Chapter 11
Nine months later……
Jamie screamed in pure agony. Oh, when she got out of this she would hunt Elphaba down and kill her! Glinda squeezed her hand.
"It's alright, just breath."
"Glinda shut the fuck up!" Jamie screamed back at her. "You're not the one who is having a god damned watermelon coming out from between your legs!"
"Stop yelling at me! Now you shut the fuck up and pop this thing out already!" Glinda and Jamie glared at one another.
"Please Miss Redsontes, you need to relax!" The doctor said, but was brutally bombarded with,
"SHUT UP!" From both women.
"Oh god, Glinda! Make it STOP!!" There was a terrible pain between her legs, she gave a scream of pure agony…….. and then just a dull throbbing sensation. She heard a light slap and then small cries. Jamie's breath came out in short gasps.
"Oh, Jamie, isn't she precious?" Glinda said as the small child with ruby red eyes was handed to her mother. Jamie's vision started to fade when Dalilla's voice floated over to her.
"No, m'aam, you mustn't fall asleep yet! It's bad luck for you to fall asleep before the child has been named!" Jamie felt herself nod.
"Right, a name. Your name, little one, shall forever be….." Jamie thought for a moment. "Lara Fae Redsontes." And with that she blacked out, still clutching her new born baby girl to her chest.
Almost two years later………
Jamie clumsily ran up the steps of the Cloister of Saint Glinda towards the topmost tower. That was where Elphaba was, according to the Superior Maunt. After searching for the green woman for two long years, she was finally close to her goal, but it came with a surprise. Elphaba was having a baby right then. Jamie finally made it and burst through the door.
"Oh, Miss, thank the Unnamed God you came!"
"Sorry it took me so long, but I'm not as young as I once was."
"None of us are, dear!" There was a loud cry of pain from the other corner of the room.
"Oh, Elphie!" Jamie hurried to her friend's side. Elphaba was covered in sweat and she looked paler and slightly thinner than the last time Jamie had seen her. Well, as thin as a pregnant woman could be.
"J-J-Jamie?" Elphaba's brown eyes locked with Jamie's red ones.
"I'm right here, Elphie. I won't leave you." Elphaba gave another cry of agony.
"We have to get the babe out, Miss. She could bleed to death if this goes on much longer!" It was then that Jamie truly looked at Elphaba. Sure, she was still her Elphie, but there were vast differences about her, like the huge pool of blood between her legs, for example.
"Oh, no…….no, she won't die!"
"We must get the babe out." The Sister repeated. Reluctantly, Jamie let go of Elphaba's hand and went to kneel at the foot of the bed. Jamie peered between her legs and, sure enough, the little bastard was stuck. It writhed and attempted to claw its way out of its mother, causing much damage to Elphaba.
"Oh, god, what should we do?"
"Not we, Miss, but you."
"What?" Jamie looked at the woman bewildered.
"Yes, you. You know her better than any of us combined, which is why we called for you to come."
"But, I've only given birth, not actually being the person who took the baby out!"
"If you could do one, you could do the other. It's that, or they both die."
"Why can't you do it?"
"Because she trusts you." That comment struck a nerve inside of Jamie. There must have been some sort of magic, making it unable for anyone else to touch Elphaba. Does that mean they tried to contact Glinda?
Jamie shook the thought from her mind and focused on Elphaba and her arriving baby. "I'll need cleaning oils and absolutely NO water to dilute it. Get a wet cloth in cool oils. Please make sure they're lavender scented." When the Sister gave her a look she simply said, "It's her favorite kind."
The supplies were brought to Jamie who was a bundle of nerves. She hadn't been this afraid since Glinda returned to Shiz without Elphaba. The green woman cried out in pain as a contraction took her, and the babe continued to attempt to get free.
"Elphaba, Elphie look at me." Jamie commanded. The verdant woman complied, much to Jamie's surprise. "Elphie, I want you to push when I say 'three', alright?" Elphaba nodded. "Okay, one…..two….three!" Elphaba pushed and Jamie quickly tried to work in untangling the child from its stuck position. Their attempts failed three more times.
"Jamie, it's not working." Elphaba's voice was raw and barely audible. Her cheeks were flushed a deep shade of green, but the rest of her was extremely pale. There was now a river of blood from between her legs and it was hard for Jamie not to cry. "I'm sorry, Jamie. I let you down more than once, and I'm sorry I can never make it up to you. Please, say you forgive me." Elphaba reached out a hand to her friend, her companion, her once upon a time lover. Jamie took her hand with a heavy heart. She knew what she must do, but feared she would fail.
"Elphie, I forgive you." With that, Jamie pushed as much magic as she could into Elphaba. There was a searing hot pain in Jamie's head, a pain so terrible that she was convinced her head would split in two. Elphaba gave a startled cry, but quickly fell into unconsciousness. Jamie continued to give Elphaba strength, energy, life, all through her magic. She reached down between Elphie's legs with her free hand and used more magic to get the baby out of its verdant mother.
Jamie let the magic lessen and die. Her head hurt horribly and her eyes stung. Elphaba regained consciousness and looked around, slightly startled to find she had given birth. The babe was handed to Elphaba, who looked at it with the same curiosity Jamie had seen at Shiz.
"What will you name him?" Jamie was surprised to hear her own voice so small and frail. She felt a wave of fatigue wash over her.
"I-I have no idea." Elphaba was still looking at the child as if it were something in a textbook that she did not understand. (Like that really ever happened, I KNOW!)
"You mean, you don't have a name picked out already?" Elphaba shook her head as a reply. "I had my daughters name picked out for months." Elphaba's head snapped up.
"You have a daughter?"
"I do." Jamie started to feel dizzy.
"How old is she? Who is her father? Are you married? Is he good to you?..." The questions swirled around in Elphaba's mind and she just prattle them off as they came to her.
"She'll be two in five days. She doesn't have a father per se. I'm not married. It depends on how you look at it." She looked at Elphaba with clouded eyes. "What are you going to name him?"
Elphaba thought for a moment……then another…..and another…..until she decided upon a name. "I guess I'll call him Liir."
"Good! He now has a name!" Jamie went to stand, but her knees buckled and she collapsed onto the floor again.
"Jamie, are you alright?"
"What happened, Miss?"
"I'm okay, really. I just…." Jamie touched her forehead. "I think I just need a good long rest." The Sister picked her up with ease, seeing as Jamie had always been small and light, and gently set her on the neighboring bed to Elphaba's.
"You just rest, Miss."
"No, no, I have to get back home. Lara is waiting for me. She'll wonder where I am and come looking." She didn't know why, but all of a sudden Elphaba had a pang of jealousy shoot through her. Who was Lara? Why was Jamie so eager to get back to her?
"And Lara is….?" Elphaba asked with a piqued curiosity.
"My daughter, of course! Honestly, Elphie, get your mind out of the gutter!" Jamie tried to smile, but it proved too much for her. Elphaba looked at her with sad eyes. Those eyes widened as she continued to stare at the brunette.
"Uh, Jamie….you have some, uh….." Elphaba gestured to her nose. Jamie touched her fingers to her own nose and felt a hot liquid cover them. She pulled her hand away and saw the ruby red blood that stained her skin.
"Oh……Yes, well, that happens a lot nowadays."
"What do you mean?" Elphaba's heart began to race, for what reason, she did not truly understand.
Jamie lay back on her pillows and sighed. "Magic takes its toll on me. Sometimes it's nose bleeds, other times it's blacking out or hallucinating." She gave a half crazed laugh. "I'm falling apart, Elphaba." Tears started to well in her eyes. "I'm afraid I won't be there for Lara. One of these days the magic will be too much for me, and I'll die because of it." The tears made blazing hot paths on her cheeks as they fell. She turned her attention to the green woman. "Will you meet her, Elphie?"
Elphaba froze. Her mind buzzed and was all a twitter with thoughts and emotions she could not name or begin to try to want to understand. She simply stared at Jamie. Elphaba looked down in shame. "She would be scared of me."
Jamie gave a shaky laugh. "I assure you she will not. She shall adore you, Elphaba."
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The carriage bumped along the dirt path towards Redsontes Manor. Elphaba kept her hood up, not wanting people to gawk, although there were hardly any people around. The Quadlings mostly kept to themselves. Elphaba had arranged for one of the Sisters to take care of Liir while she was away.
Elphaba looked out the window, into the sunshine. Four days had passed since she gave birth, two of which she had been in this carriage. She had insisted to Jamie that she fly here, but Jamie would have none of it, so she sent her own personal carriage to fetch her. Elphaba saw the grand manor rise in the distance, steadily becoming larger with the passing minutes. She sighed. No child would want to be around her. Hell, she felt sorry for her own child, having a mother like her. Elphaba seriously considered getting out right then and running as far away as she could….but she didn't want to let Jamie down again.
The carriage came to a stop just outside the main doors. The driver hopped down from his seat and opened the door.
"Here we are, Miss Thropp. Miss Redsontes should be inside waiting for you." Elphaba gave him a curt nod and climbed the familiar steps. The doorman saw her and smiled, causing his wrinkles to stand out. Elphaba smiled back out of habit, but it felt awkward, seeing as she had not smiled since Fiyero died. The man opened the doors for her and gave a small bow. Elphaba entered and was caught by surprise. The last time she had been here it had been raining. But now, the walls seemed to be alive with color and light. Even Elphaba, miss doom and gloom, had to admit it was breathtaking.
A child's laughter echoed through the vast rooms.
"Lara, dear, be careful!"
There was more laughter. "I will, mommy!" Dalilla came towards Elphaba, but the green woman waved her away. She followed the sound into another room with an entire wall of windows. Beyond was a view of rolling hills and a clear blue sky. Elphaba stuck to what little shadows there were, opting to observe for a few moments. A little girl with hair such a dark brown it was almost black was jumping from one piece of furniture to the next. She laughed again while her mother looked on, a smile on her own face. Lara jumped and froze in midair, her green dress fluttering about her legs.
"Mommy! See what I can do?" Lara twirled in the air, making Jamie laugh along with her daughter.
"I see you!" Lara set herself down carefully and ran to her mother, throwing her arms around the woman's knees.
"Will you do it with me, mommy?" A brief pain showed in Jamie's eyes, but it was gone just as quickly.
"No, I'll let you do it for the both of us." She leaned down and scooped up her daughter, throwing her into the air. The child laughed and gave a small squeal. Lara froze in her mothers arms. She turned her head slowly to lock eyes with Elphaba.
"Visitor?" Lara asked as Jamie followed her child's gaze. Jamie smiled when she saw the verdant woman.
"Yes, my dear one, we have a visitor today." Lara broke into a huge grin.
"Elphie, stop hiding in the shadows! Join us." Jamie gestured for her to sit. Elphaba hesitated, not wanting to frighten the child. Slowly, she stepped into the light. Lara's eyes brightened, as if she knew who Elphaba was.
"Hello." Elphaba shakily said to Lara.
"Lara, this is my friend, Miss Elphaba Thropp."
"Hello, Miss Thropp!" Lara wriggled to be put down. Jamie complied. The little child walked up to Elphaba and took her hand.
"Why are you green?" Lara's voice was light and musical.
"Uh….." Elphaba didn't really know how to reply. She bent down and rested on her knees so she could look Lara over properly. The girl had straight hair, and eyes as red as her mothers. Her skin was a porcelain color, with little patches of rose in her cheeks. All in all, a beautiful child. "Well, I was born that way."
"Is your daddy or mommy green too?"
Elphaba shook her head. "Nope, I'm all alone."
Lara frowned. "I want to see more green people. Green is a pretty color, and Miss Glinda says it goes well with pink."
"She does, does she?" Elphaba smiled, remembering how Glinda insisted she wear pink.
"Yes, but I don't like pink very much." Lara held up her arms to Elphaba……who stared at her, not knowing what in the world the child wanted. Taking the hint, Lara uttered, "Up." Elphaba gingerly lifted the girl into her arms. Lara nuzzled her face into Elphaba's hair and neck. Elphaba stood and made her way to Jamie, about to hand her the child, but Jamie just smiled and shook her head.
"She likes you, which is very good." Jamie smiled at the two, and tried her hardest to commit the image to memory, not knowing when Elphie would come back, if ever.
"Jamie, if you don't mind my asking, who exactly is Lara's father?"
Jamie bit her bottom lip. "Oh, well, that's the thing." She looked down at her black fingers.
"Jamie?" Elphaba took another step closer to the brunette. "Who is her father?"
Jamie shifted her gaze from Lara back to Elphaba. "You remember that whole bond thing I mentioned back at Shiz?"
Elphaba's eyes popped. "WHAT?" This startled Lara.
"Why so loud?" She asked Elphaba.
"Because your mommy has been lying to me."
"Oh, Elphie, that's not fair! I never lied about Lara. I tried to find you after she was born, I swear, but I couldn't. You'd disappeared."
Elphaba handed Lara back to Jamie. "And when exactly were you going to tell me?"
"Today, of course!"
"Yeah, right." Elphaba turned on her heel and begun to storm off when Lara spoke,
"Sire doesn't like me, does she mommy?"
"Oh, no sweetie!" Elphaba stopped and looked back at them. "No, Elphaba is mad at me. She's not mad at you, honey. Mommy made a mistake."
Lara looked hurt. "You mean, I'm a mistake?"
"No." It was Elphaba who had spoken. "You're not a mistake Lara, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. And I'm not really that mad at you Jamie, I just….overreacted a bit. I mean, wouldn't you, if you found out you have a two year old daughter that you didn't know about?"
"A bit, yeah." Jamie smiled slightly. "I did look for you, Elphie."
Elphaba leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I know you did."
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Authors Note: Wow, sorry it took me SO LONG to write this, but I got Mono (Which really sucks, by the way!) and have been sentenced to bed rest. But on a good note this chapter is longer than some of the others, which is good, I presume. I'll try my hardest to be 'on the ball' as some people say. Thank you to all my loyal reviewers, whom have driven me to keep writing this story!
With all due respect,
Jamie Redsontes