Sunset couldn't come soon enough for the tenants of Castle Wyvern. Soon, stone flakes went everywhere as the gargoyles woke up.
The clan was all too thrilled to be meeting Sienna and Kenji tonight. Brooklyn could also finally start worrying about getting back in shape again. But he still needed a little time alone to bond with the twins. Brook was indeed very attached to them.
Dr. Sato and Elisa came back to the Eyrie building to check on Brooklyn and the twins. It was up to Sato to fully release Brook from the bed.
Sato got to the infirmary and was quiet. He found Brooklyn still in his bed but awake. "Hi, Doc. I really want to hold them and never let go." Kenji and Sienna had also just woken up too.
"That's understandable with new babies... hm. You can't get enough of them." Sato said. "But now, before I let you out of bed, I need to examine you and the twins. Would you mind if I examined your belly tonight?" Sato asked.
"No. But there's really nothing to worry about. My stomach's healed." Brooklyn declared.
"All the same, I just want to have a look at it." Sato replied.
"Alright." Brook gave in.
Sato came up to the bed where he was allowed to pull the blanket back, exposing Brooklyn's belly. It was still a little plump but flatter. Brooklyn also saw that he was devoid of his loincloth. Elisa had it in her hands. She would give it back after the exam.
Though the incision was healed, it had been major surgery on his stomach to get the babies out of him. Brooklyn was lying back and watching as the doctor put his hands on his belly and began feeling around on it. Most of his belly was fine until Sato got to the lower part where the incision had been.
Brooklyn instantly winced. "Ow!"
"Sorry. Does that still hurt?" Sato asked.
"Just a little bit. Otherwise, it's healed. Deep wounds can take an extra day of stone sleep to heal completely." Brook explained.
"Yeah, I had to go deep inside you to get the babies out last night."
Brooklyn didn't want to envision what the doc had seen inside him other than getting his twins out as fast as possible last night. Now that his kids were out of his body, he never wanted to go through this again.
Sato finished his exam on his belly and looked at the spot on his arm too. His arm was just fine compared to his belly.
Then Elisa came up to the bed. "Your clan will be in here soon most likely. You might want to put this on before going out there." She said as she held out his loincloth to him. Brooklyn took it from her.
"Thanks, Elisa." Brooklyn said.
She smiled, saying, "You're welcome."
Sienna and Kenji were starting to feel hungry for their first meal in this new environment. They had been cooing but were beginning to start crying. It alerted their father to their cries. "It's okay, kids. I'm here." Brooklyn said softly to comfort them. "Can I have some privacy, please?"
"Sure." Elisa replied. She and Sato left the room so he could get up out of the bed and get his loincloth on first before he got the twins out of their bassinets.
"What's wrong, guys?" He asked them. Brooklyn wanted so much to understand them, but then they had yet to have their first feedings. He needed to go get the formula ready. With one baby in each arm, he made his way to the door.
He was amazed at how well he was able to walk again so well already after having his whole lower body paralyzed last night for the surgery. But as he moved, Brooklyn felt a lot lighter in his stomach that he hadn't felt for so long. His back no longer hurt, and he could walk like he used to. His stomach still felt tender down low, but he managed. But he also felt the firm lump that was still there too from carrying the twins for so long.
Even with both arms full, he carefully opened the door with a hand with holding his son firmly in his arm and against his body. "Oh, you two can be heavy together." He stated.
"Need a hand there, Brooklyn?" Lex greeted him upon opening the door.
"Yes, I do." Brooklyn grunted. "They are a bit of a handful by myself."
He handed his son to Lex, who gladly took the baby boy into his arms. Kenji was a big little baby gargoyle despite his size at the moment, bigger than his sister anyway.
"I heard the little ones crying." Lex said.
"Yeah. I think they're hungry." Brook stated.
"And how are you doing?" Lex asked.
"I'm fine. Just glad the worst is over, and I can move again."
"I bet." Lex agreed with him. He still noticed the former baby bump on his bro's belly. Brooklyn's belt was still underneath it. "Well, let's get these little ones fed." He advised.
"Yeah."
They walked down the hall heading for the kitchen. Lex was also getting a good look at Kenji. What he didn't get was his coloring. Why was he such a pale red, or pink rather? That was usually a female color but there was no mother so there was no way of knowing why Kenji was this color. But he had seen that Sienna the girl had her father's direct coloring. Why couldn't Kenji have it too?
They soon came to the dining and kitchen area where the clan was waiting for them. "Hey, everyone." Brooklyn greeted them all.
"Good evening, Brooklyn. How are you feeling?" Goliath asked with a friendly look.
"I'm fine, Goliath. Thanks for asking. But I think my babies are due for their first feedings." Brook declared. "Everyone, meet Sienna and Kenji."
The crying had stopped for the moment since the twins had been being moved. They were still wrapped in their blankets. The clan came over to see them and greet them for the first time up close.
"Aww! They couldn't be any cuter!" Angela smiled at them.
"You want to hold her?" Brook asked.
"I would love to." Angela replied.
Brooklyn handed Sienna over to her. Angela took her carefully into her arms. She had the holding part right on contact. She had her on the fold of her left arm. The right arm supported Sienna more. Angela was glad that there was a little girl that she could baby. Likely Brooklyn wouldn't care if she did. Sienna would need a female role model in the clan.
Kenji would have plenty of male role models besides his dad. But even he needed female role models as well.
"They are fine lookin' babies, Brooklyn." Hudson complimented the red male.
"Thanks, Hudson."
Elisa then came out of the kitchen with two bottles full of formula. "Here, Brooklyn. I took the liberty of making them their first bottles of formula."
"Thanks, Elisa. Can I have her back?" Brook asked of Angela.
"Sure." Angela replied and handed her niece back to her father.
Elisa handed Brooklyn a bottle and the other one to Lexington. Brook wanted to do both but he only had two hands. But he would feed Kenji next time.
Broadway and Angela already felt like they would pretend to be the twins' parents when they would babysit. It would give them child experience long before they had their own children.
Lexington was glad to be feeding Kenji. He was used to feeding baby boys by now. At least the baby gargoyles wouldn't need diaper changes. But they would need to get some loincloths on at least before too long.
Goliath marveled at seeing his Second in Command being a father so young. Gargoyles normally had their first offspring hatch when they were 60 years old, equivalent to being 30. But here, Brooklyn was only 38, equivalent to being 19. He was a late teenager but still an adult.
Goliath normally always welcomed new life into the clan, but he had been so concerned for Brooklyn while he had been pregnant that he had been willing to have an abortion performed on his Second for his health safety, but Brooklyn had proven him wrong. He had run away to protect his offspring. He didn't want him to run off again. He never wanted Brooklyn to feel that he should have to do that ever again.
To Hudson, he was glad to see some new life in the clan again. It had just grown by two. He would let the younger adults learn how to raise the twins mostly but would be more like the grandfather. He would help when needed.
Bronx was also with them, and he was curious about the bundles in two of the brothers' arms. He could smell new scents. He whined. He wanted to see them.
"It's alright, Bronx. You'll get to meet the twins in due time." Brooklyn told him. "They're just really delicate right now." Then he grunted as a cramp seized his back. "I have to sit down."
"Here ya go, sit down, bro." Broadway offered Brooklyn a chair at the table. Brook gladly took it before resuming feeding Sienna.
The twins both had a strong suckling reflex. Hopefully, human milk formula wouldn't be too bad for them. Right now, they were drinking substitute colostrum. They hadn't been fed last night because it had been too close to sunrise after all the surgery and being brought to their dad to bond. Colostrum was important for the first night. Tomorrow, they would be given real gargoyle formula.
"What happened, Brooklyn?" Angela asked in concern.
"I just had a cramp in my back. I'm just so used to carrying them in my belly, and now all of a sudden, it feels strange that they're now here in my arms." Brooklyn explained.
"Yeah, it may take a night or two for your body to get used to feeling like it used to before the pregnancy." Elisa stated.
"But it'll also take a little while to lose the pregnant look." Fox came into the room carrying Alex then. "I see you have the babies in here. Alex wanted to meet them this morning, but you were already stone. And congratulations are in order."
"Thanks, Fox. I also wanted to thank you for being such a help during my pregnancy to help me understand better what was happening with my body." Brooklyn declared.
Alex then squirmed more. "Who this?" he asked curiously.
"Alex, I'd like you to meet Sienna. Your Uncle Lex is holding Kenji." Brooklyn introduced the kids to one another. "Kids, this is Alex."
"Sienni!" Alex exclaimed in delight. He couldn't quite say the girl's name. "Keji!" He also tried to say Kenji's name.
The gargoyles couldn't help but giggle and laugh at Alex's attempts to say their names. "He'll get better with time." Fox chuckled.
"Yeah. Good try, buddy." Brook grinned.
Lex brought Kenji up closer to the boy so he could see him better and closer to Brooklyn so he could see both together. The babies kept on suckling on their bottles.
"They play?" Alex asked.
"Not yet. They're a little young for that. They will when they get bigger." Lex replied.
"Well, I wanted Alex to meet them. I'll let you take care of them. He might startle them without trying." Fox said and had to pry her son away from seeing his future playmates.
"Where are the babies going to stay? The rookery?" Broadway asked.
"No. In my room. They're my kids. Eggs stay in the rookery, even though we don't have any right now." Brooklyn replied in an instant.
"It might be a good idea for it at times though, Brooklyn." Goliath proclaimed. "It is nice and warm for babies as well as eggs. And it is getting colder out. With them being part human, we don't know how well they will truly react with the cold."
"That's why we need to get clothes on them as soon as possible." Elisa suggested.
After twenty more minutes, Kenji and Sienna finished their first bottles and got burped. Then they were passed around for a good hour to so. They were curious as to who they were meeting. Each new face they saw they cooed at. Each adult gargoyle had on the softest face they could muster up to not scare the little ones. They all couldn't help but test the grasping reflex. The twins had good grips with their little hands. They also noticed the different kind of hands they had from their human side. It would take getting used to.
After Broadway handed off both babies to someone else, he was off to start dinner for the clan. Even Brooklyn needed to eat to get his strength back. There was no patrol tonight to help welcome the babies into the clan.
There was one thing that Brooklyn wondered. "Will we take them on their first glide tonight too? I mean just around the castle to let them get used to the feeling of gliding?"
"It's not a good idea at this time, Brooklyn. I know you would want to, but we just don't know how their human side can take colder air." Goliath advised. "They might be more susceptible to illnesses."
"True. Yeah. I don't want them to get sick. Let's go get some clothes on them." Brooklyn stated. "While we wait for breakfast."
Lex and Brooklyn, along with Angela all left the area to go to Brook's room to look through the baby clothes that had been given at the baby shower. There were both boy and girl clothes. Brooklyn was glad he had found out what he had been having before they were born.
Angela took Sienna to get her dressed in a pink outfit. It was specially made to even go around her wings. Brooklyn and Lex did their best to get the outfit on Kenji. He was fussy about getting clothes put on.
"You need to get this on, Kenji." Brooklyn stated. "He sure is a rowdy little guy."
"Much like his dad." Lex chuckled.
"Very funny, Lex." Brook retorted. Together, they got the outfit on him.
The babies would have to get used to wearing clothes, at least during the cold winter season.
Since the gargoyles knew what Thanksgiving was, Brooklyn knew that he had much to be thankful for this year. The holiday was just a couple weeks away. He also wondered what he would get them for their first Christmas. Oh well, he would worry about it later. It wasn't like the kids were going to be fussing about it that much anyway. Still too young.
The clan also all wondered about how fast or slow the kids would age. Humans were adults or young adults at age 18, but some said 21. But gargoyles aged half as fast usually. They aged slower than humans. Being part human, would they grow up slightly faster than gargoyle hatchlings? It was a good question.
Brooklyn was so glad that he had protected his kids from being raised in a lab like where they had been created at. He could only hope that the Illuminati never got their hands on Sienna and Kenji. But he also hoped that he himself would also find the right girl to be a mother for them as well.
When Broadway finished dinner, everyone had a sit-down breakfast/dinner to welcome the twins to the clan. Goliath, being leader, he made an announcement.
"Congratulations, Brooklyn, that you brought two new lives into this world that is more than welcomed here. We are all sorry for what happened back at the beginning and that you had to go through some of your pregnancy alone. But what you did, you did out of love to protect them. And even though we were concerned about you, you made it through it all despite the enemies that you faced without us. But now, it is up to all of us to help guide and protect little Kenji and Sienna." He finished. "Welcome to the clan of Manhattan, you two."
The proclamation made tears come to Brooklyn's eyes. He couldn't help but cry. His hormones would still be delicate for a while longer. He was just so happy to hear Goliath say something special like that.
"Are you alright, lad?" Hudson asked.
"He'll be alright, Hudson. His body is still likely producing female like hormones from carrying the twins for so long." Elisa explained. "He'll be his old self in time."
"Yeah, I'm just really touched, Goliath." Brook declared in joyful sobs. He still had Sienna in one of his arms. Angela had Kenji.
"I didn't mean to make you cry." Goliath said gently.
"I'm good. Just really happy." Brook stated.
The clan went on to eat their meal in mostly silence to not want to make the red male cry again after he dried his eyes. After dinner, Brooklyn wanted to then show the twins their first tv program. The program would have to be children approved.
Goliath and Elisa went to the library to spend time together. Hudson, Bronx, and the younger gargoyles all went to the living room tv area. There, movies like Winnie the Pooh, Pocahontas, and some other small kids shows were picked to watch.
Eventually, Broadway and Angela decided to leave the room for some personal time for themselves. Brooklyn and Lex kept on looking after the babies. Hudson would sometimes hold a baby in his arms too. He was a proud 'grandfather.'
Eventually, it was getting time to prepare for dawn's sleep again. Brooklyn took them to his room before reporting back outside. This was the first time in a long time that he had been able to sleep outside. The babies would be safe in their bassinets during the day.
After this chapter, things are going to start focusing on a different character that will change the clan's lives, especially Brooklyn's.