The Parent Trapp

Chapter 22

Liesl was in her room, taking this opportunity to catch up on some Netflix while she got ready, and basked in her moment of freedom. It's not like she didn't love her siblings, but come on, there were six of them, and all of them younger than her. 

She was in the middle of putting on her standard t-shirt and shorts for the day when she heard the door knob jiggle. "great..."  she thought. She usually forgot to lock her door, okay her father never really liked her to lock her door, but it was fine.

"Come on Liesl" She heard Brigitta plead

"It's important" she heard the voice of her oldest brother. That typically meant it actually was important and not just Kurt wanting to convince her to write his English papers.

Liesl tugged her shirt all the way down before stomping to the door to reveal all of her siblings. "What?" she said annoyed, "I was enjoying a nice morning binging Gilmore Girls and you just had to interrupt because...?"

"Ms. Schrader is here" Marta spoke up, albeit quietly

"Surprise surprise" Liesl rolled her eyes "that's not exactly noteworthy" Liesl looked to her little sister and rolled her eyes, which made Marta pout and Liesl give an apologetic look.

"But Uncle Max said something about-" Brigitta couldn't bear to say it

"Da da baba da da da baba" Kurt sang the wedding march to the best of his ability, which wasn't terrible honestly.

Liesl's tone immediately changed "come on'' She pushed her way to look out while the others pushed their way into her room. Maria knew them too well to know that if they all were in her room, they were up to something. Seeing it was all clear, Liesl shut the door, locked it again and joined her siblings on her bed.

"Spill" She sat in her chair

"Well, Bri and Lou-" Friedrich began

"Max says that Ms. Schraeder wants to marry dad, and she has to reason to believe that it might happen soon" Louisa said

"And I mean soon," Brigitta added.

"Max says so?" Liesl asked

Friedrich nodded, both knowing Max was their ally in this regard.

"Ms. Schraeder can't marry dad" Gretl said "She's mean, like all those evil stepmothers"

"She doesn't love us" Marta said

"And I have a sinking feeling she wants to send us up North" Friedrich added solemnly, hoping Liesl understood his code. They knew of boarding schools in New England in particular, they had friends and even cousins who attended there and their families had referred to their location as 'up North'.

"Dad won't send us up North" And Liesl was confident in that. He had promised their mother that after Brigitta was born and some of their friends were amazed at their large family. 

"We have to do something" Kurt said "I like Maria, I wish she would stay"

"We have to respect her wishes" Liesl nipped it in the bud, knowing where he was going

"I know, but we know she's not going to marry father, but even if they just started seeing each other, baby steps" Friedrich said

"When did you mature?" Liesl nudged him and he shrugged with a smirk.

"What if we plan something, like a date?" Kurt suggested

"But that would be too obvious," Louisa chastised. "If we did, it would have to be sly, like I don't know, not dinner on a boat or anything."

"What does Maria like to do?" Liesl leaned to her littlest sisters, they knew her the best after all

"She likes riding" Marta said "she talks about it all the time"

"She likes reading, or eating" Gretl smiled, counting things on her fingers

"She likes movies, and walks" Marta continued

"We're not getting anywhere" Brigitta sighed

"No, I think we can work with this" Liesl nodded "But you two are the schemers so scheme" she motioned to Louisa and Brigitta.

"What?" Brigitta was startled.

"We could always send them on a ride, or cook for them ourselves, but make it casual." Louisa suggested.

"Good, good" Friedrich was egging them on.

"What about-" Kurt began but the door handle began to jiggle again. Kurt grabbed Marta while Louisa grabbed Gretl and the four piled into Liesl's bathroom, while Friedrich stayed post on the bed. They had always done this, there was no denying there was a conversation, sneaking 101. Brigitta rolled and hid on the other side of the bed on the floor. 

"Now Liesl, your father does not like you to lock the door." Maria's firm but kind voice could be heard outside the door

"Sorry" Liesl called with fake cheerfulness and opened the door.

Maria looked in and saw Friedrich sitting on the bed, which wasn't too out of place, they were confidantes.

"Where are your brother and sisters?" Maria asked, thinking she'd caught them in the act

"Playing hide and seek" Friedrich answered without missing a beat

"Then why aren't you Freddie? Aren't you the master of the game?" Maria asked. Last time they had convinced Georg and Maria to play and Friedrich had been the last to be found, on a rafter in the stable.

"He was asking me about summer reading, since I read the book a couple years ago and everything," Liesl explained, hoping that sounded believable, especially since neither of her brothers were keen on reading.

Maria shook her head, they were up to something for sure. "You two have the answers to everything" Liesl noticed Maria's head turn to the side towards Liesl's ensuite bathroom. She knew, there was no denying it, but was she going to investigate?

"Know the answers to what?" Georg's voice was heard before he appeared in the doorframe next to Maria.

At that moment Friedrich and Liesl were thinking the exact same thing. They looked so right standing there, even though they were chastising the kids, it just felt right.

"Liesl's door was locked" Maria stated and Liesl looked to her father "I'm sorry, Freddie and I were discussing school and we didn't want to be interrupted."

"Where are the kids anyway?" He looked around Maria's head in down the hall

"Playing hide and seek apparently" Maria crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe

"Well why aren't you playing?" he motioned to his son

"That's what I said" Maria flung her arms out

"Is there something you wanted dad?" Friedrich changed the subject.

"Oh, I was just coming to find you because your father wanted you to come downstairs," Maria explained before turning to Georg "but I guess you can do it yourself." She nudged his shoulder with her hand a little and walked off.

Liesl and Friedrich watched as their father continued to look in the direction she went for entirely too long.

"I'll text Lou" Liesl said and broke him of his reverie

"'Lou? Why?" Georg asked seeming dazed

Friedrich had gotten up at this point and stood by his sister "because you wanted us to go downstairs to talk I assume?" Friedrich supplied.

"Oh yes, well..great...no rush" he seemed all over the place. He began to walk down the hall and the oldest two kids stuck their head out the door while the other children came out of their hiding places

"Why do fools fall in love?" Friedrich snickered which made Liesl snort before they all made their way down to the living room. 

Hey Y'all. I hope you enjoyed this little scheming chapter. I personally love when the kids team up and lowkey wish there was a scene in the movie where something like that happened. 

thanks for reading!