DISCLAIMERS/NOTES

1. This is a fan fiction based on characters owned by Nickelodean (I think). I DO NOT OWN THEM. This is just for fun.

PART 34

It was a problem the makeshift birth room was so small, as two turtles and two Humans instantly rushed to enter. The sight that met Leo, Raph, Karai and Casey was not the one they expected... though if asked what they were expecting, none could probably answer.

April was lying on the bed, legs wide and chest moving rapidly. She was gulping air as quickly as possible. There was a thin cord between her and the figure with its back to them... Donnie. He was holding something.

Leo was the first to speak. "Donnie... ?"

The scientist looked over his shoulder, and sighed in acknowledgement. He then slowly turned around until the others could see the thing in his arms.

An egg.

Raph gulped. "Holy shit... "

"Donnie... what... " Leo spluttered. They all knew what April was carrying for six months, but still... to actually see it...

Donnie began shaking his head. "I don't know what to do." His tone was calm, as matter-of-fact as the words he uttered. But a look in his brown eyes showed the turmoil within.

Leo managed to prise himself away from the others and approached hesitantly. "Donnie... you need to think. You read everything there is to read on childbirth. Think. What usually happens now?"

"Usually?" Donnie's face contorted. "There's nothing unusual about this. My... my God... I'm... I'm holding an egg... an egg!" His body began to tremble.

Putting a reassuring hand on his brother's shoulder, Leo darted his eyes between Donnie, the object in his hands, and the near-hyperventilating April. He struggled to gather his bearings. Whatever leadership skills he had, he had to implement right now to get Donnie to focus. "It's OK, bro, just think. Do what you do best and think."

Donnie took a visible gulp, then looked down at the egg. "I... I don't know whether or not to cut the cord. It might... it might be keeping the baby alive. Or... or it might be preventing it from hatching. I... I just don't know... " His eyes were beginning to panic again.

Suddenly, a raspy voice cut through the tension. "Donnie... " They all turned at the barely-conscious woman on the bed; the sheets were soaked with her sweat. "P... p... lease... do... some... thing... our... our baby... "

Karai went to April's side and put a hand to her forehead. "Please, save your strength, April," the kinoichi soothed. "You need to rest. Trust in your itoshii to do the right thing."

"Karai's right," said Leo, turning back to his brother. "Donnie... as a scientist, what makes the most sense?"

Donnie appeared in weary thought for a moment, before shakily speaking again. "It's... it's... a hybrid. Both Mutant and Human. So... so it follows that both types of birth factor in. Human birth with the cord, but... but it might not be fully developed yet. So it's still in the egg. So... so it follows that it still needs the cord."

"OK, so we wait," finished Leo. He turned to his Raph and Casey. "One of you move the tray closer, will you?" He was referring to the wheeled tray in the room with a heated cushion. Raph did as Leo instructed and, with some coercing, Donnie slowly, reverently placed the egg down.

"We... we have to keep tabs on the temperature," he said softly. "Could... could... I need a... sensor. I... " Donnie looked at a complete loss for words.

Getting his point, Karai acquired a heat sensor from the makeshift ultrasound machine and handed it to the purple-masked turtle. Donnie tentatively hovered it over the egg, then plucked up the nerve to stick it to the leathery shell.

Taking a second gulp, Donnie then turned away and strode to his girlfriend. He took her damp, weak hand and stroked her drenched hair. "Is... is it... " April murmured.

"I dunno," he admitted. Tears formed in his eyes. "I'll do everything I can, I promise."

"Pl... ease... " she gasped. "Don't... lose our... "

Donnie was about to speak again, when a distinct sound filled the room.

A cracking noise.

Everyone turned to the tray. Their collective eyes widened as stress marks formed on the eggshell, then gently, agonisingly slowly...

It hatched.

Everyone forgot to breathe as the shell fell apart, the egg opening like a flowering plant.

After a moment that both lasted too long and was over in a snap, the egg was gone, its pieces covering the cushion. They all stared slackjawed...

The baby stared back with big, questioning eyes...

TO BE CONTINUED