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

Happy Ever After – The Real World

Chapter 26

It turned out that my old friend Holly had been right all along about Martin.

"Bet he's worth a bob or two," she'd declared. She'd always made it her business to know the financial worth of any potential husband. Unlike me, she considered it to be a very important factor in selecting a man. In the circles she moved in, she was no doubt aware that top consultants like her friend Johnny Bamford could afford a very lavish lifestyle indeed – their wives had no need to work, and they had expensive jewellery, designer clothes, and sports cars lavished on them, along with holiday homes in the South of France, skiing holidays and so on – everything that Holly aspired to.

I was aware that Martin appeared comfortably off, with his bespoke suits and his flashy car. But really, apart from his Kensington flat, a few antiques and some nice paintings, it seemed that he had not been at all extravagant over his years as a consultant, but had instead invested his money very wisely. It meant that he was really pretty wealthy and could easily afford to have the work done on Havenhurst to make it into our dream home.

And yet I still felt uncomfortable at not being able to contribute equally, because I'd always paid my way. I didn't ever want anyone to be able to accuse me of being anything like my gambler of a father, who had always been in some sort of debt, weaving and ducking his way through life, robbing Peter to pay Paul, lying and stealing. So I offered to sell White Rose Cottage, but Martin wouldn't hear of it.

"Makes more sense to rent it out," he stated. "Give you some additional income."

Just as he'd shown me his bank statement, what he earned and all his investments, I shared with him all the details of my finances. Of course, they were nothing like on the scale of his.

"You haven't made full use of your tax free ISA* for this year," he pointed out.

"I know, but I haven't had that much money to spare, what with the baby…" I explained, painfully aware that Martin had wanted to buy everything new for James Henry, but that I hadn't let him. He'd hated the old pram that Bert Large had lent to us, and had wanted to buy the latest all singing all dancing type, but again I'd refused, instead getting a second hand buggy from another mum in the village when the old fashioned one proved too unwieldy.

Martin was of course an intensely private person, and so had never bragged or boasted about his money, so I hadn't really had any inkling of his standing until now. When Martin had been about to leave for London and had left me a spread sheet and some post-dated cheques, I'd not even looked at them at the time, determined as I'd been that I wanted nothing from him. More recently I'd come across them again, and realised that he had in fact been extremely generous.

But now when I protested that he shouldn't be spending so much money on Havenhurst, he just quietly said,

"What else should I be spending it on? I want to spend it on securing a home for you and James. Joan would never let me help her out, and I never forced it because I didn't want to offend her dignity and pride. Of course there were times when I just had to step in," he explained.

"Like when you bought out your father's share of the farm," I said, thinking that he really was a very kind and generous man underneath that tough exterior. I was so proud of him for helping out Joan in her hour of need, and typically telling no one about it.

"Yes. And then when I found out that Joan was driving around with no car insurance, I had to sort that out for her."

"Of course you did Martin," I told him tenderly, knowing that he must still miss her dreadfully.

"She really wanted me to be a proper father to the baby you know. Kept nagging me, chipping away to get me to see sense," Martin told me as he looked down at his son asleep in his buggy next to us where we were sitting in the cottage. He tenderly stroked James' cheek. "I think she knew that if I just saw him, just held him, well then I wouldn't ever be able to abandon him would I?"

"Joan was very wise, wasn't she?" I agreed. "But Martin…"

"What?"

"I hope us getting married and renovating Havenhurst is not just because you feel guilty about James. I know how much you care about him…"

"How much I care about you both," he insisted. "I'm just thankful that James has provided the link that has drawn us together again. And now that we are getting married, everything will be as it should be. So…umm… have you a date in mind, for the wedding I mean?"

At least he seemed to have learnt his lesson from James' christening and hadn't gone ahead and just booked something without consulting me.

"I thought maybe April, during the Easter school holidays. What do you think?"

"That could work. I shall consult my diary. I have the interviews for my new partner during March, and of course the blasted refresher course to waste my time on before I can take up my new post," Martin replied. I knew that he was not looking forward to that at all, but had accepted that he had no option but to complete it. There was talk of him doing an intensive crash course in London, which I think meant pulling a few strings and calling in some favours, but nothing definite could be arranged until he had managed to fill the vacancy for his practice.

"I just want a very quiet affair Martin. As small as possible, no big fuss, no one taking over and deciding to be my bridesmaid when I don't even want one, or arranging a disastrous reception," I said firmly. The last thing I wanted was a replay of our non-wedding.

"You'll get no argument from me on that score I can assure you. I'd be more than happy not to tell a soul. We could simply disappear one afternoon, grab a couple of people off the street as witnesses, and just get married," Martin suggested, and I had no doubt that he was serious.

"Well maybe not quite as extreme as that," I backtracked a bit.

"It's up to you Louisa. I told you before; however, wherever you want to get married is fine by me. I will conform to your wishes. All I want is for us to be married as soon as we can."

"Martin that is so sweet," I said, thinking that he could be romantic after all.

"So if you could get a move on and book a date before the end of the tax year in April, that would be very prudent and financially beneficial," he stated in a very matter of fact manner.

Ah Right. Not so romantic after all, I thought to myself. Well I couldn't expect Martin to change overnight could I?

xXx

I'd always wanted babies, to have a family of my own, but had spent a long time building my career to achieve my goal of getting my own Headship – and then it had proved so hard to find a suitable man to have a family with. I remember once telling Bert Large that I wanted 'lots' of babies, once I found the right man. That was before I actually had one and found out how incredibly tiring and demanding a baby really was. Up till then, I'd thought it would be a breeze, being a working mum and having just one small baby to look after, so of course I'd assumed that I'd have no problem managing on my own without the father. How hard could it be? I'd soon settle the baby into a routine, and anyway they slept all the time – right?

How wrong could I have been? I soon discovered that having a baby was absolutely knackering and totally exhausting. My baby didn't sleep all the time, and certainly not at night. I'd always prided myself on being organised and coping well under pressure, but that was when I'd been able to get a good solid eight hours of sleep at night. It all went to pot when you were sleep deprived I discovered, and as much as I hated to admit it, I'm not sure how I would have got through those first few weeks without Martin. For all his undoubted faults, he was there for me when I really needed him, at least for giving practical help if nothing else.

So if at some point in the future, Martin and I did have another baby, now that I understood what hard work it was, should I give in to what Martin wanted? That for once in my life I should just kick back, relax and consider taking the full amount of maternity leave? Let Martin support me, not rush back to work, but instead stay at home for a while to enjoy what would be my last baby? There was no doubt that I felt very torn at times, trying to be a good mum to James, but also trying hard to keep my career going – it was a very hard juggling act, and there was no doubt that I had dropped several balls on several occasions. I just let these thoughts percolate through the inner recesses of my mind, until something Martin casually handed to me made me rethink.

"I've made a list for you," he stated, as he handed me a piece of paper. Martin was always making lists.

"Oh? What's this for?" I asked, as I studied a long list that included my bank, the passport office, the tax office, the land registry, my driving licence, my employer - it went on and on.

"It's everyone that you will need to inform of your change of name," Martin explained.

"And what change of name is that then?" I queried, my hackles starting to rise.

Martin looked at me as if I was stupid.

"When you become Mrs Louisa Ellingham, once we're married of course."

"And what makes you think that I'm going to change my name?" I queried.

"Well of course you will. When a woman marries, she always takes her husband's name. So you'll be Mrs Louisa Ellingham."

"No, I won't actually Martin. I shall continue to be who I've always been – Ms Louisa Glasson."

The truth was that up until that point I hadn't actually decided one way or the other about taking his name, but his attitude, his certainty about what I should do, as usual without even thinking to discuss it with me, made it suddenly very important to me that I keep my own identity.

"Don't be so ridiculous Louisa!" Martin exploded.

"I'm not. I think you'll find that as far as the law is concerned, when a woman gets married, she is not obliged to take her husband's name if she doesn't want to. Consequently I shan't be needing to contact anyone," I told him firmly as I handed the list back.

"But you'll be my wife!" Martin said spluttered.

"Technically, yes," I told him with an icy coolness.

"So why on earth wouldn't you take my name?"

"I have spent many years and worked very hard to build a name for myself in my profession Martin. I don't see why I should suddenly have to change it when I don't need to."

I could see the look of disdain on Martin's face as he rolled his eyes, and it just made my blood boil.

"Oh you may sneer, because you've always belittled my career, but it's very important to me. I'm actually very well regarded in the educational field, and if you'd ever bothered to take the slightest bit of interest, you'd know that my school is considered one of the top in Cornwall, because it has one of the highest 'value added' scores for its pupils. Why do you think I was welcomed back with open arms to the school when I returned, and why they've been so flexible with me? Because I'm a damn good teacher and a damn good Head as well."

"I don't dispute that fact Louisa. I've never said…"

"Yes you have, you've made countless snide remarks about my school and the supposed lack of discipline. You, who knows precisely nothing about children and education."

"I still don't see why any of this means that we can't all have the same name, for James Henry's sake." Martin persisted as he changed tack.

"I'll explain it to him when he's old enough, and he'll be fine, he'll understand," I countered. "And tell me Martin, if you had married your ex fiancé Edith, would you have expected her to take your name?"

"That's irrelevant. That would have been different."

I could tell by the look on his face that he knew full well that she most certainly would not have taken his name.

"Why? Because she's a high and mighty doctor, not just a lowly teacher? You lot really do think you're so much better than everyone else don't you?"

With that I left the room and went upstairs to the bedroom to cool off before I said something really nasty that I would regret.

Why did Martin always do this? Just as I was beginning to think that I might ease back on my career for a little while, he had to act in such an arrogant and condescending manner that I found myself hating the very idea of becoming one of those rich, yummy mummy, stay at home types. No doubt Martin would love nothing better than to have me totally dependent on him, the undoubted breadwinner of the family. Well that wasn't me, and never would be, and if that was what Martin wanted then he'd better think again, I decided.

I took a deep breath as I heard him coming up the stairs, and decided that I must keep my cool and explain things to him in a logical, calm and adult manner. Martin couldn't help his upbringing, but I felt that it was high time I reminded him of his wish not to be anything like his father.

A/N

*ISA Individual Savings Account. Cash ISA's allow you to invest up to a set amount of money per year into savings, which earn you tax free interest. This year the allowance was £5,340 for a cash ISA.