I reach for her with my hand and take her chin and gently lean down and kiss her lips gently. Our lips part and I take her shoulders and slowly pull her to me. I gently kiss her forehead and she puts her head on my shoulder. She wraps her arms around me and I do the same. I feel her heart racing. She feels so good in my arms that I don't want to let her go. I caress her neck and I hear her sigh.
She says" Reverend Mother says when one door closes another opens."
I reach up and hold her face in my hands and say " What else does the Reverend Mother say? I caress her with my hands.
" She said I have to look for my life" she whispered. I look at her hoping she said she has found it with me.
I ask her" have you found it?
She looks at me and says "I think I have." I look at her and hope she sees that I never want to let her go.
She continues" I know I have". I pull her toward me and look deeper into her eyes and say " I love you. I press my lips on the side of her neck and I hear her gasp. I kiss her cheek and want to feel her lips upon mine again. I hear her moan. I remind myself that she has never had a man kiss her. She breaks away from me and starts to softly sing to me. I take her hands in mine and listen to her sweet voice. She finishes the song and I take her hands in mine and we move to the center of the gazebo. I smile and say to her " Do you know when I first started loving you" I say.
She shakes her head and I continue" that night at dinner when you sat on that pinecone. We both laugh.
She says" I knew when you blew that silly whistle." I shake my head and laugh. I take my hand and touch her cheek and say " oh my love. She lightly kisses my palm and I sing to her. The song is almost over and I slowly wrap my arms around her. The song ends and I kiss her deeply. This time she responded eagerly. As I try to pull away from the kiss she protests
I softly whisper her name "Maria? She moaned "yes"
" Is there anyone I have to ask permission to marry you" I ask her. She looks at me and smiles " well." Then we both say" why don't we ask the children.
Feeling her in my arms I wrapped her tighter and kissed her. My lips left hers and went to her ear. My lips brushed her ear and I whispered " I love you. I can't wait until your my wife." I felt her body tremble as I caressed her back. As my eyes found hers I was surprised by the desire and passion I saw. She reached for my lips and kissed me deeply. I wanted her but I knew that would have to wait until our wedding night. Despite her protest I broke from our embrace. I told her how much I wanted her but that we needed to slow down before we went to far .She nodded. I took her hand in mine and suggested we go back to the house to tell the children.
Just before we went in I took her hands and kissed them. She smiled and we went in search of the children.
We found them in the playroom.
"Hello children we were looking for you" Maria said. As they all looked up Louisa spoke" I didn't say or do anything to make her leave.
"Who are you talking about? " I asked . Baroness Schraeder, we saw a cab pull up and she got in and left. Uncle Max told us she was going back to Vienna" said Kurt.
"Louisa didn't do anything." "We called off the wedding I said. She is going back to Vienna" I saw the look on the children's faces and I could tell they were happy that I was not marrying Elsa.
" I have something important to ask you and it concerns Maria" I say. The children look at us both.
"As you all know Maria has come back and in order for her to stay I need your permission to ask her to marry me" I say taking Marias hand in mine. The children jump up and shout yes. They surround us and hugs and kisses abound. I tell them we will discuss the wedding plans tomorrow. Maria and I say goodnight to them.
I walk her to her bedroom door. I kiss her forehead and say " goodnight my love" tomorrow we will plan our wedding" I kiss her softly on the lips and say " soon we will say goodnight and stay together. I see her blush and she kisses me on the cheek and says goodnight I smile as she starts to call me captain then she corrects herself and calls me Georg. I watch as she starts to close the door. She gives me one last smile and the door closes. I go down to my study and take out the picture of Agathe. I look at it and say" thank you , I have found love again and our children have someone who can be a mother to them again. I will always love you but it is time that I live again and love again.. Our children love her so much and she loves them as if they were her own. Thank you for making me realize how important she is to me". I put the picture back and go up to bed. I look at the empty place beside me where Maria will soon be and I fall asleep dreaming of this.