This is purely fictional. Doc Martin and all of the characters are the property and creation of Buffalo Pictures. This is just for entertainment. There is no intention to infringe on any legal rights to the show or characters.
It was a glorious feeling to have a few hours to herself. She adored her family, yes, but every now and then, it was just nice to be carefree to enjoy the afternoon. Today, she'd had a few hours to do that. Yes, she had mixed some business with pleasure, but it had still been time alone. Oh, she adored Martin and the family they'd created, but life had been busy the last few months, the last year, really. Today, this afternoon, it was all about getting little bits of her life back.
Life had been full of surprises this last year, ups and downs. Thankfully, more ups than downs for the Ellingham family had been in order. The ordeal with Martin's job was far from over, but there had been some slight changes to the practice. Thankfully, the board had refused his resignation after deeming the entire process a disaster. Nothing had gone right from any of his required retrainings to the mock surgery patients to even the scheduled surgery. In a sense, the slate was wiped clean; nothing was held against him. That didn't mean that he was clear and free; he was still being monitored, but he was getting along with this doctor, a Dr. Smith. Louisa smiled even thinking back on that. She'd thought Martin was making a joke, well, she knew he wasn't because he didn't joke, but when he'd told her the name of this supervisor, she'd laughed, thinking it sounded made up. Smith sounded too common, a fake name, but Dr. Smith was indeed a real person, a real doctor, and he actually seemed to have Martin's best interest at heart. The observations were going well, and his two-year probation would then find him free and clear to be on his own again. They were now just over a year into this probation, and Dr. Smith's visits were now less frequent; the first year, he'd checked on Martin every two weeks, and now, it had dropped to once a month, something Martin could handle. It wasn't perfect, but it allowed the family to stay in Portwen and live the life they wanted.
Louisa had been through plenty too this last year. She was so glad they'd expanded their family and knew what a blessing that truly was for them. As Martin had reminded her often throughout the pregnancy, she was no spring chicken; okay, he'd told her repeatedly she was a geriatric mother. She smiled as she drove, thinking of that phrase. Some geriatric mother she was. She was handling things just fine, thank you very much. If today was any proof of that, she'd just come from registering for her next courses. Louisa had decided last term to take a term off with everything changing in their household. She'd taken classes throughout most of her pregnancy, but then, she'd taken a break to get used to their newly expanded family. It had been good, having some time at home just to dedicate to Martin and the children. Now, though, she was ready to resume her studies. Her timeline was now a little longer than she'd planned; she wasn't taking the coursework load she'd originally set forth, but it was fine. Life was good, and she would finish her coursework; it would just take a little longer. She was happy, her husband was working again, and her children were thriving.
For her last stop of the day, she parked her car and gathered her handbag. After registering for her classes, she had a list of errands and was now about done with her shopping in Truro. She looked over at her shopping there on the seat and realized just how busy she had been. She needed to be quick at this last stop because she'd left Martin at home on "Daddy Duty" so to speak. It really wasn't that bad. She often had it worse most days. James was at school, and as Louisa checked her watch, she quickly calculated the time and realized she could be home to relieve Martin before James even finished at school. Yes, she'd do that, and she knew Martin would enjoy walking down to get James. The two of them had been walking to and from school a lot together. She loved standing outside the front door and watching them walk hand in hand to and from school. It almost brought her to tears, and she often thought about how different life could be had James not come along and forced his parents to figure things out for themselves.
Louisa made her way into the shop, a local jewelry and antique shop. It was one Martin had found, not that he was really interested in antiques, but for this special project, she had to admit he'd done his research. She smiled at the shopkeeper as she entered and walked toward him.
"Good afternoon," she nodded, a warm smile still there. "I believe you have a ring for me. My husband said it was ready. Ellingham. It is my diamond engagement ring. He'd had it reset."
"Ahh, yes, Dr. Ellingham," he nodded. "Good taste, and if I do say so, the ring came out beautifully. Let me just fetch it," he said, gesturing with his hand that he would return momentarily. Louisa nodded and gestured that she would look around the shop.
Martin had surprised her with this gift, if it really was a gift. Her engagement ring from long ago had been a bit of a sore spot with Louisa, at least. After they'd called off the first wedding, it just felt odd to keep it. She hadn't, but she hadn't really done a good job returning it either. She'd returned it to Joan on her way out of town when she'd moved to London. It wasn't that she didn't want Martin to have it back, but the problem was that after walking away from him, from their wedding, she hadn't wanted to stop back by to just drop off the ring. That would have been absurd. She shook her head now and rolled her eyes trying to imagine that conversation, "Oh, just dropping by, Martin, my ex-fiancé, and I wanted to leave this with you," she could hear herself saying. She bit her lip in a light chuckle as she imagined dropping it in his fish, as he'd done to her when he'd given it to her. She almost kicked herself for not thinking of that; that might have been fun because at the time, the last thing she wanted to do was eat another plate of fish with Martin.
Still, now, she shook her head. That was in the distant past. She'd stopped by Joan's farm to say goodbye to her and to let Joan know she was leaving. As she walked back to her car, she turned to Joan and handed her the small box, her eyes meeting Joan's, "I know this was a family heirloom, and seeing as how I'm not family, it doesn't belong to me."
Joan had frowned and clasped her hand over Louisa's, but she patted her hand as she took the box back, "I'm sorry, Louisa, just bloody sorry for the both of you."
Years later and here in the shop, Louisa was glad it was water under the bridge, but she also realized just how long ago it had been. Joan had been gone now for years. It seemed so sad that she'd never met James, passing away the very day he'd been born. That also had Louisa smiling, a somewhat sad smile, though, but she thought of happier, more recent times regarding birth and Martin's aunt. Martin had never really commented on that, that James had entered the world as Joan left, but he had called Ruth frequently when Louisa had been in labor this time. Thankfully, Ruth was still very much alive and very happy to be part of their growing family.
Louisa couldn't focus on the items in the shop. Her mind was just wandering thinking about the ring and everything that had happened to get to this point. When she and Martin had gotten engaged again, he hadn't given her the ring, and she hadn't asked. It was almost if the two believed it to be cursed, which neither of them did, or at the time, she'd thought that and figured that was the case for Martin too. The ring had not been the source of their problems, but in its own way, it was almost something that represented their first failure, and neither had wanted that a second time. Martin wasn't one into grand affairs or wedding details, so really, she hadn't expected him to go out and buy another one. They'd not really discussed it, and when they'd bought their wedding bands, both had been okay with the idea of simple bands. It was a simple town. She didn't need more. Martin didn't want more, and that had been fine. After, for the next several months, okay, over the next year or so really, their marriage had been rocky. That was obvious, rather almost painfully obvious to the entire village. Over the last couple of years, they had finally gotten back on solid ground, but really, she hadn't thought about that ring in years. It was only a few months ago now, when they were cleaning out their bedroom, rearranging things, that Martin brought up the subject again.
"Louisa," he said to her as she was then, heavily pregnant and trying to figure out the room arrangement. The house seemed to be growing smaller and smaller as she was growing larger and larger. They had discussed trying to move to something larger or do something with the surgery, but with Martin's career in limbo, they'd decided to make do until things were sorted. She stopped what she was doing and looked over at Martin, who was now sitting on his side of the bed. He had been sorting his nightstand on this rainy Sunday afternoon while James played across the hall in his room. She gave Martin an odd look, trying to read his expression. He sat there, looking at something, and she walked or waddled around the bed, to see what he'd found.
"What is it, Martin?" Louisa had asked, now, coming toward him. She froze when she saw him sitting there with that box, the box in his hand. She knew that box. He looked up at her, his eyes almost with a pleading sorrow to them.
He held up the box, "You have to forgive me," he started to say. Louisa shook her head, but he gestured for her to let him finish, "I wish you would have reminded me. You know I'm not good at these things, but this was to be your ring. It has been in that drawer since you left for London. Auntie Joan brought it over that evening; she's the one who told me you'd left, and well," he cleared his throat. Louisa knew her husband well enough that he was actually fighting back tears here. She sat down slowly next to him, shifting her large stomach as she could and took his hand in hers as she looked him in the eye.
"Martin, marrying you was never about a ring. We've been through our ups and downs, planning on all ups from here out," she said with a bright smile. "That ring was never mine to take."
"But it was," he told her, his eyes pleading. "It is," he nodded it to her. "I'm sorry. I was wrong. I completely forgot about the engagement protocols when we, when we," he stumbled to find the right words. She squeezed his hand.
"We had a lot going on back then, still being new parents, trying to adjust to things, and then, we had someone trying to kidnap our baby," she sighed. "Martin, really, it's fine."
"No, it's no," he said firmly as he shook his head. "This was my grandmother's ring, and if you still want it, it's to be yours. I have no plan to marry anyone else."
"Ahh, how romantic," Louisa grinned as she chuckled. She bumped her shoulder with him, trying to lighten the mood. She could see he was embarrassed he had forgotten about it. "Martin," she said slowly, waiting for him to meet her gaze. He finally did. "I loved the ring the first time you gave it to me, and to be honest, I wasn't sure you hadn't just thrown it in the ocean after things went south between us." His eyes widened in horror, and she squeezed his arm. "I'm glad you didn't, and yes, I'd love your grandmother's ring."
This time, he'd done a better job and had not dropped the ring in her food or in anything else. Louisa smiled at it, at him, when he opened the box. It was a beautiful ring, a classic setting, and she wondered just how old it was.
"Bugger," he said when he tried to help her put it on. She shook her head. The ring wasn't fitting.
"I'm sorry, Martin. My hands are swollen," she sighed. She looked to him and reached over to cup his face, "I do apologize, but I do believe you are partly to blame for my swollen hands," she grinned, patting her large stomach with her free hand. Martin gave her a look, his almost smile as she called it, the most she'd really see him smile. At that, he nodded, and she took the hand that had been on his face, reached for his hand, and she brought it to her stomach so they could both feel the kicks she was feeling.
She continued as they held their hands there, "I suppose waiting a bit longer for the ring will do, hmm?"
He nodded and with his other hand, the hand with the ring, he started to inspect it. He pulled his hand away as he looked at the ring, "Louisa, the ring is bent, and the setting is loose. I feel I still owe you a proper ring, so how about I get this reset?"
Louisa looked at him in surprise, "Martin, you don't have to do that."
He pointed toward her stomach, "You didn't have to do that or that," he said, pointing across the hall toward where James was playing."
"Nonsense, I wanted to. I mean, sure," she rolled her eyes, "swollen hands and feet, feeling like my body isn't mine, well, not the best, but I'm happy to do it."
He nodded, "Of course, I know it's not the same, but I want to do this. I've done poorly with this far too long that it's high time I get my wife a proper engagement ring. No arguments," he said gesturing with his hand. "Besides, maybe this ring, like we did, needs a fresh start, so please, Louisa, let me get it into a new setting. I know you don't care about what the village thinks, but I care and need to do the right thing here. It's high time."
"That would be lovely, Martin," she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "To be fair, I just didn't want to bring up bad memories, and I am perfectly fine with my wedding band here."
He nodded, "Well, thank you, but I am learning, and after everything, I have learned a little about being a good husband, and I'm going to start with a proper ring."
Louisa now turned as she heard the shopkeeper returning with her ring. She hadn't seen it yet; Martin had done all of the research and consulting on it. It was totally Martin; give him a project, and it would be done perfectly and with the best research.
"Oh, it's too much!" Louisa gushed, bringing her hand to her mouth as he opened the box. Louisa found herself tearing up, now wishing she had let Martin run this errand. She knew he was not sentimental, but he had put forth so much effort that now with the beautiful ring in front of her, she was kicking herself for spoiling his surprise.
"Oh, no, there's no charge-I mean to you. Dr. Ellingham has already paid for the ring," the shopkeeper told her. He gestured for her to take it out of the box.
"No, no," she shook her head, giving him a small smile. "Sorry, I just meant that my husband outdid himself. He didn't tell me he was doing this, adding to the ring."
"The setting on the old ring was fragile," the man explained. Dr. Ellingham said he would like a new setting and wanted to add a large diamond to it to go with the two, and as you see, he wanted the large one in the middle with the two on each side."
"Yes," she sighed. "It's beautiful, really beautiful. You did a wonderful job, and I like the thick band for it."
"Your husband and I discussed that the size of the diamond would do better with a large band. He has good taste, and I am very happy with how the ring turned out. Would you like it now?" The shopkeeper offered her the box, and she grinned as she reached in to pull it out.
As Louisa was putting the ring on her finger, the door opened, signaled by the bell at the door. Louisa admired her ring as the shopkeeper called out to his next customer, "I'll be with you shortly."
"I should hope!" Louisa heard and froze. "I have a broken clasp on my strand of pearls, and I was told you could repair it immediately. I don't have time to waste. My time is very valuable, and while I would prefer to have my pearls fixed by a reputable jeweler in London, unfortunately, I'm here and this will have to do."
Louisa finished putting her ring on her finger, something she'd been so happy to do just a few moments earlier. This wonderful moment was now ruined. Her mood was now dampened, and she slowly turned to face the woman she'd grown to find despicable.
"Margaret," she said, her mouth tight as she took in the sight of her mother in law. She truly never expected to lay eyes on her again, let alone here in Cornwall.
"Oh, Louise," she said, almost dismissing her with a slight roll of her eye. Louisa wanted to pounce on her like a tiger, wanted to spew words of hate at her for all the things she'd done to Martin, but she took a deep breath and decided to keep her composure. During their last meeting, Louisa had only known a little of what had been done to Martin as a child, and as their marriage had grown and they'd finally started to open up to one another, she'd sadly learned many of the horrid details of Martin's childhood."
"Louise, I didn't expect to see you here, back in Truro," she huffed. "Oh," she said with a curt nod toward her hand where Louisa's new, sparkling diamond was getting its first viewing, "I see that after you left my son you've found something or I should say someone better, hmm," she said, her lips pinched. "Well done. I didn't think you had it in you, leaving him yes, but I'm not sure I took you for trying to marry up. You understand?" Margaret asked, trying to see if Louisa was smart enough to follow her thinking. "I mean, you're just a simple village girl, but I see that obviously you are into money and status. You impress me, and I certainly expect you got everything you could from that pitiful son of mine."
Louisa was fuming. Of course, Margaret would assume she'd actually left Martin. The last time she'd seen her had been at the airport when Margaret had stolen Martin's clock. They had no contact with her and never wanted any. Right now, all Louisa wanted to do was set the record straight, but she had a quick image of her family, their family, pop into her head, and she instantly knew it wasn't worth the trouble; she needed to protect their family. Margaret didn't need to know anything, even if that meant that Louisa had to look like a horrid wife and person.
Louisa didn't dignify Margaret with a response. Instead, she turned back to the shopkeeper, who stood there, trying not to pry, his eyes down. Louisa reached for the box and nodded to him, "Thank you for all of your work. I'm sure we will stop in again soon. You have a lovely shop." With that, he met her gaze, she gave him a nod and small smile, and she turned, putting her handbag on her shoulder.
"I don't know what brought you off your high horse to mingle with all of us, the commoners here, but I'd rather you not ruin my day, so I'll bid you a goodbye," Louisa told Margaret. Margaret stood there and sighed as she rolled her eyes at Louisa. Just as Louisa was opening the door, Margaret had one final comment.
"Oh, Louise, the child," she said. Louisa refused to acknowledge her by turning around, and she didn't dare mention that it was now children, plural. She slowly opened the door, almost wanting to hear the last comment.
"Is he a sad, pathetic little boy, a disappointment, like his father? Bedwetter? He won't have the superior genes, not well, I mean he won't be of high intelligence," Louisa could see out of the corner of her eye that Margaret gestured to Louisa, meaning that Louisa wasn't of the intelligence to produce a child with these so-called "superior genes." As hard as it was, and maybe this was something she'd learned after dealing with Martin over the years, to control her emotions better, she took a deep breath, ignored her disastrous mother in law, and she stepped outside.
She couldn't get home fast enough. She had to tell Martin. Thankfully, she had her fun car that she often drove way too fast that would get her home quickly. Thoughts of her fun car briefly distracted the thoughts from her horrid encounter. She needed to discuss the car with Martin too and needed to admit that, yes, he'd been right; she should have bought a bigger, practical car, something they all could enjoy especially now with the children. For now, she just needed her fun car to get her home quickly.