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Kal-El had spent most of his return journey from Krypton dreaming. He dreamt of his home in Kansas, of his adoptive parents. He dreamt of Metropolis, the joy of reporting for the Daily Planet. He dreamt of flying, using his immense powers to help. But mostly he dreamed of Lois. She danced through his dreams. She sang in his dreams. She loved him – in his dreams.

But there had been nightmares as well – nightmares of returning to an Earth that had been murdered by Lex Luthor. The nightmares would have left him screaming except that the paralysis of the forced sleep wouldn’t let him actually scream. In his nightmares, Lois was dead, his mom was dead. Everyone was dead.

He should never have left Earth. He should have known the reports of Krypton’s survival had been a lie, a trap. Rao was a white dwarf and Krypton was nothing but a shattered mass of deadly kryptonite.

The kryptonite had made him sick before he even realized what was happening.

His last conscious words to the AI that controlled the ship had been, ‘Take me home.’

But in the nightmares, Earth had been turned to kryptonite too.



Lois Lane chortled as she put a ‘Y’ at the end of her word on the Scrabble board. She looked around the table at her opponents. “There.”

“Lois, ‘chumpy’ is not a word,” Richard stated.

“Of course it is,” Lois protested. “It’s an adjective describing a chump. A chump is ‘chumpy’.”

“Try again,” Richard told her.

“He’s right, you know,” Martha added with a little laugh.

“You’re absolutely sure?” Lois asked.

“Don’t ask me,” Ben said. “I’d let you have it, just so I could use it sometime.”

“I’m absolutely sure,” Martha said.

Lois took her ‘Y’ back.  She wasn’t really as upset with the game result as she was letting on.

It was strange, but even four months ago she wouldn’t have imagined she, Jason, and Richard would be spending Christmas with Martha Kent and her fiancé, Ben Hubbard. But then, four months ago Superman hadn’t died of the stress of traveling back through time to save the planet from Lex Luthor’s madness. Four months ago she and Richard hadn’t been given memories of that other future, the one Superman died to prevent.

As predicted, the horrific memories of Armageddon had faded into something that resembled having seen a very disturbing movie. She and Richard had mostly stopped having nightmares about that version of history. At least Lois assumed Richard had stopped having nightmares. Less than a month after Superman’s death, Richard chose to move out of their river front house.

“They say there’s only one way to console a widow,” he had said. “I didn’t know I was consoling one when I asked you to marry me.”

“Richard, I…”

He shook his head. “You said it yourself, you still love him. I’m not fool enough to think I can compete with him.”

“Richard, you don’t have to do this…”

“Yes, I do,” he said. “I’ve never been willing to settle for second best, and neither have you. I just hope, at least for Jason’s sake, we can stay friends.”

They agreed to split custody – Lois had Jason during the school week and Richard had him for weekends – and they settled into amicable non-domesticity as Richard moved into a small apartment in the city. The house was hers and she let him keep his seaplane docked there.

The newsroom rumor mill had buzzed for several weeks about what had happened between them, but none of them knew the truth. Perry hadn’t told anyone what Superman had wanted the day of his mysterious reappearance wearing black instead of the iconic primary colors. Lois and Richard had only said that Luthor had been dealt with under Kryptonian law. They hadn’t told anyone the details of Luthor’s trial, or of Superman’s death.

Martha Kent was the only person that Lois told of what had really happened that day in Superman’s fortress. She had been the one to tell Martha that her beloved son was dead and, although it wasn't much of a consolation, she was also a grandmother.

Martha and her fiancé, Ben Hubbard, came to Metropolis for Thanksgiving and to meet Jason and Lois’s family.

“Lois, what’s wrong?” her mother had asked when she told her parents she had invited her ex-partner’s mother to Thanksgiving dinner.

“What do you mean?” Lois asked.

“You’re going out of your way to be nice to your father,” Elinor Lane said. “You’ve invited your ex-fiancé and his current girl friend and you’ve invited your ex-partner’s mother and her boyfriend to Thanksgiving dinner. Not that I object to having a houseful, but I know how much you hate these family get-togethers. So either you’re dying or something else is wrong.”

Lois’s first instinct had been to deny it. Instead she said, “A couple months ago something happened that made me realize exactly how important family was for me. Made me realize how close to the edge we all are. One misstep…”

“Lois, are you ill? Is that what’s going on?”

“No, Mama. I’m okay, really I am. But I… A very good friend of mine died because something needed to be done and he was the only one who could do it and even though he succeeded, it killed him. It finally hit me how fragile everything is. We think we have forever. But it could all end tomorrow.”

“But your ex-partner’s mother?” Elinor asked. Lois’s father was sitting in his chair, listening.

“She’s Jason’s other grandma, Mama. Clark Kent is Jason’s biological father. And even if Jason never gets to meet his father, he should at the very least, know his father’s family.”

“Lois, is he the friend that died?” her father asked with uncharacteristic gentleness.

“No,” Lois lied.

Martha and Ben were both as sweet as Lois remembered from the other future. Even Lois’s father, the General, was charmed by them. It seemed that Ben Hubbard had served in the Far East at about the same time Sam Lane had.

Now Lois, Jason, and Richard were spending Christmas in Smallville, Kansas. Richard hadn’t needed to come along, but it felt right.

“I haven’t decorated for the holidays in years,” Martha told them when they finally got to the farmhouse. “But I found all my old decorations. I thought Jason would like to help trim the tree. Clark used to love… I sound like a silly old woman, don’t I? But part of me doesn’t believe he’s dead.”

“I know,” Lois admitted. “I have the same problem. I know what I saw, but part of me keeps hoping… I know miracles happen. I just keep hoping we’ll have another one.” As she spoke her hand went to the small velvet bag she wore on a thin cord. Inside was the memory crystal Mike had given her. ‘You’ll know what to do when the time comes,’ he had said. She still didn’t know what he meant.

The Scrabble game was over. Richard and Martha were tied. Lois was several hundred points behind them and Ben was close behind her, but Lois suspected he hadn’t been trying very hard. Lois was a prize winning writer, but Scrabble wasn’t her game.

Jason was in the living room, tapping out Christmas tunes on Martha’s aged upright piano. The newly decorated Christmas tree glittered in the corner of the room.

Jason heard it first – a distant rumble, almost like an earthquake. He stopped playing the piano and looked over at his mother.

“Mommy?”

Then Lois heard it too. It sounded like an overweight freight train approaching fast. The house rattled and the lights blinked several times.

“Earthquake?” Ben murmured.

Martha had gone to the kitchen window and was staring out at the sky and snow covered fields.

The night sky turned red, brightening until it almost looked like it was on fire. Something large and round and shiny streaked overhead and the sky brightened to almost noon-time intensity. Then a thunderous sonic boom shook the house and the sky went dark again.

“What the devil?” Ben murmured.

A few seconds later the old farmhouse was shaken again, this time by a deafening explosion.

“Ben, would you stay with Jason, please?” Martha said, grabbing her coat.

“We’re coming with you,” Richard announced, handing Lois her coat and shrugging into his own.

“Shouldn’t we call the sheriff?” Ben asked.

“There’s not much Rachel can do about a meteorite hitting the back field,” Martha commented as she headed for the door. Then she stopped and looked back at Lois and Richard. “Let’s bring some blankets, just in case.”

“In case of what, Martha?” Ben asked.

Martha’s expression was worried yet hopeful. “In case that wasn’t a meteorite.”

Lois gave Jason a quick kiss on the cheek then followed Richard and Martha out to Martha’s old truck. Richard threw the blankets into the bed of the truck and climbed into the driver’s seat. In the distance, Lois could see a red glow lighting up the sky in one of the further fields.

“It’s exactly where he landed before,” Martha said. She was seated between Richard and Lois, pointing out the road to Richard.

“Where who… oh,” Richard said as he turned the truck off the gravel road onto a stubbly field.

“Ben doesn’t know about Clark, does he?” Lois asked.

“He suspects,” Martha said. “After all, everybody knew you were Superman’s main squeeze. It’s a little doubtful the famous Lois Lane would have suddenly fallen for a farmer’s son.”

Lois spotted the charred trench and the crater. Deep in the crater was something that looked like a huge crystal Christmas ornament that had been through a fire. It still was glowing red in places. Richard stopped the truck and got out, followed by Lois and Martha. The heat could be felt dozens of feet away.

“It’s exactly like before,” Martha said. “This field belonged to old man Schuster then.”

Lois tested how hot the ground was with her booted foot and kept going. Clark’s space ship… was it possible? The ground was cooling quickly – it was, after all only four days before Christmas in Kansas. She stepped closer to the crystal ship even though the heat was still coming off it, making the air shimmer around it.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned, expecting to see Richard or Martha.

“No, it’s still too hot,” an impossibly familiar voice said.

“Clark?”

He stood there, swaying. “Lois?”

Then his eyes rolled up in his head and his knees buckled.

“Martha! Richard!” she yelled as she tried to keep him from hitting the ground.



Clark’s first conscious thought on awakening was that the house smelled like Christmas – ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, pine tree, and coffee. The second was that he was in his old room, in his old bed. The construction paper stars he’d put up when he was in kindergarten were still on the ceiling. I’m home. The nightmares weren’t real.

He rolled out of bed. The sun was already up, golden rays glistening on the snow outside.

He looked around the room. The old bookcases were still there, loaded down with his books, albeit arranged a little more neatly than he had left them. There were photographs from his childhood on wall. But there were other photos too, of a boy with brown hair he didn’t recognize with a woman he did – Lois. There was also a teddy bear on the bed and some toys on the floor. What was going on? Mom had company?

Clark checked the closet. His old clothes were hanging there, still in their dry cleaning bags. He put on a white t-shirt and jeans, grabbed his glasses and headed downstairs. The living room was decorated for Christmas. As far as Clark knew, his mom had stopped decorating the house for the holidays after he left high school.

“Mom?” he called. He heard voices from the kitchen. His powers weren’t back quite yet – he hadn’t been exposed to the yellow sun for long enough yet to rebuild his reserves. But even without his powers he knew his mother wasn’t alone.

“Mom?” he called again, walking into the old farm kitchen. Mom was there with the small boy from the pictures upstairs. Lois was there, along with a man Clark didn’t know. He’d thought he’d heard Lois the night before, after the landing. But he’d thought it was a dream. But she was here, at the farm with his mother.

Martha wiped her hands on her apron and pulled Clark into a tearful hug. “Oh my God, I was afraid I’d never see you again. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he said. “A little confused, though.”

Martha laughed. “You know Lois, of course. That’s Richard White from the Daily Planet and this little guy…” As she spoke she pulled the boy to her. “… is Jason Lane.”

Clark’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“Surprise, Lois Lane is a mommy,” Lois said with a chuckle.

“You’re Clark, aren’t you?” the boy asked. “Grandma Kent’s Clark?”

Clark nodded.  Grandma Kent?

Jason held out his right hand. “Pleased to meet you, Mister Clark.”

Clark solemnly shook Jason’s hand. “Pleased to meet you, Jason.”

“You look like you could use some coffee,” Lois said with another chuckle.

Clark nodded, sitting down at the table before his knees gave out from the shock.

The man, Richard, handed him a mug of coffee. “Don’t worry. Lois didn’t make it.”

“What’s going on?” Clark asked. It was just too weird, Lois and her son with his mom at the farm. The Lois he knew… But this wasn't the Lois he’d left behind. This Lois had a son, and by the looks of it, a boyfriend.

“It’s a long, complicated story,” Lois said. She picked up her coffee, leaned against the counter and watched him over the rim of her mug. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“No,” Clark admitted.

Richard took Jason’s hand and announced they were going outside for a bit to see what Ben was up to. Lois seemed comfortable with that.

“Who is he?” Clark asked. He nodded toward the door Richard and Jason had disappeared through.

“Just a friend. Like I said, it’s a long complicated story,” Lois said. “But, I have some things that belong to you. One is a Kryptonian memory crystal.”

“A Kryptonian…”

“It carries the memories of someone who died saving the Earth,” she explained, placing a little velvet bag on the table in front of him.. “Your memories of events that will never happen because you did the impossible.”

Lois wasn’t making much sense. How did she come to have a Kryptonian memory crystal? And why would she think it belonged to him? Unless…  Lois had been there last night. That hadn’t been a dream.

“How long have you known?” he asked. She knew he was Superman. She knew and she wasn't furious with him. Yet.

She smiled and that worried him even more.

“A couple months,” she said. “Believe me I’ve had time to get over being furious with you for leaving. Of course, you dying saving the world helped.”

“But I’m not dead,” he pointed out. He went over to the counter to pour himself another cup of coffee.

“Which only proves there really are miracles,” she said. “And speaking of miracles, you haven’t asked why my son and I are spending Christmas with your mother.”

“Okay, I’ll bite,” he said. His mother had made herself scarce.

“Lois Lane is a mother,” Lois said. “But Clark Kent is a father. Jason is your son.”

Grandma Kent. “But how?”

“The usual way,” she said, stepping closer. “You know, man plus woman plus unsupervised time…”

Clark pulled her into his arms.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she murmured. “Don’t ever leave us like that again.”

Clark realized she was crying against his chest. “I promise.”

There was a rustle of what sounded like feathers and a faint chuckle.

“What was that?” he wondered.

“What was what?” she asked, lifting her head. He wiped the tears away with his thumb and bent to kiss her. There was another rustle and the chuckle was louder.

“Oh, that,” Lois said with a tremulous smile. “That is probably one very self-satisfied guardian angel called Mike. Remind me to introduce him to you sometime.” She stood on tip-toe and kissed him gently. “Merry Christmas, Clark and welcome home.”

Fin

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I told you I'd put them back, didn't I?