That night, the clan all awakened out of their stone sleep.
Brooklyn roared to life in the bed. He knew that he didn't want the twins far from him. He was still concerned for his son, if he had made it through his first day. He looked over and saw his kids were still stone.
"Come on, little ones, you can do it." He said coaxingly.
Then, the stone began to crack on the girl's body. Her eyes lit up into a red color. Then she roared a baby female roar as she awoke on her own for the first time. Brook was proud of her. "Good job, Juno. Now your brother needs to wake up." He smiled. He hoped Kenzo would wake up too.
It took a few moments longer, but Kenzo's body began to wake up too. His eyes lit up in white like his father's and he too came out with a snarl. It made Brooklyn smile. "I knew you could do it, little guy."
Brooklyn had a look down at his stomach after that to see how it was. He pushed himself up, then felt some of the discomfort after the surgery. He saw he didn't have his loincloth on, and he saw it over across the room on a seat. He pushed himself up and went over to get it. He put it back on. He wanted it on before his clan came into the room to see the twins, knowing they would be here anytime now.
His stomach still hurt a bit in the lower section after last night's c-section, but the pain was worth it. He felt a big burden off his back now. He would be able to move more easily now. His belly still looked a bit fat and would for a while. He would make sure to keep active to lose the fat over time. Now he could enjoy holding his babies anytime he wanted. He went over and got them out of their bassinets.
Pretty soon, the clan came into the room as they were wanting to see their new clan members and see how Brooklyn was doing.
"Good evening, Brooklyn. Do you feel like you would let us come in and meet the new babies?" Hudson greeted.
"Of course, Hudson. You can all come in and see them." Brook smiled in reply.
The clan all came into the room. Bronx came in too, but the clan would make sure that he was calm before they were shown to him.
"They are just so precious, Brooklyn." Angela declared happily.
"I know." Brook had them both in his arms.
"You look like you're a natural father holding them over there." Lex complimented him.
"Thanks. Now I just wish I had a mate to help share in this joyous occasion." Brook said.
"You'll find one, one day, bro." Broadway stated. "Can we hold them? So they get to know us?"
"Sure, though I know it'll be time to feed them soon."
"How are you feeling tonight, lad?" Hudson asked.
"A bit sore but I'll be fine." Brook replied. Then he looked at Goliath. "So, how soon do I resume patrol duties?"
"Given you haven't been fighting for a few months, you are going to go through a trial of relearning all your fighting skills, Brooklyn, before you are allowed to go out on patrols again. All the females go through this after they lay their eggs too. I know you're not female, but you went through a similar process from this." Goliath decreed.
"I know, and okay." Brooklyn agreed.
"You can rest and recuperate for a few nights. I know your body is going to be going through some big changes right now since it's now getting used to its pre-pregnancy feeling again, and you have some weight to lose." Goliath decreed.
"Not to mention his emotional state of being too, Goliath." Fox added as she and David came into the room too. "We wanted to see the new babies too." Fox also had Alex in her hands. Owen was also accompanying them.
"So, what are their names, Brooklyn?" David asked.
"Kenzo is my son's name, and Juno is my daughter." Brook replied.
"How did they do on their first break out?" Lex asked.
"They awoke after me. Juno came out first. It took Kenzo a few more moments. I was worried he wouldn't wake up for a moment but was glad to see he made it. I hope his health will be a lot stronger now." Brook explained.
"Dr. Sato will be here later to examine them both and you." David declared.
"Do you think the kids will be warm enough if they are taken outside at all?" Broadway asked.
"It's best not to take them outside their first night, Broadway." Goliath declared.
"They also need their first loincloths too." Hudson said.
"I could give them some magically, with Alex's help." Owen said.
"That would be nice of you." Angela stated.
"Unless you want to go along with modern diapers." David questioned.
"Hatchlings of ours don't need diapers." Goliath decreed.
"That's great that they don't."
"Babies!" Alex said playfully.
"Yes, Alex. You have some new friends here in the castle now. They are Uncle Brooklyn's kids." Fox told her son.
"It's going to be a while before they're ready to play with him." Angela said.
"I know, but we wanted to let him see them." Fox stated.
Juno and Kenzo were both soon passed around the clan so they could all see them. The clan all introduced themselves to the kids and talked in their softest voices so they wouldn't scare them.
The twins themselves were a little overwhelmed by all these new faces but were calm for a little while. But soon, they began to get fussy.
"They're likely getting overwhelmed with the attention or are getting hungry." Fox declared.
"Yeah, there are a lot of us that they have to get to know." Lex agreed.
The kids were given back to Brooklyn. "Hey, Daddy's here." He did his best to soothe the fussing babies. But he only had two arms. Lex came over and took Kenzo. Brook held Juno.
Everyone saw how the twins both different shades of color were. Juno was red like her father. With no mother, Kenzo had taken on another family color. A light shade of brown. Both had white hair and their father's wing patterns and beaks and horns.
They decided to go to the kitchen to get some formula for the babies. The clan didn't want to stray far from them. Bronx whined as he was curious to meet them.
"Just stay calm, boy. Don't get all excited over my babies." Brook told the gar dog. He and Lex showed him the babies that were fussing about in their blankets. "Now we need to get them fed." Then they continued on their way.
Bronx was glad to meet the two new babies. He had smelled Brooklyn's scent was different for so long since he came back home. Now he knew why. Brook's scent was still different but the same at the same time.
The humans went back to their business after leaving the infirmary. But Owen would bring Alex later to give them some loincloths.
Broadway and Angela went and prepared the bottles while Brooklyn and Lex kept Juno and Kenzo comfortable while they waited for their bottles. Brooklyn was so glad he didn't have to breastfeed them. He didn't know how comfortable he would have been with it since he wasn't female.
The clan all watched the babies suckle the bottles when Broadway and Angela brought them forth. Brook and Lex fed them. The others would all get their chances later on whenever they would babysit.
Right now, Brooklyn didn't want to stray far from his kids. It was just a natural reaction, considering he was the mother of the kids as well as the father. He was very protective of them. He knew he could trust his clan with them, but he couldn't help the way he felt. After having his son with a heart defect, he was just concerned to make sure he made it.
Sato later checked in with them too. He checked Brook's stomach first and it looked alright. But he wanted an ultrasound on Kenzo's heart to make sure he was still alright. Brook stayed by his son's side the whole time. He was uncomfortable with his son's fussing from the slime on his chest.
"The heart repair that I did on him last night first thing looks good, Brooklyn." Sato complimented.
"Good. I don't think he likes the gel feeling." Brook stated. He felt he just wanted to wipe it off. Then he could.
"At least it's just for tonight. I think Kenzo will be just fine for the future, Brooklyn. You're a good father for him. He has your strength that he has turned out to be a strong one." Sato said proudly.
"Thanks. And thanks for saving his life. If you hadn't, he'd be dead now. I wouldn't know of anyone else who would have been able to help him."
"Yeah. And I see the clan would be sad too. They all seem so happy to have them." Sato declared.
"Yeah, we are. After losing all our clan so long ago, the clan is wanting and needing new life to make it flourish again." Brook explained.
"It's a start for you all." Sato agreed. "Well, if I'm not needed anymore, I'll be taking off. Take care and if you have concerns, feel free to call me."
"Thank you." Brook said.
Sato left after the exams were done. Kenzo was happy to get the gel off his chest as his father cleaned him.
Later, Puck and Alex came about and gave them their first loincloths. Juno didn't need full clothing wear at this age, but perhaps a little girl shirt would do her some good too; to help distinguish she was a girl. They gave her a little baby girl tank top that was purple. The blankets were taken off of them so they could begin to move their limbs about.
The spell was also translated onto the twins so their clothing would turn to stone with them later. And of course, they would be changing clothes as they grew up over the years.
The clan would never get enough of being around them. All of their priorities had changed now. It was no longer about just the adults in the clan. Now they had two little lives to think about.
There were still plenty of enemies out there for the clan to deal with too, such as the Quarrymen.
Brooklyn cringed at the thought of being harmed by the Quarrymen; or Demona or Thailog. Or Sevarius! He didn't dare want to think about that maniac getting his hands on them. But he didn't want Thailog or Demona to know about them either.
Demona would likely be soft on them. She liked baby gargoyles and wouldn't dare bring them harm, but Brooklyn would never let her raise his children. He didn't want her to know about them. He told Angela that it would be for the greater good if she didn't tell her mother about Juno and Kenzo.
"I won't tell her, Brooklyn, but she might find out eventually." Angela responded.
"Hopefully it won't be until they're older when they know who their rightful parents are." Brook declared.
"Yeah. We are their rightful parents." She agreed.
"I'm going to take some pictures of them and send some to Pauline. She wanted some pictures of them after they were born." Brooklyn stated.
"That's a good idea. It was nice of her to help you on your way home."
"Yeah. I tried to avoid humans mostly on my way home. It was only by accident needing to rest how we met anyway." Brook told her.
"And you got to help with that cute little baby horse too."
"Yeah. I never thought I would have got to do something like that." Brook said.
Brooklyn went to go take some pictures of his kids for Pauline and write a letter to her. They were the snap and go pictures where they took moments to appear after they were snapped and came out.
…
David later mailed out a letter to Pauline for Brooklyn. The pictures were in a card to protect them from being seen in the mail in case someone tried to see through the envelope.
…
A week later, Pauline wrote back to Brooklyn saying she was glad how the babies turned out and that his son was doing great after his surgery. She also sent a picture of Lightning and his mother, Dolly out in the pasture of her property with the other horses. The colt was one of the herd now.
When Brooklyn got the letter in the mail, he was thrilled she had replied back to him and a picture of the young horse he had helped save. He told his kids about it, though they wouldn't know a thing about it for a long time.
He did tell the clan though and they were glad that she was now an ally and how the colt was doing good with his mom and herd.
…..
Brooklyn was glad that the air was warming up in the spring. He would be glad to take his kids outside when it was nice out.
Over time, he lost the weight of the pregnancy, and he completed his retraining time before he could go out on patrols again. It was hard for him to leave the twins after being home with them for so long. But he was feeling restless to get out of the castle again finally.
The first time patrolling felt good to stretch his wings away from the castle, though he couldn't help it that he still kept thinking about Kenzo and Juno. Hudson and Lex were watching them tonight. One or two clan members would always be left behind to care for them. At least Brooklyn could now be out there with the clan again should all the gargoyles need to help out in a fight. The Xanatos' would gladly take over the twins' care if it had to come to that.
There were plenty of babysitters at the moment. Even Goliath and Elisa took some turns watching them on her nights off. At least every once in a while.
Broadway and Angela loved watching them. It was like having their own kids. Hence, they were considered the parents too. It was giving them plenty of practice for when they would one day have their own hatchling. It wouldn't be for a while.
….
It wasn't until after the meeting of the clans two years later that Brooklyn finally found a female among the Ishimuran Clan. She was a beaked female. She was green in color. She had some curved horns and was a little shorter than Brooklyn. She was beautiful. She became the new mother to the kids. She eventually was told how Brooklyn had them and thought that was wrong of what had happened, but she accepted Juno and Kenzo either way. Her name was Yukio.
Brooklyn was glad to finally get the female of his dreams to love. But he had had the kids to love for two years before finding her.
Lex also found a mate among the London Clan. A young female with near his wings. She was a light yellow with bumps on her head. She was a science whiz herself. Her name was Breanna.
Juno and Kenzo were also introduced to other hatchlings their age. Their secret was kept from the other clans. They didn't question it. But they all congratulated the Manhattan Clan on having twins. Twins were so rare among their kind.
After the joining of the clans, things got so much better for Brooklyn, his new mate, Yukio, and the twins. Brook gladly let others watch his kids, but he was still their rightful father. He still kept a strong watch over them. He had by now also gotten back to his former skinny look too. He had kept active enough and a healthy diet to help him lose the weight.
Brooklyn was glad to never hear from the scientists who had kidnapped over two years ago. Any future kids would only be created the old-fashioned way. He was happy for how things had turned out for him in the end, with a new mate and two great kids of his own. He also had a wonderful extended clan to help raise them. Life was wonderful.
The End
Hope everyone enjoyed this story. I was glad to write it. Reviews are greatly welcomed, but no flames. Sorry if it seemed rushed.