Let's Start At The Very Beginning

Chapter 28

England. The distance between London and Salzburg was 1,284 kilometers or 798 American miles. The distance sounded better in miles.

Friedrich thought so anyway. He sat at the table in the nursery. School was starting again in the next few days and while all the children had work over the break Friedrich lamented that he had algebra homework. Converting kilometers to miles was useless in his mind, but after a trip to the library to look at some different Atlases, it had proven useful. Now he sat, not alone, but no one was talking.

Louisa was next to him, brainstorming a science project and Kurt was also doing Math. Marta and Gretl played in the corner while Brigitta sat on the window seat, already done with her homework and in the middle of "The Secret Garden" for the third time.

He looked up from his unfortunate equation as Liesl walked in the room. She was never one who was able to work on school with other people. She had a full desk and stationery in her room where she chose to work.

"It will be the first week and I already have 10 chapters of Austen to read, it's torture." Liesl came in rubbing her eyes.

"Lucky." Brigitta mumbled.

"I can't focus anyway." she shrugged and made her way over to the table and pulled out a seat in between Kurt and Friedrich.

"Neither can I." Louisa tossed her pencil aside. Her notebook was empty, save a few scribbles.

"Liesl." Gretl stood and came over to her sister. "Why did yesterday go so slow and why has today gone so slow?"

The little girls had missed the Rainier children immensely. They could all play together but if Michael got on Jane's nerves she could play with Marta or if Gretl got fed up, she could go to Jane. They could switch flawlessly, and it had helped them all in different ways.

"Because I know you miss your friends." Liesl comforted her little sister.

"But Marta gets to see Jane while I don't see either of them." Gretl pouted.

"You'll see them at recess." Marta tried to console from her spot on the floor.

Gretl shrugged in disappointment and returned to her spot next to Marta and resumed playing, albeit begrudgingly.

"This is ridiculous." Friedrich shook his head. Yesterday morning their father had explained the situation to them at breakfast. Maria and her children would spend some time with just the three of them, meanwhile Maria was on the verge of moving back to England. Friedrich wasn't stupid none of the children were, they all loved Maria and her children. They wanted her to be a part of their family.

"You can say that again." Kurt mumbled. "After all of our plans..." he shook his head as well.

"They're adults," Liesl sighed. "They are entitled to making their own decisions."

"What do you think?" Louisa asked barely above a whisper.

Liesl looked to her younger sister and sat up a bit straighter in her chair. "I think," she contemplated her next words very carefully. "I think firstly, this is out of our control."

Brigitta huffed, "Well clearly. There is obviously some situation we don't know about between Father and Maria. I tried to drag it out of Michael, but he knew nothing."

"I think father is unhappy, I think he regrets everything." Louisa continued to speak quietly, her frown becoming more apparent with each word. She had grown so close to Maria the past few months; she didn't know how she could survive without her.

Just then Max peeped in the room. The children slowly turned their heads, but their expressions didn't change, homework long forgotten. "Well don't look too excited to see me." Max quipped. "What on earth is the matter?"

"Nothing-" Friedrich began

"We don't want Maria to move back." Brigitta began

Max's eyebrows shot up as Marta continued, "And we don't want Jane or Michael to leave either."

Louisa whispered, "We love them."

Liesl shared a knowing look with Max. "And father does too." Liesl said sadly.

"But we don't know what's gotten into them. We thought everything was going fine, minus Jane getting so sick." Friedrich explained.

Max made his way over to the windowsill next to Brigitta. Gretl traipsed over and he propped her on his lap while the children turned in their chairs to face him, except Marta who sat on the floor still by her dollhouse. "Children, this stays between us. You know your father and Maria have obviously known each other since they were Gretl's age, but have they told you much more than that?"

"A little." Liesl shrugged "Is there something we should know?" Liesl asked as her siblings looked to Max for guidance.

Max rolled his eyes. "I was really hoping that Hede would've done this while she was here but with Jane it makes sense. Children, let me tell you the story of your father and Maria..."

And Max told them everything. Between him and Hede he had been able to piece everything together. He obviously couldn't speak for what was running through their minds, but every action and reaction he knew. He told them of how Georg had been there for Maria in middle school, how Maria had lost her parents, how Hedwig had offered to take her in, but she refused, instead opting to care for her grandmother. He told them of how Georg had a crush on Maria, but by the time he had given up and met their mother, Maria was head over heels for him. How everyone in the family knew it, even Fritz, how Hedwig had scolded him, how Hede had interrogated her. How Maria and Agathe met and slowly became friends. He told them about when Maria was offered to go to England, how they fought, how Georg decided to join the Navy impulsively before Liesl was born. How Agathe had confronted Maria, how she fell in love with Charlie. He told them till their ears fell off and his lips turned blue. Over an hour had passed and Max concluded.

"So, you see it is a rather complicated situation." None of the children had spoken a word, not even Brigitta. They were enraptured with his tale.

"Well, we must tell father to not make the same mistake twice." Brigitta was the first to break the silence.

"I'm afraid you can't, darling. He will have to be the one to make up his own mind. But you see they both are hesitant for different reasons. I don't even know if they feel as strongly, it is purely speculation." Max held his hands up in defense.

"But it's not." A baritone voice cut through them all. The children turned their attention to the door where their father was waiting by the door. "I love Maria." all of the children smiled.

"But it doesn't mean I didn't love your mother, or that I wish I hadn't married her because I really did-" Louisa got up and cut him off with a hug.

"We know father, we know you loved mother, but we also love Maria, she helped me heal. We want her, we want them all to be part of our family." Louisa looked up, the spitting image of her mother. Georg felt like if he had Louisa's approval then he had Agathe's approval.

"You have to convince her father." Kurt pleaded.

"She can't leave.".

Liesl smiled. "Prove it to her, to them."

Max looked at his friend. "You know what you need to do."

And Georg knew exactly what to do.

Hey Y'all. The tea is spilled. I know this seems filler-y. We're so close to done. 

Thanks for reading!