The Memoirs

Nine and a half minutes later, Lex pulled onto the Sullivan's driveway, parked behind Shayla's little Mazda, and blew the horn. He couldn't believe he was going shopping. Christ, what the hell was wrong with him.

After making sure she was reasonably put together, in stripy velvet workout pants and t-shirt, Chloe snagged her satchel from the front table and snagged Shayla's arm. "He's here! Come on. I'm telling you, I can't believe you never noticed the knob before. Shay, its like, the sexiest thing ever. When you lick it he all but starts jerking his foot. He's such a big puppy."

"Licking Lex's Knob. That sounds... so dirty, and yet, so sexy. Wonder if he'd let me lick it!" She barely had a chance to grab her little rainbow colored purse before Chloe dragged her out of the house, nearly tripping over her own feet. "Slow down, C'lo!"

Lex hadn't even taken the time to change, so there he sat, in the driver's side of the SUV, dressed in a pale lavender shirt, dress slacks, shoes and tie, watching the two girls come out of the house. "You're... going to Wal-Mart, Lex. You are a good man, and somehow, somewhere, this will pay off Karmically for you down the road."

Chloe squealed and giggled as she locked the door behind her, and pulled Shayla along with her, elbows linked as she squirmed past Shayla's car and poked her head into the drivers window, to give Lex a big kiss on the cheek. "Hi, handsome."

"Hello yourself, beautiful." Lex pressed a button and the doors sprung open, all three of them. Both passenger, and the one behind the driver. "Pick a seat, any seat."

"I want the back!" Shayla scrambled into the back seat and slid all the way over.

"Okay, I'll sit in front. It makes me less carsick." Chloe smiled as she went around the big white SUV and opened the door, hiking herself up and sighing as she set her satchel by her feet. "Thanks again, Lex. You're extremely the cool for doing this, you know." She shifted, her face beaming, as she tugged her seat belt on and looked back at Shay, motioning to the back of her ashimels head with a wide eyed nod and a mrowrly face.

Shayla couldn't help staring at the knob.

It was right there.

Big. Smooth... well... knobby.

Just laughing at her. "Hey, Lex?"

Deep, heaving sigh. "Yes, Shayla?"

"Can I lick the back of your head?"

Lex foot nearly shoved the brake pedal through the floorboard. "Absolutely not!" he roared as he turned in the seat to glare at her.

Chloe took the chance to lean forward and drag her tongue across it as he turned back to glare, a blush staining her cheeks a moment later as she smiled, and winked back at Shay.

Lex couldn't help the little purr that slipped out of his throat, and he transferred his glare to his pregnant friend. "So this is how she knows, hmm?"

Chloe blushed even more, and giggled behind her hand. "She didn't know you had a knob... never noticed. I told her... she's now seen the light. And the knob."

"You... you told her." More glaring. "Chloe... if you weren't... Shayla!" He snapped, seeing her lean forward again. "Tongue. Away. From. My head."

Yeah, and Chloe barely kept from cracking up, covering her mouth with her hand. "Sorry, Lex. Its just...I mean, well look at it." She made him turn his head with a none too gentle finger and stroked her fingers over it. "Its lumpy, and sexy, and gives that sexy ornament to the back of your head. Not everyone has a knob, but you, you my dear, have a really sexy one. I mean, wow. Hasn't anyone ever told you it was hot?"

More purring from Lex as Chloe stroked her fingers over his knob. "Clark--aaaaah... Clark seems to like it, just fine." He leaned his head back as he drove, into the stroking fingers, and almost arched his back like a cat. "Wasn't ever... erogenous zone... until I met him."

Chloe giggled, couldn't help it, and glanced back at Shayla with surprised giddiness as she rubbed her thumb along the bottom of it. "It should have been. I mean, look at it. Its like... I mean, wow. I don't even know how to explain my wowness anymore than that."

Shayla held her hand out towards it. "I wanna touch it!"

"No." Lex growled it, looking over to glare at Chloe. "I suppose you told her about the size of my cock too?" he questioned sharply, pushing his head back into her thumb.

"Of course. Ages ago." Chloe answered, with a beam, as she scratched her thumbnail lightly across the bottom of the knob, scraping upwards. "Whitney's and Clarks, too."

"Is there anything you didn't tell her?" Said with a glare as he flew through the streets.

"Mmm..." She looked over at Shayla, and pondered at her best friend for a minute. "I didn't tell her Bruce's dick size!"

"You know Bruce Wayne's dick size?" She perked up. "Share?"

"Only on the sweet pleasure of me breaking your neck, Miss Shayla Marie. Bruce would kill me if he knew I told."

"Which is why I will take his mammoth sized cock to my grave." Chloe swore it, a palm over her breast, with a big smile.

"You'd better."

"Wait, wait, wait. AJ? How do you know what Bruce Wayne's dick size is?" Shayla hung over the seat, curiosity winning out over the knob-obsession.

Lex looked at Chloe. "Should I tell her?"

"Her minds already ruined; she knows us. Go crazy." Chloe answered, finally letting her fingers slip away and into her lap again, beaming. Smallville, outside of the windows, had bloomed like a spring flower. There were tons of people everywhere, kids and teenagers, stores popping up everywhere. Wal-Mart had been put up in a month and a half, and it was so crisp and new that when you entered, it still had that new store smell. Smallville was finally alive, and she was in love with it all over again.

Lex snorted. "All right. Shayla, to answer your question... I used to sleep with Bruce Wayne."

"Bullshit! You did not!" Shayla almost exploded out of her seat.

"Total not bullshit." Chloe exclaimed, her attention tugged back from the window as she turned to grin at her best friend. "They were boyfriends for like, years."

"Three years, give or take," Lex said with a small grin. "We don't any longer, of course, but we're still very close, and I have it on pretty good authority his dick hasn't grown since I knew him."

Chloe nodded, suavely, back at her bestest buddy, and giggled. "See? This is why you've got to turn lesbian, that way you can ditch Pete and come make out with these cute boys."

Shayla blinked. Then she pointed at Lex. "With this as an incentive? Call me gay, baby."

She let out a slew of giggles, and beamed at her. "I know, right? Lex is an incentive to cut off a limb. I mean, he's the package deal. But you want to know a secret?"

"Depends on what the secret is!" Lex bellowed as he stopped, letting a family pass by with a baby carriage and a dog on a leash.

"Always!" Shayla piped up, leaning forward. "Gimmie!"

"Whitney's the prize of the deal." A crooked little smile. "When he's himself, he's... amazing. Warm, compassionate, funny, sweet as pie. He's strong, and loving, and beautiful. I love him, so, so much. Every week that goes by, and our little guy is growing inside me, and I love him more than I ever thought I could."

Lex listened to that with quiet melancholy. He couldn't quite imagine how Chloe felt, knowing that Whitney wasn't ready for their baby yet, despite it's obvious presence, and he just rested his hand quietly on her leg, squeezing gently in support.

"Yeah?" she asked quietly. "Whit's... a really great guy, Chloe. He is. I like him a lot. He's usually nice to me, except when I get in his face, and... I think he's lucky to have you."

"He's so great. He's more than great, he's perfect for me. I mean, there he was, the whole time, you know?" Her eyes were rimmed with red, her voice choked even as she smiled back at her friend with all teeth and bright blond hair. "I mean, I never even stopped to look, when he was well, he was just Whitney, my boyfriend. And now, when I do appreciate who he is, when I can see how much he's got inside of him, it kills me. You know? It kills me."

Shayla reached forward and hugged her friend. "He'll be back, Chloe. You know he will; he loves you insanely much. He's just... got so much to deal with right now, and he's never struck me as the touchy-feely type. He'll come back when he's ready. Just... love him as much as you can so he knows he's got you to come back to."

"I know. I'm trying." She hugged her friend awkwardly in the seat and bit the inside of her cheek for a minute. "He lost, a lot, you know? He lost everything that really, truly mattered. I mean, his mom, and his dad, and his house and the business. He's living with us… its not home. I mean, its not. Its not ever gonna be, you know? I don't even know If I'm ever going to be. I just... I don't know." She squeezed Shayla's arm, tightly. "But even if he's not around, you know what? I'm going to have this baby, and provide for him, and love him as much as I can, because I'm his mom, you know? And I already love him sooo, so so much. So much. So... that's that."

"You're not going to be alone with the baby, Chloe. NO matter what happens, you know that Clark and I will be there to help you with the little one." Lex squeezed her hand again. "But Whitney will be there for you. He will."

"I dunno if he will, or not. But I'm going to take care of business, and buy the little guy his stuff. Crib, playpen, everything." She swallowed, and rubbed her face on her shoulder a minute as Lex pulled into Wal-Mart's parking lot. "Sorry guys. Hormones."

"He will be." Lex pulled into the first open spot, marked for expectant mothers. Then he looked at Chloe with a smile. "If you don't fit the bill, I don't know who does." He leaned over, and turned her face to his. "Listen to me, Chloe. You don't have anything to be scared about. Remember how he reacted the first time? It'll be the same. You know how much he wants you, how much he wants a family." Lex kissed her firmly then. "Don't forget that, not in the rush of hormones."

"Okay." She kissed him back, cupping his cheeks for a moment until they let go, and set her forehead on his with another sniffle. "I just wish he were here, excited about helping me do this, you know? I wish he were well enough to help me pick out some bibs and stuff. And baby sheets, and all."

"He will be. I know it doesn't help now, but he will be soon. There's going to be twenty years of buying things for this kid that's going to happen; he's always going to regret that he missed out on the first nine, but he'll be there for everything else."

Shayla was very, very quiet. She couldn't add a single thing on to what Lex was saying, and she didn't want--wasn't GOING--to interrupt.

Her chin trembled, then, hard as it could, as she looked up at him and clenched her fingers around his for a minute. Sure, they were doing this parked in a Wal-Mart parking lot, but yeah, she couldn't help it. "Do you think he'll be there... there when the baby is born?"

"Yes. I think he will be. And if, for some reason he's not, you know I will be." Squeeze of her hand, as he looked down into her eyes.

She nodded, and took a second to get herself together, her throat bobbing tightly as she looked down at their hands...then let her forehead rest on them for a moment, head bowed as her throat bobbed. She gathered herself together, and if she was a little wet around the edges no one said anything, as she flashed her smile again. "Im blubbering. Lets go buy stuff."

Lex caught her arm. "Are you sure you don't want to go somewhere else? Baby Gap, perhaps?"

Ohh! "Yeah? Seriously? Lex, I don't want to spend a billion of your dollars here."

"Yes, please. Seriously. Chloe... don't worry. You could spend a billion of it and I would barely notice it. There is a reason why my cards don't have limits."

"Oh." Another swallow. "Baby Gap is in Grandville, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, and there's also one in Metropolis."

"Metropolis?" She stared at him for a minute. "Lex, its four. Are you sure you wanna go all the way there today?"

"We'll be there by six. We'll shop for a couple of hours, be home by nine or ten."

"AJ, baby. Not that I'm like, not drooling at the thought of your UNLIMITED CREDIT, but... you know, we have this pesky little thing tomorrow. It's called school. It sucks, yes, but it kind of means... no staying out all night shopping. Cause it'd be eleven or midnight before we got all the stuff unpacked, gone through, squealed over, and boy can I tell you've never shopped with a woman before."

Chloe's eyes danced at that, and her good humor from before returned, as she reached back for Shayla's hand. "She's totally right. And I can't survive anymore on seven hours of sleep. I need my good nine to be rested for the next day. Maybe... Friday? if you want to. Its another teacher work day… didn't we have one, like, a month and a half ago, anyway? But anyway, we can go early into Metropolis. If you're not working. We can wait, totally."

"I haven't exactly had women in my life to shop with," Lex pointed out, but he sighed as he climbed out of the SUV and walked around to Chloe's side. "Come on. We'll get what you want tonight, and then we'll go on Friday to Baby Gap. I'll take the day off."

"Yeah? Really?" But he'd already stepped out, and she opened the door when Lex came around, looking for his hand. "Cool. The going shopping with us thing, not the… no woman thing. Though that's a lie, cause I've had you and you're not bad at all." She hopped down and nabbed her satchel, before opening the door for Shay and smiling up at her.

"Yes, really." He helped her down as he smirked at her. "I've had women, Chloe. Just none I cared enough about to shop with." Kiss to the back of her neck as he locked the doors with the remote, and set the car alarm. "Come on." He offered Chloe one arm, and the other to Shayla, waiting for her to jump down.

"Christ, you've got a huge car." Shayla jumped down and grabbed her purse before slamming the door shut, and she looped her arm through Lex's. "Okay, so, what all are we here for, Chlo?"

"Pants that fit. Maternity clothes, I guess, but I don't want...maternity clothes. You know? Its so... maternity. Y. I don't know, though.." She glanced up at Lex. "If this is the kind of store for you, baby."

Lex had to laugh at that. "You just figured out that Wal-Mart is not my type of store? It took you this long? Perhaps that might have been why I suggested Baby Gap."

She smiled up at him. "Well, all I know is that I've been shopping here for about the last 17 years of my life, and I love it. Its cheap, its durable, and there is a WHOLE lot of stuff." She glanced across Lex's broad chest at her girl friend. "How much you think his outfit is today? Fifteen hundred?"

Shayla rubbed her hand over the hip of his pants, gauging the feel of the fabric. "It's way better than Morg's, and he usually drops about a thousand on his, so I'm guessin' about 2K."

"Dominic spends a thousand dollars on pants?" Chloe gaped at her friend in half awe, then shook her head as she plucked at the long three quarter jacket. "Maybe more than fifteen hundred. The jacket alone is at least twenty five hundred." She peered at it, then at his shirt, giving it a feel. "Check this out...its like, a billion cotton thread."

Lex gave a long-suffering sigh. "The pants and jacket combined were three thousand dollars, which makes the pants fifteen hundred."

"Damn. Damn, ashimel, damn." She looked up at him in half awe. "Four thousand, five hundred dollars for clothes. Oh! What about the shoes?"

"The shoes were five hundred dollar Italian leather loafers." Another sigh.

"Five. Thousand. Dollars." Chloe's eyes were wide. "Shay, one day we will be rich enough to buy street clothes that cost five thousand dollars."

"The shirt was another two hundred."

A soft, soft sigh. "My entire outfit cost nine ninety five. You, Shay?"

"Thirty two fifty, but that includes the earrings, watch, and rings."

A sad nod at her friend, and a cluck up at Lex, as they stepped through the electronic doors and Wal-Mart lay sprawled out before them. "No, not the place at all for him. Nope, nope, nope. Shay? Go buy us a soda? I'll get a cart."

"You got it." She paused. "Lex? What do you want?"

"Glenlivet. On the rocks."

"Okay!" She started to pelt towards the snack bar, and then halted in mid-step. "Asshole! They don't sell booze here!!"

Lex shrugged. "Worth a shot. Get me coke."

"Kay!" She shot off again, and Lex looked over to Chloe.

"What on God's earth have you gotten me into."

"Welcome to retail shopping, sweetie." Chloe smiled at old Mr. Rubenstein as he offered her a cart, and she took it easily, swinging her satchel into the blue plastic child seat as she motioned her head for him to join her. "This is how people survive week to week. Its a super center, too, so over there? A grocery store. Over here? Regular Wal-Mart stuff. Clothes, books, baby stuff, shoes, electronics, CD's, housewares. Everything you could imagine is here."

"And yet, no alcohol." Lex had to snicker. "Christ. You'd think a place this huge would sell alcoholic beverages just to numb the effects of having to stir about with huge masses of the general population." Lex's mouth was fixed in a half-sneer as he looked around.

And Chloe carefully wiped his sneer by stamping on his foot. "Alright, so we're not buying clothes with you around. Screw that. We'll go check out the baby stuff and then scram."

Lex hopped for a second. "Chloe... we'll buy you clothes here if that's what you want. We'll buy you anything you want, from any store you want it. This... is just not my speed."

"No, its not. You're wearing an outfit that costs almost six thousand dollars." She looked up at him, and not for the first time, understood the gap between them not just about money, but about status as well. And she didn't know if slumming it was the best policy for Lex. "Maybe you should go. We could call you when we're ready?"

"Forget it, Chloe. You're not getting rid of me that easily." He sighed. "I promised you I'd come with you, and I'm going to. I'm going to help take care of you, whether you like it or not."

She tipped her head at him. It had gone completely over that bare noggin of his and she just sighed as she saw Shay coming back with soda aplenty. "Lex, how do you keep your head so not shiny?"

"How... not so... hell if I know."

A tipped head again. "I always wondered." She waved a hand though and pushed her cart, tugging Shay up close to her and muttering, "can't shop for pants when he's here. Bad idea, bringing him along."

Shayla popped back up beside the cart. Three huge sodas filled her arms. Had to be forty eight ounces if they were anything. "Here we are!! Chloe, got yours, got Dr. Pepper for me, and Lex, here's coke for you." She snorted. "No, good idea to bring the man with no credit limit along. He'll get in the swing of things; I've seen him adapt."

"But I'm wicked embarrassed… Wal-Mart? And he's wearing a $6K outfit?"

Lex cleared his throat. "I can still hear you, Chloe. If you want me to leave, I'll go."

Chloe looked over her shoulder up at him and glared. "I know you're not listening to our conversation."

"Believe me, I wish I weren't." The tips of Lex's ears were a little red. "However? Your whispers not quite quiet, especially with a Senatori, who's natural state of voice is shouting at the top of not-inconsiderable lungs."

Another glare, and a raised brow, but she waited for him to catch up and wasn't that odd, Lex walking through Wal-Mart? "I need pants. I like the ones here. Are you willing to help me, or are you going to be making snotty remarks about the quality and or the way they're made? Tell me now, because if so, Shay and I will come tomorrow, alone."

"Chloe, I told you before, if what you want is here, then here is where we'll shop."

Yeah, right. He hadn't answered a word she'd asked, and she looked up at him in the two feet that separated them and jabbed her finger into his gut. "Answer. Questions."

Lex reached down and caught her finger before it jabbed him twice. "I told you. I will help you. I am going to take care of you. It's what I do. I am going to make sure you have what you need. It's literally why I am here."

A moment. He wasn't lying, and… yeah. She reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist and back, to give him a tight squeeze. "Okay, then."

Lex hugged back as much as he could, kissing her forehead and rubbing her back. "Come on. Let's go and see what the exciting world of Wal-Mart has in store for us, eh?"

- = - = -

Whitney was sitting at the Sullivan house dining room table. He had every one of his books piled neatly on the end, and he was making a nice, orderly list of all the homework assignments that he had left to do.

Which was, honestly, everything. The only thing he wouldn't have a problem doing was writing an essay on Lionel's interview with Diane Sawyer. He sighed as he looked. Six sheets of notebook paper, and every one of them was at least half full of assignments to do and get caught up on. And, he had until next Monday to do it in. Six subjects, seven days, it worked out.

Only he didn't give a good goddamn about any of it. The only reason he didn't shove everything off the table is because he didn't want to worry Mr. Sullivan, who had been nice enough to let him stay here. Instead, he just put his head down on his crossed arms, and sighed into the tabletop. Chloe had blown out of there like a tornado earlier to go shopping, and he truly didn't care. He was alone, it was quiet, and that's how he liked it.

Of course that's how he liked it, but Clark, if anything, was a spoil sport. He had just greeted Gabe at the front door, and he made his way through the house to the dining nook behind the kitchen. He had stopped at home to give his mom a kiss and get a clean shirt from his closet, and here he was, blue shirt in tow, walking through the kitchen towards Whitney.

He looked like shit, but that was okay, because Clark had a calculator, twin new pens, and a plan. "Whitney?"

"He doesn't live here anymore," came the muffled reply. "Whitney Fordman... has left the building."

"Oh-hhh huh." Clark did the terrible imitation of Elvis and plunked down beside him, eyebrow raised at the gobs of homework sitting in front of him. "Facing this, Id be on my way to Cancun."

Whitney just snorted. "Tried that. I remember someone telling me to get my ass in gear due to impending fatherhood and the like." He pulled his head up then to glare at his friend.

"Oh yeah." he met glare with grin. "Well, than let me amend. If you weren't gonna be a dad and you have to graduate so you won't repeat, than yeah, Cancun." He shifted in the dining room chair and tugged the sheets of paper with all the homework assignments on it, and peered. He'd already memorized Whitney's handwriting and writing voice, so... he gathered all the worksheets together and as he himself had done them already and all of them had been catalogued into his mind... he glanced over his shoulder. Made sure Gabe had gone back upstairs. And tore through the worksheets and a thousand miles an hour.

"I'm all for--...Cancun." Whitney just blinked. Whitney couldn't even see the blur, it was moving so fast. But there was a growing pile of worksheets sitting on the table to Clark's left, and his jaw was hanging open at the hinge.

Clark signed Whitney's name at the top of the last sheet and came back down to normal speed, setting the worksheet happily on top, and tipped his head. "Pass me the history book."

Whitney picked up the worksheets and flipped through them. They were still hot, as though they'd just come off the copier or the mimeograph machine, and he dropped them, dumbly passing over the history book like Clark asked for. "Wow."

"They're all right. I made a mistake here or there so the teachers wouldn't know it if you copied off me." He opened the history book on one side of him, and the math on the other, peering at the fifteen assignments and two papers.

Exactly thirty eight seconds later all fifteen assignments were done, and another ten produced six page reports, that Clark handed him, and rubbed his fingers on his pants. He switched pens, tossing the one he'd been using into the trash can, the half melted mass of plastic clattering in the can. "What else?"

"Uh. Um. Well. Okay. That was Bio, History, Math and English. PE didn't assign anything, that leaves... um... Spanish. That I'm taking."

"Hablo espanol, amigito." Clark answered without a twitch, and he snagged the Spanish book and gazed at the twenty six assignments on the second to last page, peering at it for a moment before he flew.

Whitney was still just staring openmouthed at his friend.

It took him a moment longer, because Spanish wasn't his first language, but he got all the assignments done in a minute and a half, the last page fluttering to the stack of finished homework and the book on the table with the rest of them. He blinked, set the hot pen down, and smiled.

"WOW."

"Its the least I could have done. I have a big brain, why not use it." He smiled again at his ashimel, a little shyly now, and organized the stacks quickly into their separate folders for Whitney to stick in his backpack. "Chloe was going to get it tonight, but this is easier. I already did hers, too, its in her room."

Whitney caught Clark's hands as they sorted his homework. "Clark... thank you. You didn't have to." He squeezed gently.

"You're my ashimel." Was all Clark said, as he leaned forward to gently press his lips to his, quick, brief, but warm and inviting, loving and gentle. "I love you, Whitney. Anything I can do, I will do it."

"I know." Whitney closed his eyes, and leaned his forehead against Clark's for a long moment. "I hate this. I hate feeling this way. I hate... I hate feeling like there's nothing good anymore when I know, I know that I've got more in my life than a lot of people could ever hope for, but then I remember what I have lost, and it's just... I don't want to do anything."

"You suffered a huge loss, Whitney." Clark said quietly, and his fingertips gently stroked over Whitney's neck, the back of his head, and finally cupped along the side of his throat. "No one expects you to be alright overnight. I think you're on the right path... I think you need to see a therapist."

"I don't want to see anybody. I don't want to talk to anybody."

"Why?" Clark asked it truthfully, tipping his head slightly.

"Because nobody understands, Clark. Nobody understands what it's like. When you just get to the place where you're okay to deal with the fact that your father's gone, and that even though you let him down in your life, he still loved you just the same. Right when you get to that place and can smile and mean it, then the support is yanked, right out from under you, all over again. Suddenly, you've got to deal not with just, her being gone, but the entire support structure you built around yourself collapsing in a pile of dust because the person you built it around is gone too."

Quite possibly, the saddest thing Clark had ever heard. "Ashimel." He murmured quietly, and brought him tenderly close to stroke his hair away from his eyes. "Even though she's gone, it doesn't mean that your support structure is gone. It just means its changed, its morphed and its turned into something else. Something stronger. You loved her, she was your mom, and I know she loved you just as much. But you have Lex, and you have me. You have Chloe, and her father. And you're going to have a family soon. Soon a little life is going to look to you to support their structure, and I think in that little person, you'll find all the family you could ever need."

"But it does, Clark," Whitney explained softly. "I pulled it together after Dad died because Mom needed me. And she needed me right then. I had to pull together and help; I couldn't just run off or hide in my room for a month. She needed me to work for her, to help her out, to learn to cook and take some of the burden off her. Because she's suddenly left alone too. Now, I've got nobody, Clark. And now... now I've got to deal with both of them being gone. And I don't like what I see in myself."

"You want to know what I see?" Clark asked softly, as he tucked Whitney in close... then finally tugged him gently until he rose and sat in his lap. "I see... a person that has taken everything that life has thrown at him and succeeded. I see... a strong, but gentle person who loves everyone around him. I see... an extremely deep, extremely intelligent person that is trying to deal with his loss on every level imaginable. I see... someone who hasn't given up. Someone who still has the courage to go on, and that can't be bought or sold. They're not really gone, Whitney, when everything that made up who they were is inside of you. Living, beating, breathing."

Whitney crawled into Clark's lap and curled around his chest. "I have given up. I've given up on almost everything. That's just the thing. I feel... I feel like there's no reason for me to do anything differently, no reason for me to pull myself out of this funk, because people die. They die all the time, whether I want them to or not, whether I love them or not, and they're just... going to go away no matter what I do."

"Lex, you, and I will never go away." He answered it, quietly, his fingers stroking tenderly down his back. "Literally. Your family will never go away."

"I know, but it's not the same." Whitney was only a few minutes away from crying, and he desperately did not want to. "It's not the same as being able to go to Mom and get a hug when your day has been just the crappiest it has ever been, or being able to sit down with Dad and ask him, did he feel like this when he was my age."

Oh, Christ, and Clark buried his face in soft blond hair, rocking his ashimel close and holding him tightly. "I'm so sorry, Ashimel. I'm so sorry. I think now I understand what you've lost. I'm so sorry, ashimel, I'm so very sorry. I'm so sorry." He rocked him, slowly, his heart squeezing like a vice in his chest. "I'm just so sorry."

"I'm sorry too." Whitney wrapped his arms around Clark's chest, face hidden in his friend's shoulder, squeezing tightly. "It's like... it's like suddenly, everything that I knew was gone, and I'm in the middle of a road without a map and no road signs to tell me what's going on. So lost, Clark."

His heart throbbed for his ashimel, and in a part of it, it ached for Chloe and her unborn baby. "I know, ashimel. You have to find yourself, see what you want, and then take the road you feel is the best one to take."

"I don't even know what that is anymore. And now, I've got nobody to ask. I love you, Clark, but... I can't ask you, what to do with my life. I can't ask Lex, I can't ask Chloe. It's like... I don't have anyone to even give me a starting point anymore. After Dad died, Mom was that. I had to be there for Mom. And everything else, I could pull myself up around that. But now, I don't have that. I can't go to Mom and ask, Mom, what's next? What do I do now? And I want to, Clark, I want to so much."

"You can go to Chloe." Clark said, quietly. "If you want that life, you can ask her. But the answers, the deep ones, are the ones you have to find in yourself. I'm not the best person to ask about this...Lionel, or Dominic, are. They're wise beyond anyone I've ever known, ashimel." He stroked his back, softly. "They found themselves in situations similar. Ask them, and see where it takes you."

"I can't go to Mr. Luthor; he threatened to have me killed." Tight squeeze. "I wouldn't feel right, asking him about my life."

Clark stroked his ashimels cheek. He'd already known about it, and it had already been taking care of, and he thought of it as he pressed his lips to Whitney's carefully. "Do what you feel is right. There's nothing anyone can tell you to do... you're your own man, now."

"I don't want to be my own man now, Clark. I shouldn't have to be yet." His voice choked off. "Neither of them got to see me graduate high school. Dad... Dad always wanted to, and now... now Mom won't even be there."

Clarks chin trembled, hard, as he set his face in Whitney's hair and held him close. "They would have loved to see you. I think they still will. People who go to the Other see those of us still on earth."

"But I won't see them."

There was nothing Clark could say to that, and he gently stroked his friends hair quietly, hugging him close into the circle of his arms and falling silent.

Whitney choked back the tears that wanted to erupt, because that was his new decision. No more crying. He just pressed his face hard in Clark's shoulder, and tried to change the subject. "Chloe... she went shopping. I think... I think she wants to get stuff for the baby."

"Pants." Clark answered, quietly, into his lovers cheek quietly as he rocked him in his arms. He knew, he didn't have to ask. "Hers won't close anymore. She got Lex to take her and Shay to Wal-Mart for some."

"She didn't say. I just guessed." He rubbed his face into Clark's shoulder again. "I haven't said anything to her yet. About knowing."

"Don't." Clark answered, quietly. "Don't say anything, not yet. Find yourself, Whitney. If she's not something you want, don't lock yourself into that life. Find out what it is you want from the world, first."

"She's the only thing that I know I want," Whitney said softly. "That's never changed, no matter what else has happened. Even though right now, I wish she'd just... let me be, for a little while, I look five years down the road and if I can't see anything else, I see her there with me. And no matter how hard I think, she's there."

"And your child? What of him, or her? Can you see them in your life, Whitney?"

Quiet nod. "I see a little boy. Red and yellow jacket, like my old letterman one. Little baseball glove, little football shoes. Watching football games with me on Sundays, cheering for the Sharks."

"Don't tell me. Tell her." Clark answered it, vehemently. "Tell her, when you're ready. Tell her, before its too late."

"What if she doesn't want me anymore? After seeing... what a wreck I've been? What if she hasn't told me yet because she doesn't want her kid to have a loser like me as a father?"

"Whitney, its Chloe." Clark answered, quietly. "She wants you, she loves you. She hasn't told you because of your mom, and you know it."

"Yeah, because of my Mom." Whitney choked it out. "Because I flipped out and lost every bit of respect she ever had for me. God knows I wouldn't blame her."

"No." There was steel in his voice. "Whitney, because she didn't want to add more to what you already have. She loves you, and she didn't want to add more to what you already had."

Whitney nodded, even though he didn't believe it. "I'll wait until next week. If nothing's changed... I'll talk to her then."

Crap. "Alright." Clark said, tenderly, and rubbed his nose gently against Whitney's. "I wish you could see Lex at Wal-Mart."

A soft, half-weepy chuckle at that. "Boy. Talk about your sore thumbs."

"He's sticking out so far...he's also shopping for clothes with Chloe. You can imagine his expression." Clark rubbed his face against his, feeling the rasp of stubble and warm lips.

"I bet it's that road-kill expression. Where he looks like there's a pile of shit right under his nose, but he's trying not to smell it."

"Pretty much." Clark answered with a soft smile, as he tenderly rubbed Whitney's hair with one big palm. "Are you still coming tonight?"

"Yeah. Of course." He smiled into Clark's shoulder, a small one, but it was there nonetheless. "I wouldn't miss it."

"Don't feel nervous or obligated, about the whole sexual part of our relationship, okay? Lex made me make sure to tell you that."

Soft laugh. "Tell Lex thanks, but I already figured that one out." He squeezed. "I'll tell him thanks, too."

A quick nod and he pressed a kiss to a warm forehead. "He knows, already. But, hey, come on. I know Gabe rented you the new Matrix video game, and I gotta tell you, I was worming for a way to play it."

"Yeah, he did, and I haven't even looked at it yet." He sighed. "It's upstairs; I brought my TV and game console over from--there." Soft stumble over the words. "We'll figure it out together; Pete's brother even printed me off the cheats for it."

"Whenever you're ready... we'll go pack your stuff up." Clark answered, quietly. "If the insurance is going to gyp you everything, at least they won't get what's in the house."

Whitney shook his head. "There was just enough to pay for the funeral and everything; they settled on Dad's and they can't go back on it, now, so the money from Dad's is payin' the property taxes and everything for this year, so that's all taken care of." A deep sigh. "I think... I think I'm going to sell the house, Clark. Find... an apartment or something. The house... it's too big, and too expensive, for just me."

Clark knew that had been coming, and his brow furrowed for a moment. "I think maybe you're right. I also think....with the money from it, you could find a really nice house in one of the new homes we built. If... if you want, anyway. Maybe a townhouse."

He shook his head. "The house is old, Clark. The property value is way down. I'll never be able to make the payments on it. Those new houses, they're great, but they're expensive. I'm not even working, and... I think Fordman's gonna go under, cause the books don't look good, and we're losin' money."

"Whitney? Talk to Mr. Senatori. Not Dominic, but Graham. He's been looking to go into business with a hardware store in Smallville, because he wants to start a carpentry business." A leap of excitement ran through Clarks blood. "He's been looking since Christmas for a good partner, but the Rubenstein's aren't it. Talk to him. You own Fordman's now, its yours, and you can do whatever you want with it. Talk to him. He's fair, and consistent."

"You really think?" He blinked slowly. "I mean, Fordman's been around here since my great-grandfather... people know that we're local, good and steady."

"I really think. You know Graham, Whitney, and you know what a good man he is. He bought the farmhouse on the edge of town, and he's been looking for work. I heard Dominic and Lex talking about it last week. He's looking for a partner....hes been considering even moving to Grandville if he can't find one. I think with your name and his hard working skills, you guys could really make something."

"I'd... I'd want to talk to Lex. He's the one with the business head... see what Mr. Senatori would have to do, see what I'd have to do too. Cause I don't want him to be the only one that has to add something. Besides, I can kind of help... I'm not the greatest with my hands, but I know the store, and I know who needs what kind of work done round here."

Clark just... he beamed. "Exactly. Talk to Lex, make it happen. Sleep on it, and decide something. Its just the thing that could bring the store up, big time. There's so much construction and building going on, and if Graham's wading in the middle of it, backed by Fordman's name and supplies, could you imagine how much money you'd make?"

"I wouldn't mind working on the weekends and during the summer, either; it's good work, and it's my store now, I guess. If... if he'd be willing to work with a kid like me, I'd like to talk about it. I don't want to lose the store, and let Dad down again."

"You aren't a kid." Clark said, quietly. "You're a grown man, Whitney. Age rarely has to do with how old you are, you see." He stroked down Whitney's cheeks. "Think about it. Tell me, and I'll tell Dominic, and Dominic will...... beat him up." A wince. "I'll just get you his number."

Whitney laughed softly. "You're too good to me, Clark. Way too good."

"Nothing is too good for my ashimel." Clark beamed it, because he'd gotten Whitney to laugh, and oh man. He hugged him hard, snuggled him in, and kissed his cheek warmly. "You sure you don't want to come with me while I work? Free moochhhaaa..."

"Free mocha. That's kinda hard to turn down, but... along with free mocha, there's shitloads of people that I'm really not up to dealing with right now." He squeezed Clark's hand again.

"You don't have to deal with them. You could sit behind the counter, with me. Nell won't mind, as long as you make a mocha or two."

Whitney considered. "You got a back room I can hide in? I'm good with stocking; I can work in your stock room."

"Hell yeah." Clark smiled, now, and one expressive brow rose. "Maybe I can sneak smoochies during my breaks."

"Free mocha, Clark smoochies, and a quiet lonely stock room. Now that's a proposition I can deal with."

-=-=-

Lex sighed, as he walked into the pool room. Tight black Speedos that fit perfectly, framing his crotch with a V of purple in the front, and a bottle of scotch in his hand.

He was never, repeat, never going shopping with anyone of the female persuasion, ever again.

Although, the look on the woman's face at the cash register as he'd handed over a platinum American Express card almost made the entire trip worth it. She hadn't even thought to ask for ID, until the register had prompted her, and he'd been mildly amused as he displayed his driver's license, then signed the credit slip.

He looked up at the splashing, and scowled. Darkly.

Dominic's body cut like a knife through the water. He dived from the side of the pool and swam like a fish, fast and hard, towards the middle of the pool. He pushed down without taking a breath to retrieve the goggles from the bottom of the pool he'd dropped earlier, and came back up for a breath of air. Hair that stuck up rain, shine, pool or office stood from his head, and he rubbed a hand over his face, through his hair, before swimming back through to the deep end of the pool.

His kitten, Freddie, lay sleeping on a towel a few feet from the water, curled up into a teeny tiny orange ball.

Freddie, his name was, he knew it. Bad, bad, water place. Water meant for messy fur, and Freddie lifted his head up and licked his foot, then started rubbing it behind his ears. Dirty fur.

Lex scowled again at the orange ball of fluff curled up on the towel, and thought about splashing it. But the look from the cat, as it washed behind it's ears, gave him a second thought, and he dropped his towel and bottle to the side away from the kitten, and dove in.

The ploosh of water startled him and Dominic went under for a moment, instinct kicking in and kicking him up again as he coughed, sputtered, took in a breath and rubbed the hair from his eyes. A bullet, sliding through the water, and he realized it was Lex when the naked skin shot past him.

Fuck.

He kicked to the side of the pool and easily boosted himself up onto the side, making sure his trunks were firmly on before rubbing his fingers through his hair and water out of his eyes.

Lex surfaced on the opposite side of the pool, grunting softly as he pulled up by the wall, and kicked his legs out, stretching them just a little before working on his shoulders next. "What are you doing here?"

"Relaxing. You?"

"Close enough." Lex shook his hands dry as he rubbed the water out of his face, feeling it sheeting down his hairless skull. "Tip? Never go shopping with your little sister."

Despite the tenseness between them, Dominic cracked a grin. "A lesson it should bode well everyone to learn." He glanced down at Freddie, making certain his little baby was alright, and leaned down to give him a kiss and a damp cuddle.

HISS!!! Freddie swiped at the damp arm with a paw. Didn't care who. No wet touches the cat fur.

Dominic hissed right. On. Back, and tugged on an ear before giving him another kiss before slipping back into the water. He ducked all the way under and resurfaced a few feet away, rubbing the water from his eyes before beginning a lap down to the deep end.

Freddie immediately started licking all over himself, trying keep himself from being wet and dirty.

Lex started back to the other end, circling his stepfather and his stepfather's cat and ending up in the middle of the pool. "Nor should you go shopping with Chloe."

"I think that's why Shayla and Chloe enjoy one another's company so much. They're the exact same person in two bodies." Dominic answered on a breath as he reached the other side, and floated for a minute, relaxing in the warm water.

"I can vouch for that. Christ almighty, if they hadn't tried on everything in the damned store, I'll be paid for lying."

Dominic yawned, softly, as he floated, gazing at the ceiling for a long moment before he pulled up and boosted himself out of the water again. He padded around the deck and snagged the ladder up to the bouncing board, climbing onto it easily. A bounce, one, two, and he leapt, jumping into the water with hardly a splash.

A large, feline yawn as Freddie turned his back, raised his back leg, and started licking his balls. Stupid people, who played in water.

Lex raised an eyebrow. "That's not bad. Practice?"

He came back up after touching the bottom, and heard his step sons voice as he was halfway up, before he came up and took a deep breath. "You could say that."

"Which usually means I'm not right, so spill."

He grinned at his step son and ducked back down for a minute to get his hair off his forehead, rubbing it back as he tread water. "When I was about Clarks age I was offered a spot on the Irish swim team for the Olympics. I've been swimming all of my natural life. It was either swimming or coming to the US... I decided the latter."

"You were an idiot," Lex said frankly, treading water. "Passed up the opportunity of a lifetime."

"Mmm." He swam beside his step son, but not too close. There were still bad feelings and anger between them, and he wasn't dumb enough to get too close. "It would have been a different life. I sincerely doubt Id be where I am today, and I doubt Id be as happy as I am today."

"Don't think it would have been; you'd have been a few years late in getting to Dad, that's all. He'd have still hired you." He boosted himself onto the side of the pool. "Look, Dom."

"Mm. Part of the reason I love your father as much as I do is because of the time we've spent together, and the memories we have. Not having that would have killed me, though I probably wouldn't have known what I didn't have. Or I'd be straight. Ghastly." He continued to tread water, ducking down to get his skin wet again, before floating along happily.

"Not a good thing to be, I grant you. Wouldn't give Clark up for the world, even if it did mean my dying to get him."

"Amen." He swam out, kicking a little bit before ducking underneath again, and a few moments later he was climbing out to go onto the diving board again. "What is it you needed to say?"

"Clark and I, we talked. He... he explained some stuff to me." Deep sigh. "Like, how I sort of... over-react."

"Really." An eyebrow came up as he waded over to where Lex was sitting and pulled himself up onto the side of the pool as well, with Freddie cuddled on his towel between them.

"Yeah. See... okay. Clark's... Between the two of us, Clark is the one that is going to have our children. It's... sort of ingrained in me. Protect the childbearer. Even... well, no matter how absurd the threat may be."

"Like me of all people trying to kick his ass?" Dominic asked, brow raised as he bat at Freddie to get off his towel, plucking it from under his kitten before he opened it and rubbed his face dry.

How... how dare... OFF HIS WARM FUZZY!! Freddie was not a happy cat, and he crawled over Dominic's leg, JUST to put his BUTT in Dominic's FACE once before flouncing off to flop beside Lex on his towel. Hmph. Baldy Thing had a warm fuzzy too, so THERE!

"Like anyone threatening to do anything that'd hurt him or separate us," Lex said softly. "You... Dad... anybody." He reached out absently and stroked the kitten on his towel, and got a nip on the finger for dripping water.

PEOPLE! CATS. DON'T. LIKE. WET!! He sneezed at both of them, flicking his whiskers.

Dominic plucked Freddie off of Lex's lap and wrapped him up in his towel, setting him comfortably on his lap as he leaned back on one arm. "I wouldn't hurt you. Neither would your father. We owe you everything. I'm sorry I teased you, as that's probably what set everything off, laddie. It wasn't intentional, anyway. I shouldn't goad you as I do, I know."

Sneeze. Now that was more like it. Freddie purred inside the warm cocoon of the towel.

"I know you wouldn't, Dominic. I know Dad wouldn't either, but... it's not that. It's just... any threat. Any threat to Clark. And I just... I react to it."

"I'll make sure not to threaten Clark, then." Dominic answered quietly, head tipped. "Try not to eat my head alive."

"Well that makes me feel so much better." Dominic deadpanned, rolling his eyes as he opened the towel so his kitty could sit on his warm towel covered lap. "He's cute, isn't he? A bitch, at that, with an attitude as well."

"Of course he's got an attitude. He's a Luthor, isn't he? besides... he's got to have one to hold his own with Sammy and the gang. Do you know, I caught them all sleeping together in a pile a couple of days ago?"

"Fredrick'll walk the floor with them. ...Or possibly crap on my shoe, which has in all means become the puppies." A sigh, as he rubbed his kittens head now with a dry palm, gently stroking down his teeny back. "They didn't hurt him, did they?" He lifted Fredrick up, to give him a once over.

"Only if you consider Dog Drool grievous harm," Lex said. "Artie was licking him."

"Fabulous. Doggie slobber. We don't like that, do we Freddie?" Dominic crooked it, and rubbed the kitty's cheek with his nose, grinning when he bat at him. "Spoiled brat. Here, lie back down, runt." He pulled his towel back over, and plunked Freddie down on it. "Have you touched swimming since you did Water Polo, Lex?"

RUNT? It wasn't bad enough that he was suffering the indignity of being examined like a piece of meat! But now! Now he was a RUNT!

Didn't know what it meant, but he didn't LIKE it, and he hooked his claws into the nearest fleshy object to show his displeasure.

"Not since the accident, no. For some reason, I've developed... an aversion, to water."

"You were just swimming fine," Dominic pointed it out, and he reached over for a tinkly ball toy he'd had hiding under his pants, tossed haphazardly onto a pile beside the pool, and he rolled it Freddie's way before he slid back into the water that felt cool on his warm skin. "And its a wonder you can get in the water at all."

OOH! THE SHINY THING!!!!!! Freddie wiggled his butt under the towel, and pounced on it.

RINGY!!!

The ball spun off, and he chased it again, jumping on it.

He landed on his head.

He got up, very dignified, and started licking himself, looking at Dominic as though to say, I meant to do that.

Lex chuckled softly at the kitten's antics. "It's not easy, but I just... sometimes, I like to swim. It's not a fear, it's just... I choose not to, unless I have to. Or want to. In this case... I want to."

Dominic grinned at his step son and reached out of the pool enough to get the ball again, and rolled it towards his baby once more, away from the water's edge where he'd be safe. "Its a wonder, Lex. You did spend a week and a half in a coma, after all, kiddo. How you manage to take baths, let alone swim, shocks me. But that's neither here nor there, now is it?"

"Didn't help matters that I died in water, either," Lex said softly, watching the pool lap gently around his ankles.

"Indeed. Its a lucky thing Clark was there, after all. I don't know if your father would have come out of that sane, you know." He did the back stroke, once, twice, and sighed softly.

"I know. I didn't know at the time--he was just chewing me out on the phone, and I'd just hung up on him and I suppose it was him calling me back." Deep sigh. "I don't think about it that often anymore."

"Well, I do. When I got word of it, your father nearly killed himself getting out of his desk and out the door. I've never seen his old bones move so fast. At least not until he had me in his bed." Big, wicked grin, but it was touched with sincerity, as he waded closer again. "He all but vaulted over the furniture, you know."

"He never cut me any slack--neither did you," he said softly. "Two weeks later, you were back here, in my face about my profits and firing my workers."

"Of course I was. Shame on you that you didn't see it for what it was, and as I can see, still don't." He ducked down under the water, wet his head, then peaked up out of the pool at his kitten, watching Freddie play with the ball like it was the worlds most amazing invention ever.

"Let me guess... yours and Dad's little ways of saying I love you?" Deep sigh, and he stayed sitting on the side of the pool.

Oh! It was so cool. It didn't stop moving! And it made noise!!!! Every time he jumped on it, he batted it, and it rolled and jingled and FUN! pounce

"Ewww. Don't go that far, jeez Lex, we've just met." but his eyes twinkled as he looked up. "What, you think your papa could swallow his pride? Please. He still can't swallow it." He tapped the ball and watched it roll... chuckled at Freddie's confusion, and stroked his back once before he went off playing again.

"Yeah, well, he needs a lot of work in that department. Then again... I'm not exactly one to talk." He finally slid back into the pool beside Dominic and turned onto his back to float as he stared at the cathedral ceiling.

Dominic turned to stare at him for a long moment… blinked. And he lay on his back, floating over to him with a little well placed kick of his foot. "Lex... what're we looking at?" He whispered, as he blinked at the tall ceilings.

"A reproduction of Bonnie King Charlie's private greenhouse. His ceiling was designed precisely the same way as this one was, only his had oilcloth and lambskin over the frames, instead of double-pane glass."

"Hmmm. You know, its quite possible you couldn't have said something more boring in that moment, but just when I thought you were boring, you lie reproductions and lambs on me." Dominic deadpanned, brow raised as the water lapped at his head.

"So? Blame it on Dad. He's the one who's fond of lectures and history, not me. Everything I learned was in self defense."

"That's ghastly. You have to get the internal shut up mechanism. He starts rambling about on King Anderson the fifty sixth from Romania, and I start singing in my head. Do the numbers, wonder where my gray socks are. Its quite thrilling, works fabulously when I'm trying to stay awake during board meetings." A snicker.

"There was no King Anderson in Romania; nor was there a fifty-sixth anything. Lineages rarely lasted past the fifteenth or so. Not to mention, the royalty there was only a mild figurehead, and the power lay with the dukes, Marquises, and Counts."

Dominic blinked...and groaned. "Lex, please, don't... even go there. You're smart, I'm not, lets leave it at that."

"You've never heard of Count Vlad?"

"I've flunked every history course I've ever taken. Ever."

"Vlad the Impaler? Stuck his prisoners up on pikes, drained their blood, drank it?"

"Uh, ew! Too much fucking information!" Dominic cried, and splashed water Lex's way as he kicked back and righted himself before he drowned. "That's disgusting!"

"It's also the basis of the Dracula legends--written, if I'm not in error, by Irishman Bram Stoker."

"All that Dracula nonsense." Another face, and he waded for a moment, still tasting that in his mouth. "That's just.... all the blood drinking, pike poking, head draining things were stories I stood away from as a boy, thank you."

"It's a shame; you're descended from blood-drinkers."

"Bull shit!" Dominic yelled, and splashed Lex again. "There are no blood drinkers outside of my mother, thank you EVER so much!"

"The Celts that inhabited the Saxony lands and through the Crusades were indeed blood drinkers. They drank the blood and consumed the organs of their dead warriors because they, much like the Native Americans, believed that they could then absorb the strength of the warriors. It was also not uncommon for a priestess or Shamaness to be devoured by her children so that the magic and the titles didn't stray outside the family. The brain, eyes, and heart were the biggest delicacies, along with the blood, because those were the supposed seats of power."

"Well that, but that's not Dracula! That's religious, that's got a basis in faith. They weren't sitting abo'ot drinking blood out of glasses and polishing their fangs. And its a text book answer if I ever saw one, as well. The Celts did it because at the beginning of each and every battle, they were prayed upon, to pass a blanket of companionship, protection, and love called the Anka. One took a piece of his fallen comrade to preserve the Anka, to keep it whole, no matter how many people were under its protection. It was also a symbol to the death, a… how do you say...homage to them."

Lex applauded. "You see? You're not stupid."

He glared. "I'm just stupid about everything else. I've got the history of my own country down pat, as one would."

"Oh, of course." A smirk. "You just don't like letting Dad know his lecturing worked."

"No! I will never accept it!" He glared and tugged on Lex's arm, growling teasingly... then burst out laughing, as Freddie did it from the edge of the pool. "Poo to you too, Mr. Kittenstamp."

Oh! We're changing toys!! Freddie left the ball alone to bound over to Lex, hooking his claws into the Bald Thingy's arm and yanking, just like his Daddy was. Then when Daddy growled... oh no he didn't just growl at the Fredster!! Freddie growled right back.

Dominic laughed again and picked his kitty up by the scruff, holding him up a moment before snuggling him in close to his wet shoulders as he waded to the shallow end and stood up in the water. "That's quite enough, Fredrick. Come on now, go play with your ball before I have to explain more scratches to Lionel. He won't be pleased...come on now."

WET!!!!!! WAS NOT GOOD!!! "YYYYOOOOOOWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLL!!" he screamed, little claws tearing at wet skin and trying to get away. DADDY PUT ME DOWN!!!!

Lex was cracking the hell up. Treading water in the middle of the pool and laughing like an idiot as he watched Dominic fight the little cat.

"Ow! Fuck! Freddie, calm down!" Dominic cried it as he snagged a leg before it scooted away, and his baby was going to fall in the--

Water.

He winced as he snagged the sopping wet kitten out of the water and cooed quietly, getting scratched up good for his worries as he plunked on the side of the pool and snagged his towel, wrapping it around the little baby again and cuddling him to his chest. "I'm sorry, my little prince. Come now, stop screeching, you're safe. I'm sorry, baby. There we are, we're warm, we'll get dry soon. I'm sorry, precious." He gave Lex a glare, and splashed him again with his foot as he snuggled Freddie in close.

More screaming! WET, HE WAS WET, HE WAS NOT HAPPY, GET AWAY, LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!! He was meowling at the top of his voice, clawing whatever was near him to shreds as he was trying to get away. LET ME GO!!!!!! His claw caught Dominic's nose.

"Ow! Dammit!" Dominic cried it and gave him a pop on the butt to get him to calm as he touched his nose… scratched and bleeding. Great. He sighed, deeply, and rocked the little guy until he was forced to open his arms and let him go. "Holy crap, he's pissed off."

A POP ON THE BUTT!!!!! As soon as his furry feet hit the floor he STREAKED out of the room.

Lex was still choking back his laughter. "Of course he's pissed, he's soaking wet."

He tipped his head, and rubbed the back of his hand against his nose again as he blinked at his kitten. "What the bloody devil am I supposed to do when he needs a bath?"

"Cats take their own baths. Hence, all the licking."

Dominic blinked. Twice. "Oh." Cough, and he climbed up to his feet, rubbing his belly, before looking over his shoulder at the scratches littering his back. The first time Lionel had seen them he'd snarled at him and asked what he'd been doing, and the thought brought a grin to his face. Christ, he wished he were here, instead of working upstairs. "I'm going to get a robe and get upstairs... will you be alright alone, Lex?"

"Yes, Dominic. I think I can be trusted to do a few laps without adult supervision," he said dryly.

"Sod off." But he smiled, as he dropped down to the cement and tile deck and peered at his baby cuddled underneath the lockers. "Fredrick, come here, right this moment."

HHHHIIIIISSSSSSSSS!!! And a spit for good measure.

"Treeeeeeats. Look. Uh.." he leaned over and snagged his slacks, rooting through the pocket for a moment before producing a nummy kitten snack that looked like turd, but Freddie liked them so Dominic wasn't saying a word. "Come here, little prince. I'm quite sorry for dropping you in the water like that, but at least you're clean. Come on, then."

"REEEEEEEOW!!!" More hissing, and he refused the treat, turning his back and starting to lick his privates again.

Sigh. "Lex, I'll be back for him. Give him ten minutes to stop planning my immediate homicide."

"We'll be here. I'll make sure he doesn't cough wander back into the pool while you're gone."

Dominic gave him a glare and grabbed his robe, tugging it on and with his slacks, shirt, and dignity, walked out of the pool house.

 

-fin-

go on to the next part