Disclaimer: I do not own The Sound of Music or any of its characters
It was their first Christmas and he wanted to give her something special. They hadn't been married long, around 3 months in fact and what a 3 months they had been. From their large and extravagant wedding in Salzburg, to their luxurious and long honeymoon in Paris and then their hurried escape from Austria with the children into Switzerland.
Georg stopped to ponder all they had gone through since that night of the Salzburg Folk Festival. From Switzerland, the family had made their way through France to England and eventually to America where they had arrived around a month ago. Fortunately, Georg had managed to transfer a large portion of his fortune out of Austria into Swiss bank accounts so they weren't exactly penniless, but nonetheless, with their immediate future and income still uncertain, he was very careful to how their money was spent.
Since arriving in America, the family had managed to connect with a large European community that luckily consisted of several other Austrian families who, like themselves, had fled Austria following the political changes of the country. Georg was thankful for these contacts, in particular for Maria who only spoke a limited amount of English. Through these connections, Georg had managed to acquire a small 2-bedroom apartment for the family. Normally such small accommodations would not have been suited a large family of nine, however the attic of the apartment had been converted into a habitable loft where they had put mattresses for the five girls to sleep. Kurt and Friedrich shared one of the small bedrooms, while he and Maria had the other.
As Georg and Maria had been sharing rooms with the children during their travels, by the time they reached America, Georg was desperate to have some privacy with Maria. However, despite finally having their own room, the privacy they both craved was constantly interrupted by at least one of the children each night, mainly as the younger children either had nightmares, or just needed their parents. Georg understood what the children were going through. It had been a difficult time for them all with leaving their home, friends and everything they knew and loved behind. Therefore Georg was determined to make this Christmas special for his family, particularly for Maria.
As Christmas was only a few days away, Georg had been trying to think of something he could get for Maria that was special. She had been a pillar of strength to him during their escape from Austria and their subsequent journey to America. She had supported him on every decision he had made and helped the children through every difficult moment and he felt truly blessed that she was his wife. Only once did she break down and cry. It was about a week after they had arrived in England and it was from pure exhaustion. He hadn't realized until that moment how much of the burden of the family she had taken on and how much he had come to rely on her.
He had no idea what to get her. Previously, whenever he needed to buy a gift for a woman, whether it was for Agathe, or Elsa for that matter, he would just go to an expensive jewelry store and buy something extravagant without too much thought. But for Maria? Georg didn't know. Maria was never the type to want or even need expensive jewels, even if he could afford it, which of course he couldn't now. When he had raised the topic of gifts with Maria, she had been insistent that he get her nothing and for them to spend whatever money they could afford on the children, whether it was a new book for Brigitta or a new doll for Gretl.
Despite her insistence, Georg still wanted to get something for Maria. Out of desperation, he had tried asking the children for suggestions but he had no luck as they had either suggested ridiculous things or just items that they had wanted themselves.
Arriving back at the apartment, Georg was greeted by a chorus of "Good evening Father!"
Kurt and Freidrich were heavily involved in a game of snap, while Louisa and Brigitta were reading on the sofa.
"Where is everyone else?" he asked.
Maria then appeared from the kitchen. "Hello Darling," she said brightly "Liesl is giving Marta and Gretl a bath and I was just preparing dinner."
Georg smiled and followed her back into the kitchen.
"Can I get you anything?" she asked as she returned to stirring the dinner on the stove.
"No thank you, my love," he replied coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist and placing a gentle kiss on her neck.
"Hmm, that feels nice" she said, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against his chest.
"Are you feeling alright?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm just tired that's all. There just always seems so much to do."
Georg had to agree with her. Ever since they had arrived, she had been doing all the cooking, cleaning and washing for them all as well as making extra clothes or knitting scarves. He also noted how little sleep she had been getting, especially due to the disturbances by the children. He was constantly amazed that she never had a harsh word for any of the children and still tried to find time each day to spend individual time with each one. No wonder she was tired!
"Do you want me to finish preparing dinner and you can go and sit down for a while?" he asked.
Laughing, Maria replied "No, Georg. I know what your cooking is like and I'm not sure any of us could survive that! Besides, it is just about ready."
Just then, there was a loud "SNAP" coming from the living room. Georg frowned and popped his head in just to see Kurt and Friedrich arguing about who had won the latest round of snap.
"Boys", he called out in a stern voice "please do try and not disturb all the neighbours."
"Yes, Father", they both replied.
Maria laughed as he returned to the kitchen. "Try not to be too hard on them, darling," she said, "They're just not used to being copped up in such a small living space."
Georg glanced around the tiny apartment "Well, yes, they aren't the only ones", he muttered under his breath.
"I know," replied Maria "but it isn't forever, however it does appear that we can never get any peace and quiet or privacy can we?"
"No we can't," he agreed.
Sitting down to dinner with the family, Georg continued to think about something special for Maria. What to do? What to do? He asked himself. He watched Maria down the other end of the table talking and laughing with Louisa and Marta. She did look tired. He wished there was something he could do to help her get more rest. Suddenly he had an idea and he made a mental note to talk to Liesl after dinner about implementing his plan. Liesl, of course was delighted to help and they quickly discussed what was to be done for the next day.
The following morning, Maria awoke to find that Georg was already up. That didn't surprise her, as he was normally an early riser. What did surprise her was that is was very quiet. Normally there was copious noise from the children making it difficult to go back to sleep, even if one wanted to. She stretched and rolled over willing herself to go back to sleep but she didn't feel that tired. She felt more refreshed than she had for a very long time. She glanced at the clock on the wall and suddenly panicked.
"10am!" she exclaimed. She didn't know how she could have slept so long.
She jumped out of bed and hurried into the living room, grabbing her robe on the way. To her surprise, the living room was empty and quiet. Feeling curious to where everyone was, she wandered through the tiny apartment, eventually finding Georg in the kitchen. He looked up as she entered.
"Sleep well darling?" he asked.
"Well, yes" she replied "but why is it so late, where are the children and oh, did you make me breakfast?" she asked.
"The children have gone out for the morning, and yes, that is breakfast for you, however I must confess, I didn't make it. You were right not to trust me in the kitchen. Liesl and Brigitta make it for you."
They sat down together at the table and she started eating "This is wonderful, but what's the occasion?" she asked.
"Well… I wanted to do something special for you for Christmas and this is just the first part. A sleep in, breakfast, a day with me, and then the children have something special prepared for tonight. Just a day for you to relax and enjoy."
Maria was struck for words "Georg, I don't know what to say. I didn't expect… I mean when we talked about Christmas…"
"I know, I know. You said not to buy you anything but I had to do something special for you." He smiled, "The day is yours to do whatever you want with."
Maria smiled back at him, and then continued to finish her breakfast. A thought came into her head and slightly embarrassed, she looked down, biting her lip slightly.
"Ah… Georg", she began "how long did you say the children would be out for?"
She looked up and met his gaze, "Several hours, I would imagine", he replied, "why do you ask?" he added playfully, almost as if he knew what was on her mind.
She stood up and moved closer to him, reaching out to run her hand through his hair. "Well," she began with a mischievous look in her eye "we wouldn't want to, ah, waste this opportunity of being alone would we?"
He was on his feet in an instant and kissing her passionately, led her into their room, locking the door behind them. Over the next few hours they made love twice. The first time was fast and a little rough as their passion for each other took over. The next time was slower and much more tender. Afterwards, they lay peacefully in each other's arms, thankful that they could finally share the intimacy with each other that they had both desired since their honeymoon. Finally, they reluctantly decided to get up, bathe and get dressed, as they didn't want the children to arrive home while they were still in bed together.
They had just started cleaning up after breakfast when the children arrived back at the apartment. Friedrich was horrified to see his parents still at the apartment.
"Mother, you can't be here! Father, you were supposed to take her out for the day!"
"Friedrich," Georg said, slightly amused, "we were just about to go out for the next few hours. Don't worry, you will still be able to plan your part of the surprise."
With that said, Georg hurried Maria out of the apartment and they headed down to the little coffee shop on the next street corner. After eating a small lunch, they went walking through the nearby park, talking and enjoying each other's company, something they hadn't been able to do since their time in Paris. After a few hours, Georg checked his watch and decided that it was time for them to return to the apartment.
Georg knocked on the door, rather than let themselves in. After, a few moments, the door was opened and Georg ushered Maria inside.
"SURPRISE!" the children yelled all at once.
Maria stared around to see that the children had decorated the living room with streamers and balloons.
"Oh," Maria exclaimed, "This is just wonderful!"
Before she could say anything else, Georg motioned for her to sit next to him on the sofa while the children gathered into the formation they used when they were going to sing. Maria glanced at Georg who just smiled and winked at her before gesturing her to watch the children's performance. For the next half and hour or so, the children entertained their parents by singing Christmas carols, from classical Austrian carols to some newer American ones that the children had learnt since their arrival. When they had finished their performance, Maria clapped loudly and thanked them all, giving each child a hug in turn.
"Oh, that's not all, Mother," said Gretl "We've also made you dinner AND dessert!" she declared proudly.
"Dinner and dessert? Oh, you children are so lovely. I never expected this!" Maria exclaimed with a few tears in her eyes.
She turned to Georg. "You organized this?" He nodded.
"Oh darling, thank you!" and she gave him a long kiss (to which Kurt groaned).
Laughing, Maria said, "Well children, I guess we shouldn't let dinner get cold, now should we?"
That night after Maria had finishing putting each of the children into bed, she joined Georg in their room where she took him in her arms and kissed him.
"Thank you darling so much for this day." She said smiling at him "It has been so long since I have felt this well rested and I was so spoilt by you all. I just can't find the words to tell you how touched I was that you organized this for me. It was such a special Christmas gift."
"But now," she continued, letting him go and going over to the bureau and taking a small package out of the drawer and handing it to him, "I have something for you."
"Maria", he said with a slight frown "I thought we weren't meant to spend any money on each other."
"Oh I know, but I also wanted to get you something special and I wasn't clever enough to come up with giving you a day like today like that you gave me." She shrugged. "Please, open it."
He opened the package and looked at her with one eyebrow raised.
"A tie?" he asked.
Laughing, she responded "Before we were married, I never once saw you without one, even on my first night at the villa when you were ready for bed. Well, I have sort of missed you wearing them and I do know how much you like them."
"Yes," he replied. "I do like them, thank you my love. But really, I didn't actually ever wear a tie to bed, even on that first night you spent with us."
"Oh," she said, looking slightly disappointed "I was hoping you would wear it to bed tonight."
He looked at her questionably.
"Yes," she continued, as she gave him a long and passionate kiss, pulling him towards the bed "I was hoping you would wear that, and ONLY that tonight…"
A/N: This story is my first fanfic written in response to a writing prompt challenge set on the ProBoards forum. Please review and be nice :)