"Georg," Maria called from the bathroom of their hotel suite. They were in Massachusetts to visit with Cathy for parents' weekend at Wellesley and decided to take an extra day just for themselves.

"Yes, my love," Georg replied as he tucked their suitcase under the bed. They hadn't had a weekend away in a couple of years.

"Did you pack the bicarbonate soda?" Maria stepped out of the bathroom rubbing her stomach area just below her breasts.

"Heartburn again?" Georg asked. "And a dizzy spell this morning. Maria, I think you need to see the doctor when we get home. You could have an ulcer or something from all this nonsense with Lida moving out and the argument."

"Or it could be that rich Italian food," Maria countered. "Did you pack it?"

"No, Darling, I didn't think to pack it," Georg replied. "I'll go out and get some for you. There's a market down the street, I'll just run out…"

Maria's face fell as she moved toward the bed wearing Georg's shirt. She wanted to be enveloped in his scent. "Maybe just ring room service for some crackers, I don't want you to go. I don't want to be all alone in this big room, I don't feel well."

Georg nodded, "You don't look so well either. Are you feverish?"

Georg thoroughly checked Maria over. She had not been sick once in their entire marriage. Three times the flu had ravaged the entire family and thrice she had escaped. It unnerved him a bit to see her pale and sweaty like this and not for the first time in the last three weeks. "You're not warm except for your cheeks," Georg mused and pulled Maria close.

"Lie down, I'll call for the crackers and we can just watch the TV, rest, relax, sound good?"

"That sounds like Heaven to me," Maria whispered and ginergly climbed up on the king size bed. Georg ordered up crackers, ginger ale, and a pastry and coffee for himself, then laid down next to Maria.

She inhaled, "Georg…"

"I'm sorry, my love," Georg replied quickly. "It was just one cigarette, I promise. I have had the same pack for a week."

"I was going to say I barely saw you smoking at all this weekend, I hardly smelled it on you at all. I'm really proud of you and I'm so grateful you are doing it for me and respecting me that way. I wasn't sure that you…" Maria trailed off as her voice broke.

"Wasn't sure that I would what, Maria?" Georg asked gently.

Maria clung a little tighter to Georg's side as the acid in her stomach continued to burn her throat. "Respect me again," Maria replied. "Respect my judgment again after I made such a mess of things with Lida. I'm the reason we lost her, Georg. I'm the reason we lost our daughter."

Georg didn't understand where this was coming from. He thought they had made their peace with letting Lida find her own path in this, knowing it would lead her home eventually.

"Maria, no, Darling. No, that is not what happened, all right? Lida's right, I could have spoken up at any time, but she doesn't understand the silent parts of our marriage. She won't until she's married herself. Don't cry, please, don't cry."

Maria settled very quickly, for which Georg was glad. The room service came quickly, and Georg set up a little bed picnic. "Try to eat a few of them okay? I can go out and get your some medicine."

"No," Maria held onto his arm. "No, just stay with me. Stay close."

Georg leaned over and gave Maria a kiss. "I'll always be close. Now eat…"

Maria chuckled lightly, "Yes, Captain."

Maria felt better the next morning, so Georg took her to breakfast then for a stroll along the Charles River bank. They held hands and watched the boats on the water. Georg was explaining to her how they would count the time on the submarines when the power supply was low or the clocks would wind down. "If we were silent, and we had to be a lot, we couldn't radio. Once we were late coming into port by almost three weeks. Agathe thought she'd seen the end of me, but we had conserved so well, we lost track of how long we were out there."

Maria started to laugh, then shifted and gasped, "Georg!" she hit him on the arm lightly. "I know what's been wrong with me these last few weeks. I can't believe I didn't notice it before."

Georg was not sure how his story about losing track of time brought about a realization about her health difficulties, but he arched his brow. "I have all the symptoms. I'm dizzy and hot, I have night sweats, I'm weepy all the time, I've gained weight, and I'm late…I'm starting it. I never thought I would, I guess you don't even think you will, but I'm starting it."

Georg arched his eyebrows even higher into his hair line. "Starting what exactly, Darling?"

"I'm starting…" Maria dropped her voice. "The change."

Georg's mind rewound not only over the past few weeks, but the past few months. Maria hadn't been as weepy or dizzy, but she had put on a few pounds in her middle. He remembered hearing about this happening to other women, but Maria was right, it was unbelievable that it would happen to her. "Maria, you can't be going through menopause. Frau Schmidt and my mother went through menopause."

"Well exactly and probably at my age," Maria replied. "I'm not the young postulant you married, Georg. We have aged, some of us more gracefully than others."

"If you're referring to Max's hairline, well, okay," Georg joked. "Maria, you are beautiful and menopause or no menopause, heavy or thin, old or young, you will always be the most beautiful woman in the world to me. I love you so much."

Georg moved to hold Maria tightly to his chest. Couples passed them as he rocked slowly letting all of his love come out in his hug, and looked at them, many in awe of what they saw, how much this couple cared, deeply cared for one another.

"I love you," Maria whispered. "Very much. I need you so much, Georg. I need you for so many things."

"I need you too, Maria," Georg whispered. "So promise me, when we get home, you'll stop by and see Curtis? Have him make sure it's menopause? For me? I don't want you to be sick and we miss the opportunity to combat it. Promise me."

Maria met his eyes, and saw that haunted look he got whenever he was worried she was somehow endangered. "I promise," she whispered. Her word was enough to settle him.

Stowe, Vermont
Two Days Later

"She's burning up," Georg told Marta on the telephone, his voice laced with panic. "She's having a lot of pain in her back, I'm worried. She had some problems on the trip, but she was fine…"

"I'll have Curtis come right up, Father," Marta assured Georg. "Please try not to worry too much."

Georg went back into the bedroom. Maria had gotten out of bed and was dressing. "What are you doing?" he asked emphatically. "Get back into bed at once!"

"Georg, it's just some back pain, I've had it before," Maria countered. "I don't need you fussing."

"You are burning up with fever," Georg countered. "Curtis is on his way up to examine you."

"You called Marta and Curtis?! For this?" Maria protested even as a sharp pain shot through her causing her to gasp.

"Yes, for that," Georg said as he hurried to Maria's side. "Lie down please and rest. Let Curtis examine you, are you frightened for him to touch you?"

"No," Maria sighed. "I just don't want to be sick. I have never been in bed more than two days even after giving birth. I don't…"

"Well, I do," Georg insisted. "Lie down please. Try to drink some water."

Georg got a glass from the bathroom as Maria acquiesced to his urging and the throbbing pain. Georg handed her the cup of water and sat on the bed beside her. "Do you want a cool cloth?"

"I want you to go have a cup of coffee, have a cigarette if you must, anything but fussing," Maria encouraged "You are driving me up the wall. Please calm down."

Maria covered Georg's hand with her own. It was too warm for his liking. "Please, you have no color, now stop fussing over me."

Georg looked sheepish, "I don't want to bother you, but I love you so much. I don't like seeing you in pain. You're right, you have never been sick a day in your life. Not like this. It's frightening for me, Maria."

Maria sighed and slid her arms around Georg's shoulders and pulled him towards her. "It's all right, my love," she soothed. "There's nothing to be frightened of. I'm sure it's just a little bug and Curtis will have it fixed in no time. Don't worry, please."

Maria knew Georg couldn't help it, she hated he was so shaken up by what she was certain was nothing to worry about. "You didn't call the whole family, did you?"

"No, what could anyone in the family besides Curtis and Marta do anyway?" Georg asked. "I didn't even tell Julia why you hadn't gotten up yet. Take some more water, Darling. Sip it slowly."

The 45 minutes it took for Curtis to get to the farm felt like 45 years to Georg. He had never been so relieved to see his least favorite son-in-law. "How is she doing?" Curtis asked Georg as they shook hands. "Your hands are cold."

"I had them in cold water," Georg replied. "She still has pain in her back, and she is still feverish."

Curtis nodded and climbed the stairs to the master bedroom to examine Maria with Georg right on his heels.

Curtis took Maria's temperature. "100.5. A fever certainly but not too much. Georg says you have some back pain. Can you point to the pain?"

"It's mostly on my right side," Maria replied placing her hand where she felt the most discomfort. "I told Georg he is being an old worrywart. You didn't have to leave patients that are really in need of you to come all the way up here."

"I like living, Maria," Curtis joked. "You know how quiet Marta is until she isn't then look out. I had no choice, but it's my pleasure to help. Deep breath."

Georg watched Maria carefully as Curtis listened to her heart, counted her pulse and respiration rates, and palpated her abdomen and back. She didn't show even a hint of fear. It was as if when they finally had to let their secret out after so many years of silence, Maria let her fear out as well. If only it hadn't cost them so dearly. Lida still wasn't speaking to Georg and rarely to her mother.

"Is there anything else you noticed that you haven't thought to mention, Maria?"

"Other than that I believe I have started menopause, but that doesn't make a fever," Maria confided as she thought about the last few days. "It hurts when I use the bathroom. It stings."

Curtis nodded, "Any blood?"

"No," Georg said quickly. He couldn't accept that, if that were so…he couldn't take the fear the thought instilled in him.

"Maria?" Curtis directed his gaze at Georg however.

"No, never," she replied. "Just stinging."

"You think you can give me a sample?" Curtis asked. "Sounds like a bladder infection but I'll take it back to the office, and have the lab run a few tests on it to make sure."

Maria nodded and took the cup. She ordered both men out of the room to give her privacy.

"Georg, what makes Maria think she is possibly going through menopause? She's only 45."

Georg shook his head, "She says she has been feeling those hot flashes and night sweats which I can attest to, it's like sleeping in a shower. She's had dizzy spells, heartburn, gained some weight but I won't admit to her I noticed, and uh…then there are the moods."

"It could be that," Curtis offered. "Or could be stress, that would explain the heartburn, moodiness, all of it."

"That's what I think, even I have been having some indigestion and we are both tired," Georg admitted. " As long as Lida was with Louisa, we felt safe but now she's on her own in town, we are concerned."

Curtis was about to give his opinion when Maria let them know she had finished. "What do you think it is?" Georg asked.

"I think it's a bladder infection, but I want to run some tests on the sample to be sure. In the meantime, I'm going to give you an injection of antibiotics and I want you to drink a lot of water, cranberry tea or juice, and eat some oranges. That will help regardless of the diagnosis."

"Do I have to lie in bed?" Maria asked. "Georg is hovering."

"I would like you to rest until the fever has bee gone for 24 hours. You can do it in bed, on the sofa, in the chair, on the porch, but rest means off your feet, nothing strenuous. Georg, I think it is time you had a checkup too. When Maria is feeling better come see me."

"I haven't seen a doctor in three years," Georg replied. "Since I needed stitches. He put me on that blood pressure medicine thing. He just keeps giving it to me."

"Precisely," Curtis replied. "You are 70 years old and a war vet with high blood pressure. You need a checkup. I'll call you tomorrow, see how you are feeling, Maria. I'll ask Marta to come by with some teas that will help. Call me if the fever or the pain gets worse. This injection should take care of any infection and I'll give you some aspirin for the pain. If you need something stronger, give me a call. Feel better."

Impulsively, Curtis gave Maria a kiss on the cheek. Maria gasped for a moment and Georg went rigid ready to fight, if need be, but Maria quickly relaxed and smiled at Curtis. "Thank you for coming, I feel better already."

"I doubt that, but you will soon. Rest, Maria. Doctor's orders."

Maria nodded and smiled again at Curtis as he let himself out.

Maria rested as Curtis and Georg ordered for the next two days until her temperature was normal. Marta came as promised and Liesl stopped by to check on her parents. Kurt and his family kept to their own space for those days so Maria could rest, only Kurt went up to see if there was anything he could do.

Maria appreciated the concern of her children but once the fever abated the only lingering symptoms she had were the ones that had been plaguing her all month.

A week after Curtis had been called to the farm to examine Maria the test results came back. He had been correct in his diagnosis of a bladder infection but there was something else. Something highly concerning for him.

Curtis sighed as he read and reread the report. He called the laboratory and asked them if they were sure. "We ran it twice," he was assured.

"Thanks…" Curtis stood up and called Marta to come into the office. "Honey, call your folks and tell them we are coming over later. I need to talk to your mother."

A/N: And another cliffhanger…Not much of Lida in the next few chapters, we will be dealing with some of the off lable aftermath of this situation. I'm guessing 8 to 10 chapters left.

Tomorrow I will update and finish my short story, On His Own Terms Check that one out if you have a mind.

See you Saturday.