Maria couldn't sleep at all the evening of December 23rd. It was unbelievably cold in the villa and another battle with Friederich had her very upset. If Georg could see him he'd be so disappointed. Maria was almost glad that he would not be able to get home for Christmas for if he saw what his beloved eldest son had become in the Hitler Youth, he would surely blame himself, for Georg was the reason Friederich belonged to the youth.

It was now a requirement in Austria that all male offspring of Reich military officers were required to join the Hitler Youth if they were between 13 and 18 years old. If Georg had gone with his original plan and fled Austria this never would have happened.

Maria tossed again and sighed. If Georg were here though, he'd know what to do about it, for she was at a loss on what to do. Exhausted but unable to sleep, Maria rose out of bed and proceeded to draw herself a hot bath. She loved taking hot baths it relaxed her opened her pores and relaxed her muscles, especially now that her pregnancy was further along and he body was changing.

Maria sank into the warm water, sighed and let her body relax, if only her mind could.

Once again in the dead of night, Captain von Trapp approached his home. He loved his home and his family and could not wait until he could hold his beautiful Maria in his arms and see their child growing inside her or to see his living children and assure them he was fine and that he loved them.

Carefully, so he would not wake anyone up, the Captain opened the door and climbed the steps, avoiding the fifth step, because it creaked, loudly. The Captain planned on looking in on the children first, but a glimmer of light from the master bedroom caught his eye. Maria was still awake at this hour? In her condition? Now a bit uneasy, the Captain turned his steps toward the master bedroom.

Maria heard the door open and moved to cover herself up incase one of the children needed her. The little ones did not usually knock on the master bathroom door.

Maria did not have time to reach her robe or her towel before the door opened, so she attempted further immerse herself in the bubbles.

The Captain could not find his voice when he saw Maria in the bath. She was always very beautiful, but the soft light, the water, the changes pregnancy had brought to her body made her even more beautiful.

The silence after the initial creak of the door told Maria that her nocturnal visitor was not one of the children, nor one of the housemaids. She could feel the person's eyes on her, a familiar feeling. It was almost an innate the Georg was here with her, watching her as he entered her room, their room. Almost involuntarily, Maria sighed out his name, in a silent prayer that he was there, with her, "Georg."

The Captain regained his senses at the sound of his name leaving her lips, "Yes, Maria," he replied, moving into her line of sight, "This is a very unexpected greeting."

Georg knelt before her as Maria remained in the bath, "I've missed you so much, my love," he whispered, on hand dipping behind her head to raise her head to meet his lips.

Maria responded gratefully. She'd missed Georg as well and there could be no greater Christmas gift than her beloved husband being home.

Before either of them knew what was happening, Georg had lifted Maria from her bath and carried her to the bed, completely disregarding their sheets or his navy uniform as her wet body made contact with the sheets and with his chest..

"You're beautiful," Georg whispered as he leaned over her, slowly unbuttoning the brass buttons on his navy jacket and removing it.

"No," Maria whispered, "I'm fat and wet..." she blushed.

"You're pregnant," he corrected "and nothing is more attractive to a man than the sight of his wife with his child inside of her," the Captain replied as he trailed light kisses down her face to her neck, down her torso and finally to the small mound of her belly where his child was, "So very beautiful," he said again before he returned to her mouth again and they lost themselves in the passion of each other.

The next morning Maria and the Captain woke early and were at the breakfast table before any of the children woke up.

"They are going to be so happy to see you," Maria told him as he sipped the first decent cup of coffee he'd had in a while.

"And I them. I never thought I'd miss them this much," Georg confided, "I never thought I'd miss you this much," he said even softer and kissed her nose.

"Father!" Brigitta exclaimed, always the first one up at the breakfast table, "Father! You're home!"

"Hello, Darling," the Captain greeted, hugging his daughter, "I missed you."

"I missed you, Father. Mother, didn't know if you'd be home for Christmas," Brigitta told him.

"I'm home for three whole days, Sweetheart," the Captain told her as Marta's and Gretl's excited cries of "Father! Father!" echoed through the halls.

Soon six of the seven children were gathered around their parents, hugging, kissing, and talking excitedly. Only Friederich was absent.

"Kurt," Maria asked, "Where's your brother. It's time to eat."

"He said he'd be down," Kurt replied, "Do we have to wait for him."

"Yes," Maria replied, "its Christmas Eve and we're going to eat as a family as long as we can."

Ten minutes later, Friederich emerged fully dressed in his Hitler Youth uniform. Every time Maria saw him in it, it turned her stomach. She studied Georg's reaction to the uniform, but he did not register surprise. Georg did know the rules about boys serving in the Hitler youth, she mused so his son's actions would not be a surprise.

"Heil, Hitler," Friederich greeted his father, with the customary salute.

"Good morning, Friederich," the Captain replied, "we're among family. There's no need for formality. There are no ranks here."

Maria was shocked at how well Georg coped, not one feature even hinted at shock, surprise or disgust and she knew it had to be shocking. She knew what was happening and it still surprised her to see her son, their son, act that way.

"Yes, Sir," the teen replied and sat down to eat.

The Captain blessed the food and the chatter around the table started up again as the children eagerly shared their storied of school and friends since they last saw their father.

Georg listened attentively to his children's stories, but his eyes were on his wife. He could see she was very uneasy in Friederich's company and very upset that he was finding out about Friederich's actions the way he was. After breakfast he'd speak with her about it. Then, he'd have a word with his son.

The children went off in their own way after breakfast and Maria and Georg retired to the salon.

"All right," he said, when he was sure they were alone, "how long has he been like that?"

Maria sighed. She knew this topic could no longer be avoided. "Since just after you left and the order went out about the son's of Reich officers. I know he had to join it, I just didn't think he'd ever begin to believe in it. Not after what you taught him."

"He's really buying into their lies, then," Georg said more than asked, "they really know how to cripple a country don't they. Overthrown its leaders, enslave its men, and corrupt its youth."

"Georg, maybe he's just misguided. You are his idol and you're fighting for..."

"No!" Georg practically shouted, "Friederich is my son! He knows why I'm doing this. He's not a boy, like Kurt, he's a man now. He knows and understands the difference, Maria!"

"All right," she capitulated, "You don't have to shout at me."

"I do, Maria, when you're busy making excuses for him and not thinking," Georg defended, "You're smarter than that."

"Georg, Friederich is still a boy, though, at least in a lot of ways. And for the last two years, when he should have been learning how to be a man, you weren't much of a father to him. He's just gotten you back and..." Maria argued.

"I can't believe you're blaming me for this," Georg shot back, "you're the one that's..."

Maria cut him off, "I'm not blaming you," Maria defended, "I'm just...you are jumping to conclusions, Georg."

"No, Maria, I am not," Georg told her, "Franz!" the Captain bellowed, "Bring Friederich to me immediately.

A few moments later, Friederich came into the salon and this time he did not salute his father.

"Have a seat, Son," Georg invited, "Your mother and I need to talk to you."

"You'll have a long wait. My mother is dead," Friederich replied as Maria began to inform Georg, "Friederich prefers to call me Maria."

"Maria," Georg said softly, "Please go up and check on the girls."

Maria did not argue. She knew Georg and Friederich had issues they needed to work out, so she did as he bade her. Almost. Instead of going upstairs, she remained downstairs just outside the salon door.

"Now," Georg began, "I've only been home a very short time and in that time Friderich I have not appreciated what kind of behavior I witnessed. You were later for breakfast, rude to you brother and sisters, rude to your mother, and to me and it stops now."

"She's not my mother. Stop saying she is!" Friederich shouted at Georg, "She doesn't care about us, she doesn't care about what I want."

"Friederich, Maria cares about you and this family..."

"She does not. She only cares about herself and that little brat. I was too blind to see it at first, but my friends, my real family, they made me see it," Friederich yelled, cutting his father off, something he'd never dared do before the war and the youth came into his life.

"Friederich," Georg said evenly, battling with his temper, "You are a member of this family and my oldest son. Circumstances being what they are, I had to because I'm head of this family and I love every person in it, become a member of the Reich's Navy. I did not do that because I believe in it, Friederich. The Nazis, the Hitler Youth, the Auxiliary...it is lies, they all tell lies. I only did what I did to protect Maria and all of you children. And I know I'm partially responsible for you being in the position you're in, but only you are responsible for what you believe, Son. Please, don't believe their lies."

Friederich was quiet as he absorbed his father's words. So what Maria had said was true. His father was a traitor...what did they say to do about traitors? Report them to the proper authority, that's right. He'd do that as soon as the holidays were over, he do just that. For now, he'd bide his time, so he replied, "All right, Father. I 'm sorry I was so awful."

Georg shook his head, "It's all right, son. You're young, it's easy to make mistakes. Now apologize to your mother and brother and sisters and we'll have a really nice family Christmas, all right?"

"Yes, Sir," Friederich replied leaving the salon. "He'd do as he was told for now, but as soon as winter hiatus was over, then he'd do the right thing.

After the Captain's talk with Friederich, the boy's mood drastically improved. He turned back into the boy the family always knew.

The three days the Captain had on leave flew by for the family. Christmas was celebrated joyfully and as a family, but all too soon it was time for the Captain to return to his ship. The family lined up to see him off.

"Liesl, your mother's going to need a lot of help around here as her "condition" progresses. I know you can handle it," Georg said as he held his eldest daughter to him.

"Of course I can, Father," Liesl assured him, "Be safe."

The Captain nodded and moved to Friederich, "Remember, what we discussed, Son. You're the man of the house now. You take care of your mother and sisters, all right?"

"Yes, Sir," Friederich nodded, and accepted his father's embrace.

"Louisa, stay out of mischief, all right. You're a young lady now, so I except you to mind and help your mother," the Captain said, hugging his most spirited child, "No more tree climbing."

"All right, Father," Louisa agreed as he let her go and moved to Kurt.

"Kurt, you keep helping your sisters and stay alert. You'll be a man soon enough, so I'll rely on you to help keep the family safe. Be brave, Son." The Captain knew Kurt was having a hard time dealing with his being gone, but he wanted the boy to buck up.

"Yes, Father, I won't let you down, Sir," the eleven year old declared as he squared his shoulders and let his father ruffle his hair.

"Brigitta," the Captain said softly, as he noticed his smart yet passionate ten year old was beginning to cry, "don't worry. It'll be all right, it'll be fine. You keep studying hard and when I get home, we'll go over maps of all the places I've been, okay, Sweetheart?"

All Brigitta could do was nod as she fiercely hugged her father once more before he moved and knelt down before the two littlest ones.

"Marta, Gretl, you be good girls. You mind your manners and study hard at lessons," Georg said, his own voice very clogged with emotion.

"Do you have to go back, Father?" Marta asked,

"How long will you be gone?" Gretl wanted to know.

"Yes, Darlings. I have to go back and I'm not sure how long I'll be gone. Not long, I hope," he said as he tightly hugged them.

Finally, he came to Maria, who was doing her best not to cry, "Don't" he whispered, as one tear found it's way down her cheek, "Don't"

"Georg, it's so..."

"I know, but our children need you strong. Our baby needs you strong, I need you...don't cry, Maria. Please." Georg almost begged as he cradled her next to him.

"I love you," she told him, "We all love you."

"I love you too, Darling. Keep writing, and I'll answer when I can," Georg told her.

"I will, my love," Maria answered, holding him tightly once more, before she let him go.

The family stood together in silence for a long moment after Georg left each drying tears or in one case, forming plans. Finally, Maria collected herself and addressed her children, "Come along, now children. Let's have a verse or two of "Favorite Things."