Chapter 2

Maria watched her beloved children as they danced with their partners. They looked like

they were having so much fun. I hope the Captain knows how lucky he is to have such

lovely children. Maria thought wistfully. She looked for her employer, and spotted him

dancing with the Baroness. For one moment her happiness disappeared. What am I

doing? Being jealous of my employer… OH BOY I must stop all this nonsense! She shook

the thought out of her head. She turned to look at him again, and nearly flipped when she

saw that he was looking at her- looking at her with this strange look in his eye. She

couldn't help but stare back. His intense blue eyes had such an impact on her, she could

hardly breathe. "Fraulein?" Maria broke out of her reverie and looked down to see Marta

tugging at her sleeve. "Yes, darling, what is it?" Marta said, "Fraulein, are you alright?

You looked like you were sick." Maria smiled at Marta gently and nodded. "I'm fine,

Marta. Thank you for your concern." Marta nodded, and said, "Would you like to go

walk around with me? I want to spend time with you, alone." Maria smiled and said, "I

would love to spend time with you, Marta." She held out her hand for Marta to take,

which Marta took. Together, they headed for the door that led them to the outdoors.

The Captain watched as his daughter and Maria walked outside, holding hands. He

noticed how much they looked like mother and daughter. He smiled, happy that he finally

found someone who could make his children happy. Maria was the perfect figure for his

children to follow- she was kind, thoughtful, polite, but most of all…. She brought music

back into our lives. Not only was she musical, but she was extremely multi-talented. She

could juggle, compose music, sing beautifully, and play sports well… if only she could

stay here forever. His thoughts were interrupted by the Baroness. "Georg, why did you

stop dancing?" He looked at the Baroness, her face pulled into a pout. "I'm sorry, Elsa. I

got a little, umm, distracted." Must be thinking of Maria again… The Baroness thought in

disgust. However, she forced a smile and said, "It's quite alright darling. I think that we

had enough dancing for a while. Why don't we head over to the refreshment stand and

get something to drink?" She was determined not to let him out of her sight. "Uh, sure!

Let's go" the Baroness smiled and led him to the refreshment table, chatting and cooing.

He didn't really want to join her, but he didn't want to displease her. After all, she was

the woman that he was going to marry, or at least, was thinking of marrying. The thought

made him cringe. Why did I ever want to marry her? She is definitely not someone that

my children would want as a mother… and I'm starting to realize my feelings for

someone else…Again, his thoughts returned to Maria. He pictured her sweet smile,

brightening her already perfect face. He remembered her in that blue dress that made her

look breathtaking. He remembered how he couldn't stop staring at her. He was like a

puppy trying to find his mother in a huge crowd. Oh Maria, I wonder how you feel about

me…do you like me as much as I like you? He remembered when he and Maria had

looked into each other's eyes earlier in the evening. He felt like they had some sort of

incomprehensible connection. A connection that he never felt before, even with Agathe.

Oh Agathe, my love. Who would you choose as a mother to our children? Elsa seems to

be the perfect match for me- that is, in the eyes of the high-class society. She's charming,

witty, graceful, rich, the perfect hostess…but I could never picture her as mother of any

children, let alone seven! Than there is Maria, the governess. She is perfect for the role

of a mother, yet in society, she is totally wrong for me. He sighed. He didn't remember

the last time he was this confused. With Agathe, he had absolutely no doubt that she was

the one for him. But, then again, she was the only woman of his life then. Now, he had

two…Oh what have I done? What have I done?

"Fraulein Maria?" Marta's soft voice was hardly audible for Maria to hear. "Yes, Marta?"

"Why do you want to become a nun?" Maria smiled. That was random… "Well, I love

God very much, and I want to dedicate my life to his service!" Marta pondered for a bit,

then asked. "But, I love God too, and I want to dedicate my life to his service, but I don't

want to become a nun." Maria laughed, the sweet sound of it traveling to the inside of the

ballroom, where the Captain heard it. "Well darling, not everyone has to become a nun to

dedicate their lives to serving God. Some people can sing for God, others can dance,

others can eat, and so on. You just have to use the talent that God has given you."

Marta's little face creased with confusion. "Then why do YOU want to be a nun when

you could just stay here with us, and still serve God?" Maria sighed. Oh boy, this is the

part of children that I don't like- their curiosity. "Sweetie, I wanted to become a nun

because I felt that was the best way that I could serve God. I knew that I could still serve

God in other ways, but I knew that if I didn't be a nun, I wouldn't be very devoted

because of many distractions. Like your father. Maria paused at the thought of the

captain. She continued. "So, in order to serve God wholeheartedly, without any

distractions, I decided that the best way was to go somewhere where everyone else is just

as serious as I am, so that we don't have to be distracted anymore." "Oh" Marta said in a

soft voice. She still looked confused, but she refrained from asking anymore questions

about that topic. They walked silently for a while, just enjoying the company of each

other. The sound of birds chirping in the dark sky, the sound of the orchestra from inside

made the silence comfortable to be in. Finally, Marta spoke. "I'm really going to miss

you when you go." Maria looked sadly at the little child. "As I will, Marta. As I will…"

Meanwhile, the rest of the von Trapp children were tired of dancing, with the exception

of Liesl. They wondered where Marta went. "Did anyone see Marta?" Brigitta asked.

"She went for a walk with your governess." Eric said, as he was the one last seen with

Marta. "Oh ok. Just as long as she's ok." Brigitta said. "Look, there she is!" Gretl said,

pointing towards the doorway. Sure enough, Marta and Fraulein Maria came over to

them. "Hey everyone. How's the party so far?" Maria greeted them smiling. "Good!"

Everyone chorused. Just then, the sound of nice music started echoing in the room.

"What's that they're playing?" Gretl asked. "It's an Austrian folk dance. I forgot the

name of it, but I do remember dancing to it." Maria replied with a faraway look in her

eyes. She remembered the last time she did the dance- it was with Max when they were

about 14. The children noticed that Maria looked like she was in a different world.

Curiously, they asked, "Is there something wrong?" Maria pulled out of her reverie and

quickly said, "Oh no! I was just thinking of the last time I did the Austrian Folk Dance- it

was with your uncle Max." The children looked shocked. Maria laughed and said, "Yes,

your uncle Max used to dance, as a matter of fact, he was quite the dancer if I remember

correctly." The children giggled, trying to picture their beloved "Uncle Max" dancing.

"Where is uncle Max anyway?" Kurt wanted to know. "Oh, I don't know Kurt." Maria

replied. "I haven't talked to him since that day he came over." "What do you mean,

Fraulein? I'm right here!" The children and Maria twirled around to see Max standing

there laughing, along with the Captain. "Max! You came!" Maria said, smiling broadly.

They had been through so much together when they were little. They had been neighbors

before Maria had moved away. "Of course I came! I didn't want to miss the biggest party

of the year!" The Captain spoke up. "For the food, I presume?" Everyone laughed. "Yes,

definitely the food." Max said grinning. The children giggled again.

Just then, the sound of another Austrian Folk Dance, the Laendler. "Well enough talking!

You children must enjoy the dancing of the Laendler!" The captain said. "But we don't

know how to do it!" Brigitta said. The Captain smiled. "Well, then I'll show you!" He

offered his hand to Liesl. Liesl smiled, took his hand, and they began dancing the

Laendler. The captain showed Liesl some of the steps. After realizing that the others were

watching him, he turned to Maria with a smile. "Do you know it, fraulein?" Maria

nodded. "Would you like to teach the boys?" Maria smiled at that, and agreed.

"Certainly, Captain." She went over to Kurt and offered him her hand. He took it, and

soon followed Maria's instructions. When they got to the ending, the children had a hard

time doing the complicated twirls and such. Then the Captain had an idea. Once again, he

turned to Maria. "Would you like to help me demonstrate the twirls?" Maria hesitated,

but then smiled and said, "Sure." She was about to accept his hand when the Baroness

came up. "Georg, I've been looking EVERYWHERE!" The Captain, a bit annoyed that

she had to come and stop him from dancing with the one that he loved. "I'm sorry, Elsa. I

was with the children." The music stopped to reveal another waltz. Great. I just missed

the opportunity to dance the greatest song of all time with Maria. "Well, that's alright."

Elsa said smiling. "To make it up to me, why don't we dance to this waltz." It sounded

more like a demand than a request. The captain, seeing no way out of it, said, "Sure!" He

smiled forcefully. He looked over to Maria and mouthed the words, "I'm sorry" Maria, a

bit relieved and disappointed at the same time, smiled and mouthed, "It's ok." She turned

over to the children and said, "I think its about time we head over to the refreshment

stand for a few drinks." The children agreed and left the adults standing there. The

Captain turned to the Baroness and said, "Shall we?" He held out his hand. Elsa took his

hand and led him to some space on the dance floor.