Epilogue:
"You sure this is the spot?"
"I'm sure. Grandpa's told the story so many times I feel like I've been here before," said the young boy who stood gazing out across the ocean. He and his sister had ventured from their vacation home earlier to go in search of *the* cliff. Their grandparents had told them many times how a cliff overlooking the ocean had been the backdrop to two of the most important days of their lives.
Grandpa Kent, known to everyone else as Clark, and at one time Superman, loved telling his children and later his grandchildren, about his very first date with their grandmother. He'd told them about the cliff near the city by the sea where they'd shared dinner and gazed at the setting sun. It had been where he'd held her close as they'd fallen in love. A fairy tale romance, the fated lovers falling in love after only just meeting, or so they'd thought. But every story has a twists and turns and theirs was no exception.
Clark Kent had also asked Lois Lane to marry him on that cliff, and she held his hand with a smile as they stepped back onto the beach in the alcove and said 'I do'. She hadn't released that hand in fifty years. That's why the entire Kent clan had ventured to Mystic, Connecticut. They were celebrating Lois and Clark's anniversary, and oldest son, Jon, thought it fitting to do so at their vacation getaway.
Neither Lois or Clark had looked back after that day fifty years ago. They married and returned to Metropolis, reuniting the reporting team of Lane and Kent and returning a lost son home. The shock had worn off slowly, and eventually Superman had even returned to the skies. Both halves of the new super-due had been forever changed, but the one thing that had always been unwavering was their intense feelings for one another. There had been many shouts in anger as they'd readjusted to life together. And there were countless trials, like the time the New Kryptonians came to take Clark away. His love for Lois hadn't allowed him to go, though he'd offered as much assistance as he could to the race he felt he owed his life to. And there had been their battle with Lex Luthor, who'd escaped from prison during their fifth year of marriage. He'd kidnapped their son and demanded Lois return to him. The Fall of the House of Luthor came when Superman cornered the evil tyrant and he'd committed suicide. For his crimes against humanity, many of which had steadily surfaced throughout his incarceration, the government had thought it best to cremate Luthor's body and have his ashes personally delivered to the deep recesses of space by Superman. A task the Man of Steel was only too happy to undertake.
And there had been many, many nights, as well as days, spent making love. They'd made love to express their deep feelings for one another. They'd made love as physical relief from the many stresses of their lives. They'd done so as an outlet for anger, fear, and even pain. It was a private, special time spent together and for sharing their very souls. Through that physical expression of their deep love, they'd created five new lives. Years and a whole lot of love had been witness to the growth of those feelings.
Now, the Kent clan was gathered at the little cabin Clark had purchased as a gift for his bride for their tenth anniversary, when Jon had only been eight and Laney was five. The twins had been conceived during that first trip back to Mystic. It was to their great surprise that yet another Kent life would be conceived ten years later on their twentieth anniversary *and* a return visit to their little cabin. But some thirty years later, even the baby of the group had started his own family.
The two youngsters who'd ventured to the cliff finally headed back toward the cabin. The party would start soon; their grandparents would be arriving-- via Grandpa's own special mode of transportation. Though he'd given over Superman duties to his daughter years ago, he was still far from over the hill. And since he and Grandma had retired, they often flew together.
Numerous members of an ever growing family were already milling about when the children returned to the cabin. Grandpa had put on room additions over the years so that family vacations could be spent there together. And everyone who had ever visited could easily see why the couple had loved it so much. The party spilled out onto the porch and into the yard as laughter filled the air. Josh Kent, son of the youngest twin-- by two minutes, she insisted in pointing out--, Lara, ventured into the house for a glass of punch. Above the mantel hung the family portrait given to his grandparents the day they'd married. The story was that old Joe had deliberated over what to paint for 'Charlie' for months. He'd finally captured a happy family he'd pictured when he thought of the young couple who married that day. Josh had asked once how a man who'd never met any of the Kent children, because they hadn't even been born yet, could possibly paint them *before* his grandparents had even married. 'The same way he'd been able to paint Clark Kent', his grandfather had answered. Josh still wasn't sure what that answer meant as he stared at the painting, but he sure liked the portrait.
Shouts and clapping sent him rushing out the front door. His grandparents were being engulfed in hugs and smothered with kisses. "Grandpa! Grandma!" He saw them every day; they were his sitters after school. Yet, the sight of them always made his heart race in excitement.
Clark turned and caught his grandson as he launched himself at him. "Hey, there, kiddo!"
"I went to the cliff, Grandpa. It was just like you described it," he told him happily.
"You did? You know, Josh, I should have taken you there long ago." He ruffled the boy's hair before setting him back on his feet.
Josh was pulled into a hug by his grandmother, then he drifted to the edge of the crowd to watch the scene unfold. Silver touched his grandpa's hair now and lines referred to as laugh lines added distinction to his eyes. His grandmother's hair had also been visited by time, shining in the bright afternoon sunshine to reveal the gray throughout. Her laugh lines seemed to make her more beautiful than she had been in her youth. Life with Grandpa had kept her young, attributed to his super abilities and living within his aura. But what stood out most when he looked at his grandparents was the glow that surrounded them. Dad said that was their powerful love for one another. Well, Josh didn't care what it was, he just hoped his grandparents would see many, many more years together with them.
As the day progressed, Josh vowed that he'd come here someday, to this city by the sea, with his soul mate. And maybe they'd even have dinner on *that* cliff.
