Ch 19 Facing the Future
Raph blinked his eyes open and looked up into the angry eyes of Dr. Rockwell. "Raphael." The monkey looked down at him disapprovingly. "Don't you think this is getting a little out of hand?"
"Huh?" Raph looked up at him in confusion. "What doc?"
He sat up and realized he was now on the bed and Leo, who was dressed, was sitting on the chair, arms across his chest and looking at him with an air of amusement on his face. "Oh...uh...sorry about that." Raph rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment and slowly got off the bed. As he looked at Leo, the words the doctor had said came back to him and his eyes slowly widen in dawning.
"Oh my God!" Raph suddenly yelled out startling Leo."Leo…we're…we're going to have a baby! No wait…we're…we're going to have three…THREE babies." Raph started jumping around and bouncing about the room almost as bad as Mikey could get. "There's so much to do!" He grabbed his cell phone and was about to walk out the room when he turned and looked back at Leo. "We need to go baby shopping. I want to get baby clothes and baby furniture." He looked from Rockwell to Leo. "We need to get THREE highchairs and THREE cribs and…."
"RAPH!" Leo yelled. "Calm down." Leo put his hands on Raph's shoulders and forced him to sit on the chair. "We're not even done here."
"Oh…yeah…right." He looked at Dr. Rockwell sheepishly. "Sorry about that doc." He sat back quietly and allowed Leo and Rockwell to finish up.
"That is okay Raphael." Rockwell motioned for them to come with him into his office. "I am going to write out your prescriptions and please make sure you pick up some prenatal vitamins." He pulled out a prescription pad and note paper. While speaking, he wrote out the prescription along with instructions. He typed on his computer and printed out a few pieces of paper. "Here is a list of food items you should stay away from as well as some you should eat more of." He handed them the list.
Leo scanned the list and his face fell. He turned to Raph. "I can't have sushi." He told him with a disappointed look.
"That is only for a short time Leonardo." Rockwell reminded him. "From what I can tell, you should be laying the eggs within the next six weeks."
"Wow." Raph breath. "In six weeks or sooner we'll have little turtle eggs and then little baby turtles will be running around." Raph suddenly jumped out of his seat. "Leo, we have to go home and tell everyone! Ah man, Sensei is going to be so excited!"
Leo watched as Raph, once again, began to walk out of the room. He looked back at the Rockwell and they knowingly smiled at each other. A few seconds later Raph walked back in. "Why aren't you following?"
Leo sighed tiredly. "Raph." He looked at him in annoyance. "We're not done." He turned back to Rockwell. "I have questions."
"I figured you would." Rockwell chuckled. "Please, ask away."
"Can I still teach my classes?"
"The eggs that lay within you is using up your energy but you are still fairly healthy so I suppose a little exercise will be okay just as long you do not exert yourself and try to rest as much as possible. If while you are teaching, you start to feel tired don't be ashamed to let someone else take over so you can go lay down."
Leo nodded. "What about tea? Can I still drink tea?" He looked at Raphael. "I'd still like to have daily tea with Master Splinter." He explained.
"I will give you a list of teas that you, along with Splinter, will still be able to enjoy." He quickly typed again on his computer and printed out another list. He then handed it to Leo and then looked from one turtle to the other. "Are there any other questions?"
"Can we still have sex?" Raph asked.
"Well that was direct." Leo said feeling somewhat embarrassed.
"I would hold off on having direct intercourse till a few days, or possibly weeks, after the eggs are laid since they are in a delicate position." He watched as Raph's face fell at this news. "Other things can be done, of course, but we need to wait and see how Leonardo is doing after the transfusion."
Both turtles nodded and Raph began to stand up. But when he saw Leo had not yet moved, he placed his hand on his shoulder and looked down at him in curiosity. "Do you have another question Leonardo?" Rockwell asked.
Leo looked down at the floor in uncertainty, he looked back up at Rockwell then at Raph. "Um." He blinked hard and thought about how he wanted to ask the question.
"What is it Leo?" Raph asked.
"How…will I…give birth?" He looked at Rockwell hesitantly. "I am a male and don't exactly have the proper…"
"Your body is slowly changing Leonardo." Rockwell said gently. "As I explained, the kathraatragon is a gender changing creature and with it's DNA now slowly taking over your DNA, that makes you able to change so now you as well will have…"
"Okay! Okay!" Leo suddenly jumped up not wanting to hear anymore." I get it." He started to walk out. "Thank you Doctor, I'll see you next Monday."
"Leonardo." Leo turned back to look at Dr. Rockwell. "Once we have done the transfusion, everything will go back to normal." He assured him.
Leo lowered his eyes and nodded. "Not completely back to normal." He whispered walking out the door.
Rockwell looked at Raph, his face taking on a serious determined look. "Take care of him Raphael." He advised. "This is a very difficult situation as well as a crucial time for him."
Raph nodded and left the room. He found Leo by the elevator leaning heavily against the wall with his body shaking. Raph put an arm around him and Leo turned and leaned into him. Raph rubbed his shell and let him cry for a short time on his shoulder. He then pushed the elevator button and assisted Leo in getting into the elevator. As they waited to get to the bottom floor, Raph turned to Leo and smiled tenderly at him.
"Are you going to be okay?"
Leo swallowed hard. "I'll be alright." He leaned heavily against the back of the elevator and stared at the ceiling. "I'm just so scared." He admitted. "There's so much to think about and now…I'm starting to get a headache."
Raph brought him into a hug again and they waited for the elevator to stop. They walked out together with their arms wrapped around each other and eventually made their way to the truck. After they got in, Raph turned to Leo.
"Do you want to go home and tell Sensei what we found out?"
Leo smiled at Raph's attempts at distracting him. "Can we go see my mom first?" He leaned his head on against the head rest. "I really need to see her."
Raph smiled and got the truck in gear. He drove them to the cemetery and watched as Leo 'spoke' to his mom, hoping for something that would tell him everything was going to be okay. After about half an hour, Leo turned to Raph and they got back in the truck.
"You all set?" Leo nodded but remained silent. "How bout we go tell Splinter the good news?" Raph wanted so much to have Leo feeling better about the situation.
Leo sighed tiredly. "How bout we wait and tell everyone together?" He suggested. "Besides, I like to go home and maybe take a nap."
"Okay, lets pick up your prescription first and then go home." Raph agreed. "After, I'll call my bros and tell them to come home early and then I'll go to work."
They did as plan and then eventually drove home. While Raph called Don and Mike asking them to come straight home from work. Leo made his way upstairs and attempted to take a nap. But his mind was preoccupied with worries and concerns. He tossed and turned and just couldn't get comfortable. He sat up and looked at the clock. It was just after twelve. Leo sighed and got out of bed. He made his way downstairs and decided to make some tea and see Master Splinter.
Since he did not normally have classes between noon and one, Splinter would normally take a lunch break, so Leo decided this would be a good time for them to have their daily tea time. He picked up the list of teas the doctor had listed for him and was happy to see he had a few of the ones listed. He quickly went about making two cups of tea and walked to the dojo.
Splinter sat at his desk going over paper work. He looked up at the sound of footsteps and smiled when he saw Leonardo carrying the tray with the tea.
"Ah how wonderful." Splinter said. "I was just thinking about getting a cup of tea." He pulled up a chair for Leo to sit in and Leo handed him a cup. "How are you feeling Leonardo?"
"I'm fine Sensei." Splinter looked at Leo warily but decided not call him out on the look of worry in his eyes
"How was your appointment?"
"We got some exciting news from Dr. Rockwell, but we would like to wait for the rest of the family to arrive before we share it."
"Very well then, I will not beg to hear it." Splinter smiled when he heard Leo chuckle, then continued to sip his tea.
"What troubles you my son?" Splinter asked after several long moments of silence.
"I'm a little nervous Sensei." Leo finally admitted.
Splinter raised an eye brow. "A little?" He questioned.
Leo gave a small chuckle. "Okay a lot." He said. "I'm actually very afraid about all that is happening."
"You have every right to be." Splinter took another sip of the tea. "You are going through so much and a lot of what you are going through is certainly not normal."
Leo nodded. "Yeah." Splinter waited for him to continue. "Why do these things keep happening to me?" He patted his middle. "Just when it seems like everything is finally coming together, something happens and I feel like the universe is telling me I should not have run away from home." He sighed tiredly. That maybe I should have just stayed in LA and let Bradford and my dad deal with me there."
"Leonardo." Splinter placed his empty tea cup on the tray. "When Shen and I first came here from Japan, I was certain we would have a very happy life together." Leo looked intently at his Sensei as Splinter suddenly looked far away and very sad. "We wanted very much to have children and after a year, Shen gave birth to a beautiful baby girl." Splinter sighed softly. "But the pregnancy was difficult and my daughter was born very sick. After a year and a half, Miwa got worse and did not recover."
Leo's eyes widen in shock. "Sensei, I'm so sorry, I...I didn't know." Leo thought for a moment. "Is that the little grave that's right by Shen's?"
Splinter nodded and smiled sadly at him, he pulled a small picture out of a drawer Leo never had gone into and Splinter handed it to him. "Yes it is, and many do not know." Leo looked at a picture of a small baby in a beautiful white dress. She looked happy and he felt a small tear make it's way down his cheek.
"After another year, we forced ourselves to move on and decided we would adopt since I did not want to put Shen through another difficult pregnancy and birth." He turned to look at the pictures on his desk of the turtles with he and Shen. "That was when we adopted the brothers. They completed us and we continued with our lives. But then….my world was shattered once again when, seven years later, Shen was killed by a drunk driver coming home from work one night."
Splinter swallowed hard and Leo could see a tear making it's way down his furry cheek as he took a shuddering breath. "I began to wonder if the universe was telling me I should not have moved to New York. But, after awhile, I forced myself to push those thoughts away and concentrate on what I had and not what I had lost." He smiled at Leo. "And what I had was my sons." He looked intently at Leo. "Soon Leonardo, everything will come together and you and Raphael will enjoy what you have and everything you are dealing with will be a memory. Some you will cherish and others you will learn to leave in the past."
Leo smiled as he let those words sink in. "Thank you Sensei. I know you're right." He stood up and started to leave but before he did, he turned back to Splinter. "Sensei, would you like me to assist with the next class?"
"That would be most welcomed." Leo nodded and left to bring the tray back to the kitchen. The rest of the day went fast with Leo assisting with the classes and soon the last class of the day was ending. He smiled and watched as his students one by one welcomed him back and wished him good night. He was putting things away when Karia came up to him.
"It's good to have you back Leonardo." She smiled at him.
"Thank you Karai." Leo bowed to her. "Have a good night." He was just about to turn away when Karai blocked his way and looked him up and down. Leo looked at her uncertainly when her eyes fell upon his stomach.
"How was the honeymoon?"
"It was nice." Leo said, feeling somewhat uncertain. "Did you need something?"
"Just wanted to know how you've been feeling. You still look tired."
Leo blushed. "Oh I'm fine." He insisted. "It's just been a long day."
Karai nodded and, after bidding Leo a good night, left for home. Leo narrowed his eyes and watched her leave. 'Why does she always want to know how I feel?' He wondered, he shrugged it off and walked out of the dojo and into the kitchen. Happy to see Raphael and his brothers were home. "Where's Sensei?" He sat at the table and Raph held his hand, the excitement could be seen in his eyes.
"He went to get something out of his room." Mikey explained. "Raph tells us you have an announcement to make?"
"Yeah and like I said, when we're all here and sitting down, then Leo and I will announce it."
"I am here and filled with excitement." Splinter announced. He walked into the kitchen and sat at the table. In his hands, he held a camera
"So what's the news?" Donnie asked anxiously. "Does this have to do with Leo's appointment?"
Raph and Leo nodded and looked at each of them. "Well the Doc says Leo is doing well and after checking him out, he determined that Leo is carrying more then one egg." Raph said.
"More then one?!" Mikey asked. He began to bounce in his chair. "How many? How many?" He was sitting on the edge of his seat in anticipation. "Two?"
Leo smiled and absentmindedly patted his stomach. "Three." He said with a wide grin.
Everyone looked at Leo with wide eyes. "Leo that's amazing." Donnie said, he jumped up and hugged Leo then Raph.
"I can't believe it!" Mikey cried out, tears falling from his eyes. "I'm going to be an uncle to three baby turtles!" He grabbed both of them at the same time. "When will they be here..when…when…when?" He excitedly begged
"Michelangelo." Splinter gently pried his arms off his brothers. "You must be gentle." He gave both the boys hugs. "This is wonderful news." He told them. "Did Dr. Rockwell tell you when you are expected to lay the eggs?"
"The doc says in about six weeks maybe sooner." Raph told them.
"Then the turtles will hatch about forty-five to ninety days afterward." Leo concluded.
"Wow this is so exciting I have to call Renet."
"And I have to call Angel."
Leo, Raph and Splinter watched happily as Donnie and Mikey ran upstairs to their rooms to make their calls.
Raph turned to Leo and smiled. "See babe." He told him, leaning close to him. "Everything's going to be alright."
Leo nodded and pressed his forehead to Raphs. Out of the corner of their eyes, they could see Splinter smiling proudly at them as he took their picture.
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Several blocks away, Karai stood at a bus stop talking on her phone. "What have you found out?" She listened patiently as the voice on the other end answered her question. "Really." She smiled evilly. "Well that explains a lot. I'd wondered why he was getting rather round, now I know why." Another few seconds of silence. "Find out what he wants to do. We'll be ready when he wants us to nab him." She put her phone away, picked up her bag and prepared to board the approaching bus.
