27 July 1943

Dearest,

Warning you of a surprise defeats the purpose of it being a surprise; also I like keeping you on your toes.

I'm very thankful you avoided a potentially embarrassing situation with the photos, though; tell me, how long was it before you could stand up after that particular letter?

(God, I miss you.)

Give all my love to the boys, we're still keeping our support for them here - even for Christopher, though it's been a while since his last letter to Jean… if you come across him, knock some sense into him for me, please.

Phryne laughed about Hugh groveling, as did Dot, but she's very glad you'll be helpful around Wardlow when the time comes. I eagerly look forward to the day you cross the threshold - however long the army may bless you with time away from them. Your girls miss you, dearest, and the next time I can kiss you can't come soon enough in my opinion.

Matty is certainly cruising more these days - he hardly wants to be held at all whenever he comes over; it's all sitting up on his own, crawling, and trying to stand. (We very quickly had to make sure nothing breakable was on top of the tablecloths on the main floor of Phryne's house and Mr. Butler is already starting to install locks on the china cabinets).

He's a lot of work, but he's still cute on the small visits he makes with Clara to see us.

I definitely think Rose will be able to flourish more than her mother; Vera and I see her flourishing now. She takes absolutely no bullshit from anyone, she doesn't try to be anyone but herself even at this young age and I'm so proud to be her aunt (even if it's just through marriage). Rose is going to make her own life and I can't wait to see what she makes of it.

I did mention photojournalism to Rose and you should have seen the way her eyes lit up at the thought; hopefully, we've got a few more years before she's trying to follow after you at crime scenes.

I know you're doing your best to come home, dearest; it's hardly within your control when you're allowed back home barring an injury. (Look at me, Matthew. Do not, I swear on my life, get injured again just to come home. I cannot do that again.)

I will be as patient as I have to be to have you home in one piece… we'll weather this war together, just like we promised at the altar.

Your idea of waiting to see about openings is a good one; I'll keep tabs on anything I can, but nothing concrete will need to happen until we know when you're coming home for good (and seeing as the war still has no feasible end in sight… it's not going to be for a while.)

Jack confirmed we could have his house if we ended up staying in Melbourne while the house in Ballarat is fixed up; Mum did try to talk me out of doing some repairs on the house (honestly, we had this discussion last year as well - I'm trying to take care of her and she's just being stubborn), but the draftiness of the old house is finally taken care of for years to come. Doug Ashby of all people found a good contractor that I think we'll continue to use going forward for the eventual restoration of the house.

Mum also said no to living with us after you came home; she already had a standing agreement with Vera to go live with her when the time came, so we don't have to worry about that. Barring if we have children (her words, not mine), Mum will go to Vera. Even if we do have children, she'll likely still not live with us, but she will offer help just as she did with Vera.

So the house will be ours to do what we will with it; I know you've got the garden sorted out, and we've already decided on a library (or at least a wall of books) somewhere in there… any other requests for our collective future daydream of the house?

Addy is fully settled into Wardlow, I'll have you know; she practically runs the place based on the way she saunters around it. She's a beautiful little ball of heat during the winter, so I'll take her preening in exchange.

You've really been thinking about this "secret" of our marriage a lot, haven't you? Is there someone, in particular, you're hoping to prank with it in the future?

While I'm sad you likely won't be here for graduation, I hope I get to see you before it's a year into our marriage - is that a better hope to have? More realistic?

I miss you, Matthew, and I love you.

Yours,

Alice

P.S. One last tease, I promise

[Enclosed in the letter is another photo of Alice - in a similar state as the other personal photos, with a slinky robe wrapped around her shoulders to cover up most of her. She's not looking directly at this camera, instead, her head is thrown back in laughter as she holds Adelaide in her arms.]