IVF- In Vetro Fertilization

By Mindige0

 

I always knew that one day Lex would up and end our friendship, my mother had said it, my father had said it and even the few friends from Smallville had said it. I always pushed their words away, knowing in my heart that Lex would forever be with me in some way or another but the more they said the words the more I began to wonder if they were true. It happened in the summer before my freshman year at Met U, a place that had been low on my college list but had risen when I found out that Chloe along with Lex would be in the town the university lived in. So I signed myself up and spent the summer dreaming of how it was going to be once I was in Metropolis full time. I never really noticed the tapered to non-existence phone calls that came from Lex, and I never really noticed that he never visited the farm any more. I had been busy with deliveries and picking out classes to even notice the change, but I did notice it once I arrived on campus with Chloe bouncing next to me about "how great it is to finally be here!" her words not mine. I eyed the buildings and began to wonder if maybe this was a bad idea, but with Chloe bouncing and chattering away about how great it was going to be, I began to believe her. I had for a moment totally forgotten that I hadn't seen or heard from Lex since before my graduation from high school. The excuse had been that he was stuck in some Asian country with no way to make it back unless he wanted the wrath of his father coming down on him. I buckled and that was the last I had heard from the bald billionaire. I saw him plenty in the newspaper and I heard constantly from Chloe about what Lex was up to, but never from the man himself. I placated myself with the lie that Lex was busy and didn't have as much free time as he did before when in Smallville, but I knew that there was something else at play there always was when it came to Lex. He seemed to have enough time to go out and be seen on the red carpet of many events in both Metropolis and around the globe, but yet he couldn't find two minutes to call me and say hello and ask how I was doing.

I soon forgot about Lex with the start up of school, I was busy listening to professor lecture us on what they expected and how it was our grade if we didn't do as we were told. I found the whole thing funny until I figured that I really had no one to rant to about it besides Chloe. Lana had disappeared to Paris for some art school and Pete had followed her with some excuse about 'finding himself'. Yeah right, more like wanting to stalk Lana but most would say that I wouldn't be one to talk since I had followed the girl all throughout high school. Lana always found ways to draw my attention, and it was one thing I was very glad of when I found out that she wouldn't be going to Met U like most of the graduating seniors.

So classes began and I threw myself into the challenge that the classes gave me, even if they were entry level courses. Chloe only managed a couple of the same classes that I had since she had been interning at the Daily Planet and at the Met U Gazette, so she was pretty much knee deep in Journalism classes already. I didn't envy her for one moment and when she asked me to go to one of her class the thought that I wanted to be a Journalist shot from my mind and ended up in the waste bin. That was one of the most painful classes I had to sit through, and I sat through some pretty boring class. Biology being one of them, it wasn't hard per say okay maybe it wasn't hard for me but it was definitely a class that I would have rather not taken. So with school in full swing, I never really noticed that my calls and emails to Lex were never returned. I did notice however that Lex's name seemed to always be in the paper, it hurt to know that I had to find out about Lex's life through the paper and through Chloe, who was a bouncing blonde blur that was quite happy to tell me all the latest gossip on Lex. I had to finally tell her to stop, for I wasn't sure if I could bear listening to another rumor that paired Lex up with some model or actress, someone much better than a farm boy from Smallville. I had figured out that I was much more interested in the male form than the female form, then again it could have been specifically Lex that I was attracted to but I knew better, there had been a couple of guys on campus that I always checked out when I was in the Quad waiting for Chloe; which was where I was now standing alone checking out the groups of people hanging around and wondering what was taking Chloe so long.

"Clark bar!" Chloe chirped as she made her way over to where I stood, looking all sorts of out of place.

“Chloe" I sighed, I so hated when she called me Clark bar. There was just something about the name that always made me want to scream. It was the same with Clark bear as well, yet another name that Chloe had named me one day and used when she was very angry with me.

“So” Chloe said looking at me with a grin on her face, she had news and was just itching to tell me but I would have to ask first. I looked at her and then around the Quad deciding if I wanted to know the news she had or if I would be better off with not knowing.

“So ask already” Chloe said as if I was just dyeing to know what it was that she had to tell me. I wasn't but I knew better than to say that to her, I did once and ended up with no eyebrows.

“Okay, so what has a bee in your bonnet?” I asked looking at Chloe and then back over the Quad, eye contact with Chloe was always a bad thing since I was pretty certain she could read minds that way.

“Star Labs is what” Chloe said pulling me up short from the almost certain line of ‘Lex Luthor is what' that she usually gave me.

“What” I asked now looking her in the eyes, a confused look on my face I'm sure.

“Star Labs” Chloe said before scanning the Quad and pointing out a group of techs in labs coats that were surrounded by a large group of guys.

“What have they done now?” I asked; Start Labs was the foremost lab for IVF or otherwise known as in vitro fertilization. There were those that thought the whole process was a horrible thing but with my mother not being able to conceive I saw the lab as a blessing for those that couldn't conceive naturally but I wasn't going to tell Chloe that. She would want to interview me and that was something I was planning to avoid, since she did it plenty in high school.

“Male pregnancy!” Chloe crowed before pointing to the group of guys that still circled the lab techs in their white labs coats, now holding clipboards.

“Excuse me” I said before looking over to where she was still pointing her finger with a cat that caught the canary look on her face.

“You heard me Clark bar, Star Labs says it has a way for males to become pregnant” Chloe said eyeing the group that surrounded the lab techs. I knew the look well enough to know to stay the hell out of her way and always, *always* agree with her on whatever she said.

“Male pregnancy?” I asked skeptical, I mean I had always given it thought wondering if science and technology would get there before I died or not. I had entertained the idea on more than one occasion; it was usually about the same time that I blushed thinking of doing things with either Lex or my latest secret high school crush. Options were after all limited to the gay population, but now it seemed that Star Labs had once again pushed the envelope.

“Yeah and those guys standing around those geeks are just itching to get a bit of the cash they are doling out to those who meet the criteria for the study they are doing for it” Chloe said moving closer to the group as if I wouldn't notice.

“You made me come to the Quad for that?” I asked; I knew she had me here for a reason but what I was a bit uncertain and a lot scared of.

“No of course not, can't a friend want to hang out with you?”

“Sure if said friend was anybody besides you Chloe” I said knowing she had a reason for why she wanted me here.

“Well” here she slid her eyes to the group and then back to me. It only took a minute for me to figure out what she was thinking in that brain of hers.

“Oh no” I said putting my hands up, I was *not* going to go over there and act interested, even though I was and get dirt of the lab for Chloe and some expose she was already writing up in her head.

“Oh yes” she said before pushing me the last little bit and then backing away, making me the center of attention since I had managed to bump into multiple people which drew the attention of the lab techs filling out paper work for some of the ‘gayer' guys in the group.

“Hello” a guy with short black hair said a smile on his face that had me melting in moments. I was always a sucker for a pretty smile, Lex had a perfect smile. The thought made me sigh, which the guy took to show that I was in some serious like of him.

“What's your name?” He asked me, I was tempted to use some fake name but there was something about his smile that made me tell him my name.

“Clark”

“Well Clark, I'm Javier” he said before sticking out his hand and then shaking my hand.

“So are you interested?” He asked me, I was more than willing to act dumb for I was beginning to wonder if Chloe had her facts wrong. She would curse me for even thinking such thoughts but since she put me in the situation in the first place, I thought I deserved to do so.

“In?”

“Our male pregnancy research program” Javier said before grinning at me and looking over the huge line of guys that were around the small table the lab had put up.

“Uh sure, I think” I said not really sure what it was that Chloe was wanting from the Lab for her article.

“Well I have a few questions to ask you before anything else can happen” Javier said to me a grin on his face as if he had some secret that he wanted to tell but was unwilling at the present time.

“Sure” I said game enough to at least answer the questions so that I could find out more about the research that was going on for male pregnancy of all things.

“Full Name?” Javier started out after leading me to an area that was away from the large group of males that the other techs were taking names of. I must have met some sort of criteria; didn't they know that I knew Chloe Sullivan? A girl who at the tender age of eleven had already been published in the Daily Planet?

“Clark Kent”

“How old are you?”

“Eighteen” I answered back while Javier wrote the age down and moved onto the next question.

“Are you gay?” This question pulled me up short, but as I thought about it. It would make sense to ask the question since you would probably end up with children on the street because their parent was unwilling to care for them once they had gotten their payment from the lab for conceiving and birthing the child. A gay man would know what a gift it was to be able to do something that only women could do, currently at least.

“Yes” I answered back; there was no point in denying the fact. I was in serious like with Javier at the current moment but that was because of his smile something that would probably fade a couple months down the line for me.

“Excellent” Javier answered before he continued with a few more questions.

“Are you willing to raise a child if you were to give birth?”

“Yes” I answered, and I would be willing to raise a child after it was born. I may be a bit young but I already had the yearning that my mom talked about when she had been trying with dad to have kids years ago.

“Are you willing to not know the other father?”

“That's fine” I said knowing that this decision would probably come and haunt me years later when I was trying to be in a serious relationship with someone only for them to find out that I had a child. I knew dad would have kittens once I told him, then again it may not even get that far for me. I shook my head; I had to clear my head of the thoughts of having a child to take care of while working on the farm with my parents.

“Height”

“Six, five”

“Weight”

“Two, twenty”

“Eye color”

“Green”

“Hair color”

“Dark brown” I answered in rapid succession.

“Phone number where we can reach you” Javier said a smirk on his face that told me the number might be used for more than business purposes. I grinned then and rattled off the phone number to the cell phone that my parents had gotten me a few years back. It wasn't jazzy like Chloe's but it suited me just fine.

“I'll…we'll be in touch” Javier said before giving me a wink and then sending me on my way to the table for the other techs to get me some pamphlets that I should read if I would be chosen for the study.

“So” Chloe said after I walked away with five thick pamphlets pointing out the high points and risks involved in such a procedure.

“Javier was hot” I said to Chloe, she knew of my decidedly male leanings and she had been one of the firsts to accept my lifestyle. Dad had been a harder sell but when he saw how miserable I was with him not accepting me as I was he changed his tune. Then again a few nights on the horrible couch might have something to do with that as well.

“He was but gimme” Chloe said snatching the pamphlets out of my hands and leafing through them before her eyes lit up on photo in one of the pamphlet.

“I can so see you being mommy Clark” she said turning the pamphlet my way and showing me a computer aided male with a extended belly, showing that he was clearly pregnant and well along into the pregnancy. I laughed at her words but discreetly placed a hand on my stomach, Chloe didn't notice the move since she was deep into one of the pamphlets as we made our way to the local coffee shop. Chloe had a coffee addiction that was almost as bad as her cousin Lois', and that was saying something since Lois Lane was known to scare small children when not filled with the correct amount of the brown brew.

“Do you think they'll call?”

“I have no idea” I said weighing if I had a better chance than most of the guys that had been standing by the table. Some of them looked disgusted by the mere thought of having a child growing inside them while others looked like they would sell their souls for a chance like that. I hadn't seen any of those guy picked so I hoped that I was a lucky one. It may slow down my life, okay it would pretty much make it non-existent but I knew deep down that this had been something I had been searching for. Something I never realized I had been looking for, something that I knew would send both of my parents over the moon but for very different reasons.

“Hmm” Chloe answered before sliding up to the counter and ordering her usual while I ordered a soda. I was never really a fan of coffee or the like but Chloe was and it seemed she was paying so I was going to make the best of it.

“Thanks” Chloe said passing over the money for our drinks after they had been given to us. With pamphlets and coffee in hand she made her way to the corner table that seemed to always be empty and sat down.

“What would your parents say?” Chloe said after taking a slip of her drink and still reading the pamphlet.

“Who knows” I said with a shrug before I noticed out of the corner of my eye a photo of Lex on the cover of the Daily Planet.

“Oh look” Chloe said just as I had turned my head to read the headline of the paper, and what Lex was up to these day.

“Luthor heir to marry?” Chloe said out loud before laughing, she knew just as much as I did that Lex would never marry again. Well at least not before they had a thorough background check and about fifty other items to make sure that they were trying to kill him for his money or to get to his father.

“Let's see who it is this time” Chloe said before asking for the paper and then reading the short article and then snorting at the end.

“Cat Grant is going to get sued one of these days” Chloe said tossing me the paper and letting me read the mess for myself. The article basically hinted that Lex was seeing someone in secret and that they had been seen in New York City picking out wedding bands, as if that was likely to happen. The article then went on to ask just who had gotten the bald billionaire's attention.

“Crap” I said before handing the paper back to the person that had been reading it and then looking at Chloe. She had a look on her face that always made me want in the other direction.

“Have you heard from the wayward billionaire?”

“Nope” I said shaking my head; I was not going to think anymore than I had to on Lex. I had given up the hope that Lex was ever going to contact me. It all went back to one comment that my father had made time and again to me about Lex and that was “Luthor is using you as a form of entertainment. It's what they do, they string you along until they get bored and then they drop you without so much as a goodbye.” I had always fought dad on his words but they were turning out to be true, something that I was very unwilling to admit. I had only been there for Lex's amusement, the dorky farm boy that asked for advice from how to ask out a girl to knowing when it was okay to kiss someone. It was a thought that I tried to avoid at all costs but with Lex in the paper at least once a week the thought always surfaced. Chloe shook her head not saying anything; there was nothing to really say anyway.

“This would be so cool if it were true” Chloe said changing the subject and for once not sounding like a reporter out for a story. I nodded my head in agreement, it would be quite cool if it were true but the only way I would probably find out was if I was picked or nine months later the man who was chosen stated to the world that he had given birth to a child.

For the next couple of weeks, I totally forgot about the male pregnancy and the study that was to be conducted. I was knee deep in homework and feeling like dropping out was a great option. I was in the middle of studying for my Biology mid-term when my cell phone rang.

“Hello”

“Clark Kent” a man asked me on the other side of the phone.

“Yes” I said wondering who it was that was calling, I had at the moment forgotten about the male pregnancy study.

“My name is Dr. Gullisen and I am the Principle Investigator for the male pregnancy study at Star Labs.” I almost dropped the phone at the man's words, had they chosen a candidate already?

“Hello” I answered back to the man, not really sure on what I should or could say.

“Well we have narrowed down our candidates and we would like for you to come in for some tests before our final decision is made.”

“Okay” I said stunned beyond words at this point, all I could do was hold the phone and gape at the voice on the other end of the phone.

“Do you have some time today or tomorrow” the man said and I could hear keys clicking while he probably worked at his computer.

“Uh, well I have a mid-term tomorrow morning but after that I am free” I said still amazed that I was one of the final candidates. It felt like I had won something, or something equally stupid.

“How about at three”

“That's fine” I said before grabbing a piece of paper to write down the address to the labs and what I was to bring with me when I arrived.

“See you then” the man said before I said goodbye and then hung up the phone, my mouth still hanging open a bit at the news.

“I gotta call Chloe” I said before pressing three on the phone and then hitting send before putting the phone to my ear and listening to it ring.

“Clark” Chloe said answering the phone, she never *ever* said hello. I think it would make her melt if she did, but I said nothing.

“They called”

“They called” Chloe said confused for a second before squealing like a girl that she was, and talking a mile a minute. I did not understand half of what she was saying, until she took a deep breath and started again.

“They called you back, so are you it?”

“No, I have to do some testing and then they will decide”

“Oh. My. God” Chloe said again before she started rattling about how this was going to make her career, I had to stop her there.

“If I do get picked Chloe, you are not going to put me in some article like a freak and exploit me”

“No, never” Chloe was quick to reassure me, I didn't feel too reassured but I knew that would only come when things were really happening if I was picked.

“You should probably tell your parents” Chloe said bringing me back down to planet Earth.

“Uh yeah” I said before listening to Chloe give me tips on how best to approach the subject. I knew how to approach it, with me as far away as I could possibly get and to start with my mother.

“I'll let you go” Chloe said before hanging up the phone, leaving me to listen to dial tone before I hung up the phone and then connected quickly to my parent's house. Hopefully all would go well and mom would answer the phone, she was the peace keeper in the house and I planned to use that to my full advantage.

“Kent Farms, Martha speaking” I sighed when I heard mom's voice.

“Hey mom” I said before my mother was asking me how I was doing and was I getting enough to eat.

“I'm fine mom” I said, I knew she would figure out that there was a reason for my calling. There usually was but hopefully she would ask once I had built up some courage to broach the subject about male pregnancy with her. Seems my mother is psychic since she said something I was certain was only common knowledge in Metropolis.

“So I hear Star Labs says that can make males pregnant”

“Uh yeah” I said before rubbing my hand at the back of my neck, the way my dad did when he was nervous about something.

“What do you think about that?”

“I think it's great” I said honestly, I really did think it was great and I knew my mom probably did too; she just wouldn't want it happening to her son quite yet.

“You're not telling me something”

“Well the lab was on the Met U campus recruiting”

“For the male pregnancy study” Mom said sounding a bit surprised by the labs actions.

“Yeah”

“Please tell me that Chloe didn't push you into that” Mom said, I knew she would figure it out. It was something I would probably never do on my own, but Chloe on the other hand.

“Wish I could”

“Great” Mom said before sighing and then asking for the whole story. So I started out with waiting for Chloe in the Quad and noticing the large group of people around a table and then Chloe popping up and telling me about what was going on, to then being pushed by said blonde to the table and then being asked my information for the study.

“You'll calling because they picked you”

“Well yes and no”

“Explain” I could tell mom was livid at this point, of course not at me but at Chloe. Chloe knew how shy I was about meeting new people and how hard it was for me to meet new people especially after what Lex had done to me.

“Well they called and want me to do some tests and then they will decided”

“And if they pick you” mom was really wondering what I was thinking or feeling right now. I knew if I said I wanted to do this she would support me 100 % and make dad understand that this was something I wanted and almost had to do, to hell with the consequences.

“I want to do it”

“What about school” it was mom's way of approving of my thoughts.

“Go as long as I can before withdrawing, I mean it is nine months” I joked which made mom laugh. I knew she wasn't okay with it, but I knew she would be if I was picked.

“You'll need some firmer plans but those can wait until you are picked”

“Thanks mom” I said before she began telling me about what she and dad had been up to while I was away.

“Well you better get back to those books since you might not have much more time with them” mom said before hanging up with me, which made me go back to studying. I was going to ace my Biology mid-term, I could just feel it. I was one of the few that were actually passing the class, most avoided the class since it had an outrageous bell curve but I had forged ahead and I was beginning to be glad I did. My professor made a point of saying hello to me every class time, which was great since it was the easiest way to get help on things that I got confused on during his lectures.

The next day after I walked out of my complete mid-term for Biology, which I was certain I aced. I made my way back to my dorm room for a few hours of sleep. I had pretty much stayed up as late as I could studying and I was paying for it now. I set my alarm to go off for 2:15 and then fell into bed only being woken up by the alarm telling me that time was up and I had better get it together before making my way to Star Labs. The trip to the lab was pretty painless considering I had to take public transportation. So I arrived to Star Labs a bit nervous about what they were about to do to me. I had in my studying came up with all sorts of weird tests they would do on me to deem me worthy of the study. The lab had been on the news recently with the news that they may have developed a way for males to become pregnant but no further information was given.

"Good afternoon" I pleasant voice called me out of my thoughts about why the lab was keeping the study so secret.

"Hello" I said before smiling, she seemed like a nice enough person.

"Can I help you" her tone got a bit harder at her words.

"I'm here for an appointment" I said shifting foot-to-foot, I don't think it is normal for men to show up on their own to the IVF clinic. Her smile widened when I said those words and she began clicking again on her keyboard.

"Name"

"Clark Kent" I gave to her knowing that she would see my name on the appointment books, I just wondered what it would say for the reason why I was here. Where there people that worked here that didn't know about the study?

"I see, 3 o'clock" she said looking down in the corner of her computer screen to see that I was just a few minutes early.

"Have a seat and someone will be with you shortly" she said before picking up the phone and dialing an extension and then speaking to the person on the other end of the phone. I looked around the waiting room and found plenty of parenting and baby magazines as well as a book or two. I took a seat near the windows and looked out, trying not to look at any of the magazines that lay on the coffee tables mocking me. I did find it odd that no one was waiting in the waiting room with me, had they cleared the schedule just for me?

"Clark" a man said with a white lab coat on and glasses on his face. He was definitely not Javier, something that I was a bit sad about. The black haired man hadn't called me, but maybe it had been a ploy to get me signed up for the study.

“My name is Dr. Gullisen” the man said sticking out a hand and then shaking my once I put it in his hands.

“We are just going to do some blood tests and then by tomorrow you shall know if you were picked for the study or not” the doctor explained before bringing me to a room where a woman stood with a kit for drawing blood.

“Susan” the doctor said before the woman came over and chatted about how her day was going while poking me and then drawing my blood.

“All done” the woman said before scuttling her way out of the room to probably begin spinning the test tubes of blood. I had seen it done on TV enough to believe that was what happened once they took your blood.

“Now all I need is a physical” the doctor said before asking me to stand on the scale in the room and taking my blood pressure the whole time writing down his findings. After ten minutes of this, I was released from the lab and I made my way back to the Met U campus. By the time I made it on campus my stomach was growling and I wanted nothing more than to go to the cafeteria in my dorm building and eat, but I just knew Chloe would be calling soon enough.

“Chloe then food” I said patting my stomach and then smiling at the thought that maybe just maybe I would soon be pregnant. With that thought running through my head I speed dialed Chloe and waited for her to answer.

“Clark” she answered the phone with, as usual for her.

“Back from my exam” I said knowing she would be squealing for me to tell her how it went.

“So how did it go?”

“I don't know anything yet but they said they would make a decision by tomorrow”

“Excellent, where are you at?” She was obviously on her way to me since I could hear the background noise get quieter and quieter.

“My dorm building cafeteria”

“I'll be there in ten” she said before hanging up and I stood near the entrance of the cafeteria hoping that she would hurry up.

I waited at the door of the cafeteria hoping that Chloe would get here soon, I was starving.  I hadn't eaten much the night before and now I was paying for it.  I still missed mom's meals since they were always sure to fill me up.

"Clark" Chloe said bringing me out of my thoughts of mom's fried chicken with a huge slice of apple pie. I gave her a bright smile thinking that if I was chosen for the study that Chloe would soon enough become Aunt Chloe, something I know Chloe would relish.

“Come eat and tell me all about the visit” she said as we made our way into the line for the large all you can eat style cafeteria.

“Well they just took some blood and gave me a physical” I explained to her while picking up items that looked half way edible, I could say one thing for college dorm food it wasn't going to keep you healthy. Freshman fifteen, they definitely had it right.

“That's it?” Chloe asked with her usual skeptical voice, when she believed I was keeping something from her. That hadn't happened in a long while, well at least as long as Lex had stopped communicating with me.

“They didn't say anything about the procedures that you might have done”

“Nope” I said the visit to Star Labs was a quick one, I figured they wanted to keep everything hush, hush until they were certain that the guy they chose would agree and met their requirements, and sign their contract.

“Well” Chloe humped, I knew she wouldn't be happy with my visit commentary but there was nothing else that I could tell her besides that the waiting was empty.

“That all” the woman at the cash register asked me with a grin on her face. She was always amazed that I ate so much food and yet never gained a pound. The reason was that I was up by at least 5 AM to go for a run and then short workout before going to my first class of the day. My father would kill me if I came back to the farm out of shape and lazy, so I had taken up a workout regimen and stuck with it unlike most of the students at Met U.

“Yeah” I said looking at the two trays that sat in front of me. I knew Chloe wasn't going to eat the food, she had griped about how her vegetarian sensibilities were not considered when they decided their menu at most of the cafeterias on campus.

“How do you do it?” She asked before ringing up the meal and then charging it to my food card once I handed it over.

“Yeah, how do you do it?” Chloe said carrying the second try that seemed loaded with desserts, only Chloe would pick out all the sweets to eat and make me pay for them.

“I workout” I said before finding a seat for the pair of us and then digging in while Chloe regaled me on some story she was working on for the paper.

“Well since you won't know anything until tomorrow, I should probably head back to the paper and try and finish the lame story I am working on” Chloe said not at all happy with having to go back and work on the story about some nerd from the Environmental program figuring out a way to degenerate compost heaps faster than normal.

“Compost away” I said before taking a scoop out of the pudding and putting it in my mouth a grin on my face.

“I'll get you” she said shaking a finger at me like my mother did when I stole a taste of something.

“Your evil plot will never succeed” I said back to Chloe before she rolled her eyes and left me with a wave of her hand.

“The least she could do is help me throw this out” I grumbled when I noticed that I had two trays of trash to throw away. I got up and put as much trash on one tray before making my way to the trash bins stationed throughout the cafeteria, which seemed to be packed full. Once the trash was thrown away, I made my way to my room thinking about the few papers I had to complete before the semester was up; which was only a few short weeks away. For the rest of the day I tried to focus on something besides the thought that I may become pregnant in a few short months. I fell asleep that night only to have dreams of a small child running around happy as can be on the farm, while I watched along with my parents at the small child having so much fun. I woke up the next morning with an ache in my chest; I didn't realize how badly I wanted to be chosen. Maybe it was the loss of Lex's friendship that had put things in perspective for me or maybe it was the thought of having someone that would love me unconditionally that made me yearn for this more than ever. I knew my parents loved me and would be by side through anything, and the same went for Chloe but there was just something about being able to call something mine. My cell phone ringing brought me out of thoughts of a small child running to me with a wide grin on their face calling out to me.

“Hello” I answered the phone; I unlike Chloe answered the phone like a normal person.

“Clark Kent” a female voice said to me.

“Yes”

“My name is Amy and I am calling from Star Labs” at her words my heart began to race, they had chosen already?

“Are you free in say the next thirty minutes”

“Yes” I said totally ready to skip the classes that I had for the day to find out if I had been chosen or not. It was a good thing that none of these classes were giving out mid-terms or I would be screwed.

“Excellent, if you could make it here to Star Labs maybe in the next half hour to hour…”

“I'll get going right now” I said before saying a quick goodbye and then getting dressed and ready for the day in a matter of a few minutes. I was literally skidding to the bus stop as the bus pulled up. I jogged up the stairs and handed over my fair before finding a seat and waiting for my stop. I arrived to Star Labs within the thirty minute time frame. If I wasn't going to be picked then I wanted to be in and out as fast as possible so that I could possibly make my first class of the day.

“Clark Kent” the woman at the front desk said when she saw me. Her smile was much more genuine than it had been just yesterday.

“Have a seat and I'll let Dr. Gullisen you are here” she said before I took a seat tapping my foot on the ground. I had never been so nervous in my life and I had, had some situations where I should have been so nervous that a panic attack would be possible. Most of them dealt with Lex and going to some event were movie stars or the elite of the world were at and spoke to me like I was someone.

“Clark” Dr. Gullisen said as he stepped out from behind the door that separated the waiting room to the hallway lined with exam rooms.

“Dr. Gullisen” I said following the man down to his office, which was at the end of the hallway.

“Have a seat” the man said pointing to one of the wingback chairs that sat in front of his desk. It was nothing like Lex's, and I wasn't really sure on why Lex kept popping up in my mind. It could have been because I had thought that it would be Lex's child I would be carrying, while we were married and living the American dream.

“Well in reviewing all of the candidates….” The doctor started out, I wasn't really sure on why they would bring the runner up to the office, but maybe there was a reason.

“We have chosen you to be one of the males for the study” I had opened my mouth to thank the man for taking time out to meet with me, before his words caught up to me. They had chosen me!

“Wow” I breathed out, I wasn't sure on what I could say beside ‘wow' at this point.

“Wow, indeed” the doctor said a smile on his face. He was most pleased with himself that much I could tell.

“So do you accept?”

“Yes” I said with no hesitation, this was probably a once in a lifetime type thing and I wanted it all for myself.

“Excellent, I knew we chose the right person” the doctor said before opening a drawer in his desk and pulling out a file that had tons of paper in it.

“Well here is the consent that says that you understand the risks that this may pose and that should anything go wrong that we, Star Labs will take care of any pending medical bills” the man said handing me the consent and then pulling out another bundle of paper.

“Here is a bit of information on the procedures” he handed over a thick document that made me wonder what was really in it.

“Now let me explain what is going to happen, which is written in that document, before you sign the consent” Dr. Gullisen said smiling a bit when I breathed a sigh of relief.  I hadn't wanted to take all of the documents to my dorm to read only to return back to the lab in the next day to sign the consent.

“We are going to do a couple of things, the first is that we are going to place a ‘womb' into your body via surgery” here the doctor pulling something from another drawer in the desk that looked like a large clear glass ball with one side open, almost looking like a bowl of some sort.

“This is the womb and will expand as the fetus becomes bigger” he explained before touching the open ended ball and showing that it moved to his touch.

“Once the womb is in place we will then create a placenta using some tissue taken from your thigh and then we will create an egg using your DNA and implant the fertilized egg into the womb” Dr. Gullisen explained before showing me how they planned to do so with the womb.  It was all quite fascinating in a biology type of way.

“If the egg takes then you are pregnant and we will monitor you throughout your pregnancy until you give birth” here Dr. Gullisen chuckled at the look I gave him, there wasn't many places that a baby could come out of me, beside my anus.

“A Cesarean will be preformed and you will become a father”

“Wow” I said again, science and technology knew no bounds of that much I was certain now.  Star Labs had perfected the creation of eggs with no DNA only to implant it with the mother's DNA and then fertilize it with the father's DNA making the whole process of IVF much more sophisticated than it had been in years past.

“I must agree” Dr. Gullisen said before stating that the procedure was explained much more in-depth in the document he gave me and that I was welcome to read it and come back if I had any questions.

“No, I'm okay” I said before taking a pen from the pen holder and signing my name on the consent where indicated.

“Well then, let's set you up for the surgery to place the womb and create the placenta.  Now it won't be a major surgery, so it won't be an inpatient procedure but you will be at Metropolis General for it as an outpatient surgery.”  Dr. Gullisen explained to me while walking me back down the hall and to the woman that sat at the front desk.

“Amy could you set Mr. Kent up for surgery” Dr. Gullisen said to the woman at the front desk before shaking my hand and saying that he would see me soon enough.

“All right, let's see” Amy, the front desk woman, said to me before clicking away on her computer trying to find the first available day and time that Dr. Gullisen had available for the surgery.  Or at least that is what I thought she was doing.

“Well Dr. Gullisen is available on the 19 th ”

“That's fine with me” I said figuring that gave me a couple of weeks to go back home and visit my parents before the surgery and my life change.

“Let me call the hospital and see if they have this time slot open” she said before dialing the number to the hospital and speaking to someone there about an outpatient OR for 19 th at 6 AM.

“Excellent” Amy said before she got off the phone and began typing away at the keyboard again.

“They had the 19 th at 6 AM available” she explained before she handed me a card with the date on it and then began grabbing a ton of other things with highlighting on it.

“Now the anesthesiologist will call you the night before, and there is to be no food or water after midnight but they'll explain all that” she explained before handing me a map of the hospital‘s parking structures and where I could park and how to get to the Ambulatory Surgery Center that was located next to the hospital that handled surgeries that were either day surgery or something that didn't require a full OR room at the hospital.

"If you have any questions, please feel free to call the office and either I or someone else will be happy to answer your questions" Amy said a sunny smile on her face.  She seemed like a totally different person than the person I had met yesterday, I guess she was as jazzed as I was about the whole male pregnancy thing.

"Thanks" I said uncertain on what else I could say, see you later?  That sounded a bit off even in my own mind.  Amy nodded her head before she answered the ringing phone; I took this as my cue to leave. As I walked to the bus stop the news that I was going to possibly be a parent in the coming months hit me like a freight train. I stumbled to the bench at the bus stop and put my head between my legs, I just couldn't seem to get a breath. Sure I was happy, but what was I really getting myself into? Of that I didn't know the complete answer but I did know that I wanted this more than anything I had ever wanted before.

“Sir” pulled me out of my thoughts, which showed me that the bus had arrived and that the driver was asking if I planned to get on.

“Sorry” I said handing over my fare and then taking a seat near the window so I could watch the city of Metropolis whiz by as I thought about how I was going to tell dad about what I was going to do, pretty much with the rest of my life. I knew he would be livid with me, but he would also understand how badly I wanted this, this was a chance of a lifetime and I didn't want it to pass me by. I may have lost my chance with Lex, but I wasn't going to miss this; not for anything in the world. It was then that my cell phone began to ring to Britney Spears' Womanizer ; I had to blush as people turned and looked for the source of the song. Chloe Sullivan was all I could think as I answered the phone as fast as I could.

“Chloe” I said into the phone, that was the one good thing about having ring tones, you knew who was calling before you actually answered the phone. I was certain that Chloe had at least fifty ring tones for the many group of people that she knew. She had tried and failed to explain to me all the ring tones once, but when she saw the blank stare she had stopped and said not to worry.

“So” Chloe said and I could hear she was at her computer for I heard her fingers typing away at the keyboard.

“So what” I said wanting to drag this out as much as possible.

“Any news”

“On”

“Clark Jerome Kent” here the typing stopped and I could hear a couple of people asking if Chloe was okay.

“Yeah, okay. Jeez!” I said laughing a bit at how Chloe was acting, it was so like her all bubbly one minute and a crazed reporter the next.

“So spill”

“Well they called and asked me to come into the clinic”

“You got picked” Chloe concluded from the little bit of information I had given her.

“Yeah”

“Oh this is great….perfect” Chloe said and I could just see her sitting in her computer chair pumping her fist in the air while a wide evil grin was on her face.

“I'm not going to be some story” I told her knowing she wasn't listening to me, I would probably have to have mom sit her down and make her understand that this was not some story that she would write up and be done with it. This was going to be my life and whatever anyone wrote would affect my life and my child's life, something that I wasn't looking forward to at all.

“I know, I know” she said quickly, I knew she already had her mind running over possible headlines she could use and how to make me cave into letting her interview me.

“Chloe” I said before I noticed that the bus was pulling up the Met U campus bus stop.

“I got it, no article” Chloe said before she was typing away again at the computer. I sighed and got off the bus before making the hike over to the computer lab that I was certain she was at. I had a boat load of paperwork to read through and I knew Chloe would be all for reading it with me.

“I'll see you in a bit” I said before getting off the phone with her and making my way to the lab near her dorm room.

“Chloe” I said when I spotted the blonde hair of my best friend.

“Clark” Chloe said standing up and waving her hand to me for me to make my way over to the empty chair that sat next to her. We had only been on campus for a short period of time and most if not all of the students knew to stay clear of Chloe Sullivan, so there was always an open seat next to her wherever she went when I went somewhere with her. I had told her time and again that most of the campus thought she was nuts, but she had told me that they were afraid of the articles and dirt she could dig up on them that made them stay away.

“What's this” she said as she saw the large packet of papers in my hands.

“Information”

“Oooh” she said snatching the papers out of my hand and glancing over the docs quickly before making a face and handing them back.

“Looks right up your alley” she said knowing how much I loved Biology class in high school and even here. I was after all taking the one Biology class section that most of the campus avoided unless all of the other sections were full due to the professor that taught the course.

“It is but you might want to know some of this stuff too” I said waving the packet of papers at her.

“If I can't write an article then I don't want to know”

“What about a scrapbook for the baby” I said hitting a weak spot of hers, scrapbooking. She would deny it until her dying breath that she did *not* do scrapbooking but since I had the proof of the fruits of her labor, I knew she wouldn't fight me on this; much at least.

“You just had to go there” she said blush on her cheeks; I knew I had her then.

“You owe me”

“Of course” I said nodding my head, she always said that but when she got going on something she always totally forgot that she had promised retribution. She then grabbed the papers and began flipping through them.

“So have you told Ma and Pa Kent?”

“Not yet, I figured I would go home and break the news there”

“Looking for a ride?”

“Sort of”

“I gotta be there for that” Chloe said a grin on her face that told me to not even try and fight her on her not being there when I told my parents.

“So when is the big day?”

“The 19 th ” I said before flipping a few pages that she held and then pointed to what they planned to do. It wasn't like I wanted to talk about this in the open, people may fear Chloe but they always knew she had the latest scoop on any and everything. So I had no doubt that there were a few people listening wondering what scoop Chloe was getting from me and the papers I had brought her. I was getting ready to speak when her cell phone began to sing the Pussy Cat Dolls' Song When I Grow Up which I did know meant that her cousin Lois Lane was calling.

“Lois” my thoughts were confirmed with Chloe's calling out her cousin's name. Lois Lane was one woman that I loathed with a passion, if she wasn't busy putting me down she was busy putting my friendship with Lex down or she was busy hinting at the less than appropriate relationship I had with Lex, most of it was a complete and utter lie but you couldn't tell Lois Lane that.

“No I hadn't heard” I heard Chloe speak before her eyebrows shot up at whatever her cousin was telling her.

“I'll be sure to ask” Chloe said before hanging up the phone and then turning to me a surprised look on her face.

“What” I said knowing that this could only deal with one person and that was Lex Luthor; Lois Lane was almost as obsessed with Lex as she was with putting me down.

“Seems Lex has arrived back from his trip to Italy and seems to have a dark haired beauty on his arm, which he knew from his time in Smallville” Chloe stated I knew these were the exact words that Lois had used and Chloe was only passing them on to me. At one time I would have been hurt to have to hear about Lex's life second hand but now I felt nothing. I had a life ahead of me and it obviously didn't include Lex as I thought it had, I had taken the hint when my emails and phone calls were never returned. I had shed tears but then resolved to move on with my life and not let ‘what ifs' rule my life over a friendship that had been obviously one sided.

“Lana”

“Bingo” Chloe said making a face; she too wasn't fond of Lana Lang. It had been one of the secrets I had confessed to her when I figured out that I was gay and not interested in the female gender in any way, shape or form.

“Back so soon?”

“I have a feeling there is more to it”

“There always is” I said before taking the papers from her and standing up. I could see the glint in her eyes and I knew she would be on the hunt for the story soon enough.

“I'll pick you up after your last class on Friday”

“Sweet” I said before making my way out of the computer lab and to my dorm, I did after all have one class that I could make before calling it a day. The weekend was only a few short days away and I wanted to be caught up as much as possible before making the trip home. I had the odd feeling that Lana would be in town this weekend, something that I wasn't looking forward to but it was something that I couldn't avoid. For the next few days I read the papers that Dr. Gullisen had given me and went to class, I was trying to avoid reading the papers since I knew with Lex back in town every Metropolis elite woman and some men would be trying to get his attention, which meant there would plenty of headlines.

“Clark get your ass down here” Chloe yelled at my window on Friday afternoon, after I had just made it into my dorm room. It was a good thing that I had packed before I went to class since I figured that Chloe would arrive shortly after I arrived back to my dorm for the weekend.

“I'll be right there” I said grabbing my bag and backpack and then locking the door before dashing down the stairs to Chloe and her waiting car. How I ended up with a single was a mystery but Chloe had one as well so I figured it had something to do with that.

“Finally” she huffed before jumping into the driver's seat and huffing at me to hurry up. I threw my things in the backseat and we were on our way to the farm, so that I could break the news to my parents. I hadn't told them anything and I was hoping that my surprise wouldn't give dad a heart attack. Three hours later we arrived to the farm to see that mom was out in the flower garden while I could see my dad puttering around in the barn. It was mom who noticed that Chloe's car had arrived with me and the blonde in question in the driveway.

“Jonathan, Clark's here” Mom shouted out to dad as she made her way to the car as I got out.

“Clark's your home”

“For the weekend at least” I said grin on my face, it was great to be home. That would be one of the bad things about the pregnancy, I wouldn't be able to stay at the farm as I had thought I would; Star Labs would be monitoring me and the baby and that meant that I had to be in Metropolis.

“Great, great” mom said before hugging me and then hugging Chloe when she noticed the blonde standing next to me.

“So what are you here for?” I knew mom knew the reason why I was here, but she was just waiting for me to spring it on dad.

“Well I got the verdict back on the study”

“What study” dad said as he came over and hugged me and then Chloe, which she beamed at my parents for.

“Uh” I said looking to see if mom had shed any sort of light on what was going on with dad.

“How about we go inside” I said deflecting the question for a moment.

“Sure” dad said before eyeing me and then going inside with his arm wrapped around mom's waist.

“I wish I had that”

“Me too” I said grabbing my things and making my way into the house with Chloe following behind. She even managed to pull out her tiny camera for the moment on when I broke the news to dad; she had said that would be a scrapbook kind of moment. I knew she was just itching to find some blackmail material on me so that she could use it later, for when I refused to do something she requested.

“One day” she sighed before I opened the door for her and then set my things down at the staircase and then made my way into the kitchen where mom and dad sat at the kitchen table.

“So son what study?”

“Uh” I said sitting down trying to come up with a way to break the news without sending dad to the hospital.

“Star Labs”

“Isn't that, that in vitro fertilization clinic?”

“Yeah dad” I said blushing; I hoped with all that I was that dad wouldn't ask if I had donated sperm.

“Okay”

“Well they were on the news a few days ago about being able to make a male pregnant” here dad's face drained of color; I knew he would put one and one together.

“Please tell me you didn't sign up”

“Sorry can't”

“They chose you?” Mom asked which had dad glaring at her.

“You knew”

“Of course” mom said and it was at this time that Chloe snapped a photo.

“Priceless” only Chloe would be able to break the tension with a photo. It was then that I saw dad realize that this was something that I wanted almost needed to happen.

“So what is going to happen? How are they going to do it?” Dad asked in rapid succession. I answered their questions as best I could, with diagrams and all. By the time I got done both of my parents had amazed looks on their faces.

“Science and technology”

“I know, right?” I agreed while Chloe took another photo, while waving at me like she was retarded or something.

“When is the surgery then?”

“19 th ”

“Wow that soon”

“Well I will need recovery time from the surgery and then if the first egg doesn't take then you have to have a period of time to expel it and then of course they have to keep trying until they get one”

“Yeah” dad said putting a hand on his neck, a nervous gesture that I knew all about. It was when he got information overload and wanted to escape to the barn.

“Why don't you go and work out in the barn Jonathan while I get dinner ready”

“Great” dad said before practically jumping up and making his way to the back door. He stopped and turned and looked into my eyes.

“I'm proud of you son” he said before nodding his head and then made his way to the barn. I stared after him with shock on my face, right until Chloe snapped yet another stupid picture.

“Clark”

“He's really okay with it”

“He is” mom agreed before pulling out the meal she had planned for today. Chloe just grinned at me as she sat down.

“Oh those are going to be great photos for the baby book” here mom's ear perked up.

“Baby book”

“Yeah, Clark's got me doing a baby book”

“Excellent idea Clark” mom said and I could see that she was already thinking of things that she could add to the book herself. Knowing the pair of them the book would be novel length before the little guy or girl was even born.

“Knock, knock” came a voice from the front of the house.

“Didn't take her long” Chloe grumbled, she knew who was at the door just like the mom and I knew.

“Lana” mom said once she had made her way to the front of the house to greet the girl.

“I saw Chloe's car”

“Clark and Chloe just arrived” mom explained before showing Lana in and making her way to the kitchen where we both sat, not at all happy to see the girl.

“Clark, Chloe” Lana greeted us her eyes lingering a bit longer than necessary on me, or at least I thought so.

“Lana, I thought you were in Paris” Chloe threw out there; she was never one to beat around a bush that was for sure.

“A bit of a break, I missed everyone at home”

“Oh” Chloe said clearly not believing her but knowing better than to say something otherwise.

“Did you by chance see Pete while you were in Paris?”

“No” Lana said a bit too curtly, seems someone was telling a fib.

“Ah well” Chloe said getting comfortable in her chair; she wasn't going to leave me with Lana to deal with on my own. The girl was there for a reason and she would get to it soon enough but she wanted to be alone with me. I could see it in her eyes, and that was something that I didn't want to happen.

“How's school?” Lana asked trying to keep the conversation going with the pair of us while mom worked on dinner.

“Great” Chloe chirped I could see that Lana was not happy that Chloe seemed to be here for the long haul.

“So what are you doing in town?”

“Visiting” I answered, it was the most obvious answer but I didn't say Lana was the brightest light bulb in the pack.

“Oh, right” she said her eyes going to mom's back and then back to me.

“Well I should probably go”

“Yeah” Chloe answered which made Lana scowl at her which took no effect to Chloe, as usual.

“I'll see you around”

“Oh are you back”

“For a bit” Lana said before she excused herself out the backdoor of the house.

“Odd” mom said to me, I knew she knew all the gossip of the town and for her to be saying something it meant something big had gone down in Smallville.

“What?”

“Well Nell was bragging just the other day about Lana and being accepted into that art school in Paris and here she is back in Smallville”

“So you think she was lying?”

“Not sure but I do find it odd that she is home now and she didn't really state on when she was going back”

“With you there Mrs. Kent” Chloe agreed while I nodded my head in agreement. There was something going on but I knew I would only find out the truth if I spent quality alone time with the girl, not something I planned to do.

“Dinners almost ready” mom said before shooing both myself and Chloe out of the kitchen to go and wash up.

“I love your parents”

“Me too” I said before splashing some water on her and then dashing off before she threw a cupful of water at me. We arrived back to the kitchen just as dad finished washing his hands. Dinner was a happy affair with me telling everyone as much as I could about the surgery and how I thought things would go.

“So do they have a donor?” Chloe asked as we ate dessert.

“I guess they do” I said, I hadn't really thought about the other father. I figured he had probably signed a release that would make sure that Star Labs was legally safe from the man coming back and trying to take the child.

“Hmmm, maybe you could chose your own” Chloe said before she rattled off the qualities she wanted in a man. My mom soon followed but kissed dad and said she had most of her demands in him. Dad even got in on it and stated what he thought would be a good match for me, and then it was my turn.

“So Clark, what is your dream man?” Chloe said holding onto her fork like a microphone.

“Uh, well” I wasn't really sure what my dream man was, at one time it would have been Lex but I think my demands had changed since the breakup of our friendship.

“I want someone at least as tall as me, they can be a bit shorter but not a lot” I started before going over criteria that I used when looking at the guys on campus.

“Has to be smart” mom, dad and Chloe all nodded. They knew I wouldn't put up with ignorance, which was part of the reason why I had such a hard time dealing with Lois Lane. That woman was a bitch to the extreme, and was one of those women that thought she was the best thing since toast but was really dumber than a doorknob.

“Has to like children” I said grinning, that would be the number one thing that any guy that wanted to go out with me had to meet.

“Money status” Chloe said, I could tell she was fishing for something but she wasn't going to get whatever it was that she was seeking.

“Doesn't matter, but he has to have at least a job and can support himself”

“Looks department”

“Dunno” I said, I wasn't really sure what I looked for in a guy and I wasn't just going to state something to make Chloe happy.

“Fine” she could see I wasn't going to cave on that. I was just about to give another demand when the phone in the house began to ring.

“Kent Farms, Martha speaking” mom answered the phone; she got a grim look on her face before passing the phone over to me.

“Hello” I said into the phone wondering who it was that could be calling the farm and knew that I was here.

“Clark” Lana's voice came through the phone. I about wanted to groan, did she not understand that I didn't want to see her face or hear from her?

“Lana” I said before she began to rattle off some stuff that I had no idea what she was talking about.

“Lana, I'm having dinner with my parents” I could hear she was disappointed.

“Yeah, okay” I said after agreeing to meet her at the Talon for coffee tomorrow afternoon.

“What did she want?” Chloe said a scowl on her face, not at all happy with Lana as usual.

“To meet me at the Talon for coffee” I said giving Chloe a look that told her that she would be going along with me, if she was available.

“Hmmm” she said before rolling her eyes and agreeing to go. Dad looked at me with a questioning look on his face.

“Lana's back from Paris” mom explained; I had forgotten that dad had been out in the barn when Lana had come for a visit. Nothing was said for a moment until the phone rang again.

“Kent Farm, Martha speaking” mom answered the phone again, this time her face looked shocked and appalled at the person who was calling.

“I'll make sure it gets delivered tomorrow” mom said before hanging up the phone and then staring at me as if I knew who had just called.

“I didn't know that Lex was back in town”

“Oh” I said before looking down at my empty plate and playing with my silverware. That was something I still had issues talking about and mom knew that.

“An order needs to be sent to the mansion tomorrow”

“I'll deliver it” dad said knowing that I wanted to avoid the mansion as much as possible.

“Alright dear” mom agreed before she directed the topic of conversation to planning a baby shower for when I was pregnant. It was a few hours later that Chloe decided she would head on home to her father's house, she was after all in town and it wasn't like she was avoiding her dad or anything like that.

“Clark” mom said once Chloe was on her way home for the night, I could tell mom really wanted to have a heart to heart with me.

“Yeah mom” I said sitting on the couch looking at her wondering how I would explain to her the need I felt to do this.

“I want you to know that your father and I are here for you, 100%”

“I know mom”

“Clark”

“No mom I get it, I know that you and dad could have freaked out and never spoken to me until I realized what a crazy idea this is but you didn't and for that I am grateful. I know that some people would think I was throwing my life away; I am after all only 18. An age that most feel is the best time in your life, but you know I have never been normal”

“I just want you to know that we are here for you, no matter what” I wanted to cry at mom's words, there were few in this world that I could count on as much as I could count on my parents and Chloe. I was just about to tell mom how much she and dad meant to me when Chloe came blowing back in the front door.

“Well I never” she said dumping her bags on the floor and she had a look of stunned amazement on her face.

“What” I said wondering if her father had kicked her out for some unknown reason.

“Dad is on a trip for the plant”

“And”

“You know I'm not staying at home alone” Chloe said before glaring at me, she absolutely hated being alone and with her dad away she came blowing back into our house.

“Chloe only you” I said before picking up her bags and bringing them to the one and only guest room in the house. As I delivered Chloe's goods to the room, I could hear her talking to mom about something, probably the baby book or the baby shower.

“Clark” dad said once I arrived back down stairs to see that mom and Chloe were in heavy discussion about something.

“To the barn” I said before dad and I made our way out to the barn to leave mom and Chloe in their own world.

“Chloe Sullivan” dad started to say before I finished his thought; I knew exactly what Chloe Sullivan was.

“A force of nature”

“That she is” dad agreed with me before he asked me a question that I had seen had been weighing heavily on his mind.

“Are.…do.…is this what you really want?” I could see that dad really wanted a truthful answer to his question.

“It is, more than I ever thought possible” I said remembering when Chloe had told me about Star Labs and what they had said they could do. I had never really given much thought to children in my future, with me being gay I never really thought about being able to raise a child of my own. I had figured that a married life with child was a life that I never planned to have, I wasn't exactly Mr. Personality.

“I.…” I was at a loss on how to describe to my dad how much I wanted this. It was then that dad looked into my eyes and saw something that I was certain that he understood.

“We're here for you” he said before coming over and giving me a hug.

“Awww” Chloe's voice broke the pair of us apart, but not before she snapped a photo. I was about ready to steal her camera and hide it away until such time that it would be needed again.

“Chloe” both my father and I said before I was then running after her, trying to catch her and her camera as they flew through the yard. As I ran through the yard behind Chloe I caught mom and dad embrace and smile at the fools that Chloe and I were making of our selves.
The next morning had me up at the crack of dawn helping dad with the animals and getting ready for the deliveries that he was going to make that day.

“Coffee” I heard Chloe mumble while dad and I sat at the kitchen table already done with a good portion of the chores that needed to be done before dad went into town to run errands and to deliver produce.

“Morning Chloe” I chirped at her, I knew how much she *hated* mornings and since I was a morning person I made sure to rub it in her face. She had kept me up pretty late the night before with her schemes on how to get me out of meeting Lana at the Talon later today.

“Shut up” she grouched to me before taking the waiting cup of coffee from my mom's hands.

“Grouch” I said before I was swatted by mom and told not to aggravate the bear so early in the morning, all Chloe did was nod her head not realizing that mom was making fun of her.

“Knock, knock” we all heard from the front door.

“Nell” mom said when she arrived to the front door.

“Is Lana here?”

“No” mom said looking to me for some sort of reason on why Nell Potter was looking for her niece at our house.

“Oh well” Nell said looking around mom to see if dad was in the house.

“Is there a reason you are looking for her here?”

“Oh she said that Clark was in town yesterday and she left pretty early this morning so I thought that she was meeting Clark for coffee this morning or something” Nell said still looking around mom for dad. It wasn't a secret in the town that Nell Potter was hot on dad, it was then that she spotted Chloe and her eyebrows rose as she looked at mom.

“Chloe Sullivan”

“Ms. Potter” Chloe said noticing that Nell was looking at her with shock. It was after all pretty early in the morning, and the only way that Chloe could be over was if she stayed the night.

“Oh well I better go” Nell said quickly, I knew that she was headed straight into town to start the town Rumor Mill on the fact that Chloe had spent the night at our house.

“Bye” Nell said before jumping into her car and speeding out of the driveway and into town, no doubt.

“Ready to face the day?” I asked Chloe, she knew that by the time I went to meet Lana in town that most of the town would be growling at Chloe for her stealing me away from Lana.

“No” Chloe said before stomping upstairs to go back to bed, I on the other hand had a list of things that dad and mom had been creating for the next time that I came back to visit for a weekend to complete.

“Going to clean the gutters”

“Be careful” mom said as I made my way outside to get the ladder, hose and some gloves to clean the gutters. Hours later I made my way into the house to see that Chloe had already started working on the baby book, the first couple of pages already planned out with photos already lying on the baby paper.

“Clark” Chloe said before showing me her work and then asking me if I was ready to go to the Talon for a bit.

“No, but let me go and clean up” I said before jogging up the stairs and taking a quick shower before changing. Once I arrived back downstairs Chloe stood near the front door a grim look on her face.

“That bad”

“I can only imagine”

“Well let us meet our doom” I said before marching out of the house with Chloe following behind with the keys in her hand. The ride into town was made with Chloe throwing out baby names that only she would pick and feel it was normal.

“I'm telling you Druella is a great name”

“Only you Chloe, you only” I said before getting out of the car once she had parked, I could see that word had gotten out about my and Chloe's visit to town since most of the high school aged kids were pointing to the pair of us and then giggling.

“Seems someone was busy” Chloe snarked before making her way into the Talon, a slightly scary smile on her face.

“Clark…..Chloe” Lana said in a decidedly less than pleasant manner when she noticed that Chloe had come along with me to the Talon.

“Lana” both Chloe and I said before ordering something to drink and then finding a table to wait for a drinks to arrive.

“Uh” it seemed that Lana was at a loss on what to say to me now that Chloe was here.

“Oh look” Chloe said before pointing at someone and waving, I could see she was itching to leave so that I could find out the real reason on what Lana had returned back to Smallville.

“I'll be right back” Chloe said giving me a look that told me to get as much dirt as I could.

“Uh” Lana said again as she watched Chloe make her way over to someone in the Talon from high school.

“I didn't know that you and Chloe were dating” Lana started out, I knew she was fishing for what my relationship status was and I figured I would at least give her a bone.

“We aren't”

“But Aunt Nell said…”

“Chloe's dad is out of town and she didn't want to stay home alone” I explained before shaking my head, it seemed that Nell Potter had been a busy woman.

“Oh” she said before giving me a look through her lashes, and at one time I probably would have melted into goo with the look but not any longer.

“So why did you leave Paris?”

“Oh, I missed it here you know” Lana said a day dreamy look on her face; I could tell that she was thinking of her perfect life she had planned out in Smallville. It included the perfect husband and the perfect children, the all American dream.

“But I thought you wanted to get away from town”

“I did you know, but being so far away made me realize what I was missing here you know?” She said looking at me as if I would agree with her.

“I guess”

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder…” she said looking at me as if I was going to agree with her on that.

“Lana” I heard called out, and when I turned I saw Whitney Fordman making his way over to where Lana and I sat at a table waiting for Chloe's and our drinks to arrive.

“Whitney” Lana said with a sigh to her voice, they had broken up when Whitney had left for college only to get back together one weekend, only to break up again when Lana flew off to Paris.

“I better go” I said not wanting any sort of confrontation with Whitney over Lana, she was not what I wanted and if Whitney wanted her, he was more than welcome to her.

“No don't go” Lana said her eyes twinkling at the thought of a fight between myself and Whitney; she had always done this to me. I could remember times when we would have to work on a project together and she would set me up to where Whitney would see us together and go ‘caveman' on me about staying away from his girl. Seems she was still trying to work that angle.

“No, I gotta go” I said while standing up and making my escape over to where Chloe sat by herself not looking happy at all.

“Is that girl off?”

“I would say so” I said before slouching down on the bench next to Chloe. Lana was busy looking mooningly at Whitney while chancing glances over in our direction.

“Ready to go?”

“Most definitely” I agreed before getting our order to go and making our way back to the farm. The rest of the weekend Chloe and I spent at the farm working on homework that would be due when we arrived back on campus.

“Well we better go” I said late Sunday night looking at my parents and not wanting to go.

“You better and call us the minute you get in, you hear?”

“Yeah mom” I said before hugging her and giving her a kiss on the cheek before going over to dad and hugging him as well.

“Do as your mother says”

“I will”

“Good, we'll see you on the 19 th ” mom said to me before hugging me again. It had been decided that mom and dad would come to the surgery along with Chloe. I had been so happy to have my family there with me for this first step in something so major. The ride to Metropolis was made with Chloe and I swapping names for the baby, while Chloe made up play dates for the next ten years of the child's life.

“I fear for my child” I said as we arrived to my dorm building which looked deserted as usual.

“You should because Auntie Chloe is going to be the best Aunt in the world” Chloe said in a voice that made you think of her saying it to a baby.

“And that is why I fear for my child” I joked before thanking her for the ride to the farm and that I would see her later on. I jogged up the stairs and unlocked the door to my room only to see that there was a message on the answering machine. I pressed the button and began to unpack while listening to the message.

“Clark, its Lana” I wanted to groan at that name, could the girl just leave me alone?

“I was hoping to get you but I must have missed you” that was stating the obviously wasn't it?

“Give me a call when you get this”

“Yeah right” I said to the message before deleting it and trying to forget all about Lana and her schemes that she was no doubt putting into effect. For the next couple of weeks things were fine, I avoided Lana's phone calls while going to class and also getting my mind ‘right' before the surgery.

“Good morning” Chloe chirped to me at 4 AM on the 19 th , I was not at all happy with being up so early. At least that was until I realized that today would be the day that I had surgery and would soon become the first male to have a womb.

“Morning” I grumbled as I watched Chloe bounce around in my dorm room. How she was up so early was a mystery since Chloe Sullivan didn't do mornings.

“Get dressed we gotta get going” Chloe said throwing some clothes at me and then taking a sip of the coffee she had in her hands. I got up and dressed before making my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth and then we were off to the Ambulatory Surgery Center of Metropolis General Hospital.

“Name”

“Clark Kent”

“Right” the nurse said before she handed me a clip board with about ten sheets of paper on it for me to fill out. It was while I was on page 5 that mom and dad showed up.

“Just in time” Chloe said before squishing us together for a photo, one of many that day. I then finished the paper work and returned it back to the nurse who then took me back and got my weight, height and some other vital signs.

“Strip and put this gown on, opening goes to the back” she said before passing me the gown and then leaving the room. I quickly stripped down as directed and placed my items in the bag that was supplied before sitting on the bed waiting for the next instructions.

“Clark” mom said once they thought I had enough time to change out of my clothes and into the gown.

“Here you go” I said passing over the bag to mom. Chloe took another photo and I was about ready to shoot her then, she was saved by Dr. Gullisen and the Anesthesiologist that had called me the night before arriving.

“Clark” Dr. Gullisen said before explaining a couple of things to me and my parents and of course Chloe. The Anesthesiologist then began an IV and I laid on the bed beginning to relax due to the drugs that they had already injected into my arm.

“Love you” mom said as they wheeled me away and I saw a flash of a camera.

“Gotta a photo happy gal there”

“Yeah” I said feeling a bit high on the drugs.

“Now I want you to count backwards from ten” the Anesthesiologist said and I began at ten and then the next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery with Dr. Gullisen telling the nurse what to do should I have any pain for the next few hours.

“Ugh” I said as I woke up a bit more but still felt like I was higher than a kite in the sky.

“Mr. Kent” I looked at the short nurse and trying to smile before giving up.

“Are you thirsty?”

“Yeah” I whispered out, the nurse was soon moving around getting a juice and a straw for me.

“Take it slow and if you need anything my name is Patti”

“Thanks” I said before taking a sip of the juice she had gotten for me. Recovery was slow and I began to be in pain at the two hour mark, which was also the time that my parents and Chloe were allowed to see me.

“Clark how are you feeling” mom asked me worried before she began to fluff my pillows and fuss over me since it seemed that Patti the nurse had disappeared, never to return.

“In a bit of pain” I said before mom was pushing the call button and demanding that someone get in here and get her baby something for the pain.

“I want to see the scars” Chloe said camera out and a grin on her face, I could tell she couldn't wait until she could get a photo of my stomach where the womb and placenta now lay waiting for an egg.

“You'll have to wait” mom said to Chloe, which slowed her down a bunch. I just grinned at dad when I saw him roll his eyes; it seemed that Chloe had been wearing on mom's nerves since I was out. A few hours more and I was released with strict instructions on what I could and could not do for the next forty-eight hours and if I was to see certain signs I was to make my way to the ER, ASAP.

“Show me the scars” Chloe said waving her camera around as I was lying down on my bed in my dorm room. Mom and dad had left once they had extracted a promise from Chloe to watch me for the next couple of days since I would probably be too high on pain meds to even know if I needed to make my way to the ER or not.

“Fine” I said before pulling up my shirt and showing the couple of cuts where Dr. Gullisen had opened me up to place the womb and placenta, which also meant I saw showing Chloe the scar here they had taken tissue from my thigh to make the placenta.

“This is so freaking cool” Chloe said before she took her photos and then tucked me in with a promise to be right back once she got some things from her own dorm room. A week later had me making my way to Star Labs to see if the egg they had placed when I had surgery had taken or not and to also see how I was healing up.

“Mr. Kent” Amy, the front desk woman greeted me and Chloe as we entered the clinic.

“Hi” I said before signing in and then taking a seat, Amy was already on the phone letting the sonography tech know that I was here.

“Clark Kent” a girl that looked sort of like Chloe said as she opened the door that would lead you to the hallway of rooms.

“Hi” I said as I walked by the woman which Chloe hot on my heels.

“Brought a friend”

“Couldn't leave her” I joked before I was being hit on the back of the head by Chloe.

“Hey now” I said as the sonography tech showed me into a room that was clearly set up for showing parents their first glimpse at their child. I could only hope that I would be seeing my child for the first time, and of course I knew Chloe would be snapping photos so much I would be seeing spots for days.

“Up and pull up your shirt and pull down your pants” she explained before blushing, it was then that I heard Chloe giggling over the embarrassment of the sonography tech.

“Don't mind her, her father dropped her on her head as a child” I explained before hopping up on the table and pulling my shirt up and pushing my pants down a bit, to where you could see the scar from the surgery clearly.

“Bit of goo” the woman explained before she was moving the sonography equipment around looking for something.

“There” she said a smile on her face, I looked at the screen as she pointed to it and I could see a small flutter of something.

“That is your child, congratulations Clark; you're pregnant!” The woman crowed before Chloe was snapping photo after photo of the sonography equipment and to the tech pointing out what she could see. I had the hugest smile on my face, I was pregnant!

“Let me get Dr. Gullisen” the tech said before leaving the room as I watched the screen she had left up, a photo of the baby in the womb.

“Oh. My. God” was all Chloe could say once the tech had left the room. I think it was just hitting her that this was real and that I was actually going to have a child in the near future.

“Clark, I hear congratulations are in order” Dr. Gullisen said a smile on his face as he entered the room.

“I guess so”

“Well let me get a look” he said before moving the sonography equipment around and going on the search to find my child.

“Well I'll be” Dr. Gullisen said, before he explained why he was so surprised.

“I figured that we would have to try at least twice before the egg would actually take”

“I'm fertile” I joked before Dr. Gullisen, the tech and Chloe were laughing at me.

“Seems that you are” Dr. Gullisen said once he got his laughing under control.

“Now I want you back here every other week until I tell you otherwise”

“Got it” I agreed before Chloe was asking if the tech could take a photo of the three of us and the sono image of my child. Breaking the news to mom and dad had been crazy, mom had begun sobbing on the phone while dad was in the background talking about all the things he planned to do with his *grandson*, which had set mom off on a tirade on how it was a *girl* and not a *boy* that I was carrying.

~Six Month Mark~

By the time I hit the six month mark for my pregnancy I was beginning to wonder if I was crazy. I waddled around campus, when I got the chance to walk since the Kansas winter had blown in a few months ago and had taken its hold on the campus as well as the city of Metropolis. I wasn't sure on how women were able to do this sort of thing, but I kept reminding myself that this was a chance of a lifetime and that in three short months I would be the proud parent of a baby boy. Dad of course had a field day when he found out that I was carrying a boy, while mom pouted and said that the next one I had, had better be a girl. I had grinned at the thought of being able to have another child; I may not like being fat and waddling everywhere but the thought that I was carrying a life within me was enough to make me quit complaining.

“Clark” Chloe's voice broke me out of the thoughts that I was having about the little baby held within me.

“What's up?”

“Nothing” Chloe said before shifting her eyes away, which meant she was either up to something or she had said something that she wasn't supposed to.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing see….” Chloe started before she was explaining to me that Lex was back in town and was just itching to talk to some of the doctors are Star Labs about their claim to making males pregnant.

“Oh God!” I moaned I could see where Chloe's mind had gone. If Lex spoke to any of the doctors at Star Labs, I would soon enough be receiving a phone call either from Star Labs or from one of Lex's assistants telling me to meet the bald billionaire that I had been avoiding for a while now, even though there wasn't much avoiding going on.

“Yeah, so I'm hoping that he has like zero control over there”

“Me too” I said before rubbing my huge belly and thinking pleasant thoughts that had nothing to do with Lex and everything to do with how happy my child would be when it got older.

~Nine Months Mark~

“Now you will be conscious for the delivery”

“What” I said stunned and scared that I had heard Dr. Gullisen wrong.

“Even with pregnant women who elect to have Cesareans they are conscious, you will be a bit out of it but you should be able to hear your son's cry when he is delivered.” I could only nod my head before I was wheeled back to the delivery OR and soon I was hearing my wailing son.

“Wow” I said still a bit high from the meds they had given me for the Cesarean as I watched my son being brought to me as they sowed me up.

“He is a beautiful baby boy” the nurse said before handing me over my son. The first glance I got my heart began to ache, for there were characteristics that reminded me of Lex. It was nothing to noticeable if you weren't looking for it, like the ginger colored hair or the steel blue eyes, no it was the high cheek bones and the pert nose that were signs that my child could possibly grow up and look similar to Lex. It was at this thought that I began to wonder who the other donor was, I hadn't really gotten much information on the other man only that he had donated and did not wish to be notified if his sperm was used or not. I had figured it was some college guy looking for some cash, but the more I looked at my son the more I began to believe that my son's other father might be Lex.

“So have you got a name picked out?” The nurse asked a clip board in her hand as she watched the pair of us as she wrote things down.

“I do” and I did, between my mom, dad and Chloe throwing out names for the past nine months, I realized very quickly what names I didn't want.

“And” the nurse said wondering if I was going to spill the beans to her before I did to Chloe, mom and dad.

“You'll have to wait” I said before the nurse was scooping my son up and then taking him for his vital signs check up as Dr. Gullisen came around and told me that everything looked good and that they were going to leave the womb in, while taking out the placenta since that would have been delivered had I had a normal birth.

“They'll wheel you to a room and you and your son can spend some time bonding” Dr. Gullisen said before shaking my hand and then leaving the delivery OR to make his way to check out my son.

“Clark!” Chloe shouted when I was wheeled into the L&D rooms for women that were having or have had a child recently.

“Chloe will you” I said before jumping when she began to take photo after photo of me, all before my son arrived in a clear plastic bed.

“Oh” Chloe said looking at my son and them looking at me. I could see that she too could see some of the similarities between my son and Lex.

“We are going to talk about that”

“I know” I said with a sigh before my parents arrived and starting cooing over my son.

“So have you named him yet?”

“I was waiting to tell you all first”

“Well spill already” Chloe said before jumping around and playing peek-a-boo with my son as if he actually got the idea.

“Aumun Jonathan Kent”

“Aumun” dad asked looking at me and then to my son, I could see that he wasn't taken with the name but I figured once I explained why I picked the name that he along with mom would be on board. Chloe was grinning at me like a fool since she had been throwing names that were off the wall the most.

“Well as you know the Egyptian God Amun-Ra was the King of Gods and was the merger of Amun and Ra. Ra was of course the Sun God while Amun was one of the most powerful Gods in Egyptian times; and since I have no doubt that my son will one day be powerful” here I looked at Chloe telling her that I had noticed the similarities between my son and Lex before continuing on.

“And he will be the light of my life; he became the first part of Amun-Ra. Pretty corny but…” here I blushed I could see that my parents were surprised that I had given so much thought over my son's name.

“Clark” mom said before sniffing a bit and then giving me a hug, I knew she accepted the name now to see what dad thought.

“You thought a lot about this?”

“I did” I said before I got a smile and a pat on the shoulder.

“Well at least I got the middle name”

“That you did” I said with a grin on my face before I saw Chloe snap away a few million photos before giving me a high five.

“Excellent choice Watson”

“Glad you think so Sherlock” I said before Aumun started to begin fussing since people were bothering his sleep time.

“Baby time” Chloe said before a nurse was called and she scooped up the baby and brought him to me.

“Daddy's here” I said before running a finger over Auman's face, amazed at how small he was.

~Two Years Later~

“Aumun Jonathan Kent!” I shouted as I ran after my two year old and his ‘bestest friend in the world' Luka as they tried to elude me from getting in trouble.

“And there goes Clark Kent…” I heard Sari Bruel, the principal of Hockaday Montessori School, say to someone that was no doubt touring the school for their child to enroll in. I never heard what the other person said since I had found my prey giggling in a corner that they thought I wouldn't notice them in.

“I wonder where Aumun and Luka are?” I asked out loud knowing that the pair of them wouldn't be able to keep quiet when they thought that I didn't know where they were. It was then that the giggling increased in volume as the pair laughed over me not being able to find there. I snuck over to where they were hiding and then pounced.

“There you are” I said grabbing both boys and then smiling at the pair of them. They were a handful to keep up with, which was why I was on the hunt for them in the first place. It seemed that their ‘teacher' and I used the term lightly since they were only two after all, had gotten caught up with another student and the boys thought it was a brilliant idea to knock over their cups filled with milk and make a dash out of the room. The idea had Aumun's name written all over it, since the boy was lactose intolerant hence the reason I was shouting his name and not Luka's.

“Daddy” Aumun said while giggling as I tickled both him and Luka as I carried them back to their classroom.

“Clark” Sari said once I had replaced Aumun and Luka back in their classroom and received promises from both that they wouldn't leave the room until told to do so and that they would do what the teacher said until I came and got them.

“Mrs. Bruel” I said, I still didn't feel comfortable called Sari by her first name so I stuck with Mrs. Bruel, especially in front of prospective parents for the school.

“I want you to meet Lex…”

“Luthor” I finished for her looking at the pair trying to hide my shock over seeing Lex in person in a great long while.

“Yes, if you could show him around a bit more” Sari said before nodding to Lex and then leaving to go and complete some work she probably had piled on her desk.

“Mr. Luthor right this way” I said acting as if I didn't know Lex from a hole in a wall.

“Clark”

“Mr. Luthor” I said formally, I could see that he was surprised to see me working at a Montessori school; hey I was surprised myself that I had a job at one of the prestigious Montessori Schools in Metropolis.

“What are you doing here?” Lex asked me as if it had been just the night before that we had spoken to each other.

“I work here”

“Clark” Lex said with the usual sigh he gave when people didn't answer his questions the way he wanted.

“I would have thought that you would still be at Met U” here I shook my head it seemed that Lex hadn't been keeping up with my personal life, as I thought he might have since there were times that I was certain that Lex was helping me out in some way. I guess I was totally wrong on that one.

“I dropped out” I stated before walking over to a classroom with the door open showing Lex around the school as I spoke to him.

“Was there a reason why?” Lex asked as if he hadn't noticed me chasing after my two sons.

“Aumun and Luka” I said not looking at Lex as I spoke. I knew Lex would think that I had a wife or at least a serious girlfriend and I was the father to at least one child, but he would be surprised with the truth and that was that I was in fact the mother of Aumun while being the adopted father for Luka. Lex didn't get to ask the question I could see written on his face since his cell phone began to ring.

“Excuse me” Lex said before backing up a bit and answering his phone. I watched him and noticed things on Lex that I had been staring at for the past two years with Aumun. I waited for a full five minutes before I made my way to Sari's office to let her know that Mr. Luthor was on the phone and that I should probably head back to my office to finish up some things that needed to be completed for the field trip that the fourth graders were taking next week.

“No problem at all” Sari said before I made my way out of her office following her to where Lex still stood with his cell phone to his ear. I didn't stick around to speak with Lex since I had a feeling he would be ‘stopping by' later tonight. For the rest of the day I tried to keep my mind off the impending visit from Lex, so I was very glad for when school was over and I was able to take the boys out for dinner.

“I wanna go to Chikfila” Aumun said pouting at me from the back seat where he and his brother sat.

“Fine, fine” I said caving into the request, Chick-Fil-A wasn't a restaurant I frequented since it was a bit higher priced than places like McDonald's and Burger King, but they did have awesome chicken sandwiches or anything chicken related. Then again it wasn't like there was a ton of the restaurant around Metropolis and/or surrounding area.

“Yay” both Aumun and Luka exclaimed as I made my way over to the one and only free standing Chick-Fil-A. I had done a lot of research to find this particular restaurant since I wasn't a huge fan of going to a mall to eat dinner with my boys. Most of the women that saw me with my boys always came over and pinched their cheeks while handing over their phone number when they found out I was a single father. This particular restaurant had a play place and I was all about getting my two boys out and about to expend the energy they didn't at Hockaday. I pulled into the lot and saw a group of kids running around; it was as we made our way into the restaurant that I noticed a sign that said tonight was kid's night.

“Just what I don't need” I mumbled before opening the door for the boys and me and then making our way over to the register to order.

“I wanna a chicken strip meal” Aumun stated to me in a tone of voice that reminded me of Lex.

“Luka” I said, out of the two of them Luka was the quieter of the two.

“Chicken Strip meal” Luka said before looking at the play place and moving closer to Aumun as if ready to dart off to go and play.

“By me” I said before going up to the register and ordering our meals, I could only hope that my check cleared since I was very low of funds this last pay check. I had, had to take Luka to the doctor a few times and that was one thing that the Male Pregnancy study wasn't providing and that was basic medical care of the children. They of course did annual check-ups, taking their height, weight and other items but that was about it. Star Labs was first and foremost an IVF clinic, not a pediatrician. The stipend I got from the study was enough for the basics but anything above and beyond was mine to bear and I probably would have been fine had I not adopted Luka.

“Can I get two chicken strip kids meals and one number one, large sized with Sprite to drink” I said to the girl who was standing at the register. I could see the surprise in her eyes as I ordered for myself and my two boys.

“That will be eighteen, thirty-five” the girl said before I was handing over my debit card praying that my pay check had cleared. The girl swiped the card and then handed it back to me before her manager came over and whispered something into her ear.

“Oh my bad” she said blushing and then looking at me hoping that I wouldn't yell at her for some mistake.

“Tonight is kid's night so your son's meals are free” she explained before looking down and seeing that for some reason the transaction with my card hadn't gone through.

“So the new total is seven, twelve” she said before I gave her back my card and she swiped it again. Seems that things were right in the world of credit cards and debit cards since this time the charge went through.

“Here you go” once she had all of our meals on the tray before passing it to me.

“Daddy” Aumun said looking very much like an impatient Lex Luthor. I sighed; this just wasn't my day it seemed.

“Here you go, eat first then you can go play” I said before passing out the meals and drinks before digging into my own while helping Aumun and Luka with their own meals. It was just as they had finished their meals that two large cows came strolling into the play place scaring the living daylights out of some of the kids there while other ran up to the cows and began yelling at them for pictures.

“Daddy” Luka said looking at the cows and then to his brother, as if asking if it was okay for them to go and greet the cows. I nodded my head and Luka went flying over to the cows holding onto Aumun's hand as they made their way to the cows. It was about five minutes later that the cows left and soon the play place began to empty of the mothers, fathers and children.

“Aumun, Luka” I called to my boys before I saw the pair pop out of the slide and then make their way to me.

“Do you need to go potty?”

“Yeah” Luka said as he began to fidget, we had been working on potty training and so far we had few accidents but I always had to check to make sure if they had to go or not before leaving anywhere.

“Come on” I said making my way to the restrooms after I had thrown our trash away. After a quick spin in the restroom where both Aumun and Luka ‘pottied' we made our way back to the car and then home. I was quite glad to see the living room light on as we pulled up, I had it on a timer since Aumun and Luka were certain that Flynn was scared of the dark.

“We're home” I said before looking back and seeing that both Aumun and Luka were asleep, I guess the day caught up to them. I turned off the car and then woke the pair up before I unlocked the door to the house and let them in. Flynn was standing at the door barking as we entered.

“Flynn!” Both boys shouted as they made their way into the house with Flynn jumping to greet them.

“Flynn” I said making the dog quit jumping up on the boys.

“Bath, then straight to bed” I said checking the time and seeing that it well on eight o'clock, I guess we had spent a bit more time than I thought at the Chick-Fil-A.

“Daddy” they both said but I could see how tired they were, they had been asleep in the car after all.

“Upstairs and I will be right there” I said before I watched as the boys made it upstairs to their room to get their pajamas for after their bath.

“Here you go Flynn” I said setting out some dog food and then making my way up the stairs to where I knew the boys would be waiting for me.

“Daddy” Aumun moaned, I could see he was going to try and talk me out of them getting a bath.

“We's not dirty”

“I don't care” I said before scooting the pair of them into the bathroom and then starting their bath for them. Once the tub was filled to a level I liked I put both boys in and began to give them a wash.

“We's big boys” Luka stated before taking the washcloth out of my hands and washing himself slightly, while Aumun sat at the back of the tub arms across his chest pouting.

“The sooner you finish the sooner you can get out” I told Aumun knowing that he would take the hint and wash up. Soon the pair was out of the tub and were getting dressed in their pajamas when the door bell rang.

“When I get back the pair of you better be in bed” I shouted as I made my way to the front door and then opened it. I didn't notice that Lex was standing at the door until after I had shouted my demands to the boys upstairs and had turned my face towards the now open door.

“Clark” Lex said before scanning behind me, as if expecting some woman to make their way out of the kitchen or somewhere in the house to come and greet whoever was at the door.

“Lex” I said before leaning on the door jamb of the house, I was tempted to use Mr. Luthor but I knew that Lex would want to fight with me on that so it was easier to give in and call Lex, Lex.

“So you live here?”

“I do” I could see that Lex was still looking for that woman to magically appear so I figured that I would disabuse him of that notion.

“The only woman in this house is Flynn” and as I said that a hairless dog except for the hair on its head, tail and paws came padding up to me.

“Flynn meet Lex Luthor” I said picking up the dog and showing Lex, Flynn.

“A hairless dog?” Lex seemed shocked that I would have such an exotic dog.

“The boys just couldn't part with her” I explained before I set her down and watched as she trotted outside and then did her business before going back inside. I stood at the door not really sure what to say to Lex, there wasn't much I could say to him, okay so that was a lie there was plenty I could say to Lex but that was a Lex from three years in the past not this Lex standing in front of me. I had changed in the three years since Lex had last spoken to me, and I wasn't exactly in a giving mood to pour my heart out to the bald man as I would have done in the past.

“I noticed you were chasing after two boys”

“I was” I stated, I wasn't going to give up any more information than what was asked of me.

“You called one Kent, is he your son?” He asked me before looking around me and his eyes staying on the same spot for much too long in my opinion. When I turned I saw that Aumun and Luka both stood at the bottom of the stairs, holding hands with their favorite stuffed animals in their other arm.

“Boys” I said shaking my head a bit, wondering how I was going to explain this to Lex since I knew he had asked and now he was looking at both Aumun and Luka.

“Daddy we want to watch Wall-E” Aumun said before giving a look that he knew would have me caving.

“Into the living room” I said in agreement, I would have to deal with Lex and quickly. It was as the pair was making their way to the living room that Aumun spotted Lex, something I was hoping he wouldn't do.

“Daddy, who's that?”

“Aumun” I said in warning, I so didn't want to explain who Lex was to my sons.

“Clark” Lex said to me before he was bending down to the height of Aumun and Luka as they had made their way to the front door.

“My name is Lex Luthor”

“Lex Luthor” Aumun said stunned I had read the newspaper to them every day, and I could say on more than one occasion Aumun and Luka had heard about the famous Lex Luthor and who was on his arm for some event or another. Here Lex nodded his head before giving Aumun a small smile, I couldn't help but sigh. I knew that should Lex decide to fall off the face of the Earth, again, that Aumun would be sad and hurt that Lex hadn't come back to visit. It was after all very highly probable that Lex would disappear again, he had done it once before.

“And what's your name?” Lex asked as if he hadn't heard me call out Aumun's name.

“Aumun Jonathan Kent” Aumun stated proudly, he was always the one getting the most attention at Hockaday since he was so charismatic. I figured it was just another thing that he picked up from Lex, if Lex was the donor as I thought he was.

“And you?” Lex asked Luka, who was hiding behind my leg.

“That's my brother Luka Imun Kent”

“Interesting choice of names” Lex said looking at me with the unasked question in his eyes. Why had I chosen Luka's middle name to be so close to Aumun's? And to tell the truth at the time I hadn't thought about it, it had just been.

 

 

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