Chapter Text
The Pierces of Crabapple Cove, Maine, lived in the Pierce place, as they had for three generations. When Benjamin Franklin Pierce, mostly known as "Hawkeye" in the town, returned from his three-year stint in Korea, he brought home with him a wife, Margaret, quickly known to all as Maggie. They arrived just in time for the funeral of Hawkeye's uncle, Big Benjy Pierce, lobsterman extraordinary, a tough stalwart of every bar, a bluff, kind man, who in his way had entered local legend, helping his nephew (then stationed at a MASH unit in Korea) to place a South Korean youth in Hawkeye's own college.
At the funeral, Maggie Pierce met the former houseboy Ho-Jon, who had once had the thankless job of keeping the Swamp clean. He had come to love Big Benjy Pierce, who took him fishing, and as Ho-Jon flourished at Androscoggin College, the unlikely friends missed Hawkeye, bothered Daniel, and watched Ho-Jon surge ahead in his academic career. Daniel, Benjy's smaller, more educated brother, took Ho-Jon into the family, but when Benjy's heart gave out, Daniel himself grew quiet, and seemed lost in the old rambling house on the Cove.
Their return to the United States somewhat subdued, Ben and Maggie helped Daniel ride out the shock, discovered that Hawkeye had inherited Benjy's boat, and that Daniel's mourning for his big brother had taken him to the verge of depression. Maggie in particular was gifted at heartening Daniel; Ben's obvious adoration of her cheered him considerably, as his son's letters home in the last months of the Korean War had led him to fear for Hawkeye's stability. Maggie's love, good common sense, and no-nonsense attitude had made Ben happier, busier, and had led him to opt out of working with his father. Instead, he drove 15 miles each way from the Cove to Spruce Harbor Medical Center, where within three years, he became Chief of Surgery. Maggie worked with her husband, and swiftly became Chief Nurse.
Ben Pierce had astonished his colleagues with his precision at the operating table, his speed and devotion to his patients. Three years in Korea should have dulled his skills, but in fact, "Young Doctor Pierce" quickly became the most trusted surgeon at the Center. For cases that were especially challenging, though, Ben had arranged visiting rights for his friend Charles Emerson Winchester, III. Dr. Winchester was a native of Boston, and Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Boston Mercy Hospital. But, he would tell his colleagues, "If even Pierce needs me, I must attend." Charles was a big fish in a big pond, while Ben was a big fish in a smaller pond. Still, their mutual respect, and affection, grew warmer with the years, and on occasion, Winchester would call upon Pierce for aid. Uncle Charles and Aunt "Pegotty" (Margy Pierce's name for her, to distinguish her from Uncle BJ's wife, Aunt Peg) knew Mom as well as Dad--they had served at the 4077th MASH with both their parents. Uncle Charles relished his wife's Dickensian soubriquet, and applauded Margy for her interest in "Genuine books," as he put it.
When Maggie gave birth to twins--a boy and a girl--in 1954, she was out of work for several months. Daniel, with the clinic slowing down as the Center grew busier, encouraged her to return to work. At 60, Dan Pierce was happiest looking after his grandchildren. Any clinic work that was needed he could take care of, and the kids became his skilled assistants, keeping supplies organized, watching stray children, and generally making sure that Granpa remembered the importance of the lollipop for his youngest patients. Daniel didn't really need the reminders, but he enjoyed them.
Maggie and Ben had their special place in the upstairs attic where they had their "keep fit" exercise area. It was sound-proofed, so neither Daniel nor the kids wouldn't be disturbed by the sounds of the exercise going on upstairs.
The Winchesters and the Pierces would see each other frequently. Less often, but especially joyful, would be the visits to California to bee with Uncle BJ and Aunt Peg. Erin, their courtesy cousin was not so much older that the younger Pierces would feel her different to them. In fact, Erin embraced them as the brother and sister that her parents had yet to deliver, despite Erin's recent demands. Once a year, there would be a reunion of the 4077th staff, and that week was a wonder for the children--meeting so many of the characters in Dad's stories, and sometimes even in Mom's was a treat for them, as was the fact that the Pierce kids were special to the Potters, the Klingers, and the nice deaf priest who let them run wild. Radar O'Reilly would spend a lot of time with Dad and Uncle BJ, Benjy noted, and Aunt Pegotty spent a lot of time with Mom, as Margy would too, unless she and Erin had found a new game--anything from looking up information on famous shipwrecks and pirates (Erin was rather obsessed, after seeing "Treasure Island") to forming their own Pickwick Club, excluding Benjy, just like the March girls did in "Little Women."
Benjy took his banishment stoically; it was once a year, and meant he had more time with Uncle Charles, his favorite uncle, because he wanted to be a doctor, too, but, unlike Dad, he wanted to be more. He wanted to be one of the "Gentle-men," as Uncle Charles would say it. Uncle Charles would take him to used bookshops, help him find treasures they could read and compare notes about, and, after the reunion, bring Margy into the charmed circle of books. When Margy and Ben visited Uncle Charles in Boston, she would join her brother and uncle on their book-raiding forays.
Spruce Harbor Medical Center flourished, so much so that Ben was now a large fish in a larger pond. With the growth of the Center, several new doctors came on board, including another friend of Dad's, the legendary "Trapper John." Margy worked out quickly that Mom didn't like him anywhere near as much as she liked Uncle BJ, but, as Uncle BJ was a whole continent away, Mom made allowances. "Trapper John" was a good doctor, Mom would always say, but not anywhere near as good as Dad.
Benjy and Margy had their special times together--old movies on tv and at the local theater, book club with Uncle Charles, Dad reading them books even as they were getting too old to be read to--Boston plays with Aunt Pegotty, and letters to and from Erin. Margy, more and more, wanted to write, if she could only discover what about. Her first short stories were sweet, but as she grew up, they became little tableaus of life. Sometimes charming, sometimes grim (her story about Big Benjy's funeral moved Daniel to tears), they had a realistic tinge to them lacking in most stories written by a child.
For Ben and Maggie, the years flowed quickly, sweetly with so much time for loving each other, their children, their friends. As had been the case at the 4077th, Maggie was the perfect nurse to work with Dad, and he was always at his best with her working with him. Trapper (the children never awarded him an "Uncle" designation) said that in surgery, they were two halves of a whole. Uncle Charles said that they made surgery into an art form--it was balletic to see them in action. Benjy's competitive streak was fueled, and he began reading his father's old medical text books, wanting to learn how the human body worked, and how to fix it.
For the twins' 18th birthday, Uncle BJ, Aunt Peg, and Erin were coming. Uncle Charles and Aunt Pegotty would of course be there, and Uncle Sherman and Aunt Mildred had sent presents, but were also flying in. As the day drew on, with the guests still en route, Ben was seated on the porch swing when the mailman came to the porch, handed him a little sheaf of letters, and wished him a happy birthday. Benjy looked through the letters, found one addressed to him, and opened it. Shocked, a little nauseated, even, he went inside, and met his parents, coming down from the exercise room.
Ben took in his son's whitened face, and Maggie quickly caught on.
"What's wrong, honey?" she asked. He passed her the letter without a word.
"What is it, Maggie?" Dad asked, his psychic antenna twitching. She handed it to him, but before he could read it, and force the words to make sense to him, Benjy answered:
"I've been drafted. They're sending me to Vietnam."