Chapter Text
“A child?” Eddie exclaimed, panic rising in his voice as he struggled to comprehend what Venom had just said. How could he, Eddie Brock, already be a dad? How could he be having a baby? No, this had to be a joke. “You’ve got to be joking me, V.”
“Am not.” Venom remarked, a bit of panic evident in their voice too. “Our species, they spawn every six or so years. Sometimes more often, but usually less often. We haven't spawned in eleven years.”
“Godda- is this why you’ve been so damn hungry lately? Are you getting pregnancy symptoms?” Eddie cried, grabbing fistfuls of his hair in his bout of stress and panic. Venom seemed momentarily distraught by the displays of panic from Eddie, but also determined to try and calm Eddie down.
You are too. You just don't notice it.
Eddie paused; he had noticed somewhat of a difference lately. He was tired all the time, a bit more hungry than usual and was easily more nauseous than usual. But he had chopped that up to the stress of work and his somewhat decent immune system (even with Venom fixing most of his internal problems, there was bound to be a few random things that’d manage to wreak havoc anyways). He hadn't even thought- what kind of man would ever think something like that? This wasn't something guys really had to deal with!
Eddie finally calmed himself down just a little, enough to think clearly. He, or Venom, or maybe both of them, were carrying a child.
They were essentially pregnant, by scientific standards. Eddie couldn't believe it. How was this even possible?
“V, how are you- how are we pregnant?” He asked, his voice soft and filled with anxiety. He didn't know how this was even possible. Perhaps someone could explain to him how it was possible, like Venom or maybe Dr. Banner or someone involved in science, as he didn't quite fully understand.
Eddie suddenly felt an odd sense of comfort when he felt Venom suddenly move and curl up at the base of Eddie’s spine; that was Venom’s safe spot, Eddie remembered. It was odd, but whenever Venom rested at the base of Eddie’s spine, it calmed both of them down. Perhaps it was the fact that over time, they began to share more traits and aspects of themselves. Whatever it was, Eddie didn't know why it calmed both of them down, but somehow, it always did.
“Our species, we don't spawn sexually like yours does.” Venom began, pausing quickly to make sure Eddie hadn't started panicking again. When Eddie made no move, no noise, Venom glanced at Eddie. His gray blue eyes were tense and wet, shimmering with the beginnings of tears. And yet, he was calm, or at least quite stable. “Our species, we just spawn on our own. Like cloning, but our babies look different than the parents.”
Eddie made a sound that sounded like a squeal, but high pitched and full of panic. He then put a hand over his mouth for a quick second and began to try and calm his breathing. It took a while but he soon calmed his breathing completely, and got ahold of a clear train of thought. When his breathing slowed, Eddie sat down and pressed his hands together. “Alright, you say we're pregnant… when is this baby gonna be born?”
“We aren't sure,” The symbiote began, rubbing a small tendril onto Eddie’s face to try and calm him, “but probably in the next 48 hours.”
Eddie let out a choked sob. This couldn't be happening, not to him. He couldn't be having a child. And then, all at once, all the anxiety and panic flooded through Eddie before Venom could even attempt to dispel them. Eddie began to sob, his body wracked with anxiety as his head heaved forward and hung low. Venom began to murmur softly to him, sensing his panic, trying to calm him down, but Eddie just continued to cry.
~~~~~
It took nearly an hour to calm Eddie down and get him to stop shaking; an hour of Venom humming Eddie’s favorite songs and rubbing slow circles into Eddie’s skin until not a single muscle was tense. After the panic over the baby and the fact that Eddie had god-knows how long to even prepare, he had retreated to bed to sleep his worries away. It took him a while to fall asleep, as his anxiety kept flooding his mind, bringing with it terrifying thoughts. Venom, however, with whatever ability they had, got rid of the bad thoughts. Eddie thanked Venom before he fell asleep at 6 that evening, and Venom stayed silent, working diligently to remove any bad thoughts they could from Eddie’s brain. There was quite a few, and Venom felt like they had been punched every time they saw a new thought fill Eddie’s mind.
Because Eddie fell asleep so early, he woke up at 3 the next morning, to a quiet and dark apartment. The silence of San Francisco filled his ears, and the darkness of his apartment comforted him. As he stirred slightly, he heard the voice of a worried Venom filling his ear.
Eddie. We think the child is coming soon.
Eddie sprung up into a sitting position and stopped dead in his tracks, immediately waking up. “How soon?”
Within the next hour.
Eddie gasped and held back a panicked sob. He couldn't help it; this was something he never thought possible. He was rightfully panicked.
Eddie, please. We love you, very much, so please, do not leave us because we are carrying a child.
“I’m not gonna leave you.” Eddie replied, his voice wavering, as he was a bit caught off guard by the statement. He rubbed his eyes with his hands as Venom stroked tears off his face. “I’m just… this is something I never thought possible. I never thought I’d be a dad. People usually have 9 months to prepare, not a day! And besides,” he paused, anxiety flooding into his voice, “My dad was awful to me. I don't want to be like him.”
Eddie. You will not be like your father. You are not your father, Eddie.
Eddie shook his head as a couple stray memories of his father filled his mind quicker than Venom could dispel them. The memories of his father screaming at him, of his father shattering a bottle purely to scare Eddie. The memory of the last time he ever saw his father. Eddie shivered in fear. “You can say that, but what if I am?”
Your reluctance to be a father based off what your dad did already distinguishes you from him. If you are so adamant to not be like him, you will not be like him. You are, after all, already better than all parents in my species.
Eddie scoffed in disbelief, and shook his head. “How am I better?”
My species often eat their young, or they abandon their young as soon as they're born. You don't want to do that, so that makes you a great parent already.
Venom paused for a moment, and suddenly a sliver of red shone on the side of Eddie’s torso. Eddie poked at it a little, and turned when Venom’s voice once again filled his ears.
We’re spawning.
Eddie gasped, pausing, and he then immediately moved into a more comfortable sitting position on his bed, his arms positioned in a way to catch the baby as soon as it was born. How would it be born? From the sudden splotch of red on his side, Eddie figured it’d form out of his body, like Venom, but instead, a completely independent symbiote. What do baby symbiotes eat? How often do baby symbiotes need to eat? How fast do they grow? When do symbiotes need to get a host? Eddie had so many questions.
A few more minutes passed before suddenly, a string of red goop poured from Eddie’s side slowly, in string-like ribbons. Over a few minutes, the stringy red goop formed into a ball, swirling with energy as it began to trail along Eddie’s side and over his arms. Eddie helped the small ball of red into his hands, and it trailed along his fingers, tracing each one as though the newborn meant to etch his hands into their memory.
Eddie held the creature in his hands, and gave a choked smile when silky white eyes, just like Venom’s, appeared and stared at him. The baby then formed somewhat of a body that looked similar to how Venom looked when they perched on Eddie’s shoulder. The baby was solid red, with mahogany colored strings littering and swirling their body, along with large, silky white eyes that resembled Venom’s perfectly. A tiny little tongue flicked out of its mouth and ran over Eddie’s hand for barely a second, and its eyes glanced up at Eddie, as though expectant of his reaction. Eddie let out a choked smile as he watched the baby watch him with expectant eyes.
The baby was so amazing, so different, so intriguing. The whole process was so different from how human babies were born. And despite Eddie not even having a full day to prepare for the news that he would be a father, he already felt somewhat of a bond to the small symbiote. How could he not? This creature, this baby, while not biologically his, had come from his body. He had carried this baby for god knows how long. He couldn't help it.
After a few moments passed, Eddie realized that Venom hadn't said a word about names. “How…” he began, clearing his throat awkwardly, “how does naming work for your species?” Eddie asked, rubbing his pinkie finger gingerly over the baby’s head. Venom rumbled a little at the sight.
”Just like it works for yours. The parent names the child.” Venom then formed onto Eddie’s shoulder, stretching out a tendril to comfort the newborn. The newborn immediately stopped swirling, and paused, an odd, comforting silence filling the room. Venom glanced at the newborn, and their large, silky white eyes, the ones the baby had so clearly inherited, sparkled as they stared at their child. Something appeared in Venom’s eyes, a sort of calculating glance. “Carnage shall be his name.”
“Carnage, hm?” Eddie remarked, glancing at the swirling, shivering baby in his hands. As Eddie moved his finger a little, the baby made a motion as if to try and bite him. Eddie couldn't help the small, surprised smile that curved onto his lips. “I think it's gonna fit perfectly, V.”