"A grandson? I have a grandson?"
Martha Kent's colour paled dramatically. Clark was relieved he'd gotten his mother to sit down on the worn sofa in her farmhouse before he shared the news with her. She still stared incredulously at the slick photograph showing a young boy perched on the edge of Lois Lane's desk at the Daily Planet.
"His name is Jason. He's five years old."
"Five?" Martha's eyes met Clark's in stern accusation.
"I just learned about this the other week, Mom," Clark replied a bit defensively. "Or at least, I woke up to the fact then. Lois and Jason visited me when I was unconscious at Metropolis General and she told me then that I was Jason's father." Clark looked down at the solemn face in Jimmy's photograph and couldn't suppress a smile. "I'm a father."
"So this is the 'something else' you said we'd talk about when you met up with Ben and I in Metropolis," Martha said chidingly. "I was just so happy to see my boy after all of that, I put it clean out of my mind." Martha leaned against her son's broad shoulder as he slowly flipped through the handful of black and white pictures Jimmy Olsen had taken as part of a "Day in the Life of a Paper" feature. Clark had asked for copies of the set to show his mother and Jimmy had enthusiastically obliged with more than a dozen eight by tens. There was one of Jason bounding in to hug his mother, another of him peeking over the shoulder of one of the graphic designers in the Art Department and one where he was happily perched on Richard White's shoulders.
Martha tapped the last one with a finger. "This is Lois' husband?"
"Her fiancé," Clark corrected.
Martha's eyes flew accusingly to his. "Clark, you're not breaking up a relationship, are you?"
He sighed. "Mom, I'm not. You and Dad taught me too well. Married or not, Richard White has been a father to Jason, the only father that boy has known and a good one. Anyway, Lois doesn't love me and I don't think she ever did."
Martha wrapped one arm around as much of her son as she could, offering him comfort. "I'm so sorry, Clark."
He chuckled, but the sound was weak and hollow. "At least something good's come out of all of this, Mom. Jason's a great kid. And I can be there, as Superman, to help him grow up with his powers and adjust to life with them."
Martha gasped. "My lord, that's right! He's five. Has he shown any signs of superpowers, yet? You were even younger than that when you first lifted the car, Clark."
His expression sobered. "I asked Lois about that. Apparently he threw a piano across the room on Luthor's yacht to save her. She figured that he has to know something strange is going on and we'll both have to talk with him about this."
Martha nodded throughout his explanation and patted him on the back. "Yes, and soon. I don't envy Lois in this. The stories I could tell her about raising you." She looked down at the photographs wistfully. "But I can't, can I?"
Clark leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "Not now, mom. I'm sorry. Maybe never, but I hope not. Right now, Jason doesn't know anything about his powers or that I'm his father. And even Lois doesn't know that I'm, well, who I am. Obviously, the subject hasn't even been broached with Richard. At least, I don't think she has. . . ."
Martha bit her lip and looked back to the photographs. Clark handed them over and she slowly looked through one after another, seeking out the figure of her grandson. She stopped at one and lightly traced the shape of Jason's laughing face peeking out from under Perry's desk to the editor's evident surprise. "I understand, Clark," she said. She sniffed and he knew that she was fighting back tears.
Clark hugged his mother again, cursing himself for causing Martha Kent yet more pain.
Martha seemed to sense his feelings and looked up with a warning in her eyes. "Now don't you go beating yourself up, Clark. Things are the way they are for a reason. You've given me more joy than sorrow today, son, and all I ask for now are regular updates on my two boys."
"Anything, Mom," Clark promised. "I'm sure I can get more pictures. And maybe, if you and Ben come back to Metropolis now that I'm not out of things, you can drop by the Planet and meet him. Jason's pretty much there all the time he's not at school or his daycare."
"I'd like that, Clark." Martha carefully picked up the next picture, showing Clark, seated at his desk, smiling up at Jason who was standing on the desktop to his hovering mother's evident dismay. "I think I can get away with framing this one and putting it on the piano."
Clark smiled and nodded, then reluctantly rose from the sofa. The early morning light was brightening the eastern sky. "I'll need to get going soon, Mom. It'll be time to get back to work at the Planet. Are you sure you don't need any help with the chores before I go?"
Martha waved one hand dismissively as she placed the photographs on the coffee table then rose in turn. "All the chores I have to do these days revolve around those three goats, one lazy dog and a half dozen barn cats. And half the time Ben's over here to help out. I think I can manage. Anyway, you've got a lot to do these days, as Clark, as Superman and as a dad."
Clark ducked his head slightly. "It's the least I can do. I have to help fix all the damage Luthor did to Metropolis. After all, if it wasn't for the crystals . . . ."
Martha bristled. "Don't go blaming yourself for that man's doing, Clark! His evil actions are on his soul, not yours."
His blue eyes lifted to meet her gaze. "I know, Mom. It just--" Clark waved a hand in frustration, "I feel robbed twice over. First he used those crystals for evil, but second, that Lex Luthor robbed me -- robbed Jason! -- of all that was in those crystals. The words of my Kryptonian parents, everything! If there was just some way to get them back." Clark clenched his fist.
Martha chided, "No use crying over spilt milk, son. You need to go forward, not backwards."
Clark nodded and dropped a kiss on her hair before pushing open the screen door. Forward was east, to Metropolis, the Planet and his son. He wouldn't think of Lois, he vowed, as his feet left the ground and he raced into another busy morning.
"I'm not going to waste my time thinking about Superman," Lois Lane growled as she poured her cold cup of coffee down the drain. The sentiment might be real but she had little confidence in her follow-through. Though it had been months since Superman so spectacularly returned to their lives, matters had not returned to normal. Almost every day brought a new assignment from Perry to write something Superman-related. And every day she saw that same person in her son, their son. And, if she were honest, nearly every night in her dreams, she saw and felt him there.
"No, enough time-wasting!" Lois growled as she realized she'd been poised in front of the sink, thinking about the very person she'd vowed to stop thinking about. It was maddening!
She spun on her heel to grab her purse from the table only to see Richard and Jason staring at her with equally dubious expressions. "What?" Lois challenged. "Come on, munchkin. Grab your lunch and skedaddle to the car or we'll be late for school."
Jason glanced up at his dad, who handed him the insulated lunch bag and pointed the boy in the direction of the garage. "Go on, kid. Your mom's right."
Jason started through the doorway and Lois slipped in behind him, leaving Richard to bring up the rear.
"You okay?" he asked as she walked ahead. Richard's tone was worried and Lois mentally kicked herself for causing him concern. It wasn't like Lois Lane to daydream or let good coffee go to waste. At least it wasn't like the Lois she'd been for the first five years of their acquaintance. She knew what he was thinking, but she was afraid that that other Lois was being lost in the confusion.
"Sure," Lois said
briskly. "Never better. Except I could use some fresh coffee
when we get to the office." And she added silently,
something to keep my mind off of Superman.
"I want your mind on Superman, 24/7, Lois. He's news and news sells papers, in case you hadn't noticed."
Perry White crossed his arms as he stared down his star reporter implacably. Lois Lane paced in front of his desk, biting on a thumbnail and shooting her editor angry looks.
"Superman isn't the only news in town, Chief! I was right about the blackout. I was right about Lex Luthor."
Jimmy Olsen timidly interjected, "Actually, if I remember right, I was the one who brought up Lex Luthor." At the glare from both Perry and Lois, the photographer meekly subsided in his chair at the side of Perry's desk.
"Chief, let me cover something else with the Superman beat, then. I could write about the problems with rebuilding the subway or maybe look into the whole immigration debate or . . . anything. Just not always Superman!"
Behind her, Perry's office door tentatively opened to Clark Kent's hesitant push. "You wanted to see me, Chief?"
"Where have you been, Kent?" Perry growled. "I've been waiting on your story for the last half hour!"
Clark somehow finished stuffing himself awkwardly through the door and thrust a folder onto Perry's desk. He nearly stumbled into Lois, mumbling "Sorry," as he gratefully took the seat beside Jimmy.
The tall reporter turned his gaze back to the editor-in-chief. "Umm, I'm sorry about that, Chief, but I emailed the story to you last night. I thought you saw it already." One nervous finger pushed his glasses back up his nose and Clark seemed to sink into the hard, wooden chair.
Perry White looked up from the hard copy. "Saw it? Been too busy to check my email this morning what with Lane, here, going all prima donna on me."
Lois's mouth gaped at the accusation. "Prima donna? Perry!"
Their editor raised one hand forbiddingly as the other flipped through the sheets in Clark's folder. When he came to the end, Perry fixed his eye on Clark's face.
"Are you sure about this?"
Clark nodded eagerly, almost vibrating out of the chair. "Yessir! I've got confirmation on the numbers. He's pocketed at least ten million that we can verify, but it looks like we could find more if we went back further."
Perry's face took on an unholy glow. "Do that for a follow-up, but I want you to run this by legal and get it ready for tomorrow's front page. You got pictures?"
Clark grinned and nodded to Jimmy who smiled broadly, leaping up from his seat. "Sure thing! I went along with Clark two nights ago like you asked and I got some great shots. Let me go back to my desk and get 'em!" Jimmy rocketed out of the room in his excitement.
"What's going on? Perry? Clark?" Lois tapped her foot and the two remaining men in the room turned her way. Clark's grin melted away and Lois felt as if she'd kicked a puppy.
"Ah, yes, Lois. Clark, here, came to see me two weeks back with a lead he wanted to pursue. It turns out that Jacob Roscoe, of Roscoe's Surveying, been skimming off federal disaster funding. You remember that funding they received to run remote sensing survey on all the damaged sites from the New Krypton quakes and report on trouble spots? It turns out they don't even have the equipment! They've been running surveys with dummy devices and Roscoe's been pocketing all the cash for himself. But now," Perry waved the folder triumphantly, "we've got the proof. Good work, Kent!"
Clark smiled nervously as he ducked his head at Perry's praise, but his eyes remained focused on a visibly displeased Lois.
"Why," Lois asked in tones of arctic calm, "wasn't I working on that story? No offense, Clark," she added offhandedly, all the while leaning forward on Perry's desk to confront her editor, "but if this story is that big, why do you just have one reporter on it? Why not two? Why not a whole team? I could look into Roscoe's on-site operators to see what they know or the federal agents who let this slide while Clark finishes up his own story."
Clark waved his fingers gingerly above his head but Perry White took no notice. "Lois, I keep telling you that you have a story and an assignment, the biggest we have at the Planet. You're assigned to Superman. Let Clark and Jimmy wrap this thing up. I want you to give me two thousand words by the end of the day on the Man of Steel and what he's up to these days. Now, get going."
Perry made a shooing motion with his hands. Lois shot him a frustrated look. "Chief, you can't keep me wrapped in cotton wool. I'm not going to break, or disappear or drown."
Perry leaned back in his chair, affecting surprise. "I don't know what you're talking about, Lois."
Lois looked over her shoulder towards Richard's office. The assistant editor was deep in conversation with some of the international political reporters but seemed to sense her regard, lifting his eyes to meet her gaze with a smile.
She turned back to his uncle, wearily. "You can't keep me safe by locking me away, Perry. Richard wouldn't want you to either." Lois resisted adding that Richard would probably sing for joy upon hearing Lois was assigned to something other than Superman. Now wasn't the time or place to bring up that private tension. She soldiered on with her plea: "I'm a good reporter and I'm tired of doing nothing while everyone else gets to be a journalist. Like they say in sports, Perry, play me or trade me."
The editor appeared distinctly uncomfortable. "Lois, I wasn't trying to -- I mean, I wasn't -- Oh, Hades! You'll go out after this story or something else, won't you, if I say 'no'?" At her emphatic nod, Perry relented. "All right. You can work with Clark on this story."
"With Clark?" Lois winced visibly. In his seat, Clark seemed to shrink even more in upon himself and Lois felt a moment's fleeting guilt. But Perry's terse affirmation left her flailing inwardly as she nodded her grudging agreement. It was clear that the Planet's editor-in-chief was bending only so far in letting her do her job: Superman alone or Superman and . . . Clark.