The next few days were filled with constant worry. Emma tried contacting The Red Cross (they had sent her the letter) but they didn't reply. Nothing could comfort the young woman, and she fell into a fit of depression that only seemed to lift when she spent time with her family, which was thankfully, often.

Erin insisted on taking her to out with Mary Ellen, Elizabeth and Marcia for a change of scenery one night. Emma was glad to be out, but she was cross at herself for agreeing to have fun when she didn't even know what was happening to her husband. Marcia put an arm around her as they walked to the movies from where they had just ate out.

"You doin' okay?" The older girl said, her eyes filled with worry.

Emma nodded and plastered on a fake smile. "Fantastic. How about you?"

Marcia raised an eyebrow. "Really Emma, how cheerful can you be?"


John Curtis had started to ask more and more questions about his father. He had a little picture of Curt beside his bed. Sometimes it was hard for him to tell Jonsey and Curt apart, but for the most part he knew who was his real daddy. Mary Ellen had drilled into him from a young age the story of how Curt died.

When Emma went to say goodnight to him, she found the little boy talking to the picture with a stern face. His dirty blonde hair was messy, and his blue eyes were wide and alert. When he noticed her, he smiled wide. "Hey, Aunt Emma. I was saying goodnight to Daddy."

Those words tore into Emma's heart like a knife. "Oh, really? That's nice. You need to get some sleep though. You too Jeffrey." Jeffrey rolled his eyes but reluctantly got into bed. "Night night!"

Even though Germany had surrendered earlier in the year, John Boy and Jason were only getting back in the last week of August. Japan had not yet given up though, so no proper celebrations could be made yet.

Emma couldn't wait to have her older brothers back. Even though she saw Jim Bob, Paul and Jonsey regularly as they were only stationed a few miles away, it wasn't the same without the others. And, Toni Hazelton was coming round for the first time.


"Jason! John Boy! Jonsey, Paul you brought them?" Mary Ellen shouted from the porch. Jim Bob lagged behind the older boys. Emma ran out from the kitchen and hugged her brothers tightly. Soon, her sisters joined the hug while bringing Jonsey and Paul into it. Olivia and John stood with Grandma on the porch.


The whole Walton family was almost together again. Everyone except for Ben. Emma felt like bursting into tears when she saw Paul and Erin discussing their wedding, or Mary Ellen and Jonsey flirting. She kept Charlie close to her. John Boy noticed her discomfort, so he walked over and sat down beside his younger sister. He had a haunted look in his eyes, and Emma knew that she would never be able to ask any of her brothers if they had killed another person.

A firm knock sounded on the door. Olivia got up and opened it. A dark haired, dark eyed young woman came bustling through. Her whole face lit up when she saw Jason. "Jason Walton, you cad! I've been waiting for you for ages, and I just knew you would get back."

Jason smiled awkwardly and looked around his family. "Heyy, Toni. Everyone this is Antoniette Hazelton." He stood up and took his girlfriend's hands.