"There!" Fiyero pointed at a small, wooden hut.

"I see it!" Finally, they had arrived at their destination. Glinda lowered her bubble to the hut as slowly as possible to make the landing as soft as possible for Elphaba.

"Brace yourself, Fae," he hugged her tightly.

"Ah!" Damned contractions. They'd gotten worse over the last hour.

The bubble disappeared and Elphaba was now sitting on grass. Glinda knocked hard on the wooden door. A white she-Wolf opened it and her eyes widened. "Miss Glinda," she bowed her head in reverency.

Glinda shook her head. "Oh, please, none of that."

"She's with us, Etana!"

The Animal looked over Elphaba's head. "Fiyero!" Her eyes went to the woman in his arms. A wet stain on her dress. "Elphaba! Oh Oz!" both the she-Wolf and the blonde girl ran over to them.

"Yes, she's in labor," Fiyero confirmed. "And I can't carry her." He knew he would hurt himself if he tried to lift Elphaba.

Etana glanced over Fiyero quickly. She had questions about the bruises and scratches on his face, but right now, Elphaba was the top priority. "Don't worry, I got her," Etana lifted the green girl, who whimpered a bit at being moved, and quickly took her inside the hut.

The she-Wolf had agreed to help Elphaba and Fiyero deliver their baby, but she hadn't been expecting them so soon; she wasn't prepared. Fortunately, she was good at adjusting to situations like these.

Fiyero closed the door and locked it. Etana took Elphaba into the guest room, which had a curtain for a door and three beds, with Fiyero and Glinda right behind her, and asked them to rearrange the pillows so Elphaba would be comfortable. "Here we go, honey," she set the pregnant girl down, Fiyero sat beside her and grasped her hand.

"Should I be worried?" Elphaba gasped. "That I'm early?"

"I don't mean to boss you around Miss Glinda, but would you help me gather some sheets from the ther beds. You're past the halfway mark," she turned to Elphaba. Dear Oz, her mind was all over the place. "You're in your sixth month if I remember correctly, yes?" Elphaba nodded. Glinda handed Etana the sheets. "I wouldn't be too worried. Your baby will be smaller than normal though, so we'll have to be extremely careful and take good care of both of you. You two," she looked at Glinda and Fiyero, "come with me. Now. Elphaba, remember the breathing patterns I gave you." Etana placed the sheets on Elphaba's bed and Fiyero and Glinda followed her to the kitchen.

"What do you need us to do?" Fiyero nearly shouted. He was very jittery.

"First of all, you, calm yourself. I think Elphaba's calmer than you. Second, Miss Glinda, please fill this," she grabbed a bucket from the kitchen closet, "with warm water."

"Yes ma'am," Glinda got right to it.

"Fiyero, in the bathroom there are some towels, a bathrobe, and gloves, get those for me please."

He went for them quickly. He'd been in Etara's house before and knew where the bathroom was. He had to dig a little bit for the gloves, but finally found them in the cabinet next to the first aid kit. He grabbed that as well, who knew, they might need it.

They gave Etara what he'd asked for. "Smart," she smiled at Fiyero when she saw the first aid kit. "Miss Glinda, I'm going to ask you to wait outside of the room. Please make yourself at home. Fiyero if Elphaba wants y-"

"YES!"

Fiyero bolted behind the curtain.

"Come in then." Etara shrugged and Glinda giggled.

"Good luck," Glinda said to Etara, "all of you!" she added for Fiyero and Elphaba.

"It's really hot," Elphaba moaned, she was sweating profusely. It's been almost an hour and still nothing but contractions.

"Here," Fiyero sat her up slightly and zipped her dress, letting the cool air hit her skin.

"Are you still hot?" Etara asked from the edge of the bed, keeping an eye out for when to tell Elphaba to start pushing.

"Mhm."

"Ok. lets get your dress off, we'll cover you with the bedsheets."

As Etara slipped her dress down, Fiyero covered Elphaba with the white sheets. Elphaba sighed, normally, she would be uncomfortable at being so exposed, but being wrapped up in a thin, cool bed sheet was ten times better than her thick, black dress.

"Better?" Fiyero asked, sitting next to her on the bed again.

"Much," she smiled softly at him then her face twisted in pain. "Ah!"

"Your baby's finally coming," Etara prepared the bathrobe, the only soft material she had to wrap the baby in, put on her gloves to prevent any infection to the mother or baby, and pulled the bucket of water by her side. "Now Elphaba, I'm going to have to constantly touch you down here to keep you as clean as possible. With your baby being small, the little one could get lost in all the blood."

"Just do what you have to do - ah! Shit!" Elphaba grabbed Fiyero's hand tightly.

"Scoot her further down, Fiyero," Etara said.

He helped move Elphaba a bit further down the bed. "Is it alright for me to sit behind her?"

"If she's alright with it," they both glanced at Elphaba.

She nodded and Fiyero carefully sat behind her, putting his legs on either side of Elphaba and letting her lean against his chest. He was thankful for the pillows, his back didn't hurt too much. He massaged her shoulders and kissed her wet hair.

"You've got this," he whispered.

"It hurts. And I haven't even started pushing yet!"

"You will in a couple seconds," Etara lifted the bed sheet covering Elphaba's legs up further. "Push when I tell you and only when I tell you, got it?" The green girl nodded. "One, two, now!"

Elphaba's grip on Fiyero's hand tightened and she screamed in pain. "Dear Oz!"

"You're doing great, Elphaba. The head's coming out nicely. Alright, stop."

She collapsed against Fiyero's chest. "Help me."

His heart broke at seeing her cry, he hated that he really couldn't do anything other than hold her. "It's alright, it'll be over soon," or so he hoped.

"Elphaba, start pushing!"

She yelled as she pushed, digging her nails into Fiyero's hands. How could this tiny baby cause so much pain?

…Oz, is it over yet?

"Ah!"

"She's here," Etara quickly but gently cleaned the little baby. "It's a girl."

"Why is she not crying?" Fiyero was overjoyed, but at this moment, the fact that the baby was quiet was terrifying him.

"Not all newborns cry, don't worry, she's breathing."

"Oz," Fiyero slowly got out of bed to allow Elphaba to lay down, she was exhausted. "Fae, she'd here," he kissed her forehead, "our daughter's here."

"Daughter?" she breathed, "it's a girl?" She was so disoriented she was barely hearing anything around her. Fiyero nodded. With as much strength as she could manage, Elphaba reached for him and pulled him down for a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he wrapped her sweaty body in a hug and kissed the crook of her neck.

He was a father. They were parents. They had a baby girl.

Later, after she had changed into some extra clothes Etara had and she had been moved to a clean bed, Elphaba found herself holding her tiny baby. She couldn't hold her daughter up to her chest since she had a little bit of trouble breathing on her own and needed space, so she was comfortably settled on her lap. The baby was the length of her forearm. Oz, she'll probably look even tinier when Fiyero holds her.

Elphaba couldn't believe how much she loved her. She was so fragile yet at the same time, so strong; she made it, she was going to be alright.

"Hi, baby," she stroked her cheek, the little newborn squirmed and opened her mouth slightly. Elphaba took the small syringe and slowly fed her. She couldn't breastfeed regularly because of her baby's size. "You gave me and your father quite a surprise. And scare. Well, the scare was mostly your father. But it's only because he loves you so much, ever since the day he found out about you. And I love you, too. Oh, love, we're going to raise you as best as we can," the baby girl placed her soft hand on Elphaba's finger. "We may not be able to give you a lot, and someday we'll tell you the reason why, but what we'll ensure you always have are two parents who love you to the moon and back," it was already more than what Elphaba had had.

"Aw, Elphie."

Elphaba raised her head. "How long have you been standing there Glin?"

"Not too long," the blonde stepped closer to the bed. "Oz, she's so little."

"Yeah. Where's Fiyero?"

"He'll be right over, Etara's almost done."

After getting Elphaba settled, Etara had wanted to take a look at Fiyero. Once she discovered all the injuries he had, she made sure to go over all of them and make sure he had no infection, changing his bandages too while she was at it.

A couple minutes later, Fiyero stepped inside the room, his eyes immediately landing on his lover and child. He walked over to the bed slowly and Elphaba smiled at him. She encouraged him to walk quicker and he obeyed. He sat next to her on the bed. She silently offered him the syringe, and with a slightly trembling hand, he took it and kept feeding the baby.

Fiyero held back his tears and kissed Elphaba's temple, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "You did it."

"We did it. All four of us," if Fiyero, Glinda, and Etara hadn't been there for her, she was sure the birth would've gone wrong. But thankfully, everything turned out fine.

"Do you guys have a name yet?" Etara came into the room. "By the way girls, good job on treating Fiyero's wounds, it shouldn't be too long before he's completely healed."

"Thanks," Elphaba said, "And no, we don't have a name."

"We thought we still had some time to decide," Fiyero chuckled and Elphaba slowly handed him their daughter. She leaned her head on his shoulder and watched how gentle Fiyero was with their baby, her heart swelling with love. She was right, the baby girl looked so much smaller in Fiyero's arms.

"Well, you technically don't need to have one until you register her, which won't be until you get to the Badlands anyways."

"When will that be?" Elphaba asked.

"As long as you make sure to watch over your baby 24/7 and always keep her clean, I'd say you can leave whenever you feel ready to walk."

"Which you won't have to anyways, I'm taking you guys all the way across the border," Glinda said.

"Thanks Glin. Etara, thank you," Fiyero squeezed the she-Wolf's paw.

"Anything for you guys," she smiled.

"It will most likely take me until morning," Etara said.

"So this is goodbye?" Elphaba started to tear up.

"Of course not, I often go to the Badlands, too. I'll see you around."

Elphaba nodded and hugged Etara. "Thanks for everything."

"Thank you. I'll see you soon."

The two friends separated and Etara walked to the nearby town for more food and supplies. Elphaba walked over to Glinda, Fiyero, and the baby.

"Are you ready?" Fiyero grabbed her hand.

"I think so," she hugged Fiyero tightly, "it looks like everything's going to work out after all."

"Of course it is," Glinda, who was holding the baby, chimed in, "you three are going to be absolutely fine. We only have a couple of hours to travel which means my aunt will probably be cranky that I'm waking her up late at night, but she'll help us, no doubt about that."

"Thank Oz, for her. Ok," Elphaba took a deep breath, "let's go."

Glinda casted her bubble and all of them were lifted softly off the ground and made their way to their destination.

"Karishma," Fiyero said after a while.

"Hm?" Elphaba lifted her head from his shoulder.

"Karishma, Kari for short. That can be her name," he gestured to the tiny baby, sleeping in his arms.

"Karishma, Kari," Elphaba tried out.

"It means miracle in Vinkun, I think it fits her."

Elphaba smiled. "Yes it does. I like it."

"Can I suggest a middle name?" Glinda asked.

"As long as it's not your own name," Fiyero said and Glinda glared at him.

Elphaba shook her head. Oz, this outcome had not been what she'd expected, but it was more than she could've asked for and she was grateful. Who knew what the future held for her family, but as the Badlands came into view, she couldn't help but look forward to what awaited her for the first time in a long time.

The end! I always planned for this to be a short story, and I hope the ending was ok.

Karishma means "miracle" in Hindi/Sanskrit.

R&R :)