If Erin noticed a difference in their relationship, she didn't say anything. They were careful not to kiss in her presence, but they often held hands or put their arms around each other… it was subconscious, natural, and if Erin noticed, she didn't comment.
Perhaps she noticed… and approved.
When she came home from school with a letter inviting her parents to come in and meet her teacher, she asked both B.J. and Hawkeye to go.
Hawkeye looked up from the letter to glance at B.J., wondering out loud, "Is that a good idea?"
B.J. shrugged, "Why not? You're her Uncle Hawkeye. Hell, even Pop-pop could go, but we don't want to overwhelm the poor teacher."
Erin was bouncing up and down. "Yeah, yeah, Pop-pop should go too!" she squealed.
With a laugh, B.J. put a hand on her shoulder to try to settle her. "That'll teach me to open my big mouth. Honey, your teacher doesn't need to meet the entire family. But Hawkeye and I will both go, OK?"
Hawkeye, still holding the letter in his hand, looked from B.J. to Erin and back again, a lump in his throat. They weren't even considering how it might look for two men to show up at a teacher-parent meeting; it was irrelevant in their eyes. All they cared about was Hawkeye being included.
"Erin," he said, "I'd be honored to go along with your dad to meet your teacher. Thank you."
Her face lit up and she started talking a mile a minute, "Oh, goodie! Mrs. Davis is really nice and she told me I'm one of her favorite students and she sometimes lets me blow the whistle when it's time to come in from recess and I really like her so I know you'll like her…"
The exuberant monologue continued for quite some time, and Hawkeye watched her with a mixture of love and pride, feeling very much like a father.