Nineteen
Elphaba thought Boq was exaggerating when he said that Munchkinland was mostly farmland.
He wasn't.
But Elphaba had to admit the province had its own beauty. She'd never seen a sky so blue in her entire life, and the Yellow Brick Road seemed more golden than yellow; and the grass seemed more vivid even than the emerald buildings of the Emerald City or Elphaba's own skin.
The countryside was filled with charming little country cottages and farmhouses, and Nessa and Boq took great delight in pointing out the sights and landmarks to Elphaba as they rode along in the carriage that they had hired to take them home.
"What's that?" Elphaba asked, pointing to a large, grand white house atop the hill.
Nessa didn't show any signs of discomfort or sadness, but her voice dropped slightly as she answered.
"The Governor's household."
Elphaba didn't know what to say. "Oh."
That was where Nessarose had been born, had been raised, had experienced her childhood. It had also been where her father had died, but Elphaba could tell from her face that the house held more happy memories than sad.
Elphaba wanted to say something comforting or complimentary, but she couldn't. It was a beautiful house in its architecture design, yes; but the reason Elphaba had been drawn to it and pointed it out wasn't because of its beauty, but because of the way all the hairs on the back of her neck rose when she saw it, and chills shot down her spine, making her shudder.
Nessa was looking forward to getting home and seeing her mother, who, she told Elphaba and Boq had been away for the past few weeks visiting family and friends in Gilikin. She had only gotten back to Munchkinland herself that morning.
"I can't wait for you to meet my mother," Nessa said to Elphaba.
Elphaba smiled slightly. "Does she know? That I'm green?"
"No," Nessa admitted. "I wasn't sure how to explain it in a letter. But I'll try and mention it before you meet her," she promised.
When the carriage finally came to a stop, Elphaba's gaze didn't go to Boq's home; but to the small cottage next door to it- Nessa's home.
Boq's father came out and helped his son take down Nessa's chair and help her into it before lifting off her luggage. He made lively conversation with both Nessa and Boq as he did so, asking about their latest semester.
Finally, Boq remembered Elphaba standing there awkwardly.
"Oh, Dad, this is our friend Elphaba Rozek. Elphaba, this is my father, Bfee."
"Welcome to Munchkinland, Elphaba," Bfee greeted her warmly, offering her his hand.
She shook it with a shy smile. "Thank you. And thank you for letting me stay with you."
"It's our pleasure," he assured her. "Boq, why don't you take Elphaba inside and introduce her to Mother and your sisters. I'll escort Nessa home."
"Sure, Dad," Boq agreed.
Nessa beckoned for Elphaba to bend down so that she could hug her. "I want to spend time with my mother tonight, but I'll come over tomorrow and we'll brainstorm a place to start," she told her.
Elphaba shook her head. "Take as much time as you need. We have all summer. Enjoy spending time with your mother."
Nessa beamed. "I will. You'll have to meet her soon."
"I'm sure I will," Elphaba replied.
Nessa and Bfee left, as Boq and Elphaba grabbed their bags and headed towards the house.
"How old are your sisters?" Elphaba asked as they walked down the front path.
"Dassah is fourteen, Iva is ten and Ria is eight. They're... well, they're pains in my ass, but I'm sure you'll love them," Boq grinned.
"They adore Nessa."
Elphaba smiled. "She's easy to adore."
Boq chuckled in agreement and opened the front door. "Hello?" he called out.
There was a pause, then a Munchkin woman bustled into the room, wiping her hands on an apron. She was shorter than Boq, and had a warm, kind face and rosy cheeks, although Elphaba assumed that was from the heat in the kitchen.
"Oh, good you're here!" she said, rushing to embrace her son.
Boq's face was bright red as he introduced Elphaba.
"Elphaba, this is my mother, Emese. Mom, this is mine and Nessa's friend Elphaba."
"Hello," Elphaba greeted her.
"Hello, Elphaba. Welcome to our home," Emese smiled.
"Thank you," Elphaba replied graciously.
"I'll show you to the spare room and give you a tour," Emese offered, but Boq interjected.
"It's okay, Mom, I can do that."
"Thank you, sweetheart. Don't forget to introduce Elphaba to your sisters. They're in their rooms at the moment."
Boq sighed. "Sure."
He beckoned to Elphaba and led her from the room. "So, living room, dining room and kitchen through there."
Elphaba nodded as they went upstairs, taking everything in. There was mess and chaos everywhere, but you knew as soon as you walked in the door that this was a home, and one full of love and warmth. It overwhelmed Elphaba a bit, who had never lived anywhere like that before.
"This will be your room," Boq said at the top of the stairs, pointing to the first room on the left.
"It's beautiful," Elphaba commented as she stepped inside. And it was, the room was bright and airy and had a view of the front garden and the streets.
She set down her bags and followed Boq back into the hall, who continued the tour.
"This is the bathroom. My room, my parent's room, Dassah's room, and this is Iva and Ria's room."
He tapped lightly on the door to Dassah's room, and opened the door at the faint "Come in!" that followed.
"Hey, I'm home," he greeted his little sister.
She snorted derisively, not looking up from her magazine she was reading. "Obviously."
Boq rolled his eyes. "Hello to you too. This is my friend Elphaba."
The teenager's eyes flickered up from her magazine to Elphaba and her eyes widened slightly.
"Hi," she said uncomfortably.
"Hi," Elphaba replied.
Boq swiftly pushed forward the awkward silence. "Ok, just wanted to say hi. See you at dinner."
"Sorry," he apologised to Elphaba once he'd shut the door.
She shook her head. "Used to it," she reminded him.
Boq nodded in admittance as he opened the door to Iva and Ria's room. The two girls were lying on the floor colouring and didn't even hear him open the door.
"Hi, kids."
They looked up and Ria was the first to react, but not how Elphaba had been expecting from two girls who hadn't seen their big brother in six months.
"Boq! Look at my picture!"
She held it up for him to see, and Elphaba could see it was a picture of a farm.
"Cool," Boq said approvingly.
"Can you tell her that there are no peacocks on farms?" Iva demanded of her brother, sounding superior.
Clearly, this had been a recent argument, and Boq replied with all the grace of a big brother not wanting to get involved with the matter.
"Well, if it's Ria's picture, she can have peacocks on it. By the way, this is my friend Elphaba. She's staying with us for the summer."
The two girls looked over at Elphaba.
"How are you green?" Ria wondered aloud, without even a hello.
"Ria!" Boq exclaimed.
"It's okay," Elphaba laughed, who had been asked that question her entire life, especially by new children in the orphanage.
"I don't know. I was born this way, I guess," she answered Ria's question, who seemed satisfied by that answer.
"Is Nessa coming for dinner?" Iva asked eagerly.
"Not tonight," Boq replied. "She wants to see her mother."
Both girls seemed disappointed, and Boq had to promise them they would see Nessa tomorrow.
Boq sighed as they left the girls to their colouring and headed downstairs. "They drive me mad."
Elphaba chuckled. "Well, they clearly missed you," she said teasingly.
Boq laughed. "Wait half an hour and they'll be all over me, wanting to tell me every detail of the past six months," he assured her.
He was right, within half an hour, all three sisters were surrounding him, all talking at once and shoving things in his face for him to look at. It was the same all through dinner, without the shoving of things in his face.
Elphaba loved every minute of it, but it made her slightly sad. The children at the orphanage and Kistine were no substitute for a family, and Elphaba wondered how her life would have been different to be raised by her parents. Would she have siblings? Would their meal times be just as loud and loving as this?
She knew she'd never have the answers to those questions; but she couldn't help but hold on to the hope that some of her other questions might be answered this summer.
AN. Boq's greetings from his sisters when he comes home is not to dissimilar from how my own siblings greet me when I come home. My sister's explanation is "when you lived here you were in your room all the time and we're so used to it we don't miss you."