A/N: Another big thanks to my Betas, and to those who reviewed the last chapter. This chapter gets a little spicy at the end. I hope you like it.
Clark loaded the last of the luggage into the rear compartment of General Lane's Escalade. How did we get so much stuff in just a few days? Well, it is Lois. With Jason, Sam and Perry's luggage, and his carry-on there was more than enough to fill the back of the SUV.
"I don't want to go back to Metropolis, not yet." Lois leaned up against the SUV, her arms crossed over her chest. The petulant look on her face reminded Clark of the overly tired five-year-old they dealt with last night.
"It's just, I don't want to go back to not seeing you, not being able to touch you, hold you. When we get back to work, I'm going to have to act like I'm grieving over Richard and I feel awful because I'm not."
Clark pulled Lois into his arms. It was amazing how often he had done so that the last few days. It felt wonderful after so many years of dreaming of holding her as he now was.
"You are grieving, Lois. You are just doing it differently. Perry is acting as if nothing has happened, and is constantly on the phone with Jimmy. You walk around here in a daze, and you refuse to sleep in your own bed." He brushed a strand of hair from her eyes, and laid a peck on her forehead as he caressed her beautiful face.
Lois smiled, "But when we get back we'll have to deal with CSD, Zod, and the press. And I'll have to sleep alone in that big house." Clark heard an uncharacteristic whine in her voice, the same one that broke his heart and caused him to try to block her memory.
"We are the press," he responded glibly, trying to lighten up her mood.
"Exactly." Lois pressed her hands against Clark's chest, pushing slightly away from him.
"And you won't have to sleep alone, not if you don't want to." Lois looked up at Clark, eyebrow raised. "Jason quite enjoys snuggling with his mommy," Clark teased, as he pulled her closely to kiss her properly.
"You are incorrigible, Mr. Kent," Lois laughed into his kiss.
"I've learned from the best," Clark wanted to add Mrs. Kent to his statement, but wasn't sure if Lois was quite ready for that, or if she'd even use that name. The couple suddenly got very uncomfortable.
"It's okay. We are married, Clark. You told Perry as much, and he told Jimmy that I never got around to filing for a divorce. And I pretty much announced to the whole bullpen that Jason was your son." Lois paused a moment. "So, I guess pretending that there isn't anything between us really isn't an option."
Clark looked at his wife once again amazed at how quickly she shifted gears. Nodding his head in agreement, Lois was almost purring as he continued to stroke her face. "Uh huh, and Perry did take the time to rustle up a marriage license for us." He murmured almost hypnotized by her beauty. He could never get enough of her.
"And you have been taking care of Jason and me since the explosion." She closed her eyes. Clark didn't need to use his super-hearing to hear her heart speed up as he continued his caressing her skin with his lips.
"I have been." Clark kissed her neck, in the spot he remembered drove her wild. He was starting to get carried away as well.
Lois pushed away, the fire back in her eyes, "Then why should we go back to the way it was? CSD is trying to claim that I'm an unfit mother. With Richard gone it would be all the easier for them to take him. What if they give him to Zod?"
"I love you, Lois Lane, and I love my son. I won't let them take him from us." Clark spoke in his Superman timbre, hoping his confident tone would reassure her.
"That's Lane-Kent to you Mister. I am your wife," Lois teased.
"So you are." Clark smiled at her voracity. The thing he loved about her the most was her ability to change on the fly. One needed superpowers just to keep up with this woman.
"No regrets?"
"No regrets. Not unless you suddenly forget something really important: like who the top reporter at The Planet is, or my morning coffee."
"I remember, you like to be on top." Clark whispered in her ear. Lois slapped at him blushing at the double entendre that he used to volley at her when they first started working together. Clark chuckled at her embarrassment.
General Lane laughed, "I thought that could never happen." Lois and Clark both jumped, startled that they hadn't heard the General's approach. "I should write an article; How to Sneak Up on Superman: First make sure that he is completely enraptured in Lois Lane…."
It was Clark's turn to blush.
"Daddy!" Lois pulled away from Clark's embrace and turned a fiery glare at her father.
General Lane's demeanor suddenly changed, "All teasing aside, I do have an important matter to discuss with you both. If I could pull you two apart that is." The General's bearing was far from reassuring, his teasing manner gone faster than Lois switching from Mommy to Mad Dog Lane. Clark figured that was where she got it from.
"What is it, Dad?"
"I had a meeting with the president and his cabinet yesterday."
"We know. You're always in meeting with the president."
"This one was different. This meeting was personal. It was about you, your partner, and a spaceship that was found in a cornfield many years ago. I'm sorry Clark, General Zod knows who you are."
"We know. Clark spoke with him." Lois crossed her arms and looked off into the yard. Jason was playing nearby, and by the look on her face Clark knew she was worried that their son could hear their discussion.
"So, um, what exactly did he say?" Clark had hoped to avoid this conversation, but he knew that it was inevitable. Zod was not one to just rattle sabers, he would eventually press the field. Then he'd stand by, watch the battle, and claim the spoils.
"Just that Superman has been on Earth longer than anyone has known about, and that he has a secret life. That he deals in shaping opinions and doling out information. I laughed and tried to divert the conversation. I don't know if I did much good, the seed has been planted. Questions are going to be asked. Someone is going to dig up the truth about Clark Kent. "
"It's only a matter of time," Clark agreed. "Lois and I are going to have to figure out how much we are really willing to make public if we are going to make any sort of life with each other. We need to divert attention away from me, and back to Zod." Clark started pacing, "We have to keep Superman's identity secret. If we hope to have any peace, any chance for a normal life for Jason, we have to protect our secret."
Stopping his pacing he turned to his father-in-law. "General, do you mind accompanying Perry and Jason to the airport yourself? I think I would like to take my wife on a more private route. We have a lot to talk about."
"I'll make up some explanation about why you aren't coming with us. You two go on ahead. How about we meet up in Metropolis before the service tomorrow? I'm sure that you could use some time to figure things out without an extra set of ears listening in."
"Thank you, Dad," Lois said. Clark noticed her heart rate accelerate with anticipation; it had been a while since they took a romantic flight together.
"Think nothing of it. If you'd like I can keep Jason with me a few days after the funeral. Claire is always complaining that I see too little of my family. And for a housekeeper to complain about the lack of visits, it must be more than obvious that I'm shirking my responsibility as a grandfather. An added plus is that no snoopy CSD officer can harass him while he's with me."
Clark turned to Lois, "We do have a lot to take care of. Lois, you don't have to go back to the house right away, if you don't want to. I have plenty of room at my place."
"I'll have to go back eventually, all our stuff is there. But it just won't feel right without Richard. The lease is over in about eight weeks, and we had just started thinking about making an offer on it. Richard never really was ready to commit to staying in one place."
"He never really pushed you for a date either, did he?"
"Nope, that was all Jimmy, though we did have a couple battles over you." Clark's heart dropped at the memory of the conversation he overheard when he first returned, one where she stated that she had never loved him. He knew now that that was a lie.
Clark looked around the farm, x-raying the house to make sure they didn't leave anything important behind. Martha and Ben had left for the day, Martha making the excuse that she had been neglecting her beau, allowing him to pack at super speed. Clark changed into his suit in a blur. Looking to Lois, his voice cracked with the nervous energy that filled him. "Are you ready to go home, Mrs. Kent?"
Lois looked up at her husband, wrapping her arms around his neck, her face turning crimson as she looked at her feet. "I think I'm going to need those," she said as she knelt down to pick up the shoes she had automatically kicked off.
"I'll take those." Superman said, his voice its usual calm, confident tone. He took Lois's shoes and placed them in a pocket in his cape. Wrapping Lois into his arms, her head resting against his chest. They rose gently into the sky. "We'll see you in Metropolis, General," Superman called out as they flew off.
"Don't worry about meeting us at the airport, I've arranged for a limo to pick us up. I'll take good care of Jason. We'll see you at the funeral tomorrow."
Lois snuggled against his chest as Superman flew them through the cloud canopy. The clouds shrouded them in a fog. Superman looked into her eyes, his gaze slowly moving down to her lips. He gently began kissing her, her lips parting, inviting him to deepen the kiss. It had been too long, and though Richard had been a good man, her heart had never belonged to him. There had always been too many secrets between them. Here in the clouds she knew that her life was just about to begin. There were no secrets between them, no need for power struggles. She knew she could trust him completely - that he would never do anything to hurt her, or their son. Even if he wasn't always present, he was always around. For the first time in five years Lois Lane was safe.
Their flight to Metropolis was breathtaking. They took their time, enjoying each other's company. Lois always enjoyed flying this way, with him, defying the very laws of nature. It was so quiet when they flew, a time to reflect, to dream.
Superman slowly descended into a quaint little postage stamp yard behind an old Victorian brownstone. A freshly painted white picket fence surrounded the meticulously manicured yard. Large trees surrounding the lot gave the couple plenty of privacy. Superman was instantly replaced by Clark, who gently lifted his wife to carry her over the threshold of their new home.
"Isn't this a little old fashioned, Smallville?" Lois squirmed in his arms.
"As I recall, you didn't let me do this the last time."
"We were on assignment, Clark. Besides –" Clark ended all further argument by kissing Lois.
Lois could barely breathe, their lives were changing faster than she could imagine. It was a good change, but it was change. The growling in her stomach distracted her, "How about showing me around our new home? We can start with the kitchen; I really could use something to eat about now."
"You certainly haven't changed in that aspect, have you? First and foremost is 'what's to eat?'"
"First line of survival. And I use a lot of energy trying to keep up with your son." Lois stretched up on her tiptoes and gave Clark a smack on his lips as she turned towards what she assumed was the kitchen, since a heavenly aroma was coming from that direction. Clark knew her well, but when did he have time to get dinner?
"Clark, I was wondering," Lois asked after she was filled with the Chicken Adobo and rice that Clark had warming in the oven. "Why did you come back? I mean you had a ship, you were somewhere across space, you could have gone anywhere, seen any and everything. You could have gone to other worlds, explored the galaxy, 'gone where no man has gone before.'"
"I came back because of you, Lois. I came back for you. I know it sounds cheesy, but without you I'm nothing. Even on Krypton, men were not created to be alone. We need others in our lives: we need a helpmate. You are mine, and I hope I am yours."
Lois blushed, and looked down at her lap, fidgeting with her napkin. "I missed you, Clark. I missed us. Nothing was the same while you were gone. I wasn't the same, everyone said it: I was missing something. I was missing my foil, my fire. They thought that I was off because Superman was gone. They were only half right; what they didn't know was that I was missing you, my partner, my lover, my best friend."
Clark stood up and walked around the table, taking Lois's hand he gently escorted her to their bedroom.
"We don't need to miss each other anymore." He said as he lifted her into the large cherrywood sleigh bed, kissing her with all the passion he had stored the last five years. Clark made love to his wife freely, enjoying what was only his to enjoy, what he had dreamed of doing for the last several years. Her lips were like wine to him, completely intoxicating. The way he felt as her fingers strummed over his muscles; tightening as she reached her peak, the way she relaxed in his arms when they had exhausted their passion. He was finally complete.
They lay in bed together, Clark gently running his finger over the silvery threads left in the skin of Lois's abdomen, the last reminders that their son had once resided there. He gently placed a kiss on the largest of the marks, resting his chin on her stomach. "Thank you, Lois."
Lois continued to run her fingers through his hair. "For what?"
"For Jason, for you, for this," Clark shifted his body so that he once again was over her. "I love you, Lois." He started kissing her again, this time with more fire, more passion than the last. "I love you."
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