Between the weather, venue availability, and half of the invitees having issues with all of the originally proposed dates, Klinger found himself having to, yet again, reschedule the 4077 reunion.
" Say Soon-Lee, this annual reunion is taking so long to plan, it looks like it's turning into a five-year reunion"
Klinger was seated at his desk, half-written invite amendments, some with dates scribbled out and others completely crumpled, littered everywhere. Klinger adjusted his glasses, forgetting the pen in his hand, and leaving a large smudge of black ink across his nose. Soon-Lee laughed as she slipped her arm around her husband's waist while curling into the large leather chair beside him. Gently, she wiped the ink from his nose with the sleeve of her blouse.
"Why plan it as we did it before? Why not have everyone come here, to Toledo? Or to Sherm's house? I'm sure he and Mildred would love to host everyone."
"Soon-Lee, you're a genius!" Klinger exclaimed while jumping from the chair, knocking both the chair and Soon-Lee to the ground in the process. Soon-Lee laughed uncontrollably from the toppled chair. She loved how the light in her husband's eyes seemed to shine even brighter whenever he thought about his friends from the war. Even though neither of them could ever forgive themselves for admitting it, despite all of the horrors and losses from the war, there were some very good things that made it out of there alive.
"Oh! Honey! I'm so sorry, I just got excited and didn't mean to!" Klinger rambled, scrambling to try to help his wife up. Grabbing his hand, Soon-Lee pulled him to the ground with her. Both of them fell into peals of laughter as they lay there, hands entwined. Even though being back home in Toledo would have been infinitely better than even the best day at the 4077, Klinger was glad he was there until the end to meet Soon-Lee. He couldn't imagine coming home without her.
Rolling over to face his wife Klinger expounded on Soon-Lee's genius idea.
"Ma said the hotel down by the bowling alley hasn't had as much business as it used to recently. What if we rent the whole thing out for a few days and have everyone stay there? Ma could use the business and we could make everyone go to at least one Mud Hens game. It's about time they all see the best place on Earth."
Soon-Lee smiled and placed a small kiss on Klinger's nose.
"If I didn't know better mister, I would think you came up with the idea all on your own. Why don't you quit lying around here and call BJ, Sherm, Hawkeye, and everyone and settle on a date? Then I can help you send out new invitations after." Soon-Lee stood, smoothing her hair and her skirt while Klinger propped himself on his elbow, staring and awestruck at how beautiful she was.
"Max, the phone won't call them itself."
"Fine, fine. I'm calling, I'm calling" Klinger smiled as his wife shook his head and left to start preparing for dinner.
Ring…. Ring.…. Ring.…Ring
He was beginning to wonder if the Pierces might've gotten a new number. It had been a while since he had last spoken to Margaret or Hawkeye. Every other time he had called though, the phone never went past the second ring before someone picked up.
"Pierce Residence. This is…uhh one moment please." Klinger could hear the faint Millie crying in the background as the phone receiver was set on a table. Even though he hadn't announced himself, Klinger knew the unmistakable sound of Hawkeye's voice whenever he heard it. After a few moments, Hawkeye returned to the phone.
"Sorry about that. Hi. This is Dr. Pierce. May I ask who is calling?" Klinger always creaked a smile whenever he heard Hawkeye using his professional tone.
"Hiya Doc. Say, what are you doing over there to make kids cry?"
"Klinger! It's you! How have you been? Millie was only crying because I showed her a picture of you in that blue chiffon number that did absolutely nothing for you."
"Ha Ha, very funny Hawk. I happen to know that no one got a picture of me in that dress. I'm calling about that reunion we are trying to have. Soon-Lee suggested we host it in Toledo this year and Ma can rent us the old hotel for a week. What do you say? Can you, Margaret, and the little one make it down here let's say mid-July?"
"I don't know if it's a good idea to take Millie to Toledo. Heavens, there's a whole pack of Klingers there and it might be a bit too scary for her." Hawkeye could feel Klinger rolling his eyes on the other side of the phone. "Margaret and I wouldn't miss it We will make sure to clear our schedules at the hospital first thing next week."
"Great! I'll let Ma know to save you a room with a crib for Millie. Potter, Radar, BJ, and a few of the others have all said they will be there as well."
"See you there, Max. Take care and give that lovely wife of yours a kiss for me won't you"
"Bye Hawkeye. I'll be sure to."
The next three months, leading up to the reunion, seemed to take forever. Except for whenever Hawkeye looked at his daughter of course. Naturally, Dr. Hawkeye Pierce knew all the milestones and stages a child goes through in infancy. He had worked in pediatric medicine enough to have seen many children grow from a newborn to a toddler. It was different with Millie though. It seemed like every time Hawkeye blinked she was going from rolling over to crawling to taking her first steps. As much as Hawkeye loved working at the children's hospital, it pained him to think of all the things he might miss out on while he was away from Millie.
"Isn't she beautiful Hawk?" Margaret wrapped her arms around Hawkeye's waist and leaned around his shoulder, focusing on his face. Hawkeye stood with his hands resting on the edge of Millie's crib as she slept.
"Margie, honey. I don't want to miss this. Any of this. What if I stay here with her full-time? You know, give dad a rest for a change. I'm sure he loves being papa, but it would be good for him to have his free time back. And I think it would be good for me too. It'll be good for Millie to not have both her parents working all the time." Margret released her embrace of Hawkeye, turning to cup his face in her right hand.
"Ben. Baby, look at me. You and I both know you can't do that, you shouldn't do that. You are a surgeon, one of the best I've ever met, and you belong in the hospital, helping other kids. Our daughter will be fine. Your dad does a wonderful job with her while we are out. He takes her to the park and the library for playdates with the other babies in the neighborhood. It's good for him to get out with her, and it's good for her to be able to spend time with him." Margret pulled his face closer to hers so their foreheads were touching. "Even if you were with her every minute of every day, you would still miss things, Ben. But you will be there for all the big things, all the things that will matter, you will be there for her. I promise"
Hawkeye embraced his wife and softly kissed her forehead.
"I love you, sweetie, sometimes more than you will ever know. I love everything about you." Hawkeye pulled back briefly to grin at his wife "Well, except for the fact that you ever thought Frank was good-looking. I still don't see what you ever saw in that man."
Margaret gently swatted Hawkeye's shoulder, in an attempt to look cross. "Come on mister funny man. Let's go to bed before we have to wake up in the morning. We have a long drive to Toledo and I want both of us to be at least somewhat awake while driving."
After a long, but uneventful drive, both Margaret and Hawkeye were exhausted. Millie, who slept for the majority of the drive, was wide awake when they finally met Klinger at the hotel.
"Mr. Mrs. and Ms. Pierce. Right, this way. The finest traveling accommodations in all of Ohio are just through this door." Klinger said, grinning as he opened the door for the family. "Here, let me help you bring your things in," Klinger said as he picked up Millie. "I'll just take this cutie right here off your hands. Why, little miss, you are prettier than your mother" Millie squealed as she grabbed for Klinger's nose. "Between me and you, it's a good thing you got your looks from your mom and not your dad. He wouldn't have been a very pretty girl."
Hawkeye laughed as he grabbed the last of the bags and shut the trunk. "I would have made for a prettier girl than you any day of the week. And she does have my eyes so that counts for something."
"Hi, Max. It's good to see you again." Margaret said as she embraced her friend.
"Say Margaret, motherhood looks good on you. Come in, come in, all of you. Let's get you settled before everyone else arrives. Radar and the Hunnicutts are getting picked up from the airport by Ma as we speak. Potter and the others are coming in the morning, and Sidney's group all got here a few hours ago." Klinger led the family down the hall to their room for the next week. From the outside, the hotel didn't look like much. Once inside, the hotel was smartly decorated with an attractive menagerie of Lebanese decorations.
"Klinger, you weren't kidding when you said this was the finest hotel in all of Ohio," Hawkeye remarked.
Klinger chuckled as he adjusted Millie so he could unlock the room. "What can I say, I got all my good taste from my Ma, and this is an example of her handy work. This hotel has been in my family since the first one of us set foot in Toledo. Ma just cleaned the place up a bit."
"Well Klinger, I'm glad we got to come here. This really is a beautiful place to stay. Will your Ma and Soon-Lee be joining us tomorrow for the reunion?" Margaret added.
"Of course, of course! They both wouldn't miss it for anything. And besides, Soon-Lee has been dying to see Millie. I'll leave you all to get settled in for the night. We have a big day tomorrow." Klinger started to head out of the room but Hawkeye stopped him.
"Oh Klinger, aren't you forgetting something? I know she just steals your heart, but I think miss Millie here would like to get some rest as well." Hawkeye laughed as Klinger pretended to be surprised that he was still holding the baby.
"Why I plum forgot! Now Millie, try to keep these two on their best behavior. We wouldn't want them getting in too much trouble here. Ohio isn't known for being good to its criminals." Klinger handed the baby to Hawkeye and headed to leave the room, pausing briefly at the door to bid his farewell.
By 3:00 pm the next day, all of the former members of the 4077 who were able to attend this year's reunion had all arrived. Radar brought his mom and the lovely Patty Haven who had become his girlfriend since she took a job as a rural nurse in Iowa. Erin Hunnicutt and both of the Freedman children took Millie with them to play with all of the toys Klinger's mother kept in the hotel storage for emergencies. After catching up with everyone and chatting about how much life had changed since the last reunion, BJ stood and tapped his glass, drawing everyone's attention to him.
"May I have your attention, please? My wife and I" BJ said, gesturing to his wife to stand "have an important announcement to make"
"Am I going to be a grandpa again?" Col. Potter quipped, earning him several chuckles from others in the crowd.
"Unfortunately, not this time Sherm. Erin is perfect and we can't risk messing with perfection" BJ laughed "No, my wife and I wanted to announce that we are leaving sunny California and moving to Massachusetts. That's right Charles, we are going to be neighbors!" Peals of laughter and a round of congratulations rippled through the crowd. " I have accepted a teaching position at Harvard University. I'll be closer to all of you, well except for you Radar. I'm sorry buddy, but this gig was too good to pass up."
"That's okay BJ, Patty, Ma, and I have been thinking about moving to Missouri anyways. It'll be a nice change of pace, and it will be good for Patty's career."
After a few more congratulations and several hours of visiting with all their old friends, everyone began retiring to their rooms for the evening. Klinger had planned a packed schedule for the whole week that everyone would be in town and no one wanted to oversleep from staying up too late the night before. The Hunnicutt's sweet was adjoining to that of the Pierces so naturally, after everyone else had gone to bed, both families found themselves sharing a glass of wine with one another. Even though they spoke frequently on the phone, Margaret couldn't help her excitement about having BJ's family closer to her own. It would be good for both of the girls to spend time with one another, even if they were a few years apart. And, if both families added another kid or two, they would be able to grow up together.
The war may not have been good, but the kinship formed in Korea was one of the strongest any of them had ever seen.