Stork
October, 2013
Lois groaned as she hit the lever to flush the toilet. For the fourth day in a row she had been hit with waves of nausea that would send her running to the ladies room. The first two days she thought it had been food poisoning. Yesterday, though, it had been the smell of Cat Grant's tuna salad sandwich. Today, it had been the scent of her morning coffee. She had heard about a stomach flu going around the office and that just made her groan once more. She hated being sick, especially the stomach flu kind of sick.
Grasping the porcelain bowl, she stood up in the stall and unlatched the door. Walking to the sink she washed her hands and washed out her mouth. Looking up into her reflection she could see dark circles forming under eyes. The paleness of her skin wasn't helping matters either. Clark had been concerned about her all week and if he saw her like this he would grow even more worrisome, especially since she had fainted the week before while they were on their way to lunch after investigating a story. And that was the last thing she needed.
Grabbing her purse, which she had left on the counter before projecting herself into an empty stall, she dug for her make-up and started to apply it. When she was done she was pleased with her work.
"Huh, would you look at that. Cover-up does actually cover up."
Satisfied that her husband wouldn't be on her case about slowing down and not working as hard, she exited the ladies room and went back to her desk. It was times like these she missed her old office after her first promotion. When she and Clark were promoted together up to the 8th floor they became deskmates again, but had not earned a private office yet. She couldn't wait until that happened.
Dropping her purse underneath her chair, she pulled out the files she needed to get back to working on her story. Extending her hand out for her coffee cup, a routine she did while working, she remembered what had happened only moments before and rolled her chair over to the plant behind her, dumping the contents of the cup in there.
Rolling back, she went through the paperwork, cross checking dates. She looked up and saw that her husband's seat was still empty. He was probably off saving someone from a fire or a cat in a tree. It didn't matter, she was still proud of him. Proud of what he had accomplished in the last few years. Proud of the leader he had become. Proud of the hope he spread across the city, the world, and in her life.
Shaking her head of her thoughts, she focused back on her story of the shady councilman who seemed to be taking bribes in return for blocking legislation to pass for the transportation commission in the city. All she needed was her source to call her back and she would be set to send the story off to Perry, who was also calling a staff meeting in fifteen minutes.
"How are you feeling today, Lois?" A squeaky and perky voice asked.
She didn't need to look up from her computer screen to know that Cat, probably dressed head to toe in pink, was hovering over her desk.
"Better." Lois said as she typed.
"I couldn't believe what my sandwich did to you yesterday and someone just mentioned that they saw you fly in there again. I just wanted to come by and see how you were feeling."
Lois' gaze moved from the screen to Cat's seemingly genuinely concerned face.
'Pink. I knew it.' She thought as she looked at Cat's outfit.
"I'm fine, Cat. I just have a bug or something."
"Yeah, I did hear that something was going around. If you want I can whip you up some homemade saltines and bring them in tomorrow."
Lois bit her tongue since Cat was being so nice—and Clark had told her to be nice as well and she could just hear him saying "Lois" in that warning tone of his—so she pasted on a smile and replied, "No thanks, Cat, but it was nice of you to offer."
Cat simply shrugged, "Okey dokey."
Letting out a frustrated sigh, she could feel yet another headache forming. She was beginning to have them more frequently, but she figured due to her appetite being wonky, the stomach flu making her sick, and her lack of sleep, that it was inevitable.
What she wouldn't give for a nap. Her schedule had been off ever since she had started this story, staying up late and trying to hunt down leads. Plus, there were the nights when Clark would zip out and be on Superman duty. While most nights she could sleep right through, lately the emptiness of the bed had been getting to her.
'Oh, stop whining Lois, you also know that when he comes back he makes up for it…which is another reason why you haven't gotten that much sleep either.'
She smirked at that thought. There had been many nights that her sleep schedule had been off because of certain activities keeping her up. Not that she was complaining.
"He does always make up for it…" she sighed as her mind went off to day dream about a certain night in particular.
The sound of her phone ringing jarred her out of her blissful state and back to reality. Picking up the receiver, she said, "Lois Lane, Daily Planet."
"Hey Lois, it's me, Bobby."
She smiled at the sound of his voice. Finally, her source was calling and the story would finally be done.
"Bobby! What do you got for me?" She exclaimed.
"I've got pictures of Councilman Douglas in a dark alley on the 15th."
"The 15th?" Lois asked.
She pulled out her date book and flipped through the pages. Stopping on the 15th she smiled and said, "On that Tuesday? A night when he was supposedly in a meeting with the DPW? Something stinks alright."
"Yeah, and I have more photos from later on in the week and these ones are juicy..."
As Bobby kept talking Lois' tilted her head to side as she read her date book. It felt like something on the calendar page was missing. She and Clark had just celebrated their anniversary, so she knew that wasn't it. Flipping back to the previous month she saw she had a date circled and then turning to the month before that she had another date circled. Suddenly her eyes enlarged when she remembered why she circled those days. Flipping forward to the current month, she read every box under October and didn't see any days circled so far. It was already October 29th, a day way beyond what she had just counted in her head.
"Oh crap." She whispered.
Feeling a hand trail on her back and then a kiss on her cheek, she turned to see Clark returning to his desk. As he adjusted his glasses he smiled at her and she gave him a weak smile back.
Bobby was still talking on the line and Lois cut him off saying, "Yeah, thanks, just send them right over," and dropped the phone on the receiver.
Her mind was working a mile a minute connecting all sorts of dots. Her sleeping habits, her appetite, the headaches, the throwing up, the circled day-or lack thereof….that meant that she was…
"You're late." Clark's voice said, cutting through her thoughts.
Her head sprang up and her eyes met his. "What?"
"You're late." He said again.
"But how did you…How did you know that?" A weird thought came to her mind as she asked, "Have you been keeping track? I mean, I know you're organized and all, Smallville, but that's a little—."
"For the meeting, Lois." He explained as he looked at her with confusion. "Perry is holding a meeting and you're late for it. As usual," he smirked.
"Right, the meeting." She calmed down a bit. Grabbing her purse from under her chair, she put the strap on her shoulder and moved her files to the right side of her desk, trying to occupy her shaking hands.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"I, uh, got a lead on a big story and I need to confirm it."
"But what about the staff meeting?"
"I know we said that I would take this one and represent Team Lane-Kent, but this is a big story, Clark. So, I need to go." She blurted out as she went for the exit.
Clark, however, grabbed her arm and she found herself smack up against his chest. She closed her eyes at the feel of it, her mouth open slightly, but then her eyes snapped back open and her mouth closed abruptly.
'No, Lois. That's what got into this predicament right now.'
"Are you alright? You look a little pale." He asked as his hand swept away some of her stray hair and put it behind her ear. "Maybe you should—"
"I'm just still feeling a little off." She said cutting him off. She then began to pull away, adding, "Nothing to worry about."
"Just be careful, Lois."
She nodded and headed toward the stairs and out the door, feeling Clark's, and what seemed like the whole bullpen's eyes, on her as she left.
Lois stood in aisle two of the local grocery store staring at an array of multicolored boxes. The words and colors started to blur from staring at them for so long and she wasn't sure on which one to pick.
"First timer, huh?" A voice asked.
Lois turned to see a petite blond woman, with a baby in her carriage and two kids running up and down the aisle, smiling at her.
"Is it that obvious?" Lois asked.
"You just have that 'I just found out I'm late' first timer look." The woman explained.
"I didn't know there was such a look."
"Trust me; the second and third timer looks are much different."
Hearing boxes falling to the ground from down the aisle, the woman to her left shouted, "JOEY! Cut it out! And get your brother away from the blood pressure machine! That is NOT a toy!"
Lois cringed at the sight. If she was pregnant, would she be able to deal with that? These boys were running down the aisle, but her child would be half Clark, which meant he or she would superspeed down the aisle, or fly! She gasped at the thought.
"Oh, don't worry. They don't all come out like that." She said referring to her two boys. "I was just blessed." She said sarcastically.
The woman then pulled down a test and handed it to Lois. "Here, this one is really accurate."
As she tried to still her trembling hand, Lois grabbed the box and placed it in her basket. "Thanks."
"Good luck." The woman smiled and with her three children left the aisle.
Once they were gone Lois put another identical test in her basket, then after a quick decision, put the whole row of tests in the basket. She needed to know and she needed to know now.
"As the General always says...always be prepared."
With a nod, her heels clicked down the aisle toward the checkout.
Lois tugged at her heart necklace around her neck as she waited for the timer to go off. As soon as she heard the persistent beeping she dove for the bathroom counter. She held up the test and held her breath as she read the answer she had already been anticipating.
She sat herself down slowly on the toilet and let out the breath. The test in her hand gave her all the answers to all the odd things happening to her body for the last couple weeks. She could feel her heart rate increase as happiness, fear, anticipation, and anxiety all coursed through her body.
"How am I going to tell Clark?"
As he turned the knob of the door of their apartment, Clark used his superhearing before entering, listening as Lois frantically worked about in the kitchen. She was cursing under her breath as she opened a cabinet and a few pots tumbled onto the floor. Smirking at her reaction he opened the door fully.
"Lois, I'm home." He called out.
He watched as she popped only her head around the corner of the wall, her hair up and disheveled.
"Hi, honey."
"What are you doing in there?" He curiously asked.
"You'll see. It's something special." She said, her smiling faltering only a little, but he noticed.
He saw her eyes look at him carefully then fall to the ground before she went back into the kitchen.
As he shook off his jacket and hung it up on the coat rack next to the door, different thoughts started to turn over in his brain. He had been worried about Lois for the past couple weeks. There were days where her complexion was pale, where she was more tired than usual, where she couldn't keep anything down. She had even fainted the week prior. He had tried to coax her to go to the doctor but she had answered with one of her "The General always says…" anecdotes. His stomach tightened as he thought back to her fainting as they walked to lunch the week before. She had stumbled and he caught her right away. It had only been a moment that she had been passed out, but it had been a moment too many for him.
Taking off his glasses, he placed them on the little side table with his keys. He held the bridge of nose with his thumb and index finger, trying to get awful thoughts of Lois being sick out of his head. Whatever she was planning tonight he would let her do, but he was making sure that she saw a doctor in the morning. He knew something was wrong and he didn't want anything to happen to her. He knew, for a brief time, what life was like without Lois Lane and that was a life he never wanted to lead.
"I hope you're hungry. I made a bit of a theme dinner." She called out.
'Theme dinner?' He thought.
Walking into the kitchen he watched her bend over an open oven. His eyes lingered on her backside, her body covered in a little red dress. He could feel the urge to want to rip that dress right off her body, but he suppressed it.
He couldn't see what she pulled out but when she turned to look at him her face was flushed from the heat of the oven, and he had never seen a more beautiful creature in his life. He could have sworn her face was glowing.
"What?" She asked, looking at her body as if maybe she had gotten something on her dress.
"You're gorgeous."
She shyly smiled and bit her lower lip.
"You don't look too bad yourself there, handsome."
His upper lip curved up into a grin as he walked toward her and pinned her against the oven.
"How about we skip dinner and go straight to dessert?" He suggested, his eyes wandering down then back up to her face.
Her eyes widened and he could see the lust in them but then they clouded over with something he couldn't identify. She then placed her hands on his chest and slightly pushed him back.
"Not yet, Smallville. I made dinner or at least tried to make it." Then she gave a side eye. "Unless that's why you want to skip it. I swear, I followed all the instructions this time. No corners cut."
"I'm not. So, let's work up an appetite." He huskily said, closing the gap she just made between them.
"Tempting...but there's something important we need to talk about."
He leaned back as he caught the tone of her voice, his stomach tightening again. Stepping back, he let her move around him. She carried two covered platters over to the table in the small adjoining dining room.
"So what do we need to talk about?"
"Remember that lead that I was on today?"
He nodded, remembering her practically running out of the bullpen before the mandatory staff meeting. Perry had not been happy that Lois hadn't attended, but he had smoothed it over with the Chief before leaving the office.
"Well, it has to do with that." She continued.
"Sharing a byline with me?" He pried.
"It certainly does concern you."
"Okay, now you have me hooked. What concerns me?"
He watched her take a deep breath and hold onto the table behind her.
"I guess we're not going to make it through dinner, are we?" She whispered to herself but his hearing had picked it up.
"Is everything okay?" He asked, concerned.
She walked over to him slowly and grasped his hand.
"Come with me." She said, guiding him into the living room, picking up a bag from the couch, and walked to the French doors that led to the balcony of their apartment. She opened the doors and directed them outside, the fall air crisp and the lights of Metropolis greeting them out there.
"Clark, I have something really important to tell you and I'm not sure how."
"Lois, you can tell me anything, you know that." He assured her.
"I know," she nodded, "but this is...big."
His eyes narrowed at her expression and he felt his stomach tighten once more. She had a secret to share with him and it was very coincidental that it was just after their anniversary of the day he told her his secret.
"Does this have to do with the way you've been feeling for the past couple weeks?"
Her eyes snapped up to his and he knew he had touched on something.
"Yeah, it does. You see, Clark, there is a reason I've been feeling weird lately."
He could see her hand clutching the bag tightly as she lifted it up.
"I didn't realize it at first and I should have, but with the deadline on my story looming I just sort of pushed everything I was feeling aside and attributed it to getting the stomach flu."
"But it's not."
She shook her head, "No, it's not."
"Lois…"
"Let me finish."
He pursed his lips and nodded, allowing her to continue and ignoring the constriction occurring in his abdomen.
"Anyway, today it finally dawned on me and when I sat down to think about it, it all made sense. Everything just fell into place, but I had to be sure. And now I am."
She clutched the bag tighter and looked him straight in the eye.
"I wanted to tell you in a special way, but I should have known it wouldn't work out like that. We always have a way of never getting to do stuff the way we actually planned it."
He smirked and nodded in agreement as he thought back to the memory of the night he had proposed to her or their first at a wedding ceremony. But everything had a way of working out-an improvised proposal that was more romantic than what he had actually planned and a private Kryptonian ceremony in the Fortress with just the two of them followed by a surprise that their marriage had actually been registered with a few strings pulled by Oliver (he wanted to make up for having a part in ruining their day). Though it didn't stop them from still attempting to have a proper one with friends and family, each one postponed so far.
His thoughts of those moments dissipated as he noticed she loosened her grip on the bag and pulled out something small. It was white and looked like a small stick, but he didn't know what it was.
"Clark…" She began. She took a deep breath and said, "I'm pregnant."
She held out the stick for him to see; only now he realized that it was a pregnancy test. He stood still as he stared at the small object that held so much promise. His heart started to race and his mind reeled at the news. She was pregnant. Lois was pregnant. His wife was pregnant with his child. Their child. Something he had always dreamed but thought might be unattainable.
He didn't know how long he had been frozen but the smile that had been on Lois' face began to fall.
"Clark?"
His eyes moved from the test to her face. Finally, his feet could move and he took a step towards her. His hands rose to grab her face and he stared at her for only a few seconds.
"I love you." He said before he crashed his lips onto hers.
Her arms quickly latched around his neck and he held onto her tightly. He poured everything into the kiss, all his hopes and all his dreams of becoming a father, the love he had for his wife, and the love he had for his unborn child.
He pulled back slightly so they both could breathe and he smiled brightly at her. Lois' eyes flickered down and she lightly gasped before looking back up at him. Wondering why she did that, he looked down as well and saw that they were floating a few feet above the ground. Lois was the only woman who could knock him off his feet and make him fly.
"I always hoped that I would be able to give you this. I know we talked about the possibilities in the past and we both knew the likelihood of it happening, but when I saw what the test said…"
Dark thoughts swarmed in his head as he came back to reality and gently settled them back down on the balcony.
"Are you absolutely sure? I mean, I know some of these tests can give false positives."
"Clark, I took about fifteen of them. Unless they're all false positives, I think we're safe." She smiled.
"We need to get you checked out then. We'll have to find a doctor we can trust, I'll-I'll call Emil, and I'll take you up to the Fortress and maybe have Jor-El run some kind of test on you to make sure that you and the baby will be okay and…"
"Smallville!" She shouted.
He stopped talking and looked at her.
She brought her hands to his face and made him look at her. "Just for now, can we leave tomorrow 'til tomorrow and just have this?"
The worry that had built up in him deflated as he looked in his wife's eyes. Excitement took over him once again as his hand traveled down to her stomach.
"Our baby is in there." He smiled.
She nodded. "Not that I'm looking forward to becoming the size of a house. I'd much rather have the stork drop the little one on our doorstep."
Clark let out a chuckle.
"Don't laugh, Clark. In a few short months I'm going to turn into a planet. Good thing you have superstrength and we know you can lift planets."
Clark shook his head, "Lois... You're not going to turn into a planet. You're going to be carrying our child and there will be nothing more beautiful than to see that happening."
"I guess," she shrugged, "but I'm still not looking forward to that part or any of the other uncomfortable parts."
"It'll be worth it." Looking back inside, he remembered everything that Lois had been preparing in the kitchen. "So, what was the special dinner you had planned?"
"A baby spinach salad and baby back-ribs."
"Ah, the theme." He said in realization.
"The theme." She confirmed.
"It was a good idea."
"Yeah, but I think this one was better."
He pulled her closer and said, "We should celebrate."
"We should, but it won't be any fun without champagne and since alcohol is a no-no now…"
"I was thinking of another way to celebrate."
Suddenly, he lifted Lois up as his left arm went under her back and his right arm journeyed under her legs. She let out a little squeak, startled by his actions, as he walked over the threshold of the French doors.
"Clark." Lois said softly. Clark stopped and looked down at his lovely wife in his arms. "I love you, too."
He smiled as he tightened his grip on her, he let all his fears and anxieties fall away for the night. He focused on the love he had for Lois and what that love had created in her womb. It was a miracle of miracles and while there may be some odds against them, through the depths of everything, he knew that his child would be alright. They were half of him and half of Lois, after all.
As he moved them to their bedroom, Lois reached up and caught his lips with hers. The feeling was even more hypnotic than usual. The atmosphere was different, as well. It was brighter, warmer, and peaceful. It was a serenity that he never knew existed. And Lois had given that to him. As he entered the room, his last thoughts were that, all night long, he was going to make sure she knew just how appreciative he was. Then he shut the door.
