October 6, 1973
"Hawkeye!" Erin exclaimed as she embraced him, giving him a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "I'm so glad you came!"
Hawkeye held her at arm's length, admiring how gorgeous she looked, astonished (maybe even more than her own father) by how quickly she'd gone from infant to twentysomething bride. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world, Erin. Congratulations."
"Oh, thank you. Wasn't it just the most perfect wedding? Mom and Dad went overboard… anything we wanted, they made sure we got it. I'm way too spoiled," she laughed.
As if on cue, B.J. approached them then, putting an arm around his daughter but addressing his best friend. "Well, Hawk, my little girl is all grown up, married, leaving the nest. Can you believe it?"
"Seems like just yesterday she was going through potty training," Hawkeye said.
"Ewww!" Erin made a face. "You guys talked about that stuff?"
B.J. joined Hawkeye in laughter while Erin looked nonplussed. But then her new husband summoned her back to the dance floor, so she gave Hawkeye another bear hug and trotted off as the band launched into that sappy Paul McCartney and Wings hit, "My Love." Of course, no song by Wings was likely to ever win Hawkeye over. He was still pissed that the Beatles had broken up.
He saw the pride in B.J.'s eyes as he watched his daughter dance. "Yeah," Hawkeye mused, "where did the time go, huh? Your little girl's married, the war is 20 years behind us…"
B.J. turned to him with a shrug. "Crazy, huh?"
They stared at one another, two aging friends who had no idea how they'd gotten where they were. It seemed like it had all gone by in a blink.
"Hawkeye!"
He spun to see Liv coming toward him, Danny in her arms, his face buried in her neck. "Hawk, I think we'd better go. Danny's getting fussy, he's very tired." Despite the child in her arms, she managed to give B.J. a buss on the cheek. "Hey, B.J. It was a lovely wedding… just lovely."
B.J. nodded and said, "I'm glad you made the trip out here, Liv. We always love seeing you and the young Master Pierce."
Hawkeye took Danny from his wife's arms. The little guy wasn't just tired; he was conked out. Hawkeye gently shifted him to get him settled against his shoulder. "Sorry, Beej, we have to be going. Danny's wiped out. Probably still on East Coast time."
"Sure, Hawk," B.J. said, reaching out and lightly running a hand through Danny's soft hair. "See you all tomorrow. We'll have ourselves a nice, leisurely visit without the distraction of a wedding. We'll just sit on the patio and talk. Beer, ice tea, lots of leftovers from the reception."
"Looking forward to it," Hawkeye said softly, not wanting to wake Danny.
"Never get tired of hearing your war stories, guys," Liv said, and the crazy thing was, Hawkeye knew she was being sincere. She'd only been 16 when the Korean War ended, a fact that still boggled his mind, but she always wanted to hear about it… to understand exactly what her husband had gone through during those three endless years.
Hawkeye watched as Liv waved goodbye to B.J. and headed for the door. He took a couple steps after her, then paused. His best friend titled his head, waiting. "Took me a long time to get to this point," Hawkeye said, and he knew that B.J. understood what he was saying. "But it sure as hell was worth it."
"I know," B.J. said, smiling warmly. "I'm glad."
Then Hawkeye followed his wife, with his 3-year-old son sleeping peacefully in his arms, out to the car.