10

(…one month earlier…)

Hundreds of feet below the surface of New York City, laughter echoed off the walls of a large kitchen constructed somewhere within twisted maze of sewer tunnels. Remnants of an evening meal cluttered the center of an old wooden table covered with dirtied plates and silverware. Seated around the dining structure were the seven members of a strangely unconventional family.

At the head the table sat Master Splinter who was speaking with the red-headed woman on his left. The fingers on April's right hand had a gentle hold on her husband's arm. Casey barely noticed having become accustomed to the near constant presence of her touch. Out of habit, he reached over to place his unrestrained hand on top of hers as he continued to banter with the four terrapin brothers.

Tonight had been a scheduled family night – an event that the Jones-Hamato clan tried to have every other week or so.

April had been the one to suggest that they start doing it. Too often for her liking, days or even weeks would pass by in which neither she nor Casey would have contact with the turtles. Family nights were her way of ensuring that her boys were alright and learning about whatever ninja affairs had kept or might keep them occupied.

The gatherings also presented an opportunity for the married couple to update their friends on the activities in their human lives. Such was their intention when they had planned this particular evening. Fit to burst with excitement, they waited until there was a lag in the conversation before sharing their latest news.

"So…uh…we got something we want to tell you guys," Casey said slowly as he grinned.

Splinter and his sons looked at the pair with expectant curiosity.

April exchanged a quick glance with her husband, smiling when he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Her heart increased its pace slightly and she took a deep breath to calm herself before turning her beaming face towards the others.

"We're having a baby!" she squealed.

The room was filled with a stunned silence for several seconds until…

"You mean I'm going to be an uncle?!" Michelangelo burst out, his blue eyes shining with hopeful enthusiasm. April nodded quickly and the youngest turtle let loose a joyous shout as he fist-pumped the air. "Yes! Finally!"

His response elicited laughter from the expecting parents and jolted everyone else from their speechless state.

"Yeah, way ta go, Case!" Raphael exclaimed, giving his best friend a hearty slap on the back.

"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Jones," Splinter offered while patting April's left hand affectionately.

"That's great you two!" Donatello declared grinning at both of them.

"Congratulations," Leonardo added with a polite smile.

"How long have you known?" Mikey demanded as he bounced in his seat. "When are you going to have him…or…her?" His eyes grew wide and his hands curled into fists which he shook in eager anticipation. "…what ARE you going to have?"

April laughed again, elated by her adopted family's positive reaction. "The doctor confirmed it last week. I'm about six weeks along so the baby will be here in late January. We won't be able to know for a while yet whether we're having a boy or a girl."

"We were kinda thinking that we wanted the baby's gender to be a surprise," Casey confessed.

"Ya serious?" Raph wondered, scrunching his eye ridges together. "Ya really wanna go that long without knowing?"

"I think it'll be more fun that way," April replied as Casey nodded in agreement.

"But…but…" Mikey protested, his mouth twisting into a pout. "…January is so far away!"

"It will come faster than you think," Splinter said wisely before taking a sip of tea.

"It's going to be pretty cozy inside your apartment, April," Donnie commented.

"We realize that," she conceded. Her head turned towards Casey and they smiled at each other reassuringly. "But we'll make it work for now."

"Actually, we talked about cleaning out that ol' storage room at the end of the hall," her husband said. "It needs some remodeling work, but after a little sprucing up it'd make a decent sized nursery."

"And we were wondering if you guys would want to help," April asked as she looked around at each mutant. "We'd like for all of you to be a part of this."

"Course we'll help," Raph answered for all of them. "Ya shouldn't even have ta ask that. We're family."

April's smile broadened. Her happiness showed in the shimmer of her bright green irises and threatened to spill forth in the form of tears that crowded the corner of her eyes. Before she could say anything more, the rat master gave her hand another pat and rose to his feet.

"Might I suggest that we relocate to the living room where the seating is much more comfortable?" he posed while refilling his tea. Picking up the steaming cup, he turned to leave the kitchen. "Perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Jones can tell us more about their plans."

There were no objections from the others. Standing, they began to filter out of the room as Don questioned Casey about the repair work that needed to be done. Caught up in the excitement, no one realized that Leonardo had lingered behind.

The terrapin leader watched as the group left, his face somber and his shoulders slumped. A strange feeling had suddenly overcome him and he struggled to understand what it meant. From inside his head, a little voice asked him why he was still sitting there. He shifted uneasily in his seat as he tried to think of an answer. After a few more minutes of hesitation, he stood from the table. Forcing a smile onto his face, he pushed his chair in and went to join the rest.

XXXX

Hours later, the atmosphere inside the lair was reduced to a calmer state with the departure of the Joneses. Both hands of the clock rested somewhere between eleven and twelve, prompting most inhabitants of the underground home to shuffle off to their respective beds. Exhausted by the night's happenings, they welcomed sleep.

But not Leonardo.

Restless, the eldest paced the edge of the pool. Throughout the evening's social engagement, he had kept up his happy ruse. Now that the company had parted, however, his fake grin was replaced by a deep frown. That unfamiliar feeling he had experienced earlier still plagued him. Try as he might, he could not define it. Whatever it was kept eating away at him like a starved beast and he, the master of focus, could not sit still long enough to meditate upon finding a means to placate its hunger.

Sighing, Leo reversed his direction and retraced the steps he had just taken.

Why wasn't he as happy as everybody else? He should be. If anybody deserved a child, it was April and Casey. They had plenty of love to give. Their choice to befriend and essentially adopt four giant mutant turtles and their rodent father was proof enough of that.

It wasn't like the announcement was that big of a shock either. He, his brothers, and Splinter had all known that Casey and April had been talking about starting a family soon. Especially now that Casey had a steady job, business in the shop had improved, and they were financially stable.

Leonardo stopped to rub a hand across his face. Rather than an answer, his thinking had earned him a headache. The painful stabs at his brain near both temples informed him that this one would not go away on its own. Turning on his heel, he began making his way towards the kitchen where Donatello was wont to keep a large supply of aspirin in the general vicinity of the coffee pot.

As he approached, he noticed that the lights were on in the room. His curiosity as to who was still awake was satisfied when he entered and saw Raphael. The younger turtle sat tilted back in his chair with his feet propped up on the table. One emerald hand rested on his thigh while the other gripped a dark amber bottle. Upon seeing his elder brother, Raph lifted his beer in greeting.

"Sup, bro?" he asked before taking a drink.

"Just came for some water," Leo replied as he crossed the kitchen to the cupboard where the glasses were stored. Extracting one, he sidled over to the sink and turned on the tap. As he filled his cup, he glanced back over his shoulder at Raph. "What are you still doing up?"

The sai-wielder gave Leo an incredulous look and pointed to the bottle in his hand. "Ain't it obvious? I'm celebrating."

The leader set his full glass on the counter and began searching around the coffee maker. He found the aspirin sitting beside Don's bag of gourmet coffee that smelled strongly of vanilla. Seizing the bottle, he popped the lid off and shook a couple of tablets into his palm.

"Casey already left," he stated pointedly as he reclaimed his cup.

"That don't mean the party's gotta end," Raph rebutted with a cheeky grin. He watched his sibling transfer the pills to his mouth and chase them down with water. His smile faded slightly. "Ya got another one of yer headaches?"

"It's nothing," Leo insisted, taking a second drink.

"Ya sure?"

"I'm fine."

Raphael didn't believe him for a second. The way Leo's lips were pressed together in a tight, thin line was a strong indication that his head was hurting him. Raph had come recognize that expression for what it was because the clan leader seldom complained about the migraines he seemed to have on a fairly regular basis. Usually, he would force himself to suffer silently and refused medication on the argument that all he needed was a cup of tea and deep meditation. Leo's way of coping was, in Raph's opinion, complete bullshit and only further supported his claims concerning the size of the older male's ego. So, understandably, the hot head was surprised and somewhat worried that Leo had relented even for two tiny aspirin.

"That why ya was so quiet tonight?" Raph pressed, refusing to let the issue drop.

"Was I?" Leo wondered absentmindedly as he refilled his cup.

"Yeah, ya ain't hardly said a word since we ate."

"I didn't notice."

"Apparently not."

As they conversed, the katana-wielder moved from the sink to stand across the table from his brother. The two turtles stared at one another for a few minutes before Leo blinked and looked away. After some consideration, he pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Sorry," he muttered mostly to the glass he held in his hands.

The apology made Raph wrinkle his beak in confusion. "What the hell ya sorry for?"

"…I..just…I.." Leo faltered and he gnawed at his lip uncertainly. "….I don't know…"

"Yer actin' weird, Fearless," Raph decided as he studied his superior. Polishing off his beer, he set the bottle back down on the table with a loud thunk. "What gives?"

Leonardo blew a frustrated sigh. Pushing his glass aside, he scratched at the back of his neck. "…April and Casey are having a baby."

"Yeah…so? It was bound ta happen eventually."

"It's not fair!"

The red-banded turtle blinked several times, shocked by the outburst. Leo's features had grown angry. He glared at his fist with which he had hammered the wooden surface. Realizing what he had just done, his fingers loosened as his cheeks heated.

"What's not fair?" Raph questioned with a frown.

Lifting a hand to his forehead, Leo rubbed at his temples again. The pain was slowly starting to subside, but still left him with an annoying ache. With a deep breath, he voiced some of the thoughts that had been pestering him all night.

"Don't get me wrong," he began to say, looking up at his brother. "It's great that April and Casey are starting a family, it's just….it doesn't seem fair that we will never get to experience that…"

"Life ain't fair," the younger responded while shrugging. "I think we all learned that a long time ago, Leo."

"It doesn't bother you?" Leonardo asked in disbelief. "Don't you ever wonder what it would be like to have that kind of relationship? To find someone to marry and have kids with? To not be alone for the rest of your life?"

Raphael stared at him for a full minute. Wordlessly, he swung his feet off the table and stood up from his chair. Leo watched as he walked over to the fridge, opened the door, and pulled forth two new bottles of brew. Using the edge of the counter, Raph pried off both caps. He returned to the table and slid one beer over to his brother as he sat back down.

Leo reacted quickly, catching the bottle before it could topple to the floor. Confused, he looked at the bottle in his hand for a few seconds before lifting his questioning gaze to his sibling's face.

"You know I don't drink, Raph."

"Yeah, well, ya oughta," the sai-wielder declared, taking a drink of his own beverage. "Maybe ya'd lighten the hell up. I'm getting depressed listening ta ya."

"How many of those have you had?" Leo demanded suspiciously.

Raph screwed up his face in mock concentration and pretended to count on his fingers. After reaching three, he shrugged and took another swig. "I dunno."

"Don't you think you should stop?"

"I think ya should start. Yer way behind," Raph countered. Grinning, he gave his bottle a shake, making the liquid slosh inside. "Come on, Fearless. Bottoms up."

Leonardo looked at his bottle again and, against his better judgment, he lifted it to lips. Closing his eyes, he tipped his head back and allowed a small amount of liquid to pour into his mouth. He stopped himself from spitting out the bitter taste as it washed over his tongue, instead forcing it down his throat. The hot head chuckled at the grimace Leo made when he swallowed.

"There ya go, bro," he praised, his smile triumphant. "Tastes good, don't it?"

"No, it doesn't," Leo grumbled to which Raph laughed. Setting the beer down, he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth to remove any lingering taste and looked over at his smirking underling. "You didn't answer my question."

"What question?"

"When I asked you if it bothers you?"

"Shit," Raph swore after removing the bottle from his lips. "Course it bothers me. Ain't nothing we can do about though, is there? Ain't like there's any mutant turtle chicks out there in the world, right?" He tapped the side of his beer thoughtfully. "Not that we know of, anyways. And what human in their right mind would wanna do it with us? They'd have ta be fuckin' insane."

"You're right," Leonardo conceded sadly and took another sip of alcohol. It didn't taste any better the second time. "But it still…"

"Sucks?" the larger turtle offered. "Yeah, it does, but ya just gotta accept it." He grinned again. "That's how I stay so happy."

Leo snorted and shook his head. With one huge gulp, Raph finished off his beer and belched loudly. Ignoring his brother's look of disgust, he stood and deposited the empty bottle in the recycle bin.

"Feeling any better?" he asked, walking back to stand by Leo.

"Not really," the katana-wielder said bitterly.

"Sorry, I ain't so good at this comforting thing," Raph replied, clapping a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"It's okay."

"Ya gonna be alright?"

"I think so."

"'Kay then. I'm goin ta bed."

"I might as well, too," Leo announced and got to his feet.

"Ya ain't gonna finish that?" the darker colored turtle inquired, pointing at the nearly full beer still sitting on the table.

"No."

"Well, no sense in lettin' perfectly good booze go to waste," Raph decreed. Snatching up the bottle he turned to leave the kitchen.

"Do you really need another one?" the elder asked as he followed close behind. He tutted as he witnessed his brother's sluggish gait and quickly matched pace. "You're already buzzed."

"Yes, I am," Raph admitted, looking left towards Leo. He began working on his brother's beer as they crossed the lair together. "And I'm also havin' a good time, unlike you."

Leonardo stopped in his tracks, his face downcast. A few steps later, Raph realized the leader was no longer beside him. He halted and then backtracked to where the other terrapin stood.

"Aww, come on, Fearless. Cheer up," the sai-wielder pleaded, slinging his right arm around his miserable sibling. "Just think about how lucky ya are." He leaned his face in close to Leo's and gave him a million dollar smile. "Ya get ta spend the rest of yer life with me."

Shying away from Raph's alcoholic breath, Leo tried to shrug him off. Raph didn't budge. He didn't even flinch. Frowning, the blue-banded turtle placed a hand on his brother's left shoulder with the intent to shove him away.

But suddenly he found himself distracted by the fire blazing in the golden irises that stared at him. Leo relaxed, stepping into his brother's embrace. Slowly, a small smile worked its way onto his face as his hand slid from Raph's shoulder to the back of his neck.

Before he could give it a second thought, Leonardo leaned in and pressed his lips to Raphael's.