A/N: The only excuse that I have to make for this long delay is school...that is all. haha.

Chapter 4

Glinda returned with the children a little after noon. When they walked through the front gate their other mother was waiting for them. Elphaba had been sitting outside on a bench staring off into the water fountain for the past hour or so. She smiled when she saw her children skipping towards her.

"Mama!" Kiora and Rowena yelled simultaneously as they rushed towards Elphaba and gave her a huge hug. The green woman laughed at the amount of energy they had. Ella held back and stood next to Glinda as the two walked slowly over to Elphaba.

Elphaba had spent the past hour thinking about what Tahj had said about Glinda. If losing the baby really was the reason that Glinda changed then she needed to make the blonde understand that it wasn't her fault. The first thirty minutes she had spent wondering if she was worth it, then the last thirty she spent berating herself for not knowing the answer right away. If Elphaba could just figure out a way to get through to Glinda then maybe she would turn back. Maybe she would be her old self.

"Did you girls have fun at breakfast?" Elphaba smiled at her children although her eyes were focused on Glinda in the distance. She felt a strange sense of calm when she looked at the blonde now. She felt as if she understood more about her and could handle this situation.

"Yup!" Kiora smiled as she started to bounce in place. She apparently had something else to say. It didn't take long for her to spill the beans. "Mom got us ice cream!" The brunette's eyes lit up in remembrance. It wasn't often that the girls were treated to ice cream anymore. They had stopped going out as a family a little while ago.

Elphaba chuckled slightly at her daughter's enthusiasm. Meanwhile Rowena remained quite, a little too quite for her. But before Elphaba could ask her what was up Ella and Glinda had finally reached them.

The green woman looked up and smiled at her wife. She had a new sense of respect for the blonde and was trying to be as civil as humanly possible.

Glinda saw Elphaba's attempt at a smile and smiled back, but briefly.

"I hear that you guys had ice cream." Elphaba continued to hold the smile for as long as she could. She wanted to show Glinda that she was trying. To Glinda it looked as if she were being fake though and so the blonde didn't return the smile.

"Yeah. Blame Ella for getting the idea in the twins head. Once you give them an idea you can't disappoint." Glinda poked fun at her daughters, trying to avoid the awkwardness that was between her and Elphaba. She didn't know when things started to become awkward but they had.

Elphaba's smile faded a little when she noticed the awkwardness as well. She needed to talk to Glinda in private though and so she asked the girls to go inside.

"Girls can you give me some time with your mom?" Elphaba looked at her girls; meanwhile Glinda had a confused look on her face. The blonde thought she was going to be yelled at for taking the girls this morning without permission.

Ella nodded that she understood before holding her hand out for Kiora and Rowena to take. Once the twins had latched on she led them inside the manor. Glinda watched as her girls exited before looked down at the green woman on the bench. She gave a loud intake of air, waiting for the yelling to begin.

Elphaba surprised the blonde. Instead of yelling she began a civil conversation.

"Beautiful day." Elphaba avoided the blonde's blue eyes as she spoke. She knew that if she looked into them she would either lose her nerve, or become agitated. She was trying here.

"Yes it is." Glinda agreed a little hesitantly as she looked to where Elphaba was staring. The direction the green woman was staring in was towards the fountain. The same fountain that Elphaba and she had once taken the girls on a hot summer day to play around and splash in the water. It was back when the girls were a lot younger.

A moment of silence passed between the two, both remembering that hot summer day so long ago.

"Come sit." Elphaba finally spoke up as she scooted over on the bench a little ways. Glinda looked at her hesitantly before sitting down. This whole conversation was making her uncomfortable so far.

Elphaba shifted her attention from the fountain to the blonde beside her. The green woman's pulse was racing. She didn't know what she was doing or how she could remedy the situation. If Glinda really did feel at fault for losing the baby then she was going to make sure that she didn't.

Glinda remained quiet as she sat. When she noticed Elphaba staring at her she stared back. There was something different about the green woman. She didn't look as angry as she usually did.

"Do you really think this divorce is a good idea?" Elphaba blurted out before she could stop herself. Glinda wasn't at all surprised by this question. She had been asking herself this for a long time now.

"Elphaba. Can I counter your question with one of my own?" Glinda asked not giving an answer right away.

"Go ahead." Elphaba agreed. She had told herself that she would do anything to try and make this work now, but if Glinda said that a divorce was a good idea then she would try to give her one.

"Do you still love me?" Glinda asked as she bit her bottom lip afraid of the response. They hadn't sat down to have a civil conversation like this in a long time. It felt weird.

"Of course I do." Elphaba shook her head. "I've never stopped loving you."

"Okay let me rephrase that question," Glinda sighed. "Are you still in love with me?"

Elphaba still did not need to think more than a half of a second on this question. "Yes Glinda. I am still in love with you." The green woman reached over and in a bold move she took the blonde hand in her own and brought it up to her lips before placing a kiss on the back of it.

Glinda was shocked at this move by Elphaba. What had happened to Elphaba while she was gone for the morning? She had put this blockade up around her heart for so long that she couldn't accept this simple kiss. She pulled her hand back from Elphaba's, but in a graceful manor, as not to hurt her feelings.

"I answered your question now it's your turn to answer mine." Elphaba smiled encouragingly as she scooted away from Glinda a bit. She wanted to give her the room that the blonde apparently needed.

Glinda sighed before speaking what she really felt about the situation. "Elphaba, you were the one to suggest the divorce to me. What are you doing?" The confusion in her voice was evident.

"That was before I knew all the facts." Elphaba replied. When all she got was a confused glare in response she decided to elaborate. "Glinda I know that you have been distancing yourself from me for some time now and I finally understand why. I finally understand that it isn't me that you're distancing yourself from, it's yourself.

"What?" Glinda was still confused but she was willing to hear what Elphaba had to say.

"I think you are just afraid to get hurt again Glinda." Elphaba's tone became a lot more tender and caring when she spoke.

The blonde still wasn't following. "When did I get hurt?"

Elphaba sighed. She was hoping that Glinda would catch on instead of her having to say out loud what really hurt her. She was now going to have to tell Glinda and hope that the backlash wasn't too harsh.

"Glinda…" Elphaba paused. "I don't blame you for losing the baby."

Glinda's body immediately became stiff at the mention of their miscarried child, a child that she had not stopped thinking about ever since she had conceived.

Elphaba saw the glazed over and numb look in Glinda's eyes and knew that she was losing her. She had to speed this up if she hoped for any sort of a chance.

"I understand that these things happen and that we can't always control it. I also feel like you haven't forgiven yourself for miscarrying. You have formed this sort of wall around you to shield yourself from me. I think you are doing this because you're afraid that if you love me then this might happen again. I know that you can't go through losing another child again. But Glinda…" Elphaba paused to reach her hand over to cup Glinda's cheek. She wanted to look the blonde in the eyes. "I don't think that this is a way to go about the whole situation. You haven't dealt with losing this child and until you do I am not going to give you a divorce." Elphaba felt a knot loosen in her stomach at the last line that she had said.

Glinda's facial features had not changed from the time Elphaba's rant had started until when it had ended. Her eyes seemed to be fixed glass within her skull. The only sign that there was life in them was the constant blinking. There was no emotion. No anger, no fear, no nothing. It was as if Glinda's body had shut down.

The green woman became worried as she looked on to see Glinda not moving. She wondered if she had said too much. Then she thought she had said too little and so she began to speak again.

"I love you Glin. Elphaba used Glinda's nickname for the first time in months. "And I loved our unborn child." The green woman reached a hand over and placed it over Glinda's stomach. For the first time the blonde's eyes registered something. They glared down to see green flesh overtop of a yellow dress.

"I will never stop loving our child that could have been Glinda. But it had been four years. I think that we have both suffered enough because of it." Elphaba was hoping that she was saying the right things and not pushing Glinda too far.

The blonde continued to stare down at her stomach where Elphaba's hand now rested. She felt a sickness coming on and it was coming on fast. Before the green woman knew it Glinda had turned to the side and the contents of that mornings breakfast were now fertilizing the bush nearby.

Elphaba's hand jerked back as a rush of regret washed over her. Maybe she was moving too quickly. Maybe she had accidentally caused the blonde to throw up. She felt helpless as she watched the petite woman shivering and crouched over the bush.

"I'm sorry Glin." Elphaba apologized as if it were her fault. She reached over to grab hold of Glinda's hand when something happened that she didn't expect.

Glinda began to cry.