November 27, 1958
As he stood at the oven and peered inside at the turkey, Hawkeye had no idea why he and B.J. had decided to cook Thanksgiving dinner. There was no guarantee anything was going to turn out edible. Although actually, B.J.'s sweet potato casserole did look positively delicious.
He crossed his fingers and hoped for the best.
Daniel called out from the living room, "Is there anything I can help with, Hawkeye?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Dad. You're our guest and your only job is to sit there and relax—"
"I sit around all the time."
"—or play a game with Erin."
She squealed as she came running into the kitchen, clutching the stuffed doggy that Hawkeye had given her for Christmas two years before. She still had it, still loved it, still occasionally carried it around. "Gramps and I can go for a walk outside, right?"
Hawkeye looked at the clock. "Let's wait until after we eat—then we'll all go. The food should be ready soon, if your daddy and I have timed everything right. Go find something on TV to occupy you guys for a little while longer."
She scampered off just as the front door opened. B.J. was back from an emergency run to the market for rolls. Hawkeye had told him there was plenty of food to eat without them, but B.J. said people needed rolls for soaking up the gravy.
He held the bag up, showing Hawkeye, "Mission accomplished."
"I think the turkey's just about ready, but I'll let you be the judge." He started to transfer dishes of food to the large dining room table that Erin had obediently set for them.
Aphrodite, lured by the smell of hot food, circled around Hawkeye's feet. Waggle wasn't keen on the idea that the cat might get food droppings that were perhaps meant for him, so he stood on his hind legs to catch Hawkeye's attention. Hawk shooed both pets away.
Daniel and Erin didn't even need to be called; they came to the table, following their noses.
B.J. declared the turkey done, and there was a mad scramble to get water poured into glasses and all the side dishes placed on the table. A few of them didn't even fit. "We made too much," Hawkeye observed, feeling a little foolish.
"So we'll have leftovers, big deal," B.J. said with a shrug. "We can give some leftovers to the soup kitchen, too. Better to have too much than not enough!"
Hawkeye thought that philosophy applied in many ways, on this Thanksgiving.
When they were all seated at the table, with both Aphrodite and Waggle sitting quietly at Erin's feet, B.J. said, "I was wondering, Hawk, if you could say a few words first, before we eat."
Caught off guard by the request but never one to turn down an opportunity to speechify, Hawkeye nodded. "Of course, Beej." He took a moment to look around the table at his loved ones.
His dad had excellent care at the new nursing home, though of course his dementia was slowly progressing. There was no stopping that. But today it seemed to be taking the holiday off. Daniel looked clear of mind and happy of heart. He missed the Cove, naturally; his demeanor was not always as tranquil as it was today. But he was adjusting, and he enjoyed spending time with Erin, referring to her (accurately, as far as Hawkeye was concerned, biology be damned) as his granddaughter.
Erin was a healthy little girl and had adjusted to her parents' breakup better than they had predicted. It no doubt helped that Hawkeye and B.J. talked to her about every decision they made that affected her, encouraged her to come to them with any problems, and told her often that they loved her.
B.J. Hunnicutt, the man Hawkeye intended to spend the rest of his life with, was gorgeous and funny and generous, and still the best friend he'd ever had. Best lover, too.
As for Hawkeye himself, he was going to be taking a surgical position at San Francisco General in less than a week, working the same shift as B.J.
Life was good.
"We give thanks on this holiday," Hawkeye said now, his voice soft. "Whether we give it to God or to each other, the idea is to be thankful. And I couldn't be any more thankful than I am right now, to have this incredible family. I had some dark days in my recent past—and in my distant past too—but all of that's behind me now. It was a bit of a journey to get to this point, to this place, but here I am. And thanks to all of you, I am a very happy man. To quote a great writer, 'This is a brief life, but in its brevity it offers us some splendid moments, some meaningful adventures.'"
It took a couple of seconds, but recognition dawned on B.J.'s face, and he smiled broadly. "Rudyard Kipling," he said.
Hawkeye leaned over, grabbed the back of B.J.'s neck, and brought him in for a kiss.
To Erin's exuberant cry of "Let's eat!," the four of them dug into their Thanksgiving feast.
THE END