"Hey Danny, you sittin' down?" Rafe grinned as he talked to his best friend in Hawaii.
"Why do I need to be sittin' down?" Danny asked him.
"How would you like to get your wingman back?"
There was silence on Danny's end of the line for a moment. "That ain't funny Rafe."
"I ain't tryin' to be funny, I'm dead serious. The Air Force reactivated me because of this business in Korea and the base commander here got me assigned to Hawaii."
"You're comin' back?" He couldn't quite believe it, Rafe was coming back.
"Yea."
"What does Evelyn think about that?"
Rafe sighed. "She's got mixed feelin's about it. She's happy to be goin' back, but all those fears about my goin' back into combat have come back."
"Sandra's the same way, but guy's like us have no choice. This is war and she knows that, Evelyn does too."
He sighed again. "Hell Danny, who thought we'd be doin' this again. And so soon after we got through the last one."
"I know. But it's what we've been trained for and it's what we have to do. When y'all comin' back?"
"Don't know yet. The kids are all registered for school here and we haven't decided if we're goin' to pull them out."
"You'd leave them there?" Danny sounded surprised.
"We don't want to, but school is comin' up so quick we may not have time to get them into school in Hawaii."
"Is there anything Sandra and I can do to help?"
"Yea. See if we have time to get them in."
"I'll ask her to go over to the school tomorrow and find out."
Rafe let out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. "Thanks Danny, Evelyn and I would really appreciate that."
"Have you looked into base housin' yet?"
"I'll be flyin' back again to settle that. I promised Evelyn we'd have a place to live before she packed a single box."
"So what am I supposed to call you?" Danny was curious.
Rafe grinned at that. "I got my rank back, so you can call me Captain."
"I'd like to call you somethin' Rafe McCawley and it ain't Captain." He laughed.
"I'll be back in a couple of days and you can call me what ever you want." Rafe smiled.
"You can count on it." Danny answered before they said goodbye and hung up.
When Rafe turned to go into the kitchen, Evelyn was standing in the doorway. "A couple of days?"
"Yea, I think I should. I promised you a place to live before we left here and I need to find out if we can get the kids into school."
She sighed. "It's going to start again, isn't it? The secrecy, the long missions and the kids and I missing you."
Rafe could see a look of fear in her eyes that hadn't been there since the last war ended. He walked over to where she stood and put his arms around her. He could feel her arms around his waist, holding him so tightly and she was shaking. He kissed the top of her head and tried to calm her fears. "Lovin' you kept me alive Evelyn, you brought me home." He took her arms from around his waist so he could look at her. "I came through the last war alive and I'll make it through this too."
"You can't make that kind of promise."
"I can and I am. I will come back." And he pulled her back into his arms.
"Who would have ever believed we would be going to war again." She said quietly. "Didn't we learn anything?"
"That's what happens when people want somethin' that ain't theirs. It's our job now to make sure that it don't happen."
"This isn't our fight."
"I'm afraid it is honey. The United Nations says it's our fight."
"I'm afraid for you Rafe."
"I know you are Evelyn. And I know you'd rather be goin' back to Hawaii on our own terms, but at least we'll be back with people we know."
"That's something I guess."
"Everything all right, you two?" They hadn't heard Thomas come in and saw him standing in the front doorway.
"Nothin' we haven't gone through before, Dad."
"Anything I can do to help?"
Evelyn smiled at him. "Afraid not, Dad. This is something we'll work out together, just like we did before."
"What about school for the kids?"
Rafe looked at his father and sighed. "I'm not sure if we're goin' to have enough time to get them into school back there."
"You could leave them here for the year."
"I could, but Evelyn wouldn't leave them for a year. And I won't leave Evelyn for a year."
"What else can you do?"
"Danny's helpin' me there. He's goin' to have Sandra go over to the school tomorrow and see what we can do."
Thomas smiled at his son. "Looks like you've got everything covered son."
"I hope so Dad."
Two days later, Rafe and Evelyn were at the airbase waiting for the transport that would take him back to Hawaii. This would be the last trip he would take in civilian clothes because the next time the McCawley family went back to Hawaii, Rafe would be reporting for duty.
For Evelyn, she was experiencing such a sense of deja vu. When Rafe had been stationed at Pearl Harbor, she'd only gone to Hickam Field twice to see him off on a mission and even though he wasn't seeing combat yet, the feelings of fear were returning in dreadful waves.
Rafe could see how his leaving was affecting her and tried to make light of it. "I'm only goin' to Hawaii Evelyn."
"I know. I thought I had gotten used to it, but I've also gotten so used to having you around everyday."
"I know honey. I've gotten used to bein' around everyday, but at least we'll be able to stay together."
"That is true."
The transport started up its engines and Rafe knew it was time for him to go. "You know, this is the first time we've been separated since I came home. And it ain't goin' to be the last for awhile."
"As long as we can stay together, I can bear it."
Rafe put his arms around his wife and kissed her. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too." She answered and kissed him back.
He picked up his travel bag and took her hand for a moment. "I'll be home in a few days."
She didn't know why, but Evelyn felt compelled to tell him, "I love you."
That made him grin before he answered, "I love you too, Evelyn." and he jogged toward the waiting transport.
