CHAPTER TEN

"So, what have you got planned for today?" Jack asked Martha the next morning as they all sat down for breakfast.

"Nothing much. Just going to catch up with Cassie and Matilda," Martha spoke before taking a sip of tea. "They're going to introduce me to Belle. Well, re-introduce us, that is," she sighed.

Martha knew that there were a lot of people that she had forgotten. Most of them close friends; Belle, Rachel, Brad. Apparently there was even a guy named Drew, who turned out to be Peter Baker's love child.

"Did you want to take Alex with you?" Jack then asked.

Martha nodded. "Yeah, if that's okay," she answered.

"Of course it's fine," Jack smiled across at her.

"I need to make up for all the time we lost," Martha cooed as she reached out and tickled Alex's chin. Lucas had told her that Alex loved having her chin tickled. Martha found that she couldn't stop doing it. She loved the way Alex's eyes would light up in excitement every time she done it.

"If you have any problems with her, just give me a call," Jack then told her.

Martha rolled her eyes at Jack. "I'm sure I'll be fine. I can look after my own child," she said to him.

"I was just saying," Jack protested.

"Yeah, well don't just say," Martha snapped at him. "Like I said yesterday; I don't want you hanging over my shoulder picking at all my faults," she continued.

"Geez, don't have a fit," Jack exclaimed with a laugh.

"You are so not funny," Martha scoffed as she stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me; I promised the girls I'd meet them at the Noah's at ten am. I don't want to be late," she said as she lifted Alex from her highchair.

"Bye Joey," Jack leant down and kissed Alex's head quickly.

"Say goodbye to the moron that is your father," Martha said sweetly to Alex as she placed her in the pram.

Jack laughed. "You are so not funny," he mimicked.

Martha shot Jack a dirty look before turning around and heading for the door. As she exited, Lucas entered. He'd gone out earlier that morning for a surf.

"Hi Lucas. Bye Lucas," Martha called out as she kept on walking.

"Bye Honey," Jack yelled out sarcastically.

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Martha spent a few good hours talking with her friends. She found that she really liked Belle. She was feisty and stood up for herself. She didn't care what people thought of her. In some ways, Belle reminded Martha of herself. And that was probably why they got on well.

Martha made her way up to the front door of Jack's place and entered; pushing the pram in front of her. She had thought it would be best if she took Alex home for lunch. When she entered, she found Lucas and Jack standing at the bench making up some sandwiches.

"Hi," both Lucas and Jack said at the same time.

"Hey," Martha said back as she took Alex out of the pram.

"Are you hungry?" Jack asked her.

Martha nodded. "A bit," she answered.

"Good, we've just made some chicken and salad sandwiches," Jack told her.

"My favorite," Martha exclaimed.

"I know," Jack smiled sweetly at her.

Martha suddenly felt shy. She hated that Jack could make her feel that way. She was never a shy person until she met him. She sat Alex in her highchair and tried to change the subject.

"Um, what about Alex? What does she like?" she asked.

"She really likes the custards and jellies," Jack told her. "She's only been on solids for a couple of months, and she's seemed to have taken a liking to those," he explained.

"More like Jack's taken a liking to those," Lucas scoffed.

"What? No, I haven't," Jack protested.

"Lie," Lucas laughed as he pointed his finger at Jack. He then turned to face Martha. "When Jack does the groceries, he always picks out the flavors he likes. So that way, he can eat Alex's leftovers," he told her.

"Shut up," Jack shook his head.

"Jack likes the banana and chocolate flavored custard," Lucas added in a baby voice.

Martha started to giggle, but Jack soon put a stop to that. "Hey, don't you laugh; you used to do it too," he pointed out.

"Sorry, but I don't remember that. And if I don't remember, then it didn't happen," Martha laughed.

"Sorry Jack, but you're the only loser in this room," Lucas tormented.

"Can we just shut up and eat," Jack sat down at the table in a huff.

Lucas and Martha continued to laugh at Jack for a few more minutes, but then settled down so that they could eat their lunch. The conversation soon turned towards Martha's morning with the girls. After a while she started to get sick of talking about herself, so she changed the subject.

"So, do you guys have lives, or do you prefer to be losers and sit at home all day," she smirked.

"We've been surfing and we played x-box. We are so not losers," Lucas exclaimed.

"X-box? Hmm, how exciting," Martha said sarcastically.

"Hey, don't knock the x-box," Lucas told her. "Besides, you used to love playing it with me," he added.

"I did?" Martha asked with a frown.

"Yeah," Lucas smiled. "We always used to do fun stuff together. You took me horse-riding this one time. It was great. I loved it; even if I did fall off and almost break my leg," he laughed.

Martha tried to smile, but couldn't. It was like she being reminded every five seconds that she had amnesia. Her friends and family couldn't help it, but they were always bringing it up. They were always saying things about her and saying how much fun she was. But she couldn't remember. And it hurt.

"I'm sorry that I don't remember. I wish I could," she frowned. She then stood up and pushed her chair out. "Um, I'm not feeling well. I might go and lye down if that's okay," she smiled softly and then quickly walked off to her room.

Jack turned to Lucas and glared at him. "Good one idiot," he snapped.

Lucas was confused. "What did I do?" he said.

"She doesn't need to be reminded every minute about how different she is now. She knows that she's lost her memory, so there's no need to keep saying it over and over again," Jack explained to him.

"I wasn't doing it on purpose," Lucas frowned at Jack.

"I know," Jack sighed. "But how do you think she feels every time someone brings up something from her past; something that she doesn't remember. It's obvious from the look on her face that it hurts. Besides if she wants to know something about her life, she'll ask," he added.

"I hope you plan on taking that advice also," Lucas said to Jack.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack questioned.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "You're living in the same house as your wife, yet you're not allowed to touch her. Don't tell me you're not going to do everything you can to make her remember your life together," he started. "Soon enough, it's going to start eating away at you and if Martha doesn't remember anything soon, then your marriage is going to be over. And there won't be anything you can do to stop it," he finished before standing up.

"Where are you going?" Jack demanded to know.

"I'm going to see dad. You got a problem with that?" Lucas snapped and then quickly exited.

Jack let out a loud sigh before looking over at his daughter. "If mummy doesn't remember anything soon, then we're screwed Joey," he said softly as he reached out and rubbed her cheek.

"Totally screwed," he muttered.

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

It was a few hours before Martha came out of her room again. Lucas still wasn't back either.

"You feeling better?" Jack asked her.

"Yeah," Martha nodded. "Where's Alex?" she then questioned.

"I just put her down for a nap," Jack answered as he sat down next to her on the couch. "Look, I hope Lucas didn't upset you earlier. You know; when he was talking about all the stuff you used to do with him," he then said.

"It just sucks that I can't remember. Sometimes I forget about it, but then someone brings it up again. And the more they talk about it, the more real it feels," Martha started to explain. "I feel like a complete stranger in a brand new world. It's like everything I once knew is gone. I'm not the person I used to be. I can't be her anymore and people need to stop expecting me to be," she finished as she blinked away her tears.

"I'm sorry if you think that I'm pushing you," Jack said and reached out and touched her hand softly.

Martha couldn't help but flinch. She quickly moved her hand away from his. "Don't do that, please," she begged.

"I'm sorry. I just keep forgetting that I can't do that anymore," Jack apologized.

Martha shrugged. "I just can't deal with that sort of stuff right now. I know that we're married and you should be able to touch me whenever you want, but I just can't deal with it right now. I need to take things one step at a time. And Alex is the most important thing at the moment," she explained to him.

"I understand that," Jack nodded. "I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do," he said.

"Thank you," Martha smiled gratefully. She then coughed and stood up. "I promised Sally that I would go and visit. She wants me to meet Brad. Again," she laughed.

"Okay," Jack said.

"I won't be long," Martha told him as she picked up her car keys and then left.

Jack groaned and fell back onto the couch. Lucas was right. It was starting to eat away at him and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He had told Martha that he understood, but in reality, he didn't. He was angry. He hated the life that he now had. Alex was the only thing keeping him sane.

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

NEXT CHAPTER –Martha remembers something and someone from her missing years. But who and what will it be?

PLEASE REVIEW