And To All A Good-Night
A/N: This story is written for the wonderful patrickssong, whose stories I have thoroughly enjoyed reading. Since this is my first piece of fanfic ever, I hope I have not screwed it up too badly. The title comes from the poem by Clement Clarke Moore (I think). If there are any grammatical or spelling mistakes I apologise in advance. Sadly, I do not own The Sound of Music nor the characters. Happy Christmas!
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'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Von Trapp Villa, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
"Wait, Georg, 'Von Trapp Villa'? I'm pretty sure that's not how the poem goes!" Maria laughed at her husband's impromptu embellishments. She had been snuggled next to him on their bed, her head on his shoulder as they sat together, leaning against the headboard, while he read the poem out to her as per her request.
"Well, forgive me for trying to add a little festive cheer to this house," he replied with a wry smile on his face.
"Georg, you know the house is already festive enough as it is." And it was true. The whole family, all 9 of them, had spent the whole day getting the house ready for Christmas. "Frankly, the children wore me out today. I didn't think they would be quite this excited on Christmas Eve," Maria continued as she gave a little yawn.
"It is the first one we've had since you became their mother. Obviously they were very… enthusiastic," Georg pointed out. His ears were still ringing with the sound of his children's excited squeaks and shouts the entire day.
Maria laughed again. "'Enthusiastic' doesn't really capture the extent of the chaos that ensued today." She gave another yawn.
"Well, darling, it appears you're tired, and tomorrow's going to be a big day. Should I just stop reading this poem to you then?"
She straightened up immediately. "No way, Georg. It's Christmas Eve, and you know that that is one of my favourite English poems. Besides, we haven't even gotten past the first line!"
"And whose fault is that? If I remember correctly, you were the one-"
"Oh, that's not important right now. Go on, continue," Maria interrupted with a wide grin on her face as she sank back down on the bed to cuddle up to her husband. She closed her eyes in contentment as she let her husband's soothing, soft, baritone wash over her, blanketing her in a warmth of comfort as only he could.
"And mamma in her… convent-issued nightgown- ow! Maria your elbows are sharp! –and I in my cap, had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap, when out on the lawn arose such a clatter-"
Suddenly there was a bang from down the hall. Maria gasped and sat up suddenly, her head hitting Georg's chin along the way. "Georg, did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" he groaned, moving his jaw from side to side to ensure that Maria had not knocked anything out of place.
"That bang just now!"
"What bang?"
"Georg, the one from across the hall, right where the nursery is!"
"I did not hear any noise."
"Did you really?"
"Maria, darling, maybe it's just your imagination. Probably fueled by this poem."
"Hm."
"Maria, it was probably a door swinging open or close or something. You know how the night winds are in winter."
Maria turned and got up to look out of their bedroom window and sure enough, the winds were howling relentlessly, causing the trees to sway dangerously. She turned back to face her husband, who was looking at her pointedly. Maria rolled her eyes with a slight grin. "Alright, Sherlock," she finally said as she settled back onto the bed.
They presumed their previous position as he continued reading. "Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On-"
He was once again interrupted by the sound of a piano key. Startled, they both sat up, frozen, on the bed, Georg grasping Maria's arm. It had been muffled by the door, but it was undoubtedly a piano key nonetheless.
"Maria, did you hear that?"
"What?"
"The piano key!"
There was a long pause before Maria finally replied. "I did, Georg, there's no need to get so agitated. You know, you are this close to my ear?"
"Maria, how could you be so calm?"
"Are you telling me you're scared, Captain?"
"What? No!"
"Then why are you so frantic? Anyway, it's probably nothing."
"Nothing?"
"It was probably… the wind- or something."
"Maria, earlier it was a door banging open. This is a piano key. It is absolutely different and you know it."
Georg looked over at his wife and saw her staring intently at their bedroom door, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. "Look, Maria, you're obviously shaken up by this too. So I will go and take a look around, ensure that nothing is out of the ordinary." He was just getting up out of bed, slipping on his robe when he saw Maria scrambling out of bed, hurriedly pulling on her robe as well. "Maria, what are you doing?" he asked her as he forcefully stuffed his feet into his bedroom slippers.
"Following you," she quickly replied, tugging her robe close.
"For what? Maria, I can handle this myself."
"I- well, I thought it'd probably be better if I followed you," she said as she took a flashlight out from her bedside table.
"Fine. Then let's spilt up. You take the upper floor, and I'll take the ground floor."
"No!" Georg was startled by his wife's rapid objection. "I mean, well, I'll the ground floor, you take the upper floor, since you were so scared of the piano earlier," Maria explained, a slight smirk gracing her face.
Georg was about to object when he paused, as though he had suddenly thought of something. "Sure. I'll take the upper floor. But not because I'm scared of the piano," he narrowed his eyes as Maria and lifted a finger at her.
"Whatever you say, Captain," she replied, grinning widely.
And with that, they both parted ways.
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Georg waited for his wife impatiently outside their bedroom door. Finally, he saw the beam of her torchlight moving down the hallway towards him. "What took you so long, Maria?"
"Was I gone for that long?"
"It must have been at least fifteen minutes since we began our search."
"Really? Well, in case you forgot, Captain, I volunteered to check the lower level, and thus had to travel a longer distance than you."
Georg was silent for a moment. "Fair enough."
"Georg, are you alright?"
"Hm? Oh, yes, superb."
"You still can't say that tonight's events didn't creep you out a bit. It was a pretty weird coincidence, don't you think?"
"Well," Georg's face had taken on an unreadable expression. "I do know a way to put those thoughts out of your head."
Maria was confused until she saw the smirk now making its way across her husband's lips. She returned it with a coy smile of her own.
"Very well then, Captain. Show me."
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Maria sighed as she sank onto the bed, tired after a long but joyful day of Christmas celebration. She could not have asked for a better Christmas than the one she had had that day, spent in the warm company of her beloved family.
Her beloved family.
Even after a year of being married into the family, Maria still felt a thrill whenever she said those words. It reminded her that she finally had a place to call home, and a place where belonged and was loved.
"Penny for your thoughts, darling?" Georg's voice interrupted her thoughts. She sat up on the bed and see her husband closing their bedroom door behind him and making his way towards her.
Maria smiled warmly at him. "I was just thinking about how fun and lovely today has been," she replied as he removed his dressing gown and slid onto the bed next to her.
"It was lovely, wasn't it? What did you think of your surprise?"
"Oh, it was absolutely beautiful. I loved it and I thought that it was wonderful of the children," Maria beamed with pride. The children had redecorated the nursery where they spent most of their free time together, and put up the pictures of Maria and the family that Kurt had captured throughout the past year. It was a beautiful reminder of how far the children, Maria and Georg had come from when they first met. They had grown from a bunch of people who could hardly stand one another to a family who could not do without each other.
"And what about your surprise, Captain? Did you like it?" she asked her husband in return.
"Of course I did." The children had bought him some new sheet music, as well as given the piano in the music room a good polishing so that it had now been returned to its former glory.
"I knew they would find something you'd like in that little music shop at the corner of the marketplace. I wonder, though, how did the children manage to do up the nursery without my noticing?" Maria continued.
"Well, they only started the decorations last night-" Georg suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
"What?" Getting no reply, Maria turned to face her husband slowly. "Georg? How did you know?" Maria asked warily.
Her husband met her gaze and then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "And how did you know where they had gotten the sheet music from?" Understanding suddenly flooded their faces.
"The banging door!"
"The piano key!"
"You knew!" they both cried simultaneously. And then they both burst out laughing.
"Oh Georg! You sneaky man!"
"And you! You naughty girl! I thought something was odd about you last night. And that was why you were so adamant about making sure I didn't go about snooping at the lower level of the villa, wasn't it?"
"And why you didn't care a whit about the nursery door banging open!"
"Oh, for a bunch of children planning to surprise their parents you'd think that they would have been more careful."
They continued laughing a while more until eventually their laughter died down and Georg settled against the pillows, hugging Maria close to him.
"Nevertheless, it just makes me love the surprise even more now that I know you had a part to play in it, Georg."
"I could say the same about my surprise."
Maria sighed contentedly. "Happy Christmas, Georg."
"Happy Christmas, Maria."
~fin