Disclaimer: I don't own the MASH characters or the TV show, and if I did, I wouldn't be writing this here, I would have written it into the script!
It had been a month. Only one month. In some ways, it seemed like the blink of an eye. Like, Hawkeye still hadn't run out of things to talk about with his Dad. He hadn't visited all the places around home that he had missed. He hadn't found a new surgical position anywhere, and was still working with his Dad at the local practice. But in one way, it had been an eternity. An eternity since he had seen her. Thinking back, he wondered just how that kiss had come about. Had he kissed her, or had she kissed him? It didn't really matter, it had been amazing. He had never been so touched by one kiss. He still lay awake at night thinking about it. About her. It had been tender and passionate all at once. Oh, so passionate. It was like there was a well of feelings behind it that neither of them had expressed to the other. Sure, he had kissed Hot Lips before that day, but he had never kissed Margaret. And it had NEVER been mutual. At least, it had never started out mutual. They had finally come up for air, and they promised that they would meet each other stateside. Well, this was it. Hawkeye stood at the gate in the Portland airport waiting for her plane to come in. He was excited and nervous all at once. He wasn't sure why he should be nervous, she had seen him at his worst. She had seen him drunk, naked, and crying…all at once! But somehow, introducing her to his father and his little town of Crabapple Cove was so much more intimate. Somehow…it acknowledged the fact that their feelings extended past the war. They weren't just two desperate people in a bad situation turning to each other for comfort and a port in the storm. It was sort of… permanent.
Where the hell was that stupid plane? It had been delayed, and he had been standing here for almost an hour, and it's not a good thing to give him a whole lot of extra time to contemplate that kiss. Especially when the next person he saw would be her. That brought a new thought. What would he do when he saw her? Surely not another kiss like that one. A hug? A kiss on the cheek? Geez, this diplomatic dating was a bitch. He'd just have to let her make the first move.
'Attention' came a voice over the PA system. Apparently Hawkeye hadn't been home long enough…he'd almost jumped up at that…expecting casualties. 'Flight 263 from Boston now arriving at Gate 4.' continued the voice. That was her. He heard the plane touch down, then nervously watched the gate for the people to start coming through. It was taking them an eternity just to get off the plane. Finally, the passengers started coming through the double doors in front of him. He watched, silently. A woman with a briefcase, a little man with glasses in a business suit, a tall, thin woman reading the paper as she walked, a family of four…nope, make that five, and finally, Margaret Houlihan. She looked absolutely gorgeous. She was wearing a slimming black dress that came loosely down, almost to her knees. Her hair was pulled back into an elegant French twist, and her lips…oh, Hawkeye, stop thinking about that kiss! Speaking of her lips, though, they spread in a huge grin as she saw him, and she hurried across the terminal to where he stood, grinning back at her. She threw her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her, scooping her up in a great big hug. He lifted her up and twirled her around once before setting her down on the ground to take another look at her.
"You look beautiful." he said, smiling down at her. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, making him smile all the more. "And I missed you."
"I missed you too, Hawk." she said quietly, smiling back at him.
"How was your flight?" he asked.
"Too loud." she answered with a slight frown, reminding him of her fear of loud noises. "But I'm here now, and it was definitely worth it."
"Good." he said, taking her arm and leading her towards the luggage pick-up. He'd been in this airport many times, and he knew he way around it almost without thinking. "So, did you pack light? Or are we going to have to hire someone to help us drag all this stuff out to my car?"
"I packed as light as I could. I am here for 10 days you know." she said.
"Only ten?" he asked, knowing that was what they had agreed upon, but still wishing that they had more time.
"What do you mean only ten? You could drive around the perimeter of this whole state five times in ten days!" she laughed, although she too wished that they had more time together. She wanted to sort out this relationship just as badly as he did. "How long does it take to get to Crabapple Cove anyway?"
"Oh, about 45 minutes, give or take a little depending on traffic. You'll have time to tell me everything you've done since we got home!" he laughed.
"Only if you tell me what you've done too!" she replied, pointing out a large blue suitcase that matched her carry-on. "That's mine." Hawkeye grabbed it.
"Is there any more?" he asked.
"Nope. I fit it all into one suitcase. Are you proud of me?"
"Hell yes." he said. "You're the first woman I know who could fit that much stuff In one bag. Of course, it's also the biggest suitcase I've ever seen…"
"Oh, shut up. I fit a whole war worth of clothes into that suitcase."
"Well, ya, but you only needed one outfit!" he answered with a grin.
"Shut up." she said, but it was with a grin.
"I swear, I'm never wearing anything Khaki again." he said, shaking his head.
"Me neither." she said, surprising him. They reached his car, and loaded her stuff into the trunk before getting in.
"Aren't you in the Army?" he asked, confused by her last statement.
"Not anymore. I resigned my commission." she admitted.
"Why?" he asked, knowing that she had considered the Army to be her home.
"It was the only way I could get ten days off to come see you" she said, laughing.
"Try again." he replied, honestly wanting to know why she'd quit.
"It just…I don't know. It wasn't working for me anymore. I think it's your fault." she joked.
"I hope so. How do you mean?" he asked.
"I was just kidding. But really, I think you and Trapper and BJ changed me in Korea, and now I think I hate the Army just as much as you do. I've always wanted a family and kids, and the Army is likely the only reason I don't already have that. Not to mention the fact that no guy will have me. That's likely because of my temperament… which is because of my father, which, once again, is the Army's fault. I just can't bear to think that, if I did start a family, that I would act towards them like my father did towards me. I want to give up this hardened shell of mine, and finally be myself. That is your fault, and I'm glad you did it."
"Did what?" he asked, not sure what question to ask first.
"You were the only one who saw through my 'tough' exterior into who I really was. You saw Margaret, when I wouldn't let anyone see anything but Major Houlihan."
"Oh. That." he said, not knowing what to say.
"Yes, that. Thank you for that." she said.
"Hey, no problem. You're very welcome, Margaret. I'm just glad I got to know you by the end of the war. We would have missed out on one hell of a friendship if you hadn't sort of opened up." he answered.
"I know." she said. In her black, sleeveless dress she now started to shiver, due to the cool autumn Maine weather. Hawkeye reached into the back seat and pulled out a blanket that he kept there for just such occasions. She thanked him and wrapped the fleece blanket around herself. "So, what have you been doing?"
"Well, nothing too exciting. I've been catching up with my Dad, mostly, and the good people of Crabapple Cove. Of the four of us from there that left for the war, I'm the only one that came back. Two of them died and one reenlisted. All the town folks, especially the parents of the two that died, want to hear about what it was like over there. Which kind of sucks, because I don't really want to talk about it, you know?"
"I know." she said with a sigh. "So, what do you tell them?"
"I mainly tell them about the friendship and companionship within the units. I tell them that, with the unit I was in, we were more like a family then an Army unit. I talk about how we fought like cats and dogs, and we never quit annoying each other, but when it came right down to it, we were always there for each other, and supported each other."
"That's true, you know." she said, once again thinking back to the people that she had spent the last three years of her life with.
"It really is." he said, also reminiscing.
"What else have you been doing? Have you found yourself a job yet?"
"No, not really. I mean, I've been working with my Dad at the local practice, and he's glad for the help, but I'd really rather be doing surgery. I applied for the Chief Surgeon position in Portland, and I think I might land that one, but I haven't got a call yet. Speaking of work, what are you going to do, now that you're out of the Army?"
"I haven't decided yet." she said. "I know that I'll look for a nursing job, but I don't know where. I'm not even sure what part of the country I want to live in! I've been living with my sister the past month, in Boston, but…I don't want to stay there for ever." she said. She loved Annie, but living with her sister and her family was getting old in a hurry. Besides, she didn't want to burden them much longer.
"Well, they're looking for a head nurse in the Portland hospital, I don't suppose you'd be interested?" he joked.
"Me head nurse, and you chief surgeon…in the same hospital? That's asking for trouble." she said, thinking that it wouldn't be so bad to live so close to him.
"No it's not. Despite all of our arguments, we really worked very well together. We may have hated each other, but we never let it affect our work."
"I know." she answered, looking out the window at all of the trees. They were all brilliant shades of orange or red, and she knew it was one of the sights she would never forget. "Is it always this beautiful here?"
"I think so, but then, I'm a little biased. Just wait until you see Crabapple Cove. We'll be there in ten minutes or so." he said. She just smiled and kept staring out the window. Ten minutes later they rolled into the friendly little town that Hawkeye called home. "Well, Margaret, on behalf of Crabapple Cove, I would like to welcome you. You will most certainly find that the people here are all extremely friendly, and they will all love you."
"Have you known them all from the time you were born?" she asked, suddenly worried despite the beauty of the town around them.
"Most of them." he answered, proud of his town. He turned off the main street down a charming little avenue. "Why?"
"I don't know what they'll think of a woman like me coming to visit their little Hawkeye." she said.
"Ben." he corrected.
"Ben?"
"Yes, only my father calls me Hawkeye. Pretty much the rest of the town knows me as Ben. In fact, before the war, very few people called me Hawkeye. I don't know what made me introduce myself to Trapper that way." he said, thinking back to their first day at the 4077th. "And they'll love you, Margaret, I promise. And what do you mean a woman like you? They'll be thinking that it's about time I brought a woman home, and they'll be overjoyed that she's so pretty."
Margaret still wasn't sure. She had been so excited to come here and see Hawkeye and meet his Dad, but she knew that with small-town friendliness came a protectiveness of one's own. The whole town stuck together, and she wasn't sure how easy it would be for them to let a stranger into their close-knit family. Just then, Hawkeye pulled the car into a driveway. This must be his house.
"Welcome to the home of Daniel and Benjamin Pierce." he said with a grin.
"Hawk, it's beautiful." she said, staring at it. The house was bigger than she'd ever imagined. There was a great big porch all along the front of it, which was the first thing that she noticed. It was tall, and wide, and long, and just generally large. The yard was perfect, and the brick house was in great condition. Everything about the property fit perfectly. She could just picture a little Hawkeye Pierce running around. A tire swing hanging out of that tree over there, and a few random toys lying around the front yard. Hawkeye's mother and father sitting on the porch in the great big chairs, enjoying the small-town atmosphere and watching their son play. "It's just right."
"For what?" he asked, grabbing her bag out of the trunk while she took her own carry-on.
"For you." she said, almost saying for us. She didn't know if he wanted an us. She hoped she would find out sometime in the next ten days. He smiled at her and led her toward the front door. He opened the heavy oak door and motioned for her to go in, then followed her through. She looked around, amazed, as she walked in. She had the feeling that she had just went back 20 years in history. The house, or at least the front hall and the living room, were decorated beautifully, but in the style of twenty or thirty years ago. Margaret knew immediately why that was. Ben's mother had decorated the house. Ben? Had she just thought of him as Ben? Somehow, it was starting to fit him better than Hawkeye. Certainly it was more intimate. His mother must have had exquisite taste in decorating, and had done it very well, because the décor was in perfect order. Ben and his father had not allowed it to fall into any sort of disrepair, and had kept the place neat and tidy. Either that or they had done one hell of a cleaning job right before she'd come. She doubted, however, that he would go to that length to try to impress her with cleanliness when she had seen the way he had lived in the Swamp.
"Follow me." he whispered in her ear. He had been watching her reaction to the house, watching as her amazement and then her joy spread across her face. He wasn't used to being able to read her emotions this easily. She must have really opened up since she'd returned to the States. He led her up the wide staircase to the second floor, down the long hallway to the door at the very end. "Here we are," he said, pushing open the door with his foot and taking the suitcase inside. Margaret gasped when she entered. The walls were painted a deep red, with fleur de lis stencilled all around the room, and the carpet was black. The king-sized bed was made of mahogany, the bed-spread was gold, and was adorned with pillows of Gold, Black, Cream, and the Red from the walls. There was a fireplace against one wall, and the big mahogany mantle was covered with pictures of Hawkeye and his family when he was young. There was a big, overstuffed armchair facing the fire place, and it was the deep red with gold detailing. The room was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She felt like she was in a hotel suite, not a guest room.
"Hawkeye, this is absolutely gorgeous. You're treating me like royalty." she said.
"I thought you would like it. It was the last room that my Mom did, and it was her favourite. She used to build a fire in here and sit in that chair all day to read. She would have loved you, you know. She was a lot like you are." he said, somewhat sadly. "She had a strong spirit, and sometimes she was a little much for some people to handle, but she was a great person."
"I bet she was, Hawkeye." said Margaret, for the first time wondering about his mother. She would have liked to have met her, the woman who was strong enough to control Hawkeye and still earn so much respect and love from him. She looked into his eyes and saw the happiness at her being there now mixed with a sadness that did something to Margaret that she didn't like. She smiled after a moment, and his face lit up in a grin once again.
"So, Ms Houlihan, what would you like to do? We have about an hour before my Dad gets home from work." he said, leading her back out of the room and into the hall.
"I would really like to see the rest of the house." she said, "As long as you don't mind showing it to me."
"Not at all." he said, offering her his arm, which she took without hesitation. "One grand tour of the Pierce house coming right up."
Author's Note: I know, I haven't written anything new in forever, but my computer really was broken! Anyway, this was just an idea...feedback is really appreciated. Please review! Sara