As the last weeks came on, the girls were still planning of giving Brooklyn his baby shower. He had no idea what they were planning but it was supposed to be fun for him since he needed some fun since it seemed that he had been a target constantly.
Brooklyn was now at his 30th week. The due date still seemed like a long way off. Sato was willing for the 36th or 37th week for the c-section unless he was doing really well. Then it might have been possible to wait longer. Sato wanted to give the twins the longest and best time for the babies' lungs to finish developing.
Moving around was quite uncomfortable for Brooklyn. He felt enormous at this point. His back ached a lot, his ankles would swell if he didn't keep them supported on a footrest, there was heartburn at times, the babies were feeling heavy inside him. He had to lay on his left side if he was lying down. Brook had to take at least one nap during the night to maintain energy because the babies constantly tired him out. He had to have at least four small meals during the night to keep himself and the twins fed. They were now at the point of leaving him constantly hungry too.
Aside from all his aches and pains, Brooklyn also began the strong instinct to 'nest.' It was where he was constantly bothered by dirt and dust everywhere. Many little things began to bother him that didn't used to. He just wanted a safe environment for the twins to be born in.
The clan and the Xanatos' did some cleaning around the castle for Brooklyn's sake to keep him happy. If something wasn't cleaned up, the red gargoyle would have hissy fits about it.
There were also the mood swings watching programs too. He could be happy and laughing at one thing, and the next, he could be crying at something. Broadway and Lex found it strange that their brother was acting like this. They had never seen him like this before.
"Why is Brooklyn so upset all the time?" Broadway asked Hudson.
"All this is normal for a pregnant parent, Broadway. I know it is strange for me to see him like this too, but those hormones keepin' his pregnancy goin' are making him act like a pregnant female. Angela be no different when her time comes." Hudson explained. "I seen it with every breeding season."
"Oh, ok. Sorry." Broadway stated.
"It's alright. You just need to understand." The elder declared.
Lex was also listening too. He was being careful in how to talk to Brooklyn as well.
Part of Brooklyn's mood swings were also about how his body was being affected by discomforts too. Then there were the cravings for certain foods too. Mixtures that normally didn't sound good. But it must have had some special nutrient value because Brooklyn craved them.
Ice cream and pickles, peanut butter on chips, he was even wanting pizza! Normally, Brook hated pizza. He was also wanting to eat baby food. Bananas and broccoli together. And many more that the clan didn't find so appealing. Not even the humans. Though Fox understood the cravings. Some of the mixtures just about made others just about want to barf.
"Just humor him, everyone. Get him what he wants when he asks for it. It's not easy taking care of those demanding little lives inside of him and he needs your help to supply the nutrition that he needs." Fox explained. "His babies are just making him have those cravings for certain reasons we can't always describe. I used to have them too."
"I can't wait for the twins to be born so we don't have to keep on seeing him eat those mixtures." Lex complained quietly.
"He'll be back to normal when the twins are born, right Fox?" Angela asked.
"Yes. Keep in mind, Angela that one day when you are carrying the next generation of your clan that you'll likely have strange cravings too." Fox proclaimed.
"I just hope Broadway can handle me that way." Angela declared.
"He'll learn to cope when it comes to that." Fox said.
Goliath also thought it seemed weird to see his Second in Command acting like a pregnant female, but with the acceptance of the twins coming soon came the issues and complaints of the pregnancy.
...
Soon, it was time for the baby shower. All the supplies were gotten together, and the room was nicely decorated.
On this night, Lex, Hudson, and Broadway were keeping Brooklyn distracted until they were ready. Goliath was holding out on patrols till Angela came to get him. Then the other males and Bronx were heading out. The girls had the gifts and snacks ready. There was also to be a game with toilet paper and guessing of baby animals of what they were called.
Fox, Elisa, Angela, Maggie, Diane, and Delilah were all ready to give him a good time. Maggie had also brought along her daughter to show Brooklyn the new baby. Fox would also have Alex there too. It was only fitting to have kids there since Brooklyn was going to become a parent soon. Talon was okay with Maggie being there.
"We're ready. Now go get him, Angela." Elisa said.
"Okay. I'll be right back." Angela smiled. "I hope he likes this."
Maggie was holding her daughter while waiting. Fox was holding Alex.
Angela went to retrieve Brooklyn from the tv room where all six of the males were watching a comedy series. Bronx made a small grr on the ground saying he heard someone coming. There was knock on the door and they all turned. It was Angela.
"Pardon if I'm interrupting anything." Angela greeted.
"No, not really." Lex said.
"Good. Brooklyn, there's something that you need to see." She said.
"Right now?" Brook asked in a surprised way. He was sitting in the recliner with his feet up. Hudson and Goliath were on the couch while Broadway was by the window and Lex on the floor with Bronx.
"Yes, right now." Angela replied firmly.
What could she possibly have to see him about? He thought she would want Broadway instead of him. "Go on, Brooklyn." Goliath urged.
"Oh, alright." Brooklyn groaned as he had to force himself to get off the comfy chair. "Oh! My back." He held his back as he got up slowly that it had a terrible pain in it.
"You alright?" Lex asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just a discomfort from pregnancy." Brook replied as he slowly followed Angela to the room designated for the baby shower.
The room was in the nursery. It was big room and good enough since Alex needed toys to play with while in there.
It seemed like a good walk for Brooklyn from the tv room. It was good for him to get some walking done in the night but not overdoing it with if his back couldn't take it anymore. "Where are we going, Angela?" Brook asked curiously.
"You'll see." She grinned mischievously.
Soon, they were at the nursery doors. "Why are we at the nursery?" He asked.
"Go on in. Fox is needing your help with something." Angela proclaimed.
"Alright. But you could have helped her."
"No, it's something to do with you." Angela stated. "Only you can help with."
Brooklyn was perplexed that no one else could have helped Fox with whatever it was. "Fine." He gave in and opened the nursery doors. Then he was greeted with a loud shout, "SURPRISE!"
"Whoa!" Brooklyn was so shocked that he nearly stumbled and fell over if not for Angela catching him. He felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest as he held it. He panted.
"Are you alright?" Angela asked as she held his arms. "We didn't mean to startle you, but we did want to give you this."
Brooklyn pushed off of Angela and looked up at the wall. It had 'Baby Shower' in big letters in blue and pink letters. There were also blue and pink balloons. He saw there was a table full of food and there were wrapped gifts in the room too.
"A baby shower for me?" Brooklyn asked in shock yet.
"Yeah. Sorry for such a scare but we wanted you to have some gifts for your little ones." Elisa came up to him, giving him a hug. "And you've had a rough time lately."
"Time for something good and fun." Angela added.
"I never would have thought I would get something like this." Brooklyn was calm again. Then he spotted the lioness mutate.
"Maggie?" He stated.
"Hello, Brooklyn. I came to see how you were doing when I heard that you were expecting too, and for you to meet my little one. My daughter, Allison." Maggie smiled at him in greeting, holding her little bundle of joy up to him. "You want to hold her?"
"Uh, sure." Brooklyn was surprised she was being this nice to him. He gently took the baby from the mutate.
Maggie observed as the male gargoyle took the baby into his arms ever so gently. His left arm supported her head.
As Brooklyn looked down at the little girl, he saw that she looked much like her mom but had her dad's hair color. Then the little eyes opened up, showing a cat's eyes. They were more a blue at this point than yellow.
"She's beautiful, Maggie." Brooklyn complimented his friend.
"Thank you." Maggie replied.
"Hi, Brooklyn." Another female came up to him. It was Delilah.
"Hi, Delilah." He greeted.
"Hello. Good to see you. You remind me so much of Malibu." Delilah said in Elisa's voice.
"I'm glad you're here too. You should know that since you're gargoyle and human, my kids are actually that way too. If they know you, then they might not feel alone." Brooklyn explained.
"The way you hold that little one shows you know how to hold babies and you must be prepared to be a new father already." Diane then came forward.
"Hi, Diane." Brook smiled at her. "Yes, I have been practicing with Alex when I babysit him."
"Well, how are you feeling tonight?" Elisa asked him.
"I feel good, though my back needs a break from standing." He replied.
"Here, go sit down in the chair over there." Fox directed him. It was a soft, cushy chair like a couch sort of. It also had a long for area to put his feet up. It was even cozy enough to sleep on if needed.
Brooklyn sat down on it with the baby still in his arms. Allison was on top of his belly at this point. Then he felt some movements from inside him. "Oh!"
"What is it?" Elisa asked.
"My baby just kicked me." He smirked at them.
"That's so cute. It's responding to another baby near it." Angela remarked with a giggle.
Everyone laughed at that.
Brook was now comfy. Maggie then took Allie back. "How about some snacks before games?" Fox asked.
"Sure." Brook replied.
There were some healthy snacks put on plates and a plate was given to him while the women filled theirs. Grapes, apples, celery, carrots, ranch dressing, cheese pieces, some oranges, some ham and turkey, and such were the food offerings. Maggie only ate the meat. Everyone else ate all the fruit and veggies along with meat.
The food was eaten in silence. Then came the gift opening. There were books, blankets, some clothing since the twins might not be quite as warm during the winter, lullaby tapes, a baby name book, and the playpen to keep them in. There were no diapers as they wouldn't need them.
"Just out of curiosity, how are they going to be fed, Brooklyn?" Fox asked.
"Formula." Brooklyn replied. "We've relied on human food for centuries. Surely, formula made for human babies can't be that hard on them."
"And there have been other creatures that raised other creatures' babies too and their milk sufficed for them." Diane stated.
"Princess Katherine raised us on goat's milk when we were young." Angela declared. "And eventually cow's milk before water."
"We could use goat's milk too." Fox suggested. "But like Brooklyn said, we'll try formula too. See what suits them when they come. We'll worry about it later."
Brooklyn knew that if he had been female that he would breastfeed the twins and though his nipples had felt tingly during the pregnancy, they weren't fit for breastfeeding. He would just feed them by bottle formula instead. And anyone could feed them.
Then came the game; the guessing of what baby animals were called. At least some of them. Fawn, foal, calf, gosling, duckling, eaglet, piglet, kid (goat), lamb, cub, puppy, kitten, etc. were all guessed at for fun. There was a fun game. Brooklyn likely wouldn't know any lullaby guessing games.
Next came the toilet paper game where the girls pulled out enough toilet paper to guess how big Brooklyn's belly was. It was explained to him about it. "Oh, okay." He said reluctantly.
Each of the females wrapped their toilet paper around Brooklyn's middle to have a guess. It turned out that Diane's won the guess as she was the closest. She got a bottle as a prize. Of course, she would use it for her grandchild, Allison.
"I thought that would be mine." Brooklyn said.
"It's a prize for the winner of the game." Elisa explained.
"Okay. Well, thanks for all the gifts, food, and games, ladies. This was fun." Brooklyn smiled. "But I need to go lay down in my room. I feel like I need a nap. I'm just about to go to sleep on this couch."
The red male struggled to get up. Angela and Delilah helped him to stand up. Brooklyn was grateful. He also gazed at Delilah. He wished she liked him. With what he was having, she would make the perfect mother for them. But of course, he wouldn't force any female into something they didn't want to do. He was an honorable male.
The girls had wanted a name game too but if Brooklyn had had enough, that was okay. "I'll help him to his room." Angela declared. She wanted to make sure he got there okay.
"Thanks again, everyone for cheering me up. I'll definitely be needing all that for when the twins are born." Brook said.
"Have you thought of names yet?" Maggie asked.
"No. Not yet. I will soon." He replied to her. Then he yawned, feeling tired. "Good night."
"Good night." The ladies all replied back.
The others began to take the decorations down as Angela escorted Brooklyn to his room to lie down for a while.
"Do you feel alright, Brooklyn?" Angela asked in concern.
"Yeah, just tired. The twins just zap my energy from me." He replied, holding his back. They soon got to his room, and she helped to tuck him in before heading back out of the room. She would leave him to rest. He had a lot of work to do with letting his body nourish his babies.
After Angela left, it didn't take long for Brooklyn to fall into a deep sleep. He was on his left side. He didn't need a blanket. His body temperature was really warm. He had extra blood flowing through him to help take care of his babies. It normally happened to pregnant women. While he was sleeping, Brooklyn had a dream.
Brooklyn was standing in a strange place where there was nothing around him. "Hello? Is anyone here?" He asked the void of nothing.
He stepped forward to try to explore the place when he received no reply. But the place was just beautiful lights. He was amazed at their colors and sights. He also remembered his babies. He looked down and saw his belly was swollen. He gave his belly a good rubbing.
"I'll figure out where we are, little ones." Brooklyn said softly to them.
When he looked back up again, the red gargoyle saw two little light orbs in front of him. What were these?
"Hello?" Brooklyn asked. "Who, or what are you?"
The orbs came closer. One was red color the same as his own, the other a paler red color. The red one came up to him and spoke, "Don't you know me, Daddy?" It asked in a little girl like voice.
Brooklyn was baffled. "Uh, no. But then, you called me Daddy. So, you must be my daughter?"
"Yep. I am. I can't wait to meet you." She said, sounding like she was smiling.
"Do you have a name?" Brook asked.
"You haven't picked a name for me yet." The girl replied.
"You have yet to pick our names, Dad." The other orb spoke. It was a little boy's voice.
Brooklyn looked at the other. "You are my son?" he asked.
"Yes. We are so ready to join you." The boy orb said.
"I am too. Just a little longer before it's your time, little ones." Brooklyn assured them. "I promise I'll do my best to take care of you. And I'll keep on trying to find you a mother. I need a mate to share my life with and raise you."
"We appreciate it, Daddy." The girl orb stated. "And thank you for saving our lives so many times."
"Uh, you're welcome." Brook replied. They knew about him doing that?
"Just keep on taking care of us now before we come into the world." The boy instructed. "We must go now."
"Wait. You don't have to go." Brooklyn said.
"We must. We'll get to meet you soon, Daddy." The girl orb said. Then, she and the boy orb floated downward from his face to his belly. Brook's eyes followed the orbs.
The orbs then floated in front of his belly. Then they went into his belly. Brooklyn was surprised it didn't hurt him. But then, were these the souls of his children? They were right, he hadn't picked their names yet.
Knowing that he had met the souls of his children made him all the more determined to finish this pregnancy. He rubbed his belly thinking about them. They seemed really sweet in personality. And yet, he wondered how they would turn out later in life. Every new generation always had a different thinking than the previous.
Brooklyn soon woke up to the smells of dinner cooking. It was almost dinner time for the clan before it would be time for sunrise. As he sat up, he remembered his dream. He looked down at his swollen stomach.
"I'm glad I got to meet you two." Brooklyn smiled with some tears in his eyes. "And I'll make sure that I pick some really nice names for you both." He rubbed his belly with such love in his eyes. The tears fell.
Then, there was a knock on the door. Brook looked up. "Hey, Brooklyn, it's time for dinner." Lex peeked his head in. He saw his red brother was crying. "What's wrong?" he asked, coming in.
"Nothing, Lex. I just had a dream... about the twins." Brook replied.
"Good or bad?" Lex asked.
"I was in this strange place. It might have been a spiritual place. I didn't see anyone else there, but I was still pregnant, and then I saw these two orbs of light. One was red and the other was more like a pink color. The red one was female, and the other was male. They seemed to be the souls of my kids." Brooklyn explained.
Lex found this intriguing. "You got to see your kids?"
"Yes, well, their souls."
"What did they do or say?" Lex asked, more interested.
"They said that they are ready to meet me and that I'm doing a good job with them. Then they went into my belly." Brook explained.
"Do you feel anything?"
"No, other than their movements." Brook replied.
"It's all very fascinating but we better get to dinner before Broadway eats everything." Lex declared.
"Yeah, I'm coming." Brooklyn slowly got off the bed. Lex noticed how hard it was for him to move. He was grunting from the discomfort. He knew it couldn't be helped in his condition. Brook held his back as he waddled. The twins sure could throw his balance off key.
Lex made sure to keep his brother balanced on the way to dinner. It was a good walk for the pregnant male. Lex knew that most likely that Brooklyn would have to give up being able to walk around if problems started coming along but for now, Brook was still free to walk around the castle. And he hoped nothing else happened.
When they got to the dining hall, Brooklyn told the clan too of what his dream was about. The others thought it confusing and yet, something amazing and beautiful to behold. It was clear then that Brooklyn was having a son and a daughter.
Angela was glad to hear of a little niece coming. But she wouldn't show any disregard for her nephew either. She would love both of them.
Broadway was intrigued too. It sounded so cute to have a dream like that.
Goliath found it amazing that his Second in Command got to experience this. He knew he wouldn't have gotten to. Maybe Demona had when she was pregnant so long ago, despite having carried an egg. But he didn't remember her ever telling him that they were going to have a daughter by a dream.
Hudson was a little confused by it but accepted the answer. Brooklyn deserved to know that he was doing good in the pregnancy and know what he was having.
They all continued having some light conversations while they ate their food and later turned to stone.
I wish all my readers a wonderful Thanksgiving (For those that celebrate it)!
I had envisioned Brooklyn having a dream like that one because I had heard from other moms when they were expecting that they had feelings of what gender they were having if they didn't know before. I just had to create something special for like that for my favorite gargoyle.