"Okay, now spin around." She laughed as the children all spun in circles with her, giggling to themselves. "And bounce."

"This is ridiculous!" Louisa giggled as they all bounced, laughing and carrying on.

"Um...let's kick." They all kicked their feet up, touching their toes with their hands. Gretl stumbled a bit, a look of determination upon her face as she tried to keep up with the others.

"What on earth is happening in here?" Georg emerged from his study to see his wife and children leaping about the hall, laughing and having the time of their lives. Maria looked to him, giggling as she began to spin in circles, the children following suit.

"Mother says we need exercise." A breathless Kurt answered, laughing as he became dizzy.

"Must it be so disruptive?" Maria met his eyes, smiling as she stopped her spinning and made her way toward him, placing a quick kiss upon his lips.

"It's too cold to play outside, but I want to keep them moving around."

"Quietly marching through the house isn't an option?"

"Never crossed my mind." She gave a smug smile, and he chuckled, ruffling Gretl's hair as she came to give him a hug against his leg. She noticed he seemed a bit frustrated, not just from the antics in the hall, but as if he were feeling a lot of stress about something. He smelled faintly of alcohol, but she never felt it would go well for her to question him about that. "Are you alright, darling?"

"Yes, of course. Just concentrating for too long, I suppose." She nodded, not wanting to press him. He had been working on something recently, something he wouldn't say much about, and it made her wonder exactly what he was up to. She knew he had been helpful with some side projects after his retirement from the Navy, but given the state of their country, and those surrounding, she wasn't sure what he would possibly be helping with. She was almost afraid to ask.

"Do you want to tell me what you've been doing?" She whispered a bit so the children wouldn't hear, though they were spinning circles again and didn't seem to notice.

"No." She raised her eyebrows, and he smiled, placing a quick kiss to her lips. "Frau Schmidt is going to call to schedule an appointment for our Christmas decorations. She wants to know your preferences, if you wouldn't mind finding her."

"You hire someone to put up your Christmas tree?"

"Yes, it's quite the undertaking." She smiled, and he shook his head. "No, I know that look in your eyes. Let her schedule the appointment."

"But the children and I could do it! There's no need to spend money on something like that."

"Maria..." he seemed annoyed, but she was persistent. It would give them something to do while they were cooped up in the house for winter.

"Oh, please, darling? What harm could it do?"

"I should have known you would be someone who loves Christmas."

"Of course I do! And once we've made progress decorating, we should take the children to town to buy presents for each other. Maybe tomorrow?" She clapped her hands, excited for something the whole family could do together. These were the moments she looked forward to the most when it came to becoming a mother to the children.

"Slow down, there's no need for that."

"Why not? Don't you think it would be fun?" He rolled his eyes, doing his best to remain patient with her. She could tell she was irritating him with her excitement. "Of course not, what was I thinking? You're quite the Scrooge, even without Christmas."

"What is a Scrooge, Mother?" Friedrich questioned as he took interest in the conversation.

"He's a cynical, spoiled, gruff man who hates Christmas."

"Oh yes, that's absolutely Father." They all laughed, and she met his eyes, raising her eyebrows in question. He shook his head, doing his best to remain frustrated, but she could tell she was getting through to him.

"As I recall, he was able to redeem himself in the end."

"Yes, but for that, one has to do something redeemable."

"You're quite annoying today, darling." She smiled widely, feeling him giving in.

"Are the decorations in the attic then?" He shook his head, rolling his eyes at her persistence.

"It had better not look ridiculous in here. And we are not all going to pick out a tree, I'm still having it delivered." She jumped, clapping in excitement as she rushed to kiss his lips. That was enough for her, she didn't much mind where the tree came from.

"It will look perfect. Come along, children." They all began to run up the stairs to the attic, ready to bring down the Christmas decorations and prepare the house for the holiday.

Georg walked back to his study, closing the door behind him and pouring another glass of brandy. He would admit, only to himself, that he had been drinking a bit more heavily as of late, but he desperately needed to calm his nerves. He had been in coded correspondence with one of his former navy friends, assisting with some plans for the English navy. He would admit he was terrified by the thought of what he was doing, as it would prove to be fatal to him if he was discovered, but he had to do something. He could not simply sit by and watch his country be taken over and destroyed.

Maria obviously knew he was up to something, but he was afraid to tell her exactly what that something was. He trusted her implicitly, but he didn't want to give her any information that could incriminate her later as well. It would be best if she didn't know. At least then she wouldn't be forced to lie for him if something went wrong...though he knew without question that she would go against everything she believed in and lie as much as he needed, no questions asked. She really was so perfect in his eyes he thought as he took another long drink.

Maria and the children had been planning their decorations and hanging things around the house for an hour or so before she decided to check on her Scrooge, smiling to herself at how he gave in to allowing them to decorate the villa. They really were having a wonderful time. She only wished he would join them and play along, at least for a moment. It would have meant a lot to the children if he would hang a wreath or something, anything. She slowed her movements as she saw Franz kneeling outside the study door. At first it appeared as if he were tying his shoe, harmless enough, but upon a harder look, his shoes were perfectly tied.

"Hello Franz." She greeted him cheerfully as she approached the study, and he nearly jumped in surprise. But he hid it very well, standing slowly as if he really had been innocently tying his shoe.

"Baroness." He nodded his greeting as he began to walk away, off to do...whatever exactly it was he did during the day, she wasn't quite sure. She knocked gently and entered the study upon Georg's response.

"You're not here to make me join you are you?" She giggled at his words, closing the door behind her before making her way to the chair in front of his desk.

"How did you guess?" He sighed, closing a file on his desk.

"Maria, please."

"Please what?"

"You know I'm busy."

"Ah yes, busy with your secret papers." He looked at her blankly, obviously unamused by her condescending tone.

"If you're finished then, I'd like to get back to it." She laughed a bit, trying to make light of the conversation. In reality, she was quite afraid of what he was working on. She knew it had to be dangerous if he was protecting her from the knowledge of it all. Then, for just a moment, she thought back to Franz outside the door...so peculiar. She stood and gently walked toward the door so she wouldn't make a sound.

"Yes, well, I was hoping we could further discuss the information you told me in confidence last night." She placed a finger to her lips as he looked at her in question. She waited just a moment before she quickly swung open the door and came face-to-face with Franz, very obviously not tying his shoe. "Franz, I was just coming to find you. Would you mind letting Frau Schmidt know that the children and I are doing the Christmas decorating this year, please? In all the excitement, I forgot to tell her."

"Of course, Baroness." He seemed irritated, but nodded to her before making his way down the hall. Georg stood and walked around his desk at the exchange, a rare look of confusion upon his face. Maria closed the door once again when he was out of sight, raising her eyebrows to him.

"Peculiar, isn't it?"

"Quite." She walked closer, wrapping her arms around his neck and placing a kiss against his lips before moving across his cheek.

"Someone else is curious about your secret work." She whispered into his ear, in case Franz returned, feeling Georg wrap his warm arms around her waist. "He was there when I entered too."

"Certainly it isn't his own curiosity." He whispered into her ear as well, though he didn't have to say it at all.

"What should we do?"

"We can't fire him. It'll be obvious."

"To whom?"

"Whomever he's working with." She felt her heart flutter a bit, concerned about so many things all at once. What was Franz looking for? Why was he spying? What had they inadvertently given away?

"Should we be afraid?" He kissed her cheek, running his hands over her back in comfort.

"No. There's no reason for that."

"Does he know what you're working on?" If it were so dangerous that he wouldn't tell her, she was so sure it would be very detrimental if Franz found out.

"No, I've kept everything locked away. I meet with a man in town once a week to discuss in person, nothing in writing." She sighed, closing her eyes at the nerves coursing through her.

"Please be careful."

"I am. I promise." He pulled away, kissing her thoroughly on the lips, taking her face in his hands. "I have to do it though."

"I trust you." She kissed him once more before she pulled away, walking toward the door to return to the children. "We're in the drawing room if you'd like to join us."

"Don't wait for me." She rolled her eyes, opening the door to leave. She halfway expected to run into Franz again, but he was across the hall, appearing to be tidying one of the decorative tables. She'd never particularly liked him before, but she suddenly felt she needed to keep a constant eye on him. What on earth was he up to?