Tell me it's not true
Another son was born a year later, arriving a month early and unexpectedly sharing his birthday with his father. Little Ashender had caused Elphaba some panic during the early stages of the birth, and she finally had to tell Fiyero that she'd witnessed her mother's death having her sister, and with that confession and Glinda still two days away, he refused to leave her side. Though he was early, birth had been easier on her this time around, taking just six hours.
Glinda arrived forty-eight hours later with her daughter and the twins in tow, the three children clambering on to the bed to get a better look at their new playmate.
"You two need to stop defiling the forest." Glinda smirked.
Fiyero choked on his water and shook his head. "How do...?"
"Elphie can't make her face lie for her."
Elphaba blushed and ducked her head, turning her attention to the children in front of her. She said nothing.
"Elphaba."
The corner of her lips quirked upward in a slight smirk at Fiyero's tone.
"Papa, what does that word mean?" Leila looked up innocently.
He glared at Glinda, who just giggled.
"Auntie Linny?"
"I'll tell you when you're older, sweet Rose." She smiled.
Finally, Elphaba broke and she burst into giggles. "I'm sorry..." She grinned, looking up at her now mortified husband. "Yero, I love you but she's right. And it wasn't my idea for the camping trip."
"You should keep your hands to yourself when your children are around." Glinda smirked.
"They were with you." She shrugged. "At least that time we had shelter and we didn't have to run."
The twins looked at each other confused before sliding off the bed with Annalie and they ran off to find something to play with.
"Gamma! I have a question!" Leila-Rose declared as she burst into the sewing room with her hands on her hips.
Eleanora looked up from her sewing with a smile and laughter in her eyes at her granddaughter. Oh she looked so much like her mother with her father's bold streak. "And what is that, my princess?"
"What does de... Deflyling mean? Auntie Linny said it to mama and papa but I don't know what it means."
The queen raised an eyebrow in question and shook her head slightly, deciding that she had no interest in her son's activities with his wife. If he thought for a moment that she believed his lies about tables being broken he was out of his mind. "Did you ask them?" she smiled.
Leila-Rose nodded. "Papa didn't answer and mama laughed."
'Oh, those two are as bad as each other.' she thought. "Well, I don't think you need to worry about it for now. Have you seen your new little brother?"
The four-year-old nodded. "He's quiet and very small." She told her seriously and skipped over to her. "What's that?"
"I see." the Queen nodded. "You were once that small too." She set her sewing on the table and picked her up, sitting her on her knee. "It's a present for your mama. With these old eyes and hands it's taking a little longer than it used to." She smiled.
Leila-Rose looked at it curiously before cuddling herself against her grandmother. "Will mama be okay?"
"Of course, she will. She's stronger than you think." She looked up at the sound of a scream.
"Anna!" Leila-Rose cried and Eleanora let her down, slowly rising from her chair. The young girl pulled her grandmother by the hand in the direction of her friend's screaming. Once she saw Annalie she let her go and rushed to hug her friend.
Eleanora entered the room the sobbing girl refused to go in to to find Liir cautiously advancing on his grandfather. "Come away, dear boy." She told him gently.
"But Oppa won't wake up." Liir told her.
Her heart broke, seeing him try to be brave and not scare his friend and sister any further. "He's probably in a deep sleep. You know what his hearing is like most days. Go on, go and play."
He looked around at his grandfather again, feeling nervous. He didn't quite know what to do with himself. He looked up when the door opened again and ran to Fiyero as he rushed in.
Fiyero froze, his arm around the boy trembling at his leg. "H-he's not...?"
Eleanora shook her head. "Thankfully, just sleeping." She explained once she'd checked that her husband was alright. She knew it wouldn't be long, however, and she dreaded that day coming.
He sighed with relief. "Good..." he nodded, silently ushering Liir off to go and play.
She walked over to him. "Fiyero... -"
"I know... I know there's not long." He forced the words out. He knew, that didn't mean he had to like it. It would be a while before he would be allowed to grieve, and suddenly he hated the responsibilities to come more so than he had in his teenage years. The only problem now was that he could no longer act like he didn't care. He could no longer drink himself into a stupor and live the life his money allowed.
"It would be wise to-"
"No." he shook his head. "How can I say goodbye now while he's still here?"
She hugged him, fighting against her own tears as he clung to her. "I know..." She didn't want to either, she chose to say nothing else.
He shuddered and stepped away after a few minutes and he wiped his eyes and he left the room. He made his way silently through the castle and walked out into the gardens. The chill in the air hardly bothered him.
Eleanora sighed softly and roused her husband from his sleep. "Come, love. You need your rest, not work." She raised an eyebrow. "Don't get stubborn now. You have a grandson to meet."
"I still say the boy could have-"
"You say a lot of things, dear. That doesn't mean you make a whole load of sense." She told him. "She's given you three grandchildren and not one of them green. Besides, her skin is hardly her fault."
He grumbled a response and slowly stood up, allowing her to help him into a wheelchair. A maid took control of the chair and took the King to his bedroom and helped him into his bed without a word. She turned to her queen. "Would you like me to send for the doctor, your majesty?"
Eleanora nodded. "I think it would be best, Katarina. And would you please send my son's friend out to him if she's not too busy?"
Katarina nodded. "Yes, ma'am." She walked out and made her way to Elphaba's room, knocking the door. She entered when she was beckoned inside. "Miss Glinda? Are you busy?"
Glinda looked up from her sleeping friend and shook her head. "No... Is everything alright?"
"I'm... Not entirely sure, Miss..." She admitted. "The King's health appears to have deteriorated and I have to send for the doctor. But I think Prince Fiyero has taken it hard."
Glinda nodded, already standing up. "Where is he?"
"I can only assume the gardens, Miss..."
"Alright, thank you, Katarina... I'll go to him now. Elphie will be asleep for a while." She rushed away. Upon entering the gardens, she could hear the shrieks and laughter from the children and she made her way to the pond, seeing Fiyero stood with his back to her. She walked to him slowly and wrapped her arm around his in a comforting gesture.
Outwardly, he didn't react, but he felt some of the weight leave his shoulders at his friend's presence.
"There are two sides to you." She commented after a few minutes.
"Hm?"
"With me you only show a little. With Elphie, you show her everything. And that's not a bad thing. Cause sometimes you need that little bit to give you a push, or you just shut down. I guess it's something you've always done..."
He nodded. "Not always. I wasn't completely open with either of you in school."
She giggled. "Because you'd never been in love before, Fiyero." She reminded him. "But even when you were struggling with all of that, you still looked to her more."
He smiled slightly and nodded again.
"So... When you're ready to talk... I'm here."
They lapsed into silence once again, Glinda waiting patiently at his side. Another ten minutes passed before he was able to speak again.
"I don't know what I'm gonna do. He's getting worse, Glin, I... I've never seen him look so ill before." he held back his tears again.
She looked at him with sad eyes and shook her head. She was lucky in the fact that her parents, as old as they were, were still in perfect health. "Nothing is gonna prepare you for the loss of a parent... I can't even imagine what it's like for you... Maybe you should go and sit with him a while... Or take Ashender to see him, it might perk him up a little bit."
"It just feels like I'm saying goodbye, and I can't..."
"And if you don't, you know you're always going to think what if... I know you too, Fiyero, I know that for all of his faults and his judgements he's still your father and you love him and he loves you. And of course, what happens after that is scary. I'd be scared too."
"But I knew it was coming..." He finished what she was avoiding. He sighed running a hand through his hair. "I've always known. I just... Even now as an adult, he always seemed invincible to me. And now old age is getting to him."
"I know... I feel the same way about my father. And Leila and Liir think the same about you. And one of these days when you're old and grey, your son is gonna be in this exact situation."
He shuddered. "I know."
"You need to be there. You need to grieve. And you need Elphie." She looked up at him. "If you want me to I can take the kids back to the cottage tonight."
He nodded. "See what Fae suggests..." he sighed and let her pull him back to the castle and to his father's bedroom.
"I'm going to bring the children and get them ready for dinner." Glinda told him. "Will you be alright?"
"No... But I have to be..."
She squeezed his arm and walked back out to the gardens.
Fiyero sighed and hesitated at the door. Could he really go in now? Could he take it? In his heart he wanted the answer to be no to both of those. Glinda was right, he needed Elphaba by his side. He turned on his heel and quickly walked to the room he shared with his wife and he walked inside.
Elphaba looked up, and pushed herself off the bed, slowly and unsteadily walking to him. "Yero?" she reached up and touched his face. "My love, it's okay." She nodded to him. Her heart broke as she watched his facade crumble instantly, he broke down as they were wrapped up in each other. She whispered in his ear and could do nothing else until he'd finally stopped crying. "Do you want me to come with you to see him?"
He nodded. "If you can walk that far..."
"I should be able to." She kissed his cheek and walked back across the room to the bassinet Ashender was sleeping in and she picked him up. "At least this one doesn't dislike me on sight." She teased, succeeding in getting a small smile out of him.
"I told you, Liir was just fussy. Look at him now though, he'll hardly leave you alone."
She nodded with a smile. "I know. But he didn't have to wait the entire year though."
He held her close again and he walked with her back to his parents room, and again he froze at the door.
"Take your time." She told him gently. She adjusted her newborn in her arms and put her now free arm around him.
"Don't leave me?"
"Never, love."
He took a deep breath and forced himself to open the door and walk inside.
Eleanora smiled softly upon seeing them. "The doctor will be on the way soon. Elphaba, how are you and our grandson doing?"
Fiyero tentatively walked forward as Elphaba nodded and spoke to his mother.
"It's not contagious, my boy." Grantaire gave his son the slightest hint of a smirk. "I'm not gone yet."
Fiyero managed to smile at that and a breathy laugh escaped his throat. "You're not going at all." He sat at the side of the bed, he knew his wish wouldn't be granted, not this time.
"You'll be fine without me, Fiyero. Yes, mourn as much as you need to, but you also have a duty." the older male spoke. "You don't have faith in yourself, but you've come a long way from that twenty-one year old lad who had no hope for his future. You proved yourself time and time again once you got to Shiz. You were the Head of the Wizard's army."
He shook his head.
"Fiyero, don't disregard your successes. Yes you had an ulterior motive for it all, but you still did it." Elphaba told him, earning herself a raised eyebrow from her father-in-law.
"I did all of that for her." Fiyero explained. "She saw through that stupid act and called me out on it. So I graduated to prove her right. I stayed with her best friend because she wasn't there and I didn't want to hurt Glinda. I joined that godforsaken army just to protect her."
"But you still did it. Yero, if you can do all of that off your own back, without me physically kicking your backside, then you can lead your country." She smirked.
"Elphaba."
"Yes?"
"Stop talking." He smirked at her.
She laughed and rolled her eyes at him, falling silent.
As much as the old man didn't like her, he did have to begrudgingly agree with her. "Listen to your wife, my boy. Women think they're right because most of the time, they are. Now, let me have a look at my grandson."
Fiyero nodded as Elphaba walked over to them. She glanced over her shoulder, silently questioning Eleanora who nodded, understanding her nerves. The green woman slowly placed her son in his grandfather's waiting arms.
"Just so you know, we're not having any more." She smirked at Fiyero, her arm around the middle of his back.
He simply smiled and held her, even more grateful for her being at his side. "I can get through anything as long as I have you." he told her quietly.
She nodded, staying quiet for she knew he didn't need a reply.
The doctor arrived a short time later and the young couple were told to leave the room. Elphaba picked up Ashender again and walked out with her protesting husband. "Let him do his job, my love."
"I know... But... -"
"But nothing. He'll be fine. Looking at him he's not going in the next twenty-four hours."
He shrugged, used to her bluntness by now.
"Where did the children get to?"
"Glinda was out in the garden with them. With everything going on... She suggested that she took them back to the cottage with her, I think it would be a good idea but it would be best to check with you... I know we've never been apart from them since they were born."
Elphaba nodded, and though she trusted Glinda, she knew her best friend would do anything to keep them safe and happy, the thought of being away from them for even a night unsettled her.
"They don't have to go." He assured her. "It was just an idea to distract them cause they found him."
"No, I think it would be good for them to go back home."
"Are you sure?"
No. "Yeah. And they'll be with Glinda, so I know they will be fine."
He nodded, and by the time they got back to her room, the kids had come back inside. Annalie stayed by her mother and the twins immediately latched on to Elphaba the moment they saw her, Fiyero freed her arms by taking his son and watched as she knelt to their level, hugging them both to her.
She shifted uncomfortably but she ignored any pain or irritability she experienced. "It's okay. Everything is okay." She told them gently. She felt her son's small hand on her neck and knew what was coming, she closed her eyes for a minute while he showed her, and she opened them again. "You saw him?" a small nod against her shoulder. "Baby, he's alright. I promise you. Your papa and I have just taken your brother to see him." She tilted her her head to Leila briefly and kissed both of them. "Do you want to go home with Auntie Lin tonight?"
Leila-Rose nodded. "Will you be there, mama?"
"I'm still not well enough for the journey, my sweet. But I'll be home in a few days."
Both of them nodded at that.
"Miss you, mama." Liir said in a quiet voice.
"I know. I'll miss you both too." She smiled and looked at both of them. "If you get scared, you can always go to Auntie Lin, alright? And if you want to come back, you can." She watched them run back to Annalie and Fiyero helped her off the ground. "Thank you."
He smiled. "You made Glinda cry."
"I'm not crying!" Glinda pouted, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. "It's just... You're so good with them, Elphie. And it was really sweet to see you like that and-"
"Yeah, we get the picture." Elphaba laughed and slowly walked over and hugged her friend.
"I'll look after them. I promise."
Three months later, the king passed away peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by his family.
Prior to his death, Elphaba had forcefully made sure that Fiyero wouldn't be crowned within days, and as a result, the advisors reluctantly gave in and allowed him two weeks before he would be crowned as king and she would take her place as queen.
Despite the sadness of the situation, Eleanora couldn't help but smirk and laugh. Her son and his wife would overturn things in their own time, and put the monarchy in a new light, and their advisors had no idea how to deal with the new approach. The couple, through being themselves, had already made them seem more approachable and gave the old system a new lease of life.
After the two weeks of mourning, the new King and Queen of the Vinkus were crowned in a large celebration, and Elphaba knew he was faking his way through it. She rose from her seat and crossed the short distance to him. "Come on. Get out of here." She whispered in his ear and she took his hand, giving their excuses to the group of noblemen he was talking to before they left the ballroom.
"I knew there was a reason I married you."
She smirked at the jab. "Just this reason?"
"Among others." He conceded with a faint smile. "Thank you."
"I know given the choice you wouldn't have had this today." She smiled and looked at the clock on the wall. "I've no doubt the twins will be waiting for you."
"Even when fighting sleep they have all that energy." he nodded as they walked.
"That comes from you." She smirked.
"And the love of books comes from you."
She shrugged. "I could think of worse things they could get from me."
He rolled his eyes, for once not having the energy to argue with her. They made their way to the children's bedroom in silence.
As soon as he walked inside Leila leapt from her bed over to him, clinging to his leg, laughing. He smiled at her and scooped her up in his arms. "And why are you not asleep?"
Elphaba watched silently in the doorway with a smile, watched as all of the tension and his sadness melted away with just one look from his daughter. Her eyes drifted over to Liir who had clearly fallen asleep waiting.
"Because you promised a story." Leila gave him her best pout and wide puppy dog eyes while her mother tucked her brother in.
"I'm going to check on Ashender." Elphaba spoke quietly. She kissed Leila on the cheek and Fiyero caught her lips with a smile and a nod. She left the room just as he started his story about a scarecrow and a witch, she shook her head with a quiet laugh to herself and went to check on her youngest son.