PMD
27th March 2005, 09:59
Happy Easter, everybody. :)
Title: Dedicated to Kris and Gabi - "Happy Easter"
Author: PMD
e-mail: mary.davidson@sympatico.ca
Rating: PG-13/FRT - Fan Rated Suitable For Teenagers, slightly suggestive suggestion from number one daughter of Luthors here too
Category: Chlex married, holiday fic, futurefic, Chloe's POV, AU
Spoilers: Anything is fair game in the first three seasons.
Summary: Lilly Luthor is sick and sad.
Disclaimer: To whomever owns Smallville, its characters, Easter, the Easter Bunny, Peter Cottontail, and Cleopatra, I'm just borrowing them, will give them back, not making any money with their use in this piece, so don't sue me.
Archive: At BtS, BT2, Electricchlex, MD, N.S. Forums, SPP, WBFFZ, and Malu's site at the moment. If anybody else wants it, all you have to do is ask.
Feedback: Yes I would love feedback.
Author Notes: This is for Kris and Gabi. I thought of you guys all the way through this piece. Enjoy.
Dedicated To Kris and Gabi - "Happy Easter" - by PMD
Prologue: Our daughter was so excited about Easter. But the poor dear is sick now. What is a parent to do?
~
Lily's Bedroom
"Mommy?"
That plaintive sound in her voice makes me want to cry.
"Yes, Honey?" I ask, closing the door to her closet. I turn around and look at her in her bed, a sad face accompanying her saddened voice.
"Can't the Easter Bunny wait until I get better?" she asks.
"Oh, Honey, I wish he could but he can't."
"Oh. I guess he's got a lot of kids besides me to think about. I wouldn't want them to miss Easter tomorrow."
That's our daughter---always thinking of other people. I walk over and sit on her bed, gently caressing her cheek. And feeling her forehead. Just a touch of a temperature there; enough to keep her in bed but not enough to get the doctor.
"Honey, how about I get you some juice? Will that make you feel a bit better?"
"No," she says.
Then she notices my sad look. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll have some," she adds.
"Okay."
I lean down and kiss her forehead. Then I get up and walk towards the door.
"Mommy?"
I turn around. "Yes, Lilly?"
"I'm sorry I'm such a pain in the butt."
I give her a slight grin. "Well, you get that from your Daddy."
"He says I get it from you."
"Oh he does, does he," I state, with a wider grin.
She gives me a slight grin and then I watch her face turn into a pondering one. I wait for the question coming.
"Mommy, would the Easter Bunny come visit the house, maybe?"
"Hmmmmm---I'll have to see what I can do. Now rest and I'll bring you some juice."
"Yes, Mommy."
I walk out the door and grin, evilly. So, I'm more of a pain in the butt than you are Lex? You are going to pay for that and create some happiness at the same time. Hope Dad still has what I need.
~
An Hour Or So Later
My feelings towards Lex have changed from being slightly pissed to wishing he were here, so I could get a much-needed hug. This wasn't the time to take fun revenge against him. I finally remembered; he couldn't fit into the prime thing needed to pull it off---it only fitted my father.
I let out a sigh, remembering her face when I came back into the room with the juice. She tried to put on a happy one but her eyes were sad.
I put the juice down and pulled her into my arms, allowing her tears to spill onto my blouse. Mine joined hers---she was so looking forward to this.
Her friends had built a hutch for the Easter Bunny at the Kent farm---to say thank you for all the wonderful years of service. Then they had some confectionery's for the bunny himself; raw carrots, candied carrots, even a big chocolate carrot.
Now, she wouldn't be there to greet him and she felt so depressed and saddened by that thought.
She backed away and told me she wanted to be alone. I asked her if she was sure. She was and I reluctantly got ready to leave her to her thoughts, telling her if she needed anything, to ring the bell she had. She then told me she loved me and I told her the same, kissing her forehead, before leaving her room.
So, here I sit, waiting for Lex.
I had just finished calling my father. He had agreed to do this but he needed somebody to pick him up. No way could he drive through the streets in a bunny costume. And he didn't want to change here, she might have heard him doing that---she has eagle ears. And since he does make a lot of noise---grunting and groaning---trying to get into the costume, it was probably best he didn't do it here. So all that needed to be done was to have Lex and he set up a time for the pickup---hopefully tonight.
Thank goodness for tinted black windows in Lex's new car---not only does it work when trying to get somebody from point A to point B, without anybody knowing they're in there---but it works when you want to relive memory's of necking in a car too.
The door opens and I look up to see Lex coming in.
"How is she?" he asks me, as he closes the door behind him.
"She's feeling better but not---Lex, she's so---I'm---I tried to cheer her up but---she's devastated that she can't be with the---"
I must only make sense to him because at the moment, my ramblings make no sense to me.
He drops his briefcase and walks over to where I'm sitting on the steps. He sits beside me and pulls me close.
"It's going to be okay, Chloe. We'll think of something, I promise."
I back away and smile. "I already have. My father in a bunny suit."
He chuckles at that. "And how did you convince him to do that?"
"Just said his grand daughters heart is breaking and he agreed---but only if you pick him up."
"Ahhhh---bunny feet don't handle pedals that well," he quips.
"No--embarrassed father doesn't want to be seen in it, bunny feet and all," I quip back.
I lean back into Lex, letting out a sigh. "I'm glad you're home, Alex."
"I'm glad I'm home too. I miss you two, even for 8 hours."
Okay---a little lie---he works more than 8 hours of the day---but I'll let that pass.
"We do too," I state, moving away again and leaning up to kiss him.
We back away from the kiss, smiling at each other.
"Well, as much as I would love to continue kissing you, I believe I have to call your father and set up a time to pick him up. Is it tonight or tomorrow?"
"Well, I think tonight would be better since the Easter Bunny would be too busy tomorrow to do it."
"Smart woman. Glad I married you."
"Smart man. Glad I married you."
He gets up and offers his hand to me. I take it and walk into his arms.
"Think I'll go up and see the little squirt before I make that call."
I back away. "She wants to be alone."
"Oh, oh. That's definitely not a good sign."
"Yeah, she takes after her mother and father in that respect. But I think she's had enough alone time. You might see if she wants company now."
"Let's both do it then."
"All right," I state.
We walk up the stairs and towards her room. He places his coat on the nearby bench outside and knocks on the door.
"Who's there?"
"It's Daddy, Pumpkin. Can I come in with Mommy?"
"Yes," we hear her say.
Then we walk in to comfort our daughter, while our minds are on the plan on hand tonight.
~
Later On
I hear the door open and get off the steps. I try to hide the smile but it and a giggle comes out, as I watch my father hop in, and then close the door, with his bunny butt.
"Awwww---look at the cute bunny rabbit," I state, with a smile.
"Honey---I love you---but please, no rabbit jokes. Or cutesy talking about rabbits."
"Okay, Daddy. Where's Lex? Trying to find the little bunnies you made?"
"Chloe!"
"Sorry, couldn't resist---last bunny joke I make, Peter Cottontail."
He glares at me.
"Sorry."
"It's okay---I'd be making them, if Lex was wearing it."
"Yeah, I thought so. Hey, you didn't do your face."
"My face?" he asks, as he makes his way over to me.
"Yeah, where's the whiskers?"
"Isn't that for cats?"
"You know---those black lines on the cheeks coming from the nose?"
"Oh, well, I thought you could do that while Lex talked to Lilly."
"Okay---so, where's Lex again?"
"Putting the car away."
"Oh---taking a long time, isn't he?"
"He has to bring in the goodies too."
"And you couldn't help because---"
"I couldn't help because it's part of our deal."
"What? I don't understand. What deal?"
"You asked me to dress up as a bunny rabbit and the deal we made was that Lex would pick me up. The deal Lex and I made between the two of us was that he'd bring in the goodies he bought and then I would carry them up to my grand daughters room."
"Ah---smart bunny."
"Thank you."
We hear a knock on the door and I move away from him to open it. There stood my husband or at least I think it's him. I recognize the shoes.
"Want me to take something?" I ask.
"Yes, if you would."
I take the smallest thing from the top and move away. "Come on in."
He moves in and places the goodies on the table in the entranceway. "Thanks a lot."
"You're welcome," I sardonically answer back.
We turn to my father and I smile. "Okay, you know the drill, gentlemen. Operation 'Happy Daughter' is about to start."
They nod.
"All right then. Lex, you go up and keep our daughter occupied. We shouldn't be too long. I'll knock three times on her door and that will be the signal for you to open it. Daddy---go into the study and I'll be there in a minute, with the stuff I need."
They nod again. And then my father moves off, leaving the two of us alone once more.
"I love it when you go all military on me, Chlo," he chuckles out.
"Yes, well, I love it when you follow my plans, Luthor," I state, with a smile. "Now---move it, Mister!"
He leans over, kissing me on the lips, before turning around. I tap him on the butt and get a gasp from him, just before he goes up the stairs and into our daughter's room.
Then I move to join my father, praying this works out right.
~
Half An Hour Later
"Now, that's what a bunny should look like."
"Purple?" my father quips.
I glare at him. "No---although be glad you're not pink, Daddy."
"Oh no---not pink---I'm glad I'm purple now," he states, with a snicker.
"Funny man."
"Really?"
"No---and I meant the face---look!"
He hops over to the mirror on the wall and looks into it. "Nicccceee."
"Thank you."
He turns to me. "You missed your calling; you should have been a make-up artist."
"Nawwww---Lana's better at that then me. Just give me a story to write and I'm there."
"Where is Lana? I thought she might be here, helping you help with my face."
"Daddy---you know where she is. She's with C.L.A.R.K."
"Clark and she getting close again, I see."
"Yep---and it wasn't Lex and I who did it. It was your granddaughter. You know what she said?"
"What did she say?"
"She said, and I quote, 'Why don't you just do it already?'."
My father chokes on that sentence. "Daddy, are you okay?"
He gasps and then smiles. "Yes and now I know why I was against you and Lex for so long---he's a bad influence on his daughter."
"Not him---he admonished her afterwards. She got it from me."
"Okay, you're the bad influence on the both of them."
I snort at him. "Yeah, well, whose daughter am I?"
"That's right---blame the father," he wails, looking to the ceiling.
His face changes to one so solemn. He looks back at me. "It's time."
I nod my ascent.
He touches my cheek. "It's going to be okay, Honey."
"Thanks, Daddy. For everything. And, you really weren't against Lex and I, were you?"
"I couldn't pick a better husband or friend for my only daughter, Sweetheart."
"Awwww---I love you, Daddy."
He leans over and kisses my forehead. "Not as much as I love you and the family, Pumpkin," he says, as he backs away. "Come on---let's go have some fun," he adds.
We leave the room, me walking---him hoping. What the---oh God.
"Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"How are you going to get up to her bedroom? I mean, those feet aren't exactly made for walking up the stairs. And they don't detach either."
"Oh good Lord! I never thought about that. Maybe you could bring her downstairs?"
"She's ill."
"Hmmmm----"
We stand there, pondering for a moment until I remember something.
"Wait---I've got it. Remember that thing Lex built for me when I was Cleopatra?"
"Yes---oh, I get it. You have four strong pairs of arms to carry me up there?"
"Yes, I do. James!" I yell.
He's there in an instant. "What's wrong, Miss Chloe?"
"I need you to find me three strong pairs of arms to help me---"
"---carry your father upstairs."
"How'd you---oh, forget I ask. You know everything that goes on in the house. So, can you?"
"I can," he states, before he leaves us.
~
Minutes Later
We're up the stairs---a few quiet grunts and groans heard---but the bunny on the platform is up there, along with the goodies.
They lower it and my father jumps off. "Thank you, Gentlemen."
"Don't mention it---please don't mention it," they all state, with smiles.
My father and I smile back and then they leave once more, with the contraption.
My father picks up the bag of goodies left behind and smiles at me.
Then we look at the door and I take a deep breath. I knock three times and hear a shuffling of feet. The door opens:
"Pumpkin, look who Mommy brought to see you. The---"
"---Easter Bunny!" she finishes for Lex.
My father hops in and over to the bed. I join Lex and we walk over to watch the animated conversation, being whispered between the two of them.
"She's happy now," my husband states.
"We all are," I reply, leaning into him.
Then I notice her glancing at us and she mouths, 'I know it's Grandpa. Thanks Mommy and Daddy.'
"Like we thought we could pull anything over on her," Lex whispers.
"Well, she is her parents daughter," I whisper back. "Like she would have believed that Clark was the Easter Bunny tomorrow."
He backs away. "Yes, that's true."
We hear laughter from the bed and oooos and ahhhhs from our daughter, at what's being revealed from the bag. Then:
"Easter Bunny, can you take some of the candy to the other kids who don't have much?"
I sense my father's hitch and then smile, as he replies with, "I can do that. What a sweet girl you are to want to share your wealth of goodies with the other children."
"I've learned that from my Mommy and Daddy," she states.
"Oh God," I hear Lex say, before he turns around and leaves the room.
"Honey, you okay?" I ask, as I walk out, knowing the answer already.
He's okay---just overwhelmed. Spending all those years with a father who always expected the worst, never saw the best, and hated his son till the end, harped on Lex. He always thought that he would never get beyond that---that he would be the father his was. But with this one sentence and the love his daughter and I bestowed on him every day and night we knew him, he knew he was wrong. Now, he was just having a small emotional breakdown that usually I was only privy to at night---when waking up from a nightmare that both of us were gone from him, because we didn't believe in him anymore.
I see him leaning against the wall and walk in front of him. "Hey."
He looks up, the tears shimmering in his eyes. "Hey."
"Lex, it's okay to cry happy tears too. We won't think any less of you---or any more, for that matter," I quip.
He laughs at that and then pulls me into his arms. "She loves me."
"We both do, you silly man."
He backs away. "I know but she really loves me. She doesn't have any form of hate within her for you or me. If she found out tomorrow that I had killed that reporter, she wouldn't see it as me protecting myself ---she would just see it as me saving Clark's father."
"And both would be true---the perspective would just be one path chosen. She knows about both of our curiosities in the past. And how they're tempered now because we want to protect, not investigate. And to protect her from any reprisals. She knows our good and bad sides, cause they're within her too. She just picks the good and stays on that path, like we both have. Honey, she loves you because you show her, every day, how you can keep going down that path too and that you broke away from the father who hated you and found a family who loves you, because we could see the diamond in the rough."
"We all could," we hear a voice say.
We turn to watch Clark and Lana walk towards us. "Hey, guys. Why are you here?" Lex asks.
"You know, I think you should take that cell away from your daughter when she turns into a teenager, Lex," Lana states, when they stop in front of us.
"She called you?" Lex asks.
"Yes---she said she wanted us to meet somebody and that she had some things for the children tomorrow," Clark states, with a smile.
"That's our daughter---not wanting to wait to do a good thing---she really takes after you, Lex."
He smiles. "After both of us---if I recall, you can't wait either."
"Yeah, well, like I'd be out of child bearing years, if I had waited for the proposal," I quip.
The laughter echoes through the hallway, just before Clark and Lana walk into the room. We hear as they enter:
"So, did you do it already or what?"
"What!" they state together.
I hear a deep sigh from him and look up. He smiles at me and leans down, our lips meeting in a soft kiss. We back away and I sigh now.
"Our daughter will get them into bed, somehow, some way, even if it's by embarrassing them," he says, chuckling afterwards.
"Speaking of beds, if you're a good tonight, Luthor, you might get some action that rabbits get."
"A back rub?" he asks, with an evil grin.
"I was thinking more along the lines of creating some more little bunnies," I quip back, with an equal grin.
He raises an eyebrow and then smiles at me. "I'll be good. Chloe?"
"Yes, my love?"
"Happy Easter."
"Happy Easter to you too, Lex," I state, as we walk into the room, arm in arm.
The End.
Title: Dedicated to Kris and Gabi - "Happy Easter"
Author: PMD
e-mail: mary.davidson@sympatico.ca
Rating: PG-13/FRT - Fan Rated Suitable For Teenagers, slightly suggestive suggestion from number one daughter of Luthors here too
Category: Chlex married, holiday fic, futurefic, Chloe's POV, AU
Spoilers: Anything is fair game in the first three seasons.
Summary: Lilly Luthor is sick and sad.
Disclaimer: To whomever owns Smallville, its characters, Easter, the Easter Bunny, Peter Cottontail, and Cleopatra, I'm just borrowing them, will give them back, not making any money with their use in this piece, so don't sue me.
Archive: At BtS, BT2, Electricchlex, MD, N.S. Forums, SPP, WBFFZ, and Malu's site at the moment. If anybody else wants it, all you have to do is ask.
Feedback: Yes I would love feedback.
Author Notes: This is for Kris and Gabi. I thought of you guys all the way through this piece. Enjoy.
Dedicated To Kris and Gabi - "Happy Easter" - by PMD
Prologue: Our daughter was so excited about Easter. But the poor dear is sick now. What is a parent to do?
~
Lily's Bedroom
"Mommy?"
That plaintive sound in her voice makes me want to cry.
"Yes, Honey?" I ask, closing the door to her closet. I turn around and look at her in her bed, a sad face accompanying her saddened voice.
"Can't the Easter Bunny wait until I get better?" she asks.
"Oh, Honey, I wish he could but he can't."
"Oh. I guess he's got a lot of kids besides me to think about. I wouldn't want them to miss Easter tomorrow."
That's our daughter---always thinking of other people. I walk over and sit on her bed, gently caressing her cheek. And feeling her forehead. Just a touch of a temperature there; enough to keep her in bed but not enough to get the doctor.
"Honey, how about I get you some juice? Will that make you feel a bit better?"
"No," she says.
Then she notices my sad look. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll have some," she adds.
"Okay."
I lean down and kiss her forehead. Then I get up and walk towards the door.
"Mommy?"
I turn around. "Yes, Lilly?"
"I'm sorry I'm such a pain in the butt."
I give her a slight grin. "Well, you get that from your Daddy."
"He says I get it from you."
"Oh he does, does he," I state, with a wider grin.
She gives me a slight grin and then I watch her face turn into a pondering one. I wait for the question coming.
"Mommy, would the Easter Bunny come visit the house, maybe?"
"Hmmmmm---I'll have to see what I can do. Now rest and I'll bring you some juice."
"Yes, Mommy."
I walk out the door and grin, evilly. So, I'm more of a pain in the butt than you are Lex? You are going to pay for that and create some happiness at the same time. Hope Dad still has what I need.
~
An Hour Or So Later
My feelings towards Lex have changed from being slightly pissed to wishing he were here, so I could get a much-needed hug. This wasn't the time to take fun revenge against him. I finally remembered; he couldn't fit into the prime thing needed to pull it off---it only fitted my father.
I let out a sigh, remembering her face when I came back into the room with the juice. She tried to put on a happy one but her eyes were sad.
I put the juice down and pulled her into my arms, allowing her tears to spill onto my blouse. Mine joined hers---she was so looking forward to this.
Her friends had built a hutch for the Easter Bunny at the Kent farm---to say thank you for all the wonderful years of service. Then they had some confectionery's for the bunny himself; raw carrots, candied carrots, even a big chocolate carrot.
Now, she wouldn't be there to greet him and she felt so depressed and saddened by that thought.
She backed away and told me she wanted to be alone. I asked her if she was sure. She was and I reluctantly got ready to leave her to her thoughts, telling her if she needed anything, to ring the bell she had. She then told me she loved me and I told her the same, kissing her forehead, before leaving her room.
So, here I sit, waiting for Lex.
I had just finished calling my father. He had agreed to do this but he needed somebody to pick him up. No way could he drive through the streets in a bunny costume. And he didn't want to change here, she might have heard him doing that---she has eagle ears. And since he does make a lot of noise---grunting and groaning---trying to get into the costume, it was probably best he didn't do it here. So all that needed to be done was to have Lex and he set up a time for the pickup---hopefully tonight.
Thank goodness for tinted black windows in Lex's new car---not only does it work when trying to get somebody from point A to point B, without anybody knowing they're in there---but it works when you want to relive memory's of necking in a car too.
The door opens and I look up to see Lex coming in.
"How is she?" he asks me, as he closes the door behind him.
"She's feeling better but not---Lex, she's so---I'm---I tried to cheer her up but---she's devastated that she can't be with the---"
I must only make sense to him because at the moment, my ramblings make no sense to me.
He drops his briefcase and walks over to where I'm sitting on the steps. He sits beside me and pulls me close.
"It's going to be okay, Chloe. We'll think of something, I promise."
I back away and smile. "I already have. My father in a bunny suit."
He chuckles at that. "And how did you convince him to do that?"
"Just said his grand daughters heart is breaking and he agreed---but only if you pick him up."
"Ahhhh---bunny feet don't handle pedals that well," he quips.
"No--embarrassed father doesn't want to be seen in it, bunny feet and all," I quip back.
I lean back into Lex, letting out a sigh. "I'm glad you're home, Alex."
"I'm glad I'm home too. I miss you two, even for 8 hours."
Okay---a little lie---he works more than 8 hours of the day---but I'll let that pass.
"We do too," I state, moving away again and leaning up to kiss him.
We back away from the kiss, smiling at each other.
"Well, as much as I would love to continue kissing you, I believe I have to call your father and set up a time to pick him up. Is it tonight or tomorrow?"
"Well, I think tonight would be better since the Easter Bunny would be too busy tomorrow to do it."
"Smart woman. Glad I married you."
"Smart man. Glad I married you."
He gets up and offers his hand to me. I take it and walk into his arms.
"Think I'll go up and see the little squirt before I make that call."
I back away. "She wants to be alone."
"Oh, oh. That's definitely not a good sign."
"Yeah, she takes after her mother and father in that respect. But I think she's had enough alone time. You might see if she wants company now."
"Let's both do it then."
"All right," I state.
We walk up the stairs and towards her room. He places his coat on the nearby bench outside and knocks on the door.
"Who's there?"
"It's Daddy, Pumpkin. Can I come in with Mommy?"
"Yes," we hear her say.
Then we walk in to comfort our daughter, while our minds are on the plan on hand tonight.
~
Later On
I hear the door open and get off the steps. I try to hide the smile but it and a giggle comes out, as I watch my father hop in, and then close the door, with his bunny butt.
"Awwww---look at the cute bunny rabbit," I state, with a smile.
"Honey---I love you---but please, no rabbit jokes. Or cutesy talking about rabbits."
"Okay, Daddy. Where's Lex? Trying to find the little bunnies you made?"
"Chloe!"
"Sorry, couldn't resist---last bunny joke I make, Peter Cottontail."
He glares at me.
"Sorry."
"It's okay---I'd be making them, if Lex was wearing it."
"Yeah, I thought so. Hey, you didn't do your face."
"My face?" he asks, as he makes his way over to me.
"Yeah, where's the whiskers?"
"Isn't that for cats?"
"You know---those black lines on the cheeks coming from the nose?"
"Oh, well, I thought you could do that while Lex talked to Lilly."
"Okay---so, where's Lex again?"
"Putting the car away."
"Oh---taking a long time, isn't he?"
"He has to bring in the goodies too."
"And you couldn't help because---"
"I couldn't help because it's part of our deal."
"What? I don't understand. What deal?"
"You asked me to dress up as a bunny rabbit and the deal we made was that Lex would pick me up. The deal Lex and I made between the two of us was that he'd bring in the goodies he bought and then I would carry them up to my grand daughters room."
"Ah---smart bunny."
"Thank you."
We hear a knock on the door and I move away from him to open it. There stood my husband or at least I think it's him. I recognize the shoes.
"Want me to take something?" I ask.
"Yes, if you would."
I take the smallest thing from the top and move away. "Come on in."
He moves in and places the goodies on the table in the entranceway. "Thanks a lot."
"You're welcome," I sardonically answer back.
We turn to my father and I smile. "Okay, you know the drill, gentlemen. Operation 'Happy Daughter' is about to start."
They nod.
"All right then. Lex, you go up and keep our daughter occupied. We shouldn't be too long. I'll knock three times on her door and that will be the signal for you to open it. Daddy---go into the study and I'll be there in a minute, with the stuff I need."
They nod again. And then my father moves off, leaving the two of us alone once more.
"I love it when you go all military on me, Chlo," he chuckles out.
"Yes, well, I love it when you follow my plans, Luthor," I state, with a smile. "Now---move it, Mister!"
He leans over, kissing me on the lips, before turning around. I tap him on the butt and get a gasp from him, just before he goes up the stairs and into our daughter's room.
Then I move to join my father, praying this works out right.
~
Half An Hour Later
"Now, that's what a bunny should look like."
"Purple?" my father quips.
I glare at him. "No---although be glad you're not pink, Daddy."
"Oh no---not pink---I'm glad I'm purple now," he states, with a snicker.
"Funny man."
"Really?"
"No---and I meant the face---look!"
He hops over to the mirror on the wall and looks into it. "Nicccceee."
"Thank you."
He turns to me. "You missed your calling; you should have been a make-up artist."
"Nawwww---Lana's better at that then me. Just give me a story to write and I'm there."
"Where is Lana? I thought she might be here, helping you help with my face."
"Daddy---you know where she is. She's with C.L.A.R.K."
"Clark and she getting close again, I see."
"Yep---and it wasn't Lex and I who did it. It was your granddaughter. You know what she said?"
"What did she say?"
"She said, and I quote, 'Why don't you just do it already?'."
My father chokes on that sentence. "Daddy, are you okay?"
He gasps and then smiles. "Yes and now I know why I was against you and Lex for so long---he's a bad influence on his daughter."
"Not him---he admonished her afterwards. She got it from me."
"Okay, you're the bad influence on the both of them."
I snort at him. "Yeah, well, whose daughter am I?"
"That's right---blame the father," he wails, looking to the ceiling.
His face changes to one so solemn. He looks back at me. "It's time."
I nod my ascent.
He touches my cheek. "It's going to be okay, Honey."
"Thanks, Daddy. For everything. And, you really weren't against Lex and I, were you?"
"I couldn't pick a better husband or friend for my only daughter, Sweetheart."
"Awwww---I love you, Daddy."
He leans over and kisses my forehead. "Not as much as I love you and the family, Pumpkin," he says, as he backs away. "Come on---let's go have some fun," he adds.
We leave the room, me walking---him hoping. What the---oh God.
"Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"How are you going to get up to her bedroom? I mean, those feet aren't exactly made for walking up the stairs. And they don't detach either."
"Oh good Lord! I never thought about that. Maybe you could bring her downstairs?"
"She's ill."
"Hmmmm----"
We stand there, pondering for a moment until I remember something.
"Wait---I've got it. Remember that thing Lex built for me when I was Cleopatra?"
"Yes---oh, I get it. You have four strong pairs of arms to carry me up there?"
"Yes, I do. James!" I yell.
He's there in an instant. "What's wrong, Miss Chloe?"
"I need you to find me three strong pairs of arms to help me---"
"---carry your father upstairs."
"How'd you---oh, forget I ask. You know everything that goes on in the house. So, can you?"
"I can," he states, before he leaves us.
~
Minutes Later
We're up the stairs---a few quiet grunts and groans heard---but the bunny on the platform is up there, along with the goodies.
They lower it and my father jumps off. "Thank you, Gentlemen."
"Don't mention it---please don't mention it," they all state, with smiles.
My father and I smile back and then they leave once more, with the contraption.
My father picks up the bag of goodies left behind and smiles at me.
Then we look at the door and I take a deep breath. I knock three times and hear a shuffling of feet. The door opens:
"Pumpkin, look who Mommy brought to see you. The---"
"---Easter Bunny!" she finishes for Lex.
My father hops in and over to the bed. I join Lex and we walk over to watch the animated conversation, being whispered between the two of them.
"She's happy now," my husband states.
"We all are," I reply, leaning into him.
Then I notice her glancing at us and she mouths, 'I know it's Grandpa. Thanks Mommy and Daddy.'
"Like we thought we could pull anything over on her," Lex whispers.
"Well, she is her parents daughter," I whisper back. "Like she would have believed that Clark was the Easter Bunny tomorrow."
He backs away. "Yes, that's true."
We hear laughter from the bed and oooos and ahhhhs from our daughter, at what's being revealed from the bag. Then:
"Easter Bunny, can you take some of the candy to the other kids who don't have much?"
I sense my father's hitch and then smile, as he replies with, "I can do that. What a sweet girl you are to want to share your wealth of goodies with the other children."
"I've learned that from my Mommy and Daddy," she states.
"Oh God," I hear Lex say, before he turns around and leaves the room.
"Honey, you okay?" I ask, as I walk out, knowing the answer already.
He's okay---just overwhelmed. Spending all those years with a father who always expected the worst, never saw the best, and hated his son till the end, harped on Lex. He always thought that he would never get beyond that---that he would be the father his was. But with this one sentence and the love his daughter and I bestowed on him every day and night we knew him, he knew he was wrong. Now, he was just having a small emotional breakdown that usually I was only privy to at night---when waking up from a nightmare that both of us were gone from him, because we didn't believe in him anymore.
I see him leaning against the wall and walk in front of him. "Hey."
He looks up, the tears shimmering in his eyes. "Hey."
"Lex, it's okay to cry happy tears too. We won't think any less of you---or any more, for that matter," I quip.
He laughs at that and then pulls me into his arms. "She loves me."
"We both do, you silly man."
He backs away. "I know but she really loves me. She doesn't have any form of hate within her for you or me. If she found out tomorrow that I had killed that reporter, she wouldn't see it as me protecting myself ---she would just see it as me saving Clark's father."
"And both would be true---the perspective would just be one path chosen. She knows about both of our curiosities in the past. And how they're tempered now because we want to protect, not investigate. And to protect her from any reprisals. She knows our good and bad sides, cause they're within her too. She just picks the good and stays on that path, like we both have. Honey, she loves you because you show her, every day, how you can keep going down that path too and that you broke away from the father who hated you and found a family who loves you, because we could see the diamond in the rough."
"We all could," we hear a voice say.
We turn to watch Clark and Lana walk towards us. "Hey, guys. Why are you here?" Lex asks.
"You know, I think you should take that cell away from your daughter when she turns into a teenager, Lex," Lana states, when they stop in front of us.
"She called you?" Lex asks.
"Yes---she said she wanted us to meet somebody and that she had some things for the children tomorrow," Clark states, with a smile.
"That's our daughter---not wanting to wait to do a good thing---she really takes after you, Lex."
He smiles. "After both of us---if I recall, you can't wait either."
"Yeah, well, like I'd be out of child bearing years, if I had waited for the proposal," I quip.
The laughter echoes through the hallway, just before Clark and Lana walk into the room. We hear as they enter:
"So, did you do it already or what?"
"What!" they state together.
I hear a deep sigh from him and look up. He smiles at me and leans down, our lips meeting in a soft kiss. We back away and I sigh now.
"Our daughter will get them into bed, somehow, some way, even if it's by embarrassing them," he says, chuckling afterwards.
"Speaking of beds, if you're a good tonight, Luthor, you might get some action that rabbits get."
"A back rub?" he asks, with an evil grin.
"I was thinking more along the lines of creating some more little bunnies," I quip back, with an equal grin.
He raises an eyebrow and then smiles at me. "I'll be good. Chloe?"
"Yes, my love?"
"Happy Easter."
"Happy Easter to you too, Lex," I state, as we walk into the room, arm in arm.
The End.