Chapter 3
Stringfellow Hawke sat in the front seat of the blue Ford Focus four door sedan that Caitlin drove. Dom sat in the back seat and looked about as they drove to her home. Hawke gazed out the window and spotted some local teens on scooters, but the scooters were more like a self-propelled skateboard that went sideways down the sidewalk. He made a strange face as he gawked at the sight.
"Those are new," Caitlin told him, "Some new toy that's supposed to be some sort of hovering board or something weird."
"I thought skateboards were bad," he miffed.
"Skateboards are far more popular now," she mentioned. "Gosh, this is so weird. I have to think back to what it was like in nineteen eighty-four and try to remember what was popular and new back then."
Hawke huffed, "Walkman and boom boxes!"
"Oh yeah," she laughed. "The Walkman has been replaced with ipods and iphones now. And the boom box is long history."
Dom asked, "What's an ipod and what's an iphone?"
"An iphone is a cellular phone with internet capabilities. The ipods were kind of like Walkman's but no phone." She dug into her purse beside her and then pulled out her iphone. "This is an iphone, Dom." She handed it back to him.
He took the slick device, "Wow, this is one of those fancy cellular phones that sell for thousands of dollars?"
She grinned, "Actually I got that for few hundred dollars. The old cell phones from the eighties are in museums now." She glanced at him sitting in the mirror, "Swipe your finger across the screen."
Dom complied and the phone lit up. He gasped surprised, "What did I just do?"
"You took it off standby mode," she cheered. "You were pretty good with Airwolf's computers. You should get the hang of an iphone in no time." She glanced over at Hawke, "You should love computers today. You know Mike has your smarts and had a few degrees. She holds a master's degree for computer engineering. She designs systems for military aviation."
"Smart kid," he nodded. He gazed upon her, "If we hadn't hit that strange storm and came here…I would have been there for you."
"I know you would have," she assured him. "I'm just glad you're here now and I finally know what happened to you and Dom. That was the hardest part. The not knowing if you were alive or dead. I understand what you went through now when Sinjin was a POW. I knew it was hard but it was harder than I thought it would be."
"I should have been there," he told her. "She grew up without a father."
"Sinjin stepped in and helped," she smiled. "He wasn't about to let his brother's daughter not have someone in her life."
"Still," he sighed. "I should have been there."
"You're here now," she assured him.
Dom made a face, "It says you have messages on this contraption."
"Just ignore it for now, Dom." she grinned at him and his perplexed look. "I'll show you how to work it when we get home." She then pulled into a housing community with well-manicured lawns and sidewalks.
Hawke watched as children rode by on bicycles and skateboards. He spotted young teens playing basketball in their front driveways and lawnmowers roving over green lush lawns. "Nice neighborhood," he noted.
"It's nice but not a lot of privacy," she sighed. "I kind of miss that cabin at times."
"Looks nice here though," he tried to be supportive for he really he wanted his cabin back as well.
Caitlin pulled into her driveway of her home. It was a two story white ranch house with blue shutters and an attached two car garage. The lawn was slightly over grown with weeds and dandelions about. Her neighbors to both sides had immaculately groomed lawns.
Hawke noticed the difference, "Didn't mow the lawn?"
"Lawnmower is giving me trouble," she admitted. "I can't get it running half the time."
"I'll take a look at it," he offered to help.
"I appreciate that," she told him shutting off the car before the garage door. She looked at her companions, "This is it!"
"Here ya go," Dom handed her back the phone.
She quickly glanced at the message, "Oh good. It's Mike. She texted me that she got the vouchers so you two can buy clothes." She tapped her finger on the screen and quickly sent a reply. She then put the phone back in her bag and dug out her house keys. She opened the door to her car and then quickly led them inside the home.
Hawke looked about as he walked into the house. He noted the basic furniture and a reclining chair in the living room. He spotted a large flat screen mounted on the wall across from a red sofa. He asked pointing, "What's that on the wall?"
"Flat screen TV," she told him. "I know you don't watch television but it is nice to have." She led the men past the quaintly decorated living area and into the kitchen which was also decorated with a country life flare. The round kitchen table sat in the corner with a single apple themed placemat. On the counters were a number of new devises that neither Dom nor Hawke had ever seen before.
Dom stood before the single serve coffeemaker, "What's this thing?"
"It's a coffeemaker," she grinned at him. "It makes one cup at a time."
He wondered, "Why not just have a regular coffeemaker?"
"Because it's just me," she told him. "I live here by myself."
Hawke asked, "What's the black box thing?"
"Microwave," she informed.
"They have those things in houses now?" he asked surprised.
She nodded, "Yup!"
Dom motioned to the refrigerator, "Is that an ice box?"
"It is," she cheered.
"What's that thing in the door?" he wondered.
"I'll show you," she offered and went to the cupboard and retrieved a water glass. She touched a button on the front of the refrigerator and filled the glass with ice. Then pressed another button and filled the glass with water. She handed it to him to taste.
Dom took the glass and slowly tasted the water. His eyes grew wide, "Hey, this is neat…Ice and water right out of the door. This is pretty good!"
"It's the little things," she chuckled. "You can also use the water out of the door to make your coffee. It's filtered!"
"Sounds good," Dom agreed.
"Come on," she motioned. "I'll show you the rest of the house."
Later that Evening
Caitlin had ordered a pizza after giving Hawke and Dom a crash course in modern technology. Since she didn't have a landline Caitlin decided that the next day she was going to take Hawke and Dom to the local cellular store and get the pair flip phones to carry. But her current situation wasn't such an easy fix. For Caitlin it had been over thirty years since she spend that one night with Hawke in the cabin. For Stringfellow Hawke it was last night and fresh on his mind. The whole reason he even took Airwolf for a test flight was to think about that night. To decide what he needed to do. And suddenly he was thirty years into the future and it wasn't she who was lost but rather him. Matter of fact Caitlin seemed to be doing well going on with her own life. She was a single mother who raised a daughter. She informed Hawke that she flew choppers for the electric company inspecting lines after Airwolf disappeared and she recently retired. Caitlin had moved on from Hawke even though she still housed feeling for him. After showing Dom to his room she escorted Hawke to the guest room.
She opened the door and led him inside the country themed room with the full size bed. "This is it," she motioned around.
Hawke glanced about at the horse print curtains with matching bed spread. "Still into country I see," he mentioned.
"It's remarkably popular on the East Coast," she giggled. "There are rednecks just outside of the housing track."
He smiled with a slight laugh, "Rednecks, huh?"
She motioned, "There's that smile I recall."
He slowly sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at her, "I feel like I have gone to another planet. Everything is different. You're different. Heck, you're Dom's age. My brother is back but he's an old man. He's a grandpa! Archangel is this funny old guy. Everyone changed."
She took a seat beside him and comforted, "You change as you get older. Things that used to mean a lot when you were young don't mean so much anymore. Your priorities change."
"What are your priorities now?" he wondered.
"Other than you, Dom and our daughter?" she asked.
"Other than that," he agreed.
"Enjoying my retirement," she admitted. "Once you get older you start to feel things going. Joints hurt more. You slow down and you want to be able to do things while your still can. So, time becomes the most precious thing you can have." She looked over and smiled at him, "You skipped over those thirty years. You still have that time. I'm not gonna be around forever and I don't want to be a burden to Mike because this is her time. I want you to take this time and get to know your daughter. That's all I want."
"I will," he promised.
"Thank you," she hugged him.
He wrapped his arm around her and held her close. He whispered, "You're still just as beautiful now as you were then."
"I'm fat," she told him.
He kissed her forehead, "When I'm sixty-two I plan on being as fat as Dom!"
"Now that I would like to see," she mentioned.
"So would Dom," he laughed.
