Chapter Four: A Bouncing Baby What?
Many weeks passed, and both Elisa and Goliath with the best of intentions tried to bring themselves to tell the clan of what had happened. The only problem was that neither of them seemed to think of a "right time" to break the news. They had also suddenly been plagued with things to do, the Quarrymen had begun another rabble rousing campaign. And that possessed many a night of Goliath and the Clan's time. Elisa had worries of her own, several of the "flavor of the day" gangsters in the city had concocted another scheme and her and Matt had been undercover for two weeks trying to crack the ring.
Elisa and Goliath's relationship even when they did see each other was strained. The joviality and camaraderie that they usually enjoyed with each other was missing. They only spoke about business and nothing more. Elisa's mind was filled daily with concerns and doubts about the advisability of trying to have this child. Goliath seemed to sense her misgivings and became tense and irritable when she came to the castle to see them.
Now she was nearly three months along, and she could feel the tightness in her belly, the way that her jeans did not fit right anymore. Her morning sickness had ebbed until it was only an occasional nuisance. It was more than time to make a decision, and one that she could not make lightly. Should she keep it? Would her health or the baby's be in jeopardy if she pursued this pregnancy to the end? If she did keep it they would have to tell the Clan before the baby was born, and what would that do to Goliath's standing? That worried her above all else.
She drew a deep breath as she sat on the examining table letting it out slowly as she looked at and read the same poster for the third time since the doctor had left to check on her test results. It was a day off and one that she was taking to get a check up without any undue questions from her co-workers or any of her Gargoyle friends. Goliath knew of course, she had wanted him to know, despite the rift that was currently between them. Elisa looked up expectantly as the doctor stepped back into the room looking grimly at her charts and ultrasounds.
Her eyes followed him as he rolled his stool over in front of her and sat down, "I'm afraid there is some bad news, Ms. Maza," The doctor started grimly. Elisa sat quietly trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut as he finished with, "The ultrasound reveals some… well, abnormalities in the fetus."
"Such as?" She stated calmly, belying the anxiety she was feeling.
"Well," He said punching some codes into his computer to access her file. A running video of her ultrasound popped onto the screen before them. Elisa's eyes were transfixed on the moving blob in the middle of the screen. She never could decide what she was looking at, all she could see was that it was alive and kicking, "Overall the child seems healthy, the heartbeat is strong and the growth is way above the average. There are, however, these deformities… odd growth on the brows and on the back, the feet are longer than expected and they lack two toes, and there is a vestigial tail," So Goliath's genes had been intact that night. It was going to be a perfectly healthy baby Gargoyle…or a half-breed anyway. The doctor was saying, "Is there a history of tails in your family."
"No," she stated.
"How about the father?"
"Well… yes," she answered honestly, looking away trying not to smirk at the irony of that question.
The doctor shrugged, he sighed heavily, leaning in and looking apologetic. Elisa turned her eyes back toward him, "I have to be honest with you Ms Maza. With the defects the baby has, I am fairly certain that you will miscarry within a month."
Her hackles rose at the callous statement, "How can you be so sure of that?" Elisa said stubbornly, wondering suddenly why she was arguing with the doctor. She loved Goliath very much, but this pregnancy, it threatened to tear more than their relationship apart, it threatened Goliath's role as leader of the Clan.
"Look, I know it sounds heartless, but I am just trying to prepare you for was strikes me as an inevitability. The probability is very high that you will lose it," He saw the stubborn look on her face and sighing said to her, "You… you want to have a baby with so many physical ailments? Of course the decision is up to you, but that is a rough road if the baby survives."
Elisa paused before she replied. Did she? It would be easier on them both to rid herself of the child. She felt her features harden in determination, "Yes, I do," Elisa said rising, uncertain what had made her say that.
"Well that part is going to be up to Mother Nature, I'm afraid."
"I am going to have to get a second opinion," she said gruffly.
The doctor looked at her in shock, "I… If that's the way you feel."
Elisa nodded, "If you will just give me my records, I'll pay my bill and go," She paused a moment before stepping out the door and turned back to face him, "And doctor?"
"Yes, Ms Maza?" He said tonelessly.
"Is it a girl or a boy?"
Elisa disliked having to be so harsh on the doctor when he was just doing his job, but it had provided her with a perfect opportunity to back out gracefully. She doubted he would understand when he delivered a gargoyle instead of a human baby from her womb. Unfortunately that left her with a less than pleasant choice, getting Xanatos involved with the problem. As distasteful as the thought was, he had connections and could come up with a doctor who would not ask embarrassing questions.
When she arrived back at the castle she found Goliath sitting alone in the library. He was staring at an unseen point across the room, a book lying open in his lap. He seemed to sense her presence for he looked her direction as she came closer. Elisa saw in his eyes the question he wanted but was afraid to ask, "It's official," She stated trying to sound lighthearted, "It's a healthy bouncing baby gargoyle."
Goliath's eyes slid shut at her statement, a frown drawing the corners of his mouth down, and shifting he slowly closed the book on his knee. He drew a deep breath letting it out slowly as he said softly, "Will you…. Keep it?"
Elisa stepped back, shocked by his words and wondering what would make him pose a question of that sort. It was then that she noticed the subject matter of the book he had been reading. It was a medical journal, the first volume A-J, and her heart sank as she quickly guessed what he had been reading about.
"Where did you hear a word like that?" she asked softly her voice quavering even in her own ears.
"It is a word that permeates this society…you have only to watch the news," Goliath said evenly. His eyes turned to her one brow raised awaiting her answer.
"You read too much," Elisa replied and lifted the book from his knee, looked at the spine, and then dropped it on the floor. She sat on the armrest of the chair he was sitting in, "I wouldn't do that."
"And yet, you seem so unhappy about this child…our child," Goliath said sadly taking up one of her hands, "I feel that I have somehow damaged our friendship and our love with this happening. You have been so withdrawn, and I do not know how to rectify the problem."
"I'm sorry, Goliath," Elisa said, "I'm just not quite sure how to handle this. I want to keep the baby, but I don't want to jeopardize your standing with the rest of the clan."
"Yet they must know. As you said you will not be able to hide the evidence forever," he sighed heavily, "We will tell them upon waking tomorrow…. And you may want to have those people who need to know there as well… Bluestone, perhaps."
"And Xanatos," Elisa added bitterly.
"Why?"
"Because, I'm not going to be able to walk into the hospital and deliver this child," her hand went protectively to her belly, "I really don't think they will mistake his appearance for birth defects. And only Xanatos has the connections to get a doctor that won't turn us in to the tabloids."
"Him?" Goliath said, keying in on the word.
Elisa couldn't help but smile, "Well he wasn't shy for the camera. Though I have to admit, I had to have the doctor interpret for me."
"A… son…" he whispered looking away. He began to smile in spite of the burden on his heart, and wrapped Elisa in a warm embrace, kissing her forehead lovingly. She returned his embrace without the guilty pangs she had been feeling for the month since she had found out.