Allison K. Forbes <blue_eyes2143@hotmail.com>
Rated PG
Submitted October 1998
Summary: In this "what if" story, Clark decides not to tell Lois he's Superman until after the wedding. How will she react?
It could've been like this…
***
"I now pronounce you husband and wife…you may kiss the bride…"
Those words still echoed in Clark's mind after the ceremony when he was finally joined in life with the woman who meant more to him than his own life. He didn't take his eyes off his new bride all during the ceremony, and the reception. Mainly because she was so beautiful he couldn't have looked away if he had wanted to, which he didn't, and also because something in his brain told him,'Don't let her out of your sight…you never know what might happen!' He had decided not to tell Lois about Superman until after the wedding; he didn't want anything to ruin this day. So now the ceremony was almost about to draw to a close, and some of the guests were already departing.
"Lois, can we find someplace private? I'd like to tell you something." His heart was pounding as he led her to the brideroom.
"Sure, sweetheart," Lois giggled slightly as she practiced her new moniker for her new husband. 'New husband, hmmmm, I can definitely get used to this,' she thought. She followed him to the little room, and Clark closed the door behind her. When he turned around to speak, he found himself in a passionate kiss that nearly steamed up his glasses. When Lois finally released him to come up for air, he struggled to speak.
"Lois, I have something I need to tell you, something very important," he began. He looked deep into her eyes, the eyes that he loved so much, and saw her staring back at him with so much love it almost made the Man of Steel cry.
"First of all, I am sooo happy you fell in love with me, and I'm so happy you decided to share your life with me. When you told me you loved me and were giving up on the Superman fantasy, I wanted to scream with joy!" She just gazed at him, her face glowing with happy color. "But I have a surprise for you…" Keeping his eyes on hers, he slowly removed his glasses and ran a hand through his hair, smoothing it back. He waited patiently for her reaction. For a moment, she didn't say or do anything.
Then all the color drained from her face, and she turned as white as her ivory dress. Her newly ringed left hand flew to her mouth, and she gasped, barely audibly, "You're…you're hi-" The words were barely out of her mouth when her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed into Clark's arms. He watched in horror as the woman he adored fainted dead away, and caught her just before she hit the floor. He tried to support her upper body, but her arms fell limp at her sides, and her veiled head tilted back.
He listened frantically for her heartbeat, and was relieved it was there, but was terrified at how fast it was. He also noticed that her breathing had become very shallow, so shallow in fact that her lips were turning blue, and when he felt for her pulse, her skin was cold and clammy to the touch.
"Lois?! Honey, can you hear me? Lois?!" He gently shook her to try to wake her, but Lois was out cold, having been shocked into unconsciousness by the fact that her new husband, Clark Kent, was in fact, her old fantasy, Superman.
"Oh Lois, I'm so sorry." He cradled her limp body in his arms. "I never thought you finding out like this would do this to you." He gazed at her, guilt and fear playing on his face, and he sighed, "Oh honey!" He wanted to tell her about himself so much, but he didn't know she'd react like this, and then he quickly rethought it. "Oh, come on Kent! Did you actually think she would have a normal reaction when she found out she'd married Superman? Now who's being Galactically Stupid???"
Without thinking, he laid her body gently on the floor, and made a bee-line for the reception area to find his parents. "Mom, Dad, I need your help!"
Jonathan and Martha Kent were suprised when their son came bounding into the room and blurted that out. "Is everything OK, son?" his father asked, concerned.
"No, Dad, not really." He motioned for them to follow, which they did. When they got to the brideroom, Lois was still on the floor where Clark had left her.
"Oh my God! Lois!," Martha cried when they saw their unconscious daughter-in-law lying pale on the floor.
"My God, son. What happened?" They all surrounded Lois, and Clark lifted her into his arms again, cradling her.
"I told her I was Superman, or actually I showed her, and she passed out."
"Lois fainted when you told her you were Superman?" his mother asked, rather confused. She and Jonathan had assumed that Clark told her about his alter ego a long time ago.
"Yes," he paused, looking at his bride, and then back at his parents, "because I told her about five minutes ago."
Martha and Jonathan's jaws dropped when they heard this. "Clark, I thought you told her a long time ago! Why did you wait until now? Today?"
Clark pondered this for a minute and then answered dejectedly, "Because I didn't want Lois marrying Superman. I wanted her to marry Clark." He paused and shut his eyes in pain. "I guess I just made a 'super-mistake'. I can't believe I used such bad judgement! How could I do this to the woman I love?" He bowed his head, resting it on Lois's shoulder. His mother could see how much pain he was in and felt a surge of sympathy for him.
"Clark, let's not dwell on that right now. Right now we need to try to revive her." He lifted his head and realized that Lois was still on the floor. He gingerly gathered her limp body in his arms, her arms still at her sides and her head still tilted back, and turned around and laid her on the small sofa in the corner of the room. He smoothed her hair back and looked at her face while his mother went to dampen a handkerchief. She returned with the cloth and a small box.
"Ammonia smelling salts, just in case," she explained when he looked at the box confused. He turned to Lois, who was still deathly pale, and began to press the cloth to her skin. Her head just rolled slightly from side to side as he covered her face with the cool cloth. He fine-tuned his senses to listen to her vital signs; her heartbeat was steady now, he breathed with relief, but her breathing was still shallow, and her lips were now a gray-tinged pink. After about a minute or two of trying to revive her with the wet hankie, he motioned for his mother to hand him the box. Jonathan helped prop Lois up to a slightly more upright position, as Clark waved the ammonia under Lois's nose. For a few seconds nothing happened. When he did it again she stirred.
"Uunnhh."
Clark started, and watched her anxiously.
"Uuunhhh," she moaned again, and Clark caressed her cheek with his hand.
"Lois, honey? Can you hear me?" Her head started to move, and he could see her eyelids flutter, as did his heart. "Sweetheart, I'm here. Open your eyes."
Her head moved from side to side again and she started to moan, like she was having a nightmare…
*Lois, I'm Superman! I'm Superman!!!* The words just kept slamming into her mind like a sledgehammer, over and over. She felt like a lead weight had been dropped on her chest, and she found she couldn't breathe, and she just kept hearing his voice over and over, *I'm Superman! I'm Superman!* She could also see his face, or at least she thought it was his face, but she couldn't tell if it was Clark, or…him.
She started screaming, *"Nooo! It can't be! I love Clark! I can't be married to you! Nooooo!!! I gave up on my fantasy! This can't be happening! Please tell me this isn't happening!"* But all she could hear was his voice taunting her, telling her that her new husband was, indeed, Superman.
Then the weight on her chest eased up and she found herself taking in air. She also found herself listening to the voice that was calling her. It was a male voice, deep and soothing, beckoning her. "Lois…Lois, open your eyes honey, look at me. Come on, come back to me. Come back to me, Lois!" It was the same voice that beckoned to her when she had been frozen. But she remembered that when she heard the voice calling her back to life, it was Clark's voice, but when she opened her eyes, she looked right at…Superman! Oh, God, it was happening again, but this time, the truth was staring at her before she opened her eyes. The voice calling her back was Clark…but it was also Superman! She didn't want to wake up to this nightmare again, but she found she had no choice. Clark's voice was getting closer, and she saw the light getting closer. She was going to have to face the truth.
Her eyes fluttered open, and he smiled with relief. "That's it. Come on, honey, open those beautiful brown eyes and look at me. That's it." She could see Clark looking down at her, and could hear another voice behind her say, "She'll be all right now, dear, just give her some time." Clark nodded at the other voice, smiled lightly, and looked down at Lois.
She was almost completely awake now, though she couldn't speak. She just stared at him. Clark. Superman. Clark. Superman. How could she not have known? How could he keep this from her? And why the hell did he wait until TODAY to tell her? So many questions swam through her mind that she couldn't say a word. She just stared blankly at Clark. Her eyes wouldn't focus on him, so his face seemed to swim in front of her. She knew he was saying something, but it was like trying to hear under water. He would look at her, then at someone standing behind her, then back down at her. He seemed to be very concerned about her, he kept checking her pulse and feeling her forehead. She wanted to speak, to scream, to throw her hands in the air, but her limbs felt like dead weight. She couldn't move.
He started to speak to her again, but this time his voice was clear, as was the worry and concern in his tone. "Lois, honey, can you hear me? Talk to me sweetheart. Say something." He stroked her cheek with his fingers, and she felt safe again.
"Clark?" she managed weakly.
He smiled with relief. "You really scared me, sweetie. Are you alright?"
"What do you mean, Clark? What happened?" She looked at him nervously, struggling to remember. She saw him look behind her, and then at her again.
"You don't remember?" She shook her head, and he told her, "You fainted, Lois; you lost consciousness."
As his words sank in, she suddenly remembered what happened. One moment she was happy, and the next she looked Clark squarely in the eyes, and whispered, "Superman!" Her eyes went wide with the realization that this was not a dream; this was really happening. She started to sit up, and found herself getting dizzy again. Clark supported her, and she sat up all the way, and looked at him.
Martha leaned down and touched her shoulder. "Lois, dear, how do you feel? Would you like some water?"
She looked at her new mother-in-law as if for the first time. "Yeah, Martha, water, that would be good, water, that would be good…" her voiced trailed off and she just stared at the floor for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.
Clark looked at her, his concern growing. "Lois?"
She just stared at the floor for a moment, then looked at her hand and murmured, almost to herself, "I'm married to Superman. I'm Mrs. Superman!"
Clark groaned inwardly at this and turned her so she was facing him. "No, Lois, you're married to me, to Clark. This is why I waited to tell you until after the wedding. I didn't want you to get all excited that you were marrying a cape-clad creation of my imagination. I wanted you to marry me, the real me. That's why I didn't tell you." As if sensing her thoughts, he continued. "And no, it wasn't because I didn't trust you. I trust you with my life, Lois, and with my secret. I just wanted to make sure you married me for me, not because I can fly and see through things. I love you, Lois, with everything I am." He lifted her left hand to his lips and kissed her.
She was smiling at him now, having gotten over the initial shock and anger, and now all that was left was love.
There were tears in her eyes when she spoke. "And I love you, Clark Kent, all of you, with all that I am." She leaned forward and kissed him lovingly.
He felt like a lead weight had just been lifted from him. She knew, and she still loved him! He returned the kiss with a passion that engulfed them both. She wound her arms around his neck, and he gently pushed her down into the corner of the sofa. Her fingers entwined in his hair and he pressed his mouth to hers. She took the hint and opened her mouth, gasping when his tongue made its way in. She shuddered with delight and moved her tongue over his, smiling when she heard him groan. Her heartbeat thundered in his ears and he could feel her breathing quicken beneath him. He finally released her mouth and moved down to her throat, leaving a hot trail from her jaw to her collarbone and back up again. Her breathing started coming in short gasps and her hands started roaming his back and shoulders.
"Oh, Clark, ohhh," she panted. Her veil had come off somewhere in the middle of all this and was lying on the floor. Clark's tie having joined it a few minutes ago.
Things were really starting to heat up. Lois was trying to get Clark's jacket off and he was busily peppering her face and throat with kisses of built-up longing when there was a knock at the door. It didn't open immediately, so they had time to come back to Earth, and straightened their clothes.
Clark picked up his tie, and helped Lois reattach her veil. "Come in!" he called.
His mother walked in with a glass of water, noticed the flushed looks on Lois and Clark's faces, but said only, "Here you go, Lois. Feeling better?"
Lois took the glass and simply nodded, and started gulping the water. Jonathan was standing in the doorway, and saw the look on Lois and Clark's faces. "Well, Clark, I see you're still alive. You two still married?" Jonathan asked, slightly amused.
Clark looked at Lois, who looked like she wanted to throw the water in her face, and smiled. "Yes, Dad. We're definitely still married!"
Martha smiled and took the glass from Lois. "I'm glad, Clark. Now, your father and I will be outside if you need us. Come on, Jonathan." They closed the door behind them, looked at each other, started laughing quietly, and walked back to the reception room.
In the brideroom, Lois was straightening her veil, and Clark was redoing his tie. "I guess we should go back out there and thank everyone for coming.
"Good idea. After all, they have been to all our weddings, this was just the one that resulted in an actual marriage. We should thank them for coming," she echoed. Lois looked at Clark, and he looked back at her. They stared at each other and started laughing out loud.
THE END
The Beginning.