A/N: I'm officially at 100 followers! Woohoo! I'm so thankful for all of you who follow/fave and review this story. You guys are all awesome. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)
"Clark come on we're meeting our parents in fifteen minutes and you're not even ready." I sighed as Clark was just getting out of bed. I saw him whirl around the room in a flash and all of a sudden he was wearing swim trunks, a tank top, sunglasses and flip-flops.
"You were saying?" He cockily said as he put his arm around my shoulder and led us through the door. I stuck my tongue out at him and he smiled at me.
"You're a cocky SOB sometimes you know that right." He laughed and kissed my cheek as we made our way to our rental car.
"Do we even know where we're going?" He asked me.
"Yeah it's a little hole in the wall breakfast place. It shouldn't be too far from the beach that we're going to." I couldn't wait to get into the ocean.
"It'll be nice to get some sun. Being holed up in our hotel room for two days straight is bittersweet."
"Oh yeah I forgot you need direct sunlight. Sorry honey."
"It's alright. You're the best excuse I have. If I was able to I would spend every minute of every day in bed with you." He smirked at me and I felt my cheeks heat up.
"You and your damn endurance." I grunted under my breath.
"Hmmm? What did you say?" He was smirking even more now.
"Oh nothing. I'll drive." I took the keys out of his hands and got into our car. The leather seats almost burned my legs and Clark and me had to roll down the windows, as it was practically a sauna. I bumped pop music as we strolled along the busy streets of Kihei, Maui. I parked in a parking lot across the street and we dodged traffic as we got to the other side of the road.
We spotted our parents waiting for us at the end of the line. We gave each of them a hug. They filled us in on what they've been doing the past few days. They all looked ridiculously tan even after such a short time I was incredibly jealous. I wondered if I could still tan? Metropolis wasn't known for having the best weather and I was always so busy with work and other things I hardly ever had the chance to sunbathe. I would find out the answer soon enough.
We all ordered our breakfast and I couldn't wait to dig into my macadamia nut pancakes. Hawaiian food is the best. I almost drooled as we witnessed our waiter coming out with our breakfast and almost moaned when I drizzled the coconut syrup onto my pancakes. It was almost orgasm-worthy how wonderful my breakfast was. It seemed to me that I wasn't the only one enjoying this breakfast because everyone was fixing their attention on their food.
After everyone was delightfully stuffed, we all made our way to the beach across the road. I took Clark's hand as we dodged traffic and practically pulled him along. He may have been quick this morning getting ready but he was nowhere near as fast as I was right now. I could hear our parents giggling behind us as I was acting like a child dragging her unwilling partner towards the beach. I laid down our towels somewhat close to the water and stripped out of my clothes and down to my bikini. Lathering Clark and myself into sunscreen, even though I knew Clark didn't need it, I plopped down on my towel and was ready to see what the result of my own personal experiment would be. Being able to tan was so important to me because I have such a dark olive skin tone I don't even want to know what I will look like with snow-white skin.
As our parents were getting settled next to us I heard my mom gasp. When I turned my head to look at her and she just nodded her head towards Clark who was on the other side of me. I noticed Clark had taken off his shirt and was listening to his music as he soaked up the necessary rays.
"Oh my god honey if I knew that that was what Clark looked like I would have thrown you under the bus and tried to marry him myself." I glanced over to Clark to see if he had heard it and even though I knew he did, he showed no signs of hearing what just happened. I leaned in super close to her and whispered in her ear:
"That's not the only thing that's surprising." My mom's cheeks turned pink and she giggled like a schoolgirl.
"You really got the catch didn't you sweetie. Are there any downsides to that?" She asked as she nodded her head towards my husband.
"He's a really busy man and he's got some questionable friends but he's a damn near perfect man if I do say so myself." I grinned to her and she just nodded in appreciation.
"You guys are going to make some beautiful grandbabies." My heart felt like it stopped as I tried to keep my poker face on. A small smile hit my lips.
"Ma I don't know if we'll have kids. I don't think I'm capable of it." She grabbed my hand and patted the back of it.
"Honey, have faith. You never know what will happen." Internally I was rolling my eyes at her because she didn't know the real reason why I was saying that but for now she just thinks that my reproductive system was just a little wonky, not made of stone like it actually was.
"How is it hanging out with Clark's parents? Have you been a third wheel much?"
She looked over to them and smiled as she watched them settle in next to Clark.
"Oh no! They're wonderful people. They sure make me miss your father an awful lot but they have been nothing but accommodating. We're too old for there to be any third-wheel awkwardness between us. I'm glad I'm related to them and no one else. If you were to give me anything less in regards to family you would be my least favorite child."
"Ma I'm your only child."
"I know that just goes to show how mad at you I'd be." I barked out a laugh and lay back onto the sand. I flipped over onto my stomach and relaxed as the warmth of the sun beat into my back. I haven't been this relaxed in months and I was so glad I was able to spend this time with my family. It was weird acknowledging Martha and Jonathan as family but they definitely were now that I was married to their one and only child.
Once the heat got to be too much for my system I shot up to take a dip into the ocean. I stepped into the cool water and the waves lapped at my feet tentatively. My body relished the temperature change and I walked into the water, enjoying every moment. Once the water was up to my shoulders I dipped all the way into it and dove further underwater.
No matter how hard I pushed my arms out to get to the surface I wasn't making any progress. My body wasn't moving off of the sand at the bottom of the ocean. Kicking and wading my arms through the water wasn't getting me anywhere. I tried walking back up to the surface but the current was pulling me backwards. My throat almost closed up as the breath I had was suddenly gone. My vision became spotty as I kept trying to reach the surface but before I knew it my world had gone black.
"Jo come on baby wake up." The rich voice filled my ears. I tried focusing on that voice that seemed so familiar but for some reason I was drawing a blank. "That's it come on." My body surged and I felt warm liquid come up my throat and out of my mouth. Immediately sitting up I gasped for air and clutched my throat.
"Hey take it easy." The thick calloused hand was on my back and another was on my arm.
"Clark?" My eyes opened to find his wide and alarmed right next to mine.
"What the hell was that?" He quietly asked me.
"I don't know. I was trying so hard to return to the surface. I know how to swim so I don't understand why my kicks and strokes weren't getting me anywhere." I said low enough so only he could hear. I noticed my mom and Clark's parents weren't too far from us and they all looked frightened.
"I think you were too heavy to go swimming. You literally sank to the bottom and couldn't float up to the top. Sorry honey but you can't do that again." His words were swimming around in my head but I couldn't grasp onto anything but one fact.
"Who saved me?" I looked around looking for the lifeguard but couldn't find him or her anywhere. Clark gave me a deadpan look.
"Are you serious? I'm your husband now. I will always save you." He pushed my hair back from my face as I leaned back into him.
"But you weren't anywhere near the water. I thought you were sunbathing?" He snorted.
"I followed you into the water. Once I saw you wading through ocean I wanted to join you and mess with you a little bit. But once I saw people looking for you above water I immediately dived in. You scared the crap out of me Jo. Please don't do that again. I just got you, don't leave me just yet." I smiled up at him.
"Of course I won't. I just didn't realize that would happen. I didn't know there was that much of a weight difference from before. Thanks for saving me. You're my hero." I beamed at him and he just sighed.
"Yeah, yeah now let's get you safely back onto your towel so you don't scare me like that again." While he pulled me up, my mom, Martha, and Jonathan came up to me. My mom hugged me and then slapped my arm.
"Jovilette you scared the crap out of us! Don't ever do that again! What happened out there? You know how to swim!" I shrugged at her and tried to come up with a quick answer.
"I thought I did too but I must have got caught in the undertow of the current because I was so far out." I was praying that would be enough of an answer and when my mom nodded I knew I was safe and she wouldn't question too much. It's not like I could say it was a shark attack or anything.
"Well stay on solid ground for the rest of the day. We don't want you out into the water just yet. Clark's going to have to be your own personal lifeguard from now on, for crying out loud." Clark looked at us with his eyebrows raised and shot him a wolfy grin as I replied.
"He's a pretty hot lifeguard so I am more than willing to take that punishment." We laughed as we headed back to our towels and I was glad to get away from the staring eyes. It was a bit unnerving being passed out like that with a bunch of people just watching you. I grabbed Clark's hand and stopped him when I realized something.
"What is it?" He asked suddenly.
"If I don't get back into the water right now I may never get in again. This is how a phobia starts. Will you go back in the water with me? I promise I won't go out that far. We can stay at waist level." Clark sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
"Okay fine but you stay right next to me." Clark ran up to our parents to let them know what was going on and my mom looked like she was ready to blow a gasket but she reluctantly walked off with Martha and Jonathan. Clark grabbed my hand and together we marched back into the ocean. As promised I stayed at waist level and as Clark promised he was by my side the whole time. He even messed around with me by throwing my over his shoulder and dipping me into the water. Once he tossed me into the water I got back up and splashed him. He just grinned like an idiot and kissed me full on the mouth.
"I think I'm the happiest woman on the planet right now." I said as I looked up to him. "Thank you for everything, even saving my life." He bent down and kissed the tip of my nose.
"That's what I'm here for. I haven't been this happy in a long time. Thank you for reminding me I can be normal even for a short amount of time. I can't wait to start my life with you as your husband."
"I can't wait to play the wife role."
"Are you going to be ready to go back to reality in a week?" He asked as he wrapped his arms around me.
"No probably not but the world needs you. Unfortunately I can't have you all to myself, but I'm willing to share you." He laughed and then dunked me underwater and I immediately regretted my words after that. I spit water back at him and we continued to frolic in the waves. Soon enough we would be making our way back to the hotel and a little later we would be making our way to the airport and report back to resume our chaotic lives in Metropolis. Unfortunately we wouldn't know what was to come when we touched back down in reality.