The Memoirs

Dominic could not sleep. Try as he might, the enormous bed, cold blankets and colder sheets, left him with a terrible ache somewhere in his chest that had nothing to do with the ache in his body. He shifted as much as he could, tried to rest, his muscles cold and tense because he hadn't had the thought to stretch them before he came to lay down, and he was a horrible mess of pain.

But worst of all was that Lionel was not there.

True to his word, he had not come home. It was nearing eleven now... Dominic had been trying to sleep for the better part of four hours, and he hadn't gotten not even one wink. The moon was full and dark, and his heart thumped, painfully, as his fingers scrabbled for the phone tucked in the blankets.

He dialed the slightly glowing numbers from memory.

The light from the computer screen was the only light in Lionel's office. The security lights in the hallway had been blocked out when he'd shut the door, and he was sitting at his desk, studying the last fiscal reports on LuthorCorp's stock break, and comparing them with the share numbers from last year this time, prior to the plant explosion and the move.

The numbers were still a bit low, which didn't make Lionel very happy at all. He should have been considering lay-offs, but instead, he was studying the numbers to see where the excess money was going and where it could be funneled back into LuthorCorp.

He was in the midst of making notes when the telephone trilled loudly in the silence of his office, and he reached for the headset, sliding it over his head and fixing the earpiece so his hands were free to keep working. "Lionel Luthor."

"Hey. It's me. I hope I didn't wake you."

"No, I wasn't sleeping," Lionel answered guardedly. "I was just working through the numbers of the latest stock split."

Dominic nodded to himself, quiet for a moment. "I would like for you to come home."

Lionel stopped his typing at that. "Is everything all right? Are you well?"

"I'm fine. I just miss you." Christ, he felt miserable. "I'm sorry, for the way I acted. It isn't an excuse, but I haven't been myself." Again. Strangely, the lines of self and image were blurred beyond repair. "I didn't mean to snap at you."

Lionel shook his head. "It's quite all right, Dominic. I understand that you were tired and not at your best, which is why I thought it prudent to accede to your request that I keep out of your presence." His fingers tightened on the phone. "Are you sure you'd like me there?"

"Yes. Please, if that's all right. Don't make me beg, okay?"

"No, no, Dominic. I don't want you to beg. Just... to be sure."

"I'm sure," Dominic answered, closing his eyes. "Just come home, all right?"

"I will be home momentarily, then," he said softly.

"I'll wait for you," Dominic answered, and hung the phone up.

He turned, with a struggling push from screaming muscles, to roll over onto his belly. Lionel was coming, and that was best of all. Swallowing his pride usually got what he wanted, and needed, for the most part.

He closed his eyes tiredly.

Lionel stared at the computer screen for many more minutes before finally marking his place and turning it off. He picked up his briefcase and made sure everything he'd printed out earlier was still in the pocket, tucked his pen in with them, and locked the door to his office behind him. A curt nod to the security guard as he walked outside, and Lionel quickly made his way to his car, and drove home.

- = - = -

True to his word, and thanks to several broken speed limits, Lionel was home in less than twenty minutes, and was slowly climbing the stairs to the bedroom. When he got to the top of the stairs, he knocked gently on the closed door.

Dominic lifted his head, groggily, from his blankets. He'd just been relaxing into the cruel joke of promised sleep when Lionel knocked, and he opened his eyes, blearily. "Come in."

Lionel opened the bedroom door just enough to slide through, and closed it quickly behind him. "Here I am," he said softly, putting his briefcase down and stripping his jacket off, laying it over the back of the chair as he started on his tie.

"Mmm." He answered. He had his body turned from the door, just because that's the way he'd turned, and as Lionel walked over to the chair, he was able to get a better look at him. "I'm sorry."

Lionel gave a gentle shake of his head, which caused his hair to ripple before he tossed it back over one shoulder. "You don't have to be sorry."

"I shouldn't have been angry. I shouldn't have made Eddie leave. I didn't mean for everything to get so mucked today," he said, as he pressed his cheek back against his pillow and fell silent.

"I can't imagine how difficult this is for you," Lionel said after a long moment, and he sat down on the corner of the bed as he unbuttoned his shirt. "And I should understand your feelings, but what I do understand, more than that, is how much it hurts you to be like this. And that's the hurt I can alleviate. In this case, yes, it was by sending in, by no other choice, someone I trust and that you detest. Hopefully in a day or so, I can find someone else able to fit you into their schedule."

Dominic didn't say anything, unable to relax and unable to let the tension in his shoulders go, half for his internal anger and half in fear of the pain he would have if he did. "Just drop it, all right?"

Lionel recoiled slightly, and stood up to finish undressing. "I'm sorry, Dominic. I'm going to shower quickly, and I will be right back." Lionel tossed the unbuttoned shirt to the side, in the tall hamper of dirty clothes, and disappeared into the bathroom behind its closed door.

When Lionel closed the door before him Dominic let go of the hold on his shoulders and relaxed, in stages, wincing with each one until he was once again a puddle on the mattress. The blankets were warm and smelled of spring, the pillow was soft but firm enough not to suffocate him should he move in the night, and he was so tired, so very, very tired.

Lionel cursed softly, at that moment regretting coming home. Dominic was obviously feeling sorry for himself and Lionel both, and Lionel felt like he was in no way making it better. He stripped the rest of his clothes off quickly, tossing them in the dirty hamper as well, and stepped into the shower, letting the hot water cascade over his hair and body until he sighed and relaxed.

Dominic listened to the water running, and strangely, it made him even more relaxed. He finally felt his muscles loosen and give, and he closed his eyes again... then letting them flicker open every few minutes, waiting for his lover.

Lionel was in the shower for about ten minutes before he finished, and had a towel wrapped around his waist and another in his hands drying his hair as he came into the bedroom.

He was a little surprised to see Dominic awake. "I'm sorry if the shower kept you awake; I should have waited until the morning."

He shook his head, sleepily. "It's okay. I wanted to wait for you."

"You didn't have to." Lionel went to the dresser and opened the third drawer, pulling out a pair of black silk pajama pants, and pulled them on before tossing the towel around his waist into the bathroom.

He sat back on the side of the bed, still drying his hair.

Dominic reached out, and softly brushed his fingers against the base of his lovers back, very softly, the skin and hair soft under his fingers, damp from the shower. "I wanted to."

Lionel gave a little sigh at the touch, and looked down. "I'm sorry that I upset you before."

Dominic took his hand back, at that. "Eddie shouldn't have left. Melodramatic little chit."

Lionel reached out and brought Dominic's hand back to where it had been touching before. "He said that you were not willing to work with him. I don't know the circumstances, but he is on my list to call in the morning to see if I can persuade him to return."

"No, he gave me an ultimatum. I knew I would hurt like I do now, if I pushed myself, which ended up happening anyway." He frowned, but touched Lionel's back again, softly, fingers touching the soft hair and skin. "I wish you hadn't called Jonathan Kent."

"I suppose my understanding fails me at why you didn't want to push yourself," Lionel said softly. "I would have."

Dominic took his fingers back. "I don't know," he said, after a few moments, in a quiet voice. "Afraid, I suppose. Of what could be, of what could happen if I can't." He realized Lionel hadn't said anything about Jonathan, and shifted into a more comfortable position, eyes closing by themselves.

"I would not have called him I had had no other choice," Lionel said softly.

"I know you must think I'm wallowing in self pity, Lionel. I'm not. It has nothing to do with what's going on--I've accepted it. I just wish… not Kent. Anyone but that cow fucking nazi."

"I was afraid to wait," Lionel admitted. "I was afraid that if I did wait, whatever progress you'd made with Eduard so far today would have been lost. I was... desperate, I suppose, for that not to happen."

Bitter words rose in his throat, but he swallowed them down. "Are you ready to sleep? I'm exhausted."

Lionel wasn't altogether stupid, but he chose discretion over anything else. "It will probably be some time before I fall asleep," he admitted. "Would the light on my side bother you?"

"Not at all. Good night, then," he said, glancing up quietly before settling more into his pillow.

"Goodnight, little cricket," Lionel said softly, pulling his briefcase over and tugging out one of the printouts as he leaned back against his own pillows and put his glasses on.

After a few quiet moments, Dominic said, in a voice that sounded small to him, "I love you."

Lionel put his papers on his leg as he leaned over and kissed Dominic's temple softly. "I love you, Dominic."

"I am sorry," he said, quietly, as he closed his eyes instinctively when Lionel kissed him. "I love you very much. I didn't mean to be a cad."

"It's all right," he said softly. "I'm sorry that I put your physical well-being over your feelings."

"Don't say it like that," Dominic said, and felt depressed all over again. "That's not what was wrong, Lionel."

"Then I'll apologize properly in the morning," he said with the ghost of a smile. "But you should rest now, and I will be here in the morning."

Yes. Didn't he feel nice and patronized.

He nodded, closing his eyes again and turning his head the other way, shifting his pillow until he found a more comfortable spot, and sought, desperately, for sleep.

Lionel just shook his head as he watched Dominic turn away from him. "Why did you ask me to come home, if this is going to be how it is?" he asked softly, softly enough to be ignored if Dominic chose.

"When we got married a year ago, I promised you I wouldn't always be a bed of roses. Take it or leave it, Lionel. I'm trying." He said, muffled against his pillow, exhausted and spent in every which way.

"If you put it that way, I believe I shall leave it," Lionel said stiffly. "I am going down to the office for a drink, and I will return in a few moments."

Leave it. Leave him. Hadn't he said a few short weeks ago that it was inevitable? Lionel would get sick of him and leave? He'd known it like he knew Lionel, inside out and backwards. It was only a matter of time. "Fine."

Lionel didn't quite slam the door when he left the bedroom, but it was close.

Take it or leave it. Lionel had apologized for what he thought he'd done wrong, and he would be damned to hell if he was reduced, again, to groveling and bending over backwards for Dominic and still get told to go to hell at the end of the night.

He'd done that once before, and didn't intend to do it again.

He did slam the door to the office open, and he headed straight for Lex's scotch. After about twenty minutes and three glasses, he gauged that enough time had passed for Dominic to fall asleep, and he headed back towards the bedroom.

Yes, well. Dominic wasn't asleep. After attempting it, for a few more minutes, he'd gotten up, taken a piss, which had been an adventure in itself, and pulled a blanket over his lap before rolling himself out onto the terrace. The night was very warm and humid, but in a good way, so the honey suckle was fragrant and the grass smelled sweet and clean. He sat, quietly, in the chair, watching the stars silently.

Lionel was more than a little surprised to see an empty bed when he came into the room, and he stopped up short at the door. "Dominic?" he called out, concerned.

He turned his head, slightly. "Out here."

Lionel came into the room, and found him on the balcony. "I thought you would be asleep by now."

Dominic didn't answer that, just looked back up. "Do you remember, nearly a year ago, when I gave you your star?" he said, instead, as he looked up. "I can't find it, sometimes, no matter how much I look. But sometimes, when the sky is very clear, it'll be crystal clear, sparkling as if waiting for my eyes to fall on it." He fell silent for a few moments. "I know I'm a wretch to live with right now, Lionel. And you've shown more understanding then I know you're capable of."

Lionel considered. "Even when I don't see it, either because I'm not looking or it's obscured by something, I know that it is there."

Dominic nodded, eyes still closed and the back of his head resting against the wheel chair. He wanted to tell Lionel how horrible it had been being so weak in front of someone he hated so much, the utterly terrible way he'd been treated all day, as if a child unable to understand and cope with his own life, and the way he'd been manipulated into doing whatever it is they all wanted him to do.

He didn't say it, though, because frankly, he knew Lionel was tired of hearing it.

"I'm so tired," he said, instead.

Lionel looked at Dominic's closed eyes for a long moment. "Am I one of the things you're tired of, little cricket?"

He opened his eyes. "No, you're not. You should know better then that by now."

"I think I do," Lionel nodded. "And then sometimes, I am not sure at all."

Something deep in Dominic's heart cracked open in panic. "You doubt my love for you? Or because I have not shown it in so long?"

"Because I can't seem to make you happy anymore," Lionel said, lowering himself to sit on the day-warmed stone despite the light chill of the night. "Because there must be something fundamentally wrong with me that I no longer... seem to be able to do the right thing for you."

Yes, well, the panic blossomed in the put of his gut and made him cold, so cold. "I haven't treated you well. I'm so sorry."

"No, Dominic. Don't be sorry. It's not you. I realize this." Lionel wished he'd brought the scotch bottle with him for this conversation. "Before this, it was the botched medications and surgeries that Jaheel brought on you. And now, I realize that you're probably depressed and Elaine should be prescribing you anti-depressants, just like she is for me, and yet... I can't help but feel like there is something wrong with me for not being able to react correctly in our situation."

Dominic shook his head. "There isn't anything wrong with you," he said, quietly, tiredly. "Its just the mess of all of it together. You asked me a week ago why you should stay, and I told you because I loved you. And that remains true. I do love you, and I want you to stay, no matter how terrible I act. I'm trying, Lionel, God help me. I want to be well for you."

"Then explain to me why we both want the same thing, and yet cannot come to an accord on it," he asked desperately. "You want to be well for me, I want you to be well for yourself and yet."

"I don't… I wish this had all happened to someone else, someone far away, because we were doing so good and this happened and I can't get back into my life. I've missed this enormous piece of things and I don't know what to do with myself and I hate that life went on without me and I hate that I almost died, and I want you, and I love you, but I can't find my center anymore, like I'm floating along free and there's nothing I can do, nothing I can salvage of myself but my pride and my dignity, and even that has been stripped from me, day by day and I can't, I'm trying, God, I'm trying, because i want to be well for you and for our family," Dominic suddenly exploded, his voice as desperate as his lovers and shaking with emotion. "God I'm trying, I'm trying, I love you so much, I want to be well so I can be with you, I want you to be happy, I want you to see me and be proud of who is standing beside you."

His hands began to shake, terribly. "But every time I try someone stupid is there to hurt me again, someone is there who doesn't understand what is happening and how could they? How many people have comas and head injuries and wake up to find themselves totally unable to move? How many people can understand the desperation I am going through, understand I cannot do something as simple as alleviate my own needs, can barely take a piss alone, can do nothing alone?" He felt the hot wash of tears fill his eyes and he tried, in vain, to blink them away. "I hate my life, I hate that I keep trying to second guess myself, I hate that I know I sound like a child to everyone else, and I hate that I've hurt you because of all of this, without even intending to."

Lionel listened calmly to Dominic break down, and when he was done, he got up from his place on the floor and pulled the wheelchair back over to bed. He lifted Dominic out without a word and put him in bed, and then climbed in beside him, holding him closely. "You're right," he finally said, after he was situated. "Nobody knows what you are going through. They can't, unless you tell them. If anyone knows the downfall of pride, it is certainly Lionel Luthor, don't you think?" He didn't wait for the agreement. "Don't make the mistake I did. Don't let your pride drive people away from you; understand that you are loved, and that the people around you, myself included, don't know, and can't know unless we're told."

His muscles screamed as Lionel moved him onto the bed, and his breath hitched terribly with it, and his emotions, until they were finally settled. Lionel holding him close to his chest in a way he hadn't in a long, long time, and without meaning to, he pressed his cheek to it, his aching arms coming up to hold him close. He listened to Lionel, silently, and closed his eyes. "I tried, but no one wants to listen. What's another sob story, right?"

"I will listen," he said softly. "You'd be surprised at the people who will listen." He kept his lover cuddled close, obsessively close. "You are loved, little cricket, by everyone here. We loved you enough to fight for you until there was nothing left to be done. Lex loved you enough to risk his own well-being to go and bring you back. We will listen."

Dominic rubbed his face against his lovers warm, furry skin, for a few seconds, fighting the sobs trying to work their way up into his throat. "I don't mean to sound so ungrateful. To be so ungrateful."

"It's not ungrateful to realize that you are limited by a physical ailment," Lionel explained gently. "It's not being ungrateful hold onto your pride because you feel like it's the only thing left, but you do have to understand that as low as you seem to be in your own eyes, you are not in anyone else's. Nobody coddles you or feels sorry for you; we work with your temporary handicap until you are well again, and that is all."

Dominic didn't say anything. Lionel's body was warm, solid, secure against his own, and he felt warm and comfortable and for the first time since Jonathan left him, his muscles were held just where they should be, and in the position, he finally relaxed. He was utterly and totally exhausted, tired in a way that he hadn't been in a long time, and he felt miserable on a level he hadn't in a long time. "Wouldn't you feel this way, if you were in my position?"

"I honestly don't know how I would feel," Lionel answered. "I have been raised a different way than you have been, and I am a different person than you. I am used to listening to doctors and such when it pleases me and to ignore them when it doesn't. I know that I did want to lose faith in myself when I lost my sight, but you would not allow me to."

"I don't have your wisdom," Dominic said, softly, into his lovers bare chest, and rubbed his cheek softly against the haired muscle. "Not yet."

"Of course you do," Lionel said with a tender smile. "You just have to ask for it, and I'll be glad to give you the benefit of it." A light chuckle laced his words, to show that he was teasing.

At that, a small smile graced his lips, and he looked up as he gently thumped his lovers chest. "Dork."

"So you keep telling me," Lionel said, raising his hand to rub the thumped spot and holding Dominic's hand against his skin.

Dominic opened his hand, spreading the fingers as Lionel pressed the back of it to his chest, and he gently left it there, eyes closing to half mast as he watched. He spread his fingers enough for his lovers to fall between them, and them curled around them so they were linked. "I don't like that Knight character."

"I am not particularly fond of him myself, but I am the prime example of a bad personality not necessarily meaning incompetence. We will have to simply wait and see."

He shook his head a bit. "He gives me a bad feeling, Lionel. Not just because he's got the mouth of a trucker while in my job. You know how good I am about my intuition, even as jarred as it's been the last few months."

Lionel nodded. "I agree, little cricket. But we cannot dismiss him because of bad feelings and instinct when there is actually nothing else solid to base this on."

"He's like Clark's evil twin. Only not evil, because we've been there, done that. He's the real deal, and I don't like him. If I'd mouthed off like that to you the first day you would have slapped me silly and sent me packing."

Lionel gave him a gentle glare. "Dominic. You must admit, there was a legitimate reason. He does look remarkably like Clark, even I can see it, and while I have informed him that another outburst will not be tolerated, I will allow it this time. I believe that I have mellowed, thanks to your influence."

"I wasn't any ruder than you were to me my first day," Dominic reminded back. "I wasn't any ruder then I always am to new employees--it shows them how to stay on the right road, and not to be a man they want to fuck with." He sagged a little. "Perhaps it was because I was sitting."

Lionel made Dominic look up at him. "Or perhaps it was because he was hired by my son, and has become accustomed to interacting with the chip Lex carries on his shoulder."

At that, Dominic gave a small smile, and kissed the skin under his cheek. "It isn't too big a chip."

"No, just the size of his ego," Lionel allowed.

Another soft smile. "Clark's brought that down a few pegs, hasn't he?"

"Yes, he has. However, when the chip is the size of a continent to begin with, Clark has had amazing success in carving it down to the size of a small country."

"He's a strong boy," Dominic offered. Lionel's heart was beating quietly under his ear, and he listened to it, soothed by the repetitions. "And a good boy. Though sometimes, he scares me a little, if truth be told."

"Why does he scare you?" Lionel asked softly.

"Because of what he's capable of. What he is. Even though I know he's good, and would never hurt us, I fear for Lex sometimes. I have to wonder if he won't end up with a broken heart when it's all said and done."

Lionel shook his head. "I don't think Clark will allow that to happen."

"Can you be sure of that, Lionel? What if Clark dies, for whatever reason, for whatever thing? What then?"

Lionel pondered. "I don't believe that Clark can be killed. Or will die. But if he does, I believe Lex will not be long in following, and that both reassures and troubles me. It reassures me, because Lex will not have the time to become what we fear he could, and yet, it troubles me that he will not be able to endure."

Dominic nodded, quietly, against Lionel's chest. "That's what I mean, love. I don't like it, not one bit, if truth tell you." He kissed Lionel's chest again, quietly. "Lionel?"

"Yes?" he answered.

"Now that I've walked, will you make love to me?"

Lionel had to laugh at that. "Yes, I will. But, only after you have been evaluated and I'm told that I won't crush your newly-working legs in my... ah, excitement."

Dominic glowed at that, a little. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Believe me, little cricket, I am just as eager as you are."

He was a little happier at that, then. "Jonathan's still awake. Call him."

"Jonathan is not awake, Dominic, it's half past midnight already. He will be waking up in a little over four hours, if he keeps the same schedule he used to, in fact."

Oh. Well, he fell a little at that. "Oh. Then I suppose it'll have to wait till tomorrow, then?"

"At least," Lionel agreed. "But hopefully not much later."

"Not much?" Dominic asked, quietly, looking up with dancing, quiet eyes. "No tease?"

"No tease," Lionel confirmed with a quick kiss.

The quick kiss, though, only touched a little bit of the hunger built inside of him like a small ball of want, and he licked his lower lip as Lionel pulled away, content to lay his head back down and taste Lionel in his mouth. "I feel better. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Lionel murmured, cuddling his lover close and keeping their hands together. "But you should be resting now, and so should I."

"It was very hard today. I've the bruises to prove it." Dominic said, quietly. "Don't remind me of that anymore though, okay?"

"All right; no more reminders of today." Lionel's arm went around his lover's waist, and hauled him close. "But I do mean sleep."

"I will try," Dominic answered, quietly, as they settled in against one another. "Pull the blanket up a bit, will you?" he said, amongst a soft, but deep, yawn.

"Of course." Lionel reached down and pulled the blanket up, tucking it around Dominic's waist and his own before settling back down against the pillow and tossing the thick mat of still slightly damp hair back over his shoulder.

Dominic shifted when Lionel did, wincing softly as the muscles in his hips tugged. "If I hurt like this tomorrow, we may have to delay the sex after all. God, my body aches."

Lionel gave a little frown. "Did you soak in the hot tub after your workout?"

"I came and lay down. I was too tired."

"I will have words with Jonathan in the morning to make sure that the cool-down is not neglected again," he said with a frown, rubbing his hands gently over his lover's shoulder and back.

He hissed a little, but only a little. "I'm okay, now. It was worse, earlier. I was too tired, Lionel."

"Regardless, it's important, and we can't have it skipped again."

"Okay," Dominic acquiesced sleepily, turning more into his lovers warm embrace and finally, finally getting comfortable.

Lionel kept Dominic cradled against his body, sharing his body's heat to create a little warm pocket around his lover's tired muscles.

"Good, gentle lover," Dominic murmured against him, quietly. "I love you."

"I love you, little cricket. Don't ever think otherwise."

"Only when you're acting utterly insufferable," Dominic teased groggily, yawning heavily into his warm, fleshy pillow. "Is my hair itchy?"

"No, it's not," Lionel answered, thinking of all the nights when he hadn't felt it at all.

"It's growing back horribly. I look like a chia pet," Dominic mumbled from somewhere around Lionel's nipple.

"Shall I water and trim you in the morning and make sure you get enough sunshine?" he teased, stroking his fingers through the hair in question.

"Its more like Gatorade and brace me, and make sure I sweat until I drop," He grinned back, all but preening into the touch in his hair.

"Well, at least you don't have to worry about your metabolism. You're getting enough exercise to keep you from gaining weight."

A low, low snort. "Because I so enjoy my trim figure?"

"No, because I enjoy it," he teased. "But, I'm complaining more than anything else, because I will have to begin an exercise regimen myself, and it is not something I look forward to."

"What exercise is this that you speak of?" he asked, glancing up.

"I am going to be fencing three times a week, and the other four days, I will be utilizing the gym in a routine set up for me by my personal trainer," Lionel said with a wrinkled lip of distaste.

"...why?"

"Because according to my physician, I have gained too much weight over the last few months, and I have not been doing sufficient physical activity to get rid of it."

At that, Dominic lifted his head, and stared.

Really stared.

Lionel looked healthy. He had since Dominic woke up, aside from the strain in his face and the gray now cheerfully speckling his hair. He looked healthy, robust actually. "You look fantastic. What on bloody earth are you going on about listening to them for?"

"Because, Dominic, I'd like to live for the next thirty years and enjoy them," he said dryly.

"You look utterly fuckable. Your frame isn't all skin and bones anymore," Dominic said, as he let go of Lionel's hand to poke his lovers side. "There's meat here, where there wasn't before. I don't want you to lose that. Your clothes fit better, and everything."

"Yes, apparently, the meat on my bones is no longer good for me. I am, as the doctor termed me, a "spare" man. Which seems to mean tall and lanky, much as I was when we came home after Easter."

Dominic frowned. "Your doctor is an idiot."

"I certainly hope not, as I've been seeing him for the last twenty five years," Lionel commented, kissing the furrow that appeared between Dominic's eyebrows.

"I like you thicker. It makes cuddling better. And the sex better, I'm supposing. More to lick," he said, with a little smile, as his tongue traced the flat of Lionel's nipple gently.

Lionel responded.

By ringing like a telephone.

Dominic blinked. "Well, that was unexpected."

"Yes, it was," Lionel snarled, and reached over for the phone. "Luthor," he snapped.

Adam sighed. Of course it'd be Big Bad Asshole Luthor, not Little Tolerable Asshole Luthor. "Yeah, I'm lookin' for Lex--these Welchlem contracts need his signature--I got a last minute quickbuy option from the board, and it's for far less than we'd moved for. Problem is, the contracts have to be signed before business hours in the morning so they can be filed for last night."

"Mr. Knight, first of all, have you any idea what time it is? Second, this is not Lex's telephone, this is my private line, and I would appreciate you not calling again. Third, Lex is at the hospital, I believe a friend of his is having a baby."

Dominic loved being right.

He smirked and lay his cheek back on Lionel's chest, listening to the angry rumble as he murmured, all too innocently, "Give them an inch and they'll walk all over you."

Adam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sorry about that, but when the phone number is coded L. Luthor, it's kind of hard to guess which is Lex Luthor and which is Lionel Luthor," he pointed out. "Hospital... Smallville Med Center, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Knight. Smallville Medical Center. Keep me informed about the Welchlem contracts, and if there are any problems, inform me after Lex."

Dominic shook his head softly and barely kept from rolling his eyes in exasperation. Smart mouth. Dominic thanked his mother for slapping that out of him when he was very young--it had gotten him far in his life.

"Right. Inform Lex, then you. Got it. And I'll change the label on the phone so I don't disturb you again." Adam hung up, grabbed the pile of paperwork that needed Lex's signature, took his jacket and keys with him, and locked the office on his way out.

Lionel hung up the phone in exasperation. "I am going to have words with that young man in the morning."

"Words that are "You're fired"?" Dominic asked, eyebrow arched up at him. "Insubordination."

"Perhaps--I will have to speak with Lex about it first."

"Perhaps my ass. If Charlie spoke to you like that, he'd be out packing before the words were out of his mouth."

Lionel sighed. "When all is said and done, Dominic, Adam is not my responsibility to keep on a leash. He is Lex's; Lex has chosen this young man as his second, and when you return, he will be Lex's assistant, much as you were mine. Lex has chosen him, and it will be Lex's choice as to what is done with him."

Dominic finally nodded. He didn't want to argue about the little shit anymore, not tonight when he was so tired, and he yawned, absently licking the corner of his mouth after he did and snuggling closer. "Fine, but I still think he is grossly incompetent."

"I agree," Lionel said quietly. "But we'll deal with this in the morning, because I am beginning to get tired."

"Kay," Dominic murmured, eyes drooping. "Me too." Well, sort of. "Lionel? Toni's due soon, isn't she?"

Lionel stopped to think. "Yes, she is, in a month or two, come to think of it."

"I can't wait," Dominic said, very softly, sleepily. "For our baby to be here. I'm ready to be a family."

"I am too, my little cricket. I can't wait for our daughter."

Dominic smiled, broadly, at that, his dimples winking even as his eyes drooped with sleep. "We'll put an announcement in the paper, like they did in old times, when society still meant something."

"Society still means something to certain people, Dominic, and of course we'll have birthing announcements for her," Lionel said proudly. "The first pictures of her."

Dominic cast a shy glance up at his lover. "I can't wait."

"Neither can I," Lionel said with a grin. "Neither can I. I know what it is like to have a child born, and yet I feel like... the first time. When Lillian first brought Alexander home from the hospital."

Dominic tipped his head, then. "Did Martha never see him, Lionel? After that?"

Lionel gave a little shake of his head. "No, she didn't. Not until the day of the meteor shower. She and Jonathan... she and Jonathan found us outside of the plant, and brought Lex and I to the hospital."

"How sad for her," Dominic murmured, his lips turning down into a soft frown. "I suppose it was fate, though--without it, Lex and Clark would not have found one another as they did."

"No, I believe they would have, Dominic. Regardless of how, I believe these two young men were meant to find each other, in a way that would ease Lex into knowing how special Clark is."

"Indeed," Dominic said, softly, as he finally, finally began to doze off. "Good boy, and all that. Lex, insufferable cretin."

Lionel couldn't help the smile. "Go to sleep, little cricket. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Yeah?" he asked, from his lovers chest.

"Yes," he said. "I will be."

"Don' you have work?" he muffled against Lionel's chest, as he shifted again, a little, and let his arm go tighter around Lionel's midsection.

"Yes, I do, and I will be there by eight AM. However, you have therapy an hour later, and will be waking up the same time I do so you can have breakfast beforehand."

"I don' think I can," Dominic muttered, half asleep. "'m so sore, L'nel.."

Lionel smiled at the mutter. "Go on to sleep, little cricket, and we will worry about tomorrow when it gets here."

"It is t'morrow, silly," Dominic shifted against him, but realized his arm was falling asleep and his shoulder hurt, so he let go of Lionel, grunting and groaning softly, and rolled onto his back, head propped on his lovers shoulder as he was still half turned toward him, but his arm was more comfortable.

"Then we'll worry about it when you wake up."

"Kay. Love you," Dominic sighed against his chest.

"I love you, my little cricket." Lionel stroked his lover's hair. "More than anything else."

 

-fin-

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