"I'm so excited about my spa day!" Louisa beamed as she walked alongside Martin who was pushing James in his pram. To anyone, they looked like the perfect family and were trying to become as close to that as possible. For once, Martin was in London, and he'd followed Joan's suggestion to pamper Louisa here as the holidays were approaching. It was now the second week of December, and she was already at 13 weeks pregnant. Time was moving swiftly, but their plans forward seemed to be hitting a brick wall. Martin glanced over to Louisa, who had her arm wrapped through his and couldn't help but offer her a small smile when he saw her beaming up at him.
He grunted in reply, of course, after giving her an almost smile, "Yes, well, I did not know you were so keen on a spa day. There's nowhere like this place in Portwenn, and you'd never mentioned it."
"Oh, I know," she sighed. "I suppose I never let myself get to excited about a spa day, as I've rarely ever had one. Money has always been tight, and yes," she nodded, "you're right about there not being one in Portwenn. I suppose the last, and really one of the only times, I've had a spa day was back after university. Several friends and I treated ourselves to a spa day when we graduated. I'd just received my first job offer, and oh, Martin," she sighed as she relished in the memory, "it was just a special day. I suppose today, I'm so excited because I've not been in so long, and I'm delighted you had the idea to pamper me so."
"Err, yes, well," he said pulling on his ear. Louisa jumped into interrupt before he said more.
"Course, I suspect," she eyed him with bright eyes and a grin, "that Joan maybe nudged you in that direction, as I gather spa days are not really your thing, but regardless of the source of the idea, I've very glad you had it." Louisa leaned up to kiss Martin's cheek as the trio arrived at the entrance to the spa. As she did, Martin's face flushed, and the door to the spa opened, and Martin's eyes widened as he locked eyes with his mother.
Martin's abrupt screeching halt with the pram pulled Louisa out of her thoughts, and she looked quickly to the door as well. Before she could say anything, Martin did.
"Why are you here?" Martin gestured. "This is a spa."
"Hmm, yes, why good day to you too," Margaret eyed him and then took her time looking to the pram and finally gazing over to Louisa. "As for this," she waved behind her as she put her leather gloves on her hands, "my stylist moved to Paris, and I am in search of a new one. I'd been referred here, but as I can see," she eyed them again, her eyes moving up and down slowly, "I can see that this location is too common. Now," she nodded to Louisa.
Martin moved his hand to almost shied Louisa from his mother, and Louisa fired back a horrified look at Margaret. Martin spoke quickly and before more could be said.
"If you would step aside please," Martin said in a professional tone, "you are blocking the doorway."
Margaret pursed her lips and locked eyes with Martin. She glanced down at the baby, "Those incredibly large ears, oh dear." She eyed Louisa as well who was not hiding behind Martin.
"Dear, if you need the number of a weight loss specialist-"
"You will not insult my wife!" Martin bellowed.
"I'm pregnant! We are having another child; I'm not fat!" Louisa stated quickly, all of them speaking almost at the exact same time. It took a moment for the words to register, and both Martin and Louisa noticed Margaret smirked as she stood there glaring at them.
"Typical," she huffed and eyed her son. "You can't even have children in some semblance of order or try and appear to keep your hands to yourself. Animalistic behavior-"
"Shut up," Martin stated, now almost calmly as he looked to his mother. He gestured with his hand, "I've asked nicely. You don't intend to be nice or civil about anything. Please move aside. We have no interest in speaking with you. Good day," he nodded, and with that, he locked eyes with her and gazed at her until she moved. Margaret finally did, eyeing Louisa again as she moved to the side. Before Margaret stepped away, she huffed toward Louisa.
"One child secured financing from Martin. Two," she said with a tisk, "that's just overkill, not to mention ruining your body and creating twice the amount of work. One child would have done the trick, or I should say, would have secured your financial future adequately."
"Does it come as a great shock to you that Martin and I are happy with our family?" Louisa asked, spinning around to face Margaret as she tried to walk away. She pulled tighter on her coat, as the wind was starting to kick up on this December day, frustrated she hadn't switched over to the maternity coat Martin had bought her last winter. She was still wearing her normal cut, camel colored coat, which seemed to accentuate her growing midsection. She locked eyes with Margaret, "It does," she shook her head. "You can't stand the idea that your son-yes," she pointed to Martin, "he is your son even if you want to deny it constantly, but you can't stand the idea your son is happy. That's it. You want to take every opportunity to tear down our family just because," she shrugged. "You are a spiteful and a hateful person. What's it to you if we have one child or five!" Louisa threw up her hands and started to chuckle. "Honestly, it's not as if you are 'Grandmother of the Year' and we have no intention of you getting to know any of your grandchildren. You could stand there and offer your congratulations, or even just your prayers for a safe delivery and healthy baby, but no, you are set on tearing us down. You ridicule James, you belittle Martin, and you insult me. Now, go away," she waved her hand. "You are not ruining my spa day, a day given to me by my loving husband, a day to relax and yes, rest with this new pregnancy. Off you go!" At that, Louisa shooed Margaret as if she was a household pest. Martin watched her speak, almost in awe, aware that she was definitely in 'teacher lecture mode' as she spoke. Louisa turned back to Martin, and he quickly opened the door for her and stepped to the side. Louisa walked in, turned to pull at the pram, and without looking back, the three were inside, away from Margaret.
"Louisa, I apologize-" Martin said, and Louisa threw up her hand.
"Don't, Martin," she sighed. "You cannot control her, and I," she turned and stepped toward him where she wrapped her arms around his middle as she looked to him with a smile, "am not about to let this ruin my lovely day. Your mother is vicious, and we've already made sure she will not be around the children."
The two were quiet for a moment until Martin cleared his throat, "You really weren't considering five children, were you?"
Martin wouldn't admit it, but he enjoyed the rest of his day, alone with James. Of course, he missed Louisa, but the point was that had someone suggested to him that he would find contentment and enjoyment with a baby on his own, he would have given them a horrified scowl. This was really the first time he had spent any length of time alone with James; Martin had told Louisa to enjoy her day. After her time at the spa, she told Martin she planned to do some shopping, both for Christmas gifts and clothing. She was planning to meet a friend for tea later in the afternoon, someone with whom she'd started to meet at the park. He knew Louisa was very much looking forward to her day, just as he was looking forward to his at home with James. The now almost five-month-old was pleasant and awake for longer intervals. After returning from their walk to drop off Louisa, Martin fed James, played with him a bit-even for Martin, he'd had to have Louisa instruct him on what "playing" with a baby entailed, and then, he'd put James down for his nap after lunchtime. Louisa had started feeding James a porridge mix, some infant cereal, and Martin found himself covered in it after their lunch. Once he, himself, was changed and cleaned up for the afternoon, Martin settled into his work.
He and Louisa had been talking a great deal these last few weeks, and he was pursing a few different medical jobs around the country. Sadly, he was not set on any one area, more the right job, and that was making things harder. The plan, to have secured a job and get settled by the beginning of the new year, was seeming less and less likely. He'd spoken to four different hospitals and traveled to three over these last few weeks to meet with the department heads. Nothing had struck him as an interesting prospect; the pay was extremely low, especially for the surrounding area. At another, he thought the department head was a complete idiot and couldn't stand the idea of working for him, and at the last location, well, it just felt too isolating, which was odd, because there were times even Portwenn felt like the ends of the world.
Today, though, he was working on two different applications and had already made preliminary contact with these hospitals. He hated being gone from his surgery so much lately, but it was what it was; Chris understood and was supportive, at least as supportive as possible when his dear friend and gifted physician wanted to leave the area. Martin had stopped in London for this weekend after visiting one of the locations, the one with the idiot as a department head. Now that he had ruled that out, he was moving ahead on the pursuit of two new positions. He would travel back to Portwenn tomorrow, Sunday, and he would work in his surgery Monday and Tuesday. He would travel again Wednesday and Thursday, north this time, and then, he would be back in Portwenn for surgery Friday and Saturday. It was not ideal, and he knew there were grumblings of his leaving now circulating the village. Honestly, he just didn't care. None of the grumblings seemed to have any connection to this life he had with Louisa, and he was fine with that.
Louisa was getting antsy about the winter term and had discussed it with Martin just last night. He'd gotten in from travels mid-afternoon, enough time to take a walk with Louisa and James, and then, he'd made them dinner. He had plans to do that again this evening. Now that he'd been there with them in London almost 24 hours, he was realizing just how much he missed his wife and son. Yes, that was something he never believed possible, to truly miss someone else, but he felt rather comfortable with them and was a bit sad he had already missed so much of James' short life.
Louisa returned from her outing to find Martin holding James and reading to him. She smiled at the two, and Martin made room for Louisa to sit and join them on the couch. He felt his breath catch in the back of his throat as Louisa curled up to his side. He had everything he loved right there within his reach, well, with the exception of maybe Joan and Ruth too.
Sunday came all too quickly. Martin stood in the foyer of their home and stared deeply into Louisa's eyes, searching them for, well, he wasn't sure. He put his hand over her small, yet growing midsection, and Louisa put her hand over his as she smiled up at him.
"I'll be back for Christmas," he said quietly, in his tone reserved only for her. "Tis not that far now, just a fortnight."
Louisa nodded as she bit her lip and looked down at their hands over their baby, and she glanced up, giving him a soft smile, "I'll look forward to your few days here. I remember last year, calling you on Christmas, terrified of telling you I was pregnant with James."
"Hmm, yes," he grunted. He nodded as she sighed. Louisa squeezed his hand.
"Quite a lot of changes, and this year, while I won't be able to tell you if it's a boy or girl yet on Christmas, we shall know soon after."
Martin tilted his head and pursed his lips, "Do you wish to know again? I wondered if you might want to be surprised, as you tried last time."
"No, no," she said, making a face, but as she glanced at him, she saw a different expression. "Do you want to be surprised, Martin? I am sorry; I hadn't thought to ask. I just know that last time you couldn't be surprised."
Martin shook his head, "I only would have suggested that I might turn away or step out of the room when they do the anatomy scan. I will leave the decision to you."
"No, Martin," she squeezed his hand again and patted both hands against her stomach, "This is our child, and we, together," she nodded, "decide. What do you want?"
"Whatever makes you happy," he told her, and when he saw she scowled slightly, he continued. "It might be nice to know regarding the things we have for James Henry. Will we be able to reuse the clothing or need to buy ahh, girl clothing. I'm thinking practicalities. I dare say you would want to go out with two children and shop for things when you could know now and prepare."
She nodded as she considered his suggestion, "Yes, yes, you are right. It would be good to know now, I mean, in January, about the baby." She smiled up at him brightly, "I would like to know who is in here stirring up trouble already and who just seemed to beat all the odds to surprise us as our second child."
"Yes, well, not all odds, Louisa," he said softly, fingering her hair with his free hand. She rolled her eyes at him and sighed before she leaned up to kiss his cheek.
"I know you must go. Please tell Joan I miss her and look forward to seeing her at Christmas. She is still coming, yes?"
He nodded, "Yes, Joan and Ruth will join us for our Christmas meal. You be careful here, get some rest, and don't overdue it."
"Right, right," she waved. "I am going to call my school tomorrow and tell them that I do plan to return in January."
Martin sighed, dropped his head, and he frowned at her as he spoke, "I do wish you would reconsider. I don't understand this rush. We could be moving at any moment."
"Well, we aren't, and when that time comes," she locked eyes with him, "I will inform my school. For now, it is set. James will be with the nanny service. You said that we would speak with them when you are here at Christmas, and if you truly hate them, there is a lovely nursery two doors down from my school. I've already spoken to them there. They often don't have spots, but they do for James' young age."
"Louisa-" Martin started, but Louisa put her finger to his lips, leaned up, and she kissed him, cutting off any further discussion. Their kiss grew heated quickly, and Martin finally broke apart, looking at her as she grinned at him.
"Fine, we shall discuss care for James," he mumbled.
"Off you go," she said, opening the door and swatting at him. "You'll miss your train, Dr. Ellingham, and if you do, you will have a room full of villagers angry you missed the evening train tonight. You know they will be there at 8:00 in the morning, wanting you to open then and not at the normal 8:30."
"Idiot villagers," he grumbled. Louisa chuckled and squeezed his arm.
"Be careful, Martin," she winked at him as he pulled his bag out the door. She nodded to herself, "You married one of them."
He glanced to her as he situated his bag, "Yes, and what is it you say-find the good in anything? I found the one good person in the bunch of idiots."
Louisa burst out laughing, and Martin grumbled again. She waved to him as he loaded his bags and left in his taxi. Martin had the taxi circle back around the block to make sure Louisa was securely inside; after all, everything he loved, or almost everything, as he reminded himself, was inside that flat.
The train ride home was quiet, allowing Martin to continue his work and job search. He was looking forward to getting back into his bed. While he very much enjoyed being with Louisa in the flat, he preferred his bed in Portween. That had been one he had specially ordered when he had moved. It didn't look like anything special, but he missed it; his back missed it. It would be too late to pay Joan a visit when he arrived in Portwenn, but he had already made plans to have supper with her Monday evening. After a long day with patients, Martin knew that an escape from the village for just a few hours, out to Joan's farm, would be a welcome relief.
Martin's train was within a half hour of arrival when Chris called. Martin had started the process of packing up his things, and he glanced to his watch, noting he had plenty of time to fill Chris in on his week's events.
"Chris, good evening," Martin started. "My train should be arriving within the half hour."
"Martin," he said in a brisk, businesslike tone, "oh, ahh, that's good to hear. Listen, Martin, I won't beat around the bush. Your aunt was just brought into Truro Hospital. I'm here working late and well, actually saw her come in. I saw the call was coming from Portwenn area, and with you gone, I wanted to check to see which of your villagers it was. A man, Al, I believe, called it in. I briefly spoke to him. He rode along, shaken. He's been helping your aunt with her livestock?"
"Yes, yes," Martin said, now sitting up, the news starting to register with him. "Joan-"
"Come to Truro, Martin, not that I need to tell you that. It looks like a stroke, and-"
"I'll be there," Martin blurted, panic now settling in on his face. "I'll be there, Chris. Ahh, thank you for the call. Her care-"
"I will be monitoring everything and can update you on the way. Be safe, Martin, but hurry," Chris said, ending the call.