Big Thank you to Elke, my wonderful Beta!

Also big thank you to all of you that have posted reviews so far!

I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

xoxo

Lemon Squish

The Journey Of Love

Chapter 4: Genuinely Happy

The next morning all the children were up very early. They were all very excited that their beloved Fraulein was back and they couldn't wait to go on one of their famous outings again. All of them got dressed real quick and headed down to the dining room to have breakfast. It was only 6.30 and they usually had breakfast around 7.30 but they couldn't help themselves. During the weeks that Maria had been absent, the children had all felt miserable. Max had undertaken several attempts to get their minds off of things. He had taken them to the zoo, to the theatre, he even had taken them out shopping for new things but even a new doll couldn't cheer Gretl and Marta up. Brigitta had lost all interest in books, Louisa had been significantly more silent than usual & Kurt hadn't been hungry at all. But now everything was ok again. Everything was like it should be. Everything was perfect. They only had one problem

"The Baroness" Louisa said. "What about the baroness" Kurt asked confused. "How do we get rid of her? You know Friedrich could catch some spiders and then I could climb up to her room and put the spiders in her bed" she explained. "Louisa, we can't do that" Brigitta stated "Father is going to marry her. You heard what he said, she's going to be our...new mother". Horror was written all over the 10 year old's face. Friedrich took the word "But maybe if we play tricks on her like we did with the governesses, she'll leave." Kurt grinned "Glue...Glue will do the trick." Gretl and Marta giggled. They remembered when they had put glue on Fraulein Josephine's toothbrush. Their father had to take her to the hospital because she couldn't get the brush off. They had all been punished for a month for their little act. But it had all been worth it because the trick hadn't miss its purpose. Fraulein Josephine had left the Von Trapp villa, she hadn't even come back after her visit from the hospital.

"I could put a pinecone on her chair during dinner" Gretl announced. "If we are going to do this, we're going to get punished. Do you really want that?" Liesl asked. "Liesl, anything is better than having the baroness as a member of our family. Do you really want to call the baroness mother?" Louisa asked - "No, but..." - "But what Liesl? This is the only chance we have. I say we go back to our room and work out a battle plan of some sort" Louisa said. "That won't be necessary" A stern voice filled the room. This is not good, this is not good at all, Liesl thought to herself

"My, my, my aren't you all up early" Georg said "Frau Schmidt" - "Yes Captain?" - "You may serve breakfast, please" - "Yes Captain".

Silence filled the room. None of the children dared to speak. "So" Georg said "tell me about that battle plan of yours Louisa". Louisa froze. She didn't know what to say after all she didn't know how much her father had overheard. "I'm listening Louisa". Maria was standing outside of the dining room listening how Georg was torturing his 13 year old with his questions. "Well, father, euhm...we...I..." - "Yes?" - "As a matter of fact, well we were, I was..." Louisa uttered. "All right, anyone else then?" he asked "Brigitta? Kurt? Gretl?" - "Well father we decided that we want to play tricks on..." but Gretl couldn't finish her sentence "Tea anyone?" Liesl asked trying to save the day. Georg knew well enough who they were talking about but he loved to tease his children.

Maria decided that it was time for her to join them all. "Good morning Captain, good morning children" Maria said while entering the room. Georg locked eyes with Maria "Good morning Fraulein". They kept staring at each other which off course didn't go unnoticed by Liesl There it is again, the same look they shared last night.

None of the children started to eat 'cause they knew they had to wait for the baroness but Kurt couldn't hold it any longer "Father may I ask when the baroness and uncle Max are coming?". "hungry Kurt?" Maria asked with a smile. Kurt's face turned all red. "Well" Georg said "Max is in Kopenhagen for a few weeks and the baroness is in Vienna, she left yesterday." - "When is she coming back father?" Marta asked. Georg looked at Maria and she nodded it was time to tell the children about their plans. "As a matter of fact Marta, the baroness isn't coming back anymore". Trying to suppress her huge smile Brigitta asked "Why father?" - "the baroness and I have broken off our engagement" - "Why is that father?" little Gretl asked. "Well Gretl, you can't marry someone when you're..." he paused and looked straight into Maria's eyes. "...in love with someone else now can you?"

"Someone else?" - "Who father" - "When are we going to see her" - "Do we know her?" - "Ow father why didn't you tell us". Questions coming from everywhere overwhelmed Georg. "Well it's someone who you all know, who has a beautiful voice and who loves you very much" Georg said.

All the pieces of the puzzle started to fit for Liesl. She hadn't been imagining anything, her father was in love with her fraulein, with Maria!

"Father please tell us who it is!" Brigitta exclaimed. "Maria" Liesl answered. "Maria?" Brigitta asked." we don't know a Maria well except for Fraulein Maria but..." It became clear to Brigitta too "Really father?" - "Well with your approval Fraulein Maria will be your new mother" - "YES!" All the 7 children yelled at the same time. Gretl got up from her seat and walked over to Maria "Does this mean you're staying for good" - "yes darling" - "And you will never leave?" - "Never". Gretl climbed on Maria's lap and hugged her tightly. Now all the other ones were standing around Maria too and hugged her one at a time.

Georg got up from his seat too, walked over to Maria, took her hand and lead her to the living room. All of the children followed them. " Please all of you sit down, I have something very important to do" He turned to Maria and bend down on his knees. Out of his pocket he took a small red box and opened it for Maria to see. Inside was a gorgeous ring with a radiant diamond with smaller brilliant ones around it. "Maria, will you marry me" a tear ran down Maria's cheek. "Yes Georg, I will marry you". Georg got up and slipped the ring around Maria's slim finger. "I love you Maria" - " I love you too".

Everyone was genuinely happy, the children had these big smiles on their faces and Maria and Georg had finally found someone who they belonged to and who they would spend the rest of their lives with...

TO BE CONTINUED