

"What?" I pretended to be surprised. I would have insisted anyway later on. Still, it was better to make her think that she had one over on me. It made Lois feel better about the situation. She did not like letting go.

"You're the one who put these things inside me. So, you're the one who gets to do the dirty work. Besides, you're invulnerable. Going after Mannheim should be no skin off your back."

"Let me guess: You'll take the bi-line."

"Well, it is my story."

I kissed her. "Anything that you want."

Honestly, I didn't care if she got the bi-line or not. I was more than happy to surrender that to her. I loved her work. I always did. She wrote with such passion and fire that it took my breath away. She would capture the story in a way that I never could. Besides, she was doing most of the work. All I would be doing was the dangerous bits. Which I was happy to do. I would do anything to keep her and our children out of the line of fire. Even surrender a bi-line. Nothing was more important to me. Besides, I had plenty of stories that I was working on. I could survive for a while on what I had. I would gladly make way for my queen.

"Glad that's settled. Now, tell me what's wrong."

"Wrong?"

"Clark Kent I am not stupid. I know that look. What's wrong? Is it something with the babies?"

I wasn't even aware that I was giving her a look. Then again, no one knew me as well as she did. Sometimes I swore that she could see right through me.

"Our son's fine. He's a perfectly normal fetus."

Lois was not stupid. She knew that this was only half of it. "And our daughter."

"She has a problem." Lois threw herself into the couch.

"And that is?" She demanded. I could hear panic creeping into her voice.

I was not good at this. I am not a doctor. But I tried my best. I explained the genetic defect. How it would affect her as she grew. The outlook was grim if I did nothing. I had to operate. Alter her DNA soon or it would be too late. The solar cells had not formed yet. I had to move quickly.

"How much time do we have?" She asked. Her voice was thin and tiny. God, how I hated watching her like this.

"A few days at best. I need to operate soon."

Lois stood up. Her legs were visibly shaky now. "Fine. We'll do it tomorrow. I'll let Perry know." I nodded. "In the meantime, go to bed. You've been up for three days straight. And don't try to deny it. I know you, Clark. Go to bed. We'll operate once you are fully rested."

"Lois . . ."

She shook her head. "No, bed . . . now. I'm not letting you operate until you are rested. Now go!"

I had little choice. I had to sleep off my exhaustion if I wanted my wife to cooperate. It made sense. I was a bit shaky. A little sleep would do me good. I suppose I would have to go along with her on that. Tomorrow I would operate and ensure my daughter's future. Tonight I would rest.

That's it for now. Sorry, this chapter is short. Many of these chapters are not. Thank you for reading. Another chapter will out later this week.