CHAPTER 8


"Yes," she smiled. She pushed past her sister. "Where's my baby girl?"

Margaret pointed and looked out in the hall to see if anyone was with her. She saw a young man coming with the food and waited for him. He wheeled the food in and then left. "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to
be here until later, much later."

"I couldn't stay away from my baby any longer." Katie had Janie in her arms cuddling her and hugging her. The infant had missed her mother and kept her little head on her mother's shoulder.

"Well, uh...I thought uh...I wasn't expecting you so soon," she stuttered as she nervously glanced across the room. The door to the bedroom was half open.

"I'm sorry, I know I probably should have called first, but I was just too anxious, I had to see my baby." Katie had a bright smile on her face; it was obvious that she had missed her daughter very much.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Margaret tried to smile. "How was your evening with Rick?"

Katie hadn't really seemed to hear her; she was too busy playing with her daughter. After a moment she shrugged, "We talked some things through."

"And?" Margaret pressed, that wasn't the reaction she had been looking for. "You just talked?"

Katie looked at her sister then, "We had a nice evening." She said evenly. Margaret could hardly believe that Katie wasn't sharing details; they had always told each other everything. She wanted to press further, but she decided not to, Margaret hadn't been totally honest with her either, not that she asked. "When was the last time she was fed?" Katie asked then.

"A little over an hour and a half ago." Margaret moved the breakfast cart out of her way and pulled it over to the table.

"Do you mind if I feed her while you eat?"

Margaret would have preferred she just left; she was getting nervous, Hawkeye was right in the next room. He might have walked out any moment. "Uh..." She looked back at the door. "Sure." If she turned her away, Katie would have just become suspicious.

"Thanks."

Margaret sighed and sat down. "There's a bottle in the door." Katie found it and closed the refrigerator.

"I hope she wasn't too much of a bother," Katie said as she heated some water.

"No, none at all. She was a perfect guest."

Katie smiled proudly. "I hoped she would be. I know it hasn't even been twenty four hours, but I've never missed someone so much in my whole life."

It was easy to see that the baby had missed her mother too. She had fun with her aunt and uncle, but when she woke up in the morning, she was ready for her mommy. She was only four months old and had never been away from her mother for that amount of time. Margaret was going to try to talk to her sister, but she could see that she was preoccupied. "I'll be right back."

"Okay." Katie didn't even look up.

Margaret stood up and walked to the bedroom. Hawkeye was still sleeping so she sat down next to him and shook his shoulder. "Hawk, wake up." She whispered. She didn't want her sister to hear voices. "Hawkeye!" She said firmly.

"What?" He groaned.

"Shh."

"Make up your mind." He mumbled.

"Listen to me. Katie's here to get the baby. I didn't know she was coming."

"And?" He didn't even bother to open his eyes. He was lying on his stomach with his head buried under a pillow.

"You know! What are we going to do?"

"Nothing." He rolled over to look at her. "Its time to grow up."

She sat strait squaring her shoulders. "Pierce!"

He didn't care what he said at this point. They were two adults on a vacation together. Any moron could have guessed that they would be staying together. "I don't care anymore. I'm not hiding in the closet or pretending I'm not here."

She glared at him and stood up. "Fine." She didn't know what else to do. Maybe he would fall back to sleep. It was a mistake to wake him up in the first place. Margaret turned and left the room shutting the door behind her.

Katie looked at her sister then. "Who were you talking to?"

"What?"

"I heard voices. What's going on?"

Margaret wasn't quick to answer, she wasn't sure whether to tell her sister or not. It would be so much easier if she just got it over with, but she wasn't sure how her sister would take the news. "Well..." She started slowly.

Katie was watching her anxiously, waiting for some sort of answer. She had noticed how peculiar her sister was acting. Margaret's eyes locked on something on the floor and Katie turned to follow her gaze. Hanging over the top of the couch was a single T-shirt. Katie looked from the shirt to her sister. "Whose is that?" It looked much too big to belong to Margaret.

"Uh...it's mine," Margaret said quickly as she pulled it off the couch.

Katie put one hand on her hip. "That's a man's shirt," she pointed out to her sister as if she didn't know.

"I know," Margaret told her.

"Since when do you wear men's clothes?" She asked curiously.

"It's uh...well...it's Hawkeye's."

Katie's eyes flared a little bit. "It's Hawkeye's?"

"He gave it to me," she told her.

There was no way that Katie was buying that. "You're lying."

Margaret could never lie to her sister. She could try, but more often than not Katie would call her on it. "What do you mean?"

"Margaret," Katie stood up. "You and I both know something's going on here. Now what is it?"

After a few moments of trying to think of something to say she finally opened her mouth. That however was not going to work because Hawkeye walked out of the bedroom in a pair of pajama pants and a white t-shirt. Katie turned around and looked behind her when she saw her sister's eyes go wide. "Morning," Hawkeye said casually.

"Morning." Katie didn't know what to say.

Hawkeye walked over to the table and grabbed a cup of coffee. He was getting some satisfaction out of seeing his fiancé speechless. He walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek and whispered in her ear. "Deal with it." Margaret glared at him, but didn't say anything. "Well, it would be nice to chat with you two, but I'm going to jump in the shower."

They waited until Hawkeye was back in the bedroom before they said anything. Katie placed her daughter on the floor and gave her some of the toys that were there, and then she looked her sister in the eye. "He's been staying here, hasn't he?"

"Yes."

"What are you thinking?" Katie crossed the room to be closer to her sister.

Margaret didn't like the tone her sister was taking with her. She wasn't a child, and didn't want to be treated like one. Especially not from her little sister. "We're here on vacation. We're engaged. We're both thirty, give or take a year. Of course we're staying together."

Katie clenched her jaw. "He slept here when my little girl was here!"

Margaret rolled her eyes. Now that sounded ridiculous to be upset about. "Katie, listen to yourself. There isn't anything wrong with this. You did it."

"What?" Margaret didn't like that her sister was pretending she was all pure and innocent. She knew better than that. "I would never do such a thing."

"Oh, don't give me that." The real Margaret Houlihan was coming out now. "Aren't you the same person that called me up six months after you and Rick started dating and cried because you thought you were pregnant? You were no virgin when you got married."

"Yes, but now I ..."

"Now, nothing! You're the same person. There is nothing wrong with showing the person you love, just how much you love them with physical affection! I know too much about you Katherine Joan Houlihan. Don't act like the rest of those bigots we call family. You're better than them."

"Yes but...well..." Katie was flabbergasted. "How long has this been going on?" She stammered when she couldn't think of a comeback fast enough.

Margaret crossed her arms and eyed her sister before speaking. "We're living together actually," she told her seriously.

It took a moment for Katie to realize what she had just said. When she did, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Living together?!" She screeched. "You're living with that man?!" Katie pointed towards the bedroom.

"Yes."

"Margaret!" Katie gasped. "It's bad enough that you're sleeping with him, but living with him too?"

"Don't you think you're over reacting?"

"I am not!" She retorted. "How could you keep this from me? What the hell were you thinking?!"

Margaret was getting mad. They were both grown adults who were in love and getting married. It was nobody else's business. "It's really none of your business what we do," she growled.

"None of my business?!" She shouted. "You slept with him while my child was here!"

"Slept, as in we were sleeping in the same bed."

"Like I believe that."

"Katie! You know I wouldn't do that if Janie was here."

"Oh? I didn't think you'd ever live with a man before you were married, but you do. Maybe I don't know you as well as I thought I did."

"What?! That's absurd!"

Katie stood firmly. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep it a secret from me?"

"Its none of your business."

"So, its none of my business who's sleeping in the same place as my daughter is?"

"Are you saying you don't want her around Hawkeye?"

"No! I'm not saying that."

Margaret was standing tall with her arms folded on her chest. "Then what the hell are you saying? I know you're not the most innocent person in the world, Katie. I know you even lived with Rick for a month when you couldn't find an apartment."

Katie's eyes widened. How did her sister find out about that? No one was supposed to know. "What are you talking about?" There, she'd play it dumb. Her sister narrowed her eyes and she could see this was going to turn into a huge fight. Margaret hated when someone lied to her. "Okay, okay. So we did, but I moved back out."

"Well, guess what? Hawkeye and I are getting married. We're not living apart ever again. At least we're engaged. You and Rick weren't."

Katie felt herself being backed into a corner. She should have known better than to try to take on her sister. "Fine! Why didn't you tell me about this? I have every right in the world to know who's around my baby. I let you keep her over night because I trusted you."

"And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the two of us sharing a room. But Janie was safe and happy."

Katie was beginning to soften now. "I still don't understand why you didn't tell me."

"I've had enough fighting on the trip. I didn't want to fight with you, but I guess it didn't work. I should have told you about the hotel."

Katie smiled. "So that's why you have such a nice room. You're not the only on staying here. I get it now. That's why you didn't want me to come here. It's all falling together now."

Margaret chuckled slightly. "Glad you find it amusing."

Katie looked around the room. "No, I'm not amused. I'm jealous."

"Jealous?" Margaret could hardly believe her ears.

"You have a man who would get you all of this," she gestured to the extravagant surroundings. "Rick would never do this for me. He wouldn't think the money would be worth it."

Margaret had to admit she was lucky, Hawkeye loved to indulge her. "I think he feels bad."

"Bad?"

"He's not working right now," she told her sister. It was nice to finally be able to talk openly. "I think he's feeling guilty."

"I don't think he has anything to feel guilty about. It's obvious that he loves you very much."

Margaret nodded, "But he feels bad that he can't work and that I have to."

Katie looked at her sister and smiled. "Then how is he paying for all this?"

Margaret grinned, he hadn't really disclosed that to her either. "To tell you the truth, I have no clue, but then again, he's been a single doctor for the last couple of years."

"Now Margaret," Katie told her. "He was a Captain and you were a Major during the war. You and I both know that even though he was a doctor, you were still making more money than him."

"I know." She had often thought about that herself.

"This just keeps getting more and more interesting," Katie smiled curiously.

Margaret smiled. "You know, I've been getting more and more curious too." She walked over to the table and sat down. "He hasn't slowed down on spending any money."

Katie followed her sister and took a seat also pouring herself a cup of coffee. "What do you think it is? Is it just a large credit line?"

"It can't be. He pays mostly cash." Margaret grabbed her food. It had gotten a little cold, but she was still hungry. "Do you want some?"

"No thanks."

"I've tried to think what it could be. I don't know, maybe his father sends him some money."

"What does his father do?" Katie asked. She was very intrigued about this.

"He's a county doctor. Nothing that makes a fortune."

"Hmm?"

"I know."

"A mystery," Katie smiled. "I love a good mystery. Why haven't you asked him about it?"

"I don't know. I don't want to pry."

"You're getting married to the man. You should know every thing about him."

Margaret smiled. She liked a little mystery, but she really wanted to know the answer to the money question. Hawkeye had spent a lot of money over the last few months. "Yeah. I think..." Hawkeye walked back into the room. "Hi," she smiled.

"Hi." He wasn't sure if that was a fake smile or not. She could be furious with him and was just waiting for him to get close enough so she could belt him. "How are things?"

Katie fixed him with that familiar Houlihan look that Margaret had. "So, you're living with my sister."

Hawkeye was shocked that she found that out. He didn't expect Margaret to tell he that. "I am?"

"Yes." Margaret said. "I told her. No one else will know, will they Katie?"

"No."

"Oh." Hawkeye sat down at the table with them. "How was your date with your husband?"

"It was okay."

"Just okay?" She nodded. "Maybe I should go find something to do and you two can chat. I feel like I'm interrupting."

Margaret and Katie exchanged a look. "No baby, it's okay," she smiled pleasantly as she took a sip of her coffee.

Hawkeye looked from one woman to the next, something was going on. "Are you sure?" He asked with caution.

"Relax, everything is fine," she told him with a pat on the hand.

"So then why do I get the feeling something's going on?" They were acting a little strange. Hawkeye had never seen Margaret look, well, so cheerful.

Margaret and Katie exchanged a smile which pressed his suspicions more. Then she turned to him and said, "For the first time since we've gotten here I'm actually happy. We don't have to see my family any more and we don't have to sneak around."

"I guess you have a point." He picked up a piece of bacon and took a bite out of it. Hawkeye was glad she was happy, but he was still convinced he had walked in on something. Probably a sister thing.

"So," Katie started. "What do you two have planned for today?"

"Nothing yet," Margaret said as she ate.

"I was planning on sleeping, but that's shot to hell now," Hawkeye added.

"Oh, you poor baby. You just wait until you have a child of your own. They don't sleep in and neither do you."

"That's what Margaret's for."

Margaret looked at him. "What?!"

He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm kidding. Don't beat me up."

She rolled her eyes. "One of these days..."

"What?" He challenged.

"You don't want to know."

Hawkeye looked at Katie and smiled. "She's going to kill me one of these days. If you don't hear from me for a while, alert the authorities."

Katie chuckled. "I don't think you're in any danger. She loves you too much." Hawkeye smiled lovingly at his fiancé. He leaned in and gave her a tender kiss on the lips. "Cut it out, you two. You're making me sick."

Margaret stuck her tongue out at her sister. "Mind your own business."

"I'd love to," she looked away when they kissed again. "But as you can see, it's a little hard to help but notice."

Hawkeye grinned, he had a strong urge to say something in response to that, but he didn't want to go down that road just yet. Margaret would have killed him if she'd heard what he was thinking.

"Well too bad," Margaret told her with a grin. Hawkeye sat back and put a hand on her leg.

"Just because I know about two, doesn't mean you have to show me too," she grinned.

Hawkeye's hand moved up her thigh, he was getting frisky. Because of everything that had happened the day before, including their little house guest, they hadn't been able to spend some time together. Between his anxiousness and her high spirits, he was starting to feel frisky.

"Don't worry," Margaret told her. "We won't, not yet anyway."

"You're funny."

Because they were hidden by the table, Margaret let him move up her thigh some more, but when he attempted to near her crotch she stopped him. There were some things they didn't need to share with her sister.

"So what are you going to do today?" Margaret asked as she held his hand.

"We're going on a little family outing," Katie smiled. "Rick and I agreed it would be good for all of us."

"That sounds like a good idea."

"I think so. We had some time to ourselves last night, now I think it's time to include Janie as well."

Margaret smiled at her niece. "I'm sure she'd love that, she really missed you."

Katie smiled as she looked at her daughter, "She's a momma's girl all right." After a moment she looked at her watch. "We should get going though, I promised Rick I'd be home before noon."

 
Margaret stood up making Hawkeye's hand slip off of her. She gathered the baby's things that were spread throughout the room. "I hope you have a good time."

"So do I." She looked at Hawkeye. "You know what's going on, don't you?" He nodded. "I figured."

"No details," he assured her with a smile.

"Well, we really want to work things out." Katie spoke to both of them. She got up and started to help her sister with Janie's things. "We need to try being a family. We really haven't done that yet."

"She's a joy to be with. We took her out to dinner last night and did a little window shopping."

"I wish you would have told me. I would have made sure you had her carriage."

"No problem." Hawkeye said. "We would have held her anyway."

Katie smiled knowing that she had left her daughter in safe hands. She just wished that they lived closer because there wasn't another person in the world that she trusted like she trusted her sister. "Where are her bath things?"

Margaret bent down and picked the baby up. "In the bathroom. Hawk, can you get them?"

"Yeah." He grabbed another piece of bacon and took it with him.

Margaret looked at the baby in her arms. "I had a wonderful time with you." Janie smiled. "I hope you did too. We loved having you." She gave her a kiss and then handed the baby to Katie. "See you tomorrow?"

"Of course. You don't think I'm going to go a day without seeing my older sister, do you."

She smiled. "Okay." Hawkeye brought the baby's bath things and handed them to Margaret. She placed them in the diaper bag and then put it on her sister's shoulder. "Call me later."

"I will."

"Bye honey." Margaret kissed the baby.

"Bye little girl," Hawkeye said.

"Bye," Katie smiled.

Hawkeye opened the door for the two of them. "Need help?"

"All under control."

"Bye." He shut the door and turned to face his fiancé. "We're alone again."

"Yes we are."

He folded her in his arms. "See, I told you she wouldn't be so bad."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to be mean about it." She smiled against his chest.

"Mean?"

"You don't call, "deal with it' nice, do you?" She pulled back and looked at him.

"Hey, I never claimed to be good with words." She rolled her eyes and put her head against his chest again. "So, what was that all about when I walked out of the shower? What are you and your sister up to?"

"We were just talking," she told him; he didn't need to know what about.

"I know how you two get when you're together."

She pulled back and looked at him again, "How we get when we're together? She's my sister, we talk about...sister things."

Hawkeye eyed her skeptically; he knew more than she knew. "Okay," he decided to drop the subject for a while. Eventually she'd break and tell him. "If you say so."

"Thank you," Margaret laid her head against his chest again. "I'm so happy," she sighed. "We don't have to do anything or go anywhere; it's just going to be you and me all day."

"I know," he rubbed her back. "Just you and me."

"And you know what we should do..." Her hand moved up his chest.

Hawkeye grinned and played along; he liked it when she was aggressive. "Tell me." His hand moved down her back.

Margaret leaned up and touched her lips to his ear. "We should..." She whispered.

"Yes?" He asked anxiously.

"Go back to sleep." She pulled back and started walking away from him.

Hawkeye groaned, "Margaret."

"Stop being a baby," she called over her shoulder.

Hawkeye locked the door to the room and then walked into the bedroom. Margaret had her robe draped across the end of the bed and was just getting under the covers when he walked in. "Honey, you know I don't like to be teased."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know." He shut the door.

"Would you close the drapes so the sun doesn't come in? I'm so tired."

"We went to bed early last night." He said as he did as she asked. "You shouldn't be tired. It's not like we did anything."

She rolled her eyes. "You're whining because we went one night without sex?"

"Well...we are on vacation." He crawled into bed with her. What else was he going to do?

"I'm taking a nap." She said firmly. "I've been stressed to the max lately. That's tiring as hell."

"Yeah." He really wasn't that interested in hearing about it, but he understood. "I'll nap with you and we can both be rested for later." She smiled and closed her eyes. Next thing she knew his arms were wrapped around her and she was dead to the world.

Hawkeye didn't mind taking a nap so much, once he was lying with her in his arms he started to relax. Between his sore back and the crying baby, he realized how tired he really was. About five minutes after Margaret had fallen asleep, so did he.

When Margaret woke up she was a little bewildered. Hawkeye was holding her so tight, she could barely move. On top of the lock he had on her, his face was buried in the back of her neck. She leaned over as much as she could to see the clock; surprisingly they'd been asleep for two hours.


Margaret tried to move, but his grip on her only tightened more. He was so much bigger and stronger than her that she couldn't do anything but lay there. "Honey," she hoped he'd wake at her voice. Of course he didn't. "Hawkeye," she said louder.

"Hmuphrr," he groaned into her neck.

"Honey," she tried to move from his arms, but again he held her tighter. "Baby," she moved her hand to his side and moved under his shirt. Hawkeye groaned again, he loosened his grip and rolled onto his back. Unbelievable as it seemed, he was just like a puppy, he loved to have his stomach rubbed.

He didn't wake up at all. She smiled to herself and kissed him on the cheek. "You're so cute," she whispered as she sat up.

"I know."

She looked back at the man that voice belonged to. "Hey, you're awake."

"I always wake up to a kiss."

She smiled. "So that's the secret. For someone who didn't want to take a nap you seemed to enjoy it."

He reached up to her and pulled her down on him. "I discovered I was really tired."

"Oh?"

"Yes." He kissed her.

"I take it you got your energy back."

He wiggled his eyebrows. "You better believe it."

She kissed him. "I haven't even taken a shower yet."

"You don't need one. You're only going to work up a sweat."

"I am?"

"Oh, yes." He kissed her pulling her closer until all of her weight was resting on him. Then he rolled them over on the bed so he was over top of her. "I think." He kissed her again. "That we should stay in here all day." Kiss. "What do you think?"

"We'll see," she smiled. She moved her hands down his side and up under his shirt brining his shirt up and pulling it over his head. She tossed it across the room.

"I want you so bad," he said as she rolled him onto his back.

Margaret kissed his chest and smiled. "What makes this time any different?"

"We're finally alone." Hawkeye pulled her up so he could kiss her. "We don't have to do anything else for the rest of the trip." With a grin and another kiss he added, "Well, maybe except for one thing."

Margaret wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He slowly moved them so they were lying on their sides. His hands moved to her waist and disappeared under her shirt. Margaret moved her mouth away from his and moaned slightly as he started feel around.

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"Did you remember the sun tan lotion?" She asked her fiancé as the elevator door opened and she walked out in front of him. Margaret turned to look at him as he stepped out behind her.

"Yes, it's right here." He shook the bag he was holding. "I heard you the first five times you told me."

Margaret laced her fingers through his and fell into step beside him. "Well," she looked up at him. "At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I forgot it yesterday."

Hawkeye picked up her hand and kissed it. "Then it's a good thing we left when we did." She wouldn't have been very good company had she burned. On top of a bad weekend, a sun burn would have made everything even worse. "We wouldn't have been able to have any fun," he leered.

Margaret grinned and looked away from his amused smile. "You'd better watch it, I could fix that too."

"Oh I don't know," he said casually. "You sounded like you enjoying yourself."

Margaret tried to jab him in the stomach with her elbow but he caught it. "Why can't you ever just keep what we do in the bedroom, in the bedroom?" She snapped playfully at him as she struggled to move out of his grasp.

"Oh no you don't," he told her as he grabbed her around the waist. "You're just as bad as me, admit it."

Margaret grinned and giggled softly. He was right; she melted every time he touched her. "Well, I'm not the one who announces everything we do," she retorted.

"Announces everything? No one knows about anything we do."

"Well, you came very close today," she shot back. "I'm trying to have a conversation with my sister, and you're feeling me up."

Hawkeye opened the gate to the pool. "She didn't see anything."

Margaret glared at him. "If you're hand had moved any higher..."

"We would have reached heaven a few minutes earlier," he shrugged.

Margaret glanced at him and smiled, he was incorrigible. She found a set of beach chairs and sat down as he sat beside her. Margaret started pulling off her clothes to reveal her swim suit. "Do you mind?" She glanced over her shoulder to him.

Hawkeye smiled widely. "It would be an honor." He quickly moved from his chair to sit behind her.

Margaret sat forward so he could have access to her whole back. "It's a good thing we decided to come out here today. You need a tan," she mused as she lazily looked at the water.

"I thought you liked the fact that I've been working out."

"Oh I do," she grinned. He had a lovely physique. "I just think a tan would make you look extra sexy."

"Hmm..." He pretended to think. "Extra sexy...does that mean extra sex too?"

She rolled her eyes. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

He smiled to himself. "Okay, you're all done. Do you want me to do the front too?"

"No thank you," she stood up. "Maybe if we were alone I'd let you have some fun, but not here. Now lay down. You're going to burn if you don't put any of the sun block on."

"I will not. I never burn."

She put her hands on her hips. "You say that, but you'll be whining tonight when you're lying in bed and can feel the heat radiating off of your back. Lay down."

He chuckled to himself and did as he was told. It was true that he rarely got a burn. The pale skin turned right into a nice tan. It must have been the Italian heritage from his mother. "This feels nice." He liked her hands roaming all around his back like that.

"Yes."

"Are you sure you don't want me to do your chest?"

"I'm sure."

"You don't know what you're missing."

She smiled. "Believe me; you've rubbed my chest plenty of times. I know exactly what I'm missing."

"And you're still turning it down. Must be something wrong with you."

She slapped his back and then moved away to put the lotion on her chest. "To be more accurate, there's something wrong with my fiancé. He can't keep his hands to himself."

Hawkeye laid back and watched as she applied the lotion in small circles. If she wouldn't let him do the rubbing, then he would settle for watching. "Is there something wrong with wanting to please my woman?"

Margaret noticed he was watching her intently, his eyes following her fingers as they moved across her upper chest. He was probably undressing her with his eyes again. "Absolutely nothing," she told him with a smile. She loved how irresistible he always made her feel. "I just happen to think we don't need to share with other people what we do in the bedroom."

"That's why we should have gone to the beach," he leered. "We could have had some real fun there."

"You don't ever give up, do you?" Margaret picked up her sunglasses and put them on. She sat back down in the chair and leaned back. "Move, you're in my way." He was sitting in front of her so she couldn't put her feet up.

Margaret kicked him gently when he didn't budge. "You know," he said with a smile. "Maybe it is a good thing we stayed here." He started moving up towards her. Margaret tried to keep him from moving over her but he over powered her. "We can just run up to our room whenever we like."

"Pierce!" She squealed as he covered her body with his. His arms wrapped around her body and his mouth was moved to her neck. "Please!" She tried to push him off again.

Hawkeye lifted off enough to look around. "No one's out here, we're okay," he teased. He loved ruffling her feathers.

"No! Someone will see!" She was trying hard not to laugh as she screamed.

"Shhh...or someone will hear," he played with her as he tried to hold her closer. He started to tickle her, which in turn caused her to scream louder.

"Honey," she giggled. "Please."

"Why?"

She smirked. "Because you're blocking the sun. I don't want to be as pale as you."

He smiled and moved off of her. "As long as you have a reason."

She pushed her glasses down over her eyes and got comfortable in the lounge chair. "It's a damn good one too. Look at you."

"Me?" He leaned back in his chair. "You're the pale Irish one, not me."

She rolled her eyes under the black of the lenses. "But you're still pale, and you're the one that's supposed to have a nice tan."

"I will after today." He placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. Picturing her naked was a lot better than looking at her in a swim suit, although it was at times a toss up. Sometimes the mystery was nice, but there was no longer any mystery between the two of them. He knew her body inside and out better than he knew his own.

Hawkeye had dozed off lying in the chair. Margaret was close, but was still aware of the things going on around her. She could hear the pool boys walk by and heard when people entered the pool area. It was too bad that they did, but maybe that would make her fiancé keep his hands to himself. Some how she doubted that would happen.

Hawkeye opened his eyes twenty minutes after he had first shut them and looked around. He couldn't find his fiancé but her things were still there. Her glasses were resting on her towel. He sat up and looked around. Seeing her in the pool he smiled. He was always in a playful mood and there was nothing better than playing in the water. He got up and walked over to the edge of the pool and walked in. She hadn't spotted him yet, so he slowly made his way to her.

Margaret wasn't paying attention to anything in particular; she was just enjoying the coolness of the water. Hawkeye moved in silently behind her, waiting for the exact moment to move in and sweep her up and into his arms. He watched as she dipped back into the water and wet her hair. When she straitened she smoothed it back with her hands and then sank back down into the water. Hawkeye chose this moment to make his move.

He took the two steps to close the distance between them and surprised her by grabbing her by the hips and pulling her back so she was pressed against him. It didn't take Margaret any time at all to figure out whose arms she was in. The instantaneous feeling of his soft lips on her neck was a dead give away. Margaret didn't fight him; instead she stayed in his arms and involuntarily tilted her head slightly so he could work more of her neck. "What is with you lately?" She asked after she had gotten over the shock of his surprise. "You're so...touchy."

Hawkeye lifted her slightly and rearranged his grip so she was securely in his arms. "I don't hear any objections," he stated.

It was the truth, she wasn't objecting. In fact, she was going along with him. "You and I seem to be attached at the hip lately."

Margaret felt his lips curl against her skin. "In more ways than one," he mumbled.

Normally she would have said something in retaliation, but there was no harm done. She was the only one who had heard it; he had practically whispered it in her ear. "Yes, I know," she grinned. "However," she told him. "We don't need to give anyone a free show."

"No one can see anything," he whispered. "For all they know we're just cuddling."

"We are just cuddling." Margaret was beginning to understand what he wanted; his hips were pressed into her backside. "And that's all we're going to do."

He scooped her up into his arms and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and melted into him. "We could do more," he mumbled.

"No," she pushed his mouth away from her.

"Wow!"

She was confused. "What?"

"You're so light in the water."

Her eyes narrowed and her jaw dropped. "What are you trying to say?!"

"Nothing," he grinned.

"Are you saying I'm fat?"

"No," he smiled. "Just that you're lighter in the water."

She slapped him playfully. "I am not fat!"

"I never said you were." He laughed. "You're the one that said that."

"I wouldn't wear a bikini if I was fat!"

"Margaret," he tried to stifle his laughter. "You're perfectly perfect. You're sexy and gorgeous and absolutely beautiful."

"Good!"

He chuckled to himself. She could be so insecure at times. His hand moved up her back and grabbed the string of her top. "You know, with one swift pull..."

"Don't you dare."

"Why not? I'd be a very happy man."

She moved so that her legs were wrapped around his waist. "We don't need anyone to see how happy you can get."

Hawkeye grinned and leaned forward to kiss her. "See, you're protective of me whether or not you like to admit it."

Margaret let him kiss her quickly. "I just don't want to get arrested for indecent exposure," she teased him.

"So then I guess we're going to have to stay here." His hands moved to cup her ass as he pushed her hips into his. "Like this."

Margaret played coy, "Well then it looks like we won't be able to go upstairs." She traced a finger up his chest, "And work on your problem."

Hawkeye's eyes widened, "Well I never said..."

"I'm not going to be seen with you like that."

A mischievous smile spread across his face, his hands started to roam across her backside. "Then maybe we should do something about it."

Margaret grinned and moved out of his arms, she started swimming away from him. "Just stay in the water, I'll wait for you." She started to make her way towards the steps.

"Oh no you don't," he started swimming after her.

She laughed and giggled as she tried to get away from him. He was a much better swimmer than her and took longer strides in the water. But she reached the steps before he did and climbed out laughing all the way. "Looks like you're stuck in the water."

He swam around to the side of the pool where their chairs were. She had picked up her towel and was drying herself off. "You're leaving me all alone."

"I'm right here," she smiled at him.

"I can't believe you're doing this to me," he whispered just loud enough for her to hear.

"I didn't do anything."

"You think I got myself like this? This is all your fault." He looked around again. "You're the one rubbing against me."

"I was not." She turned around and looked at him. "That was you. You should have thought about what could happen. Now you're stuck."

"I have an idea. Meet me over at the steps with a towel."

"Why would I do that?" She smirked.

"Margaret, please. Its getting worse the longer you stand there in the bikini. Don't you love me?"

"I do, but I also love to torture you."

"Margaret," he tried to reason with her. "Please, help me." He was becoming more desperate. "It's not going to go away, if anything it's only going to continue to get worse," he clenched his jaw.

Margaret just stood there with a grin plastered across her face and her hands perched on her hips. "Well, that's your problem isn't it?" She gave him one of those looks and then turned to sit down again.

"Margaret!" He shouted suddenly. "So help me, I'll walk right out of this pool." Hawkeye's only real concern now was getting out of the pool. He wasn't going to let her sit there and watch him suffer.

She turned then and looked at him, she could see the challenging look in his eye. "Go ahead, be my guest. It's not like I'm the one who has be seen like that."

Hawkeye's eyes flared again, he knew what she was doing. She really didn't think he'd do it. "Fine," he stated as he started making his way towards the steps.

Margaret watched him grinned the whole time. There was no way that he would walk out of the pool like that. Hawkeye turned and looked back at her. "Margaret! I'm not kidding."

"I know." She loved to make him suffer. He did it to her so often and loved it, and now it was her turn.

Hawkeye's jaw clenched and his nostrils flared. He swam back over to the side of the pool where she was and stared at her. "I'll just get out right here." He placed his hands on the edge of the cement and pulled himself up. He grabbed a towel as soon as he could and wrapped it around his waist. "Thank you."

She smiled. "Anytime."

"You think that's funny?" She nodded. "There really is something wrong with you!"

"Me?"

"Yes. Now can we please go upstairs?"

"For what?"

He narrowed his eyes. "I did have something else in mind, but now I think I'll just take a cold shower or do something else to fix my problem."

She chuckled. "Have a good time."

Hawkeye mocked her smirk and snarled at her, in his situation he didn't find her very amusing. "Fine then, you stay here and have your fun laughing at me, and I'll go up the room alone." He pulled his towel tighter around his waist and turned on his heal.

"Do you even have a key?" She called to him as he started walking away.

He stopped walking and looked back at her. "Do you?"

Margaret searched for a moment, "No."

Hawkeye held up the key and jingled it in the air, "Well then it looks like you're going to be out here for a while."

"Fine then, maybe I will." She sat down and got comfortable in her lounge chair.

Hawkeye watched her for a moment; she really didn't believe he'd lock her out. "Have it your way." He started walking back towards the door. Teasing was one thing, but he was in physical pain.

She rolled her eyes and giggled to herself. There was no way he'd do that to her. She could see that he was mad now and there was no sense in going with him now. He could take care of himself this one time. She rolled onto her stomach and laid in the sun wanting to tan her back side as long as she tanned her front.

Hawkeye was in the room for fifteen minutes and started to wonder about her. There was no knock on the door and the phone didn't ring. He looked out the window in the living area to see the pool down below. She was still down there. He rolled his eyes and then lay on the couch turning the TV on. If she was going to be alone, then so could he. He didn't need to be with her every second of the day, he just wanted to be. If she didn't want him, than why would he chase after her?

Margaret looked at her watch that was in her bag and decided that Hawkeye probably wasn't going to come back to the pool. She stood up and gathered her things and headed back to the room. She didn't mean to chase him away like that, but she had to admit that it was nice to have thirty minutes of peace to herself. It took a few minutes to get up to the room, but that was to be expected staying up so high.

Margaret tested the knob first just to see, she knew he wouldn't lock her out. She opened the door and walked into the room where upon she spotted him sitting on the couch. He looked less frustrated and more relaxed then he had before, that was a good thing.

"I'm back," she announced when he didn't look up.

"Okay," he muttered without looking up from the television.

Margaret rolled her eyes and set her bag down. She pushed her sunglasses up and walked over so she was standing next to the couch. "Is there anything good on?"

Hawkeye shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know."

Margaret looked him up and down, he wasn't wearing anything more than a pair of boxers. Margaret found herself being tempted to just walk around in what she was wearing already; it was too hot to put on anything more than that.

She kicked off her sandals, tossed her towel on the back of a bar stool and walked to the mini bar. "Do you want a drink?"

"No," he muttered.

"Okay." She poured herself something refreshing. "Are you sure?"

"Uh huh."

She looked at him oddly to try to read him. He was lying on his side with one hand under his head and the other down by his side. His teeth were clenched. "You okay?"

"Yes!"

"Sorry. You don't have to be snappy."

"I'm not," he insisted.

"Fine." She walked over and took a seat in a chair and crossed her tanned legs. She stared at the TV for a few minutes. "What the hell are we watching?"

"A movie."

She rolled her eyes. "I can see that. It's stupid though."

"Yeah..." She wasn't liking his attitude. There was no reason to be snappy and angry. "Get up and change it then."

"You change it."

"I'm not the one complaining about it."

"Fine," Margaret snapped lightly and got up. She turned the dial to the next channel and then sat back down.

"What the hell is this?" He exclaimed when he saw what she had picked.

"It's better then what we were watching."

"But we have no idea what it is."

"It's a movie," she told him with a touch of anger.

"Well I can see that," he growled. "But what movie?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? I just turned to it."

"Then why are we watching it?"

"Can't you recognize Ingrid Bergman when you see her," she pointed the screen. "I thought you we the expert when it came to Swedish women."

"What?"


"You know what I mean."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, we'll watch this."

Margaret sat there and watched for a few minutes, but she wasn't really paying attention to the movie. "I'm going to get changed." She stood up and walked way.

Hawkeye stayed there and watched the movie for a while. He thought about the comment Margaret had made on Swedish women and started to get angry. They weren't even together when he was chasing after Inga. He got up and walked into the bedroom. Margaret was standing naked at the dresser pulling some panties out of the drawer. He forgot about his anger and watched her for a moment.

When she spotted him she pulled out some panties and eyed him. "What do you want?"

"Ah..." He had forgotten.

"That's what I thought. Sex."

"Hey, that's not fair Margaret."

"Oh? Isn't that what you always want?" She grabbed a robe and put it on.

Hawkeye had to look away, he wasn't angry anymore, he was hurt. Maybe he did come onto her an awful lot, but it was only because he always wanted to be with her. It was always out of love and admiration, not because he wanted sex all the time. "I didn't come in here for sex," he said lowly.

Margaret clutched her robe tighter, "Sure, I saw the look on your face a minute ago. You were just standing there, sizing me up."

Hawkeye couldn't believe what he was hearing. "No, I wasn't," he told her earnestly. "I came in here to talk to you."

She glared at him and stiffened her jaw. "You came in here to talk?" Her gaze lowered, "It looks like you came in here to do a little more than talk."

"That's not fair!" He retorted. "I didn't come in here to persuade you. I came in here to talk to you."

"Then why were you ogling me?"

Hawkeye sighed, "I wasn't ogling you."

"You know something," she said then. "During the war many people used sex to escape and get away, and you were no the exception to that. All you cared about then was sex, and it's still the only thing you care about now."

His fists clenched along with his jaw. He didn't want to blow his top. "So what? I find you attractive! I love you to death and just want to be with you. I've never made you do something you don't want to, and I never would. I came in here to talk to you. To apologize."


"Oh?" She was listening now.


"Yes. I acted like an ass, and I'm sorry. I know you were teasing me."


She sat down on the bed looking at him. He was serious. "And?"

"And I'm sorry. I love you Margaret. I never wanted to hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me that much. It was a spat. Nothing more." All she ever had to hear was an apology and she was fine. He needed to remember that, but sometimes foolish pride got in his way.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Good," he sighed with a smile. "Being mad at you gives me a headache." She giggled as he took a seat next to her on the bed. "I love you, and I don't need to have sex with you all the time."

"Its okay," she said. "Sometimes...I...I don't know."

"What? Tell me."

"I don't like feeling used, and sometimes I do."

Margaret tried to look away from him, but he stopped her and held her cheek in his hand. "What?" He asked, searching her eyes.

"I..I..don't know."

"Do you think I use you?" He'd never meant to make her feel that way. He loved her more than anything.

Margaret could see the pain in his eyes; she hadn't meant it the way it sounded. "No, I didn't mean it like that," she tried to reassure him. "I've never been made love to the way you do, and I've never met another person whom I've loved as much as I love you."

Hearing that relieved Hawkeye, he had been worried that he wasn't making her happy. "Honey...I don't understand," he told her. She still hadn't cleared his confusion.

"I like it when you pursue me," she told him. "Sometimes the chase is half the fun. I know I can say some pretty hurtful things at times, but you know I don't mean them." Margaret leaned forward and kissed him softly. "I love you, and I love the way you make me feel. No one has ever made me feel so desirable."

Hawkeye smiled slightly, "I'd do anything for you."

"I know you would," she kissed him again.

"But when you feel like you need your space, its okay to just tell me, I'll understand."

Margaret nodded, "I will."

"Are you sure you will?" She nodded. "You won't make me drag it out of you?"

"No," she smiled. "You make me feel good, but sometimes..."

"Talk to me. Tell me what you're feeling. I want to know," he assured her.

"Well," she looked into his eyes. "There are times when it seems like all you want is sex. It isn't that you don't make me feel good. Its just that...sometimes...well, sometimes you rush through everything else just to get me into bed with you."

"Foreplay?" He had thought he was good at that.

"No, not that. Like when we go out to dinner or like today down at the pool. You don't let us just enjoy being together for a while. You didn't want to be with me and have fun and let me relax. You wanted to rush right back up here, and frankly, I'm not in the mood right now."

Now he understood. But to him it felt like she was placing all the blame on him. "I'm sorry. I know what you mean, honey, but I..."

She knew what he was thinking. She kept fumbling her words and wasn't saying what she really felt. Things kept coming out wrong. "I'm not saying I don't like it, because believe me, I love when you make me feel wanted and sexy. There are times when I want to be with you, without actually being with you. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yes. I get your point. You feel like everything I do leads us to sex."

"Well, yes. Sort of. Like that's all you want." Her head dipped down so she didn't have to look into his hurt eyes.

He sat silent for a moment trying to come up with the right words. He didn't want to get mad at her or have her mad at him. A little arguing was one thing, but all out fighting was another. Finally he found the words and forced her to look at him. "Baby, that's not all I want. I want you and sometimes I get carried away." He smiled. "You remember who I am, right?" She nodded with a small smile. "I come with a high sex drive."

"I know, and I don't mean to complain, but..."

"No, you're right. You want to watch a movie together on the couch and be together, without jumping into sex. You want to kiss, and touch, and just be in each other's company without it always leading to sex."

"Not always," she smiled. "But yes. Sometimes when you hold me in your arms or hold my hand when we walk, its better than sex."

"Better?" He asked with surprise.

"I said sometimes its better. I know we're together because we love each other, not because we have great sex."

He smirked. "Great, huh?"

"You're not following the point."

"Yes I am."

"Hawkeye," she knew he was trying to lighten the mood for his sake. Their entire conversation was making him feel uncomfortable. Hawkeye loved her more than anything; he had never wanted to make her feel that way. Sometimes he just couldn't help himself.

Hawkeye shook his head in understanding, "I know."

"So, then you do understand what I'm saying?"

Hawkeye smiled softly and nodded his head, "I understand."

Margaret could sense that she had probably injured his ego, "Are you okay?" She picked up his hand and patted it.

Hawkeye put on a brighter smile, "I'm fine, you shouldn't have to feel guilty about telling me how you feel. I don't ever want to you to feel that you can't talk to me."

"I'm glad we can talk about this stuff."

"So am I."

Margaret pulled him into a hug. "I don't know how many other men would have understood, I'm so lucky to have you."

Hawkeye rubbed her back, "Me too."

Margaret pulled back and gave him a tender kiss on the lips. "I love you so much. I'm sorry."

"No need to be sorry, honey. I understand what you mean."

"I love that you love me and want to be with me like that, but sometimes you tire me out. Today has been great, and so was last night, but before all of that this trip was hell for me. I was hoping for a little vacation and I haven't had much time to rest."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Sometimes he forgot that she had more on her plate at the moment than he did. She had to work five days a week and she worked hard. "Well, what do you say we spend some more time by the pool while the sun is still bright and then tonight I'll take you to a nice dinner?"

"Sounds good," she smiled.

"Its a date then." He gave her a kiss. "Do I have another pair of trunks here? I don't want to get back into my wet ones."

"You have the tight ones that you wanted to bring."

He looked at her with a grin. "Can I wear them?"

She chuckled. "Sure. Let me get back into my suit."

"I don't know," he stood up. "I kinda like you without a suit."

Margaret rolled her eyes and stood up. "Your shorts are in the second drawer."

"What are you going to wear?" He knew her suit was still wet as well.

"Never mind me; you just make sure you're ready when I'm done."

Hawkeye got up and started looking through the drawer, "It won't take me long to change my shorts."

"Good. I'll be in the bathroom changing," she picked out a clean suit and made off for the bathroom.

"Bathroom?" He questioned in surprise. "Why do you need to go in there to change? Why can't you change out here with me?"

Margaret smiled and avoided the question, "I won't be long." She walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Hawkeye sat on the bed, there was no reason for her to feel embarrassed in front of him. Unless she was worried about how he'd react to seeing her naked.

A few minutes later she emerged clad in a one piece with towels in her arms. "I'm ready, how about you?" She looked him up and down, he was wearing the trunks.

"Why are you wearing a one piece?" He asked her as he followed her into the living room.

"It's the only one I had left, remember?"

Hawkeye remembered, she had bought one of each. "Right." He picked up the pool bag again and followed her out the door. Hopefully the rest of the day could be salvaged.

They spent two hours at the pool lying in the sun and playing in the water. It was nice to be together without everything always being about sex. Even Hawkeye had to admit that he liked it. When they were tired out from the sun they went back up to the room to take their showers and get ready for dinner. Being alone was what they had wanted for days and now that they had it, they were going to take advantage of it.

Hawkeye's life was somewhat like a permanent vacation at the moment, but Margaret's wasn't. She didn't always have the luxury of sleeping in late in the morning, taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon, being able to go out to eat whenever she felt like it. It was nice to be able to do whatever she wanted and to have Hawkeye by her side made everything all that much more fun. With all the family events over they had some time to themselves again before they had to head back home and Margaret had to get back to work.