A/N: Thanks again for being patient with my updates...although I don't think these are slower than my other ones, haha. In this chapter I give you guise the main reason behind all their fights and stuff...you might not like it...but oh well...it's my story. So enjoy this chapter and R/R if ya like.

Chapter 3

That night was the first night that Elphaba fell asleep in one of the guestrooms on the other side of the palace. She had fallen into a fitful sleep that didn't seem as if it would ever end. When morning finally came she was grateful to get up and see her girls.

"Hey Tahj, have you seen the girls this morning?" Elphaba walked into Tahj's office where he sat behind a large oak desk. Over the years Tahj had changed about as much as Glinda and Elphaba had at the beginning of their relationship. Tahj went from single to engaged within a matter of a year. He was now married to a woman he met at one of Glinda's social gatherings. She was a lovely woman, but Elphaba didn't care for her too much.

Tahj smiled as he saw his friend walk in and take a seat across from him. "Little Ro came in here earlier and told me that they were going to breakfast with Glinda. She didn't want to wake you up."

Elphaba groaned at hearing this. She had wanted to take the girls to breakfast to make sure they were okay, and also to help calm her nerves. How come Glinda was the one to take them and not her? It always seemed as if Glinda stole everything from her.

"Damn it." Elphaba let out her frustration as she sighed heavily. Tahj could see that his friend was distraught.

"You had to have expected this to happen at some point Elphaba. Glinda isn't going to ask for your permission anymore." Tahj tried to display the facts as they were. He had been the first person Elphaba had confided in with their marital problems, and he knew that they wouldn't last from what Elphaba had said went on.

"Like she ever asked for my permission before." Elphaba huffed. Tahj could hear the anger in her voice, but could also detect the underlying sadness to her tone.

"Elphaba, you know my stance on this whole subject and I'm not going to take sides here. I am not going to bad talk Miss Glinda just for your sake." Tahj refused to agree with anything Elphaba said, even if it was true. He still worked for Glinda and was paid by Glinda as well. He needed to keep his job.

"I know. I'm sorry I'm making you feel like you have to choose sides." Elphaba apologized. She already felt bad enough for dragging him into this whole mess. It has been Tahj who had kept her sane in her and Glinda's relationship for as long as she was. Otherwise she would have left her a year earlier; around the time that Ella was injured from a spell gone awry.

It pained Elphaba to think back to that time in their life. When Ella was hurt from a spell that Glinda performed incorrectly, it should have brought the family closer, but instead Elphaba began blaming Glinda for everything. Elphaba blamed the blonde for injuring their daughter, and then blamed her for endangering the twins. Deep down Elphaba knew that Glinda would never harm the girls intentionally, but Elphaba she was too far-gone at the point to take that into consideration.

"So why did you want to see the girls first thing anyways?" Tahj could see the reflection in Elphaba's eyes and knew he needed to distract her.

Elphaba shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure they were okay. Me and Glinda told them last night we were getting a divorce."

The words stung every time Tahj heard them but he couldn't really do anything about it. When the two first started having problems he had tried to help them, but then all of their little problems just blew out of proportion and became big problems. It was hard for him to even pinpoint a specific reason the two were separating. It saddened him that they were, but he also knew that it was probably for the best.

"How did that go?" Tahj asked, concern apparent in his voice.

"Not like we expected, but I think it went okay. They didn't understand, of course, but I think in the end we got our point across. It just saddens me to know that our fights affect them. I'm hoping that when we divorce then at least they won't have to hear us fight." Elphaba sighed.

Tahj's eyebrows drew together. "Tell me that's not the reason you're getting a divorce."

"What reason?" Elphaba asked questioningly.

"You think that a divorce will stop your fights, because it won't Elphaba. A divorce won't stop your fights; it will just delay them until you see one another. What you two are doing is not going to magically fix your problems." Tahj tried to get Elphaba to understand.

"I know that, but I also know that it will make things better in the long run." Elphaba acted offended that Tahj would think that she didn't think this through completely, because she had. Elphaba had had many sleepless nights weighing the pros and cons of a divorce.

Tahj backed off. He knew that Elphaba was in no mood to talk about her and Glinda's relationship anymore. "All right." He agreed.

After a couple more seconds of silence Elphaba looked up from where her eyes had been glued to the desk and looked into Tahj's eyes. He could see vulnerability in the green woman's brown eyes that he had seen a lot of lately.

"What if I made the wrong choice Tahj?" Elphaba asked the question that had been running around in her head for the past few days.

"What makes you think that you have?" Tahj asked seriously. He knew that he couldn't show sympathy right now towards Elphaba. This was how the green woman was. She needed someone to talk to her and to help level her head.

"I don't know." Elphaba shrugged. "I miss her Tahj, but not the new her. I miss the old Glinda."

"And when did this new Glinda emerge?" Tahj needed a time frame so he might be able to help his friend out.

"I…" Elphaba started but then trailed off trying to think back to the first time she noticed a change in Glinda. She changed what she was going to say into a statement. "It wasn't just one change. It was many. Ever since the girls turned three she's become this different person that I don't even know anymore."

"Is it her that has changed or is it you?" Tahj asked. He could see the frustration and struggle beneath Elphaba's brown eyes.

"Can I tell you something that happened between us a while ago?" Elphaba looked around the room, as if expecting to be spied in upon. Her voice lowered an octave.

"Of course Elphaba. You can tell me anything." Tahj encouraged the green witch to continue.

Elphaba took a deep breath before beginning to tell her story. "This happened a year after our marriage actually…" The green witch trailed off as she tried to remember exactly how it happened.

XXX

A year after the marriage…

Elphaba and Glinda lay next to each other in their shared king size bed. The thin sheets covered the two but if one were to walk in they would be able to tell that the two were both naked underneath the thin layer of fabric.

It was early in the morning. Elphaba lay motionless, still asleep, as Glinda's eyes flickered open. The blue eyes adjusted to the sunlight before looking upon the sleeping form of the woman she loved with all of her heart.

A small smile began to play across Glinda's features as she recalled their night of passionate lovemaking and how she had caused Elphaba to call out her name in ecstasy at least four times. She continued to smile as she snuggled up to Elphaba and placed her petite head upon the rising chest of her love. It still amazed her how Elphaba could be alive after being dead for a year. She thanked the unnamed God everyday for the miracle that brought her love back into her life.

It was in this snuggling position that Elphaba began to stir. The first thing the green woman could feel upon waking up were little fingers sneaking up her side and working their way to her breasts. A smile spread across her face as she heard the woman she loved release a little giggle. Elphie had other ideas for where those hands could be. In one swift move she flipped the unsuspecting blonde onto her back. Glinda let out a yelp as Elphaba moved to straddle her hips, fully awake now.

"Morning." Elphaba grinned wickedly down to her wife still trying to recover from the scare of a lifetime.

"You scared me half to death!" Glinda was still a little too overwhelmed to take advantage of their positioning.

"Well let's hope not." Elphaba chucked. "I've already met the death quota in this family for the year." The green woman wasn't aware that what she said would have such an effect on Glinda's attitude. The blonde immediately stopped smiling and her body became rigid. Elphaba immediately regretted bringing up her death. The subject was not one that Glinda liked to joke about. "Shit Glin…I'm sorry." Elphaba apologized, but it was too late.

"Get off." Glinda pushed the green woman off from on top of her. Elphaba sighed before shifting off of the blonde, allowing her space to move about. Glinda took advantage of the space and got up from their bed.

"I'm sorry my sweet. I didn't mean to joke about that." Elphaba apologized as she watched her love walk over to their dresser and pull out a pair of undergarments for the day.

"Yes you did." Glinda spoke as she pulled her clothes on, hiding whatever marks Elphaba had left on her body from the previous night. "You wouldn't have said it unless you meant to joke about it." The blonde said a little harshly as she turned to see Elphaba getting up from their bed and walking over towards her.

"Glin, you know that's not the case." Elphaba sighed as she walked closer to Glinda. "Come back to bed baby." The green woman finally approached the blonde and wrapped her arms around Glinda's clothed body. She wished that she weren't the only one naked here.

"You can't just joke about death like you do Elphie. One day you're really going to die and not come back, and then I'll be left here all alone with three children to raise." Glinda began to sob lightly as she hugged Elphaba back.

Elphaba didn't know where all of this was coming from but she was going to find out. "What's really going on Glinda?" The green woman rubbed soothing circles on the petite woman's back.

Glinda was quiet for some time before mumbling something against Elphaba's shoulder. It was too faint for the green woman to hear.

"What was that my sweet?" Elphaba pulled back a little to look into Glinda's tear filled eyes. She was acting overly emotional for even her normal self. Something was definitely going on.

"Change that to four." Glinda whispered. Elphaba was still confused.

"Four what?" Elphaba questioned. "Glin, sweetie, you have to talk to me." Chocolate eyes searched Crystal blue for understanding.

"Four children…" Glinda trailed off. "I'm pregnant Elphie."

XXX

Present day…

Tahj sat still for a couple of minutes after hearing Elphaba recount the story of Glinda's unplanned pregnancy. He had never heard anything about Glinda being pregnant, and there was no forth child to account for. So what had happened?

"Wow…" Tahj was still understandably shocked.

"Yeah." Elphaba agreed as she frowned thinking back to what had happened next.

"Uh…" Tahj began to ask a question but Elphaba already knew what question he was going to ask.

"We lost it." The green witch said in a quiet voice as she hung her head low. "We decided not to tell the girls or anyone else because we didn't want them to find out."

Tahj frowned as he saw the sorrow in Elphaba's eyes. "What happened?" He asked as he reached his hand across the table to hold onto Elphaba's for support.

"The doctor said it was a miscarriage." Elphaba shook her head as tears threatened to spill out. "They couldn't figure out why it had happened."

"I'm so sorry Elphaba." Tahj got up from behind his desk and went around to kneel down in front of his friend. He knew that this changed his perspective on their whole divorce issue. Was the fact that Glinda felt guilty for losing their child a part of the reason they always seemed to fight? He needed to get to the bottom of this. He owed it to the two of his closest friends.

"Me too." The green woman finally allowed herself to cry as she accepted the comfort Tahj was offering her. She had held onto that secret for four years. It had been eating her up inside the whole time, and the only person she had to talk about it with wouldn't talk to her. It was as if Glinda had shut down ever since they had lost the baby.

Tahj continued to hold onto his friend until Elphaba's tears turned into light sniffles. He then repositioned himself so he could look into his friend's eyes. He needed Elphaba to answer him something. "Do you think Glinda changed because she lost the baby?" he said in a soft tone as to not upset Elphaba.

The green woman continued to sniffle as she shook her head yes. "I tried talking to her about it but she won't listen to me. She shuts down every time I bring it up. It's as if it never happened."

Tahj sighed when he head Elphaba's response. This was what he was afraid of. Maybe Glinda was only fighting with Elphaba all the time because it hurt her to accept love. He knew Glinda well enough to know that she probably thought she was responsible for the child's death. He also knew that she would avoid getting into that situation again if at all possible. She would have to shield herself from Elphaba for that to happen.

"Elphaba…do you ever think that maybe Glinda fights with you because she feels guilty about what happened?" Tahj suggested.

"That's absurd. Why would she feel guilty about something she couldn't control? I don't blame her for losing the child. It's not her fault." Elphaba couldn't understand why Tahj would suggest such a thing.

"Have you told her this?" Tahj simply asked.

"Yes." Elphaba stated. Of course she had told Glinda many times that she didn't blame her for the miscarriage.

Tahj knew there was only one more question to ask now. "Did she believe you any of these times?"

Elphaba was caught off guard by Tahj's question. She had always just assumed that Glinda had believed her when she told her. But now thinking back to it, she wasn't quite sure if she did. She was Glinda, and very hardheaded and stubborn as well.

"Oh." A light bulb went on in Elphaba's head.

"Exactly." Tahj smiled slightly. He felt he had gotten his point across finally.