Part Four: I'll Come Back to You One Day

Lois, we need to talk. He practiced the words in his head all day long as he worked beside her, all the while she had no idea the father of her child was in the same office. Finally he got his chance when they went out to cover a story that turned into a disaster. He managed to make an excuse and leave, only to return as Superman, and once the fire was contained and the victims were tended to, he found Lois on the sidewalk and made his request quietly known.

Lois suspected what the topic of their conversation might be, but in an area of town surrounded by photographers and reporters and onlookers, it wasn't the right time or place. She nodded a curt goodbye and walked past him, knowing he'd hear her when she whispered, "Not here. Top of the Planet, one hour."

An hour later, she was waiting on the roof of the paper's building, this time determined not to be caught off guard. She scanned the sky, walking in circles, looking for him until he appeared just past the rotating planet that topped the building. She kept her eyes on him as he floated down to the floor, crossing her arms on her chest in subconscious defense.

"Thank you for seeing me," he spoke first. "And for telling me about Jason."

She nodded and stared down at the floor beneath his boots for a moment. "Richard knows. He thinks Jason should know." He opened his mouth as if to protest, and she held up her hand. "I told him that I think he's too young, but Richard insists he needs to spend time with you as soon as possible. He's afraid he might resent us for keeping the truth from him for so long if we wait."

"We'll talk about that." He took a few steps closer. "I came to say I'm sorry."

Laughing sardonically, Lois shook her head. "You're gone for six years and you're sorry? You've couldn't have said anything before you left??"

"I…" he mumbled speechlessly. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"You didn't know that leaving without a word would do that?"

"I…didn't think I had a choice."

She was letting the anger build again. "You left me alone and pregnant, Ka—" She clammed up just a syllable away from saying the birth name he'd shared with her all those years before, during their brief relationship. He remembered hearing the way she'd whisper it in their most intimate of moments and understood why she didn't want to say it now.

"I didn't know you were pregnant," he quietly vowed. "If I had, Lois, you know I would not have left."

His promise combined with her brief embarrassment from nearly speaking the name she'd had in her confidence for all these years – having never shared it with the public – made her mute.

He drew even closer, now only a few feet away from her. "I wish I had known," he whispered. "I would've loved to share that with you."

She shook her head at herself, suddenly feeling stupid. "All this time, I thought you had seen the baby with your x-ray vision and you just didn't want to deal with it. So you left."

"No, Lois," he stated emphatically.

Tears in her eyes, she started laughing. "We must have the worst timing of anyone in the world. You leave right before I find out we're having a baby, and you come back, after five years that our child has been raised with another man as his father. I don't know how we're supposed to fix this now."

"Especially since you have Richard," he pointed out and Lois' expression sobered.

"Yeah, well…" she sighed. "He's only still around because I asked him to stay until we figured out what was best for Jason. He wants to leave. He thinks he's in the way now."

With just one more of his steps and he was right in front of her. "Of you and me?"

He could hear her heart beating faster, even as she admitted, "What he doesn't get is that I'm still mad at you for leaving."

One half of his mouth quirked when he knew she hadn't answered his question. "Can't you forgive me for making a mistake I will never repeat?" He reached to caress her cheek, glad that she obviously still had feelings for him as he did her. "And know that I will never stop loving you?"

She closed her eyes and a tear ran down her cheek, as she tried to hold on to her senses. "Jason will be confused."

"We'll help him through that."

"He'd miss Richard."

"We'll make sure that he gets to see him often."

"Everyone will know that he's different."

"No one has to know. We'll keep him safe."

Out of arguments, Lois lifted her hands and placed her palms on his firm chest, pressing her face against him, feeling his warmth. There she let out a sigh she'd been holding onto for nearly six years. "I've missed you."

He hugged her, holding her close for several minutes as she allowed the anger she'd harbored for so long to just float away on the breeze around them. But he knew it might soon return.

"Lois," he began carefully, without letting her go. "There is something else I need to tell you, only in the interest of being completely honest with you from now on…"

She pulled away and looked up at him, slightly worried. "There's something else?"

His lips pursed in reply, he reached into his suit, pulled out a pair of glasses that he slipped over his eyes…

And Lois gasped.

~End

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading! And if you would like a birthday ficlet from me, go to emstories on livejournal to ask for one!