Chapter 7:

The performance of "Sing, Sing, Sing" was a hit with Klink. He even swayed a little in his chair while listening to the melody. At one point during the song, Hogan even took Kalina onto the floor and danced with her and Newkirk.

When the performance ended, everyone sang "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" to Klink before the kommandant blew out his birthday candles. Once everyone had a slice or two of birthday cake, Hogan, his men, and Schultz started throwing their presents at the German officer, begging that each of theirs should be opened first. While Klink calmed everyone down and decided which present to open first, Kalina stood on the far left of her father's side feeling out of place and humiliated. There everyone was with their gifts for her father, and not a single one of them was from her. She swayed a little from side to side and mostly looked at the ground as each gift was unwrapped and revealed.

A pack of new fountain pens from Kinch, a Chinese cigar lighter from Newkirk, a knitted baby blue scarf from LeBeau, and a Native American headpiece from Carter. Hogan's birthday gift to Klink was promising him there would be no attempted escapes tonight, but he made no promises about tomorrow.

The kommandant was down to his last present. It was from Schultz and wrapped in shiny purple paper. He opened it, filled with anticipation, and looked down at the gift oddly once lying eyes on it. He picked it up to reveal a pair of new, fuzzy black socks. Klink lifted his eyes to his sergeant while raising an eyebrow at him.

"Socks?" He questioned, sounding a tad suspicious.

"I know your feet are always cold, Herr Kommandant, so I bought you a new pair of socks to keep them nice and warm! They will feel like it is summer everyday," Schultz answered, proud of his gift.

"They'll come in handy if you decide to take a trip out east anytime soon," Hogan said.

Klink turned his eyes to the colonel and glared at him.

"Gotta give you a little grief, Kommandant," the American simply answered.

The German officer looked at him a while longer, then turned back to Schultz and cleared his throat.

"Thank you, Schultz," he said, dim.

"Sie willkommen, Herr Kommandant." The sergeant replied, with a salute.

Klink saluted back and put his new pair of socks with the rest of his gifts.

"Hey, who's up for a game of charades?" Carter asked abruptly.

"Me," Hogan, Schultz, and the other Allied soldiers answered.

The six men cleared the area and made their way to the front of the stage to start organizing two even teams of three.

Klink was about to watch the game, when he noticed someone was missing. He turned to his left and was surprised to see his daughter standing motionless. She was gazing out at the others with a deep frown engraved on her face.

"Kalina," the colonel said, his voice filled with concern. "Was ist falsch?"

The teenager turned her eyes to look at her father and felt a heavy blanket of shame cover her entire body. Her father had received such nice gifts from the others, people that were not even relatives of theirs. And there she was empty handed. The person she thought no one else loved more than her, and she was standing there with no birthday present for him.

"Sußling, what is it; you're supposed to be laughing and having fun." Klink prodded, a frown of his own forming.

"Oh Papa," Kalina answered, her heart aching. She shook her head and sighed. "I'm a horrible daughter. What kind of kid shows up to her father's surprise birthday party without a present for him...I had a present for you, but…" She trailed off, not able to finish her thought. It brought her back to being in the music store and having her dreams crushed by the storekeeper.

"What do you mean 'had' a present?" The kommandant asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

Kalina gave another heavy sigh.

"I was going to buy you that Mozart violin you always wanted. I called stores in Hammelburg, Berlin, Dresden, Schweinfurt, Bamberg, and Frankfurt, but no one had it in stock. I spent days trying to track one down for you, and I finally got lucky when I found a store just outside Hammelburg with one for sale, but it was worth more money than this entire camp cost. So I sold that old antique ring Grandma gave me to get the money. I had Carter fake having his wisdom teeth needing to be removed to hide where I was really going. When I got there, though...it was gone. Some big shot Kriegsmarine officer came in earlier and gave the storekeeper almost 80000 marks for it. (1) That's why I don't have a present for you, Papa. And I'm really, really sorry. Had I thought about the ring earlier, I might have made there in time and…" she was cut off, when her father got to his feet, made his way towards her, and held her close to him. Kalina looked up and was surprised to find a big smile on her papa's face.

"I don't need any presents, sußling. I don't need new clothes, fancy pens, or some expensive violin made all the way in Italy," he said, soft.

"Papa, you've always wanted a violin like Mozart had, though."

"Yes, I have. I still do, but I don't need it. You've already given me the best birthday present I could ever ask for."

"I have?" Kalina remarked, looking at her father oddly. "What was it?"

"You. I get to wake up every morning to your sweet face and know that you're here with me again. That you're here with me on my 50th birthday and planned this wonderful party for me. I don't need anything as long as I have my baby by my side."

The girl's eyes twinkled, and her frown turned into a bright grin. She rested her head against her father and held him tight.

"I love you, Papa. Happy Birthday," Kalina said, her heart now content.

"I love you, sweetpea," Klink answered.

The two continued to hug one another and ignored everything else around them. Their happy moment unfortunately came to an abrupt end, when the door to the recreational hall slammed opened, and Hochstetter stormed inside.

"I got it! Major Hochstetter!" Hogan cried, guessing Newkirk's acting.

"There it is, Gov'nor," Newkirk said, filled with excitement.

The Englishman, colonel, and LeBeau all cheered, keeping their five point lead in the game.

"Major Hochstetter," Klink gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"Klink, what is the meaning of all of this?" The short man demanded.

"It's Papa's birthday, Herr Major," Kalina answered, with a smile. "You want a slice of cake, Sir?"

"Klink, you run this camp like a country club! You realize General von Wagner has fled from Germany and currently in London working with the Allies?!" Hochstetter snapped.

"You mean he's one of us?" Hogan asked, surprised.

"What is this man doing here?"

"He's hosting. With me," Kalina said, digging both her friend and father out of their current predicament.

"You made the most dangerous man in all of Germany help you host a party for a German officer?!"

"I threatened him with two months in the cooler, Herr Major. In fact, I've been supervising him all evening to make sure he doesn't pull anything. And since you're always so busy making the Gestapo look good, I thought I'd do a friend a little favor. Eh? Eh?" The teenager replied, giving a friendly shove with her elbow.

"I don't have friends, Fraulein. Only acquaintances," Hochstetter said, agitated.

"Ain't that a shocker." Newkirk grumbled sarcastically, making Hogan, Schultz, Kinch, Carter, and LeBeau give their best to keep from smirking.

The Gestapo officer snapped his attention to the group of six and glared hard at them.

"Now how 'bout a piece of cake," Kalina suggested.

"BAH!" Hochstetter hollered. He marched out of the building and thwacked the door behind him with a loud 'thud'.

"Well, how rude! He didn't even say 'Happy Birthday'," Klink's daughter said, crossing her arms with a huff.

The kommandant chuckled and rubbed his daughter's arm gently. He may have not been a general. He may have not been the richest man in Germany. But he had his camp, good friends, and the most beautiful daughter in the world. That was all he wanted.

The next morning came, and Hogan and Kalina were called into Klink's office soon after roll call. The two made their way inside the kommandant's office and made their way to the front of the desk. Hogan gave his usual sloppy salute, and Kalina dashed to her father, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gave him three kisses on the head. The response she got was Klink smiling and holding her hand gently.

"You called for us, Kommandant?" The American officer questioned.

"Hogan, I want to thank you and Kalina for last night. I will always remember my 50th birthday as one of my favorites," Klink said sincerely.

"Don't thank me, Sir; it was Kalina that came up with the idea...and did most of the commanding," the last part Hogan said somewhat under his breath.

"And yet you and your men brought home a 'Happy Baby Shower' banner instead of 'Happy Birthday'." Kalina commented back.

"That was all Newkirk and LeBeau's fault. Had it been me, I would have bought a 'Bon Voyage' banner."

That earned a glare from both Klinks.

As Kalina was about to give him an earful, the door to the office opened, and Schultz hurried in shouting in German.

"Ich habe es gefunden! Ich habe es gefunden! Kalina, I found die Violine!" The sergeant cried, holding a black case by the handle.

Klink's daughter's eyes grew twice in size, sprinted from her father's side, and made her way to Schultz.

"You what?!" Kalina gasped. "But how? Where? When?"

"Well, I told my friend who has a friend who has a brother who has a cousin who has another friend who knows a music store owner about your situation. So he looked in his store, found one in stock, and sent it here all the way from Dusseldorf!" Schultz answered, filled with excitement.

The teenager grabbed the case, opened it up to see inside, and sure enough there was her violin. Her father's violin. She stared at in awe for a brief moment, then closed it the case, handed it back to Schultz, and turned to face Klink.

"Papa, the violina has arriveda!" Kalina cheered, with an Italian accent.

The German officer chuckled, got to his feet, and took the case from his sergeant. He opened it and was stunned at its sight. It was more breathtaking in real life than in the pictures he had seen. Though old in model, it had been refurbished, polished, tuned, and dents in the wood had been sandpapered off for a nice, smooth feel.

After the shock had finally worn off, Klink's face beamed as bright as the sunshine outside.

"Puoi suonare "Tarantella Napolitana", Papa? Per favore?" Kalina asked, her hands clasped together.

"Where did you learn to speak Italian?" Hogan questioned, surprised at the language coming out of his friend's mouth.

"Corporal Donati in barracks seven. Spent two years living in Italy before the war started," the girl answered.

Klink smirked, starting to blush a bit.

"I'll try, my dear. I always had trouble playing Italian songs," he said, taking his new violin and bow.

The kommandant did his best to remember the song's melody through memory and started playing in a key of D flat minor.

Kalina smiled, closed her eyes, and gently swayed to the pretty tune. Soon Hogan and Schultz joined her, and they all listened to Klink's beautiful playing.

1. Kriegsmarine was the Nazi Germany navy. It was abolished in 1945 after Germany surrendered World War I. Germany's current navy force is known as the Marines.