"Fräulein Maria! Hurry!" Louisa yelled out. "We're almost there!"

Maria laughed as she held Gretl's hand and walked behind the sprinting older children. To her surprise, she felt her hand being tugged. She looked down at her young charge.

"Are you in a hurry, Gretl?" she asked.

The little girl looked up at her, her eyes bright as she grinned. "I want to meet Father's friends!" she answered.

"I see," Maria said and walked a little faster. She started to release Gretl's hand. "Well, go ahead and run with your brothers and sisters."

"But you'll be alone," Gretl said, squeezing her governess's hand tighter. "I can stay with you."

Maria smiled and hoisted her guitar case to a better grip with her other hand. "Why don't we just walk faster?"

"Alright!"

They walked quickly down the road leading to the villa, and Maria could barely make out the disappearing figures of the older children. Liesl was a little ahead of her and Gretl, carrying the blanket and walking with Marta, who was toting an empty picnic basket.

Maria smiled at how the happiness and laughter she and the children had created had not only remained but intensified when the Captain had returned home. As soon as she saw Captain von Trapp summon his children by a boatman's whistle, she knew what her purpose at the villa was.

The Reverend Mother was a wise woman, and sending Maria to villa Trapp had been exactly what they, and Maria, needed. Maria was so happy that she had been a part in God's plan to reunite the family into the loving group she knew they had once been. She looked down at Gretl and squeezed the child's hand.

Looking up at her governess, the little girl grinned. "I can't wait to meet Father's friends!" she said.

Maria laughed. "I can tell," she said as they approached the entrance to the villa. "Let's go around back and see if they're outside."

Following the sound of the other children's laughter, the pair walked to the back of the house, and Maria found she had been correct in her thought that her employer would be out on the terrace with his friends. The day was too beautiful to be cooped up inside.

The Captain, who had been waiting for the final members of the group to appear, over to Maria and Gretl, his smile broad and genuinely happy.

"There you are!" he said as Gretl ran towards him. He scooped her into his arms, swinging her around in the air, causing her to shriek with delight. Maria's smile widened as she watched them.

"I see we haven't missed the party," she commented, looking past him at the table at which the Baroness, Herr Detweiler, and two men whom Maria assumed to be the Captain's friends, were seated.

He looked over at them and nodded as he set Gretl down. The two strangers rose from their seats. The Captain looked at Maria, about to offer her his arm, but cocked his head for her to follow him instead. Smiling, they walked over to the table. The children surrounded the adults, their comments cut short by their father's return.

"So, you were telling us about all the fun you had up there among the hills and trees?" the Captain said.

"Oh, I could live up there!" Louisa declared.

"She found another bug," Marta said with a hint of fear in her voice. "And she chased me with it."

"She did?!" Max asked, pulling her closer to him and causing her to giggle. The man who was now standing next to Max, a comely man with dark hair and brown eyes, laughed aloud.

"She chased you all over the mountain with her evil bug?" Max continued, looking up at Louisa.

"I kept it too," Louisa said, a playful yet slightly malicious grin on her face as she stepped towards her younger sister. "I'm going to put it in your bed tonight."

Marta shrieked in horror, burying her face in Max's chest.

"Louisa," Maria and the Captain said together. Louisa, surprised at the unified reprimand, shot her head up and grinned in defiance.

"Georg," the other of the Captain's friends said, looking at Maria and quickly turning to his friend. "Are you going to introduce us to that lovely lady standing next to you?"

Maria's cheeks flushed again as the Captain turned and looked at her. Their eyes met, and she smiled shyly at him. He winked at her and placed his hand on her shoulder gently, gesturing to his friends with his other hand.

"Forgive me. Klauss," he started, nodding to the man next to Max and then looking at his other friend, "Markus, this is Maria Rainer, my children's governess. Maria, Klauss Eichmann and Markus Vogel. We served together in the Navy many, many years ago."

Maria smiled as Klauss walked over to her. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Herr Eichmann."

He laughed, and Maria's smile widened at the rich, baritone sound. Shaking his head, he looked directly at her. "Please call me Klauss. May I call you Maria?"

Maria's mouth dropped at being asked to be addressed so familiarly by a gentleman. She looked over at the Captain quickly before looking back at Klauss.

"If you'd like, Herr –" she said, but Klauss cocked his head and gave her a feigned look of offence. "Klauss."

He smiled kindly at her, and Maria found herself smiling back at him, struck by how deeply brown his eyes were. There was something about them that both mystified and intrigued her, something she quite couldn't put her finger on. She extended her hand, and he laughed lightly as he shook it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Maria," he said, his eyes sparkling.

Markus's laugh broke the spell. She looked over at the other man standing at the far end of the table. "And I am Markus," he said, reaching over to take her hand and shake it heartily. "Would you care to join us for some tea?"

"Oh!" Maria exclaimed, looking down at her dress which was more than a little soiled from a full day of outdoor activity. "I should take the children inside to get them cleaned for dinner. Myself as well."

"Oh, I rather like the earthy look you're all sporting," Markus said.

Klauss laughed before turning to look at Maria again. "Don't rush on our account," he said.

Maria turned to look at the Captain, who was watching the exchange with an amused smile. "Sir, will your guests be joining the family for dinner?" she asked.

At his nod, Maria rubbed her hands nervously together. "Well, in that case, we had better get cleaned up right now!"

She looked over at Klauss. "Dinner is always an event," she said, and he laughed lightly.

"I can imagine," he said, giving the children a side-long glance.

Maria was about to warn Klauss about precious gifts, but Markus cleared his throat.

"You will be dining with us, Maria," he said, watching the pair. "Won't you?"

Maria blinked, surprised that not joining the family had even been considered. She glanced at the Captain again, who gave his friend an astonished look, as if he, too, didn't expect Maria's attendance to be an issue.

"Of course," she said.

"Fräulein Maria always eats with us," the Captain added, his tone half perplexed, half offended.

"The Von Trapps do not settle upon decorum," Max explained.

"We're not in Vienna or Innsbruck, Markus," Elsa added.

The Captain's eyebrows rose at the comment, and he turned to say something, but Klauss's happy voice prevented him.

"And it's a very welcome change of scenery," he said, looking over at his host and nodding in approval.

"If you'll excuse us," Maria said, taking Marta's hand and cocking her head for the rest of the children to follow her into the house.

The Captain watched the group leave before returning to his seat next to Elsa, putting her comment out of his mind for the moment. He grimaced as he felt a flash of discomfort shoot up his spine. In slight irritation, he rubbed his back. "I had forgotten that a five year old does not weigh the same as an infant," he said.

Markus laughed. "Come now, Georg! It hasn't been that long since you've held your child, right?"

Georg pursed his lips. "I'm afraid it might as well have been," he said lowly. "I regret very few things in my life. How I've treated my children since Agathe's death is one of them."

Elsa smiled and covered his hand with hers. "You treat them with love and attention now. Don't you, darling?" she offered.

He nodded, again looking in the direction where the children and Maria had departed. "Only because I was shown the error of my ways," he muttered. He turned to look out at the lake, seeing, in his mind's eye, two people standing near the Pegasus landing, engaged in an argument that would forever change his life. He exhaled slowly.

He felt Elsa pat his hand again, and he turned to see her smiling at him. He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips, delighted that she was enjoying herself at his home.

"Your governess is simply lovely," Klauss said as he returned to his seat. "Where did you find her?"

Georg studied his friend moment. "The convent sent her."

Markus burst out laughing as Klauss's face fell. "She's going to be a nun!?"

The Captain shook his head. "No, she's a teacher at their school," he answered. "She needed a summer job and I needed a governess until September. It worked out rather well."

"Very well," Klauss said softly. He looked at the doorway, a light coming to his eyes and a warm smile forming on his face.

Elsa watched Georg stare at his friend and noticed the change in both men's demeanors. She knew what Klauss was thinking about, but she was surprised to see Georg frowning.

To be continued…