The Chronicles of The Trinity on Earth-10: Part One - Superman

Chapter Twenty-Five: Month Seven

1978 Reeve Ave. | Metropolis, New York
Wednesday, April 3, 2019 | 14:45 EDT

DAY TEN

The trial of Lex Luthor was a fast one, I'll tell you that. Nothing Luthor's lawyers did could've ever hoped to exonerate him, much less give him a lesser sentence than twenty-six consecutive life terms in Belle Reve SuperMax Penitentiary. And as we catalogued the items we acquired from Luthor's storehouse, it also turns out that half of all those treasures were stolen from various regions around the globe, and a good eighty-five percent of all of it was one-of-a-kind and priceless. So, we figured out who the items that were stolen belonged to, returned them to their rightful owners if we could, and anonymously donated the rest to museums and galleries and other places like that.

Now that we finally have a chance to completely Netflix-and-chill on our couch, I look at my beautiful wife and just grin like the biggest idiot in the world.

"What?" she asks me, noticing me staring at her, and letting my own smile infect her.

"Nothin'," I reply. "I just--looking at you reminds me of a song I heard over a decade ago."

"What song?" she asks, turning to completely face me, her interest obviously now piqued.

"It's real country," I say, vaguely.

"Again I ask, what song?"

"It's called 'The World', by Brad Paisley, and it describes how I feel about you to the letter."

"Oh, really?" Lois cocks an eyebrow. "Well, how does it go, Smallville?"

I pause what we're watching, exit out of Netflix, go to YouTube to pull it up, and press play. When the pre-hook and chorus come up, I sing along with it:

🎶"Well that's alright, that's okay;
When you don't feel important,
Honey, all I got to say is,

'To the world,
You may be just another girl...
But to me:
Baby, you are the world!"🎶

When the song ends, Lois, beaming warmly, cups a hand to my face and says, "Aw, baby, you're my world, too!"

And I look at her pregnant belly, putting a hand on it, and smiling at it--and, by extension, her--as warmly as she's smiling at me. At seven months in, Lois' belly is officially bigger than that of a woman with just one kid in her delivery month. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Suddenly, Lois' phone rings.

Without even looking at the caller I.D., she answers. "Lois, here."

"Hey Lois, it's Karen," says the person on the other end as I listen in.

"Hey, girl!" says Lois, cheerfully. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good," replies my other cousin, "and business is booming. How are you and the twins doing?"

"We're good; I can't complain, and the twins aren't giving me too much grief."

"And Bridgette?"

"Working through some things, but, overall good."

"That's good to hear. Very good to hear."

"So what's up, cuz? I know you didn't call just to check up on me and the kids."

"You're actually not wrong. I was wondering if you and Kal were free to come down to Chicago to StarrWear for a visit."

"I don't know. Let me ask him. Just a moment."

"Yep."

Lois puts her phone on mute and says, "I know you were listening in, Clark. So, are we free?"

"I think we are," I reply. "Bridgette won't be home from school for another hour or so, and we should be back by then. And if we're not, we could always call her and tell her where we are, and have her either wait for us here or meet us there. Lemme get changed."