"Clark," Lex said in surprise as the teenager entered his study. "You're back," he added the obvious with a smile.

Clark shrugged in embarassment. "Yeah, I got as far as Metropolis then couldn't figure out what else to do. I stayed in your penthouse for two days until I ran out pizza money, then came home, I hope you don't mind."

Not having been aware Clark knew where his penthouse was, Lex raised his eyebrows in surprise, but then shrugged. "Sure, no problem. Better that you were there than staying in some shady motel. What prompted the disappearing act anyway?"

Clark looked uncomfortable and didn't meet his eyes. Ah. One of those kinds of incidents. Not in the mood to get lied to, Lex provided an answer for him, "Having twins on the way too much competition for the only child?"

A surprised look crossed Clark's face and he started to shake his head in instant denial. "N-" Lex could almost see him realizing the out he'd just been given. Clark started to nod, "Yeah, I guess." It would have been amusing if it weren't so pathetic.

But then Clark dropped down on the sofa beside him and sighed. "It's really weird knowing that any day now I'm going to be a big brother. And even though I know Mom's pregnancy was totally unplanned, I can't help but think that they're trying to replace me now that I'm not a little kid anymore." Ah. So the excuse was true, even if it wasn't the whole reason he'd run away. Lex felt a little guilty.

"And I'm not helping the issue."

Clark stole a sidelong look at Lex's stomach. "It's not your fault."

Lex rolled his eyes. "Your parents' biological kid isn't my fault but everything about this one going over to the Kent household is."

Clark rolled his eyes right back. "It's not the adopted kid I feel threatened by, Lex."

Not having been adopted (though sometimes he wondered if maybe that would have been better), Lex could only imagine what Clark was worried about. "I think it's normal, Clark. I felt threatened when Julian was born, too."

Clark frowned in confusion, "But you were Lionel's real son."

"You're Martha and Jonathan's real son, too, Clark. Genetics aren't everything. Take her, for example," he rested his hand on his stomach. "I'm her biological parent and I'm giving her away. I don't deserve to be called her real father. Your parents will be far more real to her than anything I could ever be even when she reaches the age when she'll be told the truth."

The teenager was silent for a little while, looking at his hands more than anything else. Finally, he asked quietly, "But you love her, right, even though you're giving her away?"

At first, Lex didn't understand why that was so obviously important to Clark, but then realization dawned before he spoke and put his foot in it. "Clark," he said, putting a hand on the other's shoulder, "I'm giving her away because I love her. I'm sure your biological parents felt the same way about you."

Clark slouched lower in the cushions, "I doubt it. My biological father is a bastard."

Ah. So Clark knew who his parents were. Interesting. And given the level of fresh bitterness and anger in that last sentence, Lex suspected he knew what prompted the running away, too. He spoke carefully, "Yeah, well, so's mine. If he's that bad, you're lucky he sent you away. The Kents are good people and child abuse sucks."

Clark looked at him sharply, his eyes suddenly boring into Lex as if the teenager were trying to see inside him. Lex shifted uncomfortably as the look moved down giving him the most intent once over he had ever experienced. "Your father abused you?" Clark demanded, muscles tensing as if he were planning to find Lionel Luthor and beat him up right now.

Lex laughed shortly, and shook his head, acting like that was the most ridiculous suggestion ever made. "Clark, you misunderstand. I was just saying that if your father didn't love you, then the chances that he would hurt you are very high, and it's good he gave you up for adoption. I only mentioned my father as proof that just because our genes may come from an evil bastard doesn't mean we have to be one. So don't worry about it. You've got Jonathan and Martha."

The look Clark leveled at him suggested that he suspected Lex of trying to misdirect him, but he didn't press the issue. "Does it bother you?" At Lex's look of confusion, he clarified, "Giving her up?"

Lex shook his head, and answered honestly. "No. I've very carefully avoided thinking of her as anything other than a pronoun or 'the fetus'. My mother did the same thing with Julian."

That clearly didn't fit in with the mental picture Clark had of Lex's mom. "What? Why would she do that?"

Lex shrugged, remembering only half-remembered fragments of his parents arguments though closed or cracked open doors. "She wanted an abortion, but Dad wouldn't let her get one. She thought having Julian would be bad for me." He looked away, finding the ceiling in sudden need of scrutiny. He should get someone to look at that moulding, it was starting to crack. "They argued about it a lot."

"Why did she think having a brother would be bad for you?"

Though he hadn't wanted to look at Clark and find pity on his face, Lex turned toward his friend to give him a dark look. "Because my father wanted an heir he could be proud of instead of the bald freak he was stuck with." He struggled to stand, only partially acknowledging that Clark's expression had been mostly concern. He pretended that he got up without Clark's help as he strode toward the bar. And because he was pregnant he couldn't even drink anything there. Dammit! He went to his mini-fridge instead and pulled out a bottle of Ty Nant.

"Lex, I'm sorry I brought it up."

Lex shook his head, and took a deep drought of the water. "No, it's fine, Clark. I was twelve, I'm over it." And if he was careful not to look at Clark and see his disbelief, that was his perogative. "It's just as well Mom didn't bond with him, since he died so soon after birth." He shrugged again, pretending the subject didn't bother him, pretending it wasn't his fault his brother was dead.

There was an uneasy silence between them. Lex had finished speaking, and Clark apparently didn't feel comfortable changing the subject to something lighter after that remark. Lex took pity on him and asked, "How's your mother doing?"

"Jesus, Lex, she's huge. Anybody who sees her isn't gonna have any trouble believing she's got twins in there. I keep expecting the kid to drop out any second. She was due four days ago." Judging by the speed with with these words spilled from Clark's mouth, he'd been wanting to say them for a while. Lex smirked at him.

"Clark, you're not calling your mom fat are you?"

For a second, his friend looked at him with a stricken look, then grinned sheepishly when he realized Lex was pulling his leg. "Don't scare me like that, I thought you were going to tell her."

"Well, y'know, Clark, we barges need to stick together."

Clark grinned, "Yeah, that's why I thought you were gonna."

Lex pulled a pen out of his shirt pocket and threw it in Clark's general direction. "Prick."

He caught it in midair, but before he could throw it back and escalate the fake fight, the phone rang. Lex picked it up before the second ring, "Luthor."

"Lex, this is Jonathan, is Clark there?" there was urgency in the farmer's voice, but no panic. Lex put him on speakerphone and looked over at his friend. "Clark's here."

"Tell him to meet us at Smallville General. Martha's in labour. We're already here."

Lex's eyes had drifted toward the phone while Jonathan spoke, but when he looked back at Clark, the teen had disappeared. "I think he's on his way, Mr. Kent."

"So," Clark said, a few days later, sprawled again on Lex's office couch. "When are you getting yours out? I feel guilty everytime Lana looks at me and asks if my other sister is still in the Metropolis ICU."

It wasn't until that moment that Lex realized the weak point in his plan. It should have occurred to him, given the volume of horrible lies he'd been subjected to, but he hadn't really put that together with the fact that Clark was going to be required to lie about the whereabout of his youngest sibling. Martha, yes, but Martha was a good liar. Clark wasn't.

"Hold that thought," Lex told him and pulled out his cell phone. He scrolled down the directory to 'RGN Lab' and pushed the call button. "Johansen, this is Luthor," he said when the other line was answered, "when is the absolute earliest the operation can take place?"

"Mr. Luthor, I realize you must be anxious to get back to-"

"Johansen, this isn't about me. This is about the kid's cover story. The woman I'm telling people she was born to gave birth four days ago. Right now, we're telling people that the younger twin is in an ICU in Metropolis, but her adoptive brother can't lie, so the sooner she gets there in reality, the better."

On the couch, Clark gave him an offended look that said 'Hey!"

"There's an ICU ready for her already?"

"Reserved, paid for, and the doctors comfortably bribed." Lex ignored the look of disapproval he was getting from Clark.

There was a pause on the other end, then grudgingly she agreed, "Fine, come into tomorrow and I'll see if it's viable enough to risk this week."

"Thank you," Lex hung up the phone, and looked at Clark. "To answer your question, sometime this week, pending doctor approval. How's Cara doing?"

Clark's slight frown turned up into an indulgent smile at the mention of his infant sister. "She's beautiful. She's got all of us wrapped around her little fingers already. Red hair, like mom's, have we told you that yet?"

Lex smirked in amusement at how far gone his friend was, "Yeah, you did."