They say you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy. Lex had done a pretty good job with Clark. He wore suits and went to museums and rode in cabs because Lex didn't want him running when people could see. After Clark left for college, they didn't make it back to Smallville very often. Clark would casually say that he missed home, but Lex suspected it was Martha's pies that he really missed. Clark fit with Metropolis so well and they had made a nice comfortable life for themselves right there in the city.

And yet, Lex found himself on the hard ground of their back lawn, a thin sleeping bag beneath him and the muted stars above. Nicholas loved the outdoors and Lex loved having something he could blame on Jonathan with the proof to back it up. Jonathan got that little gleam in his eyes every time they visited the farm, the one that said, 'this boy will be a farmer.' The look in Nicky's eyes as he bounded up the stairs into his grandpa's arms didn't disagree.

Lex was cold and uncomfortable in his own city. But Nicky settled in the curve of his arm was going a long way to fight away that chill.

"Do you think we can see Daddy's planet tonight?" He held a hand up and grasped at air, trying to catch the stars.

"Daddy's planet isn't there anymore. Remember? That's how he came to us in the first place."

"Oh. Right. I remember." Lex held him tighter at the sound of tears in his voice. Nicky crawled up onto Lex's chest and spread his warmth to cover Lex. "Do you think Daddy misses it?"

"I don't know, Nicky. It's hard to miss something you never knew."

Nicky nodded, then tucked himself under Lex's chin. "Maybe we could give him a new one," he said with a smile when he looked back up at Lex. He rolled over to look back up at the sky. Lex had to grab Nicky by his jeans to keep him from falling from his half-sprawled position. "That one," he declared and pointed for Lex to see.

Lex didn't have the heart to tell Nicky that he was giving away Jupiter, and that not even Luthors have that kind of power. "I think he'll love it, Nicholas."

Clark came out with hot chocolate for them, a knit cap for Lex's head, and a quilt to cover them all. Nicky pointed out Clark's new planet and Lex thought about everything that you miss indoors.

03/06/03

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