A/N: this is a republish/rework of the chapter 5 that had been posted. I reread it and was not happy with the pacing so I split it into 2 separate chapters to fix the pacing, enjoy!
Georg woke up to the sound of chirping outside his window and the sun barely rising. He sat up in his bed and rubbed his face. A puppet show was going to be delivered soon, of all things Max could have chosen it was a puppet show! He had only hoped it wasn't too big, but knowing Max's pension for gift giving, it was probably the largest one they sold.
Sighing, he swung his legs to the side of his bed and got out, ready to begin his day.
After showering and get dressed it was nearly breakfast time and he made his way down to the dining room.
As he climbed his way down the stairs, he saw Frau Schmidt showing a couple of men out of the door.
"Good morning, sir. There was a delivery this morning for a-"
"Puppet show?" He asked, coming off the last step. "Yes. A gift from Max, I'm afraid."
"Well, it was rather large," Georg rolled his eyes, knowing it would have been, "and so they had to place it in the ballroom."
He smiled at the older woman, who knew he didn't like the ballroom being messed with and grabbed her hand. "That's quite alright, Frau Schmidt. Thank you for seeing them in and getting it placed."
She appreciated the kind gesture, squeezing his hand in return. "The children will be so pleased with it I'm sure." She let go of his hand and turned to make her way upstairs to begin her cleaning.
Deciding to see what the children's Uncle Max had gifted them, he walked over to the ballroom. He was shocked, though not surprised, to see a large set up in the middle of the room with an open window in the middle and two more on each side. Shaking his head, he closed to doors to the ballroom and crossed the room to join his family in the dining room.
When he neared the dining room, he heard talking and giggling, surprised to find everyone already there, anxiously waiting for him.
"Good morning children."
Several spoke over each other in a chorus.
"Good morning Father!"
"Good morning."
"Hello, Father!"
"Fräulein, can we eat now?" He heard Kurt ask and he chuckled to himself. Ever the hungry lad.
He sat in his chair at the head of the table and his eyes met Maria's who was looking at him. He gave a small nod of his head, which in turn made Maria nod to the children, who all began to eat quickly.
They had seen the puppet show being delivered and could barely contain themselves as they finally had the correct materials to finalize their show.
Within 15 minutes, a new record, they had finished and were practically buzzing in their seats to be released.
"Father, may we be excused?" He heard Marta ask.
He smiled and looked at all his children who were all staring back at him, begging with their eyes. "Alright, go ahead." They practically raced out of the room, Marta and Gretl stopping to give him a kiss on his cheek, leaving him and Maria alone in the dining room.
"They are very excited." He commented, looking to Maria.
She smiled and set her fork and napkin on her plate. "Yes, they have been working very hard. They can't wait to surprise you all tonight!" She looked up then and found his eyes, kind and warm. "I meant to ask, would it be alright if we skip their studies? Only for today, of course!"
He pretended to mull it over, but he knew he would say yes to almost anything she asked. "They have been doing very well. Just this once, but add an extra hour tomorrow." He said in a mock firm voice, grinning at her.
"Oh of course, Captain. Thank you!" She clapped her hands in front of her, jumped up and walked excitedly out the room.
Georg waited for a bit longer to be joined by his guests, which neither had arrived. He sighed and stood, letting the kitchen staff know to prepare a something simple for when Elsa and Max decided to roll themselves out of bed. He let Franz, who seemed to always seemed to appear out of no where, know he was to be in his study and to alert him when they were up so he could greet them.
As he walked to his study he could hear faint singing coming from the ballroom and laughed to himself. He paused when he heard something else.
Was that yodeling?
Deciding to just check in and see what they were up to, he walked over to the ballroom doors and opened one of them, the sight making him laugh.
Maria was standing in front of the children while they were seated on the floor, trying to teach them to yodel. Puppets were in each of the older children's hands as they twirled them around while trying to not tangle them too much. Gretl had what looked to be a baby goat she was dancing around her on the floor and Marta sat next to her with a girl in a pink dress in her hand.
While he didn't want them to see him, the sound of the door unlatching had caught the attention of Marta who excitedly called out to him.
Maria whipped her head around to face him. She was flushed and looked a bit flustered. "Oh no Captain!" She said as she marched over to where he stood. The look on her face made him feel like he got caught sneaking an extra sweet from a candy jar. "Eavesdropping." She tutted, "I am disappointed in you."
He put his hands up and backed out of the doorway. "I was only seeing how everything was going."
She stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her, mere inches away from him. A smirk came across her face and she looked up at him sweetly. "Well , sometimes, certain rooms in this house are not to be disturbed."
His mouth opened slightly. She was using almost his exact words he said upon their first meeting! "Well- I just- I could hear- this is my house!" He said playfully looking down at her.
"Hm. Yes, it is, but it's meant to be surprise, Captain." She looked back at him, pointedly. "You can wait to see the full production, later. No sneak peaks!" He grumbled a response causing her to giggle. "You sound like the children!"
"Only because you're shooing me away, like a child!"
"Yes! I am! Now," she moved her up hands toward him in a shooing motion. "You can wait until after dinner."
He laughed fully, shaking his head and backing away from her. "Alright Fräulein! I'm going. If you do need anything, I'll be in my study."
She giggled and opened the ballroom door behind her. "Thank you Captain! And don't let me catch you again!" She pointed a finger at him and slipped into the room, closing the door behind her, leaving a thoroughly amused captain staring after her.
When Max had come to Maria a few days ago to let her know of the gift he was getting the children, she would have never guessed it would be so difficult to manage a small production.
Of course, it wasn't a serious production but one she had worked hard with them on nonetheless. They had moved on to practice with the stage after they had finished lunch, with the older children standing on the top and Marta and Gretl standing next to her on the floor. They had done the most of play, the older children catching on, now it was time to add the background changes and other little details and they would be ready.
"Marta, I'll put you in charge of curtain and the background. Here, over here darling." She ushered the girl in front of her to where the cord was to show her what to do. She grabbed the cord and spoke. "Pull this once and-" she pulled and the background changed with a snap. "Here, you try."
Marta grabbed the cord and pulled but nothing happened. She turned her head to look at Maria. "Try it with a bit more force." She tried again and the background changed again with a pop. "That's my girl! Well done!" Marta giggled at the praise and Maria felt a tug on the back of her dress.
"What about me, Fräulein?" Gretl asked.
"I have just the perfect job for you, sweetheart. Here, over here." She grabbed Gretl's hand and walked her over to the other side of the stage. "You'll be in charge of the prince." Gretl took her place on the side and held on tightly to the prince.
"Okay everyone!" She clapped her hands together and they all looked to her. "Let's give it a full run through!" She climbed the ladder to the top where the other children and began.
"Okay now Marta- curtain!" She pulled the curtain so that it opened. "Good!" She began the song, pulling the first puppet so it danced around on the stage. "Okay now the background!" Marta pulled the cord for the background change. "Gretl, this is where you'll push the prince on," Gretl pushed him onto the stage. "Good sweetheart!"
They all continued the next part, dancing the puppets around the stage and singing along. "One last time Marta!" She called and the girl pulled again for the change of scenery. "Perfect darling!"
They finished the last part of their play and content with it, decided to end their practicing. "I think we have it children!" She climbed down the ladder the others followed after her.
"Do you think father will like it?" Louisa asked as she jumped off the ladder.
"I'm sure he'll love it! Now let's go get washed up and changed for dinner." She ushered all of the children out of the ballroom and up the stairs. "Put on something nice!" She called to the boys as they ran to their room.
She helped Marta and Gretl into their dresses they picked out, a very light blue one for Marta and a pink one with lace for Gretl.
Coming out of their room, Leisl stood waiting for them in a beautiful green dress that complimented her complexion well.
"Aren't you going to change Fräulein?"
Maria looked down at her own outfit. It was simple, but she looked fine. "Oh, no. I think this will do."
"You're also part of the show. Don't you think you deserve to look nice as well?"
Maria paused and could feel her cheeks getting hot. She didn't really have anything much nicer than what she had on. "I think this should be okay. We are only performing for your father and his company."
Leisl smiled. "Exactly! All the more reason. You want to impress them don't you."
The tone in her voice didn't go unnoticed by Maria. She looked at Leisl who tilted her head with a knowing look in her eyes. "I don't have much else."
"I may have something you could borrow! Come with me!" She grabbed Maria's hand and pulled her into her room and walked over to her armoire, yank the doors open. She sifted through a few dresses before finding the one she had in mind. "Here, Fräulein. This one is perfect!" She pulled out a light blue with a floral pattern and sheer sleeves.
"Oh, Leisl, this is beautiful! I couldn't-"
"Of course you can! At least try it on! Please?"
Sighing, she took the dress from Leisl with a smile. "Alright. It doesn't hurt anything to try it on. I'll be right back." She left her room and walked to her own to change.
She shimmied out of her dress and laid it on her bed. Picking up the blue one, she sighed. It was very nice, much nicer than anything she had owned. While she appreciated the Captain giving her material for her own dresses, it meant she only had a few that she would filter through, not that she really minded.
She slipped into the dress, easily zipping it up in the back and went into her adjoining en suite and looked into the mirror.
My goodness. She thought as she looked at herself. She admired how it made her look. Vanity had never been something of an issue for her, she never really minded how she looked but this dress made her feel pretty. Blushing, she shook her head and walked out into her room and out the door to show Leisl.
She wasn't far; she waited outside of Maria's room to see her. She gasped as Maria opened the door. "Oh! You look beautiful! You must wear it tonight!"
"Thank you, Leisl. I'll make sure to wash and return it after tonight."
"I couldn't pull off that color and it suits you perfectly. You can keep it!" She looked at her brightly.
"Oh no! I could never take something away from you!"
She hummed. "Think of it as a gift then."
"A gift? Whatever for?" She asked with a nervous chuckle.
She wrapped her arm around Maria's back, Maria resting her arm on Leisl's shoulders and began walking down the hallway towards her siblings. "For everything you've done. You brought our old father back to us."
"I haven't done a thing. I think he realized how he was behaving and wants to make up for it."
Leisl did not believe that for one second. She knew Maria had said something to him that snapped him back to his senses. They had made it to the rest of the children and Gretl bound happily over to the duo.
"You look so pretty!" She said as she looked up at her governess.
Maria smiled down at her. "Thank you sweetheart, so do you!" Gretl giggled. "Now come along children, I think we've kept them waiting long enough." Kurt, leading the pack, turned and began to run towards the stairs. "No running!" She laughed as he slowed down, the others behind him, with Maria bringing up the rear.
Dinner had been announced as ready and he stood up from his chair to stretch. He hadn't meant to stay in his study all day but the seemingly endless stream of naval telegrams and letters called his attention. Georg closed the door his study and began making his way towards the dining room just as he heard the telltale signs of his children coming down for dinner. He stopped and turned to wait for them, his eyes scanning up the stairs quickly until they landed on what they had been searching for.
She was holding Gretl's hand as they climbed down the stairs, smiling down at her. He would be proud to admit that that is what caught his attention first, but he was lying to himself. It was what she wore that made his breath hitch, his heart rate speed up a bit and a smile creep onto his face. The dress hugged her in all the right places and flowed eloquently around her. She looked as if she was glowing and a familiar feeling rose within him making him feel as if the world slowed down around him.
Their eyes met then, and for both of them it felt as though they were the only two people in the room.
