My computer is somewhat broken, it's going to be a while before I can replace it, so until then I'm updating via my phone which takes me forever. I hope you enjoy this update and thank you for all your reviews.

Clips are from the episode Calling.

Martha inhaled sharply as the cold gel hit her skin, her heart racing as Dr Ralston pressed the ultrasound probe against her stomach. She closed her eyes as listened to the clicking of the machine, waiting to hear if everything was ok. The sound of her baby's heartbeat suddenly filled the room and she let out a sigh of relief, opening her eyes as she felt herself tear up slightly. Dr Ralston shot her a small smile as she asked, "Have you been worried about this?"

"It still all feels so surreal," Martha admitted. "I just keep waiting for something to go wrong."

"I can understand why you would feel that way with your medical history, but whilst we believed that it would stop you conceiving, there isn't any evidence that it would prevent you carrying this baby to term."

"But my age might," Martha couldn't help but add.

"Your age does increase some risk factors, I won't minimise that. But there are also a large number of healthy babies who are born to older mothers." She turned the screen so Martha could see it, a kind smile on her face as she told her calmly, "And your baby is growing well."

Martha broke into a wild smile as she saw her baby again, watched as they moved their tiny limbs around, stretching out. She could watch them all day in utter fascination. "And they look healthy?"

"There are no signs of any risk factors we would look for at this stage, at your twenty week scan we have a clearer picture of any anomalies that might be present. However, given your age you are entitled to an amniocentesis, which is our only accurate pre-birth test that will identify any chromosomal conditions."

"I've read about it." Martha shook her head. "I don't want it. The risk attached to it...I just couldn't. I've waited years for this baby." She looked back at the screen. "So everything is ok?"

"Your baby is measuring perfectly for thirteen weeks. If you've had any sickness it should start to abate in the next few weeks."

"I've been quite lucky with that, I've not really had much sickness." Her mouth quirked with a wry smile, as she added, "Unfortunately though, the smell of coffee has made me feel a bit nauseous at times."

"Not what one would want when working in a coffee shop," Dr Ralston smiled. "You can hardly get away from it there." She stretched back slightly. "Do you have any questions?"

Martha nodded, "I wondered if I should be showing more at this stage." Admittedly at first part of her had been relieved that her figure hadn't changed too much - it avoided any awkward questions. She had the slightest of swelling at her stomach, but no worse than if she's eaten a large meal, and she'd had to go up a bra size but that had been it. Then over the last week or so she had started to worry that perhaps she didn't have enough pregnancy symptoms. She was more tired than usual and didn't enjoy the smell of coffee anymore but that was it, sometimes she worried that it was a sign something would go wrong or that she had dreamt all of this, that it wasn't really happening.

"Some women don't show for a while, especially with first pregnancy's because your abdominal muscles are tighter, whereas with subsequent pregnancies they have lost some of that. It's not something for you to worry about, we will keep an eye on baby's growth, try not to worry too much at this stage."

"I suppose I can't quite stop worrying that something bad will happen."

Reaching out to pat her hand comfortingly. "Martha, I can't guarantee any woman that nothing will go wrong, but there is certainly nothing here to suggest that you won't have a healthy pregnancy. I know it's easier said than done, but try not to put too much stress onto yourself, it's not good for either of you."

"I'll try," Martha replied.

"Good. Now I'll print off a copy of this scan for you and then you are good to go. Just the one copy?" She asked.

"Actually if you could print out two." She had to tell Lionel soon, she couldn't keep putting it off, he had a right to know, to be involved and he might want his own copy, she could at least offer him that. She already felt slightly uncomfortable that he had missed this. Dr Ralston didn't react to her request, but then why would she Martha thought.

It was a genuine smile that Helen gave as she bumped into Martha Kent in the corridor of Smallville General. After all she did like the Kent's it was just a bonus that they could potentially prove useful to her. "You're looking well," she remarked. Her voice lowering conspiratorially as she added, "Some might even say glowing."

"There's some days where I most certainly don't feel it."

"The first trimester can be pretty rough." Her head tilted slightly, "Although you must be almost out of that."

"Thirteen weeks," Martha acknowledged with a smile.

They fell into step together. "So should we expect an announcement soon?"

Martha's head dipped as she admitted, "I haven't told Clark yet." Her gaze was forthright as she explained, "I'm worried about how he'll take the news and before now everything seemed so uncertain, I kept waiting for something to go wrong."

Helen managed to stop herself from remarking that she was right in thinking that Clark would have a hard time accepting that not only was he about to have a sibling but that it would also be the offspring of Lionel Luthor. She had heard murmurings of how much Jonathan Kent had disliked the Luther family, and although Lex and Clark were close, she doubted that he was willing to show Lionel anything near the same level of courtesy. Instead she replied, "Well you're past the most unstable part of your pregnancy and you might not be able to hide it for much longer."

"I know. So I've decided that I'll tell Clark after the wedding."

"I'm curious, why after?"

"He's so excited about being Lex's best man and I don't want him to be distracted. The wedding is only three days away, it shouldn't make a difference."

Helen was impressed by how easily Martha could make her decisions sound rational, deflecting away from what she was really hiding. She would be waiting until after the wedding so that she didn't cause all hell to break loose during it. After all she was going to have to tell Lionel, realistically she couldn't hide it. Helen simply smiled as she replied, "I'm sure you're right."

Martha's eyes were warmer as she met her gaze again, asking her, "And how are you holding up? Not long to go, have you got everything organised?"

"If I'm honest I've left most of the planning to Lex." Her nose wrinkled. "Weddings aren't really my thing, I would have been happy with City Hall but Lex wanted the big day." She gave a relaxed shrug, "I didn't want to deny him that." The big wedding would look better later as well, after all it gave her a chance to present herself as the loved up newlywed, the devoted wife even.

"You should get a say too, it is your day. Lex is full of big ideas but he cares for you, he would listen to what you'd want."

"I know." Not wanting to listen to a list of Lex's supposed good points, Helen made herself smile again, her hand brushing Martha's elbow gently as she calmly interjected, "I'm really sorry, I better go, I'm actually about to meet Lex, in fact he's probably already waiting on me; he's always so punctual. It was lovely talking to you though."

"And you." Martha watched Helen sashay away down the corridor and a small frown fluttered across her features. Something niggled at her, a feeling of discomfort, of sudden mistrust and yet she didn't know why. Martha shook her head, she was being foolish, pregnancy must be making her fanciful. And yet, there was just something about Helen's expressions and her words when she spoke about Lex and the wedding that rang untrue. She sighed, probably just nerves, she told herself; nothing more than nerves.

Helen rummaged anxiously through the files in Lex's office, it must have been him who took the vial, there wasn't anyone else with the motive to break into her office. Albeit for a brief moment she had considered Martha Kent as a suspect, her appointment time was roughly around that time after all. As quickly as she had considered it she had dismissed it. Martha Kent trusted her.

Her stomach dipped at that thought. She liked the Kent's, genuinely liked them and she didn't want what she knew about Clark to get out. She might keep what she knew about Martha's pregnancy up her sleeve just in case but she drew the line at letting that boy be exploited. She gave a small sigh of frustration and then her fingers paused as she came across the file with Martha Kent's name on it. Pulling it out, she flicked through it as she turned, making her way to the desk with it when she looked up to see Lionel watching her with interest. "You don't think he's hidden it in here, do you?" He asked, his head tilting in mock curiosity.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied.

"I'm talking about the valuable object Lex stole from your office."

It was the amusement on his face that unnerved her the most. "Lex would never steal from me."

"Hmmm." He stepped closer to her and she could see him glance down at the file, which she tilted away from him, blocking the name. "If you believe that then what are you doing rummaging around in here while he's out?"

She stormed past him. "How do I know it wasn't you who broke into my office?"

"Oh dear, it appears I've antagonised the lady of the house. Please would you tell my son I dropped by to offer my best wishes." He made to walk past her and she felt a prang of wariness, that had been too easy. Her fear was realised when he turned and added, "Oh no, that would be difficult, wouldn't it? Because then we'd have to explain that we'd run into each other while we were in here and that I caught you snooping." His hand rubbed against his chin, "Oh that could get really messy, especially with your wedding day almost upon us."

Helen knew that she could wipe that smug, satisfied grin from his face, could put him off her trail quite easily, but it wasn't the time for that;not yet. Know when to play your cards she reminded herself. Gritting her teeth, she told him, "Get out."

Lionel turned as if to leave before pausing, looking back at her. "Can I ask you a question Helen, why are you marrying Lex?"

She folded her arms defensively across herself. "Because I love him."

"Hmmm." He raised an eyebrow at that and finally turned to leave, leaving Helen with the sickening feeling that despite it all he had left with the upper hand in this scenario. When the door shut she reopened the file, scanning through it. It was with no small amount of relief she found nothing about Clark or about the pregnancy, the rest of Martha's tests and their results were present but not that one. She gave a sigh of relief, she still had her ace; for now at least.

"Dr Walden! Dr Walden!" Clark shouted, his voice echoing throughout the cave. "It's me, Clark Kent, are you down here?" He swung his torch around onto the carvings in the wall, his attention caught for a moment.

He had just stepped forward when he heard, "Fascinating, aren't they?"

Clark swung round, momentarily caught off guard by the torchlight that shone into his eyes. He blinked rapidly, clearing his vision to see Lionel Luthor staring at him. "Mr Luthor."

Lionel ignored the greeting, stepping forward, his hand pressing against the indent, stating, "The octagonal recess in the wall, I once had a...what you would call a keepsake that matched this exactly. It just disappeared from my office..." He swing back round, the torchlight illuminating Clark's face once more, causing him to wince. "In fact it disappeared the very day you rescued your mother and me." He gave a humourless laugh. "An odd coincidence, wouldn't you say?"

Clark have a shake of his head. "Not really, after all it was a break in." He glanced away momentarily as he added, "What are you doing down here?"

"I've taken over conservatorship of the caves." He arched a brow, "didn't Lex tell you?"

"No, he didn't."

"Ah, he just doesn't want to admit defeat, he keeps fighting me on this. I even ran into some of his security people down here. They were looking for that Dr...Dr Walden wasn't it?"

"Dr Walden was obsessed with these caves," Clark confirmed.

"I can understand why. Look at this, these symbols they..." He tailed off for a moment, stepping forward. "They look different, do these look reversed to you?"

Again the light swung into his face. Clark grimaced but managed to inject a note of levity into his voice as he replied, "They're all Kawatche to me." He watched Lionel's mouth curve into a smile at the response. He scuffed his foot against the ground, trying to mask his discomfort. "If you do see Dr Walden, be careful, he could be dangerous."

Lionel's smile stayed steady, "I appreciate the concern." Clark gave a tight nod and moved to leave before Lionel's voice caught him again. "Pass on my regards to your mother."

Clark turned, his eyes narrowed, he had understood Lionel Luthor's gameplay up until this point. "Why?" He asked bluntly.

Lionel's smile changed and his eye flickered with something Clark didn't recognise. "She was a very competent employee, I believe it's called being polite." He glanced around the cave again. "In fact I'm sure she would worry, if she knew you were down here, looking for a dangerous man when surely that should be a role for the police."

"I'm just trying to help."

"But we wouldn't want you getting hurt in the process."

"I can look after myself."

His smile turned self satisfied, "I'm sure you can."

Clark turned, desperate to leave. He felt as though he'd tripped himself up, but he wasn't sure how.

Martha smiled as Clark met her at the truck, gathering the grocery bags into his arms. "It's nice to see how well trained you are," she remarked. When Clark's expression didn't change, her face fell into a concerned frown. She pressed her hand against his arm. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's Lionel Luthor."

Martha's stomach dropped at his name. "What happened?"

"He's bought the caves."

"Ah." Relief flooded through her, after all Lionel owning the caves was manageable. "I know it will make it more difficult for you to get answers but-"

"It's not that," Clark interrupted. "Well, not just that. It was what he said, he mentioned the key and the way he said it...it's as if he knew that you took it."

Giving a nervous laugh, Martha told him, "He can't do." The lie slipped out far too easily, but she wanted to reassure him; to make him feel safe. "Lionel likes to see what information he can get out of people, don't let him manipulate you into letting something slip."

"I won't. But it did feel like more than that. I can't explain why, but I felt like he knew something." He managed a smile. "I'm sure you're right though."

Martha watched her son make his way back into the house as she considered her next move. She considered speaking to Lionel, but she doubted it would do more than increase his curiosity and she certainly didn't want that. She could feel her control slipping at times, she stood on the precipice of disaster and she wasn't sure how she was going to prevent it. It would be easier if she could hate Lionel, if she could vilify him, but she just couldn't; not entirely. She wanted to turn off her feelings, she had tried, truly tried and still she found herself thinking of the good in him.

Shaking her head, she made her way towards the house. Knowing that the days she left of calm were limited she thought that she may as well make the most of them.

Lionel looked out over Metropolis, mulling over the events of the last two days. He was close, he knew it, close to discovering the secret of the caves and of Clark Kent. That disc shape was the key, he knew it.

He sipped at his whiskey, it wouldn't be long now, but first things first, he had a wedding to attend. Tomorrow his son would sign himself away to that manipulative gold digger, an unfortunate turn of events but Lex would learn from it and come crawling back. It was always the same, perhaps one day he would learn but clearly that day wasn't yet upon them.

Another sip, he moved away from the window. His apartment was quiet, he'd always liked quiet until now. Now it bothered him, when it was quiet, when he wasn't working out his next step or ruminating over Lex's rebellion then he thought of her. He couldn't think of her, he placed the glass down with a solid clunk, he wouldn't think of her.