Title: For the Sake of the Family
Author: FicWriter82
Rating: T
Summary: Serious A/U. What if what was best for the family meant fighting for the Nazis

Chapter One

The moment Liesl gave Georg the folded telegram; Maria knew it could not be good news. The very fact Georg felt he had to leave the room to read its contents in private made her sick to her stomach. She put on a brave show for Liesl, she knew her stepdaughter was lost and grieving so many things, her mother once again even though she did accept the fact Maria filled that role. Mostly, it was her fledgling relationship with Rolfe that was giving her pain. He was a full-blown Nazi now, there wasn't anything to say or do, if Liesl wanted to be in his life, she had to accept his ways. She couldn't ask Rolfe to be less than he was anymore so than Maria could ask it of Georg.

Maria took a deep breath as Georg returned to the drawing room. She could read him well; they had courted six weeks before their marriage and spent another six in Paris. She had spent that time studying him, he thought he was so enigmatic, he wasn't. To her eyes, he was an open book, and the page was turned to trouble. His shoulders were locked and his jaw tight, how he didn't end up with headaches she would never know.

Maria knew the contents of the telegram had already been observe by the Nazis. Under their law, the contents of any type of communication, especially across distance was subject to their review. Anything being sent to the home of former naval hero Georg von Trapp would have been completely decoded and analyzed before it was given out for delivery.

"What is it?" she asked as he held the folded page out to her.

She didn't need to read it, she knew. "Berlin. They've offered me a commission in their Navy, I've been requested to accept immediately and report to their naval base at Bremmerhaven, tomorrow."

"I knew something like this would happen," Maria said sucking in a breath. Her entire body suddenly felt devoid of oxygen. She felt sick, it was hot in here…If not for Georg standing beside her, she'd have fallen. "I just didn't think it would be so soon."

The Captain sighed, folded the telegram and studied his wife's pale face. Her color hadn't been good for days, it was one of the many reasons he cut their honeymoon short. "To refuse them would be fatal for all of us," he told her, in that sentence revealing more of what he knew about Nazi politics than he wanted Maria to know. "And joining them would be...unthinkable."

Maria didn't respond. She knew what her husband was thinking and knew she must accept it as his wife and partner. Georg set his arms around her and placed a kiss on her forehead, "Get the children all together," he instructed. It was clear he had been thinking of this for a while. "Don't say anything that's going to make them worry, just get them ready. We've got to get out of Austria, and this house, tonight."

Maria was silent for a moment before she spoke her own thoughts on the matter. "Georg, we can't possibly do it! Marta and Gretel, they are so young to have to run and hide like that? Where will we go? We can't go into Germany; the Italians are allies with the Germans. Poland is going to be the next place Hitler goes, you said as much when the Anschluss happened."

"Switzerland," the Captain replied. "We can go through the back country and up into the hills. From there, make our way across Austria and into Switzerland. Once we are there, we can rest a little before heading for America. It's the only choice."

America. It sounded so scary, so far away. They didn't like people that spoke German very much in America, she'd read. They still had hostile thoughts against them for the Great War. Now, it was impossible to tell and Austrian from a German if one didn't know the dialect. To an American, it all sounded the same. Would they even let them in?

"Will they let us into America, Georg?" Maria asked, dropping her head. It suddenly felt so heavy. Her stomach turned even more than it had earlier. "You can't just go there. You have to have a sponsor, don't you?"

"We do have to yes," he replied. "That we can arrange in Switzerland, Maria. And truth be told, they might not let me in, at least not immediately, but even being bound up in their Ellis Island will be better than the alternative."

As Georg began to release his hold on Maria, she felt a sharp wave of dizziness at the loss of his strength and support. She made a little sound and tried to reach for him again, she needed him to steady her so she could do as he asked. She had to trust him, trust his instincts. If they were together, they would be all right.

"Maria?" Georg asked and lifted her chin up so their eyes met. "What is it?"

"I…don't know," she fibbed. She knew very well why she was having dizzy spells and why she'd felt so ill recently, but since the Anschluss, Georg had been occupied with other worries. He hadn't noticed and she hadn't felt the time was right to let him in on her discovery. He already had a heavy burden. Now though, as her stance wavered and her face paled, Georg guessed something was amiss.

"Maria? Are you sick?" he asked, his hand caressing her cheek his eyes conveying his concern for her.

"No," she assured him. "It's just the..." Her voice began to fade and if possible, her face grew even whiter. She couldn't' finish her pitiful excuse before her strength finally failed her and she went slack in his arms.

Gently the Captain lay his wife down and held her close to his body as she fought bravely for consciousness. "Frau Schmidt!" he called urgently to the housekeeper. She had seen how awful Maria looked when they arrived. Now it seemed to have caught up with her.

"Captain?" Frau Schmidt gasped at the stricken look on her employer's face.

"Call the doctor quickly." It was the first time he'd snapped an order in a long time. "Max!" he called to his friend. "Help me…open the doors to our room so I can get her into bed."

Max hurried up the staircase as Georg effortlessly carried his bride up the steps. It was not at all the way he'd imagined this moment. He briefly thought it wasn't fair, after all he'd been through, after all Maria had told him about her own past, it flat out wasn't fair to have these moments stolen from them.

Georg tenderly laid Maria on their bed and took off her shoes. He loosened the waistband of her skirt, then felt her forehead. She didn't have a fever, he didn't remember her being sick to her stomach, he also didn't remember her eating anything since the night before. They had been so focused on getting home to the children. He should have paid more attention.

He softly stroked her hair and watched her even breathing as he waited for Dr. Burke to arrive.

Robert Burke was English, but he has been practicing in Austria for years. Georg liked him, Georg trusted him and no one else. Dr. Burke had no politics, or if he did, he didn't advertise it. It was easier that way.

Georg didn't have to wait too long. Dr. Burke arrived within the half hour and was ushered to the master bedroom by Frau Schmidt.

"Thank God, Robert," George sighed with relief. "She just dropped. She's been looking pale for days and hasn't had much energy, but I thought…well, we're newlyweds…"

"You thought you overworked her," Dr. Burke replied. "I see. Well, let me take a quick look."

The doctor tried to rouse Maria with smelling salts; it did the trick, but she was confused as she woke. "Where's Georg?"

"He's outside, Baroness," Dr. Burke replied. "You fainted. Have you eaten anything today. Your eyes look dry and your skin is as well. You are dehydrated.'

"I didn't eat," Maria confessed. "I've been getting sick on and off, but I couldn't add that to Georg's worries. I just couldn't."

"Well, it seems you have done, Baroness," Dr. Burke sighed. He asked a few more questions then palpated her abdomen and listened to her heart. "There it is. It's faint but I hear it."

"Hear what?" Maria asked, though she already knew.

"You're going to have a baby, Baroness. You're pregnant."