Finding The 4077th

It's Okay To Cry

The next morning Chris seemed a lot happier, the box was still on the nightstand untouched, so Hawkeye decided not to mention anything.  He didn’t want to be too pushy, because he knew that it would only hurt him. He was a bit worried the boy would still be upset but Chris was a bit more affectionate this morning and he even seemed giggly and playful, so he must've been doing things right.

During breakfast, Chris helped Francis with his crossword puzzle, and seemed completely happy again. That good mood continued after a very happy Margeret arrived back on the 4077th, the nurse just spent two days in Tokyo for some follow-up reports and seminars. She had told everyone that there was good news but she wanted to tell everyone in person instead of over the phone. She was very excited and kept giggling, as she told the doctors it was too good to be true and led them to her tent.

Frank told them earlier that he thought the good news was his promotion and Chris knew his dad hoped the great news would be the end of the war, and of course, Chris hoped the same, but it scared him at the same time. So he was a bit nervous, but Margeret kept giggling and it was infectious. She led the doctors into her tent and they sat down as she told them very excitedly that she was engaged.

Hawkeye seemed a bit disappointed, while Chris was a bit confused, he read enough fairy tales to understand marriage and he listened to every story BJ told him about his marriage, so he knew about the happy ever after but he never heard about a two-day fairy tale before, doesn't it take longer than that to find your soulmate, as Margaret kept calling her fiance.

He was a bit curious about how stuff like this happened, so Chris started asking about him. What was he like? What kind of food did he like? Favorite color?

Margeret told them all about her Donald, he was tall, strong, and handsome. But she didn't know his favorite color or what he liked to eat.

“What's his favorite superhero? ” The boy asked, making Margeret a bit speechless. He wouldn't marry someone without knowing their favorite superheroes first.

“That's an important question before getting married, ” Hawkeye said as he gave BJ an amused look. Chris nodded very seriously.

“It is!” BJ said, “Peg and I got lucky.” Chris looked at the man with interest so BJ continued. “My favorite is Superman and her's is Clark Kent.”

Chris giggled, he liked Clark Kent too, he reminded him a bit of Radar but Clark was prettier. And a lot stronger of course.

Margaret told them not to tell Frank anything, she wanted to do that herself, telling the doctors that Frank would be so thrilled. Hawkeye and BJ shared a look but agreed.

Later it turned out Frank wasn't happy at all with Margaret's engagement and he spent the whole night sobbing. Chris was getting very nervous about it, he had seen everyone cry at least once in this unit but he had never seen Frank cry over anything, and Chris didn't even know why Frank was crying in the first place. His dad explained it like it was something like losing a friend, but Margeret was still here and they could hang out whenever they wanted, so he just didn't understand it.

He tried to cheer the man up, so he headed over with Wally, just so that they could talk, but Frank snapped at him “Get lost!”, and to make things worse, his dad got irritated as well and told him to stay in bed.

Chris sighed but obeyed, “I just want to help” he whispered, his dad brushed his hair affectionately, making Chris feel better, he knew his dad loved him. “I know Kiddo, but it's late and there's nothing you can do to help, just go to sleep okay? “ Hawkeye whispered back, he sounded half asleep already.

He tried but Frank kept sobbing through the night and it kept the child up, not only because of the sound but because it stressed him out not knowing why the man was so upset.