Chapter 7: Answers
After the pleasantries had been exchanged both Hawkeye and Margaret sat down with the others. A few of the ex-4077th members were doing double takes when they saw Katie come over and sit down with Erin at the children's table. But no one said anything.
BJ remembered back to that morning in the Mess Tent. He had suspected something had gone on between Hawk and Margaret but he never said anything. At the time Hawkeye hadn't either, but BJ had anticipated that.
Some of the newer arrivals, who did not yet know about Katie being Margaret's daughter were starting to get curious. Klinger was the first to ask anything about Katie. He was curious to know who the parents were so he leaned over to Sherman and asked, "Sherman," Klinger had already been told by the ex-Colonel to cut the 'sir' and 'colonel' when they talked to him, "Who's daughter is that? She looks a lot like Hawkeye? Is she his?" he asked.
Sherman answered, "No, I think she's Margaret's daughter. But she does look an awful lot like Hawkeye doesn't she."
"Did she say who the father was?" Klinger asked.
"No, I don't believe she did." Sherman said, "But I think she'll tell us when she's ready, you know how she is." he added.
Klinger nodded in reply.
After lunch had been finished and the dishes cleared away everyone came and sat on the Hunnicutt's back veranda.
Katie had been playing out on the grass with Erin for about half an hour before they decided to join their parents and their friends. Katie walked over to her Dad and asked him if she could sit on his lap. He replied, "Sure thing, you can sit up on my knee."
Margaret was relieved that Katie and her Dad were getting on so well. She had felt so uneasy about the whole situation for so long so she was glad it turned out well for all three of them. She could see that Katie loved having a dad around. And he obviously loved having her around. He was still getting used to it but Margaret could see that he would be just fine with having her around.
"Hawkeye she is your daughter?" Soon-Lee asked.
Hawkeye looked at her, he hadn't expected that, then he looked at Margaret and back at Soon-Lee and replied, "Yes she is."
"She is beautiful little girl." Soon-Lee answered.
"Thank you." Hawkeye responded. "She's very special to me."
Hawkeye's comment reassured Margaret greatly. She now knew that even though it was wrong to have waited seven years to tell Hawkeye about Katie, she had done the right thing by telling him. She could see he loved her dearly and wanted the very best for her, even if he hadn't been able to give it to her in her first seven years of life.
Klinger over heard Soon-Lee's question and turned to Hawkeye and asked, "Is she your daughter Hawkeye?"
"Yes Klinger, she is. Her name's Katie." Hawkeye replied.
"She's very sweet Hawkeye. Who is her mother?" Klinger asked.
"Margaret is her mother." Hawkeye answered simply. He decided there was no use in hiding the fact any longer. It was bound to come out sooner or later.
"Major Houlihan is her mother? And you are her father how come you never said anything before?" Klinger asked in slight shock. He hadn't known anything about Hawkeye and Margaret's relationship, even back in Korea. No one had ever told him anything about it, so this came as quite a surprise to him.
"Yeah Margaret is the mother. Hey, I only found out I was the father earlier on today, I didn't even know myself until then." Hawkeye replied.
Sherman overheard Klinger and Hawkeye's conversation and said, "zipididy-do-dah! She's yours! I knew she looked to much like you to be a coincidence! You must be very proud she seems like a great little girl! But what I wanna know is why you didn't tell us before?"
By now everyone had caught on to what was happening, Sherman's excitement had not gone unnoticed.
"I didn't tell you because I didn't know until before when Margaret told me." Hawkeye replied.
"You fink! I knew something happened with you two that morning!" BJ said, he had caught on to what they were all talking about.
"What?" Hawkeye said, not catching his reference to that last morning in the Mess Tent.
"That morning in the Mess Tent you said you didn't want to tell me why you were up before normal people and that was why you were otherwise occupied weren't you?" BJ replied.
"Oh ya got me there Beej. I should have told you before." Hawkeye replied.
"Daddy, why is everyone asking about me?" Katie asked. She was wondering why everyone was suddenly making such a fuss of her.
Before Hawkeye answered Margaret pitched in and said, "Everyone just wants to meet you sweetie."
"But why?" Katie asked.
"Why wouldn't someone want to get to know you sweetie." Margaret answered.
"You're really wonderful with her Margaret and so are you Hawkeye, she seems like a wonderful little girl. And from what I can see, a lot like her parents!" Sherman said.
"Thank you sir." Margaret answered.
"Margaret…" Sherman began.
"Oh I'm sorry, Thank you Sherman." She said, correcting herself.
"There that's better." Sherman said laughing. "So how old is Katie?"
"She's seven." Margaret replied.
"Seven, wow. I remember when our grandson Cory was seven. He was such an active kid. Used to wear everyone out just by looking at 'em!" Everyone laughed at Sherman's comment. "Course he's grown up since then. Fine young man he is." he added.
"How come you didn't know Hawkeye, I would've thought you'd be proud to have a little girl of your own what happened?"
"Margaret thought I wouldn't be able to handle children. She didn't know how I'd react, she had no idea if I'd fully recovered from Korea. She decided to do what she thought was best." Hawkeye said, "But if you really want to know, why don't you ask her?" he added.
Margaret heard Hawkeye's comment and answered before Sherman could ask. "I was afraid. As Hawkeye said I didn't know how he would handle it. I was afraid for Katie."
"I think I get the picture. I'm just glad that Margaret changed her mind and told you today." Sherman replied.
"I'm glad she did too." Hawkeye said.
Margaret smiled at Hawkeye's reply. She was confidant now that telling Hawkeye today was the right thing to do. She was very pleased that he was getting along so well with Katie. And Katie seemed to love him just as much, it was true what the others had been saying, she was a lot like her parents, not just in her looks either. She now knew that the three of them would be alright and Katie was going to have not just a mother that loved and adored her, but a father as well, this more than anything was what pleased Margaret.
Next: The end of the reunion and plans to go to Maine. Please review. I love them. They make my day! Thanks :)
