Disclaimer: Doc Martin is the property ofBuffalo Pictures. I own nothing except my imagination.

High Days and Holidays - Chapter 13

"You haven't forgotten about Louisa's birthday next month, have you Martin?" Joan asked him one evening.

Louisa was out with some of her colleagues from school for a few drinks in the pub, to keep in touch during the long summer break – in other words to catch up on all the gossip. Joan had come to babysit in case Martin was called out.

"Of course I haven't forgotten, it's on my spreadsheet of important dates," Martin replied.

"So, how are you planning to celebrate, and what are you going to give her as a present?" Joan queried.

"What do you mean?" Martin wasn't really paying attention to Joan, she'd followed him into his study where he was researching a very interesting bowel disease case. Martin found it fascinating just how much you could tell from a stool sample, as the very graphic illustrations he was studying showed.

"Are you taking her out, buying her flowers or chocolates, giving her a nice card, spoiling her in some way for her birthday?" Joan was getting exasperated with him now.

"Oh, I'll probably just cook something for her here at home," Martin replied.

"You mean more or less the same as every other night then. For goodness sake, do you even know the meaning of the word 'romantic' Marty?"

Joan always worried that her nephew would get too immersed in his work, especially now that he had his surgical clinics as well. That was why she was always so supportive of Louisa when she pushed Martin to be more social and extend his boundaries.

"Being 'romantic' is just an excuse for people to cash in by selling overpriced half dead flowers, chocolates full of empty calories and tacky slushy poetry in commercialised pieces of card that some people deem necessary to prove their feelings to another person. It's not my style and Louisa knows that," Martin told Joan firmly.

"Alright, I didn't really mean flowers and chocolates, I just meant a gesture of some sort. You can do it when you try can't you?" Joan replied. Louisa had shown her the beautiful diamond necklace that Martin had given her at the Midsummer Ball. But Joan was very aware that Martin would never have gone to any ball at all in the first place if Louisa hadn't pushed him.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," said Martin replied absently mindedly, as he concentrated on the information he had found.

"Hmm well remembering birthdays is important to women, so whatever your style may be, don't forget the date - August 14th, exactly a month after Luke. Take her out, spoil her, you know I'm always happy to babysit, and Louisa will still be on holiday from work after all," Joan told him. She wanted to make sure that they made the most of any opportunity for some romantic, loving time together, otherwise she worried that the workaholic couple would never get round to any baby making.

xXx

Louisa was having a good time with her work colleagues at the pub. Much as she loved Martin, and was very happy at home with him and Luke, it made a nice change to get out and have a laugh and a joke with some different people. Emma was there too, she found it refreshing to be with people with an intelligence level greater than the weevil level of her partner Joe Penhale, and had been telling jokes, some of which had been quite rude and smutty, but very funny. Louisa knew that Martin wouldn't have found them funny at all, especially the 'doctor' ones. He didn't have a very developed sense of humour, and couldn't see the point of jokes.

"Not having your usual glass of wine then Louisa?" Paul Blake asked her. Louisa just had an orange juice in her hand.

"No, it's really not worth drinking when you've got a toddler who wakes you up early in the morning, I'm afraid," Louisa told him quite truthfully.

"Ah yes, I remember that well with my boy Harry when he was that age." Paul had a six year old son at Louisa's school, he was a single parent who had thrown himself wholeheartedly into school life, becoming a governor, and helping with various activities. His wife had come out as a lesbian, leaving him and Harry for another woman. It had caused quite a scandal and a lot of gossip at the time, and Louisa had been very supportive and sympathetic to him. He thought that Louisa was a wonderful woman who was wasted with someone like Martin who didn't appreciate or deserve her. She probably only married him because of the baby, in his opinion.

"I thought that now Luke is walking, he'd get more tired and sleep in a bit longer, but not a bit of it," Louisa told him.

Luke was now officially a toddler, he had recently taken his first proper steps. It made Louisa quite sad in a way because it meant that he was no longer a little baby. He'd taken his first steps for Martin of course. Martin had been delighted in his own understated way, he'd assumed that he would probably be at work and miss out when Luke decided to first walk on his own, but Luke had other ideas. He saved his moment of glory to toddle to Martin, he'd ignored Louisa and Joan's efforts at encouraging him to walk on his own until his Daddy was there, he just adored Martin. It was the same with all his mischievous, naughty little ways. Iif Daddy told him off it was far worse for him than if it was Mummy or Grannie, he hated it if Martin was cross with him and told him off. When Martin had found him pulling all the DVD's out of the rack in the living room, he'd firmly told him 'No', picked him up and moved him away from it. Luke had cried, but had not gone straight back to try it again as he often did when Louisa told him 'No' to something. Louisa thought it all very unfair, she spent the most time with Luke, but Martin seemed to have the most influence over him.

"So, are you enjoying the holidays Louisa, are you going away anywhere with the good doctor?" Paul asked her, knowing full well that the Doc never went away on holiday.

"Yes the holidays are great, and no, we aren't going away anywhere, Martin's far too busy," Louisa replied. "How about you?"

"I'm taking Harry to Disneyworld in Florida, he's so excited, he never stops talking about it," Paul told her, thinking 'Can't see the Doc ever taking his son to Disneyworld, Louisa will be quite jealous I think, shows her what a great father I am'.

"Yes, Harry told me at school, he's certainly very excited about it, he's very lucky," Louisa replied, thinking 'Florida in August will be very hot, I couldn't cope with that, wouldn't suit us at all'.

Sally Chadwick the school secretary was telling them all about her latest holiday, this time to Turkey rather than Ibiza. She'd met a gorgeous younger man – 'toyboy' was the term most of the other staff were using to describe him. At least she hadn't had another tattoo done this time, not after Martin had finally completed the dermabrasion for her. She was talking about sending money out to her Turkish boyfriend so that he could join her in Cornwall, and the others were trying to tactfully point out to her that there was a very strong possibility that she wouldn't see him or her money ever again if she did send it to him, and that if by some faint chance he did ever come, he would find it very difficult to settle in a small remote Cornish village anyway.

After a few drinks, and once all the good gossip had been related, most people decided to call it a day and decided to make their way home.

Paul offered to walk Louisa home, and although she insisted it wasn't necessary, he still walked along with her.

Martin had just returned from being called out and met them as they walked up to the front door. He wasn't at all happy to see Paul with Louisa. Martin had taken an instant dislike to him that time Paul had tackled him in the street about why he didn't think Louisa should be the Head teacher.

"Well, good night Louisa, enjoy the rest of the holidays," Paul said to Louisa as he walked off.

"Yes, thanks, enjoy your trip to Florida, Paul," Louisa replied.

Martin didn't say anything as he walked into the house with his medical bag. Louisa couldn't see in the dark, but his face was wearing his 'thunder' expression.

Joan greeted Louisa, offering to make her a cup of tea before she went back home to her farm, as it wasn't that late in the evening. She was keen to hear all the gossip that Louisa had picked up at the pub.

"Luke's been fine, Martin's been called out... oh you're back Marty, would you like a cuppa too?" Joan called out to him.

"No thanks, it's a bit late for me, keeps me up at night," Martin said, but he did come into the kitchen with them, his face still rather thunder like. He didn't like Paul walking Louisa home, even though he knew there was nothing to it.

"Thanks Joan, a cuppa would be lovely. We had quite a laugh tonight, it made a change, it was so nice to catch up with all the staff and hear what they've been up to," said Louisa as she went up to Martin and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"So you've been out on a call, nothing too serious I hope?" she asked him, knowing that he very often couldn't tell her much because of patient confidentiality.

"Possible stroke, so I called an ambulance and sent them on their way to hospital," he told her briefly, sitting down at the kitchen table with the women as they sat with their drinks, Louisa filling Joan in on all the gossip that she'd picked up that night. Martin found himself listening in despite himself.

"Sally hasn't been the same since her hubby Brian left her and went off with a younger woman. Going off on these holidays, picking up younger foreign men and having affairs with them, deluding herself that they are actually interested in her. Of course all they're really interested in is fleecing her for any money they can get, it's all rather sad really," Joan said, after Louisa had told her about Sally Chadwick's latest holiday adventure.

Then they started talking about Paul Blake, and Martin listened in a bit more intently.

"It was a real shame about him and Debbie, I didn't see it coming at all," Louisa told Joan. "He's such a lovely man too."

Martin snorted a little at this, then turned it into a cough as the women looked at him.

"No, well it must be a hell of a shock for any man when his wife goes off with another woman," Joan agreed.

"What do you mean, 'goes off with another woman?" Martin asked, confused.

"After being married to Paul for ten years and having a son together, Debbie realised that she was a Lesbian, she came out as being gay, and went off with a woman called Cassandra to live in the New Forest area. Must be about two years ago now, didn't you hear about it at the time Martin?" Joan asked him.

"I don't listen to gossip and idle chitter chatter," Martin told her pompously.

"Well you are now," Joan pointed out.

"No I'm not, I'm off to bed actually, I have a busy day tomorrow. I'll leave you in peace to continue your gossiping," Martin said as he got up from to table and left the room.

The two women giggled together at him, and then Joan said,

"I'd best make a move myself, it's been good to hear all the news," as she gathered her things up and headed for the door.

"Thanks again for babysitting Joan, bye for now."

xXx

Louisa climbed into bed and snuggled up to Martin. He didn't think it was worth sleeping in the other bedroom now as he thought it unlikely that he would get any more calls as he was only on call until midnight,

"So, you enjoyed your evening out then?" Martin asked her.

"Yes, it made a nice change, and it was good to see everyone," Louisa replied.

"Do you find that you get bored at home then in the holidays?" Martin asked her.

"No! Oh no, I'd hate going out all the time, but just now and again it's fun, after all I usually see everybody at work every day, so I do miss all that in the long summer break. You might not like to gossip, but most normal people do Martin, it's human nature," Louisa told him.

"So, this Paul, his wife turned out to be gay, after they'd been married ten years and had a baby together?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, he was devastated, poor man, he found it very hard to accept, naturally. Apparently it's called 'late-blooming lesbianism', and it's quite common nowadays as women are becoming more empowered and less afraid to reveal their true feelings. I felt so sorry for Paul though, and Harry too, their son, but he's coped pretty well, all things considered, probably because Paul has devoted himself to Harry. He works from home now, he's an accountant, so he can work whatever hours suit him best really," Louisa explained.

"Maybe he wasn't able to satisfy his wife sexually and that led her to explore other avenues," Martin mused.

"Martin! How can you say something like that! There's a lot more to it than that I'm sure, it's not just about sex," Louisa was shocked by his deduction. Martin was still pretty old fashioned and chauvinistic in his views at times.

"What? It's simply a logical hypothesis, however I do admit that analysing Lesbian tendencies may well be outside my area of expertise," Martin said.

"Hmm. Well, I hope that satisfying your wife sexually isn't outside your area of expertise Martin," Louisa told him as she started to run her hand to the relevant area.

However they were interrupted by Martin's phone ringing. He sighed as he reluctantly reached over to answer it.

"Ellingham. Well can't you get someone else? I'm only on call for another 15 minutes," he queried. "I see. Ok, well give me the details and I'll attend immediately," Martin quickly wrote down an address.

"Sorry Louisa, there's no one else who can take the call within a reasonable distance. It's a baby with a high fever and a rash, so I have to attend," he explained.

"Of course you do," Louisa said, handing him his clothes immediately, remembering only too painfully when Luke was ill with similar symptoms. Martin was gone within a minute, throwing his clothes on as he left.

xXx

"Sally Chadwick." Pauline called out her name for her to go in to see Martin next.

"What's the matter with you?" Martin asked, looking up at her curiously as he remembered Joan and Louisa's conversation the previous night. Luckily his call out to the baby had not been anything serious after all, much to his relief.

"Ooh, umm... well it's a bit embarrassing actually." Sally was already quite a pink colour.

"No it isn't, I'm your Doctor, you can tell me anything," Martin replied coolly. It was his standard answer to the 'embarrassment' issue that came up repeatedly.

"Well, I've been on holiday to Turkey you see..." Sally started.

"You weren't stupid enough to have another tattoo were you, after we spent all that time removing the last one?" Martin asked, horrified.

"No, no of course not, I wouldn't be that silly," Sally replied.

"So, what is it then? I do have a waiting room full of patients you know," Martin told her impatiently.

"It's this," Sally showed him, lifting up the bottom of her blouse to show him. "I had my Belly Button pierced, I think it's got infected and now I can't take the ring out and it's really sore."

"Good God, woman, what on earth made you have that done?" Martin asked her incredulously.

"Well, my Turkish boyfriend said he thought it would be really sexy, so I had it done out there," Sally told him.

"Are you completely insane? As I told you last time when you had that ridiculous tattoo, you run the risk of hepatitis, and HIV as well as all the usual nasty infections by letting an unqualified charlatan pierce your flesh with some unsterile implement, all for the sake of a ridiculous notion that it will somehow enhance your sexual attraction. Well done, another complete waste of my time."

"I'm sorry doctor, it seemed like such a good idea at the time, now I don't know what came over me," Sally told him sheepishly.

"Lie on the couch and lift up your blouse just a little so that I can examine the wound," Martin instructed her while putting some rubber gloves on.

Sally did as she was told, and Martin examined her.

"Hmm, I think you will need to make an appointment for my surgery clinic, it's now deeply embedded and infected. I'll dress it, give you some antibiotics to take in the meantime, and I'll also take a swab to make sure it isn't a resistant infection, you can never be sure with something contracted abroad." Martin was, as usual, thorough and efficient, whatever his personal opinion of the circumstances.

"Thank you Doctor," Sally said.

"Is there anything else that I should be aware of?" Martin thought back to the conversation between Joan and Louisa about the nature of Sally's relationship with her 'toyboy'.

"In what way?" Sally asked him.

"Well, I assume that if you had this ...this procedure done because your umm...boyfriend thought it was 'sexy', it is therefore likely that you have been intimate with him – yes? So were you practicing safe sex, using a condom? Have you any other symptoms that I should be aware of?"

Sally was mortified, and wished that the floor would open up and swallow her. However, she had had a niggling worry, so as Doctor Ellingham had brought the subject up she managed to say,

"Well, since you ask, it does sting a bit when I spend a penny," Sally admitted.

Martin passed her a sample pot saying to her,

"Well we'd better run some tests then, I'll need a urine sample, and I'll get Pauline to take some bloods too."

"Thank you Doctor." Sally left the surgery relieved that at least she was being checked out thoroughly. He really was a very good doctor, if you could just get over his abruptness and rude manner, she thought to herself, but how on earth Louisa put up with him at home she just couldn't imagine.

Martin smiled a rueful smile to himself – by listening to gossip he had been pre-warned enough to question his patient a little further, possibly preventing her from developing a full blown nasty STI. So gossip could be useful – now there was a novel thought for him.

xXx

As they went to bed that evening, Louisa reminded Martin of their conversation from the previous evening.

"Any chance of showing me the area of expertise we talked about last night?" Louisa asked him.

"Which area might that be then, I'm an expert in so many after all," Martin felt relaxed enough to joke with her.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Martin." Louisa teased him.

"Well maybe I need a reminder," Martin teased her back.

"Is your memory starting to come back now?" she asked him as she ran her hand to the relevant area once more.

"Oh yes, I think you could definitely say that has jogged my memory," Martin said as he revelled in her touch.

"I think it's all coming back to me now," he said and then spent a considerable time showing her all his expertise.

xXx

Martin had made sure that Louisa didn't have any doubts before they went ahead the first time that they made love and didn't use any contraceptive.

"Are you sure about this? Because if you aren't really ready we can leave it a bit longer, continue to use protection. We can be pretty confident now that the condoms are adequate after our... umm ...thorough testing of them, so it's not a problem," Martin had told her.

"Why, you're not getting cold feet are you, have you changed your mind? Maybe you don't think we should just 'go for it' anymore?" Louisa had asked him, still finding it pretty hard to believe that Martin really thought that it was a good idea for them to try for another baby.

"No! That's not what I'm saying, I just want you...us… to be sure, before we…well before it's too late, You did say that you had some plans to implement at school first and so on," Martin had replied.

"Well I've decided that maybe you were right, maybe there never will be a 'right time' with work and everything, so let's just see what happens. Probably nothing will happen for ages anyhow, if at all. Maybe Luke was just a one off lucky accident," Louisa had said.

So they had agreed that they would not be using any protection when they made love from now on, but that they were going to be relaxed about it and not worry too much about 'trying' for a baby. If it happened fine, if not, well there was always another month of practicing to enjoy.

Martin couldn't help himself though, he was by habit so meticulous in keeping his spreadsheets that he continued keeping a record of everything, meaning that he was aware of when the best time of the month was for conception. He found it fascinating, and so it became his new project, although he said nothing of this to Louisa. As far as she was concerned, they were just making love whenever they felt like it, which was quite often as it happened, especially as she was so relaxed and enjoying being at home for the summer break.