Chapter 11

It was a Saturday afternoon and Lois had been cleaning since 8:30 that morning. The house had been a disaster for awhile since she'd spent maybe an hour a day there for the past several weeks other than when she was sleeping. Signing papers, getting the electricity and water turned on, the bank to approve her loan, not to mention the ten-thousand other things to make the house livable all on her own had now drained her of most of her energy to fix it up the place. However, today she organized the boxes and paint until she crashed on the couch at 1:00, turning on the HD television she bought. She bought quite the entertainment system, the one thing she wanted that she'd taken from her experience with Gram.

She still hadn't bought enough for the babies, things here and there but she was having a hard time doing things without Clark. Chloe and Lucy had offered time and time again but she had always insisted she was working. At least now she was clearing out space in the house for baby stuff. That was progress.

At 1:26 she heard a knock on the door and forced her tired, pregnant self up off the couch. Her hair in a messy but somehow sexy pony-tail, she opened the door. Shelby wagged his tail and Lois gently pulled him back from the doorway.

"Oh my God," she laughed, smiling as she saw Martha Kent with a woman standing beside her.

"Hi Lois," Martha smiled.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as Martha came into her arms. "You're not due here until next weekend!"

"I'm here to help you. Your cousin called me to the rescue so I'm here to help you. I'll be taking some personal time for you over the next few months. Can we come in?"

"Oh, of course," Lois said, stepping aside, and Shelby moved back into the foyer. "The house and I both leave something left to be desired, but you're welcome inside. I haven't gone grocery shopping in awhile but—"

"Lois, you're six months pregnant, you need to keep up your strength," Martha scolded gently, coming in to pet the dog.

"I know, I know," she replied. "And I've got tofu and organic stuff in the fridge. It's just that with the house I've been so exhausted. Not to mention work. But I've stopped the coffee and I eat as well as I can. I always ate pretty well, just not very much. Now I'm trying to eat what I'm supposed to be eating. And I have to learn to cook for the babies."

"Clark will help you."

"Yeah, sometimes I forget he's coming back," Lois said more honestly than she meant to.

Martha purposely ignored that comment to ease Lois's guilt. "Well, all right, I'm going to rummage through your kitchen and make us a meal. But first, let me introduce you. This is Marie Verreos. She's a designer and I've brought her here to help you."

Lois held out her hand and shook the other woman's hand rather roughly.

"To help me? That'll take awhile as you can see."

Marie, prepared for this just smiled. "Well, I am here to make things happen in as little time as possible for your convenience. It's a beautiful house, by the way."

"Should be for the time I've spent getting it."

Lois then realized how rude she was being.

"I'm sorry, can I get you both something to eat or drink?"

"You two sit down. I'll take care of that," Martha called out, already in the kitchen.

Lois extended her hand towards the couch where Marie sat down, pulling out files and spanning them across the table. Lois sat across from her.

"What do you have there?" Lois asked.

"Anything and everything you could ever want. And what's not in there I can still get for you. I'm here to make you house anything you want."

Lois raised an eyebrow reaching an elegant left hand to a few of the files and catalogues. Even the covers were beautiful and just the thought of someone else doing the work was like chocolate to her pregnancy cravings.

"I don't think I can afford you," Lois said.

"You're not paying for her," Martha said, setting a plate in front of Lois.

Lois smelled toast, cheese, and orange juice placed in front of her.

"Mrs. Kent, you can't pay for my house like this. I know what a personal decorator costs, and then on top of it everything to be brought in, everything I would purchase, seriously. It's nice and a little crazy of you to offer—"

"Lois, I can do this. I can pull strings and make some stress disappear. Don't you want a beautiful house finished with photos on the wall, a baby room, your rooms done, knick knacks that go perfectly with everything? She can make all this happen. Let her."

Lois bit her lip, feeling all of this at her fingertips, and wanting this so badly.

"It's yours, Lois," Martha smiled. "Enjoy it. It's my present to you."

"But I didn't do anything."

"You said she might resist," Marie said with a smile.

"And I said I'd make her accept," Martha replied. "Lois," Martha said, bending down. "I want you to enjoy this pregnancy. I want you to relax and eat the right things. I want you to have a beautiful house. We all promised we'd take care of you. So today we're going to look through all of this, make some decisions and let Ms. Verreos get started. This week and next they're going to redo your house while we stay at a suite at a lovely hotel I've picked. So do me a favor. Say yes."

For possibly the first time in her life, Lois was at a loss for words.

"I-I'm speechless."

Martha looked at Marie.

"That's a yes."

"Then let's get started so you two can get out of here. I feel bad making a pregnant woman work."

"I'm used to it," Lois replied. "But listen, I do have money. I can pay for my house to be furnished. I just am not sure about a personal decorator on top of two new babies. So let me—"

"No," Martha said. "You pay for whatever clothes and things you want for your children that have nothing to do with the house. You enjoy that. The house, it's yours but it's mine to take care of."

Lois quickly turned away, twisting her body away from their view.

"Lois?" Martha asked when Lois's shoulder's hunched over slightly.

Lois slowly turned back around, embarrassed as her lips trembled, tears in her eyes.

"Oh honey," Martha said, kneeling in front of Lois and hugging her and Lois continued to shake.

"They make me cry," she whispered. "And you're making me cry. No one ever…helped me with my homework or asked how I was doing when I was growing up and you, you keep being like a mother to me. And," Lois pulled back, wiping her tears with her fingertips. "Having hormones really sucks because you feel everything too much. You cry at everything."

Martha caressed Lois's hair. "I love being your mother."

Lois exhaled a laugh.

"I could really learn from you."

"You're going to be fine."

Lois nodded. "K."

XxX

Three hours later, Martha and Lois were at a nearby hotel with towels spread out over their queen size beds with takeout Indian food lying in front of them. They were on their own vacation while Lois's house was being remodeled. Martha finished up some last minute work calls before giving her full attention to her new roommate.

Martha closed her cell phone, finally finished.

"Done!" she exclaimed.

"Mmmm," Lois murmured, chewing her food. "No complaints here. You got me the food I wanted."

Martha smiled. "Good. You need to eat. Chloe says you still work eleven hour shift days on a light day. What does that mean you eat?"

"Hey, I go to organic diners," Lois countered. "And I actually leave the Daily Planet and go to real healthy restaurants. This right here," she said motioning her hand over the display of food. "…is fulfilling a craving."

Martha inched herself off her bed to reach for a pakora on Lois's bed.

"Well, I think you're doing beautifully. I know what it's like to work hard when the man you love isn't there. It's easy to get caught up in it. I just still want you to enjoy your pregnancy because it's something I never got to experience."

Lois's eyes left the muted television and turned to the red-headed woman. Her hands dropped to her sides. Martha looked at her with such longing.

"Lois, what's it like to be pregnant?"

"You mean aside from swollen ankles and your body being taken over?"

"Your ankles aren't swollen, Lois."

Lois looked at her ankles.

"You're right. I was playing on a common side effect I was lucky enough to have escaped. It's…it's wonderful. I mean other than getting bigger everyday I don't feel much different than I did before. I do get cravings and I can feel them inside me but some women, they have horrible pregnancies. I run everyday. I work, I sleep, I eat, I do everything I did anyway. I just wobble."

"But you have life inside you."

Lois nodded.

"Because I met your son."

Lois took Martha's hand and put it on her stomach.

"Feel them," she said. "They're a part of you too, Mrs. Kent. I remember wondering if I'd ever love someone the way you loved Jonathan. I do now. I love your son. He drives me crazy," she sighed and Martha laughed. "He does! But aside from that, I really have found in him the person I love more than anything."

Tears streamed down Lois's face.

"Sorry," she said, taking her hand and wiping them away. "See how fun it is to be pregnant?" she sighed.

"I know how much you miss him. I miss him too. You're my connection to him, but you're so much more than that. I love you, Lois."

Lois so rarely heard that that it shocked her a little. Staring at Martha for a moment, she said nothing but continued to let the tears roll down and placed her head against Martha's shoulder. Knowing Lois had a hard time with those words Martha put her arm around Lois and held her.

"Could we pretend I'm still a little girl and I'm not the one who's about to be a mother? Could you could just hold me?"

Martha nodded, wondering briefly what a daughter might've been like. Now she had a daughter and a granddaughter on the way, and life seemed fuller since Jonathan had died.

"Lie down," Martha said pushing the towel of food away from them and placing a pillow in lap that Lois could lie on it.

Lois obeyed and Martha soothed Lois into a peaceful sleep by caressing her hair, neck, and arms. Lois kept her hands on her stomach, silently promising to do this for her own children as she allowed someone to take care of her, loving her and being there for her.

~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~