This is an ABC Newsbrief. I'm Tom Hutchinson. The Watergate investigation intensifies with more speculation about the president's involvement with the break-ins. Both sides of the political spectrum are now looking to begin impeachment proceedings. The White House is expected to make statements in the next few weeks.
In other news, investigators are expected to release their final report about a Pan Am 7-oh-7 that crashed in Indonesia just over a month ago...
Ellie was awake and listening intently to the news. The signal came in and out like a moon transmission. The only light in the car came from the green dashboard dials that lit up the interior with a martian glow.
"Dad, are we stopping soon?" she asked, touching his shoulder.
Hawkeye stared ahead at the road. They were in Kentucky now, on the second day of the trip.
"El, are you hungry?"
He passed back the last of the roast beef sandwiches. Margaret stirred against him and yawned.
"You're still driving?" she said incredulously, sitting up quickly.
"No. We're stopping now," he smiled, missing her warmth. A motel sign loomed ahead in Kentucky blackness.
"Teepees!"
A motor court came into view. Brightly lit stucco teepees formed a circle around a larger one. Ben was bouncing up and down on his seat laughing and pointing. Margaret's mouth hung open. Ellie had her face pressed against the window.
"Big teepees too much wampum," Hawkeye said, knowing he would be overruled.
"Christ, if we don't stop here the kids will have heart attacks. Come on. They look all right to me. The place we stayed last night had fleas. This couldn't be worse," Margaret smiled, nudging his arm.
"I guess it's okay," Hawkeye sighed, pulling in. Thunderous applause rose from the car's backseat.
Two hours later, Ben was in his sweat pants and an old football jersey, sitting on a bed in their octagonal room. He mechanically shoved potato chips in his mouth. Ellie was asleep on the other bed.
"I guess finals week finally caught up with her," said Hawkeye. "Honey, want to take a walk and check this place out?"
The air was warm and smelled faintly of honeysuckle. They followed the cracked sidewalk, listening to the electric sounds of bugs running into the zappers that hung under the lampposts.
"I'll be glad to get to Missouri so we can have our own room," Margaret said, reaching out for his hand.
"The whole gang will be there. I haven't seen Radar in God knows how long. He could be six feet tall now for all I know."
He didn't mention B.J.'s absence. In a phone conversation the week before, B.J. had begged off, saying everyone was "sick" and his practice was too busy and there was no way he could come. What he wasn't saying, Hawkeye knew, was the real problem. While Hawkeye and Margaret were a volatile and surprising combination, B.J. and Peg had been battling each other's demons since the day her returned from Korea. He'd soured on the world. Two miscarriages and one whopper of an alcohol problem later, B.J. and Peg were still putting their lives together.
"You're kind of quiet."
Margaret broke his train of thought. They'd reached the end of the sidewalk. Before they turned around, he leaned down and kissed her fiercely. He was a lucky man, you know?
"One for the road," Hawkeye said lightly, glad she couldn't see his eyes in the darkness. She laughed as he draped an arm over her shoulder and they walked back in the Kentucky twilight.
Ben had dropped a prodigious amount of potato chip crumbs in the bed. Hawkeye itched and tossed and turned. He heard Margaret snort in the next bed as Ellie tightened her strangle-hold on the bed covers.
"Ellie, move your feet."
Just before they left Maine, Margaret told Hawkeye something he never thought he'd hear coming out of her mouth.
"I wish we had more kids," she said out of the blue at the breakfast table.
Hawkeye stood up and almost knocked over his coffee. "You're crazy," he said, shaking his head.
"No, it would have been nice to have a third to balance the other two out."
Lunkhead Ben and troublesome Ellie. Was there a gray area anywhere? The two were ying and yang, just like...just like...their parents.
"We had two, Maggie. Two is all we can handle. They're not carbon copies of us, thank God."
"What would have been so bad about that?" she volleyed back.
Potter had said they'd make great parents. This was long before they were even considering marriage, all the way back in Korea, on the day Hawkeye almost lost it all.
He'd spent the day staring at Margaret from a distance. Sitting on a huge piece of driftwood, he watched her walk towards the water. Now she was marching past him, carrying one of the orphans and talking quietly to the toddler. The chubby little boy had taken a liking to her nose and was alternately grabbing and biting it.
"Hey, give me that baby before you get your nose bent out of shape."
She gratefully put the toddler on his lap and sat down beside him. Their knees touched.
"So, Major Houlihan, have you thought much about going home?"
The question caught her off guard.
"Not really, I guess," she said, giving him a weak smile.
Hawkeye wrapped an arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder.
"What are the beaches like in Maine?"
He smiled. "Not like this. Rocky, craggy, barren...but beautiful. Especially when the sun hits the water."
Her green eyes sparkled. Hawkeye looked down at the orphan, who quickly reached up to grab his nose.
"Ow! He's got pinchers!"
Margaret laughed and kissed Hawkeye's cheek. She blushed and turned back toward everyone else.
"We'd better get ready to go," she said, regretfully.
They each took one of the toddler's hands and walked back towards the bus. Colonel Potter was taking a headcount. When they reached the front of the line, he pulled them aside.
"I don't want to stick my nose in your business, but what the heck. You two make the most natural looking parents I've ever seen. Now, get on the bus," he said quickly, walking off.
Hawkeye's mouth dropped open and Margaret closed her eyes in the uncomfortable silence. Then he gallantly offered her a hand and pulled her up on the bus.
Margaret drove the last leg of the trip. For six hours she navigated twisting country roads, getting sadder as she got closer. She chattered on about Korea and Trapper and Klinger (no Frank, thought Hawkeye). A chocolate bar melted on the dashboard and Hawkeye licked the remains off his fingers.
"Hey baby, want some chocolate?" he asked innocently.
"No!"
"Here, have some anyways," he laughed, wiping his fingers on her exposed arm. She had to smile, too, and forgot for a moment that they were heading out to bury Colonel Sherman Potter.
It was about four o'clock when they pulled up to the cream-colored farmhouse. A horse poked his head over a pasture fence, checking out the new intruders.
"We're here!"
Margaret shook her sleeping husband's arm. Ben stirred in the back, wiping his eyes. The sun was very brights and everything was a vibrant late spring green. Here it was, the fertile soil Potter had raved about. Now he would go back to it.
"Someone's got a Corvette," observed Ellie.
"Nice one, huh?" Ben said, giving his stamp of approval.
They all piled out, walking stiffly and looking around the farm. Through the door, Radar O'Reilly looked closely at the new arrivals.
"Misses Potter! The Pierce's are here!" he announced before running out the door to greet them.
Tears filled Hawkeye's eyes as they hugged and shook hands. Radar stepped back and saluted Margaret, who hugged him. Ben and Ellie hung back a bit, smiling. Each of them were about ten inches taller than Radar.
"You must be Ellie and Ben.Gosh, I can't believe you're all grown up," Radar said, before hugging both of them.
"I see I've encountered a vile, emotional scene," a familiar voice boomed from the porch.
"Winchester!" Hawkeye yelled.
Of all the people Hawkeye expected to get close to after the wart, Charles Winchester wasn't one of them. Polar opposites. But Charles had a son now from a failed marriage. Ben and Charles Winchester IV hit it off immediately at a get-together the families had in Boston. Tex, as he preferred to be called, came up to Maine a few times afterward. He'd been away from Boston for a few years after deciding to live with his mother in Texas and go to work on the family ranch. Charles had secretly been devastated by this decision.
"Mahgret, a sight for sore eyes," he crooned, kissing her hand. Tex walked out of the house. He'd grown up a lot. Hawkeye watched Ellie give him a once-over.
"You remember my son, Wyatt Earp. Ben, you look more like your mother every day. And the radiant Eleanor, you look like Barbara Feldon. Does anyone tell you that?" Charles said grandly. They all laughed, except Ellie, who looked impatient.
Max Klinger, Father Mulcahy and Mildred Potter walked out on the porch. Mrs. Potter was wearing an old fashioned apron and wringing her hands in a kitchen towel. She looked just like the picture on Potter's old desk.
"Oh, Mildred, I'm so sorry," Margaret said, rushing up the porch steps to hug her.
"Dear, it's okay. He went the way he always wanted to, fast and with his boots on. Now, you kids must be starving. Come in and meet the rest of the family."
The Potter kids and their various offspring grinned at Sherman's war buddies. Radar's wife Dana and Soon Lee were helping in the kitchen. Radar's oldest daughter Shannon eyed Ben as he sauntered in.
"Is that your brother?" she asked Ellie.
"Yeah, sometimes."
"He's a hunk!" she squealed. Ellie shook her head.
"Too bad B.J. and Peg couldn't make it," Klinger said from an easy chair.
Hawkeye nodded and kept quiet. They all knew the score. He'd spare them the details.
The gathering at in convivial silence. Tex Winchester made a point of sitting next to Ellie. Hawkeye watched them. Just a few years ago Tex and Ben spent lots of time trying to drop ice cubes down her back. Now there was a strange electricity between them and an instant chattiness on both sides.
Soon Lee sat next to Margaret. "Margaret, Hawkeye, your son is very handsome. He looks a lot like you, Margaret."
She smiled. Ben was a blonde Houlihan man from head to toes...except when he opened his mouth and a baritone version of Hawkeye's voice leapt out.
"I think we'll keep him," she said.
The company broke at about eight. Some were staying at the farmhouse. Others, like the Pierce family, drove the ten miles to town to bunker down at the Econolodge. When Ben and Ellie found out they'd each have their own room, they high-fived, took their keys and disappeared into the corridors.
Hawkeye jokingly carried Margaret across the threshold into their room. He unceremoniously dumped her on the bed, grabbed the ice bucket and walked out. She was still laughing as he left. When he returned with two 7-Ups and the ice, she was naked under the covers and watching Bob Newhart.
"Does Bob there make you want to strip down?"
He handed her a cup full of ice and took off his own clothes. The covers were cool and smoothe against his skin. He poured his own glass of soda. For about five minutes they just watched a barrage of commercials and didn't say anything.
"Let's have a toast," Hawkeye finally said. They clicked the plastic tumblers together.
"To Colonel Sherman Potter, who always said we'd work out."
Margaret nodded and put her cup on the bedside table. He did the same, and moved on top of her. They touched foreheads.
"Are you doing okay now?" he asked. She nodded, feeling him begin to move against her thigh. They kissed deeply.
"Can I have a sip of soda before we...uh..."
Hawkeye reached over and grabbed her cup. He held it to her lips and she drank a long gulp. When he reached to put it back, she put her hands on his hips and they began to do what had brought them together as friends all those years ago. This part of their relationship always came easy. Nothing else ever did.
