She awoke in his strong embrace, the heat of his body caressing her skin through the thin fabric of her nightgown. On the rare occasion that they shared a bed for sleep, it was even more rare that she awoke in his arms. They tended to gravitate away from one another in some way during the night, as she slept upon her stomach more often than not. But he was holding her so tightly, she had to wonder if he had been worried she would leave, for some reason.

He had been strange after the party, after they made love...well, if one would call it that, she thought. It was so rough, so animalistic, she could hardly put a name to what had happened between them. She felt like a completely different woman, yet another sexual awakening occurring in her life, followed quickly by the feeling of slight embarrassment at the idea of how much she enjoyed being handled in that fashion. She knew she wouldn't have wanted it to happen that way every time, perhaps on occasion when the feeling was right, as it had been the night before.

"You are thinking so loudly." His mumbled words reached her ear in the early morning silence of the room, and she smiled.

"I'm sorry, darling." Turning to face him, she gave him a soft kiss. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, actually." He wrapped his arms tighter around her, resting his cheek upon her head and taking a deep breath. "I can't wait to have you here every night, for this to be our room."

"Won't it be wonderful? Though, I must say, we're going to have to do something about the color of these walls."

"What? You don't like the way I've decorated?" He feigned offense, but she knew he was joking by his tone.

"No, I don't at all. It's so dark in here."

"It's for sleeping. It should be dark."

"We need something calming and perhaps a bit more cheerful." She rolled over to fully face him, wrapping her arm around his stomach and smiling to him. She truly couldn't wait to spend the rest of her life in his arms.

"Maria...I'm so sorry about last night." She sighed, leaning upon his chest so she could look into his eyes.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"I did not treat you the way a man should treat his wife." She smiled at the word, he didn't call her his fiancée after all, but he didn't seem to notice. "My behavior was deplorable."

"Didn't you enjoy it though? At the time, I mean?"

"That's the part I'm most ashamed of. I can't get over the fact that I struck you..."

"No, stop. It wasn't like that, and you know it. You forget, I know the difference." She gave him a look that was usually reserved for the children, her matter-of-fact, governess look. "If you're ashamed, then I have to be too, because I enjoyed every moment of it."

"You didn't, though."

"Why didn't I?" Brow furrowed, she tilted her head in question.

"Because, how could you? I treated you like...well." He didn't continue and she sighed.

"Ah, we're back to the whore conversation again. Now that we're a legitimate couple, I truly thought that would stop." She raised her eyebrows, challenging him, but didn't allow him to answer. "Perhaps I like being your whore sometimes."

"Maria, honestly." She rolled her eyes.

"If I had asked you to stop, you would have."

"Of course I would have."

"Then I don't see why we're even talking about this." She lay her head against his chest once more, sighing as she felt him beginning to relax a bit. "I think white walls and some airy drapes would be wonderful, maybe a pale blue, I'm not sure yet."

"What did I do to deserve you?" He smiled, pulling her close and placing a kiss upon her head. She laughed a bit, finally feeling his tension release.

"That's a loaded question, I'm afraid." He laughed as well, rolling on top of her, his face inches from hers. He observed her for a moment, her freckles standing out in the soft glow of the early morning light.

"I love you more than I can express."

"I don't think I can hear that enough." She kissed him, smiling as she pulled away. "I never in my wildest dreams thought I would love someone like I love you."

"What date would you like to set for the wedding, then?" She groaned, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Couldn't we just elope?" He chuckled, always surprised by her untraditional preferences.

"You don't want a big wedding in a church, with a beautiful dress, and flowers, and..." She stopped him with a quick kiss to his lips, smiling.

"I don't see the need for all the fuss. I simply want to be married to you."

"I would love if we could do things quietly. I'm afraid it won't be possible."

"Why aren't we allowed to do things in a way that makes us happy? Do you honestly want a big wedding?" He smiled, running a hand through her hair, his thumb caressing her cheekbone.

"No, I would love something small. But it would look very bad if we didn't make a fuss. There are enough rumors about us as it is, I'm afraid."

"Hm, yes." She thought for a moment, having only heard the one where he had an affair with his governess and she was with child, but she knew there were several others. She honestly didn't want to know, and knew he wasn't going to tell her anyway. "I suppose it would look as if there were a scandalous reason for us rushing if we did."

"People would certainly talk."

"Well, I have no idea how to plan a wedding."

"My sister has offered to help. Unfortunately, my mother will offer her opinions as well." She chuckled, unsure of both options. The last time she saw his sister, Hede had become completely drunk and kissed her. She wasn't sure she wanted that kind of energy around her at the moment, but knew she would need help with her future mother-in-law.

"Let's plan for November first. Right before the excitement of Christmas, and away from everyone's birthdays." He nodded, placing a kiss to her lips.

"I can't wait."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hede arrived two days later, baby and husband in tow. Maria had never met her husband, and she was excited to finally see the illusive man who married her future sister-in-law. She was most intrigued to see how they acted around one another, especially given the fact that they had a secretly open marriage arrangement. Secret because nobody dared to speak of it, but everyone seemed to know about it all the same.

The children were ecstatic to see their aunt and uncle, and the girls immediately took baby Nora to the garden to play. The baby had grown so much since the last time Maria had seen her, and she felt her heart swell will pride that she would soon be the little girl's aunt. She never imagined in her wildest dreams she would become somebody's aunt. Though, she supposed life had been surprising her quite a bit within the past year.

Georg took his brother-in-law, Hans, to the drawing room with Max, as they seemed ready to get out of the way of the wedding planning. Hede gave Hedwig a kiss upon the cheek in greeting, the latter looking disgusted at the display, but accepting it. Maria smiled to Hede as they all sat around the table on the veranda.

"So, Maria, have you and Georg discussed a date?" Hede looked excited, sipping her lemonade that Franz had brought out for them moments before.

"Yes, actually. November first." Hedwig's eyes widened in surprise.

"It's so soon! Young lady, you do not realize how much time we are going to need to put together a proper wedding." Maria shrugged, meeting the older woman's eyes.

"Well, that's the date we've chosen. Anything that can't happen by then surely isn't necessary." Hede laughed, continuing to sip her lemonade and watching her mother's reaction. Maria had be putting up with with Hedwig's opinions for two weeks at that point, and she had grown quite frustrated with her. She was going to stand her ground upfront.

"Hm." Hedwig shifted in her seat, tapping her pen on the piece of paper in front of her. "Well, which chapel in Vienna will we need to book?"

"None. I've reached out to Mother Abess at Nonnberg, and we have been given permission to marry at the cathedral." The woman looked frustrated already, and Maria knew it was going to be a difficult process to plan the wedding.

"You'll marry in Salzburg?"

"We live here, why not?"

"Vienna is simply more...impressive. All of our societal friends live there."

"I'm not going to travel and drag seven children across Austria to make strangers happy. If they want to come, they can travel to Salzburg." Hede couldn't stop smiling throughout the exchange, enjoying the tension as she typically did.

"Why must you make things difficult?"

"I'm not trying make things difficult, I would like to keep this whole ordeal practical for the family." She knew she was being more harsh than was typical of her, but she also knew that her new mother-in-law was very pushy and would be forceful to get what she wanted. Maria was going to counter that attitude immediately, if she could. She was determined to stand her ground.

"Let's change the subject." Hede spoke up, hoping to keep the meeting moving forward. "How many guests?"

"At least five hundred." Maria's eyes widened at Hedwig's response, feeling a jolt of nerves in her stomach.

"That's way too many. Georg and I both would like to keep it smaller." Hedwig gave her an angry look, and she sighed. "I'm willing to compromise on two hundred and fifty, but would love it if there were considerably less."

"You have no idea how many we will offend if we do that. Who, may I ask, is on your guest list?" Maria shrugged, truly not having anyone to invite. The realization made her feel strange. She hadn't before realized that without Georg and the children, she would have been completely alone in the world.

"Um...well, the sisters of Nonnburg Abbey will be there."

"And who will give you away?"

"I'll give myself away, I suppose." Hedwig stood quickly, frustrated by the entire exchange. She had obviously come to the meeting with the intention of bullying Maria into allowing her to plan it all, but it hadn't worked out that way.

"I need to speak to Georg." Hedwig stormed off, and Maria sighed to release the tension in her body. Hede chuckled, taking another drink of her lemonade.

"Leave it to my mother to make you feel badly about things you can't control."

"Yes, well, she is quite good at making me feel badly about existing in general." Hede laughed, Maria finding herself able to smile a moment later. She looked out into the garden to see the children playing games with the baby, and she felt her smile grow wider. Marta caught her eye and waved, to which she waved back enthusiastically.

"Why don't you have a family?" She sighed, feeling safe enough with her company to let her guard down for the moment.

"Oh, everyone important to me died when I was very young. And then the less important died a bit later."

"So the Abbey was a place you could find a family. I understand now." Maria looked at her, a bit confused.

"Understand what?"

"How you came to be a postulant. It all makes sense now." She shrugged, supposing Hede was partially correct. She liked to think that it was simply part of God's path for her instead though. It sounded less like running away from something...or to something.

"Well, in any case, here I am now." She took a sip of her lemonade as Liesl approached with the baby, who was fussing a bit at being tired. Liesl began to hand the baby to her aunt, but Maria held out her hands. "Oh, I'll take her. I'd like to see if I'm up for the challenge."

"Good luck!" Hede laughed as Maria took the baby in her arms, bouncing her upon her lap for a moment. Nora smiled and turned to wrap her arms around Maria's neck, snuggling quickly into her. "You're a natural."

"I've always loved babies. Especially this age. They're such fun." She laid her cheek against Nora's hair and smiled brightly, basking in the sweetness of the snuggles.

"Will you and Georg have children?" Maria chuckled a bit, readjusting Nora in her arms so she was lying down, and beginning to rock her back and forth.

"We already have seven." Hede rolled her eyes, smiling

"I mean one of your own." Maria knew exactly what she meant, she simply wasn't sure how she wanted to answer. They had never discussed the possibility of more children, and she supposed she would be happy either way.

She had dedicated her life to becoming a nun, knowing that meant giving up the hopes and dreams of a traditional family, of having children. She never necessarily had the drive to become a mother, not the way some women did, and the thought of having a child of her own hadn't often crossed her mind. There were times she wondered what would happen if she became pregnant, how she would feel, and how Georg would feel. She sighed, smiling at the sight of Nora's little eyes beginning to drift closed.

"We haven't talked about it. Honestly, I don't even know if I can have children."

"Why would you say that?" She looked around to make certain no one was listening.

"Wouldn't it have surely happened by now? We've never done a thing to prevent it." She tried not to blush, as the subject of her intimate life always left her feeling a bit shy. Rumors aside, Hede was one of the very few people who knew the truth of their relationship. Nora's eyes completely fluttered closed, a small little sigh escaping her lips.

"I'm afraid it's more likely you've just been lucky so far."

"Well, even so, I don't think I'll mind one way or the other. I already feel quite blessed by the family I'm gaining." She smiled, but Hedwig could suddenly be heard exiting the villa to join them again, muttering to herself a bit. Maria felt her body tense immediately.

"You mean most of it?" Hede whispered, giving her a wink. Maria smiled in return, feeling much closer to Hede than she ever had. The sweetness of their conversation made her feel like she was already a part of the family, that they were perhaps sisters. It made her heart feel warm.

If only she could get through the actual wedding part of things...