Subject - Chapter 37
See previous parts here...
Short Summary: Clark has another talk with Lex, finally learns what had happened to Celia and Chloe makes an appearance...
Chapter 37
He had spent most of the rest of the day outside, soaking up the sun and enjoying the fresh air. Although Clark still wanted to go home, he was no longer upset about being at Lex's house.
Many of his worries now gone, he finally slept a deep restorative sleep while outside on the patio. It had been the first time he'd been able to do that without the aid of drugs since he had been at Lex's.
His parents realized that he was close to leaving, so they now preferred to sleep at home. His father still had a farm to run.
On new medicines now that didn't make him so tired, thanks to Dr. Edwards' referral to a different specialist, his dad felt better. His mom thought the fact that Clark was going to recover and the delight Jonathan felt over the fact he was going to be a grandfather had something to do with it too, but Jonathan would have disagreed if the topic had come up within his hearing. He said the improvement to his health was just another indication that things were getting back to normal and further added he'd be good as new when Clark finally came home. For his part, Clark looked forward to going home so he could help his dad get things back to where they should be.
After spending the most of next several days outside, Clark felt so much better. Aside from the lingering fatigue, which at times could be overwhelming, he was no longer in any pain.
He wanted to try out his abilities, despite Dr. Edwards' advice to use caution, because he wanted to hear Lara's heartbeat again. Dr. Edwards worried that use of Clark's powers could tire him out and cause his recovery to falter, like it had when he'd first looked at Lara.
Clark woke in the middle of the night and, with no Dr. Edwards around to lecture, he decided to try to listen to his daughter's heartbeat again. He concentrated and found Lana's heartbeat in one of the upper story bedrooms as she slept next to Lex.
Clark had to ignore Lex's nearby heartbeat, its steady rhythm still so familiar, to listen to his daughter's. Her heartbeat was so faint but steady and quick; apparently healthy. Clark smiled as he listened to her heartbeat speed up as she moved inside in her sleeping mother's womb.
His smiled broadened as he relaxed back into his pillow because the use of his powers, although tiring, now didn't hurt at all. He drifted back to sleep as he listened to the steady rhythm of his baby's heartbeat.
------
The next morning, Clark was dressed and in the middle of packing his stuff when Lex walked in.
He looked surprised. "Leaving?"
Clark frowned but didn't look up. "Yes, it's time."
"Dr. Edwards hadn't said you'd be leaving today, Clark..."
"That's because I didn't talk to him about it."
"I thought you were staying until you got better.
"I told my parents I would stay until I could walk out of here on my own. I am well enough for that...."
"I wish you'd stay until you're completely better, Clark. You still look tired..."
"I appreciate the concern and the use of your sun room, Lex, but I don't need it anymore."
"Stay anyway..."
"Why?"
"Stay here with me and Lana and your baby."
"You mean like moving-in stay here?"
Lex crossed over to Clark, his tone earnest. "Why not? You can be here when Lara is born, get to spend more time with her..."
Clark was incredulous and suspicious. "Okay, that really won't work." Clark stuffed another pair of his socks into the bag his parents brought him.
"I think it would. I can protect you here and you wouldn't have to ever leave..." Lex softly touched Clark's arm and he pulled away.
Clark was confused. "What are you offering me, Lex? A gilded cage? An ivory tower to shut myself away in? I'm no damsel in distress and I don't need protecting. Not anymore." Clark's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Or is this a chance to become your live-in piece on the side?"
Lex's face flushed and shook his head. "No, that's not it..."
"Are you trying to tell me that possibility hadn't crossed your mind?"
"I admit the thought had crossed my mind, I still desire you, but I wouldn't ask that of you... Your feelings on that issue were made quite clear back in Seattle..."
Clark blushed in shame and he pulled back from Lex. He couldn't look him in the face. "I'm sorry about that, Lex... If I'd known that was going to happen, I wouldn't have gone to Seattle. It was wrong to have wanted to do what I almost did..."
Lex was confused. "What do you mean?"
Clark replied quietly. "I'm ashamed...."
"Clark, you did nothing to be ashamed of. I'm just sorry the thought of making love to me made you feel sick..."
It was Clark's turn to be confused. "Love? That wasn't love, Lex... I got sick because of how badly I wanted to hurt you."
Lex shook his head and replied softly. "Clark, not all sex is loving and tender. You were angry at me and needed to get that out... It's understandable."
Clark was shocked. "Understandable? I wanted to watch you suffer!"
"Yes. It's understandable. You've been hurt and you want to take it out on the person who's to blame."
"Not even you deserve what I wanted to do."
Lex was perplexed. "What did you want to do?"
"I wanted to abuse you like... like..." Clark had trouble saying it, his voice dropped to a soft, husky whisper. "I wanted to hurt you the same way He had done it to me..."
"I see..."
Lex didn't say anything for a minute and Clark wanted to cover the uncomfortable silence. Lex had done something bad to him, but that would never excuse what Clark had wanted to do to Lex.
"I'm sorry, Lex... I didn't mean to scare you..."
Lex moved to stand next to Clark and his tone softened. "You think you scared me?"
"I didn't mean to, but I was so angry...."
"I wasn't scared, Clark."
"I know what scared people look like, Lex. You were scared."
"I wasn't scared. I was aroused."
Clark was horrified. "What?"
"I was aroused. I wanted you..."
"Why? I was going to... going to..." Tears stung his eyes and Clark couldn't say it, "You wouldn't have wanted me to do what I was going to do.... It would have been against your will."
"Is that what you think?" Lex's face softened. Lex's voice had become soft and silky, sexy... "No, Clark, it wouldn't have been against my will...."
Clark tried to ignore the arousal he felt as Lex again moved closer. He could feel the heat coming off of the other man's body. He replied softly, ashamed to speak the truth too loud. "I wanted to tie you up and cause you pain... How could that not have been against your will?"
"It wouldn't have been because I wouldn't have said no...."
Clark was confused and looked at Lex with his brow furrowed. "Why would you let me do that to you?"
"Because I deserve it..." Lex sighed. "You asked me once why I watched back in the lab. It wasn't just because I was getting paid or even that I enjoyed it. It was exactly because I didn't enjoy it." Lex's voice turned angry. "I hated every second of watching you suffer because of me. If I had known how it was going to be, I would have done what I did. If I could stopped it or taken your place I would have, but neither was an option. So I watched you suffer and suffered along with you because I deserved so much more to be done to me... It's why I've spent billions to do what I can to help you, to keep you safe... I know it still isn't enough."
Clark was surprised by the angry tears in Lex's eyes. He didn't know what to say so he let Lex continue. "So, if you had hurt me back in Seattle, I wouldn't have minded at all. I would have been welcomed the pain if I thought it would have made you feel better...."
He shook his head and softly replied, "It wouldn't have...."
Lex's voice warmed. "You're such a good person Clark. You feel guilty for just wanting to hurt me. You never would have killed Strickland, that's why I killed him for you...."
"It's not for us to decide who needs to die, Lex."
"It's for me to decide. He didn't deserve to draw breath after what he did to you. Killing him was the least I could do after my part in it... I wanted the pain you feel to stop."
Clark sobered. "You drugged me with kryptonite. That was painful and nearly killed me..."
"I'm sorry about using kryptonite on you, Clark. But there is no kryptonite in the house anymore, I wasn't sure how it would affect the baby or Lana and I didn't want to hurt you any more than I already had. Now, I just want to try to help you anyway I can. If you want to go back to school, take an around the world trip, you won't have to worry about the cost. I'll take care of it..."
Clark allowed a small smile. "I can fly now so I don't need you to pay for me to travel..."
Lex beamed at him and affectionately touched his shoulder. "I'd love to see you fly, but maybe you could go back to school. I'll help you no matter where you want to go. NYU? Princeton? Harvard? Cost isn't a consideration and you have the grades and the brains to go anywhere..."
He played with a roll of socks. "I'm not sure I want to go back to school..."
"Whatever you want to do, I'll help you..."
Clark shrugged. "I don't know."
Lex was insistent. "Stay and you can figure it out. Live here, safe and secure. Let me take care of you, protect you. Be here when Lara is born... Be her father here in the same house as she is. This is a big house so you won't even need to see me at all. If that's the problem, I will stay away from you if you want me to. I just want you to feel safe... Please, let me take care of you, Clark. Please, let me try and make things right as much as I can..."
"Can anything make right the wrongs that happened to me?"
"I will spend a lifetime trying if that's what it takes. Please stay..."
"I can't stay here, locked away from the world... It's a nice idea, but my dad is right. I've got abilities that can help people. I shouldn't cut myself off from the world. My birth parents didn't save me from the destruction of my home so I could hide inside an ivory tower. As seductive an idea that might be, it's not how I want to live. One of the torments of the lab for me was how isolated I was... I can't be a recluse. I have to be around people, Lex."
Clark turned back to packing... he pulled open the drawer on the bedside table and grabbed the book his mom had left there. He picked it up and underneath was the folder Lex had left there.
He put the book on top of his pile of underwear in the bag. Why his mom had brought over so much over, he had no idea.
He reached back into the drawer and slowly picked up the folder. He resisted the urge to use his x-ray vision to look at the photos inside. He didn't want to look at them with Lex in the room. It took some effort, but he placed the folder on top of the books and his underwear without looking at the photos it held. The last things to go in the bag were greeting cards, his pillow and the frame that held his adoption certificate.
Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked at the document where it sat on top of the folder that held proof of Dennis Strickland's death. His fingers traced over his name behind the glass as he spoke to Lex without looking back at him. "I never thanked you for this... You don't know how much it means to me, you don't know how much it hurt when I found out where I really came from, to learn that my adoption hadn't been real and I had lied my whole life about it without realizing..." He looked back at Lex. "I never wanted to lie to you about who I really am, Lex. I had never willingly shared my secret with anyone, not even Lana. I couldn't tell you. Do you know that now?"
"Yes, I do."
"I had thought about it a lot when I was in the lab. If I could have gone back in time and changed what had happened between us that night, I would have. I would have done it even if it wouldn't have changed a thing that happened after."
Lex stepped yet closer to Clark. "Would you have made love to me?"
"I don't know, but if you'd given me time, maybe... I was just a scared kid."
"It was only two years ago, you weren't a kid."
"It was three years ago, Lex. I was seventeen and you overwhelmed me...."
"Can you tell me why you lied?"
"I couldn't be that vulnerable to you. Not then."
"What about now?"
Clark looked down on his hand where it lay on the bag he'd been packing and shrugged. "I don't have any secrets left to hide from you, Lex."
"You have one." Lex took another step closer, so close Clark didn't have to try to listen to his heartbeat. The sound pounded in his ears and the nearness of Lex made his body thrum and strengthened an already powerful desire... Lex gently placed a hand on his and this time Clark didn't pull away. He looked at other man's eyes, which were dark with need. Lex took Clark's hand in both of his and asked softly, "Back in the lab, Kal said that you loved me, but then later you said you despised me... Which was true?"
Clark replied quietly. "Both and neither... Part of me still loves you, Lex. Some part of me always will, but I despise what you sometimes do."
Their bodies were touching, teasing Clark, as his breath quickened and his heartbeat sped up. He wanted Lex. He wanted to feel his skin again, he wanted to kiss him again to see if his mouth was as delicious as it had been three years before... His mouth opened, moist and wanting, as Clark looked down at Lex's perfectly scarred lip.
Lex leaned, apparently thinking Clark's confession and vulnerability an invitation to kiss. For a moment, the briefest of moments, Clark considered allowing the kiss. He would welcome it and desired it, needed it.... However, he knew that he couldn't let his body rule in this. Kissing Lex wouldn't lead to anything good.
The younger man placed his free hand on Lex's chest, stopping him cold. Lex was surprised when he couldn't move closer.
His eyes hardened. "Are you going to lie again and try and tell me you don't want me?"
"No..."
Lex replied angrily, "I don't think you've learned anything at all, Clark, if you're still going to lie about the need I can plainly see..."
Clark calmly interrupted, "No, Lex. I meant I wasn't going to lie about it." He looked sadly into Lex's beautiful blue eyes as his fingers felt the firm muscle on Lex's chest. "My body is alive with the need..." He pulled his hand away and looked back down at his bag of clothes and folder.
Lex looked confused, "Why push me away? We can still have something..."
"You know more about me now than my parents or even I do. You've seen the worst of me, and yet you still want me. That's a pretty powerful aphrodisiac. However, I won't do it. It would hurt Lana, and I’m not sure I can ever be with another man after what happened..."
"I could make you forget Dennis Strickland..."
"You know I have a very good memory, Lex. I will never forget what he did."
"I can help you make new pleasurable memories to replace the painful ones with him. It doesn't have to be painful... I can show you how beautiful love can be between two men..."
"What about Lana? The look on your face the other day when you were talking about what a good mother she is.... I thought you loved her."
"I do love Lana, but I'm still in love with you... She knows that and would understand."
"No, I don't think she would. Maybe you could live with doing that to her, but I can't."
Clark took one last look at the adoption certificate on top of the folder and zipped closed the bag. He pulled the bag over his shoulder and looked over Lex's shoulder. Lana stood in the doorway.
She'd apparently heard everything, and her eyes brimmed with tears. She left and stopped right outside the door and spoke so softly only Clark could hear. "I know he's still in love with you, Clark... We have that in common." She sighed softly and swallowed back her tears. "Have your mom take out your old books. I'll come see you in a few days so you can read to our daughter..." Clark heard Lana's feet pad softly on the plush carpet of the castle back toward the front of the house.
He looked at Lex, who had been apparently completely unaware of Lana's presence, and walked to the door of the solarium. He put his hand on the door knob. Suddenly, Lex was there next to him and his hand covered Clark's.
"Wait, Clark... there's one more thing I need to talk to you about."
"I think we're done, my parents are waiting for me at home. My mom is going to make me my favorite breakfast..."
"Celia wants to see you. She's been in the hospital and couldn't come...."
"She's in the hospital? Why?"
Lex was about to answer when Dr. Edwards rushed in from the other room. "Lex, thank God! I've been looking all over for you..."
"What's wrong?"
Dr. Edwards looked at Clark holding his bag and blinked. "You leaving?"
Clark bristled. "You have a problem with that?"
"Uhm, no... I guess not. There's probably not much more I can do for you..." Dr. Edwards turned to Lex. "I need to get to Metropolis as quickly as possible. Can you help me?"
"Why?"
"It's Celia... her water broke. It's too early..."
"Celia's water broke?" Clark rounded on Lex, angry. "You lied? She never lost the baby?"
"I was trying to protect her and the baby... I didn't want anyone's baby to go through what you did. No one deserves that and the tests they were talking about...." Lex actually shuddered.
"What happened?"
"She did have some early contractions, which they were able to stop so didn't lose the baby, but the blood was faked... However, she hasn't been well. She's been on bed rest for more than two months. She had been the patient Dr. Edwards had to leave Wyoming to go see..."
Dr. Edwards interrupted, impatient. "She's incredibly weak and in labor more than a month early, Lex. I need to get to her as soon as possible to see what I can do to help her and the baby..."
Clark put down his bag. "I'll take you."
-----
Dr. Edwards was nervous as they stood on the patio. "I'm not sure about this..."
"I have carried people before to save them... It's perfectly safe."
"I have a thing about heights and what if you're not well enough to fly yet?"
Lex looked on from the doorway to the solarium. Lex said, trying to be helpful, "I could still call the pilot to bring the helicopter over..."
The doctor nervously pulled his coat around him and tugged at the hood. "Maybe the helicopter would be better...."
Clark looked at the doctor. "I thought you were in a hurry...." The doctor nodded nervously. Clark picked up doctor. "Just pull up the hood to protect your face. It'll be a bit windy, Dr. Edwards."
The other man blinked at the man who held him in his arms. "You're holding me the way a groom would carry his bride and you're no longer my patient, Clark. I think you can call me Steve."
Clark smiled but he replied confidently, "I'm not going to drop you, Steve." Without further warning, Clark pushed up into the air and took off toward Metropolis.
Without trying, Clark heard a gasp of awe from Lex.
Clark flew as fast as he thought Dr. Edwards, Steve, could take and tried to ignore the headache he could feel forming...
------
He had never had to carry someone so far so fast before and he still wasn't fully recovered. As they approached Metropolis, Clark's head was in agony and his body was covered in sweat.
Steve seemingly recognized the stress Clark was under. During the last part of the flight he looked up him with worried eyes and clutched the coat more tightly around himself, but kept any comments he might have had to himself.
Clark's chest heaved and his speed had slowed a considerable amount by the time they reached the hospital. They made it safely but it was a close thing.
Clark touched down heavily on the helipad on the roof and nearly dropped the doctor. He set the pale man down and then staggered toward the door. Steve looked at Clark with concern as he pulled off his jacket. "You okay, Clark?"
Clark leaned heavily against the wall as his chest heaved. "I'll be fine... Go help Celia."
The doctor looked worriedly at the door and then back to Clark. "I'm not sure where she is right now, I'll have to find out... they may have moved her into delivery. The OB had been talking about a c-section when I talked to them earlier..."
"I'll find you. Don't worry about me. Go take care of my baby..."
The doctor slipped into the door and disappeared into the hallway beyond. Clark turned his face up to the sun and rested for a minute. The sun felt good on his skin and he pulled off his jacket to let more skin feel the warm yellow, light.
Once he'd recovered enough that he felt he could walk without falling over, he pulled on his jacket and headed inside to find the mother of his child.
------
Still too tired to take the stairs, Clark decided to use the elevator. The Maternity floor was listed on the index of departments that hung just above the control panel inside the car. Clark pressed the button for the tenth floor. It seemed like an eternity to go down from the building's roof to the maternity floor.
He was reminded of the last time he'd been on an elevator back in the lab. The journey down was as nerve wracking as his previous journey up had been and seemed to take as long. When the elevator dinged and doors opened, he gratefully stepped out into the hallway and ignored the directory on the wall opposite the elevator. He concentrated and listened for Celia's heartbeat. While it wasn't as familiar as Lex's or Lana's or even his parents', it was one he would never mistake for another's...
He walked toward what turned out to be locked door. There was a sign that stated that only authorized personnel could enter. Celia was beyond the double doors, but they were locked. Clark concentrated and looked beyond the doors; almost everyone was in sterile scrubs and wore masks and latex gloves.
He found Celia lying in a bed with her head raised slightly. She looked so pale and there were dark rings under her eyes. Dr. Edwards, Steve, talked quietly with another man who sat next to her. Clark couldn't see the other man's face.
Frustrated, he briefly entertained the idea to break down the doors.... He looked up as a woman, probably a nurse, approached.
"I'm looking for Celia Casey...."
"Are you the father, Clark Kent?"
Clark blinked in surprise, "Uhm, yeah..."
She glared at him. "Dr. Edwards said you'd be right behind him.... What took you so long?" She didn't wait for an answer and pressed a code into the security panel next to the door and walked in. Clark, confused for moment, didn't realize that she had expected him to follow her. He had to use a hint of speed to make it through the doorway in time.
She led him to a room where he could hang his jacket. "They're getting ready to do a C-section, so you should probably scrub up."
She gave him paper booties to pull on over his shoes and a cap to tie on over his windblown hair. She told him to wash his hands with antiseptic soap and a scrub brush as she did the same. Another nurse helped them both into scrubs and led them down the hall to another room, where Celia was.
Clark gasped when he saw the flurry of activity around Celia. She sat with her head slightly raised on a bed. The room made Clark nervous remembering similar ones he'd been in, but she didn't appear to be in any pain.
She was pale and sweaty and looked doped up; her eyelids were heavy and her eyes glassy. Her gorgeous dark hair was lank and looked thinner than it had back at the lab. It was pulled back into a pony tail.
The man who sat by her side looked up when Clark walked in. It was Gus.
Celia followed Gus' gaze, her tired expression turned happy. "Oh, Clark... I'm so happy you're here. Gus told me how sick you'd been..."
Gus just nodded and smiled. "I'm glad to see you, big man. You're looking so much better than the last time I saw you."
Clark remembered. "I thought I had dreamed you coming..."
"You were pretty out of it, but I was there." He looked down at Celia. "I think I'll take a break, let you and Clark talk..."
Gus left, and then Clark sat down on the chair by Celia's bedside. She smiled over at him. "I'm so glad you're here. Lex told me he'd never told you that I hadn't lost the baby..."
"No, I only just found out. How long have you been here?"
"I've been on bed rest for months, but I haven't been well since I left New Mexico... Lex had me moved here so Steve could help take care of the baby. He's probably the only one who knows enough about you to be able to..."
Clark looked around at the equipment and the monitor leads running out from under the blankets that covered her swollen belly. He gave her a pained look. "I'm sorry you've had such a bad time. It's my fault, I should have been stronger..."
Celia shook her head. "This isn't because I'm pregnant with your baby, Clark. I would have had problems with any baby. My mother had similar problems with me, she nearly died when I was born..." She looked at him, her worried eyes showing her concern. "You look overwhelmed..."
"Celia... I'm not sure what to do... I only found out a few days ago my ex-girlfriend is also having my baby, and only a half hour ago I learned about you... I flew here as fast as I could..."
"Steve told me you can really fly instead of just floating... I bet it feels awesome." Her face held a look of awe that cut through the exhaustion.
Clark frowned and added softly, "I wish I could do something to help you."
"Clark, you don't have to do anything...."
He shook his head. "No, when the baby's born, I want to do what I can to help." A thought struck Clark. "You can come back to Smallville and stay with me and my parents. They'd welcome you and the baby.... I can't provide much now, but I want to do what I can to make a home for you and the baby..."
"Clark, that's not necessary... My parents left me some money."
"It is necessary, and once we're married we can get an apartment together... I could get a job..."
"Clark, you don't want to marry me. You don't love me. Not really..."
"I do love you, I do... I want to marry you. It's the right thing to do...."
"But you're not in love with me. I am in love with you and that will have to be enough for both of us. You should wait and marry someone you really love. If I make it, I will want you to be a part of the baby's life..."
"What do you mean 'if' you make it? You'll make it, you'll be fine... the doctors will take good care of you. I'll make sure of it..."
She looked weak as she smiled sadly, her voice feeble and tremulous. "I'm a doctor, Clark. I know the uphill battle I'm facing..." She looked over at the monitors and nurses readying things for her to go to surgery. "This has been a very hard pregnancy on me so I'm too weak to push..." She looked back at Clark. "I know what my chances are, Clark... I'm not afraid to die, not now that you're here and I know our son will have a father that will love him."
"Don't talk like that, you'll be okay. You'll see..."
Celia's body tensed up and as Clark watched, a wave of pain traveled up her tiny body starting at her swollen belly. She weakened against the agony of the contraction and Clark could almost see her energy fade as the pain passed.
The nurse touched Celia softly on the arm, "It's time to move you, Celia... You'll be okay." As they moved to roll Celia out, the nurse turned to Clark who was unsure of what to do. "You want to be with her?"
Clark was horrified at the thought: an operating room, the smell of blood and antiseptics, the sound of a blade cutting into flesh... He blinked away the surprise and shock and shook is head.
He answered weakly, "I'm not sure I could take that..."
Celia nodded and said, "You don't have to go, Clark... It's okay." The nurses were about to roll the bed out when Celia stopped them. "Wait..."
They stopped but scowled at Clark. "The O.R. is ready, Celia... your baby really can't wait."
"I know, just a second..."
Dr. Edwards spoke resolutely to the nurses. "The baby can wait until she's said what she wants to say..."
Celia smiled her thanks to Steven and looked up at Clark, who now stood by the side of the bed. "If I don't make it, please tell him I love him and name him Casey Clark Kent... Okay?"
Clark's eyes teared up. "You can tell him yourself how much you love him... You can name him..."
Her voice became desperate, "Please? Promise me, Clark?"
Clark nodded. "Okay, Celia. I promise."
She smiled and Clark watched sadly as they rolled her out into the hallway. He walked a few paces behind until they went through another pair of double doors. A nurse directed him to the waiting area where Gus sat. He looked out of the window to the garden terrace outside. Several pregnant women sat there with their loved ones. One was with a woman partner, the rest with boyfriends or husbands. They were seemingly trying to spend at least part of their labor in some place more pleasant than a hospital room.
Gus looked up at Clark and seemed to want to say something, but he ended up saying nothing before he left. Clark knew he went to stay with Celia because Clark couldn't.
Later, his former guard had told Clark that Celia had been an only child and had been orphaned as a teen. They'd become close back at the lab and Gus had been the closest thing to family she'd had left. It's why he'd stayed in Metropolis, so he could he could visit her every day in the hospital.
After Gus left, Clark had looked sadly at the women out on the patio as one was hit with a powerful and painful contraction. The father tried to talk her through her breathing exercises... It pained him he couldn't do the same for Celia.
Clark sat down and put his head into hands as the fear for her overtook him.
--------
While Clark had waited to for Casey to be born, he had called his parents and told them where he had gone. They were on their way to see their new grandchild when Clark had found out that Celia had been right.
She was dead before they got to Metropolis. She died an hour after giving birth to Casey Clark Kent.
Clark had been worried she hadn't seen the baby, but Steve told him she had been given an epidural and was awake for the delivery.
Gus told Clark that her son looking up at her as he held him for her to see was probably the last thing she'd seen. She had smiled weakly and had said, "He's beautiful, just like his father." He smiled again at the baby just before her blood pressure had dropped too low to sustain consciousness.
She had started to bleed, just like her mom had, but the protracted battle to stay pregnant long enough for the baby to have a chance to live had simply been too much for her. She bled to death on the operating table as they valiantly tried to save her...
Gus left later that day, glad Casey was in good hands, and left to take care of Celia's funeral arrangements. Celia had taken care of the details before her death, she had been so sure it had been coming.
Casey was the sole beneficiary of her rather sizeable estate. The baby would never want for anything except for his mother.
The nurses told Clark that Casey they were amazed how big he was considering how early he was born and how difficult the pregnancy had been on both him and his mom.
Steve explained that premature babies often would go home about the time of their original due dates. He was healthy but would need to stay in the hospital until he gained some weight.
When they brought Casey to him, Clark was scared to hold such a tiny baby; he didn't even weigh five pounds. He felt like a big clumsy gorilla holding onto a fragile, antique, paper-thin china tea cup while trying very hard not to break it.
At first, he was worried one false move and he'd kill his own baby... With some encouragement from his mom, and as he got to hold Casey more and hold his bottle as he sucked it dry with a healthy appetite, he relaxed about it. Clark just ended up being more amazed and deeper in love with his baby with every passing moment.
At first scared of the very thought of caring for a baby, a child that would depend on him so totally, he had been overwhelmed. But as he learned to love his baby and bonded with him, he couldn't think of anything else he'd rather be than Casey's father.
His baby's eyes were an unusually bright green, apparently. The nurses said they'd never seen such bright green eyes on such a young baby before. They had told him all babies were born with blue-tinted eyes, even if they later turned darker shades....
He lamely explained that it ran in his family, as did the dark hair that curled on the top of Casey's head.
Against the wishes of the nurses (they said babies don't have pigment in their skin to protect themselves from the sun), Clark often took the baby to sit outside on the garden-like balcony. He had just told the nurses that he would make sure the baby would be okay.
Clark knew he wouldn't have to worry. Casey almost glowed in the warm, yellow light of Earth's sun. He suspected Casey got that trait from his father. Clark smiled at his son as he gurgled and made little waving movements in the air with his hands as his muscles randomly contracted and extended. It almost looked like he was conducting a symphony.
He held a finger to one of his son's palms as a nurse watched. She smiled as the boy grabbed on. "He's got a strong grip for such a little baby."
He smiled up at her. "Yeah, I think he takes after me there..."
The nurse returned the smile with a broad one of her own. "It's almost his lunch time. Would you like me to bring you his bottle out here?" Clark nodded and looked back down at his baby as he made a funny face. He smiled at his baby's discomfort. The little boy was hungry, Clark could tell. The nurse knew his schedule almost perfectly.
He heard the expected soft step of the nurse returning with the bottle and was surprised to see it was Chloe instead.
"The nurse asked me to play the part of the milk man..." She held out the small bottle and Clark took it with a smile.
"Hi, Chloe."
"I think he's actually gotten bigger since I saw him yesterday. He must put away the food like his dad."
"Yeah, he does..." He held the bottle as Casey started to drink, clearly intent on filling his empty stomach as quickly as he could. Clark looked up at the sun. "I think the sunshine helps." Chloe smiled at that.
The day after Celia's death, Chloe had come to visit them in the hospital, clearly confused how Clark had became a father during the time he'd been missing. Although Clark had appreciated her not voicing her concern except for an oblique reference to maybe living in an alternative universe.
Clark decided he couldn't keep the truth of Casey's origin from her, even if it meant telling her everything.
Once the baby was asleep and back in the care of the nurses, Clark took her out onto the patio. Depending on the moonless night to hide them, he lifted a very surprised Chloe into his arms and then up into the sky. She was amazed at his powers, the flight had been surprising and thrilling for her, and she had laughed in joy and awe.
On the roof of the Daily Planet, her beautiful face illuminated by the golden light that was reflected off of the rotating huge brass Earth, he revealed all of his secrets to her. She had comforted him when he'd told her about the lab and how it had come to be that he had one baby and another on the way.
She was his best friend and he was glad she was here for him as he waited for his baby to get big enough to be released. Clark smiled at Chloe and leaned back. He looked down at his son as he worked on draining his bottle.
A thought occurred to Clark as he held Casey.
It was close to a year since that fateful morning back on the farm. He was now twenty and so much had happened to him and to his family since that Saturday. It had seemed so long ago, it felt like that painful day had happened in another lifetime. And now he held his son in the warm yellow light of his adopted planet.
Clark looked across the city and thought he had seen the best and worst of the human race. He had been alternately horrified and awed by their vicious brutality and heartfelt kindnesses... At the depth of his despair the past year, he might have thought to curse his parents for not letting him die with them on the home planet he didn't remember. Now Clark was glad they'd done what they could to make sure he would survive, even though they could not.
If they hadn't have sent him, he never would have seen his son and the wonder of his beautiful face. He would have never have had the birth of a daughter to look forward to.
Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked at Casey, who had finished his bottle and was fast asleep in his arms. He smiled at his son, one chubby little fist curled up under his chin, and Clark was in awe of him...
He had almost forgotten that Chloe was there until she said something, concern making her voice soft.
"Clark, you okay?"
A tear rolled down one cheek. He smiled at her as he held his sleeping baby.
"Yeah, Chloe... I think I'm going to be fine."
THE END
However, an epiloque will follow, eventually....