Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter edited and uploaded. I've been working on a new fanfic story for a different fandom. But now that I got the latest chapter for that story posted I decided to get this story finished up. Here's the final chapter for this story.

Chapter five

"I Love Him? I Love Him Not?"

"Margaret!"

Margaret nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard her name being called from behind her. Turning around she found Rob standing just at her elbow, a broad grin on his face.

"What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack!" She put a hand over her racing heart.

"Nope, just trying to get your attention," he replied as he sat on the top of the picnic table beside her. "You seemed to be far away someplace."

"I was just watching Captain," she replied a bit sharply as she focused her attention back to where she'd been staring. It was then that she realized that the canine was nowhere to be seen. "Where'd he go?"

Rob chuckled and pointed in the direction of the swings where two little kids were excitedly playing with the beautiful dog.

"Captain!" Margaret called anxiously. "Get over here you four-legged flea bag!"

As Captain ignored the call Rob commented seriously, "I see somebody got up on the wrong side of the world today."

"I'm just fine," she snapped in irritation.

"Try again," he ventured.

After giving him a cold glare, she crisply informed him. "This is none of your business."

"Well, I'm making it my business," he told her seriously. When she glared at him again, he said, "You can give me all the dirty looks you want, but you've been the most unbelievable crank these last two weeks and I'm not leaving here until I find out why."

"It's nothing," she told him.

"It must be a big nothing if it's got you in such a state," he remarked. When she rolled her eyes at him, he said, "Look, I know I'm not one of your 4077th chums who you seem to think are the only ones that really know you, but I think I've got you pegged pretty good for just being a civilian pal and I can tell that something is eating at you. Now won't it feel better to talk it out than to keep it bottled up inside? You're obviously stewing over it anyway so maybe hashing it aloud will help put it into perspective."

Margaret gave him a serious look. "I really don't think you're the person I should discuss this with."

"Why not?" He asked, a hurt look on his face. "Am I not good enough to hear your problems? Margaret, how many times do I have to tell you that I love you? I would give anything if we could get together, but for whatever reason you've decided that that scenario is not for you. As hard as it is I'm doing my best to accept that, but I'd still like to be your friend. And friends help each other. So please, let me help you with your problem. Let me prove what a supportive husband I could be." At her look he held up his hands and chuckled slightly. "I'm just kidding."

"See, that's the problem," she said earnestly. "You just say you are just kidding, but you're not." She hesitated a brief moment before continuing solemnly, "Rob, no matter what you might think, I do care about you very much as a friend and that being the case, I don't want to hurt you. And if I try talking to you about what's bothering me, I'll do just that."

"Margaret, just seeing you like this hurts me," he told her sincerely. "I want to see you happy and if it's someone else that will do that, then you have my best wishes."

"Really?" She gave him a skeptical look.

"Really," he assured her. Then after a pause he asked in a low tone, "It's Hawkeye, isn't it?"

"What is?" Her brow dipped in puzzlement.

"The guy you're in love with," he said matter-of-factly.

"I don't know," she confessed with a heartfelt sigh. "That's the problem."

Reaching into the pocket of her jacket she pulled out an envelope. After staring at it for a moment she handed it to him.

"This is Hawkeye's last letter. It's from two weeks ago."

"Two weeks ago?" Rob repeated in surprise. "I thought you two were up to writing pretty much every day."

"We were," she confirmed. "But after he dropped this bombshell on me, neither one of us has written the other."

"What bombshell?" He asked curiously.

"Read the letter," she said nodding towards the envelope in his hand.

She waited patiently while he read the heartfelt words on the page. When he finished, he stared off into space for several moments until she prompted, "So?"

"Well, I don't know what to tell you Margaret," Rob replied honestly. "Do you feel the same way?"

"I don't know," she told him with a deep sigh. "Part of me says yes, but then part of me says that I only love him as a friend. We went through so much together during the war – relied on each other heavily to get through the horror. We saw each other at our worst over there." She looked at Rob with tears in her eyes. "What if the things I am feeling are just left over from what we went through in Korea? What if they're just feelings of gratitude and not love? What if..." She stopped talking when Rob put a finger on her lips.

"What if you stopped listening to your head and started listening to your heart?" He looked at her seriously. "What does your heart tell you?"

Margaret considered the feelings in her heart for several moments before replying, surprising herself at the confidence in her voice, "It's telling me that I love him."

"Then Margaret, listen to your heart."

Margaret's heart was in her throat as she stepped off the airplane at the Portland Airport two weeks later. After her conversation with Rob, she had immediately written Hawkeye telling him that they needed to talk in person and that she was coming to Crabapple Cove in two weeks. She gave him her flight number and the time she'd be arriving. Hawkeye had written her swiftly back, assuring her that he'd be there to get her at the airport and that he was eagerly awaiting her visit. Margaret smiled as she spotted him gently pushing his way through a small crowd to get to her.

"I was starting to worry that I'd never hear from you again," he commented into her hair as he pulled her tightly to him.

"I didn't mean to worry you," she assured him sincerely as she pulled back slightly. "I just had a lot to think about."

"Does this mean you've come to a decision?" He asked, searching her face carefully.

"For now, I've decided that I want to get settled, have some supper, and a hot bath before I decide on anything else," she informed him seriously. "Preferably in that order."

"Well, Ms. Houlihan, I believe you'll find everything you need at the Chateau Pierce," he offered her his arm. "If you'll just follow me."

"Lead on, McDuff," she commented in a teasing tone.

"Dad, we're home!" Hawkeye called as he and Margaret entered the house.

"In the study!" Daniel Pierce's voice came from the depths of the house.

"Come with me," Hawkeye urged, grabbing Margaret's hand and leading her down a small hall to a warmly decorated back room. "Dad, I have someone I want you to meet. Daniel Pierce, Margaret Houlihan."

"I'm Daniel Pierce," the older man commented with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"Well then I must be Margaret Houlihan," she returned, shaking his hand warmly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Margaret," Daniel told her sincerely. "Hawkeye has told me a lot about you."

"He's told me a lot about you too, sir," she replied.

"Please, call me Daniel."

"Very well, Daniel." She gave him a warm smile.

"Dad, I was going to take Margaret to the Hole in the Wall for supper," Hawkeye told him. "Is there anything you need in town while we're there?"

"Pick up something dessert-ish," he replied. "I feel like something sweet and very bad for you."

"I'll see what I can do," his son chuckled in amusement. "We'll be back in a bit."

"I'll be here," the older man called as the two of them departed.

Moving back down the hall Hawkeye said, "I'll just take your bag upstairs before we go. If you want to come, I'll show you which room is yours."

As the two of them climbed the stairs Margaret noticed the row of pictures that lined the stairwell. They began with a very young baby and continued on through young adulthood. She slowed as she examined the pictures.

"Mom started that when I was born," Hawkeye commented when he'd reached the landing and realized what she was looking at. "After Mom died Dad picked it up. Said he wanted to make sure to keep a good record of the passing years."

"It's a wonderful collection," she told him honestly. She chuckled slight at one picture of him flashing the camera a big toothless grin. She found it hard to believe that this same little boy was the grown man before her. It made her wonder for a moment what their children would look like. She flushed slightly at the thought as she continued up the stairs to join him on the landing.

"The spare room is this way." He led her down another small hall till they reached a delicately decorated room.

"This is beautiful," Margaret looked around the room appreciatively. It was furnished with antiques and papered with delicate rosebud paper. Completely different than what Margaret had been expecting.

"This was the last room that Mom decorated," Hawkeye explained as if reading her mind. "She finished it about six months before she got sick."

"Your mother had good taste," Margaret told him, her eyes still examining the room. They stopped when they landed on a bouquet of red roses and baby's breath sitting in a crystal vase on the dresser. Stepping towards them she buried her face in the blossoms, inhaling their scent deeply. When she pulled away, she felt a bit dizzy.

Spotting a card propped against the vase she picked it up and opened it. It read:

To my darling Margaret,

I am still anxiously awaiting your answer to my letter. I'm trying my best to be patient, but I don't know how much longer I can wait. I love you very, very much and want to have you in my life forever. Please accept this little gesture of my affection as proof that my love for you is eternal.

Love, Ben

Attached to the card was a beautiful diamond ring.

"Oh, Ben." Tears formed in Margaret's eyes as she looked at the ring.

Hawkeye reached over and pulled the ring off the card. Turning her so that she was looking at him he said seriously, "I know that I haven't always been the most sensitive person in the world, nor the most responsible, but I promise you that I will always support you and look out for you and be there for you. Margaret, I love you more than anything in the world and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

Margaret blinked a couple of times, tears burning her already teary eyes. Moving away from him she paced the small room a couple of times before coming to rest a few feet away.

"When I first got that letter, I was shocked. I knew you and I have always had this attraction between us, but I never thought it was anything more than that. Then that night we got lost behind enemy lines we both realized that there was more to our attraction than just physical appreciation resulting in us being friends. But when you said that you were in love with me and that you had been since we left Korea, I was shocked. Except for that kiss you gave me when we left, I never would have suspect it. Why did you wait until now to say anything? Why didn't you tell me there when we were saying goodbye?"

"I wanted to, but I was afraid," he admitted. "I was afraid that after what had happened just before the war ended that you'd want to have nothing to do with me." In a lower tone he added, "I was afraid of being rejected. I wanted you so badly, but I was afraid that if I said something I'd lose you forever. When Radar called me and told me he'd found you, I felt that I'd been given a second chance to set things right between us. To finally tell you how I feel about you. Margaret. How much I love you."

"When I first got that letter, I was shocked," she repeated, her tone very controlled. "I read it over and over again looking for the punch line, something to prove that it was just another one of your endless practical jokes. But I couldn't find evidence of any cruel farce. Then I started taking it at face value and all I felt was confusion. You were a draftee, an inferior officer, a constant practical joker, everything I used to hate when I first came to Korea. How had we gone from enemies to friends to a possible romantic relationship? I was having a hard time processing it. I was literally driving myself nuts. It was Rob who helped me put it all into perspective."

"Rob?" Hawkeye repeated, raising an eyebrow. Then with a scoff he added, "I just bet he did. I bet he told you to forget the whole thing. He's probably the one who told you that it was just a joke! His eyes are too close together, I should have known that guy would stab me in the back."

"Ben!" Margaret exclaimed in obvious amusement.

"I should have run him out of town when I had the chance," the irritated man continued to rant. "Maybe I should fly to Montana and take his tonsils out while he sleeps!"

"Hawkeye!" Margaret cried sharply. When she finally had his attention, she told him seriously. "Rob didn't try to stab you in the back. If anything, he stabbed himself." Looking him right in the eye she said, "What he told me was to stop listening to what my head was telling me and to follow my heart. And that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Without breaking eye contact she moved to stand directly in front of him.

In a tender tone, she said, "Benjamin Franklin Pierce, I would be honored to be your wife."

It took a moment before her words penetrated his whirling brain. When they finally did, he crushed her to him, kissing her soundly on the mouth. Margaret responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him tighter to him. When they pulled back, he slipped the engagement ring on her finger.

After examining it for a moment she smiled up at him and whispered softly, "Oh captain, my captain."

Smiling brightly Hawkeye pulled her to him and kissed her again.

THE END