AN: At last! I have created more of this story! I only wish I could post it now, December 20, 2005. But I'll have to wait until Christmas Eve. That's sad for all of you who have to wait. But at least it's a Merry Christmas. Isn't this a great gift? I hope you like it. Here's chapter four, FINALLY. Isn't it what you've always wanted? A nice, seven pages in Microsoft Word chapter. Sorry for the cliffhanger before. But I'm leaving you with another one, too.

Chapter Four: Three Months

Of course the first thing she'd done was kick him out of the room. What else would she have done? Still, he thought, it wasn't fair. Nanny had told him to "go boil some water", which really meant just to get himself out of the way. He'd been through this three times; he wasn't exactly stupid. So, he found an empty guest room far away from the room Nanny and Elphaba were in and sat back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Hours went by as he waited for Nanny to come barging into the room to tell him something. It seemed like he couldn't wait any longer when the old woman finally did come looking for him. He bombarded her with questions immediately. "Is she all right? Is the child all right? Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Sit back down and calm down. I will not let you rush me. Now, she is fine and so is the child. He is just beautiful."

Fiyero smiled. "Can I see them? Elphaba and the child, I mean."

"She's nursing. I'll see if she wants me to let you in."

"Why would she care?"

Nanny shrugged and left the room as Fiyero stared at the ceiling.

"A boy…" He mumbled.

"She says you may see her now."

Fiyero jumped up and pretty much jogged to the room where she was. "Fae?"

She was sitting up, half naked, in the bed, looking worn and tired with bags beneath her eyes. In her arms was a small, blanket-wrapped bundle, no more than two thirds of a foot long. Though she'd probably just gone through some sort of unimaginable hell, she smiled when she saw him and held the bundle out to him. "Meet your son."

Fiyero sat down beside her on the edge of the bed and took the baby from her. He was asleep. Quietly, Fiyero whispered, "He's amazing. So tiny."

"He better be tiny, considering where he had to come out of." Elphaba laughed lightly.

"Was it bad?"

"I don't know. I can't exactly compare it to all of the other births I've experienced, seeing as there are none."

"What do you think we should name him?"

"Something that insinuates strength and doesn't imply anything even remotely shameful. My child will not be an embarrassment to himself the way I always was."

"He doesn't really look like either one of us." Fiyero studied the child closely.

"Well, he's yours, believe me."

"I believe that. He doesn't look like you at all, either."

"Maybe that's because he's not green."

True, the child's skin was fairer than either of theirs, as fair as Glinda's skin had been at Shiz so long ago. His features were not pointed, like Elphaba's, nor square and husky, like Fiyero's. They'd have to wait and see if he'd have a build like either of them, or if perhaps he'd develop pointier or squarer features later in life. Fiyero said, "Not just that."

After a moment, she said, "Fiyero, you're forgetting about what you were saying – naming the child, I mean."

"What do you think?"

"I'm open to suggestions."

He was struck with a thought then: what if he never saw his children again? What if no one ever heard from his children or wife? Would it even be remembered that those children had existed? He had the impulse to name the child after one of his boys, but he tossed the idea away. This child was his and Elphaba's. This child would be different.

"Yero?"

He'd spaced out for a moment. Shaking himself back into the here and now, he smiled at his lover and his newborn son. "I don't know."

"Neither do I. But we have to decide on something, silly."

He noted her attitude was still positive, something he was glad hadn't disappeared after the birth. She had changed a lot, he realized. Her stomach was still bloated, though already beginning to return to its normal size. It was strange to see her in that moment, so cheerful, so not cynical, so beautiful. Before he spaced out on her again, he put his hand over hers and said, "You're still beautiful, Fae-Fae."

She smiled, somewhat wistfully, and said, "Stop changing the subject, my hero."

He leaned over the bed and kissed her. "Sorry. Now, a name… hmmm." Standing up, he paced the room for a moment, as if he were still a nervous father-to-be, waiting for news. This caused Elphaba to giggle helplessly, bringing him back to himself. At once, he sat back down. "I know, how about Adarac?"

"Sounds too much like Avaric." Elphaba made a face.

"You're probably right. How about Liirio?"

"How about just Liir?"

"I like that."

"Me, too."

"Then it's settled."

She nodded and Fiyero handed her the baby. Rocking him in her arms, she said, "Welcome to the world, baby Liir. Say hi to your father." Elphaba handed the baby back Fiyero.

Fiyero lifted the child up in his arms, stood and spun it around. Promptly, Liir spat up all over Fiyero. "Shit!"

"Fiyero! Don't use words like that in front of the baby!"

"Sorry." He handed the baby to Elphaba again. "Here, spit up on your mother instead, why don't you?" Then, he went to the counter and grabbed a towel, wiping the spit-up from his shirt and arms. "That was pleasant."

"There'll be more of that to come." She warned.

"And I'm going to love every damned – sorry, darned – minute of it." Fiyero laughed.

"You're going to hate it at times."

"Probably. But I will always love you. And I will always love him." Fiyero moved to kiss Elphaba and little Liir began crying. "Except when it does that."

Elphaba smiled gently down at the baby. "Hungry, are you?" She offered him her breast, which the baby took to greedily. "Well, aren't we thirsty?"

Fiyero rolled his eyes. "Women."

Still holding the baby in one arm, she reached the other and smacked Fiyero playfully. "Hey! Don't make fun of me! What's so funny, anyway?"

"Nothing."

She glared at him, but got no response, so she went back to cooing at the baby. "You're a beautiful baby, you know that?"

"Elphaba, it can't understand a word you're saying."

"Shut up."

Nanny decided to stay with them for the first few months of the new baby's life. She took care of it when Elphaba was too tired to do so, and she'd talk to it often times late at night, horrifying Elphaba when she overheard it.

"Now, you're a good little boy. You won't turn out to be a cheating little slut like your grandmother, or take any sort of participation in adultery the way your mother behaves."

"Nanny!" Elphaba stood in the doorway of the nursery, frowning.

"Well, it's true! You act like there's absolutely nothing wrong with the fact that your lover is married."

"He didn't want to marry her, Nanny."

"He wasted no time having children with her."

"He had to! He needs an heir to the throne."

"Did he have to keep having kids when his first was a boy? I don't think so."

"Nanny…" Elphaba sighed. She had no defense for that.

"Exactly my point."

"But I…"

"No 'but's."

"Nanny, he loves me."

"Does he?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that perhaps he's only in love with you when his wife is not around. When she's back, will he still love you so much?"

Elphaba faltered. "I don't know."

"You see? This is what I'm talking about. I want this child to have a real love. Someone who loves him and only him."

Elphaba hung her head. "I'm not such a terrible person for falling in love with him, am I, Nanny?"

"No, not terrible. Only foolish."

"He loves me!"

"Keep telling yourself that, child. Just keep telling yourself that."

"What makes you think he doesn't?"

"Why would he be so desperate to find his tribe if that would lead to finding his wife? I thought he wanted to be with you, not her."

"I…"

"And he seemed to almost be hurt when he gave you the news about his wife being unfaithful. Would that hurt him if he didn't care?"

"Maybe. I mean, to think he trusted her…"

"I doubt it, Elphaba. And why does he miss the children he had with her so much?"

"He's allowed to miss his children!"

"If he really loved you, he'd want to start a new life with you. And bringing children from his prior life into that would make many complications. Wait until his wife returns, dearie, and tell me what you think then."

"I will not have you speaking this way around my son!"

"Fine. I'll stop. But if I were you, I'd be watching out for myself better."

Elphaba shook her head wearily and left Nanny to care for Liir. It was late and she was in no mood to deal with Nanny's doubts and ill reasoning. She trudged back to the bedroom she shared with Fiyero and buried herself in the bedclothes, trying to forget the comments Nanny had made.

Fiyero wandered in several moments later and saw the way she was positioned under the blanket. "Elphie?"

She flipped over in the bed and looked at him sadly. "What?"

"You don't seem happy right now."

"Why are you bugging me?"

"For reasons like that. You never act as if I'm bugging you."

"Things are different now that we have a child."

"You've been saying that for three months now."

"Well, it's true."

"In the past three months, you haven't acted as if I've been 'bugging' you and now you are, so what is wrong?"

She smiled weakly. "Nothing. Come to bed and everything will be fine."

"Sex doesn't fix everything." He told her, getting undressed.

"No, sometimes it only makes things worse. That's true. But right now I need you to love me."

"But do you need me to love you in that way, or do you need me to really love you?"

She shuddered. "I don't know."

"What is it, Fae-Fae?"

"It's nothing, Yero."

"It's certainly not nothing."

She sat up and looked at him solemnly. "You don't love me."

"What in Oz are you saying? Of course I love you!"

"I'm not the only one you love."

"Of course not. I love our son. I love my other children. I love my family. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"You love Sarima," she accused in a whisper.

"In a way."

"You can't love two women, Fiyero. It's one or the other."

"I don't love her the way I love you. I love her as a sister, perhaps. Because I have no choice but to love her. I had to love her."

"If you loved her as a sister, you wouldn't have been in such a huge hurry to have three children with her."

"I needed an heir…"

"I considered that already. You needed one heir, not three."

"Wouldn't it seem wrong if I didn't make love to my wife every once in a while? I didn't know you still existed, then, Fae."

"You didn't have to."

"What is going on with this? I don't understand where this is coming from."

"You can forget I existed now, then. Go back to her."

"What? Elphaba, no."

"You said you loved me before you ran into me. If you had, would you have loved your wife so much?"

"I didn't even know if you thought of me at all!"

"Look, I've been doing a lot of thinking."

"I'm not liking the way this is going."

"And I've decided that tomorrow, I'm going to begin a journey to the city."

"What? Why? I'm coming with."

"Fine. I'm going to turn myself in and get you your family back."

"No you are not!"

"You can't tell me what to do, Fiyero!"

"I love you, Elphaba. Don't do this."

"You love me. You love her. What difference does it make which one you're left with?"

"Because I love you. I don't love her that way."

"I'll leave Liir with you. Sarima is probably a very good mother. After all, she raised three kids, why not one more? She may not like that he's your lovechild, but, as you said, there's not that huge of a taboo against these things." Elphaba said simply.

"My God, what is wrong with you?" He sat down at the edge of the bed, naked, in the dark. "You are kidding me. I love you. I love you a million times more than I love her."

"No you don't."

"Prove it."

"Prove that you love me more! You can't, and I'm not going to wait around until god only knows when for you to find your family and make your choice."

"I made my choice already, Elphaba. I made it back in the city. I chose you."

"How was that your choice?"

"I should've returned home long before I did, Elphie. I didn't for a reason. I abandoned my family for you."

"Were you really not planning on going back?"

"Well, I wasn't sure what I was going to do…"

"That's not enough."

"But I knew I loved you and that was enough for me."

She wrapped the blankets around her tighter and struggled against him when he tried to tear them away. "Fiyero, I love you too much to be here when you leave me for her."

"I'm not going to leave you for her! I plan on leaving her for you. I've told you that."

"Only because she was unfaithful."

"No. Because I don't love her! For the millionth time, Elphaba, Fabala, Fae, Elphie, whatever the hell you want me to call you, I love you!"

Only in the proper moonlight did he see that she was crying. "Go."

"I will not leave you alone. I will not leave you ever. Not ever."

"Why can't you just make it easy on us both and just let go of me and of everything that we had?"

"Because love isn't that easy, my Fae. The only easy thing is realizing you love someone. And I know I love you." Gently, he moved to wipe away her tears, which he knew were burning the cheeks he loved to caress so much.

"Do you? Do you really?" She challenged.

"I do." He pulled the blankets away successfully. "I really do." All he knew to do was wrap his arms around her and hold her close, letting her tears soak his skin rather than hers. "I will always love you."

"I love you so much. I just can't…"

"Shhh. You won't ever have to." Fiyero's lips pressed against the corners of her eyes, kissing away her tears. "Help me. Tell me how to make your pain go away, Elphie."

"Just love me. That's all I want."

"You didn't have to ask. I love you already."

She touched his face in the darkness and turned the lights back on. "Love me so I can see."

Her reluctance to be seen had disappeared, it seemed. She sat on top of the blankets, bare, but beautiful. "What do you mean so you can see?"

"I want to see that you love me."

"Can't you see it now?"

"Yes and no."

"Can't you see it in my eyes every day?"

"Not when we make love. I can never see your eyes."

"You never let me turn the lights on."

"I'm letting you now."

He hesitated for a moment, unsure of what was allowing her to be so bold, so unashamed. "Are you okay?"

"I will be if you'll love me."

"You sure?"

"More than sure."

He began kissing her body wherever he pleased, listening to her moans to best please her. Their bodies joined together and their voices softened, the harsh, angry words she'd used replace with sweet whispers and murmurs of love.

Two hours later, Elphaba was asleep against Fiyero when Nanny called up the stairs. "It looks like we have company."

Elphaba yawned, unaware that the moment she'd dreaded only hours ago was arriving. "What?"

"Company. There's a huge group of people outside." Shouted Nanny, grumbling her way up the stairs.

Elphaba shook her head and wiped sleep from her eyes. "What on earth could she be talking about?" Then Elphaba's eyes filled with terror. "On no! The Gale Force! Have they found us?"

"Worse." Nanny said from the doorway.

Elphaba hugged herself. "What?"

"Look outside."

Elphaba, once again ashamed of her body – her moods where she was unashamed never lasted long – nudged Fiyero. "Fiyero? What's going on?"

Fiyero got up and looked out the window. When he turned to Elphaba, he was paler than she'd ever seen him. "My tribe is back."

AN: Yes, another cliffie. I hope to get this moving faster than I did last time. But appreciate what I've done, because I have been so stuck recently. I expect reviews for Christmas!