Chapter Eleven

"Mother!" Liesl called as she stepped into the house with a giant bouquet of flowers. "There's flowers for you. Roses and Edelweiss!"

Maria hurried out of the kitchen to see what Liesl was talking about. The younger woman held a large vase containing yellow roses and smattering of Edelweiss. "Ooh," Maria gasped. "They're for me?"

Liesl set the bouquet down on the dining table and fished out the card. It was signed simply, "A Grateful Admirer".

Maria sighed, "Well, I suppose I know who that is. Your father has never sent me flowers before."

"Perhaps he is trying to reach out and get things back on track," Liesl suggested. "I know that you're coming here on your own and leaving him to his own devices really has him rattled.'

Maria sighed, "I didn't want to do that, but he was so fixated on the fact I thought about divorce. He wasn't talking to me, he wasn't sleeping with me…I was lonely with him right next to me and that was the feeling I had when I thought about a divorce. I will tell you now I will never divorce your father. I love him so much. We just have to work through this. I know I didn't help my case when I wasn't supportive of Brigitta."

Liesl poured two glasses of iced tea and sat down next to Maria at the table. "Brigitta talked to me about how unhappy she was, but I never thought she would leave him. Peter kept her very isolated, she was not in the right place to get a divorce. She has nothing. When I came into Stowe I had to give her sheets. I know why you warned her. If she can't provide a stable home for the kids, with a good income…This can destroy her."

"That's what I said," Maria replied. "Your Father is there all the time helping out and buying household items for her. I want her happiness, I do. I just want to make sure she is safe."

Maria was glad that Liesl understood her feelings about Brigitta's choice. "The one thing that Brigitta said to me that really helped me see where she is was that she felt emptiness in her heart. That she and Peter both pretended everything was fine even though they knew they should be over. The marriage was over long before Brigitta decided to leave."

"I feel horrible for her, I do,"Maria replied. "I just want to work this out with Georg, I do, so I can support Brigitta from home, but…"

Liesl stood up, "Call Father, talk to him. Thank him for the flowers. See what he says and how he is. That's what you would tell me."

"When did you get so wise?" Maria asked looking at Liesl as not just a daughter but a dear friend.

"Sixteen going on seventeen," Liesl replied. "I got some very good advice."

Liesl left the room with a smile so Maria could call Georg in private.

Stowe, Vermont

Georg had been waiting by the phone all morning. He knew Maria would call after she received the flowers. Still, when the call came in, he played it cool.

"Hello," Georg greeted trying, almost in vain, to keep his tone steady.

"Hello," Maria replied, her voice lifting up as it had the first night at the villa when Georg had interrupted her thunderstorm performance. "I received your gift, Darling. They are so beautiful, but why send me flowers now, Georg? You never have before?"

Georg's eyebrow shot up, "Never? I'm certain, my Sweet, that I must have sent you flowers or brought you florals of some kind at least once?"

"No," Maria replied."They are quite lovely all the same and I do adore them. Thank you very much. You must have had to call a dozen flower shops to find Edelweiss. I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

"Maria," Georg replied, his tone becoming serious. "There is nothing that would be "too much trouble". These last few days have taught me that there is no one in my life I value more than you. I have thought this through and I cannot put my finger on the time when I failed you so badly, leastwise in the space of time where you place it."

"Georg, I have tried to explain," Maria began but Georg wasn't finished.

"I have also come to realize, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter when I was not there for you as a husband, and a friend, what does matter is that this entire marriage, this entire relationship,turned out wrong."

Maria couldn't believe her ears. She had taken this little trip to give Georg space, but for him to day this. "Wrong…I…"

Georg could tell by Maria's voice he had misspoke. "No, Maria, don't misunderstand. We are not wrong, I love you more than I ever loved anyone, I mean that. However, circumstances being what they were I did not give you the attention and affection I should have in those early days. We married in haste, and even our honeymoon period was marred with the shadow of the Anschluss. We are apart now, and a portion of that is my doing. I'm going to fix it, Maria. I'm going to make sure you never, ever doubt my feelings and devotion to you again. That might have happened once, it will never happen again."

Georg could count on one hand the times he had ever seen Maria speechless, but this had certainly done that. "Maria? Are you still there?"

Maria took a sharp breath, "Georg, I really don't need…that is I just need for us to talk and…I don't need. I never needed all that fanfare."

"Need, no," Georg replied with the tone that told Maria there would be absolutely no talking him out of this. "Deserve. That is another matter. I will call on you in three days if my suit is welcome, Dearheart."

Maria blushed, she did love romantic Georg almost as much as heroic Gerog and paternal Georg. She was silent another moment.

"I can hear you blushing, Fraulein," Georg whispered with a gentle laugh. "Is my suit welcome, Fraulein Maria?"

"Yes," Maria said softly, kicking her lips. It is Captain. Quite welcome at that."

Law Office Outside Stowe

Brigitta looked at the pile of typing on her desk. There was something to being able to look at the in box at the end of the day and feel the sense of accomplishment. It was minimum wage, no room for growth, but what she was doing was for herself and her children. Still, she had only been separated from Peter for a short time and money was tight.

Brigitta thanked God for her father. Georg had helped babysit the children, helped with bills, helped with everything. He was her soft place to fall for this challenging time in her life. Georg and Louisa had really been her rocks at this point, the most understanding, the most compassionate. Slowly but surely, Maria was coming around, calling daily to assure everything was as right as it could be.

Brigitta stood up and stretched her back, then returned to her typing alongside three younger women just starting their lives. She envied them. She would certainly change her course of life if given the chance.

Brigitta said daily the only good thing to come from her marriage was her children. She wouldn't trade being a mother for anything in the world, but she would have given up being a wife if she had the choice.

When Brigitta got home that night, Georg was at the house. The children were eating tuna casserole and drinking juice as Georg taught Annie algebra and helped Edit search for pictures of items starting with "G".

"Grandpa!" Edit exclaimed as she recognized that the title started with the assigned letter.

"And my given name too," Georg replied.

"Georg," Edit repeated. "That's a funny name like Edit."

"That's because our names are special," Georg replied. "My name is German, because I was born in a place called Zadar, a city that has been part of many different countries over the years. Right now, Annie, look at your maps, can you find Yugoslavia?"

PJ was the first one to notice Brigitta. He had really come out of his shell since they were on their own. "Mom!"

"Hey, everybody! Grandpa helping you study?" Brigitta gave kisses all around. "Tuna casserole?"

"Well, my recipes are somewhat limited and my cooking ability moreso," Georg replied. "Did you have a good day?"

And that was that. That was the way of life for Brigitta now but it was still something better.

Georg helped Brigitta with bedtime, then settled down at her kitchen table for a cup of coffee before he left for home. "Brigitta, Saturday I'm going to Liesl's to see your mother, so we can work things out, talk things over."

Brigitta smiled, "Good! I'm so glad, I felt terrible that the two of you were having troubles because of me."

Georg gave Brigitta a hug, "It wasn't your fault. There were a few things hiding that got exposed. A few things that I never did for your mother that I should have. This gives a chance at a new beginning."

Brigitta didn't know where the emotion came from, but all of a sudden, pain and anger welled up inside of her and she began to shake. The reality of the situation hit her between the eyes.

Georg saw it and stood up quickly. He grabbed Brigitta around his shoulder and pulled her close. "Oh God…Oh God…Oh God!"

Brigitta's breath came in fast short gasps as the feelings overwhelmed her. Her father was talking about a new beginning with Maria, a new start, and Maria was ready and willing to accept it.

The harsh fact was Peter and Brigitta would never have a new beginning. They had never loved one another as much as Georg and Maria, they never had that kind of love.

Fifteen years. Fifteen wasted years. If she had only made a different choice, if she had only waited, if she had only…

"It's okay, Baby Girl," Georg soothed. "It's okay, it'll be okay. Let it go…let it go."

Georg held Brigitta close to him and rocked, it broke his heart to see her like this, his strong girl in pieces. "I'm right here, I am right here. It's going to be okay."

Brigitta held tight to Georg as he rocked. "I hated it, Papa and that scares me because of my kids. How can I love something so much and hate the reason?"

Georg didn't have an answer for Brigitta. This wasn't a "where do babies come from?" or a "How do you find for x?" This was so much deeper, and he didn't know what to say.

A/N: So there you have it. Georg and Maria worming to heal their marriage and Brigitta really noticing what was wrong with hers

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