Chapter 5

Boisterous Gaiety

My mind is swimming, the last thing I wanted to do was leave my home and my beautiful wife. When I walked in earlier and saw her face I knew my love was no fairytale. The disappointment that has haunted me for so long – how could she love me when my parents could not – Edith didn't love me, now I know for sure; it was medical mind that mattered. I again cast back to her face there is no doubt in my mind I am loved and I love her. I knew at that moment I couldn't leave her even if I tried. Over the years love was something I always gave but never received in return, except her. She chose me. I have no doubt the love I feel will last forever and she has returned to me with all others forgotten.

It is later than I want it to be when I return from the emergency; I missed Phillip's bath and other bedtime routines. I walk into our home from the back garden, all is quiet and a reminder of last Friday pops into my mind. The first floor is dark except for the lamp at the bottom of the stairs and the light over the sink. I fill a glass with water, drinking it down quickly before I notice the note on the kitchen table. My mind assumes the worse Louisa has left me. I pick up the note, and with a small smile, I relax as I read it. I quickly move towards my study, I secure my medical bag in its rightful spot before heading up the stairs two at a time, pulling at the knot of my tie as I go. I reach the closed door of our bedroom, continuing to disrobe, my jacket, tie, my shirt is nearly unbuttoned as I turn the doorknob. Pushing it open I find Louisa seductively on our bed with lit candles around the room providing some light on her magnificent naked body. I have no thought other than I want to lift her auburn hair, away from her neck and kiss her from the nape of her neck down between her breasts, belly to the one place I have sorely missed, and softly caress her body with my hands as I reintroduce myself to my beautiful wife.

My clothes are quickly discarded on the chair, leaving us equally ready for a quiet uninterrupted night alone together. Louisa's note informed me that Philip is with Joan until morning. Before joining Louisa in bed I turn my mobile off, I desired to provide my alluring wife my undivided attention.

I crawl into bed cuddling up to Louisa, wrapping my arm around her waist, and lay my hand upon her breast, nimbly taking her nipple between my thumb and forefinger as I gently massage it. I seek out my favorite spot on her neck, just behind her ear kissing her softly; the fragrance of Louisa is always stronger here, enticing me to take control of our copulation; shutting out others viewpoints and opinions, those that believe Louisa should be with Danny, the only judgment I wish… I want…is from Louisa…do I make her happy. She is all that matters at this moment, in this room; I need to hear her cry out my name anew each time she shudders from the pleasure I give her. Our lovemaking is the most decorous conversation between us, we reach the peak together one last time; her breathless whispering declaration of love to me soothes my fragile unworthiness.

I lie on my side looking at the sleeping form of my husband. The permanent lines that crinkled around his eyes and those deep furrows between his brows seemed less pronounced in his sleep, my very contented husband. Remembering the last months with the problems I influenced with my silence, but the renewal we achieved yesterday between us has pulled us from the edge of the cliff. I was running away and fear is all I knew before I found him, my imposing angel that is always there when I need him. 'Sometimes the fear of losing something special alerts us to wake up and stop sleepwalking through life… taking so much for granted… how could I be so stupid to allow my foolish pride to keep me away from you' she quietly mumbles to her sleeping husband. 'You always leave the door open to your heart and I know I broke your heart… Oh, Martin, those eyes bring me home to you every time.' I look more closely to his lips, those irresistible lips that beg to be kissed and I do.

Startle awake my eyes try to focus on the morning light filtering in through the slit of the curtain, finally, my eyes converge on the face of my beautiful wife. I reach up to tuck a stray hair off her cheek, touching her gently with my fingers before placing them along her lips. She leans in closer touching my lips in response. Our mutual touching leads us to morning pleasure as we reintroduce ourselves to each other. Last night was our new beginning without my thoughts worrying over that architect ever again invading my marriage to this wonderful woman.

XxXxXx

Our arrival, together, the next morning to the farm is evidence enough for Joan that we settled our problems yesterday. She and Phillip were sitting at the kitchen table as Phillip had his a mid-morning bottle, when he caught sight of us entering, he spits the nipple out and screamed "Mmmm", reaching out for Louisa to take him. Giggling Louisa happily takes him into her arms smothering him in kisses. I smile at this contented scene, stopping to realize I almost lost this to my jealousy of Danny.

Joan pours more water into the kettle and pulls two cups from the cupboard. "Have you eaten?" she asks.

"Yes, Martin made breakfast and served me in bed," Louisa announces.

With instant embarrassment, my eyes find my shoes, and my ears turn pinkest. Louisa notices my embarrassment and puts Phillip in my arms then kisses my cheek. "Joan let me help you with that," she says.

We spend the rest of the morning sitting at the table, as Joan updates us on Danny. Moo gave her an update last night; Danny is moving to Wales and is selling the family home. He decided Portwenn had changed too much and he didn't believe he could settle down here.

I grunt and avoid my aunt's look. Deep down I am very happy to hear this news but will not allow anyone to know it. Throughout Joan's recital of the architect's decision, I carefully watch Louisa for any emotion. Then I see it, the relief in Louisa's eyes makes me think of a way to help her; not exactly sure what it might be; I just need some time to evaluate our current affair. Joan notices the bit of tension coming from both of us and suggests we stay for lunch, but first go out to the cliffs for some fresh air while she puts Phillip down for his nap and starts lunch. The cliffs were always my haven when I was distressed at the end of my holidays; I would sit there for hours waiting for the evitable time to leave for the train or my father's arrival. The fresh sea breeze clears my mind and an idea forms. I reach over for her hand, she twines her small hand into mine which makes me quickly take into a hug and I bury my face to the nape of her neck, my favorite spot. I kiss her along the length from behind her ear to the base of her neck, my lips nibbling her soft skin. I feel her shiver with excitement with each kiss and I realize my power over her body as the reaction sends new waves of lust through my body. 'I hope is a quick affair, I need to be alone with her.'

We return from the farm early afternoon, with a promise from Louisa of another night together as soon as Phillip is asleep. I decided to set my plan into action and suggest we go into the village today.

"But it's not Saturday," Louisa says.

"I cancelled surgery and you took the day off from school; we didn't make our usual visit the past Saturday and I want to prove to this village that I am your husband and we are a family no matter what they want to believe."

Louisa smiles and puts her arms around me, then reaches up, pulls my head towards her lips, and kisses me. I hug her more tightly and deepen the kiss. "Louisa, I Love You."

"Mmm, I Love You Too."

I change Phillip's nappy, while Louisa makes sure his bag has everything we need and securing it under his pram. I bring down a fresh-smelling Phillip and place him in. Louisa opens the door and we set off down the road into the village. After three days of mental separation, the closeness of her next to me lightens my insecurities and I acknowledge the thought I know what will help Louisa through this, maybe even help me, but it will be difficult for me. We near the top of the hill near the surgery; Louisa slips her arm around mine as I push the pram, providing all to see we are together. Now closer to the Platt, her body leans in more, this closeness feels so nice, I stop the pram so we can look out towards the harbor wall and try to catch a glimpse of any dolphins; Louisa loves seeing them, unfortunately, there wasn't any swimming by at this time. I take this opportunity to wrap my arm around her waist to encircle her in my arms, leaning down towards her exposed neck, I kiss her just behind her ear and whisper, and I whisper, "I love you" into her ear. I proudly show this idiotic village that I know how to love my wife, even if this is the hardest thing for me to do in public. My next move will be harder, but I know I need to do this. I turn Louisa around to face me and place a passionate kiss on her lips. I am not surprised by Louisa's reaction of hugging me tighter and deepening the kiss, as she has never had a problem showing love to me in public; I block out all thoughts from my mind and love my wife for all to see.

After a few jeers of 'get a room' and the unfortunate 'wolf' whistles from the girl-pack, I release Louisa and steer us to the greengrocers and fishmonger for supper purchases. I feel Louisa's presence close to me again and know I didn't make an error in my actions. Our return trip was just as romantic as she touches my back and rubs me under my jacket. When we reached my surgery, I pulled the pram onto the slate porch, push the brake down so I can remove Phillip, with one arm holding him close to my heart and my other around Louisa, we stand looking out over the cliff and to our amazement a pod of dolphins were near the entrance to the sea wall. Louisa's excitement as she points for Phillip to see brings a smile to my face; again, against my usual behavior, I lean over and kiss her.

XxXxXx

Surgery the rest of the week is quiet about gossip concerning Louisa and me. Rumor has it, Danny got pissed* over the weekend and spent his unconscious time in a room at the pub sleeping it off only to go on another binge and end up carried upstairs again. Morweena and Al made certain that everyone knew the truth that Danny's presence in Louisa's life was unwanted, no matter what Danny said. In the end, Danny needed to leave the village despondent and rejected. A smile quickly crossed my face when I heard and with a satisfied grunt, the Danny problem closed itself in my mind. Louisa chose me, even with my problems. I pick up the next patient folder, walk towards my consulting room, yelling out "Next patient".

Pauline's aunt and uncle have returned to my surgery, I warily looked at the husband; he speaks before my question leaves my mouth.

"Doc, haven't taken any testosterone drugs since we spoke on the harm they were doing to my swimmers. And that other thing, I worked out my feelings on that too."

"Ah… mmm… good. So what is the problem?"

The wife quickly looks over to her husband, and then states, "Our sex life is very active. We got the all is well from the red-headed doctor you sent us to. But…" her words stall.

"Our family… the family cradle remains empty… and that let the ennui set into our life", he says.

First, I'm shocked to hear him say ennui; I didn't think it was part of his normal vocabulary. It seems my face displayed confusion on my part.

"Doc you know bored, lack of interest. It isn't Jimmy, who has lost interest it is me. I'm tired of trying and not getting anything out of it each month. Your doctor friend is wrong, there is something wrong and I feel it is me."

They must have talked to Pauline with her googling their problem on the internet. I look down and open up her medical record, scanning the notes sent from Truro hospital after Edith left. I notice the testing on her ovaries and egg release during ovulation; her home ovulation kit didn't show any change in the luteinizing hormone (LH); three months of testing did not show higher levels of LH.

"These tests show a problem with your hormone levels during ovulation. Did they treat you with any fertility drugs, I don't see any noted."

'No." she responds, looking at her husband.

"I see they performed an ultrasound of your ovaries, they were fine, no blockage. Your blood work and the home ovulation kit detected lower than usual hormones during ovulation. Meaning during your monthly period your hormones should be higher to conceive. I see they did a blood test on the third day of your menstrual cycle to evaluate the availability of eggs and the likelihood that a healthy pregnancy will result. The numbers for your age are abnormal, which points to a serious problem."

"What does that mean, Doc? Can we make a baby or not?" he asks as he notices the tears start to run down his wife's cheeks.

"It means you need help by way of infertility care for the abnormal ovarian reserve of eggs, more than likely a donor egg will be needed. They should have sat down with you and explained this issue."

She now starts crying loudly; luckily, the husband has the brains to console her. I continue reading through the entries to find Edith never informed them because she was medically unstable at the time. Why didn't someone else catch this problem? I need to clean up Edith's mess, I was the reason she was unstable while these two were seeking her professional help.

"There are options if you do want to have a baby. Let me talk to a different specialist to find out your options and I'll call you when I have that information to set up an appointment."

Through sniffles she acknowledges, "Yes, please Doc, if you can."

They leave; she is crying and as usual, the village assumes I am at fault for my rude behavior. Gossip spreads far and wide through the village; Louisa hears the new rumor.

While in the pub having lunch the couple quietly eat, when the older waitress walks up speaking ill of Doc Martin and his ill-treatment of Jennie; this is a surprise to the couple.

"What do you mean? The Doc has been very helpful to us. Jimmie and I are grateful."

"That's not what I hear. You saw the 'Tosser' this morning and he made you cry with his rudeness. It's all around the village," she states triumphantly.

"He didn't make my Jennie cry. It was those 'Tossers' in Truro that didn't tell us of the problem that made her cry."

"What do you mean?"

"We went to the Doc because that red-headed doctor in Truro told us, we were fine to make a baby. But nothing's happened for over a year, so we went to see Doc Martin today to find out why. He read through the report the doctor sent down and said they should have helped us. Jennie needs special help to make a baby," he says.

"So the 'Tosser' didn't make you cry?"

"No, and please stop calling the Doc, 'Tosser'. He has tried to help from the very beginning. None of this is his fault. I was just emotional finding out."

Soon a new rumor spreads across the village; this one praising the Doc. Joan immediately phones the school to talk to Louisa. As Louisa listens to the news, a smile crosses her face; once again, a villager is wrong and they were now combing the village for the 'Tosser' that spread the misinformation. Maybe the village is learning a lesson on spreading gossip; at least for today, they are more vigilant on the accurateness of their words.

My idea to help Louisa and myself is to take a long weekend away from the village, to rekindle our marriage. I carefully research a quiet place to stay, far enough from the village and remote enough we are not interrupted by another living soul. Louisa broke the news of her CE course in London starting in early May. We decided Phillip would stay with me and stay on his normal schedule with Poppy. Joan would spend the nights at our house the evenings I am on call. Louisa would stay with Holly for three weeks instead of spending money on the short-term accommodations mentioned by Stu McKenzie.

Phillip is nine months old, mobile, vocal, an enterprising adventurer now, and an expert crawler that needs constant attention. We bought baby gates for our house and ordered another set for the farmhouse; Al installed both sets so both houses are safe, but I am always cautious with Phillip and insist he is watched all the time.

Phillip loves his daddy and is always looking for my approval. He enjoys going into my study if the door isn't closed tight. Consequently when he finds the door partially closed he will push it open, crawl up to me with the toy he wants to show his daddy. He quickly adapts from sitting to crawling especially when he hears my voice when I come home at night. Pulling himself up to stand in his playpen and screeching, "Daddda". His fine motor skills are improving; with his pincer grasp, coordination with both hands, he has figured out his shape sorter – putting different shapes into matching holes. Again during his bath, he can stack his cups inside one another. I check off a few more blocks on my spreadsheet on his development.

I play with Phillip by acting as his walking aid; one day while I read sitting on the sofa – Phillip pulled himself up to hold onto the coffee table, slowly working his way around it to me as I read my BMJ, where he reaches out for my legs; I reach over to help support him across the open space. Steadying him, and then turn him around to go back to the table and start his travels again. When his legs tire, he pops down on his rear and crawls quickly down the hall to the kitchen to see his Mommy with me trailing behind watching out for any danger. Poppy walks with him each day around the rooms of the house holding onto his hands. I know the more he practices walking the stronger his legs will become, he'll walk earlier on his own, but Louisa worries he will be harder to contain.

My son is babbling constantly to his toys and us. Mama and Dada are recognizable. During storytime, he will point out the animals when asked. When Louisa makes the animal sounds, he tries to imitate her and then laughs.

"No" is Phillip's newest word. When we say no he imitates us. We have to use the word more often as he has gotten more mobile; a forceful 'NO' when we feel he will hurt himself, like near the stairs. When mum says "no" and she moves him away, Phillip will speedily return and Louisa will get frustrated. It only takes one firm "no" from me and Phillip doesn't try it again;

"Why does he not listen to me when I say "no"," she asks one day.

"You need to be firmer," is all I say because it is obvious she is not firm enough.

XxXxXx

The Friday following my visit to Doctor Hayes; after Louisa and I finished our jobs, we packed Phillip into his car seat and the boot with our luggage for the weekend away. I pull onto the gravel drive at the farm, Louisa unbuckles Phillip from his car seat and hands him to me as she gathers Phillip's bag for the weekend. Joan and Al meet us at the kitchen door as we hand Phillip over to their care for the weekend. Poppy will help during the day, while Joan and Al are busy with the lambing; Joan has a few ewes that haven't been delivered.

I take Phillip in my arms after Louisa hugs, and kisses him then begins to cry, mumbling, "I love you" through sniffles. Phillip takes hold of my ears, grins, presses his forehead to mine while he says, "Wuv yu". I tell him to be a good boy for his Gran; he turns and points to Joan saying, "Gamm" and giggling. My son is growing up too fast. Joan takes him so we can depart as we have an hour's drive to our hide-away cottage down the coast. I help Louisa into the Lexus; she is tearful at the thought of not seeing Phillip for two nights. I think to myself how will she survive for more than three weeks in London without seeing Phillip is beyond me.

At first, Phillip suffers separation anxiety, unsettled crying; Al isn't a regular with Phillip, befuddled with his crying Al brings Phillip out to see Joan as she deals with the latest lamb born just a few hours ago. Al sits down next to Joan as she bottle-feeds the smaller babe the mother is ignoring. Phillip is fascinated with the lamb and beside himself with screeching imitation 'Baaa', copying the sounds the lamb held by Joan is making. Amused, Al tries his voice at bleating, with Phillip loudly joining in again. He soon forgets his parents have left him. He is enjoying the sights of the farm and wants to explore on his own; Al has a hard time with his squirming. Joan talks to Phillip, telling him about the babe in her arms, just as Phillip reaches out touching the soft fur; giggling at the exciting new feel.

"Al, don't let Phillip put his hand in his mouth. We need to wash them. Go back up to the house and I will be there shortly. Wash his hands thoroughly; Martin will kill us if Phillip gets sick."

Phillip spends a wonderful adventurous weekend on the farm. Poppy, Al, and Joan never mention any of the mischiefs to his parents; each night going to sleep easily, not waking until well into the mid-morning.

XxXxXx

Louisa and I drive about an hour south of Portween; I turn off on a gravel road up to a small cottage situated near the sea. The first floor contains a small entryway with a room to left and right as you enter, the kitchen to the right and the lounge to the left, and the stairs leading up to the only room, a large bedroom with an en-suite bath. Louisa goes to the lounge while I climb the stairs to drop our bags; I check the bedding for bedbugs and the cleanliness of the bathroom before returning to the lounge looking for her.

I find myself mesmerized by the sound of the surf and the start of twilight as I sat on the patio waiting for Martin; I remember the mess I caused in the last months. Finally having the conversation with Danny on the Platt. Listening to his is announcement of love, 'I love you, Lou'. I stopped him flat by saying, 'I love Martin. I love you as a friend only. You were my first love – teenage love. I don't feel that way about you any longer. I married Martin, not because I had to, but I wanted to because I love him. I want to grow old and grey with him. I can't lie to you, Danny; you hurt me too many times in the past. You act like a spoiled brat with your selfish whims. Those whims destroyed the love I had for you. I can never be with you because of them. You may be older but you continue to act like a child. I don't need a partner acting like that. I need a partner that is steady in his acts – work, raising our son, and loving me. You don't fit that picture, Martin does.' My words hit Danny hard but I knew no other way to get him to stop meddling in my marriage; stumbling back from me, he turned away and walked straight to the pub. I understand he spent the next three days drinking his sorrow away before finally leaving the village for good.

I know I hurt Martin far worse by not talking to him; causing him to doubt us. Tonight, I need to show him what he means to me. This weekend, I want to restart our marriage, especially the physical side. Prove that to Martin. I do love him.

XxXxXx

I find Louisa out on the patio enjoying the view of the sun and sea.

"I'll just gather our comestibles from the boot and we can eat here if you wish before the sun sets."

I rush out to the car, in the kitchen I place the cold items in the refrigerator and the rest in a cupboard. Louisa is spray cleaning the table and chairs on the patio when I return with plates, cutlery, sandwiches, cheese, and apple for our evening meal. Quietly we consume our meal and I clean up the table, filling the dishwasher. I return with a bottle of wine and glasses, settling down next to Louisa to watch the sunset. I fill her glass, handing it to her as she pulls the fleece throw over her legs. I pour wine into the second glass,

"Martin, won't you go to sleep if you drink that?"

"No, a few sips won't make me too tired. I have plans later with my wife that require my complete attention," I say with a small smirk and lusty eyes as I take a sip of wine.

Louisa leans close, her head on my shoulder as we watch the sun slowly set. I adjust my arm so I can wrap my arm around her, pulling her closer. My free hand takes her wine glass and places it on the table; I want to hold her hands. Slowly I rub my thumb in circles across her palms, sliding my eyes from the sunset to her face, the different colors from the setting sun dancing upon her pale skin. Louisa knows the dance; I perform them with her most nights when we sit on our patio at home watching the sunset. I love to watch her, memorizing her face before the sunlight disappears. As civil twilight starts, I lean over kiss Louisa's neck just behind her ear; sending rippling shivers across her shoulders.

"Are you happy?" I whisper and continue the little kissing nips along her neck.

"Yes, Martin. I am very happy." She turns her head just enough and I end up kissing her cheek, continuing over to her lips, pulling them between my lips.

Wrapping my arm tighter around her, my kiss deepens, when I finally surrender her mouth, she releases a deep resounding sign.

"We should go in; it is getting chilly out here," I murmur. Taking her hand, I pull her up into my arms, lifting her for our lips to meet again. I kiss her slowly once more, hoping she understands I want to go up to the bed and make love to her.

She pulls away from my lips, I can barely make out her face but I can see her smile and her eyes glisten with anticipation of what the rest of the night holds. I take her hand; she picks up her wine glass as I down my wine, grabbing the bottle, dropping them on the table as we make our way to the stairs. At the top of the staircase, I turn to my wife, reach out taking her face in both of mine, and kiss her again. She pulls at my clothing, pulling me away from the stairs towards the bed as she unbuttons my shirt and pulls the knot of my tie downward. I can't keep up with her, I am following behind. By the time, we reach the base of the bed she has more clothes on than I do. She continues removing my clothes, pushing me onto the bed; I land flat on my back giving her access to my trouser belt and zip. Louisa is in control now and as Bert would say 'Go with the flow'. Louisa continues to undress me and I wait with anticipation for my wife to make love to me. It seems Louisa needs to show me how much she loves me. Thankfully, there isn't a soul around as she has me calling her name loudly for anyone outside to hear.

Resting for moments, both exhausted with perspiration glistening from our bodies, we hold each other. I am unaccustomed to Louisa's assertiveness in our lovemaking; yes, she will usually start but I control the pace. Tonight was erotically different and I enjoyed it.

As we lay in bed I start tracing the outside of her breast softly, fascinated, watching her nipple harden with the areola darkening as the blood rushes towards the aroused nipple. My first thoughts are to take it in my mouth, softly nibbling, but Louisa is supplementing breast milk for Phillip and I am not sure if she is sore. I reestablish myself so I am closer to her, continuing to play with her breast; I am now able to look Louisa in the eyes to see if I have permission. Her groan affirms her pleasure as I speculate my next step to satisfy her. Taking control of her arousal and her demand for more, I take most of the rest of the evening making love to Louisa; I too make her call out my name several times until we fall exhausted to slumber late into the morning.

We spend the next day and a half in bed making love, sometimes leaving long enough to cook and eat when famished and walking a bit on the footpaths along the coast enjoying the beautiful Cornish weather. At sunset, we start on the patio and retire to the bedroom early, getting to sleep very late at night. We lay in bed for hours, just talking, a premise Louisa would never have thought possible. I know, while we love each other, I never felt comfortable talking about idle things, and there was always an interruption. Louisa knew from previous difficult times I said 'I don't talk' but when I am relaxed and allowed to form an answer, I do talk. She knew I was knowledgeable in more than medicine, and the sciences, but discovered that weekend of my love for poetry, music, and languages. During our walks, we discuss our favorite poets and recite poems to each other. As we prepare our evening meal, she would pull her phone out to play her favorite music, most of them, I have never heard of; I hated her divergent musical groups from her college days but I found some of the slower romantic songs were good for dancing close and we chose a few that evening to dance to out on the patio. Louisa never heard me speak any foreign language and assumed other than English, I knew Latin. Again, I surprise her conversing in Spanish, but leaving her spellbound with my fluent French, then switching into German, again to Russian. Louisa felt stupid not knowing that her husband was a polyglot. Bashfully I explain that language was a requirement in school, when I stopped going to the farm during holidays I immersed myself in learning different languages until I made 'A' levels in my favorites. Having a background in several languages helped me throughout my medical career, and lately with the influx of foreign tourists to the village.

I woke our last morning to Louisa's soft lips nibbling along my ear lobe and the surprise of her hand playing with my manhood. I lean my face towards her and gently kiss her cheek and she brings her lips to mine.

Our kiss deepens with renewed need, her need of him although she couldn't figure where her need came from. We spent so many moments together this weekend, but she felt like she was a bottomless pit in her needs for him that could never be sated. It was another hour or so before we left the bed.

The last morning, as we walk along the path towards the water's edge, we promise ourselves more times like this weekend to rejuvenate our marriage, our love for each other. We love Phillip and Joan, but some time away, just together, alone to talk and learn about each other, to breathe new life into our marriage is important because marriage in a small village with both individuals important to the community sometimes is suffocating. We pack up our belongings and clean up the cottage, excited to return to the farm and Phillip later that day.

XxXxXx

Louisa played her music yesterday, I enjoyed the soft slow tunes as we danced and set my thoughts upon discovering more so we can enjoy more evenings dancing together. As I negotiate the turn onto the main road I turn the radio on, select my favorite soft jazz station, and introduce Louisa to Jazz, starting with Miles Davis as 'Kind of Blue' is playing.

Soon we are traveling onto the farm gravel drive, just as Lyle Mays – 'Highland Aire' finishes. Louisa like me had her likes and dislikes. As we discuss each piece of music we finally decide we need to sit down, put together music we can listen to, and sometimes dance to in the evenings. I see an opportunity to educate Phillip on different types of music. I wonder where my old albums are currently stored; I recall the flamenco guitarist Paco De Lucia album and strongly want to introduce Louisa to his music and the sensual dancing that could lead to other activities listening to his interpretation of romance.

Poppy and Phillip meet us down by the barn as we drive up; Poppy holding Phillip's hands to balance him as he walks on the uneven ground. A loud squeal escapes his little body when he spots his mother getting out of the car. Poppy picks him up as his jouncing grows with his excitement of seeing us; Poppy has her arms full of a squirming little boy. Louisa hurries over to help her. Phillip reaches out for his mother, calling out to her, "Mumm". Louisa takes her precious son in her arms, placing kisses all over his face. Phillip continues his babbling of "Mumm…..Mum….Mumm", with his arms wrapped tightly around Louisa's neck, he buries his face onto her shoulder. I slowly walk up to this wonderful scene of my family, my mind tries to remember any memory of my past with my parents loving me the way Louisa is with our son, sadly none come to mind. Phillip must have heard me walking up over the gravel; he peers around Louisa's shoulder and squeals once again, but this time in Louisa's ear, "Dadda". He pulls away from Louisa and I quickly reach for him, afraid Louisa will lose control from his squirming. We greet each other in our usual manner, when he finally releases my ears he starts babbling about animals. "Baaa Baaa", he says while pointing towards the barn. I am confused about what he means until Poppy says that Phillip just finished seeing the lambs that were born Friday evening. I immediately am concerned about germs,

"Phillip, isn't touching them? We need to wash his hands now as he just came from the barn."

I turn towards the house without another word. I set Phillip up on my knee, holding his hands under the kitchen spigot. I grab the bar of soap and vigorously rub our hands together and rinse them under the warm water. Just as I'm toweling our hands, Joan walks in with Louisa and Poppy.

Angrily Joan says, "Really Martin, I do know how to care for your son. He didn't touch the lambs, only looked and squealed as I fed them. It seems he thinks they are drinking from his milk bottle and doesn't want to share."

"I… just wanted to make sure. Those animals carry all kinds of bugs and germs in their fur and saliva. You didn't make him collect eggs from the nests as you did to me when I visited?"

"Of course not; he is too young," she says smirking with annoyance, "when he is older he will have loads of fun searching for eggs," she says with a smirk.

Phillip provides a juncture to change the subject as he announces, "Me hungy."

Joan moves me away from the sink to wash her hands and then proceeds to the cooker, pulling out a casserole for our meal. Taking her hint of annoyance, I give Phillip to Louisa and gather the plates, glasses, and cutlery, setting the table for our meal. Louisa places Phillip in his seat. I pull chicken and vegetables from the casserole to cool as Joan slices some bread. Phillip is very excited and thumps his feet against his chair anticipating his meal. As usual, Phillip enjoys eating, his spoon always ready to scoop into the bowl as quickly as we scoop food out and into his mouth. I cannot recall as a child excited about a meal; a pre-loaded tray of unrecognizable food shoved at you by an uncaring old woman and forced to sit among cruel companions, intent on either stealing or throwing your food did not make mealtime pleasing.

Our evening meal is boisterous as Phillip imitates the animals on the farm while Joan, Al, and Poppy tell of Phillip's adventures this weekend. He nods his head and giggles each time he hears his name mentioned, sometimes pointing at his chest in acknowledgment. I smile as I look around the table, the gaiety this little person brings to this family and I begin to wonder when Louisa would like to try to increase the size with another child; most likely in another year or two. When she returns from London from her course work maybe we could have the discussion; another child like Phillip would be nice. Startled from my thoughts from the sensation of my wife sliding her hand along my upper thigh, of course, Joan misses nothing and smirks in my direction and as usual, my ears heat up in embarrassment.

Chapter end

The medical information in this chapter was found through websites like WebMD. I have no medical knowledge and not a doctor.

*Pissed is another word for drunk.

I know the word should be kitchen tap, but as I was writing the memory of my Grandmother calling it a spigot made me use the Americanism. Love you Grandma and miss you.