"Ouch," young Lois said, bringing her thumb to her mouth, "I pricked myself on the tack."
"Be careful," young Clark told her.
They were standing on chairs, hanging a 'Happy Anniversary' banner in the Talon.
"Do you know how appalling it is that I have to help prepare for my own surprise anniversary party and who gets married at this freezing time of year, anyway?"
"Well, since you are opposed to marriage in cold weather, I would guess we got married in a warmer month and it's that month in their time. I don't think it's really going to be a surprise. Your older self looked like she suspected Clark was up to something," he said completing his side and coming down off the chair.
"Of course, she did. Why else would Clark want her to go out with him, when they should be looking for Zod? Personally, I think they should put off their celebration until this is over."
"Why? I'm sure with their kind of lifestyle, there's never a perfect time."
"Gosh, we're talking about ourselves in the third person. How sad is that?"
Lois got her side hung and was ready to come down off the chair. Clark was there holding out his hands to help her down. She tried to get down on the other side but it was blocked. She sighed and held Clark's hands as she jumped down.
Clark grinned. That was one victory for him. He decided to push his luck. "How would you feel if I got me a pair of glasses?"
She swallowed uncomfortably and gave him an intense gaze but said in clear contradiction to her actions, "You'd look awful."
"Older me has a pair."
"And he looks like a nerd."
"How dare you call the father of your children a nerd," he teased.
"It's lucky they'll take after me."
"Let me make the batter," came Carol's voice from the kitchen. "You cook like Mom."
"Take that back!"
"It's nice to know being like Mom is an insult," Lois said to Clark.
"Only when it comes to your cooking skills," he told her.
"I know why you want to cook," Lilly said. "You're practicing your domestic skills for your boyfriend."
"Shut up!"
"Oh wait, you don't have one."
"Girls, don't fight!" Lois hollered. "I wonder where they learned it from?"
"Yeah, I wonder," Clark laughed.
Lois jabbed him with her elbow in the ribs and said, "Don't you dare pretend it hurt either."
Lilly came out.
"You gave up?" Lois asked.
"She's right. She is the better cook but don't tell her I said that. I'm going upstairs to work on my present for them. I went out to the store and brought the supplies for it," she said, going into the apartment.
"Come on, Smallville. Let's go blow up some balloons."
There was a knock on the Talon door.
"I'll get it," Lois said. "Can't people read the closed sign?"
She opened it there was a boy with light brown hair about 17.
"I got tired of waiting. I wanted to see if I could help," he said.
"I'm sorry you're tired of waiting but the Talon will be open tomorrow. This is a private party," she said, shutting the door in his face.
"Who was it?" Clark asked.
"Some punk kid wanting in."
He knocked again. "Mom, Dad! It's me, Jason."
Lois opened the door. "Of course, you are. Why wouldn't you be? Now the whole family is here to help stop Zod. You can start by blowing balloons."
---
Martha also came to help after work. They all shouted surprise, when older Clark and Lois came through the door. Lilly's present was a beautiful painting. In the lower right corner was Lois and Clark from the waist up with the Daily Planet logo in the background. In the upper left corner was the couple in the sky with Superman's cape fluttering around them. It had a light blue background. They both liked it.
"Jason and I got you a present too but it's not in this year," Carol said.
They ate cake and punch. Older Clark made a speech. "I wish I could say that we fell in love at first sight but it was a gradual thing. Love often gets confused with attraction or some ethereal idea or feeling. It's a little of those things but real love is something else. There's times when a marriage gets unbelievably hard but you don't leave. You care enough about that person to make it work and ride it out. Love is when you have kids and old age and you're still together. Love isn't easy but it's worth it."
After they were done eating and drinking, they played the music Lilly had selected for them to dance to. Everyone else sat out except older Lois and Clark. They danced to Whitesnake and country music. They were having fun. They laughed, as they danced to 'She Thinks my Tractor's Sexy'. A slower love song began to play and they got serious. Lois got on Clark's feet and they hovered as they danced.
"No wonder you can't dance worth a plug," young Lois said.
"Why?" young Clark asked.
"You have to be in the air."
When the married couple kissed everyone at the table said "eww" except Clark and Martha.
After the dance was over, the couple said they were going to leave a little early but that'd they meet up with everybody in the morning.
"I don't want to even think about where they're going," Lois said, after they left. "Well, don't just sit there people. We've got to get the place cleaned up."
About halfway through the cleaning, Lois said she was going for a quick walk alone. She took a deep breath of the cold, night air outside. The whole thing was rather overwhelming. It was still hard to believe she was married to Clark Kent and that they would have a lasting marriage on top of that. They fought all the time like Frank and Marie on Everybody Loves Raymond. Maybe that was part of the beauty of it. There was no bottled-up resentment between them. She was about to turn back, before they started to worry about where she was at. A pair of glowing eyes watched her.
TBC