It had been a nerve-wracking time for Barbara and Evelyn knew it.

In those last couple of weeks before the wedding, she would cry at the drop of a hat and Evelyn was beside herself to try and help.

She remembered how she felt before she married Rafe, but she was also nearly five months along with Danny at the time. For her wise cracking friend to be so weepy was a new experience for Evelyn and it unnerved her.

It didn't help that Dennis' squadron had been gone for the last six weeks on an extended mission from Hickam and Barbara worried that he wouldn't make it back in time for the ceremony.

Rafe and Danny were gone again as well. They were home for only a week when they shipped out again and while it wasn't nearly as important to have them home for the wedding, she wanted him home just the same.

As they had done when the war started, Evelyn was spending the morning at Sandra's. She would need to walk over to the base school to pick up Joseph when he was finished with the morning session of kindergarten. He seemed to take to school as his older brother and sister had and for that Evelyn was grateful. It was a worry of Rafe's that his children would have difficulty with reading and their letters as he did when he was a boy but as far as Evelyn could tell none of them seemed to have a problem.

They sat at the dining table and with small squares of tulle stacked on the table and filled them with rice before they tied the four corners together with small piece of ribbon and placed them in a box.

"How many of these do we need to do Ev?" Sandra asked her as she tried to help Ann with her reading as Thomas finished his bottle.

Evelyn smiled to herself because Thomas was nearly two months old and was a voracious eater. It amazed her sometimes that with only two hands; Sandra could take care of three different things. But after the baby was born, she was determined that she would help.

In answer to Sandra's question, Evelyn took a quick count of the rice bags that they'd finished and counted the pieces of tulle on the table. "I think if we do another couple of dozen, that will be enough. They kept the wedding pretty small, but if we make enough where everyone can throw two handfuls of rice we'll be in good shape."

Sandra nodded as she checked the bottle before she put it back in the baby's mouth and propped it against her in such a way as to fill the squares and scoot them over to Evelyn to tie up. "Is Barbara all right?" She asked and sounded worried.

"She's got wedding nerves like you and I did. As long as I've known Barbara, and we go back to nursing school, I only remember seeing her cry once."

"When was that?"

"After Pearl Harbor." She said quietly.

The look on Sandra's face was one of embarrassment. "Gosh Ev, I can't believe I forgot about that." And she sighed. "Billy and Betty."

Evelyn nodded. "That was the only time I ever saw her cry and even then she tried to hide it."

"It's hard to imagine now, but I remember how nervous I was when Danny and I got married. Joseph was barely a month old and you were getting ready to go back to Tennessee. It was hard to think about you leaving because I had hoped that we could adjust to marriage with you and Rafe here."

"It was hard for us to leave you because we'd waited for so long to see the two of you get married."

"When are her folks getting here?" Sandra asked as she took the bottle out of the baby's mouth to check how he was doing and she smiled.

"Barbara said they're due in next Friday night. Her father needed to get someone to look after the bar before he would come out here. He didn't want to close it for the three days they're going to be here."

"Smart man." She said before standing up. "He's all done, so I'm going to put him to bed."

"Take your time." Evelyn answered as Sandra walked down the hall to her bedroom. She put the scoop down that she was using for the rice and stood up. She stretched a little before she walked around the living room and as would happen sometimes, got a sense of deja vu. It looked different from when she and Rafe lived there, but she remembered where the furniture had been and the pictures that were on the walls.

Before they returned to Tennessee Danny promised them that he and Sandra would take care of the house and make it a happy one. They had and for that she and Rafe were grateful.

"Oh Rafe, Danny has enough. He doesn't need another present." She scolded him as he handed the gift to her.

He took Danny out of her arms, sat back down on the floor and settled the baby in his lap. "That's not for Danny, it's for you."

She was both pleased and upset. "I thought we agreed not to exchange presents."

He grinned at her. "We did, but I wanted you to have it. Well actually my mother did."

"Your mother?"

He bounced Danny in his lap. "C'mon honey open it." And as though to support his father, Danny reached out a small hand and pointed to the package. Rafe laughed. "Even Danny wants you to open it."

Evelyn was brought back to the present by Sandra's gentle voice. "A good memory?"

She smiled at her friend and nodded. "I can't help but remember so many things when I'm here. Is Thomas asleep?"

Sandra smiled back. "He was asleep before I put him down." And then her face flushed. "My good memory happens every year when Danny and I go to the Royal Hawaiian for our anniversary. We get the same room where we spent our honeymoon and from the moment that we enter that room I remember our wedding night." The color in her face deepened as she checked on Ann and took the baby's bottle into the kitchen.

Evelyn followed her and watched as Sandra took the bottle to the sink and picked up the bottle brush to wash it out. "I was always a little jealous because you got a honeymoon. There wasn't time for us and then once the war was over I was carrying Joseph, then you and Danny got married before Rafe and I took the kids back to Tennessee."

Sandra turned the bottle over in the dish rack to drain before she looked at Evelyn. "Have you ever mentioned having a honeymoon to Rafe?"

Evelyn shook her head. "When could we go? The boys are always on alert except when they're off rotation and that's never the same. Besides, we've been married nearly ten years and it's a little late for a honeymoon."

"It's something I'm always glad we were able to do and except for the year I was carrying Shelby, we've never missed our anniversary weekend. Now that we have our kids, it's an especially nice way for us to remember that we're husband and wife before we're parents and to have those two and half days together is a reminder of that."

Evelyn sighed. "I love Rafe and I know that he loves me, but sometimes I think we forget that we're more than Mama or Daddy. I can't remember the last time we spent more than a half-hour together without any interruptions from the kids." She felt her own face flush. "I sound awful, don't I?"

Sandra took her hand. "No you don't Ev. You sound like a wife who misses her husband."

She smiled. "I think it's all of these wedding plans that we're helping Barbara with that's reminding me that I was Rafe's wife before I was Danny or Sarah or Joseph's mother."

"Well, I think that it's time you ask Rafe to take you somewhere for a belated honeymoon. Danny and I can watch the kids for you for a day or two or a week if you want."

Evelyn liked the idea, but she couldn't ask Sandra and Danny to take on three extra kids.

"Your not asking Ev, I volunteered." Sandra seemed to read her thoughts. "Just plan it when you know Rafe will be off rotation and enjoy yourself. You both deserve it."

"I'll talk to him."

Sandra nodded. "And I'll talk to Danny. In the meantime, I want to check on Shelby. She's usually awake from her morning nap by now." And she walked out of the kitchen and left Evelyn standing in the doorway.

A honeymoon?