AN: I have been absent for some time and may continue to be. My daughter, Annibelle, was born earlier this month. School is about to start up again, too. Being a working mom who works more than 40 hours a week is not going to leave a lot of time for writing, but I will try. I feel like I'll now be able to write pregnancy better...

Chapter 22: Shiz, A Month Later

She was in absolute torment, but she kept a smile plastered on her face. Elphaba swallowed hard, trying to will the contents of her stomach to stay put. She was in the dining hall eating breakfast with Nanny and Nessa before class. Her eyes continued to dart towards the hall where the bathroom was. If she just excused herself politely and moved quickly…

"Fabala? I asked if you had any thoughts about Father's sermon this past week. I thought he made some very good points, but apparently there have been some complaints." Nessa was staring at her, the usual sanctimonious look on her face.

"Nessa, I was half asleep!" She snapped.

Nanny's head shot up from the paper she'd been reading as Nessa cringed. "Elphaba!"

Instantly, she regretted it. She could never remember a time she'd been anything but patient and loving with her sister. "I'm so sorry, Nessie. I'm not feeling well." And she couldn't hold back anymore. Elphaba leapt out of her chair and ran for the bathroom. She was only glad her sister and Nanny couldn't follow her in without a hassle.

After a few minutes, she recovered enough to head back out to the dining hall, and took a deep breath, readying herself for whatever conversation was about to ensue.

"I think perhaps you should return to your dorm for the day and not attend classes." Nanny said staunchly as Elphaba sat back down.

She was actually over the nausea, but she realized that would be far too convenient. Elphaba didn't want to alert Nanny to her actual condition. Though she hadn't missed a day of class since she had started, she nodded. "Perhaps so."

"Why don't you head on back, dear, and I'll bring you some crackers or something?" Nanny urged.

"Right." She dragged herself back to her dorm, feeling dejected. As she wandered back towards her dorm, she walked past Fiyero.

There was a question in his eyes. They had the same class this morning. He must be wondering why she wasn't going. But he knew better than to ask. She simply shot him a reassuring look and continued walking.

Glinda was still preparing for class when she walked in. "I thought you were going straight to class from the dining hall?"

"I got sick," she muttered.

"And?"

"And Nanny put me on rest. I thought it best not to argue." Elphaba flopped her body onto her bed. "So now I get to miss class."

"Lucky."

"That is not how I would phrase it." At least the fall holidays were the coming week. She'd be free from the watchful of eyes of everyone, alone with Fiyero. "If you see Fiyero or Boq, would you ask them to take notes for me, please?"

"Of course, Elphie." Glinda grabbed her schoolbag and turned to her. "Be careful. You wouldn't want Nanny to think anything more is going on. And not just Nanny. If Morrible even suspected that you might be… Oh, Elphie, maybe you should leave now. I know you want to finish out the semester, but you could be taking a huge risk."

"I can make it another month, Glinda." Elphaba sighed. "The fall holidays are next week. After that, only two and a half more weeks."

"If you say so."

She was badly ill every morning that week, but Nanny only noticed once. The old woman had merely rolled her eyes and muttered how sensitive stomachs seemed to ruin in the family. Nanny had made a comment about how Elphaba was just like her mother. Elphaba felt exhausted but relieved by the time the fall holidays came.

Fiyero drew her into his arms as soon as they were alone. "A whole week with my beautiful, pregnant wife." He kissed her lips softly.

At once, her exhaustion waned and she was on fire at his touch. "What'll we do with all that time?" She asked playfully, moving towards the bed.

"I can think of something." Fiyero grinned, following her.

They were thus occupied when her father burst in several minutes later. "You are - " He took in the sight before him. "Oh, for the love of the Unnamed God!"

Elphaba pushed herself up on her elbows, eyes wide. She folded her arms across her chest, covering her breasts. At the same time, Fiyero popped up from between her legs, wiping his mouth hastily. He still wore his shorts. Meanwhile, she shut her legs. "What in Oz? Father! You have no right to barge in like this."

"Sir, I thought…" Fiyero looked at her father guiltily. Absentmindedly, she wondered if his words tasted like her.

"You two shouldn't be doing this when…" Her father was still flustered, and shook his head. "You're pregnant, aren't you?"

She exchanged a glance with Fiyero before saying, "Yes."

"How far along?"

Elphaba swallowed hard. "Three months or so."

"And you never informed me?"

"I'm finishing out the semester, Father," she said, trying to sound firm. Beside her, Fiyero handed her a nightdress from the bag she'd dropped beside the bed.

"Did he know?" Frex gestured to Fiyero.

"Yes."

Fiyero stood, placing a hand on her shoulder. "She's coming to Kiamo Ko for the winter holidays and staying there until she's had the child."

"Your work is done," Frex snapped.

"No. It's not. If you want the world to unite behind that child, I have to claim him. I won't. I'll say I've never been with her."

"You wouldn't dare."

"He would. And I'd deny it was his, too," Elphaba added. She realized what he was doing. It was the only thing that would work. "I'd say I got drunk and slept with some random boy from school - some random Munchkin boy."

Her father's eyes narrowed at her. "You too, Elphaba? Really?"

"Yes, really. I'll feel safer in the Vinkus. It's more isolated there. I'll be careful and stay hidden just like you want, Father."

"And you?" Frex raised his eyebrows at Fiyero. "You're going to quit school, too? So you and my daughter can continue your little escapades without me getting in the way?"

"I won't, actually. It would gather a lot of attention. She's not due until summer. My parents will take good care of her. And our little escapades are what married couples do."

"When they're trying to get pregnant! She's already pregnant."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "This is why Mother couldn't stay monogamous."

Frex's eyes lit with anger. "You will never speak of your mother this way."

She took a deep breath, knowing that arguing with her father wouldn't help their cause. "I feel more comfortable in the Vinkus."

"You've never even been there!"

"I'd like to, though."

"Sir, this is beside the point. She's going. And we're waiting until after final exams. She's hid it this long. She can continue to do so."

Frex gaped at them.

"I promise she'll be safe, along with the baby." Fiyero pulled Elphaba close by the waist. "I would do anything to make certain neither of them are hurt."

Frex cocked his head at them. "You've fallen in love with my daughter?"

"I'm married to her."

"Not for love."

"Was that against the rules?" Elphaba snapped. "And why does it matter? You're getting what you wanted. Maybe this isn't the way you wanted it, but you got it." She looked toward Fiyero for a moment. "And we're doing this our way."

"How do you even expect to get there?"

"The same way he does." She shrugged. "He jumps on a cargo train. No one will even know I'm there."

"And what happens to the child when it's born? You can't think I'll let it be born into a home that doesn't worship the Unnamed God? The child needs to be baptized, to learn his true purpose!"

"You'll do what we ask or, as far as the rest of the world knows, this child won't have a father." Fiyero snarled. "I promise this child will fulfill his destiny. But he can only do that if she comes to the Vinkus with me."

"You will regret manipulating me," Frex threatened.

But Elphaba knew that meant he realized he was trapped. "I don't think so."

"And after the baby is born, when Elphaba comes back, we'll still be visiting on weekends," Fiyero added. "She's my wife. I'm not going to stop seeing her."

Elphaba pressed her hand against Fiyero's chest, looking up at him. "Yes, you're right."

"That's ridiculous. The two of you have no reason to be engaging in those sort of activities when you've had your child. There was no vision of a second child…"

"Contrary to what you may think, Father, people don't just stop being affectionate because they've had children."

"You wanton harlot!" Her father snarled.

"Because I'm sleeping with the man I married?" Elphaba rolled her eyes. "You're the one who locked us up week after week demanding we have constant sex."

Frex was practically shaking with anger. "For a purpose." His words came out stiff and short.

Elphaba looked towards Fiyero, who looked horrified and frustrated. Still, he stared straight at her father. "Why are we even having this discussion? It doesn't affect you. I can pay for the inn. All you'll have to do is make certain she is signed out with your approval. It would look suspicious if you suddenly stopped taking her out of the dormitories so often."

Frex walked the floor for a moment. "Perhaps."

"Then it's done."

"I'm not so certain. She can go to the Vinkus with you and continue this little sinful game of yours, but I will not agree to let my grandchild be raised in that place."

Elphaba knew when to back down. The next six months were settled. They would deal with the raising of the child later. "We will come up with an arrangement we can all agree upon, then."

The next month was a little easier. Her constant illness began to fade, though she still felt constantly bloated and worried that she might begin to show. Both Fiyero and Glinda assured her consistently that she was not, but her stomach felt… harder, somehow. Like she could no longer suck in and see her ribs. It was as though a hard mass had taken root in her belly. How could something so small make such a difference?

Her energy also seemed to return to her. In fact, she struggled to sleep. She didn't mind this, however, since she could focus on her studies better. She needed to make certain her grades were just as high as they had been the prior terms. Pregnancy would not slow her down. Now that Nanny knew, however, she hovered over her constantly spouting advice.

"You need to go to sleep, dearie. Your body needs proper rest to make sure the baby develops."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "My body knows what it needs, and I'm not tired." She continued flipping through her histories book. "And Glinda's still awake and working." She gestured to her roommate.

"Glinda's not pregnant."

"I should hope not! That would be some feat. Immaculate conception!" Glinda remarked, giving Elphaba a sly smile.

"You have an hour and if you're not asleep when I come back in here, there will be Kumbrica to pay!" Nanny stomped out.

Glinda closed her notebook. "Elphie, it's not going to be the same."

"What do you mean?"

"Without you here. I mean, I know Nessa and Nanny will be here, and Morrible promised not to let anyone else room in here since it would be 'cruel to do that to a young woman only hoping to help a sick family member,' but it's going to be… miserable."

"Oh, don't get dramatic," Elphaba scoffed.

"I mean it. You're my best friend. You're leaving. When you come back, it'll be… goodness, more than half a year from now! You'll have had a baby! And I won't even know anything about the baby until you come back. How do I even know if you're in good health?"

"Fiyero will know if anything is wrong. His parents will contact him. He will tell you." But Elphaba knew what Glinda meant. She knew she'd feel obscenely isolated. And she knew the Vinkuns practiced a more… holistic form of medicine than what she might be used to. Still, she'd be safer there than Shiz. "But I'll miss you, too."

Glinda got up and hugged her tightly. "You take care of yourself and that baby! And… and you come back here!"

She smiled. "I will. I promise."

And so she found herself on a freight train headed towards the Vinkus. There was no heating, and it was winter, but she was not cold. Fiyero, of course, was.

"How can you sit there without your coat on?"

"I feel warm."

"Is that normal? Should I be worried you have a fever?"

"If I have a fever, I've had a constant fever since I got pregnant. I think if it were a fever, it would have broken by now. I think I just run hot right now." She shrugged. "It's too bad it's too cold… the motion of the train might add to the fun of lovemaking…"

"I thought it would make you sick."

"That went away."

"Hm."

"Anyway, I guess we'll just wait until we get to Kiamo Ko."

Fiyero was already unzipping his trousers. "I guess I could brave the cold for a bit, so long as you keep me warm…"

She grinned. "Gladly."