This is it. This is the final chapter of "A Piece of Home."

After Karsta died I took her body to the Fortress. There I prepared her for a proper Kryptonian funeral. The body was to be dressed in the finest Kryptonian Garb. I did not have the correct clothing available for her. So, I made do with what I could get a hold of. I had the robots quickly produce a garment made of human materials that had the correct appearance. Which was white with her family crest emblazoned on the front. Then she was laid out in the center of the Fortress. Where I performed the final rights as best I could. I was not Priest.

I did not know all of the Sacred Words. I did not believe in the Great God Rao. But I knew that Karsta did. So, I tried to faithfully recite them. That way her soul would find rest in the afterlife. I spoke about what I knew of her. Her past, her transgressions, her achievements, and her redemption. Then I spoke of my connection to her. Weak as it was. I asked Rao to accept this soul and protect her. Then I set her body ablaze. Which is hard to do. I had to set the solar lamps to red then torch the body. I order the robots to monitor her. Make sure that nothing remained. Then I sped off toward Metropolis. My business with Karsta Wor-Ul was complete.

It was early the next morning before I could head home. I wanted to check in Lois. See how she was doing. I was concerned that she was in pain. The longer that I thought about it the more concerned I became. What I found shocked me. Lois was sitting on the coach, groaning. She looked awful. It was obvious that something was horribly wrong.

"Lois?" I asked tentatively.

She looked up at me. "Hey Clark."

I sat down beside her. "Are you okay honey?

Lois tried to smile but it came out as a grimous. "It's fine. Don't worry, Smallville."

I love my wife with all of my heart, but I did not believe her worth a damn. She was slightly pale and clammy. Her heart rate and respiration were elevated. And she smelled slightly. I know that is a strange thing to say about one's own wife, but it was true. Lois's scent was off. When I noticed the wet spot under her I became panicked. I x rayed her. The babies were alive, but one of them, our daughter, was moving towards the birth canal. It was too early for birth. They weren't even in the right position yet. This was too soon.

"Lois," I finally said. "I need to get you to a doctor."

She waved me off. "No, I'm . . ." She was cut off by her own scream.

That was enough of that. I was not going to sit there and watch everything that I loved to die. I didn't care what Lois thought. She was going to Fortress and I was going to summon doctor Dr. Mid-Nite. I don't like to force my hand on things like this, but she left me little choice. So, I scooped up my wife and sped off. I did not listen to her complaints. Time was of the essence. I had to move.

Once we made it to the Fortress I laid Lois down on the diagnostic bed. I ordered the robots to watch her and to not let her out of this room. Which immediately override previous protocols that would allow Lois to escape. They would not help her go home now. Of course, they still tend to her and listen to other requests. They just would not let her leave. Which was enough for now.

I told Lois, "I'm going to have to leave for a short time. I need to find Dr. Mid-Nite. Charles needs to look your over."

"Clark, you're scaring me."

I kissed Lois on the head. "It'll be fine. Everything is going to be alright. Just stay here and rest. I'll be back as soon as possible."

Once out of earshot I contacted Doctor Mid-Nite via the League's coms. I explained to him what happened recently. As well as her symptoms and what I saw using x ray vision. He agreed that Lois was in labor. He was worried about how soon it was.

"As I mentioned before, this is a likely outcome. Lois is over 35 years old. She's having twins. Who are of mixed heritage. I'm not sure if her kidnapping caused this. At this point, it doesn't really matter. From your description, it sounds like the water has broken. We have no choice. We have to deliver them." He paused for a second. "I need to grab a few things from my office. Then I can head up to your Fortress. PIck up there in say . . . 45 minutes?"

I didn't like the idea of waiting. "Doctor, I can . . ."

"Get me there faster, I know. But there is something that I am doing that I must finish. It will take a few minutes. Then I will be ready. Don't worry, this process takes a while. Lois should be fine during the delay. If her condition worsens, let me know. Otherwise, pick me up in 45 minutes."

I agreed to the delay. To be fair, I didn't have much choice. I needed him. He was the League's most senior doctor. While he did not specialize in obstetrics he was more than qualified to help Lois. He could save her when I could not. I had to wait. In the meantime, I decided to go back to Lois. I held her hand and I waited with her. I tried to keep her comfortable and calm. As I had been instructed previously. We ended up saying very little. Which was disconcerting. Lois was always talking. Now it was the last thing that she wanted to do. It scared me more than anything else.

Once the time limit expired I was out the door again; racing towards Dr. McNider's practice. I found the Doctor hurriedly packing tools and equipment. When he saw me he said, "Superman, good. I'm almost ready. I just need one more thing that's not in my office."

"What's that?"

"I need some Human Blood Type O for Lois."

That worried me. "You think that she is going to need transfusions?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. I hope not, but it's better to get now just in case."

I nodded. "Alright. How do we get that?"

"I have some stored at WatchTower for emergencies. I just need to . . ."

I didn't wait for him to finish the sentence. I beamed myself up to watchtower and returned with five vials of Human blood, type O.

"Uh . . . thanks."

I know that I was getting impatient, but at the moment I did not care. "Can we go now?" I asked.

"Fine." He closed his bed and slung it over his shoulder. Next, he placed the blood vials in a cooler then gave the handle to me. "We can go."

I picked Mid-Nite then raced off towards the Arctic. I knew that I was going a touch too fast for humans, but I couldn't help it. I was worried about my wife. I didn't think about my passenger getting sick. I should have, but I forgot how sensitive humans could be. Charles was visibly sick once we had reached our destination. I apologized, but he waved me off. He said that this was all an occupational hazard. Then he asked for a bathroom. Which the robots politely directed him to. I returned to Lois.

"Hey"

She smiled up at me. "Clark."

I took her hand. "I'm here, honey. I'm here."

It took Doctor Mid-Nite a few minutes to recover from our flight. When he found his way out of the bathroom he examined Lois.

"I can confirm that Lois is labor. I can also confirm my theory that it has progressed too far to be stopped." He looked back at Lois. "What I need to know now has the babies turned?"

I x rayed her again. I confirmed that my daughter was still coming out feet first. "No."

Charles sighed. "Then we have no choice. I have to operate."

I nodded. "I understand."

Dr. McNider went back to Lois and explained what was going on. It seemed to scare her, but she accepted his recommendation. He nodded to me then I set to work. I prepped the area for surgery. While I worked on that he gave Lois something for the pain.

"It's not as good as epidural, but it will have to do. I am going to use a local anesthetic. That way you can remain awake for the procedure. If it becomes too painful, let us know. We'll anesthetize you."

"Got it, Doctor. Thank you." Lois told him. "Let's just get the show on the road."

With that cue, I gently picked up my wife. I helped her undress then placed her on the operating table. We covered her up. Leaving her belly exposed. McNider gave her the local anesthetic then got to work. Over the next few minutes, I waited anxiously as he completed his work. First, my daughter was born. Then my son. They were a little small, but otherwise healthy. Still, to be certain I ran several scans on them. I could find no issues. They were lucky little babies.

"Clark, please, let me see them." Lois pleaded.

What could I do? Ignore the woman that I loved? Deny her the right to see our children? Absolutely not. Lois had earned this moment. I was not going to take it away. So, I bundled up each one. Placed them in mobile cribs then I brought them over one by one. I gave her the chance to see her babies while the doctor finished his work.

"Hello Martha. Hello Jonathan. I'm your mom." She looked up at me. "That big lug is your dad. We're so very glad to see you."

I smiled. "That we are."

The doctor finished his work. Before he left, he pulled me aside to leave instructions. "Normally I would recommend that she be in a hospital for a few days. Now, I understand that would bring some unwanted attention. So I won't recommend it. Instead, I recommend total bed rest for next week. And a checkup with her normal doctor afterward."

He looked at Lois off in the distance. "Your wife is going to need a lot of help while she heals. She can't work and she will need help tending to newborns. I'd hate to say this, but you're probably not going to be able to work for a bit yourself."

"I understand."

He nodded. "Good. Now I'm just going to do a final check on Lois then I would like to head home."

"Thank you, Doctor."

I took Doctor McNider home shortly afterwards. It was now almost 8 am pacific time. I had one of the longest, most emotionally draining, but wonderful nights of life. The arrival of new life was exhilarating. I was a father now. That was amazing and terrifying all at the same time. It was a shame that it happened on the same night as the death of Karsta Wor-Ul. Somehow I think that she would have been happy to know that there were two new Kryptonians in the universe. I guess that I will never know.

Once I was satisfied that both Lois and our children were strong enough I brought them home. I guided Lois to bed. I brought in the bassinets that we had previously setup. Then I put our children in them to rest. Both Jonathathin and Martha fell asleep along the way. It seemed that they didn't mind air travel. It made me wonder if I was going to end up giving a lot of late night flights. I could imagine them crying uncontrollably. Lois would kick me out of the house with them in tow. Then over the next few minutes, I would fly them around the city. Calming them and lulling them to sleep. I would need an easy way to carry two infants safely at the same time. I suppose that would be easy to do. All I would have to do is make a couple of specialized pouches that I could sling over my shoulders. I wouldn't even need any kind of special fabric to do it either. Not that I would use earth fabrics, but I could. No, I would error on the side of caution and weave kryptonian fabric together to do the task. That way I know that the fabric would not rip. I was not going to take any chances with the lives of my children.

Of course tending to my family would take me from my duties to the people. It was a reality that I had been expecting. I just didn't expect so soon. Lois was just shy of seven months. I thought that I had more time. I would need to call a lot of people and let them know what happened: I would have to call the Daily Planet, my parents, Kara, Conner, Lois's family (that one I did not look forward to), and Batman. I would also have to make arrangements so that I could tend to my family. Meaning that I would have to ask Conner, Kara, and Diana to cover for me. There was a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. For the next couple of months, I would be on light duty. Only responding to major incidents where the League had to receive Superman's help. The same would be true of the Daily Planet. As of today, Lois was on maternity leave and I was on paternity leave. It would be an odd time to be sure.

It left one major problem: The Kryptonian weapons. I had been tracking them for months. Now with the death of Karsta Wor-Ul I had hit a brick wall. I do not know where the weapons went or who got a hold of them. It could literally be anyone - even someone not associated with the League of Assassins. Like Lex Luthor for example. He could have snapped up the prototypes easily. He would have plenty of motivation to acquire them. He could have acquired them without me ever knowing. He also could have not. It is hard to say. Either way I don't like the idea of these weapons being in the wild.

Still, my family will need a lot of help in the coming weeks. I could not abandon my responsibilities at home. Lois was confined to bed and her wound had to be tended to. And our newborns were premature and needed constant care. Fortunately, they were both half-Kryptonian. Which made them more robust than most human infants. That did not mean that they were invulnerable. They weren't. Even I wasn't invulnerable at their age. They could easily get hurt or get sick. I had to monitor them constantly. I just didn't have time to continue the search. I had to abandon it for now.

I decided that the person that I would tell would be Batman. Sure, the man probably already knew about Lois giving birth. He watched me day and night. Bruce would notice a major event like that. Still, it was only polite to tell him what happened. We were supposed to be friends, after all. I also had a small favor to ask. It was best to stay on his good side.

I found Batman in his temporary Batcave. He was hunkered down doing some kind of detective work. The man didn't say a word as I walked in. Apparently, he left the front wide open. It seemed that he was waiting for me. After a minute or two Bruce finally said.

"So Lois finally gave birth?"

"Yeah. She did."

He nodded but did not look at me. "Congratulations. I'm sure that you'll be a good father."

I chuckled nervously. "I hope so. They're just so small and so vulnerable. Just one mistake and I'll lose them."

"You'll be fine."

"You're probably right. It's just a lot to take in. I'm a father now. A real, honest-goodness father. How did that happen?"

He shot me a dirty look. "You don't know how it happened?"

"Well, of course, I do. I was there, y'know."

"I should hope so."

I shook my head. "That's not what I meant. Lois is human and I'm . . . well . . . not. Theoretically, it shouldn't have worked. Yet somehow I have two healthy newborns. How did I get that lucky?"

Batman grunted but said nothing.

"Anway," I eventually said. "With Lois recovering and two very needy newborns to take care of . . ."

He cut me off. "You will not be able to continue the search."

"No, I won't. Sorry."

Batman closed his eyes for a moment. Turned off the screen then turned to face me again. "Clark, let me give you some advice from one father to another: Children are a menace. They screw up, make messes, get into trouble and talk back. They are a constant distraction. Demanding your attention when you have a million other things to do."

"Gee Bruce, tell me how you really feel." I said sarcastically.

He narrowed his eyes. "Let me finish." I shut up and he continued. "But despite all that, they are the best thing that could happen to a man. It's your job to protect them. Nothing is more important than that."

He went to the window and opened it. "Let me deal with this. I'll get the weapons off the streets. I'll make arrangements with the league. Take care of your family, Clark."

"Thank you."

"Go!"

With that my adventure tracking down the Kryptonian weapons ended. While my adventure of fatherhood had just begun. I had a lot of new responsibilities. I was ready. So I thought but that is a tale for another time. Maybe I will tell it to you one day. For now I say goodnight and goodbye. Thank you for reading and coming along with me. I hope to see you once again.

Thank you for reading and I hope that you follow me. I will have more stories to come. I doubt that it will be in this universe, but there will be more stories!