His baby boy, his dark haired lad, the man he'd become that Jonathan Jerome Kent was so proud was now, himself, a husband.
He'd been honored and deeply touched that his only son wanted him to stand by his side as he married a woman whom he never thought he'd marry. A woman who'd made him more than a little crazy and whom he'd fallen so deeply in love, even though he knew he shouldn't have because it was against regulations to become personally involved with a witness.
But from the first time Jonathan met Lois there was a palpable spark between the young singer and his son, though neither could see it and the situation being what it was at the time, it was for the best.
Lois was unhappy with the circumstances when Clark first brought her to the farm, but she never complained because she knew it was for a good reason. She and Martha had hit it off right away and it didn't take long for Jonathan to see a mother and daughter kind of a bond begin to develop between them.
They had an ease with each other that he'd never seen his wife have with any of the girls Clark had been interested in while at Smallville High or at Central Kansas. And maybe that was why, because Lois wasn't interested in him.
And in point of fact, she resented him.
She resented him for interrupting her life and turning it upside down, though she never said as much. But Jonathan could see in the way she needled him and tried to get him to drop his professional facade that she was paying him back. It seemed to backfire on her however, because not only did Clark pay her back in his own way, but it also lowered their guards and they began to get to know each other.
Lois might have said, 'That was our first mistake.'
Their second 'mistake' was Clark involving her in his cover to fend off the attentions of a young woman he'd worked with at the Daily Planet. She'd made her interest in his son very clear and because he was the gentleman that he and Martha raised him to be, couldn't find a way to tell her that he wasn't interested in anything romantic.
That was until Lois walked into the Planet's newsroom so unexpectedly and gave Clark the excuse he needed to rebuff her; he was already spoken for.
And because of that, he'd seen how the seemingly innocent adjustment on his son's part changed the way he looked at his witness and how she looked at the 'G-man'; only Lois would give him such a name.
Martha had noticed it too and they'd talked about the wisdom of letting it happen. She'd told him about Clark carrying a sleeping Lois up to his room the night she'd arrived and their encounter the first morning she was there.
For not knowing each other, the way they talked to each other had surprised Martha. Because for all of the sarcasm that she leveled at him, he gave it right back. And from what she could see, he really seemed to enjoy it; though he could never admit it.
They'd witnessed together the evening walk Clark and Lois had taken the night they decorated the Christmas tree and how they seemed to unconsciously reach for each other and stay close while they talked. They were the gestures of two people who were growing comfortable with the other.
But in spite of his reservations of the propriety in their burgeoning relationship, Jonathan made the decision not to point it out to Clark. Because he knew that if he did, they might lose out on the opportunity to see what might be in store for them. And when it came right down to it, all he wanted was for his son to be happy.
So he didn't say anything when they would take walks around the farm, though his upbringing shouted at him to do just that. It wasn't proper for a young man and a young woman to be alone together without benefit of a chaperone, and he knew that his parents would be disappointed in him for not protecting the reputation of someone entrusted to their care.
But he had to believe that what he was allowing to happen was best for Clark. And if that meant leaving them alone in the house while he, Martha and Lois's father went to a neighbor's Christmas party, he was willing to take a gamble.
Their feelings for each other had developed so quickly and if they had been different people, he never would have done it. But Jonathan knew his son and knew that he wouldn't take advantage of the situation. And he'd come to know Lois well enough to know that even if Clark had tried, she would have set him straight in a hurry.
He had to admit to questioning his decision, however, when they had arrived home from the party and Jonathan got the strong sense that something serious had happened, that changed the way the kids looked at each other.
It was compounded by their actions early that morning when Lois surprised all of them, not the least of all Clark, when she sat in his lap and ate his breakfast. She'd done it after he'd gone into his room for a pair of socks and decided to wake her instead.
He and Martha wouldn't have known exactly what happened if Lois hadn't told her and ended up in a cold shower because of it.
He shook his head with amusement over that. Only Lois.
"So did Lucy and Michael get off all right?" Jonathan was brought out of his musings by the sound of his wife's voice.
"She did. But as anxious as she was to get back to Andrew, she wished she could have stayed longer to visit with her sister." Sam closed the door and walked to the fireplace, backing up to it. "It's gotten colder out there. I think it's going to start snowing again."
"Lois was so worried about that yesterday." Martha smiled. "She didn't want anything to get in the way of marrying Clark."
"My daughter would have walked through snowdrifts to marry that boy of yours." He laughed. "Believe me Martha, nothing was going to stop that from happening."
"Clark would have carried her through those snowdrifts because he wasn't going to let anything get in the way either." Jonathan smiled. "I never met a man who was so anxious to get married."
"And you weren't?" His wife raised an eyebrow at him, a habit she'd picked up from their new daughter in law.
"I wanted to marry you." He defended himself, even though he knew he didn't have to. "But one of the things I remember about our wedding day was how nervous I was. But with his own wedding day, Clark wasn't. He was so calm about the whole thing and that it made me nervous."
"That might have something to do with his FBI training." Sam observed as he pulled a cigar from a small humidor on the fireplace mantle. "He learned to remain cool under fire and stay calm in stressful situations because he needed to keep his wits about him.
"Or it could just be that he knew he would finally be able to take advantage of her." He added with a grin as he got a match from the matchbox, struck it against a brick in the fireplace and lit the cigar.
"Sam." Martha feigned a frown and shook her head as she took a sip of her coffee.
He tossed the match into the fireplace and chuckled as he took a puff.
"I'm just glad that Clark found her." Jonathan took Martha's hand. "She makes our son happy and that's all that really matters."
"And he makes her happy, don't forget that." Lois' father interjected as he took another puff. "That's no small feat, I can tell you. My Lo has never been the kind of girl to fall for smooth lines or a handsome face. When she was growing up, she got a lot of attention that she wasn't asking for. And she learned really early that there were boys who thought that because she had a pretty face, that she was the kind of girl to use it to her advantage."
"R and R?" Martha asked and the look on his face was one of surprise.
"Lois told you about that?"
"There isn't much that she and Martha haven't talked about." Jonathan told him.
He nodded in acknowledgement. "My point in telling you that was so you would understand that Lois became very discerning when it came to men, because she had to. And it's to your credit that you raised a son that she would let herself fall for."
"It's to your credit that you raised a daughter that our son would fall for." Martha returned the compliment. "He never made time for courting a girl before he met Lois because he traveled so much and didn't feel he could do it justice."
"Then he came home on assignment and got himself into a situation that couldn't go anywhere." Jonathan sighed. "Martha and I lost some sleep over that, I can tell you."
"I imagine you did." Sam sympathized. "I lost a few nights sleep myself with Lo working in some of those nightclubs. And I know that she can take care of herself, because I made sure she could, but I still worried something would happen to her. Especially when we weren't communicating much and I wasn't quite sure where she was."
"I don't think it matters how old our kids are, they're still our kids. Martha and I worried about Clark being so far away from us in Washington, worried that he wasn't taking care of himself. And we worried that we would get a telephone call from the Bureau telling us that he'd been injured or killed in the line of duty."
"That had me up at night." Martha commented to him. "So I was more than a little relieved when he came home for that espionage investigation."
"Then he got shot while he was off duty." Sam shook his head. "For something completely unrelated to his job."
"And we ended up getting that call from Lois." Jonathan nodded. "You would have been proud of her Sam, for the way that she handled the situation. Clark said that she was calm and kept her head."
"That doesn't surprise me." He smiled with pride. "She gave me a brief report on what happened, but I know she didn't tell me everything."
"That isn't necessarily a bad thing." Martha admitted as the telephone rang and Jonathan got up and walked toward the kitchen.
"I'll get that." He walked into the kitchen and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
"Mr. Kent, this Director Tom Kelly. I don't suppose that your son is still there?"
This couldn't be good."I'm sorry Mr. Kelly, but he's already left."
Jonathan heard a sigh on the other end of the line and had the feeling that his son's honeymoon was about to be cut short.
"I hate to do this to him and wouldn't if it weren't absolutely necessary, but we've gotten a directive from Washington to recall all furloughed agents. And that includes agents currently on their honeymoon."
"May I ask why?" He figured the Director couldn't tell him, but decided to inquire just the same.
"I can't go into detail, you understand. But suffice it to say that we've been receiving an alarming number of reports having to do with fifth column activities. Your son was aware of this and knew it could happen. "I told him I would do my best to keep his name out of the mix, but unfortunately I wasn't able to do that."
"So what happens now?"
"I'll be sending his orders to the Regent by courier as soon as we finish processing all of the assignments. For security purposes, we don't tell the agents what those assignments will be until they report. But I feel comfortable in telling you that I have a special assignment in mind for Agent Kent. "I'm not happy about having to do this to him, so I'm going to try and make this as painless as possible for him and for Mrs. Kent."
"Well under the circumstances, I'm sure he'll appreciate that."
"I hope so."
"Mr. Kelly, it's Christmas Day. Shouldn't you be at home with your family?"
"That's what my wife asked." He laughed. "But she also knows that these sorts of things can happen, being married to me. I imagine your son's wife is going to be wondering the same thing when he gets his orders."
"Lois's father is in the Army, so I don't think she'll be too surprised." Jonathan shouldn't have smiled, but he did. "But she's like your wife, she knew this could happen when she married my son."
"It sounds like he has a keeper."
"He wouldn't argue with you about that."
"Well, I'll let you get back to your Christmas. And I'll get these assignments out so I can get back to mine. Merry Christmas Mr. Kent."
"Merry Christmas to you too, Mr. Kelly." And the line went dead.
He hung up the receiver and walked out to the expectant faces of Martha and Sam.
"You were on the telephone for awhile." She observed with a frown of concern. "Is everything all right?"
"Clark has to report to Kansas City. Tomorrow." He sighed as he sat down next to his wife.
"Tomorrow?" Sam folded his arms across his chest in irritation. "They can't even get forty-eight hours for a damn honeymoon?"
"All the agents currently on furlough are being recalled for assignment, honeymoon or not." He picked up his coffee cup and took a sip. Cold. "But he said that he had a special assignment for Clark that would make it as painless as possible for him and for Lois."
"I don't suppose he told you what it was?" Martha asked.
"For security reasons, not even the agents know until they report." Jonathan shook his head. "So we should be ready to expect the kids tomorrow morning."
"Well, hell." Sam frowned as he tossed his cigar into the fireplace. "They waited all that time."
"I know Sam, I know."
oooooo
"Are you packed?" Jonathan asked his son as he walked into the room late the next morning.
"I'm ready to go Dad." Clark nodded and closed his suitcase before he pulled it off the bed and set it down.
"Lois seems to be taking this pretty well."
"She knew that it could happen, we were just hoping it wouldn't." He shrugged and then sat down on the bed. "Who am I kidding? I was hoping it wouldn't happen."
"I know that, son. But you said that Lois could join you in Kansas City if you were going to be gone for more than a week. And at least you won't be out on the road where she can't talk to you."
"That's one good thing." He sighed.
"And at least it happened after you got married." Jonathan pointed out the obvious. "I don't know that Lois would have been so understanding if the wedding had been postponed."
"We would have eloped." Clark laughed before he stood and picked up his suitcase. "Because after all of the waiting, she wasn't going to put off because of an assignment."
"Smart woman, your wife."
"And that's the important thing, Dad." He sighed with contentment as he headed for the door. "She's my wife."
"And one of these days, she'll be the mother of your children." He couldn't resist.
Clark stopped at the bedroom door and raised his eyebrows at his father. "You've been hanging around Sam too much."
"He's a breath of fresh air Clark, just like Lois was when you first brought her here." He grinned. "She shook up our quiet lives and made you happier than I've ever seen you. And I don't think I've ever told her how grateful I am for that."
"I think she knows."
"I hope so." His grin grew wider. "So do you think your first will be, a boy or a girl?"
"Dad!"
"Just thought I'd ask." He clapped a hand on his son's shoulder and guided him out of the room.
