CHAPTER 1

On the way home…

Clark winds his way skillfully through the Metropolis traffic and doesn't stop until he reaches Lois' apartment building. After he parks her car in her assigned spot, he begins to make the long walk home.

He takes his time to admire the beautiful Christmas light displays he sees along the way. He stops in front of one house and smiles when he hears his all-time favorite, The Christmas Song, coming from inside. When the song is finished, he continues walking and soon comes across a small store called Sweetheart Wines & Liquors. He has a sudden inspiration and decides to go inside.

"I've heard that song before," he hears as he enters the store and walks up to the counter where an older couple was apparently having a 'spirited' discussion.

"What are you talking about? I see the way you look at her and it isn't right," the woman says in a terse tone.

"How do I look at her?" the man asks in a raised voice as he turns to Clark. "Can I help you?"

"A split of Moet," Clark tells him.

"Like a wolf," she replies.

"Like a wolf, huh? You've never seen a wolf in your life," he retorts as he gets the split and places it in a brown paper bag. "That's $11.99," he tells Clark.

Clark takes out his wallet and pulls out a bill. As he waits for his change the woman says, "I've seen a wolf in everybody I've met and I see a wolf in you."

The man comes back with the change. "That makes twenty," laying the money in Clark's outstretched hand. "Merry Christmas."

"And the same to you," Clark replies and grabs the bottle. As he starts to walk away, the man turns to his wife.

"You know what I see in you?"

"What?" she asks.

"The girl I married."

She's caught off guard and can't help blushing. Clark pauses in the opened doorway for a moment to watch the tender scene, wishing for a moment that he could have what they have. Sighing, he exits the store and continues on his way.

A short time later…

Clark crosses the street and arrives at the three-story corner brownstone that he calls home. He hears the sound of a dog barking coming from the partially darkened house as he climbs the stairs and inserts his key into the lock, then opening the door. "Hey boy," bending over to pet Shelby's head and ruffle his ears. "Guess what happened to me tonight." Shelby's response is to give him a quick lick on the nose before running up the stairs.

It must be him by Vicky Carr wafts through the air as he locks the door. "Dad?" he calls out as he sets the bottle down on the side table in the hallway

"Over here," a deep voice calls out from the living room, lit only by the gaily decorated Christmas tree in the corner.

Clark walks into the room. "Where's Mom?" he asks while sitting down on the couch.

"She went to bed early," Jonathan replies as he looks up at his son.

"Why aren't you in bed too?"

"I can't sleep any more. It's too much like death," Jonathan replies with a sigh.

"I see," Clark remarks, not really understanding what his father meant. "Dad, I have news."

"Alright. Let's go into the kitchen," he says as he lowers the footrest of his recliner and stands up. Clark gets up and follows his father into the kitchen.

Jonathan sits down at the head of the table and watches as Clark opens the bottle he had bought earlier and pours the contents into two old-fashioned champagne glasses, adding a sugar cube to each glass. Clark takes a seat to his father's left and hands him one of the glasses.

"Ti amo," he raises his glass towards his father. Jonathan looks at him curiously. "That's Italian for I love you," Clark explains.

"I know what it means," scowling slightly as their glasses clink.

"You look tired," Clark reaches out to lightly tousle his father's hair as he sips his champagne.

"What's your news?" Jonathan asks without responding to Clark's comment.

Clark takes a deep breath, slowly exhaling before he sets down his glass. "I'm getting married."

"Again?"

"Yeah."

"You did this once before and it didn't work out."

"She died."

"I know that," Jonathan retorts. "Don't you think I know that?"

"Of course I do," Clark responds in an exasperated tone.

"What killed her?"

"She got hit by a bus."

"No!" Jonathan exclaims. "Bad luck. Your mother and I have been married over forty years and nobody has died. You were married for only two years and somebody died. Don't get married again, Clark. It won't work out for you."

"It's not bad luck," Clark snaps back. "My marriage wouldn't have worked out in the long run anyway and you know damn well why."

"Because you're gay," his father responds.

"That's right."

"So why get married again?"

Clark just sighs as he takes a sip from his glass. "Because it doesn't look like my Mr. Right will ever come along and I want to have another kid before I'm too old to enjoy him or her. That's why."

Jonathan gazes at his son for a moment and notices the wistful expression on his face. "Who's the lucky woman?"

"Lois."

"Lois? Jonathan's eyes widening. "Isn't she the one that drives you crazy?"

"Lois and I get along pretty good," he replies in her defense.

"Why her?" his father asks next.

"She wants to have kids as much as I do. In fact, it was her idea to get married in the first place."

"So why isn't she here with you telling me?"

"She's on a plane to Washington as we speak. Her father had a stroke and-"

"More bad luck!" Jonathan shakes his head.

"It's not bad luck!" Clark insists.

"When is the big day?" Jonathan changes the subject.

"We've decided to get married on Valentine's Day."

"I won't come."

"You've got to come," resting his hand over his fathers. "You're the father of the groom after all."

"I wasn't there the first time," his father counters back.

"I know, and I'm really sorry about that," Clark says with regret while resting his hand over his fathers. "That was a big mistake. We never should have eloped and gotten married at City Hall without you and Mom being there."

"No," Jonathan shakes his head empathically and throws off Clark's hand. "Your big mistake was that you should have never married her. Period." Clark doesn't say anything, instead sipping some more of the champagne. "You know I'm right," Jonathan speaks up after a few moments of silence. "Why go through all that again?"

Clark looks up at Jonathan. "I already told you and I'm not going to repeat myself," standing up. "So you'll still come to the wedding?"

Jonathan rolls his eyes. "Let's go tell your mother," shaking his head as he rises from the table and heads towards the stairs.

Upstairs…

Jonathan opens the door to the master bedroom, the light from the hall dimly illuminating the bedroom. Clark follows him inside and they walk over to the four-poster bed. "Martha. Martha. Martha. Martha," calling out her name a little louder each time.

The bedside lamp switches on and she looks up at her husband. "Who's dead?" are the first words out of her mouth.

"Nobody," Jonathan replies. "Clark is getting married."

"Again?" she sits up. "Lois?"

Jonathan looks at her curiously as Clark sits down on the edge of the bed. "You don't sound shocked, Martha."

"That's because I'm not," she replies. "I always figured that Clark would marry her someday."

"I don't believe this!" Jonathan throws up his hands in exasperation. "Clark's gay. How could you believe that they would ever marry?"

"Because I know they both want kids and-"

"Well I don't like it," Jonathan interrupts.

"You're not gonna marry her, Jonathan," turning to Clark and taking his hand. "Do you love her?"

"No," shaking his head.

"Good. When you love them they drive you crazy because they know they can. But you like her?"

"I do," he smiles back at her. "We'll even have the big church wedding you've always wanted me to have," reaching out to touch his Mom's cheek. "And a big reception too."

"And who's going to pay for that?"

"Pop," he replies.

"WHAT?" Jonathan stares at Clark in shock.

Martha starts laughing when she sees the expression on her husband's face. "Clark, honey, I think you've forgotten that it's the bride's family that pays for the wedding."

"I already told Lois that I would take care of everything," he tells his mother.

Jonathan abruptly gets up and walks out of the room. "I have no money!" he yells out as he heads down the stairs.

"You're rich as Roosevelt. You're just cheap, Jonathan," she calls out after him.

"I won't pay for anything," he yells out again.

Martha lays her head back down on the pillow. "He never used to be cheap," she says. "He thinks if he holds onto his money, he'll never die. I don't know," sighing while folding her arms across her chest. "Something's been bothering him lately and I have no idea what it is. Do you?" she asks Clark.

"When I came home tonight and I asked him why he wasn't sleeping, he replied that he couldn't sleep anymore because it felt like death," Clark tells her.

"He's been talking a lot about death lately," Martha replies in a wistful tone. "I just wish he could talk to me about it." She stops talking when she hears It must be him playing again.

"Now he's gonna play that damn Vicki Carr record over and over again and when he does comes to bed, he won't touch me," she says in a weary voice.

"I'm sorry, Mom," Clark says softly as he leans over to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to see if Kara is up before I go to sleep, so I'll see you in the morning," getting up from the bed and walking towards the opened doorway.

"Send her and the family my love, alright?"

"Will do," he says as he starts to step out into the hallway.

"Clark?"

He turns around. "Yes, Mom?"

"Ti amo."

He smiles at her. "Ti amo," he says as he closes the door behind him and heads to his bedroom. After he changes into his pajama bottoms and t-shirt, he props up a couple pillows behind him and boots up his laptop. Once it comes online, he logs into Skypeand is happy to see that his sister is online. He clicks on 'video call' and waits for it to dial. "Hi, Sis," he says with a smile after it connects.

"Hi, Clark," smiling back at him.

"Did I wake you?" he asks as he settles back against the pillows with the laptop propped up on his lap.

"No, the baby woke me," she says while trying to stifle a yawn. "I couldn't get back to sleep so I thought I'd check and see if you might be on. I was going to sign off in another ten minutes if you weren't online."

"Well I'm glad you decided to stay on for a few more minutes because I have news. Big news as a matter of fact," he says as he takes off his glasses and sets them down on the bedside table.

"Oh?" one of her brows rising.

"Brace yourself," he hesitates for a moment. "I'm getting married again."

Her mouth forms an 'o' and she stares back at him with slowly widening eyes. "Wait a minute. Did I just hear you say that you're getting married again?"

"You heard right," he replies.

"Wow," shaking her head with astonishment. "So who are you marrying? That cute guy from the sports department at the Planet?"

"No," shaking his head.

"Then who?" she asks.

"It's Lois."

She starts to say something, then closes her mouth, then does it again. "I…ah…um…well…I just…" she stammers.

"You're not the only one to be shocked," he said with a sigh. "Dad was too."

"Of course he'd be shocked," finding her voice again. "What about Mom?"

"She wasn't surprised because she had figured on us getting married someday."

"Why would she think that?"

"Because she knows that I want to have another kid so…" his words trailing off.

"Don't you want to wait until you meet your Mr. Right?"

"He doesn't exist," shaking his head sadly. "Like I just told Dad, I want to have another kid while I'm still young enough to enjoy him or her."

"But, Clark-"

"No 'buts.' I've made up my mind. Lois and I are getting married on Valentine's Day so I hope you'll be able to make it."

"Of course I'll be there. We'll all be there. You're my big brother and I love you. Just let me know when you have the details finalized so that I can make the plane reservations and all that stuff."

"I will," he smiles but then finding himself yawning.

"It must be catching," she says as she yawns again.

"I guess so," he replies. "It's been a long day all around."

"You don't know the meaning of the word 'tired' until you have a three year old kid running around as if he has super-speed."

"I look forward to that," he answers back.

She smiles at him. "I know you're going to be a wonderful father, Clark."

"It means a lot to hear that especially coming from you."

"I meant every word of it."

"I know you did," he smiles back. "Well, I guess we should say goodnight."

"Okay," she replies. "Don't forget to keep in touch."

"I won't," he promises. "Don't you forget to give my niece and nephew a hug and a kiss from their Uncle Clark and from their grandmother."

"I won't forget."

"Love you," blowing her a kiss.

"Love you too," returning the kiss just before she signs off.

After he shuts down his computer, he turns the light off and pulls the comforter over himself and closes his eyes, a soft smile on his face while the images of his future kids dance in his head…

TO BE CONTINUED…