Lex walked into the penthouse with a tired sigh. He threw his keys into the bowl on the table by the front door, laid his briefcase on the floor beside it and began loosening his tie as he walked toward the recreation room. It had been a hell of a day, and right now, he wanted a large snifter of brandy, a relaxing massage and a blowjob. And not necessarily in that order, either.

"Clark?" he called out as he entered the large room. When he didn't receive a response, Lex moved to the bar and poured himself an Armagnac. Walking over to the couch, he set his glass on the table beside it, took off his jacket and tossed it across the back before he sprawled out on the sofa. Lex grabbed his glass and the remote, and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels until he came upon the news.

Soon immersed in the latest stock information, Lex didn't hear the door softly open behind him. "Umm, Lex?" Clark's soft voice sounded from near the doorway.

Lex twisted his head to look over his shoulder at his partner. His smile of welcome faded when he noted the guilty expression that was on Clark's face. Lex narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his lover and asked, "What's happened now?"

"Nothing's happened… Well, not really." Clark crossed the room and gave Lex a quick, perfunctory kiss on the forehead before flopping down onto the cushions beside him. Clark peeked at Lex from the corner of his eye as he asked, "You love me, don't you, Lex?"

"Hmmm," was Lex's noncommittal answer. "Depends on what you've done now."

Clark toyed with the hem of his tee shirt with one hand, his other gesturing wildly in the air as he spoke. "It's nothing bad, I promise." A pause before he continued, "You know how you're always warning me about my collecting strays?"

Lex leaned back into the back of the sofa with an irritated huff. "You've brought home a cat, haven't you?" When Clark shook his head, he asked, "A dog?"

"No."

"A tiger?"

"Be real, Lex."

"A monkey."

An amused snort. "Well no, not… technically."

"Not technically," Lex repeated dryly. "You're making me nervous here, Clark." He rubbed his hands over his face as he thought back to the news he'd just heard. "Where exactly did Superman go today?"

"Actually, it was pretty quiet for most of the day. There was only that one forest fire out west that had been threatening some houses. I was there for maybe thirty minutes at most."

"All right, Clark, I give up." Lex glanced at Clark with a resigned demeanor. "What did Superman bring home?"

Clark picked up one of Lex's hands, caressing the back of it with his thumb. "Superman had nothing to do with it. This was purely my doing."

Lex shook his head affectionately at his partner. It still amazed him, even after more than ten years together, how Clark kept his two personas separate. "Stop stalling, Clark."

Sighing, Clark looked over at Lex worriedly. "Do you remember that Lois and I were working on an article about the Metropolis Orphanage?"

"You didn't." A flat statement.

Clark turned to Lex and grabbed his free hand, holding both up to Clark's chest. "Lex, she's beautiful. You'll love her, you'll see."

"You brought home a baby?" Lex's voice rose until it broke at the end of the sentence.

A small smile played at the corner of Clark's lips. "You're so cute." He tugged on Lex's hands, causing Lex to sprawl out on top of Clark. Clark ran his tongue along the edge of Lex's ear, relishing the shudder he felt in his partner's body at the movement. "Remember when I moved in here, Lex? You promised me that I could have anything I wanted." Clark nipped at Lex's earlobe before ghosting small kisses down the side of Lex's neck.

"You're not playing fair, Clark. What would Superman's fans have to say about this?"

"Hmmm, no Superman here." Clark pulled Lex's shirttail out of his pants and brushed his fingertips along the skin above the waistband. "Just me, your loving partner." He could feel Lex's heart begin to race as Clark shifted underneath him, entwining their legs together and thrusting up his hips into Lex's erection. "Love you, Lex," he breathed just before he captured Lex's mouth in a rapacious kiss. Clark caressed Lex's back with the palms of his hands before sliding one hand between them to tweak at a taut nipple.

"God, Clark," Lex groaned as the sensations flowed through him. He forced himself to push his body up on Clark's chest, staring down at his lover with a narrow-eyed expression. "Unless you want to get fucked right here, right now, you'd better stop teasing me and explain."

Clark chewed on his lower lip for a second before nodding. He pulled Lex down for one more, sweet kiss before untangling himself and standing up. "Come with me," he said and held out his hand to help Lex up.

Lex allowed Clark to pull him through the penthouse until they were standing outside the door to the guestroom. Clark turned to Lex and pleaded, "Give her a chance, Lex. Please?"

Lex nodded shortly before opening the door. Clark had gathered most all of the pillows in the house and built a fort-type structure around the bed. A small figure lay spread-eagle in the middle of the duvet, soundly asleep. Lex pushed some of the pillows onto the floor and perched on the edge of the mattress.

The baby girl was delicate looking, with bright strawberry blonde hair and porcelain skin. Her thumb was stuck into her mouth and she sucked on it lightly as she slept. Someone had dressed her in a pair of denim overalls, with a light pink tee shirt underneath.

Clark lay down on the bed on the other side of the baby, and ran his fingers lightly through the curls on her forehead. "Her father was killed in a gang related incident before she was born. She was brought to the orphanage a couple of weeks ago and given up for adoption. Her mother said she couldn't take care of her anymore, and wanted her to have a chance at finding a new family."

"So naturally, you saw her and thought that we'd make a perfect set of parents." Lex propped his head up on his hand, his elbow resting on the mattress near the baby's head. He glanced between the baby's face and his partner's, and sighed internally. Even though he might put up a strong resistance at first, Lex knew that if Clark had his heart set on adopting the girl, they would be signing the papers before the week was out. "I'll make a lousy father, Clark. Look at my example."

Clark reached over and traced his fingertip across Lex's cheekbone. "You'll be wonderful. You're nothing like Lionel, and you know it."

Lex turned his head and kissed Clark's fingers lightly. "I love you," he said quietly. He studied the baby's face for a while and after some moments' thought, asked, "So, what shall we name her?"

A bright smile lighting his face, Clark carefully leaned over the baby and kissed Lex softly. "You're the best, Lex."

*****

Several hours later, Clark came out of the shower, wrapping one towel around his slim hips and drying his hair with another as he looked around the penthouse for his partner. He finally found Lex, sleeping quietly in an armchair in the guestroom.

Clark crouched down beside the chair and gently removed the pad of paper from Lex's limp grasp. His eyes skimmed over the writing quickly, and he smiled tenderly at the long list Lex had prepared. Plenty of lessons, from ballet to horseback riding to painting and piano, were on the list, as well as trips around the world and family holiday traditions. Lex had gone as far as planning every single birthday party until Emma turned twenty-one, and even Emma's high school and graduation parties were listed.

Clark knew in his heart that Lex would be a wonderful father to Emma.

Of course, convincing Lex that he didn't have to give Emma every single thing on his list would be difficult. But Clark was okay with that.

They were going to be a family for a long time.

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