Chapter 4:

It was early evening, and Hogan sat at the table in the barracks with Gracie in his arms. She was awake and looking around at everything and everyone around her, while Hogan's men hovered over her and spoke to her in a baby voice.

"You are très, très adorable. Yes, you are. Yes, you are." LeBeau cooed.

"Big as a loaf of bread, that you are," Newkirk said.

Gracie simply looked up at the four men talking to her. One hand was on her stomach, while the other one was lying against Hogan's chest, opening and closing into a small fist.

"I can't believe how little she is," Carter said.

"Certainly a little mate we have here," Newkirk replied. "Why I haven't seen someone that little since I met Louis."

"I heard that," LeBeau remarked, crossing his arms.

Gracie turned her head towards the man who was holding her, who she had grown extremely fond of. Hogan looked down back at her and gave a small smile.

"Who are these guys? Do you know them?" He cooed.

Gracie smiled and made little noises.

As the five of them continued talking to and playing with Gracie, the barracks door opened, and Schultz came wandering in doing his routine night checks. When he saw the baby in the Senior POW's arms, his eyes widened ten times in size, and his jaw almost fell off its hinges.

"What, what, what what what, what is that?!" He cried, pointing a finger at the baby.

Hogan chuckled.

"Would you believe me if I told you I had a baby?" He replied.

"Colonel Hogan, what is a baby doing inside the barracks? Colonel Hogan, please; no more of your monkey business." Schultz whined.

"I found her last night by the camp gates over by the forest. Heard the poor little thing crying and couldn't leave her out there to freeze to death. Brought her inside to keep her all nice and warm."

"You left the barracks during the middle of the night?"

"Wouldn't you if you heard someone crying?"

"Colonel Hogan, you can not have a baby in the barracks. It is a violation of camp regulations!"

"Says who?"

Schultz sighed and slapped his arms onto his legs.

"I have no idea," he answered.

"Come on, Schultz," Kinch said.

"What did sweet little Gracie do so wrong?" LeBeau asked.

"You named her?" The German sergeant replied.

"Better than being called 'Hey, you there'," Hogan answered. "Come on, Schultz; let us keep her until we can find her two parents who will love her and protect her. What harm's a little baby gonna do around here?"

Schultz pursed his lips together, then he looked down at Gracie. The little baby looked up at him, curious to know who this man was. He looked friendly to her, and she started smiling and making coo noises at him. Schultz was breaking; how could he turn in that sweet little face to his commanding officer? Schultz closed his eyes and turned his head to the side.

"I see nothing, I know nooooottthhhing!"

Hogan smiled.

"Thanks, Schultz," he said.

The sergeant leaned over and ticked Gracie under her little chin.

"Coochie coochie coo," he spoke, in a high pitched voice.

The baby made a few soft coos and smiled while rubbing her eyes in response.

"I like having a baby in the barracks," LeBeau said.

"Gives us a little practice while she's here." Newkirk added.

"Practice?" Schultz asked, a slight chill beginning to go up and down his spine. "Practice for what?"

"For when Colonel Hogan becomes a father. Never too late to start practicing," LeBeau answered.

"Hey Colonel," Carter said. "You think you might have twins?"

"Twins?" Schultz gasped, his pupils dilating.

"Maybe not twins, but I do want at least four children someday." Hogan commented, gently rocking Gracie.

"F,f,f,ff,fff, four?!" Schultz stuttered. "You want four of them?"

"I thought you said you had five kids, Schultz," Kinch said, crossing his arms with confusion.

"Yes, but I do not want them here in this camp. The Kommandant would have a heart attack!"

"Schultz, I think all that schnapps is starting to go to your head," the colonel said.

"It is worse than I thought...oh, what am I going to tell the Kommandant?"

"Colonel," LeBeau said, ignoring the fluffy guard. "If you have a boy, can you name him Louis LeBeau, Jr?"

"If it's a girl, can you name her Lilly? I always liked that name," Carter said.

Hogan laughed.

"If I have one of each, I will definitely take those names under consideration," he said.

"Oh, I hear nothing. I did not come by. I'm not even a part of the Germany Army!" Schultz exclaimed, and bolted out of the barracks with the door slamming behind him. When he was gone, Hogan pursed his lips together and turned to look at his men.

"Is it just me, or did Schultz seem a little bit jumpy to you guys?" He pondered.

"Seems like Ol' Schultzie's gone around the bend," Newkirk answered.

"Schultz is always jumpy, mon ami. Especially when he knows Burkhalter is coming," LeBeau said.

"And we need Gracie out of here before then," Hogan turned to his second in command. "Kinch, heard anything back from London yet?"

"London's sending a submarine here in three days. They're also searching for two parents to adopt Gracie, and they'll come over on the submarine along with our naval officers on board," Kinch answered.

Hogan nodded.

"Good," He sighed and looked down at Gracie. "Carter, can you take Gracie for a moment? I need to go take a little walk outside. I've been inside all day, and frankly I need a breath of fresh air."

"Sure thing, Colonel," the young sergeant said.

"And don't bring her near any of your explosives down in the tunnels. If Kinch, Newkirk, or LeBeau report to me otherwise, I'll order you to paperwork for the remainder of the war."

Carter frowned, hung his head, and sighed.

"Yes, Colonel," he said.

The colonel got to his feet, walked over to Carter, and gently placed Gracie in the sergeant's arms. He looked down at her and smiled, waving to her.

"I'll be back in a little while, I promise," Hogan told her sweetly.

Gracie looked at him intently, wondering why the man had handed her over to some stranger. Hogan gently rubbed her little head, then walked out of barracks two and closed the door behind him.

"Well," Kinch said. "Looks like it's just the four of us for a while."

When Gracie started to cry, Carter looked down at her and bounced her gently.

"Oh, what's wrong, little buddy? You're safe with us, we'll take care of you." He cooed.

The baby continued to cry.

"Here, give her to me; I have a special touch with the ladies," LeBeau spoke, waving his finger in his direction.

Carter handed over Gracie, and the Frenchman went to work to try and calm her.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle; comment ça va?" He talked to her softly..

Nothing changed.

"Blimey, Louis; the poor thing can't understand a thing you're saying!" Newkirk exclaimed.

"Just give it a minute; she'll relax soon enough," LeBeau remarked. After another thirty seconds, the crying continued and appeared to only get louder and louder, much to LeBeau's dismay. "Well this little lady is just downright stubborn. The ladies love the French!"

"She's a baby, Louis; she obviously wants something," Kinch answered.

"You think she might be hungry?" Carter asked.

LeBeau walked over to where a bottle sat on the stove, picked it up, and touched the tip to Gracie's mouth. The little baby turned her head from the bottle and kept on fussing.

"She is anything but hungry," LeBeau said, still bouncing the baby softly.


Klink sat at his desk diligently working on paperwork. He had started his last document, when the door came flying open, and a huffing and puffing Schultz barreled through.

"Herr Kommandant," he gasped.

"Yes, Schultz, what is it? I'm terribly busy," Klink answered, never lifting his eyes from his desk.

"Herr Kommandant, Colonel Hogan is having twins."

The colonel froze in his spot and slowly lifted his terror filled blue eyes up to his sergeant.

"He's what?" He asked.

"I heard it with my own two ears, Herr Kommandant. LeBeau wants one of them named after him." Schultz added.

"He...he's going...Colonel Hogan is...Hogan's gonna...twins?!" Klink exclaimed, rising to his feet.

"I don't know how it happened."

"Schultz, it's this is true, there's going to be...Hogan will be having...I'll have three Hogans in one camp." Klink quivered. He shook in his boots. How in the world was he, Hogan, and anyone else going to care for a baby? Two of them! He knew very well that the American would rather die than give up his children to the Germans, so that was out of the question. But this was war time; two newborn babies in a POW camp was not safe for anybody. Hogan, his twin babies, the other prisoners, Klink...what if the Gestapo found out about this? What if Hochstetter found out about it? Klink swallowed a large knot in his throat. If that short, angry, quick-tempered man found out...God only knows what he would do to him. All he knew is that whatever it would be, he would much rather be transferred to the Russian Front than endure that horrible nightmare.

"Herr Kommandant, what shall we do?" Schultz asked, worried. He knew as well that if General Burkhalter or Major Hochstetter found out about the babies on the way, Stalag 13 would be in a world full of trouble. And the last thing he wanted for Hogan, Klink, and the others was to suffer consequences for something completely and entirely far out of their control.

"Right now, we must keep the condition of Colonel Hogan quiet. Any information spreads outside of this camp regarding the matter, and it's a firing squad for you and I," the kommandant answered, trying to think. His brain was jammed with all the 'what ifs' and possibilities of what would happen if either Hochstetter or his commanding officer found out Hogan was expecting twins. "How far along do you think he is?"

"Well, I don't think General Burkhalter has any idea of what is going on here, Herr Kommandant, but maybe..." the sergeant never got to finish his sentence.

"Not General Burkhalter, you dummkopf! I meant Colonel Hogan!"

"Oh...that I do not know...two...maybe three months at the most."

"That doesn't leave us much time before he starts showing."

"General Burkhalter will be very unhappy if he finds out about this. Very unhappy."

"I'm more worried about Major Hochstetter. The things that man is capable of doing are far worse things than General Burkhalter could ever do to me."

There was a knock on Klink's door that brought both Germans out of their thoughts. The door came to an open, and Hogan made his usual way inside without permission. He gave the kommandant a sloppy salute before speaking.

"Kommandant, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Colonel Hogan, what are you doing here?! You shouldn't be out in public like this; what if someone sees you?!" Klink scolded.

Hogan raised an eyebrow, puzzled by the man's reaction.

"What do you mean, Kommandant? Everyone in camp has seen me at least once," the American answered.

"He makes a point, you know," Schultz said, matter of factly.

"Shut up," Klink ordered. He turned back to Hogan and looked him straight in the eyes. "Now I want you back in your barracks this instant, or I will put you in the cooler for the remainder of the war!"

"I haven't even done anything!" Hogan retorted.

"Not that you know of."

"I just wanted to ask you a question, Sir."

Klink sighed.

"What is it, Hogan? I'm very busy right now." He replied.

"Do you know a good way to put a baby to sleep? Hypothetical question, of course."

The kommandant's muscles again tensed up, and he snapped his eyes to the brown ones of his American counterpart.

"Diiiiiiiiiiiissssssssmiiiiiiiiiisssssed!" He exclaimed, with a sharp salute.

Hogan looked at the man oddly for a moment, saluted, then made his way out and closed the door behind him. He stood there leaning against the door on his back and wrapped his arms around himself, thinking carefully over the past half hour of events. Something was up with Klink and Schultz. Both were acting very different lately; more so from their usual jumpiness and anxiety regarding a visit from Burkhalter. Was something the matter? Did they know something he should know about? Did it regard him in any sort of way? If only he knew the answers to his questions. Sadly, he did not have time to find them. What mattered the most to the American currently was getting Gracie out of Germany and to the safety of London with two parents that would love and care for her.

He shook his head and began walking back to the barracks.

"I swear Krauts get weirder and weirder everyday," he muttered, to himself.