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42. Happy

Elphaba and Fiyero asked the twins not to tell anyone about the baby yet, at which they sulked, but they promised they'd keep quiet. As soon as they'd run off to play, Elphaba had given Fiyero a significant look and gone off to find her best friend. Galinda was in her office and Elphaba lingered in the doorway until the PA spotted her.

"Elphie!" she greeted her enthusiastically. "Have you still thought about my proposition? For the wedding? Because I really think a double wedding would be just wonderful. Oh, also, Ambassador Gauchi called to confirm your appointment for next Monday and guess who called to arrange an appointment with you next month?" She beamed. "An advisor from President Sevens' office! He said the president was so impressed with you over your dinner way back that he wanted to meet with you again, you and Oscar both, to discuss some plans and ideas! Isn't that marvellous?"

"That's amazing, Glin," said Elphaba, smiling widely. It was, but somehow, she didn't feel as excited about this as she thought she would have a couple of months ago. Almost dying changed things, she thought wryly; and she couldn't help but feel now that regardless of how much she loved her job and how important it had always been to her, it was still just a job and it wasn't nearly as important as some other things. Like family. And friends. Cliché as that sounded.

Galinda smiled back and turned away from her laptop. "So why did you come to find me? Do you need anything?"

"Not really," said Elphaba, taking a seat on Galinda's couch and propping her feet up on the blonde's coffee table. Galinda scowled, but didn't say anything, and the green woman grinned at her. "I just had some news I thought I'd come share with you. Just promise not to be too loud about it, okay?"

Galinda frowned worriedly. "Is this good news or bad news?"

"That depends," said Elphaba seriously and Galinda's frown deepened.

"On what?"

The deputy mayor's grin widened. "On whether you think one niece and one nephew are quite enough, or you'd like another addition."

Galinda stared at her friend, uncomprehending, but then realisation slowly dawned on her. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" she asked, holding her breath. "Elphie?"

"Yes?" Elphaba asked innocently and Galinda threw a pencil at her.

"Elphaba Thropp, spit it out already!" she cried. "Are you pregnant? Really?"

"Yes," Elphaba said, laughing now. "I'm about five weeks along."

As she had predicted, Galinda squealed loudly, launched herself off her chair, and hugged Elphaba as tightly as she possibly could without crushing her own stomach. "Elphie! You're having another baby! And I'm having a baby, too! We'll both have babies and they'll be best friends! Oh my Oz, Elphie! What did Fiyero say?"

"Fiyero still seems to be having trouble getting off cloud nine," Elphaba said, rolling her eyes fondly, and Galinda giggled.

"As he should! And the twins? Did you tell them yet?"

The dark-haired witch nodded. "They're right there on cloud nine with Fiyero."

"Who else knows?" Galinda demanded and Elphaba raised her eyebrows.

"You're my best friend, my PA, and the godmother of my children," she pointed out. "I mean, yes, the father and the siblings of this unborn baby obviously get to hear about it first, but who else would I tell before you, Glin?"

More squeals. More hugs. Lots of tears – because Galinda was still quite hormonal.

"Now we can have weird cravings together!" she squealed, which made Elphaba chuckle. "I'm serious! Elphie, don't you really feel like getting some hamburgers with whipped cream to celebrate?"

Elphaba just made a face at her friend.

She went to Oscar next, who teared up as well, obviously thrilled by the prospect of having another grandchild; and then Cohvu, who hugged her tightly and actually lifted her off her feet to spin her around like Fiyero had done. She protested, complaining loudly about why men felt the need to do that to women when they had good news, but Cohvu just grinned at her and told her how excited he was for her and Fiyero.

Elphaba realised she was living a fairy-tale and she firmly pushed away the doubts that came with that realisation. Having Fiyero back, being pregnant, getting married – and that on top of having her dream job, two wonderful children, an amazing best friend, and a better father than she could have hoped for… It felt a little like it was too good to be true, but she didn't allow herself to go there. Instead, she was just going to enjoy it.

When she told Fiyero of that resolve, he drew her closer and pressed his lips to her hair. "I'm proud of you, Fae," he murmured.

She smirked wryly at him. "Just… please don't leave me standing at the altar."

"I think it's usually the bride running away with a dramatic swirling of skirts and tossing of the bouquet," he joked, but when he saw the genuine anxiety in her eyes, despite her trying to hide it, he kissed her again. "Fae, I know I messed up, but I am never going to let you go again. Ever. Not you, not the twins, and not this baby." He placed a hand over her abdomen. "I wouldn't for the world want to run away from the love of my life on the best day of my life. Got it?"

"Got it," she whispered and he smiled, kissing her gently again.

Aside from the twins, Galinda, Cohvu, and Oscar, Elphaba didn't tell anyone about her pregnancy yet, wanting to wait until her second trimester instead. Luckily, she didn't have many pregnancy symptoms; morning sickness hit her every now and then (at any given time of day, unlike what the name would suggest), she felt dizzy occasionally and she experienced some changes in her body, mainly her breasts. Those symptoms were fairly easy to hide, however, and she was sure no-one suspected a thing. She continued doing what she did, enjoying her work and spending time with her friends and family.

As for the wedding, in the end, Galinda had decided to compromise. She and Elphaba would have separate wedding ceremonies – hers pink, overdone, and dramatic, albeit not as big as she'd always wanted; and Elphaba's smaller, simple, and intimate. That way, the blonde explained, they'd both have their special moment and they could be each other's maid of honour, which was a very important plus. After the ceremonies, however, they'd have a shared reception for all their guests.

Elphaba, realising her friend had been right about the fact that it would save her the hassle of planning a lot of things, agreed under two conditions: no more than fifty people at the reception, and no pink.

"A hundred people at the reception, and a little pink," Galinda bargained.

"Seventy-five," Elphaba said firmly, "and the only pink allowed will be on you and your bridal party, since I'm pretty sure you'll be wearing something pink and so will your bridesmaids, and I'd hate to ban you all from our reception."

"You're too kind," Galinda deadpanned and Elphaba narrowed her eyes. The blonde just blinked innocently. "What? You rubbed off on me, Elphie."

Elphaba grumbled something under her breath, but didn't argue.

It saved her and Fiyero a lot of worrying about many things, including the guest list. Most of the people they'd wanted to invite had already been invited by Galinda months ago, when Cohvu had first proposed – Gazilon, Boq, and Nessa among them – so those people only got an extra invite informing them the wedding would now be a double one. The only extra people Elphaba invited were Mayor Samms and Evanne, as well as some other business associates she was relatively close with.

Nessa, naturally, was absolutely thrilled for her sister. "You're getting married!" she'd kept exclaiming when Elphaba had first told her. The green woman hadn't told her sister about the baby yet; she wanted to do that in person, so she'd tell Nessa at some point before the wedding, since the girl would come to stay at the Palace for a couple of weeks again in September. Nessa had hesitantly asked about Frex, but Elphaba had told her firmly that she was not going to invite the Big, Bad Bully to her wedding and that if he decided to show up, he wouldn't be allowed in. Nessa was mildly disappointed, wanting to share her sister's happiness with her father, but she understood and respected Elphaba's wishes.

"You can tell him, though, if you want," Elphaba had said. "You don't have to keep it secret from him or anything. I just don't want him to be there."

The conversation, however, had prompted her to think about something else; and one evening, when she and Fiyero were cooking together, she brought it up. "Yero, have you considered inviting your parents to the wedding?" she asked casually.

Apparently, the question startled him, because his hand slipped and he cut himself again, swearing softly.

Elphaba chuckled. "Déjà vu. Sorry. Maybe I should have asked when you weren't holding a knife." Like last time, she helped him rinse the cut and then healed it, smiling at him. "There. All done."

He didn't smile back, however. "Were you serious?"

She shrugged. "Well, just because I don't want to be in touch with Frex anymore, doesn't mean you should stay out of touch with your parents forever. You've changed your ways, haven't you? They're going to be grandparents. Just… think about it," she advised him. "You don't have to suddenly start seeing them every week or something, but maybe this is a good opportunity for you to talk about what happened and leave the past behind you."

He did think about it, she could tell; and after a few days, he came back into their room and announced he'd called his parents.

"You have?" Elphaba sat up straight, looking at him expectantly. "How did it go?"

He exhaled, running his fingers through his hair.

"I'm not sure," he said. "It was awkward. Mum picked up, and she didn't seem to believe it was me at first. Then she put me on speaker and called Dad in, so I had to explain to the two of them what I've been up to for the past couple of years and what happened, that I fell in love and am going to get married, and that I'm going to be a father… They were pretty quiet after that." He smiled slightly. "Luckas came in at that point, though, and when he heard, he started cheering, calling himself 'Uncle Luckas' every other sentence, and pretty much demanding to be invited to the wedding."

Elphaba laughed. "What did you say?"

"I said he was, they all were, and I told them I wanted to talk to them about what happened, too. They agreed." He looked at her and she smiled encouragingly.

"It might be nice, to have them back in your life," she said. "At the very least Luckas – I know how much you miss him."

He nodded. "It might be, yeah." He took her hand. "Thanks for suggesting that. I hadn't even thought of it."

"No problem." She cuddled up against him. "Is there anyone else you want to invite?"

He shook his head. "No-one I'm still in touch with or would like to be in touch with again," he said. "I have a new life now." He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

With regard to the wedding, Cohvu and Fiyero had come to an agreement as well – to stay out of the wedding preparations as much as they could. Instead, they both spent a lot of time with the twins, neither of them willing to admit to the other – or anyone else, for that matter – that they considered it a bit of practice for once their own babies would be born.

It was heart-breaking, yet heart-warming, Elphaba thought, to watch Fawn and Xalo – but especially Fawn – slowly regain her trust in Fiyero and the fact that he wouldn't be leaving them again. Both twins very much liked the attention and they spent many an afternoon running through the garden with their surrogate-father and their uncle, being chased around, getting fighting lessons, and playing games. They were learning what having a father was like and it was obvious they both loved it.

Elphaba's favourite moment was when she was reading in the living room, Fiyero playing with the kids; and when Fawn suddenly turned to Fiyero and said seriously, "Fiyero, Xalo and I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away," he prompted.

Xalo cocked his head a little to the side and said, "We were wondering if it would be okay for us to call you 'Dad'."

"You know," Fawn added, "not right away, but once you and Mum are married, and stuff. If you don't mind."

Elphaba could feel tears coming to her own eyes at that (she was pretty sure they would have even if she hadn't been pregnant) and she could tell Fiyero had to hold back tears of his own. He glanced up and they exchanged a look before he turned back to the twins and said hoarsely, but very gravely, "I would be honoured."

Fawn beamed at him and Xalo grinned. "Cool." Then they went on playing as if nothing had happened.

That evening, when Fawn and Xalo were in bed and Elphaba and Fiyero were snuggling together in front of the TV, he said quietly, "That was really sweet. The twins, I mean. This afternoon."

"It was," Elphaba agreed, smiling. "I told you – they love you."

He let out a short laugh. "I love them, too." He was silent for a moment, then said, "It's strange, huh, how things can go? If you'd told me five months ago that I'd end up falling in love with the woman I was supposed to protect, that's I'd do anything for her children, and that we'd have a baby together and get married… I probably would have scoffed. Or laughed."

The young witch in his arms grinned. "I never thought I'd be willing to marry the guy who attacked my son, invaded my privacy, and called me a vegetable."

He coloured, which made her cackle, and then she leaned up to kiss him. "Don't worry," she murmured against his lips. "I've forgiven you. Besides, I bet you never thought you'd marry a vegetable, either."

He scowled. "You're not a vegetable. I was just stupid."

"You were," she agreed, still grinning. "You've come a long way." She sobered and thought about that. "So have I, I guess."

"We all have." He ran his fingers through her hair absently. "Only three more weeks and then you'll be mine, officially and legally."

"I can't wait," she said.

"Really?"

Smiling a little sadly, she pressed a kiss to his cheek and then rested her forehead against his, looking into his eyes. "Really," she assured him and after carefully searching her eyes and finding she meant it, he smiled, too.

"I love you."

"Mmh." She kissed him again, slower this time. "I love you, too, Yero my hero."

It felt like she was on top of the world, and even though she knew that couldn't last, she was happy to take the moment and enjoy it for as long as it did last. She had everything she'd ever dreamt of having and more; and after all they'd already been through, she knew they could conquer anything else life threw at them, too. Together. For someone who didn't believe in fairy-tales, she thought as she put her head on the shoulder of the man she loved and caressed the stomach that would soon start to grow, it seemed suspiciously like she was getting her happily ever after.

- THE END -

There we go, then. *Terminator voice* I'll be back... but it might take a while. (For my doing, anyway.)

Until next time!