In The Eye Of The Beholder

by Falcon and HM Writer

FINAL chapter is up. Please leave a final review. We hope you enjoyed it.

6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Margaret woke up about an hour and a half later. She could have slept longer, but sleeping alone was something she hadn't grown accustomed to. Margaret opened her eyes and lifted her head when she realized the bed was empty. Looking around the room she discovered she was completely alone. Margaret got out bed and walked out into the living room in search of her fiancé.

She found him sitting at the small breakfast table with his feet propped up. He was reading the morning newspaper and sipping a cup of coffee. When she entered the room he looked up and smiled at her. "Hey."

Margaret rubbed her eyes and stretched. "Hi," she smiled back. His hair was ruffled and he was sitting there in a pair of the boxer briefs she had bought him. "How long have you been up?"

Hawkeye set down his newspaper and took his feet off the table. "Not too long." Margaret walked over to him and gave him a kiss. "Did you go to breakfast?"

"Yeah." She sat down on his lap and kissed him again. "It was okay."

"Only okay?" He asked.

Margaret cuddled up against him. "I was too busy being envious of you."

"Tired?" He grinned; he could feel her relaxing against him.

"I feel a little better after taking that nap."

"We can take another before we go." He told her.

Margaret groaned. "I wish."

"Why? We' don't have to be there until three."

"Katie and the baby are coming by soon." She sat up.

"Should I be here?"

"I don't want you to go anywhere." She got up and grabbed a cup and poured herself some coffee.

"Please don't drink that black."

She smiled. "Stop being a baby. This is how I like it."

He turned his head as she took a sip. He couldn't stand his coffee black. "You're so gross."

"We have to get this place cleaned up. Katie will be here and I don't want her to know that we're staying together."

"Why? I don't think she would care."

"No. Go get in the shower and I'll clean up."

"Fine." He stood up. "You know I don't like to take a shower without you."

"Too bad. You need a shower and need to be dressed and cleaned like you are just here to visit with me."

"Okay." He downed the rest of his coffee and gave her a kiss. "You might want to fix yourself up a little too. You look like hell."

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks a lot."

"Well, you didn't want me to lie did you?" He asked on his way out of the room. 

"Yes!" She yelled back. "How in the hell does he go from, 'You're the love of my life and more beautiful than anything,' last night to, 'you look like hell'?" She mumbled to herself. "Men!"

Margaret looked around the room, there were clothes scattered all over the place, furniture had been moved, and the room was in shambles. She moved the coffee table back into place and straitened the cushions on the couch before picking up the discarded clothing.

Hawkeye tried to shower as quickly as he could. He could tell she was already beginning to stress out and didn't want to do anything to aggravate her any more. It would have been so much nicer if they could have just spent the day in bed.

After he had washed and shaved he walked out into the bedroom to see her sitting on the bed folding clothes. "What are you doing?" He asked as he dried his hair.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She snapped. "I need to get all these clothes folded and put away."

"Is there anything that you want me to do?" He walked over to the door and pulled out his jeans.

"Yes, you can make the bed." She was almost done putting the clothes away. All she needed to do now was to figure out how to hide his suit case. Hawkeye turned around and put on a clean shirt, Margaret's eyes widened. "You can't wear those jeans!"

"Why?" He didn't see anything wrong with them.

"You need to look nice! She can't see you looking like that!"

Hawkeye looked down at his pants. "I love these."

"Honey, please let's not do this again. I don't even like when you wear them at home. I just tolerate it."

"But Margaret, we're not going anywhere."

"Listen to me, you're supposed to be dressed and ready to go. You came from your room to see me and meet me to go to the beach."

"So I should be wearing shorts?"

"No!"

Hawkeye rolled his eyes. "You're not making any sense."

"You said I could dress you while we're here."

He sighed. She was right. He did agree to that. "Fine." He pulled his pants off and stood in the middle of the room with his arms spread. "Dress me."

She smiled a little bit only because she couldn't hold it in. She grabbed a nice pair of pants and tossed them to him. He didn't even try to catch them; he let them fall to the floor. "What are you doing?"

"Dress me."

"Hawkeye!"

"Margaret!" He mocked her.

She walked over and picked up his clean pants. "Put them on, and I'll let you undress me later on."

He grinned and grabbed the pants. "Deal."

"You're worse than a kid."

That made something click in his head. "Wait...is Janie spending the night tonight?"

She looked back at him. "Yes."

"Then what am I supposed to do? You're not making me get another room, are you?"

"No, of course not! I wouldn't do that." She tossed a small bag of his things into the closet. "Did you clean up the bathroom? I don't want Katie to see all your things in there."

"Yeah. I threw it all in the drawer."

"Good. Now hurry up and make the bed please."

Hawkeye did as she asked and made the bed. He would have preferred to wait for the maid so she could change the sheets, but they didn't have time for that. Margaret brushed her hair and finished getting dressed before she double checked the room, making sure all of his belongings were out of sight.  When she was confident that they could get away with it she finally started to calm down.

"Margaret, I'm not sure about these clothes." He was looking at himself in the mirror. "We're going to the beach, not out to lunch."

"You can't be in my hotel room half naked." She told him.

"But don't you think this is taking it too far?"

"No." She sat down on the bed.

"What about when we do go to the beach, are you going to have me bundled up then too?"

"Don't be silly, you'll wear your new shorts and a t-shirt."

"T-shirt?" He turned and looked at her. "We're going swimming."

"You can't walk around shirtless."

"Sure I can, it's the beach."

"I don't want my family seeing you half naked." She pointed out.

"Half naked?! It's just my chest. Is there something wrong with the way I look?"

"No," she said immediately. "My whole family just doesn't need to see you like that."

"That is taking it too far."

"Hawk, please."

"No. We'll talk about this later, but I'm not going swimming with a damn shirt on. Its 96 degrees out there."

She stood up and walked out to the living area to look around. Hawkeye followed her to see what she was doing. She picked up a pair of his socks that were in there on the floor. "Maybe you shouldn't be here."

"What?!"

"Maybe you should show up after Katie gets here."

"No!" How could she say that? He was beginning to feel like she didn't care about his feelings. Why would she ask him to leave? It was just Katie that was coming.

Margaret opened her mouth to say something, but that was when she heard a knock at the door. She threw the socks into the bedroom and shut the door. "Sit down and act like you just got here. Do something!" Hawkeye rolled his eyes. Margaret opened the door with a smile plastered across her face. "Hi."

"Hi." Katie handed the baby over. She had her hands full and needed to put something down. "We're a little early."

"That's okay."

Katie put down two bags by the door. "Hi Hawk. What are you doing here?"

He smiled and stood up. "I wanted to see the baby. I hear Margaret's going to be taking care of her later tonight."

"Yes. Will you be here?"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll have dinner together." Hawkeye shot Margaret a look. She was too stressed out about things and was making him mad. "Then I'll just head back to my room for the night."

Katie smiled. "I'm glad you're here. I can get to know you a little better."

Hawkeye glared at Margaret, she was being awfully quiet. "I'm afraid I won't be staying long."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I have some things I need to do." Hawkeye avoided looking at her face; he didn't have to look at her to know what her reaction was.

"Well, that's too bad." Katie sounded sad to she him go.

"What do you have to do?!" Margaret suddenly cut in. How could just leave her like that? He didn't have anywhere to go.

"Oh," he pretended to think. "I need to make some phone calls, do a little bit of packing..." He could have said something more cutting but held is tongue. "I'll find something to keep me occupied." He forced a fake smile. "Besides, you don't need me here if you're going to be trying on clothes. This is more of a ladies thing, it would be better if I left."

Margaret glared at him again. "Are you sure?" She said through gritted teeth.

"I really should be leaving." He walked over to her and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you later sweetheart." Margaret didn't say anything, she just smiled back.

Katie looked around the place and was surprised to see how big it was. "Margaret, this place is beautiful. How could you ever afford it on what the army pays you?"

"I can't," she said looking back at the door Hawkeye just shut.

"Did Hawkeye get this for you?" Margaret nodded. "I'd marry him if I was you."

Margaret gave a fake smile. "Yeah." Her mind was on Hawkeye. She couldn't understand why he would leave like that. She told him he could stay. She wanted him to stay and get to know her sister and the baby. After all Janie would be spending the night with them.

"You must have a refrigerator, right?"

"Yes," Margaret pointed to the bar. "Its in there."

Katie picked up the baby's diaper bag and walked over there. "I'll put her bottles in here. Do you have a way to heat them up?"

"Yes. There's a hot plat in here too."

"Good. She doesn't like to wait for her meals."

"Okay. I don't blame her."

Katie smiled. "Where's Hawkeye's room?"

Margaret looked away so her face wouldn't give away anything. "I don't know. I've only been in here."

"Ah. I'm sure he's not too far away. The way you two are I'm surprised you're not married already."

"Yeah." Margaret wanted to avoid that topic as much as possible. "Where's Rick?"

"He said he's going to meet us at the beach. I'm really looking forward to getting this over with."

"Me too. Will Dad be there?"

"As far as I know. Have you talked to him yet?"

"No. I came back here and went to sleep after breakfast. I didn't do anything." She didn't want to mention cleaning up the place or her fight with Hawkeye.

"Where are those dresses?"

Margaret had thrown a bunch of Hawkeye's things into the closet and she didn't want Katie to see them. "I'll get them for you."

"No, I want to see what you have." Ever since they were kids Katie always liked to go through her sister's clothes.

"Can you give me a few minutes? I haven't had the time to straiten up." Margaret needed just a few minutes to move his things.

"You don't have to, I don't mind if it's messy."

"No," Margaret objected. "I really should. I'll only be a minute." She handed the baby back to her sister.

"Okay." She said as she settled the baby on her hip.

Margaret walked off quickly and disappeared into the bedroom. She shut the door behind her and rushed over to the closet where she pulled out his bags. At first she tried to fit them under the bed, but they were too big. In the end she resorted to sticking them in the shower and shielding them from view. Satisfied that Katie wouldn't see them, she walked back out to the living room. "Okay, it's safe." She announced.

"It's about time." Katie exaggerated with a smile.

"I'm afraid I don't have too much of a selection." Margaret allowed her to walk into the room ahead of her.

"Oh anything would be fine."

"Are you guys going out?"

"No, we're going to stay home. It's been a long time since we've spent a quiet evening alone." She said cheerfully.

"Sounds nice." Her tone was less than enthusiastic. Margaret sat on the corner of the bed and held Janie while her sister looked through her closet. Seeing how things were going, she wasn't sure how her night would pan out.

Katie sifted through the clothes pulling the dresses that she liked. All she wanted was something that made her look sexy again. She hadn't felt sexy since well before the baby was born. That was partly because the way she felt about how she looked and partly because Rick didn't make her feel sexy anymore. She was hoping that tonight would be the first step in changing that. Of anyone, she knew her sister would have something. Margaret always tended to wear things that flattered her; even when she was younger.

"I'm going to try some of these on." Katie picked up some dresses from the bed.

"Where are you going?"

"To change in the bathroom."

"No," Margaret stood up. "You change in here and the baby and I will go out in the living area and find something to do. The full length mirror is in here."

"Okay."

Margaret and Janie went out to the living area. Normally at home there would be a half a dozen things that Margaret would find to do and she could have now if she wanted, but she looked into the chubby innocent face of the baby in her arms and knew what she wanted to do most of all. She grabbed the baby's bag and then they sat in the middle of the living room floor. Margaret laid Janie on her belly and she reached for the toys that Margaret was getting out. Margaret played with her niece while Katie was trying things on. It was relaxing playing with the baby. Hawkeye was in the back of her mind, but being in the moment with the baby was wonderful.

"Maggie," Katie came out of the room. "What do you think of this one?"

Margaret looked up at her sister. "Ah...try another one." She could see that Katie was uncomfortable in it.

"Okay. How are you two doing?"

"Fine," she smiled looking back at the baby. "Right Janie? Tell Mommy we're playing."

Janie giggled and reached out to the toy Margaret was holding in her hands. Margaret set it down in front of her and watched as she moved to touch it, reaching with her chubby little arms. Katie smiled at her daughter. "I'm going to try on another one." She told her sister as she walked back into the bedroom.

A couple dresses later Katie had finally found one she liked. It was sexy, but it didn't show too much skin. She liked that it was revealing but still made her look classy. "I can't thank you enough Margaret." Katie was saying after she had changed back into her clothes. "I know taking care of Janie is a lot to ask."

"Not at all, I'm just happy you agreed."

"You have no idea what this means to me."

Margaret smiled. "I'm looking forward to taking care of her. Are you leaving soon?"

"Yes. We have to get home."

"What time will you be at the beach?"

"Janie needs to eat lunch and then she'll be down for her nap, so we'll be there around two."

"You're so lucky. Can we change places?"

Katie smiled and sat down on the couch. "You can use her for an excuse when you leave. She can't stay out in the sun too long. You'll have to get her back here or at least somewhere inside."

"I like the way you think."

"I'm so glad that you came. This whole thing would have been hell without you."

Margaret smiled. She wasn't sure if she was happy about that or not. She had somehow managed to get her entire family mad at her, and now Hawkeye was mad too. The only good thing that seemed to come from the whole trip was that she got to know her niece and be with her sister. "Well," she said. "Hopefully tonight will be good for both of us. You get to have a night alone, and I get to spend time with the cutest baby in the world." She smiled at Janie.

"We should get going."

"Okay." Just then there was a knock at the door. Margaret didn't know who that could be. She handed the baby over to her sister and went to the door. When she looked out she saw Hawkeye. She opened it and let him in. "Hi."

"Hi."

He looked in and saw Katie. "Hi Katie."

"Hawkeye, we're just leaving. Why do we seem to always catch each other in passing?"

Hawkeye smiled. "I think your sister wants to keep us apart."

"Probably."

"I do not," Margaret stepped in.

Katie smiled and stood up grabbing the diaper bag and settling the baby in her arms. "We'll see you in a few hours." She kissed Margaret on the cheek and then Hawkeye. "Bye."

"Bye." Margaret said. "And don't be too late!" Katie smiled over her shoulder and walked out. Margaret shut the door behind her and looked at Hawkeye. "Where did you go?"

"What do you care just as long as I was gone?"

Margaret sighed. "You know that's not true."

"Oh it's not?" He shot back. "You made it pretty clear before that you didn't want me here."

"I never said that."

"You didn't have to." He said coolly and walked past her, leaving her standing by the door. Margaret followed him and watched him from the doorway. He was taking off his clothes.

"I really wanted you here." She said.

"Yeah right, that's why you kept jumping down my throat. If you haven't figured it out by now Margaret, I'm not the enemy!"

"Hawkeye..."

"I have stood by you through this whole damn trip! I didn't have to come, but I did. I came because I love you!"

"I know, but..."

"But nothing! Maybe it's good that we came, I don't know. At least I know how little you really care."

Her eyes widened. "That's not true!"

"What am I supposed to think? One minute you don't want me here or want me to lie and then the next minute you're asking for me to take you home and take you away from all of this. You push me away."

"Hawk..."

He walked into the bathroom and opened the drawer where all his things were. "You don't know what you want. I'll meet you at home and maybe you can figure out what you want." He tossed everything into a bag and walked back into the bedroom. "Unless you don't want me there either." He looked in his closet. "Where the hell are my things? Did you throw them out already?"

"NO!" She yelled. "Would you shut up?! You're raving mad!"

"Don't tell me to shut up! Now where are my things?"

"I'm not telling you."

He whipped around and glared at her. "Fine. I'll just take this. I'll see you back in Virginia. Maybe."

Margaret grabbed him by the arm. "Wait."

"No," he moved out of her grip. He picked up the pair of pants that were on the floor. "You think about what you want."

"I know what I want!"

He looked into her eyes waiting for her to tell him that she was leaving him. But she didn't say anything. "Well?"

She walked over to him and looked up into his eyes. "I want you. I've always wanted you. I'm sorry."

"How many times have you said that? You treat me like shit and then apologize. Its not going to work this time."

Without waiting for her to respond he turned his back to her and went on with gathering his things. He loved Margaret more than anything, but he wasn't going to sit there and let himself be abused any longer. Hawkeye wanted to be with her, but he wasn't so sure she wanted to be with him.

"I know I've been unfair by taking all my frustrations out on you," Margaret told him as she watched him.

"No shit," he muttered as he leafed through his wallet.

"I didn't mean it; you're the last person I wanted to hurt. You're the only person who understands me, you're the only one who really matters," she said desperately. "Please, don't leave me. I need you; I can't do this on my own."

"You need me?" He suddenly looked at her. "The only thing you need me for is to kick around because no one else will let you."

"Hawkeye," she stomped in frustration. "That's not true. I said I'm sorry. You know that I love you more than anything in the world. What do I have to do to make you see that?"

He looked her in the eye and said simply. "Treat me like you do."

She was on the verge of letting the tears fall. She didn't want to lose him. "I...I don't know what to do."

He wanted more than anything to hold her in his arms and let her cry, but he didn't. "Yes you do."

She took a deep breath to try to keep the tears from falling. "I'm sorry." She didn't know what else to say.

"You've said that over and over."

"What do you want me to say?"

He looked away and went back to packing his things. "I don't know."

"Please stop." It was breaking her heart to see him do that.

"Why? You don't like feeling like you're not wanted. Not needed...not loved?!"

She couldn't hold back anymore and the tears started to spill down her cheeks. Hawkeye had to look away and was kicking himself for doing that to her. "I...I...I'm sorry! I di...did...didn't mean to...to make you feel that way." She said in between sobs.

Hawkeye clenched his jaw. Now he was angry at himself. Had he been too hard on her? He did have a tendency to go overboard, but he never made her cry before. "I know you didn't."

"I love you so much."

"I know you do." Now he felt like an ass. How could he make the woman he loved more than life itself cry?

She looked at him trying to read what he was going to do. Normally she could, but she couldn't at the moment. "Please don't go."

Hawkeye sighed and put his things down on the floor. He couldn't let her feel like that any longer. He walked over to her and took her into his arms. "I'll stay."

She cried harder holding onto him tight. Her greatest fear had almost come true. She thought she was going to lose him. "I'm s...s...sorry."

He stroked her hair gently. "Sshh, I know you are. Calm down. I'm sorry too."

"No," she sobbed. "It's me. It's my fault."

"No," he whispered as he rubbed her back. "It's not you."

Margaret was crying into his shoulder. "Ye...yes...it...it is..." She stammered through her tears.

"No," he told her again. Margaret was crying too hard for words. She held him tighter and buried her face in his neck. "I know you, and this is not it." Then rather hatefully he said, "If it's anyone's fault, it's that damn family of yours."

"I...I...I'm sor..."

"Oh, honey, stop it. I love you not your family. Its you I want to be with."

"Really?" She managed to get out.

"Yes." He pulled back and wiped some tears from her face. "Why are you so worked up about all of this?"

"You...I...and...ah..." She couldn't find the words to speak.

He smiled and hugged her to him. "Maybe we should talk later." She nodded her head. "Why don't I do the talking?" She nodded again. "Okay." He tried to move out of her grip a little bit but that only caused her hang on tighter. "Why don't we just stay here like this?" He held onto her again. "I know you love me and I love you. You know that right?" She nodded. "Today we need to change some things. I'm not letting them walk all over you. I'm sick of standing on the side lines while they treat you like that. It stops today."  Margaret nodded again. Her sobbing calmed and she relaxed in his arms. She was so tired. Between the stress, lack of sleep and all the emotions she had been fighting, all she wanted to do was sleep.

Hawkeye rubbed her back for a little while longer as they stood in the middle of the room. He wanted to shoot himself for acting the way he did, for making her cry and threatening to leave her. She was so vulnerable and he had taken advantage of it to get his way. Hawkeye felt so terrible, he didn't know how he'd ever make it up to her.

He tried to get her to loosen her grip, but she refused to move. After deciding it was useless, he moved down and locked his arms under her legs and buttocks and picked her up.

"What are you doing?" She asked. She didn't fight it, she just held onto him.

"Bringing you to bed."

"I can't." Her eyes were closed. "We have..."

"Sshh. We'll go, but we'll go late. You need some rest."

"No."

He laid her on the bed. "Don't argue with me."

She looked up at him. Her eyes and face red from crying. "Please don't go."

"I'm not," he smiled.

"I mean lay down with me."

He climbed over top of her and got behind her and held her close in his arms. She turned around so she was facing him and buried her face in his chest. All she wanted to do was feel him and be with him. Nothing else mattered. He held her tight like she wanted. Before he knew it she was sound asleep. He had had so much sleep earlier that morning that he couldn't have feel asleep if he wanted. He just looked at her and thought about the two of them and the events of the last few days. He kind of wished that Janie wasn't staying with them for the night, but then he thought that it might be good for Margaret. She needed something good to look at. Janie was part of her family and it would be nice to have a little baby around for the day. It would be good for all of them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hawkeye wore the T-shirt just like she wanted. He wore the new swim trunks she bought him and even shaved and combed his hair neatly. All this was done without her having to say a single word. "Should I have worn a sweater too?" He asked her once they were in the taxi.

"That's not funny." She was still feeling very emotional. Him threatening to leave had left her feeling even more vulnerable than before.

Hawkeye scooted closer and put his arm around her. "You know I didn't mean that," he told her.

Margaret looked at her hands. "I know," she said lowly.

Hawkeye could sense something was wrong. "Honey?" He tried to get her to look at him.

"I'm fine," she pushed away his hand. "Just a little tired."

"That's not it, Margaret."

"I'm fine," she insisted. She didn't want to look into his eyes and start crying again. That always happened to her when she was emotional. Those eyes of his looked so deep into her that she knew he was reading her mind and heart.

He gave her a kiss on the side of the head. "I'll let you get away with that for now."

She smiled at him and then look strait ahead. "We're almost there," she sighed.

"This is it, baby. In a couple of hours we'll be back in a cab on the way to the hotel. We won' t have to see anyone again."

"We'll have the baby."

"Even better," he smiled. "We'll be able to play with her and I haven't met a baby yet that didn't make you smile or laugh."

She smiled widely. She was so glad that he was happy they were going to have the baby over night. She had started to think that she may have gone too far with that. "It'll be okay."

"Yes. It will."

"And we can go home soon?"

He smiled. "Our plane doesn't leave for a few more days. We planned to spend some extra time here, remember?"

"Do we have to?" She asked with pleading eyes. All she wanted to do at this point was go home and stay home. They may have lived in a small apartment that at times could be suffocating, but it was home nonetheless.

"It'll be okay. No more family. No more fights. Just me and you."

"You promise?"

He nodded. "The only person that lives in this town is your sister, right?" She nodded. "Maybe we'll see her, but she's not bad. I don't know her well, but I like her already."

"Good. She's the only one you have to like. You can hate all of the others and I'll understand perfectly."

"Like you do?"

"I don't hate all of them."

"Oh?"

She looked away and out the window. "I don't hate everyone. In fact..."

"Yes?" She had paused.

"Well...my father. I was always very close to him. I do love him, you know."

He smiled. "Good."

"Good?" She looked at him with skepticism.

"I don't want you to hate your father."  He told her sincerely. "It's me who they hate, not you. And I could never make you chose between me or your father."

Margaret smiled and gave him a kiss. "You really are remarkable."

"I couldn't do that to you," he told her. "This is my battle."

"We're in this together." She picked up his hand and squeezed it. "It's my family after all."

"Don't I know it," he laughed. Margaret hit him in the arm. "I was kidding!"

Margaret eyed him playfully and then looked out the window. "Look, we're here."

"Are you sure you don't want to turn around now?" He asked nervously as he looked at the group of people standing out there.

"You were the one who said we had to come."

"Well I changed my mind."

The cab stopped and Margaret opened the door. "Come on." She grabbed his hand and helped him out. Hawkeye paid the driver and then took her hand again. Together they walked down to the beach.

They weren't greeted with smiles and hugs, but rather with stares and whispers. Joan wasn't there, but Al was. He glanced over at his oldest daughter and then looked away. Margaret looked out into the ocean trying to pretend she didn't see that and it didn't bother her, but Hawkeye knew better. He picked up her hand and they walked right into the crowd.

"Its okay," he said softly. "We'll get through it together."

She nodded and smiled. "We'll grab some food. How does that sound?"

"Good."

They walked over to the buffet table. It was set up with sandwiches and chips. They got two plates and two drinks from the cooler and then they sat walked over to the outside of the crowd. There was a picnic table there so they sat down. "When's Katie going to get here?"

"I don't know. Maybe you should go talk to some people."

"I'm not leaving you alone. I've done that too many times already," she said. "You're stuck with me now."

He smiled and gave her a kiss. "There isn't another person I'd rather be stuck to."

"Should I talk to my father?"

"Do you want to?"

She thought about it for a second. "Maybe a little later. I have to work up the nerve."

"Okay. Don't wait too long."

"I know."

"You know something..." Hawkeye said as he took a bite of his burger. He was trying to lighten the mood.

"What?"

"We should order the same thing every time we go out. I'll actually get to eat then."

Margaret nudged him as she started to eat. "Shut up."

Hawkeye laughed as he watched her inhale her food. "I take it that you didn't eat much at breakfast?"

"I was half asleep through the whole thing."

"That's right." Then with a glimmer in his eye he added, "But it was well worth it."

Margaret looked around to see if anyone heard that. "Watch what you say." She said with a small grin.

"Relax, no one can hear."

"Keep your voice down," she warned as she continued to look around.

"I thought you didn't care what they thought."

"I don't, but even when we're married I don't want them knowing our," she looked around and then whispered. "Our sex lives."

He laughed lightly. "You're right." She looked at his burger as he took another bite. For some reason his food always looked better. He saw her eyeing his food and held it out to her. "Here you go," he rolled his eyes.

"Thank you," she smiled. "Mmmm, this is soooo good."

"You should have let me fix your burger." He switched their plates so she could finish his and he could finish hers.

"Next time," she said with a mouth full of food.

He smiled. "You're so cute."

She swallowed. "You too."

The two of them finished off their food and Hawkeye threw the plates away. They looked around a little bit both looking for Katie. She was the only person that would talk to them without judging them. Margaret had started to think that part of the reason they all hated Hawkeye off the bat was because he was Italian. If that was their reason then she didn't want to even try to talk to them. That was their problem, not hers.

"Why don't we go set up camp?" Hawkeye suggested.

"Huh?"

"Go put our things down and go take a swim. It's hot out here."

Margaret looked over at her family, they didn't seem to notice them. "Okay," she said almost reluctantly. She wished they could have been over there laughing with them.

"Come on sweetheart." He stood up and helped her to her feet. Margaret took his offered hand and walked with him down to the water.

When they found a nice spot, Hawkeye laid out their towels and pitched the beach umbrella. He had bought it knowing her family would be intrusive. "This was a great idea," she said when she noticed they were hidden from view.

"I figured we didn't need an audience."

"You read my mind."

"That's why I get to sit here," he said as he sat down on his towel.

She watched him kick off his shoes and relax. His sunglasses were covering his eyes. It was a great picture, but something didn't look right. "Take off your shirt."

"What?" He looked at her with surprise. "I thought I wasn't allowed to."

"I changed my mind." She realized it seemed foolish for him to keep his shirt on at the beach.

"You first."

"You," she smiled.

He smiled at her. He knew she was taking the first step that they had talked about. She was being herself and not caring what the rest of them thought. He took his shirt off and handed it to her. "How's this?"

"Looks perfect," she smiled. She kicked off her sandals and pulled her shorts off before sitting down on the towel next to him.

"How are you feeling? You're not going to have a heart attack, are you?"

"No!"

He laughed. "Let's go swimming."

"I don't know."

"Come on. It'll be fun. We'll just pretend we don't have an audience."

She smiled at him. After a moment of thought she looked out into the ocean. It looked wonderful and cool. "Okay. Let's go."

Hawkeye stood up and tossed his sunglasses aside. He held out his hands and pulled her to her feet. "You're not going swimming with that on are you?"

"Don't be silly," she told him. Margaret pulled the shirt off and dropped it beside his sunglasses. With a small smile she walked toward beach, leaving him gape at the bikini she was wearing.

Hawkeye trailed behind her, a quaint little smile spread across his face. "What happened to the one piece?"

"I decided not to wear it."

"I'm so glad," the enthusiasm was evident in his voice. She glanced over and looked at him; a roguish look was covering his face. He was looking at her backside rather than her eyes.

"Pierce," she warned him. "Behave."

He suddenly looked up and grinned. "I didn't do anything."

"But I know that look." Every time he got that look on his face he became relentless towards pursuing her, and almost every time she gave into him.

"What look?" He said innocently. "Is it my fault that I'm engaged to the most attractive woman here?"

"You can look, but no touching," she told him with a grin.

"I promise I'll keep my hands to myself," he placed them behind his back. Then with another lip curling smile he added, "At least until we're in the water."

She smiled at him as she stepped into the water. He walked up beside her and grabbed her hand. He couldn't grab anything else at the moment so he had to settle for that. "This feels nice," she said as they walked forward into the nice cool water.

"You have no idea." He smiled looking her up and down. He was so happy to see her in a bikini, but not only for his own pleasure, but because it meant that she was coming out of her shell. She was on the track to being herself. The real Margaret Houlihan. The one that didn't give a damn what other people thought of her.

She let go if his hand and walked further into the water. He stood there for a moment and let her get in front of him so he could see the view from behind. She turned around once she was waist deep in the water and realized that he wasn't right next to her anymore. "Come on she yelled.

"I don't know," he ran his foot through the water. "It seems pretty cold to me."

"It's wonderful," she exclaimed. The coolness felt invigorating. "Come on."

"I don't know," he wavered. "You know how I turn blue when I get cold."

"I'll keep you warm," her voice was sweet and inviting. She really wanted him to join her.

"In that case..." He walked out a few more steps and then dove into the surf.

Margaret watched as he disappeared into the waves and waited for him to reemerge. A couple of moments later however, she felt something spread her legs and swim between them. The next thing she knew she was sitting very awkwardly on his shoulders. "Hawkeye! Put me down!" She shrieked as she held tightly onto him in an attempt not to fall. "Hawkeye!"

"Whatever you say..." He trailed off. The last thing Margaret heard was his sinister laugh before she hit the water. When she reemerged, Hawkeye was standing there with a smug smile on his face.

She narrowed her eyes looking at him as she wiped the water from her face. "You're in trouble now."

"Oh? What are you going to do about it?" She knew he was too big and strong for her to out power in the water and she wasn't going to try. Instead she pasted a smile on her face and walked over to him looking directly into his eyes. He didn't expect it when she swept up the water in front of him sending it to his face. She laughed evilly when she did and swam off into the deeper water. "That's it! You're going to get it!"

Margaret laughed and swam a little further out. "Ha ha," she teased. When she turned around and stopped she couldn't stand anymore so floated in that spot and waited for him to get there. She didn't think he was going to do anything, but she realized she was wrong. Her eyes widened when she saw the evil look on his face. "Oh no! What are you going to do?"

"Like I'm going to tell you. That would ruin the surprise."

"No, Pierce. Don't you dare! You started it!"

"So." He swam closer to her teasing her and making her suffer.

"So! We're even now." He grinned when he got to her. "Don't! I can't stand here."

He looked into her eyes intimidating her playfully. Just when she thought he was going to do something he surprised her by taking her into his arms and kissing her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. "Didn't expect that, did you?"

"No," she smiled.

"Was that so bad?"

"No," she leaned in and kissed him again, this time deeper. Hawkeye wrapped his arms tighter around her waist and pulled her hips against his. "I think we're out too deep," she said after a minute.

"I can still stand."

"Barely." His shoulders weren't even visible anymore.

Hawkeye ran a hand up her back; he played with the strings of her bikini. "Don't worry, I have you."

Margaret eyed him. "Don't even think about it."

A mischievous grin spread across his face. "No one can see."

"No." She told him sternly.

His hand slipped down squeezed her ass. "No one saw that."

"Stop while you're still ahead."

His hands moved up her sides and around to her back where he played with the stings of her top. "Are you sure? It would be so much fun."

She rolled her eyes. Taking her hands and putting them on the sides of his face she made him look back at the beach. "How fun do you think it would be if those people out there saw us?"

He thought for a second. "You're right. Should I let go of you?"

"No." She kissed him again. "This is good."

He moved his pelvis against her. "It might be a little too good for me to resist, honey."

She tossed her head back and laughed. "Later."

"You promise?" She nodded. "What about Janie?"

"What about her?"

"She's staying with us tonight. Wait a second. Am I staying there tonight or are you kicking me out."

"No. You are staying there too. Katie doesn't know, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her. Janie will be fine. We'll get a crib sent upstairs and we'll set her up somewhere."

"So, sex isn't out of the question?"

"I think it can be negotiable." She told him as she kissed him again.

"We do have two rooms," he said against her lips.

Margaret nodded, "I know." She kissed him once last time. "I think we should go back in." She gestured to the beach, "I can see Katie and Rick."

Hawkeye turned his head. "I suppose we should." Then he looked back at his fiancé. "But I'd prefer to stay out here where it's just us." He told her softly.

Margaret caressed the side of his face. "I know, I'm not looking forward to going back there with all of them either."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"My hero." They kissed again.

"We better go now," he told her.

"Why?" Before he hadn't wanted to go back.

"Because if we don't leave now, I won't be able to get out until it's dark."

She laughed and moved off of him. "Let's get in there and get this over with. As soon as I can I'll steel my niece and we'll leave."

"Good."

The two of them swam to the shore. They stood up in the shallow surf and Hawkeye took her hand again. He had to pull her along though. She had noticed some faces staring at her and her step faltered. He muttered words of encouragement as they walked back to the area they had been sitting at. Hawkeye picked up her towel and handed it to her. "Hawkeye, look at them."

He looked back. "So? They're whispering like they always do. What's new?"

"No. Something's wrong." She dried herself off and then tied the towel around her waist. "Look at my father. He's looking at me now."

"Maybe that's good."

"No its not. He hasn't looked at me for the past few days. Something is going on. Did we do something wrong?"

He looked into her eyes. "No. Now don't start second guessing yourself. You know we didn't do anything wrong."

"You're right." She eyed her father trying to figure out what was going on. She didn't want to fight anymore. All the fight had gone out of her.

"No one knows about the room and no one has any idea that we're living together. And for what just happened, we were just swimming and doing a little harmless kissing. They couldn't even see us."

Margaret knew he was right; they had no reason to be ashamed. She felt his hands squeeze her shoulders as he stood behind her. Margaret reached up and let her hand rest on top of his. "I know. I just wish I knew what it was."

"It's his problem, not yours." He said reassuringly.

"You know," she said as she turned around to look at him. Hawkeye wrapped his towel around his waist and combed his hair back with his fingers. "This could have been a wonderful trip if it hadn't been for them."

"We're going to be here for another few days, I promise I'll make it up to you." He caressed her cheek and gave her a quick kiss.

"I know you will," she beamed.

Margaret turned around when she heard her name being called suddenly. Katie was walking towards them with Janie in her arms. "Hi." She smiled when they were within distance.

"Hi. Where were you guys?" Margaret asked as they met. "You're a little late."

"Janie was still sleeping and I wasn't ready to get her up just yet." She looked at the baby in her arms. Then to Margaret and Hawkeye she asked, "Did you two already go in?"

"The water's wonderful, you really should go in." Margaret told her.

"I think I will, after we eat."

"So you haven't been up there yet then?" Margaret questioned. She hoped she would have known what was going on.

"Oh I was, I got stuck in the crowd."

"So then you've seen daddy?"

"I made it a point not to go near him," Katie said. "I could tell he was vividly angry, but I wasn't so curious that I had to find out why."

"I understand," she nodded. "Did you hear anything though?"

"No. Why are you worried? What did you do now?"

Hawkeye answered. "Nothing. She didn't do anything wrong."

Katie smiled looking her sister over. "Nice suit. I wish I could wear a two piece again. Miss Janie here saw to it that that will never happen again."

Margaret laughed and looked at her niece. "Did you give your mommy all kinds of stretch marks?"

Janie smiled widely. Despite the chaos in her own home she was a happy baby who loved to smile. Katie saw to it that she stayed that way. "She gave me tons. Be ready to throw all of those two pieces out the window and find a nice one piece that sucks everything in when you have a baby."

"I will," she nodded. "Is Rick here?"

"Yes. He's up there. He got stuck in the crowd too, but he couldn't get out."

"So you left him?" Hawkeye asked. She nodded. He looked at his fiancé. "Must run in the family."

She slapped his arm. "Stop it."

"Ouch, Margaret. That hurt." He rubbed his arm.

"Stop being a baby." She bent down and picked up her sunglasses and a brush. She ran a brush through her hair. "I suppose we should go up there. I have a funny feeling that all that commotion around Daddy is about me."

"So you want to get in the middle of it?" Katie asked. "Why don't you just wait until he calms down?"

"No," she nodded. "It's eating me up." Margaret tossed the brush into her bag and put her sunglasses on. She made sure her towel was secure around her waist. "I'm going to go up there and talk to him."

Katie didn't want that and neither did Hawkeye. They both thought it was a good idea that Margaret wait a little bit. Al could be vicious when he was angry and the only person that could hurt Margaret more than Hawkeye was her father. There was no deeper hurt than being hurt by the one you love, but being hurt by a person, a parent, who's supposed to love you unconditionally comes in a close second on the pain scale. "Margaret, wait."

"What?"

"Stay here for a little." Hawkeye asked.

"I can't."

"I'll come with you then," he said. "Just let me dry off a little bit first."

"I'm fine." She said with a smile and than started to walk back to the picnic area.

Hawkeye looked over at Katie. "Do you think she'll be okay?"

"Daddy can be really mean. If he's mad at her than it could be big. He's had all weekend to rack up things to complain about."

"Should I follow her?"

Katie looked at her sister's body language. She was strong and determined. She could hold her own, but it all depended on Al. She was very sensitive when it came to him. She had always been a daddy's girl and it wasn't until the last few years that she started to move away from him. "Let her do it on her own." She finally said. "If she needs you then go."

"Okay." Hawkeye stood there in his black swim trunks, sunglasses on, and his black hair brushed back with his fingers. He was nervous for her. She had broken down and cried just hours before and he didn't want to see her like that again. "She can strong sometimes, but..."

"I know," Katie broke in. "Her strength is only a front when it comes to people she loves."

Hawkeye crossed his arms and watched as she made her way towards the crowd. He was kicking himself now, wishing he had gone with her when he had the chance. When she disappeared into the crowd he grew more nervous. "You know, I think I should follow her," he said after a moment of thought. "I don't like the idea of her being over there all alone."

"I'm sure she's fine," Katie said. "It's not like it's the first time she's ever had to face them alone."

"Exactly," he said feeling even more angry. Margaret had been left to fend for herself all her life; there wasn't any reason why she had to endure it any longer. "I think I'm going over there."

"Hawkeye," Katie stepped into his path and held up her hand. "Give her some time. You don't know, she could be handling things just fine."

Katie hadn't seen Margaret break down; she didn't know how vulnerable she was right then. "I really should go," he walked by her, not giving her the chance to argue.

Hawkeye picked up his shirt and put it back on. He removed his towel and threw it to the side. If he was going to have to stand up to her father, he was going to at least do it dressed.