A/N: Some of you may have thought this would just be about the babies, but I wanted a clear reason why Chloe would be in Smallville before jumping in. And for further clarification, I love the stories and TV shows where the babies are as intelligent or more-so than the adults… i.e. Rugrats and the Muppet Babies…

Chapter 1

Chloe woke up and lay still for a moment while she looked at highly unfamiliar surroundings. She thought about panicking until she heard the familiar voice of her father in another room. She got to her feet and looked at the play pen she'd been put to bed in. Daddy had promised her an adventure, but the trip had been so dark that she hadn't been able to see anything. She had a vague remembrance of meeting a little boy about her size, but her last jolt of Daddy's coffee had worn off by then and her eyes had felt a little blurry.

Well, Daddy promised me an adventure… and if I don't find him soon, I'm going to miss all the fun, she thought matter-of-factly. Quickly she took in the construction of the play pen and smiled in satisfaction. It was of fairly standard construction and with a couple of bumps, the side went down. As fast as her chubby legs would take her, she toddled off to find her dad.

When she entered the kitchen, she crowed in triumph. "I found you, Daddy. Let's go on our adventure!" came out as "Fownd dada. Venture!" to her everlasting irritation. She couldn't understand why her words wouldn't come out like she wanted them to, but shrugged as her daddy swung her up into the air with a kiss.

"You sure are going to have an adventure, Chloe-bear!" he smiled. He pointed to a strange lady and the little boy from the night before. "You're going to stay with Mrs. Ross and her son Pete today while Daddy does some business. Then we'll go and see some cows. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

At the news, Chloe's little face screwed up in irritation and panic. "No, dada. No bees nest. Venture!" Tears started to pour down her face and she hugged her daddy tight. She was fairly certain that he wouldn't be able to withstand her pleas, but she was unpleasantly surprised when he handed her to the strange lady. She tried to wiggle free, but she was unprepared for the determined grip that held her. After a moment, she could only gape at her father in shock. He'd never done this to her before.

"Thank you, Abigail," he said with relief. "I just don't know what I would have done…"

"No worries, Gabe. And I told you to call me Abby." The woman's voice was warm and soothing, but Chloe wasn't in the mood to be comforted.

"Dada! No, Dada. Venture!" She started struggling anew to get free.

"Chloe, stop." He said it so firmly that she stopped automatically. He hardly ever used that tone of voice with her either. She couldn't figure out what was going on. "I need you to be brave today. You're going to make a great new friend and have lots of fun. I'll want a report when I get back."

She gaped up at him and knuckled the tears away. "Port, Dada? Like Panet?"

He smiled. "That's right, honey. Just like the Daily Planet that Daddy reads every morning. So pay attention to everything and then you can write it down for me to read tomorrow morning. Okay?"

Her smile lit up the room. That was a high compliment that Daddy was paying her. He always told Mommy that the day couldn't start right if he didn't read the Planet. She nodded fervently. "Kay, Dada. Coe be good porter."

He kissed her cheek and gave her a wink. "Of course Chloe will be a good reporter. I'll see you when I get back." He smiled again at the woman holding her. "Thanks again, Abby. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been so kind."

"It's been a pleasure to get to know you, Gabe. If you're the manager of the LuthorCorp planet, I know Smallville will be in good hands."

He smiled at that and Chloe knew he was pleased. "Love you, Chloe-bear."

Before she knew it, he was gone and the Abby person was putting her in a high chair. How condescending! she thought irritably. She automatically assumes I'm going to make a mess… She looked around and strangers surrounded her. Suddenly, her heart quailed in fear. She didn't know any of these people and Daddy had just left her! She burst into tears again and hid her face in her arms. The best reporters never showed their fear so she shouldn't either, but she didn't know what to do…

"Stop being a baby," a high-pitched voice drawled beside her. "You're daddy said he'd be back."

She lifted her head and stared at the owner of such a grouchy attitude. It was the boy from the night before. "I'm not a baby," she sniffed. "How would you like being left all alone?"

"You're not all alone. I'll protect you." He jerked his thumb to his chest which swelled with pride.

She giggled. "You're not any bigger than me," she snarked. "How can you protect me?"

He frowned and then shrugged. "Then we'll protect each other… Not that you'll need it, except from my brothers."

"What's a brother?" It was definitely a new word for her to learn. She wondered if Daddy knew that word.

"Don't you know anything?" He sighed. "Brother is someone that Mommy had too. I have four big brothers. Sometimes they're mean to me." He looked around to check and see if any of his brothers had caught him tattling.

"How would you like some Fruit Loops, Chloe?" said the lady named Abby. Chloe took a good look at her and the first thing she noticed was that she seemed really busy. Chloe nodded vigorously and was rewarded with a bowl of the cereal and a Toucan Sam spoon.

"Cofey, Abby? Cofey peas?"

Abby looked at her in shock. "Chloe, coffee isn't good for you."

Chloe restrained from rolling her eyes just in time. "Cofey, Abby. Dada haf cofey. Coe haf cofey. Cofey, Abby?" She tried smiling and batting her eyes. Daddy could never resist her when she did that.

Abby smiled and shook her head. "I don't know what Gabe is thinking. Coffee will stunt your growth."

"Knee cofey, Abby, to start." Chloe wondered how this woman honestly expected her to get her day going without some of Daddy's coffee. This is a nightmare! she thought in horror.

Abby laughed and threw up her hands. In a sippy cup, she poured a little bit of coffee and topped it off with milk before handing it to the young Sullivan girl. At Chloe's pout, she pulled back the sippy cup. "It's either this or nothing, Miss Sullivan," she said with finality.

Chloe could hear it. She knew she wasn't going to be able to push this lady around. She sighed and held out her hands. "Kay, Abby. Tank 'oo."

"You're welcome, sweetie," she said with a smile as she got on with fixing breakfast for the rest of her boys.

"Wow," Pete said with his mouth hanging open. "I've never seen Mommy do that before. You're good."

Chloe basked in his approval and dug in to breakfast. She ate as neatly as she was able so maybe she could wheedle more of the Nectar of the Gods from Abby. She ignored the phone when she heard it ring, but kept her ears perked. You never knew when you'd find something good out… and Daddy had assigned her to be Intrepid Reporter today.

"Hi there, Steve. What can I do for…?" Abby's face went from a smiling one to a concerned professional one. "But it's my day off… I know he's on my cas… His lawyer said what?" She looked at the kids around the kitchen with concern. "I could leave the older four on their own, but Pete…" Chloe glanced over and saw Pete grimaced. She decided that it must be tough being the youngest… what was that word he used?... brother. "Listen. Give me ten minutes. If I can find a sitter, we'll let it proceed. Otherwise, a motion for rescheduling will have to be d… Yes, I know you know that, but… Fine. Ten minutes."

Abby slammed the phone down with a muffled curse. Chloe looked around and could see everyone's eyes were big. Chloe smiled. This is going to be a great story! she crowed silently. Daddy's gonna' love this!

Meanwhile, Abby was ticking off things aloud, if in shorthand. "If Jeffy takes care of the three… Could he also do… No, I need an adult. Would Nell… No, she's dealing with… But who…" She looked at Pete, who was trying to look inconspicuous and innocent. "Would she? She loves kids… but with an extra? Can't hurt to ask…" She picked up the phone and made a quick call. "Martha. Hi, it's Abby Ross. I'm fine thanks, but in a bit of a bind. You're such a doll. Would you mind watching the boys today?"

"Mom…!" Chloe could only assume it was Jeffy who was whining. "I'm twelve years old. I can watch George, Frank and Curtis. Please! You've been promising forever…!"

Chloe rolled her eyes. Didn't he know that he wasn't going to get anything out of his mommy acting like that? Abby sighed but smiled. "Okay, just Pete and an extra today? Yeah, she belongs to a nice guy who had to go to that LuthorCorp tour today. You will? Are you sure? That's fantastic! I'll call Gabe… That's his name, Gabe Sullivan… And tell him where Chloe will be in case I don't get home before he does. I owe you one. We'll be there in 20 minutes. Thanks so much!"

She just replaced the receiver briefly before picking up Gabe's card and dialing his cell phone. "Gabe, I'm so glad I caught you before the tour. An emergency's come up and I'm not going to be able to watch… No, no… You don't have to come. I've asked one of the town's most dependable women to watch yours and my youngest and she said that would be fine. Do you have a pen? Here's her address." She rattled off undecipherable information, but Chloe still listened avidly. "I should be back before you are, but if not, I wanted you to know where they are. My husband can give you directions if you need it. Thanks for being so understanding, Gabe. I'll talk to you soon."

Chloe held her breath as Abby hung up the phone and turned to the two. "Well, plans have changed. Ready for a trip?" As she was let down from her chair, Chloe was practically bursting with excitement. Another adventure? How did she get to be so lucky?

A/N: Whew! I wasn't sure anyone liked this because I didn't get any reviews at all for the first couple of days. Huzzah! I don't have to kill the babies story!

spaceboi's pixie: Oh, I'm so glad you liked it! I haven't quite finished determining where to go with it yet, but I have high hopes…

obsessor-of-inuyasha: I'm so glad you like it. I mean, there had to be a reason why they'd become friends so fast, right? ;D

markmark261: While I am absolutely capable of both cutesy and wutesy, I'm handling this a little different. I do want to note at this point that the kids will talk with an extremely limited vocab at first… and spelling errors will be rampant because I'll be spelling those phonetically, but when they talk amongst themselves, it'll all work out better grammatically. ;D

choedouble1028: I do understand what you're talking about in regards to the teenage angst, even though I'm well beyond that, by definition. And wouldn't it be nice if "Smallville" could do a feel-good story with a great plotline without all the arbitrary drama?