Chapter Four
"What about this one?" Maggie asks holding up a stripped hooded sweater dress for Clark to see and explains, "It's casual and great for a rainy day."
He just smiled and took the gray sweater dress looking at it for a few minutes before putting it in the cart, "Find a pair of jeans to go with it and a couple more shirts." She runs off before he could finish as he just continued chuckling at her eagerness to shop while he pushed the cart after her, "Afterwards we'll head over to the office supply place to get you the rest of your school stuff maybe we'll find you a backpack that actually supports your back."
"Can we go to the bookstore?"
"If we have time." He answers watching the smile on her face growing larger, "We still have to go down to the school and get your welcome packet." He takes off the large frames and begins to rub his eyes before slipping them back on.
They spent a few more minutes looking around until she picked out the rest of her new clothes and proceeded to head for the checkout when Maggie cried out, "Daddy look there's Ms. Lane!" she tugs on his flannel shirt pointing towards the right.
Clark immediately looked towards the sight and saw Lois looking at the clearance DVD bin, "Let's go talk to her." She grabs his hand and tries to pull him over to where she had seen Lois.
"We've got a lot to do before Grandma and Grandpa drive back to Smallville. You'll have plenty of time to talk to Ms. Lane this week." He starts to push the cart towards the checkout with Maggie looking at Lois one last time before rushing off after her father.
Later that day after all the shopping was done and Maggie's school stuff was picked up, the littlest Kent was fast asleep on the couch with her trusty gold retriever at her side.
Martha, Jonathan and Kara had left a few hours ago with the couple driving off in their new pickup while Kara ran after expressing a need to stretch her legs leaving Clark, Maggie and Shelby alone once again to live out their new life in the city.
Clark walked into the quest room turned study and eventual room for his daughter, he took off his glasses and set them on the desk as he sat down on the cot allowing the darkness of the room to surround him giving him the solitude and moment of reflection he desperately needed.
Seeing Lois again had really affected him more than he could've possibly imagined when he first accepted the job at the Daily Planet but that wasn't the only thing affecting him…it was being back in this apartment again after years of trying to erase the memories that were woven into this place.
The freight elevator door slid open allowing Clark to walk inside their new home with large boxes in his hands, "I swear if we lived in Smallville my mother would smother this baby and it isn't even born yet."
"Actually that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I went to the doctor's today."
He immediately stepped in front of her and placed a hand on her stomach with deep concern written on his face, "Is there something wrong with the baby? Did Dr. Hamilton say if there's any defects or-" his worried questions are silenced when she presses her lips against his.
"It's a girl" was her hushed response once they pulled away from each other, "We're gonna have a baby girl."
A large electric smile appeared on the kryptonian's face and immediately stared down at her stomach with amazement written on his face, "A girl?" she nods, "I'm gonna have a daughter." He says still stunned about the happy news as he wrapped his arms around tightly but no too tightly as he spun her around the room until finally stopping in the center of their nearly furnished home, "What should we call her?"
"I don think we should worry about that until later." She wraps her arms around his neck staring up at him with love and affection, "Right now we need to concentrate on making a life for ourselves here in Metropolis and starting a family."
"I love you Alicia Baker"
"And I love you Clark Kent." She presses her lips against his once more causing his strong arms to wrap around her tighter as he reciprocated the kiss with the same amount of passion and love that she had for him.
"Daddy?"
Clark shakes off the memory and looks up to see Maggie standing in the doorway rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes, "Yeah sweetie."
"Can I have some cereal?"
He just smiled and rose up from the cot quick to pick her up in his arms, "That sounds like an excellent idea." He places a kiss on the side of her head before heading off towards the kitchen with Shelby following close behind them.
He places her on the counter while he searches through the freshly stocked shelves, "What do you want? We've got Cheerios and Captain Crunch." He holds up the two boxes and just smiles when she points towards the Captain, "I knew you'd pick that. You have a bigger sweet tooth than I do."
While he poured the cereal in two bowls Maggie began swinging her legs waiting patiently, "Did you and mommy live here before I was born?" she asks out of the blue halting his movements.
He shook off whatever it was that made him freeze and just turns to face his daughter with a serious look on his face, "Who told you that?"
What caught him off guard next was when her tiny hand disappeared inside her hoodie's pocket to pull out a creased photo, "When I was helping Grandpa unpack I found this picture at the bottom." He takes the photo from her and stares down at the happy couple staring up at him, "Is that my mom?"
He didn't answer right away just stared at the photograph with a sad look in his eyes, sure it had been almost been 7 ½ years since he lost her but that didn't mean that the pain was still there and he promised himself that Maggie would never go through the same thing.
"That's your mother." He responds when he hands the picture back to her, "You should hang onto that. You deserve to have something to remember her by."
Maggie just slips the picture back into her pocket allowing her father to finish up their late night snack, "When you finish your cereal I want you to go on to bed. You start school tomorrow and I need you up fully rested." He helps her down from the counter and hands her the bowl.
Father and Daughter spent the last few minutes eating together laughing and joking as if the previous conversation had never taken place…it was simply forgotten.
TBC
This chapter sort of kick starts the rest of the story (sort of). Clark's reasons for keeping the secret about Maggie's mother will probably be explained in an upcoming chapter also we'll start to learn more later on about what happened between Lois and Clark. Superman will eventually make an appearance too and there will be a funny father/daughter scene before the reveal pertaining to the suit design.
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