Chapter 21: Shiz, the Next Month

They had a code. He and Elphaba had thought it up the prior year after they'd been caught by Dr. Dillamond, in case something happened and they needed to see each other immediately. There was a meeting place they had in mind, too - an old abandoned maintenance shed that Elphaba hid in sometimes to be alone. Fiyero had almost forgotten it when a note appeared under his door.

He hadn't heard whoever it was come by. Quickly, he flung the door open, but the hall was empty. The note could've been sitting there for a number of minutes while he had been flipping through his maths notes. Seeing that his name was on it, he opened it quickly.

"Be a hero."

He ran out of the room so quick he almost forgot to lock the door behind him. Realizing as he got outside that he was in public, he attempted to look calm and unhurried as he strode towards the shed. When he got there, he was surprised to find two figures sitting in the dark.

"Glinda?"

"She saw something, Fiyero. And you need to hear about it. Now." Elphaba's voice was low, but still had an urgent air. She was sitting in the corner, Glinda beside her.

He sat opposite her, since there really wasn't anywhere else to sit. They were in close quarters. "What is it?"

"I know what Madame Morrible saw," Glinda said quietly. "The day of the premonition." She cleared her throat. "She saw your child. She did not see you. She didn't know when it was supposed to happen. But she does know it will be, in her words, 'A child of East and West,' and would bring Oz together to defeat the Wizard."

"So she didn't know when?" Fiyero reached over and placed a hand on Elphaba's knee.

"No. She knew it was of East and West. And she doesn't know enough to know for sure that it's the two of you, either. She just knew that the parents would be important people. That doesn't have to mean Eminences or Princes."

He felt so relieved he wanted to kiss Elphaba, but figured she might not like that. "Thank Oz for that much, at least."

"She told the Wizard, and that is how the law came about - just like Dr. Dillamond thought," Elphaba told him. "Right, Glinda?"

"Right. And while I know she's suspicious of you two, it didn't feel as though she thought anything was actually happening. But she is watching you."

Fiyero swallowed hard. "Maybe… maybe we should try to avoid getting pregnant at Shiz."

"And then what, Fiyero?" Elphaba's voice got higher, and she sounded strained. "I don't know what the plan is, but I'm pretty sure if we don't get this done, they can't exactly send us to see each other all the time once we've graduated. It has to happen. We can't… we can't stop it now." She looked at him, and he finally saw fear in her eyes. Not just fear, but her eyes were welling with uncharacteristic tears, too.

At that moment, Glinda reached out and grabbed Elphaba. "Something is wrong." He'd never seen Glinda use her powers before. She froze for a brief moment, blinked and then cocked her head. "Tell him," Glinda said softly. "You've been wanting to."

"He was supposed to be the first one to know," Elphaba snapped, yanking her arm away from Glinda. "And now you've ruined that."

"What is she talking about?" Fiyero asked Elphaba.

"I think… I think I'm pregnant."

He had expected this, wanted it even. And yet still he was shocked. "How long?"

"Not very. I'm… things aren't happening that should be happening. I haven't been sick or anything, yet, but given how late my cycle is and I just have this feeling. Maybe six to eight weeks?"

Glinda shifted. "I should let you two talk." She stood and peered out the small window before leaving. "I'll see you soon."

Fiyero took Glinda's place beside Elphaba and ran his fingers through her hair. "You're pregnant," he whispered, still in awe.

"It looks like it," she replied softly. "There are about two months left in this semester. I can certainly hide it that long. But I don't know about the spring semester."

"We'll tell your father closer to the winter holidays, then." His fingers trailed down her cheeks, over her neck, her breasts and to her belly. "You're afraid," he stated.

"Not for me, but for you, and for… for the baby, I suppose." Elphaba let out a sad laugh. "That sounds so silly of me."

He kissed her briefly. "It's not silly, Fae. We're having a child."

"I suddenly feel far too young for this. We're not even out of University." Elphaba bit her lip. "I don't know how I feel, honestly. I'm happy, but I'm scared and I'm lost."

"That's understandable. The situation isn't the most desirable, but we've wanted it, have we not? This is the first step in changing things. The first step to make it so we can be together, so that Animals can be treated fairly, so that Oz is a better place." He tried to sound convincing, but he knew there were powerful forces against them. And none of the visions had ever said how he or Elphaba would fare in the upcoming chaos, only their child - a son, supposedly.

She gave him a half-hearted smile. "I suppose it is."

"I want you in the Vinkus to have this child, Fae."

"I don't think that's up to either of us."

"We'll talk to your father. I think I know how I can handle it." He didn't like what he was going to do, but he'd do it for her. "But I want to make certain you are fine with being in the Vinkus. I'll drop out for a semester…"

"No, you won't. Fiyero, if Madame Morrible suspects that we're the couple in the prophecy, that would surely attract too much attention. I have no problem going to the Vinkus, so long as you can promise me no one will know. But you can't leave Shiz."

"My parents are good people," he said softly. "They'll take good care of you. I don't want you alone for this, though."

"I won't be," she promised. "I'm due over the summer, anyway, according to my math. You'll be there."

"It's so isolated out there that no one will have a clue you're there. In fact… my parents could raise the child without notice until you've finished Shiz and…"

"And what? This is over? I don't think it'll be that easy. I also doubt my father is going to allow heathens to raise the future savior, as he sees it." Elphaba leaned a head on his shoulder. "This is more complicated than I had estimated, Fiyero."

"If the child has even a hint of dark skin, he would raise far too much attention in Munchkinland, though."

"That's true. But we have no idea what the child is going to look like. I certainly hope he's not green. That would make things a bit difficult to conceal."

"We'll figure this out. I'll talk with your father when the time comes."

"It didn't work out well last time," she pointed out.

"I know that, but I've thought of something that might sway him. So it's settled, at least with us, you'll spend spring and summer at Kiamo Ko? You'll be terribly isolated, but I'm guessing you'd be isolated no matter what to hide the pregnancy. At least you'll have my parents to talk to instead of your father."

"What are your parents like?" She asked suddenly.

"They're loving and kind. They will be overjoyed when they find out you're pregnant, and not just because of the prophecy of the Clock of the Time Dragon. They'll just be excited to have a grandchild." He nudged her forehead with his nose. "Would it be right with you if I let them know? Or would you rather I wait until we tell your father?"

"You have a way of telling them that you're certain won't be intercepted?"

"I do." Most of Oz relied on the traditional mail, but in the Vinkus messages were often carried by bird. For the sake of propriety, letters from his family arrived mostly by mail, but he knew how to find a messenger bird if necessary. He imagined how excited his mother would be, specifically.

And then it hit him. He was going to be a father. There were days when he still barely felt like an adult or a husband, and now they were having a child. His heart swelled with pride, but at the same time he felt inexperienced and childish. Fiyero had finally adjusted to his relationship with Elphaba, become comfortable with it, and they were adding a baby into the mix. How would this change things?

He imagined what Elphaba would look like when she began to show, and how she would look holding their child in her arms. But even as he thought it, he shook his head. Their time with this child would be scarce, at least until Shiz was through. And how were they to continue this after they had graduated? He couldn't very well hide both her and the child away at Kiamo Ko - she'd get stir-crazy and a child needed a life.

What he wouldn't give to live a normal life with them. He imagined walking the grounds of Kiamo Ko, hand-in-hand with Elphaba, their little boy running ahead of them playing and laughing. That would never be, though, would it? There were too many threats. He didn't imagine there would be a time where they'd be allowed to be normal. They were the future parents of the boy who was supposed to save all of Oz, not a pair of happy newlyweds.

"I'll protect you. Both of you," he assured her.

"Don't start with that," she sighed. Elphaba reached over and took his hand.

"Fine, fine. What can I do to help you, then? I may not live beside you, but I want to make this as easy on you as I can. I'll wait on you hand and foot."

"Please don't," Elphaba laughed. "I'm fine at the moment, Fiyero. Stop fretting."

"I'm sorry, this is just… goodness, I'm nervous, Fae."

"I am, too! But we can't be, Fiyero. You can't act like anything is going on. Neither can I. If I start to get sick, I can't even act like it."

"Maybe you should drop out now…"

"Absolutely not! I'm going to make it through this semester, no matter how I feel."

Only a week later, however, she was lying miserable on the floor of the inn near a small bucket, him beside her. "Fae, let me do something."

"Do what? Do you have a magic spell to stop the nausea? Because if you've been holding out, I might kill you."

He couldn't help but smile at that. "I meant something like hold your hair back or rub your back, my love."

She shot him a glare. "I will not be pampered." Elphaba clutched her stomach and turned away for a moment, retching.

He ran his hands along the small of her back, watching her body convulse with each heave. How odd that only hours ago, her body had been open before him, convulsing with a very different sort of sensation as she had whimpered his name. "It's not being pampered; it's being loved."

She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "I think it's passed, now."

"Has it been happening all week?"

She nodded. "I've been hiding it from Nanny."

"How?"

"Glinda will start randomly chanting spells so she can't hear the retching, or will claim that she's 'indisposed,' if Nanny knocks while I'm ill. You know, my love, it's funny. I couldn't stand her when the previous year began, and now I don't know what I'd do without her."

"Kind of like us?"

"Not quite," she grinned. "I always liked you. I just didn't like the situation."

"There was some time last year where you didn't like me," he reminded her.

"I liked you, I just didn't want to admit it." She straightened up a little, moving to stand.

He leapt up and took her hand. "Back to bed?"

"Not for what you want."

"I never even said that. How dare you think such a thing?" He raised his eyebrows playfully. "I hardly ever even think about such indelicate things."

"So when we first got in here and you told me in that deep voice that you'd been thinking about making love to me for days, you were lying?" Elphaba dropped his hand and walked over the bed, plopping down on it.

"You got me." He smiled at her. "When I can look forward to you every weekend, how am I supposed to think of anything else?" Fiyero clambered onto the bed next to her. "But seriously, Fae, I wasn't even going to suggest it. You were just sick." He moved himself behind her and began to massage her shoulders, her back. "Have you had any other symptoms?"

"Symptoms? You're talking like I have an illness, Fiyero. There's a human being growing inside me." But she relaxed into him.

"Our human being, that we created," he told her.

"I'm well aware, you silly man." Elphaba turned for a moment and kissed him softly on the lips. "I love you. You deserve to be a real father, not… not whatever is going to happen here."

"One day, my sweet Fae. We'll make that happen."

"You're a hopeless optimist, aren't you?"

"Maybe." He wasn't. Fiyero was dreading everything to come, and the fact that much of it was unknown only made it worse. And usually he didn't have a problem sharing his concerns with Elphaba, but he didn't want to burden her. The stress of being pregnant and hiding it was enough for her to deal with. He pressed his face into her hair for a moment, breathing her in. How long did they have like this?

"Sooner or later, we're going to have to tell my father."

"I vote later."

"And you have a plan?"

Fiyero loved that she never asked what his plan was. "I'll handle him. But Elphaba, I might need to say things…"

"Say whatever you need. I… I don't want to do this without you. I don't want this to be the end of us, Fiyero. And if he has this his way, it will be. Maybe I could've accepted that at the beginning, but I can't now."

"You won't have to," he said softly, "I promise."