The house was warm when he walked in. The scent of dinner flooded through it and met him at the door. That was one nice thing about his mother-in-law; she always made sure there was a homemade dinner on the table by six o'clock.

When he walked into the kitchen he expected to see his in-laws in there, but it was only Margaret. She smiled at him and it grew larger when she saw he was holding a bouquet of flowers. "Are those for me or her?"

"These are for her." He laid them on the counter. "I have something else for you later."

"Oh, I'm sure." She knew exactly what he was referring to.

As soon as he walked in he noticed how flushed her cheeks were and when he leaned in to kiss her he felt the warmth from her skin. "Why is it so hot in here?"

"Mom and Dad were cold so I shut the windows and turned the heat back on."

"It was such a beautiful day though."

She shrugged. "They've lived in the south too long, and they're old."

"Ah yes." He nodded. "Let me guess, she could feel the cold in her bones as soon as she stepped off the plane."

"Close." She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him again. "What did you bring me?" She was sure he had flowers for her too.

"What did you get me?"

Margaret frowned. "Not even one flower? One little tiny carnation?"

"I'm sorry." He thought she wouldn't mind since they were for her mother. "I'll make it up to you."

"No, it's okay."

He would do it anyway. "Where are your parents?"

"They went upstairs about two hours ago to take a nap. They should be down any minute."

"That means you cooked the whole meal? You're kidding."

She pushed him away. "I know how to cook." She turned back to the stove.

"You do?" He teased.

"Ha ha."

He kissed the back of her neck. "I love when you cook." Most of the time he made it home before her and they either went out when she got home or he cooked.

"From here on I'm sure my mother will do the cooking and probably some baking."

"I'm okay with that."

"I know you are." One of the reasons her mother liked him was that he enjoyed her food so much. Hawkeye would try anything and even if he didn't like it he would eat it simply to please her.

"Do you need any help, baby?"

"I have it all under control, thank you though."

Hawkeye kissed her cheek. "I'll go change out of these clothes then."

He knew he had been only gone for a few minutes, but when he came back downstairs they were all sitting at the dining room table waiting for him. Alvin was sitting in his chair at the head of the table, again. The man knew exactly what he was doing and though Hawkeye could be very territorial he always let it go. Alvin could have the seat.

Instead of focusing on that he looked at his mother-in-law and smiled. "You're looking younger, Peggy."

"Don't you lie, young man." She stood up and hugged him. "Thank you for the flowers. They're beautiful."

He kissed her on the cheek and then turned around. He shook Alvin's hand. "Good to see you again."

"Likewise," the older man said.

"Well, dig in."

Hawkeye sat down next to his wife. "Looks great, honey."

"Thank you." She kissed him. They both heard her father grunt and smiled before pulling away.

The dinner conversation went fairly smooth. Margaret hadn't had much of a chance to talk to her parents. In order for them to get to Maine by plane they had to switch flights twice and were very tired by the time they arrived. Her mother didn't even inspect the house yet and that was usually one of the first things she did.

"Was the bed comfortable enough for you, Dad?"

"It was fine, Margaret. I can sleep anywhere, you know that."

She nodded. "Mom?"

"Just fine dear, we fixed it up last time we were here." They went shopping one afternoon to make the bed just right for her mother. It cost a small fortune because they ended up redecorating the room too.

"Ben, do you always dress like that when you go to work?" Alvin refused to call him Hawkeye, it was always "Ben" or "Hey you", sometimes the occasional "Son" slipped out.

"If they let me I would."

Margaret looked at her father. "He changed his clothes when he came home. Hawkeye dresses very professionally." She pushed her chair back and picked up her and Hawkeye's plates. "Is anyone up for dessert now?"

"Maybe later. I'm stuffed."

"Later will be nice," her mother said. Hawkeye moved to start clearing the table. "Don't do that dear. Margaret and I will take care of this."

"It's really no problem."

"Its woman's work," Alvin said. "Why don't you fix me a drink and we'll look over your collection of books." It wasn't said as a suggestion.

Great… The man loved to go over everything they had in the den and then comment on the lack of good literature. Alvin always had something to say about his collection of writers from New England. Apparently Hawthorne was terrible and Frost was the farthest thing from even an average poet. Then there was the lack of books on wars and tactics. The dozens of books on history meant nothing, although most were filled with war.

Hawkeye nodded. "What do you want to drink?"

"Scotch. Double."

In the kitchen Margaret was trying to talk to her mother about why they decided to take a trip on such sort notice, but there was no answer. Her mother was a master at evading questions.

Peggy was loading the dishwasher. "I don't understand why you have one of these."

"What's wrong with it?" Margaret was washing the larger pans in the sink.

"What's so hard about washing dishes?"

"It isn't hard, Mother. Having a dishwasher is convenient."

"There, it's full. How do you work this thing?"

"I'll get it."

Peggy moved over to where the flowers were still lying on the counter. "It was very nice of him to get these for me. Your father doesn't bring me flowers. He only sent them if he was on assignment away from home, and even then it was only on my birthday, our anniversary, and sometimes Valentine's Day. He always had to have a reason."

"Hawkeye brings them home out of the blue sometimes."

"Is there a vase I can put these in?"

"Over there." Margaret pointed to the cabinet across the room. "On the bottom, in the back."

"It would be much easier if you kept them under the sink. You have to put water in them. It just makes better sense."

Margaret rolled her eyes. "I like them over there. I have cleaning products under my sink."

"You'll have to change that when you have children."

"We will."

Peggy was at the sink filling the vase with water. "When will that be anyway?"

She shook her head. "You'll be the first person we tell. Don't worry."

"You've been married a little over a year already. We were only married nine months when you were born."

"You were married seven months, and I was full term."

Her mother waved her hand and didn't say another word about it.

Hawkeye walked in ten minutes later. The two women were sitting at the kitchen table flipping through magazines. Margaret wanted to remodel the kitchen and her mother was more than happy to give her opinion on styles and colors. "Excuse me, Peggy. Can I steal my wife for just a minute?"

"Sure."

"Can I see you in the living room?"

Margaret pushed out her chair. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." He gave her a smile. He held her arm and guided her into the downstairs bathroom instead of the living room. There was more privacy in there.

"What's the matter?" She was puzzled by being dragged into the bathroom. Last time he did that he had to show her his penis. "You couldn't have gotten bites again. It's too early in the year for mosquitoes." They had gone camping and he had fallen asleep naked outside. He was covered in bites.

"It's not that." He shuddered just thinking about it. "Why are your parents here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your father is being nice to me. He just told me one of his favorite poems is "The Road Less Traveled." What's going on?"

Hmm… That was very odd. "Something is up. They were here only two months ago."

He remembered the trip well. "Yes, what is it?"

Margaret shook her head and shrugged. "That's why she wouldn't answer me. I don't know what it is, but they're here for a reason."