Rest
May 2014
Lois tapped her fingers against the plastic arm of the chair while she and Clark waited in Emil's office at the hospital. Clark placed his large hand over hers, ceasing the drumming.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"What do you think? You saw the look on his face." She urgently replied.
"Usually, I'm the worry wart, or so I'm told." He flashed a grin, obviously trying to keep her at ease.
She rolled her eyes. "You know how this pregnancy is making my emotions more erratic than usual…"
"Oh, I know." He confirmed.
This time she glared at him while he just kept grinning. The sound of the door to the office opening broke them from their conversation as both sets of eyes watched the doctor walk across the room to his desk and sit down.
"Lois, Clark…everything with the baby seems to be looking just fine at the moment."
The parents both let out the breaths that had been locked in their chests.
"That's great, Emil." Clark said, relieved.
The doctor nodded, but behind his glasses his eyes fell back down to the folder he had carried in. "There is one more thing, however. Lois, we've been monitoring your blood pressure throughout the pregnancy and I'm concerned with the latest results."
Once again the room felt like all the air had been sucked out. Lois' hand grasped the plastic harder and Clark's hand gently uncurled her fingers until they were locked into his. The chair was destructible, his hand was not.
"What do you mean? What's wrong?" She anxiously asked .
Emil cleared his throat, "Your blood pressure is much higher than I'd like. You're not at the point of suffering from preeclampsia, but since you're getting closer to your due date, and the fact that the pregnancy isn't exactly normal, if your pressure continues to rise then it can be a detriment to the baby and yourself."
"What can we do?" Clark urged as he leaned forward in his chair.
"I'm going to recommend that Lois be put on bed rest until the end of her pregnancy."
"Bed rest?!" She exclaimed.
Dr. Hamilton cringed at her response, but nodded. "Which means no working, strenuous activity, lifting, or exercise. It may worsen or provoke the onset of a much worse condition."
Giving up the Daily Planet wasn't something Lois had planned on doing so soon. She figured she still had a few more weeks that she could get away with it. She turned to Clark and could see some relief in his eyes. She knew exactly what he was thinking: this meant he didn't have to worry about her going out on a story and risk getting into trouble. Maybe bed rest wouldn't be so bad, especially if it meant a certain super powerhouse was next to her on down time.
"I have a list and pamphlets you both can read. Lois needs to just take it easy. I know that might be hard, but it's imperative in this situation." He said handing them to Lois, but Clark swiftly grabbed them before she could.
"I'll make sure she doesn't leave the bed." Clark answered seriously.
Lois couldn't hold back a snort. "I sure hope so," she said with a flirty smile.
Before she could see Clark's reaction, Emil once again cleared his throat in order to get the couple's attention.
"Actually, if you take a look at the list, intercourse is one of the activities that you need to abstain from."
The couple tilted their heads to the new information.
"What?" "I'm sorry?" Their words twisted at the same time.
"That is included as a strenuous activity." Emil pointed out again.
Lois shook her head, "Look, Doc, I don't know about you, but I'm usually feeling pretty good and letting out all kinds of stress during se-."
"Lois…" Clark hissed in warning, cutting her off.
"While, that may be true…" Emil started to say as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair, "the concern is your blood pressure and such an activity can cause it to rise due to repetitive movement and intensity."
Lois clapped her hands together, eyes wide, and asked with a shrug, "And what if we take it slow?"
"I would recommend that it be halted completely until after the birth and recovery."
"Then that's what'll happen. We'll follow any recommendations you have." Clark nodded.
Lois blew her bangs out of her eyes and slightly huffed in her seat. Her arms crossed on her chest and settled on top of her pregnant stomach. All rest and no play was going to make Lois even crankier…and everyone in the room knew it.
Lois lied in bed. It had only been a couple days, but it had seemed like a lifetime. This was supposed to calm her down, yet Lois felt more irritated than ever. She couldn't just be in a bed all day. She had work to do, deadlines to meet, no matter what Clark or Perry said. She was Lois Lane-Kent. She tried reminding everyone that, but to no avail. She had tried to coax Jimmy on getting her a story, but the young photography intern had been swayed by both Clark and Perry to their side. She even tried old intern Jeff, but Clark must have anticipated the move and blocked her. That pissed her off even more.
So, she continued to stay in the bed, lying on her left side as directed, a pillow between her knees. On the floor near the door were the stress balls that she was supposed to be squeezing whenever a frustrated moment rose up. She had ended up trying to see if she could hit certain targets in the room as an alternative. That had amused her for all but fifteen minutes before she had become bored once more.
She had attempted to reorganize the nursery, a sudden urge taking over her to make it just perfect, but Clark had been quick to put her plop her down on the couch. She had been distracted by a few 80s movies on the streaming service they had, but reality settled back in whenever she tried to get up.
Lois pulled out the list again from Dr. Hamilton and scoffed at it. She had analyzed every word and had even sought the help of the internet, but she knew that no matter what rebuttal she came up with both Clark and Emil would not renege on the decision that had been made.
Lois groaned as she moved on her side again trying to find a comfortable position. She needed a massage. She was waddling like a Weeble when she walked and Callie was pressing on her bladder so much that she had to slowly get up every half hour to go to the bathroom. She didn't even want to think about the Lamaze video she and Clark had watched the night before. If she had to be corrected on breathing techniques, especially ones in order to calm down, she was going to throttle someone…namely Clark. He could handle it.
There was restlessness in the apartment more than anything else. Even her comfort show wasn't helping matters. She knew what and who could help, but she was banned. Being told she couldn't do something, only made her want to do it more.
Lois suddenly heard the front door open and close, then the familiar footsteps coming down the hallway.
"Speak of the devil." She whispered with a smirk.
Clark walked into the bedroom tossing his glasses on the dresser and tugging at the knot in his tie, aiming to pull it off.
"How was your day? Did it get better since I called last?" He asked, turning toward her.
Lois glared at him as he neared her side of the bed. "This whole 'bed rest' thing is way more stressful than being at the Daily Planet. At least there I can take my frustrations out on an intern. Who do I have here? The TV? Myself? I'm just going to say it—Emil is a quack. He read those results wrong and I should go back to writing stories."
"Lois…" he said as he placed his hands on the bed and leaned closer to her. "You'll get used to it, Lois. You would think you'd like the chance to be able to do nothing."
"Of course it's nice for the first few hours of the day, but then I get bored. It'd be different if I got to lie here," she pulled on his hanging tie so his face inched even closer to hers, "and you were lying here with me."
He squirmed a little as he said, "You know we can't."
Lois bit the inside of her cheek and cursed at Emil once more in her head. She had been over ways again and again to convince Clark that she and the baby wouldn't be in danger, especially if they went slow, but she already knew his answer. There was one last thing she could try, though.
Lois let go of his tie, but kept a steady look on his eyes.
"You know, you don't seem as upset as I am about this. It's because you don't find me sexy anymore, isn't it? I look like I should replace the globe on top of the Daily Planet, I look like a penguin when I walk, and now I've been exiled to this deserted apartment. I'm not fun anymore! Why would you want me?" she ranted, upping the dramatics as her arms flailed.
Aghast, he replied, "Lois, you know that's not true! I love everything about you."
"You're just saying that because you're always saying something nice. There's not a bad bone in your body. So, I don't believe you." She said, starting to turn away from him and putting her face into the pillow.
"I wouldn't lie to you, you know that." He insisted, trying to get her to look at him.
"No, Clark. I get it. I'm hideous. You don't want me. You should just find someone else who doesn't have to run to the bathroom every thirty minutes because a baby is kicking her bladder. Less interrupted conversations."
"I'm not going to find someone else, Lois." He argued as he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"You don't want me." She sniffled.
Clark sighed and urged,"Of course, I want you."
"No, you don't! Look at me! Who would want this?" She turned from the pillow and exclaimed as she pulled at the blue and white plaid button down shirt of Clark's she was wearing.
"Lois…"
"I'm Gigantor!"
"Lois…"
"You're relieved you don't have to touch me!"
"Lois!"
She was about to say something else, but before she could open her mouth to speak she heard a growl and her mouth being opened by a ferocious kiss being placed on her mouth. She immediately surrendered to the kiss. Her arms flew around Clark's neck, bringing him closer. She could feel his hands caressing her everywhere and it felt so good.
Yes, Emil didn't know what he was talking about. This was the best de-stressing activity.
Her breathing was coming out in pants, her heart rate was increasing, and her skin was heating up. As Clark's lips were on her neck, she quickly undid the rest of the tie, threw it to the ground, and then moved her hands to unbutton his shirt.
"Clark," she said almost breathless in his ear.
She felt him remove his lips and his hand stopped both of hers from finishing her mission of Operation Button Removal. His face hovered over hers. They were both breathing heavily as they stared into each other's eyes. Then she saw a tiny grin start to form on his lips and wondered what he was doing.
"You almost had me there."
"What?" She asked innocently.
"Trying to make me think that you truly believed I didn't want you and subsequently making me want to prove to you how much I do." He shook his head, " I've said it before and I'll say it again, you really are the brains in this relationship."
Lois sighed and rolled her eyes. Clark released her hands and they fell into her lap with a slap. "Fine, I admit it, but I had to try."
"You played dirty." He commented, pointing at her.
"It was the only weapon I had left in my arsenal." She explained. "I was desperate."
Clark let his fingers drift up to her hair.
"Lois, I want you so much, but after what Emil said I'd rather abstain from making love to you until after the baby is born then have something happen to you and never be able to make love to you ever again."
Lois raised her hands back up and played with the collar of his shirt. "Well, when you put it that way…"
"You're so beautiful, incredibly sexy, and so… Lois," she smiled at his use of her name as an adjective, "so don't think that this isn't torture for me."
"The worst kind of torture." She emphasized for him.
Clark nodded in agreement and moved to place his body right behind Lois and wrapped his arms around her, his hand landing on its usual position on her stomach.
"The doctor didn't say I couldn't touch you at all, though. So, how about we take what we can get and just have this?"
"If there's anything I've learned in this relationship is that you certainly are a snuggler."
Clark let his forehead fall to her shoulder. He lightly kissed the plaid clad upper arm of hers. Lois leaned back into him, bringing them just a little closer, and placed her hand over his. She certainly liked this kind of bed rest.
"Pending any emergencies that may occur, could you maybe play hooky tomorrow and stay with me?"
"I think I might be able to pull that off." He smiled into her shoulder and kissed it again.
Basking in the feeling of being his arms, she closed her eyes. She let out a blissful sigh. Rest had finally been achieved.
