A/N: This is my first fanfic. It's originally in German (you can find it on my account, it's called "Überraschung") and I translated it to English, so if you find mistakes or things that sound really strange, don't hesitate to tell me! English isn't my native language and I'm happy about every correction. (And about every review in general, of course.)
Surprise
Mary sighed. You could not leave the children alone in their room for even ten minutes. All the things that she had tidied up so neatly were spread all over the room again.
Jane and Michael were still downstairs at dinner, and for a moment Mary considered waiting and taking them to task as soon as they came back to their room. Then she looked around once more and decided that she could not stand this mess for one more second. She might as well take the children to task in a tidy room; in the end, she would be the one to clean everything up anyway.
Accepting her fate, she began to tidy up the chaos with the help of some well-aimed snapping of her fingers, when suddenly she felt that somebody else was in the room.
"Hello, Bert", she said without looking up.
When there was no answer, she turned around and saw the chimney sweep leaning against the window in full workwear, a slightly disappointed expression on his face. "How did you know…?", he asked.
"I am Mary Poppins", Mary replied calmly, as if that explained everything.
The disappointment in Bert's face changed to a broad grin. "There really is nothing that could ever surprise you, is there?"
"Nothing", Mary agreed. "Not even you being able to climb down from the roof and through the window. But tell me, do your superiors know that you are spending your working time chattering in foreign nurseries?"
"No", Bert answered.
Mary threw him a glance, while in front of her various books closed themselves and flew back to the shelf. "That doesn't surprise me", she said.
"Of course not", Bert replied, amused.
Mary smiled and turned her attention back to the bookshelf. But in the next moment, Bert was suddenly next to her, took her face in both hands and kissed her.
A book which had been on its way to the shelf stopped in mid-air and fell to the ground.
As abruptly as it had begun, it was over again. Bert stepped back and could not suppress a grin: Mary's eyes were wide; she felt that her heart was beating twice as fast and her cheeks had turned red. She tried to say something, but she was – for the very first time in her life – speechless. In a certain sense, this was good, because she had no idea what to say. Like in slow-motion, she lifted her hand and touched her lips with her fingertips.
"I knew it!", Bert exclaimed triumphantly, "So there is a way to surprise Mary Poppins."
Finally, Mary recovered and found her voice. "That – that did not surprise me in the least", she said and tried a mocking smile. It failed.
Bert wanted to respond something, but he was interrupted by the trampling sound of children's feet on the stairs.
"I'd better go", he said. "Are you three coming to the park again tomorrow?"
Mary noticed that her knees felt a little weak, and she sat down on one of the beds. "Um – I think so", she answered, anxious to sound completely relaxed. The mischievous twinkle in Bert's eyes told her that she was not being very successful.
"Bert –", she began, but he had already started climbing out the window.
Bert disappeared just in time before the door opened and Jane and Michael came rushing in. They paused, open-mouthed, when they saw how tidy the room was, and a moment after, they looked up to Mary, their faces conscience-stricken.
When Mary was giving the two of them a sermon, Bert was already on his way across the roofs to his last assignment for today. He whistled to himself and wondered why he suddenly was in such a good mood. Then he resolved that it must be because it was definitely fun to surprise Mary Poppins.
He would certainly do it more often in the future.