She had been quiet and distant all day. She wouldn't meet his gaze, she wouldn't sing with the children, she wouldn't even go for her afternoon walk through the garden. If Georg knew his wife, and he did, it was obvious that when she was quiet there was something wrong. The penny dropped when he saw a soft tear trickle down her porcelain cheek at dinner that evening and she had wiped it away immediately, keeping her gaze fixed in her lap as she refused to touch the meal that was on her plate. Something was very wrong. She had retired to bed the moment the family had left the dining room after they'd eaten their deserts, leaving Georg and the children standing in the grand hall as they watched her ascend the stairs silently and without even a smile over her shoulder before she entered her bedroom. As he made his way to the room that he shared with Maria now, though, he knew that he had to at least try to get her to talk to him. He wouldn't press her if she wasn't ready, but he needed to find out what was hurting her in order to comfort her through it. The bedroom was silent when he slipped slowly through the door with a loving sigh, Georg knowing that his wife wasn't asleep by the sound of her heartbroken sniffles.

He removed the cuff-links from his dinner shirt before unbuttoning it and hanging it over the back of the chair at Maria's vanity table, allowing himself to unbuckle the belt around his trousers before he found his pyjama bottoms and changed quietly into them. Slipping into bed next to the beautiful woman who had stolen his heart with her beauty and her large heart, he could feel the mattress move slightly under him as his wife broke down into gentle sobs which she tried to stifle into her pillow. 'Oh, my darling.' He draped his arm slowly over her middle and was relieved when she allowed him to cuddle up to her, the tears getting caught in her throat when she laced her fingers with his upon the mattress and settled back against his chest. 'Please tell me what's hurting you, Maria, I can't just lay here and watch you suffer like this.' She remained silent for several long minutes before slowly turning to face him and allowing him to cup her cheek in his palm, brushing the tears off of her face with comforting strokes of his thumb.

She allowed her eyes to fall closed when he trailed soft and slow kisses along her forehead before nuzzling his nose against her hair and drawing her close to him by the waist, their eyes meeting as hers held tears of pure heartbreak and despair and she wrapped her arm slowly around his waist when she released the trembling breath she didn't even know she'd been holding. 'I don't want you to stop making love to me.' She whispered tearfully as she allowed her gaze to drop to the sharpness of his collar bone and he furrowed his brow slightly, his hand upon her back. 'Even though nothing will ever come from it.' He knew exactly what had happened by the gentle break in her voice before she broke out into heart-wrenching sobs once again and he lay in shock for a moment, bringing her as close to his chest as possible. He hadn't known that she had been pregnant at one point because she hadn't revealed it to him, realizing that the worry of something like this happening was probably what had made her too reluctant to.

As she trembled violently in his arms and stifled her loud sobs into the soft curls on his chest, he combed his fingers through her hair and tried to stay as strong as possible for her sake as he pressed delicate and soothing kisses to the crown of her head. 'There is no proof of that.' He growled into her hair as the heartbreak was evident in his own voice, his hand running slowly along the length of her spine through her nightgown. 'We don't know for certain that we're going to lose every baby we make, my darling, but even if we do we'll be alright. The only thing I can't bear is the thought of you blaming yourself for it.'

'But it must be my fault!' She moved out of his hold and lay on her back as she covered her face with her hands and took several slow breaths to try and compose herself a little more, her chest sharply going up and down as she hyperventilated. 'I'm the one who carries our baby so if I lose it then I've either done something to make it happen or there's something wrong with me!' He drew her close to him slowly, Maria willingly going into his arms when she had no fight left in her. 'It's the fourth time this has happened since we came home from our honeymoon.' She whispered. 'I was too nervous to tell you about it.' He stroked his fingers slowly through her hair as her head lay upon his shoulder and he shushed soothingly into her ear, the tear stains clear upon her cheeks as she placed her hand on his chest. 'I want a-'

'I know, sweetheart.' He cut her off before she could break down into sobs again and she turned her face into his shoulder as she whimpered softly and he kissed the top of her head, resting his chin upon her crown and sighing in sympathy for her as he held her close to him and felt the warm kiss that she left upon his skin. He sighed softly as he felt her trail her kisses along to his neck, her free hand sliding up to caress the other side as she left wet open-mouthed kisses over his skin. 'Maria.' He brought her slowly away from him before removing her hand from his neck and lacing their fingers lovingly upon his torso.

'You don't want me anymore.' The disheartened tone in her voice almost made him break down into his own gut-wrenching sobs as she shifted away from him and lay her head down on her own pillow, softly sighing as she began to spin her wedding ring around her finger. 'I understand, Georg, honestly, I-' She gasped sharply when he rolled her onto her back and moved to cover her body with his own, his hands cupping her face as he gazed deeply into her eyes and her hand lay beside her head as she panted. The next thing she knew his lips were upon hers in a searing kiss, their warm tongues tangling with need.

'Don't you ever think that.' He growled when they broke apart and her lips were slightly swollen from his kisses as she wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to rest his forehead against hers, a small smile forming upon her face when she felt his hot breath against her skin. 'There's never been a time that I haven't wanted you, Maria, not one damn second. You are the most beautiful and passionate woman that I have ever met, and just thinking about getting you alone once the children have all been tucked into bed makes it so hard to resist you throughout the day.' She gazed into his dark blue eyes.

'But I can't give you a child.' She reminded him as she ran her hands along his toned chest and sighed as his warm weight pressed her into the mattress. 'I know you want one of our own, Georg, so do I.'

'I'm not going to pretend that I don't want to see a mini version of you running around the place in a few years time, darling, but whatever happens, happens. I'm content just the way we are, I promise.'

'Me too.' She smiled with tears of happiness now in her eyes before he leaned down to capture her in a long and meaningful kiss. 'You're enough for me, but if I ever manage to have a baby, I'll be happy.'

'So will I.' He kissed her brow lingeringly before moving from over her and bringing her to cuddle against his chest. 'I love you, Maria von Trapp.'

'I love you too, my Captain.' She smiled against his neck before settling down in his arms and falling into a blissful slumber.

- Eleven Months Later -

It was the early hours of the morning when Maria was settled in her husband's arms and the snow fell gracefully outside the bedroom window as he buried his nose into her hair, her gaze fixed solely upon the beautiful newborn against her breast whilst it took her milk. 'She's one of the most beautiful and yet most tiniest things I've ever laid my eyes on.' Georg chuckled softly as he ran the back of his finger against the warm skin at the back of his daughter's palm whilst her hand cupped the swell of Maria's breast. Their little Leonie had gained her mother's soft rosebud lips alone with her nose, but everything else about her screamed her father. Her hair was the same dark brown as his, and she had inherited his stormy blue eyes that made her mother melt. Their little girl truly was the most perfect little sight.

'If you had told me just a year ago that eleven months later I would be sat in your arms with our daughter, I wouldn't have believed you.' She admitted as she cradled the back of their newborn's head with a loving smile. 'These past nine months have been the longest and yet the most amazing months of my life, watching my stomach grow along with her, feeling her kicking and moving inside of my body. It may have taken us a while to get to this point, but I wouldn't trade anything that's happened over this past year for the world. You and our eight beautiful children are all I could ever ask for, I mean that.'

He kissed the tip of her nose delicately when she turned her head to face him, the sparkle in her eyes as she cradled their baby making him fall all the more in love with his wife. 'I wouldn't either, my love. Everything that's happened since the night you agreed to marry me has been perfect, and I couldn't ask for a more loving and supportive wife to have beside me for the rest of my life.' They indulged in a soft kiss then as he cradled the back of her neck and she hummed into his mouth, his tongue slipping between her lips as she groaned softly in satisfaction. 'Happy Anniversary, my beautiful Baroness.'

'Happy Anniversary, my handsome Captain.' They then nuzzled the tips of their noses together with affectionate smiles upon their lips, the two of them smiling down at their daughter as she gazed up at them from where she lay.

As Maria gazed down at the beautiful little girl that she had protected within her body for the past nine months, she realized that what her husband had told her had been true.

Having patience would turn out to be very, very rewarding.

A/N: Thank you all for reading my new one-shot! I know this one isn't really as fluffy as my others, but I hope you liked it all the same! I have a question for you all now, though, would any of you read a multi-chapter story if I wrote one? I'm debating on whether or not I should start one, because it might be fun! I feel as though some of you may get bored if all of my stories are one-shots, so please let me know when you review this story. Thank you! xxx