Chapter 9
Glinda turned and said some last goodbyes before finally walking out of the Munchkinland council house. She then waved her wand and her pink bubble formed around her. A little crowd of Munchkins then ran out to say goodbye
"No, really! I wish I could stay…I must be going" Glinda said and blew a kiss as she floated up into the air. She kept her smile wide until she was sure she was far away enough from view. She then sighed with pure relief.
"This is getting ridiculous.. third time this month I've had to go over there…" she muttered to herself.
It was nightfall when Glinda finally reached her castle. "Welcome back Miss Glinda" One of the castle guards greeted her. Glinda nodded her head in greeting as she landed on the ground and walked towards her door. When she entered she smiled, being happy to finally be back home. She then looked around curiously.
"It's quiet..too quiet" She said pondering
"Mommy!" Fausto's voice then rang throughout the entire castle. Then the sounds of his footsteps echoed through the halls until he finally reached Glinda
"Mommy!" He said and reached his arms up to be held
"Now Fausto, didn't we already talk about being a big boy now..big boys don't need to be held by their mommies" Glinda said but then Fausto began sniffling, and looked up at Glinda like a sad puppy.
"Fausto..not that face..not again.." Glinda started to say but his face was adorable, with the cute little eyes. Glinda finally surrendered "fine, fine, come here you"
Fausto smiled and happily jumped into Glinda's arms. "now what trouble did you cause today little man.."
"actually, he was great today" Nalia said stepping into the foyer of the castle.
"really? He wasn't any trouble to you Nalia?" Glinda said surprised
"well, he actually spent most of the day with his "Dorfy" Nalia said and giggled
"wow..no spells or anything! I must ask how she did it..and how was Melinda?"
"just like her mother..in a good sense" Nalia quickly added
"well, I'm positively exhausted, all that talking at Munchkinland was a lot of hard work"
"well, the only thing that can cure that is a good massage..that's what my mother always said" Nalia said and smiled
Dorothy then entered and curtsied to Glinda "welcome back" Dorothy said glad to see her
"ah Dorothy my dear, I heard you took care of my Fausto today, you must have quite a way with children"
"um..heh..heh was no trouble at all..it's the least I could for you Glinda" Dorothy said blushing
Just then, one of Glinda's guards came in and bowed
"Miss Glinda? You're needed immediately in the throne room" The guard said
Glinda's eyes opened wide in surprise "really? Why?"
"I don't know Miss, I was just told to get you" The guard said, and stood by the hallway that lead to the throne room "Miss Glinda, are you ready?"
"well..I better go take care of..whatever this is. We can talk later Dorothy" Glinda said and with that, followed the guard. Nalia quickly smiled at Dorothy and quickly ran off to follow Glinda.
"well Fausto..looks like it's just you and me again.." Dorothy said looking at Fausto and smiled
"Dorfy!" Fausto said and once again ran to hug Dorothy
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Meanwhile in the throne room:
Glinda sighed as she followed the guard, who seemed to be in quite of a rush. She picked up her dress and began to lightly jog, just to keep up with him.
"could..pant you PLEASE slow down?" Glinda said losing her breath
"you never were in the best of shape" Nalia said as she kept up with the guard, jogging right next to him. Glinda just glared at her remark
"I'm sorry Miss Glinda, I was just told to bring you in the fastest manner possible" The guard replied to Glinda
Glinda just rolled her eyes. They finally reached the doors to the throne room. The guard opened them both and then stood to the side to allow Glinda in. Glinda rushed in, panting and her crown tipping off.
"what's the emergency? This had better be good" Glinda then began to mumble.
"calm down Glinda" Nalia said adjusting Glinda's crown and then walked up to a guard who was motioning for her to come to him. Nalia began gathering information from the guard in hushed whisperings. Nalia then nodded and turned towards Glinda
"well?" Glinda asked impatiently
"it seems that we have an unexpected guest.. Chistery has come back" Nalia said
"that's wonderful, but why is that such an emergency?" Glinda asked still impatient
"well, Chistery isn't the problem, it's what he brought along" Nalia said quietly
"what in Oz's name could he have brought that would've caused such a problem?" Glinda asked
Nalia nodded to the guard, who then opened a side door. Chistery came in to the room, following him was one of Glinda's maids holding a bundle. A weak cry was coming from the bundle.
"what in Oz's name?" Glinda said rushing towards her maid. She carefully un wrapped the bundle to reveal a baby's face.
"Chistery brought a little friend" Nalia said and smirked
Glinda turned to Chistery "Chistery, where did this baby come from?" She asked gently
"Nanessa, Nanessa!" Chistery said and jumped up and down
"Nanessa? Is that the baby's name?" Glinda said and held the baby in her arms
"sounds a lot like.." Nalia began to say but decided to be silent
"Chistery, where did this baby come from?" Glinda asked again
But Chistery just shook his head in defiance. "Nanessa stay with Miss Glinda" was all he would say
"I don't understand..stay with me?" Glinda asked
"he wants you to keep the baby Glinda" Nalia simplified for her.
"but..I can't, what about her parents? Chistery where are her parents?" Glinda asked
"parents no. Stay with Miss Glinda" Chistery said
"no parents..but she must have someone" Glinda said with disbelief
A guard then entered the throne room. "there's been no reports of a missing child Miss Glinda" he said
"then it's true" Nalia said and crossed her arms
"but I can't take her.." Glinda said handing the baby over to Nalia
Nalia shook her head no "Glinda I have enough to do without children in my life yet"
"I'll take care of her for now..but I'll have to find someone who's right for her" Glinda said smiling at Nanessa. Nanessa cooed as she reached for Glinda's crown. Glinda then noticed something around Nanessa's neck. It looked like a piece of green crystal. Glinda held it between her fingers. It seemed to have such a familiar something about it, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
Glinda then turned to one of the maids "feed her, then put her with Melinda in her crib" She then handed Nanessa to the maid who then turned and walked out.
"you cause a lot of trouble for a monkey you know" Nalia said to Chistery who just gave a face as a reply.
"well, now we can have dinner in peace, come along Chistery" Glinda said as they all walked to the dining hall.
In the nursery:
The maid had fed Nanessa and walked on the way to Melinda's nursery where her crib was. On the way, Dorothy bumped into the maid.
"is that Melinda?" Dorothy asked the maid, who shook her head no
"I'm sorry Miss Dorothy, this isn't. This is a baby girl that was just brought to Glinda to take care of" The maid responded
"really? Well, I'm on my way to check on Melinda, should I bring her with me?" Dorothy asked The maid nodded and handed over the baby to Dorothy, who looked at the precious baby in her arms.
"She's beautiful, who would leave behind her?" She thought to herself as she walked to the nursery.
Dorothy entered the nursery and looked into the crib where Melinda was lying
"hey there, I brought you a friend" Dorothy said putting the child down. She then turned to exit, but not without looking back at the small child she had just put down. There was something about the baby, something that made Dorothy want to pick her up and hug her. Something that made her want to love that little child. But she just walked out.
In the crib, Melinda and Nanessa looked at each other and began laughing at each other. They both then fell asleep, the wind blowing through the window served as a soft lullaby for both of the young baby girls.
