Author's Note: Okay, here's the deal: Still don't own MASH, but I would love to! ;-) I redid the first chapter for this story and I hope you like it. Sorry if you liked the other one better but there were some things that needed tweaking and correcting and so on and so forth. Plus, the way I want to do this story, I had to make a little change in the first chapter. And yeah, we'll call this the first chapter for this version. Less confusing!

The idea for this story came from the song 'It Won't Be Like This For Long' by Darius Rucker. It's a great song and I suggest you listen to it! ;-) I love it!

Hope you like it! Enjoy and PLEASE review!

Daddy's Little Girl

By: Cora

May 30, 1955

It was around midnight and sleep had yet to come for the small town doctor. The windows were open for the first time that Spring and it felt wonderful to finally have some fresh, ocean scented breeze circulating in the little house once again.

Hawkeye was laying on his side, his arms around his beautiful wife, her blonde hair tickling his nose. He didn't mind though, the scent of her shampoo was almost intoxicating and just holding her close to him made his whole day. Working days at the clinics and nights at the ER in Spruce Harbor was wearing him out and gave him very little alone time with her. Mrs. Margaret Pierce was now the head nurse at his dad's clinic, but even there they only had an hour of free time to go get lunch and possibly lucky under the desk in his office.

"You're still awake?" Margaret asked, sounding a little sleepy when her husband started shifting around. She turned over to face him and let him move his arm that was falling asleep.

"Can't get to sleep." He shrugged, "I didn't mean to wake you up though, I'm sorry." Kissing her forehead, he rubbed her back as she cuddled a little closer.

She smiled up at him and ran her hand across his cheek, "Quite alright. I love you, you know that?"

Hawkeye lightly captured her hand and kissed her soft palm, "I love you too." For what seemed like no reason, Margaret looked down and blinked, a pained expression on her face. A couple tears fell from the corners of her eyes, but she tried to brush them away so he wouldn't see them. "Margaret?" He asked, his voice hoarse with concern. "Margaret what's wrong?"

"N…nothing. I uh… I don't want you to see me like this. I'll be back in a minute." Scooting away from his arms and springing out of bed, she headed for the door.

"Margaret? Where are you going?" Hawkeye sounded confused and worried as he tried to untangle himself from the sheets and go after her. But she was in the hall and down the stairs before he could even grab for his robe. Opening up the old, squeaky door, he looked down toward the living room, over the railing. His wife's silhouette was sitting on the second to the bottom step, hunched over and shaking from her sobs. "Margaret?"

The steps creaked under him as he went down to her, but she didn't seem to notice. It was a little chilly on the ground floor, so he took off his robe and draped it over her exposed shoulders. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he sat behind her and whispered in her ear, "Honey, what's wrong?"

She shook her head, "I've just had a lot on my mind…" She brought her feet up to the bottom step and wrapped her arms around her knees.

"Can you tell me? Honey, I just wanna help." He ran a gentle hand through her hair, moving it to one side so he could see her face. The crying woman didn't say anything, but tried to wipe away her tears with her left hand as her right dropped down to her stomach. The way she held her hand against the flowing white fabric made Hawkeye's eyes grow wide. "Margaret?" The hand that was resting on her shoulder made it's way to her stomach, right above hers, "Are…" it was a lot to take in. He took a deep break and tried again, "Are you?"

Margaret looked around to him and nodded slightly, "Yeah…" She started crying into her hands again.

He had no idea what he was feeling, but Hawkeye couldn't control himself, "Margaret, that's great!" His eyes and his smile were wide and he hugged his wife from behind her. "This is great."

"It is?" She asked, not meeting his eyes.

"What else could it be?" The newly known father-to-be weaved his fingers together over Margaret's still flat stomach, "We have a little Maggie Pierce growing in there, how could it be anything but wonderful? A miracle!"

She was still crying, but her tears changed from dread and misery to relief and joy, "You…you really think so? You're happy?"

Hawkeye laughed once, almost in shock at the question, "Yeah." He nodded and kissed her neck. When he felt his wife laughing, he started laughing with her, "What's so funny, Mommy?"

"You said, it's a little Maggie Pierce… What if it's a little Benny Pierce?" She winked and leaned back into his chest, laying her hands on top of his.

"Well as long as you don't want to name him Benjamin Franklin Pierce II, I'll be perfectly happy." He winked back and looked down at where his hands were resting, "We're gonna be parents…wow."

Margaret chuckled, "I know. I've had a week to get used to the idea, but I don't think I ever will."

"You've known you were pregnant for a week?" He asked, feeling a little hurt that she didn't tell him, but tried not to let it show.

She sighed, "Yeah… I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I was just…scared."

"Of what?" He asked, knowing perfectly well what she would say.

"The bus…" she squeaked, not really wanting to say it.

His voice was soothing and sure, "Honey, I can't say I'm over that…but I've delivered quite a few babies since then. And sure I'm a little scared about being a father, but every first time dad is." He noticed the new, happy tears forming in his wife's eyes, "I think I'm ready for this. I think we're ready."

Margaret nodded, "Yeah…I think we are. Well, as ready as we can be at this point." She felt him nod, "But you know we'll have to change our Christmas plans…" It wasn't that serious, but she knew her husband was looking forward to visiting his best friend and his family for the holidays.

"Oh?" He wasn't all that upset either, especially for this reason.

"Well, I'm about two months along… Seven months from now is right around then. I'd kind of like to be around home when the time comes. Not on complete opposite side of the country."

"I'd rather we were home too." He admitted. Shrugging, he suggested, "Maybe we can get the Hunnicutts up here instead."

Margaret smiled, "That'd be perfect. Are we going to tell them, or surprise them when they find out they're an aunt and uncle to be."

Hawkeye chuckled, "I think I'd pay to see the look on their faces when they find out. Let's surprise them." Margaret just laughed in agreement.

They sat in happy silence, just thinking of the future. After a while, the doctor nuzzled his wife's ear, "You know, the stairs are getting a little uncomfortable." He couldn't resist what came next, "And a woman in your condition should be in bed by this time of night."

She just laughed and playfully slapped her husband's shoulder, "Oh God, you're gonna be one of those husband's aren't you? I'm pregnant, not a fragile little china doll."

Hawkeye just laughed and helped her up, "Get used to it." Before they started up the stairs though, he trapped her in a big bear hug and gave her what was supposed to be a quick kiss on the lips. Once they started though, they didn't stop until they were at the point where they sort of needed the bed.

I bet you have a lot of questions about a few things in this story, but trust me, they will ALL be answered in the next chapter! I hope I can get it written soon! I hope you liked it, and I'd love to hear what you thought.

PS: Bev, I know I told you I just wanted to do a short little song-fic for this, but I changed my mind…again. Lol, go figure! Who knows how long this one will end up being! ;-)

Okay, green button time! :-D