I didn't approach Hawkeye yet about Shannon because of how busy the two of us had been since Sidney's week visit (those medical conferences added in to the fun I missed). I meant to, thinking that maybe Sidney was right about Hawkeye. He was too scared about something and it made him angry because he had no control over it. This also translated into scared because I was raped and impregnated and had no idea who the father is and where the child is bounced to next, which are all out of his control. In that week, every time I thought about it as Margaret and I giggled long into the night as we bunked in her tent, it became true in my mind.

I mean, every time I wanted to share with Hawkeye anything about my beautiful daughter, which was that piece of home and sanity I hold onto, he gets defensive, hiding something from me. He beats around the bush when I ask him his opinions on this and that, like what the baby should be eating (Louise asking me) or how she should be disciplined. He's given me no clue as to whether or not he thinks Shannon is his daughter either, only holding us deep into the night before she was taken away.

A week after my conversation with Sidney at the Officers' Club, I heard about some camp action and rumors and decided to watch from Margaret's tent window. From there, I saw the major himself exit the Swamp and go into Colonel Potter's office, as if to talk with the CO himself, and remain hidden for a while. As I snuck out of Margaret's tent to spy on him, concealed around our basketball court, I saw Sidney finally come out, going back to the Swamp quickly like he was running, which made me jump and hide in a corner of the head nurse's quarters. I had to listen and see what was going on. I refused to be dumb on this matter.

It took a few minutes of bantering in the Swamp between Sidney and somebody else in there (Hawkeye, I wanted to guess), but something was up. Afterward, with Sidney looking satisfied, Hawkeye came outside in nothing but his open bathrobe, shorts, shirt and boots. He then proceeded to Colonel Potter's office, very dazed and very much afraid of something. A little while later, he came out pale and shaking. Tying up his bathrobe, he went back into the Swamp, lying back down on his cot and covering his face with his blanket like he was sick. He didn't even move an inch.

I had to know what was going on, although I had an idea of what it was. Throwing caution to the wind and tired of playing the spy again, I ran into the office building. There, I met Klinger, who was typing out the daily report on the desk. I thanked God that I saw him first and no one else. He was just the person that I wanted to see anyway.

"What went on in there?" I asked him, pointing to the doors of Colonel Potter's office, hearing his voice and another's argue over something pretty viciously.

"I'm not supposed to say anything, Captain," Klinger replied quietly as he continued to type, all without looking at me too. "Whatever went on in there is confidential. So, you better quiet yourself down and leave matters where they should be."

I went over to the company clerk and put a hand on his shoulder, leaning in just so to talk just in his ears. "Look, Klinger, I need to know. Sidney went in there and then talked with Hawkeye and had him ushered in here. Hawkeye came back from here pretty white in the face, like something had shocked him, something that really got to him. Did something happen in there that I need to be privy to? Am I missing something that the whole camp knows? Does it have to do with the reports that Colonel Flagg sent to our CO in the next room a little while ago?"

Klinger looked at the double doors and then back at me as he stopped typing. "Ok, ok, Jeanie, you've got me," he said quickly, albeit softly. "Follow me."

Getting up (and throwing me off balance almost), we both went through the doors to Post-Op, but instead of seeing the patients or who was on duty there, Klinger took me in the opposite direction, to the examination rooms in Pre-Op (privacy, I figured). After making sure that nobody was in the x-ray room (other rooms were being used), Klinger and I entered quietly, the darkness shrouding us in secrecy as he closed the door behind us. He scanned the area cautiously and fast before escorting me to the far corner of the room.

In a hushed tone, the clerk warned me, "You better not say that I said this, Jeanie."

I had to laugh. "Jesus, Klinger, I'm sworn to secrecy. Cross my heart and hope to die. Who can I tell? Now, tell me what's up!"

I did a silly pinky promise with Klinger, who was amused and did it back at me. It was a little something that I had last done with Dean when we were maybe ten years old, about the time Lorraine and Henry Blake came into our lives. We had secrets to keep and it was those promises that kept us alive. We had to trust each other and that alone was what made us so special as siblings.

Jesus, twenty years later and I'm here and Dean is dead of the same disease. It was Korea.

Klinger hesitated and then told me the news that I had been waiting for since Shannon was born. "Potter's report was – well, Flagg's reaction was – I mean, the rumors around the camp were true. Captain Pierce is a father."

My breath seemed like it blew right out of me like I had been holding it in for almost two years now. I gasped, trying to catch some air, and succeeded to some extent. I then held in my breath again, trembling with anticipating and willing Klinger to continue and to tell me more. I needed to know about my fears and the dreams that might be coming true. I really needed to know!

"Major Freedman just wanted Colonel Potter to tell Hawkeye the news personally. I guess he talked with you at the Officers' Club about Shannon and was curious. Potter wasn't obligated to keep it a big state secret or something, but with some prompting from Major Freedman, he felt like it had to be until something was done. Well, something was done." Klinger then pulled out two letters for me. "Here's this official one. And this other one is also for you, Jeanie. It's from Crabapple Cove, Maine."

Shaking, I took the envelopes from Klinger and noticed that the first was a summons to Seoul from Flagg (for what, I could not know). On the second, I saw familiar writing on the front, the name of the sender in bright black ink at the top left-hand corner. The only time I had seen it for me personally was after Hawkeye wrote to his Dad about our engagement last April and had me write a few lines. About two weeks later, after the engagement was announced in the Crabapple Coves papers, I personally received a letter from a Dr. Daniel Pierce of the same town. He wrote to me about how sweet I sounded (mentioning all the time I wrote too) and how he would love to meet me after we came home, explaining that if his son was serious about somebody and decided to marry her, then he himself must be in for a beautiful daughter-in-law.

After reading those words from someone who was supposed to be my father-in-law, I almost felt unworthy of such praise. I felt embarrassed, even as Klinger and I stood there, especially when I put two and two together. A letter from Crabapple Cove, Maine meant one thing.

"That was where your daughter was sent," Klinger explained in a whisper as he heard voices outside of the room. Some nurses passed by before he dared to continue. "Shannon's blood type isn't yours or that other guy's family, but Captain Pierce's. It even matched his father's blood type. The physical features aside, Colonel Flagg figured out who was what and decided that your daughter was now safely with family."

I looked up at Klinger, shocked and wanting to cry out. "Dammit, this isn't fair to him!"

"To who?" Klinger started to back away from me slowly, stopping when he bumped into something and cursed silently. "What do you mean, Jeanie?"

"Hawkeye and his Dad and even Shannon," I replied softly, taking a deep breath as the voices moved away from us. "Shannon doesn't need to be shipped to another home. She was happy with Trapper and Louise. Dr. Pierce is one of the only doctors in Crabapple Cove and in the surrounding small towns. So, where is my daughter going to be if he's busy? She'll be underfoot and unwanted."

"Captain –" Klinger tried, but I was quicker.

"No. You can't tell me that this is the right thing. Jesus, Klinger, Hawkeye is now a proud father of a child that is nearly two years old and barely knows her parents." I wanted to cry still, but the tears had yet to come. "I need to talk to Hawkeye about this. He needs to –"

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Klinger cautioned as he walked back towards me, now his turn to interrupt. "Your father the 'Heartless General' is around the camp again and wants to talk to Hawkeye. He just came in a few minutes before you bothered me and was talking with Colonel Potter about Captain Pierce."

"Like he wants to beat Hawkeye because he and I conceived a child and that Hawkeye is just like me?" I asked bitterly, aware that I had a close call and was lucky to miss Daddy. "Poor Colonel Potter couldn't do anything but watch him beat me almost to death, only saying that he had hoped that a father would treat a daughter more properly before going back into surgery. He couldn't say anything against my father unless he wanted to see someplace more remote than Korea. My father has the power to do that to him and more than the colonel doesn't deserve."

Klinger agreed, nodding. "I'm so sorry, Jeanie."

I shook my head, still wondering about my dry eyes. Regardless, I accepted the apology with little more than pitiful words. "Oh, Klinger, what is he going to do when my father wants to beat Hawkeye to death?"

"I don't think it'll come to that." Klinger put his arm around me as I put the unopened letters in my pocket and we started to walk out. "I think Captain Pierce is safe for the time being."

"Let's hope so," I replied, shaking my head once more and wondering why the tears still would not come.