Erin and B.J. were building their first snowman ever in the Pierce backyard as Hawkeye supervised. It was good packing snow, and the snowman was huge. B.J. was putting the head on as Erin instructed him, "No, it's not in the center, Daddy. You gotta move it a little."
B.J. took a step back to get a better look, and then maneuvered the head until it was finally centered. "There," he said, holding up his hands as if framing a picture. "That look right, Hawk?"
Hawkeye paced a little, studying the snowman from every angle. "Perfect, Beej." He turned to Erin and added, "But he needs a face, doesn't he, Erin?"
That was her cue. She'd already gone into the house and gotten a carrot from Daniel, whom she called Pop-pop, and Hawkeye had looked long and hard until he'd found a couple of large, dark stones for eyes. Now she picked them up off the ground and ran to her daddy, who had to lift her because the snowman was so tall.
"Put the nose on first," he told her, "then the eyes will be easier, don't you think?"
She nodded and did as she was told. Waggle sat obediently off to the side, watching intently as though he understood what was going on.
Hawkeye took it all in, utterly contented. This was his new family—dog and all—and it gave him the most extraordinary warm feeling inside.
It was a little over a week since B.J. and Erin had moved out to Maine. Erin was already in school and making friends. She seemed settled in and happy. Children almost always adjusted to new situations better than adults, though, and Hawkeye had worried a little about B.J., who'd had to contend with a hell of a lot of change in the last eight months. Surely it'd all been a shock to his system, but he seemed to be doing all right. He was going to be starting at Kennebunkport General Hospital on Monday and was excited about the job, looking forward to getting back to surgery.
The snowman finished, with his eyes and nose in place, B.J. set Erin back down and the three of them admired their handiwork. B.J. grinned at his daughter. "Why don't you go tell your Pop-pop that we're done, and that he should come out and see it?"
Erin didn't need to be told twice. She ran toward the house, calling out, "Pop-pop! Come and see! We made a snowman!"
B.J. laughed and Hawkeye noted the look of delight on his face, and he nodded a little to himself.
This… asking B.J. and Erin to pull up stakes, bringing them out here to Crabapple Cove, making them part of the Pierce family… It'd absolutely been the right call.
There was a lot that had gone wrong in B.J.'s life lately, but things were starting to be set right again.