Hi guys, I've been inspired to write more for the SOM fandom, so hope you enjoy it.
A Family Of Her Own
Maria stared up at him in the darkness, his whole face filling her vision. The eyes that she was used to seeing as cold, mysterious and brooding were now light and glowing with passion as he searched her face. The look of love and adoration on his face bewildered her and no doubt the same expressions of devotion were displayed plainly on hers. She leaned into him, her cheek rubbing against his neck and her nose nuzzled into his shoulder as he held her.
'Maria?' His voice beckoned her, the sound of her name in his deep baritone voice mixed with a tenderness she had yet to comprehend enthralling her. Slowly, she lifted her head to meet his, and the gaze that they both shared, along with the deafening silence around them was enough to leave her disoriented. He raised his palm to her cheek and beneath she could feel her cheeks burning under his touch.
'Is there anyone I should go to to ask permission to marry you?' He said it without hesitation and conviction and it left Maria almost breathless. The shock of the question and proposition made her head spin, but she knew exactly that what he had just proposed, she wanted with all her heart. And so, with adoring gentility, she stared up at him lovingly and simply said:
'Well, why don't we ask..'
'The children?' He said in synchronicity to her, and the incredulous giggle that escaped her softened the Captain's features with laughter of his own. Oh, how she loved this man. Even when he was angry with rage or commandeering and orderly it never stopped Maria loving him so completely.
He leaned down to pull her into another kiss that swept her off her feet, almost literally as she was standing on tiptoes. The delight that spread through her was like a tidal wave, pulling her under. Maria leant in to him once more, and scanned the dimly lit gazebo around her. It was the first time she'd properly taken notice of it, as Georg's face had been the only thing she had seen.
'I suppose we should walk back to the house.' The Captain said, taking Maria's hand in his and together, they emerged from the shelter of the gazebo. The sky was clear, the moon a half crescent and Maria felt as if she were the happiest (and quite possibly, the most shocked) she had ever been in her life.
'You don't suppose they will object to me?'
'The children?' He answered, 'never. They are just as much in love with you as I am.'
To hear him say those words out loud, it felt almost wrong for them to be directed to her. But as he looked down and smiled, Maria knew she couldn't be imagining it.
He pulled her in at the side, and slid his arm round her waist. 'Anyway, I don't think they could have warmed to anybody else but you.'
Maria smiled, thinking of all of them together, and that she would actually be a mother to them. She felt the prospect exciting yet a little bit daunting.
'And you are already like a mother to them.' He added, seemingly reading her thoughts.
She turned her head to look up at him, no longer able to imagine her life as a postulant, or a nun. This is where she belonged. In the solitary, comforting arms of the Captain, and the serenity of the grounds and the lake surrounding the villa.
'I wish we had more time.' She said, earnestly. Maria had come to recognise, despite her facade of otherworldly innocence, the conflicts upsetting the Captain and his country. She had yearned for the man she couldn't have for long enough, and she only wished this wondrous night of confrontation had come sooner. Though, there wasn't much to complain about; the hand that snaked round her waist flinched, Georg's fingers spidered down her arm, clasped her hand and tightened it to his, and rested it above her hip. The small yet meaningful form of affection managed to send a chill down her spine.
'Time is beyond us now, Maria. All we can do is make the most of it.' The smirk that plastered his face made her heart beat doubly fast. She knew she could spend the rest of her life staring at that endearing smile.
'And I suppose we have.' Her answer was more of a question than a reply, but Maria was further surprised by the Captain's.
'I've been thinking about you...for weeks. Unconsciously, most of the time. If I wanted to marry the Baroness, I would have married the Baroness. After you came back from the Abbey, time was no longer relevant; I knew I couldn't waste any more without trying to tell you how I felt.'
'Well, you certainly did, Captain.' She said a little breathlessly, still replaying the image in her head of him confirming he loved her.
He detached himself from her side and stared oddly into her eyes. He lifted his eyebrow in amusement, his lips pursing as if wanting to smile but not allowing himself to.
'Captain?' He drawled. Now, the smile fully formed; a teasing, questioning smile that made Maria weak in the knees.
She exhaled a sigh, feeling foolish but also equally amused at what she'd said. Maria had never once called him by his name, only 'Captain' and 'sir,' and the familiarity of the title seemed to have just naturally slipped out.
She amended herself, looking up at him through her eyelashes. 'Georg.'
His name sounded gentle in her voice, not as she'd ever heard it spoken before.
He nodded, moving toward her again. 'Maria.'
She smiled, and he leaned down to gently kiss her forehead. Her eyes closed, and her lungs fell short of breath.
'I think you should perhaps learn to get used to calling me by my first name. I don't think 'captain' is quite appropriate anymore.'
'Yes, I quite agree.' She laughed.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and steered her in the direction of the house, but not before pausing to gaze at the rippling river, with light streaking down the middle of it and falling right into their path. The both of them were drenched in moonlight from the tops of their heads to their toes. Maria fell back into him, admiring the darkening blue sky dotted with stars.
'What were you supposed to be doing out here, before I found you?' He asked, his chin pressed against her shoulder.
'Just clearing my head. Making sense of what I was doing here, what I was told at the Abbey. And also because this place is so beautiful, I just had to be around it all. It seemed like the best place to go.'
'Not as beautiful as you were, when I looked down at you from the balcony. That's when I realised that it was never going to work...me and the Baroness,' Maria turned to face him, surprised that she had been watched as she had wandered around the grounds, 'I couldn't pretend any longer.' He finished, in his deep, baritone voice that contrasted so starkly with her benign, high one.
'Neither could I.' She replied gently.
A brief, tense pause settled between them before she was kissing him again, her arms looping round his neck once more. It was brief and soft, but more intense with the pursuit of exploration. She could still see the moonlight beyond her closed eyelids, dancing on the surface of his skin. When their lips drew apart Georg smiled again, and Maria wondered if she had ever seen him smile so often.
She gladly took his hand and together they strolled away from the gates of the river, down the path and up the steps to the terrace.
'When do you think we should tell them?' He asked.
'In the morning. It would not do well to wake them up in the middle of the night for another engagement announcement.'
'Well, indeed it might better your chances at winning favour with them if they are properly awake.' He joked.
'Once they have finished their schoolwork?' She asked.
'Oh, undoubtedly Maria, the children will be asking questions at breakfast, unfortunately.' He emphasised.
'That soon, we shall have to tell them?'
He nodded. 'It should be an interesting conversation. But you shouldn't have anything to worry about. They all love you.'
'And I love them,' she replied confidently, a surge of excitement now taking hold of her at the prospect of telling them all; anticipation and nervousness, '...terribly so.'
She caught him staring at her after she said it, a tangible pause hanging in the air. For the last time that night, he grinned. 'You have given me a whole new meaning of life, Maria.'
Maria's head was almost spinning as she got out of bed. The realisation that she was no longer just a woman, but a fiancée to a decorated sea captain hit her square in the face as soon as she opened her eyes that morning. She lay in bed a few minutes before getting up, wondering if the Captain was thinking about it too. 'Would he already be up?' She pondered. Of course he would. Years spent on boats and being a sea captain meant strict punctuality. No doubt he was already dressed and ready for the day. Maria herself felt completely unprepared to leave her bed; she needed a moment to collaborate her thoughts and think over the events last night. It had all been so fast. She remembered sitting on the bench, deflated and foolish. The next minute the Captain had arrived and practically swept her up into his arms in seconds. It had resonated with her throughout the night, it seemed, as she had woken up a few times at ungodly hours to replay everything that had happened, from the moment she arrived back from the abbey. It had almost felt like a dream she was having, but Maria had decided that that couldn't be true. She could still feel the trace of his lips on hers, and lord knows she couldn't have imagined it. Maria's eyes went heavenward, giving a silent prayer of thanks, and not only to God but to Mother Abbess. She had guided her on this path, and she was grateful she had taken it. She grinned, a grin that reached her eyes and lit up her whole face at the thought of being the Captain's bride. She indulged herself in the fantasies of weddings and wives until a shaft of sunlight streamed across her head and she knew she couldn't waste anymore time. Springing up from her bed, she readied herself for breakfast. Her blonde head was mussed and disheveled from the tossing and turning of the restless night, and she sought to set it right, but to hardly any avail. It was presentable enough, but only from the front. Wayward strands of hair sat in all manner of direction on her head, and soon she had grown tired of trying to keep it straight.
Finally ready, she closed her eyes before emerging from behind her door, and made her way to the dining room. Whilst walking down the stairs she could feel her heart hammering inside her chest with every step closer she came, and a nervousness fluttered inside her stomach like butterflies. As she entered, she gave the room a wide smile, a 'good morning,' and gently sat down at the end of the table, deliberately averting her eyes from the Captain.
'Good morning, fraulein Maria.' A chorus of voices replied, and Maria noticed that every one of the children was present. They had all been waiting for her.
'A little late, Maria?' A deep voice wavered over from the other end of the table, and she tried to compose herself as best she ordinarily would.
'I didn't get much sleep last night.' She countered, throwing the tiniest of looks in his direction so he knew. She could see a small, tantalising smile playing on his lips that only she seemed to notice. It was the same smirk that had kept her on her toes everywhere she went.
The Captain picked up his fork, but suddenly remembered and set it down again. Looking at her expectantly, he folded his hands in a locked embrace and let her speak her words of prayer.
Soon after, everyone was quietly talking to one another, although a thick tension hung in the air like a bubble between her and the Captain. 'Goodness,' she thought, 'I should really start calling him by his name, even if it is just in my head.'
At that moment, Marta decided to ask the question Maria had otherwise not known that everyone else had been thinking.
'Why haven't we waited for the Baroness, father? Is she ill?'
Georg threw his napkin down on his plate and gave a look as if mentally trying to prepare himself of what to say.
'No, Marta,' he said delicately, 'she is not ill.'
All the children stopped eating and stared expectantly at their father for an explanation, and even Maria was waiting for it to come.
'She has gone back to Vienna.' He stated, causing a brief interlude of confused looks amongst the children.
'Why? Is she going to come back?' Kurt asked, his voice only partially hiding the hope he beheld that the answer was no. Maria couldn't help the smile that spread on her face.
'Unfortunately not, Kurt. We have decided to...mutually call off our engagement.' He announced.
Maria could see Georg earnestly trying to overlook the smiles of joy on the faces of his children.
'What for?' Liesl interjected, her face creased in confusion.
'Well, Liesl, I realised that I couldn't marry the Baroness. Not through any fault of her own, but because...well, I couldn't marry someone if I was in love with someone else, could I?'
At that Georg's face meaningfully shifted to hers, and she remembered the same words uttered to her the night before, and how it had took her breath away when he had come to look at her. A look of clarity dawning on each child's face now was enough to redden her cheeks slightly, as everyone slowly started to stare at her.
'No,' she cut through the silence, answering his question, 'no, you couldn't.' She smiled.
Laughter erupted from the table, and both Maria and Georg exchanged a look of mild shock. Brigitta had one hand over her eye and was shaking her head, Friedrich's head was thrown back in laughter and Kurt smiled cheekily along with the rest of them.
'It took you this long to realise!?' Brigitta asked, incredulously.
Maria and Georg looked at each other with a little more surprise now, at the fact every child seemed to be looking at them like they knew something they didn't.
'Well, I don't suppose either of us knew how the other felt.' Maria answered.
'If you had just looked at each other's faces, you could have figured it out.' Friedrich reassured.
Georg raised an eyebrow at her in surprise. His face held the same expression she felt inside. How could all the children have known so long, even when she herself hadn't known it?'
'Even I thought it was peculiar that you got engaged to the Baroness.' Liesl said.
'But then again, we only thought that you got engaged to the Baroness because fraulein Maria went away to the Abbey.' Louisa added.
At this, Georg raised both eyebrows, and his shoulders started to heave at the laugh that was coming over him. Maria thought, perhaps, that the children weren't as wrong as she might have thought. Georg shot her almost a guilty expression which for her implied that maybe he had proposed to the Baroness because she was no longer there. She wondered, if she had stayed, how much of what happened would have stayed the same. Maria had thought she had seen it in his eyes anyway, whilst they had danced the Laendler. It was only after she left she began to think it as only a hallucination.
'Does this mean fraulein Maria is going to be our mother?' Louisa interrupted.
Everyone's voices hushed at the question and died down for the answer. Georg never said that he had asked Maria to marry him, only that he was in love with her. But by now Maria was no longer surprised at how much the children had sussed out for themselves. They seemed to know how she was feeling better than she did.
Georg's eyes lowered to hers and without breaking away, he uttered a single word.
'Yes.'
Gasps and shouts and laughter erupted from the table and little Gretl, who was beside Maria, smiled widely and clung onto her shoulder in a hug. Patting the little girl's back and feeling overwhelmed by the children's response, she caught her fiancé's eye and he winked at her. All the children were crowded round her now in a tight circle, and she smiled and ruffled heads and joked with them like she always had. To have the children around her, and to know that they would become her children, was an inordinate feeling. The Captain got up from his chair and joined them, gathering round them all.
'Congratulations father, fraulein Maria.' Liesl said.
'You don't have to call her fraulein Maria anymore,' Georg chuckled.
'Right, of course,' she corrected, 'mother.'
Maria looked up at her and beamed, feeling still as if she was unworthy of the title. It felt weird to be called mother, but an honour at the same time. Georg's hand rested on her shoulder and she took it, holding it against her as if she may never let go. Answering the children's questions and being congratulated one by one, Maria stared up at his face and smiled elatedly. Her heart thumped under her chest when he grinned back with exultant joy. Maria now had a family to call her own.