Margaret Houlihan stood poised in the middle of the room, her hands resting
in question on her hips. Sometimes she didn't know why she even bothered.
Her eyes shifted from one outfit to the next trying to decide what to do.
The yellow one was her favorite, but would her father approve of it? It's
not like it was too revealing; it was a simple summer dress. Why did it
matter so much what he thought anyway? She gave a sigh and picked the more
conservative one and tossed it on the bed to be packed.
Margaret walked over to her dresser and started shifting through her lingerie drawer. There were so many things that she didn't understand, things that she probably never would for that matter. Maybe they would have been better off going someplace else, someplace far away where no one would ever find them. Margaret shook her head; she knew that was never going to be an option. She hadn't seen her father in over a year; she hadn't seen her family in over four.
'Damn these reunions,' she thought to herself. She rummaged through the rest of the things in her closet and picked out some of the things she thought her father would think appropriate to wear. Even at 29 years old she was still worried about what her father thought. The older she got the more it bothered her and the more she wanted to change, but after living and thinking that way for so many years she didn't know how to change. She wanted to look forward to going, but she was more nervous than she had ever been about seeing her family. It wasn't just her parents and her sister; it was her father's entire family. A weekend full of Houlihans, and although she was one herself, they still scared her.
The Margaret that they had once known was gone forever. She'd gone to Korea as one of them, up tight and overbearing with a wall high enough to keep out any army. She'd gone to war with a clear purpose and set standards, and yet when she came home the only thing that mattered was that she was in love. How were they going to respond when they realized her wall had crumbled? What were they going to say when they discovered she was no longer one of them? What were they going to say about the one 'big' difference in her life? Margaret shuddered at the thought. She wasn't going away for a relaxing vacation; she was going away for a week of hell.
"Okay," she said to herself. "I have to do this. Go and get it over with and then I can come back home and be happy again."
Another voice shook her out of her thoughts. "Who you talking to?"
She turned around and looked at the love of her life. "No one," she smiled. "Did you pack yet?"
"Yep."
"When?"
"This morning when you were in the shower."
She couldn't begin to imagine what he jammed into his suitcase. "Let me see."
"You don't trust me?" He picked up a piece of clothing tossed on the bed. "What's this?"
"A dress."
"Margaret, it looks like it belongs on a sixty year old."
"I know," she grabbed the garment out of his hands.
"Is it yours?" She nodded. "That doesn't look like you. I thought you'd be bringing your favorite dress or shorts. You always wear shorts."
"Not this weekend."
"What? Why?"
"Because," was her only answer. She didn't want to tell him why because he wouldn't understand; he didn't know her family.
He shook his head and looked at the garment in his hands. The fabric was coarse and unrefined; it scratched the tips of his fingers as he grazed it. It was a terrible dress in all respects, it was long enough to cover every inch of skin on her body and then some. "You can't be serious about this dress." He tossed it across the room. That dress didn't even call for any cleavage, let alone her neck. "You have plenty of other very sexy dresses, just pick one of those."
Margaret frowned as she marched across the room and picked it up off the floor. Sexy was what she was purposely avoiding. "What all did you pack?" She didn't want to discuss it with him; he wouldn't even try to understand. Besides, it was his appearance that she was concerned with the most. Her family was going to meet her fiancé for the first time and he had look presentable.
"Clothes." Came his simplistic reply. He lay down on the bed and watched as she finished packing.
"Like what?" She placed her lingerie beside him as she shifted things around inside her suitcase.
Hawkeye picked up a pair of her nylons and examined them. "Nylons?" He looked up at her. "It's going to be in the 90s."
Margaret snatched them from his grasp. She didn't respond to his question, instead she shoved them into a pocket. "I want to see." She told him in reference to his packing, her complexion looking rather serious.
"What's there to see? They're just clothes." He shrugged his shoulders. Margaret knew he had probably just thrown in a couple pairs of shorts and T- shirts. Since he wasn't working at the moment, he really didn't care what he wore.
"What did you pack?" She asked him again.
"I don't know, socks, shirts, pants, underwear..." He sifted through her lingerie as she looked for his suitcase. If he wouldn't tell her, then she'd just have to look for herself. "Hey, you're bringing the black lacy ones aren't you?" Hawkeye called to her. He was appalled to find they weren't among the others. Besides the tiger skin they were his favorites.
She ignored the question and lifted his suitcase up to sit on the bed. "I don't want you to look like a bum." She opened it up and pulled out the first thing that she saw. A pair of old holey jeans. "You were going to wear those there?!"
"I am going to wear them," he corrected. "What's wrong with them?"
"Hawkeye, please don't argue with me. I just want you to look good. This is the first time you'll be meeting my family."
"Why are you so concerned about me? You don't seem to care what you're going to look like."
She rolled her eyes and threw all of his clothes onto the bed. "I'm repacking your things."
"Fine, then I'm repacking yours." He got up and started with her lingerie drawer first. "We'll take these, and these," he tossed his two favorite things onto the bed. "And I think these will be nice too." Margaret walked over there and grabbed them out of his hands tossing them back in the drawer. "What's the matter?"
"Hawkeye, please stop."
"Margaret, look at what you're doing," he moved his hand in a sweeping motion so she would look around the room. "Half of the things you pack you never wear! You hate them!"
She knew he was right, and she hated that he noticed what she was trying to do. "Just leave me alone and let me do this."
"No. I will not leave you alone. You need to stop trying to please your father and be yourself. What's wrong with wearing what you want to? There's not slutty or sleazy about the things you wear. Sure, they make you look sexy, but that's what they're supposed to do." He placed his hands on her upper arms. "Honey, be yourself."
She sighed and moved in to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her comfortingly against his strong chest. "I don't want them to think of me like a."
"A what?"
"I don't know. I just."
"If it makes you feel any better, once they meet me they're gonna hate you anyway."
She slapped his back. "Don't say that."
"What until they find out we're living together."
She pulled back and looked up at him. "Don't you say a word about that to anyone!"
Hawkeye walked back over to the bed. There were clothes scattered everywhere. "Margaret, you're twenty nine years old. Is anyone expecting you to be a virgin? Who gives a damn if we live together. I mean even if we weren't, that wouldn't have stopped us from being together."
Margaret placed her hands on her hips, he wasn't listening. "If you say anything to anyone!" She threatened him with a pointed finger.
"Margaret!" He picked up his jeans off the bed and folded them. "Do they honestly think that if we're not living together then we're not sleeping together? Is it the sex that bothers them?"
"My parents won't like it! My aunts and uncles won't like it! My cousins won't like it! If they find out that we're living together, let alone sleeping together, then.then I'm going to get it!"
"We're getting married!"
"That's even worse! If my parents found out that we were having sexual relations before we got married." She was working herself into a panic. Her father would go ballistic if he found out. "To them, people do not live together before they get married."
Hawkeye started throwing clothes into his suitcase again, all including the ones she hated. "I don't give a damn what they think! I love you! I want to be with you! And no one is going to do anything about that!"
"Hawkeye, you don't understand!"
"Frankly," he stated. "I don't give a damn, and neither should you." He grabbed some of the clothes she had discarded into another pile that she wasn't going to bring and brought them back to the bed. "And if you don't have the balls to pack these nice things then I will." He started to ball things up and stuff them into the suitcase.
She didn't say anything and just stood there looking at him. He was right; there was no doubt about there. She was happy and in love and there wasn't any reason her physical being shouldn't reflect that. "You're right," she gave in.
He looked up at her with surprise written all over his face. She never gave in and it was a rare moment when she said that he was right. If he could have he would have recorded those words because he didn't know when he'd ever hear her utter them again. "I'm right?"
"Yes. I should be able to be myself."
"Good, and you'll tell them that we live together?"
"Hell no! That stays between me and you."
He smiled at her. At least she was getting somewhere. Hawkeye's father didn't like that they were living together, but he would never do anything to stop them or make them feel guilty about it. But the Houlihans were different. "I'll take what I can get."
"So then we're agreed?" She walked over to him and put her arms around his waist.
"It's none of their business." Hawkeye kissed the side of her head. "We have no reason to tell them what we do." He stated. Margaret smiled against his chest, he really was quite agreeable when she gave him a little leeway. "But." He said.
"But?" She pulled back so she could look at him.
Hawkeye turned around and picked that horrid dress out of her suitcase and threw it across the room. "And you have to bring these." He held up the pieces of undergarments.
A smile spread across her face; somehow she knew that's what he was going to say. Margaret nodded her head. "Okay. But only because I love you." She agreed. Hawkeye smiled happily and flung them on the bed.
"And." He continued on.
"What else can you possibly." Suddenly she knew. "No! You are not taking those pants!"
"Oh yes I am," he smiled proudly.
"No."
"Yes."
Margaret picked them up and held them behind her back. "You cannot take these. They're old and ugly."
"Good, they'll match with the way you're family thinks."
She gasped, but then started to laugh. "Please don't wear them. Let me dress you. I'll make it up to you."
He liked the sound of that. "With whatever I want?"
"Yes."
That was all it took and he tossed the pants into the hamper. "Okay." Then he walked over to her and placed his hands on her hips. "I have an idea in mind."
"I'm sure you do," she moved out of his grasp. "I need to finish this."
"I don't trust you. I want you to look as beautiful as you are on the inside. No more frumpy dresses and nylons. Show off those sexy legs."
"Honey, it's my family. They won't be looking at my legs."
"Show them off for me. Show them how happy you and I are."
Margaret rolled her eyes. "Showing my legs will not prove to them that we are in love." She pulled out another one of her conservative dresses and tossed it to the side.
"Sure it will. The old Margaret Houlihan never wore anything like this." He held up a much more revealing dress.
"No." She smiled and started to sort through his clothes. "My family doesn't need to see what that dress reveals."
"You're right." He grinned to himself as he held it up to look at. "You didn't wear this dress for very long the one time you did."
They both smiled when he said that. They'd had ended up having a very good time that night. "Your getting aroused will not help our cause." She told him with a grin.
Hawkeye laughed, he could just see Alvin Houlihan's face. "Over fifty Houlihans and only one Pierce." He sat down on the bed. "I'm a dead man either way."
She picked up his hand and placed a kiss on his upturned palm. "Correction.two Pierces." Hawkeye looked at her when she said that. "I don't need to pay fifty dollars for a piece of paper to tell me I belong with you."
"I love you too." He leaned forward and kissed her softly.
She kissed him back and then pulled away. "We really need to pack."
"That isn't as fun."
"Sorry. Life isn't always about fun."
"It should be. I can't remember the last time I was this happy and all I do is have fun."
"That's because you don't work right now. You get to do whatever you want."
"One day we'll switch and you can try it out." He stretched out across the empty side of the bed and watched her. He noticed she had started to put away some of the more conservative things, but he didn't say anything. She still wasn't packing anything too revealing, but at least the clothes she was packing now were her taste and not her father's.
"I'd love to. Maybe after I'm through with the army."
"Yeah. Have you told your family about that yet?"
"No, and I don't plan to tell them while we're there." She held up a pair of khaki pants. "What do you think of these?"
"They're okay. Not as good as my jeans, but." He trailed off smiling at her warning look.
She held up a blue collared polo shirt. "This looks good on you."
"Are you sure you don't want me in a tux with wing tipped shoes?"
"Ha ha. You're soooo funny," she said sarcastically.
"I think so." He smiled. She tried to put in another ugly dress into the suitcase. "Oh, no you don't. Less than a week ago you said you hated this dress and it was in the bag to give away." He grabbed it and tossed it into the corner of the room. "Maybe I should pack your bag."
"When hell freezes over! You wouldn't pack anything except lingerie."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing if we were going on our honeymoon, but we're going to meet my family."
Hawkeye walked over to her dresser and pulled out a few more pieces of lingerie. "We're not sleeping with your parents." Was his remark as he placed them on the bed.
"I'm afraid that's all the time we're going to have for that sort of thing, if any." She told him seriously.
Hawkeye leaned in closer to her. "I'll make time." He told her before standing up.
She shook her head and leaned back. "How? You're lucky that we're not getting separate rooms. We can't let anyone know that we're sleeping together." That was going to be tricky; hopefully they ended up on separate floors from everyone else.
Hawkeye dismissed what she said with a wave of his hand. "Look who you're talking to. I'll get you alone sooner or later."
"I forgot." She rolled her eyes. Margaret stood up. "Come on lover boy; let's go get something to eat." She took his hand and led him out into the small living room and into the kitchen.
"We don't have anything here."
"We'll find something," she said. She opened the cabinet doors and started to look. "We have to eat what we have here because we won't be home for a few days."
He took a seat the small kitchen table. "Yeah, yeah. Why don't I take you out?"
"No. We have a lot to do. I have to clean up the bedroom now that it's a complete mess, get together all my makeup and such, and then clean the apartment."
"Why?"
"Because when we come home I want things to be nice and neat so I can just lie in bed if I want. I'm going to need some time to relax after we get back from this little trip."
"Why are we even going?"
"We have to. Everyone will be there."
"An even better reason to stay home. I just don't get you at all."
"Why?" She moved over to the refrigerator and started to look.
"You obviously don't want to go."
"I have to go. It's a family reunion and I haven't seen my father in a year. No matter what anyone may think of him or how he makes me feel sometimes, I really do love him and I miss him. And my sister will be there with the baby and I want to see them again. It's my only niece."
He rolled his eyes. "I don't understand you at all."
She pulled out some lunch meat and threw it on the table. "This is dinner."
"Glad to know I'm marrying such a good cook." She shot him one of her looks. "I mean, you're such a wonderful lover." He tried to cover over.
She eyed him for a moment. "Nice cover." She turned to pull out the bread. Hawkeye moved out of his chair and over to where she was standing. His hands moved to her stomach as he began planting kisses on the back of her neck.
"Ohhh." She reached around and touched his hair. "That's another thing." His hands moved up to her breasts.
"Hmm."
"No more of 'this' when we get there." She told him as his hands continued to move around. "You're going to have to keep your hands to yourself."
Hawkeye sighed and clung to her a little more. "No." His mouth moved to the other side of her neck.
"We can't let them see this." She told him. "Do you know what my father would say if he saw this?" She didn't wait for his answer. "This would be just as bad as having sex in the middle of the kitchen."
"Bad? Mmmm," he kissed her neck. "Good."
"No," she struggled to say. "Bad." He turned her around in his arms and started to kiss her lips moving his hands up the back of her shirt and unhooking her bra slyly. Her hands moved to the back of his head, fingers threaded through his black hair. She couldn't help but think he needed a haircut. "Mmmm.honey." She tried to move her lips away from his so she could talk.
"Huh?" He moved back to her neck sneaking his hands to the front of her shorts and undoing the button.
"Ah," she moaned. "We.um..shouldn't."
"Yes," he whispered. His hands worked to pull down her shorts as his lips worked to quiet any protest she may have tried. It didn't take long and she stopped protesting and gave in wanting him as much as he wanted her.
Hawkeye's lips went back to her mouth. He kept her busy with his tongue while he slyly started to pulled her to her knees. Hawkeye figured she wouldn't be as cooperative the next night, she'd be a bundle of nerves and overly stressed out. At least now he didn't have to worry about someone disrupting them. "Hawkeye. She whispered as his mouth moved to her neck. He fell back, pulling her onto his chest.
"Mmm." His hands moved to pull her shirt off.
Margaret was having a difficult time thinking, let alone talking. She knew they should be packing and getting ready, they had to be up early the next morning, but this seemed to be a little more important. For the last few months it had just been about them and being together, now they were going off to a place where they wouldn't be acknowledged.
Margaret pulled his shirt off shirt in dire need to feel his skin against hers. Hawkeye was all about her, all about pleasing her and being with her. She loved his attention and his strength, the way he loved her and never tired of showing it. Margaret considered herself just about the luckiest woman in the world.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Hawkeye slept most of the way on the plane. Margaret would have liked to, but she couldn't. She was nervous and anxious about seeing her family. Sure there were a few people that she was looking forward to seeing, but the people she was dreading seeing again outnumbered them. She knew they were going to judge her and criticize her for her choices, and she wasn't fully ready for that. She didn't know how Hawkeye was going to handle that either. She feared that he was going to fly off the handle at least once and tell them all what he thought of them.
Margaret's mother and sister were supposed to pick them up at the airport when the plane landed. She didn't see them right away so she and Hawkeye went to gather the luggage. She didn't say much and only pointed out their suitcases as they came down the baggage terminal so Hawkeye would grab them. They waited outside the airport for her mother and sister to get there. Hawkeye sat down the suitcases and used one for a seat.
"Why are they late?" Margaret asked pacing the sidewalk.
"Maybe they ran into traffic."
"No."
"Maybe it's something with your niece."
"Don't say that."
"I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that maybe she had a little last minute accident and your sister was held up."
"Maybe."
Hawkeye was sick of seeing her pace around nervously and stood up grabbing her hand to stop her. "Calm down."
"I can't." She looked into his eyes.
He gave her a soft kiss on the lips. "Everything will be fine. Don't worry; I'll protect you."
She smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his torso allowing him to hold her. "It won't be bad meeting my mother and sister. It's the rest of them that I'm worried about."
He rubbed her back and held her there like that. "You know no one intimidates me. Except maybe you."
She laughed against his chest. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Margaret closed her eyes and let him take away some of the stress she was feeling for a few minutes. It was the sound of a familiar voice that made her let go of him. "Ahhh.isn't that cute."
Margaret looked behind her and saw her sister standing there. She smiled and gave her a hug. "You're looking a lot better than the last time I saw you."
"I weigh twenty five pounds less." Katie looked at her sister and then over at the handsome man that she had been hugging. "You must be Hawkeye."
"The one and only," he grinned. He had talked to Katie on the phone a few times, but this was the first time they were meeting each other. He opened his arms and gave her a hug. "Nice to finally put a face to that voice."
Margaret gave her mother a nice big hug. "Hi Mom," she said evenly.
"Hi honey."
"This is Hawkeye."
"Hello," the older woman said looking straight into his eyes. "Nice to meet you." She stuck her hand out before Hawkeye had a chance to hug her.
"You too Mrs. Houlihan. Your daughter looks a lot like you."
"Yes, she does. Are you two ready to go?"
"Yes," Margaret answered. She nodded to Hawkeye to put the luggage in the trunk and then they got into the car.
They hadn't been on the ground more thirty minutes when Hawkeye started to feel rather uncomfortable. The way Margaret's mother had eyed him, not to mention the cool tone of her voice, had told him that he wasn't welcome. Margaret had always told him that she and her mother had never gotten along very well; he was now beginning to understand why.
"What ever did you do to your hair?" Hawkeye heard from the backseat. He had been squished in back along with the baby and her sister, Margaret was sitting up front beside her mother.
"What do you mean?" Margaret asked as she lightly fingered her hair. "I didn't do anything to it." Why couldn't they just have a normal conversation?
"Well it looks different." Her mother's voice was critical and sharp. Then as if she'd figured it out she said. "It's too blonde."
Margaret and her sister exchanged a look. "Mother." This time it was her sister who was talking. "It does not. It looks the exact same way it did last time."
Hawkeye sat in silence as he watched the scene play out before him with a sort of awe. Their mother was relentless and yet perfectly calm. In some sort of odd way, she seemed to be gaining something from their argument. It was then that he seriously started to consider just eloping and avoiding any sort of social contact with them at all. Of course if Margaret wanted, Hawkeye would let her bring her sister.
Between the loud conversation and limited room, Hawkeye was starting to feel a pang in his chest. His claustrophobia had arisen somewhat on the plane and was beginning to stir again in that confined space. He leaned back and gripped the base of his seatbelt the best he could. Panicking and drawing attention to himself was the last thing he wanted to do. He took a deep breath and tried to look as calm as possible. Hopefully they would reach their destination soon.
Up front Margaret was fighting a battle of her own. She was trying her hardest to hold a civil tongue and keep her cool demeanor, but her mother was making it nearly impossible. "So, where are we going first?" Margaret asked, trying to draw the attention away from herself and to her sister. "Is daddy here yet?"
Katie put her hand on her sister's shoulder from the backseat. "He's at my house. We'll go to the hotel first so you can get settled."
Margaret's eyes widened in fright. She didn't want them to find out that she and Hawkeye were sharing the same room because that would generate other questions about their relationship. "We are?"
"Yes," her mother said. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"No," she answered immediately. "That's fine. Are you staying there?"
"Of course not. I'm staying with your sister."
"Oh, okay."
"I was planning on dropping you two off. Your sister and I have to get baby Janie home to be fed. We'll send someone over to pick you up a little later unless you want to take a cab."
"A cab will be fine," Hawkeye answered from the back seat. He saw Margaret's shoulders relax and knew he said the right thing. "When should we be there?"
"For lunch."
"We'll be there."
Katie saw how uncomfortable her sister was being made and wanted to save her. She knew just how she felt because for the past two days she had been made to feel like a child again. Their mother was overbearing and judgmental and Margaret was now the target. Soon the focus would turn to Hawkeye and Margaret was going to have to be there to save him. Katie jumped in and started to talk to her sister so Joan no longer could.
"I think your hair looks really good," she said with a smile.
Margaret turned in her seat and smiled. She knew what her sister was doing; they had been doing it since they were kids. It always took the focus off of them. "Thank you. Now, when is my niece going to wake up so I can hold her?"
"You'll have to wait until you come to my house this afternoon. She sleeps most of the mornings."
"Because you let her stay awake all night instead of teaching her that she's supposed to sleep at night." Joan was quick to jump in and criticize when it came to her daughter's parenting skills, or anything else for that matter.
"Mom," Margaret said. "She's only four months old and I think Katie's doing a wonderful job with her."
"How would you know? You haven't seen the baby for three months."
Hawkeye sat and listened to this and couldn't wait to get out of that car. He would have taken Katie and the baby with them too to save them, but no one was supposed to know about him and Margaret sharing a room. "I don't know," he said. "This baby looks pretty damn healthy to me," he smiled at Katie and touched the baby's cheek. "She's a cubby little thing and cute as hell."
"She'll grow out of it." Came Joan's vicious reply. "These two certainly did." Katie held back her anger as did Margaret. Hawkeye wished he was still back at the airport.
"Well both your daughters turned out to be extremely attractive women. I'm sure Janie will turn out to be just as beautiful, if not more." He commented, looking at the sleeping child beside him. Up front, a small smile crept across Margaret's face, he had no fear at all. She was happy to know that he didn't find her mother discouraging like she and Katie did.
Hawkeye was hoping for some sort of reaction from his future mother-in-law, he wanted her to know that she didn't affect him in the least. He had meant it when he told Margaret that he'd protect her. Joan could say what she liked, but he wasn't going to sit there and let her intimidate Margaret. He didn't give a damn if she was her mother or not.
"There's the hotel." Katie pointed out the window. They were driving along the beach now. When they reached the front entrance Joan stopped the car and let them out. Hawkeye got the bags while Margaret talked with her sister about a pick up time. When Hawkeye had all the things they said goodbye and walked inside.
Hawkeye walked over to the desk and checked the two of them in. Since he was the one that was out of work now and had more free time he was the one that made all the arrangements including choosing the room. He wanted them to be comfortable so he sprung for a larger room on one of the top floors looking out to the Atlantic Ocean with a perfect view of the beautiful Carolina coast. Margaret had just assumed he booked a normal room, something inexpensive because they were just going to use it to sleep in.
Hawkeye came back with the key and handed it to his fiancé. "You take this and I'll take the luggage."
"What about the bell boy?" She asked accepting the key.
"He's busy. We could wait for him or just go upstairs."
"Let's go."
He smiled and picked up their bags letting her lead him to the elevator. "25th floor."
"Why so high?" She pressed the button to call the elevator. It must have been sitting on the floor because it opened right away.
"That's just where the room is." He walked in and set the bags down.
"Hopefully no one else will be on that floor with us."
"We'll see. Don't worry about it. I'm sure they have to be better than your mother."
"I'm so sorry about her," she hooked her arm with his. "I hoped she wouldn't be like that."
"Its okay. She doesn't bother me," he kissed the side of her head. "And, just so you know, I love your new hair color." She slapped his arm. "Ouch. What was that for?"
"You're not supposed to say anything when a lady colors her hair."
Hawkeye chuckled. "It's not anymore blonde than it was before." He moved his hand up to hold a lock between his fingers. "But it's a nicer shade, the peroxide wasn't as lovely." His hand moved lower to her neck where he gently began to work out the knots. He heard her whimper a little. Being in the car with her mother had made her so tense. Margaret let her head fall forward a little, encouraging him to keep working. "Why don't we just stay here for the rest of the evening and lie in bed, or better yet, soak in the tub." His hand moved to the side as he started placing kisses where had been massaging moments ago.
He had no idea how much she actually wanted to consider his offer. Between his hands and lips she was feeling so much more relaxed. "Everyone won't be there." She started to say, they were all coming in later. "But we really should go over and say hello to my father, I'm sure he's eager to see us."
The bell rang as they reached their floor and Hawkeye pulled away. He picked up their bags and waited for her to lead the way to their room. "You mean he's eager to see you. I'm the last person he wants to see." He reminded her.
"I'm sure he's forgotten all about what happened last year." Margaret spotted their room and walked over to unlock the door.
Hawkeye recalled Al turning over a table in the Officer's Club. "Just wait until he finds out that we're getting married." He really wasn't looking forward to that moment. If her family was anything like her father, they wouldn't like it all. "Can't you just see the revolt?" It was a scary thought, he shuddered slightly. "And what if they found out that we've been sleeping together?" That was an even worse thought. "You're father is surely going to want to shoot the man who's been banging you for the past couple of months."
Finally Margaret got the door unlocked. She turned the knob and opened the door to reveal a very spacious looking room. Margaret gave a small gasp, she couldn't believe he had gotten one so expensive.
"Is this the right room?"
"Yes." He put the bags down and shut the door. "Is nice, isn't it?"
"Honey, why did you get one so expensive?"
"I wanted you to feel comfortable." He watched her as she looked around touching things like she was making sure they were real. "What time do we have to get out of here?"
"We have an hour before we have to leave." She walked over to the bedroom and opened the curtains to reveal the most spectacular view of the Atlantic she had ever seen. "This is beautiful." She was giving his earlier idea about staying there in bed a second thought.
He met her in the bedroom with the bags and set them down on the bed. "Maybe we should shower. For some reason I always feel dirty after I get off an airplane."
"Its all that sweating you do," she answered as she walked out of the room and back to the living room. It had the same view as the bedroom, but she wanted to look at it anyway.
"It's from the claustrophobia. We should have driven down like I said."
"It would have been too easy to leave."
Hawkeye walked back into the living room and stood in the doorway. "Well think about it like this, no one knows where we are. They don't have a damn clue we're on the 25th floor and I didn't care to reserve this room under either of our names." Margaret turned and looked at him then, a curious expression spread across her face. Hawkeye gave her a mischievous smile and turned around and walked back into the bedroom.
Suddenly over come with curiosity she followed him. "So they'll never be able to find out we're together."
"That was the idea." He was sitting on the bed as he untied his shoes.
"And it's not under your name?" She was surprised that he had done all this without telling her.
"Nope." He took off his socks.
"Then what name did you use?" He only smiled. Margaret watched as he began to unbutton his shirt. He walked over to her and began unbuttoning her shirt as well. "What are you doing?" She didn't try to stop him.
"We're going to take a shower." He told her simply.
"We?"
"Yes." He pushed her shirt off her shoulders. "You know I don't like to shower alone."
"I know," she smiled. She pushed his shirt down as well and let it fall to the floor next to hers. Her hands moved over his chest feeling the muscles. "Are you still working out?"
"Uh huh." His lips moved to hers and her kissed her gently sending chills up and down her spine.
"Maybe."
"Yes?"
Her hands moved to his belt buckle and started to loosen it. "Maybe, we should test out this bed first."
He grinned widely. "Yes, maybe we should."
She pushed his pants to the floor along with his boxers and he stepped out of them walking her over to the couch. Usually she was the first one naked, but she beat him to it this time. "Wait," she moved her lips away. "Bed."
He looked into her eyes for a second and then picked up her hand pulling her to the king sized bed in the other room. He gently pushed her onto it as he laid over top of her kissing her neck and chest working his way down to her pants.
Hawkeye loosened her buckle and easily undid her button with a quick motion. He pulled the zipper down and helped her out of her pants as quickly as she had helped him. His body moved back up hers as he moved his mouth back to kiss her neck.
Margaret was in a world of bliss and passion. The way his hands moved and the feel of his lips on her skin drove her wild. She loved the way his body felt against hers as they caressed and touched each other. At that moment she no longer cared if they made it to her sister's house or not, she was just too absorbed in him.
He was nestled between her legs as he steadily moved his lips from one sensitive point to the next. They were in the midst of kissing passionately when he suddenly and abruptly started laughing hysterically.
Before that moment Margaret had been some place else, a place far away bathing in pure bliss and arousal. "W.wha.what are you.laughing at?"
He let his head fall back as an even louder laugh erupted. "I.I'm.sor.sorry." He said through heavy breaths and more laughs. "It.it's.just.that."
She didn't find anything funny about it. "Yes?"
"It's all.so.so silly."
"What is?" She looked up at him and waited for him to answer her.
He moved away and sat up on the bed. "All of this."
"What?" She sat up next to him and pulled the blanket to over herself to cover her somewhat.
"All of this. How old are we? Everyone knows we're not a couple of virgins. Your nickname is Hot Lips, I'm sure it crossed everyone's minds before, 'which lips?'"
Her eyes widened and she slapped him across the chest as hard as she could causing him to laugh again. "You're disgusting! They're my family for God sakes."
"Honey, all of this is a little ridiculous. We're both mature adults."
"One of us is anyway."
He smiled. "Anyway, it's all so silly."
"It seems that way, but wait until you meet them. You'll be glad that they don't know we're sleeping together and living together. That kind of stuff is left unsaid in my family."
He started to laugh again, but she didn't find it funny at all. "Can you.ah," he held his stomach. "Oh, I can.ah."
"What?!" She demanded.
"I can just see your father's face," he stopped to catch his breath. "When he find out.that I've been banging his little girl."
She sighed rolling her eyes. "You're so crude!" She got out of the bed and walked off to the bathroom leaving him to his laughter. She didn't find it the least bit humorous. There wasn't anything funny about being together with fifty people all knowing what you do in your personal life and judging you for every little move that you make. He would soon find out.
Margaret went and started the shower, she wasn't interested in making love with him anymore, not after that. She had bigger things to worry about than his sexual need at the moment. Wrapped in a towel, she walked back out into the bedroom to get her shower things. It had been over a year since she had seen her father, and despite Hawkeye's relentlessness and mockery, she was excited to see him.
Margaret half expected Hawkeye to still be sitting on the bed giggling to himself, but to her mild surprise he was just standing in the middle of the room. "What are you doing?" She eyed him as she found her shower things.
"Thinking." He looked over at her.
"Weren't you having more fun making fun of me." She shot. Hawkeye resented that comment, he hadn't been picking on her.
"I'm sorry about that. It just makes me angry. Baby you're tearing yourself apart, and for what, nothing."
"It's not nothing to me. You know how much family means and I just want their approval. Is that too much to ask?"
"If you're trying to be something that you're not, then they are not approving of you, their approving of the person they think you are."
She knew that he was right, and she hated it. She wanted her father's approval most of all. She had always looked up to him and she just wanted his blessings. There wasn't another time in her life that she felt such joy and happiness and all she wanted was for her father to see that and be happy for her. Even if the rest of the family didn't care, she wanted him to. She grabbed her shower things and headed back to the bathroom shutting the door behind her.
Hawkeye didn't hear a click from the lock so he took that as a good sign. When she locked him out of the bathroom he knew she was made at him. Sometimes he thought she just licked to make sure he heard the click of the lock to reinforce her anger. Since he didn't hear it this time, he knew she wasn't too angry and would let her calm down some before talking to her. He decided to pass the time by unpacking their things and tossing the suitcases to the side.
Showering always made Margaret unwind. The heat relaxed the muscles and being relaxed cleared the mind. She loved Hawkeye with all her heart and wanted nothing more than to be with him forever and maybe one day start a family together, but sometimes he would really piss her off. Why couldn't he just support her in this? She knew her family and how they would react. Today she was going to reintroduce her father to an army hating democrat that he already had a pretty healthy hate toward and tell him that the man was now her fiancé. She was nervous and scared.
She took her time doing her hair, making sure that it looked absolutely perfect. Her mother had already started making comments about her hair; she didn't want to give her reason to do that again. Once she had her hair and make up done she opened the door and walked back into the bedroom, this time clad in a long robe.
Hawkeye had neatly folded their clothes and set them on the bed. He hadn't put them in the best of piles, but they weren't in a big heap either. She rummaged through the underwear pile, looking for her nylons. When she found those she started looking for her other articles of clothing. That's when she saw them, another flare of anger arose in her. Those stupid pants! He had told her he wasn't going to bring them, and yet here they were, lying on the bed!
Luckily for him he wasn't in the room at that moment. In fact, Margaret didn't know where he was. Without regard to his whereabouts she quickly dressed, wearing a dress that leaned more to the conservative side than the more revealing he had suggested.
"Where are you?" She called to him as she gathered up the last of her things and checked her hair.
His voice called from the living room. "I'm out here." She walked out there to make sure he wasn't standing there naked, she would have killed him if he had been. To her surprise he was sitting on the couch completely dressed except a tie and a pair of shoes. Any anger she felt for him had disappeared. Maybe he did understand after all.
"You're dressed." She said in almost a whisper.
"Why wouldn't I be?" He stood up holding two ties for her to look at. "Which matches?"
"This one," she touched the dark blue one.
"Okay." He tossed the yellow one onto he couch. "You look nice."
"Thank you," she brushed the torso of her dress. "I don't know if I like it."
He gave her a small smile. "You look good, honey."
"Not too.um.old?" He shook his head no. Now she was looking for his approval. Maybe one day she would learn that it was okay to be herself. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." He played with his tie trying to get it on correctly as she decided whether or not she looked good. "Can you help me with this?"
She moved in closer to him and placed her hands on his tie. "I just don't want my father to hate me."
"What?"
"Hawkeye, I love him. He's my father."
He put his hands on hers and made her look into his eyes. "I don't think you could ever get your father to hate you. I may not like the man, but I saw how much he loves you when he was at the 4077th a year ago. I watched him say goodbye to you and it looked like his heart had been ripped out."
"Really?"
He nodded and gave her a kiss. "I promise to behave myself today, but you need to be yourself. Don't be someone else for them. You're better than that."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hawkeye gave her hand a loving squeeze. He could tell she was nervous, she had hardly said a single word the entire car trip there. At exactly eleven o'clock, Katie's husband Rick picked them up at the hotel entrance. Margaret was relived it was just him, anyone else would have just made her even more uncomfortable. This time they sat in the back together, sitting closer than they would have been had someone other than Rick been in the car.
For Rick it was an interesting sight. Hawkeye had one arm wrapped around her shoulders and his opposite hand holding hers. They were talking in low voices so he couldn't make out what they were saying, but Hawkeye looked like he was sitting too close to Margaret. He was speaking directly into her ear in a soft whisper as she listened intently.
"Just relax." He spoke gently. She was already tensing up in his arms. "Everything will just fine."
"It's been four years since I've seen the majority of them. They're all Houlihans, judgmental and controlling, just like dad."
"Ah, but you've got something they don't." He told her.
"What's that?" She was starting to feel uncomfortable with Rick sitting there. There were times when she swore she could feel his eyes looking at her.
Hawkeye placed a daring kiss right below her ear. "You've got me." He whispered softly. Normally Margaret would have welcomed his touch and not minded him showing her affection, but that really wasn't the time or place. She pushed him away with her shoulder, urging him to move over and get off her.
Hawkeye didn't like being jabbed in the chest, he didn't like her shoving him. He was trying to be supportive and she was pushing him away. Reluctantly he moved away from her and sat closer to the window. Normally Margaret would felt bad for doing that to him, but he wasn't making it any easier on her. She was trying to collect herself and all he was doing was trying to feel her up with her brother-in-law in the car.
The rest of the way there Rick eyed the two of them and felt better about it that they were apart. He wasn't a Houlihan, but he had been around them long enough to know that his sister-in-law was about to break some unspoken rules in that family. It made him uncomfortable to know that before they arrived. Now he felt like he knew something and would be hiding it from his in-laws. Al already hated him; he didn't want the man to kill him.
Rick finally pulled into the driveway and by that time Hawkeye and Margaret sitting as far apart as they could get. Margaret was tense and cold and Hawkeye was just plain mad. Why would she push him away like that? Was she suddenly embarrassed of him? What had changed in those few seconds that made her do that to him? He didn't know, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Her family was making her crazy and they weren't even together at the moment. He could only imagine what the weekend was really going to be like.
Margaret walked over to her dresser and started shifting through her lingerie drawer. There were so many things that she didn't understand, things that she probably never would for that matter. Maybe they would have been better off going someplace else, someplace far away where no one would ever find them. Margaret shook her head; she knew that was never going to be an option. She hadn't seen her father in over a year; she hadn't seen her family in over four.
'Damn these reunions,' she thought to herself. She rummaged through the rest of the things in her closet and picked out some of the things she thought her father would think appropriate to wear. Even at 29 years old she was still worried about what her father thought. The older she got the more it bothered her and the more she wanted to change, but after living and thinking that way for so many years she didn't know how to change. She wanted to look forward to going, but she was more nervous than she had ever been about seeing her family. It wasn't just her parents and her sister; it was her father's entire family. A weekend full of Houlihans, and although she was one herself, they still scared her.
The Margaret that they had once known was gone forever. She'd gone to Korea as one of them, up tight and overbearing with a wall high enough to keep out any army. She'd gone to war with a clear purpose and set standards, and yet when she came home the only thing that mattered was that she was in love. How were they going to respond when they realized her wall had crumbled? What were they going to say when they discovered she was no longer one of them? What were they going to say about the one 'big' difference in her life? Margaret shuddered at the thought. She wasn't going away for a relaxing vacation; she was going away for a week of hell.
"Okay," she said to herself. "I have to do this. Go and get it over with and then I can come back home and be happy again."
Another voice shook her out of her thoughts. "Who you talking to?"
She turned around and looked at the love of her life. "No one," she smiled. "Did you pack yet?"
"Yep."
"When?"
"This morning when you were in the shower."
She couldn't begin to imagine what he jammed into his suitcase. "Let me see."
"You don't trust me?" He picked up a piece of clothing tossed on the bed. "What's this?"
"A dress."
"Margaret, it looks like it belongs on a sixty year old."
"I know," she grabbed the garment out of his hands.
"Is it yours?" She nodded. "That doesn't look like you. I thought you'd be bringing your favorite dress or shorts. You always wear shorts."
"Not this weekend."
"What? Why?"
"Because," was her only answer. She didn't want to tell him why because he wouldn't understand; he didn't know her family.
He shook his head and looked at the garment in his hands. The fabric was coarse and unrefined; it scratched the tips of his fingers as he grazed it. It was a terrible dress in all respects, it was long enough to cover every inch of skin on her body and then some. "You can't be serious about this dress." He tossed it across the room. That dress didn't even call for any cleavage, let alone her neck. "You have plenty of other very sexy dresses, just pick one of those."
Margaret frowned as she marched across the room and picked it up off the floor. Sexy was what she was purposely avoiding. "What all did you pack?" She didn't want to discuss it with him; he wouldn't even try to understand. Besides, it was his appearance that she was concerned with the most. Her family was going to meet her fiancé for the first time and he had look presentable.
"Clothes." Came his simplistic reply. He lay down on the bed and watched as she finished packing.
"Like what?" She placed her lingerie beside him as she shifted things around inside her suitcase.
Hawkeye picked up a pair of her nylons and examined them. "Nylons?" He looked up at her. "It's going to be in the 90s."
Margaret snatched them from his grasp. She didn't respond to his question, instead she shoved them into a pocket. "I want to see." She told him in reference to his packing, her complexion looking rather serious.
"What's there to see? They're just clothes." He shrugged his shoulders. Margaret knew he had probably just thrown in a couple pairs of shorts and T- shirts. Since he wasn't working at the moment, he really didn't care what he wore.
"What did you pack?" She asked him again.
"I don't know, socks, shirts, pants, underwear..." He sifted through her lingerie as she looked for his suitcase. If he wouldn't tell her, then she'd just have to look for herself. "Hey, you're bringing the black lacy ones aren't you?" Hawkeye called to her. He was appalled to find they weren't among the others. Besides the tiger skin they were his favorites.
She ignored the question and lifted his suitcase up to sit on the bed. "I don't want you to look like a bum." She opened it up and pulled out the first thing that she saw. A pair of old holey jeans. "You were going to wear those there?!"
"I am going to wear them," he corrected. "What's wrong with them?"
"Hawkeye, please don't argue with me. I just want you to look good. This is the first time you'll be meeting my family."
"Why are you so concerned about me? You don't seem to care what you're going to look like."
She rolled her eyes and threw all of his clothes onto the bed. "I'm repacking your things."
"Fine, then I'm repacking yours." He got up and started with her lingerie drawer first. "We'll take these, and these," he tossed his two favorite things onto the bed. "And I think these will be nice too." Margaret walked over there and grabbed them out of his hands tossing them back in the drawer. "What's the matter?"
"Hawkeye, please stop."
"Margaret, look at what you're doing," he moved his hand in a sweeping motion so she would look around the room. "Half of the things you pack you never wear! You hate them!"
She knew he was right, and she hated that he noticed what she was trying to do. "Just leave me alone and let me do this."
"No. I will not leave you alone. You need to stop trying to please your father and be yourself. What's wrong with wearing what you want to? There's not slutty or sleazy about the things you wear. Sure, they make you look sexy, but that's what they're supposed to do." He placed his hands on her upper arms. "Honey, be yourself."
She sighed and moved in to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her comfortingly against his strong chest. "I don't want them to think of me like a."
"A what?"
"I don't know. I just."
"If it makes you feel any better, once they meet me they're gonna hate you anyway."
She slapped his back. "Don't say that."
"What until they find out we're living together."
She pulled back and looked up at him. "Don't you say a word about that to anyone!"
Hawkeye walked back over to the bed. There were clothes scattered everywhere. "Margaret, you're twenty nine years old. Is anyone expecting you to be a virgin? Who gives a damn if we live together. I mean even if we weren't, that wouldn't have stopped us from being together."
Margaret placed her hands on her hips, he wasn't listening. "If you say anything to anyone!" She threatened him with a pointed finger.
"Margaret!" He picked up his jeans off the bed and folded them. "Do they honestly think that if we're not living together then we're not sleeping together? Is it the sex that bothers them?"
"My parents won't like it! My aunts and uncles won't like it! My cousins won't like it! If they find out that we're living together, let alone sleeping together, then.then I'm going to get it!"
"We're getting married!"
"That's even worse! If my parents found out that we were having sexual relations before we got married." She was working herself into a panic. Her father would go ballistic if he found out. "To them, people do not live together before they get married."
Hawkeye started throwing clothes into his suitcase again, all including the ones she hated. "I don't give a damn what they think! I love you! I want to be with you! And no one is going to do anything about that!"
"Hawkeye, you don't understand!"
"Frankly," he stated. "I don't give a damn, and neither should you." He grabbed some of the clothes she had discarded into another pile that she wasn't going to bring and brought them back to the bed. "And if you don't have the balls to pack these nice things then I will." He started to ball things up and stuff them into the suitcase.
She didn't say anything and just stood there looking at him. He was right; there was no doubt about there. She was happy and in love and there wasn't any reason her physical being shouldn't reflect that. "You're right," she gave in.
He looked up at her with surprise written all over his face. She never gave in and it was a rare moment when she said that he was right. If he could have he would have recorded those words because he didn't know when he'd ever hear her utter them again. "I'm right?"
"Yes. I should be able to be myself."
"Good, and you'll tell them that we live together?"
"Hell no! That stays between me and you."
He smiled at her. At least she was getting somewhere. Hawkeye's father didn't like that they were living together, but he would never do anything to stop them or make them feel guilty about it. But the Houlihans were different. "I'll take what I can get."
"So then we're agreed?" She walked over to him and put her arms around his waist.
"It's none of their business." Hawkeye kissed the side of her head. "We have no reason to tell them what we do." He stated. Margaret smiled against his chest, he really was quite agreeable when she gave him a little leeway. "But." He said.
"But?" She pulled back so she could look at him.
Hawkeye turned around and picked that horrid dress out of her suitcase and threw it across the room. "And you have to bring these." He held up the pieces of undergarments.
A smile spread across her face; somehow she knew that's what he was going to say. Margaret nodded her head. "Okay. But only because I love you." She agreed. Hawkeye smiled happily and flung them on the bed.
"And." He continued on.
"What else can you possibly." Suddenly she knew. "No! You are not taking those pants!"
"Oh yes I am," he smiled proudly.
"No."
"Yes."
Margaret picked them up and held them behind her back. "You cannot take these. They're old and ugly."
"Good, they'll match with the way you're family thinks."
She gasped, but then started to laugh. "Please don't wear them. Let me dress you. I'll make it up to you."
He liked the sound of that. "With whatever I want?"
"Yes."
That was all it took and he tossed the pants into the hamper. "Okay." Then he walked over to her and placed his hands on her hips. "I have an idea in mind."
"I'm sure you do," she moved out of his grasp. "I need to finish this."
"I don't trust you. I want you to look as beautiful as you are on the inside. No more frumpy dresses and nylons. Show off those sexy legs."
"Honey, it's my family. They won't be looking at my legs."
"Show them off for me. Show them how happy you and I are."
Margaret rolled her eyes. "Showing my legs will not prove to them that we are in love." She pulled out another one of her conservative dresses and tossed it to the side.
"Sure it will. The old Margaret Houlihan never wore anything like this." He held up a much more revealing dress.
"No." She smiled and started to sort through his clothes. "My family doesn't need to see what that dress reveals."
"You're right." He grinned to himself as he held it up to look at. "You didn't wear this dress for very long the one time you did."
They both smiled when he said that. They'd had ended up having a very good time that night. "Your getting aroused will not help our cause." She told him with a grin.
Hawkeye laughed, he could just see Alvin Houlihan's face. "Over fifty Houlihans and only one Pierce." He sat down on the bed. "I'm a dead man either way."
She picked up his hand and placed a kiss on his upturned palm. "Correction.two Pierces." Hawkeye looked at her when she said that. "I don't need to pay fifty dollars for a piece of paper to tell me I belong with you."
"I love you too." He leaned forward and kissed her softly.
She kissed him back and then pulled away. "We really need to pack."
"That isn't as fun."
"Sorry. Life isn't always about fun."
"It should be. I can't remember the last time I was this happy and all I do is have fun."
"That's because you don't work right now. You get to do whatever you want."
"One day we'll switch and you can try it out." He stretched out across the empty side of the bed and watched her. He noticed she had started to put away some of the more conservative things, but he didn't say anything. She still wasn't packing anything too revealing, but at least the clothes she was packing now were her taste and not her father's.
"I'd love to. Maybe after I'm through with the army."
"Yeah. Have you told your family about that yet?"
"No, and I don't plan to tell them while we're there." She held up a pair of khaki pants. "What do you think of these?"
"They're okay. Not as good as my jeans, but." He trailed off smiling at her warning look.
She held up a blue collared polo shirt. "This looks good on you."
"Are you sure you don't want me in a tux with wing tipped shoes?"
"Ha ha. You're soooo funny," she said sarcastically.
"I think so." He smiled. She tried to put in another ugly dress into the suitcase. "Oh, no you don't. Less than a week ago you said you hated this dress and it was in the bag to give away." He grabbed it and tossed it into the corner of the room. "Maybe I should pack your bag."
"When hell freezes over! You wouldn't pack anything except lingerie."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing if we were going on our honeymoon, but we're going to meet my family."
Hawkeye walked over to her dresser and pulled out a few more pieces of lingerie. "We're not sleeping with your parents." Was his remark as he placed them on the bed.
"I'm afraid that's all the time we're going to have for that sort of thing, if any." She told him seriously.
Hawkeye leaned in closer to her. "I'll make time." He told her before standing up.
She shook her head and leaned back. "How? You're lucky that we're not getting separate rooms. We can't let anyone know that we're sleeping together." That was going to be tricky; hopefully they ended up on separate floors from everyone else.
Hawkeye dismissed what she said with a wave of his hand. "Look who you're talking to. I'll get you alone sooner or later."
"I forgot." She rolled her eyes. Margaret stood up. "Come on lover boy; let's go get something to eat." She took his hand and led him out into the small living room and into the kitchen.
"We don't have anything here."
"We'll find something," she said. She opened the cabinet doors and started to look. "We have to eat what we have here because we won't be home for a few days."
He took a seat the small kitchen table. "Yeah, yeah. Why don't I take you out?"
"No. We have a lot to do. I have to clean up the bedroom now that it's a complete mess, get together all my makeup and such, and then clean the apartment."
"Why?"
"Because when we come home I want things to be nice and neat so I can just lie in bed if I want. I'm going to need some time to relax after we get back from this little trip."
"Why are we even going?"
"We have to. Everyone will be there."
"An even better reason to stay home. I just don't get you at all."
"Why?" She moved over to the refrigerator and started to look.
"You obviously don't want to go."
"I have to go. It's a family reunion and I haven't seen my father in a year. No matter what anyone may think of him or how he makes me feel sometimes, I really do love him and I miss him. And my sister will be there with the baby and I want to see them again. It's my only niece."
He rolled his eyes. "I don't understand you at all."
She pulled out some lunch meat and threw it on the table. "This is dinner."
"Glad to know I'm marrying such a good cook." She shot him one of her looks. "I mean, you're such a wonderful lover." He tried to cover over.
She eyed him for a moment. "Nice cover." She turned to pull out the bread. Hawkeye moved out of his chair and over to where she was standing. His hands moved to her stomach as he began planting kisses on the back of her neck.
"Ohhh." She reached around and touched his hair. "That's another thing." His hands moved up to her breasts.
"Hmm."
"No more of 'this' when we get there." She told him as his hands continued to move around. "You're going to have to keep your hands to yourself."
Hawkeye sighed and clung to her a little more. "No." His mouth moved to the other side of her neck.
"We can't let them see this." She told him. "Do you know what my father would say if he saw this?" She didn't wait for his answer. "This would be just as bad as having sex in the middle of the kitchen."
"Bad? Mmmm," he kissed her neck. "Good."
"No," she struggled to say. "Bad." He turned her around in his arms and started to kiss her lips moving his hands up the back of her shirt and unhooking her bra slyly. Her hands moved to the back of his head, fingers threaded through his black hair. She couldn't help but think he needed a haircut. "Mmmm.honey." She tried to move her lips away from his so she could talk.
"Huh?" He moved back to her neck sneaking his hands to the front of her shorts and undoing the button.
"Ah," she moaned. "We.um..shouldn't."
"Yes," he whispered. His hands worked to pull down her shorts as his lips worked to quiet any protest she may have tried. It didn't take long and she stopped protesting and gave in wanting him as much as he wanted her.
Hawkeye's lips went back to her mouth. He kept her busy with his tongue while he slyly started to pulled her to her knees. Hawkeye figured she wouldn't be as cooperative the next night, she'd be a bundle of nerves and overly stressed out. At least now he didn't have to worry about someone disrupting them. "Hawkeye. She whispered as his mouth moved to her neck. He fell back, pulling her onto his chest.
"Mmm." His hands moved to pull her shirt off.
Margaret was having a difficult time thinking, let alone talking. She knew they should be packing and getting ready, they had to be up early the next morning, but this seemed to be a little more important. For the last few months it had just been about them and being together, now they were going off to a place where they wouldn't be acknowledged.
Margaret pulled his shirt off shirt in dire need to feel his skin against hers. Hawkeye was all about her, all about pleasing her and being with her. She loved his attention and his strength, the way he loved her and never tired of showing it. Margaret considered herself just about the luckiest woman in the world.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Hawkeye slept most of the way on the plane. Margaret would have liked to, but she couldn't. She was nervous and anxious about seeing her family. Sure there were a few people that she was looking forward to seeing, but the people she was dreading seeing again outnumbered them. She knew they were going to judge her and criticize her for her choices, and she wasn't fully ready for that. She didn't know how Hawkeye was going to handle that either. She feared that he was going to fly off the handle at least once and tell them all what he thought of them.
Margaret's mother and sister were supposed to pick them up at the airport when the plane landed. She didn't see them right away so she and Hawkeye went to gather the luggage. She didn't say much and only pointed out their suitcases as they came down the baggage terminal so Hawkeye would grab them. They waited outside the airport for her mother and sister to get there. Hawkeye sat down the suitcases and used one for a seat.
"Why are they late?" Margaret asked pacing the sidewalk.
"Maybe they ran into traffic."
"No."
"Maybe it's something with your niece."
"Don't say that."
"I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that maybe she had a little last minute accident and your sister was held up."
"Maybe."
Hawkeye was sick of seeing her pace around nervously and stood up grabbing her hand to stop her. "Calm down."
"I can't." She looked into his eyes.
He gave her a soft kiss on the lips. "Everything will be fine. Don't worry; I'll protect you."
She smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his torso allowing him to hold her. "It won't be bad meeting my mother and sister. It's the rest of them that I'm worried about."
He rubbed her back and held her there like that. "You know no one intimidates me. Except maybe you."
She laughed against his chest. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Margaret closed her eyes and let him take away some of the stress she was feeling for a few minutes. It was the sound of a familiar voice that made her let go of him. "Ahhh.isn't that cute."
Margaret looked behind her and saw her sister standing there. She smiled and gave her a hug. "You're looking a lot better than the last time I saw you."
"I weigh twenty five pounds less." Katie looked at her sister and then over at the handsome man that she had been hugging. "You must be Hawkeye."
"The one and only," he grinned. He had talked to Katie on the phone a few times, but this was the first time they were meeting each other. He opened his arms and gave her a hug. "Nice to finally put a face to that voice."
Margaret gave her mother a nice big hug. "Hi Mom," she said evenly.
"Hi honey."
"This is Hawkeye."
"Hello," the older woman said looking straight into his eyes. "Nice to meet you." She stuck her hand out before Hawkeye had a chance to hug her.
"You too Mrs. Houlihan. Your daughter looks a lot like you."
"Yes, she does. Are you two ready to go?"
"Yes," Margaret answered. She nodded to Hawkeye to put the luggage in the trunk and then they got into the car.
They hadn't been on the ground more thirty minutes when Hawkeye started to feel rather uncomfortable. The way Margaret's mother had eyed him, not to mention the cool tone of her voice, had told him that he wasn't welcome. Margaret had always told him that she and her mother had never gotten along very well; he was now beginning to understand why.
"What ever did you do to your hair?" Hawkeye heard from the backseat. He had been squished in back along with the baby and her sister, Margaret was sitting up front beside her mother.
"What do you mean?" Margaret asked as she lightly fingered her hair. "I didn't do anything to it." Why couldn't they just have a normal conversation?
"Well it looks different." Her mother's voice was critical and sharp. Then as if she'd figured it out she said. "It's too blonde."
Margaret and her sister exchanged a look. "Mother." This time it was her sister who was talking. "It does not. It looks the exact same way it did last time."
Hawkeye sat in silence as he watched the scene play out before him with a sort of awe. Their mother was relentless and yet perfectly calm. In some sort of odd way, she seemed to be gaining something from their argument. It was then that he seriously started to consider just eloping and avoiding any sort of social contact with them at all. Of course if Margaret wanted, Hawkeye would let her bring her sister.
Between the loud conversation and limited room, Hawkeye was starting to feel a pang in his chest. His claustrophobia had arisen somewhat on the plane and was beginning to stir again in that confined space. He leaned back and gripped the base of his seatbelt the best he could. Panicking and drawing attention to himself was the last thing he wanted to do. He took a deep breath and tried to look as calm as possible. Hopefully they would reach their destination soon.
Up front Margaret was fighting a battle of her own. She was trying her hardest to hold a civil tongue and keep her cool demeanor, but her mother was making it nearly impossible. "So, where are we going first?" Margaret asked, trying to draw the attention away from herself and to her sister. "Is daddy here yet?"
Katie put her hand on her sister's shoulder from the backseat. "He's at my house. We'll go to the hotel first so you can get settled."
Margaret's eyes widened in fright. She didn't want them to find out that she and Hawkeye were sharing the same room because that would generate other questions about their relationship. "We are?"
"Yes," her mother said. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"No," she answered immediately. "That's fine. Are you staying there?"
"Of course not. I'm staying with your sister."
"Oh, okay."
"I was planning on dropping you two off. Your sister and I have to get baby Janie home to be fed. We'll send someone over to pick you up a little later unless you want to take a cab."
"A cab will be fine," Hawkeye answered from the back seat. He saw Margaret's shoulders relax and knew he said the right thing. "When should we be there?"
"For lunch."
"We'll be there."
Katie saw how uncomfortable her sister was being made and wanted to save her. She knew just how she felt because for the past two days she had been made to feel like a child again. Their mother was overbearing and judgmental and Margaret was now the target. Soon the focus would turn to Hawkeye and Margaret was going to have to be there to save him. Katie jumped in and started to talk to her sister so Joan no longer could.
"I think your hair looks really good," she said with a smile.
Margaret turned in her seat and smiled. She knew what her sister was doing; they had been doing it since they were kids. It always took the focus off of them. "Thank you. Now, when is my niece going to wake up so I can hold her?"
"You'll have to wait until you come to my house this afternoon. She sleeps most of the mornings."
"Because you let her stay awake all night instead of teaching her that she's supposed to sleep at night." Joan was quick to jump in and criticize when it came to her daughter's parenting skills, or anything else for that matter.
"Mom," Margaret said. "She's only four months old and I think Katie's doing a wonderful job with her."
"How would you know? You haven't seen the baby for three months."
Hawkeye sat and listened to this and couldn't wait to get out of that car. He would have taken Katie and the baby with them too to save them, but no one was supposed to know about him and Margaret sharing a room. "I don't know," he said. "This baby looks pretty damn healthy to me," he smiled at Katie and touched the baby's cheek. "She's a cubby little thing and cute as hell."
"She'll grow out of it." Came Joan's vicious reply. "These two certainly did." Katie held back her anger as did Margaret. Hawkeye wished he was still back at the airport.
"Well both your daughters turned out to be extremely attractive women. I'm sure Janie will turn out to be just as beautiful, if not more." He commented, looking at the sleeping child beside him. Up front, a small smile crept across Margaret's face, he had no fear at all. She was happy to know that he didn't find her mother discouraging like she and Katie did.
Hawkeye was hoping for some sort of reaction from his future mother-in-law, he wanted her to know that she didn't affect him in the least. He had meant it when he told Margaret that he'd protect her. Joan could say what she liked, but he wasn't going to sit there and let her intimidate Margaret. He didn't give a damn if she was her mother or not.
"There's the hotel." Katie pointed out the window. They were driving along the beach now. When they reached the front entrance Joan stopped the car and let them out. Hawkeye got the bags while Margaret talked with her sister about a pick up time. When Hawkeye had all the things they said goodbye and walked inside.
Hawkeye walked over to the desk and checked the two of them in. Since he was the one that was out of work now and had more free time he was the one that made all the arrangements including choosing the room. He wanted them to be comfortable so he sprung for a larger room on one of the top floors looking out to the Atlantic Ocean with a perfect view of the beautiful Carolina coast. Margaret had just assumed he booked a normal room, something inexpensive because they were just going to use it to sleep in.
Hawkeye came back with the key and handed it to his fiancé. "You take this and I'll take the luggage."
"What about the bell boy?" She asked accepting the key.
"He's busy. We could wait for him or just go upstairs."
"Let's go."
He smiled and picked up their bags letting her lead him to the elevator. "25th floor."
"Why so high?" She pressed the button to call the elevator. It must have been sitting on the floor because it opened right away.
"That's just where the room is." He walked in and set the bags down.
"Hopefully no one else will be on that floor with us."
"We'll see. Don't worry about it. I'm sure they have to be better than your mother."
"I'm so sorry about her," she hooked her arm with his. "I hoped she wouldn't be like that."
"Its okay. She doesn't bother me," he kissed the side of her head. "And, just so you know, I love your new hair color." She slapped his arm. "Ouch. What was that for?"
"You're not supposed to say anything when a lady colors her hair."
Hawkeye chuckled. "It's not anymore blonde than it was before." He moved his hand up to hold a lock between his fingers. "But it's a nicer shade, the peroxide wasn't as lovely." His hand moved lower to her neck where he gently began to work out the knots. He heard her whimper a little. Being in the car with her mother had made her so tense. Margaret let her head fall forward a little, encouraging him to keep working. "Why don't we just stay here for the rest of the evening and lie in bed, or better yet, soak in the tub." His hand moved to the side as he started placing kisses where had been massaging moments ago.
He had no idea how much she actually wanted to consider his offer. Between his hands and lips she was feeling so much more relaxed. "Everyone won't be there." She started to say, they were all coming in later. "But we really should go over and say hello to my father, I'm sure he's eager to see us."
The bell rang as they reached their floor and Hawkeye pulled away. He picked up their bags and waited for her to lead the way to their room. "You mean he's eager to see you. I'm the last person he wants to see." He reminded her.
"I'm sure he's forgotten all about what happened last year." Margaret spotted their room and walked over to unlock the door.
Hawkeye recalled Al turning over a table in the Officer's Club. "Just wait until he finds out that we're getting married." He really wasn't looking forward to that moment. If her family was anything like her father, they wouldn't like it all. "Can't you just see the revolt?" It was a scary thought, he shuddered slightly. "And what if they found out that we've been sleeping together?" That was an even worse thought. "You're father is surely going to want to shoot the man who's been banging you for the past couple of months."
Finally Margaret got the door unlocked. She turned the knob and opened the door to reveal a very spacious looking room. Margaret gave a small gasp, she couldn't believe he had gotten one so expensive.
"Is this the right room?"
"Yes." He put the bags down and shut the door. "Is nice, isn't it?"
"Honey, why did you get one so expensive?"
"I wanted you to feel comfortable." He watched her as she looked around touching things like she was making sure they were real. "What time do we have to get out of here?"
"We have an hour before we have to leave." She walked over to the bedroom and opened the curtains to reveal the most spectacular view of the Atlantic she had ever seen. "This is beautiful." She was giving his earlier idea about staying there in bed a second thought.
He met her in the bedroom with the bags and set them down on the bed. "Maybe we should shower. For some reason I always feel dirty after I get off an airplane."
"Its all that sweating you do," she answered as she walked out of the room and back to the living room. It had the same view as the bedroom, but she wanted to look at it anyway.
"It's from the claustrophobia. We should have driven down like I said."
"It would have been too easy to leave."
Hawkeye walked back into the living room and stood in the doorway. "Well think about it like this, no one knows where we are. They don't have a damn clue we're on the 25th floor and I didn't care to reserve this room under either of our names." Margaret turned and looked at him then, a curious expression spread across her face. Hawkeye gave her a mischievous smile and turned around and walked back into the bedroom.
Suddenly over come with curiosity she followed him. "So they'll never be able to find out we're together."
"That was the idea." He was sitting on the bed as he untied his shoes.
"And it's not under your name?" She was surprised that he had done all this without telling her.
"Nope." He took off his socks.
"Then what name did you use?" He only smiled. Margaret watched as he began to unbutton his shirt. He walked over to her and began unbuttoning her shirt as well. "What are you doing?" She didn't try to stop him.
"We're going to take a shower." He told her simply.
"We?"
"Yes." He pushed her shirt off her shoulders. "You know I don't like to shower alone."
"I know," she smiled. She pushed his shirt down as well and let it fall to the floor next to hers. Her hands moved over his chest feeling the muscles. "Are you still working out?"
"Uh huh." His lips moved to hers and her kissed her gently sending chills up and down her spine.
"Maybe."
"Yes?"
Her hands moved to his belt buckle and started to loosen it. "Maybe, we should test out this bed first."
He grinned widely. "Yes, maybe we should."
She pushed his pants to the floor along with his boxers and he stepped out of them walking her over to the couch. Usually she was the first one naked, but she beat him to it this time. "Wait," she moved her lips away. "Bed."
He looked into her eyes for a second and then picked up her hand pulling her to the king sized bed in the other room. He gently pushed her onto it as he laid over top of her kissing her neck and chest working his way down to her pants.
Hawkeye loosened her buckle and easily undid her button with a quick motion. He pulled the zipper down and helped her out of her pants as quickly as she had helped him. His body moved back up hers as he moved his mouth back to kiss her neck.
Margaret was in a world of bliss and passion. The way his hands moved and the feel of his lips on her skin drove her wild. She loved the way his body felt against hers as they caressed and touched each other. At that moment she no longer cared if they made it to her sister's house or not, she was just too absorbed in him.
He was nestled between her legs as he steadily moved his lips from one sensitive point to the next. They were in the midst of kissing passionately when he suddenly and abruptly started laughing hysterically.
Before that moment Margaret had been some place else, a place far away bathing in pure bliss and arousal. "W.wha.what are you.laughing at?"
He let his head fall back as an even louder laugh erupted. "I.I'm.sor.sorry." He said through heavy breaths and more laughs. "It.it's.just.that."
She didn't find anything funny about it. "Yes?"
"It's all.so.so silly."
"What is?" She looked up at him and waited for him to answer her.
He moved away and sat up on the bed. "All of this."
"What?" She sat up next to him and pulled the blanket to over herself to cover her somewhat.
"All of this. How old are we? Everyone knows we're not a couple of virgins. Your nickname is Hot Lips, I'm sure it crossed everyone's minds before, 'which lips?'"
Her eyes widened and she slapped him across the chest as hard as she could causing him to laugh again. "You're disgusting! They're my family for God sakes."
"Honey, all of this is a little ridiculous. We're both mature adults."
"One of us is anyway."
He smiled. "Anyway, it's all so silly."
"It seems that way, but wait until you meet them. You'll be glad that they don't know we're sleeping together and living together. That kind of stuff is left unsaid in my family."
He started to laugh again, but she didn't find it funny at all. "Can you.ah," he held his stomach. "Oh, I can.ah."
"What?!" She demanded.
"I can just see your father's face," he stopped to catch his breath. "When he find out.that I've been banging his little girl."
She sighed rolling her eyes. "You're so crude!" She got out of the bed and walked off to the bathroom leaving him to his laughter. She didn't find it the least bit humorous. There wasn't anything funny about being together with fifty people all knowing what you do in your personal life and judging you for every little move that you make. He would soon find out.
Margaret went and started the shower, she wasn't interested in making love with him anymore, not after that. She had bigger things to worry about than his sexual need at the moment. Wrapped in a towel, she walked back out into the bedroom to get her shower things. It had been over a year since she had seen her father, and despite Hawkeye's relentlessness and mockery, she was excited to see him.
Margaret half expected Hawkeye to still be sitting on the bed giggling to himself, but to her mild surprise he was just standing in the middle of the room. "What are you doing?" She eyed him as she found her shower things.
"Thinking." He looked over at her.
"Weren't you having more fun making fun of me." She shot. Hawkeye resented that comment, he hadn't been picking on her.
"I'm sorry about that. It just makes me angry. Baby you're tearing yourself apart, and for what, nothing."
"It's not nothing to me. You know how much family means and I just want their approval. Is that too much to ask?"
"If you're trying to be something that you're not, then they are not approving of you, their approving of the person they think you are."
She knew that he was right, and she hated it. She wanted her father's approval most of all. She had always looked up to him and she just wanted his blessings. There wasn't another time in her life that she felt such joy and happiness and all she wanted was for her father to see that and be happy for her. Even if the rest of the family didn't care, she wanted him to. She grabbed her shower things and headed back to the bathroom shutting the door behind her.
Hawkeye didn't hear a click from the lock so he took that as a good sign. When she locked him out of the bathroom he knew she was made at him. Sometimes he thought she just licked to make sure he heard the click of the lock to reinforce her anger. Since he didn't hear it this time, he knew she wasn't too angry and would let her calm down some before talking to her. He decided to pass the time by unpacking their things and tossing the suitcases to the side.
Showering always made Margaret unwind. The heat relaxed the muscles and being relaxed cleared the mind. She loved Hawkeye with all her heart and wanted nothing more than to be with him forever and maybe one day start a family together, but sometimes he would really piss her off. Why couldn't he just support her in this? She knew her family and how they would react. Today she was going to reintroduce her father to an army hating democrat that he already had a pretty healthy hate toward and tell him that the man was now her fiancé. She was nervous and scared.
She took her time doing her hair, making sure that it looked absolutely perfect. Her mother had already started making comments about her hair; she didn't want to give her reason to do that again. Once she had her hair and make up done she opened the door and walked back into the bedroom, this time clad in a long robe.
Hawkeye had neatly folded their clothes and set them on the bed. He hadn't put them in the best of piles, but they weren't in a big heap either. She rummaged through the underwear pile, looking for her nylons. When she found those she started looking for her other articles of clothing. That's when she saw them, another flare of anger arose in her. Those stupid pants! He had told her he wasn't going to bring them, and yet here they were, lying on the bed!
Luckily for him he wasn't in the room at that moment. In fact, Margaret didn't know where he was. Without regard to his whereabouts she quickly dressed, wearing a dress that leaned more to the conservative side than the more revealing he had suggested.
"Where are you?" She called to him as she gathered up the last of her things and checked her hair.
His voice called from the living room. "I'm out here." She walked out there to make sure he wasn't standing there naked, she would have killed him if he had been. To her surprise he was sitting on the couch completely dressed except a tie and a pair of shoes. Any anger she felt for him had disappeared. Maybe he did understand after all.
"You're dressed." She said in almost a whisper.
"Why wouldn't I be?" He stood up holding two ties for her to look at. "Which matches?"
"This one," she touched the dark blue one.
"Okay." He tossed the yellow one onto he couch. "You look nice."
"Thank you," she brushed the torso of her dress. "I don't know if I like it."
He gave her a small smile. "You look good, honey."
"Not too.um.old?" He shook his head no. Now she was looking for his approval. Maybe one day she would learn that it was okay to be herself. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." He played with his tie trying to get it on correctly as she decided whether or not she looked good. "Can you help me with this?"
She moved in closer to him and placed her hands on his tie. "I just don't want my father to hate me."
"What?"
"Hawkeye, I love him. He's my father."
He put his hands on hers and made her look into his eyes. "I don't think you could ever get your father to hate you. I may not like the man, but I saw how much he loves you when he was at the 4077th a year ago. I watched him say goodbye to you and it looked like his heart had been ripped out."
"Really?"
He nodded and gave her a kiss. "I promise to behave myself today, but you need to be yourself. Don't be someone else for them. You're better than that."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hawkeye gave her hand a loving squeeze. He could tell she was nervous, she had hardly said a single word the entire car trip there. At exactly eleven o'clock, Katie's husband Rick picked them up at the hotel entrance. Margaret was relived it was just him, anyone else would have just made her even more uncomfortable. This time they sat in the back together, sitting closer than they would have been had someone other than Rick been in the car.
For Rick it was an interesting sight. Hawkeye had one arm wrapped around her shoulders and his opposite hand holding hers. They were talking in low voices so he couldn't make out what they were saying, but Hawkeye looked like he was sitting too close to Margaret. He was speaking directly into her ear in a soft whisper as she listened intently.
"Just relax." He spoke gently. She was already tensing up in his arms. "Everything will just fine."
"It's been four years since I've seen the majority of them. They're all Houlihans, judgmental and controlling, just like dad."
"Ah, but you've got something they don't." He told her.
"What's that?" She was starting to feel uncomfortable with Rick sitting there. There were times when she swore she could feel his eyes looking at her.
Hawkeye placed a daring kiss right below her ear. "You've got me." He whispered softly. Normally Margaret would have welcomed his touch and not minded him showing her affection, but that really wasn't the time or place. She pushed him away with her shoulder, urging him to move over and get off her.
Hawkeye didn't like being jabbed in the chest, he didn't like her shoving him. He was trying to be supportive and she was pushing him away. Reluctantly he moved away from her and sat closer to the window. Normally Margaret would felt bad for doing that to him, but he wasn't making it any easier on her. She was trying to collect herself and all he was doing was trying to feel her up with her brother-in-law in the car.
The rest of the way there Rick eyed the two of them and felt better about it that they were apart. He wasn't a Houlihan, but he had been around them long enough to know that his sister-in-law was about to break some unspoken rules in that family. It made him uncomfortable to know that before they arrived. Now he felt like he knew something and would be hiding it from his in-laws. Al already hated him; he didn't want the man to kill him.
Rick finally pulled into the driveway and by that time Hawkeye and Margaret sitting as far apart as they could get. Margaret was tense and cold and Hawkeye was just plain mad. Why would she push him away like that? Was she suddenly embarrassed of him? What had changed in those few seconds that made her do that to him? He didn't know, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Her family was making her crazy and they weren't even together at the moment. He could only imagine what the weekend was really going to be like.