Chapter 14

A New Life

Tyroth ran to the medical room, carrying Sephie in his arms like a bride, all while she cried and winced in pain as the baby was on its way. This didn't go unnoticed by the people, and within a short time, James, Donatello and April had all been made aware of the situation, and quickly prepared for the delivery.

Everything came as a shock to Tyroth's parents, who had just arrived for a visit. Hearing Sephie's pained cries first thing after entering Mutopia scared them something fierce, and it took a while before they were able to calm down enough to figure out what was going on, after which, they hurried over to the medical room, just like the rest of Mutopia.

"Put her on the bed!" James instructed Tyroth, while Donatello and April prepared the equipment.

"Everyone, stay out of the medical room!" he then barked. But as he went back to Sephie, she grabbed him by the collar and gave him a pained but angry glare that could have killed.

"Tyroth stays!" she almost screamed. She couldn't bare the thought of him not being present at that crucial time.

"O-of course." the chimpanzee stuttered, both from being shocked and from having trouble to breathe because of Sephie's grip. Once she had gotten the answer she wanted, she released James, and he quickly brushed it all aside as a mood swing.

Outside, everyone was gathered, all praying that the birth would go without complications. The only thing that they could hear through the closed doors however, were the pain-filled cries of Sephie, and it pained them as well. Especially Michelangelo, who remembered when Monalisa gave birth to Pandora, and how painful it sounded, how worried he was for her sake, and now for Sephie's sake. But he wasn't the only one.

Even though Monalisa wanted to be near her best friend at the time, she had taken it upon herself to look after not just Pandora, but Sonia as well. She knew that they too worried about their aunt, and she didn't want them to hear all the screams. Luckily, Pandora was sleeping at the time, and being in their room, the doors kept the cries out. But Sonia had heard them when it all started, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

"Aunt Mona? Why is Sephie crying?" Sonia asked, her colour a dark blue to match her worried state.

"The baby is on its way, and it's very painful for a mother to give birth."

"But why?"

"A baby may be small, but it is still so big that it hurts when it's born. The same happened to me when Pandora was born, and I'm very sure that it was so for your mother too."

"Will the same happen to me?"

"If you get pregnant one day. But that won't be possible for at least several years."

"Why not?" Sonia asked, now yellow as she was both curious and a little scared.

"That is something your uncle will have to explain to you, once you're a little older."

"Everyone say that." Sonia said, pouting and changing to a darker red colour because of how annoyed she was that she had to wait until she was older with many of the questions she had asked after Sephie got pregnant.

Monalisa just smiled at the young chameleon girl, and noticed that her red colour almost matched Tyroth's. It made her think about just how the baby might look, how much it would resemble either parent, just like Pandora had a few traits from Raphael.

Back in the medical room, Sephie was in position to begin, grimacing and crying as the pains kept getting worse. Sitting by her side, was Tyroth, gently stroking her hair in an effort to comfort her.

"Are we ready to begin?" James asked, he and the others having changed into medical gowns.

"I think so, but..." Donatello began, and felt around a bit more on Sephie's swollen stomach. "I'm actually not sure if the baby is in the right position or not, it feels strange."

Sephie cried out loudly as another wave of sharp pain hit her.

"I don't think we have the time to figure out why." said April with a worried look on her face.

"Agreed, we have to begin." said James. "Sephie, when you are ready, start pushing."

Looking at her mate and lover as he stood next to her, Sephie took the hand he offered in her own as they exchanged a nod. Clenching her teeth, she took a deep breathe and threw her head back as she pushed all she could, screaming loudly as she did.

"Fuck that hurt!" she said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"You're doing great, Sephie." said Donatello.

"You can do this." said April.

Another scream filled the room as Sephie pushed again, her hand gripping Tyroth's so hard that she thought she might crush the bones, yet he held hers in a firm and gentle grip.

"I can see the head!" James reported, relieved that the baby was indeed in the right position, as were the others. "Just keep pushing, Sephie, you're doing fine."

"I don't know if I can! It hurts so much!"

"You can, honey, I know you can. Just breathe calmly." Tyroth said, stroking her forehead.

Finding strength in her lover's words, Sephie gritted her teeth and pushed again, more tears streaming down her cheeks as she screamed, feeling how the baby came closer to completely emerging.

"One more time! You're almost done!" said James.

With one final, painful push, screaming loudly as she did, Sephie could feel how the baby finally slid out, followed by a shrill cry from the end of the bed.

"Congratulations, Sephie, Tyroth!" said James as he stood up holding the small mutant baby. "You are now the proud parents of a little daughter!"

The couple truly beamed upon hearing the news, looking up with tears of happiness in their eyes.

As James and Donatello helped each other to clean the tiny baby with towels, they both looked at each other with a bit of worry. The child was smaller than it should be, only two thirds of a normal baby, but being a mutant hybrid, normal wasn't the norm. But what really caught their eyes, was a large blister-like bulb on the mutant's back, seemingly filled with some liquid.

As they carefully wiped it, the big blister burst open, spilling out a clear liquid and revealing a pair of tiny wings. The rest of the thin skin of the blister was easily wiped off the baby's back, and the couple could finally see just how their little daughter looked.

For the most part, she looked a lot like a tiny version of Sephie, being like a tiny gecko with a small amount of dark brown hair on her head and a tail hanging heavily. The scales were mostly intensely green with patches of red on the lower arms and shins and wings, while the chest, belly, wing-membranes and underside of the tail were yellow. She also had two small blunt spikes of scales at the end of her tail, three toes and four fingers with rounded black nails that would one day grow into claws, as well as a pair of blunt nubs on her head that would become horns, just like her father's.

April offered a pair of surgical scissors to Tyroth to cut the umbilical cord with, but he declined. Instead he used his mana claws to cut it, which worked just as well and felt a bit symbolic. Once that was done, the crying baby was wrapped in a towel and handed to her father.

"Drem kiir, mu los hin fron." he said softly as he held her, and she stopped crying almost instantly, looking up at her father. Their eyes locked, both having red eyes with vertically slit pupils, and she started gurgling happily, feeling the kinship between the two.

Sephie was curious to what Tyroth had said, but before she could say anything, another powerful wave of pain struck her, causing her to yell out.

"What the fuck now!?" Then, even more pain struck her. "No! Don't tell me… Aaahhh!"

"We're not done yet people!" said James. "It seems the girl has a sibling!"

"Okay, you know the drill, Sephie! Push!" said Donatello.

Tyroth stood by Sephie's side, holding her hand with one hand while cradling their daughter in his other arm, as Sephie once again began the painful process of giving birth. Luckily, she was still slightly numb from the first delivery, so the second didn't hurt as much, if only marginally.

"Keep at it! I can see the head now!" said James.

"Don't give up, you're almost done!" said April.

After a couple of more pushes, each still very painful, the room was again filled with a shrill crying of a newborn mutant.

"More congratulations are in order!" said Donatello. "And it's a boy this time!"

"You were so good, this wasn't easy, but you pulled through." said April.

The little boy looked almost exactly as his sister, with the lack of hair on his head being the only difference other than his gender. He even had the same kind of blister-like sack on his back, containing a tiny pair of wings. Tyroth cut the umbilical cord like before, and once his son was all clean, he took him in his arms, saying the same phrase as earlier, while Sephie finally got to hold her first-born.

"There better not be triplets." she said under her breath, more than exhausted from the experience. Then she looked at her daughter, and tears began to fall.

"She's beautiful. So tiny."

"They are both beautiful." Tyroth said, letting Sephie see her son as well.

"Never thought that it would be twins, but that explains why it felt strange when I tried to figure out its position." said Donatello.

"That sure was a surprise." said James. "If you feel ready, I'll start letting people in."

"Bet they can't wait to see the next generation." said April. "But all won't fit in here at the same time. Better take it in smaller groups."

"Agreed. We'll start with family and closest friends, like you and the Knights. Then the rest of Mutopia, split in two groups."

Outside, people were getting a bit jittery. They had heard Sephie's screams, but the doors blocked the cries of the newborns, so no-one had any idea of what had happened, they only knew that it had been a longer break between the screams at one point. Now it was quiet again.

"I wonder how they are doing." said Erica, Tyroth's mother. "I hope nothing has gone wrong."

"Everything will be alright, Mom. I know it." said Amber.

The doors opened, and James came out, getting everyone's attention. He looked at Erica and her husband, Richard, smiling widely as he gave them all the news.

"My friends, I have great news! The delivery went well, and Tyroth and Sephie are now the parents of a baby girl and a baby boy! They got twins!"

At once, everyone began cheering loudly, everyone had guessed whether it would be a boy or a girl, but only a rare few even thought of twins. Being blessed with not one, but two babies was almost overwhelming. Raphael quickly ran off to fetch Monalisa and the children, so they too could meet the new arrivals.

Back in their room, Pandora had just woken up from her nap.

"Hey there, little geisha." her mother said. "Sweet dreams?"

"Mmhm." the small lizard said, rubbing her eyes.

"Mona? Are you there?" they could hear Raphael ask through the door before opening it. "It's done! Everything went well."

"Oh thank goodness, that's a relief. What did they get?"

"You'll have to see for yourself, babe. I won't spoil the surprise."

"Fair enough."

"The baby is here?" Sonia asked.

"Can we see, mommy?" said Pandora.

"Of course we can."

"Then let's go, the others are probably already on their way in." said Raphael.

Erica, Richard and Amber where the first ones inside the medical room, and they couldn't help but gush over the twins. They were closely followed by Gramps, Casey, the Knights and remaining turtles, all of which reacted the same. And a few minutes later, Raphael, Monalisa, Pandora and Sonia also arrived.

"This truly bring tears to my old eyes." said George. "After all these years, we finally have a birth among us."

"They are just adorable!" said Sarah.

"A little dude and a little dudette! How awesome is that!" said Michelangelo.

"Twins?! I didn't expect that!" said Monalisa, holding Pandora in her arms.

"Looking back, I'm honestly not surprised." Sephie said, cradling her own daughter, while looking at her mate, which cradled their son in his arms. "I got twins for younger siblings, and my father is a twin as well, so it's in the family. I just didn't expect that I actually would have twins myself."

"They look so cute, you can really see that they are your children." said Amber. "And my niece and nephew! I honestly feel a lot older all of a sudden!"

"What about us then? We are grandparents now!" said Erica.

"And that is the best news we've gotten since we learned that our son was alive, and that our daughter was saved." said Richard. "If we're old, then so be it. This is worth it."

"Keep that in mind if we need to have you to babysit them one day, Dad." said Tyroth with a smug smile. "That goes for all of you actually."

"You need us to take care of your little ones, just ask, we won't let you down, boss." said Jack.

"Well, Percy might." Kate said with a smirk, making the others laugh, while the grasshopper still struggled to come to grips with the witty remark from Kate of all people.

"So, what are you gonna call the little geckolings?" Michelangelo asked, curious to know the names of the babies.

"Geckolings. I actually like that. Where did you get that from, Mikey?" Sephie asked.

"Well, in movies and games and such, kid dragons are called dragonlings. Is it the same for real dragons?"

"Mostly they just referred to their young as hatchlings, but dragonling is the correct term, yes." Tyroth clarified. "And I'm guessing you switched the 'dragon' for 'gecko'."

"Ah man! You stole my thunder!"

"But seriously, what are you going to name them?" Heather asked, ignoring Michelangelo's dramatics.

"We've been thinking about that for a while, and then I got an idea." Sephie said proudly. "Since Raph and Mona named Pandora from Greek mythology, I thought we'd do the same, but from Norse mythology, since that is an important part of Tyroth's heritage."

"I'm actually ashamed that I didn't think of that first, but I agreed wholeheartedly with her on the theme."

"So don't keep us on the ropes any longer. Tell us already!" said Casey.

"Yeah! We're dying to find out!" said Sharky.

"I want our daughter to be named… Freya. After the Norse goddess of love and beauty." Sephie said.

"Goddess of love and beauty, like Aphrodite from the Greek myths." said Monalisa.

"Yeah, though Freya had more domains than just those." said Tyroth. "She was also the goddess of seidr, a form of magic, as well as of gold, sex, fertility, death and war."

"Death and war?! Didn't expect that from a love goddess." said Raphael.

"Pretty much everyone of the Norse gods were gods of war or death in some way.."

"Okay, so if she is Freya, what about her brother? Is he to be Thor? Or maybe Frey, Freya's brother?" asked Amber.

"We've considered both those names, among other. But after the stunt this little rascal pulled on us, I can't think of a better name than Loki. After the Trickster God."

"He sure tricked us. Freya, and her little brother Loki. That is just perfect." said Sephie. "Welcome to the world, Freya, Loki."

"Now begins the real work, guys. Raising them." said Monalisa with a smile.

"That reminds me." Tyroth said, and gently placed a pair of fingers on Freya's for head. A warm red light flowed from Tyroth into both his children for a short moment. "There, that should do it."

"What did you do?" George asked.

"I sealed their fire-breath and magic, so they don't use it by accident. A common practice for dragons."

"That's a really good idea, now I won't have to worry about it." said Sephie, feeling very relieved that she wouldn't have to risk getting burned. "By the way, you said something to the babies in dragon that instantly calmed them down, what was that?"

"Oh you mean 'drem kiir, mu los hin fron'. The closest thing I could compare it with is a mix between a nursery rhyme and a blessing. It means 'peace child, we are your kin'."

"Child? Not dragonling or hatchling?" April asked.

"Originally it was hatchling, but dragons also came to watch over humans for a long time, and they extended their blessing to human newborns as well, changing it slightly. And since these two aren't dragons or hatched from eggs, I felt that it was appropriate."

"If there was ever any doubt that you would be a good father, you have just disproved all of them." said Leonardo.

"You will all have plenty of time to talk in the days to come." said James. "But there are others who would love to see the newest additions to Mutopia, and Sephie needs her rest after this ordeal."

"We understand, doc. We won't be much longer." said Raphael. "Just a few more minutes, and we'll be done. There are a few that have yet to say hi."

Amber led Sonia closer to the bed, while Monalisa followed with Pandora in her arms, everyone else standing aside.

"Pandora, these are your new cousins, Freya and Loki." Monalisa said.

"That goes for you too, Sonia, they are your cousins too." said Amber as the two young lizards finally got a really good look at the babies.

"They are so tiny." Sonia said. "So very tiny."

"Can they play with us?" Pandora quickly followed with.

"Not yet, little geisha. They are too young." said Monalisa.

"What about tomorrow? They will be a day older then." said Sonia.

"Yay! Then we can play!" Pandora squealed. The grown ups just laughed, the two girls were just too cute.

"It doesn't work that way, you two." said Sephie. "But I promise, once they are old enough, you can all play together."

"Yay!"

"Thank you, Aunt Sephie!"

It took at least half an hour before all of Mutopia had had the chance to see the babies and congratulate the couple. Tania was probably the most excited of the bunch, because she had make even more baby clothes for the twins, and she really looked forward to that.

After all had left, and Tyroth had fetched the crib for the babies so that they could sleep later, Sephie fell asleep. She was incredibly tired, but felt so happy to be a mother. Both of them would spend the night in the medical room, together with their children.

Their greatest adventure to date had come to an end, but the greatest they would ever have had just begun.

Yay! I'm so happy! The birth went well and they got twins! I've had this plan in my head, working on it for so long, and I really hope that you all enjoyed this chapter, and this story as well.

However! It is not the end of the story, there is one more chapter that will tie up some things.