Alice sat in her little vegetable garden, weeding. Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again" filled the air. She did her best not to think about the lyrics.

"Alice! Alice!" Rose squealed as she ran into the garden. "The boys! They're back!"

Alice dropped her work in shock.

"Back?"

Rose nodded.

Alice didn't know the last time she had ran so fast. She was at the base within half the time it normally took.

She found Heffron and Julien watching the men returning.

She spotted Malarkey first, who she ran to and hugged tightly. He pointed her in the direction of the barracks.

"He's where we're all headed." Malarkey said with a tired grin. "Come to the mess hall at supper if you ain't working."

Alice nodded, tears of joy slipping down her cheeks.

"Hey there, Gorgeous!" An all too familiar voice came from behind her.

Alice spun around to see Bill standing there with a wry grin.

She nearly squealed as jumped on him for a hug.

Bill laughed as he hugged her back, tightly.

"Jeez, Gorgeous! Did you think you would never see ol' Bill again?"

Alice pulled back to look at him. "What do you think?"

Bill tenderly kissed her head. "I thought the same thing about meself while we was over there."

Alice nearly began to cry again.

"Hey, I'm back ain't I?" Bill reassured.

Alice nodded with a meek smile. "Yes, you both are."

Alice had on her best dress, which she recently made with rationed fabric. She put on victory red lipstick her cousin had sent to her from Pennsylvania. She had followed a pamphlet on how to pin curl her hair the American way, complete with victory rolls. She looked more done up that she had in years. Doing her best to not cry more tears of joy, she marched to the base at supper time.

Her pounded at the knowledge that this time, when she would scan the hall, looking for Eugene, he would actually be there.

One month had felt like one year.

She stood at the door, taking deep breaths, looking for the man she loved.

Sergeant Lipton touched her arm to get her attention. "You look nice, Alice." He whispered. "Gene's over there by Grant and Luz." He said, pointing her in the direction. "I don't think he knows you have been informed of our return yet."

"Thank you, Carwood." Alice whispered back.

She made her way to the table, catching Luz's eye, she put a finger to her lips to keep him from talking. He smirked took a long sip from his glass.

In her peripheral, she spotted Heffron, his jaw agape as he watched her. She smiled meekly, her cheeks turning pink.

He gave her an encouraging smile and mouthed: "You're beautiful."

She spotted Shifty Powers who nudged Liebgott. Lieb looked up and smirked with a wink.

Her face was fire engine red by the time she stood behind Gene, listening to the boys talk.

"So, Doc," Grant drawled, glancing up at Alice with a quick smile. "Does your girl know we, or specifically you, are back yet?"

Gene's shoulders shrugged. "I dunno. I suppose I should go and tell her." He said quietly, poking at his food, barely taking any bites.

Luz chuckled. "What will you do when you see her?"

"That's none of your business, George."

Alice fought back a laugh.

Luz and Grant smirked.

"Big plans then, eh Doc?" Luz asked with a wink.

Alice gave him a look of feigned annoyance.

Gene sighed. "You could say that, now drop it Luz and eat yo' supper."

Webster peeked over his shoulder to see what Luz was looking at and slyly turned back.

"I'm going to catch up on more sleep." He said, getting up. "Didn't you two have stuff from Normandy you haven't shown me yet?" He added with a look in his eye.

"Oh yeah! That's right, I did." Grant said, turning to Luz. "You also found one of those... things, right?"

"I did, let's show Webster." George said, jumping up, sneaking a wink to Alice.

Both Luz and Grant left table with Webster, leaving Gene.

Alice walked around the table and sat across from Eugene.

Gene had his head resting on his folded hands. His eyes were closed.

Alice gazed at him with a loving smile.

She could tell he was still tired, and most definitely had some things on his mind.

"George sometimes doesn't know when to stop, does he?" Alice said softly, forcing herself to sound casual.

Gene's eyes popped open. Surprise flashed in his eyes, which then turned into love and then... something else. It disappeared as soon as it came. It was almost predatory.

Alice felt nervous as Eugene slowly stood up and walked over to wear she was sitting. He took her hand and helped her out of the seat.

Eugene dropped down to one knee, keeping her hands in his. His eyes were fixed on hers.

"Alice Black," he husked. "I don't have a ring yet, which I hope you don't mind, but will you do me the honor of becoming my bride?"

Alice choked back a sob and could only nod emphatically.

Eugene grinned, stood up and pulled her into fervent kiss.

The mess hall thundered and roared with clapping and cheers from the men of Easy Company.

"Lemme walk you home." Eugene whispered in her ear.

Alice nodded, feeling her legs almost turn into jelly as she whiped her eyes with her handkerchief.

Taking her hand in his, his eyes flickering between animalistic and adoration, Eugene led Alice out of the mess hall and back to the boarding house. Paying no mind to the smug grins and wolf whistles the men threw their way with knowing looks.

It wasn't long after entering her flat that Eugene showed Alice just how much he missed her. He wouldn't let her forget it until curfew.

"In other words," Old Bill chuckled as he sipped his coffee. "They did the deed. An' judging by how disheveled yet satisfied Doc looked when coming back from her place, they did it pretty well."

Emily didn't know she could blush so hard listening to a story about a relative, she glanced at Frank and Shane who were both snickering like school-boys.

"Disheveled, you say?" Frank asked, coughing back more of a laugh, fighting to keep a straight face.

Bill grinned. "The man's hair was sticking up in all directions, his tye was half-done, his face was red from her lipstick and flushed from... well, you know. Exertion."

He winked. "He looked exhausted yet he had a smile on his face that I don't think anyone had seen on him before, but we all knew what it meant. You shoulda seen the way he walked back to the base. He strutted like a peacock."

"Uncle Bill!" Emily pleaded, covering her face.

"Well it's true, baby girl! You're cousin in-law was a shameless man that night. We all teased him but all he did was smile." Bill chuckled.

Shane gently patted Emily's back while he laughed at her reaction.

"I actually remember one day a few years after the war when Alice remarked about her dress being new and Gene not noticing it." Bill said with a wry smile. "Gene said 'Oh, I noticed. I just wanted to see it off of you.' Which earned him a slap on the arm from Alice."

Emily looked up at him. "I remember that! That was the day you, Joe Toye, and Pop came to visit while Alice and Gene were up from Louisiana back in 1984. I was five! Mom kept telling you guys to keep your stories clean."

It was Frank's turn to laugh heartily. "You poor kid! What kind of stories did you hear?"

Emily shuddered. "I think I have either just forgotten them or repressed them."