Chapter 32

Lois parked in the driveway of the Kent farm and waited a few minutes before finally getting out of her car.

"Groveling," she mumbled to herself, "my favorite way to start the day." Then she walked up determinedly to the kitchen door and knocked.

A few minutes later, Martha Kent threw open the door to great her. "Lois! How nice to see you. Come in, come in."

"Good morning, Mrs. Kent."

"Surely you haven't had breakfast yet?" Martha said, as she ushered her inside.

"No, but I didn't come here for a free meal. Is Clark up yet?"

Martha looked around. "Actually, I think he must be out doing the chores. I haven't seen him this morning, but he wasn't in his room when I came down. I'm thinking bacon and eggs…sound good?"

"Sounds wonderful, but I'm actually here to have some crow, humble pie…I wonder what other euphemisms there are for 'I really messed up yesterday' with your son, and I need to beg for mercy."

"Oh, it can't be that bad," Martha smiled at her. "I'm sure you're exaggerating."

"Not this time. I—"

She was interrupted by Clark suddenly appearing, seemingly out of thin air, in the doorway. "Lois! What are you doing here?"

Martha chuckled, "Arguing about the breakfast menu. I take it you want eggs?" She reached out for the basket of freshly gathered eggs he held.

"I was thinking scrambled?" he looked at Lois expectantly, "if that's okay with you?"

She opened her mouth but nothing came out, so Martha took charge. "Then, Clark, pour us all some orange juice. Lois, you sit right there, and I'll get the bacon on." They both did her bidding, and then an uncomfortable silence settled on the room. "So, sweetheart, how was your appointment last night?"

Lois nearly choked on her orange juice.

"You were right, mom, and you were also right, Lois. It was fine. Except for a small part of the evening, I really found myself enjoying it."

"What?" Lois' face went through several stages, from shock, to relief, and then to sudden delight.

When Clark saw a crooked grin creep onto her face, he warned her with a pointed finger, "Lois, you've already said enough. I really don't want to hear any—"

"Clark!" his mother said sharply, turning from the stove to point her spatula at him. "Lois came here to apologize. I'm not sure what for, but you will accept that apology graciously and move on."

"Yes, ma'am." He turned to Lois and said sincerely, "Lois, I accept your apology," although his eyes betrayed a good deal of amusement.

"Clark, I am sorry. I didn't mean—"

"But now we're moving on, remember?" He laughed. "Otherwise, I'll get in trouble again. And I need a good breakfast this morning, since I didn't get a wink of sleep last night."

"And why not? You didn't spend all night patrolling Metropolis again?" His mother asked, without turning around.

The smell of bacon was filling the air, and Lois found her mouth watering at the prospect of Martha Kent's cooking. Maybe I should ask her for cooking lessons? It was difficult to keep the idea from her head. After all, this is the kind of cooking Clark likes. Heck, this is the kind of cooking I like, she thought, as her stomach growled lightly anticipating her first decent breakfast in weeks.

"No, the tests took most of the night, and then Dr. Kline even gave me homework."

"Homework?" Lois and Martha both echoed his words.

Lois looked at Mrs. Kent with round eyes. What had Clark told his mother about the appointment?

"Yes." Clark nodded to the counter where two very thick books lay near the door. "I'm supposed to read those."

Lois got up to go look at the huge books, and she read the titles aloud. "'Gray's Anatomy' and 'Goodman and Gillman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics'? You've got to be kidding! They want you to read these? By when? Next Spring?"

"No, by tonight." Clark didn't sound that concerned. "But the tough part is I'm supposed to do it without opening them."

"This one's on me, Lois," his mom said, holding up an open hand, when Lois started to question him. "And how does Dr. Kline think you're going to read a book without opening it?"

"He's not one of those New Age/Zen types of doctors that thinks you can absorb knowledge by sleeping on the book or something, is he?" Lois asked, her doubt growing at the whole idea of Clark being tested by these people.

"Oh no. No, and you're right about Dr. Kline, by the way. He is a flake, but he's the most intelligent, brilliant flake I've ever met. He's very fascinated with my vision abilities in particular."

"Your vision?" Lois asked as she frowned in concentration. "Sounds like there were lots of tests?"

"Yes, we started with some to test my strength. Then the vision tests… Dr. Hamilton is more concerned with the way my brain works, so this one is a sort of compromise for both of them. They just picked some books off their shelves and showed me what they expected me to do. I have to use my X-ray vision to see through to one page at a time, but the really tricky part is when I get to the odd pages. I see them from right to left and backwards, and I have to mentally flip them," Clark made a flipping motion with his hands, "before my brain can make sense of them." He sniffed the air. "Mom? The bacon?"

"Oh!" His mom turned her diverted attention back to her slightly singed-around-the-edges bacon.

"Smallville, you can't be serious. I know you have some amazing powers, but how can they expect you to—"

"Because I already did it. I read Thorton and Marion's 'Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems' while I was there last night. It took a while to get the hang of focusing so acutely on a single page at a time, and I've got to admit, I can't understanding all I am reading yet. Dr. Hamilton says that's because I just don't have the background information in place to make sense of so much of it right now, but that should come in time as I read more. So obviously, I didn't do the problems in the book."

"Obviously." She sat back down at the table and rested her head on her hands. "But you're telling us you can really remember what you read?"

"Of course I can. Word for word. Like everything else. Lois, I have total recall. You did realize that, didn't you?"

Lois covered her mouth with both her hands, and his mother began filling the plates before them with food, as she shook her head in wonder, marveling anew at her own son's strange set of abilities.

Clark smiled at the looks on both their faces. "Lois, let me guess. I just bet you're trying to remember all those things you've said to me over the past few years …things you had hoped I had forgotten, right?" His eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Oh, crap!" was all she said,

Author's note: Everyone, thanks for all the reviews! I'm loving them all. You have no idea! Oh, but one thing, I am a dudette, not a dude! ;)