Everybody, thanks for reading. Those who commented, thanks for letting me know what you thought.
Virginia, I never said that Clark’s dinner dates with those other broads (excuse me, women) were his first dates with them. I have been married for 38 years to the same woman – who is the mother of all my children – but I have known some men and women with kids who were dating. At that point, it’s pretty much a given that the other person is a prospective marriage partner, and the last thing a responsible single parent would want to do would be to marry someone who did not get along with the kids. And meals are great places to learn how other people interact with children, so it’s not surprising to me that Clark, who would be a great catch even at his age (about 50 in this point in this tale), would invite any prospective step-mother to dinner at his home. I didn’t mention it, but I’m pretty sure none of those others volunteered to help with the dishes.
Frame, thanks for the kudos and for the link. I still maintain that ‘irregardless’ is not a legitimate word despite its appearance in colloquial speech, just like referring to a characteristic of an unnamed individual as ‘their’ instead of ‘his or her’ isn’t legit. But that’s a windmill at which I refuse to tilt, seeing that it’s so oft-used.
Thank you, Annie. For the record, I’ve already been beaten up over a couple of my other stories, so I’ve grown a pretty thick skin out of necessity. And thank you so very much for thinking that it’s Kerth-worthy. That makes me all warm and fuzzy inside – WAFFy, even.
Thanks for the compliments, Morgana. As far as the timeline goes, remember that Clark and Diana weren’t strangers at the beginning of the five-month period. They knew each other from some super-missions and League meetings, so the courtship of five months for people who were already friends isn’t that short, especially given their ages. Older daters tend to marry more quickly than younger ones, partly because the ‘getting to know you’ phase goes quickly since older folks are more set in their ways and their vocations. There are fewer surprises to deal with.
Shallowford, I’m glad you stuck with it all the way through. I’m thinking of adding a spoiler button to every story from now on just so FOLCs will know when nothing permanently bad happens.
Thanks again, everyone! We’ll see each other on the boards again soon. And I promise, next time I won’t kill everyone.
