Title: New Game.
Author: Lucy Mars
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: see Prologue.
Summary: It was a new game now. New rules. New
players and new losers.
Chapter #3:
Four Days Ago.
Begrudgingly drinking the juice that Lex had handed her when he'd taken away her morning coffee was how Louis found Chloe the next morning. The scowl that she sent towards the offending citrus concoction that replaced her morning caffeine fix did nothing to distort the distinct glow that Louis could feel from across the room. It almost seemed as if it was Chloe's luminous complexion that was lighting the room and not the morning sun that bathed the large living room with a dazzling shine.
"You look absolutely radiant this fine morning, Pixie."
Glancing up from her morning paper, Chloe almost spit out the sip of orange juice she'd just taken. "Oh Louis," she laughed setting down her glass, "You are too much."
Armed to capacity with more toys than Chloe was sure her baby would ever need, Louis beamed proudly, like any other honorary uncle would. "No, actually I'm just the way you love me."
"Between you and Lex, I have a feeling this baby is going to be swimming in plush toys." Chloe commented wryly as she watched Louis happily drop his armful of toys on the coffee table, "What is it about babies that make men go mad? Lex left this morning before I was even awake and returned with bags and bags of toys."
"Before we jump into the insanity that Lex and I are currently taking part in," Louis grinned capturing Chloe's face between his hands, "I just wanted to say congratulations. You and Lex are going to be smashing parents. This baby is going to be brilliantly sarcastic and snarky, and of course cute as a button."
The tears building from nowhere and spilling from her eyes, Chloe couldn't help but laugh at the terror and alarm that overtook Louis's usually composed face. "Hormones, Louis. Get used to it. I'm going to be pretty moody from now on."
"You mean you haven't been moody up to this point?" he inquired innocently.
"Oh shut up," Chloe giggled tossing a stuffed goose at Louis laughing face.
"Now, now," Louis mock scowled, "Is that any way for a mother-to-be to talk?"
Rolling her eyes, Chloe waved a careless hand towards Lex's study. "I don't know. Why don't you go and consult the twenty different books that Lex went and bought this morning."
"Hey," Lex spoke up appearing out of thin air, "Those happen to be very informative books. There's nothing wrong with being prepared and well read."
"Alexander!" Louis greeted ecstatically, "Congratulations!"
"Thank you," Lex beamed, not even attempting to school his emotions.
Watching the two men in her life fondly as they did the thing all men do when they feel the need to congratulate each other, puff their chests out and strut, Chloe couldn't help but smile. They were adorable, her boys. What exactly was it about babies that made men go crazy? Chloe wasn't sure if she'd ever figure that one out.
"Hey," Chloe protested when the whole slapping each other on the back thing began to totally exclude her, "I'm the one carrying the baby here."
Capturing Chloe's hand and pressing a kiss to her knuckles, Louis replied teasingly, "And Lex and I are forever grateful for that."
"You just remember that when I have 2am cravings." Chloe said swatting Louis on the chest.
"While I may love you, pixie, Lex is the one who knocked you up." Louis happily reminded her, "Therefore it's only fair that he be the one to do your bidding for the next few months."
Glancing up at Lex's proud grin, which she had categorized as his Proud Papa smile, Chloe nodded in agreement. "I suppose you're right, Louis."
Having noticed Lex's grin too, Louis staged whispered to Chloe, "I think, love, that if you were to ask him for anything right now, he'd most likely give it to you."
Her laughter light and vibrant, Chloe tugged Lex down to sit next to her and happily obliged when he pulled her tighter against him. "I think you're right, Louis. What should I ask for?"
"Whatever your heart desires," Lex murmured, pressing a kiss to Chloe's temple.
"I don't know," Chloe sighed contently as her eyes swept over Lex and Louis affectionate smiles and protectively pressed her palm to the nonexistence bulge that she could feel growing inside her, "I think I have everything my heart desires."
***
The room was dark, damp and just the way he liked it. Dim lights swept over the cold cement and escalated the chill that filled the small space. Two calloused hands worked diligently as hunger went ignored and obvious fatigue was brushed aside with the promise of completion soon. The power of his excitement was barely containable as the final pieces came together.
All the plans that he'd made and all the groundwork that he had laid out would soon pay off. Stilling the tremors of anticipation that swept through his body as he pictured the look on her face when he was finally be able to present her with her fate, he turned his mind away from how she would react to completing the task at hand. Everything had to be perfect. There could be no mistakes. He only had one chance at getting Chloe Sullivan before she became Chloe Luthor and he wasn't going to let his only opportunity slip away.
No, he was going to do this and he was going to succeed. He couldn't afford to fail.
***
"We're going to need to increase her security detail."
Tearing his eyes away from Chloe as she happily sorted through the colorful paint samples that he'd had delivered earlier, Lex turned to face Louis and the serious expression on his usually carefree face. "I agree."
Struggling with whether or not the broach the topic, Louis felt his resolve crumble as he watched Chloe's animated face practically sparkle with excitement and recalled the anxiety that he'd seen just a few days before weight down her carefree eyes. "Chloe's been feeling uneasy lately."
"What?"
Hesitating, Louis discretely pulled Lex aside. "A few days ago, Chloe and I were having lunch and she mentioned that she felt like someone was watching her. It seems that our little Pixie has been feeling uneasy lately."
"She never mentioned it to me," Lex muttered more to himself, than to Louis.
"Oh stop feeling sorry for yourself," Louis snapped, "She didn't not tell you because she was trying to exclude you, you wanker. She didn't want to bother you, seeing as you've got that Stratford deal on your plate right now. I'm risking my bloody neck by telling you this, Lex. I just thought that you would want to know."
Nodding, Lex glanced up just in time to catch Chloe's curious look. "Thank you," Lex told Louis as he smiled reassuringly at Chloe, "I appreciate it."
"What are you two whispering about over there?" Chloe questioned from her seat on the couch as Lex and Louis made their way back to her.
"What we are going to do with you today," Lex answered easily as he came to stand behind her.
Arching a disbelieving eyebrow, Chloe crossed her arms and sat back as she scrutinized the two men. "Really?"
"How do you feel about getting some lunch to celebrate?" Lex asked, idly sorting through the paint samples that Chloe had neatly put aside.
Her excitement obvious, but quelled, Chloe nervously bit her lip as she glanced up at Lex's relaxed face. "You don't have to go in to the office?"
"Nothing that can't wait," Lex assured her.
"We can spend the whole day together?"
Tugging Chloe up and wrapping an arm around her still slim waist, Louis smiled devilishly. "Afraid you'll get sick of the two of us doting on you, love?"
Laughing, Chloe reached for Lex's hand and tangled their fingers together. "Never,"
***
"How is it possible for someone so little to eat so much?"
"I'm just as bloody baffled as you are."
"Oh shut up," Chloe ordered around a mouthful of tiramisu as she glared at Lex and Louis's equally irritating smirks, "I'm hungry."
Laughing, Louis made sure that Chloe didn't have anything sharp she could throw at him before wryly commenting, "I think we established that when you ate your lunch and proceeded to move onto Lex's lunch."
"Hey," Chloe protested, "No harassing the pregnant lady."
"We would never dream of it," Lex replied stealing a bite of Chloe's desert and lessening his offense by quickly feeding his fiancée a bite.
Rolling his eyes at the couples obviously display of their young love, Louis mused out loud, "I wonder Pixie, if your morning sickness is contagious, because I think I'm beginning to feel a little nauseous."
"Ha ha," Chloe replied tossing her napkin playfully at Louis's permanently roguish features, "You're hilarious, Louis."
"That's why you love me, darling."
"Oh, is that why? You know, I'd been wondering about that lately."
Clutching his heart, Louis shook his head. "You cut me with your words, love."
The perfect picture of innocence, Chloe demurely smiled at her English friend. "I apologize, Louis. I assure you, I only meant to scratch."
Sitting back and content with watching Louis and Chloe as they bantered, Lex craned his head up to gaze at the clear blue sky that hovered above them and reflected the perfection of the day. Not a single cloud marred the blue expanse as the sun shone down on the shinning and not so shinning population of Metropolis. Bringing his eyes back down to his dining companions when Chloe's contagious laughter caught his attention, Lex blinked against what he saw.
Lex watched transfixed as a little baby boy giggled happily from his seat across their small table and waved his chubby arms in an overly enthusiastic greeting. A mop of fiery rings tinted with gold glittered magnificently under the soft afternoon sun and only served to accent the emerald eyes that Lex fell in love with all over again. The three of them were sitting down to lunch, like they always did, but with a new addition to their tight circle. The little boy mirrored the laughter of his mother but his crimson lips weren't as full or lively as Chloe's. They reminded Lex of his own lips and how they softened in Chloe's presence. His breath caught in the space between his racing heart and his dry throat, Lex longed to reach out and run his trembling fingers over the ivory skin that had been no doubt bathed with tender hands and kissed with even gentler lips.
The present blended in with the future under the unflinching light raining down from an azure sky and gave Lex a glimpse of what his life was to become.
The table was clear of Louis's usual whiskey, Lex's customary scotch and Chloe's occasional glass of wine. Knives were set out of reach of deceivingly small hands that were lighting fast and genetically clever, crystal had been moved to safer ground and replaced with durable and colorful plastic and the lively conversation centered around the center of his life.
Lex felt his lips curl up as he watched Louis dote on the adorable child and feed him sweets that had Chloe smiling beneath her disapproving frown.
The laughter that split from the beaming baby was pure and bright. It filled Lex with the same warmth that Chloe graced him with. Curious green eyes sparkled with innocence and love as they claimed Lex's attention. Chubby hands clapped together gleefully as pursed lips struggled to form the proper sounds. Gurgled and incoherent garbles of syllables fell from the upturned lips as Lex watched on adoringly.
"Dada!" the baby squealed triumphantly as he banged tiny fists against the linen clad table and drew amused smiles from Chloe and Louis, "Dada!"
Brushing her fingers loving through her son's hair, Chloe smiled proudly like any other mother would. "Of course that had to be your first word. Can you believe that that's all he's been saying for the past two days?"
"Judging from the bloody smile on Lex's face," Louis smirked, "I believe you."
"Dada!" his son laughed as he strained to reach over the table for his father, "Dada."
Everything that Lex had ever wanted was playing out before his eyes. His life was perfect. What was it they said about perfection? Oh yes. It could disappear in a flash.
Flash.
Blinking rapidly to try and clear the sudden surge of light that had temporary blinded him, Lex shook his head slightly and opened his eyes to find the seat across from him empty and patches of grey blocking the sun. The brief panic he felt for his son dissolved as reality reclaimed its rightful place in time and Lex breathed easily with the knowledge that his child was safe. His eyes catching the anger and annoyance painted of Louis's face and the exasperation on Chloe's, Lex followed their gazes to find a lanky photographer smiling sheepishly at them.
"Security has really been lacking here since they've changed management," Louis commented as he took in the sight of the slip of a man standing before him.
Recognizing the man from various functions and random events, Chloe shook her head. "You must have gone to a lot of trouble to get that one picture, Joseph. You had to get by how many security guards?"
A shy smile working its way across his face, the man risked a glance over at Lex and his darkening face before quickly stuttering. "Well worth it. No one's been able to get a good picture of the three of you together for awhile."
"There's a bloody reason for that," Louis muttered as two tall guards made their way over to the trio and their unwanted guest.
"Easy," Joseph protested when one of the guards roughly grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the private dinning area, "Careful big guy."
"I'm sorry for the breach in security, sir. It won't happen again."
Coolly regarding the man standing before him, Lex fought to clear the brief visions that had seemed to stretch on for eternity from his mind and nodded swiftly. "See that it doesn't."
"What should we do about the photographer?"
"Let him go." Chloe said with a shake of her head, "He was just doing this job."
Glancing over at Lex for confirmation, the bulky guard nodded quickly before disappearing out of sight.
"You are too nice for your own good, pixie."
"He was just doing this job," Chloe said as she regarded Lex curiously, "Are you okay, Lex?"
Forcing a smile onto his face and pushing down the sudden feeling of loss that was filling him, Lex took a cleansing breath. "I'm fine,"
***
TBC…..cause I'm evil this way.