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Andrew Allison Moore was born on January 9th, 1940. He was named after his uncle, Andrew Allison Haldane. When Andy graduated from Bowdoin College in 1941, his sister, Janet, took a train to Maine with the rest of his family to celebrate his achievement. Swaddled in Janet’s arms was the eighteen month old Andrew Moore, with wide, brown eyes filled with curiosity. Andy was instantly enamored with his nephew, picking him up as though he were made of glass. Andrew reached for Andy’s nose with his teeny hand, his fore and middle finger squeezing the tip of the appendage with all of the force a small child could enact with their light grip.
Andy chuckled in response, pinching Andrew’s cheek. Janet watched, cheeks rosy, beaming like the sight was the most perfect she had ever seen. Janet had always adored Andy, the two closest in age compared to their older brother, Robert. There had been no question in her mind what name to christen her first child, after the brother she had to chase around to make sure he didn’t get involved in too much mischief. She could only hope that her baby boy would embody the life and love that his namesake held. Janet wrapped her arm around Andy’s shoulders, knocking her forehead against his cheek. Andy’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he looked at Janet. “You did a real good job here, sis. He’s adorable.”
“As adorable as the man I named him after, I wager.”
The cold, wet, soppy nature of Guadualcanal was about as opposite as one could get from home, unless, of course, you were from New England. Hunched underneath a crop of trees to stay dry, Andy glanced at the other marine out of the corner of his eye. They’d never met before, were with different units, but there was just something about him that made Andy feel off keel. He had a truly unruly crop of dark curls atop his head and a steely blue gaze, his lips affixed in what just might have been a permanent frown.
The two were stuck in a torrential downpour, caught between CP and their respective posts, sent to scout by the brass who thought they could see anything in the middle of the night when it was absolutely pouring rain. Andy could barely see the man next to him, let alone anything in the jungle. “So…do you have a family? Andy asked, feeling stupid at the choice of phrasing. For some reason, he couldn’t get his brain to work properly.
The man, Jones, if he remembered correctly, barked out a sharp laugh that caused Andy to grin like he’d won a prize. “Yeah, o’course. But you’re askin’ what they’re like, ain’t ya?” Andy nodded in response, even if Jones couldn’t see it. “Got Ma and Pop, figure ‘m Ma’s favorite child. Aside from Georgie. ‘m the second eldest, after my sister, Clara. She’s smart as a whip ‘nd stunnin’, just like Ma. Then there’s Hazel, Anna, Harold, Georgie, Gary, John, and Mary. The fourth in order, Ralph, died at six. He got sick, couldn’t shake it.”
A beat of silence, aside from the pounding of the rain against the forest floor, passed between them. Andy didn’t quite know what to say, how to comfort someone who’d lost their sibling. He’d never lived a day without Robert or Janet. “Clara runs a little shop in the city. Hazel’s in college, the first in our family. She got a scholarship. They’re good, I wager. I’m the only one of us in the military, though I figure that Harold’ll join up soon, since he’s almost eighteen. I miss them, I really do. Send all my money home to them. What about you, Cap’n?”
“Wow, you’ve got a certified brood, there. I won’t look like much in comparison.” Jones cracked a smile, the expression making Andy’s chest feel all warm and fuzzy. “I don’t think I’m either of my parents’ favorite. Dad’s busy with the mill, Mama’s always worrying. About what, it’s safe to assume anything and everything. My older brother is Robert, he works at the mill with dad. My older sister, Janet, is probably my best friend in the world. It was always just the two of us against the world. She had a son two years ago, she named him after me. He’s precious.”
“Ycan tell how much your sister loves you, if she’s namin’ her kid after ya. That’s real love, there. ‘m not sure any of my siblin’s would do the same.” Jone replied, “Must make ya a real good fella, then. Suppose y’have to be to sit out in this shitstorm with a Sergeant when y’could’ve delegated the scout to someone else.” Andy lips quirked at the edges, caught.
“I just don’t want to put any of my men under duress that I am perfectly capable of handling myself.” Andy retorted with a grin.
“A good fella for sure, then.”
Miraculously, Andy and Eddie had survived the war. With the deaths they’d faced on Peleliu and Okinawa, the sheer amount of officers lost to enemy fire, Andy hadn’t been sure that he’d live to see 1945. Luck, or fate perhaps, appeared to be on his side. A near miss from two snipers was as close to proximity to death that Andy desired, for either he or Eddie. They had suffered through so much, years of the most cut-throat combat imaginable, and they had survived . Andy hardly knew what to do with himself when the brass informed them that the Japanese had surrendered, all he did was audibly laugh, which had caused an awkward silence to bloom. It had made Eddie grin, though, so Andy supposed it was worth it.
Now the two of them were in Eddie’s shitty pickup heading to Andy’s family’s house in Methuen, Massachusetts. They’d spent the past week in Whiteford, Maryland where Andy had the pleasure of meeting all eight of Eddie’s siblings. He had to agree that George was one of his favorites, though Hazel had this snappy sort of wit that reminded him of a woman he’d graduated with at Bowdoin. Andy was nervous about what his family might think of Eddie, and if he were to be honest, it was mostly Janet’s opinion that he cared about. Andy had never had time to date when he was growing up, too focused on goals and no one was interesting enough to pull his attention away from them. Janet was the only one who knew what Eddie actually was to Andy, so her opinion was even more important.
Andy steadied himself with a sigh before he and Eddie headed up the driveway. The front door cracked open before they reached it, revealing a toddling Andrew who raced toward Andy on the fastest legs a small child could possibly have. “Unk Andy!” Andy practically melted into the asphalt beneath him, dropping to his knees to lift his nephew into his arms. Andrew giggled enthusiastically, his tiny arms wound around Andy’s neck, his little face pressed into Andy’s broad shoulder.
“Wow, Andrew, you’ve gotten so big, huh?” Andy could hardly believe that this was the same kid he had waved goodbye to before he was shipped overseas. Affixed to Andrew’s collar was the EGA pin Andy had given him in the harbor, faded and lackluster like it was well loved. “I missed you, too, bud.” Carefully, Andy stood to his full height, gesturing for Eddie to enter the house first. Andy bent down to kiss Janet’s cheek as he passed, his sister closing the door behind him.
“Andrew really missed you, he said he wants to be just like you when he grows up,” Janet said, causing Andy’s cheeks to heat, both flattered and embarrassed by the notion that his nephew, who barely knew him at this point, wanted to be anything like him. Andy’s hold on Andrew tightened, tucking his face into the boy’s scalp, closing his eyes for a moment. This was grounding, realizing that life had continued on while he was embroiled in a world war. Though his family had worried for him, they had lived for him. To Andy, that was enough. “So that’s Eddie?”
Andy could tell from Janet’s tone without looking at what the expression on her face was. Smug, probably. Wildly inappropriate. She may have even been wiggling her eyebrows. Huffing gently, Andy lifted his head, arching a brow challengingly at his sister. “It is. I can tell you have something to say.”
Janet shrugged, leaning in close so that no one else, aside from Andrew, could hear them. “He’s cute. That’s all I was going to say. In a rugged type of way. The way he looks at you…it’s so protective. Like he would jump in front of a bullet for you.” Andy had to bite the inside of his lip to keep himself from grinning stupidly. He glanced at Eddie, who was continuously looking toward him whilst engaged in conversation with his mother. Really, that meant that Eddie was listening to Margaret talk, but the point was moot.
“I know he would.” Andy confirmed, because Eddie practically had, following his Captain to the farthest lengths that no sane person would ever go to. “Is that a bad thing?”
“No, not at all. It’s just intense.” Janet reached over to ruffle Andrew’s hair, then her brother’s. “I’m glad you found something good, over there. I know it must have been hard.” Andy’s expression softened, one of his palms smoothing down the line of Andrew’s spine. He had written a lot to Janet and the rest of his family, but he hadn’t said much about his actual experiences. He had not wanted to traumatize them, too. “C’mon. I’m sure everyone’s dying to see you.”
Janet wrapped her arm around Andy’s shoulders, corralling him toward the rest of their family, all of whom immediately clambered for Andy’s attention. Eddie watched the scene from a close distance, his eyes crinkling when he smiled, the same way he had when he and Andy had first bonded over love of family.