Chapter 5

Peggy was overjoyed to receive confirmation from Don himself that he was alive and well. He was understandably melancholy, and his beautifully written letter had moved her to tears several times. She felt very honored that he trusted her enough to reveal so much of himself to her. In fact, he had revealed more about himself in that one letter than he had in the ten years they had known each other. Don Draper had been a very difficult man to get to know, but apparently Dick Whitman was going to be an open book.

Peggy took issue with Don trying to convince her to move on and find another man to marry. She understood that he was only trying to protect her, but she resented that he didn't seem to think that she was capable of making her own decisions. She immediately put pen to paper in order to dispel any and all misconceptions he had. She knew her own feelings, and she wasn't going to allow Don's bout of intense self loathing convince her otherwise.

January 17, 1971

Dear Dick,

Thank you so very much for your wonderful letter. I apologize that this one will not even begin to rival yours in length or quality, but I needed to address a few things with you immediately.

I have no intention of "moving on" with anyone, let alone with Stan or Pete as you seemed to imply that I should. For one thing Stan is like my brother, and Pete, well there's a history there that you and I need to discuss one day. But needless to say, I am not interested in either one of them as a potential husband for me or as a father for our child. They are just acting out of a sense of loyalty to me and frankly to you too and they would never even consider getting involved with me in that way when they can clearly see that I am very much in love with you.

Now that that is over with, i wanted to tell you that I felt our baby kick for the first time last week. I had felt flutterings before this, but nothing quite as pronounced as this. Ever since then it feels as though she (Don't ask me why, but I'm pretty convinced that the baby is a she) is tap dancing on my bladder. Even though I knew I was pregnant before this, feeling her move like that really made everything seem that much more real. I can't believe that in four more months I'm going to be able to meet our daughter (or son, but I really think I'm right about this.)

I'm glad that thinking about our time together brings you joy. Sometimes I find myself smiling for no reason. Then I realize that I've been thinking about you and how incredible it felt when you made love to me for the first time, and how safe and protected I felt lying naked in your arms all night. There are of course other thoughts to be had, but writing them down seems so dirty and improper and a good Catholic girl like me knows better than to commit such thoughts to paper. I will just leave those to your imagination.

I suppose that is all for now. I love you and miss you very much and I long for the day when I will have the privilege of being in your arms again.

Love,

Peggy

February 4, 1971

Dear Peggy,

Thank you for your letter, although I do have to say that the mention of your beautiful body was a most exquisite torture. It is fortunate (or unfortunate depending on how you look at it) that I have an excellent memory and I am able to recall with great clarity everything that happened between us that night. I vividly recall the wonderful feeling of having your soft curves pressed against my body all night long. I'm afraid that those memories are going to have to sustain me until we see each other again.

Today is my actual birthday. I haven't celebrated it in years, not that we ever really celebrated birthdays back home. I think my step mother Abigail never wanted to acknowledge the birth of the "whore child" that she was forced to raise since I was a daily reminder of my father's infidelities. I never wanted to celebrate Donald Draper's birthday because it was such a blatant falsehood. I just claimed to everyone that I hated having anyone make a fuss over me, which was actually true. I will say that one good thing about this situation is that I no longer have to keep track of the numerous lies and half-truths I've told over the years. I can just be myself which is something I haven't done in over twenty years.

I find it interesting that you feel so certain that this baby is going to be a girl. My ex wife Betty was so certain that our son Gene was going to be a girl that I don't think she even considered the possibility of it going the other way. I'm curious as to why you feel this way. Is it an instinct, or perhaps a bout of maternal clairvoyance?

This may not be appropriate for me to ask, but I am curious to know how this pregnancy compares to your first. Do you feel any different? I regret that I am unable to see you. I'm sure that you look beautiful as always.

If you haven't already done so, I would encourage you to tell Sally about your situation, that she's going to have a new little sister or brother. I'm sure she will be thrilled and I suspect that she would be more than willing to come and help you out this summer when she is home from school. Her mother may object but I think that this is a decision that Sally is old enough to make.

Regarding your previous letter, I apologize if I offended you in any way by suggesting that you not wait for me. I in no way wanted to imply that I don't want to be with you or this baby. Nothing would please me more than to marry you the minute I come home.

While we're on the subject of marriage, is that something you would even consider with me? I will admit to being a terrible husband in the past, but everything has changed...I have changed. For better or for worse I am not that man anymore, Peggy. You don't need to answer me right away, but when you said that you wanted us to live together as a family after I am released, did you mean that you wanted to be my wife...Dick Whitman's wife?

I have one further thing to ask and then I will eagerly wait for your reply. I have a couple name requests for the baby. If it is a boy, I would like to name the baby Adam after my half-brother Adam Whitman who passed away eleven years ago. There is quite a bit to this story and I promise to tell you all about it in a subsequent letter. If it is a girl, I would like to name the baby Anna after my close friend Anna Draper. She was the friend who passed away on the night that you and I worked on the campaign for Samsonite. Anna was the wife of the real Don Draper and she was one of the kindest, and most selfless people I have ever met. She is the only other person in the world that I trusted as much as I do you.

I almost forgot to ask one more burning question. What is this history you have with Pete Campbell? This sounds like too good of a story for you to gloss over.

In all seriousness, your letters have made this experience bearable. I live for your updates about the baby, my kids and of course about yourself. I love you very much Peggy. I will look forward to hearing from you again soon.

Love,

Dick