7

"You mean twins?" Hawkeye asked in disbelief. "As in two?"

B.J. nodded. "That's what I mean."

Hawkeye burst out laughing and threw his arms around B.J. "Twins! I can't believe it! Can you believe it Peg?" he asked as B.J.'s wife hugged him warmly. "Margaret and I have twins! I've got to go see them." He placed his hand on the delivery room door, but B.J. stopped him.

"Let Daniel finish cleaning them up and let Margaret nurse them, alright? Then you can see them."

Then Mark emerged from the delivery room. "Congratulations Hawkeye," he said as he shook his friend's hand. "You've got two of a kind."

"I can't believe it," Hawkeye repeated as he pumped Mark's hand rhythmically. He continued shaking Mark's hand unconsciously.

"Uh, Hawkeye, you can let go now," Mark suggested.

"Oh, yeah," Hawkeye said as he let Mark's hand drop. "Now I'm going to have to think of two names! I haven't even been able to decide on one."

"Margaret was calling the boy 'Ben'," B.J. suggested.

Hawkeye shook his head. "No, that's no good. I want... Wait, it is good. Yes, it's perfect! Why didn't I think of it before?"

"Think of what before?" Peg asked.

"I've got to talk to Margaret about it first," Hawkeye declared and he disappeared into the delivery room.

"Ben, what are you doing in here?" Daniel demanded as his son walked into the delivery room. "Didn't B.J. and Mark tell you to stay out?"

"Yeah, but I never was very good at taking orders," Hawkeye replied quickly. "Where are my kids? Where's Margaret?"

"They've already been moved to recovery. We snuck them out the back door."

"What a lousy trick," Hawkeye exclaimed.

"They need some rest," explained Daniel.

Hawkeye's face clouded with worry. "They're alright, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they're just tired. It was Margaret's first time and she had two to get out, so she's pretty beat. The kids are probably down in maternity ward by now, what do you say we go look through the glass?"

"Sure Dad."

Margaret opened her eyes to find her husband smiling down at her. "Did you see them?" she asked.

Hawkeye nodded. "Yeah. I can't believe we have twins."

Margaret smiled. "I should have known. My grandfather had a twin brother, and my aunt and uncle were twins too."

"So that explains it. You could have told me what to expect, you know," Hawkeye teased his wife. "So how about a twin set of names for our twin set of kids?"

"I was thinking about Benjamin Franklin Pierce Jr.," Margaret suggested. "Does that work?"

"How about I meet you halfway? Benjamin John, B.J. for short."

Margaret grinned as she realized Hawkeye's motives. "B.J. and Trapper."

Hawkeye nodded.

"That'll work.," Margaret agreed. "But any boy named after the three of you is sure to be a hell raiser. Hope you're ready for the responsibility."

"Who better to raise a hell raiser than a hell raiser himself?" Hawkeye joked. "Now what about our daughter?"

Margaret frowned. "I've been thinking about that one, I can't seem to find anything fitting. Got any ideas?"

"Yeah, one," Hawkeye announced. "How about we name her after the most amazing woman on earth, and the most amazing guy who ever masqueraded as a woman?"

A small smile crossed Margaret's face as she began to see where Hawkeye was gong with this. "So that would make her name be..."

"Margaret Maxine," Hawkeye finished. "Maggie for short, probably."

Margaret laughed quietly. "I like it. Margaret Maxine. Maggie Maxine. It's got flow, and I always did like alliteration. But do I see a pattern developing here?"

"What pattern would that be?" Hawkeye asked innocently.

"A pattern of naming our children after people we met at the 4077. Benjamin John, Margaret Maxine... next we'll have Walter Sherman and Charles Patrick."

"Hey, good ideas," Hawkeye said with a smile. "Next set of twins better be two boys."

Margaret shook her head. "You know I love those four men just as much as you do and would like nothing more than to name kids after them, but no child of mine is going to have any of those names for their first name. We'll have to have four more boys and use them for middle names."

"You're right," Hawkeye agreed. "Those would be awful names to bestow upon a kid, especially Sherman or Walter. Middle names. Good plan. So do we agree? Benjamin John and Margaret Maxine?"

Margaret nodded. "Benjamin John and Margaret Maxine, B.J. and Maggie."

"So Hawk, are you ever going to tell us the names of your kids?" B.J. asked impatiently. B.J., Peg, Daniel, Hawkeye, Margaret and the two newborn babies were all gathered in Margaret's room at the hospital.

"What do you think Honey?" Hawkeye asked with a mischievous grin. "Do you think we should tell them what we've decided?"

Margaret smiled and decided to play along with her husband's little game of agony. "Oh, I don't know.."

"I would really appreciate it if I knew my own grandkids' names," Daniel urged his son and daughter-in-law.

"Oh, alright," Hawkeye relented. "Beej, remember when Margaret and I got married and we were all drinking martinis and scotch in the Swamp, and you announced that Peg was pregnant with Ben?"

B.J. nodded. "Of course."

"And I told you that if you didn't name your kid after me, I wouldn't name my kid after you?"

B.J. nodded again.

"Well," continued Hawkeye, "you guys named your son after me so... Well, Margaret and I have a plan. It is to name all of our kids after the people we met at the 4077."

"So our daughter is Margaret Maxine," Margaret announced. "After Klinger and myself. Maggie for short."

"Hey, that's great," B.J. commented with a broad smile. "Wait till Klinger hears that. He'll be ecstatic."

"I like that name Margaret," Peg said. "It's got flow."

Margaret nodded. "That's what I said when Hawkeye suggested it."

"You came up with that, son?" Daniel asked in surprise, and Hawkeye silently took the credit. "From you I would expect a name along the lines of Spikette," he teased. "Now how about my grandson?"

"Now this is the good one," Hawkeye announced. "Margaret wanted to name him Benjamin Franklin Pierce Jr. -"

"But Hawkeye absolutely refused," Margaret broke in, "and offered to meet me half way."

Hawkeye nodded as his wife spoke. "Right. So in honor of myself - that was Margaret's idea - and my two best friends, my son has been christened...Benjamin John Pierce, B.J. for short."

A smile crossed B.J.'s face, a smile that conveyed an equal mix of pleasure, honor and joyful sadness. "Thanks Hawk. That means a lot to me," he said as more tender emotions tugged the corners of his mouth down slightly. "I'm honored."

Hawkeye cheerfully slapped his best friend on the back. "That's what we had planned. Now come on, let's go home and get the address book. We have lots of people to call."