Maria awoke early the next morning to a light rapping on her door. She glanced over at the clock on her nightstand, noting that there was nearly an hour left before breakfast. Another soft knock sounded and she jumped out of bed and put on her robe. Yawning, she walked to the door and instantly dissolved into a broad smile when she opened it.
"Good morning," Georg bid her, the corners of his mouth slightly turning upwards. His look slowly became more serious as they locked eyes.
Maria blushed at the intensity of his stare and instinctively crossed her arms on her chest. "Good morning," she whispered with a modest look. Absently, she reached upwards and smoothed her hair.
"Don't. You look beautiful," he said in a low voice, noticing her action. He reached his hand upwards and stroked her chin gently.
"So I didn't dream this," she sighed, raising her hand towards her face to stroke the back of his palm.
Georg shook his head and looked even deeper into her eyes.
She smiled at him and in a low voice continued to speak. "What if anyone sees us? We haven't told them yet."
He leaned forward and left a light kiss on her lips. "Let them catch us. I had to see you."
Maria smiled modestly and leaned into his palm, as it still caressed her face.
"Uh, may I?" he asked, gesturing to the inside of her room.
Slowly she nodded, never removing her gaze from him as he stepped into the room, turned to shut the door behind them, and walked towards her.
Once in front of her again, Georg reached his hand to Maria's cheek and ran his finger across her jaw line. "Now I can properly say good morning," he said with a loving smile, motioning to the now-closed door.
Maria felt a heat creep up on her face and merely nodded.
Leaning closer, Georg met her lips again, this time starting slow but gradually pulling her closer. He left light kisses down the side of her face from her temple to her ear and Maria tightened her arms around his neck, loving the feelings his closeness evoked in her body and never wanting those sensations to end.
"I should go downstairs," he whispered with reluctance in her ear.
She sighed glumly at the thought but then moved her head back to look at him, a broad grin upon her face. "How should we tell everyone?"
He leaned forward and left a soft kiss on the end of her nose. "Just follow my lead, all right?" He smiled at her and gave her the same look that had been making her heart flutter for weeks.
She nodded and took a deep breath to try to calm her rapidly beating pulse. She leaned close to him and her entire face glowed with happiness when their eyes met. "I'm so excited to tell them, Georg."
He reached his hand to her face and stroked her cheek. "So am I. They'll be overjoyed. I'm certain."
"I hope so," Maria sighed.
"I know so." Georg leaned forward and brushed her lips with his. As their lips touched a final time, he took one of her hands and squeezed it. "I'll see you downstairs in a few minutes."
She smiled and stretched her arm out, still holding his hand, as he began to walk away. Finally dropping her arm to her side, Maria stood motionless and smiled like a young girl in love as she watched Georg open the door and leave her room.
Maria took a deep breath as she approached the dining room a few minutes later. Entering the room, she glanced around the table, noting that some of the children and Georg were already seated; Louisa, Brigitta, and Max had not yet arrived.
"Good morning," Georg bid her with contrived non-chalance.
"Good morning, Captain. Children," Maria answered lowly, feeling her face redden as she felt Georg's eyes on her. She glanced upwards and just barely smiled at him, an action that seemed to go unnoticed by everyone but her fiancé.
"Good morning, Fräulein Maria," the children said together.
Maria smiled at them lovingly and walked around the table to her seat.
"Are you still sick?" Gretl asked, lightly tugging on Maria's sleeve, waiting for an answer.
"Sick?" Maria replied with a puzzled look.
"Yes, you weren't feeling well for dinner last night," Georg reminded her with an amused look.
"Oh that's right," she gasped softly. Meeting Georg's gaze for a brief moment and then turning back to Gretl, Maria smiled at the child. "No, darling, I'm feeling much better today."
Gretl grinned broadly and opened her mouth to say something else when Louisa and Brigitta hurried in, causing all heads to turn their way. They quickly went to their seats and as the two girls were settling themselves, Frau Schmidt entered. The housekeeper placed a platter of apfelstrudel and large plates of eggs and sausage in the center of the table.
"Let's say grace. I see Max is on the late shift again," Georg said dryly, glancing at his watch and then turning to the doorway out of habit, not at all surprised to find it empty.
Maria and the children nodded and bowed their heads.
Georg cleared his throat lightly before folding his hands in his lap. "Lord, bless this food we are about to receive and thank you for the health and family that you have given to us. We are truly grateful. Amen."
"Amen," the rest of the family recited in unison.
Maria reached forward for the platter of eggs and began to scoop some onto Gretl's plate for her. The older children and the Captain helped themselves to the rest of the food and began to pass the platters around the table.
"Children, your new mother and I would like to spend the day with all of you in town We thought we'd leave soon after breakfast, spend the day shopping, and then eat dinner out as a family. How does that sound?" Georg asked the group, smiling to himself at the sullen looks that he immediately saw.
Kurt and Friedrich looked to each other and rolled their eyes discreetly upon hearing that they would be wasting a perfectly good day shopping, and with the Baroness to make matters worse. Louisa and Brigitta turned to each other and pouted slightly. The elder girl flopped backwards in her chair and crossed her arms, resolute on avoiding her father's question and deciding that she would let one of her siblings answer for the entire group.
"What about Fräulein Maria?" Gretl asked brazenly. "She won't have anyone to play with today."
Georg looked upwards and locked eyes with Maria for a second. "Oh, she'll be coming with us," he assured his children without hesitation.
Maria smiled softly and turned her attention to Gretl. She nodded and stroked the little girl's cheek. "Yes, I'll be there, sweetheart."
Gretl and Marta nodded enthusiastically and grinned, but a few of the other children turned to their governess with surprised looks upon their faces. As Maria glanced around the table, she saw Brigitta and Liesl glance at each other with confusion.
"Father, why isn't the Baroness here if we're leaving right after breakfast?" Brigitta asked with an interrogative look in his direction.
Liesl raised her eyebrow at her father and nodded, waiting for an answer to her sister's inquiry. However, as all eyes moved to the Captain, anticipating his explanation, the sound of footsteps in the hallway disrupted the silence. Everyone turned toward the door to find Max sauntering into the room, appearing completely oblivious to the fact that he was quite late for breakfast.
"Good morning, my musical geniuses," he greeted the children, who giggled in response.
"Good morning, Max. I see you decided to join us?" Georg quipped with a small half-grin.
Max stopped mid-step and turned to his friend, a look of feigned shock on his face. "Of course, Georg."
Turning to Maria, Max rolled his eyes animatedly and spoke under his breath. "Do you see the respect I get around here? Doesn't even notice that I'm at breakfast every morning. Late perhaps, but I'm just human." With a shake of his head, he sighed audibly.
"You're in a good mood today, Herr Detweiler," Maria chuckled.
Max glanced upwards to the refilled platter of apfelstrudel that Frau Schmidt was placing on the table. Picking a piece of the pastry up and taking a big bite, he closed his eyes with exaggerated satisfaction. "Well the sun is shining, the food is superb, and Georg hasn't asked me to leave yet. I'd say that's reason enough to celebrate."
The children giggled and Maria smiled softly. However, Georg cast a disapproving look at his friend. "Punctuality, Max," he chided a little more loudly than expected while pointing to his watch.
Max waved his friend's statement off casually. "I'm always punctual when it really matters."
"Oh?" Georg asked with a sidelong glance. He cocked his head to the side slightly and raised his eyebrow at his friend. "Or perhaps when there's money in it for you?"
"Well I'd be a fool not to be on time in that case, wouldn't I?" Max answered with a knowing shrug.
Liesl and Friedrich smiled at their uncle.
Looking over to the empty chair where Elsa normally sat, Max shook his head with mock compassion. "Poor Elsa. 'Tis a shame, really, that one of Salzburg's finest establishments abides by such stringent mealtimes. If it weren't for dinner and the fine liquors at night, we'd hardly get any nourishment here," Max said with a shake of his head.
Placing his last bite of strudel into his mouth, Max rubbed his hands together with hunger and surveyed the table, sighing with exaggeration when he noted that most of the hot food was already gone. "What does a man have to do to get a warm meal around here?"
"Maybe showing up at the beginning of breakfast would be a good start," Georg suggested with a tight smile.
Max sighed noticeably. "It's not my fault, Georg. Honestly. I just cannot get my body to agree to such an early schedule. After all, I do need my beauty rest, or else I'm a dreadful bore to be around. And someone needs to add some excitement to this household. We can't depend on Fräulein Maria all the time, can we?" He looked to Maria and winked.
She cast him an amused smile.
"Perhaps we should start sending the troops in to wake you up on time," Georg suggested while glancing around the table at his children. "That would add some excitement to our morning."
"Very funny," Max answered with a raise of his brow in Georg's direction. He filled his cup with coffee and leaned back in his chair. "Well I suppose I'll wait for Elsa to get up before I eat so that Frau Schmidt and Cook only have to make one more mess before lunch."
Frau Schmidt was standing around the table gathering the dirty dishes and flatware, and she looked up at Max and nodded perfunctorily. "Of course, Herr Detweiler."
The housekeeper started to walk towards the kitchen again with a stack of dishes in her arms. She bumped the swinging door open with her hip and was on the verge of leaving when the Captain called her name.
"Uh, Frau Schmidt, tell Cook to only make enough food for one."
The housekeeper raised her brow at him slightly, but quickly softened her gaze. "Yes, Captain. Of course." Her face showed a confused look as she turned around and continued through the doorway into the kitchen.
"Only one?" Max repeated in a confused tone.
"Yes, Max. You heard correctly," Georg told him. Turning his attention to the entire table, he continued to speak. "Children, the Baroness has returned to Vienna."
Silence filled the room and all eyes turned toward the Captain. Maria glanced around the table to behold seven wide-eyed young faces and one very curious-looking uncle of theirs.
"Is she coming back?" Brigitta asked. She shot a glare at Kurt as he obviously kicked her underneath the table.
"No," Georg answered with a slight hesitation. "No she isn't, Brigitta."
The children tried to look regretful and the six oldest looked to their laps in an effort to hide their smiles and obvious happiness at their father's words. Gretl, however, continued to look upwards, not fully understanding the situation. "Are you going to still get married to her?" she asked her father with wide eyes.
"No, we've called off our engagement. She won't be coming back at all," Georg told his youngest daughter, not at all missing the sighs of relief his other children let out. He glanced at Maria quickly and the small, intoxicating smile that she gave him made him rise out of his seat and begin walking around the table towards her.
"We didn't do anything to her, Father," Liesl assured him, looking up at him with a sincere look.
"We haven't used the toad or the pinecone since Fräulein Maria's first day," Kurt admitted, but was caught off guard by a fierce kick of his shin underneath the table. "Ouch!"
Upon hearing his outburst, Louisa's glowering demeanor softened, she smiled tightly, and shrugged, actually managing to look a bit remorseful when every eye turned to her. Slowly, she sighed and flopped back in her chair. "Sorry," she said vaguely.
"She knew about it!" Kurt muttered to her under his breath once the focus was off of them.
"Shh! Shh!" Brigitta whispered to her two siblings at a volume that was just below raising her voice. She waved her hand at them, wanting to hear what her father had to say. Looking between Friedrich and Liesl, the three of them silently expressed their confusion. Brigitta contemplated what her father had said so far and all of a sudden her mouth fell open in a wide smile as she clasped her hands together in front of her.
"Father, we're going into town today with our new mother, right?" she repeated his earlier words, not really believing what her own mind was trying to tell her, but hoping that it was true.
Georg looked at her and winked and Brigitta dissolved into an excited smile and sat back in her chair, leaving her other siblings watching her with wonder. She turned towards Maria, who by this time was smiling broadly at the intuitive child, and the blatant elation on the girl's face silently gave Maria her approval.
"Children," Georg said earnestly, which caused all activity to stop and all eyes to turn his way. He stood directly behind Maria's chair and raised his hands to rest on her shoulders. "The reason why I called off my engagement to the Baroness is, well--," he trailed and instinctively stroked Maria's face.
Kurt and Louisa's mouths fell open at the display and Liesl's eyes grew very wide, but everyone remained quiet nonetheless.
"Well, the reason is because I love your governess and last night I asked her to be my wife. And your mother," he continued, bending downward to place a kiss on the top of Maria's head and gently rubbing his hands across her shoulders.
"He's going to marry Fräulein Maria!" Brigitta explained to her siblings, unable to contain the secret she had figured out any longer. She smiled and nodded excitedly.
"Really?" Liesl asked, her eyes sparkling with delight as she looked between her father and her governess. Finally, she moved her gaze to Max, who was leaning back in his seat with his arms across his chest, smiling at the new couple.
Georg nodded and smiled, which caused an eruption of squealing, shouting, and talking to break out. He reached forward and offered his hand to Maria as she stood up from her seat. Georg wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her softly on the temple before they saw the stampede heading their way.
As they approached, Maria held up her hand and spoke above the noise, chuckling gently. "Is this all right with everyone?"
A chorus of agreement was heard simultaneously before the happy group surrounded their parents.
Marta held her hands up to her father, who lifted her in the air. The little girl wrapped her hands around Maria's neck and kissed her cheek when Georg leaned close enough to his fiancée. Gretl threw her arms around Maria's waist and clung tightly to her new mother and the others hugged and congratulated both parents.
"Does this mean you'll never leave?" Brigitta asked her governess, overwhelmed with excitement.
"Yes, darling, I'll never leave again," Maria answered with a stroke of the girl's hair.
"Never?" Gretl asked with a wide grin, tightening her arms around Maria's waist.
Maria shook her head and placed her arms around the children, meeting Georg's gaze. Looking deeply into his eyes, she smiled blissfully. "I'm home," she sighed, knowing that never in her life had she ever felt more right than she did at that moment, surrounded by the man that she loved and who loved her back, and the children she loved as her own.
THE END
I hope that you enjoyed reading this! Before you start throwing tomatoes at me or booing me off the stage for stopping the story here, let me assure you that I am working on a wedding fic plus another story that will be continuations of this one. It just made sense to me to split them up this way. But stay tuned; they're coming soon.... :) Thank you again for all of the lovely reviews! -emartin