AUTHOR'S NOTE Only thing here…"Hank" is the name that Margaret made up when sending the fake letter to her husband in "Comrades in Arms Part Two." While it isn't Hawkeye specifically, it's very obvious that it's meant to reflect him.

DISCLAIMER Don't own 'em. I don't know who does, but it isn't me. Except for Jessica.

…

Jessica – "Wealthy" Hebrew

Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce was nervous. He wasn't usually – it took a lot to fluster him. But this made him nervous. He paused in front of a large set of double doors and took a deep breath before pushing them open.

Hawkeye was met with a large banner that said, "WELCOME MASH 4077 – BEST CARE ANYWHERE!" As he scanned the room, he had to smile. He hadn't seen any of these familiar faces in five years. Just as he headed into the room, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hello sir!"

"Radar!" Hawkeye gave the young man a hug. "You've gotten taller!"

Walter "Radar" O'Reilly laughed good-naturedly. "Very funny, sir." He led Hawkeye into the room. "You're the last to arrive, Hawkeye. Some people were starting to think that you weren't coming."

"Oh really?" Hawkeye asked, smirking. He had a pretty good idea of who "some people" were.

"Yes sir. We put you at the Swamp table right over here."

"Splendid, Radar."

He hesitated before sitting down. Charles was there, a woman at his side. BJ and Peg were also at the table, as well as Colonel and Mrs. Potter. "I thought this table was for the Swamp only," he remarked teasingly as he came up behind the Colonel.

"Well hello to you too, Hawkeye!" Potter replied. "It seems you fellas have adopted me for the evening."

BJ stood up to give his old friend a hug. "I'm glad you could make it, Hawk!"

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this!" Hawkeye took a seat between BJ and the Colonel. Across BJ, he shook hands with his wife. "You must be Peg," he said.

She nodded, curly hair framing her face. "And you must be Hawkeye. I've heard a lot about you."

"Oh really?" Hawkeye asked, glancing at BJ. "Good things, I hope?"

Peg shrugged, smirking. "Most of it."

BJ smiled innocently. Hawkeye turned his attention across the table. "Charles!" he drawled in a bad Boston accent. "How ever have you been?"

Charles chuckled. "You haven't changed much, have you, Pierce?"

Hawkeye shrugged. "Where's Erin?"

"Oh, she's over there." BJ pointed off to the side of the ballroom. And 8-year-old played happily with a smaller child of no more than six.

"Who's the other girl?"

"Uh…" BJ looked uneasily at Peg.

"Oh," Colonel Potter jumped in. "That's, uh…that's…"

Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. "It wasn't a hard question."

"What wasn't a hard question?"

Hawkeye looked up to see another old friend. "Margaret!" He stood up and kissed her cheek. "How have you been?"

She smiled. "Hello Hawkeye." Neither saw the look that passed between BJ and the Colonel. Margaret asked, "So what wasn't a hard question?"

"Oh," Hawkeye answered. "I was just wondering who the little girl playing with Erin Hunnicut is."

An undistinguishable look passed briefly over Margaret's face before she replied, "That's my daughter Jessica."

"Your daughter!" Hawkeye cried. "Congratulations!"

Margaret smiled half-heartedly. "Thank you." She hesitated before asking, "Would you like to meet her?"

"Sure!" Hawkeye allowed Margaret to lead him over to where the children played.

"Mommy!" Jessica cried when Margaret reached her.

"Hello sweetheart." Margaret picked the child up. "There's someone I want you to meet. This is Mommy's friend Hawkeye."

Jessica smiled shyly. "Hi," she said.

"Hello there!" Hawkeye grinned. "How old are you, Jessica?"

"Five and a half!" she said proudly.

"Five and a half?" Hawkeye repeated. He looked at Margaret. "But then…?" Margaret nodded slowly. "Wow. How did that go with Donald?"

"Donald isn't her father," Margaret admitted softly.

"My daddy's name is Hank!" Jessica announced.

Hawkeye's blood ran cold. He felt like his heart stopped beating as shockwaves ran through his body. "Hank?" he whispered.

Jessica nodded. Margaret set her down. "Go and play with Erin, honey. I have to talk to Hawkeye for a minute."

"Okay!" The girl ran off to find her older playmate.

Margaret and Hawkeye stood in silence for an awkward moment. "I, uh, I didn't know how to tell you," Margaret finally said.

"Hank," Hawkeye repeated again. After a moment, he asked, "how did you hide it?"

"Colonel Potter helped me," Margaret said. "I told him everything that happened and he helped me get around the automatic discharge." She dropped her head. "I didn't want you to know."

Hurt washed over Hawkeye. "Why not? Didn't I deserve to?"

"You told me that what happened between us would never work out!" Margaret pointed out. "Those were your words, Hawkeye, not mine."

Hawkeye fumbled for words. "Yeah, but I – "

"And you never had a lack of nurses by your side. I never wanted Jessica to be a burden to you." Margaret's voice was bitter. "I figured it would be better for her to not have a father rather than one who resented her."

When she finally looked back at Hawkeye, she was surprised by how stricken he looked. "I would never ever resent my child," he said. "How could you even think that?"

Tears gathered in Margaret's eyes. "I was so scared, Hawkeye!" Hawkeye said nothing else, just hugged Margaret and let her cry.

Across the room, Jessica and Erin returned to the Swamp table. Jessica climbed into BJ's lap. "Uncle BJ?" she asked. "Why is Mommy upset?"

BJ just smiled at the little girl. "She's not upset. She's just happy to see her old friends." Over her head, he and Colonel Potter shared a smile. Things would be all right.