Restless Days and Restless Nights
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Ch. 25
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Photographs and Memories Ch. 8 Part 18
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Thomas, his Uncle Terry, TC, and Rick left things in Keoki's capable hands and took off for Pearl. Rick was telling Uncle Terry about the St. Patrick's Day celebration Tommy had held this year, starting by telling him about going to St. Patrick's Cathedral that Sunday morning, how Thomas was corralled into playing guitar and singing "Be Thou My Vision" for the service and how Mike Murphy had used the occasion to gift Thomas with the Taylor guitar. Terry was thrilled for his nephew, to hear he'd been gifted such an excellent guitar. He loved when Thomas played the guitar and sang.

Thomas explained he'd named her Sarah...

Terry exploded into chuckles of laughter, "Your aunt will be honored!" This was because Terry's wife's full maiden name was Sarah Annabelle McLeod, though she was Irish, not Scottish. The family generally called her Annie, but Thomas had always preferred to call her Auntie Sarah. He just loved the sound of the name, Sarah. "I think my nephew is in love...with a guitar!"

Rick and TC both grinned. "Thomas is definitely in love with his guitar."

TC continued the story. "When he and Rick got home from church, we helped him set up for the cèilidh that afternoon/evening on the lawns at the Nest. Tommy had made Corned Beef and baby red potatoes with separate containers of cabbage for those who prefer full traditional. He made Irish soda bread and shortbread from scratch, enough for everybody."

Terry groaned. "I missed your soda bread and shortbread...oh, I'm sorry for that. I bet it was a wonderful cèilidh, Tommy, mi boy-o."

TC snapped his fingers. "Rick, I'll get Shammy to send me the video. Can't materialize the soda bread and shortbread, or the corned beef and baby reds, but I can definitely let Uncle Terry see the video of the cèilidh!"

"Oh, cool," Rick interjected. "I can show it on the wall with my new phone projector."

Thomas smiled tolerantly. "You and your tech-y toys, Rick."

"Hey, it's cool!" Rick retorted.

"I'm sure, Orville."

"Oh, Tommy boy, how could you do me like that?"

Magnum just grinned and let go a laugh.

Terrence smiled at his nephew's somewhat twisted sense of humor. "Thomas Sullivan Magnum the Fourth, play nice with your friends."

Magnum made a face. "Orville Wilbur Wright is a perfectly good name and Orville and Wilbur were pivotal to the development of aviation...he should be proud to bear their names. Granted Orville isn't a popular name anymore, but it's a good show on Fox, the Orville?"

"Great show...not a good name for a kid in this day and age...trust me!" Rick snapped, peevishly, "the amount I got bullied over that name!"

Thomas snorted and both he and Rick started laughing at each other and hugged. Terry just grinned at their antics. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a parking sticker and told TC to put it up in his window and they would breeze through the entrance at Pearl. TC put the recommended actions in place, and, when they pulled up to the gate at Pearl, they were waved through without any of the usual rigmarole, just salutes all around and they sped towards the Bachelor Officer Quarters on Pearl. It took the Admiral just a few moments to get his duffle and they were all on their way to Robin's Nest. As they pulled away from Pearl, Terry looked over into the back seat where Rick and Thomas were talking in low tones and began to sing, "The coffee in the Army..."

Rick and Magnum responded with the next line, "They said was mighty fine...fine for cuts and bruises..."

TC joined in, "It tastes like i-o-dine..." All the men sang together, "I don't want no more of army life...gee, ma, I want to go home."

Magnum chimed in with the next verse. "The rolls in the Navy they said were mighty fine..."

Rick looked at him funny, never having heard this verse before, as the younger Magnum went on, "one rolled off the table, and killed a pal of mine," Rick busted up laughing. "I don't want no more of Navy life, gee, ma, I want to go home."

TC chimed in, "And we did!" They all chuckled. It was nice to see the boys all relaxed and happy, so different from the last time, in Germany, when Thomas had been so ill and still so thin after the camps. It had been hard to see his boy so beaten down and sad after the betrayal by Hannah and the time in the camps where he had been burdened down by the loss of freedom and suffering of his friends as well as his own.

Rick, TC, and Nuzo had all told him how Thomas had blamed himself and constantly run interference to protect them at the cost of being put in the hole again and again and again - more often than not post being beaten, abused in various ways, and often tortured. That it had bothered Thomas' three brothers terribly what Thomas had put himself through was not surprising; but, to Terrence Magnum, who knew his nephew so well, there had been no other way his boy would have reacted other than to blame himself and do exactly as he had done. It was the type of leader he had been raised to be. To put his men, his fellows, above his own needs, came as naturally to a Magnum as being in the Navy, which was practically the only family career course.

TC pointed out some points of interest beside the road they were driving along which made him think about Thomas and himself plans for the next day, so he said, "Hey, TM, we'll reschedule our get together tomorrow for after Uncle Terry has gone home."

"Wait a moment, what is this now?" The admiral queried. "Perhaps check with me before you go moving things around, boy-o!"

"Oh, it's no big deal. Thomas was just going to help me come up with a new tour route to add to the mix I have for my guided tour flights."

"No, TC, Uncle Terry is here for both business and to visit, so I'm sure we can manage both." The younger Magnum came back in response. "I have at least planned one whole thing out already - even a brochure you can put out to hotels and stuff advertising it and ideas of where to publish articles about it."

"Oh, intriguing...so what's the theme?"

Thomas warmed to his task. "Well, I was going to save it until I could take you through the actual tour during a flight, but okay. Picture this - coming in over Pearl on the exact route flown by the Japanese attacking on December 7th, 1941. I've talked to the various authorities and know what permissions we'll have to get and everything."

Uncle Terry interjected. "Whoa, that's a real money maker of an idea, TC. Best to jump on that one. The tours that come to go to Pearl Harbor for a memorial, to visit the memorial, or for remembrance, you'd have all kinds of people lining up for that tour." Turning to his nephew, he asked. "Is this related to the thesis you wrote while at the Academy?"

"Not exactly, but sort of?" Magnum shrugged, dismissively.

"Did you know they still use your thesis, analysis, and illustrations to teach that section of Naval history at the Academy, buck-o?" Terrence asked.

"Really? Still? I figured they found something else since then!" Thomas seemed a tad uncomfortable at the revelation.

"They say there's been nothing better, before or since," Terrence said firmly.

Rick couldn't help it, his lips curled in a grin at how uncomfortable Thomas was at the revelation a work he had done for a grade back in the Academy days was still used as a teaching tool at the Naval Academy. Magnum truly didn't think his work would last that long, but clearly, it was still found valuable by those teaching the courses at the school. "Quit being so unduly modest, Thomas!" Wright chortled.

Magnum shrugged, discomfited still.

"Young man," His uncle said rather sternly. "That paper and the analysis in it was so spot on, so well written and precise. That is why the first assignment you pulled out of the Academy was Naval Intelligence!"

"Oh, yeah?" Thomas challenged his Uncle. "Then why did they want to use me as a field agent right away? Not as an analyst, which is what I agreed to when I accepted the assignment."

Uncle Terry shook his head, reprovingly. "That was compliments of your gift with languages, Tommy. You were a dream for field work…you were fluent in so many languages and with the Middle East heating up and your knowledge of Islam and understanding of the different factions, you were an agency dream for slipping into mosques and spotting terrorist recruiters…and you know that perfectly well."

Thomas frowned. "I was still being asked to SPY on people merely trying to exercise the religious rights our constitution guarantees, Uncle Terry. That felt and still feels totally wrong."

"How many young men do you think you saved from joining up with ISIS or the Muslim Brotherhood or the Jihadi's, Thomas?" The admiral demanded.

Reluctantly, Thomas replied. "Look, I'm not saying I didn't help quite a few not make that mistake, Uncle T. I just didn't like it in principle, you know that." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Can we drop this? Please…"

Terrence smiled. "Of course, mi boy-o. Sorry I got on it in the first place."

"Oh, that's okay, Uncle Terry. No harm, no foul."

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A/N: Sorry, my muse is hung up on this story right now. I've fallen in love with the storyline and Uncle Terry and haven't quite been able to break free yet. Hope you all don't mind too much. None of the other storylines are abandoned, I do have things I want to write on them, but right now, Uncle Terry wants his time!