Disclaimer: Doc Martin is the property of Buffalo Pictures. I own nothing except my imagination.
Cloud Nine - Chapter 16
"Wow. Pregnant. Another baby. We're going to have another baby, Martin."
Louisa felt incredibly happy as Martin enclosed her in his arms, and held her tight against his chest. She tried hard not to compare this with how she had felt last time...everything was just so perfect now. But Louisa being Louisa, she found herself tensing up and saying into Martin's chest,
"But it's still very early days, I'm only just pregnant, things could still go wrong..."
Martin didn't let her go though. He knew her well enough now to understand that she was always preparing herself to be disappointed.
"Let's just enjoy this moment hmm? Plenty of time to worry about things like that later," he told her. For him this was one of the best moments of his life.
Louisa let herself relax into his arms again. He was right. There weren't many moments in life as perfect as this.
xXx
"21st April – of course we'll have a more accurate date once you've had a dating scan at 12 weeks. As your cycle isn't always 28 days we can't be sure of the exact date of conception," Martin worked out for them downstairs in his study.
"And if they asked me for the dates of when we had sex I would have to give them rather a long list, wouldn't I?" Louisa giggled.
"They shouldn't need to ask you that," Martin said.
"Well Doctor Montgomery, your 'Edith' did," Louisa told him. She'd always had a sneaky suspicion that she was just being nosy and making her feel awkward when she'd asked in her very condescending manner,
"WhatIneedtoknow,andthisshouldn'tbetoodifficultI'dhavethought-whendidyouhavesexwithDoctorEllingham?"
It had been highly embarrassing to admit that there had only been two occasions, it hardly gave the impression of a passionate love affair between her and Martin, as she had noted from the smug expression on Edith's face as she had assimilated the information. Slim, elegant Edith versus a heavily pregnant Louisa – it really wasn't hard to understand why Martin was with Edith and hadn't shown the slightest interest in her, she'd felt at the time.
"Hmm, well maybe in your case with the SGA query it was appropriate. I don't know, I wasn't there, was I?" Martin could have bitten his tongue off as soon as the words were out. The last thing he wanted was to re open all the old wounds and hurt.
"No Martin you weren't. If I could go back and change things I would. I'd do everything differently, if I'd known then what I know now. But I can't," Louisa said, sticking her chin in the air defiantly. At the time she'd felt she had no choice - Martin hadn't exactly coming running after her to try to talk her round or persuade her that he wanted to be involved.
Martin tried to lighten the atmosphere again. Now was not the time to start recriminations.
"But it's going to be different this time around. You're going to let me be involved every step of the way, those were my terms when I agreed that we try for another baby," Martin reminded her. He had a horrid suspicion that she would still be very independent and bloody minded, and accuse him of 'fussing' when he tried to look after her.
"Yes I know, and I promise that this time you can be as involved as you want to be, come to every single boring check up if that's what you want." Louisa knew that she owed him that much, even if he was going to drive her mad with his fussing. However she thought the novelty would soon wear off. Sitting around hospitals was mind numbingly boring for the most part, and he was a very busy man after all.
"And you're going to let me carry out my own checks too, let me monitor you properly, tell me everything?" Martin persisted.
"Yes Martin, except..." Louisa hesitated.
"Except what?" Martin asked.
"Well, sometimes they do ...you know...intimate, internal examinations, and I'm afraid that's where I draw the line, I'd like to keep some semblance of romance going, even if I am going to be huge and fat," Louisa explained.
"Right, I see, well if that's what you want. And you're going to be pregnant, not fat...well as long as you eat sensibly that is, resist any urges for jelly babies and other empty calories," Martin pointed out.
"Anyway Martin, as I said, it's very early days, let's not get too carried away, let's try to carry on as normal for now. I go back to work soon, and I've got stacks to prepare, you've got your surgery clinic as well as your normal practice work, so let's just get on with things now. I don't want anyone else to know yet. Except Joan. I know we can trust her not to tell anyone else, she'd soon suss it anyway and she'd be hurt not to be told. Although I feel fine and I haven't had any sickness yet which is always the dead giveaway, maybe I'll be lucky and won't get it this time," Louisa said.
"Yes, well, maybe we'll tell her in a few days when we've got used to it ourselves, when it's sunk in properly," Martin agreed, he certainly didn't want anyone else apart from Joan to know their business just yet. He was still pretty incredulous that another little Luke was on the way, and that this was going to be a pregnancy that he was going to be involved with every step of the way, and not be shut out from.
He would also do things very differently if he could only go back in time. He wished that he'd followed his very first instinct when he'd opened the door to Louisa, and had swept her into his arms, had told her how much he loved her and missed her. But he'd been so shocked that he'd just stood there, gawping at her like an idiot. He'd let her walk off, he'd not even invited her in. Even when he'd followed her, he'd blurted out about them getting married, obviously not really wanting to, and had managed to insult her by asking if she was sure that the baby was theirs – what had he been thinking! And her face when he'd told her that it was too late for an abortion – that had sealed things really. He'd made a complete hash of things.
Maybe he would have tried to talk to her again later, but Edith had told him 'Don'tdoanythinghasty,don'tthinkyouhavetorescueher,she'sagrownwoman,she'schosentohaveababy,it'sherchoice', and at the time that had seemed the calm voice of logic. Louisa hadn't come to him asking for help, she'd simply come to inform him, he'd thought. She obviously hadn't felt it necessary to consult him when she'd first found out she was pregnant, she didn't feel the need to ask his opinion. Why on earth would she want him involved when he'd clearly be such a terrible father after all, he'd felt. Now he realised, now he knew better that just by coming to him, she had been asking for his help, but her stubborn pride had kicked in on seeing Edith sitting in his kitchen, looking very at home. Bloody Edith. If only she hadn't been there. Things might have been so different without her whispering in his ear about Louisa.
Well this time he was going to make sure that he supported and looked after Louisa completely and utterly, right from the very beginning. Now he knew how wonderful it was having a baby, and he was filled with pride, with love, that Louisa wanted, was choosing, to have another baby with him. This time it was no accident, it was their choice to have another baby together.
xXx
The next day, as Martin walked into his surgery, Pauline was surprised to see what appeared to be a smile hovering around his mouth, and he actually acknowledged her with what passed for a cheery 'Good morning' for him.
"Blimey, what's come over him? I haven't seen him that cheery since...Well I can't think I've ever seen him quite that chipper," she thought to herself.
Martin managed to get through the morning without seriously insulting any of his patients for a change, and at lunch time disappeared off to the school, where Louisa was once again working in her office having dropped Luke at the Nursery.
Finding Louisa in her office, sitting at her desk surrounded by paperwork, he went up and kissed her. It felt strange to be kissing her in her office, as if he was kissing the school mistress, and it felt rather naughty.
"How are you feeling, not overdoing things are you?" Martin asked her.
"Fine, I'm fine, I'm just doing paperwork," Louisa told him, finishing off what she was writing.
"I've brought you a sandwich, remember what I said about eating regularly?" Martin said, handing it to her.
"Yes, I know, I was just about to take a break," Louisa replied.
"And I know you like the prawn ciabatta, but I don't think that's such a good choice now, those prawns could have been hanging around for some time, and unless they're kept at the correct temperature they can be a source of food poisoning," Martin told her.
"Right. OK, I suppose so," Louisa reluctantly agreed, looking to see what was in her sandwich. Cheddar cheese and tomato – safe but boring.
"I've also printed out a list of the foods that you should avoid eating." Martin handed her a sheet.
"Right. Thanks," Louisa looked at the sheet.
"And here is a list of the foods that are important for you to include in your diet – of course I will be ensuring that our meals at home contain all the essential nutrients for a healthy pregnancy." Martin handed her another sheet of paper.
'Ohforgoodnesssake,thisisonlydayone,givemestrengthtocopewithhisfussing,'Louisa thought to herself.
Then she recalled the intense loneliness she'd felt when she'd found out that she was pregnant in London. It made her smile at him and put her hand on his cheek, loving him for the concern that showed in his eyes.
"Whatever you say Martin," Louisa told him. Hopefully he'd calm down a bit when the novelty wore off and then he'd let her get on as normal. For now she would have to learn to relax and try to enjoy being looked after for a change.