Hello, everyone! So, I've written in the "deaf Elphaba" AU before, but I recently saw Deaf West's production of Spring Awakening on Broadway, loved it, and got inspired again. Hope you all enjoy it!

Pregnant.

She was pregnant. She stared at the doctor, paralyzed in shock. Maybe he didn't say that. He could have said something else. Anything else. Except that. She knew there were advantages to being deaf, but this was definitely not one of them.

Her hand subconsciously flew to her flat abdomen as she continued to look at her mother-in-law. The queen, Amalie, smiled and nodded. That was all the confirmation Elphaba needed. She was going to have a baby. She and Fiyero were going to be parents.

'How long?' she finally managed to sign, looking from Amalie to the doctor.

"How long?" Amalie translated.

"I would say around three weeks," the doctor said.

'Around three weeks.' Amalie translated for the green girl.

Elphaba looked down at her stomach again, hardly believing a little life was growing inside of her. She was going to be a mother in nine months. How was she going to tell Fiyero?

"Congratulations, Your Highness," the doctor smiled, bowing slightly.

"Thank you, Doctor," Amalie smiled as she wiped the stray tear from Elphaba's cheek.

Elphaba wiped her eyes and smiled at the doctor. 'Thank you.' she signed.

The doctor nodded again and bowed before packing up his things and leaving the two royals alone. Elphaba looked up at Amalie and laughed softly. The Queen smiled back and pulled her into a gentle hug.

'I can't believe it.' Elphaba signed once they pulled away.

'Congratulations, Elphaba. I'm so happy for you.'

The green girl smiled a bit. 'Yero and I talked about having children. We just thought it wouldn't happen so soon.'

'You two have been married for two years. Sometimes, these things happen sooner rather than later.'

'You're right.' The green girl stood and walked over to her closet.

'Do you want anything, Elphaba?' Amalie asked, walking up to the green girl and lightly touching her shoulder.

'I'm fine. I'm just going to find Fiyero.'

'You're going to tell him now?'

'I don't know quite yet. I want to, but it might be too early.'

Amalie understood and kissed her daughter-in-law's forehead. 'Do whatever you feel is right. But I know Fiyero will be very excited.'

Elphaba picked out a sweater and smiled at the queen. 'I know he will be. I am, too.' And with that, Elphaba went to find her husband, though it didn't take very long. He was sitting in parlor, eating a plate of cookies she had a suspicion he wasn't supposed to have. She walked over to him and sat down on the couch next to him.

The prince looked up and immediately abandoned his cookies to wrap his arms around his wife. He ran his fingers through her hair as she laid her head against his shoulder. The couple spent a few minutes like this, enjoying each other's company.

'Are you alright, Fae?' Fiyero asked as he gently pushed Elphaba away so she could see him.

'I'm fine. I was just going to go for a walk. Come with me?'

Fiyero nodded and kissed his wife's cheek before hurrying away to get his sweater. Once he returned, the couple walked into the garden, hand-in-hand. Elphaba leaned against Fiyero as they walked, snuggling closer to him as an October breeze swept past them. They watched as the leaves turned colors and strong gusts of wind blew them off the branches.

'Something's on your mind.' Fiyero signed as they approached the center of the garden, where a large cherry blossom tree stood.

'I'm fine. It's nothing bad or anything.'

'Do you want to tell me what it is?'

Elphaba looked up at him and smiled softly before leading him over to a nearby bench. 'I was just think about what it would be like to start our own family.'

The prince chuckled softly as they sat down. 'I've thought about it a bit, too. But we don't have to rush into anything. We have plenty of time to start thinking about a family, Fae.'

Elphaba frowned slightly. Was Fiyero saying that he didn't want any children? Of course he wasn't. He wouldn't. He didn't even know.

'Fae? What's wrong?'

'Well… the thing is… we actually don't have as much time as you think.'

It was Fiyero's turn to frown. 'What do you mean? How much time do we have?'

Elphaba gave him a sheepish grin. 'Nine months.'

It took a while for that to sink in, but when it did, the prince's face broke into a grin. 'Fae, are you saying that you're… we're… you're pregnant?'

Elphaba nodded. 'Yes, Yero. I'm pregnant.'

The prince laughed and lifted his wife into his arms and spun her around. "Oh, Fae! We're going to have a baby!" He returned her feet to the ground and kissed her passionately. Elphaba was surprised, but didn't protest the kiss as she wrapped her arms around her husband.

'How far along are you?' he asked when they pulled away.

'Around three weeks. The doctor just confirmed it today.'

Fiyero wiped the tears from his eyes and gently placed his hand against her flat abdomen. "A baby," he whispered in awe. "We're going to have a baby. I'm going to be a father."

Even though Elphaba didn't know what he was saying, she could tell he was still in awe of everything and gently snuggled against him. Fiyero quickly wrapped his arms around her and held her close, rocking her in his arms.

'We're going to be parents in nine months.' he signed happily once they pulled away.

'We are. Are you… nervous?'

The prince paused for a clock-tick. 'I… I don't know. The whole idea excites me, but maybe I am a bit nervous. We're going to be responsible for another life.'

'Yeah.' Elphaba signed. 'That's what I was thinking.'

'Are you nervous?'

'A little bit.'

Fiyero smiled softly. 'It's normal to feel nervous. But we have nine months to prepare.'

'And I'm sure there are lots books in the castle library we can find.'

'We?' the prince blinked.

Elphaba rolled her eyes. 'Yes, we. The both of us.'

'Leave it to the bookworm to think she can find all her answers in her books.' he chuckled, kissing the top of her head. 'When are you going to tell everyone else?'

'Um… well, I want to tell them soon, but not quite yet. I want to wait until I'm safe.'

'Safe?'

'There's a significantly less chance of a miscarriage once I hit my third month.'

'So, who knows now?'

'Just you, me, your mother, and the doctor.'

The prince smiled softly and pulled his wife into another kiss. 'I'm so happy for us.'

'Me too, Yero. Me too.'

Things continued in the castle as normally as before. Fiyero was slightly more protective of Elphaba, and it confused the servants, as well as the king, Raal, as to why. They knew that Fiyero was always a bit protective of Elphaba, for obvious reasons, but never to this extent.

'Yero, I'm fine. Really.' Elphaba signed as Fiyero tried to help her down the stairs. 'I can still walk down the stairs. I'm not that pregnant yet.'

'I know, Fae, but…'

Elphaba gently grabbed his hands, cutting him off. 'We don't want anyone to get suspicious. I want to wait to tell everyone.'

Fiyero looked into his wife's eyes and nodded slowly, pulling her into a kiss. 'Okay.'

Elphaba smiled once they pulled away and gently leaned her head against his chest. They walked down the rest of the steps and walked into the parlor, where Amalie and Raal were having tea.

"Oh. Hello, Fiyero. Elphaba," Raal said and signed when he saw the couple.

"Hi, Dad," Fiyero smiled, sitting on the couch next to his wife.

"Would you two like some tea?" Amalie asked, also signing to Elphaba.

'Yes, please.' Elphaba smiled.

Fiyero nodded. "Sure."

Amalie smiled and poured the tea for the younger adults. "Have you two thought about suggestions for the dinner party next month?"

"I haven't really thought about it," the prince admitted sheepishly. He turned toward his wife. 'Fae?'

Elphaba paused for a moment. 'I haven't really thought about it either.'

Amalie smiled softly. "That's okay. I was just wondering. We still have time to decide."

After drinking her tea, Elphaba announced that she was feeling a bit tired and was going to take a nap. Fiyero finished his tea and talked with his parents for a bit before he decided to check up on his wife. He walked up the stairs and slipped into the bedroom. He smiled at the sight of his wife peacefully asleep and slipped into the bed next to her. He jumped slightly when Elphaba's eyes flew opened and her body when into full alert.

'What's wrong?' she immediately asked, looking at the prince.

It took Fiyero a second to remember how Elphaba had trained herself to be a light sleeper in case something was wrong and she was needed to do something. He smiled softly as he kissed her forehead in an apology. 'Nothing's wrong, Fae. I'm sorry for startling you. I was just checking up on you.'

Elphaba relaxed and smiled softly as she snuggled against the prince. She rested her head against his chest and felt his heart pumping. Fiyero shimmied under the covers and pulled Elphaba closer.

'What?' Elphaba asked when she realized that Fiyero was still staring at her.

'Nothing. It's just… do you remember how I proposed?'

Elphaba blinked. 'Of course. Why do you ask?'

'No reason. I was just wondering.'

The green girl rolled her eyes. 'Do you remember?'

'Of course I do. It was the summer after we graduated Shiz…'

Fiyero smiled softly as he walked hand-in-hand with his girlfriend. He couldn't believe he managed to stay with the same girl for four years, and he couldn't believe he actually could love the same girl for four years. But here he was, the proud boyfriend of Elphaba Thropp. He thought to himself about how he had managed to fall in love with the legendary green girl. She was the opposite of what he ever dreamt of in a girl. She was green, but not ugly. Just… green. She had a mysterious allergy to water, which the poor prince had found out about the hard way when they were caught in an unexpected rain shower and he had to watch as burns and horrid blisters formed on her exotic, emerald skin. And she was also deaf.

After their fourth unofficial date, the prince had managed learned enough sign language to be able to have a conversation with Elphaba without having to write down what he was saying on a piece of paper and have to play charades with her to figure out what she was saying. He had asked her how she became deaf, and at first, he wasn't sure she would answer. But she confessed that she had suffered from meningitis when she was a baby (two months old, according to her father). Instead of dying, like the doctors predicted, it only took her hearing, which she was very grateful for.

'It could have been much worse.' she had signed to him when he had asked.

It had been rocky when they first met. Communication had been their biggest issue. Fiyero didn't know any sign language, and Elphaba could only lip-read a tiny bit, and even that proved to not be the most useful or accurate way of communicating. They had resorted to passing notes back and forth until Fiyero managed to learn a few basic signs, and Elphaba taught him the rest as they went along. Despite his brainless reputation, the prince was actually a very quick learner when he actually got himself to care. And being with Elphaba got him to care.

Now here they were, four years later, fresh graduates of Shiz University. It had been especially hard for Elphaba, whose prelingual deafness caused her to have a bit of a harder time, but she was a very dedicated student and pulled through. With the help of her sister, Galinda, and Fiyero, who were more than happy to assist her with getting her notes and reviewing lectures, she had made it through the four years. As a present to both his daughters, the Governor of Munchkinland had allowed them to visit the prince in the Vinkus for a few weeks. He still didn't fully like the prince, especially once he found out that he was dating his eldest daughter, but over the years, softened a little bit.

The prince felt Elphaba squeeze his hand to get her attention. 'Yero, is everything alright?'

He smiled. 'Yeah. Everything's fine.' The couple sat down on a bench, their fingers still intertwined. 'Do you like it here?'

The green girl inhaled deeply and nodded. 'I do. It's really beautiful.'

The prince nodded and looked down at his lap. He fidgeted a bit, obviously nervous about something. He felt Elphaba tap his leg and looked up at her.

'Something's wrong. Tell me.'

'I… I made you something.' Fiyero signed as he pulled out a small booklet and handed it to her.

Elphaba looked at the cover. 'In Our Life?' she asked.

The prince nodded. 'It's called a 'flipbook'. You flip through it really quickly and it shows a bunch of pictures that look like they're moving.'

'Moving?'

'You'll see.'

Elphaba began to flip through the book as Fiyero instructed. She knew the prince had a special talent for art and was excited to see what he had done. The first was a picture titled 'Sixty Years From Now', with a drawing of them as an older couple. She looked at him, confused, but the prince simply pointed back to the book and Elphaba continued to quickly flip through it. The pictures really did look like they were moving. Time seemed to be going backwards in the book, since the next photo was 'Fifty Years From Now', then 'Forty Years from Now'. The next few pages had were labeled 'Time in Between'. Elphaba and Fiyero were sitting on a bench, and standing beside them was what seemed to be two children, an older boy and a younger girl. Time continued to go backwards and the girl turned into a baby in Elphaba's lap before disappearing, then the boy turned into a baby before disappearing. Elphaba continued to flip and saw that picture-Fiyero was pulling something out of his pocket. The last page was of him getting down on one knee with the caption 'Will You Marry Me?' with the opened, little, black box in his hands.

Elphaba blinked and looked over to the prince, who was mirroring the picture. He was on his knee in front of Elphaba with the opened ring box. The green girl blinked, raising her hands to sign to him, but found that her hands were shaking.

Fiyero smiled as he gently put the box down next to himself before taking Elphaba's trembling hands in his. He held her hands in his own for a few moments before he signed, 'I love you, Fae. I've loved you for the past four and a half years. I can't imagine my life without you. You really helped me to think and to not be happy with my false pretenses. You got me to be the real me and not care what other people think. And I love you for all that and more.'

Elphaba still couldn't move. She was in too much of a shock. 'Yero…' she finally managed to get out after a while.

'Elphaba Melena Thropp, will you marry me?'

Elphaba looked at the ring before nodding quickly. 'Yes!' she signed. 'Yes!'

Fiyero quickly slid the ring onto her finger and pulled her towards himself for a kiss. Elphaba happily and quickly melted against the prince's body as the kiss deepened. The two fell to the ground, completely lost in each other.

"I love you," Fiyero whispered against her lips, wiping away her tears before they could burn her.

Elphaba smiled as she pulled Fiyero closer, their breath mixing together. They kissed once more, lost in the passion of lovers' dreams.

Well, here we are. My 75th story! *Confetti cannon goes off* What do you all think? Virtual chocolate cupcakes for everyone who reviews!