Disclaimer: Sigh Still don't own them. Enough said.

Authors note: Once again I want to thank my wonderful reviewers. Your support means a lot to me. I want to thank Linda for making yet another chapter possible. And last but not least, I thank Loes, for supporting me and saying that this story has to be finished. Although I, myself have no idea of how to finish it, all i've got are loose bits and pieces of how I would like the story to end. But till then, here's chapter 4. Enjoy ;)

Chapter 4: A morning with a twist

Maria didn't even bother to turn on the lights when she closed her bedroom door. She walked straight to where her bed was located and sat down on the edge. A deep sigh escaped her body and she leaned forward, resting one arm on her knee. With her other hand she softly touched the spot on her cheek the Captain had caressed and a tingling feeling ran through her body again. The feelings she had when he merely looked at her was something she'd never experienced before. What only his touch could do to her was horrifying and wonderful at the same time. She could loose her whole being in his eyes, and all this frightened her. The Baroness had said she was in love with him; but how could she give in to these feelings? Was it true he felt the same way? The Baroness had said he did; but she'd also said that he would get over it.

"Men do, you know." The words echoed in her mind, and a sudden urge to leave came over her again. She quickly reasoned with those feelings, knowing that it was too late to leave now. Even if she did, she couldn't ban thoughts of the children out of her mind. If they'd wake up in the morning and suddenly found that she had left; only the thought of what there faces would look like tore at her heart.

As she let herself fall backwards onto the bed another deep sigh escaped her. She realized that it didn't matter how tired she was, she knew she wouldn't get any sleep tonight. Rolling onto her side she closed her eyes. As the minutes, maybe even hours, passed by, she heard cars pulling up and leaving the house. She heard the gates close after what she thought were the last guests leaving. What she didn't hear was her bedroom door softly being opened by a tall shadowy figure. She didn't feel how that same tall figure looked at her and reached out his hand to push a lost lock of soft blond hair behind her ear; and finally she didn't hear this person leave as the door softly closed behind him. No, Maria hadn't heard or felt any of those things, because by then she had fallen fast asleep.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"GIVE IT BACK, NOW!"

With a startle Maria awoke, and she immediately sat up in her bed. An uncomfortable feeling washed over her as she realized she was still wearing the dress she had been wearing the night before. She touched her hand with her forehead in confusion as she tried to remember what had awoken her.

"NO, IT'S MINE!"

"THAT IS SO NOT TRUE. IT WAS LYING ON MY DESK!"

Maria smiled inwardly at the sound of Louisa's and Brigitta's voices fighting over what she knew she would soon find out.

As if on que Maria's bedroom door swung open, revealing a furious looking Brigitta, closely followed by her mirrored furious looking sister, Louisa. The two girls pushed their way through the door at the exact same time, which caused them to tumble over and they both fell to the ground. This however did not stop them from fighting. As they were each pulling at an unknown object, they continued to yell at each other as if Maria wasn't there.

Quite amused at the sight in front of her, Maria quickly got up from her bed and tried to part the fighting girls. This proved to be rather difficult since none of them wanted to give up the object they were still firmly pulling at.

"Girls!" Maria said angrily as she gave up on separating them and got up from the floor, now hovering above Louisa and Brigitta with an angry look on her face.

Both girls simultaneously looked up, surprised at the sight of their Fräulein and their surroundings.

Taking advantages of their sudden distraction, Maria quickly snatched the object, that was now loosely hanging in there hands, away from them.

"You were fighting over this?" she said in disbelieve, while holding back a sudden urge to laugh as she held up what seemed to be a very pink hair ribbon.

"You two ought to be ashamed, fighting over such an unimportant object." A small smile was playing on her lips, and by that the two girls knew she wasn't angry with them.

"She stole it from me," Brigitta began, pointing an accusative finger at Louisa.

"I did no such thing," Louisa shot back angrily, while turning to her Fräulein.

"Really Fräulein Maria, it's mine. It was even lying on my desk, I swear." Her eyes pleaded with Maria's, but her Fräulein didn't seem to be affected by this.

"You know." Maria began, while playfully putting the ribbon into her dress pocket. "I think I might hold on to this nice ribbon for a while, until you two have figured out how to really handle your disagreements. Now come on, get ready for breakfast like your brothers and sisters."

Disappointed that neither of them would get the ribbon, the two sisters got up from the floor and walked back to the door. As Louisa had already left the room Brigitta suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned around again. Maria looked expectantly up at the girl.

"What is it, Brigitta?"

"Well, what are you wearing that dress for? I mean, you're not going to wear THAT to breakfast, are you?" Somehow Maria wasn't surprised by Brigitta's question. Brigitta always was the first one who noticed everything that happened around her. She studied Maria's grey dress from head to toe, almost as though she was trying to decide if the dress had a positive side to it; but when she saw the look of horror crossing the younger girl's face Maria realized that she hadn't found one.

"No Brigitta, I'm not going to wear this dress to breakfast," she said while giving her a small smile.

"Then why are you wearing it, Fräulein?" The look of horror had been replaced by a look of confusion and understanding suddenly dawned on Brigitta.

"It almost looks as though you've slept in it," she stated suspiciously.

"Don't be ridiculous," Maria spat out nervously. The girl's suspicious eyes, if it was possible, grew even more suspicious, and Maria found that she didn't like to be interrogated by a ten year old. Deciding that she had to put a stop to this conversation she turned serious.

"Now Brigitta, please go and change, before we will both be late for breakfast." She walked a few steps closer to Brigitta, petting her on the back and encouraging her to leave the room.

Determent to find out the answer, Brigitta at first refused to leave, but as she saw the stern look on her Fräulein's face she gave up and calmly left, giving Maria one last suspicious look as she closed the door behind her.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Brigitta had left her bedroom Maria quickly pulled a dress from her closet, not caring about which one she grabbed. Anything was better than the grey thing she was wearing now, and as she was hastily putting it on she realized she had unconsciously grasped the dress she had fallen into the lake with a few months ago. A sudden memory filled her mind.

"I don't wish you to discuss my children in this manner."

"Well, you've got to hear from someone; you're never home long enough

to know them."

"I said I don't want to hear any more from you about my children."

"I know you don't! But you've got to!"

She had been so angry with him that day. She had said all those hard and cruel things to him, that she felt he had deserved to hear at that time. When he was like that he reminded her so much of her uncle. A shiver ran down her spin at the thought. No, he wasn't at all like her uncle. She knew that to be true now. It had only been an invisible shield that had kept him from his children all these years. And their singing on that fateful day had made him realize how much time he had already lost.

She suddenly realized she had been staring at her own reflection in the bathroom mirror for quite sometime now. Blinking a few times she focused on her reflection again and resumed brushing her hair. She dreaded the fact that she really had to go downstairs in a few moments. She didn't know if she could face him again. At that thought a now familiar feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Fighting it, she closed the bathroom door behind her and let out a deep sigh before exiting her own bedroom.

"You're late," Kurt stated as Maria entered the dinning room.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I had to…"

"She had to change out of that ugly grey dress she was wearing this morning," Brigitta calmly interrupted as she innocently put the glass she had been drinking from back on the table.

"Didn't you, Fräulein?" A wicked smile crossed her face as she met Maria's eyes.

"That's quite enough, Brigitta," came the stern voice of her father, as he looked warningly at his daughter.

Six pairs of confused eyes looked from Brigitta to their father, as none of them understood what Brigitta was referring to.

Maria briefly met the Captains eyes as she sat down, and he gave her a small smile. Her stomach twisted when their eyes lingered a bit too long, and she quickly looked down at her empty plate, not feeling the slightest bit hungry.

This little sign of affection didn't go unnoticed by Liesl, who by now had noticed a sudden change of behaviour in her Fräulein's and father's attitude.

No, it probably was only her imagination, she persuaded herself. She was just seeing things that weren't there. After all, her father and Fräulein had become really close friends over these past few months, and friends were all they were. Taking a sip of her orange juice she quickly shacked the thoughts from her mind.

The remainder of breakfast passed mostly in silence. Here and there a few comments were made and questions were asked, all referring to the party, and the Captain seemed happy to answer them all.

Maria was relieved when she found out that Herr Detweiler and the Baroness wouldn't join them for breakfast this morning. The Captain had explained to them that they were very exhausted from the party and that they had wished to remain in bed, as they ate their breakfast. She'd relaxed a bit when this piece of information had settled in. She now didn't have to endure the suspicious looks of the Baroness or the surprised questions of Herr Detweiler. She was sure he would ask her why she hadn't been his dinner guests at the party.

"Children, uncle Max is taking you into town this afternoon," the Captain announced, while folding his newspaper and placing it next to him on the table.

"Why is he taking us into town, father?" came little Gretl's voice, while she was frowning deeply, not understanding why Uncle Max would take them into town when they had a Fräulein who could do that with them.

"Is Fräulein Maria coming with us?" came Martha's voice, asking Gretl's unspoken question.

The Captain smiled at his two youngest children. "No, I'm afraid she's not Martha. I think your Fräulein deserves a day off, and we both need to settle some matters concerning all of you."

Maria had been afraid that this would happen. She had sensed that their conversation from the night before hadn't been properly ended, and that he still wanted to know if she wished to leave or stay. She decided that it was best to keep still, and let the children ask there questions while she finished her meal.

"Matters concerning us?" Friedrich asked, looking from his father to his Fräulein. Maria met his confused eyes and smiled reassuringly at the boy.

"Yes, just some small matters that need to be settled. You really needn't worry about that," the Captain finished, his children all looked at him in suspicious disbelieve.

"You know father," came Liesl's voice, as she stood up to leave the dining room. She had already finished her breakfast.

"You're really not that good at lying," she said, as she rounded the corner and vanished out of sight.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the six remaining children and the two adults, and not another word was said as each of them quietly finished their breakfast.