*Disclaimer: If anyone thinks I own the M*A*S*H gang, I suggest you find
Sidney Freeman and make an appointment to lie on his couch and discuss the
crazy thoughts that are running through your head.*
Mill Valley, California Friday, April 22, 1956 8:00AM
As Hawkeye returned to consciousness the next morning, the first thing he heard, without even opening his eyes, was the banging of pots and pans and muttered curses, which could only mean Margaret was trying, unsuccessfully, to make breakfast. He had been debating whether or not to go and either help, or try to stop Margaret from making breakfast when he heard Peg go in to the room, and say something he couldn't hear to Margaret. Whatever she said had stopped Margaret because now there was only a limited banging of the pots and pans and he heard Margaret say "OK, then, what can I do to help?"
He smiled a little. It was clear he would have to do the cooking after they married 'Good thing Dad taught me how.' He thought to himself. He was about to go back to sleep when suddenly he got the sudden feeling he was being watched, that he hadn't noticed before. He opened his eyes slowly and jumped a mile in the air when he realized there was someone looking back into his eyes. Hawkeye rolled his eyes when he realized who was watching him and pulled himself into a sitting position on the couch. "You think that's funny?"
"Yep" Erin Hunnicut giggled and sat down next to him and leaned against him.
Hawkeye laughed, in spite of himself "Why were you watching me, anyway?'
"Cuz , Margaret said I couldn't watch television cause you were asleep." She answered promptly
"So you decided to watch me, instead?"
"Yep."
"And you thought it would be fun to wear my robe, huh?" he said as he noted what she was wearing over her pajamas. The sleeves were hanging a foot off her arms and if she stood up and tried to walk around, she would be tripping on the robe.
"It was warm."
"Are you cold?" Hawkeye asked, his voice full of concern for the little girl.
"No" she answered
"Oh, Hawkeye as long as you're awake, can you come in here?" called Peg from the other room.
"See what you did?" joked Hawkeye to Erin "now I have to do work".
Erin made a face "Eew, sorry, Hawkeye."
Hawkeye smiled and hugged the little girl. "Can I have my robe back?" he asked
"What would you do if I said no?" Erin teased. One of Hawkeye's maniac grins overcame him.
"This" he said and proceeded to tickle her.
She giggled hysterically "All right, Hawkeye, you can have it.!" she shrieked, stood up, took off the robe and gave it to him. He tousled her hair and left the room. ************************************************************************
"Good morning, ladies." said Hawkeye as he entered the room, pulling on his robe as he went. Margaret came over and kissed him.
As they pulled apart, she said "Ick, I can't believe you still have that ratty red robe, Hawkeye."
"Hey, lady, don't make fun of my bathrobe. I love this robe. It has many memories attached." Hawkeye said in mock offensiveness.
"Oh yeah" Margaret challenged "Which ones?"
"I think I've been here before." said a voice behind them. In sync, both Hawkeye and Margaret turned to see BJ leaning against the wall with his arms folded.
"What do you mean?" said Margaret suspiciously.
Hawkeye laughed "Nothing. What we were saying was part of a conversation BJ and I had yesterday at the restaurant."
"Speaking of BJ." said Peg, who had been silent throughout this whole conversation. She smiled and BJ went over to her and kissed her passionately. They pulled apart just as Erin came into the room and went over to her parents.
"Are we gonna have breakfast one of these days?" she complained.
Peg smiled and stroked her hair. "Five minutes, OK?"
"OK" she said
"Why don't you get dressed?"
"Yes, ma'am" and she left the room.
Breakfast came, where BJ and Hawkeye exchanged sarcastic remarks and bounced jokes off each other where the other one always somehow knew what to respond, all this making Peg, Erin and Margaret laugh. All too soon, breakfast was over and Peg was telling Erin "Get your school stuff, it's time to go." Erin left the room and Peg started towards the sink to wash dishes, which made Margaret jump up to help. Soon it was time for Peg to go to work and Erin to school. Erin said goodbye to everyone and was going to go wait in Peg's car, when Hawkeye called out her name.
She turned and Hawkeye said "Hey Erin, how would you like to be in my and Margaret's wedding?"
Erin's face lit up and she said "Really? What would I be?"
Hawkeye smiled "How would flower girl sound to you?"
"YEAH!!!!!" she screamed and ran over to Hawkeye and attacked him with a huge hug and did the same to Margaret, and ran out the door screaming "That is so cool! I can't wait to tell Anna!"
Peg smiled and said "That was nice of you, Hawkeye, I think you really made her day."
Hawkeye smiled too "All in a day's work."
Peg walked to where BJ was sitting, kissed him goodbye, said goodbye to Hawkeye and Margaret and walked towards the door, but stopped at it. She turned to her husband "You guys are starting wedding plans today, right?"
BJ nodded
"OK, I'm taking a half day today to help"
"Oh, you don't have to" responded Margaret quickly, making Peg smile
"I want to"
"You're leaving Erin at Anna's today, right?" asked BJ
"Well, we did promise them a play date ages ago and we'll get more done with her out of the way" nodded Peg and then walked out the door, leaving the group to start to plan Hawkeye's and Margaret's wedding. ************************************************************************
"OK" said BJ "we need to plan what is needed for a wedding." "What, you don't have all that in your head?" asked Hawkeye in mock disbelief.
"Nah. Too much to remember." BJ responded
"We should write this down." suggested Margaret and picked up a pen. Ten minutes later the three had a sheet of paper that looked like this:
1. Place for ceremony 2. Place for reception 3. Flowers 4. Food/cake 5. Priest 6 Wedding party 7. Dresses/Tuxes 8. Guest list/invitations 9. Time/date 10. Rings 11. Hotel for guests 12. Bride/Groom (Hawkeye stole the pen. "Oh Pierce, can't you be serious just once!" cried Margaret as she crossed it out)
"I think that's it" said BJ. He took the list from Margaret and read out loud "Place for reception" he looked at Hawkeye and Margaret
Hawkeye stared back at him "How do we know? We don't live here"
BJ looked back down at the list "Good point. We'll go reception and ceremony place hunting later. Number three: Flowers.ok, we'll do that later too. Same with food and cake. Priest-Father Mulcahy. I doubt he'll say no to you two. Even with." he trailed off
"With what?" Hawkeye and Margaret asked curiously
"Can't say" said BJ mysteriously.
"Why not?" asked Hawkeye
"Because I promised him I wouldn't say anything to anybody about it and I'm not gonna go back on a promise I made, so let's just drop this OK?" BJ threw down the pen and started walking angrily to the other side of the room.
"Look, Beej," started Hawkeye "we don't want you to go back on a promise you made to him, but we're friends with Father Mulcahy too. If something's wrong, even if it was years ago, we want to know about it. You can't just dismiss it like it's nothing. Besides you probably made it before the war ended. That was years ago. This problem has probably been fixed by now."
BJ walked back to the table and started to fiddle with the pen. "You're right, Hawk, I'm sorry I was so short with you, but if I make a confidence to anyone I don't tell about it, even if it was years ago. But, on the other hand, it was years ago and it has hopefully been fixed by now, so I'll tell you, just don't tell Father Mulcahy I told you, you know his left hook." BJ told the story of Father Mulcahy becoming partially deaf after hitting his head on a gate before the war ended.
"Oh my God, that's terrible." whispered Margaret
"How come you didn't tell anyone?" asked Hawkeye
"Because he told me not to. He seemed so desperate.like he knew the orphans were the reason he was sent to Korea and he didn't want to leave until that task was over. He's smart he probably got help after he got back, right?" BJ continued desperately
"I dunno, Beej." said Hawkeye slowly "no one's seen him since the war ended, for all we know, he's still in Korea wandering around, pretending to hear everything, never got any help and will have no hope in regaining his hearing."
"It all makes sense now." whispered Margaret. BJ and Hawkeye looked at each other, then at Margaret
"What makes sense?" asked Hawkeye
"Don't you remember? That party we had before we left Korea.the one where we shared what we were all doing with our lives.don't you remember? Father Mulcahy said he had lately gotten interested in ministering to the deaf. I was wondering what that was all about and I meant to ask him, but I didn't get a chance that night and the next day with Klinger and Soon- Lee's wedding and then with everyone leaving and all the good-byes I didn't have time. Now I know."
"I was wondering about that too" mused Hawkeye. "Now we know."
They were silent for a few minutes. BJ still looked upset, so Hawkeye grabbed the paper from where it was under BJ's hands. He didn't notice.
"Number five.best man." Hawkeye read off, mumbling "Well, that's easy. I already have my best man. Write Best Man-BJ Hunnicut, Beej." He shoved the paper back under BJ's hands and prodded him to write, making him smile. "And the groomsmen.ushers (whatever they're called)" continued Hawkeye "Trapper, Radar, Klinger and Charles."
"Charles!" laughed BJ "Charles Winchester? Our resident snob. The most pompous arrogant man in the unit? You can't mean that Charles? Didn't know you liked him that much"
"He might be all those things, but he's not a bad guy" defended Hawkeye "He helped us keep that Korean kid from being drafted that time, remember? He's helped us out. He was more fun to play jokes on than Frank because Charles would just play one back on us instead of whining like Frank did."
"There is that. Charles isn't so bad once he allows himself to get to know you" BJ admitted and then grinned "You're right. He has helped us out. He was lots of help when he helped us steal Margaret's tent that time, remember, Hawk?" BJ grinned and ducked when he saw Margaret's hand come towards him to playfully slap him.
Margaret gave up this and asked "Has anyone seen Charles since we left Korea? He came with me to the 8063rd to help close it up and I haven't seen him since."
"I saw him once" volunteered Hawkeye.
"When?" asked BJ, startled
"Right after the war ended" started Hawkeye "Six months or so. I was sent to some meeting in Boston about a new medical procedure that some doctor had invented. I didn't know who was talking to us and was I in for a surprise when the man who stepped up to the podium was none other than our Charles. I went up to him after the meeting was over. He was as surprised to see me as I was to see him. We started talking and we went out to lunch. The first thing he told me was I would have to pay for myself, of course. I told him what everyone was up to and he told me stuff about his job. At the end we exchanged telephone numbers and went our separate ways. He's never called me and I've never called him, but I was shocked he'd actually admitted he knew me, granted we went to a restaurant he'd said he never tried before and his friends never went there, but he talked to me in front of a few people from Massachusetts General."
"That was friendly." admitted BJ.
"You must have caught him on a good day." added Margaret
BJ went back to the list then "OK, Margaret, what about your side?"
"Um.Maid of Honor.I don't know, I'll get back to you. Bridesmaids, Patty, Soon-Lee, my cousin Leslie and.um." she said. "My other cousin, Annette" she said finally
"OK.let me write it down." BJ mumbled "OK, next dresses and tuxes. Tuxes we can rent from this place from down the street, we rented 'em there for Peg and my wedding. Dresses."
"I want Klinger to make the dresses" Margaret interrupted suddenly. BJ and Hawkeye stared at each other.
"Klinger?" asked BJ "Max Klinger?"
"Yes. He makes dresses. I want him to make mine." "Um.Margaret, Klinger lives in Toledo." said Hawkeye "I don't know much about weddings, but I do know that when someone has a wedding dress made for her they need to have many fittings and with Klinger in Toledo and you here, I don't foresee many fittings in your future, which means if he does agree to make the dress, it might not fit right. Right, Beej?"
"He's got a point, Margaret" BJ put in
"I could tell him my size. He could make it and he fix it when he comes down for the wedding." suggested Margaret eagerly
"That could work" murmured BJ. He put pen to paper and wrote it down
"I'll call him later." said Margaret "And then I'll talk to Soon-Lee and ask her to be a bridesmaid and you can ask him to be a groomsman." said Margaret.
"OK next" said BJ "Guest List & Invitations."
"Who do we want to invite?" asked Hawkeye "Um.Colonel and Mrs. Potter, my dad, Margaret's mom and dad..."
"No, we can't invite my father!" interrupted Margaret suddenly "Why?"
"Because.he died 2 months after the war ended"
"He died?" said Hawkeye in disbelief "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Never came up in conversation." Margaret said sarcastically
"Now don't be smart with me!" yelled Hawkeye "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't know. I just didn't."
"I'm sorry" said Hawkeye. He got up and wrapped his arms around her.
"It's all right." Margaret smiled "We actually weren't all that close. Not as close as you and your father are, Hawkeye. I can think of other people I would rather have walk me down the aisle"
"Like who?" smiled Hawkeye, thinking he knew who she was going to say
"Colonel Potter for one. Yes! That's it Colonel Potter will walk me down the aisle! Write that down, BJ!"
"You got it" smiled BJ
"Back to the guest list" said Hawkeye, returning to his seat "Radar's mom, Charles' parents and sister, Sidney Freeman, Scully."
"I don't know about Scully" said Margaret .
"Scully's my friend, I want him at my wedding" insisted Hawkeye and continued "Who else." he started to laugh
"What?" asked BJ
"Here's a gas.Frank Burns."
"You want Frank at your wedding?" laughed BJ
"I definitely draw the line at Frank Burns!" yelled Margaret "Scully is bad enough. Just add Donald Penobscott and you'll be having a convention of my old boyfriends"
"No to have a convention of your old boyfriends we'd have to invite half the colonels and generals in the Korean War, living and dead..." Hawkeye waved his hand impatiently "I'm serious, let's invite Frank. We can blot out my name on the invitation and he won't know who you're marrying till he gets here. Finding out you're marrying me will drive him crazy. Or crazier as the case may be."
BJ burst out laughing "That's cruel.that's devious.that's just plain rotten.Do it!"
Hawkeye turned to Margaret with a pouty look on his face "Please, Margaret.please let me torture Frank.please"
"Oh all right. God knows he deserves it."
"Thank you.add that to the list, Beej, Frank Burns and family." Hawkeye and Margaret added a few dozen or so relatives, each. When they were done, the total people invited to the wedding came up to exactly 50. "Ah." said Hawkeye "invited to the wedding are 50 of our closet friends, family and enemies."
"What are you going to do about invitations?" asked BJ
"I can do calligraphy." volunteered Margaret
"Invitations-Margaret" wrote BJ "Next, Date and time"
"Well, we want it before we leave and we want to have as much time as possible to plan so. how about two or so weeks.a Sunday. " he grabbed a calendar and after a minute jabbed a date on it with is index finger "May 5th, 2:00PM" grinned Hawkeye
"How precise of you." noted BJ "Howdja come up with that?"
"Well we're leaving in two weeks on the 6th that's a Monday. The 5th is a Sunday, and it gives us two weeks to plan everything. And all the weddings I've been to have started at 1:00, but I like to be different so let's make it 2:00PM." he answered smugly
"Sounds good to me" said Margaret "What's next?"
BJ checked the list "Rings and I can answer that one. The groom customarily picks out the ring."
"Hey, Beej, can ya help me there?" asked Hawkeye, somewhat embarrassedly.
BJ smiled "I'd be glad to."
Hawkeye smiled back "Thanks. Are we close to the end of the list?"
BJ glanced down "Besides, Number Thirteen: Bride and Groom, which I'm nearly positive we have, all we have left is hotel for the guests. I think the best one is the Ritz Carlton down the road."
"So we're done?" asked Hawkeye excitedly
"Yep" answered BJ "What we have to do now is go look for a ring."
"Now?" asked Hawkeye, all the excitement of the wedding planning being over gone.
"Yeah we can do it while Margaret is calling Klinger and doing the invitations" BJ said, which made Hawkeye remember something
"Margaret" he said "If you're calling Klinger while I'm gone, don't tell him who you're marrying."
"Why?" asked Margaret suspiciously
"Because I haven't messed with his head in a long time. He's overdue" smirked Hawkeye wickedly.
"Ooh, you're awful" said Margaret.
"Thank you".
"What do I tell him when he asks and you know he will ask".
"Of course he will. Just pretend you didn't hear him and if he asks again say it's a bad connection or something" shrugged Hawkeye.
"OK" said BJ ""Peg will take you around looking for places later, Margaret. So for now, you can call Klinger about the dresses. And Hawkeye and I will go to look for rings." He yelled the last part loudly, so Hawkeye, who was creeping out of the room, could hear.
Mill Valley, California Friday, April 22, 1956 8:00AM
As Hawkeye returned to consciousness the next morning, the first thing he heard, without even opening his eyes, was the banging of pots and pans and muttered curses, which could only mean Margaret was trying, unsuccessfully, to make breakfast. He had been debating whether or not to go and either help, or try to stop Margaret from making breakfast when he heard Peg go in to the room, and say something he couldn't hear to Margaret. Whatever she said had stopped Margaret because now there was only a limited banging of the pots and pans and he heard Margaret say "OK, then, what can I do to help?"
He smiled a little. It was clear he would have to do the cooking after they married 'Good thing Dad taught me how.' He thought to himself. He was about to go back to sleep when suddenly he got the sudden feeling he was being watched, that he hadn't noticed before. He opened his eyes slowly and jumped a mile in the air when he realized there was someone looking back into his eyes. Hawkeye rolled his eyes when he realized who was watching him and pulled himself into a sitting position on the couch. "You think that's funny?"
"Yep" Erin Hunnicut giggled and sat down next to him and leaned against him.
Hawkeye laughed, in spite of himself "Why were you watching me, anyway?'
"Cuz , Margaret said I couldn't watch television cause you were asleep." She answered promptly
"So you decided to watch me, instead?"
"Yep."
"And you thought it would be fun to wear my robe, huh?" he said as he noted what she was wearing over her pajamas. The sleeves were hanging a foot off her arms and if she stood up and tried to walk around, she would be tripping on the robe.
"It was warm."
"Are you cold?" Hawkeye asked, his voice full of concern for the little girl.
"No" she answered
"Oh, Hawkeye as long as you're awake, can you come in here?" called Peg from the other room.
"See what you did?" joked Hawkeye to Erin "now I have to do work".
Erin made a face "Eew, sorry, Hawkeye."
Hawkeye smiled and hugged the little girl. "Can I have my robe back?" he asked
"What would you do if I said no?" Erin teased. One of Hawkeye's maniac grins overcame him.
"This" he said and proceeded to tickle her.
She giggled hysterically "All right, Hawkeye, you can have it.!" she shrieked, stood up, took off the robe and gave it to him. He tousled her hair and left the room. ************************************************************************
"Good morning, ladies." said Hawkeye as he entered the room, pulling on his robe as he went. Margaret came over and kissed him.
As they pulled apart, she said "Ick, I can't believe you still have that ratty red robe, Hawkeye."
"Hey, lady, don't make fun of my bathrobe. I love this robe. It has many memories attached." Hawkeye said in mock offensiveness.
"Oh yeah" Margaret challenged "Which ones?"
"I think I've been here before." said a voice behind them. In sync, both Hawkeye and Margaret turned to see BJ leaning against the wall with his arms folded.
"What do you mean?" said Margaret suspiciously.
Hawkeye laughed "Nothing. What we were saying was part of a conversation BJ and I had yesterday at the restaurant."
"Speaking of BJ." said Peg, who had been silent throughout this whole conversation. She smiled and BJ went over to her and kissed her passionately. They pulled apart just as Erin came into the room and went over to her parents.
"Are we gonna have breakfast one of these days?" she complained.
Peg smiled and stroked her hair. "Five minutes, OK?"
"OK" she said
"Why don't you get dressed?"
"Yes, ma'am" and she left the room.
Breakfast came, where BJ and Hawkeye exchanged sarcastic remarks and bounced jokes off each other where the other one always somehow knew what to respond, all this making Peg, Erin and Margaret laugh. All too soon, breakfast was over and Peg was telling Erin "Get your school stuff, it's time to go." Erin left the room and Peg started towards the sink to wash dishes, which made Margaret jump up to help. Soon it was time for Peg to go to work and Erin to school. Erin said goodbye to everyone and was going to go wait in Peg's car, when Hawkeye called out her name.
She turned and Hawkeye said "Hey Erin, how would you like to be in my and Margaret's wedding?"
Erin's face lit up and she said "Really? What would I be?"
Hawkeye smiled "How would flower girl sound to you?"
"YEAH!!!!!" she screamed and ran over to Hawkeye and attacked him with a huge hug and did the same to Margaret, and ran out the door screaming "That is so cool! I can't wait to tell Anna!"
Peg smiled and said "That was nice of you, Hawkeye, I think you really made her day."
Hawkeye smiled too "All in a day's work."
Peg walked to where BJ was sitting, kissed him goodbye, said goodbye to Hawkeye and Margaret and walked towards the door, but stopped at it. She turned to her husband "You guys are starting wedding plans today, right?"
BJ nodded
"OK, I'm taking a half day today to help"
"Oh, you don't have to" responded Margaret quickly, making Peg smile
"I want to"
"You're leaving Erin at Anna's today, right?" asked BJ
"Well, we did promise them a play date ages ago and we'll get more done with her out of the way" nodded Peg and then walked out the door, leaving the group to start to plan Hawkeye's and Margaret's wedding. ************************************************************************
"OK" said BJ "we need to plan what is needed for a wedding." "What, you don't have all that in your head?" asked Hawkeye in mock disbelief.
"Nah. Too much to remember." BJ responded
"We should write this down." suggested Margaret and picked up a pen. Ten minutes later the three had a sheet of paper that looked like this:
1. Place for ceremony 2. Place for reception 3. Flowers 4. Food/cake 5. Priest 6 Wedding party 7. Dresses/Tuxes 8. Guest list/invitations 9. Time/date 10. Rings 11. Hotel for guests 12. Bride/Groom (Hawkeye stole the pen. "Oh Pierce, can't you be serious just once!" cried Margaret as she crossed it out)
"I think that's it" said BJ. He took the list from Margaret and read out loud "Place for reception" he looked at Hawkeye and Margaret
Hawkeye stared back at him "How do we know? We don't live here"
BJ looked back down at the list "Good point. We'll go reception and ceremony place hunting later. Number three: Flowers.ok, we'll do that later too. Same with food and cake. Priest-Father Mulcahy. I doubt he'll say no to you two. Even with." he trailed off
"With what?" Hawkeye and Margaret asked curiously
"Can't say" said BJ mysteriously.
"Why not?" asked Hawkeye
"Because I promised him I wouldn't say anything to anybody about it and I'm not gonna go back on a promise I made, so let's just drop this OK?" BJ threw down the pen and started walking angrily to the other side of the room.
"Look, Beej," started Hawkeye "we don't want you to go back on a promise you made to him, but we're friends with Father Mulcahy too. If something's wrong, even if it was years ago, we want to know about it. You can't just dismiss it like it's nothing. Besides you probably made it before the war ended. That was years ago. This problem has probably been fixed by now."
BJ walked back to the table and started to fiddle with the pen. "You're right, Hawk, I'm sorry I was so short with you, but if I make a confidence to anyone I don't tell about it, even if it was years ago. But, on the other hand, it was years ago and it has hopefully been fixed by now, so I'll tell you, just don't tell Father Mulcahy I told you, you know his left hook." BJ told the story of Father Mulcahy becoming partially deaf after hitting his head on a gate before the war ended.
"Oh my God, that's terrible." whispered Margaret
"How come you didn't tell anyone?" asked Hawkeye
"Because he told me not to. He seemed so desperate.like he knew the orphans were the reason he was sent to Korea and he didn't want to leave until that task was over. He's smart he probably got help after he got back, right?" BJ continued desperately
"I dunno, Beej." said Hawkeye slowly "no one's seen him since the war ended, for all we know, he's still in Korea wandering around, pretending to hear everything, never got any help and will have no hope in regaining his hearing."
"It all makes sense now." whispered Margaret. BJ and Hawkeye looked at each other, then at Margaret
"What makes sense?" asked Hawkeye
"Don't you remember? That party we had before we left Korea.the one where we shared what we were all doing with our lives.don't you remember? Father Mulcahy said he had lately gotten interested in ministering to the deaf. I was wondering what that was all about and I meant to ask him, but I didn't get a chance that night and the next day with Klinger and Soon- Lee's wedding and then with everyone leaving and all the good-byes I didn't have time. Now I know."
"I was wondering about that too" mused Hawkeye. "Now we know."
They were silent for a few minutes. BJ still looked upset, so Hawkeye grabbed the paper from where it was under BJ's hands. He didn't notice.
"Number five.best man." Hawkeye read off, mumbling "Well, that's easy. I already have my best man. Write Best Man-BJ Hunnicut, Beej." He shoved the paper back under BJ's hands and prodded him to write, making him smile. "And the groomsmen.ushers (whatever they're called)" continued Hawkeye "Trapper, Radar, Klinger and Charles."
"Charles!" laughed BJ "Charles Winchester? Our resident snob. The most pompous arrogant man in the unit? You can't mean that Charles? Didn't know you liked him that much"
"He might be all those things, but he's not a bad guy" defended Hawkeye "He helped us keep that Korean kid from being drafted that time, remember? He's helped us out. He was more fun to play jokes on than Frank because Charles would just play one back on us instead of whining like Frank did."
"There is that. Charles isn't so bad once he allows himself to get to know you" BJ admitted and then grinned "You're right. He has helped us out. He was lots of help when he helped us steal Margaret's tent that time, remember, Hawk?" BJ grinned and ducked when he saw Margaret's hand come towards him to playfully slap him.
Margaret gave up this and asked "Has anyone seen Charles since we left Korea? He came with me to the 8063rd to help close it up and I haven't seen him since."
"I saw him once" volunteered Hawkeye.
"When?" asked BJ, startled
"Right after the war ended" started Hawkeye "Six months or so. I was sent to some meeting in Boston about a new medical procedure that some doctor had invented. I didn't know who was talking to us and was I in for a surprise when the man who stepped up to the podium was none other than our Charles. I went up to him after the meeting was over. He was as surprised to see me as I was to see him. We started talking and we went out to lunch. The first thing he told me was I would have to pay for myself, of course. I told him what everyone was up to and he told me stuff about his job. At the end we exchanged telephone numbers and went our separate ways. He's never called me and I've never called him, but I was shocked he'd actually admitted he knew me, granted we went to a restaurant he'd said he never tried before and his friends never went there, but he talked to me in front of a few people from Massachusetts General."
"That was friendly." admitted BJ.
"You must have caught him on a good day." added Margaret
BJ went back to the list then "OK, Margaret, what about your side?"
"Um.Maid of Honor.I don't know, I'll get back to you. Bridesmaids, Patty, Soon-Lee, my cousin Leslie and.um." she said. "My other cousin, Annette" she said finally
"OK.let me write it down." BJ mumbled "OK, next dresses and tuxes. Tuxes we can rent from this place from down the street, we rented 'em there for Peg and my wedding. Dresses."
"I want Klinger to make the dresses" Margaret interrupted suddenly. BJ and Hawkeye stared at each other.
"Klinger?" asked BJ "Max Klinger?"
"Yes. He makes dresses. I want him to make mine." "Um.Margaret, Klinger lives in Toledo." said Hawkeye "I don't know much about weddings, but I do know that when someone has a wedding dress made for her they need to have many fittings and with Klinger in Toledo and you here, I don't foresee many fittings in your future, which means if he does agree to make the dress, it might not fit right. Right, Beej?"
"He's got a point, Margaret" BJ put in
"I could tell him my size. He could make it and he fix it when he comes down for the wedding." suggested Margaret eagerly
"That could work" murmured BJ. He put pen to paper and wrote it down
"I'll call him later." said Margaret "And then I'll talk to Soon-Lee and ask her to be a bridesmaid and you can ask him to be a groomsman." said Margaret.
"OK next" said BJ "Guest List & Invitations."
"Who do we want to invite?" asked Hawkeye "Um.Colonel and Mrs. Potter, my dad, Margaret's mom and dad..."
"No, we can't invite my father!" interrupted Margaret suddenly "Why?"
"Because.he died 2 months after the war ended"
"He died?" said Hawkeye in disbelief "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Never came up in conversation." Margaret said sarcastically
"Now don't be smart with me!" yelled Hawkeye "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't know. I just didn't."
"I'm sorry" said Hawkeye. He got up and wrapped his arms around her.
"It's all right." Margaret smiled "We actually weren't all that close. Not as close as you and your father are, Hawkeye. I can think of other people I would rather have walk me down the aisle"
"Like who?" smiled Hawkeye, thinking he knew who she was going to say
"Colonel Potter for one. Yes! That's it Colonel Potter will walk me down the aisle! Write that down, BJ!"
"You got it" smiled BJ
"Back to the guest list" said Hawkeye, returning to his seat "Radar's mom, Charles' parents and sister, Sidney Freeman, Scully."
"I don't know about Scully" said Margaret .
"Scully's my friend, I want him at my wedding" insisted Hawkeye and continued "Who else." he started to laugh
"What?" asked BJ
"Here's a gas.Frank Burns."
"You want Frank at your wedding?" laughed BJ
"I definitely draw the line at Frank Burns!" yelled Margaret "Scully is bad enough. Just add Donald Penobscott and you'll be having a convention of my old boyfriends"
"No to have a convention of your old boyfriends we'd have to invite half the colonels and generals in the Korean War, living and dead..." Hawkeye waved his hand impatiently "I'm serious, let's invite Frank. We can blot out my name on the invitation and he won't know who you're marrying till he gets here. Finding out you're marrying me will drive him crazy. Or crazier as the case may be."
BJ burst out laughing "That's cruel.that's devious.that's just plain rotten.Do it!"
Hawkeye turned to Margaret with a pouty look on his face "Please, Margaret.please let me torture Frank.please"
"Oh all right. God knows he deserves it."
"Thank you.add that to the list, Beej, Frank Burns and family." Hawkeye and Margaret added a few dozen or so relatives, each. When they were done, the total people invited to the wedding came up to exactly 50. "Ah." said Hawkeye "invited to the wedding are 50 of our closet friends, family and enemies."
"What are you going to do about invitations?" asked BJ
"I can do calligraphy." volunteered Margaret
"Invitations-Margaret" wrote BJ "Next, Date and time"
"Well, we want it before we leave and we want to have as much time as possible to plan so. how about two or so weeks.a Sunday. " he grabbed a calendar and after a minute jabbed a date on it with is index finger "May 5th, 2:00PM" grinned Hawkeye
"How precise of you." noted BJ "Howdja come up with that?"
"Well we're leaving in two weeks on the 6th that's a Monday. The 5th is a Sunday, and it gives us two weeks to plan everything. And all the weddings I've been to have started at 1:00, but I like to be different so let's make it 2:00PM." he answered smugly
"Sounds good to me" said Margaret "What's next?"
BJ checked the list "Rings and I can answer that one. The groom customarily picks out the ring."
"Hey, Beej, can ya help me there?" asked Hawkeye, somewhat embarrassedly.
BJ smiled "I'd be glad to."
Hawkeye smiled back "Thanks. Are we close to the end of the list?"
BJ glanced down "Besides, Number Thirteen: Bride and Groom, which I'm nearly positive we have, all we have left is hotel for the guests. I think the best one is the Ritz Carlton down the road."
"So we're done?" asked Hawkeye excitedly
"Yep" answered BJ "What we have to do now is go look for a ring."
"Now?" asked Hawkeye, all the excitement of the wedding planning being over gone.
"Yeah we can do it while Margaret is calling Klinger and doing the invitations" BJ said, which made Hawkeye remember something
"Margaret" he said "If you're calling Klinger while I'm gone, don't tell him who you're marrying."
"Why?" asked Margaret suspiciously
"Because I haven't messed with his head in a long time. He's overdue" smirked Hawkeye wickedly.
"Ooh, you're awful" said Margaret.
"Thank you".
"What do I tell him when he asks and you know he will ask".
"Of course he will. Just pretend you didn't hear him and if he asks again say it's a bad connection or something" shrugged Hawkeye.
"OK" said BJ ""Peg will take you around looking for places later, Margaret. So for now, you can call Klinger about the dresses. And Hawkeye and I will go to look for rings." He yelled the last part loudly, so Hawkeye, who was creeping out of the room, could hear.