Chapter 11 -Meet the Parents

Margaret and Hawkeye were approaching their six month anniversary. So far
their relationship had gone from strength to strength. They were still
commuting between Boston and Crabapple Cove, only being able to see each
other at weekends most of the time.

The first time they slept together had been completely unplanned. They
crashed in the door of her apartment, all over each other. Hawkeye was
working his way around her neck when Margaret said,

"Hawkeye, remember when I said I wanted to wait?"

"Yeah!" he managed to say between bites.

"Well I don't want to wait anymore!"

Hawkeye stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "Are you sure?" he
asked looking into her eyes.

"Yes!" she replied.

Without having to ask twice Hawkeye scooped her up in his arms and made
for the bedroom. All the passion that had been building up between them
spilled out into what was a special night for both. For Hawkeye, it had
been a long time and he was nervous she could tell. Neither spoke
throughout it, they kissed and held each other and made sweet, passionate
love through the night.

The following morning they lay together, warm skin glowing in the sun
light. Margaret's head rested on his chest while he gently rubbed her
naked back and kissed her shoulder. "We should have done that a long time
ago!" he whispered.

Margaret smiled shifting her head so that she was now looking into his
eyes. "Yeah!" she agreed kissing him on the lips.

"Want to do it again?" he asked, a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"Oh yeah!" Margaret agreed and started giggling as he tossed her on her
back. Kneeling over her he slowly bent down and kissed her tenderly on
the lips.

******************************************************************

"She wants me to meet her parents!" Hawkeye said to Daniel and Nina in
the break-room.

"So, what's the big deal?" Nina asked.

"You don't know her father! Her mother is fine, I met her but her father!
He's a whole other kettle of fish! A world war one and two veteran and a
real hard-ass!"

"I'm sure he can't be that bad!" Daniel said.

"Ha! I didn't tell you about the time we met in Korea did I? Let's just
say I did not make a very good first impression! He's going to hate me I
know!"

"He might surprise you, maybe he has changed!" Nina offered.

"Yeah, and he's probably forgotten he ever met you. Just turn on the
charm you'll win him over!" Daniel added.

"I wish I shared your optimism!" Hawkeye retorted.

***********************************************************

"Please Hawkeye!"

"Look Margaret, if I'm going to met your father then I am going as
myself. That means NO TIE" Hawkeye said as they argued over what he was
wearing to the meal with her parents.

"This is very important to me Hawkeye, I want him to like you!"

"And you think a tie is going to make a difference?"

"It shows that you've made an effort. Please do this for me!"

"Margaret I won't change myself for him. He's either going to like me for
who I am or not at all!"

"Ugh, you can be so stubborn. All I ask is that you do this one small
thing for me but oh no, it's the principle of the thing!" Margaret said
in a mocking tone.

"I don't appreciate that tone!" Hawkeye said coolly. "I just hate ties, I
always feel like I'm gonna suffocate!" He looked into her cool blue eyes
knowing that he was getting no where. He took a deep breath before giving
in. "Alright I'll wear the stupid tie but just this once!"

"Thank you!" Margaret said, "Sorry about before!"

"It's amazing, we haven't even met your father yet and already he's
trying to break us up!" Hawkeye said with a smile.

"Oh try and not be so...you know...confrontational! And call him Colonel, he
likes that!" Margaret shouted as she applied her lip-stick.

Hawkeye rolled his eyes, "It wouldn't matter if I got down on my knees
and kissed his feet, he's still not going to like me!"

*******************************************************************

Hawkeye and Margaret stood outside the restaurant waiting for her parents
to arrive. Hawkeye was getting nervous, he wanted Al to like him, for
Margaret's sake. "So what time did the grand jury say they'd be here?"

Margaret gave him a stern look, "My parents should be here any minute.
And please keep the wise cracks to a minimum would you? My father has no
sense of humour!"

"Ok, whatever you say!" Hawkeye was growing tired of Margaret's
behaviour. All day it seemed he could do nothing right. She kept picking
at him over one thing or another. But he bit his tongue and smiled
through it trying to keep her calm. He knew this was a big deal to her,
her father's approval meant everything.

"Oh my God here they come! How do I look?"

"Beautiful!"

"Mom, dad, hi!" Margaret said as she hugged her parents. Hawkeye kept his
distance as her father glared at him over Margaret's shoulder. "Mom, you
remember Hawk...ahh...Ben!"

"Yes of course, it's lovely to see you again Ben!"

"Likewise" Hawkeye said as he gave her a hug.

"Dad, this is Ben. He's my ahh...boyfriend!"

"Colonel!" Hawkeye said putting his hand out.

"Shall we go inside?" Al said ignoring Hawkeye.

"Yes, ok!" Margaret said. She looked at Hawkeye and shrugged her
shoulders.
Hawkeye left them all in before him, "So far so good!" he said
sarcastically under his breath.

Hawkeye took Margaret's coat and then pulled out the chair for her. So
far he was doing everything right, he referred to Al as 'colonel' and was
the perfect gentleman. Al had yet to acknowledge his existence but apart
from that everything was going well. Once everyone had settled into their
chairs there followed an awkward silence. The calm before the storm,
Hawkeye couldn't help but think. Alvin 'Howitzer Al' Houlihan sat
diagonally across from Hawkeye.

"Here are the menus, I will return shortly to take your order" the waiter
said.

"Thank you!" Hawkeye noticed that Al wasn't looking at his menu. In fact
he was actually staring intently at Hawkeye. Take no notice he's just
trying to unnerve you! he thought as he buried his head in the menu.

Margaret's mother made an attempt to break the silence, "So Ben, are you
still working away in Crabapple Cove wasn't it?"

"Yes that's right. I am working away"

"Has your father retired yet?"

"No, he'll keep working until the day it is physically impossible for
him!"

"So" Al's voice came booming from out of no where, "This is what you left
the army for!" he said to Margaret while nodding in Hawkeye's direction.
Here we go! Hawkeye thought as all eyes were now fixed on Al.

"I left the army because I wanted to. Ben wasn't even in my life then!"
Margaret said defensively. Hawkeye was surprised at how strongly she
stood up to her father, she really had become so independent since Korea.
Go Margaret! He said in his mind.

"Well I hope he's worth it!" Al retorted.

And here was I thinking this would be an unpleasant evening! Hawkeye
thought biting his lip.

"Dad please, don't be like this. We came here tonight so that you two
could get to know each other!"

"I already know everything I need to know about this man!"

"Colonel, I know we got off on the wrong foot in Korea but couldn't we
start again tonight? You know, clean slate?" Hawkeye said diplomatically.

"No one's talking to you, this is between me and my daughter" Al snapped.

"Ah-ha" Hawkeye said deciding to shut up.

"Don't you speak to him that way" Margaret said standing up for her man.

"Let's all try to calm down here shall we?" Margaret's mother
interjected.

"I love him!" Margaret said right into Al's eyes.

"Do you even know who he is? I mean who he really is?"

"Of course I do!" Margaret was beginning to get angry. Hawkeye sat there
as Alvin made attempt after attempt to assassinate his character. He
clasped Margaret's hand under the table as a sign of strength.

"I've looked you up Captain! Do you know he has a record as long as my
arm filled with nothing but charges and arrests? Insubordination, conduct
unbecoming an officer, drunk and disorderly conduct, it goes on and on!"

"That information is private!" Hawkeye said through clenched teeth, "How
did you get a hold of it?"

"I have my contacts Pierce. You know it amazes me how your butt never
wound up in the stockade! You were a disgrace to your commission. I lost
count of the number of times you were court marshalled but nothing ever
stuck to you did it Pierce? If I was your CO you would have been booted
out of the army a long time ago!"

"And I would have been eternally grateful." Hawkeye said smugly under his
breath. "Look whatever happened in Korea is irrelevant here tonight" he
said as calmly as he could.

"Oh is it?" Al responded.

"Yes it is dad. I know all about Hawkeye's past, remember I was there
too! He is nothing like that, he is a responsible and well held member of
the community."

"I just think it is important that you know what kind of a man you threw
away your career for! For example, did you know he was incarcerated in a
mental institution out there?"

You bastard! Hawkeye thought desperately trying not to lose his cool.
Everyone was silent. Hawkeye was stunned. What a lousy thing to say! he
thought. All he could do was stare at the table, he did not wish to meet
the eyes of Margaret or her mother. He had no comeback for this. He felt
so ashamed. There was no way he was going to sit through a whole meal,
taking nothing but insult after insult from this man. He slowly rose to
his feet,

"Excuse me I think I should leave."

"Hawkeye no, please stay" Margaret pleaded.

"No I really think I should leave before this gets unpleasant" he said
looking directly at Al, "I'll see you at home" he whispered to Margaret
as he kissed her cheek. "Goodbye Lillian, it was nice seeing you again!"

And with that Hawkeye walked away from the table.

"Dad how could you! How could you be so cruel!" Margaret cried.

"Stay here, I'll be back" Alvin said as he got up to follow Hawkeye.

*****************************************************************

Hawkeye was already pulling his tie off as he made his way through the
foyer. The whole evening had been a waste of time, not that he had
expected anything else from her father. He was still reeling from the
shock of Alvin's comments. "Incarcerated, makes it sound like I was in a
strait-jacket!"

"Pierce!" Alvin shouted from behind Hawkeye.

What does he want? Hawkeye turned around to face him.

Alvin drew up close to Hawkeye. He was a tall man and looked Hawkeye
square in the eyes.

"Just thought you should know tonight was only an introduction, I could
destroy you! So stay away from my daughter you hear!" he said sternly.

"How did you get to be so nasty?" Hawkeye asked.

"I'm not kidding you little punk. You're no good for her, she deserves
better and I'm going to see she gets it! Face it, if you can't even last
through a meal with me what hope have you? You've got no backbone,
running away so quickly! You're pathetic!" he snarled.

Hawkeye laughed in his face. "You think I'm leaving because I'm afraid of
you? Mister big bad wolf! Don't make me laugh."

Hawkeye squared up to the man and met his gaze with the exact same
contempt that Al held in his eyes. "Get this Al, you don't scare me one
bit! I think you are nothing more than a bitter twisted and selfish old
man. I came here tonight with an open mind, ready to meet you half way
but you weren't even willing to do that. I sat there and I took
everything you said about me on the chin. I never said one bad word about
you. You on the other hand came here tonight with the sole purpose of
sabotaging your daughter's own happiness. How does that make you feel?"

Alvin was taken aback. This young man was standing up to him, that's not
how it was supposed to work.

"You already had your mind made up about me. Were you ever going to take
the chance to get to know me? Because the truth is you don't really know
me at all. All you know is a few statistics held in a little file that is
now completely insignificant. Yeah, I messed around a bit while I was in
Korea but you must remember I was a doctor not a soldier. As a doctor I
was always professional. I did the job I was sent there to do and I did a
damn good job too."

Alvin remained silent. Hawkeye was beginning to enjoy his rant.

"And the reason I am leaving now is not because I'm scared of you, it's
out of respect for Margaret. She thinks the world of you and I was not
about to get into a war of words with you because she would be the one
that would get hurt, not you or I!"

"How dare you speak to me that way you smug little..." Alvin began, a storm
gathering in his eyes.

"I'm not finished, anyway you're one to talk, the way you spoke to me
back there was unforgivable. I don't care what you may think of me I
didn't deserve that! And you wanna know something else? I love you
daughter and I am not about to stop seeing her I don't care how much you
threaten me! So either like it or lump it pal, but don't come out here
and play the heavy on me. At the end of the day you are the one who will
lose out!"

"What makes you so sure of that?"

"Because if it comes down to a choice between you or me, Margaret would
choose me! And you would wind up a sad lonely old man. Look, you don't
have to like me, just tolerate me, for Margaret's sake. It's not worth
losing your daughter and I know she would hate to lose you. The last
thing I ever wanted was to come between you. So what's it going to be?
Whatever you decide you won't break us up!"

"We'll see about!" Alvin said as he turned to walk away.

Hawkeye tossed his head in anger, damn asshole! How'd he get a hold of my
file!

Alvin rejoined the two ladies. "Where is he?" Margaret was becoming more
agitated.

"Gone!" Alvin replied. "Margaret I am telling you the man is no good,
he's mentally unstable..."

"Stop it! Just stop it! You don't know the first thing about him! While
you were snooping through his file did you happen to take a look at his
medical record? No I thought not because if you did you would have seen
that he was probably the finest doctor in Korea! He saved thousands of
lives out there! But you never look at the good stuff do you dad? It's
always the bad. Well I'm not going to let you destroy this, I love him
and I am going to stay with him. Now if you'll excuse me, I've lost my
appetite!" Margaret said getting up and storming away from the table.

"Maggie!" Alvin cried after her.

"Oh let her go!" Lillian said. "You've done enough for tonight!"

*****************************************************************

Margaret raced out the front door searching desperately for Hawkeye, he
couldn't have gotten far! She looked around her trying to guess which
direction he had taken when suddenly she saw him. He was across the road
sitting on a bench with his back to her.

Quickly she crossed the road almost getting run down.

"Hawkeye, I'm glad you're still here!" she said breathlessly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in surprise. He was glad she had
followed him. He didn't want to be alone right now.

"I'm so sorry about tonight. He's...he's just an ass!"

"It's ok. Actually I think things went pretty well considering"

"What?" she said in disbelief.

"Well there was no blood spilt!"

"Yeah I suppose that was good! What did he say to you?"

"Oh nothing much. We had a little man to man chat as it were. Basically
I'm no good for you!"

"Nonsense, you didn't take him seriously did you?"

Hawkeye took a few steps away. "Well I don't know, a lot of what he said
was true, I am not good enough for you Margaret"

"Bull!" she cried as she sat down on the bench watching him.

"No he's right. I mean some rich guy in a big car could just swing by
here a sweep you off your feet at any minute!"

"Oh come on!" she rolled her eyes.

"So I guess we have to do something about it. We can't go on this way!"
he said looking into her eyes.

"What do you mean?" she was beginning to get worried, was he about to
break up with her?

"Yeah I've been sitting here thinking of a way around it and there is
only one solution!"

"What is it?" He was beginning to freak her out, he seemed in a very
strange mood.

"I'm gonna have to marry you!"

"You what?" she asked getting to her feet.

"Yep, it's only way to stop some rich charmer from running off with you.
Once I get that ring on your finger I'll be able to say 'keep moving
guys, she's with me!'"

Margaret observed the playful look in Hawkeye's eyes. "Are you serious?"
she asked, half thinking it was a joke.

"I am! Marry me Margaret! Marry me before someone steals you away! I told
you you were 'it' for me! And I know I'll never have much of anything but
will I do anyway? Do you think you could stick a poor country doctor?"

She searched his eyes for some hint of mischief but there was none, just
deep sincerity.

"What do you say? Will you be my wife?" he asked once more searching deep
inside her eyes.

"Of course I will you moron!" she laughed.

"You will? You'll marry me?"

"Yes!"

"She said yes!" Hawkeye said to a confused passer-by. "She said yes!" he
shouted as he picked her up and twirled her around.

"Here!" he said as he pulled a small ring box out of his pocket, "Try
this on."

"You already had the ring?" she asked in surprise.

"I've been carrying it around for days, waiting for the right moment but
I've just realised that moment doesn't exist. You just have to go for it
and hope for the best!" he smiled at her. He couldn't contain his
excitement, he had been waiting for this moment a long time.

And so had Margaret. He placed the ring on her finger, that finger that
had been naked for far too long. It was a little tight but that could be
easily fixed.

"It's beautiful" she croaked as tears began to escape her eyes.

"You like it?" he asked.

"Yes. I love you so much you... oaf" she said as she hugged him.

"I love you too" he said returning the embrace. "So should we tell your
father now? I know it would really make his night!" he said sarcastically
to her.

"Mmm, how about we just go home!" Margaret said with a wink.

"Oh I know what that means! You just can't get enough can you?"

"No, I'm a slave to your love!" Margaret said in her own sarcastic tone.

******************************************************************

"You see?" Lillian said to Alvin from across the street as they watched
the young lovers embrace. "He's good for her Alvin, I've never seen her
so alive, just let her be happy, please?"

Alvin remained silent as he watched his daughter. She was undeniably
happier than he had seen her in a long time, maybe it was time for him to
let her go!

*******************************************************************

Three months had passed since that night. Margaret had had no contact
with her father since. He refused to acknowledge their relationship so it
looked as though Col. Potter would be giving her away again. She
pretended that it didn't bother her but Hawkeye knew she was hurting. All
she ever wanted was her father's approval but once again he left her down
and once again she blamed herself. She knew he had heard about their
engagement and she hoped that as the wedding drew closer he would come
around but it appeared as though he had washed his hands of her.

They avoided talking about it. Behind Margaret's back, Hawkeye had
secretly tried to make contact with Alvin. Margaret's mother and himself
attempted to open negotiations with him on several occasions but Alvin
refused to back down. It was futile, he would never give them his
blessing.

Apart from that the rest of the wedding plans were going well. B.J. was
overjoyed when he heard the news. "I always suspected there was something
between you two!" he said over the phone as Hawkeye broke the news. He
was also honoured to be Hawkeye's best man. "I promise I won't embarrass
you too much in the speech!" he joked.

Margaret's sister was maid of honour. So far Col. Potter, Mildred, Radar
and his wife and even Charles had all said they'd be there. "I can't
believe Radar has been married for the past three years!" Hawkeye said
once he'd gotten off the phone. "I always told him he'd meet a good
woman!"

When Col. Potter first heard the news he couldn't stop laughing. "Take me
now Lord I've seen it all! Pierce and Houlihan getting married! Why I
remember a time when I was afraid to leave you two alone in a room
together. Ye used to fight like cats and dogs! Oh, I'm kidding, I always
thought you two'd make a great couple underneath it all. I wish you both
only the best and Mildred and I'll be there with bells on!"

Unfortunately no one could contact Fr. Mulcahay. As far as everyone knew
he was still in Korea. Hawkeye had wanted him to be the one to marry
them, he always had a soft spot for the priest. He had meant a lot to him
in Korea. Hawkeye always found him amusing and thought he was the sanest
man he ever met.

Klinger was also proving difficult to find and it seemed unlikely that he
would make it to the ceremony.

*******************************************************************

It was three nights before the wedding. Hawkeye, Margaret, Daniel, Nina
and Lillian sat around the dining table playing poker. Margaret had given
up her job and moved in with the Pierces full-time. She wasn't working at
the moment but there were plans for her to start in the practice after
the wedding helping Nina out.

Her mother and sister had been visiting more and more often as the
wedding day approached. They helped Margaret out with all the plans and
by now everything was under control.

So tonight they all relaxed with a game of poker in anticipation of the
big day.

Hawkeye had just laid down a full-house when a knock came to the door.
"Who could that be at this hour?" Daniel said.

"Probably someone looking for a doctor" Hawkeye said as he got up to
answer the door.

Hawkeye was stunned to silence when he saw who stood at the other side of
the door. Finally he spoke, "Colonel Houlihan!" he said in shock.

"Hello Pierce. I've come to ah... to meet you half way" he said with an
uncomfortable smile.

"Oh, ok" Hawkeye said still in shock, "Not to kill me but to... ah never
mind. Please come in!"

"Thank you. I should have called but I couldn't wait any longer. I... I
miss her you see."

"Well she misses you too. So does this mean you've changed your mind?"

"Pierce, you were right that night at the restaurant. I went there with
no intention of getting to like you. I decided to take an instant hate,
it saves time you see. Well I was wrong. You said that if it came down to
it she would choose you and it seems you were right. I love my daughter,
I really do. And I miss her. I only ever wanted what was best for her but
it seems that all along she knew herself what was best. I don't know if
you realise how hard it is for me to stand here and say these words, I've
never been good at expressing myself emotionally. I'd like to say I'm
sorry, I'm sorry I misjudged you and I'm sorry for what I said that
night. And I'm sorry for hurting my little girl but if the invitation
still stands I'd like to make it up to her by walking her down the isle
on Saturday."

"Really? This is great. She's going to be ecstatic!"

Hawkeye couldn't believe that this was the same man he had met all those
months ago. It was as if he had had a humility transplant. He could see
the man was a little uncomfortable and embarrassed. He had to admit it
took a lot of guts to show up like that and then to apologise on top of
it.

"Hey Al, what do you say we start over with a clean slate?" Hawkeye said
offering his hand.

Al took the younger man's hand and smiled "That's a deal!"

Hawkeye returned the smile, "So does this mean I get to call you dad?"

"Let's not jump the gun shall we!" Alvin joked.

"Well come on in, everyone's in the sitting room. Are you a poker man?"

"As a matter of fact yes I am" Alvin said as Hawkeye led him through the
hall.

"Hey, look who I found out on the doorstep!" Hawkeye announced.

Everyone look up at once. Margaret felt the colour drain from her face.
What was he doing here? Was he trying to stop the wedding?

"Daddy?" Margaret cried as she cautiously moved towards him.

"Maggie my dear!" he said as he wrapped his arms around her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Well if I'm not mistaken there's a wedding about to happen and I'm
supposed to be giving the bride away!"

"Really? You're going to be there?"

"Of course sweetheart, I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"Oh thank you so much Dad, this means so much to me. I'm so happy, it's
going to be perfect now isn't it honey?" she called over to Hawkeye who
stood in the doorway watching her with his arms crossed.

"It sure is!" Hawkeye answered.