The Emerald Woman and the Little Star
Chapter Twenty Three
Fiyero froze at the little girl's words his heart hammering in his chest after a second or two he smiled "I love you too baby" he watched as the little girls eyes closed and she started to snore he then walked over to the other settee, sat down beside Elphaba and burst into tears.
"Yero what's the matter" said Elphaba.
"She called me Daddy Fae my little girl called me Daddy" said Fiyero through tears "you heard it too please tell me you did and I didn't imagine it"
Elphaba smiled "yes I heard it she really did call you daddy she loves and trusts you Yero" she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight their moment was interrupted by Elphaba's stomach rumbling loudly. Fiyero laughed.
"I think you need to eat something Fae" said Fiyero.
Elphaba nodded then looked at her watch "well it is nearly lunch time and I didn't really eat my breakfast, I will go into the kitchen and get something ready for when Alice wakes up" she stood up and hobbled into the kitchen where she found Amilie peeling and chopping potatoes there was also a block of cheese sitting on the side seeing the green woman enter the room Amilie frowned at her.
"Elphaba what are you doing on your feet go and sit back down this minute" said Amilie.
"I'm fine I was going to make lunch" said Elphaba "but I can see you already beat me to it what are you making"
Amilie smiled "cheese patties and baked beans Fiyero always loved them when he was a boy".
"Cheese patties I don't think I've ever heard of them how do you make them" said Elphaba.
Back in the sitting room Fiyero was still sat on the settee his eyes on the little girl sleeping on the opposite settee he felt like the luckiest man in the whole of Oz to have two beautiful girls in his life even if Elphaba could be more stubborn than a mule at times he loved her and Alice with all his heart. He was knocked out of his thoughts by a whimper then a soft cry he stood up and walked over to the other settee where the little girl was moving around in her sleep he sat down beside her and started to rub her back.
"Sshh baby it's ok you're ok" said Fiyero.
The little girl started to cry harder "Daddy help me help me"
Fiyero's heart broke he scooped the little girl into his arms and rocked her from side to side "it's ok baby Daddy is right here I've got you wake up darling it's just a dream"
The little girl's eyes sprung open and she started to shake "Daddy don't let them hurt my mummy please please please"
"It's ok baby no one is going to hurt you or mummy ever again I won't let them I promise" said Fiyero rubbing the little girl's back after a few minutes she started to calm down just as Elphaba hobbled into the room seeing the little girls tear stained face she hobbled over to the settee and sat down beside Fiyero.
"What happened Yero" said Elphaba.
Hearing Elphaba's voice Alice started to cry again "Mummy the bad man is going to hurt you again".
"Oh darling come here no one is going to hurt you or me again I promise daddy won't let them" said Elphaba she scooped the little girl into her arms and held her close. After a few minutes the little girl stopped crying she looked at Elphaba with wet eyes.
"Can I have juice please Mummy" said Alice "and jammy toast please"
Elphaba smiled it was the first time ever the little girl had asked for something to eat without being asked since she arrived "Lunch will be ready soon darling"
As if on cue Amilie walked in the room wiping her hands on a tea towel "lunch is ready"
The four of them walked into the dining room. Elphaba helped Alice into her chair the little girl immediately grabbed hold of the beaker of juice and began to gulp it down she finished it within seconds then turned to Elphaba.
"More juice please Mummy" said Alice holding out the empty cup to her.
"Eat some lunch first please baby then mummy will get you some more juice ok" said Elphaba. The little girl scowled at her and folded her arms.
"I want more juice now Mummy" said Alice.
Elphaba put down her fork and turned to face the little girl "Alice you do not speak to me that way I said you can't have any more juice until you eat your lunch now do as I have asked please"
The little girl remained sitting with her arms folded "No don't want it I want jammy toast".
Sighing Elphaba looked at Fiyero silently asking him to help he put down his fork stood up and walked around the table to where the little girl was sitting then crouched down next to her.
"Alice look at me please Mummy has told you now I'm telling you eat your lunch please" said Fiyero. Alice looked at him for a few seconds then picked up her fork and started to eat the baked beans on her plate "Good girl thank you" he stood back up then went back to his seat. The rest of the meal went smoothly once everyone was finished Amilie insisted on clearing the table.
Elphaba lead Alice back into the sitting room and set her up with her colouring books and pens at the small coffee table then sat down on the settee and resting her sore feet on the foot rest she had just got comfy when she heard the phone ring sighing she was about to get up when she heard Fiyero answer it relaxing again she turned back to the little girl and smiled she had drawn a green figure and labelled it Mummy smiling again she grabbed her book and reading glasses from the side table and started to read just as Fiyero entered the room.
"Fae that was Glinda she says her and Nessa will be arriving in two days Nessa is still refusing to come Glin says she will get her here or her name isn't Glinda the good" said Fiyero then he wrinkled his nose "Oz what is that smell"
Elphaba sniffed then sighed before turning to the little girl "Alice have you had a poo in your knickers baby"
The little girl shook her head "No Mummy".
Elphaba took the colouring pens off the little girl then stood her up she gently pulled her waist band out and was surprised to find the little girl was telling the truth she turned her so she could see her face "sweetie I think you might need to go to the potty or toilet let's go and try shall we" she stood up and held her hand out to the little girl.
"No Mummy don't want to use the potty no no no" said Alice.
"Alice I'm not asking you I'm telling you let's go to the potty now please" said Elphaba she tried to pick the little girl up but she fought against her "Alice stop it it's ok"
Fiyero watched Elphaba struggling with the little girl he walked over to her and lifted the little girl into his arms.
"Hey that's enough Alice Mummy said it's time to try using the potty so let's go to the bathroom" said Fiyero. He carried the little girl kicking and screaming to the bathroom Elphaba hobbling behind him as he got to the bathroom door his mother came out of the kitchen.
"Goodness me what's all the noise about" said Amilie.
"Somebody is refusing to use the potty or the toilet again" said Fiyero "I don't know what's wrong with her I mean obviously there has been issues since she arrived but she was doing so well until what happened happened"
"Well have either of you spoken to her about it" said Amilie.
Fiyero and Elphaba looked at each other then back at Amilie.
"Well no actually we haven't now you mention it we've been assuming it's just the same issues as before" said Fiyero.
"well let's try that give her here" said Amilie and she lifted the little girl into her arms "ok sweetie it's ok calm down" she rocked the little girl from side to side and she started to quieten down.
"Don't want to use the potty no no no" said Alice.
Amilie rubbed the little girl's back and gently spoke to her "can you tell me why you don't want to baby".
The little girl didn't reply just held her arms out to Elphaba who immediately scooped the little girl into her own arms as she did so she felt Alice gripping on to her pyjama top "don't want to go Mummy"
"Ok baby ok I believe you but if you do need to you must use the potty or toilet not your knickers or mummy will not be very happy ok" said Elphaba.
Alice nodded her head then buried it into Elphaba's shoulder "love you mummy"
"I love you too baby let's go and sit down again Mummy's feet are sore" said Elphaba. She put the little girl down and watched her dash back into the sitting room she then turned to Fiyero "Thank you for trying Yero but I don't want her to get anymore scared than she already is we will get her back on track but it's going to take time"
"It's ok Fae I know that you go back to your book I'm going to go and finish my paper work it's the least I can do after dropping out of the meeting this morning, I'll be in the office if you need me" said Fiyero "Oh and I'll have the maids clean the downstairs guest room for Nessa"
Elphaba nodded and watched Fiyero disappear upstairs as soon as he was out of sight she burst into tears, Amilie walked over to the green woman and wrapped her arms around her.
"Oh Elphaba what's the matter"
"It's all my fault if I was such a ugly green disgusting disappointment none of it would have happened poor Yero is trying so hard to put on a brave face for me and I just keep letting him down" sobbed Elphaba.
" Oh Elphaba don't be so silly Yero loves you and that little girl with every fibre of his being you are not ugly or any of those things you said you are a beautiful young woman and a wonderful mother stop being so hard on yourself" said Amilie "come into the kitchen and have a cup of tea Alice will be fine on her own for a few minutes"
In the sitting room Alice had gone back to her colouring book she was just finishing the picture when she felt a familiar pressure in her bottom she put her pen down and stood up one hand still on the table she was about to start pushing when she remembered what Elphaba had said.
"You must use the toilet or potty not your knickers or Mummy won't be very happy"
Thinking for a moment the little girl sighed she didn't want Elphaba to be cross with her if she did she might hurt her sighing again she walked over to the sitting room door she looked into the hallway and found it empty she then quickly headed for the downstairs bathroom once in the bathroom she pulled her bottoms down and sat on the potty chair.
In the kitchen Elphaba had finished her tea and had calmed herself down again.
"Thank you Amilie I needed that talk and the tea only now I'm the one who needs a toilet visit" she stood up and hobbled out of the kitchen and down the hall to the downstairs bathroom as she got to the door she spotted the little girl sitting on the potty chair a smile broke across her face "well done baby good girl I'm so proud of you"
The little girl jumped at the sound of Elphaba's voice she shot up off the potty and tried to pull her knickers up "I'm sorry I'm sorry"
"Hey baby it's ok sweetie" said Elphaba she walked over to the little girl and took a look into the potty seeing it was empty she knelt down in front of the little girl "sweetie it's ok if you want to use the potty darling Mummy will leave the room if you want her too"
Alice took a step forward and rested her head on Elphaba's shoulder then spoke so softly that Elphaba almost couldn't hear her "want to poo "
"Ok baby do you want mummy to stay or go sweetie" said Elphaba the little girl thought for a moment.
"Stay Mummy I'm scared" said Alice a tear rolling down her cheek.
Elphaba wiped the tear away with one of her green thumbs "that's a very brave thing to admit sweetie Mummy will stay with you ok" The little girl smiled then slowly pulled her knickers back down and sat on the potty chair then a second later shot up again "what's wrong baby it's ok sit down darling"
"What about Daddy don't want him to come in" said the little girl her eyes filling with tears again.
"It's ok baby Daddy is upstairs he won't come in I promise sit down darling" said Elphaba. Alice sighed then sat down "Good girl baby mummy's right here you do what you need to do ok"
Alice nodded then a second later her face started to go red and she began to make soft grunting noises Elphaba sat on the closed toilet and stayed quite while the little girl used the potty.
Amilie was starting to get worried Elphaba had been in the bathroom for almost fifteen minutes she was about to go and check on her when she heard foots steps on the stairs and Fiyero appeared.
"Mother where's Fae I need to know what she wants doing in Nessa's room" said Fiyero.
"She's in the downstairs bathroom has been for the last fifteen minutes I was about to go and check on her when I heard you coming down" said Amilie.
"Fifteen minutes isn't that long knowing Fae she's probably looking in the mirror trying to see what I see in her" said Fiyero with a laugh then he saw the look on his mothers face "mother what's wrong"
"When you went upstairs Elphaba had a little break down she called herself disgusting and ugly I took her into the kitchen and made a cup of tea I thought she was fine again then she said she needed the toilet and I haven't seen her since" said Amilie.
Fiyero took off down the hall towards the bathroom his mother behind him.
Back in the bathroom Elphaba still sat on the closed toilet her eyes on the little girl who was bright red in the face and grunting hard the door banged open suddenly making her jump so violently she almost fell off the toilet the loud noise also made Alice jump off the potty.
"Yero what are you doing you scared me to death and poor Alice" said Elphaba she crouched down in front of the little girl who was sat shaking on the potty "it's ok baby finish doing your poo darling"
The little girl's eyes flashed to Fiyero then she shook her head "no mummy don't want to"
Elphaba looked at Fiyero "could you wait in the sitting room please Yero I will explain in a minute"
"Of course sorry Fae sorry baby I didn't mean to scare you" said Fiyero and he left the bathroom. Once he was gone Elphaba turned back to the little girl.
"Ok darling Daddy's gone now you finish your poo it's ok" said Elphaba she felt the little girl grab onto her top with one hand then she started to make little grunting noises again a few seconds later she looked at Elphaba.
"I'm finished Mummy" said Alice she let go of Elphaba and stood up.
"Well done darling I'm so proud of you, let's get you cleaned up" said Elphaba She grabbed some toilet paper off of the roll beside the toilet and handed it to the little girl who wiped her bottom then dropped the tissue into the potty then repeated the process with another bit of tissue once she was clean Alice pulled her knickers and tights up then washed her hands while she did so Elphaba emptied the potty into the toilet then rinsed it in the other side of the double sink before putting it back into the seat. As she turned back to the little girl she caught sight of her reflection in the bathroom mirror what she saw made her jump back in terror an ugly green hag looked back at her then her fathers face appeared next to it and spoke.
"I wish you had never been born girl you are a ugly disgusting disappointment because of you your sister is crippled and your mother dead and as if that wasn't bad enough you go and drag the prince of the Vinkus into a shame marriage and then brought a child into it who is as screwed up as you why don't you do everyone a favour and die"
"I AM NOT UGLY LEAVE ME ALONE" screamed Elphaba and she punched the mirror with all the force of her body making it shatter into a thousand pieces.
Down the hall Fiyero heard Elphaba scream and then the sound of breaking glass he bolted down the hallway and crashed through the bathroom door his mother behind him what he saw shattered his heart Elphaba was stood in front of the now smashed mirror, glass shards littered the sinks and floor, a pool of red blood shone bright on Elphaba's green arm and she was sobbing hysterically then his eyes fell on the little girl who had curled herself into a ball at Elphaba's feet and was also sobbing.
"Call Kahleah now" said Fiyero then he turned to Alice "Alice come here baby it's ok". He tried to lift the little girl up but Elphaba turned on him a price of broken glass in her hand her eyes wide as saucers.
"YOU GET AWAY FROM MY CHILD OR SO HELP ME OZ I WILL KILL YOU" shouted Elphaba "LEAVE ME ALONE"
"Fae its me baby it's Yero what ever you are seeing it's not real I promise you no one here is going to hurt you or our little girl" said Fiyero softly.
Elphaba slowly bent down and scooped Alice up into her arms "It's ok baby mummy's got you I won't let him hurt you" then she waved the piece of glass at Fiyero again "I'm taking my little girl and I'm going home to my husband and you are not going to stop me ok"
"Fae Sweetheart you are home it's me Fiyero please darling come back to me" said Fiyero fighting back the tears that were threatening to fall down his cheeks.
Elphaba started to walk slowly towards him the piece of glass still firmly in her hand "stay back don't you dare touch me or my child or my Fiyero will kill you"
"Fae please it's me Fiyero what ever you are seeing it's not real come on darling" said Fiyero tears spilling down his face. At that moment Amilie re appeared in the doorway.
"Fiyero Kahleah is on her way" said Amilie. At the sound of her voice Elphaba turned to face her.
"Amilie thank Oz you are here please take Alice and get her back to Fiyero it's not safe here for her" said Elphaba shoving the little girl into Amilie's arms she then turned back to Fiyero who had been quietly taking small steps closer to her "GET BACK DON'T YOU TOUCH ME I MEAN IT"
Fiyero looked at his mother then at Alice "Mum get her out of her please I need to do something and I don't want her to see it". Amilie nodded and left the bathroom once she was gone he turned back to the terrified green woman and slowly stepped closer to her "Fae its ok it's me Fiyero come on sweetie let's get you out of here"
Elphaba looked at him the piece of glass still in her shaking green hand she slowly opened her fingers and the piece of glass fell out of her hand shattering as it hit the hard bathroom floor she then looked at Fiyero again and took a step forward she slowly lifted her hand and put it on his cheek "Yero please help me don't let him hurt me again" she then fell into his arms in a flood of tears "I'm sorry"
"Oh my Fae you have nothing to be sorry for let's get you into the sitting room come here" said Fiyero he scooped her up into his arms then carried her out of the bathroom down the hall and into the sitting room where he found his mother sitting on the settee with Alice next to her as soon as the little girl say Fiyero enter the room she jumped up and ran over to him.
"Daddy" said Alice holding her arms up to him.
"Sweetheart Daddy can't pick you up right now ok let me sort Mummy out then I will give you a cuddle ok" said Fiyero. The little girl began to cry as Fiyero walked over to the other settee and put Elphaba down onto it just as the door bell rang.
"That will be Kahleah I'll let her in" said Amilie and she disappeared into the hallway she returned a moment later with Kahleah behind her, she walked over to where Elphaba lay on the settee and knelt down beside her.
"Oh Elphaba What have you being doing with yourself eh let's look at that arm" said Kahleah pulling on a pair of gloves she took hold of Elphaba's arm and looked at it then turned to Fiyero "I'm afraid Yero this is going to have to be a hospital job she needs that arm X-rayed to see if there is any glass in the wound and it's going to need stitching properly"
At the mention of the word hospital Elphaba started to panic "no hospitals no I wont go I won't let you lock me up in some sort of looney bin"
"Elphaba no one is going to lock you up but I do think you need to talk to someone about what happened to you" said Kahleah.
The green woman shook her head then turned to Fiyero "please Yero don't let them lock me up like he did please I'm begging you"
Fiyero looked at his wife tears rolling down his cheeks he just wanted to make her pain go away he wanted his Fae back he walked over to her and knelt down beside the settee.
"Sweetheart I promise nobody is going to lock you up but your arm needs proper treatment that Kahleah can't do here I promise I will stay with you the whole time" said Fiyero "I love you Fae with every fibre of my being and I would give my life for you so please trust me"
Elphaba slowly sat up she lifted her green hand and ran it through Fiyero's shoulder length dark hair while looking into his blue eyes "I trust you with my life Yero I love you too so so much ok I will go to the hospital as long as you are with me"
"You have nothing to worry about on that score" said Fiyero he was about to stand up when he felt a pair of small hands on his back he turn his head and saw Alice standing next to him her face tear stained "Hey baby it's ok come here" he scooped the little girl up and felt her burying her head into his chest.
"Daddy don't leave me the bad man might come back again and hurt me or mummy" said Alice into his chest.
"Oh baby it's ok the bad man is gone and he can't come back I promise Daddy needs you to be a big girl and stay here with Granny Amilie while I take mummy to the hospital can you do that hey you never know she might let you watch frozen before bed" said Fiyero but the little girl continued to cry "come on darling don't get yourself so upset Daddy will be back as soon as he can I promise hey would you like Granny Amilie to make you some jammy toast"
Alice looked at him then shook her head "want mummy to make it"
Fiyero sighed then tried to hand the little girl to his mum but she started to scream and fight him "baby come on darling please be a big girl for me" after another few seconds he managed to get the little girl into his mothers arms he then helped Elphaba to her feet and the two of them followed Kahleah out to her carriage to head to the hospital.