"Chapter 11
"How did it go?" Louisa asked Martin as they left the pool area. She knew Martin was presenting an important paper to the conference that morning, and she had been thinking about him all day. He was always supremely confident in himself and his work, and he really was the best, she knew that. Still, things sometimes go wrong, the A-V equipment could malfunction or someone could contest his results.
"Well." He nodded his head in response. Martin could still be monosyllabic, but she knew if something had gone wrong he wouldn't have hesitated to open up with an excoriating rant.
"Good." There was no need to push him for details that she wouldn't understand in any event. He had explained his research to her over the course of the past several months, in layman's terms of course. She loved that he took the time to share his thoughts with her, to share bits of his world that helped her understand how he spent his days and why some days were better than others.
Sharing the details of their day was part of their evening routine and she knew that Martin enjoyed explaining his work to her just as he enjoyed when she explained some of the problems she had with her students or the school's administration. He added, "I still have the Q&A session from two to three this afternoon. Will you and James be napping then?"
"I expect James will nap this afternoon. We had a busy morning, didn't we James?" She looked down at her son who was listening intently to his parent's conversation.
"Yes." He nodded his head up and down. "Robbie and I built a sand castle on the beach. Can we go show it to Daddy?"
"Robbie?" Martin looked at Louisa inquisitively.
She addressed James first. "We can show Daddy the sand castle if he has time after lunch." Turning to Martin, she clarified, "Robbie is Sallie and Robert's son." Again, Martin gave her a questioning look. "Your old colleague? Robert Dashwood? Robbie's only a few months older than James." Louisa lowered her voice conspiratorially, "And Sallie told me they are expecting another as well in August."
"You're kidding! He's much too old to be fathering another child."
"He's not that much older than you."
"At least ten years, probably fifteen. He'll be over eighty before that child is out of school. What was he thinking?"
"I suspect he wasn't thinking at the time." She looked at him with a twinkle in her eye.
"Humph."
James tugged on his mother's hand. "Can we show Daddy the castle? Please."
"James, I told you … After lunch, if there's time, we will show it to Daddy, but now we're here and it's time to eat. I thought you were hungry."
They entered the casual restaurant adjacent to the beach and were seated next to the fish pond that was at the centre of the restaurant. There were several boardwalks crossing the pond where diners could observe the fish swimming amongst the reeds and water lilies. James was fascinated by the fish in the pond and Louisa took him over to examine the different fish while they waited for their lunch to be served. Martin stayed seated at the table and watched in fascination as his wife and son examined the fish in the pond. He wondered if there might be a children's book on fish in one of the shops in the resort. Even a more advanced book with appropriate pictures could provide him and James hours of enjoyment and be educational for James as well. As he was engaged in thought, he was interrupted.
"Ahem." He looked up to see one of the physicians attending the conference standing over him. Martin looked up and the man introduced himself extending his hand in greeting,"Silvio Fonseca."
Martin ignored his outstretched hand, "Yes?"
"Mr. Ellingham, I attended your presentation this morning. It was brilliant."
Martin scowled at the man and grunted, "Mm."
The man took that as permission to continue and he pulled out a chair and sat down hoping to engage Martin in conversation, "I wonder if I might ask you a technical question on …"
Martin quickly cut him off, "Q&A is at two o'clock. Ask your question then."
"But this will only take a moment."
"No. I'm busy. Go away."
Martin had raised his voice so that Louisa turned around, "Martin?"
He turned to reassure her, "It's nothing Louisa. This man is just leaving." He turned back to the man who was still seated at the table, mouth agape, and repeated, "Q&A is at two pm. Now good-bye."
"But, but … "the man stammered as he rose, but Martin returned his attention to his family and the man finally gave up and reluctantly walked away.
Just then the waiter came with their meal, and Louisa guided James away from the fish pond and back to the table. She knew his encounter with this doctor was typical Martin Ellingham behaviour, the arrogance that had given him his difficult reputation. At times it distressed her. Why couldn't he be politer, or at least more politic? Even now, after five years of marriage, she found his behaviour embarrassing at times. As much as she wanted to suggest a more cordial way to handle people such as this man, especially at a conference where informal discussions were expected, she knew from experience she wasn't going to change him. Nevertheless, she felt compelled to say, "Martin, you could have been more courteous to that man."
"Why?" He was examining James' hands as if he was debating whether to take him back to the lavatory for one more wash.
"He's a colleague. You might need his help in future."
"Not likely. He sounded Portuguese."
"Still", she shook her head and rolled her eyes, "He's hopeless". She knew that many people were unable to understand her devotion to him. She sighed and sat down to her meal as Martin, satisfied that James' hands were acceptable for lunch, gently helped James into his booster seat. If others could see him now as he tended to James, tenderly brushing the back of his fingers across his cheek before settling himself in his seat, they might understand why she loved him.
"Daddy, you should see the fish in the pond. They are all different colours." James started a conversation after popping several pieces of the fish Martin had cut for him into his mouth.
"Finish chewing your fish and then tell me what colours you saw, James." Martin knew this was a learning moment, naming all the colours.
James swallowed his fish and then answered animatedly, "There was an orange fish and a yellow one and two blue ones . And a green one!"
"I don't remember seeing the green one James." Louisa questioned her son.
James started to climb down from his chair, 'Let me show you."
"No. We can look for it later James. Sit down and eat your lunch."
"I'll eat fast." James started to gulp down the pasta that came with his fish.
"James, eat slowly. You don't want to choke." Martin chided him. "There will be time to look for the green fish after we finish."
Martin turned to Louisa, "What do you and James have planned for this afternoon after your naps?"
"I may call Sallie to see if she and Robbie want to go back out to the beach so the boys can play at the water's edge … if the wind doesn't pick up. It was nice and warm this morning. Or they might enjoy the playground. James and I were there yesterday afternoon and James quite enjoyed it. We'll see. It's been nice getting to know Sallie better and it's wonderful for James to have someone his own age to play with."
"Yes. You do realise that the sun will be at its strongest at that time of day. It might be better to stay in the shade if the playground is sheltered. If you do go to the beach, be sure to use plenty of sunscreen. Better yet, hire an umbrella and stay under that as much as possible."
''Yes Martin." Louisa huffed. "I do know how to protect James from the sun."
"Good. There's a discussion panel that I want to attend at four, but I should be finished with the formal sessions by five. What would you like to do this evening?"
They continued to discuss their plans for the next two days. Louisa was looking forward to visiting some of the sights with Martin the next day, perhaps taking James to the zoo or on a short boat trip. Martin wanted to explore one of the beaches famous for shell collecting with James. He remembered how much he enjoyed finding special shells when he went beach combing with Joan and Phil when he was little.
They only had one day to themselves because her mother would join them on Sunday Louisa was looking forward to seeing her mother. It had been a while since she had seen her, not since the two weeks they had spent together the previous summer. Somehow in the last few years, since James' birth actually, she and her mother had become closer. Her mother still liked to tease her, but she had learned not to take it all so personally. And being a mother to James helped her understand some of the restrictions she had rebelled against as a child. Where she once bristled at her mother's intrusions into her life, she now saw her interference as the concern it was. She now understood that her mother was trying to protect her, not really restrict her.
She knew that Martin was not looking forward to spending all day Sunday with her mother, and that could be a problem. Miriam seemed to delight in winding him up, pushing his buttons until he exploded. She must speak to Miriam about that before Sunday. It just wasn't necessary, and Louisa didn't want Martin's last day to be ruined by a confrontation with his mother-in-law. Martin could be something of a snob, but he had been good about accepting that his mother-in-law was family despite her poor education and plebeian sensibilities. Nonetheless Miriam seemed to sense his disdain for some of her ideas. Perhaps he and James could wander off while she had a good visit with her mum.
As they finished up their meal and were leaving the restaurant, James was quick to remind Martin that he had promised to go see the sand castle he had built. Martin looked at his watch and then at Louisa, "It's nearly 1:40. I do need to get back and prepare for my last session and make certain that the room is properly set-up for my Q&A's."
"Daddy has to go back to work James." Louisa could see the disappointment in James face and the tears welling up. "Tell you what. Why don't you and I go take a picture of it to show Daddy when he finishes his work?"
James' face lit up, "Okay. Can I take the picture?"
"Of course." Louisa smiled down at James while Martin scowled. "I don't think …"
"It'll be fine Martin. Now go back to your session. We don't want you to be late." She reached up to give him a peck on the cheek, but Martin squatted down to speak with James. "I'll look forward to seeing your picture James."
James leaned into his Dad to hug him, almost toppling Martin. "Okay. Bye Daddy"
Martin held onto James' arms to regain his balance and looked seriously into his son's eyes. "James, I'm sorry I can't go see your sand castle. I look forward to seeing the picture."
"Okay Daddy. I will take lots of pictures." James replied with a big grin.
"Good. Now James, I have a job for you. When you finish taking your pictures and you go up to the room to take a nap, I want you to make sure that Mummy rests also. Can you make sure that she lies down too?"
James nodded his head, "I will Daddy." Looking up to his mother, he added, "We'll both take a nap, won't we mummy?"
Louisa huffed as Martin straightened up, "Martin, I'm not sure my napping is really necessary, but I will rest."
"Louisa, you are in your last trimester. I think it prudent that you take extra care to ensure that both you and the baby are healthy as your delivery date approaches."
Despite his lecturing tone, he was looking at her with that soft expression that always melted her heart, and she found herself responding, "Don't worry. I will rest when James takes his nap. We'll be so full of energy later that you won't be able to keep up with us." With a twinkle in her eye, she reached up and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek, which in an unusual move, he reciprocated.
His kiss surprised her. He was still not one to show affection in public. As he walked away, she noticed two conference members approach him. She heard one of them compliment him on his beautiful wife and son. He replied with his usual grunt, but she couldn't help wondering. In one of his rare candid moments of reflection a year or so ago as they lay in bed together in the afterglow of a particularly sensuous act of love, he shared that upon occasion a colleague would jokingly ask him how he managed to get Louisa to marry him. It had happened more than once, in fact many times, since they had been together. When she asked him how he replied to that question, he told her that he never responded.
Although she understood that he was reticent to share their private life, which was certainly none of anyone else's business, she had to ask, "Never? Why not?"
His reply? "I don't know the answer … but I'm glad you did."
Secretly she thought he was pleased that other men were impressed that she was with him. After this kiss, in full view of other professionals at the conference, she had to wonder if it was a show of pride, unconscious perhaps, but pride nonetheless that he was in possession of a beautiful wife who was about to present him with a second child. She smiled to herself as she thought that even her very highly educated, sophisticated husband might have latent caveman tendencies.
He surprised her again later that evening with a more sensuous kiss when they were walking on the beach with James after supper. The sun was sinking behind the horizon as they walked out for a short stroll just above the water's edge, and the clouds were glittering with the pinks and purples of a magnificent sunset. Golden rays briefly shot out through the clouds and across the sky in a final burst of light before the spectacle faded and dusk settled over the water. "What a beautiful sunset," Louisa exclaimed.
"Yes." Martin agreed as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"Wasn't that pretty James?" Louisa encouraged her son, who had found a stick of driftwood and was poking at the sand.
"Yes, Mummy." He suddenly dropped the stick and ran over to a mound of sand, "Mummy. This was our sand castle. It's gone." He had taken several pictures of his castle to show Martin, but was hoping it would still be on the beach and was extremely disappointed to see the water had washed most of it away.
"Stupid ocean," James exclaimed angrily, kicking at the sand.
"Mmm. You're angry." Louisa commiserated.
"Yes. The water is mean."
"No," Louisa felt the need to explain. "The ocean is just doing what it is supposed to do, smoothing out the sand for people to enjoy tomorrow. We can talk about it then. How does that sound?"
"Kay." James replied, scuffing his beach shoes in the sand and only somewhat mollified.
Martin squatted down to look his son in the eye, trying to comfort him, "It was a very nice castle, what is left of it. I could tell from your pictures. And you will always have those pictures to remember."
"I know Daddy," James replied as he gazed despondently over to the remains of his sand castle.
They continued on their walk. Martin had taken hold of Louisa's hand whilst James wandered down to the water's edge, running back to his parents when the surf rushed up to tickle his toes with each new wave. They had reached the end of the resort property and they paused to gaze back out to sea. There were only a few other beachcombers strolling along the beach as the light faded, and Louisa let go of Martin's hand so she could wrap her arm around his back, "This is nice. Just the three of us"
He pulled her closer and, nuzzling his face in her hair, whispered, "Yes." With a quick glance around the beach to ascertain that they were relatively alone and that James was safely far from the water, Martin lightly embraced Louisa and kissed her gently on the lips. "I'm glad you're here tonight."
She gazed up into his eyes and returned the kiss with a bit more passion. "Mmm … me too."
"Daddy, I'm tired. Carry me." Martin felt a tug on his trousers and looked down, arching a stern eyebrow towards the young face peering up at him.
James remembered to add, "Please?"
"Yes, of course." Martin released Louisa and leaned down to gingerly lift James off of the sand. Holding his son in his arms so that James' back was resting on his chest and his feet were hanging loosely away from his body, he faced Louisa, "Can you dry off his feet so I don't get sand on my clothes?"
"Certainly," Louisa had brought a small towel for just this purpose and quickly brushed off James' feet. As Martin readjusted James in his arms and settled him against his shoulder, Louisa reached up and brushed her lips against his cheek, whispering in his ear, "Wish we could have carried that last moment to its proper conclusion."
Martin gave her a quick wry smile, "Mmm … me too."