The Rosses arranged an overnight party for their triplets and their friends on Sunday to end Monday, the Fourth of July with a picnic. Larry was invited and the Kents went to help. "Lexy, call us if you and Clark need anything," Jon said, waving from the truck. Clark and Lexy waved goodbye when Jon, Martha, and Larry left in the afternoon.
Lexy had a cold supper prepared when Clark finished the chores. She served it in the kitchen, and they ate quickly.
"I have to leave for Metropolis right after dinner," Clark said. "If you need anything, call Pa. I'll be back about 8:00." He stood up and put his dishes in the sink.
She walked outside and watched as he flew away, shading her eyes from the sun. When he was out of sight, she cleaned up the kitchen and finished another report for Barry.
She soaked in a bath, got in her nightgown and robe, and sat on the back porch to dry her hair as the sun set. A few minutes before 8:00 Clark came out of the house and sat beside her.
"I didn't see you come, Clark. Do you have another route?"
"Yeah, I don't want to be seen, so I fly high. I left my bedroom window open, so I just flew in." He relaxed, and they sat in a companionable silence for a few minutes.
"Did anything happen in Metropolis?" she asked.
"Not much. A bank robbery, two fires, a cat up a tree, and so on. I talked with Barry and he says they've learned about your world. It's different from ours, from this Earth in some ways."
"How so?"
"He thinks that though both worlds have yellow suns, I wouldn't have superpowers there. Something different about the suns. Metahumans probably wouldn't be there, nor one with special tools, like Green Lantern and his power ring, or types like Aquaman."
"Interesting. What would you do on a world like mine?" She turned to look at him, his face lit by the setting sun, his dark, curly hair reflecting the last rays of the sun.
"Oh, I just be an ordinary human, maybe a little stronger than most, better senses, but not meta. I'd be a reporter for a, New York, where you came from, paper, married to an Earth girl who works in an office, and go home at night to an apartment where we live with our 2.4 kids. We'd have a cat like Bootsie."
Lexy laughed lightly. "That sounds like a good plan. I'm not from New York City, though, I just moved there when the Maelstrom came."
"Where are you from? Tell me about yourself and your family."
"Born in Trenton, that's in New Jersey, and raised in Plainsville until I was 10, when Dad died. I kind of liked it there. Mom moved us to South Carolina, where her family lived. She didn't get along with Dad's family. Family was my sister, Pris, and younger brother, Marty." She was silent for a moment, "Marty died during the pandemic last year."
"Pandemic?"
"Yeah, a virus went around the world. My family all had it, but only Marty got a bad case and passed away. Mom was crushed. He was her favorite."
Clark slipped his arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him.
"Anyway, want to hear more?" She twisted her head to look at him. He nodded.
"We lived in Beaufort until Pris started college at USC. Mom lived on savings until then, but they ran low and she had to get a job. Her brother rented her his house in Columbia cheap, so we moved there so Pris could live at home while going to college. She graduated and worked as a paralegal in Atlanta for a while, then to Chicago, where she married and had Bonnie and Sadie. She divorced, and sent the girls to Mom in Columbia, and she went to New York City."
"Tell me about yourself. What did you do?"
"I went to college for a few years, but money was tight, and I didn't get good enough grades for scholarships, so I worked. I went back to school and finished my degree four years ago, but didn't have teaching certification and got a job as a clerk with a computer company. I wanted a master's degree so I could teach, have more freedom. I was going to start grad school when the pandemic happened, and so many things shut down. Mom lost her job, Marty got sick and died, Sadie got cancer. I got laid off last May.
"Pris offered me her apartment in Manhattan, that's like New Troy, but in New York City, and her fiancée got me a temp job at his law firm. She's engaged to a partner there. They're supposed to get married, but it was delayed because of Sadie's leukemia. I was going to donate bone marrow for her. That's one reason I want to go back." Maybe the only reason. She looked at the night sky, remembering a world that was so similar and so different.
"Any other reasons? Someone special?" Clark asked. "Homesick?"
"Mmmm. No one special. I've had a few boyfriends, but during the pandemic, money got tight, and the guy I'd been seeing off and on moved back with his parents in a flash." She shrugged. "I thought I'd be homesick, and I miss my family, but," she looked at him, "In some odd way, I feel more at home here. I mean on this Earth. You and your parents have made me feel welcome. The Alien Placement Office has been supportive. Barry told me that if I had chosen to stay, I could keep my job at the Labs and that Iris has a single brother." She looked down at her hands. "There's so very much I don't know about this Earth. I'm going to miss your Earth, Clark."
Clark hugged her. She's got to return. "I hope you find what you're looking for back home." I hope I can find someone to replace you.
They sat in silence for a while, watching the last rays of the sun disappear into the night. Stars appeared.
"I'm going to get some ice tea, Clark. Want some?"
He followed her into the kitchen and they sat at the table drinking tea. "Will you be here for this Saturday's dance?"
"Sure will." Clark drank his tea down. "I'm thirsty, for some reason. Usually I don't get thirsty, but once in a while." He knew it was an emotional reaction; he wanted to be with Lexy, for dances, for evenings on the porch watching the sunset, for tea in the kitchen, eating at the diner in Metropolis or the Ace 'o Clubs, talking about everything and nothing, or not talking, and he shouldn't be with her, couldn't be with her. She poured him another glass, and placed it before him. He took it, touching her hand as he grasped the glass. She sat down and rubbed the moisture dappling her glass.
"Do the sunsets here look like the sunsets on your Earth?" Clark asked.
Lexy looked out the window, at a clear night bursting with stars. "The same, yeah. So many stars. One moon, same number of planets. Never been to Kansas there, but I expect it's a lot like your Kansas. The stars are out now."
Clark looked over his shoulder to see out the windows. "It's such a clear night. Half-moon."
Lexy put her chin on her hand and looked out the window thoughtfully. "Can you see your star from Earth?"
"Yeah. Want me to point it out?"
She nodded and they walked outside. They looked up at the night brimming with stars. Clark pointed east, then up, up and slightly below Scorpius. "There. That's Scorpius. It's in the summer sky instead of Orion. See the big red star?"
"Oooh. It that yours? Krypton?"
"No, that's Antares, the heart of the Scorpion. Follow the j-curve down the tail and up to the end two stars. They're Shaula and Lesath, the stinger."
"Got them."
"See that small group of stars below the stinger, looks kind of like a bird in flight?"
"I think so." She pointed. "There?" She moved a little closer, as though it were natural.
"A little bit up." Clark slipped his arm around her waist and with his other hand moved hers to the right position. "See? To your eyes, maybe it looks more like a check."
"I see it now."
"See the red star at the point of the check?"
"I do, I do."
"That's my home sun."
"What do you call it? Sun? Like ours?
"No, we call it Rao, although some call it Eldirao, in the old tongue. El means star."
"Eldirao. I like it. Romantic sort of name. Like a flower or a mysterious faraway land. Which Krypton was, I suppose."
"Romantic?" Clark laughed and hugged her closer. She lifted her face, pulled him closer and kissed him. He was waiting, and kissed her back. They kissed for a long time, before she moved back. He looked down at her, her eyes, her face, her lips. "Yeah, romantic."
She kissed him again for words would not say what she felt. He took her hand and led her into the house.
*
Lexy woke several hours later, alone in Clark's bed, and sat up, looking for him. Perhaps he'd answered some emergency call, and left without waking her. She slipped out of bed, naked skin silvery in the dim moonlight coming through the window. The moon was setting, but the night was still dark and cool before sunrise. She looked out the window, although she didn't expect to see him. The door opened and Clark entered in his Superman suit.
"Lexy," he said. "Didn't mean to wake you up. I've got to go to Metropolis. There's an emergency in New Troy.
She nodded. "Take care. Will you come back here when you're through, or do you think you'll stay in Metropolis?"
"I'll write an article, and send it in, but I don't know yet if I can get back . I left before sunrise. I left a note for Ma and Pa and one for you." He placed it on his nightstand. "I've got to go."
He kissed her softly and she closed her eyes, his scent warming her. His cape blew around her, then with a familiar rush of air, he was gone. She opened her eyes and looked out the window, but he was out of sight. She got in bed, pulled up the covers, and fell asleep.
Lexy woke up at sunset, and saw Clark sleeping beside her. She watched him, not wanting to wake him. This night might be all she'd have to remember when she returned to New York City, and she wanted all of it. She lay on her side, cheek on her hands, watching him sleep, until his alarm went off.
Clark stirred, opened his eyes and rolled on his side to face her. "Good morning."
"Good morning. You got back early."
"Yeah, didn't take long. How'd you sleep?"
She stirred slightly and smiled, feeling his warmth. "I slept fine." She fell quiet, content to watch him. He reached over to brush a stray off her face, then traced his fingers down her cheek, and kissed her.