Huggins Road Block Area, 21st Brigade HQ, Sanananda, New Guinea
15 October 1943
Sweetheart,
I like your plans for the honeymoon, thank you for coming up with them while I'm still away. And I like being cheeky with you, it's fun ruffling your feathers - even through letters. You keep me on my toes, I'm just returning the favor (also, I hope you like your birthday surprise, I don't think I can pull it off again.)
Oh, I'm sure if you do get to meet Chris he'll have an earful from you, for sure. We'll just make sure there's nothing sharp around you when you do.
Thank you for the explanation, sweetheart, but I hope you don't do any illegal autopsies in the future - wouldn't do for a copper to be married to a criminal, now would it?
(Glad you appreciate the muscle definition, I worked very hard to get it where it is today.)
That's a good way of parsing through Matty's reaction to being hurt and actually being hurt! We did a "distract with water" thing with Rose; if she could calm down to drink, then she was more shocked about the hurt than anything else. If she couldn't drink, then we knew it was serious.
(We still treated the hurt, don't worry, it was more of a decision about whether or not to take her to A&E versus fixing it at the kitchen table.)
Oh, teething will be fun, tell Clara that cold carrots and washcloths help soothe those poor gums.
No pinching that delectable skin of yours, not unless I can be there to kiss the bruises to make them feel better. You'll get the degree, Alice, I know you will; I've known since we met and you told me your goals that you would reach them with ease. It hasn't been an easy journey for you, I know, but look at how far you've come. Almost Doctor Harvey, I look forward to the day when I can drop the almost.
Any age is too young to learn how to pick locks, Alice; is there a delinquent past of yours that you haven't told me about? If Rose starts getting in trouble for picking locks where she shouldn't be, I'm telling Vera it was you.
Glad Mum's taking her health more seriously, as well as fixing up the house for her while she's still living there. I wholeheartedly agree with your decision to look at the chimney first, the roof can wait until summer when there's less threat of rain; see if her contractor has a way to protect the roof in case it starts leaking. (If you've already thought of this, ignore me, I know I'm a bit behind with suggestions due to the letters, so no doubt you've already taken a leaky roof during spring into consideration.)
Ah true about the addition cutting into the back garden… maybe we can get a survey of the property so we know where the actual lines are? I like the idea of plotting out what we want to do and then doing it in stages. It'll give me time to figure out the backyard as well, but I think it should work in our favor. The main priority is definitely getting the house up to date.
We'll also figure out the foster parent idea once I'm home too, sweetheart; the house needs fixing up and we can't very well foster at the same time that's happening… let's focus on the house and then we'll see if Welfare is amenable to us. As for the working aspect, maybe by the time the house is done, we'll have earned some notoriety around town for being respectable and reliable, and we can show how our schedules can work around the kiddies. It'll give us time to find more character witnesses and references too.
Keep thinking about it, sweetheart, it was an idea that popped up late one night when I couldn't sleep and I was dreaming of the house again. If we don't foster, then we'll definitely have more animals to spoil (once we're in the house, I promise. Dot won't suffer.)
Thank you for keeping an eye out for the journals, I'm still doing alright with this one, I think I can make it through the rest of the year with it provided it stays boring here.
If I'm a mother hen clucking after others, then what are you?
(Escape routes are a great idea if Lucien ever comes back to Australia and meets Phryne. Though, I personally hope they would get along.)
Jean's going to do what Jean wants to (and thinks she should) do, sweetheart; nothing you can do can change that, but I know you're just trying to help her out. I'm not sure of the details of that summer, but it was before everything happened between her and Christopher, so maybe there's just a lot going on right now? It could be the memories are too much for her to help out Old Man Blake, but running a farm with two little boys and helping out Mum at the house can be a lot for her to do at the moment. I'm sure she'll keep it in mind if the need arises, but for now, she'll likely stay on the farm until Christopher comes home.
I promise to tell you all I know of 1931, just not in a letter.
(And if it's knowledge of the people of Ballarat you're after, ask Jean; she knows just about everyone in Ballarat and can tell you which ones to avoid once we move there.)
Lucien's definitely smart, and his own moral compass is very compassionate; it can make him rash and stupid in his decisions, but his heart's usually in the right space… I hope he's still alive.
We'll take any good news we can on either theatre of war, sweetheart. Let me know if anything else has happened.
Yours,
Matthew
[Tucked inside the envelope is a photo of Matthew; he's shirtless - arms raised above his head as he chops wood at camp. The photo is meant to look candid, but the way Matthew knowingly smiles at the camera betrays that this was intentional. On the back, he's written "Happy Birthday to my darling wife. Love, Matthew October 1943"]
