For only the second time in their lives, Rafe and Danny would be separated. This time though it wouldn't be because Rafe was joining someone else's fight. He was going to be training new pilots to fly and hopefully get them through the war alive.
He was sure Danny would jump at the opportunity to take himself out of harms way and was taken completely by surprise when he told him he was going to stay. "Rafe, you've always been like a brother to me and you've always been there for me. But you've got a family and they come first."
"You're my family too."
"It's not the same and you know it. You need to think about them because Evelyn's havin' another baby."
"I know that, I was there when it happened."
"Don't be a jackass, I know you were there. Take your family back to New Jersey and do me proud. You're goin' to be a hell of an instructor."
"Danny you got to come with me, please."
Danny shook his head. "I'm not goin' to do it Rafe. I'm needed here and you're needed at Mitchell. That's the way it is."
"Doolittle said he needs all of his best pilots, and that includes you."
"I'm the pilot I am because of you and General Doolittle understands why I'm stayin'."
They were leaning against the wing of Rafe's P-40 as they talked and to hear that Danny talked to the General without talking to him first, hurt. They'd always done everything together and always knew the one would always be there for the other.
But Danny had always been in Rafe's shadow and being in Pearl Harbor after Rafe had gone to England, he was able to step out of that shadow and become his own man. He'd earned the kind of respect he always knew he deserved, but never really earned because Rafe was there. It's not that he resented his best friend, because he didn't. It was just that he had an ease around people that Danny didn't. It was his quiet authority that gradually got peoples attention, not Rafe's take charge style.
Danny grinned. "Rafe you've always been there when I've needed you and even when I haven't. But now Evelyn needs you more and the General needs you more. So you need to go."
Rafe knew what his friend told him was true. Their lives had both changed over the last two years and they were headed in different directions. He had become a family man and was soon to become an instructor. Danny was an accomplished fighter pilot and wanted to stay. "Does your stayin' have anything to do with Sandra?"
The light flush Rafe saw creep across his friend's face told him it did. "She's really somethin' Rafe and we're just takin' it real slow. I care about her a lot but we've got a war to win. I don't want anything to happen that's goin' to leave her with unexpected responsibility."
"A baby?"
"Yea. Rafe please don't take this the wrong way, but I want us to do this right." Danny looked down at his boots.
Rafe clapped him on the shoulder. "I understand what you're sayin'. But we would have gotten married whether she was goin' to have Danny or not. We just had to move things up."
"If she weren't goin' to have my godson, would you have waited until the war was over?" Danny wanted to know.
"Hell no!" He grinned. "I always wished I'd married her before I'd gone to England. But I wanted to wait and almost got killed. Do you love her?"
"I don't know. That's one of the reasons I want to stay, to find out. I can't do it from Mitchell."
Rafe sighed. "Then you've got to stay because I want you to be happy."
"Thanks Rafe, that means a lot."
"Is it all right if we come over?" The two friends heard Red call out to them. He and Gooz walked over looking a little hesitant. "You two looked so serious, is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine Red." Rafe told him. "Danny and I were just sayin' goodbye."
"So you're really transferring out?" Red asked.
"Yea." Rafe said. "General Doolittle wants me to go back to Mitchell to train pilots."
Red laughed at that piece of news, which got a curious look from Gooz. "What's the joke?" He asked.
"He only turned Doolittle's hair prematurely gray."
"The outside loop." Rafe, Danny and Red said in unison before they laughed and this confused Gooz even more.
"I guess I had to be there." He frowned.
"Sorry, Gooz." Red told him. "I forget you weren't with us then. Captain McCawley here only tried the most dangerous stunt possible and got chewed out by Doolittle in the process."
"But I did do it, didn't I?" Rafe grinned.
"And only scared the hell out of me." Danny grinned back at his friend. "Have you ever told Evelyn about that?"
"Are you kiddin'? I may never tell her. Why worry her about somethin' that already happened?"
"Well since you're leaving again, let's go out to the Hula-la to toast your new assignment." Red suggested.
Rafe pushed himself off the wing of his plane. "Let me call Evelyn over at the nurses quarters to let her know where I'll be, then we'll go." And he walked to the nearest telephone.
Danny looked at his two friends and smiled. Times really had changed.
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Sandra bounced little Danny on her knees. "We're going to miss you Ev."
"I'm going to miss you girls too. Even though I resigned my commission after Rafe and I got married, it's been nice to be able to stop by and talk."
"You're going to miss all the free babysitting." Barbara joked and the other girls laughed with her.
"Are you sure about this?" Martha asked. "It was different when we were all together, but you'll be alone now."
"I'm not going to be alone Martha, I'll have Rafe and Danny." She put her hand on her still flat tummy. "And whoever this turns out to be."
"That's not what she means." Sandra argued. "Rafe will be at the base all day and you'll be by yourself a lot. At least if you're here, you have us."
Evelyn knew that, but there was something more important. "But my husband won't be flying combat missions anymore, I think it's a fair trade."
Sandra put her cheek on top of the baby's head and became very quiet. The other girls looked at her because they knew Danny would still be flying and putting his life at risk. The telephone rang by Sandra's elbow and she picked it up. "Hello?...Yes she is, hang on." Sandra looked at Evelyn. "It's Rafe."
Evelyn got up and took the receiver from Sandra. "Rafe?...I'll be here for awhile, why?...Okay...Of course it's all right, have a good time...Take your time." She smiled. "I love you, too. I'll see you soon." And she put the receiver back in the cradle. She looked at the group of curious faces. "Rafe, Danny, Red and Gooz are going to the Hula-la to celebrate Rafe's new assignment."
"And you let him go?" Sandra asked.
"Of course I did. I trust him to behave himself." She said with a smile. "Besides, he won't have many more opportunities to spend time with the other pilots. I want him to be able to do that because he's not going to be able to once we leave."
"Good for you, honey." Barbara backed her up and then said to Sandra, "It's my turn to hold the baby, so give." and Sandra handed Danny over to her and Barbara continued to bounce him as Sandra had been doing. "I'm going to miss this little guy."
"He'll miss you too Barbara. But I'll send lots of pictures so you can see how he's changing and how I'll be changing."
"You better or you'll be hearing from us." Barbara said and kissed the baby on the cheek.
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Evelyn stood in the middle of the empty living room and tried not to cry. She was assaulted by so many wonderful memories and was trying to press them all in. This is where she and Rafe had spent the first year of their marriage and had made a home for themselves and their son and where they had conceived their second child. They had just celebrated their first anniversary and Danny was nearly eight months old.
She looked at the front door and remembered when Rafe had carried her over the threshold after they were married, how they had been so happy they were finally together. She looked into the kitchen and remembered how her water had broken as she was getting dinner ready. She remembered how surprised she was because the contractions had not been that strong nor particularly close together. She remembered the past Christmas when Rafe had given her his mothers cameo and how the nurses and pilots had come over on New Years Eve to ring in 1943. Such wonderful times with such good friends and now they were going to be on their own and try as she might Evelyn could not stop the tears.
She sat down on the floor and let her sadness and uncertainties about what they were doing take over. She was happy that Rafe would no longer be putting his life at risk, but at what cost? They were leaving people that had always been there for them both and even though Rafe would no longer be flying missions, the other boys would. She was afraid for Sandra because she understood the fear of letting someone you cared for fly into danger.
She'd not heard Rafe come in and couldn't see the look on his face as she sat there crying. She didn't know he was there until she felt herself being helped up and pulled into his arms. She put her arms around his neck and put her head down on his shoulder.
He ran his hands up and down her back trying to get her to calm down, but Evelyn was, for the moment, inconsolable. He kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair. These were things that usually soothed her, but they worked to no avail now. He sighed because he knew why she was upset. He was too because the closer it had come for the McCawley family to move back to New Jersey, the knot that had settled in Rafe's stomach when he'd decided to go back, had gotten bigger and bigger. He would never admit to Evelyn this was not something he wanted for himself, but for her and their children. There was something in him that needed to stay in the fight, to bring the Japs to their knees for what they had done. But he had made a commitment to General Doolittle and to his wife.
When Evelyn finally calmed down, she floored him with a simple question. "Rafe, do we really have to go?"
He gently pulled her arms from around his neck because he wanted to see her face. Her eyes were filled with tears. "Evelyn, you know what that means. I'd go back to flyin' in combat."
She nodded. "I know that, but we'd be with the closest thing we have to our families. And if anything happened to you, I'd have them here."
"You really wouldn't mind stayin'?"
"I'm so afraid every time you go out because I know you may not come back, but I know what it means to you to be able to fly. Rafe, I was wrong to want you to leave here. I want to stay and see the end of the war here. Can we stay?"
The knot that had been growing over the last few weeks was suddenly gone and Rafe knew they'd made the decision they should have made when the General had offered him the assignment. The trick now was to tell the General and to get his transfer rescinded.
There was a knock at the door and Danny was standing there. He saw that Evelyn had been crying and knew this move was hard on her, but she was smiling now. He could also see that Rafe looked happier than he had since breaking the news of his transfer and Danny suddenly knew his plans had changed.
Rafe let go of Evelyn and faced him. "How would you like to get your wingman back?"
The feelings Danny had had of being overshadowed by Rafe were gone in that moment. As much as he had wanted to stay out from that very shadow, the feeling of being alone in the world had overtaken him during the last few weeks because his best friend was leaving again. The news that Rafe wanted to stay filled him with such a sense of relief that he launched himself into his friends arms and pounded his back. "I'll take you as my wingman any day. Welcome home, Rafe."
And when Danny let him go, Rafe walked over to the telephone and put in a call to Mitchell Field to talk to General Doolittle.