A/N: My dear readers, find out why my betas call the McPherson twins torpedo monsters ;)
Busard, annabelsmith and Fk306 animelover, thank you sooo much for reviewing!
A huge thanks goes also to my betas!
24.
Clark managed to head back to Sydney after more than 24 hours.
The chief of the Metropolis Police Department had found strong evidence that Lex Luthor was still alive. Superman had been checking all the places the Metropolis PD had reported that Luthor had been hiding, but no luck. With not satisfactory outcome in sight, Superman decided to go back to Celeste and her family.
Crossing the Pacific Ocean, his mind turned to question what to expect with the McPherson parents as well. At the moment, he honestly feared more about Celeste's parent's reaction how to deal with the fact that their son-in-law to-be was the one and only savior of the world than Lex Luthoer. He hadn't had the time to contact his fiancé, but he had seen that Celeste had tried to contact him via his cell various times.
When he finally arrived in Avalon, it was two o'clock in the afternoon. He touched down in superspeed behind a huge tree so nobody could see him, and after waiting ten minutes, he walked to a taxi stand to get a cab.
He was thankful that Celeste had written him the SMS with his cover. International section of the Daily Planet, he thought. How on earth did she come up with that?
When the cab dropped him off at the mansion, Celeste was already waiting in front of the main door. Her expression was very serious. He paid the taxi driver, jumped out of the cab and hugged her tightly.
"I'm really sorry I had to go," he whispered into her ear before landing a light kiss on her lips.
"Try that to explain to my parents," she replied and he knew that she meant business. This would indeed be very interesting. "They are waiting for us in the lounge room," she added and Clark winced.
Let the party begin, he thought as he followed her into the house.
Her parents already had taken seat in the lounge room, drinking their afternoon tea.
Christopher smiled when he saw Clark. "Hey, I am happy you are back. Your editor-in-chief really is a handful."
"Well, Perry certainly knows how to get us to work," Clark replied, sitting next to Celeste on the sofa.
Heather only looked into his eyes.
Clark winced again.
"If I may," she began, turning to him. "What story can be so important that you have to stay more than 24 hours in the Sydney office of the Daily Planet?" she asked accusingly.
Clark shifted in his seat nervously. There was no way he could lie to his mother-in-law. "It was about Lex Luthor," he explained.
Celeste's eyes widened in surprise. "What?" she said, looking into his cerulean eyes with alarm and shock.
He nodded. "Yes. He is still alive. They found evidence about his whereabouts. Unfortunately it was a dead end."
A shiver coursed down Celeste's spine. When would this nightmare finally stop? She turned to her parents and saw their concerned eyes resting on her.
"Celeste," her father started to say, but her mother put a hand on his arm and turned to Clark.
"Honey, you don't have to worry about our daughter. Clark will make sure that nothing will happen to her. Right, Clark?" she asked, turning to the man in question.
Clark could only nod. He did not like the direction this conversation was going. He adjusted his glasses and set up a bit straighter. However, as soon as he opened his mouth to say something, his superhearing kicked in.
"Mommy, please help me!"
"Jack!" Clark yelled out surprised and supersped out of the house.
When Christopher and Heather finally realized what had happened, they looked to their daughter who could only manage to bite her lower lip and stall.
As he ascended in flight Clark tried to locate the cry for help from one of the McPherson twins with his superhearing.
After a couple of minutes he was able to locate the two boys. Apparently they had climbed up the cliffs located north of Avalon. Clark's breath caught at the sight that met his eyes. He found the twins, but they seemed to be in mortal peril. Jack had slipped on one of the cliffs. He was barely able to hold on and keep himself from plummeting into the rough sea underneath. Rick was desperately holding on his brother's hand. Both boys were crying and screaming for help. As Clark rushed in on the scene, Rick lost his grip on to his brother. Clark saw Jack falling down the cliffs, and sped down to the rescue.
Jack closed his eyes in fear. This was it. Why hadn't he listened to his parents' directions not to play in the national park?
All of the sudden, he realized he was not falling anymore. Even though he could feel the air whipping around him, he managed to open his eyes. The first he noticed was that he was somehow flying. Fascinated he turned around and looked into Clark's extraterrestrial blue eyes.
His jaw dropped as he realized that Clark had just saved him from falling into the ocean. He was even more stunned that Clark had wrapped an arm around his waist and was flying with him up the cliffs to his twin brother who had witnessed everything.
After he had x-rayed the area to find out if there was anybody near, Clark flew up the cliffs and touched down just next to Rick.
The twin who had stayed on the top of the cliffs looked at Clark with questions written all over his face. It slowly occurred to him who was standing in front of him.
Gee! It was really and truly Superman, minus the suit and plus glasses.
Clark put Jack back on the floor. "What were you boys doing?" he asked them in his low Superman voice.
The twins just looked at him, not sure what to reply. When the hero started to smile, both boys were more than relieved.
"We made a bet that I would not be able to look over the cliffs. Rick knows that I have a bad fear of highs," Jack muttered, still in awe of Superman.
"I am pretty certain that your parents already told you that it is very dangerous to hang out near the cliffs," Clark said.
Both the twins were very scared and pale. Clark did not want to spook them even more, so he held out his arms to hug them. The twin boys just looked at each other, and then jumped to hug his torso as both started to cry.
When Clark finally managed to call, Celeste was relieved. He had asked her to come and pick them up from the cliffs.
Heather could not stop arguing with her husband as they drove up to meet up with the hero and their twin sons.
"I always told them it's too dangerous to play in the national park," she said, totally upset.
"Honey, they are two little boys, what did you expect?" her husband asked.
"Well for starters, that they obey our rules. Imagine one of them had fallen down the cliffs!"
"Heather, I hate to burst your bubble, but Jack felt down the cliffs and Clark rescued him," Christopher corrected his wife.
"Bad enough," she snapped.
Celeste rolled her eyes. This was just great. Her mother was in her typical denial phase. How in the world would she and Clark ever get her parents blessings? Granted, Clark had saved her twin brother's life, but her mother was the most stubborn woman she had ever met.
When they finally arrived in the national park, all three of them jumped out of the car and after a walk of ten minutes, they finally arrived at the cliffs.
There they were. Clark was still sitting on the floor, both twins in his lap. One sitting on his right and the other sitting on his left leg. Both of them had their heads buried in his chest, a scene that melted Celeste's heart away.
Heather and Christopher ran to their sons and hugged them tightly.
"Mom, we are so sorry. We will never do it again. We promise," Rick grabbled to his mother while she was kissing the top of his head.
Jack jumped into his father's arms. Christopher picked his son up and hugged him too. He was really happy nothing had happened to the twins.
Celeste walked up to Clark who now was standing and watching the family reunion. She caressed and kissed him tenderly on his lips. Only when they heard her father clearing his throat they realized that they hadn't noticed the people around them for a couple of minutes.
"Thank you for rescuing my little brothers," Celeste whispered into her fiancé's ears when she had finally released his lips. He smiled.
"Clark, could my wife and I have a word with you?" Christopher asked.
The younger man nodded, well aware what would come next.
Christopher put Jack back on his feet and the young boy ran to Celeste. So did his twin brother.
"Are you really marrying Superman?" they asked in unison, more excited than Celeste had ever seen them.
Celeste looked up, as everyone, except the twins, seemed to be staring at her for her decision. Yes, she would marry him because she loved him more than anything on this earth.
"Yes, but you both have to promise me that you won't tell anybody!" And then she started to on a lecture that nobody could ever know that Clark Kent was really Superman.
Meanwhile, Christopher and Heather asked Clark to follow them a little ways off from his wildly gesticulating fiancé.
On one of the cliffs, they stopped and looked into the ocean. The sun was about to set and the sky was enveloped in the most beautiful crimson they had ever seen. When Clark stopped next to them, Heather turned her head to look at Clark.
"Thank you very much for saving the twins," she said sincerely and looked into his deep blue eyes. "I really admire your ability to help people with the powers you have. Your faith in humanity is beyond anything I have ever seen. You are a symbol of hope, and I have no doubt that your intentions with Celeste are sincere," she added her thoughts.
Clark ran his hand through his hair and nodded. There was nothing he could say, after all. He felt very much out of place. Celeste's parents knew his secret now, but what next?
Thankfully, Christopher looked up and began to speak. "Well this is the proof that my wife has a huge crush on Superman," he said with a smirk and with a more serious tone he asked, "Clark, do you love our daughter?"
Clark removed his glasses. He wanted to answer them as the man he really was
"Yes I love her from the bottom of my heart," he answered truthfully.
Christopher nodded and put his hand on Clark's shoulder, both of them watching the sunset. When the sun had finally vanished behind the mountains, he turned back to face Clark. "I know son," he said. "Welcome in our family. I could not wish for a better man for my only daughter. I know that you will make her happy even though you both will have to work on a few issues attached to your 'job'. But I know you will work through it. She is a very special, strong-willed woman and if Celeste is willing to sacrifice so much for you and vice versa, then we won't be standing in your way. We wish you all the best for your future. And to make this clear, you have to convince the twins not to spill who their new brother in law really is," he added with a big wide grin on his face.
Clark wasn't sure how to response to Christopher's speech. Unsure what to do next, he looked into Heather's eyes. She nodded reassuringly and smiled, pulling him into a big group hug together with her husband, indicating that they had accepted him and his heritage and welcoming him in their amazing family without any limitations.