Rifiuto: Non Miriena

A/N: Written: 2005, Found: 2018.- Licia

A/N: Yes, you read that last chapter right. What do you think? Two daughters? Two sons? Or one of each?- Licia

Twins.

His beautiful wife, his darling Fabala, had just given birth to twins.

Two babies.

Two babies who had grown within her womb at the same time and neither of them had known.

He stood out on the balcony of his wife's boudoir, trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was now the father of twins. The cool evening air washed over him, but it did nothing to calm the racing of his heart. A quick check of the calendar before he'd slipped outside made this news all the more shocking- May twenty-third, nineteen-thirty-one.

He laughed softly.

Gemini, sign of the twins.

Oh, the irony.

"Trism?"

He turned, to find Glinda standing behind him. "How is she?"

"She's fine."

He nodded. "And... the babies?"

"They're fine. They want to meet their daddy."

"I'll be in in a minute. I just... I just needed some air."

She moved closer, laying a hand on his shoulder. "She didn't know, Trism. She was just as in the dark as you. She only realized she was having twins when she needed to push again."

"I know, Glinda. I just... it..."

"Threw you for a loop?" He nodded. "I think it threw her, too."

"Tell her that I'll be there in a minute."

"I will." She whispered, pulling away and returning to go inside.

"Glinda?" The blonde stopped, turning back. "Do you think we can do this? Parent twins?"

"Considering what you and Fabala went through when you first got married, you can get through anything. Raising twins will be a piece of cake for you, Trism."

He took a deep breath, slipping out of the boudoir and shutting the door softly behind him. "There you are. We were wondering where you'd gone." Partra was sitting beside Elphaba, talking softly to her. Locasta went to her son, taking his face in her hands.

"I just... I needed a few minutes alone, I needed air." She chuckled softly.

"Overwhelming?"

"You have no idea, mother."

"I think I do." She whispered. "You and your brother were practically twins, you were so close in age."

He sighed, smiling softly. "Can I see-"

She nodded, slipping her arm through his and leading him to the bed. Everything had been cleaned up; her long black hair was falling out of the messy braid she'd put it in when she'd gotten up that morning, and she was obviously exhausted, but she still looked radiant; as radiant as she had after Faola'd been born. Slowly, his wife lifted her head, removing her gaze from the little bundle in her arms. Cattery held the other baby, and made her way towards the couple once Trism was seated beside his wife. Silently, the maid laid the second baby in his arms, and he caught the small smile on her face. "You have two beautiful little princesses, Your Majesty." She whispered, stepping back.

"Princesses?" He breathed, and the maid nodded. He turned to glance at his wife, who smiled softly at him. She nudged him gently with her shoulder.

"I know it's against Fliaanian tradition to reveal a baby's name before the baptism, but, I figure, given the... surprise circumstances, we can make an exception and break that rule for once." He chuckled, nodding silently.

"So what are their names?" Glinda asked, shifting Chiss on her hip; Faola hid behind the blonde, uncertain of the two tiny humans in her parents' arms. Elphaba glanced at her husband before nodding to the baby in his arms.

"Tris is holding Ahghavni, and I've got Fiarchra. They were the only two names we could agree on, but we couldn't agree on which one to use."

"Now you get to use both." Glinda replied, setting the baby on the bed before lifting her goddaughter up and setting her beside her brother. "You want to meet your baby sisters?" The children looked up at her.

After a moment, Faola turned to her parents, and the look on her face was clear, You did this on purpose. She'd had no issue sharing her parents with her brother, or even the baby everyone thought Elphaba was pregnant with, but two? She wasn't sharing her parents with two babies. She would throw every temper tantrum in the book, just so they knew how unfair this was.

Tears began to prick her eyes, and she whimpered-

"Faolรกna Sophelie Dorathea Rose do not even think of it."

The year and half-old little girl pouted, upset that her mother had caught onto her plan. Without a word, she wrapped her arms around Chiss, holding her brother to her, not wanting him to become sucked into what the adults were sucked into- fawning and cooing over the new babies.

"I thought she'd be happy, she has two new little sisters to look after." Glinda said, but Partra chuckled softly.

"Glinda, she's jealous. She doesn't like having to share her parents with anyone but her brother, and having to share them with two babies now- it's a normal reaction for a little girl. She'll grow out of it."

"I'm so used to nursing one, that nursing two is a bit of a challenge."

"You're doing fine, Fabala."

"Twins... I never thought..." She stopped, gently adjusting her hold on the infants; settled in the rocking chair in the nursery, she cradled both little girls, watching them nurse contentedly at her breasts, their bright blue eyes unfocused, but watching her.

"My younger brother and sister were twins." Frexpar said, and Elphaba looked up at her father.

"Aunt Taama and Uncle Orin?" She asked, lifting her head from the back of the rocking chair. "I didn't know-"

"No one ever asked." His daughter nodded, returning her gaze to her daughters.

"I think my little ones might be identical."

"Identical, are you sure?" She looked up, to find her husband making his way towards her. He knelt beside her, watching their daughters for several minutes. "What makes you say that?" She shrugged.

"Twins run in my family- Papa's younger brother and sister were fraternal. And when the placenta was delivered, it was one, not two."

"Identical twins usually share the placenta while in the womb." He whispered, gently brushing a finger over one of his daughter's heads. "They've got blue eyes."

"Most babies born have blue eyes, Trism, but none as blue as yours."

A soft chuckle escaped his throat, and he sighed. "I would like at least one of our children to bear your eyes, not mine."

She wrinkled her nose. "See, I like that our babies have your eyes. I love your eyes."