Thanks to Beth, Nancy and Alisha!
Last time:
Lois
Two hours later, Beverly Lipman, wedding coordinator extraordinaire, had left and Daddy looked properly chagrinned.
"Okay," he said. "That's out. Let's do this ourselves or get Vicki to do most of it or something because, as much as I love you two, we don't need doves."
Clark nodded. "Three hundred white doves don't say 'I love Lois' to me. Sorry, hon."
I shuddered. "Don’t worry. It doesn't say you love me to me either."
Daddy smiled. "Okay then. Fairly simple. Let's just make some decisions."
Fifteen minutes later, we'd decided to have the wedding in the great room and the reception either in a – heated – tent outside or in the house. Outside was more likely – right off the back deck. Or even over the back deck. Part of it depended on the final guest list.
We made tentative menu decisions and Daddy had connections to musicians and caterers and stuff from his fundraisers. We talked about seeing if Perry would marry us. Daddy talked about borrowing one of his friends' jets to fly out some of Clark's family, if they wanted to come. A random thought flew through my head. Who borrowed a jet? Of course, the guy in question was richer than Donald Trump and loved to travel, with an entourage so there would be room, but he'd need a head count before he knew if it would work or not and, regardless of the size of the house – we probably wouldn't want to house eighty members of Clark's extended family while trying to set up a wedding. We *could* but I doubted any of us would enjoy it. We talked about driving back from the cabin – or flying, more likely – and doing Christmas with all of Clark's extended family that came, but again that would depend on head count.
By the time Clark and I headed upstairs to practice for the honeymoon, it seemed that the wedding was half planned.
*~*13*~*
October 2006
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
I put Nate in the backpack and snapped it around me. Lois put Christopher in the stroller. I doubted he'd stay in there for long, but we also knew he wouldn't last all day without it.
"So are we painting this town John Deere Green again, Ken?"
I laughed. "I guess we can. As long as I win the baseball contest again this year, we're good."
She looked at me over the top of her sunglasses. "You've won *once* in what? Fifteen years? And Chad's in it this year, too, don't forget. He's got a couple years on all of you and he has more incentive than the rest of you."
"How do you figure? I haven't won in front of Nate yet. And Pete and Josh have both gotten married since the last one. They'll be distracted."
"But Chad's still trying to impress Lana. She hasn't actually said 'yes' yet."
I grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back towards me. "But this is the first year you might actually *reward* me for winning," I whispered in her ear.
"I rewarded you last time," she reminded me primly. "I squealed appropriately, threw myself at you and even gave you a big ole smooch right on the lips."
"That's not the kind of reward I'm talking about," I whispered. "We haven't broken in my old room yet. That big ole bed..."
"You have a one track mind, Kent."
I chuckled. "I'm not the only one and I happen to know what you have in that suitcase so..."
Before she could say anything else, Christopher was trying to escape from his stroller. "G'amps! G'ams!"
Sure enough, my parents were headed our way.
We chatted with them for a few minutes and they took Christopher and Nate to go... somewhere. I didn't quite catch where, just that they'd see us in an hour.
Lois' arm was wrapped around my waist and mine automatically went around her shoulders, pulling her closer to me. "So what do you want to do for an hour?"
I grinned down at her. "I thought I was the one with a one-track mind."
She glared back up at me. "I didn't say anything about anything like that." She turned to face me, wrapping her other arm around me. "Though now that you mention it... It has been a while..."
I sighed. "Three days – give or take." My grin grew. "I never have shown you the hayloft, have I?"
"There was a good reason for that," she reminded me.
"Well, maybe I need someone to help me make a new memory or two up there." I kissed her softly. "Any idea who might be able to help me do that?"
"Oh, I might, but is that really what you want to do right now?" She kissed me again.
"I thought you were the one who said I had a one track mind. Besides, I could have us there in about four seconds."
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Let's find an alley then, I guess, if you insist..."
"If *I* insist?" I asked as she grabbed my hand and dragged me towards an area where we could take off unnoticed.
Five seconds later we were in the hayloft and I spread a blanket on the hay. Lois laid down on it and looked up at me, waiting. I floated down next to her, propped up on one elbow. The other hand found its way under her shirt, tracing the stretch marks found there. "I love you," I told her simply.
She smiled. "I love you, too." She grabbed a fistful of my shirt and pulled me towards her. "But we don't have a lot of time."
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
Clothes were discarded with surprising speed.
Or maybe not.
Not given who I was married to.
When he had proper incentive, we could both go from completely clothed to none at all in a matter of a second or so, though he'd admitted once that he preferred more human speed for that part of things.
And, really, I did, too, but right now wasn't the time for finesse when it came to clothing removal.
I lost track of time but didn't much care. "So did we erase those old memories?" I asked a while later as I tucked my shirt back in.
"Oh, I don't know," he told me with a grin before turning into a blur, stopping fully dressed. "We might need to do that a few more times – or maybe a few dozen." He pulled me to him, kissing my neck.
"*You* are insatiable," I told him. "But now we need to get back to town. You have a pitching contest to lose."
"I have every intention of winning," he told me.
"You always have every intention of winning," I pointed out.
A few seconds later, we were back in Smallville.
"Kent! There you are!" Pete smacked him on the back as soon as he was within reach. "Ready to lose this year?"
"Hey, I've won every year I've participated since we got married," Clark told him, his arms around me as we walked towards the pitching booth.
"You've only participated *once* since you got married. Besides, Josh and I both have wives to show off for this year and I have a feeling Chad's trying to impress Lana."
"That's what I said," I told Pete.
"Well, then we'll have to win the dance contest this year," Clark said, moving from behind me, but leaving one arm around my shoulders as we worked our way through the crowd.
"We won the last dance contest we were in," I said, before sobering as I remembered what happened after it.
"What?" Pete asked.
"Nothing," I said, trying to shake it off.
Clark's arm tightened around me and I could hear the emotion in his voice. "That was the night we almost died of exposure. We barely made it to her dad's cabin alive and then the power was out... It wasn't good. She saved my life. Literally."
Pete stopped and looked at me. "I did hear about that. Thank you for saving him."
"I couldn't do anything else," I said honestly. And ever since we'd realized the green rock in Danielle's sculpture was what caused Clark pain, we'd avoided Shuster's Field at all costs.
"Well, he couldn’t die without winning the pitching contest once," Pete said, trying to shrug it off.
"I'm going to win at least twice," Clark told him. He nodded. "There's Josh and Kara and Chad and Lana."
"And Rachel," Pete said, trotting off towards his wife.
"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Clark asked me quietly.
"With what? You losing?"
He chuckled. "No. Lana and everything."
"Are you planning on spending any time with her in a hayloft anytime soon?"
He stopped and turned me to look at him. He tipped my face up towards him. "You know I'm not."
I smiled. "I know." I kissed him softly. "And you never did those kinds of things with her in the hayloft."
"Nope," he said, smiling back. "I never did."
"Kent! We're waiting on you again!" Pete hollered.
"I'm kissing my wife!" he hollered back and proceeded to do just that.
"For luck," I whispered. "Are you okay with this?"
"What? Kissing my wife?" he whispered back.
I shook my head. "Chad and Lana. All smoochie."
"It's a little weird, but yeah I'm okay with it. I've got you," he told me with a grin.
"Kent!"
"I'm still kissing my wife," he said, before kissing me softly again. "Okay, I've got a contest to win."
"Yeah, right!" That came from both Josh and Pete.
Chad just looked a bit uncomfortable.
I knew he and Clark had only had a passing acquaintance at best – from when he'd dated one of Clark's many cousins. And everyone knew that Clark and Lana had been one of those storybook high school romances that was supposed to last until they were eighty or longer. And everyone knew that the break up had not been pleasant – and because I was pregnant with Clark's baby, not to mention that technically Clark and I had been married almost a week by the time the break-up actually happened.
We'd come a long way since then – Clark, Lana and I – but I could still see how Chad might be a bit worried or concerned or whatever. He'd been invited to join because, apparently, it was no fun with just Josh and Pete. Except for two years earlier, Clark had never won. And Clark wasn't local anymore so he wasn't always home for this. Chad was local and I was sure that Pete and Josh were hoping he was as easy to beat as Clark usually was.
Clark kissed me again before letting me go and jogging over to the booth. I hesitated before deciding where to go.
With the giggling Rachel, Kara and Lana?
Kara and I had actually become *fairly* close since our last trip to Smallville over Spring Break for Pete and Rachel's wedding. But there's a difference between emails and instant messages and I still felt a little awkward in person – but I'd felt awkward around most of his family since the story about us being the couple Navance was after had broken during Pop Pop's funeral.
But I still wouldn't have thought twice about if Lana wasn't there.
So, stay where I was?
Find my way somewhere else not too far away?
Sure, Lana had saved Christopher from the Toyman and she'd pushed me and Clark towards each other, but still... We hadn't seen each other since the day Christopher had almost been kidnapped in May. And she and I had emailed a few times since then and I didn't think things would be *too* weird but still...
"Mommy!"
Christopher running towards me solved that problem.
"Hey, bud," I said, swinging him up into my arms.
"Wha's Daddy doin'?"
"He's trying to win a game," I told him.
"He win. He best," Christopher said seriously.
I laughed. "Daddy won last time you were here when you were little like Nate."
"Daddy win dis tim', too."
There was a loud smack as one of Clark's pitches missed and hit the plywood. At the end of the first round, Chad had three strikes and everyone else had two.
Christopher wiggled his way down and ran towards Lana.
Martha and Jonathan walked up with Nate at that moment. He'd been moved from the carrier to the stroller while Christopher apparently ran ahead.
It hit me suddenly and I was nearly overwhelmed.
There was a bench nearby and I sank onto it.
Clark was at my side in a second. "What is it?"
I looked up at him, tears filling my eyes. "He can run around. There's no security. The Sceves are back in Metropolis or protecting someone else, somewhere else. He can be with your parents, out of the stroller, and run off and – at least here in Smallville – we don't have to worry about anything more than him getting lost." The tears overflowed. "I knew he was gone, the threat was gone, but to realize that he's out here, running around and..." I couldn't go on.
Clark pulled me up and into his arms. I knew he understood. We hadn't really been anywhere in public since Navance's overthrow and subsequent death so this was the first time we were somewhere that we would have normally had security with us and kept Christopher on a very tight leash.
My arms were tight around his neck, my face buried between his shoulder and his neck as the tears came.
"Mommy?" Christopher was tugging on my shirt. "You 'kay, Mommy?"
I pulled back and looked down at him. "I'm fine, buddy." I pulled far enough away from Clark to wipe at my cheeks. "These are happy tears."
"Cuz Daddy's winnin'?" he asked puzzled.
I laughed. "No, not because Daddy's winning." Clark's still held me loosely. "Just happy tears. You'll understand when you're older."
He sighed. "'Kay."
"Kent! We're waiting on you again!" That came from Pete.
I looked over to see Pete, Josh and Chad standing with their arms around their significant others. I knew that they understood something was going on – even if they didn't immediately grasp what. Lana's head was resting on Chad's chest and I could see understanding on her face.
"Hold your horses," he called back. He kissed me softly. "He's safe. Except from Pete's chili, but we won't let him have any of that."
I laughed and wiped my cheeks again. "No, we won't. He doesn't have a stomach of steel."
Clark leaned close and whispered in my ear. "Not yet anyway."
"Come on!" Pete was starting to get impatient now that I was okay.
"Good luck," I told him, giving him a swift kiss. He headed back towards the booth and I sat back on the bench, pulling a protesting Christopher with me. Martha started to head my way, but Lana beat her to it.
She reached out and brushed Christopher's hair off his forehead. "There's no one after him," she said quietly. "It finally hit you, didn't it?"
I nodded and kissed Christopher's hair, finally letting him squirm away. I watched as he ran back to Martha. "It did. This is the first time we've been anywhere in public without security."
"The 'friends' who always happened to be in Smallville at the same time as you guys?"
I laughed lightly. "I was surprised no one caught on to that. Those were the Sceves – Scott and Steve. Even after three years, I couldn't remember which was which. They thought it was funny. They were at the house after graduation. You talked to them that day, didn't you?"
"Yeah. But I didn't realize that's who it was. I'd never seen them before."
"Right." I smiled at her. "Thank you. For everything. I know the first couple years especially weren't easy on you, but thank you."
We weren't really paying much attention to the baseball booth.
"Hey! Clark or Chad might actually win this thing!" That came from an incredulous Kara.
Lana and I looked up to see both of them looking pretty proud of themselves.
"What's the score?" Lana called.
"Those yahoos are tied and Josh and Pete are down by two," Rachel told us.
"I'm impressed," I said, looking at Clark. "I didn't know you had it in you."
We stayed on the bench, but watched as Josh and Pete got one strike each. Neither one could win.
Clark went next and pulled out two strikes.
Chad took a deep breath before glancing back at Lana. It seemed like there was more than just pride riding on this, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what or why I felt that way.
Strike one.
Lana whistled.
Strike two.
"Tie!" Josh hollered. "Come on, Chad. You can beat ol' Clark!"
Chad took another deep breath and let it fly.
Strike three.
Lana jumped up and ran to him, squealing as she threw her arms around him, kissing him, much as I had with Clark two years earlier.
Speaking of Clark, he had Christopher and was coming to sit by me. "Sorry. Didn't happen this year."
I rested my head on his shoulder. "Eh, you win some, you lose some. Or you... You win one, you lose some. I think I'll keep you anyway."
He laughed. "That's good." Christopher scrambled down and headed towards Martha leaving Clark free to wrap an arm around me and pull me closer. "You couldn't get rid of me now if you tried."
"Good to know."
He stood up and grabbed my hand. "Let's go see what Lana picks. She's never gotten to before."
"Hmmm..." I said under my breath. "That's right. You only won for *me*."
I knew he heard me and he grabbed me around the waist, pulling me to him as we neared the booth.
Pop Pop had run the booth two years earlier. The next year, Clark's Uncle Jerry had taken over.
He reached under the counter. "Lana, I think I have something you'll love." He held out a brown teddy bear that didn't look like any of the other prizes.
Lana turned to Chad who had a grin on his face and something else I couldn't define. "You didn't," she said.
"I found it online and knew you'd love it," he told her.
"Lana had one just like that as a kid," Clark whispered in my ear. "I forget how she lost it."
"How sweet," I whispered back.
She was looking at it more closely before she looked back up at him. I could see tears in her eyes.
"What's this?" she asked softly.
He took the bear from her and did something to it I couldn't see. He set the bear back on the counter and got down on one knee in front of her.
He took her hand and held out the ring he must have taken off the ribbon around the bear's neck.
"Lana, will you marry me?"
*****
TBC
