The Magical World Of Disney:love In Strange Places (NC-17)

[hurlingturtles]

*frustrated sigh* Why does this always happen to my stories? Oh well, here it is again.



Title: The Magical World of Disney- Love in Strange Places
Author: hurlingturtles
Rating: strong R to NC-17
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, etc, etc, etc…don’t sue me please... Disney, don’t sue me either…
Summary/Notes: Lex and Chloe are already together and Lex takes the gang to Florida. Much smuttiness ensues, particularly in Disney World (lol) until Chloe finds out she’s pregnant then it’s drama all the way. I thought about posting this under NC-17 because of the very smutty beginning, but I know it’s gonna get very angsty, so I was conflicted. ******Beware- this is probably gonna be ridiculously long.




<Chapter One>

“Have I thanked you properly for all that you’ve done for us?” Chloe whispered seductively in Lex’s ear. Actually, it was more of a shout.

Lex had generously let Pete drive his rented Ferrari. Pete was over the moon that he’d been given the opportunity to drive such a hot, though surprisingly tiny, car. It was a warm summer night and all the windows were rolled down. Pete was blasting the radio while marveling at the excellent speakers to his girlfriend, Abby, who sat in the passenger seat nodding politely but not really giving a damn. Chloe really liked Abby and thought she was perfect for Pete- strong-willed enough not to put up with any idiocy but patient enough to know when to just roll her eyes and accept whatever stupid thing he’d just said.

Lex, Chloe, Lana, and Clark all sat in the back- a tight squeeze, indeed. That was why Chloe had volunteered to sit on Lex’s lap. Feeling bad for her, Lana offered to sit on Clark’s lap for part of the ride. Chloe quickly assured her that it was fine, she didn’t mind it. Lex didn’t mind it either, all he could think of was that Chloe had decided to torment him today by wearing a particularly short skirt. Chloe could feel Lex’s erection under her butt and took every opportunity to fidget on top of him while Lex ground his teeth in frustration.

Everyone else was oblivious to the sexual tension between the two. As far as they were concerned Lex and Chloe were just acquaintances. However, Lex and Chloe had really been involved the past few months, “coincidentally” bumping into each other everyday and sneaking off together in the dead of night. In fact, Chloe was the whole reason why Lex had offered to take everyone on the trip to Florida.

The gang, minus Lex of course, had all missed their senior trip because they were all going to go to Metropolis U and there had been a special orientation workshop at the same time as the trip. They’d been pretty bummed that they’d missed going to Disney World. Chloe had been particularly disgruntled about missing the Magic Kingdom and all the rides there.

Lex had suggested taking them all to Florida after a round of particularly mind-blowing sex at the mansion. Chloe had been so delighted, throwing her arms around him and showering him with kisses, that Lex couldn’t very well take it back later when he’d regained some sense. He cursed himself for being whipped.

And that was how Lex got stuck taking everyone to Florida. If Chloe hadn’t been going he’d have just made all the arrangements and sent them along their merry way. But, alas, Chloe was going and Lex refused to be celibate for four days. Now that he’d finally captured Chloe’s interest and had claimed her body, he refused to let her forget it or make himself miserable wondering what she was doing every five minutes.

They got in Florida late and presently Pete was driving them all to their hotel. Lex hoped that Pete wasn’t getting them lost. He considered giving him more helpful directions, but a certain blond wiggling against his throbbing erection was distracting him from doing much in the way of thinking. Of course, he could have driven himself but then he would have missed the opportunity of holding Chloe so close practically in front of everyone. Lately it had begun to bother him that they had to keep their relationship a secret.

Lex gave Chloe’s hips a squeeze. “Hmmm, I don’t believe you have thanked me properly yet,” he replied.

Chloe peered over her shoulder at him, a wonderfully wicked gleam in her eyes. Lex pulse jumped in response. Then she glanced over at Clark and Lana, who were absorbed in their own little world- surprise, surprise. They were completely oblivious to anything but their, she was sure, scintillating conversation. Pete and Abby didn’t so much as glance behind them. Pete was still trying to talk to her, but refusing to turn down the stereo and Abby was busy straining to hear them.

Chloe reached behind her and grabbed Lex belt. Lex froze. “What are you doing?” he demanded in her ear.

Chloe grinned at him, her teeth seeming impossibly white in the dark. “Thanking you,” she replied.

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter 2>

“Chloe, what if they notice?” he demanded, glancing at Clark and Lana.

“They won’t. They aren’t the most observant of people, need I remind you?” She unzipped his pants and slipped her hand in. “Besides it’s dark and Pete is playing the music so loud I’m sure our hearing will never be the same again.”

He jumped as she grabbed his cock, and pulled it out of his boxers and pants. “Fuck, Chloe,” he hissed through gritted teeth.

“Well, if you insist,” she said, a grin in her voice, and ran her thumb around the head of his erection.

His head fell back against the leather seat of the sports car and his groan was lost in the boom of the bass. He closed his eyes, lost in the fire that coursed through his veins at her touch. It was like that every time they had sex, she would look at him with desire in her eyes or lay her hands somewhere, anywhere, on him and he knew he was a goner. He used to fear the power she held over him, but by now he’d learn that bemoaning it was a utter waste of time. There were so many other, much more productive, uses that could be made of that time.

All the while she stroked him, with hands that grew every more nimble each time they touched him, he was supremely conscious of Clark and Lana sitting right next to them in the back seat. The knowledge that they could notice him straining into her hands was nerve-racking and thrilling at the same time. Little strands of her hair, blown about by the wind coming through the rolled down windows, teased his face.

Then Chloe shifted on his lap and her hands left him. He opened his eyes and tried to see her in the darkness that enveloped the car. “Chloe,” he begged, slightly embarrassed by his pleading. His voice was lost in the music that seemed to throb in time to his pulse.

Chloe was moving an awful lot on his lap. She rose a bit, and he immediately missed the weight of her on him. Then she was back on him. Lex gasped as he felt himself enclosed by the familiar, searing heat of her sheath.

Chloe rocked against him and letting out little, unheard gasps as his cock rubbed against that special spot. He seized her hips, his fingers probably leaving little bruises.

“We can’t do this here,” he growled against her ear, his tongue flickering out briefly to taste her skin. “They’re going to see us.”

“No, they won’t,” she dismissed his concerns, riding up and down his length again. While she cared about both Clark and Lana, they could be as dumb as bricks sometimes. They were too self-absorbed to notice much more than each other.

Lex hissed against the back of her neck, his hot breath making her tremble around him. She gripped the back of the seat in front of her for balance and quickened her pace, sliding him in and out of her. He helplessly thrust as much as he possibly could into her. She could feel the pressure growing in her, the feeling like she might explode into a million bits was rising inside her.

“I love this song,” she shouted to Pete, not really knowing what song it was. He grinned and dutifully turned it up. To Pete, who glanced in the rearview mirror it looked like she was dancing and he shook his head.

“Poor Lex, she’s probably hurting him and she doesn’t even know it,” he muttered to himself.

The sharp cries that tore from her throat grew louder and louder, but even as the burst unfettered from her throat they were unrecognizable through the music. She could feel Lex’s lips moving against her neck but could make out what he said. He shifted in the seat a tiny bit, taking matter into his own hands as he began to move her hips up and down him.

Then he froze and she could feel him seem to grow bigger inside of her as he climaxed. She hurtled over the edge immediately, an exultant cry springing from her lips. She kept rocking as the climax faded away, leaving her feeling exhausted and trembling. She slid him out of her and pulled her panties back in place while Lex tucked himself back in his pants.

When they finished pulling themselves together Lex reached under her arm and squeezed one breast playfully. “Thank you,” he said in her ear.

“Hey, that was supposed to be my thanks to you,” she protested with a grin.

“Hmm,” he said. “I suppose you’ll just have to thank me again later at the hotel.”

“I guess I could bring myself to thanking you again.”

“Good,” he said with satisfaction.

Chloe tapped on Pete’s shoulder. “Can you turn the music down&#33;” she shouted.

“What?” he shouted back. “Hold on&#33;” He turned down the music. “What did you say?”

“Just wondered if you could turn down the music,” she repeated. “I’m going deaf back here.”

“Oh, okay.” He left the music down.

Almost an hour crawled by before they reached the hotel. Despite the pleasure of sitting on Lex’s lap, his legs had begun to feel quite uncomfortable underneath her butt. It was a relief when they all spilled out of the car at the hotel.

As they walked to the front door Lana grabbed Chloe by the elbow and pulled her back from the others.

“Hey&#33; What the-“ she protested.

“Chloe, I think you have your period or something,” Lana hissed in her ear.

“Huh?”

“There’s something on your skirt,” she explained.

Chloe twisted around to look at the back of her skirt. A creamy, clear residue clung to the bottom of her skirt. “Shit&#33;” she exclaimed. That definitely was not blood.

“I’ll follow behind you and make sure no one sees,” Lana offered.

Chloe stifled the laughter that gathered in the back of her throat. “Thanks, Lana.”

Lana followed closely her all the way to their hotel room. They both ignored the odd looks that Lex and Clark gave them. Chloe gave Lex a quick wink before escaping into her room.


TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

*A bit more smut. I warned you that I was gonna be pretty heavy on it in the beginning. Enjoy&#33;*

<Chapter Three>

Lex felt a hand on his shoulder and his eyes immediately snapped open, searching the darkness of his hotel room. He sat up in bed and the hand fell to his crotch suggestively.

“Chloe, you scared me half to death,” he snapped.

She laughed, obviously greatly entertained by his admission. The bedside lamp turned on, the bright light blinding him for a moment before his eyes adjusted.

Chloe picked up a bottle of pills off the stand. “Gonadalnite?” she read and burst out in hysterical laughter. “That explains more than you can imagine,” she gasped out when she began to regain control over herself.

Lex snatched them away from her and slipped them in the nightstand drawer. “Very funny. Gonadalnite-“ Chloe laughed again, “which is not its permanent name, is LuthorCorp’s response to Viagra. It hasn’t been testing yet, though. I must have slipped it in my pocket at work without realizing it.”

“That is the funniest thing I’ve heard in weeks,” she said, still grinning.

Lex scooted over and patted the bed. Chloe chucked off her clothes with an enthusiasm that got his blood pumping rapidly through his veins. When she hopped in bed he planted of soft kiss behind her ear.

“So, excited about tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ve never been to Disney World before. I want to go on as many rides as humanly possible. I want to go on Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and-“ She felt a hand palm her breast. “Lex, I’m talking about Disney World and you’re groping me? There has got to be something seriously perverted with that.”

Lex grinned. “I know. Fun, huh?” He gave one her nipples a playful little tweak.

Chloe gasped at the feeling, suddenly burning with the need to have him between her legs. She reached down and wrapped her hand around his hot, rock-hard cock. She slid her hand up and down his length.

As she jerked him off she continued talking. “I think that we should spend most of our time tomorrow in the Magic Kingdom. I personally thought that Epcot sounded boring, but Lana thought it sounded cool. Who wants to spend their vacation learning? Blah, I think we should spend the least amount of time there. What do you think?” Lex was panting against her neck, thrusting his hips into her hand. “Lex?”

“Hmm?” He looked up at her, his eyes glazed with lust. “Whatever you want,” he murmured moving to brush his lips along her jawline.

Chloe grinned. “I love it when you say that.” She grabbed his hips and pulled him between her legs.

Lex eagerly let her guide him, burying himself inside he the moment he drew close enough. “Ah&#33;” he gasped as he was enveloped by her.

As he thrust into her Chloe kept talking conversationally in between little moans of delight. “I want to see the Animal Kingdom, but because it’s kinda new I don’t think that it has that many rides yet.”

The way she could keep up such bland chatter when he could think only of the steadying increasing pressure building inside of him, amazed him to no end. The way he voice gradually raised in pitch revealed that she wasn’t as detached as she pretended.

Finally, she stopped talking all together and seized his butt in her hands. “Oh&#33; Oh&#33; Oh&#33;” she cried out, back arching off the bed as she climaxed.

A roar filled his ears as he spilled himself inside of her and his arms collapsed out from under him. “Jesus, Chloe,” he said in appreciation. “You astound me.”

She smiled. “Flatterer,” she accused. “Now go to sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow and we should be resting.”

“Yes, honey,” he replied with mock-meekness. He closed his eyes and quickly drifted to sleep.

Once she was sure he was asleep Chloe slipped out of bed and threw her clothes on. She checked herself in the mirror, making sure she was somewhat presentable. She squinted her eyes skeptically. Did it look like she’d just been ravished? She swept her hands down her body, smoothing any wrinkles out of her clothes.

A smile of satisfaction crept on her lips. She always felt so marvelous whenever she had sex with Lex. Her body hummed with energy at the same time a contented peace settled in her chest. The only thing that came anywhere close to reaping the same pleasure, though a very distant second, was teasing him mercilessly.

A completely awful, utterly lovely ideal struck her. She crept over to the beside table and drew out the bottle of pills. Peering at Lex, she quietly opened the bottle and drew out a few pills. They were gelcaps. Perfect&#33;

She slipped them into her pocket and quietly left his room to return to her own. She shared her room with Lana, who was already sound asleep in her bed. It was only ten and she was asleep already. What a wuss. Chloe took a shower and got ready for bed, a mischievous smile playing on her lips the whole time.

The next morning at breakfast Chloe slipped one of the pills into his bottle of Tynant when everyone was busy looking at their menus. Lex saw something move out of the corner of his eye and glanced at Chloe questioningly. She just smiled at him. He smiled back, his mind wandering to the previous night, and he reached for him bottle of water.

TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Four>

Lex drained nearly the entire bottle before stopping and scowling at it in confusion.

“What?” Chloe asked him, struggling not to snicker and give herself away.

“It tastes funny,” he speculated. “More…something.”

“Eh, bad bottle probably,” she said with a shrug.

“I guess. Oh well.” He shrugged, too.

As they finished eating Lex had begun to scowl again. Lana and Clark were as oblivious as usual. Pete and Abby were engrossed in a competitive argument of some sort.

“What now?” Chloe asked him quietly.

“I don’t know,” he said, rubbing low on his belly. “I think I ate something that didn’t agree with me.”

Chloe smiled and replaced his hand with hers below the table. “Awww, poor Lexy. Want me to kiss it and make it better?”

Lex’s eyes widened just the slightest and he grinned. “I wish. However, unless you want your friends to find out about us I suggest you stop touching me.”

“Hmmm. Really?” she purred, her hand lingering.

Lex breathing became dramatically harsher. “Chloe…” he warned on a ragged pant.

“Yes?” Her hand drifted farther south to brush against his swollen shaft.

He leapt from his seat as if it were on fire. Everyone looked up to stare at him in bewilderment. Lex was holding a cloth napkin in front of him. “I have to go to the bathroom,” he announced and left.

“And you need your napkin for that?” Pete asked the empty spot where Lex had stood in amusement.

“Maybe he’s afraid they’ll be out of paper towels,” Chloe suggested with a grin.

Lex took a long time in the bathroom. When he finally returned to the table he looked much more relaxed. Everyone returned to their rooms to grab whatever they wanted to bring with them to Disney before they left. Chloe changed into her favorite pair of snug cut-off shorts, they were a bit too small on her but she had them so long she was sentimental about them, and a scoop neck t-shirt. She lathered on sunscreen with a low SPF so that she got a light tan but didn’t get burned. She happily breathed in the light scent of the sunscreen. Today was going to be a great day. She’d get to work on her tan, torment Lex, and go on all sorts of fun rides.

As they all gathered together and walked to their car Lex grabbed Chloe’s elbow in a tight grip. “What are you wearing?” he hissed.

“Shorts and a t-shirt,” she said innocently.

“Go up and change,” he ordered.

Chloe frowned at him. “Into what, pray tell?”

“Into anything else.” His voice sounded strained. “Preferably something big and baggy.”

She glanced pointedly down at the growing bulge in his pants. “Look, I’m, not gonna sweat my ass off because you can’t control yourself. Besides, we want to get to Disney early.” She pulled herself out of his grasp and walked away, making sure to sway her hips a little bit more than usual. Lex groaned softly and she grinned.

This time when Lana offered to sit on Clark’s lap Lex seized the offer. Chloe didn’t care- she knew why he didn’t want her to sit on his lap now. Alas, it wasn’t night out now and there’d be no way for him to relieve himself.

They all decided to go to the Magic Kingdom first and Lex paid for the tickets, despite offers that they could pay themselves. Once inside the entrance of the park they each grabbed a map and argued over which ride to go on first. They decided to go on Space Mountain before the lines got too long.

Chloe was in a great mood, thoroughly enjoying gaping at every little thing. Lex, despite his seemingly permanent half-mast state, couldn’t help but to smile at her enthusiasm. He watched Chloe bound from one person to another, chatting animatedly about different rides and sharing facts about Disney. Whenever she grabbed his arm to tell him something he swallowed a gasp in reaction to her touch and struggled for control over his body. But seeing how happy she was, he was glad that he had let her talk him into this trip.

The lines to the rides got longer and longer as the day progressed. As they waited in line at the Haunted Mansion dark clouds gathered overhead. The castle, made to be kind of creepy, looked even scarier with the dark clouds looming over it.

Abby peered up at the sky in concern. “It looks like it’s going to rain.”

“Good,” Chloe said. “I love the rain. I mean, it’s not like it’s going to be cold. I’m sure they sell umbrellas or rain ponchos somewhere if you’re worried.”

No sooner had she finished talking than it started to sprinkle. The light sprinkle led to a downpour that got everyone soaked before they reached the sheltered part of the line. Lex wiped the water out of his eyes and glanced at Chloe, who was laughing in delight. He froze, swallowing convulsively. If he’d already thought she was sexy before, his heart thumped in his ears seeing her now. Her clothes were plastered to her body, revealing her tantalizing curves to all who looked. Her skin glowed with moisture, reminding him of how she looked glistening with sweat as she rode him. He plucked at his pants hoping that they’d dry soon, before someone noticed his painfully obvious erection.

Finally they all gathered in a large, dark circular room with pictures hanging from the walls. A creepy voice began talking and the pictures started to move. Chloe was grinning next to him. Then everyone moved to climb into their little cars. Lana and Clark paired up, and so did Pete and Abby. Lana gave Chloe a sympathetic look at being “stuck” with Lex.

Sitting there in the darkness of the car, Lex was achingly aware of Chloe next to him. He let his head lean back to rest against the tall back of the car and tried to steady his breathing. Just as he seemed to calm himself he felt a hand rest on his thigh.


TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Five>


He drew in a sharp breath. “Chloe&#33;” he gasped.

“What?” she said innocently. Lex gave her a look and she rolled her eyes. “It’s dark and no one’s paying any attention to us. Geez, Lex, you’ve turned into such a prude.”

“What? I have not&#33;” he retorted indignantly.

Her hand crept farther up his leg and he squirmed just the slightest, his sensitive erection rubbing against the material of his underwear. “God,” he croaked.

She grinned. “Sorry, but you’ll just have to be satisfied with me.” Her fingers cupped his cock and Lex groaned. His mouth hung open a tiny crack and hot air burst through his lips in explosive pants.

“Chloe,” he begged.

“That’s what I like to hear,” she purred in satisfaction.

The sound of his pants being unzipped sounded deafening to his ears and he peered around him. He had to lean forward to catch a glimpse of the people in the other cars. Children and adults alike were gaping at realistic looking ghosts waltzing through furniture.

Chloe’s nails lightly scraping up his cock snapped whatever remnant of control he’d managed to cling to. With a little growl he pushed her up against the back of their car. His hands fumbled with the button and zipper of her cut-offs, made clumsy in the haze of passion.

Chloe latched onto the back of his neck for support, the wall of the ride cool against her back. Her breath was labored as Lex undid her shorts while dragging the tip of his tongue over the sensitive spot behind her jaw and in front of her ear. The cackle of the voice in the car became an odd sort of background noise humming underneath the pounding of her heart in her ears.

Lex shimmied down her shorts and eagerly surged into her. Her little gasp of delight made his blood sing in primitive triumph. She was molten heat around him and he almost lost it right then. He drew in a sharp trembling breath before even attempting to move. He withdrew slowly, savoring her every movement around him, every twitch of her vise-like grip. She grabbed his butt and forced him, all too willingly, back into her.

He closed his eyes, and spun wildly out of control. He pounded into her as if it were the first time he’d claimed her, pinning her body against the shell-like back of the ride. She wrapped her legs around him and dug her nails into his back.

Meanwhile, the row of cars then passed a giant mirror. As the rolled by a ghost appeared in the reflection of their car. It was sat, pale and transparent, near the fucking couple, its eyes huge with fright.

In the car behind him a little boy noticed them in the mirror and tugged on his mother’s sleeve. “Mommy, what is that man doing to that lady?” the little boy asked in bewilderment.

“What?” The mother turned to look but the other car had already passed by the mirror.

“Were they hugging?”

“I don’t know, honey, I’m sure she was just scared and he was just making her feel better.” The mother almost immediately forgot about her son’s question as a ghost flew overhead.

Feeling better was putting it a bit mildly as Chloe’s body tensed and a cry slipped from her mouth. Feeling her spasm around his cock sent Lex hurtling over the edge. He buried in his face in the crook of her neck and clamped his teeth firmly onto her as a groan shook him.

A moment later Lex realized where he was and quickly pulled up his pants as helped Chloe straighten herself. They managed to get themselves in order just in time, too. As they left their car Chloe winked at Lex and his knees felt suddenly weak. He grabbed her arm, partly to steady himself, partly for the pure pleasure of touching her.

“Miss Sullivan, I do believe you are corrupting me,” he drawled into her ear.

Chloe winked at him. “And you love every second of it.”

“Hmmm, too true,” he conceded.

They pulled apart as they met up with the gang. Lex fell in the middle of an argument between Pete and Clark about how exactly the ghosts were created. Chloe shifted uneasily as she noticed Lana scrutinizing her a little more than usual.

“What?” she asked finally, a touch impatiently.

“You have something on your next.” She slid closer and Chloe nervously backed away. “Are those teeth marks?” she asked incredulously.

“I think a spider bit me,” Chloe lied. “I’m allergic.” Overhearing this bit, Lex peered over his shoulder and raised one eyebrow mockingly at her.

“Oh.” Lana nodded. “I’m allergic to pine trees. I’ve never had a real Christmas tree, makes me break out into hives.”

“Oh, that sucks,” she said, pretending like she cared. “I think my spider must have jumped off of Lex on the ride,” she added glaring at him.

“Ewww.” Lana wrinkled her nose. “I hope you squashed it.”

A smiled tugged at Chloe’s lips. “I don’t know,” she mused. “It might have gotten away. I wouldn’t be surprised if it bit me again later.” Lex’s eyes darkened with lust.

“Lex, what do you think? Lex? Lex&#33;” Clark demanded and Lex tore his gaze away from the blond currently driving him insane.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure,” he agreed without having the faintest idea what Clark was talking about.

“Hah&#33; I told you&#33; They’re just digital projections,” he said triumphantly to Pete.

“Whatever, I still think the ride’s too old for that. You wouldn’t know a digital projection if it-“

“Look, who care,” Chloe interrupted impatiently. “Let’s just go on to the next ride.”

They all pulled out their maps and began debating over which one was next.



TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Six>

Tormenting Lex was fun, of course, but by the end of the day she was beginning to feel a bit sorry for him. He looked so miserably uncomfortable, constantly shifting in his seat on each ride and scowling as he adjusted his pants. He tried to dodge Pete and Abby’s more observant gaze by hiding behind something whenever they glanced his way. He didn’t have to worry much about the others, naturally.

When they got back to the hotel that night Chloe snuck out of her room, once Lana was asleep, and went to Lex’s for another quick, desperate session of lovemaking. Utterly exhausted, Lex pulled her against him and fell right asleep.

The next morning at breakfast Chloe watched him drinking his Tynant with the couple pills she still had in her hand and wondered if she should try it again. He acted much more like himself, as calm and collected as ever. She fully enjoyed having Lex fully prepared to ravage her at a moment’s notice. It was very flattering, and quite the turn on.

What the heck, how many times did an opportunity like this present itself? She might as well seize it while she could.

She tried to slip it into his bottle while he was looking away but he caught her dropping in the pill out of the corner of his eye.

“What was that?” he demanded.

“Nothing,” she lied quickly. Everyone paused in their conversations to stare at her curiously. She cursed herself for being too slow.

His eyes narrowed. And he frowned. “Can we speak privately for a moment?” he said pointedly and stood up.

Chloe followed his leave and left the table to walk over to the other side of the room. She felt like a kid about to be scolded. If she were a dog her tail would have been between her legs.

Lex stood near a potted plant that blocked them from the gang’s curious stares. He folded his arms across his chest. “Well?” he demanded. “What was that?”

She had a hard time meeting his eyes. “Gonadallnight,” she muttered.

“What?” He leaned closer to hear her.

“Gonadallnight&#33;” she said louder, enunciating each syllable.

“WHAT?&#33;”

“GONADALLNIGHT&#33;&#33;&#33;”

“I heard you,” he snapped. “Let me get this straight. You were putting Gonadallnight in my water.”

“I thought it would be funny,” she said weakly.

“Funny? Well, good thing I caught you-“ He grew very still. “You put it in my water yesterday, didn’t you?”

“Maybe.” She wanted to run away and avoid the blow up she could hear coming a mile away.

“You put a drug that hasn’t been tested yet, that could be dangerous, in my water yesterday because it could be fun?” His voice sounded frigidly calm. “I could have died&#33; Does that sound fun to you?”

She paled dramatically. She hadn’t thought of that. “No,” she admitted. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? You’re sorry. I was basically violated by my- whatever you are- under potentially lethal substance all you can say is, ‘I’m sorry’.” He was utterly disgusted now.

What else was she supposed to say?”

“I’ll take one, if it will make you feel any better,” she offered.

He stared at her as if he was considering it. Then he shook his head. “No, we’re lucky I’m ok. You might not be so lucky.”

Relief flooded her and she was even more ashamed of herself. She didn’t want to risk taking it, but she had made Lex take it. What kind of terrible person was she?

She swiveled around and strode back to their table. She followed him, avoiding everyone’s questioning glances. He ate mechanically, in silence, for the rest of the meal. He didn’t so much as look at her. She picked up her fork and tried to eat, but she couldn’t swallow over the lump that had formed in her throat. Nausea washed over her and she inconspicuously spit out her food into a napkin.

She felt ill all that morning. So, between suppressing the urge to vomit and Lex ignoring her, things were just peachy. Disney just wasn’t the same that day. The cheerful music grated on her nerves and the whining children and stressed out parents seemed more numerous. When some person in a Micky suit looked like he was gonna come up to her and hug her she glared at him, swearing that she’d punch him if he tried. Lana looked faintly scandalized that she would threaten Micky with bodily harm.

Chloe caught Lex looking mildly amused for the first time that day and a surge of relief filled her. He’d forgive her, she was suddenly sure of it.


TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Seven>

*I’m still mad at her* Lex reminded himself as he snuck into Chloe’s room that night. Being mad at her, though, wasn’t much fun. He’d had a miserable time at Disney World today and she didn’t seem to be feeling too chipper, either. As he had lain awake that night he’d discovered, to his immense irritation that he still burned for her. Despite her risking his life to get a few jollies, he still desired her. He cursed himself as he’d stared up at his ceiling and fantasized about her eagerly climbing on top of him and riding him like a woman possessed. Finally, he gave up and crept out of his room.

He quietly opened the door with a key he bribed from a bellboy and peered through the dark room. A sliver of moonlight had escaped through the window blinds to highlight Chloe’s golden blond hair peeking out from under a sheet. He tip-toed to her bed, marveling at how she could be sleeping with Lana’s deafening snore. Leaning over her bed he clamped one hand over Chloe’s mouth. She made a mmmrph&#33; Noise, coming abruptly awake.

“Shhh&#33;” Lex hushed her and she relaxed dramatically. He took hi hand away and motioned towards the door. They both quietly slipped from her room out into the hotel corridor.

“Lex&#33; What’s the matter?” she demanded.

He hesitated. “I couldn’t sleep,” he said at last.

“And?”

“And it’s all your fault,” he finished.

She looked outraged. “My fault&#33; How is it my fault?&#33;”

He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling suddenly awkward and stupid for waking her up. “It just is,” he grumbled.

She sighed in disgust and went to return to her room. “Whatever.”

He grabbed her arm. “Wait.”

“What? Aren’t you supposed to be angry with me?” she reminded him caustically.

“I am. You endangered my life to get a few laughs.”

“I apologized. There’s nothing more I can do. I can’t go back and change things, so there’s no use brooding on it. You’re obviously fine, so you’re just going to have to either get over my stupid mistake or get over me in general.” She lifted her chin militantly and pulled her arm out of his grasp. “Now excuse me, I’m feeling sick suddenly.”

He let her go and stood there scowling at the place where she had been moments ago. Dammit. Their little rendezvous had been more counterproductive than he would have liked. He hadn’t even gotten laid. He hoped that she was feeling better in the morning.

She wasn’t. Lana came down to breakfast without her, telling everyone that she was puking her guts up. Lex yearned to get up and see how she was doing, but didn’t because he knew it would attract excess attention. For the first time he really hated that he and Chloe had decided to keep their...relationship a secret. At first the knowledge that were fucking under everybody’s noses had been a huge turn on, now it was just annoying. He contemplated just going to check on her and to hell with making the other’s suspicious. If they started suspecting something, then good for them. They were free to admit they enjoyed Chloe’s company, why shouldn’t he? He more than enjoyed her company, of course, so he should have even more of a right.

Getting thoroughly annoyed, he set down his fork and it clattered on his plate. Everyone looked up at him. “Excuse me,” he told everyone. “I have to make a few business calls. Make sure my dad isn’t plotting against me, that sort of thing.” They nodded in perfect understanding and he quickly left the dining area. He pushed all of the elevator buttons and dove into the first one that opened. He tapped his foot impatiently as the elevator rose. Dammit, he should get one of his minions to invent a faster elevator.

He charged into Chloe’s room, using the key he had decided to keep a hold of. “Chloe?” he called.

“Go away&#33;” she groaned from the bathroom.

He opened the bathroom door to find her sitting on the floor, clutching the toilet. She looked up at him pale and scowling. “Don’t you ever listen?” she snapped.

“Nope,” he said unrepentedly. “How are you feeling?”

“Hmmm. I’m clutching the toilet, how do you think I feel?”

Lex put a hand to her forehead, something only he remembered his mom doing to him ages ago. Odd, she felt fine. “I don’t think you have a fever,” he announced.

“Wonderful. Must have been something I haven’t eaten, considering all I’ve done for the past hour is dry heave.”

“Maybe you’ll feel better once you eat something. There’s pancakes with strawberry topping this morning,” he offered.

If anything, she seemed to grow paler. “Just the thought of food makes me want to hurl.”

“Okay, no food,” he amended in alarm. “We’ll just wait until you feel better to leave for Disney.”

“No, just go without me. I’ll be fine.”

“No, we’re not leaving you.”

“Who knows how long it’s going to be until I feel all right. You could miss half the day,” she argued.

He folded his arms across his chest. “I’m not leaving without you.”

“Holy Jesus, fuck it then. I’ll go then, but if I ralph on you in your fancy sports car then it’s all your fault,” she bit out, a bit of color returning to her face.

Lex smiled reluctantly. “Actually, it’s supposed to be our turn to do the lap sitting thing so you’re more likely to puke on Pete than me.”

She smiled at the thought. “I guess now I have to go.”

He grinned, feeling like things were getting back to normal again.


TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Eight>

Lex made Chloe eat a little breakfast before they left. She made sure to glare at him the whole time, trying not to gag on her waffles. While she was busy staving off her nausea Clark managed to persuade Pete to let him have a turn driving. He grinned like an idiot when Pete gave in, muttering petulantly to Abby. So they all, loaded into the car. Abby and Lex sat next to the windows in the backseat with Pete in the middle and Chloe sitting on Lex’s lap. Lana sat up front, of course.

Sitting on Lex’s lap did not help Chloe’s queasy stomach at all, in fact it seemed to make it worse. When they went over a big speed bump Lex’s hands shot to her waist to steady her and her stomach leapt uncomfortably. She shifted and gripped the back of the driver’s seat, praying that she wouldn’t be sick. Lex grunted softly behind her at the movement and the strangest sense of déjà vu came over her.

They went over another speed bump and Chloe lost it. Before she knew it she was puking over the driver’s seat all over Clark’s shoulder. He yelped in alarm and the car swerved erratically, in and out of their lane. A nearby car honked at them and the driver gave them the finger.

“Oh my God, oh my god,” Clark chanted. “You just hurled on me&#33;”

Chloe wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, feeling suddenly a million times better. “Sorry, I told you guys I was sick.”

“It’s okay, we’ll just pull over at the nearest rest stop and Clark can clean himself off there,” Abby said reasonably.

“At least the she didn’t puke on the upholstery,” Pete added and got an elbow jabbed in his side by Abby.

Lex rubbed her back soothingly. “How do you feel now?” he asked Chloe in concern.

“Great now,” she answered.

“This is my favorite shirt, too,” Clark moaned.

Chloe looked at it. It looked like every other plaid shirt he owned to her. Lana made some sympathetic comments, totally understanding Clark’s clothing tragedy. They pulled over at the next rest stop and Chloe went straight for the bathroom and rinsed her mouth out in the sink. Then she went to the gift shop and bought some York Peppermint Patties and several Slim Jims, suddenly famished and eager to get the taste of puke out of her mouth. Lex was there buying an air freshener for the car.

“Sorry, I made you come,” he said as they waited in line.

“That’s okay. I would’ve been upset at missing Disney World and I really do feel great now.” She shrugged.

“I can see that,” he said looking at her purchases in amusement. “Mints and beef jerky?” He made a disgusted face.

She held up her Styrofoam cup. “With a little caffeine to wash it down.”

“Clark will have a cow if you vomit on him again.”

“You mean have another cow,” she corrected him. “Where is he?”

“He’s in the bathroom still, practically taking a bath in the sink.” Lex rolled his eyes.

Chloe ripped into her food as soon as she payed for it and shoved most of it down her throat while they waited for Clark to emerge from the rest stop. Clark came out of the rest stop wearing a blue t-shirt, that was much too small for him, with a picture of a dancing cartoon alligator wearing a Hawaiian print shirt and gaudy pink sunglasses.

Pete laughed when he saw Clark’s shirt and everyone else just grinned. Clark frowned. “Shut up,” he snapped at everyone. “You should have seen the other ones they had.”

Chloe was in high spirits for the rest of the day and Lex almost seemed to be back to normal, also. She happily bought about a million of those ice creams in the shape of Mickey’s head. Lana commented on how she was getting sick just watching Chloe pack away so much food.

“You eat like a pregnant lady,” Lana told Chloe as Chloe finished her chili dog and moved on to her sushi platter.

Chloe stilled as a dreadful thought struck her. How long exactly had it been since the last time she’d gotten her period? More than a month, that was for sure. That single thought plagued her for the rest of the day, spoiling her cheerful mood. She tried to pretend like nothing was bothering her, but she noticed that Lex kept peering at her out of the corner of his eye.

How could she be pregnant? She was on the pill. But the pill doesn’t protect you 100%, an insidious voice in her head reminded her. And she did forget to take it that one day. If you forget it doesn’t it throw off everything? She struggled to remember.

Lex crept into her room that night, too. He dragged her out in the hall and planted a slow, lingering kiss on her lips that made her knees weak and heart flutter.

“God, I’ve missed you,” he whispered, brushing his lips against her cheek. He ran his hands down her body, pausing to relish each of her curves.

Reality intruded and she pulled away from him. She looked at the floor, the pattern on the corridor carpet blurring together. “Not tonight, Lex. I…I’m really tired.”
His brows furrowed in understandable confusion. Since they’d gotten together, she’d never turned him down before. Hell, have of the time she was the one with the propositions. Something was wrong? But what was it?

Maybe she was feeling sick. That didn’t make much sense, either. She’d practically eaten everything she’d laid her eyes on today. She headed back to her room, avoiding looking at him.

“Chloe, wait&#33;” But she didn’t wait.

He stood in the hall by himself again, the same as last night, aching for her. Didn’t she want him anymore? Don’t be ridiculous, he told himself, of course she does. Right? She wasn’t getting bored with their relationship. He was exciting enough for her. She always climaxed, so she couldn’t be getting sick of him.

Feeling only moderately better, he left to go back to his room.


TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Nine>

The next morning dawned to find Chloe praying to the porcelain god again. She felt even worse than she had the day before. Lex demanded that she come with him to a doctors but she refused. She was terrified that Lex would bribe the doctor out of his patient-doctor confidentiality vow. Lana kept walking past the bathroom with a worried expression on her face.

“Lana?” Chloe called rather pathetically as she heard the floor creak for the millionth time.

Lana’s head poked into the bathroom, her nose crinkling at the smell of vomit. “Yes?”

“I, uh, need you to stop and pick up something for me. You can’t tell anyone, though, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Swear to the goddess of all that is girliness that you won’t tell anyone&#33;”

Lana solemnly held her hand over her heart. “I swear to the goddess of all that is girliness that I won’t tell anyone what you are about to tell me.”

“I need you to pick up a pregnancy test from, I don’t know, a drugstore for me,” she blurted out in a rush.

“You need me to pick up a what?&#33;” Lana demanded, slack-jawed in shock.

“A pregnancy test.”

“You think you might be pregnant?&#33;”

“No, I need a pregnancy test to use as a tampon,” she said sarcastically. “For those heavy-flow days use cardboard.”

“Really?” she said, her doe-like eyes wide with amazement.

“No. Just get it, will you? Please.”

Lana nodded. “Okay. So, you’re not coming to the beach today?” They were supposed to go to Cocoa Beach today, all agreeing that they were too pooped to handle another day of constant walking at Disney World.

“No. Not unless you need another fun-filled morning of car-puking,” she replied dryly.

Lana hesitated. “So, do you know who the father is?”

Chloe glared at her in indignation. “Yes, what kind of whore do you think I am?”

Her eyes widened again. “There are kinds?” she said seriously.

Chloe laughed reluctantly. “I’m sure there are.”

“So, who is it then?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?” She pouted.

“Because.”

She frowned and tapped a finger against her lips as she seemed to be thinking with, what looked like, an incredible amount of brain-power. At last she said, “He’s someone I know, isn’t it?”

“Maybe,” she admitted reluctantly.

Her face scrunched up even more and then returned to normal as she gave up. “I won’t tell,” she whined.

“Look, just get the test and I’ll think about it.”

She sighed. “Okay, okay. I’ll get it.”

“Thanks.”

Chloe was relieved when Lana left. Lex came back one more time to check on her. He tried to get her to go with them to the beach and then tried to insist that he stay at the hotel with her. After numerous threats and, finally, a couple tearful pleads to be left alone, Lex agreed to go to the beach without her.

Chloe’s tear-filled eyes haunted Lex as they made their way to Cocoa Beach. He grew more and more irritated the more he thought about it. Well, fine then, if she didn’t want him around to comfort her then he wouldn’t be around at all. He had done nothing wrong. He’d been a good… lover? boyfriend?...whatever he was.

It was starting to bother him that he wasn’t sure what he was to her. Lover sounded too casual and boyfriend too juvenile. Goddammit, things were getting too complicated. He contemplated calling things off for about a millisecond before admitting that he didn’t want to stop seeing her. What he really wanted to do was go back to the hotel and talk to her, and if things led to a little sex then that was good, too.

And why didn’t she want him to take her to the doctors? That was a little weird. He definitely wondered what was up with that. One minute she was puking, the next eating enough to feed a small platoon. Lana’s words yesterday suddenly echoed in his ears and an impossible thought struck him. No, it couldn’t be. He shook his head, as if trying to dislodge the thought from his mind.

They’d been on the road for about 30 minutes when Lana nervously asked Clark they could stop in the next town. He obediently pulled off at the next exit and Lana had him stop at a CVS of all places.

Lex shrugged, figuring that it was probably that time of the month and she needed to get some pads or something. Clark followed Lana in the store while everyone else stayed behind.

Lana peered down every aisle trying to hunt for the pregnancy test while simultaneously trying to ditch Clark, who kept checking up on her as if she might get harassed by the 90 year old lady holding up a bottle of Centrum Silver an inch from her nose and squinting her eyes like she forgot her glasses. For the first time in practically forever, Clark was really getting on her nerves. Finally finding it, she grabbed it and a big bag of pads to hide it under in case Clark snuck up on her. She threw everything on the counter at the register, trying to pay for everything as quickly as possible. The cashier didn’t blink an eyelash at having to ring up pads and a pregnancy test at the same time.

Meanwhile, Lex was getting restless. What was taking them so long? He got out of the car, suddenly parched and determined to but some bottled water. He cursed himself for not bringing along a few bottles of Tynant, but, oh well, he’d have to rough it.

Lana nervously peered over her shoulder and jumped a mile, finding Clark standing right behind her with a confused scowl on his face.

“Lana? What’s going on? Why are you buying a, you know, pregnancy test?” The last couple of words came out as a scandalized whisper

“Well, I, uh…”

He started to look very upset now, hurt and anger clouding his eyes. “Who’s the father?” he demanded.

“It’s not for me&#33;” Lana blurted out and immediately cringed.

His anger melted away. “Then who is it for?”

“I promised not to tell-“ she began.

“Think Clark- it’s for Chloe,” a cold voice interrupted. “Isn’t it?”

Lana jumped again. “Lex&#33;”

TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Ten>

Lex was unusually pale and his gave intense as he pursed his lips and waited for Lana’s reaction. “Well?” he demanded. “If it’s not for you then it has to be for Chloe, right?” Things began clicking in place now. “That’s why she’s been so sick lately. She’s got morning sickness. That’s why she’s been eating so much, too, isn’t it?”

“Chloe?” Clark gasped. “Chloe is pregnant? My God&#33;” He looked utterly stunned.

“You can’t tell anyone,” Lana hissed, hugging the bag the cashier handed her to her chest. “Besides, she might not be. That’s what she wanted me to get the test for.”

Lex made a guffaw of disgust. “Don’t be an idiot,“ Clark glared at Lex, “if she asked you to get the test then she’s pretty sure she is.”

“You have to promise not to tell anyone,” Lana said to Clark and Lex.

“Other than Pete and Abby there’s no one else left to tell,” Lex bit out snidely. “And this cashier knows now, not that he even knows who Chloe is. Why don’t we just announce it on the evening news while we’re at it. I can see it now ‘Chloe Sullivan debauched and left pregnant by-“ He froze abruptly in his tirade.

“I promise,” Clark said obediently, more out of a need to fill the sudden silence than anything.

“You know who the father is?” Lana asked Lex eagerly.

Lex peered at the cashier, who picked up a magazine and flipped through the pages, pretending not to listen to every word of their conversation. “No,” he said flatly. “But I think that we should get the test to her as soon as humanly possible- like now. I’ll drop you guys off at Cocoa Beach and then bring Chloe back her test. I’ll pick you all up before dinner, okay?” They both nodded in mute agreement.

Lex took control of the driving, feeling good to be behind the wheel again. He made dropped everyone off at the beach and made it back to the hotel in record-time. He went immediately to Chloe’s room, unlocking the door and throwing it dramatically open.

Chloe, who was sprawled on the hotel bed, watching what looked like a Lifetime movie with tears in her eyes, jumped a mile when the door flew open. Popcorn that she’d called room service for flew everywhere.

“Lex&#33; What are you doing here?” she asked.

He tossed the plastic bag on the bed. “I was told you wanted this,” he said, striving for cold indignation but failing when his voice came out as breathless pants from rushing to her room.

Chloe picked up the bag and peered in it. She took out the pads. “Uh, thanks but I don’t really need-“

“No,” he said impatiently. “The other thing.”

That was when she noticed the pregnancy test laying on the bottom of the bag. Her heart sank in dread. “Thanks,” she said stiffly, not knowing what to say.

“Thanks? Is that all you have to say to me?” he demanded.

“What do you want me to say, Lex?” she asked.

“Are you pregnant?”

“That’s what this is supposed to help me find out,” she said, holding up the test.

“When were you planning on telling me?” he demanded, growing more and more incensed.

“Uhhhh…”

“Were you planning on telling me at all?&#33; It’s my child, after all&#33;&#33;&#33;”

Annoyed, she retorted, “How do you know it’s yours?”

His mouth snapped shut and a furious pink flush spread across his cheeks. His eyes narrowed dangerously and Chloe resisted the urge to leap up from the bed and flee the room. He walked purposely to the bed and looked down at her, his face a frigid mask. Reaching down, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. Her breasts collided with his chest and she gaped at him in wide-eyed astonishment. Standing this close to him, she could see his nostrils flare as he breathed in sharp, emotional bursts.

His hand moved up her arm to the back of her neck and she was acutely conscious of his strong, masculine fingers pressed into the sensitive flesh near her spine. He lowered his head and pulled her to him, pressing his lips against hers with a passionate anger that shocked her, and simultaneously sent a fission of excitement between her legs. He grabbed her butt and ground her hips against his. His growing erection rubbed against her sensitive core and she melted against him.

Suddenly Lex pulled away from her and glared down at her, still breathing hard. “Well? Tell me now that the baby isn’t mine.”

Chloe blinked up at him, his words taking several minutes to sink in. He’d kissed her to teach her a lesson. Burning with indignation, she wretched away from him. “Well, I might not even be pregnant, so there’s no need to get all worked up yet.” She picked up the pregnancy test from the bed and marched back in the bathroom with it.

Lex tried to follow her in the bathroom but she slammed the door in his face and locked the door behind her. “Hey&#33;” he protested. He banged on the door but she ignored him.

She ripped open the box and read through the instructions. She peed on the stick and stared at the strip that was supposed to turn blue if she was pregnant. Her heart hammered in her ears as she waited.

TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Eleven>

“God, how long does this thing take?” she muttered to herself. She glanced at her watch impatiently.

Suddenly a blue tint began to spread across the tiny square she was staring at. She just blinked at it, her mouth going dry in a hollow, not really surprised sort of reaction.

Yup, she was pregnant. Great. She contemplated abortion for about 2 seconds before deciding that she would never get one. She wasn’t incredibly religious, so it wasn’t because of that. She just believed in taking responsibility of her actions. So, she was pregnant, she could deal with it. She could still go to college. Her dad would help her out.

A wave of nausea overwhelmed her. Oh, God, her dad. He was going to freak out when he found out.

She sat on the bathroom floor for several minutes, not wanting to go out and confirm her pregnancy to Lex. Who knew how he would react. Sure, he was obviously upset by her not telling him immediately of her suspicions, but that didn’t mean he necessarily wanted a baby.

She rested her head on the cool toilet seat and closed her eyes briefly. A single mother at eighteen- holy crap. In about the five minutes it took to get the results of the pregnancy test, all her hopes had died and she felt like her life had gone down the toilet.

Lex knocked loudly on the door. “Well? Are you done yet?”

She sighed and lurched to her feet. She threw open the bathroom door.

Lex took an involuntary step forward. Chloe was chalk-white and looked as if she might be ill at any second. Feeling like he’d slipped into another dimension, he knew her answer before she actually told him.

“I’m pregnant&#33;” she said bitterly and threw the stick at him.

He caught it and looked at it. Sure enough, it was blue. He was going to be a father. His mind spun. A father. He didn’t feel old enough to have a kid. He’d never even held a baby before in his life, how could he be a good father? Panic flooded him at the thought. Oh, God, what if he ended up like his father? He didn’t want any kid to grow up like he had- able to have anything but what he really wanted. A loving family.

“Chloe-“ he started slowly, unsure what to say.

“I’m not getting an abortion&#33;” she snapped at him and folded her arms mutinously across her chest.

He reeled back in shock. “Damn straight, you’re not&#33;” he retorted.

She looked relieved. “Well, okay, then. Good.”

“Wait a minute, you thought I was going to ask you to get an abortion?” he demanded, outraged.

“Well, not exactly ask,” she admitted.

“I never even thought about it until you said something about it,” he informed her. “I’m insulted. It’s my child. I would never destroy my child.”

“Sorry,” she said, reluctantly. “I’m a little on edge.”

“You should be,” he agreed. “Being pregnant and barely eighteen and everything. We should see a doctor right away.”

She nodded. “When we get back to Smallville.”

“Who knows, maybe the test is wrong. They aren’t completely accurate sometimes.”

She snorted in disbelief. “Somehow, I don’t think this is one of those times.” She sat on the bed.

He rubbed the back of his neck wearily. “Yeah, I don’t really think so, either.” He sat down next to her.

She laid a hand on her flat stomach. “I can’t believe I’m going to have a baby,” she said quietly.

Lex laid a hand over hers. “We are,” he corrected. “I can’t believe we’re going to have a baby.”

Her heart swelled in her chest at the hushed way he said that. Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Lex,” she said.

“For what? It’s not your fault. I know you’re on the pill. I’ve seen you take it before.”

“I know in my head that it’s not my fault, but I feel like it is. Our lives are never going to be the same.” She rubbed a tear off her cheek. “If we’d done something different… or if I hadn’t pursued you so much for that damn interview then you wouldn’t have noticed me and we would have never started this whole…thing, this fling. I wish I’d left you alone. I’ve ruined our lives.”

Lex’s heart constricted painfully and his hand tightened over hers. “Don’t say that. Our lives aren’t ruined. I know mine isn’t, and I won’t let yours be either.” His voice was sharp with a stubborn, militant edge. “Don’t call what we have a fling, either.” He hated that she regretted being with him. He didn’t regret anything they’d done together. Chloe was the best thing that had happened to him in a long time.

“Isn’t that what it is? Neither of us thought of our relationship as being long term.” She knew that she herself hadn’t given it a lot of thought. But she definitely never thought that Lex would want their relationship to be more serious. She was attracted to him and knew he was to her, ergo frequent fuck-fests. It had been beautifully uncomplicated and now it was all ruined.

“Yeah, well, things change.” He sighed. “God, the press is going to have a field day when they find out,” he muttered to himself.

“We’re going to tell everyone then?”

“Well, as soon as we get back to Smallville I think we should tell your dad. Everyone will find out eventually.”

“Wonderful,” she groaned. “Can’t I just tell everyone it was Immaculate Conception?” she joked weakly.

Lex didn’t look very amused. “No, we’re not going to act ashamed of anything.”

She sighed. They both fell silent, lost in their thoughts. Chloe’s stomach rumbled and she remembered that she’d only had a bag of popcorn in the last few hours.

Lex immediately reached for the phone. “I’ll order something up for you.” He stared at her as he ordered, a strange gleam in his eyes. After he hung up he told her he was going out for a breath of air. She nodded, not really feeling up to a walk herself.

He opened the door and paused. He turned around to face her. “By the way, we’re getting married as soon as possible. No kid of mine is going to be a bastard. I’ll be back in about a half an hour.” And with that he left her gaping at the hotel door behind him.

TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Twelve>

Married? He’s got to be kidding, Chloe thought. No way was she going to marry him. For one thing she was WAY too young. For another, she had never heard a crappier proposal. It wasn’t even a proposal even. It was more of a command, and she had never dealt well with commands.

She sat there fuming, getting up to answer the door when room service came with her food, and then going right back to fuming. All appetite had vanished as she got more and more worked up.

When Lex came back to the hotel room he found her there looking incredibly pissed and not touching a bit of her food. He’d been afraid of her reaction. That was why he’d bolted as soon as he’d brought up the subject of marriage.

“Your food is getting cold,” he told her.

“We are NOT getting married&#33;” she returned.

Lex folded his arms across his chest. “Yes we are.”

“No we’re not. You’ll have to drug me and carry me to the alter&#33;”

His eyes narrowed. “That can be arranged.”

“I still won’t say ‘I do’&#33;”

He pursed his lips. She was going to marry him if it was the last thing he did. “This can be a marriage of convenience, if you want. We’ll get married, you’ll have the baby, and then we can get a divorce. You can give up custody to me if you want and forget this whole thing ever happened.”

She let out a choked noise of outrage. “I have never heard anything so cold-blooded in my life&#33; I would never give up custody of my baby and when I marry it’s going to be for love&#33; Now go away before I start chucking things at your head.”

Lex clenched his jaw at that word- love. “No, chuck things at my head if you want. I’m not going anywhere. Fine, we’ll share custody of the baby. You’re going to marry me, though. Your dad will support me in this.”

“No, he wouldn’t.”

“Want to bet?”

“Please,” she sneered. “I may still be in high school, but I’m not a child.”

His eyes raked up and down her body. “So I’ve noticed. That’s what got us into this mess in the first place.”

“I thought that this wasn’t my fault&#33;”

“It isn’t. If I had any semblance of control where you’re concerned then you wouldn’t have gotten pregnant. As an older man, I should have been more responsible.” He sat down in a chair and heeled off his 300 dollar designer shoes.

“God, you sound so old-fashioned. Wake up, this is the 21st Century&#33;” She picked up a fork, her appetite returning again.

And on it went. They bickered for hours, long after Chloe finished eating. The only reason they stopped was because Lex remembered that he had to pick up the others from Cocoa Beach.

Lana immediately returned to their room to check up on here, and Abby followed her.

Lana sat next to Chloe on her bed. “Are you okay?” she asked in concern.

Abby took in all of the empty plates scattered about the room. “Somehow, I get the feeling that she’s not feeling sick anymore,” she said wryly. “Though I’m getting sik just thinking about how much food I’m guessing you’ve eaten.”

“You told Lex,” Chloe said accusingly.

Lana looked away guiltily. “No, not exactly. He over heard me tell Clark.”

Chloe groaned. “Clark? Great.”

“He thought that it was for me&#33;” she said defensively.

She shuddered at the thought. Lana, procreating- ick. There were enough brainless twits in the world already.

Abby cleared her throat. “I hate to sound nosy,” she said with mocking sincerity, “but what the hell are you two talking about?”

“I guess I might as well tell her, since Clark is probably filling Pete in as we speak. I’m pregnant,” she informed her baldly.

Abby raised her eyebrows. “Really? Well…that blows.”

Chloe laughed. “Yeah, it kinda does. Oh, and I might as well tell you guys now, since everyone’s gonna know in a couple days anyway. Lex is the father.”

Lana’s jaw dropped. “Ewww.”

Chloe somehow resisted the overwhelming urge to punch her. “I could say the same for your choice in men.”

Abby, however, simply nodded. “I thought something was going on between you two.”

“Have we been really obvious?”

“Nah, not really. There was always just this weird vibe whenever you two are in the same room together. I told Pete about it but he just laughed. He can be really dense sometimes.”

“The same can be said for most guys,” Chloe agreed.

“Wow, a baby. You must be terrified. That’s a lot of responsibility,” Abby sympathized.

“Yeah, it’s just ducky.”

“Well, look on the bright side. At least your baby will have great genes.”

Chloe grinned. “Thanks.”

Lex burst into the room, followed by Clark and Pete, who looked more than a little shell-shocked.

“Has Chloe told you?” he asked the girls and they nodded. “You will come to the wedding, won’t you?”

“Wedding&#33;” Lana squeaked.

Abby looked vaguely amused and the dark look Chloe gave Lex. “If there is a wedding,” she agreed.

Lex hadn’t removed his gaze from Chloe since he’d entered the room. “Oh, there will be,” he promised. “There will be.”

TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Thirteen>

They left Florida the next day, much to the relief of all. Florida was great and all, but it had stopped being so fun once Chloe’s pregnancy became known. Chloe sat next to Lex on the plane but they didn’t talk much. She was still mentally complaining about how stupid Lex was being and Lex was pretending to read a newspaper.

He was really plotting exactly how to get Chloe to accept his proposal. He knew that he should woo her, ply her with flowers and gifts but he found it difficult to start doing it now when he hadn’t before. She would see right through him. She’d marry for love. Now the question was: how did you go about making the mother of your baby fall in love with you?

He already knew that he cared about her. There had been a time when he’d struggled not to, but he’d gotten over that and had just accepted that he had feelings for her. Now, whether or not those feelings included love, he wasn’t too sure of. He’d thought he was in love with other women in the past, but he’d been wrong. He hadn’t really loved them, not in the huge-swell-of-music-at-the-end-of-a-movie kind of way. All he really knew was that he wouldn’t let Chloe leave him, knowing that she was going to have his baby merely made him realize that he had a right to demand that she didn’t.

I’m going to be a father, a little voice inside him chanted. The thought sent a rush of panic and some bigger rush of…something… joy? anticipation? He wasn’t sure, maybe both. He kept having to tell himself that the old adage about the apple not falling far from the tree wasn’t necessarily true. It would be pretty hard to be as bad of a father as Lionel. That didn’t quite soothe the nervous knot in his stomach, though.

The flight back to Metropolis seemed incredibly short. Lex drove everyone back to their homes, saving Chloe for last. He got out of his car and followed her in her house.

“Dad, I’m home&#33;” she called. “Do we have to do this now?” she hissed to him.

“Yes,” he answered tersely.

“Dad&#33;” she called again. The house was silent. “Hmmm. He must be at work.” She peered in the living room just to make sure.

Suddenly she felt a pair of hands at her waist. “You know what that means, don’t you?” Hot breath warmed her ear.

A tingle of excitement shot through her body. “What?”

“We have the entire house to ourselves.”

She turned around and put her hands on Lex’s chest to push him away. Somehow, though, once seeing the intense, heated look in his eyes her arms seemed to ignore all orders from her brain. “Lex, I’m pregnant.”

“So? We don’t have anything to worry about then.” He brushed his lips against her soft cheek. “It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve really touched you.” His hands slipped under her shirt to caress her belly. “Tell me you still want me to touch you.”

She trembled violently and gripped his shirt in a desperate attempt to stay upright on her abruptly weak knees. “Touch me, Lex,” she whispered.

She could feel his lips curl up in a smile against her cheek before he swept over to her lips. She was expecting the mind-numbing passion that always simmered just beneath the surface between them. Instead his lips were gentle on hers, tasting and exploring as if it were the first time they kissed, except that then there wasn’t the tenderness that made her melt against his hard body. When Lex pulled away she sighed blissfully and couldn’t help clutching his body to hers, not wanting him to go anywhere.

Lex could feel the difference in their kiss, too, and his chest ached at the beauty of it. What was it, though? He hadn’t seen it coming on. He’d meant to give her a kiss that reminded her of all their quick, though incredible secret rendezvous. It had only really been days since the last time they had sex, but it had felt like longer and he wanted her to feel the same way. However, once he had her in his arms everything changed. Something split open inside of him, something already weakened by the knowledge that she was bearing his child, and all sorts of confusing emotions flooded him.

He buried his face in the crook of her neck and lessen the intensity of the emotions, but the unmistakable scent of Chloe interfered, drawing his lips to the soft skin underneath her jaw. His fingers circled her navel, acutely conscious of the way her stomach muscles jerked at his touch and the quick rise of her breasts against his chest.

There was a little life growing inside of her, and it was his. He was in awe of her.

“Oh, Lex,” she breathed and he realized that he’d said the last bit out loud. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has said to me.”

“Mmmm,” he hummed and kissed her with all the passion that he had meant to in the first place, mostly to hide his embarrassment at his slip.

Chloe responded to him with delightful enthusiasm, curling her arms around his neck and arching into his body. Arousal danced down his spine and pooled in his groin. That’s when everything changed and he could not get Chloe out of her clothes faster. She protested when a loud rip tore in her shirt and a button popped off her pants, but Lex could barely hear her over the racing of his heart.

At last he knelt before her, shimmying her cotton panties down her legs. Chloe placed her hands on his shoulders to steady herself while she stepped out of her underwear. When at last she was completely naked, standing in the hall and looking down at him with desire in her eyes, all Lex could do was stare up at her. She was stunning, and now she was really his.

He buried his face in the curls of her pubic hair and Chloe gasped, clutching his shoulders tighter. Her breathed in the musky scent of her arousal and wondered if there was someway he could bottle that smell. His erection throbbed in reaction to it. His lips sought her hard little clit nestled amongst her curls and gave it a gentle kiss. Chloe swayed a little bit.

“God, Lex,” Chloe chocked out, her voice a mixture of annoyance and pleading.

Lex looked up at her again. “Did you miss me like I missed you?”

“Lex…”

He rubbed her wet core with the heel of his hand. “Did you miss me?” he repeated. He needed to hear the words.

“Yes, I missed you,” Chloe snapped. “Are you satisfied now?”

He smiled, loving the way her flash of temper lit up her eyes. “Not yet, but I will be.” He slipped to fingers inside of her and Chloe moaned throatily. He moved them in a beckoning motion towards him, making another louder moan follow the first. He kept moving until Chloe was panting in time with the tick of the hall clock and her juices flowed down his hand, to his wrist.

Barely able to hold herself up anymore, Chloe bent over to kiss the top of Lex’s smooth head.

That flood of emotion overcame him and the tender gesture and he stood up, ignoring Chloe’s disappointed protest to tear off his own clothes. Finally he seized her by the waist and picked her up to lower her on his eager cock. As she sank onto him she curled her legs around his waist. Lex could not stop his hips from thrusting up into her and lost himself in her molten heat. He started to lose balance and pinned Chloe against the nearest wall, his thrusts becoming more wild and violent as Chloe’s cries grew more urgent in his ears.

Then somewhere in the haze of lust Chloe heard something. The crunch of a car on the gravel driveway.

“Lex&#33;” she alerted him.

Lex stilled and his eyes focused on her face, still looking more than a bit glazed. “What?”

“Someone’s here&#33;”


TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Fourteen>

Chloe reached blindly to her right, her hand grasping a door knob. She turned it and opened the door. Lex, still carrying her on his hard cock, slipped through the open door and slammed it behind them. They were in a pitch black closet and breathing heavily in each others ear.

Lex considered setting down Chloe but as soon as she shifted on his erection he threw that thought out the window. He started thrusting into her again and Chloe gasped in response. They fell among some coats and once again Chloe was being fucked up against a wall. The smell of leather and dust surrounded them as their writhing bodies shifted old, rarely used coats. Chloe’s blunt nails dug into his shoulders as her body tightened around his cock. A high-pitched keening noise slipped from her mouth. Lex kissed her fiercely, swallowing her cries. Her constricted pussy sent him spiraling over the edge. He groaned quietly into her mouth and shuddered as he spilled himself into her. He clutched her to him possessively, unable to let go until his body calmed down again.

“What the-“ Gabe exclaimed just outside the door. “Where did all these clothes come from?”

Chloe gave out a tiny gasp. “Quick, put on a coat&#33;” she ordered Lex and handed him a coat at random. Lex put on the coat and she grabbed another coat and yanked it on. Chloe pulled up the hood of Lex’s coat. “Keep your head down and maybe he won’t recognize you.”

They listened through the door and when all was silent Chloe opened it a crack and poked her head out. “The coast is clear.” She motioned for him to follow her.

She crept out of the closet in a giant magenta puffy winter coat that fell to almost her knees. Lex followed her in the hall in a yellow raincoat that was barely decent on him, falling only enough to cover parts he’d prefer to keep private from the general public. Chloe glanced at him and realized that it was her raincoat from when she was a kid. The hood had an orange bill on the front and eyes on the top. She used to call it her “ducky coat”, when she was about seven that is. She grinned, wishing she could be there when he realized he was wearing her ducky coat.

“Chloe&#33;” he father gasped and she froze, making Lex collide into her back.

“Head down&#33;” she hissed at Lex and turned around to face her father with a forced smile on her face. “Dad&#33; How was work?” She opened the door and shoved Lex outside.

“Hold on just a minute&#33;” her dad protested.

She was about to slam the door shut when Lex barged back inside. “Leave, damn you&#33;” she snapped.

“No, he might as well know now,” Lex said stubbornly.

Gabe’s jaw dropped. “Lex Luthor, is that you?”

Lex regally lifted his head, which looked pretty funny considering the hood of her ducky coat was still up. “Yes.” He nodded, which sent the bill on the hood flapping.

Gabe pursed his lips, realizing that his daughter and boss wore no pants with their coats. “And I’m assuming the clothes in the hall are yours.”

“Yes, and Chloe’s.”

Gabe glared at him and took several menacing steps toward Lex. He grabbed Lex by the yellow raincoat and shook him. “I’m going to kill you,” he snarled.

“Dad&#33;” Chloe protested.

“Not now, young lady. I’ll deal with you later,” he snapped, not even looking at her as he maintained his glare with Lex.

“Chloe and I are getting married,” Lex managed to spit out while Gabe was starting to cut off his air supply.

“Lex&#33; We are not&#33;” she protested.

“We are,” Lex insisted to Gabe.

“Just because you deflowered her doesn’t mean she has to marry you,” Gabe said.

“Deflowered?” she muttered with a tiny snort of laughter.

“She’s having my baby,” Lex announced, followed by a hearty groan from Chloe.

Gabe dropped Lex back on his feet. “You goddamn bastard,” he said and gave Lex a quick, but impressive, punch to the jaw before anyone knew what was happening. Lex reeled back in shock.

“Dad&#33;” Chloe moved to stand in between the two men.

Lex rubbed his throbbing jaw. “I deserved that, but that doesn’t change anything. Chloe is going to marry me and have my child.”

Gabe nodded. “Damn right she will.”

“What?&#33;” she cried out.

“I don’t want my daughter or grandchild to be the town’s newest social pariah. I don’t want to see the hurt look in your eyes when you catch close-minded people gossiping over you or pretending not to notice you when they pass you on the sidewalk. Besides, you should think of the baby. Being married to a Luthor will guarantee that it will have anything he or she will possibly need,” Gabe explained to her, suddenly all calm rationality.

Chloe rubbed her forehead, feeling a migraine coming on. “I’ve got to be dreaming,” she murmured to herself.


TBC...

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Fifteen>

Chloe left Lex and her father in the hall planning out her life for her and escaped into her room. She plopped down on her bed, exhausted and feeling overwhelmed by everything that had happened. Instead of trying to think about everything, she curled up on her bed and fell asleep.

She woke up to the sound of her father calling her down for dinner. She rolled out of bed, threw on some clothes, and trudged downstairs. She sat down at the dining room table with a little yawn. After rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes she blinked a few times, surprised to find Lex sitting at their table. He had his own clothes on again and the ducky coat was long gone.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Well, your father and I talked for quite some time about our future and then he invited me to stay for dinner,” Lex said.

“Hmmm, so have do you have my future completely figured out yet?” she asked snidely.

Gabe left the kitchen to do something or other, leaving them alone.

“Well, we need to talk about that. I have a deal I would like to propose.”

Her eyebrows rose. “A deal, huh?”

“Yes. You marry and I ensure the financial security of you and your baby for the rest of your lives. After you give birth you can divorce me, if you want, and you can move on. We, however, will share custody of our baby.”

“So,” she began slowly, “what your saying is that we get married, I have the baby, and then we get a divorce. Then, in the end, you get partial custody of the baby and I get cash for the rest of my life. It sounds like your trying to buy me off.”

“You don’t want the money?” Lex said in disbelief.

“No,” she said quickly. “I’d be a moron to pass up that much cash. It’s just that…it feels so cold.”

“Is there something else you want?”

“How about a marriage based on respect and admiration?”

“I admire and respect you.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “How about a marriage based on love?”

Lex pursed his lips, temper lighting up his eyes. “That’s why I agreed that you can get a divorce if you want. If you want to marry for love and are unhappy with our marriage then you can find it in your second marriage. Think about it. You only have to be married to me for less than nine months and then you’ll never have to worry about money again. In addition, your baby will have all the benefits of being a Luthor. Regardless, I am not just going to pretend that I don’t have a child. You can either marry me and share custody or I can employ every lawyer possible and seize full custody. It’s your choice.” His voice was hard and unyielding.

A flash of genuine fear shot through her at those words. She actually believed that he meant what he said.

“I...can I have a week to think about it?” she asked.

Lex nodded, his face softening somewhat. “Of course. In the meantime, I’ve already scheduled you for a doctor’s appointment for tomorrow.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Gabe walked back in the room and gave Lex a look. Lex gave an almost imperceptible shrug and Gabe nodded slightly. He smiled at Chloe. “So, how are you feeling, honey?”

“Better after my nap,” she replied warily. He was acting much too cheerful now. What exactly did he and Lex talk about anyway?

The dinner seemed to drag on forever. Chloe managed to clean her plate despite feeling slightly nauseous. Gabe and Lex chatted lightly about business and local politics, acting like the best of friends. Chloe tried not to scowl suspiciously at them the whole evening. She also tried not to give any thought to marriage that night. She had a week to think about it.

* * * * * * *

Her appointment was at eleven the next morning, so she was still feeling incredibly sick. Lex insisted that he drive her there and followed her into the waiting room. When her name was called she shot out of her seat and her stomach churned nervously.

Her doctor was a nice Indian lady with a definite accent. She asked Chloe, what seemed like, a hundred questions- all about her symptoms and family medical history. Then she had her change into one of those ugly blue robe things and did some standard physical-type tests. Finally, she had Chloe pee in a cup.

“Now, we’re just going to run some tests on this,” the lady said when Chloe gave her the cup. “We’re going to check your levels of hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone that is released by the placenta when a woman is pregnant. If we find this hormone then you’re pregnant. An at-home pregnancy test functions much the same way. If the test comes back negative and you don’t get your period soon then come back here and we’ll run a blood test. I have to warn you, though, if you took an at-home pregnancy test and it came out positive then it is unlikely we’ll have different results. This will take only a few minutes.” She smiled and left.

A few minutes later the door opened and Lex snuck in. “Well?” he demanded anxiously.

“What are you doing in here? You’re supposed to be sitting in the waiting room.”

He shrugged. “I got impatient. So, are you?”

“I don’t know. She went to test my pee.”

“Oh. Well, I’ll just wait with you then. Besides, I might have some questions.” He settled down in one of the chairs.

“I hope you get in trouble,” she snapped and Lex smiled.

The door opened again and the doctor jumped a little at seeing another person in the room. She looked at Chloe questioningly and Chloe rolled her eyes.

“I’m the father,” Lex announced.

“Oh.” The doctor relaxed. “Well, then. Your test has come back positive. And according to your symptoms, you’re probably almost five weeks pregnant. The baby should arrive in February. You should expect continuing nausea- at all hours of the day, not just the morning. Your breasts will start becoming much more sensitive, you will need to use the bathroom more often, and expect to feel more tired than usual.” She smiled at Lex. “You will need to make sure she eats properly and gets enough rest. You don’t have to worry about sex; you can have it right up until her water breaks, as long as she’s comfortable with it. If she starts feeling any discomfort, see me. Many women experience an increased sensitivity and even enjoy sex more as a result of the increased hormone levels.”

She rambled on for another 20 minutes but Chloe started to feel overloaded with information and began to tune her out. The doctor gave Lex and Chloe some pamphlets and recommended some books to read. Lex nodded periodically, apparently absorbing every word the doctor said. Finally, the doctor wrote up a prescription for some prenatal vitamins and Lex and Chloe were free to go. She had another appointment scheduled in five weeks for some more tests.

Lex nattered on in the car about the pregnancy, saying something about Lamaze classes, but Chloe tuned that out, too. She felt drained and drifted off to sleep in the car.

TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Sixteen>

“So, I was thinking that if it’s a girl we could name her Lillian. What do you think?” Lex asked cheerfully. “Chloe? Chloe?” He took his gaze off the road for a second to see Chloe curled up against the door, asleep. He double-checked to make sure the door was locked and smiled to himself.

After listening to what the doctor had said, he was feeling much better about the baby. Things were going to be fine. And if not they’d just make a trip back to the doctor’s. She seemed like a smart, competent woman. Chloe and the baby would be fine in her hands.

He found he was looking forward to being a father. He was going to be nothing at all like his father. Spoiling his child rotten might be a concern, he decided with a silly smile lighting up his face. He kind of hoped it was a blond girl the spitting image of Chloe. He imagined whispering a little joke in her ear and her giggling adorably, throwing her tiny arms around his neck. She’d probably have one heck of a stubborn streak, too, inherited from both of them.

Lex pulled up to Gabe’s house and wished that he was taking Chloe to his home. He opened the door and carried Chloe inside. She murmured a little as he lifted her up and buried her face into the crook of his neck. A little tingle of excitement shot through him at the touch, but he ignored it as he carried her up to her room. He placed her on her bed and carefully tucked her under a sheet (he didn’t want her to get overheated). He hesitated for a moment and tucked a stray lock of hair behind one of her ears in an involuntarily tender gesture.

He stared at her for a moment as she slept, noting how exhausted she looked. She needs constant attention to make sure she takes care of herself, he thought, and vowed that he would be the one to give it to her. Acting on impulse he planted a light kiss on her forehead and left to go to the nearest bookstore and buy the books that the doctor recommended.

* * * * * * * *

Chloe woke up in her room late that afternoon somewhat mystified. Lex must have carried me inside, she realized and more than a little part of her warmed at the thought. She didn’t see Lex for the rest of the day and, despite how much she tried to pretend like she didn’t, a part of her missed him.

Lex dropped by her house the next day with a huge bag of books. He unloaded them out on the table, his eyes bright with excitement.

“I know the doctor only recommended these two,” he set the two to one side, “but they had tons of other ones that sounded good, too. I got two copies of each, one for you and one for me. Mine are at the mansion now.”

“Ah hah,” she gaped at the huge pile of books.

“Of course, I got Being a Father and you got Being a Mother.” He set that book aside. “I got several baby name books because not all of the same names are in all books-“

“Lex&#33;” Chloe interrupted. “How much did you spend on these books?”

Lex shrugged. “A couple hundred dollars.”

“Lex&#33;”

“Each.”

“Lex&#33;&#33;&#33;”

“Don’t worry. I think I can afford it.” He grinned.

“Don’t you think you’re getting a little carried away?”

He looked indignant. “No, we should go into this fully armed.”

She rolled her eyes. “Lex, I’m having a baby, staged a coup.”

“At least try to read them,” he told her.

“Okay, okay. I promise to, at least, open them.”

He nodded seriously. “I’m already halfway through The Unofficial Guide to Having a Baby. I’ve been highlighting the main points, I suppose I could let you read my highlighted copy.” He sounded reluctant, as if he were agreeing to let her cheat off him for a test.

Chloe grinned. “I’ll think about it.”

They fell silent for a moment before Lex cleared his throat and asked, “So, have you given my proposal any thought?”

Her good mood immediately vanished. “Yes, a bit.” Quite a lot, actually. Not that she’d admit it to him, of course.

He pursed his lips. “And I’m assuming you haven’t reached a decision yet.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Well, keep thinking about it. Marrying me would be the smart thing to do.”

“Yes,” she said dully and looked away.

Lex took her hand in his. “Give me a chance,” he said softly. “I could make you happy, if you give me the chance.”

Tears filled her eyes at his words. Could he make her happy? Could she be happy in a marriage without love?

Lex left soon after that. He dropped by her house everyday that week. All of her friends, and even several distant acquaintances, dropped by. They acted like everything was normal at first, but eventually they would cave in and ask her about Lex and the baby. School was odd. Graduation was just around the corner, so everything was different anyway. But on top of that people acted differently around her. She could see them whispering and peering at her out of the corner of their eyes. Apparently the news about her and Lex had spread to, oh, everyone in a few of nanoseconds.

Once as she passed a couple of snotty girls she caught the words “pregnant” and “slut” followed by a few malicious snickers. She’d been running late for class so she just pretended like she hadn’t heard them. That didn’t take away the angry hurt that seared through her at their words.

The end of the week was rapidly approaching and Chloe was still struggling to come to a decision. The night before the week was up she could barely sleep a wink.

Lex arrived at her house bright and early. He pretended that everything was normal, but the air between them was tense. It was obvious that he was waiting for her answer. They sat down for lunch and ate in relative silence.

As they finished eating Lex met her gaze head-on over the table. “Well?” he said. “Have you come to a decision?”


TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Seventeen>

Chloe let out a harsh shuddering breath. “Fine,” she said dully.

Lex blinked in surprise. “Fine? Just fine?”

“What else am I supposed to say?” she demanded.

His nostrils flared as his temper reared its ugly head. “A simple ‘yes’ would have been nice. Anything other than ‘fine’. God, you sounded like a child being punished.”

“Aren’t I?” she shot back.

Lex got the oddest look and his face and stood up. “Excuse me. I should leave before I say something I shouldn’t.” And without further ado, he left.

Chloe’s words rang in his ears as he climbed back in his car. He stood behind the steering wheel for several minutes before he lashed out and banged his fists against it several times. He stopped when his hands began to hurt.

Fine. He’d never hated a word more. It was true that he wanted a yes, but what he hadn’t said, but had really wanted, was a yes accompanied by some sign that she wanted to marry him, that she had realized that she could be happy married to him.

“Fine,” he muttered bitterly and started his car.


* * * * * * * * *

Chloe sat at the table, wondering if she’d made the right decision. She was going into a marriage without love, something she’d said she’d never do. But, what if…what if…

She shook, silently scolding herself for being an idiot. What if they learned to love each other? She knew that, at least for herself, it was an all too frightening, all too real possibility. But for Lex? Eh, who could say.

She shot up and raced toward the bathroom as another wave of nausea hit her. After a bit of mostly dry heaving she sat back against the bathroom wall. She looked down and put her hand on her flat stomach. This was why she was why she was marrying him, she told herself. What kind of mother would she be if she denied her baby its father?

* * * * * * * * *

Lex took full reign of the planning. He tried to include Chloe in setting up the wedding, but after a few days of getting noncommittal shrugs and desultory, “Whatever you want”s he gave up. Choosing her dress was about as involved as she got. As a master of organization planning a wedding was fairly easy. All it took was a number of phone calls and being available to approve of the flowers and such that were selected.

As busy as he was, he still had time to feel miserable. Chloe’s obvious unhappiness somehow had begun to color his mood. Gabe seemed to sense that all was not well and did his best to lighten the mood, but just ended up making them feel worse.

The wedding was scheduled to take place a few days after her graduation, which was in a scarce couple of weeks. The entire town seemed to know about it too. Lex got more dirty looks than usual by the more conservative, elderly Smallville community but he didn’t really care. Popularity had never been a priority with him, anyway.

Lana was probably the only person totally euphoric about the wedding, constantly gushing about how romantic whorl-wind weddings were. When she started to go off about it he’d glance over at Chloe and see her struggling not to whack Lana. He almost wished that Lana was around more often. He liked a furious Chloe more than a moping Chloe.

Lex kept a close eye on Chloe during those weeks, and when he wasn’t with her he had one of his goons follow her around a bit. He was more than a little nervous that she’d skip town rather than marry him.

He went to Chloe’s graduation. Lana cried, telling everyone, including people she hadn’t really known that well, that she would miss them. Clark stayed by her side, putting a sympathetic arm around her shoulders and letting her get the shoulder of his gown all wet. Chloe seemed vaguely amused by this.

Lex went to her side immediately after the ceremony was over. Tons of people were milling around the gym, where the graduation was held so they couldn’t leave right away.

“So, how does it feel to be a graduate?” Lex shouted over the noise.

Chloe shrugged. “Not too different yet. I can’t say I’ll miss anyone here too much. I’m going to get out of Smallville as soon as possible.”

“Hmm, I suppose we can live in Metropolis, if you want,” he agreed.

She looked a bit startled for a moment, as if she’d forgotten that she was going to be Mrs. Luthor in a matter of days, as if she’d forgotten that she was going to have his baby. That hurt him more than he liked but he shrugged it off, chalking it up to her having a lot of things happening in her life now. He really did sympathize with her. He was feeling more than a little overwhelmed and he wasn’t even the one having the baby.

Through the throng of people he spotted a camera man and a tall, thin man carrying a microphone. They appeared to be searching for someone in particular. Lex immediately recognized the tall man as a local news anchor and knew that they were searching for him. Ever since word had gotten out about the upcoming wedding he’d started to get even more hounded by the media than usual. He’d even heard from Gabe that they’d started to call for Chloe almost everyday. He guided Chloe through the crowd away from the camera. They left the school as soon as possible.

The next couple of days were extremely tense. The wedding was set to take place Saturday. It was going to be a smaller, more intimate affair. Only close family and friends were invited. It took place in a charming, old white chapel on the outskirts of town. The church doors were left open so that a beam of sunlight lit up the path between the pews where Chloe was going to walk. A light breeze was a blessed relief and circulated the scent of the lilacs that decorating the pews. Lex chatted with the minister while he waited for things to get underway, trying to pretend like his stomach wasn’t churning with nervousness.

Meanwhile Lana was helping Chloe into her dress while Chloe struggling not to dry heave. Chloe could hardly believe that this was happening. What the hell was she doing? She almost told Lana a million times while they were getting ready to go and tell everyone that the wedding was off. But every time she came close to backing out she would hesitate.

Finally, they got the dress on her and Chloe stood in front of the mirror to see the end results. She nearly groaned out loud at the sight. The dress was lovely, elegant and not too overwhelming. The soft while silk lovingly hugged her curves and the white low v-neck showed off her bust and long neck. The whole effect was seriously damaged by the god-awful expression on her face, a cross between nausea and terror. She was pasty white and no amount of makeup could completely disguise the circles under her eyes.

Lana was blathering blissfully, constantly readjusting some fold of the gown. Chloe was completely zoning her out, lost in the tangled web of her thoughts. At last Lana pulled her to the church door way. The wedding theme began and everyone stood up. Chloe froze, transfixed by all the staring eyes on her. Lex was standing at the end of the aisle, looking far too handsome in his black tux. Suddenly a hand took hers and placed in on an arm. She looked up and realized that it was her dad. He smiled down at her and soothingly patted her hand. Infused with a rush of courage she somehow managed to march down the aisle.

Lex took her hands when she reached him and smiled warmly at her. Chloe, suddenly feeling as though things weren’t as bad as they seemed, smiled back at him. Their vows flew by. Later on, she didn’t even remember saying them but she must have said them right because they left the church as Mr. and Mrs. Luthor. They went to their reception but they didn’t stay more than an hour before Lex told her to get changed.

Chloe just stared at him in confusion as he motioned her toward the bathroom. “Changed?”

“Yes, into some more comfortable clothes. I left your suitcase in the bathroom.”

“My suitcase?” Now, she was really bewildered.

“Yes. Your dad packed it for me. Now, hurry up we’re going to be late.”

“Late for what?” If he didn’t answer some of her questions she was going to scream in frustration.

He grinned. “For our honeymoon, of course.”


TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Eighteen>

Once aboard Lex’s private jet Lex asked Chloe where she wanted to go for their honeymoon. “We have reservations in Italy, Hawaii, and Egypt,” he told her. “If you want to go somewhere else, though, I’m sure I can arrange something.”

“Hawaii,” she picked. It would be nice to swim while she could still look decent in a bathing suit.

“Hawaii, it is then.” He picked up a phone hanging on a wall near him. “Pilot? It’s Hawaii.”

They chatted, both attempting to pretend like everything was normal. The air between them was awkward and tense, the thought that tonight was their wedding night lingered in the back of both of their minds.

The car that Lex rented turned out to be the same that he’d rented while in Florida, which brought back memories of Disney World. The drive to the hotel was picturesque, to put it mildly. The sun beamed merrily overhead, lighting up the lush green vegetation that seemed to be in a kind of perpetual battle with the various man-made structures. Chloe stared out the window at the scenery trying to ignore the tingle of excitement that was lingering between her legs.

Their hotel was a small, very elegant place, strategically hidden amongst all the plant-life and yet still almost right on the beach. Tucked away from the rest of the world and yet in touch enough with it that you could watch the speedboat whir by. The room was huge with light beige walls. Thin cream-colored curtains billowed in the breeze that drifted through the open set of French balcony doors that faced the ocean.

As Chloe was gaping in wonder at the room Lex was tipping the bellhop, who immediately left, closing the door quietly behind him. She jumped a little as Lex snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her against his hard chest. Her heart leapt a little and she leaned against him for a moment before she realized what she was doing. She started to pull away but his arm tightened around her.

Lips brushed against her neck and her will seemed to have vanished. Somehow she found herself facing him, she wasn’t sure if she was the one who turned around or if he spun her around, and curling her arms around his neck. His neck was delightfully warm and the urge to touch more of his skin thundered in her. His lips swept up her jawline and to her lips. Their kiss was playful- a tiny bit of tongue, just a sip, really. Many others sips followed, leaving her feel drugged and languid.

He drew back for a moment and took off his shirt. Chloe avidly rubbed her hands across his chest, as if absorbing his heat into her. He watched her beneath hooded eyelids, fully enjoying her pleasure in touching him. Then lowered her head and her tongue flickered out to taste him. His breathing hitched and his grip tightened around her waist. Lex sat down on the bed and Chloe, still preoccupied with scattering lingering kisses across his chest followed him. She straddled his hips and reached up to kiss his mouth again, this time rubbing her achingly sensitive breast against his chest as she did so.

They both let out soft groans and Lex thrust his hips up between her straddled legs. Chloe realized that they were both still wearing far too many clothes and without ceremony ripped off her shirt and bra.

Watching her strip Lex breathed out a reverent, “Chloe.”

“Mmmm,” she answered with a little smile. She went to kiss him again, this time rubbing her naked breast against his bare chest, and sighed with delight.

Lex’s hips rose to rub against hers. They both paused for a moment to tear off their pants. Now naked and on the bed their hands took to wandering across each other’s bodies. Their touching wasn’t so much hot and unbearably passionate as wonderfully luxuriant. Lex got up and sat on his knees over Chloe and her legs spread in eager anticipation. But instead of his length filling her, his hand cupped her pubic mound and his thumb brushed against her wet core.

A little gasp escaped her and she reached down to grab his wrist and pull him closer. A finger and then another one slipped inside her, thrusting in an imitation of what was to come. Chloe arched off the bed a little, her hips moving against his hand.

“Please.” The plea burst from her mouth without her permission.

Lex pulled his fingers from her and, wanting to only to meet her every wish, buried his hard cock deep inside her. Chloe’s legs pulled his hips closer to her, desperately seeking every centimeter of his length inside her. And that would have been enough for her too- just to have them stay that way, like matching puzzle pieces.

But then he began to move. His thrusts were tiny at first, barely movement at all. Gradually, they began to grow more frantic. The sounds of their slapping flesh seemed deafening and yet almost unnoticeable to Chloe. As always, her eyes kept drifting shut as she lost herself in the thrust of his cock inside her. Every once in a while she would force them open to find him watching her while they fucked. Then he would fall on her, still thrusting and bury his lips in her neck. She kissed his jaw, savoring the salty taste of his sweat on her tongue. She loved those moments the most. The weight, the heat, his hot, shuddering gasps in her ear.

Every time came close to climaxing the pace would change. He’d slow down and she’d wantonly trying to pick up the tempo again, moving her hips faster.

After what seemed like hours of hot, almost-there moments Lex murmured a husky, “Turn around.”

Slightly dazed, she just lay there for a moment. Then, understanding she flipped onto her stomach and pulled a few pillows underneath her arms. She knelt on her knees so that her ass was in the air and her face was pressed up against the bed.

Lex rubbed his cock against her dripping pussy, teasing her for a moment. Then he buried himself in her again and she clutched one of the pillows underneath her. When he started thrusting again, she bit the pillow in sheer pleasure.

“God, Lex,” she rasped.

She could feel herself spiraling out of control and gasps tore out of her throat. Tighter and tighter, something seemed to wind up in her. Then blessed relief would come. But Lex wasn’t done yet. That something would coil up all over again. She lost count of how many times she came, she only knew that every time she recovered she only wanted it to happen all over again.

Finally, when she thought that she would collapse if she came one more time Lex removed himself from her and turned her back onto her back. He thrust, almost violently, back into her one last time. With a shudder he spent himself inside of her and then fell on top of her. His weight was heavy on her but she didn’t mind, and held him close to her. They were both breathing as if they’d run a marathon, their sweaty bodies drying in the light breeze that still flowed into the room.

They curled up against each other. Lex drifted off to sleep with a little smile lingering on his lips as he remembered that Chloe was now *his* wife. She belonged to him and, for better or for worse, he knew that he belonged to her. Divorce his ass.


TBC…

[hurlingturtles]

*duh, you guys, if they actually sat down and really talked the story would be over much sooner than I was planning. By the way, sorry again about taking so long to update. I’m not sure where I’m going with the extra character I’ve thrown in here. Maybe nowhere, we’ll see.*


<Chapter Nineteen>


Chloe woke up to Lex rubbing her shoulder. She yawned, rubbed her eyes, and peered at him sleepily.

He smiled. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she replied.

“Awake?”

She smiled. “Uh, now I am.”

“What do you want to do today?”

“I don’t know. Swim maybe.”

“Want to go scuba diving?”

“Scuba diving?” She was suddenly feeling wide-awake. “Cool&#33;&#33;”

He laughed and lightly whacked her on the butt. “Then get up sleepy-head and get your bathing suit on.”

“Ow&#33;” She winked at him flirtatiously. “Careful, I might start to like that.”

He gave her a hot look in return. “I aim to please.”

She stood up, wrapping the sheet around her like a toga. “I know you do,” she replied cheekily and grabbed her bathing suit and went to the bathroom to change. As she was changing she realized in delighted surprise that she wasn’t feeling the slightest bit nauseous.

Scuba diving was awesome. The air tank was much lighter than it looked and she got plenty of pointers, both from the diving instructor and Lex- who had gone scuba-diving several times before. The little cove where they dived in was gorgeous, filled with all sorts of brilliantly colored fish. It was obvious that they were used to plenty of divers because they didn’t scatter as quickly as she expected them to. The water was shockingly warm in the cove- much warmer than the open ocean, the diver told her.

After they went scuba diving Lex took her to another, little-known cove because she mentioned that she wanted to catch some rays, maybe swim a bit more. She adored the way that Lex insisted on doing whatever she wanted.

On the way to the cove she said, “Isn’t there anything that you want to do?”

He shrugged. “I’ve been to Hawaii before. It all seems new and exciting again through your eyes. Besides, maybe after all you’ve been through lately I just think you deserve to do what you really want to do.”

Her heart melted a bit at his words and a weird-feeling smile forced its way onto her face. “Thanks, Lex.”

“You’re welcome.” He looked away, as if discomfited by his admission.

Later that day they returned to the cove and made love on the beach. Their honeymoon flew by far too quickly. It almost felt like she was in a dream world where reality didn’t dare intrude. They were just two people wildly attracted to each other on a marvelous vacation. She almost forgot that she pregnant; her “morning” sickness didn’t really bother her much. Neither worried about anything other than their immediate needs. The future wasn’t a concern.

On their next to last day there they strolled about the tiny town they stayed in and looked around souvenir shops. Chloe found a cute, unabashedly tacky, shirt and went to try it on while Lex strolled around the rest of one of the stores. She tried it on, and was delighted to find that the one she picked out fit fine. She left the changing room, with her chosen shirt in hand when a guy whacked into her.

The mystery guy steadied her. “I’m so sorry&#33;” he apologized. He peered down at her and a slow smile spread across his face. He had a deep tan and friendly grin with pearly white teeth. “Hi. My name is Aidan Ventia. What’s yours?”

“Uh, Chloe Sullivan,” she said wearily. This guy was too good-looking to be true.

“You okay?”

She relaxed a bit. “Yeah, don’t worry about it.”

He tilted his head thoughtfully. “Where are you from?”

“Smallville.”

“Where’s that?”

“Kansas.”

“No way&#33; I’m from Topeka&#33; This is so weird&#33;”

“Topeka?”

“Yeah, well for half of the year. My parents own their own software company so half the time we’re traveling across the world on business-slash-pleasure trips.” He rolled his eyes and shrugged. “It’s so cool to run into, literally, someone from Kansas.”

“Yeah, cool.” She was kind of caught off guard by how friendly Aidan was.

A light, endearing, flush spread across his face and his grin turned sheepish. “Sorry, I’m a dork. I just miss being home sometimes. You’d think I’d get used to being away with how much traveling my parents do.”

She smiled at him, immediately liking him for his dorkiness admission. “That’s okay.”

“So, how do you like Hawaii so far?”

“It’s great, of course. Who wouldn’t like Hawaii?”

Lex wandered over to them and she jumped when he touched the small of her back. “You almost ready?” he asked her, glancing at Aidan with an odd expression on his face.

“Yeah. I was just talking to Aidan Ventia. He’s from Topeka. Aidan this is Lex Luthor.” For some peculiar reason, probably because of the expression on Lex’s face, she felt like she’d been caught doing something terrible.

Lex held out his hand and shook Aidan’s, keeping his other hand on her back. “Her husband,” he added shortly. “Are you any chance related to the Chris and Vivian Ventia?”

Aidan nodded, his smile dimming a little at the mention of a husband. “They’re my parents. I’ve heard of you as well, Mr. Luthor.”

“We’ve both inherited our notoriety,” he agreed, the frigidity of his voice thawing a bit. “And call me Lex. Whenever anyone calls me Mr. Luthor I think of my dad.”

He laughed. “You have to call me Aidan, then. Well, I should get going. I hope to see you both,” he peered at Chloe out of the corner of his eye, “when we’re both in Kansas sometime.”

Chloe nodded enthusiastically. “Definitely.”

They parted and Aidan wandered off while Lex paid for Chloe’s shirt. “Well, he seemed nice,” she said as they left the shop.”

Lex shrugged. “He seems okay. His parents are quite ruthless businessmen. Their software company has been spotlighted as a business to watch by the Wall Street Journal.”

And that was that. They reluctantly left Hawaii the next day, neither looking forward to rejoining the real world again. They went to the mansion first.

As they entered the foyer Lex cleared his throat. “I’ve had all of your things moved into the room next to mine, though I expect you to share my room.” His voice was steely, brokering no argument. “We can decide what things we’re going to move into my room and what can stay in the joining room.”

“You did what?” she demanded, furious that he hadn’t even bothered to consult her on something like this.

“Well, I hired some people to move your things here. Your dad helped them a bit, too.”

The idea of strangers and her father being the ones to shove all her things in boxes infuriated her. She should have been the one to pack up her things. It was an invasion of privacy&#33;&#33; How dare they&#33;&#33;&#33;

She stormed up the stairs and Lex followed her. “Where’s my stuff?” she snapped.

Lex led her down the hall and opened one of the doors. “In here. My room is the next one down. We have a door that connects our rooms.” He motioned to the door. His eyes narrowed, observing the militant look in her eyes. “I expect that door to remain unlocked at all times.”

Chloe swept into her room and slammed the door in Lex’s face before he could follow her in. She quickly locked it then she hurried to the door joining their rooms and locked that, too. She gazed around her room. All of her things had even been unpacked and organized similar to the way her room at home had been. A bolt of fury shot through her. What if she’d wanted to unpack?&#33; They hadn’t even asked her&#33;

She plopped down on her bed feeling as if she’d been fooled by Lex’s careful consideration in Hawaii. Lex wasn’t solicitous. He did whatever he wanted to, and damn anyone else. The prime example of that being the sham of a marriage she was now stuck in.

Lex banged on the door. “Chloe&#33; Don’t you like your room?”

It was great, but that wasn’t the point. “You didn’t even ask me&#33; You just went in and moved all my stuff without my knowledge&#33; Maybe I wanted to decide what I still wanted and what to get rid of. Maybe I don’t like the idea of other people sorting through my private things.”

“You can still do that when you move most of your stuff into my room. Besides, lifting heavy boxes and stuff isn’t good for the baby&#33;”

She scowled at the shut door, her stomach was churning again and she was in the mood to rip anyone’s head off that came into her room. “Maybe I’m not going to move into your room. Maybe I like the way your people organized everything so much that I don’t want to move anything. In fact, maybe I don’t think I want to share your bed again.”

On the other side Lex was also scowling, thinking that he didn’t understand women. Pregnant women are very emotional, he remembered reading from one of his books.

“We’ll see about that,” he muttered and left, giving her a little breathing room to calm down.


TBC…

[Brittany]

Thanks for finally updating, I was going through withdrawals again&#33; Hope the next chapter is going to be full of HAPPY Chlex&#33; :biggrin:

[mina murray]

Lex is an idiot.
But I love him anyway. :chlexsign1:

[darlc]

stupid Lex, not thinking at all.....hormones :huh:

[vardaquareien]

*slaps Lex upside the head* Get a clue&#33;&#33;&#33;

[sabby]

Hey there,

sorry that you lost everything and had to put it up again. But definetely a great chapter. *shakes head* Lex really needs to learn how to handle a woman that is not drooling all over him and would say yes and amen to everything he does.

I hope Chloe gives him some hell for that, tho I&#39;m sure he meant good in Hawaii, but well (and I hate to use Bo Kent words here) The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and Lex has a lot of them there,

Update soon, please&#33;

hugs,
Sabby

[kmdaugherty2821]

:chlexsign3: Sigh* Sorry for the problems you are having but it&#39;s really a great story&#33; i hope you update soon&#33; :biggrin:

[bluemoongirl23]

The level of stupidity that Lex displays cannot even be measured using Earth standards. Silly, silly boy. And, really, Gabe should have known better. As for this being deleted, I feel your pain.

Blue

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Twenty>

Chloe would have stayed in her room the entire day, but her stomach violently protested the thought.

When dinner came around she heard Lex outside her door again. “Chloe?” he called. “Dinner is ready.” He paused. “I decided to order out for Chinese, so technically it’s here. We have General Tso’s.” He said Tso’s in a light, teasing sing-song voice.

Dammit. It was just unfair. Her one weakness. She sighed while her stomach did a little celebratory dance and she opened her door.

Lex smiled as she left her room. “Don’t think for a minute you’re forgiven,” she retorted. “So don’t look so smug.”

“Oh, of course not,” he said and attempted to whip the pleased look off his face, but failing miserably.

The Chinese was excellent. Heaven in, far too little, white cartons. They considered eating in the dining room but it didn’t seem right eating from boxes at the huge polished mahogany table. They moved into the living room and planted themselves in front of TV. Chloe felt a million times better after she finished eating. She reclined back on the couch and heaved a contented sigh. Lex scooted a little closer to her and pulled her against his chest. She couldn’t find the will to pull away from him and her eyes drifted shut as she passed out cold.

Lex brushed his thumb across her closed eyelids and congratulated himself. Chinese had been a great idea. When in the dog house, offer food to the pregnant wife- he had to remember that one. If they had more kids. He stopped stroking his fingers across her cheekbone. His heart swelled at the thought of expanding their little family, his cock swelled at the thought of the many long, exhausting nights he had ahead of him in the process of impregnating his wife.

‘Wife’. A tiny part of him, rapidly becoming a big part of him, rejoiced at the sound of the mere word. At the sound of the word ‘husband’ it took all his control not to break out into a song and dance. He never thought he’d be so glad to be married, but he was. He held her tighter to him and his hand fell to rest gently on her still flat belly. He’d never give up the family he’d always wanted.

Then he realized something that tilted his world on end. He wouldn’t, couldn’t, ever let anyone in his tiny family leave him. And that included Chloe, not just his baby. Ever. He knew that if he and Chloe were ever separated he’d never be the same. The same time he realized this, a little light dawned on him. If Chloe died the way that his mother died, he’d have to live on for his child, no matter how unhappy he was. Just the way his father had had to. In the blink of an eye, his whole view on his father altered. He began to feel something other than pure hatred for him- pity.


* * * * *

Chloe and Lex fell into an odd sort of pattern over the next few weeks. She visited her dad and friends, but Lex tended to linger wherever she was. Part of her felt like she was in a prison and Lex was her guard and part of her missed Lex when he wasn’t following her around.

It seemed like he was always reading one of those damn pregnancy books. He’d be carrying one around and relay to her a bit of information he found particularly helpful or interesting. She thought about reading one or two of the books herself but she figured with Lex, being the way he was, why bother? She&#39;d just hear everything from him sooner or later.

It seemed like every time she stepped on her scale she weighed a pound more than before. Her shirts especially seemed a bit tighter than usual. She had to go out and buy bigger bras, but she refused to get new shirts until she threatened to burst from them. Besides, Lex seemed to be more preoccupied by her cleavage than usual. And when he was staring at her breasts he wasn’t suggesting more baby names.

It had been a few weeks since they’d had sex. Lex seemed to be giving her some space, which she appreciated. However, she knew from the steadily hotter looks she caught him giving her when he thought she wasn’t paying attention that he was dying to get into her pants again. She felt a definite feminine pride in her power over him.

She, herself, was getting a bit restless too. When she caught those looks her breasts would also tingle uncomfortably. She longed for his hands on her breasts. It was weird, but she’d never been that excited by breast fondling before. Now, as she drifted off asleep alone, that was the fantasy that lingered most often.

As the weeks passed she noticed that her mood swings grew more and more wild. There were times that she wanted to punch Lex and others when she wanted to launch herself into his arms. Lex dealt with her moods swings with remarkable patience.

They relocated to Lex’s Metropolis condo when college started. This time she was relieved when Lex took full control of the moving. Her classes were all cool. She was glad she had something to do. Summer had gotten pretty boring. Now she was meeting all sorts of people and occupying herself with hours of homework and papers.

Lex tried to make her bring along a bodyguard when she went to classes because “you never know”, but she refused to. She was sure, though, that he was paying someone to keep an eye out on her and follow her around on campus. She wasn’t sure, but she saw this one particular student around on campus far more often than anyone else. He was a bit older and more muscular than the typical college student.

Then one day while Lex was at work she got a call from Aidan Ventia.

“I heard that you were in Metropolis,” he said.

“Uh, yeah, I’m going to college at Metropolis University.” How did he get their number? she wondered. It was unlisted.

“It’s a good school. I went to Yale for a couple years but I hated it. People are so snobby there. I’m taking a year off now. I might apply to Met U.”

“Yale, wow,” she said, impressed.

“It sucked royally.” He paused. “Anyway… I was just wondering if you wanted to get a cup of coffee with me.”

“Sure.” She shrugged. “When?”

“I was thinking of dropping by the Starbucks near you this afternoon.” He sounded too casual.

“Sure, okay. You know where I live?”

He sounded amused. “Lex Luthor? It’s not hard to find out. How do you think I got this number?”

“Alright. Three good for you?”

“Yup. See you then.”

“Bye.” She hung up, feeling a little twinge of guilt. She shrugged it off quickly. It’s not like she was having an affair. They were just going to chat over a cup of coffee. She had had to cut back on coffee lately and she was dying for a decent cup. Besides, Lex wasn’t coming home from work for a while. What he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.

* * * * *

Lex was in a meeting, trying to pay attention to what everyone was yammering on about. He was completely bored. All he wanted to do was go home to Chloe.

He could feel her weakening more each day. She was forgiving him for forcing her to marry him, he could feel it. Soon she’d be in love with him and forget what he’d said about a divorce. Then he’d get her back in his bed, where she belonged. He ached to possess her again. It felt like ages since they’d last made love. He swore her breasts were larger than they’d used to be, too.

His cell phone rang and he answered it with a curt, “Luthor.”

“She’s leaving the condo,” said the man he’d hired to keep an eye on her.

“Well, follow her. Call me back when you know where she’s going.” He hung up, not really that concerned. She was probably just out shopping. Her shirts had gotten significantly tighter lately. Not that he minded. He smiled to himself.

A few minutes later his phone rang again. “She’s at Starbucks.”

Lex sighed and shook his head. They’d argued over Chloe’s coffee addiction. Then Chloe called the doctor and had been told it was okay for her to have a cup a day, but not too much. She’d been quite smug that Lex had been overruled. Well, he thought, this better be her cup for the day.

His man was still talking. “She’s sitting down and talking to a young man. She seems to have met him before.”

“Find out who he is,” Lex ordered. It was probably just one of her college friends. He didn’t appreciate her being away from home so much, but he understood that she needed to cling to her independence. He was sure that she knew he had her followed, too. She obviously understood that he needed to protect her. He had enemies that would just love to hurt him in any way possible.

“What does he look like?” Lex asked.

“A dark tan, black hair, very white teeth. Seems familiar somehow… I think I might have seen a picture of him before, but I can’t remember where.”

“Well, find out and call me right back.” He hung up, scowling to himself. The description sounded familiar, but he wasn’t sure who this mystery man was. Regardless, he wasn’t too happy about his wife meeting some other guy by herself. It sounded far too much like a date. He tried to relax, telling himself that he’d worry if this became a habit of hers. In the mean time he’d dig up as much dirt on this guy he could.


TBC…

[sabby]

Great chap, gotta love how Lex is getting all family man, update soon please

hugs,
Sabby

[dsapiro]

So who is this guy? Why did he call Chloe? Update soon.

[Brittany]

Bad Chloe, she needs to start acting right & appreciate Lex, who&#39;s been nothing but great to her. I hate that Aidan guy aleady :devil: &#33; Love this story, it&#39;s one of my favs, so please hurry with the next update&#33;&#33; :worship2:

[vardaquareien]

Originally posted by hurlingturtles@Jul 30 2003, 03:00 PM
He knew that if he and Chloe were ever separated he’d never be the same. The same time he realized this, a little light dawned on him. If Chloe died the way that his mother died, he’d have to live on for his child, no matter how unhappy he was. Just the way his father had had to. In the blink of an eye, his whole view on his father altered. He began to feel something other than pure hatred for him- pity.
I absolutely adore this paragraph&#33; :wub: It&#39;s so gorgeously sweet. His feeling that he couldn&#39;t live without Chloe & realisation that he&#39;d have to is beautiful. He loves her&#33; He loves her&#33; *sigh* Why are males so thick? Why doesn&#39;t he tell her&#33;&#33;&#33;

Lex&#39;s insight about his dad was lovely. It doesn&#39;t change the fact that he&#39;s a magnificent bastard, but it does bring some understanding as to maybe why he is.

Methinks we&#39;re gonna have some possessive&#33;Lex and indignant&#33;Chloe coming up soon&#33; I can&#39;t wait to see Lex&#39;s reaction when he finds out who Chloe&#39;s coffee date is&#33;&#33;&#33;

Can&#39;t wait for more&#33;

[scifichick774]

Hee hee hee hee. Poor Lex is going to be just livid when he finds out it&#39;s Aidan. More soon please.

[kmdaugherty2821]

:yay: *Sigh... another great chapter&#33; Lex is turning into a family man... who wouldn&#39;t love it&#33; thanks for updating&#33; :biggrin:

[hfce]

Great chapter but can we say :tease: to Aidan she is a married woman. Keep away&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; More please



Hope :chlexsign2:

[asharnanae]

agh&#33;&#33; kill the evil adain&#33;&#33; he going to hurt chloe I can just feel it, hes to smug and oily to be nice, and he didnt explain why he had her number half well enough for my likeing, CHLOE, RUN WHILST YOU STILL CAN&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

Love the fic, please update as soon as poss&#33; :biggrin:

[Charlie]

[QUOTE] asharnanae Posted on Jul 30 2003, 04:49 PM
"agh&#33;&#33; kill the evil adain&#33;&#33; he going to hurt chloe I can just feel it, hes to smug and oily to be nice, and he didnt explain why he had her number half well enough for my likeing, CHLOE, RUN WHILST YOU STILL CAN&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;"

I agree, that Aidan boy is up to no good. I think Lex needs to kick his ass. But Lex better watch out, Chloe might kick his ass if she finds out she&#39;s being followed. Even if it is for her own best.
Love Lex as a family man.


:chlexsign4:

[celticangel]

Interesting twist. Can&#39;t wait to see what happens. :yay: :yay:

[bluemoongirl23]

I adored Lex&#39;s internal thoughts about becoming a father, just wonderful. And, the fact that they&#39;re both reaching their breaking point is great. Hmmmm, Lex ain&#39;t gonna be too happy. Perchance they&#39;ll have a fight.....and then some mind blowing make up sex.

Blue

[DawnieAngel]

I really adore this fic&#33; It&#39;s really good&#33; So what&#39;s this Aidan character going to do? Is he TRYING to split Chloe and Lex up? and if so is for his own benefit or someone elses? Or is he just being friendly? Please update soon i&#39;m dying to see what happens&#33;

Dawnie xXx

[Tandy]

:biggrin: I really adore a jealous possesive Lex&#33; Great fic&#33;

Tandy

[hurlingturtles]

<Chapter Twenty-One>

Chloe had a great time chatting with Aidan. It had been kind of awkward at first, she kept wondering what she was doing there. He was so courteous and charming that she’d relaxed. Before she knew it she was talking his ear off, treating him like one of her Smallville friends. She ended up explaining her whole situation to Aidan, including her unplanned pregnancy. Aidan listened to every word she said, devoting all his attention to her. It felt great to just spill her guts to someone.

“Wow. You’re pregnant, huh? That must be scary,” he sympathized.

She nodded and smiled. “Yes, it is.” It was amazing that he picked up on that. “But, I have a good doctor and Lex to turn to if I have any questions.”

He laid one hand consolingly on hers. “No, I didn’t mean the physical process of having a baby. I meant the responsibility. You’re going to have another person completely dependent on you. The way your child turns out will depend largely on how you raise him or her. The very idea scares the crap out of me, and I’m not the pregnant one.” He grinned, obviously amused by the thought of himself being pregnant.

She grinned back at him. “That’s it exactly&#33; And the thing of it is, I do want some part of that responsibility even though it is scary. I’m afraid, though, that Lex won’t let me. He tends to bulldoze over other people, even me, giving them little option but accept his way of doing things.”

Aidan nodded. “The marriage,” he recalled.

“And the moving.” She sighed. “He’s got me all boxed in. All I want is to be able to make decisions of my own, be trusted to do the right thing. I want to take a part in raising our child. He’s already choosing out a name, and he hasn’t even asked me if there are any names I had in mind.”

“Are there?” Aidan asked.

“No, but I’d still want to be asked.”

A black SUV drove past the Starbucks. Her eyes narrowed as she watched it zoom by. She could have sworn that she’d seen the same SUV pass them several times before.

She stood up. “I should go.”

Aidan stood up and walked her to her car. “Can I call you again sometime?”

She laughed. “Why? All I did was bitch about my problems. I barely let you get a word in edge-wise. I probably bored the crap out of you.”

“No, you didn’t. You needed to talk to someone, I’m glad I ended up being that someone. I’ll cut you a deal, if it makes you feel better. I’ll tell you about me next time we get together. Is it a deal?” He held out his hand.

Chloe hesitated and then shook his hand. “Deal,” she agreed.

Aidan held onto her hand far longer than necessary and stared at her, the look in his eyes serious. Chloe smiled and pulled her hand out of his grasp, wanting to escape the weird vibe growing between them. She climbed in her car and drove away, waving at Aidan as she left.

As she drove home she didn’t have any regrets about meeting Aidan for coffee. She liked him. He seemed like a great guy. However, she wondered if she should emphasize her married state the next time she saw him. She didn’t think there was anything wrong with talking and hanging out, but she wanted to make sure he didn’t expect more. She had the funny feeling he was already hoping there’d be more between them.

She was flattered by all his interest. He knew she was married and pregnant and that didn’t seem to bother him much. Part of her knew that that was probably an indication that he wasn’t as great as he seemed. He was a home-wrecker, or, at least, a potential home-wrecker.

* * * * *

“So,” Lex said casually over dinner that night. “What did you do all day?”

Chloe shrugged. “Nothing much. I went out for coffee with a friend and watched a movie on Lifetime. I cried, of course. It was about a young woman, who’d been abused by her adopted father for years, finally finding her real parents and dealing with her sexuality. It was terrible, but I still want to see it again sometime.”

“Ah. Who was the friend?” He took his time carefully cutting the food on his plate. He knew who it was, the man who he hired to follow her had found out. He just wanted to hear her say it.

“No one important.” She shrugged again. She went back to eating.

Lex watched her eat, suddenly feeling all appetite escape him. Why wouldn’t she just tell him that it was Aidan? Was it really because it wasn’t that important? Or was it because she felt she had something to hide? He considered asking her outright, but then she’d know that he was having her tailed.

So, he decided to sit back and keep having her followed. He was struggling not to jump to conclusions. Sure, Aidan seemed interested in her in Hawaii, but that didn’t mean that she was interested in him. That didn’t mean he was comfortable having her ogled by another man when he wasn’t around, on the other hand.

That night, clad in only his pajama bottoms, he stood outside the door separating their rooms. After a moment’s hesitation he knocked on the door. He heard movement on the other side and then the door swung open.

Chloe rubbed her eyes and yawned, obviously having just woken up. “Yeah? Something wrong?”

“Not anymore there isn’t,” he said and pulled her to him for a kiss. A jolt of arousal shot to his groin and he wanted nothing more in the world than to take her up against that damned separating door.

Chloe pushed him away a little bit. “Lex, I’m really, really tired. Can’t we do this later? You don’t want me passing out while we’re having sex, do you?” She smiled apologetically.

His semi-erection deflated, leaving him feeling achy. He sighed. “No,” he agreed. “And the doctor said you should be getting your rest.”

“I knew you’d understand. Night.”

“Night,” he grumbled and Chloe shut the door again.

He was about to trudge off to his bed alone when something bothered him. He turned around and opened the door. Chloe was sprawled across her bed and already sound asleep again. He left the door open and returned to his bed. He considered sleeping in her bed, but decided he’d already tortured himself enough for one night.

* * * * *

Chloe got a call from Aidan a few days later. They went out for coffee again. He made good on his deal and told her about himself. He was only a couple years older than her, but seemed far older. He knew something about everything and had already traveled all around the world.

Weeks turned into months, and she and Aidan kept meeting and chatting. The more she got to know him, though, the more he started to grate on her nerves. She began to realize that he could be just as bossy and assuming as Lex. The more time she spent with Aidan the more she realized that Lex wasn’t so bad. Aidan had a definite holier-than-thou streak and a wicked temper when worked up. And nothing was more annoying than a rich little snob throwing a tantrum. At least Lex knew when to back off from an argument and to concede that he could be wrong. Aidan would decide something and it would become so in his mind.

For instance, lately he kept saying things like, “Why don’t you just leave your husband then?”, “Kids love me”, and “If you were my wife then...” Aidan wasn’t the most subtle guy in the world. She tried telling him that she just wanted to be friends, but he would look hurt for a moment and then just pretend like she’d never said anything.

Her relationship with Lex was still strained. Whenever she saw him he seemed more and more tense and irritable. And that was just when she saw him. He seemed to be working all the time. When he was actually home he acted like a caged animal, always pacing his study with a decanter in his hand and muttering to himself. He looked terrible and wouldn’t confide in her.

In fact, he barely looked at her anymore. Her stomach had started to bulge a bit, making her look obviously pregnant, and she worried that Lex just wasn’t attracted to her anymore.

After what seemed like the millionth time of asking him, “What’s wrong?” he turned around and snapped, “My life’s gone to shit, how about yours?”

“How has it gone to shit?” she asked him, bewildered by his outburst.

“Umm, let me think…” he began snidely. “It’s you. You have made my life a living hell.”

She reared back in shock and hurt. “What have I done?”

He laughed bitterly. “Nothing, nothing at all. That’s the problem. I don’t remember the last time we’ve had sex. I keep waiting for you to come to my bed, like I came to yours that night. Remember that night? You told me ‘later’. Well, when the hell is later? Is later another word for ‘never because I’m screwing around behind your back’?”

Righteous indignation, hurt, and fury clawed at her chest. “I didn’t know that I was the one who was supposed to wave the green flag. I just assumed that you didn’t want me because I’ve started to look like a blimp&#33; And furthermore, how dare you imply that I’m having an affair?&#33;”

“Well, what do you call your meetings with a certain Aidan Ventia?” he demanded.


TBC…

[sabby]

Uh oh, this is not gonna be a nice argument. I see a lot of yelling and slamming doors coming. But hey, on the upside, everybody knows what has to happen after a fight....Exactly: MAKE UP SEX&#33; So hurry on, I want an update and I want it fast&#33; Great chappy, and that Aidan whelp is annoying as hell&#33;

hugs,
Sabby

[drina]

I just know that Aidan is big trouble. Fortunately Chloe has seen his true side. Dump him, Chloe, he&#39;s just an insignifcant figure in ur life.

[Charlie]

"Righteous indignation, hurt, and fury clawed at her chest. “I didn’t know that I was the one who was supposed to wave the green flag. I just assumed that you didn’t want me because I’ve started to look like a blimp&#33; And furthermore, how dare you imply that I’m having an affair?&#33;”

“Well, what do you call your meetings with a certain Aidan Ventia?” he demanded."


Poor Lex, he&#39;s in for it now. He&#39;s about to be hit by a tornado called Chloe. Why couldn&#39;t he just keep his mouth shut?
Great chapter. Chloe is discovering that Aidan is no good.

[fighterangel]

Wow.... dum dum dummmmmm.... What she gonna say? Please update.

LA

[scifichick774]

Originally posted by sabby@Jul 31 2003, 08:14 AM
Uh oh, this is not gonna be a nice argument. I see a lot of yelling and slamming doors coming. But hey, on the upside, everybody knows what has to happen after a fight....Exactly: MAKE UP SEX&#33;
Gotta second you on that one Sabby. Looking forward to more.

[Blaire023]

well well well, i like me a jealous lex, but wooooh, that&#39;s a bit much.

go ahead, you know you want to update right now.

Or now.

How about now?

no?

*grumbles* FINE&#33; *stomps off*

~B

and i loved that chapter&#33;

[kmdaugherty2821]

:yay: Let me at him... not lex that is.... aidan... well anyways thank you for updating... can&#39;t wait to hear how chloe is going to react to this especially since she is pregnant&#33; :yay:

[hfce]

Aidan needs to die :die: Chloe wake up and smell the coffee that guys is ruining your marriage. Lex tell her how you feel idiot.


Hope :tease:

[marrycherry]

Originally posted by hurlingturtles@Jul 31 2003, 08:51 AM
Well, when the hell is later? Is later another word for ‘never because I’m screwing around behind your back’?”


:chlexsign1: oh my god lex&#33;&#33;&#33; you are a moron....
of course Chloe it&#39;s no very bright right now, why aidan is interested so much in her???

great chapter ....

[dsapiro]

Stupid people just talk to eachother already.

[Susan S]

I feel so sorry for both Chloe and Lex. Poor Chloe has to feel so alone in so many ways since she and Lex aren&#39;t talking. Don&#39;t like Aidan, but I can see why she is talking to him. Can&#39;t believe Lex was dumb enough to just spit out his accusation like that. I mean, he is having her followed so he knows she isn&#39;t sleeping with the guy. I can&#39;t wait to see how Chloe reacts to that--it&#39;s one thing to have her trailed by body guards, but to admit they are spying on her?&#33; Can&#39;t wait for the fireworks to follow.


Susan S

[Tandy]

Glad that everything&#39;s coming out in the open&#33; Lex is going to have to explain why he&#39;s having Chloe followed&#33;
Great chapter&#33;

Tandy :wub:

[bluemoongirl23]

Oh, Lex, you idiot, *that* certainly isn&#39;t going to get you into her pants. That comment will get you slapped. Can&#39;t wait to see thier arguement. And, Aidan&#39;s a moron, I know, it goes without saying, yet I just had to say it.

Blue

[hurlingturtles]

*I know, I know. This chapter is too short, but it&#39;s so angsty even I can only take so much of it. Thought I&#39;d warn you. You guys are going to be so pissed at me for what happens. Sorry, I&#39;m evil. :devil: Don&#39;t worry, there&#39;ll be some make up sex, but just not yet.*


<Chapter Twenty-Two>

She gasped. “You know about Aidan?”

A pain stabbed through his chest at her reaction. “Yes,” he bit out.

“How did you find out?” She paused. “You had me followed, didn’t you? Didn’t you?&#33; I knew it&#33; I knew it&#33;&#33;”

He lifted his chin. “And what if I did? I’m glad I did. I would have never found out, otherwise.”

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it was important enough. And I’m disgusted how you can’t trust me at all. I’d never have you followed.”

“Of course not, because you don’t care enough to.” As soon as he said the words he desperately wanted to take them back.

She gaped at him. “Hold on. You’re saying that you had me followed because you care about me?”

He gazed at the toes of his shoes. “Yes.” With his admission he felt suddenly far too exposed and vulnerable. Goddammit, he’d wanted to wait until their relationship was on steadier ground before he confessed his feelings. “It started out because I wanted to protest you from any psycho enemies of mine. Then I simply wanted to know what you did while I worked. Finally, I wanted to make sure you didn’t go home with Aidan.”

A pink flush spread across her cheekbones and she stood, frozen in place. “Is this my cue to throw my arms around you in gratitude? Am I supposed to be flattered? ‘Lex Luthor cares so much about me that he’s afraid I’m fucking someone else’&#33; Awww, how touching.” Anger churned in her, hot and uncontrollable. She stared blindly at the oriental rug on the floor of Lex’s study and struggled to calm down.

The silence in the study was unbearable. Finally, Lex asked, “So, you haven’t gone home with him at all?” He just needed the assurance. He needed to hear Chloe say it.

In a blind rage she reached out and grabbed the nearest thing, which turned out to be a vase. She hurled it at Lex, who dodged it. It smashed behind him. Her chest was heaving with rage. “No, goddammit, but maybe I should&#33;&#33;&#33; What a waste it was to have me followed only to find out it was for nothing. I should have, then at least you&#39;d have gotten your money&#39;s worth&#33;&#33;&#33;” She whirled around and stormed out of the study.

“Chloe&#33;” Lex called after her.

She bound up the stairs, which was pretty hard to do with her larger belly. She flew into her room and locked both of the doors. She dug through her closet and pulled out her suitcase. A moment later she heard Lex pounding on the door, yelling at her to open it and then trying to reason with her. Chloe turned on her radio and blasted it, drowning out his voice. Then she went back to packing her suitcase.

When she finished packing and opened her door, she found Lex on his knees with a screw driver, obviously in the process of removing the door handle.

He scrambled to his feet. “Chloe&#33;” He looked relieved; assuming that she’d calmed down and saw reason. He looked down, noticing her suitcase. His heart stopped beating for a moment. “Where are you going?” he demanded as she swept past him and walked downstairs.

She left the condo and threw her suitcase in the trunk of her car. “I need to go away, Lex. A little space would do us good.”

“Wait&#33;” He grabbed the car door as she opened it. “You can’t go&#33; We have a deal.”

“I’m not divorcing you, Lex. At least not yet,” she added darkly. “This is a separation. If you really cared about me, you’d trust me. You’d trust me not to cheat on you and you’d trust me to be able to take care of myself and our baby. Until you do, I can’t stand living with you anymore.” Tears welled in her eyes.

“You can’t leave me, you can’t. I love you, Chloe. You can’t leave me.” He felt like he was watching everything happen on TV to another person.

“Maybe you do love me, in your own way,” she said sadly. “But I need an equal partner that trusts me to make the right decisions, and you can’t be that.” She forced the door open and climbed inside. She started the car and unrolled her windows. “I just want to let you know that I love you, Lex, and that I wish things had turned out differently between us.”

And with that she left. She left the condo and their life together. Lex watched her car disappear from sight, feeling utterly hollow. After several moments he returned to his bedroom and sat on the bed. He stared at the door separating their room, trying to overcome the searing agony that clogged his throat. He swallowed convulsively over the painful lump in his throat, but that only caused his vision to fog over with tears. The door blurred.

His cell phone rang and he automatically answered it. “Lex,” he managed to choke out.

“Your wife has left the premises and if currently traveling down Main Street,” said the man hired to follow her.

“Don’t let her out of your sight for a minute and report back to me on her actions and whereabouts every hour on the dot until I tell you otherwise,” he ordered. Feeling like he had regained some amount of control, he calmed down a bit. She wasn’t gone from his life, he told himself.

* * * * *

Chloe drove around aimlessly for a while, debating what to do next. She refused to go home to her dad. All her friends lived on campus, so she couldn’t stay with them. She couldn’t stay in a hotel. Who knew how long she’d be there. Maybe weeks, maybe months.

Finally, faced with little better alternative, she pulled out her cell phone and called Aidan Ventia.

TBC…

[Brittany]

:devil: Chloe is so mean to Lex, she&#39;s so inconsiderate of his feelings, of course lex isn&#39;t gonna open up b/c she&#39;s been awful to him ever since she got pregnant. And now she&#39;s gonna run to that Aidan jerk, I say Lex has plenty of reasons to be suspiscious. You better fix this fast , I&#39;m started to get pissed w/Chloe&#39;s stupid behavior, I&#39;m sure you could have figured that out from all my ranting, but I think I&#39;m done for the time being&#33; Please make chloe come to her senses in the next chapter. Great writing by the way&#33;

[sabby]

Oh damn, that was bad. And going to Aidan? Bad move, bad, bad move *shakes head* not a good thing, nope. Anyway, yes you are right, this chapter was definitely too short, and I want more&#33; And now&#33; I want to see what happens when Chloe finds out she&#39;s still being followed and I hope she&#39;ll realize that running away doesn&#39;t make things any better in this case.

hugs,
Sabby

[Blaire023]

Okay, I understand that Lex shouldn&#39;t have had her followed and jumped to conclusions, but why is Chloe being a bitch? I don&#39;t like it. Not saying it&#39;s not justified, well really it isn&#39;t but I can see *why* she&#39;d do those things.

The Aidan thing...please don&#39;t make her involved with him. Like you stated earlier all he&#39;s going to do is try to convince her that she should get a divorce.

I feel so bad for lex and the whole pleading thing. *sniffles*

Poor Lex.

~B

[scifichick774]

GAH&#33;

*deep breath*

Okay, I actually understand Chloe&#39;s outburst at the house (apartment, whatever). First of all, she&#39;s pregnant - so her hormones are in overdrive. But also, she really hasn&#39;t seen that much of Lex because he&#39;s been so busy with work and it doesn&#39;t sound like either one of them has been making an effort to remedy that. So, finding out that he&#39;s been having her followed just set her off.

But Aidan? Come on, Chloe. He&#39;s more controlling than Lex&#33; What the hell is she thinking?

[asharnanae]

Ugh&#33;&#33; chloe, stop being a moron&#33;&#33; :hammer: yes lex can be an idiot, but adain&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; YUCK&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :tease:

[hfce]

UGHHHHH WHAT is that Bitch doing? :evil: :hammer: :mad: she is just idiot dumb girl if she thinks that jackass is her savior. Dumd stupid girl.


Hope

[Charlie]

No, No, No. How stupid can a man get. Lex, Lex, Lex, you just made the biggest mistake of your life. :hammer:

Chloe is equally stupid. Aidan is no good, get away from him. I need more updates, want.... more.... updates...pleeeeeeease. :worship2:

[dsapiro]

Stupid people. At least they admitted they love eachother, so when they realize how stupid they&#39;re being, they&#39;ll have that.

[Susan S]

Ok, Chloe going to Aidan is very bad and pretty stupid on her part. That said, I can understand why she does it. The only one who Aidan is the only one who she has seen as taking her side. However, Lex is also being an idiot. Both need some time to think and cool off. Hopefully they will come to their senses soon.

Susan S

[hurlingturtles]

*just wanted to warn you all that this story is very close to ending. heck, it might even end the next chapter&#33;*

<Chapter Twenty-Three>

Aidan was glad to hear from her and was all too willing to let her move into his apartment, all paid for by his parents, for a while. He had an extra room available, that he usually used as a guest room anyway.

“Feel free to come to me for anything, anything at all,” Aidan said as she unpacked her suitcase.

“Thanks a lot for letting me move in. I’ll try not to bug you too much. Having a pregnant woman hanging around is gonna cramp your style enough already.” She threw her underwear in the room’s dresser as quickly as possible.

She caught Aidan, staring at her underwear in interest. “You won’t cramp my style. I’m not into the clubbing party scene much anymore, anyway. It just got tired after a while. Feel free to bug me to you heart’s desire.” He grinned charmingly. “The sheets on the bed are clean and help yourself to anything in the kitchen. Treat my place as you would your own. And don’t worry about making a mess. I have someone come in and pick up the place every Tuesday.”

“Nice,” she said, amusedly.

He nodded. “Yup. I’m a pig. I’m lucky it’s only Thursday and not Monday, or else you’d take one look at my place and move in with someone else.”

Though who else she had no idea, she thought.

It was odd being so far away from Lex, she realized as she tried to fall asleep that night. She missed him already, she realized miserably. Being in love sucked, she thought and smiled bitterly in her dark room. In the wee hours of the morning she managed to fall asleep.

Time crawled by. She and Aidan got along fine. Everything she did was all right with him. At first she loved how he seemed to cater to her every whim, but after a while she just wanted to yell at him. She yearned for a guy who took charge once in a while, someone more like Lex. Someone exactly like Lex.

A couple months passed and her stomach was bulging out so much she finally broke down and got some maternity clothes. She had no idea why it got so huge when it seemed like she barely ate anything since her move. Food seemed to have lost its appeal.

The funny thing was that, contrary to what she expected, the bigger she got the bigger Aidan’s crush on her seemed to get. She’d been living with him for nearly a month when he started to talk about the future as if she’d be a part of it. He even included the baby in it. The way he spoke the three of them were already a little family. His talk was kind of cute and charming at first, but then that too started to grate on her nerves.

One night, she woke to the sound of her door opening. A figure slipped into the room and her heart started to hammer in her ears. Her first thought was that an intruder was in the apartment. The person tip-toed to her bed and slipped beneath the covers. An arm wrapped around her waist, bringing her close to the other person’s body.

That was when she totally flipped out and brought her elbow back and bashed the person in the face. “Ow, goddamit&#33;” he swore and let her go.

Chloe rolled out of bed and turned on the light. “Aidan&#33;”

He was pinching his nose, which had begun to bleed copiously, and looked extremely disgruntled. “Yeah?” he said, sulkily.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

“What do you think?” he returned, waspishly.

“But-but-“ she sputtered. “But I’m married&#33;”

“But for how much longer?” he shot back. Observing that she was about to erupt in an unholy rage he rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. You have to know the way I feel about you, though. I knew I loved you from the first moment I saw you. I couldn’t let a little thing like you already being spoken for stand in the way of love, now could I?” He sat up in bed and she noticed that he was only wearing a pair of boxers.

“You don’t love me, it’s just a crush,” she told him.

His face screwed up into a mask of bitter anger. “Don’t tell me what I feel. How do you know what I feel isn’t love?”

“Because I love Lex. And it’s the real kind. The kind that I know will never die. He’s always with me. The tiniest thing reminds me of him and how much I love him. There isn’t one thing about him that I love, either. It’s everything. You don’t love me, you love to be needed. I needed someone to listen to me, someone to sympathize with and you love that I needed you- still need you, to some degree. If I was perfectly happy then you wouldn’t think that you love me.”

“That has to be the most insulting thing that anyone has ever said to me, that you’d presume some thing like that.” His voice was cold now.

She felt a pang of guilt and sighed in frustration. “I think that I need to move out. Then you’ll see what I’m talking about.”

He looked alarmed. “You can’t&#33; Where will you go?”

“I’m going to go stay in a hotel. I should have done that to begin with,” she admitted to herself. She hadn’t wanted to because then she’d be alone. To be honest, she still didn’t want to. A yawn forced its way up her throat. “Now go to bed. We’ll finish this conversation in the morning.”

Aidan got up to leave. He paused in the doorway and looked back at her. The sadness in his eyes broke her heart. “You know, I’d have been a great father.”

“You still will be, one day,” she said quickly.

He nodded and left. Chloe sank back on her bed, barely believing that what had just happened hadn’t been a dream. She fell back asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * * * *

Lex woke from a fitful sleep plagued by visions of him running after Chloe, who never seemed to get any closer. He kept chasing her, only to never gain any ground. His room was pitch-black. He sat up in bed, his gaze immediately darting to the doorway between his room and hers. He’d removed the door just a few days ago. When he’d finally given up having her followed.

Telling his man to stop tailing her had been one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do. Immediately following his order he went and drank himself into a stupor. Some rational part of him knew that because of the baby, they would always be linked. However, not having her followed anymore felt like there wasn’t any chance of reconciliation between them. He felt like Chloe was lost from him forever. Once this sank in he removed the door separating their rooms and had it chopped into mulch. Destroying it hadn’t felt as good as he anticipated.

He could no longer function at work anymore so he told everyone that he was taking a little vacation. He almost regretted that, because he had less to distract him now. At least when he’d been in a jealous rage before Chloe had moved out he had work to preoccupy himself. Now he had nothing. He mostly just drank and slept. When he was somber he tended to work out until he felt like he was going to collapse.

Jealousy still writhed in him, making him feel almost physically ill at times. He knew she was staying with Aidan Ventia. He hadn’t installed hidden mics and cameras in his apartment, but it was all he could do to resist doing it.

He still read the books he’d bought about the pregnancy, but he had no one to describe all the things he was learning to. Sometimes he pictured Chloe was still here and he imagined that he was telling her exactly what their baby was doing right now. She always rolled her eyes in his imagination, but he never minded. That was just Chloe being his Chloe.

After he finished reading about the 6th month, that was when he realized that she’d been gone for two months. His hands had started to shake as the terrible thought struck him, what if they never got back together? That was when he’d stopped having her followed. If she wanted him to trust her then that was what he would do, he decided. She could make it on her own, without having him monitor her every move for a mistake.

As the 7th month came around Lex got a phone call that affected him more than any phone call had ever affected him.

“Lex Luthor?”

Lex didn’t recognize the voice. “Yes?” he said warily.

“I’m calling from St. Christine’s Hospital. Your wife is in the hospital.”

TBC….

[sabby]

UH OH&#33; No, no no no no no *shakes head adamantly* No you are not doing what I think you are doing are you? I mean that&#39;d just be mean and evil and all kinds of no good, now get your butt back here and post more cuz I am starting to bite my nails over here and that isn&#39;t a good thing either so UPDATE&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

hugs,
Sabby

[dsapiro]

Hospital, thats not good. And what do you mean only like one more chapter? That worries me. Ahh, update soon&#33;

[asharnanae]

:ohmy: what happend to chloe&#33;&#33; if adian hurt hur I&#39;ll kill him&#33;&#33; and why is she still being an idiot after she relised that she needs to be with lex, stupid stubboun chloe&#33;&#33;

[Blaire023]

i...uhhhhhhh

everything&#39;ll be okay, right?

it better be...cuz i said so.

this is sooooo good.

~B

[kmdaugherty2821]

:yay: AH&#33; you can&#39;t stop there... well technically you can but don&#39;t stop&#33;&#33; Come back&#33; Thanks for updating but dying to read things about the hospital&#33; =) :yay:

[BansheeReader]

Ok, so this story is way cool, but that cliffhanger- SO NOT COOL. Please, please, UPDATE SOON&#33; Loving this fic&#33; I seriously can&#39;t wait for more.

[bluemoongirl23]

*scrolls down for next chapter* You&#39;re kidding right? RIGHT&#33; You stopped there. And she best be in the hospital giving blood or handing out fluffy bunnies to the infirm....

Blue

[Tandy]

:ohmy: Poor Chloe&#33;

I love this fic&#33; More soon please&#33; Please&#33;

Tandy

[hfce]

Nooooooooooo&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; The baby is fine right right???? :crygreen:

Hope

[Calliope]

Clearly, Chloe&#39;s just having Braxton-Hicks contractions. Or early labor pains. Or something that&#39;s not sad. Perhaps she has a bad cold and overreacted. :huh: Yep, that&#39;s it. Nothing bad at all. :huh:

[drina]

Can&#39;t believe how irrational Chloe is..I guess it must be hormones...she should never have gone to Aidan in the first place.

[Brittany]

:crygreen: Your making me so mad, I about cried reading that , how could you make her be gone for 2 months&#33;?&#33; This better start turning around soon and stop being so angsty or I might stop reading this. Please can&#39;t you start writing happy stuff again like the beginning? I hate reading heartwrenching stuff, especially Chlex. Despite the saddness I really do love this fic & the writing is excellent. Can&#39;t wait for the next ( HAPPY ) update&#33;

[scifichick774]

NOOOOOOOO&#33; You can&#39;t just leave it there&#33; What&#39;s the matter with you?&#33; Come back here and update right now&#33; RIGHT NOW&#33; I mean it. I&#39;m not above blackmail.

[fighterangel]

You can&#39;t just stop there. What happened.. why is she in the hospital...Ahhh Update PLEASE&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

[Queen Of Tact]

Oh no no no no no you get your little butt back here and post another ch... You can&#39;t just stop it here, i need more, i crave more....


CC

[hurlingturtles]

*Warning&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;- ridicuously mushy *


<Chapter Twenty-Four>

The hospital doors opened with a little swish and Lex stormed up to the front desk with his heart hammering in his chest. “Chloe Sullivan,” he snapped. “I’m her husband. Where is she?”

The lady nodded and quickly typed on her computer. “Room 352, go in the elevator to the third floor and turn left. Dr. Callagan is in there right now.”

Lex left before she finished talking and dove into the elevator she had motioned towards. As soon as the elevator reached the third floor Lex speed sprinted down the hall, dodging orderlies, until he found Chloe’s room. He burst into the room, his breathing slightly ragged.

Chloe, who was laying down on the bed and looking far too pale, and the doctor standing next to the bed started at his entrance. “Lex&#33;” Chloe said in surprise.

“What happened?” he demanded, trying not to glare at the doctor as if it were his fault.

“And who might you be?” the doctor asked stiffly.

“Her goddamn husband, now what the hell happened?” he repeated himself, feeling his temper slipping.

“There has been a complication with the pregnancy,” the doctor said.

Any remaining color in Lex’s face washed out at those words. “Is the baby all right?” He could barely choke out the words.

The doctor hesitated. “Well, the long and short of it is that you two have an important decision to make. That is what Chloe and I were discussing when you came in. She is reaching a point where it has become highly dangerous to continue with her pregnancy. If she decides to carry the baby to full term the birthing process could be extremely dangerous, she might even die. However, things could work out fine. It&#39;s hard to predict at this point. You must decide, and soon or else it will be too late, if you want to continue with the pregnancy and risk her heath, or even life, or if you want to abort the fetus.” He glanced at them both. “I’ll leave you two now. You have a lot to discuss. I’ll be back shortly.” He left.

Lex sat down in a chair next to the bed. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.

“Yes. I had sharp pains so I called 911, but I’m fine now. Just mostly scared and worried,” she admitted.

Lex wanted to pull her in his arms, but he settled for taking her hand in his. He hesitated, not wanting to bring up the topic that was both weighing on them. “Why didn’t Aidan just take you?”

Her smile was bitter. “You knew I was staying with him. Why am I not surprised?”

He stiffened a little. “I admit to having you followed for a while. But I stopped because you wanted me to. I decided to try and trust you. It’s hard for me to trust, but I decided to try for you.”

Chloe fell silent and looked down at her hands. When she looked up tears were in her eyes. “Thank you, Lex. I appreciate it.”

He took a deep breath and decided to get right down to it. “So, about the baby…”

She tensed visibly.

“What do you want to do?”

She looked at him in surprise. “Your letting me decide what to do?”

He nodded slowly. “Yes. I trust you to make the right decision, whatever that may be.” Losing the baby would break his heart, but he could absolutely not stand the thought of Chloe dying. If he had to make the decision for her then he&#39;d choose to abort the baby, something he&#39;d thought he&#39;d never do. She couldn’t die, just couldn’t.

She put her hands possessively on her bulging stomach and then looked up at him, her face hard with stubbornness. “I’m not giving up the baby.” She looked at him, as if challenging him to contradict her.

He sucked in a deep breath, his heart sinking in his chest. “Even if it could mean you’d die?” he couldn’t resist asking.

“Yes.”

He looked away, swamped with all sorts of emotions he couldn’t even begin to sort through. His chest ached, as if his heart was getting broken all over again. “Fine,” he said finally.

“Fine? You’re really letting me do this? You’re not going to try and stop me? I mean, this baby has turned our life upside down. Without the baby, we&#39;d never have to see each other again. Your life could go back to the way it was, go back to normal, without him or her or me.” She rubbed her belly absently.

“No, my life couldn’t go back to the way it was,” he said sharply. “I could never pretend like this never happened, like the baby never existed, like I didn&#39;t fall in love with the idea of becoming a father. I couldn&#39;t act like I don’t lie awake at night wondering what you’ve done that day or what you’re wearing to bed, like I don’t ache for you every moment you’re not with me. I could never convince myself that I don’t love you. I don’t even remember when it happened, when I realized that I’ve loved you all along. But I do know that loving you has become normal for me. I have no other normal to go back to- this is it.”

“Oh, Lex,” Chloe whispered brokenly.

“I only have one favor to ask from you if you’re going to keep the baby.”

“What?”

“Come back to me. Come and live with me until the baby is born. That way, in case something does happen, in case-“ He stopped. The wretched emotion churning in him forced his throat to close up for a moment. “I just want to spend as much time with you as possible, in case you don’t make it.”

“Okay, I will,” she agreed.

He released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “You will?”

“Yes. I will. If I don’t make it, I’d like to spend my last days with you. I love you, too, you know.” She smiled weakly.

They talked for a while, catching up on all that had happened since they’d last seen each other. Lex confessed that he’d taken down the door. Chloe told Lex that she’d been living in a hotel the past couple of weeks after her falling out with Aidan.

“I never loved him, never,” she told him. “He just made me feel better for a while. He hung on my every word, trusted and believed in everything I said. Oh, he could be an annoying little twit, but I was flattered by all his attention. I feel bad, though.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Because I used him to feed my ego, while part of me knew he was in love with me.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Lex told her. “I’m the reason you needed someone to make you feel better about yourself. I treated you horribly, completely bullying you into doing what I wanted. I was such an asshole. You were trapped in a cage and Aidan had the keys to open the door.”

“That’s it exactly&#33;”

Lex changed the subject. He still didn’t like thinking about Aidan. A part of him still ached when he remembered losing her and that ache reminded him that he might lose her again. After a little while the doctor returned and they told them their decision. The doctor told them to do everything they’d been doing before, to just treat the pregnancy as if it were normal. Have her take her vitamins, make sure to get some exercise and lots of sleep. Sex was okay, limit coffee intake, etc. Chloe could go home the next day.

Lex stayed with Chloe the entire day, refusing to leave her that night and sleeping in the chair near her bed. He took her back to his condo the next afternoon.

TBC….


*I know, kinda a weird place to end, but, oh well. Okay, the next chapter is more than likely the last.*

[Brittany]

:biggrin: Yay&#33; So glad you updated&#33; It&#39;s sad that the baby could kill her but I&#39;m so happy Chlex are back together&#33; Please update this really soon&#33; :chlexsign2:

[petriebird18]

please tell me Chloe doesn&#39;t die, or the baby&#33; This is NOT in the angst section, PLEASE DON&#39;T DO THIS TO ME&#33; :crygreen:
But they&#39;re together again&#33; :biggrin:
Now go update, i need more&#33; (hi, i&#39;m Deidre and i&#39;m a chlex addict ;) )
~Deidre~
:chlexsign3:

[hfce]

Oh that was so sweet. She is not going to die right? right?



Hope :huh:

[dsapiro]

This is not the angst section so she can&#39;t die, damn it. I want a happy ending. Update soon&#33;

[Tandy]

:crygreen: Oh, poor Chloe&#33; :crygreen: I want a happy ending&#33; Great update&#33; More soon please&#33;

Tandy

[bluemoongirl23]

*checks section that the story is archived in* Ok, not angst. That means happy ending. Do you hear that you turtle thrower you? Happy ending.

Blue

[ladymichelle]

:unsure:
Please, please, please write a happy ending&#33;
This is another great example why one shouldn&#39;t go on vacation without her computer-- I won&#39;t be making the same mistake twice&#33;
Truly wonderful story, the characterization is well done and the settings of the story are original. My only question is where is Lionel in all of this?

[sabby]

Ok now you won&#39;t have her or the baby die, right? Cuz after all this is NOT in the Angst forum and that would just be mean beyond belief and you can&#39;t do that&#33; Great chappy chica, and please don&#39;t make us wait long for the next one. And are you sure the next will be the last? Cuz I know how this goes *g*

hugs,
Sabby

[scifichick774]

Yay&#33; They&#39;re back together. But boo to the baby and Chloe being in danger. Make everything better soon please.

[fighterangel]

awwww this is just so sweet, but she&#39;s not going to die right, cause this isn&#39;t angst. Lex is just being soo cute.
Update soon

LA

[peepsRfun2eat]

i loved this last chapter but please *on knees* do not kill Chloe else i will cry or i will do Lana&#39;s &#39;puppy who really wants a piece of beef jerky&#39; eyes to make you submit to my will.
Niether is a pretty sight.
Love the story please update.
:coffee:


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"God dam it Jim&#33; You are destructive to the expanding of the mind&#33;"
Said after a "friendly game" of Trival Pursuit.

[Gina41283]

oh please oh please oh please update&#33;&#33;&#33; I wanna know what happens&#33;

[hfce]

Update I want an update please Please will you update...



Hope :biggrin: ;)

[Béatrice]

Please an UPDATE. I can&#39;t wait&#33; :yay2: :yay2:

[seraphic]

:chlexsign4: nononono&#33;&#33; please don&#39;t let chloe or the baby die&#33; ahhh.. update please, pretty please.. haha. you&#39;ve got me hooked :chlexsign1:

cher_24747@hotmail.com

:wub: cher - chlex addict&#33; :lol:

[Lady Candy]

Its not possible...where is the sequel? I&#39;m going to kill someone if I don&#39;t read more ;)

[Gemkat5]

UHM... I just finished reading this from first to last post and I can&#39;t find the last chapter&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :crygreen: I need to know what happens&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

Where&#39;s the last chapter?&#33;?&#33;?&#33; I need an Update&#33;&#33; PLEEEZE&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay:

~Kat~

[happy bunny]

Loved this story, but hello?? :wave: Where&#39;s the end?&#33; It&#39;s all kinds of cruel for you to just leave it there. :nono: And for so long, too. So what do you say you update soon?

Like now.

[autumngold]

What a great story, but so sad&#33; Chloe wasted so much time away from Lex&#33; Please let Chloe and the baby be ok, no angst&#33;&#33; ;) :biggrin: I just love happy, fluffy endings&#33; Please&#33;&#33; :chlexsign1:

[hurlingturtles]

*sorry for being soooooooo incredibly slow at updating. my life has been kinda crazy lately. sorry the last chapter can&#39;t be longer, it was hard enough bringing myself to write this one. oh, there&#39;s a time jump. enjoy&#33;*


<Chapter Twenty-Five>

“So help me God, if you don’t get back here right this minute-“ Chloe began, her nostrils flaring with temper.

Lex smiled as Chloe began to chase after their daughter. A flash of Goofy’s black floppy ears and a blur of fiery red hair passed him.

“But Mom&#33;” Lily protested between breathless pants. “He doesn’t blink&#33; He can’t be real&#33;” She gave up on catching Goofy, who soon collapsed on a bench, and ran to her father. “Daddy, tell Mommy that I need to take off his head and prove that he’s a fake.” She looked up at Lex, her eyes seeking his support.

His heart melted as he looked down at his daughter. He could hardly believe that she was five already. She was as cute as her mother and more intelligent than either of them at her age. It had become apparent to Lex that she had also inherited his tendency to manipulate. He’d be damned if she didn’t know that when she looked up at him like that the word ‘no’ immediately vanished from his vocabulary.

He picked her up and she nestled against the crook of his neck, slipping two fingers into her mouth and sighing contentedly. “You know,” he whispered loudly to Lily, keeping an eye on Chloe. “We both know that that Goofy isn’t real, but Mommy likes to pretend that he is. So let’s just pretend that he’s real so we don’t make Mommy sad.” Chloe glared at him and he tried not to laugh.

“Okay Daddy,” Lily agreed sleepily. She passed out in his arms. It had been an exhausting, though exciting day for her. This was her first visit to Disney World.

“Very funny, Lex. Let our daughter think I’m unstable,” Chloe retorted sarcastically.

He arched an eyebrow. “I’m just going to let that remark slide. It’s just too easy.”

“Good. Then someone might still get lucky tonight.”

He shot her a look. “Don’t tease me.”

“I know you liked to be teased on occasion,” she retorted slyly.

He groaned. “We’re sharing a room with Lily, so stop getting my hopes up.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault that you insisted that Lily stay with us instead of spending the night with Kyle, like she wanted to.” Kyle was Pete and Abby’s son, and Lily’s best friend.

Lex, toting the sleeping Lily, and Chloe headed off to meet Pete, Abby and Kyle at the Haunted Mansion.

“Wow, this place brings back some memories,” Chloe commented as they strolled along the brick pathway.

“Definitely,” he agreed.

“I first began to suspect I was pregnant here. Do you remember the night she was born?” Chloe asked.

He shot her an incredulous look. “Are you kidding? I still have nightmares of that night.” He shuddered. “My heart stopped when you woke me up to tell me your water broke. She was early and I hadn’t finished hiring the nurses and midwives I planned on having follow you around during the last days of your pregnancy. All the way to the hospital I kept shaking. I was terrified that those moments were going to be our last together.”

“But they weren’t.”

“Thank God.”

“The doctor had to give you a sedative. You looked worse than me and I was the one having the baby&#33;” She took particular delight in that memory.

He rolled his eyes. “Let’s not talk about this now,” he said decisively. “We’re at Disney World. No seriousness allowed.”

She grinned. “Good point. I was just wondering-“

They were at The Haunted Mansion. Pete and Abby flagged them down and they met at the end of the line. Lily woke up to the sound of their voices and immediately wiggled for release so that she could talk to Kyle. Lex set her down. They chatted while waiting in line. Pete and Chloe had never lost touch over the years, unlike Clark and Lana, so it seemed natural to invite him and his family along on their trip.

Everyone agreed that they wanted to go on The Haunted Mansion ride. Lex and Chloe got separated from the others while they were in the circular room before the actual ride. He anxiously peered over people’s heads, trying to find the others.

“Relax,” said Chloe. “Lily is fine. I’m sure she’s still with Kyle.” Kyle was even worse of a momma’s boy than Lily was a daddy’s girl, so it was pretty much guaranteed that he was sticking close to Abby.

“I know, I know.”

A slow smile spread across Chloe’s face.

“What?” he asked.

“Remember the last time we rode this ride?”

His eyes darkened and the corner’s of his mouth tweaked up. “Again, another memory permanently seared into my brain. That one, however, I enjoy revisiting.” He paused. “What were you wondering?”

It took Chloe a minute. “Oh, I was just wondering how you’d feel about Lily having a little brother or sister.”

“What? Are you joking? After the last time? I mean, I’d love to have another kid but…” He shuddered again.

“The complications with my pregnancy were rare. It is highly unlikely that the same thing would happen again.”

“I don’t know,” he said dubiously. The walls of the room began to move and the pictures on the wall changed. The murmur of the crowd grew loudly.

“What if I told you that you didn’t have a choice?” Chloe practically shouted over the noise.

His jaw dropped open in shock. “What?&#33; You’re pregnant? Again?”

She laughed. “No, for the first time. Yes, again&#33;”

“Good God, you’re going to be the death of me,” he said dazedly, but his voice was lost as the crowd began to shuffle out of the room and get on the ride.

Chloe grabbed Lex’s hand and pulled him after her. “Come on&#33; Let’s revisit some memories&#33;”

Lex let her pull him along, his gaze glued on his beautiful wife. Oh well, some memories are worth revisiting.

The End.

[Gemkat5]

Oooh&#33;&#33;&#33; Thank you for the update&#33;&#33;&#33; I loved it&#33; :love: I am so glad that everything worked out&#33;

~Kat~

[vardaquareien]

:crygreen: it&#39;s over&#33;&#33;&#33; It was a wonderful ending though, thanx for updating this. I&#39;m glad that everything was good and I really luved the idea of them re-visiting Disneyland.....mmmm brings back the memories... :drool:

[scifichick774]

Yay&#33; You updated&#33; Wonderful epilogue. *happy sigh* I&#39;m going to miss this story.

[hfce]

Oh you update :clap: yes I am so happy it had a happy ending and that Chloe will get her way and have another baby. Lilly is so cute&#33; :wub:


Hope :chlexsign2:

[eurydices falling]

Awwww. That was just too precious. I enjoyed this story and am so glad that you updated eventhough it was to post the end. Lily is adorable and I can just imagine Daddy Lex with 2 junior Luthors in tow ready to take over the world.

[happy bunny]

I give that one big happy AWWWW. :wub: That was so adorable and the perfect way to end it. Thanks so much for finishing this up. This story is awesome and is defintely one of my favorites.

[JadeKitten]

Excellent&#33; :chlexsign3: Finally finished, but totally worth the wait.

~Crystal

[Blaire023]

eeep, it was just so....awwwwwwwwwwwwww.

loved every last word&#33;

~B

[Brittany]

:wub: Loved it&#33;&#33; Lex was so sweet with Lily and I&#39;m glad there wasn&#39;t anymore angst&#33; Thanks for the long awaited happy ending, it was great&#33; :worship2:

[autumngold]

Thank you for the happy, fluffy ending&#33;&#33; I loved your story&#33;&#33; :biggrin: Please write more Chlex soon&#33;&#33; :wub: :chlexsign1: :wub:

[seraphic]

:blinkkiss: oh that was just so sweet. write more stories yeah. but please do not let us wait too long. haha :wub:

-cher-

[sabby]

Beautiful. Loved the end. And it was worth bugging you about it everytime for the last...what was it 3 weeks, 4? *sighs* gotta love a happy ending. Now on you go, updating on the run. *returns to bugging you*

hugs,
Sabby

[slayer44]

That is truly a fairytale ending :D

[KawaiiRyu]

*giggle* This story was very good&#33; I loved the way you dealty with Chloe&#39;s reactions to Lex in his &#39;Commander&#39; mode. Very good charactor portrayal.

[Sab_Luthor]

awwwww that was just so nice
i loved it :wub: :wub:

[gina]

Aww, I love happy endings&#33; Fabulous story&#33; :)

[starmoon]

perfect!!! i loved this story it was sexy and interesting the whole time.

[summer_enchanted]

Aw really sweet. I love fics where they have a fluffy ending :love2:

[gutter_buddy3]

That fic was so cute! the end made my heart melt, and that is something thati needed right now :D Lex was pissing me off, but like the only Lex Luthor quickley redeemed himself. good work..loved it! write another one soon!

[seraphic]

I keep re-reading this fic and I never get tired of it. I particularly loved the flufly ending. Lex makes such a sweet dad :melt:

[hannagreen20]

I wanted to tell you what an amazing story this was. I LOVE Chloe/Lex stories where they get married and/or get pregnant. You did a really good job.
Jo

[lj715]

Great story!

[starmoon]

that was just so sweet and cute i loved the ending.

[kimmie]

I really enjoyed this fic, I loved Lex being an over bearing expectant dad and I loved that they finally admitted that they loved each other...

Kimmie

[micah_luther]

I loved that story!! How could Aiden misconstrue things to that degree. What an idiot!! I didn't like him. I felt so bad for Lex!! He was an idiot at times, though, so was Chloe. But I loved how it ended up and I'm glad that it's a happy ending.

[Goldielocks]

omg i laughed and cried while reading this amazing story...awesome job

[itsjustXchar]

one word...awww....

[teb85]

Great fic ! loved the fluffy ending and Lex being the over protective expectant father was very sweet. loved it!!

[pipersmum]

Loved it especially the sex in the car trust Clark and Lana to be to involved with each other to notice classic!! A lovely sweet ending aaawwww Lex being the doting dad.

[~*~Tasha~*~]

Beautiful. Sad, happy, romantic, snarky ... all elements rolled into one. Inearly cried when she left at the one point. Their words to each other while she was in the hospital touched my heart. That no matter what, they wanted to be together. So beautiful.

[westwingwolf]

Very strange coincidence that I found this fic just days after coming back from my own trip to Disney World. Where was my personal Lex when I rode through the Haunted Mansion? Thank you so much for giving this a happy ending. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to Chloe. I'd probably be in a funk for days. No worries now because all is good, Yay!

[missgwen]

I still love this fic so much! It just gets more awesome everytime I read it!

[lkedino]

i really enjoy this story

[kitten]

Hi hurlingturtles,

I can honestly say I'd never pictured Lex on vacation before I read your story. Disneyworld is an odd place to think of him, but if Chloe dragged him there he'd go gladly. Thank you for showing them in a solid, committed relationship before having Chloe get pregnant. She's a smart character and deserves to be treated as such.

[shuxx]

really good!

[Jennyt82]

I have my fingers crossed for a happy ending, their time together has been much too short!

[jml]

I loved this fic!

[stampiej]

Very sweet ending.
I have to admit when you said angst and I didn't read anything angsty, I went to the final chapter to see if she was still alive :)

[malugargula]

Great fic!!! Lovely ending

[Ami Rose]

Amazingly written and loved it!

[HotCrossedBunny]

That was fantastic, sweet funny and sad at times. Brilliant jobs.