Thank you for all your lovely reviews. I'm sorry I haven't replied but hopefully a new chapter will make up for that.

Georg was tired, his eyes were heavy and his head was aching. He had barely slept after his dream last night, too concerned with the possibility of a repeat to really relax and let the deep sleep he had needed claim him. Coffee, h hade decided quickly was the only way he was going to get through the day. Taking a large mouthful of the drink, he saw Elsa eyebrows arch as he placed the already half drank cup back on its saucer. She placed her fork down with a small clink as she commented, "You don't normally take your coffee black, are you tired?"

He managed a small smile. "Slightly," he admitted. "Ironically I must have been too tired to sleep properly."

"Perhaps then we should have a slightly less...energetic day than yesterday. I had hoped that you would take me into Salzberg, it looks to be such a quaint little town."

Georg gave a small chuckle. "Only you could call our bustling hub, quaint," he remarked. "But yes, that sounds like a nice way to spend the day, after all I believe I have been rather remiss in my hosting duties these last few days."

"Not at all," she assured him quickly. "You had not seen your children in three weeks, it is only natural that you would want to spend time with them." She smiled as his hand brushed over hers, confident that she had said the right thing in this instance at least.

Elsa's smile however quickly faltered when Georg looked towards Max, who was sifting through his notebook and asked, "Shall you be accompanying us today, Max?"

Looking up from his own, nearly illegible scrawl, Max caught sight of the tiny shake of Elsa's elegant blonde head as she dabbed at her lips with a napkin and shooting his friend a bright smile replied, "Regrettably I shall have to decline. Shameful of me I know, especially since I have been tasked with protecting poor Elsa's reputation." He gave a rather theatrical sigh. "Alas, duty calls and I simply must attend to it."

"Yes," Georg drawled with dry amusement, "after all, we'd hate to keep you from such pressing matters." The sound of laughter, and a rumble of mixed yells reached their ears, causing Elsa to wince ever so slightly, and though it made his heart sing to hear his children so happy again, Georg had to admit that the noise was slightly overwhelming, especially to his already aching head. "It would appear the children are on their way."

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Max teased. There was a loud thump and his smile turned into a small frown. "Good Lord, what are they doing?"

"It might be safer that we don't know," Georg mumbled. He heard one of the girl's shriek – although he couldn't be sure which one – and felt a muscle in his cheek twitch. "Although on second thought I may have to investigate so that this does not become a morning occurrence," he added darkly, taking another gulp of his coffee.

Elsa turned quite pale at the thought of dealing with, or rather living with such a cacophony every morning – or perish the thought, every mealtime – and remarked, "Surely it should be your Governess who deals with such matters, Georg."

"I'm not sure if you've noticed, Elsa, but my Governess can be just as loud."

"Believe me, I had. Still you only have her until September, I'm sure someone more suitable will present themselves by then. They can slip into her shoes and you can rest easy."

"The children will be sad to see her go," Georg reminded her, perturbed to find that he himself was bothered by the idea that she would eventually leave them, never to return. He could only assume he felt that way due to the impact she had on his children, on their lives and because of the way she had managed to reunite them.

"Perhaps." Elsa gave a small shrug, "but they shall get over it."

"Mmm, of course one wonders of Georg will require a Governess at all by September," Max added slyly. "Or if perhaps, he will have found another...solution to having such a large brood."

"That's quite enough, Max," Georg warned him. "I've told you before that idle words cause gossip."

The older man smiled, ignoring Elsa's glare as he continued, "I do not believe my words to be idle, after all they are based on your actions-"

"Max!" Georg barked. "Enough." He knew what Max was leaning towards, the direction that he was prompting him to take, but he would not be rushed. Marriage was permanent, it was not a rash decision that one could retract and though he was sure that he and Elsa would suit, he needed to make sure that their lives would fit together.

"I can only remark on what I see," Max concluded, raising his hand slightly to show that he had said his piece.

Elsa placed her hand over Georg's telling him with forced cheeriness, "You know how Max's tongue can run away with him darling. I have often found that when it does it is simply best to ignore him."

"How charming," Max retorted with mock outrage.

Georg clasped Elsa's hand in his and raised it to his mouth, placing a chaste kiss on her knuckles as managed to offer her a smile. "In this instance, as in many others, I think you could be right," he told her.

"I so often am." She returned his smile, with a genuine one this time, basking in the glory of his attention, of his charm. This was the man she had chased, the man she would have by her side for the rest of her days, who would not just see her as a pretty bauble to hang on his arm. The thought thrilled her greatly.

"Father!" It was Gretl's happy squeal of greeting that tore into the moment, causing Georg to let Elsa's hand slip from his own. He did not want his children to become bogged down with the implications of Elsa's visit, although he was certain the older ones were already aware of just why she was staying with them.

"Gretl," he greeted her warmly, pushing his chair out slightly, allowing her to rush into his arms. He kissed her forehead in greeting. "You are very cheerful this morning."

"It's sunny," she informed him knowingly, "And Fraulein Maria says that if the sun is shining then we should shine with it."

"Yes that does sound like something she would say," Elsa sighed almost wearily. Honestly did the girl have to be so cheery all of the time? Could she not have an off day or even an off moment?

"Well, it's lovely to see you smile, whatever the reason." Gorge tucked a loose strand of hair behind his daughter's ear, pretending he hadn't heard Elsa's comment. "Now, do you need any help getting your breakfast?"

Gretl peered at the silver dishes of food laid out on the pristine, white clothed table that ran along the side of the room, her young face settling into a look of deep concentration. At breakfast they simply all helped themselves, but normally Louisa helped her. Only Louisa wasn't here, Fraulein Maria was making her return the field mouse she'd found sequestered in her room, outside. "I don't know," she finally told him doubtfully. "I might wait for Louisa."

"You don't have to do that." Georg got to his feet and neatly swept her into his arms, nearly staggering as he remembered just how long it had been since he'd done such a thing and realising he may have slightly underestimated Gretl's weight. Still though, he smiled at her. "I can help you," he told her as he took her to the table. Picking up a plate in his free hand, he passed her it as he continued, "Right, you hold this and tell me what you'd like me to put on it."

Giving a delighted giggled, as she began pointing out what she would like, her bright smile widening as she watched her father easily and deftly place the food onto her plate. "That's enough," she finally told him quite firmly, before pecking his cheek, "Thank you, Father."

"Not a problem," he stifled a groan as he placed her back onto her feet, a smile quickly replacing his wince as he saw her solemnly, almost reverently carry her plate back to her seat just as Liesl entered the room with her two brothers. "And just what has taken you three so long?" he asked archly.

They all flushed guiltily, but it was Liesl who took the responsibility for answering, "We're sorry, Father, we just um..." She glanced at her brother's desperately, not wanting to disclose the chaos that had taken place upstairs, only to find neither would meet her gaze and so concluded lamely, "lost track of the time."

"Did you indeed? And where may I ask are your sisters?"

"Captain, I'm very sorry that we're late," Fraulein Maria suddenly cut in, rushing through the door with a happy looking Marta grasping her hand. "I slept in and so I rather fell behind with getting the children ready."

"Fraulein Maria braided my hair," Marta chimed in cheerfully, tilting her head so that he may admire the neat braids that curled around her head.

Georg raised an eyebrow at that, he had the feeling that despite Marta's innocent smile, she was attempting to distract him from his line of questioning, whilst simultaneously drawing attention to the wonders that her precious Fraulein could work. "You look lovely," he assured her gently, he placed his hand gently on her shoulder as he pressed her in the direction of the breakfast table. "Now go and get your breakfast before Frau Schmidt comes to clear it away." He watched as she reluctantly tore her hand away from the young woman and only after she had been given a smile of reassurance, whilst her older siblings watched warily from their seats, their own food untouched. He turned his attention back to his errant governess to find her staring at him, her eyes wide and clear. "It would appear, Fraulein that in your rush to get the children ready, you have forgotten two of them."

"Oh no, Captain," she replied earnestly, "Louisa and Brigitta are...carrying out a...task for me." She smiled at him. "They won't be long."

He sighed, his eyes narrowing, "Fraulein, do you remember my rules about mealtimes?"

"Of course."

"And yet once again you have managed to either overlook or wilfully break them?"

She tilted her head, those piercing blue eyes of hers studying him as though trying to decipher whether he was teasing her or whether he was truly annoyed. If he were honest with himself it was a bit of both, although the latter was more to do with the effect her watching him so intently was having on his already muddled thoughts. Finally she answered, "My sincerest apologies, Captain. I can only assure you that it won't happen again."

"I'm very glad to hear that, Fraulein, otherwise I believe we'll have to revise your bedtime."

The very moment the words escaped his mouth he regretted them. He heard Max give a choked cough and saw a moment of surprise register across Elsa's face. Even the Fraulein had picked up on his little slip, bewildered amusement that she shot him – she was even too innocent to even consider the connotations of that sentence and God help him but that thought tugged at him. It was surprisingly Kurt who saved him, remarking, "Fraulein Maria, doesn't have a bedtime, Father, she's an adult."

"I am aware of that, Kurt," he replied, "But ironically, the Fraulein and I were discussing a revision of the time you lot are to go to bed. Rather than incurring a barrage of noise and chaos by sending you all at the same time, we're going to stagger them." He truly needed to stop saying we, he decided silently, it was his decision, he was their father and sooner or later someone was going to pick up on the way he grouped himself together with her on the important matter of his children.

Freidrich and Liesl shared a look of delight, as his son asked cautiously, "Does that mean that we can stay up later, Father?"

"It does, at least some of you may." He made his way back to his seat as he told them, "But now is a time to eat, we can discuss it later." He gave a small chortle of quiet laughter as he saw his two eldest children nod enthusiastically, before turning their full attention to their breakfast. Looking over to Fraulein Maria to share his amusement with her, his suspicions that something odd was underfoot were immediately roused when he saw she was standing at the breakfast table with her eyes fixed firmly on the door. "Are you intending to join us, Fraulein?" He asked.

She jumped guiltily, whirling round and staring at him with those big, blue eyes of hers. "Of course, Captain. I thought I might just check first if the girls were...finished."

Georg looked between her and the five of his children who were present, his eyes narrowing slightly at their refusal to meet his gaze, even Max was looking intrigued now. "I'm curious, Fraulein, what kind of task did you set them?"

Maria stared at her employer, why? She wondered, why did he have to bait her so? It was as though he always knew when something that he wouldn't approve of was underfoot. His gaze seared her and his head tilted as his mouth quirked into that dangerous half smile of his. Her stomach always seemed to tie itself into knots at the sight of that smile, but oddly it wasn't nerves that caused the reaction although she wasn't sure what did. "Nothing too onerous, Captain," she replied, giving him a wide smile in return. "I just want to make sure they do not miss breakfast on my account. It is the most important meal of the day after all."

"Well then, perhaps you can save your...um...tasks until after mealtimes then, especially if you yourself are already running late."

She fought the urge to scowl at him, and she never wanted to scowl, but oh how the man vexed her! Maria felt her cheek twitch with the effort it kept to keep smiling at him. "I shall remember that," she forced out.

Georg fought the urge to laugh at her, she was very obviously irritated, the colour in her already rosy cheeks heightening. He didn't know why he found it so amusing to bait her, but it was quickly turning into the highlight of his day. "See that you do."

Any response of hers was lost, as was her attention as Louisa and Brigitta rushed into the room. Brigitta regarded her father anxiously, while Louisa ducked her head, to avoid meeting his speculative gaze. "I'm sorry, we're late, Father," she mumbled. "It's just-"

"Yes, yes," He held up his hand, the mild fear that still crossed his children's features when they thought they might have irritated him, and suddenly his previous good humour evaporated. "Fraulein Maria has already explained and I think this saga has carried on long enough, now sit down, please." The next few moments passed in silence, while Georg regarded his children carefully as it belatedly dawned on him that they were all wearing their uniforms. He wasn't sure why they were all dressed in such a manner, he knew how Fraulein Maria felt about them, and he had to agree that he now felt much the same way. The sight of them made his chest constrict at the thought of how narrow minded he had been. "Fraulein, is there a particular reason for the children's current attire?"

She looked up from buttering her toast and glanced at her charges in puzzlement before replying, "They're just in their uniforms, Captain."

"Yes, I can see that," he told her bitingly. "but given your previous aversion to them, I'm confused as to why."

"Oh!" Her face cleared. "Well I thought I would take the children on a nature walk today, and as their...play clothes haven't yet recovered from their time in the lake this was the only option, after all I don't want them spoiling their nice clothes."

"Ah." Georg glanced at Elsa, who was looking mildly bored at the entire conversation now. "Well, I think we can fit that in today, don't you?"

"Fit what in?" Elsa asked.

"Buying the children some new clothes, after all fashion is what you live for, is it not?" He teased.

Elsa managed a weak smile. "I'm not sure play clothes are quite my speciality, but I shall be glad to provide whatever assistance I can." She frowned into her coffee. She had so been looking to a day of Georg's undivided attention, but then she supposed that she could use this convince him that she would be a more than adequate stepmother to his little darlings. Yes, that was it, this was her perfect opportunity. Her smile widened and became more confident. "Well, since we have such a busy day ahead of us, Georg would you excuse me while I get ready?"

"Of course." Georg got to his feet, watching Elsa carefully as she left the room.

As he took his seat again, he heard Max mumble subtly, "That almost sounds as though you're setting her a test, Georg."

"You're starting to sound slightly paranoid, Max, you might want to be careful about that," he replied smoothly.

"You mean to tell me that – Good Lord!" Max yelped, as he jumped back from the table, his eyes widening and moustache bristling in surprise.

The children let out a few surprised shrieks, while both Brigitta and Louisa all but launched themselves across the table in an effort to catch the small brown field mouse that was now darting about the plates. "What on earth?" Georg roared, his eyes instantaneously meeting those of Fraulein Maria, who looked as surprised as he probably did.

It was Louisa who managed to scoop the terrified animal into her hands, soothing it quickly before placing it into her pocket and staring up her governess guiltily. "We're sorry," she told her quickly. "I know you told us to put him back but-"

"Do you mean to tell me you were aware of this fiasco?" Georg interrupted testily.

"Oh Father, please don't be cross with Fraulein Maria," Brigitta cut in hastily. "She told us to set him free and Louisa was going to, but I was worried that Frau Schmidt's cat would get him. We weren't going to keep him, we were just going to wait until our walk to let him go."

Well this certainly explained the racket earlier, and the fact that none of them had arrived on timie, slept in indeed. "Why did you have him in the first place?" Georg asked dangerously. "Was this for another one of your pranks, Louisa?"

"No!" Her eyes widened as she shook her head. "We promised Fraulein Maria that we wouldn't play any tricks on the Baroness. I found him in the gazebo yesterday, he looked cold and it was about to rain-"

"He is a mouse, I'm sure that he would have found a way to survive," he snapped through gritted teeth, more irritated by the fact that his children had obviously planned to torment Elsa as they had so many others.

He inhaled deeply as he fought to find the proper words, only to be saved by Fraulein Maria cutting in, clapping her hands hastily. "Children, go and get ready for your walk. Louisa, Brigitta I shall talk to you both in a few minutes." She hurried them out of the room before turning to look at him, her eyes beseeching, and suddenly the temper that had been building began to ease. "Captain, I can understand why you would be angry, but Louisa has such a way with animals, she can't bear to see them suffer, and I'll make sure that she returns him to his natural habitat and-"

"Fraulein, have you ever heard the expression less is more?" He queried, interrupting her. "You are right, Louisa is good with animals, but that does not mean that I want to have a menagerie of wildlife in this house."

"And you won't have," she assured him quickly, "although I do feel it is worthwhile encouraging the children's natural gifts."

"Not at the breakfast table," he pointed out dryly. "And as I have stated in the past Fraulein, though your commitment to the children is admirable, you should not cover for them. I do not want my children to hide things from me," he admitted.

Her face softened. "I think that the children would have told you, I just asked that they didn't mention it in front of the Baroness. I wasn't sure if she would find the story amusing, and she is a guest here."

Georg looked into her open face, but could discern no veiled insult to Elsa in there. After all she was right, Elsa would have been horrified that his children roamed the grounds, rescuing sick animals. "Perhaps." He let out a thoughtful sigh. "I would however suggest that despite Brigitta's noble intentions to save the creature from being eaten, you do speak to her about disregarding your instructions."

Looking slightly reluctant at her task, Maria gave a small nod. "I shall, but I ask your permission to deal with her in the way I see fit."

"Very well, I shall leave you to it then, Fraulein."

"That was interesting," Max commented as Maria darted from the room, her hurried footsteps echoing on the tiles.

"Hmmm, one of the joys of having seven children."

"I more meant your conversation."

"Don't start, Max."

His friend gave a shrug. "I only mean that if any other person, never mind a slip of girl, a future nun indeed, had dared to question you in the way she has, you would have torn a strip from them and sent them from this house, and yet with her..." He tailed off meaningfully.

"She is good with the children," he replied, although the excuse he now parroted occasion after occasion began to sound hollow even to his own ears.

"She is," his friend agreed benignly. "Still, I'm sure spending the day with the lovely Elsa will clear your mind of any other thoughts." On catching Georg's glare, he gave a chuckle. "I refer of course to this morning's mayhem."

"Of course. I'm only glad that she missed the excitement."

"Yes, that's probably for the best if you intend to persuade her to become part of your household." His head tilted to the side as he asked, "That is still your intention, is it not?"

"Of course it is," he answered automatically. "Of course it is."