AN: Thanks so much for all of your reviews once again. This story started out as a bit of experiment just to see if I could pull it off at this point in the series, so I'm really chuffed that people are enjoying it!

The next three weeks pass in an awkward blur of long stretches dealing with wounded, trying to avoid Pierce and Frank, and attempting not to panic. Margaret has the date of her last monthly "gift" burned into her memory. She's calculated and recalculated the expected date of its return, but that still hasn't stopped her from checking her calendar twice every day since. Since that night. She winces.

Their mishap had happened mid-cycle.

For the last 24 hours she's been trying a different approach, she's been avoiding her calendar. In fact, she wonders if she never looks at again whether time will stop and then maybe she can live the rest of her life suspended as normal.

Her time of the month not arriving today means she's a week late, an entire seven days. Her heart feels like it's in her chest. Until now she'd been trying desperately to pass it off as stress or lack of sleep or poor nutrition, her body clock going whack from all those hours of surgery, anything that's not pregnancy. She opens her calendar to the page she'd been avoiding and growls in frustration,

"No, no, no, no, NO!" she yells into the musty tent air and slams the offending papers back down on her desk.

This can't be happening, can it? She knows that it wasn't long ago that she was lamenting that she had nothing but the army, but right now she'd give anything to be back there with those prospects. She stops and closes her eyes, taking a deep breath.

She needs to go and talk to Pierce. Really it's the last thing she wants to do, but if she has to do this alone for another second she might just crack under the weight of it all. She's got no other options, no friends, no understanding family, and it is technically his problem too. She knows he'll at least treat her with some dignity, even if there was a possibility he might ultimately throw her out on her ear. If this did indeed turn out to be the reality of their situation, she had no idea what he would do. She'd laugh the idea of them standing awkwardly at the altar together if it didn't all cut so painfully close to the bone.

Tears start falling before she even realises she's crying. She should get tested to confirm this...fact, but at this point she doesn't see how it could possibly come back negative.

She wipes her eyes, trying to regain her composure. She needs to find Pierce.


Trapper's in the Swamp, refilling the still when he sees Margaret coming through the mesh sides of the tent. She doesn't look happy.

"Shit."

Frank looks up from the magazine he's reading and sneers, "Oh what does she want?"

"Quiet, Frank."

Sure enough there's soon a knock on their flimsy, wooden door.

Trapper calls out, "It's open, Major."

Up close Trapper can see she's been crying. Her eyes are puffy, and her makeup is smudged.

She clears her throat, "Do you know where I can find Pierce?"

Frank jumps in, "You should check your roster, Major, I think you'll find that he's on duty."

"Shut up, Frank. Hawk's in post-op, come on I'll

walk you over there."

She looks surprised but says nothing.

They start walking across the compound

"I don't need an escort."

"You might not, but he's gonna need someone to cover for him when you tell him what I think you're about to tell him."

She simply nods once. If she opens her mouth she'll start crying again in the middle of the compound.

Trapper studies her for a moment and feels a rush of pity for her, "You wait here, I'll get him"

He finds him standing over a patient, studying a chart, "Hey Hawk?"

"Mmmmm?" he says without looking up.

"I'm here to relieve you."

"What, why?"

"Margaret's out there wanting to talk to you, and she looks pretty upset."

The colour drains from Hawkeye's face, "This is it, isn't it."

"It does look that way."

He looks his friend in the eye, "Thanks, Trap."


Hawkeye pokes his head out of the door and scans the compound for his target and finds her standing with her arms wrapped tightly around herself, squinting off into the middle distance. She starts when she notices him

"You're…?"

Margaret nods, her eyes downcast. Neither one of them can say the word.

"I'm a week late for my-yes. I think so."

There's an awkward pause.

"Have you talked to Henry about getting a test done?"

"No, not yet"

Hawkeye hesitates, both needing and not wanting to ask his next question. "I hate to ask you this, but are you sure it couldn't belong to our friend Major Burns?"

"How dare you, of course I'm sure! I would never have come to you if I thought-you were the only one around that time!" Her voice chokes as she starts to cry, "There's a slim chance, but Major Burns and I always took proper precautions!" she hisses before starting to charge away.

"Margaret."

She doesn't stop

"Margaret!" He takes a couple of long strides to catch up with her and grabs her by the arm.

"Let go of me!"

Passers by turn their heads to look as they go about their business.

"Look, will you just stop and listen to what I have to say for a minute?"

She stops, reluctantly, but doesn't turn around.

"Say the test is positive; I could be stuck in this place for quite some time. I'm not sure if you have any family who will help you out or whether you're intending to go it alone, but I want you to consider going to stay with dad at my place after you're discharged." She turns to him, eyes wide with shock. Hawkeye continues, "I may not be able to help you while I'm here, but I want you to have someone who will, and dad's the next best thing, or possibly even better. I think he'd really like you. It's not that I don't think you can do it by yourself either, I don't want you to have to, and besides I wouldn't mind being involved in his or her life, and by that I mean I would like to be."

Her shoulders heave with sobs. He's never seen her cry, let alone break down. He's broken Major Houlihan. He stands helpless for a moment before gently, tentatively turning her around pulling her to his chest. He's surprised that she lets him.

"Shh, it's going to be okay."

She stiffens, "That's easy for you to say, it's not your career that's finished!"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you're in this position in the first place. I'm sorry that it's my fault."

Margaret breaks free from his embrace,

"I should go and find Colonel Blake.

"I'm perfectly capable of going on my own."

"I know, but like before, I don't want you to have to."

Her eyes narrow in suspicion, "Why are you being so nice to me, what's in it for you?"

"Because it's the least I can do. I helped get you into this mess, I owe you this and then some."

She looks away in an attempt to stop him from seeing that her eyes are welling up once more, "Thank you."


Henry was in his office, trying in vain to put his doll back together for the umpteenth time when Pierce and Houlihan walked in, both wearing sombre expressions. This was not any combination he'd been expecting to see walking in together anytime soon. Since that night they'd been cool to each other, polite to each other, watchful of each other, but nothing more or less. If anything he'd expected raging passion, huge arguments or something else, anything else, but it had never happened.

"Alright, who died?"

Neither of them laugh.

"Uh, Major Houlihan thinks-"

"I think I might be pregnant, in fact I'm pretty sure I am."

"You're...you and him...oh...okay."

Henry eyes them both, "You two knew this might happen the entire time, didn't you. This is why you've both been so surly. That must have been some night you guys had. What did you do? Or more to the point, what didn't you do?"

At the reddening of Margaret's face and the discomfort on Hawkeye's he knows he's hit on the truth, "Ah gee you guys, you're both-Nevermind. Okay Major, what do you need me to do, order you some tests in Tokyo?"

"Yes sir"

"Okay, leave it with me, Radar, get me-!"

"Major Houlihan's tests are booked in for the day after tomorrow, and here's a 2 day pass for you to sign for her to use to get to Tokyo starting tomorrow, sir."

"Thanks, Radar," Henry sighs as he signs the papers and hands them to Margaret, "Now Major, I'm sure I don't have to remind you about the automatic discharge that happens when a woman in the army gets pregnant, I'm sure you've seen that happen to other women before."

She shakes her head and bursts into tears. She may have been a thorn in his side since she got here, but right now he just felt plain old sorry for her. Henry watches with fascination at the look of alarm and concern that crosses Hawkeye's face as he tries to decide what to do with a freshly crying Major. Maybe they had something, he'd never quite understand how they worked. One minute they'd be in his office yelling at each other, the next, wading through guts together as one of the best surgical duos he'd ever seen. Though one thing was certain: No matter what happened, there were going to be some interesting times ahead.