CHAPTER 10
When Martha woke up she had no idea what time it was, as she stretched she caught sight of her engagement ring and spent some time admiring it and remembering her proposals. Smiling she picked up her watch and glanced at the time. Within seconds she had thrown the covers off and was hurrying towards the bathroom.
A short time later she made her way down the stairs stopping halfway down when she saw Jonathan still asleep on the couch. He looked so adorable with his hair all rumpled, even better was his well displayed muscular chest. She stood there for some time admiring the view before being caught by Hiram coming out of the kitchen. Glancing up at Martha he shook his head and wagged a finger at her in teasing reproof before walking over and straightening Jonathan's covers so that he wasn't half exposed any more.
Sighing regretfully Martha made her way into the kitchen. "Good morning … err, afternoon." she greeted Jessica and Hiram.
"Hello, sleepy head!" Hiram teased.
"Don't you pay any attention to him, Martha. He's only been up for about thirty minutes himself!" Jessica reassured her. "Now what would you like to eat?"
Before Martha could answer, Hiram said "Do you want me to refresh those dressings and check your wounds before or after you eat?"
After a moments thought, Martha replied "I think I'd prefer you to do it first, if you don't mind."
"Okay, why don't you sit yourself down while I fetch the first aid box." Hiram suggested.
As Martha sat waiting for Hiram she got more and more nervous, dreading what was to come.
When Hiram sat opposite her she obediently lifted her leg for him to examine, before he started cutting off the dressing he had applied, Hiram said, "Would you prefer to wait until Jonathan is up? We don't have to do this right now if you want to wait."
Martha shook her head, "I'd rather get it over and done with, I know I'm a big baby when it comes to things like this, but could you just ignore me and do whatever you need to do?"
"Okay, if that's what you want. It shouldn't hurt as much as before as you'll need less antiseptic lotion. However, judging from the wounds I can't promise that this will be painless." Hiram replied, as he picked up the scissors and began cutting off the dressings.
Martha discovered that Hiram was right; it wasn't as bad as the first time, although when he applied the antiseptic lotion it still hurt. By the time he had finished Martha felt quite ill but proud of the way she had been braver than before.
As he started to repack the first aid box Hiram said, "You'll be pleased to know that apart from that nasty cut on your shin all the other cuts and scrapes are completely free from infection. I'll check that cut again this evening as it still seems to be a bit too inflamed at the moment."
Hiram stood up and put away the first aid box and washed his hands. "Are you ready to have something to eat, or would you rather just have a coffee and wait for the burning to subside?" He asked.
"Could I have some juice instead of a coffee?" Martha asked.
"Of course you can." Hiram poured a glass of orange juice for Martha and a mug of coffee for himself. Turning to Martha he said, "Why don't we drink these out on the porch. There's something I want to talk to you about and this seems like a good opportunity."
As Martha followed Hiram out onto the porch she wondered what he wanted to say to her. She hoped that he wasn't going to try and persuade her to go home.
The sound of the front door clicking shut woke Jonathan, he lay blearily looking around and trying to work out why he was sleeping on the couch. As he remembered a smile crept over his face. I wonder if Martha is awake yet. He thought to himself.
"Morning, dopey!" a familiar voice said.
"Morning, Mom." Jonathan replied with a grin. "Is anyone else up yet?"
"Everyone is up, except you." Jessica replied with a smile. "Why don't you go have a shower, I'm just about to start making brunch for us all and it should be ready by the time that you're finished upstairs."
"Okay." Jonathan replied getting up and starting up the stairs, stopping half way up he turned and said "Mom, where's Martha?"
"She's sitting out on the porch with Hiram, now go get dressed!" Jessica instructed as she started folding Jonathan's blankets.
As he continued up the stairs Jonathan wondered if his Dad was talking to Martha about her speeding.
After they had finished brunch Jonathan and Martha went out to Cutter's Field to retrieve her car. As Jonathan changed the tire and hitched her car to the back of his truck she had time to reflect on Hiram's concern for her speeding and realized that he was right and that she had been going too fast.
"Have I told you how beautiful you are looking today? I like the way you've fluffed your hair out." Jonathan asked as he drove back towards the farm across the pasture land.
"Fluffed my hair out?" Martha repeated, while looking at Jonathan in amazement. "Jonathan, the only reason my hair is so wild today is because Jessica dried it for me after my shower and she was a bit too vigorous with the hair dryer!"
Jonathan laughed, "I can remember when she used to dry my hair when I was little. I used to end up with a mess of wild curls that I couldn't even get a comb through. But your hair looks real pretty like that."
Martha stared at him suspiciously for a moment before deciding that he was being totally genuine and not just teasing her about her out of control hair. Deciding that changing the subject was probably her best move she said, "What was in the bag that your Mom gave you just before we left?"
"I'm not real sure, but I think it's some iced lemonade and a snack. Do you want to stop for a while, there are some trees up ahead we could sit under or I could drive to the creek if you prefer?"
"It looks nice and shady by the trees, why don't we stop there for a while?"
Jonathan pulled up by the trees and he and Martha went and sat in the shade of their branches. He was right; Jessica had given him a flask of lemonade and some cookies. Martha didn't want any cookies but was grateful for the lemonade. It was a hot day and although she had only stood around and watched while Jonathan had done all the work she was really thirsty.
As she drank her lemonade Martha looked around her at the land and thought about how in the future she would be living here. It was very different from the city, but she felt at home here, less stressed and more relaxed. Looking around she realized that Jonathan was just sitting and watching her. Smiling at him, she said, "You're not admiring my fluffy hair again are you?"
"I was thinking how lucky I am that I met you." He replied putting down his cup and moving closer so that he could put his arms around her.
Leaning back against him, Martha said, "I'm beginning to understand why you love living in the country so much."
"That's nice." Jonathan replied moving Martha's hair out of the way so that he could kiss her neck.
Martha put down her cup and turned towards Jonathan, "Honey, where are we going to live when we get married?" she asked.
"Hmmmm." Jonathan replied as he concentrated on gently nibbling Martha's ear lobe.
"I mean, are we going to live in town or are we going to try and find a place closer to the farm?"
"Yep."
Suspecting that Jonathan wasn't even listening, Martha said, "Of course, we'll have to find somewhere to put all the camels."
"Uh, huh." was his only reply as he drifted kisses along her jaw line.
Realizing that trying to have a conversation was a lost cause, Martha raised her face and ran her fingers through his hair as she gently tugged him closer. As their lips met she decided that conversation was highly overrated anyway.
A while later as they lay in each others arms she returned to her previous question, "Sweetheart, will we live in Smallville when we get married or shall we live closer to the farm?"
"Dad has said that we can build ourselves a house on the farm, there are a few real nice spots we could choose from. Would you like that or would you prefer to be in Smallville itself?" He replied.
Martha sat up, "We can build our own house here?"
"If you'd like to. It won't be as big as Mom and Dad's house, but we could always add on to it later." Jonathan answered.
"If I'd like to? I'd love that! Our own house! Oh, Jonathan!" Martha said hugging him.
"I'm glad you like the idea." he said, laughing as he hugged her back. "I'll show you the places that we've picked out this weekend if you like."
"Oh, yes, please! When can we start building it?" Martha asked, getting really excited about the idea of her own home.
"Honey, although building a house here will be cheaper because we don't have to pay for the land, it will still cost a lot of money. Not only do we have to buy all the timber and other building materials, we have to arrange for water and electricity to be supplied to it and then there is all the furniture and equipment we'll need to get."
"Oh, so we can't start soon then?" Martha said, trying not to feel too disappointed.
"No, but if I save real hard we might be able to start building it late next spring."
Martha rested back in Jonathan's arms, "Our own house. I can't believe we're going to have our own house!" she said.
"When you've chosen which site you want, we can start drawing up the blue prints for it and it won't be that long until spring when we can start preparing the land."
"I'm sorry if I sounded impatient, but I wasn't expecting a house. I thought we'd be renting an apartment or something." Martha explained.
"There will be nothing but the best that I can manage for you sweetheart. You deserve the best and that's what I'm gonna try and give you."
"Oh, Jonathan, I've already found the best thing in my life … I found it the day I met you. I love you so much." Martha said kissing him tenderly.
It was some time before they continued their journey back to the farm.