Other Halves

Erin was wearing her new yellow dress, so Peg jumped up and caught her just before the little girl completed her plunk to the ground. The fall onto her backside probably would've been more bewildering than painful for Erin, and Peg wasn't ashamed to admit that her main concern was saving the pretty yellow dress from a nasty mud stain.

She set Erin upright and absently shook her head. As if this child's going to go all day without getting her dress dirty! Wishful thinking, lady.

Apparently reading her mind—or maybe her face—Daniel Pierce said, "Nice catch, Peg, but you're probably fighting a losing battle there. Kids get dirty. Boys, girls… doesn't matter. It's their job to mess up their clothing."

Peg laughed. "Well, a mother's instinct is to try to prevent that from happening, but you're probably right. It's only a matter of time. I shouldn't have put her into her new dress this morning."

She went back to sit next to Daniel on the porch steps, where they watched Erin, who would be celebrating her third birthday in less than a month, chasing butterflies around the yard.

"She's a delight," Daniel said after a moment. "Sure has grown since the last time you folks visited."

Peg nodded agreement. Her baby was growing fast, that was true. Too fast. It was a cliché, but Erin's childhood was going by in a blink, and it made Peg sad to realize that. She and B.J. were starting to talk about having another, now that their lives had settled down following that damn war.

The sound of uproarious laughter from inside the house made Peg and Daniel turn in unison to look at the front door, and then at each other. They wore matching grins. Inside, Hawkeye and B.J. were playing chess… well, ostensibly playing chess, but really what they were doing was getting caught up, falling back into their routine of shorthand conversations and shared thoughts.

The first time Peg had met Hawkeye was only two months after the war ended, when he and his father had flown out to Mill Valley for a long weekend. At first she was excited to meet this mystery man she'd heard so much about. And sure enough, he was charming and funny and had charisma to burn. She liked him, absolutely. But after witnessing firsthand her husband's relationship with his best friend, she had deemed it… well, "weird." All the letters she'd gotten from Korea had not prepared her for the reality of the friendship. Of course she knew they were close, inseparable, forever bonded by the experience they'd shared. But the way they communicated, the way they acted when they were together… it was startling, and—if she were being perfectly honest—upsetting.

Daniel must have sensed the subtle shift in her demeanor during that first visit, because he took her aside at one point and said only, "It's unusual, isn't it?"

When he didn't elaborate, she realized that her perception of the situation was also Daniel's. "Yes," she'd said, searching his eyes. "I'm not sure it's… healthy."

And Daniel had laughed. "Peg, there's nothing healthy about what they went through. Thank God they went through it together, though. Because you and I… we have our boys back, and in pretty decent condition, all things considered. And I think that probably wouldn't be the case if they hadn't had each other… back there." He'd pointed over his shoulder, as if Korea were just a traffic light or two down the street.

Over time, those words penetrated Peg's brain and she came to realize how silly it was to worry about something as benign as her husband's friendship with the man who helped him survive a war. After all, she herself had never gone through anything like what they'd experienced, so she had no point of reference. Thank God, as Daniel had said, they'd had each other to lean on, and were now back on American soil—safe, sound, a little worse for wear, but ultimately all right.

The visits continued every couple months, as if Hawkeye and B.J. were in danger of going into withdrawal if they didn't get their fix of one another after a certain amount of time. When Hawkeye traveled to California, he invariably brought his father with him. When B.J. came out to Maine, he brought his wife and daughter along.

The result was that Daniel Pierce and Peg Hunnicutt found themselves in a very unique, somewhat odd relationship. The "other halves" of the two best friends.

It didn't take them long to realize it was pointless to try to edge their way into B.J. and Hawkeye's conversations. It was if the two men had their own language. Peg and Daniel weren't consciously shut out of the dialogue, but that didn't matter. The end result was the same: it was no fun trying to engage in a discussion that made no sense to you.

And so they stopped trying. And they began to hang out together, away from Hawkeye and B.J., who seemed oblivious to the fact that they were neglecting their family members.

In time Peg grew nonchalant about the whole thing. Her husband always came away from the visits energized, happier. It didn't make any sense to deny him the spiritual lift that he got from his best friend. And why should she? Just because she had concerns?

She smiled now, hearing the raucous laughter inside the house, and said to Daniel, "I never knew chess could be so hilarious."

Daniel winked at her. "About as hilarious as that gin rummy game they played last night."

Erin apparently had grown tired of following butterflies around the yard, and now she was picking blades of grass and arranging them in her fist as if they were flowers. Keeping her eyes on her daughter, Peg mused to Daniel, "You know, when I started to read about Hawkeye in B.J.'s first letters home, I was so grateful that he'd immediately found someone over there he could trust and learn from. Before he left home, he'd been worried about that, about finding somebody who'd show him the ropes. So it was a relief, to read those glowing words about your son. 'Hawkeye this and Hawkeye that.' I remember thinking, 'Look out, Korea, you've got your hands full with these two.'"

Erin toddled over to where they were sitting on the porch and handed Daniel the blades of grass she had picked. She was in a shy mood today, so she didn't say anything to him, but she did giggle. Daniel made a big show of being surprised by the gift. "Wow, Erin! This is beautiful! Thank you."

Proud of herself for being so generous, Erin grinned and then scampered off to resume chasing insects. Daniel carefully placed the blades of grass beside him on the porch. Continuing Peg's train of thought, he said, "I felt it too, from Hawkeye's letters… the fact that they seemed to be two peas in a pod. His friend Trapper had just left for home, you know. I liked that B.J. sounded a lot more dependable and grounded. Trapper John, from what I gather, wasn't the best influence on my son." He paused, thought. "Or maybe it was the other way around. I shouldn't paint Hawkeye as a saint. I know perfectly well he's not."

Without warning, Erin planted her butt right in the mud that Peg had so valiantly managed to save her from earlier, and there went the nice yellow dress. Peg sighed. Exchanging a look with Daniel, she could only shrug, as if to say, We called it.

Daniel went on, "But my point is, I could tell from the letters that B.J. was a stabilizing force. I could tell he was going to be good for Hawkeye."

"Yeah," Peg agreed. "They were—and are—good for each other. There's no question. I'm glad they're still seeing each other and supporting each other. But Daniel… I won't deny it. Sometimes I see that relationship and I feel locked out, sort of. I feel like I will never understand what they have."

Daniel gave her a warm smile. "Ah well, that's all right," he said as he reached out and patted her hand. "They'll never understand what you and I have."

Peg tilted her head, considering that. She was about to reply when their attention was drawn back to Erin, who took off running as fast as her little legs would go after a squirrel, which escaped by bolting up a tree. As Erin approached the tree, she tripped over a root and toppled forward, landing hard on a knee. There was a split second of surprised silence, and then she started to cry.

Peg and Daniel rose simultaneously and went to her, both of them muttering soothing words. Daniel reached her first and picked her up in his arms, instantly going into doctor mode, rubbing her boo-boo and telling her everything would be OK.

Peg watched the two of them as, behind her, another round of wild laughter erupted from inside the house. In that moment, she saw it very vividly… the blessing that the Korean War had given her. Her eyes misted even as she smiled. It was certainly an unconventional extended family, but she wouldn't trade it for the world.