Only a Paper Moon [ Band of Brothers ] 3

Chapter Nineteen

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."