Chapter 2

Margaret stood in front of the mirror admiring her beautiful wedding gown. Unlike her wedding to Donald, this one was going to be perfect. The bridesmaid dresses were all a deep hunter green, after all she may have left the army, but she still loved it. Everything was so perfect, and she couldn't understand why she wasn't happier. She had the perfect man, a beautiful & perfect child, and a perfect house. Andy had already asked to legally adopt Emma after they were married. Most people thought that she was Andy's child anyway. "I have a child to think about", she said to herself, trying to convince herself that she was doing the right thing. She stopped pacing long enough to look at the clock. Only one hour left of being alone. Only one hour left of freedom.

"Margaret are you decent?" Trapper asked through the closed door.

"Come on in Trapp." She could hear Emma crying.

"I'm sorry, she won't stop crying. I'd swear she has your temper. Sometimes I…" Trapper stopped in mid-sentence as he saw Margaret for the first time. "Margaret, You look beautiful"

"Thank you" she replied as she took the screaming child.

As she looked into Emma's crying blue eyes; eyes so much like her fathers, she realized what had to be done.

"Trapper?"

"Yeah?" the tone of her voice was worrying him.

"I need your help"

"Uh…ok, what is it?" he didn't like the way she wouldn't quite meet his eye.

"I need for you to go with me to Crabapple Cove"

"What's in Crabapple Cove?"

"Emma's Father"

Trapper was at a loss for words, and his silence wasn't doing anything to help ease Margaret's nerves.

"Well, Will you help me or not?"

"Are you saying what I think you're saying? Is this Hawkeye's baby?" the look on her face told him the truth. "How could you not tell me the truth? Hawkeye used to be my best friend! Didn't you think I'd want to know this!" His voice was growing louder and louder.

"McIntyre wait a Minute! First of all you weren't exactly nice to me when I first arrived here. And yes it was a mistake to deceive you. I should have told you and Andy the truth. But most of all I should have told Hawkeye. Don't think that I don't realize the situation that I've put us all in." she had tears in her eyes as she said this.

Trapper could see that she was getting choked up. He felt guilty for upsetting her.

"Just tell me this. What are you going to tell him, and what are you going to tell Andy?"

"I'll figure all of that out when I see him, but we can't tell Andy about it yet."

"Why not?"

"Because… I don't know….I just want to deal with Hawkeye first."

"Ok, We'll get through the wedding and while you're on your honeymoon I'll make the arrangements" he was saying, mentally checking off the things he'd have to do.

"Trapper I want to go now!" As soon as she'd blurted the words out she realized how crazy and neurotic she must seem to him.

Trapper just stared at her as if she'd just sprouted wings.

"I want to go now" she repeated, feeling a little more confident. "Your truck is parked out back, right?"

"Well yeah but…"

"No buts. Let's go!"

"What about Andy, what about my wife? How will it look? Everyone's going to think that we ran away together."

"Trapper" Margaret said with exasperation, "Do you care about Hawkeye?"

"Yes but.."

"Do you care about me?"

"Of course I do Margaret."

"I need you Trapper, I need you for emotional support and as a buffer" she said with pleading eyes

"What do you mean a buffer?"

"You used to be his best friend. You can help him accept this. I know he's going to be mad, he'll probably hate me." He heard a sadness in her voice that he couldn't quite understand. Was this just about Emma, or did Margaret actually love Hawkeye?

"Ok, Let's go"

"Really?" she asked with excitement in her voice.

"Really" he replied giving her a hug

"Wait, first go find Sam. I want her to watch Emma while we're gone."

"Don't you think that we may need to take Emma with us? She's kind of the whole reason we're going."

"No, I want to be able to work my way into it. I just…..I just have to do this my own way."

"Ok" Trapper said with a slight grin on his face, "For better or worse we're going to do this"

To be continued…