Chapter 39
He sleeps on an ebony bed in a dimly lit cave, surrounded by poppy flowers. Morpheus, the Greek God of Dreams, long had the special responsibility for the dreams of kings and heroes. This evening he has a special task in a small farming community called Smallville. Two of Earth’s greatest heroes are just surrendering to sleeps comforting embrace. Knowledge needs to be conveyed to them that will change the course of their lives. Few know of this information, but nothing is hidden in our dreams. Morpheus had no feeling one way or the other about the consequences of his revelations; he is only a conduit for its passage. He understands that in dreams all outcomes are possible and only in the waking world must choices be made. He begins his task, as he has so many nights, with a whisper.
Smallville
It’s the first night Diana and Clark have been able to share together in a week. They had talked of dinner and movies, but when they were finally together those thoughts were put aside. One look into each other’s eyes and there was no doubt what was going to happen. As they moved into each other’s arms, passions and desires ignited. Forgotten was the Thai takeout food and the DVD’s as they raced each other up the stairs to the bedroom. It was two years since they had first been together and if anything, their desire for each other had grown and deepened. There was an addictive quality to their passion. Just the sight of the other stirred their need. And so tonight, a week’s worth of waiting played out the same way it had countless times before. Many, many long hours later they were both exhausted and gave into the demand for sleep. Still entwined in each other’s arms, they began to dream.
Kal-El, a voice barely discernable came to him. As Clark lay with Diana, his mind began to drift as random images morphed one into the other. The voice touched his mind like a feather against his skin, barely grazing it, but drawing his attention. A door appeared out of thin air and he felt an overwhelming need to open it. As he stepped through it, the world changed around him. Everything was muted colors, predominantly blacks and grays. Clark was in a town that was both foreign and familiar. It was raining and he could feel the cold shower soak through his suit and chill him to the bone. He ducked under an awning of the closest building. Figures moved here and there, but he couldn’t make them out through the downpour. Trying to get his bearings, Clark scanned the streets trying to take in the details. The buildings all had a timeless, Art Deco style to them. The street signs only had numbers and seemed in a random order. As he stood there, wondering why he was here, a tour bus came around the corner and rolled silently up the street. He glanced at the placard of the bus to see what it’s destination was, but only one word was displayed, Chara. An almost irresistible urge suddenly gripped him to stop it and get on. As he stepped back into the rain to signal the bus, a gust of wind came up, causing him to turn his back to it. The bus didn’t stop, but splashed him as it sped by. He started to run after it, but couldn’t seem to gain any ground. The bus turned a corner and disappeared from his view. Clark ran harder, trying to catch up, but as he turned the corner it was gone.
He stood there in the middle of the street; the rain drenching him. An overwhelming sense of sadness filled him that he’d missed it. Despair over which way to go on the nameless streets gripped him. The first signs of panic could be seen on his face. Just when he thought he would scream in frustration, a child’s laugh drifted out from behind him. Clark whirled around but saw no one. Slowly he started in the direction of the laugh. Shops lined the street, but they were all closed. A clock in the window of one shop said the official time was noon, yet all the other clocks were two hours ahead. The next window he looked into was filled with rocking horses and porcelain dolls ranging in size from a tiny baby to a young child. They all had sky blue eyes that seemed to stare at him as he looked for signs of life in the store. The next store was a travel agency. In it’s window were posters advertising exotic locations, yet they seemed faded and worn. One stood out to Clark, it was of a lonely beach and in the distance a mother and child were walking away. He couldn’t see their faces, yet the child seemed to waving goodbye to some unseen person just out of the frame. There was something so familiar about them, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. His breath fogged the window and as he wiped it off the mother and child seemed to get further and further away. His hair was soaked, as the rain continued. As he reached up to wipe his eyes, movement to his left caught his attention. A red ball bounced through the puddles and headed down the next side street. Frantically he began to run after it. He turned the corner and started down the hilly slope, the ball continuing to bounce away from him. His lungs burned as he ran full out, desperate to catch up to the ball. Clark’s saturated suit weighted him down and his legs felt as if he were running in cement. He pressed on, finally gaining on the ball. As it reached another intersection, he could almost touch it. The sound of a horn filled his ears and he turned to see the tour bus barreling towards him. Desperately he dove out of its path, barely escaping getting hit. The horn seemed to fill the air as the bus rolled by. He landed hard on the pavement, pain shot through his shoulder and wrist. Clark could taste blood in his mouth as he struggled to stand.
There was silence again except for the sound was the rain. He glanced around, but the ball had vanished along with the bus. Trying to clear his eyes, lost and confused, he spied a neon sign blinking in the corner store window. Close to exhaustion, Clark slowly made his way towards the sign. Alitheia was the name on the small shop and in tiny print it said, “curios and objects for those that seek.” As he made his way to the front door, he saw that it was open. A small bell rang as Clark opened the door further and stepped inside. Warmth washed over him as he closed the door and looked around. It seemed an odd assortment of objects packed every available space in the stop. Music boxes, snow globes, magic eight balls of all shapes and sizes surrounded him.
“Hello,” he called out, hoping whoever owned the store could help him. At first there was no response, but as he took another step, a music box began to play, Beautiful Dreamer. Clark turned in its direction and found himself face to face with another porcelain doll. It was the size of a small child, and the detail was extraordinary. It had the same sky blue eyes as the other dolls he had seen, but also golden curls tumbled down around its face. The tiny arms were reaching out towards him and there was an innocent smile on the doll’s face. He found himself mesmerized by the doll and took a step towards it. The music suddenly stopped and a toy merry-go-round came to life. Garish lights and music blared from the toy filling the small shop. As suddenly as it started it stopped and silence filled the room.
“Papa,” a tiny distance voice said. Clark turned around to find the doll he’d been so close to was now further away. The arms were still outstretched, but the smile had turned to a frown. Again he stepped towards it, but as he did, he knocked a magic eight ball off one of the stacks. He quickly reached down to catch it before it hit the floor. He barely managed to save it and as he looked at it he saw the floating dye whirl inside and then come to a stop.
“If you seek, you will find,” the message said. He’d had one of these as a kid and didn’t remember that message ever coming up. Confusion filled his mind over the message. He set the eight ball down and then noticed a snow globe where the fake snow was wildly swirling around inside. Carefully, Clark picked it up for a better look. The flakes seemed to shift and move in no discernable pattern. Slowly the tiny blizzard began to relent and he could just make out an image inside. Staring intently, Clark watched as the snow finally stopped and revealed the likeness of Aphrodite staring directly at him. He jumped back in surprise, but bumped into something. Spinning around in fright he came face to face with the doll. Those sky blue eyes were weeping as they stared at him. He reached out for the doll, but just as his fingers touched it the doll began to fade away.
“NO!” Clark shouted, desperate for the doll not to disappear. Nothing had ever felt so important as getting to the doll and Clark bulled his way through the overstuffed tables and shelves. Snow globes and music boxes smashed against the floor as he made one final lunge to reach the doll. The sound of shattering glass filled the air as Clark crashed through the front window. As he looked up in desperation, he felt the rain and saw the last glimmer of the doll disappear.
“Papa,” came as a whisper to his ears and then blinding light filled his vision. Getting to his feet, Clark turned towards the light. It was the tour bus and it was heading straight for him. There was no time to react, as it was too close. The instant before it hit him, Clark saw the name on the bus again.
“Chara!” he screamed, sitting straight up in bed. His eyes frantically darted all around him, not knowing where he was. Slowly he realized he was in his bedroom at the farm. Cold sweat was pouring off him as he gasped for breath. Clark was shaking as he sat on the edge of the bed, his dream still vivid in his mind. Somehow he knew this wasn’t just an ordinary nightmare, but a message. Running his fingers through his hair, Clark knew what the dream was telling him. A child, his child was out there. Chara was her name. How he knew this, he didn’t know, but he was certain she existed. Aphrodite had really been pregnant and given birth to his child. As this stunning realization sunk in, he realized he’d already missed two years of his daughter’s life. As he sat there he vowed to miss no more of it. An urge to tell someone gripped him and he reached over to wake Diana, but her side of the bed was empty.
“Diana,” he called out, wondering where she was. He got no response and finally scanned the house with his vision. He found her sitting alone on the porch, her arms wrapped around her knees. Slowly he got up and headed downstairs to see what was the matter.
Diana had been awake for twenty minutes and her thoughts were in turmoil. Like Clark she had been exhausted in a good way and had easily fallen asleep. Dreams were rare for her, so when she heard her name whispered she eagerly followed the voice. There was fog everywhere as the voice seemed to echo and drifted out of reach. Tentatively she made her way forward until the fog slowly began to lift. Diana found herself in a forest of tall, twisted trees. There was something familiar about it, but she couldn’t place it. As she moved through the dense foliage, she suddenly heard a sound above her. Glancing up, Diana saw a stork fly over carrying something in its beak. Keeping one eye on the bird she began to track it, stumbling her way through the undergrowth. The bird seemed to vanish and appear, as tree limbs blocked her view. Faster and faster she ran, trying to keep up with it. Her foot caught on a root and Diana stumbled and then fell down a steep embankment. Over and over she tumbled, picking up speed as she bounced off trees and rocks. At last she broke through the dense woods and came to a stop in a clearing. She felt sore and a little bruised but otherwise unharmed.
Looking up Diana saw an amusement park in the distance. She knew instantly it was Mordred’s “magical kingdom”. Glancing down Diana saw she was still an adult. Strange, she thought, as she started towards the lights. She could hear children laughing in the distance, but the closer she got the more it changed into crying. Walking silent she was on guard for an attack. Something moved incredibly fast to her right and Diana lashed out on instinct. A wail went up as she made contact. Turning towards the sound, Diana gasped as she saw a baby dressed as the Flash. She immediately went to pick the child up and comfort it, but as she did another baby dropped down from above. She barely managed to catch it and was stunned to see it was dressed as Batman. Suddenly as she looked around her more and more babies began to appear. They were all dress in the outfits of the League members and they were all crawling towards her. Diana felt something pulling on her boot and as she glanced down the baby Flash was grasping her leg. The baby looked up at her with tears in its eyes and said, “Mama!”
This caused the baby dressed as Batman to say Mama too, and soon all the babies crawling towards her were calling Mama. Diana reached down and picked the baby Flash up, trying to get him to stop. Both babies were now clinging to her, as more and more babies appeared. She felt something tug at the top of her bustier, and glanced down to see the baby Flash and Batman trying to get at her breasts.
“Hey! Stop that,” she shouted, pulling the infants away from her body and setting them down on the ground. They immediately began to cry and were joined by the other babies that were still crawling towards her. The sound was deafening, and Diana stumbled backwards, covering her ears. More and more babies appeared and all of them headed right for her. Panic began to set in and Diana started to move backwards faster. Suddenly she ran into something and turned to see a door. Desperate to escape all the babies, Diana opened it and stepped trough. She was falling through nothingness, tumbling and turning with nothing to slow her down. She closed her eyes, afraid of never stopping. Suddenly she landed on a soft green lawn. The smell of earth and jasmine were in the air, as she slowly rose to her knees.
“Well, there’s the guest of honor,” a happy voice said. Diana looked up to see a large group of well-dressed women smiling down at her. Standing up, she scanned the crowd recognizing no one. It suddenly hit her that all the women were pregnant. They ranged from barely noticeable to practically ready to burst; yet all were smiling at her.
“Don’t you look just lovely,” the woman closest said to her. Diana gave her a strange look wondering if she had lost her mind.
“Pretty as a princess,” the woman smiled. Diana glanced down and then noticed she was no longer wearing her uniform, but a formal gown. Her boots had been transformed into high heels that she could barely see under all the layers of soft silk her gown seemed to be made of. Something else felt different and as she raised her hand to her head, she noticed she was wearing long evening gloves. Confusion filled her mind as she realized her tiara had changed into a crown. She looked in shock at the women standing in front of her. The all began to clap and smile, as two stepped towards her and placed a sash around her like they did in a beauty pageant.
“Welcome to the club,” they all cheered and clapped louder. In a daze, Diana glanced down at the sash and saw that it said, new mother.
“There-There must be some mistake,” she stammered, as panic began to set in.
“No mistake, you’re one of us now,” the lead women said, gesturing to a sign. Diana hadn’t noticed it before, but now her mouth dropped open as she read it. The sign said, “Future Mothers of the Aphrodite Society.”
“No, no! I can’t, it’s not possible,” Diana exclaimed.
“That prohibition has been overturned, honey, you’re as fertile as the rest of us!”
Before Diana could respond, one of the women groaned and then her stomach expanded. Diana watched in horror as the belly grew and grew until it exploded and babies began to pour out. She screamed in horror as the babies continued to come, one after another, all the while the mother laughed and laughed. Staggering backwards, Diana shook her head no, no, but the women just nodded yes, yes. Desperate to get away from them she ripped the formal gown off herself and then launched into the air. Her boots and tiara reappeared as he began to glide through the sky twenty thousand feet up. She was just beginning to calm down when she felt something rumbling in her stomach. An overwhelming pain shot through Diana’s body forcing her to double over. The first wave passed, but the rumbling still remained. As continued to fly, suddenly she felt something happening to her Girdle of Gaea. Glancing down, Diana’s eyes went wide in shock as the girdle opened as if on hinges. She heard a warning buzzer and then screamed in terror as tiny babies in parachutes began to jump from her belly. Diana’s mind was in chaos, as one after another the babies jumped out, their little chutes popping open. She desperately tried to close the girdle, but it wouldn’t budge. The parachuting babies began to call mama, mama to her and Diana shrieked in horror. She was so frozen in fear that she forgot to maintain her attitude and suddenly began to plunge to the earth.
She landed hard on the marble ground. It took her a moment to realize she was at the Embassy. In a daze, Diana climbed to her feet. She was shaking all over. One of her assistants came out of a door and started towards her. The woman came up and started running down Diana’s itinerary for the day. Meeting, meeting, meeting, baby, meeting, meeting, baby, baby, baby, came the words from the woman’s mouth. Diana was speechless, too stunned to talk as the woman began to usher her down the hallway. Before she could think, Diana was in a conference. As she listened the speaker go on about some product or other, she tried to pull herself together. The presentation ended and just as Diana was about to speak, the doors opened and her Amazon sister, Artemis walked in. She was dressed in a business suit and was carrying a briefcase. She informed the entire room she would be taking over as the Ambassador was in the family way. Diana began to protest, but Artemis only smiled and pointed. Diana glanced down her was horrified to see her stomach begin to grow right before her eyes. When she looked up, the meeting had already resumed without her. Two of her Amazon sisters came in and wheeled her out, as she was already too big to walk. Diana was protesting as they ushered her down the hallway. She glanced up to see her mother Hippolyta giving her Wonder Woman uniform to her younger sister.
“Mother, no! I’m Wonder Woman,” she protested.
“Diana, darling, how can you be Wonder Woman if you’re having a baby?” her mother replied. Queen Hippolyta began to laugh and as Diana screamed in terror all the rest of her sisters began to join in laughing, louder and louder. She glanced out the window only to see the tiny baby parachutes drift by. Diana quickly looked away, but now all the Amazons were moving towards her laughing. She struggled, but do to her new girth she couldn’t escape them. Closer and closer they came, their laughter mocking her. Hands reached for her, and then twisted into gnarled spikes that dug into her skin.
“No!” Diana screamed, and then tumbled from the bed. She looked around wild eyes, not knowing where she was. In desperation she clutched her stomach, only to find the flat toned muscles that were always there. Diana was shaking like a leaf as she sat on the floor. Reality drifted into her rattled mind and she realized she was in Kal’s bedroom. It had all been a bad dream she told herself, yet something about it nagged at the back of her mind. Gazing over at Kal, he was still sleeping, yet he seemed to be tossing and turning. Slowly Diana got to her feet and wrapped a robe around herself. She was too unsettled to go back to bed and drifted down the stairs and outside to the porch. It was quiet, as if the whole world were asleep. She sat down on one of the chairs and pulled her legs up to her chest. Her nightmare plagued her and she knew it was a sign. All her life Diana had lived with the knowledge that she could never have children, so she’d never given them much thought. On Themyscira she had always been the youngest. Since coming to the outside world, she had met pregnant women and mothers with small children, but had never had much interaction with them. As far as babies went, she had never even held one, never mind actually take care of one. They had always seemed rather messy and needy to her. In her readings, the whole process of being pregnant sounded horribly uncomfortable and painful. Yet as she sat there, portions of her dream came back to her. Somehow the magic that prohibited her from having children had been lifted. She didn’t know how or why, but deep down she knew something had changed.
Suddenly a whole new set of options and possibilities were presented to her. The thought of being a mother scared Diana. She was just making her place in this world, starting to make headway on several of the causes she cared about most. She had so many responsibilities already, what would a child on top of them mean for her? What if she wasn’t ready to be a mother? What if she had twins, or octuplets like that woman in the news? She would never get any sleep again! A shudder went through her as she thought of all that crying and feeding and diapers. Diapers! Hera help her, she would be waist deep in their waste! With her being an immortal and Kal’s unknown lifespan they could conceivable have hundreds, thousands of offspring. She would become a baby factory for the rest of time! I’m not ready! I can’t do it now! I’m never having sex again, Diana frantically told herself, pulling her knees up even tighter against her body.
Diana was so shaken up she didn’t hear Clark step out onto the porch and walk over to her. Her mind was in chaos as he laid his hand on her shoulder.
“Diana?”
“Don’t touch me!” she screamed, flinching away from him, her eyes wild with fright.
“What the hell,” was all Clark could think to say.
