He roared with laughter then let her feet down temporarily while he kissed her properly, drawing hoots and yells from the trucks and troops going by on either side in the busy road. When they came up for air it was to a round of enthusiastic applause that made Honey blush until he picked her up again and she hid her face against his neck the rest of the way to the mess tent.

As soon as they were settled on benches each side of a long mess table, Urs pulled out the little folder he always carried and gave it to Honey so she could see photos of their boys. She stared at the pictures for a long time, smiling at how happy they looked and how adorable the one was where they were both laying on Urs on the floor, pulling his hair and giving wet baby kisses.

“They look so big….and happy.” She put her arm across her chest and held tight, blushing a bit when Urs raised his brows in question.

“My breasts ache when I think about them or hear someone cry….or now when I see their pictures,” she admitted quietly and the other 3 men pretended not to hear.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed the side of her head.

“I read about that in one of the books I bought. It will go away once you’re home.”

All of the men were full of stories about the twins and they were only too happy to tell Honey. She encouraged them and asked questions, though they could sometimes see it was uncomfortable for her and made her sad to think of all she had missed. Most often when they saw her eyes fill with tears it was from crying with happiness.

They had finished an early dinner and were relaxing with coffee, talking now about how Simon had helped with the plans for shows, trying to cover as much of the country as was safely possible but concentrating on Kandahar since that was where the note said she was trying to get to.

“How many more shows do you have?” she asked and paled when Urs told her two, only one here then a final one back in Germany.

“Wow!! I nearly didn’t make the reunion. Next time I’ll know to walk faster,” she said trying to make light of how close they had been to time running out.

“There’s not going to be a next time, Baby. I’m not letting you far from my side anymore. And you can be sure that I wasn’t about to leave without you.”

She stared into his determined look and nodded. Yes, he would have stayed, she could see that somehow he would not have left her behind.

“Honey, there’s something you can do to make tonight’s show really special,” David said. “That harmony, the descant you did for First Noel…will you do it with us tonight?”

Honey looked at him, then at the others and a smile crept over her face.

“I don’t feel my knees turning to jelly at the thought. Yes, I’d love to sing with Il Divo tonight.”

Urs hugged her but was concerned. “Are you sure, Liebe? No more stage fright?”

She smiled sadly and stroked her still rough hand down his cheek.

“Love, you have no idea what I’ve done the last 11 months to give birth to our sons, to get them to safety, to find you. I don’t think a little thing like an audience will ever frighten me again.”

“Will you tell me?”

“Yes, but not now. It’s too fresh….I don’t want to relive it just yet.”

They finished their coffee and got ready to leave but Urs again was concerned. “You hardly ate anything, Baby, just that small bowl of soup. You sure you don’t want something else?”

She just shook her head. “Urs, I’ve had to go 3 or sometimes 4 days without anything but water. I don’t think my system could handle a real meal yet. Don’t fret so. If I feel ready to eat I’ll let you know.”

They showed her the tent that was their ‘spacious’ quarters while in camp and asked if the nurse had said where she was to bunk.

“She said something about a bed in the ward, but I don’t think so. I promise you guys, I don’t snore, so please let me stay with you.”

“But the cots are for one person,” Seb said.

Honey was horrified. “But don’t you take turns being on guard? Someone could come in, in the dark….I could take the first watch if you like….”

They were stunned. It was the first hint of just how different their friend had been forced to live…..and the first that they realized she was going to need to talk to someone about the experience.

She saw the concerned looks on their faces and realized that she had reverted back to the old way of existing. “I’m sorry. I must be tired. Of course there’s no need to do that anymore. I’m sorry…..” Urs just held her and took her in to settle on his cot.

“Urs, I have to tell you something. I hope it won’t make you think less of me or make you stop loving me but I can’t keep silent about this.”

“Nothing will ever make me stop loving you, Liebe. You can tell me anything.”

She looked in his eyes, drew courage from the love she saw there and told him. “I killed 5 people to get away from the mountains and to get here to Kandahar. The thought of it haunts me, not the last one so much since that just happened and he deserved it…the other four…it was to escape from the mountains with the boys and not leave a trail.”

He smiled at her worried look. “And if you had not, what would have happened to the boys? Would they now be safely home in Switzerland? Baby, you did what you had to do. Don’t ever be ashamed of that…I’m not.”

He lay her down on the cot and cuddled with her, spooned together on the narrow bed until she fell asleep.

Honey slept for a while before the evening show and David sat outside the tent with Urs, talking quietly.

“She’s going to be a bit clingy for a while I think, Urs, needing to be near you most of the time. I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet that it’s over, that she’s safe.”

Urs smiled at his dear friend and nodded. “And I will be there for her as often and as long as it takes for her to get over what she’s been through. I need to be near her too, David. After all this time, it’s like a miracle to have her back.”

“Uh Bro,” David started hesitantly during a lull. “I think you’ve probably thought of this already but I wouldn’t feel right not mentioning it.” Urs looked at him with his brow wrinkled, not at all sure of where this conversation was going.

“Well, it’s been well over a year since you and Honey…..since you got it on, you know….I just think you should go slow. I mean there’s absolutely no question that she loves you but she’s been through a lot and is bound to be changed a bit.”

Urs just continued to stare at him for a long minute.

“Uh, Urs…are you pissed at me?”

A smile broke across Urs face. “No. I’m trying to figure out how someone who trips over his own feet all the time and plays video games like a big kid, can be so smart about people. Thanks David. I thought of it too, but it can’t hurt to be reminded. I want her, there’s no question, for the past year it’s nearly torn me apart every time I think about how good we were together. But I will be patient. Not till she’s ready.”

**