babydee1 | Chlollie Fanfic: Up to Tricksies, Chapter 7

Hola, Peeps!

Back with some more Chlollie; a nice, long chapter, in which Clark politely but firmly makes an impassioned plea and a cast-iron case for our absent archer.

Clark missed his calling; he should have been a lawyer. :-)

Enjoy! Awesome banner by

ellashy.

Title: Up to Tricksies
Author:

babydee1
Pairing:          Chlollie
Rating:           PG
Warnings:     None
Timeline:      FutureFic
Disclaimer:   All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Summary:     Through covert scheming and careful planning (or not!), Oliver Queen finally gets his wish. Sixth story in the Funsies Series.
Feedback:      …is a terrible thing to keep to yourself. ;-)

Read previous chapter here.
Read story from the beginning here.

Chapter 7

She should have known Clark would be here to campaign on Oliver’s behalf.

True to his word, Oliver had left her alone and given her the space she’d asked for. It had been difficult, though probably not more so than for any woman in the first trimester of her pregnancy, and she’d had Lois holding her hand through most of it, with Clark popping in regularly – no doubt at Oliver’s behest – to make sure she was doing okay. Now that the sonogram was drawing near, it made sense for him to reach out to her, albeit indirectly.

In the five weeks since his awful deception had come to light, Chloe wasn’t any closer to forgiving her husband. In truth, she had deliberately kept him far from the forefront of her mind, focusing her energies instead on the tiny life growing within her that was very intent on making his or her presence felt. She was constantly sick, or tired, or sick and tired, but with each passing day, the child in her womb became more and more real to her. It was something she wished she could have shared with Oliver, but the thought of him deliberately deceiving her, making love to her day after day with nothing but conception on his mind…

Her heart stung with betrayal, and Chloe folded her arms and pursed her lips tightly. “He won’t be joining me, no.”

Clark took a deep breath. “Chloe, come on. You know what it would mean for him to see his own child for the very first time. This is something you should both do together.”

“We should have planned the baby together, too,” she retorted. “If he could leave me out of an important decision like that, then I can certainly leave him out of important appointments like this.”

“He’s genuinely sorry for tricking you.”

“But he’s not sorry for succeeding in said trickery, is he?”

“Chloe, you know he’ll never apologise for his child.”

“And that is why Lois will be coming for the sonogram with me tomorrow, and not him,” she replied with mock sweetness.

Clark sighed. “You should see him, Chloe, he’s so worried about you.”

“He didn’t worry about me when he knocked me up,” she shot back.

“What he did was underhanded and low,” Clark admitted. “Really, really low. He knows that, and he’s sorry for it.”

“Well, sorry just isn’t good enough,” she replied. “He betrayed my trust, Clark. He backed me into a corner and put me in a position which should have been my decision and my decision alone.”

“He was wrong,” he said. “He shouldn’t have done that; I’m not disputing it, and he deserves to be chastised for it. But cutting him out of his child’s life is not the answer.”

“I never said I was cutting him out of the baby’s life indefinitely,” she said defensively. “Just long enough for him to learn that he can’t do things like this to someone he loves.”

“He’s been cut off for five weeks,” Clark pointed out. “Isn’t that long enough?”

“Not by a long shot,” she replied. “He did a horrible thing to me, and the fact that it’s something that’s supposed to be a source of so much joy for both of us just makes it even worse. This is the only way I can punish him.”

“And how long do you intend to punish him, hmm?” Clark challenged. “Until the 20-week scan? Until the birth, the baby’s first birthday? This is how marriages break down, Chloe. This is how petty arguments turn into something catastrophic.”

“Petty?” she echoed, her expression furious. “There’s nothing petty about what Oliver did to me!”

“Okay, wrong choice of words, very wrong,” he said hastily. “And I understand that you needed time away from Oliver, I sincerely do. But my dad used to say ‘never let the sun go down on your anger,’ and he has a point. If you and Oliver stay apart too long, the situation will only get worse, for all of you. And you know this isn’t about just you and him anymore.”

Chloe fell silent and absently rubbed her abdomen. Clark, sensing that she was softening, went on.

“And he’s not the only one suffering here,” he continued. “You miss him. The baby misses him. You’re as miserable as he is right now, if not more.”

“You got that right,” she said with a snort as she got to her feet. “Give me a second…I need to throw up again.”

***

She emerged from the bathroom several minutes later to find a glass of chilled water and a plate of crackers all laid out for her.

“Figured these might help,” he offered.

She smiled and sat down opposite him. “You read my mind. Thank you.”

Clark smiled and handed her the tray, and she selected a cracker from the tray and nibbled on it cautiously.

“Oliver would love to be here for you,” he suddenly said.

She scowled at him. “Give it a rest, Clark.”

He steepled his hands. “Lana once told me something, which I never shared with you,” he said carefully.

Chloe looked at him and frowned. “Yeah?”

“She told me that things had become a bit tense and awkward when she was living with you and your dad, and when she wanted to leave, you showed her your family tree and said that you’d listed her as your sister.”

Chloe shrugged. “Yeah…so?”

“She said she had no idea why you’d done that. Yes, she was living with you, but you’d never been particularly close. She wondered if you’d genuinely come to think of her as family, or if you simply wanted to keep an eye on her so that you would know if she and I tried to start a relationship.”

“Probably a bit of both,” Chloe confessed, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment.

Clark smiled. “Either way, once you’d indicated that you thought of her as a sister, she felt guilt-tripped into staying with you simply because she felt it would be cruel if she left after that.”

“I didn’t know she felt like that,” she said honestly. “Lana and I had our ups and downs, but I genuinely cared for her. She’d never had a real family; I thought my declaration would make her feel wanted and accepted. Instead she felt…”

“Trapped?” Clark supplied. “You meant well, I know; but sometimes our own desires overwhelm us and we make rash decisions that need more time, planning and thought...and consultation. You know where I’m going with this, right?”

“It’s not the same,” she argued sullenly. “I’m not married to Lana.”

“Maybe not; but you made a decision based on your own emotions which put someone else in a difficult position,” he said gently. “Just as Oliver did when he sought to expand his family.”

She hated to admit it, but Clark did have a point. Oliver had had his family ripped from him before he was a teenager; she couldn’t even begin to imagine how that had altered the course of his life, how he must have yearned for the recreation of that family unit.

“Would you lie to the woman you love if you thought it would get you a child, Clark?” she queried after a while. “After all, you lost your parents and your entire planet in one fell swoop. You probably feel the end would justify the means in this case.”

Clark considered her words carefully, his brow furrowed in thought.

“It’s…different,” he finally replied. “In many ways, my loss was bearable because my birth parents passed away before I could get to know them. I had two loving parents in Jonathan and Martha Kent, and a stable home for as long as I can remember, so I never wanted for love.” His frown deepened. “Now, if I had lost Mom, Dad and the Farm when I was twelve, then I would have felt truly alone. There’s no telling how I would have turned out.”

“Huh. She paused. “I hear what you’re saying, but that doesn’t make Oliver’s actions right.”

“I never said he was right, Chloe; simply that he’s a product of his upbringing,” Clark replied patiently. “When that was interrupted, he had to toughen up and change tactics in order to succeed. I’ve never agreed with all his methods, you know that. But I do know that he means well, and he gets results; more often than not with minimal casualties. Yes, he’s hurt you. Badly. But will you be thinking about the pain when they put your baby in your arms?”

An image of a red-faced, bawling newborn with a mop of white-blonde hair and a dimpled chin materialised in her subconscious, and a smile automatically began to form on her lips.

Clark grinned. “See? That’s what Oliver did. He fast-forwarded to the near future and by-passed the consequences of the means to get to the end. It’s what he does; it’s who he is. Though I promise you, he’s learned a harsh lesson these last five weeks regarding when and how to apply that particular strategy.”

Chloe scowled. “He knew I wasn’t ready.”

“He probably thought you’d never be ready.”

“He was probably right,” she reluctantly agreed, remembering the last conversation they’d had on the subject. She’d stonewalled him, much as she had done every time he’d brought up the topic of kids.

Clark took her hands and gave them a gentle squeeze. “All I know for sure is that that man loves you, and he’s done everything you asked of him since you told him to leave,” he said. “He’s not the most patient of guys, but he’s stayed away. He hasn’t hassled you with calls or messages, and if you genuinely don’t want him with you at the scan tomorrow, he’ll stay away because he loves you. But don’t hurt him more than you need to. He already knows what he did was wrong, and he has suffered so much without you.”

If he felt half as lonely as she did, then she could definitely relate. And she did give him props for not having stalked, pressured or tricked her into letting him back into her life. He really was taking his punishment like a man.

“He must be going crazy,” she said with a smile.

Clark nodded. “He is.”

“I’m surprised he hasn’t swung through the window by now.”

Clark blinked. “Excuse me?”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Private joke.”

“So you’ll let him go with you tomorrow?” he asked hopefully.

“Clark…” she sighed. “Not gonna lie, I’m still upset with him for doing this. Not for getting me pregnant, but for how he went about it. That is never going to be right. Was he that desperate for a child that he would basically lie to me to get one?”

Clark took a deep breath. “He lost his entire family in one afternoon,” he reminded her. “He was only twelve years old. For the longest time he had no‑one, just drifted from one fleeting relationship to another; then he met you, and everything changed. For the first time in forever, you gave him a future he could look forward to. He was an emotional mess, but you healed him.”

“We healed each other,” she said softly.

Clark nodded. “He loves you so much. And can you honestly say, deep down, that you never ever wanted to have Oliver’s child?”

“I just wanted it to be on my own terms,” she whispered.

“Your terms can be pretty hard to accommodate sometimes,” he pointed out. “Chloe, you refused to tell the man you loved him for the longest time. He waited so patiently to hear you say that, and once the words were out, he wanted it all. And now, what should be a really happy moment for him isn’t, because he thinks you’re not happy.”

“I’m happy about the baby,” she said honestly. “Just…not happy about how it got here.”

Clark stared at the ground. “He’s done a hurtful thing, I agree, even if the driving force behind it was love.”

“Was it love?” she queried. “Or just plain selfishness?”

“He wanted to have a baby with the woman he loves, of that I have no doubt,” Clark replied. “I say this about Oliver all the time: his methods are questionable and I don’t always agree with them, but his motives are pure. He loves you, and he loves this baby.”

When she didn’t reply, he took her hands in his and continued. “When you look back at all this, years from now,” he said softly, “…wouldn’t you rather he’d been with you, holding your hand when you laid eyes on your first born child for the very first time?”

“Of course I would,” she whispered.

“Well, you can have that,” he said, resting a hand on her cheek. “All you have to do is say the words, and you’ll be together again.”

A feeling of déjà vu came over her, and she sighed deeply and wiped a tear from her eye. “He really hurt me, you know?” she said in a small voice.

“I know. He made a huge mistake… but don’t let this be the end of the beautiful future you both deserve to have. Let him see his baby tomorrow. Please, Chloe.”

She stared into Clark’s sad face, and rolled her eyes in defeat. “Tell him to meet me at the hospital at three,” she replied grudgingly.

Clark smiled and gently chucked her chin. “Good girl.”

***

Chapter 8…