WHO CARES ABOUT YOUR LINEAGE?
The strains of the musical wafted from the study. Lex made his way to the room where he had been informed his father was in. There was only one person that he needed to see, but his own comfort had to wait. He would not come to her disturbed and angry with his father. He pushed the door open, and the powerful music resonated on his skin.
Before he could even speak, Lionel called, "Lex? Is that you?"
How easy it would have been to strike out against the old man from behind. No one would even blame him for doing so. Lex had feared for his life. He had been desperate at the thought that he was going to die. There were so many other times when he would have welcomed the great release from being the son his father always found lacking. This was not one of those times though. Lex had so much to live for. He had someone to survive for. Along with the thought of taking some form of revenge came the memory of a soft touch on his shoulder. First, the hand that soothed him was his mother's. Briefly, it shifted into Pamela's. Then the hand that caressed his skin gave him a sublime pleasure he had never felt before. That was when he knew that the touch was Chloe's. He stilled at the doorway and answered, "Still alive and kickin, Dad. No thanks to you."
People admired the grace with which he used the language, the sophisticated way he possessed words and brandished them as a weapon. What they did not know was that Lex Luthor had perfected his own form of verbal judo primarily because it was the only tool he could use against his father.
"You're a survivor, son." Lex could swear that he could hear pride with his father's chuckle. "I knew she wasn't going to kill you."
"Not for lack of trying." He tried to suppress the bitterness. When the reply rolled off his tongue he knew that he had failed. Lex walked into the room. He had to know the answer. Despite the fact that he did not trust his father in any way, Lionel was the single person who had the answer to his question.
"I couldn't give in to her. You must know that."
The younger man's jaw tightened when he took insult to his father's answer. He was the last person to preach about self-control when he himself had lost it a thousand times as a teenager. Being Lillian's only defense though, he had to retort, "Like you did all those years ago?"
Lex was satisfied that his father took a moment to answer. "I loved you mother very deeply, Lex." Was it only because he knew how exactly it was to love that Lex remained unconvinced of his father's sincerity? "I was not a perfect husband. I strayed. If you've never been tempted, Lex, I'm sure you will be someday."
Lionel awoke one of Lex's fears about being with Chloe. She alone was perfect. But a marriage with him would wear on her, would give her the sort of pain that she had never before experienced, perhaps would never experience if she ended up with Clark, when he eventually strayed. Right at that moment, he adored her more that he adored any other woman before. He would sooner have his arm cut of and diced than see Chloe hurting because of his own weakness. He knew that no matter how much he loved her, it was in his blood to stray. It may be unthinkable to him at the moment because they only just discovered each other. He could swear to heaven that he would never look at another woman, but what was his reassurance that he would not be tempted? Luthors were known, and now proven, to seek pleasure outside the marital bed.
Lex moistened his lips. It was something that he had to answer to himself. And if he ever found that he was not strong enough to honor a promise, he would talk it over with Chloe, not with his father who was the root of all his insecurities regarding his ability to give his entire being to love. "We're not talking about me, Dad. We're talking about Rachel Dunleavy. Did she bear your illegitimate son or not?"
The admission threatened to send him to his knees. Lex listened with dawning compassion as his father told him about the brother that he never knew. At first enraged that Lionel dared to sleep with another woman while Lillian Luthor struggled for her life, Lex's heart broke at the sight of Lionel's grief when the older man confessed about the boy's death before he even reached age one.
Lex left his father in the study in search of some comfort. He had a family he never knew about, in all the years that he prayed for a brother or a sister, his father had another son who lived and died without his knowledge. Behind him, Lex heard the music swelling and reaching a crescendo that then cascaded marvelously.
He needed to see her. Before he decided if he deserved a chance at happiness, that he could fight the unfaithfulness that coursed through his veins, he needed to see her. While the falling notes rushed away from his earshot, Lex's feet picked up speed. He strode towards the stairs and ran up the steps leading to his floor. He turned the corridor and walked, almost jogged the rest of the way to his bedroom. He had to change into something more casual before he saw her, something that did not remind him that he just left his father's entwined grief and deceit.
He was about to open the door when he collided with a chuckling maid who was on her way out of his room.
"Oh I beg your pardon sir!" came the maid's apology.
Although he was in a hurry, Lex arched his eyebrow suspiciously. "Care to share what's so funny in there?"
The mirth in the young woman's eyes was alive. "It was something Miss Chloe said."
Lex stopped and stared straight into the brown eyes. "Miss Chloe's in there."
A nod and a brief smile. "She's been calling over and over since you went missing, sir. We told her that she didn't have to worry because Mr Kent saved you. The next thing we knew, she was on our doorstep. She's reading."
Lex acknowledged the information and turned the knob gently. She looked up at the sound. The transformation of the polite inquiry in her eyes when she thought he was the maid coming back was completed when she burst into a deep elation at the sight of him walking into the room. She was lying on her stomach in front of the fireplace, sifting through a glossy book.
"You're home!" she gasped. Chloe dropped the book and extended her arms. Lex's legs ate up the distance so he could kneel in front of her and take her in his arms. He closed his eyes when she tightened her embrace. "I was so worried," she murmured into the skin just below his ear. He was reluctant to let her go when she started to pull away. When she established a good amount of distance between their bodies, she scrutinized his face and what she could see of his skin, running her fingers over a bruise on his eye.
"I'm fine," he assured her. He released his breath when her gentle hands then traced the sore puncture on his neck where Rachel Dunleavy had plunged the syringe into him. His eyes fell to the book that she had been reading. Suddenly, whatever foul temper his father had caused in him evaporated. Lex sat back on the rug. He glanced at her in question. "Why are you reading a book of names?" He knew that he had not been a person good enough to deserve it if this was what he thought it was.
Chloe shook her head. She placed herself between his legs and leaned back against his chest. "I was just looking at names, wondering what we should call our kids."
"Is there any reason why you're doing this now?" he prodded gently.
"If you're asking me if I'm pregnant, Lex, I'm not."
He tamped down the disappointment and reminded himself of how young and beautiful she was, and how much of a tragedy it would be for her to carry his kid now. There were too many things he had to settle still. There was so much she had to do. She had a future to see and a career to establish. Those were her dreams, and he would be far worse than his father, who got a willing woman pregnant, if he took those away.
"You're disappointed," he heard her say faintly.
"I'm not," Lex assured her. "I'm not happy, but I'm not disappointed either. We've got all the time in the world." He spied a piece of paper with her handwriting lying beside the book. "Did you see anything viable?"
Chloe hastily picked up the slip of paper and then settled back against him again. He wrapped his arms around her. "I was thinking that even though I have no doubt we will be rocking parents," she began, making Lex grin, "we shouldn't give them our names. They're going to have a hard enough time following our memorable footsteps. We shouldn't add to the pressure."
"I agree. What if one of them wants to be a reporter? No one can equal your prowess."
"I thought we could name one or two after Clark and Lana," she suggested. "They wouldn't have the pressure of exceeding insurmountable achievements." Lex chuckled. "That was a joke."
"I don't know," he told her. "It sounds like a logical argument." He turned her in his arms and pressed his lips on hers, feeling the tremor that rushed through her. Lex pulled away and considered the glassy look in her eyes that had nothing to do with pleasure. "Have you been upset all the while you were waiting in here?"
"I'm not upset."
"Try lying again when I didn't just feel the evidence. Now what's wrong?" Chloe kept silent, pretending that he was seeing things and suspecting emotions where there were none. Lex shook his head. "You're not as animated as you usually are."
She met his eyes steadily and sighed, knowing that there was no way she could evade telling him when he already suspected. After all, she went there to make sure he was all right, because his mere presence comforted her. Chloe moved to face him and knelt between his legs. Before she could tell him though, she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her cheek on his shoulder. "I told Clark that mom left me," she admitted. "He was just being such an ass and I know I shouldn't have looked where he didn't want me to, but I honestly thought I was helping! And then he was in my face, telling me I should go find her." Her voice trailed off and was cut by a sniff.
His fingers created soothing circles on her scalp. "You haven't said it aloud for years, have you?"
Her grip on him tightened. "Not saying it was making me think it was less true."
Before he could respond, there was a rapid knock on the door. Chloe hastily looked at the closed door. She quickly brushed away the tears from her eyes.
"Lex," came Lionel's voice. Chloe gasped. She looked at Lex, eyes wide. Lex placed his finger to his lips in a gesture for silence. "Is someone in there with you? I thought I heard voices."
"No one is here, dad," Lex replied.
"Oh. Well the butler informed me that the Sullivan girl was here earlier. She must have left."
Lex and Chloe did not move from their position by the fireplace. "Yeah. She must have wanted to interview me about the kidnapping. You know reporters and their pain in the ass stalking." He grunted when she jabbed her elbow into his stomach.
"All right son," Lionel responded. I only wanted to make sure that you were fine. You found out something tonight that must be overwhelming for you."
"It's fine, dad," Lex called out. "I just need to deal with this alone. I'll see you tomorrow." They heard footsteps fading down the corridor. Chloe released the long breath that she had been holding. Lex smirked at her. "You know he wouldn't have heard you if you kept breathing."
Chloe swatted him on the arm. "I am so far from being a stalker I'm actually the stalkee!" she protested. She remembered Lionel's earlier words. "Would you like to share what is so overwhelming that Father of the Year over there had to check up on you?"
Noticing that since his father's inopportune check-up, she had been moving away, Lex wrapped one free arm around her waist and drew her back against him. She giggled and sprawled on his chest and legs. "Dad told me about my brother."
Chleo gasped. Clark had given her a name earlier that she didn't recognize. "Lucas Luthor." Lex frowned. "Rachel Dunleavy gave that name. Lucas Luthor."
He nodded. "Dad said that Lucas died when he was still a baby. I don't believe him."
Her lips formed an oh. Chloe cupped his cheek and searched his eyes. "Do you want me to find him, Lex? You can pay investigators to look for him, but no one has ever been as good and as quick as I am when it comes to research. Plus, I'm going to do it for free." His lips curved. "The fee wouldn't matter really. What's important if you let me do this is that I will be part of this Lex. I want to help you complete your family because you deserve it."
Lex covered the hand on his cheek with his own. He brought her palm to his lips and pressed a long chaste kiss on it. "I just wish I had the ability to make your mom return. You deserve a family more than I do."
The smile that broke on her face took his breath away. "Well maybe you can still give me that. Not now, with my mom. But someday you'll give me a family. Deal?"
"I wish I could. You know that I would rather make you happy than do anything else in the world."
"Lex," she said softly, "is there anything wrong?"
He shook his head. "You know I'm the most arrogant, self-confident people in most circles."
"I do know that."
Lex grinned lopsidedly. "Not exactly the quick reassurance I was looking for," he told her. Chloe winked. "The thing is, I'm most insecure about one thing. That's my ability to be the guy you need. I've been thinking of that for a year. Maybe I should be younger, or funnier, or more responsible, or more equipped to protect you, or more loyal-"
"Or not a Luthor?" she finished, raising her eyebrow. At the almost guilty look on his face, she sighed. "You think being a completely different person would make you the perfect husband for me? Well that's just moronic, imbecilic, brainless thing that I've ever heard."
"Way to lay it on thick, Chloe."
"I can't help it! You think if you were not you, I'd have a happy marriage or relationship or whatever-That's definitely stupid because how can I be happy with another person? I'm desperately in love with you."
Lex's eyelashes lowered.
"Since I was a kid I knew you were the perfect guy," she told him. "Why do you think I test drove you?"
He grinned when a quick memory whispered to him.
"Chloe, I really need to study," the bald boy complained. He was uncomfortable with the way the Sullivan kid fluttered her eyelashes when she invited him to play house with her.
The little girl rolled her eyes. She clutched the baby dolls to her chest. "Monica and Jessica need to have a daddy."
"They already have a mommy."
Chloe shook her head, blonde hair escaping from the pins that Gabe had quickly clipped. Her daddy didn't know how to fix up the girl because he'd only been taking care of her by himself for twenty-seven days. "Silly. Babies need a mommy and a daddy," she explained. "And I'm a superagent mommy, so I need to go to work. So you can stay with them and then when you go to work I will stay with them. Come on, Lex. Play with me."
Lex had glanced at the book of poetry in his hands and shrugged. "Fine. But only for an hour, okay?"
Chloe had beamed at him. "Monica, Jessica, this is your daddy."
"We're going to have to change those names too."
Lex blinked away the pleasant images when he felt the young woman in his arms press her body against his. He smiled at the little girl who turned into a beautiful woman when he had not been looking. "You know what," he began. "I think I will be all right."
"Really?"
He nodded. "Looking at you now, feeling the way I do, I just know that this time I will be more than an hour at this."
"How much time can you spare playing hubby?"
"How does forever sound?"
Her sight suddenly blurred with the intense joy that filled her. "I think I can work with that."
The strains of the musical wafted from the study. Lex made his way to the room where he had been informed his father was in. There was only one person that he needed to see, but his own comfort had to wait. He would not come to her disturbed and angry with his father. He pushed the door open, and the powerful music resonated on his skin.
Before he could even speak, Lionel called, "Lex? Is that you?"
How easy it would have been to strike out against the old man from behind. No one would even blame him for doing so. Lex had feared for his life. He had been desperate at the thought that he was going to die. There were so many other times when he would have welcomed the great release from being the son his father always found lacking. This was not one of those times though. Lex had so much to live for. He had someone to survive for. Along with the thought of taking some form of revenge came the memory of a soft touch on his shoulder. First, the hand that soothed him was his mother's. Briefly, it shifted into Pamela's. Then the hand that caressed his skin gave him a sublime pleasure he had never felt before. That was when he knew that the touch was Chloe's. He stilled at the doorway and answered, "Still alive and kickin, Dad. No thanks to you."
People admired the grace with which he used the language, the sophisticated way he possessed words and brandished them as a weapon. What they did not know was that Lex Luthor had perfected his own form of verbal judo primarily because it was the only tool he could use against his father.
"You're a survivor, son." Lex could swear that he could hear pride with his father's chuckle. "I knew she wasn't going to kill you."
"Not for lack of trying." He tried to suppress the bitterness. When the reply rolled off his tongue he knew that he had failed. Lex walked into the room. He had to know the answer. Despite the fact that he did not trust his father in any way, Lionel was the single person who had the answer to his question.
"I couldn't give in to her. You must know that."
The younger man's jaw tightened when he took insult to his father's answer. He was the last person to preach about self-control when he himself had lost it a thousand times as a teenager. Being Lillian's only defense though, he had to retort, "Like you did all those years ago?"
Lex was satisfied that his father took a moment to answer. "I loved you mother very deeply, Lex." Was it only because he knew how exactly it was to love that Lex remained unconvinced of his father's sincerity? "I was not a perfect husband. I strayed. If you've never been tempted, Lex, I'm sure you will be someday."
Lionel awoke one of Lex's fears about being with Chloe. She alone was perfect. But a marriage with him would wear on her, would give her the sort of pain that she had never before experienced, perhaps would never experience if she ended up with Clark, when he eventually strayed. Right at that moment, he adored her more that he adored any other woman before. He would sooner have his arm cut of and diced than see Chloe hurting because of his own weakness. He knew that no matter how much he loved her, it was in his blood to stray. It may be unthinkable to him at the moment because they only just discovered each other. He could swear to heaven that he would never look at another woman, but what was his reassurance that he would not be tempted? Luthors were known, and now proven, to seek pleasure outside the marital bed.
Lex moistened his lips. It was something that he had to answer to himself. And if he ever found that he was not strong enough to honor a promise, he would talk it over with Chloe, not with his father who was the root of all his insecurities regarding his ability to give his entire being to love. "We're not talking about me, Dad. We're talking about Rachel Dunleavy. Did she bear your illegitimate son or not?"
The admission threatened to send him to his knees. Lex listened with dawning compassion as his father told him about the brother that he never knew. At first enraged that Lionel dared to sleep with another woman while Lillian Luthor struggled for her life, Lex's heart broke at the sight of Lionel's grief when the older man confessed about the boy's death before he even reached age one.
Lex left his father in the study in search of some comfort. He had a family he never knew about, in all the years that he prayed for a brother or a sister, his father had another son who lived and died without his knowledge. Behind him, Lex heard the music swelling and reaching a crescendo that then cascaded marvelously.
He needed to see her. Before he decided if he deserved a chance at happiness, that he could fight the unfaithfulness that coursed through his veins, he needed to see her. While the falling notes rushed away from his earshot, Lex's feet picked up speed. He strode towards the stairs and ran up the steps leading to his floor. He turned the corridor and walked, almost jogged the rest of the way to his bedroom. He had to change into something more casual before he saw her, something that did not remind him that he just left his father's entwined grief and deceit.
He was about to open the door when he collided with a chuckling maid who was on her way out of his room.
"Oh I beg your pardon sir!" came the maid's apology.
Although he was in a hurry, Lex arched his eyebrow suspiciously. "Care to share what's so funny in there?"
The mirth in the young woman's eyes was alive. "It was something Miss Chloe said."
Lex stopped and stared straight into the brown eyes. "Miss Chloe's in there."
A nod and a brief smile. "She's been calling over and over since you went missing, sir. We told her that she didn't have to worry because Mr Kent saved you. The next thing we knew, she was on our doorstep. She's reading."
Lex acknowledged the information and turned the knob gently. She looked up at the sound. The transformation of the polite inquiry in her eyes when she thought he was the maid coming back was completed when she burst into a deep elation at the sight of him walking into the room. She was lying on her stomach in front of the fireplace, sifting through a glossy book.
"You're home!" she gasped. Chloe dropped the book and extended her arms. Lex's legs ate up the distance so he could kneel in front of her and take her in his arms. He closed his eyes when she tightened her embrace. "I was so worried," she murmured into the skin just below his ear. He was reluctant to let her go when she started to pull away. When she established a good amount of distance between their bodies, she scrutinized his face and what she could see of his skin, running her fingers over a bruise on his eye.
"I'm fine," he assured her. He released his breath when her gentle hands then traced the sore puncture on his neck where Rachel Dunleavy had plunged the syringe into him. His eyes fell to the book that she had been reading. Suddenly, whatever foul temper his father had caused in him evaporated. Lex sat back on the rug. He glanced at her in question. "Why are you reading a book of names?" He knew that he had not been a person good enough to deserve it if this was what he thought it was.
Chloe shook her head. She placed herself between his legs and leaned back against his chest. "I was just looking at names, wondering what we should call our kids."
"Is there any reason why you're doing this now?" he prodded gently.
"If you're asking me if I'm pregnant, Lex, I'm not."
He tamped down the disappointment and reminded himself of how young and beautiful she was, and how much of a tragedy it would be for her to carry his kid now. There were too many things he had to settle still. There was so much she had to do. She had a future to see and a career to establish. Those were her dreams, and he would be far worse than his father, who got a willing woman pregnant, if he took those away.
"You're disappointed," he heard her say faintly.
"I'm not," Lex assured her. "I'm not happy, but I'm not disappointed either. We've got all the time in the world." He spied a piece of paper with her handwriting lying beside the book. "Did you see anything viable?"
Chloe hastily picked up the slip of paper and then settled back against him again. He wrapped his arms around her. "I was thinking that even though I have no doubt we will be rocking parents," she began, making Lex grin, "we shouldn't give them our names. They're going to have a hard enough time following our memorable footsteps. We shouldn't add to the pressure."
"I agree. What if one of them wants to be a reporter? No one can equal your prowess."
"I thought we could name one or two after Clark and Lana," she suggested. "They wouldn't have the pressure of exceeding insurmountable achievements." Lex chuckled. "That was a joke."
"I don't know," he told her. "It sounds like a logical argument." He turned her in his arms and pressed his lips on hers, feeling the tremor that rushed through her. Lex pulled away and considered the glassy look in her eyes that had nothing to do with pleasure. "Have you been upset all the while you were waiting in here?"
"I'm not upset."
"Try lying again when I didn't just feel the evidence. Now what's wrong?" Chloe kept silent, pretending that he was seeing things and suspecting emotions where there were none. Lex shook his head. "You're not as animated as you usually are."
She met his eyes steadily and sighed, knowing that there was no way she could evade telling him when he already suspected. After all, she went there to make sure he was all right, because his mere presence comforted her. Chloe moved to face him and knelt between his legs. Before she could tell him though, she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her cheek on his shoulder. "I told Clark that mom left me," she admitted. "He was just being such an ass and I know I shouldn't have looked where he didn't want me to, but I honestly thought I was helping! And then he was in my face, telling me I should go find her." Her voice trailed off and was cut by a sniff.
His fingers created soothing circles on her scalp. "You haven't said it aloud for years, have you?"
Her grip on him tightened. "Not saying it was making me think it was less true."
Before he could respond, there was a rapid knock on the door. Chloe hastily looked at the closed door. She quickly brushed away the tears from her eyes.
"Lex," came Lionel's voice. Chloe gasped. She looked at Lex, eyes wide. Lex placed his finger to his lips in a gesture for silence. "Is someone in there with you? I thought I heard voices."
"No one is here, dad," Lex replied.
"Oh. Well the butler informed me that the Sullivan girl was here earlier. She must have left."
Lex and Chloe did not move from their position by the fireplace. "Yeah. She must have wanted to interview me about the kidnapping. You know reporters and their pain in the ass stalking." He grunted when she jabbed her elbow into his stomach.
"All right son," Lionel responded. I only wanted to make sure that you were fine. You found out something tonight that must be overwhelming for you."
"It's fine, dad," Lex called out. "I just need to deal with this alone. I'll see you tomorrow." They heard footsteps fading down the corridor. Chloe released the long breath that she had been holding. Lex smirked at her. "You know he wouldn't have heard you if you kept breathing."
Chloe swatted him on the arm. "I am so far from being a stalker I'm actually the stalkee!" she protested. She remembered Lionel's earlier words. "Would you like to share what is so overwhelming that Father of the Year over there had to check up on you?"
Noticing that since his father's inopportune check-up, she had been moving away, Lex wrapped one free arm around her waist and drew her back against him. She giggled and sprawled on his chest and legs. "Dad told me about my brother."
Chleo gasped. Clark had given her a name earlier that she didn't recognize. "Lucas Luthor." Lex frowned. "Rachel Dunleavy gave that name. Lucas Luthor."
He nodded. "Dad said that Lucas died when he was still a baby. I don't believe him."
Her lips formed an oh. Chloe cupped his cheek and searched his eyes. "Do you want me to find him, Lex? You can pay investigators to look for him, but no one has ever been as good and as quick as I am when it comes to research. Plus, I'm going to do it for free." His lips curved. "The fee wouldn't matter really. What's important if you let me do this is that I will be part of this Lex. I want to help you complete your family because you deserve it."
Lex covered the hand on his cheek with his own. He brought her palm to his lips and pressed a long chaste kiss on it. "I just wish I had the ability to make your mom return. You deserve a family more than I do."
The smile that broke on her face took his breath away. "Well maybe you can still give me that. Not now, with my mom. But someday you'll give me a family. Deal?"
"I wish I could. You know that I would rather make you happy than do anything else in the world."
"Lex," she said softly, "is there anything wrong?"
He shook his head. "You know I'm the most arrogant, self-confident people in most circles."
"I do know that."
Lex grinned lopsidedly. "Not exactly the quick reassurance I was looking for," he told her. Chloe winked. "The thing is, I'm most insecure about one thing. That's my ability to be the guy you need. I've been thinking of that for a year. Maybe I should be younger, or funnier, or more responsible, or more equipped to protect you, or more loyal-"
"Or not a Luthor?" she finished, raising her eyebrow. At the almost guilty look on his face, she sighed. "You think being a completely different person would make you the perfect husband for me? Well that's just moronic, imbecilic, brainless thing that I've ever heard."
"Way to lay it on thick, Chloe."
"I can't help it! You think if you were not you, I'd have a happy marriage or relationship or whatever-That's definitely stupid because how can I be happy with another person? I'm desperately in love with you."
Lex's eyelashes lowered.
"Since I was a kid I knew you were the perfect guy," she told him. "Why do you think I test drove you?"
He grinned when a quick memory whispered to him.
"Chloe, I really need to study," the bald boy complained. He was uncomfortable with the way the Sullivan kid fluttered her eyelashes when she invited him to play house with her.
The little girl rolled her eyes. She clutched the baby dolls to her chest. "Monica and Jessica need to have a daddy."
"They already have a mommy."
Chloe shook her head, blonde hair escaping from the pins that Gabe had quickly clipped. Her daddy didn't know how to fix up the girl because he'd only been taking care of her by himself for twenty-seven days. "Silly. Babies need a mommy and a daddy," she explained. "And I'm a superagent mommy, so I need to go to work. So you can stay with them and then when you go to work I will stay with them. Come on, Lex. Play with me."
Lex had glanced at the book of poetry in his hands and shrugged. "Fine. But only for an hour, okay?"
Chloe had beamed at him. "Monica, Jessica, this is your daddy."
"We're going to have to change those names too."
Lex blinked away the pleasant images when he felt the young woman in his arms press her body against his. He smiled at the little girl who turned into a beautiful woman when he had not been looking. "You know what," he began. "I think I will be all right."
"Really?"
He nodded. "Looking at you now, feeling the way I do, I just know that this time I will be more than an hour at this."
"How much time can you spare playing hubby?"
"How does forever sound?"
Her sight suddenly blurred with the intense joy that filled her. "I think I can work with that."