I hope y'all enjoyed it and liked the happy ending. And I hope the happy ending made up for the angst that came before it.

This is the section I'm least confidant about. I have a specific concern, but I'm not going to say what it is yet because I want to see if I'm the only one who is worried about it or if other people come up with it on their own.

In any case, let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading!
Annie

Annie,
This was absolutely wonderful!!

Aw Annie this was so cute. Very nice little story. Laura

Oh, big WAFFY sigh!!

I just loved this ending. Especially the very end, when he says he's going to ask her to marry him and she says she's going to say yes. Perfect!!!

I also want to thank you for not keeping us on pins and needles for several chapters while Lois gets her confidence back. I'm glad Clark was able to talk some sense into her.

Wonderful job, Annie. Just loved this story from start to finish. Thanks for sharing.

Lynn

Lovely story.

Annie,
This was a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing!

I have a little problem with this last section. Don’t get me wrong – I love how you managed to resolve the cliffhanger from the previous section while supplying us with some WAFFy and steamy moments.

I just felt like Clark’s concern about making love so early in their relationship was not fully resolved.

Clark explains to Lois that he wants to take things slowly since he’s afraid as she can decide to end the relationship at any point. But, when she asks him to make love to her – without saying anything about her commitment to the relationship – he agrees. Now, I understand that they are both passionate people in a very passionate situation but, I would still expect this point to be resolved before they make love rather then after.


Avia

This resolved just perfectly for me.

I have to admit when Clark started with the "let's slow things down, and tonight has been emotional" speech, I got a tad nervous. Not that that isn't justified and hasn't been used well previously. But there she is - in love with him and knowing he's Superman and promising not to run and he is a man, not a machine!

er...that wasn't meant to turn into a rant. I was trying to make a point...kind of derailed.... And it's that I love how you turned that around. How first Lois gets to be scared and then Clark does. And in the end, they trust each other enough to take the step that's been coming in all three stories.

I like how you write, Annie. You have a gift with taking familiar ground and making it new and different, and in this case completely engrossing and sweet.

Thank you for such a nice read. I so enjoyed it,

CC

You solved the cliffhanger really well Annie

Jose

This was so wonderful!

WAFFY, fluffy, sappy, just what I like most.

Clarks speech of commitment and how he promises her to always stay with her almost made me cry :
“See, that’s our problem! Because I’m not talking about hearts and flowers and romance!” he shouted. “I’m talking about two people who love each other enough to make a commitment to work things out. I’m talking about sticking together when things get hard; working through the bad times. Lois, I can’t promise you that things will always perfect. I can’t promise you that we’ll never fight, or that I’ll never make you cry. But I can promise you that no matter what happens, I won’t walk away. No matter what goes wrong, I’d rather be with you than without you. I need you. You are the most important thing in my life, and I will never do anything to jeopardize that. Forever. That’s what I’m talking about.”
Best of all was the ending, when Clark announces he is going to ask her to marry him. So sweet!!

Thanks for posting this story
Julia

Annie,

What a great end to a wonderful series. I love it all! Lois's reaction to the gossip was perfectly in character and Clark's reaction was wonderful.

I loved the last part -- and it fits so much better in this context than in the other context I saw it in .

Hi,

Cute end. I wanted to see how the gossip was going to stop.

MAF

Thank you...Loved it...

Nice waffy resolution.

Good of Clark not to back off, but to make Lois verbalize her fears and in doing so realize how they didn't apply here.

Clark almost blew it when he got cold feet, but rallied back when Lois returned to him the courage he'd just instilled into her.

I would have liked to see a little revenge on the gossip mongers though. A little 'in your face' make out session back at the Planet might have been fun.

Tank (who feels it necessary to point out that, as good as this fic was, it would have been a lot better with a nice Lois haircut thrown in... well it would!)

Aww... that was so sweet!

OMG Annie!!!

S (who is running for president of "AnnieM's Fan Club" )

Annie

This is wonderful. Superbly written!

Congratulations on an excellent story. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Tricia

What a perfect ending! I love it:

And I agree with the other FoLC, there should be a sequel of sorts, just a little 'in your face' piece for the gossip mongers.

Are you game, Annie?

Seriously, I loved this story of yours. A perfect birthday gift.

Happy birthday, Becki!

Ursie

Just a quick note...

I'm enjoying all the comments so far and promise to come back later and respond properly, but I just wanted to address one thing quickly.

There seems to be a pertty big outcry for an epilogue that gets revenge on the gossipers. I've been thinking about this for about a week or so since it was suggested to me (I hadn't thought about it before because it never occurred to me). But I have to say that there is just no way.

First of all, I can't really figure out what they did to deserve revenge. A big part of this story is the fact that Lois is totally overreacting and blowing this out of proportion. No one was being vicious. No one was hoping that they broke up or launching plans to break them up. In fact, there was only one brief conversation about Lois' potential reaction should they break up in the future. For the most part, people were just curious because they heard how Lois and Clark were acting at the conference.

Similarly, if I did decide to get revenge on them, I have no idea how I could do it. They don't WISH Lois and Clark would break up, so it's not like they are going to be upset to hear that they are a serious couple. In fact, hearing/seeing that they are a serious couple probably wouldn't change anything anyway - it's not like that is a guarantee that they are going to be together forever. People would still have their doubts about how long they would last. I suppose I could set it way in the future when Lois and Clark get married and have someone say, "Wow, and to think we thought it would never last." But that's hardly revenge, and I can't really say that it's worth writing a whole story around that line. The only way to get revenge at this point is for Lois and Clark to start rumors about the gossipers, and I just don't see that happening. That's a very middle school response and it doesn't really solve anything.

Finally, I just don't think that's the point of this story. Lois and Clark have come a LONG way - not just in this story, but from the beginning of Playing the Part. I want the series to go out on a nice note - the idea that they have moved things to the next level and are going to be happy together and they don't *care* what other people say. I don't want it to be about them trying to get petty revenge for imagined crimes. I certainly don't want it to have a silly ending.

Thanks to everyone who suggested an epilogue. I do understand the desire to get revenge for Lois and Clark. And I wanted everyone to know that I thought long and hard about this before deciding not to write anything like this, which is why I posted my explanation rather than just saying no. I hope y'all aren't too disappointed.

Thanks,
Annie

Hey Annie,

I just caught up with this and it's great! I like the gossip that gets Lois scared. I like her decision to break up. And the conversation in the last part is fantastic too.

It's just a great end to the series.

As to the revenge for the gossipers, I agree with you. There's no need for that. However, I did miss (just a tiny little bit) a part where they came out as a couple to stop the gossip. Okay, you'd get other sorts of gossip then, but just to stop what got Lois so upset in the first place. And in all of the series, Lois and Clark hid their feeling from the rest of the world. So that's what I would have liked to see.

But the way you have it now is okay too. It's such a sweet ending with the 'proposal'! It would be a shame if you changed that.

Saskia

I agree that the gossips don't need further consideration - as you say, Annie, they weren't in any way malicious. It was just harmless office gossip of the sort you might find anywhere. If Lois hadn't been so lacking in confidence in her relationship with Clark, she might even have secretly enjoyed it.

This was a very nice finish. I'm glad Clark was able to talk Lois out of her fears - lovely, impassioned speech there! Though when he confessed to being scared himself I would have expected Lois to see more significance in that (ie there's nothing wrong with being scared, but also that she's far from being the only one in the relationship with fears).

Congratulations on finishing the series, Annie!


Wendy

Annie,
sorry I'm so late in responding
perfect ending to a wonderful story
loved it
merry

WOW.
I've been away from the boards for a while and couldn't believe that I'd missed this after waiting for it for so long!
The whole series has been fantastic and PFK definitely lives up to the others. The emotional scenes are beautifully written, and often had me almost in tears!
Clark telling Lois that he'd fight for her but let her go (in part 2), and his 'forever' speech (in part 4) were incredible writing, and the pre-proposal was perfect! Thank you for sharing this!!

HC

Okay, I know that it's been more than a month you posted that, but, as they say, better late than never

Loved this story. It was very beautiful and well-written. A perfect complement for Playing A Part and Playing To Win. You are really talented.

See ya,
AnnaBtG.