Chapter 8
Martin had spent the morning moving his things into Louisa's whilst she was at school. He didn't have much to move of course, just the things he kept at Aunty Joan's in case of an emergency like this; a few suits and pyjamas, a bit of money in an old tin and a stethoscope. He loaded the last of it into the boot of his car before thanking Aunty Joan.
'Not a problem. I'm sorry about all of this Martin. Have the insurance firm been in touch yet?'
'Yes. I am meeting with a loss adjustor at the house later today. I'm sure we will devise some sort of plan then.'
'Oh good. That will get the ball rolling then. And you'll be staying with Louisa, yes?'
'Yes' He knew she was fishing, beating around the bush. He just knew her too well.
'And she's alright with that?'
'Of course, she's alright with that. She offered!'
Joan sighed slightly and looked thoughtful, just as she did when sha wanted a good talk with him. So she wondered off into the field, where she knew he would follow.
'Oh god.' He muttered.
They walked the field in a clockwise fashion, taking in Cornwall's lush greenery and fresh blue sea before Joan just had to talk with him. A serious talk.
'So, neither of you think it's going to be at all awkward, living together?' Joan asked sceptically.
'Why would it be awkward?' Martin asked looking mystified.
'Well because Martin, you've done nothing to help the poor girl or that baby, your baby might I add. You fall at your first hurdle and she welcomes and supports you with everything she has.' Joan was using her authoritative voice now; she felt she needed to. And Martin knew she was right. He had been feeling emotional, not that anybody would ever know, but she was right. Louisa never let him down. Probably one of the reasons he loved her.
'It would not be awkward. How could anything be awkward when I love her.' Martin's eyes shot open straight away and his body froze after realising what he had just said. It was true. Of course it was true, but he never told anybody that!
'There you go, so why in God's name are you MOVING TO EDINBURGH?' Joan could be as fiery as Martin when she needed to be. And especially when it concerned somebody she loved. And she loved them both, Martin and Louisa.
Martin couldn't reply. He didn't have a quick answer for it. Maybe he didn't know the answers himself.
'All I'm saying, Martin is…..' she looked pained 'She won't wait forever. She might wait 6 months, maybe 6 years but one day, there'll be a man who will love her almost as much as you. And it'll be him spending the rest of his life with her. Him bringing up your child.' Joan paused for a few seconds, 'As long as you're prepared for that.' She slowly began walking back to the farm whilst Martin looked out to sea. She knew that what she had just said would hit a nerve with Martin but he needed it; sometimes it was the only way of getting through to him, of making him see what was right in front of him. It did hurt Martin. He felt even worse now but again, she was right. Why was she always right? Why did she always have to see things logically?
XXX
Louisa got home late, she always did get carried away with her marking and she tried not to bring it home with her so much these days. She liked to relax once she was home. She walked into the lounge and noticed how spotless and tidy everything was. She was fairly sure it hadn't been this tidy this morning? But she was now wondering if 'baby brain' had taken over. Again. With that, Martin popped his head round from under the stairs.
'I had a little tidy up. I hope you don't mind' Martin tried to read her reaction.
'No, no. Thank you. It looks very nice. And clean.' She smiled at him. She felt so sorry for him and she felt so helpless.
'I've also cooked two portions of mackerel, green beans and kale. Would you like to eat now?'
'Oh blimey, you're spoiling me, Martin. Yes, that would be lovely.'
Whilst Louisa showered and got changed into her pyjamas, Martin heated up the food and began setting up his bed, which was to be the sofa. Louisa didn't really want him on that tiny sofa and had said he could sleep with her, but Martin didn't want to. He didn't want to appear presumptuous and respected her space. His legs would dangle off the edge but that wasn't a worry to him, with everything else that was going on.
Louisa came down in her pyjamas; this was her favourite time of the day, when she could put her most comfortable clothing on and put her feet up, all while enjoying a hot cup of something. Martin tried not to stare at her; he was a doctor but needn't be, to know that birth was imminent. She looked uncomfortable he thought, and she most definitely felt it.
'Oh, thank you so much for this, Martin. That fish smells delicious!'
'Not a problem, I hope you enjoy it.' The fact was that, it was awkward living together again, under such strange circumstances but they both tried to ignore it and act normally. Well, as normal as they could.
As they tucked in, Louisa tried to make conversation- she knew Martin wouldn't.
'So what happened with that, loss thingy person?' She asked.
'Loss adjustor. Unfortunately, not a lot. He just explained the process to me. He advised me to take on a loss assessor, er, which I will. The loss adjustor has ordered a chartered surveyor to assess the house, assess the damage and so on.'
This was all bumbo jumbo to Louisa, but she tried to get the flow of it. 'Ah. So did you get to go in to the house today?'
'Er, no. The surveyor will deem the house safe or otherwise. This will all be managed under the loss assessor who will no doubt discuss with the loss adjustor as it is the loss adjustor who is employed by the insurance firm, not the loss assessor.' He tried to explain.
He had completely lost Louisa now, but she nodded.
'How was your day?' He asked her, sweetly.
'Yes, not too bad, thank you. Year 4 were a bit boisterous today but, they're just excited for the summer Holidays I expect. I'm quite excited too, means we're one step closer to July 28th.' She smiled.
He looked confused 'July 28th?'
'Our due date'
They both then sat in silence, glimpsing at each other. They didn't really want to discuss the elephant in the room, which was, that no matter how terrifying it was, these two would be having a baby in less than 3 weeks.
'Anyway, I'm feeling a bit tired, I think I'll go to bed. Are you going to be ok down here? You don't have to sleep on that sofa, you know.' She yawned.
'No thank you. I hope you sleep well.'
As Louisa made her way slowly up the stairs, Martin just looked at her, in that way he often did. When his softness came out, the times when he wanted to tell her how much he loved her, and always would.
'Louisa…' he whispered
She turned and smiled,
'Louisa, you look very, er…swollen.'
She was confused. Had she heard him correctly? 'What?'
'You're ankles, they're very swollen.'