10 across: Typical fairy-tale conclusion (5,4,5)

Galinda had positively swooned the first time she'd stepped into the back garden of Dunn Mor after Elphaba and Fiyero had moved in following the wedding.

"It's just so colourful," she'd gushed, taking in the riot of colour. "I honestly didn't think I'd love it, but it's wonderful, Elphie."

Nessarose had dutifully admired the variety of colours and flowers that were blooming, but admitted that she preferred her gardens more ordered and structured. Elphaba knew that perfectly well, but she had wanted "a little wilderness" and Fiyero wasn't going to deny her anything when she was making so many sacrifices to marry him.

The only person who loved the garden more than Galinda was Boq, which made sense because Elphaba had consulted him a lot during the five months between Fiyero's proposal and the wedding. Elphaba was happy to stay out of the wedding planning as much as possible, but when it came to making adjustments to the royal townhouse that would be her and Fiyero's first home together, she had ideas. As did Fiyero, especially as no one had lived in Dunn Mor in years. Fiyero's great-aunt had been the last person to live there in the early years of her own marriage.

The garden had been Elphaba's main project, other than ensuring there was enough room for all her books and that the kitchen was decent. She'd wanted their little wilderness, and she'd wanted something that would bloom all year round.

Which meant when Fiyero stepped outside late one Thursday morning towards the end of May, he was greeted by the scents of lilacs, freesia, tulips and sweet peas among others. Fiyero could never keep track of what was in their garden at any point of the year. Elphaba was reclining on a chaise lounge beneath the flowering magnolia tree, and even now- after six years together, and two months shy of their second wedding anniversary- Fiyero felt rather overcome at the sight of her.

"Okay," he announced himself as he approached, placing the tray in his hands carefully onto the small patio table next to Elphaba's chair. "We have lemonade, as requested; plus scones with cream and jam. I've also brought the paper, a pen and the post has arrived. Have I forgotten anything?"

"No, but is there anything good in the post?" Elphaba asked, craning her neck.

Fiyero scooped up the pile that was perched next to the plate of scones to hand it to her. "Looks like a letter from Nessarose. And a big parcel from Galinda, which I can only assume is more baby clothes."

Elphaba laughed as she accepted the pile. "It'll be books, I expect."

"Since when does Galinda send you books?" Fiyero demanded.

"Since I complained to her that my brain can't comprehend reading anything anymore, and she said she'd send me some 'light and happy' things to read."

Fiyero squeezed himself onto the chaise alongside her as she began to open the parcel.

"Light and happy?" he repeated.

Elphaba shrugged. "You know, boy meets girl, they fall in love and it all ends with a happy ever after."

"Ah. I always wonder about those," Fiyero said. "Who even decides what counts as living happily ever after?"

"Me too, but it annoys Galinda when I ask her those questions," Elphaba grinned.

Fiyero could only imagine how frustrated Galinda would get, and he swallowed back a grin.

"I'm genuinely offended that you've had these conversations with her when I'm not around," he said solemnly, and Elphaba rolled her eyes.

"Hey, you're not wearing your rings," Fiyero noted.

Elphaba made a face slightly, raising her hand and flexing her fingers. "No, I had to take them off this morning. My fingers are too swollen."

Her tone was rather glum, and Fiyero couldn't help but reach over to curve his hand around her stomach. A press of a tiny foot met him in response and he grinned, a rush of warmth blooming in his chest, as it did every time.

"It's a pretty good reason to have swollen fingers," he pointed out to Elphaba, and she laughed again.

Once they'd studied the books from Galinda (okay, that was mostly Elphaba), drank their lemonade and eaten, Fiyero reached for the newspaper.

"A daily dose of crosswords as recommended," he teased her, and Elphaba rolled her eyes.

Elphaba had been complaining about 'pregnancy brain' during a check up with the royal midwife, who had suggested doing puzzles regularly. She had been pleased when Elphaba and Fiyero told her they did the crossword daily, although Fiyero's oft-repeated jokes about following medical advice every time they did a crossword began to wear thin for Elphaba around her fifth month. Fiyero merely insisted that this was how he was preparing for fatherhood.

"Four across," Elphaba read aloud, the crossword two thirds complete. "'Grating sound."

"I told you. Fingernails on a chalkboard."

"That's not four letters."

"It is if you… what's the word. Not an acronym, but similar?"

"Initialism?"

"Yes!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Yero, the answer is not going to be FOAC. Especially when we've already got A-S in the middle."

"Well then, I still don't know," Fiyero admitted. "Next clue."

"Thirteen across: 'spoken'. Four letters, R-A in the middle… oral?"

Fiyero sniggered, which Elphaba mostly ignored, although there may have been a muttered comment about him having the maturity of a fifteen-year-old boy as she filled in the spaces.

"Forty-one down: 'Husband of Mena Hase.'. A-C-K, and the last letter is L."

"Oh, Ackzel," Fiyero declared confidently. "That could be a good name, do you think?"

Elphaba hummed distractedly. "Mena or Ackzel?"

Fiyero shrugged. "I was thinking Ackzel, but either I guess. Ackzel Tiggular?"

She looked up from the paper at that, considering it carefully.

"I like it more than- what did you suggest the other day? Kew?"

"Okay," Fiyero acknowledged. "But I still like Zan more than Ackzel."

Elphaba hummed again.

"It's so weird to think that in a few months, we'll be doing this with an actual baby," Fiyero said, almost thinking aloud.

"I know," Elphaba agreed, chuckling faintly.

"And then we can bore them with crosswords every week like my parents bored me," he continued, almost wistfully.

Elphaba snorted. "You spoke for ten minutes at the wedding about how grateful you are that your parents made you do the crossword with them," she reminded him.

"Yeah, now," Fiyero stressed. "In hindsight. Definishly not when I was a teenager though," he thought back on how much he had complained and moaned over those Sunday afternoons in his younger years, and shook his head.

Apparently there was an old wives tale about your children inflicting the same pains that you inflicted on your parents. If that was case, Fiyero was royally screwed.

"But yeah, credit where credit is due," he admitted. "If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have had a chance with you."

"It did earn you brownie points," Elphaba agreed. "But you probably would have won me over regardless… eventually."

Fiyero hissed through his teeth. "Oh, nice, Fae," he said. "Probably and eventually. I love that for us. It's like something out of those books Galinda sent you- a real happy ever after. Great story to tell this kid one day."

Elphaba laughed loudly, and beneath their hands, the baby shifted.

"This isn't our 'happy ever after'," Elphaba said, shaking her head and smiling up at him. "How can it be the end, when everything is just beginning?"

Fiyero liked the sound of that.

"You raise an excellent point, Mrs Tiggular," he said softly, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Okay. Next clue?"

"Next clue," Elphaba agreed, turning back to the newspaper. "'Love.' Eight letters…"

The End