Eight months later, Hawkeye and Margaret had settled nicely into their new home. They loved it and were very excited about the baby. Every night before they went to bed, Hawkeye would get out his stethoscope and listen to the baby's heart. He loved doing this, and still could not believe that in an act of love, he and Margaret had created a living being. Sure, he learned all about it in med school, but experiencing it first hand how this little egg inside his wife is developing into a human being. Also, in a way, he felt bad. Margaret felt tired and was in pain, and although normal for any pregnant woman, it hurt to see the woman he loved so much go through so much pain because 9 months ago they had celebrated their marriage. Every week, and now that it was close to the due date, every second day, Hawkeye would give her a complete physical. At first he was very uncomfortable about this, but now it didn't bother him.

One night they sat up in bed, Hawkeye listening to the baby. "God, it still amazes me." He said shaking his head. "Hey kiddo! You need to come out! We need to see if we've got a Hawkeye or a Margaret in there! We really would like to meet you, and Mommy is having a hard time. You've been in there nine months, I think you're done!"

"Ben it's not a roast in the oven. It's not 'done'. It will be growing all the time!"

"I know. This little baby, dependant upon us, the two of us, Margaret for everything! I guess the fatherly instincts will come naturally when they're born, but I'm really nervous that I won't be a god father!"

"Ben you'll be a great father. Now, I'm really tired. I'm around my due date. It's been nine months ago today that we were married. The baby will be ready any day now, so we have to rest up. Good night."

Hawkeye still had his head down by her now large belly and said, "Okay. Mommy says it's time to go to bed now. I'll have to be a good example for you and do as mommy says. Never disobey her. Good night!" He kissed her belly and she laughed.

"Ben! You know I'm ticklish! You do that all the time!" She said giggling.

He started kissing her belly all over and she laughed and laughed and laughed. He moved up and started kissing her neck, and eventually finding her lips. He kissed her passionately and all of a sudden stopped. He looked at Margaret's exposed belly. "Hold on, we can't have Junior seeing this. They'll learn about this in time enough." He pulled her shirt down over her belly as if to cover the baby causing Margaret to laugh some more.

"Ben, don't be silly! The baby can't see you!"

He kissed her again, this time more slowly. All of a sudden she jumped. Startled he jumped away. Margaret was lying there with her eyes wide open and not moving a muscle. "Ben, get ready. I think you're be a Daddy really soon."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, my water just broke. Ben what do I do? I'm scared! I've delivered babies before but I was never on this end! I can't remember anything!"

"Don't worry sweetie. I'm a doctor and you're a nurse. We've been through a lot of things, a lot of medical miracles. Between you and me, we're gonna do this. Now just calm down, and breathe slowly. Now, I have my medical bag up here, I've had it close by just in case something happens. I'll run unto the bathroom and get scrubbed up. Hold on."

He ran into the bathroom and quickly but thoroughly washed his hands and arms. He threw off his housecoat and put on a clean shirt and boxers. He didn't have surgical garb, but he wanted to have clean clothing on. He went into the linen closet and got blankets and sheets and ran back into the room. He grabbed a towel and face cloth and wiped her swearing forehead. He kissed her. "Don't worry. I'm here. I won't leave you. Now let's get this baby out."

He helped her out of her pajama pants and checked her progress. "You're 5cm dilated already. That baby is in a hurry. When it gets to 10 we'll be ready to push."

"Okay, now hold my hand, I'm having another contraction." She said and he ran over and grabbed her hand. She nearly broke his fingers off as she screamed in pain, but he didn't mind. He was overjoyed, over-nervous, over- everything. He had just a mix of emotions he didn't know whether to cry, smile, scream, or what to do. After a little while, she said "Ben, I don't know how I know this, but I feel like it's time to push. Can you check?"

"Yeah, you might be ready. Hold on now." He got up and lifted her shirt. He had spread out the sheets under her, and checked. "Margaret, sweetie, you're at 11cm. It's time to bring this baby into the world! You and me, we're gonna be parents!" He couldn't believe it. He had nine months to prepare himself and he still couldn't believe it. "Okay, now push, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, relax. Don't worry honey, you're doing great!" He checked again, I think they're almost ready. C'mon honey you can do it! And push, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, relax. Margaret the baby is crowing! One more push and we'll get a head! C'mon, and push 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, relax. We've got a head!! Now, one more push and we'll get the shoulders out and we should have ourselves a baby. Push, 1, 2, 3, 4. honey. he looked up at her with tears in his eyes. We've got, we've got a little girl! I'm a daddy! You're a mommy!! We have a daughter! Wait, she's not breathing!" He cleaned out the mucus in the baby's mouth and all of a sudden a scream could be heard. "She's got a great pair of lungs!" He cut the umbilical cord and wrapped her in a blanket. "Hi there! I'm your Daddy! I was the one talking to you for the past nine months. Want to go meet your Mommy? C'mon."

He brought the baby over to Margaret. "Once you've said hello, you need to deliver the placenta. Okay, let me take her and just lay her in the bassinette. There we go, and push honey."

"Ben? How come it feels as hard to push out as the baby? It's really hurting!"

"Okay, just push for me, and we'll see.and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, push, relax.let's see what we've got. Hold on now. Honey you'll never believe this!! I must have missed the second heartbeat during my physicals! We've got a second baby coming! We need to push again, this one shouldn't be as hard, you're dilated a lot more now. Okay, we've got a head, just one more final push, and it'll all be over. And 1, 2, 3, we've got a little boy! I have a daughter and a son! Oh Margaret this is the happiest day of my life!"

He was crying as he cleaned up his son and wrapped the baby in another blanket that he had handy. "Hey there kiddo! Where have you been hiding to, huh? Let's go meet your Mommy." He brought him over and put him in Margaret's arms. She was crying too. "Honey, just one little push to get the placenta. Okay, good, now that that's out, we've got no more babies. He bent down and called out "Hello? Any more babies hiding in there? I didn't think so, but the little guy surprised us! Show yourselves now or you're staying in there!" He stood back up and smiled and Margaret. "I sound like my father already!"

Hawkeye took the babies and got them cleaned up. "I didn't want to alarm you Margaret, but I did notice that she was really small. And now I know why. They're actually big for twins. They've got my height. The little Ben is 22 inches and little Margaret is 21inches. Little Ben is 6 pounds, 7 ounces, and the little Margaret is 6 pounds and 5 ounces." He picked them back up, wrapped them into a blue and pink baby blanket. He had bought two, being prepared for either a girl or a boy, but never expecting both.

"We'll both get to hold one. I'll hold one while you nurse the other and then we'll switch. So what names will we pick?"

"Oh, Ben, honey. This has me worn out. I really like Nicolas Blake Jonathan Daniel. It's long, but named after Henry, Trapper, BJ, and you're dad."

"Yeah. I love it, Margaret sweetie. And how about "Elizabeth Sandy Lynn Jane? Named after your mother and my mother?"

"It's perfect." She smiled and kissed her husband as he held Nicolas while Margaret nursed Elizabeth.

"Ben, Will we call them Elizabeth and Nicolas or Beth and Nick?"

"I think we should call them Beth and Nick. Only Elizabeth and Nicolas when they're in trouble. I always knew when I was in trouble because Mom and Dad would call me 'Benjamin'"

"I love you, honey."

"I love you too. And you and you." Hawkeye added, kissing his son and daughter on their heads. And kissing Margaret softly on the lips. The stayed, sat up in Hawkeye and Margaret's bed for a long time that night, just enjoying seeing their children for the first time.