Chapter Fifty-Four:

Bruce is down in the cave, watching the computer work its magic when he hears footsteps coming up behind him. Turning around, he is greeted by Clark's smiling but confused face. Clark glances up at the computer before coming to stand next to Bruce. "What are you doing down here?"

"I am running a background check on our instructor at the Lamaze class," Bruce answers, pressing a key on his keyboard.

Clark looks at the watch that is strapped around his wrist. "We have to be there in twenty minutes."

"I know," Bruce says. "It's not like I started this last minute. It's been running all night. I'm being very thorough."

"Wait," Clark catches his wrist as Bruce reaches for another button. "Have you been up all night?"

Bruce doesn't look Clark in the eyes when he answers. "I've been up for a few nights."

"Bruce!" Clark exclaims. "No wonder you look so tired. You need to sleep."

Bruce shrugs. "It really hasn't been that long and, besides, before I got pregnant I did multiple all-nighters all the time. I'm fine."

"Okay, but you staying up for multiple nights isn't just for this then." Clark points at the computer. "What's wrong?"

Bruce shrugs again. "I've been having a bit of trouble sleeping since the whole Dick and Kori thing."

"Bruce, they're a grown man and woman. They'll be fine," Clark reassures.

Bruce sighs and sits down in his chair, his head aching slightly. "Dick has barely left his room in a week. He only comes out to grab some food when Alfred isn't delivering it to him and to let us know he's still alive." He says more quietly, "Besides, I'm worried about Wally."

Clark kneels in front of him. "Hey, I'm keeping an ear and an eye on Wally. He seems to be doing pretty okay right now, at least when Kyle is visiting."

Bruce perks. "Kyle is still visiting him?"

"More like taking care of him than actually visiting." Clark chuckles. "He even dragged Wally out of Wally's apartment twice in the past week, since you had your talk with him." Clark's brows furrow and he purses his lips. "Kind of unusual behavior for a beta, don't you think? Or do you think he's just being that good of a friend?"

Bruce takes a breath. "I don't know yet. It's definitely not beta behavior."

"Then... friend?" Clark asks, sounding as if he doesn't even believe it.

Bruce shrugs. "I guess so. It's no secret they are good friends." Bruce nods. "Yeah, we're just looking too much into it. Kyle is trying to be there for his friend."

"By going above and beyond," Clark says, locking eyes with Bruce.

Before Bruce can respond, the computer beeps, indicating that it has finished. Bruce stands, looking over the results. "Well, besides a couple parking tickets, she's clean."

"Good." Clark stands as well, looking at his watch. "With ten minutes to spare. I really hope it doesn't take long to get to her house." Bruce smirks and gestures for Clark to come along. "Tell me, why did you want to take private classes instead of just going to the hospital?"

"Besides the fact that our baby is half Kryptonian?" Bruce can practically hear Clark roll his eyes playfully. "This private class will focus more on natural births. If I take one at the hospital, then the person running the class will just end up preaching about epidurals."

"And you are certain you want to give birth naturally?"

"Completely, one hundred percent," Bruce confirms as he walks into the garage and selects one of his cars. He doesn't have to be in disguise so he decides on his blue Ferrari. He gets into the driver's side and Clark sits in the passenger's. "I'm not going to subject our daughter to drugs. Not when she's already been exposed to Kryptonite twice already."

"Okay," Clark says as Bruce drives off. "So, who are you going to tell these people I am?"

Bruce shrugs. "A friend of the family who will hopefully be my mate in the future." Clark's eyebrow rises. "Sometimes telling the truth is the best way to keep a secret. No one needs to know you're the sire to our baby. That way the board directors don't put two and two together and figure out Superman is Clark Kent. By telling them you're my future mate, however, will make it a lot easier for when you do become my mate and have to hide the fact that Lara is yours." Bruce shrugs again. "The world will believe I don't know who the sire is, the board directors will believe it is Superman, and no one will know it is Clark Kent."

"You've thought it through," Clark comments.

Bruce nods. "I have and thanks to you, I had to work around the board directors."

Clark chuckles, shaking his head in amusement. "You're still not letting that go."

Bruce smirks. "Not a chance." Clark rolls his eyes.

It doesn't take them long to arrive at the house of the instructor who is putting on the Lamaze class. Bruce parks his car somewhere where it will hopefully not get scratched. He steps out of the car and is immediately greeted by a flashing camera in his face. There's a news reporter holding a microphone out to him, the young beta's photographer flashing photos. "Mister Wayne, do you care to comment on your pregnancy?"

Clark grabs Bruce's hand, growls, and then starts dragging Bruce along. "It looks like the cat is out of the bag that Bruce Wayne is here."

Bruce looks behind himself where the alpha photographer is still shooting photos. Bruce takes his hand out of Clark's. "Seems like it. I didn't expect it to stay a secret that I'm coming here but-"

"Mister Wayne!" A different reporter jogs up to them, recorder outstretched, ready to catch Bruce's every word. "It's been about two months now since the public has learned about your pregnancy. Do you care to comment on why you haven't made a public statement about it yet?"

Clark tries to pull him along again but Bruce waves him off. "After what happened to me, the kidnapping and torture, I didn't see the point of giving a public announcement when it was already made known."

"And is this alpha beside you the sire?" the reporter asks.

"He is a friend of the family but not the sire." Bruce begins to walk away again, more reporters having shown up, some even with news cameras. "That's all I'm going to say about it. If you would please excuse me."

"Is the sire still in the picture, Mister Wayne?" one reporter shouts.

Another joins. "Do you even know who the sire is, Brucie?"

"Have you learned the gender of the baby yet?" Bruce hears shouted just as he enters the house.

Someone quickly walks up to them and locks the door. "I'm so sorry about that, Mister Wayne. My associate, the one who booked the appointment for you, must have told someone you were coming."

"You use an associate even though your private classes?" Clark asks as they are ushered into another room.

"Things can get kind of crazy around here," the female beta says. "She helps me stay organized."

"It's no problem, Ms…" Bruce starts.

"Just call me Beverly," Beverly states.

"I'm quite used to paparazzi, Beverly. I can handle them," Bruce reassures.

She smiles at him in relief and then guides them into the main room where a group of people are waiting. Bruce smells the air and can smell a mixture of alphas, betas, and most prominently, pregnant omegas. "Let me introduce you to the group that we have today."

"Oh, there's no need!" A pregnant male omega comes up to them, grabbing for Bruce's hand and shaking it in greeting. "We all know who Bruce Wayne is."

"Brucie is here!" a pregnant female beta yells and suddenly the whole group is surrounding Bruce.

Clark leans close to his ear. "Maybe we should have booked a one on one session." Bruce hums in agreement, forcing a smile onto his face and hoping his headache doesn't worsen.

"And who is this that you brought along?" a heavily pregnant female omega asks, eyeing Clark up and down. "Is this the very handsome sire to your precious baby, Brucie?"

Bruce hears the omega's mate, a female alpha, growl low in her throat. Clark hears it too and avoids eye contact with the alpha, showing that he is no threat. "He's not the sire, no." There's a bunch of disappointed awes that go around the room from the pregnant men and women. Bruce continues, trying to push down his unease. "He's a friend of the family but I do hope for him to be my mate in the future." The room immediately erupts in squeals of joy.

"What's his name?" a pregnant male omega asks.

"Clark Kent," Clark says, swallowing loudly. "It's, uh, very nice to meet you all."

Someone grabs a hold of Clark's hand and starts to drag him away with the group of pregnant men and women. "Come with us, come with us. Look at all this food!" a pregnant female beta says excitedly. Clark looks behind himself helpless, looking at Bruce for help. Bruce just shrugs, not really knowing what to do.

As he stands there watching Clark be given food on the ever-growing pile on his plate, a young male alpha strides up beside him. "It looks like all the pregnant people have stolen your friend." Bruce nods, grimacing as Clark is forced to eat a chocolate chip cookie or face the wrath of a pregnant omega. The alpha beside Bruce chuckles. "Future mate huh? He's a catch."

Bruce eyes him. "Have any idea how I can save him?"

The alpha chuckles again. "Sorry, no clue. He's even more popular than you are."

Bruce huffs a small laugh, eyeing the group now. There are ten couples in total, not including himself and Clark, with seven pregnant omegas; four females and three males, two pregnant betas; both females, of course, and surprisingly, one pregnant female alpha. Bruce wonders how long it took for the alpha to get pregnant and if she has had multiple miscarriages already. She keeps her hand on her stomach protectively, standing clear of any possibilities of being accidentally bumped.

"It's a good group we have here," Bruce comments.

"We do." The alpha then gestures to a female omega. "That's my mate, Hannah." He turns to Bruce. "My name is Joshua." Bruce shakes his outstretched hand. "It's our first child. You have four boys, don't you?"

"Yeah… or, well, three." Bruce frowns, thinking of Jason's death.

Joshua frowns. "I'm sorry, man."

Bruce shakes his head. "No, it's okay. It's… it was a long time ago."

Luckily at that point, Beverly decides to gather everyone, having each couple sit on the floor with the mates behind their backs. She begins by explaining what happens in a Lamaze class and then focuses on telling everyone what the first class is going to be all about. They start with the biology of not only male and female omegas, but also female betas and alphas. This takes about an hour and a half before Beverly moves onto talking about the different options they have for their birth, briefly mentioning that she will go into natural births more deeply in another class. Once that is down, another hour and a half has gone by with two breaks in between for people to use the bathroom.

"Okay," Beverly says, clapping her hands together. "I think that is all for today. I will see you all next week."

Clark helps Bruce up off the floor and he is then immediately surrounded by pregnant people again. "Brucie!" the female alpha calls out. "We never got a chance to ask you how far along you are."

Bruce places a protective hand over his stomach and Clark wraps a protective arm around his waist. "I'm in my twenty-first week."

Questioning looks form around the room and Bruce knows they are wondering why he is taking these classes so early. After all, one normally starts these classes at twenty-eight weeks "Why so early?" a beta mate asks.

Bruce rubs his stomach. "Well, there could be a possibility of having our baby early. I would just like to be prepared," he says, not completely lying but not mentioning anything about it not being confirmed by a doctor and it only being a cause of his paranoia.

People nod in understanding and then everyone begins to disperse. Joshua walks up to him and Clark with his mate. "See you next class."

Both Bruce and Clark smile their own farewells before leaving the house, thankful that the paparazzi are gone by now. Bruce lets Clark drive home and once they are on their way, they both sigh loudly. "Well…" Clark begins but doesn't continue.

"That was… not what I expected."

Clark chuckles. "I would have thought you would prepare for any and all scenarios."

Bruce rubs his aching head. "Not overly excited pregnant people crowding around me. I felt like I couldn't breathe."

Clark frowns at him. "You okay now?"

"Yep." Bruce leaves it at that, not bothering to mention his headache. "What did you think?"

"I think… it's worth it. Unless you want to try to get one on one lessons now?"

Bruce shakes his head. "No, there's no point now. We've already had to go through all that. They will hopefully have it out of their system by the time we go back next week."

"Hopefully," Clark says, chuckling a short laugh. He then sighs, settling back in his seat, both hands gripping the steering wheel lightly. "It was very educational though. I think I learned more about the anatomy of alphas, betas, and omegas than I learned in four years at Smallville High."

Bruce barks a laugh. "That's because Smallville High health class isn't the greatest thing in the world."

"Blame it on the small town," Clark says with a playful smile. Bruce smiles back and then the rest of their drive back to the Manor is spent in silence.

When they get back, Bruce doesn't come inside. "You want to stay for dinner?"

"I would lo-" Clark cuts off and then sighs.

Bruce nods in understanding despite being disappointed. "Go, save the day."

Clark smiles at him gratefully and leans forward, placing a gentle kiss on Bruce's cheek. "Thank you for letting me go with you."

"Of course, Clark." Bruce smiles back, small and loving. He then gestures with his head. "Go, before someone dies." Clark salutes him and then takes off in the air, his civilian clothes falling back to the ground behind him.

With a long, tired sigh, Bruce bends over and picks up the alpha's clothes. When he turns around, his cellphone begins to vibrate. Shuffling the clothes into one arm, he answers his phone as he makes his way back inside the Manor. "Hello?"

"Bruce?"

Bruce's eyebrows furrow, halting in his tracks. "Kyle?"

"I need your help."

A/N: Thanks for reading!