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"You ever wear curlers before?" Kathy McIntyre asked, as her father tied her hair into neat braids.
"No, but I've seen my mom with them before, I think my hair's too short for it." Answered Erin Hunnicutt, who sat backwards in a chair, resting her chin on the back of it.
"Well my hair's short and I've put 'em in a couple times, you can get real cool bangs with a curl, even if you don't have long hair." Becky McIntyre added.
"Oh yeah, curlers in the front are great." Kathy agreed, nodding her head.
"Hey now, sit still, would ya? I'm almost done here." Trapper, father to two of the girls knelt behind his daughter, working the wefts of hair into a braid. "Geez, Kitty-Kat, what'd'ya do with all this hair?"
Becky giggled. "She wants to put it in a beehive like the girls at school."
Trapper rolled his eyes. "S'long as you don't come home with a lice hive, then whatever makes you happy, baby." He tied off the end of the braid with an elastic, and kissed her temple. "Alright-" He said, patting his daughter, shooing her out of the chair. "Who's next for salon d'McIntyre?"
Becky was quick to chime in with "Me, me, me!" But Trapper saw Erin raising a tentative hand, and beckoned her over.
"Alright, sweetie, how do you want it?" He asked, picking up his comb and starting to run it through her hair.
"Can you paint my hair? Becky said you have hair paints at home." She asked quietly.
Trapper huffed out a laugh. "We do at home, but I didn't bring 'em with me, on account of not wanting to wake up with purple curls." The girls all laughed at this. "Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want, I'm on to youse. What else, honey?"
She thought for a moment. "Um... is my hair long enough for piggie tails?"
BJ Hunnicutt looked on from the door frame, as Trapper negotiated with the girls. "How'd he get so good with hair?" He asked the other adults as they sat around finishing their lunch. The girls had eaten first, and Trapper had volunteered to distract them with a salon so the rest of them could eat in peace.
Louise McIntyre beamed from her spot at the table, bouncing a baby in her arms. "Well, when John first got home, he took some time off work, and he wanted to spend every minute of it with the girls. And you know how little girls are about hair, it took a lot of trial and error, but he's really better at it than me now." BJ thought about how he'd brushed and combed Erin's hair often, but had never tried braids or fancy ties, he'd have to get some pointers from Trapper.
"Then I take it you'll be teaching little Henry football, hm?" Peg quipped, sipping her coffee.
Hawkeye let out a snorting laugh. "I could teach Henry John football better than Trap."
BJ smirked. "You? You'd just put your foot in it."
"Ah, but that's half the game, is it not?"
Bj shook his head fondly and returned to the table, taking the baby from Louise so she could finish her plate.
It was a warm summer's day, and the families McIntyre and Hunnicutt had gathered at the Pierce family vacation home in Vermont, right on the lake. Two weeks of fishing, swimming, BBQs and relaxation. It was Hawkeye's idea, he'd had so many fond memories of the place, and wished to return, but did not want to do so alone, and his father was not in much of a mood to travel, not like Hawkeye who was on a train nearly every month.
Hawkeye had come home from Korea in pieces, and found that the more he spent time with the friends he treasured so deeply, the more pieces he was able to find and put back together like a great big jigsaw puzzle. The two biggest pieces, his best friends, unfortunately for him, lived on opposite sides of the country. But this was easily solved by a few days on a train when he began to miss one of them too much to stand it. Hawkeye was not a child of divorce, but sometimes he felt he was one now, hopping between houses. But it was always so nice to come home, whichever home it was, to be safe and loved.
He picked up his mug of coffee, his hand trembling slightly, as it sometimes did now, from his medication, and took a sip. "Isn't great how kids can get on so well? I mean Erin's only met Trap's girls once before, and you'd think the three of them were sisters."
BJ lifted baby Henry with a grunt. "Not to mention she's over the moon with this guy."
Louise let out an exaggerated sigh. "Ooh, well, if she wants to take him off my hands for a while so I can finally get some peace in my house again, I wouldn't say no. We could send him on the train with Hawkeye."
Hawkeye grinned as everyone laughed again, and swooped over to the table to take the baby into his arms. "What'd'ya say little guy, you wanna ride the rails with your uncle Hawkeye?" Henry's response was an unintelligible gurgle, but Hawkeye nodded as if he'd said something very serious. "You know, he's got a point." Henry responded by grabbing at Hawkeye's nose with his little hand. "Another astute observation- I'm telling you Lou, the kid's a genius."
Hawkeye opened the tube of Coppertone, and squirted some out onto his hands. "Alright girls, lineup-"
Kathy pouted. "Aw, uncle Hawkeye, I'll never get a tan with that gunk on me." Despite her protests, she stood in front of him, and let him cover her in sunscreen. She fussed with her swim cap, making sure her hair was completely covered.
"Well you won't get a sunburn either. You've got your father's complexion, I'm afraid, and I happen to know he boils like a lobster." Hawkeye said as he dutifully spread the thick cream, then kissed the girl's head, and motioned for her sister to step up so he could repeat the process.
"I heard that!" Trapper said, rubbing sunscreen into Peg's shoulders, and tucking a stray hair under her cap.
"Good, you can defend your title of He Who Used The Most Red Vet Pet." Hawkeye said. "Beej just used it as mustache wax."
Trapper rolled his eyes as he moved onto Louise's back, and Hawkeye moved onto Erin. As he finished, BJ took the bottle, and rubbed some of the cream into Hawkeye's shoulders, digging his thumbs in where he knew Hawkeye was always tense, Hawkeye let out a pleased groan and thanked him. "Ah ah- where're you going?" BJ said as Trapper began to walk towards the lake shore.
"Gettin' in the water, what's it look like?"
"Without sunscreen?"
"Aw, what're you, my mother?"
"Get him, Beej- or better yet, you get his arms, I'll get his legs-"
Trapper rolled his eyes and stayed where he stood, putting his hands in the air. "Alright, alright, you got me." He turned his head when he heard BJ squeeze more of the sunscreen out. "Be gentle." He said, batting his lashes.
BJ smiled, then kissed Trapper's shoulder as he warmed the cream in his hands before spreading it all over his back. Hawkeye stood and joined them, he gave each a kiss on the cheek, then made sure BJ was also covered with the thick lotion.
As soon as the cap was back on the bottle, Trapper took off, running towards the small dock by the shore, and jumped in, yelling 'cannonball!' as he did.
The group cheered, with whistles and applause, as Trapper surfaced and swam towards the girls. Hawkeye took baby Henry in his arms and sat on the dock, watching Trapper and the girls splash around, smiling contently as Peg and Louise joined them.
BJ walked along the dock, and took a seat next to Hawkeye, adjusting the sun hat on Henry's head. "Not going in?"
Hawkeye swirled the water with his foot. "Nah, figured someone's gotta stay on dry land with this little guy."
"Yeah?" BJ said, running his hand through Hakweye's hair, watching the silver threads sprinkled through it catch the light.
Hawkeye nodded slightly. "I always loved the lake here, but sometimes... I don't know, sometimes it just makes me... think." BJ tilted his head, thinking. "I don't know, ever since I remembered what went down at the swimming hole back home, it's like I can't get into fresh water. Beach is fine, public pools are no problem, just..." He sighed.
BJ kissed the top of his head, and pulled him into a hug, careful not to squeeze Henry too much as he held Hawkeye tightly. "You alright?"
Hawkeye smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. I got good company here." Henry gurgled, and the men chuckled at him. "Uh-oh, looks like our good company's found you, Beej." He gestured towards the water, where Erin was doggy-paddling towards them.
"Daddy! Come on in, you gotta beat Uncle Trapper! It's gonna be a race!" She said, tugging on his ankle. BJ chuckled and picked up his leg, pulling Erin up slightly from the water, making her shriek and laugh. "Kathy, Becky, I need you!" She called out.
The older girls swam over dutifully. Kathy looked up at the doc. "What's up, is Uncle Hawkeye okay?"
Hawkeye laughed. "Geez, do I look sick or something? I'm fine, honey, thank you."
Erin splashed around as she turned to face the girls. "I can't get daddy in the water, he's too big."
"Oh, we can help with that!" Becky said excitedly, lunging and grabbing BJ's leg. "Come on Uncle BJ, we need two dads for the dad race." Her sister joined her, and Erin returned her grip to her father's ankle.
BJ raised his brows, crossed his arms and looked down at his legs. "Hmm... nahhhh, I already know I'll beat the pants off of him."
"Hey, I heard that Hunnicutt!" Trapper called out from a few feet away, chuckling.
Hawkeye grinned. "You know, I think I know how we can solve this."
"Oh?" BJ said, ignoring the children trying to pull him in.
"Oh yeah, it's very simple, really, all we need to do is-" The girls cheered as Hawkeye gave BJ a gentle shove, not enough to move him, really, but enough for him to notice, and play along.
BJ 'fell' into the water, and started paddling towards Trapper, the crowd of children around him preventing him from moving in a proper breaststroke. "Alright, let's settle this, McIntyre." Chants of 'dad' and the names of the men sounded, and Hawkeye began counting off for the race.
BJ dumped a box of bow-tie pasta into a pot of boiling water, and gave it a quick stir. The girls watched as he stepped aside to begin cutting up chicken breasts. "Okay, so, remind me again how that song goes?"
Kathy and Becky giggled and counted off on their fingers before starting together. "There was an old man named Micheal Finnegan, he went fishing with a pin again-"
BJ nodded, the words Trapper had taught him coming back to him. He tossed the chicken into a pan with some oil, rinsed his hands, and began to quickly chop peppers, scallions, and mushrooms. "Caught a fish and dropped it in again-"
"Poor old Micheal Finnegan, begin again!" Erin happily joined in, the girls singing and laughing as BJ stirred and fussed over the stove.
Hawkeye and Trapper strolled into the kitchen, joining into the song boisterously. "Say, Beej, that smells pretty swell, what're making?" Trapper strolled towards the stove, fresh from the shower, and smelling of the flowery shampoo that Peg liked to use. He slid a hand around BJ's middle, and wafted the aroma towards him.
BJ smiled, and gestured towards the colander, which Trapper passed him, and he drained the pasta. "Ahh, this- is chicken a la king, a la Hunnicutt." He said proudly.
Hawkeye chimed in from the table, where he had taken a seat amongst the children, his hair still damp and clinging to his temples. "Hold on, hold on- didn't we eat enough of that during our sentences?"
"Nah nah, you're thinking of the chicken a la thing. C'mon, you're tellin' me that nose of yours can't tell the difference?" Trapper said, watching as BJ put the finishing touches on the dish.
Hawkeye put his hands up in surrender. "I admit, it does smell marvelous."
"Speaking of marvelous-" BJ said. "The girls done in the shower yet?" After their swim, everyone had decided to wash off, the children first, then BJ so he could begin cooking, as that night it was his turn to make dinner.
"Yeah, but Henry was getting fussy, so he's getting his dinner now." Trapper said as he gave BJ a pat on the back, turning towards the table. "Lucky fella."
Hawkeye let out a dreamy sigh, but held any comment he might've had that would be too risqué for little ears. "I'd say we're the lucky ones, Beej made real food instead of aspic."
Becky tilted her head. "Aspic, what's that?" The girls looked to each other, then to the adults.
"Little cut up strips of baloney in lime Jell-O." Hawkeye said with a grimace.
BJ laughed and switched the stove off, bringing the ready meal to the table. "Don't listen to your uncle Hawkeye, aspic's good!"
He dished out servings to the table, singing the praises of gelatin. "It's good for you, a lot of protein, it's uh..." He thought for a moment. "It's like soup with chewy broth." He said with an earnest smile.
"It's okay." Erin said, quietly. Knowing her family enjoyed the gelatinous, meaty meal. It was not her favorite, but she knew uncle Hawkeye did not like it, and did not want to upset him, or her father by taking too strong a side.
"When we have Jell-O at home, mom puts some grapes and strawberries in it sometimes." Kathy said. "It tastes kinda funny when she makes it with the lemon one. What flavor do you use if you're putting meat in it?"
Erin thought deeply for a moment. "I don't know, it doesn't really taste like Jell-O."
"That sounds pretty far out- maybe it's alright though- I mean if you, and uncle BJ and aunt Peg all like it." Becky looked around the table as she talked. "You know sometimes uncle Hawkeye is um... well..." She trailed off. BJ and Trapper laughing loudly while Hawkeye rolled his eyes.
"Dad says uncle Hawkeye's too picky. He doesn't even like tuna salad. He went out for a pizza last time we had it at home." Kathy added.
Hawkeye put his hands up, then began to help BJ serve the chicken and pasta. "Alright, alright, enjoy your aspics, and your canned tuna, and your mayonnaise salads- I am gonna enjoy this lovely meal right in front of me." He scooped some up on his fork and held it up, sniffing it out of habit. A habit BJ still couldn't bare to look at, but Trapper found very endearing.
BJ rolled his eyes with a smile, and kissed Hawkeye on the top of the head, preparing two extra helpings, and picking up the bowls. "Enjoy away, my friend. I'm gonna take this to the ladies before it gets cold." Hawkeye nodded and gave a thumbs up while he loudly ate.
It was Trapper's turn to put the girls to bed that night. The three of them were happily sharing a king sized bed in a room of their own. There was a small bedroom intended for children, and it was a room Hawkeye had spent many summers in, but the bed was small, and there was only one. The guest room, with its large mattress was eagerly claimed by the girls, and personalized with plush toys and taped up posters of singers and cartoon characters.
Trapper had read them a story, and then another at their request, and tucked them in. Erin, being the youngest had dozed off halfway through the second story, with Becky following soon after. "You need a glass of water or anything Kitty-Kat?" Trapper whispered. Kathy shook her head, fighting a yawn. Trapper kissed her forehead and ensured she was properly tucked in.
Kathy was growing up so fast, and he knew he wouldn't have many other chances to tuck his little girl into bed, or read her a story. He flipped the light switch and reached for the door, pausing when he heard Kathy call for him, gently, to avoid waking the younger girls. "Hey, daddy?"
Trapper turned, and stepped back towards the bed. "Yeah, yeah?"
"Can I stay with uncle BJ and aunt Peg forever?" She said, sleepily.
Trapper was taken aback for a moment. He had worried quite often after returning home, that the girls would hold the time he spent away from them against him, resenting him for abandoning them. He swallowed the lump in his throat and let out a nervous chuckle. "Kathy... you uh, you really know how to hurt a guy." He said quietly, doing his best to keep his voice even.
Kathy furrowed her brow and tilted her head, confused. "Not without you daddy, I mean like how we are now. All of us, mommy, the Hunnicutts, and uncle Hawkeye- everyone all together."
Trapper let out a relieved sigh, feeling a weight lift from his shoulders. He crouched by the bed and took his daughter into his arms, hugging her tight. "Aw geez, you know, you really scared me, kiddo!" He let out a puff of laughter. "I thought you was mad at me."
She snuggled into the hug. "Why would I be mad at you? I just think it'd be real keen if we all stayed in one big house like this, and uncle Hawkeye wouldn't have to travel so much."
Trapper gave her one last squeeze before fixing the blankets around her again. "Well... You know uncle BJ has an important job in Mill Valley. And I have an important job back home. But uh... between you and me? I think you're right, it'd be peachy."
Kathy grinned, mirroring her father's smile. He kissed her forehead one last time, then walked towards the door. "G'night Kitty-Kat, sweet dreams, baby."
She settled against the pillows, searching for her sister's hand under the covers to hold. "Night daddy, I love you."
"I love you too." He said. "All of you."