a/n:- here we are a nice longish chapter a few days later than planned but here we go. enjoy!

Chapter 11: Collisions and Decisions.

They collided on the stairs.

In a fit of very un-Lois like behavior she threw her arms around Clark, nearly sending them tumbling down the stairs of the Talon. She refused to let go as he navigated back up the stairs and into her apartment. When she didn't seem inclined to let him go he was forced to consider detachment options. It was hard to have a deep and meaningful chat when the person you needed to talk to is draped around your neck like a bad accessory.

'Lo,' Clark laughed shakily, 'you need to let go.'

'No,' she whispered, burying her head in his neck.

'No?'

'I'm freaking out, Smallville, and I think I'm going crazy.'

Peeling her away, Clark stepped back and got a good look at her. She looked as bad as he felt. Three days of confusion, worry and indecision on display for the whole world to see. And Lois Lane never let anyone see what she was feeling. It took her a few moments to meet his eyes but when she did she was hit once more with the knowledge of how stupid it had been to kick him out. She could have saved herself days of muddled and panicked thoughts if she had just talked things out with him.

Rationality had no place in this moment.

'We need to talk.'

'I know.'

Lois cringed, awaiting the inevitable. With Clark standing right in front of her she was beginning to question her decisions. With him standing before her she was forced to consider what he might want to do in this situation. Deep down she knew what he would do she was just having trouble coming to terms with anything and everything.

'You're pregnant.'

'Yes.'

They sat down side by side on the couch and mulled over this piece of information. Having known for three days made the impact no less impressive. They may have been thinking about it but the words had not been spoken aloud since it had been confirmed.

'I've been thinking about our options.'

Though her words had an ominous sound, Clark somehow managed to focus on the one word in her sentence that cemented his involvement. Our. Our options. He knew that she would want his opinion before doing anything; that was the sort of person she was. It just made everything more real now that they were actually talking about it.

'Our options,' Clark repeated blankly.

Lois looked at him carefully before she spoke. Weighing each word before she said them aloud as though over thinking what she had to say would give her some sort of insight into Clark's choices. With every carefully chosen word she was expecting something earth shattering to occur.

'I was thinking about what is best for us,' she said, carefully and Clark really didn't like the sound of that.

'What's best for us?'

'I can't keep talking if you're going to repeat everything I have to say.'

'Sorry.'

'Okay. I-I thought about all the options and I know what would be best, practical, and what I want.'

That sounded like something Clark could like, though he wasn't sure what she was saying something gave him hope.

'I could never get rid of it,' Lois whispered as if Clark would condemn her for merely mentioning such a thing. 'But adoption is not an option.'

Clark shuddered. There mere thought of what could happen if his child got into the wrong hands had his stomach twisting. Not everyone would react the way Jonathon and Martha Kent had. Lois was right it was not a viable option but then Clark's heart picked up its pace and he realized where Lois was going with this in her round-about all-options-on-the-table way.

'You want to keep it,' he whispered.

Lois nodded and turned to look at Clark waiting for him to say something, be it rage at her bad decision or jump for joy. Not that she'd ever seen Clark Kent jump for joy. Lois shook her head, marveling at her ability to get sidetracked at a time like this.

'I want it keep it too.'

'Wow.'

There was a long silence as they let that sink in. They were going to have a baby. Lois Lane and Clark Kent: parents. There were other things to consider, of course, but for just a moment they could marvel at the decision they had just come to. They were going to have a baby.

After taking a good five minute to marvel at the thought of a tiny combination of himself and Lois, Clark started to think about what it would mean for them. They couldn't really continue the way things were. Not that he wanted to stop, it just didn't seem right. The more he thought about it the more certain he became of what he wanted to do.

'Lo,' he murmured, taking her hand in his but not turning to look at her.

'Yeah?' she asked, squeezing his hand gently.

'I know we've been having fun, just being together without any of the labels but do you think maybe now would be a good time to start.'

Lois turned to look at him a strange look on her face that seemed oddly reminiscent of dread and cautious hope.

'I want there to be an us.'

'Oh.'

'Can we do that?'

Lois hesitated and turned away from him. She had a sudden sinking feeling as a thought struck her. Was he only doing this because he felt obligated? Was he only asking for more because he thought that was the proper thing to do? It did sound like something the old Smallville would do. But he wasn't that person anymore; he was someone new, someone surer of himself, more confident in what he did.

'You're not just saying that because of the baby are you?'

Clark took a moment to marvel at the insecurity in Lois' voice before he realized it would be prudent to actually answer her question. He cracked a grin and tugged her close.

'No, Lois, not because of the baby, because for the first time in my life I have someone who cares about me for who I am, alien and all, and still finds the time to jump by bones and perform "experiments" on me.'

Lois laughed at that.

Silence enveloped them once more as they wrapped there head around the idea of an us. But before they could get to more promising sides of the "us" there was one more thing Lois needed. Something that was more for their friends and family than it was for them.

'I don't want to come out and tell them we're together, we just won't hide it.'

He nodded, liking the sound of that much more than sitting Chloe down and explaining to her that he currently found her cousin slightly addictive when naked. Not to mention what would happen if he had to sit Lana down and talk about it.

'And I don't want to tell about the baby at first. I don't want everyone thinking that we're only together because you knocked me up.'

Once more Clark nodded in agreement before getting up and pulling Lois to her feet.

'We should celebrate.'

'Celebrate?' Lois frowned skeptically.

'Yes,' Clark nodded. 'Celebrate the fact that we're together and going to have a baby.'

Lois studied him for a moment. That seemed like a very good idea and she knew exactly how to go about celebrating.

'Wanna have sex?'

'Absolutely.'