Chapter 13

Pauline shouted "Goodnight, Doc" as she left early.

Martin finished re-stocking his medical bag and went to get changed for the trip to Truro. He'd arranged for Dr Lewis of Wadebridge to cover any emergencies while he was away. He packed their single suitcase into the boot of the Lexus, locked up and made the short trip to school. Louisa was stood at the gate waiting for him. He admired her still trim figure as he got out and opened her door for her. An old-fashioned courtesy which Louisa now appreciated.

Soon they were making their way out of the village and onto the Truro Road. "Any problems, Martin? Getting away, I mean."

Louisa looked across to him and waited for his reply. "No, thankfully. No last-minute emergencies or idiotic villagers with problems which could wait until Monday to be seen!" he grumbled.

"Martin!" was Louisa's exclamation.

"Hmm." Was his contribution.

Louisa sat looking out of the window for the next ten miles, wishing he was not so scathing of the villagers and their health problems. Her thoughts turned to the Christmas play the children were putting on for their parents. Those children who were not assigned a speaking part could play angels and shepherds. They would have a real donkey to carry Mary to the stable. Louisa hoped it knew how to behave itself. She didn't want to clean up after it.

"Louisa, do you want dinner before we go shopping?" enquired Martin.

"Yes please, Martin. Are we eating in the hotel or at a restaurant?"

"I've booked us a table in the hotel as then we can leave the clothes in our room."

"Fine. I've prepared a list of those shops I'd definitely like to visit and a couple more for if we finish early. Do you know where you want to go or are you coming with me?"

"Ah, no Louisa. I want to get some things, just bits and pieces" he told her.

They chatted about things in general and the upcoming holidays. Martin would close the surgery for two days, this year, but would be on call on Boxing Day. He would cover New Year's Eve whilst Dr Lewis covered New Year's Day.

Louisa told him that school would shut for 2 weeks over the holidays. In fact, the school broke up for holidays the day after the school play was performed. So just half a day later. "I'm looking forward to the break, Martin. I feel as though I'm running a marathon each day."

"Yes, early-stage pregnancy, is very demanding on the system. Are you sure you want to continue until the summer holidays?"

"Perfectly sure, Martin. Next year I plan to apply for the headship, when Joanna leaves."

Martin's head turned quickly around to look at her. His look said he was dismayed. Turning his head back to the road he concentrated on his driving for a while before saying "I thought you'd be staying at home to look after the baby? I think you'd be a great mother, and I'm sure you would be the best care-giver to it." He went on, "I can easily afford to look after us all."

Now it was Louisa's turn to disagree. "I don't want to be a kept woman, Martin. I'll be staying at home for the first 6 weeks while the schoolchildren are on holiday, but assuming I get the headship, I want to start straight away. Anyway, I'm sure there are any number of girls in the village who would love to be a nanny and be paid for it. I could do that out of my salary."

Martin swallowed hard. This was not the picture he'd had in mind, at all. He thought back to his childhood. To the seemingly endless revolving door of new nannies, each with a different way of going on. He'd had to adapt to every change and whilst some had been caring quite a few adopted the harsh disciplinary methods his father used. He didn't want that for his child, but how to get that across to Louisa? He knew they'd talked briefly before, about this but he'd hoped that once it really was confirmed that she was pregnant, Louisa would come to see the sense of her being at home to mind the baby. Perhaps it was an old-fashioned viewpoint, but given his own loveless childhood, one which Martin would find very difficult to relinquish.

They talked in a desultory fashion and eventually came to their hotel in Truro. Louisa went to announce their arrival and Martin carried their suitcase in. Their room was ready so they went up to freshen up and leave their baggage. Dinner was being served in the restaurant when they went downstairs.

They declined desserts and went out to go to the town centre. "So, are you coming with me, or going off on your own, Martin?"

Late opening until 9:00p.m. meant they could have nearly 2 hours shopping. "I'll meet you in front of Charlotte's Tea House in an hour. Is that, OK?" Martin looked enquiringly at her.

Louisa nodded and they went their separate ways.

She wanted to get a few things for her friends at school and so headed to a few gift shops to browse through their offerings. She spotted a brooch for Pippa and a scarf for Tricia. A large tin of chocolates was purchased for the Staff Room. Her main objective was to look for something Martin would like. This proved to be difficult as he wasn't given to having too many possessions. He had an extensive cd collection, mainly of classical music and very little outside this genre. He barely tolerated her taste in music and so she discounted buying anything like that. He mostly read medical journals or esoteric surgery textbooks which meant that she wouldn't be able to just pick something off the shelf in the book store. Ties or cufflinks seemed to her, to be so boring that she thought she would relegate those to "additions" and not his main present. As she walked along the shelves in the book store she passed the "new baby" section and spotted a guide to being a father in the 21st Century. She picked it up and browsed through the introduction and chapter headings. Martin would have been able to write the pregnancy pages, she thought, so they wouldn't be of much use. However, some of the helpful advice pages seemed to be pitched at the right sort of level and she decided to buy it. She had it wrapped before putting it in her bag. No use Martin seeing it before the day. For Joan she bought a new mystery novel. When she checked the time, she knew she'd have to hurry to meet Martin.