May 30th, 1946

The warm breeze that caught her hair soothed Alice's nerves. So many months had passed since she'd seen Easy Company. Months of occasional letters, even less frequent phone calls, and a single visit for some. She held on to those memories as she closed the taxi door behind her. All around her she could hear the sounds of normalcy: newspaper salesmen hawking out headlines, footsteps against pavement, cars in the streets of Indianapolis. But for her and for Lewis and Dick beside her, it was anything but normal.

Her anxiety spiked as she looked at the front of the hotel where they were being treated to a meal. Midmorning had come and gone. She couldn't quite tell if Lewis and Dick were as nervous as she felt; they had seen no one since Harry and Kitty's wedding. But the overwhelming urge to get back in the taxi and run away hit her like a tidal wave.

"You good?"

Alice looked to her left as Lewis asked her the question. Then she turned around. The taxi sped away. She had nowhere to go but in. Nowhere to go but this reunion she'd been looking forward to for months. But she didn't know what she would find, and Alice wasn't sure she had the emotional energy to find out.

She'd talked to Bill a few times in the past month. Harry and Kitty, George, Babe, Lipton and his wife JoAnne, and the Spinas were guaranteed yeses. Johnny and Malarkey had both been guaranteed maybes. The others were a "we'll see." But Bill was hopeful. And that was all they could be.

"Come on," Lewis urged her.

She nodded. Letting her arms fall to her sides, Alice stepped forward towards the hotel entrance. The doors opened for them, and they soon found themselves out of the busy, slightly worn down streets of the city and inside a nice if a bit run-down hotel lobby. A large poster read 'Welcome Easy Company,' and Alice couldn't help but smile through tears.

"Cute," she choked out. "I wonder what else they've got set up."

Red, white, and blue streamers hung from the ceiling and a few wrapped around the small columns they passed. Following the arrows put up on the wall, she led the way. Lewis and Dick strolled behind her. Her heart pounded.

She saw Bill first. Done up in his uniform just like Dick and Lewis behind her, he stood chatting with a waiter. She steadied her breathing. The sound of her heels clicking on the floor pulled his attention away, and he grinned.

"There you are! You took your sweet fuckin' time," he told her.

Alice wasted no time in pulling him into a quick hug. "Well, I have to keep you on your toes." When she moved away, she smoothed down her pink dress and looked him up and down. "You look good!"

"I do me best." Then he looked past her. "Major, Captain! Glad you could make it."

"Hey Bill." Dick smiled as he took the man's hand and shook it. "Good work setting all this up."

"We all appreciate it," Lewis added. He also shook his hand, "Especially my wife."

It took a moment for Bill to understand his meaning, but when Alice smacked Lewis on the arm, he gaped at them. "You fucking serious? Jesus Christ!" He rounded on her. "You two got married and didn't fuckin tell me?"

Lewis broke down laughing and even Dick couldn't help but chuckle along. Alice, however, glared from her husband back to him. "We haven't told anyone. I wanted to be the one to tell you."

"For fuck's sake." Bill just shook his head and laughed again. "Jesus. Well, get in there. I'm sure you've plenty of people to screw with that news. Congratulations."

"Thanks," she said. Alice broke into a smile. "Frannie in there?"

"Yeah she's wanderin' around somewhere. Probably showing off Eugene."

Alice grinned. "Naturally."

Lewis and Dick stood inside the door to the ballroom, the former somehow already with a drink in his hand as they chatted and gave her space. She joined them. She wasted no time in smacking Lewis in the arm again.

"You are not allowed to do that again," she insisted.

With a small laugh, he agreed. "But I want to brag."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Fine. You can tell anyone who's an officer. I get the enlisted."

The room was pretty full. There must've been about fifty men in uniform. She felt bad for thinking it, but Alice had very little interest in talking to anyone who wasn't from Toccoa. Except maybe Babe, Garcia, and Hashey if they had made it in. She liked them. Besides the veterans, at least two dozen women wandered about.

"Where'd you get the drink?" Alice asked.

Lewis, finishing a sip, gestured to a waiter with a tray full. "Just grab one."

The next time a tray came close, Alice did just that. With a drink in her hand, she wove in and around the crowd. Beyond the men who stood in small groups, they had arranged a set of round tables. She wanted to make for those.

She grabbed a trio of empty chairs at a table near the front. From there she could watch the room. After she said it was perfectly okay with her, both Lewis and Dick moved off to chat with someone, leaving Alice at her seat. She sipped the champagne and looked around.

More than a few men she recognized, but most of them had joined up after Haguenau. They mingled with each other. It made her smile, knowing that these men had in each other a family. Even if she wasn't part of theirs, at least they had one. It wasn't until a couple of guys moved out of the group to grab a spot at another table that her heart nearly stopped. Alice grinned and pushed away from her chair, leaving her purse behind.

"Smokey! Alley!"

They looked up and started grinning. They looked so similar to the last time she'd seen them. And yet, so different. They reminded her more of the day they'd all celebrated their jump wings. Though this time, they looked a lot older.

Alice grabbed Smokey in a hug. Careful not to put too much pressure on him, she tried to cry. She'd spoken to him through letters a few times since they had taken away him in Bastogne. She still remembered the way she'd covered his body as a bomb fell and she and Gene were trying to help the wounded. He'd been asleep, unconscious to keep him from panicking at his paralysis.

And here he stood. Walking, talking, smiling. Alice pulled back from him and grabbed Alley next. They'd said goodbye in Austria. He'd been in one of the first groups discharged and sent home after VJ-Day. Here he was. Smiling, laughing.

"You two look great," she choked out. "Wow."

Alley grinned. "So do you! Nice dress. Been awhile since we saw you in anything but a uniform," he joked.

"I prefer the dresses," she said. Laughing, she turned back to Smokey. "How are you! Any poems coming to mind for this get together."

He just hook his head. "It's pretty crazy, this whole thing. Bill did a great job."

Before she could respond, Alley interrupted. "Wait, wait. Fuck, is that a ring?"

As they both turned to her, Alice started laughing. She nodded. "Yes. Nix and I got married a couple of months ago. We didn't tell anyone except for Dick."

Smokey laughed and Alley just scoffed. "You two are perfect for each other," he muttered between drinks. Alley gestured back through the crowd. "You're both crazy."

After a laugh, she shook her head. "Have either of you seen George?" Alice asked.

"Not yet," Smokey said. "But I saw Lip over by the dessert tables."

She thanked them. It took some maneuvering to get around the ever-growing crowd. The turnout blew Alice away. Sure, most of the people she'd seen weren't Toccoa men, but they were Easy.

"Lip!"

The man turned around at her call, and to her delight, there were both George and Harry. Tears welled in her eyes as they all raised glasses and hollered for her. Before she could get a word in edge-wise, George threw his arm around her shoulder and demanded to know when they'd gotten married.

"Did Nix tell you," she demanded.

George just laughed. "We're not stupid. We've been comparing notes." He gestured to Harry and Lip. "It was only a matter of time."

"Speaking of the two of you," she countered, looking between them, "where are Kitty and JoAnne?"

"Together," Harry said. He pointed to a table down the way. "I think they're sitting with Frannie Guarnere."

Alice laughed. "Oh no."

"Yep," Lip agreed.

She spent several minutes with the three of them. Standing with George, Harry, and Lip felt natural, like she'd never really left. It felt like Aldbourne, the surrounding joy infectious as they all pushed the bad memories away. Effortless conversations flowed, domestic discussions of married life and for George, his new girlfriend Del who had stayed behind in Rhode Island.

For her part, Alice talked about Ruth and Nixon Nitration Works and her job as Dick's secretary. She talked about England, about Millie, about Dick's steady girlfriend Ethel. Before long she complained about the treatment Marjorie faced. Realizing she had gotten too worked, Alice excused herself to get a drink of water.

As soon as she'd stepped away, another wave of exhaustion and anxiety crashed over her. Conversations raged on every side. A bit of dizziness came over her. She walked out of the ballroom and into the hall. Leaning against the wall, Alice closed her eyes. She tried to breathe.

"Are you alright?"

She knew that voice, sort of raspy, sometimes full of bite, but more often concern. Her eyes shot open. Alice turned to look right and her heart stopped. "Joe?"

Though it was a question, the answer was obvious. Joe Toye moved down the hall, fidgeting with his hands a bit and looking out of place. Alice shot off the wall and walked over to him. Bursting into tears, she grabbed him in a hug. He was strong, always had been. His clothes still felt a bit cold to her skin. But he was here. After a year and a half of guilt and anger that she'd never gotten to say a goodbye, he was here.

"Scheisse. Shit- Joe." She broke off from the hug and wiped her face. "Oh, my god. I didn't know you were coming," she rambled. "Shit."

"Bill threatened to drive out and drag me," he admitted. "You look good! How are you and Captain Nixon?"

"'You look good?' That's what you have to say?" she snapped. "For fuck's sake... Joe you haven't even sent a letter in almost a year. That's what you have to say to me!"

"Hey!" He moved back a bit and gestured at her. "I'm doing my best, ok?"

Alice took a deep breath. She settled her anger. Instead, the tears came back. "Sorry. I know... I just." Her words caught painfully in her throat. It had stung, not hearing from him. Like losing her brothers again. But he was here now. She would never be able to say that about Marc and Robert. "We got married, actually."

That made him grin. "About damn time. When?"

"A few months ago." As they stood in the hall, Alice stuffed down her hurt and instead told Joe all about their house in New Jersey, about their striped cat named Spot and their failed seeing-eye-dog Aria. She told him about her trip to Philly and Rhode Island. She even told him about the way Stanhope hated her. "But we're making it work," she ended. "If Lewis ever agrees to quit the business, we talked about moving closer to Princeton. I'd like to get our own house, not one connected to the Nixon family," she admitted.

For his part, Joe listened and then talked about the girl he'd met. He'd always been a good listener, but Alice wanted more than that. She grinned as he spoke about her. She could see the way her name made him happy. They'd met soon after his release from the hospital.

"Did you bring her?" Alice asked.

Joe shook his head. "Betty stayed back. She's got a job and didn't want to take time off."

"That's a shame. But at least we get to hear all about her," Alice told him. "Go on in. Bill's probably looking for you."

"Where are you going?"

Alice laughed. "Alright. I'll come too."

It didn't take long for them to have to take seats for lunch. Alice, Lewis, and Dick were seated with Harry, Kitty, and George. George had always been one of the enlisted most friendly with the officers. But it made her laugh how well he got along with Kitty on his right. She didn't stop smiling the entire time, even as they were treated to chicken for the main course and slices of chocolate cake for dessert. She could eat and smile at the same time.

"How's Victoria doing," Alice asked him. At the question, he put down his dessert spoon and rolled his eyes.

"She's a pain," he muttered. Louder, he tried to explain it to the table, "My sister. She's trying to throw a huge wedding. It's hard to throw a huge wedding with as many siblings as we've got."

Alice nodded. "When's the date?"

"If only I knew." He shook his head. "If I knew that, I'd be able to help her organize it."

Kitty chuckled. "Does she have any ideas?"

George sighed. "She wants it in the summer. That's about all I know. I'm staying out of it."

The table went back small talk. She took Lewis hand under the table though, giving it a sqeeze as she looked at him. He seemed to be having a good time as well. It had gone even better than she'd expected.

After lunch, groups split off. Johnny had gotten in during the meal, and she'd spent a few minutes with him, trying to make him laugh. He looked good. Said he'd heard from Bull, who sent his regrets that he couldn't show.

There were many people who didn't show. Even as the day wound on, Alice lost hope that any of the people she'd yet to hear from would walk through the doors. Gene she knew couldn't make it; he'd said as much in their last letter. But she kept hoping to see Lieb or Tab walk in.

They didn't.

She and Lewis went out to dinner with Harry, Kitty, Lip, JoAnne, Joe, Bill, Frannie, George, and Johnny. They had all gotten rooms at the same hotel. Most of them chalked it up to change, but Alice wondered if it hadn't been more than that.

She hadn't prayed since the war. Not that she hadn't wanted to. But she couldn't. It hurt, and it made her all sorts of angry and bitter. But after dinner as she stood out front of the hotel enjoying a last cigarette before following the others inside, she wondered if God had a hand in it.

"Alice?"

Don Malarkey.

He stood in the light of a streetlamp. She removed her cigarette and covered her mouth. Tears sprung to her eyes. As she forced down the painful lump in her throat, Alice dropped the smoke. "Don!"

She grabbed him. He hugged her back, neither moving for a good thirty seconds. She'd not heard from him since he'd left Paris. She'd heard nothing. Not even a letter. Alice choked out a sob as she moved away.

"I didn't think you were coming," Alice sputtered. "I can't believe it."

He shuffled where he stood. "Sorry. I wasn't sure I was coming either," he admitted. "How are you?"

"How are you!" she insisted. "No one's heard from you in ages, Don. You look good," she offered. Then she smiled. "It's good to see you."

He smiled. "Yeah same. How many people showed up?"

"A lot," she said.

Alice told him about the lunch and then the activities afterwards. She told him all about the dinner they'd just come from, where most of the time had been spent making fun of Joe and George for being the only ones at the table not yet married. At that, Malarkey congratulated her.

"Thank you," she said.

Her chest warmed thinking about how happy the men of Easy seemed to be. Sure, they'd talked about how hard adjusting was, but they'd all sounded hopeful. They had each other. She wanted to ask him about the Muck family, about Faye. But the words caught in her throat. She hadn't been able to reach out to them. Every time she'd picked up the phone, she'd wrestled with how to start. What to say. How to say it. So she'd put the phone down every time.

"Some of us were going to set up a poker game," Alice told him. "You should join us."

He smiled. It made her feel better, seeing him smile like that. So when he agreed, She grabbed his arm and pushed him towards the front door of the hotel. They'd all be happy to see him. Ecstatic more like. She hoped he would feel the same. She hoped, she prayed, that over the next two days, they could all do a bit more healing.