The Parent Trapp

Chapter 3

     Maria was thrilled to be alone over the next few days. Going from one to three kids overnight was an adjustment. Even though she had babysat in the past and known the girls their whole lives, there was a definite difference between watching them for a while and taking full responsibility over them. She decided to meet with her Aunt, Peg one day after work, to hopefully gain some advice.

Her Aunt had always been there for her, living just outside of town, her father's sister had been one of the biggest blessings over the years, most recently offering to help with the girls if Maria ever needed to take a moment to herself. Not to mention Peg had lived a long life, and therefore experienced many things and was known in her little community for giving solid advice, although Maria's father called her a real life fortune cookie behind her back due to her one liners that often sounded corny.

They met at her aunt's house, a little cottage where she lived alone. It was tiny, old fashioned and covered in ivy. Maria had spent wonderful days here as a child and had many memories with her friends in the garden.

Her Aunt, Peg, had made lemonade to ward off the hot day as they sat on a swing on the front porch.

"I don't know, they're so innocent, I feel as if I'm incapable. Agathe had done it before, four times, handling three was no problem." Maria sighed as she leaned back,

The matronly woman smiled as she listened to her niece vent. She was one of the few who knew the truth and knew how hard the season was for everyone.

"You are more than capable of raising them, you're wonderful with kids" Peg leaned forward

"But teaching them music and actually being a parent are two very different things. I understand that at one point my condition was heartbreaking, but I grew to accept it, that's why I found so much satisfaction in teaching, but now that I have three little girls, a tiny apartment with no way to provide them with absolutely everything they need, it's not fair to them."

"Have you ever thought of calling Georg?" Peg dared to bring up as she took a sip of lemonade.

'I always said Agathe left him for good reason, he never put in effort and even now he's never tried to pursue the girls, he doesn't even know Gretl exists." Maria explained.

The arrangement had been temperamental, especially for the older four, but the tricky thing was no one really knew the whole truth, the lack of communication had allowed the arrangement to be successful.

"Maybe now he would like to get to know them better, you know he would have come to the funeral if they weren't sick, and he still took the time to bring the kids all the way out here to say goodbye." Peg reasoned

"Yet he didn't think to check on his two youngest, now three, daughters!"

"Why didn't you reach out, hmm?" Peg questioned

Maria pondered this. Everything had happened so quickly, she barely even knew Georg anyway. "It wouldn't have been fair, the girls had already gone through too much. Telling them they have a dad and four other siblings wouldn't have helped them at that moment."

"I can see where you're coming from." Peg acknowledged it was a valid argument.

There were a few beats of silence, as the wind and sound of birds chirping cleansed the air and gave Maria a few moments to calm herself. "I don't know what to do" she placed her head in her hands

"The Lord will show you in his own good time dear" Peg rubbed her back. Her poor niece had gladly taken on so much, and now it was beginning to wear, but she had faith it would work out eventually. 

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As the week progressed, so did Louisa and Brigitta's rivalry. It seemed that Maya, Kurt and Friedrich had to hold the girls back every five seconds to prevent a full on fist fight from breaking out. Something about them just inherently rubbed them the wrong way, but neither could figure out what it was.