She smiled and added, "Yep, a conspiracy sir," and then put her finger up to her lips, "Shhhhhhhh."

"Yeah, you guys just don't want to have to cook on that grill," I added without looking at her as I walked along the food line filling my tray.

"Shhhhhh," she said again. "Don't tell on us sir," she added and giggled.

"Seriously, though, I just had regular eggs yesterday up in Baghdad," Capt. Kaniski said, still mildly annoyed.

"Maybe we just have bird flu down here in Mahmudiyah, David. Good thing birds can't fly," I said.

He sniffed and shook his head. "Yeah, right," he said as he walked out. Maj. Baldwin and I followed him into the rooms with the tables. The three of us brought our trays into the last of the three rooms with tables and saw Specialist Red, a medic from the aid station, sitting alone.

"Hey, what's up, Specialist Red?" I said to him as I sat my paper plate down in front of one of the chairs. "Mind if we join ya?"

"No, sir. Have a seat," he replied.

I slung my weapon on a nail that was driven into a support beam by my chair, hung my hat on the nail and walked off to get a cup of coffee. When I came back, Maj. Goodwin and Capt. Kaniski were sitting down with Specialist Red.

"Didn't your wife just have a new baby, captain?" Maj. Baldwin asked Capt. Kaniski.

"Yes, sir, she did."

"Awesome," Maj. Baldwin responded, and the rest of us offered our congratulations.

"So, how many does that make now?" Maj. Baldwin asked.

"We have three now -- two girls, one boy," he answered proudly, nodding with a tight-lipped smile.

"And this one was ... " I asked, leaving off the end for him to complete.

"A girl," he answered, beaming.

"That's cool, man," I said. "You got to go home on leave for the birth?"

He nodded. "Hard to come back, though," he added, and his face flushed with a subtle slip of the emotion he was trying to control. He turned his head down toward his food.

"Coming back sucks, man," I said. "It just sucks."

He nodded, looking up at me as he pulled himself back together. The others, sensing the awkwardness, turned toward their powdered eggs.

"At least we are over the hump now," Capt. Kaniski said, regaining his composure. "Well, barring extension I guess."

"Yeah, exactly," I said. Looking over at Specialist Red I asked, "Hey, do you have kids, Specialist Red?"

"Yes, sir, a 4-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl," he answered.

"Cool," I replied, and for a moment we all just sat eating our breakfast and reflected on our children. "Hey, you know what I did recently?" I asked the group and they each looked at me, curious. "Well, this may sound a little gay, but..." I paused to laugh a little. They all smiled, wondering what in the hell I might be about to come out with. "Well, I ordered a bunch of books on butterflies for my kids and then went onto this science store Web site and had a butterfly breeding kit sent to them. After they set up the kit, they send in this certificate and they get like 10 caterpillars in the mail."

"Oh, that sounds cool," Capt. Kaniski said.

"Yeah, I think that's a great idea," Maj. Baldwin added.

"Yeah, I thought it sounded cool. My son is 2 and my daughter is 3, so butterflies are pretty cool right now. That and I try to make sure they have other things to look forward to besides just me coming home. You know, going to Disneyland and visiting relatives. I liked the idea of the butterflies because of the science part, but it also takes up about three to four weeks for the whole process. Anything to take up time."

"Yeah, that sounds cool. Could I get that Web site from you?" Capt. Kaniski asked.

"No problem," I answered.

The four of us went on eating our breakfasts and talking all about our kids, how our sons were becoming momma's boys in our absence, the importance we felt in exposing kids to nature, the things our families were doing without us there.

After breakfast I went over to the internet café and found the Web site for the butterfly kit for Capt. Kaniski. I walked over to the aid station, and Capt. Kaniski and Specialist Red were outside.

"Oh hey, Jeff," Capt. Kaniski said.

"Hey, I got you that Web site."

"Oh cool."

I handed him the piece of paper with the Web address on it.

"Hey, you know it's funny," I said, "I think when I was a 12-year-old boy and thought about the Army, I figured it had something to do with wearing bandoliers of bullets and maybe jumping out of trees with spears to kill wild pigs to survive." They both laughed. "I never thought I'd be helping people buy butterfly farms."

We all laughed.

"You guys have a nice day," I said as I walked away.

"You too, sir."

"Take it easy, Jeff."