Ch 20 Crazy Things and Mood Swings.
The news of Leonardo's pregnancy spread fast among their friends and on Saturday, everyone got together to throw Leo an impromptu baby shower. Friends and family watched happily as Leo opened present after present of baby clothes, diapers and baby supplies. Splinter surprised his sons with three brand new high chairs and Donnie, Angel, Mikey and Renet had pitched in to purchase three new cribs.
"I wanted to get those." Raph groused quietly to himself. But a sudden jab to his foot made it clear Leo had heard and the glare he got told him to knock it off and be grateful.
The party was a blast and Raph was happy to see Leo was actually smiling and enjoying himself. He mingled with his friends and talked about how he was dealing with the news of being pregnant. It was surprising to see him actually laugh at his initial reaction but Raph pushed away any worry he had when Leo looked over at him and smiled proudly.
"Leonardo." Leo turned to see Donnie's boss, Leatherhead approaching him. They shook hands and sat down on the couch. "It is truly amazing what you are going through and I must say, I am very impressed with how you are handling things."
"Thank you Mr. Leatherhead." Leo said, blushing. "And I want to thank you for giving Donnie such a wonderful position in the company, he's really enjoying himself."
"It is truly a pleasure."LH responded. "He is exceptionally advanced in both skill and intellect. I foresee him having a great future with us." He smiled at Leo and gave a knowing wink. "Between him and my other interns, it was a difficult decision but I believe we picked the right one."
They chuckled and continued to talk for a few more minutes before Leo was called away by Raph. The party lasted for several hours before the guests began to trickle out. As the last few left, Leo announced he was tired and went to his room after saying goodnight.
The following Monday, Leo once again saw Dr. Rockwell and got the x-rays done. Both Leo and Raph looked on excitedly when Rockwell pointed out the eggs. He frowned, however, when behind one egg a shadow could be seen clearly but he was unable to determine at this time what it might be.
"It may be a part of your body changing to accommodate the eggs." Although he attempted to pass it off like it was nothing, both turtles felt a slight twinge of fear over what it could be. "We'll take another set of x-rays in a couple of weeks and see if anything has developed." He told them. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."
They nodded and after a few more minutes, they went home feeling excited about the upcoming births. Raph dropped Leo off at home and went to work promising to come straight home afterwards.
Leo walked into the dojo and watched as Splinter gave instruction to his second class of the day. The elementary school aged kids. Even though it was summer, Splinter still had a decent amount of students in each class and Leo was pleased to see many of them so committed to learning. He waited till the class had finished their current kata before coming to the front of the room. He bowed respectfully to his Sensei and began to take over the class.
Splinter watched proudly as Leonardo instructed the children with patience and diligence. But as he observed his son-in-law, he felt a familiar twinge of fear rise up from the pit of his stomach. The thought that Leo may not be around after the eggs were laid was becoming a growing concern for everyone and he once again found himself praying everything would be alright. As he stood by, lost in his thoughts, a sudden yell from one child, a young brown fox, brought him back and he watched as the young fox became a bit too enthusiastic with his kicks. When Leonardo attempted to correct his form, the child stuck his food out and kicked Leo, a little too hard much to Splinter's fear, in the abdomen.
Leo's eyes opened wide and he let out a loud gasp. His hands went to his middle and he fell to his knees breathing hard. "That was good Timmy." He complimented the young man, trying hard not to show his fear or pain. He slowly got up and bowed to his students. "Let's do some grappling." He told his students. "Find a partner and go through your katas together." He walked over to Splinter who was looking at him with concerned eyes.
"Are you alright Leonardo."
"I'm fine Sensei." Leo told him sitting down and taking a deep breath. "he didn't kick me hard and nothing feels wrong."
Splinter nodded and insisted Leo take the rest of the day off. He then went to finish the current class while Leo went to his room to sleep. When he awoke, Raph and the others were home and Mikey was making dinner. Much to Leo's surprise, he was extremely hungry and looking forward to the baked ziti, bread sticks and Caesar salad. He sniffed deeply and entered the kitchen, smiling at his family who were talking softly. But they stopped when he entered the room and he looked at them in curiosity. "What's going on?" He asked suspiciously as Raph and Splinter watched him come into the kitchen.
"Leonardo." Splinter got up and gently maneuvered him over to the table. "We were discussing weather or not you should continue to teach classes while you are expecting." He had Leo sit down and poured him a cup of tea.
"You want me to stop teaching?" Leo asked in disbelief. "But Sensei….I…I love to teach."
"It'll only be while you're pregnant Leo." Raph assured him. "Once the eggs are laid and the doc says your good to go, you'll continue to teach Sensei's classes." He looked at Leo with hopeful eyes and let out a smile sigh of relief when Leo nodded.
"Okay." Leo said, feeling his slightly large stomach. "I guess it's for the best." He agreed and smiled sadly.
Raph put an arm around Leo and squeezed him gently. "Hey I know, how bout we show them the x-ray of the eggs?" Leo pulled out the small picture and everyone gazed at it in amazement.
"What's that shadow?" Mikey asked.
"The doc says it's might be a part of Leo's body that may be 'changing' to accommodate the eggs." Raph said, putting his hands up and making quotation marks.
"But he also says it's nothing to worry about." Leo quickly added. He smiled wide when Mikey placed a big bowl of pasta with a bread stick and a small bowl of salad in front of him and quickly dug in not realizing how hungry he was.
The week went by quickly and although Leo did not participate in teaching the classes, Splinter did allow him to sit at the desk and help with paperwork as well as observe the students and point out any corrections he saw. All went well until the end of the week when the younger students began to wonder why Leo had not been teaching.
Sempai Leonardo." Leo looked up when little Timothy came over to him after his class had ended. "Why aren't you helping with the class?
"Oh…well…I'm just not feeling all that well these days." Leo told him. It wasn't a lie since Leo really wasn't feeling all that well. But Timothy did not let up.
"Is it because you got fat?"
Leo's eyes widen and he looked down at his stomach. He had not realized how much bigger he had actually gotten. He and Raph had gotten him some stretchy pants for his slowly enlarging stomach but he was surprised to see it did not hide his growing belly the way he hoped it would
"Timothy!" His mother quickly ran over to him and took him by the hand. "You do not say things like that." She scolded him.
"I'm sorry." He said looking at Leo. "But your stomach does look bigger."
Leo blushed and smiled at the young boy's innocence. He then looked up when Timothy's young mother placed a comforting paw on his arm. "And we're all very excited for you." She told him with a gleam in her eye. They said good bye and she led her son out of the dojo and to their car.
After they were gone, Leo stood up and bowed to Splinter. "Maybe I'll go and take a nap." He told him. Splinter returned the bow and watched as he left, rubbing his stomach and looking rather dejected. Splinter then shook his head and chuckled lightly as he looked out the window to the parking lot to the side of the dojo and watched Timothy and his mother drive away. "Kids."
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Raphael walked into the house after a long day at work. He was looking forward to just relaxing on the couch and enjoying some down time with Leo. But when he walked in, he was surprised to see Leo standing on a three step ladder and dusting shelves.
"Leo!" Raph ran over and grabbed him from behind gently around his waist and tried to get him to come down. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing!" He yelled at him, pushing his hands away. He carefully got down off the ladder and walked, with some difficulty, over to a pile a books and other objects laying on the couch and coffee table. He grabbed onto a shelf and placed his hand behind his back as he gently attempted to bend down to pick them up, he grunted lightly as he stood up, again with some difficulty, and started putting them back in their spot on the shelf. "I'm cleaning." He said pushing his way past Raph and climbing back on the ladder. "No one else around here does it and I'm bored!" He rounded on Raph with angry eyes.
"Leo." Raph spoke sternly with him. "You know you're suppose to be taking it easy." He grabbed some books and began putting them away for him, much to Leo's mounting anger. "You should be resting or napping, not cleaning." He turned toward him and took his hand intending to have him come sit on the couch when Leo roughly jerked his hand away.
"I don't want to take it easy!" He yelled out, making Raph flinch away from him in shock. "And I am tired of napping!" He threw the dusting rag at Raph. "All I do is nap and sit on the couch taking it easy!" His sudden yelling brought the other turtles into the living room. "I want to DO something!" He continued to rant. "I want to move around and not be treated like some china doll that's going to break because I took a few steps around the living room!" He then looked at the Mikey and Donnie. "And I don't need everyone walking around me like they're walking on egg shells!" The two attempted to say something but were quickly silenced. "And don't try to tell me you haven't been treating me like I'm some sort of fragile princess that you have to protect!" He snarled, pointing at them. "Do you think I'm stupid…that I don't see AND hear what you say and do?"
Now he turned back to Raph, tears flowing down his face. "When was the last time you took me out or we just went for a walk?" He demanded. "We use to go out all the time and now you keep me coped up here because you're ashamed of me!"
"Leo…"Raph began. "What are you talking about?"
"Just admit it!" He yelled accusingly at him. "You think I'm some kinda FREAK!" The three turtles watched, mouths gaped as Leo began to stomp toward the back door. "A freak that should be locked away while the rest of you get to go out and do whatever they want while I'm forced to stay here." He was now crying hard and turned to leave. "I'm going out to the garden!" The door to the backyard slammed and the house once again quiet.
Raph, Mikey and Donnie stood stock still and looked at each other in bewilderment. "What the hell just happened?!" Raph asked after several long moments of awkward silence. "What did I say to bring that on?"
"Leo's dealing with hormones." Mikey told him. "Just gotta let him get things off his chest however he can." He turned to go back into the kitchen.
"It's not just hormones." Donnie told him. "Leo's going through a lot and he's right, you two don't go out anymore and we do walk around him like we're trying to be over cautious about things." Donnie walked toward his office. "Go talk to him, see if there's something you can do."
"Like what?"
"You guys use to go to the movies a lot, try doing that or just go to a restaurant." He suggested. "When was the last time you guys did that?"
"On our honeymoon." Raph said.
"That was over four weeks ago Raph." Donnie reminded him and walked out of the room.
Raph made his way to the garden and watched Leo sitting on the bench with his eyes closed and breathing deeply, his hands slowly and gently caressed his slightly bulging stomach. Leo sat by the small pond Splinter had put in back when Raph and his brothers were turtle tots. The little pond now had koi fish and lily pads that an occasional frog would occupy, and next to the bench were two beautiful large trees that Splinter had planted. The larger one when he and Shen had their first daughter and the other when they brought their new sons home. It was their way of commemorating the events and Raph had fond memories of he, his brothers and parents sitting under the trees and relaxing there, just enjoying being a family. The garden itself was large and inviting and had a way of bringing peace to a troubled soul. Raph smiled at the fond memories, he could certainly understand why Leo would come here to center himself and try to find peace, which he had been doing more often.
Leo opened his eyes as the sound of approaching footsteps neared him. He looked away shamefully as Raph sat down and put an around him. "Hey, how ya doing babe?" He asked, his voice low and relaxed.
Leo shook his head. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I don't know what got into me." He leaned his head on Raph's shoulder and looked down at the pond. "One minute I'm happy and thinking about the little lives that are growing inside me….and the next I'm angry and speaking nonsense." He rubbed his round stomach gently as he spoke. "Every part of me aches…my feet, my back…"
"You're pregnant." Raph reminded him. "You're not suppose to be but you are. And your body is going through a lot." He placed his hand on Leo's stomach and began to caress gently, mentally sending love to the little lives that were growing.
"That might be but it's no reason for me to be jumping down everyone's throat." Leo rubbed his tired eyes while he squeezed them shut. Raph looked at him in concern.
"You still got that headache?" Leo nodded. "Yeah, and I don't want to take my meds til it's time for bed." Raph grabbed his hand and helped him up. "Come on, I've got something that might make all that go away." He wiggled his fingers and eye ridges mischievously as he led Leo back into the house and up to their room.
Five minutes later, Mikey listened intently to the closed door of Leo and Raph's room. His eyes were wide and every now and then he would put his hand to mouth to hold back a giggle. Donnie walked by and looked at him curiously. "Mikey." He hissed. "What are you doing?"
"What's it look like." He whispered back . "I'm listening to Leo." He giggled. "He is being very vocal."
Donnie frowned at hearing this. "They shouldn't be having sex." Donnie muttered as he heard low moans coming from the room. "Dr. Rockwell told them to abstain till after the eggs were laid and Leo was given a clean bill of health."
He leaned closer and blushed deeply as Leo let out a loud erotic moan. "Ahhh yes…right there…ahhhh God Raph….that feels so…..aaahhhh….harder….aahhh...harder….oh my God…ahhhh…right there… oh yeah….oh yeah…owwww….aaahhhh….oh that was great!" the sound of Leo laying down could be heard. "Thank you Raph." Leo said with a sigh. "Would you mind doing my other foot too?"
"Let the magic fingers continue." Raph laughed and Leo once again began letting out loud moans and groans.
Donnie turned to Mikey with a disapproving look. "He's giving him a foot massage shell-for-brains." He whacked his head and turned to continue to walk to his room. Mikey rubbed his head and raspberried him before he too went down to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on supper.
Ten minutes later, Donnie made his way out of his room and headed toward the bathroom. He huffed when he saw the door was closed and walked up to it, expecting to just knock and find out how much longer the occupant would be, but as he neared it, certain noises coming from with in made him stop and listen intently. He frowned when he recognized the sound of moans and churrs coming from within along with the sound of running water.
"Feeling better?" He heard Raph ask Leo after he heard Leo let out a loud churr and cry out: "Oh God Raph!" Leo then giggled. "Much." Leo responded somewhat tiredly. Donnie frowned when more moans, groans and churrs continued along with splashing water and giggles. "I guess I'll use the bathroom downstairs." He muttered to himself.
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The following Friday, the boys decided they would go to a movie. Donnie, Mikey and Renet along with April, since Casey and Angel both had to work a night shift, decided they would tag along. Everyone had filed in and insisted Leo take the aisle seat as he was constantly in need of going to the bathroom. As the film ended, the six youths waited for the rest of the patrons to leave before them so Leo would not feel rushed.
"Okay, ready to go?" Raph asked as he gave Leo his hand to help him out of the chair.
Leo nodded and took Raph's hand. He struggled to push himself out of the chair and after several long seconds of struggling Leo finally pushed himself out.
PHFFFTTT. Everyone looked at Leo as the turtle in blue sat back in the chair looking extremely embarrassed. "Whoa Leo." Mikey looked at him in shock. "Was that you?" He asked incredulously.
Leo sat there with a horrified look and unable to move. He looked up at Raph, his face extremely red. "I am so sorry everyone." He said looking at the rest of his family while they all giggled.
"It's okay babe." Raph soothe. "Your entitled. But do everyone a favor and lay off the asparagus. Okay." He waved his hand under his beak and continued to help Leo out of his seat.
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"Easy does it Leo."Raph said as he assisted Leo in making his way down the stairs. "There ya go. One more step."
"I know how to get down the steps Raph." Leo said in annoyance. He walked slowly and leaned heavily on the railing and held Raph's hand to support his rather unusual large frame. He finally made it to the bottom step and slowly walked over to the table. "Ummm. Something smells good Mikey." Leo smiled.
"I'm making pancakes." Mikey said as he flipped a pancake in the air. "I've got extra for you Leo. I know how hungry you get these days now that you're almost ready to…." Mikey turned with a plateful of pancakes and stopped talking when he saw the tears rolling down Leo's face.
Everyone watched as Leo slowly turned to go back toward the stairs. He grabbed the railing and hoisted himself back up the stairs. Mikey watched in dismay and turned to the others sputtering in confusion. "I…I…I didn't mean to upset him." He said, backing away slightly when he heard a low growl from Raph.
"You idiot." He almost yelled. "Why can't you learn to just keep your mouth shut." He was just about to go upstairs and try to coax Leo to come back down when Mikey put a hand on his shoulder.
"I insulted him, I'll go apologize and help him back down the stairs." He turned away from the group and made his way upstairs, flinching when he heard Raph behind him warning him to be gentler this time or he would smack the green off him.
Mikey stood in front of Leo's door and listened sadly to the muffled sobs that sounded from within. He sighed and knocked gently on the door. "Leo?" He whispered. "Can I come in?" When he heard no answer, he eased the door slightly open and peeked inside. Leo was sitting on the bed, looking down at the floor and hastily wiping away the tears that rolled steadily down his face.
"Leo I'm sorry." Mikey told him. "I didn't mean to be insensitive to.." He waved his hands toward Leo's middle. "This."
"No Mikey." Leo sobbed tiredly. "It's not what you said." He told him.
"Well then what's wrong?" Mikey asked, concern. "Why are you crying? Are you in pain?" Mikey's eyes widen in fear. "Should I get Raph? Call Dr. Rockwell?"
Leo shook his head and took a deep shuddering breath to try and calm himself. "I forgot to put my shoes on." He wailed. "And I can't bend down to tie them." He cried harder and Mikey brought Leo into a hug.
"Oh Leo." He soothed, feeling relieved. "I'll tie them for you."
Mikey tied Leo's shoes then assisted him in getting back down the stairs. Leo looked at his family sheepishly and apologized for his behavior.
"Don't apologize." Raph told him "Just sit down and have some breakfast." He handed Leo a large plate of pancakes. "I have to get to work, you just relax and I'll see you when I get home." They gave each other a kiss and Raph took off. Leo then looked at Donnie who was reading the paper. "Donnie." Leo called to him. "May I have the real estate section of the newspaper?"
"Sure." He handed him the section and continued with his article.
Splinter looked at Leonardo curiously. "May I ask what you are looking at Leonardo?"
"Raph and I need to find a new house." He explained. "Now that we're growing…"He looked down at his middle. "Literally…We figured we needed a place of our own."
Splinter looked at Leo with saddening eyes. "May I make a suggestion?"
Leo looked up at him. "Please."
"Why not stay here." He suggested.
"But Sensei." Leo looked at him amused. "We can't do that. I don't want to have the babies on the upper floor of the house and it's just so crowded here right now and I don't want to be a burden to you or the others and….:"
"Leonardo." Splinter interrupted him. "My grandchildren will never be a burden to me." Splinter looked shyly away from Leo and took a deep breath. "I am getting older Leonardo. And although I do not expect to leave this world for a long time, I do plan on lessening my hours in the dojo and eventually retiring. I do not have the energy I use to have to continue teaching my classes but I would like to be able to enjoy my grandchildren…" He looked from Donnie to Mikey and smiled warmly. "All my grandchildren for as long as possible" Donnie and Mikey blushed at the little hint their father made.
Although Leo liked the idea of Splinter being there for the babies he still had a look of uncertainty. "But where…"
"It will only be for a short time." He insisted. "Just till you and Raphael are a little more settled into your routine, and you may have the two rooms down here." He continued. "I can take the room off the dojo and Donatello can take Raphael's room upstairs and turn it into his office and your room will become the guest room again."
"That sounds like a plan Leo." Donnie agreed.
"Yeah, and that way we'll all get to help out with the babies." Mikey said sounding very excited.
Leo smiled. "Okay…I'll talk to Raphael about it when he comes home."
At four thirty, Raph came home and Leo and he discussed Splinter's plan. He was all for it and while Mikey made supper, two pizzas with extra cheese and pepperoni, Leo's favorite. Donnie began making plans to change the rooms and assist Raph in creating a nursery. While Raph and Leo continued to discuss plans, Raph snapped his fingers and smiled brightly.
"Hey I got an idea." He said happily. Leo raised an eye ridge at him anxiously. "Why don't we start thinking of some baby names?"
"That's a great idea!" Raph smiled at Leo's enthusiasm. It was good to see him looking happy. After supper the two sat down and began writing down their favorite names while Mikey cleaned the kitchen, Donnie worked on his laptop and Splinter meditated in his room.
After several minutes of writing, Mikey looked over their shoulders and frowned. "Why is my name not on either of the list?" He asked. "And where's Don, or Renet or…."
"Because one of you is more then enough." Raph sneered pointing his finger at Mikey's chest.
"We just didn't think about it Mikey." Leo told him. Then smiled. "But that isn't a bad idea Raph."
"Are you crazy babe?" Raph said. "I'll never hear the end of it if we name one of our kids after my bro here."
"No, not one of our brothers." He chuckled "I think it would be a good idea though to name our children after family members in a way to honor them."
Raph nodded at the idea. "What family members did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking our parents." Leo said proudly. "If we have daughters, we should honor our mothers." Raph nodded. "I think your father would loved to have a grandchild named after him if we have a boy."
"But there's three kids, what if their all girls or all boys. We should have three girl name and three boy names." Raph suggested.
"Well." Leo tapped his chin with his pencil. " Since we're choosing a Japanese boy and girl name, and a Italian girl name, how about another Italian boy name and an American girl and boy name?"
"Okay but we don't have a relative with an Italian boy name." Raph gave Leo a sidelong glance. "Or do we?"
"My grandfather." Leo said with a sentimental look. "He was always there for my mother after my da…Saki died that first time."
"Okay, what was his name?"
"Matthias." Leo said with a smile. "I've always liked his name. It sounded strong and fierce."
"Matthias?" Raph mused. "Yeah it does." Raph grinned at Leo. "Okay, I like it. Now what about a third boy and girl name?"
Leo looked at Raph hesitantly. "Okay, I know you aren't exactly happy over my Aunt and everything, but I wouldn't mind using her middle name."
"I'm not sure Leo." Raph looked slightly hesitant. "What's her middle name?"
"Elizabeth."
"Hmmm, yeah that's a nice name." Raph nodded. "Okay, I like that one. So have you got an american boy name running around in your head?"
"Not really, any you like?"
"Yeah actually." Raph tapped his chin. "I use to have a friend that moved away when I was about ten. His name was Andrew."
"I like that name." Leo smiled. "Okay, Andrew it is. How bout we tell everyone right now."
They called a family meeting and all were excited to hear the names chosen. "I am so honored you chose your mothers' names as well as mine to give to my grandchildren." Splinter hugged Raph and Leo then wiped his eyes. "I must now go to my room so I do not make a fool of myself." He said with a watery smile and quickly made his way out of the kitchen while his sons giggled behind him.
"You know Leo." Donnie addressed him. "There is a way you make sure the turtles are born a specific gender." He advised them. "I've been going over the internet and…."
"No." Leo looked at him sternly. "I want our babies to be whatever they end up being without manipulation." Leo said. "Rockwell says the babies could be born with…"Leo took a deep breath. "Issues." He looked down at his stomach, worry etched across his face. "I don't want to take the chance."
Donnie, Mikey and Raph looked at each other then back at Leo, all nodding in understanding.
