Leo slept real good that night. When he woke up, he had no idea how long he had slept, but he felt very rested. For a moment, he thought he had woken up in his cell at Victoria's, but when he saw everything that belonged to him, he knew he was home again. After all that, it had felt like a dream.
But when he felt his sides, there were scars on them from the stitches, reminding him it wasn't a dream. His plastron was scarred too. But now, it was time to go out and face his family.
Don, Raph, Mikey and Splinter were all having breakfast together this morning. Ever since Leo's disappearance, they hadn't been the same.
Raph fought with Don a lot more and snapped at everyone, though he tried to be a good new leader. Don tried to help him out, but Raph still didn't like being told what to do.
Mikey had lost a lot of his childlike charm and was more serious, but he still did try to make the others happy.
Splinter had just stayed in his room a lot more and had tried searching for Leo's soul in the astral plane, but never found him. But he felt that his son was alive somewhere. He didn't doubt that Leonardo would return to them if he could get away.
This was one of those rare mornings that they had decided to eat together before morning training.
Leo nervously went down the stairs. He saw his family in the kitchen.
"Hey!" Leo greeted.
His voice surprised everyone, let alone his appearance all so suddenly.
"LEO!" His brothers shouted and went to hug him. Even Raph.
Splinter looked on as the three brothers knocked Leo to the ground. They were just so happy to see him.
"Oof!" Leo grunted from the impact.
"Where did you come from?!"
"I missed you!"
A few of the questions asked.
"Ok, ok! Guys, I'm happy to see you too, if you'll let me up." Leo smiled.
They let him up. But from that moment, Leo felt something odd about his stomach as he sat up and got up. But he wasn't going to say anything.
"And to answer your questions, I got here last night. I found everyone was asleep and didn't wish to disturb anyone. And I missed all of you too. Very much."
Leo then looked at his father.
The wise rat had a smile on. "I knew you would come home to us, Leonardo."
"I didn't know where I was, but I was up north somewhere and managed to get away 2 weeks ago. I've been following the Hudson River I found out. It led me back to here."
"Are you okay? What did the kidnappers do to you?" Don asked.
"I had some stomach surgery mostly." Leo gestured with his hand over his plastron and showed them one of his sides. "I was x-rayed a lot, had some injections, but I was fed well and let outside when it was nice. But I was still a prisoner. The woman who took me, she was called Victoria; she said she wanted me to do a job for her, but I never found out what it was. She was just using me for entertainment."
His family had easily noticed the scars when he had pointed them out.
"She should pay for what happened to you!" Raph growled.
"I have a feeling that she'll be in New York before long to try to get me back." Leo said.
"She's not getting you back."
"You must have been leader while I was gone."
"Yes, I was. Donny tried to help me, but I didn't make it easy for him or anyone to help me out." Raph said.
"I know getting help from others isn't your strong suit." Leo said. "But yeah, she'll pay."
After breakfast, they relaxed a bit, then it was time for training.
"How long has it been since you've trained, Leo?" Don asked.
"Five, long months. I'm ready to get back in the game." Leo said, holding a new pair of katana. He had a new belt and harness on as well. Splinter said to take it easy since he hadn't trained in so long.
When they first started, as Leo was doing some of his katas, there was something that felt off inside him. He felt like there was something more inside him. But he hadn't trained in so long that he wasn't going to let it deter him.
For now, Splinter had Leo just train by himself to get used to the motions again.
But a week later, Leo was training hard again.
April and Casey had discovered he was back and then there was a party to welcome their leader back. Leo was ready to have his leadership back.
One day while training hard, he felt a jolt of pain go through him and he had to stop. He couldn't help but hold his stomach in pain.
"Leo? What's wrong?" Don asked, as he had noticed.
"I… I don't know. I just felt a jolt of pain go through me. But lately, my stomach just feels… heavier. Like there's something inside me, Donny." Leo explained the feelings.
"How long ago was your plastron opened up?"
"Back at the beginning of the last 5 months. I haven't trained since then."
"There must have been a reason for that."
"Isn't there always a reason?" Mikey stated.
As Leo was looked at, Don did notice a slight look to Leo's plastron. "Uh, Leo, I'm noticing something different about your lower plastron. It seems a little rounder, fatter."
"Hey!" Leo snapped.
"Sorry, Leo, but you do look… bigger."
Leo looked down at himself and he did look a bit bigger in the belly.
"Maybe you should let me have a look at you just to make sure you're ok, Leo." Don said. "Who knows what you may have picked up in a place like that."
As much as Leo was against more doctor tests on him, he mostly needed to know why he felt heavier in the stomach.
Leo took his gear off as Don wanted to x-ray his abdomen. He was now laying down on the table getting ready for it. It didn't take Don long to do the business.
When it came back, what Don saw on the x-rays was astonishing.
He saw some shapes inside Leo that looked like... eggs! There were 4 of them!
Everyone waited for the news anxiously. Leo was sitting on the lab table.
"Leo, I think I know what is going on inside you." Don said hesitantly.
"So, spit it out already." Raph said.
"Leo, according to this x-ray, you have 4 eggs inside of you." Don said.
"What?!" Then Leo fainted, Raph catching him.
"Are you serious, Brainiac?" Raph asked. He went to help Leo into a laying position on the table.
"I'm dead serious, Raph. The x-ray confirms it." Don said.
"But how can Leo be pregnant? He's a male like us." Mikey stated.
"That's what I'd like to know myself. I know he's male like us, but his captors had to have done something to him. Who knows what they did when they opened up his stomach." Don explained.
"How's he going to have these eggs?" Raph asked.
Don looked at the x-ray. "I'm afraid the eggs are going to have to be cut out of him. He can't push them out the natural way because of his pelvis being too narrow, and these eggs are looking to be quite big."
"So are we going to accept these new babies?" Mikey asked. "I wouldn't mind being an uncle."
"I know you wouldn't mind that Mikey, but Leo's role is going to be even bigger; he's the mother and the father to these babies. But we have to be supportive and help him, since 4 is a big number to deal with. It wasn't easy for Master Splinter taking care of all of us." Don said.
"That it wasn't." Splinter now appeared in the lab. "But I am happy that you have all turned out to be fine warriors and have grown up. Now, am I to understand that I am expecting grandchildren?"
"Yes, Master Splinter. It's weird, but Leo's carrying 4 eggs inside him. I'm not sure of when to deliver them. But they look about ready." Don said.
"But what is Leonardo's decision in all this, Donatello?" Splinter asked.
"That we don't know yet. He fainted after he was told." Raph said.
"We will wait for Leonardo to wake up and let him decide what he wants to do. This is his decision to make. And we will be supportive of what he wants." Splinter said.
"It would be nice to have some little ones running around, but we have to be careful in watching them when they got older. It wouldn't be easy raising them in a world where we have so many enemies." Don said.
"Yeah, and I'm worried of how I would be with them. I'm not exactly the most soft turtle here." Raph said.
"I'm sure you will do just fine, Raphael. There are times when you have shown how much you care for your brothers. Now you will just need to extend it to some more like us, but they will be much younger and can't be handled roughly." Splinter tried to explain it to him.
"I know I'll protect them because they will be family, but like I said, I'm just worried about being around them, as I have no experience with young kids."
"You've been around me." Mikey smirked.
"Yeah, but you're my bro. Not a baby." Raph said. "Babies are just not my line of work."
"We will worry about it when the time comes. So Donatello, do you have an estimate of when these eggs could be due?" Splinter asked.
"From the looks of them, it could be a few days to a week." Don answered. "It doesn't give Leo long to prepare himself to the idea of becoming a father. But then there's an incubation period."
"No, it doesn't. But we should start preparing a place to put the eggs once they are born." Splinter advised.
"I'll start making an incubator." Don said.
"But what if Leo don't want the eggs?" Raph asked.
"I'm sure Leo couldn't kill his own children." Mikey said.
"But from his reaction, he didn't even know he was expectin'." Raph said.
"Why would he know? It was something the kidnappers did to him and didn't tell him about." Don said. "But yeah, Leo's got at least a week to decide whether he wants these eggs or not, and who knows how long it would be for them to incubate. That's why I need an incubator and quick."
The others all went about their own business and left Leo to wake up on his own.
...
Leo woke up a little while later in the lab. He rubbed his head and wondered why he was in Don's lab. Then he remembered!
He sat up, startled. He looked down at his belly. It was a little swollen, but nothing too noticeable.
"How could this have happened to me?" Leo asked himself. "Victoria had to have done this to me. So this must have been her big job for me; carrying babies." He thought of her name with disgust.
"But what am I going to do? I don't know anything about raising kids. And what if I'm not good enough to be their father?" Leo was so worried about what kind of parent he would become. Sure, Splinter had raised him well, but did he have what it took to be a good parent himself?
It was already hard enough trying to look out for three brothers, especially when one was already like a child, and another was so high strung in personality and rebellious. Could he handle kids too, especially 4 of them?
Leo wondered how long he had before it was time to deliver. He slowly got off the table, as his head was still feeling a bit dizzy. That had been too much to take in at once. He went to find his family.
They were all sitting around the kitchen table, talking.
"Hey, everyone." He said.
"Have a nice nap, Leo?" Mikey asked.
"I suppose, but I remember what happened. So it's true? I'm pregnant?" Leo asked Don.
"Yes Leo. You are going to be a father." Don replied. He knew Leo didn't want to be called a mom.
"And a mom!" Mike added.
"Mikey!" Raph snapped at him.
"What? We don't know who the mother is otherwise." Mike said.
Leo shuddered at the idea of Victoria being the mother. Though it was a curiosity of how she got him pregnant in the first place, but Leo really didn't want to think about it.
"I was wanting to know how long before it's time to lay them?" Leo asked.
"A week at least Leo. But you need to decide what you want to do with them. And just so you know, I will need to do surgery to get the eggs out of you." Don said. "I am going to get an incubator for them for when they arrive."
"What if I don't want them?"
"Leo, you can't be serious! How could you not want your own children?" Mikey asked with a sad tone.
"Mikey, this was forced upon me. And with the life we live, I don't know how good a father I'd be. It's already hard enough trying to keep Raph in line and you Mikey, from staying out of trouble. How am I going to have time for that?" Leo explained his thinking.
"You will learn new ways to be an older brother, leader, and father, Leonardo." Splinter said. "You have our support in doing whatever you want done."
"Thank you, Father. But I just really don't know what to do right now. This is all so overwhelming." Leo had to sit down.
"I know, my son. But really try to think it over what is best for you, our family, and the future of these children." Splinter advised.
"They will be eggs, Leo, so they won't hatch right away after they are out of you. It will give you more time to think about it."
"Yeah, but is a week long enough to prepare for the eggs' arrival?" Leo asked.
"Just try to take care of yourself for the next week, Leo. No training in case of something happening. Eat lots of protein. Bask more and try to do relaxing activities only. And only drink water." Don said.
"Great. Another week of no training. And I was just starting to get back into it." Leo grumbled.
"You can start again after your recovery. But Leo, do you have any idea of who the mother could be?" Don asked.
"I have a hunch, but I don't want to talk about it." Leo said. He got up from the table and went to his room. He had a lot to think over and only a minimal number of days left before the eggs were due to arrive.
Donatello called April up that night and asked her if she knew where to find an incubator. She was a little at odds with the question, but she knew of stores that might have some.
"You need to find one that could hold some eggs about the size of ostrich eggs." Don said.
"Why? You have ostrich eggs all of a sudden?"
"No, but we do have eggs on the way we found out. Somehow, Leo is pregnant with four eggs, and he's not taking it so well. But we have to take care of the eggs once they are out of him." Don said.
April was shocked to hear of what happened. "Well, I wouldn't blame him then. Being a guy, he's not meant to carry eggs."
"Well, apparently, Leo's captors found a way to get him to carry these eggs. But the drawback is that he can't deliver them naturally. I'll have to do a surgery on him." Don explained.
"Well, just be safe, Donny, and I'll do what I can for the incubator." April said.
"Thanks."
The next day she got a good sized incubator from one of the big stores in the city. Don would modify it to make sure it could take Leo's eggs when the time was right.
And reviewers, you are welcome to help me come up with Japanese names. And no, don't suggest Yoshi or Shen's names. And even some American type names. There are six kids in all and they all need names. Victoria has two of them at the moment. And if you know meanings of the chosen names, that might help too. I also like to choose names based on meaning as well as the name.
Please review.
