Chapter 28 “Start Over Again II”

Lois watched as Jason got ready to lift the tree for the second time, proud as any mother could possibly be. With only six years, Jason understood the importance of mastering his abilities.

Lois cheered loudly when Jason lifted the trunk again – even though it was only a few seconds longer than the first time. He’d get there, Lois was sure of it. He was learning from the best.

She looked at Superman, who had his arms folded across his broad chest, looking down at his son. He really was the best. Distant though he was, Lois could see his love for Jason shine right through that mask of his. Lois couldn’t think of a more experienced and patient teacher.

Superman must have sensed Lois watching him because he suddenly looked up. Lois smiled at him and took a step closer.

“He’s really trying very hard.”

Superman nodded. “He’s doing well.”

“But he’s not showing any superpowers right now, is he?” Lois asked, glancing at her boy. “I think every kid can do that.”

Again Superman nodded. “He’s not using his powers right now. He does have them, though. He’s got the power to easily lift the heaviest of all of those trees, but he doesn’t know how to turn it on.”

“Turn it on?” Lois had a brief mental image of a light switch labelled ‘superpowers on/off’.

“Yeah… compare it to…” Superman was silent for a second, looking for the right comparison. “A milk carton.”

Lois laughed. “What’s milk got to do with it?”

“Imagine you want to pick up a milk carton. You first want to know if it’s full so you can estimate how much strength you need to use. If the milk carton is empty while you think it’s full, you use too much strength and the carton goes flying. If it’s full when you think it’s empty, you can hardly lift it. Not because it’s so heavy, but because you’re using the wrong amount of strength.”

“So…”Lois said, wanting to have her facts straight. ‘Jason needs to judge how much strength he needs to lift that tree. But he can just see that right? That tree is not going to be any heavier than it appears. So why can’t he lift it?”

“Because he doesn’t know how to regulate his strength. He never had to switch to superpowers before, so he doesn’t know how to do it. It’s like learning to ride a bicycle. When you just start to learn, you keep falling over, until you figure out how to control your balance. Once you get it, it’s easy, and you’ll never forget it again.”

“So, how do you plan on teaching him that?”

Superman frowned again. “Well, I was thinking I would just let him lift a lot of things with a different weight, so that he learns to adjust his strength accordingly. Like you adjust your vision when you need to focus on things at varying distances. Maybe, if he can make the small adjustments, then making a big adjustment won’t be that difficult.”

“Is that how you learned it?” Lois said, still marvelling at the fact that Superman had actually spent his childhood on earth without anyone noticing.

Superman shook his head. “Not really. I had nobody to teach me. Once I figured out I could do things normal children couldn’t, I just retreated to the shed and attempted to lift the heavy things. At some point, I just succeeded. I can’t really remember how I did it…”

Jason let the tree fall back on the ground, and he sat down on the earth, panting. “I’m tired Mommy, do we have to train for much longer?”

Lois looked at her son’s red and sweaty face.

“No, honey. If you’re tired then we’ll go home.” She bent down to pick her boy up again and nuzzled his hair. “I’m really proud of you, sweety.” She whispered in his ear. “You worked so hard.”

Jason merely shifted to he could rest his head in the crook of her neck, and Lois looked at Superman who nodded and grabbed her by the waist. She didn’t even feel her feet lose contact with the earth, but she did notice that the tall trees suddenly seemed to shrink to the size on needles, and she felt Superman’s warm breath on her face as he blew away the strong wind from their bodies.

Within half a minute, Lois started the recognise the familiar trees around her house, and Superman lightly touched down on the front porch. He removed his arms, and Lois shivered as his body-heat no longer warmed her.

Jason still rested his head against Lois’ shoulder, and from the low breathing, Lois gathered that her boy had fallen asleep.

“You wore him out.” Lois smiled at Superman. “I’ll put him to bed. Don’t fly off.”

Superman chuckled. “I won’t.” Then Lois carried Jason to his bedroom, where she lowered him onto the mattress, and covered him with the blankets, taking only his shoes off. Jason stirred, and mumbled something incoherently, but didn’t wake up.

True to his word, Superman still stood on the front porch when Lois returned.

“Do you want something to drink?”

“No, thank you.”

“I could get you a beer.”

“No, really, I don’t -.”

“Oh, no. You probably don’t drink alcohol. Uhm, coffee then, maybe?” Lois said, not listening.

“No, I’m not-“

“Tea?”

Superman sighed.

“Alright, fine. I’ll have the tea.”

“Great, come in.”

Lois preceded Superman into the house and to the kitchen, where she put the boiler to work.

“You know,” Lois said as she put to large mugs ready. “I’m glad we’re not weird around each other. I was afraid that that … thing… we had would stand in the way or make things really complicated with Jason. But it doesn’t.”

Superman remained silent, but smiled.

“We’re just friendly around each other.” Lois pushed further. “because that’s what we are now, right? Friends?”

“Of course, we-”

Superman was cut short by the ding of the boiler, and Lois turned around to make some tea. She pressed a steaming mug in his hands.

“As a friend, can I ask you for some advice?”

“Sure”

Lois wrapped her hands around her mug, absorbing it’s warmth.

“Well, I don’t know if you’re the right person for this, but I need a man’s view. And I’ll be damned before I go to Perry.” She added in a whisper, though she had no doubt that Superman had heard it.

“What is the problem?”

“It’s about a guy,” Lois stared, fumbling with her mug. God, I hate these conversations! “We’ve got a bit of a falling out. My fault, by the way.”

Glancing at Superman, she noticed he looked just as uncomfortable as she felt. That didn’t stop her from continuing though. She needed someone’s advice.

“What happened?”

“The problem is, I like him. He’s a good friend of mine, but now I started to like him more, if you catch my drift.”

Superman nodded, the cup in his hand still untouched.

“Well, I decided not to act on it, you know, because of Richard, but that didn’t make the feeling go away. I was afraid that he was going to find out and that it would ruin the friendship.”

Lois started to speak faster, needing to get this out of her system. She couldn’t have stopped talking now, even if she wanted to.

“So I did the stupidest thing, really. I thought that if I wouldn’t see too much of him, I could just get over it, and everything would turn back to normal.”

If Lois had paid attention, she would have seen the look of comprehension dawn on Superman’s face. However, she was so focussed on her tale that the had little eye for her surroundings.

“But it didn’t work, so I kept pushing him further away. I almost completely shut him out of my life without telling him why. He must be so angry.”

“Confused” Superman mumbled, but Lois didn’t catch it.

“What?”

“I think Clark’s just confused,” Superman said a little louder. “Rather than angry.”

“How did you know I was talking about Clark?” Lois asked, amazed.

“Oh, I … er… noticed he wasn’t hanging around as often lately.”

“Yeah, well, angry or confused, either way, we don’t get much further than a short ‘hello’ when we meet in the corridors. I miss him, Superman, and I know Jason misses him too.”

“So, what’s keeping you from making it up to him?”

“I don’t know how.” Lois admitted.

“How about you tell him exactly what you just told me?”

“But that would mean I have to admit to him that…” That I love him. “Don’t you think that would make things really awkward?”

“Do you prefer things the way they are now?” Superman asked her in return.

“Well… no.” Lois looked up. “You’re right. I should tell him.”

“I think that would be best, yes.”

Lois still looked troubled. The idea of admitting her deepest emotions to Clark was positively terrifying. She didn’t think she could bear it if she saw anger – or worse yet, cold indifference – in his eyes. “What if he won’t accept my apology?” She wondered out loud.

“He will accept it.”

“How do you know for sure?”

Superman smiled.

“Trust me.”