On to Episode 4 of the third series. It's getting harder to incorporate script but I've given it a go. Let me know what you think. Thanks for all your lovely comments so far.
"Hiya Unca Billy!" Greeted Olivia from Clive's shoulders. "Are you feeling better now?" She asked as Clive reached up to retrieve her and then lower her down for a quick kiss from her favourite uncle before placing her on his own lap as he sat down.
Martha took a chair on the opposite side of the bed. She was amazed at her daughters sudden shift in mood. The day had started off ok and the whole family had travelled to the hospital in Martha's car. "Roof down Mummy, please," was the request from the back seat. Martha had granted it as it was such a nice day and she knew how much her daughter enjoyed travelling alfresco. However, things changed once they arrived at the hospital. Olivia had had a minor melt down in the hospital car park when her mother had told her she couldn't scoot in the hospital. They had brought the new toy with them as they had made a plan to go to the park once they had visited with Billy.
"But I wanna show Unca Billy my new scooter!" She had whined, flapping her arms.
"You can't scoot in the hospital," explained Martha. "You could crash into someone on crutches and break their other leg,"' she continued as she reached for her daughters hand so they could cross the car park safely.
"No!" Olivia replied forcefully with a stamp of her foot, refusing to take her mothers hand, choosing instead to cross her arms defiantly. Her displeasure was clear to see with a huge pout on her face. Olivia could throw a good tantrum when she wanted, which had become clear as she had reached the 'terrible twos'. Martha and Clive, through trial and error had found the best way to deal with one was to just ignore it, even if it meant standing by whilst their daughter had got into a right strop and practically stripped off all her clothes on one occasion when told it was time to leave the swings and head home for dinner.
Martha knew her daughters mood was because she was tired from the weekend, but she herself was also tired, and this morning her period had started leaving her feeling very irritable and not really in the mood for one of her daughters tantrums. "If you carry on like this Olivia," she warned, "we won't be going to scoot in the park after visiting Uncle Billy either. We'll go straight home and to bed,".
"No! I wanna scoot," Olivia wailed as the crocodile tears started falling. She was obviously unimpressed with her mothers suggestion.
"Why don't we take some photos instead?" Suggested Clive, keen to keep the peace and nip this tantrum in the bud. "And maybe some video, so we can show Uncle Billy that,".
Olivia thought about her fathers suggestion and nodded her head in agreement as she wiped the tears away with the back of her hand and a couple of good sniffs. She had cheered up a lot during the photo shoot and video, which Martha was pleased to note had lasted. She would have hated to take a moody child in to see Billy.
"I'm doing ok, Little Miss," confirmed Billy.
"Is it painful?" Enquired Clive.
"Not too bad. The worst bit is the catheter. I'd show you, Sir, but I wouldn't want you to feel inadequate. Things are a bit bigger downstairs with all the swelling" joked Billy.
"I see your humour hasn't been affected Billy. I hate to disappoint you, but I haven't received any complaints in that area before," retorted Clive.
"Do you two mind?" Asked Martha. "There are impressionable young ears around," she warned nodding in Olivia's direction.
"What dey talkin' about Mummy?" She asked.
"Silly boys stuff," was all Martha replied. "Why don't you tell Uncle Billy all about your weekend, and show him the photos,".
Olivia followed her mothers instructions, and told Billy in very thorough detail all about her weekend.
"Sorry about that," apologised Martha once Clive had left with Olivia to find her a drink. It was obvious she liked her new present and had talked about nothing else for the last twenty minutes or so. She announced she was thirsty not long after she had finished. Clive had decided to take her on a trip to the shop as he knew Martha wanted to speak to Billy alone.
"Not a problem, Miss" replied Billy. "It's nice hearing what she got up to whilst I've been in here,".
"Yes but you probably didn't want a minute by minute account!" Martha continued as she adjusted herself in her chair, getting ready to inform Billy about her decision regarding Head of Chambers. "Billy, I need to talk to you about something...," she started before being cut off by him.
"It's alright, Miss, I already know," He said. "You aren't going to enter the head of chambers race," he continued to Martha's astonishment. "I know you better than you think, Miss," he explained.
"I guess you do," she finally agreed. "I'm sorry, Billy but it's just not for me. I'd much rather be able to concentrate on being a barrister than the accounts. I don't want what happened to the Cowdrey's to happen to me and Olivia, and this goes no further but Clive and I are going to start trying for another," she revealed.
"She's finally worn you down over that?" Asked Billy with a smile.
"Yes. Although I was wondering if it was a good idea a little while ago, with her tantrum in the car park. God knows how we will cope with two,".
"You wouldn't change her for the world though would you, Miss?".
"No, I wouldn't," she admitted.
"So is Mr Reader still in the race?".
"Yes. He's made his mind up he still wants to go for it. I just want you to know Billy, if he does win, I'll be there to make sure he doesn't do anything really stupid to Shoe Lane. If he does, I'll be withdrawing bedroom privileges,".
"You might find it a problem getting pregnant then, Miss," Billy warned.
"Good point. I'll have to think of another punishment then, but something as equally unpalatable for Clive".
"I'll make you a deal, Miss. If you have a boy, you call him Billy, and I'll forgive you for not being head,".
"I might be able to convince Clive to go with William," Martha replied. "If that's ok with you then you've got a deal," Martha agreed as they shook hands.
"What are you two up to?" Asked Clive as he reappeared with Olivia. "Never a good sign when you two are shaking hands conspiratorially,".
"Never you mind," replied Martha, giving Billy a wink before a double glance at her daughter and her drink. "What on earth has Daddy bought you?" She asked as she caught sight of a blue coloured ice drink that also appeared to be staining her daughters lips and tongue a similar colour.
"Sorry, Marth, it's the only thing she wanted,". Martha knew Clive hadn't provided much resistance to their daughters choice of drink, obviously wanting to prevent any further tantrums in the busy shop.
"It's rasp'y'," added Olivia thinking she was being helpful. Her mother always encouraged her to go for fruit drinks rather than chocolate ones.
"Plus a load of added colours and other things by the looks of it, because I don't remember raspberries being blue. Looks like Daddy has volunteered for the parent shift this afternoon, when he can deal with your sugar high," she continued with a warning glance at Clive.
The following week at work was fairly quiet. Martha had been head hunted by a solicitor to defend his nephew Rashid Hirani in an extradition application that had been made by the American government. They wanted to question him on his role in a terrorist bombing that had occurred in their country despite Rashid claiming he had nothing to do with the plotting. Luckily for Martha, the appeal wasn't due to be heard in court until the following week. She was glad of some preparation time, as she had never defended in that type of case before.
She entered her office, intent on doing a bit more work before heading home when she became aware of Clive suddenly hitting a button on his computer, looking quite guilty at the same time.
"What are you up to?" She asked as she changed direction and rounded his desk.
"Looking at potential houses for us," was his answer. "What do you think about these?" He asked as he showed Martha a few that he thought may be suitable.
"Oh I love that one!" Exclaimed Martha as she caught sight of a beautifully decorated house. It had a large modern kitchen/dining area and all along the back of the house were glass panels looking out onto a good sized garden. There was also a sitting room with a wood burner and a study area downstairs. Upstairs were four good sized bedrooms with a family and en suite bathroom. "I could see us in there," she continued, "but could we afford it?".
"No problem, once we've sold both our flats. Should I make some enquires and arrange a visit?" To which he received a nod. As he moved to type an email to the estate agents, he accidentally hit a wrong button, making the house pictures disappear, only to be replaced by something that caused Martha to open her eyes wide in surprise.
"Before you get angry, it's not what it looks like. I'm just researching about getting pregnant. I've never consciously tried to get someone pregnant before, and I want to do this right. You know what a perfectionist I am,".
"Getting drunk and having sex in a hotel in Nottingham seemed to work last time," Martha joked, very amused at Clive's behaviour. "But how about putting some of that research to the test this evening?" She asked as she moved behind him giving him a hug from behind whilst kissing the top of his head. "Please promise me you aren't going to stress about this because that doesn't help either," she advised.
"Do you feel ok?" Asked Clive later on that night. They had just made love. Now on Clive's insistence Martha was lying the wrong way in bed, with her head towards the foot end of the bed. Her feet were resting on the wall above the bed head as Clive had read that this increased the chance of Martha getting pregnant. Rather than argue, Martha had just done as he had requested.
"You're quite quiet,".
"Thinking about my defence for the extradition appeal, is all," revealed Martha.
"That's not really what a man wants to hear after trying for a baby!" Clive had replied a little appalled. "Surely there must be some better pillow talk than that. Like how much of a stud I am for example," he teased.
"Sorry, I've never done one of these cases before. I'm a bit nervous about it. I think I'm going to head into work a bit earlier tomorrow to get some more preparation done,".
"I'll come with you then Marth and I'll take Olivia to nursery from there,".
The next morning found Clive and Martha walking down the streets in Temple, heading towards Shoe Lane. Between them, holding both their hands was Olivia, who was occasionally asking for a swing, which she got. They were making their way up Middle Temple Lane, when Martha stopped short, surprised by a face from her past.
"Alright Mar? Bet you don't smoke roll ups anymore," he said.
"I don't smoke anymore. Not since I got pregnant," she explained. It had surprised her how easily she had been able to give up the habit, but knowing it was best for her child, she had done it without hesitation.
"Who are you?" A little voice piped up from somewhere below Martha. It was a question Clive was keen to know the answer to, as well as his daughter.
"This is Sean McBride" explained Martha to her daughter.
"I was your Mummy's boyfriend when she was younger," Sean explained before Martha could stop him.
"Before my daddy?" Olivia enquired finding it hard to believe a time when her mother and father were not together in some sort of relationship.
"One of many I think before your daddy," Sean again answered quickly to Martha's horror.
Olivia digested this news a little before turning her head and looking up to her mother. "How many boyfends you had Mummy?".
"Excellent," replied Martha obviously not happy. "Thank you very much!" She said to Sean. "Can you take her to chambers Clive? I'll catch you up in a minute,". Clive lifted his daughter up before reluctantly leaving Martha with the stranger. "What do you want, Sean?" Asked Martha once they had gone. "Bearing in mind that I'm really annoyed at you for what you've just told my daughter, I'm not in the mood for any games. I simply want the truth,".
"I need a lawyer. The best. And I gather that's you".
"What have you done?" Asked Martha. Sean went on to tell her his story. "I'm on another case at the moment," she informed him, when he had finished.
"But it's not for a while," he countered.
"I'll think about it," retorted Martha. It sounded quite a challenge, and she couldn't see that Clive would be all that happy with her defending an ex boyfriend.
"Why haven't I heard about Sean before, Mar?" Asked Clive once he had returned from dropping Olivia off at nursery. She knew he was upset from the way he had mimicked Sean in calling her Mar.
"Because he's not that important to me,".
"He obviously doesn't feel the same way. You haven't seen him in years, and then all of a sudden he's down in London schmoozing with you,".
"Are you jealous?" Asked Martha. "Please don't tell me you are jealous over my teenage fling with Sean about twenty years ago," she said some what exasperated. "How can you compare that to what we have? A serious relationship where we are looking to buy a house together, we share a daughter and trying for another?".
"When you put it like that, I sound like a bit of an idiot," Clive agreed, his anger dissipating somewhat.
"Your words, not mine," replied Martha with a smile on her face.
"So what does he want?" Clive asked.
"He, er...he asked me to represent him," she stuttered before filling him in on the details.
"I hope you told him to bugger off," Clive announced once Martha had finished. She just kept quiet. Annoyed Clive picked some things up he would be needing for the day in court.
"Clive," Martha pleaded, but he looked like he wasn't having any of it.
"Marth! You can't defend him. You have a history with him. It's a conflict of interest,".
"I know, but he needs help," Martha argued.
"So what did you tell him?".
"That I'd think about it,".
"Why? When we both know you are going to take the case...whatever I may think!".
"Because I have to make him sweat a little bit," explained Martha as she approached Clive and put her arms around his shoulders. She rose on to her tiptoes and gave him a small kiss on the lips. "Thank you for letting me do this," she said as she lowered herself back to the ground.
"Don't let me regret it," warned Clive as he tapped her on the nose. "I don't want you running off with your new client once the teenage lust reappears" he teased.
"I'd never do that,".
"I'm just hoping I managed to get you pregnant last night. Nothing says 'out of bounds' more than a woman pregnant with another man's baby. I'm sure he'd get the message then,".