A/N – This story is based on an idea by sunanglais, so thank you very much, I hope I have managed to do it justice. It is an AU story based on the premise that Martin and Louisa did in fact get married. Thanks go to Gill for her encouragement and also to Diane for her wonderful beta work.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Doc Martin. Wish I did!

Rating: M

With This Ring

By

Littleguinea

"Martin, will you take Louisa to be your wife? Will you love her, comfort her, honour and protect her, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?" said Mr. Porter, in a rather bored and uninterested fashion.

"I will," replied Martin, purposefully.

Suddenly the organ blasted out a distorted tune as Mrs. Tishell slumped forward and then promptly fell from the stool. The congregation, Martin and Louisa all turned to see her lying sprawled on the floor, in a very undignified fashion.

"Oh… GOD," Martin hissed and he turned and strode across to see if Mrs. Tishell had sustained any injuries.

"Mrs. Tishell," said Martin as he took hold of her shoulders and shook her firmly. Still she lay on the floor with a look of abject horror etched on her face.

"MRS TISHELL," he shouted as he slapped her on the cheek.

"Ohhhh, yes, Doctor, I will," slurred Mrs. Tishell as she slowly regained consciousness.

"Right, well, she's fine, just needs some fresh air," grumbled Martin. "PAULINE, will you please accompany Mrs. Tishell outside… and ensure that she stays there."

"But, Doc, I've got my hanky out an' all, can't someone else…"

"NO," said Martin sharply, as he turned his back on her and walked back to where Louisa was waiting, looking rather embarrassed.

Roger Fenn quickly filled Mrs. Tishell's place at the organ, as Martin nodded across to him in appreciation.

Louisa leaned in to Martin and whispered, "Did you have to slap her that hard?"

"Yes."

Louisa looked back at the vicar and smiled uncomfortably.

"Are we all ready to continue?" he sighed.

Martin and Louisa looked at each other and nodded.

"Louisa, will you take Martin to be your husband?
Will you love him, comfort him, honour and protect him, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?"

"I will," said Louisa, a large grin spreading across her face.

"Martin and Louisa, I now invite you to join hands and make your vows,in the presence of God and his people."

There was a loud creak as the oak door of the church swung open and Mrs. Tishell staggered back in, followed by a flustered Pauline, who looked along the aisle to Martin and Louisa and shrugged her shoulders in obvious defeat.

"Oh for goodness sake," mumbled Martin under his breath.

Turning to face each other, Martin took Louisa's right hand in his; he took a deep breath and then began,

"I, Martin Archibald…" a very loud snorting noise interrupted him; it came suspiciously from Pauline's direction.

Martin cast a very stern glance over to the pew where she was seated. She immediately stopped sniggering and adopted her most serious expression.

"…Ellingham, take you, Louisa Elizabeth Glasson, to be my wife, knowing in my heart that you will be my constant friend, my faithful partner in life, and my one true love.
On this special day, I give to you my pledge to stay by your side as your husband in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, as well as through the good times and the bad.
I promise to love you without reservation, honour and respect you, provide for your needs as best I can, protect you from harm, comfort you in times of distress, always be open and honest with you, and cherish you for as long as we both shall live."

Louisa felt the tears lightly stinging her eyes as she stared across to find that Martin's eyes were also glistening. She had no idea that he had altered his vows, but she could tell that he had put a great deal of thought and sincerity into his words. Perhaps the events of the day had instigated the alterations, she thought.

After completing her vows, Martin then placed the ring on the third finger of her left hand and held it there whilst he uttered the words,

"Louisa, I give you this ring as a sign of our marriage.
With my body I honour you, all that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you."

Louisa then placed the ring on Martin's finger and said.

"Martin, I give you this ring as a sign of our marriage.
With my body I honour you, all that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you."

"In the presence of God, and before this congregation, Martin and Louisa have given their consent and made their marriage vows to each other.
They have declared their marriage by the joining of hands and by the giving and receiving of rings.I therefore proclaim that they are husband and wife." Joining their right hands together, the vicar finished by saying, "Those whom God has joined together let no one put asunder."

"Well, you've gone and done the deed, so you might as well kiss the bride," said Mr. Porter begrudgingly. "Just don't come running to me when it all falls apart around you."

Martin glowered at the vicar for a second and then, turning to face Louisa, for once he seemed to lose all his inhibitions as he leaned forward and placed a gentle lingering kiss on her lips.

A wolf whistle was heard echoing through the chapel as Pauline turned to Al and said, "Now that's what I call romance, Al Large." When Al didn't respond she elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

"Eh, what… whatchya mean Paul?" said Al sleepily.

"Oh, forget it," she growled.

Aunty Joan pulled a large handkerchief out of her handbag and proceeded to dab her eyes, whilst a distraught Mrs. Tishell took one last look at the happy couple, who were still kissing, and ran swiftly from the church.

As they finally broke away from each other, Martin placed a soft kiss on Louisa's forehead.

"Well… that went okay… considering," whispered Louisa.

"Yes, it was… satisfactory," replied Martin in his usual way as he held out his arm for her.

Martin and Louisa, followed closely by Roger Fenn and Pauline, all then went for the last part of the ceremony, the signing of the register.

Returning to the altar, Louisa took Martin's arm once again and they walked proudly down the aisle… to face the carnage that was their wedding reception.

~ x ~

After enduring what Martin considered to be an unbearable few hours at the Crab and Lobster, having to make stilted conversation with the busy bodies and malingerers of Portwenn, he was extremely grateful when Louisa suggested that it would now be acceptable for them to leave.

Before leaving, however, he wanted to find Aunty Joan to thank her for the help she'd given him in ensuring that their wedding day had not been a complete disaster. There was a point during the day when he had started to have serious doubts about whether he and Louisa should get married. Everything that everyone said made him believe that he would never be able to make her happy.

What he saw when he eventually located his aunt he found rather disconcerting. There, huddled in the corner of the pub was Aunty Joan, very obviously the worse for wear, having what appeared to be a drinking contest with Pauline. They were finding it hard to talk in between gulps of some obnoxious looking alcoholic beverage and fits of the giggles, which seemed to overcome them… frequently.

As soon as they both saw Martin approaching, they broke down in hysterical laughter.

"Hello, little Marty Warty," spluttered his aunt.

"Not so little Marty, or so I've just been hearin'," slurred Pauline.

Martin glared at his aunt, who just reached for her next drink in order to do anything apart from looking her nephew in the eye.

"I bet Louisa is going to have a good time tonight," giggled Pauline, whilst nudging Joan, so much so that his aunt's drink ended up all down her chin and the front of her blouse.

"Well really, Aunty Joan, I expect better than this from you," blustered Martin, before he turned on his heels and bumped straight into Mrs. Tishell, who had been lurking behind him.

"For God Sake, who let you in?" hissed Martin.

"Doctor, I jusssst want you to know, that I don't hold it against you, not at all." After eyeing him up and down she continued, "Well… I could hold it against you, if you really wanted me to."

"Go away."

"Just one little kiss, go on, Doctor, no one will see."

And as Mrs. Tishell closed her eyes and raised herself up on her tiptoes, Martin sidestepped and walked away in total disgust.

Finally realising that Martin had gone, Mrs. Tishell opened her eyes. Oh, you have no idea what you're missing. I'm all woman, I am, and ready to prove it to you, you hunk of a man, she thought.

And as she admired him striding away, she commented to a passing reveller, "Sex on legs that man."

~ x ~

They'd already agreed that they would spend their first night together as a married couple at White Rose Cottage. It was where their relationship had really turned a corner and Louisa had seemed quite sentimental in her wishes.

Finally they got to the sanctuary of the cottage. As the door closed behind them, Louisa put her arms around Martin's neck and pulled him gently down towards her.

She looked into his pale blue eyes and saw a pained expression, which she read to be one of regret.

"Martin, you don't think this was a mistake do you?"

"No, no, of course not. I have a headache, that's all. Probably brought about by having to be civil with… well, it seemed like the whole village, to be honest with you," Martin sighed.

"I don't know that you actually managed to be that civil, Martin. Anyway…why don't you let me give you a head massage? I've heard that can be very therapeutic," suggested Louisa.

"Mumbo jumbo, the only thing that will ease a headache is an appropriate analgesic."

"Fine, Martin, you suffer then, I was only trying to help… and I thought it might actually be nice," hissed Louisa and as she walked towards the patio doors to her balcony, she felt sure that he thought he'd just made a huge mistake in marrying her.

Martin quietly rebuked himself. He knew she was only trying to help, and once again he'd let his gruff medical exterior rear its ugly head, something he'd promised himself that he would try to reign in when he was with Louisa. It had already got him in so much trouble with her and he loved her so very much and never wanted to risk losing her.

"I'm sorry, Louisa. Please, I'd like very much if you would give me a massage… I'm sure it will help."

As she turned, she could see that he was sincere in his apology. She took his hand and led him up the stairs. As she did so, Martin remembered the first time that they had made love in Louisa's bedroom. Tingles ran through his body in anticipation of lying next to her, of smelling her skin and of running his fingers through her gorgeous hair. Although he had never been a fan of bright colours, he found that he was drawn to her bedroom. He felt safe and secure when he was there… he felt loved.

Martin removed his jacket and loosened his collar and then sat on the edge of the bed and Louisa knelt behind him. She started by tracing tiny circles on his temples.

"It is an altered blood flow in the blood vessels of the head and the involvement of the trigeminal nerve, which are two possible causes of…"

Martin's explanation trailed off as he became totally absorbed in Louisa's magical touch. She let her fingers trail down his cheeks, along his jaw and down his neck. She undid a few more buttons of his shirt and allowed her hands to continue down the front until Martin put his hands on top of hers through the fabric. He turned to face Louisa and he took her hands in his.

"Thank you for marrying me, Louisa. You are the only person that has made me truly happy," said Martin, as he felt an uncharacteristic wave of emotion sweep over him. Louisa was the only person who had managed to unlock his inhibitions; she was the only person who understood him, it seemed.

She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. The kiss became deeper, more urgent as they both realised that they desperately wanted each other.

After peeling away their layers of clothing with ease, they climbed into bed together; their bodies hot with desire.

Staring deeply into Louisa's eyes, Martin opened his heart, "I love you so very much, Mrs. Ellingham."

"Oh, Martin, I've always loved you, even from the very first time we met."

Their lips met once again as Martin took Louisa in his strong arms, crushing her body against his. His hands started to explore her smooth silky skin as she ran her hands through the back of his hair, down his neck and across his broad shoulders.

Suddenly a noise outside shattered the moment.

Breaking away, Martin whispered breathlessly, "Did you hear that?"

"What, I didn't hear anything… don't stop, Martin, please."

"Hmm, well, maybe I imagined it. Now where was I?" he teased.

"Just about here," replied Louisa placing his hand on her thigh.

The sound of singing and loud voices could suddenly be heard outside Louisa's cottage. Martin looked up again.

"Just ignore them, Martin," said Louisa, rather impatiently now.

A familiar wolf whistle finally forced them both to get out of bed and head towards the window. There on the street below was at least half of the population of Portwenn, at least that's how it appeared. They were led by Pauline and Aunty Joan.

"Go on, Doc, show her what you're made of," shouted Pauline as she made a rather vulgar gesture. Aunty Joan tried desperately to drag her away from the cottage.

"Sorry, Marty, just got a bit out of hand that's all, you carry on… doing whatever it is you're doing," shouted Joan apologetically.

"An' we all know what he's doin'," said one of the local girls as a large group passed by.

"Disgustin' in it, at their age too."

"Yeah… PERVERT."

The group started to disperse as PC Penhale made his way along the lane. "Move along now, move along, let the happy couple have some privacy," he said. "Okay, Doc, you can resume your… activities."

"Oh really, can they not just leave us alone for one night, our wedding night," sighed Martin, as he slumped on the bed.

"If you actually think about it, it just means that they care," Louisa said as she tried to lighten the atmosphere.

"Louisa, do you always see the positive in every situation?"

"Well, not always, but I certainly see the positive in being next to you right now, with absolutely no clothes on," she whispered in his ear as she straddled him and pulled the covers over them both.

As PC Penhale went on his way, he was sure he could hear the sound of giggles and shrieks coming from Louisa's bedroom window.

~ x ~

To be continued...