Gargoyles- The Heart of Darkness (2)

by Sunmoonlight

Newly-mated pair, Brooklyn and Rose have finally found the life and love in which they both had fought for. But Rose's dark past, and magical forces beyond their control have come back; threatening to tear them apart. Will their love and powerful soul-bond be able to survive the test? Or will the darkness destroy everything they've created together completely?

20. Chapter 20- Surprises

~Chapter Twenty~

Surprises

Hours passed and Rose was having a blast with Emily, Katie and Chris on their family outing. They spent the first half of the morning at the Aquarium showing Katie all of the fish in their different oceanic exhibits, before deciding to make their way to the beach where they ended up staying throughout the rest of the afternoon. It already proved to be a very warm day, so as much fun as Coney Island was, they knew Katie wouldn't appreciate the rides in the hot sun. So, instead they went to the beach, found a nice spot in the sand, ate lunch, and now Chris, Emily and Katie were playing in the ocean; while Rose stayed on the beach relaxing.

She got in the ocean a few times just to cool off, but was now lying on her towel in her bikini under the hot sun with sunglasses on. Since it was a holiday, the beach was incredibly busy but she was enjoying people-watching.

All around where she was laying, children were running and squealing in happiness all along the beach, making sand castles while some were playing in the water. Further down, there was a sand volleyball game going on with a group of college friends who were laughing and making a lot of noise. Other people were running along the water line getting a work out in, and then there were multiple model-like women strutting around in their very revealing bikinis, trying to gain any attention they could from the opposite sex.

Rose enjoyed watching all the people on the beach for close to a half hour, but slowly the fatigue that had been following behind her nausea all day took over, and she ended up falling asleep in the hot sun. It had been so long since she actually had the chance to relax like she was and enjoy the small, but enjoyable moments of life. With nothing pressing with work to bother her, she took advantage of it and let more uninterrupted and peaceful sleep take over her.

Rose wasn't sure how long she was out for, but when she woke up, her skin was sunburned. Looking around, she noticed that Emily and her family were still playing in the water, so it couldn't have been very long that she was out. Grimacing to herself in slight pain, she stood up, walked over to her beach chair to sit under their large umbrella to seek shade, and pulled out a water bottle to drink water to re-hydrate. Now that she was awake, her nausea was coming on again and she was sure the lack of keeping hydrated wasn't helping.

Sighing in slight frustration, she placed a swimming suit cover over her body to further protect her burned red skin, settled comfortably into her chair while sipping on her water, and began wondering what she should do about the nausea and if Emily's theory was correct of her being pregnant.

Her thoughts were interrupted momentarily when she heard the familiar squeal of Katie's laughing. Emily and Chris were swinging Katie into the crashing waves, making her shriek out in laughter, and she couldn't help but smile endearingly over at them. Part of her felt a little bit strange that she was tagging along alone, without kids of her own, on their family outing. The other half of her was grateful to be spending time with them, as it had been way too long since she'd participated in anything normal or seen them, since they were like her other adopted family.

As Rose kept watching them, Chris then grabbed Katie, swung her over onto his shoulders and then grabbed onto Emily, bringing them both into a very large wave. Their screams of laughter carried all the way over to her, who couldn't help but laugh along with them. Once they all recovered from being blasted by a strong wave, Chris held onto his pregnant wife and pulled her to him, kissing her deeply. Just then, a pang of longing shot through Rose as she watched her best friend and her husband share a romantic moment together, and more than ever, she was missing her own mate; Brooklyn.

The last time she and him were ever able to hang out during the day was during their honeymoon, five months ago. Puck gave them both a potion that allowed them to enjoy being the same species for a day and a night; and it was one of the best nights of her life.

As she recalled that wonderful experience, she enjoyed being a Gargoyle and felt completely natural in that state, but when Brooklyn turned into a Human and they were able to spend the day at Coney Island, and experience normal human life with her. It was incredibly surreal and something she sometimes wished she had right now, as everyone else's lives were thrown in her face. No matter how much she loved her Gargoyle mate and their life together, there was still a small desire for them to be able to live a Human life sometimes.

However, as seconds passed and she recalled all that she did have with Brooklyn, it occurred to her that their worlds were now combined happily and peacefully, but she couldn't deny that they still came from very separate worlds at first. She happily sacrificed her Human world to be with him; but it was still that, a sacrifice and with that, a price. As she continued to observe people, she couldn't help but notice all of the couples around her. Some were walking along the beach hand-in-hand, others were kissing and making out passionately in the sand, while some were laying out in the sun and tanning next to each other, some sleeping, and the rest were dealing with their children.

Unsure if it was her heightened emotions, but she suddenly felt very alone, even though she was surrounded by hundreds of people. Rose was immersed in the world in which she grew up in; but now more than ever, felt like an alien. Her normal life now existed at nighttime with her Gargoyle mate, where a different beauty and series of activities occurred, and even though it wasn't this world… she suddenly was alright with it and internally slapped herself for wishing she had anything different. Rose had something much better than the status quo, she had Brooklyn. His connection, commitment, friendship and unconditional love was a reward and treasure in itself.

Not quite sure why she had been feeling so jealous of other Human couples, when she had something even better, she decided to blame it on her strange behavior. As of late, she didn't feel quite like herself and was becoming increasingly unnerved by it. As if on cue to her thoughts, another wave of nausea suddenly overcame her, crashing into her body like the ocean. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and gently touched her flat stomach.

At this, Emily's words from earlier returned, and had not left her mind alone. Their conversation this morning about if she was somehow pregnant with Brooklyn's child or not took precedence over all other thoughts. The possibility of her being pregnant, left her with more questions and anxiety over not knowing the answers; but at the same time, it also left her with great hope and excitement.

Although she knew that her husband would not wish for her to risk carrying his child, she would do it in a heartbeat and wanted to have a child with him more than anything. Seeing Brooklyn as the eventual leader of his Clan, and a future father figure to all of the children of the Clan, was something that she was incredibly proud of. However, it wouldn't be the same because they wouldn't be theirs.

Long ago, she and Brooklyn had visions about each other's futures and she swore that she saw two children in them. They had no idea what they looked like or who they were at the time, but Rose always knew deep down that they belonged to her and her mate.

They had a sure feeling that they were somehow their children.

Her children.

As Rose sat, holding her stomach and thinking about that vision, a very strange thing suddenly happened. Strong lightning-like sensations shot through her veins, much like it did when she and Brooklyn were very first connected at the Brooklyn Bridge, and settled deep inside of her abdomen. The sensations were so intense, light, and powerful that they made her physically jump and cry out, while holding her stomach. To her shock and amazement, the sensations weren't painful, but instead, made her want to pass out from pure joy and amazement. Her magic instantly awakened to it and encouraged it to spread through her body one time, before it slowly faded.

Rose was speechless, and didn't know what to think or do except sit frozen in her seat and hold her flat stomach. She didn't know what happened, or how she knew, but for a small moment she thought she felt another soul inside of her, connected to that light bond that was shared between herself and Brooklyn. Offering it protection and ability to grow. Tears entered her eyes at the pure joy she felt, and for a mad moment, she was sure that she was pregnant. However, as quickly as the sensation shot through her, it disappeared, leaving her to feel nothing but nausea and wondering if she was going crazy or not.

Gasping for air, she blinked a few times and sat back in her chair completely stunned and processing what she felt within herself. But as she sat there, the connection no longer was felt and had no idea what it was. There were still so many questions she had about her soul bond to Brooklyn, her magic and her apparent Third Race descendants. Was she pregnant, and could it truly be possible since she wasn't a true and complete Human? Could she nurture and carry a hybrid species child within her body properly and deliver it safely?

Racked with uncertainty, Rose wasn't sure about anything at this point, all she knew was something incredible with her bond magic occurred and tied her destiny to another's, or so she thought happened. But was it truly a child or something else? And if it was a child, was she, a half-Human and her Gargoyle husband and mate fully able to conceive a child together? Rose still did not know enough about her parents or the Third Race to know if such a thing was possible or not. As she recalled all that she had learned so far about her parents through Puck and the Draugr, it became clear to her that there was more to her parentage that met the eye.

She also didn't know, at the time of watching the memories from Puck, all those nights ago, that Lord Oberon's brother, Demetrius, was her father, and Hela was her mother. So far, that's all she knew about them, nothing else on what their magic was capable of. As she pondered all these questions, it was also unclear to her how Hela and Demetrius got together to create her in the first place. Did they end up falling in love? Or did they do it out of a twisted way to spite Oberon and Titania? How was she born as a Human, and why did they give her away to let her adoptive parents raise her? She wasn't complaining or ungrateful, as she probably was saved from them in many ways, but her entire existence didn't make any sense, and didn't know what to expect with her own life and mate. It occurred to her that she truly didn't know what she and her magic were capable of.

Questions and worries continued to plague her brain worse as she sat in the chair, but was forced to sit in the back of her mind when a soaking wet Emily suddenly came walking up to her. She was dressed in a one piece pink swimming suit and looked amazing with her adorable baby bump. Rose blinked a few times, realizing that she had stared into nothing, without blinking, and her eyes were dried out.

She gave Emily a brief smile, as she placed a large sun hat on top of her soaked head, then put on a light cream swimming cardigan over her suit and plopped down next to Rose with a happy sigh. She then grabbed an ice-cold water from their cooler and began to drink water as well.

"Ahhh, that's good stuff. By the way, hey!" Emily greeted, relaxing and digging her soaked feet into the warm sand.

"Hey." Rose answered with a smile. "How was the water?"

"Refreshing." She replied, watching her soaked husband walk over with their equally soaked three-year-old daughter. "How come you haven't been getting in the water much?"

Rose shrugged. "I felt more like lying in the sun and tanning my white skin than getting slammed by the water."

"Uhhh... Forget tan, dear. You are burned, fried, toasted." Emily teased, poking at her painful skin. "I would say you were trying to match your husband's skin and went more brick red."

"Yeah, I know…" Rose sighed. "I totally got fried."

"Didn't you put on sunscreen?"

"Yes mommy, but I fell asleep." Rose teased her back. "Besides, my pale skin has not seen the sun like this for a long time."

"Well, we are having a ton of fun out there." Emily said with a smile. "We hope that you weren't feeling like you had to stay away or… awkwardly sit by yourself."
"I'm not awkwardly sitting here. I was relaxing, and wanted to tan… which is not what ended up happening, but it's fine. Besides, I found that I can't be in the water for long."

"Why not?" Emily asked, getting snacks out and looking at her with a strange expression.

"The waves, weirdly enough, were making my nausea worse." Rose explained quietly, and Emily instantly nodded, as if she understood, while scarfing down a granola bar.

"Hmmm, I get that. That's a real thing, ya know. The salt water from the Ocean can easily dehydrate you, so if you're having nausea or anything, the sensation of the waves plus the moisture being sucked out of you will make it worse. That's why I'm taking a break, I need to drink some water too."

"Yeah." Rose mused, nodding her head. "The antacids aren't helping like they normally have been."

"Do you want to try eating a snack? If I graze throughout the day, it seems to help my symptoms."

"That's because you're pregnant." Rose muttered, trying to act normal and not discuss what just happened to her connection to Emily. It's not like she wouldn't understand, but instead, would make a much bigger deal over it than Rose wanted, so she chose to keep it to herself for the time being. "I'm not sure what's going on with me… "

"I know I kinda freaked you out before." Emily said, eating some pretzels from their snack bag. "But the more that we are together, I am growing more and more convinced that you very well might be pregnant. I mean… if you're really starting to feel nauseous all the time, and aren't showing yet, you could be very early on…"

"Fine." Rose said quietly, cutting her off. "I… I am starting to believe you, but, I'm not going to say that's what it is until I take the test. So, until I find out for sure, please… please don't tell anyone. Okay?"

"I know." Emily replied, looking a bit insulted. "Who would I tell?"

"Well… Chris for one thing…"

"Hmmm, no, I wouldn't." Emily said, shaking her head. "Hon, he doesn't even know you're married again, much less to a Gargoyle or even the fact that they exist. I would never say anything about you possibly being pregnant…" At this, Emily's eyes suddenly widened in excitement, went off her chair onto her knees in the sand and knelt at Rose's side; taking her hand.

"Okay, I'm sorry for bringing it up again, but I just have to freak out for a second here!"

"About what?" Rose asked in amazement.

"Over the possibility of you being pregnant!" Emily explained. " I mean, what if you really are?! I… I can't get over how incredible that would be! You would be getting everything you've ever wanted!"

" I know." Rose said, unable to hide her smile anymore and the tears that quickly followed. "I want it to be true… especially with Brooklyn… but…" she paused and cleared her tears away. "I can't focus on it right now, I need to stay distracted. It could be a fatal thing for me to carry his children, I mean… we still don't know if I am truly a Human or not; nor if having his children is a possibility. But if we find out that I'm not pregnant… I will be…"

"Heartbroken?" Emily guessed softly.

"Devastated." Rose whispered, nodding at her. "So, I need to not think about it right now. I can't. It's too much."

Emily smiled an encouraging smile, squeezed her hand tighter and nodded. "I know. It's okay… we won't talk about it yet. And you have my word. I won't say anything to anyone."

Sighing, Rose knew she was being too anxious and could trust Emily. She had kept her secret of being married to Brooklyn, and the Clan existing; so she wasn't sure why she was worried about it now.

"I know," Rose whispered. "I trust you… thank you."

"You're welcome. We'll chat about this later." Emily said winking; right as Chris and Katie joined them from the Ocean. Chris plopped down on the sand with a towel wrapped around his swim trunks, pulled on a cotton tank top shirt over his upper naked half, and then wrapped Katie in her towel to be drying off. Emily silently handed two more water bottles over to them, and Chris took them. Katie gulped down the water like she was truly a fish out of water; and they all couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Are ya thirsty kiddo?" Rose asked, as slopped some water down her front, giggling and nodding. Emily and Chris both started laughing at their daughter.

"So, is everyone having fun?" Chris asked, leaning back against Emily as Katie crawled onto Rose's lap to snuggle.

"We are." Rose replied, smiling and gently running her fingers through her fine, blonde curly hair.

"Ah… I see that your tan turned into red lobster." Chris teased. "Fall asleep on the sand?"

"I did… but I meant to do it. Burned, red skin is the new fashion trend." Rose teased back.

"Says who?"

"Says everybody."

"Hmm, sure." Chris laughed, drinking down some water. "Whatever you say then."

"Hey… leave her alone." Emily piped in with a wide grin on her face. "Red is Rose's new favorite color…"

At this under-the-table tease, Rose glanced over at Emily with a slight glare, in which Emily winked, and smiled even wider at her. Laughing now, Rose shook her head and chose to ignore it, since Chris wouldn't know the significance over 'red skin,' since he didn't know about Brooklyn.

Chris offered her a small bag of pretzels, in which Rose gratefully took and decided to try to snack on. It was a salty and dry carb which would hopefully help settle her stomach. Everyone ate their snack in silence, and after three pretzels, Rose could feel Katie began to fall asleep in her arms. Rose kissed the top of her head, snuggled her closer to her and looked over at her best friends, feeling a great deal of love, admiration and gratitude for them taking such good care of her.

"Thanks so much for inviting me, you guys. I have missed hanging out with everyone."

"We've missed you too." Chris replied, settling against Emily's leg, still sitting on the sand. "Em has obviously seen you more than I have, but I'm glad that life has slowed down enough for you that we can do these things again."

"Yeah." She said, chuckling slightly. "My life has been… interesting to say the least."

"I bet." He said, taking a drink of water. "So… you're working two jobs, dealing with the aftermath of Kevin. But, is that all that's going on in your life?"

"Isn't that enough?" Rose laughed.

"Yes, very much so. I wasn't trying to downgrade anything." Chris laughed back. "You've just always been way more quiet about your personal life, so because of that, I just want to make sure that you're happy and taken care of. Yes, Emily is my woman and lovely wife, but you're our family too and I feel slightly responsible for you."

Rose laughed again, but this time a bit more awkwardly, still rubbing Katie's back and feeling her body weight grow heavier on hers.

"I… I'm good, you don't need to worry about me." She said kindly. "You've got your family to worry about. I am very happy. I'm free from Kevin and I…" she paused and smiled to herself. "I'm in love with all that life has given me."

Emily smiled knowingly at what she was saying and Chris looked pleasantly surprised by her upbeat attitude, regardless of what horrors he heard from Emily.

"Awesome." Chris said happily. "I'm very happy to hear that you're doing well and finding you again."

"Thanks, Chris." Rose replied.

"So… no dating yet?" Chris suddenly asked her, and she couldn't' help but freeze at the question.

"Oh… um… well, that's uhmm…"

"I know we kinda screwed up the first time introducing you to someone," Chris continued over her mumbling. "But, I've got a lot of single friends that I could try to set you up with..."

"Oh no, that's alright-"

"She's using the time to heal and is taking time for herself." Emily stepped in with a smile. "Rose isn't interested in dating anyone yet."

Chris stared at Rose for a moment, while chewing his food, and looked thoughtful. "I get that. However, you're such a wonderful, kind, smart, funny and stunning woman… I don't want you to be alone. Not after what you've gone through with Kevin. You deserve to find someone who completes you, and loves you completely. Marriage is not what Kevin gave you… I can tell you that right now."

"I know." Rose suddenly said, making him glance up at her and Emily looked shocked. "I… the truth is that I… actually have found someone like that, and he's… well… he's my soulmate and the love of my life."

"You… what?" Chris asked her in shock.

"Rose…" Emily warned, but she ignored her, took a deep breath and decided to tell him part of the truth. She hated lying to Chris and wanted to give him the explanation that she had been giving everyone else who asked about her love life; because she was so happy to be married again she wanted everyone to know about it.

"Um… it's okay, Em." Rose said calmly. "You don't need to cover for me anymore."

Emily's eyes grew wide and looked suddenly very nervous as she began to tell Chris the truth.

"I um… I am actually seeing someone right now." Rose told him with a smile. "And… we are… very, very happy."

"What?!" Chris exclaimed as Emily continued to stare at her with frozen anxiety. "Rose! That's awesome! How come you haven't said anything? Emily has told me that you were single."

"That's because she was being a good and loyal friend like she always is, and has respected what I have asked of her." Rose explained with a gentle smile. "The truth is… I didn't want to say anything because I understand that it has happened really fast, especially since Kevin's death. I didn't want drama or judgement from everyone who knew me. So, I've kept it on the down low."

"Wow!" Chris gasped out. "I mean, yeah that makes sense for sure. But good for you! When did you meet him? Who is he?"

"Uhh…" She started to explain, but stopped as Emily quickly shook her head from behind Chris', mouthing and begging, 'No! Don't!'

But again, Rose ignored her and knew what she was doing.

"I met my… guy… when I ran away from Kevin, and we began dating while I was technically still married to him. I was always planning on divorcing Kevin when I could legally get close enough to him, without him trying to kill me."

"God… the more I hear about that bastard, I just… " Chris growled, shaking his head, took a deep breath to calm down. "Sorry. I don't want to hear anymore about Ke- I mean, that guy, so please, continue about this new guy. He sounds wonderful for you."

"He really is." Rose explained gently. "He and I have been together for over nine months now and I am… head over heels in love with him."

Chris whistled. "Nine months… wow… that's a long time. What's his name?"

"Brooklyn." Rose told him quietly, ignoring Emily's silent freak out.

"Oh cool… he sounds like a New York man, through and through." Chris said with a large grin. "Let me guess, he was born and raised here in Brooklyn?"

"Well… not, not really. He and his family are from Europe, well… Scotland, to be exact."

"Oh… wow.." Chris looked completely shocked. "A foreign guy!" He paused, then leaned forward and pushed on her leg teasingly. "Well, what the hell Rose? You've been dating a European guy for over nine months; and now you two live in a bad ass party house? How come I haven't met him yet? How come we haven't had a party at your place yet?" He paused and then looked at Emily. "And you've known this whole time and have kept her secret from me?"

"Uhhh…" Emily said, looking more and more panicked as the moments passed. "Um. Yes… honey, I have met him… but…" She paused, and then freaked. "I'm so sorry! I wanted to, but couldn't say anything! It's all Rose's fault."

Rose scoffed at her, amused that she was being thrown under the bus by her best friend, but all of it was true and deserving.

"Okay… yes, it is." Rose said. "But please understand that it wasn't anything personal. Emily found out about him and I begged her to keep him a secret. At least, for a small while. I wanted all of the legal stuff with Kevin to calm down first."

"I understand." Chris said, nodding at her. "That couldn't have been easy to deal with… I'm sorry for all the hell that he put you through. But, I'm glad that you've found what sounds like a dynamite guy. I'm happy for you."

"Yeah," Emily said, now looking relieved that Chris knew about Brooklyn (kind of). "He… he is super nice, awesome, funny and treats Rose like a Queen. They are perfect together."

"I thought we were the perfect couple?" Chris teased her.

"We are, but Rose and Brooklyn come close to second place."

"Hmmmm." Chris mused, gently kissing Emily's hand. "Good to know… I can't wait to meet this dream boat."

"Yeah… he… he saved me from Kevin actually, and stayed by my side through it all." Rose said, feeling more in love as she carefully retold her story. "He's been my light through it all, for sure."

"No kidding!" Chris said in disbelief. "I can't believe you've been in a relationship for that long and haven't said anything. Shoot, he sounds like an awesome dude."

"He is."

"Makes me feel like you two might be getting a little close to marriage?" Chris pushed further. "Would I be correct in assuming that's the next step for you two?"

"Um… yeah, about that… " Rose laughed, taking him a bid deeper in her secret life. "Well, funny enough, we uh… actually got married in secret five months ago."

Silence passed between them for a few seconds before he exploded.

"Are you serious!?" Chris cried out in amazement. "FIVE MONTHS YOU'VE BEEN MARRIED! Oh my God, Rose… tell me you're joking!? You're married and I'm just now finding out about it?!"

Rose glanced over at each other warily, and slowly she shook her head; almost as if she could hear Emily's thoughts. Her face said very clearly, 'I hope you know what you're doing…'

Just then, Katie suddenly jumped in her arms due to her dad's loud voice, so she glanced down and saw her completely asleep in her chest. Moaning out at how adorable she was, Rose shushed her, cupped the back of her head against her chest and gently held onto her; smiling down at the sleeping beauty and felt her heart melting.

Chris and Emily smiled endearingly at their sleeping daughter as well.

"Ohh… she loves you." Emily whispered. "She has missed you."

"Not as much as I've missed her." Rose replied quietly. "She's gotten so big…"

"Well, you have missed out on a lot... " Chris said and that sent another shot of pain into her heart. She had been a part of Katie's life since she was an infant, and held her as a newborn baby. But he was right, now she was a potty- trained three year old; and she had missed a lot of that growth.

"We should get going soon." Emily turned and said to her husband. "She's had a lot of sun and it's getting closer to dinnertime."

"Yeah, I'll start getting our stuff cleaned up here in a second. But I have a few more questions for Rose, first. So, what does Brooklyn do for a living? When could we meet him… since he's your new husband?"

Rose could feel Emily's eyes on her as she contemplated her usual answer, and although she felt really bad about lying, it was necessary for the moment.

"Well, his schedule is a bit tricky to work socializing around." Rose explained softly. "He works a graveyard shift, helping the Police as well as forms of law enforcement, I guess you can say. I can't say too much other than that."

"Is he special forces or something?"

"Y-yeah, I guess you can say that." She answered and Chris grinned at her even more.

"That's so bad ass, dude. This guy sounds hard core! Especially if he protected you from Kevin. He sounds like a really awesome guy. I'm really, really happy for you, Rose. It's about time you have a good marriage."

"Thanks Chris." Rose said sincerely. "So.. um… yeah. When I'm not working, he and I pull all-nighter's to spend time with each other. It's a bit of a change of schedule, but I don't mind it."

"I gotcha." He said, paused and then suddenly looked confused. "So… where is he now? Why couldn't he come?"

"He's working till really late tonight, so he was sleeping in our room." Rose said. "But uh… he does really want to meet you and hang out as well. It might just take some time for things to settle is all. He is um… a bit… different so, we just want our families to meet at the right time."

"Sounds fair." Chris said with a smile, looked over at Emily and then sighed. "Well, my congratulations to you, Rose. That's so awesome to hear! I hope to meet the stud one day, and uh… let's say we head? Beat traffic and have some time to relax before fireworks?"

"Yeah, sounds like a plan." Emily answered, glancing back over at Rose and gave her an impressed look. Other than the small lies, most of it was pretty much the truth, without divulging that he was a Gargoyle to Chris. Brooklyn did work with the Police, assisted in catching criminals and protecting the city, and he did 'work nights' making him unavailable during the day. They did get married in secret and for the most part, Rose's relationship was not a lie.

Smiling at her, happy that she actually didn't completely lie to her husband's face, they both worked together in packing up their beach party, while Rose stayed and snuggled Katie. When they were all done, Chris was holding onto everything but reached out to carry Katie.

"Do you want me to take her?"

"No, it's okay, I'll carry her." Rose said softly, carefully standing up, allowing him to take her beach chair. Emily came over and placed a cotton skirt around Rose's waist to cover up her bikini bottoms.

"Thank you." Rose told her gratefully.

"No, thank you." Emily said very quietly. "It didn't occur to me that you would have to have an alibi for your life. Chris is now in the loop, other than he's a Gargoyle, and I really appreciate you telling him. Even though you were giving me heart palpitations."

"Yeah, of course." Rose laughed. "He's my friend too… and I care about him. I don't want to lie to people anymore. It may be slightly different from the truth, but at least he knows that I'm married again."

"Yeah, I bet it's relieving for you to tell people."

"Yeah…" Rose said with a smile. "It keeps all of the preying bachelors off my back as well."

"It's a win-win then." Emily smiled, and she smiled back.

"Exactly."

Walking next to each other, they all made their way towards Chris and Emily's family van, as Rose held their sleeping daughter.

"So, Katie is pretty much going to be sleeping most of the night," Chris said. "And Em and I are wanting to stay in- but you're more than welcome to come and watch the fireworks on TV since Brooklyn isn't available to join you."

"That's sweet, but no thanks." Rose replied. "But I've got other plans. Brooklyn has tonight off, so when he wakes up, we are going to watch the fireworks at the bay and actually, before that, I wanted to surprise him with a romantic date. Being the 4th, it's been five months since we got married, so I want to make it special."

"Awe." Emily gushed. "How cute is that? What are you planning on doing for him?"

"Um… well I'm not quite sure yet." Rose replied, as Chris began to pack their van up. "Any suggestions?"

"Well, you could prepare a nice dinner for him and watch your wedding home video with each other? I mean… it's kind of crappie cause my hand was shaky, but it could be fun to do!"

"Yeah, that would be really nice." Rose said quietly. "I'll do something like that, for sure. I was kind of snappy at him earlier today today, and I want to make up for it."

"Sounds good." Emily whispered as Chris came over and carefully took the sleeping Katie from Rose's arms to put in her car seat.

"Come here sweetheart… shhh… it's okay." Chris whispered to Katie, as she stirred slightly. When Emily and Rose were alone, Emily turned back to her and placed her hand on the small of her back.

"Thanks again for being honest with Chris."

"You're welcome, I don't know when it'll be good to tell him that he's a Gargoyle… but that way, he's more in the loop, but still safe."

"Safe? Why wouldn't he be safe?" Emily asked.

"Because my life often attracts dangerous things or situations." Rose explained. "So, that's why I would like to take my time with telling him and completely immersing your family with mine. It'll just take time is all."

"I know." Emily said, smiling at her. "Well, hopefully there will be another little Brooklyn or Rose running around soon."

Rose slowly turned to look at her best friend and still didn't know what to think. She chose not to tell her about the strange connection she felt down at the beach, but now that time passed and it was such a quick thing, she had no idea what it was.

"I'll go and buy a test soon." She said, giving Emily a small smile.

"I have tons of extras at my place. You can just take them…"

"Can you actually just take me home?" Rose asked. "I'm really tired and need to prepare my surprise for Brooklyn. Besides, pregnancy tests are super cheap and I can get them at any convenience store."

Emily studied her for a moment and then quietly chuckled.

"Sure thing. Okay, we'll take you home, no worries. Have fun showing off your new skin tone to your husband, I'm sure he'll be flattered." Rose laughed at her joke, and leaned in to hug her tightly. Emily rubbed her back gently and talked in her hair. "Call me when you find out the results, okay? Whatever the tests say, I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you."

"I know. Thank you, Emily." Rose whispered back. "I love you so much. Thank you for being my best friend."

"I love you too, Rose. Thank you for being mine, as well."

"Hey… wife one and wife two! Ready to go?" Chris called from the side of the van as they broke apart. Rose smiled tearfully at her best friend, ever thankful to have her in her life, as Emily nodded at her, holding her hands tightly.

"Yup. We're ready." Emily called back. They then broke apart, Emily climbed in the front seat of the van as Rose squeezed herself into the back, next to the sleeping Katie; shut the sliding side door shut and then clicked on her seat belt.

Chris started the car and then said, to both of them, "Alright… onward? To Rose's place?"

"Yes, please." Rose said.

Chris nodded and then instantly put the car into drive, and made their way out of the beach parking lot. They drove in relative silence for a few minutes across the providence of Brooklyn heading back towards Manhattan. Emily and Chris were quietly listening to the radio, and as they were driving over the Brooklyn Bridge, Rose couldn't help but recall the cherished memory of that life changing night. When she met Brooklyn and he saved her life, in more ways than she could even comprehend.

Their fun day was fading into early evening, and it had been a near perfect day. However, it wasn't over for her and was only about to get even better the minute the sun set.

---

When Chris and Emily dropped her off back home, she quickly entered her apartment, went up to her level and got to work. It was close to eight thirty in the evening and Rose wanted this night to be perfect. The other couples were going to be coming over, shortly after sunset, and since it was summer and the sun lasted longer in the day, she wouldn't see them or Brooklyn until close to nine-thirty. Even then, they would still have an hour before the firework show started out at the bay, and even less time with Brooklyn before the others showed up to eat dinner.

She hoped that the few minutes it took them to arrive down at her apartment that she and Brooklyn would have some time alone to begin some romance. More than ever, she wanted to apologize for her behavior from earlier and show him how much she truly appreciated him. Rose quickly defrosted some hamburger meat and got it ready to barbecue up top, cut up fruit, made a green salad and then put together a pasta salad. They had chips ready to go, drinks, and the rest of the barbecue for the other couples.

Once all of the food was ready, and meat seasoned and ready to be put on the grill, she quickly walked to the living room and took out all of the picture frames that Emily put away; placing them back on the fireplace shelf and other shorter surfaces where they lived. Then she quickly walked into her bedroom to grab the larger canvas wedding photo of her and Brooklyn. To her happiness, Brooklyn's stone form was still sitting in the same position on their bedroom floor and smiled at him. She hoped that the surprise she had for him would be something he would appreciate, even if it was a quicker thing. Rose quickly crossed over to him and kissed his stone beak.

"I'll be showered and dressed before you wake up, my love. I can't wait to see you."

With that, she walked over to her bed, picked up the canvas picture of their wedding and walked it out to place back on their living room wall. When that was done, she made sure that some candles were lit, their wedding home video on pause on their television, and the song she wished to have playing when he woke up on pause.

At their wedding, she and Brooklyn slow danced to a classical song, but for tonight, she wanted to make it more personal to them both and chose one of her favorites by Elvis, 'I Can't Help Falling in Love .' It was one they danced to when she lived in the Labyrinth, and had become a good go-to love song. When all of the romantic mood was set, she walked back inside her room, undressed and took a quick shower.

Fifteen minutes later, and slightly hating life, Rose carefully placed aloe lotion on her skin to help cool her slightly red skin. She then brushed her teeth, did a face of nice make up and curled her hair into nicely loose curls. Even though they would be hanging around, she wanted to look nice for her husband. Luckily for her, grazing on food all day seemed to be helping her nausea; and for once, she was feeling better. Smiling at herself in the mirror, she quickly put on laced underwear, a strapless bra and then walked onto their closet. It wasn't very big, but in the back laid a large white box.

Grinning even bigger to herself, she opened it and felt butterflies forming in her stomach, out of excitement and not nausea.

"Hello, old friend." Rose whispered to herself, looking down at what was inside. "It's time to wow my husband tonight… and I think you'll do just the trick."

---

The sun faded from the horizon and created a shadow upon Brooklyn's stone skin, instantly cracking it, allowing his normal flesh and blood self to break free from his sleeping slumber. Faster and faster, his stone skin cracked and broke away from his red, flesh one. He fell asleep crouched down, and now he longed to stretch his entire body out. Standing up, Brooklyn stretched and burst out of his stone skin with a great roar. Stone shards exploded everywhere, littering his bedroom carpet.

After his initial roar, he yawned a great yawn, stretched more of his body and wings out; waking up fully now. Brooklyn exhaled his last yawn out, glanced around and saw that he was all alone in his and Rose's bedroom. All of the lights were off, but out in the hallway leading to the living room and kitchen had light coming into their bedroom slightly.

He didn't know where Rose was, but out in the living room, someone suddenly turned on some quiet music. With his good hearing, he guessed that it was probably his wife. Brooklyn took a deep breath, and decided to quickly clean up his stone skin mess so that he didn't stress Rose out further. Inside the bathroom, behind their door, they kept a small broom for cleaning purposes; so he decided to quickly use it to pick up after him. After a few minutes, he finished cleaning up his stone skin mess, relieved himself in the bathroom and took the time to freshen up and brush his teeth.

Gargoyles didn't usually take the time to do such things, as their hygiene purposes were taken care of during their stone sleep, but it was always nice that Rose made herself presentable for him, so he wanted to do the same for her. As he thought about his beautiful mate, she had a strange morning. He dreamt of her his entire sleep as always, but this time he had nightmares. He could not remember what they were about, but all he knew was that he woke up as confused as he did falling asleep.

Since she was mostly Human, he was used to her having potential things that would be strange, but this morning took the cake for him. He had never seen her in such a confusing and peculiar set of behaviors before. One moment she was physically ill, then was snappy and irritable… then the next she was trying to jump his bones and mate with him. But the strangest thing for him, that he had never experienced with her before, was seconds before he turned to stone. She had become emotional and truly upset that she was leaving him and not mating with her.

And that made him feel awful.

He never wanted to leave his mate, especially when she had needs or desires, but there was something else about her that was slightly strange. He could feel it in their connection, and inside of his soul. It wasn't anything that jumped out at him as dangerous, but when he observed his mate earlier this morning, he couldn't help but notice that she was holding herself differently. Unsure if it was because of her not feeling well, he was planning on watching her very closely to make sure that she was alright.

Now that he was done refreshing himself, he walked out of the bathroom, wrapped his wings around his shoulders and went to walk out his bedroom to find Rose. More than anything, he wanted to kiss, hold and cherish her; remind her that he loved her and how sorry he was that he had to leave earlier this morning. However, before he could leave their room, a soft song was playing on their stereo out in the living room and it made him pause with his claw on the door. He still didn't know if Rose was out there or not, but he could sense a series of different things.

Candles were burning, making their apartment smell of amber and vanilla mixed with wax, his and Rose's go-to slow dance song by Elvis was playing quietly, and the lights were mostly shut off. When he looked down at the ground, he was amazed when he saw individual pieces of red rose petals lining the floor, making a trail for him; leading him out into the living room. Smiling and taking a few breaths, he slowly emerged from the bedroom and walked down the hallway, following the petals and prepping for anything. He didn't know why he felt nervous, however, after a few seconds of getting closer, he could feel Rose's soul near his and all of his worries instantly melted. Their connection sensations flowed through them and he could feel her great light and love for him; as well as some excitement on her part for him to join her in the living room.

After a few steps, he finally entered the room and what he saw made his heart pound with amazement, awe, love and surprise. Candles were burning calmly all around the dark room, red rose petals were all over the room, and soft, romantic music was playing softly in the stereo in their entertainment center. Rose had moved their couches to the side, opening up their living room a bit more for space, but the biggest surprise of all was what was standing in the middle of the room. The beautiful woman who was in front of him was not what he was expecting to see, but was a breathtakingly beautiful reminder of who he vowed to love and marry, five months ago. Rose had found her wedding dress and put it back on for him, surprising him for a romantic evening before the other couples arrived.

Brooklyn's jaw dropped at the sight of her, his heart began pounding and the breath in his lungs escaped him. Her long auburn hair was down and curled beautifully; her makeup was done glamorously and she was reminding him of how incredibly lucky he was to have her in his life. Even though he never forgot how lucky he was, seeing his wife in front of him as a bride again was everything to him. She was smiling a sweetly bright white smile, and all bad energy inside of her, from earlier, was gone. When he saw her, his heart pounded out of his chest and his breath left his lungs. His eyes widened as he brought one claw up to his chest.

"Rose?" he gasped out, unable to stop the tears that formed in his eyes.

Looking around some more and taking in all that she had put together for him; she had prepared the food for their group date barbecue before they left for the firework show, but she had poured herself and him a glass of sparkling juice, dressed up in her wedding dress and made a wonderful effort at giving him a romantic evening before the others showed up. And that for him was the nicest, thoughtful and most romantic thing anyone had ever done for him.

Still frozen where he stood in stunned awe, Rose grinned even brighter and slowly began waking up to him.

"Hey sweetheart, I missed you." She said quietly.

As much as he wanted to proclaim his undying love for her, he couldn't find any words in his brain or any air in his lungs to try to describe how much this moment meant to him, or tell her how beautiful she was. Her face was glowing, her body curvaceous and beyond desirable, and the beautiful white dress hugged every curve like he remembered. A long train followed after her as she walked towards him and he wanted to burst into tears at how beautiful and stunning she was to him.

Their wedding night was one of the best nights of his life, and as dark as their lives had been recently, she surprised him by bringing that joy and utmost love back; which was everything to him, she was his everything. When he didn't say anything in response to her greeting, she giggled and continued to slowly make her way over to him.

"You look like you're about to fall over and pass out." She suddenly said softly, looking concerned. "Are… are you alright?" She then glanced around the room in worry. "Did I… did I do too much?"

Wanting to punch himself out of his daze, he still wasn't able to speak. With his silence, she then began to panic.

"It's too much, isn't it?" She asked him nervously. "Oh my goodness, I knew it. I… I'm so sorry honey. I… I just wanted to surprise you and do something romantic for you, since you do so much for me. This was mostly to um… apologize for my behavior this morning. I was acting super weird, but things got better once I took a nap. Emily, Chris, Katie and I had a blast down at the beach, but uh well… as much fun as I had, I missed you like crazy all day long as always. I wanted to show you how much I love and appreciate you… and…"

Brooklyn didn't let her finish her explanation and finally found the strength in his legs. With a powerful whoosh of air, he burst his wings from his shoulders, stepped forward quickly and closed the gap between them crushing his lips against hers.

Her interrupted words were muffled against his lips as he passionately kissed her, and slowly she moaned and melted into his grasp and kiss. Not realizing that tears were slowly falling out of his eyes, he wrapped her body tightly in his arms, wrapped his long wings around them both, and claimed her as his wife, mate, and forever the gorgeously cherished bride that she would always be to him.

Their lips and tongues danced sensually against each other, their breathing staggered and gasp-like. He could feel the desirable heat coming from her body, and every part of her felt perfect to him. Her scent smelled of shower soap, her coconut shampoo and conditioner, mixed with her natural scent and it was driving him mad with desire. Making out with great passion and intensity still, Rose wrapped her arms around his neck, digging her body against his every inch; molding herself to him.

Moaning and gasping out, Rose detached her lips from his and leaned her neck back like she always did when she got turned on; and instantly he took the bait and explored her skin with his lips and tongue, while letting his claws do the talking. He was barely able to breathe at how soft her skin felt, and it made not ripping her clothes off all the harder for him. As he claimed her neck, kissing and tasting her madly, he used one claw to explore her back, backside and hips; while the other slowly took its time to come from her hips, all the way up her stomach; exploring higher on her luscious body.

Rose closed her eyes and began to whimper and gasp out his name, her legs becoming weaker with every touch. But his strength to hold onto her increased. He caresses his claws over her large breasts giving them a few moments of admiration and love, before he brought his claw up to her soft, smooth and exposed shoulders. Her dress hung delicately off of them, and slowly he stopped kissing her neck. With an open mouth slid his lips up her neck back up to hers, exhaling hot breath over her skin as he did so, making her whole body shudder with pleasure.

Rose quickly raised her hands up to cling onto his wrists as he brought both claws up to cup her face and jawline. They kissed passionately again for another few seconds, before he finally pulled away.

Tears were falling down his face, as well as hers, and both were panting and gasping for air as if they both had run a marathon. They stared into each other's tear filled eyes for a long time, smiling in amazement, and even with their bodies and minds connected, they had to still take the time to process what incredible desires and love they felt for each other just now. Brooklyn didn't know how long he kissed her, but he couldn't seem to stop. His emotions could only be expressed physically, at the moment.

Rose was breathing deeply as she stared into his eyes and she looked incredibly happy.

"My love… that was…" she began in an amazed whisper, but he wasn't done kissing her just yet. Still holding gently onto her soft and beautiful face, he caressed his talons over her cheekbones, down her jawline before he took one talon and slightly pulled down on her bottom lip. Fire built up within them again, she raised an eyebrow at him and bit her lusciously plump lip; which did it for him. Crushing his lips against hers again, he growled as he kissed her more rushed and rougher than before; and to his joy, she gave back to him just as rough as he was wanting.

Rose roughly pushed him against the back wall, next to their entertainment center and he happily let her. Now with a stronger surface to lean against for support, he turned her in his arms and pressed her back against the wall; pressing his lips and mouth deeper against and inside of hers, and pressed his aroused groin to hers; which was likely lost under all of her heavy white fabric. His claws explored everywhere on her body, wanting and needing to get to her skin. He massaged his palms over her large breasts, making her gasp out his name. Their tongues stayed dancing on each other as she crushed her body to his, and ran her fingers through his long white mane of hair.

Brooklyn began to growl, getting closer to needing to make this passionate mating fest a reality, however, she suddenly broke away from his lips and tongue, leaned her head back against the wall and gasped out a laugh.

"Ohhh… babe, how I've needed this. I love you so much!"

"I love you too, Rose, more than anything!" He breathed back, claiming her neck and kissing it tenderly.

"So… I take it that you liked your surprise?"

"Ohhh, my sweet angel." He whispered, coming up from her skin, grasped onto her face and held it tenderly, as he intensely gazed into her eyes. "Yes. This is the most thoughtful, sweetest and most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me."

Rose smiled and seemed to melt in his gaze and strong arms.

"Oh good," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her body to his. "I'm glad you like it. It's not much, but… I wanted to surprise you. I…" she paused and gently cupped his beak. "I felt really pathetic and bad for how I was acting this morning. I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" He asked. "You weren't feeling well and longed to have me stay longer to comfort you. There's nothing wrong with that, my love. Even for a moment when you wished for me to mate with you, I was wanting to do so. I hate leaving you, and this morning was even harder for me because I knew you were needing me to stay. And believe me, I wanted to stay more than anything, my love."

"I know, I just didn't want you to feel even worse about our situation." Rose said softly. "So I apologize that I didn't make it any easier for you."

"It's never easy for me to leave you, as I know it's not easy for you either. But… I'm awake and am here now. I'm happy to make up for that lost time." He whispered, bringing his face closer to hers and resting his forehead against hers. "My wife and mate… my beautiful bride."

Rose smiled at him, closed her eyes and both of them met in the middle to kiss passionately. He breathed her in, crushed his body into hers against the wall and made out fiercely.

"Can I help you out of this dress my love?" He breathed against her lips. Running his claws over her, she could feel his excitement, but with the other couples on their way she had other plans for now. Breaking away from his lips, she smiled happily at him and caressed his beak.

"Later… we will pick this back up. I promise."

"Later?" He asked in a groan. "Ohhh no babe, come on, that's mean. Why later? Why can't we take this beautiful moment and run with it? Let's make love to each other all night long." He paused and then gazed more deeply into her eyes. "I will do anything for you Rose. Please, let me show you how much I love you. Let me touch you… let me love you with everything I am."

Brooklyn leaned forward and pressed his lips to her neck, caressing his claws over her breasts. Rose closed her eyes at his sensual touch, leaned her head against his and held onto him tightly.

"That sounds amazing… but… that might be slightly awkward to do while the others are over here."

He suddenly froze at her words, stopped kissing her as he remembered about the others coming at any moment. Groaning out, he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead down upon her chest.

"Oh… crap… I forgot about them."

Smiling even brighter at him and chuckling at his reaction, Rose wrapped her arms around him more tightly, closed her eyes and gently began to sway him to the music that was lightly playing behind them.

"I will make love to you when we are alone again. I promise. " She told him softly. "But for now, while we are alone for this short time, I have something I wanna do with you."

She pulled away from him, walked over to the stereo and rewound the tape so that it replayed Elvis' love song. When she pushed play, the soft and romantic melody filled the room around them. Smiling brightly at him, she then walked to the middle of the room, and watched him stare at her in awe as she did so. Rose turned around slowly, moving her dress out of the way of her feet. Reaching her hand out to him she beckoned him to come over to her.

"Brooklyn, my love, will you please have this dance with me?"

Brooklyn's face slowly split into a blissful smile at her request. Wrapping his long wings around his shoulders, he walked up to her, took her hand within his and pulled her body close to his.

"Of course I will, my love." He whispered, while wrapping his other arm around her waist. "It would be my pleasure."

Smiling brightly, he slowly turned her around in a circle once, before bringing her back to him. He stepped closer to her and with their eyes glued together they began a simple slow dance to the soft beat. Brooklyn took control and swayed a few steps back and forth with her gently in his arms. A few moments passed as they were lost in each other's eyes, smiling at each other. He then backed away a few inches, extended their arms and then turned her around in another twirl.

Rose giggled as he did so, then he brought her back to him, holding her close to him again. Brooklyn's dark brown eyes melted into hers and slowly their connections flowed into each other; making them one. Lost in each other, he lowered his lips down to hers and kissed her wholly and modestly. Their lips pulled and danced in a very slow manner, not pulling away until they had to, only to reattach and kiss longer and deeper. When his lips pulled away briefly, Rose took the moment to whisper and sing quietly along with Elvis with her soft soprano voice.

"For I… can't help… falling in love with… you- Brooklyn."

Brooklyn stared into her eyes, melted into her and broke out into a huge smile, as tears filled his eyes.

"I am so unbelievably in love with you, Rose." He breathed on her lips. "You're the most wonderfully kind, sweet, thoughtful, sexy, beautiful and stunning woman. You're the very air I breathe…"

"So you liked what I've done for you?" Rose asked him in a hopeful voice. "I know we kind of have to split our romantic night up because the others will be here any minute, but I wanted to seize the moment and show you how much I love and appreciate you."

"Well… I never doubted anything. If anything, I feel like I needed to pull this romantic night out of my head and heart, not you. But yes, this is amazing, babe, and I am blown away by how incredibly awesome you are for thinking of this for me. You're gorgeous and so incredibly hot. I'm lucky to have you, Rose. I've always known that I'm blessed, more than what I deserve."

"Me too." She replied softly, leaned her face up to his and kissed his lips briefly. The song was beginning to end so when they detached their lips, she closed her eyes, leaned into his chest and rested against him.

He closed his own eyes and rested his beak down upon her hair, held her close to him as they continued to sway to the music.

"I especially liked the red rose petal trail from our bedroom into the living room." He told her. "That was a nice touch…"

"Oh thanks," Rose laughed. "I know it's a bit cliche but I thought it was clever. Ya know, a bunch of rose petals leading you to me. I was more being funny than serious about it, but it's always a go-to romantic touch people use to create intimate moments."

"Oh, I know." He chuckled. "I know how much you dislike that flower, so I knew it was more a joke." He paused for a moment and then smiled to himself. "But I still love it, babe. I'm pleased to say that I've gotten to know you pretty well. I know your likes, dislikes, habits… but I'm still learning new things, which is awesome. I love getting to know you better with each passing night."

Rose hummed happily to herself as she leaned against him. She looked up into his face, keeping herself tightly pressed against his chest and grinned up at him.

"That's good, because I love getting to know you more as well."

"I'm glad." He whispered gently, pausing briefly to kiss her forehead, still swaying with her. By now, another classic rock love ballad came on and kept up the romantic vibe; allowing them to still dance.

"So, how as the beach today with Emily, Chris and Katie?"

Smiling against his chest she kept her eyes closed as she spoke.

"It was really good, we had an awesome time." Rose explained softly. "I love little Katie bug with all of my heart and I can't believe how big she's gotten! Chris is doing awesome and really loves our apartment."

"He saw our apartment?" Brooklyn asked warily.

"Yeah, they all came up. I had to hide our pictures for a moment from him, for a moment, but things turned out okay. I uh... I actually told him my alibi for my life."

"Your alibi?" Brooklyn inquired, slowing down his swaying and looking down into her face. "What is that?"

"The story that I tell normal Humans who are in the 'need-to-know' basis part of my life." She told him simply.

"Oh... kay? I still don't get it."

"You know how I tell people that Kevin was abusive, was trying to kill me and I ran away. When he was caught by police, then he drank himself into oblivion and killed himself?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it's like that. It's mostly the truth, but small details have been changed to protect myself or the ones I love, so... you." Rose told him.

"Oh, I see." he said, nodding. "So you told Chris mostly the truth about us?"

"Yes, I did." Rose said.

"What did he say?"

"Well, he knows about you and knows your name. I told him that you are from Scotland, work nights and have a special forces jobs assisting Law Enforcement agencies... and you saved me from Kevin. We fell in love, and got secretly married five months ago."

"Oh..." He said, raising his eye bones up at her. "So... you did tell him everything?"

"Yeah, kinda." Rose said sheepishly, and he began to pick up dancing with her again. "He still doesn't know that you're a Gargoyle, and while the job thing isn't quite the truth, Chris... who I care for deeply, is now in the know of my life. I don't have to hide that I'm married or that... our life is complicated when it comes to socially gathering together and have date nights, and all that jazz. But... he really wants to meet you."

"Yeah, I would like to meet him too." Brooklyn said gently. "Him and Katie. They both sound like two very important people in your life. So if they are important to you, then they are important to me too."

"One day, I'm sure you will." She replied with a smile. "Chris is an awesome guy; a family man through and through. However, when Emily has secretly known about you guys and us, she has overheard Chris say things when listening to the news about you guys and it wasn't... positive. So, I just want to protect you and not freak him out. I hope to one day let our families become one and friendships flourish."

"Me too." He said. "And don't worry... I understand that he listens to what the news is saying about us. We are used to it by now."

"Oh but it's crap." Rose grumbled angrily. "They don't know what they are talking about; they are only spreading fear because they don't understand you guys, but I'm hoping that one day Humans and gargoyles will live in peace and harmony and that you guys don't have to hide anymore."

"We will." Brooklyn whispered, gently caressing a talon over her face. "I believe that we will come out on top one day. But if not, at least I have the love of the only Human in this entire world that I truly care about."

"Oh contraire, but I'm not really a Human... apparently." She said teasingly.

"Potato, tomato..."

Rose gazed up into his face and stared at him with a frozen smile.

"Did you just compare me to vegetables?"

"No." He whispered, and then kissed her on the forehead. "To a vegetable and a fruit. Tomatoes are technically a fruit."

"Says who?!" Rose laughed.

"I don't know... science? biology? Mother Nature?"

"Wow..." Rose sighed, shaking her head and laughing.

They continued to dance quietly to the background music, relishing in each other's love for a few minutes, when Brooklyn spoke up again.

"I'm glad you told Chris about us." he whispered. "That makes me feel good that you are telling people that you're married."

"Of course." She said, looking up into his eyes again. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know... to keep your life simple, I guess."

"Pshhh... that would not help my life stay simple if I didn't tell people." Rose laughed. "Trust me on that one... I would have even more guys hitting on me and I would be apart of the never ending meat market of courting again. Talk about a nightmare..."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He said, laughing. "You're mine, my love. Officially taken off the... what did you call it? Meat market?"

"Yup."

"Hmm..." Brooklyn mused. "That's an interesting way of describing courting and dating. I'm not sure how I feel about referring to you as meat..."

"Oh, it's just a figure of speech." Rose laughed. "It's not quite literal, unless you take it in a sexual way..."

Brooklyn glanced down at her with wide eyes and looked confused.

"Why in the world would I...?" He asked, stopped and then shook his head in disgust. "Never mind. I don't really want to know the dirty way of Human minds, thanks."

Rose laughed hysterically at him and smiled widely up at him.

"You're adorable. Do you know that?"

"Of course I know that." He teased her, pulling back and twirling her around in a circle, before bringing her back into his arms. "I'm the cutest..."

Rose laughed again at his teasings and pulled herself to him, holding him close.

"You make me laugh."

"I try." He chuckled, holding her tightly. Minutes passed as they held each other, swaying back and forth and as the minutes passed in silence, they slowly came back to getting lost in each other's eyes as their bodies, souls and heart's synchronized.

"Hmmm... this is so nice, Brooklyn." Rose whispered, with her eyes closed. "Isn't it so funny how I hated dancing when I first met you... and now here I am, dancing with you without complaint?"

"Yeah, you've come a long way." He breathed back with a smile on his face, and face rested down upon her head. "And yes, this is very nice, I love dancing with you. I'm flattered that you did this for me."

"Of course." Rose giggled. "I love you... and wanted you to know it."

"I do know you love me. But..." he suddenly said, sounding a bit unsure suddenly. "I have to admit that while this is so nice and wonderful of you to put this together for me, I keep having a feeling that it's for something celebratory and I'm ashamed to say that I don't know what I'm missing. What have I forgotten?"

At this, Rose giggled at him and shook her head.

"Oh no, honey, it's nothing like that. It's just something that I've thought of earlier today. Plus, I've been wanting to surprise you with romance on my end for some time, so when I realized what today was, I decided to put something special for us." She explained gently. "So, with that said, do you know what today is other than the country's Independence Day?"

Brooklyn slowed down their dancing and then glanced down at her with nervous eyes.

"Um…" he mumbled, looking on the verge of panic. "Well, uh, okay… I know for a fact that it's not our anniversary because that's in February. Uh… it's not your birthday; that's in October. We don't really celebrate mine other than in the Spring when all eggs hatch. Um… UGH… crap… I'm drawing blanks right now, babe! Whatever I've forgotten, I'm so sorry! You're so wonderful and I don't want you to be upset with me!"

"Brooklyn, baby, calm down." Rose laughed. "I promise you haven't forgotten anything."

"So what are we celebrating then?"

"Today is July 4th…" Rose told him with a smile. "I know it's not quite our 'half-way' six month mark since our wedding, but tonight marks five months since we got married, and well, since tonight has fireworks and all things celebrating, I thought it would be nice to make a romantic one out of it. As you also know, it's been three weeks since the awful Draugr attacks, so to celebrate being left alone, I wanted to be your bride again and enjoy this peaceful season in our lives with you."

At her explanation he smiled at her and chuckled quietly. "You're right… it has been five months since we said our vows…"

"How has it been for you?" Rose asked him, still swaying gently along with him.

"Well…" he said slowly. "Minus the Draugr…Hela… your nightmares… "

"... and Kevin?" Rose added with a smile.

"Precisely." He said seriously. "Other than those dark moments, it has been absolutely perfect." He leaned down and kissed her face softly. "You're perfect to me, Rose, and my time being married to you has been the best time of my life."

"I'm so happy to hear that. It's been the best five months of my life as well." She said softly.

"Good." He whispered against her head, holding her close to him. "Well, this is very sweet and thoughtful for you to put together for me, babe. You're incredible and constantly outshining me."

Rose laughed. "That's not the point of any of this, I promise."

"I know." He laughed back. "But, my competitive wifey has slowly rubbed off on me and I only want to try to keep up with your sexy and thoughtful amazingness. So…" He paused, stepped away from her, quickly picked up their sparkling juice champagne glasses and handed hers to her as he held his up. "Let's make a toast to the best five months of our life. Even though there were very stressful, dark and hard times in the mix, it has been perfect when I'm with you, my love. I have nothing but high hopes for our bright future because it burns as bright and powerfully as the sun." He paused again, held her hand tightly in his and squeezed it. "And I can't wait to see what the next five months holds for us. No amount of time is ever going to be long enough with you, Rose; but I've enjoyed the hell out of each passionate moment with you. Here's to our little forever."

Rose grinned brightly at him and nodded at his words. Gently clinking her glass to his she said, "I love it, yes, to our little forever; cheers to that."

They both drank a little bit of their sparkling juice, since Rose chose not to drink alcohol because of how Kevin acted whenever he had a drink. When they were done, he took the glasses from her, placed them on top of their fireplace and then took her back in his arms.

"I love you so much, Rose." He whispered, gazing down into her eyes with great intensity.

"I love you too." She replied softly, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. "So, so very much."

With her face pressed up against him, she loved the feel and smell of his skin and wished that they could make love, but that would have to wait until after the other couples left. Brooklyn slowly lowered his claws down her face, caressing her skin and gently lifted her face up to look into his eyes.

"So, when did Broadway and Lex say that they would get here?" Rose asked him softly, wanting to melt into his lips and body more than anything.

"They said after they woke up." He replied. "It's been almost fifteen minutes since I woke up, so I would suspect that they would be here soon."

"How soon do you think?"

He stared down into her beckoning eyes, felt her heat and desire again, and smiled as he cupped her face.

"I don't care at this point…"

Grinning at him, Rose closed her eyes and instantly molded herself to him again as he passionately made out with her again. He lowered himself down, grabbed onto the bottom of her legs through her poofy white dress and picked her up, still kissing her. Hiking her dress up higher to her waist, she jumped up on his waist and let her dress skirt cascade back down, so nothing was a barrier between them anymore, except for his loincloth and her panties.

Brooklyn easily carried her to their bedroom, still kissing her madly. Slamming the door shut behind them, he walked over to the bed and collapsed down upon her. Rose gasped out in pleasure at his sudden body weight on top of her and continued to kiss him back madly. Brooklyn lowered his claws down to her exposed legs and touched her thin laced panties, turning her on more tremendously.

"Baby… they'll be here any minute." Rose whispered against his lips. "I told you we can pick this up tonight…"

"I know." He said in a deeper, growling voice. "But are you planning on wearing your wedding dress all night?"

"No." Rose replied with a smirk, knowing what he was getting at.

"Well, then… if I do recall our wedding night, you had a little trouble in getting out of this thing. Right? That's all I'm trying to do now…"

Brooklyn lifted her up off the bed, and kept her straddled over his waist, allowing her covered sensitive center to touch his arousal, and smiled mischievously at her. He slowly brought his claws to the zipper in the back and slowly brought it down. With eyes glued to each others, Brooklyn slid his claws through the opening and touched her soft skin, making both of them moan out with desire.

Rose stood up with his help and let the beautiful dress fall to the ground at her feet, exposing her to him in her lace panties and strapless bra. She kicked the dress to the side, wanting him to drink her beauty in as he took in every single part of her. Expecting for him to quickly claim her and kiss every part of her body, she was stunned when he suddenly looked confused, then horrified.

"What's wrong?"

"Baby... what… happened to your skin?" He asked seriously with widening eyes. "Patches of your skin are… well… like mine! You're turning red! Why are you turning RED, Rose!?"

Looking down at herself, she realized that she was seeing her sunburn and white tan-lines where her bikini sat, and she laughed hysterically at his fearful question, unable to help herself. He stared at her with wide eyes as she held her sides and laughed; unable to get the breath to set him right.

"What's so funny about this?!" He demanded. "Rose, talk to me! What is happening to you?!"

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry for laughing, babe!" She gasped out, wiping tears from her eyes. "I just can't help it… you should see your face right now!" Laughing again, she clasped her hand over her mouth as he looked still very concerned and confused.

"I don't understand…"

Feeling bad that he was so worried about nothing, she took a deep breath and gently took his claws in her hands.

"Relax, honey. I'm okay! You've probably just never seen this before. But this?" She gestured to all of her burned skin. "This is called being out in the hot sun for too long. I got sunburned today at the beach when I was there with Emily and her family. I fell asleep in the sun, and apparently didn't put enough sunscreen lotion on to protect it. My skin will eventually tan and then pale again. Don't worry, it's harmless for the most part."

At her explanation, he exhaled out in relief and then cracked a smile at her.

"Oh…right." He said a bit sheepishly, then cocked his head up and looked smug. "Pshh… I knew that."

"Right, sure ya did." Rose laughed, holding onto his beak. "For a nocturnal being, I'm sure you knew exactly why I look as ridiculous as I do right now. For all you knew, I was magically turning into a demon..."

"I wasn't thinking that, but… I… I gotta admit my mind was somewhere close to that." He suddenly said very seriously. Rose stared at him for a moment in disbelief and then exhaled a laugh sharply.

"Oh, Brooklyn…"

"No, don't take that tone with me, please. I'm not stupid!" He snapped suddenly, and she was suddenly shocked that he was taking this conversation that way.

"Brooklyn!" She gasped out. "No, you're not stupid at all! I'm so sorry! I wasn't meaning to sound demeaning, I just..."

"... think it's all a joke." He said in a hurt voice. "Well, regardless of whatever you may think Rose, I am still worried that the Draugr did something to you in the attacks, and yeah okay, you can tease me all you want to. But please don't joke about you being turned into a demon. I've been really worried and concerned about you not feeling good since the attacks."

"Babe... " Rose gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth, slightly hurt and unsure how they got to this point; but it was clear to her that she hit a major trigger for him.

Exhaling out in anger, he stepped past her and walked over to their window to brood. Rose watched him in silence and wasn't sure if the best thing to do was to give him a few minutes to cool down, or to approach him and try to apologize. She had been trying to control her own emotions, since the nausea was still a very real thing in her life; but she didn't know how to bring up what she guessed what was happening with her sickness with him. The last thing he needed was more stress, hence why she tried to create a romantic night for him, because she had been the source of stress for him, whether intentional or not.

Taking a deep breath, she decided to approach him now and not let his problem fester, especially when it was not a big fight. Rose slowly walked up to him, raised her hand to touch his back but hesitated for a few seconds. Going for it, she gently placed her hands on either side of his waist and then slid into him, hugging him from behind.

"I'm sorry, Brooklyn." She whispered. "I wasn't trying to upset you or mock your feelings of protection over me. Thank you for all you do for me, thank you for loving me, and I'm really sorry again. You're not stupid, honey, not even close. I'm sorry my words and tone made you feel like I was demeaning you. That was not the intention… I'm so sorry."

At her words and her touch, he closed his eyes and melted in submission to her. Quickly turning around, he cupped her face and felt foolish for reacting they way he did over such a small and stupid thing.

"No, I'm sorry." He breathed back, shaking his head at himself and pulled her tightly into him. "I'm an idiot, Rose and I overreacted completely. This was all on me, not you. We tease each other all the time over what's happened, and humor is how we get through it, and you were just trying to do the same thing that we always do, but I just… snapped. I'm sorry, that was unfair of me, especially when you've prepared such an amazing night for me. And now, here I am ruining it…"

"You're not ruining anything, I promise. Tonight has been incredible and will only get better." She told him softly. "I forgive you, Brooklyn, but there's nothing more that needs to be said other than I love you so much… and thank you for loving me. I know things haven't been easy and that I'm not the easiest person to live with sometimes, but you're the reason I'm still alive and happy; and that's a priceless reward. Thank you so much."

At her words, Brooklyn melted again, touched her face and then slowly trailed his talons down her neck, chest and then lower down her flat and exposed abdomen. He watched her expression as she closed her eyes, leaned into his touch, and smiled at her.

"Come here…" He whispered, pulling her over to the bed.

Rose wrapped her arms around his neck as he carefully laid her down in the center and then climbed over her body, straddling her.

"Thank you for forgiving and loving me as well, my angel." He breathed. "I love you so much."

"Not as much as I love you."

Smirking at her, he then raised an eye bone at her in a challenge.

"We'll see about that…" He then lowered his body down to hers, rubbed his groin against hers as he crushed his lips down upon hers.

Rose gasped out at how amazing he felt to her, spread her legs and wrapped them tightly around his waist, inviting him closer. He cupped the back of her head with one claw, while caressing the other down over her bra, taking hold of her large and perky breasts. Desirable fire and heat settled deeply into her abdomen as he touched her, however, as the seconds passed of him caressing and massaging her breasts, they suddenly were very painful to the touch and tender.

Rose broke away from his lips as the paramedic inside of her came to life and she thought about all of the symptoms that she had; and more than ever, they were slapping her in the face. Nausea, mood swings, fatigue, tender breasts, unknown menstrual cycle… And then it hit her. The prospect of her being pregnant was now a very real thing, and she still wasn't sure what to think about it.

As she thought of those things while breaking away from his lips, Brooklyn instantly took her detaching from his lips, as if she wished for him to take claim of her neck to turn her on even more, and luckily didn't seem to realize her anxiety yet. He lowered himself down to her half naked body, rubbed his aroused groin over hers, kissed the base of her neck and seemed to set her entire body on fire by rubbing every inch of him over her; but with the new symptom that she was experiencing, she was growing more anxious.

Damning herself for thinking that, Brooklyn suddenly stopped kissing her, raised his face to look down into her eyes and stared deeply into her eyes.

"You're anxious and in pain…" He suddenly said in shock, knowing how she was feeling through their connection. "Baby, what's wrong? Am I hurting you?"

"Oh, no… I um. It's nothing. I'm okay… You're doing great, let's keep going, I'm fine…" Rose said softly, trying to bring him back down to her, but he resisted.

"Are you still having nausea?" He asked her. "You seemed to be doing a lot better, but you were pretty ill this morning. Am I going too rough on you?"

"No, sweetheart, you aren't being too rough on me." Rose said softly, and decided to be honest with him; without divulging her theory just yet. "I have been having nausea all day long, on and off, but I've been sleeping it off and eating small things throughout the day, and that has helped a little bit. But I feel great right now, that's the truth. I promise."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, thank you for asking, but I'm doing great. I'll do what you ask and see the doctor soon, but for now, I'll get dressed so we can start our night. If you want to go and start the grill, the hamburgers and hot dogs are all ready to be cooked, and all the rest of the food has been prepared."

Brooklyn smiled at her, sighed and then leaned forward and kissed her gently.

"You're amazing my love. Did you know that?"

"Hmmm... I think you've mentioned it a few times to me." Rose teased, as he slowly lowered his lips to hers again.

"Good." He breathed as he kissed her deeply. "Because it's true. I love you so much, babe."

Smiling at him, she wrapped her around his neck and let him kiss and touch her a few minutes more, before their guests showed up.

"I love you too… so… can we have each other and make out for like… five minutes before they get here?" Rose breathed against his lips.

He smiled lovingly down at her and whispered, "Just five?"

"I'll take anything I can get."

Brooklyn grinned mischievously at her, before he held onto her tightly and then crushed her back down to the bed, kissing her passionately. Though they couldn't make love yet, they could play with the fire burning within them a little bit. Then once they were alone later after the couples left, they planned to give into the inferno of passion and love which was burning within them and was awaiting to be set free.

---

Avalon

(Three Weeks Ago~ Mortal Time.)

Kevin walked slowly through the portal from the burned warehouse that his ex-wife had destroyed with the four Draugr soldier's with it, and into the beautiful world of Avalon. It looked just like Hel, but had vegetation, an ocean and life all around… instead of death and burning hills. The air was fresh and he could feel the light magic within the atmosphere like he had stepped into a star. Kevin smiled behind his black respirator mask, closed his eyes and took a mechanical breath trying to take it all in.

"Oh, what a beautiful place." He mused to himself. Just then, he heard running footsteps and clanging of armor approach him. When he opened his eyes to see who was greeting him, twenty or so Asgardian soldiers in their gold armor, approached him with their hands on the handles of their swords. One man, with bulging muscles and dark skin approached him with a very serious face.

"Halt. Who goes there." The guard commanded in a low voice.

Kevin smiled a dark smile through his respirator mask and stared at the guard with his black glossed over eyes and stood his ground.

"My name is Kevin, and I have come for the sword Excalibur." He answered softly. "Kindly tell me where it is, and I'll be on my way."

The guard narrowed his eyes at Kevin, not taking his request lightly, and slowly began to step forward towards him; tightening his grip on his sword handle as he went.

"Sorry," the guard snarled. "I can't grant that request… Human. I don't know how you, a mortal, got here or how you know about the sword Excalibur, but it belongs to our Lord and master, Lord Oberon and to no one else."

Kevin smiled even brighter at him.

"I was afraid you were going to say that. Well… I have a little… surprise for you all then. I am… in fact, leaving with the sword, and I will kill you all if I have to, in order to retrieve it."

At his threatening words, it was now the guard's turn to smile, as if Kevin's threat was nothing but a joke to him. With a deep laugh, he whipped his long and sharp sword out and pointed it at Kevin's throat, advancing on him. Kevin's bright white smile widened with glee at his reaction, as the other soldiers whipped out their own swords and stood behind their leader, ready for battle.

"You? A puny human dare to challenge us? We are Asgardians… protectors of Avalon; and Children of Oberon." The guard mocked, stepping closer to him and pointed the tip of his sword against Kevin's chest, right where his heart would sit. "You don't have a prayer to hold a threat like that against us."

"Ooh, scary. I'm trembling in fear." Kevin whispered back; making the guard grow more enraged. He pressed the blade against his throat now and pressed it tightly to his skin.

"Well, mortal? What have you to say now?"

"I've come for Excalibur." Kevin repeated again. "My Lord requires it for his uses…"

"Your Lord?" The guard scoffed. "What master do you serve?"

"The one who's about to become yours. Lord Demetrius of Hel… and Queen Hela; the Goddess of Death."

At hearing this, the guards all gasped out and the head guard pushed Kevin roughly into a nearby tree, holding the blade firmly against his neck.

"They are NO masters of us, nor will they ever be!" The guard roared. "How dare you come here and threaten us with this treachery! I should kill you right here, right now, but I think I'll let Oberon get his hands upon you first…"

"Hmmm... sounds fun, but I'm going to have to pass. I still need that damn sword." Kevin replied casually.

"You've got a pair on you... tough guy." He mocked, reminding Kevin that he was back in school. "Nice mask freak… what happens if I tear it off of your face? Will you die?"

At this, Kevin laughed his mechanical laugh and shook his head.

"No." He slowly reached his hand up, took the mask off and exposed his corpse-like and slashed up face to him; and instantly the guards behind them recoiled and gasped out in horror. "It's hard to kill someone who's already dead."

Then with the magic that Hela gave him, he whipped a very long and sharp sword out from his palms and held it at his side.

"TYR! LOOK OUT!" One of the guards suddenly yelled out in warning, after seeing his weapon being drawn in mid-air, but Kevin already made him move. With a grunt, he thrust the sword clean through the Asgardian guard, who gasped out in shock and pain.

His eyes widened at him, as Kevin grinned evilly. "Surprise!"

With a slice, he took his sword back out of the guard, who fell to his knees with a grunt, clutching his stomach, then with blood pouring out, fell to his side.

"Tyr! NOOO!" The guard yelled again, looked up at Kevin with rage and then roared, "YOU'LL DIE FOR THAT HUMAN!"

"Oh… there will be death here, all right, but it won't be me again. I'm already dead." Kevin sneered.

"Then we'll have to make sure you STAY DEAD this next time!"

Grinning evilly at them, their threats were hilarious to him. With his new onset of magic, super strength and speed, it was them that had no prayer or hope to live another day.

"If it's violent blood-lust you want... then that's exactly what you'll get." Kevin whispered, readying himself for them. "I'm ready when you are."

The soldier gritted his teeth in rage at him, raised his sword and then pointed it at him.

"MEN! ATTACK!"

Kevin smiled darkly as the Asgardians advanced on him with their swords raised to slaughter him. They were roaring out their battle cries in rage, and he never felt happier or more excited than he did right now. Whipping out a second sword from his other hand, he stood his ground and let his prey come to him in a slaughter house round of the beginning of a war.