When Clark Kent finally worked up the courage to ask Lois Lane to marry him, after she discovered his secret, he knew said secret was even more precious than before, that if it became public knowledge he was Superman, it would put her, the love of his life, in grave danger. But she knew it, and accepted the risk, she loved him too much to let this keep them apart.
The Daily Planet's star reporter also accepted the possibility their potential children could inherit his powers, if they could have any. She would have lied if she said she wasn't worried about it, but she knew she would have to deal with it when, and if, it happened. What no one anticipated, was how being pregnant of Superman would affect her body. Because of her pregnancy, she was changing, forcing the man of steal to drop his secret identity.
It pained him, but he had discussed it with Lois and his mother, and they all knew he didn't have a choice, so he organized a press conference. Everyone wondered what Superman wanted to say.
The day of the conference, Superman appeared flying in before descending on the podium. Most reporters present where either from the TV or internet, to his dismay, Clark always preferring newspapers as a source of information but he couldn't, and wouldn't, stop progress, even when he didn't like it.
"You know me as Superman, and I am here today to reveal my biggest and most precious secret, one I hoped would never get exposed."
The reporters where gobsmacked. What could force the protector of Metropolis to reveal his biggest secret? Was he blackmailed? All journalists present started to whisper between them, speculating on why Superman would do something he obviously didn't want too. Until someone pointed that Lois wasn't present, causing a general hysteria. Everyone knew how often the Kryptonian needed to rescue her, after all. Superman asked repeatedly for everyone to stay calm, but no one payed him attention anymore.
A then pissed Superman screamed "QUIET!", which instantly silenced the entire room. Superman's expression was one rather rare on his face, one that he never had while facing reporters.
After breathing a bit to regain his composure, he simply stated "Ms. Lane simply had prior engagements she couldn't report. I can assure you, she's perfectly fine. Can we return to the topic at hand, now?"
When he saw everyone in attendance nod, he continued. "I'm sure you have all heard rumors claiming I made myself a human name, so I could have a life outside of being Superman. Those rumors are based on a misconception," he marked a pause, catching his breath. "Most peoples assume that I came to earth not long before I was first seen in Metropolis, they couldn't be more wrong. I was a baby when my biological parents sent me to earth. I could have landed literally anywhere on the planet, but fate made me crash in the fields of a little farm owned by a couple wanting children, but unable to have any. So when they saw a baby had landed on their farm, they didn't care much that he had come in a spaceship, they adopted him. To them, I was a gift from heaven, quite literally." Clark heard a few reporter chuckling. The conference was slowly coming back to a more normal ambience, which was a good thing.
"At first, it looked like I wasn't any different from any other kid, regardless of my extraterrestrial origins. But as I grew, my powers started to manifest. Most parents would have at least panicked, some would even have tried to dispose of me or to sold me to some less than scrupulous lab. But while they were freaked out, my parents kept their calm and helped me to the best of their capacity. Sure, it wasn't easy for them, I was far faster and far stronger than the both of them together, and mom was forced to quit her job and home-school me, but we were happy, nonetheless."
"As I grew, so did my control over my capacities, enough that they accepted to let me play with some of the kids in the neighborhood from time to time, but it wasn't before high-school that I started studying with other kids my age. While I was fully aware of how different I was, and how much it could be dangerous to reveal it, I was still unaware of my extraterrestrial origins, my parents revealing me the truth only once I was in college."
"At that point I knew I wasn't from earth, but nothing more. I only learned about Krypton around a year after moving to Metropolis."
"I know some peoples see me as some sort of perfect being, some sort of god, but they couldn't be more wrong. I know that my powers make me seem extraordinary, but truth be told, take my powers away and what is left is your average Joe. Alas, most peoples only see the symbol that is Superman, refusing to see what is behind. There is a few exceptions of course, peoples who see the man behind the symbol, peoples willing to help me in my times of need, like my adoptive parents and my wife."
After the shocked gasp revealing his wedding caused, Superman silently waited for the speculative whispers to quiet down. Once his public realized he waited for their silence and quieted down, he added. "Yes, I am happily married. She's pregnant, even." Another gasp, but this time he didn't let them speculate before pursuing. "I know most of you must think she's a super-hero herself, but no. While she is quite extraordinary in her own right, I meet her in my other job, the one that keep my stomach full and a roof upon my head, and since I met her, she always helped me stay grounded, see the small details composing the big picture."
"But sometimes… Sometimes you stumble on details you can't see before its too late." Superman tried to still his nerves, fearing that, if he cracked now, he wouldn't be able to finish what he had to say. The result was… Mixed. "When we decided to try have a child together, we knew it might not be possible. We also knew that, if we could have one, he might inherit my powers. But that was a burden we both accepted when we married. Alas, while we had accounted for how such a pregnancy could affect our kid and our lives, we didn't account for how it could affect her body."
"She's only a few weeks along, but her physiology has already dramatically changed, her body now far more Kryptonian than human. We estimates her powers will be fully developed after one month, two maximum, and because of the speed they develop at, she as absolutely no control over them." The reporters, worried more about the damage that an uncontrolled super-human could do than how terrified she must be, were surprised to see Superman crying, almost like it wasn't something he was supposed to do, but at that point he didn't care anymore.
"I transported her somewhere safe, a place where her powers can develops and she will be able to learn how to control them without endangering anyone, but we can't predict how long it will take. In any case, she will need too long a leave to obtain it without a truthful explanation, without mentioning the slight change in comportment her new powers will inevitably cause, arousing suspicion once she can safely return, increasing the risk of exposing our identities. So we discussed it and concluded we should reveal it ourselves before someone do it for us, and hope that peoples won't treat us any differently once they know, that our friends and family not already in the know will understand why we had kept the number of peoples knowing as low as we could, because she will need all the support available while adapting to her change."
Superman then grabbed something in a pouch that no one had noticed until then, attached to the belt of his costume. It turned out to be a comb he used to change slightly his hairdo, before putting it back in the pouch and taking the pair of glasses he usually wore as Clark Kent. By now everyone had understood who hide under the name Superman, but he said it anyway, "My name is Clark Joseph Jerome Kent, and I am the man who hide under the symbol."
After this, it was time to let the reporters ask some questions. To his surprise, most of them seemed genuinely curious about Krypton and its culture. They also asked why his biological parents had sent him on earth, to which he answered by revealing the grim fate of Krypton. There was also questions about how Lois discovered he was Superman and how she reacted, but finally came the question he dreaded, "Now that your wife has superpowers, which Superhero name will she take? Will she join the Justice League?"
Clark was furious. They simply assumed that, since she had superpowers, it automatically mean Lois would enter the superhero jig, without asking for confirmation. "If she decide to join the fight, she will take the codename of her choice. But peoples with powers shouldn't feel pressured into becoming superheroes or super-criminals. Everyone has the right to live a normal life, even super-powered peoples, you know! And powers aren't the only requirement to become a superhero. In fact my friends Batman and Nightwing prove that, with the right training and equipment, superpowers could be optional." And on that note, he ended the conference and flew back to his Fortress of Solitude, where Lois currently was.
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