Barbara had told him to take Evelyn out to dinner, but she had vetoed that idea.

She didn't just want an evening with her husband, she wanted an entire day. She made sure he'd spent much of his time with the children while he was home, but now it was her turn. She felt a little selfish for wanting this, but she had been Rafe's wife before she'd been a mother.

The kids were spending the day with the nurses and Rafe and Evelyn had decided to go to the beach. Their choice was not lost on either one of them because the last day they tried to spend a day together, with Danny, she'd gone into labor.

The day was warm and they held hands as they walked down to the beach from the house. Rafe had the picnic basket in one hand and Evelyn had the blanket in her other hand. It was a perfect day and even after having lived on Pearl Harbor for the last two and a half years, Evelyn could not get used to the balmy weather in the middle of what was supposed to be winter. It would be snowing in New York now and she couldn't help but think back to the first time they had met at the coffee shop near the hospital. It seemed a lifetime ago when they had all been there, before the girls had shipped out to Hawaii and Rafe had volunteered to go to England.

"Hey Evelyn, where are you?" Rafe squeezed her hand.

She smiled at him. "In New York actually. I was remembering how everything with us started."

"Yea, I broke my nose."

Evelyn tried not to laugh. "That's true, but the reason you broke it was that you were trying to get me to go out with you."

"And it worked, didn't it?"

She moved closer to him. "That wasn't what did it. It was when you came to see me at the hospital with that bottle of champagne and then popped the cork." And then she laughed softly.

"Then you kissed me." He leaned over, "and I'm just returnin' the favor." He said with a grin and kissed her.

She smiled and looked at him. "I felt so bad for you because I knew it hurt."

"It was all worth it because you did go out with me. Any regrets?" He joked.

"Not so far." She said with a straight face.

"Well that's good to know." He said with an equally straight face.

When they got to the beach and found a spot by the water, Evelyn laid out the blanket on the sand and Rafe put the basket down. "It's a beautiful day, Mrs. McCawley."

"It certainly is Captain McCawley." She took his hand and looked at him. "And here we are all alone. It's been a long time since we've been that."

He frowned, worried that she might be unhappy. "Are you sorry about the kids?"

"Of course not. I love the kids but they came so quickly and we never really had any time together. And with you being gone so much, we've had even less time."

He put his arms around her and held her for a moment. "I'm sorry about that honey."

"I'm not complaining Rafe, honestly."

"If we had to do it over again, would you have taken me on?" He asked her.

She looked into his eyes so he would have no doubts. "I would do it all over again because no one has ever made me as happy as you have."

"If you hadn't stayed with me before I flew with Doolittle, Danny wouldn't have come as soon as he did. And we wouldn't have had to get married."

That stunned Evelyn. "Do you think I married you just because I was pregnant? Rafe, I would have married you whether I was going to have Danny or not. I would have married you before you went to England if you'd asked me."

"You would have?" He seemed surprised.

"Of course. You're the only man I've ever loved and Danny wasn't the main reason I married you. You seem to forget that you proposed to me before you went on the mission. I'd already decided that if you came back we were going to get married as soon as possible."

That got him to grin at her. "Is that so."

"Yes that is so." She smiled back at him. "And as it turned out, Danny kept me from missing you too much. I had to concentrate on taking care of him before I knew he was a he. Then after he was born there was so much to do that I didn't have time to think about the danger you were in. It was after I would put him down for the night that I would think about you and worry that you wouldn't come home to us."

"I remember tellin' Danny at Thanksgivin' how I had done so many things wrong when it came to you, but it all seemed to work out. Do you think it worked out?"

She put a hand on his cheek. "I honestly don't know what you did wrong Rafe. You went to England to help because they needed it and I was never more proud or more frightened in my life. And as far as our being together before you flew with General Doolittle, I could have said no. But after almost losing you in England, I didn't want you to go away without knowing how much I really loved you. I have no regrets about any of it and Danny was a surprise. But he was a very wonderful surprise and I feel so blessed to have him and Sarah. So yes, I think everything worked out. I love you Rafe and I don't ever want you to doubt that or that I didn't marry you because I wanted to."

"I love you too Evelyn and I am so glad to have you and the kids. You three are the reason I fly those missions, so we can all be together at the end of this thing." They held each other for a moment before Evelyn sat down and started to open the basket. Rafe sat down and stopped her. "Before you unload this great lunch, I have a surprise."

She looked at him, puzzled. "What surprise?"

And without a word Rafe went into the basket, pulled out a bottle of champagne and two glasses, then he looked at Evelyn. "I'm not sure what made me think to do this but after you mentioned New York, I was glad I brought it." He pulled off the wrapping from around the cork and Evelyn held her breath. "You seem to forget that I didn't have any trouble with the champagne on out weddin' night." And he grinned at her.

"That's true." And with that, Rafe popped the cork and hit himself in the nose.

They sat there looking at each other and Rafe's eyes started to water, badly. Evelyn was doing her best not to laugh but seeing him sit there looking so surprised, it had brought back so many happy memories. She put the glasses Rafe had handed to her back in the basket and took the bottle out of his hand and set it down. They smiled at each other as Rafe lay down and put his head in her lap. He looked into her eyes and smiled. "You are so beautiful it hurts."

"It's your nose that hurts." She smiled back at him, remembering that night.

"I think it's my heart."

And she kissed him.