Hey, guys!
So, a bit of a warning here. I've been having some medical issues and while I am still able to update now, I might not be able to at some point. So if I suddenly stop posting, that's why.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Chapter Twenty One.
When Lex woke up again, his mind felt so much clearer.
He no longer felt like he was trying to drive through fog or make his way through a sticky swamp. For the first time in days, he felt alert. Awake.
And just like last time, Clark was curled up on his chest. He reached up and slowly ran his fingers through Clark's soft hair. It didn't feel as fluffy as it normally did though, which made Lex wonder if he needed a bath.
Clark curled into the touch and Lex smiled as he tried not to tear up. He had missed this. He had missed it so much. Even just the little things like running his fingers through Clark's hair.
Suddenly though, it was like he was back at the lab. Alistair's gun pointed at Clark's little head as Lex had to decide whether or not he thought Alistair would actually shoot Clark.
His breath caught in his throat and he pulled Clark closer to him, but he couldn't stop a few tears from escaping his eyes. It was over. Clark was safe. He was safe. Alistair was dead.
"Daddy?"
Lex wiped at his eyes. "Yeah, bubba?"
"You awake?"
Lex smiled as much as he could. "Yeah, I'm awake."
Clark grinned his toothy little grin. "I made you something!" He said, then held up a piece of paper.
Lex took the piece of paper from Clark's hand and inspected it. For a five year old, the piece of paper had been folded almost perfectly in half, which was way better than what Lex could do most days.
Lex opened the card and smiled at the picture inside. "Thanks, bubba." He said.
"Do you know what it is?" Clark asked as he scrambled on top of Lex, all of his bony little body parts poking into Lex's sensitive stomach.
Lex looked back down at the card and tried to figure out what the scribbles were. To him, it was just a sweet picture from his son that he would never be able to decipher.
Clark pointed at the big green blob in the middle of the picture. "That's a Christmas tree!" He told him, then pointed to the two stick-like scribbles beside the tree. "And me and you!"
Now that Clark's rosetta stone of a picture had been deciphered, Lex's eyes watered with tears. His son had drawn a picture of them getting a Christmas tree.
"It's beautiful, bubba," Lex said as he tried to will the tears back. Clark didn't need to see him cry. The child associated crying with sadness, which was the opposite of what Lex was feeling.
"When do we get ours?" Clark asked.
"Our what?" Lex asked.
"Christmas tree!" Clark told him.
Lex frowned. What day even was it? He assumed that most people would have their tree by now, but Lex wasn't sure if he would be able to walk around enough to pick one up yet.
But still, it was Clark's first Christmas. It had to be perfect. He wouldn't let it be anything other than perfect.
"We're gonna go get our in the morning," Lex said. It would be torture to walk around for that long, but he would just get over it. Clark's perfect Christmas came first. "How does that sound?"
Lex had the feeling that if Clark was a normal child, he would have squealed in excitement. Instead, Clark grinned from ear to ear.
Lex smiled back at the child who lit up his world. If Clark was this excited about the idea of a Christmas tree, he couldn't wait to see Clark's dream become a reality. They would get the best tree in the entire lot, or whichever one Clark liked best.
One thing was for sure though, neither of them could wait for the next day to come.
Much to Lex's surprise, he woke up to his alarm the next morning.
Unsurprisingly to Lex though, the now familiar and calming weight of his son on his chest was still there.
Everything about Clark was familiar. His breathing patterns, the way his thumb laid right beside his face because it had fallen from his mouth during the middle of the night, his soft hair tickling Lex's neck and upper chest.
Lex reached down and ran his fingers through Clark's hair. He had missed this part so much. Sure, he had missed the big moments too, but little things like stroking Clark's hair while he slept, or hearing Clark call him Daddy… Those were the things he had missed the most while they were apart.
Lex sighed, then sat up. Clark still laid against his chest, but the movement made him stir.
"Wake up, bubba," Lex said as he gently stroked Clark's cheek. "We gotta go get a Christmas tree."
Clark opened his eyes, then rubbed his little face with his little fists. "Christmas tree?" He asked, his voice a mixture of excitement and sleepiness.
Lex nodded. "Yeah!" He said. "But we have to go get dressed first. Why don't you go find what you want to wear while Daddy changes into his clothes?"
Clark hesitated. "Wanna stay with you."
"Okay," Lex said, and he had to admit that he didn't want his baby boy very far from his side either.
Lex grabbed one of his suits and went behind the partition and stripped off the sweat pants and shirt he had been wearing for the past day. Now that he thought of it, he probably needed a shower… Clark would never tell him outright if he stank, but he was sure that the people of Smallville would prefer it if he didn't smell awful.
So he put back on his old clothes and walked back out from behind the partition. He watched as Clark's head tilted in confusion.
"Hey, I'm gonna go take a quick shower," Lex told him. "I'll be fast though. You stay right there, okay?"
Clark nodded. "Okay…"
Lex ruffled Clark's hair, then pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I'll be right back," he said. "Love you."
Since he had lost his hair, Lex had learned how to shower in about five minutes. This one though, he tried to take even faster. Not because of the hot water getting into the still painful cuts or the screaming burns, but because of the child who was waiting on him. Lex didn't want to be away from the kid either, but he also didn't want to stink.
When Lex stepped out of the shower, his pale body twinged pink from the hot water, he had never felt cleaner in his life.
He dried himself off, then put on the suit that he had brought to the bathroom with him. With the exception of the bruise on his cheek bone from one of the guards he had fought, he looked completely normal. It almost scared him. How could so much have happened and the only thing that would be visible to the public eye was the bruise on his cheek?
He opened the door out of the bathroom and almost jumped out of his skin.
"Clark!" He gasped, then cleared his throat as the child flinched. He didn't mean for his voice to be that loud. "Uh… I thought you were gonna be staying in Daddy's room til I got back. Didn't you wanna color or play with your toys?"
When Lex had woken up, he had noticed that a lot of Clark's toys and coloring supplies had been moved to his room. He was a bit surprised when he noticed it the first time, but now Clark was following him around like a little lost puppy. Not that Lex wanted to be far away from Clark, but the shower hadn't been more than three minutes.
Clark looked down at the floor. "Too far away…"
Lex picked up Clark, then pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I'm not leaving you," he said. "You're safe, bubba."
Clark curled up to him and smiled. "Tree now?"
Lex chuckled. "Yeah, we'll go get the tree now."
The tree lot was bigger than Lex had imagined for Smallville Kansas.
It had been awhile since Lex had gotten a tree, even when he had moved to Smallville all by himself, he was normally too busy to go get something that his father would have called frivolous. Besides, he had normally spent Christmas at some gala or banquet and there was no need for a tree.
Suddenly though, that all changed. He assumed it had to do with his son, but the tree was important now. The tree with lights and ornaments and the brightest star. That was what Clark would want. It was what Lex wanted.
"Something wrong, Clark?" Lex asked as he grabbed Clark's hand and they began to look around for the perfect tree.
"Stinky," Clark said, and Lex laughed. He had to agree with Clark. The pine trees stank a lot more than he had remembered. Of course, he was sure that they would get used to the smell, but right now its almost chemical-like smell made his nose wrinkle a bit.
"They do smell, don't they, bubba?" He laughed as he pulled Clark a bit closer. There weren't many people around, but he wanted to keep Clark as close as possible.
"Is there one that you like?" Lex asked. Being around all of these trees was a little overwhelming, if he was being honest.
Clark shook his head. "Too big," he explained, and Lex accidentally laughed again.
"Bubba, we need a big tree cause we have a big house," Lex said, though Clark had a point. Most of them towered at least 4 feet over his head, someone of them even more than that. "A tiny tree wouldn't look right."
"Oh."
Lex smiled. "What color do you like?" He asked. "Do you like the darker ones or the lighter ones?"
"Hmmmm…" Clar said, then pointed to one of the trees. "That color!"
They walked through the tree farm for another half hour before they even had an idea of what they wanted. Finally though, they found their tree.
"That one!" Clark exclaimed as he ran up to a beautiful Colorado Blue Spruce tree. It was full and the perfect shape. It was exactly what Lex had been looking for. He didn't even bother to look at the price tag.
Lex would have to look in the attic for decorations, but for now, they had their tree.
Lex helped load it onto the top of his car, then smiled down at Clark. "Are you excited?" He asked.
Clark looked up at the tree, then to Lex. "I'm hungry."
Lex let out a soft hum before smiling. He knew exactly where to go to fix that problem.
It was obvious to Lex that the diner he was in had seen better days.
He looked around and tried to keep in a sigh. He wondered if the lack of customers had to do with people moving away after the meteor shower, or if it was just slowly going out of business.
It sucked though. They had good food.
Lex ordered a cheeseburger and a coke, Clark got chicken nuggets and juice. They split an order of fries.
He watched as Clark ate his food. This was another one of those little moments that stood as a milestone. For the first time since coming to earth, Clark was eating at a restaurant. He seemed to like the food too.
Lex took a sip of his coke as he continued to think about Clark. His chest hurt every time he thought about how much Clark had missed out on. Birthdays, snow days, holidays, just… even the normal things. It wasn't fair.
"Are your nuggets good?" Lex asked as he grabbed one of the fries.
Clark nodded and began eating another one. One thing that Lex found interesting was that Clark actually had decent table manners, he was a quiet eater and he chewed with his mouth closed, something that wasn't common amongst children his age.
"Here," Lex said, then handed him a fry. "Try this."
Clark didn't hesitate to take the fry from Lex and bite into it. His eyes lit up and Lex grinned.
"Do you like that?" Lex asked. His cheeks hurt from smiling.
Clark nodded again. "Yeah!"
Lex grabbed a small handful and put them onto Clark's plate. "They're good with ketchup too," he told him. "But you can eat them however you want."
The rest of the meal went by smoothly. A few times, Lex would ask Clark what they should put on the tree, but Clark normally just shrugged in response. Lex didn't know if he really wasn't sure, or if he was just too invested in the food.
Once Clark had finished, Lex paid the bill and they left.
Lex watched as Clark fell asleep in the backseat of the car, but Lex still felt too excited to feel tired, even after all of the torture.
They had a tree to decorate.
So! There we go! Clark and Lex are getting ready for the holidays! I hope you enjoyed! Please follow, fave, and review! I would love to know what you thought!
Thanks for reading! Love y'all!