The Memoirs

Toni was a woman of science, and a woman of medicine. She had worked for fifteen excruciatingly long years to get where she was, had gone to the best school her money could afford, had graduated second in her class, and had gone on to fly through her residency. She was now head of Smallville General's ER, and though she still saw many patients, her expertise was mostly called upon on strange, and rare cases.

Smallville tended to have a lot of strange and rare cases.

Whatever the reason, she hated going TO the doctor. She hated knowing that they were going to poke and prod her, and worse--she hated it because she KNEW what they'd do. Which is why she'd only gone to the hospital after her second baby miscarried, and never stayed long enough to find out why the baby had died.

And here, Lex was telling her she'd had ectopic pregnancies.

He was still between her spread thighs, and she sat up on her elbows, watching him work.

He'd even warmed the stirrups. What a man.

"So you're telling me, the reason I couldn't keep the babies was because they were growing in my Fallopian tubes?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you," Lex said, concentrating on the final steps of the procedure. "By the time you miscarried, the babies had grown too large to remain inside the tubes and were expelled. Your uterine walls seem to be sturdy and well able to maintain a pregnancy, and depending on how this child is carried, I don't see a reason why you wouldn't be able to conceive other children through implantation, using your own eggs and the sperm of your chosen partner." Quicksilver grin. "Though you might want to have a doctor confirm what I'm telling you; I'm just a biological engineer."

"Engineer my ass. If I could sugar, I'd get you in the medical program at Johns Hopkins. I'll talk to people, if you're interested." She peered at him, shifting a little so the metal inside her was a little warmer, and she watched him work, the careful, easy hands of a good doctor. "I was always too chicken shit to go find out why. But this... it means later on, if your uncle stops being an asshole and we get married, we can have kids." She beamed. Just... just beamed. "That makes me happy, you know. Just had to have my favorite patients' son poke around and find out why."

The speculum by his elbow clattered to the ground. "Excuse me? My... my uncle?"

She rose a brow. "Watch it, sugar, you're gonna start making me think the man pokin' about my insides is unprofessional." But Toni's Cheshire grin spread across her face. "Graham, cupcake."

"Graham... is not my uncle." Lex dropped the speculum back into the sterilizer, and re-adjusted his crouch.

"Sweetie, Graham's your uncle. Ms. Lindy is your auntie, come to think of it." A pause. "Ewwww. Rosalyn is your grandmother. That's gross." But she smiled, anyway, and continued right on talking. "Graham's a good guy... just needs to get his head out of his ass. I mean, I'm an attractive woman." She motioned a hand. "I look good, I dress good, I take care of my body and I ain't stupid enough not to admit it. And yet."

Lex gave an involuntary shudder at the thought of claiming a single Senatori family member as his own, except for Lindy. Though with Lindy came Ellie, and Lex spent a few seconds weighing the options and trying to decide if Lindy were worth Ellie. "Dr. Braxton, I don't claim a single member of that family as being my relatives."

"That's a pity, Lex." She tipped her head, and wriggled a foot in the stirrup, to get a cramp out. "They're good people. Lot of people can't claim to be good, but they are, the whole lot of them. Not a single bad seed among them, except for Rosalyn, who I hate with a fiery passion." She tipped her head. "Your step dad's not so bad, either."

"They are. They're quite good people, and I agree with your assessment of Rosalyn; a boil on the ass of humanity is more my opinion, but that's just that--my opinion." He sighed. "Dominic... is different."

"How?" She tipped her head, and it was completely normal, for Lex to be poking around inside her as he was, and she really... didn't want to know why he had KY in the lab but it was good cause yeah, slippery. Regardless, though, she blinked questioningly at him. "How is it different? Cause he's got a goatee? Its a nice one, too."

Lex was quiet for a moment as he made sure his instrument was well slicked before probing gently, guiding the small camera in to make sure the embryo was where it was supposed to be. "He's not like the rest of them. He can be, I admit, but he isn't most of the time." A deep sigh. "And he cares about me. He always has, even when I've denied it, denied him, and been downright... mean to him. And he's been good for Dad. So... he's okay. And I worry about him."

"You totally adore him, don't you sugar?" Toni's brow raised, daring him to say no, and winced softly as he pushed in. "Careful with that, baby cakes. Been a couple of months since its been used."

"I wouldn't say I totally adore him, but I do care about him, and worry about him. About him and Dad both." Lex paused for a moment. "I'm going as slowly as possible; I'm sorry the camera isn't any smaller, but it's state-of-the-art as it is."

Sigh. Should have gotten off that morning, and damned if she hadn't known it for some reason. "its alright, honey. I'm just a little sore from before. Is it weird that I think this is a beautiful experience?"

"Weird? No, but I would say you're slightly strange. Which, around here? Fits in perfectly normally." He slid the camera in, and smiled when he felt the crest slip in. "Aaah. That's a good sign, that means there's no blockage." Lex nodded up at the monitor. "When I flip this on, it's going to look like an ultrasound; look for a large clump of white cells. That's the egg." He turned it on, and it whirred just for a second before throwing the picture up on the screen.

Sure enough, there it was, sitting there in her womb.

"Baby doll, you're talkin' to the woman who's done this more than you could imagine." A little giggle, and she shifted a little bit, making the image blurp a little, but then she stayed still and smiled. "Heeey. Hi, little Luthor baby."

"Just one minute." Lex flipped a button on the monitor, and in back of the machine, a strip of pictures started printing out. He'd exiled his father and Dominic to wait upstairs in the study, because he wasn't going to be crowded. "Let this print out, and then you're done. We'll let you shower upstairs, and then take you to the clinic, and let the doctors there check you over."

"Shower, doctors, and pretense. Check." But she was still smiling, and maybe she was crying a little, but she didn't say anything about that as she tipped her head. "I wasn't joking, Lex. Medicine could be your calling, sugar, and its not too late to go into it." Teeny feet bopped on the stirrups. "You're so smart you'd breeze through medical school."

Lex shook his head. "Dr. Braxton, I have three doctoral degrees waiting to be finished as we speak," he said softly. "I don't believe I'm quite ready to add medical school and residency onto that."

"Bullshit." And damned if she hadn't called it, but she didn't say anything else as she wriggled her hips slightly. "Alright, get your alien probes out, I'm going to go scrub this stuff off of me. How the hell do you and Clark use it, anyway? Its like greasing up a stuck pig."

Lex smiled softly. "We don't use quite so much of it as I used today, that's how." He withdrew the camera as quickly as he could, as well as the small metal spreader that had held her cervix open. He dropped the spreader into the sterilizer, and put the camera to the side, pocking up the printouts as he held his hand out to Toni. "Let me help you and your cast down."

"Its a damned bitch." She muttered, and gave it a glare... before being female warred with being a doctor. She... knew this couldn't happen, but… still. "....It won't… fall out? Right? I mean, please don't ever tell anyone I asked you, but... will it?"

"It won't fall out. At least, not for nine months. At which time, she'll be fighting to get out."

"Don't tell me that." She muttered, and lay back down for a minute... before back up, again. "Thank you, sugar."

"I think we should be the one thanking you." Lex moved to slide his palm under the heel of her cast. "Just let me know when you're ready, and we'll swing this sucker down."

"Alright. Give me a second." She was sniffling softly, and she was going to cry, but she was fighting it, as she wriggled her hips to get the opened, stretched feeling away... another hard sniffle, and she nodded at him, sitting up at the same time. "Alright, get it down sweetie. You got a robe around here? I'll bet you ten bucks they're sitting up there crying."

Lex carefully and easily swung the cast down to the floor, lowering it gently and standing up, holding his hand out to her. "I don't have a robe, but I do have a blanket that you can wrap yourself in, and I'll call Maria to meet us at the stairs with one."

"That's fine. " She fluttered the paper gown. "This is doing nothing for the naked ass, you know." It hurt a little to stand, after having been stretched open for so long, and it reminded her of the time she'd fallen asleep with an old lover still inside. Mother fucker, that hadn't been fun. She wriggled her hips. sighed and squeezed her thighs together for a moment, as she took Lex's hand, and her cane. "Wooo! Just like sex burn."

"That's a bit more information than I've ever needed to know." Lex picked up one of the blankets on the warming rack and wrapped it around her waist, and brought it up over one shoulder. "There. That should get you upstairs and into the shower on the guest hall, and your clothes will be brought to you there."

She chuckled at him, softly. "Lex, sweetie? you've just had your hand up inside my body. I think we're passed the too much information phase, sugar." She pet his cheek and wrapped the warm blanket around herself, tucking it close around her body, paper gown included, and started up the steps barefoot.

Fiery blush. "Let's never mention that fact again, shall we?"

The blush had her laughing, out loud, and she just rolled her eyes at him, reached up to kiss his cheek, and started up the steps once more. All the way up, and she was sniffling and smiling because this... it felt right. It felt right to have done this for two people who had something almost no one had, and she smiled as she opened the laboratory door out into the hall.

And just like she'd known, there they sat, on the hall bench, asleep against one another.

Damn. Damn, and the justification of what she'd just done only hardened in her eyes, as she gently plunked to a stop and leaned over to stroke the backs of her fingers down over Lionel's face, then through Dominic's hair. "Guys?"

Lionel coughed as he woke up, startled at the gentle touch but sliding his arm around Dominic, holding him steady as he woke. "Toni. Lex." He shook his lover softly, hating to wake him. "Dominic? Please, wake up."

Dominic's glassy eyes opened, and took a long moment to focus, staring blearily at the wall. He shifted once he remembered why they were there, and took in a deep breath as he fought to wake up, rubbing his eyes softly before blinking at Toni, standing before them. "Hi." He mumbled, and rubbed a hand over his mouth. "What happened? Everything 'key?"

"You guys awake?" Toni asked, a smile darting over her lips as she glanced over her shoulder at Lex, shaking her head with a chuckle.

"We're close enough to it." Lionel looked from the smile on Toni's face to the slight grin on Lex's. "It was a success?"

Lex held out the pictures he'd printed off. "It was a success."

"It was a success?" Dominic echoed, softly, as he looked at the meaningless papers... then looked at one of them, where Lex had drawn with a pen, around the embryo tucked against a wall of some sort, and oh, god, his fingers whitened as they squeezed Lionel's, jaw locking as he swallowed, hard, several times. "Oh, my God."

"Tell that to my cervix. It hates you guys right now." But Toni smiled again, and kissed each of their cheeks. "Poor kid is going to have one hell of an identity crisis. Made from two gay men, one of their twin sisters, and born from a feisty black woman. Poor thing."

Lionel's fingertip traced the red circle around the white lump. "This... Aurora?" He swallowed hard. "Aurora." His fingers were locked tightly around Dominic's. "This... this is for real?"

"As for real as it gets, sugar." Toni smiled at him, and kissed his cheek, then kissed Dominic's softly. "That's your baby girl, all comfy inside me now. I've got a history of miscarriages... turns out because I've been having pregnancies that the embryo attaches inside my Fallopian tubes. Lex planted her on the wall, so she's going to be just fine."

"Toni's going up for a shower now, and then we're going to take her to the clinic so the doctors there can double check my work and make sure the procedure takes. After that, they'll give her the pre-natal vitamins, and start scheduling the checkups and such. Also, Toni, they'll probably have you sign the same surrogacy contract that Melissa did."

"That's fine. I'm right on for the long haul." She smiled down at them again, and squeezed the tight hands they had clasped, smiling.

Dominic was just... he didn't know what to do with himself, and finally he let go of Lionel's hand and just... just wrapped shaking arms around his lovers neck, his shoulders, and his body, holding him as closely, as tightly, as he could, and rocked softly as his eyes flooded. He dragged one hand through his lovers hair, holding him close, and just… just shook, and rocked, and thanked God and mercy and anyone and anything else that was listening to them.

Lionel held his lover close, face buried in Dominic's neck as he cried softly, feeling Dominic's tears wet his skin as his own soaked his lover's. He wasn't thinking, wasn't doing anything but holding Dominic, thanking whomever was listening that Toni had been here, and he squeezed his lover tightly. "We're going to have a baby."

"Bullshit, I'm going to have the baby, you guys get the hard stuff." Toni said, but she just smiled and shook her head, giving them another kiss each and straightening. "Lex, my legs are so slick I could start my own slip and slide, here. Shower, I gotta have a cry myself." But she smiled up at him with glassy eyes, because the joy she'd brought was unspeakable, and probably one of the most amazing moments of her life.

"Baby, a baby." He whispered it, quietly, holding onto his husband as they rocked and held one another, and Toni was an angel from the heavens. She was, hereby, one of the best people on the planet, and her kindness, her willingness to do something for someone else just because she could, and he just... Christ, God, Christ, Jesus and he was crying now, silent, hard sobs into his lovers shoulder with the relief, the joy, the worry and fear and elation.

Lex nodded. "Come on. I'll take you up. I think my father and Dominic need a bit of alone time." He held his elbow out to Toni, and gently tucked the last of the pictures under his father's elbow. "This way."

Lionel's large hand cradled the back of his lover's head as he felt the sobs shaking Dominic's body, and he muttered soothing, quiet little nothings from his sore throat as he rubbed his lover's back.

"We... we're..." He looked up, then, as Lex and Toni walked away, and kissed his lover, once, twice, three times, then deeply, deeply as he could, winding his arms around his shoulders tightly and kissing him, over and over, as the relief washed through his body like a summer rain.

"Yes, we are," is all Lionel could get out, and he returned each and every one of his lover's kisses with one of his own, his hands cradling his precious Dominic carefully. "We're going to have our family."

"We're going to have our family." Dominic echoed, quietly, as his palms stroked over his lovers face, and found the same joy, the same elation, the same fear, in those eyes, and he laughed for the first time in weeks and wound his arms around his lovers neck, hugging him tightly to him again. "Christ, I love you."

"I love you, Dominic. I love you more than anything else in this world." He let his arms stay tightly around his lover's chest, squeezing hard. "I love you so much. You made this happen."

"No, Toni and her big heart did." He muffled into his lovers ear, hugging him tightly as he could as he laughed again, half joy and half sob because he was a mess, and he laughed again as he squeezed Lionel close to his body. "We're buying her every ear bob on the planet."

"We're buying her anything she wants in the world, including a small country if she so desires." He held Dominic tightly. "I came so close to losing everything."

"Yes, you did. But look. We had hope, little hope but hope nonetheless, and we came out on top, we came out and we survived and we have our baby girl growing in Toni, who has saved both our lives, and I don't think I could trust anyone who wasn't family more than I trust her. I think I even trust her more than I trust some of my siblings. She's giving us a baby."

"Yes, she is. She's giving us both our lives. Again." He held tightly to his lover, stroking his hair. "I love you so. I love her for doing this. I just... in this moment, I love everyone."

Dominic laughed again and let go enough to look at him, and though his face was haggard, splotchy, streaked with tears, rumpled and tired, he still laughed and rolled his eyes, rubbing his lovers face softly as he climbed to his feet, and offered his fingers. "I really love Lex."

"We both owe him... a great deal." Lionel stood up quickly, then wished he hadn't for a moment as his head swam. "This too will pass, and I will soon be despising the world again, but I can't. I can't right now."

"You better not." Dominic took his fingers, tightly in each hand, and looked up at his lover as all the pain of the previous night passed and was forgiven, all the fear and loss and horror put to the side, and he squeezed each of his husbands hands in his own as he looked up. "Come make love with me."

Lionel nods slowly. "Yes. But it has to be quick; we're going to the doctor with Toni, and she should be ready in less than half an hour, don't you think?" His fingers linked with those of his lover, and he stroked them with his thumb.

"Lionel." He squeezed his hands, and repeated it, a little more slowly. "Come make love with me. Stop worrying, stop....just come with me."

Lionel shut his mouth slowly, and looked down at his lover. "Yes. All right. No more worrying. I'm following you, and not thinking."

"See? Learning." But Dominic smiled, so softly, and took his lovers hand, leading him towards the stairs… then up it, slowly, linked with their fingers as they headed to their bedroom. It had to be clean by now, and if it wasn't they'd pick another one. Right now, right this instant, he needed his lover, he needed the pain to go away, he needed to stop thinking for point five fucking seconds and just be.

"I'm a fast learner." He followed his lover up the stairs, pushed their bedroom door open.

The room was clean, and the balcony was too, open to the soft breeze that blew cool, fresh air into the room, airing it out and slowly flipping the curtains around the door. There were clean bedclothes on the bed, and Lionel held the door open for his lover.

Dominic stepped through, and breathed in the quiet, lovely scent of clean. And with it, he looked up at his lover, and took his hand again, gently leading him in with him. "Not as fast as you think." He said softly, and slowly began to unbutton the buttons on Lionel's hastily thrown on shirt. Quiet, nimble, without a word spoken, his eyes on his husband all the while. "I love you. I love you more than life itself."

Lionel stepped slowly into the room with his lover, waiting until Dominic had undone all of the buttons on his shirt before rolling his shoulders and letting it fall to the floor in a rustle of cotton and silk. He smiled softly at his lover, leaning over to kiss his ear, nibbling it gently as he stripped Dominic's shirt off in return.

Dominic let out a quiet sound as he closed his eyes and tipped his head for his lovers nips, fingertips stroking down a long torso as Lionel worked on his own t-shirt. He muttered softly and ran his fingertips softly down his lovers shoulders, caressing the strong muscles softly before sliding down to gently touch a sensitive flank. Every time he did the little nipples peaked and hardened, and it was after tickling his lover into hardness did he wrap his lips around one and suck, softly.

Lionel dropped the t-shirt to the floor behind his lover, and gave a soft moan as Dominic drew a nipple into his mouth. Hard little sucks and Lionel whimpered with each one, feeling his cock jolting and stirring with each working of his lover's tongue.

It was one of the first things Dominic had noticed, so long ago. Lionel's nipple fit perfectly between his lips, when he sucked. So he continued doing it, the memory hot in his mind as he stroked down his lovers sides and around his waist, to gently caress his ass, continuing to suck at his lovers chest with pleasure. Listening to his strong, proud husband whimper with pleasure shot a stream of it through him, and he smiled around the little pebble as his fingers caressed the ring through the opposite one, gently stroking and tugging.

More moans, though they turned deeply guttural as his nipple ring was lightly tugged. Pleasure swam in his foggy head, and he bit sharply on his lover's earlobe to show it, thrusting his hips forward to rub them against his lover's crotch.

Oh, he purred, softly, stroking down Lionel's body, over his hips and backside, and traveled his lovers arms to his hands, laying over Dominic's back. He stroked them, softly, and led them down to his draw string pajama's, encouraging as his own fingers dipped down to slacks and unbuttoned, unzipped, and left them on pale, strong hips as his fingers dipped in to claim his prize.

Lionel pushed the drawstring down, pushing all of the pajama bottoms down until they bunched on his lover's thighs, and he wrapped his palm around his lover's hard cock. He stroked it firmly, moaning as his own cock was exposed to the cool air, wet tip shivering as Dominic's hand clasped around it.

"Oh, boy." Dominic whispered, as his eyelashes fluttered and his lover grasped him. He slid his fingers around his lovers, stroking it softly, twice, three times, before taking a tiny step forward and pressing his and his lovers together. He was only a few inches shy of his lover, and he rose up on his toes on every stroke as he groaned, quietly. His hand possessed both of their cocks and he began to stroke, firmly, mouth streaking over his lovers chest, lapping and licking nipples before leaving them for cold and hard. He went up, to the firm line of his lovers neck, and began to pepper kisses, bruising the hickeys that had already half faded back to life, nipping at his ears, his throat, his shoulder, as his body shuddered.

Lionel arched his throat, rubbing his cock against his lover, holding him close for a sucking kiss before he pulled away. With sure motions he pushed his lover back against the bed, then slid to his knees in front of him, swallowing Dominic to the root, licking and sucking as he went down until his hair scraped across Dominic's thighs.

"Ahhn!" Guttural, hard sound as his head and chest fell forward. He hadn't expected it, hadn't at all, and he gasped, hard, looking down in shock as Lionel sucked him. Oh, God he loved this, and he let out another hard, breathy noise as his fingers stroked through his lovers hair, over his back, touching, encouraging as the ripe pleasure swam over his blood. Just for a few moments, just a few moments, because he wanted to touch his husband, touch and hold him, and oh, God, this felt so good.

Lionel let his head move, sliding back to the crown before letting it fall forward, eyes closed to minimize dizziness as he sucked at the delicious organ in his mouth, hands bracing on his lover's thighs, thumb massaging and pressing in against the crescent-shaped scar.

"Uh, uh, G-God, L-Lionel, oh," Dominic moaned it, hard, his fingers stopping his lovers hand on his thigh as he shook his head, pulling his hips back so Lionel would look back up at him. "Up here. Come... come up here. Want our bed." He whispered, and stroked through his lovers hair again as he slipped back on the bed. Underwear and pajama's pushed off and forgotten, his fingers roving over his husbands shoulders and face, his back, as he scooted backwards and offered his arms.

Lionel pulled himself carefully to his feet as he slid down his trousers, kicking them and his boxers off to the side, sliding nakedly into bed beside his lover, into the arms offered as his mouth fastened onto a shoulder, nipping sharply.

Quiet, hard groan, as he rolled over with Lionel tucked in his arms and sprawled out over him. His lips returned to his lovers nipples, his neck, stroking his cock once more to get the blood hardening it further. His lips nipped over his body, over the strong muscles of his lovers chest and shoulders, and sometimes, when he thought about it, it shocked him. His body was made to love a mans, his lips were made to kiss Lionel's skin, and they… fit. Like two pieces of a puzzle, completely interlocked, from the ways they knew what to do with their hands when they were situating themselves together, to the way their hips fit, both when Lionel was over him, and now. Fit snuggling into the curve of his lovers crotch, fit like he was made for it, and he smiled at him as he licked and kissed down a warm body and his fingertips, with a mind of their own, gently stroked the soft, silky skin of his lover's balls.

Lionel felt their bodies melding together, as they hadn't in quite a long time. Dominic's body melted into his own, fit around the curved, stretched around the flat planes, and touching everywhere. His hands stroked Dominic's belly and chest, licking past his shoulder brought the delicious taste of his lover, their bodies grinding together gently as they thrust against each other.

Oh, yes. Dominic purred, like a jungle cat, quietly into his lovers throat as they began to stroke and move. They even had this down pat, orchestrated without thought, the easy, delicious thrust and how good it felt. He felt the rush of tingles move up his body, down his spine, over his hips and down to his crotch, which pooled with heat. His lips found Lionel's once more and he kissed him, deeply, fingers still stroking over his balls...then lower, lower still, tentatively, asking before he did.

Lionel nodded into the kiss, knowing just what his lover was asking. He spread his legs out over him, making access easier as he moved up, just enough, head bowed to suck on his lover's ear once more. "Yes, please," he whispered softly, still thrusting.

"Oh," He whispered on a soft murmur, stroking his hand over his lovers crotch, hips, and his ass. He gently slid a hand up under warm hips and braced them higher so he could slide down his husbands body and pepper kisses all over his crotch. Warm, gentle ones on the hard, dropping cock... tender, overjoyed ones down over the balls, and passionate, loving kisses over the tiny entrance, waiting to be stretched and filled.

Hard shudders ran up his spine at that, to be filled, and oh, his cock filled even harder as he murmured his pleasure. He didn't want to move but he had to, and he had something special for his lover that Bruce had given him, with the best of fun. Dominic had thought it odd, to receive a condom from Bruce Wayne, but now he knew exactly why as he snagged it, with its ridged, ribbed surface, from the side drawer, as well as a small bottle of slicker.

Lionel rolled onto his stomach first, pulling himself to his knees and spreading his thighs open for his lover. The rustle of the condom packet surprised him, because they hadn't used them since their first time together at the penthouse, but he didn't question it, just opened himself for his lover's touch. "Please," he murmured softly.

"No... Lionel. On your back." Dominic whispered it, softly. "I want to see you, beloved, I want to hold you when we make love." He climbed back on the bed, kissing his lovers spine and hips, backside and tiny little hole, and nodded it softly. "Please, Lionel."

"Anything." Lionel looked over his shoulder, rolling onto his back, hand busy pulling down a pillow to tuck under his back, helping to keep his hips elevated and legs spread wide in expectation.

The image had tingles racing over Dominic's chest and down to pool more heat in his crotch, at his lover, spread wide and waiting for him, and nothing he'd ever seen had been more beautiful than that. He unscrewed the bottle quickly in his hands and poured a decent amount of the slicker onto his fingers, before searching...finding...sliding in, deep. Just on digit, as his lips found his lovers and kissed him deep, mouth slanting and going in, deeper, harder, kissing him for all he was worth with wet mouth and hot breath and sloppy motions that made him smile because yes, he was a teenager again thank you. He murmured his joy and his pleasure as he pulled his finger out, and pressed two in, tenderly past the ring of muscle as he stroked in, firmly but so, so gently.

Lionel murmured into his lover's mouth. "Harder please," he whimpered, tongue thrusting into his lover's mouth, sucking and licking the wet, sloppy kisses, hands on his shoulders pulling him in closer, uncaring of the sloppy wetness, just bucking up on his lover's fingers, sucking the kisses. His head was spinning, in the best way possible, and all he could see around him was his lover.

"Soon, angel." Dominic whispered back, sucking the whimpers into his mouth as he stroked, in and out, in and out, opening his fingers inside his lovers body and stretching him gently but thoroughly before it was all he could take. He let go of his lover with one last kiss and sat up on his knees, ripping open the condom and not saying a word. Had to see. If he didn't like it, or Lionel didn't like it, he'd take it off, but he... had to see. No need to pinch the tip but he took it in hand regardless, and half pulled and half rolled the condom over him.

And whimpered, loudly.

...That... was very good. Very... very good, and his cock was almost electric to the touch as he slicked the already slick condom, making sure it was plenty lubed before he wiped his hands on his t-shirt lying on the bed, and lay back over his lover. He reached down, groaning again when he touched it, and panted quietly as he guided the tip into his lover, and pressed in.

Lionel couldn't help the moan that slipped out of him as he felt the ribs on the condom rubbing against the inside of his body. Harsh pants as he tilted his hips up, begging for harder and faster without a word, his hands sliding over to Dominic's hips and pulling him forward.

"Christ, yes, Dominic."

Dominic was...a little beyond words right now, as his lovers body tightened around the ribs rubbing him on the inside, and he gasped, panting for breath as he stroked in to the hilt, slowly but firmly, because he wanted in. And then he was, and his eyes rolled in his head as he groaned. "Oh, my God." He pulled back and thrust back in, and let out a cry of shock, wonder, delight, passion. Oh. My Jesus God and Christ.

He began to stroke, setting them on a slow pace...then harder and faster, because that's what his body craved. The condom doing good things to his cock, to his pleasure, and he broke out with goosebumps as he wound his arms around his lovers chest, holding him close as their bodies moved together.

Each stroke of his lover's cock inside him felt like a thousand fingers inside him, stroking at an angle against Dominic's cock, and he squeaked, and he wasn't shamed to admit it. He squeaked with outright ecstasy as his leg hooked around Dominic's waist, pulling him deeper, thrusting up to meet each push.

His fingers dug into the pillows, back bowed and body on offer, ass clenched like a vise around his lover's cock, because it felt too good to let him slide out, even for a second, and the heat and the friction were driving him insane and he squeaked again, beyond words.

The sounds his lover was making were akin to the ones Dominic was making. It was pleasure, pleasure so vibrant and deep that it wrenched at the pit of his belly. Lionel was arched in ecstasy below him and oh, God, it was the most beautiful sight he'd seen. He swooped down and claimed his lovers mouth for his own, kissing him hard as he sped up the thrusts now that he knew his lover was receiving the sharp edge of pleasure from it. Pounding, deep strokes that all but reverberated into his brain, his body aching as he thrust and moved, thrust and moved, short cries escaping his lips with each movement. A chant, in his head, yes, yes, yes, yes, and he could barely stand it as he covered Lionel's nipple ring and sucked, bit, tugged.

Lionel cried out into the kiss, fingers tight in the sheets as they arched and thrust together, his body pushing a frantic counterpoint to his lover's. Then, a hot mouth slurping around his nipple ring and he couldn't help himself; his hand flew to his cock, stroking and squeezing the hard, leaking shaft as he begged for more, for harder and for faster.

When his lover lost his control, lost his hold on his body, Dominic cried out in sheer, agonized pleasure, batting Lionel's hand away as he stroked his husbands cock, hard, stroking on each pull out of his lovers tight passage. He was in heaven, or hell, or both, and he thrust harder, faster, the bed creaking in the far edges of his mind but he didn't care, because this felt...this felt so good, so good, so good, and he was so fucking close. He murmured, murmured in what probably wasn't English to his lover, encouraging him with his whispered words of love as his eyes closed. Sweat all over their bodies, eyes closed tight, and pleasure.

Heat, sweat, slick skin and Lionel arched into everything. Rough pushes down, tight squeezes as his cock was stroked, fingers knotted so as not to hurt his lover, bright light behind his eyes as the ridges on the condom started to rub against his prostate with each shift of his body.

Squeaks turned into moans and then into groans, and he shuddered, his cock jerking, spilling out scorching seed over his lover's hand in hot, sticky spurts.

Oh, God, and the moment Lionel began to come Dominic couldn't even get a second to pull the condom off, because he came too. He pressed into his lover as deeply as he could and moaned, hard, as he erupted, his entire body quaking as he grasped his lovers arched body and just...animalistic sounds came out of his throat as he continued to climax, electric shots running up and down the synapses of his abused nerves that had him shivering, hard, and finally... moaning.

Lionel's brain had mostly shorted out after he started coming, but as he came back to himself, he was aware of many things. Pain in his throat, his chest, from where the tube had been shoved into him, exhaustion that lapped at the edges of his consciousness. His arm tightened around Dominic and levered his lover back against him, letting him collapse.

As soon as Lionel's arm came around him, tugged him, and said it was okay for Dominic to lay down, he did just that--collapsed. He fell against his lover with a hard shiver, a soft sound of pleasure, and so much exhaustion he could have cried. He didn't... couldn't move, shivering hard as he kissed his lovers shoulders, neck, throat and chest, so, so gently, and lay there, panting for breath he wanted so badly.

Lionel chuckled softly, feeling the limpness in his lover's body and knowing what it meant. "I know, lovely," he said softly. "I'm exhausted too."

He shifted and pushed up against one of the pillows under Lionel's head to brace himself, and smiled down at his lover with lethargy as he kissed him, gently, over and over, little peppering kisses in thank you for making this beautiful thing between them. He smiled, softly, and pressed one more kiss to his lips before slowly sliding out of his husbands little channel. He reached down and carefully pulled the condom off, tying the end and pushing it off the bed to clean up later as he lay back down on his husband, and groaned quietly. "Gooooood."

"Very good." He rubbed his lover's back, stroking through his hair, trailing fingertips over his shoulder. "I've missed having you fit me, like this. I didn't realize I missed it until now."

"Mmm." He whispered it, quietly, because he was falling asleep. No sleep, tired, so tired, the excitement, the horror, the pain, it was all catching up on him in this exact moment. His eyes were barely able to keep open, and when they were open they were cross-eyed and fuzzy so he couldn't see a thing. If he had enough energy to go get a cup of coffee its probable he would have stayed awake, but as it was, he just let his eyes fall closed, sleep beckoning like his lover often did. "Mmm."

"We can catnap until it's time for Toni's doctor appointment, then we can come home after it and seriously sleep."

"Yay sleep." Dominic muttered, quietly, and shivered once more in his lovers arms before sliding a little to the side, the brunt of his weight off of his lovers body, and tucked him and their blankets up and in close. "Love you, Husband."

"I love you, my husband." He brought Dominic's hand back to rest over his chest, over his heart. "I love you so much."

"Me too. I love you." He whispered to his lover, and oh, he wanted to sleep, so much, but kept himself awake simply by the power of his will. "If we weren't married, after that, would so be flying to Nevada."

Lionel had to laugh, as his eyelids fell closed against his will. "Las Vegas' drive-by chapels? Five minutes to a marriage?"

"It would be a theme, you know." Dominic chuckled back into his lovers throat, as he let his head roll closer, snuggled in. "We could have an Elvis Presley marriage." He'd do a terrible imitation, if he wasn't totally exhausted. "You know, I was thinking. We should bring my sheets and pillows from the apartment. They're much floofier, you know."

One eye pried open. "Floofier?"

"Mmm. Not fluffy, not poofy... floofy."

"As long as they're not terrible, eye-hurting patterns or anything with smiley faces on them, then I've no problem with the sheets and pillows coming over."

He pretended to snap his fingers, and snickered into his lovers neck. "So much for that."

"I do hope you're not serious."

"Of course I'm not. Patterns give me headaches." Dominic was so close to falling asleep that all it was going to take was five seconds of silence and he was going to be gone.

Lionel's eyes fell shut again, and he struggled to open them back. His brain was nearly devoid of conversation, but he pried one eyelid open. "Goodnight," was the only word he had left.

A slew of drowsy giggles. "it's morning, 'diot." But that was all he had left to say, because only a few moments later....a quiet, soft snore slid from him, and he fell deeply into dreams.

Lionel didn't even muster up the strength to argue. The soft snore was his answer, and it took only seconds for him to fall deeply asleep.

- = - = -

Gabe was pacing in the kitchen. It was going on twelve noon, now, and he had expected Chloe home twelve hours ago. No phone call, nothing from her or Lex telling him why she was late, when she was going to be home, or anything like that.

Not a goddamned word. And Gabe Sullivan thought himself a reasonable man, in most things, but this was completely unacceptable. Chloe was going completely out of control, and he didn't like one bit that Lex Luthor seemed to be helping her out.

He knew Chloe's cell phone--he paid for it, he should know the number by heart as much as he called it to find her--and he picked up the phone in the kitchen, dialing the number angrily and waiting for her to pick up.

Her boyfriend was unconscious.

She'd had a bitter cry, and another fight with God to add to the many. She was in pain, but she was overjoyed at the same time, and the balance inside of her was driving her insane. So happy, because a little baby was growing inside of her that belonged to this man, who she loved so much. So sad, because he was going through something she couldn't even imagine going through. Because as much as she said it, she didn't hate her dad. She loved him, even when he was being a snot to her; she loved him, even when she brought nothing but dishonor to him, nothing but shame for who she was.

Chloe wished that someday, someday, she'd be able to look into the mirror and like who she saw.

And it was the fleeting thought running through her mind when her cell phone rumbled on the bedside table, vibrating against the wood quietly. She reached from the chair she had slunk in beside the bed and opened it, pressing it to her ear. "Hello."

"Young lady, where the hell are you and what do you think you're doing?" He'd meant for it to sound stern, he really did, but the relief at hearing her voice and knowing that she was okay flooded the sternness with happiness and relief. "You were supposed to be home twelve hours ago, Chloe Dawn."

"I'm at Lex's house, dad." She'd completely forgotten. Completely. Whitney's arms had been there, and she'd been tired and full of pizza and coke, and she just rubbed her face softly, sighing quietly. It was just turning 11, and she looked at the red numbers on the clock for a moment. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? Sorry does not cut it, young lady, not by a long shot. You are grounded, and yet, I let you go out with your friends, despite my better judgment, and you do nothing but abuse that privilege! You stay out all night, don't bother to call, don't bother to let me know what is going on with you! I am disappointed in you, Chloe! Very disappointed in you! What were you thinking, staying out all night without calling me? I want you home right now, young lady. This moment. What is going on there that is so important that you couldn't call me?"

"Whitney's mama died, dad." Chloe answered it, quietly, softly, as she watched her lover sleep. "She was killed in a car accident at five thirty this morning, as she was leaving a Dunkin Donuts parking lot. A tanker, with a drunk driver, hit her gas tank, and both tanker and car exploded. She's dead. There's barely anything left to send home." So Whitney had whispered to her, whispered to her as he'd been falling asleep, roused with soft sobs and falling back to sleep, twice, three times, and the haunted expression in his innocent, beautiful blue eyes would be something she never forgot.

Gabe nearly dropped the phone. "Lorry?" He felt for the nearest kitchen chair and dropped heavily into it. "Lorry? No, I just--she talked to me. Yesterday afternoon. She... Lorry?" He couldn't believe it, and there was a sick feeling, deep in his gut. "Lorry?"

"Yes." Her voice broke. "Whitney... Graham Senatori's girlfriend, Dr. Braxton, had to come and give him a sedative. He... he was screaming, screaming and yelling, and he hasn't... he's laying asleep in front of me, and there are... are tears falling down from his eyes, dad."

"Good Lord." Gabe closed his eyes for a moment, choking down whatever was rising in his throat. "Okay. Are you still at Lex's? Or are you at the--the hospital?"

"I'm at Lex's." She answered, quietly.

"All right. Stay... stay there. I'll be there to pick you both up in a few minutes." He leaned back against the wall. "Maybe more than a few."

"He's half asleep, daddy." Chloe whispered back, and ran a hand through her hair. "We can wait." She was shaking now, like a leaf, as she stroked her fingers through her hair. "I never saw him like this, never, he's never been broken like this, not even when his dad died."

"Because he had his mother to think about it," Gabe said softly. "I've got a key; I'll stop by his house, get him a few things, then I'll be there. We'll wait till he wakes up to move him, but neither of you... neither of you need to be there. It's like Grand Central Station."

"Complete with all our friends and a lot of old people." She answered, and she was just.. "I'm so sad. I don't know what to do for him, and I'm… I'm so sad."

Sad was something that Gabe could relate to. Very much so, at the moment. "I know, Chloe. It's enough right now that he's not going back to his house. We've got the guest room upstairs, and he can stay there." A quiet pause as he realized something. "He really doesn't have anywhere else to go."

"He doesn't... h-have, a..." She began to cry again, her face crumbling as she kept talking to her dad. "H-he's alone, a-alone in t...the, t-the world, alone, alone."

Gabe sighed, listening to his daughter break down on the other end of the phone, and trying desperately not to do it himself. "Honey... honey, it's okay. We're going to be there for him. Okay? He's not going to be alone." He swallowed. "I'm going to leave now, but I'll have my phone on if you need me." Leaning his head back against the wall, Gabe prayed he could hold onto it a few more minutes.

She sniffled, hard, rubbing her face against her upraised knees and sniffling softly as she took in a heavy, shaky breath. "Just come get us. I don't want to be here anymore."

"I'll be there as soon as I can, baby."

"I'm sorry." She blurted it, before she burst into tears again. "I'm sorry for everything, dad, I'm sorry."

"I know you are, baby. I'm sorry, too. I just... I love you, Chloe."

"I love you, daddy." She sobbed it, hard, choking on the sound as she pressed a hand to her lips, and her voice, broken, full of her sobs, squeaked, "I love you so much."

"I love you, Chloe." He nearly cracked the plastic casing on the phone with his grip. "I'm sorry. I'm going to go now, and I'll be there soon. I promise, all right? I won't leave you alone there for much longer. Just long enough to get Whitney's clothes."

"We'll be waiting for you downstairs with Lex, in the study. Okay? just knock dad." She choked on the words and clicked 'off', before burying her face in her hands.

Gabe let the phone drop that time, and buried his face in his hands, crying softly for his best, his closest friend, his voice of reason... for his single-parenting-partner. But most of all, he cried for Lorry. And for Whitney too, because there was nobody left in the world for the boy, orphaned at barely eighteen, and no idea where he was going in his life. Christ, what a mess.

After a few moments, Gabe pulled himself together and looked through his key ring. There was one in a little yellow plastic key chain, and he ran his fingertips over the ridges. Lorry had given it to him in case of emergency, and he supposed this definitely qualified. He sighed as he locked his own house, and then got into his little car.

As soon as he could take a minute, he was going to sit down and make sure that if anything happened to him like this, Chloe wouldn't be left in this situation.

Chloe let the phone fall from her lap and onto the carpet, without another thought to it. her mind was racing, snippets of the conversations of the morning flying through her head as she slid over the mattress, and tucked herself up against her lover.

The father of her baby.

The thought only made her want to cry all the more, in her pity and pain for her boyfriend, but she couldn't indulge anymore. Up on one elbow so she could look down at his face, tensed even in sleep, and stroke the skin softly as she pressed warm, tenderly little kisses to his face. "I love you." She whispered.

Whitney didn't even feel it, buried in morphinated dreams. He tossed and turned despite the medication, moving restlessly under the blankets, a sweaty tangle of flesh and fabric as he squirmed.

- = - = -

It was raining.

It was February fifteenth, two thousand and three, the day his daughter was conceived, and it was raining.

Not that Dominic minded. Even the rain drops seemed to be singing at him, happily smiling as they fell, and he smiled like an idiot out of the side door window. He looked like hell warmed over, his lover worse, but here they were. Holding hands in the back of the company SUV, Lex sitting across from them on the seats that faced the one he and Lionel were sitting in, and he was just... heeeeee.

Maybe it was sleep deprivation. ...Probably was sleep deprivation. Not that he cared. His daughter was going to be born in exactly 9 months.

He was ecstatic.

"You're grinning like a lunatic, Dominic."

Lionel shook his head. "Let him, Lex. I think he's got a right to, after all. There was a miracle here today. I think that deserves a bit of a grin." He was too tired to indulge in it, but he would soon.

"I've lost my mind, little Luthor." Dominic brought Lionel's hand to his lips, and kissed it, once, twice, three times as he gazed at his lover for a long moment before back to Lex. "In the past three months I have nearly lost my lover twice, lost the business fifteen different times, got promoted, got married, gained a step son and a slew of problems, had at least a hundred separate heart attacks, and I've not said a word. This? I will tell you, right upfront, I'm so overjoyed I can barely see."

Lex just gave a wry grin. "You're overjoyed. Tired, exhausted, but overjoyed, and I'm glad to see that. You're both going home, showering, and getting in bed. I've... got to check on Whitney, make sure Clark doesn't have a fit not being able to get home to him, and Christ, I want a fucking vacation."

And that's when the smile slid away, as his head tipped. "If there is anything you need Lionel or I to do, Lex, don't question if you should ask. Do you know how the woman died?

"I won't question." I just won't ask, he thought to himself. "And to answer that, no. We don't. At least, I don't; Clark might, but I haven't been able to get anything out of Whitney before Toni put him to sleep. Which, I'm glad she did, by the way. He was nearly hysterical."

Dominic shook his head, softly, and squeezed his lovers fingers in his own, dragging them onto his lap so Dominic could clasp their twined hands with his free hand, as well. "When my Da died, my brother... I remember, even to this day, how hysterical he got, how upset he was. He stayed in bed for days."

"I feel for Whitney because not only his mother's gone now, but his father too. His father only died... Christ, what, eight, nine months ago? In less than a year, he lost both his parents. I think he's got a right to be hysterical."

Dominic's brow furrowed with sadness for the young man, and he lay his head on Lionel's shoulder quietly as he absorbed that. He didn't know if asking the young man to stay with them was appropriate, as it wasn't entirely his house. But he just squeezed his lovers hand quietly, and looked a their intertwined palms sadly. "The poor lad."

"Not just that; it's put Clark in a frenzy." Lex sighed, and rubbed the heels of his hands against his eyes. "He's going half-crazy because he can't protect Whitney, can't be here with him, and it's making him... crazed." His hands hit his thighs with a loud slap that echoed in the car.

"What a lie, if I ever saw one." Dominic scoffed it, quietly. "There's quite a bit he can do, you know. Be there for Whitney, for when he's sad... be there for him to be his friend. Its those things that count, not protection. Protecting someone isn't always for the good"

Lex growled softly. "Yes it is," he said softly. "It is good; it means that you are keeping someone you love from getting hurt; protecting them and keeping them safe is a good thing." He glared at Dominic. "Just like I protect Clark."

Dominic tipped his head right back. "No. Sometimes, the person you love needs room to grow, and no matter how much they hurt, you need to let them work the things they need to work out."

"You're wrong." But Lex didn't argue it any more; didn't have the strength to. All his strength was funneled into not losing his mind.

Lionel interjected. "Don't. Don't say another word, Lex. or you, Dominic. I am NOT going to have the two of you bickering. Not today, of all days."

Dominic was a smart man. Not the brightest, but smart, and he knew when his step son was hurting, just as he'd known ten years ago when young Luthor was hurting. He wasn't bickering with his step son anymore, but not because it was the day of his daughter. It was because he could see how Lex was losing his mind. And like Lex had helped him, now it was Dominic's turn to return the favor. He undid his seat belt and let go of Lionel's hand, to lift himself up and sit beside Lex, before gently, very very much so, pulling him into his arms. "You've been the strongest of us all this day, Lex. I'm so proud of you, for keeping a solid brain about things. You're the bravest man I know, you know."

Lex sat stiffly for a moment before melting into his stepfather's arms. "I haven't had a choice," he said softly. "Everybody's falling apart; I had to be the center. I had to hold."

"I know." Dominic answered it, quietly, holding him close to his body and gently soothing a hand down his back. "I know it, lad, and you've done a lovely job. But your father and I aren't ready to lose our minds anymore, not in the literal sense anyway. We're here now, for you to brace onto us, as you're supposed to do. You've done so beautifully, and I see your father in you, the way you handled yourself today. I'm so proud of you."

Lex buried the snicker in Dominic's shoulder for a second. "You've both already lost your minds. A long time ago. About the time my father started eating French fries and you got ketchup on my table." But he squeezed tighter. "Thank you, Dom. That's... a wonderful compliment."

Lionel sat back against the seat in surprise. Lex... thought that being like him was a compliment. That was something he hadn't ever expected. He reached a hand out, and put it on Lex's knee. "I'm proud of you, Lex. Very proud."

"Heeeheh." A wicked, wicked snicker. "I sincerely doubt I'll ever forget the expression you had when you saw a ring of water on your precious table, darling." But Dominic looked up from where he was hugging Lex, and smiled at his husband, his own pride for the both of them in his eyes as he set the side of his jaw on Lex's head. "You know, Id never expect that being a Luthor would be so cool."

Lex laughed as the company car pulled up in front of the estate. "We're not exactly on the cool list," Lex pointed out as he opened the door. "I've never been so happy to see this mausoleum before in my life."

Dominic let his step son go, smiling after him, than flashing an overjoyed smile at his lover for other reasons than their daughter as he slid out of the car, offering his hand back to his husband. "Indeed, it is home, isn't it?"

Lionel climbed carefully out of the spacious vehicle and watched it depart as he held his lover's hand tightly in his. "Yes, yes. It is home. Though sometimes I don't wonder that we should have something of our own."

"Soon enough." Dominic answered, softly, as he squeezed his lovers hand back, holding on firmly as Enrique went to park the car, and they began to trudge towards the house. "Lex, Lionel and I have been considering building a house here in Smallville."

Lex raised his head as he climbed up the steps. "I think that'd be a good idea. Make sure you build enough rooms for the rest of your clan. Get them out from under my feet."

Dominic snorted. "They're yours too now, darling." But because he already felt like his family imposed, he shifted uncomfortably for a moment, as they waited for Ms. Bird to open the door for them. "Graham and Shaney will be moving to their new farm come next week. Lindey's already found her condo, so it'll just be my mama and Shayla."

Lex sighed. "Don't worry, Dom. They can all stay as long as they like; it's nice to have more than just me rattling around in the seventy odd rooms of this place. There's only so much I can do, you know? It's nice to have people around."

"Gideon's off to Ireland again...in fact, he's already in the air," Dominic glanced to his watch, than smiled at Ms. Bird as she opened the door for them. "Which reminds, our trip is in a few days. We might cancel, to be here with you all."

Ms. Bird greeted them all at the door with a smile. "Velcome home; Master Lex, dere is something chu should--"

"AJ!!!!!!" Shayla came screaming down the front hallway, skidding on the waxed floor in her socks and banging into Lex, sending him sprawling on his ass. "THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Dominic gasped, watching as a screaming streak of blond came racing, and just barely tugged Lionel out of the way when Shayla leapt on his step son. He blinked, twice, three times, than reached over and hauled her up by the back of the jeans and t-shirts before Lex went tumbling down the steps to the house. "What the bloody hell?"

"Thank you, that was going to be my question," Lex groaned, from his prone position on the entryway foyer floor.

"MORGAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Another supersonic squeal and she pummeled her brother with hugs and kisses and a bone-crushing squeeze of his ribcage. "Clark told me!!!"

He almost toppled back into the hedges when she wrapped her arms around him, and he couldn't help laughing as he hugged her right back, enveloping his teeny sister in his arms. "Indeed, darling. You're going to be an auntie again in another year, beloved. I told you Graham chose his women well, now didn't I?"

"He did!! He did he did he did he did he did and oh my God this professor at school took away this note and Clark burned it cause it said stuff and we got out of school early cause of the fire drills and everything and HI!!!!"

"Shayla? Breathe. And darling, please scream louder so the neighbors can hear." Dominic muttered, but he was smiling and he hauled his darling baby sister in our of the rain. "Come on, beloved, breaaathe."

Lionel looked down at his son still sprawled on the floor, and he held out his hand. "Would you like to get up now?"

Lex considered. "Actually, no. Because she's just going to knock me over again later, and I don't think I have the energy to get up again." Then he felt a cool wash through his thoughts as he felt Clark in the house, still probably with Whitney, but close enough to soothe Lex's thoughts.

"I am breathing, I'm just so happy for you guys and I'm going to be an aunt again!"

"I know darling, but let's calm. Right now isn't the time to be screaming like this, after Whitney's lost something a great deal more important than us gaining something." Dominic whispered, quietly, as he set his sister back down and stroked her hair gently. "But thank you, my little lamb, for being so happy."

"Crap." She'd forgotten, briefly, about Whitney, as she'd screamed happily to her brother, but she just squeezed his arms tightly anyway. "You're welcome."

Lex waited and after a moment took his father's hand and pulled himself to his feet, dusting himself off. "I'm going to go check on Whitney; then I'll come and find you guys after dinner, all right?"

"Go, Lex. We're going to retire, as its been a few days since we've slept. Go, take care of your business darling, and we'll be about tonight." Dominic answered his step son, and pressed a kiss to Shayla's cheek as he reached back for his husband.

"I'll go with you, Lex." Shayla was calm. "I'll help you, if I can do anything."

Lex almost visibly shuddered. "No, Shayla, it's all right. Why don't you go with your brother, see if there's anything you can do to help him and Dad get settled in?" Please, dear God, go with them. Ebullience was NOT what he needed right now.

Dominic had been catching Luthorian signals for years, and he immediately nodded at the younger girl. "Please, darling. We... need some help getting something to eat. Would you go with Ms. Bird and get us some tea, and perhaps some toast beloved?"

"Ooh! Of course! I can do that!!!" She pecked a kiss onto Dominic's cheek and then pelted down the hall and crashed through the kitchen doors.

"Oh, Jesus, thank you, Dominic." Lex nearly collapsed with relief against his stepfather. "I'm going to check on Whitney. I'll see you soon." Lex wanted, as he walked off, to cradle his head in his hands. Instead, he climbed the steps slowly, weaving down the maze of hallways until he knocked on the door where he'd left Whitney sleeping.

Clark looked up, a moment before Lex knocked on the door. He could see his lovers body through the wood, and he made sure it was him before climbing to his feet. He stepped over a shoe, his own that he'd toed off, as well as his English book and the notebook where his novel was written. "Lex." He answered, softly. "Hi, aushna'." He reached forward, and pressed a warm, gentle kiss to his cheek, before turning back to the room.

A hard, hard snuffle, and Chloe rubbed her nose a little, wriggling it so it'd stop itching, and wrapped her arms back around one of Whitney's. Her cheek lay on his arm, her eyes closed, and she sniffled again.

Lex sighed. "Hey, Clark. Heard there was a bit of excitement at school today?" He left his arm around Clark's waist as he shut the door behind him, making sure it closed securely. "Whitney... I'm sorry. Are you feeling better after your rest?" He crouched in the floor in front of him. "Anything you need, just ask."

Whitney was sitting up on the side of the bed, and he wasn't saying word. At Lex's offer, however, he looked down at his bald friend. "I need my mom."

Lex's heart ached, but he didn't say anything, just staying there in front of him.

Eyebrows caught in the middle, pain in his eyes, and there was not a goddamn thing Clark could do. All his power, cosmic power, and there was nothing he could do for him. Nothing. Which, in the grand scheme of things, hurt him more than anything else. There was nothing else he could say. He knew the pain of loss, the horror of loss, and his heart tightened with his aushna's, as he ran a hand soothingly up and down his lovers spine before sitting next to Whitney once more.

Chloe sniffled, softly, and rubbed her cheek gently against her boyfriends, her fingers linked in his on his lap.

"I'm sorry there isn't more I can do for you, Whitney," Lex said softly, one hand resting on his knee, and the other over his and Chloe's clasped hands. "For either of you. The best I can do for you right now, is offer you a place to stay here, as long as you want."

Chloe's big eyes came up, and she just...shook her head, softly. "My dad said it was okay for him to be with us. He said it was okay." She reached out and cupped Lex's hand on her boyfriends knee. "We'll take him in." And in her eyes, through the weird connection she had with him, she begged him not to speak of the pregnancy, not yet, not now.

Lex nodded, and tucked the words about her health back into the back of his mind. "All right; Clark and I will go and get your things, and we'll meet you back at Chloe's house; what all do you need?"

Whitney just shrugged. "I don't know. just... whatever's there, I guess."

Chloe shook her head, again, eyes imploring into Lex's. God, dammit, shut your mouth kid and use your alien link for once, JEEZ!

Clark read it, instantly, and understood. "I think Gabe said something about going already, Lex. He'll be here any moment, sa'lumkana. Its alright, do not worry yourself. I think Ms. Bird packed the fudge cake up too... its sitting by the door."

Lex sighed. "All right. Things... things seem to be under control for the moment." He straightened, flashing a look at his lover. "I'm going upstairs to take a shower, because I'm tired, and I'm going to change. Then I'll be back down here, all right?"

Whitney shrugged. "Okay. Thanks for the help, Lex." He couldn't bring himself to say anything more than that, because he didn't honestly know what to else to say.

Clark took in the gaze from Lex and nodded at Whitney and Chloe before stepping out the door with his lover, closing it behind him before he took Lex tightly in his arms. Just wrapped his big arms around him and brought him close, hugging him softly but warmly, as he kissed his jaw and cheek softly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Clark. I'm okay." He hugged back tightly. "I'm just tired. All this crap with the interview, the move, Dad and Dom, the baby, now this with Whitney... I'm tired of being the linchpin." He sighed. "I just need a shower. A few minutes to sleep it off. I'll be all right."

"You have been strong." Clark whispered back, fingers stroking over the side of his lovers face tenderly. "You make our family proud. You make me proud to be El, to share you as aushna'. You are the strongest of all of us. You make me proud this day to call you lover, to call you my own. I love you, Kenep, more than the world."

Lex smiled softly. "I love you, Kal. I love you with everything I am." He rubbed his fingertips back over Clark's, sliding them over the backs of his knuckles and hand. "I've been just about as strong as I can be."

Clark smiled at him, beamed, and kissed his lips, his cheeks, his nose lips, over and over, as his fingertips gently stroked over the sides of his lovers head before letting go. "I'll be upstairs soon, aushna'. I'm going to help Chloe and her dad with Whitney at their home."

Lex smiled again. "Don't be surprised if I'm not home when you get back; I may take a drive. It relaxes me."

"Be careful." He answered it, quietly, kissing his lover again and hugging him gently before opening the door once more. "You left your driving gloves in the third drawer, if you want them."

"I'll pick them up if I go out." He watched Clark go to the door. "Clark... I'm glad you're here."

"I am too." Quietly said, and he kissed his lover once more before slipping inside the room.

- = - = -

Lex collapsed against the bed, muffling hysterical giggles in the pillowcase for several long moments before pulling himself up to his feet. Shoved a handful of shirts into a black canvas duffel from the closet, shoved several pairs of slacks in after them, socks and underwear barely an afterthought. Driving gloves came out of the drawer and onto his hands, and he burst into another spate of hysterical giggling. California, here I come, right back where I started from! Crazed snippets of music sputtered through the tired synapses of Lex's brain as he took the back steps to at a time, humming to himself as he chose a rarely-driven vintage Corvair from the driveway, and started out.

On the road again... just can't wait to get on the road again... the life I love is makin' music with my friends, I just can't wait to get on the road again!!

- = - = -

One of the coolest things about Clark was his internal juke box. Chloe seriously didn't think he even knew he could turn it on and off at will, but here she was, sitting in her living room with her alien quasi-boyfriend sitting upstairs, and Celtic flutes were going through her head. Something one of the Senatori's had put on at some point... probably Dominic, and she listened to the calming melody going through her head. It soothed, just like she knew it soothed her boyfriend, and that was all she could ask. She'd sit through eighty days of nothing but punk rock, if that's what he wanted.

But for right now, she was drinking tea she'd added a hint of her dad's scotch to, sitting in a corner of the couch curled up, legs to her chest so she looked even smaller, and sat, wordless.

Gabe had seen her add the scotch to both their cups of tea, and he hadn't said a single word about it; quite frankly, he was tempted to add quite a bit more to his own, but he didn't. Instead, he brought the pot and the tray into the living room and sat it on the low coffee table in between Chloe and himself, and looked over at her. "How are you?" he asked softly, over the rim of his cup.

She shook her head, slightly. Her dads eyes had been rimmed and bloodshot when he'd come to get them, and nothing she could say would add to it. Except one thing, and she was going to tell him, but.... "I'm as well as I can be." She answered it, quietly, clearing her sticky throat softly and taking a sip of tea. "Whitney and Clark are best friends, daddy. Clark will get him calm."

"I hope so; it's not good for him to stay worked up like that." He took another drink of his own. "I've got the doctor's number from Clark, so if he gets worked up again, we can give her a call, but I'm hoping that's passed."

"He..." her voice choked. "He was screaming so loud. You just… you can't imagine it. He was screaming and crying... if he's stayed at home last night, he would have been alone." It was a thought that had haunted her for the last two hours, and she felt a sob come up and escape her lips at it. "He would have been alone."

Gabe leaned forward, putting his teacup down on the table and he held his arms out to his daughter. "But he wasn't. He was with his friends, which is where he needed to be."

She bit her lip, tightly, setting her own cup down with a plunk and sliding into her fathers arms. She wrapped them tightly around his back and curled up close to his body, tears running silently down her face as she held her dad tightly. "I have to tell, tell you...you're never g-going to forgive me."

"Hush, baby. There's nothing you could tell me that I wouldn't forgive you for. You're my baby girl, and I love you."

Chloe tightened her arms around him, and her throat bobbed. She could never tell her father how she'd found out. She'd have to lie to him, and she hated it, but she had to. She couldn't tell him what she'd been thinking of doing. "I'm… last n-night, I took... took a pregnancy test, daddy."

Gabe swallowed hard, and his arms tightened around her shoulders. "And what did it say?"

"I-I'm going to be a mom." And it was the hardest words she'd ever said, because it cemented that she was, indeed, a slut, that she was, indeed, sleeping around, and the pain that struck her heart was so much. She didn't... "You c-can't tell Whitney. You can't. He was asleep, he doesn't know. Don't tell him, dad, don't tell him when he just lost his mom."

Gabe's arms locked even tighter around his shoulders, and he was quiet for a very long moment. All the dreams he'd had about his baby girl were slowly sliding away, with a baby on the way, his baby having a baby. "That's a big responsibility, Chloe," he finally said, after a long moment of silent consideration. "I won't tell Whitney."

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I disappointed you, I'm so sorry everything you ever wanted for me is gone, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so very sorry I couldn't be who I should have been, I'm so sorry." But there were no tears for her, not for this, not when her life was upside down.

"Chloe... all right. Yes. I am disappointed, but you're still my daughter. I still love you. and you don't have to be sorry, because I'm going to love you no matter what." He tightened his arms around her again. "You are a beautiful young girl, Chloe. You are everything I wanted you to be."

He was lying, she just knew it, and her heart ached violently in her chest as the music kept flowing through her brain. "I want this baby. I want it so much. When I found out, I was so happy. I want to have her, or him, and make a family with Whitney. I want to have a good house and work."

"It's going to be rough, the first few years, because you'll have to juggle taking care of the baby and going to school at the same time," he said softly. "I'll help, where I can, but I'll be working too. Chloe, sweetie... the choice is up to you, and whatever you decide to do, I'll stand by you through it."

She raised her chin, quietly. "We'll work, as hard as we can. We'll go to school and we'll work and we'll make our money. We'll be alright. This, dad, is what I want. I thought I wanted glitz and glamour and fame… but what I want is a family with Whitney, babies of our own. I want to raise them with our friends and our family, and I want to be a mom."

Now that sounded like himself, the first time he'd held Chloe in his arms after she'd been born, and he couldn't help but smile, and kiss her forehead gently. "Of course you'll be all right. You're a Sullivan."

"He asked me to marry him, dad." Chloe answered back, as she closed her eyes and let her father kiss her. "Three months ago. He asked me to marry him. I told him I didn't know, I was so unsure on my life. Now, now I'm sure. Now that I've seen who he is, all the way to the core, I want him to be my husband."

So young. "You're so young, sweetie, both of you are, still so young."

"You were nineteen when you married mom, dad." Chloe answered it, softly. "Lorry... she was 17, when she married Whitney's dad. They had a twenty five year marriage, dad. Twenty five years."

"I know, baby. That's why I didn't say you couldn't do it."

She looked up, then. Shock, mostly, fear... surprise. "What?"

"It's... sweetie, it's not what I'd pick for you. But it makes you happy. So I can't say no."

"I'll have my success, and I'll have my family." Chloe answered, quietly. "I'm sorry, I disappointed you by getting involved with someone, even if he's the most honest, good man there is."

"Chloe... you didn't disappoint me by getting involved with someone. You could never disappoint me by doing that. You... the only thing I was disappointed over was you not... you were moving so fast. I was worried about you."

She shook her head, softly, and pulled away from him so she could sit back in her spot in the corner of the couch, and picked up her tea again. There was nothing she could really say to that, and she wouldn't argue with him again, so she just sipped, quietly.

And it was what Clark saw upon entering the room from the steps. Quietness, the heavy kind, and he cleared his throat softly. "Hey."

Gabe sighed as he looked up. "Hello, Clark. How's Whitney doing?"

"He's alright. He went to sleep for a while, I got him resting. I hope you don't mind, I fixed some of his clothes in the closet so he wouldn't have to do it later." Clark answered quietly, and took a moment to sit down on one of the chairs, rubbing his fingers over his face.

"No, I don't mind at all. I was going to ask Chloe to do it later, so I didn't disturb him knocking clumsily about in his room." He paused. "Would you like something to drink, Clark? Chloe made tea."

"I'm sure its great, rated G tea too." Clark answered mildly, and chuckled quietly when Chloe blushed and buried her face in her cup. "That would be nice sir, thank you."

"You're welcome." Gabe leaned forward and poured another cup, and passed it over to Clark. "It'll have a bit of a kick at first."

"Its alright, I'm used to it." Clark said, though he didn't explain as he took the cup and sat back, shaking his head. "He's really messed up, Mr. Sullivan. This hurt him worse than he's letting on. He lost it, when he first found out, but now... its just like he's numb."

"I'm not surprised, Clark. This is a rather big tragedy for him." Gabe sighed, leaning forward. "I'll talk to him in the morning, when he's a little more aware of what's going on."

"You need to, Mr. Sullivan." His voice was quiet, but his eyes were piercing when he opened them. His quiet serenity, the peace he was keeping at the center for Whitney, was hard to maintain, but he'd try his best. "He needs someone other than Chloe, me, or Lex to talk to, Mr. Sullivan. He needs an adult, and not to put too frank a point on it, he's my closest, deepest friend, and if you can't provide for him what he needs right now, I'll take him back home with me, and have him stay either with me and Lex or with my parents."

Gabe thought for a minute. "I want him to stay here, Clark. But it might not be a bad idea for you to have your father come over in the morning, if he can. Jack and Jonathan were, I understand, fairly good friends in their days, and it might help Whitney if he has someone other than me to relate to right now."

"That's not what I asked, Mr. Sullivan." Clark answered, calmly. "If you don't think you can handle it, tell me. I'll be more than happy, and my parents too, to take him in."

"All right, Clark." Gabe turned to face the boy. "You're seventeen years old, Clark. As much as I respect you, I'm not going to allow you to dictate to me, what is going to occur in my own home. Believe it or not, I do have quite a few years on you raising children, and I know how to deal with them in nearly any situation. I'm asking you, for Whitney's benefit, to have your father here in the morning, to talk to him, because I might not be as friendly a face as he needs right now. But what I am is his soon-to-be father in law, and that's not a responsibility I take lightly."

He smiled. "That's all I needed to know, Mr. Sullivan." He set the cup down and climbed to his feet, as Chloe stared at him in shock at the way he'd gotten his answers. He was a manipulative little bastard, but it got the job done, and he nodded at the both of them. "I'm nineteen, by the way, Mr. Sullivan." Clark answered quietly, and leaned over to kiss Chloe's shoulder before offering his hand to the older Sullivan. "Dad will be by tomorrow morning, I'll make sure of it."

Gabe didn't hesitate to shake Clark's hand. "Feel free to come over any time you like, Clark."

"Thank you, sir. I'll let myself out. If you need me, call. I'm at the mansion."

"I will, Clark. Don't worry."

Clark nodded, and with a soft, mental kiss towards his ashimel, opened the front door, and slipped away at hyper speed.

Gabe sighed, watching the door close behind Clark, and turned back to look at his daughter. "Are you ever going to forgive me, Chloe?"

She tipped her head, quietly. "Its not that I've yet to forgive you, dad. I forgave you. You just hurt me. I hurt you too, and I understand that."

"I didn't mean to hurt you," he said softly. "I just... I was so surprised. I didn't know how to deal with it. I was... too harsh."

"So was I." Chloe leaned over, and set her tea back on the table, as she wrapped her arms around her knees and watched him. "I just don't want you thinking I'm..." She looked away. Just last night she'd cried to her lover over it, had him hold her and reassure her, but there hadn't been any reassurances when she hurt this bad, for so many reasons.

"You're not. Whatever it is, you're not."

"But I am. Because I've thought about it, and reflected on it, and I am. Everything that's happened has agreed with my assessment. But that's my burden to bear." She said quietly, and rubbed a hand over her face. "I'm sorry, for the things I said to you. You're not a bad father, and I just... channeled all my anger at you because I was upset."

That took so much weight off of his shoulders, and he pulled her into his arms, and kissed her forehead. "Thank you," he said softly. "That makes me feel... so much better."

"I didn't mean it." She answered, quietly, letting him hold her and she held back, softly. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

He kissed her forehead, and then her cheek again. "Doesn't matter, baby. Just as long as you're all right."

"I'm not alright." She let him go, then, and climbed to her feet, fingers streaking through her mussed, crazy hair. "I'm going to go see if he's alright, dad."

"Okay." He held onto her wrist for just a minute longer. "Kind of seems ridiculous now, but... you know you're not grounded anymore, right?"

"I'm not grounded, but I'm in chains. So it doesn't really matter, dad." Chloe answered, quietly, and waited till he let her go to slip away up the stairs.

- = - = -

Lex was still whistling as he went to the drink cabinet against the wall, and poured himself a glass of scotch before picking up the cabin phone and dialing a number he knew as well as his own. As he listened to it ring, he propped his feet up on the other chair in the cabin, the toes of his shoes tapping together. The rhythm is gonna get you, oooh... oh yeah.

The ring of the phone disturbed Alfred from his Pato DeLa Miaz sauce that was simmering on the stove. His darling dove had given him the recipe just weeks ago, and now, as he made it, he was filled with a quiet melancholy for her. His beautiful Bird, so many miles away, and he was seventy five years old.

Just told him that love was both blind, deaf, and mute.

And it was with that thought, amusement in his heart, that he lifted the phone. "Wayne Residence."

"Hiya, Alfie. Lemme talk to Bruce."

"Master Lex." His eyes rolled, a quirk of his lips, and another roll. "One moment, sir." Alfred hit mute and pushed the intercom button beside the kitchen door. "Master Bruce."

Bruce groaned. Uh, fuck, shit, Alfred had great timing, and Bruce stopped from completely sheathing himself into his lover as he got up on one arm, and closed his eyes a moment to catch a breath. "Alfred?"

They had more sex than Master Lex and his young man combined. Not that he wasn't upset--on the contrary, the change this old man had seen in his young charge made him desperately happy. He wasn't the only one who'd seen it, either, and there was talk in Gotham over the richest man in the city and the handsome young man on his arm. "Master Lex is on line 1 for you, sir."

"Fucking timing." Bruce muttered, gently drawing the sheet up over his lover as he rolled to sit on the edge of the bed. "Thanks Alfred!" he yelled at the speaker phone, and lifted the receiver beside the bed. "You're dead meat, Luthor."

Dick just rolled over and mouthed Bruce's nipple, balancing his cast carefully as he licked and sucked. "Hello, Lex!" Dick shouted, fingers skipping nimbly up to stroke Bruce's throat as it rumbled.

Lex grinned at the phone. "Sorry to interrupt, but I have a very important question for you." His shoes were still tapping out the rhythm to the Gloria Estefan song that was stuck in his head.

"Lay it on me, but be quick. I've got Dick naked on my lap." Bruce muttered it but he was smiling, as he gently stroked his fingers down his lovers back. "What can I do for you, Lex?"

"How do you feel about a houseguest for a couple of days?"

Uht oh. He tipped his head and got serious, as he ducked down to slide his fingers more around his lover, carefully snuggling him in. "What's going on? Everyone alright?"

"Uh huh!" Lex all but chirped it. "Just taking a brief vacation. I'm in the air now; I'll be there in a couple of hours. Dinner on me?"

Oh fuck. "Oh, fuck. What the hell happened? What, I'm gone for two days and your world falls apart? Lex, you need to get the fuck out of that backwater piece of shit." He growled, darkly, because Lex didn't just pop out and take vacations. Fuck. "Come to the mansion. Where are you now? Alfred will go pick you up."

Lex looked out the window of the airplane. "Um, wherever it is, it's not quite halfway there yet."

"When is your plane due in Gotham?"

Lex paused to yell at the pilot, and then relayed the response. "Hour and forty-five minutes."

"Alfred will be waiting for you. Don't be drunk." Bruce rubbed his face and buried it in Dick's shoulder. "Does anyone know you took off?"

"I'm not drunk now." He laughed. "Um... I don't honestly know if they know or not. I told Clark I was taking a drive, but I don't think he knows the drive turned into a flight."

"Jesus Christ. Alright, just… get here. Don't talk more, I don't want you flipping out a couple thousand feet up. Just... Christ." Bruce looked down at his lover and just... shook his head. "I'll have a drafty castle room waiting for you, be just like home."

"So that's a no to dinner? Okay. I'll be there in a little while. Bye!!" Lex cheerfully hung up the phone, and contemplated dancing.

Ultimately, he decided against it, and let his feet continue to tap against each other.

Bruce carefully put the phone down, the antique marble one by the by, and blinked down at his lover in the sunlight from the huge windows, where the drapes parted and let the gorgeous sunlight in through the glass. "He's lost it."

Dick snickered briefly, then frowned. "What, you're surprised? He's twenty going on fifty, for chrissakes."

Bruce sighed. Deeply, and thumped back on the sheets with Dick over him. "I didn't expect him to crack so soon. Something must have happened with his dad and Dominic, I'll bet you ten dollars. Something with the baby." He slung an arm over his eyes on the silk sheets. "Crap."

Dick sidled up to his lover and put his head on Bruce's shoulder. "We'll find out when he gets here. Meanwhile, you think we ought to let them know he's missing?"

"I'm surprised Clark hasn't lost his mind by now. Fuck." Alright. Yeah. Bruce just... rolled up and grasped his lover, tightly, rolling him over onto their cool pillows. The room was huge, almost gigantic, so it made their king sized bed... not so odd. Of course, rolling on it was great fun, and Bruce snagged his lover tightly as he slid his fingers back down, to the tight, slick hole he'd been quite ready to make his presence known to. "We'll call them, in a minute, and find out what the fuck is wrong."

 

-fin-

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