4/18/2001
Denigoddess2001@aol.com
[Bracketed words indicate thought or telepathic transmission]
"X And The Single Gargoyle"
Chapter IV
Revelations
Goliath searched everywhere in the castle for his beloved Raven. In the early evenings, she often found great joy playing the piano in the Music room. He found her not to be there. He had checked their bedchambers without success. He, with great reservation, finally reached along the link they shared to see if he could touch her mind. He rarely opened the psionic bond between them because he know that she valued her privacy. Goliath longed to sense that rare affinity between them always.
[Even in my dreams, you are with me.] He thought happily as he searched for the young woman with large brown eyes and a mop of bouncy charcoal curls.
The floodgates of the bond burst forth inside his mind. A rush of sadness and trepidation flooded his thoughts. Dread filled him. Doubt consumed him. Things were not well [Sweetling, where are you? I sense but do not see you! What is wrong?]
No answer came inside his mind as he remained along with the anguish that filled his thoughts. Once, Adrienne commented that Gargoyle thoughts and emotions were ordered and simple while human minds were chaotic and unfocused. He thought how her own mind was a wild flury of heartwrenching emotions at this moment.
Goliath remembered Adrienne revealed that her empatic sense strengthened when in close proximity of the sender. She often used her Empathy as a form of psionic sonar in her adventures. Now, Goliath hoped that it would function in a similar fashion for him. As he walked the stone corridors, he felt it intesnsify when he neared the library.
Angela came from the Library and smiled at him.
"Angela, is Adrienne in the Library?" He asked hopefully.
"Yes, Father." Angela folded her wings about her. "I'm not sure that this would be the best time to see her."
"Is she hurt?" He demanded. He headed for the entrance. Angela grabbed his arm with his agile tail.
"No, Father. Listen to me, please." She beseeched her stubborn Sire. "She wouldn't tell me but I think I know. However, she very tense and frightened. I think that she's afraid to tell you whatever it is."
"She need never fear me." Goliath declared. "No harm will befall her."
"I know that and you know that, but, Adrienne has yet to learn that." Angela explained. "She is accustomed to..the ways of Humanity. The ways of our kind are foreign to her. Father, be there for her and be gentle."
"What do you think it may be, Daughter?"
"I smelled a sweet fragrance around her akin to vanilla."
"I have little time for riddles, Angela." Her father told her. "Please tell me."
"It's not my place to do so. If we want her to understand our ways, then, we must honor hers. I suspect that she would rather tell you in her own time and in her own way. Just go to her and be there for her."
Goliath nodded curtly in understanding as his daughter left him alone in front of the Library. He entered and walked by the large, long rows of books and dusty volumes. Finally, he saw his ladylove sitting alone at one of the tables. He slowly folded his wings and headed toward her. He walked quietly when he saw that her hands were steepled and she seemed in great meditation.
[It was so unlike Adrienne to be lost deeply in thought.]
He noticed her eyes were bright and her cheeks flushed. He watched her wipe a solitary teardrop from streaking down her cheek. He no longer restrained himself. He rushed to her side and knelt to stare into luminous eyes of coffee.
"Sweetling, why are you crying?" As a large talon wiped away another stray tear. "What is wrong?"
She turned to see her gentle giant's face only inches from hers. His face was furrowed with concern. His large onyx eyes compelled her to tell him everything. Goliath drew Adrienne tightly to him and placed kisses on her brow.
"Speak to me of what saddens you." He said softly. "Has someone hurt you? Are you ill?"
He inhaled deeply of her scent. How he loved Adrienne's unique fragrance of peaches, lilacs, and a particular scent known only to her. Yet, there was a hint of vanilla; very sweet and quite aromatic. There was a flavor in the scent that Goliath's fine olfactory senses couldn't define. Light and airy, yet solid and strong, it hung in the air and hovered about Adrienne like a protective cloud.
Elisa had smelled of sweet honeysuckle and vanilla once when she had been ill. It hadn't been an illness that caused that marvelous fragrance to surround her. She had been expecting Darius.
[She had been expecting Darius!]
The vanilla scent, Goliath remembered, usually accompanied the illness associated with pregnancy. He breathed in that mysterious scent that refused to be identified. It was strange and alien to him; far from any Gargoyle or Human scent. Whatever it was mattered little. Adrienne Westfall emanated Motherhood.
[She is with child.] The thought quietly exploded inside Goliath's mind.
"It's just that time of the month." Adrienne told him innocently. "PMS...and Empathy make for one pissy Mutant."
[She lied to me!?] Hurt and disappointed erupted inside him. Then, he remembered his daughters words ".....If we want her to understand our ways, then, we must honor hers. I suspect that she would rather tell you in her own time and in her own way. Just go to her and be there for her."
[Why would she lie to me about something like this?]
"Sweetling," Goliath tenderly bid her. "I respect your desire for retreat. Rarely do I intrude upon our sacred bond."
"I appreciate that or at least I did." Adrienne sighed heavily. "I just find that I don't like being alone very much."
"And if this bond were always awake between us?" He probed gently.
"Very, very stimulating." She whispered.
"Adrienne, what is troubling you?" Goliath pressed. He didn't like the prospect of his mate lying to him. One mate did that countless times and the price for it had been high.
Adrienne stared at her winged lover with wings cloaked, tail twitching and dark eyes focused upon her. She saw his fangs when he spoke and she remembered how they gently bit her neck when they made love. [Humans don't have fangs.]
[If this baby is born, will it be normal?]
[It's one thing to mate with a Gargoyle, it's another thing entirely to start a family with him....] a small voice whispered in the back of her mind. [Admit it, you don't want this child with him because you're afraid that it's gonna be a freak!]
[You're bigoted} the tiny voice challenged her!
The revelation truly dumbfounded Adrienne. She denied the charge vehemently. [I'm not bigoted!]
Almost against her own will, Adrienne abruptly stood up. "Goliath, let me go. I want to go home. I want to return to the Xavier Institute. I need to go now."
"Adrienne, I don't understand." Goliath exclaimed. He tried to be receptive to her sendings but something blocked it. It was a presence that lingered between them that felt ominous; it reeked of bigotry. He opened his heart and mind to his Beloved. He felt that particular psionic signature that was hers.
Then he realized what was wrong. That presence, that obstacle between them didn't originate from his or Adrienne's mind. It came from another source.
"Adrienne, I'm not going to let you go anywhere." Goliath said firmly. "Please don't teleport away. Talk with me what troubles you. I shall never leave you and will share your troubles if only you let me."
[He can't provide for you and the child!] An inner voice screamed. [He can only be half a father. The rest of the time where is he during the day?]
[He's stone.] She replied to her hideous thoughts. [How can I even think of Goliath like that?]
"Let us share that rapport and affinity now." He whispered. "Let us be one heart and mind. Tell me what plagues you, Sweetling."
Goliath's gentle reassurance spilled over her thoughts. It beckoned her to rush into his arms and let his protective strength keep away the fears and the doubts that haunted her.
"I don't know if I can tell you." She said in a small voice. "It might change everything between us."
"Have faith in me and in our love. I think I know." Goliath gently lifted her chin to meet his obsidian gaze. "Are you with child?"
She looked into those eyes, those dark and compelling eyes. She saw no condemnation or fear. She heard no anger or recrimination in his words. She felt warmth, concern, and eager hopefulness tugging at the corners of her mind.
"Damn it, Goliath. You're good." She replied. "That didn't take you long to put all the clues together."
Silence filled the Library. No words or response did her mate utter. His wings remained folded. His tail was still. He simply looked at her.
[Oh, no! That's NOT a good sign.]
She reached out her hand to him. She looked at him. [Please, Goliath! Don't be angry.]
[Told ya! Now, he's probably gonna ask if it's his.] The snide thought only added kindling to the burning fear growing inside her.
"Goliath, say something." She begged. "Anything....."
Goliath's solemn expression slowly widened into a huge grin. His wings unfurled the entire expanse. He threw his head back and let forth a mighty roar that rattled the windows and the books. She watched his eyes burn with that snowy white glow.
[Oh, shit. He's pissed.] She shrank away from him.
[RUN] The inner voice urged. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Adrienne shoved her way past Goliath and sprinted from the Library.
"Adrienne, wait!" He exclaimed. "Where are you going?"
With her mutant talents, she had the gift of superior physical ability. While she wasn't Quicksilver, Nightcrawler, or Beast, Adrienne sprinted with the speed and grace of a well-trained athlete throughout the halls of Wyvern.
She easily outran Goliath. They had never compared their physical abilities to one another; Mutant verses Gargoyle. Goliath felt encumbered by two legs through those corridors so he resorted to running on all fours.
Instinct guided her to the roof. She dashed through the gardens and found a nook between the the wall and some bushes in which to hide.
Goliath didn't understand why she fled from him. He only knew that her fear and panic threatened to overwhelm her. Professor Xavier had explained that one of Adrienne's particular weaknesses was that strong emotions overwhelmed her. If she didn't keep a tight reign on her empathic bonds to others, their emotions became her own.
He stopped. He stood up. He knew where she crouched cowering in fear. Someone else besides him lingered in her thoughts. Someone else had influenced her emotions to cause her panic. He held out his arms to where he knew she hid. He folded his large wings. His eyes dimmed.
"We're going to have a child, Adrienne." He felt joy threaten to brim over into tears. "I can't believe the good news."
He didn't sound enraged. He didn't look like one of the winged furies of myth. He stood there with arms wide open and extended to her. "Sweetling?"
She slowly stood up. She shook her head to clear the irrational haze from her thoughts that clouded her mind. [Why did I run? What the HELL was I thinking?!]
"Yes, we are." she replied. She stepped forward. "I didn't think you'd be... receptive to the news."
He strode across the distance betwwen them. He lifted Adrien into his arms and twirled around with her and let loose another exultant roar.
"Jalapena! A hatchling!" He cried joyfully. "How long have you been with child?"
"Six weeks."
"That means the first time we mated our love created life." He said solemnly.
"That's about it." She agreed.
"The Dragon has blessed us." He planted a firm kiss upon her lips as he put her feet back on the ground. "Tell me all."
"I went to a doctor that is associated with the X-Men. She was one at one time and gives us medical attention on occasion. She ran a barrage of tests and confirmed my pregnancy. It's unlike anything she's seen. But, because of it's detailed development, she was able to run an ultrasound."
"UL-tra-sound?" Goliath sounded out the word slowly. "What is an ul-tra-sound?"
"It's using sound to take pictures. Dr. Reyez used soundwaves to photograph our Little One. Much like a bat uses sound to guide it's way through the night."
"Or when you use your empathic abilities to find unseen opponents." He surmised.
"Exactly." Adrienne exclaimed. "We know for sure it's a baby, NOT, a hatchling and certainly it is NOT an egg. It's much the same size and further along that a human embryo."
"How long does a woman carry a child? Ten months?"
"Ten lunar months. How long does a Gargoyle egg take before it hatches?" She asked out of curiosity.
"Five years." He said nonchalantly and with great mirth.
"WHAT!? Five years!" Adrienne exclaimed. "No, don't tell me that. I don't want to be pregnant for that long."
"Elisa was with child for ten months." Goliath remembered the bittersweet times he had felt his wife's growing stomach. He remember had Darius kicked inside her womb. He remembered how they shared their hopes and dreams for their son's future...then.
"Goliath?" Adrienne's voice cut into his contemplations. "Did you hear me, Handsome?"
"I am still awed at the news." He had no wish to bring Adrienne pain with his musings.
"We know it has feet like a human, but no wings or tail, and it has fingers, but we can't tell how many."
"You mustn't wear yourself down any further, Sweetling." Goliath warned her. "To do so might bring harm to you and the hatchling-baby."
"Goliath, there is a chance that this pregnancy may not go to term." Adrienne said gravely. "Because of the strange circumstances, the inter-species differences, my unique medical history; all those things could cause me to miscarry at any time."
"We will deal with it together whatever happens." He promised. "You will not endure this alone."
"I know. I'm sorry for doubting you. My instinct is to run. I'm just not that brave." Adrienne confessed.
[I think someone else told you to run.] He thought suspiciously. "Yet, you are here. Our love and bond are stronger than fear."
"Okay, so I'm a sucker for good-looking gargoyles." She smirked.
"As am I for fleetfooted ladies with large brown eyes and buoyant ringlets."
"Flirt." She shook her head at his blatant attempt at seduction.
He purred appreciately. His tail wrapped around her waist and hugged her tightly. Masculine pride sweeled within him. A broad grin stretched from ear to ear. With wings, arms, and tail, he held his Beloved Raven close to him. He planted a series of kisses upon her skin that left her breathless.
"Goliath." Adrienne felt solemnity over take her. "I'm still frightened."
"I am with you always." His warmth brought comfort to her. "You are not alone. The entire clan will help with the hatchling, ur baby...little one. Little one will have his or her rookery brothers and sisters to help guide us and him."
"I don't want to give up my right to motherhood." Adrienne exclaimed. "I know that much about Gargoyle culture, Goliath. I am human enough to know that if I am carrying this baby inside me, it needs parents. It doens't need extended family acting as surrogate parents."
"I understand your concerns, Adrienne." Goliath tried to calm his agitated mate. "Can we not bring this child into the world with the love of both parents and clan?"
"You'll be a father to him?" She asked hopefully.
"I am to Angela and Darius." He replied.
"Angela told me how hard she worked to develop a father/ daughter relationship with you. I've never seen Darius." She observed.
"I give you my word that I shall be a good father to our Little one." Goliath replied solemnly. He looked at her and she felt his reaction to her words. Goliath's emotions of joy and celebration mingled with dismay and sorrow resulting from her blazen display of mistrust. "My Love, why do you doubt me I thought you accepted me as worthy once we consummated our love for one another."
Adrienne remembered shortly after they consummated their vows how he had asked with great uncertainty, "Am I a worthy mate?"
She had replied "Goliath, of course."
Adrienne realized for the first time what gravity that question held for Goliath. It wasn't the human equivalent of 'was it good for you too?' In the Gargoyle mind, it meant exactly as if was expressed; an affirmation of love and acceptance. Adrienned grudgingly admitted to herself that sometimes the differences in their cultures and mindsets seemed conflicted and contrary.
"This child will have a wonder clan to count on and a wonder father named Goliath." Adrienne murmered as she rubbed her brow against's Goliath's brow ridge.
"This is cause to celebrate!" The Gargoyle declared. "The clan will rejoice in our good news."
"Not so fast, Hotshot." Adrienne stayed him with her hand. "I would like to wait until we know more obout our baby before we tell anyone else. There's also something I need to ask of you."
"Tell me." He asked earnestly.
"Goliath, I'd like our child to have a name." Adrienne looked at him.
"Of course! We'll name the child."
"That's not exactly what I meant..." She hedged. "How do I put this?"
"Please, have no fear of honesty between us, My Raven." Goliath gently urged her.
"I'd like us to be married before Little One is born." She told him. "I'd like him to have a surname other than his mother's."
"I don't have a surname to give him." Goliath shook his head. "I have no name to give you."
[Again, culture clash. I'm on a winning streak tonight.] Adrienne berated herself. "It's not important. Forget I mentioned it."
"Nay, it is important to you." Goliath responded. "As you have accepted my clan, I shall find a 'surname' to give you and our child. I promise."
"Perhaps, we can speak to Xanatos or one of your friends." Goliath suggested. "I know that he knows several clergy."
"Are you sure?" Adrienne asked. "I don't want you to do this because of obligation."
"I do this because of love." Goliath told her. "I do nothing simply because of obligation."
He made a mental note to speak to Xanatos on the morrow about a 'surname' for himself. This time, his Beloved would not slip away so easily.
Meanwhile, back at the Mansion....
Logan sat in the darkness of his room with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a half-lit cigar in the other. He hated being reduced to a lovesick boy longing for some Frail. Adrienne had him on his knees and she couldn't even see it. He closed his eyes in shame when he remembered how he used their link to find out more about her and Goliath. Logan learned that she was carrying Goliath's bastard child. Logan decided to used the compulsion of his link with Adrienne to bring her back home where she belonged. Yet, that link she had with that hobgoblin was stronger that Logan originally thought.
She's mine!" He screamed into the darkness. He thought he brought her to her senses when he worded her unspoken thoughts in her mind.
[Hell, givin' birth to that monster's bastard is gonna kill her.] Logan thought with alarm. [How's she gonna get past those wings and claws?]
Logan took another shot of his favorite whiskey. This time, he realized he'd have to take a more direct approach at getting his Adrienne out of that monster's talons.
Denigoddess2001@aol.com
[Bracketed words indicate thought or telepathic transmission]
"X And The Single Gargoyle"
Chapter IV
Revelations
Goliath searched everywhere in the castle for his beloved Raven. In the early evenings, she often found great joy playing the piano in the Music room. He found her not to be there. He had checked their bedchambers without success. He, with great reservation, finally reached along the link they shared to see if he could touch her mind. He rarely opened the psionic bond between them because he know that she valued her privacy. Goliath longed to sense that rare affinity between them always.
[Even in my dreams, you are with me.] He thought happily as he searched for the young woman with large brown eyes and a mop of bouncy charcoal curls.
The floodgates of the bond burst forth inside his mind. A rush of sadness and trepidation flooded his thoughts. Dread filled him. Doubt consumed him. Things were not well [Sweetling, where are you? I sense but do not see you! What is wrong?]
No answer came inside his mind as he remained along with the anguish that filled his thoughts. Once, Adrienne commented that Gargoyle thoughts and emotions were ordered and simple while human minds were chaotic and unfocused. He thought how her own mind was a wild flury of heartwrenching emotions at this moment.
Goliath remembered Adrienne revealed that her empatic sense strengthened when in close proximity of the sender. She often used her Empathy as a form of psionic sonar in her adventures. Now, Goliath hoped that it would function in a similar fashion for him. As he walked the stone corridors, he felt it intesnsify when he neared the library.
Angela came from the Library and smiled at him.
"Angela, is Adrienne in the Library?" He asked hopefully.
"Yes, Father." Angela folded her wings about her. "I'm not sure that this would be the best time to see her."
"Is she hurt?" He demanded. He headed for the entrance. Angela grabbed his arm with his agile tail.
"No, Father. Listen to me, please." She beseeched her stubborn Sire. "She wouldn't tell me but I think I know. However, she very tense and frightened. I think that she's afraid to tell you whatever it is."
"She need never fear me." Goliath declared. "No harm will befall her."
"I know that and you know that, but, Adrienne has yet to learn that." Angela explained. "She is accustomed to..the ways of Humanity. The ways of our kind are foreign to her. Father, be there for her and be gentle."
"What do you think it may be, Daughter?"
"I smelled a sweet fragrance around her akin to vanilla."
"I have little time for riddles, Angela." Her father told her. "Please tell me."
"It's not my place to do so. If we want her to understand our ways, then, we must honor hers. I suspect that she would rather tell you in her own time and in her own way. Just go to her and be there for her."
Goliath nodded curtly in understanding as his daughter left him alone in front of the Library. He entered and walked by the large, long rows of books and dusty volumes. Finally, he saw his ladylove sitting alone at one of the tables. He slowly folded his wings and headed toward her. He walked quietly when he saw that her hands were steepled and she seemed in great meditation.
[It was so unlike Adrienne to be lost deeply in thought.]
He noticed her eyes were bright and her cheeks flushed. He watched her wipe a solitary teardrop from streaking down her cheek. He no longer restrained himself. He rushed to her side and knelt to stare into luminous eyes of coffee.
"Sweetling, why are you crying?" As a large talon wiped away another stray tear. "What is wrong?"
She turned to see her gentle giant's face only inches from hers. His face was furrowed with concern. His large onyx eyes compelled her to tell him everything. Goliath drew Adrienne tightly to him and placed kisses on her brow.
"Speak to me of what saddens you." He said softly. "Has someone hurt you? Are you ill?"
He inhaled deeply of her scent. How he loved Adrienne's unique fragrance of peaches, lilacs, and a particular scent known only to her. Yet, there was a hint of vanilla; very sweet and quite aromatic. There was a flavor in the scent that Goliath's fine olfactory senses couldn't define. Light and airy, yet solid and strong, it hung in the air and hovered about Adrienne like a protective cloud.
Elisa had smelled of sweet honeysuckle and vanilla once when she had been ill. It hadn't been an illness that caused that marvelous fragrance to surround her. She had been expecting Darius.
[She had been expecting Darius!]
The vanilla scent, Goliath remembered, usually accompanied the illness associated with pregnancy. He breathed in that mysterious scent that refused to be identified. It was strange and alien to him; far from any Gargoyle or Human scent. Whatever it was mattered little. Adrienne Westfall emanated Motherhood.
[She is with child.] The thought quietly exploded inside Goliath's mind.
"It's just that time of the month." Adrienne told him innocently. "PMS...and Empathy make for one pissy Mutant."
[She lied to me!?] Hurt and disappointed erupted inside him. Then, he remembered his daughters words ".....If we want her to understand our ways, then, we must honor hers. I suspect that she would rather tell you in her own time and in her own way. Just go to her and be there for her."
[Why would she lie to me about something like this?]
"Sweetling," Goliath tenderly bid her. "I respect your desire for retreat. Rarely do I intrude upon our sacred bond."
"I appreciate that or at least I did." Adrienne sighed heavily. "I just find that I don't like being alone very much."
"And if this bond were always awake between us?" He probed gently.
"Very, very stimulating." She whispered.
"Adrienne, what is troubling you?" Goliath pressed. He didn't like the prospect of his mate lying to him. One mate did that countless times and the price for it had been high.
Adrienne stared at her winged lover with wings cloaked, tail twitching and dark eyes focused upon her. She saw his fangs when he spoke and she remembered how they gently bit her neck when they made love. [Humans don't have fangs.]
[If this baby is born, will it be normal?]
[It's one thing to mate with a Gargoyle, it's another thing entirely to start a family with him....] a small voice whispered in the back of her mind. [Admit it, you don't want this child with him because you're afraid that it's gonna be a freak!]
[You're bigoted} the tiny voice challenged her!
The revelation truly dumbfounded Adrienne. She denied the charge vehemently. [I'm not bigoted!]
Almost against her own will, Adrienne abruptly stood up. "Goliath, let me go. I want to go home. I want to return to the Xavier Institute. I need to go now."
"Adrienne, I don't understand." Goliath exclaimed. He tried to be receptive to her sendings but something blocked it. It was a presence that lingered between them that felt ominous; it reeked of bigotry. He opened his heart and mind to his Beloved. He felt that particular psionic signature that was hers.
Then he realized what was wrong. That presence, that obstacle between them didn't originate from his or Adrienne's mind. It came from another source.
"Adrienne, I'm not going to let you go anywhere." Goliath said firmly. "Please don't teleport away. Talk with me what troubles you. I shall never leave you and will share your troubles if only you let me."
[He can't provide for you and the child!] An inner voice screamed. [He can only be half a father. The rest of the time where is he during the day?]
[He's stone.] She replied to her hideous thoughts. [How can I even think of Goliath like that?]
"Let us share that rapport and affinity now." He whispered. "Let us be one heart and mind. Tell me what plagues you, Sweetling."
Goliath's gentle reassurance spilled over her thoughts. It beckoned her to rush into his arms and let his protective strength keep away the fears and the doubts that haunted her.
"I don't know if I can tell you." She said in a small voice. "It might change everything between us."
"Have faith in me and in our love. I think I know." Goliath gently lifted her chin to meet his obsidian gaze. "Are you with child?"
She looked into those eyes, those dark and compelling eyes. She saw no condemnation or fear. She heard no anger or recrimination in his words. She felt warmth, concern, and eager hopefulness tugging at the corners of her mind.
"Damn it, Goliath. You're good." She replied. "That didn't take you long to put all the clues together."
Silence filled the Library. No words or response did her mate utter. His wings remained folded. His tail was still. He simply looked at her.
[Oh, no! That's NOT a good sign.]
She reached out her hand to him. She looked at him. [Please, Goliath! Don't be angry.]
[Told ya! Now, he's probably gonna ask if it's his.] The snide thought only added kindling to the burning fear growing inside her.
"Goliath, say something." She begged. "Anything....."
Goliath's solemn expression slowly widened into a huge grin. His wings unfurled the entire expanse. He threw his head back and let forth a mighty roar that rattled the windows and the books. She watched his eyes burn with that snowy white glow.
[Oh, shit. He's pissed.] She shrank away from him.
[RUN] The inner voice urged. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Adrienne shoved her way past Goliath and sprinted from the Library.
"Adrienne, wait!" He exclaimed. "Where are you going?"
With her mutant talents, she had the gift of superior physical ability. While she wasn't Quicksilver, Nightcrawler, or Beast, Adrienne sprinted with the speed and grace of a well-trained athlete throughout the halls of Wyvern.
She easily outran Goliath. They had never compared their physical abilities to one another; Mutant verses Gargoyle. Goliath felt encumbered by two legs through those corridors so he resorted to running on all fours.
Instinct guided her to the roof. She dashed through the gardens and found a nook between the the wall and some bushes in which to hide.
Goliath didn't understand why she fled from him. He only knew that her fear and panic threatened to overwhelm her. Professor Xavier had explained that one of Adrienne's particular weaknesses was that strong emotions overwhelmed her. If she didn't keep a tight reign on her empathic bonds to others, their emotions became her own.
He stopped. He stood up. He knew where she crouched cowering in fear. Someone else besides him lingered in her thoughts. Someone else had influenced her emotions to cause her panic. He held out his arms to where he knew she hid. He folded his large wings. His eyes dimmed.
"We're going to have a child, Adrienne." He felt joy threaten to brim over into tears. "I can't believe the good news."
He didn't sound enraged. He didn't look like one of the winged furies of myth. He stood there with arms wide open and extended to her. "Sweetling?"
She slowly stood up. She shook her head to clear the irrational haze from her thoughts that clouded her mind. [Why did I run? What the HELL was I thinking?!]
"Yes, we are." she replied. She stepped forward. "I didn't think you'd be... receptive to the news."
He strode across the distance betwwen them. He lifted Adrien into his arms and twirled around with her and let loose another exultant roar.
"Jalapena! A hatchling!" He cried joyfully. "How long have you been with child?"
"Six weeks."
"That means the first time we mated our love created life." He said solemnly.
"That's about it." She agreed.
"The Dragon has blessed us." He planted a firm kiss upon her lips as he put her feet back on the ground. "Tell me all."
"I went to a doctor that is associated with the X-Men. She was one at one time and gives us medical attention on occasion. She ran a barrage of tests and confirmed my pregnancy. It's unlike anything she's seen. But, because of it's detailed development, she was able to run an ultrasound."
"UL-tra-sound?" Goliath sounded out the word slowly. "What is an ul-tra-sound?"
"It's using sound to take pictures. Dr. Reyez used soundwaves to photograph our Little One. Much like a bat uses sound to guide it's way through the night."
"Or when you use your empathic abilities to find unseen opponents." He surmised.
"Exactly." Adrienne exclaimed. "We know for sure it's a baby, NOT, a hatchling and certainly it is NOT an egg. It's much the same size and further along that a human embryo."
"How long does a woman carry a child? Ten months?"
"Ten lunar months. How long does a Gargoyle egg take before it hatches?" She asked out of curiosity.
"Five years." He said nonchalantly and with great mirth.
"WHAT!? Five years!" Adrienne exclaimed. "No, don't tell me that. I don't want to be pregnant for that long."
"Elisa was with child for ten months." Goliath remembered the bittersweet times he had felt his wife's growing stomach. He remember had Darius kicked inside her womb. He remembered how they shared their hopes and dreams for their son's future...then.
"Goliath?" Adrienne's voice cut into his contemplations. "Did you hear me, Handsome?"
"I am still awed at the news." He had no wish to bring Adrienne pain with his musings.
"We know it has feet like a human, but no wings or tail, and it has fingers, but we can't tell how many."
"You mustn't wear yourself down any further, Sweetling." Goliath warned her. "To do so might bring harm to you and the hatchling-baby."
"Goliath, there is a chance that this pregnancy may not go to term." Adrienne said gravely. "Because of the strange circumstances, the inter-species differences, my unique medical history; all those things could cause me to miscarry at any time."
"We will deal with it together whatever happens." He promised. "You will not endure this alone."
"I know. I'm sorry for doubting you. My instinct is to run. I'm just not that brave." Adrienne confessed.
[I think someone else told you to run.] He thought suspiciously. "Yet, you are here. Our love and bond are stronger than fear."
"Okay, so I'm a sucker for good-looking gargoyles." She smirked.
"As am I for fleetfooted ladies with large brown eyes and buoyant ringlets."
"Flirt." She shook her head at his blatant attempt at seduction.
He purred appreciately. His tail wrapped around her waist and hugged her tightly. Masculine pride sweeled within him. A broad grin stretched from ear to ear. With wings, arms, and tail, he held his Beloved Raven close to him. He planted a series of kisses upon her skin that left her breathless.
"Goliath." Adrienne felt solemnity over take her. "I'm still frightened."
"I am with you always." His warmth brought comfort to her. "You are not alone. The entire clan will help with the hatchling, ur baby...little one. Little one will have his or her rookery brothers and sisters to help guide us and him."
"I don't want to give up my right to motherhood." Adrienne exclaimed. "I know that much about Gargoyle culture, Goliath. I am human enough to know that if I am carrying this baby inside me, it needs parents. It doens't need extended family acting as surrogate parents."
"I understand your concerns, Adrienne." Goliath tried to calm his agitated mate. "Can we not bring this child into the world with the love of both parents and clan?"
"You'll be a father to him?" She asked hopefully.
"I am to Angela and Darius." He replied.
"Angela told me how hard she worked to develop a father/ daughter relationship with you. I've never seen Darius." She observed.
"I give you my word that I shall be a good father to our Little one." Goliath replied solemnly. He looked at her and she felt his reaction to her words. Goliath's emotions of joy and celebration mingled with dismay and sorrow resulting from her blazen display of mistrust. "My Love, why do you doubt me I thought you accepted me as worthy once we consummated our love for one another."
Adrienne remembered shortly after they consummated their vows how he had asked with great uncertainty, "Am I a worthy mate?"
She had replied "Goliath, of course."
Adrienne realized for the first time what gravity that question held for Goliath. It wasn't the human equivalent of 'was it good for you too?' In the Gargoyle mind, it meant exactly as if was expressed; an affirmation of love and acceptance. Adrienned grudgingly admitted to herself that sometimes the differences in their cultures and mindsets seemed conflicted and contrary.
"This child will have a wonder clan to count on and a wonder father named Goliath." Adrienne murmered as she rubbed her brow against's Goliath's brow ridge.
"This is cause to celebrate!" The Gargoyle declared. "The clan will rejoice in our good news."
"Not so fast, Hotshot." Adrienne stayed him with her hand. "I would like to wait until we know more obout our baby before we tell anyone else. There's also something I need to ask of you."
"Tell me." He asked earnestly.
"Goliath, I'd like our child to have a name." Adrienne looked at him.
"Of course! We'll name the child."
"That's not exactly what I meant..." She hedged. "How do I put this?"
"Please, have no fear of honesty between us, My Raven." Goliath gently urged her.
"I'd like us to be married before Little One is born." She told him. "I'd like him to have a surname other than his mother's."
"I don't have a surname to give him." Goliath shook his head. "I have no name to give you."
[Again, culture clash. I'm on a winning streak tonight.] Adrienne berated herself. "It's not important. Forget I mentioned it."
"Nay, it is important to you." Goliath responded. "As you have accepted my clan, I shall find a 'surname' to give you and our child. I promise."
"Perhaps, we can speak to Xanatos or one of your friends." Goliath suggested. "I know that he knows several clergy."
"Are you sure?" Adrienne asked. "I don't want you to do this because of obligation."
"I do this because of love." Goliath told her. "I do nothing simply because of obligation."
He made a mental note to speak to Xanatos on the morrow about a 'surname' for himself. This time, his Beloved would not slip away so easily.
Meanwhile, back at the Mansion....
Logan sat in the darkness of his room with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a half-lit cigar in the other. He hated being reduced to a lovesick boy longing for some Frail. Adrienne had him on his knees and she couldn't even see it. He closed his eyes in shame when he remembered how he used their link to find out more about her and Goliath. Logan learned that she was carrying Goliath's bastard child. Logan decided to used the compulsion of his link with Adrienne to bring her back home where she belonged. Yet, that link she had with that hobgoblin was stronger that Logan originally thought.
She's mine!" He screamed into the darkness. He thought he brought her to her senses when he worded her unspoken thoughts in her mind.
[Hell, givin' birth to that monster's bastard is gonna kill her.] Logan thought with alarm. [How's she gonna get past those wings and claws?]
Logan took another shot of his favorite whiskey. This time, he realized he'd have to take a more direct approach at getting his Adrienne out of that monster's talons.