A/N

Thanks so much for reading the first chapter and for those who gave very kind reviews. I know it feels strange reading about Agathe instead of Maria (Maria will appear in later chapters) so thanks so much for giving it a try. This one has more on Friedrich, Louisa will follow in the next chapter. I love getting feedback. I do not own TSOM.

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Georg slunk into the train carriage like a hunted man. Relieved to find it empty, he shut the door and sank into the seat with a sigh. He was finally on his way home to see his beloved Agathe, Liesl and the new baby who was nearly a month old already.

Unfortunately, thanks to the scheming of the Naval Affairs Office who had leaked news of his departure, he was mobbed at the Naval Base train station in Pola by well-wishers who wanted to greet the "Empire's heroic defender" and shake hands with the "Courageous Maria Theresian Ritter who puts his life at risk every day for our safety." Georg cringed at the nauseating headlines and always made a point of never reading the saccharine drivel in the accompanying stories that still followed him a few years after he was awarded the Maria Theresa medal – the Empire's rarest and most prestigious military decoration.*

It was frankly embarrassing to be the object of such attention – he was merely doing his duty to his country like other men. He felt there were many thousands of others far more deserving of attention. But the Naval Office, with the collaboration of hagiographic 'journalists' insisted on churning out these ridiculous stories - manufacturing him and the few other Maria Theresian Ritters as idealized heroes – which were then fed in regular doses to the general public.

At the station there had even been a military band - he would have to have words with the idiots in the Naval Office when he got back. Heads would roll, he decided grimly – this was just too much. The band had played Strauss' Radetezky March – always a favourite to get the crowd going at Austrian military events. He had smiled, signed autographs, shaken hands, greeted babies held up by their parents, accepted cards from delegations of gushing schoolgirls, all the while shrivelling inside with discomfort.

He looked up fearfully as the door of his carriage opened, then was relieved to see one of his fellow officers come in – Captain Rieger. "Shut the door and lock it" Georg hissed urgently, "before they find me."

Rieger laughed and said "Good God man, that was a hell of a circus out there."

"Courtesy of the Naval Office," Georg muttered darkly. "They ambushed me knowing I would never agree to this farce. I wish they would stop this embarrassing gibberish. It's been going on for few years."

"They are just trying to distract the public. People need heroes. And besides, the Naval Office wants to stick one in the eye of the army. They have only got one Maria Theresian, whereas we have two."

Georg snorted and then tensed as someone pulled at the locked door handle. He relaxed again as the person moved on.

Rieger continued, enjoying mocking him "Actually when my wife read some of those stories about you I had to wave the smelling salts under her nose. I nearly swooned myself when I read of your extraordinary exploits."

"Very funny," Georg said dryly. He was used to his fellow officers ribbing him about the awful melodrama.

Rieger opened his paper and to his delight found an article about Georg with an official navy photo. He read out with glee: "Heroic and fearless Captain von Trapp has been tirelessly defending the Empire's sea coasts with great valour, but is finally taking a short break to visit his wife Baroness von Trapp and their children. The dashing Captain has a new son… will he also be defending his homeland one day the way his gallant father has been doing?"

"Oh God please stop. This is going to be a very long journey if you persist with this." Georg muttered

Rieger roared with laughter again. "Yes, I had better stop or I'll need to lie down in a dark room for a bit. I'm feeling quite overcome," he pretended to fan himself with his hand melodramatically. Then taking pity on Georg he said "Sorry old chap. I have to get back at you - I think my wife is becoming sweet on you with all this nonsense."

Georg snorted, "I doubt that very much. I hope she doesn't actually believe any of that drivel?"

In truth, despite her teasing him about it, his own wife Agathe also liked it. He had been horrified that she had been cutting out the articles over the years. "We are not keeping that ridiculous nonsense," he had stated emphatically.

But she had just smiled serenely "Liesl will want to read this when she is older." Then she had hidden the folder of clippings away from him knowing he would have tossed the lot of it in the fireplace if he found it.

With Rieger tiring of his mockery, Georg relaxed and they talked for a while. When it was time for Georg to get off to catch his connection he pulled his captain's hat well down on his head, hoping not to be recognized as he got off the train. As he opened the carriage door he saw a group coming towards him. They had heard that Captain von Trapp – the U-boat man - was on this train and did he know where he was they asked. Georg replied "Yes, I think he's in there," pointing to Rieger sitting in the carriage. Georg chuckled to himself as he got off the train in a hurry. Let's see how Rieger enjoys the attention, he thought.

It was good to be going home. Life on board the U-boat could get very oppressive with the arrant masculinity of sweaty, unwashed, unshaved men, forced into close proximity in the stifling atmosphere of the damp and heat and cramped conditions. He would often wish to escape the annoying habits of men who were cut off for weeks on end without the civilizing influence of women. He made his crew take a regular swim in the chilly waters of the sea and would dive in himself to rid the boat of the rank smells, even if it meant that their skin dried sticky and irritated with salt. But it only helped a little.

He was desperate to see Agathe. He had managed to catch an earlier train so his arrival would be somewhat of a surprise. She was sleeping when he got home in the afternoon. He opened their bedroom door quietly to watch her, just happy to be able to gaze at her beautiful face and feel the love overwhelming his heart. God he had missed her. All those long lonely nights on his U-boat when he longed to just hold her and lose himself in her fragrant femininity, to stroke her hair and touch her soft skin and kiss her…. everywhere. Now looking at her, he felt the blessed relief of enjoying her exquisite feminine loveliness.

He noticed there were soft smudges of tiredness under her eyes so he decided to let her sleep for a while longer and went in search of his other favourite female - Liesl.

The little girl was playing outside in the early spring sunshine, her nanny and the pram presumably containing his new son were on the lawn with her. He watched her for a while with tender amusement. Then he approached her and from a small distance away crouched down on his haunches and called softly to her "Liesl."

She looked up in surprise, eyeing him uncertainly, unsure of what to do. Although she adored him she had not seen him in several weeks.

He took off his captain's hat and held it out to her, knowing how much she liked it. That did the trick. She raced over with a gleeful smile to grab it and he took the opportunity to scoop her into his arms and smother her with kisses and tickles which made her giggle and shriek with happiness. He breathed in the wonderful baby smell of her skin and hair, enjoying the tenderness of her soft little arms around his neck, until she wriggled free from his hug to play with the interesting bits of his uniform.

The nanny made as if to bring the new baby over to him, but he shook his head at her. Agathe had written that Liesl was less than impressed with her noisy and unresponsive brother. She saw him as a completely unnecessary and undesirable addition to the family who took up far too much of her mother's time.

So he tactfully decided to wait until he had spent a little bit of time with her before meeting his son. After throwing Liesl up in air few times and carrying her on his shoulders as she showed him the cherry blossom tree bursting with clusters of pink flowers, he sat on a garden chair with her on his knee. "Liesl, Mama wrote to me that you have a new baby brother – is that true?"

She nodded reluctantly. "Fweedwick," she said confirming the unhappy news.

"Will you show him to me?" he asked. For a moment she frowned and looked mutinous. But then she took his hand and led him over to the pram. Georg looked at his son sleeping peacefully in the pram, seeing the wisps of soft blonde curls and his thumb in his mouth. He had a lot of Agathe in his face.

Georg took a deep breath, the air filling his lungs. My son, he thought, I have a son, feeling a jolt of something profound but undefinable in his heart. He reached a hand in to stroke his son's hand and watched as the tiny fingers with their perfect fingernails curled instinctively around his much bigger finger and held on tight. He felt the surge in his chest - what was it….exhilaration? Joy? Love? Pride? Maybe all of those things and more.

He picked up Liesl and kissed her, reassuring her that her baby brother would get more interesting as he grew. She looked unconvinced. He played with her some more and then he made her even more unhappy by saying that he needed to have a nap with Mama and it was time for her nap too.

He gladly handed her back to her nanny as the full force of her two year old fury hit. He kissed her and told her he would play with her again after her nap but he doubted she heard him over the storm of her tears. Her wails were still ringing in his ears as he went back inside. He smiled wryly – her resemblance to him was the all the more striking when she was in full blown temper.

Agathe was still sleeping as he undressed and got into bed with her. She awoke with surprise as he took her in his arms, gasping with delight and kissing him joyfully. "You're early" she said happily, stroking his face. "I've missed you so much darling."

"Oh my dearest love, you have no idea how I have missed you," he responded. "It's been unbearable. I simply can't stand these long separations any more. I want you and the children to move close to the Base so that I can see you more often. There's a house we can rent in Pola, just outside the Naval Base. It's much smaller than this, but there will still be room for some staff as well. And at least I will be able to see you more often."

"It sounds perfectly wonderful. I was thinking the same thing." She cradled his face, kissing him tenderly. As he kissed her back passionately, his mouth trailing kisses along her face and neck and then tracing the delicate lines of her collarbones, she hesitated, biting her lip, "The doctor said…"

"Shhh, it's alright, I know we can't. I am not that much of an insensitive clod. I just want to hold you and kiss you. That's all."

They lay together enjoying the bliss of finally being back together, exchanging loving tender kisses. As her touch became more passionate his breath grew ragged, knowing things could rapidly spiral out of control.

"I thought the doctor said we couldn't?" he protested weakly.

"The doctor is an old fusspot. He just wants to make sure that I am not with child again too soon." She smiled at him wickedly as her hands and lips grew bolder.

"Well, yes, about that. I want to talk to you about….." Then with a sharply indrawn breath he completely lost his train of thought.

Later, with her head pillowed on his chest she asked him "Did you see Friedrich? Isn't he a little dear?"

He smiled and kissed her hair, "Yes, he's marvellous. He looks like you. And I see what you mean about poor Liesl being so unhappy and jealous. Though it's only to be expected when she has been our little angel all on her own up till now. It must be terribly hard for her," he defended her stoutly. Agathe smiled at his protectiveness.

In the late afternoon they went for a walk along the lake with Liesl riding on his shoulders and enjoying the elevated view. Agathe pushed Friedrich in the pram. Whenever they stopped to embrace each other Liesl would giggle from her perch on his shoulders and try to push their heads apart.

While Liesl was feeding the ducks at the water's edge Georg picked up his son, much more confidently than he had with Liesl at the same age, and he held him close, cradling the back of his head with a tender protective hand.

He exchanged a loving look with Agathe, both of them feeling the utter bliss of family life. Georg could not believe how much he enjoyed this. His previous lifestyle had lacked this joy over the simplest most beautiful things – the touch of a baby's face nestling into his neck, holding his wife's hand in the quiet twilight, getting warm wet kisses on his cheek from his daughter, enjoying her fascination as she discovered a ladybug in the grass. How had he not known that such happiness was possible he wondered. It was like a whole different world.

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Notes

*The real Captain von Trapp, in his short memoir of his U-boat days ('To the last salute' translated by his grand-daughter Elizabeth Campbell) talks briefly about being mobbed by crowds of well-wishers at train stations after being awarded the Maria Theresa Medal.