Lionel looked at the little boy in his arms. He couldn't believe that he was responsible for this life. This perfect being. So pure, untarnished, undefiled. He couldn't understand the feeling of complete happiness, contentment that he felt as he looked into his son's eyes.

"I love you, Alexander. My sweet baby boy."

Lillian was weak, but she waited for her son to come to see her every morning before he went to school. Lionel had enrolled him in a school in the city so that Lex could be with his ailing mother. She waited for him throughout the day to come see her after his last class. He would come and kiss her and tell her about his day.

At the end of their visit, Lillian took hold of her son's hand. She looked into his eyes almost not recognizing them. Those last spoken words were raspy and difficult.

"I love you, Alexander. Don't you ever become someone you cannot be proud of."

Ashley thought that they would last forever. Alexander was this amazing guy that she met one day when the parents got to be too much for her. Too much to handle. She found him all alone walking on the boardwalk even as the clouds of the impending storm darkened. So dark that at three in the afternoon it looked like it was midnight.

They lay on the bed in her abandoned hotel room because she knew her parents wouldn't return for hours. She had always wanted her first time to be during a storm, and it had been. It was great. He was great. It was his first time as well. He was a natural.

She had looked in his eyes the whole time, the pale blue eyes almost startling. But the most beautiful she had ever seen. Fifteen years old and she was in love, but she knew she would never see him again.

"I love you, Alexander. I always will."

Clark knew from the first sentence he uttered that Alexander Luthor was different. He saw things differently than most people Clark knew. Alexander saw people differently. He had come from another world, his new friend, a world of endless amounts of money and flashy cars. Of people who would do anything just to say that they had spoken with you.

Clark always had his friend's undivided attention. Clark knew that the way he felt for his friend was different than the way he felt about Pete. He also knew that his friend didn't feel quite the same way. Clark told him, but was pushed away. They would never have friendly words again.

"I love you, Alexander. Nothing will ever change that. I truly hope you become the person you've been trying to become all these years. I'll be there, in my home, watching from afar, cheering you on. I'll never forget you, but I'm sure that you'll forget me. But I hope you don't."

Nicolas looked up at the man who had always been his guiding light. He hadn't known that it would end this way, he thought they would have more time. Nicolas was so young. He didn't truly understand what was happening. Alexander said it was for his own good.

Nicolas knew that his childhood was over when his father sat him down and told him what would happen now that his mother was gone. He was old enough to go away to school, so he was now enrolled in Excelsior Prep. He didn't want to leave but he knew he didn't have a choice.

Nicolas looked up at his father as they walked toward his dorm room. When Nicolas was settled, Alexander turned to leave. Four words were his undoing.

"I love you, Daddy."

Alexander took his son home with him. Nicolas would never set foot in a boarding school ever again.