Page 78 of Saving Little Clark

Uncle Will caught him effortlessly, fanning Alex's face with exaggerated concern. "Someone fetch the smelling salts! My delicate flower of a boy has been overcome by the romance of it all!"

Despite the happy tears blurring my vision, I couldn't help but roll my eyes fondly at their antics. Leave it to those two goofballs to diffuse a heart-wrenchingly emotional moment with their antics. But I knew it was just their way of expressing how thrilled they were for us.

Chapter 31: Clark

"Clark," Daddy rasped, and god, the way he shaped my name. Like a prayer, a benediction. Like I was holy, consecrated by the heat of his gaze alone. "Words can't even touch what you mean to me, from the second you crashed into my life like a comet. Like the answer to every question I never knew how to ask. I can't swear that I'll always get it right, or that I won't fuck up along the way. But what I can promise is that I’ll never stop trying. Stop working to be the Daddy you deserve."

He reached out with his free hand, tangling our fingers together.

"I’ve been waiting for the right moment for weeks now. Today only reminded me how precious every second with you is.”

And then he was opening his hand. Revealing the small, velvet box that had been clutched so tightly this whole time. "I've been carrying this ring around for weeks, just waiting for the perfect moment. But I realized - every moment with you is perfect, because you're by my side. So, I'm done waiting. Will you make me the happiest Daddy in the world and marry me?”

"Yes, Daddy," I breathed, the word tearing out of me. "A thousand times yes."

Daddy surged to his feet and captured my face between his palms, peppering kisses all over my tear-streaked cheeks, my eyelids, my nose, before finally claiming my smiling mouth with his own. I melted into his embrace, my fingers curling into the soft fabric of his shirt.

We finally broke apart when Alex's wolf-whistle pierced the air, followed by Uncle Will's chuckle.

"Fucking finally!" Alex crowed, actually jumping with the force of it. Pumping his fist in the air like he'd just scored the winning goal.

I buried my burning face against Daddy's chest with a giddy laugh, feeling his answering rumble beneath my ear. He stroked my hair and pressed a tender kiss to my temple before withdrawing just enough to pluck the ring from its cushion. With reverent fingers, he slipped the band onto my left hand. It settled into place like it had always been meant to rest there, a perfect fit. Just like us.

Uncle Will was clapping Brody on the back. Laughing as he caught me up in a bear hug. Murmuring gruff congratulations into my hair, pride and approval radiating off him in waves.

And Alex was everywhere. Leaping onto my back like a spider monkey, raining smacking kisses all over my face. Babbling a mile a minute, words spilling out of him in an uncontrolled flood.

About color schemes. Flower arrangements, guest lists and cake flavors. Gifts, each one more extravagant than the last.

"No, no, listen!" he insisted, actually stamping his foot for emphasis. "It's gotta be a whole theme, Clarkie. We're talking full-on Candyland realness, lollipop trees and gingerbread houses. Ooh, and the cake! A big ol' sandcastle, with superhero figurines on top."

He clasped his hands beneath his chin, eyes gone starry and wistful. "It'll be magical. A real live fairy tale, just for you and Uncle Brody."

Alex was going to stand beside me. Take his place at my wedding, the most important day of my life. Be the voice in my ear, the hand on my back.

Alex then reeled back to gesture grandly at Will, batting his lashes. "Gosh, I sure hope a certain someone was taking notes on that incredibly romantic proposal. I mean, not that I'm hinting or anything, but I wouldn't say no to a ring that could double as a disco ball, you know what I mean?"

Will barked out a laugh, crossing his arms and arching an eyebrow at his incorrigible boy. "That right? Maybe you should be saving up for that rock yourself, sugar plum, if you've got such particular taste."

"Puh-lease, we both know I'm too cute to pay for my own bling," Alex scoffed loftily, sticking his nose in the air. "I'm destined to be a trophy husband. It is known."

"Is that a fact?" Will drawled, fighting back a smirk. "I guess I better get a trophy case to display you in then, huh? Can't have you getting dusty."

Alex gasped in mock-affront, placing a scandalized hand over his heart. "The audacity, Daddy! I am not some mere object to be- ooh, actually, that gives me an idea for the wedding!" He whirled towards me and Daddy again, practically wiggling with excitement.

I exchanged a besotted glance with Daddy, overwhelmed with fondness for my kooky chosen family. Every crazy idea Alex spouted sounded more perfect than the last.

"Alex!" I finally interrupted, grabbing his flailing hands and giving them a fond squeeze. "Breathe! The wedding isn't next week. We've got plenty of time to iron out all the details. And I love you so much, Lex. I hope you know that."

Alex made a sound suspiciously like a sniffle. But his arms tightened around my middle.

"Of course I know, you absolute sap," he mumbled, words muffled but unmistakably wobbly. "I've always known, even when you were too far up your own ass to see it." A wet chuckle, his shoulders shaking with it. "But I'm gonna need you to put a pin in the waterworks, alright? At least until I can get you suited up in Tiffany blue and crying prettily at the altar."

Slowly, reluctantly, I untangled myself from the octopus sprawl of his limbs.

"I'm counting on it," I told him solemnly. Gave him a little shake, just to watch the grin widen impossibly further. "Gotta have my best guy there to pass me the tissues, yeah? Wipe my nose and tell me to man up, quit blubbering like a baby."

Alex barked a startled laugh, head tipping back with the force of it. "Oh god, can you even imagine? You'd ruin the pics, all blotchy and gross. No way those are going on the mantle, I don't care how adorable you are."

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