Happy New Year! I hope it's a wonderful year for everyone in the fandom. Thanks so much for the feedback for this pretty crazy story.

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Chapter 3: "If you want changed behaviour you have to admit to doing something wrong"*

"You're far away. Where are you?" Maria came in to Georg's study through a side door, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he sat in his chair. She bent down and kissed the top of his head and then the back of his neck. She realised he had been staring dreamily at a photograph in his hands.

Georg gave a guilty start and hastily put the picture face down on his desk. He cleared his throat uncomfortably and turned his head to look up at her with a wary smile. Maria eyed him suspiciously. He looked as if he had just been caught dancing the laendler with someone he shouldn't be with.

He made a weak attempt to distract her. "Oh hallo. It's been rather chilly this evening hasn't it?"

"Well it is January, and if you ask me you seem rather hot and bothered. What were you looking at just now?"

"Er uhm, nothing really."

At her skeptically raised eyebrows he muttered, "Oh alright, alright. If you really want to know, I was thinking about her again. My first love," he admitted reluctantly.

Maria sighed and came around to face him. He pushed his chair back so she could perch on the top of his desk in front of him. "Again? Really darling, this is becoming an obsession for you." She retrieved the photograph from where he had slipped it under a book and looked at it curiously.

"I know. I'm sorry, I can't help it. She's been coming to me a lot in my dreams recently. I was only 18 when I first saw her, and well that first love has etched itself on my life forever. She was so utterly gorgeous, so beautiful, it still makes my heart ache to think of her."

He sighed wistfully. "I remember when I first saw her, it was as if everything stood still in that moment, I could hardly breathe. I had never believed in love at first sight before. But it was a moment of such profound intensity that I knew I would never the same. She was so beautiful. She had a shape that was so exquisite, so sublime, with luscious curves that made me yearn to touch her and be close to her. I knew I would never be able to rest until she was mine. And once she was mine, I couldn't let her go…. even after I married Agathe."

Maria could hear the guilt in his voice. "You told me Agathe understood about your need to be with her too."

"Yes, Agathe was an angel. She was very tolerant of my needs. I had been very open with her and she knew if she married me there would be three of us in our marriage; that I would need to go to her and be with her sometimes too. It didn't mean I loved Agathe less," he said defensively.

"And Agathe didn't mind that you have so many pictures of her – even in your study?"

"She was very understanding, though of course there were times when she hated it when I went to her, and she wept and begged me not to."

Maria looked at the picture again and she hid the amusement in her eyes, trying to understand her husband's obsession. In truth, she thought his first love had been quite unattractive and rather grim looking, but she could never tell him that. "She was quite ….er…" she searched desperately for an appropriate compliment as she studied the photo. "…shapely," she said lamely to her besotted husband.

It seemed to work because Georg sighed blissfully. "Yes, she was," he said with pride.

"Well darling, most people would look at this picture and just see a U boat. But I can understand that the U6 was so precious to you."

"She was a work of art, a feat of engineering genius, a marvel of modern technology. Look how streamlined she was." He pointed to her hull with wonder in his voice.

"She could cut through the water at up to 12 knots, and dive so gracefully she hardly caused a ripple. She saved my life on more than one occasion and she was so hardworking and loyal. Only I knew how to handle her well."

Maria was amused at the smug masculine pride in his voice.

"My Second Officer had a devil of a time with her because she could be so skittish and volatile. But with me, with the right touch, she would purr like a kitten and just glide through the water."

He looked at her guiltily. "You don't mind, do you? That she will always have a special place in my heart?"

"I think I can live with it," Maria responded, suppressing her mirth. She kept her eyes on the photo so he wouldn't see the laughter dancing in her eyes. How could she be jealous of a great rusty hulk of metal and pipes? She thought his obsession with his silly boat was quite adorable. No doubt Agathe had similarly indulged him, Maria thought, feeling a kindred bond with his first wife.

But then Maria's mood darkened and her eyes grew stormy as she suddenly thought of things she really did feel jealous about. She could feel that now familiar sickening twist in her stomach as she looked at him severely.

"But what does bother me is how many of your old flames we seem to run in to whenever we are in Salzburg. I am beginning to think that is why you dislike social gatherings so much, because you seem to be constantly tripping over women from your past."

She watched as he squirmed with discomfort.

"Oh, uhm..erhm.. about that…. I am sorry darling. I've apologized many times, and of course I can never apologise enough," he added hastily.

He shrugged uneasily. "It was just a horrible coincidence that we would see two of them in one day last week. And then it was just bad luck there were three of them at the von Graf ball last month. It must have been a fatal aligning of the stars or something. It was long ago, before I even met Agathe. I was young and stupid and only thinking with..." He paused, fumbling.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well …er never mind. You know how young men are. Oh right, no, you don't. Thank God! That is, I mean…" he trailed off as he realized he was digging a bigger hole for himself.

He sighed regretfully, clasping her hands in both of his and kissing them tenderly as he kept his eyes on hers. "You know I would never want to hurt you or embarrass you by having my past indiscretions catch up with us. I really am sorry."

Maria looked at him still feeling partly cross. She did hate the hideous stabbing feelings of jealousy in her chest whenever she came across his former liaisons. That was the downside of falling in love, she had realized belatedly. Imagining him doing the things he did with her, with them, made her feel vulnerable and insecure and horribly upset, despite his reassurances.

But it had been a long time ago, before Agathe whom he had loved so dearly; and she did not feel jealous of Agathe. Instead she felt touched at the depth of his love for his first wife, so why should she worry about what had happened in his youth? At least that is what told she herself, over and over again. But still, it was another thing entirely to actually come face to face with ladies from his past; especially when they all seemed so beautiful and sophisticated.

What did amuse her though, even through the horrible jealous feelings, was what an open book Georg was. He often said she was so easy to read, but the same was true of him, at least now that she knew him so well. He was hopelessly unable to hide his awkwardness in these situations. The suave sophistication and effortless debonair charm just seemed to vanish.

She knew a gentleman's code of honour meant that men never discussed the women they had been with, and she might never have even realized when they inadvertently met one of his old flames if he hadn't been so terrible at hiding his unease. It was almost endearing.

At the von Graf ball for example, her radar was up immediately as he had looked around and then started muttering curses under his breath. She was then treated to the full repertoire of his curious mannerisms when he was uncomfortable: fingers twitching, collar-pulling, neck scratching and a sudden inarticulateness as he coughed and hemmed and hawed. Maria had almost been expecting him to purse his mouth into a tuneless whistle, but then she saw the source of his discomfort. An elegantly beautiful lady was approaching them with a predatory smile.

Perhaps it was only Maria who had sensed his tension through the veneer of sophisticated small talk, as he had slapped his dancing gloves against his thigh. After the Countess had left them it only took one look from Maria before he confessed that he had had an affair with her when he was a ridiculously young Naval cadet.

To his credit he had spent the rest of the evening at the ball being lovingly attentive and murmuring reassurances in her ear as she had held her head up high and tried to exude a confidence she did not feel. He ignored the protocol that they were supposed to separate and mingle, and instead stayed with her, the love and pride in his eyes obvious to everyone. But his misery had been almost comical when he spotted two other former loves. They left soon after.

She looked at him now, looking guilty and troubled. She took pity on him.

"I think I can forgive you," she said magnanimously. "But perhaps some penance would be in order."

"Name it my love. Anything. A thousand kisses perhaps? A bathtub full of rose petals? What were your favourite things again? Kittens, wearing woolen mittens? Doorbells in brown paper packages? What about that pony eating cream and apple strudel? Or was it schnitzel in a copper kettle?"

Maria giggled as he got the words of her song horribly mixed up, marveling at his ability to lighten her mood. "You've got it all wrong," she laughed. "Luckily for you I have a whole host of new favourite things since we married, though of course I can't tell the children about any of them," she added saucily.

Georg gave her that seductive slanted smile that never failed to stop her breath and make her heart race. "Tell me how I can make it up to you then and we can keep adding to the list."

"Well, why don't you tell me about Governess number six, and oh, the thousand kisses would do quite nicely too."

He snorted wryly. "I should have guessed that's what you would ask for. Do we really have to do this Maria? I am still recovering from the shock after the revelations about Frau – Herr Doubtfire."

He sighed with resignation as she nodded resolutely. He drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair and Maria watched as his expression changed, a scowl coming over his face at the disagreeable memories of his former governesses.

"Alright then," he conceded with ill grace. "Governess number six arrived in the middle of the children's reign of chaos. They had really started playing up by that time and none of governesses seemed capable of disciplining them properly."

"What was her name?"

He frowned as he rubbed his chin with a finger and thumb. "Do you know, I really can't remember. She gave herself a strange title, and that's what stuck with me. She called herself 'Super Nanny.' Odd, really."

"That is an unusual title," Maria agreed.

"Things didn't get off to a good start. For the first few hours she did nothing. Absolutely nothing! She just stood there observing the children running amuck instead of disciplining them. She just watched with a judgmental look on her face. That resulted in our first argument – I told her I had employed her to discipline and look after my children not to just watch them being unruly street urchins. She rather rudely told me she needed to observe them first to see what we were all doing wrong. Of all the blasted nerve," he muttered irritably.

"One thing we did agree upon was the need for structure and order. That's the reason I didn't fire her straight away. She was very keen on rules and discipline, but we just had very different ideas about what those rules should be. And she was very critical of me. She spent a great deal of her time scolding me and telling me I was a bad parent. She even said that I was like a nineteenth century father," he said, affronted.

Maria kept diplomatically silent. After all, she had also criticized his parenting, but this Super Nanny didn't seem to have been able to get through to him.

"Every evening she would lecture me on things that I had never heard of. I didn't have the faintest idea what she was talking about: some things called 'time-outs', power struggles, star charts, communication zone techniques, being on the same page – whatever that means. I was beginning to wonder why the devil I had hired her since she seemed intent on making me do her work for her in looking after the children."

His dissatisfaction was clear in his disgruntled tone.

"I remember Kurt and Louisa spent a lot of time on what she called the 'naughty step,' and with the amount of scoldings she gave me I am sure she wanted to put me on it too. Infuriating woman."

Maria couldn't suppress a giggle at that.

"We were constantly at loggerheads. She was really quite rude to me, and insubordinate too. She annoyed me so much that I went off to Vienna more often but she was always waiting, ready with a reprimand and a lecture for me whenever I came back," he grumbled.

"So what happened with her?" Maria tactfully refrained from commenting on what the Super Nanny had said. No doubt she had had some valid points but Georg clearly had not been receptive to them.

"Well that was the really annoying thing. She just announced one day she was leaving but would return in a few days to see how I was doing. How I was doing?!" he repeated in outrage. "Of all the blasted impertinence! She then gave me a long list of things she thought I should do. Damned impudence!" he griped.

"I told her if she was going to leave, not to bother to come back. She couldn't just decide to come and go as she pleased. I needed a full-time governess. But she said there were so many other families who needed her help too. Needless to say we parted company, and not amicably."

Maria could see the annoyed scowl on his face and decided she had better soothe him. She hopped off the desk to stand between his legs while he sat in his chair, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thank you for telling me darling. Every time I learn a little about the governesses it helps me understand you and the children a little better. It's not just that I am nosy," she smiled playfully, "though that is a big part of it. But the Reverend Mother told me that the Lord would show me in His own good time why it was so difficult keeping a governess, I'm just giving you little prompts to tell me more. We already know why the children were playing so many tricks, but I need to know about the governesses too."

Georg still looked irritable, even as she stroked his hair tenderly. "Hurmphf. I'd rather not talk about them. They gave me nothing but trouble."

But then after a moment, his mouth twitched into a devilish grin. "But the worst of the lot was Governess number 12. Wait until you hear about her: infuriating, undisciplined, saucy, cheeky, impulsive. She really drove me mad."

"Poor you," Maria murmured sympathetically, her eyes sparkling with laughter. "That must have been just awful for you."

"It was. Eventually I had to marry her to save the Abbey from chaos and the poor Reverend Mother from all her headaches."

"That was very noble of you."

"Yes it was rather wasn't it?" he agreed with a martyred air. "No doubt I will get my reward in heaven," he added piously.

Maria laughed at his teasing. "Speaking of heaven, why don't you start on the other part of my reparation for your dissolute past – those thousand kisses." She leaned down to kiss him, feeling the blood pulse fiercely through her, and his answering hungry need as he deepened the kisses.

"You know you have nothing to worry about, about my past, any of it, don't you?" Georg told her softly, as she leaned her forehead on his.

"I know, but I couldn't resist taking the opportunity to get another governess story out of you," she smiled at him playfully as she reached down to start undoing his tie. "Now what were you saying about a bath? I don't think we will be able to find rose petals at this time of year but what about a steaming hot bath for two, with ice-cold flutes of crisp champagne?"

"What a charming idea. That's one of my favourite things," he smirked.

"I know."

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A/N: There are a couple more famous governesses to come but I am taking a break from this story to work on my other one. Thanks so much for reading and I would love to know your thoughts, (and at what point you figured out about his first love).

*quote from Jo Frost, Super Nanny

I do not own TSOM or Super Nanny