Being a housekeeper meant you were always an early riser. The only person in the whole on the von Trapp household who woke up earlier than Frau Schmidt was the Captain himself – but that was because of his past; anyone who was an officer in the Imperial Navy woke up with the sun. Her father had too.

She wasn't at all surprised to find him out of his office this morning. Since Maria's arrival yesterday the entire mood of the household had lifted tremendously; but in all truthfulness, the biggest impact was on the Captain. A blind man could see how much he loved her, and Frau Schmidt had been in his proximity for almost twenty years and could read him to a tee. She could tell her employer was overjoyed that the governess had returned.

"Good morning sir," she said, catching him heading for the stairs towards the children's' bedrooms as she crossed the foyer. "How are you today?"

"I've never been better Lili," he said brightly as he turned around and walked over to her. From his tone she could tell he was being completely sincere; and she had a feeling it was greatly because of a certain young lady who would never be a nun.

She smiled at him knowingly. "What happened, sir?" she asked.

He looked up at her, clearly feigning any knowledge of what she was referring to. But after their conversation earlier he knew he couldn't hide anything from her; she could read him like a book. He sighed and looked back up at her.

"Elsa and I have called off our engagement. I'm going to marry Maria instead."

Frau Schmidt's heart soared. She knew that the Captain had fallen in love with Maria, and she could tell that the life the Baroness wanted was not the same as what the Captain wanted. The Captain hadn't looked this way since his wife died and she couldn't have been happier at how things had turned out. Despite being the Captain and the governess, the housekeeper could easily that they were made for each other.

"Congratulations sir," she exclaimed. "I'm so happy for. And," she paused. "I'm glad you realised that you and Baroness Schrader were never meant to be with one another."

"Why am I the last person to figure that out?" he asked jokingly.

Breakfast that morning was a joyous occasion. Overcome with happiness at their beloved governess's return all seven of the children had converged on Maria even before the news that she was to be their new mother had been broken. When that news did break, a stampede could have charged through the house and you wouldn't have heard it; everyone was erupting in cheers.

After lunch, everyone in the house disappeared; Max and the children to town and the Captain and the-soon-to-be-Baroness to the Untersberg, so the housekeeper didn't get a chance to wish the happy couple congratulations until they returned just before dinner. She watched the way they looked at each other all evening and over the next few days and Frau Schmidt realised her hunch had been correct – Maria had proved to be exactly what the von Trapp's needed.

She saw things; and even after almost two decades of being the von Trapps' housekeeper, Frau Lili Schmidt was discovering there were still things to notice about this extremely complex family; Maria had taught he that. That was why this was more than a job.