Chapter 10

May 1958

It had been two weeks since Hawkeye had come home from the hospital. He was in much better spirits and was up and around. He could take care of the baby for a few hours while Margaret and Danny went out so he could get out of the house and get some energy out. Sometimes the baby would go with them, but if it was close to his naptime or if he was sleeping, he stayed home with Hawkeye. Hawkeye was gaining his independence back which was putting him in a much better mood.

Margaret walked into the house with the boys. "Hey gorgeous. How was your walk?"

"Fine," she smiled. She loved when he called her that or any other term of endearment. "How was your peace and quiet?"

"Wonderful!" He called from the kitchen.

"I wish I knew what that was like," she mumbled to herself as she shut the door behind her and pushed the stroller into the baby’s room.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," she called. Matt had fallen asleep so she placed him in his crib and shut his door. Then she walked out to the living room. Danny had taken his coat and shoes off and was sitting on the couch staring blankly at the TV. He would fall asleep soon.

She walked into the kitchen and saw Hawkeye lying on his back with his head under the sink. She looked at him for a moment before she said anything. He was wearing a pair of shorts, but no shirt. She couldn’t see his face because it was under the sink, but the rest of his body was a sight for sore eyes. She felt a burning in the pit of her stomach for him like she used when they were dating. If it wasn’t for Danny in the living room she would have jumped on her husband right then and there.

"Could you hand me that wrench?"

Margaret shook her head clearing her thoughts. "What?"

"The wrench. Could you hand it to me?"

She grabbed it off the table and brought it over to him. She walked over and squatted down next to his chest and handed it to him. "Here honey."

"Thanks," he flashed her a smile that she caught because she was so close now.

"How did you know I was in here?"

"I could smell your perfume."

"Oh," she smelled the collar of her shirt self consciously.

"Don’t worry. It’s good."

"Oh." She looked at his chest and reached out to touch him. "You…um…have some dirt." She brushed it off and let her hand linger there longer than she had intended.

He smiled and picked his head up so he could see her. She was looking at his chest and moving her hand over his pecks. "Did you get it?"

Margaret moved her hand away like she had been burnt. "Ah…yeah."

He scooted out from under the sink and sat up. "The leak is fixed."

"Oh, good," she smiled.

"Yes." He saw that she was about to stand up, but grabbed her arm to prevent her from doing so. He smiled at her. "I caught you checking me out."

A large smile spread across her face. "Are you sure it wasn’t you checking me out?"

His face mirrored her own with the smile. "You saw me looking at your legs? I didn’t think you saw that."

She didn’t see him because she was so focused on looking at him, but she didn’t want to let him know that. "I did see it. You’re not very sneaky."

"Neither are you." He pulled her closer and kissed her. He grabbed her by both of her arms and pulled her to him. She fell forward onto his chest and he laid back down pulling her with him. Their lips never parted and she fell easily with him, lost in his touch. His hands moved from her arms to her back and then to her waist. She didn’t feel anything except his lips on hers until his hands moved her shirt up and he unsnapped her bra.

She pulled her lips away from him. "Stop," she said breathlessly.

"What’s the matter?" He pulled her back to kiss her without waiting for an answer.

"Hmmm," she moaned. "No," she pulled away slightly when his hands made their way up her back and started to take her bra off.

"What?"

"Danny." She leaned down and kissed him once more. She found him irresistible at the moment.

"Damn," he mumbled.

"I know." She sat up and hooked her bra again. She wiped the sides of her mouth to take off any smeared lipstick.

"What’s he doing?"

"He should be falling asleep soon. I’ll go check."

Hawkeye pulled her down for another kiss and then let her go. He missed making love to her so much. It brought them closer together and it felt so damn good. He watched her walk away and then sighed. It had been three long weeks since they had done anything. He wanted her so badly.

"Mommy," Danny whined. He saw her walk into the room.

"Yes baby?"

"Me tired."

"Well, go to sleep."

"You too."

"No honey."

"Den me not gonna." She sighed and sat down next to him on the couch. He crawled onto her lap and closed his eyes. Within a minute he was sound asleep. She laid him on the couch and covered him with a blanket.

Hawkeye was still on the kitchen floor when she walked back in. He cleaned up the tools he was using and threw them back in the toolbox. "He asleep?" He asked eagerly.

She smiled and nodded. "Come with me." She offered her hands to him to help him up.

"I can do it." He pulled himself up using the kitchen table for support and smiled proudly when he was standing on his own two feet. "Now get over here." He pulled her over to him and started to kiss her passionately. His hand moved right to her back and unsnapped her bra again. His hands moved up her ribcage and he brought her shirt up and wanted to pull it off of her. She was putty in his hands and the next thing she knew she was standing there naked from the waist up; her bra on the floor and her shirt on the table.

"Oh, Hawk," she breathed. "We…ah…"

"Hmm?"

"Not…he…here."

He didn’t listen to her and started to move from her mouth to her neck. She knew she would be in trouble if he hit that certain spot on her neck so she pushed him away. "What?"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him. "Bedroom."

"Slow down," he said with a smile. "I can’t move as fast as you."

"Let’s hope not," she grinned. "You shouldn’t be fast. Women don’t like that."

He smiled and followed behind her to the bedroom. He wanted to shout out because he as so excited, but if he did that he would wake up the boys and have to take another cold shower to stifle his excitement even longer. When they got inside the room he shut the door and found his wife all over him. Her lips were on his neck and her hands were roaming all over his strong chest and back. She would rake her nails up and down his back lightly which caused him to shiver each time. He pushed her onto the bed and laid between her legs as they kissed each other and explored their bodies once again.

Her hands found the waist of his shorts and she started to push them down. He maneuvered his body a little so they fell. He stood up and let them drop to the floor while he pulled off her shorts and panties. Then he laid down nestling himself between her opened legs. He realized then that he couldn’t do anything in that position because of his knee, so he flipped them over so she was on top.

"Feels like forever," he breathed.

"I know."

****

Hawkeye laid there with a smile on his face and his wife in his arms. He breathed deeply a few times. "That felt so good."

"Uh huh!"

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "We need to do that more often."

"Yes. What time is it?"

He glanced over at the clock. "Two."

"Oh," she sighed.

"What?"

"The boys will be awake soon."

"So, they’ll wake us up."

"We’re naked."

"That’s the best way to be."

She smiled and kissed him. "You can stay here. I’m gonna get up."

"I feel so…used."

She laughed at him. "You’re strange." She gave him another kiss and then got out of bed. "Wait, you know what? I’m just going to take a shower. You listen for the boys, okay?"

"Okay," he yawned.

"I’m serious."

"I know. Give me another kiss, sexy." She smiled and gave him one more. "I love you, you know?"

"I know," she smiled and walked away.

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Margaret tossed one load of laundry from the washer to the dryer and then threw one more load into the washer. The laundry seemed to be a never ending task now, and of any chore around the house it was laundry she hated the most. It just seemed to take forever. She grabbed the basket of clean clothes and took them into the kitchen where it was cooler.

"I hate laundry," she stated as she placed the basket on the table.

Hawkeye smiled at her. "Me too."

"It would be nice to send it out if it didn’t seem so frivolous."

"Yeah."

She wiped her brow before she started to fold the clothes. "Look at these. It’s full of Matt’s clothes."

"He’s messy. You knew babies were messy before we had one."

She rolled her eyes good naturedly. "He’s worth his mess. Did you get him to sleep?"

"Yep. Both of the boys are down for the night."

"Did you open their windows?"

"Yes."

"Good. This heat wave in May is a killer."

"Don’t I know it. I wish I could have a cold beer."

She smiled at him, "Well I can have one for you if that’ll make feel better."

"No. It won’t."

She gave him a kiss. "You should be off the pain meds soon and then I will get you what you want. I will personally deliver it to you and your lazy ass on the couch."

"Margaret!" He said in a whiny tone. "I’m not lazy."

She laughed at him. "I’m teasing you."

"You’ve been doing it all day."

"What are you talking about?"

He pushed out his chair and stood up behind her. "You’re not wearing much," he said softly. "Short shorts and bikini top is enough to make any man go wild."

She smiled and leaned back into him. "Not when she’s folding laundry."

He nuzzled her neck. "Even when she’s folding laundry. You’re very sexy."

"You’re not so bad yourself walking around in your boxers all day." She turned around in his arms and looked up into his eyes. "That’s enough to make a woman go crazy."

"This heat wave is making me hot in more ways than one."

"Uh huh," she kissed him threading her fingers through his soft black hair. His hands moved up and down her back. When they found the waist band of her shorts he started to tug on them. "Hawk," she pushed back. "No."

"Why?"

"We’re in the kitchen."

"So," he grinned and pulled her closer. "It’s cooler in the kitchen. We can do it here. The boys are in bed."

She looked at him for a moment and then gave in. "You’re gonna get us in trouble."

"Not if you’re taking birth control."

She shook her head and sighed. "I have to. If I recall, it was your idea to keep going without the condom."

"Shh. Don’t talk about that."

She laughed at him. "Maybe we should go to our room."

"Why?" He kissed her neck making her weak in the knees.

"What if Danny wakes up and comes looking for us?"

"He won’t." He was making his way down to her chest.

"Hawk…eye." He was so hard to refuse. Her neck was her weak point and he knew that. "Oh, ah…wait."

"What?" He mumbled as he kissed and licked his way from her chest to her stomach.

"What if he…ah…comes…looking for us?"

Hawkeye went back to her neck because he could tell she was starting to get her bearings back and was going to make him go to the bedroom. He didn’t want to. He wanted her to live a little. They never had a honeymoon phase because she was pregnant and not in the mood and then they had Danny to take care of and the whole pregnancy. It was time for them to act like the newlywed couple they were. They hadn’t even been married a year.

"Hawk," she moaned.

"He’s sleeping, baby. If he…looks for…us…he’ll go to…the bedroom." He said in between kissing and sucking on her neck. "Why would…he go…to the…kitchen?"

"I don’t…know," she moaned.

"He’ll call for us…if he can’t…find us. We’ll have…time…"

That was all she needed to be convinced. "Okay." She moved her hands to the side of his head and made him kiss her mouth. He pushed his pelvis against her. "Oh," she squealed. She felt his hands untie the string behind her neck and then the one around her back. She took the top and tossed it aside and then grabbed the waist band of his boxers and pulled them to the ground. She ground her hips against him causing him to moan loudly.

****

The two of them were lying together on the kitchen floor both covered in sweat with smiles spread across their faces. They were lying in the shape of a T with her head on his stomach. His hand was resting on one of her breasts and they were both breathing hard trying to get back to normal. "Oh, Margaret…that was great."

"Yeah."

"I told you we could stay in the kitchen."

She smiled. "It was worth it."

"Good. Maybe this will start a new pattern."

"What’s that?"

"Being a little risky. We’re still newlyweds and it’s about time we act like it."

She rolled over and rested her chest against his looking into his eyes. "I know. We have a little different circumstance than other most people do."

"So, that just means we have to be sneaky and creative."

She bent her head down and kissed him. "I thought we’ve already established that neither one of us are sneaky."

"Maybe so, but that means that our kids won’t know how to be sneaky either."

"Ah," she smiled and nodded. "Let’s get dressed."

"Its so much cooler without our clothes."

"I can’t walk around naked, and neither can you. The windows are open, and we’re not giving the neighbors a peep show." He laughed at her and they got to their feet. She threw him his boxers and then grabbed one of his clean t-shirts that she had just folded and put it on. "Will you help me with the laundry?"

"What?" He chuckled.

"It’s almost done. The load in the dryer is finished and then all I have to do is throw the one in the washer into the dryer."

"Margaret…"

"What?" She turned around and smiled at him.

"How do you go from that," he pointed to where they had been on the kitchen floor. "To ‘let’s do laundry’?"

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I don’t know."

"You sure have a way of making a man feel used."

She wrapped her arms around his torso and kissed him. "I didn’t mean to. You know I love you and would love to cuddle with you, but it’s so damn hot."

"Wow, you’re so romantic." He teased and kissed her on the top of the head wrapping his arms around her back. "But it is hot out."

"Yes," she yawned. "This heat is a killer."

He rubbed her back as she rested against him. He was starting to get his balance back enough that he could hold her. "Grab the damn clothes and I’ll help you."

She smiled and gave him a kiss. "You’re such a good husband. I’m glad I married you." He laughed as he watched her walk away. "If only you were healed. You would be a lot more fun."

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Hawkeye rolled his eyes and pulled on his boxers while he waited for her to come back. He was sitting down at the table when she walked back with a basket full of clothes. She placed the basket in front of him. "Have at it."

He grabbed a small blue pair of pants. "These are so little."

"They’re Matt’s."

"I know that." He sat there and folded some clothes. Most of them were Matt’s and Danny’s. "What did you mean, I would be more fun?"

She smiled. "Nothing. I told you, nothing."

"You meant something. Am I not…performing as good?"

She walked over behind him and leaned down wrapping her arms around his neck. She kissed his cheek. "Your…performance, is very good."

"Then why did you say that?"

"Well," she pressed her cheek against his. "I do all the work now. When that knee gets better, I’m expecting something good."

Hawkeye smirked and rolled his eyes. "You had me worried for a few minutes. When this knee is better, you’re in for a treat."

"Oh?"

"Yes. When is our anniversary?" She slapped him on the chest and stood up. "Ow. What was that for?"

"You should know!" She grabbed some clothes and started to fold them with him.

"What? I’ve never had one before. How should I remember?"

"Because that should be the happiest day of your life along with the days the boys were born."

"It was."

"Oh? Then what day was it that we were married?" She challenged.

He thought for a minute and knew it was in the summer. "It was a Sunday." She rolled her eyes. "July 28th?"

"Yes," she smiled. "You should get that tattooed on your hand. You do remember the boys’ birthdays right?"

"Yes. Anyway, we need to do something for our anniversary."

"Yes."

"I need to get back to work soon too. Or we won’t have any money to do anything. We’re gonna go broke."

"We are not."

"I still want to get back to work."

"I know you do. There," she folded the last of the clothes. "We’re done. Let’s go to bed, we have a fan in there." She picked up his hand and dragged him to his feet. "How are feeling?"

"Fine." He watched her as she walked in front of him. He found it so sexy when she was wearing his shirt, but when she was wearing only his shirt, that was the sexiest thing he could think of. "Hey, where you going?"

"To check on the boys. I’ll meet you in bed."

"Okay." Hawkeye walked into the bedroom and pulled down the blankets and sheets. He turned the fan so it would be facing the bed and only the bed and then got in. He sprawled out in the middle and closed his eyes.

When Margaret walked into the bedroom she smiled at the sight on her bed. Hawkeye was there with his legs spread out casually; naked. One hand was over his head and the other was on his nice hard stomach. She could see the ripples of muscles and wanted to reach out and touch him. Thank God he was hers, because she could do that. "Hawk?"

"Huh?" He didn’t bother to open his eyes.

"What happened to your boxers?"

"Over there," he pointed to the corner of the room. "It’s too hot."

"Oh." She smiled at him. She got in the bed and laid down. The lights were off because they gave off too much heat. "Hey!"

"What?"

"You set the fan so only you can feel it."

He smiled. "Sorry. You can fix it."

"I’m not getting up." She moved closer to him and laid her head on his chest. "You’ll have to share."

He wrapped his arm around her back. "You should take that shirt off. You’ll be cooler."

"I can’t."

"Why?"

"What if Danny comes in here and sees?"

"True." His hand slipped down towards her rear end and he felt something he wasn’t expecting. "Why did you put these on?" He gently snapped the waist of her panties.

"Because of Danny. He doesn’t need to see anything. Why do you want me to sleep naked?"

"Because you’d feel more comfortable."

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "You mean you would be more comfortable." He didn’t say anything but knew he was smiling. "The next time that we’re alone, I promise I’ll sleep naked."

"Good."

"Goodnight."

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A week had passed and the heat wave was still in full force. It was getting worse and starting to wear on everyone. Hawkeye liked it at first because it seemed to have made his wife frisky, but she wasn’t so frisky anymore. He didn’t mind too much because it was hot now. It seemed to be hotter inside than out and he wanted to get out of the house. His first opportunity came when a doctor’s appointment came up. He had convinced his wife that he was strong enough to go on his own, and he needed a break and some time alone.

"Okay, I’m leaving," Hawkeye said as he opened the door.

"Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you? I could ask Mrs. Norton to watch the boys for a couple of hours."

"I’m sure," he smiled. This would be the first time he was going out on his own since his accident four weeks earlier. "I can do it myself. I need to do it by myself."

She smiled at him. She knew he needed to feel independent again, and she understood. "Okay. Be safe and be careful."

He leaned down and gave her a kiss. "I will, and you know what? The hospital is air conditioned. I may never come home."

She rolled her eyes. "Get out of here."

"Bye. Bye boys."

"Bye," Danny called from his cool spot on the floor.

"Oh, wait," Margaret said. "Since you’ll be out, can you get some powder and cream for the baby’s rash?"

"Didn’t we just get some?"

"Yes, but we need more. Can you pick it up?"

"Sure." He gave her another kiss and smacked her on the butt when he let go of her lips. She tensed up right away and looked at him with wide eyes. "Love you."

"Yeah." She shut the door and walked back to the boys. They were in the living room enjoying the breeze from the fan. Danny was playing with his cars and trucks like he normally did and Matt was lying there in his diaper about to fall asleep. The poor baby had a heat rash. He was very good about it and was fine as long as he was in a cool spot with air. His parents felt worse than did about it.

"Mommy, me wants to go play."

"That’s what you’re doing." She was about to sit down, but changed her mind and stood up again.

"No, outside. Can we go to the park?"

"I don’t think so. Don’t you think its hot out there?"

"Its hot in here."

"That’s true." She thought about it for a minute and decided they could go. It would be nice to get out of the house and she and the baby could sit in the shade. With any luck there would be a nice breeze blowing too. "Go get your shoes on."

"Okay!" He smiled and jumped to his feet.

Margaret knelt down to where the baby was lying and smiled at him. "Maybe that fresh air will do you good. You do look awfully cute in just your diaper you cubby baby." Matt smiled and kicked his hands and feet wildly. "We’ll get you a t-shirt to wear and if it gets too hot I’ll take it off of you. Danny can get some energy out and then we’ll come home for lunch and we can all take naps. How does that sound?" Matt started to make some little baby noises and was going to cry if she didn’t pick him up. It was pure torture for him when someone talked to him without picking him up. Just before he let out a cry his mother reached down and picked him up. "I just fed you so your chubby little tummy is full, we’ll change your diaper and be ready to go."

Margaret took the boys to the park and the three of them spent some much needed time out of the house there. Danny ran around and played with the other children that were there and Margaret and the baby sat on a blanket that she placed under a shade tree. They watched Danny play, they played together and enjoyed the breeze, and they talked to some other women that were there with their children. Margaret was still getting used to people walking up to her and start talking out of the blue just because she had a baby in her arms.

Hawkeye had his doctor’s appointment that morning and then had a meeting with his boss. He left the hospital in high spirits and couldn’t wait to get home to tell Margaret the good news. As he was walking down the sidewalk towards his apartment he spotted his wife and two boys. He called to them, but Margaret didn’t hear. So he called to Danny.

Danny heard his father and stopped dead in his tracks causing his mother to stop walking. "What are you doing?"

"Daddy," Danny pointed.

Margaret turned around and looked and saw Hawkeye trying to make his way through the crowd on the sidewalk. She pulled over to the side so that people could get by while they waited for him to catch up. He had a smile on his face so she knew he had good news.

"Hey," he said when he got to them. He gave her a kiss on the lips. "What are you three doing out in this heat?"

"We needed to get out of the house. We went to the park and to the store to get some powder and lotion."

"Good. I forgot about it."

"I knew you would."

He smiled and grabbed the stroller from her and started pushing it. "Did you eat lunch yet?"

"No. We were on our way home to get some lunch."

"I see. Why don’t we go grab a pizza?"

"I have to get the baby home and feed him and Danny’s so tired I don’t think he’s in the mood to go out." As if to prove her point Danny got in front of her and held his hands up to her. She took him and continued to walk next to her husband.

"That’s fine. Maybe Danny and I will grab a pizza and meet you and the baby at the house."

"That would work." It was easier that way because she could feed the baby and put him down for his afternoon nap and then eat lunch. She didn’t like to take Matt out when he wasn’t in the mood because he would scream and cry and it wouldn’t only ruin their time out, but also everyone around them that had to listen to the baby.

"Good." He stopped and took Danny, lifting him onto his shoulders, and gave Margaret a kiss. "We’ll meet you at home and I’ll tell you my good news."

"Okay."

By the time Hawkeye and Danny got home Margaret had the table set with paper plates and cups. The baby was sound asleep in his room with the fan cooling him down and keeping him from sweating and aggravating his heat rash. She felt so bad for the poor baby and did everything she could to keep the rash from getting worse.

"Okay," she smiled when he walked into the kitchen. "What’s the good news?"

"Well," he sat the pizza on the table and lifted Danny into a chair. "I’m in tip top shape and I got back to work in two weeks!"

"Two weeks?"

"Yes," he smiled. "Aren’t you excited?"

She had to keep from laughing because he was so excited. She knew that he missed work, but she didn’t know how much until now. "I’m very excited for you." She sat down and gave Danny a piece of pizza before getting one herself.

"I can’t wait to go back. Nothing against you or the boys, but I have to get back to work. My sanity depends on it."

She smiled at him, "I can relate."

"You can?" He was almost shocked.

"Of course I can. I used to work you know. I know what it’s like to go from that to home all day with a newborn and a toddler."

"What are you saying?"

"I’m just saying I know the feeling."

That got him thinking. "Do you want to go back to work?"

"Yes. I never said anything to make you believe otherwise, have I?"

"Well, no, but I…"

"But what?" She was impatient now and the next step would be yelling if he didn’t straiten things out. "You knew I wanted to go back to work after the baby was born."

"Well, yeah, but I assumed you would change your mind once the baby came."

"You were wrong." It was as simple as that to her. She didn’t know what he was thinking.

"I see," he said with a roll of the eyes.

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"No. You do what you want to do. You’re a big girl."

She sat upright ready for a fight. "What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing."

"No. What’s the problem? Why do you seem to have such a problem with this? You never have before."

"Look, you’re an adult. You want to work, go to work. Why should I stop you? Why should you let your children stop you?"

"What is your problem?!"

He placed his elbows on the table and looked her in the eye. "Look, if you want to ship the boys out to a sitter for eight to ten hours a day, then go ahead. We don’t need the money. We don’t need two incomes. I don’t understand why you want to go to work and leave the boys with someone else."

"I never said that!"

"What did you think was going to happen? I would stop working so you could go back?"

"Are you saying you wouldn’t do that?"

"That’s not the point. I had thought that the boys would have their mother around. Danny had to go to the sitters all day everyday. I wanted better for Matt and Danny now. Now one of us will pick them up at six or seven o’clock, give them dinner and send them off to bed. Their sitter will know them better than either of us."

She rolled her eyes. "I never said I wanted them there all day."

"What?"

"You were the one that jumped to conclusions and gave me an attitude before I said anything except I wanted to go back to work."

He sighed. He did jump to conclusions. She was right. "Sorry."

She gave him a small smile. "You should be. Now, do you want to know what I was thinking about this?"

"Yeah. It has to be better than what I was thinking it would be like."

She picked up her piece of pizza and started to eat again. "I want to go back in the fall sometime."

"Okay."

"Part time."

He smiled at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I don’t want to miss my boys grow up. I’m their mother and children need their mother around."

"They do."

"I also think it would be good for Danny to go to preschool in the fall. He’ll be four and it’ll be nice for him to be around children his own age. Don’t you think he’d like that?"

"I do," he smiled. "You’re right once again. What about the baby?"

"It’ll just be mornings for about four of five hours. He’ll be fine wherever he is. I was thinking Mrs. Mills would love to keep him for us. She’s offered many times, and he’ll be older by that time."

"Yeah."

"Now, did you really think I would work all those hours again without concern for the boys?"

"No, I guess not." When he thought about it, it was pretty stupid of him to do that. "I don’t know what I was thinking. I know you, but…"

"But what?"

He got a serious look on his face and looked deep into her eyes. "Can I be honest with you?"

"Of course you can."

"You won’t get mad?" She shook her head no. He took a deep breath, looked at Danny for a second and then looked back at his wife. "Sometimes I expect things to fall apart. Danny’s mother," he paused. "Well the woman who gave birth to him, she ran off. She couldn’t take it and I was left to raise him on my own."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Nothing, I guess. It’s me. I don’t want the boys to be without you."

"Hawkeye, you know I would never leave our boys."

"I know you wouldn’t. But you understand why I get worried, don’t you?"

"I do," she nodded with a sad smile. "But you have to remember I’m me, I’m not the women that left Danny. I could never do that to either of the boys. If something ever happened where we would get a divorce, you’d have an awful fight on your hands for the kids."

"That would never happen. We’re together forever."

She smiled at him. "I love you and all your problems."

"Problems? Are you nuts? I’m perfect!"

She laughed at him. "Yeah."

"Was that sarcasm?"

"Of course not!" He narrowed his eyes like he was trying to find the truth and got out of his chair quickly and started to tickle her ribs. "AH! Hawkeye, stop it! Stop!"

Danny started to laugh at the two of them. "Do more!"

Hawkeye looked at his wife. "You heard the man." Then he started to tickle her again.

"Hawk! Stop it!"

"Do more!" Danny egged on.

Hawkeye stopped and looked at Danny and then ran over to him and started to tickle him. He laughed heartily and got sauce all over his father from his pizza. "You want more, huh?"

"Daddy, stop it!"

Hawkeye continued for a little while enjoying the laughter from his son. "Now finish your pizza." Hawkeye sat his son back in his chair and looked at his shirt. "Danny, you got me all a mess."

Margaret laughed. "That’s what you get." Hawkeye held his hands up to her threatening to tickle her again. "Don’t you dare!"

He grinned evilly and then smiled sweetly. "I won’t."

"Good. Now sit down. You’re setting a bad example for your son."

Hawkeye rolled his eyes with a smile. "You’re always in mommy mode these days."

"I can’t help it."

"It’s okay. It’s cute." She smiled at him. "You know what I was thinking?"

"I can only imagine what does through that mind of yours."

"Yeah. Anyway, before I go back to work, I think we should take a trip to Maine to see my dad and everyone."

"I don’t know," she said uneasily.

"What do you mean? Matt’s over his colic, it’s hot as hell here, and we haven’t been to Maine since we got married. Almost a year."

"I know, but I don’t feel like going at the moment."

"Why not?"

"Well, the baby is still so little and being in a car with his heat rash would only serve to irritate it."

"Are you sure?

"Yes." She didn’t want to be in a car that long with the boys right now. There were other reasons, but she didn’t want to say anything. "It’s not a good time. Maybe later this summer we’ll go."

"Okay. You know best, I guess."

"What do you mean you guess?"

He smiled at her teasing. They had become so much closer in the last month. In a way his accident was a blessing. He could see that now that he was getting better and more independent. "I love you, you know that?"

She smiled and shook her head. "I do know that." She stood up and threw her plate in the trash. "Danny, you done?"

"Yeah."

"Come with me. We’re gonna go take a nap. Hawk, will you clean up here?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks. I’m just going to go lay down with him for a few minutes in front of the fan."

Hawkeye cleaned up the kitchen taking his sweet time. It was too hot to move fast. After he was done he went to find his wife. He thought she’d have been out of the bedroom by now, but she wasn’t. He saw both her and Danny lying on the bed. Danny was on his back with his soft black hair being blown by the fan, and Margaret was on her stomach letting the cool air go over her body.

He shut the door and let them be. It wasn’t often that Margaret took a nap anymore, so he wanted to let her sleep. He had taken his fair share of naps the last month and it was her turn to be able to relax while he was there. She would only have two more weeks of it, so he thought it he would do the right thing and take on more responsibility again.

Hawkeye checked on Matt and saw that he was still sound asleep. The poor thing had red cheeks and a chin from drooling on it. Hawkeye smiled to himself and then walked out of the room. All the fans were in the bedrooms and he wasn’t about to stay inside. He grabbed a shirt and his keys and then walked out the door.

Margaret opened her eyes and rolled over onto her back, but quickly rolled onto her side. She blinked a few times, but then found something for her eyes to focus on. There sitting on the dresser was a bouquet of red roses. She smiled and got out of bed to read the card. She smelled the flowers as she picked up the card. Inside the tiny envelope in Hawkeye’s hand writing were the words, "Just because it’s Tuesday."

She walked out of the room quietly so as not to disturb Danny. He could sleep a while longer. When she stepped into the living room she watched her husband before making her presence known. There he was in nothing but his boxers doing crunches in the middle of the floor. His abs were rippling with sweat causing them to glisten. He was still lean like he always was, but he was now all muscle. His body was hard and very attractive to her. She could watch him forever and never look at his face.

That’s exactly what she was doing and never thought to look at his face when he stopped moving and just lied there. Hawkeye noticed what she was doing and liked the fact that she was ogling at his body as he had done to hers many times. "Can I help you?"

Margaret shook her head. "What? Oh, I was…um."

Hawkeye just ginned. "You were checking me out. I saw you."

A slow smile spread across her face and she nodded yes. "You caught me. I just never get to see my sexy husband work out."

"Now you do."

"Good."

"Did you see what I got you?"

"I did," she smiled brightly. She walked over to him and knelt down to give him a kiss. "Thank you, honey. I love them."

"I’m glad." He gave her another kiss and pulled her down so he was lying on his back and she was lying on him.

"Mmm," she pulled back from the kiss. "No, Hawkeye."

"What? The boys are sleeping. We did it on the kitchen floor like this before."

"That was when they were down for the night. The baby will wake up soon and so will Danny. We’d never be able to finish. Besides, I’m not in the mood." That last part was a boldface lie and she knew it. Watching him like that would get any women in the mood. "Okay?"

"Alright. I’ll get back to my workout then. Maybe one day soon I’ll be able to go running again."

"Maybe." She gave him another kiss and then stood up. That’s when the baby started to cry from his room. "See, I told you."

"You were right. I know."

She smiled at him. "Thank you for the flowers."

"You’re welcome." When he bought those for her he tried to remember the last time he gave her flowers and realized that it was when Matt was born. He had been the one getting the flowers as of late and he wanted to change that. "Hey," he said before she stepped into the hallway. "I love you."

"I love you," she called as she walked to the nursery. She picked up Matt and changed his diaper while she as in there with him. She made sure to powder him down really well because he had some of the heat rash where his diaper was snug around his legs and waist. She didn’t bother to put any clothes on him because that would have made it worse on him. When she was done she walked out to the living room and stood in the doorway once again looking at her husband. Matt brought her out of her trance before Hawkeye spotted her.

"Hey," Hawkeye smiled. "Look who’s awake." Matt smiled at him.

"Yes, and in a very good mood apparently." Margaret brought the baby over and laid him down on the floor next to Hawkeye. "You workout with Daddy and Mommy will go get the fan in your room and bring it out here so we can all cool down."

Hawkeye picked Matt up and held him in the air. "You’re like a barbell."

Margaret had started to walk off, but turned around. "You better not pretend he’s a barbell, or you’ll get one dropped on your head."

Hawkeye laughed and looked at the baby. "Mommy is crazy. I would never do that to you. Unless you had a twin and then it would be even weight."

"Pierce…"

"I’m kidding. Go get the fan. I’m not gonna hurt him." Margaret walked away and was gone for a few minutes. Hawkeye smiled at the baby and lifted him up so Matt was looking down at him. "You could work as a barbell though. We just won’t tell Mommy." He started to bend his elbows and life the baby up and down. Matt loved it and started to laugh.

Margaret walked out of the room and saw the two of them. She smiled and sighed. "You know, if you do that long enough you’re gonna get a surprise."

"Drool? Matt wouldn’t do that to me."

"Fine, but that’s not what I was thinking. You’re just lucky his tummy isn’t full."

Hawkeye thought about that for a moment and brought the baby down to rest on his chest. "Oh god, Margaret. You’re gross. Puke in my mouth?!"

She started to laugh. "Babies have been known to do some pretty disgusting things."

"Yeah, but that’s just gross!" He sat up and put the baby on his lap. "You would never do that to me, would you baby?" Matt smiled at him. "Maybe you would," he said uneasily. "You looked an awful lot like your mother when you did that."

Margaret smiled and rolled her eyes. "Don’t you listen to your father! He’s just paranoid."

"I am not."

"Whatever you say." Margaret turned the fan on so it was blowing around the room. "Much better." She grabbed the baby from her husband. "You get back to your workout and I’ll feed your barbell."

"Thanks. Beef him up a bit."

She rolled her eyes. "Ugh."

"Kidding," Hawkeye said as he watched her sit in the chair and prepare to nurse the baby. "If he got any beefier he’d be a complete rash." The baby had heat rash in all his chubby rolls from sweating; arms, legs, neck.

"Shut up. He’s cute this way."

"Very."

"I’m surprised you’ve been so energized today. How does you knee feel?"

"It’s a little sore," he said as he turned held his legs in the air. He needed to work those muscles a lot more now because he couldn’t run. "I’ll have to rest it. I’ll lay down on the couch for a while with it up unless you need me to do something."

"No, you take care of that knee. We need to get you back to work."

"Yes."

"Next time, I think we should have twins. It would really work better for me."

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "You’re so strange sometimes."

Hawkeye laughed causing his legs to fall back on the floor. He sat up and watched her feed the baby for a second. "You think I could do what he’s doing tonight?"

"What?"

"I think I would have more fun then him."

"Ugh," she breathed. "What has gotten into you?"

"This heat. Didn’t we already cover that?"

"Yes, but not this week, if you get my drift."

He thought for a moment and then nodded. "I gotcha. I hate when that happens."

"You hate it? Try being a woman or a girl."

"All I can say is thank god I don’t have to."

"If we have a little girl, you’ll have to learn to deal with it though."

"I told you before, Pierces only have boys. We don’t have to worry about that."

"I don’t know, Hawk. My sister has 3 girls, my parents had two girls; I think that the odds are 50/50 here."

"You’re wrong. My sperm has already produced two boys, and if we have another on, it’ll be a boy."

"Well, I’ve only given birth once. This time it happened to be a boy, next time it could be a girl. You can’t tell me that you wouldn’t love to have a baby girl in pretty pink dresses and…"

"Yes I can. Girls scare me, you know that. Look what happens when your nieces are around."

"Cause you’re a big wimp."

"Well now, aren’t you the funny one today. I’m gonna go take a cold shower. I’ll be out in a while."

"Okay." Margaret relaxed while the baby ate, or as much as she could. She wanted to get up. She would make sure to pump the milk later that day so he could eat out of a bottle for a while. Sitting down like that was almost unbearable, but she didn’t have a choice at the moment.

Two days later Hawkeye was sitting on the couch watching TV. The kids were in bed and had been for at least two hours. Hawkeye was bored with TV and wanted to do more than just sit there. When Margaret walked by he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her onto his lap.

"Pierce! Let go of me!" She struggled to get out of his arms, but he wouldn’t let her go. He just held her on his lap.

"What? Sit with me. I want to hold you."

"Let go!" She slapped his hands and jumped up out of his arms. "You bastard!"

"Hey! What the hell is the matter with you? I didn’t do it to be mean. I just wanted to be with my wife."

She sighed. She knew she went overboard. "I’m sorry. It’s not you."

"What’s the matter?"

"Nothing."

"You’re lying to me. Sit down and talk to me."

"No Hawkeye," she shook her head. "Its nothing really. Its actually very silly."

"Good," he smiled. "I love to be silly. Tell me."

"I don’t think I want to."

He stood up and held her arms gently. "Unless you tell me, I won’t know what’s wrong. I knew that you don’t like to sleep close to me anymore, or like to sit with me and watch TV. You don’t even sit down and have dinner with us. You always eat while you’re cooking."

She didn’t want him to think that something was wrong with their marriage, because there wasn’t. It was better than it had ever been. "Okay, I’ll tell you."

"You want to sit down?"

"No." She looked into his eyes trying to see whether she really wanted to tell him. "You promise you won’t laugh?"

"I promise."

"Okay," she breathed deeply. "I have a small case of prickly heat."

"Oh, that’s so cute," he smiled. "That’s why you’ve been a little more irritable than normal."

She stepped back and placed her hands on her hips. "Than normal?!"

"You know what I mean. So, where is it?"

"Where is what?"

"You know, your rash."

This is what she had been dreading tell him. "On my…um…behind."

Hawkeye’s eyes went wide and then he burst into laughter. He fell backwards onto the couch holding his stomach cracking up with laughter. "Oh…ah….ha," he couldn’t catch his breath. "Mar…marg…oh god!"

Her teeth were clenched. "See! I knew you’d laugh."

He tried to be serious for a moment, but that didn’t work. He burst into laughter again. Margaret slapped his leg. "Ouch." He looked at her, but went back to his laughing fit. "Ah…its…oh god. This is…so funny!"

"No it isn’t! I knew you would do this." She stomped off and left him and his laughter alone.

Hawkeye composed himself after a few more minutes. All he could think about was when that happened to her in Korea and the fun he had with that. She would get so made at him every time he asked her to sit down. There were many times in OR that she would walk behind him and he would purposely rub against her. She wouldn’t do anything except cringe and he would smile under his mask each and every time. He loved to torture her back then. After he finished his fit, he composed himself and went into the kitchen where his wife was.

She was standing at the sink with a wet cloth trying to cool off. He walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist. "I’m sorry." She pulled away. "Hey, I said I was sorry."

"The hell you are. Last time this happened to me you and BJ had a ball with it. I don’t know why it would be any different now. I knew I shouldn’t have told you."

"Margaret," he stepped in front of her so she had to look at him. "I’m sorry. I know it isn’t funny to you and it’s painful. But I can tell you something, it’s very different this time."

"How?" She looked into his eyes.

"Because I love you now." He felt her loose the tension and that meant that the anger was melting away too. "And now, I can rub all the lotion you want all over your cute little red ass."

She smiled at little and slapped his chest playfully. "You’re lucky you said ‘cute little ass’, or you’d be in trouble."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "You know I love your ass." He moved his hand down, but she jumped. "Sorry. How bad is it?"

She looked up at him. "It hurts like hell!"

"Ah, baby, let me see."

"Here?"

"We can go into the bedroom if you want. That way you can lay in front of the fan."

"Yeah. That sounds better."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they walked to the room. He was feeling bad now for laughing at her so much. It just caught him off guard, and it was funny anyway. He thought about all the times he had touched her or rubbed against her in the last week. He didn’t know that she was in pain or he would never have done that.

"Take your clothes off," he directed. "Where’s the lotion? You have some, right?"

"Yes. Why the hell do you think we’ve been running out of it so quickly? I’ve been using it for me and Matt."

"Okay. Where is it?"

"There’s some in the bathroom cabinet."

"Okay. Let me see."

"The rash?"

"Yes." She didn’t move so he walked over to her and unbuttoned her shorts.

"I can do it!"

"Then do it." He watched as she slid her shorts down and then her panties. "Oh my god! You’re on fire."

"I know."

"Lay down. I’ll be right back." Hawkeye ran to the bathroom and grabbed the medicated lotion for her. He felt really bad for her now and felt like a heal for laughing at her. When he came back she was lying on the bed, stomach down, with a sheet draped over her ass. "Margaret, what are you doing?"

"Laying down."

He sat on the edge of the bed and moved the sheet away. "Let the air get to your skin. You know that. Take care of yourself like you take care of Matt. You let him lay around without his diaper sometimes so it clears the rash."

"I know."

"Why don’t you do that for yourself?"

"I can’t. What if Danny comes in?"

"He never wakes up. You’re sleeping naked tonight and I promise I won’t touch you."

"Fine." Hawkeye started to apply the cream and was quiet for a few minutes. Margaret laid there enjoying the cooling sensation and started to doze off. That was until she felt some wandering hands inch their way between her legs. "Hawkeye." She felt his hands move back up. "I think its fine for now."

"Okay." He grabbed a towel and wiped his hands off. Then he stripped and got into bed. Even though it was hot out he wanted to do more than just lay there. "Goodnight."

"Night."

It was some time after 3AM that Hawkeye opened his eyes. He was covered in sweat and more uncomfortable than he had been in the hospital a few weeks before. He glanced over at his wife and saw her lying naked on her stomach like she had been when he fell asleep earlier. He reached out and touched her back and felt that she was cool. He thought for a second and realized that the fan was pointed directly on her. Turning the fan so it was on both of them didn’t seem like the right thing to do. She needed the cool air more than he did. He placed a gentle kissed between her shoulder blades and climbed out of bed.

He looked pulled on a pair of shorts and left the room quietly. He looked in on Danny and saw that he was hot too. He was sweating a little bit so Hawkeye changed the fan so it was blowing directly on the child instead of all around the room. Then he went to check on the baby. He was lying in his diaper on his stomach and was cool to the touch. Margaret did everything possible to keep him cool. Hawkeye now knew where the baby got his rash proneness from. Both Matt and Margaret were not very good when it came to the heat. Hawkeye had to admit that it was cute to see the similarities between the two of them.

When he was done looking at his youngest son he went to the living room. The double windows were open and there was a breeze coming through and it was nice for once. He turned on the TV and then stretched out on the couch. Before he even figured out what he was watching, he was fast asleep.

He didn’t move or open his eyes until later that morning when he felt an unusual amount of weight on his legs. "Hey."

"Morning," Danny smiled.

"What are you doing?"

"Can we go swimmin today?"

"I don’t know." It was a little too early to think for him.

"Please?"

"I’ll think about it." Hawkeye sat up and swung his legs off the side and unto the floor. "What are you doing awake so early?"

"Its hot."

Hawkeye smiled at the little boy. "Nothing gets past you. Since we’re up, you want to get something to eat?"

"Yeah. I will go wake up mommy," he started to run off.

"No!" Hawkeye said firmly. He ran after Danny and stopped him. "Let her sleep. She doesn’t feel good."

"Okay."

Before they could get breakfast done Matt woke up. Hawkeye ran and got him before he woke up Margaret. He wanted to let her sleep a while longer so she could lie around without her clothes on. He would have rather of been in there with her than giving the boys breakfast, but he didn’t have a choice. The only way she was going to be able to relax and heal would be if he took care of the boys for her.

Margaret knew that she was alone in her bed. Opening her eyes only proved that she was alone. She laid there for a moment and listened to the goings on in the apartment. She could hear Danny’s voice and would occasionally hear Matt’s squeal. Her curiosity got the best of her and she got out of bed. She stepped out of the bedroom wrapped in a light robe and stopped when she saw the boys. She stood there for a moment to watch them.

Matt was lying on the floor in his diaper and Danny was sitting next to him with his doctor toys. Matt would laugh and flail his arms at his big brother. Danny, ever the ham, was right there to do more until he spotted his mother. "Hi Mommy!"

"Good morning honey," Margaret smiled. She walked over to the two boys and knelt down. "What are you doing?"

"Fixin’ Matt."

"I see," she smiled. She gave him a kiss on the top of his head. "Why does he need to be fixed?"

"Cause, he has a rash. I’m his doctor. Just like Daddy."

"Oh. Where is Daddy?"

"Don’t know."

Hawkeye walked into the living room at that moment. "He’s right here." Margaret smiled and stood up. She took the cup of coffee he handed her and gave him kiss. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Not good enough to sit down though. You fed the baby?"

"Yes. Bottle and cereal. He’s all set, but we don’t have anymore breast milk for him. You might want to pump some unless you want to feed him."

"I would love to feed him, but I can’t sit down. He’s going to want to eat again in a half an hour, so I should go pump some milk for him now."

"Do you need help?"

She smiled and shook her head no. "I can take care of it. You take care of the boys."

"You’re more fun," he grinned.

"Not today. Hands off unless you’re going too put lotion on me."

"You know I will."

"Later." She gave him a kiss. "I’m going to go pump some milk. Keep an eye on the boys."

"I will."

Later that morning the baby was sleeping again and Margaret went back to lay down in front of the fan. Hawkeye put the lotion on her again and kept Danny out of their room so she could lay naked and let the cool breeze do some good. Danny kept begging to go swimming all morning and the more he talked about it the better an idea it seemed to Hawkeye. That afternoon after Matt was down for his afternoon nap, Hawkeye and Danny left and went swimming.

Hawkeye took care of everyone for the next couple of days all by himself. It was the first time he had really done that and Margaret was proud of him. He handled it all very well. The boys seemed to love it because he was so relaxed and let them off their routine a little. Margaret liked to see him handling the boys and knowing that he could do it gave her hope that one day she would be able to get out of the house for a few hours and do something for herself.

After seeing him with the boys for the past few weeks Margaret knew that the boys were going to miss him when he went back to work. She was going to miss him around all the time too. Especially now that he was himself again and not always in a bad mood. But, he had to go to work and life had to find some normalcy. It seemed ever since the baby was born things had never found a normal place. Life was a mess most of the time and they needed to find a balance and with Hawkeye going back to work, they were both hoping that would happen.