Georg, Maria and Liesl left the second hotel and stood outside to read the name and address of Josef's final suggestion. They had been to the first two hotels on the list with no luck; neither establishment recalled an Emil Detweiler, nor a group that resembled their description of Emil's family and the children.

Looking both ways down the road to get his bearings, Georg pointed to the left. "This way," he said flatly.

Maria glanced between her husband's stoic demeanor and her daughter's sullen look of despair. She would not allow herself to lose hope until they had exhausted all possibilities for finding the children; with one hotel left to try, they were not desperate yet.

"Let's hope we'll be lucky this time," she said with optimism, hoping to lighten her family's mood.

Georg nodded mutely, his face stern and unemotional.

They continued to walk in silence and soon reached the Hotel Vittoria. Georg held the door open, motioned for Maria to go in and then helped Liesl enter himself. As she passed him, Maria met his gaze and smiled with encouragement.

Maria and Georg settled Liesl on a nearby chair and walked to the counter. An older woman with a broad, welcoming smile turned her attention to them. "Buon giorno! May I help you?"

"Buon giorno," Georg began with a courteous nod of his head. "We are trying to get in touch with some friends who arrived in town yesterday morning. The name is Detweiler, uh, Emil Detweiler. Might you tell us if they are staying here?"

The lady's smile faded for a moment as she glanced at her visitors; dishevelled, dressed in heavy travel clothes, and obviously foreign. She regarded them mutely for a moment and a defeaning silence filled the room.

"We must have misplaced the name of their hotel," Georg said with feigned humor, upon hearing the awkward silence.

Maria nodded and forced a smile to support Georg's effort.

Suddenly the lady smiled at them. "Yes. Yes, there is an Emil Detweiler and family staying here who checked in yesterday morning. Two adults and ten children, if I recall."

Georg heard Maria exhale the deep breath that she had been holding.

"Yes, that's them," he told the lady calmly, not wanting to outwardly show his emotion yet not realizing that his happiness and relief showed regardless.

The lady smiled at the blatant happiness of the group that had looked so forlorn and fatigued just minutes earlier. "I'll show you to their rooms now, if you would like?" she asked.

"Please," Maria said graciously, her heart racing at the prospect of seeing her children again after what seemed like an endless separation.

The hotel receptionist watched as Georg walked over to Liesl and helped her to stand. She glanced downward at the pseudo-bandage on the girl's ankle. Walking behind the desk, the woman reached underneath and pulled out a slightly discolored bandage, a half-used container of salve, and a half-full bottle of Aspirin. She walked back to the trio, who still had their backs to her, helping to steady Liesl.

Maria sensed the lady approaching and turned around, her eyes immediately falling upon the contents in the woman's hand. The lady held them out to Maria and placed the supplies in her possession. She touched Maria's arm in a gentle manner and met the young woman's gaze. "Take these. It is all I have, but it should help her," she said sincerely while motioning to Liesl.

Maria's eyes began to tear at the woman's kindness. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to us."

The woman smiled. "She needs it. It is my pleasure." She squeezed Maria's hand in comfort and smiled at her sincerely. Walking a few paces ahead, she motioned to the Von Trapps to follow her down the hallway.

The woman led them up a narrow flight of stairs and around another bend before stopping in front of room 24. Turning to face the family, she smiled. "Best wishes."

"Thank you, Signora," Georg told her with an appreciative nod. "Your kindness is a blessing to us."

The lady did not reply, but merely met Georg's gaze with compassion. She smiled reassuringly at the family and with a final nod farewell, she turned around to head back down the hallway to the stairs.

"Well go on," Maria said to Georg, trying not to make her excitement obvious and motioning to the door. "Knock."

Georg rapped on the door and almost immediately footsteps could be heard approaching. Someone fumbled with the lock from within the room and the door opened a crack, still chained half-way closed from the inside.

Emil glanced at the trio outside his hotel room and the face that was initially fearful and uncertain upon hearing a visitor, now beheld a broad grin. He unfastened the chain on the door and opened it fully.

The group stared at each other without moving for a moment, overcome with happiness, before falling into a series of embraces.

"My God," Emil murmured as they parted, while staring at the Von Trapps with a wide smile.

Georg's eyes were filled with gratitude. He reached forward, taking Emil's hand firmly in his grasp and patting it in a friendly manner.

Emil accepted the gesture and turned toward Maria and Liesl. "How wonderful to see you both again. And safe," he said while taking each of their hands and placing a light kiss on top.

"Thank you, Emil," Maria said in a more serious tone than intended, while staring at their friend through the tears of joy and gratitude that had formed in her eyes.

Emil raised a brow and held up his finger at Maria, giving her a look of mock seriousness in an effort to hide his own emotions. "None of that or I'll become a blubbering fool myself in front of two beautiful young ladies," he said with a chuckle.

"What beautiful young ladies would be here to see you?" quipped a female voice from inside Emil's hotel room. An arm embraced him from behind and Emil's wife, Marianne, came into view. She squeezed her husband's side in a loving manner and placed a light kiss on his cheek. As tears formed in her eyes, she smiled warmly at the family and reached out to embrace Liesl first and then Maria.

Turning toward Georg, Marianne held out her arms and embraced her friend of so many years. After a long moment, she leaned backwards and looked from one Von Trapp to the other with sheer happiness upon her face. "Thank God," she murmured while reaching out for Maria's hand and stroking Liesl's face with her palm.

Georg stepped behind Liesl and Maria and placed an arm on each of their backs as he spoke to Emil and Marianne. "Thank you for everything you've done. We can't express our gratitude enough," he said in an earnest voice.

"They've done nothing but talk about you since they've been here," Marianne recalled with a smile.

"I hope they weren't too much trouble for you. They can be quite daunting at times, " Maria said with a serious expression of gratitude.

"Nonsense. They amused themselves the entire time," Emil answered.

"And the older ones helped so much. It was our pleasure. Honestly," Marianne reassured them while reaching forward to pat Maria on the hand.

Maria smiled warmly at their friends. "Thank you. Both of you," she said with an earnest look at each of them.

"Yes, thank you," Georg reiterated.

"How are the others?" Liesl asked while craning her neck to try to peek inside the hotel room. Georg and Maria's curiosity and excitement were obvious as they both looked to their friends for an answer.

Emil focused his gaze across the hallway, over Georg's shoulder, and smiled. "Well, maybe you should ask them yourselves?"

Surprised, the family turned and followed Emil's gaze to find ten faces looking in their direction, some scattered in the hallway outside two additional rooms and some peeking around the doorframes from inside.

Georg, Maria, and Liesl looked at them with a mixture of happiness, relief, and nervousness, not knowing how the children would react to their having been away. Yet, when Maria held her arms out to them, their stunned faces turned into wide smiles and nothing but happiness shined from within each of them.

"You're here!" Brigitta finally shouted.

As if on cue, the six Von Trapps bolted forward toward their parents and sister. Georg stood behind Liesl to steady her when he saw the stampede coming.

Emil and Marianne motioned for their four children to join them on the other side of the hallway as they watched the reunion. Their eyes filled with tears of joy as they beheld the scene.

The Von Trapps embraced without speaking for a few moments, just relishing in each other's presence and love. Never before had any of them felt such a need to stay close to one another.

Georg picked up Marta and held her tightly as Gretl wrapped her arms around his leg. At the same time, Kurt and Brigitta moved closer to Maria, not wanting to let her out of their touch. Maria leaned forward to blow Friedrich a kiss while Louisa embraced Liesl.

After a moment, Gretl broke free of the group and looked at Liesl with a frown on her face, placing her hands upon her hips.

"Gretl, what's wrong?" Liesl asked with a small smile. The sixteen year old glanced at her father and they exchanged a look of amusement upon seeing the melodramatic little girl stomp her foot.

Gretl placed her hands around Liesl's waist and clung tightly to her. "I missed you. Don't ever leave me again."

Liesl stroked her sister's hair. "I promise I won't," she whispered, her voice catching as she spoke.

Maria smiled at her children and spoke through the tears that had welled in her eyes. "I trust you all were on your best behavior for the Detweilers?"

Brigitta stepped forward and nodded her head with authority towards her mother. "Yes, they were good most of the time," she said matter-of-factly.

Louisa and Friedrich glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. "You weren't in charge. I was because I was the oldest," Friedrich retorted as he looked to his parents for reassurance.

"Oh I see," Maria said with a smile and wink toward Friedrich.

As the ice was now broken, the seemingly endless questions began almost instantaneously. All six Von Trapps participated in bombarding their parents and sister with the thoughts that had been clouding their minds for the past two days.

"Father, did you have to fight anyone?"

"How did you get here?"

"Did the bad men get you, Liesl?"

"Mother, did you have to fight anyone?"

"Are we going to live here now?"

After a few moments, what had started as an innocent explosion of inquiries had now become a battle to see who could pose the most outlandish question.

"All right!" Georg laughed, holding up his hand to cease the commotion. "We promise you will hear everything that happened, but not now. Your sister's ankle is badly injured so we should give her some time to get her bandage on and rest."

Georg looked to Liesl and she nodded, the pain on her face obvious. He squeezed Marta tightly and then put his young daughter to the ground, stroking her cheek affectionately when he noticed how sad she looked to be out of his arms.

"Friedrich, help your sister get settled," Georg instructed with a confident look at his son.

Kurt glanced over to his eldest sister and his eyes grew wide as he saw her injured ankle and chaffed face and arms. "She got those when she fought the Nazis. Their injuries are much worse," Kurt whispered to Marta, who nodded with sincere belief.

Maria glanced at Georg and the couple smiled at each other upon hearing the exaggeration.

"Well, why don't you two rest in our room for a while and then we can all go for something to eat later. We'll keep an eye on the children," Marianne told Georg and Maria.

Maria was about to protest, but when she turned to the children and saw that they were busy questioning Liesl, she felt a weight lifted off of her shoulders. They would occupy themselves for a little while longer.

"Please. You both need it. Emil and I will talk to the lady at the front desk about getting an extra room for you," Marianne persisted with a kind smile at the couple.

"We'd appreciate it," Maria told her with a grateful nod.

Marianne showed them into her and Emil's hotel room and closed the door softly behind them.

Sighing deeply, Georg leaned against the door and shut his eyes for a moment. He could feel the tension melt away from his body as he was finally able to feel true relief for the first time in days. Suddenly he felt an arm go around his waist and when he slowly opened his eyes, Maria was standing before him. He locked eyes with her for a second and then drew her to him in a close embrace

She clung to him tightly, the realization that she could have lost him or one of the children hitting her full force, now that she had a chance to reflect on the danger they had been through. The fact that all nine of them were safely together was a true sign of God's protection; Maria was certain.

After a moment, Georg moved back so that he could look at his wife. "We made it," he whispered.

She stared up at him and nodded. "It feels good to breath again," she said, sighing deeply and letting her body relax against his chest.

Georg rubbed her back gently and leaned forward the kiss her temple. "Maria?" he suddenly asked, his voice faltering slightly as he spoke and the questionning tone a sign that he had something on his mind.

"Yes, darling?" she replied, her face filling with compassion as she looked into his eyes and saw his troubled look.

"How's Liesl?" he whispered, knowing that she had had a chance to talk with the young girl. As he waited for his wife to answer, Georg frowned as he thought about how his child had been through such trauma and he had not been able to prevent it.

"She's so strong. Just like you," Maria told him was reassurance, reaching her hand upwards to stroke his cheek.

"I'm not the only parent influencing her in that area."

Maria locked eyes with him at the implication and her gaze grew more serious. "God was watching her, Georg. I'm certain. It could have been a lot worse, but she will need our support more than ever. She's been through a lot.."

He nodded and stood mute for a moment. Dropping his arms to his side, he stared absently past Maria, knitting his brow with contemplation. After a moment, he turned to her and took both of her hands in his. "I've never felt so lucky."

He paused for a minute and glanced toward the corner of the room without realizing it. Moving his gaze back to Maria, Georg saw her smile at him encouragingly, urging him to continue speaking.

"We've lost so much, but it's true. The only thing I really have to offer my family now is my love," he thought out loud. "But we're safe and all together and I've never been so thankful for anything before. Just thinking about what could have happened--" he trailed.

"Shh," she whispered to him. Breaking into a comforting smile, she continued to speak. "You have so much love to give to Liesl, Georg. To all of them. To me. Everything else God will provide for us."

He reached upwards and traced the outline of her face with his finger. "Liesl's so lucky to have you, Maria. She needs a mother so much, especially now. They all do."

Maria felt her gaze cloud over with moisture. "I couldn't imagine being anyplace else but here with you and our children."

"I can't imagine not having you," he said in a low voice, a wave of despair washing over him as the thought even entered his mind.

Maria sighed and closed her eyes.

Georg caressed her cheek and leaned forward to leave small kisses down her hairline. "You're my life," he murmured. He gently touched her closed eyelids, urging her to look at him as he regarded her intensely.

"Kiss me, Maria," he whispered, needing to feel the security of his wife's lips again; the soft touch that he lived for, the constancy of her love in their changing world.

Meeting his gaze with an intense look of her own, she slowly leaned forward and placed her lips to his, knowing that feeling his soft touch was all that she needed to calm her soul and to know that not everything had changed. Their love was as strong, if not stronger, than it ever was. Nothing could ever take that away from them.

For a long moment they held each other close, the security they felt in each other's arms making them cling to the other, never wanting to let go. The relief in just being together and knowing their family was safe, caused a wave of peace to wash over them.

After a moment, Maria pulled away breathless and met Georg's gaze, staring directly into his eyes. The affection that she saw there mesmerized her and she smiled softly at him, knowing that this is all she really needed; Georg's love and the children's.

"Where to now?" she asked him softly "We can't stay in Italy forever."

"America. We'll go to the port tomorrow to see what we need to do to get everyone on a boat. We'll manage, darling."

Maria nodded and sighed deeply. She leaned her head against Georg's chest and wrapped her arms around the small of his back, wanting the feelings of security and trust that she felt in his arms to never go away.

He leaned close to her ear and gently nibbled at the lobe. "But in the meantime, I'd suggest finding out if that room of ours is ready. I did promise you a special thank you, so I can't go back on my word. It wouldn't be polite," Georg quipped.

Maria shot her head up and locked eyes with him. "Always the gentleman," she said as the corners of her mouth started to slowly turn upwards.

"Of course. Eh, always the nun?" Georg countered with a sly grin. His eyes twinkled with delight as he watched Maria's initial surprise dissolve into a coy smile.

"Guess again, Captain," she whispered into his ear.

Georg threw his head back in laughter and again drew Maria to him in a warm embrace. He placed his arm around her shoulder and led her towards the door, kissing her forehead along the way.

As they left the room, Georg and Maria both felt their worries about their family's future disappear. They had been through so much and had made it this far already. Together. In their minds, there was no doubt that this was only the beginning of the many surprises that life would give them, but that with hope, strength, and each other, they would be able to get through everything.

THE END

Thank you for all of the lovely reviews; I appreciate all of them so much! -emartin :)