Well this chapter is a bit shorter than normal, sorry but if I added the rest it would be like five pages instead. Hold on because the next chapter will be close on the heels of this! Maybe by Monday! Hope you are still likin' it!

Darwin

Chapter Eight: The Time Draws Nigh…

Goliath glanced over at Elisa as she sat quietly on an expansive chair in the main hall reading. Of their own accord his eyes moved down to her markedly larger waistline, larger even than it was the month prior. She was leaned over against the arm of the chair with her legs folded in such a way as to support her belly and ease the strain on her back. She had been given a blanket to counteract the cold of the room but she had quickly kicked it off being overly insulated anyway. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulder and she was leaning her head on one arm as she held the book in the other. She had a glazed look in her eye that said that she was not really reading, and she hadn't turned a page in nearly ten minutes. That told Goliath that she was utterly bored, but didn't know what else she could or wanted to do.

Elisa's pregnancy was progressing rapidly now; she was well into her third trimester, with only an estimated month before the birth was to take place. The doctor considered her a high-risk pregnancy and was adamant that she had to reduce the amount of external stresses on herself. Work was her biggest stressor, knowing that she could not do what she was used to doing, stuck behind a desk everyday and being expected to fix the problems that the other officers gave her in the form of their reports. She had said to him how she had never realized just how ignorant some people could be. Being unable to tell her coworkers the truth about her situation had also added stress to the situation. She had been afraid that she would let something slip to them that they did not need to know. She was now working half days on her doctor's orders.

Elisa had showed signs of complication after her fifth month, developing pregnancy induced diabetes, which left her often times weak and dizzy. She was now on medication to control it but there were still bad days for her, days when she could hardly move, and days when she was so irritable as to be unapproachable. She was constantly being tested by the doctor to ensure her dosage was not either too much or too little. More recently she had suffered from swelling in her ankles and knees and the doctor was near to the point where he was going to restrict her to her bed. For someone as active as Elisa usually was, it was going to be torture to be restricted in that way.

Goliath tried to hide it, but he was nervous, excited, and anxious for this all to be over. A million questions whirled in his head every day, what would the baby look like? Would it be healthy? Would Elisa have an easy time of the birth? These were things that tied his insides into knots on a daily basis.

Goliath focused his eyes again looking back over toward his love, doubt filling him again as had happened off and on again since he had heard her news. Would the baby be able to survive their world? He had seen the fuzzy images on the ultrasound that was supposed to be a child growing steadily inside her womb. Like Elisa, he had to be given an interpretation of what he had been seeing, because all it looked to him was a bunch of snow drifted across the screen into varying densities. To Goliath's wonder and amazement, after the Doctor had pointed out the details, the image jumped into sharp relief completing a picture of his son. He could see the general features of a very squared face, heavy brows with short horns already showing. The hands were curled into tight little balls. Small wings partially obscured the curled up body, but Goliath could suddenly make out the tip of a small tail. His long feet stood out even in the grainy picture of the ultrasound. He was able to see the heartbeat and the skeletal structure. It was a intriguing look at a child who had not yet come into the world.

Yes the doctor had said that the baby was physically fine, with a growth rate way beyond the average human baby. Yes large for a human maybe, he thought but not nearly big enough by Gargoyle standards. The life of a Gargoyle even in these times could be very demanding, would he be physically able to handle that life? Would he grow properly? Would he be able to glide? Could he pass for Gargoyle?

"Thoughts you should have been thinking before you succumbed to your own lust," He thought sardonically. There was of course the other side of the coin as well, the Clan's reaction to this whole chain of events. He still had a nagging suspicion that the clan had accepted the pregnancy not because they were OK with it, but because they were afraid of how Goliath would react if they dissented, when it was obvious that he was stubbornly seeking this child's birth. He had heard wind that several of them felt that he had pushed Elisa into keeping the child to satisfy his own pride. He laughed quietly as if he could do anything to convince Elisa if she didn't want it herself.

The process of Elisa's pregnancy had been entirely fascinating to him. It was a course of events very foreign, because Gargoyle women only bore eggs for a matter of weeks after which they were laid and left in the rookery to grow. The eggs, the size of a wrinkled football when laid, continued to grow rapidly to about ten times the size, after which they hardened, and matured for close to a year. Each egg produced a young gargoyle that was the size and intelligence of an average three-year-old human child.

Somehow the idea that the baby would be developing for the entire nine months inside Elisa was unfathomable to him. It was not that he had never seen a pregnant woman before. He had seen dozens of human women in different stages of pregnancy as he was growing up in Wyvern. He had seen the undersized products of human's efforts to procreate. It was that he had never had much interest in the subject, which was a world away from his job as protectorate of the Castle Wyvern and his own concerns for his kind. Even after waking in this time he would see pregnant humans, see them with their young, but it never held more than a passing interest for him.

It was like hearing but never listening, and it was the way that he looked on his view of the events before now. Now, however it was different, he had a vested interest in this pregnancy, and he was like a blind man returned to sight, there were so many wonderful and terrifying things about the way humans conceived, carried, and delivered their young.

Having been so close to Elisa these past eight months seeing first hand what the human mother goes through, he possessed a greater appreciation. He felt that he understood a little better why human parents and children were often more closely bonded emotionally. How could they not when so much time of their lives had been devoted to bringing the life into the world? Humans spent countless years raising and training their young, caring for them until they could fend for themselves. Gargoyles children were quickly self sufficient, able to care for themselves almost immediately. The only care that they needed was to teach them their history and their ability to fight, most of which was instinctive and only in need of honing.

Gargoyles, in his time, raised all children equally each was a part of a whole, not belonging to just a set of parents. Emotional bonds did not exist really unless the wellness of the entire Clan was involved. Gargoyles did not seek out and bond with their young; the children instead joined a larger family. It was a tradition of necessity, no favorites would be played, and justice was meted out equally from all and for all. The clan as a whole was stronger for the tradition, all parts were equally important in the mission they had tasked themselves with, protection.

Goliath smiled slightly his thoughts turning back to the present. He relived the feeling that welled up within him when he felt the baby kick for the first time. Elisa had called to him and he, thinking that something was wrong, rushed to her side. She smiled at his concern then picked up one large hand and laid it on her distended belly. He had practically jumped out of his skin when he felt the movement startled that such a thing was possible. After a moment he replaced his hand closing his eyes and just feeling the life that was hidden there inside Elisa. It had been indescribable at that moment, joy, pride, and wonder all mixed together.

Goliath rose to his feet as he noticed a look of discomfort roll over her face again, the latest in a long line of semi-pained looks he had seen cross her face tonight. She had been showing signs that labor was near, at least the signs that the doctor had instructed them both to look for. Slowly he moved over to Elisa as she tried to ignore what was bothering her.

"How are you?" Goliath asked concern heavy in his voice as he seated himself on the arm of the chair. He looked down at her just noticing the sweat beading on her forehead.

Elisa laid the book down into her lap looking up at him, "Braxton-Hicks," She said automatically, smiling in a small way. False labor, the doctor had explained, typical in the last month or so of any pregnancy. It was like a workout to get the uterine muscles in shape for a marathon. She saw the look in his face, the one that said he wasn't sure she was being honest.

"Really Goliath, I'm fine…well other than feeling like I have a watermelon under my shirt, waddling like a duck, peeing every ten minutes, and eating as if it is going out of fashion… I'm fine."

Goliath couldn't help but smile at her continued sense of humor at the whole situation, "Yes you are fine aren't you?" he asked reaching over to stroke her hair.

"Of course," Elisa replied a little too lightly.

Goliath nodded and started to rise when Elisa uttered a pained, "Oh!"

He turned to look at her seeing the redness in her face and the pain in her widened eyes. He leaned down again, "Elisa?" He stood again quickly as liquid spilled over the edge of the chair and onto the floor.

She looked up at him, slightly embarrassed with one hand protectively on her belly, "I think it's time."