The Kids Are Alright

April 11, 1941

"She's really been going on about me?" Harvey grinned at his sister.

Grace nodded, "Apparently, that's what Elizabeth said."

"Why did you wait so long to tell me?" Harvey began washing his gun nervously. Grace had walked to his room after her shift had ended, and arrived just after he did. He was still in his uniform from his day.

"I wanted to hear her ask about you for myself, today she asked how long you've been here, and began to go on and on about how six years must have been so lonely."

Harvey's eyes were wide with excitement. "Should I ask her to dinner?"

Grace rolled her eyes, "Don't you have better things to worry about than petty relationships?"

His grin remained, "Just because a guy won't ask you on a date doesn't mean you need to stop me from asking Marilyn."

"Nothing can stop you when you've made up your mind," Grace said hotly, "Besides, I'm not upset that I haven't been asked to dinner, I'm here on business."

Harvey nodded, "So that blind date really didn't go well, did it?"

Grace thought of the evening before when she had been tied into yet another blind date by Wesley. This time it was with a Junior Grade Lieutenant named James Blackburn Ginn. He was kind and handsome, but to Grace, he was nauseating. It was apparent he was trying to flatter her, but all she heard were nice, empty words. Had Grace been like the other nurses that trailed after James, there would have been a second date- instead, she found herself missing Billie Joe Dukes' curtness. His way with intelligent words that- though insulting- rang with truth. Not once did he compliment her exterior, but he spent their time questioning her interior. She missed the depth. She missed the threat.

"It was as pointless as all the rest. I do wish Wes would stop trying."

"And I wish you would open up to the idea of a relationship," He lightly shoved her, "But we don't always get what we want."

Grace grinned, "Maybe we just want the wrong things."

"I guess that's what makes us human." Harvey placed his gun in its designated place and sat on his bed, exhausted from his day. "Will you be honest with me for a moment?"

Grace's brow curled, "I'm always honest with you, Harvey."

He shook his head, "There's a difference between being honest and telling the truth. You've never lied to me, Grace, but you've never been honest."

Grace sat down in the single chair he had on his room, "Alright, I'll be honest."

"Why is it so hard for you to take compliments about how you look?"

"Grace, you're so beautiful," her father smiled down at her, "But you're more than that."

Grace's eyes were wide as she stared up at him, "But Mama said that a good woman is nothing but beauty." Her small mouth recited words that her mother had implanted into her mind.

"Maybe you won't be a good woman," Her father knelt to look into brown eyes that mirrored him, "You'll be a great one."

Grace's eyes flashed with excitement, "Do you really think so?"

He nodded, "Grace, you can do anything you want when you grow. The world has changed so much since your mother and I were growing up. What do you want to be?"

Grace stopped and thought. She was only twelve years old, but she had spent enough time considering her career and how she would want to spend her life, "I want to be like you."

Sadness flashed in her father's eyes, but was gone before Grace could register it. "Then never let boys compliment how you look. Find a boy who will love you for your knowledge, and skill. Don't make the same mistake that I did."

Grace smiled broadly, "Yes, Daddy." He leaned down and hugged her. She wrapped her lithe arms around him, and stared out at the vast amount of water that surrounded them. She could barely see the shore that held her mother and brothers.

He pulled away, "Would you like to learn how to drive the boat?"

Grace's breath caught in excitement, "Oh, yes!"

He led her to the wheel, and she took hold enthusiastically. Before he showed her how to start the engine, she turned to him, "Daddy?"

"Yes, Grace?"

"Did you tell Mama that you loved her for her knowledge and skill?"

He glanced back at the edge of land hardly visible from their position, "I've never lied to your mother."

Grace glanced back down, "Because I'm more than that."

"I know that's not the only reason. You're more than a nurse, yet when people compliment your skills there, you have no hostility."

Grace turned her eyes to Harvey, her gaze suddenly sharp. "Did you know daddy never told Mama that he liked anything about her? He told her she was beautiful, yes, but beauty is partial. Look at Mama now, what would daddy have to compliment?"

"Daddy's dead."

"Thank you for clarifying that," Grace stared at him, her eyes daggers in his skin.

"I'm just saying that Mama doesn't need to be beautiful for anyone anymore."

"But now she has nothing," Grace whispered.

"She has us."

"We left." Grace stared at him. "You hated being around her as much as I did. It's the same with Marvin and Wes."

"But we still love her," Harvey said, glancing down at his clasped hands.

"Of course we do, but that doesn't change the fact that she is a burden to live with. She hasn't let go of the past, and it's crippling us. How do you think Charles is going to act when he grows up? He is going to be an exact replica of Marvin. Mother has no faith in her gender, and I will not sit idly by and watch her teach her children that women are a weak species." Grace turned and began to walk towards the door. "When you and Marilyn do go to dinner, don't forget to tell her more than just she's pretty."

Grace left Harvey sitting on his bed, questioning whether or not his sister believed her own words.