As his family came into view, Georg saw Maria and Friedrich sitting against a tree, quietly watching six children, all of whom seemed to be asleep on the ground. The sight melted his heart. He had not asked her to stay awake and watch over the children – which is what he would have done – but she truly was their mother. He wondered if the sight of her, no matter what she was doing, would ever stop melting his heart or would ever not make him catch his breath. With a small smile at how far gone he was over his new wife, he realized that she would probably always have this affect on him. And he would have it no other way. She deserved to be adored, and he was profoundly grateful to be the man who would be able to adore her for the rest of their lives.
Georg wondered why Friedrich was sitting up with her and not asleep with the other children, but with a sudden flash of insight realized that in his father's absence, Friedrich was considering himself the man of the family. He thought again of the toll these last few days must have taken on the children and felt even more impatient to get his family physically settled so that he could spend the time with them that he knew they must need.
As he got closer to his wife and son, they both stood up expectantly. Before saying anything, Georg pulled Maria close to him for a hug. He briefly regretted Friedrich's presence. Despite their extreme circumstances and his determination to get his family safe and settled as soon as possible, Georg was still a very newly married man, completely in love with his wife. It was difficult to keep his hands off her, and it was even more difficult to not kiss her as passionately as he wanted to, but he felt restrained by Friedrich's presence. Instead he hugged her and kissed her on the forehead and then turned towards Friedrich.
Georg could see the look of hope in his son's eyes and realized that the hope was as much for his father's approval and recognition of Friedrich's attempt to be the man of the family as it was for his hope that the people in the valley would be able to give them temporary shelter. Still keeping his right arm around Maria, Georg put his left hand on Friedrich's shoulder and nodded at him in a gesture of appreciation and recognition. Friedrich relaxed a little and smiled in response.
"I'm going to talk to Maria for a few minutes," he told Friedrich. "Keep an eye on them, will you?" he added, nodding to the rest of the children.
"Yes, sir. I will" Friedrich responded earnestly. He felt a flush of pride that his father trusted him to watch over the rest of the family, and was determined not to let him down. His feet were exhausted, however, so he sat back down and leaned against the tree while his parents walked out of sight.
As soon as Georg knew that they were safely out of sight he turned so that Maria was solidly in both of his arms and standing directly before him. "Well?" she asked quietly. But before Georg said anything he tilted her face up towards his and kissed her with all the passion that he had restrained just a few minutes earlier.
Although Maria had been certain he would be safe in the valley, she had hated being separated from him for so long and had felt a huge and unexpected rush of relief when she saw him returning. She was glad to have a few moments of intimacy and to feel his closeness now that he was safely back.
Finally the two of them reluctantly broke away though Georg still held her close to him – so close that her head was tucked under his chin. He kept one arm around her and with the other arm reached up to stroke her hair. "I found one man. Older, maybe around 60. He has a small house and a barn, no telephone," he began. "I told him about the children and he said to bring everyone down, that he would give us what he could. I trust him. I believe he is a good man who will do his best to help."
Georg felt Maria sigh in relief against his body. She trusted Georg completely. She had known since before they had even met that he was a decorated war hero, but after seeing how smoothly he navigated their family out of the reach of the Nazis despite how complicated the situation had gotten she trusted his instincts more than ever.
"I think we should wake up the children and take them down there now. The sooner we can get them more food and at least a semblance of being settled, the better. But if you don't trust him, or if you feel uncomfortable for any reason, I want you to let me know right away. We have too much to lose."
"I will," Maria agreed "but I trust you Georg. If you believe him, I am sure he is trustworthy."
It was wonderful to be so trusted, Georg thought to himself. Commanding a ship, his men had trusted him. This was different, though. This was Maria – the woman he loved with all his heart and wanted to protect with all his might. He thought again of Elsa and how they had never really trusted each other. They had tried to make a relationship work when it was obviously forced. As he thought again about their last encounter on the terrace he realized how little they had trusted each other. She hadn't even trusted him to love her, but then to be fair, he hadn't really. Not the way he should have loved the woman he was going to marry. Not the way he loved Maria. He kissed Maria once again, not sort of chaste kiss he would give her in front of other people, but completely and passionately. The kind of kiss that left them both out of breath and regretting that they couldn't give vent to the rest of their passion.
"One of these days," Georg said after the kiss had ended "God willing not too long, we will be settled in some kind of house and have our own room again." "It can't be soon enough," he added, holding her even more tightly against him.
Maria responded by kissing him back just as intensely as he had kissed her. As her shyness and reservations had melted away in Paris, Georg had come to learn her passion extended far beyond music, mountains and their children. The more he knew her, the less he was surprised. It was just one more piece of evidence to him that they were perfectly matched.
Eventually she wrapped her arm around his waist and said "Let's go meet this man, then, and see what he can give us." He laced his fingers through hers and the pair of them went to wake their children up and take them into the valley.