By Saskia <saskiakooistra333@hotmail.com>
Rated: PG
Submitted: January 2003
Summary: Lois just found out something huge and she's desperate to talk to Clark to tell him exactly how she feels.
Author's note: I finally managed to write and finish a whole story. The idea came to me while working on a school assignment. Don't you just love school sometimes? <g> I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did while writing. All comments are welcome!
I couldn't have done this without the help of some people. Missy and Laura helped me brainstorming on IRC, thanks guys, it helped a lot. Also a huge thank you for my Beta Readers: Laswa, Mary and Cyad. I couldn't have done it without you! And also thanks to my GE, Sarah.
This story is for Cyad! I know you don't care a lot for these things, but I just wanted to make sure you had a great birthday!
All usual disclaimer apply here. This is a little story just meant for fun.
***
The bed was standing all alone in the big bedroom. It wasn't even made yet: the sheets were untidy, pillows were tossed about haphazardly, and female clothes were spread all about and even hung on the iron bedframe. The bed in no way resembled its normally neat and tidy self. There was even one pillow missing.
That pillow was lying in the windowsill, right next to the pregnancy test. A woman was sitting there, too, silently staring at the test. She couldn't believe the result. She was pregnant! If someone had told her a couple of years ago that she would get pregnant, she'd have merely laughed at them. Pregnancy was one thing that she'd thought would never happen to Lois Lane. Of course, it had all changed when Clark Kent came into her life, especially after they started seeing each other in a romantic way. Three years ago they had gotten married and started thinking of kids. She hadn't been sure of her feelings on the subject then, but a change in circumstances led her to realize that she did actually want children of her own. The disappointment when they found out that they couldn't have kids together was overwhelming.
The test was most definitely blue and the description clearly stated that that meant she was pregnant. That was very shocking. Sure, her period was rather late and she did feel a little weird, but this was almost impossible. It had to be wrong.
Realization was slowly setting in. Lois was pregnant. As the truth hit her, old fears returned. What if she was going to be a bad mother? The example she had had wasn't very prospering. Her own mother had spent all her time drinking, her father was never home and all her parents did when they *were* home was yell at each other, anyway. She feared she would become like her mother; neglecting, whining and not caring. Their jobs as journalists kept Clark and her very busy and there were also Clark's activities as Superman. That would mean no time for children, and the kids would be in day care and come to think of the people there as their parents and the other children as their siblings.
This wasn't leading anywhere. Clark would be overjoyed when she told him the news. And he would make sure she felt good about it too. Come to think of it, his enthusiasm was very contagious. And Clark had the best parents one could think of. Martha and Jonathan meant the world to him. They loved him very much and showed it to him as often as possible. They were going to make great grandparents. Maybe things would turn out fine in the end.
She'd better think of a way to let Clark know as there was only about an hour left until he came home. It was her afternoon off and she'd spent most of it worrying and thinking about being pregnant. Now how would she tell Clark without being too obvious or worrying him?
An idea suddenly occurred to her while looking at the pillow beside her. It had served her well this afternoon while she cried and needed something to hold onto.
***
Some time later, Lois had cooked a little dinner, changed into something comfortable and put on a light layer of makeup. She had every intention to look as good as was possible with her plan. It was a very good thing Clark had taught her how to cook. A vital part of her plan was involved in dinner.
While dinner was cooking, Lois was checking her image in the mirror. She was wearing a pair of jeans that fitted her perfectly and accented her figure in all the right places. On top of it she had a black T-shirt with a big red heart on it, the one Clark loved so much. Turning in front of the mirror, she decided she looked good enough. It didn't even matter what she wore, Clark thought she always looked gorgeous and even more when she wasn't wearing anything at all. That idea brought a big smile on her face.
Ding dong! The clock in the living room struck six. Any minute now, Clark could be home from the Planet. She rushed downstairs to put the food on plates and finish off the table. Her intention was to make a romantic dinner and evening for Clark, show something to him and then drop the bomb.
Five minutes later the candles were lit, food was on the plates, and music was playing softly, but there was still no sign of Clark. Lois decided to sit down, as he was probably just running a bit late at work. He could get caught up and forget about time, and even his super-speed couldn't help him then. A big sigh escaped her mouth. If she wasn't around to remind him of the time, he could stay at the Planet until he finished all of his work. All that was left now for her was to simply wait.
***
After having saved two cats from a tree, helped with a traffic jam and put out a fire in Hobbs Bay, Clark was finally able to head home. It had been an unusual long afternoon. First, there were the two interviews he had to do for the latest Lane and Kent investigation. Without Lois around that hadn't been an easy thing. Snuggling around and talking didn't go together very well. Superman had kept him quite busy as well, Metropolis seemed to be having a lot of fires the last couple of days. Already two today, both in Hobbs Bay. And nobody knew what was going on. Besides, he had missed Lois terribly. Not being able to see her, smell her, touch her, hear her laugh or sharing a joke with her was killing him. They had been married for almost three years now and spent most of their time together, either at work or home. But every single time she wasn't near him, he felt miserable. Even for just an hour.
Now that the latest fire was out, he could finally go home to Lois. And dinner, his stomach reminded him with a growl. All his activities had prevented him from eating, it was a good thing he didn't need to eat much anyway. Right now he was actually looking forward to dinner, especially since Lois would be cooking. He had taught her how to cook and since then she had surprised him from time to time with a lovely meal. He hoped she had one ready now as well.
He speeded up to be home as fast as he could. It was nearly six thirty and Lois would have expected him home half an hour ago. He quietly landed in the back yard and spun back in his daily clothes before running inside.
***
What took Clark so long? After fifteen minutes of waiting, Lois became restless and dinner was starting to cool. Not that that was a problem for the Kent household, heat vision had proved very useful on Hyperion Avenue on a regular basis. But tonight had to be very special and Lois hated it when things weren't going her way.
So she walked into the living room and turned on the television. LNN was showing the news reports about the fires in Metropolis. Apparently, there had been two more today and Superman had been there again. Both had been in the Hobbs Bay area and the last one had only been an hour or so ago. So that's where Clark had been. But the news report said he had left some time ago and he still wasn't here.
This would be the topic of their conversation during dinner and Lois saw her plan falling apart. So much for her good intentions and happy news, Lois thought, a little sadly.
"Lois, I'm home!" a voice greeted her from the kitchen.
She quickly got up and practically ran into the kitchen. "Clark, where've you been? I was starting to get worried."
"Worried, Lois? You know I'm Superman and that nothing can hurt me. It's not that I don't appreciate your concern, but it's not really necessary." His wife could obsess as much as he could, so Clark decided to change the topic. "Hmm, dinner smells great and I'm really hungry."
"Well, it would have been great if you'd gotten home in time, now it's all cold. And yes, worried. Two more fires today and LNN said you'd left the scene some time ago and you still weren't home. And I had this great plan for tonight and you weren't coming and I didn't even know where you were," she finished with a small voice before breathing in some air again.
Clark took her in his arms to calm her down and planted a kiss on top of her head. She rarely babbled since they had married and it only happened when she was freaking out or extremely happy. He guessed it was the first now.
"Why don't we sit down, have dinner and discuss things then?"
After a moment, she looked up at him and smiled. "Okay, but you'll have to use your heat vision again. Dinner's cold and when you opened the door you managed to put the candles out. If you do that, I'll put the music on again."
One minute later they were both seated. Everything looked very romantic once more and the food could be eaten again. Clark stared at his plate. He was quite hungry but his plate didn't contain much.
Some small meatballs, tiny pieces of corn, different kinds of small beans and some weird-shaped potatoes that also weren't particularly big. Lois had outdone herself this time. Sure, it was surprising and smelling good, but it would never fill his stomach. Maybe she had a big dessert waiting in the fridge. With that thought he took down his glasses and peeked in the fridge. To his surprise, he found nothing there. A big sigh escaped him.
Lois had seen his curious looks, the wonderment in his face and the movement with his glasses. That could only mean one thing and she giggled. "Enjoy your dinner, Clark."
"You call this dinner? I'm in the mood for some big meal and all you have is this? And not even a dessert." Clark sounded pretty disappointed.
"Hey, you said I could surprise you today. And you can't say this isn't surprising. Besides, it's all a part of something I have to tell you."
"What?"
"You'll hear it later, honey. It's all part of my plan. Now tell me, what have you been doing this afternoon without me?"
Clark noticed in her tone that she wasn't going to tell him yet, so he dropped the subject. Instead he told her about his interviews, their investigation, Superman's day, and, of course, the fires.
"And as I was done in Hobbs Bay and already on my way home, I heard a call for help. A little girl was standing in the park, crying. She said her cat hat gotten stuck in a tree and was afraid to come down again. So I flew up the tree and got the kitten out. You should have seen her face, so happy to have her pet back. It really made up for the horrors of the fire."
"You're still a big boy scout, Clark," Lois said with a smile. She was glad he still liked doing these small things. Maybe one day, in the very near future, he would be doing it for their own kid. "Have you finished eating?"
"Sure do. How about dessert?" He really hoped there would be one.
"Sorry, not today. I think I know a way to make up for that. Now, if you clean up here, I'll go prepare my little surprise. If you would be as kind to come to our bedroom in five minutes…" Her voice was very teasing and she looked at Clark from beneath her lashes.
"Five whole minutes? This mess will be away faster than that." All this waiting was getting on his… He would like to know her secret now.
Lois stood up and walked to the door. "Five minutes, Clark!"
***
Five minutes later, Clark walked into the bedroom to see Lois standing near the window, gazing outside. She slowly turned around. What he saw was amazing and he couldn't help but wonder what had happened in those five minutes.
"Clark, what would you say if I ever looked like this?"
She was referring to her fat stomach caused by the pillow, oversized shirt and very large pants. Clark stood speechless, not knowing what to say.
"Huh, what?"
"You know, there is a very big chance that in the near future I'll be looking like this." She loved to tease him, but it was rare that he ended up actually speechless. So far her plan worked fine, he didn't have a clue yet what she was about to tell him.
"I don't think you'll ever look like that Lois. But if you do, I'll still love you. My love isn't about how you look, it's about who you are. So whatever happens, I'm with you. Now, do you care to enlighten me as to what this is all about?"
"You'd better sit down Clark."
"Uh-oh, that serious?"
"Nooo! To prevent you from falling." Lois walked towards the bed where Clark was still standing and took a deep breath before continuing. Now was the time to say the scary words. "Clark, in a couple of months' time I'll certainly look like this, because I'm…pregnant."
"Pregnant? Lois, that's wonderful! But… but… how?" He couldn't believe his ears. The one dream left in his life was about to come true. It was impossible, Dr. Klein had told them it was simply not possible with his Kryptonian heritage. What the heck, who cared *how* it was possible, it had happened.
Clark took her in his arms again. She put her arms around his waist as well and they stood there for a while. Lois was the first to break away, reluctantly. She didn't dare to look at his face.
"Lois? This is good news, right?" Clark asked. It looked like she wasn't as overjoyed as he was. And if he wasn't mistaken, he saw tears in her eyes.
"In a way it is, I guess. I mean, it's what we both wanted."
"But…" he prompted.
"I now what I said before, it's wonderful that we can have kids. And I still think so. But I was thinking this afternoon. What if I won't be a good mother? My mother's example wasn't very good and I don't wanna turn out to be like my mother. And we're both very busy with work and Superman and all. What if we don't have enough time? I don't want my child to not recognize me…"
Clark had heard enough and decided to cut her short. This wasn't going anywhere.
"Lois, listen to me. I'm still here and I won't let you turn into your mother. I'm not even sure that is possible, she got that way because of your father and I'm not going to run away. And we have plenty of time for kids. We just need to make it. We could talk to Perry and get better- structured working hours. And there's always my mom and dad. They'd be very happy to hear the news and would love to baby sit. Superman can come pretty useful around our little household now. So don't worry, we'll be just fine."
Lois lifted her head and looked at Clark. His eyes were looking at her as well and told her they'd be okay. It wasn't like she couldn't believe him. She had said so herself, he would have the right answers. So she brushed away her tears.
"You're right, Clark. Thanks for telling me again. That's just what I needed to hear."
"You're welcome, Lois. And have I told you lately that I love you?"
"Only once or twice." Lois giggled. He always knew what to say to make her feel better again.
"I love you, Lois," Clark softly whispered.
"And I love you, Clark," Lois replied.
Their mouths slowly found each other and a sweet, loving kiss followed. When they both came up for air again, Clark said, "Now, where's my dessert? All that baby-sized food wasn't enough for me. You promised me one. And it better be good!"
Lois moved to the bed and removed the pillow from under her shirt. She was quite happy to be thin for just a while longer. Besides, she could have better contact with Clark this way. He was close behind her and she spun around to kiss him again, with more love and passion this time.
THE END