A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers again: EarthDaughter, Betty Black (there'll be an update of November soon, I promise. I'm working on it.), lala, Tessie26, Duckygirl, Christy, KateToast3 (Homecoming is an awesome story, BTW), Jes, and LucyBethFan1.

For those of you who asked for more JJ, he makes a short appearance in this chapter, but there will be much more of him in either the next chapter (4) or the following chapter after that (5). Enjoy and review.

3. Short Tempers

December 23, 1965

"Beth? Did he go down for you yet?"

Beth glanced up from John's bassinet and shook her head. "I just finished burping him and laid him down, but all he wants to do is fuss. I know he's sleepy, too. He just…has to be."

Helen smiled knowingly and set the stack of towels she had been meaning to put in the upstairs linen closet on Beth's vanity. "Here, let me take him for awhile. Sometimes, even though they seem tired, all they want is just to be held or rocked to sleep." She leaned over the bassinet and lifted John into her arms, cradling him protectively as she sat down in the rocking chair. "I think Patty gave me the hardest time out of everyone. She never wanted to sleep."

"I really hope John's not going to be like that. I feel like I haven't gotten any rest since I brought him home. I just don't know what I'm not doing right, and I feel terrible that I don't know what to do when he starts to cry and won't settle down, or when he seems like he wants to sleep but just won't go down for me." Beth sat down on the edge of her bed and watched as Helen expertly rocked the baby slowly. "I feel so naïve for saying this, but I never thought it would be this hard."

Helen nodded, adjusting the baby's blanket. "It's an adjustment, but you're doing fine. You have to remember that I only have all this experience because I've raised four children. Even after I had Will, there were still some things that surprised me with him compared to the others and new things I had to learn. Every baby is different."

Beth sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to do this on my own."

"Soon it'll be second nature." John had finally fallen asleep, and Helen gently stood up out of the rocking chair and placed him in the wicker bassinet next to Beth's bed.

Patty's voice drifted loudly up the stairs. "Mom, you told me you'd help me find the angel for the tree!"

Helen shook her head and tucked the blankets carefully around John. "Except for the teenage years," she added with a smile. "If you need anything else, just let me know. I'll be downstairs with Patty."

Beth nodded and smiled. "Good luck." Peeking into John's bassinet a final time, she decided that now would be as good a time as ever to catch up on some sleep. He had kept her up most of the previous night, and after trying everything she could think of, John had finally worn himself out.

Carefully turning out the light and stretching out on the bed, Beth pulled the quilted comforter over her body and adjusted her body. Turning herself towards the nightstand, her eyes momentarily paused on an old framed picture of herself and JJ, taken in their senior year of high school. She studied it momentarily, and then with a sigh, she picked it up and placed it in the drawer of the nightstand.

Everything had changed. Gone was the well rounded, all-American, innocent Beth Mason with the seemingly perfect family and steady boyfriend. She had been transformed over the past year, perhaps unknowingly, yet not unwillingly.

She and JJ's relationship had fallen apart slowly, each striving to hold on to the memories they had shared when times had been happier. Then the kisses, affection, and embraces had stopped all in one night after she had broken their engagement off. They had said so many terrible things to each other in anger, trying to cut each other deeper, when in reality, their relationship had already bottomed out. Beth desperately was looking for something to blame, and she chose Vietnam. Vietnam destroyed us, she would convince herself. Vietnam drove us apart. It was all a façade to hide the truth. Their relationship had fallen apart. She couldn't remember when they had stopped caring about each other.

When she had become pregnant with John, JJ was half a world away and the only family she had to turn to were the Pryors. They had welcomed her with open arms when everyone else had exiled her, including her own parents. She couldn't be more thankful for that, but lately, she couldn't keep herself from wondering what she would do or how she would support herself and John if JJ was killed, or if he returned home and didn't want anything to do with her or the baby. She couldn't rely on the Pryor's good graces forever.

Sitting up in bed once again, Beth reached back into the same drawer and pulled out the picture frame and set it back on the nightstand. She lightly ran her fingers over the glass with a reminiscent smile.

Come home to us safely, JJ, she begged the photograph. Please.

Somewhere in the Vietnamese jungle

Ten days earlier

JJ leaned up against the base of the tree stiffly, struggling to stay dry underneath the large leaves. It had been raining heavily on and off for the past few days now, and the mud he often had to tread through acted like quicksand. His leg was throbbing painfully, and every so often he'd have to rest and prop it up, making sure to rinse out the wound with any water he could collect from the leaves of plants.

Wiping off his dirt streaked forehead with the back of his arm, he decided that this was as good of a place as any to rest for the night. Night had crept up on him faster then he would have liked, but he knew that tomorrow he'd set out first thing again with the hope that he'd reach an ally camp.

Sleep never came easy for JJ anymore. If haunting images of gunfire, fighting and bombings didn't replay in his mind over and over again, his thoughts often went back to his family and Beth. Lately, he had been thinking more about Beth than anything.

He wondered if she had their baby yet. If she hadn't, she must be due any day now. He would have given anything to be there for the birth of their child; to see his daughter or son brought into the world. Even though he and Beth had been on practically nonexistent terms when he had left from Hawaii and over the course of his enlistment in Vietnam, JJ still cared about her. Beth had been his first love and nothing could change that, not even a major fight or a broken engagement. He desperately wanted to go home so he could make everything right again, even if not all at one time. Just to see her and their child…just to know that they could work something out.

He wondered what kind of father he would be to his child. JJ pictured teaching a little boy with his eyes and Beth's smile all about football, or a little girl that would run to him and laugh whenever he came home. She would be his angel, his princess, a miniature version of Beth. His son would become a talented high school football player, who'd get a scholarship to Notre Dame or Lehigh and not be foolish enough to let it pass him by. His children would bring the best out of him, and he'd live happily ever after with Beth. At least, that had always been the plan.

It didn't ring true any longer. Here he was, half a world away, away from his family and the woman that deep down, he still loved. JJ knew he should be there with her and supporting her. He had always promised Beth he would be there for her. He wasn't about to go back on that promise now.

Struggling to stay awake now, a part of JJ wanted to get up and struggle through the jungle for the rest of the night, but the more coherent part knew that idea was dangerous. He couldn't see a thing in the jungle now, and the thick tree cover blocked any view of the moon. It was better to wait until morning.

I'm coming home, Beth, he muttered sleepily. I'll be home for the New Year.

"Uncle Pete, will you help me make a snowman tonight?"

Pete glanced up from the kitchen table and his grand-nephew John, the latter whom he had affectionately nicknamed 'Trip' upon his arrival home from the hospital. Supper had finished over half an hour ago, and everyone besides Will, Beth, and himself had gone there separate ways. "Tonight? How about first thing tomorrow morning, kiddo? I've really got to get going."

Beth smiled and finished drying the last few dishes in the rack. She saw the disappointment that had crept into Will's face and gently ran her fingers through his hair. "How about we make snow angels instead, and you can make that snowman in the morning with Uncle Pete?"

Will's face lit up and he grinned. "Okay. But what about John?"

"Patty can watch him for me for about an hour. How does that sound?" She began stacking the plates and glasses into the cabinet, setting the dishtowel on the counter. "Do you want to give him his bottle before we go out?"

"Sure."

The doorbell rang, and Will took off in a jog down the hallway. "I'll get it!" he hollered. "I'll give Trip his bottle in a minute, Beth!"

"Okay!" she laughed back. "Patty?"

Patty's voice echoed from the upstairs into the kitchen. "Yeah?"

"Would you like to watch John for me for a little bit?" Beth closed the cabinet door and leaned against the counter.

"By myself?"

"Sure."

"Okay! I'll be right down!"

"Want to take him from me, Beth?" Pete questioned her, standing up from the kitchen table.

"Yeah." Beth removed the bottle of milk from the refrigerator and set it on the countertop next to the stove, prepared to start boiling a pot of water for John's bottle. She was just about to make her way to John when Will's voice called for her from the hallway.

"Beth…"

Pete laughed and shook his head. "Go on. I'll teach Trip here how to play another hand of poker."

"Sorry," Beth apologized. "But thanks. I'll take him in a minute."

"Not a problem. It's like a three ring circus around here sometimes," he chuckled. "Alright Trip, how about them aces?"

Beth sighed and glanced back once last time before rushing down the hallway towards Will. He was standing next to the open front door, but whoever was on the doorstep was hidden behind the large Christmas wreath that Mrs. Pryor had nailed on the door two weekends ago. Once she reached Will, however, the person on the doorstep came into clear view.

It was her father.

A thousand emotions went flying through her head as she felt her heart start to race through her chest. How dare he. He had no right to be here, not after all the terrible things he had said about her baby, JJ, and the Pryor family.

She placed her hands in her pockets anxiously. "What are you doing here?" The phrase slipped out of her mouth just as harshly and angrily as she had intended. If her father had expected her to welcome him with open arms after everything that had happened, he was clearly mistaken.

He cleared his throat and glanced at her nervously, cradling a small package in his arms. "I heard about the baby from your Aunt Peg—"

"Will, could you go make sure I turned off the TV?" she demanded.

Will looked at her, slightly confused. The TV had been off since before dinner, but he didn't question Beth's authority. Instead, he nodded and slipped out of the hallway and into the living room quietly.

Once Will was out of sight and hearing distance, Beth angrily glared at her father. "I don't know what you want from me or my son, but you can't have it."

He shook his head. "Beth, your mother and I—"

"You and my mother wanted me to have an abortion or give my son up for adoption, and when I didn't do what you wanted you disowned me."

"Beth, we only were trying—"

She gripped the doorknob. "You and my mother are not my family. Not anymore." She hesitated, judging the hurt expression on her father's face. It wasn't enough. Nothing could take away the months of pain and guilt she had suffered over her parents. "Please leave."

When he didn't move from the doorstep, Beth resorted to the only other thing she had to find the strength to do. She shut the door in her father's face.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she had gotten all of ten steps down the hallway before she noticed Mrs. Pryor's disapproving stare from the living room. Beth sighed and continued back into the kitchen, taking John out of Pete's arms.

"Will, do you want to make those snow angels now?"

Christmas Eve, 1965

Beth yawned, clutching the brochures from the university admissions office in her arms as she bent her head down against the wind. Normally, she wouldn't have gone to the university to pick up any material for the spring and fall semesters on a holiday, but she knew that there would be virtually no one on campus; therefore, it wouldn't be as much of a hassle as going when classes were in session.

She had thought about eventually taking a few classes after the baby was born when she was pregnant, realizing that if JJ never returned home from Vietnam, she'd have to get an education and eventually a job to provide for herself and John. Even before he had left, she had wanted to attend college all along, and prove that she could work, get married, and raise a family all at the same time.

She walked up the driveway quickly, surprised to find a strange car parked behind the Pryor's Buick. Beth hadn't realized that Mr. and Mrs. Pryor were expecting company today, besides Uncle Pete, Chris, and his mother for Christmas Eve dinner later tonight.

She opened the door quickly and entered the entryway, only to find Mrs. Pryor and her father seated in the living room, John nestled contently in her father's arms.

Shocked, she set the brochures and her purse roughly on the small table by the doorway. "Why are you here?" Beth demanded, moving closer to them

Helen stood up, as if to attempt to calm Beth down somewhat. "I invited your father, Beth."

As if that makes everything all right between us! Beth glared at her and shook her head, outstretching her arms for John. "Give me my baby. Please," she shouted.

Her father complied and handed baby John over. "Beth, really, we have to talk about all of this…"

"No," she shook her head, kissing the top of John's head. "There's nothing to talk about. You're nothing to me anymore. You're not my family." With that, she gathered the brochures and her purse in her free hand and stormed up the stairs.

"Beth!" Helen shouted after her.

Once inside the comfort of her bedroom, Beth allowed the tears to fall slowly, one by one. Wiping them away, she set John in his bassinet only long enough to take off her pea coat before gathering him up in her arms again and sitting down with him on the bed.

She cradled him in her arms and kissed his tiny fingers softly. "I'm sorry, John. I'm so sorry your daddy's not here for you, and I'm sorry for everything. I'm trying so hard, John. I just want your daddy to come home," she sobbed. "Everything's going to be okay. I promise. I love you so much."

Helen paused outside Beth's bedroom door and sighed, resting her forehead against the frame. Come home, JJ. We need you here.

NEXT: Beth and Helen attempt to talk about Beth's family; JJ returns home to his family, Beth, and their son.