Christmas Evening
Sorry I haven't written another story lately – I'm also working on a story for FanFiction on the Dukes of Hazzard site. I thought I was almost finished and had decided not to write another MASH Fic until finishing the DoH. Funny how the mind works! The DoH story isn't done but yet here I am writing another MASH fic. Hope you enjoy…
"Hi Grandpa," Dani said as she climbed up on his lap.
"How are you feeling?" Daniel asked as he put his hand on her forehead.
"Better, but still yucky."
"You're still a bit warm."
"I'm hungry."
"You must be feeling better then, unh? Why don't we fix a plate of turkey for you to munch on, okay?"
"Okay." With that Dani and Daniel went in the kitchen which gave Sidney, Hawkeye, and Trapper the chance to talk.
"How are you holding up, Hawk?" Sidney asked.
"Right now I'm fine. It's probably because I'm busy. I've got Dani to watch out for, funeral arrangements to make, but I know eventually that it's gonna hit like a ton of bricks."
"Grandpa?"
"What Dani?"
"I miss Mommy. Do you think it's true?"
"What true?"
"Is Mommy an angel?"
"Yes, I believe that your Mom is an angel."
"What's an angel?"
"I believe that it's a person that watches over you."
"Oh."
"You're right Hawkeye; there will be a time that the grief will catch up to you. When it does you need to allow yourself to cry and grieve. If you don't, you'll never be able to continue on with your life," Sidney commented.
"Yeah, I know. I just hope I don't do it in front of Dani. I don't think she understood why I was crying earlier today."
"She said something about that. She thought only kids cried," Trapper said.
A few moments of silence passed and suddenly Dani burst into the room and ran to her father pleading to get on his lap.
"What's wrong?" Hawkeye said as he picked up his daughter who could wait to get his arms around him and cry.
Daniel waited until Dani calmed down a bit and commented "She asked if Mommy was an Angel and I answered and then the tears threatened and she ran to you."
"Dani, what's wrong?" Hawkeye asked with great concern, rubbing her back in an attempt to calm her down.
Sidney had a feeling that the moment that everything hits like a ton a bricks had hit Dani. It was confirmed when Dani screamed, "I want my Mommy back!"
"Sweetheart, Mommy can't come back."
Dani then struggled to get out of her father's grasp. Once out of his grasp, she jumped up and down screaming, "It's not fair; it's not fair," over and over again until Hawkeye tried to grab her into a bear hug. Hawkeye recognized that the grief had built up all day and the discussion of angles had pushed Dani over the edge. When Hawkeye tried to grab her until the hug she jumped back a bit and ran away. Hawkeye figured he better go after her. She heard him get up; she turned around to see how close he was; turn her head back; ran right into a linen closet door; and fell backwards onto the ground.
She screamed louder and Hawkeye rushed to her side. He could see blood trickling from the side of her face. He wanted to scream at her for the way she was acting, tell her that no matter how much she cried Mommy wasn't coming back but he took one look at his baby; his injured baby, and those thoughts disappeared. Instead he asked his Dad for a cool washcloth to wipe her face off.
Hawkeye turned her head so he could see the wound. He believed that she must have caught something sharp on the door handle. It was a pretty good size puncture wound he thought to himself. When his Dad handed him the washcloth Hawkeye asked him to go get a bandage for Dani.
Dani tried to get up but Hawkeye prevented her from doing so. The more he resisted her from getting up the more agitated she became. He tried soothing her by wiping her face off and holding her but Hawkeye knew that she had much energy to burn.
Hawkeye had finally enough of it and yelled at her, "Daniella Margaret Pierce, stop."
Suddenly, without warning, Dani stopped. It made Hawkeye nervous. "Guys step back, I'm not sure what she's capable of." Knowing full well that Dani was having a moment where her emotions are running the show and the real Dani is hiding behind them.
Sidney was fascinated by what was happening. Hawkeye had yelled at her but he was now calm and staring Dani straight in the eyes. Dani seemed to be calming down as well but Hawkeye still had a firm grasp on her. Daniel left to get another washcloth for Hawkeye. Hawkeye exchanged washcloths with his father and then began to softly talk to Dani, trying to bring her back to reality. "It's okay baby. Daddy's here," was what Hawkeye repeated to her in hopes of getting her attention. He continued to gently wash her face off with one hand and brush loose strands of hair off her face with the other. No matter what he made sure that he had physical and eye contact with her at all times.
What seemed like an eternity to everyone, Dani spoke after a few minutes, "Daddy, my head hurts."
Hawkeye let go of his firm grasp and picked up his daughter. Daniel, who still had the bandage, took the washcloth out Hawkeye's hand and wiped the spilled blood on Dani's face and cleaned the wound a bit as Dani rested her head on Hawkeye's left shoulder. Hawkeye gently swayed and rubbed her back while saying soothing words in her ear. Dani seemed to respond by grabbing her father as tight as she could.
Daniel slipped out and grabbed a towel to dry the area of the wound so that he could put the bandage on it. "Hawkeye, why don't you go sit down with her? I think she fell back asleep."
Hawkeye knew what his daughter wanted and it wasn't for him to sit down and talk with other people. She had been patient, waiting for him to spend time with her exclusively. He wasn't sure what exactly brought on the attack that she just had but he had a gut feeling that it was from the stress of losing her mother and having strangers in the same house she was in.
"If you will all excuse me, I think Dani and I will head home." Hawkeye interrupted his father before he was able to get a word in edge wise. "Dad, Dani needs my full attention. She's been extremely good throughout all of this and I think it's only fair to give her my full attention. Beginning tomorrow she and I will go through a very rough patch and I think she needs to be told what exactly is going on."
"That's fine Hawkeye. Why don't you guys come over around 10:00 a.m. and we'll go from there. You know the Houlihans want to be involved in her burial."
"Yeah I know. I have a funny feeling about why they care so much now. They were never really around when she was sick. I just don't trust them with Dani by themselves."
"Hawk,"
"I know Dad, but she would be miserable if she was with them. They don't know how to handle her."
"I know they don't. You know they believe that Margaret should be buried at Arlington."
"Margaret, Dani and I had this discussion. Dani told me no. She didn't care what Margaret's parents said – she wanted her Mom here. Margaret said whatever Dani wanted was fine with her. I told Dani to tell them exactly how she felt if they ask."
Hawkeye could feel his shoulder getting warm and wet and knew Dani was crying. When she was really hurting and couldn't express it she would cry silent tears. "Dad, I've got to get her home. We'll meet up at around 10:00 and go from there."
Hawkeye whispered in her ear that they were going home soon and kissed her on the cheek. Dani gripped him even tighter.
After they got dressed for the weather, Daniel gave his granddaughter a kiss and sent the two of them on the way home.
As Hawkeye left his Dad's house he prayed that Dani would be able to handle all the attention she was about to receive from strangers.
The next story will deal around the planning of Margaret's funeral. It will be interesting to see the confrontation between Hawkeye and Al and Jane Houlihan about planning Margaret's funeral where shet should be buried.