Ties

For the twentieth time that night, fingers continued to undo and redo a black silk tie. The fingers worked quickly only to stop for a momentary reflection in the mirror and then restart what it had already done.

"You know the first time you did it looked fine," an amused voice said.

"Fine? I need it to look right, perfect…" was the frustrated response.

"Who would have thought the King of Plaid would worry so much about his appearance?" Clark only let out an irritated growl.

"Yeah well you don't have a five star general who's about to find out his daughter is officially off the market and without him knowing it."

Lois let out a laugh. "Relax Smallville, it'll be ok." She walked over and took his hand off of his tie and started to redo it for him.

"Ok? This from the woman who didn't want to tell her daddy that she was seeing me because she was afraid that he would find some way to lock me up or have you thrown in an institution."

Clark snorted, but relaxed as he watched Lois take over the tie. All evening he had been worried how the General was going to react to the news that he had proposed to Lois and more so that she had accepted. Lois told him that tonight was the perfect opportunity to tell their parents especially her father. It was too nice of a place for him to do anything to anyone. Clark would rather do this someplace else, like on the other side of the planet through a phone. Only Lois could convince him otherwise. He smiled at the thought that he would be spending the rest of his life with Lois convincing him otherwise on a lot of things.

He couldn't get over the fact that Lois was his wife or at least will be again. The past year had been an amazing and surprising ride for both of them. They went from "secret" friends to knowing that they were meant to be in a rather short amount of time. Clark looked at Lois in fascination, studying her face.

She was smiling as she reworked the tie for him. Her hair was now a dark brown having dyed it back to her original color. Lois had decided to do it spur of the moment and he thought it made her even more beautiful. Her brown eyes stood out more. She had let it hang loose in soft curls for tonight. His breath caught every time he looked at her. The dark red dress was flattering on her, especially since it was his favorite color. She caught his gaze and smiled even wider as she looked up at him.

"There!" She said as she moved aside to let him look in the mirror. He nodded in appreciation.

"Thanks," he said as he gave her a quick kiss. At least that was the initial intention, once their lips touched it went deeper and longer.

"Clark…" Lois mumbled as she tried to push away from him. "We should get going…"

"Yeah… I know…" He replied as gave her another quick kiss. "Let's go." He gave her a bit of a pout and led her towards the door. They were staying at the Metropolis Grand Hotel for the weekend. Lois was staying in a room with Mrs. Kent but had headed over to Clark's room to help him get ready when it was obvious to the two women that Clark was taking an awfully long time, especially with super speed at his disposal.

Lois let Clark lead her to the elevator and through the lobby. They were going to meet her father and his mother there. As they entered the lobby it wasn't hard for either of them to spot the five-star general who wore his best uniform proudly. Standing next to him was a stunningly dressed Martha Kent. She was wearing a dark blue evening gown. Her hair pulled back into an elegant French twist.

Clark walked over and gave his mother a quick kiss on the cheek. "You look stunning."

"Thank you Clark, you look wonderful too. Any troubles?" His mother asked with a wink. Clark could only blush a bit, not wanting to admit to his mom how long he spent trying to tie his tie.

"Sir." Clark greeted the General as he shook his hand. "Thank you for inviting us tonight."

"No problem son. After how much your parents and you have helped, this is the least I could do. I'm only sorry I didn't do this earlier." Sam said regretfully as he thought of the late Jonathan Kent.

Martha nodded in agreement. "He would have liked this." The four shared a moment of remembrance.

"Lo – you look beautiful." Sam said as he looked over at his daughter.

"Daddy." Lois said in return with an impish grin. "Don't look too bad yourself, new suit?"

He returned a quirked eyebrow. "Shall we go?" he asked as he led Martha out towards the door. Clark and Lois followed. The four of them stepped into the limo the General had ordered for the evening.

"So Clark how is it going? Anything you care to share?" Sam asked as soon as they were seated comfortably.

"Um, fine, uh sir. Nothing really." Clark said uncomfortably. He looked over at Lois nervously wondering if the General knew anything.

"Really? That's not what I heard." Sam replied eyeing the young man more closely. Clark began to fidget with his tie.

"Oh… um really sir? Uh, what have you heard?" Clark said trying not to stutter, although a squeak had passed through.

Lois couldn't believe a guy who was stronger than any man on earth always turned into a mouse when it came to the general. Maybe she shouldn't have told him about all those things her father did to her previous boyfriends, she mused.

"Clark, son I would think you would be able tell me these things now that you're with my little Lo." The General admonished. "Really after all the deeds you two have done this shouldn't be so hard to tell."

Clark gulped the only words that kept running through his head was "all the deeds you two have done." He couldn't possibly know what he and Lois did behind closed doors. Clark pulled on his tie to loosen it only to find it dangling in his hand. The General, his mother and Lois looked at the tie in surprised.

"I didn't think you would be this nervous about it." The General said startled. "Sneaking into the factory and saving all of those people. It was very admirable."

Clark's eyes widened. "Oh…" Martha looked at her son quizzically wondering what it was her son was really thinking Sam was talking about. Sam looked at Clark proudly although a little confused for his heroism. Clark blushed and just sadly looked at his tie.

Lois looked at the tie and Clark and burst out laughing. "All that time trying to get it right too."