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Chapter Twenty-Seven
Lois woke with the alarm clock and was tempted to roll over and go back to sleep again, until she realised what day it was. Her father’s wedding day. She quickly got out of bed and looked over at the crib. Kally was sleeping on her side, her thumb in her mouth. She decided it was best to let her daughter sleep for a little while longer. It would at least help keep her out of the way while they worked to prepare the inn for the event.
Bubsy was already in the kitchen cooking up a storm. She was in sweats, clearly wanting to make sure she didn’t get her good clothes dirty. Lois put the baby monitor down on the counter.
“Anything I can do to help, Mom?” she asked.
Bubsy looked at her. “No, sweetie. It’s all under control in here. Why don’t you go help your dad decorate the parlour?”
She glanced out into the main room. Clark was already there, helping her father, while Lucy was directing proceedings.
“No, it’s crooked,” her sister was saying as the two men worked together to pin up fairy lights.
Lois went out as her boyfriend and her father both shot Lucy exasperated looks.
“I don’t think it’s meant to be perfect, Luce,” she said, wrapping an arm around the younger girl. Clark looked at her.
“Kally still asleep?” he asked.
She nodded. “And I’m hoping she stays that way for the time being. Last thing we need is a two-year-old underfoot.”
The General grinned. “Yeah, Lord knows, I know what that’s like. Especially when there were two of you.” He chuckled. “Your mom was working part-time at the commissary and I decided to arrange a surprise party for her birthday. You were almost four and Lucy was about two. Both of you wanted to get in on the act.” He grinned at Clark. “There I was, trying to hang up … crepe paper or something, and Little Lo was tugging on it saying she wanted to help. Lucy was crying because I wouldn’t let her play with the paper and suddenly it all comes down. Ella walked in the door just as all the crepe paper fell off. There was just about enough of it to cover Lucy and Lois began yelling at the top of her lungs, ‘S’prise, Mommy!’”
Clark was already laughing. Lois sent him a glare, telling him silently that he better not be thinking of holding it over her.
“Well, Ella was surprised all right,” the General said. “We all ended up in a heap on the floor, we were laughing so hard.”
Lucy was giggling. Lois even had to fight the urge to laugh. Bubsy came out of the kitchen and asked what was so funny. It was obvious the General had already told her this story as he gave her the short version. She smiled, kissing her fiancé on the cheek.
Lois wasn’t surprised at the story. Her father had told her a few stories from her childhood, especially funny incidents. She’d always known the older man had been far less gruff before her mother died. He’d once told her he had regretted the fact that he had been more concerned with his career than his family and if he’d been able to do it all again, he would have done things differently. As much as she knew that wasn’t possible, she appreciated the thought all the same.
Not long after her father and Bubsy had got engaged, she had broached the subject of her mother. Bubsy had looked thoughtful.
“Well, look at it this way, sweetie. If it hadn’t been for your mother, you would never have existed, we wouldn’t have met, and I wouldn’t have met your father in turn. I know he still loves your mom, but I also know there is room in his heart for me.”
Lois smiled and hugged her future stepmother. “You know, that’s a really beautiful way of looking at it.”
“Your mother was a wonderful woman and it would be wrong of me to not acknowledge that. Your father feels the same way about Will’s father.”
Lois watched as her father and Bubsy talked and laughed together as they continued decorating the room. Clark wrapped his arms around her waist. She smiled and looked up at him.
“Think we’ll be like that someday?” she asked.
“Sure we will,” he said. “But I know what you’re thinking. And it’s okay to think about your mom today. I think she’d be happy your dad found someone he could let into his life. From all he’s told me about her, she would have wanted him to move on. Not spend the rest of his days alone.”
She let him take her hand and they wandered out to the back of the Inn, sitting on the bench in the garden. The men had erected an arbour along the side of the building and it had been decorated with flowers, so it would act as an entrance for the bride as she walked down the path to her groom.
“I think about us sometimes. About how I used to worry about being alone. I never thought I’d find someone who could really accept me, warts and all. It’s not just about being … what I am,” he said. “It’s having someone believe in me.”
“I do, you know,” she said softly. “I believe in you using your abilities to help people. It’s kind of like Bubsy is always telling me. Things happen for a reason. You were sent here for a reason – to guide us to a better future, so what happened on Krypton doesn’t happen here.” She turned to gaze at him. “But you know what else? I believe that the reason we met is so that you could find someone who could remind you to take a rest, to make it easier for you to do what you have to do.”
Clark nodded. “Your dad told me something a while ago. People would look up to him as a hero, and you know, that was great, but in some ways, being a hero is actually a lot harder than being, well, normal. You know? I mean, people put heroes on pedestals and it’s hard for them when the heroes let them down.”
“You wouldn’t though. You wouldn’t let us down. I mean, I know you’re not perfect. And yeah, you’ll probably make some mistakes along the way, but that’s part of being human.” She looked at him. “And don’t try to tell me you’re not human. Humanity has nothing to do with what planet we’re born on, Smallville. It’s who we are as people.”
He squeezed her hand. “That’s why we’re perfect for each other, Lois. I mean, I think one day you’re going to be a great reporter, and you know what they say … behind every great woman …” He grinned.
“I think that’s the other way around,” she said.
“You know what I mean, though. We’re partners. Equals. Just because I have powers, it doesn’t change that.”
His expression changed and she could tell he was listening. “Sounds like the munchkin’s awake,” he said. He got up. “I’ll go get her.”
She watched as he rose from the bench and walked down the path to her cabin, opening the door. A few minutes later, he came back out again with a sleepy-eyed toddler in his arms. Despite the fact she was clearly not fully awake, she was chattering away to her father and he was nodding as if he understood every word.
God, she loved him. She couldn’t wait for the day they would be together as a family. All three of them.
Lois was too busy over the next few hours to think about anything else, helping to sort out all the final arrangements for the wedding. Half an hour before the ceremony, she went upstairs to the room her father was using and knocked on the door.
“Daddy?”
“Come in, sweetheart.”
She entered the room, staring in wonder at her father in his dress uniform. He was just smoothing out any creases in the jacket. Lois stepped up to him and helped him with the remainder.
“You look so handsome, Daddy,” she said.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” He took in a deep breath. “I’m a little nervous.”
She understood, but couldn’t help teasing him a little anyway. “You, Daddy? The one who has faced down practically every boyfriend I’ve ever had and sent them packing.”
He chuckled. “I did, didn’t I? I’ll say one thing about Clark. He doesn’t intimidate easily, does he?”
“No, he doesn’t. I guess he thinks I’m worth sticking around for.”
“You are,” the General replied. “Don’t ever doubt that. I see you two and how special your relationship is. It kind of reminds me of when I first met your mother. Your grandfather, God rest his soul, was a hard man. I got put through an interrogation that would make grown men cry, but through it all, I was firm.”
“You really loved Mom, didn’t you?” she said, without a trace of grief.
He nodded. “I did. I still do. After all, she gave me two of the most precious gifts a man could ever need. You and your sister. But you know, I do love Annie.”
“I know. She once told me that she understood you will always love Mom, but it didn’t mean you didn’t have room in your heart for her. She makes you happy, and that’s all that’s ever mattered to me.”
“I am happy, Lo. Happier than I have been since I lost your mom. I know things were rough with us for a while …”
She shook her head. “No, Daddy, don’t.” As crazy as it sounded, the pain she’d gone through all those years was worth it so she could appreciate what she had now. “We made it through and we’re both better for it. I have Clark and Kally and you have Bubsy.”
He grinned and glanced at the clock. “Speaking of whom, it’s almost time to meet her at the altar.” He held his arm out for her. “Shall we?” he asked.
She grinned back. “We shall.”
The ceremony was going to be a little different. Lois was going to walk her father down the aisle and William was going to walk his mother down the aisle where they would meet at the altar. They would then ‘hand over’ their parents. Lois had never been one for tradition and had always thought the ceremonial handing over of the bride to the groom was rather sexist, since they didn’t do the same for the groom. Bubsy had been tickled with the idea.
Kally was doing her best as flower girl, although she didn’t quite understand what she was supposed to do. One of Bubsy’s friends had brought her three-year-old grandson to be ring bearer and he looked solemn as he walked down the aisle with a satin pillow held very carefully in both hands. Kally stopped in front of him, staring in wonder at her grandpa. The little boy bumped into her and looked very confused. Clark quickly got up and guided the children the rest of the way, amid snickers and ‘awws’ from the guests.
As she left her father at the altar, Lois exchanged a look with her sister, who was looking very pretty in a floral print dress with a soft, flowing style that suited her slender frame without appearing too tight. Lucy grinned back at her, glancing shyly at the young man who had accompanied her. Ron Troupe was a cub reporter at the Metropolis Journal. The couple had met when Lucy had gone with Lois to a press conference. Like Lois and Clark, he was in college, although he was a couple of years ahead of them.
The celebrant did the reading and had the couple exchange vows. Lois took her boyfriend’s hand and squeezed it. He turned to smile at her. One day, she thought, that was going to be them. Nothing was official yet, but they were always talking about the day they would get married. Clark didn’t go to church, but he knew his parents wanted him to get married in the same chapel they had married in more than twenty years ago. Lois’ father had also asked for the same thing and given that they’d moved around so much while she was growing up, Smallville was as close to a permanent home as she would ever know.
Then again, she remembered something her mother had told her long ago. She’d been maybe five, and complaining about them having to move to another base. She didn’t remember all the previous moves, but it had happened at least twice since she was born, from what she understood. Ella had taken her aside.
“I know it’s hard moving to a new place, sweetheart, but it’s not the house that makes the home. It’s the people we love.”
At that age, Lois hadn’t quite understood what she meant, but she now knew what her mother had been trying to tell her. It was rather like the saying ‘home is where the heart is’. Her heart was in Smallville, with Kally and Clark, with her father and Bubsy.
Once the ceremony was over, the photographer from the base began taking candid shots. Both Bubsy and the General had agreed that candid shots were better than posed shots, although the couple had already had a sitting that was just for them.
She stood watching as Bruce Wayne chatted quietly with Clark’s parents and Bubsy. Her father came to stand beside her. He was holding Kally in his arms. The toddler was eating one of the pigs in blankets and had ketchup all over her face.
“All right, sweetheart?” he asked.
“I’ve kind of been thinking a lot about Mom today,” she said.
“I know. So have I.”
“She’d love Bubsy.”
“Yes, she would. And I know she’d be happy that I’m not going to be spending the rest of my days alone. I have you and Lucy, but …”
“I know, Daddy. It’s different. It’s like me and Clark.”
Kally squirmed in her grandfather’s arms, wanting to be let down and he put her down. She immediately toddled off to explore the garden.
He turned to look at Clark, who was chatting with Chloe and Lucy. He occasionally glanced at her, sending her a reassuring smile. “He’s a good man, Lo. You can say I’m being a little sexist, or whatever, but I’m happy knowing that you have someone who will protect you and your children.” He turned back to her with a cheesy grin. “Don’t think I’m not aware just how much trouble you can get into. Between you and Lucy, you were always the one who tended to get into mischief more. Not bad stuff, honey. You were just curious. Always asking questions. I suppose that’s what will make you a good journalist.”
Lois hadn’t been so sure of her career decision at first, but now that she had written a couple of stories, she could safely say that she loved the thought of going after people like Lex and exposing the truth about them.
Speak of the devil, she thought, as the very man walked over to Clark. Lois had personally sent the invitations and Lex hadn’t been on the list. Chloe shot the man a glare that was almost glacial before wandering away to get some food. As her father went over to join his new wife, Lois joined her boyfriend, managing to catch what the bald man was saying.
“You didn’t think I’d miss the biggest social occasion in Smallville.”
“I guess not, Lex,” Clark said. His tone was cool as he spoke, but he smiled as if trying to maintain the pretence of civility.
“Actually, my parents wanted it just to be an intimate occasion,” Lois told him. “Close friends and family.”
“Of course,” the man said with a slight smirk. “Since I was working with the General summer before last to protect your cousin, I imagined that would have made me an exception to the rule.”
She dearly wanted to kick him for his audacity. The fact that he had helped protect Chloe, who had been a witness in the trial to put his own father in prison was clearly irrelevant to him.
The two toddlers distracted her for a second, chasing each other around the garden. Kally had already got her pretty dress dirty. Shaking her head, Lois turned to look back at Lex, who was staring after the toddler with a strange kind of expression. Immediately her hackles went up. The bald billionaire appeared to notice her watching him and smiled.
“She gets prettier every time I see her. Must be her father’s good genes.”
Clark smiled, but Lois knew him well enough to know he was about to go into Papa Bear mode. He might have teased her about the way she had done the same with Bruce, but he was twice as bad. She decided the best thing to do would be to pull him away.
“Um, honey,” she said, grasping his arm. “I’m hungry. Why don’t we go get something to eat?”
He looked at her and nodded. “Okay. See you later, Lex,” Clark responded.
“Later, Clark.”
They grabbed some plates and helped themselves to the food. Clark leaned in to speak quietly to her.
“Thanks,” he said. “I was about to say something stupid.”
“Not stupid,” she told him. “Understandable. I thought you were about to deck him, actually.”
“Thought about it,” he replied.
He looked up as they heard the sound of a squeal, then laughed. Lois saw Jonathan had Kally in his arms, or rather, was hanging her almost upside down. The toddler was giggling, clearly enjoying the game.
“I know you worry Lex might try something,” she said. If she was honest, that was on her mind a lot, but they couldn’t wrap their daughter in bubble paper either. They had to trust her grandparents and her aunt, who had become even more protective of her niece, and Chloe, to take care of her when they couldn’t.
When she had first considered going to college, she had thought maybe she was being selfish, leaving her daughter with her grandparents, but all four parents had assured her that the best thing she could do for Kally was get her degree so she could create a good life for her little girl. Otherwise she could spend the next eighteen years working in a job that, as much as she loved her new stepmother, wasn’t fulfilling. If she wanted to be a good example to her child, she had to follow her own dreams. Not leave them behind.
“It’s not that,” Clark told her. “I mean, yeah, I worry he’s going to try to take her again like he did last year, but … I don’t know. I mean, I thought he was my best friend. For four years. How could I have trusted him?”
“People change, Smallville.” She remembered something Clark had told her months ago. That Lex had told him that their friendship had helped him fight the darkness inside him. While that might have sounded great on the surface, she often wondered if it was more that he refused to take responsibility for all the bad decisions he’d made in his life and pushed the blame onto Clark. As if her boyfriend was the bald man’s moral compass. As far as she was concerned, a person should be strong enough not to give in to their darkness.
They ate, continuing to watch the guests. Their daughter seemed happy enough playing with her grandparents, but they noticed she always gave Lex a wide berth.
About an hour or so later, Lois stepped out into the garden. She had been helping one of the maids clean up and had come out for more dishes to find Lex and Bruce talking. Both appeared to be trying to act cool for the benefit of those around them, but she could read the anger coming from the two men. They were clearly arguing about something.
Clark came over with a tub full of dishes.
“What are they arguing about?” Lois asked, nodding her head toward the two billionaires.
“Lex apparently found out that Bruce was working with my dad on something. I think he had his eye on the project and lost the bid to Bruce.”
“Given the state of his company’s finances, I shouldn’t wonder he’s upset,” she said, having just a little bit of sympathy for the man. She still felt that he had done it to himself, however. With the senate campaign and the various projects he was involved in, it was little wonder the balance sheet had taken a severe beating.
Clark went on to explain that the project Bruce was working on was something to do with a charitable foundation helping children who were unable to access a proper education. It had been a big part of Jonathan’s campaign. It sounded to Lois like Lex was trying to drum up some good PR by wanting to get involved in the project. That and he was probably hoping that if he appeared to be altruistic then he could hide his less-than-savoury dealings.
Lionel might have been ruthless and unethical, but that fact had never really been hidden. His criminal past might have only come to light in the past few years, Lois thought, but everyone she knew had always known Lionel was not the ‘gentleman’ he claimed to be. He could dress it up in a business suit, but he could never rid himself of the stain of having been raised in Suicide Slums.
Lex, on the other hand, was becoming adept at hiding his own unethical activities behind a veneer of respectability.
She started to step aside to let Clark take the tub into the kitchen when her father came out with Bubsy.
“You need to come with me,” he said, indicating both her and Clark. She frowned. He didn’t seem upset.
“Is anything wrong, Dad?” she asked.
“Just come with me,” he replied.
They followed him inside and up the stairs to his room. Or his and Bubsy’s now, Lois thought. There on the floor beside the bed were Kally and the little boy who had been the ring bearer, curled up on the sheepskin rug, fast asleep, their faces so close if it wasn’t for the thumbs in their mouths, they could have been kissing.
“Aww, I need to get a picture of this,” she said.
Clark laughed at her. “Why? So you can hold it over her when she turns twenty-one?”
Her father grinned and handed over his phone. “Already thought of that,” he said. She looked at the screen. He’d taken a snap of the two children.
Kally chose that moment to wake up and she stared at the adults in confusion.
“Mommy?” she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes. Lois bent and picked her up.
“It’s all right, sweetie.” She held her close and turned to Clark, who stroked their daughter’s hair.
“Getting started early, huh, Munchkin?”
Lois woke with the alarm clock and was tempted to roll over and go back to sleep again, until she realised what day it was. Her father’s wedding day. She quickly got out of bed and looked over at the crib. Kally was sleeping on her side, her thumb in her mouth. She decided it was best to let her daughter sleep for a little while longer. It would at least help keep her out of the way while they worked to prepare the inn for the event.
Bubsy was already in the kitchen cooking up a storm. She was in sweats, clearly wanting to make sure she didn’t get her good clothes dirty. Lois put the baby monitor down on the counter.
“Anything I can do to help, Mom?” she asked.
Bubsy looked at her. “No, sweetie. It’s all under control in here. Why don’t you go help your dad decorate the parlour?”
She glanced out into the main room. Clark was already there, helping her father, while Lucy was directing proceedings.
“No, it’s crooked,” her sister was saying as the two men worked together to pin up fairy lights.
Lois went out as her boyfriend and her father both shot Lucy exasperated looks.
“I don’t think it’s meant to be perfect, Luce,” she said, wrapping an arm around the younger girl. Clark looked at her.
“Kally still asleep?” he asked.
She nodded. “And I’m hoping she stays that way for the time being. Last thing we need is a two-year-old underfoot.”
The General grinned. “Yeah, Lord knows, I know what that’s like. Especially when there were two of you.” He chuckled. “Your mom was working part-time at the commissary and I decided to arrange a surprise party for her birthday. You were almost four and Lucy was about two. Both of you wanted to get in on the act.” He grinned at Clark. “There I was, trying to hang up … crepe paper or something, and Little Lo was tugging on it saying she wanted to help. Lucy was crying because I wouldn’t let her play with the paper and suddenly it all comes down. Ella walked in the door just as all the crepe paper fell off. There was just about enough of it to cover Lucy and Lois began yelling at the top of her lungs, ‘S’prise, Mommy!’”
Clark was already laughing. Lois sent him a glare, telling him silently that he better not be thinking of holding it over her.
“Well, Ella was surprised all right,” the General said. “We all ended up in a heap on the floor, we were laughing so hard.”
Lucy was giggling. Lois even had to fight the urge to laugh. Bubsy came out of the kitchen and asked what was so funny. It was obvious the General had already told her this story as he gave her the short version. She smiled, kissing her fiancé on the cheek.
Lois wasn’t surprised at the story. Her father had told her a few stories from her childhood, especially funny incidents. She’d always known the older man had been far less gruff before her mother died. He’d once told her he had regretted the fact that he had been more concerned with his career than his family and if he’d been able to do it all again, he would have done things differently. As much as she knew that wasn’t possible, she appreciated the thought all the same.
Not long after her father and Bubsy had got engaged, she had broached the subject of her mother. Bubsy had looked thoughtful.
“Well, look at it this way, sweetie. If it hadn’t been for your mother, you would never have existed, we wouldn’t have met, and I wouldn’t have met your father in turn. I know he still loves your mom, but I also know there is room in his heart for me.”
Lois smiled and hugged her future stepmother. “You know, that’s a really beautiful way of looking at it.”
“Your mother was a wonderful woman and it would be wrong of me to not acknowledge that. Your father feels the same way about Will’s father.”
Lois watched as her father and Bubsy talked and laughed together as they continued decorating the room. Clark wrapped his arms around her waist. She smiled and looked up at him.
“Think we’ll be like that someday?” she asked.
“Sure we will,” he said. “But I know what you’re thinking. And it’s okay to think about your mom today. I think she’d be happy your dad found someone he could let into his life. From all he’s told me about her, she would have wanted him to move on. Not spend the rest of his days alone.”
She let him take her hand and they wandered out to the back of the Inn, sitting on the bench in the garden. The men had erected an arbour along the side of the building and it had been decorated with flowers, so it would act as an entrance for the bride as she walked down the path to her groom.
“I think about us sometimes. About how I used to worry about being alone. I never thought I’d find someone who could really accept me, warts and all. It’s not just about being … what I am,” he said. “It’s having someone believe in me.”
“I do, you know,” she said softly. “I believe in you using your abilities to help people. It’s kind of like Bubsy is always telling me. Things happen for a reason. You were sent here for a reason – to guide us to a better future, so what happened on Krypton doesn’t happen here.” She turned to gaze at him. “But you know what else? I believe that the reason we met is so that you could find someone who could remind you to take a rest, to make it easier for you to do what you have to do.”
Clark nodded. “Your dad told me something a while ago. People would look up to him as a hero, and you know, that was great, but in some ways, being a hero is actually a lot harder than being, well, normal. You know? I mean, people put heroes on pedestals and it’s hard for them when the heroes let them down.”
“You wouldn’t though. You wouldn’t let us down. I mean, I know you’re not perfect. And yeah, you’ll probably make some mistakes along the way, but that’s part of being human.” She looked at him. “And don’t try to tell me you’re not human. Humanity has nothing to do with what planet we’re born on, Smallville. It’s who we are as people.”
He squeezed her hand. “That’s why we’re perfect for each other, Lois. I mean, I think one day you’re going to be a great reporter, and you know what they say … behind every great woman …” He grinned.
“I think that’s the other way around,” she said.
“You know what I mean, though. We’re partners. Equals. Just because I have powers, it doesn’t change that.”
His expression changed and she could tell he was listening. “Sounds like the munchkin’s awake,” he said. He got up. “I’ll go get her.”
She watched as he rose from the bench and walked down the path to her cabin, opening the door. A few minutes later, he came back out again with a sleepy-eyed toddler in his arms. Despite the fact she was clearly not fully awake, she was chattering away to her father and he was nodding as if he understood every word.
God, she loved him. She couldn’t wait for the day they would be together as a family. All three of them.
Lois was too busy over the next few hours to think about anything else, helping to sort out all the final arrangements for the wedding. Half an hour before the ceremony, she went upstairs to the room her father was using and knocked on the door.
“Daddy?”
“Come in, sweetheart.”
She entered the room, staring in wonder at her father in his dress uniform. He was just smoothing out any creases in the jacket. Lois stepped up to him and helped him with the remainder.
“You look so handsome, Daddy,” she said.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” He took in a deep breath. “I’m a little nervous.”
She understood, but couldn’t help teasing him a little anyway. “You, Daddy? The one who has faced down practically every boyfriend I’ve ever had and sent them packing.”
He chuckled. “I did, didn’t I? I’ll say one thing about Clark. He doesn’t intimidate easily, does he?”
“No, he doesn’t. I guess he thinks I’m worth sticking around for.”
“You are,” the General replied. “Don’t ever doubt that. I see you two and how special your relationship is. It kind of reminds me of when I first met your mother. Your grandfather, God rest his soul, was a hard man. I got put through an interrogation that would make grown men cry, but through it all, I was firm.”
“You really loved Mom, didn’t you?” she said, without a trace of grief.
He nodded. “I did. I still do. After all, she gave me two of the most precious gifts a man could ever need. You and your sister. But you know, I do love Annie.”
“I know. She once told me that she understood you will always love Mom, but it didn’t mean you didn’t have room in your heart for her. She makes you happy, and that’s all that’s ever mattered to me.”
“I am happy, Lo. Happier than I have been since I lost your mom. I know things were rough with us for a while …”
She shook her head. “No, Daddy, don’t.” As crazy as it sounded, the pain she’d gone through all those years was worth it so she could appreciate what she had now. “We made it through and we’re both better for it. I have Clark and Kally and you have Bubsy.”
He grinned and glanced at the clock. “Speaking of whom, it’s almost time to meet her at the altar.” He held his arm out for her. “Shall we?” he asked.
She grinned back. “We shall.”
The ceremony was going to be a little different. Lois was going to walk her father down the aisle and William was going to walk his mother down the aisle where they would meet at the altar. They would then ‘hand over’ their parents. Lois had never been one for tradition and had always thought the ceremonial handing over of the bride to the groom was rather sexist, since they didn’t do the same for the groom. Bubsy had been tickled with the idea.
Kally was doing her best as flower girl, although she didn’t quite understand what she was supposed to do. One of Bubsy’s friends had brought her three-year-old grandson to be ring bearer and he looked solemn as he walked down the aisle with a satin pillow held very carefully in both hands. Kally stopped in front of him, staring in wonder at her grandpa. The little boy bumped into her and looked very confused. Clark quickly got up and guided the children the rest of the way, amid snickers and ‘awws’ from the guests.
As she left her father at the altar, Lois exchanged a look with her sister, who was looking very pretty in a floral print dress with a soft, flowing style that suited her slender frame without appearing too tight. Lucy grinned back at her, glancing shyly at the young man who had accompanied her. Ron Troupe was a cub reporter at the Metropolis Journal. The couple had met when Lucy had gone with Lois to a press conference. Like Lois and Clark, he was in college, although he was a couple of years ahead of them.
The celebrant did the reading and had the couple exchange vows. Lois took her boyfriend’s hand and squeezed it. He turned to smile at her. One day, she thought, that was going to be them. Nothing was official yet, but they were always talking about the day they would get married. Clark didn’t go to church, but he knew his parents wanted him to get married in the same chapel they had married in more than twenty years ago. Lois’ father had also asked for the same thing and given that they’d moved around so much while she was growing up, Smallville was as close to a permanent home as she would ever know.
Then again, she remembered something her mother had told her long ago. She’d been maybe five, and complaining about them having to move to another base. She didn’t remember all the previous moves, but it had happened at least twice since she was born, from what she understood. Ella had taken her aside.
“I know it’s hard moving to a new place, sweetheart, but it’s not the house that makes the home. It’s the people we love.”
At that age, Lois hadn’t quite understood what she meant, but she now knew what her mother had been trying to tell her. It was rather like the saying ‘home is where the heart is’. Her heart was in Smallville, with Kally and Clark, with her father and Bubsy.
Once the ceremony was over, the photographer from the base began taking candid shots. Both Bubsy and the General had agreed that candid shots were better than posed shots, although the couple had already had a sitting that was just for them.
She stood watching as Bruce Wayne chatted quietly with Clark’s parents and Bubsy. Her father came to stand beside her. He was holding Kally in his arms. The toddler was eating one of the pigs in blankets and had ketchup all over her face.
“All right, sweetheart?” he asked.
“I’ve kind of been thinking a lot about Mom today,” she said.
“I know. So have I.”
“She’d love Bubsy.”
“Yes, she would. And I know she’d be happy that I’m not going to be spending the rest of my days alone. I have you and Lucy, but …”
“I know, Daddy. It’s different. It’s like me and Clark.”
Kally squirmed in her grandfather’s arms, wanting to be let down and he put her down. She immediately toddled off to explore the garden.
He turned to look at Clark, who was chatting with Chloe and Lucy. He occasionally glanced at her, sending her a reassuring smile. “He’s a good man, Lo. You can say I’m being a little sexist, or whatever, but I’m happy knowing that you have someone who will protect you and your children.” He turned back to her with a cheesy grin. “Don’t think I’m not aware just how much trouble you can get into. Between you and Lucy, you were always the one who tended to get into mischief more. Not bad stuff, honey. You were just curious. Always asking questions. I suppose that’s what will make you a good journalist.”
Lois hadn’t been so sure of her career decision at first, but now that she had written a couple of stories, she could safely say that she loved the thought of going after people like Lex and exposing the truth about them.
Speak of the devil, she thought, as the very man walked over to Clark. Lois had personally sent the invitations and Lex hadn’t been on the list. Chloe shot the man a glare that was almost glacial before wandering away to get some food. As her father went over to join his new wife, Lois joined her boyfriend, managing to catch what the bald man was saying.
“You didn’t think I’d miss the biggest social occasion in Smallville.”
“I guess not, Lex,” Clark said. His tone was cool as he spoke, but he smiled as if trying to maintain the pretence of civility.
“Actually, my parents wanted it just to be an intimate occasion,” Lois told him. “Close friends and family.”
“Of course,” the man said with a slight smirk. “Since I was working with the General summer before last to protect your cousin, I imagined that would have made me an exception to the rule.”
She dearly wanted to kick him for his audacity. The fact that he had helped protect Chloe, who had been a witness in the trial to put his own father in prison was clearly irrelevant to him.
The two toddlers distracted her for a second, chasing each other around the garden. Kally had already got her pretty dress dirty. Shaking her head, Lois turned to look back at Lex, who was staring after the toddler with a strange kind of expression. Immediately her hackles went up. The bald billionaire appeared to notice her watching him and smiled.
“She gets prettier every time I see her. Must be her father’s good genes.”
Clark smiled, but Lois knew him well enough to know he was about to go into Papa Bear mode. He might have teased her about the way she had done the same with Bruce, but he was twice as bad. She decided the best thing to do would be to pull him away.
“Um, honey,” she said, grasping his arm. “I’m hungry. Why don’t we go get something to eat?”
He looked at her and nodded. “Okay. See you later, Lex,” Clark responded.
“Later, Clark.”
They grabbed some plates and helped themselves to the food. Clark leaned in to speak quietly to her.
“Thanks,” he said. “I was about to say something stupid.”
“Not stupid,” she told him. “Understandable. I thought you were about to deck him, actually.”
“Thought about it,” he replied.
He looked up as they heard the sound of a squeal, then laughed. Lois saw Jonathan had Kally in his arms, or rather, was hanging her almost upside down. The toddler was giggling, clearly enjoying the game.
“I know you worry Lex might try something,” she said. If she was honest, that was on her mind a lot, but they couldn’t wrap their daughter in bubble paper either. They had to trust her grandparents and her aunt, who had become even more protective of her niece, and Chloe, to take care of her when they couldn’t.
When she had first considered going to college, she had thought maybe she was being selfish, leaving her daughter with her grandparents, but all four parents had assured her that the best thing she could do for Kally was get her degree so she could create a good life for her little girl. Otherwise she could spend the next eighteen years working in a job that, as much as she loved her new stepmother, wasn’t fulfilling. If she wanted to be a good example to her child, she had to follow her own dreams. Not leave them behind.
“It’s not that,” Clark told her. “I mean, yeah, I worry he’s going to try to take her again like he did last year, but … I don’t know. I mean, I thought he was my best friend. For four years. How could I have trusted him?”
“People change, Smallville.” She remembered something Clark had told her months ago. That Lex had told him that their friendship had helped him fight the darkness inside him. While that might have sounded great on the surface, she often wondered if it was more that he refused to take responsibility for all the bad decisions he’d made in his life and pushed the blame onto Clark. As if her boyfriend was the bald man’s moral compass. As far as she was concerned, a person should be strong enough not to give in to their darkness.
They ate, continuing to watch the guests. Their daughter seemed happy enough playing with her grandparents, but they noticed she always gave Lex a wide berth.
About an hour or so later, Lois stepped out into the garden. She had been helping one of the maids clean up and had come out for more dishes to find Lex and Bruce talking. Both appeared to be trying to act cool for the benefit of those around them, but she could read the anger coming from the two men. They were clearly arguing about something.
Clark came over with a tub full of dishes.
“What are they arguing about?” Lois asked, nodding her head toward the two billionaires.
“Lex apparently found out that Bruce was working with my dad on something. I think he had his eye on the project and lost the bid to Bruce.”
“Given the state of his company’s finances, I shouldn’t wonder he’s upset,” she said, having just a little bit of sympathy for the man. She still felt that he had done it to himself, however. With the senate campaign and the various projects he was involved in, it was little wonder the balance sheet had taken a severe beating.
Clark went on to explain that the project Bruce was working on was something to do with a charitable foundation helping children who were unable to access a proper education. It had been a big part of Jonathan’s campaign. It sounded to Lois like Lex was trying to drum up some good PR by wanting to get involved in the project. That and he was probably hoping that if he appeared to be altruistic then he could hide his less-than-savoury dealings.
Lionel might have been ruthless and unethical, but that fact had never really been hidden. His criminal past might have only come to light in the past few years, Lois thought, but everyone she knew had always known Lionel was not the ‘gentleman’ he claimed to be. He could dress it up in a business suit, but he could never rid himself of the stain of having been raised in Suicide Slums.
Lex, on the other hand, was becoming adept at hiding his own unethical activities behind a veneer of respectability.
She started to step aside to let Clark take the tub into the kitchen when her father came out with Bubsy.
“You need to come with me,” he said, indicating both her and Clark. She frowned. He didn’t seem upset.
“Is anything wrong, Dad?” she asked.
“Just come with me,” he replied.
They followed him inside and up the stairs to his room. Or his and Bubsy’s now, Lois thought. There on the floor beside the bed were Kally and the little boy who had been the ring bearer, curled up on the sheepskin rug, fast asleep, their faces so close if it wasn’t for the thumbs in their mouths, they could have been kissing.
“Aww, I need to get a picture of this,” she said.
Clark laughed at her. “Why? So you can hold it over her when she turns twenty-one?”
Her father grinned and handed over his phone. “Already thought of that,” he said. She looked at the screen. He’d taken a snap of the two children.
Kally chose that moment to wake up and she stared at the adults in confusion.
“Mommy?” she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes. Lois bent and picked her up.
“It’s all right, sweetie.” She held her close and turned to Clark, who stroked their daughter’s hair.
“Getting started early, huh, Munchkin?”
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