Ultrasound
December, 2013
Clark typed away at his desk, his eyes glancing at the clock in the corner of the computer screen every few seconds. The day seemed to be dragging for him. In two hours Lois had an appointment with Dr. Hamilton for her pregnancy. Granted, Emil wasn't an OBGYN, but for the moment, until they found someone who was trustworthy, Emil was handling Lois' unique case— because what was more unique than being pregnant with a baby who was half Kryptonian?
Clark had been to the Fortress with Lois in the past few weeks, where Jor-El had scanned her body for any complications. When he had first taken Lois after learning she was pregnant, the AI version of his birth father had been surprised that they had been able to conceive. After the most recent scans he determined that, at this stage in the pregnancy, Lois was perfectly fine. The only concern he seemed to have was Lois' exposure to sunlight. The amount she had been getting was keeping her and the baby healthy, but as the trimesters went on the baby could become stronger, which was one of Clark's fears: that the baby would be too strong for his human wife to carry.
The fact it was winter was helping since the days weren't as long, so trying to keep Lois out of the sun, and not annoy her by doing it, seemed to be going smoothly. Jor-El could only do so much regarding the status of his unborn child and a call to Dr. Hamilton was made. Emil was the only one who knew about Lois aside from Clark's mother. Even though Clark wanted to shout it from the rooftops, he was still scared. He didn't want to tell everyone in the League about Lois until he was absolutely certain that both her and baby were okay, which was what the appointment in two hours was about.
Clark once again glanced at the computer's clock and let out a sigh. A deeper sigh caught his ears as Lois plopped down in her seat across from him.
"Everything okay?" He asked, trying to mask his immediate concern.
"I'm fine. The oatmeal from this morning didn't seem to agree with my stomach."
He nodded understanding that her morning sickness still hadn't completely gone away like Lois thought it had. She had been getting cravings for various kinds of foods and had not gotten sick, but then one day the smell of the French fries and mayonnaise she craved sent her running for the bathroom. However, Lois had said it wasn't as bad as it had been. She still had her cravings, too, for food and…for him. He slightly blushed at the thought.
He knew her hormones were running rapid, but when, during work hours, he would be pushed into the copy room, an old phone booth in the basement bullpen, the supply closet, or onto the Daily Planet roof, he would be surprised. If there was anything he knew for sure it was that Lois Lane would never stop surprising him, especially during her pregnancy, and he wasn't complaining either. But, he did wonder if coworkers were beginning to think things...
His eyes roamed over his wife's body. It was slowly changing from the pregnancy, but nothing too drastic that people would be able to tell at the moment. Yet, he knew the changes since he knew every inch of her body and, again, he wasn't complaining.
"Clark."
"Hmmm." He said looking up.
She looked down at her chest then asked, "Do my breasts look larger?"
He let a cough erupt from his throat. "Wh-wha-what?"
"Yeah, like you haven't been staring at them for the last five minutes."
"Well—I—um…" He stumbled and pushed up his glasses.
Like he had just thought before, she was always surprising him.
"Oh, quit being so innocent, Smallville. It's not like I'm asking little Jimmy Olsen. You're my husband. So, are they or aren't they?"
She subtlety puffed out her chest and looked at him. She was serious.
"Maybe."
She raised her eyebrows. "Maybe?"
"A little bit, yeah." He said then quickly took a drink from his coffee cup.
"Great." She huffed. "I already see a little bump forming, which is cute," she smiled as she confessed the detail, "but thank god it's winter so I can hide it with sweaters, but now my breasts, too? Soon it will be my ankles then before you know it I'll be as big as the globe that sits on this roof."
"Lois, don't you think you're ov—." Clark quickly stopped knowing that her hormones were working her mood and he didn't want to say something wrong and upset her.
"Think I'm what, Clark?"
Clark wheeled back his chair and moved around his desk to get to her. He sat on the edge of her desk and took her hand and brought it to his lips.
"Lois, you're beautiful." He lowered his voice and continued, "And, yes, you're body will change, but it is still beautiful. That bump forming is the most stunning thing I've ever seen. Everything about you is stunning and will be stunning."
"Even if my ankles become swollen and I look like a beached whale?" She pouted.
"Lo-is." He looked down at her and his glasses slowly descended so she could see his eyes perfectly. He put his hand on the side of her face then ran it through her hair. He deepened his voice then said, "Or, should I say, Miss Lane."
She bit her bottom lip and he could see her tension melting away, disarming the situation, and something else creeping up in her eyes. He smirked. He sat up from the desk and mouthed, "Roof. In five," as he lifted up his hand to indicate five minutes.
If this was how he would calm down his wife during her bouts with pregnancy hormones…yeah, he still wasn't complaining.
After dealing with Lois' hormones, or so he kept telling himself, on the roof of the Daily Planet (he made sure he kept her warm, of course), Clark caught the time on his watch and realized that not only had he distracted and proved Lois' body image insecurities wrong, but he had distracted himself from his own fears from the morning and the time to get Lois to her appointment was looming.
"You ready for this?" He asked as he tried to adjust his vest and tie before putting his coat on.
Lois smirked as she walked over to him, already bundled up, and readjusted his shirt collar and tie so it was straight.
"Ready to be poked at again for the sake of our baby? Sure." She grinned.
He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her.
"Hold tight."
"Like you even have to say that after all this time." She mumbled against his chest.
He chuckled as he bent his knees slightly and took to the sky. Jor-El had said that flying shouldn't harm the baby and he knew that Lois would never want to give up their private flights, so he was thankful. But, that still didn't stop him from adjusting his speed to a slower pace, just in case.
Soon they landed on a private and camera-less part of the rooftop of Metropolis General and quickly made their way to the rooftop door. He kept Lois close to him as they walked down the steps and to the door of the closest floor. Without arousing any suspicion they walked to the elevator and Clark punched in the number of the floor they were to meet Emil on. He hadn't realized his hand slightly shook as he pressed the buttons on the panel, but Lois, ever observant, picked up on it.
"I'm starting to think you're more nervous than I am, Smallville."
Clark shifted his footing. "You're not nervous?"
"Of course I am, but I also know that everything will be okay." She stated as fact.
"How do you know?"
She shrugged. "It's just a feeling I have. I just know." She said placing her hands on her stomach, cradling it.
He nodded as he mulled over her words. The bell suddenly went off and the elevator doors opened. As they walked out, Clark spotted Emil down the hallway, which was heavily decorated for Christmas. Emil's eyes met his and he proceeded to wave them over as he grabbed a chart.
"And how are we feeling, Mrs. Kent?" He greeted her.
"Well, my belly is getting bigger, as are my breasts, and my morning sickness is playing hide and seek with me."
As Clark was about to wince at her bluntness he heard Emil chuckle.
"Those are all normal symptoms, Lois. Follow me down here, please."
They followed him into an examination room furnished with pale blue wall cabinets and a counter, an exam table that had stirrups attached, a few medical machines, and a docking station for a tablet. Emil picked up the device and stood by the cabinetry.
"So, you said that you had Lois up to your Fortress?" He asked Clark as he read the tablet.
"Yes. Jor-El has run scans on her the past few weeks and I was able to obtain the results."
"Ah, yes, I'm seeing them now." He silently read then continued and asked Lois, "Have you been taking pre-natal vitamins?"
She nodded her head.
"Okay, Lois, I'll need to get yourself situated on the exam table."
"You're not going to buy me dinner first, Doc?" She asked as Clark helped her up.
Emil smiled and chuckled once more as he rolled a machine over to the bedside and installed the tablet on it.
"Well, since the information Clark provided says you're about 12 weeks, we'll do the pelvic ultrasound instead. The information was very thorough and impressive. It said you conceived on the 25th of September..."
"Scary how he got that right." Lois breathed as Clark's mind flashed back to that particularly passionate night. His thoughts were then broken, and he shifted his body slightly, as Emil continued.
"…and your suggested due date is June 17th."
"Well, knowing this little one he or she will decide to make us wait."
"Jor-El did say that a Kryptonian pregnancy could last a week or two longer." Clark added.
"We'll have to keep an eye on that." Emil pulled a corded instrument from the machine he had wheeled over. "Lois, if you could lift up your shirt."
Lois nodded and rolled up the sweater she was wearing. Emil then grabbed a bottle and squeezed it over the slight bump of Lois' belly. She hissed as the jelly substance hit her.
"Are you okay?" Clark asked, a bit panicked.
"Relax, Smallville, it's just cold."
"Sorry, I should have warned you before I did that." Emil apologized.
Clark relaxed and watched intensely as Emil placed the corded instrument on Lois' stomach and moved it around. Everyone's attention was on the tablet screen.
Emil then started talking, "As I'm locating the baby, what you will see is all of your baby's organs and systems should be fully formed. You'll be able to see little fingers and toes. The baby is still very small, only about two and half to three and half inches. Oh, wait, I think I've spotted the little one."
Clark took a deep breath as his eyes attached to the screen. There it was. His baby. Their baby. Their little miracle. The baby spontaneously moved on screen and he could feel the ends of his mouth curling up. His eyes began to dry from staring so intently, but his emotional reaction caused the moisture to build up again. Then he heard the most beautiful sound. It was very fast and similar to the sound of a running horse's hooves, but there was no mistaking it, it was the heartbeat of their baby.
"You can be rest assured that your risk of miscarriage is greatly reduced since we're hearing the heartbeat." Emil said.
Clark forced his eyes away from the screen and looked at Lois. He could see the tears forming in her eyes. She looked at him and smiled.
"I love you." He said, trying to control his own growing emotion.
"I love you, too." She replied.
He grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight then inched over and gave her a deep kiss.
"Would the two of you like this picture printed out?"
"Yes!" Clark said eagerly as he pulled back from Lois.
She laughed and Clark wiped away a tear that had escaped from her eye. Then he quickly wiped one away from his. Emil smiled at the sight of them and removed the tablet from the stand.
"I'll be right back." He said as he exited the room.
A technician came in and wiped away the gel from Lois' stomach and helped her as up and off the bed, as did Clark. When Emil arrived back he held two photos in his hand, handing each to Lois and Clark as the technician rolled the machine out of the room.
"You're going to be entering your second trimester and will be feeling your energy coming back, but I still expect you to take it easy, Lois. That means the only reason I want to see you is because we have a scheduled appointment."
"Yeah, yeah, I hear the same thing from Clark daily."
"Only because each day I'm catching you on the verge of something dangerous." Clark countered.
"Mind as well get it out of my system while I can still move fast. You know I'll be waddling before you know it and will be safe and sound."
"Something tells me you'd still find trouble."
"Correction, Smallville. Trouble finds me." She said in a low voice.
He shook his head as he looked deeply into her eyes, mesmerized by how they sparkled at his.
"Ahem." Emil said breaking the moment. "There are private rooms for," he waved his hand at them, "that."
"Sorry, Emil." Clark said, embarrassed.
Emil nodded. "I'll be seeing you."
Clark wrapped his arm around Lois' body and guided her out of the room and down the hall to the elevator. Once they were inside he brought into his view the sonogram of their baby. It still seemed too absurd, that he, Clark Kent, the boy who once thought he would be alone and never be able to have a family due to his genetic differences, was having a baby with the woman he loved more than anything in the world.
Concentrating his superhearing he heard the rapid beating of the baby's heart once more. It was calming and soothing to him. Then he felt it—the feeling that he had been talking to Lois about on their way to the appointment. It tugged at his heart and spread throughout his body. He could even feel the tears welling up in his eyes again. In that moment of staring at the sonogram and listening to the heartbeat, he knew. He knew their beautiful, precious, miracle baby was going to be okay.
