So thank you for the reviews so far and for the kind words, I'm glad you're enjoying it. I must admit that I rushed some parts of the previous chapter a bit and forgot to proof read it before posting so forgive me for the few mistakes (NOT MAJOR) and please keep reading AND reviewing. P.S. if you want more of the other Von Trapp children, I'm planning something towards the end but this story is mainly about the twins and of course Maria and Georg. I will try to put chapters up asap but also keep in mind I don't want to rush them off and have mistakes come up again… ok well chapter 5 ENJOY.
I don't own The Sound of Music OR The Parent Trap
CHAPTER 5: DAD'S IN LOVE
"So, how was camp Hall? Was it fabulous?", Elsa asked putting down her phone and smiling at Annie who was sitting on the edge of the pool.
Annie looked at the woman and forced a smile, "It was fun", she said dryly and looked down at the pool again.
Elsa raised her eyebrows a little taken aback by the girl's attitude but continued speaking, "You know I have NEVER heard a man talk about his daughter the way your father talks about you, you two are obviously VERY close"
Annie smiled mischievously to herself before standing up and facing Elsa again, "We're closer than close, since all my siblings are growing up and moving out of the house we'll soon be all each other has."
Annie kicked off her shoes and smiled at Elsa again before turning around and making a cannonball into the water.
Elsa jumped up and screamed as the water splashed on her expensive crème coloured dress.
Annie surfaced and pretended to look shocked, "I'm sorry, did I get you wet there?"
Elsa grabbed a towel and dabbed lightly at the material of her dress, "Just a little Hall", she responded with a forced smile, "Hey…", she continued walking closer and crouching in front of Annie, "…. guess what, your daddy took me riding the other day and he let me ride your horse, I hope that's ok with you."
"OH SURE", Annie exclaimed, "Sprout's use to strange women riding her, not that you're strange or anything, actually compared to the others your relatively normal."
"Others?", Elsa asked standing up straight again, "What others?"
"You want me to spill the dirt?", Annie asked raising her eyebrows.
Elsa gave a slight chuckle, "What dirt?"
"You know, the information, the load down on other women….", Annie continued, "…can't say I blame you, I'd wanna know if I was number twenty-eight… I mean twenty-nine in a man's life."
Elsa's eyes grew wide, "I'M number twenty-nine?"
Annie nodded, "Yip, it's always the same old thing, horseback riding through the vineyards, romantic dinners with his special reserved wine, moonlight swim-"
"Here we go….", Georg unknowingly interrupted as he walked towards them, "…. a bottle of my special reserved label."
Elsa's eyes grew wide at his announcement and Annie raised her eyebrows knowingly at her.
"So, did you girls find something to talk about while I was gone?", Georg asked as he made his way to stand next to Elsa.
Annie bit her lower lip and quickly went back underwater.
Georg frowned and chuckled looking at Elsa and grabbing her hand, "Does that mean 'yes'?"
"It sure does", she responded smiling back at him.
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The sound of a telephone ringing filled the air, "WOULD SOMEBODY GRAB THAT PLEASE, I'M IN THE SHOWER", Maria shouted from upstairs.
Martin on his way upstairs got to the phone first, "Rainer Residence…Annie?"
"Yes Martin", Hallie quickly exclaimed as she walked passed him.
He stared at her while holding the receiver against his shoulder, "Sounds just like you on the phone."
Hallie's eyes grew wide at this statement
"Sorry, to who do you wish to speak? Annie? Of course, hold on a moment please", he held the phone out to Hallie before continuing, "…. a Mildred Plotter for you, sounds just like your twin."
Hallie took the phone and chuckled nervously, "MY TWIN? Very funny, good one Martin", as she saw Martin slowly walk up the stairs she held the receiver against her ear, "HELLO, OH MILDRED DARLING, HI HOW ARE YOU?"
"Hey how's it going over there?", Annie asked on the other end of the line.
"OH EVERYTHING'S QUITE LOVELY HERE, WE'RE EXPECTING A BIT OF RAIN ACTUALLY BUT MILDRED CAN YOU HOLD ON FOR A MOMENT?", Hallie continued.
"OK but hurry Hall I've GOT to talk to you", Annie replied walking into her bathroom and locking the door.
Hallie looked around for a place to hide and then spotted the closet beside her, closing the closet door behind her and putting on the light she continued in a softer tone of voice, "Ok now I can talk, OH MY GOD mum's incredible, I cannot BELIEVE I lived my entire life without knowing her, she's BEAUTIFUL and fun and smart and I LOVE the gowns she designs AND I got her talking about how she and dad first met and-"
"HALLIE STOP WE'VE GOT A MAJOR PROBLEM, you're going to have to bring mother out here IMMEDIATELY-"
"IMMEDIATELY?", Hallie exclaimed then threw her hand over her mouth before continuing a bit softer, "…are you nuts? I've only had one day with her, I'm just getting to know her, I can't, I won't."
"But this is an emergency", Annie exclaimed, "Dad's in love."
Hallie let out a chuckle, "Get out of here, dad doesn't fall in love, at least not SERIOUSLY."
"Trust me…", Annie continued, "…he's serious about this one, he's always holding her hand and kissing her neck, it's totally DISGUSTING."
Hallie fell silent and then began speaking again, "Well…. you'll just have to break them up, sabotage her, do whatever you have to."
"I'm trying but I mean I'm at a slight disadvantage, I only met the man twelve hours ago. Hallie I can't do this alone, you've got to come here and help me."
Hallie rolled her eyes and saw a candy wrapping paper laying on the floor, she picked it up and smiled mischievously to herself, "Annie I can't I want more time with mom", she said and used the candy paper to make an irritating noise into the receiver.
"HALLIE? WHAT'S GOING ON"
"Anne are you still there? I can barely hear you? I think I lost you Anne…", she went silent for a few minutes then put the receiver down.
"I'M HERE HALLIE, PLEASE DO-", Annie grunted and looked at the phone in her hand, "Thanks for the help HALL."
Hallie, very satisfied with herself, opened the closet door and crawled out, hearing someone clear their throat she gasped and shot her head up only to see all three of the other house occupants staring at her with raised eyebrows and confused expressions, "HI, I…uh… had a phone call from a friend at camp…. yeah, it's an old camp tradition, talk to your friend from inside a closet", she explained giving a nervous chuckle, "So…", she continued standing up again, "…. breakfast anyone?"
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"OKAY HERE WE GO, THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY, eggs sunny side up, bacon, side of toast and in case you're REALLY hungry a stack of HUMONGOUS chocolate chip pancakes, WHICH smell AMAZING if I do say so myself."
"Thanks Jessie", Annie said looking at the plates of food.
Jessie smiled and then frowned, "You're not hungry AGAIN? You hardly touched you're chilli, you're favourite food in the world and now you don't want breakfast? Are you sick honey?", Jessie put her hand against the girl's forehead, looking for a temperature.
Annie smiled warmly, "I'm fine I promise, where's dad?"
"Oh", Jessie replied, "He and Miss 'I'll just have half a grapefruit thank you' left about an hour ago, you overslept and he didn't want to wake you, of course I would oversleep too if I were up all night making mysterious phone calls from my BATHROOM."
Annie choked on her juice and quickly explained, "OH THAT, I was calling a friend from camp, MILDRED, she lives in…. NEW YORK."
"Oh", Jessie responded, "I see, so you wanted to wait and call MILDRED at a time that was convenient for her because of the TIME DIFFRENCE."
Annie smiled a bit relieved, "EXACTLY, because of the TIME DIFFRENCE."
"UH HUH", Jessie continued, "So you waited until it was three in the morning her time, that makes perfect sense."
"Actually", Annie continued explaining, "It was seven at night her time, you see she lives in New York but she is on vacation with her family in Borah Borah."
Jessie narrowed her eyes, "Okay? Look smarty pants, your father wants you to meet him in his office as soon as your done with breakfast."
"He does?", Annie asked then looked at the huge breakfast in front of her, biting into a piece of toast she stood and ran to the door, "Thanks Jessie", she tried pulling the door open but it seemed to be stuck.
Jessie shook her head, "PUSH HALL"
"SORRY, I… FORGOT", Annie said chuckling before running out of the house leaving behind a very confused and suspicious housekeeper.
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"Honey, I'm really glad you're here, cause there's something really important I need to talk to you about", Georg broke the silence as he walked through the big wine cellar with his daughter.
"That's really funny cause there's something really important I wanna talk to YOU about", Annie responded.
"Really?", Georg asked looking very surprised, "Well then you go first."
"No dad it's fine you go first."
He smiled at her, "OK, I want to talk to you about Elsa."
"And I want to talk to you about my mother."
Georg froze, "Wha… what about your mother?"
"Dad I'm almost twelve, how long do you expect me to believe that the stork dropped me on your doorstep."
He sighed and continued walking, "Haven't we already talked about your mother?"
"No, not really, DAD I'm almost a teenager, FACE IT, I need a mother."
"You know what?", he said pushing open the doors of the cellar, "you're right, you're ABSOLUTALY right, you DO need a mother, which brings me back to-"
"GEORG", Elsa interrupted, walking towards the two with a man following close behind her, "Hello Hall", she said patting Annie on the head then gesturing to the strange man, "Hallie, this is my assistant Richard, Richard, this is Georg's youngest daughter, the one I've been telling you so much about."
"Hello how are you?", the man asked holding his hand out.
"Hi, I'm good thanks", she replied shaking his hand.
"Georg, if you're free later why don't we all have lunch on the terrace?", she asked smiling at Annie.
"I would love to darling but I promised Hallie we'd spend some time together this afternoon", he replied putting his arm around his daughter's shoulders.
"Oh well that's no problem, I've got plenty to do anyway", Elsa said kissing Georg's cheek and smiling at Annie before walking past them into the cellar with her assistant.
"First change I make is to send that two faced little brat off to boarding school in Timbuktu", Elsa said as she and her assistant were far enough away from the door.
The man chuckled, "ICE WOMAN", he exclaimed.
Elsa also chuckled, "Proud of it babe."
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"OK, OK YOU WIN", Georg yelled as he tried to catch up, "Give the poor horse a rest", he said as he led his horse to the stand beside his daughter's horse, "So are you excited about our camping trip?"
"What camping trip?", Annie asked as her giggles subsided.
"WHAT CAMPING TRIP?", Georg asked slightly confused, "The one we take every summer before you go back to school."
"OH YEAH THAT CAMPING TRIP, SURE I CAN'T WAIT", Annie exclaimed slapping her forehead.
Georg smiled and studied his daughter for a few minutes before continuing, "So, Hall, what do you think of Elsa?"
Annie frowned, "As what dad? Your publicist, your friend, your-"
"NO NO", Georg interrupted, "… just what do you think of her, you know, as a person?"
"WELL", Annie started, "…. she's cute, she has nice hair, good teeth…. Honestly dad, the woman's a complete stranger to me…. Why do you want my opinion on her anyway?"
Georg chuckled, "Well, I'll tell you why Hall, cause believe it or not I-"
"RACE YOU BACK TO THE STABLES DAD", Annie screamed before turning her horse and galloping away.
"HALL, HALL I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING."
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Annie ran as fast as she could back to the house from the stables wiping away the flowing tears. She ran into the sitting room and started pacing, "I'm in SO over my head here, I can't handle this, I just can't, I'm only one kid", she loudly exclaimed to herself and leaned against the back of the nearest armchair.
"You got something you wanna share with the class Hall?", Jessie asked peeking around the armchair and taking off her reading glasses.
Annie jumped and gasped, "OH Jessie, you gave me a fright."
Jessie frowned in confusion and stood putting her book and glasses on the coffee table, "I gave you a FRIGHT?"
Annie nodded, "You scared me, I didn't know you were in here."
"Are you sure there isn't anything you wanna talk to me about?", Jessie asked walking a bit closer, "Like why Sammy never comes near you anymore, or why your appetite's changed, or why all of a sudden you're using expressions like 'YOU GAVE ME A FRIGHT'?
Annie shrugged, "Jessie, I changed a lot over the summer, that's all", she answered in a shaky voice.
"Okay?", Jessie replied uncertainly, "If I didn't know any better I would've said you were someone else…...almost as if you were…", she continued but then stopped, "Forget it…", she said chuckling, "…. it's IMPOSSIBLE", she turned to walk away.
Annie narrowed her eyes and frowned in confusion, "Wait…. Jessie…Almost as if I were who?"
Jessie stopped walking and turned back around, "Forget it Hall, I'm being stupid", she said slightly chuckling.
"Almost as if I were Annie?"
Jessie's eyes grew wide, "You know about Annie?"
Annie nodded, "How do YOU know about her?"
"Well…", Jessie started, "…it really isn't my business to talk to you about this but… a few years after your father arrived here with you and your siblings we all got very close and he told me about your mother, how they met and how they came to be separated, then he showed me the letters she wrote him and in one of them she tells him about Annie and…. wait, how did YOU find out about Annie?"
Annie gulped and took a deep breath, "I… AM Annie."
Jessie gasped and fell silent just staring at the girl in front of her.
"HALLIE…", Georg exclaimed walking through the sitting room door, "…why did you take off on me like that? I told you I wanted to talk to you about something", he stopped beside her and looked up to see Jessie staring open mouthed at his daughter, he frowned, "Jessie? Why are you looking at her like that?", he asked.
Jessie shrugged, "Looking at her like what?", she replied never taking her eyes off Annie, "I'm not looking at her in any special way", she continued in a shaky voice, "CAN I HUG HER?", she asked opening her arms as tears started flowing down her cheeks.
Jessie walked forward and embraced Annie tightly, "OH SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL", she pulled away and cupped both of the girl's cheeks before walking backwards to the kitchen, "I'm gonna make you something special to eat, what would you like?", she asked wiping away tears, "Anything? You know what it doesn't matter cause I'm just gonna whip up everything we've got okay?"
Georg watched as Jessie disappeared into the kitchen and then looked down at his daughter, "What was that about?"
Annie just smiled and shrugged.
Suddenly realizing what he wanted to do he shook himself back to reality and started speaking again, "Hall…", he said guiding her to the nearest couch, "…. we HAVE to talk."
"OK dad, SHOOT", Annie exclaimed sitting down.
"OK", he started and sat down beside his daughter, "Honey, I want to know what you think about making Elsa part of the family."
Annie shrugged, "What do you mean dad?"
He smiled and took both her hands in his before continuing, "I am thinking about…. Marrying her."
Annie pulled her hands free from her father's and jumped up, "MARRY HER? THAT'S INSANE….", She started pacing and tried to hold back the tears that were burning her eyes, she looked back at her father's startled face, "Dad you can't get married, it will totally ruin COMPLETEY EVERYTHING", she finished and rushed out the door.
Georg just sat staring at the door then he put his face in his hands and started rubbing his forehead where a headache was forming. Hearing a car horn he stood and walked out smiling weakly as he saw Elsa getting out and walking towards him. He sat on a porch chair, threw his head back and put his feet up.
"Hi darling", Elsa said walking over and sitting on his lap, "Why do you look so stressed baby?", she said cupping his cheeks and kissing him passionately, "How about a martini huh?"
"How about a double?", he replied.
"Coming right up", Elsa said pulling a bell out of her purse and ringing it, "Don't you LOVE IT, it's just what we need it's such a big house. JESSIE", she shouted when no one came.
Jessie approached the door slowly with her hands on her hips and an unimpressed look on her face, "You RANG?"
Elsa smiled brightly before putting in her order, "Two martini's please Jessie, and make the Captain's a double."
Georg shrugged as Jessie raised her eyebrows at him, "JESS PLEASE, I'm getting a migraine", he said smiling at her and pointing to her forehead.
Jessie slowly nodded and snorted as she walked into the house.
"I told Hallie", Georg said after a few moments of silence.
"You did?", Elsa said looking expectantly back at him, 'And?"
He shook his head, "She went ballistic, I don't know what's gotten into her."
Elsa sighed and stood up, slowly making her way to stand behind him, she wrapped her arms around his neck, "Oh sweetheart, this reaction is completely classic, I'd be worried if she didn't act this way, LOOK, why don't I go talk to her, you know, woman to woman?"
He shook his head, "I think she's a little SENSITIVE about you right now."
Elsa smiled and kissed his neck, "That's why I need to do it, we've got to break the ice sometime", she kissed him on the cheek before pulling away and walking into the house.
Georg threw his head back again and closed his eyes tightly.
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Walking around the house Elsa finally spotted a girl sitting on a bench under a big oak tree. She walked closer and cleared her throat, "Can I join you?"
Annie looked up from her lap and weakly smiled, "Sure"
"Guess the news of the engagement came as a bit of a shock huh?", Elsa continued as she sat down beside the girl.
"Basically", Annie replied looking back at her lap.
Elsa smiled, "You know, I remember what it was like to be eleven, it's a wonderful age, you're just starting to feel like a woman and believe it or not sooner or later you'll know what it feels like to be in love."
Annie rolled her eyes and looked up at Elsa, "Look, I'm not trying to be jerky when you're trying to be all mushy and everything but my dad's money has nothing to do with you wanting to marry him right?"
Elsa narrowed her eyes, "OK Doll, you listen and you listen good", she started leaning closer, "I am marrying your father in two weeks whether you like it or not, so I suggest you do not tangle with me anymore, you are in WAY over your head, is that clear?"
Annie smiled mischievously and shrugged her shoulders, "CRYSTAL"
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END OF CHAPTER 5