Lois woke the next morning to the pop and sizzle of bacon frying. It smelled delicious, but yet it was completely incongruous to her. She had never actually woken up to bacon being fried, or a big breakfast being cooked. It was kind of nice, though she was sure she definitely wasn’t in Metropolis anymore.
She sat up, blearily rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The woman from last night was standing in the kitchen, next to the stove. After stretching her arms behind her back and hearing a satisfying crack, Lois stood.
The woman at the stove turned at the sound. “Oh you’re up, thank goodness!” She rushed over to Lois, and Lois couldn’t help but smile. The woman’s grin was infectious. As frightened as she should be, she couldn’t seem to dredge up the fear she so had in spades last night.
“We were so worried about you, dear.” Lois noticed that the woman had only called her a general “dear” so she hastened to introduce herself.
“Thank you. My name’s Lois. Lane, that is.”
The woman sat next to her on the couch and grasped her hands.
“I’m Martha Kent; I don’t think you met my husband, Jonathon, though I see you’re already acquainted with my boy, Clark.”
Ahh. So it was Clark.
“Jonathon and Clark are out doing their chores. It just about killed Clark to leave your side, though.”
A curious glimmer of warmth shot through Lois at this. She couldn’t help digging a little.
“Really?” Casual Lois, oh so casual.
“Oh why yes! He didn’t leave your side all night. Jonathon and I tried to get him to go back to bed, but he wanted to be sure when you woke up so you would see a familiar face.” Martha’s face softened as she spoke of her boy.
“We called the doctor, but he said we were doing all we could for you. The roads are a mess, and he can’t get down here.”
A thought came to Lois
“Are they… Clark and Mr. Kent… all right in this weather?”
Martha inwardly smiled at this bit of concern. “Oh they’re fine. Big strong country boys the both of them, but the roads are as slick as oil out there. But don’t you worry, the roads stay slick for a day or two and then they clear up just fine.”
Martha paused, staring at Lois with a thoughtful look on her face.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Lois, how old are you?”
“I’m seventeen,” Lois said. She tucked a wayward strand of hair behind an ear.
“Oh you’re just a year behind Clark then, but dear, where are your parents?”
Lois bit her lip. Should it bother her that this was the first time she had given them any thought?
“We were in Colorado for my grandmother’s funeral. My… my father had to fly back for work, so he told me to drive back home myself with Grandma’s possessions.”
At this, Martha patted her hand in a motherly fashion. “Oh Lois, I’m so sorry.”
Lois was horrified to find herself blinking back tears. What was it about this attention that was making her so… emotional? She swallowed and took a deep breath.
“It’s ok. Thank you though, Mrs. Kent.”
“Oh Lois call me Martha.” She gave Lois an affectionate smile. “But back to your parents, are they close? We can take you there as soon as the roads clear.”
“Ahh... well… My family lives in New Troy.”
It was as if something akin to an explosion burst forth from the spry form of Martha Kent.
“They let you drive from Colorado to New Troy? By yourself?! And just seventeen! Oh Lois, you must have been so frightened! I’d like to give this father of yours a piece of my mind.”
Lois was gaping at the woman in shock. What a transformation! She’d like to see Martha Kent give her father a piece of her mind too. It’d be a humbling experience.
But she didn’t say that. “I…I should call them.”
Martha Kent immediately calmed and reverted back to her caring mother exterior. “The phones went down just a couple minutes after I placed the call to Dr. Jordan. I’m sorry honey.”
Lois nodded at this and shivered involuntarily. Her clothes were still slightly wet from the snow, though at least she wasn’t freezing anymore. The quilt she was wrapped in was thick and warm.
Martha stood and held out her hand to help Lois up.
“Come on, we’ll fix you up with some warm clothing.”
Without waiting for a response, Martha went into her room and returned with a pair of jeans and a belt.
“You’re much smaller than me of course, but if you use the belt those should fit.” Lois took the jeans gratefully and went into the bathroom to change. When she came out, Martha had a gray sweatshirt ready for her.
“This is Clark’s, but it’s the most comfortable thing in this house. It’s his favorite.”
Lois took the sweatshirt and slid it on, immediately enveloped in soft, worn material. She grinned delightedly at this unexpected comfort.
“Wow he’s right, this is amazingly comfortable. Are you sure he won’t mind?”
“I’m sure.” The warm voice came from the door, as a gust of freezing wind filled the house. Lois looked up to see Clark and Jonathon quickly shut the door and stamp off the snow on their shoes. “Hi.” Clark said simply.
He was looking straight at Lois, though the greeting was aimed at both his mother and her. Lois looked down at her feet. So a cute boy was looking at her with those eyes. He’s a farmboy. You’re a city girl. Get a grip. She raised her head to steadily meet his gaze.
“Hello.”
Martha quickly intervened and formally introduced Lois to Clark and Jonathon.
“Now who wants some breakfast?”
There was a whole hearted chorus of yeses and Jonathon and Lois sat at the table as Clark helped his mother bring over a plate of crispy bacon, scrambled eggs and some toast with strawberry jelly.
“This smells delicious Martha,” Lois said, inhaling the scent. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. She took some of everything Clark offered her and dug in with gusto.
During breakfast, Martha and Jonathon subtly interrogated her. They asked questions about her family, her friends, what she was interested in… general prying that embarrassed Clark much more so than it did Lois.
Partway through this, Clark, whose ears were reddening along with the rest of his face, tried to steer the conversation away from Lois and was softly rebuked by his mother.
“Mom, I’m sure Lois didn’t expect a reenactment of the Spanish Inquisition when she came here.”
“I don’t mind,” Lois interrupted. For a moment she was shocked as she realized… she really didn’t. For some reason it felt… natural to tell this family from Kansas the details of her life she kept hidden from some of her closest friends.
In return, she was equally inquisitive. She directed most of her questions at Martha, as she was still slightly shy around Clark and Jonathon, but soon they both put her at ease.
Jonathon was as amiable as his wife, keeping Lois in stitches as he regaled story after story of life on a farm. For the first time Lois actually found herself enjoying herself in a setting that didn’t involve skyscrapers in the background. She had been completely adverse to the country, preferring for her grandmother to visit them in Metropolis rather than make the trek down to Colorado, but after some of the stories she heard she found herself wishing she could stay and experience some of this kind of life.
And then there was Clark. Sometimes she would look up from her plate and see him looking at her attentively. But the emotion behind his eyes wasn’t criticism, as she usually saw in her father’s intense stare. There was something… something else in his gaze. Lois broke off from a story about her best friend Julie quicker than intended.
A lot had been revealed about Clark Kent, from the good natured stories from his parents and then his own open answers to her curious questions, but he hadn’t mentioned any of his friends. She was curious. What kind of man was Clark Kent? Did he hang out with the jocks? He was certainly well built enough to. Her face flushed slightly as she called up the feeling of being cradled close to him. But then again, he didn’t seem like the kind of jock she knew. He was well read and intelligent. Was he a nerd? She studied him unobtrusively. He had thick glasses, but they seemed to add to his appearance rather than detract from it. He really was cute. She tried to shake that thought. She didn’t need to be falling for a Kansas farmboy. Even one with dimples and a certain unruly lock of hair she wanted to brush off his forehead. Especially one like that.
After everyone had finished breakfast and heartily commended Martha, Lois got up to help her clear.
“Lois, you don’t need to do that,” Martha admonished.
Clark appeared at her elbow, laded down with four plates balancing on one hand and a jam jar and a fistful of cutlery in the other.
“Nope, I’ve got it,” he said quickly. He shot her a quick smile as he breezed past her.
“Clark Jerome Kent if you drop those dishes…” Martha threatened as Clark struggled slightly with how to put down the dishes in his full hands.
Lois started laughing and reached over to grab a plate just as it slipped.
“Here you go, Farmboy.”
It slipped out. Really it did. She hadn’t meant to say it. Everything had been going so gosh darned well and she had to blurt out what she had been calling him privately. How could she tell him it was based more on affection than any dislike? Oh, why was it so quiet!?
Martha and Jonathon were staring at her. Clark blinked twice. For a moment it was silent in the kitchen before Clark suddenly shot her a thousand watt smile and burst into laughter.
Martha Kent watched this interaction biting back a thoughtful grin. It had been a long time since she had seen her boy let loose and laugh with someone his own age. It worried her to no end that someone with so much love to give kept himself locked away. If she didn’t know better she would have thought Clark was smitten.
Clark ran the dishes under the sink and then handed them to Lois, who dried them with a checked dishtowel and stacked them neatly beside her. Martha’s keen eye noticed Clark’s stance.
Around kids his own age, he would normally tense, his back ramrod straight. He was friendly, but wary and nobody ever got too close. Jeff Denoso had seen to that. It had broken her heart time and time again to see Clark come home everyday alone and retreat to his old tree house instead of attending socials and dances like most of his peers. But yet… he had only known Lois for less than 24 hours, but he was relaxed and laughing. He kept sneaking glances at her while she was completely oblivious. Martha couldn’t keep the smile off of her face.
Maybe Clark was smitten.
