On the good doctor's orders, Elisa spent the day lounging around at the castle. She retreated to the cavernous library where she spent her time alternating between staring into space dreamily and occasionally attempting to read.
In her spare time, she snuck out the printouts of the ultrasound and ran a finger over the bean-shaped shadow that was her baby.
She still couldn't believe it.
It had taken her a while to overcome the shock and begin to really wonder how such a thing was possible. After all they'd been married for ten years now. She was almost forty, for Pete's sake…
Then it had hit her with the force of a City Bus in the commuter lane…
The Dragon and his Wife.
He had supposedly given her the ability to live longer, age slower, so that she would have many years with Goliath. It had only been a few weeks since then, so she really had no evidence to support that the Dragon's gift was real or just a hallucination brought on by oxygen deprivation or not. Honestly, it would probably take her years to find that one out.
The Dragon wasn't the only one who had offered her a gift. His wife had given her the "ability to create the link to reunite the three races".
At the time, she'd had no idea of what that meant, and the Wife hadn't gone into detail about it. She had an idea what had been meant now, and it was glaringly obvious.
This child would be Gargoyle, Human… and Fae.
A link between the three.
She had known for some time that there was a trace of Fae somewhere in her ancestry, but this many generations out, you'd think it would be so deluded that it would barely count.
Evidently Coyote's mojo was strong…
She knew there was going to be a lot of adjustments and outright changes coming. Given the unique nature of this pregnancy, the doctor had warned her that he was going to want to monitor her closely and insisted on weekly visits. There were concerns about blood testing, RH factors, and a whole lot of more medical jargon that Elisa simply couldn't process any more of. All she knew for sure was that she was pregnant, had a giant contained of prenatal vitamins in her coat pocket, and a prescription for the truly awesome anti-nausea medicine that Doctor James had already given her in the office.
Not even a stomach gurgle, and for that, Elisa was thankful. She had grabbed a light dinner from the one of the many restaurants in the Xanatos building, then retreated back upstairs to wait.
And to think.
The good news was that she was this far along, almost through the first trimester, and the only bad thing had been the sudden onset of morning sickness.
The bad news was… none of them knew what to expect from her pregnancy. She had so many concerns and questions, but was afraid to voice them. It almost felt as though if she put her concerns into words, that would just be tempting those three witches of fate and there were some things she just did not want to do.
She had to start taking better care of herself. Limiting the double shifts, getting rest, dietary changes and all the other things that came with growing a living thing within her.
She had a feeling that between Goliath, the clan as a whole, her siblings and parents, she wasn't going to get away with much.
She wanted so badly to tell someone the news, having an almost overwhelming urge to call her mother, but there was one who deserved to hear the news first.
And, judging from the sky outside, she didn't have long to wait now.
She just had to find a way to tell him...
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Elisa was waiting on his tower when Goliath awoke. With a roar and a stretch, Goliath shed his stone skin.
He turned and spotted her almost as soon as his eyes adjusted to the world around him once more. He smiled, happy to see that she not only appeared more rested, but she had a healthy glow to her face once more.
He leapt down from the raised wall ledge where he had spent the day, then hurried forward to gather her into his arms. "Elisa," He breathed. "Are you well?"
"I'm great, Big Guy," Elisa said, her voice a little muffled against his chest. She leaned back a bit to meet his eyes. "I have a bit of a surprise for you, though."
Goliath frowned. A surprise?
"Shall we move to the library to speak?" He asked, tucking her small form into his side to shield her from the cooling night wind. They walked in a companionable silence down the spiral stairs inside his tower back down to the lower levels.
They passed the nursery, and out of habit, they both slowed to glance inside as they did when checking on Liam. He wasn't there, of course. Liam was still having the time of his life at his grandparent's house.
He would be back home tomorrow evening, however. Elisa made a mental note to herself to call and ask both her parents to come along to bring Liam home so that she could give them the news in person.
She had a feeling that a phone call wasn't going to cut it on this one.
Once in the library, Goliath instinctively led her to the seating area. She looked better, but she had been ill just 24 hours ago.
He led Elisa to her favorite seat, an oversized, deep red leather armchair that she could practically lay sideways in and still fit. Elisa picked up the book that she had left there, sat, and cradled the book on her lap. She had been looking forward to this, but now she had no idea of where to start.
Goliath knelt before her, gently tucking a few loose strands of hair from her face. "What did the doctor have to say?"
"Oh," Elisa said, cursing herself. Here was the perfect opening, and she still had no idea of what to say. "I'm fine," She said hesitantly. Elisa tried to give him a casual shrug. "I'm overly tired."
He frowned at her, and she knew he was waiting for more information.
She sighed. "He gave me some anti-nausea medicine, some vitamins and orders to start taking it easier."
Goliath let out a sigh. He couldn't help being worried. He knew that she was strong, but humans were so fragile in comparison to Gargoyles. They had already been through so much together, and each had seen each other at their best and worst. The mere thought of losing Elisa to some kind of human illness made his chest tighten.
Elisa ran a hand through his hair. She loved his hair, and watched as the strands filtered slowly through her fingers, catching the light from the fireplace. The light glinting on the dark field of his hair reminded her of the night sky… and what in the world? Elisa shook her head. That was a little too poetic, even for her.
Especially for her. Jeeze. Those pregnancy hormones must be kicking in.
Yeah. That was it. She was blaming the hormones.
"Elisa," Goliath growled, bringing his hand up to still hers where she was still absently playing with his hair. "What is going on?"
"Goliath," Elisa chuckled. She reached for his hand and held it in hers. "Remember, after the incidents at the pier, when I told you about that dream when I had met with the Dragon and his wife from the legend?" When Goliath nodded, she continued, "I'm beginning to think it wasn't a dream."
Goliath was lost now. What did this have to do with Elisa's health?
"I know I didn't go into a lot of detail about it at the time," Elisa said, giving him a smile, "but something happened today that's making me think that it wasn't just a crazy dream."
Goliath gave a deep sigh, the only outward sign of his impatience.
"Goliath, give me a moment," Elisa asked. "Just a few more minutes, because I need to explain a few things so that this will all make sense."
Goliath nodded, but remained silent.
"The Dragon said that he had two gifts to give me. The first," Elisa held up a finger, "Was that he would send me back to my body." Goliath gave a low growl at that. "And the second," Elisa raised a second finger, "Was to give me the time to be with you. To age with you. Do you understand?" Elisa asked.
She saw the moment that her words hit him, in the look of amazed joy that began working its way across his face. He reached out and gathered her to him, holding her tightly for a moment as the recognition of what this meant for them… for him… finally registered.
"I'm not immortal, thank goodness," Elisa whispered, "but he told me that I would age at the same rate as you."
Goliath picked her up, and sat on the same chair that she had been sitting in only moments earlier, holding her on his lap.
Elisa couldn't help but chuckle. If he was speechless now…
"There was one more thing," Elisa said, pushing against his chest to look into his face. "The Dragon's Wife gave me a gift, too."
"What?" He asked, his voice husky with emotion.
"She said that she would give me the ability to create a link. Something that would join the three races." Elisa took one of his hands, and placed it on her belly over where their child lay.
There. In his eyes, a spark of something that bordered on both recognition and hope.
"Goliath," She said softly, "I'm pregnant."
A gasp and the sound of a book hitting the floor with a loud bang came from deep within the library, causing the couple to react. Elisa jumped to her feet and whirled to the sound, while Goliath rose and began scanning for any kind of threat.
There was some shuffling, and finally a red faced, wide-eyed Skyler emerged from the dark recesses of the tall shelves, a thick book clutched to her chest.
"I am so sorry," She said breathlessly. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I'm just going to…" She motioned to the door and all but sprinted out of the room.
Elisa let out a small burst of laughter. So much for keeping it just between her and Goliath. She would have to catch up with Skyler soon before her excitement caused her to spill the beans.
"Elisa," Goliath's voice, and the intense tone it held, caused her laughter to stop and she turned to face him. Gently, so gently she almost didn't feel it, his hand once more covered her belly. "Are you certain?" He asked, his eyes shining with unshed tears.
Elisa nodded, her own eyes filling. She grinned at him. "Would you like to see a picture?"
His eyes widened, and Elisa reached for the book that had fallen unnoticed when Skyler had startled them. She lifted it, and turned to the page that held the printouts of the ultrasound.
She gingerly held out the printouts. "He or she is still really small," Elisa said, "so it's hard to see anything, but..."
She was cut off abruptly as Goliath's arm swung out to grab her around the waist and haul her up against his chest. He held her there, firmly but not too tightly, and said nothing.
He just held her closely, and Elisa laid her head against his chest. The rhythmic beat of his heart was so familiar, so strong, that it helped to settle her own mind, if only temporarily.
There was still so much unknown about this pregnancy, so much that could still go wrong, but here in his arms, she found a measure of strength that only added to her own. And in that strength, there was the comfort in knowing that no matter what happened, they would be facing it together.