They all finished the dinner, and the then Mildred left to go to the hospital for the night. She gave Hawkeye and Margaret strict instructions to make themselves comfortable, and to help themselves to anything that they wanted. Hawkeye and Margaret cleaned up the kitchen while Emily finished her dinner.
"What kind of surgery are you doing in Boston?" Margaret asked as he cleared the table.
"A little of everything. How about you? What are you doing now?"
"I'm a surgical nurse," she answered. "It's the best hours, and I need that with Emily. The weekdays can be a little hectic, but I have the weekends off. So for two days it's just Emily and I," she smiled. "We spend the time together."
Hawkeye smiled at her. She had opened up since she had Emily. She always held back the love she had for other people, but with Emily it was different. Her feelings were an open book with her daughter, and Hawkeye loved to see that. He was actually very happy to see that.
"So how long are you going to be here?" He asked as he started to put some food back into the refrigerator.
"I'm not sure," she said bringing over some dirty plates from the table. "How about you?"
"Same. I had some vacation time coming up, so if I have I'll use that. I was very surprised to hear that you were here. I was even more surprised to discover that the kid with Mrs. Potter was yours."
"I guess it would come as a shock to you," she smiled. "I'm used to it now. She's my world."
"I can see that," he said with a delighted smile. "When was she born?"
"April 5th," she answered. "She's not quiet a year and half." Margaret was standing next to her daughter washing her face. Emily was fighting her like every self respecting baby would. "I'm almost done," she told her.
"No," Emily fought. "No, no," she shook her head.
"All done," Margaret said. She let the child out of the highchair, and Emily ran to the back door. "Where are you going?" Margaret asked playfully.
"Oggie," she said. "Out."
"No, you can't go out." Margaret informed her. She picked up her daughter and brought her away from the door.
"Oggie,"
Emily told her.
"I'll let the doggie in the house," Margaret said. She walked back to the door and opened it. She placed Emily down, and she followed the dog into the living room. When Margaret turned around, she saw Hawkeye smiling at her. "What?"
"Nothing," he answered. He and Margaret finished cleaning up the kitchen and talked. They talked about what they were doing with their lives. Hawkeye was interested in her, and she was interested in him.
After they were done, Margaret took Emily upstairs to give her a bath. She had gotten pretty dirty playing outside with Hawkeye. Emily liked to splash around in the tub after Margaret was done washing her. Margaret loved to watch her, and talk to her.
"Eye?" Emily asked.
"He's downstairs," she said. "What do you like so much about him?" Emily didn't understand and just gave her mother a cute smile and then went back to splashing in the water. Margaret watched her daughter play for a while before she made her get out.
Hawkeye was downstairs sitting with the dog thinking about the two blondes upstairs. Margaret had meant so much to him, and she still did. He loved her, but he didn't know how to tell her. He had lived two years without seeing her, and they were two of the longest years in his life. He finally decided that he had nothing to lose by telling the way he felt.
He smiled at her as he watched her walk down the stairs. She had Emily on her hip, and they both had smiles on their beautiful faces. Emily was in a pair of pink pajamas, and he little blonde ringlets were wet. There was something about that child that he really adored.
Emily wiggled out of her mother's arms when they reached the bottom of the stairs. She ran over to Hawkeye and the dog. He picked her up and put her on his lap. "Hi munchkin. You're all clean." She smiled at him, and leaned against him lovingly.
Margaret sat down in a chair that was across from them. "Why does she like you so much?" She asked with a teasing tone.
"Margaret, you know how I am. I'm irresistible to women. What can I say? She has great taste in men." Margaret rolled her eyes at him, and he laughed. Then he looked at her seriously. "I've been down here thinking. Can I tell you something?"
Margaret was pretty sure that she knew what this was about. He must have figured it out, but that was fine with her. She was going to tell him tonight anyway. "Just a second. Emily, go show the doggie your toys." Emily climbed off of Hawkeye's lap, and the dog followed her over to the other side of the room where her toys were. "Go ahead," she said to Hawkeye.
