A/N: Just a quick warning that I flirt with a slightly higher rating in this chapter. It is pure Maria and Georg. I wasn't sure I liked this chapter at first, but now i think it came out quite nicely. As always, let me know what you think in the reviews sections.

This is the last update before Christmas, so please everyone have a very happy, safe Christmas.

Chapter Sixteen

"Well, you have got yourself a broken hand, Mr. von Trapp and the x-ray shows some arthritis as well in that hand. That's probably why the bone broke so easily," the very young and thorough doctor told Georg.

"Will it heal?" Georg asked.

"Yes," the doctor replied. "You'll need a cast and probably some type of physical therapy, but yes it should heal without any invasive intervention. It's a clean break."

Maria sighed and shook her head as thr doctor left to prepare the cast. "Honestly, Georg…What were you thinking? Now you've gone and gotten hurt. That's your right hand, you won't be able to write, shave…for how long?"

"Maria, I already know the choice was foolish," Georg replied. "But necessary. That man insults our daughter, dares to put her down and push her down even farther than he already has. Brigitta might have hurt his pride, but she did nothing to deserve that! Nothing to earn that! I am her father, what would you have me do?"

Maria rubbed Georg's back. She knew how upset the entire situation had him. She was upset as well that one of her daughters didn't know what it felt like to have true love in her life, but the ugliness of the court proceedings brought out all of Georg's paternal instincts.

Maria placed a kiss on Georg's cheek. "I understand. I just have one question."

"What's that?" Georg asked, he hoped Maria was through being angry about this.

"What did it feel like to hit that sniveling little brat?" Maria laughed. Georg moved to wrap his arms around her waist, bumping his wounded hand in the process. He winced before the couple both broke out into a fit of giggles.

Max was waiting to drive the pair home, Brigitta already left with Georg's car. "Does it hurt?" Maria asked as she cuddled next to Georg in the backseat. "You're brooding."

"No," Georg replied. "I'm just…I cannot believe I threw that punch so off center. I have had to knock people in the teeth before and I have never broken anything but jaws and noses."

"You are a little older now, Georg," Max replied.

"Yes, I realize that Max, thank you," Georg scoffed. "I just hope this isn't going to make it harder on Brigitta."

Maria rubbed Georg's thigh gently, "It will all be alright, Darling. You'll see. We are in this together, we will figure it.out. Brigitta wasn't angry, she was actually pretty surprised."

"It was pretty funny, Georg," Max chuckled. "The sound of Maria's voice when she called and told me you were uh…forcibly detained and we had to come and get you. That's usually the other way around."

Max's laughter, as usual, was contagious, and by the time they pulled up to the house, all three were in stitches.

The next couple of days proved to be challenging with Georg being unable to use his right hand. He wasn't able to take a full shower, button his shirt, or even fix his side of the bed. Maria had to cut his meat and put the toothpaste on his brush so he could clean his teeth. Maria didn't mind it, it was just what was for the time being, but Georg was unhappy and his mood showed that. He hated to ask for help. He hadn't shaved or taken a full bath, and after 25 years Maria knew he would not accept an offer before he was ready.

By the third day, Georg had grown a significant amount of unruly scruff and desperately needed to wash his hair. He hadn't been willing to ask Maria to help him. This was supposed to be a period of courtship, not a period of nursing. Georg still had not made it up to Maria, not to his satisfaction.

Maria woke to a clatter in the bathroom followed by Georg's short curse. The sun was barely up, but Georg's side or the bed was empty. Maria slid out of the bed and quickly located her husband in the bathroom.

Georg was standing in front of the mirror, shaving cream on his face and the razor in his left hand.

"Georg?" Maria's voice held a gentle query. "What are you doing? Have you lost the little sense God gave you? You can barely manage to feed yourself with your left hand, your shirts are a testimony to that, and you are going to try to shave with your left hand at 6am?"

"I'm tired of looking like a derelict," Georg groused. "And soon I'll smell like one too."

"Then let me help," Maria sighed. "Remember when I threw my back out and I couldn't get out of bed for two weeks? I would never have managed without you. Why are you so against doing that?"

Georg sighed, "It's different."

"How?" Maria pressed.

"It just is, that's all!" Georg replied. "This is too…too close to…This is too close to one of my biggest worries, Maria. That one day, because of my age, I will become a burden. That I won't even have a choice in daftly attempting to be ambidextrous."

Maria sighed, "Georg, you are being silly. No matter what happens you will never be a burden to me. Now, please, let me help you. Go and sit on the bed, I'll make a basin and get you looking respectable again "

Maria reached for Georg's good hand and squeezed it. "Who knows, it might even be fun."

Maria gave a flirty smile; she wanted to show Georg what she saw when she looked at him. He was her husband, timeless, ageless, he was just her husband, and he could never be anything else.

Maria brought a bowl of warm water to the side of the bed. She gently propped up Georg's injured hand on a couple of pillows, then insured he was comfortable before she took his razor, an old fashioned straight blade, and dipped it into the bowl.

Maria used the opportunity to slowly seduce her husband.

As she cleared each bit of remarkably soft skin, she traced the area with the tips of her fingers, then dropped a feather light kiss on the exposed skin. She did this on each cheek, keeping her touches so light Georg at times thought they were merely imagined.

When Maria completed her task and dried Georg's face off with a towel, she cupped his cheeks with both hands and gently ran her fingers across his cheeks. Georg sighed and held Maria's gaze with his piercing blue eyes. "Maria, I…"

"Ssh," Maria murmured, placing a single finger on Georg's lips.

Instinctively, Georg kissed Maria's finger gently before she slowly and deliberately slid the single digit down over the cleft of his chin, along the line of his throat, and down beneath the collar of his pajama top to the nest of soft hair she loved to toy with when cuddled next to him.

Georg shuddered. Maria moved the bowl of water and the razor to the floor then allowed Georg to pull her into his arms. His cast bumped awkwardly against her back as he tried to encircle her causing them both to laugh.

Maria pulled back and looked into Georg's eyes. "No, no, my Darling. Tonight I make love to you."

It was rare that Maria would take the lead in the bedroom. It was just the nature of their marriage. Georg was older and more experienced when they first got married and over time they developed a rhythm to their sex life that involved his taking the lead. Even if he didn't initiate it, he ended up the leader.

There was the rare night, however, when Maria would take charge, and that was going to be the case tonight.

Maria leaned over Georg and slid both her hands inside his pajama top. He never wore one to bed, but put it on when he got up. It was an old habit left over from having ten children, he didn't want any of his children knowing he didn't sleep fully clothed.

Maria sighed at how good it felt to simply touch Georg. She slid her hands back out of the shirt and gently and carefully undid each of the buttons. As she opened each one, she leaned down and placed a soft, light kiss on each area she exposed. Georg moaned as Maria's teeth lightly grazed one of his nipples.

"Maria…" he sighed. The slow seduction was blissful torture for Georg. He wanted to end it now by wrapping Maria in his arms, rolling over, and taking her for his own as much as he liked. Still, there was something about relinquishing control, about simply feeling and being that was stunningly erotic.

As Maria kissed he way down Georg's chest, she slowly undressed herself revealing her body to Georg's eye. Over the years, Maria's body changed; she was a bit rounder, a bit softer, with more curves than angles as her body adjusted to time. Georg's body changed as well, but for each one of them, all they saw was one another. They didn't notice the hands of time upon one another…all they knew was that when they looked upon each other, they saw a lover, a partner, and a dear, dear friend.

Maria straddled Georg's hips and leaned over to place a kiss on his lips. She felt his desire for her in his lips, in his hand as he cupped her free, full bosom as they pressed against his chest.

"I need you, Maria," Georg whispered. "I need you so much. Please…"

"Ssh," Maria soothed. "I need you, too. I need you too."

A short while later, Maria laid cuddled against Georg's chest. His right arm was ungainly, so they switched sides so Georg could hold Maria properly.

Georg dropped a kiss on Maria's head and sighed with contentment.

"What are you thinking?" Maria whispered as she drew lazy circles along Georg's chest.

"How lucky I am," Georg replied. "How natural this feels, the two of us. How natural it had always felt."

Maria leaned up and kissed Georg's lips. "I love you so much," Maria whispered. "And I haven't ever stopped, I will never stop. You make me smile, you make me laugh, you make me furious, but you always make me feel loved."

Georg took in a sharp breath, and tightened his hold. He felt Maria starting to get a little heavier against his side as sleep claimed her. He sighed. His injury had put a stay on his courtship plans. Even though Maria had come home, he still felt he had more to do, more to show her. She said that he made her feel loved, he tried, and he hoped she would never again feel anything less.