Hawkeye immediately stopped cleaning as soon as he heard that name fall out of Eliza's mouth. She had no clue who he was, but Daniel peered back into the dining room to see the look of surprise on his son's face.

"Hawkeye, I don't think this call is for me," Daniel said.

"BJ? BJ called?" Hawkeye quickly went to get the telephone from Eliza, who was still lost as to who this Dr. Hunnicut was.

"BJ? Beej, are you still there?!" Hawkeye practically shouted into the phone.

Hawkeye felt a pang in his chest as he heard the same old chuckle on the other end of the phone. "I'm here, Hawk."

It had only been a month and a half since he last saw or heard of BJ, but that was a month and a half too long to be away from your closest friend.

Hawkeye could feel himself starting to get choked up, "How've... how've you been?" He asked, feeling a few warm tears roll down his cheek.

"It's been... weird... adjusting to civilian life," the calm and friendly voice responded, "I'm sorry about calling you at this time, I didn't really think about the time difference between California and Maine, it's just... I miss you."

Hawkeye smiled, wished BJ could see him smile. "I've missed you too."

A moment of silence passed before BJ cleared his throat and brought the conversation to life again. "Listen, Hawk, the last time I saw you I promised you that we'd see each other again. I know it hasn't been long since we've been back, and I know you might need more time to yourself, but I wanna stick to my promise. I miss you, Peg and Erin are dying to meet you... I just want to see my best friend again."

/scene/

While Hawkeye had been on the phone, Daniel had decided to walk Eliza and her daughter home and explain who BJ Hunnicut was along the way. By the time he got home, Hawkeye had finished the call and gone back to cleaning up the table.

"You two hung up already?"

"Long-distance call... BJ didn't want to keep me too long."

"I see... what'd he have to say?"

Hawkeye finished putting the plates in the sink and went to seat himself down at the dinner table. "Well, we were thinking about a visit in a few months. If you don't mind, maybe he and the family could stay with us when that happens?"

"I wouldn't mind."

Hawkeye smiled like a giddy child who just got the "okay" from his parent to have a friend spend the night. "Thanks, dad, you'll really like meeting him. He's a great kinda guy."

"You two were pretty good pals, huh?"

Hawkeye nodded reminiscently, "I knew we'd see each other again eventually, I knew he wouldn't break his promise... I just never expected him to call so soon."