DISCLAIMER: Once against, I am sad to say that I do not own M*A*S*H…
It was the next morning, and B.J. was just waking up. As he opened his eyes, he started to have a horrible headache.
"Uggh…what the hell happened?" he muttered to himself as he sat up in bed. While he was sitting up, Peg walked in the door with a steaming-hot cup of coffee.
"Oh good, you're awake." Peg said as she sat down next to him and handed him the cup. "You've been asleep for quite a while, and I was starting to get worried. Here, drink this. It should help your headache a little bit."
"Thanks." He answered as he took the cup from her and drank a couple sips. "What exactly happened last night?"
"You don't remember?" Peg asked, clearly concerned. "It was more yesterday afternoon than last night. Hawkeye was here, and he and you talked. He told me that you drank too much, and said that you passed out sometime in the afternoon. You've been asleep ever since." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Are you sure you're ok?"
B.J. thought to himself for a moment, as memories from the day before came back to him. He and Hawkeye had been talking over some bourbon. But what exactly had they been talking about? As he sipped some more coffee, he suddenly remembered what their conversation had been about. How on earth could he have forgotten?
"You're asking if I'm okay?" B.J. said as he looked at his wife. "Honey, I should be asking you that. I mean, you are…pregnant."
Peg sighed before continuing. "So you do remember. I was wondering how much of an effect the bourbon had. I really didn't feel like telling you all over again." For a moment, the two of them simply looked at each other, each one afraid of what the other would say. Finally, B.J. spoke up.
"How are you feeling, Peg?"
"Oh, I'm alright I suppose. I'm just tired…and a little sick…and maybe just a little bit afraid." As she said this, she started to tear up a bit, and B.J. pulled her into his arms. "But how are you feeling, B.J.?"
"Tired," he replied, "and a little sick from all the alcohol yesterday. Maybe I'm a little bit afraid too."
"I just can't believe it, B.J. We're having another baby." As Peg said this, a grin started to spread across her face.
"I know." He said. "Peg, I'm sorry about how I acted yesterday. I shouldn't have reacted like I did when you told me about the baby."
"Well, you're right." Peg told him. "But then again, I shouldn't have reacted to our fight by running away to the other side of the country with Erin and not telling you where I was going."
"True. But if you hadn't done that, I wouldn't have been able to see Hawkeye. Without him, who knows where the two of us would be."
"Yes. The friendship you have with him is definitely special. Not many people would travel across the country like he did to simply talk to their old pal." Peg sighed, and the two of them were silent. Finally, Peg spoke again. "So how do really feel? About the baby, I mean."
"Well…" B.J. answered slowly. "I'm afraid. But it's not because of you or the baby. I'm excited were having another child. Sure, it's a little sooner than we planned, but that's ok. What I'm scared of is myself." Peg focused all of her attention on him as he continued. "There's just so much going on with me mentally right now, and I'm afraid I can't be the husband and father I need to be. To be honest, I'm afraid of losing myself…or worse, losing my family." He looked down at the floor as he said this, as if he was ashamed of his current state of mind. Peg reached for his face, turned his head gently, and brought him in for a slow, passionate kiss. After several seconds, she pulled away to speak.
"Listen to me, B.J." Peg said quietly. "You won't lose yourself, and you certainly won't lose us. I won't let that happen. When the army took you away from us, I had no choice but to comply. But this is different. I'm going to do everything I can to get you through this, and I know you will too. You're with me this time, and I'm not letting go." There was a quiet strength in her voice, and it was clear that she meant every word she said.
"Peg…" B.J. said slowly, leaning in for another long, steady kiss. After they pulled apart, B.J. spoke again. "Thank you. I love you so much."
"I love you, too." Peg said, as her eyes started to well up. Before she knew it, she was suddenly sobbing. B.J. continued to wrap his arms around her, holding her close as she cried. They stayed that way for several minutes, with Peg's sobs the only sound to break the silence. Once her tears slowed down, she looked up at him. "I'm sorry."
"You're sorry? For what?" B.J. asked gently.
"For crying like this. I've been trying be strong for you, so we can get through this. But I guess I'm not very good at holding things together."
"Peg, what are you talking about?" B.J. said as he shook his head. "You've been strong since the day I stepped out the front door and left for Korea. Who am I kidding: you've been strong since the day I've met you. It's ok…you've had so much responsibility for so long, and you're exhausted. Tell you what, why don't you let me be the strong one for a while?"
"Ok." Peg said with a small smile as she sniffed and wiped her tears away. The two of them laid back down in bed to cuddle. They were quiet for several minutes, simply enjoying each other's presence. After a while, Peg asked B.J. a question.
"So what happens now?" Peg asked quietly.
"What do you mean?" B.J. asked her.
"Well…what's our plan to get through the next several months? I mean, Hawkeye and Sidney are the ones who started fixing this. But now they're gone, and it's up to us to follow through. What should we do?" It was evident from the way she was asking that she was a little bit afraid of his response.
"I suppose we'll just take it one day at a time." B.J. said thoughtfully. "I mean, what else can we do? Sidney said he'd recommend a local psychiatrist for me, so I'll see him and hopefully make some progress."
"What about the finances?" Peg asked, clearly concerned about how they would support themselves over the next several months. "I mean, I can still work for a little while longer, but after a couple more months…then what?"
"I don't know." B.J. said with a sigh. "I know that Sidney said I need to get back into medicine, but I don't know if I can yet. Hawkeye was able to get back in the game after his breakdown, but I'm afraid I won't make it through."
"Don't worry about that right now, then." Peg said gently. "We'll make it work."
"I know. Just know that no matter what, we'll have money. I'll do whatever I need to do to support our family."
"I know." Peg said. "That's why I'm not worried. I honestly don't think you're done with medicine. But I have faith in you no matter what." As she said this, she gave him a gentle smile.
"Peg, what did I do to deserve an amazing wife like you?"
Peg smiled before answering. "Whatever you did, it must have been the same thing I did to deserve an amazing husband like you."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello again, everyone! So I know back in March I said that I would post again soon, and now we are in June…oops. The last few months have been busy for me: I graduated college, my sister graduated high school, the two of us had birthdays, and we took several vacations. But here I am with another chapter that I hope you all enjoyed! I have many more plans for this story, and I hope I can continue to update it on a semi-regular basis. This chapter did not have any references to M*A*S*H episodes (since it was mainly focused on B.J. and Peg bonding). As always, feel free to comment with any compliments, questions, or constructive criticisms. I love hearing from you guys, and it brings a smile to my face when I think about how many people have enjoyed this story. Thanks again for reading!
