She didn't like it that they weren't talking.
But she and Sandra agreed to let the matter alone because to try and fix it might make it worse. But at the very least she could get Rafe to talk about what happened and help him to feel a little better.
It was an early evening because Barbara and Dennis wanted to do some last minute unpacking so their house would be in order when they came back from their honeymoon. Her parents and his were going over to the house to help because they wanted to spend some time with their daughter and their son before they got caught up in the flurry of activities the next day.
It was just as well the evening ended early because Evelyn wanted Danny and Sarah in bed early. They were both going to be part of the wedding and she wanted them to get plenty of rest for what was to be sure a very long day for them.
She knew she needed to get to bed as well. As Barbara's matron of honor, there were many of the details that she was responsible for and she needed to be on her toes. But she wanted to talk to her husband before they went to bed.
"I finally got Joseph to go to sleep. For such a little boy, he sure is excited about this weddin'." She heard Rafe's voice as he walked into the living room. He came to stand next to her and put his arm around her waist. "And you seemed to be a million miles away."
She smiled at him. "Not that far. And as far as our youngest being excited about this wedding, it could be because he was too young to remember Danny and Sandra's. Danny and Sarah seem to be a little less excited because they've through this already." She smiled and leaned against him. "Do you realize that Joseph was only six weeks old when they got married? Danny and Sarah were barely four and three."
He nodded. "And we wondered if Sarah wasn't too young to be a flower girl."
"But she did a wonderful job."
He grinned. "And Danny didn't drop the rings."
She smiled as she remembered that day. "Two good friends made their vows to each other that day after waiting for what I'm sure seemed an eternity. And I don't think I've ever seen the two of them happier, have you?"
"He wasn't real happy last night." And she looked up to see him frown.
"I'm sure he had his reasons Rafe. He had to leave his infant son and little girls to go out on a mission and when he came back his baby son was already six weeks old."
"I damn well know that Evelyn because I understand what it feels like to have to leave your wife when she's just had a baby."
She slipped an arm around his waist. "And you also understand what it was to come back. You would make yourself scarce to Danny and the other pilots because you wanted to be with Danny, Sarah and me. It seems to me that Danny is doing the same thing with Ann, Shelby, Thomas and Sandra. He wants to be with them, especially Thomas because he isn't getting the chance to see him grow up the way he got to with the girls."
"And you think that I'm bein' an ass about this."
"I'm not saying any such thing Rafe McCawley and you know that. All I'm saying is that there were plenty of times where Danny felt just as you do because during the last war he didn't have his family yet. Having been through it yourself, I would think you'd understand it."
"You know I do." He said quietly and Evelyn felt that she'd made her point. "You think I should call him?"
"I think you should do what feels the right thing to do." She answered.
"That wasn't exactly the answer I was lookin' for." His frown got deeper.
"I know it wasn't. But you've known Danny for most of your life and you know what you need to do more than I do."
He nodded before he let go of her and walked over to the telephone. Evelyn heard him sigh as he picked up the receiver and heard the dial as he called their old house. "Hi Sandra, it's Rafe. Is Danny around?"
"Sure Rafe, hold on for just a moment." And he heard the receiver as Sandra set it down.
Evelyn hadn't called him as much, but he had been an ass. He hated to admit that he'd forgotten what it felt like to have to leave Evelyn when Danny and Sarah weren't much older than Danny's two girls. He'd forgotten how lonely he would get for them and wonder what he was missing. He was glad to have the chance to see them grow up some before they returned to Hawaii and he was especially happy to have the chance to see his youngest grow up because with Joseph he got to see what he missed with Danny.
"Evenin' Rafe." Danny's voice broke into his thoughts. "I thought y'all would be hittin' the sack by now."
"The kids are already in bed and Evelyn's on her way." He sighed again as Evelyn touched his arm before she kissed his cheek and walked down the hall to their room. "The fact is, she got me to thinkin' about some things and I wondered if you wanted to come on over so I could talk to you."
He didn't hear anything for a moment and wondered what Danny was thinking. "Sure Rafe. The girls are sound asleep and Sandra's puttin' Thomas down for the night. As soon as she's settled I'll be there."
"Thanks Danny."
"Sure thing Rafe." Danny replied and he hung up.
He walked to the front door and opened the screen door. He stepped out onto the porch and sat down on the porch swing. The same swing that he would often see Evelyn sitting in while she waited for him to come home.
Rafe was at a loss. His children were gone for the day, his wife was sleeping and he had no idea what to do. The last two years of his life had revolved around flying combat missions and being with his family. He wasn't accustomed to being alone and he didn't like it. He walked over to the telephone and put in a call to the barracks. Please be there Danny, he pleaded to himself.
"Hey Rafe, you all right?" He looked up to see Danny standing at the bottom of the porch steps.
He nodded before he stood up. "Yea, I'm fine. I was just rememberin' after Evelyn lost the baby and I called you at the barracks and asked you to come over. The kids were with the nurses and Evelyn was asleep. I think it was the first time since we were married that I was by myself and I didn't like it."
"I remember that. It was hard because there wasn't anythin' I could do to help you and that made me feel pretty helpless, and useless."
Rafe shook his head. "You weren't useless Danny. You helped me through a real rough time and if you hadn't been at the barracks that afternoon, I don't know what I would have done." He admitted as he opened the screen door and headed inside. "Is it too late for a beer?"
Danny looked at his watch and shook his head. "It'll be all right if we finish up in a half-hour."
"Let's grab one then." He said as he walked into the kitchen and opened the door to the icebox. He pulled out a couple of bottles and handed one to Danny. His friend picked up the bottle opener from the counter and sat down at the kitchen table before he pried the cap off the bottle. Rafe sat down next to him and did the same.
"So what's on your mind?" Danny asked as he took a pull on the bottle.
"I've been feelin' bad about what happened last night because I got mad at you. Evelyn told me that I've forgotten what it feels like to have to leave your wife and young children to go fight a war and she's right. It's a little different now because my kids ain't little anymore. I still miss them and Evelyn when we have to fly out, but not the same way I did the last time we went through this."
"I 'preciate that Rafe. The truth is, I didn't really understand what you went through in the last war. Not havin' the relationship with Sandra that you had with Evelyn and not havin' kids, I couldn't know how it felt to have to say goodbye to your wife and children. It's hard enough to say goodbye to the girls because they're old enough now that they know when I have to go away. But havin' to leave my baby behind is almost harder than leavin' my wife behind."
"And it don't get any easier. You were lucky because you got to see your girls grow up a little before Korea got started. I was lucky because Joseph came when the last war was over. But there was so much I missed with Danny and Sarah that I can never get back. So you take whatever time you want to be with your family and spend as much time as you can with Thomas."
"That's real decent of you, thank you." And Danny stuck his hand out before Rafe grasped it and shook.
"Well hell Danny, those kids of ours ain't goin' to be little forever and we sure ain't gettin' any younger." Rafe grinned and felt the knot in his chest ease as he gripped his friends hand a moment before he let go.
"Rafe, the reason I was short with you last night was that I was thinkin' about Sandra when you came in. She and I have been doin' a lot of talkin' since I've been home and we've been makin' up for lost time. The fact is, I couldn't make love to her before we flew out the last time because she just had Thomas and when I got home the doctor told her it was all right."
Rafe was incredulous. "Why didn't you just say so then? I would have understood that and I probably would have asked why you were paintin' a house with a bunch of pilots when you could have been home with Sandra."
Danny shrugged his shoulders. "Because Dennis needed all the help he could get if he was goin' to get that house ready for Barbara."
He wanted to tell Danny that they could have gotten it done without him but there didn't seem to a point to it. He was doing what he'd always done, help when there was help needed. His mama told him once that Danny's mama was the same way.
"I'm glad you called Rafe. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you this last night."
He shook his head. "You never have to tell me anythin' Danny. We've been friends for a long time and there ain't much about each other we don't know, but it don't mean that you have to talk if you don't feel like it."
"The same goes for you too." And he put the half-empty bottle down on the table and stood up. "I don't think I've had the chance to tell you how glad I am that you came back to Hawaii. It was a real hard time for Sandra and me not havin' the two of you here after we got married. And it didn't get any easier when we had our girls."
Rafe put his own bottle down and stood up. "I think I can speak for Evelyn and tell you that we're glad to be back too."
"Well, I think I'll head on home because time's runnin' out." And he sighed.
"Yea, I know. No sooner do we get home that we have to leave again." Rafe frowned.
"I was hopin' to have more time with Sandra and the kids, but I knew when I decided to stay in the Air Corps this could happen."
"Why don't ya'll come with us to the beach on Sunday? It's somethin' we've been wantin' to do for awhile and it would be a nice way to spend the afternoon."
"I'll talk to Sandra and see what she wants to do. It might be a nice way for her to relax after helpin' Evelyn with the weddin'."
They walked to the front door and stepped out on to the porch. "Who would have ever thought that Barbara would finally get married?" Rafe grinned.
"We said the same thing about Red, remember?" Danny grinned back.
"We did."
"Well, we'll see ya'll at the chapel tomorrow."
Rafe nodded. "It was real nice of Sandra to offer to help get Danny and Sarah dressed for the weddin'. Evelyn didn't know how she was goin' to have time to do that and help Barbara."
"It was the least she felt she could do. Evelyn's goin' to have a lot on her mind tomorrow and Sandra wanted to do what she could to help make it easier on her." He said as he stepped off the porch before he turned around before he smiled. "Do you realize this will be the third weddin' at the Hickam Chapel since you and Evelyn got married?"
"Makes sense to me. We've all had happy marriages after gettin' hitched there and the same should be true for Barbara."
"That it should Rafe. See you tomorrow." And he raised a hand in farewell as he headed down the walk and went home.
Rafe walked back into the house and closed the front door behind him before he went back into the kitchen and emptied the half-consumed bottles of beer into the sink and threw the empties into the trash. He turned off the kitchen light and walked through the living room turning off the floor lamp and table lamp as he went.
He checked on the kids and they were all sound asleep.
Evelyn was half way between wake and sleep when she heard Rafe walk into the bedroom. She heard the bathroom door close and didn't hear anything else. She didn't know how long it was until she felt the bed dip and felt the blankets move as he got into bed. She was vaguely aware that his bedside lamp went out and felt him settle into bed.
"Is everything all right?" She asked softly as she rolled over and felt his arms move around her.
"Everythin' is fine honey. We talked and cleared everythin' up."
"That's good. Best friends like you two shouldn't waste time not talking to each other." She let out a sleepy sigh.
"That's somethin' we both figured out tonight and I have you to thank for that."
Her eyes were open and in the dim light she saw Rafe smile. "I didn't do anything, you did. Sandra and I had talked about this earlier tonight and decided to leave it alone because we knew the two of you would have to talk eventually."
"I love you Evelyn."
She smiled as he leaned over and just before he kissed her she said, "I love you too Rafe."