Disclaimer: Doc Martin is the property of Buffalo Pictures. I own nothing except my imagination.
What's in a Name - Chapter 9
"I really can't believe that I let you talk me into this Louisa," grumbled Martin. "You caught me at a weak moment."
"Nothing 'weak' about it as I recall, Martin, in fact I'd say that you were... pretty masterful that night," Louisa teased him.
Martin scowled as he looked at her.
"You had an unfair advantage. You know I'm not very good at ...well...resisting...especially...I'm still not really used to the ways of women."
"Women! How many of us did it take Martin?" Louisa continued to tease him.
The truth was that at the particular time that Louisa had managed to get Martin to agree to hold a Christening party in their garden, he would probably have agreed to fly to the moon if she had so requested. After so many years as a bachelor, Martin was blissfully happy to have such a wonderful love life, but now felt that he had been somewhat exploited.
"Oh come on, it's going to be fun, a lovely occasion, don't be such an old misery, you'll enjoy it," Louisa tried to chivvy him.
"Hmmm." Martin wasn't convinced.
xXx
"It's no good grumbling to me, Martin, because I think a Christening party is a wonderful idea, although I must say I'm still amazed that Louisa managed to get you to agree. Used her 'feminine charms' on you did she? Well good for her, I'm all for a celebration however she managed to achieve it, about time you loosened up a bit, became a member of the normal human race once in a while, instead of being such a reclusive, stuffy, old stick in the mud."
This was Joan's response to Martin when he was complaining to her about having the party. Louisa was attending a parents evening at her school, so Joan had come round to babysit because Martin was back on the 'on call' rota for the evening.
"Auntie Joan, really, I don't know what you mean about 'feminine charms'," Martin replied, embarrassed.
"Oh don't be so obtuse, you know perfectly well what I mean – you weren't thinking with your brain when she got you to agree, were you? No doubt another part of your anatomy was in control. Clever girl, I like her style if that's what it takes to get you to agree."
Joan smiled happily at the thought of showing off Luke to all her friends at the party.
Martin realised that he was fighting a losing battle talking to Joan, so he gave up and retreated into his study.
xXx
Martin had just about agreed to the idea of Luke being Christened, he thought that that was acceptable, but initially he refused to even consider the idea of a party at all. He'd been horrified at Louisa's first suggestion that they hold one in Bert's restaurant. They might have called their original wedding off, but he gathered that Bert had made a right hash of all the reception arrangements in any case.
"Bert's heart is in the right place, Martin, he means well. Do you know that he's just held a fund raising evening in aid of the Meningitis Research Foundation because he was very upset about Luke being so ill? He's very fond of Luke you know," Louisa explained to Martin.
"Oh I do so love that expression 'he means well', it usually describes someone who's a complete moronic simpleton, oh but it's alright because 'he means well'," Martin replied sarcastically.
"You're being really horrid Martin," Louisa told him sharply.
"Just because I have to deal with these people every day in my job doesn't mean to say that I want to have anything to do with them at any other time," Martin continued in the same miserable vein.
"Well 'these people' have been very good to us lately, no one complained when your surgery was closed and they had to go all the way to Wadebridge to see a doctor, and no one complained about the time I took off from work and the fact that I postponed parents evening. Everyone was genuinely concerned for Luke, so I don't think you should act so high and mighty about 'these people' Martin," Louisa lectured him, feeling rather cross with his attitude.
"Hmmm. They're still very annoying though," Martin muttered.
xXx
Louisa wasn't going to give up easily with her plans.
She discussed her ideas one Saturday morning with Jenny Parsons when they'd gone for a brisk walk together along the coastal path to help keep them fit, Louisa pushing Luke in his buggy, which he always enjoyed. Jenny's boys were at their football training, which Chris had taken them to.
"Well if Martin is so against using Bert's restaurant, how about having it at home? You could have a marquee in your garden, it's plenty big enough after all, and then people wouldn't need go into your house, which might just be acceptable to Martin. I know this brilliant company who could organise it all, you could have a look at their website," Jenny suggested.
"That could work, it sounds pretty good actually. I'll just have to keep working on Martin won't I, or we'll never have any kind of social life at home. We'd be hermits if he had his way," Louisa said defiantly.
xXx
Ever since the Charity Ball before Christmas, Louisa knew that Martin had a weakness that she could exploit. She hadn't done so though, because she knew that it was a very fine line to tread. Martin was nobody's fool and he would be furious if he felt that she was using or misleading him in any way. However she also knew that although initially he hadn't wanted to go to the ball, he'd ended up really quite enjoying it, so much so that he had already bought tickets for the Midsummer Ball that was held in June. So she felt that if she could persuade him to have this party at their home, it went well and he actually enjoyed it, it might mean that he would agree to such occasions again in the future. She didn't want Luke growing up as a social recluse after all. They had a lovely big house and garden that was just perfect for what she now had in mind for Luke's Christening party – if she could only get Martin to see reason.
xXx
Louisa didn't explain in detail to Joan why she wanted an evening alone with Martin, when he was not on call, and with no interruptions from Luke, but in any case Joan was always more than happy to have Luke to stay for the night, so she didn't ask too many questions, simply assuming that Louisa was planning a nice romantic evening with Martin. Joan was all for this, a healthy love life meant a healthy marriage in her book.
"We need to discuss all the possibilities for Luke's Christening party you see," Louisa said to Joan. She'd told her about the garden party that she was hoping to arrange and Joan thought that it was a brilliant idea, so she was more than happy to help as much as possible.
"Well, good luck with your 'discussions' my dear, because I think you'll have your work cut out getting Martin to agree to it, you know how he hates any kind of party or social gathering," Joan told her.
"Hmm, we'll see," Louisa replied with a cheeky little grin and a raise of her eyebrows.
'Oh,likethatitisit,'Joan thought to herself happily. 'Martin'snotgoingtoknowwhat'shithimbythelookonherface'.
xXx
Martin was very happy that he and Louisa were spending a quiet night in together, this was his idea of a perfect evening. Louisa had made an effort to look nice, she was wearing a red silky dress that was impractical when looking after an active, messy baby who dribbled a lot, but was perfect for a romantic evening as it had buttons down the front that undid very easily. Her hair was piled up on top of her head in a messy updo. As they were preparing their meal together in the kitchen, Louisa reached up and kissed him gently on his cheek saying,
"This is nice, isn't it? Just the two of us, with no interruptions for a whole evening ...and night."
"Yes, it's very nice," Martin replied, pulling her to him for another kiss, while running his hands over her waist, hips and down her legs. His hand stopped as he felt something through her dress – he realised that she was wearing stockings and suspenders. He felt his heart lurch in anticipation and he had to stop himself from groaning out loud. Louisa didn't say anything, but carried on with their meal preparations. She knew very well just what effect she was having on Martin, and it thrilled her to have such a hold over her gruff husband. Sometimes, when she looked at him across a room, being the very serious, dour, professional doctor, she would smile a little secret smile to herself knowing how easily she could seduce him and just what went on between them in the bedroom. But then she also knew that he had only to look at her in a certain way or sometimes just touch or kiss her and she was unable to resist him – hence the rather naughty episode on the kitchen table.
"So, umm...is this a special occasion?" Martin asked, once they sat down to eat, worried that he had forgotten something. Louisa hadn't worn stockings since Christmas, they were for very special occasions only, as far as he understood these things.
"I just thought that we should try to make the effort now and again to be romantic, it's easy to forget when you're both working and looking after a baby, and then with all the drama recently, I just thought it would be nice for us to. have some time alone together," Louisa explained innocently.
"Hmm well I suppose when you put it like that..." Martin replied, unable to really concentrate on what she was saying with the pictures that were popping into his head.
"Look, about Luke's Christening party, I think you're absolutely right, Bert's wouldn't be the place to hold it, I completely agree with you," Louisa told him.
"Glad you've ...umm ...you've seen sense," Martin replied absent mindedly.
"So I thought, maybe we could just have a small gathering in our garden, it's pretty big after all, people wouldn't even need to come into the house, they could just use the loo at the back of the kitchen. Jenny knows this firm that take care of all the arrangements for you, so it wouldn't even be any bother really," Louisa suggested.
"Well, I don't know, I suppose.. it ummm... it...might.. work." Martin was watching Louisa as she crossed her legs, giving him just a glimpse of her stocking top.
"So, if you think it's a good idea Martin, I could get the company to give us a quote," Louisa said, running her hand up her thigh slowly.
"I err... don't suppose there would be any harm in that," Martin replied distractedly.
"But you do agree that it's a good idea Martin?" Louisa wanted him to definitely agree.
"Umm yes, yes... it is really ...I ..err...suppose." He couldn't take his eyes off her legs as she now uncrossed them.
"OK, well I'll contact them to see what we can arrange for the dates that the vicar said were available to have Luke Christened," Louisa said, inwardly sighing with relief. Now she could relax and simply have fun. She didn't feel too bad for distracting Martin in order to get her own way. It was for his own good, he needed to improve his social skills, join in more, and he would enjoy the party once it was happening, she was sure - well, she hoped so anyway.
Once they'd finished their meal, they headed straight for their bedroom, leaving the dishes to be done later for once. Louisa had a full length cheval mirror in the room, and Martin watched her in the reflection as he unbuttoned her dress, finding it delightfully easy to remove, allowing him to appreciate in full her beautiful, elegant lingerie. Louisa returned the favour and helped Martin to remove his clothes too. He found it extremely erotic to watch their actions in the mirror. He stood behind her, kissing her exposed neck, and ears, while running his hands slowly over her body, still watching in the mirror over her shoulder. He saw her close her eyes at his actions and shudder in delight and anticipation. She could feel his arousal pressing hard against her back, as she let him decide what would happen next.
She'd enticed him, but now he wanted to be in command, to take things slowly, his way, his choice. He removed the last articles of her clothing, and gently pulled her onto their bed, making sure that they could both still watch in the mirror as he started to make love to her, kissing her, caressing her, gently, slowly, sensually, teasing her until Louisa was aching for him and begged him 'Martin..please...Ireallyneedyounow.' Then he finally acquiesced, he was more than ready to comply with her demand as they became as one.
Afterwards, as they lay together in bed, Louisa with a lazy, satisfied smile, he mused to himself that logically he didn't really understand what the allure of stockings were, but without a shadow of a doubt they had an incredibly powerful effect on him.
It was really only the next morning, as they had to face clearing up in the kitchen that Martin recalled some of the previous evening's conversation, and it dawned on him that maybe he had agreed to something that he might not have done had he been less distracted. He also knew for certain that there was no way that Louisa was going to let him backtrack on what he had agreed to.
xXx
"Don't forget that you're looking after Luke while I go to the hairdressers tomorrow," Louisa reminded Martin, the week before the Christening as they were in their bedroom getting ready for work.
"Hairdressers – why, what are you having done?" Martin asked Louisa.
"I want a change, I've had my hair like this for so long, I think it's time for a completely new image, a different style in time for Luke's Christening, to go with the new outfit I've bought," Louisa replied as she brushed her hair, looking in the mirror in their bedroom. She and Jenny had spent a lovely girly day shopping for their new outfits and she had finally chosen a gorgeous new dress in a beautiful shade of blue that showed of her tiny waist to perfection.
"What kind of new style?" Martin asked, alarmed.
"I thought maybe a bob, you know, to about here," she demonstrated with her hands where her hair would be cut to. "So much easier to look after as well as being something different, and Jenny thinks it will really suit me."
"You can't! That is I mean, don't. Please." Martin had learnt the hard way that if he told Louisa not to do something, chances are it made her more determined to do it.
"What do you mean? Is there some medical reason why I shouldn't have my hair cut or something?" Louisa asked him puzzled.
"No, no, I would just prefer it if you didn't, that's all." Compliments never came easily to Martin, even for Louisa.
"To be honest Martin I didn't think you'd even notice if I had it cut," she told him.
"Don't be ridiculous, of course I'd notice. I like your hair as it is and I would really prefer you not to have it cut. So please don't," Martin replied.
He loved Louisa's long hair, although he'd never actually told her so. He loved the way that her usual pony tail style swung as she walked along. He loved it when she piled her hair up on top of her head leaving her neck exposed, tempting him to kiss her there. He loved it when she wore her hair just loose and natural. He loved it when she wore it with the sides up and the back loose. Never having had a sister or mixed with any girls at school or at any other time in his life - even Edith had had short hair, it was all new to him, and he was fascinated to see how Louisa could quickly put her hair up without even looking in the mirror. Now he was horrified at the thought that she was going to have it all cut off.
Louisa looked at him in surprise.
"Is that...is that almost a compliment from you – 'youlikemyhair'?" she asked him.
He felt very strongly about wanting Louisa to keep her hair long, and so he forced himself to say,
"Look I'm not very good at saying these things Louisa, as you well know, but I'm asking you not to have your hair cut, I...I...really like it how it is...I've always liked it actually, and if you have it cut, I'd be...upset," he tried to explain sheepishly, feeling very embarrassed.
Louisa stared at him. "Go on then, surpass yourself, pay me a proper compliment, I dare you!"
She was pushing him she knew, but for God's sake, they made uninhibited, passionate love together, yet he was struggling to utter a few simple words to pay her a compliment because he felt shy – it didn't make any sense to her.
Martin glared at her, took a deep breath and said, "You have beautiful hair, Louisa, it's a lovely colour and I really like it long. There, will that do?"
"Mmm. We'll see. I still fancy a change." Louisa wasn't going to give in to his opinion that easily if he struggled so much to give her a simple compliment.
However, Louisa returned from the hairdressers still sporting her trademark long hair, much to Martin's relief, having just had a trim with some shaping and layers added to the front, so he supposed that the hard won compliment must have done the trick.
xXx
The Sunday of Luke's Christening arrived. Louisa had been worried all week because the weather was unsettled – it was May, so the weather could be lovely and warm, or it could be cold and wet. The events company that was organising everything assured her that it wouldn't matter about the weather, they had special heaters, flooring, etc, but Louisa knew that it would be so much nicer if the weather was at least dry. She had done her best to ensure that everything was running smoothly without bothering Martin too much – she wanted him to think it was all very easy and straight forward. He was still being pretty grumpy about it all, but had realised that he had little option but to go along with it, even though Louisa's original suggestion of 'a small gathering in the garden' had somehow morphed into Portwenn's social event of the year.
The Godparents were going to be Chris and Jenny Parsons, they were an obvious choice as they were good friends of Martin as well as Louisa, and then because a boy is meant to have two Godfathers, they asked Roger Fenn to be the other Godfather. He'd been very good to Louisa both as her stand in father for her non wedding, then as a support when the wedding didn't take place. They hadn't seen so much of him lately because he had taken a job at a school in Truro as a part time music teacher – having twins to support had meant that the pension that Martin had helped Roger to claim wasn't really enough of an income, and in any case he was really a bit too young to be retired, and grumpy sod that he could be, he loved teaching music to the children. Louisa had happily given him an excellent reference when he had applied for the post.
Luke's Christening was being held at St. Roger's Parish Church. Reverend Counter had retired, he never came back after his stint in hospital following his fall, and there were rumours that he had been in a clinic to 'dry out' as part of his convalescence.
The new vicar was a female – much to some parishioners disquiet.
"Where do they think we are – Dibley, in some wretched TV sitcom?" said Colonel Gilbert Spencer in disgust. He was a traditionalist of the old school who still believed that women should not be allowed to be priests.
However most of the congregation found Felicity Paterson to be a breath of much needed fresh air. She happily agreed to Luke being christened in her church even though Martin and Louisa were not regular worshippers.
"We believe that God's love should be available to everyone. I will include the Christening during our main Sunday service so that your son can be welcomed into the family of the church," she explained when they called into her office to discuss the arrangements. It had been very weird for both of them to go there, neither had been near the church since the non wedding.
"There won't be any of that modern, happy clappy, mumbo jumbo rubbish, will there?" Martin quizzed her – he couldn't think of anything more embarrassing if there was. He'd been an unwilling participant in this meeting, only attending because the vicar had insisted that she needed to see to both parents. He'd happily have welcomed being called out instead, but his phone had stayed disappointingly quiet for once.
Louisa shot him a mortified look, and kicked him under the desk.
Felicity had heard about Doctor Ellingham's reputation from the villagers, not having had occasion to visit him herself as yet. She managed a little laugh as she explained to them both,
"It will be just our normal traditional service, which will include your son's Christening. This will take place at the font at the back of the church. I will pour water on your child's head as a sign of him being washed clean of sin and beginning a new life with God. I will make the sign of the cross on his forehead which will be like an invisible badge that he will wear for the rest of his life to protect him from the world of darkness. A large candle will be lit to signify the light which has come into his life now, and the congregation will promise to support you and your child in rejecting the path of darkness and evil."
"That sounds really beautiful, doesn't it Martin?" Louisa said to Martin, imploring him with her eyes to agree with her.
"Mmm. I suppose, if you believe in that sort of thing," was the best that Martin could come up with. As a man of science, it still sounded like mumbo jumbo to him, but if that was what Louisa wanted, it couldn't do any harm, he supposed.
xXx
Luke was far too big to wear the tiny traditional Christening gown that Joan had inherited from her mother but had never had occasion to use. At the time when Luke would have been small enough to have fitted in to it, Martin and Louisa were only just getting used to living together, and arranging a Christening had been the last thing on their minds. Now Louisa searched for a suitable outfit for Luke, and showed Martin some of the possibilities she had found on line.
"Good God Louisa, you can't seriously be considering putting him in any of those ridiculous outfits, he's a boy, not a doll to be dressed up in something so ludicrous, and don't even think about putting him one of those stupid hats," was his very strong reaction.
Martin was putting his foot down, this was one thing that he was adamant about, he was NOT having his son looking like some nancy boy. Louisa decided that she could humour him on this point as he felt so strongly about it, and she had got her way on just about everything else after all. So she settled for a very simple plain white romper suit with a little bit of blue ribbon around the edges that Martin gave his approval to. As far as Martin was concerned, boys should look like boys, even as babies.
xXx
The church was packed. Even those not invited to the Christening were free to attend the service if they chose to, so the vicar was pleasantly surprised by the very large congregation that Sunday. Mrs Tishell was playing the organ as she did every Sunday, come rain or shine.
Martin went along with everything, was just about civil, and pleased to see Louisa and Joan so happy, but as far as he was concerned the sooner they were out of the church, the better. It simply wasn't his kind of thing.
The service went as planned, and Louisa actually found it somewhat uplifting, Felicity was really quite inspiring. Joan cried all the way through, much to her embarrassment. She was normally such a tough old bird, but when it came to anything to do with Luke, she was always highly emotional.
"Luke Martin, I Baptise thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." The vicar poured the water over Luke's head, made the sign of the cross on his forehead, then followed by reciting a prayer.
Louisa had worried that Luke would be miserable and cry during the service as it was at around the time that he normally had his morning nap. However he was happy being held and cuddled by Louisa, Martin or Joan at any time. There were plenty of things for him to look at and watch, and he liked listening to the music and hymns in the service, so he stayed reasonably happy.
That was until this strange person, wearing a horrid, funny smelling, black dress took hold of him and then poured cold water on his head – he didn't like that at all, and cried loudly. To make it worse, everyone seemed to be laughing and smiling, thinking that this was alright, even Mummy! The only person who seemed to understand that this was not alright and wasn't smiling was Daddy, so he held out his arms to him to be held as he cried. Once Daddy held him, Luke felt much happier and soon stopped crying. His Daddy always understood how he felt.
xXx
The plan was that after the Christening, they would go home, give Luke his lunch and then put him down for a nap while they got ready for the party.
The events company was already on site with everything in hand when they got back from the church. The weather was cloudy and overcast but dry, much to Louisa's relief. The large marquee was in place on the lawn, the catering company had arrived and were busy laying everything out. Louisa had to try to tactfully explain to Bert why they hadn't used him and Al for the catering.
"Look, this party is our way of saying thank you to everyone in the village, and especially you Bert, for all your help and support recently. So we wanted you to relax and enjoy yourself, not be working hard and worrying about the catering," she'd told him. Bert was a bit miffed still, but free food and booze would certainly go a long way to mollifying him.
"Don't you dare disappear into your study Martin. Everything is taken care of, but I want you to actually show your face and be there when people start arriving," Louisa warned Martin.
"Yes alright, I get the message. Watch as the village idiots turn up to wreck the garden, eat and drink too much at my expense, be nosy, talk drivel, and fawn over each other. Delightful, my idea of heaven," Martin replied sourly. He'd already insisted that the house be out of bounds to their guests, with one or two exceptions such as Chris and Jenny.
Joan had volunteered to look after Luke while Louisa organised things, and he was soon fed and then put for a sleep in his cot. Hopefully he would now be in a reasonable mood later on. Louisa had happily given Joan carte blanche to invite as many of her friends as she wished, so this was an exciting event for Joan, many of her friends had their own grandchildren that Joan had had to watch them with. Now it was her turn to show off her 'grandchild', and she was in seventh heaven about it. For now she busied herself with making sure that all the arrangements were running smoothly, not at all surprised by Martin's decided lack of enthusiasm.
"Careful, the wind'll change and you'll be stuck with that expression," she told him – he looked as if he was sucking lemons. "Don't be such a party pooper, for once in your life let go, relax and enjoy yourself." she told him.
Martin glared at her. "Not my idea of enjoyment," he growled back.
Guests started arriving, Jenny and Chris with their two boys, Roger and Maureen with their twins, Joe Penhale with his girlfriend Emma, Bert, Al and Pauline, Isabel with her little girl Alisha, Mrs Tishell, Sally Chadwick, Stu Mackenzie with his family, other governors and teachers, and many other people that Martin wasn't really sure who they were, even though Louisa had told him. Soon, there were lots of children running around the garden playing hide and seek and shrieking with laughter.
By now, Luke was waking up from his nap, so Joan took great pleasure in getting him up, changing his nappy, and giving him his usual drink to ensure that he was in a good mood before bringing him out to the garden. The little boy was fascinated to see so many people as Joan took him round, finding her friends as she went.
Louisa had already grabbed a glass of champagne from one of the trays being circulated, and it was helping her to feel a lot more chilled about everything. By the second glass, she really wasn't worried about anything at all, but decided that she mustn't have another glass or she ran the risk of making a complete idiot of herself. She made herself go into the marquee and have some of the food too. Joan had excelled herself and made a wonderful Christening cake, which was the centre piece of all the beautifully laid out food. Jenny was, as usual, right about the events and catering company, she had excellent taste in these things so had been an invaluable help. Louisa was enjoying the fact that for about the first time in her life, she didn't have to worry too much about the cost of it all – they could afford it, and it gave her great pleasure to see everyone enjoying themselves, but most especially Joan, who was always so good to her and Martin, always willing to help at any time.
"If only Martin would have a glass of wine, maybe he would chill just a little," she sighed to herself, knowing that it was never going to happen.
He was standing guard by the house, aiming to ensure that no nosy village idiot sneaked into the house to have a poke around. Chris was chatting to him, so at least he had reasonable company.
"This is really lovely Martin, the girls have done you proud." Louisa and Jenny had spent many sessions together sorting out the finer details of this event. Jenny was in her element, she loved organising parties.
"You reckon?" Martin replied moodily.
"Oh come on, welcome to the human race Mart, this is what us mere mortals do to enjoy ourselves from time to time, let our hair down, so don't act so superior," Chris chided him.
"You haven't really got any hair to let down, have you?" Martin pointed out.
"All I'm saying is that you should be enjoying your son's Christening party, not standing glaring at everybody as if you're doing some sort of penance. Louisa's really enjoying herself," Chris told him.
"Yes well, I'm glad she is, she got her own way in having the party so she ruddy well ought to be happy," Martin said.
"I'm curious, however did she get you to agree if you're so anti, hmm? What trick did she pull – it must have been a bloody good one," Chris just had to ask.
"Oh it was," Martin said wryly.
"Do tell, go on Mart, then I'll tell you how Jenny works on me if you're interested?"
"Well if you must know, it was..." Martin found it hard to say out loud.
"Yes...?" Chris prompted
"Stockings," Martin confessed very quietly.
"Ah right, I see, no, you never stood a chance then really, did you," Chris commiserated.
"I can't believe...I seem to have this weakness for them," Martin said.
"Well of course you do, all normal men do, and women just seem to know about it. Don't fight it, just relax and enjoy, that's what I've always found to be the best solution," Chris told him with a big smile on his face.
"You mean you and...Jenny wears...?" Martin asked curiously.
"Well not for quite a while now I come to think of it, we've been married a fair few years, and what with the kids... so like I say, make the most of it while you can," Chris advised. Thinking back to the night of the charity ball, he thought to himself 'howcanhebesobloodygoodinbedandyetunderstandthewaysofwomansolittle?'
This was a revelation to Martin. He'd never been one to engage in 'lads' talk, so had no real idea about other men's normal desires and thoughts, apart from in a medical way. He'd been feeling rather cross with himself, thinking that he was unusual and weak willed in being so distracted by Louisa's lingerie, but now it dawned on him that actually he was just a perfectly normal male, responding in a perfectly normal way, and after all it had been a verypleasurable night. This improved his mood somewhat.
Martin wandered into the marquee and round the garden, seeing Joan in her element, very proudly showing off Luke to her friends, he was smiling and laughing beautifully at them for her.
Louisa was being rather giggly as she enjoyed a good gossip with some of her staff from her school.
Bert was happily eating his fourth helping of food, washed down with a generous amount of his favourite local beer.
Al was trying to persuade Pauline to disappear into the bushes at the end of the garden with him, but she was having none of it.
"This new dress cost me an arm and a leg, it's the same style as Cheryl Cole wore the other week, so if you think I'm going in them bushes and risk getting it dirty or torn, you've got another think coming Al Large," she told him in no uncertain terms.
Joe and Emma were emerging from the bushes at the end of the garden adjusting their clothing as they did so, with Joe whispering furiously to Emma 'That'sagainstthelaw,whatwejust...youknow, intheopen' while Emma just smiled like a cat whose got the cream.
As she struggled to keep Alisha under control, Isabel was trying to chat up Paul Blake, the rather good looking single Dad who was on the board of governors at Louisa's school. However he kept looking over and watching Louisa. He could never understand why on earth Louisa had got together with the arrogant, rude doctor, especially after the way he'd belittled her abilities to cope with bringing up a baby and take on the Head Teachers' job that time in the street. He would never treat a beautiful, talented woman like her in that way, if she'd only give him a second glance...maybe one day she'd see sense and then he could be her knight in shining armour...
Mrs Tishell had managed to collar the new vicar and was regaling her with tales of all the previous vicars going back over the last twenty years. Felicity's eyes were starting to glaze over with boredom, but she finally managed to break away by saying,
"Oh I must speak to Mrs Ellingham now she's free, lovely to hear all of that history..."
Roger and Maureen were playing with their twins, Roger unrecognisable as the extremely grumpy man that Martin had encountered when he'd first arrived in Portwenn.
Martin sighed, the garden would be a wreck tomorrow, but he supposed that Arthur, the old boy who came once a week to maintain the garden could sort that out. The catering firm seemed to be adequate, just as Jenny had assured them that they would be, and so he hopefully wouldn't have an outbreak of food poisoning to cope with. He hadn't caught too many people trying to sneak into the house, because most people were happy to be in the garden or the marquee as it had turned into a lovely sunny afternoon after a cloudy morning.
He looked over at his little boy, remembering how Louisa had told him that Luke's name meant 'bringer of light', and how the vicar had gone on about a Christening signifying the bringing of light into the world. Seeing Joan and Louisa as they looked at Luke, for a second he thought that maybe he could just see something of this.
'Pah,loadofoldtosh', he told himself, 'MustbegoingabitBodminmyself,notreallysurprisingafterbeingsurroundedbyalltheselocalloonies'
He wandered over to Louisa, and as soon as Luke saw him, he babbled happily and held out his arms to him, so Martin took him as Louisa went off to catch up with Isabel. He wandered round carrying Luke, who held on tightly to his Daddy, putting his chubby arms around his neck, having a sudden attack of shyness about all the strange people around, some of whom were talking and laughing very loudly, having had several drinks by now. Martin patted his soft little head reassuringly and very quietly whispered into his ear, so that only Luke could hear what he was saying,
"Don't worry son, you just ignore all these weirdoes and idiots, they'll be sodding off home soon, then we can get back to some sort of semblance of normality. Your Mother and your Grannie like all this sort of stuff, so we men just have to grin and bear it I'm afraid."
Luke smiled and giggled at their private joke. Yes, Daddy always understood what the problem was, they were definitely on the same wave length.
The vicar nearly choked on her canapé as Mrs Tishell, having caught up with her again, told her gushingly as she looked adoringly at Martin "He's such a natural with children, anyone can see that, such a wonderful sensitive man and a wonderful Doctor."
Bert nudged Pauline as he told her "You mark my words, there's nothing like the bond between a father and his son. Even our Doc, the miserable bugger, has got that special bond with his boy, you can see it now. Isn't it 'bout time you and Al thought about tying the knot so as you can have a couple of kiddies yourself, and make me a Grandad?"
Pauline looked at him in horror – no way was she going to let herself be tied down with a husband and brats any time soon. But she had to admit that there was something so cute about seeing the Doc with his baby, it made him look almost ...well cuddly.
Most of the villagers at the party had pretty much the same thought, seeing their Doc in a new, more human light, because he looked so proud and happy carrying his son around.
Martin would have been horrified if he'd realised, he wouldn't ever want anyone to think he'd gone 'soft'. He still didn't really like parties, and never would, but he had to admit, begrudgingly maybe, that Louisa had done a pretty good job with organising this one, it was all going very smoothly, and Joan especially was having a wonderful time, which he loved to see. He supposed that he could tolerate this kind of thing now and again if it kept Louisa happy. Not that he was going to let on to her, he thought that he might as well enjoy letting her persuade him again next time...