Dot sets out to write the long letter she’s been promising, but little Eric Miller has other ideas. He’s “showing his lung power,” and Dot must put a stop to that.
She returns shortly, having put Eric to bed for a nap. Chris is entertaining himself by dumping a pail of sand on the sidewalk and picking it up “a grain at a time.” She’s concerned that this two and a half year old will have his driver’s license before she does. He has a little red roadster that he drives all over the Miller’s property like a pro, right down to proper hand signals when he’s making a turn.
She’s so glad that Dart’s in favor of her college plans! Now she hopes nothing stands in her way of being accepted. She’ll be happy to gather information about Kent’s journalism program while she’s there.
Next day: Dot writes that her babysitting duties kept interrupting her last night, so she gave up trying to write. Tonight she’s sitting for Chuck and Linda, who are both sound asleep. “By the way, Chuck and Linda are going to have a new baby in the house come November. Chucky still calls Linda “new baby,” so I don’t know what he’ll call the next installment. ” Dot hopes it’s a boy, and is disappointed she won’t be able to help the family while Mrs. Pecsok is in the hopsital like she did when Linda was born. With luck, she’ll be in Ohio in her new role of college co-ed.
She tells Dart that his presence is required at the big family dinner/engagement announcement. Dot’s father was teasing her at dinner tonight, saying he thinks he needs to meet Dart’s folks before answering that very important letter from the young sailor. “Of course, he was just kidding, but in case he wasn’t, please convince your parents to come visit us.”
She asks Dart, when he comes home and begins to tell her about all the places he’s visited, “tell them just the way you write them. If you do that, I’ll be able to dream up a beautiful picture of what the places are really like.”
The other day, Dot read a portion of Dart’s letter out loud to her mother. It was the one where he was describing the motion of his ship and that of both larger and smaller ships. Her mother responded, “Golly, that’s some description. I hope you’re saving all those letters, Dot. Writing like that shouldn’t be thrown away.”
Naturally, Dot has saved every letter she’s ever received from Dart. By this date, they number well into the 400s. But as much as she loves his letters – lives on them, actually – she longs for the day when it’ll no longer be necessary for him to write his thoughts down, but can tell them to her directly.
She agrees with his assertion that it would have been great if they could have enjoyed June’s full moon together. Now she’s pinning all her hopes that they’ll be together for September’s. She’s stepping on al the Lucky Strike packages she can find, wishing on stars, and above all, praying.
“What about my cooking? Well, I can open a pretty good can of Campbell’s soup, or even peel a mean banana. Don’t tell me you’re beginning to worry already. I’ll tell you what we’ll do. (See, already I’m telling you what to do.) You plan to be a very successful writer, anyway, and if it turns out that I can cook, well, there are many places we can put the money besides paying a cook.”
Referring to his comment about a shipmate who loved to talk about his wife and kids, Dot asks “Think you’ll be talking like Hite in nine years? I hope you’ll be as happy, if not happier. I, too, love to hear proud Poppas talk about ‘the little woman’ and kids. Kinda’ sounds real American, doesn’t it?”
It’s the wee hours of the morning now, and Dot can hear her brother Doug snoring in his room down the hall, joining his parents in a nocturnal trio that is driving Dot crazy. Naturally, that brings up the question of whether or not Dart snores. “Of course, it’s silly to ask you because anyone who does won’t admit it. I have never been accused of it, but even I slip once in a while, imagine.” She decides it’s futile to discuss the topic any further and it’s time for all good girls to go to sleep. “That lets me out, but I’m sure I ought to go to sleep anyway. ‘Beauty sleep’ is not the object, either ‘cuz I was discouraged about that years ago. The only real reason I have for going to sleep is that I’m very tired and sleep usually helps that, I find.”
All that remains is for her to tell Dart how much she loves him, and she does just that.
