---- Chapter 14

Lois spent the rest of the day with Jordan, bonding with her and trying to get to know all the important stuff she should have known already. Clark was in and out of the apartment, doing patrols around Metropolis and answering calls for help from across the world. When he was there he was working on an article they'd been assigned recently, but she hadn't inquired as to what it was about yet.

She didn't know if she'd ever be able to express how much she appreciated him allowing her this time alone with Jordan. She knew that they'd get a lot of time alone, but allowing her this now when he was probably eager to try and fill her in on what she needed to know... it was one of the nicer things anybody had ever done for her. She'd have to find a good way to thank him. Maybe something in plaid would do the trick.

Early in the evening Clark came home from a save with heaps of Italian food in his arms. "Been vacationing in Rome?" she asked him jokingly. Smiling, he set all the bags and boxes down on various counters and began pulling all the items out.

"Actually, I had to lend a hand in New York so I stopped by Little Italy and got us a nice spread. Got it cheap too, since I'm almost a regular at some of the places. I bring home food from there every time I cover New York for Diana."

Lois set Jordan up with a plate of spaghetti while Clark was talking and started munching on a calzone when he piqued her interest with his last statement. "What do you mean cover New York? It has a super hero of its own named Diana?"

She watched Clark's back as he very visibly sighed and popped a piece of garlic bread in his mouth. "You know," he said as he turned to face her, "that right there is doing a horrible job with an important secret. I mean just awful. I don't know why, but my brain is always a step behind my mouth with you."

"I guess you just love me too much." She took a bite and smiled around it as she chewed. "So, who's Diana and how does she protect New York?"

She thought she heard him mumble something about a 'lasso of truth,' whatever that was, and getting hogtied before he sat down at the table with them, a plate of manicotti in front of him. "Diana Prince is an Amazon Warrior. She was, is, Princess of the Greek island Themyscira. She left the island and went to New York City, adopting the persona Wonder Woman much as I have Superman, which she uses to fight crime the same way I do here in Metropolis."

"Huh. Well, obviously I knew this before since you said it like it was common knowledge, so why were you trying to keep it a secret?"

"I'm trying to avoid information overload. The last thing I want to do to you is overwhelm you. I have a feeling it was pretty bad yesterday with everything you had dumped on you. I do have to say you acquiesced to everything more quickly this time, though."

She watched him eat a moment before finishing off Jordan's spaghetti and wiping up the extra sauce with the garlic bread. He had a hint of sag in his shoulders that she remembered very well, and that was something she felt she could fix now. She reached over and placed a hand on his, smiling softly as he looked up into her eyes.

"Don't underestimate me, Clark. I don't get overwhelmed easily after it happens once. As far as my transition time... it wasn't just about me this time. Have my baby girl to take care of."

He just stared into her eyes for moment, and she knew that if she looked away she'd hate herself for it. Finally, his eyes drifted to Jordan and she saw him chuckle to himself. "You'd think I'd have learned that by now, wouldn't you? I don't know how, but even when you just think of me as a farm boy that mopes, you make things seem alright."

"Well, obviously I think enough of you to have kids with you, and I trust my judgement like I do few others." Smiling, she just stared into his eyes again, those stupid deep eyes that just drowned her with feelings she couldn't imagine Clark causing. She quickly realized that she was going to have to work really hard to hold out for two months like she'd said she would.

As she ate some stunning ziti that she though might give her a foodgasm, she watched Clark playing with Jordan. He picked her up and flew her around the room as any dad would with a child, but as he did so, she was hit with the feeling that this was all just... right. She couldn't have explained what she felt if she wanted to, but she knew that if she lost this, she would lose herself.

She finished the ziti, and watching Clark still flying Jordan around the room, she couldn't help herself. "Hey daddy," she said. Clark stopped and looked up, a look of surprise plastered on his face. "When do I get to fly?"

He broke out into just about the widest grin she'd ever seen. "Soon. I'll see if I can pencil you in for sometime this week."

"Good enough," she said as she walked over and sat on the couch.

It wasn't long before she was joined by Jordan after Clark had put her down so he could finish up his dinner. Lois had laid down on the couch and was now covered by Jordan, who was resting her head on her chest. She ran a hand over her daughter's back as they watched Jeopardy together. She couldn't believe that it was still around, and stranger yet, Trebek was still hosting. The man had to be at least eighty.

She watched as Jordan started to drift off, slowly but surely, but listened to Clark's typing on his laptop in a chair across the room. She was surprised when the typing stopped and he spoke.

"Hey Lo?"

"Yeah Clark?

"Since tomorrow is Monday, I was curious as to whether or not you plan on going in to the Planet or if you planned on staying home. Maybe spend the day with Jordan?"

"Truthfully, I hadn't thought about it until just now. Had some other things on my mind for the past couple days if you hadn't noticed." She would have smirked at him but he was out of view, so she settled for continuing to stare at her now snoozing daughter.

"It did become apparent a few hours ago, I guess. I'd suggest taking a few days and acclimating yourself to everything first, then maybe come back on Friday and take the day to learn the new systems they put on the computers a few years back and meet the personnel you don't know. Based on previous experience, though, be you here or there you'll probably hear Chief's explosion when I tell him why you're out."

"I take it he's not exactly fond of my mental condition."

"He hates anything not named Jordan that takes his star reporter away from a story."

She could almost hear Clark's eyes rolling as he said star reporter and couldn't help but grin. "Star reporter, eh? I wish I could be surprised, but I always liked to be the best at what I do."

"So I've heard. Anyway, like I was saying, use Friday to learn the new stuff and throw yourself back in the deep end a week from tomorrow. What do you say?"

"I say I trust your judgement on this and it sounds like you've got a reasonable idea to use. Consider it the plan we're following." A sudden thought struck Lois when she thought about heading back to work. "Say Smallville, where does Jordan usually go during the day?"

"I usually fly her out to Smallville to stay with my mom for the day. They love spending time together and we don't have to stick her in a daycare that can't take care of her half as well."

Lois groaned and immediately felt ashamed. A lot had been going on, but she hadn't even bothered to ask him about how his mother was doing. "How is your mom doing these days, Clark? Is Mrs. Kent still a senator?"

"Mom's good. She did a second national stint and thought about running again, but in the end decided that politics was nice, but it wasn't what she wanted out of life. She does a lot of work with charities now, coordinating things for numerous children's shelters and the like in Metropolis."

"She does that and watches our daughter while we're at work? Where does she find the time?"

"I've asked her about it numerous times, but she just claims that time management is a skill that can be honed like anything else. Throw in running the farm with her charity work and watching Jordan, and I seriously think she's living on three hours sleep during the week and doesn't do anything but sleep on weekends we're not there.

"On a side note, if you think Chloe is bad about spoiling that girl of ours, my mom puts her to shame. I can honestly say that I don't think I've ever heard my mom say no to Jordan. Oh, and if you were to call her Mrs. Kent, she may just withhold desert from you the next time we eat together, not to mention scowl like she's never scowled before."

If anything in the world sounded like a punishment employed by Martha Kent, that would be it. "Martha it is."

"Mommy, why do you keep asking daddy questions?"

Lois looked back down at the previously asleep Jordan, yet again meeting the eyes that so resembled her own. While it was still a bit disconcerting, it was a little bit comforting as well.

"Well, uh, the new baby is making my mind kind of fuzzy. While it's in my tummy it can do weird things to my body like make me not feel very good, or make me really hungry so that I eat a whole bunch. It can even make my memory go kaflooey." Oh dear lord, did she just say kaflooey?

The answer seemed to satisfy Jordan, who nodded and closed her eyes, wiggling a bit and finding a comfortable spot again. Lois craned her neck and looked at Clark, who simply smiled and winked at her before going back to doing work on their article.

A few minutes later, Jordan was out like a light again. This time Clark took her and put her to bed while Lois sat up and stretched. When he came back and sat at his laptop again, she couldn't hold back her curiosity. "So, what's our assignment?"

"We've been investigating corruption in the city council. Seems half the members are in the pocket one of person or another. It came about when we found some questionable contracts granted by the council in another investigation. Perry's letting us run with this to see what we can get."

"Whose pockets are deepest these days?"

Lois watched as Clark sat back in his chair and eyed her for a little while. The silence was seriously encroaching on her dislike of silence. "What?"

"Diving right back in now instead of a week from now?"

"Let's call it a distraction. I've heard enough about me this weekend to last a lifetime and unfortunately, I still have a good bit of that to cover."

"Fair enough." Clark grabbed a thick folder off the table and handed it to her. "That's the information on six of the council seats. They're all paid off by different people in different companies, but each one has a tie to Lex. Indirect and completely negligible, of course."

She laughed mirthlessly. "Is there any other kind of link when it comes to business and Lex Luthor?"

Clark's smile held as little mirth as her laugh had. "I suppose not. Anyway, I've been combing that file and a couple others, typing up my notes and basically creating a list of people we have evidence are involved. For lack of a better term, a 'web of influence,' if you will. If we could find something rock solid, I'm certain we could put Lex smack in the middle of the thing. So far, though, no joy."

"Nobody ever said Lex isn't deviously smart. After my apparent assault at the hands of his goons, or goons probably indirectly linked to him, taking his ass down would be grand."

After a couple hours of meticulous research through a good portion of the information they had, their conclusion was that Lex was exactly as advertised: deviously smart and in serious need of jail time with a large man named Bubba. Lois watched as Clark stood up and walked into their bedroom and returned with a pillow.

"What're you doing, Smallville?"

"I just thought you might be uncomfortable sleeping in the same bed with me since, well, in your memory that hasn't happened yet." He shrugged, which led her to roll her eyes. She walked up to him and took the pillow out of his hands, then promptly hit him in the face with it.

"Do you kick in your sleep, farm boy?"

"Not that I know of, but I do have to help people during the night which entails me getting in and out of bed, not always softly."

Lois thought about it a second, then hit him in the face with the pillow again. "I think I'll be ok, Smallville." She hit him once more, enjoying it more than she thought she should. "Anyway, it can't be all that bad if we're married." Unable to resist, she hit him again. "I'm going to keep doing this until you stop me. It's more fun than I've had all day."

She started to swing the pillow again but stumbled forward with empty hands and found Clark standing before her with his arms crossed, the pillow hanging down from a hand. She regained her balance and smirked at him. "It doesn't surprise me at all that you can't get the best of me without using powers." Turning on her heel, she walked to their bedroom and called back to Clark. "Come on Smallville, I'm tired."

She walked in their room and stopped in front of the bed, waiting for Clark, who was soon in the room, closing the door behind him.. "Ok, so, where do I keep my pajamas and which side of the bed is mine? If you say left I may just have to kiss you."

She saw him smile before he turned and pulled some clothes out of the dresser. He turned back around, holding a couple shirts. "Usually you sleep in one of two things: a large t-shirt or, and you may not believe it, a plaid shirt you stole from me about six years ago."

"Oh, I believe it since I woke up in the thing yesterday. I dare say that was as shocking as waking up in a strange place."

"I can imagine so since you hate plaid oh so much."

"I don't hate plaid, per se, I just got sick of it since you wore it so often. Had you diversified your wardrobe more, I wouldn't have had to start calling you Captain Plaid. Nobody to blame but yourself."

He rolled his eyes and tossed her the t-shirt. "And yes, you do get the left side of the bed. You told me after the first time we made love, very explicitly, that no matter how much I wanted it, I was not allowed to take advantage of your memory loss if it happened again and claim the left side. Apparently if I were to try such a thing, you would remember again long enough to, and I quote, 'beat me down.'"

Lois grinned as she took off her shirt and pants and slipped on the oversized shirt. She thought about being modest and changing in the bathroom, but it seemed Clark had seen all the goods a thousand times over anyway.

It was then that an idea popped into her head. "Hey, could you buy me a pregnancy test tomorrow? I trust you and Chloe telling me I'm pregnant, but I'd just like to check for myself."

"There's one under the sink already. I bought five of the things when I first became suspicious about Almond Joy existing, but you only used four since that seemed proof enough."

"Sounds like something I'd do. I'll be back in a few minutes." She closed the bathroom door behind her and crouched down, looking under the sink for the tester. She found what claimed to be a test but looked like a glucose measuring device she'd seen a diabetic at the Planet use.

Opening it, she found the instructions and inspected the little device. Apparently home tests used blood now and were as accurate as any tests a doctor could perform, or so the instructions claimed. Following the steps, she placed it on the end of her finger and held it there, then pushed the little green button. She felt it prick her finger, which wasn't painful, and held the test in place for fifteen seconds as it told her to.

Once it had beeped three times, she pulled it away and looked at the small screen it had. It flashed 'Pregnant!' at her, which she supposed was the proof she'd been looking for. Sighing, she tossed the test in the garbage. Maybe she'd feel pregnant when she started to show. Right now she just felt like herself with bigger boobs.

Walking out of the bathroom, Lois crawled into bed and under the covers, digging her head into her pillow a little bit. "Goodnight, Clark." She felt the bed dip a little as he laid down.

"Night, Lo."