Pink or Blue – Chapter 17
Lex entered the front gates of the villa late in the evening as Charles picked up his bags and headed down the corridor with them. "Magnil, I need to see you in the office."
Magnil turned from her work at the computer in the living room and saw what looked like her very disgruntled employer. Shutting the laptop, she covered her mouth in slight concern of Lex's reaction to Chloe's email. She stopped Carmen on the way out of the room, "How does he seem?"
Carmen shrugged, "He asked for a beer." Magnil looked down and took the beer from Carmen's hand and walked through the corridor into the new private office complex that Lex had the contractors finish while he had been away. The office opened to the gardens where the sunlight wouldn't be too harsh during the day and he could still work.
Magnil stopped in the doorway, taking a breath, waiting for the backlash of helping Chloe hide her secret until she wanted to tell him. The time had never been right Chloe had said. He was either working, they were with others, or apart. But she had liked Chloe's idea from the start. And it had gotten her husband to come home.
She watched Lex sit at the computer and stare at what she could only think was the only picture he had of her in that condition. "Carmen said you wanted a beer. A little different than your norm?"
Lex looked over the computer screen and took the beer from her without saying anything. Magnil thought she might be out of the woods. "Why didn't she tell me?"
"She wanted to but the timing was always wrong." Magnil sat down across from his desk. "D drive, beach pics, password is valentine." Lex clicked several things before typing in the password and saw the screen fill with pictures of Chloe on the beach with a small swollen belly. Lex cocked his head to one side and couldn't wipe the wider and wider smile off his face.
"How did you two hide it from me?" Lex was more curious than anything. He hadn't heard anything from Chloe about her even missing her month, so he had dropped it until they could get together again.
"A friend of mine is a doctor on St. Croix. We have been paying him out of an account that is still in Chloe's name. Mr. Luthor, she wanted it this way – I honestly didn't know why, but all the answers you need to get are not from me." Magnil got up from her seat as Lex continued to look at the pictures of Chloe on the screen.
Hearing him gasp, she turned around to see Lex sigh as he adjusted in his seat. 'Must have gotten to the naked one of her on the lounger,' she silently laughed as she left.
Lex shut the computer and started down the hall. He knew it was late, but he couldn't help it. Pulling his clothes off, he crawled into the bed next to Chloe and ran his hand down her chest and over her slightly enlarged belly and smiled. "Hey daddy," he heard her whisper as her hand covered his. He closed his eyes and felt Chloe's hand drift to her other side as he felt something slightly punch his palm. "He's a night owl like his daddy."
Chloe rolled over and Lex could see the slight hump in the sheets and felt his stomach coil in a nervous way, but unlike any feeling he had ever felt. "He's kicking?" Lex stopped. "He?"
Chloe turned her head to face Lex as she pressed Lex's hand further into her belly, letting him continue to massage his palm next to his unborn's soccer leg. "We're going to have a son. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. It wasn't planned like this on purpose. I just…"
"But this isn't from November," Lex figured from her size she had kept the secret a lot longer. "Is he healthy?"
Chloe leaned in kissed Lex's lips, closing her eyes at his touch she had missed for the last six weeks again. "He's perfectly healthy. The doctor is wonderful. And HE is from September. I'm due in June." She giggled as Lex pulled himself up to look over her. She was gorgeous. He had imagined that he would long since be alone for the rest of his life and then she happened less than a year ago. Running his hand over her belly and up her breast, she leaned over and he met her lips before burying his face in her unusually long hair.
"Our first night together," he whispered in her ear. He watched Chloe's eyes wince as he felt the small jab on her side.
"I just blame the hurricane. It could have been any one of those times. You sort of forgot to stock the storm shelter with something." Lex pulled away and laughed at her subtle humor and then fell back into the pillows with her. "So, how long before the next trip?"
Lex pulled her closer to his side and nuzzled into the crook of her neck. "What next trip?" Chloe turned and stared at him. "I have some priorities I need to work on." He kissed her once more and settled back next to her, finally falling asleep with his hand still firmly against her belly. Chloe smiled as she felt his breathing even out. He was home to stay.
**********
Chloe stood in the middle of the new room with her hands on her hips. Her back ached and her feet were starting to swell. The feeling was incredibly uncomfortable but not unwelcome. It was worth it. She looked at the small wall clock, with dolphins on the background, and noted the time. The meeting was still in session.
Things had changed in the household since her announcement to Lex. The latest meeting was with an oil conglomerate whose executives seemed more than happy to stay at the resort at the other end of the island and take the limo to the conference room each morning. This was the last day of the meeting, and Lex was pleased with the progress.
He seemed most pleased that he could easily have the men for a meeting and then take an evening sail with the executives and their wives. Chloe hadn't been on the sail though. In her state, she couldn't handle the waves. Lex apologized profusely for her absence, which led to the wives staying behind the night before with her to play cards.
They had adjusted well to each other it seemed. Lex was more laid back than ever before and yet turning more profits, and job satisfaction at Luthorcorp had finally landed the company on the top 10 best places to work. It was a dramatic change from five years previous when people feared working there.
From Chloe's perspective, she and Lex had a long talk about her standing as a Luthor in society. He wanted her to be different than his father had treated his mother in relation to business. Even with her more visible bump, Chloe conducted tours of the islands for the wives as the men conducted business. In return, Lex got more clients and Chloe received care packages for the future bundle in thanks. It was a good arrangement.
A knock on the door interrupted her from her thoughts. She turned and saw Lex still in his business slacks and dark shirt. He looked terribly uncomfortable but crossed his arms with a smirk on his face. "Good news?"
"We'll see soon enough. The committee is considering the findings on the synthetic oil product and if it'll make a difference in the production costs. Looks good so far. How's the room coming along?" Lex shoved his hands in his pockets and walked around the room that he and she had argued over. It had been their first real argument since they got together. He wanted classic; she wanted fun. They met in the middle.
The paint was a marble mix of blues that complemented the one wall Chloe had an artist in St. Thomas paint an underwater scene on. Stuffed animals hung from a fishing net across one corner and the cream colored furniture contrasted with the darker blue carpet. Lex shook his head when the artist finished the wall and laughed thinking his son would wake up one day and think he was drowning at the bottom of the ocean. But he admitted it was tastefully done.
"It's done except for the addition of the clothes and of course the letters above the crib." Chloe ran her hand along her belly and winced.
"Getting excited?" Lex asked with a gentle grin on his face.
"Hungry, as is mom." Chloe walked over to the door and ran her hand along Lex's waist, taking his hand in hers. Lex followed her into the kitchen and watched as she put together the most awful looking sandwich and wondered how she could possibly think it was edible.
**************
"I feel like a big pink balloon," she commented in the mirror as she smoothed the bridesmaid dress out over her belly. Lifting her foot slightly, she eyed the easygoing shoes that Lana had picked out for her instead of the high heels that the other women wore. "Are you sure I have to get up there like this?"
"You look radiant. You will probably steal my thunder today." Chloe looked over at Lana and saw her sitting on the bed holding a tissue. She watched as Lana's face slid from joking to nervous. "You think I'm making a mistake?" Chloe knew that Clark had told her his secret several weeks earlier and she had been having a hard time adjusting to it. Clark, however, didn't make it public knowledge that Chloe knew anything.
Chloe moved over to the bed and sat next to Lana. "I can tell you from first hand experience that the men we marry both have their quirks and I sometimes wonder how I get past some of Lex's. But the bottom line is that I love him, for that better or worse. You will have difficulties and you will fight, but you are going to be together. He will need to lean on you and you on him. But if you don't think you can support him, you have to tell him before he stands up in front of those people out there."
Lana stared at Chloe and then looked her belly. She had really grown up in the last year. She wanted to have her strength. She gasped at the knock at the door before it opened. "Ladies, five minutes." Chloe looked up and smiled at her husband. Lex saw the look on Lana's face and nodded to Chloe to wait outside.
Moving over to her, he removed the tissue from her hand. "Look up," he ordered quietly as he carefully rounded the one tear hanging from her bottom lid. Taking her hand in his, he squeezed it gently. "You look beautiful. Clark is floating I swear. You are going to make him so happy." Lex stood up and held out his arm. Lana took a deep breath and took it. "Oh, there's been a slight change in plans though."
Lex led Lana out to the main corridor of the mansion and turned the corner. "Henry." She stammered. "Lex, how did you?"
"I'm the something old," he tried to joke as he took his daughter's arm. Lex glanced over at Chloe and carefully helped her down the stairs.
"I'm so glad we aren't living in this house. I would have to live in the living room." Lex chuckled as the music for the wedding began.
***********
Chloe sat out in the sun under the umbrella that Charles had installed at Lex's request. April rolled around and saw Lex back and forth out of the country with clients that couldn't meet in the islands. Chloe took his week here and there trips with as much dignity as she could. Mood swings had kicked in after Lana and Clark left from their honeymoon and Chloe still couldn't get past her feelings of loneliness when Lex left right behind them.
She and Lex fought more about stupid things than she would have pictured months before. He said it was her mood swings; she blamed his career. Finally, the night before he left last week, she told him.
"I want you here for the baby's first year," she flatly stated across the plainly set dinner table that already had a highchair waiting in the corner of the room. "No trips."
Lex sighed where Chloe could barely catch the mild irritation from him. "You know that may not be possible." He looked up and saw her face as she shoved her plate away. It was going to be one of those conversations. They became more frequent the closer to the due date.
"I wasn't really asking you. It'll be your son's first year. He's going to need both of his parents. I'm not just going to hire some random nanny or expect that Magnil follow me around all day and night while you are off attending hoity toity parties to make your company look good!" Chloe pushed her chair back and pulled herself up from the table, heading for the door.
"Chloe," Lex dropped half pleading. "This is not fair. You know that I'm doing this for us." He pushed his chair back and followed her down the hall. He caught her against the corridor wall and tried to take her hand.
"Not really in the mood right now," Chloe pulled her hand from his help. She continued into their bedroom, slamming the door just to hear Lex catch it with his arm. She turned around and glared at him. "For us? You are worth over several, in the teens I'm suspecting, billion dollars. Where do you draw the line that it's enough for us to live on? Are you planning on purchasing the moon because as far as I know, it's not for sale and I don't want it!"
"Chloe, I have cut the meetings down as much as I can. Clients know when you are due. Board members are salivating at the chance to finally step in and take my place for many things. The press is ready to have a field day when the newest Luthor arrives, but there are some things that can't be regulated."
Lex stood in the middle of the room and watched as Chloe balanced on the balls of her feet while holding under her belly. He was seriously reconsidering the meeting the next week; justifying a quarter of a billion dollars to her at this point was going to be next to difficult.
"Have some secret project that no one can know about? Thought you were past that."
"No," Lex dropped sarcastically, "It's the Kitiana merger and you know that."
"You're turning into your father," Chloe lowered her voice as she turned away from Lex. "And I refuse to become Lillian."
Lex stared at the back of Chloe's head as she gripped the edge of the chaise lounge in the bedroom. He was stunned into silence. He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck as if he could wipe the insult away. They had talked in detail about his parents since she and he had married. The arguments about his time away had always fixed themselves. Closing his eyes, he knew right at that moment his father would have hit his mother.
And he was gone. Chloe remembered it took him only ten minutes of dead silence to pack his bags. He said he would call; Chloe knew it would be Magnil he would talk to before to find out Chloe's mood. Now a week passed and she sat, her pale beige sundress almost transparent from the incoming waves over the bottom of the dress. She hadn't spoken to Magnil or Lex for two days, keeping only with Carmen to bring her food and drink.
Chloe took a sip of the seltzer water to settle her stomach but it wasn't working this time. Pains came and went as she sat in the sun. Picking up the phone, she dialed the house. "Hey Carmen, I need some help getting back up to the house. I'm having some cramps."
Carmen appeared with Magnil, and Chloe teetered into both of their grips. "Chloe?" Magnil sensed the tension in her face.
"It's just cramps. I just need to get out of the sun," Chloe fought out the words before buckling over slightly and moaning.
"Carmen, take the phone and call Charles. Have him ready Daryl." Magnil looked at her watch and then Carmen as the woman ran up the side of the hill toward the house. Chloe eyed her from the side before grabbing her belly and gasping. "Honey, these are what we call contractions."
"No, I have 5 weeks left," Chloe gasped out as she struggled through what now could be easily called a contraction. Pain hadn't made its way through her body like that in as long as she could remember. Even falling out of the mansion window hadn't hurt as bad. Mansion. Lex. "Lex…"
"Charles is making calls as we speak."
"But I can't have it before…" Chloe stopped short of finishing the sentence as she lowered herself to her knees.
"You have to keep walking. The contraction will be over in a few seconds." Magnil pulled on Chloe's arm as Chloe concentrated on breathing through it like the coach had taught her and Lex.
The son of a bitch better fucking make his son's birth on time, she thought as she tried to mentally count the hours between Metropolis and St Thomas. "Fuck you, Lex Luthor," she grumbled as the contraction ended.
"I think he already did that dear," Magnil tried to joke as they made it to the top of the stairs.
*************
Lex sat at the desk in the Luthorcorp building and shifted papers back and forth. Last Friday had been the worst day of his life. Chloe had called him Lionel. Deep down, he tried to convince himself that it was just the hormones talking but he wasn't sure.
He tried desperately to get out of traveling. The board had actually been very helpful, understanding how it is with pregnant wives. He had never pictured the men on his board as friends. His father would have rolled in his grave knowing the men would go to dinner and compare month by month pregnancies and explain to Lex how to handle things.
Lex stared at the picture that Chloe had taken a couple weeks earlier of her in her glory. She seemed to like the freeing state of naked when she was on the beach and Lex never complained. The picture was tastefully done with the towel only wrapped in places that still exposed her belly. A painful twinge of a smile showed as he ran his hands along it.
"Lex? How about lunch? You secretary said you hadn't eaten anything today," Robert, his senior board member, had watched him since he was in his teen years. He had taken his father's death the hardest but now saw that Lex was trying to do right by the company.
"I could go. Conference detail meeting is not for a couple of hours." Lex picked up his coat and walked out of the office, not concerned if the work got done or not.
********
"Lex," Robert put his fork down and leaned back in his seat, "I know your father ruled the company with an iron fist. Chloe has been wonderful for you regardless of her incredible minor interruptions back in high school." Robert watched as Lex's face tensed. "I've known you half your life Lex; what's going on?"
Lex nodded, "Not important."
"Lex, you need more people to talk to besides your wife. And your dad's crap about emotion is for the weak is just that. Crap." Lex looked at Robert cross his arms and wait.
"Chloe and I had a fight. She compared me to my dad."
"Ouch, and what happened?" Robert was curious.
"I packed and left. I had the Kitiana merger," Lex almost seemed to mumble as he sat back in the hidden booth of the restaurant.
"Lex, that was three days ago. Why are you still here? We have talked about this. The board members and I have it. International contracts are Paul and my expertise. No offense, but I would fire you if I could."
Lex's head popped up when the Robert said he would fire him. "Just a couple more…hang on," Lex pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Luthor."
Robert watched as Lex's businesslike exterior started to crumble and the color from his face left him. He followed Lex out of the restaurant after paying for them. Quickly catching up to his boss, he followed him into the Luthorcorp building and waited in the elevator. He listened to the other half of the conversation in concern.
Robert walked back to his office and pulled out the contract that he and Paul had their lawyers draw up a few months earlier. Blowing off the secretary, Robert marched back into Lex's office and saw him furiously signing through work related papers. Putting his hand in the middle of one of them, he looked down at Lex. "Go home. She's in labor."
Lex didn't look up; he had to get it done. She just started contractions; he had some time. He mentally calculated the hours to get home and was sure he would make it. Robert slammed the document down on the desk. "Lex, sign it and get the hell out of here. You can have it all back when you're ready to come back. This is Luthorcorp; we wouldn't dupe you but you need to go home."
Lex stared at the contract that Robert threw in front of him. Skimming it, the contract turned over all major holdings to Robert's control. The one man that Lex had trusted, his father had hated, but kept because his business sense anywhere else would have been a threat. He looked up at Robert; he had 3 kids and 7 grandchildren. He understood. Picking up the pen, he signed it and handed it back to Robert.
"Now, go home. And wish her well for me."
*************
"I'm looking for Chloe," Lex stammered trying to find the words. He had practically worn a place in the carpet on the plane from the pacing. He had never been so nervous.
"Mr. Luthor," the nurse called before meeting up with him. "Your wife came in about 9 hours ago. The doctor was able to stop the contractions for the first several hours, but the last two she has not responded to medication."
Lex swallowed harder as the nurse took the stairs in two's. "How is she?"
"She kept saying that she isn't going to have the baby until you arrive." The nurse stopped Lex at the top of the stairs. "Her contractions were becoming more regular but right before you arrived, the doctor pulled her for surgery. There's been some complications."
TBC