Disclaimer: see Chapter 1.
A/N: here´s the final chapter of ¨ Hope and Happiness ¨. I finished this fic several months ago and I´ve written quite a few more since then. I know that there´ll be some of you who would have liked it to drag on, but I decided to stick to my original decision and end it here. It´ll certainly look like a beginning and not an ending- maybe in due time there could be a sequel; who knows? For the time being you can enjoy the beginning of a new romance called ¨The Countdown¨.
I´d like to take the opportunity to thank my faithful readers for watching my first two Chlex videos (my first attempts at editing a video ever). Your wonderful feedback has encouraged me to keep on working on some new ideas. Those of you who haven´t seen them yet, can always contact me via PM for the links.
On with the story!
CHAPTER 7: Hope
¨Here´s your coffee, Lex,¨ said Chloe, setting the cup down on the coffee table with shaky hands.
¨Thanks,¨ he said, observing her pale countenance before lowering himself down in an armchair. ¨Where´s the father, Chloe? ¨
¨There´s only me. ¨
¨But surely the child must have a father. What´s happened to him? ¨
¨It´s complicated, Lex.¨
¨Did he deny any relation to the child? ¨
¨No!¨she exclaimed. ¨He can´t deny anything he doesn´t know has ever happened.¨
¨Are you saying you haven´t told him? ¨
¨I thought it was the best thing to do at the time. ¨
¨The best for whom? Have you thought of Hope? Don´t you believe she´ll resent you for not telling her who her father is? ¨
¨She´s young, Lex.¨
¨We both know that the wounds that are inflicted in childhood never heal. They define who you are. You wouldn´t like that for your child- not you, Chloe.¨
¨It wasn´t an option, Lex. I couldn´t tell him about the pregnancy.¨
¨Why not? ¨
¨I couldn´t do that to him? ¨
¨Is he so high and mighty? Were you afraid of what he might do or ask you to do? ¨
¨Oh, I knew what he would have done! ¨
¨Is he such a bastard? ¨
¨On the contrary, Lex, he would have made an honest woman of me, and I couldn´t allow him to do that. ¨
¨Was he married? ¨
¨No, he wasn´t married. But that wasn´t the issue. ¨
¨Is it Clark? ¨
¨Clark? No, not Clark. Wherever did you get that idea from, Lex? ¨
¨Well... you´ve always been in love with him.¨
¨Was, Lex, was. That´s ancient history. Besides, you´re aware he´s never looked at me that way. The closer we ever got to having something was a chaste kiss on the lips when we were in eighth grade.¨
¨Then, if Clark isn´t the father, who is it? ¨
¨Clark isn´t the only man in Metropolis, Lex. ¨
¨You´re right; but I still can´t understand. If he wasn´t married, and if you were sure he´d have wedded you and accepted his parenthood, what stopped you from telling him the truth? ¨
¨Several things; starting with the fact that he wouldn´t have remembered me. ¨
¨I can´t believe Hope´s the result of a one-night stand. ¨
¨Well... technically, she is, but I´ve never thought of her that way. I told you it was complicated, Lex. It wasn´t anything sordid or seedy. It felt so right... I wouldn´t change anything about that night. ¨
¨If things were the way you describe them, why wouldn´t he remember you, then? ¨
¨There was a moment I thought he knew me, deep down, and I felt really special because he trusted me enough to unburden his soul. It started like comfort, but it turned out to be so much more... ¨
¨You said he didn´t know you. ¨
¨I said he wouldn´t remember what happened that night. I never said he didn´t know me. ¨
¨Was he intoxicated? ¨
¨Yes. ¨
¨He didn´t force you, did he? ¨
¨No, Lex, he didn´t. ¨
¨I still believe you should have told him. He´s got a moral and legal responsibility to you and the girl.¨
¨That´s one of the reasons I haven´t told him. He´d have felt cornered or started wondering why I´d been there for him that night, and I didn´t want that. He´d have dissected everything, and I couldn´t allow that to happen.¨
¨Listen, Chloe, I don´t pretend to have all the answers- God knows I´m the least suitable to give advice as far as love or human relationships are concerned-and you don´t need to say any more. You don´t owe me any explanations. However, I´ve been thinking... Are you still willing to do what you said a few nights ago? ¨
¨You mean... that Ferrucci business? ¨
¨Yes. But, would you be ready to take it a step further? ¨
¨A step further? Lex, do you know what you´re talking about? ¨
¨I´m offering you a solution that would help us both. Hope´s young. I can see she´s loved and well-adjusted- I know you and Gabe- but... I´d love her as if she were my... ¨
¨Lex, ¨she sobbed, her eyes brimming with tears. ¨ Stop! ¨ she added, putting her fingertips on his lips. ¨Oh, God! ¨she exclaimed, wiping the tears that were trailing down her cheeks. ¨We´ll need something stronger than coffee, ¨she stated, going back into the kitchen and rummaging through the groceries to get the bottle of scotch she had bought at the supermarket. ¨It may not be like the one in your cellar, but it´ll have to do, ¨ she said, handing him a tumbler with the amber liquid, and making an effort to check the tears that were threatening to fall again.
Lex grabbed the glass and swallowed a large gulp, bracing himself for what was to come. He had a grim sense of foreboding that was increased by Chloe´s demeanour and the way she averted her eyes. He knew what she was going to say but tried to put on that mask of cool detachment he was so used to wearing- anything to control the tumult that raged inside him.
¨I should start at the beginning. As you already know, before moving to Gotham I worked as a columnist for The Daily Planet. I loved that job, but working in an office has never been my thing. At that time, I craved for the opportunity to do some field work, and the atmosphere in the editing room got really tense when Lois came on board. Perry White started giving her assignments in the street. I´d never had any problems with my cousin- we´ve always got along- but I resented Perry´s decision and told him so. A week later, he granted me my first investigative assignment in six months, ¨she explained, sipping her scotch.
¨When was this? ¨interrupted Lex, finishing his drink.
¨Forty-five months ago,¨ she answered, holding his gaze and swallowing the lump in her throat. ¨My informant´d told me the man who had the intel to expose the subject of my research was going to attend a costume ball at Metropolis Plaza. The problem was how to sneak into the party without being on the guest list. Fortunately, Perry cashed in a favour and got me a formal invitation.¨
¨Forty-five months ago... October, ¨ murmured Lex to himself, leaving the armchair and walking towards the window. ¨What was the exact date, Chloe? The date of the costume ball? ¨ he asked, loosening his tie.
¨October 10th, ¨she responded, looking at his back.
¨Go on, please, ¨ he requested, putting his hands in the pockets of his black trousers.
¨I made contact with the target and managed to strike an amicable conversation. I was about to get the information I wanted, and leave the tedious do for good, when I overheard a man picking a fight, and recognised the voice as belonging to someone I hadn´t seen since I graduated from high school. I could tell he´d been drinking, and I´d never seen him like that in public. I thought something pretty bad must have happened for him to lose control in front of all those people. He was on the verge of a major breakdown, and I acted on impulse. I dumped my contact and somehow managed to talk this other man into leaving the ball with me. ¨
¨You were wearing a green dress, weren´t you? ¨ he asked with glassy eyes, turning round from the window. ¨I remember your voice sounded familiar but... I couldn´t see your face behind the mask. I was intoxicated when I arrived at The Plaza and hell-bent on picking a fight with anyone. I wanted to numb what I was feeling... I remember hating my dad for dying without having heard me out. We´d had one of our worst arguments that day. As usual, he´d had the upper hand and made me look like a fool. Still, what really pissed me off about the whole situation was that I couldn´t shed a tear for him. I felt he´d succeeded; he had turned me into an insensitive bastard just like him. We talked about this in my room at The Plaza that night, didn´t we? ¨
¨Among other things you´d bottled up for too long. ¨
¨When I woke up the following morning, despite the splitting headache, I couldn´t remember feeling so peaceful in my life. The night was a blur, and my mind was full of fleeting images and sounds- a woman in a green dress, tears, soothing words, comforting arms and an indescribable feeling of being loved and treasured. For months, I´d wake up in the middle of what I thought was merely a recurring dream of my mum, ¨ said Lex with watery eyes, lowering himself next to Chloe on the sofa. ¨You should have told me, Chloe, ¨ he added chokingly, cupping her face in his hands and wiping her tears with his thumbs.
¨Lex, all your life you´ve fought against your legacy and the plans your father had for you. I didn´t want to add an extra burden to the equation. I knew you, Lex, and I was convinced the minute I told you about the charity ball you would have started having doubts about the reasons behind our meeting. You wouldn´t have seen it as casual. You´d have thought I´d been there to get something from you. What´s more, you´d have turned something beautiful into a cunningly deviced plan to trap you. If I´d approached you and you´d offered to marry me- as I knew you would- you´d have sentenced us both to a life of misery. ¨
¨You don´t know if that would have happened. ¨
¨Be honest with yourself, Lex. You´d already been married twice, can you say without a shadow of a doubt you wouldn´t have thought I was another blood-sucking bitch? ¨
¨You aren´t Desiree or Helen, Chloe. I´ve never met anyone as giving or as selfless as you. ¨
¨No one is completely devoid of selfishness, Lex, ¨she responded with a small smile.
¨Have you told her anything about her father? ¨
¨Not much. She knows she´s got your eyes- many a time I wondered how it was possible my father hadn´t guessed the truth. The first time she looked into my eyes, I felt stripped and realised it was going to be hard to hide whose daughter she was. ¨
¨You should have entered the room earlier, then. I´ve never felt so uncomfortable under anyone´s stare in my life, ¨ he smirked.
¨That´s what it feels like to be at the end of your stare, Lex, when you´re determined to show you´re in control, ¨ she stated. ¨The night of the costume ball you let me see your eyes were capable of showing so much more, ¨ she said longingly.
¨Before that night I´d only allowed myself to be vulnerable in front of my mother, ¨ he whispered, gathering her in his arms, and pressing a kiss on the crown of her head.
¨Knowing how much you loved your mum, I toyed with the idea of naming our daughter after her, but it´d have made matters worse. I chose ´Hope´ because I´m an eternal optimist, and I didn´t resign myself to the idea that there couldn´t be an ´us´... ¨ she said, looking up into his eyes. ¨ It hurt that you couldn´t be part of our lives and I hated having to deprive you both of each other. Still, you were her dad and I wanted her to have something to brand her yours so I made your first name her middle name. I thought my dad would see through it but... Lex? ¨ she sobbed. ¨ Will you ever be able to forgive me? ¨ she grabbed the front of his shirt in a tight fist.
¨Chloe, ¨ he responded, taking her hands in his, ¨when I left Metropolis to come to Gotham a week ago, I was seriously considering compromising- even if it meant sacrificing my happiness for two or three years. I was ready to propose a tolerable young woman a marriage only in papers and a cold prenuptial agreement to protect my assets. I was planning on having the marriage annulled after a couple of years and an economic compensation to my wife. I didn´t savour the idea one bit, but it was the only way Ferrucci would accept the sale. But then... I saw you at Bruce´s and realised there was a chance I wouldn´t have to compromise after all, because a marriage with you would have been no sacrifice. However, the more I got to reacquaint myself with you and the more I thought of you as the woman I wanted as my wife and mother of my children, the more I convinced myself I should let you be, ¨explained Lex passionately to a transfixed Chloe.
¨Lex, are you saying you backed down on your proposal because you...¨she choked on the last words.
¨Love you? I´ve always found it so difficult to utter those three words... Every time I´ve said them, I´ve got a slap in my face, ¨ he smiled wryly.
¨I... ¨ mumbled Chloe, with trembling lips.
¨Shh... ¨ he silenced her, placing two fingers on her mouth.¨ You´re so unlike any of the women I fell for in the past,¨ he added, locking his stormy blue-grey eyes with hers. ¨ The answer to your question´s a definite ´Yes, Chloe. ´. I love you for the girl you were- the one who almost got killed for me- and for the woman you´ve become. I love you because you´re beautiful inside, and because you´ve given something back to me, something I lost when my mother died: hope; hope that someone could learn to love me, ¨ he confessed, kissing her softly on the mouth and tasting their salty tears on her lips.
¨Mummy... I´m hungry, ¨ interrupted a tiny voice.
¨Come here, sweetie, ¨ said a shaky Chloe, wiping her tears with the heel of her hands and flashing a Sullivan smile.
¨Why are you crying? ¨asked Hope when her mother picked her up and sat her between them two on the sofa. ¨Has he hurt you? ¨ she questioned, looking at Lex.
¨No, honey, Lex hasn´t hurt me, ¨answered Chloe smilingly, raising her eyes to meet the billionaire´s over Hope´s head.
¨My mum sometimes calls me Lexie, ¨ said Hope matter-of-factly, looking back at Lex and boring her eyes into his.
¨Your mum´s just told me your middle name´s Alexandra, ¨ said an emotional Lex, gently caressing her soft baby cheek.
¨Are you my dad? ¨asked his daughter, recognising her blue-grey eyes in his glassy ones.
The young billionaire´s heart skipped a beat and, for the first time in his adult life, he couldn´t form a coherent sentence and was forced to nod his assent. The little girl´s face illuminated with a smile so much like Chloe´s that he couldn´t hold the tears in check again. Suddenly he felt her small arms wrap around his neck and a smell of talc powder and baby cologne invade his nostrils.
¨I like you, ¨she added, climbing down his lap, and running hastily away. ¨Grandpa, grandpa Gabe! ¨
¨She´s certainly something, isn´t she? ¨ beamed Chloe.
¨Chloe, I know I´ve got a lot to process yet and that we´ve got so much catching up to do. ¨
¨Lex, I won´t ask you for... ¨
¨I know you wouldn´t but, given time, it´s what I´ll want. Nothing would make me happier than to have you and Hope- and let´s not forget Gabe- in my life. If I were to pop the question when we´re ready, what would your answer be? ¨
¨Do you actually need to ask me that, Lex? ¨ she responded throatily, meeting his lips in a searing kiss that showed him how much she´d missed him.
¨Let´s call Gabe, ¨ said Lex, ending the kiss reluctantly. ¨Our daughter´s hungry and we´ve got a lot to celebrate, ¨ he added, taking her by the hand and leaving the sofa.
¨It seems you haven´t lied to Ferrucci after all, ¨ responded Chloe with a luminous smile.
¨I haven´t. I´m a family man, ¨ smirked Lex.
What are your views on this final instalment? What´s your overall impression on Hope and Happiness? Don´t forget to check out my new romance, ¨The Countdown¨.