Lex tried unsuccessfully to keep from fidgeting as he shifted the bouquets he held and knocked softly upon the door. Was he too early? Was he late? Clark's mother hadn't specified a time. Was it a trap?
Lex immediately scoffed at that absurd notion. Martha Kent was a kind and generous woman, a one-of-a-kind person who would never wish harm upon any one no matter how much she might not like him for corrupting her son.
Lex swallowed hard. No answer had come yet. Maybe Mrs. Kent had changed her mind. Maybe she had Clark locked away after telling him that he could never see him again. Maybe . . .
The door swung open, and Martha Kent stood on the other side, still wiping her hands off on her apron. For a moment, Lex's breath caught. He stood, stunned, for the setting rays of the golden sun illuminated Martha, catching her red hair and making it shine. She smiled kindly at him. In that moment, to Lex, Martha Kent looked, for all the world, like an Angel.
There were no Angels in the world, Lex reminded himself firmly. There were only those who persecuted due to blind ignorance and those who were persecuted. All his life until he'd started fighting back, he had been one of the latter, and, with the sole exception of his wonderful, beloved, and truly miraculous Clark, Lex knew that if he ever stopped fighting, if he ever once was foolish enough to drop the shield he kept between himself and the outside world, he would be mercilessly persecuted once more. He could not -- would not -- allow that to happen.
The sun sank, and Martha stepped out of its final dying rays, further shattering Lex's illusion. "Lex," she beamed up at him, "I'm so glad you came!"
"I wouldn't miss this dinner you've offered, Mrs. Kent, for the world." Indeed he wouldn't miss it for his world or, at least, the only good thing in his otherwise dark and lonely world, his sweet Clark who was so looking forward to this night with the eager anticipation of the innocent he was. Lex hoped the night would not shatter his innocence for it was part of what made his wondrous heart so full of hope, love, and life.
Martha gazed at Lex, slightly taken aback and hurt not so much by his words as by the tone that snuck into them. Had Clark not told him what she'd written? She was offering the poor boy a great deal more than just a dinner. She was reaching out to him, offering acceptance, friendship, and family. As she gazed into his eyes with the keen attention of a mother, Martha saw the doubt, fear, and hurt shining in the windows to his soul and knew that Lex simply wasn't ready to trust her. She nodded her understanding, but before she could speak, she heard her son running down the steps like a herd of buffalo.
"Lex!" Clark exclaimed, beaming at his love as he bounded down the stairs and jumped onto the floor.
Both Martha and Lex smiled at his exuberance. "Dinner's almost ready," Martha spoke, turning back toward the kitchen. "I'll call you boys in a moment." She glanced at Lex as she added uncertainly, "I hope you'll like it. It's not the gourmet cooking I'm sure you're used to."
"Mrs. Kent," Lex told her with a truly warm smile made gentler and brighter by the doubt he saw in her and caused him to realize that she was as nervous as he was, "if it tastes half as good as it smells, I'm sure it'll be the best thing I've ever tasted! I didn't even realize I was hungry until I pulled into your lane and those delicious aromas started hitting my nose!"
His stomach growled, but a furtive glance around him assured him no one else had heard it. "If I may be so bold as to say so, the meals I've eaten during the picnics I've shared with Clark have all been extraordinary feasts to my taste buds! Your culinary skills would make Emeril weep!"
Martha wasn't sure who Emeril was, but she knew when she was being complimented and beamed in the light of Lex's praise. "Thank you, Lex."
"These are for you," Lex continued, handing Martha the bouquet of pink roses and Clark the one of full, red roses.
Clark blushed as his mother gushed, "Oh, Lex, thank you! They're so beautiful!" Turning to her son, she asked, "Clark, be a dear and put these in water? I've got to check on dinner."
Clark took the roses and followed behind his mother. Lex lingered in the den for a moment, uncertain of whether he should follow, before trailing slowly behind them.
Clark was at the sink, filling vases with water to put the roses in, while Martha stooped into the stove, checking on the foods she was making. The scents wafting from the open stove alone were nearly enough to topple Lex. He'd never smelled anything so wonderful in all his life! "May I help?" he asked.
Martha looked up with a smile. "Sure. You can set the table." Lex proceeded to do just that, following the directions she gave him to retrieve the necessary items, but when he turned around to spread them out on the table, his blue eyes fell upon a most delicious sight. A couple of freshly baked pies and a tray of homemade sugar cookies encircled a gorgeous coconut cake that Lex instinctively knew would taste every bit as fantastic as it looked. His mouth watered as his eyes grew big with admiration.
Martha had not skimped on a single detail. The pies were perfectly fluted. The sugar still glistened on the cookies that Lex knew would be as soft to the touch as they were sweet to the mouth. A ring of fresh, ripe strawberries glistened on the top of the coconut cake. The layout of desserts looked just like a cover on a Southern cooking magazine!
Lex almost groaned his desire, and then he noticed what the strawberries spelled out and caught his breath in surprise. "Welcome, Lex," they said. He lifted questioning eyes to his love and his mother.
"Mom likes to bake when she's nervous," Clark said in way of explanation.
"I wasn't sure what you'd like," Martha defended.
"It all looks so delicious!" His blue eyes shimmered with emotion as he met Martha's kindly face. "Thank you."
She nodded briefly as she replied, "My pleasure." She smiled warmly. Then her green eyes moved to her son who stood quietly chewing a cookie after having set the vases onto the table. "Clark . . . " He grinned, and Lex chuckled at the embarrassed, impish smile of the little boy who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"Share with your boyfriend," Martha told Clark. Lex could tell from the way she said the word that she'd been practicing its use. Warmth began to filter into Lex's previously worried heart. There was no trap here, neither literal nor figurative. Martha truly did want to welcome him into her home and life, because she wanted her son to be happy and knew he loved him. That was okay. Lex didn't expect any one but Clark to want him to be happy, and he was truly touched that Martha was welcoming him, regardless of her reasons. He was glad Clark had such a sweet, loving mother and that he knew how lucky he was.
For the first time, Lex wondered how his own mother would have reacted to their union. She was the only one before Clark to ever love him, and Lex knew that nothing would have diminished her love for him, her son. She would have done her best to reach out to Clark, just as Martha was now doing for him.
"Here," Clark spoke with a wink as his mother turned back to the stove. Lex took the offered cookie and grinned as his love snatched up another one and quickly popped it into his mouth. He chewed swiftly, but Lex took his time to gingerly nibble and savor each drop. He was certain, as his taste buds danced in pleasure, that no one cooked as wonderfully as Martha Kent!
After licking the sugar granules from his fingers, Lex finished setting the table. He put one placing at the end of the table and set the other two across from each other. He frowned in puzzlement at the short collection of silverware. Martha had told him to only get one fork and knife each!
He quickly hid his confusion when the Kents turned around. Clark swept the first pie and cookies off of the table. Following his example, Lex carefully lifted the other pie and cake just in time for Martha to set down a large, glistening baked ham.
Again Lex's mouth watered at the mere sight of the food. Every ham he'd ever had before had been a bit on the dry or tough side, but he could tell with a single glance at this one that its meat would be tender, juicy, and thoroughly succulent. He'd never seen a ham covered in pineapple before but managed to hide his confusion over that. Perhaps the pineapples' juice was what made the ham shine so splendidly.
"Set the desserts on the counter please, boys." Martha then announced, "Dinner is ready. Lex, if you'll bring your plate over while Clark carves the ham . . . "
Lex glanced nervously at Clark who smiled back at him reassuringly. Holding the china plate that had been temporarily designated his carefully in both hands, he walked over to the stove. He'd never eaten in a kitchen before and always had a full plate set before him.
Martha didn't ask him what he would like; she simply filled his plate fuller than any other plate he'd ever had before in his life with a hefty sampling of each dish. He recognized the baked beans but was surprised to find long, shimmering strips of bacon floating in the top of the pan; grinned in eager anticipation at the sight of freshly baked cornbread; carefully scrutinized the appearance of the chopped baby potatoes and green beans he knew came fresh from the Kent family's farm but could find nothing wrong with their appearance and only saw that they looked to be the tenderest of either vegetable he'd ever seen; frowned at a green, leafy substance he was unable to identify; and finally grabbed an egg filled with yellow goo the second Martha set it upon his plate.
He knew from previous experience when Clark had brought deviled eggs to one of their picnics that these unusual snacks were not hot at all despite their name and were instead completely scrumptious. He had craved more eggs since that first time of eating them from Clark's fingers. He tried not to blush as memories of what the seductive feeding had led them to played through his mind while he still stood in front of Mrs. Kent.
Lex popped the whole egg into his mouth and chewed slowly, savoring each tender nibble. It tasted so delicious that he closed his eyes in relish while he ate, carefully holding his plate. When he reopened his eyes, Martha was smiling from ear to ear.
"A feast for a King could not possibly be any better," he enthused, sharing her smile with his own beaming expression of joy.
"Lex?" Clark called from the open refrigerator door. "What would you like to drink -- sweet tea, lemonade, milk, or coffee?"
Lex had not expected alcohol to be on the menu that night but was surprised at the lack of soda. Still he was able to quickly make his decision from the memory of the thermos of tea Clark had brought with him once. "Sweet tea." Most teas were either too sweet or too bitter for him, but Martha's had been just right.
He was surprised by how quickly Clark filled their drinks with ice and tea, though he shouldn't have been. He knew his love could move amazingly fast when he wanted to. Lex sat while Martha filled Clark's and her own plates. While their backs were to him, he poked at the messy, green substance on his plate, but it didn't move. He breathed a silent sigh of relief. It was certifiably dead, and he had eaten stranger things. He quickly put his fork down when Clark turned around.
Clark joined him at the table, smiling brilliantly. He took one of the deviled eggs from his own plate and held it tantalizingly before Lex's mouth with a wink. Lex glanced to make sure Martha was still occupied filling her plate, then quickly, but seductively, wrapped his lips around Clark's fingers and drew the egg into his mouth. As he chewed slowly, gazing into his love's baby blues, Clark reached across underneath the table and rubbed his booted foot across Lex's loafer.
Lex nearly jumped out of his hide at the unexpected touch. He'd never expected his beloved to be so bold around his mother! When Martha turned around, Lex did leap to his feet. He made it to her chair in a single stride and pulled out her seat with a smile.
Returning his smile and putting her plate down in front of her, Martha sat. "Thank you, Lex." Looking at her son, she told him with the same gentle smile, "Clark, you could learn some manners from your boyfriend." There was that word again rolling off of her tongue, but it sounded more natural this time.
Lex's smile grew until Martha turned to face him, after he'd retaken his seat, and made an offer he'd not expected. "Lex, would you like to say grace?"
With any one else, an argument would have jumped to Lex's tongue. He did not believe in a benevolent All Mighty, and if he had, he doubted it would have been the same turn-the-other-cheek, kind and gentle God that the Kents held in reverence. As a boy, he had prayed a lot for his mother had taught him how to pray and held a strong belief in faith, but he had swiftly discovered that none of his prayers were answered when she was taken away from him. A man had to work for what he wanted in life, to fulfill his destiny, and even just to gain peace and love. Nothing good or worthwhile was ever handed down to mortals from a God, Angel, or any other superior being.
Yet as Martha smiled warmly at him and Clark met his eyes with a pleading expression in his own blue orbs, Lex knew he could not possibly decline the invitation to do something he'd stopped believing in years ago. He steepled his hands before him, bowed his bald head, and recited the Lord's Prayer he'd been taught in Catholic school.
When his mother and he had chorused "Amen" after Lex had finished the prayer, Clark announced eagerly with a toothy grin, "Back your ears and dig in!"
Lex looked across his table at his love who was quickly shoveling food into his mouth and shook his head in silent wonder. "He's referring to how the animals eat," Martha explained.
And eating like an animal, Lex thought to himself, with an amused grin, as he watched Clark holding a large piece of cornbread dripping butter in one hand while gripping his fork with his other and shoveling food into his mouth like he was a starving man and this his last meal.
"Would you like some butter, Lex?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes, please, ma'am." He watched as Martha used her fork to open her piece of cornbread and then slathered butter onto it with her knife. She passed him the opened tub of butter, and he repeated her maneuvers as he prepared his bread. He put his knife down when he was done, pushed the butter to the center of their cozy circle, and took a bite. His eyes drifted closed as he sighed his pleasure. Before coming to the country, he'd never known bread could taste so delicious! If he didn't watch himself, Lex knew he would blimp up overnight from this one fantastic dinner.
Clark's hand snaked out, grabbed a chunk of the ham he'd sliced up, and brought it back to his gnashing teeth. Martha leaned over, pierced a slice with her fork, and carried it back to her plate. Lex did the same, but instead of using a fork to cut off small bites of the tender meat, he used both his knife and fork. The utensils slid into the meat as easily as the knife had into the butter. He took a bite, and again his taste buds screamed their pleasure as they danced on the proverbial Could Nine. Never had any other meat tasted so soft or succulent!
The vegetables were next on his list to try, and Lex soon found that they were every bit as superb as the ham, cornbread, and eggs. He was a little doubtful about the bacon and pressed his fork against it while chewing another deviled egg. It was surprisingly soft. He cut the strip into small bits with his fork and knife. Finally he tried a tiny nibble. It really was as soft as it looked and seemed against his utensils. Lex preferred his bacon crispier, but this was still yummy and very satisfying to the palate.
"So, Lex," Martha asked after taking a sip of her tea, "tell us about your day?"
He looked up in surprise that grew when he realized that she really did want to hear about what was happening with him. No one who had ever asked him that question, other than his own mother, had ever truly cared to hear the answer. He slowly began to rehash his day for her and was delighted when she asked questions about the various businesses he'd visited and the enterprise he'd conducted.
If it had been his father asking, Lex would have known Lionel was working on either uncovering some ugly truth or fact he needed or laying a trap. Any of the many female acquaintances he'd had before Clark had shone his light into his life and rescued him from the darkness his world had become would not have listened or cared enough to ask any questions, would have hurried his answers, and would have only asked in the first place to try to deceive him into believing that they might actually care about him for more than his money and prestige which, of course, none of them ever had.
But Martha did care, and she truly was interested. Even Clark looked up from his dinner from time to time, interjecting his own questions and comments along the discussion. Martha's questions made Lex pause and think about his answers. He found himself considering points of views from the workers as well as questions he'd never thought about before.
When Clark got up to retrieve a second plate, Lex looked hungrily down on his own. He should have been full but found his stomach was still begging for more. Only one food still remained on his plate, and he poked at it doubtfully with his fork.
"They're turnip greens," Martha told him in her gentle, assuring voice.
"They're great!" Clark enthused, turning from the stove and seeing the doubt on his boyfriend's face. Lex raised a single, slender brow as he picked up a forkful and watched the stringy, oozy substance slide partially off of his fork.
"Try it," Martha requested for her soft voice was incapable of commanding. "Just take one bite. If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it."
"At one time," Lex mused aloud while eyeing the turnip greens, "everything in this world was new to us."
"Yeah . . . " Clark agreed.
"And if you'd never tried anything," Martha caught on, "you would have eaten nothing and starved."
"We would have never known anything we like," Lex finished the thought, "or disliked."
Martha and Clark nodded. Clark put his freshly loaded plate down, and Lex eyed it with envy. He took a bite. He took a second bite and then a third, a slow smile dawning upon his handsome face. "They are good!" he exclaimed.
Clark grinned widely at his love. "Told ya!"
Lex quickly finished his plate, then turned begging eyes on Martha. "May I please have seconds, Mrs. Kent?"
Martha laughed joyously, and the musical sound reminded Lex of his mother. Oh how he missed her! He wondered how she would have liked Clark's mom. They would have hit it off, he was sure, for they were both kind, generous, loving, and simply wonderful women.
"Of course, Lex. There's plenty to go around. Please eat all you want, but don't forget we have dessert."
How could he possibly forget the luscious coconut cake that set on the counter, calling his name; the sugar cookies that he still yearned for more of; or the homemade, picturebook pies that also beckoned? "Believe me, ma'am, I won't!" he promised.
Martha was delighted to see the little boy in her son's boyfriend beaming eagerly at her when she turned around after filling his plate to almost overspilling. Lex was purely delighted to see that not only was every helping bigger than his first but that she'd carefully nestled in four deviled eggs! For the first time that day, he was glad he'd been at first too busy and later too nervous to eat. "Thank you!" he exclaimed right before he swallowed another egg.
"You're very welcome, Lex. It's my pleasure really. I've been waiting for a chance to welcome you and give you a homecooked meal since Clark first brought you home." Lex marveled at the truth shining in her green eyes and jovial face before she turned their conversation skillfully back to his day.
To Be Concluded . . .