Chapter Text
"You," Bruce glowers, slamming a plastic stick down on the counter next to where Clark is fixing his coffee, "Have some explaining to do." Clark, used to his boyfriend's dramatics, takes the time to look at what he brought. He chokes on his coffee when he sees it's a pregnancy test. One with two blue lines. He coughs violently into his elbow, staring wide eyed. Bruce jabs a finger at his chest, "You told me it couldn't happen," he hisses. Clark takes a deep breath,
"I didn't think it could! With humans and Kryptonians- I didn't think-"
"You're right. You didn't think," he wraps the test up in a paper towel before burying it in the trash, "Alfred cannot find out about this," he explains.
"Welllll..." Clark rubs the back of his neck, "He'll eventually find out." Bruce looks like he's going to be sick. Clark forgets a lot of the time he's only 26. He looks remarkably young and vulnerable right now. "C'mon baby. It's okay, we'll figure this out," he starts to rub Bruce's arms but Bruce pushes him off with a shake of his head,
"I want to be alone right now."
"I don't know if that's the best idea."
"I need time to think," he turns from Clark, arms crossed, "I'll-I'll call you." It was a clear dismissal if Clark had ever heard one. He sighs, but he's not one to disrespect someone's boundaries.
"I'll be waiting." He heads for the balcony, "Love you." Bruce places his head in his hands and whispers a quiet " fuck. "
Clark calls Lois the second he gets in his apartment,
"Please pick up, please be free, please pick up please be free- Hi! Lois! Can I come over?"
"I have a very insensitive question to ask." Lois smirked, both hands wrapped around a mug filled with half creamer half coffee.
"Those are the best ones. Shoot." Clark paces,
"Are you infertile?" Lois, to her credit, only has a confused face for a moment before it dawns on her.
"Clark... you didn't," she places down her mug on the coffee table, "I let you rawdog it because I was on birth control!" She jumps up and swats his arm, "Did you get Bruce fucking Wayne pregnant?"
"I thought hybridization between humans and Kryptonians wasn't possible!"
"I have an IUD!"
"Like a bomb?" She takes ahold of his bicep and tries to physically shake some sense into him,
"That's an IED! Oh my God! Did you tell him that it couldn't happen?" Clark put his face in his hands, knocking his glasses askew,
" Yeah ," he croaks out, positively miserable.
"So he told you and what? You just left?"
"He told me to leave. I would've stayed." Clark's worldview was tilting on its axis as the realization sank in, "Oh gosh," he said slack jawed, "I'm going to be a dad."
"Hold up, Clark," Lois puts her hands on his shoulders to ground him, "Are you sure he even wants it? I mean, you said so yourself he's got issues, maybe he's not ready to be a parent." The rug is pulled out from under Clark's feet for the third time today. It's not even ten in the morning.
"Oh." He knows the decision is ultimately up to Bruce but can't help the sadness he feels at the thought. Lois studies him,
"And I know you're not going to judge him either way, right Clark?" He snaps himself out of his melancholy,
"Of course not," he reminds himself just as much as he assures Lois, "I should- I should be getting home. He said he'll call." Lois offers him a hug and a " good luck " and Clark goes back to his empty apartment.
Clark waits by his phone like a dog waiting by the door for its master to return. He has just barely scraped up enough self control not to text Bruce but doing anything productive today is a no go. Shortly after noon, Clark's phone vibrates its text tone. Clark darts to pick it up and lets out a breath of relief when he sees Bruce's name.
Come over.
And then seconds later,
We need to talk.
Bruce was curled up on a chair in the Batcave in the Metropolis University hoodie he stole from Clark.
"I'll take care of it," Clark blurts out frantically, "You don't have to see either of us again if you don't want but I'll raise them. I just-" he stammers, "I know it's a lot to ask to carry a child for nine months and this is all my fault in the first place but please Bruce." Bruce narrowed his eyes at Clark in confusion,
"What are you talking about? Of course I'm keeping it." Clark felt ready to collapse. Bruce continues, "I understand if you don't want to be together but I'm not going to give up my child to you."
"What? Who said I didn't want to be with you?" Bruce crossed his arms,
"We've been together for four months, and it would only be reasonable to not want a family with me of all people."
"You're insane," Clark scoops Bruce up from his chair, ignoring his indignant squawk, "You couldn't pry me away from you," he gives him a big kiss on the cheek, "Oh wow, Bruce we're going to have a baby! "
"You mean I'm going to have a baby," he scoffs, "Your part lasted a lot less than nine months."
"Yes, you're amazing and wonderful and I'm going to do anything you want the whole time." Bruce raises an eyebrow,
"You already do that." Clark nipped playfully at his ear before kissing him on the lips. Bruce only hesitates for a moment before responding, running his fingers through Clark's curls. He pushes at Clark's chest to be let down and Clark complies only for his hands to go immediately to Bruce's midsection. Bruce groans into the kiss and Clark slips his hands under his hoodie and shirt. He imagines the muscles of Bruce's abdomen softening over the next months to make room for the life growing inside. Bruce snaps them out of it, "We still need to talk."
"About what?" Clark goes to kiss his neck but is gently pushed away.
"Clark, this is serious."
"I'm being so serious right now," his palm flattens against Bruce's tummy and begins to slide down.
"What about the Bat?" Clark freezes.
"Bruce, do not tell me right now you're thinking of going out and getting stabbed and shot and punched while pregnant."
"No," he gives at least that much, "That's… I'm not so unreasonable I would put the baby in danger like that." Clark's metaphorical puppydog ears perk up at hearing Bruce refer to the baby . "But Gotham won't wait. She needs a protector." Clark's breath hitches, he knows how difficult this must be for Bruce,
"I'm honored," he breathes out, "I promise, I won't let you down."
"I'm not going to stop the investigational work, though, just the patrols. And that's only until the birth. After that I'm back out." Clark nods, taking what he can get,
"Honestly this is more leeway than I thought you would give," he chuckles, "I thought you would want to be out there until you couldn't fit in the suit." Bruce's head thunks onto Clark's shoulder,
"Oh God the media is going to have a field day when I start showing."
"I know but I'll be here with you every step of the way. If you stay ahead of the story it'll be easier to control the direction." Bruce swallow audibly,
"Will you?" he asks, "Be there with me, that is?"
"Of course," he hugs Bruce close to him, "I know you want to protect me by keeping us a secret but I'm serious about this, about us," he cracks a smile, "I'm ready for more than Lois and Jimmy to be calling me a sugar baby." Bruce snorts,
"To a lot of people it was probably just a matter of time before I got myself knocked up." Clark grinned,
"Yes, with all the sordid affairs you have, Mr. Wayne."
They finally make it back upstairs where Alfred was sitting in an armchair, waiting, with the pregnancy test box that Bruce had forgotten to hide,
"Do you care to tell me the result of your test, Master Bruce?"