The Ring

Georg and Maria walked along the banks of the lake talking about their past and their future together. Maria was still in awe at how things had changed in a matter of hours from when she had first arrived back at the Von Trapp villa. The children had quickly dashed any hopes of a future with their father when Brigitta had spoken, "Father's getting married." Those three little words in one swift instant had caused Maria to stop breathing, squeezing all the air out of her lungs and crushing her heart in one blow. It was the greatest amount of emotional pain she had ever experienced, probably even more so than when she had lost her parents.

Now all of that had changed in the last couple of hours and she was now walking beside the lake with her smaller hand comfortably placed in the strong, firm, but gentle grip of the man she loved and had just agreed to marry. He released her hand and she continued to walk a few more feet before realizing that he had stopped. She turned slowly to face him, "What is it Georg? Why are you staring at me like that?"

He gave her a genteel crooked smile, "I just want to look at you and commit this moment to memory. I want to remember everything about this night, the way you look, the way the moonlight reflects off your golden hair and how your beautiful blue eyes sparkle brighter than any of the stars in the night sky. I want to remember how you looked at me in those first moments you discovered that I loved you more than you will probably ever realize and how soft your lips were when I first tasted them. You are my miracle Maria and I'm in awe that you would even dare to love me back."

Even in the dark of the moonlit night he could see her blush at his words and it made his heart swell even larger. "You would have found your way back eventually. You only needed a small push in the right direction. It's you who made the choice to open up your heart to your children again."

"You don't give yourself enough credit, Maria. I love you." He took a step towards her and closed the gap between them. Reaching upwards, he gently brushed his hand through her hair before gathering her into his arms again and descending his lips onto hers in a kiss that pushed every nerve ending in his body into a whirlwind of desire that he had previously thought he would never feel again.

"Maria," he moaned through heavy breathing, "it's getting late, my love. I think I better walk you to your room and call it a night."

Reluctantly she agreed and they walked arm in arm into the house and up the stairs to Maria's door. They stopped just outside of it and Georg turned to her with a playful smile on his face, "Do I need to put a guard outside of this door to make sure you don't run away again, Fraulein?"

She laughed at his words, "Georg, the only place I want to run to from now on is right into your arms."

"and they will always be open to you, Maria." He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his face into her hair, breathing in her scent. "I should probably say goodnight now and let you get some rest. Tomorrow will be a big day with lots of questions from the children, I'm sure. I love you."

"I love you as well, Georg." There lips met with one last kiss for the evening.

"Goodnight, my love." With those last words he turned and walked back towards his room smiling the whole way. He walked into the master suite closing the door behind him and upon crossing the room, started a fire in the fireplace and immediately plopped down into the plush chair facing the fire. He watched the flames dancing and crackling around the brick and then his eyes floated up to the mantle and the single small picture of Agathe that he had dared to keep out after packing everything else that had belonged to her away.

He stared at the picture for a long while before realizing that for the first time he was able to fill his mind with memories of her that made him smile instead of cringe and sink into a state of depression. The smile quickly faded into a contemplative look, "Ah Agathe, I failed you in so many ways. You begged me on your death bed to help the children and to not shut them out, to continue giving them the love that you knew they would need, but I did just the opposite. I was so filled with anger and grief that I didn't want to feel anymore. I thought they would be better off without me around so much so I shoved them aside and placed governess after governess in front of them when what they really needed was a father. I never stopped loving them, I just felt so lost without you and didn't want to be reminded daily of that loss. It was easier for me to just try and escape."

He stood up stoking the slowly dying fire and threw another log into the fireplace. He sat back down watching the fire flare again with tiny sparks flying through the rising smoke circles. He gave a small laugh and looked back up at the picture again. "Things have changed though and you would be proud of me now. We have some wonderfully forgiving children, you taught them well Agathe. It took the current governess to show me the errors of my way. She came into our home in a whirlwind and challenged me from the very start. Within a few weeks she had the children completely under her spell and eventually me as well. She opened my eyes to what I was missing where the children were concerned."

His eyes drifted back to the fire and he let out a long sigh as he watched the changing colors of the flames. "You would like her Agathe. She has a heart of gold and genuinely loves the children as if they were her own. She has the voice of an angel and a beautiful soul. She's charming in every way, fun loving, cheerful, and knows how to put me in my place. She keeps me on track and I've completely fallen in love with her. I heard you praying one night when you thought I wasn't listening that you wanted me to be happy and to not spend the rest of my life alone. You prayed that I would not shutout my heart to loving again. For the longest time I didn't think I could love again, but then Maria came along and she changed all that. I'm going to marry her, Agathe, and I almost missed out on it because of my stubborn attitude."

He absently played with the wedding band on his right ring finger, moving it in a circle and feeling it's smooth round edges as it turned. He pulled it off his finger, staring at it and remembering when it was first placed on his hand. It was one of the only reminders of a life that seemed to exist ages ago. It no longer brought him pain to think about it, but filled his mind with flashes of various scenes shared with his late wife, their wedding day, the birth of each of the children, singing and making music together, and vacations taken. They all made his heart smile.

"A small part of my heart will always love you Agathe and I promise you I will never let the children forget you. Maria helped me to see that the children needed to know you and remember you and if I didn't know any better I would say you had a hand in sending her to us. Thank you darling. I know you would want me to move on and be happy."

He glanced at his finger where the ring had sat for the past twenty years and swiped his hand over the small indentation of lighter skin. Soon a new ring of hope and love would replace it, symbolizing a new beginning.

He stood from his chair and moved to the mantle and brushing his hand across the picture he took the ring and placed it by her photo. When the time came he would offer it to Friedrich. He crossed the room to his bed and stretched out on the sheets, laying his head on his pillow. His thoughts of Agathe were slowly replaced with thoughts of Maria as he drifted off to sleep, his heart filled with love and his mind completely at peace.

Fine! Reviews Please!

A/N: Thanks to the ladies on the proboards for responding to a post I made about the topic of Georg's wedding band. You ladies are great and it was what inspired me to write this little one shot. Thanks ladies!