"Your parents are coming?" Carter looked at Clark and said, "Although we're a bit busy right now, they're still welcome. When are they arriving?"
"I'll be picking them up at the airport in an hour," Clark said, "I'm mainly here to ask if the cathedral is available now? They're both believers and have never visited such a grand cathedral. Can they tour and pray there?"
Carter showed some signs of hesitation. The church was very busy at the moment, having to coordinate a defensive layout, make wedding arrangements, and with a large number of people rehearsing wedding procedures, it was indeed not a good time for sightseeing.
But on the other hand, the church itself is meant for believers to worship, and one can't say that a wedding prevents people from coming. The cathedral isn't completely closed either, so if local believers want to use it, it should be allowed.
"It's possible," Carter finally nodded and said, "But you know it's crowded there, so make sure to pay attention to safety when you bring your parents over."
"Don't worry," Clark kept smiling, obviously, the joy of his parents' arrival overshadowed everything else.
On the way out of the Recovery Alliance Headquarters, Clark was still thinking about this. Since he came to the big city to work alone, he's rarely gone home, and even if he can go back, it's only those few days of vacation, quickly followed by a hurried departure.
Sometimes, because the distance was too far, even during holidays he couldn't return, and even after work, if he wanted to call his parents, the boss might call about overtime.
This time, his parents could stay for at least a week, and he could show them all the good food and fun things he's encountered in Forward York City, which they would surely like.
Thinking of this, Clark stopped. He turned into a flower shop nearby and bought a bouquet of sunflowers, his mother's favorite, bundled it up nicely with a bowtie, and got into the car, heading to the airport.
Clark didn't wait long at the airport before he saw two travel-worn figures. Martha let out a shriek and rushed into her son's arms. Jonathan showed a helpless smile.
"Mom, this is for you," Clark handed the large bouquet of sunflowers to Martha. Martha took it joyfully and kept caressing her son's cheek. Jonathan also patted him on the shoulder.
"So what's really going on?" Jonathan asked, "Your mom said your voice sounded like you were sick, what's wrong?"
"I..." A thousand words stuck in his throat, and Clark finally just said, "It's nothing now."
"Don't be like this, Clark," Martha said, "We know you've grown up, a little sickness or pain is nothing to you, but we're here to take care of you, even if you just twisted your ankle, you have to tell us."
Clark was still smiling, but his eyes were a bit red, he sniffed, and said, "Someone attacked me and shot at me, I don't know what was in that gun, but it hurt me."
"What?! You were shot?!"
"Oh God!!"
Both exclaimed in shock. Martha grabbed Clark's arms, checking him up and down. Jonathan's expression turned serious.
"I wanted to protect people," Clark said, "I thought I'd be fine, but I underestimated the situation. Luckily, the Rebirth Alliance rescued me immediately, I'm much better now."
Martha and Jonathan were visibly unconvinced. So they went together to Clark's rented apartment; after Clark joined the Rebirth Alliance, he moved to a bigger place, where his parents could completely fit in, so they didn't book an extra hotel.
As soon as they arrived at the apartment, Martha wanted to see Clark's injuries. Clark sighed and took off his shirt. But there's still a bandage wrapped around, obscuring the view. Because of this, Clark dared to show them, if the wound was directly visible, he wouldn't have let Martha see it, as his mom would have been heartbroken.
The fact of the matter is, he had never been injured since childhood; not only was his tolerance for pain low, but his parents' tolerance for his injury was also low. They couldn't imagine their sadness if they saw it.
"Diana took good care of me," Clark said, "She said another two or three times of medicine change and it should be fine."
"Why didn't you say it sooner!" Martha said while wiping her tears, "Our son was shot, and I was still at home fiddling with tractors and fertilizers..."
"It's okay, Mom," Clark hugged her, constantly soothing her, "The fields at home are also important, I don't want the farm to shut down due to poor management."
"What did the doctor say?" Jonathan asked, "That kind of dangerous substance that injured you, have they figured out what it is? Do they have preventive measures?"
"I've only heard it's some alien substance," Clark sighed and said, "The amount held is not much, probably lost to Earth at some point. But the culprit has been captured and imprisoned, so there won't be any trouble."
Jonathan slightly eased up, but still reminded, "You must be careful when you're out, since there are things that can hurt you, beware of anyone taking a shot at you, understand?"
Clark nodded solemnly. Then he cheered up again and said, "Don't cry, I still want to show you around here. Forward York City is a super big city, there's everything fun here, I've booked a restaurant, let's go eat first."
"Oh, by the way, remember to invite that Lady Diana." Martha patted Clark's arm, "I'd really like to meet her."
"Don't worry, she's already accepted my invitation." Clark said, patting his chest, "Tonight we'll eat by ourselves, and tomorrow we'll have dinner with her and then take you to the cathedral."
The family of three happily went to eat. Clark chose his favorite restaurant, which is a fusion of New York and Gotham cuisine, with generous portions and flavors, plus some inland ingredients that are hard to come by. All three were very satisfied with their meal.
Later they went to the beach for a stroll. As inland folks, the Kents really loved the sea. Jonathan even went for a couple of swims. They found a secluded spot, where Clark flew ahead, towing a surfboard, and took the two of them surfing.
After a day of fun, they went back and had a good sleep. The next morning, Clark heard some activity in the living room before he even woke up.
"What do you think of this dress? Is it a bit too country?"
"Indeed, polka dots aren't in fashion anymore. I think you should wear that champagne-colored dress. It's more upscale."
"Did you bring that golden tie? You need that tie to match my dress..."
"Don't worry. You asked me to bring 16 colors of ties. There'll definitely be one that matches..."
Clark, still drowsy, sat up. Rubbing his eyes, he walked to the door and saw the two dressed as if they were going to an Oscar ceremony.
"Oh, come on, Mom and Dad." Clark couldn't help but look up, "There's no need to dress like this."
"What are you talking about?" Martha leaned in and said, "Do you think healing and changing your dressings are easy? We ought to dress up a bit to express our gratitude."
Clark opened his mouth but thought about it; it made sense. Before getting injured, he hadn't realized he was so afraid of pain, and whenever he hurt, he flailed his arms and legs. If Diana weren't a demigod, she'd have been hammered out by him long ago.
The past couple of days had been pretty good; when he first got injured, if someone touched his wound, he would fuss for half an hour. Diana never seemed impatient; she always patiently coaxed him. Dressing up did seem a fitting way to express gratitude.
"Take a picture of us choosing clothes and send it to her." Jonathan suggested, "That way she'll know we're all dressed up and will choose suitable attire too; otherwise, if we're all dressed like this and she's dressed plainly, she'd be embarrassed."
Clark was taken aback; he hadn't thought of this. Jonathan directly took his phone, snapped a photo of Martha's dress, edited a message: "See how excited my parents are for our gathering", and added a smiley face.
After sending, the other side didn't respond for a while. Clark was a bit uneasy, saying, "Is it too abrupt? Why hasn't she replied?"
Martha couldn't help but roll her eyes, "Stop checking the messages, look at her social media account."
That's when Clark opened Diana's social media page and was surprised to see she had a large number of fans, and her latest post had been just posted. It showed her reflection in the mirror, wearing a beautiful deep red evening gown, captioned "Cheers to our gathering."
The fans below responded enthusiastically. Scrolling through previous posts, Clark found that most were about antiques appreciation and jewelry, making this Diana's first real-person photo post in about six months.
Clark felt a bit pleased; this indicated Diana valued him. Then Jonathan took the phone again, scanned it, and returned it to him. Clark saw the phone stopping at a comment under her latest post — "Is this a date?"
Diana had liked the comment.
Clark felt a bit puzzled. Martha and Jonathan exchanged a glance, sighed together, but said nothing.
Soon after, Clark put down his phone and went to change clothes. He did not wear his usual formal work suit but opted for something slightly casual. The color was light blue, with black-framed glasses, hair not entirely straightened, leaving some curls, giving a touch of sincere cuteness.
Martha was clearly satisfied, folded a pocket square, and tucked it into his pocket, then said, "Alright, let's go."
They set off together, arriving quickly at the reserved restaurant. They were early; a moment later Diana arrived. She was wearing a deep red velvet mermaid dress, accessorized with understated sea pearl jewelry, holding a bouquet.
She came over and enthusiastically air-kissed Martha, shook hands with Jonathan, her gaze pausing briefly on Clark, then smiling, said, "I didn't expect you to dress up quite appropriately."
"Of course." Clark gave a wide grin and went up to hug Diana. Diana handed him the flowers, saying, "Congratulations on your recovery."
Unexpectedly, the handsome man and beautiful woman hugging and handing flowers already drew the restaurant patrons' attention, and when Clark took the flowers, applause erupted in the restaurant.
Clark was surprised, quickly sat down with the flowers, pretending to place them at his legs but his ears had already turned red. Seeing this, Diana laughed again.