The organist began to play. BJ leaned over to Hawkeye "Still nervous?" he asked.

"No." Hawkeye answered honestly "I'm not"

Hawkeye looked all around; first back at Father Mulcahy, standing with his Bible. The priest beamed at him. Hawkeye then looked down the line of his friends, willing to stand up with him, all between the trees as Margaret had imagined just a few short weeks ago. He looked at the gathered crowd, his father and Margaret's mother in the front row, Daniel trying to comfort his son's already crying soon-to-be-mother-in-law '…wow…mother-in-law…' was his next thought 'I'm gonna have a mother-in-law…'

With that thought, Hawkeye continued looking over the crowd. There was Mrs. Potter and Mrs. O'Reilly in the front row too with little Sherman Klinger; the two older women fussing over the baby, like older women do, both of whom's parents were in the wedding party. The empty chair next to Mrs. Potter would soon belong to her husband after he walked the bride down the aisle. Behind them was Louise McIntyre, sitting between her daughters. Next to the McIntyres was Sidney Freeman, then Jack Scully. Hawkeye watched in some amount of surprise as Frank Burns and his daughter, whom he still didn't know her name, snuck in and grabbed two seats in the third row right behind Sidney and Scully. Hawkeye had thought the way he had been made fun of would have driven the ferret-man right back to Ft. Wayne, but he had stayed. 'Good' Hawkeye couldn't help thinking 'He still doesn't know I'm marrying Margaret'. BJ nudging him drove him from his devious daydreams. Hawkeye turned to him.

"Look…" was the only word that came out of his old friend's mouth breathlessly and indicated the start of the women coming down the aisle…

"Well, Doctor Freeman, long time no see" Sidney Freeman turned to see who was addressing him and was shocked to find a man he though he would never see again (and didn't regret it either). He hid all this and addressed the man civilly.

"Hello Frank" said the good doctor "How nice to see you again" he lied through his teeth.

"And the same to you, Sidney. This is my daughter, Stephanie."

"Hello," Sidney managed to choke out while the only thought running through his head was 'My god! Who let Frank reproduce!'

"Hello," the young girl returned politely.

Frank leaned on the back of Sidney's chair, thus annoying the psychiatrist by elbowing him in the back of the head and surveyed the scene before them between the two trees. "Hmm…" he pondered out loud "The wedding's starting, isn't it?"

"Yes, Frank, it is" Sidney rolled his eyes.

"Then why is Pierce standing before Father Mulcahy in the groom's spot like he's the groom or something?"

"Maybe because he is the groom, Frank"

"What!" exclaimed the ferret.

Sidney gave him a weird look "Frank, get with it, where have you been, didn't you even look at your invitation? Look at the program, Frank" Sidney thrust a program at Frank, who grabbed it. He leaned back in his chair, and, with Stephanie looking over his shoulder, studied the front of the program. Much to his dismay, Frank discovered that Sidney was right. On the paper right before him, it said:

'The Marriage Ceremony of:

Margaret Elizabeth Houlihan

&

Benjamin Franklin Pierce

Sunday, May 5, 1956

Two o' clock in the afternoon

The Gardens

Mill Valley, California'

Frank looked from the paper to the smiling groom back to the paper "Oh Lord!" cried Frank quietly.

"Daddy, what is it?" Stephanie asked urgently

"Margaret…my Margaret…is marrying…HIM!" Frank pointed at the man in question

Jack Scully turned around and smirked at Frank "Didn't your mother ever teach you it's rude to point?"

"Who are you, sir, and why are you interrupting the private conversation between me and my daughter?"

Scully's face took on a bemused look "Don't you know?"

"No"

"I'm a person" Scully told Frank importantly.

"This must be a dream" mumbled Frank "I mean, this…this… totally random man begins talking to me about my manners and my mother, which, by the way, whom you have no business even talking about. My Margaret is marrying my mortal enemy…"

"Listen, buddy" Scully said seriously "I don't even know how you know Margaret, but she ain't yours. Margaret is marrying my buddy, Hawk and if I hear you refer to her as yours again, I'm gonna knock your teeth in, got it?"

"Ohh" Frank realized "So that explains your oddness. You're one of Pierce's friends"

"You know Hawk too? How?"

"I don't believe that's your business"

"Fist meet teeth" Scully raised his fist .

"On the other hand…" said Frank nervously "Wait, that wasn't the original agreement. You said if I called Marg…uh…" Frank trailed off as Scully raised his fist again "I unfortunately roomed with Pierce and his despicable friend Hunnicut in Korea" Frank finally answered the question, hoping to avoid the meeting of teeth and fist.

Scully lowered his fist "You were in Korea with Hawk, Margaret, and BJ?"

"Margaret, yes; Pierce and Hunnicut, unfortunately"

Scully still looked confused and began mumbling, more then himself than anything, "That doesn't make sense though…when I was there Hawk and BJ roomed with…" Scully's rantings were cut off when the beginning strains of piano music began to be heard and Scully turned around immediately, forgetting all about Frank. Frank sat back in his chair and began mumbling to Stephanie.

"Ooh I still can't believe it. My…er…Margaret…" he glanced quickly at the back of Scully's head to make sure he didn't hear that he had called Margaret his own again and wouldn't be coming at him, ready to kill him, but Scully didn't even turn around, so Frank continued "…Margaret is marrying…"he lowered his voice even further "…him…" he pointed with a shaking finger. Frank lowered his mouth almost directly in front of Stephanie's ear and said "They tricked me. They wanted me to look like a fool by not telling me who she was marrying me. They wanted me to make a scene, but I won't. …Now our plan is more important than ever…" he looked at his daughter seriously "Stephanie, if you want out, this is your last chance"

"No Daddy, if something means this much to you, I want to be involved"

Frank smiled at his daughter and wrapped an arm around her as they settled back to watch the beginnings of the women walking down the aisle…

Erin was the first to walk down the aisle. She was grinning from ear to ear. She was wearing a dress similar to those of the bridesmaids and the matron of honor, which was a spaghetti-strap dress, in light purple, Margaret's favorite color and they were all holding a bouquet of baby's breath flowers. BJ grinned with paternal pride as he watched his baby walk down the aisle, throwing more baby's breath flowers as she walked. After Erin came Margaret's cousin Annette, then her friend Lorraine. Then came Patty. Hawkeye looked over at Radar, who was looking at his girlfriend lovingly like he noticed nothing else, which made Hawkeye smile. After Patty came Soon-Lee, and Klinger beamed. Next, was Peg, which gave BJ another opportunity to display his pride in his family for all to see. He grinned at his wife and she smiled back. Peg was taking her place next to Soon-Lee when the 'The Wedding March' began to play. Hawkeye's head whipped around to look down the aisle. No one there. Then suddenly…Margaret positively floated down the aisle, trying to look modest and demure, but failing miserably with the face-splitting grin on her face.

Hawkeye stared at her, mesmerized. "Klinger," he whispered, never taking his eyes off Margaret "That dress is gorgeous". Klinger smiled.

Margaret's dress was a creamy, off-white, off-the-shoulders dress, with cap sleeves that cut off about 6-inches below her shoulders. The dress clung to her in all the right places and flowed down to the ground. The bottom of the dress featured embroidered flowers and other decorations. Though Hawkeye couldn't see it at the moment, the back of the dress dipped down low, into a U-shape, to about mid-back, displaying the tan, acquired from 2 weeks spent in California. Her shoulder-length blonde hair hung down, curled softly to frame her face. Margaret approached their makeshift altar, Potter escorting her, looking ahead quite solemnly. Hawkeye was waiting for them just beyond the first row of chairs, a few feet from where Father Mulcahy stood, waiting to marry them. Margaret and Potter reached the altar then. Wordlessly, Potter kissed Margaret on the cheek, clapped Hawkeye on the arm and went to sit next down next to his wife, accepting the handkerchief she offered him. Hawkeye offered his arm to his soon-to-be-wife. He leaned down to her as they began the short walk to Father Mulcahy.

"God, Margaret, you look gorgeous" breathed Hawkeye

Margaret blushed "D'you really think so?"

Hawkeye looked at her seriously "I know so"

"Frank's here y'know. I saw him on my way in"

Hawkeye grinned "Yeah, I was with the guys before and we saw him"

"And you gave him a hard time?"

"Naturally"

"Tell me later?"

"Of course"

The happy couple reached the priest at that point and their conversation stopped. Father Mulcahy beamed down at the both of them. He then looked up at the group gathered around them.

"Dearly beloved, friends, family," he announced "We are gathered here today to bear witness as these two," he indicated Hawkeye and Margaret "become one in the eyes of God, in the eyes of all gathered here today, and more importantly, in the eyes of each other. Margaret and Hawkeye have had to overcome many obstacles to get to where they are today, the biggest of which being the fact that they were thrust in the middle of a war zone. Their genuine love for each other, spawning out of this war overcame all obstacles, including the biggest of them all, so if any two people deserve to become one, it is these two, but if anyone does not agree with this statement, if anyone sees reason why these two should not wed, speak now or forever hold their peace"

All eyes of anyone who had ever been at the 4077th MASH immediately focused on Frank Burns, who shifted guiltily in his seat, but did not say a word.

Father Mulcahy smiled and continued "In that case, Margaret Elizabeth Houlihan, do you take Benjamin Franklin Pierce to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love, honor, and cherish, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

Margaret, who had been looking at Father Mulcahy, turned to look at Hawkeye. She smiled at him and her eyes brimmed with tears "Yes, Father, I do"

Father Mulcahy grinned wider "And you, Benjamin Franklin Pierce, do you take Margaret Elizabeth Houlihan to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, honor and cherish, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

Hawkeye looked at Margaret, his electric blue eyes radiant with so much love for this woman in front of him "Especially the love, honor and cherish thing" he joked, but he became serious almost immediately "You bet I do"

Father Mulcahy looked as if his face would split neatly in two with the smile that grew on his face as his two close friends professed their love for each other. He looked like he was about to cry, but he held it in as he began to finish the ceremony "Margaret and Hawkeye have just exchanged vows to become one in a ceremony older than time itself. To seal this, they will exchange rings as well. May I have the rings?"

BJ, engrossed in the ceremony, took a minute to remember that he was the one holding the rings. He too, like the rest of the guests, began to look among the groomsmen to see which of them had the rings. It was only when he noticed they all were looking back at him he remembered that he holding the rings. He laughed "Oh right" and fished them out of his pocket "Here you go, Father", causing a laugh from the guests.

Hawkeye shook his head "Always have to steal the show, don't you, Hunnicut? Even at my wedding" he joked

Father Mulcahy fingered the two rings as the attention was put back on the ring. He held the smaller one out to Hawkeye "Slip this ring onto her finger and invoke the vow 'With this ring, I thee wed'"

"Got it" Hawkeye joked. He turned the ring around in his hands a few times, almost as if thinking 'Okay, this is it. Very last chance to back out', as if prepping himself for what he was about to do, but soon he stopped turning the ring. He stopped when he realized he didn't have to prep himself. He was ready. Not wasting anymore time, Hawkeye slipped the ring on Margaret's finger. He looked straight into her eyes, blue into blue as he repeated the words "With this ring, I thee wed"

Father Mulcahy apparently wasn't the only one ready to cry, Margaret looked ready to burst out into tears herself, but she managed to hold it in as she accepted the second ring from Father Mulcahy and repeated the vow that Hawkeye had told her "With this ring," she slipped the ring onto his finger "I thee wed"

Father Mulcahy addressed the guests "With this eternal, sacred vow completed, I now pronounce you husband and wife" He turned to Hawkeye with an impish grin. He knew what to expect "Hawkeye, you may now kiss your bride".

"The part I've been waiting for" Hawkeye grinned impishly back and grabbed his wife in a breath-defying kiss that lasted twice as long as the one between him and Margaret when they were saying goodbye at the end of the war. "Well, that was fun, let's do it again" Hawkeye said to no one in particular as he and Margaret broke away to quiet sniffs of impropriety and how the kiss had been longer then decently acceptable from Margaret's side of the family, laughter and comments on "Same ol' Hawkeye, he never changes does he? Always needs to make a show!" from Hawkeye's side of the family and shared smiles and attempts to avoid each other's eyes for fear of loud raucous laughter at an otherwise quiet, sacred ceremony from anyone who had ever been at or been associated with the 4077th MASH (with the exception of Frank and his daughter) for they were the only ones who knew what that prolonged kiss had been all about.

A/N: Yeah I so wrote a better wedding scene a while ago before The Most Annoying Writer's Block of Doom occured, but unfortunately for us all, I handwrote it and it disappeared from my room...I think I put it away somewhere, but I can't for the life of me remember where...It was really good too...Oh well, if I ever find it, I'll make sure to add it in.

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