The day came and went. Soon, the sun set, and the roars of gargoyles met the night. It was still plenty cold outside but the gargoyles didn't feel it quite so much.
Brooklyn was nervous about telling the clan. After getting a good few stretches in, he also felt movements inside him. His baby must have been waking up too. The movement instantly made him try not to expose his belly so much. He instantly caped his wings after he jumped down from the parapet.
The others joined him and Goliath joined them from the leader's parapet. Now would be a good time to tell them. But before Brooklyn could talk, Goliath spoke up first, ordering certain ones to go places to patrol.
Brooklyn was assigned to patrol the Midtown area with Broadway and Angela tonight. He gulped. But he wouldn't argue. It was better to deal with this after all duties were over for the night. Goliath was going to be taking Bronx with himself and Lexington. The gar dog didn't get out much. Hudson was free to take it easy tonight, which was what Brooklyn should have been doing as well.
The red male hoped they wouldn't run into any trouble tonight, or that he wouldn't get hit by an enemy in any way.
The trio took off from the castle. Brook followed behind his brother and mate. They couldn't help but hold hands as they flew next to one another. Brook still longed for a love of his own, but when he thought about it, he had a love coming into the world soon. He smiled and put a hand to his belly. He wasn't alone anymore. He could feel his child make a move within him. Just feeling the child move made him feel like he was falling in love with something special. He was starting to feel the father/child bond.
He also knew he needed to think of a name. Gargoyles weren't going nameless anymore. The clans Goliath and Angela had met around the world all had names.
"We'll go by the banks and see if there's any action there." Broadway said.
"Yeah." Angela agreed.
"What do you say, Brooklyn?" Broadway asked his red bro. He looked back and saw Brooklyn looking downward and he had a hand on his belly. "Brooklyn?"
"Huh?" Brook looked up. He took his hand off his stomach.
"Something wrong?" Broadway asked, making Angela look back as well.
Brook giggled in reply. "No. I was just wondering if we could get something to eat too? If we don't see anything."
To the couple, that was unusual for the Second in Command to be asking about food. He would wait till they got home to worry about food, but he had been acting rather unusual of late. But how he had giggled in reply was something new too. It was something good to see him happy for a change, especially being around them. He never was when around them on patrol.
"Yeah, we'll see." Broadway replied.
They continued onward. Going up towards where they needed to go, it seemed pretty silent and nothing going on, till there was an explosion heard and an alarm blaring loudly. It got the trio's attention.
"We better check it out." Brooklyn declared. They glided down to the bank where it happened. This was how he had met Elaine.
There were a gang of twelve masked men in dark clothes coming out with bags of money in their arms to an armored truck.
"Move, move! We have to get out before cops show up, you cretins!" One of them yelled out.
The men then stopped when they saw flying figures coming down from the sky. They had glowing red and white eyes.
"Going somewhere?" Angela declared.
"Just try and stop us, Monster!" Another man exclaimed.
Broadway and Angela were going to take on the front guys. Brooklyn stayed behind the others, but he went after some men that tried to sneak down an alley from the open wall in the bank.
"You aren't going anywhere!" The red gargoyle yelled as he chased and jumped on two men, knocking the wind out of them as they hit the ground. There were three others that were trying to get to the truck.
Brooklyn instantly took off after them. He got to two more of them and he held them up. "Go ahead, knock yourselves out."
"Put 'em down, Freak!" A hidden man from the shadows ordered.
Brooklyn turned and he saw the gun aimed on him. He knew he shouldn't be out here. But ever since Elaine's kidnapping, he always usually met thieves and burglars with much more rage. He put the men down, now unconscious.
"I always wanted a head of a trophy gargoyle in my living room." The man threatened as he approached with the gun in his hands. Brooklyn raised his hands in alarm this time. His eyes returned to normal. He couldn't help but back up into a wall.
But then, there was shriek from above and Angela swooped down and knocked the gun out of the man's hands with her tail. The man yelled out in surprise as he was knocked to the ground, with the gun going off.
The gunshot was accurate. Brooklyn tried to dodge the shot like he usually would, but it made contact on his left arm. He cried out in pain. It came close to his stomach. It was a close call. There was a splatter of blood on the wall.
The man was out cold and Angela came to land on the ground. "Brooklyn! Are you alright?" she asked in concern.
Brooklyn now held his bleeding arm. Angela put a hand on his shoulder. "Here, let me see the wound." She said.
Brook winced but he let her see it. "I knew I shouldn't be out here tonight." He whined.
"Brooklyn, we need you out here with us more than you know." Angela stated.
The wound was pretty big. It took a good section from his mid-arm to his elbow. It had almost struck his wing too. Angela got out some bandages and she began to wrap his arm up, Brook wincing in pain.
Broadway then came around the corner. "We better am-scray." He declared.
The three of them made a mad dash to get away as police began to show up to arrest the twelve men. Who would be able to take on twelve men? No human could all by themselves. Likely it was gargoyles. Matt would recognize their handiwork anywhere. He smiled.
When they got to higher ground, the trio landed and Brooklyn winced as he sank to the rooftop in pain. "Brooklyn!" Broadway and Angela yelled together. Brook was holding his arm. His blood was already starting to leak through the bandages.
"Hope that didn't hit an artery." Broadway declared. "We need to get him home."
"Brooklyn, can you glide home okay?" Angela asked, concerned.
The red one bared his teeth in pain. He could only nod. He was so lucky that it only hit his arm, but it would need treatment. It was more than a scratch this time and it was hours till sunrise.
They took to the air again when Brook had felt he could make it. They were a ways from the castle now.
The pain from his arm, the blood leakage, and dizziness began to take over about halfway home. Brooklyn cried out and he began falling.
"Brooklyn!" The other two cried out and made a dive for him. Broadway caught him.
There was just something going on with their Second that they were worried about, not just this injury. They all or at least one gargoyle per patrol kept an earphone on to talk to the others if needed. Angela turned hers on and called her father.
"Father, come in." Angela said.
"Yes, Angela. I hear you." Goliath answered.
"Brooklyn, Broadway, and I were just in a fight at a bank here in Midtown. We're on our way back. Brooklyn was shot and badly injured. He's not doing well." Angela explained.
"Alright, we're on our way back, Angela." Goliath replied.
Broadway had to carry his brother home from there. They would be home soon enough. That was a short patrol but worth it to stop some bad guys from getting away from the scene with the money.
Brooklyn's vision was fuzzy. "Ah! Ugh! Just be careful of the baby!" he moaned in delusion.
The couple looked at him in confusion. "Uh, what baby?" Broadway asked him.
They soon arrived home and Brooklyn was rushed to the medic bay. Hudson was called too and he rushed to help as well. David and Owen came in to help. It would take a doctor awhile to get there.
Brook had fallen unconscious. He had been in extreme pain and the bandages were barely holding now. When they were removed, it was an extreme mess and more fresh ones were used to put pressure on it while Owen tied a band around his upper arm to stop the blood flow.
Brooklyn winced in his unconsciousness. "It'll be okay, Lad. We're with ye." Hudson tried to keep him calm.
Goliath, Lex, and Bronx soon arrived back home to want to know what was going on with the Second.
"What happened to him?" Goliath asked.
"He was shot by one of the bandits we encountered in a bank in Midtown." Broadway declared.
"He said something about a baby on his way back here." Angela said.
That got everyone's attention. "What baby?" Lex asked.
"We asked him the same thing, but he went unconscious on me." Broadway said.
David and Owen looked at each other. Unless he was talking about Alex, what baby could he possibly be talking about? Or could his friend, Elaine had been having a baby from her rape situation? But they were more concerned for the injured Second in Command right now.
With the band around his bicep, the blood flow was slowing down. Some thick bandages were applied to the wound. They took a chance and took the band off.
Brooklyn was taken to a bed in the medic bay. He would need to rest for the night. The clan stayed with him.
About two hours later, he began to stir again. The others stood around him. "Hm, what's going on?" he asked.
"Welcome back to the waking world, Brooklyn." Angela greeted with a smile.
"What happened?" Brook asked.
"Don't you remember? You got shot while on patrol?" Broadway reminded him.
Brooklyn didn't want to be reminded of it, then felt some pain in his left arm. It made him wince, baring his teeth in pain.
"You nearly could have lost function in your arm." Owen declared in his usual, boring way.
"Are you feeling alright, Brooklyn, aside from your arm?" Goliath asked.
Brooklyn held his arm but he opened his eyes. "Yeah, I'll be alright. Thanks." He replied.
Angela then asked him, "Brooklyn, you had mentioned something about a baby on the way back. Was there a baby with them that we didn't see?"
"Baby? No. Not with those scumbags." Brooklyn replied. He knew that he needed to tell the clan what he knew. He should have told them before but he didn't get the chance. "Guys, I have something to tell you."
"You can tell us anything, Lad." Hudson declared.
"I… I should have really said something before patrol. Goliath, I can't be going on patrol anymore. At least, not for a while." Brooklyn stated nervously.
"I need you with us, Brooklyn." Goliath replied.
"And I will be. It's just, this could have gone a lot worse tonight. I'm in no condition to be patrolling."
"What do you mean, no condition? You look fine to us, aside from your arm right now." Lex declared.
"You all know I was kidnapped those months ago."
"Yeah. What are you trying to say, Brooklyn?" Goliath asked.
"Now, don't take this the wrong way. I know it's impossible by natural means, but when Ray operated on me at one point, well, he put something inside me." Brooklyn explained nervously.
The others were all listening now. "What did he put inside you?" Angela asked.
"I know I'm a male and it would be impossible, but Ray uh… he… somehow…"
The others were waiting patiently and impatiently. They wanted him to say it already.
"Ray found some way to get me… pregnant." Brooklyn finally admitted the word. He looked up at the others nervously. His ears were flattened.
"That just isn't possible, Brooklyn." Lex declared.
"We know that you've been eating a lot more, but come on, bro!" Broadway retorted.
"I'm not making this up!" Brooklyn spoke up, sitting up.
"How could you be pregnant, Brooklyn?" Angela asked.
"Dr. Sato did an exam on me last night. None of you knew I went to the hospital. He proved it to me. He did one of those scans on my stomach." The red male explained.
"An ultrasound." David answered.
"Yeah." Brook stated. "A baby was found on the scan. I told him that I had been feeling hungry a lot, the nausea and dizziness I had on my journey home, and my sudden weight gain. It was unusual. I never gain weight like that. And I was feeling movement inside me." He explained.
"Movement?" Lex was shocked.
"The scan showed I have a baby gargoyle inside my stomach." Brooklyn explained. He laid his uninjured hand on his belly. The clan could see that it looked more raised and rounded. "I'm said to be about five months along with it. I swear, everyone, I didn't know I was pregnant before last night."
The others all looked at each other in shock.
"Perhaps I can also confirm it to be sure." Owen came forward. He then turned himself into Puck.
Brooklyn didn't trust him as Puck. "Don't you even think of harming it!" He warned him.
"I would never harm an innocent little one." Puck said innocently. He floated over to the bedside, the others making room for him. "May I?" he asked.
Brooklyn reluctantly lifted his hand and he let Puck put a hand down on his belly. He flinched at the fay's touch. Puck closed his eyes for a moment and with his magical senses, he was able to 'feel' the life inside of the red gargoyle.
Then Puck opened his eyes. "Aw! It is most interesting! The red one is indeed telling the truth."
The clan found it hard to believe that their Second in Command, a male, was pregnant.
It had to be shown to them fully, considering they were all from the tenth century previously. They sometimes really needed proof to for something to be believed. And just as those cop shows and working with Elisa had proved something to be rightfully true.
Owen, when Puck changed back to him, he did an ultrasound on a reluctant Brooklyn, to show the clan ultimate proof of the pregnancy. This was the third one he had gone under. He didn't like it but as long as he was pregnant, Brooklyn would have to put up with it.
On the screen showed the proof the clan needed to know that Brook wasn't lying to them. It was beyond bizarre that a male of one of their kind was expecting. And there was no sign of an eggshell forming either.
"Dr. Sato said that I'll be carrying it for a few more months. It's not ready to be born yet in another month, as we know gargoyle females usually have their eggs at six months." Brook stated.
"Yeah, we know, Lad. Guess we'll have to be treating ye like one of them." Hudson declared.
"Guys, I'm still all male otherwise." Brooklyn said.
"Brooklyn, with this condition, you know that you'll have to have strict limits on what you can do." Goliath determined.
"Yes, I know."
"There will be no more patrol for you starting tonight, until after the baby is born." Goliath decreed.
"I know."
Lex and Broadway never would have imagined that their lead brother was ever going to be expecting his first child like this.
"When do you think the child will be born?" Angela asked.
"I don't know." Brooklyn replied.
"Count up the months." Xanatos spoke up. "It's February now. If you're five months now, it would put the baby to be born in May or June, that is if the gestation is that long for its development. It might get bigger than a human baby before birth."
None of the males wanted to imagine what it would be like for a male to give birth either. Brooklyn would be in for a world of pain for that as they would picture it.
"Sato also said the birth is going to be c-section." Brooklyn stated.
"What's that?" Hudson asked.
"He's going to have open surgery to get the baby out of him is what he means." David answered the elder.
"Oh, I see. Understood."
"This is all very unsettling to even think that Brooklyn would have to undergo that." Goliath crossed his arms.
"Goliath, I don't think I have much of a choice at this point." Brooklyn declared. "It's alive inside me. I've heard and seen its heart beating. I can't do away with it." He had his hands over his belly.
"But would this Ray be coming after you for this baby?" Hudson asked.
"He wouldn't have done this to me without a good reason most likely. I won't let him have my baby." Brooklyn decreed firmly.
The clan wouldn't let anything happen to Brooklyn. He was more vulnerable to enemies. He couldn't be out there fighting anymore.
"We will fight to protect you and your baby, Brooklyn." Goliath decreed.
"Is the doctor going to be coming more often to check on you?" Angela asked.
"Yes. He'll have to to make sure it's alright." Brook declared.
The clan was still shocked about it, but they were going to welcome a new family member into the clan in a few months. But they were going to start now to prepare for its arrival.
Broadway went to prepare a special feast just for the occasion. The clan would have its own baby! He would be happy to be an uncle! But so was Lex.
Angela rather hoped for a girl so she could have some more female company.
Goliath and Hudson were still a bit reserved on the matter. Elisa would still need to know too. But she already knew. Fox would need to be told too. After all, Fox might be able to offer Brooklyn more tips on how to take care of himself with her having been pregnant once before and not that long ago.
Bronx went up and smelled Brook's hand. His scent was different and yet, still the same. He licked the Second's hand. Brook petted him in response.
As Owen had viewed the baby on the ultrasound before, the Puck in him couldn't help but feel intrigued about something.
"How are babies normally brought into the world with your kind?" David asked.
The clan wondered if it was a good idea to tell him, but David had saved them multiple times by now, confirming he was their ally and not foe.
"We can only reproduce if we have mates every twenty years. Well, in a way, this pregnancy is good. Since it is live, and this being 1998, all gargoyle eggs would be due to hatch this year. All odd years in the 8th year are our hatching years, and in the next ten years, in an even year, it will be our breeding year." Goliath explained.
"I see. Very interesting. I wonder why you can't just have babies when you want to." Xanatos pondered.
"It keeps our population from getting out of control, but we can't reproduce fast enough to replenish our numbers either."
"Apparently." David said.
"Are there any other creatures that reproduce like us?" Angela was curious.
"Are you more like reptiles or birds?"
"We don't know. We are just our own kind." Lex replied. "But I have a sense we are more like mammals. Being warm-blooded when we are flesh. But there are a few egg-laying mammals that are native to Australia."
"That's true." Owen said, "But their incubation times are not as long."
"Yeah, why do our eggs have to incubate for so long?" Brooklyn asked. He felt a little happier that he would be having a live baby instead of an egg. Of course, Ray had no idea what he had done. Brook didn't know all that Ray had done to create this little miracle inside his belly. He rubbed it.
Brooklyn was finally allowed up out of the bed and he would need to relax the rest of the night. He took some of his Tylenol for pain in his arm. He also took his prenatal vitamins. His child had much to catch up on with the vitamins.
When he had had the ultrasound and knew that he was pregnant, at least he was glad to know it was just one baby. He was glad it wasn't multiples. Carrying one was scary enough. Like humans, gargoyles' bodies were only meant to carry one at a time.
When babies hatched, the females also fed them with their breastmilk. That thought send a shiver down his spine. It made Brook look at his chest and he still had a flat chest like that of a male like he should. But would he end up having to feed his child that way? Right now, he was the only one that was giving the baby sustenance by sharing his food. Feeding a baby in pregnancy was easy compared to after it was born.
The gargoyles had seen human babies be fed with formula on tv and Alex being fed that way too when he was hungry. Alex now ate more solid food but still had a bottle here and there.
Broadway finished making breakfast and the clan had a celebration feast.
Goliath knew that Brooklyn couldn't do some of his duties as a Second at this time until after the baby was born. It was still at least another four months away most likely if it was going to be the length of a human pregnancy. But was there a chance if it was going to be even longer? That thought was scary.
Lex couldn't help but be curious. He wanted to feel the baby move inside his brother. But why had Brooklyn been chosen for this anyway? Good question.
"Why do you think you were chosen for this, Brooklyn?" Lex asked.
Brooklyn glanced at his brother, stopping from eating the piece of chicken he had in his hand. "Ray was a scientist, Lex. He probably wanted a specimen to study in the time it takes for one to grow up. I would never let him or her grow up being a lab rat." He explained.
"Understood."
"Neither would we, Brooklyn." Goliath said.
Brook was glad his clan was accepting of the situation he was in. This baby would change their lives for the better in the next few months, to bring some new life to the clan again. It needed it, badly.
But while he was waiting for the child to be born, there was only so much that Brooklyn could do around here.
"Goliath, would I be able to still go out of the castle at all, for fun things?" Brook asked his leader.
The lavender male looked at his Second in concern. "It probably isn't a good idea, Brooklyn. That Ray person may be looking for you, and you can't fight in that condition." Goliath proclaimed.
"He could go out if we went with him." Lex stated.
"We'd make sure he didn't fight if we saw something out there. Like what if he went out only for movies or concerts with us?" Broadway suggested.
"I don't know. I need more time to think this over." Goliath said.
There was still plenty of time to think this over. This was only the first night the clan knew of the pregnancy.
Goliath couldn't help but think of how long he and Elisa and Bronx had been gone with Angela trying to get home from their quest. They had been helping people on their quest before coming home and got to see other parts of the world and seeing other gargoyles. They had been gone for six months. Brooklyn had been gone for a shorter amount of time at least.
Brooklyn's child would be all alone here in this clan, but likely in the future, it would get to meet hatchlings from the other clans one day. It was still going to be a while before there were any more hatchlings in this clan for it to play with. But would other gargoyles see it as an abomination for how it was conceived? Well, it might be better to not tell them that. This would be the Manhattan Clan's secret, at least for now.
Brooklyn had been on his own for four and a half months and he had helped some people on his way back here. Definitely not as many that were memorable, but he had done what he had always done: defending the innocent. It was just going to be put on hold for a while. His health and the baby had to come first in this situation.
After breakfast was over, Brooklyn went to the library to get some books on finding out more about pregnancy. He had to know more about what he needed to be doing for the rest of the pregnancy. But he would read the books from the beginning to see what had been happening to his baby before he had known about it.
Xanatos was fine with him taking books from the library. He had every right to know about it to take better care of himself.
Brooklyn knew that he had likely made some mistakes early in the pregnancy because he hadn't known about it. He never would have guessed he had been impregnated as he was a male and this didn't happen to males. But why now? It was amazing the baby had even made it as long as it had without being miscarried. His body could have maybe reabsorbed it, but Ray certainly did something to keep it going somehow.
The red male was so enthused to be reading about what could be going on with his baby. Of course, he couldn't help but want to read about the beginning of life. He knew that meant having a lover. He didn't have one of those, yet. Even if he met a female while he was in this condition, would she find him attractive at all? He figured he wouldn't be found to be attractive if he was seen to be fat. He knew that pregnancy involved getting fat in the future. He would want to lose that fat as well.
What he was able to read that night was all awesome. He was learning so much. He wanted to get up to the point of where he was right now, at five months. But he would continue reading even past that too. The only thing was, he didn't know exactly how far along he was in weeks. He had to be possibly between 18 to 20 weeks that Sato had told him before, especially since he was feeling his child move about inside him. They were only tiny flutterings right now, but they would get stronger as time went on.
All too soon, it was time for a nap, dinner, and then it was time for stone sleep again. His arm had throbbed a few times in the night but it would be healed come tomorrow night.
For now, Brooklyn still planned on going outside to sleep with the clan on the parapets unless instructed not to.
….
Elsewhere in New York, Ray and his comrades were back in this city. It would probably be only a matter of time before Brooklyn found his way back here. They wanted to be ready to catch him. Ray wasn't going to let his prize get away from him permanently. He might be willing to let Brooklyn go again if he could just get the baby from him when it was the right time. But he wanted to study the baby's growth inside him too.
Ray was so angry at Melina for helping him escape. The baby would be about halfway through its development right now. He had missed so much already. The baby would most likely be taking after Brooklyn's looks. It was almost too bad he hadn't given Brooklyn twins instead. That way it could have a sibling. But he planned to breed Brooklyn again.
Gargoyles needed to be bred in his opinion. If there was only this small clan, even getting males pregnant at this rate would help them out. At some point, he might have to take to finding other members of Brook's clan too.
Ray felt he needed the first baby gargoyle to be born this way. He was wanting to save the species. He got what he wanted usually in this case. He wasn't going to give up on getting Brooklyn back. But where the clan lived was a big question.
But he may not have to discover their lair. He could possibly find some of the clan out on patrol if he looked carefully. He planned to start. If Brooklyn was back here with them, he would make them give himself up if he wanted to save his clan members. He wasn't taking no for an answer.