Crossroads - Chapter 19

by a campbell

Clark Kent/Lex Luthor, PG-13

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Chloe glanced up from her dog-eared paperback to tuck a strand of straight, blonde hair behind her ear and indulge in an unaccustomed wave of nostalgia as she glanced around Arthur A. Montague Memorial Park.

When she was little, after her mother left, her dad brought her here often. Being in Montague Park in Metropolis at this time of year in the park called up memories of quarters jingling in Dad’s pocket, and ice cream carts, of her dad spinning her around on the little merry-go-round that still stood by the Ursuline convent (a girl’s school back in those days), then jumping on with her and laughing, holding her close.

The merry-go-round was now in serious need of repainting. The small convent building adjacent now hosted an art gallery and café. Mothers, some solitary, some in pairs and groups, wheeled infants and toddlers in elaborate strollers built to do everything but fly. Lots of grubby-faced children in scuffed sneakers and cartoon-bedecked summer tees were now flipping out and begging for dollars (not quarters in this decade) when they heard the clink of bells on the approaching ice cream wagons. She’d been one of those kids--so long ago now, it seemed. Now, in summer, when working the evening shift at the Planet she often took her dinner break here around four in the afternoon just to indulge in memories and nostalgia.

Life is fleeting, she thought, the phrase from her medieval lit survey at Met U drifting back into her mind. Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt?

Time passed so quickly. Things changed.

Though she knew she should be used to it by now, Chloe still started at the whoosh of air. Nearby bushes and shrubs flailed crazily in the breeze. She smiled in welcome, pulled off her reading glasses and closed her copy of William E. Blundell’s The Art and Craft of Feature Writing with a quick snap of her wrist.

"Hi, Clark."

Flushed and smiling, he looked down at her, drew one hand from behind his back and held out her absolute favorite candy bar: Fifth Avenue.

"Where on earth did you find that?" Fifth Avenues weren’t easy to come by, even here in the big city.

"City News just got them in. They’re carrying retro candy now. They’ve got it all: Teaberry gum, Big Times, Crows, even Clark Bars." He pressed the wrapped bar into her outstretched palm.

Chloe opened the clasp of her purse and shoved the candy inside, then smiled up at him brightly. "I hope you’re not expecting me to share."

Clark shook his head and patted his shirt pocket, where Chloe could see the top of another Fifth Avenue bar peeking out.

"You trying to butter me up?" A little warily, she waited for his answer.

"Maybe."

"I guess I’ll find out why in the course of this conversation." She looked him up and down. "Should you be traveling on foot these days? Metropolis is a three-hour drive from Smallville, and superspeed--" She shrugged and dropped her eyes, reaching out to pluck at the hem of his shirt. "Might not be child-friendly."

Clark smiled. "I didn’t go that fast. I’m keeping safety in mind. Promise." He put his hand on hers and pulled it gently away, then cradled it in his.

"So you’re back."

"Yup." Clark took a seat next to her on the bench, easing down carefully. "Thanks for meeting me here."

"You weren’t gone for long." She thought best not to mention the endless, sleepless nights during his absence, especially after her conversation with Lex.

Clark exhaled. Chloe noted the thin sheen of perspiration on his upper lip. "Long enough to get clear on what’s most important to me. Being back with Lex."

"You’re sure, then?"

"As sure as I can be."

She was far from convinced Clark was making the best choice, but who was she to toss cold water all over his new-found happiness? Let him enjoy it while he could. Maybe he and Lex could make a life together--against all odds.

"Are you doing okay? You and the...um...?" A glance down.

"We’re fine. And so is Lex." Clark’s manners were too good for him to say so, but it was clear he hadn’t expected her to ask about Lex.

"He’s excited about being a father?"

"I think so. He hasn’t said so in so many words, but I can tell." Chloe couldn’t help but notice how Clark’s eyes shone as he placed a palm on his stomach. He looked pretty much the same as always except for the basketball-sized mound at his waist, now clearly visible as he smoothed the fabric of his shirt flat over it. But when he stood, with his baggy shirt untucked, it was barely noticeable due to his large, strong frame. Suddenly, unaccountably shy, she felt an uncharacteristic warmth creep up her neck to her cheeks.

Her best guy friend was pregnant. No joke. If the Wall of Weird hadn’t been dismantled some time ago, this definitely would have merited a feature spot.

"Actions speak louder than words," Clark was gazing off across the park to the splashing fountain across the walk. "He’s completely taken over the decoration of the nursery. He’s started a savings account. He’s appointed himself in charge of picking out a name."

"Is that all?” she said with an indulgent grin. "And how do you feel about that?"

"We aren't seeing see eye-to-eye," Clark sighed. "Not yet. He’s dead set on ‘Alexander.’"

Chloe blinked. "Wait, wait, whoa. It’s a boy?"

"Yeah. We’re having a boy." Clark looked down, coasting a hand over the basketball bump again with a small, proud smile.

"You didn’t tell me." Chloe didn’t mean to pout, and struggled to beat down a pang of confusion and hurt. She couldn’t help feeling a bit disconnected from Clark and his new life these days. It hadn’t always been that way. Sure, they’d had their tense moments in freshman and sophomore year, but ever since her discovery about his powers, there’d been a new bond. Now that he was with Lex, and now that Lex knew, too, that unique closeness had faded. Too special to last, she thought.

"That was one of the things on the agenda for this afternoon."

She lifted her face to him and smiled, a bit too brightly. "What’s wrong with ‘Alexander,’ anyway? Is it just because it’s Lex’s Christian name and it might seem like he’s the one calling all the shots?"

"It’s not that," Clark protested, clasping his hands in front of him between his knees. "I just don’t see the point of naming a baby after someone else when the first person is alive and well, and around a lot, because all that’ll happen is you’ll get the names confused. Alexander the first, Alexander the second."

“But Lex doesn't go by 'Alexander'. Or you could always use 'Alex,' or 'Al.' Or 'Xander'.

Clark laughed. "Come on. 'Xander'? Get real!"

"Well, you know what a history buff Lex is."

Clark looked far from convinced. "I don't think I'd do that to a kid."

"So, what’s your choice of name?"

"I like 'David'. Now, if I can just convince Lex!"

Chloe pondered. "Why 'David,'?" She was coming up blank on any significance that name might have for Clark.

A shrug. "No real reason. I just like it. It's a good, simple, decent name."

"Middle name?"

"Haven’t decided yet. But I thought, 'Jonathan,' maybe?"

"Very biblical," Chloe agreed. "And nice homage to your dad."

Clark sighed and kneaded her hand. She couldn’t help but note the far-off, melancholy look in his eyes. "I just hope I can be as good a father as he was."

Chloe sighed. "I hope Lex can be as good a father as he was. Hopefully he won’t be a chip off the Luthor block and absorb Lionel’s parenting skills, if you can call them that. God, your guess as to how Lex he survived is as good as mine.” She realized as she finished speaking how agitated and shrill her voice had grown as she spoke, noticed how Clark’s face fell at her words.

"Hopefully you’ll be able to count on him to be there when you need him," she finished up, and then, "I’m sorry." She looked off across the park and across the street at the Daily Planet building. Sometimes, she chastised herself, you just talk too much.

"Be happy for me, Chlo. Please. I’m where I want to be, with the person I love."

With a hard swallow, she nodded. "I know. And I am happy for you, Clark, believe me. You deserve to be happy. Just promise me we’ll stay friends."

"Do you even have to ask?" He looked askance at her with a wry smile and shake of his head.

She hesitated, gnawing her bottom lip, knowing that maybe this was an invasion of Clark’s privacy, but it might be her only chance. So she decided to go for it.

A pointed glance at the bump. "Can I feel?"

Clark shifted on the seat, moving closer. "Sure." He grasped her fingers, drew her hand over and held it in place. "Feel that?"

Chloe could feel her eyes grow wide with wonder at the tapping and thump under the warm fabric. "Wow. That’s--"

"Really something, huh?"

She exhaled. "Incredible. Must feel amazing from inside." And she tried to keep her mind and heart from going there, but even she had only so much willpower. Maybe, someday, I’ll have a child of my own...maybe I’ll--

She tuned in to find Clark regarding her with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Sure." She cleared her throat, blinking back unexpected tears, trying to keep her voice even. "Just feeling a little sentimental. After all, we’ve been friends for a long time."

Clark nodded, holding her gaze with his own earnest one. "Promise me something, Chlo'?"

"Whatever you need, Clark. You should know by now you can trust me."

He took a deep breath. "In case I…don’t make it. Will you be there? Lex might need help. And for the baby--"

Chloe held up her hand. "Don’t even think about that, Clark. Please. Nothing’s going to happen."

Another sigh. "Chloe, when have you ever heard of a guy giving birth? Check the books--I’m not exactly built for it." He looked so melancholy that her heart twisted.

Her lightning-quick mind rifled quickly through many possibilities, considered and discarded them all. Only one thought remained. She had to reassure Clark, spare him from imaginings of the many horrible things that could happen physiologically. "Clark, there must be a plan, and a way, or you’d never have been able to get pregnant."

She could see him visibly relax. "Thanks. I knew you’d be able to make me feel better. You’re so smart--and you give the best advice in the world. So," he continued in a voice noticeably more cheerful, "Can we count on you for some babysitting when this is all over and things settle down?"

Before the words were out of his mouth, she was shaking her head. "Come on, Clark. Seriously. I don’t do kids."

"Maybe you’ll change your mind once 'David's here. I hope you will, because I really want you to be part of his life. Lex and I both want that."

Chloe’s lips curved into a smile. "Regardless of my young-person-phobia, and my lack of confidence regarding matters of child care, I think I’d like that, Clark. As long as you're sure you're both okay with it."

"Good." He sounded pleased and relieved. "Maybe you and Lex can get to a point where you can actually be friends again."

She thought back one last time to winter of freshman year when, briefly, she and Lex almost had been friends, when the three of them had met regularly for coffee and to tackle challenges and generate solutions: together. When Clark purported to believe that having Lana as a girlfriend was still the be-all and end-all of everything. When even she could see how Lex looked at him, as though he were a banana split to someone on that dumb cabbage-soup diet. Who’d have thought back then how things would stand with Clark and Lex---and Lana, too--this burnished summer evening, nearly five years later? Even as recent as last early fall, when Clark and Lana were back together and for all practical purposes seemed destined to remain so for good.

She knew it was probably in the worst taste ever, but she still had to ask: "Clark, what about Lana?"

A heavy sigh. "Lana’s hopping mad at both of us. I mean, Lex and me."

"I’d be careful," warned Chloe. "Hell hath no fury', and all that. She’ll be angry. Vulnerable." She had no clear fix on what Lana could actually do to cause trouble for Clark and Lex, or if she’d even try to do anything, but she couldn’t quite shake the uneasy sense of foreboding that was settling in somewhere around her heart.

"She’s all alone," Clark was saying, subdued. "Which has always been hard on her. I hope she’ll find someone she can love, and soon. I never wanted to hurt her. I don’t think she knows about Lex and me--not everything, anyway, but we can’t keep it secret forever that we’re living together. And when the baby shows up, even if we keep quiet about where it came from—well, she’s always wanted a family of her own, and--"

"Clark, Lana and I are still friends, but I’m not about to let that come between me and you. If you think my talking to her will help--"

"Chloe, no way am I going to put that on you. I’m just sorry it puts you back smack in the middle of a tough situation."

"My lot in life, I guess. But just remember: if there’s any way I can help you, and Lex, and 'David'--"

Clark broke in with a grin. "I promise to let you know."

Chloe glanced at her watch. "Well, I’m due back at the office in five minutes."

Clark stretched and grinned. "Sure. And I’m meeting Lex at the penthouse. He had some business in the city, so we’ll be spending the night there."

"Well, say 'hi' to him for me." Chloe smiled and leaned over to plant a quick kiss on Clark’s cheekbone. "Be happy."

He turned to her with one of those big grins that never failed to make her heart flip in her chest. "I’ll do my best. Don’t worry about me."

She stood. "Not that easy. I’ll always worry about you, Clark. Lots of things change, but that’s one that won’t."

A slim palm on Clark’s shoulder, and Chloe couldn’t fail to notice the way his face brightened. "Lex. Hi!" He laid a hand on Lex’s and bent to press a kiss on his ring finger. "I thought we were meeting up at the penthouse after your board meeting."

"I cancelled the meeting," Lex said smoothly as both Chloe and Clark rose to their feet. "Having something more important to do." A diffident nod in Chloe’s direction, a cool greeting: "Chloe."

"Hi, Lex."

Lex nodded toward the park gate. "Thought you might like to walk back to the building this evening."

"Sure," said Clark with a smile. "The exercise will be good."” He turned to Chloe. "So, we’ll stay in touch. Call me."

"Absolutely," said Chloe. She bent to gather up her tablet, book, and purse. "So, see you guys later."

"Drop by when you’re in the neighborhood." An even smile accompanied Lex’s casual comment as his palm cupped Clark’s elbow.

He almost sounds as though he means it, thought Chloe. Lex was unfailingly cosmopolitan, always the good host.

"Well, bye." Clark reached out to clasp her fingers briefly, then turned to go.

Chloe watched them walk off toward the park gate, arms slung around each other, smiled. when she saw Lex try to steer Clark over to the ice cream cart parked by the gate. Clark shook his head vehemently, gesturing at his frame with a sweep of his arm, and Chloe chuckled.

Her thoughts wandered back to that lost summer of five years ago, interning at the Planet during sweltering, endless summer afternoons, waiting in vain day after day for correspondence from Clark, wondering, hoping they could get back together when they started school in the fall.

"Where are the snows of yesteryear?" she murmured, too softly for any average human to hear.

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