Disclaimer: Doc Martin is the property of Buffalo Pictures. I own nothing except my overactive imagination.

Happy Ever After – The Real World

Chapter 7

"You do know that Louisa has got you wrapped round her little finger don't you Martin?"

"I don't know what you mean Aunt Ruth," I protested. I'd driven her back after she had spent Christmas Day with us, and had now pulled up outside the farm.

"Oh come on, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Turning down the London job to stay in this little village with her and the child. Then turning down the job in Truro because she doesn't want to move there either. Seems to me this relationship of yours is built purely on what Louisa wants, even if it isn't what you want."

"That is not true. It's entirely my choice to remain here, no one is forcing me," I stated.

"But you said it yourself, you hate it here in the village. So what happens if things don't work out between you and Louisa hmm? There are only so many times you are going to be offered these plum positions you know. Then you'll be stuck here, in a job that bores you, all by yourself."

"Well thanks for that vote of confidence in our relationship. For your information we are getting along just fine, things are working out very well between us actually."

"Yes, I can see that - in the bedroom anyway, or wherever else it is that you choose to conduct your love life. Clearly there is a strong sexual attraction between the two of you, any fool can see that. Oh don't look at me like that Martin, it's simply basic human nature, nothing to be embarrassed about."

I squirmed in my seat at the thought of Aunt Ruth overhearing the very private and personal conversation between Louisa and myself earlier.

"Louisa is a very attractive woman, and I can understand how you would be drawn to her. And to her, you've always been this unattainable figure head, the unavailable man of authority. That's a very powerful turn on for a woman you know, to discover that she can wield her sexual power over a man like you."

"Is this your professional psychological assessment of our relationship then?" I asked witheringly.

"All I'm saying Martin is that when the sexual thrill wears off, you could end up feeling very resentful of her for holding you back. After all, what do you actually have in common? Hobbies? I can't see Louisa finding mending clocks exactly an enthralling evening's entertainment somehow. Music? The classical type of music that you like is not to everyone's taste, and I imagine Louisa probably favours much more contemporary choices. Your background and upbringing are completely different to hers. Politically I imagine you are poles apart – you are a true blue Tory, while from Louisa's rather extreme over reaction to my offer of help with private school fees, she is quite clearly of the New Labour Socialist ilk. You are a man of science and medicine, while I gather Louisa majored in English Literature and Language, which incidentally, you might have told me before I played her at Scrabble."

"You never asked. I can't help it if you judged Louisa by her appearance and were too shallow to realise that she is a whole lot more than just a pretty face," I stated with some satisfaction. I myself had looked at Louisa with new respect when she'd quite easily beaten my aunt at Scrabble, as it turned out that she was somewhat of an expert in the English Language.

I was rather ashamed to realise that apart from knowing that Louisa had trained as a teacher, I didn't actually have a clue about which subjects she'd specialised in at college, other than it obviously wouldn't have been medicine.

I don't think it helped either that I had also beaten Aunt Ruth at Chess when we'd played a game after Louisa had taken James Henry off to feed him when he'd woken up from his nap. That would teach Ruth to keep a clear head and lay off the alcohol, which she really ought to anyway with her Sjögren's Syndrome.

"I've never made any such judgement about Louisa. Actually, the more I get to know her, the more intriguing and interesting I find her. I like someone who has a bit of spirit about them, argues back and stands up for what they believe in. Certainly better than being boring and bland."

"Well there you are then. You've just described in a nutshell why I enjoy being with Louisa, and why I'm prepared to make some compromises to enable us to continue with our relationship. Opposites can attract, as the old saying goes. We worried before that we were too different to make each other happy and called off our wedding. But I found out the hard way that being without Louisa is far worse than any changes or compromises that I might have to make to be with her. And now we have our child to consider too – and yes, I know, you've already said that we shouldn't stay together just for his sake. But nevertheless, his birth does change things, he needs to be brought up in a stable and secure environment."

"Well if you're so sure about things, how come you haven't set another date to get married yet?"

"There's no rush. All in good time," I answered brusquely. This was a rather sore point between Louisa and myself that I didn't care to elaborate on to Ruth at the moment.

"Look, don't get me wrong Martin, I'm just playing Devils' Advocate. I really hope that things do work out between you, I'm just being honest and realistic in telling you how I see things, that's all."

"Thank you for your concern Aunt. You are not the first to express such views you know. Joan also warned me that she felt that Louisa and I were chalk and cheese. Just a shame that she's not here to see…" I choked on my words now.

"Yes, that bloody woman! How dare she choose now to pop her clogs and leave me her wretched farm. I don't know what to do for the best – stay here, write my book and spend a fortune on getting the place sorted out, or sell up and move back to my job at Broadmoor, and my nice, easy to maintain London flat. I've taken a sabbatical for now, but at some point I'm going to have to make a decision about whether to return or not."

"It's your choice Aunt. Can't say as I've ever seen you as the Country Life type, and I think you'll have to at least treat yourself to a decent pair of wellies if you decide to stay on. But people can change, and maybe it would do you good to try a different lifestyle, even if it wasn't how you envisaged spending this period of your life."

"Is that the voice of experience I'm hearing from you Martin?"

"I'm merely pointing out that life plans aren't set in stone, so consider all the options before you make your decision. You'll probably find now that when you're here, you miss London, but when you're in London, you really miss Cornwall. Bloody irritating actually."

"Well thanks for the advice anyway, and also for inviting me to join your little family for your Christmas Day bash. It's been a lot of fun, and I shall of course be demanding a re-match from you for a game of Chess and from Louisa for a game of Scrabble, when I have a clearer head. Don't let me drink so much next time eh?"

"As if anyone can tell you what to do Aunt."

"Right well, you'd better hurry up and get back to your place – can't keep Louisa waiting for your assignation can you?"

xXx

"You were gone a long time, everything alright?" Louisa queried when I got back. I found her upstairs in the nursery, where she was just changing James and getting him ready to hopefully settle down for the night.

"Err…yes. Ruth just wanted some advice because she is trying to decide whether or not to go back to London. If she does stay on here, she will need to invest a considerable amount of money on renovating the farm house, everything needs replacing and updating to bring it up to scratch. Joan never had the funds to do anything more than just patch it up," I explained.

"It is in a beautiful spot though, isn't it? I've always thought it has the most wonderful views. Had Joan told you that she was leaving the farm to her sister rather than you?"

"Oh yes, we'd discussed it, as she wanted me to be the executor of her will. I told her that I was already financially secure so didn't need the funds, and I certainly had no interest in ever running a farm. Joan left it to Ruth because she'd always wanted her to come and live down here. She worried about her, didn't like the idea of her working with all those criminally insane inmates at Broadmoor. But Ruth loves it you see, in fact the more evil they are, the better she likes it, gives her something to get her professional teeth into. I really think she would miss it terribly if she moved down here. I don't think the Bodmin locals would provide enough of a challenge to her, as I think most of them are just plain mad rather than bad."

"Right, I see. She certainly is a character isn't she? She's direct like Joan was, and yet different in so many ways too. Joan would have thought our village school was perfect for James Henry, whereas Ruth is a proper old school snob, thinking that the only way to get a decent education is to pay for it. I have to say that I find her very irritating at times and yet also very interesting."

"I think she probably feels the same way about you."

"Why? What did she say?"

"I don't think she liked the fact that you beat her at Scrabble."

"No, I don't think she did, did she? Being a bit of a whiz at Scrabble is one of my hidden talents, I'll have you know. Holly and I used to play it endlessly when we were students. Anyway, I don't think Ruth was best pleased that you beat her at Chess either. If I'd have known you were such a master, I'd have roped you in to run our Chess club at school ages ago."

"No, you most certainly wouldn't."

I couldn't think of anything worse than being responsible for a class full of primary school children. That was something that I was more than happy to leave to Louisa.

"But you'll teach James Henry how to play chess won't you?"

I watched as Louisa started to play the 'This little piggie…' game with James' toes. Clearly he loved it, as he crowed and giggled with delight, especially when she got to the final line 'and this little piggie went wee wee wee all the way home' and tickled him all over.

"Yes, I'll teach him chess," I said.

Louisa was so natural and at ease playing these baby games with James Henry in a way that I could never be, and so I found myself looking forward to the time when I would be able to play a game with him that I did feel comfortable about.