Why doesn't young Dodd Mitchell Darin's famous daddy, Bobby, sing him to sleep any more? Sandra Dee is not telling him ... Tears pouring down his face, his small, sturdy frame shaking with wild sobs, young Dodd Mitchell Darin ran toward his mother crying wildly, "Mommy! Mommy! I want my daddy. I want my daddy. Isn't he coming home tonight?"

And Sandra Dee, Dodd's mother, bent to pick up the small boy, trying to soothe him as best she could. But her own voice was shaking, as she answered, "No, Dodd. Not tonight. Not tonight." Clutching his mother fiercely around her neck, Dodd demanded, "But when? When? I want to see him! I want my daddy." Once more the little voice faltered over the sobs.

His mother, holding him as tightly as she could, had only one answer to give her son. "I don't know, Dodd. I don't know." As she said the words, Sandra's eyes also filled with tears, but she bit her lip until it hurt, determined that she would not cry, at least, not in front of Dodd. If she did, then the boy would really know something was dreadfully wrong in his small world. He already suspected, obviously, or he would not be so distraught.

Dodd's native-born, childish intuition was correct. Indeed, something was terribly wrong. Something still is terribly wrong. For Sandra Dee and her husband, Bobby Darin, have separated. Bobby has moved out of the lovely home they shared together as a family. Only Sandra and Dodd are left -- a Dodd who cries for his father, a Dodd who wants his beloved papa at home in the evenings, a Dodd who wants to be held and crooned to by his daddy. How, for example, can he go to sleep without his daddy, who sings such wonderful songs -- just right to put a tired little boy to sleep at night.

Dodd has been apart from his daddy before. Sometimes when the famous singer-composer is appearing at nightclubs, it has been impossible, for one reason or another, for Sandra and Dodd to accompany him. Dodd always has seemed to understand instantly when his mother told him, "Daddy's working. He will come home when he can." And Bobby did. Or they went wherever Daddy was.

Then there were the other times, when it was Sandra's work that separated them from Bobby. Dodd also seemed to understand and accept that. For then, too, whenever possible, one or the other of his famous parents would manage to join the other, at least for visits.

Dodd didn't necessarily like separations. Nothing, no matter how much fun, was ever quite the same without one of his parents. But he didn't get very upset. He seemed to adjust admirably, as befits the child of show-business parents. But this time, it felt different to the small boy who is so much like his father, both in temperament and appearance. This time no one could -- or did -- say anything to him about his daddy's work. And this time, his mother didn't say when his father would return. She just went around all the time, so quietly -- not at all like his happy bubbling mother.

It frightened Dodd. Deep inside somewhere, where little boys grow afraid of the dark and big dogs, Dodd was shaking. It felt as if he might never stop, as if the roof might cave in, or the floor slide from beneath his feet.

His mother didn't feel very much more secure than her boy did. Sandra always has been so dependent upon Bobby. He has been the source of her strength so often. To her, he has been her rock -- her life.

Except once before. Once before, when for various stated and unstated reasons, they had decided upon a temporary separation. Dodd was younger then, so much younger that Sandra believes to this day that the child was not hurt -- not really -- by the apartness of his parents.

That time, Sandra and Bobby stayed apart four months. No one really thought they ever would be able to patch up their troubles. But they did. They reconciled, and apparently were more in love -- happier, more stable and more sure of themselves and their relationship than ever they had been.

Now -- a second time -- Hollywood was shocked by the news that young Mr. and Mrs. Darin had decided to live apart. And this time -- oh, this time -- Dodd was old enough to realize that the shadow of tragedy was stalking his young life.

As she tried, fruitlessly, to stem Dodd's weeping, and not to break down herself, Sandra remembered in despair that other separation. She had tried living without Bobby. She has discovered that there was, for her, no life without him. Now here she was again, back in the same old spot.

She remembered, too, the fulfillment that came into her life when they decided that their marriage could work -- that they would make it work. For a while, it had been like a second honeymoon. No -- better than a honeymoon, for they both had been so frightened by their breakup. Now here it was again! And the person who was going to be permanently marred this time was the most innocent of all -- Dodd.

Dodd, whom his father adores, bright, bustling, independent, strong willed little Dodd. Dodd who returns his father's love by utterly worshiping Bobby; chipper little Dodd, whom Sandra had taken to Bobby's most recently nightclub opening all dressed in a miniature tuxedo cut to Dodd's exact measurements.

Spunky little Dodd, who doesn't cry when he's, had his shins scraped in a fall. His chin may tremble, but he determinedly will not cry. Yet, here he was, wailing his small soul out in loneliness and confusion and a terrible hurt -- even though he didn't know what hurt him.

"Oh, please, please, dear Father," Sandra prayed, "how many more nights must my child weep. None of this is his doing. Please, don't let him suffer. Help him not to be hurt."

It was a desperate prayer -- and a fruitless one, Sandra realized full well, even as she uttered it. Dodd already was hurt. Dodd very well could be hurt much more -- even destroyed.

She remembered how Dodd had been promoted from nursery school to kindergarten while he was only 4. He can write his name, speak French and never gets anything but perfect marks.

She recalled, also shortly after she and Bobby resumed their married life, and her husband came down with pneumonia -- virus pneumonia -- the kind that's so hard to treat. He almost died, although she had not realized it until he was on the mend. Only then did the doctor inform her how near she had come to really losing Bobby, forever. She had gone so weak that she'd had to sit down.

Her knees were hardly any weaker then, though, than they have been since her most recent separation. For she is stricken at the apparent pattern they have set. She knows she needs Bobby -- needs his love. Just as much as Dodd needs him and in some of the same ways, too.

Sandra has been working since she was 12 years old. She began as a model, and became a most successful one. She gained stardom with her very first picture, and has been a favorite with the public ever since. She is a rarity these days -- a truly big star.

So is Bobby Darin. The young man who fought so hard to overcome childhood illness -- rheumatic fever -- fought just as hard to get to the top of his profession. He's been there even longer than has his wife. It takes fighting to stay, and Bobby is known in the business as a gutsy young man who intends to keep right up there at the top.

Is this what has caused so much friction between the Darins all their wedded life? Are two such major careers in one house simply impossible?

Or it it Sandra's dependence played out against Bobby's aggressiveness? Whatever it is, there have been fireworks almost from the start.

Or is Sandra's youth -- despite her mature outlook -- a big factor? After all she was only 19 when her son was born. She still is in her early twenties, a girl in many eyes. What is she in the eyes of her husband? What is she in her own eyes?

She knows what she is to Dodd. She is Mother ... period ... just as Bobby is Daddy. Dodd doesn't know -- or care -- anything about their careers or their ages or their temperaments. He does know and cares deeply about being with them, both of them. When one is so young, that is all it is possible to comprehend.

Well, not quite all. Unfortunately, he is quite capable of comprehending when all is awry. Many children are sensitive, but Dodd is extremely so. The emotional currents swirling around him do not just pass him by. They buffet him. They frighten him. They bewilder him. He is such a tiny boy, despite having his own tuxedo.

Once, when Dodd was very young, still a baby, Sandra told a writer that the closest she ever felt to God was when he was born. She said, "I wasn't old enough. I was afraid. I nearly lost the baby in the third month. He nearly came prematurely. The doctor said if he did, he doubted he would live. But by that time, strangely enough, I was not afraid. I was just hopeful. And full of prayer."

She continued fervently, "This may sound musty, but I feel close to God when I think of the husband He gave to me, and of the father He gave to our baby. Bobby is a natural born father."

Bobby certainly has appeared to be. His abilities in this line surprised many in the movie and nightclub fields. Somehow, to them, brash Bobby Darin didn't seem capable of the tenderness, the patience, and the sense of concern that it takes to be a good father. He has made them all eat their words. But now -- now he is not with Dodd, as he needs to be.

No one knows how long this separation between Sandra and Bobby will go on. Whether they will reconcile once more, or end up in the divorce courts is a moot question. Neither Sandra nor Bobby can tell. Certainly Dodd can't. He doesn't even know what the word is.

But he knows how the word feels inside his heart. No matter if the Darin break-up is short or long, at least one member of the family will never be the same again. For the secure, love-surrounded life of little Dodd has been shaken to its very foundations. It's as if that little boy has disappeared and a new one has taken his place.

His parents may go back together. They may not. If they do, Dodd has a chance to resume his former safe existence. If not, his world will be one of emotional upheaval for a long, long time to come.

Even when he is safe once more -- if he is -- he will never forget his fear. One more little boy will have been scarred forever by his parents' adult inabilities to cope.

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