Bert jumped up and ran up the first steps as Mary held his arm with unsuspected force: "No!" Her scream left him petrified and he looked at her in disbelief: her face was filled with fear and then she whispered, trembling and with tears in her eyes, "Please stay here!" But just as he wanted to turn around, it jerked violently at the door and Bert instinctively placed himself protectively in front of Mary Poppins.

In the next moment the creaking door opened and Elizabeth came down to the cellar with something small on her arm and walked past the others to the potato sacks. "Mary, please come." Her tone was ... strangely professional. Just like when she had taken care of Bert when he was injured.

Mary looked questioningly at Bert before she walked over to the young adult, followed by him. Once there, they realised what the something in Elizabeth's arms was: a baby, about 18 months old. It seemed to be sleeping... or being unconscious? But if it would only sleep Liz had never reacted like that, it came to Bert's mind.

"'ere," Elizabeth held out the child to Mary, "I think you know more 'bout children then I do."

After she had placed the child in Mary's arms, she got up and searched the room with her eyes, she saw closets, a desk and a sink. "Excuse me," she turned to the family, who had followed the events silently, "do you 'ave old fabrics or scissors 'ere?"

"There's a scissors in the desk," the woman answered, pointing to a corner.

With a grateful nod, Elizabeth continued her search as she continued to address Mary: "'e's a bit sluggish. Maybe 'e needs food or something, but I think you can't really 'elp with that either," she rummaged in a drawer, "but you probably 'ave an idea what t' do with 'im."

At the moment Bert only had eyes for Mary: the way she cradled the baby in her arms and looked lovingly at it. Oh, how he wished that- no! He had to forget those thoughts! Even if the spark between them did not seem to have died out, such things remained an absolute wishful imagination! They never talked about it, but he could well imagine that Mary did not want to marry or have children. At least not in the foreseeable future... But she was too focused on her work and above all her freedom. But still, the picture that presented itself was beautiful, albeit in a sad way.

"What about the parents?" Mary asked as Elizabeth cut her shirt with the scissors.

"Dead...", she moistened a piece of cloth at the water tap above the sink and approached the child, "at least I suspect that. A lifeless woman was lying next t' 'im. Unfortunately, I couldn't do anything for 'er.. "

She gently dabbed the baby's forehead with the damp fabric before instructing Mary to continue so she could take care of the injured arm in the meantime. With practiced grips and very carefully she bandaged the wound. Mary secretly admired Liz's approach - she always stayed calm when it came to the sick and the injured. And again she wondered where this problem child would end. But then Elizabeth did something that astonished the nanny: she put her hand on the child's cheek and only a few moments later the boy blinked tiredly and opened his eyes slightly.

Mary looked up incredulously, and Elizabeth looked more exhausted: "What did you do?"

"I think ya know that," she whispered, so that the family (which was watching all the time) did not hear it. "But," Elizabeth said again, "we 'ave to drop him off at the hospital as soon as we get out of 'ere. We aren't in a position t' take care of 'im properly. "

And at that moment, the Nanny was sure she needed to talk to Elizabeth in a quiet moment!

As Mary cradled the baby in her arms, Bert kept looking over her shoulder, affectionately. Of course, that did not stay hidden from Elizabeth, so she had to smile slightly. She could think exactly what was going on in his head and she could not blame him. She also knew how much he loved her and that he wanted nothing more than to have his own little family… With Mary. And Elizabeth would not only put her hand, but her entire arm - no! Put her entire body into the fire, that he would make a wonderful husband and especially father! With a sad smile, she studied him as she thought of what he had done for her and what she had learned from him. Yes, he was like a father to her. And Liz's heart opened as she saw the two of them, huddled together over this little bundle.

Of course, Mary also noticed that Bert was constantly looking at her and she enjoyed that feeling. But she still hoped that he did not have much hope inwardly, to start his own family... Because she just couldn't - and she had good reasons for that!

After a while Bert stood up, unable to sit still, so Elizabeth sat down in his seat and made notes on the boy's condition on a notebook she had found with the scissor. But a loud impact from outside made the two women look up and her gaze immediately moved to the cellar door. And at that very moment, Bert's heart stopped for a moment: for a moment, Mary and Elizabeth looked so much alike!

Bert had to blink a few times, but he quickly realised that his brain must have played him a stupid trick. Because the only similarity of the two were the freckles, the blue eyes and the dark hair. And those were attributes they shared with many other people. Because even the family at the other end of the room and even he had these characteristics - albeit without maybe it was the magical spark they both had...

Still, he would not forget that moment so quickly.

As always, I hope you enjoyed the new chapter! :)

The next ones are typical transitional chapters, but nevertheless you get to know here and there things that could be interesting ;D So stay tuned :3

As always I would be very happy about reviews! :)