Chapter 88. I Want To Have Your Babies
Rifiuto: Non Miniera
Thanks to witch-of-the-west9482, Akasharouge, -greenTARDISgal-, and Elphaba1Fan for reviewing 87.
A knock sounded on the bedroom door.
When no reply came, it opened, and the Queen of the Vinkus poked her head in.
Her daughter was curled up in the armchair across from her bed, reading.
"Hey. Time for bed, mi tesoro."
Fae looked up from her book, to see her mother standing in the doorway of her bedroom.
"But Mama, just let me finish this one chapter...."
"...and then you'll go to bed?" Elphaba finished, coming into the room and sitting on her daughter's sleigh bed. "Where have I heard that excuse before? Oh, yeah, I've used that excuse before."
"But Mama...."
"No excuses, mi tesoro. Bed. Now."
The look her mother gave her was enough to convince the young Crown Princess. Fae sighed, and bookmarked her page. Then, she laid the book on her chair, and got up. The nightgown that had bunched up around her knees, now fell to her ankles. Fae prefered long, black, cotton nightgowns to the kind her mother had worn as a girl. Then, she went to the vanity, and picked up her hairbrush, before returning to the bed and sitting on it, in front of Elphaba. She handed the brush to Elphaba, who then pulled her daughter's hair gently over her shoulder, and began to brush it.
Gentle, slow strokes.
Quietly, Fae snuck up to the doorframe, and watched her mother take part in the nightly ritual they'd created from the time Fae was a child.
"What book are you reading now?" Elphaba asked, nodding to the novel that sat waiting in the arm chair.
"Mirror Mirror. By Gregory Maguire."
"I don't think I've read that one. I've read his others. I love the Wicked Years. The fact that he's able to capture Ozian life so well is......" Elphaba stopped, lost in thought. Silently, Fae hugged the door, and chuckled, remembering the conversation from years past. "....he's an amazing author. Truly talented. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was from another world, llike our Wonderful Wizard."
Her daughter laughed.
"Mama. What was it like? When the Wizard ruled? Did he rule the way you and Daddy rule, or Ozma?"
Elphaba sighed at the genuine curiosity in her child's voice. She slowly continued brushing.
"It was.....scary. Living under the rule of the Wizard. Animals were.....caged and lost their ability to speak. Quadling Country was invaded and...searched. Rubies."
"What about the Vinkus and Munchkinland?" Fae asked, turning to look at her mother. Elphaba promptly took her daughter's head in her hands and returned her to the previous position. Then she continued brushing.
"The Vinkus.....was... basically... like the badlands. No one came to the Vinkus, unless you had a death wish. See, back then....the tribes weren't as peaceful as they are now. We were in civil war....the Yunamata against the Scrow, with the Arjikis in the middle, trying to make peace. The.....royal family of the Scrow were captured by the Yunamata and killed....sacraficed. This went on, back and forth, kidnappings and killings for..... twenty-two months. And then it stopped."
"How?"
"Your grandfather, King Manzel- remember how Daddy and I told you about Granda- well, he drew up a treaty, and called a meeting of the tribes, asking them to make peace."
"You'd had Liir by then, right?"
Elphaba bit her lip, and shook her head.
"No."
"I thought you said you had."
"No, I said that I was pregnant with Liir during the war. It'd broken out not long before Daddy and I had concieved. Four months shy of concieving, actually. I got pregnant in the middle of the war. Liir was born when the war ended; in fact, your Granda announced Liir's birth the night the treaty was signed. I'd gone into labor two nights earlier, and spent the majority of that night and the two days following, in labor. And while I was having your brother, the leaders of the tribes were drawing up a peace treaty---"
"I thought you said that Granda was there when Liir was born."
"He was." Elphaba said, chuckling. "He signed the treaty, and then handed it to a messanger with a message for the other leaders, saying that, 'His daughter-in-law had gone into labor, and his first grandchild was going to be born soon, and he was going to be there for the birth.' That he 'understood that peace was important to the tribes, and that he respected it, but that.....the birth of his son and daughter's child was more important, and that.....he'd promised Daddy and I that he'd be there for our child's birth, and that he was not going to miss his grandson or daughter's entrance into the world.' And he kept his promise. He was there when Liir was born. He was there when I gave that final push. Your father and I had never been more relieved that Granda was there, than that night."
"Why?"
"Because," Elphaba started, a smile on her face. "Granda kept your Daddy calm."
"How?"
"Daddy was a nervous wreck, an absolute wreck when I went into labor. And Granda got him to calm down and focus on taking care of and supporting me. That's what was important, making sure I was calm so I didn't develop stress during the birth. Otherwise, if I had, you wouldn't have an older brother looking out for you." She said, leaning over her daughter's shoulder and tapping her nose. Fae laughed.
"Why not? I wouldn't mind not having an older brother." Elphaba shook her head.
"What happened afterwards?"
"Granda died not long after Liir was born. Two weeks after. A heart attack. The....shamin said that....he lived long enough to see his grandson born, and that that was what he had wanted to see, the birth of his grandson. That, after that, his heart stopped, and he'd died happy. Knowing his son had a descendant to carry on the bloodline."
"What about me?"
"I think he would have been very proud to know he had a granddaughter as well. He was very proud of me, for producing such a healthy baby boy, that he told me a week after Liir's birth, that he knew that I would have more babies, and that they'd all be strong and healthy."
"Babies? But.....you only had me."
"I know." She finished brushing Fae's hair, and got up, allowing her child to climb under the blanket.
"Night Mama." She said, kissing her mother gently.
"Goodnight my darling." Elphaba whispered, holding Fae close. "I love you."
"I love you too, Mama."
Then, she kissed Fae's forehead, and left, turning out the light. As she closed the door, she jumped, startled by Fae.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Listening." She said as the two went back to Fae's room.
"Hey Mama. Can I ask you something?"
"Of course my sweet." Elphaba said, once they'd reached Fae's room.
"You said that Granda said you'd have more babies. What did he mean by... 'more babies'?" Elphaba blushed, and glanced at her stomach, before placing a gentle hand on it. She then patted Fae's cheek and kissed her forehead.
"Goodnight, my darling." She whispered, heading back to her room.
Fae stared after her, mouth open, the whole conversation suddenly making sense.