Ch. 4: Something There
Weeks past and Maria and Georg's friendship grew with each passing day. The children of course were the first ones to notice this. They noticed that their Father would now accompany their outings more and more. It was obvious he wanted to spend time with them, but he also wanted to be with Maria. The two of them were to the point of almost being inseparable.
Brigitta had told the children her theory of how the two of them were in love, but none of the others really believed them. They knew they were good friends, but in love? Most thought it was impossible.
Then one day Brigitta asked the big question.
"Father? What ever happened to the Baroness?" The children looked up with interest.
"Well, you won't be seeing anymore of her." He told them.
"Why not?" Asked Liesl.
"Well, we decided it was not working out between us. I was not in love with her. You can't marry someone when you are not in love with them you know." The children nodded.
"Then why did you say you might marry her Father?" Brigitta asked clearly not satisfied with the answer.
"Well children I suppose I should tell you. A year after Agathe died I shut a beggar woman out and didn't let her have shelter from the cold. She then turned into an angel and she cast some type of spell on us. She told me she had to because she didn't want my family to suffer anymore. So she said that things would have to return to normal before Gretl turned six." He told them.
"Yeah, they have so we should be good, right?" Louisa asked.
"Not exactly. You see, she also said I had to find someone who truly loved me, and they had to be the first to speak of that love. If not then we will have bad luck for the rest of our lives. She gave me an Edelweiss and it loses petals every week. We are down to one." He told them nervously. The children were stunned.
"Wait a moment Father!" Brigitta screamed. "Do you think Maria is the girl that will break this thing?"
"Well…"
"Do you want her to be?" Brigitta impatiently cried.
"Yes. I wouldn't mind…"
"So you are in love with Maria?" She shouted.
"Yes, I am." He finished, surprising himself of how good it felt to admit his feelings. To his delight his children were jumping up and down and rejoicing. "You children are not permitted to say anything to her however understand?"
"Yes Father." They chorused. Kurt snickered.
"I mean it Kurt, you don't want a miserable life do you?" He asked turning to leave.
"Yes Father. I won't tell her." Kurt replied. The children sat down in surprise over the news.
"Well we can't tell Maria Father loves her, but we can make her fall in love with him!" Brigitta told them.
"How?" Asked Friedrich.
"Well we can set up a romantic dinner and a ball type of thing, but the ball will be just the two of them no one else. We can clean up the ballroom, remember how Maria loved the ballroom and wondered how beautiful it would be if it was clean? Then we can tell them they must dress up in beautiful gowns and suits and they can dance the night away and presto! Maria will be our Mother before midnight." Brigitta answered them excitedly.
"It is not that easy, Brigitta." Liesl told her gently.
"Well we can try. I'm convinced she's in love with him. I mean think about it. They have been doing so many things together recently. They are inseparable when you think of it. Always sitting together at supper…always laughing. Father is always making jokes on how Maria is late to everything and they laugh so hard together. Sometimes I even hear them talking late at night downstairs." She told them.
"Really?" Asked Marta. "About what?"
"Oh anything and everything. They laugh a lot too. I haven't heard Father laugh that hard since I was little and Mother was still alive. Anyways so I will organize it. We have a few days to get this house looking as romantic as possible! Who's with me?" She asked. The children laughed at Brigitta's properness and gently put their hands together and yelled,
"Aye!" Then fell back on the couch laughing some more.
The next day Liesl had the duty of telling both of them what was happening. She walked to Maria's room and told her that the Captain wished to have a nice dinner with her. So her and Maria choose a beautiful gown that was not to fancy, but Maria loved it.
"It will look wonderful!" Liesl exclaimed while holding the elegant light blue dress. After telling her Father about the dinner Liesl returned to Maria's room to help her get ready.
Meanwhile, the boys were trying to help their Father get ready. He put on his nice navy suit that he had forever treasured because of all the medals and honors on it. They meant so much to him because they showed how successful he had become. Yet, since Maria came, things had changed.
"Oh Father you look so…" Friedrich trailed off.
"Stupid!" Georg finished for him.
"Well those weren't quite the words I had in mind. I was going to say you look very…"
"It is no use. I need to stop fooling myself."
"Father?" Kurt asked not understanding.
"Maria is right it is not the material things in life that are important. Its what's inside. I look like a Christmas tree in this. I mean look at all these ugly pieces of metal. They need to go. Do I have any normal suit?" He asked.
"I am sure we can find one father." Friedrich replied as he pulled out a plain black suit out.
"I think he has gone crazy." Kurt whispered as Georg changed.
"No he is just love sick and nervous." Friedrich replied. They giggled and watched as their Father walked in.
"How do I look?"
"Great. Now Maria is probably waiting for you so you better go." Friedrich told him.
"Are you kidding me? She is always late." He replied with a laugh as he walked to the stairs.
"Hold on Father!" Liesl cried. "She is almost ready."
"I told you she would be late!" The Captain chuckled to himself. "She is always la…" His eyes drifted to the other side of the stairs where Maria stood decked out in her gorgeous dress. The Captain walked down the stairs in a daze and met her at the center. "You look beautiful Maria." He whispered.
"Thank you Captain." Maria replied blushing. They locked arms and walked down the stairs to the dining room where they would begin the evening.