Over the next few weeks, Brooklyn still went to Winston's apartment a couple times a week. He wasn't seeing much right now. It was still too early to know for sure.
Brooklyn still was going on patrols, watching TV, and eating meals with his clan. He often watched in sadness or jealousy of how Lex would spend time with Alex, and how Broadway and Angela sat together on the couch in the library so lovingly. And with Goliath and Elisa. It seemed everyone had someone to hang with but him.
Goliath had Elisa, and he was often helping her out on her nightly patrols. Hudson had Bronx. Brooklyn just felt so out of place in the clan. Just being a second in command didn't seem like enough. He wanted what Broadway and Angela had, and Goliath and Elisa, regardless of being different races.
He was glad to have Winston as his friend, but he still longed for that much needed extra bond.
…..
Four weeks after Winston's unknown meddling with the red gargoyle, when he woke up, Brooklyn roared and stretched. They all went to go get ready for their breakfast.
While Broadway cooked and the food smells that wafted from the kitchen, Brooklyn could smell it, and he suddenly got nauseated. It came on so suddenly. His stomach churned and he clutched at his beak and made a mad dash for a bathroom. He knew one was nearby.
The others all saw him take off clutching his mouth.
"What was that all about?" Angela asked.
"I don't know. We'd better go find out." Goliath said.
The others went to go find him. He normally never did that.
They found him in the nearest bathroom, throwing up.
"Brooklyn, what's wrong, lad?" Hudson asked in concern.
Brooklyn finished tossing his food, panting hard. "I… don't know. It… came on so… suddenly…" He smelled something else and puked some more.
"It could just be a bug, but you seemed fine when you woke up." Lex said.
That time was his last. He panted some more. "I don't know… what caused it." Brooklyn said.
"It'll be alright, Brooklyn. Just take this night off and just relax." Goliath said.
Brooklyn knew he would. Afterwards, he went to his room. Xanatos had given them all their own rooms. He laid down on his bed. Owen later brought him some anti-nausea medicine and he ended up throwing those up too.
The red gargoyle knew he didn't feel good right now. Nausea swarmed in his stomach at the moment, making him keep a hand on it. He definitely wasn't going out tonight. He went back to his room and laid down again.
Fox soon brought him a spare bucket to lay by his bed just in case of it happening again.
"Thanks, Fox." Brooklyn replied.
"No problem. The clan just wants to see you well again." Fox replied before leaving.
"I know." He declared. He didn't get sick often. Hopefully whatever this was, was just a 24 hour thing, he hoped.
…
But that proved wrong. It began to happen every night at some point. Sometimes he would wake up nauseated, other times ravenous. When he was hungry, he would eat with his clan, but within a short time after eating, Brooklyn would end up finding himself running to a bathroom or to a trashcan.
The clan was growing concerned. This wasn't like him at all.
Goliath ordered for Brooklyn to be off of patrols until further notice, until what was wrong with him was found out.
Brooklyn had lost focus while gliding a few times and almost fell, and had even also just about been nailed by bad guys in a fight over these past couple weeks. He was always with another clan member and they always reported something happening to him.
During this time, Brooklyn couldn't go see Winston either. He told Xanatos, "Please call Winston. He's a doctor." Brooklyn groaned, holding his stomach. It was bothering him yet again.
"Of course, Brooklyn."
David called Brooklyn's friend as requested. Everyone wanted to get to the bottom of the beaked gargoyle's ailment. Could he have been poisoned? Most ailments were out of a gargoyle's system within twenty-four hours. But not this, whatever it was.
Winston picked up on his line. "Hello, Winston McGuffin here."
"Mr. McGuffin, this is David Xanatos. I'm calling about your friend, Brooklyn. He says you're a doctor?"
"Yes, he's right, but I'm an animal doctor. I have given Brooklyn a physical once. But I know he hasn't seen me for the last couple weeks. I figured he was busy with his clan." Winston stated.
"No. It's because he's been sick. We need you to come here to my headquarters to see him right away." David declared.
"Alright. I'll get there as soon as I can." Winston replied.
When they hung up, Winston figured that maybe his little project 'gift' was working after all. He had been hoping it would. Even it if meant the sickness part of it, as a lot of pregnancies had it in the first trimester. He couldn't refuse.
He got his supplies and went over there directly.
Brooklyn just laid in his bed while waiting for Winston to come to him. Why wasn't this ailment going away? He only stared up at the ceiling, thinking.
Before long, he heard a knock on his door. He raised his head as Fox opened it and notified him. "Your friend is here." she said.
"Thanks."
The exam would be in the hospital ward. Brooklyn got off his bed slowly, and made his way to the ward. David was in the room to make sure nothing would go wrong. He figured Brooklyn would want his privacy from the clan.
Winston greeted him as he came in. "Hi, old friend." he smiled.
"Hi." Brooklyn gave a small smile in return. "I wish I was seeing you under better circumstances."
"I was just told you were sick. What are your symptoms?" Winston asked.
"It's been stomach problems mostly. But I also get dizzy. I don't want to eat very often. I throw up everything I eat when I do eat. I've been taken off of patrols because of my illness. They usually go away within a day. But this one has persisted for so long. I… we all need to know what's going on." Brooklyn explained.
"I understand. How long has it been going on?"
"A few weeks now." Brooklyn replied.
"Yeah, that is concerning." Winston said. He set his bag down and opened it up. "If you'll get on the bed, I'm going to take some blood first."
Winston had noticed a microscope on the far side of the room. He would look at the sample under there.
Brooklyn cooperated and let Winston take his blood from one of his arms. "Your blood is just a tad darker than your skin, I see." The man noticed.
"Yeah."
David didn't see any funny business from the guy.
Outside in the waiting area, the whole clan was out there. They were anxious to know what was going on just as much, if not more. They hoped Brooklyn wasn't dying. He was so young and should have had a long life in front of him. That's what they would want for him.
Winston let Brooklyn relax on the bed. He was lying down now, as he had now fell victim to a dizzy spell. He was examining the blood sample at the moment.
He saw some unique properties in the blood. But he saw the female hormones were definitely up. And the pregnancy hormone detected. He smiled happily. It was a success!
It had taken about a half hour to be sure of everything. Winston already knew what was wrong with his friend. But it had been a long time for the gargoyles to have dealt with a pregnancy of any kind. Hopefully, they would all relish this news.
When Winston came back over to the bed, Brooklyn was sitting up, looking at him with hopeful eyes. "Did you see any problems?" he asked.
"You're not going to be alone anymore, Brooklyn." Winston declared with a smile.
"What?" he asked in shock. "I'm not alone."
"I mean as in you're going to be sharing your life with someone special." Winston meant.
"I still don't get it. I'm not with a female."
"Brooklyn, I detected some hormones in your blood that shouldn't have been there, but it's what I've seen with plenty of female animals before, when they're about to bring new life into the world." Winston explained.
Brooklyn's eyes widened. "What? You don't mean-?"
"Yes, Brooklyn, I do. I know you're a male, but, you are pregnant." Winston stated.
Even David was shocked at that. He had remembered his wife, Fox going through some of the same things that Brooklyn had been going through when she had been expecting Alex.
"You're sure about this?" David asked, making sure.
"The DNA doesn't lie, Mr. Xanatos." Winston said.
Brooklyn's breathing began to pick up. Now he was scared. How would this had happened? Unless… no!
Tears came to his eyes. It can't be! "No, it can't be!" Brooklyn let loose a sob. He usually wasn't prone to crying, but the hormones were changing some things in his mind.
"Why didn't I notice it before?" David stated. "Fox had many of the same symptoms when she was pregnant with our son. I should have guessed, but just know that this doesn't happen to us guys."
"I know it is beyond shocking, Mr. Xanatos, but he is pregnant." Winston went on.
"It means, that I was… raped!" Brooklyn exclaimed. "Lex and I were… knocked out one night… saving a woman in an alley. We remember nothing else."
"But Lexington has been fine, Brooklyn." David said.
"But why… why would someone do this to me?" Brooklyn asked with tears flowing down his face.
"Good question. But Brooklyn, for full proof and for your health, would you mind if I did an ultrasound?" Winston asked.
"Ultrasound?" the gargoyle asked in shock.
"It's where the doctor scans a section on the body to see what's inside if something's wrong, and in the case of a pregnant mother, her stomach to see the baby, or babies inside her." David explained to him.
Brooklyn froze at that. The thought of multiple babies was super scary. Even the thought of just one was scary for someone who wasn't expecting this to happen to him.
"Brooklyn, I think it would be vital to have all the proof we need." David said.
Winston went to bring the machine over. He began to start it up once it was over there.
Brooklyn looked at him in concern and then at Winston. "Do what you got to do." he said.
"Okay, if you'll just lay back for me. And can you undo your belt? Pull down your loincloth just a little bit. I need access to the very lowest section of your abdomen." Winston instructed.
Brooklyn had stopped crying for the moment and did as instructed. He undid his belt before laying back, and he pushed his loincloth down a bit.
"You don't have to push it down any further. Nothing private has to be revealed." Winston said. "That's good enough."
Brooklyn watched as his friend got a tube out and he saw him open it and he approached his belly with it. He squirted some of it onto his belly. Man, it was cold!
The gargoyle cringed at the coldness. "Ai! That's so freaking cold!" he exclaimed.
"I know, and I'm sorry. But it has to be on your skin to help me move the wand easier." Winston explained. Then he got the wand pulled up and he gelled it as well, then he applied it down on Brooklyn's stomach.
The wand was pressed into the skin and was a little uncomfortable for Brooklyn. But then, this was the first time he was ever having something like this done to him. He couldn't help but look down at it in worry.
Winston began to press some buttons and a picture appeared on the screen. David looked too. Winston scanned carefully.
He was on the lowest section, right in the middle of Brooklyn's lower belly. He saw the artificial womb in there that had been successfully created by the special formula his colleagues had created. He saw past that to see an embryo inside it!
Winston smiled.
Brooklyn was still in major shock about all this. He saw the smile creep onto his friend's face at what he was looking at. He turned his head to the right to look too. And what he saw really shocked him. He could see a little body inside him! There was something blipping away too.
"What- what is that blinking?" Brooklyn asked.
"That's the baby's heartbeat, Brooklyn." Winston replied. He hit a button and a gushing sound was heard from the computer. It was so foreign to Brooklyn's ears. He had had no idea.
"This can't be happening! I don't know if I can do this!" Brooklyn was so suddenly scared that he tried sitting up to stop it.
"Brooklyn, you need to lie down. I'm not done yet." Winston declared. He had his hand on his chest. He pushed him back down. Brooklyn's legs were bent at the knees.
David came over to help Winston keep the gargoyle calm. "I know this a shock, Brooklyn, but he needs to finish the exam." he said. He had his hand on his left arm.
"I can't do this! I want up." He was ready to bolt out of the room.
"In just a few minutes." Winston said. "I'm almost done."
Brooklyn didn't have a choice. He looked back at the screen in fear. This couldn't be happening. He stared up at the screen again. He felt Winston moving the wand around some more. His friend examined every part of the body that was forming. It wasn't really much to look at the moment, but there was evidence of a heart and body forming.
"It's not totally much to look at now. Only time will tell what it looks like in the future." Winston stated.
After a few more minutes, Winston finished up and turned the machine off.
"That's pretty amazing, Brooklyn." David said.
"I also saw that the baby is growing inside an organ that normally wouldn't be found in a male. It is in a uterus, but I'm afraid there's no exit." Winston explained.
Brooklyn knew about where babies came from, but he had never imagined he would be the one carrying his first child. He was finally allowed to sit up. He was given a towel to clean the gel off his belly.
"Is there any way out of this? I wouldn't be able to have it like a female can." Brooklyn asked.
"Yes. There's abortion, and cesarean section at full term." Winston stated.
"How far along am I?" Brooklyn asked.
"If it's been going on for two weeks, I'd estimate about six weeks. The heart would have only started beating about a week ago."
"I still don't know if I can do this. This isn't right." Brooklyn said. After getting his stomach cleaned off, he dropped the towel and held his belly. "What are the others going to think?"
"I'm sure they'll all be in shock too at first, but why wouldn't they support bringing a new baby gargoyle into the clan?" David proclaimed. "As one father to another, I give you my blessing, Brooklyn."
Brooklyn glanced at the rich man. Father? He hadn't had enough time to fully think about it yet. He was going to be a father! But, it wouldn't have a mother. He was both parents in one right now. But why would someone do this to him? It would have been more correct for it to have been done on Angela, with her being a female. He would have supported her in carrying a child for him if he knew it was his, but then, when the time came, she would be carrying Broadway's instead.
"I know this was a shock finding out about this, Brooklyn, but the way I look at it, from a scientist's point of view, it is one amazing discovery and from the doctor perspective, that this can be carried out on a male too, not just the females. And look at your numbers. Gargoyle kind need the numbers. This is just a first step to bringing some back faster. This will make history for you." Winston explained his thoughts.
David could understand what he was talking about, but at the thought of being raped, was not right. Having this forced on Brooklyn wasn't right. But he could agree about the numbers.
Brooklyn was still absorbing all this. His hand never left his stomach. "I need time to think about this." He began buckling his belt over his loincloth again.
"Take all the time you need. Think hard. But I am going to say congratulations on the baby." Winston smiled at him.
"Same here, Brooklyn." David added.
"Thanks, but how am I going to tell the clan?" Brooklyn asked. "I'm not ready to tell them. And how long do you think I'll carry it? Was it in an egg? It'll take ten years to hatch."
"I can tell them for you if you need me too. Just finding out about this tonight is a lot to take in. But if you want them to understand that you will have limitations from now on for the next few months if you decide to go on with the pregnancy. I would guess maybe more than the six months that you mentioned from the natural way. Maybe even as long as a human's. I didn't see signs of an eggshell. You won't be going on patrols and you have to protect yourself at all costs." Winston explained his concern. "If you want to hang out with me, I could come to you."
"They are all waiting anxiously to know what's going on with you. What do you want to do?" David asked.
"I don't think I can find the words to say it." Brooklyn said. "I need to think more first."
"I or Mr. Xanatos can do it if you want us to." Winston stated.
"Please, not tonight. Give me some time to think about it." Brooklyn said.
"Alright. But we have to tell them something." David said.
"Tell them he's going to be alright. That he'll tell them in a few nights what it is, but until then, you are going to have to take it easy from here on out." Winston advised.
Brooklyn finally left the hospital ward to go back to his room. David went to go face the clan.
The second the door opened, the clan was on their feet. They had been worried sick.
"Is he-?" Angela asked in fear.
"What happened?" Goliath asked.
"The good news is Brooklyn's going to be just fine." David announced.
The clan cheered happily.
"But what's the bad news?" Goliath demanded next.
"The bad news is that he has a condition that he wants more time to think about before he tells what it is. The sickness will continue for some time. But it's nothing that will kill him. He needs to take it easy for awhile. He's not going to be in any shape for big fights or big exertions for some time." David explained to them.
"But what is the condition?" Lex tried to get it out of him.
"I'm sorry. For now, I'm sworn to secrecy." David said. "Just keep calm when around him and make him feel supported. That's what he needs right now from you all. He's feeling all alone at the moment."
"We'll support and take care of Brooklyn in whatever he needs to get better." Goliath declared. "We need him out there with us."
The others agreed too.
David was pleased to hear it.
After he left, the clan went into the ward, only to find Brooklyn not in there. There would be only one other place he could be. They went to his room to see how he was doing.
Lexington knocked on his door first. "Come in." They heard.
Goliath opened the door. "Hi, Brooklyn. How are you feeling?" he asked in concern.
Brooklyn was on his bed. He took his hand off his belly. "Peachy." he said sarcastically.
The clan stepped into the room. They saw he was fine, but he didn't look happy.
"Are you alright?" Angela asked.
"Yes. I'm just in shock of learning the condition of my health." Brooklyn replied.
"Brooklyn, we care about you, you know that?" Goliath said.
"Yes."
"We will support you in anything that will help you out while you are sick." the leader stated.
"I know that. I just… need more time to tell you what's going on." Brooklyn explained.
"You do that, lad. But don't take too long. We need to know what is wrong to help you get back on your feet." Hudson said.
"We also want you around for a long time." Broadway stated. "You're still our rookery brother."
"Thanks." Brooklyn replied. He was glad the clan seemed to be supporting him even though they didn't know about the baby yet. He was glad it was just one. "Look, I feel I need to lay down. I'm getting dizzy."
"Very well. Just let us know if you need anything." Goliath said.
"I will, thanks." Brook said.
The clan left the room. Hudson was the last one, but Bronx came up to the red one and whined. He smelled Brooklyn's scent and he took note of it. It wasn't quite the same. He licked Brooklyn's hand.
"Hey, boy. I'm fine." he said.
Bronx knew something special was going on. He knew what a pregnant gargoyle's scent was like from years ago. It was stored in his memory like what happens with dogs.
"Bronx, let the lad rest." Hudson called the gar-dog.
"Go on. We might be able to play later." Brooklyn said.
Bronx reluctantly followed Hudson out. He wanted to stay with Brooklyn right now.
Brooklyn sighed after they were gone. He knew he wouldn't be able to be knocked around or anything while he was carrying this baby.
As the night wore on, some more of his thinking became more clear to him. He sat on the edge of his bed, looking down and rubbing his belly. "I never thought this would ever be the way I become a father to my first baby." he said to himself, or was thinking it to his child too. "But is it really the right thing to do? I know I'm not going to be able to do as many things I used to be able to do. But what Winston said makes sense. We could use more numbers. But this will be my child. I know I would be responsible for it. It's all just so much to take in."
"What are you, little one? I have to also decide what you'll eat, what your name will be." So much to think about, but then, a horrifying thought came to him. What if this baby was not a gargoyle at all? What if it was something else?
Or some whacked out scientist who planned on using the baby against him?! Like Sevarius, or Demona! If that she-demon found out he was carrying a baby, she would never let him live it down. Or she would take it away from him! The very thoughts made him hold his belly.
Brooklyn looked down at his belly, "As much as you are making me miserable, little one, I promise to take care of you from here on out."
After he said that, he heard a knock at his door. "Come in." It was Fox.
"Brooklyn, I have something for you." she said.
"What?" he asked.
"David only told me. He didn't tell the others of your condition. Since I've gone through that once before, I thought you might want to read this to help prepare and make your final decision better." She explained as she handed him a book.
He read the title. 'What to Expect when You're Expecting.' He also saw the pregnant woman on the front too.
"Thanks, Fox." he said.
"It'll tell you a lot of things you need to know." Fox stated. "It really came in handy when I carried Alex. Do you have any thoughts on what your baby will be? Girl or boy? It's just fun to guess in all the excitement."
"No, I don't. Not at the moment. I just found out and am coming to terms with it." Brooklyn said.
"If you ever need someone to talk to, or have questions about what you're going through, I can help you out there with someone who has the experience." she said.
"Thanks." He wasn't too disappointed that she knew. He was glad to have someone around that had direct experience with this. Even Elisa hadn't gone down this road yet. But he knew Elisa was bound to be understanding and supportive too, being a woman and their other closest friend.