(For the fanfic100 topic "Diamond".)


"Mother, it worked!"

Lana turned gracefully from her canvas and smiled at her oldest girl. "Of course it did."

Laci extended her left hand, and Lana obligingly examined the flawless ¾-carat diamond ring. "It's lovely," she sighed. "Carl Brubaker is a real catch."

"The wedding's tomorrow, at City Hall." A tiny shadow of a frown tinged Laci's brow. "I don't know why Carl's in such a hurry now, after putting me off for so long!"

Lana chuckled, wrinkling her nose cutely. "Did he seem nervous?"

"Petrified!" Lana kept laughing quietly, and Laci added, "Mother, I know you said that Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder, but what exactly did you do?"

Lana reached up and unhooked the diamond earrings she'd given her daughter just before the girl's recent visit to her half-brother in Metropolis. "Me? Nothing. Don't let Daddy see these, by the way, until after the wedding."

Laci blinked cutely at her mother in confusion. "I don't understand," she admitted.

"Well, sweetie, both Lex and Lionel know exactly what earrings like these mean! But an elected official has certain limits, and besides, Lex married into the Kent family fifteen years ago –- his first thought was a shotgun wedding. If Daddy had seen these diamond earrings, Carl would be dead. You can't marry a dead man!" Lana explained cheerfully.

Laci's eyes got big and round. And people said her father was scary!