Monday

Hogan left very early on the long drive to pick up Hilda, and Hawk went along to keep him company. Hogan enjoyed the drive, because it gave him the chance to learn even more about Andrew's childhood. He was amused to discover that most of what he had assumed to be tall tales were actually true. As he listened to some of the wilder stories about Cotton and Andrew's antics, he remembered shuddering back at the Stalag when Newkirk had teased them that Andrew could have been twins. He now realized there really had been two of them, though Cotton had been the brawn, and Andrew the brains of the outfit. He found himself wondering how either of them had managed to survive, let alone their surroundings.

Later that morning, Rain came out into the back yard to find her brother slumping at one of the picnic tables. He was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, and his flight jacket and cap. He was watching the horses, longing in his eyes. She slid in next to him, and laid her hand on his arm. "Hey brother, how would you like to go see your horses?" His eyes lit up, and she saw him grin…the first one she had seen since he had come home.

His face fell as he told her, "I doubt I can make it that far."

"I thought of that. Which is why I had the boys bring around another one of your old friends."

Andrew heard her long before he saw her, and he couldn't believe it. He had figured he would have to rebuild her himself, because she wasn't finished before he left. But here she was. Rebuilt and beautiful. His bike. The motorcycle he had practically put together from spare parts from the frame up. She was now a gleaming black…and Ole, realizing he might not be ready to solo just yet, scooted forward, grinned and assured him, "Hop on. We won't get so close that we spook 'em. Rain and the boys will walk down."

And that was when Little Deer truly began to come back to himself.

~HH~

Late that night, he sat on the porch, waiting. They should be back soon. A thousand things ran through his mind. He had spent a couple of hours with his horses, just talking with them, and they had been like a balm to his soul. Rain had known what he needed. She always did. Ole and the others had left them alone with the horses, and eventually, she had told him about her Michael, and about Hogan's offer to help. And then, she had helped him to ride Shappa. Just for a little while…but she had known he needed it. Just as she had known that he needed to be alone tonight, to wait by himself. She had managed to draw the rest of them away for a while, and they were all out back, visiting. He knew his mother was worried about him, but he needed time to prepare to see Hilda again. Because he knew he had some decisions to make. Because, if Hilda was willing, Andrew had decided to re-enlist and was planning to follow Hogan to Virginia as soon as he was healed and ready for duty. But he would not say a word to Colonel Hogan until he actually re-enlisted. That way, nothing could go wrong. Breaking the news to his family, after being away from them for so long, was not going to be easy, and he wasn't looking forward to doing it. But he was sure it was right.

The sound of an engine in the distance drew his attention. He smiled as he saw the headlights playing off the ruts in the long driveway. He waited until they had pulled up in front of the house before he stepped down off the porch. And even though both the Colonel and Hawk made it out of the car before he got there, neither opened her door. They stood and watched as Andrew stepped up, and reached for the handle.

It was too dark for him see her, but he could feel her smiling at him. He opened the door, and in the next instant, Hilda was in his arms. He held her tight for a moment, and then kissed her, reveling in her scent, in her beauty. Neither of them even noticed the other two had gotten her luggage and were already making their way inside. They were completely lost in each other. Eventually, she moved back and looked at him. She put her hand to his face, and frowned. "Andrew, you are so thin! It frightens me!"

He shook his head and smiled. "It's alright, love. I'm getting better. It's gonna be fine. You'll see."

Less than two hours later, Olaf, Hogan and Carter sat at the kitchen table. Hilda had been exhausted by her nearly 24 hours in the air, and so had gone to sleep early. She had been confused by the fact that Olaf had placed her bags in a guest bedroom, and not Andrew's room, but she was so tired, she had not protested. Carter had been upset, but had chosen to wait to talk to his father about it until after Hilda was asleep. Hogan was pretty sure what the problem was. He knew that Andrew had told his parents that improper paperwork was part of the difficulty with Hilda's ability to come to the states. And now, Olaf wanted to know exactly how improper that paperwork was.

It was a credit to Hogan's ability to think on his feet that they were able to explain how they had gotten their hands on the forged paperwork without revealing anything about Papa Bear or their operation. Much to Andrew's consternation, twenty minutes later, he had been forbidden to sleep in the same room as Hilda until they were properly wed. And his father would brook no arguments. Andrew's jaw dropped. Hogan nearly fell off his chair laughing, until Momma's glare shut him up.

Seeing that the discussion was over, Momma came to the table and refilled Olaf's and Hogan's coffee cups. She took Little Deer's cup, waving away his protest. In a few moments, she returned and placed the steaming mug in front of him, but it definitely no longer contained coffee. He grimaced.

"Ah, Momma! Not that bark stuff again!"

Sternly, she eyed him, "That 'bark stuff' is very good medicine, and you know it. Our people have used it for thousands of years. Drink it." She moved back over to the stove, where she was mixing another batch of the medicinal tea.

He huffed and gingerly sipped the tea, putting it down immediately. "Yeeech!"

Hogan looked at him. "It can't be all that bad."

Andrew pushed the offending mug across the table. "Fine. You drink it."

Olaf simply raised one eyebrow at his son, and softly stated, "Drink it."

Andrew drank it.

~TBC~