Irene found it odd to be in a family dinner with Cat Grant, sure she and her brother had been dating for a couple of months now but it didn't make it any less weird. Cat was her friend from work, and she would have never imagined her hosting a dinner at her brothers house. It all felt slightly unnatural even though everyone else around her was acting like it was the most normal thing in the world. 

"Well, Irene there's something Cat and I want to tell you." Angel suddenly stated once they were all almost done with dinner. Clark had just begun to poor Irene another glass of wine, but placed the bottle down as he noted the almost serious expression on Angel's face. 

Irene quickly looked over at Cat who had a bright smile on her face and seemed giddy with happiness. 

"You're pregnant?" Irene questioned immediately finding it the only reasonable expirations for Cat's behavior. Anyway she would not put it past her brother to get another woman accidentally pregnant, even though Mia was probably one of the best thing that had ever happened to them. 

"Oh no." Cat said quickly, and awkward laugh escaping her lips as she placed on hand onto of Angel's. Then hesitantly she raised the other for Clark and Irene to see and Irene felt all the air cuddly leave her lungs at the ring on her finger. The ring itself was simple, just a small diamond on a silver band, it was so simple that it didn't seemed like Cat at all. Catherine Grant was all about extravagance and luxury, but this ring was simple and much more her brother's style.  "Actually we're engaged."

Irene was silent and she was sure that her mouth was wide open in shock. It wasn't until Clark placed a hand on her thigh that she stood up abruptly, a laugh of disbelief escaping her lips. "Congratulations."

She stood quickly along with Cat and her brother as she gave them both tight hugs. The shock had not entirely left her system as she couldn't find anything else to say. It wasn't that she was upset or angry at the new, but it was simply so unexpected that she couldn't find any words.

Maybe it was because some part of her expected that their relationship wouldn't last very long, her brother and Cat were so different. Though she understood where that might have found common ground considering that they were both single parents. 

"I'm so happy for you both." Clark said, trying to save them all from anymore awkward silence. He stepped forward shrinking her brother's had and all Irene did was watch in silence. 

"Thank you Clark." Angel said with a wide smile, one that she was surprised by as Angel had never shown anything real emotion around Clark. 

When Clark stepped forward to hug Cat, she returned his hug tightly meeting Irene's eyes. "Oh my god." Cat mouthed as she squeezed the muscles in Clark's back before giving Irene and enthusiastic thumbs up. 

"When did this happen?" Irene finally questioned, wondering how long the two of them had been engaged without telling her. The truth was that she was also a little hurt by the fact that Angel had never mentioned wanting to marry Cat before. In fact, he hardly ever spoke to her about their relationship. 

"Last night." Angel admitted as he studied her reaction carefully. "It wasn't anything big or extravagant...."

"It was perfect." Cat encouraged as she then proceeded to tell the story for how Angel had spontaneously asked her last night while they were cooking dinner for the children. He didn't even have a ring yet, the words had just seemed to slip out of his mouth. And when Cat had agreed they had gone out to buy the ring just this morning. 

Oddly enough Irene was not entirely surprised by how impulsive her brother could be about these kinds of things. Although Angel had a rough exterior, he always tended to be a romantic. It was simply who he was. 

As they all began to clean up the table after the kids had fallen asleep on the couch Irene had once again fallen into silence, avoiding her brother almost entirely. It was mostly Cat who kept the conversation going, and Clark to would talk to her in place of Irene knowing that she was still processing everything. And Irene couldn't be more grateful for him them. 

"Irene?" Angel questioned softly and when she finally met his eyes, he gestured towards the door with a single nod. Without a word Irene followed him out the door and outside on the porch. It was unnatural for them both to be uneasy with each other, after all they were both so close. 

"So.... engaged huh?" Irene began not sure what to say about it all. She was happy for them, but that didn't change that fact that she was worried and hurt.

The last relationship her brother had ended so horribly, and although Mia came from that relationship that didn't change the fact that her brother had suffered immensely from it. Irene knew that Cat was a good person but she always tended to be a bit of a wild card. 

"Yeah, do you approve?" He questioned. 

Irene remained silent for a moment trying to gather her thoughts. It felt like life was moving too fast, her relationship with Clark and now her brother being engaged. It was so much change in so little time. "Don't you think you should have asked me that before you proposed?"

"So you don't think this is a good idea?"

"I just... don't you think it might be a little soon?"

"I thought so too." He replied, taking a long pause clearly trying to gather his thoughts and find the right words to say. It was like if he said the wrong things her was afraid that she would snap at him. "It was a hard decision because we have  Mia and Adam to think about. But I just know that it's her. She's the one. I know it might seem crazy..."

"It's not. It's not crazy." She interrupted not needing to hear the rest, she saw the love that he felt in his eyes. Irene had never seen him this happy, and although before she would have scuffed at the idea of that kind of love she found that she now understood it.

"Clark huh?" He suddenly said, and the sudden change in subject had her blushing. Irene had not expected the conversation to turn to her own relationship. And she was not sure how comfortable she felt talking about it with her brother. Not that she didn't trust him or value his advice, but it felt odd. 

"Yes." Irene finally admitted after a moment. Brining Clark to a family dinner was already a big step, but telling her brother just how much she loved Clark felt unreal.  "It's kind of scary how sure I am."

Angel placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she could tell from the stiffness in his shoulders that this was a little awkward for him too. He rarely asked Irene about her love life, not because he didn't care but because he knew that his overprotectiveness annoyed her. "He's a good guy. I'm happy for you."

"I'm happy for you. After everything that you've been through you deserve to be happy." Irene told him not loner wanting to talked about her relationship with Clark. The night was about his engagement to Cat and nothing else mattered. 

"I love you hermanita." He replied as he pulled her into a tight hug, and she realized that he was relieved by her words. That he had need her approval even if he hadn't come to her before making anything official. 

She returned his hug, and although she knew that he brother was marrying Cat out of love and all the right reasons she still had one lingering questions about their engagement. "You didn't get her pregnant did you?"

"No." Angel said quickly as he pulled away from their hug. 

"Not that I would mind another nephew or niece." She suggested looking forward to brining Adam, Cat's son, into their small family. She loved being an aunt, and spoiling Mia was one of her favorite things to do. 

"Maybe I should be the one asking for a niece or nephew."

Irene's eyes instantly went wide as she began to shake her head. She couldn't possible imagine having children of her own, she was at the height of her career and she didn't plan on slowing down anytime soon. Not to mention that it was a conversation that her and Clark had never had. "Not anytime soon."

"We'll see about that." He continued to tease, though he must have known that having children was currently not one of her priorities.

"How about we head back inside?" Irene suggested once again trying to avoid any conversation about her relationship with Clark. It was all still so new that she wanted to keep it just between them two for a little while longer. 

But with her brother's sudden engagement to Cat she found that she wasn't so afraid of her relationship with Clark moving too quickly anymore. At first it scared her as she had never felt something so intensely before, but she felt validated in her emotions now. That maybe she wasn't jumping in as quickly as she thought. Sure, marriage and children was something that she didn't want or need at the moment, but the prospect of it didn't seem to scary anymore. 

A/N: Here we go we've finally reached the end of book two. It's been a long ride so far but we still have a long way to go. Like I've mentioned before Book Three will be the plot of BVS which is super exciting because I actually really do love that movie. I'm going to continue to develop Irene and Clark's relationship as they face some real challenges. I'm also so excited to get to Bruce and Diana because they are just so iconic during BVS.