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After their pregnancy scare, Hawkeye and Margaret spend a little more time together, but not as much as they'd like with the heavy casualties going through the camp. Then, Charles is caught abusing amphetamines which he swears he will quit doing. The camp seems to be spiraling, and a letter from Donald causes Margaret to spiral as well. She also has no one to talk to about it. Donald writes to tell her that he may face a court martial for his supposed sexuality. Margaret wants to help him and writes that she will call him. The day all the casualties clear out again, the Head Nurse goes to call Donald only to find out he left without telling her in order to go hide by taking a transfer to San Francisco. Being friends, she thought she could help him, but he apparently does not trust her as much as she thought. Leaving Radar's office in a huff, Margaret kicks a can out of her way only to keep doing so until she runs into her husband in the compound.
"'Outta my way, Pierce'," The nurse shouts. "'I'm gonna kick every can in this camp!'"
Angry himself about not being able to get out of the army due to an updated points system, Hawkeye throws his own misery into the ring by exclaiming, "'Hey, hey! I don't know what set you off, but I'm not in the mood!'"
"'Of course not'," Margaret scoffs adding emphasis on the word husband in her next comment. "'It means nothing to you that my husband got himself transferred back to San Francisco for good!'"
"'Margaret, they changed the rules on us again!'" Hawkeye exclaims trying to push her anger aside. Disregarding his comment, Margaret exclaims, "'He ran out on me!'"
Still on his tirade, Hawkeye grouses, "'We'll be here forever! We'll be here longer than forever!'"
Quickly, Hawkeye registers Margaret's words. Officially concerned for his friend, the surgeon lowers his tone asking, "'What do you mean he ran out on you?'"
"'He lied to me. He kept saying we could work things out. And then to prove it, he went sneaking off. He couldn't even face me, the dirty, miserable weasel!'"
By now she is crying and wants nothing more than to crawl into her tent instead of displaying her tears in public.
"'What are you going to do?'" He asks. Decidedly, Margaret answers that she will officially get a fake divorce to dissolve the fake marriage.
Shocked, Hawkeye consoles, "'Margaret, I'm sorry.'"
"'It's my fault. Look at the place I picked to have a marriage!'" The woman sobs. She wants to talk to Hawkeye. Wants to understand their marriage in case something happens. Before she can explain herself, Margaret watches Hawkeye run off to a jeep. Confused, Margaret calls out, "'What are you doing? Where are you going?'"
"'I'm going to Panmunjom.'"
"'What?'" Margaret asks in disbelief.
"'I'm going to the peace talks'," He declares before jumps in the jeep.
"'The peace talks? Why?'" Margaret asks missing out on the unjust point system conversation from earlier. Hawkeye starts the engine to the jeep he confiscates before yelling, "'To stop the war!'"
While waiting for Hawkeye to come back, Margaret helps B.J. prepare for the party they have at the mess tent. After his outburst, B.J. decides to make his friend and the entire camp feel better by having an Anti- green party. Decorating everything in red, which Hawkeye declares is anti- green, B.J., Margaret, and Klinger stand back to admire their work.
"I think it's missing something," Klinger comments. With a laugh, Margaret exclaims, "Red!"
"Margaret, everything in here is red," B.J. states. Shaking her head, the nurse explains, "Red clothing, red food, red punch."
"Red hair," B.J. jokes, but quickly sees the glint in Margaret's eyes. When Hawkeye finally comes back, B.J., Margaret, and the rest of the camp are already enjoying the party. As soon as the Chief Surgeon enters the tent, he is greeted with drinks and later an already tipsy Margaret.
"'Welcome home, you crazy galoot!'" She exclaims as Hawkeye brags, "'I did it! I told them all! You should have seen me. I was terrific.'"
Stepping away from a bit of the crowd, the surgeon tells Margaret, "'Hey, listen, about your divorce, if there's anything I can do to help'?"
"'Best thing that ever happened to me'," The woman assures him knowing their relationship can get back on track. "'The weight of the world is off my shoulders. I feel like a new woman! It's all coming back the spirit, the confidence.'"
"'Oh, that's great! That's fantastic. That's just what I wanted to hear. I'm proud of you, Margaret.'"
And he is. Hawkeye is ecstatic to see his wife soften a little into the woman he knows and loves. She is still tough and a stern nurse, but Margaret begins to open up a little more. A change seems to come over her after Hawkeye comes back from the 8063rd as well. Not long after his return, Hawkeye notices Margaret interacting more with B.J. and Charles, sitting with them all at meals, laughing and joking. Asking her about it, Margaret tells him about how her best friend Lorraine was the nurse they got.
"We had a talk about my being less closed off and to find friends here in camp. I decided to take her advice."
Becoming closer to pull pranks with the doctors, the group plays small pranks, joking with each other, but nevery anything too serious. One week to deal with a stressful week with casualties, the group perform multiple pranks on each other culminating in scaring Charles into thinking B.J. cheated on his wife with Margaret. By now, B.J. is fairly convinced that Margaret is Hawkeye's mystery wife, but will never say anything. The secret makes B.J. find the prank even funnier considering B.J. and Margaret orchestrated the prank only bringing Hawkeye in later. Laughing about their deception later in the Officers Club, B.J., Hawkeye, and Margaret sit around a table with their drinks and Margaret asks, "Are you going to write Peg and tell her about this?"
Shaking his head, B.J. answers, "No. There are some things that don't translate well via letter. Besides, I don't have to tell my wife everything."
Hawkeye hides a grin behind his cup as his wife laughs outwardly. That night, B.J. turns in to write to Peg leaving Hawkeye and Margaret alone together. The couple then make their way to Margaret's tent talking about everything and nothing. Then, Margaret drops a bombshell.
"Hawk, my dad is coming in the next few weeks."
Nodding mutely knowing he does not make a good first impression, Hawkeye finally says, "Yeah? Are you excited?"
"I have no idea," Margaret answers with a heavy sigh. On one hand, she loves her father, but on the other, she is angry at him for how he treats her mother. Telling Hawkeye so, Margaret asks, "What do you think would have happened to our marriage if I had stayed in Maine?"
"Do you think we would have been divorced?" Hawkeye clarifies. Margaret nods afraid of the answer.
"I don't think we would have. At least not like we saw with Klinger and Laverne."
"I don't know Hawk, I think you'd look nice in a wedding dress," Margaret teases before becoming serious again. "I think I would have gotten restless. I'm not good at staying at home. That's what I like about the Army."
Hawkeye starts to say something when his wife continues, "I know I keep complaining about not having a home, or something permanent, but I do like being mobile."
Smiling, her husband states, "We'll have to travel a lot then. First, though, I'd like to travel home."
"I understand," Margaret answers kissing Hawkeye. The couple is quiet a moment until Margaret jumps up stating, "I got a letter from my sister!"
Eyes wide, Hawkeye asks about it, hoping to be able to officially meet her once the war is over. Smiling, Margaret hands the letter to Hawkeye who reads it. When he looks up at her with an unreadable expression, Margaret asks, "Aren't you excited? You get to be an Uncle!"
Brushing the sadness away from their not having their own child, Hawkeye states almost hollowly, "Yeah."
Sensing her husband's emotions, Margaret tells him, "We'll have our own child someday, Hawk. I promise."
Taking his wife's hand, Hawkeye kisses it. He knows that his want is a little selfish, especially in a war zone. A child is a lot, but plenty of people have children in a war zone. Although, most of them are probably not planned. Shaking his head as if that will clear his mind, Hawkeye turns the conversation to Margaret's father.
Knowing only Margaret's version of her father, Hawkeye is surprised to find out just how military the man is. Howitzer Al makes Margaret look reasonable, especially as she makes the camp crazy with her strict, Army regulated cleaning. When Howitzer Al does arrive, Hawkeye almost has to talk Margaret down until he meets the man himself. When Margaret introduces her father to the head surgeons and CO, Hawkeye shakes the man's hand and greets, "'Any father of Margaret is a father of mine.'"
Letting out an uneasy laugh, Margaret decides to send her father elsewhere. Guiding the General away, Margaret is well aware of at least one pair of eyes on her. Hawkeye simply notices how hard the nurse tries to please her father. For Hawkeye, the relationship between Margaret and her father upsets him. He never has to do anything to know his father loves him. Margaret tries everything. However, a side of beef that a patient gives him and B.J. preoccupies his mind instead of Margaret's feelings. At least until surgery. As the Head Nurse whispers to him to stay professional, Hawkeye tries to keep her calm. Instead she turns and knocks over a tray of instruments. Hawkeye can see the hurt in her eyes and immediately wants to march up to Howitzer Al and tell him how great a daughter he has. Controlling his temper, Hawkeye asks B.J. that night to accompany him to the Officer's Club and immediately spot Margaret's father.
"'Come on. For Margaret, let's go make nice'," Hawkeye tells B.J. when they decide to sit with Al and The Colonel. Hawkeye tries not to say much, but is fully disgusted by the man's attitude, especially when he storms off. Whatever Al dislikes about him, Hawkeye has the same feelings.
"'I hope you both are satisfied you louses!'" Margaret yells when she sees them in the compound the next morning. Angry, she begins telling them how her father is leaving and all the things the men did to him. Trying to calm her down, Hawkeye and B.J. soon realize the effort is futile when she sees Klinger wheeling beef around the compound. Deciding to find her later that day, Hawkeye is pleased to find his wife in a happier mood.
"Hey," He says sliding in beside her in the mess tent. "You seem happier than before."
Nodding, Margaret replies, "He's proud of me, my dad! I did a lot to disappoint him in the last year or so."
"Sorry about that," Hawkeye sheepishly apologizes. Shaking her head, Margaret answers, "It's not all your fault. I did enough to lose his trust."
Hawkeye nods before telling her he is getting something to eat adding, "You want anything?"
Shaking her head, Margaret admits to eating already. Hawkeye nods before heading off to get a cup of coffee.
"I always said that if I had kids, I'd tell them how much I loved them until they were sick," Margaret reveals once Hawkeye comes back to the table and sits opposite her. A smile graces Hawkeye's lips as he thinks back to their conversation about children before Al's visit. He wants to say something, and he can tell his wife does too. Instead, Margaret quickly remembers where she is and asks, "Was the meat you confiscated at least worth all the effort you put in to it?"
With a huge smile, the surgeon answers, "Sure was! We're having a feast tonight! Igor's pulling out all the stops! White table cloths, real plates, and mushrooms!"
"Mushrooms!" Margaret questions happy to have an edible and identifiable vegetable. "I'm hungry already!"
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