Dislcaimer: I don't own anything from the Sound of Music... enough said, on to the story.

Chapter 1

"You're late."

"Is that anyway to greet me?" I was standing face to face with Sophie, my co-worker. Two minutes late. But of course that didn't matter to her. I could have been ten seconds late and she would not have been happy. That was just how Sophie functioned, she was too particular about everything. Sometimes I think she was out to make my life as miserable as possible.

"Melissa… you need to be more punctual." She smiled at me and looked to the floor. Many times I felt that I was in a convent with all these rules. Plus my bosses were extremely strict, not to mention pious. I smiled and headed off to my office trying not to let Abby (my boss) see me. But of course Sophie decided to take matters in her own hands and headed towards Abby's office.

"Abby… we've got to do something about Melissa. She is so unfocused lately. Always appearing late for work, she never meets her deadlines…" Sophie my arch foe started off in a rant but luckily Abby stopped her but putting her hand up. Bertha walked into the office on the tail end of the rant but sat quietly with a folder in her lap.

"Melissa is just a girl… give her a break." Abby said looking at Sophie.

"Yes, give her a break. You expect too much of her." Bertha said breaking her momentary silence. Just then Marguerite and Bernice walked in. It was a bash-Melissa meeting apparently. And I was working silently in my office completely clueless to what was going on down the hall. They continued to argue over my working habits. Bernice and Sophie weren't too happy with me. Bertha could care less of the whole thing and Marguerite managed to stand up for me.

"Ladies… ladies. Give her a chance. She is just a young girl. In fact I have a new assignment for her anyway. On your way out please tell her that I would like to see her." Abby looked at all the ladies in her office and they all walked out silently. I still didn't know that they were even in there. Soon Marguerite stepped into my office with a timid smile on her face.

"Mel, Abby wants to see you about something." She stepped out quickly. I let out a small sigh and walked over to Abby's office. I kept my head down as I walked over to her office. Right away I knew that this meeting would probably not be good. I was not looking forward to it. I kept wondering what on earth she could have found wrong with me this early in the morning. But I was sure Sophie had been some help.

I knocked on the door and I heard a light "Come in." I stepped into Abby's office and took a seat facing her. She was looking at a file of something. I just kept my head down until she addressed me. I hoped that I wasn't being fired. I had only been here a short time. What will I do without this job? Great that stupid Sophie finally found something to get me fired with. I thought to myself.

"Melissa… I have an assignment for you." I looked at her. An overwhelming sense of relief came over me. I wasn't being fired at all. "In September, honoring the September 11 tragedy of last year we are doing a special piece on military heroes. There is a retired naval captain residing up in Long Island. I want you to get to know him, know his children. I want an in depth biography. You will be there for the summer. He will be on the cover of September issue. This man…" Abby looked down at her file. "Captain George Vaughn, is living in a small mansion with his seven children."

"Seven children!" I exclaimed.

"You liked children right?"

"Yes but not seven of them. That's a lot of kids."

"I could be worse. I could be eight." I looked at Abby and rolled my eyes. "And his wife has passed away. You will interview the captain and in the meantime become the caretaker of the children. Get to know them. Use them in your article."

"But why can't you send anyone else. Many of the other workers here probably would be better than me." I said politely.

"I want you to go. You need some life experience. It will help you become a better journalist." Abby smiled at me. I looked at her still confused about this whole thing. It sounded very odd indeed.

"What exactly am I looking for?"

"Anything. That is the fun part. This is your story. Do it in whatever angle you'd like. Any more questions?"

"This is strange. It is all very Von Trapp family don't you think? I mean seven kids being raised by their father alone."

"Well you might have just found your angle." Abby smiled at me. I stood up and started to head out the door. "You are expected tomorrow morning." I smiled at Abby hoping that this assignment would go by quickly. However things weren't looking all that bad. This could be her chance to prove herself as a distinguished journalist. She was very grateful to Abby for giving her this chance.

"Thank-you Abby. I won't let you down." I said to her with a small smile on my face as I headed back to my office. I packed my things, knowing that I would have the rest of the day off to pack for my trip. I would spend the entire summer with this family. How was I going to survive with seven children? I myself was an only child. My parents died when I was young and have been living in foster homes for years.

"I think it would have been better to get these children a nun named Maria." I muttered to myself as I grabbed my things and headed out the office doors. I took a deep breath knowing that my life could be forever changed. I looked forward to the end result… a front page article of my own. I smiled and headed home to pack.

As I was walking down the street to my apartment I heard my cell phone ring. I stopped to search through my purse to find the phone. I wondered who would be calling me now. Perhaps it was Abby letting me know that I had to go to a convent and take a vow of silence or something. I finally found the ringing annoyance and answered it.

"Hello?" I said but no one answered right away. I paused for a moment. "Hello?" I repeated.

"Melissa?" The girl on the other end said with question in her voice.

"Yes this is she. Who is this?" I asked still having now clue who was calling me.

"It's Kelsey." I paused for a moment trying to think of a Kelsey that I knew. "From church choir." She added. I couldn't believe that after all these years she would be calling now. It was a good thing but I was still curious as to why she felt that she needed to call me now and how she got my number in the first place.

"How did you get my number?"

"Christie gave it to me. I know we haven't talk in a long while but I was just thinking about you and I thought I'd give you a call. I know it seems random."

"It's not random, it's sweet. Did you get my Christmas card?"

"Yeah, I was looking through them and so I decided to give you a call. How have you been girl?" I told her about my job at TIME and the article that I was working on now. I told her how odd it was that it was similar to events in the sound of music. I also found it very ironic that I just saw Kelsey in the musical the week before on Broadway. Kelsey didn't even know that I came. "It is all very strange Melissa." She said after I finished my story.

"Yeah I am a little freaked out too." I said to her as I turned up on 44th.

"Well you have to keep me posted. Well I got to go, call me later ok?"

"It was good talking to you."

"Yeah it was."

"Bye."

"Bye." And I hung up the phone. A few moments later I reached my apartment building. I walked up the stairs to the fourth floor where my apartment was. I went inside and started looking for my suitcase. I didn't know what I would need for this adventure so I decided to pack a bit of everything. I headed for bed a moment later knowing it was going to be a long summer.