Thank you all for sticking with me for so long. My second-longest fic ever, longer even than Broken Dreams, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it if only half as much as I enjoyed writing it. (Fiyeraba's Love Child, your review kind of made me cry. Thank you so much!)

Personally, I really like this chapter, and I don't think it'll be difficult for you to guess why.

40. Decisions

It was about four in the morning when Fiyero woke up because of a desperate need to use the bathroom (as always after he'd been drinking too much). On his way back, however, he glanced at the open door to his bedroom and halted; then he silently slipped inside.

Elphaba was curled up on her side, facing him. Her beautiful, long hair fanned out across his pillow. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was regular, but she didn't look entirely at peace; she muttered unintelligible things in her sleep and seemed to cringe every now and then. She was probably dreaming. She must've been warm, because she'd pushed the blankets down to her hips and his gaze lingered on her figure, hidden by his shirt, which was too big on her. Despite her restlessness, she looked beautiful. It hit him like a ton of bricks and there was really only one thing he could do.

He moved closer to the bed and knelt down beside it, reaching out to gingerly tuck a lock of hair behind her ear and stroke her cheek. "Fae?" he whispered. Part of him felt awful for waking her, but this was something that could not wait.

Her eyes fluttered open and when she focused on his face, she frowned. "What's wrong?" she murmured drowsily.

"Nothing," he whispered back to her. "I just wanted to tell you… I love you." He watched her sleepy gaze become a little clearer and he added, "And I'll come back to the City with you."

She closed her eyes for a moment and he thought for just a heartbeat that she'd fallen back asleep, but then she opened them again and he could see the relief shining in them, spreading across her entire face. "Thank Oz," she sighed, reaching for him. He complied, crawling into the bed with her and pulling her into his arms. He buried his face in the crook between her neck and her shoulder and inhaled her scent, wrapping his arms tighter around her as he felt her cling to him.

They made love three times that night and hardly slept at all, instead talking about everything that had prompted him to leave and everything she'd said to convince him to come back. They discussed both their insecurities, ways they could keep them under control, and promises they'd have to make one another to make this work – such as to always talk to each other about things that bothered them.

By eight o'clock, neither of them had slept much more, but they were both wide awake; and so they moved to the kitchen, where Fiyero made them both pancakes for breakfast – a dish Elphaba had taught him to make a couple of weeks ago. The proud smile on her face when he set down a plate with perfect pancakes, none of them undercooked or burnt, almost made him want to cry. When she suddenly turned pale, however, her smile fading, and she bolted off to the bathroom, he instantly became worried.

"Fae?" he asked in concern, following her and holding back her hair as she vomited. "What's wrong? Are you ill? Do you have food poisoning again?"

She rose to her feet to rinse her mouth, grimacing. "Well, as long as we're on the subject, anyway, I suppose I should let this cat out of the bag as well." She took a deep breath. "There's another reason I'm glad you decided to come back with me," she confessed. "I mean, it's not really why I want you to come back, and I didn't tell you because I don't want you to come back just because of it; but I'm still really glad you did agree to come back because, well, I've done it by myself before and I know I can – with my family's help, anyway – but I don't really want to do it by myself again, you know?"

"Fae," said Fiyero, eyeing her worriedly. "You're not making any sense. What are you saying?"

She took a deep breath and then slowly let it out again through her nose, meeting his eyes. "I'm saying I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant, Fiyero."

He gawked at her.

"What – what about the pill?" he managed after a while.

"I should have realised," she said with a pained look on her face, "that when you get food poisoning and spend an entire day puking your guts out, the pill might come back out as well and isn't exactly reliable anymore to prevent pregnancy. And since I seem to recall you and I were rather enthusiastic the weekend before…"

Realisation dawned on Fiyero's face and he continued to gawk, a light filling his eyes. "We're having a baby?" he asked in wonder and when she nodded, he swept her up into his arms and spun her around, a huge grin on his face. She protested and he set her down again, cupping her face and kissing her deeply and thoroughly for a long time.

"I love you so much," he whispered, resting his forehead against hers. "Fae… I'm so sorry for leaving."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Don't be sorry because of this," she warned him, but he shook his head.

"I'd be sorry anyway," he said. "I never meant to hurt you. I honestly thought it'd be better for you… you'd be happier without me." He took a deep breath. "Do you think I'll be a horrible father?" he asked worriedly and she actually laughed at him.

"I've seen you with the twins for months, Yero," she reminded him. "They love you. You'll be the best father in the world."

That beaming grin returned and he kissed her again. "To all three of them," he promised, placing a hand over her still-flat abdomen. "Or I'll try to be, anyway. I'm going to love this baby to bits, but I never want Fawn or Xalo to feel like the baby is more loved than they are."

Much to his alarm, tears had filled Elphaba's eyes and she hugged him tightly, pressing her cheek against his chest. "And you wonder why I love you?" she asked with a sound that was half-laugh, half-sob. "This is why I love you, Yero. I don't think I know anyone else with a heart as big as yours, and for you to feel that way about kids who aren't even yours, biologically…"

He looked sheepish. "I missed them almost as much as I missed you," he confessed. "As much as I love you, you weren't the only reason it was hard for me to leave the Palace."

"I'm glad," she said honestly, looking up at him. "They deserve to be loved. They deserve a father."

Just for a moment, when he looked into her eyes, it was like he could see straight into her soul. He could see the pride there, the love, and the faith she had in him; he could see her grief over his departure, but also her relief about his decision to return. It only strengthened that decision. There was a small part of him that had never fully believed her before when she said the things she'd told him the previous day, but he believed her now.

She took a deep breath and the moment was gone, but it didn't matter. He'd seen enough. "All right, I think I should be able to keep down a few pancakes now," she decided. "In fact, I'm rather hungry."

"Then let's eat," Fiyero said, smiling; and together, his arm around her waist, they made their way over to the kitchen.

"So now what?" Elphaba asked once they had both eaten and showered and Fiyero moved around his apartment, throwing things into a sports bag. "You're just going to grab your things and come with me?"

He stilled his movements. "Isn't that what you want?" he asked, his tone slightly anxious, and she rolled her eyes.

"Of course it is, but you can't just up and leave," she said. She couldn't believe she had to explain this to him. "What about your job?"

"I'm kind of in between jobs at the moment, anyway." He shrugged as he emerged from his bedroom with his arms full of clothes.

She looked at him in exasperation. "Well, what about the lease on your apartment?"

Another shrug. "I've already paid it for the rest of the month, so I'll just drop off my key. I rented the furniture along with the place, so I have nothing to move except for my clothes and personal stuff." He grinned at her. "Give me another ten minutes and I'm good to go."

She laughed and watched as he packed the rest of his things, then did another sweep of the apartment and nodded, satisfied. "Let's go."

As they made their way down the stairs of the small building, he asked, "What do you want me to do when we get back? As a job, I mean?"

She pushed open the front door, gratefully breathing in the fresh air – she did not like the tiny stairwell to Fiyero's apartment. "Honestly? I couldn't care less," she told him as he followed her and they walked to her car together. "You can keep doing your own bodyguard job, if you want to, as long as you eventually always return to me." She smirked at him. He grinned back.

She continued as he opened the boot of the car and put in his bag. "If you want to do something else, I have a few vacancies for you. My family seems to be in need of a personal bodyguard these days, so you could do that." She blinked innocently at him. "My head of security is considering leaving the Palace, so there's that job, too, if you want it. We could also go in an entirely different direction – there's a secretary needed on the second floor, for example; and as you may or may not know, my PA is soon going on pregnancy leave, followed by maternity leave, so I'm going to need someone to fill that gap as well…"

He chuckled. "I don't think I'd be a good PA, Fae, but thanks for the offer. I'll consider it."

She moved over to the driver's side of the car and paused. "Do you remember when some creep wrote 'Be mine or die', right there?" she asked, half-joking. She pointed at the spot where the words had been; the car had been to the garage to get the damage fixed, but there was still a faint colour difference visible across the side of the vehicle. "Feels like it happened ages ago, doesn't it?"

"Don't remind me," Fiyero said, clearly pained, as he got into the passenger seat.

She scooted into the driver's seat and looked at him. "You can be angry or sad it happened, or feel guilty," she said. "But in the end, we got him, didn't we? He didn't get his way. I didn't die, and I'm not his, either." She slipped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. "I'm yours."

Despite himself, that made him smile and he kissed her softly. "And I am yours."

"Glad to hear it." She kissed him again and then pulled away, giving him an impish smile before starting the car. "So when we get back to the City, will you come with me to go buy a new car?" she asked. "I think I could use some change. Leave some bad memories behind, and all that."

He nodded, squeezing her knee, and she placed her hand over his and squeezed back as she drove back into the streets, heading for the Emerald City. Heading home.

They were only a few more hours away from the City when Elphaba's phone rang. She glanced at it once and then at Fiyero. "You take it. I can't take a call while driving and it's probably Galinda or Dad, asking me if I'm okay and when I'll be back."

He nodded and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

It was silent on the other side and for a moment, there was a sense of panic; he almost expected to hear that heavy breathing again. Instead, however, he heard a high-pitched voice, squeaking, "Who is this? What are you doing with Elphie's phone?" The voice rose a little bit more in pitch. "Is this her stalker?"

Elphaba, who could hear the blonde even from where she sat, shook her head slightly, an amused yet sad smile playing around her lips. Fiyero understood. They both knew it would be a while before they could all really go back to normal, without expecting a stalker to show up at any given moment.

"It's Fiyero, Glin," he said into the phone and there was more silence on the other side.

Then a squeal. "Fiyero? You're with Elphie?"

He put her on speaker and Elphaba said, "He's with me, Glin. We're on our way back – we should be there by dinnertime."

More squealing. "Oh, Elphie! Is that what you went off to do yesterday? To find him? I didn't even know you were looking for him!"

She glanced in Fiyero's direction again and said to the phone, "I couldn't just let him go."

Fiyero reached out to take her free hand and laced their fingers together. She smiled at him. "Dad suggested I hire a private detective, so I did," she continued. "I wanted to go see for myself that Fiyero was really there, and talk to him… without anyone knowing, just in case it wouldn't go over well." Her smile broadened. "Thankfully, it went over much better than I'd even dared to hope."

"He's coming back with you, then?" Galinda cried. "Fiyero, I'm so glad to have you back! Oh, the twins will be overjoyed to see you again! Can I tell them, Elphie? Please? Or do you want it to be a surprise?"

"You can tell them," said Elphaba. "Try to explain it to them, okay?"

"I will," said Galinda solemnly. "Fiyero?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think would be a good colour for a nursery?"

Elphaba groaned and Fiyero laughed. "That depends. Do you already know the gender?"

"Yes." Galinda sounded every bit the proud mother as she said, "It's a boy. We're having a son."

"Really?" Much to Elphaba's amazement, when she looked at Fiyero again, she saw there were tears in his eyes. "You're having a son? Sweet Oz, Glin… congratulations. Both of you."

"Thank you," the blonde said proudly. "And since Elphie gets to be godmother, you'd better be ready to be godfather, Fiyero."

"Really?" he asked again, sounding choked now, and Galinda sounded amused as she asked, "Elphie, is he crying?"

"He is definitely crying," Elphaba confirmed and Galinda giggled.

"I love making grown men cry," she said. "It's almost as good as making you cry, and apparently, a baby is very good for both."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. Fiyero choked out a laugh.

"So a nursery colour, Fiyero?" Galinda asked and he didn't even have to think about that.

"Green, of course," he said, looking Elphaba over meaningfully. The green woman rolled her eyes again, but Galinda gasped.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "That's perfect, Fiyero! Thank you!"

"Just going with the colour that inspires me most," he said cheekily.

Elphaba stuck out her tongue at him. Galinda, on the other end of the line, laughed.

"I'll see you two soon, then," she said happily. "Drive safely. Bye!"