CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

A WEEK AND A HALF LATER

"This is it. I'm finally home," Martha said to herself outloud.

She turned her car off and stepped outside. She inhaled deeply; taking in the salty scent of the sea air. One of her favourite smells in the world. It felt a bit strange being back; especially since she had been gone for three weeks. She was only supposed to stay with Morag for two weeks but she ended up deciding to stay a bit longer. But no doubt; she was now glad to be home again.

She'd missed everybody so much. Three weeks was a long time. It was also the longest amount of time that she'd ever spent away from Jack. She missed him a lot, but she wasn't about to admit it to anyone. She needed to stop thinking about him. She'd only been back in town for a minute and already her thoughts were consumed by him.

"Hey Martha," she heard a voice call out. She looked up and saw Ric running towards her.

"Hey," she gave him a big smile.

"I'm so glad you're back. I've missed you," Ric said, giving her a hug.

"It's good to be back. I've missed this place," Martha told him.

"Woah, where did that come from?" Ric teased as he looked down at her stomach. "I'm pretty sure that wasn't there when you left," he laughed.

"Ah yeah. I've been eating. A lot," Martha joked, as she touched her small, now noticable bump. She was only four months along, so it wasn't a big bump, but people would most likely be able to tell that she was pregnant.

"When I left you couldn't even really tell I was pregnant. It's amazing how much things can change in the space of a few weeks," Martha told Ric. "So, if people didn't know I was pregnant; they're definitely going to know now," she finished.

"Oh, don't worry. The whole town practically knows already anyway. Once Colleen and Madge found out, they made it their personal mission to tell everybody," Ric started to explain. "If they had it their way, they probably would have made a banner," he joked.

"Oh goody, I just love it when the whole town knows my private business," Martha said sarcastically.

"Don't we all," Ric added with sarcasm. "Anyways, I'll walk you to the apartment," he offered.

"Okay," Martha nodded. "Let me just get my bags," she said as she opened up the back door of her car. She pulled out her two bags and chucked them over onto the grass. She then grabbed her jacket, and locked the car before walking over to where Ric was waiting. She picked the bags up and started walking in the direction of the diner.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ric demanded.

"Going home. What does it look like?" Martha said, looking confused.

"Ah yeah, I can see that. But put those bags down. You shouldn't be carrying them. Let me do it," Ric ordered her.

"Don't be stupid," Martha laughed. "I can carry my own bags. I'm fine," she fobbed him off, and continued walking.

"Give me the bags," Ric said once again, as he tried to grab them off her.

"I'm not a cripple Ric. I can carry the friggin bags," Martha started to yell as she snatched them back from him. Martha's raised voice soon starting grabbing the attention of people walking past, and of course Tony, Jack and Lucas. Martha had yet to notice them.

"I don't want you to hurt yourself, so give me the bags," Ric said again through clenched teeth.

"Arghhh, for gods sake. Take the damn bags if it makes you happy," Martha yelled once again, as she chucked them on the ground and stormed off.

On her way she walked passed Tony, Jack and Lucas, who were watching her with slightly amused looks on their faces. This only proceeded to annoy Martha, whose last nerve was about to snap. How dare they get their laughs out of her.

"What the hell are you lot lookin at?" she snapped, and gave them the dirtiest look she could muster up. She then continued on her way.

"Maybe I should go and say hi...," Jack started to walk after her.

"Ah mate, maybe you should give the girl some space," Tony couldn't help but laugh at Martha's outburst. "I don't think she's in a very good mood, and she might physically hurt you," he continued to laugh.

"Hormones," Ric stated to them, as he ran past with the bags.

"You're telling me," Lucas snickered.

Jack didn't care if Martha was in a bad mood. And he couldn't really care less if she hit him. He hadn't seen her in three weeks. He wanted to talk to her.

"I just want to talk to her," Jack trailed off, as he watched her stride up the stairs.

"She's only been back for five minutes. Give her some time to settle in. She'll come to you when she's ready to talk," Tony explained to his son.

"Whatever," Jack exclaimed and walked off towards the beach.

Now he was in a bad mood.

Once Martha had calmed down and had rested for awhile after her long drive home, she decided to go see Tasha.

"So, have you seen Jack yet?" Tasha asked, as they sat in on Tasha's bed, looking at the wedding and bridesmaid dresses.

"I saw him down by the diner when i first got back. He was with Tony and Lucas. Stupid jerks," Martha exclaimed.

"What happened? What did they do?" Tasha wanted to know.

"I was carrying my bags home, and friggin Ric went all protective on me. He wouldn't let me carry my bags because he thought I might hurt myself," Martha started. "I might be pregnant, but I'm not completely helpless. I can carry my own damn bags. Anyways, I kind of yelled at Ric and threw my bags at him. Jack, Tony and Lucas were just standing there laughing at me, so I gave them a peice of my mind and walked off," she finished her rant.

"So you didn't talk to Jack then?" Tasha tried to cover her laughs.

"Well, no, I didn't. And quite frankly, I don't want too," Martha replied with a stubborn edge to her voice.

"But I thought you missed him," Tasha said.

"I did. But that doesn't mean I don't think he's a jerk," Martha stated.

"You're gonna have to talk to him sooner or later," Tasha told her.

"I'm thinking later. Much later," Martha said. "But, lets not talk about me anymore. You're getting married tomorrow," Martha said excitedly.

"I know, I'm really excited," Tasha bumped up and down on the bed.

"Your dress is beautiful. You are going to look stunning," Martha smiled.

"Well you and Kit are going to look great aswell," Tasha started. "Actually speaking of the wedding, you're partnered with Jack," she said quickly and looked away.

"What? No. Why couldn't you partner me with Kim," Martha sulked.

"Because Kit's partnered with Kim. And besides, all you have to do is walk into the reception together. It's not the end of the world," Tasha laughed.

"You think," Martha added sarcastically. Great, now she'd probably have to touch him. She didn't think she could handle that.

"So, Rob and I thought that instead of having seperate bux and hen's nights, we'd just have a joint one at Noah's," Tasha then explained.

"What? No sexy male strippers," Martha pouted.

"Mac," Tasha scolded, but then laughed along with her.

NEXT CHAPTER: Tasha and Rob's bux/hen's night. Martha and Jack have a tiff. And who's getting it on?

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