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Elisa felt herself relax more and more as the elevator rose, bringing her closer to the castle and the clan. It had been a while since she had had the time to properly meet them. It was far from ideal, especially with her mating ceremony with Goliath just a little over 8 months ago, but she had promised her parents she would accompany them and Beth to Arizona. After her return, she’d had to take the day shift since too many colleagues were down sick or on holiday. As it was summer, that left her little time after sunset to spend with Goliath before she had to get some sleep.
But that was over with now. It was the weekend now and she had two days off and next week she would be back on the night shift. So she had decided to use the opportunity to properly visit the clan instead of Goliath just stopping by briefly at her apartment before his patrol.
She stepped off the elevator when it reached the castle and made her way towards the courtyard. She had a few minutes yet until the woke up.
She paused in front of an open door when she noticed a flash of light and movement inside, smiling slightly when she saw Puck and Alex with Fox sitting to the side, watching and listening.
The 4-year-old waved when he noticed her, grinning broadly. “Hi.”
“Hello Alex. Working hard, are you?”
“Uh hu.” He nodded proudly, making her fight back a grin of her own.
She took a startled step back when Puck was suddenly floating in front of her. “Well, well, been seeing one of my cousins again, have you?”
She stared at him, trying to figure out if he was being serious. “I don’t know what you mean. I haven’t seen any other Fay since the Unseelie War.” She did not like the way his smile vanished at her words and he floated down until they were face to face.
“Then you did without noticing because someone used magic on you.” He looked to Alex over his shoulder. “We’ll have to push back the practical lesson.”
“What did they do?”
“You are currently pregnant. With a half-gargoyle child.”
~*~
“What exactly does this mean?” Elisa asked. Fox had sent her husband to bring them inside directly after they woke up where they had then been told the news. “I mean, from what I understood we are not normally genetically compatible.”
“Not normally, yes,” Owen confirmed, having transformed back. “Someone used magic to make you compatible.”
“How is that supposed to work? From what I understood, it’s very different between humans and gargoyles.” Not least because gargoyles laid eggs the babies developed in for 10 years. What would that mean for her when it came to giving birth?
“I do not know,” Owen replied. “I was not the one to cast the spell, so I do not know the details.”
“Could Alex have?” Lexington asked. He remembered too well how, a few years ago, Alex had turned him, his brothers and Angela human for a day after overhearing them wishing to be.
“No. He does not have the necessary understanding about reproduction to know what to affect.” Owen turned back to Elisa. “Has your father, mother or brother mentioned wishing you could have children three to four months ago?”
“What?”
“You are currently around 12 weeks. The spell must have been cast before. Knowing who wished for it might tell us who cast it.”
“My father mentioned wanting grandchildren when we were planning our trip to Arizona.”
“Then it was likely Coyote, considering his connection to your father. We will have to ask him for the details of his spell.”
“How do we do that?” Lexington asked. “Go to Avalon?”
“I think there is a spell or two to summon him in the books mother gave me,” Angela said.
“You will have to use the one to request his presence. Oberon’s Mirror is on Avalon and Titania’s was... lost.” Demona had destroyed it in her fury when she had realized that he had turned her into a human during the day. “If you use a few drops of my blood, we can be sure that he will not ignore the summons.”
~*~
Elisa was relieved to learn that Angela had all she needed in the tower she had received the keys for for her mating ceremony or it was something she could just grab. She wanted answers before she could even consider dealing with their news.
Angela had barely finished the spell when Coyote appeared. It was still strange to Elisa that he looked like her father had done as a young man. He looked around, smiling slightly when he saw Owen, then brightened even more when he saw her. “Elisa! How are you?”
“Pregnant. Thanks to your spell.”
Coyote glanced at her abdomen. “So quickly?”
“Did you tell her or her father about the spell?” Owen interrupted before she could do more than bristle.
Coyote shrugged. “Peter said he wants grandchildren. And they would not have been able to have children without help.”
“Did you tell him?”
Coyote didn’t reply, instead he avoided looking at any of them.
“What exactly did the spell you cast include?” Owen seemed to have decided to move on instead of insisting that Coyote answer the previous question. “For the child’s development and the birth?”
Elisa did not like the blank look Coyote was now sporting. “The... birth?” he repeated slowly.
Owen briefly closed his eyes. “You should have talked to Anansi at least, never mind Detective Maza. Anansi has spent time in a female body enough they might have thought about it.”
“What does that mean for Elisa?” Goliath asked. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer as if to try and shield her.
“We don’t know.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Owen shook his head. “Neither Coyote nor I are familiar with pregnancies, never mind a half-human, half-gargoyles pregnancy. Anything we say would be speculation and guesswork.”
“Who can help then?” Elisa asked. “Doctor Goldblum?” He worked in the Labyrinth with the mutants and clones, so he might be familiar enough.
“He can be involved if you prefer. Doctor Moss should be more of assistance.”
Fox turned to stare at Owen. “Raylee Moss? My gynaecologist?”
Owen inclined his head. “Moss is a halfling with connection to New Olympus.”
Elisa did not really listen as they started planning who to contact and when. Her hand slowly crept to her belly. A baby. Hers and Goliath’s.