The Parent Trapp

Chapter 12

Louisa woke up bright and early which was incredibly unusual considering it was summer. She tossed and turned, trying her best to get comfortable before eventually accepting defeat. She made sure not to wake Brigitta before slipping out of bed. She had discussed Maria's arrival last night at length with Liesl and Friedrich before getting too tired to function and by the time she got to her room Brigitta was already asleep. She threw a hoodie over her t-shirt and made her way downstairs to get some breakfast. Usually Ellen would help cook dinner and lunch, but breakfast was every man for himself. She descended the stairs and ambled the kitchen before beginning to make herself a scrambled egg.

"I'm surprised you're up this early?" Louisa jumped at the voice and was surprised to see it was her dad, leaving the door open to the back porch.

"I could say the same" Louisa turned back to her egg. Her dad often got up early, but stayed hulled in his study until absolutely everyone was awake

"Are you worried about something?" He asked as he made his way over to the island. Louisa never slept when she was anxious, her mother had been the exact same way. Georg would simply talk her back to sleep or join her for midnight snacks. Louisa was no different, but he was surprised she'd made it till morning at least.

"I'm fine" She deadpanned and stirred her egg

Georg sighed "It's okay to be scared Lou, I am too"

Louisa moved her egg to a plate and plopped it on the island "It's just, we always knew they were out there, and wanted to find them. But I never dreamed we'd end up finding them again."

"It is pretty crazy," Georg admitted. This whole situation was.

"It's just..." Louisa began, her guilt starting to spill

"You can tell me," Georg said for the first time in 5 years. Georg wanted his children to be happy, but he was never too invested in their personal problems outside of academics.

Louisa bit her lip. Should she tell him? She had one very distinct memory of her mother, well she had multiple, but her favorite was her mother walking with Louisa on one hand and Liesl on the other. They were walking down the street when they saw a little girl on a playground whisper into a little boy's ear. Louisa was probably only 6 at the time, but her mother spoke to them as if they were grown ups "Girls, if there's one thing in this world that can't be bought, it's trust. It has to be earned. Promise me you won't tell anyone you don't trust your secrets, especially men." She chuckled at the end of her statement.

Her father had been more than willing to listen over the past few days and seemed to be trustworthy, but this, this was too soon. She played it off by saying that she just couldn't believe that Gretl was actually real, which was true, but that hadn't been on her mind. 

The truth was that she was feeling resentment in a sense. Just as Brigitta had expressed irritation at their father reaching out, Louisa felt the same for her mother. Yet Louisa had been so close to her mother, the most heartbroken when she left, and everyone knew it. She hardly spoke those first few months which was saying a lot, she bottled her emotions and let them out through fits or playing tricks on her brothers and sister. But at the end of the day, her mother was her life and she loved and missed her dearly. Would this be traitorous to her? Was Maria a threat as a mother figure. Sure Louisa had brief snapshots of memory of Agathe mentioning her school friend, but other than that, nothing. Could anyone be trusted anymore, it seemed any time she let her walls down she regretted it, so she decided to keep them up for a while longer.

One by one the siblings came down, still in their PJ's. Georg had made pancakes per Friedrich's request and the kids sat at the table, waiting their turn.

"Where's Maria?" Brigitta asked as Georg slid a plate of pancakes her way, she opted to go last since she had been the last one up.

"Uh, I don't think she's up yet" Georg answered as he opened the dishwasher.

"I'll get her" Gretl stood and began speeding off towards the stairs.

'Oh no ya don't" Georg stepped and held out his arm and captured her around the middle before propping her on his hip. "If you wake her up she'll get scared to death"

"Please please please" Gretl pouted. That girl really knew how to work the cute five year old thing, and Georg was already a sucker for it, he always had been with his kids when they were little. He remembered specifically one time Friedrich had been riding a scooter and begged his dad to try, the minute the little boy stuck out his lip he relented. Needless to say Georg walked with a limp for a week.

"Ok, we'll both go, but you have to promise to be quiet" he said

"Why?" Gretl asked

"Because sometimes it's better to let sleeping dogs lie," Georg quipped, which made a few of the older children giggle. They had seen first hand how sassy she had been to him.

Georg carried his youngest up the stairs before setting her down and they walked to the woman's door. Georg realized it wasn't locked as it was cracked open a bit, and he peeped his head in. He and Gretl approached the bed quietly, that was until Gretl climbed on it and began poking Maria's shoulder.

"Hmm what?" Maria grumbled.

Georg without thinking sat on the edge of the bed, diagonal from her and said "rise and shine sleeping beauty" seconds later a pillow came flying at his head and heard subsequent giggles from his daughter.

"Come on Mo-Maria" Gretl said "Dad made pancakes and you won't get any if you don't get a move on" Gretl grabbed Maria's arm and she sat up.

"Gretl why don't you go back downstairs and make sure Kurt isn't eating her breakfast" He said and she hurried out of the room. When he turned back to look at Maria she was staring at him and he stood up uncomfortably.

"Well, the kids are all up, Gretl's right there are pancakes if you want any. I have no idea when Elsa will be by, but either way whenever you're ready to make a plan, I am too." He explained.

Maria was honestly dreading the conversation, but if Elsa was coming earlier than expected then she figured it would be best to just postpone it, considering Elsa's reaction could be understandably dramatic and all.

"We could always wait till your girlfriend isn't here" She said emphasizing the word "girlfriend'

"I told you, she's just a friend" Georg retorted quickly

"With benefits?" Maria raised an eyebrow and Georg tugged at the collar of his t-shirt. "Whether they stay or not you should probably sort Elsa's title out. Kids are more quick to catch on than we might think" He stood baffled, what did she know of his older children.

"Well are you gonna leave and let me change or just stand there looking confused?" Maria asked and Georg left the room shutting the door behind him to find Brigitta and Kurt standing in the hallway, obviously eavesdropping.

Kurt stood shocked while Brigitta simply said 'Yep, you're screwed" 

Hey y'all. Here's an early update. I'm swamped with work and homework this weekend so I figured that I better get it out early rather than not at all. I hope you guys are enjoying this story. If you have any suggestions or ideas for another one I'm all ears. Let me know if you're liking it so far.

Thanks for reading!