Hello readers! I'm terribly sorry for the long delay. I've been mulling over ideas of where to go with this story and finally found some headway. Again, thank you so much for all the kind reviews, I really appreciate it! I hope you enjoy this next part as much as I do!

Chapter Four

The next morning Louisa was awakened by the incessant chirp of the alarm clock. She silenced the alarm and turned on her side to wrap her arms around her husband, only to find that he wasn't there. The sheets were neatly pulled to the head of the bed with his pillow straightened on top. Louisa let out a sigh and reached over the edge of the bed for her dressing gown, which was discarded during their long-overdue night of lovemaking.

She padded over to the nursery to check on James and noticed his empty cot. She smiled as she pictured Martin in the kitchen reading to James from one of his medical journals as the two ate breakfast together. She quietly headed back to their bedroom to get ready for her day.

". . . So what do you think, James? Will your mother enjoy it?" Martin asked his son while he sliced a banana. James responded by excitedly smacking his hands down on the tray of his high chair. "Mm, I assume that means 'yes?'"

"What means 'yes?'" Louisa asked as she made her presence known.

Martin looked up from the cutting board as Louisa stepped up into the kitchen. Feeling caught unawares, he ducked his head and said, "Um, nothing. Just talking to James."

Louisa narrowed her eyes at him. With Martin it was very difficult to tell if he was lying or not because he was always so honest, usually in a blunt way unfortunately. Nevertheless, Louisa could sense he was hiding something. "Hmm. What about?" She leaned down and covered her little boy's cheeks with kisses and he squirmed and giggled in response.

"Like I said, Louisa, nothing. I was just speaking out loud."

"I see." She moved over to his side and covered his hand with her own. "I missed waking up with you this morning," she whispered in his ear.

Martin could feel the blood rush to his cheeks at his wife's closeness. He tugged at his ear and explained, "I was up early anyway. I didn't sleep much . . . Um, because - we, um . . . last night. Mm." Martin cleared his throat, suddenly feeling the knot of his tie growing tighter around his neck. "And I didn't want to wake you so I thought James and I could handle things down here."

She smiled up at him. "Well, it certainly looks like the two of you have everything under control."

"Yes. Can I make you anything special for breakfast?"

"Eggs . . . and tea, would be nice. Thank you, Martin." Louisa leaned over and kissed his cheek.

Martin stared back at her in adoration. "Yes. You're welcome."

Louisa gave him a loving look before sitting down and feeding James his slices of banana.

"Um, Louisa?" Martin asked a few moments later as he set down a plate with her boiled egg and toast.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering what your plans were for this weekend?"

Louisa peeled off the top of her egg and looked up at him surprised. "Oh. I'm not sure; just planned on hanging around here with my two men. Why?" She smiled and tickled James' cheek.

Martin busied himself with folding a dish towel. "Right. I thought we could go to Newquay for a day. They have a zoo that I thought James might enjoy . . . and plenty of beaches. We could try having a picnic again. That is, if you want to."

"Martin," Louisa shook her head, impressed that he'd thought and planned out a day where they could be together as a family. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Is that what you were talking to James about?"

"Mm, yes. And I think he agrees with me." Martin looked over at James, who was smiling and babbling incoherently.

"Oh, he'll love it, won't you, James?" Louisa abandoned her breakfast and picked up her little boy, whispering to him all the animals they were going to see.

"I thought we could leave early Saturday morning?"

Louisa adjusted James on her hip. "Yes, that would be good." She continued to smile at him and Martin, feeling a little uncomfortable under her intense gaze, turned away to begin the washing up. Louisa stepped up behind him and wrapped an arm around his middle. "Thank you, Martin, for planning this."

Martin turned to face her. "Yes, well . . . I wanted to do something special for you - and James, so . . ."

"Who knows? Maybe you'll actually enjoy yourself."

"Mm."

Louisa kissed his cheek. "I should get James cleaned up before Janice gets here." She turned towards the stairs but he stopped her.

"Louisa?"

"Yes, Martin?"

He took off his apron and moved closer to her. "I wanted to say, um, have a good day . . . and . . . I'll miss you."

Louisa melted at his words. She rushed over and wrapped her free arm around him. "Oh, Martin."

"What? Did I say something wrong?" He was perplexed as to why she was being so emotional.

"No." Louisa stepped back when James began to whimper. "It's just - I'm not used to hearing you say things like that."

"Oh. Right." He paused then looked into her eyes. "I do mean it, when I say I'll miss you. Whenever I have the chance, I step outside and gaze over the harbour at the school, knowing you're there, wishing I could see you."

"Martin, stop, you're going to make me cry." Louisa wiped at her watering eyes.

Martin shook his head. "Sorry."

"No, it's alright. I'm glad you told me, thank you."

"Mm, you're welcome. I should . . . My first patient will be here soon."

"Yes." Louisa leaned up and kissed him, letting it linger. "I'll see you later, then?"

"Yes." Martin watched her as she moved through the lounge towards the stairs with James. His lips curved into a smile as he thought about how lucky he was to have her - and James. And for the first time since he was maybe six years old, Martin was looking forward to spending an entire day with his family.

The rest of the week seemed to drag on for Martin. When Friday night rolled around he was still making last minute preparations for their day in Newquay.

"Mar-tin?" Louisa huffed, annoyed that her husband wouldn't just come to bed already.

Martin turned around at her irritated voice. "What?"

"We're going for the day, not an entire week."

Martin continued rifling through his wardrobe. "Yes, I know." His patience with Louisa was growing thin so he let out a breath of air to calm himself. "I just want to be prepared. There's a chance of rain tomorrow and traveling with a small child is not as easy as it sounds."

Louisa shook her head in defeat. "Ok. I suppose you have a point. But I'm forbidding you from wearing a tie tomorrow."

Martin whirled around to face her. "What?"

"You heard me," she said, using her best 'Head Mistress' tone.

"But - but, Louisa . . .?"

"Martin, you don't need to look professional for a day out with your family. You can wear a jacket but no tie. That's my final offer."

Martin opened his mouth for a retaliation but couldn't come up with one. Instead, he ducked his head and muttered, "Fine," then zipped his small travel bag shut.

"Good."

"I was only trying to save us some time tomorrow," Martin mumbled to himself as he turned off the light in the bathroom. "In the mornings you're all over the place . . ."

Louisa closed her book with a thump. "What are you saying, Martin? That I'm too chaotic in the morning?"

"No, just that you tend to be a bit forgetful in the morning, that's all."

"Oh, thanks."

"Louisa, I didn't mean it like that." Martin slipped into bed beside her and started adjusting his pillow.

"Then what did you mean?"

He let out a sigh as he settled on his back, staring up at the ceiling. "Never mind. It doesn't matter."

Louisa looked down at him with a furrowed brow. "Right. Goodnight, then." She turned on her side away from him.

"Yes. Goodnight." Martin reached over and turned off his bedside lamp.

. . .

As was typical of the Ellingham family, their trip to Newquay didn't get off to the best of starts. James Henry was rather fussy that morning and wouldn't cooperate with his mother. Martin was able to calm his son long enough for him to settle in his car seat. Unfortunately for Martin, the quiet didn't last long.

James, not used to riding in a car regularly, let out a long wail about ten minutes into their journey. "Oh, dear," Louisa said as she looked back at her unhappy son.

"Is he hungry?" Martin asked while trying to concentrate on the road.

Louisa stroked James' leg in an effort to calm him. "He shouldn't be. He ate some of his breakfast before we left." She leaned over and rifled through the nappy bag. She pulled out his purple dinosaur and James stuck out his hands for his favourite toy. "There," Louisa cooed as James finally began to settle down. "Works every time." She looked over at Martin. "And how are you?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?" He quickly glanced at her before returning his attention to the road.

"We're not driving you bodmin yet, are we?"

Martin shook his head. "No. I'm fine."

"Good." Louisa gazed at him for a moment before looking back at James, who was chewing on the tail of his dinosaur, then out the window.

It started to rain as Martin turned on the A39 but began to let up once they passed through Wadebridge. At half past ten they finally arrived at Newquay and the sun was just peeking through the clouds.

"Martin? Wouldn't you be more comfortable if you took off your jacket?" Louisa asked as he was reassembling James' push chair.

He looked down at his navy sport coat then back up at her. "No. I opted out of a tie, isn't that good enough?"

"Ugh, Mar-tin! I'm just saying we'll be outside most of the day, won't you get too warm with your coat on?"

Martin let out a sigh and took off his jacket and neatly folded it before placing it in the Lexus. For good measure he even rolled up the sleeves of his powder blue dress shirt. "Happy?" he asked her as he took James and settled him into his push chair.

"Well you didn't have to take it off. I was just making a suggestion."

"What? Now you're telling me I can leave it on? You're not making any sense, Louisa."

Louisa let out an impatient sigh. She hoped this would have been a redo of their picnic that was so inopportunely interrupted by an unstable Angela Simm. But any outing with Martin seemed to end in a disaster of some sort. "Just forget it, Martin. This was your idea. Let's just try and enjoy ourselves, shall we? For James, at least?"

"Yes."

James laughed and squealed in delight as Louisa pointed out the animals they saw at the zoo. Martin watched his son excitedly kick his legs and wave his hands when he saw a zebra for the first time. He half smiled at his wife and son's happiness, but couldn't help feel a bit saddened that he never had the chance to experience something like this when he was a little boy. Of course Martin enjoyed seeing the chickens, cows, and sheep at Uncle Phil and Auntie Joan's farm when he was a boy, but he never formed a bond with his mother the way Louisa did with their son. And he was thankful for that; thankful that James would grow up knowing he was loved by both his parents.

Soon enough Martin was actually enjoying himself. He even let James get a close look at some sheep that was part of a small petting zoo, except under no circumstances did he allow his son to touch them. "Farm animals are full of disease spreading pathogens, Louisa," he told his wife as he pulled James away from the fence. "At his age, his immune system isn't strong enough yet."

"Ok, whatever you say, Doctor." She gave him a playful smile and took hold of his hand. Martin grunted in response and intertwined their fingers.

After their adventure at the zoo, they stopped at one of the less crowded beaches and Martin laid out their picnic blanket.

"This is nice, isn't it?" Louisa said as she settled James down on the blanket.

"Still a bit crowded." Martin frowned as he looked at all the people suntanning on the beach. "No doubt increasing their chances of developing skin cancer."

"What's that?" Louisa opened the hamper they brought and started pulling out containers of food.

Martin shook his head and turned his attention back to his family. "Never mind. Did you put sun block on James?"

"Oh, ah, no I didn't. Could you do that while I get everything settled?"

"Yes." Martin began applying the sun block to James' face and arms. "Did you bring any healthy food?" he asked as he inspected each of the food containers.

Louisa raised her eyebrows at him. "As a matter of fact I did. Here, I prepared this just for you." She handed him a large container.

Martin opened it and nodded his head in approval. "Thank you."

"I thought it was best not to repeat our last attempt at a family picnic."

"Mm. I'm sorry about that. I know it was something you really wanted to be perfect."

Louisa handed James a bowl with some dry cereal. "It's in the past, Martin. And I'm learning that everything doesn't always have to be perfect. Because we're not perfect, are we? We learn from each other's mistakes. And although we do tend to bring out the worst in each other, we also bring out the best; that's what matters most." Louisa ran her fingers through her son's blonde hair as he stuffed a handful of cereal into his mouth.

Martin gazed at her, feeling his chest swell with emotion. He looked over at James for a moment before returning his eyes to Louisa, her ponytail swishing in the slight breeze. "You're so beautiful, Louisa," he nearly whispered.

Louisa smiled. "Martin . . ."

He reached up and touched her cheek with the back of his hand. "I mean it. You're so beautiful." Leaning forward, wanting to kiss her -

"Help! Somebody help!" a voice called out.

Martin recoiled and looked to his right. A few hundred yards down the beach, some woman was waving her hands in the air while she screamed for help.

"Martin?"

"Wait here. Stay with James." Martin stood up and ran down the beach as best he could in his black dress shoes.

"Help! Please, somebody help!" the woman continued to shout.

"Alright, alright. I'm a doctor," Martin said as he approached the panicked woman. "What seems to be the problem?"

"It's my Charlie!" She pointed to an unconscious, heavy-set man lying on his back in the sand. "One minute we was laughin', the next he just collapsed! He's stopped breathin', too! Please do something!"

Martin knelt down next to the man and leaned down to listen to his chest. "Um, call an ambulance. I suspect it could be a heart attack." When the woman failed to move Martin shouted at her, "Call for an ambulance! Now!"

The woman finally picked up her mobile phone. Martin pulled back both of the man's eyelids to check for pupil responses. It was difficult without his torch light but the sun's blaring rays provided enough stimulation. By now a small crowd had gathered around Martin and he scowled and tried waving them away. "Stay back! Go away!" He tilted the unconscious man's head back and started a series of chest compressions.

Louisa was holding James close to her chest as she watched her husband perform his medical magic a short distance away. A few minutes later, a team of paramedics arrived to take over and started the process of shocking the man's heart back to life. Martin stayed with the man until he was carried off on a gurney before returning to Louisa.

"Well done," she complimented.

"Mm. Just basic medical procedure. The paramedics were able to restart his heart. Should be fine once he's in hospital."

Louisa ran her fingers down the curve of his jawline. "You're such an extraordinary man, Martin."

Martin squinted in the sunlight and ducked his head. "Mm, yes." He cleared his throat and placed a hand on the small of Louisa's back and guided her and James back to their picnic blanket.

"Seems we can't have a picnic uninterrupted," Louisa replied as she sat back down with James on her lap.

"Hmm, yes, so it seems." Martin took hold of James' small hand. "Do you think James enjoyed himself today?"

Louisa looked down at their son, who climbed out of her lap and began crawling towards his father. "I think so. It may not be a memory he'll remember, but you and I will."

"Yes." Martin pulled James to him and reached out to take his wife's hand. "Thank you," he said as he gazed at her.

"For what?"

"For being with me."

"Martin . . ." Once again he left her speechless with his kind and heartfelt words. Not caring that they we were on a crowded and public beach, Louisa wrapped her hands behind his neck and pulled him to her, kissing him long and deeply. "Love you," she breathed out once they parted.

Martin let his forehead rest against Louisa's. "I love you too, Louisa."

The sound of an aeroplane passing overhead caused Martin to look up. He thought of a time years ago on a plane where he diagnosed a woman with acute glaucoma and just recently, saved her from an AVM brain hemorrhage.

Martin picked up his son and James tugged on his father's ears, giving him a lopsided grin. "I love you too, James Henry."

In response, James let out a shout that vaguely sounded like "Da!"