The week had gone by too quickly and the McCawley's were gone.

Danny and Sandra had taken them to meet their ship and had said goodbye. It was an odd feeling to the both of them to walk into the house that had belonged to their friends since their marriage in 1942 and realize that it was now theirs.

They'd barely made it inside when Sandra finally let go and she cried. They had spent so much of their courtship with Rafe and Evelyn and it was with them that they had been the most comfortable because they had never been pressed for an explanation for what was going on.

When she finally pulled herself together, she kept a hold on Danny. "I'm sorry."

He let her go enough for her to see that his own eyes were damp. "Don't apologize honey because I understand how you're feelin'. We knew this day would be hard."

"We've gone from one of the happiest days of our lives to one of the saddest." She sighed.

Danny took her hand and walked her over to the sofa where they sat down and he put his arm around her. "I told Rafe earlier that there had been so much happiness in this house and we would make it as happy."

Sandra gave him a watery smile. "I'll do my best."

He smiled back and kissed her cheek. "With some help from me."

A moment later the telephone rang and Sandra got up to answer it. Red was on the other end of the line and asked her if Rafe and Evelyn were gone. When she answered in the affirmative, he invited them to join him at the Black Cat for dinner. Sandra told them they would and agreed to six o'clock that evening. When she hung up she turned around and smiled at her husband. "We just got our first telephone call."

Danny grinned. "We're meetin' Red for supper?"

She nodded. "I'm so glad he's here."

He got up and when he reached her, put his arms around her. "So we ain't so alone now are we?"

"Danny, how is he doing? He had Gooz and he had you when you lived in the barracks and then Gooz was gone. And when you and I were spending so much time together and with Rafe and Evelyn, he was on his own too much." Sandra frowned.

"He's been datin' Sandra." Danny countered.

"But no one seriously." She sighed. "I just don't want him to end up alone; he's much too wonderful of a person to have that happen."

That made him laugh. "I can see it already. My lovely bride is goin' to start matchmakin'."

Sandra smiled because she knew she'd been caught. "And what's wrong with that?"

"I didn't say anythin' was wrong with it honey but can we get settled in here before you start throwin' every eligible female in Oahu at him?"

"I suppose so." She laughed.

"That's a sound I've missed the last few days." Danny told her.

"What sound is that?"

He smiled. "Your laugh."

She felt her face flush before she looked around the bare room. "Danny, we need to do something with this house."

"With all the weddin' presents we got, that shouldn't be too hard." He grinned at her.

"So where do we start?"

He laughed. "How 'bout the bedroom?"

"Of course you'd think of that." She felt her face grow warmer.

He put his arms around her. "Just a suggestion honey. So if we save that for later, where else can we start?"

"Well, if you help me put the kitchen in order, I can make you a proper Sunday breakfast in the morning." She suggested.

"I like the sound of that." He said and as he took her hand, they walked into the kitchen.

At six o'clock Danny and Sandra found Red at the Black Cat, already seated at a booth. They sat down across from him and he sighed. "So they're gone."

Danny nodded. "Yea." And he looked at his watch. "I wonder where they are now?"

Sandra looked at her own wristwatch. "With good luck, their train may be in Nevada by now. They were smart and spent some extra money on a couple of berths in the sleeping car. Hopefully for Ev that will keep the kids from getting cranky."

"I just hope they're goin' to be all right; this is the only place they know." Danny suddenly frowned.

"Kids adjust Danny and they will too." Red tried to reassure him.

"Luckily the baby is too young to realize what's going on." Sandra observed.

"And they have Rafe and Evelyn to help them." He added.

"I worry about them too. Evelyn's goin' to a place that she's only been to once and I would never have told Rafe this, but I think he made a mistake leavin' here."

Sandra put a gentle hand on his arm. "We can't change what's already happened." She said softly.

The conversation was momentarily interrupted as the waitress took their orders. When she'd left the table Sandra said, "No matter how we feel about this, we have to support them as we always have. You know as well as I do that it wasn't an easy decision for them to make and whatever reservations we know they had about this, it's done."

"Always the voice of reason." Red chuckled.

"I'm sorry honey. I guess I'm feelin' a little sorry for myself right now." He sighed.

"It's all right Danny, I do understand."

"I know you do and that's one of the reasons I love you." Danny smiled.

Red grinned. "You're not going to kiss her here are you?"

He answered with a grin of his own. "And embarrass my bride? I wouldn't think of it."

Sandra smiled at him before she looked at Red. "Since Danny and I are just married and we three are the only ones left from the whole group that came over here, I propose that we start some new traditions."

"What did you have in mind honey?" Danny asked.

"We always used to have Sunday dinner at Ev and Rafe's and I think it would be nice if we could continue that." She looked at Red. "What do you think?"

"I'd like that Sandra, I really would. And now that I've got permanent quarters at Wheeler, I can have you two over for dinner."

Sandra looked at Danny and he smiled. "You've got a deal Red." He said.

It didn't take long for their orders to arrive and Red raised his water glass. "A toast."

Sandra and Danny raised their glasses in return.

"Here's to Rafe, Evelyn and the kids. May they have a safe trip and a happy life."

They touched their glasses together and smiled.