- - - Chapter Twenty-Two

Clark waited at the front of the sanctuary. Friends and family were assembled in the pews he was facing; everybody was waiting for the doors at the back to open up and let Lois in. Clark could see the familiar faces in the crowd, some of which he hadn't seen for years, but he wasn't focused on the crowd right now. It was all Clark could do not to use his x-ray vision and peek at her behind the door, he could hear her heart beating, knew exactly where she was standing. He'd been restraining himself all day and he was at breaking point.

The wedding march started, filling the vaulted hall with sound. If Clark hadn't seen the organist's fingers preparing to play the music he would've flinched it was so loud, but he'd been watching the man at the keyboard almost as closely as he'd been watching the door.

First Elizabeth, Lois's younger niece, entered with her bouquet of flowers with Jason, who was playing ring-bearer. Jimmy and Lucy came in next as the best man and matron of honor. Clark and Jimmy were in matching tuxedos, the only difference being Jimmy's black bow-tie as compared to Clark's pale blue, matching Lucy's bridesmaid's dress. Jason and Elizabeth had smaller versions of what their parents were wearing and were getting their cheeks pinched to an extreme, though people came away from pinching Jason's cheek with sore fingers instead of Jason getting a sore cheek.

Clark tensed with anticipation; Lois was next. He hadn't seen her since they'd woken up this morning, not even at breakfast.

She entered on her father's arm and took Clark's breath away. She'd chosen a strapless dress that dragged along the floor behind her for at least four feet as she walked. The bodice was decorated by hundreds tiny faux-pearls sewn in intricate patterns from the top to the waist. The pearls were concentrated at the center of the bust creating a swirling pattern that stemmed out to become the tendrils of pearls that trailed down the rest of the bodice. The skirt was untouched by pearls or embroidery, the fabric an pure white waterfall down to the floor, trailing behind like a white river. She'd opted against a veil, wearing her hair half pulled back from her face, the rest falling onto her shoulders and down her back in smooth, dark curls. The hairstylist, a woman Clark hadn't actually met, had decorated the curls on the back of her head with more faux-pearls.

Clark was having trouble breathing; luckily, he could hold his breath for a number of hours if he had too. He felt lightheaded anyway.

Then she was at his side, the general, in his dress uniform, handing her off with a watery grin. Clark gave a small smile to the older man before training his eyes back on Lois. Once they were there they couldn't look away, and neither could hers. They barely heard anything the minister was saying, they were much too busy looking at each other.

They said "I do" and kissed. Mindful of their audience, they didn't kiss like they wanted to, but they didn't hold back as much as they normally did in public. Holding hands, they made their way through the church full of well-wishers and, eventually, out the front door where they were assaulted by bubbles that Jason had insisted they hand out. There was a limo waiting at the end of the sidewalk, courtesy of Bruce Wayne, who would also be watching over Metropolis for Clark while he was on his honeymoon in addition to his usual duties in Gotham as a wedding present.

Clark helped Lois into the limo before going around and getting in the other door. It was spacious, which was a good thing because Lois's dress took up a lot of room and so did Clark's 6'4" frame. They looked at each other for a moment before kissing again, wrapping their arms around each other and pulling close. Clark was doing his best to keep Lois's hair in its perfect state, knowing she'd kill him later if he knocked the pearls loose or something even if she enjoyed what he was doing now. She didn't have the reservations for his hair, though; but then, he hadn't been the one sitting in the stylist's chair for three and a half hours that afternoon.

They arrived at the reception hall before everybody else, making their way to a back room where they could spend some time together before everybody else arrived. The first to get there was Martha with Jason in tow. He had taken his tie off, stuffing it in his pocket to his father's amusement. Martha held a tissue in one hand, pulling Jason along behind her with the other. She had her hair pulled back into her usual silvery bun, but wore a beautiful pale green dress that she'd bought a few days after she'd learned Lois was living with Clark. She'd never tell either of them, but she'd been able to see what they hadn't even then.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Jason said, rushing up to them.

"Jason!" Lois said, hugging him close before looking at him carefully. "What happened to your bow tie?"

"I took it off."

"Why?"

"It itched."

"Well, where is it? You should wear it to say hi to everybody so you look nice."

"But when I look nice they pinch my cheeks."

"Only because they think you look cute."

"Then I don't want to look cute, and anyways… I lost it," he lied. Clark smirked, walking up and pulling it out of his son's pocket. Jason frowned. "I still don't want to wear it."

"How about this," Clark said, untying his own bow tie so that it just hung around his neck. "We'll leave them on, but not tied so they're not itchy."

"Okay," Jason said, sounding a lot happier.

- - -

The reception went smoothly, to put it simply.

They had dinner, there were speeches and toasts, the clinking of glasses filled the hall more than once; so often, in fact, that by the end of dinner Clark's ears didn't even turn pink anymore. Jason only had one mishap with his x-ray vision, squeezing his eyes shut in the middle of dinner until it had passed. Clark kept an ear out for the city around them, but was relieved to hear Batman taking care of things.

After dinner they danced late into the night. Lois and Clark started it off, then they had a father-daughter dance for Lois and the general that Clark and Martha joined halfway through the song. Eventually, it was a free for all. Clark could tell that his mother was missing his father, but there wasn't much he could do; he was missing Jonathan too.

"He'd be so happy for you, Clark," Martha whispered to him while they danced. Lois was dancing with Jason not to far away, holding the little boy close for the slow dance and having a whispered conversation about all the things he was going to do at Grandma Martha's the following week.

"I know," Clark said softly back. "I still wish he was here."

"I do too," Martha sighed.

- - -

It was late by the standards of those with children when Lois and Clark left their reception.

Martha assured them that she had everything under control with Jason. She'd survived one young alien without knowing what to expect, she could survive another with the experiences from the first. She had plane tickets back to Smallville for the pair of them on a commercial flight for the following afternoon, and Jason's bags were already packed. Jason was upset to see them go, asking again and again if he could come with them to Paris.

"Goodbye, Jason," Lois said, ignoring his complaints. "Have fun with Grandma; we'll see you next weekend," she smiled, giving him a hug. He returned it grumpily, not wanting to miss the opportunity to say goodbye, but still wanting to be angry with her.

"Bye Jason, be good for Grandma," Clark said, hugging his son and getting the same reaction.

"Bye," Jason said to them both sulkily.

"Bye Mom," Clark said, standing up and giving his mother a hug. "Thanks for taking him this week."

"Of course, dear," Martha said, hugging him tight and not wanting to let go, but she did. She took Lois in her arms next. "Have a nice time in Paris you two."

"Thank you, Martha," Lois said, pulling out of the embrace to hug her son one last time.

They said goodbye to the rest of the guests, getting hugs and handshakes on their way to the door. They'd be taking the limo back to their apartment where they'd get their bags and Clark would change into Superman to bring Lois to Paris. They were taking a chance, especially with Lois still in her wedding dress, but they'd decided it would be worth it.

They landed in the empty alley a short walk from their hotel less than a half an hour later. They were both holding back huge smiles; they'd flown past the Eiffel Tower moments ago and had kissed, promising things to come. They'd never kissed while when flying that low before, it was too risky. Of course, Lois was in her wedding dress and Superman had kissed her… nobody had seen, though. Clark had checked the area as soon as they'd realized what they were doing. All of the other people within human sight were otherwise occupied and not looking to the skies at the moment.

They stood just looking at each other for a few minutes once they reached their hotel room. It was a luxury suite at a top-notch hotel. This was not coming cheap. But that was the luxury of having super-hero buddies whose alter-egos happened to be billionaires. Clark thanked everything worth thanking that the Green Arrow had put together the Justice League and that he had joined. He hadn't told Lois that that was where their funding was coming from and she didn't seem to care; he'd tell her someday, but they had more important things to do right now.

"There's not even a pink polar bear rug," Clark commented, thinking of the honeymoon suite they'd stayed in at Niagara falls so many years ago. Lois smiled. She didn't remember most of what had happened at Niagara Falls or in the time after they'd left, but she remembered the suite.

"Thank goodness," she said, she didn't want to think of what was probably living in the fake fur that creature was made of.

Smiling, Clark walked over to her, circling his arms around her and taking in her scent. "Did I tell you how beautiful you look today?" He asked, kissing the skin under her ear gently.

"Never hurts to hear it again," Lois whispered back, running her hands across his back and up into his hair.

"I love you, Lois," he whispered, trailing kisses up her jaw and towards her lips.

"I love you, too, Clark, so much," she whispered back before his lips found hers and they were both happy to stop talking for the rest of the night.