A Dream of Angels
"Lena, sweetheart, where are you going?" Chloe called out to the little girl scampering out of her room in her mint green swimsuit. "That's not the way to the swimming pool!"
Red curly pigtails bounced around the plump white face that turned briefly to Chloe. "Swimming pool's not fun, mommy."
Chloe sighed as she shrugged on her bedrobe. Lex emerged from the bedroom and slid out beside Chloe. "You rest," he told her. "I'll catch the scamp." Chloe grinned as Lex started chasing after their five-year-old.
"Lena!" Chloe heard Lex shout. "The pool is perfectly huge. Don't tell me you're going to the garden fountain again!"
The pair vanished at the turn of the hallway. Chloe rolled her eyes. She was exhausted from the weekend vacation that she, Lex and Lena took. Her husband and her daughter, on the other hand, seemed to still be so energized. They knew she wouldn't be able to resist. She quickly reached for her fluffy house slippers and raced after the two.
Just like Lex had guessed, Chloe found them in the garden, out in the open air. Lena was playing in the wide fountain. Showing clearly how much his daughter had him wrapped around her littlest finger, Lex sat on the edge of the fountain, his slacks and silk shirt soaked through.
Chloe sat beside Lex and asked, "Aren't you supposed to go to the office this morning?"
He turned to her, his shining eyes making Chloe grin, and replied, "And miss this?" Lex wrapped his arm around Chloe's shoulder and drew her against his body. "She's fascinating, isn't she?"
"I know," she agreed. "Some people would say though that she's just a little girl."
"Liars, all of them," was his soft answer. "Or else they are just the stupidest people in the world."
"Daddy!" Lena called from the other side of the fountain, where she was exposing her bare tummy to a water arc. "Am I really a princess?"
Chloe chuckled against Lex's chest. Lex smiled at his daughter and returned with another question, "Do you feel like a princess, Lena?"
Lena moved away from the water arc and walked towards them, lifting wet arms and wrapping her parents in a tight embrace. "Always!"
"You'll be a princess as long as you feel like a princess," Lex assured her. "And when you start feeling like you're not a princess anymore, we'll do something about it."
Chloe pressed a kiss on Lena's chubby cheek and said, "So that means you can be a princess every day, Lena, for as long as you want. We'll make sure of it."
That satisfied the girl. Lena started swimming on the waist-deep water.
"She's so pretty. She looks like me, doesn't she?"
Chloe relaxed against her husband and made herself more comfortable. She took off her slippers and dipped her feet into the water. Lex arched an eyebrow at Chloe. "I thought you said you had a deadline."
"I don't care," she replied. With a smile, she turned back to watching her daughter.
It was not until a long while later when Lex murmured, "I'm almost tempted to cancel my attendance to the Northern American Business Forum in Quebec."
"Lena will be disappointed," Chloe reminded him. "You won't be able to bring her a t-shirt."
Oddly enough, their daughter had a strange fascination that was almost adult. Whenever Lex attended conferences abroad, or even out of state, she would request for Lex to bring her a souvenir t-shirt that had the name of the place emblazoned in front. She marked it as a genetic inheritance from Lex, whose obsessive collections were infamous in Smallville before.
"I can have one made in Metropolis," Lex suggested half-heartedly.
"Oh she would know. She'd look at the shirt, sniff it, then tell you it's a fake."
Lex turned to his wife. "What's scary is I fully believe you there."
"You don't have to stay away long," Chloe said. "Lena and I will be waiting for you. So hurry home."
"I will," he promised.
"Mommy, why aren't you working anymore?"
Chloe sat up in bed where she had been laying with her daughter. She pushed Lena's nose with her finger and asked, "Why? Don't you like it when mommy is always around?"
Lena's lower lip protruded and she said, "I love it, mommy. But daddy said you were born to write like I'm born to be his baby girl. Won't you hurt if you stop being what you're born to be?"
"I'll always be able to write, Lena, even if I'm a stay-at-home mom. And daddy wasn't completely right." The girl scrunched her forehead, as if the prospect of her father being wrong was alien to her. "I wasn't just born to be a writer. I was born to be your mommy."
That satisfied the little girl. Lena raised herself on her knees and then threw herself on top of Chloe. "Just like I was born to be your baby!"
"There's my smart girl!" Chloe laughed. She squeezed Lena's waist lightly and grinned at the sound of Lena's giggles.
"When will daddy get home?" Lena gasped.
Chloe stilled her fingers and marveled at the brilliance of her daughter, who knew to ask a question to relieve herself of the tickle attack. She brushed one red curl that fell over Lena's eyes and tucked it behind her ear. "You miss daddy?"
"A million billion trillion times."
"He'll be home in three sleeps," Chloe informed her.
"Can I sleep in the morning and then wake up, sleep in the afternoon, wake up, then sleep again so daddy will be home quick?"
Chloe stifled a smirk. Lena got that from her. It usually drove Lex insane. "I meant full night's sleep, silly!"
"But you didn't say," Lena responded matter-of-factly.
Chloe chuckled and sat up. "Well, missy, it's bath time. We still have to go shopping for your birthday shoes." Chloe extended her arms. "Pull me up."
"But mommy you're heavy!" Lena complained. Even so, the girl stood on the bed and clasped her hands around her mother's, and started pulling.
Chloe pretended that Lena was able to lift her. "Wow! You're getting so strong, Lena."
Proud of her accomplishment, Lena jumped off the bed and ran to the closet to get her preferred clothes for the day. She entered the bathroom while Chloe was testing the tub to see if it was warm enough.
"Mommy, I'm gonna wear my green jumpers today."
"Don't you want the rose dress your Uncle Clark got you?" Lena usually loved wearing brand new clothes.
The girl made a face. "It's pink."
"It's rose."
"Pink!"
"Well little girls usually love pink," Chloe said, even though she adored Lena's abhorrence of the color. Chloe admitted she was petty in that regard. "Well all right. Get in here." She motioned to the tub.
Lena took off an oversized t-shirt that said 'AYRES ROCK, Land Down Under' and started for the tub. Chloe moved to lift the girl into the water when she froze. Chloe gingerly placed Lena in the tub and squinted at the dark red and blue-black bruises that she saw on Lena's ribs. "Lena, what are these?" Horrified, she touched the discolorations on Lena's skin. Anger pulsed through her. "Who gave you a bath last?"
"Mommy, don't touch them. They hurt!"
The red anger was quickly covered by concern. "Did your nanny hurt you?" As she said it, Chloe was convinced that the young woman they hired would not raise a hand against Lena.
"No."
Slowly, Chloe made Lena turn around. Tears rose in her eyes when she saw the a few more bruises were scattered on Lena's back. Bile rose in her throat. This was what real terror felt like, she thought. Her heart was pounding in her ears, and her cheeks were so cold.
Chloe kissed her daughter's temple and, forcing calm, whispered, "Start washing up, baby. I'm going to go call daddy."
Chloe left the bathroom to get the cordless phone from the bedroom. She frantically dialed Lex's office number in Canada. When she got no answer, she cursed lightly. With trembling hands, she fumbled with her bag. She grasped her mobile and pressed one.
"Answer," she murmured.
Within two rings, Lex picked up. "Chlo."
"Dammit, Lex. Where are you? Why aren't you answering your office phone?"
Sensing her panic, Lex kept his voice cool and controlled. "Remember I told you the conference starts at ten?" he reminded his wife. "I'm in the middle of a meeting. What's wrong, Chloe?"
"Lena's got bruises, Lex. All over her body." She couldn't breathe. "She hasn't fallen..." she allowed her voice to trail off.
Lex took a deep breath. "All right. I need you to keep yourself together. I want you to take him to her pediatrician. Okay, Chloe?" While he was talking, Chloe was on her way to the bathroom to get her daughter. "Tell Jack to drive you. I don't want you handling a car right now."
"Okay," she whispered.
Chloe stepped into the bathroom.
"I know what you're thinking. It could be nothing," he said. "She hasn't shown any other symptoms, so relax."
"Baby, we're going to Dr. Schultz first today, okay?" Chloe's feet were glued to the floor when she saw her daughter standing in the tub, crying and holding her hands to her bleeding nose. She did not bother hanging up the phone, or saying goodbye to Lex. Chloe tossed her phone into the sink and ran to her daughter.
"Lena, sweetheart, where are you going?" Chloe called out to the little girl scampering out of her room in her mint green swimsuit. "That's not the way to the swimming pool!"
Red curly pigtails bounced around the plump white face that turned briefly to Chloe. "Swimming pool's not fun, mommy."
Chloe sighed as she shrugged on her bedrobe. Lex emerged from the bedroom and slid out beside Chloe. "You rest," he told her. "I'll catch the scamp." Chloe grinned as Lex started chasing after their five-year-old.
"Lena!" Chloe heard Lex shout. "The pool is perfectly huge. Don't tell me you're going to the garden fountain again!"
The pair vanished at the turn of the hallway. Chloe rolled her eyes. She was exhausted from the weekend vacation that she, Lex and Lena took. Her husband and her daughter, on the other hand, seemed to still be so energized. They knew she wouldn't be able to resist. She quickly reached for her fluffy house slippers and raced after the two.
Just like Lex had guessed, Chloe found them in the garden, out in the open air. Lena was playing in the wide fountain. Showing clearly how much his daughter had him wrapped around her littlest finger, Lex sat on the edge of the fountain, his slacks and silk shirt soaked through.
Chloe sat beside Lex and asked, "Aren't you supposed to go to the office this morning?"
He turned to her, his shining eyes making Chloe grin, and replied, "And miss this?" Lex wrapped his arm around Chloe's shoulder and drew her against his body. "She's fascinating, isn't she?"
"I know," she agreed. "Some people would say though that she's just a little girl."
"Liars, all of them," was his soft answer. "Or else they are just the stupidest people in the world."
"Daddy!" Lena called from the other side of the fountain, where she was exposing her bare tummy to a water arc. "Am I really a princess?"
Chloe chuckled against Lex's chest. Lex smiled at his daughter and returned with another question, "Do you feel like a princess, Lena?"
Lena moved away from the water arc and walked towards them, lifting wet arms and wrapping her parents in a tight embrace. "Always!"
"You'll be a princess as long as you feel like a princess," Lex assured her. "And when you start feeling like you're not a princess anymore, we'll do something about it."
Chloe pressed a kiss on Lena's chubby cheek and said, "So that means you can be a princess every day, Lena, for as long as you want. We'll make sure of it."
That satisfied the girl. Lena started swimming on the waist-deep water.
"She's so pretty. She looks like me, doesn't she?"
Chloe relaxed against her husband and made herself more comfortable. She took off her slippers and dipped her feet into the water. Lex arched an eyebrow at Chloe. "I thought you said you had a deadline."
"I don't care," she replied. With a smile, she turned back to watching her daughter.
It was not until a long while later when Lex murmured, "I'm almost tempted to cancel my attendance to the Northern American Business Forum in Quebec."
"Lena will be disappointed," Chloe reminded him. "You won't be able to bring her a t-shirt."
Oddly enough, their daughter had a strange fascination that was almost adult. Whenever Lex attended conferences abroad, or even out of state, she would request for Lex to bring her a souvenir t-shirt that had the name of the place emblazoned in front. She marked it as a genetic inheritance from Lex, whose obsessive collections were infamous in Smallville before.
"I can have one made in Metropolis," Lex suggested half-heartedly.
"Oh she would know. She'd look at the shirt, sniff it, then tell you it's a fake."
Lex turned to his wife. "What's scary is I fully believe you there."
"You don't have to stay away long," Chloe said. "Lena and I will be waiting for you. So hurry home."
"I will," he promised.
"Mommy, why aren't you working anymore?"
Chloe sat up in bed where she had been laying with her daughter. She pushed Lena's nose with her finger and asked, "Why? Don't you like it when mommy is always around?"
Lena's lower lip protruded and she said, "I love it, mommy. But daddy said you were born to write like I'm born to be his baby girl. Won't you hurt if you stop being what you're born to be?"
"I'll always be able to write, Lena, even if I'm a stay-at-home mom. And daddy wasn't completely right." The girl scrunched her forehead, as if the prospect of her father being wrong was alien to her. "I wasn't just born to be a writer. I was born to be your mommy."
That satisfied the little girl. Lena raised herself on her knees and then threw herself on top of Chloe. "Just like I was born to be your baby!"
"There's my smart girl!" Chloe laughed. She squeezed Lena's waist lightly and grinned at the sound of Lena's giggles.
"When will daddy get home?" Lena gasped.
Chloe stilled her fingers and marveled at the brilliance of her daughter, who knew to ask a question to relieve herself of the tickle attack. She brushed one red curl that fell over Lena's eyes and tucked it behind her ear. "You miss daddy?"
"A million billion trillion times."
"He'll be home in three sleeps," Chloe informed her.
"Can I sleep in the morning and then wake up, sleep in the afternoon, wake up, then sleep again so daddy will be home quick?"
Chloe stifled a smirk. Lena got that from her. It usually drove Lex insane. "I meant full night's sleep, silly!"
"But you didn't say," Lena responded matter-of-factly.
Chloe chuckled and sat up. "Well, missy, it's bath time. We still have to go shopping for your birthday shoes." Chloe extended her arms. "Pull me up."
"But mommy you're heavy!" Lena complained. Even so, the girl stood on the bed and clasped her hands around her mother's, and started pulling.
Chloe pretended that Lena was able to lift her. "Wow! You're getting so strong, Lena."
Proud of her accomplishment, Lena jumped off the bed and ran to the closet to get her preferred clothes for the day. She entered the bathroom while Chloe was testing the tub to see if it was warm enough.
"Mommy, I'm gonna wear my green jumpers today."
"Don't you want the rose dress your Uncle Clark got you?" Lena usually loved wearing brand new clothes.
The girl made a face. "It's pink."
"It's rose."
"Pink!"
"Well little girls usually love pink," Chloe said, even though she adored Lena's abhorrence of the color. Chloe admitted she was petty in that regard. "Well all right. Get in here." She motioned to the tub.
Lena took off an oversized t-shirt that said 'AYRES ROCK, Land Down Under' and started for the tub. Chloe moved to lift the girl into the water when she froze. Chloe gingerly placed Lena in the tub and squinted at the dark red and blue-black bruises that she saw on Lena's ribs. "Lena, what are these?" Horrified, she touched the discolorations on Lena's skin. Anger pulsed through her. "Who gave you a bath last?"
"Mommy, don't touch them. They hurt!"
The red anger was quickly covered by concern. "Did your nanny hurt you?" As she said it, Chloe was convinced that the young woman they hired would not raise a hand against Lena.
"No."
Slowly, Chloe made Lena turn around. Tears rose in her eyes when she saw the a few more bruises were scattered on Lena's back. Bile rose in her throat. This was what real terror felt like, she thought. Her heart was pounding in her ears, and her cheeks were so cold.
Chloe kissed her daughter's temple and, forcing calm, whispered, "Start washing up, baby. I'm going to go call daddy."
Chloe left the bathroom to get the cordless phone from the bedroom. She frantically dialed Lex's office number in Canada. When she got no answer, she cursed lightly. With trembling hands, she fumbled with her bag. She grasped her mobile and pressed one.
"Answer," she murmured.
Within two rings, Lex picked up. "Chlo."
"Dammit, Lex. Where are you? Why aren't you answering your office phone?"
Sensing her panic, Lex kept his voice cool and controlled. "Remember I told you the conference starts at ten?" he reminded his wife. "I'm in the middle of a meeting. What's wrong, Chloe?"
"Lena's got bruises, Lex. All over her body." She couldn't breathe. "She hasn't fallen..." she allowed her voice to trail off.
Lex took a deep breath. "All right. I need you to keep yourself together. I want you to take him to her pediatrician. Okay, Chloe?" While he was talking, Chloe was on her way to the bathroom to get her daughter. "Tell Jack to drive you. I don't want you handling a car right now."
"Okay," she whispered.
Chloe stepped into the bathroom.
"I know what you're thinking. It could be nothing," he said. "She hasn't shown any other symptoms, so relax."
"Baby, we're going to Dr. Schultz first today, okay?" Chloe's feet were glued to the floor when she saw her daughter standing in the tub, crying and holding her hands to her bleeding nose. She did not bother hanging up the phone, or saying goodbye to Lex. Chloe tossed her phone into the sink and ran to her daughter.