Miranda's Spiel: "Thankyou to all for your reviews! You guys make me want
to write, just to please so many people! And without further ado, chapter
three of this story, Margaret tells us all her bit!"
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"You are an amazing cook Hawkeye." Margaret smiled. He grinned good- naturedly back at her, across the table.
"Thanks, I had to learn after mom died, and besides, cooking is a sure-fire way to get a girl into your bed." His grin went from friendly to mischievous.
'Why does he still manage to make me giddy?' Margaret thought to herself desperately, blushing as he looked directly at her.
"About that. . . I'm sorry for yelling at you before. I had no reason to. But I will accept your offer and share the bed." Margaret found her voice.
"That's fine Margaret." Hawkeye replied steadily.
'Why can't that woman just get out of my heart?' He added silently to himself. They pottered around for a little longer, each getting their child ready for bed and when that was done, they sat on the front steps of the house, and watched the sunset, while the waves crashed on the beach behind them.
It grew darker, and colder, but Hawkeye and Margaret continued to sit there for a couple of hours, in silence, each musing something they didn't care to let the other in on. Finally, at about nine, Hawkeye stood up.
"Listen, I have work tomorrow, so I'm going to turn in," Hawkeye said.
"I might as well too." Margaret stood up as well. A few minutes later, they were nervously climbing into Hawkeye's bed, both a little anxious.
"You going to tell me about Ben, Tamara and Laura now?" Hawkeye whispered. It was dark, and they were lying in bed, but as far apart as they could manage. At the request, Margaret heaved an audible sigh.
"Okay, I met Thomas Anderson in 1955, he seemed ok, respectable enough and by 1956, we'd married. In 1957 I got pregnant, and we were happy with that. It was a pleasant surprise I'll admit when half way through giving birth to Tamara Elise that the doctor told me I was having twins. Benjamin Thomas arrived not long later and we were happy with the two, it filled our ideal family home, and we had one of each. Tammy has my hair, my eyes, and your heart. Never a fairer girl would you meet, from the time she was tiny, she'd never stand for inequality in any form. Ben looks more like Tom, hazel eyes and straight brown hair, musical, loved piano, guitar, anything with a rhythm and or a melody. They're my goodness, eight now, I haven't seen them for three years. Well, like you and Elaine Tom and I were happy with two, but when they were three, I found out I was pregnant. I had Laura Charity early in 61. She was eleven and a half months old when I found out about Cindy. Tom had been having an affair for he told me six months and he wanted a divorce. Well, I said fine, I wasn't going to hang around a cheating bastard like him, but Cindy decided that she and Tom would be better off with the kids than I would, and one day they picked them up from the sitters without telling me. I haven't seen the kids since. Laura must be four now. I don't even know what colour her hair is. She was still completely bald the last time I saw her. But her eyes were really unusual, one blue and one brown." Margaret paused for breath, a tear running down her cheek. Hawkeye reached across the gap to rub her shoulder soothingly as she faced away from him.
"What about Kelsey? He's a year old isn't he?" Hawkeye asked.
"Well, I never mentioned them at the reunion, I didn't expect to see them again, although I had spent the better part of a year searching high and low for them. Well, after the reunion, I heard from Tom again. He wanted to meet me in New York. I said okay and I travelled up as soon as I could. We ended up fighting, and he hit me, I guess I was knocked out, and he raped me, because when I woke up, I was in the emergency room with a gash on my head and then a few weeks later I found out I was pregnant. Kelsey Jacob was born a year ago tomorrow. I resumed searching three weeks after he was born, and I've been travelling ever since." Margaret began to cry, and Hawkeye gathered her close, rocking her and cradling her against his chest.
There was nothing, Margaret was surprised to find, sexual or pushy in the embrace, it was purely caring, and radiated warmth and compassion. Finding herself comforted more than she cared to admit, Margaret fell asleep, easily. Hawkeye, amazed at how well Margaret's body moulded to his, lay awake for a while, revelling in the sensation of having a beautiful woman lying in his arms, before sleep overtook him and he too, fell asleep.
Rowan's hollers for 'daddy' woke Margaret at about 6, but not Hawkeye. She knew Kelsey, who had been put down in his pram probably wouldn't sleep for much longer and so she got up. She was surprised to find herself still cosily ensconced in Hawkeye's arms, but with practised ease, managed to free herself without disturbing him.
"Hey Rowan." Margaret came into the room, surprisingly Kelsey was still sound asleep. "Wow, you are a big girl aren't you!" The baby was solid, and compared to little Kelsey, Margaret found her heavy.
"Daddy?" Rowan queried as Margaret realised that is was not just Rowan that was heavy, but her diaper, and with a smile began to change her.
"We'd better think about breakfast hey?" Margaret asked, carrying Rowan to the kitchen. She heard Hawkeye's alarm clock buzz, and she turned on a tap nice and loud to let him know where she was. There was an audible sigh from the bedroom and Rowan beamed at her.
"You are beautiful aren't you?" Margaret had found some cereal for Rowan and began getting it ready. "You know what, you're an awful lot like your daddy. But you have your mummy's hair don't you? It's so pretty," Rowan touched her hair, and rubbed cereal in it. Margaret laughed, and Rowan grabbed the spoon, making a bigger mess. Before long, Margaret was also smeared with cereal.
"You're a beautiful girl," Margaret had begun cleaning up. Hawkeye meanwhile was shaving, judging by the whistling from the bathroom. "I can't imagine why your mummy would ever want to leave you alone." Rowan pouted, so Margaret changed topic. "I think I'll tell Hawkeye not to worry about leaving you with a sitter today, I can manage you and Kelsey just fine." Now, judging by the hollers of pain Hawkeye had cut himself. "I wish you could tell me what your middle name is honey, I wonder what Hawkeye could pick to go with Rowan Pierce."
"Melinda." Hawkeye's voice startled Margaret a little, but his clothing, or lack there of, apart from a towel around his waist startled her more. She'd forgotten how attractive he'd always been.
"That's beautiful, Rowan Melinda Pierce," Margaret smiled at the beaming girl and reached her arms out for Kelsey who, she now realised, Hawkeye was holding. "Thanks for getting him."
"No worries, I have to get dressed, and go to work, will you be alright with them until Della comes for Ro? I usually have her with me when I dress, but she seems pretty happy." Ro was reaching towards Kelsey, offering him a sorrowful, well-chewed banana slice.
"Ring Della, I'd love to mind Rowan for you, free of charge." Margaret offered, Hawkeye protested, and Margaret insisted, finally Hawkeye agreed, mostly because he was nearly running late.
"Nap at about one give or take a bit, but don't let it last more than three hours, she'll never go to sleep tonight otherwise." Hawkeye was swinging Rowan high in the air, and she was shrieking with joy as her father explained how to look after her for the day.
"Go, you be late!" Margaret reached for Rowan. Hawkeye hesitated, anxiously. "Pierce do you really think I'm incapable of looking after a baby for a day?"
"I'm sorry, I just hate letting her go." Hawkeye sheepishly admitted.
"I know what it's like. If it makes you happy, what time do you have lunch?"
"I have an hour at 12, I'll meet you at Rose's, it's about five minutes up the road, you can't miss it." Hawkeye jerked his thumb in the vague direction of where the diner in question was.
"Sure, now get!" Margaret ushered him out of the room, and closed the door firmly behind him.
A few hours later, Margaret walked down the street of the quiet New England town. Crabapple Cove was beautiful, very beautiful, she decided, as she shifted Rowan from one hip to the other. Kelsey sat happily in his pram, burbling a baby song, which Rowan seemed glad to join in on from her position high in Margaret's arms.
"I'm visiting Hawkeye Pierce." Margaret explained for the fifth time. She rarely got more than ten yards before a friendly, almost nosey resident of the Cove intercepted her. They seemed genuinely interested in her, and liked her very much it seemed. There had even been a murmur of "Elaine", which considering the presence of Rowan and Kelsey, Margaret chose to ignore.
Finally, she made it to Rose's. Rowan and Kelsey were still singing away happily. She couldn't open the door, with Rowan in one arm and Kelsey's pram in the other, however, Hawkeye arrived that second, and immediately took Rowan into his arms.
"Hello my beautiful girl." He cuddled her tightly. "Here Margaret." He pushed the door open and held it while she manoeuvred the pram into the diner.
"Pierce party for four." Hawkeye told a waitress. She smiled and pointed to a booth in the back of the diner. Smiling, Hawkeye led the way, as they arrived at the booth, an elderly lady caught up.
"Little Ro! How are you today baby face?" Before Hawkeye could protest, she'd whisked the baby off.
"That was Rose." Hawkeye explained, thanking the waitress as she produced two highchairs for the babies. "She's adored Rowan ever since she was born." I'll be lucky to get her back before we order."
"That's sweet. I think I'm in love with the Cove already." Margaret smiled. "You're so close knit."
"Yeah," Hawkeye seemed distracted, as he motioned to someone on the other side of the room. In a second, someone appeared carrying a large cake, with one candle on it.
"Happy birthday Kelsey!" Hawkeye cheered. Margaret grinned, speechless as Rowan was returned to her father. After a joyous lunch, Margaret took the babies home as they were desperately in need of nap. She decided to cook dinner for Hawkeye that night, and when he returned home, he presented her with a huge bunch of flowers, and a beautiful wooden truck for Kelsey.
That night, as the two of them lay in bed, closer than they had started the previous night, but not as close as they had woken up, Margaret mused on life with Hawkeye. She'd only been there two nights, and was loving it already, it was just so full of surprises.
Miranda's Spiel: "Thanks again to everyone who leaves reviews, you guys rock! Here's your chance to become famous now, I'm going to put my favourite review for this chapter in my next one, so R&R and be creative. Please also put a name on them, coz I don't want to put up an anonymous review! Thanks folks!
Oh, chapter four. Hawkeye has another surprise, and Margaret meets Daniel."
_-_-_-_-_-_-_
"You are an amazing cook Hawkeye." Margaret smiled. He grinned good- naturedly back at her, across the table.
"Thanks, I had to learn after mom died, and besides, cooking is a sure-fire way to get a girl into your bed." His grin went from friendly to mischievous.
'Why does he still manage to make me giddy?' Margaret thought to herself desperately, blushing as he looked directly at her.
"About that. . . I'm sorry for yelling at you before. I had no reason to. But I will accept your offer and share the bed." Margaret found her voice.
"That's fine Margaret." Hawkeye replied steadily.
'Why can't that woman just get out of my heart?' He added silently to himself. They pottered around for a little longer, each getting their child ready for bed and when that was done, they sat on the front steps of the house, and watched the sunset, while the waves crashed on the beach behind them.
It grew darker, and colder, but Hawkeye and Margaret continued to sit there for a couple of hours, in silence, each musing something they didn't care to let the other in on. Finally, at about nine, Hawkeye stood up.
"Listen, I have work tomorrow, so I'm going to turn in," Hawkeye said.
"I might as well too." Margaret stood up as well. A few minutes later, they were nervously climbing into Hawkeye's bed, both a little anxious.
"You going to tell me about Ben, Tamara and Laura now?" Hawkeye whispered. It was dark, and they were lying in bed, but as far apart as they could manage. At the request, Margaret heaved an audible sigh.
"Okay, I met Thomas Anderson in 1955, he seemed ok, respectable enough and by 1956, we'd married. In 1957 I got pregnant, and we were happy with that. It was a pleasant surprise I'll admit when half way through giving birth to Tamara Elise that the doctor told me I was having twins. Benjamin Thomas arrived not long later and we were happy with the two, it filled our ideal family home, and we had one of each. Tammy has my hair, my eyes, and your heart. Never a fairer girl would you meet, from the time she was tiny, she'd never stand for inequality in any form. Ben looks more like Tom, hazel eyes and straight brown hair, musical, loved piano, guitar, anything with a rhythm and or a melody. They're my goodness, eight now, I haven't seen them for three years. Well, like you and Elaine Tom and I were happy with two, but when they were three, I found out I was pregnant. I had Laura Charity early in 61. She was eleven and a half months old when I found out about Cindy. Tom had been having an affair for he told me six months and he wanted a divorce. Well, I said fine, I wasn't going to hang around a cheating bastard like him, but Cindy decided that she and Tom would be better off with the kids than I would, and one day they picked them up from the sitters without telling me. I haven't seen the kids since. Laura must be four now. I don't even know what colour her hair is. She was still completely bald the last time I saw her. But her eyes were really unusual, one blue and one brown." Margaret paused for breath, a tear running down her cheek. Hawkeye reached across the gap to rub her shoulder soothingly as she faced away from him.
"What about Kelsey? He's a year old isn't he?" Hawkeye asked.
"Well, I never mentioned them at the reunion, I didn't expect to see them again, although I had spent the better part of a year searching high and low for them. Well, after the reunion, I heard from Tom again. He wanted to meet me in New York. I said okay and I travelled up as soon as I could. We ended up fighting, and he hit me, I guess I was knocked out, and he raped me, because when I woke up, I was in the emergency room with a gash on my head and then a few weeks later I found out I was pregnant. Kelsey Jacob was born a year ago tomorrow. I resumed searching three weeks after he was born, and I've been travelling ever since." Margaret began to cry, and Hawkeye gathered her close, rocking her and cradling her against his chest.
There was nothing, Margaret was surprised to find, sexual or pushy in the embrace, it was purely caring, and radiated warmth and compassion. Finding herself comforted more than she cared to admit, Margaret fell asleep, easily. Hawkeye, amazed at how well Margaret's body moulded to his, lay awake for a while, revelling in the sensation of having a beautiful woman lying in his arms, before sleep overtook him and he too, fell asleep.
Rowan's hollers for 'daddy' woke Margaret at about 6, but not Hawkeye. She knew Kelsey, who had been put down in his pram probably wouldn't sleep for much longer and so she got up. She was surprised to find herself still cosily ensconced in Hawkeye's arms, but with practised ease, managed to free herself without disturbing him.
"Hey Rowan." Margaret came into the room, surprisingly Kelsey was still sound asleep. "Wow, you are a big girl aren't you!" The baby was solid, and compared to little Kelsey, Margaret found her heavy.
"Daddy?" Rowan queried as Margaret realised that is was not just Rowan that was heavy, but her diaper, and with a smile began to change her.
"We'd better think about breakfast hey?" Margaret asked, carrying Rowan to the kitchen. She heard Hawkeye's alarm clock buzz, and she turned on a tap nice and loud to let him know where she was. There was an audible sigh from the bedroom and Rowan beamed at her.
"You are beautiful aren't you?" Margaret had found some cereal for Rowan and began getting it ready. "You know what, you're an awful lot like your daddy. But you have your mummy's hair don't you? It's so pretty," Rowan touched her hair, and rubbed cereal in it. Margaret laughed, and Rowan grabbed the spoon, making a bigger mess. Before long, Margaret was also smeared with cereal.
"You're a beautiful girl," Margaret had begun cleaning up. Hawkeye meanwhile was shaving, judging by the whistling from the bathroom. "I can't imagine why your mummy would ever want to leave you alone." Rowan pouted, so Margaret changed topic. "I think I'll tell Hawkeye not to worry about leaving you with a sitter today, I can manage you and Kelsey just fine." Now, judging by the hollers of pain Hawkeye had cut himself. "I wish you could tell me what your middle name is honey, I wonder what Hawkeye could pick to go with Rowan Pierce."
"Melinda." Hawkeye's voice startled Margaret a little, but his clothing, or lack there of, apart from a towel around his waist startled her more. She'd forgotten how attractive he'd always been.
"That's beautiful, Rowan Melinda Pierce," Margaret smiled at the beaming girl and reached her arms out for Kelsey who, she now realised, Hawkeye was holding. "Thanks for getting him."
"No worries, I have to get dressed, and go to work, will you be alright with them until Della comes for Ro? I usually have her with me when I dress, but she seems pretty happy." Ro was reaching towards Kelsey, offering him a sorrowful, well-chewed banana slice.
"Ring Della, I'd love to mind Rowan for you, free of charge." Margaret offered, Hawkeye protested, and Margaret insisted, finally Hawkeye agreed, mostly because he was nearly running late.
"Nap at about one give or take a bit, but don't let it last more than three hours, she'll never go to sleep tonight otherwise." Hawkeye was swinging Rowan high in the air, and she was shrieking with joy as her father explained how to look after her for the day.
"Go, you be late!" Margaret reached for Rowan. Hawkeye hesitated, anxiously. "Pierce do you really think I'm incapable of looking after a baby for a day?"
"I'm sorry, I just hate letting her go." Hawkeye sheepishly admitted.
"I know what it's like. If it makes you happy, what time do you have lunch?"
"I have an hour at 12, I'll meet you at Rose's, it's about five minutes up the road, you can't miss it." Hawkeye jerked his thumb in the vague direction of where the diner in question was.
"Sure, now get!" Margaret ushered him out of the room, and closed the door firmly behind him.
A few hours later, Margaret walked down the street of the quiet New England town. Crabapple Cove was beautiful, very beautiful, she decided, as she shifted Rowan from one hip to the other. Kelsey sat happily in his pram, burbling a baby song, which Rowan seemed glad to join in on from her position high in Margaret's arms.
"I'm visiting Hawkeye Pierce." Margaret explained for the fifth time. She rarely got more than ten yards before a friendly, almost nosey resident of the Cove intercepted her. They seemed genuinely interested in her, and liked her very much it seemed. There had even been a murmur of "Elaine", which considering the presence of Rowan and Kelsey, Margaret chose to ignore.
Finally, she made it to Rose's. Rowan and Kelsey were still singing away happily. She couldn't open the door, with Rowan in one arm and Kelsey's pram in the other, however, Hawkeye arrived that second, and immediately took Rowan into his arms.
"Hello my beautiful girl." He cuddled her tightly. "Here Margaret." He pushed the door open and held it while she manoeuvred the pram into the diner.
"Pierce party for four." Hawkeye told a waitress. She smiled and pointed to a booth in the back of the diner. Smiling, Hawkeye led the way, as they arrived at the booth, an elderly lady caught up.
"Little Ro! How are you today baby face?" Before Hawkeye could protest, she'd whisked the baby off.
"That was Rose." Hawkeye explained, thanking the waitress as she produced two highchairs for the babies. "She's adored Rowan ever since she was born." I'll be lucky to get her back before we order."
"That's sweet. I think I'm in love with the Cove already." Margaret smiled. "You're so close knit."
"Yeah," Hawkeye seemed distracted, as he motioned to someone on the other side of the room. In a second, someone appeared carrying a large cake, with one candle on it.
"Happy birthday Kelsey!" Hawkeye cheered. Margaret grinned, speechless as Rowan was returned to her father. After a joyous lunch, Margaret took the babies home as they were desperately in need of nap. She decided to cook dinner for Hawkeye that night, and when he returned home, he presented her with a huge bunch of flowers, and a beautiful wooden truck for Kelsey.
That night, as the two of them lay in bed, closer than they had started the previous night, but not as close as they had woken up, Margaret mused on life with Hawkeye. She'd only been there two nights, and was loving it already, it was just so full of surprises.
Miranda's Spiel: "Thanks again to everyone who leaves reviews, you guys rock! Here's your chance to become famous now, I'm going to put my favourite review for this chapter in my next one, so R&R and be creative. Please also put a name on them, coz I don't want to put up an anonymous review! Thanks folks!
Oh, chapter four. Hawkeye has another surprise, and Margaret meets Daniel."
