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"Aaaaaaagh!"
That was turning out to be the hardest day of Lois Lane's life.
Harder than dealing with a flying cockroach. Harder than putting Lex Luthor behind bars. Harder than going a week without Rocky Road. Harder than restraining herself from punching Ralph in the middle of the bullpen.
She wondered, through the fog of agony in her mind, why people subjected themselves to this kind of torture, and if this was the moment when death would finally claim her, after she had escaped it too many times.
Clark, I love you, she wanted to say as a farewell, but she could do nothing except scream and hold her husband’s hand, who tried to encourage her despite his own nervousness.
Soon, the despair faded and gave way to relief when a loud cry rang out.
"There we are!" Dr. Price smiled as he supported the baby. Then he handed the child to the nurse on his left, who was waiting with a small towel unfolded. "I can already tell those are well-developed lungs. Congratulations, Lois. Daisy and Rachel, will you take care of them while I call Dr. Tarly to help? I need to rush over to assist with Mrs. Annesley's delivery now."
"Sure," Daisy agreed. Then she let out a surprised little laugh. "Dr. Price, it looks like John from sonography got it wrong this time. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Kent. You have a strong, perfect baby boy!"
In response, Lois, Clark, and Dr. Price, who was hurriedly removing his gloves, all looked at her at the same time.
"A boy? "
***
"That's all we needed! Of course the ultrasound result would be wrong on our turn! Good thing we bought most of the baby items in yellow, or we'd be dealing with a sea of pink at home. That actually reminds me, something very similar happened to a friend of my mother's. Or rather, the neighbor of the cousin of the coworker of..."
Sitting beside his wife, Clark watched, fascinated, as the tiny being in her arms nursed lazily. It was also fascinating how Lois seemed to have fully recovered from what she had described as the most painful experience of her life. If it weren't for her disheveled hair and the slight dark circles under her eyes, no one would have guessed she had given birth just two hours ago. But if there was anyone in the world who could defy all of Clark's expectations, it was his wife. As for him, he was still recovering from the experience of watching her scream in pain without being able to do anything to help. It had been terrifying.
"Clark! Are you listening to me?"
"Oh! I'm sorry. You were telling me about your mother's friend?"
Lois tilted her head. "Are you still in shock from the delivery? Relax, honey. I didn't die."
"Don't joke about that," he scolded, shuddering. "Don't ever joke about that. It was terrible. You were screaming, and I couldn't do anything. If it were possible, I would have gone through all that pain in your place."
"Cute, Kent. Anyway, that doesn't change the fact that it's not possible. In a fairer world, male Kryptonians would be the ones to get pregnant, like seahorses, and then I'd be off the hook. But we live in an unfair world – an unfair universe, actually, given the context. That's my biggest disappointment with you, by the way."
"What, that I can't get pregnant?"
"Exactly. I mean, you being an alien had to be useful for something..."
"I thought it already was useful for something. Like saving your life every two weeks."
While Lois protested that it wasn't that frequent, Clark leaned in to observe his son's face, who was now dozing peacefully. As is often the case with parents, his baby was the most beautiful in the world in his eyes (though in reality he looked like a squashed knee).
"You're half-Kryptonian," Clark whispered to the child. "Half-alien. But it's a secret. You can't tell anyone." Raising his voice, he turned to Lois. "There. I've already told him. That'll save me a big headache when he's a teenager."
Lois tucked her breast into her hospital gown. "Hmph. Let no one ever say Clark Kent is an irresponsible man."
"And speaking of which..." Clark reached for something in a large bag that was on the chair beside the bed. "The next step is for me to tell him that he already has a pet to take care of."
"Did you really bring Juvenilia here?" The baby started to whimper. "Uh-oh, he doesn't seem to like it."
"Of course I brought her," he corrected. Then, to his son, he said, "Don't look down on Juvenilia, young man, she's practically the reason you exist." Clark rocked the plush chicken – well-preserved, even after five years – and put on a high-pitched voice to dub it. "Hi, baby! Don't be afraid of me! I can't get close to you right now because of your health, but I still came just to introduce myself from afar. I hope you grow up soon so you can take care of me. And your future vegetable garden. And Mommy's fish. And even Grandpa and Grandma Kent's cows. We love you!"
Lois rolled her eyes as she gently rocked her son, who was now quiet again. "Look, I don't mean to disrepect Juvenilia, but I wouldn't say she's exactly the reason he exists..."
"Yes, she is. You started falling in love with me the night I got her."
"Are you saying I melted all over just because I saw you win the strength tester on the second try, Superman? If that's the case, you should have brought my washing machine here instead. The day you fixed it was one of your finest moments."
Clark smiled and left Juvenilia on top of the bag. "The day you didn't pay me for the repair and distracted me with a kiss."
Thinking about their first kiss made him look at his son again. He was the result of a night with many kisses, caresses, and more. Having the fruit of their intimacy and love right there, visible and tangible, was beautiful. Wonderful. Something he had never thought possible, just like so many other things in his life. Working at the Daily Planet. Finding the love of his life. Being able to use his powers to help others without risking his privacy or his parents' safety. Making a difference. Discovering his origins. Winning a Kerth. Marrying Lois. Belonging. He thought things couldn't get any better than that, except maybe if they could adopt a child. Then Lois got pregnant. And Clark loved the idea of adopting, but having someone – the only person on Earth – who shared his blood was extraordinary. He couldn't wait to learn to love his son in a thousand ways more than he already loved him.
"Three kisses," Lois corrected, unaware of his musings. "And I took you to the movies afterward."
"And we kissed more." He gave her a peck on the lips.
"And you told the cleaning lady that my nosy son wouldn't leave us alone at home."
"I know, it was disrespectful to Lane Lane, but it was the perfect excuse. I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by."
"And that brings us back to the starting point of this conversation." Lois made a dramatic pause. "We were all set to receive a girl! And even then, we were unsure about the name. Now that it's a boy, we have to start from scratch!"
"From scratch? I don't think so." Clark gently took his son in his arms and lifted him up. "After spending years talking about you, we've finally met. It's an honor to be your father, Lane Lane. Or rather... Lane Kent."
Lois took a deep breath, feeling a sudden tightness in her throat. A missing piece of the puzzle seemed to fall into place. It was like writing a final line that fit perfectly with the rest of the article – there was a certainty that no editor would touch it, because there was nothing that needed to be changed.
She watched her husband smile like a fool at the little miracle they had created together. Clark Kent, who had once been a challenge, someone interesting, an opponent, a coworker, a partner, an almost-boyfriend. Clark Kent, who was now her husband, her best friend, the father of her son. Her son. The most precious thing Lois had ever received – and coming from someone who had won a Pulitzer, that meant a lot. The physical manifestation of all the happiness she had been experiencing over the past few years. Someone she would make sure never felt unwanted for a single day of his life. Their son. Someone whose existence defied all the biological and mathematical probabilities she thought she knew. Someone who was half her and half Clark, but who at the same time would grow up to be someone completely different.
You’ve been with me my whole life, did you know that?, Lois wanted to say to her baby. A woman produces all the eggs she will ever have while she is still in her mother’s womb. You were just waiting for a man from another planet to show up and give you an alien inheritance with possible superpowers included and a proper last name. Lane Kent. Yes. She also smiled like a fool. "There's no other option, is there?"
Clark laughed, cradling his son against his chest. "There never was." He inhaled deeply, wanting to hold onto everything about that moment forever – all the smells, the colors, the mingled sounds of the heartbeats of the two people he loved most in the world, the feel and warmth of his baby's tiny body against his own. "The perfect name for the perfect child."
"Well." Lois swallowed the lump in her throat and composed herself, blinking several times to fight back the tears. "But when we have our girl, I'm the one who'll decide her name."
Clark tried to suppress a shiver. Just imagining Lois going through another labor made him nervous. Wisely, he decided to leave future problems in the future. "That's unfair, considering it was you who chose the name Lane."
"I said my son’s name was Samuel on our first date," she retorted, crossing her arms.
"Don't even try to use that as an argument. And you have to admit that to match her brother's name, the best name for our daughter would be Lana."
"Oh, you can bet I'll name my daughter after your ex! Only over my dead body."
"You said exactly the same thing about having a chicken in your apartment..."
Lois clicked her tongue. "Invalid argument. Juvenilia's stuffed." Before Clark could remind his wife of the time she tried to keep a real chicken in her apartment (an adventure that lasted only two days and left several rooms full of droppings), she continued: "Give it up. If you really wanted there to be a Lana Kent, you should have married your ex!"
Clark laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. "I don't think there’s a single universe in which I'm not married to you, Lois Lane."
Lois snuggled up to her husband, but not without a huff of protest. "Hmph. We’re feeling pretty confident today, aren’t we? So you're saying that in every universe, you managed that feat?"
"I hope so, honey." He smiled, looking at their son and then kissing his wife’s forehead. "For the sake of the Clark Kents from other dimensions, I hope so."