The test didn't lie. Margaret was definitely pregnant. She couldn't believe this had happened to her, not now. She was in the prime of her career. She had everything going for her. She was in a war zone for God's sake. And she was married. How was she going to explain to her husband that she was pregnant-with someone else's child?

Of all the possible fathers of her child why did it have to be Hawkeye? She'd almost prefer it to be Radar for crying out loud. At least then she could get rid of him. Hawkeye would now be forever part of her life. She'd never be able to shake him. What she couldn't admit to herself was that she'd never be able to do that anyway, pregnancy or not. The night in the hut changed everything.

So she did what she had to do. Colonel Potter tearfully accepted her resignation and it would be two weeks before she could get a flight out to the states. Two weeks. Two long weeks. Two weeks to deal with the consequences, to deal with a baby she didn't want. To deal with the father she didn't need.

She avoided Hawkeye like the plague. She found an abandoned hut she temporarily made residence in so she couldn't be found. Colonel Potter agreed to switch her shifts so she didn't have to work with Hawkeye. He didn't ask why, but he knew. Deep down he hoped they could work out their differences before Margaret left, but he knew she was much too stubborn for her own good.

Margaret even thought about giving the baby up for adoption. She didn't know if Donald would agree but maybe if he knew the circumstances he might. She didn't know. She didn't want to be a mother any more than she wanted to be in this bloody war zone.

One day she was sleeping; she had worked the night shift and Hawkeye worked the day shift. She felt herself start to cramp. Suddenly Margaret was scared, not for herself but for this life that she didn't want. She got up and looked at her bed- the sheets were ruined. She was a nurse-she knew what that meant.

So she made her way to camp and found Hawkeye. She told him everything, including that he was the father. He got her in the bed and held her hand and reassured her that everything was going to be all right. They both knew that it wouldn't. He said that he would do anything he asked of him. That he cared for her, he only wanted the best. She didn't say anything, but was grateful when for once he knew when to be quiet. She always found solace in quiet.

A few hours later it was obvious there was nothing more anyone could do. Margaret was cleaned up and she swore she could see a tear in Hawkeye's eye.

"Why are you crying?" Margaret asked.

He stared at her. "Are you the coldest woman alive? Our baby just died and you're asking me why I cry?"

"It probably never had a heartbeat. It never suffered. Not like the hundreds of men I've seen here on the battlefield."

Hawkeye continued to stare. "Margaret I'm sorry. I can't help you anymore. You're not the woman I loved that night in the hut."

Before he left he heard a tiny voice cry out. "Please don't leave me."

He looked over and saw that Margaret had broken down like he had never seen her.

"It was going to be a boy. It was going to be a boy and he was going to grow up and go to war and get killed and there wouldn't be a thing I could do to save him," she sobbed. "He didn't have a chance."

Suddenly Hawkeye understood Margaret as he never had before. She was hardened, so hardened, but this war changed everything. But she had learned to love, truly love. He had seen glimpses of it that night in the hut and now here with their baby. He didn't know what to say for once in his life. He just held her and hoped that morning would finally come.

The end