Chlark Fanfic: Agenda, Epilogue
Dec. 11th, 2011 01:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
babydee1...And, it's a WRAP. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it!
Special thanks to everyone who helped make this story a success. Tobey, Sky, Tiffany, Chloie - you're all on my Christmas List!!! :-)
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twinsarein - you da BOMB. Count me in for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
smallvillebbang 2012, and see you next year! :-D
Runner bygo_clo.
Title: Agenda
Author:babydee1
Pairing: Chlark
Rating: NC-17 (mostly PG-13)
Warnings: Sugary schmoop!
Timeline: Futurefic; follows Season 8’s Injustice &Failsday Doomsday
Disclaimer: All known characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Summary: More than a decade after the Doomsday Rampage, Clark makes a shocking discovery that changes his life forever.
Feedback: …makes me squee. :-)
Written for the 2011smallvillebbang long Fanfic challenge. Many thanks to twinsarein for all her tireless organisation and support!
Beta’ed bylegendarytobes & The Fallen Sky at KSite.
Art bysylvanelfmistre & go_clo.
Read previous chapter here.
Read story from the beginning here.
Epilogue
One Month Later…
The aroma of sizzling bacon assuaged Chloe’s nostrils, jogging her out of her slumber. Her brow wrinkled in a sleepy frown. Her husband must be treating himself to a fry-up again, she thought grimly. Gabby had indoctrinated him well, so much so that he often treated himself to a Full English breakfast after a Saturday morning supersave. But from the combination of meaty smells coming from the kitchen, he’d really gone to town this morning.
Her husband. She smiled and hugged the covers to herself, her grin widening as she caught sight of the rings gleaming on the third finger of her left hand. Pleasure and contentment filled her heart and she shook her head in wonder, marvelling at how far they’d come in the 23 years that they’d known each other, and in the three short days that they’d been married so far.
It had been on a windy Wednesday afternoon that they’d finally tied the knot in a quiet ceremony at Metropolis City Hall Registry, with only Bruce Wayne, Martha Kent, and their daughter Gabriella as witnesses. Bruce had generously given them an all-expenses paid week-long honeymoon to the Maldives, First Class flights and all, and they were due to depart that very evening. Fortunately the timing of the wedding coincided with the end of the school year and the start of the winter holidays, so Gabby was to spend the first four days of the honeymoon with her Grandma Martha in Washington, and then travel back to Gotham with Bruce for the last three.
Chloe yawned and wrinkled her nose as another pungent meaty waft of air filled her nostrils. Scowling, she swung her feet out of bed and got to her feet, grumbling to herself as she slipped her arms into her robe. Just because Clark had an invulnerable stomach didn’t mean he had to go overboard on the paprika.
She walked into the kitchen and stopped short. There at the stove was Gabby, humming softly to herself as she turned the sausages and bacon over in the pan. On hearing her mother’s footsteps she turned and smiled.
“Oh, hey, Mom. You hungry?”
“Starving, actually. What are you doing up so early?” Chloe asked, heading for the coffee pot.
Her daughter snorted. “Eleven o’clock is not early, Mom.”
“Eleven?” Chloe echoed.
“You slept in,” Gabby pointed out. “Again. They must be working you too hard at the Planet.”
Chloe shrugged. “Well, that’s what weekends are for.”
“It’s the third time this week!”
Chloe frowned. “Hmm. You’re right, they are working me too hard. And your father’s second job as a crimefighter means I’m constantly chained to a desktop churning out articles extolling the wonder and virtue of Superman.” She glanced around and listened for Clark, but heard nothing. “Where’s is your father?”
“Out being Superman,” Gabby replied. “There was a report of a volcanic eruption in Sumatra, he’s gone to sort it out.”
“Business as usual then,” she said absently, suddenly noticing Gabby’s muddy trainers. “Have you been out this morning?”
“Oh yeah; been to see Grandpa Jo,” Gabby replied, and glanced at back at her with a grin. “I just got my first assignment.”
On hearing the A-word, Chloe stiffened. “What has he got you doing?” she asked sharply. “If I hear the word ‘destiny’ from your lips, so help me God---”
“Relax, Mom, he hasn’t got me doing anything,” Gabby said, rolling her eyes. “In fact, I asked for this gig.”
“What gig?” Chloe asked suspiciously.
Gabby spooned her bacon and sausages onto a plate before heading to the fridge. “He wants to reach out to someone. Apparently, I’m not the only Kryptonian child born on earth.”
“What do you mean?” Chloe asked, her eyes wide. “I thought he said you were the last daughter of Krypton…?”
“The last daughter, yes,” her daughter replied with a wink as she took two eggs out of the fridge and a small pack of mushrooms.
“There’s a Kryptonian boy out there somewhere?” she said incredulously.
“Hardly a boy, he’s older than me; about eighteen, according to Grandpa,” she said, sitting down beside her. “His father came to earth years ago and went off the grid somehow, but Grandpa swears this teenager might be his son. Said he was from the House of Ur.”
“Oh my gosh, that’s it!” Chloe exclaimed. “Dax-Ur! Your father met him years ago; he’d been using Blue Kryptonite to strip his abilities, that’s probably why Jor-El couldn’t get a read on him.”
Gabby frowned. “Why would he do that?” she asked, nibbling on a corner of a slice of toast.
“He just wanted to blend in, I guess,” she said vaguely. “I’m sure your father would have done the same if he’d known about Blue K earlier. Anyway, Dax-Ur was married with a son…about four years old at the time…?”
“That sounds about right,” Gabby mused.
“So what’s Jor-El up to, getting you on the case?” Chloe asked, her motherly instincts on high alert. “He’s not…” she swallowed. “He’s not matchmaking, is he?”
“No!” Gabby laughed. “For starters, I’m way too young for that. Secondly, this was actually Dad’s assignment, but I asked to be let in on it.”
Chloe frowned. “Why?”
“Because it looks like his abilities have only just started to manifest,” she explained. “As someone closer to his own age, I think it’s something I might be able to help with.”
Chloe tapped her coffee cup and frowned in thought. If this boy been conceived whilst his father had been wearing the Blue K – which was more than likely – then it was possible that his abilities had lain fallow all this time, and were only just emerging.
“I guess girls do mature faster than boys,” she bragged smugly, and Chloe rolled her eyes.
“He’s probably just been around Blue K too long, and something has happened to remove it from his vicinity,” Chloe said, tweaking her daughter’s ponytail. “Maybe they’ve moved house recently or something.”
“Well, that’s what I’m going to find out,” Gabby said, standing up and heading back to the stove with her eggs and mushrooms.
“Well, as long as your father tags along,” Chloe said sternly. “I’m not too happy about you hunting down an eighteen-year old all by yourself. You may be smart, but you are still very young, Gabriella.”
“I can take care of myself, Mom,” she reassured her as she fired the cooker up again with her heat vision. “But I’ll keep tabs with Dad if it’ll make you happy.”
“Oh, it’ll make me happy,” she said with a relieved sigh. “Very happy.”
Gabby smiled and shook black pepper onto the frying eggs, and Chloe almost heaved.
“Ugh, that stinks!” she said with a shudder. “Don’t you have enough fried foods on your plate already?”
“I thought you liked fry-ups,” Gabby said as she stirred the mushrooms in.
“Not today,” she said sourly, covering her nose and going to open a window. “Ugh, that’s rank. Feel like I’m gonna be sick.”
“Are you pregnant?”
Chloe laughed derisively. “What are you talking about? Of course I’m not preg---” she stopped short and did some mental sums, and her heart started beating frantically.
Oh, God. The constant tiredness, the intolerable smells…not to mention the fact that she hadn’t had a period in over eight weeks…
“That was a joke, Mom,” Gabby said and turned to smile at her. On seeing her shocked expression, Gabby did a double take and stared.
“Omigosh…are you?” she asked in a whisper. “Are you pregnant, Mom?”
“I’m…” she couldn’t say the words. She just couldn’t be…although, with the way she and Clark had been going at it without a moment’s thought to using protection, it would be a miracle if she wasn’t pregnant.
“I’m…I’m pregnant,” she whispered in wonder, staring up at a beaming Gabby. “I’m pregnant!”
“Omigod, YAY!” Gabby shrieked, jumping up and down and clapping her hands excitedly before whizzing around the kitchen in superspeed. “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it, I can’t freaking believe it!!!”
Neither could she. She was married to an alien and already had a hybrid daughter, but the thought that she and Clark could have defied all odds and conceived again…
Gabby giggled gleefully. “Are you gonna tell Dad this time?”
“Tell me what?” Clark asked as he whooshed into the kitchen and ruffled his squealing daughter’s hair. “What’s going on with my gorgeous girls this fine morning?”
“Mom’s pregnant!”
“That’s nice,” he said absently, dropping a quick kiss on Chloe’s shocked forehead. “I see you made breakfa---WHAT?!?”
He spun around and stared at her, the House of El sigil on his chest rising and falling as he breathed heavily, his green eyes wide in shock. Slowly he walked towards her and stroked her cheek tenderly, his wide eyes hopeful.
“Is it true?” he asked in a soft whisper. “Are you…?” he glanced down at her belly and she smiled, placing her hand over his and pressing it to her womb.
“I…I think so,” she said tremulously. “The timing seems right, and all the signs are there…lethargy, nausea, heightened sense of smell…”
Clark’s face lit up in a huge grin, and she hastened to calm things down. “I don’t know for certain, but…”
“You are,” he whispered, gazing intently at her lower belly. “You are. Chloe - Oh, my God…you’re carrying my baby!”
***
If it were possible for someone to die of happiness, Clark would have been six feet under.
He stared at her belly, almost unable to believe what he was seeing. Tears sprang to his eyes as he stared in wonder at the tiny life nestled comfortably within its mother’s womb, floating peacefully in a watery cocoon.
His child…
Clark swallowed, overcome with emotion. He was going to be a father again – and this time, he wasn’t going to miss a thing.
He lifted his gaze and stared into the eyes of the woman he loved, and Jor-El’s words swirled around in his head.
You have an opportunity to experience all that you have you have been denied.
His arms went around Chloe and he laughed softly. He should have known. The Fortress registered the presence of every Kryptonian, and could track members of the House of El from conception. Of course Jor-El had known Chloe was pregnant.
And if he’d known from the time he dropped that subtle hint, it meant that he and Chloe had conceived on the first try. Again.
He stroked her hair with one hand and held her to him tightly. “I’ll be here for you,” he promised, splaying his other hand on her abdomen. “Every step of the way, I’ll be here.”
“I know,” she said, happy tears streaming down her face. “But if you think I’m going to let you slack of hero duty---”
“I’ll work something out with the League; call it paternity leave or something,” he promised. “And I’ll still protect the city to the best of my ability, but my family comes first, and always will.” He brushed his thumb over her belly and her hand came to rest over his.
“We’ll do it properly this time,” she whispered. “Together, all of us.”
He nodded, unable to stare anywhere else but at her womb and the promise of life nestled within her belly.
“Well,” drawled Gabby from across the room, “I just want you both to know that I am very disappointed in you.”
Startled, Clark glanced at Chloe before regarding his daughter with a cautious glare. “I…Gabby, I…we thought you were happy…”
“Oh, I am,” she said smartly, her eyes twinkling. “I’m thrilled that I’m gonna be a big sister.”
“Oh, thank God,” Clark breathed, relieved that his daughter wasn’t upset about getting a sibling.
“But that doesn’t excuse you from your irresponsibility,” she continued sternly. “Stop me if I’m wrong, but from the expressions on your faces, you both seem surprised to be having this baby. Am I to deduce from this that it wasn’t planned?”
“Um…” both he and Chloe adopted schooled expressions of authority, but Gabby was on a roll and was determined to relish her moment.
“I’ll put it this way,” she said, folding her arms. “Have either of you used protection even once since you got back together?”
Busted. The schooled expressions of authority disappeared, rapidly replaced with embarrassed crimson ones.
Gabby’s arms went up in the air. “I rest my case,” she said with a smug grin. “I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell you. Did you learn nothing from the first time? I mean, what were you two doing during Sex Ed class? You can’t say you didn’t know what was gonna happen if you did it without protection, this is the second time this is happening to you!”
Clark, completely red-faced, extended a hand to his daughter. “Okay, okay, you’ve had your fun,” he laughed, pulling her towards them for a group hug. “Oops, we did it again. But even you’ve gotta admit, your Mom and I make beautiful mistakes.”
“Hmm…there is that,” Gabby said, stroking her jaw thoughtfully. “In fact, I am living proof that you make gorgeous mistakes, and I can’t wait to see what this little one looks like.” She paused and grinned. “But then, I don’t have to.”
“Don’t have to what?” Chloe asked.
“Wait.”
“No fair,” Chloe said, pouting as her daughter activated her x-ray vision to peer inside her mother’s belly. “How come I’m the only one who doesn’t get to see?”
“You’re carrying the baby, Mom,” Gabby said with a gentle smile. “You’re giving life to the next generation of Earth and Krypton. Nothing can compare with that.”
She grinned. “I guess.” Suddenly her eyes lit up in anticipation and she turned to him. “Do you know what we’re having?” Chloe asked hopefully. “I don’t want to have to wait to find out.”
Clark’s eyes brightened. “Oh my God, I didn’t even think to check. I’ll do that now---”
“Let me, let me!” Gabby said excitedly. “Oh, please, can I see first? Please?”
Chloe sighed and glanced at Clark, and he nodded with a smile. “Go ahead honey. You’re the big sister, and you’ve earned it for getting your Mom and me back together.”
Gabby took a deep breath and focused on her mother’s belly, and then she gasped. “I can see! Oh, my God, I can see, I can like totally see!”
“See what?” he and Chloe asked in unison. “What is it?”
Gabby smiled and placed her hands on her cheeks as her expression turned all melty and emotional. “Mom, Dad…it’s a little boy. You’re having a boy!”
Clark’s knees wobbled, and he released his hold on Chloe to grab the back of a chair for support. “A boy…” he whispered shakily.
“We have a son, Clark,” Chloe said with tears in her eyes. “I’d have been happy either way, but I’m so glad we’ll get to have one of each!”
“I’m getting a baby brother!” Gabby yelled joyfully, whizzing around the kitchen again. “This is so freaking AMAZING!!!”
Clark was drowning in happy emotions, and loving every second of it. “You should sit down,” he instructed, pulling out a chair for Chloe. “Don’t you need to sit down?”
“No, but you do,” Chloe smirked as she pushed him into the chair he’d just pulled out. “You look like you’re about to faint!”
“I just…I can’t believe how beautiful this all is,” he said in awe. “A few months ago I was living a lonely, solitary life, and now…” he paused and swallowed, and then pulled her into his lap. “Now I have the woman of my dreams, the beautiful daughter she gave me…and the wonderful son she’s about to give me. I don’t know if this was your agenda, but from the moment you gave me my first kiss, I was yours.” He took her hands and kissed the small fingertips. “I love you, Chloe Ann Sullivan-Kent.”
Her eyes shone and she rested her hands on his cheeks. “I love you too, Clark Kent. From the first kiss, I loved you.”
“Ah, so that was your grand plan,” he said triumphantly. “Promise me this, Chloe; if we ever get to do this all again, don’t stop at just one kiss.”
“You got it,” she said solemnly, leaning in to kiss the tip of his nose.
“Grandma’s gonna be so thrilled,” Gabby said, hopping excitedly. “A baby, oh my gosh!”
“That’s right, I should call my Mom,” Clark said. Gabby pressed the speed-dial number for his mother and tossed the phone in his direction.
“Thanks, honey,” he smiled, and put the unit on Speaker just as his mother picked up.
“Hello?”
“Mom!” Clark greeted.
“Hey, you!” she answered jovially. “How are you all doing?”
“We’re great, Mom,” he said.
“All packed for tonight?”
“Almost. Um…listen, remember when you said you’d be at our beck and call for babysitting duty? Well…we kind of want to put you on notice.”
“Oh, here we go,” they heard her say with rife amusement. “When do you need me?”
“That’s up to the little one,” Clark said, and they heard Martha chuckle.
“I think my granddaughter would take offence to being called little,” she replied. “And she hardly needs babysitting, she’s practically a grown woman.”
“We’re not asking you to babysit the grown woman,” he said smugly.
“Then why on earth do you want---?” she stopped short, and Gabby dramatically counted the seconds of silence as realisation sunk in.
“One…” she whispered, holding her finger in the air. “Two…” another finger. “Three…”
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"
“…and there it is!” Gabby said triumphantly.
Martha Kent’s shriek of joy was so loud and so long it could probably be heard two blocks away.
Clark looked and his bride and his daughter, and they all burst out laughing. Jor-El had been spot-on. Happier times were definitely on the horizon for this family.
***
The End
That's all, folks!
Special thanks to everyone who helped make this story a success. Tobey, Sky, Tiffany, Chloie - you're all on my Christmas List!!! :-)
twinsarein - you da BOMB. Count me in for smallvillebbang 2012, and see you next year! :-DRunner by
go_clo. Title: Agenda
Author:
babydee1Pairing: Chlark
Rating: NC-17 (mostly PG-13)
Warnings: Sugary schmoop!
Timeline: Futurefic; follows Season 8’s Injustice &
Disclaimer: All known characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Summary: More than a decade after the Doomsday Rampage, Clark makes a shocking discovery that changes his life forever.
Feedback: …makes me squee. :-)
Written for the 2011
smallvillebbang long Fanfic challenge. Many thanks to twinsarein for all her tireless organisation and support!Beta’ed by
legendarytobes & The Fallen Sky at KSite.Art by
sylvanelfmistre & go_clo.Read previous chapter here.
Read story from the beginning here.
Epilogue
One Month Later…
The aroma of sizzling bacon assuaged Chloe’s nostrils, jogging her out of her slumber. Her brow wrinkled in a sleepy frown. Her husband must be treating himself to a fry-up again, she thought grimly. Gabby had indoctrinated him well, so much so that he often treated himself to a Full English breakfast after a Saturday morning supersave. But from the combination of meaty smells coming from the kitchen, he’d really gone to town this morning.
Her husband. She smiled and hugged the covers to herself, her grin widening as she caught sight of the rings gleaming on the third finger of her left hand. Pleasure and contentment filled her heart and she shook her head in wonder, marvelling at how far they’d come in the 23 years that they’d known each other, and in the three short days that they’d been married so far.
It had been on a windy Wednesday afternoon that they’d finally tied the knot in a quiet ceremony at Metropolis City Hall Registry, with only Bruce Wayne, Martha Kent, and their daughter Gabriella as witnesses. Bruce had generously given them an all-expenses paid week-long honeymoon to the Maldives, First Class flights and all, and they were due to depart that very evening. Fortunately the timing of the wedding coincided with the end of the school year and the start of the winter holidays, so Gabby was to spend the first four days of the honeymoon with her Grandma Martha in Washington, and then travel back to Gotham with Bruce for the last three.
Chloe yawned and wrinkled her nose as another pungent meaty waft of air filled her nostrils. Scowling, she swung her feet out of bed and got to her feet, grumbling to herself as she slipped her arms into her robe. Just because Clark had an invulnerable stomach didn’t mean he had to go overboard on the paprika.
She walked into the kitchen and stopped short. There at the stove was Gabby, humming softly to herself as she turned the sausages and bacon over in the pan. On hearing her mother’s footsteps she turned and smiled.
“Oh, hey, Mom. You hungry?”
“Starving, actually. What are you doing up so early?” Chloe asked, heading for the coffee pot.
Her daughter snorted. “Eleven o’clock is not early, Mom.”
“Eleven?” Chloe echoed.
“You slept in,” Gabby pointed out. “Again. They must be working you too hard at the Planet.”
Chloe shrugged. “Well, that’s what weekends are for.”
“It’s the third time this week!”
Chloe frowned. “Hmm. You’re right, they are working me too hard. And your father’s second job as a crimefighter means I’m constantly chained to a desktop churning out articles extolling the wonder and virtue of Superman.” She glanced around and listened for Clark, but heard nothing. “Where’s is your father?”
“Out being Superman,” Gabby replied. “There was a report of a volcanic eruption in Sumatra, he’s gone to sort it out.”
“Business as usual then,” she said absently, suddenly noticing Gabby’s muddy trainers. “Have you been out this morning?”
“Oh yeah; been to see Grandpa Jo,” Gabby replied, and glanced at back at her with a grin. “I just got my first assignment.”
On hearing the A-word, Chloe stiffened. “What has he got you doing?” she asked sharply. “If I hear the word ‘destiny’ from your lips, so help me God---”
“Relax, Mom, he hasn’t got me doing anything,” Gabby said, rolling her eyes. “In fact, I asked for this gig.”
“What gig?” Chloe asked suspiciously.
Gabby spooned her bacon and sausages onto a plate before heading to the fridge. “He wants to reach out to someone. Apparently, I’m not the only Kryptonian child born on earth.”
“What do you mean?” Chloe asked, her eyes wide. “I thought he said you were the last daughter of Krypton…?”
“The last daughter, yes,” her daughter replied with a wink as she took two eggs out of the fridge and a small pack of mushrooms.
“There’s a Kryptonian boy out there somewhere?” she said incredulously.
“Hardly a boy, he’s older than me; about eighteen, according to Grandpa,” she said, sitting down beside her. “His father came to earth years ago and went off the grid somehow, but Grandpa swears this teenager might be his son. Said he was from the House of Ur.”
“Oh my gosh, that’s it!” Chloe exclaimed. “Dax-Ur! Your father met him years ago; he’d been using Blue Kryptonite to strip his abilities, that’s probably why Jor-El couldn’t get a read on him.”
Gabby frowned. “Why would he do that?” she asked, nibbling on a corner of a slice of toast.
“He just wanted to blend in, I guess,” she said vaguely. “I’m sure your father would have done the same if he’d known about Blue K earlier. Anyway, Dax-Ur was married with a son…about four years old at the time…?”
“That sounds about right,” Gabby mused.
“So what’s Jor-El up to, getting you on the case?” Chloe asked, her motherly instincts on high alert. “He’s not…” she swallowed. “He’s not matchmaking, is he?”
“No!” Gabby laughed. “For starters, I’m way too young for that. Secondly, this was actually Dad’s assignment, but I asked to be let in on it.”
Chloe frowned. “Why?”
“Because it looks like his abilities have only just started to manifest,” she explained. “As someone closer to his own age, I think it’s something I might be able to help with.”
Chloe tapped her coffee cup and frowned in thought. If this boy been conceived whilst his father had been wearing the Blue K – which was more than likely – then it was possible that his abilities had lain fallow all this time, and were only just emerging.
“I guess girls do mature faster than boys,” she bragged smugly, and Chloe rolled her eyes.
“He’s probably just been around Blue K too long, and something has happened to remove it from his vicinity,” Chloe said, tweaking her daughter’s ponytail. “Maybe they’ve moved house recently or something.”
“Well, that’s what I’m going to find out,” Gabby said, standing up and heading back to the stove with her eggs and mushrooms.
“Well, as long as your father tags along,” Chloe said sternly. “I’m not too happy about you hunting down an eighteen-year old all by yourself. You may be smart, but you are still very young, Gabriella.”
“I can take care of myself, Mom,” she reassured her as she fired the cooker up again with her heat vision. “But I’ll keep tabs with Dad if it’ll make you happy.”
“Oh, it’ll make me happy,” she said with a relieved sigh. “Very happy.”
Gabby smiled and shook black pepper onto the frying eggs, and Chloe almost heaved.
“Ugh, that stinks!” she said with a shudder. “Don’t you have enough fried foods on your plate already?”
“I thought you liked fry-ups,” Gabby said as she stirred the mushrooms in.
“Not today,” she said sourly, covering her nose and going to open a window. “Ugh, that’s rank. Feel like I’m gonna be sick.”
“Are you pregnant?”
Chloe laughed derisively. “What are you talking about? Of course I’m not preg---” she stopped short and did some mental sums, and her heart started beating frantically.
Oh, God. The constant tiredness, the intolerable smells…not to mention the fact that she hadn’t had a period in over eight weeks…
“That was a joke, Mom,” Gabby said and turned to smile at her. On seeing her shocked expression, Gabby did a double take and stared.
“Omigosh…are you?” she asked in a whisper. “Are you pregnant, Mom?”
“I’m…” she couldn’t say the words. She just couldn’t be…although, with the way she and Clark had been going at it without a moment’s thought to using protection, it would be a miracle if she wasn’t pregnant.
“I’m…I’m pregnant,” she whispered in wonder, staring up at a beaming Gabby. “I’m pregnant!”
“Omigod, YAY!” Gabby shrieked, jumping up and down and clapping her hands excitedly before whizzing around the kitchen in superspeed. “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it, I can’t freaking believe it!!!”
Neither could she. She was married to an alien and already had a hybrid daughter, but the thought that she and Clark could have defied all odds and conceived again…
Gabby giggled gleefully. “Are you gonna tell Dad this time?”
“Tell me what?” Clark asked as he whooshed into the kitchen and ruffled his squealing daughter’s hair. “What’s going on with my gorgeous girls this fine morning?”
“Mom’s pregnant!”
“That’s nice,” he said absently, dropping a quick kiss on Chloe’s shocked forehead. “I see you made breakfa---WHAT?!?”
He spun around and stared at her, the House of El sigil on his chest rising and falling as he breathed heavily, his green eyes wide in shock. Slowly he walked towards her and stroked her cheek tenderly, his wide eyes hopeful.
“Is it true?” he asked in a soft whisper. “Are you…?” he glanced down at her belly and she smiled, placing her hand over his and pressing it to her womb.
“I…I think so,” she said tremulously. “The timing seems right, and all the signs are there…lethargy, nausea, heightened sense of smell…”
Clark’s face lit up in a huge grin, and she hastened to calm things down. “I don’t know for certain, but…”
“You are,” he whispered, gazing intently at her lower belly. “You are. Chloe - Oh, my God…you’re carrying my baby!”
***
If it were possible for someone to die of happiness, Clark would have been six feet under.
He stared at her belly, almost unable to believe what he was seeing. Tears sprang to his eyes as he stared in wonder at the tiny life nestled comfortably within its mother’s womb, floating peacefully in a watery cocoon.
His child…
Clark swallowed, overcome with emotion. He was going to be a father again – and this time, he wasn’t going to miss a thing.
He lifted his gaze and stared into the eyes of the woman he loved, and Jor-El’s words swirled around in his head.
You have an opportunity to experience all that you have you have been denied.
His arms went around Chloe and he laughed softly. He should have known. The Fortress registered the presence of every Kryptonian, and could track members of the House of El from conception. Of course Jor-El had known Chloe was pregnant.
And if he’d known from the time he dropped that subtle hint, it meant that he and Chloe had conceived on the first try. Again.
He stroked her hair with one hand and held her to him tightly. “I’ll be here for you,” he promised, splaying his other hand on her abdomen. “Every step of the way, I’ll be here.”
“I know,” she said, happy tears streaming down her face. “But if you think I’m going to let you slack of hero duty---”
“I’ll work something out with the League; call it paternity leave or something,” he promised. “And I’ll still protect the city to the best of my ability, but my family comes first, and always will.” He brushed his thumb over her belly and her hand came to rest over his.
“We’ll do it properly this time,” she whispered. “Together, all of us.”
He nodded, unable to stare anywhere else but at her womb and the promise of life nestled within her belly.
“Well,” drawled Gabby from across the room, “I just want you both to know that I am very disappointed in you.”
Startled, Clark glanced at Chloe before regarding his daughter with a cautious glare. “I…Gabby, I…we thought you were happy…”
“Oh, I am,” she said smartly, her eyes twinkling. “I’m thrilled that I’m gonna be a big sister.”
“Oh, thank God,” Clark breathed, relieved that his daughter wasn’t upset about getting a sibling.
“But that doesn’t excuse you from your irresponsibility,” she continued sternly. “Stop me if I’m wrong, but from the expressions on your faces, you both seem surprised to be having this baby. Am I to deduce from this that it wasn’t planned?”
“Um…” both he and Chloe adopted schooled expressions of authority, but Gabby was on a roll and was determined to relish her moment.
“I’ll put it this way,” she said, folding her arms. “Have either of you used protection even once since you got back together?”
Busted. The schooled expressions of authority disappeared, rapidly replaced with embarrassed crimson ones.
Gabby’s arms went up in the air. “I rest my case,” she said with a smug grin. “I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell you. Did you learn nothing from the first time? I mean, what were you two doing during Sex Ed class? You can’t say you didn’t know what was gonna happen if you did it without protection, this is the second time this is happening to you!”
Clark, completely red-faced, extended a hand to his daughter. “Okay, okay, you’ve had your fun,” he laughed, pulling her towards them for a group hug. “Oops, we did it again. But even you’ve gotta admit, your Mom and I make beautiful mistakes.”
“Hmm…there is that,” Gabby said, stroking her jaw thoughtfully. “In fact, I am living proof that you make gorgeous mistakes, and I can’t wait to see what this little one looks like.” She paused and grinned. “But then, I don’t have to.”
“Don’t have to what?” Chloe asked.
“Wait.”
“No fair,” Chloe said, pouting as her daughter activated her x-ray vision to peer inside her mother’s belly. “How come I’m the only one who doesn’t get to see?”
“You’re carrying the baby, Mom,” Gabby said with a gentle smile. “You’re giving life to the next generation of Earth and Krypton. Nothing can compare with that.”
She grinned. “I guess.” Suddenly her eyes lit up in anticipation and she turned to him. “Do you know what we’re having?” Chloe asked hopefully. “I don’t want to have to wait to find out.”
Clark’s eyes brightened. “Oh my God, I didn’t even think to check. I’ll do that now---”
“Let me, let me!” Gabby said excitedly. “Oh, please, can I see first? Please?”
Chloe sighed and glanced at Clark, and he nodded with a smile. “Go ahead honey. You’re the big sister, and you’ve earned it for getting your Mom and me back together.”
Gabby took a deep breath and focused on her mother’s belly, and then she gasped. “I can see! Oh, my God, I can see, I can like totally see!”
“See what?” he and Chloe asked in unison. “What is it?”
Gabby smiled and placed her hands on her cheeks as her expression turned all melty and emotional. “Mom, Dad…it’s a little boy. You’re having a boy!”
Clark’s knees wobbled, and he released his hold on Chloe to grab the back of a chair for support. “A boy…” he whispered shakily.
“We have a son, Clark,” Chloe said with tears in her eyes. “I’d have been happy either way, but I’m so glad we’ll get to have one of each!”
“I’m getting a baby brother!” Gabby yelled joyfully, whizzing around the kitchen again. “This is so freaking AMAZING!!!”
Clark was drowning in happy emotions, and loving every second of it. “You should sit down,” he instructed, pulling out a chair for Chloe. “Don’t you need to sit down?”
“No, but you do,” Chloe smirked as she pushed him into the chair he’d just pulled out. “You look like you’re about to faint!”
“I just…I can’t believe how beautiful this all is,” he said in awe. “A few months ago I was living a lonely, solitary life, and now…” he paused and swallowed, and then pulled her into his lap. “Now I have the woman of my dreams, the beautiful daughter she gave me…and the wonderful son she’s about to give me. I don’t know if this was your agenda, but from the moment you gave me my first kiss, I was yours.” He took her hands and kissed the small fingertips. “I love you, Chloe Ann Sullivan-Kent.”
Her eyes shone and she rested her hands on his cheeks. “I love you too, Clark Kent. From the first kiss, I loved you.”
“Ah, so that was your grand plan,” he said triumphantly. “Promise me this, Chloe; if we ever get to do this all again, don’t stop at just one kiss.”
“You got it,” she said solemnly, leaning in to kiss the tip of his nose.
“Grandma’s gonna be so thrilled,” Gabby said, hopping excitedly. “A baby, oh my gosh!”
“That’s right, I should call my Mom,” Clark said. Gabby pressed the speed-dial number for his mother and tossed the phone in his direction.
“Thanks, honey,” he smiled, and put the unit on Speaker just as his mother picked up.
“Hello?”
“Mom!” Clark greeted.
“Hey, you!” she answered jovially. “How are you all doing?”
“We’re great, Mom,” he said.
“All packed for tonight?”
“Almost. Um…listen, remember when you said you’d be at our beck and call for babysitting duty? Well…we kind of want to put you on notice.”
“Oh, here we go,” they heard her say with rife amusement. “When do you need me?”
“That’s up to the little one,” Clark said, and they heard Martha chuckle.
“I think my granddaughter would take offence to being called little,” she replied. “And she hardly needs babysitting, she’s practically a grown woman.”
“We’re not asking you to babysit the grown woman,” he said smugly.
“Then why on earth do you want---?” she stopped short, and Gabby dramatically counted the seconds of silence as realisation sunk in.
“One…” she whispered, holding her finger in the air. “Two…” another finger. “Three…”
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"
“…and there it is!” Gabby said triumphantly.
Martha Kent’s shriek of joy was so loud and so long it could probably be heard two blocks away.
Clark looked and his bride and his daughter, and they all burst out laughing. Jor-El had been spot-on. Happier times were definitely on the horizon for this family.
***
The End
That's all, folks!
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