A/N: I tried to stay with her real life as much as I possibly could here. So this is basically a story of Maria's life. Enjoy and Read and Review!
Ch. 3: Maria's Past
"Alright." Maria began. "If you would really like to know I was born on a train traveling from Tirol to Vienna. At the hospital they made my birth certificate read that I was born in Vienna on the 26th of January instead of on the night of January 25th on a train. My Mother was on her way back home to my Father."
"On a train hmm? So even from when you were little you were always on the go. Why was your Mother on a train?" He asked curiously. Maria blushed a little and continued.
"Well my Mother, Augusta was homesick for the mountains she lived on all her life. Vienna was a huge ugly city to her, from what I have heard."
"I could agree with that." Georg told her. Maria looked at him questionably.
"I thought you loved Vienna…"
"I went there to try to get away from the children after Agathe died. Last time I was there though I realized I could never live in such a large city…anyway continue please." Georg told her. He did not mean not tell her about him, but he was so curious to what happened in her life.
"Yes…well before I was born my Father actually had a first wife and they had a son named Karl. Unfortunately Father's wife died by falling over a waterfall. He became very depressed and could not stand looking at Karl, he reminded him of his wife. So he took Karl to his cousin to look after him. I never even met my Brother. Anyways my Father traveled the world and one day met Augusta and fell in love with her. So they got married and eventually had me. For two years, from what I am told we lived happily in Vienna. I guess they took me to a doctor when I was two because they were concerned because I was not talking yet. The doctor said I was fine and that I would make up for it later." Maria said beginning to laugh. "I guess he was right." Georg laughed at her. It seemed ironic that as a baby Maria never said a word. Maria calmed down a bit and continued. "And then…well…" Maria looked at the floor not able to speak. Georg looked her in the eyes.
"Maria, it is okay. You don't have to speak if you don't want too." He told her honestly.
"Then my Mother caught pneumonia. There was nothing any of us could do. No antibiotics, no nothing. All Father could do was pray. Then one day it finally happened. She died in Father's arms." As Maria spoke a tear came to her eyes. Georg took her hand in attempt to comfort her. Her story of her Mother dying gave him goose bumps as he remembered his Mother dying and Agathe dying in similar ways. "I never even knew her. All I have is one picture of her. I wish I would have known her. Father of course went even crazier this time. He sent me off to my cousin to take care of me. Father came back every once in a while to see me. I think seeing me gave him great pain. When I was nine he was found dead in his sleep. My foster parents daughter married this awful man named Franz. He got custody on me. It was a terrible life. He was abusive and a heavy drinker. He did not like me at all. As soon as I could I left to try to go to college…he didn't believe in college either. Though my original foster parents taught me about the wonders of God, I became atheist."
"You didn't believe in God?" Georg asked stunned. He never thought for a moment her beliefs could waiver so.
"How could have I believed in him?" Maria asked. "I thought if there was a God he would not be so cruel as to take my parents away and make me live with an evil man. I went to college to become a teacher. It was then that one day I began believing again because of this one priest. I began to have so much love for God I decided to become a nun. I went found out where the strictest convent was and went to it. I suppose I did not fit in at all. I was mischief in their minds so they decided to send me here."
"I am glad they did." Georg told her smiling. She looked up and met his gaze.
"I am glad too. You have all taught me a lot."
"Oh?" He asked surprised. "I really don't think we could have taught you too much."
"Oh but you did." Maria told him. She began to frown again. She knew Georg was waiting for an explanation. "Well you see, when I was with my foster family the only thing I ever wanted was my Father. All I wanted was for him to come and tell me that he loved me and he was wrong for leaving me. I wished with all my heart he would come back to me. He never did though…and then he died. I never even really knew him. There was always a big block of ice in between us. All I really ever wanted was for my Father to love me." Tears began to run down Maria's face. "Sometimes I look back and wonder what would have happened if both my parents were alive. I would always imagine us living happily in a loving home. I guess it was never to be though. I guess I was never meant to belong to a family that had nothing but unconditional love for everyone." Maria stopped as a small smile began to form on her face. "But that night when I first arrived, Gretl gave me a hug when she was frightened by the thunder storm. She gave me a kiss on the cheek the next day. I don't think I ever remember being kissed or even hugged. It was so wonderful…" She trailed off.
Georg smiled at the memory of the thunderstorm. It took every bit of self-control for Georg not to kiss Maria deeply and tell her that he loved her, and show her what it felt like to be loved. He didn't realize until that moment that he really loved her. He had been unsure for weeks, but now he was positive.
"Then when you finally realized you were missing the children and came back to them, I was so overjoyed. I was happy for you all of course, but I also learned that maybe like you, my Father loved me all along. We just never got the chance to sing together and make everything all right again. See you taught me what I was missing in a family. God gave me the opportunity for a little while to be part of a family with nothing but love." Georg looked at her wanting to tell her to stay forever, wanting to tell her that she could be part of this family forever.
"Maria you are the one that brought love back into this family. If it was not for you we still would have been like we were after Agathe passed away." Georg told her in honesty. "As soon as you came everything changed for the better." Georg thought back to the first time they met. Maria what did you think Sea Captain's were like anyways?" Maria giggled while she remembered that fateful day.
"Well I thought they were fat and ugly for one thing." Maria told him blushing slightly knowing she just told him she thought he was handsome. "I thought they would have cigars in there mouth at all times that they were very rude and strict." She paused for a moment figuring out how to feel less uncomfortable with what she had just told him. "Well what did you think a governess was?" She asked now curious, silently hoping for wonderful words of praise.
"You did not look the slightest bit like one. The previous eleven all were elderly and ugly. Of course though they tried to look good by wearing beautiful clothes. The also had terrible tempers and were not happy with the children. They also seemed to be missing teeth, I hope you did not find any lost teeth in you bed." Georg began to laugh. Maria grimaced at the thought of lost teeth in her bed.
"No I haven't found any yet." Maria replied laughing. "I will be on the lookout next time though." Georg laughed and then grew quiet again.
"The other governesses also had plenty of outside beauty, but the lacked beauty from within. You seemed to have it in spades. Even with that dress, you walked in here gleaming, sparkling, with beauty. I had never seen a more beautiful person on the inside of outside. I didn't think it was possible you were really a governess." He told her honestly. Maria shut her eyes so he could not see what impact the complement had on her.
Ch. 4: Georg's Past
"So Captain what about you?" She asked once she recovered from the shock of his warm compliment.
"Me?" He asked.
"Yes you. I just bored you through my whole life, I am interested to know about yours." Maria told him. Though it was getting late Georg suddenly wanted Maria to know everything about his life. He contained himself though because he did not want to come off as arrogant.
"Well it is not nearly as interesting as yours Maria." He told her.
"I don't believe you, life at sea has to be interesting." Maria told him.
"Well then I will tell you. My Father, Johann Trapp, was born in Germany, but later became and Austrian citizen. He joined the Navy and became commander of a ship. While the ship was sailing through the Mediterranean they were hit by a storm. My Father supposedly saved the ship single handedly by steering it onto the coast. Because of this the emperor of Austria gave him the iron cross, third class and he was elevated to knighthood. He became known as Johann Ritter von Trapp." He told her.
"Oh so that is how you got the "von" in your name!" Maria told him excitedly. "I always wondered since that is only placed before ones name if they have done extraordinary service to their county."
"Yeah that is right." Georg told her surprised by how much she knew. "I was born in Zara on April 4, 1880. When I was very small my father died of Typhoid Fever. My Mother, Hedwig, took us to live somewhere else in Austria. We were raised Lutheran and we went to Lutheran schools. I entered the navy when I was fourteen. Eventually I became Captain of a ship after many voyages. One of them was the worst. The Boxcar Rebellion was happening in China. We sailed there and we got out and tried to free the inhabitants." Georg looked on remembering the harsh terrible sights he saw. He had never spoken of it to anyone, even Agathe. "We freed so many, but it was terrible. I have never seen such an awful display before. To think they could do the things they did to other humans."
"I have heard that was terrible." Maria told him. He glanced at her again surprised. He reminded himself she had gone to college. She seemed so intelligent. More than anyone else he had ever met.
"It was then that I really realized that war was not good. It isn't the way God wanted it. That was another thing. I had to sink a ship once. It made it seem like Austria had a far superior Navy than we did. I received the highest award possible in the Navy for that. That is when I received the title Baron. They considered me a hero. I though could not stop thinking of all those poor people on the ship. They all died. So many innocent people. I had to sink it though or else my crew would have died." Maria nodded. "Then I met Agathe. She actually was there to perform the ceremony for the submarine I would later be assigned to. Two years later we got married. We had seven wonderful children as you know and for the most part we were very happy. The children actually became Catholics because of the governesses we would get to also keep an eye out for the children."
"If you don't mind me asking, Captain, what was Agathe like?" Maria asked curious.
"Well she had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. She was very calm and handled things quietly. She loved children they were her joy. Agathe loved the outside, but did not enjoy sports such as hiking and bicycling. She would rather sit outside and garden or knit. She did however go hiking with us once in a while. Agathe was also very musical, much like you Maria. She sang beautifully and played the violin." He told her. Maria was barley heard the last part. She still was replaying his words over and over in her mind 'much like you Maria'. Maria could not help but wonder why he was comparing his late wife to her. To Maria, Agathe and her were night and day, except for their love of music and children. Yet, Maria felt like Agathe sounded like a genuinely nice person even with the differences.
"She sounds like a beautiful person." Maria told him honestly. He looked thoughtfully at her.
"Yes she was." His voice surprised Maria and him. He had never spoken of Agathe since she died out loud. If fact he had never told another soul what she was like. As he told Maria about Agathe he realized he was even more captivated by Maria. "It all changed so soon though. We were happy, and then one Christmas Liesl came home with Scarlet Fever. Soon all the children had it. Agathe took care of Gretl. She was only a baby so she needed a Mother's care. The Agathe got sick in January. No one could go near her it was so severe. She was taken to a hospital for eight months. Agathe appeared to be better in August. She returned home, though she could no longer walk." Georg told her. Maria frowned as Georg tried to make his voice stop shaking.
"Then she had a relapse. She died a week later. I didn't know what to do. I remember when my Mother died it was so hard for me to see her weak and lay her in the coffin. I didn't want the children to have to do that. I wanted them to remember her as her smiling, happy, healthy self. So I sent them to their Grandmother's house and after the funeral came and told them she had gone to heaven. I was strong then, I thought I had to be strong for the children. So I would be strong in front of them, but at night…oh it was so lonely so terrible. For so many nights I would cry myself to sleep in my study gazing at her picture. Everything in the house reminded me of her so I told the children we were leaving. I found this house in Salzburg and that is how we got here. I had to leave I couldn't stand to stay there. Unfortunately I couldn't bear to be with the children either. They reminded me way too much of Agathe. It was selfish and stupid, but I could not do things with them, or anything. I was a terrible parent." He told her with tears in his eyes.
"No you were not terrible. You just made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. The thing you should judge yourself on is how you corrected it." Maria told him.
"Perhaps, but I was terrible. I left on business trips to go to Vienna. I pretended to be active. I thought it would look like I had such a purpose full life. I didn't feel like my life had any purpose actually. The governesses I hired would look after my children and I had nothing to do. Life seemed to have no meaning. I had become Catholic before Agathe died, but after she died I wanted to tare all the baptism promises to shreds. I did not understand why God could take her away. So I started believing that maybe there was no God. Or that if there was one he was cruel and unfair." Georg looked at Maria's eyes. He saw that she cared deeply and was sorry for him.
"You know I learned that no matter what happens God always has a reason for it." Maria told him. "Someone once told me when the Lord closes a door he opens a window."
"Yes. I believe that now. God obviously took pity on our family. So he sent some earthy angel to help us. Do you know what she did?" Maria shook her head. "She made me realize that there was a God that loves us. She also taught me how to love again, how to live again. I could never thank you enough Maria. There is no way I will ever be able to repay you." Georg told her. Maria smiled.
"I only did my job as a governess Captain." Maria told him honestly.
"Yes and so much more Maria. I guess God knows what he is doing." Georg told her.
"Thank you Captain for telling me about your past. It was very entertaining. I am sure that could not have been easy for you. Since it is late I must get to sleep now, I have to finish fixing that harmonica for Elsa." Maria told him rising from the sofa. "Thank you again. Goodnight Captain."
"No I should thank you Maria for a lovely evening. Goodnight." The Captain told her as Maria smiled and ran off to her room.
Georg sat silently on the sofa in wonder. He had never wanted anyone else to know about his life. He was a fairly private person who didn't reveal much. Yet, that night he had felt so right just sitting down talking to her; like they were old friends. He had never even told Agathe about his battles at sea.
He had never realized how similar their lives were. They had both lost one of their parents at an early age. Then the other parent died later and it broke both of their hearts. They both had become atheist because of something terrible happening in their lives. He saw how similar she was to his children in away. She lost her Mother and her Father was distant and unloving. They both found joy in music and outdoor sports. They also both came back to love God after a while.
He did not realize they had both overcome so many similar things. He wanted to tell her that he knew why God had taken Agathe away from him…so he could find Maria. If God has reasons for why things happen then certainly that would be the reason, for Maria to enter his life. Georg realized if Agathe had not died he would have never met Maria most likely. He walked up the stairs, but this time turned left instead of right. He opened the stood by the attic door for a moment.
He had not been in the attic ever since they had moved there. He had been in it once, and only once to drop everything that reminded him of Agathe in it. He did not want any pictures, knitted blankets or anything. He had dropped all his memories in the attic and sealed it up. Now though he wanted to look back at the pictures, but he didn't feel like doing it alone.
He smiled as a thought crossed his mind and then he walked back to his bedroom. He was not sure what he should do. He knew he loved Maria, but did she even love him? She was supposed to be a nun after all. If she did love him then how would he break it to Elsa? They were so close to getting married and that was what she expected after all. Georg knew because he had overheard her talking to Max asking him when he was going to propose to her. Georg decided to let a few days go by and see what happened. He fell asleep with thoughts of Maria in his head.