B.J. sat at Peg's kitchen table, a bottle of Coke in front of him but untouched. He was wondering if he'd actually heard her correctly.
"Every other weekend… forever?"
A thin smile crossed her face. "Well, that's assuming you don't give me any reason to change my mind, B.J."
He shook his head, still digesting this amazing news. "We can have her every other weekend," he repeated.
"From Friday evenings, whenever you get off work, to Sunday evenings. Does that seem fair?"
More than fair, he thought. His heart felt like it was actually leaping. "Yes, absolutely. It's very generous of you, Peg."
She'd been sitting across from him at the table, but now she stood and went to the fridge, getting her own bottle of soda. "She talks about you all the time," Peg explained. "It's been good for her, to spend time with you. And I have to admit, she really seems to like him, too."
B.J. noted, with brief bitterness, that she avoided saying Hawkeye's name. Him. B.J. might have said something about it, but this conversation was going too damn well to express any kind of irritation with her.
She took a drink of soda, moving around the kitchen as she spoke. "I don't know, B.J., it occurred to me that I don't want to be the mean mom who keeps her daughter from seeing her daddy. She deserves to have both parents in her life. And I often have to work on weekends anyway—that's usually the best time to show houses." She stopped pacing and faced him with a shrug. "It's an arrangement that seems to make sense."
B.J. was almost afraid to ask, but he did anyway. "And do your 'ground rules' continue to apply?"
She sighed, casting her eyes away from him. There was a long pause before she spoke. "Can I trust you two to be… discreet? I don't want to be unreasonable, B.J., but if Erin sees you two acting like… like a couple, she isn't going to understand. And honestly, I don't think I want her to understand. I mean, I know how that sounds, but hell. Not even I understand your..."
She trailed off, but he got the gist. His voice gentle, he said, "Believe me, Peg, we will never do anything to upset Erin, or make her feel uncomfortable. Of course we'll be discreet." He stood and went to her, placed his hands on her shoulders. It was their first physical contact in eight months. "You're being very decent about this, Peg. Thank you."
Her eyes met his, and her expression was soft. Something was happening to his ex-wife, changing her… could she be in love? She hadn't mentioned anything like that to him, but then again, why would she? Or maybe it was the fact that her professional life was satisfying her in ways she'd never expected. She was becoming a career woman, and it suited her.
She let out another sigh, as if she weren't at all sure she was making the right decisions. Then she said simply, "I'm just trying to be a good mother."
"You are a great mother," he assured her, and did something he never dreamed he'd do again. He gave her a hug.