The next night, Brooklyn awoke for the first time feeling much lighter in his stomach. The painkillers were now out of his system. He felt much better, but still a little tender in his lower stomach. He stood up out of his bed and he felt he could stand without help, but his legs were a little weak from not being used much lately. He also released his hair out of the bun from the previous night.
He walked over to the bassinets and saw the twins were now awake too. They cooed up at their father. He smiled and picked them both up.
The doctors came by to see the babies and how they were doing tonight.
"They seem to both be alright." Trowsky said. "Even though we have never seen newborn gargoyles before."
"You have now." Brooklyn smiled. "I'd like to thank you for all your help, Dr. Trowsky and Paula."
"You're quite welcome, Brooklyn. I want to see them again in six weeks. For now, I want to examine you to just see how you are faring since last night."
Brooklyn had to put the babies back down again. Paula examined them while Trowsky examined the father.
Trowsky pressed on Brooklyn's stomach, seeing there were no stitches there. Brooklyn winced.
"Still tender there?"
"Yes, but one more night of stone sleep will heal it entirely." Brook said.
The twins were just fine. The clan soon came to see them again. They got to see the red male on his feet again, finally. But he still wasn't ready for patrol just yet.
Brooklyn had always been a skinny one, but he had gained some pounds over his pregnancy. He had some weight ahead of him to lose. With a proper diet and exercise, surely he would be back to himself in no time. Now, he didn't have to worry about being hit in the stomach being as much a big deal, even though that always hurt.
Gabby and Tony were fed again. This was their first full night of not being in their father's belly anymore.
"How are you feeling, Brooklyn?" Goliath asked.
"Awesome. I feel great to be back on my own feet again. My belly's still a little tender, but fine. I'm glad I had the surgery to finally get them out. I feel a lot lighter and no weight in my middle. I can't wait to get out there and glide again. My wings sure could use it." Brooklyn explained.
"You still need some time to recuperate some more before you go off and do any fighting." Trowsky declared in front of the clan. "You've been in bed so long that some of those muscles need time to heal and get stronger first. I would suggest at least a few extra weeks of getting stronger before any fights take place."
"I can see to it that it happens, Doctor." Goliath agreed to the policy. He wanted Brooklyn out there again, but he still wasn't strong enough. Even running into Demona could cause trouble for him at this time. He needed to get his strength back.
Now that Brooklyn was doing better, tonight there would be a clan patrol. Someone would still stay behind to help Brooklyn with the twins. As the big sister, Angela stayed behind to help tonight. The rest went on a much needed patrol.
But while Angela watched the twins for a time, Brooklyn went to the high tower to just take a glide and stretch his wings again around the castle. He hadn't been able to do so in so long, he needed to do it. It was so fun and so free feeling.
The wind felt so good beneath his wings again, but the muscles were once again, rather weak. He hadn't done it in so long. Yep, he had a lot of strength to get back to be able to patrol again, but he would really start exercising too to lose this weight. He had already lost a bunch of weight last night.
Brooklyn was glad that he had his whole clan backing him up in wanting to help him raise the twins. He would find his love someday, but for now, Gabby and Tony were his loves, though Paula was showing potential. Demona may have been mother to Gabby, but he would make sure she never got kidnapped by Demona. Her, or her brother. And it was a guessing game of who would be Tony's birth mother. Maybe someday, they would find out.
Brooklyn and Angela went to the TV room and watched some TV together while feeding the twins their bottles. They fell asleep after feeding. Brooklyn would have to get used to staying up all night like he used to do. Now that he wasn't pregnant anymore, he did want to remain as active as possible. Hopefully, he wouldn't be needed out there anytime too soon, at least not before he was fully recovered.
In the coming weeks, he would learn Gabby and Tony's likes and dislikes, their personalities, etc.
…
Five weeks later, after lots of stone sleep rest, Brooklyn was ready for patrol again. He had gotten his muscles ready again. But he would just be out for gliding tonight. He and Lex were going out on a glide together. Broadway and Angela were watching the twins. Everyone else had gone and done their own things tonight. The robot couple had also gone out.
Also during that time, the robot couple had also changed their names. Instead of those ridiculous Cold names, some other names were picked out for them. From a different play by Shakespeare, the name Othello was chosen for Coldstone. Desdemona was chosen for his love over Coldfire. The new names suited them better.
The clan all took turns babysitting the twins. Even Goliath and Elisa. It gave them all new perspectives on caring for children again. It had been so long since the clan had had babies in the clan. The new blood had definitely been needed.
Goliath treated the twins as if they were his babies too. He still wanted a child with his love, Elisa. Even though he was Angela's father, he had missed out on raising her.
Lexington would often babysit the twins the most. He even let Alex see them. The little boy was fascinated by them, but didn't like it that they were still too young to play yet.
Broadway and Angela would pretend sometimes when they babysat that the twins were their kids, but still knew who their rightful parent was.
Angela was a great big sister to them. She expected to be a good role model for them both. She didn't care if Tony wasn't related to her. He was still family.
Hudson didn't do much child rearing, but he welcomed to hold them and treat them how a grandfather would. He would even give advice from the past to Brooklyn about some of the gargoyle ways.
Bronx was only allowed near the kids with supervision. It wasn't that the clan didn't trust him, it was just the clan didn't want him to risk hurting the kids. Being so young, they could get hurt easily. But Bronx was always gentle. He was a good nurse-maid too, like a St. Bernard dog.
…..
The following week, Trowsky examined all three like he said he would. He deemed them good and Brooklyn should be able to glide long distances again. His wing muscles were stronger since he had done some gliding closer to the castle.
The gargoyles usually looked after their own kids, but if there was a big emergency and all the clan would need to go out, David and Fox would be glad to babysit too. It was one thing they could do for the clan after all they had done for them.
Gabrielle and Tony were real joys to have around the castle. They came out of their shells as they were growing up already, but not too fast.
Gabby was the more outgoing baby. Her eyes could already glow and she would be completely red in those moments. She was a dead ringer for her father, except the hair color.
Tony was more laid back. He slept more and probably seemed to eat less. His eyes could glow too, but white, being male. He rather seemed to resemble Elisa like she had been when she had been a gargoyle for that one night so long ago.
Brooklyn was deeply bonded to them both, and he hated leaving them to go on patrol, but it was part of the clan's duties as second in command.
No matter what happened in the future with the Quarrymen or Demona, Brooklyn would see to it that these evil morons never got their hands on his precious children. They were the first of their kind, having been born the way they had. They were very special. And one day, they would be valuable to the clan in battles.
Everyone who was their friend even welcomed the babies to the family, like the mutates in the sewers. They saw that fatherhood suited Brooklyn quite well. He was a lot happier, now that he had his own family, just minus a mate at the time being.
…
Within a few more months, Brooklyn and Dr. Paula began having a special relationship. She liked him too much, and fell in love with him. He did likewise.
So, Paula soon became the babies' stepmom. Being as how Tony was half human, he would need some advice from time to time. He needed a human parent, but he was still more gargoyle with his wings, tail, and turning to stone during the day.
After Brooklyn got his new mate, he couldn't have felt happier. Sure, he had preferred a gargoyle mate of his own, but they were so scarce, he had had little choice other than going outside the clan. But he had found someone who loved him and his kids just as they were.
Life in the clan could not have been happier. Hopefully, someday, they all could live in peace with the humans.
Some months later, there was a train rescue and Brooklyn had came up with the idea. Now was the beginning for the gargoyles to really recover. Hunting them would become a consequence and someone would be punished severely for it.
For their reward too, the gargoyles also learned to work with the police on more cases. That seemed to be more their job anyway. But, no matter what, Gabby and Tony were always well taken care of, even when their parents were away doing something.
Demona had even tried getting into the castle to take the kids and she found she couldn't. Her robot siblings had had them at the time. She was not welcome there, but she wouldn't give up. One day, they would be hers.
Brooklyn was glad to not see her in a long time after all she had done to him. He continued to just be a good father and warrior for the clan. He had everything he could ask for now: a mate and two children to love. It didn't matter who their real mothers were at this point. They had a mother to love them. A 'real' mother.
Life was good at last. The clan had grown and there would be bound to be new lives in the future. Brooklyn's twins had brought life into the clan again. There would come a day in the future for more younglings in the clan as well. And the clan would continue to grow.
Sorry this was so short. But there is a new section happening after this too. There is still more to come.