Daniela awoke to the bright light of late afternoon, with Brooklyn's
arm still draped over her. She squinted and smiled, remembering the
past week. She kissed his hand. The week was nearly up, and this part
of their lives would soon be over, and a new one would begin. She
rolled backwards into him and he fell over onto his back. She put her
face close to his and whispered his name, trying to wake him. She
traced his features lightly, really hating to have to wake him up.
She'd rather fall asleep in his arms again...but the sinking sun wouldn't
allow it. They had to get back to the castle. She leaned in and
kissed him. He revived and returned the kiss.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," she whispered.
"Hey!," he said in mock protest, "that was supposed to be my line!"
They laughed and kissed again. Eventually they did get out of bed and
began getting dressed. Brooklyn looked around for the slacks Xanatos had
lent him, while Daniela made the bed. He found them and tried to put
them on standing up, but he put the second leg in the first hole
accidentally, and tripped and fell over onto the floor. "Woah!"
Daniela heard the thump and turned to see him sprawled on the floor,
with both legs in one pants leg. She giggled and helped him to stand
again.
"You never saw this! Never happened!..." he cried, laughing and
fixing the pants.
"On the contrary, I think this would make a great story to tell the
clan..." she replied. He grabbed a pillow off the bed and threw it at
her. She tried to dodge it, but she lost her balance and fell over
onto the bed, laughing. "Okay, okay, it never happened." She tried to
sit up, but Brooklyn pinned her and wouldn't let her up. He leaned in
and kissed her. She whispered halfheartedly through their lips, "we
have to go." He gazed at her with love, and a little sadness, and
helped her up.
Before leaving the house, Brooklyn took one last look around. The
light of the setting sun came through a kitchen window and spilled into
the hallway. All week he'd missed gliding in moonlight. The night was
his home. But after sunset tonight, a part of him would, for the rest
of his life, miss the golden warmth of day.
Daniela took his hand and urged him out the door. He looked at her
and smiled, and realized that he wouldn't miss day as much as he'd
thought. He'd look at her and see warmth in her eyes, and sunlight in
her smile....she would be his daylight.
* * *
The sun was sinking fast. They made it to the top of Castle Wyvern
with only a few moments to spare. Brooklyn looked to the western
horizon. He pulled Daniela to him and kissed her for the last time.
They embraced until just before the sun disappeared. She stood back and
whispered, "I love you Brooklyn."
He gazed at her and smiled. "I love you Daniela."
The sound of cracking stone filled the evening air. Daniela glanced
at the clan as they shed their stone skins. She looked back at Brooklyn,
who was stretching his newly restored wings. She went to him and hugged
him, and he wrapped his wings around her for a short instant. They
parted as the clan surrounded them, welcoming him back.
* * *
Weeks went by.
Another sun was dying, and for once Daniela was in no hurry for it to
disappear. She sat against the wall behind the stone clan, her knees
curled up under her chin. She went over her words again and again in
her mind, so lost in thought that she didn't hear Elisa come through the
nearby doorway.
Elisa saw her staring off into space, slightly rocking back and forth,
and approached her cautiously. "Hey Daniela," she said, "is everything
alright?"
"No," she whispered, hardly knowing the detective was even there.
"Yes," she said.
Elisa sat down in front of her. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know," she said, and Elisa could tell she was fighting back
tears. "I should be happy. I know I have no reason to feel so scared,
but still..."
"Something must be causing your fear." Elisa had a feeling Daniela
knew exactly what it was too. "Maybe it would help to talk about it?"
Daniela squeezed her eyes shut and cursed herself quietly, "I'm
stronger than this." She looked up at Elisa, who had become a trusted
friend ever since Daniela was admitted into the clan. "Elisa...I'm
pregnant." A tear escaped down her cheek.
"But Daniela, that's wonderful! What's the problem?" Daniela was
gazing past her, and Elisa looked in that direction and saw Brooklyn's
frozen form perched on a parapet. "Oh, I see," she said, turning back
to Daniela. "You shouldn't worry about that. He'll be tickled pink."
She smiled, trying to encourage her to do the same. But instead,
another tear fell.
"Dani, I know there's a lot of question running through your head
right now. And I know that none of us have answers, and that's
frightening. But won't that be the whole point? You and Brooklyn
using the strength of your love to raise this child and find those
answers..." Elisa stood and helped Daniela to her feet. "Dani, I'm
telling you, this is gonna be an amazing kid." That finally cracked a
smile on Daniela's face.
"Thanks Elisa," she said, hugging her.
"Anytime." She looked at her and said earnestly, "don't tell
Goliath, but sometimes I've wished for the chance you've been given."
She sighed.
"Anything's possible, Elisa," Daniela told her, "maybe someday you
will get your chance." She smiled. "It'd be fun to watch Goliath
faint when you tell him."
They cracked up at the thought.
Daniela sighed. "I'm glad for the clan. I don't have a big family,
but I've always wanted one. I'm glad my child will have this." She
thought a moment. "Elisa, would you consider yourself my child's aunt?"
"Daniela, It'd be an honor. Especially to consider myself your
sister." She grinned and they again hugged, just as the sun settled past
the horizon.
The gargoyles awoke. Daniela ran into Brooklyn's arms as soon as
he'd hopped down.
"Hey there," he grinned. "I missed you too."
"My love, I have something to tell you..." She led him around the
corner, a puzzled expression on his face.
Elisa went to Goliath and they shared an embrace. Goliath asked,
"is everything alright with them?"
"Oh everything's just fine, you'll see."
After a little while, the couple finally came out from around the
corner, hand in hand and smiling.
"We're glad you're all still here," Brooklyn said excitedly,
"because we have some great news..."
* * *
The months flew by like a rocket. All the preparations had been made,
and all that remained was for the baby to finally arrive. The closer
Daniela got to her due date, the more panicky everyone got, especially
Brooklyn. He was so nervous sometimes he'd almost be hyperventilating!
Daniela wondered what he would be like while she was in labor.
Her contractions started in the early afternoon, which really pissed
her off.
"Oh no you don't," she said, heading for the phone, "you are NOT being
born in daylight, do you hear me? OW! Listen to your mother!" She
dialed a number. "Detective Elisa Maza, please, it's urgent."
A few moments later Elisa's voice came through the wires. "Daniela,
is it time?"
"Yeah," she said, wincing at another contraction. "Elisa, I can't
have this baby yet. Not until dark..."
"Dani you have it when it's time, he'll understand. Look, I'll be
there in under ten minutes. Don't forget to breathe."
"Elisa, leave him a note. Have Xanatos tell him. Something, please!
Arh!"
"I'll have Matt take care of it, don't worry. I'm on my way." The
line went dead, and Daniela replaced the receiver.
* * *
They set her up in the private hospital room that Xanatos had
arranged for her. The doctors began their pre-birth procedures.
Daniela was in labor for a few hours before things really started
picking up. She would look out the balcony's sliding glass door at the
sun, and scream at it for being so slow as another contraction seized her.
Elisa sat with her, helping her to remember her breathing, trying to calm
her down.
She rested in between contractions. "I'm not having this baby before
nightfall," she whispered, exhausted.
"Shh, it's okay," Elisa said, wiping her forehead with a cool cloth.
"Oh God, Elisa, what if it's a halfbreed?! What if it can't survive
the birth!?" She looked out the window again. "Go Down!!"
"Dani, calm down, everything's fine so far." She squeezed her hand.
"You're doing great."
The doctors were consulting their instruments. One of them said,
"Daniela, your contractions are close enough now. It's time to start
pushing."
Daniela looked at the sun. The cursed thing wasn't even touching the
horizon yet! Daniela glanced up at Elisa, shaking her head. Elisa
checked outside and then looked at her watch. She whispered, "it'll
be close. Don't try and hold it back, just pray that it takes a
while."
"Okay Daniela," the doctor said, "ready? Now push..."
The baby's head crowned just as the sun disappeared.
* * *
"Brooklyn," Xanatos said as soon as the gargoyle was free of his
stone skin. "Elisa had Matt call for her. Daniela went into labor
around one this afternoon." He was going to say more, but Brooklyn was
already gone. Goliath glanced at him, gave a little shrug, and
followed his second in command.
Brooklyn flew faster than he ever had. He landed a little clumsily
on the hospital room's balcony. He peeked around the door frame into
the room just in time to see his child fall into the hands of the
doctor. Daniela leaned back, completely out of breath. She looked out
the window and saw him, thanking the powers that he'd made it in time.
They mouthed "I love you" to each other at the same time, and smiled.
Brooklyn watched the nurses clean the baby. He heard Goliath land
behind him. Goliath peered into the room over Brooklyn's head. He
patted Brooklyn on the shoulder and stood back.
The nurses were wrapping the child up in blankets. They gently
laid the baby in Daniela's arms. Daniela asked the doctors if she
could have a few minutes alone, and Elisa looked behind her at the
balcony and smiled. As soon as all the hospital personnel were gone,
Elisa let them in.
Brooklyn went to the bedside, kissed Daniela's forehead, and looked
at their child, amazed, and already completely in love with it. The
child looked completely human, but Brooklyn could feel that it was his.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Daniela said through joyful tears.
"She's just like her mother."
"Want to hold her?" She held the child up for him.
"No, I think I'd drop her," he said with a chuckle. He stroked his
daughter's head gently. "Listen to me, little one, I'm already
overprotective of you."
"Have you decided on a name?" Goliath spoke up.
"We weren't thinking about it too much because we didn't want to
know what she'd be." Brooklyn looked at the mother of his child.
"Any ideas?" he asked.
"It's been a tradition in my family to name the first child after
the parents...my dad's name is Daniel, and that's how I was named."
She looked down at the baby, now asleep in her arms. She already had a
little hair, dark like her mother's, with a few very light flecks here
and there from her father. She smiled. "Brooke," she whispered.
"Brooke Daniela," Brooklyn said. "Welcome to the clan."
There was a knock at the door. Elisa held the doctors at bay until
Goliath and Brooklyn were back outside. Brooklyn put a hand on her
face. "I'll see you two later." He dashed for the balcony.
"See you, Dad," she said after him.
* * *
"She always falls asleep at the same part of the story," Brooklyn
mused as he laid Brooke in her bed. He stroked her hair, dark brown
with distinct silver streaks, and watched her dream.
"Well if someone," she whispered, poking him in the arm,
"didn't insist on hearing it straight through I could start in the
middle for her."
He pulled her into his arms. "What can I say, I love happy endings."
"I think you just love hearing me babble on and on."
"You're right." They laughed quietly, but across the room, Alex woke
up anyway.
"What's going on?" the boy asked groggily.
"Nothing Alex, go back to sleep." Daniela went to tuck him in again.
"I found something of Brooke's." The boy used his bit of fae power
to levitate something over to Brooke's bed. It was a ragdoll Daniela
made for her, and it looked like Brooklyn. Their daughter called it her
"daddy doll". She felt it land next to her and reached out for it in
her sleep.
"Thank you Alex. That was very nice of you."
"Welcome," Alex mumbled, already drifting back into sleep.
Daniela and Brooklyn walked arm in arm out onto the castle's walkways.
Brooklyn said jokingly, "sometimes I think that doll is taking my
place."
Daniela laughed. "She loves it because she loves you. She can't
tell time yet but she knows when its dusk and it's 'time to go see
daddy'." She leaned her head on his shoulder and added, "it's because
you are so irresistibly loveable."
They came to a wall, and Brooklyn hopped up onto the edge and pulled
her up beside him. "When was the last time I told you I loved you?"
"Hrmm, at least an hour. Why, you trying to break your record?" she
said grinning.
"Yeah, IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou!" He held her wrapped in
his wings as they sat down, dangling their feet over the edge. They
stayed there, sometimes silent, sometimes talking, until dawn.
"I love you," he said as she crawled reluctantly onto the walkway.
"You said that already," she teased. She kissed his beak and
whispered, "I love you too."
"Give Brooke a hug for me when she wakes up."
"I will, I'll see you tonight."
The sun rose as she spoke. She stroked his stone wing one time, and
turned, heading for the nursery, with a hug to deliver.
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