THIS CHAPTER IS A DOOZY! Almost 4,000 words. Here we get a little more of the guys plus some April and Casey, but not without the stars of the fic! c:

Mikey sat at the dinner table with his head in his hands while Raph was busy picking up his trash around the living room. Raph looked at him for a moment before dropping the bag and getting his attention. "What're you mopin about?"

Mikey sat up and tilted his head back so he was staring at the ceiling. "I dunno how to get Ashley to go out on a date with me."

"Have you tried asking her?" Raph asked with a roll of his eyes as he continued his chores.

"I can't just ask her, it can't sound stupid." Mikey stared at his phone as an alert popped up, from Baxium.

Just ask her. It won't hurt.

Mikey sighed and stared at his phone again.

"Mikey, you're the one that always knows about this stuff. I'm sure if you just ask her you'll get what you're lookin for. She didn't seem uninterested in you."

Mikey gave it some thought before sitting up and nodding. "Yeah, you're right. Okay, I got this."

"You got this," his brother replied with an exasperated expression. Raph dropped the bag off next to the door and walked off to the bathroom. "Clean off the table when you're done."

"Yeah..." Mikey replied absentmindedly, finishing up his text. He looked it over a few times before deciding to just try his luck and send it. "Couldn't hurt..."

Hey, wanna go out tomorrow?

Now all he had to do was wait.

/

Baxium laughed as he put his phone away. "Who was that?" Mira asked curiously.

"Mikey's trying to ask Ashley out. He asked me how to do it since I'm with you, he's funny."

Mira shared a small laugh as she thought about how Ashley would respond. The two were holding hands as they walked back to his apartment. Pinks and oranges filled the sky as the sun set below the city's skyline. Mira was nervous as she walked with him, wondering what the evening would have in store for her. She didn't want to put him off, but she had many questions about how anything intimate worked with him, and her research online wasn't very fruitful.

She already knew that flirting involved contact with his frill and talking about his horns, which was oddly cute to her. His thumb caressed her soft hand as she continued to think, but it relaxed her. She rested her head on his arm as they walked along peacefully.

"What the hell?" someone commented as they walked past. "That's disgusting," they added with a spiteful emphasis, but continued walking. Baxium and Mira stopped and looked back before Mira was tugged along.

The person stopped walking and looked back at them. "Yeah, keep walking Triceraton freak!"

Mira turned around, and the person was lucky Baxium could hold her back with just one arm as she shouted back at him a string of profanities and insults.

"You're lucky he's holding me back you racist piece of shit!" she spat back at him. He sneered at her and continued walking along, but all she wanted to do was go after him.

"Mira, please," Baxium said softly, turning her back around with both hands to continue their walk. "You don't need to do that, It's fine."

"It's not fine," she insisted, walking with him. "You can't just let people talk to you like that, Baxi."

He squeezed her hand while they continued walking. "Don't worry about me. I hear those things all the time but they hardly ever follow up. I've defended myself enough times to know when it's worth wasting my breath."

His apartment was in view with a small group of Triceratons in front of it. Baxium immediately let go of her hand and paused. "Mira," he said, almost ominously.

"What is it?" She looked at the group questionably before turning back to him.

"That's... my family," he said grimly. "I haven't told them about you yet, but I intend to. I guess I'll have to do it today, but if you wanted to go home first I understand."

He walked with her around a corner so they wouldn't be spotted as they talked. "Your family's here?" she asked, sounding a little disappointed. He had promised to cook her a nice dinner that they would eat together since Ryan was away with his family.

He nodded. "I didn't invite them, but even if I try to get them to go home, they'd see you and ask questions. I really did intend to tell them this week about us, cuz... well... I feel like we're getting more serious. And I like that! But I know they'll make kind of a fuss that I'm dating you and I wanted to make sure you were worth fussing over." He gave her a smile as his gentle hand touched her shoulder. "You're worth everything that could come my way, Mira."

His tone shifted from one of urgency to one of sensitivity and love, and she wasn't prepared for such a whirlwind of emotions from him. She gave him a smile and put a hand over his. "If you aren't ready for me to meet them, I'll go home Baxi. You don't need to worry about that."

Baxi gave her a small smile and put a hand to her cheek. "If you want to meet them, I'm fine with that, sweetheart. I don't want them to ruin our night, I just want you to be prepared for it."

Mira felt herself blush at his words, but smiled and grasped his hand. "I can't say I'm ever going to be prepared, but..."

He gave a small laugh and touched his snout to the top of her head. "Then let's go."

/

As Baxium and Mira approached his apartment, Mikey and Raph had just gotten their pizza order in and were getting the table and plates ready for company. It was the first time their family would visit them after having the whole place set up, and though they didn't feel a lot of pressure, they still wanted to let them know they were doing well for themselves.

The ringing of their bell signaled their visitors and Mikey eagerly piped up. "I'll get it!"

Raph nodded and started taking out some cups as Mikey ran down the stairs to greet their brothers, father, and Casey and April. Mikey hugged all of them and brought them upstairs, telling them all about the apartment and the pizza they had ordered.

When they stepped inside, Raph greeted his father with a hug and his brothers with a pat on the shoulders. Casey gave him a hard pat on the shell and a side hug with a loving noogie.

"Love what you've done with the place," Casey said as Raph shoved him off.

"I'm impressed," Leo said with a snarky expression. "Thought the place would look like a pig sty with you two living here alone."

"Thanks," he replied as he straightened out his shirt. "Love the confidence, bro. Pizza's there so help yourselves."

Mikey put an arm around Don's shoulders and started chatting his ear off about his job at the same pizza place they ordered from. "I got a pretty sweet discount on all of this."

Don smiled as they led the pizza line. "I'm glad you're doing well Mikey."

"I've been bugging ya for weeks now, right?" Casey said to Raph.

"Yeah, and you're finally here. Just try not to wreck our new table, will ya?" Raph replied.

Splinter smiled as he watched his youngest sons. Raph noticed his smile and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I can get your plate if you wanted to sit down, Sensei."

"I am fine, my son," he said, clasping Raph's arm with a smile. "I am so proud of you."

Sheepishly, Raph returned his smile. "Thanks, dad. Means a lot."

They continued talking and gathering their plates to sit at the table. It was a tight fit with all 7 of them, but they made it work, all with smiles.

/

"What?"

Baxium faced his parents while his brother stood off to the side. Mira proudly stood next to him, though she could barely fight off her shaking hands while surrounded by very large Triceratons. One of them clearly was unimpressed with her as Baxium's girlfriend, but his hold on her hand gave her the strength she needed to stand strong.

"I would have told you if you could have waited one more day, but you just wanted to show up out of nowhere, so, surprise!" Baxium replied.

"How long has this been going on?" the deep, disapproving voice of his father questioned.

"We're coming up on 3 months."

"And you were going to wait until tomorrow to tell us?" his mother asked. Her voice would also be classified as deep, but other than that and her choice of clothing, Mira really couldn't tell the difference between their genders. She had no idea who the third Triceraton was, either.

"I wanted to make sure that I was serious about her before I told you," he said honestly. "So, I can tell you now with confidence that we are serious, and I'm not going to let you convince me not to be with her."

There was a silence as his mother and father looked at one another. His mother gave Mira a glance and lifted her head. "What did you say your name was?"

"Mira," she replied, a little less confidently than she would have liked.

"Mira."

His father now stared at her as well. "It must be scary to be under the scrutinization of two Triceratons for you."

She didn't know how to respond.

"What are you doing here?" Baxium asked. "Is everything alright?"

They looked back at him with the same looks they had just been giving Mira. "Yes, we just thought you would want to celebrate your brother's new job."

Baxium's mood lifted as he looked to his brother. "New job?"

The third Triceraton who had been silent until now grinned and nodded. "Yeah, you're lookin' at the new captain of Fleet Zech59."

Baxium let go of Mira's hand for the first time, stepping in front of her to embrace his brother. "Way to go, Minjeck!" he said as they let go, their hands clasped in a handshake.

"Thanks. But don't feel like you have to go out with us," he said with a look to their parents. "They were also gonna try to set you up with someone from my class."

"Yes, well, it's clear that's pointless now," his mother said.

"You got plans tonight?" his father asked, his expression unchanging.

Baxium nodded. "Yes, sir."

He gave a nod and put an arm around his wife. "Then we'll let you be."

"But, Khellar," she started.

"Our son is an adult. We told him what we came to tell him and we should respect his plans. Next time we'll call." Khellar looked at Baxium with a respectful nod.

"We'll call you anyway," his mother assured him. "To check up on you." Mira didn't miss the side-eye she received as his family left and said goodbye. There were no harsh words said to her or Baxium directly, and they were both grateful for that.

They entered his building with a sigh. "Sorry about that," Baxium said. "Barely even had any introductions..."

"It's fine," Mira replied reassuringly.

"I don't think they hate you at least," Baxium said lightheartedly.

Mira gave a knowing expression as she took the stairs behind him. "Or they were too polite to say anything to my face."

"Or that," he said with a nod.

Mira thought about how she stood and spoke to his parents, for the brief time she had to speak, and wondered if she did anything they'd consider impolite or strange. She then remembered her own family, wondering how they would respond to Baxium's.

Bax opened the door to his apartment, allowing her to go in first. "Welcome," he said with a smile. "Make yourself at home, I'll go ahead and start dinner."

"Okay," she said happily, removing her shoes and wandering into the living room.

"I'm gonna make some pasta, I hope I do okay. I know you'll be judging it pretty hard," he said with a laugh.

Mira smiled to herself and sat on the couch. "It's hard to fuck up pasta, it's the sauce you have to worry about."

"I also have some Bijjah here if you wanted to try it. It's just some meat and vegetables mixed in a Zanron and Eie sauce. In case you wanted to try something new." He gave her a wink and started working on the pasta. Mira glanced at the dish he was talking about and sneakily looked it up on her phone. She didn't want to seem rude, but she couldn't be sure if any of the Triceraton dishes would be poisonous to her tiny human body.

Though it appeared Zanron was made through a process she wouldn't be fond of, there were no reports of anything else being harmful to her. She got up to bravely try the new food presented to her.

"Oh, here, Ryan and I found out it goes best with tortillas," Baxium said as he plopped some down next to the bowl. "Tastes a little bitter, but it's good with the beef."

He stole a piece of the meat for himself and started gathering ingredients for the sauce. He knew well enough not to pull out any kind of sauce jar around Mira. He had a lot to live up to with her Italian background, but he felt confident that he wouldn't fuck it up too bad.

/

"So Donnie, April, how are things going with your business?" Leo asked. The pizza was nearly gone as their night wound down.

Don and April shared a look and Don nodded for April to go ahead. "It's going really well. We're moving into our new location this weekend, and Donnie's getting a bigger lab to help with our prototype testing."

Don nodded. "It'll be a better space in case something goes boom." They shared a laugh as Mikey's phone went off.

"Oh!" He took it out and read the message on the screen. He seemed to slouch in disappointment at first, but smiled again before he started replying.

"Care to share with the class?" Raph asked.

"It's Ashley."

They all shared a look before returning their gaze to him. "Who's Ashley?"

"This girl upstairs he's tryin to date," Raph explained.

Mikey scoffed. "Not trying, dude, dating officially."

"Wow, Mikey. Three weeks out of the sewer and you got yourself a girlfriend already?" Casey said with a laugh.

Mikey sat back with his hands behind his head. "What can I say? I'm irresistible."

"Did she only agree to one date?" Raph asked, unamused.

Mikey's cockiness lowered and he gave his brother a look. "Well yeah, but she'll go on more with me after that, trust bro."

"Your confidence is inspiring, Mikey," Leo said with a laugh.

As the conversation wound down, Casey and April looked at one another before nodding. Casey cleared his throat to get the attention of the others. "We uh, got a pretty big announcement," he started, taking April's hand.

With a smile, April finished. "I'm pregnant."

Only a second passed before the brothers all stood up in excitement and came around to hug them. Splinter joined them at a slower pace.

"It's about time!" Raph said happily. They had been trying to conceive since April's business started to take off and they realized they'd be able to financially support a family. It took them months of trying and a discouraging doctor's visit about a month prior before they finally succeeded. It was a huge moment for them all, as a big family.

"What're you gonna name it? You should name it after me!" Mikey said excitedly.

April laughed and shook her head. "We haven't even talked about names yet."

"We'll put yours on the list of possibilities," Casey assured him with a pat on the shoulder."

Splinter took April's hand in his own and smiled up at her. "I am so happy for you, April," he said. He embraced them both as the brothers completed the group hug around them. With the great news out in the open, they continued to eat, drink, and laugh with one another.

/

Baxium set down two plates of pasta on the table where Mira sat. Two wine glasses were filled and the lights were dim to set a mood. Mira smiled at him as he sat, finding his much larger portion of food humorous when compared to her own.

"It smells good," Mira said, her stomach grumbling despite the appetizer she had before.

"I hope it's as good as it smells," he said. "I tried following the recipe exactly and I made it earlier this week to practice..."

Mira couldn't help her smile as it formed on her face. "Wow, you're cute," she said with a small laugh before digging into her pasta.

Though the sauce didn't have a whole lot of flavor to it, the pasta was cooked perfectly and it wasn't terrible. Baxium was overjoyed to hear she liked it and happily ate and drank with her as they talked a little more about their families.

"My mom's a little... Well, she never even seems to like the women she sets me up with. So if she didn't seem like she liked you I wouldn't be too concerned," he explained.

"I'm happy your brother seems to have gotten promoted to a job he wanted," she noted.

Baxium smiled. "Yeah, he's wanted to be captain of his own fleet for a while. Actually, he's a higher rank than I am now."

"Is he older or younger than you?"

"Younger," he replied with a nod. "But only by a few years. Don't you have a little brother, too?"

She nodded. "Kind of. He's technically an adult now, but he is younger than me."

"What's your family like?" Baxium asked curiously.

Mira thought for a moment. It took her a minute to find the right words to describe them. "I... I don't want to say dysfunctional, but..." She stalled a bit more. "I dunno man, don't ask me that."

"Well, if I ever met them, what should I expect?"

"Yelling," she replied.

"Okay... What are your parents like? Would they like me, for instance?"

"They don't even like me," she replied with a laugh.

Her response caught him off guard and he took a sip of wine. He opened his mouth to say something more and Mira interrupted him.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. I mean, they don't live anywhere in the city so it's not like you'll meet them anytime soon," she explained.

Baxium could tell that she didn't want to talk anymore about her family, and opted to drop it for the time being. "That's fair. Sorry, if it bothered you to talk to them," he apologized.

Mira shook her head. "No, it's fine. I mean I love my family don't get me wrong, but they're exhausting and I don't exactly look forward to either one of us seeing them."

Baxium nodded and continued to eat. "I see."

Both of them worried that they had made the conversation awkward, and neither wanted to continue talking about their families. They continued to eat as the faint sounds of the city outside created some ambiance.

"You know, I think our families will be an obstacle to get over, but I sort of feel like we can do it. At least, when the time comes," Baxium said with a smile.

Mira looked at him curiously, unsure of what exactly he was talking about. "You think so?"

He nodded confidently. "Yeah. I don't think any kind of dysfunctional family could keep me away from you."

He reached across the table to take her hand, and the sudden romantic feeling made the blood rush to her cheeks. "Aw, Baxi..." she started, squeezing his hand as best she could. "Wow, you're being so sweet to me tonight."

"Well," he started with a shrug. "I think it's kinda special today."

His words felt ominous as Mira had no idea what on Earth he was talking about. "What's special?"

He squeezed her hand and leaned forward with a smile. He lowered his voice and spoke quietly, as if it was a secret just for them. "It's the first time I'm telling you that I love you."

Mira's entire existence froze at his words. He only slowly pulled away after she had a moment to process what he said. Mira was clearly shocked enough to stop moving completely, even her own breathing. Out of all the things she expected that night, this wasn't even on the list.

Baxium watched her for a moment as she just blinked and stared at him. "I... If you don't want to say it back there's no problem, sweetheart. I don't wanna pressure you but I wanted you to know how I feel..."

Mira's mind was brought back to her body and she was breathing again. At his apology she began to try and speak, though the words were falling out of her mouth like an alphabet soup. "No, it's... I, uh, you are..." She took a breath and finally found the words.

"I love you too," she replied quietly, her face as red as it could possibly be in her completely flustered state. She couldn't believe she heard those words come out of his mouth, and he never let go of her hand. Her heart raced as her breathing steadied, and she felt a warm surge of happiness she hadn't felt before, making her whole body tingly.

Baxium pressed her hand against his mouth, maintaining eye contact. His romantic gestures were keeping her flustered and quiet, her mind unable to fully deal with the love he was giving her.

They finished up their dinner and Baxium cleared the table, before he gathered her up in his arms and carried her to the couch. She giggled as he did so, playfully fighting him off before he sat down and started to nuzzle her face.

"We got the whole place to ourselves tonight," he told her. "We can do anything you want."

Mira cuddled up against his chest as he continued to hold her, feeling content and happy as she was. In the back of her mind she remembered his advances from a few nights ago that had gone almost totally unnoticed by her at the time. What did she want to do...?

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you thought in the reviews! (Anonymous welcome!)