Conserving the Species

Part 25: Time Passing; Holidays

A month later, the morning sickness was starting to wane. Akemi was starting to show now. It made Brooklyn all the more protective of her, but she was starting to just give in to some of his protective fatherly instincts. It was just their love for one another.

They both and the clan still all took care of Hana and Skye just fine too.

The clan started getting gifts for their loved ones behind their backs at times. They were to be surprises for Christmas.

The clan wouldn't be throwing a baby shower this Christmas because it would still be a decade before there was a hatchling. On the other hand, Maggie's child could be bought for. She wasn't due until April.

Diane Maza wanted to spoil her first grandchild for sure, whether it was a mutate or not. It was still her grandchild.

Maggie was glad that her husband's mother wanted to be in her child's life. Her own mother had found out about her mutation and wanted nothing to do with her. She missed being human and seeing her family, but this family was much more welcoming. She had found the love of her life and that was all she truly needed. Her child would be well loved.

When Christmas came, everyone had great joy and happiness giving their loved ones their gifts.

Angela even went over to her mother, Demona's home and gave her a gift too. Demona hadn't been quite prepared for it but she thanked Angela for her gift, just a necklace. Demona then gave her a gift that she had to do at the last minute.

She gave her daughter a new wrist bracelet that she had gotten from one of her coworkers. Angela was pleased with it. Broadway had given her a new movie and book that she liked.

Lexington still didn't have a mate and he had felt a little left out of the mate game. But David had given him some new computer tech that he could use on his computer. At least he got a gift after all.

Brooklyn had given Akemi a stuffed animal and she had loved it. She had given him a key to a new motorcycle that David had gotten for him. He loved the idea.

Goliath and Elisa were just content to spend time together. But they talked more about the possibility of adopting a human child that needed a good home. There were plenty of them out there.

................

A few days later was the New Year's Day. The new year was now 1997.

The whole city had stayed up all night and the gargoyles had gone out to Times Square to greet the Ball coming down, counting down. They left Bronx at home so he wouldn't give them away and they didn't want the humans panicking away from the glorious moments of peace. They made sure to not land in a lit area, but on a tall building overlooking Times Square. Even Akemi came this time, Brooklyn staying right by her side. Elisa was also with Goliath. David and Fox, Preston, Vanessa, and Nathan were all out in the crowd. Alex was at home in bed. He had been too tired and Owen watching him.

The Ball dropped and there was potpourri and confetti thrown about, loud cheering, and lovers kissing and hugging one another. Among the gargoyles, even the lovers hugged and kissed. Lex gave a sad look down. Hudson placed a hand on his shoulder. Lex looked at him. "It'll happen for ye one day, Lad." Hudson pointed out.

"I know. Now I know how Brooklyn felt when he didn't have a mate when he wanted one." Lex said sadly.

Brooklyn was happy to have a mate to celebrate the New Year with. He and Akemi gave each other a kiss and embraced. "Are you alright, my Love?" he whispered in her ear.

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" Akemi replied.

'Just three more months.' Brooklyn told himself. And he thought his pregnancy was a long time when he had had to carry for those nine months.

Akemi's stomach was showing that she was going to be bringing an egg into the world soon. It was still just a small bump, but still worrisome while she was away from the castle.

She still hated to be treated like she was something fragile when she wasn't, but her emotions still said otherwise at times. She had constant mood swings and temperature swings.

Brooklyn did his best to remain on her good side. He didn't like her being upset with him.

He read up on pregnancy again to try to be a more understanding father to be. It had been a while since he had been pregnant himself, but there had been moments that he wouldn't forget. But sometimes, her moods still backfired on him when he mentioned he read about something in the pregnancy that she should be doing for the egg's sake.

Akemi was a lot more loving when she WASN'T pregnant. Brooklyn wasn't looking forward to this anytime again too soon after this. He hoped they wouldn't be breeding in the breeding season next year. They would have enough kids to take care of growing up. She would be monitored next fall to see what happened.

..............

Things got more back to normal after the holidays came and went for the humans. For the gargoyles, life didn't change much other than they were still looking after babies and a pregnant female.

At four months along, Akemi's moods started to smooth out a little more but she still had them. She had been sick the first three months so that accounted for quite a bit of her mood swings when she couldn't keep anything down. Her belly continued to get bigger. She was now also not training anymore because she didn't want to take any chances on hurting herself.

...............

The weeks were passing quickly even though it wasn't seeming like it.

Brooklyn remained by Akemi's side no matter what was going on. She wasn't quite as moody as before and he was grateful he practically had her back mentally a lot more. She got a lot of cravings and he was happy to get the treats for her.

Akemi was strictly confined to the castle now for her own safety and that of her egg. She made good on still being a good mother for Hana and Skye, though she missed gliding and fighting the bad guys out on the streets.

When Valentine's Day came on, Brooklyn gave her a romantic dinner for two in their room while Lex watched the twins and Alex. Broadway took Angela out, and Goliath and Elisa had a date at her apartment. David and Fox had a date too. Hudson and Bronx still stayed in.

Brooklyn also gave Akemi a beautiful garnet necklace too. He gave two little bracelets to his two little angels as well. Their birthday was this month too in just a few days. The clan would be there to celebrate it. It was hard to believe that the twins would be a year old.

Brooklyn asked the others if they saw how fast Skye and Hana were aging. Did it seem like they were growing up faster like the human side of them, or slower like the gargoyle side?

Fox saw that they were growing up just fine, but she didn't know at what pace baby gargoyles grew up at. The twins had their hair growing in on their heads. They were getting teeth too, of course. Maybe they were growing up a bit like their human sides.

Gargoyle babies didn't grow up as fast as human babies. Gargoyles aged half as fast as humans and that meant that they shouldn't get their teeth for another year. But with the coming of their teeth meant less nursing on bottles and it was time for cups and soft solid food to start out.

The twins had been showing interest in the smells coming from the foods that the adults ate. But it was slow going with introducing the new baby foods for them. These days, there were lots of baby foods on the market.

In the typical gargoyle hatching times, the females would feed the hatchlings with milk, but Brooklyn couldn't have done that. His pregnancy had been entirely artificial and his breasts had never turned into nursing systems, so Hana and Skye had had to be nursed with bottles and formula for so long. But likely that his and Akemi's hatchling, though created artificially ahead of its time, would still nurse from Akemi. Only time would tell. The egg still needed to be laid yet.

Akemi was counting down when she would lay this egg. It was a combination of her and Brooklyn's love for one another, but it was an annoyance being in her body. She sometimes felt just fat and useless.

Brooklyn was counting down too, but he would always remind his mate of how beautiful she was to him and she was only big to bring new life to the world. Life that their clan needed. He had understood how she felt a year ago. It was her turn to be comforted. Just one more month as the 20th came upon them that month of February.