It's A Super Life (part 2)

"Good morning, honey."

Lois slowly surfaced from her dream, in which she was being held in a warm,
loving embrace by a tall, dark and extremely handsome male, to see Clark
bending over her. He was fully dressed for work, and held a mug of coffee.

"G'morning... what time is it?" she asked sleepily, stretching in a lazy
movement.

"Seven-thirty - I let you sleep as long as I could," he replied with an
amused grin.

"What?! I have to get up - I'll be late for work!" She sat up as abruptly
as she could manage in the circumstances.

"No you won't - I called in and said we had an appointment first and would
be in after that," Clark answered with a smile, coming to sit on the edge
of the bed.

"What appointment?" Lois enquired suspiciously.

"Well, I called the jeweller yesterday and he said your ring is ready, so I
thought we might like to go and pick it up first."

Lois's lips curved into a delighted smile. "I'd love to."

"So - are we ready to announce our engagement today?" Clark asked. They had
said nothing at the Planet so far, although Lois suspected that Perry White
at least had probably guessed that she and Clark were now an item. Clark
had wanted to wait until the engagement ring he and Lois had chosen was
ready; it had had to be altered to fit her slim finger, and would probably
need further alteration once she had returned to her pre-pregnancy weight.
Clark was also anxious to ensure that he was known by their friends and
associates to be the baby's father; he didn't want anyone thinking Lois was
marrying him simply to give someone else's child a father, nor did he want
any question-marks hanging over their child's parentage which might cause
him or her hurt later in life.

Lois drained her mug and handed it to Clark. "Sure. Hey, I bet you Jimmy
will claim he knew it all along!"

As she made as if to climb out of bed, Clark blocked her way. "Lois - tell
me. No regrets?"

"What - about you? About last night?" Lois searched her fiance's face; the
insecurities she had realised he had were still there, though in a lesser
degree. She reached up and kissed him. "Clark Kent, I love you, and last
night was the most wonderful experience of my life. It made my previous
best sexual experience pale into insignificance."

Clark flinched slightly at that; although he had meant what he'd said the
previous evening about her previous relationships not bothering him, he
felt a little uncomfortable at the realisation that she was able to make
comparisons. Cautiously, he asked, "Previous best...?"

Lois grinned at him. "Yep. Want to know when that was?" Seeing the doubt on
Clark's face, she decided to put him out of his misery. "It was when our
baby was conceived."

His face creased into a reassured, and delighted, smile. "I love you, Lois
Lane. And I love you, Baby Lane Kent."

Lois caught her breath. "You'd call our baby Lane-Kent?"

Clark raised his eyebrows at her. "I thought you'd want that, anyway - your
name is such an important part of who you are, and I know you want to keep
it when we're married. That's fine by me - I don't need the ego-trip of you
taking my name. But I thought it would be kind of nice if our baby had both
of our names."

Wide-eyed, Lois reached for Clark and hugged him. "I love you, Clark Kent.
And I can't understand why it took me so long to see it." Enjoying the feel
of his body close to hers again, the unique scent of him, her embrace
turned into a caress as she allowed her lips to nuzzle his throat.

Groaning, he protested, "Lois, you don't know what that's doing to me!"

Her response was to slide her hands between his shirt-buttons. "You said
you'd called Perry to say we'd be late. Come back to bed, Clark."

He hesitated, clearly torn: she could see the indecision in his face. "Come
on - just for ten minutes," she urged persuasively. "It's not as if getting
ready is a problem for you - you could be dressed again in under five
seconds!"

Clark gently disentangled himself from her arms. She was right; they could
spare the time, and the thought that he had pleased her so much that she
wanted him again... He divested himself of his clothes in something under a
tenth of the time that she had suggested he'd need in order to dress, and
joined her in the bed.

Afterwards, Clark held Lois gently against him, his hands caressing the
curve of her stomach as they lay spoon-fashion on the bed, recovering from
their lovemaking. He was amazed to find himself getting used to the feel of
her in his arms, the sensation of her naked body against his. Their bodies
settled into the curve of each other's as if they were two halves of the
same whole, he felt. His mouth nuzzled her ear, tickling her with his
breath as his tongue lazily crept out to trace the line of her lobe.

"Clark, that tickles!" Lois protested, not very convincingly. He laughed
softly, and transferred his attention to the back of her neck.

"Mmmm..." she moaned in appreciation, then remembered. "Clark - we'd better
get up!"

He stilled, then reluctantly voiced his agreement, sliding out from behind
her. "I need another shower now, thanks to you," he observed wryly, then
threw her a grin as she responded with a glare which said, 'how dare you
blame me?'

Lois stretched, cat-like, on the bed as Clark disappeared into the
bathroom; then was slack-jawed in disbelief when he reappeared less than a
minute later, soaking wet, a towel thrown over his shoulder. "Bathroom's
yours, Lois," he informed her.

So this was what it was going to be like living with Clark Kent, Lois
realised as she dragged herself off the bed and headed for the bathroom. It
was all very well knowing in her head that he was Superman, she thought to
herself as she turned on the shower; actually *seeing* him doing everyday
things at Super-speed was something entirely different. And it was so not
fair as well, she mused in amused resentment. Still, she reminded herself,
having her own personal Super-hero was bound to have its advantages as
well. At least they would never run out of essentials - not with someone
who could fly anywhere in seconds to buy what was needed. And he would
certainly come in handy for spring-cleaning, she remembered with a grin,
thinking about the way he had unpacked her belongings the previous day.

Emerging into the bedroom fifteen minutes later, dressed in Clark's
bathrobe and with a towel wrapped around her hair, Lois discovered that the
bed had been made, their clothes which had been strewn on the floor from
the night before had gone - she could hear the distant rumbling of a
washing machine, so she surmised that Clark had been busy in her absence -
and that one of her favourite maternity suits had been laid out on the bed.
She raised her eyebrow at Clark, who chose that moment to return to the
bedroom.

"Choosing my clothes now, Kent?" Lois enquired in sardonic amusement. He
flushed, unsure whether he had presumed too much, but her smile reassured
him. "I could get used to this, you know, Clark - do you have any idea how
long it takes me to decide what to wear sometimes?" Completely
unselfconscious with him now, she allowed the robe to fall to the floor and
got dressed. Running her fingers through her damp hair, she grimaced; it
would take time to dry and they were now running quite late. But she had
failed to anticipate her fiance; Clark crossed to stand behind her and in
the bedroom mirror she could see him apparently staring intently at her
hair. To her surprise, steam began gently to rise, and he lifted several
strands to allow the heat to circulate to the hair underneath.

"My heat vision," he explained in response to her incredulous expression.
"I could dry it much faster, but then your scalp would get burned, so I'm
just using a very small amount of heat - a little like the strength I used on
your legs last week when I was trying not to let you know what I was doing."

"You used heat vision on me?" she asked in surprise. "When?"

He shrugged, allowing her now-dry hair to fall about her shoulders.
"Several times, actually. When you had back-ache and I rubbed your
back - while I was doing it I applied a little bit of heat to relax the
muscles."

Lois turned to stare at her partner and fiance. "So that's why your
massages always felt so good - and whenever Lucy or my dad tried it, it was
never the same!" She shook her head slowly. "You do realise I may never let
you go?"

Clark grinned at her, unable to contain his happiness. "That's kind of what
I was hoping."

*******************

On their way to the jeweller's shop, they passed a news-stand and, out of
force of habit, they looked over to check out the competition. The
Metropolis Star carried a headline lauding Lex Luthor, who had just made a
sizeable donation to the New Troy Children's Hospital Foundation. Clark
grunted at Lois's remark that Luthor was either a genuine philanthropist or
he wanted something to write off against tax.

"Lois - did I ever tell you just why I was so relieved when you told me
you'd never had an affair with Luthor?" Clark asked as they continued down
the street.

She glanced at him and grinned. "You were jealous, Flyboy - right?"

"Well..." he parried. "Okay, yes, I was. But that's not the important
reason. I discovered not very long after I came to Metropolis that Luthor
is not at all what he seems. He's actually a devious, cold-blooded
villain." Clark's tone was unemotional, and Lois turned to him in surprise.

"You don't sound particularly angry," she observed. "If what you say is
true - well, with what I know about you, I'd expect you to be... less
dispassionate."

"Oh, I despise the things Luthor has done, make no doubt about it," Clark
assured her in a low voice, not especially wanting their conversation to be
overheard by any passers-by. "He deliberately put people's lives at risk in
order to test me. He was behind the Mentamide formula that was given to the
Smart Kids - it was all an experiment! And those kids' lives were
endangered, just for that! And, although I can't prove anything, I think he
was behind the Messenger sabotage and those murders. There's more as well,
but I've never been able to prove anything. Even..." he lowered his voice
further, "...Superman hasn't been able to come up with enough evidence. And
meanwhile Luthor continues to represent himself as a respectable
businessman." Despite the quiet tone in which Clark had spoken, Lois
noticed that his fists were clenched and she realised that he was in fact
extremely angry. She wondered whether part of his anger was actually due to
his own inability to prove any of his suspicions, and reached across to
squeeze his hand.

"We'll look into it together, Clark - now you've told me, there must be a
way we can get something on Luthor. Especially with the - *advantages* - we
have on our side," she added with a meaningful glance in his direction. He
smiled quickly back at her, returning the squeeze of his hand.

"And by the way," Lois added, "I never was interested in Lex Luthor in that
way. I'm not sure what his interest was - he sometimes suggested that he
found me attractive, and I wonder if he saw me as a challenge. He *can* be
very charming, and I guess I found him an amusing companion once or twice.
But what I really wanted was that interview, and I was never going to let
my personal feelings interfere with that." She paused, then added, "And
once it became known I was pregnant, he stopped contacting me. I got some
flowers delivered one day - the card just said, 'Congratulations - he's a
lucky man'. Nothing else. And I've only ever seen him at a couple of press
conferences since."

Clark nodded, then changed the subject by pointing out that they had
arrived at the jewellery shop.

*******************

"Lois! Clark! Wondered when you two were going to make it in!"

"Hi Perry," Lois called in response as their editor hailed them barely
seconds after they had exited the elevator. "Got time to see us for a
minute?"

"Sure - come on in, you two. I want to know how you're getting on with that
banking investigation anyway."

They followed Perry into his office, Clark taking care to close the door
behind them. The editor glanced enquiringly at Clark following this action,
but Lois spoke quickly. "This isn't about a story, Chief; there's something
we want to tell you."

Perry waved them to a seat. "Oh yeah? I don't suppose it's got anything to
do with that little sparkler on your finger that wasn't there yesterday,
Lois?"

Blushing, Lois exchanged glances with Clark.

"Well, hell, I didn't get to be editor of the Daily Planet without having
some powers of observation," Perry commented dryly. "It took you two long
enough to get around to it, that's all I can say - although I guess you
might have tried dating for a while."

Clark grinned. "We kind of skipped that stage, Chief."

Lois shrugged. "Dating, who needs it?"

Perry White smiled. He was genuinely pleased at this news; these two were
his star employees and he considered both to be personal friends as well.
Lois was almost like a daughter, and as for Kent... well, a lot of the time
he was prouder of Clark than of his own sons. Except for just one thing...
although if the boy was finally doing the right thing by Lois, better late
than never, the editor considered. "Congratulations, you two. You want me
to announce it to the newsroom?"

Lois cringed. "Not particularly, Perry - we'd rather tell people ourselves."

"Sure - whatever you want. You set a date yet?"

"Nothing definite, Chief," Clark explained. "We have to wait until my
parents can work out when they can get away from the farm - but apart from
that, the sooner the better."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Perry commented. "Not that I have anything
against single parenthood, but since you two are getting married it's
better to do it before there's three of you than after."

"Yeah, that's something else we wanted to tell you," Lois interrupted.
"About the baby - "

"You finally told him he's the father, did you?" the editor drawled.

"What?" Clark sounded stunned.

"What are you talking about, Perry?" Lois was amazed; she had told Perry
her cover-story and she had thought he had accepted it.

"Aw, come on, Lois honey - you know I'm not as green as some of your
colleagues out there take me for. I know when someone's stringing me a pack
of lies, and I saw through that cock-and-bull story of yours quicker 'n the
Colonel spotted Elvis had talent. It was darned obvious to me that Clark's
the father. But neither of you were saying anything, and I know Clark's a
pretty straight guy. So all I could figure was maybe you hadn't told him it
was his." Perry leaned back in his chair, an amused smile lightening his
grizzled features.

Clark shook his head slowly. His boss had guessed long ago what he, Clark,
had never even considered... but then, he had had absolutely no idea that
he and Lois had slept together, so it wasn't exactly his fault, he reasoned.

Lois was defending Clark in exactly those terms. "It wasn't quite as simple
as that, Chief. Yeah, Clark and I slept together, but it was only once, and
it happened one night when he was sick - I came over to look after him, and
he started shivering so much I couldn't warm him except by..." she gestured
with her hands, allowing Perry to draw his own conclusions. "And anyway, it
happened, but Clark didn't remember anything about it, so I didn't say
anything. Then weeks later I found out I was pregnant, but it was kind of
awkward to say anything then, and so... well... I said nothing."

Clark came to Lois's rescue; he, like her, was wondering just how many more
times they would have to tell that half-true story about just how she came
to be pregnant. "Like you said, Chief, we weren't dating or anything. We
were just friends - but we became better friends, and we just fell in love
anyway, and I wanted to marry Lois regardless of whose baby she was having.
And I couldn't have been happier when she finally told me it's mine." He
wrapped his arm around Lois's shoulders, tugging her tightly to him.

"Well, I can see that, son. But that's one hell of a story - you know, if
Hollywood made that as a movie, no-one would believe it. But since it's you
two... well, I guess it has to be true." The editor stood up; he was
enjoying this discussion now. "I don't envy you explaining that one to your
parents, Lois."

Clark threw him a wry smile as he and Lois also got to their feet, Lois
with a helping hand from her fiance. "Oh, we've already done that. It kind
of helped that Lois's father is a doctor."

"It's telling people like Jimmy that worries me," Lois remarked ruefully.
"It's been bad enough coping with him so carefully *not* mentioning my
pregnancy, and making a point of not asking who the father is... I lost
count of the number of times he's started to mention something to do with
babies and then stopped dead!" She turned to Clark and added, "And if Ralph
even says a *word*...!"

Clark laid his hand lightly on her arm. "You leave Ralph to me, Lois -
he'll regret it if he tries to be smart."

"Oh, you'll manage," Perry grinned. "You two usually do manage to come up
with the goods." He escorted them to the door of his office. "Now just you
make sure I get invited to the wedding, y'hear?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Chief," Clark assured him a little
absently, his attention already shifting to the newsroom. Some interest had
obviously been generated at the sight of Lane and Kent arriving late for
work, and immediately being closeted in the editor's office with the door
shut. He grimaced as his super-hearing picked up one conversation from the
far side of the office.

"Wonder if Lane's handing in her notice?"

"Yeah, well, Kent sure can't carry a pregnant partner - metaphorically *or*
literally!" This was accompanied by a snigger.

Clark nudged Lois lightly, and having secured her attention, spoke quietly
to her. "You know, honey, I think it might be better to make an
announcement - get it over with."

She glanced at him curiously. "Why?" Then she noticed his expression, and
added in a lower voice, "You heard someone say something." He nodded wryly.
"Ralph?" she asked. He nodded again, more drolly this time. Lois clenched
her fists. "I just wish he'd come over here and say it to my face!"

"He wouldn't dare, Lois," Clark commented. "He's too scared of you."

"He'd better be," she growled. "Okay, an announcement."

She crossed to the centre of the newsroom, leaving Clark to follow behind
her. As he watched in admiration, she thumped on a desk with a
letter-opener to gain silence; as their colleagues stared at her in open
curiosity, she spoke loudly, in an amused tone. "We just thought we'd spare
you all the trouble of waiting for the grapevine to get it wrong, and tell
you ourselves that Clark and I are getting married in a couple of weeks'
time."

As the shocked exclamations ricocheted around the bullpen, Clark moved
closer to Lois and draped his arm about her shoulders. "That's right, folks
- we got engaged about a week ago. And I'm very happy to be marrying the
woman I love and who is going to have my baby."

More shocked faces greeted this statement; Lois caught Jimmy's eye and saw
that the young gofer and would-be photographer was looking dumbfounded. Cat
hovered just behind Jimmy, and Lois had the satisfaction of noting that her
jaw had dropped several inches. Other reporters and newsroom staff began to
shout congratulations, some jumping up and coming to shake Clark's hand and
kiss Lois on the cheek.

The hubbub was interrupted by Perry, who joined the two reporters and
clapped them both on the shoulders. "Congratulations, both of you - and if
you manage to turn in any stories today I'll even give you the day off for
your wedding!" He then turned to the rest of the newsroom staff and
bellowed, "Now get back to work, all of you! This here's a newspaper, not
Happy Hour at the bar!"

Although most of the staff were, like Lois and Clark, not deceived by their
editor's apparently bad-tempered remark, the noise in the newsroom swiftly
returned to the low murmur which had prevailed before Lois's announcement.
The two reporters moved to Lois's desk, but were swiftly joined by Jimmy.

"Hey, guys, congratulations!" Jimmy sounded sincere, but Clark noticed a
faint withdrawal in the younger man's manner.

He clapped Jimmy on the back, nonetheless. "Thanks, Jimmy - and hey, I'm
grateful to you."

"What for, CK?"

Clark grinned at him. "If you hadn't told me Lois wasn't feeling too good
that day she went home early, I wouldn't have gone over to see her, and we
might not be getting married now."

"Oh, sure." There was still a note of reserve in Jimmy's voice, however.
Clark moved to shield Jimmy and Lois from general view, and enquired
calmly, "Come on, Jimmy, shoot - what's bothering you?"

The young man looked torn for a moment or two, but then he saw the
encouragement in Lois's expression, and gave in. "I'm sorry, CK, Lois - I
really am pleased for you, but I guess I just thought... well, you're my
friends and all..."

"You thought we might have told you ourselves?" Lois asked him. "We
intended to, but - well, people were speculating so we thought it was best
to make a general announcement." She held out her ring finger to show him.
"We only picked this up this morning, and there hasn't really been a chance
to talk to anyone outside our families over the past week."

"I guess it didn't help with CK being away in Canada," Jimmy conceded.

"No, it sure didn't," Lois agreed. "For one thing, it meant I didn't get to
move into his place until yesterday..." They chatted for a few minutes
about the technicalities of moving and the forgotten junk which emerges
when packing up an apartment. However, Jimmy still looked as if something
was bothering him, and Lois glared at him.

"Jimmy, what's on your mind?"

He looked uncomfortable, but grimaced and stared at the floor. "I had no
idea CK was... well, that the baby..." He trailed off, clearly embarrassed.

"Hey Jimmy, want to know something?" Clark enquired in wry amusement.
"Neither did I until just over a week ago!"

Jimmy stared at him in disbelief. "Come on, CK, you know the facts of life!"

Clark rolled his eyes. "That's what Lois's mother said, more or less. Sure,
I know. But when you don't remember that anything happened in the first
place..." He shrugged helplessly, and Lois laughed.

"Don't remember... were you *drunk*, CK?"

"Not drunk - sick. I just didn't remember a thing about it, except that I
had these *weird* dreams. It was kind of embarrassing, sitting across from
Lois at work and remembering these really sexy dreams about the two of
us..." Clark included Lois in his slightly sheepish smile this time, adding
softly, "It was more than a dream come true to discover that they were
actually memories, not dreams."

"You romantic softie," she teased him, secretly very flattered, and happy
in the knowledge that Clark knew she was flattered.

As she held his gaze, she noticed him become suddenly agitated, and
realised that his concentration was no longer on the conversation: he
seemed to be focused on something far off. Suddenly realising what was
happening, she spoke briskly, "Jimmy, can you check whether Research is
done with that stuff I sent down there yesterday? Clark, you need to get to
your appointment, don't you?"

Clark, recalled to his surroundings by Lois's voice speaking his name,
attempted to focus on her words; there was a major fire in a school over
the other side of Metropolis and he was anxious to get over there. Lois's
words suddenly sank in and he realised that she had given him an escape
route. Throwing her a very grateful glance, he muttered, "Yeah, that's
right - see you later," and hurried towards the stairwell.

Lois, booting up her computer a few moments later, heard the faint sound of
a sonic boom in the sky above the Planet, and smiled wryly. How many times
had she heard that noise shortly after Clark had dashed off with some
excuse or other? Of *course* she now realised it was the result of Superman
flying at Super-speed - but why had she never connected the two before?

Perhaps you only see what you want to see, she told herself thoughtfully.
Like you told Clark last week, you weren't ready to see him as Superman,
and so you didn't. It's like those lateral thinking puzzles - the
solution's usually right under your nose, but you just don't see it because
you're not looking for it...

And being engaged to Superman - no, *Clark*, she reminded herself - was
turning out to be pretty good. Who'd have imagined that under his mild,
calm exterior Clark could be quite so passionate? Yet he was also so
gentle, so tender; what a paradox when he was also by far the strongest man
alive?

****************

Clark returned to the Planet a couple of hours later, having stopped off at
his apartment on the way to shower and throw his Super-suit in the washing
machine; he had smelled thoroughly of smoke. As he exited the elevator, his
eyes immediately searched for Lois; she was seated at her desk, her hand
subconsciously rubbing her back. Backache again, he mused; well, he could
help with that...

He quickly crossed the newsroom to stand behind her, bending to press his
lips lightly against the side of her neck. "Back hurting again, honey?"

She swivelled to look at him. "Yeah - right in the same spot," she
responded with a groan.

"No problem - leave it to me." Clark glanced around discreetly to ensure
that no-one was looking, then eased his glasses very slightly down his nose
before applying his hands to Lois's lower spine, topping up his massage
with a few gentle darts of heat vision. Lois groaned softly as the effect
of his handiwork sank in; what she would have given to have had Clark on
hand every day of the past few months! She should never have stopped asking
him for back-rubs; even without knowing the secret of his success at the
art, she had known he was effective.

He ceased his ministrations and glanced at her screen, reading it as he
stood resting one hand on her shoulder. "What's this about, honey? New
story?"

She smiled up at him; she had always enjoyed their working habits, the way
Clark stood behind her and read her screen over her shoulder, offering
suggestions. Even when he corrected her spelling - which he knew drove her
crazy - she secretly loved it. "Just an idea I had for a feature, if I can
get it past Perry. An old friend of mine from journalism school got me
started - she works for a paper in London now, and I'd told her I'd be
taking maternity leave in about eight weeks or so. Well, she emailed me
today to tell me about maternity provisions in Europe - I was amazed! Did
you know that British employers have to give their women employees paid
maternity leave?" Warming to her theme, she switched from her editing
screen to her Internet browser. "Look at this, Clark! It's a European Union
Directive..."

"Yeah, the Pregnant Workers Directive. I see," Clark murmured, leaning
forward. "No, let me scroll..." His hand grasped her mouse, and she stared
at him slack-jawed as she saw him scroll down the document so quickly the
text became a blur. Super-speed-reading, she concluded weakly.

"Yeah, I get it," he commented. "Still, governments only have to legislate
for pay at social security rates, which doesn't doesn't imply a high level
of pay."

"No, but in Britain once a woman's been employed for two years by the same
employer she gets 26 weeks' leave - okay, after six weeks of that the pay
is back to social security levels, but look at this..." She pulled up
another Web page, this time a briefing paper about UK employer maternity
provisions. "Most of these companies offer the 26 weeks at full pay! And
what does our generous government give women here? Twelve weeks, without
pay!"

Clark smiled. "Come on, Lois, can you really imagine taking six months off
work?"

She glared at him. "No, but that's not the point here."

He smiled sympathetically. "I know it isn't - I was just winding you up.
Seriously, things look a lot better over there. But on the other hand,
there's a huge cost implication to this kind of thing, surely?"

Lois drummed her fingers on her desk. "You really think that's an adequate
defence, Clark?"

"No, I don't," he assured her firmly. "I'm just playing devil's advocate.
Hey, remember I was the one who supported you when you persuaded the union
to negotiate an extra week of paid leave from the Planet's publishers?"

He had been; Lois remembered that union meeting very clearly. There had
been little sympathy with her demand, with mutterings about costs and there
being better things to ask for, like improved leisure facilities. Clark had
argued, rather forcefully for him, she had thought at the time, that just
because the maternity provisions affected only a small number of Planet
employees was no reason to deem the issue unimportant.

"So," he added, "you getting concerned about how much time off you'll get,
then?"

Lois shook her head. "No, I sorted that out a while ago. I've got my eight
weeks' paid leave from the Planet, and I can take an extra month unpaid if
I want, but I've also got three weeks' paid vacation time I haven't used if
I need it. I won't start it until I go into labour if I can manage it."

Clark nodded. "Well, don't imagine you'll be coping on your own. I'd
decided a couple of months ago that I'd take vacation time to be with you
if you wanted, and a few days ago I checked out the Planet's paternity
leave policy..." He gestured towards the screen. "Don't worry, it was on
the on-line employee benefits guide. Anyway, I get ten days paid, and I can
take unpaid time as well if I want. And I still have that vacation time I
saved - so if I need to I can be at home with you for almost five weeks
without needing unpaid time. And I'm sure Perry won't mind us working at
home for a while after that so we can take care of the baby together."

Apart from when Superman is needed, Lois thought, but decided not to say
anything; she was already aware that Clark frequently felt guilty about
having to leave her on the times he had done so. "Yeah, we probably better
not take too much unpaid time if we can help it," Lois mused, secretly
amazed and delighted that Clark had been planning on giving up his own time
for her before he'd even known the baby was his. "We'll need to save our
cash - Mother assures me babies are expensive!"

Clark smiled. "We'll be fine - I already know my parents are planning on
helping out. Mom's already knitting, and Dad's found my old crib, the one
he made for me. He says he'll clean it up if we want it. And I checked out
the employee spending account details - if we start paying into one now, we
can get tax concessions on daycare when the time comes." He straightened
then and gestured towards Lois's computer again. "So, what were you writing
then?"

Lois shrugged. "I thought I might do a feature on how American women don't
get as good treatment when they're pregnant as women in Europe. It's really
ridiculous that women have to use their sick leave or vacation time to have
a baby - giving birth is not a vacation or an illness!"

"Sounds like this could be a bit of a crusade," Clark commented, smiling.
"I'm all for it."

"Good," Lois replied. "We should be campaigning for a change in the law, to
require paid leave at the very least. The Planet can start the ball
rolling, and if I get my local chapter of NOW to take it up that'll help
too..."

Clark smiled to himself as he listened to Lois laying out her strategy, as
usual planning several steps ahead of herself and going off on tangents as
other thoughts occurred to her. Just one more of the things he loved about
her, he reflected...

******************

Lois clicked on the remote control to turn off the TV as the news bulletin
ended. It still felt very strange to watch Superman in action and to know
that underneath the Suit was Clark, her fiance and best friend. Now that
she knew, on the few occasions she had seen him in public or on TV as
Superman she found it hard to understand how anyone who knew Clark well
didn't see the similarities. Of course, the hairstyle wasn't the same, and
Clark really did look very different in his glasses - and he also held
himself more rigidly as Superman, so that he appeared taller and more
authoritative. But it was still Clark, no matter how much he deepened his
voice and maintained a serious demeanour. Superman rarely smiled, Lois
thought; but when he did, he had a beautiful grin. She had now seen that
same grin on Clark's face on a number of occasions.

There's none so blind as those who will not see... As Clark had told her
one day when he had been explaining how he had managed to maintain the
secret identity for so long, most people simply did not expect to see
Superman in an ordinary reporter. And Clark Kent, Lois had to admit, did
not particularly resemble a Super-hero in any way. She blushed now as she
remembered how she and Perry had scorned his attempts to protect her after
Dr Winninger's murder: how they had laughed almost disparagingly as Clark
had clumsily bumped into a desk at the newsroom. Another thought occurred
to her suddenly; he had walked her home after she had almost been run over
outside the Planet, and he had suddenly thrown her to the ground, shielding
her body with his own. He had insisted afterwards that someone had been
shooting at her, and she had refused to believe him. But someone probably
*had* shot at her... and Clark had saved her life. He must have stopped the
bullets himself, which was why he had not been able to produce any evidence
of the alleged shooting.

How many times had Clark saved her life, in one way or another? As
Superman, many times; she was well aware of that. But as himself: how often
had he put himself in the way when they had been in danger? A further
thought occurred to her: when Antoinette Baines had left the two of them,
and Jimmy, to die in a chemicals explosion, Clark had somehow managed to
break their chains. She had wondered briefly at the time how he had managed
it; but what was more obvious now was how he had managed to get them out of
the warehouse. That weird sensation Jimmy had mentioned; they *had* been
flying. Clark had flown them out. She smiled dryly at the memory: had he
really *needed* to drop them in that filthy puddle?

She frowned, trying to assimilate what she knew about Clark with the little
she had known about Superman before she had discovered his true identity.
It was quite a task, fitting the two parts of the one man together. And
with each memory went the thought: that was *Clark* who did that! It was
Clark who had rescued the Prometheus; Clark who had flown her back to the
Planet - and whom she had chased all over Metropolis subsequently. It was
also Clark who had flown into outer space to stop the Nightfall Asteroid.
And it had been *Superman* who had stood next to her in the newsroom as she
had tried to describe her flying super-hero; she had told Clark that his
eyes were insipid mud-brown next to Superman's. She flushed and went hot
and cold with embarrassment as she remembered commenting that Clark was the
before and Superman the after... the way, way after.

But it didn't seem to bother Clark; on their way to Smallville he had even
teased her about one of the things she had said to him when they had first
met. 'This is where you meet my parents, and you try to kiss me behind the
dairy freeze on the way home... you know how it works, Lois,' he had said
with a smile. No, Clark held no grudges, although she couldn't have blamed
him if he had.

She now wanted to know more about him, however. It seemed that they had
managed hardly any time alone together since that fateful morning at her
apartment. They had visited the Kents and talked to the Lanes; then Clark
had had to go on that trip to Canada. Between his investigations up there
and trying to maintain a presence in Metropolis as Superman, they had seen
little of each other. Even since she had moved into his apartment he had
not been around much. After their first, blissful, night together it seemed
as if every villain, murderer or arsonist in Metropolis had conspired to
prevent Clark from spending time at home with his fiancee. This was now the
third evening running he'd had to go out to help at some emergency, and if
this turned out to be like the two previous nights he wouldn't get back
until after she had fallen asleep. The first night he'd had to go out, she
had tried to wait up for him; he had returned at about one in the morning
to find her curled up, asleep, on the sofa and had carried her gently to
bed. Last night she had gone to bed of her own accord, having heard on the
news that Superman was busy putting out a fire on an oil-rig out in the
Atlantic.

She worried about Clark when he was out on his rescues, although he had
smiled at her when she had told him this. After all, he had observed in
gentle amusement, had she worried about Superman before she had known he
was Clark? She had, sometimes, she had confessed; but usually she had just
accepted that he would be fine - after all, he was *Superman*.

"I still am Superman, Lois," Clark had assured her. "You know I'm
invulnerable - I've only ever come across one thing that can hurt me, and I
haven't encountered any of that for about a year."

Lois had caught her breath. "That green rock - the stuff we called
Kryptonite! Is that why you were behaving so strangely the first time we
went to Smallville? Your mom said it was allergies..."

He had responded with a lop-sided smile. "I've never had an allergy in my
life, Lois - and that really was the first time I'd ever had a paper cut.
Trask had Kryptonite, and he was correct in his assumption that it could
kill me. I have never, ever, felt in so much pain as when I was exposed to
that stuff." He had shrugged carelessly then, and added, "But anyway, I
haven't seen any of it since, so I guess that's not going to be problem
any time in the future."

Yawning now, Lois glanced at her watch, surprised to discover that it was
only eight pm. Pregnancy sure makes you tired, she mused wryly;
and yet at the end of it you end up with sleepless nights and endlessly
busy days. You'd think nature would have designed the gestation period as
one where women *accumulated* energy, rather than a time when they felt
completely wiped out, she thought, her mouth turning down at the corners.

Just as she was debating with herself whether to go and lie down for an
hour or so, or to boot up her lap-top and do some work, she heard a
distinctive *whoosh* outside on the balcony. A moment later, Clark strode
through the kitchen, his cape swinging behind him. He looked tired, she
thought, watching him spin and come to a stop dressed in a shirt and jeans.
Was that spin slower than usual?

"Hi, honey," she called to him. "Want some coffee?"

He moved swiftly to her side and bent, capturing her lips in a hard kiss.
"God, I needed that!" As she raised her hand to stroke his face, he covered
it with his own briefly before stepping back. "I'll get it, honey, you stay
where you are." Returning to the kitchen, he super-sped through the motions
of preparing drinks, deciding on tea instead of coffee since Lois was still
not drinking caffeine and he hated decaffeinated. Filling two mugs with
water, he boiled the water in both simultaneously with heat vision, adding
the infusers of jasmine tea. Struck by a thought then, he leaned around the
corner of the room and asked Lois whether she was hungry.

Her mouth curved into a smile. "You read my mind, Clark - you know what?
I'd love some chocolate ice-cream!"

Clark grinned and reached for the freezer as Lois added, "Oh, do you have
any grapefruit, Clark? I'd really like some with the ice-cream."

He strode into the living-room again. "Loooiss! I've heard of cravings, but
that's ridiculous!"

"Have you got any?" she demanded, ignoring his incredulous expression.

"Not yet, but..." his disembodied voice spoke into the vacuum created by
his sudden, and very speedy, departure.

"...we do now," he finished, barely seconds later as he stood in front of
her, in the Superman outfit, holding a branch with four fruit attached to
it. Lois gasped; then shook her head slowly as Clark appeared to shimmer
and then became clearly defined again dressed in the casual clothes he had
worn just a minute earlier.

He returned to the kitchen and Lois, due to her position on the couch, was
unable to see, but Clark's hands then became a blur as he peeled and sliced
one of the grapefruit at Super-speed, added it to several scoops of Lois's
favourite triple chocolate ice-cream, and - moving at almost human speed -
brought the bowl to her, returning to the kitchen to re-heat, then carry in
the tea.

He sat at the opposite end of the couch, trying not to grimace as he
watched Lois eat her strange mixture, then grinned as she assumed a
blissful expression and laid the empty bowl on the floor. "Just as well I
got four of them, if you like that so much," he commented dryly.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "I should warn you - some of my cravings
don't last beyond the first time. You might offer me grapefruit for
breakfast tomorrow and I could go and throw up!"

He smiled, and reached out to take her legs by the ankles, drawing her
lower limbs over his lap; then began to massage her calves lightly. Lois
groaned, a guttural sound of relief and pure pleasure. "How did you know I
was getting cramp again?"

Clark smiled. "Could have been all those little winces every time you
shifted about, or even the way you tried to reach down and rub your legs
yourself. Anyway, you know all you had to do was ask."

Lois relaxed and settled back into the corner of the sofa, watching her
fiance through half-closed eyes. Neither of them had bothered to switch on
the main room light, and as it was dark outside the only light in the
apartment - Clark had turned off the kitchen light before joining Lois -
was a small table-lamp at the opposite side of the living-room. The low
light cast shadows across Clark's face, seeming to emphasise his faintly
asian colouring and the angles and lines of his profile. Yes, he
definitely looks weary, Lois thought.

Clark, glancing up, caught Lois's eye. "What's on your mind, honey?"

"You mean apart from what your hands are doing to me?" Lois teased. "I was
thinking that you look tired," she added more seriously.

He shrugged. "I guess. It's been a tough couple of days - I don't know why
there have been so many emergencies, but I'm telling you I'm ready for a
night off for Superman."

"Me too," Lois agreed with enthusiasm. Clark shot her an anxious look.

"Is this a problem for you, Lois? Me leaving to be Superman, I mean."

Quickly, she shook her head. "No, of course not - I mean, your running off
all the time used to bother me, but that was only because I never knew
where you were going, and I used to wonder whether it was to get away from
me - "

"Never!" Clark interjected swiftly.

"- but once you told me you're Superman I understood," she added softly.
"Sure, I wish we had been able to spend more time together these last
couple of days, but I know there was nothing you could do about it. You
*have* to help - that's what you do, and I wouldn't want it any other way."

"I'm so glad you understand, Lois," Clark murmured sincerely. "There were
so many times in the past when I just didn't have any choice but to go, and
I knew you didn't know why I was doing it, and I hated it."

Lois's eyes widened in realisation. "That night we'd been at the Planet and
we felt the baby move, and you were going to come home with me and have
dinner - that was a Superman emergency, wasn't it?"

Clark nodded. "I was so - *frustrated* - about that night. I'd really
wanted to be with you - I thought our relationship finally seemed to be
going somewhere, that I might get a chance to tell you how I really felt
about you... then I had to go and sort out that bomb. And when I finally
got to call you, you were so cool and you pretended that nothing had
happened between us." He paused, his expression unfocused as he reflected
on the memory. "And then you were distant with me for ages after that. I
really thought I'd blown it."

"*I* thought you'd left because you realised what I'd been about to suggest
to you, and you just weren't interested," Lois explained.

"And what was that...?" Clark prompted.

"I'd decided to ask you if you'd be willing to raise my baby with me - I
wasn't sure in what capacity... I guess I had the vague idea that we might
get married, but at the very least I was thinking maybe we'd move in
together, as friends at first if need be, but probably later as lovers.
Then you left... and I figured you didn't want to know."

"Never, Lois!" he assured her.

She leaned towards him and covered his large hand with her own. "I know,
Clark."

He got to his feet, scooped her up from the couch, and sat down again with
her in his arms. "I love you, Lois," he murmured, bending to kiss her.

The kiss might well have escalated into much more, but Lois drew away after
several minutes. "Clark, I'd like to talk," she suggested.

Wondering what was on her mind, Clark shifted his position to make them
both more comfortable, and offered, "Sure - go ahead."

"I have some... questions... about you," she volunteered, a little shyly.
It had been one thing wondering about Clark in his absence; somehow, it
seemed a little different raising the subject of his Super-persona while
she was in his arms. She wasn't sure why, but she was hesitant.

Clark, however, simply stroked her hair with his fingertips before replying
softly, "I guess you have. We haven't really talked about this much, have
we? What with telling our folks, then me being away, and getting you moved
in here... But I'm all yours now - Superman's not going out again unless
it's something the emergency services really can't handle." He smiled
encouragingly at her. "So - what do you want to know?"

Lois's fingers played with the fringes of the throw-blanket on the couch,
and she sighed. "I don't know why this is so hard, Clark... it's not
*difficult*, exactly, but it's been a little tough to get my head around. I
was doing some thinking earlier, while you were out - trying to reconcile
Clark and Superman in my head, sort of, and it's been quite a revelation. I
mean, all this time I thought the two of you were separate people, and now
I'm putting everything together - each time I remember something Superman
did, I'm now realising that *you* did that."

She paused, and Clark remained silent, now brushing her hair with his palm.
He had realised that she must be having these kind of thoughts; he had
carried on the deception with her for over a year, and she was certainly
the one person in Metropolis who had known both parts of him well. If
anyone could have worked out his secret on her own, Lois could have, and he
could well understand if she was feeling angry at herself for failing to do
so.

But as she spoke again he realised that this was not what was on her mind.
"Clark, I was so cruel to you sometimes!" she exclaimed, sounding upset. He
instantly wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"Lois, you were *never* cruel!" he insisted.

"Yes, I was! Like when I was horrible about you in contrast to Superman -
or when I was only glad to see you alive after we were thrown out of
Trask's plane because it meant Superman was alive as well - or when I
laughed at you as a bodyguard. And all the time you were... and you never
said a word... and you could have..." She paused, and swallowed. "In your
place, I don't know whether I'd have laughed at my stupidity, or been hurt
because I was so nasty."

"Lois, you were never deliberately hurtful," he assured her. "Yeah, okay,
you made the occasional thoughtless remark, but that's all it was. And you
usually made up for it in some other way when you'd realised. And since you
couldn't have known I was Superman, how could I blame you for not seeing me
in the same light as him?"

Lois shrugged, burying her face in Clark's broad shoulder. "I should have
realised. You deserved far better than the way I treated you."

Again, he shook his head, sliding his hand under Lois's chin to tip her
head upwards. "You *did* realise - you told me, that morning at your
apartment when you thought you were speaking to Superman, that you had come
to realise that I was someone you cared about very much. You have no idea
what that meant to me, Lois - apart from my feelings about the baby's
father, I never thought I'd have any real chance with you because you would
always want Superman first. Finding out that you wanted *me*, not him,
was... a revelation." He paused, bending his head to capture her lips in a
swift, passionate kiss.

"But I want you to know, I didn't stay quiet then just to see what you
would say about me - Clark, I mean," he added. "I didn't say anything at
first because I was just so hurt and disappointed that you didn't seem to
want me - as Superman, I mean - to be with you and our child. You'd been
talking about me as Clark for a while before I actually realised what you
were saying. *Then* it dawned on me that I still hadn't told you who I
really was, so I changed clothes and showed you."

Tears glistening brightly in her eyes, Lois replied, "And I just couldn't
believe it when I turned around. It was as if everything I knew, all the
certainties in my life, just didn't exist any more. And yet... it was
almost as if I *should* have known, as if something had been there all
along which should have made it obvious. I realised as I was speaking that
when I was describing Clark's attributes I could just as easily have been
describing Superman's, you know? That alone should have told me."

Clark remained silent for a few minutes, just holding Lois close to him and
stroking her hair and shoulders. He too was remembering their shared past
and the frustrations of having to maintain two identities with Lois; there
were times when it had been sheer torture. Not any longer, however; and it
was so good to be *himself* with her.

She shifted a little, and he lowered his gaze to meet hers. "So, Lois, you
said you had some questions?"

She raised her face to his again, now smiling, reassured by the warmth of
his embrace. "Yeah. When I first interviewed Superman - you - for the
Planet, you told me you were from Krypton. I didn't ask, but I assumed at
the time that you must have just arrived on Earth. But then last week I
found out who you were, and all of my preconceptions changed completely. I
mean, Clark, I know you grew up here - well, in Kansas. The first time you
took me there, your mom showed me all your baby pictures."

"But you know now that I came here as a baby," Clark reminded her. "When we
flew to Smallville that day, my parents told you all about finding me in
the spaceship."

Lois nodded. "Sure. But - you only became Superman about a week after you
started at the Planet - unless you wore that suit somewhere else first and
I never got to hear about it!"

Clark grinned. "Nope, the Suit was all new the first time you saw me in it."

"So - how did you become Superman?" Lois asked curiously.

Clark kissed her lips lightly again before answering; he smiled then as he
spoke. "Actually, that was your doing, Lois." At her amazed expression, he
said, "You probably don't remember it, but one day you told me I should do
as you did and bring a change of clothes to work."

Lois frowned; she couldn't immediately remember the conversation. Then a
picture came into her mind: a problem outside the Planet buildings, someone
trapped down a manhole; the victim suddenly and mysteriously emerging
through the hole in the ground; Clark having disappeared for a moment, then
reappearing with his suit smeared with dirt; the man who'd been trapped
raving and identifying Clark as the person who had saved him. Everyone had
thought he was mad; Clark himself had said the man was surely delirious.
Her eyes widened. "It *was* you! You rescued him!"

Clark nodded. "I had to - he could have died otherwise. But that was what
it was always like for me before, Lois. I wanted to help - *needed* to -
but there was always the danger of being caught, the risk that someone
might recognise me. And, as my dad always says, then I might get taken off
to a laboratory and dissected like a frog. So I had to be very careful -
and that's why I always moved around so much before." He paused, and an
impulse led him to trace the line of Lois's lips with his fingertip. She
responded by drawing his finger into her mouth and sucking gently. His eyes
closed briefly as erotic sensations flooded through him and his body began
to respond to the closeness of hers. Then he sighed; he'd promised to
answer her questions, and he would.

"When I came to Metropolis - and especially when I got the job at the
Planet - I desperately wanted to stick around. I didn't want to keep moving
indefinitely, and almost as soon as I arrived here I knew it was where I
wanted to be. But I still couldn't ignore people in trouble. Then when you
made that remark about a change of clothes - it all seemed to fit. I went
home and asked my Mom to make me a disguise."

"And that's when you created Superman?" Lois asked.

"Yep - that's it," he told her. "So really, you can take a lot of the
credit for it. And you named him, as well, of course - so I guess Superman
is really mostly your creation."

Lois shook her head slowly; this was a lot to take in. "So have you always
known you were from Krypton?"

"Nope," Clark replied, a pensive expression on his face. "All the time I
was growing up, discovering I was different from other kids, realising that
I could see through things, hear things I shouldn't - and even worse, that
if I looked at something the 'wrong' way, I could set it on fire... it was
driving me crazy, not knowing *why*. Sure, Mom and Dad had found me in a
spaceship, but they had no idea where I came from. They wondered for years
if I was some Russian experiment, or some secret Government project - we
had no idea. Even after I'd grown up, and could fly and had just about all
the powers I have now, we were still no wiser." He fell silent for a moment,
remembering how it had felt to be *different*, to grow up knowing that
there were so many things he could do that he just couldn't tell anyone
about. It was no wonder that he had been a shy, introverted boy, who had
grown into a self-conscious and hesitant adult.

Seeing Lois's gaze on him, waiting for him to continue, Clark spoke again.
"Remember Trask's warehouse - all the UFOs?" She nodded, wondering at the
apparent change of subject. "Under one of the tarps I found my spaceship."

She gasped at the bald statement. "The spaceship you came to Earth in? How
did you recognise it?"

"It had my - Superman's - emblem on it. You know - the S?" She nodded.
"That's like a family crest or something, though I didn't find that out
until much later. And there were some strange designs along the side -
almost like runes. Anyway, apart from the 'S', I recognised it from my
parents' description. And in a small bag beside it was a little globe of
the planet Earth. I picked it up - and it glowed, Lois! And the pattern
changed, to show a red planet - and I somehow *knew* that it was Krypton,
and that was where I came from. Don't ask me how I knew - I just did."

Wide-eyed, Lois stared at him. She couldn't imagine how it must have felt
for the young Clark, knowing that he didn't fit in, wondering where he came
from, who his real parents were, where the strange powers came from - but
to find the evidence of his origins suddenly, without any warning, must
have been overwhelming. "So what did you do with the globe and the
spaceship?"

He frowned, looking almost bereft for a moment. "I took the globe with me
then, but obviously I couldn't do anything with the spaceship - you were
there and I didn't want to raise your suspicions. But if you remember, when
we went back to the warehouse with Jimmy and Perry, it was empty. I've
never seen the spaceship since."

"Oh, Clark!" Lois exclaimed in gentle sympathy, pressing her body closer to
him.

He returned the pressure, gaining comfort from her closeness. Then he took
a deep breath and continued. "That's not all. A couple of months ago the
globe 'spoke' to me."

"What do you mean, spoke to you?" Lois demanded incredulously.

"Just that," he answered. "It was weird - I'd kept it in a little chest for
months since I found it, but it never did anything other than glow a little
and change from Earth to Krypton whenever I touched it. Then one night I
was awakened by a really bright light, and I got up to see where it was
coming from... it was the globe, trying to float its way out of the chest.
I picked it up, and it floated right out of my hand, and then I saw...
well, I can only describe it as a hologram. A man appeared - he was dressed
in kind of shimmering white robes, but he had the S symbol on his chest. He
said his name was Jor-El, and that I was his son, Kal-El - and that the
fact that I was hearing his voice meant that I had made the journey safely
from Krypton. He said the globe had become 'attuned' to me, probably
because I'd had it for so long by then, and that was why it was speaking to
me."

"So you actually found out about where you come from, and why you're here?"
Lois prompted, her eyes shining with excitement as she listened to the
story unfolding.

"Yeah - he appeared to me five times in all, telling me a little more each
time. I thought, you know, that it would have been nice to have heard all
this a little earlier, but then Mom reminded me that I probably wasn't
supposed to have been separated from the globe. You see, Dad had buried the
spaceship, and the globe with it - the globe was its navigation instrument.
And when I tried to look for it, years later, it was gone. I guess Trask or
some other Bureau 39 people must have found it, not long after Dad buried
it."

"So what else did he - your father - say to you?" Lois asked, highly
curious. Clark hesitated before answering; Lois, noticing this, wondered
whether it was a sensitive subject. "I'm sorry - you don't have to tell me
if you don't want to."

He shook his head. "I do - I'm just wondering whether..." He trailed off,
then Lois became aware that she was being very gently raised and then
lowered again onto the sofa cushions. Clark got to his feet and crossed to
the bookshelves at the rear of the room, returning a moment later with a
small round object.

"This is it - give me a minute and it should 'wake up'," he explained. Just
as he'd finished speaking, the globe began to glow and it floated off
Clark's hand and hovered in mid-air. Clark resumed his seat on the couch,
this time beside Lois, and waited.

Jor-El appeared again, and the five messages stored in the globe played one
after the other. Clark heard Lois take several short, sharp intakes of
breath as she saw the scenes leading to the destruction of New Krypton, and
the two Kryptonians, Clark's natural parents, preparing to launch him into
outer space in order to save his life.

"Those people - your parents - they did this to save your life!" she
breathed at last. "And they - they were killed when the planet exploded?"

Clark nodded. "I can only assume they were - I'd like to think that if they
had survived they'd have found me, somehow."

Her eyes clouded. "Much as I hated growing up in my family sometimes, at
least I knew my parents. I can't imagine being in your position, not
knowing where you came from or who your parents were - and then only seeing
them like this."

Clark smiled slightly and shook his head. "Lois, my parents are Jonathan
and Martha Kent. They're the only parents I ever knew, and the best parents
I could possibly have had. Jor-El and Lara... well, they're no more than
pictures on a movie screen to me. But it is good to know who I am, and why
I'm here - that's what was really so difficult when I was growing up, just
not knowing."

"And your name is really Kal-El," she murmured, her eyes taking in the
smooth planes of his face, the jawline and curve of the eyebrows which so
resembled those of his birth-father.

"Yes - but I prefer Clark. It's what I've been called all my life - Kal-El
doesn't seem... *right* somehow." He hesitated again. "It's weird - once I
found the globe, and then when it spoke to me, I found out the answers to a
whole lot of questions which had bothered me for years. But I don't really
feel any sense of belonging to Jor-El and Lara, or to Krypton. And you
know, if I found out tomorrow that Krypton hadn't exploded after all and
that I could go back there if I wanted - I don't think I would. *This* is
my home, here on Earth - Martha and Jonathan are my parents... and you are
my future wife, and we're going to be a family soon. I know who I am now -
I'm Clark Kent, and that's all I want to be." He paused, considering for a
moment. "Sure, I'm Superman too, but that's just - a disguise, a means of
helping while still managing to have a life of my own. Kal-El really
doesn't exist any more. That baby in the hologram - he's Kal-El. But Kal-El
ceased to exist as soon as Mom took me out of that spaceship and told Dad
they were going to keep me."

"That's an incredible story, Clark," Lois breathed. "To think that you
travelled all that distance as a tiny baby... I'm not sure I'd have
believed all this if I hadn't seen it for myself."

"Lois." Clark gripped her hands in his suddenly. "There's something I need
to know. Does it - bother you - that I'm not human... that I'm an alien
from another planet?"

She stared at him. "How can you think that, Clark? I've known you for over
a year, and in that time I've come to realise you're the kindest, most
honest, loyal and loving man I have ever known. You have wonderful
qualities of compassion and caring - and I wouldn't care if you were from
Earth, Krypton or Mars - I love you!" The passionate sincerity in her voice
was tremendously reassuring to Clark, who released a long breath he hadn't
even realised he'd been holding. She grinned suddenly and continued. "*And*
you can fly - what more could a girl want?"

"Ah - you don't mind about the flying, then?" he teased.

She grinned again, swatting his arm lightly with her hand. "That's
definitely a bonus."

Clark laughed; he felt much more relaxed suddenly. He hadn't even realised
that he'd been concerned about Lois's feelings about his alien origins
until they'd had this conversation; but suddenly, sitting there with her as
he had laid bare his background and watched the globe tell its story, he
hadn't been able to stop himself wondering how she felt about it all. Was
she really happy about the idea of sleeping with an alien - getting married
to an alien? But it seemed it wasn't a big deal at all.

He turned to her, intending to change the subject, to tell her about one of
his Super escapades that evening, but he saw her yawn hugely and struggle
to keep her eyes open. Smiling, supremely content in the knowledge that he
was loved and wanted by this woman whom he loved more than anything in the
world, he gently scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom,
where with featherlight touches he very quickly stripped her of her clothes
and slipped her nightgown over her head. By the time he had pulled her into
his arms in the bed, she was already fast asleep.