Honesty

Chloe made her way numbly to her car, determined to make it back to Metropolis without breaking down. Damn Lois, damn Clark, damn this whole entire mess! What was she supposed to tell Oliver? After swearing the tests weren't hers and swearing there was nothing to worry about, now she was supposed to go up to him and say, "Surprise, I'm pregnant!"? She hadn't even missed a period yet! Granted, she was supposed to start tomorrow and hadn't felt any symptoms so she should have known something was up, but there really had been too much on her mind. The whole Lois-baby-drama thing had taken up most of her time over the last two days.

She sighed as she turned on the car and put it in drive. Laying a hand on her stomach, she thought back to her last month of encounters with Oliver. When had they not been careful? It took her a few minutes to remember. There was one time, just after Ollie got back from a business trip to Gotham. They had been apart for two long weeks. Things were rushed, and Oliver had ripped the condom when he was pulling it out. She remembered the anguish on his face when he pulled back from her, obviously determined to be responsible. She also remembered the urgency with which she had thrown herself at him.

Chloe groaned as she pulled away from the curb, following the main road out of Smallville towards Metropolis. Once she was on the long, deserted straight-a-way, she picked up her phone. Should she call him? Should she wait and text him? Should she tell him at all? Several scenarios played through her mind.

"We'll handle this together," she remembered Ollie's words in the alley, when he had thought she was pregnant. Okay, so she wasn't worried about him running off, she was worried about their relationship, and what he would expect of her now. This would definitely change the status quo. She glanced down at her phone once more before deciding. Pressing the number one, she held it down and listened as the line began to ring.

"Hey, you."

"Hey. Are you still out?"

"Yeah, but I can be done if you want."

"Actually, I'm on my way back to Metropolis. Will you meet me at Watchtower around ten?"

"Sure, Sidekick. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll see you then," she told him, hanging up before he could ask any more questions. She turned on her radio and settled back against the seat for the long drive ahead.

Lois set the plastic stick on the edge of the sink, set the timer for three minutes then went back out to face Clark. She sat down beside him stiffly.

"Lois, it really will be okay," he told her. Inside he was a bubbling mass of nerves. He couldn't decide what he wanted. Did he want it to be positive? In a way, he did. He had no family, no real blood ties here on Earth. He was the last Kryptonian, the last of his kind, so in a way, he did want her to be pregnant. He honestly never thought it would be possible. On the other hand, he still hadn't been honest with her. She didn't really know who he was, and he thought that that was an important step before they even thought about a family.

"I know, but that still doesn't mean I want this," she answered honestly. "Clark, I… I don't know the first thing about being a mother! What if… what if I'm just like the General? What if… what if my kid turns out like… me?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"We could only be so lucky as to have a kid just like you," he told her, reaching over to grasp her hand.

"Okay, Smallville, you don't have to lie to cheer me up. I know, a kid like me would be… well, it wouldn't be pretty."

"You sell yourself too short, Lois," he told her, rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand. "We'll both just have to learn as we go."

They sat in silence until the ding of the timer caused them both to jump.

"Well, here goes nothing," she told him, standing up but refusing to let go of his hand. She couldn't do this alone and he seemed to understand. Together they made their way into the bathroom. Lois glanced down at the white, plastic stick.

"Well, what does it say?" Clark asked hoarsely.

Lois blinked twice, eyes focused on the results window.

"One…" she cleared her throat, "one line… it means I'm not pregnant," she told him, turning to face him, a dazed expression on her face. She thought she would be jumping with joy right about now, but instead she felt slightly numb.

"Oh," replied, looking at her face. "That's a good thing, right?" Lois just blinked at him.

"Um, yes, yes that's a good thing, I mean, we don't know if we're endgame, right? So, something like this would… it would be the worst thing," she told him, pulling away from him.

"Lois, don't… I love you, okay, and… and I would have been fine if it had come back positive," he assured her.

Lois raised her hazel eyes to meet his, a small smile gracing her lips.

"You know, in the whole three minutes it took for the test to finish, I think I had almost convinced myself I wanted a baby," she quietly admitted. Clark returned her smile.

"Don't worry, Lois, we have all the time in the world. When we're ready, really ready, then we can worry about a family," he told her then leaned over and pressed his lips gently against hers.

Oliver whistled while he waited for the elevator to make its way to the top of the Watchtower building. He had had a pretty good night, aside from the little hold-up scare. His stomach clenched when he remembered those men holding a gun to Chloe's head. That had not been all that pleasant, but aside from that, and the proverbial bullet he dodged, it had been a pretty good night.

He thought back to the words that robber had said, words that had stopped his heart, then sent it careening out of control. He remembered that time, right after he had come back from Gotham, when the condom, the only god-forsaken one he had on him, had ripped. Two long weeks away and he could barely trust his control. Pulling out had not been an option for him, but obviously a condom wasn't either. He had started to pull away, knowing he had to stop right then or there would be no stopping. Chloe had had other ideas apparently.

The elevator doors slid open to reveal the headquarters of the loosely formed Justice League. He glanced around and found Chloe sitting on the green sofa he had bought for her a few weeks ago. It was extra wide and perfect for their more amorous adventures. A smile worked its way onto his face as he made his way over to the quiet blond.

"Hey, Professor!" he greeted, but froze when she turned to face him. She looked pale, and the light that he was so used to seeing dancing around in her eyes was conspicuously missing. "What's wrong?" he immediately asked.

She just shrugged then motioned for him to sit down next to her. Feeling slightly uneasy, he walked over to the sofa and sat down next to her.

"Chloe, is something wrong?" he asked, worrying that maybe those idiots at the pharmacy had harmed her in some way. Chloe opened her mouth to answer, but closed it before saying anything. She sighed then tried again.

"Sorta," she told him, swallowing loudly. "I… Oliver, I'm pregnant," she blurted out.

Oliver froze his expression blank as he tried to take in her words.

"You lied," were the first words out of his mouth.

Chloe cringed.

"You said… you said the tests were for Lois."

"They were! I honestly had no idea… Oliver, I'm sorry. I know what I said, and at the time, it was the truth. When Clark and I showed up at the Talon, Lois freaked. She told Clark the tests really were for me and that I was too scared to tell you, so I made up the story. She shoved a test at me and told me to take it. I thought, 'what the hell?' so I did. I never expected it to come back positive. I was just doing it to save Lois's ass," she told him, stumbling a little over her words. "I'm not even late, yet. I will be tomorrow, but at this point, I haven't had any symptoms, nothing to even make me think it was a possibility."

Oliver closed his eyes, trying to gather his thoughts. He had honestly been more upset at the thought that Chloe had lied and not been able to trust him than the fact that she was pregnant. When he opened his eyes, he found Chloe staring at him, worry etched on her face. He reached over and took her hand.

"Chloe, I meant what I said. You aren't alone. I'm here. We'll do this together, okay?"

She nodded, her breathing ragged.

"Where do we go from here?" she asked timidly. Oliver was silent for a minute.

"Where do you want to go?"

Chloe's brow furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Chloe, I'm here for you. I'll do whatever you want. I… I'd marry you in a heartbeat, but I know you, and I don't want to push you into anything you don't want, or aren't ready for. So, you tell me where we go and I'll go with you, happily," he told her.

Chloe gave him a watery smile.

"Let's just take this a day at a time for now, okay?"

"Sure thing, Sidekick. So, if you're pregnant…" he started to ask.

"Yes?"

"Does that mean we don't have to use a condom anymore?"

Chloe burst out laughing.

"Yes, I suppose that means we don't have to use a condom anymore."

"Thank God," he told her before pressing his lips to hers.

A/N: Well, here we go! So many of you wanted Lois pregnant that I was really tempted, but I really didn't feel it would be that realistic to have both pregnant, that and I really thought Clark and Lois needed to have all their secrets out in the open before something like that… but I have thought about writing an alternate piece with her test being pos. We'll see. I have one more piece after this. Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews! It really means a lot to me to hear that you enjoy my work! Now, let me know what you think… and please don't be mad at me!