A black coupe swung down the drive and raced right up to her—as near as it could come for the tracks, and stopped under a big sign which read, “No Parking.”
The gravel was still flying from under the wheels and the dust was still making fitful little clouds when the door popped open and Daddy jumped out. Mimi remembered later that he did not even wait to open the door for Mother Dear and Junior but let them scramble out the best they could. Daddy came striding toward her and scooped her up into his arms, bundles and all.
“I simply wouldn’t have a doctor for a Daddy,” he was saying.
And Mother Dear, quite out of breath from dragging Junior at a rapid pace, was adding——
“We had to go by the Hospital and Daddy was detained——”
But none of that mattered in the least now. They were here—the baggage was stowed away in the back of the coupe. Junior was stretched out on the shelf blocking any view out the back window—an ideal place to pull Mimi’s hair or tickle her ear—and Mimi, Daddy and Mother Dear were scrouged up together as Daddy stepped on the starter.
One long happy sigh escaped Mimi as she cuddled down, and not two minutes ago tears were, well, not quite in her eyes, but in her heart to say the least. Mimi’s blue eyes were usually merry.
“Psst, psst!” in her ear. Junior’s warm breath against her ear. “Secret!” in a hoarse stage whisper.
“James Sherwood Hammond, Junior,” in Mother’s sternest voice as she glared at Junior. A booming big laugh from Daddy who received the tail end of Mother’s stern glance. He immediately swallowed the smile and began asking Mimi about camp.
“Did Sue’s ankle get all right?” Daddy wanted to know. “Were there any stomach aches after the big Sunday dinner we brought? What finally became of Pluto?”