December 30, 1955
Margaret's mother and sister went to Massachusetts to visit over Christmas. Kate had moved to Connecticut in November. Emily was very happy to see her grandmother. She played shy at first, but warmed up quickly. She was very sad to see her grandmother go, and it was hard for Kate to leave her, but she had to.
Kate and Abby left the day after Christmas, and then things went back to normal. Hawkeye went back to work, and the house became quiet again. As much as Hawkeye loved his mother and sister-in-law, he was glad that they were gone. They were staying at his house, and he missed coming home to just his daughter and wife.
Margaret and Emily were in the living room playing with some of Emily's new toys. Margaret kept watching the clock; she was waiting for her husband to get home.
"Mommy," Emily said trying to get her mother's attention. "Mommy."
Margaret looked at her little girl, "Sorry. Where were we?"
"Daddy home?" She asked. She knew that it was about time for him to come home. She figured that her mother was waiting for that.
"He should be here soon," Margaret said. "Mommy's going to go start dinner. You can play for a while, okay?"
"Okay," Emily smiled watching her mother get up.
Margaret didn't feel like cooking anything elaborate. In fact, she didn't feel like cooking anything at all. She ended up cleaning out the leftovers from Christmas instead of cooking dinner.
She heard Hawkeye's car pull up and his door shut. She quickly wiped her hands on a towel, and then went to the door. She met him at the door. "Hi," she said with a huge smile.
"Hi, baby," he said smiling at her beautiful smile. "What are you so happy about?"
"I'm just happy to see you," she said. She took his coat for him and hung it up. Then she gave him a kiss.
Hawkeye looked at her strangely, "That's not your normal 'hello' kiss. What's going on?"
She smiled at him, "I'm pregnant!"
Hawkeye's eyes went wide, and his heart started beating faster. "You're what?"
"A baby," she smiled. "We're having a baby." She wrapped her arms around him, "What do you think?"
He put his arms around her and smiled. "A baby, are you sure?"
"Uh huh," she smiled up at him.
"A baby, wow! I can't believe this." He gave her a kiss. "Are you happy?"
"Are you kidding?" She still had a huge smile on her face. "I'm so happy! It's different than when I found out I was pregnant with Emily. With her, I had so many mixed feelings. All I feel now is happiness. Are you happy?"
"Hell, yes," he smiled. "We're one more kid closer to a dozen." Margaret smiled and shook her head. He held her and gave her a long loving kiss. "I love you."
"I love you," she said laying her head on his chest.
"Daddy," Emily said happily when she walked into the foyer.
Hawkeye let go of his wife and picked up their chubby blonde daughter. "Hi, Munchkin. Did Mommy tell you the good news?"
"I didn't tell her," Margaret said.
Hawkeye gave Emily a kiss on the cheek. "You are going to be a big sister soon. Mommy is going to have a baby."
Emily looked at her mother and then back to her father. "Me baby."
Hawkeye and Margaret smiled at her. "You are a baby," Margaret said. "You're a big baby, and Mommy is going to have a little tiny baby."
"That's right," Hawkeye said. "You're going to be a great big sister. I know you are."
Emily smiled at her parents. She didn't know exactly what they were talking about, but she knew it was good news. Her parents were very happy, and that was a good thing. "Pay me?" She asked her father.
"Yeah, I'll go play with you." He gave Margaret another kiss. Emily tried to push her mother away. Hawkeye looked at the baby, "I'm not done." Emily looked at him strangely when he went back to kiss her mother.
"Mommy, no."
Margaret pulled away from her husband. She looked at Emily with an amused look. "What do you mean 'no'?"
Emily leaned against her father, "My Daddy."
Margaret smiled at her daughter. Emily had become very close to her father, just like Margaret had hoped. "Okay, you and Daddy go play."
"Mommy pay too," Emily said.
"Yeah, come on Mommy," Hawkeye said. "Let's go play with our daughter. We better give her a lot of attention now, because she won't be an only child for long." Margaret smiled and joined her husband and daughter.
Over the months, Hawkeye watched with amazement as his wife's stomach grew. He had never seen anything more amazing. The child inside of his wife was a little person that they made together. He saw that when he looked at Emily, but he never got to witness the changes taking place in Margaret when Emily was growing inside. He felt even more protective over Margaret now than when they lived in a war zone.
Emily seemed to be growing and changing everyday. She began to speak in complete sentences, and became more independent. By the time she turned two, she wanted to do everything on her own. She didn't want help, she was potty trained, and she didn't have a bottle anymore; all that made her seem so much older than her parents were ready for.
The baby came at the end of July. Hawkeye was in a panic for most of the month, and Margaret was in a bad mood. She was sick of being big, and feeling tired all the time. She couldn't do much with Emily anymore, and that drove her crazy. Emily didn't seem to mind though. As long as her mother was around, she was happy. It was another story when Margaret went into the hospital to have the baby though. She was in there for a few days, and Emily wasn't permitted to see her mother. She had seen her mother everyday of her life, and she didn't like not being able to see her.
They were all very happy the day that Margaret and the new baby came home. Margaret hated staying in the hospital, and hated being away from her daughter even more. Hawkeye was excited to bring his wife and new baby home, and be able to take care of them himself.
Emily was elated to have her mother back home with her. She was a little apprehensive of the new baby at first, but warmed up quickly. Soon she was helping her mother get the diapers, prepare the bottles, dress the baby, and talk to the baby. She liked her new little play mate, and the older her new baby sister got, the more Emily liked it.
October 1956
Margaret was standing in the doorway to the living room watching her girls interact. Emily was sitting on the floor making three month old Ashley laugh. Margaret loved to see the two of them together. It reminded her of her own sister, and the bond that they had.
Hawkeye walked up beside her to see what she was doing. She glanced at him and smiled and then went back to looking at her daughters. He smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. "Look what we have. Why did we ever say goodbye in Korea?"
Margaret turned and wrapped her arms around his waist, causing him to wrap both of his arms around her. "So we could have all this."
He looked at her strangely. "What are you talking about?"
She smiled at him, "You said it yourself; you couldn't have handled the news of Emily at that time. If I would have told you, it just would have pushed us farther apart. We had to say goodbye to find out what we were missing."
He leaned down and kissed her, "You're so smart." She smiled and kissed him again.
Emily noticed her parents in the doorway and said, "Mommy, I need you." That was her new thing; she always needed her mother when her parents were kissing.
Hawkeye broke the kiss and looked at their two and a half year old. "Mommy's busy. I'm kissing her." He went back to kissing her and Emily looked at him strangely.
The baby let out a cry just as his lips touched Margaret's. Margaret smiled, and moved out of his arms. She went over and picked up the baby, "What's the matter pretty girl? Are you not getting enough attention? You're a little ham, aren't you? Just like your father. You have to be the center of attention."
Hawkeye took Ashley from his wife, "You are just like your big sister." The baby smiled up at him with the same smile that she shared with her mother and big sister. "You both have to interrupt when I'm kissing your mother." Margaret smiled at him and the baby. "Why don't our kids like it when we kiss?"
"I don't know," she chuckled.
THE END
