Chapter Seven
July 1960
Stowe, Vermont

Georg asked that Lida and Cathy stay in town that night with Liesl so that he could tend to Maria in private. The truth was, he didn't want anyone else to guess the root cause of Maria's fears. Julia had gone down to the guest house and was boarding the night with Kurt's family.

The medication Curtis gave Maria helped her to sleep peacefully, but Georg's night was anything but calm. He was unable to sleep, unable to get comfortable. He knew deep down that whoever this person was meant no harm, but he had failed miserably to protect Maria from Braun all those years ago, he was not going to fail her again.

In a modest sized house with whitewashed siding and a set of French doors, Marta von Trapp Leland tucked her children into their beds. Curtis had gone into his office not long after they had come back from tending to Maria. He was completely silent on the ride home and had barely spoken at supper, even to the children.

Marta fixed him a hot cup of coffee and cream and took it to him in the medical part of the house. Curtis was pouring over medical books, all on psychiatry, when she sat across from him.

Marta served the coffee in silence then sat down and crossed her legs at the ankle. With her hands folded in her lap, she waited.

Finally, Curtis spoke, "I can't tell you, Marta. You know I can't."

"You can tell me if my Mother is going to be okay," Marta said matter-of-factly. "And my Father."

"If your mother is, then he will be," Curtis replied. "I think that after some rest and a little quiet time, your Mother will be fine."

Marta had done a year and a half of nursing school before she married Curtis, she knew a bit about what happened today. "I wonder now," Marta began. "Why a woman that married as young as my mother did, to a man that treated her as well as my father has, would have shell shock."

"Your mother was alive for a good while before she met your father, Marta," Curtis replied. "We don't know what might have happened in her childhood or her youth that left its mark. What I do know, and it isn't much, is that episodes like this are often triggered by familiar stimuli, in this case, your father tells me it was the odor of the visitor's cologne that set this off."

Marta shook her head, "Mother was the kindest, most energetic, most vibrant person I had ever met, even if I was only seven. There was never any trace of her being anything more than fun-loving and full of life. Until…I don't remember much…"

January 1938
Salzburg, Austria

Seven wide-eyed children and Max sat around Georg and Maria. The pair of them had asked everyone to go into the salon, they had something important to tell them. Gretel had become frightened right away that the announcement would be Fraulein Maria was leaving them again. She hadn't seemed to be as happy since she went to the party with Liesl, and now this family meeting.

Georg had a grave look on his face, but when he saw the expressions of his children, his eyes softened, and he smiled. Georg stood behind Maria and laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Children," Georg began with a deep breath. "I know you have all been very worried about Fraulein Maria since she got sick the other day and I have also been. I sent out for Dr. Kretzer to come and make sure everything was okay, and we have some news to tell you all."

"Are you sick, Fraulein Maria?" Brigitta asked, fear evident in her blue eyes. Louisa was stone faced, and Gretel's lips trembled even more.

"No, my dears," Maria replied. "No, I'm not sick at all. I.."

Maria couldn't get the words out of her mouth. She felt like she was going to vomit sitting there pretending like she was, but she had to, they had no choice. She had no choice in this, it was all up to Georg. He was going to give this baby a name, give her his protection, she had to defer to him and let him handle this.

"Fraulein Maria isn't sick, I assure you," Georg replied. "But, by this time next week, she won't be Fraulein Maria anymore. She will be your new mother."

The little ones were delighted, beyond thrilled that their beloved governess was to be their new mother. The older children were more skeptical, they had seen the signs of Maria's pregnancy, only had mistaken it for illness.

"Gently, gently," Georg warned. "I'm glad you are so happy for us, however, I am going to need all of you to be very good, and very gentle with Fraulein Maria from now on. Don't ask her to be running around or going up and down from the floor or anything like that. Fraulein Maria has to be very, very careful do you all understand?"

Seven heads moved up and down, then Brigitta, ever the observer asked, "Are you going to have a baby?"

Brigitta had seen the illness, seen Maria's paleness, she had noticed she barely ate but was getting a small tummy. Maria blushed and turned so that her face was nearly buried in Georg's jacket.

"Yes," Georg replied. "Fraulein Maria is going to have a baby in the summer. You are going to have a little brother or sister…"

Stowe, Vermont
July 1960

"Lida was born five months later," Marta sighed. "I was too young then to really understand that father and mother had been intimate with each other before they were married, Liesl explained a little bit to me, but by the time I was old enough to understand, I didn't care. It was her pregnancy though, that changed her and not just physically, there was always a hint of something."

Marta bit her lip, "Oh, Curtis, you don't suppose that father…"

"No," Curtis replied. "No, I know for a fact he did not do that. As much as he and I dislike one another, no. I know. We might never know the cause of this, Marta, but I do know there are ways to help Maria when she gets these episodes. I was just reading up on one about positive images in the mind, a place to take yourself to relieve stress. I think I'll try that with her if need be."

Marta stood up, "I know you can't say anything, but thank you for helping my father today as well as my mother. I get concerned for him sometimes, he's not that young anymore, but he takes on so much."

"Your father is like freight train, Dear," Curtis assured her. "Gonna take a force of nature to stop him."

Marta gave Curtis a kiss, "Don't be too late." With that she slipped out of the room to prepare for bed.

Maria woke near dawn nestled securely in the crook of Georg's arms. Maria could tell by how rigid Georg's posture was that he wasn't sleeping. She shifted and lifted her head, "Darling?"

Georg sighed and shifted a bit so their eyes met. "How do you feel, my love? Can I get you anything?"

Maria shook her head, "Foolish, that's how I feel. I don't know what on earth got into me. There was no way, there was just no way, he would have to be in his fifties by now and this man was no more than thirty."

"Braun?" Georg confirmed. "You said he smelled like him, the same cologne?"

Maria nodded, "Sweet and woodsy and just…it was so overpowering I don't even remember what I said to him or what he was here for, I just…"

"Ssh," Georg soothed. "It's all right. It's all right." Georg gently began to rock back and forth. "Everything is fine now, it's over. It's all over. He probably won't come back and if he does, I'll be here. I'm not going to leave you alone, not just now. I promise."

Maria pushed herself up, "That's ridiculous. Truly, I'm fine now, just tired. I can't believe that I lost control like that. That Julia had to see me like that."

"Julia's fine," Georg comforted. "As long as you're okay, she'll be okay. Julia loves you very much, all she was concerned about was whether or not you'd been hurt by this man."

"Not that one," Maria shook her head. "I'm tired of this Georg. I'm sick and tired of him still having the power to sideline me like that. He took enough from me, he took my virginity, he took the magic I should have felt with my first pregnancy, and I let him. Why do I keep letting him have more and more of me?"

Georg couldn't answer that question even though he saw this in so many sailors in his time. "Curtis thinks," Georg began not realizing it came out until Maria reacted.

"Curtis knows?!" Maria gasped. "Then Marta does too."

"No," Georg assured Maria quickly. "Curtis guessed and I didn't deny it. We had a rather pleasant conversation actually, then he prescribed me Tylenol and filed the chat under doctor/patient confidentiality and that's that. I know he's never been number one on my chart of sons-in-law but I trust him not to breath a word of this to anyone, including Marta."

"I couldn't bear it, Georg," Maria whispered as tears began to run down her cheeks. "I just couldn't bear the looks of pity from our children, or the questions about Lida if anyone ever found out. What it would do to her! I just can't."

"You don't have to, my love," Georg soothed. "Curtis won't say anything and if you do decide you want to ask him for some guidance in this, or if you want to speak to Father Barrett, I know neither of them will say anything."

Maria shifted closer to Georg, "I just want to forget it, but I can't. Life won't let me. It seems as soon as I do forget something happens somewhere to remind me. Are you all right? You look exhausted. What time is it?"

"Five," Georg replied. "Five in the morning, and to answer your question I am fine, Maria. Now that you're awake and I can see your beautiful eyes, I am more than okay. May I?"

Whenever Maria had an episode, Georg asked before bestowing any affection on her. Maria nodded her consent and Georg tipped his head to take her lips with his own. He kept the kiss short and sweet, but it accomplished its silent purpose. "Try and get some more rest. I'll close my eyes, but I'll be right here, I promise."

"I know," Maria murmured feeling sleep overtaking her again. "Try and get some sleep, please. For me?"

Georg chuckled, "Anything for you, my love," though try as he might, sleep still didn't find him, and ended up watching the sunrise with his wife cradled to his chest hoping the new day would bring them peace.

A/N: I have completed ten chapters so far and the revelation is getting closer. I'm guessing 20 chapters in all by the time we deal with the aftermath but the story is not completed yet so I'm not sure where the muse will guide me. Hope you enjoyed.