Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
By HappyGirl
Clark smiled to himself as he flew homeward. It was one of those perfect flying days. The sky was a brilliant blue with a cheerful white cloud tossed in here and there for variety. The May sun brought out the brilliant greens of the fields and woodlands below him, the blues of the streams and rivers. Even the light browns of the last few unplowed fields looked cheery on a day like this. As he got closer to his destination farmland gave way to suburban sub-developments. The cul-de-sacs were full of kids shooting hoops and riding bikes. The few swimming pools were still covered in their winter tarps, but several dads had decided to break out the grill on this Sunday afternoon. One or two friendly souls even looked up and waved to their hero as he flew overhead, even though he was too high up for them to have known if he waved back or not. Clark chuckled. What would those suburban dads think if they knew that Superman was one of them? That the man in the blue and red wasn’t flying off to the rescue, but flying home with a bushel of fresh corn-on-the-cob—not in season yet in Metropolis but available from sources further south—to start up his own grill?
He was still grinning to himself as he came in for a landing in his own tree-lined back yard. The carefully planned landscaping and Clark’s fast but smooth take-offs and landings had allowed him to come and go like this for years without raising any suspicions with the neighbors. He was sauntering toward the sliding door that led into the family room when his wife stepped out onto the deck with her phone in one hand. One look at Lois’s face changed Clark’s expression in an instant. He was obviously in trouble, and he had a good guess what for.
“Hi honey! I found some fresh corn. It’ll taste great with the steaks.” He leaned in to greet her with their usual kiss. She didn’t push him away, but she didn’t exactly kiss him back either. Instead, she allowed him a quick buss then she crossed her arms over her chest and pinned him with her gaze.
“Uh, huh,” was all she said. After thirty years of marriage, that was all she needed to say. He could read between the lines, and what he read now was that Lois had been talking to her daughter.
Apparently Joanna had decided that breaking the news to her mother over the phone was wiser than springing it on her in person that evening. This way Lois would have a chance to come to grips with it beforehand, thus saving Joanna’s new fiancé from having to face the wrath of Lois Lane in its pure and unadulterated form.
“She told you,” Clark stated sympathetically.
Lois raised both arms and let them drop in a gesture of frustrated disbelief. “I knew it! You knew! All this time you knew and you never even dropped a hint! Clark! How could you do this to me? How could either of you do this to me?”
“Now, sweetheart, it’s not that bad,” he cajoled, walking through to the kitchen and depositing his burden of corn on the island countertop.
“Not that bad! If it’s not that bad, then why didn’t either of you bother to warn me before now? If it’s not that bad, then why did you both hide this from me for months?”
Clark knew he looked a little guilty, but he tried to explain. “Up until now it wasn’t certain how long they’d be together. I guess Joanna figured that if they ended up breaking up in the end then you would never need to know. She knows how strongly you feel about this sort of thing and she was just trying to spare you unnecessary worry. And so was I.”
“Well, you at least should know better, mister.” She scowled at him as if he were one of the corrupt politicians that she was so good at exposing. “Keeping a secret like this doesn’t spare people pain—it only ends up hurting them worse when the truth comes out. And you of all people know that the truth always comes out in the end.”
“Lois! Will you listen to yourself? You make it sound like a federal disaster! Brian and Joanna love each other. This isn’t going to be a problem for them.”
His wife merely raised a skeptical eyebrow in response. This was another unspoken sign that Clark had seen often over the years. It meant that she wasn’t convinced yet, but she was open to hearing his best argument.
Clark took her in his arms and stroked her hair and back in a soothing rhythm. “I’ve met Brian several times, Lois. Or rather, Superman has. His dad, Lloyd, has handled many issues for the Foundation over the years, and now Brian is finished with school and ready to go into the business as well. He’s a good man, Lois, and he loves our daughter.”
When she didn’t answer, he pulled back, cupping her shoulders with his hands and giving her his best pleading look. “Just give him a chance. I think if you get to know him you’ll find that you like him. Besides, he’s probably in just as much shock as you are. After all, he’s just found out that he’s marrying into Superman’s family.”
Lois pulled away, rolling her eyes with a look of longsuffering. This meant that Clark had won his case, but Lois was going to get one last word in for dramatic effect.
“Yeah, poor baby!” she said with overdone sympathy, “Brian has to live with the fact that his fiancée can fly. *I* have to get used to the idea that my first-born child is marrying a lawyer!”
