The Billionaire's Holiday

Title: The Billionaire's Holiday
Author: tyffi
Rating: suitable for children (FRC)
Category: Gen,Fluff
Words: ~2200
Summary: On a vacation in the Bahamas Lex has a very interesting, and enlightening, conversation with someone who seems to be smarter than him.
Beta: rose_etta

Disclaimer: "Smallville" and its characters are copyright of DC Comics, Warner Brothers, Tollin/Robbins and Millar/Gough Ink. The mistakes are mine.

It was a warm, sunny day day in August. Lex Luthor was standing on the porch of a small beach house near the shore, staring into space. Waves were crashing against rocks at the seaside while sunlight sparkled on the water – the view was amazing.

Trees rustled in a gentle breeze, and in the distance Lex heard the excited yells of a group of seagulls.

Smiling, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Salty sea air filled his lungs, and a happy sigh escaped his lips as he opened his eyes again.

What a wonderful, peaceful piece of earth this is...

Indeed, it was a pleasant change from the restlessness and smog of Metropolis, just as it was to the down-to-earth people of Smallville.

This small, deserted island of the Bahamas was wonderful and far away from the real world. For the first time in a couple of years, Lex felt relaxed and content and his mind was free from any worries. It was a good feeling, and Lex seriously considered buying this island. It was for sale and one of the only things he didn't own yet.

"Daddiiiiiiii!"

Suddenly, the voice of a young girl tore him out off his thoughts and made him turn around.

In front of him stood a little, brown-haired girl, dressed in pink shorts and a white shirt. She folded her arms in front of her chest and glared at him. Her big blue eyes that looked so much like Lex's were fixed upon him.

He smiled. "Hannah... princess."

"You inore... icknore... You didn't see me", she pouted and stamped her foot.

Lex couldn't respond at once. The love he felt for that little girl was too much to put it in words, and sometimes he thought his heart would stop beating from it.

He breathed deeply, before smiling, he squatted down in front of Hannah. "I ignored you and I'm really sorry about it," he said. "It won't happen again."

"Ignored...," Hannah repeated slowly, nodding. She knitted her brows, and Lex knew she was memorizing that word.

Each day she learned new words and was keen on using them as often as possible, and Lex supported her demand by talking to her as though she was an adult. At least, he tried, but he had never baby-talked to her and by today he couldn't stand anyone talking to his daughter as though she was moronic. She definitely wasn't.

"S'okay," Hannah said, making a step towards Lex, and kissed his forehead. "But don't do it again. Igno... ignoring me..." Insecure, she watched Lex but when he didn't correct her, she began to smile.

"I won't," Lex grinned and pinched her nose.

Hannah had never liked that and, as usual, she screwed up her face now, shaking her head disapprovingly. Lex chuckled quietly. She was too cute!

"Daddy? What you doing here?"

"Hmm? - Well, I'm watching..."

Hannah wrinkled her forehead what made her look like her father, although she was the actual picture of her mother.
She glanced at the beach and then back at Lex again. "But what?"

He laughed. "The space here - the sky, the beach, the ocean... The noisy seagulls over there. - What do you think? Are they quarreling for food?" He lifted her upon his arm to give her a better view. "See how the waves crash the rocks? And look at the water! Doesn't it look as made from lots of diamonds?"

Hannah squinted her eyes and sighted the beach closely, before shrugging indifferently.

"We go to the beach now? Mommy said we make a sancasle, with a real ditch! An' towers! An' a pullbidge...."

Lex smirked. Hannah was his clever little girl but still, she was only four years old and obviously didn't have an eye for nature's beauty yet.

"Drawbridge, not pullbridge," corrected Lex, smiling. "That obviously means you don't fancy watching?"

"Wanna make sancasles!"

What princess wants, princess gets, Lex thought, disarmed by her determined expression.

"OK, but first we have to fetch Mommy. She has more knowledge of sandcastles than I have. - Do you know where she is?"

Hannah nodded and wriggled herself out of his arms, back down to the ground.

"Inna kitchen – tellyphoning with the office people," she said matter-of-factly, and dragged at his hand, but Lex didn't move.
Instead, he frowned. His expression became disapprovingly.

Why was his wife calling the office? They were on vacation and had both agreed to restrain themselves from working for the next weeks. They had even promised each other to ignore telephones completely, unless they had to make an order to the grocer's over at the mainland, or in case of an emergency.

As far as he knew, there was no emergency, and they had gotten a food delivery earlier that day.

"Daddy? We go an' get Mommy now. Come!"

"Hmm? Yeah... sure...," he agreed absently and freed his hand. "Wait here for me! I'm coming back in a minute."

Now, it was on Hannah to frown and again, there was this huge resemblance to her father.

"Daddy, you mad at me?" She worried her lower lip. "Are you gonna yell at Mommy? I don't like you angry..."

Lex had almost entered the house as he heard Hannah's quiet voice. He twirled around and stared at his daughter. Her words surprised him and he had never expected her to know him so well.

Indeed, he was upset and wanted to remind his wife that they were on their agreement - certainly he would yell at her. That always happened when they fought; and they fought a lot. She had always made him lose his temper, but maybe it wasn't that bad at all. Maybe that was the reason why they were still together. They knew how to fight, even though their arguments never lasted for long, but they always made sure Hannah didn't witness their quarrels. At least Lex had hoped so.

"I'm not mad at you, Princess," he hastened to say, squatting down in front of her again. "And I won't yell at Mommy. I'm not even angry. Why do you think so?"

"Your eyes are all dark," Hannah whispered, still worrying her lower lip. "They always go dark when you angry. An' when you angry with Mommy your eyes go black; all black!"

Lex sighed. Hannah was definitely her mother's daughter; both knew to read him like an open book. Either, it was a gift, or it was a curse, but at the very moment Lex simply wished his wife and daughter were a little more superficial and wouldn't attend to him quite so sharply.

"Listen, Hannah, I'm not mad at anyone. And I'm sure my eyes are still very blue - just like yours," he said. "I'm not angry with Mommy. I could never be. --"

"You was when Uncle Booce was there. You was yelling..." The little girl bit her lips. "I didn't eavesdrop - that's rude! But you was so loud..."

Again, Lex sighed. Bruce Wayne of all people.

Actually, he valued the billionaire from Gotham City as a pleasant person to talk to. They knew each other for ages, though they had never been exactly friends. They got along together, but on the given day Hannah was referring to, Bruce had been flirting heavily with Lex's wife, and she had enjoyed it; too much for Lex's liking.
He hadn't been jealous – his wife was faithful and wouldn't cheat on him – however, seeing her enjoying herself with someone else beside himself had bothered him, and he had made the fur fly.

"You were not supposed to hear that, Princess," he finally said, and forced himself into a smile. "And I was not supposed to yell at Mommy. She's scolded me then. Did you hear that, too? - I made up with her. We didn't fight for long... I love Mommy way too much –– as if I could be mad at her --"

"You are now! Your eyes are all black!" Hannah insisted, causing Lex to moan slightly.

His daughter didn't just look like her mother, she was like her mother!

Arguments between Lex and his wife usually started exactly the same way. He said one thing and she didn't believe him, they talked themselves black in the face until they were yelling at each other. But while his wife was an adult and knew how to handle him, Hannah was only a four-year-old. She would never understand if he shouted at her to stop talking – even though he felt like screaming right now.

However, Lex took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

"I'm disappointed, that's all. Mommy's promised not to work while we're here. And I've promised the same. --"

"Mommy keeps pomises. Always!" Hannah folded her arms and gave him a stern look. "She not works, she's onna tellyphone!" She was glaring at him, just like all infants used to glare at adults – it was almost cute.

"You not always work onna phone. Sometimes you call people for fun. Mommy can do it, too!"

Lex was stunned and raised his brows. Had he heard right? Did she really say that?

He shook his head in disbelief. How was a four-year-old able to think this way? There was a disarming logic in her words he couldn't deny. Apparently, his little girl was more mature than he had ever thought possible.

I've fathered a genius; he thought, still shaking his head.
Maybe, he had indeed drawn a rash conclusion. After all, there were millions of reasons for his wife to be on the phone. She wouldn't have had necessarily to work. Besides, going on vacation had been her idea. It had been she who wanted to spend some peaceful days with her family, far away from any kind of work.

"Don't be mad, Daddy!"

"How old are you again?"

Bewildered, Hannah lifte up four of her little fingers and showed Lex. "'T much!"

Laughing, Lex hugged her. "You're the cutest little thing on this planet," he grinned and kissed the tip of her nose. "When you're grown up, you'll be a pretty good diplomat. Or a really bold lawyer."

"What's dipelmat, Daddy?"

"Someone who's clever at dealing with people," he explained patiently, but Hannah didn't seem to like that answer. She wrinkled her nose and tilted her head, so Lex added: "Someone who keep people from fighting."

She looked at him, her eyes wide open. "Really? I can do that?"

Lex nodded and Hannah placed her hands on his shoulders, jumping up and down in excitement. "Then I wanna be a dipelmat! - I can't stand people fight!"

"Me neither," Lex agreed and reaped a sceptical gaze.

"You fight with Mommy!"

"Only because I like our reconciliations," he muttered barely audible. A naughty grin flashed over his face, before he recalled his little daughter. He cleared his throat.

"Right, Mommy and I sometimes have quarrels, but that doesn't mean we'd love each other less then. You can be mad at someone, but still love them..."

"Grown-ups are loopy!" Hannah rolled her eyes. "I'm a dipelmat; I make you all stop fighting!" Her expression was determined, and the corners of Lex's mouth twitched slightly.

"No sandcastles then, huh?!"

"B-but Daddy... you pomised!!!" She looked at him dismayed.

"Actually, Mommy did, and I'm afraid, as a diplomat you won't have time for sandcastles anymore." There was a pregnant pause before he continued. "But maybe... if you postpone your diplomatic career for a day, maybe then we can make a sandcastle today."

Hannah frowned and seemed to consider that option for a moment. She eyed her father almost suspiciously, but then she began to nod.

Smiling, Lex rose and reached out his hand. Hannah seized it. "Then let's go and get Mommy."

"And after, we make sancasles!?"

"With Mommy, yes."

"And after, can we have sanniches?"

"Sure, we can."

"And after, after, we go and get Uncle Clark?"

"After, after, you'll take a nap," Lex said firmly, walking her into the house. "Besides, Clark won't come before tomorrow."

"But he comes?" Hannah's eyes were seeking his confirm. "With Auntie Lois?!"

"They've promised they'll come. They wouldn't let a free vacation in the Bahamas slip by."

"And they stay with us for a week?"

"That was the plan."

Hannah squeaked excitedly and tugged at Lex's hand. "And then we made sancasles with them! And then I tell Uncle Clark I'm a dipelmat. And then --"

"Go, and get your mommy now, you little diplomat," Lex laughed and gently gave her bottom a squeeze. "Or there won't been any sandcastles build today."

Smiling, he watched her entering the kitchen. Surely everyone in the world ought to see their children clever beyond their years, but Lex was convinced his daughter truly was a genius. She already outsmarted him, and he was definitely not easy to cheat. However, there were things he could learn from her. At least, he would attempt to see the world through her eyes a little more often.

It's worth a try, he thought and also entered the kitchen where Hannah was just telling her mother about her plans to become a 'dipelmat'.

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The Billionaire's Holiday

~fin~