Chapter 33 - The Truth…

Casey sighed as he zipped up his bag. He glanced up at the clock quickly, then looked back down at his stuff. He'd have to be faster, or…

A soft knock interrupted his thoughts, and he looked over at the door way.

"Hey." April said softly, leaning against the doorframe.

"Hey." He said, looking back to his work.

"Are you almost done?" she asked, and he nodded gruffly.

"Yeah." He said, shoving a few more things into an already over-extended suitcase.

There was silence for a few more minutes, as she simply watched him.

"You don't have to go, you know…" She said, her voice barely more than a whisper. He tried to decide if this was because Lindy was napping in the other room, or if it was… something else.

"Yeah, I do, April." He said, not looking back up at her. "Because if I don't…" He shook his head. "Things won't be… good."

She stayed silent, thinking for a moment, and then nodded slowly, tears filling her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Casey." She said, meaning so much in those three words.

He sighed. "For what? Telling me?" He looked down. "I'm not mad, April… I should've guessed… but that's my own fault."

She sighed also. "No, it's not… I never should have done what I did… Maybe in more ways than one."

He looked up at her then. "I don't want the 'poor me' act, April. You got yourself… all of us into this, and now, well…" He trailed off, closing the last of his bags.

"Look, that's it." He said, walking over to the doorway. He looked down at her as he passed. "I'm leaving." He said simply, and she knew he was saying more in those two words than most would think.

She nodded slightly, And reached over to hug him. He was stiff and resistant at first, but then returned the hug quickly and gently.

"Call us when you get… wherever you're going." She said, and he nodded. "Raph'll love to hear from you."

He simply nodded again, then walked down the stairs. She could hear the door slam shut, and his engine rev, and he was gone.

She leaned against the wall, letting the tears stream down her face. He was right. She'd gotten them all into this, it was only fair to tell them the truth. She only hoped the truth wouldn't be too much to handle…

*************

Mike looked over at Don, shaking his head slightly. His head was beginning to hurt now.

The training session had been going so well, up until they paired off for sparring. Now, he and Don were off to the side, watching as Leo and Raph got in each others faces. It had been a bit too long since this had happened, Mike thought wryly.

Don crossed his arms, watching the fight with minimal interest. He sighed heavily. Though, he knew that he was better off just staying away from the action. But if it got too far along…

"I'm not stupid, Leo. Don't condescend me!" Raph growled, his fists clenched tightly at his side.

"I'm not." Leo said, his own hands beginning to move in an attempt to calm down. "What I did say, though, was that this whole kick of yours all of a sudden…"

"It's not all of a sudden, Leo! You know I'd said this before…"

Don sighed again, tuning them out. This could go on for awhile…

*************

April walked slowly into the bedroom, trying not to wake the sleeping child. She leaned over the crib, looking down at the peaceful expression on her face.

April stared at Lindy for a moment, just watching her, feeling her emotions rise again. That had been happening all too often for her own tastes lately.

"I'm sorry." She whispered quietly, reaching down to stroke the soft hair that covered Lindy's head. "I'm so, so sorry…"

She let her tears fall down her face as she repeated the phrase over and over again.

If things went as badly as they could, this might be the last time she'd be allowed to see the child.

*************

Mike sighed in relief. Raph had stomped off angrily, and without there being any real physical fighting. To be honest, he wasn't even quite sure what had even happened to bring the fight up. Leo and Raph had been sparring with each other, so he'd been distracted.

He shook his head. No matter. It was over now anyway.

"How about we head up to the house?" Mike heard Don say suddenly. He turned to see Leo's reaction to this. If they did, it would mean cutting the practice down time-wise, and Mike knew that Leo hated to do that; especially since they hadn't really practiced this extensively for a long time.

Leo sighed, and Don looked back up at the house, almost nervously.

"Alright." Leo said quietly, a note of dejectedness in his voice.

Mike blinked, surprised. Leo didn't usually give in that easily.

Don nodded, then began walking back up to the house. Leo followed shortly after, quickly catching up to his brother. Mike trailed behind, hearing his brothers start to talk quietly.

*************

April was waiting for them just inside the living room when they first came home. She looked up as they entered, smiling shakily.

"Hey, guys." She said. "Lunch is on the table, and…" She trailed off, looking down. Leo noticed her nervously fiddling with a string on her shirt.

"Is Raph with Casey?" Leo asked, and April looked up at him quickly, then back down.

"No." She said quietly. "Casey's gone."

"What?" Leo and Don spoke together.

"He… had something to take care of, and he had to leave right away." Her voice grew quieter as she went on, and Leo raised a brow. She was lying.

"Anyway," She continued quietly, "Raph's upstairs, so… he's ok…"

"Alright." Don said slowly.

"Let's go get some lunch." Mike broke in, trying to break the tension in the air. "I'm starving. We still got some of the turkey left?"

"On the table, Mikey." April said, and her eyes drifted to Don. "Donnie? I need to talk to you."

"OK." Don agreed, worried by her careful tone and demeanor.

April nodded, then looked at Leo. "You guys go eat… I'll send Raph down." She said, the headed for the stairs.

Don looked at Leo, who shook his head slowly, also puzzled over the sudden shift in mood.

Raph passed Don on the steps, looking a lot more calmed now than he was not too much earlier. Don continued upstairs, and passed by his room, then doubled back as he saw April in there.

He walked into the room, and looked at her. She was nervously moving her hands around, twisting them, as if it would make what was obviously troubling her a little easier to say.

He sighed. "April… You know whatever it is, you can tell me."

She looked up at him, and her eyes filled with tears. "Donnie, I… I know who Lindy's parent's are."

*************

Mikey looked up and grinned as Raph came into the room. He sat next to Mike and reached for a plate.

"You're done early." He commented, still not looking at Leo.

"We decided to… take it easy the first time out." Leo said, not looking at Raph, either.

It was silent for a few more moments as they ate.

"Casey took off while we were out." Raph said flatly.

"I heard." Leo said, finally looking up at his brother. "April told us when we got in." He looked back at his plate. He knew his brother was somewhat disappointed. Sometimes Raph got along better with Casey than with them. At the same time, though, Leo knew his brother understood Casey just taking off like that. They were so alike in so many ways.

"Yeah, well…" Raph began. "Must've been real important for him to just tare off like that." That was lame, and he knew it. They'd all noticed the change in the air, the atmosphere, especially since that day in the snow, when Raph had seen April and Casey through the window. He knew something would happen. He just hadn't expected this.

*************

"What… What did you say?" Don's voice was barely above a whisper.

April refused to look up at him. "I… I know, Don." She said her voice breaking. "I know who they are."

Don sunk to his bed, more from the fact that his legs couldn't hold him anymore, he noticed, than anything else.

It was silent for a few minutes that seemed like hours, and Don could hear his breath as he sat there. He was practically hyperventilating, he realized, and tried to slow his breaths.

"Who is it." He heard himself ask, and the voice was strange, different.

April looked down once more.

"Almost two years ago…" She began. "Was when Casey and I really began having problems. And after I ended it, he moved out… and on."

Donatello's face blanched. He didn't want to hear this… He didn't want to hear this.

But he needed to.

"After he left, I didn't hear from him for… a while. Then he called me again. He'd gotten himself into a bit of trouble." She smiled slightly at that, and Don frowned.

"He'd met this girl, and…" She cut off, and Don sat forward. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "You know how he's so impulsive… he wasn't thinking…" She shook her head.

"What are you saying?" Don asked, getting uncharacteristically annoyed at how long it was taking to get to the truth.

April shut her mouth quickly. She looked down once again, and then up again, looking at Don.

"Liv was Lindy's mom." She confirmed. "And Casey is her father."

*************

"What're they doing upstairs…?" Mike wondered, making Raph almost choke on his coffee. Leo threw him a look, which seemed to work, much to both of their surprise.

"I dunno." Raph said, looking down at his plate, moving the food around with his fork. "But April was actin' real weird every time I saw her… Has been for awhile now."

Leo nodded. "Something has been in the air." He looked towards the door of the kitchen, worry etched on his face.

*************

"No." Don whispered. It was all he could think to say. The news hit him like a shockwave, sending him reeling. Casey? Casey?! The same guy who showed less patience than Raph and just ran off whenever he pleased?

But none of those things came to the surface.

"Donnie?" April began softly. "Are you alright?"

He looked at her quickly. "Why? Why are you telling me this now??" He cried, despairingly.

"I thought you might want to…"

"To know? Of course I wanted to know! I wanted to know from the beginning." He went on, unaware that his voice was rising, against his will.

"Would it have made a difference?" She shot back. "If you knew it was his? Would you love her any less?!"

He stood up, glaring at her. He'd never felt so angry before than in that moment. "How dare you ask me that?" He growled lowly.

She took a step back, and he instantly felt bad. He wasn't all that angry at her; maybe even less angry than he'd have liked to be. But he needed to be mad at something, at someone, and she'd just pushed the wrong buttons.

*************

Downstairs, Mike went to leave the kitchen, after the dishes were done and the table cleaned. He opened the door, then stopped. Voices were carrying from the upstairs, and they sounded unhappy. He swiftly turned back and shut the door, causing Raph to run into him.

"What are you doing?" Raph exclaimed, moving to push past Mikey. But Mike put a hand up, signaling Raph to stop.

Raph opened his mouth to say something, but stopped, as he, too, noticed the voices.

"What is going on up there…?" Raph wondered aloud, and both Mikey and Leo gave identical shrugs.

*************

"How could you keep something like that from me?" Don said, trying to wrap his brain around this.

"Do you know how much it's been killing me?" April cried. "Not telling you? Keeping it in?"

"Why did you?" Don asked, trying to calm himself. Of all the things he expected to hear… out of all the possibilities. This just had not been one of them.

"I…" April began, then stopped. "I didn't know how you'd react, I guess." She said softly.

He instantly felt bad. He knew how unlike him it was to act like this… But… this was something so big… And he trusted her so much… It killed him that she'd been able to hide it this long. He felt… betrayed…

He thought briefly that he was acting a bit like Raph. And Casey… A little voice in his head reminded him. He stopped, putting a hand to his mouth, calming himself down.

It was silent for a few minutes, until April finally spoke up. "I'm sorry, Donnie. I really am… Are you… angry with me?"

He sighed, looking down. "I honestly don't know what I think right now." He said quietly. He heard a sniff escape her, and felt his heart break. But he honestly had to think this over a little before he really knew what to say.

"I need to think this over." He said slowly, calmly, and kept his eyes on the bedspread.

"I… I'm sorry." April choked out, then covered her mouth with her hand and ran from the room.

*************

"Look," Raph began, standing in front of Leo. "They don't come down soon, I'm…" He stopped as a door to the house opened, and then slammed shut again.

The three of them turned, and saw April heading away from the house, a hand over her face.

With a glance to the other two, Raph took off after her.

Leo looked at Mike and they bore almost identical frowns. Something big had happened.

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Author's Note - *sigh* To be completely honest… I hadn't planned on this chapter coming up until the sequel to this story. But I got a pounding on the door of my imagination and it was the characters, telling me: We're doing this chapter now! Hehe, so here it is! Not all of the story, of course, but I can't do that all in one chapter!! ;)

Anyway, I hope this was handled well enough… I had a lot of doubt about Don's reaction. I hope it was satisfactory. I actually liked the way it turned out. Also, the revelation of Casey as Lindy's father was as much a surprise to me as it was to Don. I had debated for a long time who the parents really were, and, one day, it just popped into my head: This is who it should be. I hope you're enjoying, still. Another thing, I'm going to be wrapping up this story in the next few chapters… But not to worry! I'm already writing the sequel (which is so far unnamed) that I am really looking forward to, and it will be up shortly. I just wanted to give everyone a bit of an early heads up. But we still have a few chapters left. So enjoy!

Thanks -

neosun7 - Thank. Hehe, yeah it seems that way, doesn't it? He's a growing turtle!

Lady Venom2 - Thanks!

LenniluvsBrian - Thanks! Hehe, I could see it, too.

Heather - Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much!

Gummadoon Fanatic - Thanks! Here it is… ;)

Mickis - Thanks!

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