Doc Martin belongs to Buffalo Pictures.

Chapter Seventeen

'Hello Martin.'

The familiar sound of her voice – she was the only one to say his name with that exact intonation - confirmed it. She was real, she was here. He longed to take her into his arms, to bury his head into her hair and breathe her in, as he had done on that wonderful afternoon six months ago. Yet he realised that there would be time later, too much time had passed and conversation was first required. It was his turn to speak. He searched his brain for pleasantries. He was determined to get this right.

'How are you?'

She looked much better than the fragile creature that'd left the village; her London stay had clearly done her good. She was almost glowing, her eyes sparkling as she smiled. Aside from looking a little tired, she was the epitome of health and happiness. And glancing down, he saw why.

'You're pregnant!'

Top marks for stating the obvious, he told himself as about a thousand feelings flooded him at once, the predominant one being an even bigger surge of love for the woman stood before him. He had allowed his gaze to travel back up to her face for confirmation, though it was unnecessary. Her abdomen jutted proudly to the fore leaving no doubt as to her current condition, yet it didn't detract from her beauty. All normal brain function down the drain, he proceeded to stare dumbly as he tried to process the information.

xxx

Louisa had been standing patiently, waiting for the inevitable moment when he'd notice. She couldn't help finding the look on his face slightly amusing – pure terror. And when he'd declared she was pregnant, she couldn't help thinking 'top marks for stating the obvious, Martin'. When he'd first opened the door and said her name in the same way he always had, a lot of her trepidation had vanished. She was now quite calm, but she felt her heart flutter as he stared at her. She always felt slightly uneasy under his intense scrutiny; it felt like he could see right into her head – like when he'd examined her after fainting that time. Yet she didn't interrupt him because she remembered how out of her depth she'd felt when she'd first realised, how she still felt sometimes about the strange creature who at some point soon (too soon – where had the time gone?) be forcing its way out of her. Though Martin wouldn't have to deal with that particular aspect she knew he was probably even more freaked out, because he was – well, because he was Martin. She decided he could take as much time as he needed, but the constant eye contact was a little overwhelming so she decided to look around the room. Had it changed much, since she'd been gone?

She realised with shock that it most definitely had. Because sitting at his kitchen table, looking entirely at home was a woman.

'Hello.'

She already disliked the woman, who was being decidedly bitchy whoever she was. She hoped that by saying that she was Martin's 'friend' then the woman would also disclose who she was, but no. Perhaps she already knew about Louisa. If she was... if there was something going on – she was sure the village would have informed her about the wedding fiasco. She obviously wasn't from around here – she had an irritatingly superior accent. Anyway, she had clearly interrupted something, so she began to round things up with Martin, all confidence evaporated, the atmosphere instantly awkward.

'Should I go?'

Yes!

'No, no... carry on.'

As she rounded the corner she felt more shaken than Martin had been. It had taken them so long to get together, three whole years, and even then it didn't work out and things frequently went wrong. And here was this woman, after just a few months, completely at home and sure of herself in his home. The way he'd looked frantically between them... they were clearly involved. They'd been engaged! Did that not mean anything? Didn't she mean anything? Obviously not, since he could get together so quickly – with the right person. Ms Perfect , who'd probably never even heard of a hormone. She'd probably never have a contraceptive failure – or failure to use, Louisa still wasn't totally sure. She wouldn't turn up out of the blue with a baby on the way.

xxx

No, no no! It was all going horribly wrong, he'd forgotten that Edith was in the room. Since the second he'd opened the door, she'd ceased to exist, and now Louisa had totally gotten the wrong end of the stick. She'd gone already, she always took off when she was hormonal, and now... well, they were definitely ruling her head and he had to go after her. She turned round, and the light was gone from her eyes, she was looking at him with distrust. Now Edith wasn't there, he hoped that they could talk properly, that she could fill him in on everything.

'It's ours...' he liked the sound of that. Him and her as a collective, sharing, tied together now forever by the small foetus inside her – small, but right now looking very big. Again his face held back, but inside he was ecstatic – she'd come to see him, to let him know, she was back in his life and they were having a baby...

'Do you want to get married? Are you certain it's ours?'

Oops – probably not the best idea to blurt out his biggest desire in the first question, especially since she'd only just come back and seen Edith. He wanted to give her as much space as she needed at first, they'd rushed into things last time and it hadn't worked. So he followed it up with another burning question. He had to be absolutely sure, it seemed too good to be true - he didn't want everything shattered later on.

Oops - he realised once he'd said it that that probably wasn't the best question to ask, it didn't exactly show that he had much faith in her and she wouldn't be happy with what he was implying. It was going wrong already; he panicked and was at a loss again. So as usual, the medical side of his brain took over.

'You know it's a bit late for an abortion.'

Bugger! She couldn't even bear to look at him anymore, he didn't blame her. If he could have kicked himself right there, that's what he'd have done. He wanted to take it back, to start the whole conversation again. But it was too late – she was carrying on and her voice was cold and matter-of-fact now.

xxx

Louisa was trying to keep her voice steady, to keep the anger and upset from exploding out of her. So he did want an abortion, he'd probably bloody have done it himself if he'd had the chance, trying to suggest it wasn't his, what kind of flipping harlot did he take her for? So she had ruined everything for him, his cosy little life with 'Edith'. He didn't even try to deny anything. Well, why would he? Who wouldn't prefer a slim, refined woman with no baggage to a hormonal wreck?

'Why aren't you in London?'

'Because I love you, and I couldn't cope.' Obviously, she couldn't actually be so needy.

'I didn't like London, and the school didn't like this.' Technically, both true and logical. So he wanted her out of the way, did he? Well she wasn't going to leave for him, she was feeling sulky and she'd be stubborn if she wanted to.

xxx

'So you're here...' I don't need to go anywhere. She was here, with his baby, she'd never cared about the phobia, it was a part of him. His life was falling into place again.

xxx

'So you're here... to mess things up for me' she finished in her head. Well, he'd made his point, and she had her pride. She wasn't going to demand anything of him, when he'd made his feelings so horribly clear. She reassured him that it'd be fine. It was her problem now. Again she trotted resolutely down the hill, determined not to waste the tears on him and yet failing miserably. That was it – over. This had proved once and for all that she shouldn't make impulsive decisions. Hadn't she learned anything from her father? Though she had half been expecting rejection, nothing could have prepared her for the heartache she was now feeling. She headed down towards the harbour where she'd wait a while, compose herself, and get ready to face the rest of her life without him.

xxx

Bert Large had just finished clearing away the dishes and made to head out of the restaurant. He was about to go off to the Doc and ask for some more advice about his love-life, as it really hadn't been going particularly well. He and the diners had seen some fancy woman heading up there earlier. Now, he wasn't one to interrupt on people's private time, no, not him. But from the sound of the heels heading towards him, she was heading home for the night. Taking it slow, eh? But he was taken aback when he poked his head around the wall and saw Louisa coming towards him. His stunned surprise was turned to complete dismay when he noticed the state she was in. Not that she was clearly in the family way – though wow, he almost couldn't believe his eyes. No, no – she was crying. Not just crying, she'd looked as though her heart was breaking. She walked past, didn't even notice him, he could tell she wanted to be by herself. He felt angry. His fatherly instincts towards that lovely girl were taking over, and it was all he could do to go back to his flat and resist from going up to see the Doc right now. How dare he get her into that condition and then upset her on top of it.

Always knew he were a tosser.

xxx

Martin looked after her with despair. No! He couldn't believe that after last time, after the whole six months he'd spent loving her and missing her and dreaming about her, despairing after her and cursing himself, feeling guilty, making so many changes for this moment, all the hurt and regret... and it was happening again. Déjà vu.

Edith was quizzing him, his answers were robotic, systematic, he had been so shell shocked and now the feelings were coming in fast. Does she have a job? No, actually – she doesn't. Of course that hopeless Strain was in her house, he remembered now. How would she pay to stay at the pub without a job, it was so stupidly expensive there. He wanted to go after her and spin her round, tell her everything on his mind. But she'd as good as told him he wasn't to be involved. She had said she didn't want to marry him. He realised that Edith was speaking again. Ugh, this time the tears really would rise if he told her to shut up, she'd press it, push him and he couldn't deal with her right now, so he just replied in his head.

'Don't feel you have to rescue her. She's chosen to have a baby.'

She's chosen to have my baby. She could have had an abortion, she could have not mentioned it, she could have cut him out completely. Who'd want a baby like him? He'd obviously been irritating and needy; his own mother had said so. But he hadn't had a mother like Louisa. She'd be amazing; she'd even worked wonders on him. And the fact of the matter was that he wanted to. He wanted to see his child grow up, loved and nurtured by her, being all the things that he could have been but wasn't. Either way he was sure she would succeed, and be the best mother in the world. But he wanted to all the same. He wanted to rescue her.

THE END

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I much appreciate it and I apologise for all of the sadness :(