The Waiting Room

By Vinkunwildflowerqueen

DISCLAIMER: Wicked isn't mine in any capacity.

AN. So, Cassidy was the 300th reviewer for TRTTD and she requested a "Fiyeraba fluff. Any Fiyeraba fluff. Preferably with babies, theirs or not, I don't care. Just something Fiyeraba, fluffy, and with tiny humans please." So, here you go.

I'm not thrillified with the title, but I couldn't think of anything better. Happy new year everyone!

A small crowd was gathered in the hospital's private waiting room, and from looking at the group, casual passer-by's could be forgiven for thinking they were any other family waiting for news of a loved one. However, the guards posted at the door kind of ruined that illusion.

Hospital workers, fellow visitors and even patients who were well enough to walk the halls couldn't stop themselves from trying to peer into the waiting room, so much that the guards had closed off the entire floor of the hospital. Not that the curious witnesses were necessarily at fault- after all, it wasn't every day that a new member of the Vinkun royal family was born.

It was nine o'clock in the morning and the group had made their way to the hospital an hour earlier.

Elphaba and Fiyero hadn't wanted them to have to spend all the time at the hospital until the baby arrived, but they had lost that argument. They had been at the hospital since Elphaba's waters had broken just after six am, and it seemed the fourth Baby Tiggular was content with taking it's time to enter the world and meet his family. Three hours into labour, and Elphaba's contractions were still more than ten minutes apart.

"Ten minutes?" Galinda asked Fiyero in disappointment, when he came out to update them. "It's going to be hours yet."

Fiyero smiled at her complaint. "I told you guys not to come over yet. The kids are going to get bored," he warned them.

"Don't worry about it, Yero," Boq said, from his seat next to his wife. "There's plenty of toys to keep them busy."

"You just stay with Elphaba," Queen Kasmira told her son.

Fiyero nodded and headed for the door.

"Daddy!"

He turned and readily caught their four year old, Odilia. The little girl leaned forward and planted a wet kiss on her father's cheek.

"Can you give that to Mommy for me, please?" she asked solemnly.

Fiyero squeezed her lightly and set her down. "Absolutely, Odi. You be good, ok?"

Odilia nodded. "I will. I'm going to draw a picture for Mommy and the baby."

"That sounds great. Maybe Aunty Nessa can help you with that?" he asked, looking over the little girl's head to his sister-in-law, who nodded.

"Of course. Come over here, Odi."

Odilia skipped off and Fiyero looked around for his two older children, but his father waved him away.

"Everything's under control, son. You stay with Elphaba."

Fiyero nodded and finally left the room.

Ibrahim surveyed the crowded room carefully. Nessa was with Odilia, busying her with paper and coloured pencils. Galinda and Boq sat in a corner, talking quietly as Galinda gently rocked the pram that held their own ten month old daughter. Frex had gone to get coffee, and Kasmira was watching Elphaba and Fiyero's six year old daughter, Gili as she played a board game with Galinda and Boq's seven year old twin girls.

The King sighed and took a seat beside his grandson.

"What are you doing, Sam?"

Ten year old Samael looked up at his grandfather with a sheepish look that rather mirrored his father's.

"Praying."

Ibrahim chuckled. "Would this be regarding the same thing you've been talking about for the past six months?"

Samael nodded. When his parents had announced they were having another baby, the young boy had only one thought-

"No more girls," he told his parents sternly.

Fiyero had laughed, but Elphaba was more sympathetic. "Sam, I thought you liked your sisters?"

Samael had shrugged. "They're all right, I guess. For girls. But I want a brother," he whined.

"We don't really get to control that, sweetheart," Elphaba had said gently.

Between his two sisters and Galinda and Boq's three girls, Samael felt he was unfairly outnumbered, and he made sure everyone knew it.

Ibrahim clasped Samael on the shoulder. "I think it's a little late to be praying now, son. Whether you have a brother or another sister coming today, it's set in stone."

Samael sighed. "Yeah," he said glumly.

Samael got bored not long after and walked to the other side of the room.

"Aunty Nessa?" he asked, plopping in a seat near Nessa's chair, being careful not to get in the way of his sister's drawing.

"Yes, Samael?" she greeted him with a smile.

"Do you think you'll ever have kids?"

Nessarose paused, looking surprised. "Well… why do you ask?"

"Well, I've been thinking," Samael explained. "If the baby's a girl, that's my last chance for a brother. Mom said four kids is more than enough," he said and Nessa had to suppress a smile.

"I don't think Uncle Boq and Aunty Galinda are going to have more, and I don't think she'd have a boy anyway. She likes pink too much," he said matter of factly and Nessa couldn't not laugh at that.

It was something Elphaba would say.

"So, you're my last chance to get anymore boys in the family."

Nessa smiled, gently ruffling his sandy blonde hair. She didn't want to have to tell her nephew that she highly doubted she'd have children.

"I'll see what I can do," she said instead.

Samael was satisfied with that and leaned over to look at what Odilia was drawing.

"What's that supposed to be?"

"That's Mommy," Odilia replied, pointing a green figure.

"Well, duh."

"Samael, don't be rude to your sister," Nessa scolded him lightly.

The boy looked suitably abashed. "Sorry, Odie. What's then, then?"

"That's the baby."

Samael blinked at it. "Why is it wearing pink?"

"Because it's a girl. Girls wear pink," Odilia answered.

"It's going to be a boy, not a girl," Samael insisted.

Odilia looked up at Nessa. "Is it, Aunty Nessa?"

"We'll have to wait and see, sweetheart," Nessa replied.

Frex returned the waiting room with a tray of coffee. He handed some to Ibrahim and Kasmira before handing one to Nessa and sitting beside Samael.

"Grandad?" Samael asked him, a little tentatively. All the Tiggular children unanimously regarded Grandpa Ibrahim as the "fun" grandfather. They only saw Frex a few times a year, and he had never been the warmest of people.

Odilia had only just stopped being somewhat afraid of him.

"Yes, Samael?"

"Did you and Oma Melena want two girls?"

He missed the cautious look that Nessa threw her father.

"We were happy with whatever we were given," Frex finally replied.

"Sam, you know if you do have another sister, you'll love her just as much as you do Gili and Odie," Nessa said gently.

Samael frowned. "I guess," he said reluctantly and got off his chair.

He headed over to see Gili.

"What are you guys playing?" he asked.

"Snakes and Ladders," Gili answered. "Can you take over for me, Sammy? I have to go the bathroom."

Samael shrugged. "Sure."

"Do you need me to come with you, Gili?" Kasmira asked.

Gili shook her head, her black pigtails swinging. "I can go by myself, Grandmamma."

As the bathroom was just around the corner, Kasmira agreed. Gili did what she had to do and as she left the bathroom, she saw her father exit through a door down the hall.

"Hi, Daddy," she called out.

Fiyero looked rather distracted and surprised to see his eldest daughter. "Gili, what are you doing?"

"Using the bathroom. Is Mommy in there?"

"Yeah, hon. Why don't you go back and sit with Grandmamma, ok? I need to go get Mommy some ice."

Gili watched him hurry off, but instead of returning to her grandparents, she slipped through the other door in search of her mother.

Elphaba wasn't hard to find, and Gili found her sitting up in bed, breathing deeply.

"Mommy?"

Elphaba smiled at her, but even at six, Gili could tell it wasn't a genuine smile.

"Hi, hon. What are you doing in here?"

"I wanted to see you."

Gili seated herself on the empty chair beside Elphaba's bed, watching her worriedly. "Does it hurt?"

"Only a little," Elphaba replied, smiling reassuringly. "Tell me, what have you been doing today?"

"Playing a board game with the twins. Samael's taking my turn for me, because I had to go to the bathroom. Why is Daddy getting you ice?"

"To eat."

Gili frowned. "Won't they give you anything good to eat?"

Elphaba laughed. "I can have something after the baby comes out," she explained.

"Like ice cream?" Gili asked.

"I probably won't be eating ice cream," her mother smiled.

Gili continued talking to Elphaba until Fiyero returned, ice in hand.

"Gili, I thought I asked you to go sit with your grandmother?" he asked sternly, but Gili knew he wasn't really mad.

"I wanted to see Mommy," Gili replied stubbornly.

"Why don't you go back to your game?" Elphaba suggested and Gili nodded obediently.

She left the room, and Fiyero took her chair as he handed Elphaba the ice.

"How are you doing?"

Elphaba sighed tiredly in response. "This kid is taking his sweet time. None of the other's labours moved this slow. Odie was pretty much out at this point."

"He?"

She laughed. "Maybe I feel bad for Sam. Poor kid."

Fiyero grinned. "You know both girls have him wrapped around their little finger, and if this a girl, she'll be no different."

"Gee, I wonder why he might want a brother?" Elphaba said sarcastically and then reached for Fiyero's hand and closed her eyes as the next contraction hit her.

Over the next two hours, Elphaba's labour slowly moved along. And it was just after noon when Elphaba looked up to see Samael slip inside. She wasn't surprised her son had snuck into the room, and she was sure it wasn't a coincidence he had done so the moment Fiyero had chosen to go to the bathroom.

"Hey, Mom," he greeted her nonchalantly.

"Hey, kid," she returned wearily. "What's up?"

Samael shrugged, still appearing unconcerned. "Nothing much. Uncle Boq and Aunt Galinda took all the other kids to go get lunch."

"Why didn't you go?"

"Not hungry."

Elphaba didn't buy that for a moment. "You know, skipping lunch won't guarantee you a baby brother," she said gently.

Samael nodded. "I know, Mom."

Then he brightened. "I thought of what you and Dad should call him, though."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah. Kiran. It's cool, huh?"

She smiled. "Very cool. Where did you get that from?"

"From school. Miss Azbi told us about this guy, Kiran Hegel, he was the first person recorded in history to try and cross the Unpassable Desert. He sounded like the coolest guy ever."

Elphaba chuckled faintly, which was cut off by another contraction.

"Mom? Are you ok?" Samael asked, faintly alarmed as Elphaba squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her jaw.

"I'm fine, kid," she managed to reply. As the contraction eased, she smiled shakily at her son. "See? All fine."

Samael didn't look reassured and she squeezed his hand. "It's all fine, Sammy. You don't remember when Odie was born?"

"I was only six then, Mom," Samael said with a roll of his eyes, and Elphaba laughed.

"Sorry."

"Do you think it'll be much longer?" he asked hopefully.

Elphaba rubbed her belly softly. "I don't know, hon. Hopefully not," she smiled at him. "Why don't you go get some lunch, huh? I'm sure you're hungry," she said knowingly.

Samael nodded. Then he hesitated and stretched up to kiss Elphaba's cheek.

"I love you, Mom. And I'm going to help you take care of the baby. Even if it is another girl."

Elphaba beamed at him proudly. "I know you will, kid. I love you too."

Once she was alone again, she let out a breath softly and rubbed her stomach again. "Come on, kid. The sooner you get here, the sooner you can meet your big brother. There's a whole bunch of people waiting to meet you."

Almost as though the baby had heard her, Elphaba's contractions began to increase hastily. Fiyero was no longer allowed to leave the room, although he joked that was probably a good thing, lest he come back to find Odilia had come in to visit her mother. Elphaba was not amused.

After three previous children, they had this routine down pat. Fiyero felt absolutely useless whilst holding Elphaba's hand, wiping her brow and offering feeble words of comfort. Elphaba snapped at him for whatever he was trying to comfort her with, and attempted to break his hand. The way she was going now, Fiyero thought she might actually fracture a bone this time.

"Ok, Your Highness," the doctor said to Elphaba, who grimaced.

Despite being the princess for over a decade, she still hated being referred to as "Your Highness." Especially in the middle of giving birth.

"You're ten centimetres dilated and contractions are less than a minute apart. Are you ready?"

Breathless, Elphaba merely nodded.

"Alright. On the count of three, we're going to push, ok?"

She nodded again, and on his count, began to push.

At long last, Elphaba let out a sound that was part sigh and part gasp and a thin cry sounded throughout the room.

"It's a boy!" the doctor cried triumphantly, and Elphaba could only look at Fiyero and laugh.

Fiyero beamed as he kissed her damp forehead. "Sam will be thrillified," he grinned.

They laid the baby boy on Elphaba's chest for a few moments and she got her first look at her son. She could see immediately that he had Fiyero's nose and ears and the top of his head was covered with fine dark hair.

"He's perfect," she murmured.

"Yeah," Fiyero agreed softly.

"We'll just clean him up a bit and bring him right back," the nurse said, coming over to take the baby from Elphaba.

Elphaba reluctantly handed him over and looked at Fiyero.

"No more. I am done. No more kids," she swore.

Fiyero nodded. "Agreed. I might lose the whole hand in the next one," he said with a wince, shaking the hand she had been squeezing.

Elphaba rolled her eyes.

"I'm not kidding. It really hurts and I swear I heard something crack," he complained, before getting a good look at her face and realising it probably wasn't the best move to complain about his sore hand.

"What should we call him?" he asked, hastily changing the subject.

Elphaba smiled softly. "Well, actually…"

She told him her choice and Fiyero agreed instantly.

"Do you want to go round everyone up?"

Fiyero nodded. "Yep. I'll be back in five minutes tops," he promised, before kissing her softly. "I love you, Fae. So much."

"I love you too. Don't tell Sam the news yet," she begged. "I want to see his face."

Fiyero grinned and mimed locking his lips. "Lips are sealed," he promised.

He gave the nurses time to not only clean up the baby, but Elphaba, before finally leading their family into the room.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Galinda asked eagerly as they crowded around the bed.

Fiyero was tempted to draw out the suspense, but the apprehensive look on Samael's face changed his mind.

"It's a boy," he said, and most heads went to Samael.

His whole face lit up with excitement and relief. "Yes!" he exclaimed loudly, and the baby let out a startled cry.

"What's his name?" Kasmira asked.

Elphaba looked at Samael with a small smile. "Kiran. Kiran Tiggular."

"We're still working on the middle name," Fiyero added.

Samael was beaming at his parents.

"Sam, do you want to hold your brother?" Elphaba asked and he nodded silently.

Fiyero helped Samael up onto the bed before Elphaba carefully eased the baby into his arms. Samael studied the baby in awe, holding him as though he were made of glass.

Finally, he looked up at Elphaba and grinned. "He's pretty cool."

Elphaba and Fiyero exchanged grins.

"Can I hold him next, Mommy?" Gili asked and Odilia hastily added her own plea.

When everyone had had a hold of the baby and admired him dutifully, baby Kiran was returned to his mother's arms; and Kasmira and Ibrahim tactfully suggested the visitors take their leave.

"One more thing," Galinda said quickly, leaping up from the bed where she had been brushing and braiding Elphaba's hair. "Boq, hand me my bag, dearest."

Boq obediently did so, and Galinda pulled out her camera.

"New family photo," she explained.

Elphaba was reluctant, but agreed. Gili and Odilia seated themselves either side of their mother as she held Kiran, and Fiyero and Samael stood either side of the bed, leaning into the frame as Galinda snapped the picture.

"Perfect," the blonde beamed.

Looking around at her husband and children, all their family in the one room, Elphaba had to agree.

The End