Here we are, everyone! The final chapter! *'It's the Final Countdown plays in background*

To say that the first month of parenting was hard was an understatement. To Elphaba, Isliah seemed to do nothing except cry and it was beginning to take a toll on her. She felt she was at her breaking point, and the only thing that was keeping her sane was Amalie.

'It's completely normal for newborns to be like this, Elphaba.' the queen tried to reassure a crying Elphaba when Isliah refused to go to sleep. 'You're doing nothing wrong.'

Elphaba slowly shook her head and Amalie gently pulled her closer and kissed her forehead. "You're doing nothing wrong," she whispered into her hair.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Isliah finally tired herself out and fell asleep. Amalie quickly took her granddaughter and placed her in her crib before turning her attention back to Elphaba. She gently wiped her tears away and gently kissed her burns.

'I don't know if I can do this, Amalie.' Elphaba signed as Amalie guided her to the rocking chair.

'The first few months are always the hardest. Trust me. But it gets better. And all of this will have its rewards in the future. I promise.'

Once the first month past and Elphaba began to get the hang of the daily routine of being a mother, things became easier for her. Isliah still woke up during the night, wanting to be fed or changed, but was beginning to sleep longer hours, which was very beneficial to both parents. Elphaba seemed a bit calmer and more at ease. Fiyero continued to help by telling her when Isliah was crying and waking her up for the nightly feedings and changes. He always tried not to look as sleep deprived as he was, and seeing Elphaba interact with Isliah helped him to continue to do the right thing as a father.

At the beginning of August, Elphaba was seated on the balcony, rocking Isliah in her arms. Elphaba smiled as she looked down at her daughter. Isliah smiled back and reached up towards her mother. The green girl nuzzled her nose against her daughter's. She felt Fiyero gently place his arms on her shoulders and smiled as he kissed her cheek.

"And how are my two favorite princesses?" he chuckled, signing and making a face at Isliah, getting a coo and a smile in return.

'Fine. Has everyone arrived yet?' Elphaba smiled.

'Cally, Windon, and the twins have arrived and are in the parlor. Your father and Nessa should be arriving soon, and Galinda will probably come a bit later.'

Elphaba nodded and stood up. 'I'll go downstairs and say hi to them.'

Fiyero followed his wife the stairs and smiled when he cousins and nieces came into view. "Hello, everyone!"

"Uncle Yewo!" the girls giggled, running over to the prince and hugging him. "Where's the baby? We wanna see the baby!"

"The baby is with Auntie Elphaba. Look," Fiyero smiled as he gently led the girls over to his wife, who was greeting Cally and Windon, who were admiring the baby.

The girls hurried over to their aunt and gently tugged on the skirt of her dress, grabbing her attention. Elphaba smiled at them and knelt down so they could see their new little cousin.

"Baby!" Dahlia smiled, signing for her aunt.

"What's her name?" Maven asked and signed.

Elphaba smiled at the little girls' progress and slowly spelt 'I-S-L-I-A-H.'.

"Isliah!" both girls said at the same time.

"Very good. You girls are learning sign language wonderfully," Fiyero smiled as he ruffled the girl's hair.

The twins smiled proudly.

Frex and Nessa arrived soon afterwards. They were directed to the parlor, where Elphaba and Fiyero watched as Maven and Dahlia took turns holding Isliah, under the watchful eyes of their parents. Elphaba noticed her family first and quickly rose to greet them. 'Hi, Nessie.'

'Hi, Fabala. How are you?' Nessa asked, smiling as she hugged her older sister.

'I'm fine. A bit tired, but fine. How are you?'

'Excited to finally be an aunt.'

Elphaba chuckled and asked Maven if she could have Isliah back. The little girl looked confused, but reluctantly handed over the baby when her mother whispered what Elphaba was saying into her ear. She walked over to Nessa and gently placed the wide-awake baby in her arms.

"Hi, Isliah," the brunette smiled, rocking the baby in her arms. The baby looked up at her aunt and smiled at her, and Nessa smiled back.

'She's beautiful, Elphaba.' Frex smiled, looking at his granddaughter.

'Thank you, Father.' Elphaba smiled.

Frex nodded. 'Your mother would be very happy, too.'

The green girl gently wrapped her arms around her father, and he quickly returned the hug. She excused herself to go to the bathroom, and when she returned, she saw that Galinda had arrived and had already dressed Isliah in a very pink dress, pink shoes, and a pink headband.

'Dear Oz above.' Elphaba signed, looking at her now-very-pink daughter.

Galinda took notice of her best friend and gently handed Isliah over to Fiyero so she could greet her. 'How have you been, Elphie?' she signed when she pulled away from the hug.

'I've been fine. It's getting better.' Elphaba signed, smiling as she watched the adults make funny faces at Isliah. 'I see you got her some new clothes already.'

'Well, I had to do something with all the pink things I bought. And there's plenty more where that came from.'

'I'm sure there is.' Elphaba sighed, though she couldn't wipe the smile from her face. She saw Isliah getting fussy in Windon's arms and hurried over to them.

'I think she's getting a bit tired.' Windon signed after he gave Isliah over to her mother. 'She had a very eventful day so far.'

Elphaba nodded and gently rocked the baby in her arms. Isliah quickly calmed down and looked up at her. Before Elphaba could blink, the baby squirmed and yawned, obviously wanting to be put down for her nap. Elphaba excused herself and walked up to the nursery. As she laid a sleeping Isliah in her crib, a sudden feeling of calmness washed over her and for some reason, she knew everything would be all right.

FIVE YEARS LATER…

Five-year-old Isliah bounced through the hallways of the castle, wearing nothing but her nightgown. Her giggles echoed off the walls as she skipped around a corner, but her laughs came to an abrupt halt when she felt someone's strong arms wrap around her.

"Daddy! Daddy!" she giggled as her father lifted her into the air.

"Hi, princess!" the prince smiled, kissing her forehead. "What are you doing?"

"Nothin'."

The prince narrowed his eyes slightly. "Aren't you supposed to be getting dressed now?"

"I don't wanna get dressed now. I wanna stay in my nightgown," Isliah pouted.

"You can't stay in your nightgown all day, sweetie. And what have I told you about running away from Mama?"

"Not to," Isliah admitted softly.

"That's right." The prince carried his daughter back to her room, where Elphaba was waiting in the hallway, looking very tired and a bit sad. "Now, go and apologize for running away to Mama. And make sure you sign to her." He put her down and watched as she took a few steps forward and looked back up at him. "Go on, Liah-bear," he encouraged.

Isliah hurried over to her mother and gently tugged on her skirt, grabbing her attention. Elphaba looked down and saw her daughter looking up at her with remorseful eyes.

'I'm sorry, Mama.' the little girl signed.

Elphaba smiled softly as she knelt down to her daughter's height. 'It's okay.' She pulled her into a hug and, kissing her cheek, lifted her into her arms and carried her into the bathroom to get her ready for the day.

An hour later, Isliah bounced into the parlor, fully dressed. She heard the birds chirping outside the window and ran over to it, climbing onto a chair to see better. She giggled as she saw the birds flying around and eventually land on a branch near the window. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned around to see her mother standing behind her.

"Birds!" she smiled, pointing to the birds.

Elphaba followed her daughter's gaze and smiled at the birds. She gently tapped her shoulder and signed the word for "bird".

"Birds!" Isliah giggled, copying her mother.

'Yes, birds.' Elphaba smiled, tickling his daughter.

Isliah giggled, but managed to get away from her mother. She ran to her toy chest and pulled out a large box and brought it back to her mother. Elphaba, knowing exactly what was in the box, smiled as she sat down on the floor. Isliah sat next to her mother and opened the box, taking out a handful of flashcards.

When Isliah was still a baby, Fiyero came up with a way to make it fun for her to learn sign language. He used his talent in art to create a very large amount of flask cards and created a game for them to play. Either Elphaba or Fiyero would hold up a card with a picture on it and Isliah would have to sign the word. If she got them all right, Fiyero would bring her a present when he returned from his crown prince duties. Even before she was old enough to understand the game, Fiyero and Elphaba had been teaching her. When Fiyero spoke to her, he would also sign, and he encouraged her to do the same. Most of the time, her sign wouldn't match what she wanted to say, but it only encouraged them to try harder. Everyone was overjoyed when, at eleven months old, she said her first word, "Dada". But nothing could beat the joyous look on Elphaba's face when, a few weeks after that, Isliah signed her first word.

She had just finished changing Isliah's diaper when she noticed it. Isliah was looking right at her, signing the word for "Mama". Her face broke into a smile when she realized what she was doing and giggled. "Mama! Mama!" she smiled, signing and reaching up towards her mother.

Elphaba had quickly wiped away her tears and hugged her daughter close, nodding and kissing her forehead before hurrying away to show the rest of the family.

'House!' Isliah signed when her mother showed her a picture of a house.

Elphaba nodded and placed the card aside before holding up another one.

'Ball!'

Another nod.

'Flower. Bed. Dog. Brush. Clock.'

'Very good.' Elphaba smiled once they went through the cards and she put them away. 'Your father may have to make more cards soon. These are too easy for you, Liah-bear.'

Isliah smiled proudly and snuggled against her mother. Elphaba immediately wrapped her arms around her daughter. She was beginning to see that Amalie was right about her being a good mother. She would still get upset that she would never be able to hear her daughter sing, practice her piano lesson, or recite the poems she wrote. And then there were times when Isliah would fall and cry for her mother, and her tears would come even faster when she didn't come.

'I don't want her to think that I'm ignoring her.' Elphaba had confessed to her husband after he had put a Band-Aid on little Isliah's cut and got her a cookie before sending her back outside to play.

'She doesn't fully understand yet, Fae. She's only three. But she'll soon learn that you're not ignoring her.'

That did little to comfort the green girl at the moment, but as time went on, Isliah began to learn that her mother wasn't ignoring her, and in fact, couldn't hear her or anything else. At first, she felt sorry for her mother and made it her life's mission to help her. It was really cute and sweet to see the little girl learning sign language to help her mother and make sure she was included in everything they did together as a family.

The green girl also began to feel more at ease with her role as princess of the Vinkus. The people seemed to really liked her and supported her. Everywhere the royal couple went, Fiyero made sure someone was always there to translate for her, whether it was himself, his parents, or someone else. Elphaba herself took to making sure other deaf people, especially children, got the rights and assistance they deserved, which was going very successfully so far.

The prince walked in and saw mother and daughter hugging each other on the floor. "What do we have here?" he chuckled.

"Daddy!" Isliah smiled, wiggling out of her mother's arms and running to him. "Mama and I almost finished the cards. She said we'll need some harder ones soon."

"I'll put that on my To-Do list," he smiled as he kissed her forehead and sat down on the sofa.

'What's that?' Elphaba asked as she pushed herself to her feet and sat next to her husband, looking at the two letters in her hand.

'Letters from Galinda and Nessa.' Fiyero smiled as he handed the letter from Nessa to Isliah to open. He read it out loud to their daughter as Elphaba's eyes scanned the page.

"We get to go to Munchkinland for Faire's birthday," the little girl giggled. "We get to see Dedek and Ujec Boq and Teta Nessa!"

Elphaba took the letter from Galinda. The blonde was doing fine, now seven months pregnant with their second child, which she insisted was another girl. She and Khynel were both doing very fine, and they already painted the new baby's room a very pale blue.

After a fun-filled day, it was time for Isliah to go to bed. She did her usual "I'm not tired" protests and pouts, but eventually gave in after Fiyero read her two stories and allowed her mother to get her ready for bed.

'I love you, Mama.' she signed as Elphaba tucked her into bed.

'I love you, too, sweetie.' Elphaba smiled as she kissed her daughter's forehead and left the room.

Later that night, as Elphaba laid in bed next to her slumbering husband, she thought about how her life had changed. She went from being the deaf and half-ignored daughter of the Governor of Munchkinland, to the still-deaf, but not-so-much-ignored daughter, to the princess of the Vinkus, to a mother. It had been quite a journey for her and she snuggled closer to her husband. Fiyero immediately wrapped his arms around her, his lips moving as he muttered something subconsciously. She rested her head against his chest, never growing tired of feeling his heart beating. And in that moment, before she drifted off to sleep, she knew that no matter what other obstacles life threw at her to overcome, everything was going to continue to be just fine.

THE END!

Thank you all for following me on this journey! My next story, "Different Like Nothing", will be posted next month. See you all then!