The games people play

With growing astonishment she observed how Georg placed one dish after another on the table. One with boiled eggs, one with fresh bread, another with fruit, jam and many other things and then followed a jar of orange juice and a pot of tea.

"Now, I didn't know you where such a good cook", Maria started.

"I am full with hidden talents, you know", Georg chuckled, "but the truth is you can thank Frau Schmidt later, because she has been busy all morning preparing all kinds of nice things. Lucky you were such a sleepyhead".

She looked up, but when she saw his laughing face, she started laughing too. "You silly", she managed to reply almost out of breath.

It was a lovely breakfast there on the mountain and she really had started to get hungry on her way over there. So she really dug into eating as much as she could in honor of Frau Schmidt to manage to prepare such a lovely breakfast on this wonderful place.

After breakfast they sat down on the grass a little away from the table and the tree and they enjoyed the sun shining nicely down on them. Georg sat beside her and she felt how he was stroking first her arm and later her back very gently. It felt so very nice.

"I am so blessed", she thought, "that God put me on a path that led me to meet this man".

She grinned and he looked up, surprised.

"What?"

"Well, I still can't believe all you have put me through this morning. Do you even realize what a journey I have made?"

Maria shook her head in disbelief and he laughed:

"Well, I can only imagine what you must have been thinking. Oh when I saw you climbing out of that carriage, the expression on your face was so funny! Clearly you didn't understand a thing of what was happening!"

Maria looked at him in surprise:

"You saw me? Where on earth were you standing? Oh, never mind that. You're here now."

She snuggled against his shoulder and looked around, feeling totally at ease. And wandering her eyes over the tree and the breakfast table, in thought she wondered,

"But we need a miracle to get all this down to the house again."

"You are all the miracle I need, Maria", she heard Georg say.

She jumped up at that, "had she been thinking aloud ? How much had he heard ?"

"Anything wrong ?", George asked concerned.

"Oh no, But... how ?", she muttered.

"I followed your gaze Maria and I saw you where looking at all the things I brought up here, so I thought you might be thinking about how we get all this cleaned up", he said.

"Yes, that was what I was thinking about", she replied relieved.

"Well, I think we have to do the cleaning up ourselves. I gave Frau Schmidt off for the rest of the morning and Franz.. well let's not talk about Franz", Georg told her and she heard his voice change a little when he spoke of Franz.

She started to walk towards the table, but then she heard Georg call,

"there is no need to start cleaning up right away !"

"But it is getting late and the children....", she replied.

"The children are with Max remember ? They will be out all day. There is really no need to hurry.", Georg said.

"Children... Max...yes...", and quickly changing subject, "when I was a little girl I loved to watch a magician. He used to pull a table cloth from underneath the dishes and things and they would all stay on the table... now what am I saying ?", she slapped her hand before her mouth.

"You did ?", Georg exclaimed, "I saw that too. You know I even tried to do it once, with my mothers best china, boy was she mad at me."

"I am sure she was", Maria said shyly still not believing she told him that. "But if he is going to be my husband, sooner or later I have to tell him all kinds of things about me and my past", she thought suddenly realizing how little Georg actually knew about her and .... she about him.

"I would like to try it again", she heard Georg say in a bit childish voice.

"What ?", she asked surprised.

"Well, you know, that trick with the tablecloth", he explained.

"You do ?", she replied with her eyes wide open in surprise.

"Or would you ....?", he asked with his eyes twinkling.

"But really!", she replied.

"Ohh, you really want to... I can see it in your eyes ", Georg said half laughing.

"But the china ...", she muttered.

"No worries about that", Georg replied, "There is lots and lots of it where that came from".

"But this is silly", she tried again,

"Just do it for the fun of it", Georg tried to encourage her.

"Well, I never done anything like this before.", she said.

"Well, you had never been a governess before either", Georg replied promptly.

"Yes.... well all right, I'll try it", she gave in and walked towards the table. Georg followed her and stopped a few paces away from the table. Maria grabbed one end of the tablecloth firmly. "Sure ?", she asked Georg for the last time.

"Go on", he nodded.

"Okay, here goes nothing", and with that she pulled the tablecloth. But she pulled it much to hard and so all the cups, dishes, plates, forks and knives flew through the air and landed all around her. Maria stood in the middle of all the mess still holding the tablecloth in one hand and with a very disappointed look on her face.

"Hurray, hurray. Bravo!", she saw Georg clap his hands at a safe distance.

"oh you !!", she ran towards him with the tablecloth fluttering behind her. He started to run too and she chased him around the field until finally she caught up with him and tripped him over.

"You tricked me into it !", she shouted, while climbing on his chest.

"Yes, I did", he replied with a wink still laughing.

She was on top of him now, tickling his stomach with one hand and with the other she tried to defend herself from his grabbing hands. She felt that she was going to loose the struggle so in a desperate attempt to distract him, she leaned over, pulled out a pile of loose grass and threw it all over him. He coughed and laughed and she continued her playful attack. He tried to stop her but she didn't give in though and giggled when he couldn't stop laughing.

When she tried to tickle him under his arms, he reached out, grabbed her wrists and in a sudden movement he rolled her over. The grass tumbled from his body to hers and he smiled when he saw her hair covered in grass. He held her arms above her head and grinned by the stunned expression on her face.

"Well, what are you going to do now?" he teased.

She tried to escape from his firm grip but he punished her by taking her wrists in one hand and tickling her waist with the other. She screamed and laughed, kicking with her legs. He stopped when she asked him out of breath:

"No, Georg please, stop it!'

He released her and rolled away from her.

"Look at you !", he smiled, "there is grass all over you. Let's see what we can do about that. Hold still."

She looked at him wondering what he was up to.

Gently he started to bent over her,

"Now, there is grass over here"

Softly he blew away the grass from her ankle. Maria felt a shiver running through her spine. she tried to lay still but the feeling of his warm breath made her tremble all over.

"And here..."

He blew over one of here wrists. He felt her body react on his actions and he enjoyed every second of it. He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable but the expression on her face told him the exact opposite.

"And on the other one too...", she tried to help him to continue and lifted her hand to his mouth.

"Ah, yes...... and actually it is all over your dress too", he whispered.

"Never mind about the dress", she giggled, "there is grass tickling in my neck."

He grinned when he saw the glow in her eyes. He was a little surprised by the enthusiasm with which she responded to his caresses. He had expected her to be shy but he liked the way she reacted to him.

"Well we can't have that, now can we ?"

Softly he blew away the grass from her neck. The second he did that a moan escaped from her throat. Something was happening deep down her body and the feeling was so new and exciting, she closed her eyes to enjoy it the fullest.

He looked at her and tried to control himself. He didn't plan to put them in this position but it felt so natural and wonderful. He didn't want to push her so he laughed and stared at her.

"Can you feel any grass tickling anywhere else ?", he asked after a while.

"I think maybe just about here", she pointed to her forehead.

There was no grass on her forehead, but playing along he said, "ow, yes, I can see that", and gently he placed a kiss on her forehead.

Her cheeks reddened when she looked in his eyes.

"and here..... ?"

she pointed to her cheek.

She enjoyed the feeling of butterflies running through her stomach. He looked at her and smiled:

"I prefer this over tickling any day."

"Oh, I just can't help myself", she said pushing her hands up his chest and his shoulders, moving her head closer towards him,

"I love you.".

"And I love you too", Georg whispered in her ear.

He placed his arms, his wonderful strong, caring arms around her and she looked into his eyes.

"I love you", she whispered again and almost drowning into his deep blue eyes she grabbed the tablecloth and pulled it over them to cover them both. They locked the world outside for a while, and that moment in the green meadow would be a moment to treasure for the rest of their lives.