Expectations: Special Delivery

Clark opened his eyes, but for once, there was no overwhelming pressure on his bladder, the triplets were still, apparently knowing that dadda would appreciate a little time off from being a punching bag. It was the slow, steady contracting in his back that woke him this morning, a clear indication that the pregnancy was about over.  Looking over Lex's shoulder, he noticed that it was only three am, too early to wake up. Unless one had a secret mission, that is.

Moving slowly, Clark awkwardly slipped out of bed, stopping and holding his breath when Lex moved, relaxing when his husband only muttered and snuggled back in. Clark stayed still until he heard the soft steady snores that indicated Lex was in a deep sleep.

Eschewing the flip-flops for the moment, knowing Lex had an almost preternatural sensitivity to the sound of the rubber shoes, Clark slid his feet into the larger of the two pairs of soft fuzzy slippers that rested under the bench at the foot of their bed. The bald head of Warrior Angel flopped at the toes as he stealthily waddled to the door, stopping to check on Lex after opening the door; assured that he wouldn't be missed, Clark slipped out of the room.

Once he had made his way down the main staircase and regained his balance, Clark zipped into his office. The key to the bottom drawer was hidden under a stack of brochures about Kent Farms Organic Produce. In all their years together, Lex had never bothered to search his desk, aside from the time the tube on the mantel had been empty much too early in the evening, but Clark didn't want to tempt fate.

He had shoved the bag into the bottom desk drawer the minute they got back from Hawaii, hiding the garish purple and teal bag under an old copy of the Planet with a picture of Lionel above the fold -- Lex would never touch that unless they needed some kindling.

A few minutes later, his job finished, Clark climbed the stairs again, entering their suite from the nursery side. Lexine's eyes were open and she removed her fist from her mouth to look at him as he stood by the side of the crib.

"Hey there." Clark picked his daughter up and held her to his breasts; for once she didn't squirm, letting her dadda cuddle her as he moved over to the comfortable doublewide rocking chair on the other side room. He opened the drapes a bit and looked out onto the gardens as he sat down, starting a slow rocking motion before putting his feet up on the ottoman with a deep sigh of satisfaction.

Lexine turned her face up and returned his gaze. "Today, huh?" Lexine smacked her lips and put her thumb back in her mouth, nevertheless managing to convey an expression of satisfaction in the imminent arrival of her siblings. "Dadda is going to panic," Clark predicted, nuzzling the soft down at her crown. "We need to ease him into this, but make sure that we don't let on that we know."

"Clark?"

Maybe it was the lack of hair that could give one the impression that Lex was alert just out of bed, but Clark knew the husky tone of his voice. There was something adorable, not that he could ever say that aloud, of course, about Lex with that sleepy look and he smiled at the smooth, slim body in purple silk pajama bottoms, the toes of his bare feet curling in the plush carpet. Clark didn't bother to reply, only shifted in the rocking chair in silent invitation. Lex smiled tiredly and crossed the room, pulling one of Martha's afghans off the dresser before settling in with Clark and Lexine.

Clark handed the baby over, grinning as she reached out her arms then snuggled into Lex's bare chest, one small hand curling as the thumb of the other slipped back between her lips. Lex slid his thumb over the little fist and smiled manfully. Clark slid an arm around Lex, but the mound of his belly made the position awkward.

"How are you feeling?" Lex raised a faint eyebrow as he tried to ask the question as casually as possible.

"I'm feeling good," Clark replied cautiously, knowing that Toby had told Lex about the pains he had had in Hawaii. He had figured that Toby's silence would only last until they got back to Smallville, then he'd feel he'd have to tell Lex. He'd taken the news remarkably well, all things considered, a few minutes of chilly silence before Clark had taken the masculine way out and used Lexine to wheedle a smile out of his husband.

"You will tell me, right?"

"Lex, I can assure you, when it's time for the triplets to be born, you'll be the first to know. If the breaking water and the screaming don't clue you in first." Clark regrettedthe levity the second Lex turned to him with a faint sheen of perspiration on his brow. "I'm kidding," he reassured his husband, leaning in to kiss the smooth skin of his husband's temple, fingers lightly stroking Lexine's back.

It was just after eleven that they sat down to lunch and Clark realized he couldn't keep the charade up much longer as his stomach roiled at the sight of the food. A glance in the mirror over the sideboard confirmed that he had turned a decided shade of green. A wetness between his legs that soaked the blue and yellow muumuu sent emergency messages to his brain. He caught Lex's eye as Lex stood up, his chair clattering to the oriental rug.

"Toby!" Lex was yelling, and Clark could hear Travis running down the hallway to get Toby as Lex turned to him. "It's time?"

Clark could only nod as a pain ripped from the small of his back down, then around the muscles in his abdomen. It was definitely time. The next generation of the Luthor-Kent Empire were apparently impatient to make their debut into the world.

Lex was growling wordlessly at him as they met Travis in the minivan down at the front entrance. That had been one of Clark's conditions, Lex wasn't allowed to drive them to the hospital; he trusted Lex's driving, but not enough for this. Distractions, automobiles, and Lex had never been one of Clark's favorite combinations.

He had packed his bags the day after they had returned from Hawaii, so it was just a matter of throwing that into the back, strapping Lexine in, and Lex was demanding Travis get them to the hospital as quickly as possible. Clark spared the butler a small apologetic grin, he was sure that there was nothing Travis would like better than to get Lex to the hospital and off his case. Another contraction slammed through him as Lex held him in his seat. Clark took the hand his husband offered, their wedding rings shining in the bright Kansas sun.

The population of Smallville proved very accommodating today as Travis, with Toby riding shotgun, sped through the back roads and into town, ignoring stop signs and tractor crossings alike. On First Street, a Sheriff's car flew around the corner to precede them, lights flashing and sirens screeching. Lexine started to grumble at the noise, but Lex pulled Niccolo from the baby bag and she settled in to chew on the plush bunny ears.

The onset of his x-ray vision startled Clark as he grasped Lex's hand a little tighter. Looking through metal and fabric, into the engine of the minivan, into the Sheriff's car in front, Clark could see Ethan's fingers curled tightly around the wheel.

Lex was watching him carefully, a soft washcloth against his cheek as he sweated, trying very hard not to let the heat vision take over. The contraction over for the minute, Clark leaned back into the seat, breathing heavily. Lex was right there with him, leaning in and kissing his forehead before pressing the cloth against it again.

"Lex..." Clark started as he turned to his husband, but the words he wanted to say were forgotten as the slow steady pressure started again, creeping up his back, then moving around until he was being twisted inside out. "Dammit," was all he could manage as he held onto Lex for dear life.

"Dadda?" Lexine's soft voice was questioning. While Clark didn't think she knew what was going on, not the sheer pain and panic that he was currently laboring under, Clark knew, somehow, that she knew her brothers and sister were on their way.

"It's okay, baby," he assured his little girl, running a hand through her bright red curls before turning away so she wouldn't see him grimace with the pain. When he looked back, she was chewing on Niccolo's other ear, her eyes narrowed in concentration and what looked like deep thought.

Lex was already pushing Clark's bag to the door as Travis pulled up to the Emergency Room entrance, the van shaking as harried butler slammed on the brakes. He was around the van and had the door open a second later, a steady stream of doctors, nurses, orderlies streamed from the sliding door.

Clark managed to make it to a gurney in the seconds between contractions, lying on his side, holding his back rigid, trying to make the pain go away. Bullets, fire, knives; none of those things could touch him, but apparently he was to be laid low by Lex Luthor and his more than willing super mutant semen. The Bastard. Those little buggers could do this, turn Superman into a soon-to-be screaming lunatic, thankful that his room was private and the wasn't in Metropolis where the odds of a reporter snapping a picture was exponentially higher. Lois and Chloe had first dibs on the story as long as they let him get through the labor unstalked, and Clark had no doubt that they'd defend their exclusive to the death if need be.

Another contraction tore through him and he felt the babies move again, lower this time, making his back into a long conduit of torturous pressure as the little critters inside him did their best to make sure he understood everything possible about pain.

They were definitely going to have a discussion about that, he and his babies. And they'd be lucky if he didn't pull out the embarrassing baby pictures for their wedding albums. Hell, their high school graduation parties. Maybe birthday parties from thirteen on.

He pushed aside comforting thoughts of revenge as the orderly pushed him into his birthing room, the nurses at his side taking his vitals as Lex and Lexine watched. Lex had endowed the hospital in a huge way a few months ago, all to make sure Clark would have the most comforting place to give birth.

The blue and red room soothed him, but all he wanted to do was push, try to relieve some of the pressure inside, finally end this nine month extravaganza of weirdness. The nurses were pulling at his muumuu, pushing his arms through the arms of a white hospital gown, leaving it untied in back. His modesty of little concern as another contraction hit, Clark dug one foot into the gurney, pushing through the metal as another nurse spread a thin blanket over him, covering him from the waist down. Turning on his side, he saw Lex give Lexine into the care of a nurse, smiling encouragingly as he returned to Clark's side. He cupped Clark's cheek in a palm and Clark nuzzled at him, moaning low as the contraction finally ended.

"Your parents are on their way," Lex soothed as he leaned over Clark, long fingers stroking his hair in what Lex probably thought was comforting. He leaned back, giving Clark a shocked look when a low growl started deep in his chest. "Clark?"

"Thank your lucky stars you already had the vasectomy, Lex," Clark growled warningly, looking pointedly at Lex's silk clad crotch. Lex didn't reply, only helped him remove his foot from the hole he had made in the gurney.

"Ahh, Clark. Good to see you." Clark looked over to see Dr. Marston entering the birthing room, already wearing purple scrubs. Toby was following behind him, talking to a nurse. "Are we ready to have those babies?"

Clark pondered the proper reaction to such a stupid question, the lizard part of his brain, which was rapidly gaining a stronger voice, telling him to set the doctors paper booties on fire. He was about to retort when he felt Lex's touch on his forehead, wiping the sweat away.

"If you want to set someone on fire," Lex whispered, "my dad will be here soon." Clark bit back a laugh at the image, relaxing for a second in between contractions. A team of nurses entered the room then, pulling Lex out.

"Lex?" It wasn't a whimper, Clark assured himself as he watched his husband being pulled away. It just sounded a little unmanly. Convinced, Clark waited for someone to give him a reason why Lex was being taken away.

"Lex will be back in just a few minutes," Marston said calmly as Toby nodded in agreement. "He just needs to put on a gown and clean up a bit." Clark didn't respond, saving his energy, but looking through the wall to see Lex slipping on a gown, covering his shoes with the paper booties.

The next contraction stole any sense of calm Clark had, and he gave into the urge to yell. "Lexxxxxxxx…" Lex was by his side a second later, a nurse behind him, slipping a purple paper bonnet over his bald head. Clark managed to smile a bit as Lex turned slightly to frown at her, but Clark's grip on his hand made him turn back immediately.

"We're going to move you now, Clark," another nurse said. He could only nod, focusing all his attention on Lex, who held his hand, wincing only slightly at the tight hold. He was pulled down on the table; his feet were put into the stirrups. It tickled a bit as his cock was put into a mesh sleeve, then taped to his abdomen. The huge mirror behind the nurses gave him a bird's eye view of all this, apparently solely to make sure Clark knew that he had lost as much dignity as was possible. He tried to ignore the number of people in the room, barely hearing when Marston pronounced, 'ten centimeters'.

Another doctor had followed Marston in and now came over to observe. He ignored Clark's growl and Lex's frown and said with the all mighty knowledge of a second year medical student, "When will you perform the episiotomy?"

Marston stared. Toby snickered. A nurse over by the door giggled. And Clark and Lex yelled in one voice, "Out!" The med student left.

"Sorry about that," Marston apologized, and Clark glared, but Lex's lips were at his ear, whispering mindless words of encouragement even as he glared down at Marston. The doctor nodded to Lex, who gripped Clark's hand tighter. "Almost ready," Lex said before reaching down into the bag he had brought with him. "Just a second," he whispered, then moved down to stand by Marston, a tube in LuthorCorp purple and black in his gloved hands.

The feel of Lex's fingers, slick with whatever it was in the tube at his hole distracted Clark as the next contraction began. "Lex?"

"Just some new stuff, should make things nice and smooth." Clark was quickly distracted by the pain, but noticed a nurse giving Lex an incredulous look. "It's not like he has a self-lubricating anus," Clark heard his husband say, and the red that covered his cheeks had nothing to do with the contraction.

The nurse slipped away and Lex returned to his side, an arm around his shoulders as he shook. Clark felt something inside shift, and with a yowl, bore down, pushing as hard as he could, but feeling deep down that this would take more strength than he had ever had.

Breathing heavily as the contraction eased, Clark snorted. At Lex's inquiring look, he grinned, showing sharp white teeth. "Episiotomy, my ass."

Lex looked at him for a second, then started to laugh, holding Clark close. Leaning in, his husband gave him a swift kiss to the lips, a quick reminder of how they had gotten to this point. The next contraction started and reminded Clark why they shouldn't be in this position at all.

"Push, Clark. Come on, you can do it," Lex kept up the patter, wincing as Clark writhed, breathing heavily as if he had been exerting himself when the contraction ended and Clark tried to gather his strength. "Come on, Clark. Push!"

Giving in, he looked down, past skin and muscle, bone and nerve, and saw one of the babies in the canal. Knowing that there was no turning back, Clark felt the next contraction start, and with a grunt, began to push. Long, long push, breathing heavily, trying to take as much oxygen as possible, fighting the instincts of a human raised boy and a pregnant alien, Clark kept pushing.

Toby was the first one to say anything when the baby's head appeared.

"Jesus, man. There's a head. There. A head, man," he repeated in his gravelly voice, apparently thirty years of whatever the man had been dropping hadn't prepared him for this. Clark knew the feeling. Eyes wide with incredulity, Toby turned back up to Clark, then over to Lex. Clark could feel Lex biting off a retort, returning to focus his attention back on Clark. Another push, then another, and Clark felt the baby's shoulders pass. Panting, trying to breathe while the angle was all wrong, hell the situation was all wrong, he noticed Marston was moving away, over to another table, removing the birthing sac, pulling the child free, the cord still attached to the placenta.

Clark closed his eyes in relief as the baby cried, a long, indignant yowl, so Luthorian in its annoyance at being pushed into this bright new world.

"He's clamping off the cord," Lex told him as Marston turned away again. Another nurse joined Marston, working on the baby.

"Clark, Lex, you have a son," Marston informed them, turning around, holding the baby in a loose blanket.

Dark hair stood on end, surrounding a little scrunched up face. The baby opened its eyes and with what could only be called a grumble, began to cry as Marston handed him over to Lex. Moving closer to Clark, Lex put the little bundle in Clark's arms.

His ... *their* firstborn son. Wow.

Lex's eyes were moist as a small fist flailed before Clark tucked it into the blankets. He met his husband's gaze straight on. "Julian."

Lex nodded, still stroking the dark hair. "Julian," he agreed.

The dark haired nurse, the one who had taped up Mr. Happy, rolled the bassinet over and moved to take the little one from Clark. Down at the other end, he could see another nurse cleaning him up a bit, getting everything ready for the next delivery. "What an adorable baby," the nurse cooed. "What's his name?"

"Julian Linoleum Kent Luthor," Clark replied proudly as she checked the baby's blood pressure and other vitals again.

Dark eyes looked up at him. "Linoleum?" She looked down at the floor of the delivery room, then back up at them again.

"Old family name," Lex said from over Clark's other shoulder, daring further comment.

The nurse blinked, then nodded. An orderly handed her a tiny plastic hospital bracelet and she fastened it to Julian's ankle before reswaddling him in the purple blanket Lex had provided the hospital.

At Clark's grin, Lex just raised a faint eyebrow. "For family, Clark."

"For family," Clark repeated, his voice going high as a contraction hit. Their family was about to get bigger.

Ice chips were not enough. They were definitely not enough. Clark wanted something to drink, something to eat, and painkillers. Maybe a painkiller milkshake, that would be good. Ice cream and some form of opiate, that'd be the ticket. And pie. He wanted half of one of his mother's raspberry pies, with an epidural a la mode.

Triplet number two didn't seem to be as willing as its older brother to emerge, Clark had been bearing down for what felt like days. Lex hadn't left his side for more than a few minutes as the hours passed. It seemed like half of Smallville General's medical staff had taken a trip down to the other end of the bed, perusing his private bits, then coming back up to give him some pithy encouragement.

Clark was keeping a mental list of names; revenge was a dish best served cold and he was going to make sure it was served on the best china. Clark blinked at the thought. Maybe marrying Lex had affected him more than he thought it would. At least he hadn't started to babble about the Peloponnesian War or Shakespearean allegory and Kansas inheritance laws; but then again, he'd only been married a few days, give him another fifty years.

It was five hours after Julian's arrival that Clark began to feel too much pain, too tired. Invulnerable to bullets and bombs he may be, but this was beyond any of it. He wanted drugs, and he wanted them now.

Smooth fingers on his brow and Clark turned into Lex's palm, closing his eyes before looking into his husband's worried blue eyes. A second later Clark felt another person at his side and turned to see Toby holding a small vial with a LuthorCorp label.

Lex helped Clark to sit up. Once he was siting upright the bed was raised a bit more, and he fell back against it, still breathing heavily. "Open," Lex said, and Clark obeyed, opening his mouth, keeping his teeth closed. Lex took a syringe of a purple fluid that glowed faintly from the vial, and pulling Clark's bottom lip back, sprayed the fluid down around Clark's gums, not trying to puncture the flesh, only directing where the fluid went. The drug was grape flavored, just one of those little details that Lex made sure of when he did something to take care of Clark. It was nice, to be able to save the world and still be taken care of. When Lex was done he threw the syringe away and returned to Clark's side. It was a fast acting painkiller, distilled from traditional painkillers and a form of kryptonite. Slowly, Clark felt the pain recede, the pressure in his lower abdomen still there, but the sharp pains retreated as he waited for the labor to begin again in earnest.

Two hours later Jonatha Bokenta was sleeping in the bassinet next to Julian, wrapped in another purple blanket. Lex's slight double take at his younger daughter's arrival had passed quickly in the face of Clark's questioning look. Holding the two babies close Clark had experienced the same feeling that birth parents had since time immemorial; that the children were absolutely worth it and that his partner should have to expel a bowling ball out his ass someday to understand just how much.

Clark's parents had been allowed in for a few minutes to meet Julian and Jo, but only after the mirror had been covered up and a blanket draped over Clark's nether regions. There was only so much a guy could take in one day. Lionel was still on his way to Smallville, Lex hadn't called him until after Julian had delivered and bad weather in Gotham had prevented his helicopter from taking off.

Lexine's reaction to her siblings had been interesting, after being comforted by having both her fathers hold her and being fed, she had supervised her brother and sister's feeding with the calmly accessing eye of a general supervising her troops. When the infants had been put back in their bassinet, Lexine had curled up in grandmother's arms to be taken back out into the waiting room. Clark was almost willing to swear that she had had a 'hurry up with it' look on her little face.

Exchanging a look as Martha and Lexine left the room, Clark wondered if they had any idea what he and Lex were getting themselves into. The pressure of a contraction started and Clark admitted they hadn't a clue as he took Lex's hand.

Lex had turned the television on to get the opening of the stock market, and muted, it had been on ever since. Looking up, Clark saw that Martha Stewart was on, applying lace to a crib with what appeared to be a platinum glue gun.

"It's Mom Stewart," he told Lex, who grimaced at the joke, and Clark

"Smartass." Clark knew there was only a little bit of revenge in Lex's heart as his husband aimed the remote control at the TV and Martha Stewart's voice filled the room.

"Of course, furniture in a nursery is essential," Martha Stewartwas walking over to a seating arrangement, "the type of birth can also dictate the best chairs to be used. A normal vaginal birth calls for easy to rise chairs, even more important for a cesarean section." Martha Stewart waved in the direction of the furniture consultant she had brought in for the segment. The man discussed, or tried to, as Martha Stewart seemed to say his lines over him, the points in favor of leather and retractable arms. They were about to change the channel when Martha Stewart said, "... and of course, there is a third type of birth that isn't at all common..."

Clark clutched at Lex's hand. "She wouldn't..."

"... an anal birth, is of course, very rare..."

Lex seemed to phase out for a second. Clark closed his eyes and counted to ten.

"... and really, the best thing that we could think of was to make pillows, like this one, for that sensitive region, post birth." They both looked back at the television to see Martha Stewart holding up a large pillow, subtly decorated in blue, red, with a yellow L and C entwined in the middle. The furniture guy looked like he had swallowed a lemon, and was staring at Martha Stewart, who continued to rave about the pillow's comfort and quality.

"Lex..."

"Oh, my god..."

Toby looked back at them from where he was watching Martha Stewart with rapt devotion. "That looks really cool, man."

Clark turned into Lex, hiding his face in Lex's silk sweater, not knowing what the correct response was to this level of surrealism. He could feel Lex moving against him, and when Martha Stewart's voice disappeared in the middle of, "... it's a good thing," he knew that she had been muted. A soft kiss against his forehead had Clark relaxing slightly, then another contraction hit, and Martha Stewart was forgotten for the moment.

Another hit of formula four and twenty minutes later the last triplet was still not born, and looking back up at the television, Clark saw one of the local news reporters standing in front of Smallville General. "Lex, turn the volume up."

Lex hit the volume and the voice of the reporter filled the room.

"Superman, aka Clark Kent Luthor is still in labor with the last of the triplets he and his new husband, billionaire businessman Lex Luthor, are expecting." A picture appeared in a split screen next to the reporter.

Clark groaned. The picture was of his last night on patrol; he was missing one flip-flop, his Superman costume pulled and distorted over his obviously pregnant body. The look on his face was desperate, and Clark knew exactly when it was taken, just before he had gotten to the mens' room at the Metropolis Band Shelter.

A picture of two blanket wrapped infants was super-imposed over Clark's belly, making for one of the strangest collages ever. "We have reports that the first two babies, a boy and a girl, are in good health. Josie Chan reporting from Smallville General."

Lex seemed to shake himself and muted the newscast again as his father's face was put up with the words 'LuthorCorp takeover bid' in royal purple.

"Now you see why I hate the press?"

"I always knew why," Clark replied with a grin before looking down to see the last triplet positioning in the canal. With a relieved sigh, he braced himself for what had to be the last of the contractions.

Clexi-El Kent Luthor looked just like his father had at birth, redheaded and smooth skin, but Clark would swear he could already see freckles. Bound in their purple blankets and set in the bassinet, the babies slept.

Clark had been cleaned up and had changed, while Lex consulted with the parents and Marston out in the hall. He knew the second Lex returned to the room, his presence, the faint nervous scent of sweat on silk, those things were part of him after all these years. He expected Lex to come to him, to feel the touch of fingers in his hair. When the touch didn't come, Clark opened his eyes to see Lex standing over the bassinet, staring down at their babies. Clark could understand it, he had crept out when the nurses were occupied and Lex was down the hall fending off the parents with a stick. But still, he wanted some attention now. Looking up, Clark saw Lex looking at him and even the dark circles around his eyes, he still shone bright, even after the long day.

Clark resented the hell out of it.

"Hey." Finally, the comforting touch of long, slim fingers in his hair.

Lex did a double take when he saw what Clark was wearing.

"What is that?"

"It's a nursing moomoo," Clark replied with a grin, holding out an arm, letting the fabric drape down, the Holstein pattern of grass munching cows staring back at Lex.

"It's ... unique," Lex admitted, galantly hiding his wince, apparently still in placate the husband mode, and Clark grinned knowingly at him.

"Yep."

"How are you? Aside from exhausted."

Clark looked over to where their babies slept, three little bodies, the heirs to Earth and Krypton.

"Glad we're never going to do this ever again." He looked up into Lex's face, capturing Lex's eyes. "But not regretting it."

"Good," was all Lex said before kissing him gently, sending a slow burn all the way to his toes. "Ready for the descent of the parents?"

"No, but we better let them in anyway." One last kiss before Lex left to get the folks while Clark shifted on the bed, trying to get a little more comfortable, doing his best to not think about the large pillow idea. Putting the idea out of his mind, he grabbed the little can of ginger ale and sucked at the bendy straw as Lex admitted their parents.

The huge mirror and medical equipment had been moved out of the room, and Clark leaned back in the bed as he watched his parents and in-law swarm to see the newborns, Lionel finally having arrived from Gotham. Lex took up his place at Clark's side, a wide-awake and curious Lexine in his arms. Clark slid over in the double-wide bed, the head raised in a sitting position, taking Lexine from her dadda as Lex settled in beside him.

Their parents were picking up the babies; Martha was holding Clexiel while Jonathan stared at his namesake. Lionel held Julian and Clark noticed the slight tremor in his father-in-law's hands as he looked at the little bundle in his arms. Lexine finished watching her siblings, apparently convinced they were in good hands and started to fuss. Clark pulled the hidden zipper down the front of his moomoo and Lexine started to nurse. Lex took a quick glance and looked away, a faint smile on his face, as if he couldn't help himself.

Clark finished nursing Lexine and Lex was helping him to fasten the moomoo back up when the parents decided to trade babies. The Kent side of the family were engaging in baby talk, but Lionel was silent. Lex leaned back and Clark leaned around him to look at his father-in-law, who was staring at Jonatha.

"Lionel, is anything wrong?"

Lionel looked at Clark, then turned his gaze to Lex. "Lex, son, what did you do?" He held Jonatha carefully, pulling the blanket away from the top of her head. "The girl is bald, son."