Still insanely giddy about all those Greg Awards. I mean... seriously. Just wow. I'm just going to say thank you again and shower you with virtual cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and whatever else you might like!
This is a short sequel to my fanfic Living Lies that came into existence through an inside joke with some fellow FF authors about putting things in boxes. You'll see.
Out of the Box
PRINCESS CASSADI ABOUT TO GIVE BIRTH
We have all noticed it over the past few months – Princess Cassadi Tiggular of Oz has been getting bigger and bigger and it is only a matter of time before the baby will be born. Given the size of her stomach, many have speculated whether the princess might actually be carrying twins, although these rumours have not been confirmed by any source close to Her Highness.
The article continued to speculate about the baby's gender, the name he or she would get, the day he or she would be born, and the question of whether or not there would be two babies, but by then Elphaba had long since stopped reading. She threw the paper across the room and crossed her arms with a huff.
Glinda, who had just come in, shook her head at her friend. "Oh, Cassie. You shouldn't even read all those things. What was in this one that annoyed you so?"
"They're commenting on how enormous I look and they're wondering if I'm carrying twins." Elphaba snorted. "I wish they would just mind their own business for once."
"You're the princess," Glinda pointed out. "It's everyone's job to mind your business. You know that with your story, they'll never stop being curious about you or prying into your life."
"Oh, joy." Elphaba pushed herself to her feet and waddled across the room, picking a book from the bookshelf in the corner before waddling back and lowering herself onto the couch with a sigh. "Oz, I certainly feel like I'm carrying twins."
Glinda giggled. "I'm sure the midwife would have told you if you were." She plopped onto the couch next to Elphaba. "So Fiyero's family is coming with him tomorrow morning, right? And they're all staying until after the baby is born?"
Elphaba nodded, stretching her legs and grimacing at the soreness in her back and swollen feet. "Yes." She smirked. "You should have seen Fiyero's face when I told him to go with his father to attend that meeting. He completely freaked out. It took me over an hour to calm him down and even longer to actually convince him to go." She rolled her eyes. "It's not like I'm even due for another week, and even then, I can give birth without him. I swear, he's more nervous about this whole pregnancy thing than I am."
"I've noticed before that you seem uncharacteristically calm," Glinda said, looking a little suspicious. "Why is that? What with your opinions on marriage and kids back when we were at Shiz, I would have thought you'd completely freak out at the mere mention of either of those, let alone at actually doing them."
Elphaba smiled. "Yes, well, a lot has happened since then." She shrugged. "I guess I figured that if I can survive completely throwing around my old life, taking a new identity, and Morrible trying to kill me, childbirth won't be so hard. I'm not sure about motherhood, though."
Glinda laughed. "There's the Elphie I know," she teased, even though her friend gave her a warning look at the mention of her real name. "Are you looking forward to seeing Fiyero's family again?"
"Of course. Lori and Hamold are wonderful and you know I think of Luckas and Myracle as my own siblings. I haven't seen them in nearly two months." She grimaced, shifting a little, just as Oscar came meandering into the room, whistling. "Oz, this baby is really intent on making me uncomfortable right now."
He gave her a sympathetic smile at that complaint. "Do you need anything, Cassadi?"
She shook her head. "I'm fine, Dad. Thanks."
He beamed, just like he did every time she called him that. Even though at some point, she hadn't been sure if she'd ever be able to forgive him, they were pretty close by now – closer than she'd ever been with Frex, that was for sure. They were getting along well. She'd started calling him "Dad" a while ago, which he loved; and he got along well with Fiyero, too, which was definitely a plus.
Fiyero, despite having been eager to move their relationship forward from the moment Morrible had been locked away and they had been safe, had patiently waited for her to be ready. He had then planned and executed the perfect proposal – taking her on a walk through a beautiful park on the outskirts of the Emerald City, then stopping near a waterfall before giving her a heartfelt speech that made her cry a little and going down on one knee, pulling out a white-gold ring with a few small stones in it – and they had gotten married a couple of months later. It had by now nearly been four years since she'd first accepted Oscar's proposal and changed her identity, with all the consequences that had brought. She sometimes still felt uncomfortable about it, but over time it had become easier and easier to be Cassadi, rather than Elphaba, and she barely even had to think about it anymore now.
She was still learning things about ruling Oz and being a princess. There had been the matter of Fiyero being a prince as well and so there had been a lot of discussions about what that would mean. Did this mean the Vinkus would be part of Oz? Did it merely mean there was an alliance? But how was Fiyero going to rule the Vinkus if Elphaba had to stay in the Emerald City? They had both agreed that splitting up was not an option and so eventually, Fiyero had decided to give up the Vinkun throne altogether and pass on the honour to his younger brother Luckas, who had graciously accepted. Fiyero was now learning along with Elphaba, because instead of King of the Vinkus, he was going to be King of Oz someday.
They had both been elated at the prospect of having a baby, although Fiyero was also anxious and nervous, worrying if he would make a good father. Elphaba, for her part, was mostly worried about one thing – whether or not the baby would be green. Glinda and Fiyero had instantly started arguing with her that it wouldn't matter, the baby would be loved regardless, and she shouldn't even think about that; until she had pointed out to them that if she had a green baby, news of that would undoubtedly leak to the press and the people would realise the truth about her identity, which would bring about a whole new series of complications. They'd realised she was right about that, but Oscar had assured her he would take care of it. If the baby really was born green, he'd make sure the midwife would never tell and they would have to cast a transformation spell on the baby to turn his or her skin a normal colour.
"When is Fiyero returning?" Oscar asked.
She shifted again. "Tomorrow morning," she answered with a roll of her eyes. King Hamold had needed both his sons' help with some important meeting in the Vinkus and Fiyero hadn't even wanted to go, unwilling to leave Elphaba alone. After a lot of arguing, she'd finally managed to convince him to attend the meeting; but of course he refused to stay any longer than was necessary. He'd left the night before, driving through the night, and he'd been in the meeting all day long. He would depart for the Emerald City again tonight – on Lurlinemas Eve – so that he would be back by her side again on Lurlinemas Day, both to celebrate the holiday with her and to be by her side during the last days of her pregnancy. He'd bring his entire family along and Elphaba knew she wasn't the only one looking forward to seeing them again, since they'd adopted Glinda as one of their own as well and they were also on friendly terms with Oscar. It was still strange to Elphaba that she finally had the big, happy family she'd always dreamt of having.
Finally giving up, she rose to her feet again, pressing her palms to the small of her painful back. "I'm going to take Hero for a walk," she announced. "Sitting here is driving me crazy and everything hurts. I need to move."
"I'll come with you," said Oscar and she nodded, allowing him to link his arm with hers as they left the room together.
"You don't have to be here, you know," Elphaba told Glinda for the umpteenth time through the bathroom door. "You should go home and celebrate Lurlinemas Eve with Cohvu. I'm sure he misses you."
Glinda, on the other side of the door, shook her head. "Oh, Cassie, there's no way I'm going to leave you to be with my husband when you can't be with yours! And besides, I don't mind being here. You're pregnant, Fiyero is away... you need a friend right now."
Elphaba sniggered as she came out of the bathroom, rolling her eyes. "I have Oscar," she pointed out. "I have Hero, too." She petted the dog's head to demonstrate her point. "And there are quite a few things for me to do around here, so I won't be bored. I've never cared much for Lurlinemas, anyway."
"I'll take good care of her," Oscar assured the blonde, but Glinda was not convinced.
"Still," she insisted. "What could you possibly be doing on Lurlinemas Eve by yourself?"
"Well, I still need to look over those invitations for the banquet, there's this report I have to read about the progress made in the Animal centres, and my water just broke," she summed up, "so I think I'll manage to keep myself busy tonight."
Glinda was nodding. "Okay. That's good... wait," she said, panic flashing across her face. "What did you just say?"
"The invitations?" Elphaba asked, clearly teasing her friend. "The report?"
Glinda glared at her. "That other thing."
"My water just broke?"
The blonde girl stared at her friend for a moment and then started squealing. "Oh my Oz! Cassie!"
Oscar, who was sitting on the couch, was looking pale. "You... you're in labour?"
The princess shrugged, turning her back on them and moving to the desk. "It's no big deal. According to the pregnancy books, it's going to take another while before something will actually happen, since I'm barely even feeling any contractions yet. I still have plenty of time to get some work done." She sat down at the desk, put on her reading glasses, and picked up the report about the Animal centres, ignoring the way Glinda and Oscar were gawking at her from across the room.
"Excuse me," Glinda finally managed. "What?!"
Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't go all Fiyero on me, please!" She scoffed. "I'm fine. I'll let you know when the contractions start getting worse and you can call for the midwife then. Trust me – I've read all about this stuff."
"Shouldn't you lie down?" Oscar asked, slightly panicky, but Elphaba shook her head.
"I need to work on these reports," she insisted. "I'm not going to lie down all the time until the baby is born."
"At least let me call the midwife already to check you over," Oscar almost begged and she sighed.
"Fine. If you insist."
She continued to work on the report until the midwife arrived, after which she allowed the woman to examine her. The midwife, however, confirmed what Elphaba had already read in her pregnancy books – until the contractions were closer together, there was no need for her to stop doing whatever she was doing. She advised the princess to get some rest if she could and to try and walk around or take a bath to stimulate the labour and promised she would stay nearby. Oscar offered her a room, which she gratefully accepted, and Elphaba continued with her work again.
When she finished, she took a nap and then a bath and then proceeded to walk around the room in her nightgown, grumbling about her discomfort. Glinda stayed by her side at all times, hovering worriedly, just like Oscar. "Cassie?" the blonde asked timidly. "Can I stay with you during the labour?"
The former green girl huffed a breathless laugh. "Trying to fill in for Fiyero, are you?"
"A little," Glinda admitted and Elphaba gave her a small grin.
"Sure, you can stay." Her gaze shifted to Oscar. "You, too, if you want to. If only because I'll need something to squeeze and I'd be afraid to crush Glinda's fragile hand," she chuckled and he smiled at her, already a little teary-eyed.
"Thank you."
Elphaba grimaced, clutching the wall for support as her face paled a little. "I think we need to call back the midwife now."
"It's time?" Oscar asked, nervously fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. She'd never seen him like this before.
She nodded, clenching her teeth to keep herself from crying out at a painful contraction. "It's time."
He gave her a fleeting smile. "Glinda, help her to bed, will you?" The blonde nodded fervently and stormed forward while Oscar left the room, his heart pounding in his throat, and Elphaba took a few deep breaths to try and steady herself. It was time.
The moment Fiyero entered the living room of the Emerald Palace, Glinda was around his neck, hugging him tightly and chirping, "Merry Lurlinemas, Fiyero!" into his ear.
He blinked, then brushed her off as gently as possible, frowning. "Merry Lurlinemas...?" he said, making it sound like a question. He wasn't sure what this was about.
The blonde just giggled at him and his frown deepened. "Where is Cass?"
"Asleep," said Glinda, still giggling. "She had a rough night."
Fiyero grimaced sympathetically. "She hasn't been sleeping well at all lately. Her stomach is in the way and then sometimes she has all these pregnancy symptoms bugging her... is she okay?"
"She's fine," Glinda assured him, even though he could not figure out why she was still giggling at him. "She's just exhausted, that's all. Fiyero, I think it's time for you to open one of your Lurlinemas presents now," she announced, abruptly changing the subject, and he blinked at her.
"What? Glinda, why are you acting so weird?" he wanted to know, but she just giggled at him once more.
"Just open your present, Fiyero," she said in a sing-song voice.
He shook his head. "We're supposed to all do presents together," he reminded her. "I brought my family to their rooms already and I just really want to see Cass right now. Is she in our bedroom?"
"Please?" She pouted. "For me, Fiyero? Just one present? The present will explain everything, I promise."
He heaved a sigh and moved towards the Lurlinemas tree in the corner, if only just to get it over with. He just really wanted to see Elphaba, but he realised Glinda wouldn't let him go before he'd indulged her. "Well, if it explains everything..."
"It's the big one," Glinda pointed, "with the green wrapping and the red ribbon."
"Why is the lid askew?" he asked, reaching out for the present.
"Careful!" Glinda screeched when he made to pick it up, startling him; and he frowned at her.
"Glinda..."
Suddenly, there was a noise from the box and his eyes widened as he stared at it, then at the blonde. "Glinda, what in Oz did you do?" he demanded. "Is this another pet?" He groaned. "You know Cass is going to kill me if I turn up with a buddy for Hero, Glinda. She explicitly said no more pets, especially not now with the baby. We're going to have a busy enough time as it is."
Glinda merely giggled at him again – he was seriously starting to consider passing a law to prohibit giggling more than once an hour once he would be King of Oz. "Just take off the lid, Fiyero. Carefully."
He huffed and did as she asked, gingerly removing the lid of the present. What he found inside the box, however, made him gape first at the box and then at Glinda, then at the box again. "Wh–? Glinda?"
She squealed now, which made the surprise whimper and then cry full-on. "Surprise! Congratulations, Fiyero!" She ran over to hug him again tightly. "You're a father!"
He could only gawk at her and then back at the baby in the box – a tiny, pink human with dark blond hair and flailing little limbs. The baby was crying now and it took him a few moments to shake off his stupor and bend down to pick it up and cradle it in the crook of his arm, gently rocking it back and forth. It calmed down after a while and he looked back at Glinda, who was beaming at him.
"What," he said slowly, trying to wrap his mind around this, "did you do?!"
"Me?" More giggles. "Nothing much, really. I just patted your wife's shoulder and encouragerised her whilst she gave birth, and then after she allowed me to take care of my godchild for a while and she went to sleep, I spent a while looking out the window to see if you were already heading this way. When I finally saw your carriage arriving, I ran down here to put the baby in the box – I mean, I'm not so heartless as to leave your son in a box for hours, Fiyero, you should know me better than that."
"My son," he echoed dazedly. He was still completely dumbstruck. "Most people," he managed, "would not put babies in boxes at all."
"Oh, but didn't it make for such a lovely surprise?" Glinda gushed.
He just stared at her, trying to process all this information. "I... I have a son?"
"What else did you think the baby in your arms was, Fiyero?" She giggled. Again. He would so be passing that giggle-prohibiting law. "Yes, you have a son. Yero, meet Xalo. Xalo, this is your daddy."
"Xalo..." It was the name he and Elphaba had agreed on, should the baby be a boy. He gently traced the baby's features with his finger and then sharply looked up again. "Wait. When did this happen?"
"She went into labour last night," Glinda replied. "In fact, she was creepily calm about it. She kept on working through most of her contractions, insisting she had reports and whatnot to take care of. Little Xalo was born around four this morning."
He was still staring, so she gestured at the door. "Oz, Fiyero, don't you think you should go and see your wife now?"
He wanted to give her a sarcastic retort, but swallowed the words and instead dashed out of the room. His family was more important right now, but Glinda would be in for it later.
He stormed into the room with the baby still in his arms and then skidded to a halt when he laid eyes on his wife. Her now-fair skin looked paler than usual and she looked exhausted, even in sleep. Hero was lying at Elphaba's feet on their bed, where he often slept, but he was wide awake, almost as if he was keeping watch over her. He lifted his head and his tail started wagging when he noticed Fiyero and the prince scratched Hero's ears with his free hand, never taking his eyes off Elphaba.
Her reddish-brown curls fanned across the pillow and for what felt like the millionth time, he was struck by both the similarities and the differences between this Cassadi and the Elphaba he'd known. Her new appearance had grown on him more and more over the years, but he still loved it when she changed herself back to her old self – which she almost never did. His first birthday after they'd gotten together had been one of those occasions, as had their wedding night, but she had to be careful.
Now, however, he couldn't help but think that despite her different appearance, despite the circles under her eyes and the paleness of her skin, she had never looked more beautiful to him.
Her sleep disrupted by his loud entrance, she stirred, her eyes slowly blinking open. When she saw him with the baby, a smile spread across her face. "Hey."
"Hey," he whispered, moving closer to her and crouching beside the bed. He gently smoothed her hair away from her forehead. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired," she admitted. "And sore." The smile returned, even brighter this time, as she glanced at her son in his father's arms. "And happy."
"He's beautiful, Fae," he murmured, just this once using his old nickname for her. "Did everything go okay? Were there any complications? How long did it take? Were you scared?"
She chuckled. "Everything went fine, Yero, really. And surprisingly... I wasn't scared at all. I was a little nervous about him being green, but thankfully that fear was unfounded. You're right – he is beautiful."
"Little Xalo." Fiyero stroked his son's head. "I only wish Glinda hadn't put him in a present box underneath the Lurlinemas tree as a surprise for me upon coming home. She nearly gave me a heart attack."
Elphaba's eyes widened and she struggled to sit up. "She did what now?!"
"Calm down." He gently pressed her down. "He was fine, just a little confused. Don't get worked up over it."
She grumbled something under her breath. "I'm going to kill that blonde! She's only been godmother for a few hours and I'm already regretting that decision!"
He laughed and pressed a kiss to her temple. "I love you so much, sweetheart. I'm sorry I wasn't here..."
She snorted. "Oh, please. We did just fine without you," she teased, which made him smile and he kissed her again, on the lips this time.
"I can see that." He stroked her hair and looked down at Xalo, who had drifted off to sleep in his arms. "I am so proud of you both." He looked at his wife again, who looked like she was near sleep herself, and he smiled. "Sorry for interrupting your rest," he murmured, resting his forehead against her temple and nuzzling her cheek. "Go back to sleep, Cass. I'll be right here with our son."
"Mm. Okay." She yawned. "Don't let Glinda get to him," she said sleepily, which made him chuckle.
"I won't. Promise." He continued to run his hand over her hair until her eyelids slowly closed. He watched her for a while as she slept. His newborn son was in his arms, just as fast asleep of his mother, and Hero continued to keep an eye on all of them from his place at his mistress's feet. A sense of complete and utter happiness like he had never known before washed over Fiyero and he could not help but smile.
He was home.
With that, I want to wish you all a very happy new year. May it be positively emerald and filled with happiness, wickedness, love, joy, green, health, and all other kinds of good stuff. :)