Welcome to chapter two!
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The villa was buzzing with life, it seemed the whole of Salzburg had come to celebrate Liesl's graduation and Maria's head swam with the emotion of the day. The sixteen-year-old girl she met two summers ago was now a beautiful young woman and she couldn't be prouder. At that thought, the woman in question came bounding over to Maria who stood on the periphery of all the action.
"Mother, I can't believe you and father arranged this without my knowledge. It's all perfect. My friends are soooo jealous." Liesl screeched girlishly, making her way up to her mother's position in the corner of the ballroom with a bright smile splitting her face and a delighted glint in her eye.
"Ahh well that's the main thing, darling" Maria said with a laugh, not truly meaning it.
"I'm so glad you have stayed in our lives, I love you so much, mama!" Liesl confessed, hot tears building behind her eyelids.
"Oh, my love!" Maria said with a shaky voice before pulling her eldest daughter into her arms, burying her nose in her raven hair. "Now go and enjoy your party, sweetheart".
With that, Liesl skipped back into the ballroom, a glass of champagne in hand and her designer pink dress her father had flown in from Paris floating behind her. Maria couldn't help the tear that rolled down her cheek, she didn't think she would feel so emotional, but she truly loved all of Georg's children like her own. She hated that they were getting older.
"Is that a tear I see, sweetheart?"
Maria was startled out of her trance by a familiar deep voice. Turning into the direction of said voice she wasn't surprised to see the strong tall frame of her husband leaning against one of the marble pillars in the main hall with an amused smirk on his face.
"Oh, I had no idea it would feel like this! I'm feeling like an empty nester already" Maria commented with a watery chuckle, immediately melting into his arms as he kissed her forehead.
"Tell me about it, darling! At least we have one more year with her before she goes to university. It was very sensible of her to choose to stay at home for a year!" he said with a proud nod of his head.
"Your tone has changed from this morning, darling, where has my grumpy Captain gone?" she teasingly pinched his cheek.
"Ah, you see! I have a very wise wife who gave me a stern talking to!" he said giving her a peck on the end of her nose.
"Georg!" she chided but couldn't help but laugh.
"Come now, I want to dance with my gorgeous wife!" he said leading her to the centre of the ballroom.
"Captain!", the voice of Admiral Hopkins interrupted the quiet conversation Georg and Maria were having in a dark corner of the ballroom. Taking the proffered hand of his old colleague, Georg greeted the older man with a charming smile.
"I wanted to congratulate you and the Baroness on a wonderful party and send my well wishes to your Liesl. I remember coming to her christening and now she's all grown up. How time flies." He said with a chortle, nudging Georg with his elbow.
"Careful what you say Admiral," Maria interjected, squeezing her husband's bicep teasingly and looking up into his eyes, "Georg hates that his little girl is all grown up".
Georg had the decency to look sheepish.
Maria had met Admiral Hopkins numerous times and she liked the man immensely. He was exactly what she thought a sailor should look like, unlike her devilishly handsome Captain. He sported a white bushy beard and moustache that framed his round, rosy cheeks. Admiral Hopkins was the only one of Georg's friends to accept her immediately when they announced their engagement, and she would be forever grateful.
"Oh ho," the Admiral gave a rumbling belly laugh, "feeling your age, old man!" Maria was pleased when Georg laughed along with his friend and didn't become defensive, a sure sign he had moved on.
"Well Maria, I am sure you will be able to ease Georg's fear of growing old." he addressed her.
"Oh, really? How's that?" Maria said gearing herself up for another one of the Admiral's naughty jokes.
"Well, I'm sure when you give Georg a few little ones, he will feel young again!" he chuckled, pointing at her flat stomach.
The atmosphere immediately turned icy.
Suddenly, Maria wasn't sure how much she liked the Admiral anymore. Why did everyone have to assume that she would be having a baby in the near future? It made her so angry. Next to her she felt Georg tense. Was he sad? Embarrassed? Angry? She wouldn't blame him for feeling all three.
Before either of them could say anything, the Admiral sensed the shift in mood and made his excuses, finding the nearest acquaintance to start a conversation with and leaving an awkward silence in his place.
"I'm sorry, darling, I should have known he would ask about children?" Georg immediately apologised. That only made Maria angrier. Why did he have to act so gallant all of the time! It wasn't him who had said it.
"Stop it, it's fine Georg!" she said, a fake smile plastered on her face, keeping up appearances for the remaining guests. Maria had accepted that for the next few years at least, family and friends, hell even strangers, would assume that she would have a baby. It was a fact and she had made peace with it.
"Darling, it isn't fine. We can't seem to go anywhere without having someone ask about children!" Georg lamented, reaching for his wife's hand, and squeezing it gently.
"As you know that we aren't having any, then I have no reason to be upset." She reassured him with a smile.
In reality, Maria knew that Georg would love to have children. She wished that she could give him that, but she simply wouldn't survive it if she became the monster that her mother had when she was born. In the most secret chamber of her mind, Maria dreamed of a little boy with Georg's love of the sea and dark wavy hair or a little girl with bright blue eyes and tanned skin.
No, Maria! It can't happen.
Georg nodded his agreement solemnly and changed the subject.
Later that evening, the happy couple were propped against the mountain of pillows that adorned their bed, discussing their day.
"You know, seeing Liesl so happy today made me realise that getting older doesn't have to be an issue. If I didn't get older, I wouldn't have all these wonderful experiences" Georg said snuggling up to his wife, as if his epiphany wasn't what Maria had been trying to tell him the whole time.
"Exactly, darling, now let's forget about that shall we" Maria said, not willing to get back into the age discussion. Removing some of the pillows she placed her long forgotten book on the bed side table and shuffled under the covers, ready for sleep to take her.
"Message received! Changing the subject, Captain." Georg gave a mock salute and following his wife's lead settled down to sleep.
"Anyway, I was talking to Ottie earlier and she said something rather interesting..." Georg said, nervously plumping the pillow beneath his head.
Oh no! She loved Ottie but she was always getting her into trouble with Georg. If she knew Ottie, and she did, this would be something to do with her most recent visit.
"Really?" she said in a tone she hoped came off as nonchalant and turned on her side to give Georg her full attention. Laying her small, soft hand on his tanned chest and fiddling with the hair she found there, she waited for him to begin.
"I know we said that we weren't going to have children together and I respect your decision...but Ottie said that the last time you were at her house, you were rather attached to baby Henrietta. I thought maybe you would like to open up the conversation again" he said stilling her hand on his chest and holding it over his heart as he waited for her response with baited breath.
Maria could have throttled Ottie.
She felt ill, it's true that the last time she visited Ottie and baby Henny she had felt that yearning to have children but every time she gave it any real thought, she would back pedal. She couldn't risk it. She wouldn't have a baby only to turn into an abusive monster like her own mother had.
"Yes, she is a sweet little thing." Maria said vaguely.
"So does that mean..." Maria hated the twinkle of hope she observed in Georg's eyes. She hated that she would once again have to shatter his dreams.
"No. We've already discussed this." she said firmly, not willing to look at Georg, "I can't risk it, please don't ask me to."
"Of course, Maria, I'm sorry. I just thought..." he began wanting to discuss the issue more but
"I know. I'm tired, let's sleep" she said turning away from him and pulling the covers up to her ears.
"Okay, my love, goodnight" Georg bid Maria goodnight knowing that he wasn't going to make any progress tonight.
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