38

Chloe was letting Clark lean on her as she walked him up the stairs to their front door. "Clark, how are you feeling?"

He sighed. "A little whoozy. I don't know what Emil and J'onn came up with for me as anesthestia, but I'm really dizzy."

Chloe nodded and pulled her keys from out of her purse. "I know but the tube going in only took like twenty minutes and then you'll be able to keep nourished. It should be, um, well fun's not the right word, but it'll be better now, for you and Mo. Dr. Emil is even sending over some stuff with Bart. It's a high protein drink that won't clog the tube."

"Yum."

"Sorry it's not all cherry pie this time, but calories are good," she chirped, trying to stay cheerful. It was her job. "Now, we'll get you upstairs and you two, especially you Miss Mo, will be getting a nap."

"You take this mom thing seriously."

"Dam...Darn straight," she finished, not wanting to deal with the swear jar. "Almost got the key..." she mumbled, gasping when Clark (and Mo) started to tip backwards. There was a blur and then the next thing she knew, her eldest was keeping Clark from sinking to the ground. "Kon?"

"Uncle Oliver let me leave the penthouse in order to come home. He said he had to get something from the Watchtower. Now what's going on?" he asked, supporting his father as she opened the door.

Chloe pushed the impulse down to snark and ask why he seemed to care. It was that petty part of her she'd outgrown years ago. "Your dad's shaking off some anesthesia."

"He had surgery?"

"Minor procedure," Clark replied. "I just needed a feeding tube."

Kon frowned between the two of them. "I thought the baby was better."

"She is, but she's just thin. They both are, so Emil and I thought a feeding tube in addition to other meals would help," she finished as the both led Clark into the house and toward the stairs.

Kon's eyes widened and Chloe noted he was basically carrying his father up to the bedroom. Clark was leaning on him, but he was far too out of it to make much progress on his own. Kryptonians were useful; Chloe never would have been able to do it alone. "Feeding tube?"

"It didn't hurt!" she defended.

"No...I mean, ru said he was okay," Kon replied, setting his father down on the bed.

Clark curled up into a ball and Chloe rolled her eyes patiently as she pulled off his boots. "You're not the only Kent who has a tendency to lie, a stor . Your father's lost fifteen pounds at least since the pregnancy started. He's probably never going to be heavy. If we get him to gain 25 or 30 before she's due, we'll be lucky."

"I..."

" A stor ," Chloe started, grateful that Kon was too startled to complain about the nickname. "I need to have a few minutes with your father. Can you start dinner. It's Friday and I was thinking spaghetti. Lots of plain noodles should be easy for him to keep down."

"Sure, just water and salt to get it to boil?"

"Olive oil in the water. It's how your grandma makes it."

He nodded and, then, he wasn't there.

Chloe turned to her husband and straightened his bangs back from his forehead. "Clark?"

"Mhmm, mom, I don't wanna go to school today."

"I don't know how to take being called your mother."

Clark uncurled and rolled over onto his back. "I promise I won't speed to school. Five more minutes."

Chloe had to laugh. Kon was the same way. If they didn't have superspeed, they'd be late every time. Hell, Clark was late enough to keep Reynolds on his case throughout most of high school. "Clark, it's Chloe."

He blinked up at her. "Wow, I need to ask Emil what the Lanterns gave him."

"J'onn did."

"Whatever, this is pretty awesome," he replied, grinning.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Kon and I are going to be making spaghetti. I can bring you some plain strings in a little bit and-"

"Not hungry."

"Emil says the feeding tube is a calorie supplement only. You're going to try keeping protein and carbohydrates down on your own."

"Maybe later, mom. Pete's coming over and..." he replied, his eyes falling shut and a slight snore escaping from him.

"Yeah, J'onn really knocked you for a loop. I might wanna keep some of that for your next mope-a-thon after Mo's born," she finished, pulling the old yellow blanket on the mattress up to his chin. She kissed his forehead and then his stomach. "Mo, take care of your dad, okay? I know you're a good girl."

Kon was standing by the stove, stirring the bot which was not yet boiling. Chloe smiled to herself. In a year or two, Kon wouldn't have to curse at the burner to work faster. He'd just be able to look at the water like his aunt or like Clark. They grew up so fast, way too fast.

"Hey."

Kon looked up from stirring. "I did what you said but it's so slow."

"Yes, amazing how long oooking actually takes. The food doesn't appear magically. No dinner elves like Cassie's homework ones."

Kon sighed. "Oh Cass."

"She was here the other day, you know, while you were in Iceland. She came here to talk."

"She did?"

"Yes."

"To me?"

Chloe nodded as she started stirring the prego on the other burner. "Cassie's powers go wonky when she's upset, don't they?"

"Yeah. At midterms you can literally feel the cold spots in the classroom."

"She had a spell like that. She was freezing everything she tried to eat."

Kon stopped stirring. "So she only wanted to talk to make the symptoms stop?"

"I think she misses you."

"She was so mad, Chloe."

She nodded and let the name roll over her. " A stor -"

"Chloe."

"Connor then. You've been harsh to everyone. If she weren't mad it'd be a miracle."

"And I fix that how?"

Oh snippy. That was more familiar.

"You have to admit you were an ass to her first. That usually helps."

"Hey!"

"It goes both ways. I've had to apologize to your father and him to me. That's how relationships go. Sometimes you make a mistake and sometimes she does and if you really care about each other, you make it work."

Kon stiffened. "Why couldn't the kangaroo and my mom do that?"

Chloe ignored the second sting; it never got easier. "Because she doesn't bend, Connor Sullivan. She had edicts and it got so far that he was chained up at ISIS. I just wish you'd understand that and not be so much like your father."

He frowned. "Don't you mean like my mother?"

"No, like Clark. He...there's something about Lana that he held onto for so long, like a spell, not literally, but something held him. I know she's like that. That people love her more or think they do, but it doesn't end well, Connor."

"She listened."

"You told her what she wanted to hear, gave her the info about us she wanted. I know that I can't hold you back from her forever, that Bruce's threats or your father's begging won't either."

"You're jealous."

"I am. In a way I'm fifteen again and everyone loves her more. It's what it feels like but I'm mostly scared for you because I know how she works. She can't love, a stor , and it's going to break you."

"Everyone says that."

"I know you're a skeptic but sometimes when everyone says it, it's actually true," she finished turning off the burner and moving the pot of sauce toward the sink.

"She isn't like that to me."

"What?" Chloe asked, setting the pot down and turning to him. "What is she like? What can she do that we can't?"

Kon sighed and put the noodles into the pot. "She understands me."

"You keep saying that. Clark and I know she's a bigot. We know what ISIS does that the government can't prove."

"ISIS has good press."

"You can buy that at The Journal and the Inquisitor," she huffed.

"Chloe, I can't...I know this isn't my family anymore. It's why you asked me to move away."

"I said it was an option because you can't start off your relationship with Mo by making her hate you and everything you say to her."

"She's a baby. She doesn't know the difference."

"One day she will. You were very bright. By six months, you understood so much around you, were talking. You grew fast."

"Figures."

"Yes, and your father is dying." Kon gaped and the water started to boil over and onto his skin. "Kon!"

He blinked and looked down at his hand and moved the pot away from the heat. "I...he said that but you'll fix it. It's what Fawkes does."

Chloe smiled sadly. "It's supposed to be. Kon, Emil and I have been talking lately. It's why we started with the feeding tube."

"I know."

"Mo's being rejected by your father's body."

"But that's why there are transfusions."

"Well exactly and they help Mo , but it's weakening your father more than he was even with you. Emil doesn't...I've never tried healing someone poisoned by me."

Kon turned and for a second she saw her sweet boy again. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gave it a gentle squeeze. "You're saving Mo. I know I have sucked about some things, but I'm serious. I don't want dad to die or for the baby to be sick. I'd never want that."

"Sometimes, it's hard to tell."

"I'd never wish that," he groused. "But they can't die. You fix things."

"You take what I can do for granted, a stor ."

"But you're not poison!"

"I'm Kryptonite," she replied. "But we're going to fix that. We'll just keep working around it all."

"You think you can save them?"

"I hope so. I hope that once Mo's big enough in gestation, we won't need the transfusions anymore. Your father could be feeling a lot better by Christmas."

Kon breathed in relief. "Good...I, good."

"Now, Connor Sullivan," she started, pulling out the plates. "I have to talk to you about something serious."

"More serious than the fact that dad and Mo could die?"

"In its own way, it worries me more. Cassie and I were up in your room and we found your sketchbook."

Kon was on the other side of the room before she could blink. "You what? God, did Cass? I mean, I didn't draw bad things of her. I just...I see her a lot so it's natural I'd draw her."

"She didn't see anything but the landscapes and we all know you like her, except maybe Cassie, herself. It's transparent, a stor ."

"I...we're friends."

Sure, like she and Clark had been, long ago.

"But there were other pictures. Kon, the self portrait, it's-"

"None of your goddamn busines, Chloe . I can't believe you went through my possessions. Do you keep wanting to spy on me? Batman and now my art. It's mine, like your journals."

"I know but Kon, I didn't even knew you drew and what you do...we love you. You're not some mon-"

"I don't have to listen to this. You invaded my privacy. I'm just..." he said, throwing up his arms. "I'm so out of here."

All she was left with was the breeze.