Two weeks later, Leo's testosterone began to decrease, and the new female hormones in his system began to increase.
What had passed into Leo's body had been a special egg cell. It was forming a uterus of sorts right now around the bundle of cells that would become the baby. The baby that would grow inside it would form a little later. Right now, the womb had to adapt to the male's organs.
It had latched on near to Leo's reproductive organs. The baby wouldn't harm them. It would grow above them. The womb would expand as the baby grew, pressing against the turtle's digestive organs.
Leo hadn't noticed any changes, nor had anyone else. He felt fine, and he was still up to doing his regular activities. Especially training.
He still thought in his mind that he and Livy couldn't procreate. So he wasn't watching out for anything.
…
A few weeks later, by a month along, the womb was now done forming and now, a fertilized embryo was forming in it. It was already attached to the lining of the womb. The womb got nutrition from the food Leo ate, and it in turn fed the embryo.
Of course, Leo had no idea what was going on inside him. Though at this moment, it was breakfast time, and Leo's stomach felt a little queasy. Mikey had made eggs and pancakes, but for some reason, to Leo, it just turned his appetite off. Just the smell of it was making him feel ill.
As soon as the food landed on the table, everyone but Leo made a grab for the pancakes. When everyone had settled down again, there was only one left, but Leo didn't even make a try for it. "You can have the last one, Leonardo." Splinter said.
"Thanks, but no thanks, Master. I think I'll just have some tea instead." Leo said politely. He got up from his chair and went to the cabinet to get his tea bags.
"Leo, are you ok?" Mikey asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just not very hungry right now." Leo answered.
There were times when Leo would just have tea for his breakfast, but would eat after practice, but even after practice this morning, Leo still felt nauseous.
The nausea lasted a few days. He had been drinking plenty of water and tea to keep himself hydrated, but he hadn't felt up to eating anything.
He was worried about this stomach bug, but he was keeping to himself about it. He didn't want the others to worry about him. He fixed himself some toast to try to eat something, as he was hungry, but still felt too ill to eat anything heavy.
Leo began to feel even more nauseous at night, especially if he ate before bed. And as the days passed, it didn't seem to be getting any better. He began trying to stick to lighter foods such as toast and crackers. Though it didn't help with the nausea, at least he was able to eat a little something, and the smell of the toast and crackers didn't bother him as much as other smells had begun to.
April got him some. He ate them a few times a day, in very small amounts.
Lavish began to worry about Leo. He was sad and miserable now. She noticed that he sometimes winced when he was doing his katas. Did he have some kind of injury that she didn't know about?
Leo just hoped he wouldn't get caught throwing up at night. He didn't want his family to worry about him.
Leo and Lavish still had separate bedrooms, but one night while she had gotten a glass of water and turned back to go to her room, she saw a turtle sneak into the bathroom. As she walked by it, she heard the sounds of vomiting, and the voice sounded like Leo's.
'Was Leo trying to force himself to get sick?' Lavish asked herself.
She listened some more to make sure it was Leo. When the sounds stopped, there was a loud groan.
"When will this stop?" She heard the voice moan.
It was her love alright. She couldn't help but to be concerned. She knocked on the door.
Leo was now leaning against the wall, exhausted. But at the knock, he gasped. What if they had heard him? "Who is it?" He asked.
"It's me, Olivia." Lavish said.
"I'll be out in a minute." Leo said and flushed his evidence away again. He splashed water on his face and brushed his teeth, then he went to the door.
"It's all yours, Livy." He said and tried to go past her to go back to bed, but she grabbed his arm.
"Leo, what is going on with you? I heard you. You're sick again! Now tell me what's going on?" She demanded.
"I don't know what exactly that I have, Livy, but I am awfully sick, but only at night. Please, don't tell the others. I'm doing everything I can to make it better. It's just a stomach bug." Leo said. "It'll be gone in a few days."
"How long has this been going on, Leo?"
Leo looked shamefully down at his feet. "Uh, two weeks now."
"Two weeks! That's too long to be sick, Leo!" She said in a silent way of screaming.
"I know, I know. Please, keep your voice down." Leo lifted his hands up in surrender.
"Leo, if this illness has been going on for that long, you should talk to Donatello as soon as possible." Lavish said.
"I'm going to wait it out a few more days, and if it's not gone by then, then I'll see him. Ok?" Leo said.
"Ok. I'll give it 3 days, Leo. And if it's not gone by then, I'll make you tell him, or I'll tell him, your choice." Lavish crossed her arms over her chest.
"Thanks Livy." Leo sighed. He then gave her a kiss on the cheek and went up to his room. All he wanted to do was sleep at the moment.
At that moment, Lavish was glad that he hadn't kissed her on the lips. Lavish looked towards Leo's bedroom with worry, hoping that he would get better soon.
Leo continued to eat only crackers, toast and even managed a bit of soup. His family was beginning to worry about him. Lavish already knew he was sick. After lunch, she spoke to him.
"Leo, you really need to eat more." She said.
"I know. I eat what I can, but almost everything else makes me sick." Leo said.
"Well, the others are already getting suspicious." She said.
"I know. I have that feeling too, but like I said, two more days and then I will go to Donny." He said.
But before those two days were up, Donny approached him first.
"Uh, Leo, hold up a sec." Don said.
"What's up, Don?" Leo asked, though he had a feeling he knew what Don wanted.
"That's what I would like to know. What happened to your appetite? You don't eat anything anymore. You're starving yourself, and that's not good." Don said.
"You used to do it all the time."
"Yeah, when I was working on projects. Now I don't have time for all-nighters because of the twins. I need my rest if I'm going to be able to look after them every day. I've even gained some healthy weight by eating right." Don said.
"I'm not starving myself, Don. I didn't want anyone to know, but I have a stomach bug, okay? I'll be fine. Just give me a few days." Leo said.
"But if you have a stomach bug, why aren't you in bed instead of heading to the dojo?" Don asked.
"Because I can't stand looking at the ceiling all the time. And I feel fine right now."
"How long have you had it?" Don asked.
"A few days." Leo lied.
Lavish was listening to the conversation between the two brothers from the stairs. She observed that Leo sure liked to hide things about his health. If it went on too long, then she would tell Don, whether her love liked it or not. It wasn't worth him being sick over.
"Ok. Come with me Leo. I can give you something to settle your stomach for now." Don said, and Leo followed Don to his lab.
When he came back out, Leo had some medicine that would hopefully help to calm his upset stomach.
Lavish hoped it would help him.
Edited by Darkunderworld.
Thanks to everyone who has been reading this story so far. Please keep on reading it. Like I said before, things were going to start getting a lot more interesting.
Read & review please.
