Clark looked to Lois.
"You're on your own," she replied, reading his thoughts in a way that should have proved to Oliver the years they had spent together.
He figured that. Plus, he wouldn't have wanted to cause her any more stress than she was already feeling with the baby.
He stepped outside. Lana's angry tears said it all. "Kate told me when I called for you."
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way. I know what it looks like, but it turns out we're not really married, and that's not my son."
"Are you implying I cheated on you?" she said her voice even more shrill than before.
"No, I'm implying we were never even together. I know it sounds crazy, but you know how Smallville is."
"I thought all the weird stuff was done."
"I thought so too, but I guess I just can't escape it, and I'm starting to accept that. I guess weird and I go together."
"That's one way to describe her," Lana said bitterly, looking toward the house.
"That woman in there is the love of my life and the only one who sees me as I really am, all of me. She predicted this life a long time ago and somehow it came true through magic or advanced technology, but deep down you had to know that something was off with us."
"Yes, but what else is new? You know I'm the one who made the right prediction." At his confusion, she continued, "You and her."
He'd scoffed that day, but a seed had been planted the day he met Lois Lane. "Yes, you did,"
"I wonder if I found someone." She was less angry and more downcast now.
"I'm not sure Lois knows, but it looks like you did," he said, referring to the baby.
"I've got to get out of this town," she said, regaining a little of her former irritation.
"If it makes you feel any better, I think you did."
She muttered all the way to the car. He wondered if his mother knew about any of this and what she was going to think.
When he went back in, Lois was on the couch with her feet propped up and Chloe and Oliver had left the room.
"That was fast," she remarked.
"Yeah. And more drama-free than I expected."
"A little too fast if you ask me," she said, going to the window. "Do you think she's plotting something?"
Clark laughed. "I think like me she lived in Smallville too long and is used to the unexpected."
"I suppose." In typical Lois-fashion she suddenly switched the subject entirely. "Can you answer me something that's been bugging me?"
"If I can."
"Don't worry about hurting my feelings. I already know you aren't in love with her. Did you kind of, sort of enjoy being normal with her? Or I don't know being equals with her? It seems like that was the only times you two ever got together."
"I guess it's what I thought I wanted and what I thought I had to have, but make no mistake, I never thought of you as anything less than an equal."
She smiled absent-mindedly, knowing he referred to their war of wits. "I mean do you wish we had a normal life together? I know you don't remember our actual life together, but is this small-town life what you always wanted?"
He realized she wasn't jealous of Lana so much. She just wanted to know if she'd made him take up the superhero mantle and move to the city and whether he could really be happy with that.
"Lois, I could live in Metropolis or Smallville. I could be a farmer or a reporter. A superhero or an average man. I wouldn't care as long as I was with you because life with you would always be an adventure."
He knew he'd given the right answer because her eyes lit up, and he meant what he said with all his heart.
She threw her arms around him and kissed him soundly. He got lost in the kiss with her. It was the only time his super senses seemed to stop working entirely. He couldn't hear anything but the beat of her heart and her soft moans.
"Could you not kiss my wife in front of me?" Oliver's disgruntled voice sliced through the moment.
They pulled away out of respect for his continued reality problems, but they were still smiling lovesick smiles at each other.
Chloe had been bringing him up to speed with the situation. "So if your appointment is tomorrow at 3:00 in Russian time," he said, "what are you still doing here? You do realize that it takes almost twenty-four hours to get to Russia from here, don't you?
Lois looked at Clark. "We know of a very direct flight."
Oliver snorted. "Even the most direct flight from Kansas is going to take awhile. I already have them preparing the jet."
"Actually I was thinking of taking a more private flight," Lois said.
"More private than a private jet? Don't be ridiculous. The four of us will go to Russia together and then we'll see what's what."
"Oh, joy. This will be fun." Lois shot him a get-us-out-of-this look.
He shrugged because he didn't see a way out of this, but with the murderous looks Oliver was shooting him, he was grateful he was invulnerable.