Unexpected Mother

Part 8

Being quite thorough, she double checked her list, "Baby wipes, toys, blankets, check, check and check."

Looking through the boxes that were scattered about, April wanted to make sure everything was in order; she didn't want to forget anything when they leave, since they were never planning to come back.

After weeks of recovering in her bed, not allowed to even go feed the boys, April was happy to move about, although in the back of her head, she did have to admit she enjoyed the breakfast in bed, from Leatherhead.

Her cheeks redden as she shook her head; she had to remain focused, after her kidnap from the foot she feared in living in the city anymore, she feared for the boys safety, hers even, as well as Leatherheads.

Closing her eyes, she fought back the mental images, her fear, her pain.

She suppressed the memories of what Stockman did to her, she did have nightmares though, that many times she awakened up abruptly, crying bloody murder.

Leatherhead could only look upon her in sadness, feeling helpless, unable to do more for her, only to be able to hold her, telling her she was safe and the boys were safe.

After weeks of this, Leatherhead couldn't take it anymore, seeing the fear in her eyes, watching those tears pour out of her with no end as she shivered in pure terror.

Then a couple days ago, he brought it up, he suggested they should leave, New York was no place for them anymore, it was too dangerous, he wanted his family to be safe not to worry who would come around the corner and hurt his family under his nose again.

As the conversation was going on, April mentioned an old farm her father owned that was under her grandmothers maiden name not O'Neil, it would be the best place to go, for no one even knows it exists and she has the deed to prove anyone, she owned it if it did come up in the future.

Plans made, she was finishing the packing, the baby boys, all now walking about even running, which April curse under her breath, for so many times she turned around, one or two where into something or in areas of the lair they shouldn't be.

Curious as they were, the boys patted the boxes playing with them, trying to open them to see what was within, with a chuckle April laughed at their attempt.

Stopping what she was doing, she watched them with a smile, she wasn't sure who was worse Mikey trying to peek in the boxes or Raph trying with all his strength to rip them open?

Donnie was more interested in drumming on them; to listen to each sound they made and Leo he didn't seem interested at all, the toddler's eyes caught something more to his liking, the toy truck on the coffee table, which was blue and one of his favorite toys.

Leaving his brothers behind, Leo walked to it, at first things seemed fine, then suddenly he started to walk sideways, not like he was losing his balance, it was more he didn't know how to walk straight anymore, than in front of her eyes, Leo just collapsed without a cry or sound.

Time halted as April heart felt like it was in her throat, she rushed towards the little figure on the floor that seemed to be lifeless, swooping him into her arms, turning his face towards her.

Leo was hot to the touch, his face was pale and pasty, it was like night and day compare to what he looked like before he went for the truck, his breathing was shallow, she could barely feel his heart beat.

Frantic, April rubbed Leo's face, "Leo wake up! Leo open your eyes, please Leo!"

A fear like no other took a hold of her, her brain shut off, her mouth felt dry, for the life of her she couldn't figure out what to do as she desperately tried to get the toddler to respond to her pleas.

In the mist of the chaos, something tugged onto her shirt, viewing over towards Donnie who had tears in his eyes, for he was scared on why his mother was acting like this, April snapped out of her panic attack, grabbing the shell cell that was on the coffee table.

"Leathe…." Leatherhead half answered as April didn't let him continue.

"IT'S LEO HE WON'T RESPOND… I… I don't know what is wrong with him…. Leatherhead there is something wrong with my baby…," April spit the words out between sobs, not hearing what Leatherhead was saying on the other side of the phone, the room started to shrink and she felt so hopeless, crying, cuddling into Leo kissing him on the forehead.

Then out of nowhere Leatherhead took the child out of her arms, assuring her it was ok, he could tell her state of mind and knew she wasn't in a good position.

Noticing the signs that Leo had, Leatherhead shook his head, "April, I know you're not going to like me doing this, but I will be taking Leonardo to my Lab…"

"I will go get the boy's coats," April jumped to her feet just be stopped by two strong arms, looking into Leatherhead's eyes he seemed to have another plan.

"April its best that you stay here with the boys. I will take care of Leonardo, I will give you a call when he improves," Leatherhead felt bad to do this to her, but having her there would make thing harder for him to figure out what is wrong with Leo.

Biting her lip April refused, there was no way she was going to leave her baby alone, but Leatherhead didn't stand down, shaking his head, cradling Leo in his arms, he left the lair.

As April watched, her body felt weak, she collapsed on the couch burying her face into a pillow, letting out a scream, why was this happening, what was wrong with Leo, what if this was terminal, or couldn't be fix.

She knew it wasn't a flu or some cold, for his health just plummeted in a split second, crying, she wondered if she did something, did she let him near something he shouldn't, were the other boys in danger as well?

April turned her head, just to be met by three wondering, scared, sad faces.

The three turtles didn't know what was going on, but knew enough to know that something was wrong.

Holding her tears back, April turned over, leaning her back against the couch's arm, as the boys climbed up cuddling into her, chirping sadly.

Raph placed himself between the couch and April, laying in April's arm, placing his head on her neck, then started to play with April's hair.

Donnie went to her other arm; resting his head on her breast like it was a pillow, closing his eyes sucking on his thumb.

Then for Mikey, he laid in the middle taking a corner of April's shirt, placing it in his mouth as he started to drift asleep, she has been meaning to get him out of that habit of sucking on her shirt, but hasn't been easy.

Closing her eyes, she started to calm down, the boys were helping as she could tell they were all fast asleep, as a couple chirps came out of them while they shifted.

April mind wandered, she worried about Leo, but Leatherhead was in the right, to tell her to stay behind, she would only be in the way, if she wanted Leo to be fine, she had to trust Leatherhead.

Not that she didn't trust him, she figured it was just instinct to be there for her child, in his time of need.

Hours passed and the only call April received was one from Leatherhead, stating Leo has stabilized, but he needed to do more tests and will be back later that night with the toddler, as well she was best not to worry in the meantime.

Other than that Leatherhead said nothing more, probably not to make her worry, April did wish Leatherhead would explain what happened, all she knew it wasn't something that would or could harm the other boys.

Feeding the hungry toddlers, she gave them their bath afterwards, as they squealed and splashed.

April started to consider wearing a bathing suit when she gave them baths; she had more water on her then in the bathtub itself.

Donnie played with his rubber ducky and Mikey and Raph started to fight over the boat, putting herself in between them to stop the fighting, only to have her hand slip making her fell forward into the bath with a big slash.

Half of her body was in the stone bathtub that was designed only a foot above floor level that had a small ledge to get in, it was deep though, for when Donnie designed it long ago, it was intended for them as grown turtles.

Of course April only put so much water, she knew the boys were turtles, but she didn't want to risk them from drowning.

Finally getting her hand up to a side as she pulled herself up, then suddenly she was splashed in the face, in response she squirted water out of her mouth.

Giggles echoed in the room, as the boys thought this was funny clapping in glee, yet April didn't find this remotely amusing, sighing she looked at each of the toddlers, then tickled each one of them for their punishment.

"Oh you think that is funny, huh," she smiled as each child squealed happily splashing more excitedly, just making April more wet, as water ran off her soak through shirt.

Figuring it was time to get these wet children out of the tub and ready for bed, April picked each one up, wrapping them in their own big fluffy towel, drying them off as they made sounds in amusement, while their body shook by her drying them.

Fully dried, even taking a towel to dry her hair, April wrapped them up caring, all three up the stairs to her room, as she let them pick their night gown placing some samples on the bed.

Each had their favorite, Mikey picked the blue ones with the rocket ships, Raph picked the yellow ones with the teddy bears and Donnie pick the red one with the cowboys on it.

Clean, warm in their night gowns they cuddled into April as she sat in her rocking chair, reading them a bedtime story, the three little pigs.

The night done, April placed the sleeping toddlers into their crib, placing a blanket over them as the automatically cuddled into each other, it was obvious the boys felt more secure close to each other.

Heading down the stairs, April waited on the couch in the silence, she didn't feel like watching TV to pass the time, she wanted Leo home and to hear it was nothing and he was fine.

Nightmares filled her head as April ran down a long corridor; behind her, she could hear footsteps, hunting her.

She ran what felt like hours, then a light was ahead of her, rushing forwards towards it, she knew it had to be a way out.

Leaping forward, she found herself in a middle of a room with white walls, to clean to be normal, there in the middle of the room, was a slab with a white sheet laid over it.

There seemed to be something under the sheet, April heart raced, as she stared at it, she feared what was under it, did she dare see?

Slowly making her way to the middle of the room, she placed her hand over it, with a breath she braved it, pulling the sheet off.

To her horror, the sight in front of her made her heart break, she felt sick and wanted to scream.

In the middle of the slab was Leo, an innocent child, skin white as snow, lifeless eyes opened as they stared at the ceiling, they were so empty, drain of all his purity, his laughter.

Hot tears filled her eyes as she grabbed him, placing him into her arms, his cold skin was like touching ice.

Her rage boiled, her fear held her by the throat, she flung her head back, screaming at the top of her lungs, "this can't be happening, he was just an innocent child, he doesn't deserve this."

"APRIL WAKE UP!" a voice dominated her screaming, startled April's eyes open up wide, frantic April looked around, as sweat ran down her face, she was in the lair and Leatherhead was holding her.

"April you were having a nightmare, it's ok, I'm here and the boys are safe," he assured her, clinging to his arms tight, April's body trembled, burying her face into him, she cried heavily.

When she was done letting out her tears she looked into Leatherhead's eyes, "Where is Leo?"

Leatherhead smiled sweetly, "He is fine, I put him with his brothers, they are all sleeping soundly, why don't I make some tea, we need to talk."

Leatherhead got up heading towards the kitchen, April stared at him, she felt sick to her stomach, something was wrong and he was hiding it.

Settled down, both sat at the table, April waited patiently for Leatherhead to explain what happened to Leo, though her patience wasn't the best she tried her hardest to stay calm.

Playing with his cup Leatherhead sighed, "April, Leonardo is very sick…"

April's face twisted on the statement, fearing the worse, "How sick..,. and how is this possible… he was so healthy before in the past, is it because of me, carrying them I mean?"

Shaking his head Leatherhead leaned back in the chair, preparing himself for the long explanation, "You see he was…, Leonardo was sick before…"

"What! I have never seen him collapse like that, he always seemed so healthy, full of energy," April pointed out in disbelief, that Leo was ever sick in his other life.

"That's the thing, he hid it. He hid it from everyone except for Master Splinter who noticed Leonardo's condition when he was this age, and Donnie for he found out later when he started to examine their DNA."

Taking a sip of his tea, Leatherhead watched April as she processed what he said.

"So what is wrong with him…"

"He has a genetic mutation in his genes on the likes I have never seen, I believe he was born with the defect and it mutated more when he was mutated as an infant. Because he was reborn, his previous condition unfortunately was recreated."

"So he is going to grow up sick again…"

"Not necessarily," Leatherhead said with a smile.

Tilting her head April tried to read the alligator, "What do you mean?"

"See when Leonardo showed signs of this, at the time Master Splinter didn't have the resources to see what was wrong with him. To battle his condition, Leonardo meditated constantly, which help him control his condition to a point. The thing is, when Donatello found out about his brother's condition, they were in their teens, by then it was way too late to reverse what Leonardo was facing, all he could do was relieve the pain and symptoms, yet again only to a point. I believe, in what I have read in Donatello's journal on the subject and the samples I got from the toddler, I can make a serum that would reverse the effects and cure this anomaly. This will let Leonardo to grow up to be a healthy turtle, like his brothers."

April sat there thinking it over, relief washed over her, this news made her feel better, to think Leo for all this time was suffering and no one knew, closing her eyes April wasn't going to let history to repeat itself.

"What do we need to do to help Leo?" April asked, then Leatherhead seemed upset on the question, he was happy a second ago was the serum hard to make?

"There is one drawback…" Leatherhead kept his head down.

Narrowing her eyes, she didn't care what the drawback was, if it meant Leo to be healthy, "Ok, what is the drawback?"

"We can't leave New York as we planned, not until some time after Leo turns three."

"Why?"

With a sigh, he looked up at her, Leatherhead knew this didn't sit right with her, but there was no other option, "The formula requires ingredients I can only acquire here, as well each serum can only last up to three months. Sure the original ingredients can last longer, but I prefer to use fresh ingredients when making the serum to assure its effect on Leonardo's body. As well it will take at least a year and a bit before he is out of the woods. So he would need a shot twice a day until sometime after his third birthday. I don't know for certain, his test results will tell me how he is progressing, but I assure you April when he is better he will never have this problem again."

April felt sick again, leaning against her chair, she breathe deeply.

Leatherhead wouldn't propose to stay if he didn't see another way, closing her eyes, she knew she couldn't sacrifice Leo's health for her own fears.

Nodding, she got up starting to unpack the boxes, then a hand went on top her hers, looking over towards Leatherhead, he smiled as sweetly as he could to comfort her.

"Let's leave that for the morning, why don't you and I relax, there might be a movie on TV," Leatherhead offered, he wanted her to calm down, she had a rough day and she needed to take a breather.

Agreeing, both sat on the couch, finding a movie that both agreed on as they watched it.

April tried not let her mind wander, as she felt her fear sitting there waiting to devour her, closing her eyes, she suddenly felt herself leaning against something warm, reopening them she noticed Leatherhead had his arm around her leaning her against him.

Not saying a word she eased up letting him hold her, she needed someone to be there and he was, like always.