The Emerald Woman and the Little Star
Chapter Six
Elphaba and Fiyero turned and saw Alice standing in the sitting room doorway, Elphaba walked over to the little girl and scooped her up.
"Baby what are you doing listening to our conversation sweetie" said Elphaba she carried the little girl back into the room and sat down with her on her lap, Fiyero following behind. "Sweetheart we have some news for you"
Alice look at Elphaba then at Fiyero "My Mummy is dead"
"Yes baby I'm so sorry" said Elphaba hugging the little girl, Alice pulled away from Elphaba and looked up at her.
"Do I still get to see mummy on Wednesday" said Alice.
Elphaba looked at Fiyero then turned back to the little girl "no baby you won't be able to see Mummy on Wednesday, Mummy is in heaven with the angles now"
Alice's lip began to wobble "when will Mummy be back from Heaven Elphie"
"I'm so sorry sweetheart she can't come back from heaven baby" said Elphaba.
"You mean I will never see her again ever" said Alice and she started to sob.
"Yes baby I'm so so sorry" said Elphaba she held the sobbing child close and rocked her from side to side as she sobbed. Fiyero watched Elphaba trying to comfort the sobbing child feeling like a spare part he wished he could take the little girls pain away or at least that he could wrap her in his arms and tell her everything would be alright.
Once the little girl had stopped crying Elphaba looked at her watch and saw it was almost half past four "Sweetheart would you like to help me make dinner"
Alice's eyes widened and she shook her head so violently she nearly fell off of Elphaba's lap
"No dinner Elphie not allowed I will get into trouble" said Alice her voice full of fear.
"Baby you will not get in to trouble for eating here ever I promise" said Elphaba she put the little girl on her feet then stood up "come on baby let's go cook some dinner"
The little girl shook her head again then turned to face Fiyero fear in her eyes, noticing the little girl looking at him Fiyero knelt down making sure he wasn't too close to her.
"Alice if you want to help Elphaba cook it's ok you won't be in trouble" said Fiyero. The little girl turned back to Elphaba and grabbed hold of her hand, Elphaba smiled then mouthed thank you to Fiyero before leading the little girl into the kitchen. Fiyero watched as they left the room he was about to head up to his office when he caught sight of the little girls drawing he picked up the piece of paper tears filling his eyes she had drawn three figures on the paper a green lady and a little girl on one side and a man with a cross face on the other he wipe away a stray tear from his cheek the man she had drawn was him.
Back in the kitchen Elphaba had stood the little girl on a chair beside the work surface and rolled up her sleeves.
"What should we have for dinner sweetie" said Elphaba as she looked through the fridge she pulled out some beef mince and set it on the side along with a red onion, packet of mushrooms and two bell peppers one red one green "let's have spaghetti bolognese"
Alice shook her head and pointed at the box of cereal on the side "only allowed breakfast cereal nothing else or I will get into trouble"
"Sweetheart you will not be in trouble for eating your dinner I promise" said Elphaba "let's get cooking"
Twenty minutes later the bolognese was bubbling away on the stove, Elphaba had gone in to the walk in cupboard to find the spaghetti, watching the cupboard door to make sure Elphaba wouldn't see her Alice picked up a left over mushroom from the packet and shoved it whole into her mouth she was about to take another one when Elphaba came out of the cupboard holding the long packet of spaghetti, Alice froze her hand still on the mushroom, noticing the little girl freeze Elphaba smiled at her.
"It's ok sweetheart go ahead and take the mushroom it's ok" said Elphaba. Alice stared at her for a few seconds then grabbed the last mushroom and shoved it into her mouth, smiling Elphaba grabbed a sauce pan from the rack and filled it with water then sprinkled in a little salt before setting it on the hob to boil.
Elphaba was just spooning the bolognese into bowls when Fiyero entered the kitchen sniffing the air.
"Something smells so good" said Fiyero he made to grab a piece of the garlic bread that Elphaba had just removed from the oven then yelped when it burnt his fingers, Elphaba laughed at him.
"Serves you right Yero" said Elphaba picking up the bowls to carry through to the dining room where Alice was already sitting at the table "here you go baby"
Alice looked at the bowl in front of her and began to violently shake her head again panic in her eyes "No Elphie not allowed this food only cereal" the little girl tried to get off of her chair but Elphaba quickly put her hands on the little girls shoulders.
"No baby you can't get down until you eat some dinner baby it's ok" said Elphaba.
"No dinner Elphie no no no" said Alice trying to wriggle away from her.
"Alice it's ok to eat your dinner I promise you won't be in trouble" said Elphaba.
"NO NO ELPHIE NO DINNER ONLY BREAKFAST" screamed Alice she broke free of Elphaba's grip and bolted out of the room, Elphaba took off after her she caught hold of the little girl at the bottom of the stairs.
"Hey sweetie it's ok come on baby let's go back to the table" said Elphaba trying to keep her grip on the wriggling child.
"NOOOOOOO" screamed Alice as Elphaba carried her back to the dining room.
"Alice baby stop screaming it's ok you're ok" said Elphaba she sat the little girl back in her chair as soon as she let go of her Alice tried to bolt again "No baby come on eat some dinner for me I know you are hungry"
Alice looked at the bowl in front of her then at Fiyero she locked her eyes on him then with a shaking hand she picked up her spoon and started putting the food into her mouth.
"Good girl Alice that's a very good girl" said Elphaba "I'm so proud of you we both are isn't that right Yero"
"Absolutely correct well done sweetie" said Fiyero.
Once everyone had finished eating Elphaba wiped Alice's hands and face then the little girl dashed off to play. Elphaba and Fiyero cleared the table then moved into the kitchen to wash up. Back in the sitting room Alice had got bored with drawing and had found Elphaba's handbag by the side of the sofa she picked up the bag and tipped the contents onto the sitting room floor the little girl looked through the stuff and picked up Elphaba's small make up bag unzipped it and pulled out a lip stick and compact mirror she opened the mirror and covered her cheeks in blusher then drew on her lips with the lipstick.
Once she was done with the make up Alice picked up the other small bag and unzipped it finding Elphaba's nail scissors inside it she took out the scissors and was about to use them when Elphaba came into the room seeing the little girl sitting on the floor with the contents of her hand bag all round her and the small pair of scissors in her hand Elphaba quickly walked over to the little girl and took the scissors from her.
"Sweetheart what are you doing with my things" said Elphaba. Alice started to shake she stood up and started to back away from Elphaba "Baby it's ok I'm not going to hurt you"
Elphaba picked up her things and put them back into her handbag she then hung it on the back of the sitting room door out of the little girls reach.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry" said Alice.
Just then Fiyero entered the room wiping his hands, seeing him enter the room Alice started to panic even more she bolted past him and out of the door, down the hall and tried to open the back doors that lead to the gardens. Elphaba shot after the little girl and caught hold of her just as she got the door open.
"No baby its ok you're ok" said Elphaba the little girl thrashed about trying to get free of her grip but Elphaba held her tight rocking her back and forth in her arms after a few minutes the little girl began to quieten down and then started to yawn "you are getting tired aren't you baby, let's go and have a bath" she lifted the little girl up and carried her towards the stairs where Fiyero was stood watching.
"What happened" asked Fiyero "what made her take off"
"I found her going through my handbag she had hold of my nail scissors when I came into the room, she thought I was going to hit her or hurt her in some way" said Elphaba
"Poor little mite" said Fiyero then noticing the little girls face he started to grin "looks like she got into your make up as well"
"I know I'm going to go and bath her" said Elphaba "could you give me hand I mean I know she won't let you touch her but could you find her some clean pyjamas and maybe sort her bed out for me"
"No problem Fae" said Fiyero he started to follow her up the stairs when the phone rang "I'm on it"
Elphaba nodded at him and carried the little girl upstairs to the bathroom she put the little girl down on the floor then turned on the bath taps and putting the plug in. When she looked up from the bath tub she noticed the little girl had gone panicking Elphaba left the bathroom room and headed down to the little girls bedroom, entering the room relief washed over her when she saw the little girl looking through the toy box.
"Sweetheart what are you doing" said Elphaba the little girl jumped almost banging her head on the lid of the toy box.
"Play with me Elphie" said Alice.
"Not now Baby it's bathtime" said Elphaba she scooped the little girl up and carried her back to the bathroom she put the little girl down then turned off the bath taps making sure the water wasn't too hot " come on then sweetheart can you get undressed for me" the little girl nodded and got undressed down to her knickers then she stopped and looked at Elphaba.
"Elphie does Fiyero want to take my knickers off or can I do it" said Alice
Elphaba sighed "Baby you never have to play the love game at bath time ever again your daddy was wrong to make you do it, come here" she held the little girl close to her for a few seconds then looked at her "you can take your knickers off baby"
The little girl removed her underwear then Elphaba lifted her into the bath, Alice sat still in the bath while Elphaba washed the make up off her face once the little girls face was clean Elphaba grabbed a body puff and the bottle of children's body wash she had bought she squirted a small amount on the body puff then washed the little girls body all over she was just rinsing the last of the soap off the little girl when Fiyero appeared in the door way.
"Goodness me there was a little girl under all that make up" said Fiyero with a laugh "Fae that was my father on the phone he and mother are coming for Sunday dinner tomorrow and they are bringing my brother and all his gang as well"
"I don't know if that's a good idea Yero Alice is scared enough as it is of you without adding two more men to the equation" said Elphaba she lifted the little girl out of the bath and wrapped her in warm towel.
"Oh Fae I'm sorry I should've thought" said Fiyero "why am I so brainless"
"On the other hand it might do her some good to see you with the other kids" said Elphaba. She lead Alice down the hall to her bedroom, she dried the little girl off then opened the draws pulling out a pair of powder blue pyjamas with clouds all over them and a clear pair of knickers "here sweetie can you put these on"
Alice quickly dressed herself then Elphaba grabbed the little girls hair brush, quickly undoing the plat she had put the in the little girls hair the day before she gave her hair a brush and left it loose.
"Play now Elphie please" said Alice taking hold of Elphaba's hand and trying to drag her towards the toy box.
Elphaba looked at her watch it said seven forty five "Sorry baby it's nearly bed time we can play tomorrow"
"No bed Elphie not tired want to play" said Alice pulling some toys out of the box, Elphaba gently took the toys out of the little girls hands and put them back into the box
"I said no baby it's bedtime, let's go and brush your teeth" said Elphaba but Alice was having none of it.
"NO BED ELPHIE NO NO NO" screamed Alice she grabbed the toys back out of the box and sat on the floor.
"Alice I said no it's bed time now please put the toys away and let's go and brush your teeth" said Elphaba a little firmer this time. Alice scowled at Elphaba then picked up the puzzle pieces off the floor and threw them at her.
"Alice you don't throw toys at me if you do that again you will go into time out" said Elphaba just as another piece of puzzle hit her in the face "right ok then you can have a time out" She picked the little girl up and Alice started to thrash about and scream holding the little girl tight Elphaba carried her out of the room and down the hall to one of the spare rooms she put the little girl in the room and knelt down in front of her.
"Alice I'm putting you in time out because you are not doing what I asked you to do and you threw toys at me now you are going to stay in here for eight minutes" said Elphaba she stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her holding the handle so the little girl couldn't get out.
Fiyero who has witnessed the whole scene walked up to Elphaba and put a hand on her shoulder "Are you ok Fae"
"I'm fine Yero but I need her to understand she can't throw toys at people" said Elphaba.
"Agreed, where did you learn how to do time outs like that" said Fiyero "I was impressed"
"I read a book in the library by Jo Frost some people like to call her the supernanny" said Elphaba she looked at her watch and saw the little girls time was up she opened the door and Alice tried to bolt out of the room, Elphaba put her hands on the little girls shoulders then knelt down in front of her again "Alice I put you in this room because you didn't do as I asked and you threw toys at me if you do it again you will come back into this room now I would like you to say sorry please"
"Sorry Elphie" said Alice
"Good girl now give me a kiss and cuddle" said Elphaba. Alice buried her head in Elphaba's chest. "Now let's go and brush your teeth"
Elphaba lead the little girl into the bathroom, she grabbed the little girls tooth brush and put some toothpaste on it then handed it to her.
"Here you go sweetie" said Elphaba. Alice took the toothbrush and cleaned her teeth when you was finished the little girl handed the brush back to Elphaba who rinsed it and put it back in the holder when she turned back to Alice she saw the little girl heading out of the door "Hold on sweetheart I need you to do a wee for me"
"No toilet Elphie no no no don't need to" said Alice
"Baby you haven't been since lunchtime come on sweetheart will you try for me" said Elphaba
"No toilet no no no" said Alice "not allowed only wee in bucket no where else"
"Sweetheart you don't have to wee in buckets here it's ok" said Elphaba "come on baby let's use the toilet"
"No Elphie no toilet" said Alice and she bolted out of the bathroom. Elphaba sighed and followed after the little girl, when she got back to the little girls bedroom she found her sitting by the toy box playing with her dolls.
"Alice it's bedtime can you put the dolls into the toy box and get into bed please" said Elphaba. The little girl didn't look up from her dolls "Alice I said put the dolls away and come to bed please or you will go into time out again"
Alice sighed and stood up she dropped the dolls into the toy box and climbed onto the bed.
"Good girl thank you, now how about a story" said Elphaba. Alice nodded.
Elphaba picked up fairy tale book from the book shelf and began to read, once the story was finished she kissed the little girls head and leaving the lamp on she left the room, Alice immediately got out of bed and followed Elphaba out of the room.
"Alice no baby it's bedtime" said Elphaba she picked the little girl up and put her back to bed, As soon as Elphaba left the room again Alice was right behind her. "Alice I said it's bedtime" she again took her back to bed and the little girl began to cry.
"No Elphie no bed not tired" said Alice.
"Yes you are sweetheart come on lay down" said Elphaba she gently laid the little girl down, Alice began to cry even louder "come on baby stop fighting it go to sleep" she rubbed the little girls back.
"No bed Elphie not tired" said Alice her cries getting weaker, Elphaba kept rubbing the little girls back and made quiet shushing sounds after a few more minutes the little girls eyes began to close.
"That's it good girl you go to sleep baby" said Elphaba and with one last sigh the little girl fell asleep Elphaba waiting a few more minutes before she left the room she had just closed the little girls door when a loud cheering erupted from the sitting room, she went down stairs in to the sitting room and found Fiyero and Zeke watching the Ozball Fiyero was shouting at the tv something about a foul.
"Fiyero Tiggular it has just taken me about a hour to get Alice to sleep if you wake her up with your shouting I will hex you all the way to Quadling Country and back" said Elphaba.
"Sorry Fae but this ref is useless" said Fiyero. Elphaba glared at him and he shut up.
"I'm going up to the library for a while to read" said Elphaba with that she grabbed her reading glasses from the shelf and headed up to the library floor as she past the first floor she hoped Alice would sleep through but something told her it was going to be along night.