Hey, guys!
Sorry for the long wait. I have a cold and haven't really felt like writing. Luckily, NaNo started today so y'all are gonna be getting a lot of chapters this month.
I hope you enjoy!
Chapter Seven.
It didn't take long for Lex to find out that it was hard to work with children's cartoons playing in the background.
The child sat beside Lex with Julian's blanket wrapped around him. His damp hair was beginning to soak through Lex's suit, but he wasn't going to push the child away or tell him to move.
"Miss Martha will be here in a little bit to watch you while I work, okay?" Lex said as he closed his laptop.
The child nodded, but Lex had the feeling that the kid was more invested in the blue dog that was on the television. Honestly, Lex could hardly blame him, the show was pretty entertaining…
Lex looked back down at his laptop, then thought of the camera footage he had found. He hadn't been able to look at it yet, especially since he didn't want the child to see any of it, but he needed to do that.
He opened back up his laptop and sighed. There had been an issue at one of the Luthorcorp offices. Luckily, Lex could do everything from home, but he wished that he could just hang out with the child and watch this blue dog show with him, or spend more time investigating the lab that the child had been in. But no, he had work to get done.
The child yawned, and Lex looked down at the time on his computer. It was almost eleven, but with the nightmares, the child was bound to be tired. He would tell Martha to let him take a nap if he needed it.
They sat in silence for a while, Lex working on his computer as the child dozed off during episodes of whatever was on the television. It was relaxing, calming. It was one of those moments where Lex hoped it would never end.
There was a knock on the door, and the child jumped as Lex shut his laptop. He gently picked up the child and walked to the door.
Lex smiled. "Good morning, Martha," he greeted. "How are you?"
Martha smiled back at him. "I'm good!" She said. "How are you? You two look exhausted."
Lex sighed and shifted the child on his hip. The child laid his head on Lex's shoulder, and his heart melted. The child had warmed up to him so quickly, and it made Lex so happy. He had been worried that the child wouldn't be able to warm up to him or anybody at first.
"Nightmares," he explained. "He might wanna take a nap while you're here."
Martha nodded. "Yeah, of course," she said. "Don't worry. I'll take care of all of it."
He smiled. "Thanks, Martha," he told her, then turned to the child. "Hey, buddy, you're gonna play with Miss Martha for a bit, okay? I have some work I need to get done, but we'll play together this evening, okay?"
The child nodded, then reached out to Martha. Lex found it interesting that the child had warmed up to Martha and trusted her so quickly, but he wasn't complaining. He did wonder if there had been any women working at the lab, and if that was connected to the child's quick acceptance of her.
Martha reached out and picked up the child out of Lex's arms. "I brought a bunch of fun things for us to play with," she said. "Tell your Daddy bye, then we'll go play."
The child turned to Lex, then waved. There was a toothy grin on his face, an adorable toothy grin that lit up Lex's whole world.
Lex chuckled, then waved back.
Work absolutely consumed the day. Lex sat at his computer working through the problems with the Luthorcorp office and talked on the phone with numerous managers and leaders at the office.
Finally, Lex had a second to breathe. He looked up at the clock and winced. It was almost four pm. He had wanted to be done by three…
He looked back down at his phone. In the midst of everything, he had missed a call. Without a moment of hesitation he put in the number he almost knew by heart.
"Hello?"
Lex smiled. "Hello, Alistair," he greeted. "How are you?"
"Oh, I'm fine," Alistair said. "How are you?"
"I'm well," Lex told him.
Alistair Wylie had been one of Lionel's best friends, and a constant in Lex's life. While Lex and Alistair had never been the best of friends, they still had dinner and spent time together every once in a while.
"Are we still on for dinner?" Alistair asked. "You haven't been at many gatherings these past few days. Is everything alright?"
Lex almost swore. In the midst of everything else he had completely forgotten that he was supposed to have dinner with Alistair. It would be in a couple of hours. He needed to ask Martha if she could babysit the child for a bit longer.
"Of course we're still on," Lex told him. "Does six still work for you?"
"I'll see you then," Alistair said, then hung up.
Lex sighed, but before he could run his hands over his head like he always did, a bloodcurdling scream rang through the house.
The child.
Lex stood up and ran out of the room as fast as he could. He had never heard the child scream like that outside of nightmares. Even when he had picked him up that first day, he hadn't screamed like that.
"Lex, I'm so sorry," Martha said as he burst into the room. "He just started screaming."
"What happened?" Lex asked as he rushed over to the child.
"I don't know," Martha said, and Lex couldn't help but notice the tears that had formed in her eyes. "We were just finger painting and he suddenly started screaming. I don't know if he's hurt or if something else is wrong…"
Lex nodded, then began looking over the child. He was sobbing and hyperventilating now, but the screams had stopped.
Lex's eyes widened as he noticed what was going on. On his finger, there was green paint. He remembered what the child had said about the green rocks that hurt him.
"Do you have a wipe?" Lex asked Martha.
Martha nodded, then pulled one out of her purse. Lex took it from her instantly.
He carefully and gently wiped off the child's fingers. "Shh… Shh…" He soothed as he gently rocked the child back and forth. "You're okay. It's okay."
"I'm so sorry, Lex," Martha apologized again.
Lex shook his head. "It's okay, Martha," he said. The child was beginning to relax, but Lex continued to rock him. "He just really dislikes the color green."
Martha nodded, but Lex could tell that she was starting to see through the lies.
"I have a dinner this evening with an old friend of my father's," Lex said. "Do you think you can watch him until eight?"
Martha nodded, the smile back on her face. "Of course," she told him.
"He might get tired before I'm done, but he probably won't want to go to bed til I've come to tuck him in," Lex told her.
"Oh, that's fine," she said. "I'll just read him some bedtime stories."
Lex smiled. "Sounds like a plan then."
"You know," Alistair Wylie began as he set his glass of wine down. "I was beginning to get concerned about you. You've been quiet ever since your father died."
Lex cleared his throat. "I've been busy getting everything in order," he explained. "It's been quite a process."
Alistair nodded. "Of course," he said, then took a bite of the beef wellington on his plate. "If you need anything at all, just remember that I am here for you."
"Thank you," Lex said.
They had small conversations throughout the meal, mostly of Alistair reminiscing about Lionel, but Lex enjoyed hearing the stories and the food was good.
Suddenly the door was pushed open and Lex felt something cling to his legs.
Lex grinned, then picked up the child. "Hey, buddy!" He said. "You're supposed to be getting ready for bed, Silly!"
The child looked up at Lex and smiled before wrapping his arms around him.
"I didn't know you had a child, Alexander," Alistair said, and the child looked over at him.
Within an instant, Lex could feel the child tense up and bury himself in Lex's suit.
"Hey," Lex said. "This is Mr. Alistair Wylie."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Little One," Alistair told the child, his voice soft and low.
Lex frowned as the child buried his face further into Lex's chest. The child was shy, Lex knew that, but this was a completely different level of shyness than he had seen before. The child refused to interact with Alistair.
For the second time, the door flung open.
"There you are!" Martha exclaimed.
Lex smiled, then handed the child back to Martha. "I guess he just wanted to see me," he joked.
"Sorry," Martha apologized. "I looked away for one second and he was gone."
"It's quite alright," Alistair said. "No harm done."
Lex nodded. "Alistair is right," he said. "No harm done. It was nice to see my boy anyway."
Martha smiled. "Tell your Daddy goodnight, sweetheart," she told the child.
The child looked at Alistair, then at Lex. To Lex's surprise, the child shook his head.
The rest of the time that Alistair was there, Lex zoned out. There was something about the way that the child had acted in front of Alistair that stuck with Lex, it was almost like something was wrong. Almost like there was some sort of connection.
Lex shook his head, then walked up the stairs to tuck in the child. Alistair had no connection to the child. The lab was kept secret from everyone. Why would Alistair of all people know about it. That would be ridiculous.
"Hey, buddy," Lex said as he walked in. "All ready for bed?"
The child nodded, then laid down on the bed. He looked so small and innocent under the covers of the big bed.
Lex tucked him in and stood up to leave, then was pulled back by the child reaching out and grabbing his hand.
The child's eyes were wide, but tired.
Lex reached out and stroked the child's hair. "You gotta go to sleep," he said. "Nothing is gonna happen, I promise."
After a few minutes, the child yawned and his eyes began to droop shut. A few moments after that, and the child was sleeping peacefully.
Lex smiled, then ruffled the child's hair one last time before standing up. "Sweet dreams, buddy."
Well, there's chapter seven! Please follow, fave, and review! I would love to know what you thought!
Thanks for reading! Love y'all!