The next night, Goliath visited Demona. "Why did you attack Brooklyn, Demona?" he demanded. "He carries your children."
"I know that, you fool! And I wasn't trying to attack him, just get him to come back with me!" she snarled back at him.
"Back when you kidnapped him months ago, you had traumatized him so much, of course he wasn't going to go back with you voluntarily." Goliath declared.
"I want my babies, Goliath. I will have them one day." Demona glared at him. "You don't understand what I feel. At least you have had a chance to be in Angela's life. I barely get to see her. I just want what's rightly mine."
"By hurting Brooklyn in the process to get them?" he demanded.
"If it means his death to get them in the end, yes!"
Goliath couldn't believe he was hearing this from her. This definitely meant that she couldn't be released.
…
"I definitely don't want her to be released." Brooklyn snarled.
"We will keep her under lock and key." Xanatos said.
"Only this time, there won't be a band of deadly clones waiting for us in the end." Broadway declared.
That thought made them all shudder. They didn't need more deadly clones.
"Wait! What if your babies are actually clones, Brooklyn?" Angela asked.
"No! They're not!" Brooklyn held his stomach, defending his babies.
"Calm down, Brooklyn! We don't know that and we're not applying that they are." Lex stated.
"Just the mention of it, and I remember what Malibu did to me when he knocked me to the ground." Brooklyn remembered.
"We'll make sure nothing like that happens to you in this condition." Angela said. She put a hand on his shoulder, trying to offer comfort.
The clan tried to offer as much support as they could after what had happened.
….
In the days to come, as Demona was imprisoned here in the castle now, she was given food and water, but she wasn't allowed out of her cell. Not that she would starve and die, but she was immortal. It was just the right gesture for a prisoner though.
Brooklyn never came to see her. He didn't want anything to do with her.
It was always Owen who brought her her nutritional needs.
…..
The clan continued with how things were arranged. One would stay behind with Brooklyn at the castle while the rest patrolled. Hudson stayed behind the most, along with Bronx, but sometimes, Bronx was brought along. He was young too.
Brooklyn sometimes felt like an invalid that he couldn't go out patrolling with his clan, but he had another service right now. He would protect the castle while still nurturing the lives inside him.
Things had definitely gotten more serious out there on the streets about the anti-gargoyle agenda from the Quarrymen and other gargoyle haters. Brooklyn would be in bigger trouble if they knew of his condition.
When it came to how he wore his loincloth lately, the belt had started sliding under the bulge of his rounding belly. He had to keep the belt loose though. But then, maybe it was about time he changed to something else, if just temporarily.
David recommended some larger men's wear in shorts at the very least. A kind of 'maternity' clothing. Fox helped to clarify it more too, but to make sure it was all men's clothing only.
"You'll need room for the babies to grow." Fox declared.
"I know. I still can't believe I'm going to get bigger." Brooklyn said.
Brooklyn was now about 24 weeks along.
"You really think I'll make it to nine months?" he asked.
"From what I've seen from the sonograms, they should get kind of close." Fox replied. "Your doctor says their lungs aren't developed enough."
"Oh, and speaking of that, he's coming tomorrow, Brooklyn. He's going to do a special procedure to make sure they are both alright before the birth." David explained.
"What sort of procedure?" Brooklyn asked.
"It's an amnio test. He just takes some of the fluid surrounding the babies in the womb. He determines if the baby will have any health issues." Fox explained. "I had to have one done when I was pregnant with Alex."
"Does it hurt?"
"A little." Fox went on to explain the procedure to him.
Brooklyn gulped. It made him rub his belly in return. He didn't really want to go through with that.
"Brooklyn, I know it sounds frightening, but it's for the babies health. It would be good to allow Dr. Trowsky to do it." Fox encouraged him.
"Alright." he gave in reluctantly.
…..
The following night, Dr. Trowsky showed up for the scheduled appointment. He had an assistant with him this time.
Brooklyn was super nervous about this procedure.
"Alright, Brooklyn, this is my assistant, Paula." Trowsky introduced her.
"Good to meet you. I've heard some good things about you. He didn't tell me that you were rather handsome in person." she said. She offered her hand.
Brooklyn shook it and blushed. "Thanks."
Paula was in her mid-thirties. She stood about 5'6. She had light brown shoulder length hair. She had a lab coat on like her boss, but also had some white scrubs on. It was preliminary when you worked as a vet or doctor.
The clan knew that Brooklyn had another appointment tonight and would stay in until it was over.
Fox told them that it was better if they stayed out of the hospital this time.
"How long will the procedure take?" Brooklyn asked.
"Should only take thirty minutes." Trowsky replied.
Brooklyn was asked to get on the exam table and he did. He laid back and moved his pants down just enough so they could have access to his stomach. He tried to remain calm.
Paula scrubbed his stomach up to sterilize the skin. Trowsky was preparing the needle. Paula then applied the wand to locate the babies. Brooklyn looked at the screen. Right now, he couldn't see much because the doc had to see it more.
Trowsky put a sterile cloth over the wand. He also had the needle. "It helps not to look at it, Brooklyn." he said, as he saw the red gargoyle looking at him to see what he was doing.
Brooklyn glanced to his left. Then he felt the needle pierce his skin, making him wince. It made him want to rip it out, but knew he couldn't.
The needle was put into the womb inside him. Then a syringe was tied to it, pulling in fluid. It was filled to the top. Then a second one.
"Okay. There's that one. Now I need to get the second one." Trowsky said.
'Please hurry up!' Brooklyn screamed in his mind.
The same procedure was repeated. Brooklyn didn't like being poked in the stomach. "And you're certain you didn't touch the babies?" he asked.
"No, I didn't. They are just fine." Dr. Trowsky said.
Brooklyn was glad it was finally over. When he was allowed to sit up, he asked, "How long before you find out any results?"
"Two weeks at most. This has never been done on a gargoyle before, Brooklyn. Your babies are quite special that they can present us with some much needed information, in a good way. We wouldn't do to you what the maniac, Dr. Sevarius would do." Paula declared.
"You know him?"
"I've known of him." she replied. "It was good to meet you." She had just met him and was feeling like she was developing a crush on him. He was really handsome, for a gargoyle.
"You too." he said.
Brooklyn was still nervous about having allowed this to happen. He had two small bandaids on his belly to keep bleeding in check.
…..
The clan went out on patrol following the procedure. Angela stayed behind this time.
"How did it go?" she asked.
"Good. I just hope the results don't turn anything wrong." Brooklyn looked down at his belly. If anything was wrong, it was his fault. He was the one responsible for their health and wellbeing.
"I just feel like I could end up letting them down if something is wrong. Then I messed up somewhere." Brooklyn said, tears in his eyes.
"Don't talk like that. You're doing the best you can. I'm sure they're fine." Angela stated.
"I hope so too. I know that deciding to keep on carrying them was risky, especially since I'm a male." Brook said.
"Any pregnancy is risky, not just yours, but yes, probably even more risky for you." she declared. "But you wouldn't change it for the world, right?"
"No. I want them to be born healthy." he replied.
"How about we get a snack together?" she asked.
"Sure." he stated. He could go for some food to satisfy his growling belly, and the persistent kicks of his babies.
…
It was an anxious two weeks to know the results of the amnio tests.
Brooklyn couldn't stop thinking that something was wrong. But his twins kept on moving about and such as they normally did.
When the phone rang from Dr. Trowsky's office, Fox was the better one to talk to. She understood more of that stuff. Of course, Alex had been born a perfectly healthy baby boy, only to find out on his birthday that he was a magical being. And that his grandmother, her mother, was one as well. She didn't want Brooklyn to go through something like that, at least finding out that there was something wrong.
The results were good.
When the gargoyles awoke that night, Fox went up to greet Brooklyn as he stretched and got off the parapet.
"Evening, Brooklyn. Guys." she greeted.
"Fox, what do we owe this pleasure?" Goliath asked.
"Brooklyn, your results have come back today." she stated.
"Are they alright?" he asked with a hand on his belly.
"Relax. Your babies are just fine." she smiled.
Brooklyn sighed.
"But," she said." He glanced up at her. "We need to talk about something else. Come with me."
Brooklyn looked worried. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"Let's discuss it privately first." she said.
"Alright." he replied and followed her inside.
They went to his room to talk. Fox made sure his door was shut tight after he was in there with her.
"What's going on, Fox?" he asked, concerned.
"Okay, the good news is that they are completely healthy." she said.
"And, what's the bad news?"
"Well, testing their DNA too. That turned up some interesting facts. Brooklyn, the DNA of one of the babies looks to be half human. The other looks to be completely gargoyle." Fox explained.
Brooklyn's eyes widened. "What?"
"So, I think Demona is the mother to the gargoyle child, but the other one has a human mother." Fox stated.
"Well, Demona does turn human in daylight." he said.
"I know, but the DNA for the mothers doesn't match up at all. The father, yes. You are their father. That's all what Dr. Trowsky said to me." she explained to him.
Brooklyn couldn't believe this. The only other explanation would be it was Dr. Sevarius who had gone to pull something like this on him.
"Thanks for telling me, Fox." Brooklyn declared. He looked down at his belly. It was only a guess as to who the mom of the one of the twins was.
He went to go take all this information in. Fox left him in his room.
After she left, the clan came into the room.
"Brooklyn, was there something wrong that she couldn't say the results in front of us?" Lex asked.
"Yes, Lex. Guys, I'm still in shock over this, but the results are my twins are healthy and all. But, the bad news is that one of them seems to have a different mother than the other. One of them is half human." Brooklyn explained to the clan. "But the gargoyle child is likely Demona's for sure."
"But how could one of them be half human?" Broadway asked.
"Dr. Sevarius, of course." Brook glared.
"That man has no conscious." Hudson growled.
"But listen, I don't care who their mothers are, I'll love them no matter what. I am their father." Brook stated.
"That's the spirit, bro!" Lex smiled.
….
Goliath later went to Elisa's apartment and told her of the news of Brooklyn's twins. She hated Dr. Sevarius just as much as her friends did.
"This is shocking indeed, Goliath. I know how he has been so worried and concerned lately about what their results would be otherwise that I think it would be a good idea to give something special to Brooklyn." Elisa suggested.
"What?"
"A baby shower." she replied.
"A baby... what?" he exclaimed.
She giggled. "It's a party that pregnant mothers are thrown by their friends to help them get supplies for their children. It's usually just a woman thing, but I know Brooklyn's not a woman or female, but he does need supplies for the babies."
"Probably not as much unless they were human babies." Goliath said.
"Goliath, things might have been different in your old time in how you were raised about babies, but Brooklyn has chosen more of the modern era to raise his kids. We just need some things like cribs, blankets, maybe clothing if they get cold in winter, bedding, formula, books, toys, and such things. I've been to some baby showers before."
Goliath knew she had a point. It was a good thing that the Xanatos family was rich. They could afford all those things.
"But, I want to throw Brooklyn a surprise baby shower. Don't tell him. I want it to be a surprise. It's going to be thrown by us girls, but the guys are welcome to give him gifts too." Elisa declared.
"Very well, Elisa. But what goes on at baby showers?" he asked.
"Food, gifts, some games. Maybe a video. We could even suggest names for them. You guys can give us some name suggestions too for the name game." Elisa explained.
"Alright, Elisa. I trust you." Goliath said. "It would be nice to see Brooklyn cheered up for a change. He had been worried for so long. And that sounds like a grand idea."
…
The mutates down in the sewers had also been told of Brooklyn's pregnancy too. Talon and Claw were put off a bit that a guy was pregnant with his own children. So was Maggie, but she came around to understanding sooner.
Elisa went down to talk to her. She was invited to a baby shower that was being thrown for Brooklyn. She knew that he might like it if she was there for him. Maggie agreed to be there.
Elisa talked to her mom and Beth about them coming as well. They would be thrilled to come. Angela had agreed too. Fox was also going to help plan it.
With this many females planning something special for him, Brooklyn would surely appreciate this. He deserved happiness.
Elisa also went to the other male gargoyles and talked to them that they were welcome to give gifts for their brother's kids, and name suggestions, but the party was going to be thrown by the girls only. Broadway offered to cook some food and Elisa said that was fine. They were not to tell Brooklyn, and they had a month to get whatever they wanted for him.
Hudson wasn't much into the gift giving, but he was willing to give advice when needed.
Demona was still in the castle and she of course, was not invited to the shower. The results were never revealed to her that she was the mother to only one of the offspring. She wanted so much to be involved with the babies. Perhaps if she stayed here, she would hear of things from time to time. Eventually, she would get out and take them with her. She would make sure the clan would never find them, ever.
Even though some of Alex's stuff could have been handed down, most likely that Brooklyn would want his own original stuff for the things his babies would need for their care.
Everyone had a special plan that was being hatched to give Brooklyn's babies the best homecoming before they were even born. These two would be the first gargoyle babies to have a baby shower celebration.