Chapter Sixteen
Morrisville, VT

"Bobby," Georg called to his Louisa's oldest son. "Come in here please." Georg sat up from where he'd been working under the kitchen sink. "Do you recognize this?" he held up a green army man that he'd extracted from the pipe.

"Yes, Pop-Pop," he replied. "it's my toy. What was it doing in the sink?"

"My guess is that Sammy put it down the drain because you left it lying about," Georg replied. "This is why we don't leave small toys lying about, okay? Sammy can get into them and make a mess. This time he only put it down the drain, but he might have put it in his mouth and gotten sick."

"I'll be more careful," Bobby promised Georg giving him a smile.

"That's my boy," Georg praised. "Go put this away. Where's your Mommy?"

"She fell asleep with baby Maggie," Bobby replied. "Baby Maggie doesn't like to sleep at night she only sleeps in the daytime."

"I see," Georg sighed. "You're Mommy was like that too. How about some lunch? I'll fix you a sandwich. Peanut butter and jam?"

"Yeah, Nana's jam. The orange one," Bobby requested referring to Maria's apricot jam. "Nothing better," Georg agreed. "Go get your brother and be quiet, don't wake Mommy. Okay."

Georg got the boys fed, gave Sammy a little tea and brandy for his cough, then quickly scooped up a cranky Maggie so she didn't wake Louisa. Sam's work sometimes took him away for a few weeks at a time, but Georg secretly loved that, it let him spend more one to one time with his grandsons than he might otherwise.

When Liesl and Friedrich's children were younger, Georg had been working and raising Lida, Cathy, and Julia. The same thing with Kurt's boys. Marta and Gretel had each other to rely on for help, so it was Louisa's children Georg had the opportunity to step up and be the "wise old man". He hoped to do that for Brigitta if she decided to have children, Lida, Cathy, and Julia, but he wasn't sure if he could get that opportunity now, especially now with Lida and Cathy both angry with him.

Louisa woke up to a quiet peace. She looked at the clock and saw it was past 8 already. She bolted upright with a gasp. She'd fallen asleep with her kids unattended. Louisa shot out of the chair she slept in and hurried to the living room. "Bobby?! Samuel?!"

Then she heard it, the soft sound of her father's rich baritone "Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow, bloom and grow forever…" Louisa smiled as she listened to her baby daughter's coos as she nestled close to her Pop-Pop.

"You're wonderful with her," Louisa said softly. "You stayed all this time?"

"Of course," Georg replied. "I called your mother, she's home with Cathy and Julia. She was glad to get me out of the house I think. I've been pretty tough to live with the past week."

Louisa moved to sit on the ottoman near the chair where Georg continued to snuggle his newest grandchild. "How are you?" Louisa asked gently. She knew more than anyone what it felt like to internalize feelings until you nearly came apart.

"I'm all right," Georg replied. "I'd like to say I know I made the wrong decision in not telling Lida about her paternity when she was younger, but the more I think about the reaction she'd had now as an adult. I don't think telling her sooner would have made a difference. There was too much risk involved."

Louisa nodded slowly. "I remember the day she was born. Mother was a little slow to warm up to her, but you had your hands all over her. Holding her and changing her diapers, I thought Frau Schmidt was going to spin her head sideways seeing you do that so expertly after almost six years."

"It's not something you forget," Georg smiled. "You, my dear girl, were the most colicky of the ten of you. You cried nearly nonstop for over a month at least. Sometimes, like before with Maggie, I had to walk up and down the hallway with you on my shoulder just to get you to settle down for a little while. I'd never felt so helpless, until of course, when your first mother died."

"It's hard with Sam gone," Louisa admitted. "But he'll be home by Thursday."

"That's good," Georg replied looking to see Maggie had fallen asleep. "In the meantime, you can call us for help, okay? Do you want me to stay the night with you? So you can get a full night's rest, your mother will understand."

"No," Louisa declined the kind offer. "Lida's actually been staying with me and helping out. I've tried to get her to talk to me, to let me know why she's directed all her rage at you, but so far she's still calling you Captain."

"Your mother's stubborn streak," Georg sighed. "She's angry with me because she can't be angry at her birth father. As far as she's concerned, we could all be lying to her about what happened to your mother."

Louisa shook her head, "I think the older three of us at least, and I think Brigitta too, knew that something happened. We knew you too well, we knew mother too well for you to have had…I'm sorry Father, but as far as I can think of it, I'm from the stork, I cannot think of you doing…"

Georg laughed. He'd felt that way about his own parents, "Wait until it's your children getting pregnant, then the cat is out of the bag for certain," Georg managed a laugh.

"As I was saying before you went there," Louisa sighed. "We all knew better. We knew you weren't Lida's real father; we just didn't know why. Now it all makes sense, but we knew because of when mother got pregnant, not because of the kind of father you were."

"Thank you for that, Louisa," Georg replied after a beat. "I did try so hard to make up for what I damaged with you older children, but I didn't have to try when it came to Lida, when it came to treating her as my own, she was my own."

"She'll come around," Louisa promised. 'It's pretty dark out so be careful going home, okay?"

"Where did Lida go? She left when she heard I was coming?" Georg verified.

"She said she had something she needed to do, but that was hours ago," Louisa replied. "She should be back soon. She's been taking a lot of time on her own to think."

Just as Louisa said that, the door slid opened and Lida came into the house. She was wet from the rain that had started to fall a short time earlier. Lida didn't speak to Georg, she moved to go upstairs and change when he spoke, "Hello, Lida."

Lida stopped for a moment, then turned to face him with a cold, blue stare that rivaled any he could give out. "Hello, Captain. Waiting on me?"

"No," Georg replied quickly. "Tending to my grandchildren, not that I have to have a reason to visit with my daughters when I like."

"Daughter," Lida corrected. "And you aren't visiting me."

"Lida, please," Louisa cut in. "I know you're angry, but please, show some respect, if not for Father, for me."

"Respect?" Lida bit back. "You talk about respect? How much respect was I given when I was lied to for my entire life. There were plenty of opportunities for him to tell me the truth! There were plenty of times I even asked, why can't I sing like the other kids? Why aren't I quick with numbers like you are, Papa? Why this and why that…and every time lies. That's not respect!"

Maggie was beginning to fuss in Georg's arms. Louisa moved to take the tiny girl, "I'm going to put her down before she wakes up. Please keep your voice down."

"There's no reason to worry," Georg replied. "I'll be going now anyway. If you need us, call us. Lida, I understand you are angry with me, but please, call your Mama and let her know you're okay. She's worried about you."

"If Mama wants to talk with me she can speak for herself," Lida replied harshly. Her anger was still boiling over inside of her, even she felt like something else had taken over her mind in the last week but the words kept flowing. "Or maybe she can't. Maybe you won't let her like you didn't want to let me. Or maybe it's because you've done her thinking for her for the last 23 years and Mama can't open her mouth unless it's to agree with you and lie for you!"

Georg started as the blow of Lida's words hit his heart, but his instinctive need to defend Maria overwhelmed his restraint. "Don't you dare speak against your Mother! I have warned you! You have no idea what she's been through, what she had to go through to bring you into this world! To protect you from the dark truth of your own past! Everything she did, has been for you! Marrying me, leaving Austria, keeping you in the dark about what truly happened, it's been for you!"

"It's been for you!" Lida shot back. "Not me! If Mama was doing anything for me she'd have let me find my true self! She'd have let me see what was behind this façade, this sham of a life, but she didn't! She couldn't because she had to please you, the great Captain von Trapp, so well known and so feared that even Americans bow at the name! Well, if they only knew who and what you truly are!"

Georg was trying with all his strength not to fight back. Georg felt he'd earned Lida's anger. He had even told Maria that he could handle Lida's hatred if it spared either of them pain, but this exchange left him doubting the truth of his own words. When Georg didn't engage Lida fired again. "I don't think you even love Mama! I think you love the idea of her, so young and innocent, so much in need of you to save her reputation from my terrible, evil father! She might not even love you, have you ever thought of that! She might be paying you back for being her hero but love…"

"Enough," Georg said in a firm, low yet calm tone. "That's enough. You're angry, you have a right to be. You hate me, you disown me, fine, you do that, but I will not tolerate you speaking of your mother this way. Your behavior is deploarable!"

"Well, you proudly raised me as your own, so you say, so take a bow, Papa and be proud!"

Lida was crying. The emotion she felt was overwhelming her brain, she literally could not stop the terrible words from leaving her mouth, though Georg's next parry managed to do it.

With a look of profound disappointment and sadness Georg softly uttered, "You are not the girl I raised. You're not the woman I thought you were, Lida. I'm not sure who you are."

On that note, Georg turned on his heel and left the house. Lida slipped to her knees, curling around herself in silent, penetrating pain. Georg was in his car in a similar position. Georg knew that his love for Maria was genuine, beyond reproach. But did Lida have a point? Did Maria actually know love or was this only gratitude mistaken for that sacred emotion.

Georg lit a cigarette and turned the car on. Maria would have his hide if she smelled the smoke on his breath, but he couldn't help it. He'd kicked a three pack a day habit when Maria was carrying Julia because the aroma of cigarettes, chicken, and shoe polish made her sick for the entire nine months In her third month, Maria told him he had to quit or live in the guest house. When he'd found his pillow outside the bedroom one night after he had been smoking at work, he knew she meant business and he'd quit.

Georg would enjoy a cigar or two with Max and the boys on formal occasions, or a cigarette or two under great stress, but he hadn't been a heavy smoker in over 17 years. Now, his habit for smoking along with his reclusiveness was rearing its ugly head. He had to get a handle on both or he would lose far more than he had already. He was certain of that.

When Georg got home, he found Maria sewing by the television. Maria looked up at Georg, took in all his signals, his posture, his countenance, the darkness of his eyes and knew things had not gone well with Lida. Maria closed the distance between them so quickly and held Georg to her with such fierce protectiveness, that the moment of doubt Georg had about Maria's feelings for him evaporated.

Georg wrapped Maria in a strong embrace and slowly swayed back and forth. No one spoke. Not a word. The only communication they needed that night came from their bodies and their eyes.

At Louisa's, Lida cried herself to sleep in her sister's arms. Louisa was trying to be nonjudgmental and accepting like her parents taught her. She was trying to be the peacekeeper, keeping Lida safe from her own anger and listening to Lida's feelings, but the way Lida had spoken left Louisa with lingering anger of her own.

Louisa made the decision to let that anger go. It wouldn't serve any purpose; it wouldn't make things better. The only thing that would do that was time.

A/N: Sorry, more angst for you all, but I promise a good ending, so hang in there. See ya Saturday!