CHAPTER 18
Margaret allowed herself to be led to the ground. She had expected Hawkeye to sit down and pull her close to him, but instead he sat facing her taking her hands in his. She was beginning to become a little nervous. "Hawk, what's going on?""Honey, you know how much I love you, don't you?" She nodded. "I would do anything for you that I could."
"I know you would."
"You know more about me than anyone else on this earth, but there is this one thing I've been hiding from you."
Margaret's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "What is it?"
"You remember how I left you a few weeks ago and come up here?"
"Yes." How could she forget? She had never missed someone so much in her entire life. "You said you left on business."
"Yeah, and that's not all. There's more."
"I figured that. You are a part of some type of business."
"Not just a part. I own another type of business that has nothing to do with medicine."
"So you have another income." That explained him always having cash on hand.
"A pretty good income." He looked at her. She wasn't fully getting it. All that he had told her were things she had figured out on her own. "One that allows me to buy you these expensive things and buy us a penthouse suite for a week."
Hawkeye fell silent again; he was trying to gather the nerve to tell her. "What about it?" His mysterious occupation had been plaguing her curiosity for months.
"Well..." He lifted his eyes back to her. "It's kind of a big deal."
"I gathered that." She'd never seen him look so stiff.
"I...I..." He cleared his throat. Margaret sat there patiently; waiting for him spit it out. "Basically, I own a boating company," he finally said.
"A boating company?" She looked at him.
Hawkeye couldn't decipher her expression. "We uh..." he took a short breath. "We build large sailboats."
"Okay."
"It's a very good business."
"I'm sure. There's more. Why couldn't you tell me what it was before?"
"Well, honey. I make a lot of money. I wasn't sure how to tell you that."
"A lot?"
He nodded. "You know all the money Charles has?"
"Yeah."
"I have more."
Margaret's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She didn't say much she only stared at him. Was she marrying a millionaire? There were so many questions going through her mind. Why would he keep that from her for so long? It didn't seem to make much sense to her.
"Honey, you still with me?"
"Is that why we were looking at such expensive houses?" He nodded. "Why didn't you tell me? What if I don't want a big expensive house?"
He hadn't thought about that. The houses weren't huge, they were just a little nicer than the average home. Nothing showy. He assumed she would like them. "I don't know. Are you mad at me?"
Margaret had to take a deep breath, it was a lot to take in. "No," she shook her head. "I'm not mad."
Hawkeye gave her a relieved smile and then pulled her into a warm hug. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," he whispered into her ear.
Margaret hugged him back. "I wish you would have."
He pulled back and looked at her. "I know I should have, but I could never seem to find the right time."
"I knew there was something going on, I was just waiting for you to tell me."
That made Hawkeye feel worse. She'd been so patient with him even when she knew he was up to something. "I'm sorry, I really am."
"I know," she nodded.
Hawkeye wasn't sure if she was putting up a wall again to hide her emotions or if she was really okay with it. "Do you forgive me?"
Margaret could see how upset this was making him. He was punishing himself far more then she ever could. "I'm not mad," she told him truthfully as she hugged him again.
He let out a relieved sigh and kissed her neck. "Would you like to see?" He suddenly asked.
"What?"
Hawkeye was quick to get to his feet. "Come on," he held out his hands and helped her up. "I want you to see something."
"Hawkeye, where are we going?" She stood to her feet and followed him.
"I want to show you what I do. Besides being a surgeon." He was so glad to finally be able to share this with her. It had been eating him up inside the past couple of months. He had to admit that it had been fun at first to torture her with the mystery of it all, but enough was enough.
The two of them walked through the woods where there was a well beaten path that they followed along. When they came to a clearing they were on stepping onto grass that lead to the sand that started the beach. Out in the distance there was some large beautiful boats. Margaret knew he had to have had part in building them.
"You see those?" He pointed out to the water as they came to a stand still.
"Yes."
"My company builds them. That's where all the money comes from."
Margaret smiled at him. He was really proud to show her what he did. "They're gorgeous."
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. "Did you really mean it when you said you got sea sick easily?"
She looked at him. "No. Did you really mean it when you said you have more money than Charles?"
"No. What I meant was that we have more money than Charles."
"This is a lot for me to take in. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know how. I kept it from you for three years in Korea and it was hard to figure out a way to tell you that I wasn't a poor unemployed surgeon."
She nodded in understanding. "I don't love you anymore because you have money, you know."
Hawkeye smiled and laughed a little. "Good. I didn't want that to be a reason."
"Its not." She moved to hug him and held onto him for a moment trying to take everything in. "Can we look at those houses again?"
Hawkeye laughed and gave her a kiss on the head. "We can do anything you want to do."
Hawkeye felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest. That uncertainly he had been feeling had finally vanished. Nothing else mattered at all, his only main concern now was Margaret and making her happy.
They took their time walking back to the house, talking and playing as they went. Once inside the door he followed her up to her room and shut and locked the door behind him.
"What are you doing?" She asked when she heard the lock click.
"Just preventing the inevitable," he replied.
Margaret smiled and started to take off her sandals. "You're not staying here tonight."
Hawkeye walked across the room and sat down on the bed. "I know that."
"Then what are you doing in here?"
"It's only nine o'clock, it's not that time."
Margaret took off her watch and started to remove the rest of her jewelry. "I'm going to get ready for bed now," she gave him a knowing look.
Hawkeye shrugged his shoulders. "It's nothing I haven't seen before."
"Fine, but you don't get off that bed," she directed. She knew what he was up to.
"Fine."
Margaret gave him one last glance and then started to take off her shirt. It wasn't until she was completely undressed and pulling her pajamas out of the drawer that she felt him place his hands on her hips and his lips on her lower neck. "Hawk, no."
"Mmm," he wasn't listening.
Margaret moved away from him and quickly slipped on her nightgown. "No Hawkeye. You're not doing anything." She walked over to the door and opened it. "Out."
"But Margaret..."
"No!" She said firmly. "Don't make me call your father on you."
"Baby, please. I'll be fast. He'll never know what we're up to."
"Get out."
Hawkeye eyed her for a moment trying to decide whether he could break through her barriers or not. After only three seconds he knew that he couldn't win this one. "You're not really going to go to sleep now, are you?"
"I didn't sleep well last night."
"Yes, but you did this morning. We slept until noon."
"We won't be able to now. Your father will be here and we have a lot we have to do. Besides, I want to get a good look at a couple of those houses we saw."
"I don't want to sleep on the couch."
"So sleep on the floor." She leaned in and gave him a kiss. "Goodnight, Hawkeye."
"Why are you going to bed now? You can't possibly be tired."
"I am. I've had a long day, and we have an even longer one in front of us. I love you." She gave him another kiss and pushed him out the door.
Hawkeye cringed when he heard the door shut behind him. For a moment he stood poised in the middle of the hallway with his hands on his hips. He could understand where she was coming from, but it was so damn frustrating! They'd only been there for two days and he was already wishing they were some place else.
"Benjamin," Hawkeye turned and found his father standing behind him. "Is something wrong?"
Hawkeye wasn't about to tell his father about this particular problem. "No," he shook his head. "I was just thinking."
"Well, I suggest you quit standing in the hallway and take it downstairs."
Hawkeye hated it when his father gave him directions. "I was just going down there now."
Daniel eyed his son, he wasn't moving. "Well?"
"I'm going," Hawkeye breathed as he started down the stairs.
"Goodnight Son," Dan called.
"Night," Hawkeye mumbled on his way down.
Dan walked to his own bedroom just down the hall. His son was something else and he needed to keep an eye on him all the time. It would have been a whole lot easier had he let Margaret stay at a hotel again, but then he knew Hawkeye would be over there and if word got around town that the two of them were staying together Dan didn't know what he would do. It would be very embarrassing. As it was now, no one knew that they had lived together. Hawkeye had always kept things private.
That night Margaret slept like a baby in her bed. In a way Hawkeye's news had lifted a great weight of her shoulders. At least now she wouldn't have to worry about the money end of things. Now she could concentrate on the details of a wedding and finding a house. There were a few that she saw that day that she loved, but she never really took a good look at them because she didn't want to fall in love with a house that she couldn't afford to buy. If Hawkeye had told her earlier it would have been easier and they might have been new home owners by now.
Hawkeye was a different story that night. He started out on the couch, but tossed and turned looking for something more comfortable. What he found out was that there was no comfortable spot on that couch. He ended up moving to the den, but that couch was too hard for him. It would have been a lot easier if he would have been able to crawl in bed with Margaret but his father would kill him if he ever found out. There was always that thought of the guest room his father said was off limits to him. By the time that three o'clock came around Hawkeye decided that he was going to break one of his father's stupid rules. If he went to bed with Margaret he would be in trouble from both of them, so he went with the lesser of two evils and went to the guest bedroom. He'd just put new sheets on the bed later.
Margaret grinned at his tousled hair. "Here's where you went," she said softly.
Hawkeye rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" He glanced at the clock on the night stand.
"Time for you to get up," she said pulling the sheets back. "What are you doing in here?"
"I swear, every spring in that couch was out to get me," he groaned as he came to sit on the edge of the bed.
"What about your father?"
Hawkeye waved his hand as he stood up, "I'll change the sheets."
"Well hurry up, your father's making breakfast. As soon as we're done eating we're going out to look at those houses again."
Hawkeye nodded and scratched his face. "I'll be right there."
She gave him a kiss and stood up. "Don't forget to brush your teeth before you come down."
"I'm not a child," he called to her.
"I know." She smiled back at him. "Hurry and get dressed so we can go buy our house today."
He smiled at her. "I'll be right down."
Margaret blew him a kiss and then she left the room. She headed back to the kitchen where Daniel was just finishing up the cooking. "Hey honey. Where is he?" Dan asked.
"He's in the guest room."
Dan shook his head. "I told that boy to stay out of there. We have people coming in later today that will be staying in there. Now I'll have to wash the sheets and make the bed."
"Don't be mad at him. He couldn't sleep on that couch. I'll make the bed while he's in the shower after breakfast. You don't need to worry about that."
"Thank you."
"I'll take care of him now. You don't have to do that anymore." Margaret gave the man a kiss on the cheek. "Okay?"
He smiled and nodded. "Sounds wonderful to me."
"Good. Now why don't you sit down and I'll serve breakfast?"
"I'll do it."
"No. I will." She took him by the hand and led him to sit at the kitchen table. "What would you like to drink?"
"There's some orange juice in there."
"Hawkeye's just like that. He always wants orange juice in the morning."
It was then that he walked into the kitchen. He patted his father on the shoulder and walked over to Margaret giving her another kiss. "How was that?"
"Better." She smiled and handed him two glasses of orange juice. "Have a seat."
"Morning Son. Going out looking for houses today?"
"No, we looked yesterday. Today we're buying. We need a place to come home to when we get back from our honeymoon."
"Darn right," Daniel said before he took a sip of his juice. "I don't want you two carrying on in my house."
Hawkeye and Margaret exchanged an alarmed look. "Dad!"
"Oh knock it off; it's hard enough to keep you two away from each other as it is."
Hawkeye rolled his eyes; he couldn't have been any farther from the truth. Margaret hadn't let him touch her in three days. He hadn't even had a decent kiss since they left Virginia.
"Breakfast is served," Margaret announced as she set the plate of eggs on the table.
"Baby could you get some napkins?" Hawkeye asked as he accepted the plate of bacon.
"Oh, I almost forgot." She quickly turned on her heel and disappeared in the kitchen.
"This looks good dad," Hawkeye commented as he looked over the food.
Daniel picked up his fork, "You make it sound as if I've never cooked a meal before."
"I wasn't saying that."
At that moment Margaret walked back into the room. She handed both him and Daniel a napkin. "Thank you sweetheart."
"Thank you."
She looked over the table to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything. When she was satisfied that she'd grabbed it all she took her seat. "This looks wonderful Daniel," she smiled at him.
"Well, thank you honey," he beamed at her.
They took turns dishing up food and then started to eat. Hawkeye didn't touch his eggs at first, he kept looking at hers. They hadn't eaten off each others plates in almost three days. He felt a little sad that she wouldn't be pestering him for his eggs instead of her own.
When they were done eating breakfast Margaret cleaned up the kitchen after she sent Hawkeye to take his shower. When she was done with that she went and changed the sheets on the bed that Hawkeye slept in and then started to wash them before they left for the morning. She didn't blame him one bit for sleeping in that bed rather than the couch. Dan was a little strict on some things that she didn't necessarily agree with. It just didn't make much sense to her.
Hawkeye finished his shower and getting dressed alone for the first time in days. It seemed odd to him because he had always had company while he was dressing or even just brushing his teeth. He took on last look in the mirror in Margaret's bedroom to make sure he was presentable enough for her. He decided to tuck his shirt in and fix his hair a little and then he bounded down the stairs to find her.
"Margaret," he yelled.
"Ben!" It was Dan. "How many times have I told you not to yell in this house?"
Hawkeye grinned. It seemed odd that his father yelled at him for yelling, but he had always done that. "Sorry. Where is she?"
"Washing your sheets I believe."
"Okay." Hawkeye walked through the living room and the kitchen until he came to a small area connected to the kitchen where the washer and dryer were. The dryer was brand new. Hawkeye bought it for his father right after the war ended. Dan had always hung his clothes out on the line or hung them around the house in the winter.
He found her standing at the dryer folding some of his father's clothes. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck. "I don't think your son would appreciate you kissing me like that."
Hawkeye pulled away. "Hey!"
Margaret turned around smiling at him. "Oh, it's you."
He narrowed his eyes playfully. "Of course it's me." He stole a quick kiss from her. "Are you ready to go? Jimmy said all the keys to the houses are in the mailboxes. He dropped them off this morning."
"Oh, great." She folded on last pair of pants and then walked passed him. "I'm ready when you are."
"Let's get out of here." He led her to the front door. She picked up her purse on the way. "Bye Dad."
"Bye. Don't come back until you find a house."
Margaret smiled at him. "Bye Dan."
They didn't have to spend very much time to deciding which houses they wanted to see. Margaret knew exactly which ones she wanted to walk through again. It was down to two houses, each very lovely and each very expensive. She didn't want Hawkeye to think that she was taking advantage of the fact that he was wealthy, but she couldn't help but admire the polished wooden floors, the gray stone, large staircases, and of course the ocean view. They were both so perfect; she was having a hard time deciding.
Hawkeye said very little as they walked through the open dining room. He was watching the expression on her face as she looked over the paneling for the twelfth time. Finally after several minutes of silence she stopped and turned, looking at him with a smile playing on the corners of her mouth. "What do you think?"
"It's a lovely house," he answered simply.
She squeezed his hand tighter, "I need more then that."
"I told you before; whatever you want is fine by me."
She hated it when he didn't give her a direct answer. "You have to have some say in this, this is your house too."
Hawkeye stepped closer and kissed her. "Whichever house you want, I want."
Margaret let out a frustrated sigh. "You're impossible." She turned away from him and moved to the window.
"Okay," Hawkeye stepped up behind her. "Let's just take a minute and think about this." He placed his hands on her arms. "This house has everything we talked about. There are five bedrooms, three full bathrooms, two separate dining areas, two separate living areas, a den, office space, a library even."
"Not to mention we wouldn't have any neighbors," she added.
"Right, and look," he pointed out the large window. "That yard is a good few acres, and beyond that is the beach. Baby, we'd own a portion of the beach."
She turned and smiled at him. "You really like this one, don't you?"
He knew her well enough to know that she wanted this house. In all honestly he just wanted her happy, but he did prefer this house over the other she had picked. It just had a few more things that they both wanted. "I like them both."
"Hawkeye!" She walked back into the breakfast area and looked out the sliding glass door. The back yard was so big and beautiful.
He smiled and followed her. "This house is really big."
She turned and looked at him. "You think its too big?"
"You're talking to the leader of all claustrophobics. I don't think any space is too big."
Margaret walked into the kitchen and looked around. There was so much space. She would finally be able to make Hawkeye a nice dinner. They could have dinner parties, and Christmas parties there. It was the perfect place for things like that. "What do you really think, honey?" She looked into Hawkeye's eyes. All she wanted was an honest answer.
It was time for him to come clean. She was just torturing herself with it now. They had been in that house for close to an hour. All of the others they had just rushed right through. "I think that this is the house you want us to start our life in and raise our children, and even have our grandchildren come to spend weekends in."
She smiled at him. "Do you want it too?" She breathed a sigh of relief when he nodded yes. "Oh, so do I." She rushed over to him and hugged him tightly. "I love it!"
"Then this is ours." He gave her a kiss.
"You don't think we're spending too much money here?"
"Margaret, we're going to live in this house for the rest of our lives, you can't put a cost on something like this."
"I'm serious; this isn't too much is it?"
Hawkeye smiled, "No." He gave her another kiss. "In fact, I'd buy you a house for three times as much if that's what made you happy."
"No," she put her hand on his shoulder. "I like this one just fine."
"So do I," he gave her another kiss.
"And we can sign all the paperwork today?" She asked eagerly.
"I'm pretty sure that's what Jimmy said."
Margaret smiled and moved her arms around his neck. She couldn't remember ever being so happy. "I love you," she said before kissing him.
Hawkeye grinned and gladly kissed her back. All he'd wanted to do was make her happy and so far he'd succeeded. "Hey, we've got a while," he whispered against her lips. "We never gave dad a time."
"Not on your life," she muttered back.
He smiled. "Well, at least we're alone here, not one knows where we are."
"People are probably already arriving at your father's house," she told him.
"You and I haven't been alone for three days, let them sit for a bit." He moved to kiss her neck. "Besides, I know you miss this."
She craned her neck back some more. She did miss that more than he knew. "Yes."
"I miss you."
She pushed him away. "We can't."
He looked at her with pleading eyes, keeping her body pulled close to his. "We'll need to christen the house eventually. Why not now?"
"No." She smiled and walked away. "Not yet."
"When?"
"When we get back from our honeymoon." She called over her shoulder. She was heading back upstairs to get another look.
"Margaret, you're worse than my father with this. Don't you think you're talking this no sex thing a little too far?"
"No."
Hawkeye followed her back upstairs and into the master bedroom. "Well, I think you are."
"You're wrong." She walked over to the large window that overlooked the back yard. "These are large windows. Do you think our bedroom set would look good in here? This room is awfully large."
"I think we should put the other one in the guest room and we'll get a new one. But I want to keep our mattress."
"Why?"
"Many, many found memories. Seems so long ago."
"Oh brother." She rolled her eyes. She pushed passed him and went to another bedroom. "What are we going to do with this room?"
"Put a kid in it. The way things are going now, I don't think we'll have any. You have to have sex to make a baby."
"Oh, shut up," she smiled at him. She put her arms around him and started to kiss him. "I'm sorry, but this will have to do."
Hawkeye pulled her tighter and deepened the kiss. "I don't think it will," he breathed.
"You'll have to wait," she told him again. "Besides, we don't even have any furniture."
He kissed her generously then, "I'd get my shirt dusty to save yours."
Margaret's eyes widened in warning, "This isn't even our house yet."
"But it will be."
"We should go sign those papers before it gets too late," she said as she untangled herself from him. If she stayed much longer she knew she wouldn't be able to hold him off before long.
Hawkeye groaned, "I'm going to go crazy by the time this wedding happens."
"I promise to try and make it bearable," she gave him a light kiss.
He raised and eyebrow, "Let me take another shower with you?"
"I'm having a hard enough time holding you off fully clothed as it is."
Hawkeye smiled, "I'll make it worth your while."
"Good, keep that in mind for after the wedding." She winked at him and then started for the downstairs again.
He sighed heavily and followed her, "You know, you and my father are thinking a little too much alike for my liking."
"No one ever said you had to like it." She stood in the foyer and looked at the inside of the house one more time. "This will be all ours soon."
Hawkeye looked at her. She was glowing from happiness. "Yep."
She smiled and wrapped her arms around him once he got to the bottom of the stairs. "I'm so excited!"
"Me too. I can't wait to get you in our bed in our room in our house that's on our property."
"I know!"
Hawkeye gave her a tender kiss. He put aside his wants and took her by the hand. "Let's go see Jimmy." Hawkeye had never seen her so happy before. "Maybe we can move in before the wedding."
"Where would we find the time?"
"Well," he opened the door and let her go out. "We'll have a lot of people around to help move things in."
"I don't think they want to help us move. We're getting married in three days and we still have a lot we need to do. You need one more fitting for your tux and I need to do some last minute things on my dress. On top of that there are a ton of other details I have to take care of."
Hawkeye opened the car door for her and after shutting it for her he got in on his side. "Then we'll have to take care of all of that after we get back from the islands."
"I guess so. Maybe we should have come here sooner so we had more time."
"We didn't have that option. Besides I want to get married to you as soon as possible. I want you to be my wife."
She smiled. "Me too." Hawkeye put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway. "Careful. Don't drive on the grass."
Hawkeye smiled and shook his head. "We need to get this paved. That's what we can do. While we're gone we can have all that kind of shit done. When we get back it'll be all ready for us to move in."
"Then we need to go to the hardware store and talk to whoever does some paving..."
"I'll take care of that."
"There's so much to do and we don't have enough time."
"Who says everything has to be perfect when we get back? What's important is that the house will be ours and we'll finally be together."
"I know, but I just wanted it to be finished so that when we did return we'd be ready to start our new life together."
Hawkeye smiled and picked up her hand. "I don't need to come home to a perfect house in order start my life with you." He squeezed her hand lovingly. "All I need is you."
Margaret beamed back at him and squeezed his hand in return. "I know wanting everything to be ready by the time we come back is unrealistic, but it would just be one less thing to think about on our honeymoon."
"I can guarantee that you won't be doing much thinking while we're on our honeymoon," he said with a chuckle.
Margaret smiled, the more she thought about spending a week alone with her husband on a tropical island, the more excited she became. "I'm going to hold you to that," she teased him.
"Haven't you learned anything over these past few months?"
"Ah, but you've yet to succeed to your full potential."
"What?!"
She nodded her head. "You know what I'm talking about."
He shook his head in disgust. "Is that some sort of a challenge?"
"What do you think?"
"Fine. You just wait until our wedding night. You won't be able to walk the next day."
"How romantic of you." She looked out the window trying to learn where their new house was. The town wasn't hard to get around, but she still didn't know her way.
"I'll be the most romantic man you've ever come across in your life that week. Don't worry about that."
She smiled. "Good. Oh, and you can't use your money."
"So I can't buy you flowers?"
"Not like that. I don't want you to buy me all kinds of expensive things."
"But I love to show you how much I love you."
"I want you, not things." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "But I am expecting a wedding gift from you."
Hawkeye chuckled. "Do I get one from you?"
"Yes."
"Okay. I don't get many gifts from you."
"What?!"
"Its true. You never give me anything."
"Well, I'm not made of money like you are."
"Yes you are, baby. You have just as much money as I do."
She smiled over at him. "Are you sure we have more money than Charles?" Hawkeye nodded. "You're not going to start flaunting your money like that, are you?"
"Never! That pompous ass made me so angry when he did that."
"I'm glad to hear you say that. We don't need to tell anyone, do we? All those people that hated us at my family reunion would be calling trying to make friends."
"I'd prefer to keep it quiet too."
"Good."
Hawkeye turned into the parking lot of the small realtor. "Here we are. Let's go buy our house."
Margaret glanced to her right when she felt something rub up against her leg. He was pretending as if he hadn't noticed, as if he were really listening to the others speak, but she really knew what he was up to. They were sitting so close that their elbows were practically touching, she could smell his cologne as she sometimes did when they were cuddled together in bed, there was no denying what he was doing.
He looked at her briefly as he set his tea glass back down on the table. That wonderful, oh so familiar, completely benevolent expression was set across his face. When he looked away she felt his foot rub against her shin again, he was teasing her. Here they were, having lunch with old friends, and he was trying to get a rise out of her.
"So then I walked back into the kitchen and there was Erin, asleep in her highchair..." Across the table from where they were sitting were BJ and Peg Hunnicutt, whatever BJ was talking about, Margaret didn't have a clue. She was too busy thinking about the hand that had now worked its way to her knee. "And I looked out the window and there they were! The same people whom we saw just a little ways down..." Whether he didn't think she hadn't noticed or was just being very brave she didn't know, his hand was slowly moving up her thigh. Margaret suddenly put her hand on his, preventing it from going up any further.
"Could I get you another beer, BJ?" Margaret asked. She didn't want Hawkeye to think he could get away with anymore than what he was already doing.
"I still have half of this one left."
"How about you Peg? Is there anything I can get you?"
"I'm fine thank you."
Hawkeye looked at Margaret and smiled. "Just sit down and relax." His hand crept further up her leg.
Margaret took his hand off of her leg and held it in her hand on top of the table so she could keep an eye on it. "Is Erin okay over there?"
"Oh, sure." BJ smiled. She was playing under a shade tree in some sand. "She loves to play outside..."
Hawkeye moved his hand off of the table and put his arm around his fianc's shoulders scooting his chair closer to her. The best thing about having another couple there was that it was okay to be touching each other. Dan was uncomfortable with it, but at the time he was in his office taking care of a patient. "She is a cute kid." Hawkeye said when there was a pause in the conversation.
"Yes." Margaret smiled. She had been paying a little attention to BJ as he carried on about his daughter. Peg had tried to stop him at least three times saying that he was telling the same stories over and over again and that Hawkeye and Margaret were bored with it, but BJ kept going.
"I'm trying to get Peg to agree to make her a big sister, but so far she says no."
"BJ!" Peg didn't think that was appropriate to talk about in front of others.
Margaret smiled glad that she wasn't the only one who would get embarrassed by what her better half said. At the moment she was satisfied with him as long as his arm was wrapped around her. It felt nice. "Don't worry about it Peg."
"I just...I just don't know what to do with him sometimes..." Peg's face was flushed, she seemed quite embarrassed.
Margaret laced her fingers through his. "Please, don't be embarrassed," she pleaded. "He's just as bad," she gestured to Hawkeye. After a moment she glanced back at her fiancé and studied his face. "I take that back, he's worse."
Peg laughed and so did BJ, Hawkeye on the other hand pretended to be insulted. "That hurts Margaret."
Margaret shook her head and gave him a kiss. "I love you, even if you do have a big mouth."
"Well thank you, that means a lot to me," he kissed her back. Hawkeye looked at their friends. "You see what I have to put up with?"
"I think she has a lot more to put up with than do." BJ said. "In fact I know she does."
"Peg, don't believe a word these two say."
She smiled. "I'll be right back. I'm going to go check on Erin."
Margaret leaned forward and took Hawkeye's fork and took a bite of his pasta salad. She had been eyeing it for a while, but hadn't done anything about it. Hawkeye pushed it aside a few minutes earlier. When she sat back Hawkeye gave her a kiss on the side of her head. He didn't say anything though.
"Maybe I should get the dessert."
"No, stay here." Hawkeye said.
Margaret smiled and gave him a kiss. "I'll be right back." She leaned in to his ear. "I'd ask you to come, but stay with our company."
He nodded. He loved her so much and without sleeping together at night he felt like he didn't get to see her enough. He didn't get to wake up with her next to him anymore. "I love you." He pulled her down for another kiss before she left.
"I love you."
BJ sat there with a grin on his face listening and watching the TV of them. He had never seen either one of them be that dependent on another before. It was cute in a way, but sickening in another. They were very happy together, but sometimes they made everyone else feel very out of place.
"Margaret seems very happy." It was BJ's attempt to break the silence. The two men were the only ones left on the porch.
Hawkeye smiled brightly, "Yeah, she's something isn't she?"
"You two been dating long?"
"Couple months." Hawkeye took a sip of his iced tea. He wasn't in the mood to go through all of that. What happened between the two of them he wanted to stay between the two of them.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," Hawkeye nodded.
BJ wasn't sure what else to say. It was obvious that Hawkeye wasn't going to elaborate, so he wasn't going to push that. "Hawkeye, I must say, this is lovely out here. I had no idea Maine was so beautiful."
That same grin never left Hawkeye's face, BJ wasn't even sure he'd heard him. "Yes it is," he finally nodded.
"Listen, once you two get settled, you should come out and visit us. We'd love to have you."
"I'll have to talk to Margaret about that." Of course it would be a while before they were ready to do anything like that.
"Yes. I've learned one thing being married and that's never do anything without talking to your wife first."
Peg came up behind him with Erin next to her. "That's right. Where did Margaret go?"
"To get dessert."
"Hawkeye, Erin needs to use the restroom."
"Oh, sure. Margaret will show you where it is. Just go on in."
Peg smiled. "Thank you. Come on sweetie." She took three year old Erin's hand and then went back into the house. The two of them walked into the house where Margaret was just getting some plates down from the cabinet.
"Hi there," she smiled at the child.
"Could you point me in the direction of the rest room? I don't want Erin to have an accident."
"Oh sure. Down the hall first door on your left."
"Thank you."
Margaret went back to her task at hand. She grabbed the strawberry shortcake out of the refrigerator and tried to decide how she was going to take everything out there. She was wishing she would have taken Hawkeye up on his offer now. Before she opened the door to go back out Peg and Erin came out. "Would you mind helping me?"
"Of course."
The five of them held a moderate conversation through dessert. BJ was grateful the women had come back when they did, he'd never seen this side of Hawkeye before, the assertiveness and calmness about him was almost alarming. As soon as Margaret sat down they instantly moved closer to one another and Hawkeye's arm was quick to move across her shoulders. They talked softly between themselves and occasionally took bites of the other's shortcake. Neither him nor Peg really minded their togetherness, it was just a little bewildering to watch.
"Well, they are getting married," Peg reminded him later on when they were in their room. Maybe she was saying that more as a reminder to herself. She and BJ hadn't been that touchy, at least she didn't think so. "I mean, they're obviously in love."
"I know, they're both extremely passionate people," BJ reasoned. "I've seen them act this way before, just not at this magnitude, and not toward each other."
Back in the kitchen Hawkeye was washing the luncheon dishes and Margaret was assisting him by drying. Every time he raised his eyes and glanced at her he found her intense gaze already set upon him. "What?" He finally asked
A smile played at the corners of her mouth. "We probably traumatized them."
Hawkeye smiled back, "Nah, they couldn't have seen under the table."
"I ate off your plate," she told him. "I haven't done that in the entirety of our stay."
Hawkeye leaned over and gently kissed her. "I missed you."
Margaret smiled and picked up the salad bowl and began to towel dry it. "I thought you hated it when I ate off your plate."
"It grew on me," he told her with a grin.
She leaned over and gave him a kiss. "Just like you grew on me."
"Hey." He took his hands out of the water and held them up like he was going to splash her.
"Don't you dare."
"Take it back."
"Take what back?" She played innocent.
"Margaret..."
"Okay, okay. I take it back." She put the dried bowl on the counter and then handed Hawkeye a towel. "I don't trust you with this water. You dry and I'll wash."
He smiled at her and they changed jobs. "What do you think is taking BJ and Peg so long?"
"They said they were putting Erin down for her nap."
"I think they're just trying to get out of cleaning up."
"Hawk, they're not supposed to clean up. They're guests here."
"So are we."
Margaret rolled her eyes. "Just keep drying."
"You know what I bet they're doing?"
"What?" She handed him another large bowl.
"Talking about us."
"Hawkeye..."
"No, think about it. It must be odd for Beej to see us like this."
"I suppose. We're not at each other's throats."
Hawkeye grinned. "I keep trying, but you always push me away." He moved in to kiss her on the neck, but she moved back. "See."
"We're supposed to be doing the dishes," she reminded him.
Hawkeye leaned against the counter and picked up another dish. "I can think of something else we could be doing."
"You better watch it," she warned, lightly splashing the water so he'd get the picture.
"Me? You're the one jumping to conclusions, for all you know I could have been talking about anything."
"Yeah right."
"You know," he said. "You're starting to sound more and more like my father all the time." Margaret took that as her opportunity and splashed him with the soapy dishwater. Hawkeye looked from his wet shirt to her and back to his shirt. "I could be mistaken."
"I warned you."
"Why is it okay for you to splash me and not okay for me to splash you?" He dried to dry off his shirt with the towel.
"Because I make the rules."
"Oh, that sounds fair."
Margaret pulled out one last dish and handed it to him. "All done here. What time do you think your father will be back?"
"There's no telling. Why?"
"Well I wanted to make dinner. He's cooked our every meal since we've been here."
"Yeah." Hawkeye was busy focusing on his shirt. "This could stain."
"What? Its soap."
"You'll owe me another shirt if it does."
She rolled her eyes. "It's not ruined. Ruined would be like my blouse that you burnt yesterday."
"I told you'd I'd buy you a new one."
Margaret smiled and gave him a kiss. "You don't have to."
"I'll buy you something else then."
"I don't need anything but you." She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the lips.
"Oh shit!"
Margaret pulled back and looked at him oddly. "What's the matter?"
"I have to go into town to see Bill."
"Bill?"
"Hardware store."
"But why? We have company."
"It's just BJ. He can come with me."
"What about Peg and Erin?"
"They can stay with you. You don't mind, do you?"
"No. What do you need in town?" She really didn't want him to go. After getting the problem of a house over, she was very relaxed, and when she was relaxed she was clingy.
"I have to fix steps on the deck. My father will kill me if I don't. I was supposed to do it yesterday, but we got home too late."
Margaret wrapped her arms around him. "I wish it was just me and you. I'm not so sure I even want a wedding anymore. There's too much to do."
"I'd take you with me, but don't you think it would be a little rude to leave BJ and Peg here alone? They did come in a day early just to see us."
"I wasn't suggesting that we leave them here by themselves, I was just thinking about how nice it would have been had it just been you and me...for the whole week."
Hawkeye gave her a kiss. "Next week."
Margaret let her head rest on his shoulder momentarily. "I don't know what we were thinking, this wedding is going to be a disaster."
"Just relax," he dipped his head and kissed her shoulder. "Enjoy the afternoon, let me worry for once."
"You don't know what you're asking."
"Listen, why don't you take Peg and Erin down to the beach for a while. It's a beautiful day."
Margaret tilted her head slightly to the side as his lips moved to her neck. "It's a shame we aren't the only ones here," she said softly.
"Now you say that, at the worst possible time," he groaned. Hawkeye picked up his head and looked at his watch, "I really need to go, he's going to kill me if I don't get it done."
"Are you going to take BJ with you?"
"I'm going to go ask him now." He turned to step away, but before he did he stopped, and without thinking twice took her in his arms and gave her a sensual kiss. As if nothing happened he pulled back. "Now I'll go ask him."
"Okay."
Hawkeye went upstairs and found BJ and Peg in their bedroom trying to get Erin to lie down, but she wanted nothing to do with it. That's when he told Peg that Margaret had agreed to take her and Erin down to the beach. That should tire the child out. BJ gladly went with Hawkeye. He wasn't going to miss a chance to see the famous hometown of his best friend.
When Hawkeye came down the stairs he had Erin in his arms. He had made a new friend at the mention of the beach. "There she is," he smiled when he saw Margaret. "That's the lady that's going to take you to the beach."
"Ready go now?" Erin asked.
"I think I am." It was the first time that Erin had spoken to her. She had been pretty shy when they first met just a few hours before.
Hawkeye sat the child down and leaned in to give Margaret a kiss. "We'll be back soon. If my dad comes home don't let him go outback. I don't even want to hear it from him."
"Bye." She gave him another kiss.
BJ and Hawkeye left leaving the three girls together. Margaret waited while Peg got a towel for her daughter. Even though the water was cold, Peg knew that Erin would venture in there or at the very least sit and play in the sand. At least a three year old was somewhat predictable.
This was the first chance that Margaret had to talk to Peg. It was nice to get to know the woman that BJ talked so much about. She was very pleasant and soft spoken. Margaret had a good time with her and Erin. Although Erin mostly kept to herself as she played in the sand and picked up seashells.
After nearly an hour the three of them started walking back toward the house. After all that time in the sun they decided it was time for nice glass of cold iced tea and a seat in the shade. As they neared the house they could see BJ sitting on the steps. Erin pulled away from her mother and ran ahead to her father's waiting arms.
"Did you two have fun?" Peg asked her husband when they reached the house.
BJ have her a quick kiss. "Next time you have to come with."
"Well, Margaret and I were talking about going into town for lunch tomorrow. We thought you and Hawkeye might like to come along."
BJ looked from Margaret to his wife. "That sounds like a nice idea," he smiled.
"Speaking of which, where is he?" Margaret asked. She didn't see Hawkeye anywhere.
"He went upstairs to change, he should be down shortly."
"Oh. I'll get us some drinks. Be right back," she called over her shoulder.
"Do you need any help?"
"No thank you. I can handle it." Margaret disappeared into the house. She was tempted to go upstairs to find her fiancé, but she decided against it. Instead she did what she said she was going to do and got together four tall glasses of iced tea and one little plastic cup for Erin. As she was pouring them she felt arms wrap around her waist and a pair of nice warm lips against her neck.
"I missed you," he mumbled.
"Did you really?"
"Yep." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and rested his chin on her shoulder as he watched her fill the glasses. "Did you have a nice time?"
"Yeah. I really like Peg, and Erin is just so cute."
"You're not thinking about having children right away are you?"
Margaret placed the pitcher of iced tea on the counter and turned in his arms. "Are you kidding? You're all mine for a while, handsome."
Hawkeye smiled brightly. "I like the sounds of that."
"Did you get what you needed at the hardware store?"
"Yes." He gave her a kiss. "It's all fixed. No one should fall down the stairs now."
"That's good." She turned around and handed him the tray she had everything on. "Would you carry this for me?"
Hawkeye accepted it. "I also got some things for you."
"Hawkeye." She looked into his eyes. "I told you I don't want you to buy me things."
"I didn't."
"What?"
"I grabbed some paint samples from the store while I was there. You can look at them when you want."
"Oh," she smiled. "Thank you. Maybe I'll invite you to my room later tonight and we'll look them over together."
"I take back what I said earlier, you are devious," he grinned.
"We're only looking at paint samples," she told him. Hawkeye wanted to believe her, but the smile tugging at her lips was betraying her words.
"Paint samples...a little necking....maybe more...." He gave her a vindictive smile.
"With your father, your best friend and his wife, and their small child all in the same house?"
"I can be quiet if you can," he gave her a challenging look.
"You're crazy."
Hawkeye leaned down and kissed her, "I have something tell you."
"What?" She hoped it wasn't anything serious.
"I'm sleeping with you tonight, whether you like it or not."
That wasn't what she had been expecting. "Oh no you're not," she protested.
Hawkeye shook his head, "I am not sleeping on that couch."
"Well, you're certainly not sleeping with me."
"Listen, I'll sleep on top of the covers if I have to."
"Your father is never going to agree to that."
"I don't care," he told her. "It's either that or I'll go outside and sleep in my car, and we both know how the wind comes off the water at night."
"I think you're father will make sure you stay away from my room. He's been doing a pretty good job when he's here."
"He's old. I'll get around him."
Margaret placed her hands on his shoulders from behind him and turned him to face the back door. "Let's get out there."
"Either way, I'll be in your room tonight."
"Fully clothed, sitting on the floor."
Hawkeye looked at her as she moved around the front of him to open the door for him. "I don't think so."
She smiled as she stepped out the door and held it for him to get through with the drinks. "We'll see." Margaret loved teasing him. The way he was acting lately she was going to have to do something to make him keep his hands off of her. The trouble was that she wanted his hands all over her. It was hard to resist.
"Ah, they you two are." BJ stood from the step with Erin in his arms. "My little girl was dying of thirst."
Hawkeye put the tray down and Margaret grabbed the little plastic cup and handed it to her. "There you go, honey."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." Margaret grabbed her glass and took a sip. She stood on the patio looking out over the yard. There was still a lot of work to be done to get the place in shape for the wedding.
"Thank you Margaret," BJ said. Margaret didn't make any move to acknowledge him. BJ looked over at Hawkeye. "What's with her?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Margaret." Still no response.
"Major."
Margaret turned and looked at BJ. He was smiling ear to ear. "What?"
"You okay?"
"Yes."
Hawkeye looked at her not believing what she said. He pulled her hand and sat down pulling her on his lap. Unlike when they were with his father, she sat there comfortably. "What are you thinking?"
She looked at Peg this time. "Do you think it's possible to get this wedding together in time?"
"I'm sure we can do it. I'll help in any way that I can."
"Me too," Hawkeye said. She seemed to forget that he was more than happy to help get things together. Knowing her, she didn't trust him with any of the details, but didn't want to say.
Margaret was silent for a moment; she was thinking about what all had to be done in time for the wedding. Finally she spoke, but to whom he didn't know. "The grass needs to cut," she stated. Hawkeye looked at her in mild disbelief and then looked at BJ. He rolled his eyes and then dramatically let his head fall backward.
"Are you going to hire someone?" Peg asked. "That's an awfully big lawn. Can Hawkeye handle something like that?"
"I don't know." She turned to Hawkeye, "Do you want to hire someone or do you think you can cut it by yourself?"
How ironic, he was suddenly visible when it came to the grass. "I'll mow it myself," he told her.
"Are you sure? The backyard is at least three acres by it self."
"Margaret," he put his hand on her arm. "I've mowed this lawn more then a couples times. I'd feel much better if I did it myself rather then pay someone else to do it." He knew they had the money to hire someone, but that was the difference between him and other people.
"Okay," she wasn't about to fight with him. It was probably going to take him all day, but at least it would make him happy. "I'll let you worry about the lawn."
Hawkeye never thought he'd get stuck with that, but it wasn't anything he hadn't done before. "That means you don't have to worry about it."
"Right."
"Good. We're getting married late Saturday morning, so I'll just get up early that day and do it."
"What?!" Margaret turned and looked at him.
"I'm kidding." He grinned.
"You better be."
"I'll get to it today."
"Thank you."
"Only for a kiss."
She smiled and leaned in to give him a kiss. "There, now you can mow the lawn."
"What's BJ's job?"
Margaret looked over at him. "I'll think of something. Don't worry." She smiled at BJ. "What can you do?"
"He's very handy," Peg answered. "Whatever you need, he can do."
"Good."
Hawkeye looked over at his friend. "I have a feeling we're in for a couple of very busy days."
"You are," Margaret answered. "I'll make sure of that." There was also another perk to keeping Hawkeye busy. Maybe all that work would tire him out and he would keep his hands to himself a little more. "Tomorrow Peg and I will go into town to take care of some things. I need to talk to the florist again, and you have a fitting for you tux tomorrow morning at ten."
"I know. I'll be there."
"Good. Don't forget. BJ you should go with him."
"What about Erin?"
Margaret looked at Peg. "I don't see why she couldn't come with us. I would like her to try on that flower girl dress and start to practice. She's still pretty young. Do you think she can handle it?"
"I think she can."
"Look out," Hawkeye said. "Major Houlihan is coming out now."
"Don't you have a lawn to cut?" She asked sharply.
"Ouch," Hawkeye gasped. He and BJ exchanged amused expressions.
"I think you better do as she says," BJ suggested. "We don't want her to get violent."
"Yeah," Hawkeye sighed. "She's right through, if I don't start now I'll be out here all night."
Margaret got off his lap and stood up, "You're going to change your pants aren't you?"
Hawkeye got to his feet, "Yes ma'am." Little did she know, he was planning on wearing his holey jeans.
"And you'll fold them and put them away?"
"Margaret..."
"Just a friendly reminder," she smiled.
"Don't you have a wedding to plan?"
Margaret put a hand on her hip, "Don't you have a lawn to mow?"
Hawkeye knew she was right; he couldn't afford to stand there all day picking fights with her. "I'm going," he told her. "But don't think this over," he said as he walked away.
Margaret caught BJ grinning at the two of them. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing. Now what do you have for me to do?"
"Until the lawn is mowed there isn't much that you can do."
"I know what he can do," Peg said. "You can try to get your daughter to take a nap. Margaret and I have a lot to do here."
"No nap!" Erin was standing next to her father, but talking to her mother.
Normally Peg was very adamant about getting Erin to take a nap, but this being a new environment for the child, she would let it slide. "Fine, then you can play with Daddy." Peg look at BJ. "And you can both be quiet and stay out of our hair."
BJ kissed his wife and picked up his daughter. "What do you want to do?"
"Go play."
"Of course. What else would a three year old want to do?"
Margaret smiled. "Do whatever you want. Make yourself at home."
"Thank you."
Margaret turned to Peg and pointed to the yard. "We're having the wedding out here. What do you think we should do? This is really the first time I've looked at it."
"Wow, this really is unplanned."
"Yes. I didn't have time to do it before."
"Okay. We can work with this."
"We have chairs coming. White ones. The flowers will be Easter lilies."
"Is that hard to get this time of year?"
"Yes, but Hawkeye has it all set with the florist. I just have to go over there and tell them what I want to do with it."
"Mommy bye." It was Erin yelling as she rode away on her father's shoulders back toward the beach.
"Bye," Peg called. "Maybe we could get BJ to build an archway for you two to stand under."
"Do you think he could do that?" Building an archway in a few days seemed like a pretty big task.
"He built one last spring for our gate. It should only take a few days."
"And I'm going to have Hawkeye out here working on this deck. So between that, trimming a few hedges, and sprucing up the garden, I think the lawn can be ready by then."
Peg looked down at the list. "What about your dress?"
"We'll take care of that while we're in town tomorrow."
"Food?"
"I'm not supposed to worry about the food," Margaret told her. "Hawkeye's family is going to do all the cooking. They insisted."
"Oh, well that was nice of them. Leaves one less thing for you to worry about."
"Well, we still need to find a cake. Daniel told me about this little bakery in town, so I figured we'd check it out tomorrow after we...oh no."
"Huh?" Peg turned around to see what Margaret was looking at.
"He's wearing those pants," Margaret said as she watched him push the mower to the edge of the lawn.
Peg smiled. "Oh, don't worry. BJ has a pair just like them. I made him leave them at home."
"I hate when he wears them. They're so ratty."
"He's just mowing the lawn. Maybe he'll ruin them and it will give you an excuse to throw them away."
"I doubt it. Hawkeye would kill me if I ever threw those things out."
"So what are you and I doing today?"
Margaret looked at her. "Tomorrow will be our busy day. Today I would like to see if we can plan everything out. I want things to run smooth enough so that Hawk and I can enjoy the wedding and the people."
"I don't blame you."
"My sister is flying in tomorrow night. Hawk and BJ can pick her up. She'll be a lot of help too. She follows my orders well."
"That's good. Now does she have any children?"
"A baby girl. Janie's five months old. Hawkeye's family has a lot of children. I think his cousins have some kids about Erin's age."
"Erin doesn't mind playing by herself. She's used to it."
Margaret smiled. She was a little curious when she and BJ were going to have children, but she didn't ask yet. She didn't know Peg that well. "Okay, so what do we want to do here?"
"Where do you want that archway? Go from there."
"Yeah," she nodded. "That sounds easy enough." Margaret looked around to see where she wanted it, but Hawkeye caught her eye. He had gotten hot while he was mowing and took his shirt off. As much as she hated those jeans, she had to admit to herself that he looked awfully sexy mowing the yard like that.
It's not that great of an ending for a chapter, but the next one starts a new day. Please review.