Chapter Text
Radar walked off the plane and took a deep breath. He remembered the last time he was here. Erin ran up to him and called him daddy. He also remembered how uncomfortable it made him to hear. This was BJ’s daughter and he hoped that she had taken to calling him daddy now. He walked into the terminal. He smiled when he saw the Hunnicutts waiting for him. He watched BJ whisper something in Erin’s ear and she ran towards him with a big smile on her face. “DADDY!!!!’
Radar froze. He had heard what happened from Klinger the last time Erin called him that and he looked up at BJ who was almost falling over laughing. Radar shot him a dirty look as he lifted up Erin and smiled at her. “Hi Erin. It’s been awhile since I saw you. Do you remember my name?”
Erin nodded. “Radar.”
“That’s right.”
“You have goats.”
“I do have goats. Would you like to come see them sometime?”
Erin nodded. “Yes.”
“I would love that. Now, why don’t you say we go see mommy and daddy now.”
“Okay.”
They walked over to the Hunnicutts and Radar smiled. “That wasn’t very nice, sir.”
BJ laughed harder. “Sir? Radar, this isn’t the army, I’m just BJ here.”
Peg smiled and took her little girl. “How are you doing, Walter.”
Erin looked at her mother. “His name is Radar.”
“Yes, that is his nickname, like mine is Peggy, but my real name is Margaret.”
“Oh.”
Radar smiled. “She is very smart.”
“That she is. She takes after her mother that way.”
Peggy nodded. “Yes, because Dum-dum over here became a doctor on his good looks alone.” She shook her head. “We are standing in the middle of the airport, why don’t I pull the car around while you and BJ get your bags?”
Radar nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”
Peggy smiled at Erin, “Let’s go get the car, princess.”
“Stay with Radar?”
Peggy kissed the side of her head. “He will be right back. He just needs to get his bag.”
“Stay with Radar.”
Peggy took a deep breath. “Erin, honey…”
Radar decided to jump in. “Erin, I need your help.”
Erin perked up and looked at the man standing in front of her. “Me?”
“Yes, you. I have two bags to pick up, and since I only have two hands, can you take this bag to the car for me? That way I know it will get there safely and I won’t drop it.”
Erin nodded. “Okay.”
Radar smiled at her and handed his duffle over to her. “Thank you!”
With Peggy’s help, Erin carried the back out to the car without a complaint.
Once they finally made it back to the house, Erin stayed stuck to Radar like glue until it was time for bed. After he read her a story, he walked back down into the living room where BJ and Peg were relaxing with a night cap. BJ looked at his friend. “Would you like a drink, Radar?”
“That would be nice, thank you.”
“Would you like a Nehi or something stronger?”
“I think I will try something stronger tonight.”
BJ nodded. He knew that Radar was just trying to impress him and show he had grown, so he walked into the kitchen and grabbed him a beer. He walked back and handed it over. “You know ,you are a natural with Erin.”
“Well, you know what they say… I’m just a kid myself.”
BJ smiled at him as he sat down. “Radar, you are more mature than a lot of people I know, but one of the things I like about you is that you still maintain a part of your innocence. You had to ‘grow up’ so to speak in one of the worst ways possible, during a war. I think you are one of the few people that was able to watch their own innocence disintegrate and you don’t want that to happen to any other child, so you do what you can to keep them innocent.”
Radar blushed at that. “That’s a fine compliment, sir.”
BJ could tell that Radar didn’t really like to talk about his youthfulness, so he changed the direction of the conversation. “Now, that you are actually here for a couple days, what do you want to do?”
“Oh, I want to try that restaurant in Sausalito you were telling me about.”
BJ nodded. “You are going to love it. It was the first place we went when I got home.”
The conversation continued in the direction of their plans and went on a little longer into the night.
“What do goats eat?”
BJ groaned and put his head in his hands. “Erin… Let Radar eat his breakfast.”
Radar smiled at his friend. “It’s okay. Not many people care about goats.” He looked at Erin. “They eat a lot of grass and vegetables, but the really funny thing is, they don’t know what those things are, so they will try to eat anything. One time, my goat Randy tried to eat a pair of underwear!”
Having said the magic word, Erin burst into giggles. “Underwear?!”
Peg looked over her shoulder at the sound. Radar was so good with her. She was glad he was visiting. Both Peggy and BJ were only children, so Erin never got the joy that was having an aunt or uncle. Radar definitely fit the bill.She put the last plate in the drainer and walked over to the table, smiling at the enamored preschooler. “So Erin, what would you like to show Radar today?”
“THE ZOO!”
Peggy watched as Erin started to tell Radar about all of the things they would see and Radar gasped and “oooed” appropriately.
Peg leaned into BJ, giving a sigh of contentment. She really hoped Erin never lost this connection. It was obvious they needed each other very much.