"An intimacy had grown between us like a forest around a castle." - Louise Glück, an excerpt of The Sword in the Stone

Suez

27 January 1942

Sweetheart,

This letter is short, and I'm sorry it took me a while to respond to your last one, but I do have good news. I'm coming home on leave, we all are! It'll take us some time to get home, and I'm going to go see my family first, but I promise you I will come and see you in Melbourne before my leave is up. After all, there's the cinema to try, and if that doesn't work out we could always go dancing.

I will write to you on the way home like last time, so you at least have something to look forward to while I'm home. And I'll send a telegram letting you know when we've landed.

Stay safe and I'll see you soon.

Yours,

Matthew

11 February 1942

It was the first thing she saw that morning after a particularly long study session into the night - an envelope on her nightstand that called to her like a siren of old. Yawning and rubbing her eyes as she sat up, Alice reached for Matthew's letter.

It was lighter than expected, but the contents soon more than made up for that; she could hardly believe what she was reading in his slanted, slightly messy handwriting - he was excited and Alice could feel that same excitement bubble up in her as well

Matthew was coming home, he was coming home.

"Dot!" she called - scrambling from her bed with the letter still clutched in her hand; she didn't care that she was still in her pajamas or that her hair was a wild mess around her face - Matthew was coming home and that meant Hugh was as well.

"Dot!" She bounded down the stairs - hearing some stirring behind the other closed doors - and nearly collided with the woman in question.

"What's all the palaver? You're not usually like this, Alice."

"They're coming home!"

"Who?"

"Matthew and Hugh and all the rest of them, they're coming home! Here, see," Alice could barely get the letter into Dot's hands with hers shaking so much.

Dot gave the usually reserved woman a slightly disapproving look - it was far too early to be this loud in the house, especially after late nights for a lot of them; she took the letter, however, and skimmed the contents.

The first thing she noticed was the term of endearment addressed to Alice at the top of the letter - Dot didn't realize they'd reached that stage of the relationship - and the second was the 'Yours' at the end of it. Evidently, Alice and her soldier had gotten closer than anyone in Wardlow thought they had.

The news that Matthew's brigade was on their way home as of two weeks ago was most welcome, however, and Dot laughed when Alice hugged her - both of them giddy with excitement at the thought of their men coming home.

"It's wonderful, Alice," Dot patted her back, "and it's wonderful that you and Matthew have progressed this far."

"What do you mean?"

"He's calling you sweetheart."

Alice drew back - her cheeks high with color as she took the letter from Dot's hands, and a hand came up to cover her mouth as she read it again.

"Oh…" Alice blushed harder.

"Hadn't you noticed?"

"What's all this then?" Miss Fisher and Superintendent Robinson made their way downstairs before Alice could answer - both still in their pajamas as well - with Clara and Edith not far behind.

"Matthew and Hugh are coming home!" Alice blurted out before Dot could say anything else - the excitement bubbling forth from her. Her grin faded a bit when she saw all of them still bleary-eyed and yawning. "Oh… I woke you, didn't I?"

"It's alright, Alice, it's wonderful news," Jack stepped forward and kissed her cheek. "Does it say when?"

"His letter's from the twenty-seventh of January, and it took about two months last time."

"So sometime in March, they'll land home."

Alice nodded, "Matthew was going to send a telegram when they did, and I expect Hugh would do the same."

"Wonderful," this time it was Miss Fisher who kissed Alice's cheek - then Dot's - as she called into the kitchen. "Mr. B! Skip the coffee, for now, we need champagne to celebrate!"

"Right away, Miss!" Mr. B called back - even as Jack and Dot gave Miss Fisher disapproving looks.

"Don't look at me like that, Jack, Dot, we need any and all cause for celebrating. Let's forget the war for just a tiny bit with one glass each, and revel in the fact that loved ones will be back in just a few months."

As she watched the other charges under Wardlow's roof hug Alice, Dot couldn't keep the grin from her face - her cheeks were starting to hurt, but she didn't care one bit.

Their men were coming home.