Georg told the children about his unexpected trip the next morning. Their differing reactions clearly reflected their personalities–Liesl tried to reason with him, Friedrich and Louisa argued and raged before storming off from the table, refusing to speak to anyone, Kurt kept up a nearly constant stream of questions as if trying to determine every detail of his trip, Brigitta withdrew into herself, and Marta and Gretl simply watched their siblings with wide eyes. They clearly knew that something was happening, something that had made the others angry, but they were too young to understand exactly what it was. In the end, only Kurt and Brigitta actually said goodbye to their father, and their words were half-hearted at best. When Georg looked in Maria's direction, she could clearly see the pain on his face, and she knew he was having as much difficulty leaving as his children were having. Once again, she could not help but think that he was not truly lecturing while away. Still, it was not her place to question him. However, she did resolve to try and cheer up the children as much as possible and do everything she could to make his homecoming more pleasant. She was grateful that at least they were out of school, so she would not have to worry about any misbehavior there.
Maria's resolution proved to be easier said than done. Friedrich and Louisa in particular seemed determined to spread their misery around as much as possible. After Friedrich had destroyed a block tower his brother was building for the third time, Maria decided that despite the chilly weather, it was time to go outside. She insisted all the children bundle up, ignoring their protests as she hustled them outside.
The outdoor air did seem to calm them–or at least, Maria was unable to hear their complaints once they were muffled with their winter clothing. She did manage to coerce the oldest four into a snowball fight, and even Brigitta rolled a couple snowballs to throw towards her siblings. When they finally returned to the house, it was almost lunchtime, and none of them objected to Maria's suggestion that they wash up for the meal. They ate ravenously before the oldest five disappeared to their rooms while Maria put the youngest two down for a nap. While Maria did encourage a quiet time after lunch, she generally had to spend quite some time persuading the children to take it. On this particular occasion, she decided not to question their actions and instead use the time to catch up on some sewing she had been meaning to do for a couple weeks.
The next two days passed in a similar fashion. While Maria was grateful that the children were not acting out, she worried a bit at how quiet they had become in their father's absence. They spent most of their time in their rooms, rarely agreeing to any of her suggestions of games or even music. When they came down on Christmas Eve morning, Frau Schmidt had prepared a special breakfast of Apfelradln and butchteln which the children had explained were traditional for Christmas Eve morning in the von Trapp villa. Frau Schmidt had explained where the other meals for the day as well as the ones for Christmas were stored and instructions for finishing them, for she was leaving after breakfast to spend time with her own family. Maria saw the children's eager expressions when they walked into the room, but their smiles quickly disappeared when they looked to the head of the table and found it still empty. Maria thought about trying to console them, but she truly did not know what to say.
Christmas Eve was relatively quiet. Maria took the children to mass in the early evening, knowing the youngest would not last until midnight mass (and she was not sure if she would either). The service was lovely, but Maria was pretty sure the children did not hear much of it. They had a light supper when they returned, and Maria suggested they open the presents that Christkind had left while they were gone (Max had played the part of Christkind before making himself scarce, insisting that he did not want to interfere with their holidays. Maria had tried to insist he stay, but he told her that he had other people to see in the city and would return the day after Christmas).. Surprisingly, only Marta and Kurt seemed interested in the idea. The others all asked to wait until Christmas Day, expressing hopes that Georg could maybe join them as well. Maria reminded them that they had no way of knowing that he would, but Kurt and Marta agreed with their siblings, and she eventually gave into their pleas. She was pretty sure they all went to bed that night praying for a Christmas miracle.
Sometime later, Maria woke from the light doze into which she had fallen upon entering her room. For a moment, she stared at the door of her room, trying to figure out what had awaken her. It did not take long before she realized what it was, however–a thumping sound coming from downstairs. Maria's heart beat faster for a few moments. She had locked up that night, for all the servants had gone home for the holidays. That meant she was sure that no door was left open. It also unfortunately meant she was the only adult in the household and thus would have to be the one to investigate the noises.
Reminding herself that she had faced plenty of frightening occurrences in her life, Maria stood and pulled her dressing gown around her body. She started for the door, hesitating for a moment before returning to the other side of the room and picking up the heavy iron from the board. It was not the best weapon, but it was the only thing available to her. With the iron held in a hand that was not shaking too much, Maria crept out of the room and to the stairs. She did not see anyone as she descended though one light was on in the foyer. Maria was sure she had turned them all off, so the lighted room confirmed her suspicions that someone was in the house and awake. Maria's heart beat a bit faster, but she forced herself to remain calm, reasoning that most thieves would not risk a light. That meant the more likely culprit was a sleepless child though Maria could not fathom why he or she would not have come to Maria's room.
Keeping the iron low but ready, Maria tiptoed down the stairs and into the foyer. A quick glance around showed another light on, this one in Georg's study. That fact made a wakeful child less likely. Maria stood for a moment, contemplating her next move, before deciding that she should at least take a peek in the study. Perhaps if it was an intruder, she could scare him away.
She moved forward slowly, trying not to make a sound, but something must have given her away, for the study door suddenly swung open. Maria gasped, but she had no time for another reaction before a familiar voice remarked, "Dare I ask what your plan is for that iron? Should I fear for my life?"
"Captain?" Maria questioned, pressing a hand over her beating heart. She looked up at him, noting immediately that he had dark circles under his eyes and appeared dead on his feet. In addition, he was not nearly as put together as he usually was. His suit jacket was unbuttoned and covered in what looked like hay and dirt, and there was a distinct odor about him that Maria easily remembered from her days on the farm. She could not imagine what could have caused the extremely proper naval Captain to appear in such a state. Despite his appearance, however, she could not help but feel relief suffuse her body, and she knew it was not only because of the seven children sleeping upstairs who would be ecstatic to find their father home for Christmas.
"I suppose my appearance warrants the question in your voice, but I assure you that it is I. Do come in, Fraulein, but I beg you to leave your iron at the door."
Somewhat sheepishly, Maria stepped forward, setting the iron on the ground just inside his study door. Georg immediately moved to the sofa, sitting down heavily and leaning his head on the back, letting his eyes slide shut. Maria slowly approached as well, taking a seat on the opposite end. Once she had settled onto the sofa, he raised his head and glanced over at her, cocking an eyebrow when he saw where she was sitting. "I apologize for the stench; I'm afraid after a few hours, one rather gets used to it."
"What happened?" Maria questioned, unable to stop herself from asking.
Georg gave a hollow laugh. "I forgot to account for how few trains run on Christmas Eve. I finished up my work late last night and managed to catch a train to Vienna which got me there early this morning. However, I found when I got there that there were no trains to Salzburg until the 26th. So I had to find other means of travel."
"Other means?"
"Farm trucks mostly. And walking. Quite a bit of walking. But I made it." He let his head fall back again, his eyes sliding shut.
"The children will be so excited tomorrow. They insisted on saving the presents to open on Christmas Day in case you made it home."
He turned his head, raising it slightly so he could look at her. His blue eyes seemed to pierce through to her soul, and it was difficult for Maria to hold his gaze. "They did?" His voice held a note of awe.
"They missed you very much."
"I missed them, too." Maria had no doubts that he did, particularly given the length to which he had gone in order to arrive home for Christmas. Maria noted that his eyes were shut again, and his breathing was growing deeper. She doubted he would be comfortable sleeping all night in his study, and she imagined he probably wanted to wash up after his grueling travels as well.
"Come on, Captain, we should get you to bed," she remarked, reaching out to place a hand on his arm. His eyes snapped open when she touched him, and she noted they were darker than normal. He swallowed hard before nodding, pushing himself upright. Maria stood as well without thinking.
"You are right as always, Fraulein. I imagine I will need all the sleep I can get to handle my children's enthusiasm tomorrow."
"I can take care of breakfast if you would like to sleep in."
"That would be lovely though I cannot guarantee I will sleep in. Navy training never really leaves a man." He gave her a half smile before glancing down. With a start, Maria realized that her hand was still on his arm. She started to move it, but he surprised her by placing his own on top of it, squeezing gently. "Thank you for all you have done these past few days. I know it cannot have been easy."
"I imagine these days were not easy for you either," Maria demurred.
He gave a long sigh before remarking. "I made my choices." With that, he squeezed her hand one final time before dropping it. Maria followed him out of the study, wondering what he meant by that statement but not daring to ask.
Maria did not tell the children about their father's return when they woke the following morning. Liesl was the first one ready, and Maria could hear her squeal happily upon entering the dining room from up in the nursery where she was still helping the younger girls dress. Immediately, all of the others but Marta and Gretl left their rooms to see what was happening, and Maria smiled as she heard their exclamations of surprise and delight. By the time she entered the dining room with Marta and Gretl, the oldest five appeared to have finished greeting their father and were standing at their seats, wide smiles on their faces. Georg greeted his youngest daughters as well, and Maria noted that while he still looked tired, he had certainly cleaned up since she saw him the previous night, dressing once more in his familiar suit though he had forgone the tie in deference to the holiday.
Breakfast was a noisy affair as the children peppered their father with questions. Maria noted that he deflected them with ease, rarely giving any details of what he was doing on his trip, instead turning the conversation to the children's activities and plans. She let them talk, content to observe the happy reunion. The sound of her name eventually drew her into the conversation. "It was an excellent breakfast, Fraulein Maria. Thank you for preparing it this morning," the Captain remarked.
Maria blushed slightly at the compliment. "Oh, I did not do much other than reheating it. Frau Schmidt did all the work."
"Mmm." The Captain's tone was disbelieving, but he did not contradict her. Instead, he turned to his children, remarking, "I hear that there may still be presents left to unwrap." Six excited children suddenly jumped from their seats, and even little Gretl clapped her hands in merriment upon seeing her siblings' excitement. Maria unstrapped her from her seat and carried her as she followed the other children into the family room where Max had left the presents. The children crowded around their father who, somewhat to Maria's surprise, held out his arms for Gretl. He bounced the baby on his knee as Brigitta and Kurt began to pass out presents. Maria hovered in the doorway, unsure if she should intrude on what was obviously a family moment, but Kurt soon solved that problem for her.
"I put your pile over here next to the couch," he called to Maria. "You can sit by Father." Maria glanced at the young boy, startled.
"My pile?" she asked.
"You did not truly think you would not have presents on Christmas, did you?" Georg asked. Maria simply stared at him, too stunned to say anything. In truth, she had not thought about presents for herself. She was not even sure if she had ever received presents on Christmas. The nuns were obviously focused on the non materialistic aspects of the holidays, and her uncle would certainly never even dream of buying her a present. She supposed that she might have received presents while she was still living with her parents, but she did not really remember that time, and she knew they were relatively poor, so it was possible they would not have been able to afford such luxuries.
Georg gave her a small smile, and she sensed more understanding in it than she had expected. He patted the empty spot on the sofa beside him. "Rest assured, Fraulein, for as long as you are here with us, we consider you part of this family, and that means presents on Christmas morning." Maria startled slightly as she sat down beside him. She had been so focused on the children that she had forgotten the temporary nature of her assignment. The Reverend Mother had told her when she left for the villa that they would reassess her role as governess after the holidays, a time that was rapidly approaching. At the time, Maria had thought it seemed quite far away and felt that she would never reach that point. Now that the time for a decision was nearing, Maria was not quite sure what to do. Well, that was not strictly true. Deep down, she knew that she did not belong in the Abbey, but she was not quite ready to admit that aloud and take steps to find her true calling. The Abbey was familiar, a refuge in a world that had not treated her very kindly before she entered it. Now, however, she was realizing that it was also restricting. The world outside its walls was very large, and it was not all scary. Perhaps there was a less frightening spot in it for her.
Maria inwardly shook herself to clear the thoughts. She would take the time after the holiday to reflect on her future vocation and then talk with the Reverend Mother. At the current moment, she would let herself simply enjoy Christmas with the children she had come to love as her own. She turned to Georg who was still watching her with a half-smile on his face. "Thank you," she told him sincerely, and he nodded, seeming to understand without her saying that she was thanking him for much more than the stack of presents in front of her.
The von Trapps apparently opened presents one at a time, starting with the youngest, a practice which certainly made the process take longer but also made it more enjoyable. Kurt and Louisa helped Gretl with her first package, a doll that delighted the small girl who immediately hugged it to her chest. Marta managed fairly well on her own though Friedrich had to help her with the last part of the paper. Maria was happy to note that the children seemed truly grateful for everything they opened, even the more mundane gifts such as new shoes or pants. Maria herself was not really sure what to expect from her gifts, for they were all addressed to her from "the von Trapps." As she opened them, however, she could clearly see the children's influence in some such as a new chess set (Friedrich and Louisa had been begging her to learn to play so she could play with them) and a large picnic basket. Others, however, did not seem to be from the children. Maria opened a book that she had borrowed a few weeks before from Georg and greatly enjoyed as well as a small stack of piano music. The latter caused her to look up at her employer, confused, and he gave her a small smile. "Liesl mentioned you wanted to learn to play. I thought I could help you with that."
Maria's eyes went wide. "Oh, you don't have to do that!"
"If you want to learn, I would be happy to teach you. I've always felt that we should encourage a love of music and learning."
"Thank you," Maria told him sincerely.
Her last package was much smaller than the rest, and Maria could not imagine what it might be. She turned it over in her hands a few times before the children's eager entreaties to open it finally stopped her actions. She tore the paper off carefully, revealing a black velvet box. When she opened it, she gasped upon finding a silver chain with a white flower pendant dangling from it. It looked custom-made and quite expensive, and Maria opened her mouth to protest, but the children stopped her.
"Do you like it?" Liesl asked excitedly. "We thought it would be perfect for you."
"It's edelweiss," Louisa added. "To remind you of the song you taught us."
"It's beautiful," Maria told them honestly. "Did you design it?"
The three oldest children shook their heads; the other four were still too engaged with their toys to pay attention to the conversation. "We came up with the idea to give you something special to remind you of the music you taught us, but Father was the one who suggested a necklace and designed it," Liesl explained.
"We figured that was for the best since none of us knows anything about fancy jewelry except maybe Liesl," Louisa added.
"But Father does. Mother used to say that he was better than most women she knew at picking out jewelry, but he should never let that be known or his reputation would be ruined," Friedrich said. Then, seeming to realize what he had said, he glanced at his father. Maria looked that way, too, but the Captain simply wore a fond smile, obviously pleased at the memory.
"And I trust that my reputation will still remain intact after this gift as well," he said simply, looking to Maria with a teasing glint in his eyes.
"Of course," she stammered, but he simply chuckled.
"I have no doubt, Fraulein," he told her.
It was nearly lunchtime by the time they finished opening presents. Maria found the trays of meats and cheeses Frau Schmidt had left for them, and added some crackers, bread, and fruit before bringing them into the dining room. All the children were already seated, even Gretl. Maria's eyebrows rose slightly at seeing the somewhat complicated buckles fastened correctly around her. Georg noticed and chuckled. "I have put children in that seat before, Fraulein," he told her.
"Of course." Maria quickly placed the trays she held down on the table before returning to the kitchen for the remaining food. Once they were all seated, Maria said the blessing and Georg lit the Advent candles as well as the Christmas candle before they began to eat. Everyone seemed to be in a jolly mood, and the conversation was loud and boisterous. After lunch, they all retired to the music room, and Georg played a variety of Christmas carols while the rest of the family sang. His pleasing baritone joined them for a few carols as well, and Maria realized she had never had a more pleasant Christmas, even at the Abbey. She supposed a conversation with the Reverend Mother was overdue.
Once they finished singing, the children played happily with their new toys until dinnertime. Maria joined them, and after a brief stop by his study, Georg did as well. By the time they finished dinner, the excitement of the day had worn most of the children down, and putting them to bed was relatively easy. As he emerged from the eldest girls' room after saying goodnight, Georg leaned heavily on the hallway wall and gave Maria a tired smile. "As much as I would love a nighttime chat in the study, I hope you will forgive me if I ask to skip tonight. I am bone tired."
"Of course, Captain. And thank you for a very pleasant Christmas."
"It is the least we could do, Fraulein." He smiled at her, and she saw his fingers moving restlessly on his thigh, but he did nothing else before turning away towards his room.