AN. Wicked Greg Awards nominations! I was BLOWN AWAY by all the nominations, and thank you SO MUCH to everyone who nominated me or one of my fics.

WEEK 9

During your 9th week of pregnancy, your baby is busy growing. Her face looks more baby-like each day—her eyes are developed but concealed, and her nose, lips, and ears are becoming more defined. She's also starting to exercise her expanding muscles. Her fingers and toes are looking less like stubs. Although she's a wiggler, she's still so small that you won't feel these movements. Her reproductive organs are developing, but even if you sneaked a peek you wouldn't be able to tell that she's a she (and neither could your doctor at this point).

Fiyero opened the bedroom door and entered it cautiously. He had left Elphaba getting ready twenty minutes ago, and hadn't expected her to be very long- she never took long. He'd been hearing various thumps and furious mutterings for the past fifteen minutes and had decided it was best to wait a while before entering.

But they were supposed to be at Kastle and Anton's soon for their dinner party, so Fiyero had decided to brave Elphaba's wrath. Now, he saw his wife standing before her closet, most of the contents strewn across the bed as she stood glaring into the depths of the wardrobe, her hands on her hips.

"Fae?" Fiyero asked hesitantly.

As soon as she heard his voice, her shoulders sagged in defeat and depression without even turning around.

"Nothing fits," she said quietly.

Fiyero laughed. "Nothing fits? Fae, you're not even showing yet!" he exclaimed.

That was a mistake.

She whirled around to face him furiously. "I'm not showing? You think because my stomach is still flat, nothing has changed? Well, just because you're completely ignorant doesn't mean the world stops, Fiyero," she snapped.

Fiyero was taken aback, but he knew better than to take her words personally or retaliate.

"Elphaba," he tried to placate her, but she interrupted.

"I'm bloated and I feel gross, and my breasts are sore and huge, and my hair feels like it's never been introduced to shampoo. And I don't even know why we agreed to go to this thing when I barely stay awake past nine o'clock, and everyone always hints to me about when we're having children and I can't even tell them that we are and it's none of their damn business!"

Her voice broke at the end, and Fiyero came forward and gently pulled her into a soft hug.

"We don't have to go," he said to her. "That's the advantage of Kastle being my big sister. We can ditch. Make up some excuse."

She sagged against him, all the fight gone out of her as quickly as it had come.

"I'm sorry. You're not ignorant," she whispered.

"Well, not completely," Fiyero grinned lightly. "I know you didn't mean it, Fae. And I know you hate it when I blame everything on hormones, but you can."

Elphaba let out a breath and pulled away, wiping away a tear that had fallen, despite her best efforts.

"I hate these hormones. And I know it's only going to get worse."

Fiyero tilted her chin up and kissed her. "However gross you feel, Fae, you still look beautiful to me. You always do and always will."

More tears welled up in her eyes, and Elphaba sighed, cursing her emotional state.

"So do you want to stay home tonight? Kas won't mind, honestly. And I am great at making excuses, I've been doing it my parents and teachers for years," he reassured her.

Elphaba laughed slightly and shook her head. "No, we should go. But… maybe you could put those excuse making skills to find a way for us to leave early so I don't fall asleep mid-conversation?"

Fiyero chuckled. "Of course."

"Give me ten minutes?"

He kissed her again. "I'll give you twenty," he replied and left the room.

Left alone, Elphaba went through her entire closet again, re-examining every dress she'd neglected before. Just when she was starting to get frustrated again, she found a dress in the back of her closet that Nessa had given her for Lurlinemas the previous year. She'd rejected and shoved it to the back of the closet upon seeing the colour, a dark shade of red velvet.

Elphaba had politely thanked her sister, but thought there was no way she could ever wear such a colour and assumed she would never wear it. She still wasn't too sure about the colour, but the style of the dress looked as though it would be the one dress she owned that would be both appropriate and comfortable.

Half-heartedly she put the dress on and studied her reflection critically. The dress was sleeveless with the neckline sitting around her collarbone. It wasn't tight around her breasts and the dress was loose so she didn't feel incredibly fat.

Not in the mood to deal with her oily hair, she merely swept it up into a bun and slipped on a pair of shoes.

"Ready?" Fiyero asked when she exited the bedroom.

Elphaba smiled slightly. "It's times like these I wish Galinda was closer. I bet when she's pregnant she'll still look as amazing as ever. And won't have any of these issues."

"Of course she will," Fiyero replied immediately. "And she'll have bigger meltdowns, because she's Galinda."

Elphaba laughed.

They weren't the last to arrive at Kastle and Anton's, and Elphaba looked around as they entered the room to see who she knew there. She was relieved to see it was all Kastle and Anton's friends, it meant it would be a more relaxed evening than if any government officials were there. And she knew two of the women who were Kastle's close friends and were easy to get along with and have a conversation with.

"Hi, Elphaba," one of them greeted her.

"Hi Aringa," Elphaba replied.

Fiyero leaned in. "I'm going to go say hi to Anton and the guys. You good?"

She nodded. "I'm good."

He kissed her cheek lightly and left, leaving Elphaba to join the women. Although she knew them all, and of course Kastle, Elphaba couldn't quite relax. Whilst she wasn't worried about slipping up and mentioning the baby as Fiyero was, but it was hard to relax when she was so conscious of trying to act like everything was normal and she wasn't pregnant.

That was one thing she was looking forward to about having the news out in the open, just that she wouldn't have to pretend otherwise. She was mostly worried about what if any nausea hit her or she had the urge to throw up.

"That's a lovely dress, Elphaba," Aringa commented and Elphaba paused.

Even at the best of times, she was never quite sure whether people were being sarcastic or not when they said things like that, but now when her hormones were at higher levels, she was even less certain.

"Thank you," she said finally. "It was a gift from my sister."

"It looks lovely, Elphaba. I haven't seen that colour on you before," Kastle said, and there was no doubt about the warmth Elphaba could sense in her tone.

"Well, it's a little… redder than I usually wear," Elphaba admitted. "But I… I felt bad. This way, I can tell Nessa I've worn it without lying to her."

"I just lie," Aringa admitted. "My husband has terrible taste in clothes."

"I just exchange anything I don't like," another woman chimed in.

Elphaba relaxed as her little lie carried the conversation without her, and all she had to do was nod along and smile.

Finally, a maid entered the room and announced dinner was ready.

"Oh good, I've been planning this menu for a week and I can't wait to finally eat it," Kastle commented to Elphaba, who laughed.

"What are we having?" she asked casually, hoping it wasn't going to be anything that made her sick.

"Well, for the entrée we're having wild mushroom and roasted onion risotto, with spinach and grated reggiano; and for the main, Mom gave me this recipe for medium roasted lamb rack that Anton and I had at their place once last fall when you and Yero were still at Shiz. It's delicious, you'll love it."

Elphaba forced a smile and nodded, thinking hastily. She thought she would be fine, but she wasn't a hundred per cent sure.

As they headed towards the dining room, Fiyero appeared next to her and slid his arm around her waist.

"You okay?" he murmured in her ear.

Elphaba leaned into him so no one else would be able to hear what they were saying. "Kastle told me the menu. I should be okay, but I'm not sure."

Fiyero nodded immediately. "So, we'll grab seats near the door and I'll run interference if need be."

Elphaba was touched and amused. "How exactly are you going to run interference?" she asked with a smile.

Fiyero shrugged as though it was obvious. "How attached are you to that dress?"

"I'm not," Elphaba replied easily. "It was from Nessa, but I'm not planning on wearing it again."

Fiyero had figured as much. "Ok, so you give me a signal, and I'll 'accidentally' spill wine on your dress and you can excuse yourself to clean up."

Elphaba chuckled, but couldn't find any flaw in that plan. "Alright."

As soon as they entered the room, Fiyero smoothly guided Elphaba to two seats as near to the door as was available.

Anton grinned as he entered and saw them sitting together.

"Oz, you two really are joined at the hip, aren't you?"

Fiyero didn't miss a beat and grinned back. "Can you blame me when my wife is this beautiful? I'm worried that if I leave her side someone might sweep in and steal her away."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "You're such an idiot," she replied, blushing.

The other guests all took their seats, and Elphaba found Aringa and her husband taking the seats on her other side.

It was only when they began to go around and pouring wine into the guests that Elphaba tensed again. Whilst Izanami had assured her that a small glass of wine on occasion would bring no harm to the baby, Elphaba wasn't willing to risk it.

"None for me, thank you," she said when the servant reached her.

He nodded and moved on to fill Fiyero's wine glass, but Aringa turned to Elphaba in surprise.

"No wine, Elphaba?"

"No, I had a headache this afternoon," she lied smoothly. "The fumes tend to get to me. I didn't want to risk another headache. I have a lot going on this week, can't afford to get behind."

Aringa frowned slightly, but nodded slowly and turned to say something to her husband.

Elphaba let out a breath and exchanged a glance with Fiyero in relief.

Thankfully there was no need for Elphaba to signal Fiyero during dinner. All the food stayed in her stomach and was just as delicious as Kastle had promised.

And just after nine-thirty, Fiyero made excuses to his sister and he and Elphaba left. Elphaba was relieved, she wasn't sure how much longer she could have kept up the charade, she felt utterly and completely drained.

"The lamb was good though," she said to Fiyero as they headed upstairs to their bedroom.

"It was," he agreed. "And everything went smoothly, right? No one was suspicious or noticed anything, huh?"

"No, I think we're safe," Elphaba said slowly. "Although what you said to Anton? Seriously? About guys trying to steal me away? Who would ever want to do that?"

"Noak, Paol, Andris," Fiyero said cheekily as they entered their bedroom and Elphaba's eyes narrowed.

"Do you want to me to bring up every girl who's ever shown interest in you? We might finish by September," she snapped back.

Fiyero looked guilty. "Fae…"

"I'm sorry," Elphaba apologised immediately, as she pulled her hair free. "I… this is just as awful day for hormones."

Fiyero came forward and pulled her close. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and kissed the green skin there softly.

"I love you," he murmured.

She burrowed closer into his embrace and breathed in his scent, forcing herself to take several deep breaths.

"I love you," she whispered.

Fiyero didn't let her pull away for a few more moments. He still cringed to think about the long list of nameless girls he'd ever so much as looked at before he was with Elphaba; but it was the thought of all the girls he'd been with during that brief time he and Elphaba had been apart that made him feel guilty and sick to his stomach.

He only hoped that when it came to raising their child, he could stress how not to repeat the mistakes Fiyero himself had made.

"Ready for bed?" he asked her, finally pulling away and she nodded tiredly.

"Definitely."

He wasn't really that tired, but he liked going to bed when Elphaba did. He never felt more peaceful than when he was holding Elphaba in his arms as she drifted off to sleep. When they'd changed for bed, Elphaba crawled under the covers tiredly and nestled up against Fiyero.

"Night, Yero," she murmured tiredly, her eyes already drifting shut.

He kissed the top of her head. "Night, Fae. Night, Little Fiyeraba."

The only reply was a sleepy chuckle from Elphaba and Fiyero grinned as he turned off the light beside the bed.