Three weeks later, Lois made it back to Smallville. Lucy had contacted her after a few years of MIA and Lois flew across the world to meet her. They reconnected briefly and Lois actually managed not to spend the whole time yelling at her for stealing 50 thousand from Lex and speeding off into the distance. Lucy had honestly put her life back together in a pretty honest way. Lois was impressed. It was also a good excuse to get away from Clark for several days, though he was constantly on her mind the entire time she was away.
When she returned home she had eight messages from him on her machine and she immediately hit the delete button. Still unable to face him, she pulled a pregnancy test out of her grocery bag.
"Of course," she muttered looking at it and walking into her living room.
There was a knock on her front door.
"Hold on," she said, but her cousin was already letting herself in.
Looking for the nearest trashcan Lois threw the test away as Chloe made her way closer.
"Hey cous'," Lois said, beginning to unpack her groceries.
"Hey," Chloe replied. "How are you?"
"Oh, fine," she responded nervously. "Lucy gave me the grand tour of how wonderful her new life is."
"You two are always going to have it tough with each other," Chloe smiled comfortingly. "But you can always count on me," she told her.
Lois paused and smiled at the relative she was far closer to.
"Thank you. You're my true family."
Chloe hugged Lois, saying, "And I always will be."
Lois felt tears prickling her eyelids for no apparent reason.
"You promise?"
Chloe pulled back, frowning curiously at Lois.
"'Course. You have survived everything with such a close call and I think it's incredibly cruel of her to ask you to come out there and shine her new fabulous life so soon after you and Oliver split for the second time!"
Lois looked down.
"Oliver," she repeated softly, not having given him any thought while away.
"I'm…I'm sorry," Chloe said. "That was insensitive of me to bring him up."
"No I, I just feel a great need to eat a pint of something every time I think of him," Lois replied, covering brilliantly.
"I'll join you?"
"Actually, you know what? I need to clear my head. I'm gonna go for a drive. I'll be back in a little while."
"Want me to come with you?"
"No, thanks," Lois said as politely as she could manage. "I just wanna think. I'm-just thinking about a lot these days. I'll see you later, okay, Chlo?" she sighed, guiding Chloe out with her.
Chloe walked out with Lois, and then waited for her to be out of sight. Using her spare key she let herself back into her cousin's apartment. Looking around, she found Lois's digital camera with several photos of her and Lucy, plastic smiles on Lois's face, real ones on Lucy's. She checked Lois's bedroom finding nothing out of the ordinary. Chloe didn't feel it necessary to invade Lois's computer, she just wanted to make sure Lois wasn't ill or in danger. The computer would be a last resort.
Going back out to the kitchen, she looked at Lois's receipts. Scanning down her eyes widened when she came to the pregnancy test.
"Oh my God," she whispered to herself.
When could she have gotten pregnant? Chloe thought. Was it Oliver's? Did Lois sleep with Oliver before she found out he was Green Arrow? Was Lois pregnant at all?
Where was the pregnancy test?
Chloe set out to find the test and succeeded quickly. She pulled it from the trash can and saw the plus sign, her heart racing and burning at the same time. If it was Oliver's, why didn't Lois say anything to her?
Why didn't Lois tell her that she and Oliver had been together in the first place? No, Lois and Oliver hadn't had time to be together. Who had Lois been with?
Now Chloe felt the need to investigate. Lois had obviously gone out of town to escape whatever or whoever it was. Chloe knew Lois that well, so maybe Chloe could round up some evidence here. Looking at Lois's phone she immediately walked over to it. Seeing 'recently deleted messages' on it she checked the number.
It was Clark's.
XxX
"Clark!" Chloe called out bursting into his kitchen never having been so angry with anyone in her entire existence.
"Yeah, in here," he replied.
"Clark, get over here, now!"
Clark zoomed out right in front of her. He seemed distressed about something but she didn't care to find out. She was too pissed off.
"What the hell did you do to my cousin?" she demanded.
Clark sighed, looking down.
"She told you."
"No, she didn't tell me anything. You think Lois would spill something like that to me like an ordinary girl? This is Lois we're talking about. She's not one to dish about things like that. How could you do that? You were with Lana! You don't even think of Lois that way the last time I checked! What the hell were you—"
"Chloe, calm down—"
"No, you calm down, Clark, this is way beyond forgiveness. What you have done, Lois doesn't even know. You have to tell her, now. Dammit Clark, you got Lois pregnant!"
"Chloe!"
Both Clark and Chloe turned to see Lois standing in the doorway.
"Is that true?" a third voice said behind them.
The three of them saw Lana with a questioning look on her face.
"Thanks, Chloe," Lois replied sardonically.
Chloe bowed her head in shame.
"Clark," Lana said.
"Lois?" Clark said to Lois.
"Okay, this is going well," Lois said. "Chloe, what the hell are you doing?"
"I'm sorry," she replied sincerely. "I was trying to help."
"Well that's certainly a bang up way of helping, announcing to him something so private before I have the chance to even process it myself."
"You're pregnant?" Clark asked.
Lois's eyes closed in surrender. "Yeah I…could I have a minute with you?"
"She doesn't know, does she?" Lana said.
"Know what?" Lois asked in confusion.
Lana, angry and upset, found some small gain in having more knowledge than Lois did. Clark had ended it with her three weeks ago but accepting it was something she couldn't do. Clark had tried to convince her how much they'd grown apart but until now she hadn't fully believed him.
"You had an affair and you didn't even tell her?"
"Lana," Clark said defensively.
To Clark it had never been an affair. What had happened could never be called something as cheap as an affair. He'd been caught up in the moment and as soon as it had happened he ended it with Lana so that it would never be an affair. Now though, consequences of that night were becoming real.
"Tell me what?" Lois asked again.
"Clark, tell her now," Chloe said. "Lana, come on."
Lana reluctantly moved past Clark and followed Chloe towards the kitchen door where Lois stood. As Lois stepped aside she stopped Lana.
"Lana?" she asked and Lana looked up at her. "I'm so sorry," she said honestly.
Lana said nothing to her but stared briefly, then left. Lana had lost everything to Lois and frankly didn't give a damn what Lois felt. Lois, after a pang of guilt, came inside, shut the door behind her and looked at Clark.
"I'm…sorry. I was on my way over here to tell you myself. What is it they want you to tell me? What's wrong?"
Clark, overwhelmed with the news knew he had to tell her. The baby she was carrying, his baby was part Kryptonian and now after everything, Lois had every right to know. But after Oliver, after Lois's point of view of Oliver not ever being able to put her first, would she ever believe in him?
"Clark, what?" she said, interrupting his thoughts.
"Lois," he sighed.
"You're scaring me, just tell me."
"I don't know how to tell you this."
"Well anything after 'I'm pregnant' should be easy."
"I should've told you sooner but what you thought of Oliver, what he does, what he is…"
"What about it?"
"I'm…not all that dissimilar from him."
Lois frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I've got a calling too. I can do things, more than a human can."
"More than a human?"
"Okay, you know the meteor shower two decades ago?"
"Yeah, you trying to tell me you have meteor powers?"
"No, I'm trying to tell you I was brought here in that shower."
Lois just stared, pondering what he was saying. "All the little things you've done over the years, you're telling me you're from another planet?"
Clark said nothing. His guilty look was enough. Lois bit her lip and paced a little.
"Clark, come on—"
He used his super-powers to instantly clean up the room, shocking the hell out of her. In his super-speed he brought her a glass of orange juice.
Looking up at him with completely stunned eyes a shivering hand took the glass.
"Clark," was all that came from her lips.
"I'm serious. There's a lot I can do."
She stepped away from him.
"Was…there ANY other time you might've told me this?"
"I don't tell people about what I can do at all!"
"Well obviously you do! Chloe and Lana know! They made out to be the dumb idiot who knew nothing! So you obviously told both of them!"
"I didn't tell them, they found out."
Angry tears gathered in Lois's eyes and she covered her eyes with her left hand.
"Oh God," she cried. "So you knew how I felt. You knew how I felt about Oliver yet you're telling me you play hero just like him but you still had sex with me anyway?"
"Well not to point the finger but you had sex with me too."
"You kissed me first."
"Would you like me to remind you how many times you asked me to hold you and touch you?"
She tilted her head and looked at him with loathing.
"Clark, go to hell. I was in a bad place, you took advantage of that, and now you're telling me I'm pregnant with a child that's half alien? How am I supposed to deal with that?"
"We'll deal with it together."
"No, you can take all of your calling and your need to save the world and shove it. I'm going to do this on my own. I don't need you to rescue me. I don't need Oliver and I don't need you."
She set the glass down and began to walk away but he grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"I am not Oliver," he told her.
"You both lied to me about who you were. I have been broken enough times to be able to just politely deal with it. I'm done."
"This has nothing to do with being broken, Lois. You just can't deal with the fact that you felt something with me. That's what this is really about."
She tried to shake his hands off her shoulders.
"It's about being lied to, get off!"
"I am not going to leave you behind!" he said trying to get a firm grasp on her.
"Stop!" she said breaking free and slapping him on the face.
"Stop hitting me!" he shouted back, successfully grabbing her upper arms and holding her still.
Then, even though she was driving him crazy, he drew her up to him and kissed her, determined to make her accept what was between them whether she wanted to or not. When he pulled back he said a comment he would later regret.
"Tell me Oliver did that to you."
Memories flooded back to her and she couldn't believe how long it had taken her to figure it out.
"It was you!" she cried out. "You, of course it would be you! You are the idiot that Oliver set me up to kiss! You'd be the one of course because you already have a hero complex. He let me be an idiot and kiss someone else thinking it'd be him."
"I don't think either of us thought you'd kiss him. Me, whatever."
"You say one more thing and I swear," she vowed, now unable to look at him. "Oh my God, Chloe!"
Clark wasn't making the connection.
"What?"
Lois's hand went over her mouth.
"She let me tell you about the kiss and what I THOUGHT about the kiss!"
Clark smiled a slightly arrogant smile, which only pissed Lois off even more.
"Oh don't grin," she snapped back.
She walked away.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"I'm going to put myself in prison BEFORE I'm arrested for murdering my cousin."
"Oh it wasn't that bad," he called after her.
"I'm regretting the day I ever met you," she said with revulsion in her voice.
He walked over to her.
"No, you're just upset that every word I've said is true."
"Stop flattering yourself," she snapped, opening the door.
"Don't leave," he said grabbing her arm, still smiling.
"I have a few things I need to get used to!"
"So do I! But you can't just leave like this!"
"I can do anything I want! I'm pregnant with your baby!"
"You're…what?"
Lois and Clark turned to see Martha Kent with a suitcase standing next to Shelby by the entryway. Gently bringing Lois towards him, Clark shut the kitchen door.
"Mom," Clark said.
"Lois, you're pregnant?" Martha asked.
"Mrs. Kent I…" Lois trailed off.
Clark put his hands on Lois's shoulder.
"Yes, Mom. She's pregnant."
"Wow," she replied, trying to swallow it down. She came over to Lois and hugged her. "But…I heard you both shouting from outside the front door. What's wrong?"
"Oh," Lois said, not wanting to have anything be wrong for Mrs. Kent. "It's nothing. You know how we are. We just like to fight. We always have."
"I was telling her about my powers and where I was from," Clark confessed.
Lois looked up at him then back at Martha.
"Yeah and you know my big mouth, I wasn't taking it well."
"You know Clark was just trying to protect himself. Mr. Kent and I always taught him to be cautious. It has nothing to do with you."
Though Lois didn't believe a word of that, she nodded politely for Mrs. Kent.
"So, wow, you're really pregnant," Martha smiled. "When did this happen?"
"Oh, three weeks ago," Lois said. "COMPLETELY unexpected. Clark came over to check on me and one thing led to another and…never mind. Anyway, is there anything else I need to know?" she asked, looking back and forth between Martha and Clark.
"No," Martha smiled, taking Lois into her arms. "So why was Clark checking on you?"
"Oh because Oliver came back and I was upset," Lois said.
Martha looked to Clark.
"Does she know he's Green Arrow?"
Lois sighed.
"Does everyone know?"
"She does now," Clark replied.
"Come sit down," Martha said to Lois, guiding Lois to the couch. "So you two aren't together," Martha said.
"No," Lois said firmly.
"We are now," Clark said.
"No, we're not," Lois said in a singsong voice.
Martha smiled.
"Well, it sounds like you two are pretty close to how you always were."
Martha put a pillow behind Lois's head.
"You know it's really nice that you're tending to me, Mrs. Kent, but I really don't feel pregnant yet."
"Well, you're going to move back in here and I'm going to take care of you," Clark said.
"That's a great idea," Martha said before Lois had a chance to reply. "Let me get a pad of paper and we'll make a list of necessities for you."
"I'll get her a blanket," Clark said.
"You," Lois said pointing at him. "Just because your mother's here doesn't mean I'm not still mad at you."
Martha looked at Clark.
"Just out of curiosity, what did you do?"
"Oh he let me kiss him and then didn't tell me," Lois said, adjusting herself on the couch.
Martha nodded. "Right, when you were exposed to the red kryptonite."
Clark dropped his head seeing himself getting in deeper and deeper trouble.
"You know, I don't even know yet what that means but I'm just going to lay here."
Clark finally took a moment to reunite with his mother.
"Hey Mom, it's great to see you," he said, hugging her.
"My son. You never cease to surprise me."
"How long are you in town for?"
"Just the weekend. But with all this I'll have to visit more often. If…you want me to."
"Of course," Lois said. "We've missed you."
"I've missed you too. Now, we're going to need prenatal vitamins and soymilk and doctor appointments and all kinds of things. Let me make a list."
Martha dashed to the other room for a notepad.
Clark looked at Lois and kneeled himself on the floor beside her.
"I come in peace."
"You get too close I will use a hand grenade."
He very gently picked up her hand and held it in his. She didn't look at him.
"You can be so stubborn," he said.
"Good way to open."
"But I wouldn't want you any other way and I'm not letting you go anywhere. This pregnancy doesn't change anything between us. This still would've happened. We still would've happened. We did happen."
Her hazel eyes finally met his blue.
"I feel like the idiot here, Clark. Everyone not only knows you, they know things that I've done that I don't know. It's humiliating. I don't even know what's inside my body."
"No no," he said, placing his hand on her lower stomach. "What's inside you is a healthy baby girl or boy. I promise. It may have the ability to lift a car as it grows, but it's nothing that we won't be able to take care of."
"Why wasn't I good enough?" she asked. "I mean to tell me about what you can do?"
"I already told you. I didn't tell them, they found out."
Her fingers reached for his face and the tips crept up against his forehead, lightly caressing.
"You always were too beautiful to be human," she said.
God, he wanted her.
"Don't tempt me or I'll lose my morals all together," he told her.
"You touch me right now and you'll lose something else."
"Is that a challenge?"
"Clark, give her ten minutes. It's a lot for her to accept. Here, make yourself useful," Martha said, giving Clark the list. "Go get this stuff."
"How many prenatal vitamins does one person need to take?" Clark asked.
"Prenatal vitamins are important and Lois is already three weeks along. We need them now, go."
"Already three weeks along?" Lois questioned.
Clark left.
"I'm just trying to get him out of the house," Martha explained.
"Thank you," Lois said gratefully and took the glass of orange juice Martha brought her. "He's giving me a headache."
"His feelings for you have finally evolved. Last time I talked to him he told me he was having difficulty with Lana, but I didn't know he would—"
"Get me pregnant? Kind of a shocker to me as well."
"He's not so bad," Martha said.
"This the part where you defend him to me?"
"Chloe saw him catch a car. She wasn't romantically involved with him so she became his secret keeper. They were friends, nothing more. Lana found out while married to Lex and Clark had to tell her. They've been trying to work through their own web of lies and deception ever since. You had your own life. Clark saw no need to push you into something he didn't really tell anyone."
"I understand his reasoning in all of that. But both Clark and I should've been smarter than to have been together when I was trying to get over Oliver."
"But Clark's right. Clark isn't like Oliver."
"You're his mother. Of course you'll think that."
"I think that his feelings are growing for you quickly, and not because of the baby. I also think you have feelings too."
"Mrs. Kent I…I don't want you to be upset by anything that may or may not happen between us."
"Lois, please. I see how you two have always been together. And now you're having a baby."
Martha sounded so happy and Lois still hadn't even gotten used to the word pregnant.
"I just…I need time," Lois said.
"You have it. And you have me for anything you need. All I'm saying is…try and forgive Clark. I think his feelings for you are much deeper than you believe. He wasn't ever trying to betray you."
Lois took Martha's hand.
"I'm a little scared."
"Of course you are. But you have us. You have a strong support system here. I know that you like to be strong and independent but it really and truly doesn't make you weak to let people in."
"Sometimes when you let people in, they break you."
"I won't break you."
Lois smiled. At least she had one person on her side. Even if that person was Clark's mother.
~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~