A/N: I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to post this. I've been trying to rethink how I want the story to continue and haven't had much spare time to figure it out. I can't promise that I'll be back to posting every Saturday, but I will do my best once I have the chance to figure things out. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this.

He had the ring and now Danny didn't know what the hell to do with it.

He'd left Hank and Evelyn that afternoon at the Black Cat to talk and backtracked to the jewelry store so he could take another look at the ring that had caught his eye, before deciding to buy it. He took it home and put the open ring box on his night table next to the picture of he and Ann from her prom, which was finally framed. The small solitaire sat there and winked at him under the glow of the bedside lamp but he did not yet know when it would be winking at him from her finger.

What he did know at the moment was that Ann was in Ohio visiting her grandparents. After a long talk with Major and Mrs. Walker, she took a leave of absence from school and decided to spend time visiting the O'Connell's for awhile before she headed to Tennessee to visit his grandparents. She'd even talked about visiting Sarah before she headed to the airport in San Francisco to catch a flight home.

He missed her but understood the need to see her grandparents. Mrs. O'Connell was a no-nonsense kind of woman as he'd found out first hand at Thanksgiving and he figured that Ann needed the no-nonsense kind of advice from her that his grandfather McCawley never hesitated to give him.

In the meantime, he needed to get to the Black Cat to meet Hank and Evelyn because they had news for him and didn't want to talk about it over the phone. He hadn't seen Evelyn since she'd talked to him at the diner a week earlier and Hank was being pretty tight lipped about what was going on. Danny still didn't know if she was going to have a baby or not and what this was going to mean for her and for Hank.

He grabbed his car keys off of the side table and opened the front door only to stop when his telephone began to ring. He reversed course and headed to the counter to pick up the receiver. It was his mother.

"Hi honey, it's me."

"Hi Mama, what's the big occasion?" He grinned because his parents rarely called him. He saw them so often that there was no need.

"You're a smart aleck Daniel, just like your father."

"I knew I got that from somewhere." He laughed as she continued.

"Dad and I thought that you might like to come over for dinner. We're going to put in a call to your sister and we thought that you and Joe would like to talk to her." She explained and Danny thought that she sounded a little tense.

"I was about to head over to the Black Cat to meet Hank and Evelyn but we weren't planning on having dinner. If you can give me about a half-hour, I'll be there." He told her.

"That's become your place to meet each other, hasn't it?" She asked. "It was always a favorite of ours."

"What is it that you used to say, the place had charm?" He smiled to himself.

"It must still have if another generation is frequenting it." He heard her laugh and she sounded a little more relaxed. "I guess it's a good thing that the Hula-La isn't still around."

"The Hula-La?" What in the hell was the Hula-La and who came up with such a stupid name?

She laughed again. "Ask your dad about it sometime. In his younger days, it was a watering hole on the beach where the servicemen would spend their off duty hours."

"Mama, the Hula-La?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"Don't make fun now, Danny. It was a place the boys could go to relax and unwind. It was mostly for the enlisted because they couldn't go to the Officer's Club, but no serviceman was ever turned away regardless of rank."

"I can't exactly see someone like Jimmy Doolittle at a place like that." He didn't know why, but one of the greatest flying aces he'd learned about at the Academy came to mind.

"As it so happens young man, he was there." He heard his mother's admonition loud and clear over the telephone line. "He and his aircrews had been to the White House to meet President Roosevelt at a formal reception after the Tokyo raid and it was pretty overwhelming. Getting all of them together at the Hula-La was a way for Colonel Doolittle, as we knew him at the time to thank them himself. It was also a way for all of them to say goodbye to the boys who didn't come back."

"Dad and Major Walker flew with General Doolittle, didn't they?"

"Not only did they fly with him; they were stationed at Mitchell when he was still a Major. Your dad always seemed to be getting into trouble with him because he would pull some stunt or another as he told me. A 45,000 dollar airplane was not there for his amusement, as the major would tell him." And Danny heard her laugh again. She was reliving some good memories and it made him smile, but then she seemed to admonish herself. "Well, enough of that. Dad and I will be expecting you in a half-hour and we'll call your sister when you get here."

"I won't be long." He promised her. "Mama, is everything all right?"

"Everything is fine Danny. We'll see you in thirty minutes."

"Yes, ma'am." He reassured her as her end of the line went dead and he hung up his receiver. Danny couldn't help but wonder what the occasion was that his mother wanted them all together to call his sister? He'd already talked to her a couple of times and he got regular letters from her telling him about the new base and how different California was from Hawaii.

Her letters sounded really homesick sometimes and it took him back to his four years at the Academy when he felt just as she did. It made him want to go to the mainland himself and bring her home. But living away from his family had been a good experience for him when all was said and done and he hoped it would be the same for Sarah.

He picked up his keys again and closed the door as he stepped outside.

The drive to the Black Cat didn't take long and as luck would have it traffic was light. He parked in front of the diner and as he shut down the engine, wondered what the verdict was going to be. And if turned out that Evelyn was going to have a baby, what were she and Hank going to do about it?

The bell rang above the door as Danny walked inside and he found Hank and Evelyn in their booth. He had a hold of her hands and they had their heads down, as they seemed to be trying to conduct a private conversation. He could feel a knot begin to form in his stomach because the way they were acting, the results weren't what they hoped for.

"I'm sorry I'm late." He began. "Mama called as I was leaving my quarters."

"Is everything all right?" Evelyn looked up with concern and Danny couldn't tell if it was because of her situation or a possible situation with his family.

"As far as I know. She and Dad want Joe and me at the house because they're going to call my sister and then we're going to have dinner." Danny explained to them.

"Why does she want you there just for a phone call?" Hank asked as he slid over in the seat to make room for Danny.

"I'll find out when I get there." He shrugged as he sat down and then looked at his friends. "But I'm not here to talk about my family. I'm here to find out what's going on with the two of you, so just give it to me straight. Is there going to be a baby or not?"

He watched as Evelyn glanced at Hank and then her face flushed before she looked at Danny. He had his answer, or so he thought.

"I'm not going to have a baby." She told him. "My doctor said that it was probably a bad case of nerves. Which would make sense seeing as what we did."

"But it doesn't change the way I feel about her." Hank interjected. "And even though we aren't having a baby I've asked her to marry me."

A marriage proposal was the last thing Danny expected and he was floored. He looked at Evelyn and the flush on her face deepened and he couldn't help but wonder if she'd turned him down because Hank looked so serious.

"And what did you say?" He asked the prospective bride and it was then that she smiled.

"What else could I say Dan? I said yes." And when he turned to his friend, he was also smiling.

"So if you're both happy about this why did you look so serious when I walked in?" Danny was a little confused at the situation.

"We weren't sure how you would feel about it." Evelyn answered. "You know how at odds we were with each other for such a long time and then we found ourselves in a situation that I never thought would happen. We've spent a lot of time together since then and when we were home for Christmas he met my family and I met his. My parents are crazy about him."

"And my parents think she's crazy." Hank laughed.

"Henry, they do not and you know it." She admonished him. "My parents love him and they're glad that I found someone who isn't so serious. When I was growing up Dad always seemed to be reminding me to smile. He said that I always looked as though I had something on my mind, which I usually did."

"So have you set a date yet or are you going wait for awhile?" Danny was curious.

"Wait for what?" Hank looked incredulous. "We don't know when this war is going to end and frankly, I don't want to wait. After what happened to you I feel like I'd be a fool not to marry her now. If something happens to me I'd rather she be my wife and not just my girlfriend."

"And you're all right with this?" He pressed her. "What happened to 'I'm not ready to get married'?"

"I honestly didn't think that I was." Evelyn admitted. "Henry and I talked for a long time after you left us last week and we agreed that if it turned out that I was pregnant, we would get married. But after we received the news this afternoon that I wasn't, he wanted to marry me anyway. I knew at that moment I wouldn't find anyone who would love me as much as he does or someone that I would ever love more than him."

It all seemed so fast, but Danny knew that Hank wasn't a guy to drag his feet once he'd made up his mind about something. And if anyone could keep him in line, it was Evelyn. "So when is the big day going to be?"

"As soon as the Wheeler Chapel is available and when you agree to be my best man." His best friend put an arm around his shoulders. "What do you say Lieutenant?"

"And I would really like it if Ann would be my maid of honor." Evelyn added. "You shouldn't stand up with any one but her."

"Don't you have a friend from Chicago or Colorado Springs that you'd like to ask? I know Ann wouldn't mind if you did." Danny tried to reassure her.

"No one that I was particularly close to. And all I have are brothers, so I don't even have a sister to ask." She put her chin in her hand. "How sad is that?"

"What's sad is that you're actually going to marry this guy." He grinned. "I don't think you know what you're getting into."

"Don't worry Dan, I know exactly what I'm getting into. I just wonder if Henry does." Her laugh was gentle.

"I think I've just been warned." Hank answered with a grin.

"Forewarned is forearmed, Henry." Evelyn smiled at him. "Didn't your parents teach you that?"

"Among other things." He laughed before he turned back to Danny. "So what do you say Dan?"

"I'd be honored to be your best man. Just keep me posted on the day and I'll be there in my dress uniform." He smiled. "And as far as Ann goes, you'll have to ask her yourself Evelyn. I don't think this is something that should come from me."

"Do you know when she'll be home?"

"I'm not sure. But I do know that she's at her grandparents for a few more days and you can call her there." He proceeded to write down the O'Connell's telephone number on a napkin and slid it across the table to Evelyn.

"You have it memorized?" Hank joked with him.

"And what's it to you?" Danny grinned. "I wouldn't be surprised to find out that you have Evelyn's phone number tattooed on you somewhere."

"And what's it to you?" He laughed. "Some women would find that romantic."

"Not this woman." Evelyn frowned. "If you let a tattoo needle mark up that body before we're married, we're not getting married."

"Ev." It was Hank's turn to frown.

"Don't 'Ev' me Henry, I mean it." She was firm and Danny could sense that she wasn't going to budge on the matter. "Not one mark."

It had begun the night of the squadron party, Evelyn letting Hank know what she was willing to accept and what she wasn't. And she was letting him know right then and there how she felt about tattoos. Not that Hank was about to go out and get one, but if it had ever crossed his mind he now knew that Evelyn would not abide it. "Not one mark." He promised.

She reached across the table and took his hand. "This works both ways, don't forget that."

Danny glanced at his watch and his time was nearly up. "As much as I enjoy the two of you sparring I have to bug out; Dad and Mama are expecting me."

"Is that your subtle way of telling us to knock it off?" Hank laughed.

"No Henry it isn't." He shook his head and smiled as he slid over to the edge of the seat and stood up. "It's my blunt way of telling you that I need to leave now."

"I'll call Ann tomorrow and then once she gets home we can start putting this wedding together." Evelyn informed him as he pulled his car keys out of his pocket.

"Maybe it'll get her home sooner." He couldn't help but admit.

"Maybe it will Dan, maybe it will." She smiled at him as he raised a hand in farewell and walked out of the diner.

It didn't take him long to leave Honolulu and drive back to Wheeler. Traffic was light for a change and he didn't have to wait long to get to the gate and show his identification to the MP. He was waved through and headed toward his parent's house.

When he got there, they were both waiting on the porch. He parked in front of the house and glanced at his watch again after he shut down his engine. He had five minutes to spare, so why did he feel as though he were late?

He got out of the car and walked up to the front porch. His father was holding his mother's hand and the smiles on their faces were of happiness. Was Sarah coming home after all?

"I can't remember the last time I saw the two of you sitting together on the front porch." He commented warily. "Mama usually comes out here for her afternoon cup of coffee, but you're always together on the back porch."

"It's always good to shake things up every once in awhile son." His father told him as his mother put her head on his shoulder.

What in the hell was going on?

"Where's Joe?" He asked as his brother wandered out onto the porch and stood next to the porch swing.

"Waiting for you." He grinned in response. "Mama said that we would eat after you got here and called Sarah."

"Which we will do." Mama said as she let go of Dad's hand and walked toward the screen door. "Let's get inside before it gets too late."

Dad waited for Joe and himself to follow Mama into the house before he brought up the rear. She had the receiver in her hand and was dialing as they all gathered around her and the telephone. They all waited as Mama waited for Sarah to answer and when she finally did, Mama smiled. "Hi honey."

He listened to the one-sided conversation as his mother told his sister what was happening on the base. He presumed that Sarah was telling her about Travis because she nodded. "I'll ask Dad about that. Honey, the reason that I called was that Dad and I have some news and your brothers are here so we can tell all of you together."

Danny looked at his brother for an answer, but Joe only shrugged.

"Pay attention and you'll find out." His father told them quietly as his mother continued.

"Sarah, you're going to have a baby brother or sister in about seven and half months." And his mother's face flushed.

He and Joe looked at each other in disbelief and then at their father for confirmation. He nodded in the affirmative as Danny tried to comprehend what his mother just said. A baby?

He heard Sarah on the other end of the line and he couldn't tell if she were laughing or crying. "It was quite a surprise for us too. We thought we were all done having children running around here and then this happened."

Mama laughed and it sounded as though Sarah were asking her questions a mile a minute as she always did when she was excited. "I'm fine and the baby's fine. Your dad is fine too, just surprised like I was."

"Do the Walker's know?" Danny asked his father quietly.

"Not yet. Mama wanted all of you to know first before she told them." He said and he was trying very badly to hide a grin. It was the kind of happiness Danny didn't understand, but hoped to some day.

"I promise that I'll call and tell you how things are going." After a moment listening to Sarah, she laughed. "When it gets close to my due date I'll let you know so that you can come home."

Due date?

"Sure you can talk to Dad, hang on." And she handed the receiver to Dad with a smile. "Your daughter has a few words for you."

When she faced Danny and his brother, he didn't know what to say.

"I know it's a lot to take in right now." She assured him. "It was a big surprise for us too."

"How?" He asked and immediately knew what an asinine question it was because he knew how it happened. "I mean, why now?"

"These things sometimes happen Danny." Mama tried to explain. "I'm still able to have children and Dad and I." Her voice trailed off and her face flushed again. "Your Dad and I still love each other." She said in way of explanation.

Joe laughed. "I won't be the baby in the family anymore."

"Are you all right with that?" Mama asked him and seemed concerned.

"I'm going to be a big brother." He grinned and then hugged his mother. "Thanks Mama."

"We didn't do this so you wouldn't be the baby of the family, you know." She laughed and over Joe's shoulder looked at her oldest. "What do you think of this Danny?"

"I was just thinking that this new baby won't have his or her brothers and sister to grow up with. Joe's nearly through with school and then he'll be gone." He commented with a shrug.

"We've thought about that too since we found out about this and it does make us a little sad that this one didn't come along while you kids were still in school. But it didn't work out that way, so you'll just have to come over more often."

He smiled then. "More often than every day?"

"You're hardly here every day Danny. But I appreciate the fact that you want to be such a part of the baby's life." And she hugged him. "You're going to be a big brother again. Just with a little distance this time."

"Sarah and I could always move home." He joked as he hugged her back. "Then it would be like old times."

"Only if you shared a room with your brother, you'd have to give up your old room." She smiled as she let him go.

"And have his smelly feet in my room? I don't think so." His brother joked. "It was bad enough having them across the hall."

"My feet don't smell, but you do snore little brother and it was loud enough to wake the dead sometimes." He grinned back. "Even with my door closed I could hear it."

"All right you two. That's enough because no one is moving anywhere." Mama shook her head in amusement. "Danny will stay in his quarters, Joe will stay here until he graduates and Dad and I will expect help from the both of you. We're a little older than the last time we went through this and I don't know how much energy I'm going to have running after a two-year old."

"Don't worry Mama, we'll help you." Joe put an arm around her shoulders. "It's the least I can do since I'm not going to be a baby brother anymore."

"You still will be if your mama has a girl." Dad commented as he stood behind Mama. "Sarah says to say hello to the both of you and that she'll write soon. So are they over the shock, honey?"

"I think we're getting used to the idea Dad." Danny admitted. "It's just kind of odd to think that there's going to be another McCawley before the end of the year."

"Think how we feel." He smiled. "It's goin' to take some gettin' used to three o'clock feedin's again and walkin' the floor when the baby has colic, or teethin'. Sarah had a hell of a time when her teeth started comin' in."

"I remember. And it seemed that nothing I did would soothe her gums." She remembered.

"Daddy did suggest puttin' a little bourbon and water in a bottle." Dad laughed.

"And you remember what your mother said about that." Mama smiled back. "I thought she was going to put him out on the back porch for the night."

"She almost did." He told her. "So if you boys are ready, I'm starvin' and your mama's eatin' for two now so let's eat."

"We'll eat when the three of you help me get dinner on the table." She admonished them as she walked into the kitchen.

Danny looked at his brother and smiled as they followed their mother. "It's just like old times."