The Pet
Author: Summer_Enchanted
Rating: PG 13 just to be safe
Spoilers: Anything up to season 4
Disclaimer: Not mine unfortunately.
Summary: Lex is determined to find something to make his little girl feel better. Unfortunately for Chloe she picked Charlie.
Chapter 1
The room was dimly lit. The only light being the wood burning in the fireplace and the single lamp on his desk. The wind was howling from outside, rattling the window pane behind him. A summer storm was definitely on it's way!
In spite of the noise he forced himself to try and focus on the documents before him. Having read through the first few paragraphs he was slowly starting to get into it when suddenly..
"Daddy?"
Lex jumped and looked up at the sound of the tiny voice. His eyes scanned the room of his study searching for the owner but found nothing. He glanced back down again, searching for the place he left off at.
"Daddy?"
The voice seemed closer now and more pronounced. Looking up once more and placing the papers to one side he slowly stood up. He glanced at the door, noticing it was now open. He was sure he had shut it earlier.
Hadn't he?
He was just about to cross the room to close it when he felt a slight tug on his pant leg.
"Daddy, Laurie and Joey won't let me play!"
Suddenly feeling very relieved, Lex let out a short breath to look down at his four year old daughter, Abigail. Her face was flushed and her eyes were brimming with unshed tears. Her hands were clutching her teddy bear like a lifeline.
"Abby" Lex said, sitting down once more and lifting her onto his lap. "What did I say about sneaking up on people?"
Abigail looked up at her father with a mixture of regret, sorrow and confusion. Her little heart hammering in her chest, her mind concentrating hard to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill. She hadn't meant to be rude. She was just so intent on getting to him she didn't even think of knocking.
Hugging her teddy bear a little closer to her face she mumbled a soft "Sorry, Daddy" before letting the flood gates go entirely and bursting into tears before him.
Lex mentally scowled at himself, pulling his youngest into an embrace. His features were mellowed as he whispered soothing words and `I'm sorry's` against her hair, rubbing her back with his free hand. He hated to see any of his children upset but especially Abigail. Being not only the youngest of all his three daughters, she was also the most sensitive. It tore him to pieces to think he contributed to her grief by scolding her unnecessarily.
After a few minutes her sobs died down to a couple of sniffles here and there. Grabbing a tissue from the box on his desk he gently wiped her nose and the residual tears from her eyes.
"Now," he said in a gentler tone of voice. "What's the matter Princess?"
Abigail was silent for a second or two. Her mind blank, having forgotten why she had sought him out in the first place. Stopping to think for a minute the haze gradually lifted and she looked up to meet her fathers eyes. So it was with a tinge of sadness in her voice she repeated her last statement;
"Laurie and Joey won't let me play games with them. They say I'm too young and they don't want me hanging around!"
Lex could see she was on the verge of tears once again so he quickly tried bouncing her on his knees to quell the unhappiness.
Of course Laurie and Joey (short for Josephine) had always been close. Being only one year apart in age (Laurie, nine and Joey, eight). They acted more like twins than just sisters and that often left little Abigail (four) far out in the cold.
He tried to think what he could do to make his little princess feel better. Usually whenever one of his girls was upset he would buy them some new toys, clothes or take them somewhere they wanted. Somehow he didn't think any of those solutions would cut it this time.
Cuddling his little girl closer he said the only thing to enter his mind;
"Hey, I've got an idea; how about you and I play some games together?"
She was still sniffling a little but Lex suddenly saw her face light up like a Christmas tree.
"Really?" she said, her beautiful big blue eyes growing wider.
"Really," Lex repeated. "Go pick out some games and bring them back in here".
"Okay," she said jumping down off her fathers lap.
Lex watched as she quickly scurried out of the room, not even bothering to notice she had accidentally dropped her bear by the door.
He slowly rose up from behind the desk and walked over to the plush object. Smiling as he picked it up and dusted it off he thought back to when she had first saw it that Christmas they had all spent in Edge City.
She had been not even two at the time and he'd been there mostly for business sake but insisted that Chloe and the kids come along so they could spend the holidays together in a hotel, rather than apart in separate cities. It was in one of his rare free moments that Chloe had insisted they all go Christmas shopping. They had ended up in one of the biggest toy stores in the city. Also one of the busiest.
That's where she noticed it. Sitting alone on one of the shelves near the back of the stuffed toy aisle.
The only one.
A white polar bear with a blue scarf around it's neck. Which would be forever be known as simply 'Teddy'. She had never went anywhere without him since. He smiled wider at the memory and placed the bear on one of the leather sofa's, sitting himself down next to it.
A few minutes later Abigail came almost bouncing back into the room carrying more than her body weight in games. Lex quickly hurried to take the load off her before she fell and hurt herself.
"Thanks Daddy," she said walking over to one of the sofa's and sitting down on the edge. She waited patiently for him to join her.
She didn't have to wait long. Placing the games on the coffee table in between them he watched as she rummaged through the pile trying to decide which one to play.
"How about Snakes and Ladders?" he suggested.
"Okay, but I'm blue though!" she said. Grabbing the box Lex had picked out she proceeded to set up the game on the table. Lex inwardly chuckled. He knew blue was her favourite colour. Everything had to be blue for her.
Sadly her mood is too, he thought.
His mind suddenly drifted to a conversation he had with Chloe about two years ago and how none of this might not be happening if he had been successful enough into convincing her to have another baby.
"She needs someone to play with," he had argued.
But of course Chloe being Chloe had set her mind on returning to her career at the Daily Planet. Making the decision that three children were enough right now and they could always have another baby, if they wanted later on.
He smirked. Maybe it was time to bring the subject up again?
One thing was for sure though - he was definitely going to have a little talk with his other daughters about their behaviour towards their little sister!
He was brought out of his reverie by the sound of Abigail's polite coughing. "Sorry princess," he said noticing she had finished setting up and was waiting patiently. He picked up his own counter and placed it on the starting square with her blue one.
"Why don't you go first," he said.
She smiled a smile that gave him a warm feeling inside. He was glad she was happy again.
At least for now, he thought.
AN: Thanks to my friend Annie for beta reading for me. I'll try and update as often as I can. And I haven't forgotten about my other stories.