Oy.
Has been one of those days. We woke up when DD7's bus drove by and she wandered in and said 'I missed my bus...'
Got all four kids ready - took her to school [15m late by then], dropped other kids off at daycare, went to school - sitting in the parking lot with the car still running [because it's like 20* F], grading papers, when it suddenly starts making this really annoying noise. Turn off the radio [some guy reporting by phone from DC - could have been that] but nope. Turn off the car. Yep. Turn the ignition [but didn't turn over the engine]. Noise plus thumping sound in the front somewhere. Again. And again. Call DH. Comes and looks at it. Think it's the battery [again? still?], says he'll come jump it when I'm done with class. Go teach for an hour [after leaving my drink in the car]. Watch [ish] Biden/Obama being sworn in [streaming was kinda spotty]. Go to the van where DH/friend jump it for me. Pick up 2 kids, take to preschool, back to school, teach for another 1:15 [and leave the drink in the car again], pick up DS from daycare, pick up girls from preschool, home at 330ish, cranky kids ever since... /sigh/
Whew.
Okay - they're in bed [ish] so here tis.
Thanks, as always, to Alisha, Beth and Nancy.
Last time:
Lois
"I don't think Chad's decked him – and he's told me a few times that he's wanted to."
"I don't blame him," I said quietly. "It wouldn’t surprise me if you wanted to slap me a time or two."
"I have," she told me. "But not anymore. This is all still pretty new to Chad."
"Right."
A minute later, they were sitting with us and we chatted amiably while Clark put some Cool Whip on and then ate Christopher's nearly untouched pie.
We danced a few more dances before Clark took me back to his parents' house so that we could 'break in' his old room.
He had a one track mind.
Of course, I did, too.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
*~*15*~*
December 2006
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
I tweaked my tie and frowned.
"I need Lois," I told my mom.
She laughed. "It's only an hour until the wedding starts."
"I know that." I sighed and turned to look at her. "I can't ever get my tie straight. She can do it in about two seconds."
"Daddy!" Christopher ran into the room, followed by my dad carrying Nate.
Nate was doing *so* much better, he was like a different child, but – at almost eighteen months – he still wasn't walking. None of the doctors were concerned about it, not even Sam. He'd spent so much time just trying to survive the first six months or so that as long as he continued to progress, they were happy for now.
"Hey, big guy," I said swinging him up into my arms.
"Mommy looks pretty," he said.
"I bet she does." I knew she would. My wife was *hot* - as Pete had told me the first year we'd gone to the Corn Festival together. I resisted the urge to peek into the room upstairs and see how she looked. I'd promised her I wouldn't. She and Vicki had looked for a long time for the right dress and she didn't want me to spoil the effect or something like that.
We'd wanted both Christopher and Nate to be ring bearers, but it's hard to have a ring bearer who can't walk so Nate was out. Christopher was going to be escorting my cousin Danielle's daughter, Amy, down the aisle.
Pete was my best man. Jimmy, Bernie, and Josh were groomsmen. As long as the little guy stayed awake, one of them would hold Nate..
Lois had a harder time picking her maid of honor and bridesmaids. Ashley was a pretty obvious choice for bridesmaid so that was easy enough.
My cousin, Kara Clark Irig, who had become friends with Lois through emails and chats over the last couple years – and the last six months or so especially – was another bridesmaid.
The one that would surprise everyone was Lana – not only that Lois had asked, but that Lana had agreed.
But maid of honor... Lucy would have been her first choice, but that couldn't happen.
Finally, she'd settled on Serena Judd-Norcross. They'd become friends over the last several years and I was glad she had a good friend. She'd been so isolated most of the time, during the first three and a half years of our marriage. I deeply regretted much of what I'd done and part of what had led to her life being that way.
I shook myself slightly. Today wasn't the day for those kinds of thoughts. I'd apologized to her over and over and done my best to make it up to her for being so awful for so much of our marriage.
Christopher was jabbering on about how good Lois looked and how he wasn't supposed to fidget while he was up front with us, but he wasn't really sure what fidget meant.
Perry poked his head in. "You about ready, Kent?"
Mom and Dad gave me a big hug each and then took Christopher with them to go to the front of the house where the procession would start.
Bernie took Nate from my dad as they left and the six of us went with Perry to the great room, taking our places in front of the large picture window. We'd debated for a long time over whether to have the wedding situated this way or in front of the enormous fire place. The winter wonderland outside had settled the question once and for all the day before.
The tent was outside but off to one side so that it wouldn't interrupt the view out the windows behind us.
I took my spot and started to tug on my tie, but Mom had managed to get it straight – around the three-year-old trying to 'help' her – and I didn't want to mess it up.
Dad escorted Mom down the aisle and they took their spots in the front row.
Lana and Kara came next. They both looked great and I was sure Chad and Josh thought so, too. Josh was next to me and Chad was seated somewhere.
I heard Bernie's intake of breath as Ashley came into view. She did look very nice and she had eyes for only one of the El family members at the altar. Serena followed and Billy watched from his aisle seat. Her pregnancy was just starting to show and I was surprised he wasn't actually floating. I knew I was going to have a hard time not floating when I finally saw Lois.
Amy and Christopher carefully walked down the aisle. She threw rose petals – of all colors, reminiscent of the ones from the cabin the night I asked her to marry me all over again – and he carefully balanced the pillow on both hands. When they reached the front, they split and Christopher stood next to Jimmy.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as the wedding march started and the crowd stood.
A minute later, I saw her.
Her hand was tucked inside Sam's elbow and his other hand rested protectively over the top of it. She held a simple bouquet of wild flowers – fresh from Africa – in her other hand.
The veil hung over her face and I could see tears shining in her eyes even through the filmy substance.
A minute later, I reached for her hand and she took mine willingly.
"Dearly Beloved," Perry started, "I'm so glad you're all here and that the snow storm was three days ago and not today or none of us would be here." There was a smattering of laughter. "This day has been a long time coming. I think with everything that's happened between the two of you, you guys have learned something. Love survives. Survives any joy, any sorrow; all the rights, all the wrongs; even life and death. But then you both know that already, just like you know now, that now you have finally arrived at the perfect time and the perfect place to make this really official." He turned to me. "Clark?"
I took a deep breath. We'd decided to say our own vows – we'd done the traditional thing before. "Lois," I started. "I was fascinated by you the first time I saw you, even though I didn't know it was you at the time. We've been through a lifetime of hurt and pain and fear since then and came out of it stronger and happier and completely in love. I love your humor, your incredibly sarcastic wit, your ability to find just the right nickname for any occasion." She smiled at that, her beautiful smile. "I love your passion, the way you dive right in, even when you probably shouldn't, even when it gets you in trouble." Henderson had threatened to get us fired at least once a week since we'd started – in large part because of Lois not always looking before she leaped. "Because you refuse to just watch the world, you demand that it be a better place, and because of you, it is. A little over four years ago, you saved my life in the worst snow storm New Troy had seen in over a century. And so today, I give you what I can of the world. I give you my fidelity, my heart, my soul, our sons, our future." I slipped her mom's wedding band on her finger; she'd moved the one from Latislan onto her right hand. "I give you my life."
Perry turned to her. "Lois?"
I knew she wasn't going to make it through this without crying.
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
Why couldn't I do this without crying?
I hadn't missed what Clark had said - *our* sons. Reiterating the belief that Christopher was his son and knowing we might not ever know for sure.
"Lois?" Perry prompted again.
I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself. Clark squeezed my hands lightly and smiled encouragingly at me.
"Clark, you're my best friend. Until you, I never really had a best friend. I had good friends, but not a real best friend, not like you." I was cognizant that Joe was there, with his fiancée, Debbie, at his side. What he and I had had was special, but it paled in comparison to what I had with Clark. "Falling in love with you was so easy once I let myself. Seeing you with Christopher, and later Nate, made me fall in love with you a little more every day. You have such a gentle grace and such quiet strength and such incredible kindness. You saved my life that night in the snow storm just as much as I saved yours. You were there for me in the darkest days, when I feared not only for my own life, but for the life of our son. You saved both of us from a brutal dictator, even though – at the time – you thought it cost you everything. We've come so far since then," I said, looking up at him through tear filled eyes. "I've never known anyone with such a pure heart and today I give you my fidelity and my love and my honor and our sons and our life together."
I saw tears in his eyes. Many gathered with us wouldn't understand the enormity of some of what was said, but we knew.
We knew what it meant that Clark pledged his fidelity to me or what it had cost him to marry me the first time. I knew many people wouldn't understand what had happened between all of us to make it so that I would want Lana standing up with me during my second wedding to Clark, but I couldn't tell her how much I appreciated what she'd done for us earlier in the year.
Perry looked at the assembled crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's my honor and privilege to present for the first time – today anyway..." There were chuckles in the crowd. "Clark and Lois Kent."
"Kiss her, Cuz," came a voice from the crowd.
"Don’t you dare," I whispered.
"Sorry," he said, grinning as he shifted my veil back. "It's tradition."
He held me in his arms and bent me backwards, kissing me soundly on the lips until the catcalls and lack of oxygen on my part made it necessary for him to help me stand back up.
I rested my head against his shoulder and only partly because I enjoyed being close to him. That kiss – unlike the one at the family barbecue years earlier – had left me breathless and weak in the knees.
The recessional started and I tucked my hand in Clark's elbow. We started up the aisle as the trumpet suddenly changed tunes.
I couldn’t help but laugh when the strains of 'I Feel Good' blared in the room.
"I do, you know," Clark whispered, grinning as we walked up the aisle. "I feel great. It feels official."
We reached the circular area between the staircases and stopped. He kissed me gently.
"No," I whispered, playing with one of the buttons on his shirt. "It's not official until I get to take this off of you. I've never gotten to *really* do that, you know. "
I'd taken a tux off of him one time, but that was a night we'd rather not remember. That was the night his beloved grandfather – the first father he'd really known – had died of a massive heart attack. He'd been in shock, unable to even get ready for bed, so I'd had to help him. He'd fallen asleep in my arms, crying.
Tonight would be different though. Tonight, I'd take that tux off of him and it would be a long time before we actually slept.
"I love you," he whispered, before kissing me again.
Perry had finished the announcements and we traded hugs with the wedding party, setting up the receiving line near the down staircase.
We chatted briefly with each of the guests as they passed us. Several of Clark's friends from high school – including Rachel and Chad – had flown in with about twenty members of his family. There were several Planet colleagues as well as both 'Sceves'. I still couldn't remember which was Scott and which was Steve, even though they'd been Christopher's main security detail for nearly three years.
Clark barely let go of my hand or was touching me in some other way the whole time we were greeting the guests and while we took pictures.
"Wait a minute," Bernie said as we all started to head downstairs.
I'd noticed him and Clark having one of their telepathic conversations a few minutes earlier. He'd whispered to me and I'd nodded my agreement.
He turned to his fiancée. "Ashley, I don't want to wait any more." He took her hands in his. "Marry me. Here tonight."
"Uh, son," Perry said. "Do you have a license?"
He nodded. "I do. It's a long story but we have one. It's all set to go." He looked back at Ashley. "Marry me. I don't want to wait any more for you to be my wife."
He cupped her cheek like Clark often did mine. "I want to be your husband, to take care of you, love you, be a family with you."
"Are you sure?" she asked softly, searching his eyes with her own.
"I'm sure," he answered in equally quiet tones.
"Well, do you want to get the crowd back up here or do this in the tent or what then?" Perry asked.
"Here," Bernie said. "Right here, right now."
A minute later, Clark and I were situated on either side of them as they recited the time honored vows that Bernie had said were so similar to ones on Krypton.
"You may kiss your bride," Perry said when it was all over.
My eyes filled with tears as Bernie kissed her tenderly and I wondered if their PDA thing would change now – and I hoped it would.
They were never far from each other the rest of the night, I noticed. Holding hands, little touches, dancing close together and rarely with anyone else.
We left the transformed living room and headed downstairs and out to the tent. I managed to eat a little bit of dinner, but was nervous about later. I wasn't sure why except that we'd had a 'no sex' pact for the last two weeks in an effort to make tonight special.
I couldn’t remember why we'd thought that was a good idea.
Clark held me close to him as we moved around the dance floor. I danced with Jonathan and Bernie and Daddy and Billy and Josh and Pete and Chad and a number of others. Clark danced with his mom and grandmas and a bunch of his cousins, including Kara and Danielle. I'd even noticed him dancing with Lana and was relieved when it didn't bother me in the slightest. Jimmy and I were laughing when a hand suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.
"May I cut in?"
I looked up to see Joe standing there. Jimmy nodded and passed my hand off to my ex-boyfriend.
"Will Clark mind?" he asked.
I shook my head before he put his hand on my waist and started dancing with me.
"You look beautiful," he said quietly. "And I've never seen you look happier."
"You either," I told him. "Being in love with Debbie really agrees with you."
"She's great," he told me. We danced for long minutes before he spoke again. "Why didn't you tell me? The whole truth?"
I sighed. "I'm so sorry. We didn't tell anyone the whole truth until later."
"Is Clark Christopher's father?" he asked quietly.
"I think so," I told him honestly. "We didn't know it for a long time, though. When we first found out, we thought it was Halloween, but... It was foggy for years, it still is really, but the story we told everyone about the cabin... It's more or less true. We were trying to survive and got caught up in it or something and..."
"I understand."
"I would never have cheated on you," I promised him.
"I know."
The song ended and Clark appeared at my side.
"Take care of her," Joe said.
"For the rest of my life," Clark promised, kissing the side of my head. "For the rest of my life."
*****
TBC
Okay - it's not a tux, but isn't he handsome? From a couple weeks ago...
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