Georg was awoken from his dreamless sleep by the pitter patter of little feet outside the door. A year ago, the interruption would have irked him to no end but now he appreciated every second of family time he had. Taking in his surroundings he felt his heart spill over with love when he saw Maria was still in his arms but rather than being the little spoon she was now lying on his chest, her face buried in his neck. God, how he loved this woman.

Slowly, the bedroom door creaked open to reveal the tear-stained face of Marta. Carefully, rolling out from under his wife, Georg got out from beneath the quilt and pulled on his robe. Holding his finger to his lips he motioned for Marta to be quiet, before walking over to her and lifting her into his arms.

Marta snuggled her face into his neck as they made their way to the adjoining living room. Placing her on the couch next to him, Georg began "Tell papa what's wrong, my little love".

Marta let out a few sniffles but didn't speak.

"Was it a nightmare?" he probed.

She nodded and began to cry again.

Georg pulled her small frame onto his lap and let her cry it out for a few minutes.

"Marta, you are the bravest little girl I know, do you think you can tell me what the nightmare was about?" he asked Marta, feeling her soaking wet tears racing down his chest.

She looked up at him with sad eyes and gulped, "Okay, papa…"

She slid off his lap and sat next to him on the sofa, "in my dream, I woke up and mother was gone, and you wouldn't speak to me anymore" she wept.

She may as well have stabbed Georg in the heart. His behaviour from the past four years had more than likely traumatised his children. He hated how he treated them. He couldn't think of that now though, he had to do everything he could to make this right.

"Marta, your mother will never, ever leave you. I'll tell you a secret…the first time she left was because she was scared to love me. Now we love each other so much and she loves you and your siblings more than anyone in this world."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise, Marta! And another thing…look at me, darling" he gently turned Marta's head so her eyes met his own, "I will never ignore you ever again, I was a very bad man the last few years because I missed your birth mother so much, but that will never happen again, okay?"

"Okay, papa" she said and gave him her brightest, toothy grin.

"Let's get you back to bed hmm?" he asked picking her back up and walking with her to the door.

In the other room, Maria woke up to the sound of tears.

Who was crying?

Immediately, she recognised it as one of the children and she entered protective mode. Upon listening for a while longer she recognised the soft sniffles to be Marta's. She knew that Marta tended to have frequent nightmares, but these cries sounded different…more painful.

Oh God! What was wrong.

Someone was hurting her!

In her panic, Maria sprang out of bed just in time to see a large manly figure, carrying Marta out of the bedroom.

No, they can't take her!

With a shaky voice she yelled at the top of her voice, "Put her down! You can't take her".

Georg hadn't realised his wife had woken up, so he was shocked to hear her voice, especially her extremely loud voice.

Marta gave a little squeak of fear when her mother's scared voice rang out through the room.

"Darling, it's late, I'm just taking the little lady back to bed, she had a nightmare." Georg explained hoping that she would realise the time and go back to sleep.

"No! You can't! Please, don't take her, take me." She begged tears running down her now blotchy face.

At this point Georg realised she wasn't awake, not really. She was stuck in some sort of trance. God, she looked so scared.

"Maria, I am your husband Georg von Trapp, this is our daughter Marta. I am not taking her I am putting her back to bed" he explained calmly hoping to bring her into the present moment.

"I don't believe you! My husband wouldn't hurt our daughter" she said with a scratchy voice, torn between taking Marta from this man's arms and jumping out the window, running away from her fear.

"Mother…he isn't hurting me; I'm fine I promise!" Marta said, scared of her mother's behaviour.

"No, you're both tricking me! STOP IT, STOP IT!" Maria began hitting herself in the head, almost as if the pain would clear her muddled thoughts.

By now the staff had gathered outside the door and were watching the unfolding scene with horror and pity plastered over their faces. So, this is how the Baroness von Trapp would break.

"Frau Schmidt, I think you'd better ring the doctor" Georg said whilst keeping eye contact with Maria. Again, he was in a situation where he couldn't get close enough to protect her from herself, but he had to do something before she hurt herself physically, she was still banging her head as if it would help the situation.

"NO, DON'T LEAVE ME WITH HIM, WHERE'S GEORG? I NEED GEORG" she said gasping for breath and clawing at her chest.

"Darling, I need you to breathe with me" Georg said as he watched her lips begin to turn blue from lack of oxygen. "Frau Schmidt, please take Marta with you." he asked Frau Schmidt before turning to the seven-year-old, "Marta, everything is fine. Your mother is having a bad dream."

"Marta, stay here darling. I NEED TO PROTECT YOU" Maria let out a guttural cry, truly believing that Marta was being taken from her.

Maria sank to the ground as she watched her daughter leave the room. Her breath wouldn't come, she could feel her head begin to swim from lack of air.

"Oh God, Maria" Georg whimpered watching as she finally passed out. At least he could get close to her.

Crashing to his knees, he didn't hesitate to pull her body into his lap and begin rubbing her back and rocking her against him.

"Darling, I need you to breathe for me" he pleaded, in the sweetest voice he could muster due to the circumstances.

He could feel her slim figure, frail from the weeks of starvation, shaking against him. At least she wasn't dead, although by her appearance nobody could have said for sure.

"Where is the damn, doctor?" Georg spoke aloud.

Picking her up, he carried her to their bed and put her under the covers, relieved to see the rise and fall of her chest. He kept rubbing her arms and stroking her hair, anything to convince himself she was okay.

"Georg?" asked the startled voice of his now apparently conscious wife.

Looking back down to Maria he was almost knocked over by the relief of seeing her hollow eyes staring back at his. Stroking her hair back of her forehead, he made sure she was truly breathing again before dropping a kiss to her hand.

"Darling, I love you so much, please don't do that again." Georg said not really meaning it, he couldn't tell her what to do even if he wanted to.

He could have screamed when he saw her face dissolve into deep, deep sadness.

"I'm so sorry, Georg! I didn't mean to, I rea…"

"Shhhhh darling, I didn't mean it, can I hold you?" he asked, respecting that she was more than likely terrified of him right now.

Maria whispered a reply, "Please…" and Georg wrapped her in his arms, "What happened?" she asked not sure if she wanted an answer.

"I'll tell you tomorrow, my angel. Get some rest."

Looking down Georg, was relieved to see Maria was still asleep. The doctor had given her a sedative when he arrived, and he hoped that she would sleep through the rest of the night. Georg has checked on Marta, who was completely fine but extremely curious about her mother. It was 10am now and the children had been taken into town.

He could see the ebb and flow of his wife's chest, rising and falling, like a wave washing up on the beach only to be drawn out again. Her full lashes rested on her sharp cheekbones. She really was far too skinny; he would have to speak to Frau Schmidt soon about her dietary requirements.

He couldn't help but feel this was a turning point. He had no idea what had happened for Maria to be in so much distress, but she had accepted his full embrace with no question for the first time in a month. Surely, this had to be the end to it all.

Maria eyes began to flicker open and clearing his throat nervously, Georg looked away, suddenly finding the wall the most fascinating thing he had ever seen, embarrassed at being caught staring at his wife.

Georg was simultaneously shocked and delighted to hear Maria's childlike giggle.

"I love it when you're nervous! It makes you more human" Maria pointed out, rising out of her husband's embrace.

Georg couldn't deny he missed the contact already, but he was glad that Maria seemed to be in good spirits.

"Is that so?" Georg said before pulling her back into his embrace and tickling her ribs, only to be met by peals of laughter from his beloved wife. For a moment it was as if they were on their honeymoon again. Being playful around each other, no awkwardness, just the love between a husband and wife.

After they had both quietened down again, Maria's face morphed into an expression of seriousness. It wasn't very often she had to be serious but now was the time for it. She had to be brave. Her chat with Ottie the other night made her realise that her husband wasn't the problem…she was. Her parents were. Georg wouldn't hurt her. If he wanted her to be in pain, he wouldn't constantly be rushing to her rescue like he the night before and a couple of nights before that.

"Darling, Georg, I am so sorry, I don't know what happened last night. I truly thought you were a stranger, I was just trying to protect Marta" Maria said fiddling with his wedding ring, a habit she had picked up shortly after being married. She didn't quite know how to start this conversation, but she supposed an apology was a good starting point.

"Don't be silly, darling, I'm just glad you're okay" he said turning his hand over to grasp her fingers.

"The thing is, I'm not okay! I don't know if I'll ever be okay again" She said taking a deep breath, Georg was intrigued but, not wanting to push her too far, he waited patiently for her to continue.

"Talking to Ottie at the party made me realise I had been holding onto some things that I should have shared with you. Some things that have affected out marriage. But I want to move on. I truly believe you are the love of my life and if tonight has shown me anything it is that I trust you more than anyone on the planet, I called out for you when I thought a stranger was going to attack me" at this point in her monologue Maria had stood up from her spot on Georg's lap and was pacing in front of her still seated husband.

"Do you promise you will try to love me after I tell you this?" she asked, fearing the worst already.

"Maria, nothing you ever say will change how much I love you! You are my entire soul."

"You're making this so hard, Georg".

"Trust me, Maria, please!" he held open his arms.

"But…what if..."

"No but's or what if's, trust me, darling" for a fraction of a second, when Maria accepted his hug, Georg saw her true self reappear. Well done, my love, we're almost there

"Okay, when I was …"

"Captain?"

Maria spun around to face the door, still sensitive to any unexpected events. Her relief was palpable when she saw Frau Schmidt standing there a shy smile lighting up her face. She should have been mad that she had interrupted this conversation with her husband, but she was actually relieved, she wasn't ready yet.

Georg could have killed the housekeeper. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy. Who knew if Maria would ever be ready to tell him again.

"I just thought you should know; your breakfast is ready."

"Thank you, Frau Schmidt." He said firmly, indicating he wanted her to leave.

With a weary sigh, Maria just stared at her husband in silence. She couldn't believe how close she was to telling him everything. Surely, God had sent Frau Schmidt to interrupt them and stop her from making a huge mistake.

No! She couldn't tell him…ever!