OMG I LOVE YOU GUYS! U MADE MY DREAMS COME TRUE! New goal: 100! (lol, probably wouldn't happen but I would be incredibly thrilled if it did hint hint, nudge nudge)

And so, with a very heavy heart, I must bring the story of the phantom and the witch to a close. : ( I don't think that I will ever be able to look at one of these shows and not wish that the other was not involved in it somehow. I was thinking of maybe doing a sequel with one of their kids, but I'm not sure. Let me know if I should. Also I would like to thank all of my dear reviewers. I'm really happy that you guys liked it and it has made being an author on fanfiction very enjoyable. I LOVE YOU ALL!

About this chapter: I'm warning u guys that this chapter is SUPER fluffy. Also, I know that this isn't my best chapter, but i had some evil writer's block towards then end and i just got to the point where i was like 'okay this is taking long enough, just post it anyway' so forgive me. I'm sorry it took so long.

Disclaimer: I do not own Elphie, Erik, Meg, or Madame Giry, but I do own Astra and Cadence and this very yummy muffin sitting next to my computer.

10. One Love, One Lifetime

Erik stood by the oven, making the blueberry muffins that his wife had an undeniable craving for at the moment. It still amazed him how she had saved him from a life of loneliness. He smiled, fondly remembering their wedding day. It had taken place not long after Elphaba had returned from Oz. They had a simple ceremony, only Madame Giry and her daughter Meg were present. Erik couldn't help but laugh a little as he remembered the minister's reaction when the black veil that had hung over Elphaba's face was lifted. Just think, a green witch and a masked phantom. They must have been the oddest couple he had ever married.

"Erik, where are my muffins!"

Elphaba's demands shook him from his thoughts. It would not be long before they had their first child, only a matter of days to be exact. But as his wife's abdomen grew bigger, her temper shrank and she developed the strangest cravings at the most random times. Last week she had been dying for chicken covered pastries at 2 am! Pregnant women were certainly not entirely easy to live with.


"Erik!" Elphaba called again. She was getting increasingly impatient. She wanted her muffins NOW! 'I am eating for two, ya know!' Ever so slowly she got up, trying to work around the huge swell of her stomach. She had barely even taken two steps before she felt a huge splash. Elphaba looked down at the soaked stone floor, frozen in horror.

'SHIT! MY WATER BROKE!' She continued to look down at the floor, completely petrified for a few more moments. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through her abdomen. Elphaba fell to the ground, clutching her stomach as the contractions began to take over.

"ERIK!" she moaned.


Finally, the muffins were done! Erik pulled them out (with his very personalized, homemaker black cooking gloves with a little mask on the corner), rather proud of himself for a fine job with the cooking. He heard her moan again. She was probably just complaining. He brought the tray out, ready to finally shut her up.

"Elphie, here you go. Nice, fresh muff-" Instantly Erik dropped the tray, dazed by the sight that lay before him. His wife lay on the ground, clutching her tummy and moaning in pain. Oh God, he knew exactly what was happening.

"Merde," he whimpered, still completely confounded with fear.

"Erik," Elphaba breathed, groaning from the relentless throbbing. "Do something! Find someone! HELP ME, DAMN IT!"

Erik snapped out of his trance, trying to think, but his mind was in such a rush that all of his thoughts were scattered.

"Don't just leave me here!"

"Right!" he said, carefully picking her up and moving her into the bed. Ok, at least that was under control, but what the hell was he going to do now? There was no way on earth he was even going to try to deliver this baby. He had very little experience with women to begin with and Erik didn't have the faintest idea what to do, nor the stomach to do it.

'Okay, think, think! There's gotta be someone who can do this! Uuuhhh. WAIT, I KNOW! WHY NOT MADAME GIRY?'

"I'll be right back!" Erik said, running off to find help. Elphaba moaned, getting increasingly agitated. 'Of course. "Just when I go into labor, when I need him most, he runs off!' Instantly Erik dived into the lake, not even bothering to take more time by getting in the boat. Finally he reached the other side and scrambled for the nearest exit. The Giry's had moved into a flat near the opera house after it had been damaged. He scampered through the streets, dodging traffic and not giving a care in the world to what anyone else thought about a soaked, masked man frantically running through Paris. After what felt like an eternity, he finally reached their flat and frantically pounded on the door. It was taking them forever to answer. 'Come on! Come on! I haven't got all day!'

At last Madame Giry opened the door. "Well Erik, how nice to SEE-" She was abruptly cut off as Erik hoisted her onto his shoulders and carried the old woman through the streets.

"Erik, what in the name of God are you doing!"

His mind was in too much of a hurry to even think straight. "Elphaba… labor… now!" They reached Erik's hidden entrance to the opera house. Erik tore it open and scurried down to the edge of the lake. He put the dance teacher down for a second. Well this certainly was a problem. How was he going to get both of them across there now? It would take too long to swim back for the boat and then come all the way across the lake to carry Madame Giry across. There were a few spots where it was shallow enough to carry someone. He looked at the old woman for a second and she instantly caught onto his thoughts.

"Don't you even think about it," she said menacingly. Too late. Erik threw her up on his shoulders and carried her carefully across the lake. However, he was unable to keep the bottom of her dress from getting soaked. At last they made it across. He set her down and the old dance mistress gave him a look of sheer repugnance.

"You are going to owe me so big for this," she growled as she entered the bedroom. Erik tried to come in, but Madame Giry shut the curtain. "You stay out there. There is enough madness going on in the house as it is. I don't need you making things worse than they already are."

For hours Erik sat outside the bedroom, pacing around the organ, twiddling his thumbs, biting his lip, doing anything he could to try to calm himself down, though it certainly wasn't working. The sounds that were coming from the bedroom were torturing him to the edge of his sanity. It was almost as painful for him to hear her delivering the baby as it was for her to actually do it. He winced every single time he heard Elphaba cry or groan, or when Madame Giry yelled for her to push. Labor sounded so gruesome that he was actually somewhat happy that he wasn't in that room, but not being there for his wife was eating away at him too. He wanted so much for her to transfer any of her suffering to him, just to give her a little relief. At last, a sound signaled the end of these trying hours. There was a new cry echoing through the room, a small one, a baby. Now was the moment of truth, when he would see their baby for the first time. Instantly he jumped from his seat. Madame Giry pulled the curtain aside, wiping her hands on her already filthy dress.

"You may go in and see her," she said exhaustedly. "But be quite. Your wife and daughter are both very tired."

'A little baby girl!' Erik could barely hold in his excitement. 'I'm the father of a little baby girl!' After all of those trying years of hatred and solitude, life was finally starting to become awarding. It was so hard to believe that HE was actually a father, that the act of undying love that he and Elphaba had shared resulted in a new life. He looked at Madame Giry again, a little bit scared to go in.

Erik could barely hold in his excitement. After all of those trying years of hatred and solitude, life was finally starting to become awarding. It was so hard to believe that was actually a father, that the act of undying love that he and Elphaba had shared resulted in a new life. He looked at Madame Giry again, a little bit scared to go in.

"Well, go in! It's your family." Erik pulled the curtain aside, barely catching the old lady's comment about a nice warm bath. The sight that met his eyes made his heart jump to his throat as he looked at his completed family for the first time. Elphaba lay on the bed, her hair tousled and small drops of sweat on her face. Erik thought that she had never looked so beautiful in all her life. Moments like this made him love her even more. Hesitantly, he walked over and sat down beside her on the bed. In her arms, she held a sleeping baby girl with light pink skin and brown hair, the exact same shade as her father's. His wife smiled at him and Erik found himself speechless as he looked at his family.

"Elphaba…" Erik breathed, trying to find words, only to find that there were none that could express the joy he felt now. He put his arms around his wife and kissed her neck and cheek tenderly, trying to convey the adoration he felt for her.

"Do you want to hold her?"

Erik watched, completely bewildered as Elphaba placed his child in his arms. He felt himself trembling as he held his daughter for the first time. Tears of joy ran down his cheeks. She was so perfect. Both parents had been so afraid that their abnormalities would carry over to their children, but this instantly relieved both of them. A teardrop fell onto the little girl's face, causing her to blink and look up to her father with the same green eyes as her mother. Her tiny hands reached up to him. Elphaba realized what it was that their daughter wanted. She carefully reached up and took of the mask. Their daughter should be able to come to love her father with all of his imperfections just as she had. Besides, it wasn't like she had any way of covering her own abnormalities.

"You shouldn't have to hide from her," Elphaba whispered. "She will love you just as you are, without a mask to hide behind." Erik looked at his bride, his eyes full of understanding. She was right; he shouldn't hide from his own daughter.

Elphaba snuggled closer to her husband, feeling the same mutual joy and love that was bursting from his heart. "What do you think Erik?" she asked reverently. Erik looked at her, unable to come up with any word that could possibly describe the joy he felt now. Still carefully holding onto their baby, he leaned down and sweetly kissed his beloved enchantress.

"I love you so much Elphaba," he wept. This bliss was far too overwhelming to keep in and tears of joy slipped down his cheeks. Before he could stop himself, a few quiet sobs escaped from his throat. "God Almighty, I love you so much!"

"I love you too Erik." Elphaba nestled closer to her husband, so incredibly happy as she looked upon her family. "What should we name her?"

Erik searched his mind, trying to think of a name that truly described the significance of the little ray of sunshine he cradled in his arms. No, she would not be a garish sun in world of night that her parents had come to love so well. She would be a star; a pure, bright, beautiful star.

"Astra," he whispered. The little girl blinked at him as she heard her name for the first time. Even her eyes reflected the light of the heavens.

"What?"

"Astra. It means 'starlike'."

Elphaba looked at her husband, touched by his poetic soul. The name was perfect, everything right now was perfect. She still marveled that she, the Wicked Witch of the West, despite all odds, had found someone, a man who loved her, who made all seemingly unattainable dreams come true. "She certainly is a star," Elphaba said as she looked upon her daughter, almost a spitting image of her father.


"MOM! CADENCE IS TRYING TO TIP THE BOAT OVER!"

"NUH UH!"

"YUH HUH!"

"Kids!" Elphaba called out, trying to get the two arguing siblings to stop. She loved her children dearly, but every now and then they would try to see who could get on each other's nerves the most. At least they became quite, for now. Erik strolled out of their house, bringing two glasses of fresh lemonade with them. He handed one to Elphie before sitting down behind her and drawing her into his arms, reclining against a tree and finding comfort in the shade. He trailed his hands over her bare green arms before shifting them to her swollen abdomen, feeling an occasional kick from the baby within her. She was so beautiful sitting there in a dark blue sundress. (imagine the one she wears in "Dancing Though Life) After already having two children, simple wonders that she always surprised him with still had not ceased to amaze him. It was hard to believe that he was the happy father of this growing family.

"Thanks honey," Elphaba smiled, as she took the lemonade. Erik nodded, resting his head in her thick, black locks. The same love for her that he had the night of their rooftop confessions had not changed. After all, she had given him love, compassion, and two beautiful children with yet another on the way.

Not long after Astra had been born, they had bought a house in the countryside, far from the road and spying neighbors. It was quite a charming house. Though it was small, there were four bedrooms and the rooms were decently sized. They also had a lot of land with a pond near the house, where the old gondola now resided. Erik had been quite fortunate in finding work by making a partnership with a publisher in Italy and his compositions were providing for his growing family well. After they had gotten settled, Elphaba surprised them with yet another baby; their little boy, named Cadence, who looked almost exactly like his mother. Erik's heart had broken when he saw his wife cry when their second child was born.

A baby's wail shot through the room as Madame Giry helped bring yet another heir to the Phantom into the world. But something wasn't right; there was not the happiness of before.

"Daddy! What's happenin to mommy!" Astra asked as Erik held her very close on his lap.

"Shh, it's okay," he said, trying to console himself as much as his child. "Mommy is giving you a brother or sister."

"wreally?"

"Yes." Madame Giry opened the door, a look of concern on her face. "Stay right here," he ordered. "I need to see how mommy is."

Hesitantly, Erik opened the door, afraid of what might lay before him. God forbid, was the baby a stillborn? All he could see was his wife leaning over a small figure swaddled in blankets, sobbing with tears streaming down her face. Erik sat down next to her an put his arms around Elphaba's trembling form.

"Oh Erik," she cried. "It's all my fault!"

He pulled her tighter into his embrace, trying his best to calm her down. "Elphaba, please don't cry. What is wrong?"

Hesitantly she pulled the blanket away, only to reveal a little baby boy with midnight black hair and Erik's own blue eyes, but it was easy to see why Elphaba was crying. The baby had inherited emerald skin as well, even if the color was not as vibrant as his mother's.

"I wanted so much for him. I wanted him to be normal like everyone else. No one deserves the treatment I received, not him," she sobbed.

Erik looked kindly into his son's face. He was already quite a handsome little fellow. He smiled as his son quietly murmured before closing his piercing blue eyes. Already he loved him. To think, now, the throne of the Phantom finally had an heir.

"There's nothing wrong with him."

"What do you mean? He's green! He's-"

"Perfect," Erik whispered. Elphaba looked at him questioningly. "Do you think that with all the love I have for you that I would care if I saw yet another green person? My dear, he could not be any more beautiful than you are. Besides, do you think that with my own abnormality I could care about his skin color? With the two of us as parents, it was bound to happen one of these days." Even with her tears, Elphaba could not help but let out a choked laugh.

"Thank you," she whispered. "He will not have to know the trials we went through."

Both of them looked up as they heard the door creak. Astra had poked her tiny head in to see what was happening.

"Come and see your new brother," Elphaba whispered. Carefully, Astra tiptoed over to the bed and looked upon the face of her sleeping baby brother.

Though his skin was not as bright as Elphaba's, she had wanted the best for him, to have the luxury of being like everyone else, yet he wasn't even lucky enough to be able to mask it. She had not wanted the curse that had been bestowed on her to be carried on. Erik knew her pain because he had, for he had fostered the same worry. Despite his differences, Cadence had easily risen above it, and was beginning to take an interest in music, much like his sister, blessed with the of a bewitching voice. Already the children of the Angel of Music were showing promising talent, but it only seemed like yesterday since they were both infants.

"MOOOOOOMMM!" the eight-year-old girl yelled. Apparently her brother had not stopped.

Elphaba sighed. She was not really in the mood to break up the fight. She looked at her husband, pleading to him with her dark eyes.

"Oh come on, I had to shut them up an hour ago," Erik joked.

"Pleeeeease," Elphaba moaned teasingly, and giving him her sad face, the one thing that she knew he couldn't resist.

'Oh God no! Not the puppy face! Must… not… give… in.' Of course, she only looked at him longer, watching with enjoyment as her husband fought himself not to give in. At last, Erik could resist no longer. "Fine," he mumbled. "Do I have to come in there to make you two stop!"

Instantly the eyes of both children widened and were sent into fits of fearful laughter. "NO!" they shouted.

Erik stood up, cast of his shirt, and dived into the pond to the boat, making Astra and Cadence scream. He disappeared into the depths of the lake, yet both kids knew that he was lurking somewhere near the boat. They frantically searched the waters, trying to find their father before he got the better of them. Suddenly, with an almighty roar, Erik broke the surface, making the siblings jump and scream. Elphaba could not help but stifle a giggle. He was such a wonderful father.

"Daddy!" Astra pouted. "You scared me!" Erik leaned in, placing a kiss on his daughter's forehead.

"I know, that's half the fun," Erik joked. He loved to tease his daughter.

"I wasn't scared," Cadence said bravely.

"Were too!"

"Were not!"

"Were too!"

"Were WHOA!" Both of them stopped their arguing when Erik began to rock the old boat, trying to break up yet another argument, but mostly just playing with them. He loved his family so much, always waking up every morning into dreamlike but sweet reality, and to think that it could have been lost so easily years ago.

Elphaba couldn't help but smile as she watched over her family. It was hard to believe that the cold, distant phantom she had fallen in love with had transformed into a loving, carefree father. Her thoughts often returned to the fateful day when she discovered a world separate from Oz; the day she met the man that instantly captivated her mind and heart. She could only wonder what would have happened ifthat one spellhad not gone wrong.

FIN

As I said before, Idid start ona sequel about Cadence, but I don't know if i want to continue with it. Tell what u thought of my story and if I should do the sequel. Also, I've been working on a few one shots and I'm also working on an e/m story called "The Nothing I've Become" so if you want to check that out please feel free to.

Thank you so much for being the awesome reviewers you always are! Love ya!