Chapter 26!
"Elphie, what are you saying! This is crazy!" Glinda exclaimed shrilly, making the green witch jump.
"No, it's not. I mean it, Glinda." she said.
"But-"
"I just want your support. You don't have to take the baby if you don't want to. I'll go drown the thing after it comes out, but I just need to know that I can rely on you now."
"Of course, but I just think that maybe you should think this through a bit more."
"I've been thinking about it for the last three months! I don't want a baby, Glinda!"
"What about the father? Can't he take it?" The blonde saw Elphaba's face darken at this.
"The father is dead."
"Oh, Elphie, I'm sorry."
"Well, I'm not! It's his own fault. I warned Fiyero that this would happen if he didn't leave me alone and-"
"Wait. Fiyero is the father?"
"Yes." Elphaba spat. Glinda's mind reeled as she tried to take in this new information.
"Elphie… did you…"
"Don't worry. I wasn't the one who snuffed him out. Someone else got to him first. I don't even know where his body is."
"Truthfully?"
"Glinda, I swear to you, I did not kill Fiyero." The blonde looked down.
"Does Sarima know?"
"Most likely."
"Elphaba-"
"I don't want to talk about this anymore. Are you going to help or not? Because if not, then I'm going to leap out this window to my death."
"Elphie!" Glinda cried, stepping in front of the window. "Stop it!"
"Stop what?"
"All this talk about killing yourself. It's really scaring me. First at Shiz and now here, years later. You promised you would stop hurting yourself!" Elphaba stood and rolled back both sleeves of her cloak.
"That was a promise I couldn't keep, my sweet." Elphaba admitted, holding her bare wrists out to Glinda. The blonde saw multiple scars on both wrists and she knew exactly what they were from.
"Oh, Elphie. You promised." the blonde said, bursting into tears and sinking to the floor. Elphaba kneeled next to her, letting her sleeves fall back.
"I'm sorry." she said, wrapping her arms around the blonde.
"You're always sorry, but that doesn't change the fact that you tried to kill yourself!" the blonde sobbed. "Multiple times!"
"These are hard times, Glinda. You have no idea."
"Don't you think I've been through pain as well? I've been lying through my teeth all these years, telling everyone how wonderful everything is and how wicked you are. They expect me to be encouraging!"
"Oh, yes. It must be so hard for you." Elphaba said sarcastically. Glinda noted this with anger.
"Do you think I like telling lies about you? It hurts me, Elphie! Every night, I go to bed with a broken heart because I'm hurting the only person I truly cared about! It's killing me, destroying me from the inside out and-" Elphaba grabbed the blonde's shoulders and kissed her fiercely, stopping Glinda mid- sentence. The blonde's eyes widened and she was still in shock when Elphaba pulled away.
"Can I help fix your broken heart?" the green witch asked, looking into the blonde's sapphire eyes.
"I… I don't know, Elphie. There's not much left to fix…" Elphaba smiled slightly.
"We'll see."
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"Glinda… I think it's time." The blonde witch turned to the green one.
"Now? It's early." Elphaba clenched her teeth as pain gripped her again.
"Now." she said. Glinda helped her friend lay down, unsure of what else to do. Six months since Elphaba had come to her looking for help. Six months of learning what to do. And Glinda couldn't remember a single thing.
Elphaba cried out as one of the first contractions sent pain ripping through her body. Glinda snapped out of her daze and forced herself to try and remember what to do.
"Breathe, Elphie. Just breathe and try to relax."
"I'm trying." Elphaba said through clenched teeth. Her hands formed fists as another contraction came.
"You're tense. Relax and breathe."
"I'M TRYING! HOW ABOUT YOU TRY THIS AND SEE HOW EASY IT IS TO RELAX!!" Elphaba screamed. She fell back to the bed, in total pain now.
"Elphie, push!" Elphaba gave a yell as she pushed for the first time. "Again! Come on, Elphie!"
Five hours of labor. It had felt like five days to Elphaba, but the baby was finally out. She lay, her breathing heavy, listening to her baby cry.
"It's a boy." Glinda said, wiping the baby off.
"Great. Kill it." Elphaba panted. A pause. "Is he green?"
"No."
"Fortunate. I don't want it."
"Elphie, he's your baby!"
"I still don't want it."
"You at least have to give him a name!"
"Fine. Liir." Elphaba said, propping herself up on her elbows.
"That's the best you could come up with?"
"You said name it! Besides, I won't keep it, so what's the point in giving it a name?"
"No one should die nameless." Elphaba laughed weakly and fell back down.
"When I wake up, I want it gone."
"Stop referring to him as an 'it'. He's a boy."
"Fine! I want him gone!" Glinda gave Elphaba a scathing look, but the green witch was already asleep. The blonde turned her attention back to the baby and rocked him gently until he fell asleep.
Elphaba should be doing this. She doesn't even care about him.
"We'll just have to change that, won't we Liir?" Glinda whispered.
End of chapter 26. And that's how Liir came to be. No wonder Elphaba denied having a son… Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to all readers and reviewers. And, as usual, please leave a review! Thanks again!