AN: *sing-song voice* Fluuuuuuuff, fluff fluff fluuuuuff, fluff fluuuuuuuuuuff! :D No cliffy in this one yet, I changed some things... maybe the next one. Maybe not. Not sure yet.

Moreanswers24: I loved your review. Your Fiyero-fish never fails to make me laugh. *hugs back*

Severussnapefan123: Funny you said that... read this chapter and you'll see why!

Woodland59: Your review made me laugh soooooo hard. That should totally be a song! :P

Also, I'm going to see Sister Act again next week :D. I'm so excited, I can't wait!

Chapter 11. Soon all that remains

Elphaba was pacing up and down the library. Hamold was sitting in an arm chair, reading the newspaper; Galinda was reading a fashion magazine; and Lori and Fiyero were just watching Elphaba.

The prince leant towards his mother. "Is she even supposed to do that?" he whispered worriedly. "Walking around like this?"

"It can stimulate the labour," Lori explained softly.

"But…" Fiyero looked back at the pregnant green girl. "Why the library?"

"Because I feel more comfortable in libraries than I do in royal chambers," Elphaba herself answered him. She turned around and looked at him. "And I'm already nervous enough as it is. Could someone get me a book?" she almost begged them.

Galinda giggled from behind her magazine. "Oh, Elphie! I know you're nervous, and it's normal to be nervous; but you can't learn how to give birth from a book, you know."

Elphaba sighed and sank down into the window seat. "I know."

Lori had sent for a midwife right after Elphaba's water broke; but the midwife had told Elphaba that it would most likely be at least another twelve hours before she would actually give birth.

"I have to go assist another woman in labour," the midwife had apologised, "but as soon as you start having contractions, Miss Elphaba – painful ones, that is – just call for me and I'll try to be there as soon as possible."

So far, Elphaba hadn't felt any contractions at all – just an increasing feeling of dread and nervousness.

"What if I'll be a horrible mother?" she demanded now in a slightly higher voice than usual. "What if something happens? What if the midwife can't come and I have to give birth all by myself?"

"You'll never have to give birth all by yourself." Lori sat down next to her and squeezed her arm gently. "Elphaba, we're all here for you. I've given birth myself, Hamold was there – we both know how to handle this if need be. You'll be fine, sweetheart, don't worry."

Elphaba sighed. "I guess."

Fiyero sat down with her and took her feet, gently massaging them. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged. "Strange," she said. "But fine, I guess. I'm not noticing much of a difference. I'm just nervous." She laughed softly and incredulously. "I just can't believe that within twenty-four hours or so, I'm going to be a mother."

"And I'm going to be a father," Fiyero muttered.

"I think we all find that even harder to believe," Galinda teased him, and he stuck out his tongue.

"Honestly, though," said Lori, shaking her head. "Of course Hamold and I connected some dots when we found out that you've been pregnant for a few weeks longer than you first thought you were, but to actually hear that Fiyero is going to be a father? Unbelievable."

"Wait." Elphaba sat up a little, looking alarmed. "You know? I didn't tell you, did I?"

"I did," Fiyero told her. "Of course I did. How could I not let my parents know that they're going to be grandparents?"

She looked panicked and Fiyero shifted to sit beside her and pull her into his lap. "Fae, they're fine with it," he assured her. "Naturally, they think we should have waited with doing… that… until we were married… if we ever would have gotten married…" He frowned. "Whatever, that's not the point," he dismissed it. "The point is that they're thrillified to be grandparents, they love you already, and they don't blame either of us for anything." He kissed her temple. "Just relax, Fae."

She looked up at Lori and then at Hamold with wide eyes. "Really?"

"Of course." Lori squeezed her hand. "We'd love to have you as our daughter-in-law, Elphaba, and we can't wait to meet our grandchildren."

"Grandchildren…" Hamold muttered. He shook his head. "I'm way too young to be a grandfather."

Lori rolled her eyes and Fiyero laughed.

Suddenly, Elphaba gasped in pain. Fiyero shot up immediately, worry clouding his blue eyes. "Fae?"

"I… I think that was a contraction," she said, looking a little pale.

Galinda's eyes widened in panic and she tossed her magazine aside. "Should I go and call the midwife?"

Elphaba shook her head. "It's not really painful… yet," she added softly. "It just… took me by surprise." She took a deep breath, then rose to her feet and started pacing again. "Oh my Oz, this is really happening." She pushed her hands through her long, black hair. "I can't do this!"

"Of course you can." Galinda got up to hug her friend. "You'll be fine, Elphie, I promise. Ooh!" Her face brightened. "You'll make me godmother, won't you? I'd love to be godmother! And… they'll call me Auntie Galinda! They'll love me!" She bent over to level her face with Elphaba's stomach. "Hey, babies? Please let at least one of you be a girl," she begged. "And if you are a girl, then please like pink!"

Elphaba pushed her friend away. "Galinda!" she scolded her. "Who cares if they like pink?"

"I do!" Galinda defended herself.

Elphaba glared at her. "Yes, well, you're not the one having to go through labour within hours!"

"You're right." Galinda hugged the green girl again. "But you should stop worrying about that, Elphie. Look forward to what comes afterwards – you're going to have kids with Fiyero!"

Fiyero went to stand behind the dark-haired witch, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and planting a kiss on her shoulder before resting his chin on it. "You'll be fine, Fae," he assured her softly, taking her hands in his and placing their joined hands on her stomach. He could feel one of the babies kicking and he smiled. "Soon we're going to be parents."

"I know," muttered Elphaba. "That's what scares me."

Galinda discreetly slipped back to her seat, pretending to be absorbed in her magazine once more. Lori and Hamold also sat down somewhere else, giving the couple some privacy.

Elphaba leant back against Fiyero's chest, suddenly feeling tired. "Yero… I don't know if I can do this," she whispered, feeling tears sting her eyes – much to her annoyance. "I can't be a mother – I can't even take care of myself properly!" She wiped her nose with the sleeve of her dress and looked up at him pleadingly, her dark eyes huge and filled with tears. "I'm scared, Yero," she admitted, looking down.

He wrapped her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. "You'll be fine, Fae," he murmured, holding her tightly. "You'll be fine. I know you haven't had the easiest life, sweetheart, but you're okay now. I'm going to stay with you, okay? I'm going to stay by your side forever." He leant down to kiss her gently. "I love you. You can do this, sweetheart, I know you can."

She sniffled. "But –"

"But nothing," he said sternly. He brought his hand up to gently wipe her tears away; then he cupped her face and gazed down into her eyes.

"You can do it," he said firmly. He brought her closer and kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she whispered almost inaudibly, squeezing her eyes shut.

Another contraction hit her and Fiyero felt her tense and wince slightly. "Come on," he said, supporting her with one arm around her waist and clasping her hand tightly in his. "Let's get you to a bedroom, just in case."

"You might want to try and sleep a little before the real thing starts," Lori suggested as she joined the two, helping Elphaba descend the few steps into the hallway. "That way it'll be easier – you'll be more rested."

Elphaba nodded, her nose scrunched up in concentration and discomfort. "Okay."

Fiyero and Lori helped her back to her room and into the bed, after which Lori slipped out again. Fiyero stayed with the young witch until she had drifted off to sleep; then he stepped outside as well.

"Are you sure we shouldn't call the midwife yet?" Galinda asked fearfully, looking at the closed door. "I mean… just in case?"

Lori nodded. "Could you do that, honey?" she asked Galinda. "Tell her not to hurry, but to get here right after she's finished helping that other woman, okay?"

Galinda, nodded, causing her blonde curls to bounce. "Okay." She then all but ran off.

"And what do we do?" asked Fiyero anxiously.

Hamold placed a reassuring hand on his son's shoulder.

"We wait," he said.

When Galinda came back, out of breath from running, she found Hamold in the downstairs sitting room.

"The midwife can't come right now," she said, panting slightly. "She's still with that other woman – her baby is in a breech position, so it might take another while. She said that we might want to prepare to deliver the babies ourselves." She was looking a little pale. "That's not possible, is it? I mean, I don't know the first thing about labour…"

"Lori does," Hamold assured her. "And believe it or not, but I helped deliver Fiyero when he was born. Elphaba will be fine, don't worry."

"But what if something goes wrong?" Galinda wailed.

Hamold placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Then we'll deal with that, too," he said calmly.

Galinda took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. How's Elphie?"

"Awake," said Hamold. "Her contractions aren't so far apart anymore. She's been walking around to stimulate the labour, but Lori thinks it won't take much longer now."

"Can I see her?" asked Galinda, and Hamold nodded.

"Of course," he said. "She'll probably want you there. I'll come with you."

When they entered the bedroom, they found Elphaba curled up in Fiyero's arms, dozing. Lori was preparing for the birth already, grabbing towels and warm water.

"Hey," Galinda whispered as not to wake the green girl. "How is she?"

"Tired," Lori answered, placing the towels on a side table and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I told her to sleep as much as possible now, between contractions. Giving birth will be hard enough in itself, but to twins…" She shook her head.

"Please don't wake her," Fiyero begged the blonde girl in a whisper. "We only got her to relax enough to fall asleep ten minutes ago – she's been pacing the room for nearly half an hour before that. She's just so restless."

"And that surprises you… how, exactly?" asked Galinda pointedly, raising one eyebrow.

Fiyero grumbled something under his breath. "Good point."

"What did the midwife say?" Lori asked the blonde girl softly, and Galinda told her the same thing she had told Hamold.

Lori sighed, but nodded. "Okay," she said. "I would have preferred to have a midwife there, but I can do it myself if need be."

Elphaba squirmed in Fiyero's arms, a hiss of pain escaping her lips as she winced, her eyes opening.

Fiyero rubbed her arms gently. "Contraction?"

She nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah."

"Come on, sweetheart," Lori said, extending her arm towards the green girl to help her to her feet. "Let's get you changed into a nightgown."

Elphaba allowed the queen to take her away and Fiyero rose to his feet, running his fingers through his hair. "This is nerve-racking."

Hamold patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Now multiply your anxiety by a hundred and you know what she is feeling."

Fiyero grimaced.

"She'll be fine, though, won't she?" Galinda asked worriedly.

"Of course." Hamold moved to a chair and sat down. Galinda perched in the window seat and Fiyero sank back onto the bed.

Elphaba came back inside a few minutes later, wearing a nightgown; and Lori ushered everyone out of the room. "I want to examine her for a moment," she said.

Galinda, seeing the fear in her former roommate's eyes, squeezed Elphaba's hand. "You'll be fine, Elphie. We'll be back in a moment, okay?"

"Okay," the green girl whispered.

Hamold led Galinda from the room and Fiyero kissed her forehead. "I love you."

He made to leave, but she caught his hand. "Can he stay?" she asked Lori hoarsely. "Please?"

"Of course." Lori gestured for Fiyero to sit down and he lowered himself into an armchair next to the bed. Elphaba gripped his hand so tightly her knuckles went white as Lori carefully examined her, deliberately acting calm in order to calm Elphaba down as well.

"You're about four or five centimetres dilated, Elphaba," she said when she was finished. "It won't be much longer now."

Elphaba bit her lip and nodded.

"Who do you want to be here?" Lori asked her softly. "When it happens?"

Elphaba swallowed. "I… I don't know." She wrapped her arms around herself and Fiyero immediately moved to sit on the edge of the bed and drew her in his arms.

He kissed the top of her head. "Calm down, Fae," he whispered. "You're going to be just fine."

Lori smiled at them both. "I'm assuming Fiyero is going to stay?"

Elphaba nodded, her teeth chattering slightly – she was just so scared. "Yes. And… and Glin, too."

"Okay." Lori looked at her. "Would you mind Hamold being there as well?"

Elphaba shook her head. "That's fine."

Fiyero pressed a kiss to her temple and settled down next to her, allowing her to burrow into his side. She let out a soft cry of pain at her next contraction; and Lori left for a moment to update Galinda and Hamold and to give the couple some time alone.

Fiyero put his arms around her and murmured in her ear, "I was thinking the other day how much things can change within a short amount of time. About nine months ago, it was announced that you were engaged to be married to another man… and now here we are."

She leant back against him, tired. "It was horrible," she said quietly. "Telling you about it was the hardest thing I've ever done."

Fiyero remembered it like it had only happened yesterday. Everything had moved incredibly fast, and between the announcement of the engagement and the wedding itself, Elphaba had grown more distant and quiet every day. Fiyero had tried to talk to her, but she wouldn't let him in. She retreated into herself and shut everyone out.

And then, when he had gone to find her after their graduation ceremony, he heard that she had been taken away by Frex straight afterwards, to be married to Odron. He'd wanted to attend the wedding; but Frex had insisted the prince would not be invited, and the king and queen of the Glikkus, believing the Governor had a good reason for that, had agreed.

"It really was horrible," Fiyero agreed softly. He tightened his grip on her. "I missed you so much, Fae. Even in the weeks between your engagement and the wedding… you shut me out, and I hated that. I wanted to do something, but –"

"But you didn't," Elphaba finished for him, her voice barely above a whisper. She turned to face him and he saw that her eyes were filled with hurt, even after all this time.

"You let me go," she said. Her voice wasn't accusing, but Fiyero still felt like she had slapped him. "You let me go just like that."

She winced and he tightened his grip around her when she experienced another contraction; but she clenched her jaw and waited it out.

"Is that really what you've been thinking all this time?" Fiyero asked incredulously when the contraction had passed. "That I just walked away from you?"

She blinked. "Didn't you?"

"Fae…" He took both her hands in his and looked at her a bit sadly. "Your father was staying near Shiz during those two weeks," he said softly. "Remember?"

She nodded, looking down.

"I can't even recall the number of times I went to see him," Fiyero said quietly. "I asked him, I pleaded with him; I literally begged him to let you marry me instead of Odron. He turned me away every single time, telling me that Odron's position as a king was higher than mine as a crown prince and therefore, Odron was the one you would marry. He wouldn't listen to me. I went to see Nessarose, I tried to get her to talk to Frex; but she refused to listen as well. She told me she didn't want to defy her father and she said that you'd be happy with Odron."

He looked at her. "I was going to take you away," he said. "I wanted to take you to the Vinkus with me. But you were keeping your distance, pushing me away and shutting me out… and then I talked to Nessa one day and she said…" He closed his eyes for a moment and took a breath. "She said that you hadn't told me this yet, because you didn't want to hurt me; but that you really did love Odron, and you wanted to marry him, not me."

Elphaba was flabbergasted.

"That's why I let you go," Fiyero whispered. "Because I thought it was what you wanted, deep down inside. I thought I was doing the right thing to make you happy."

Her eyes filled with tears at that and she sniffled. "I… I never knew," she choked out."I always thought that… that you'd left me…" A single tear made its way down her cheek. "I thought you didn't care…"

"Oh, Fae…" His heart broke. He gathered her in his arms and kissed her, gently wiping her tear away.

"Of course I cared," he whispered to her. "I love you more than anything in the world, Fae. I did back then and I do now. I'm so sorry, sweetheart… I assumed that Nessa was telling the truth, but –"

"Nessa was on Father's side," she said bitterly. "She thought Odron was good for me. She never liked the fact that I was with you, because of your former reputation."

Fiyero closed his eyes for a moment, horrified to realise that this was what she had been thinking all this time. She thought he had just let her go without a fight… she thought he didn't care.

"Oz, I'm sorry, Fae," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," she said softly. "I didn't know… that's not your fault." She sucked in her breath with a sharp hiss when another contraction hit her.

"I'm sorry I doubted you," she said a little breathlessly when the contraction was over.

Fiyero just kissed her temple in reply.

Favourite lines? :)