Hey, guys!

So... First off. Sorry for this being a day late. I've been super busy this past week and I completely forgot about it until I laid down to go to sleep.

But we finally did it! We finally made it to the epilogue!

Thank you to everyone who has been with me on this journey. (And thank you Mrsfizzle for not letting me stop it at chapter 12 like I had originally planned on doing. xD)

Like, I said in the last chapter, there will be a sequel and some Nurturing 331 fics leading up to it, but I can't (and shouldn't) promise a timeline for those. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the epilogue!

Epilogue

The year went by in a blur.

Lex wasn't sure how it was possible, but in what felt like a blink of an eye it was September again. It had been a year. It had been a year since his father had died, since he had inherited all of his assets, since… Since he had found out about Project 33.1.

Looking back, it was a shock to see how far 33.1 had come. The quiet alien boy who flinched at every movement was gone, and was now a thriving and happy ball of energy. He had a name, a family, everything that every other child his age would have.

Clark had brought a light into Lex's life that he didn't even know he needed, and now he could never be without it. Clark was getting ready to start preschool, and he had friends his age too.

But perhaps most excitingly, he was about to celebrate his first actual birthday.

Lex wasn't sure how he had managed it, but the party was a surprise and would be happening at the farm. And maybe it was the most excited that Lex had ever been for a birthday party. After all, his had never been that great…

In a way, he couldn't wait for tomorrow. Everything had been planned. Martha had found the perfect cake recipe, Jonathan had figured out fun games that could be set up on the farm, and Lex had the perfect gift.

Lex shook the thoughts out of his head as he helped his son into his pajamas. It was still a day away, and he needed to focus on getting Clark to bed so that he would wake up in a good mood for the party.

No more reminiscing on the past. He could do that later.

Clark crawled onto his lap, and Lex immediately wrapped his arms around his little boy. He hadn't understood what people meant when they said that kids grew up so fast until he had one of his own…

"Did you brush your teeth?" Lex asked as he ran his fingers through Clark's hair. He wasn't sure if Clark could get cavities, but he refused to find out the hard way.

Clark nodded. "Yeah," he said.

"Are you excited for tomorrow?" Lex asked as he stood up and placed the child on his bed. Of course, he hadn't told Clark that they were going to his surprise birthday party, but he did know that they were going to the farm.

Clark nodded again as he played with the hem of his pajama sleeve. "Yeah," he said again. "I get to play with Aunt Martha and Lana."

Lex smiled. "That's right," he said. Lana was one of the other children that Martha babysat, and she and Clark had hit it off really well.

"Are you staying tomorrow?" Clark asked.

It was a common question that Clark would ask these days, and Lex had the feeling that it was the last remaining bits of the separation anxiety that they had dealt with over the past year. It wasn't a bad question, however, so Lex didn't mind answering it every time Clark asked it.

"I will be," he told his son. He had cleared his whole afternoon and evening in preparation for this party, he had even cleared the late morning as well just in case Martha or Jonathan needed any kind of help. "I'm free from work tomorrow afternoon."

Clark nodded, then yawned. "And we'll have fun there?"

Lex leaned down and tucked Clark in before ruffling his hair. "We always do," he said. "Now, it's bedtime."

"Goodnight," Clark said.

Lex pressed a gentle kiss on Clark's forehead. "Goodnight, Clark. I love you."

Even though a year had passed since Clark had come into Lex's home, he had never said those words to him. For a long time, it had been a source of heartache for Lex. It still was, but he understood that with everything Clark had gone through, he might never hear those words from him.

He wouldn't say that he was okay with it, because it still hurt so much, but he had resigned to never hearing them.

Lex reached down and turned on Clark's nightlight, and then walked over to the door.

Right as he reached up to turn off the lights though, Clark spoke.

"Daddy?"

Lex turned his head so he was looking at Clark. "Yes?"

Clark sat up in his bed, his little legs and feet coming out from under the covers as he also turned so he could see Lex. "I have a question…"

Lex held back a sigh. He tried to never turn down questions from Clark, but it was getting so late… "Yes, Clark?"

The child seemed to hesitate for a second. "Why do you say that all of the time?"

"Say what?" Lex asked. All he wanted was to go to bed…

"I love you," Clark answered. "What does that mean?"

Lex froze, his body completely unable to move as his mind tried to process Clark's words.

In the year that Clark had been living with him, Lex had always assumed that he didn't want to say those words to him, not that he didn't know what they meant.

"Oh, Clark…" he found himself whispering as he walked back over to his son's bed.

Of course he wouldn't know what love was, not after everything he had been through…

He gently took Clark's hands in his. They were so small, and yet he could still see the couple of light scars on his hands from the years he had spent in the lab. He wondered if they would ever fully fade…

For a second, Lex had to figure out what love meant. Obviously, there were different types. There was romantic love with all of its promises and intimacy, but that wasn't what Clark was asking.

He was asking about the love that knew no bounds. The love that was the reason he was left with the Kents no matter how much it had hurt. The love that was the reason Lex put a bullet in Alistair Wylie's head without more than a second of hesitation.

But how could he put that into words that Clark would understand?

"Daddy?" Clark said. "What is it?"

Lex smiled at him as the words suddenly came to him. "Love means that I want to be near you, that I want to protect you from bad guys. It means I'll always forgive you no matter what, and I'll always be here for you if you need me," he began. "It's what makes me feel sad when you can't be around, and it's why I…"

Lex stopped himself before he continued that sentence. If he finished that thought, it would give away tomorrow's surprise.

"It's why you read me bedtime stories and play toys with me?" Clark supplemented.

Lex couldn't help but grin at his son's words, though they weren't what he was originally going to say. "Yeah," he told him. "That's love too."

Clark smiled as he pulled the covers back over him. "Oh," he said. "Goodnight, Daddy."

Lex ruffled Clark's hair, then stood up. "Goodnight, Clark," he replied. "I love you."

The drive to the farm felt longer than it ever had before, though Lex couldn't help but wonder if it was this way because of the excitement that was brewing inside of him.

Clark's sixth birthday, but his first ever party…

He just hoped that everything went perfectly.

"Are we gonna help feed the cows today?" Clark asked.

Lex looked in the rearview mirror at his son. He had completely forgotten that Clark had slowly fallen in love with the farm animals, his favorite was currently the cows. "Maybe."

Of course, he knew that there would be no farm chores for Clark today. It was his birthday.

In the trunk was his birthday gift. It had been put into a gift bag, but Lex couldn't wait for the moment his child's hands took it out.

When they finally pulled up to the farm, Lex had the feeling he was significantly more excited than Clark was.

He had explained what a birthday was to Clark a few weeks back, he had even told him the date that the scientist's had considered his date of birth. However, Lex hadn't told him anything about the party, and Clark had no idea it was his birthday.

So he got out of the car, the smell of grilling burgers fresh in the air as soon as he opened the door. Lex walked over to the other door and helped Clark out. As soon as he did, Clark's hand slipped into his.

They walked up the driveway hand in hand, and to the backyard. As soon as they did, Lex felt himself burst into a grin.

The entire backyard was decorated. The old wooden picnic table had a blue cloth on it and was covered in food. From burgers and hot dogs to a birthday cake and at least two dozen cupcakes. There were banners, streamers, and balloons hanging from every tree. Even the fence to the animal pens were covered in decorations.

It looked like a child's birthday party.

"Daddy?" Clark asked as he squeezed Lex's hand a bit tighter. "What's going on?"

Lex looked down at his son and smiled. "Happy birthday, Clark."

Clark looked up at him, his blue eyes wide. "It's my birthday?"

"Today's September 14th," Lex said. "The party is for you."

"Happy birthday, Clark!" Martha said as she walked up. "I think Lana is playing over by the flower garden if you wanna go see her before the party starts."

Clark nodded, then ran off to go find Lana, which wasn't even remotely surprising to Lex.

"Hey," Martha said, then hugged him. "How are you?"

Lex hugged her back. "I'm good," he told her. "Thank you for putting this all together."

She smiled at him. "Anything for our favorite boys," she responded before lowering her voice to a whisper. "Did you bring it?"

He nodded. "It's in the trunk."

"He'll love it," She said. "Don't worry."

Lex nodded, and he couldn't help the sudden rush of worry that filled him at the thought of Clark not liking his gift… "I hope so."

It was the most fun Lex had ever had at a party. Of course, his own parties had never been that great, and business parties could be considered a form of torture, but this one…

Martha and Jonathan had truly put their hearts into it.

They had done so much for them in the past year, things Lex knew he would never be able to repay…

He played games with the kids, ate enough cake for the entire town and at least two of the burgers Jonathan had made.

It had been good.

Life was good.

And then Clark began to open his gifts.

He got a handmade card from Lana, but Lex snuck away as Clark continued to open the gifts.

He went to the trunk of his car and opened it. He pulled out the small and thin gift bag, and a wave of hesitation overcame him.

It wasn't anything like the other gifts… What if he hated it?

For a second, Lex thought he was going to throw up all of the food he had eaten.

But he knew he couldn't be gone for long or someone would notice his disappearance, so he shook the thoughts out of his head and walked back with the child's present in his hands.

By the time he had made it back to the backyard, Clark had already unwrapped all of the gifts and was playing with the toy truck Martha and Jonathan had gotten him.

He watched for a moment as Lana and Clark put rocks into the dump truck, the two of them laughing and talking as they did.

Clark had come so far…

Before he could stop himself, Lex looked up at the sky. Somewhere out there was a planet that the child had come from. He didn't know why Clark was sent here, or what had happened with his parents, but he was forever grateful to them. They were the reason why Lex woke up happy, why he went to bed content, why he loved like he had never loved before.

"Thank you," he whispered up to the sky, then turned his gaze to his son. "Clark, come here for a second."

Clark looked over at him, and then walked over. "Yes, Daddy?"

Lex got down on the ground so he was at his son's height, and then handed him the gift. "Happy birthday."

Clark looked at the gift for a second before beginning to open it. He froze though as he uncovered the papers hidden beneath the thin blue tissue paper.

Lex cleared his throat. "Those are adoption papers," he said. "Everything is signed and… You're my son now. You're Clark Luthor."

Clark looked up at him, then back down at the papers.

Before Lex could stop it, the anxiety was back. Clark didn't like it. Lex should have known better, he shouldn't have given them as a gift… He was such an idiot. "Sorry, I should have gotten you something else," he began to ramble. "There's more gifts at hom-"

He was cut off by a tight hug, maybe the tightest one that Clark had ever given him.

"I love you, Daddy."

Lex felt himself tear up as he returned his son's hug. His heart had never felt fuller, and he had never felt so complete. "I love you too."

The End.