Chapter 1 – Entanglement

"WE'RE GONNA HAVE A BABY!" Donnie shouted from the entrance to the lair, arms wide above him. April appeared behind him a moment later, a radiant smile gracing her features.

Reactions went up from Don's brothers in various parts of the lair. Michelangelo let out an rapturous squeal and was on his feet in an instant, bounding over to the pair and hugging April ecstatically. Donnie was certain Mikey was already picking out names for their Apritello offspring.

Leo was, as always, calmer with his congratulation, but his warmth toward his brother and their closest friend radiated from his wider-than-usual grin, reflecting Donnie's own face-splitting smile.

The rice-paper door of Splinter's room slid open swiftly and the rat mutant emerged hurriedly. "Did I hear you correctly, Donatello?"

Don nodded to him fervently. "Otoo-san, you're going to be ojii-san!" he announced, pulling April away from Mikey to present her before their master. The aging rat let out a barking laugh and embraced them both, first April, then his son.

"Indeed, this is a cause for great celebration!"

"Already on it, Sensei!" Mikey called, dialing his t-phone. "Yeah, I'm gonna need three extra-larges, double-everything…"

Splinter sighed and shook his head. "We all have our ways of celebrating," he acknowledged with a chuckle, and after a brief conversation with the couple, bowed and retreated to his study once again.

Donnie expected at the least some ribbing or complaint of some sort from Raph, but his normally brash brother was more reticent than normal. In fact, though Raphael was leaning on one of the lair's support pillars with his arms crossed in his usual swaggering posture, his expression read as lost and possibly even a bit fearful, staring at their human friend. Leaving April chatting with Leo, Don approached him. "Raph?"

"Oh… um… Congratulations, Donnie," Raph mumbled guiltily.

Don nodded his thanks. "You all right?"

"Fine," Raph lied, though his eyes still drifted back to April.

Donnie leaned against the pillar, facing away from his brother. "You're worried it's yours," he deduced.

The red-masked turtle's eyes flicked sideways to Donnie in mild surprise. After a moment of staring, Raph sighed and conceded. "Yeah."

"Hmf," Don grunted. "Typical."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Raph snapped.

Donnie treated him to a mocking smirk. "It's just like you to assume your sperm would beat mine out… that despite the hundred or so times I had sex with April, you're the one to manage to get her knocked-up."

Raph blinked, a bit stunned. Clearly, that had been the thread of what he had been thinking. He looked dubious. "It's possible, though, isn't it? I mean… we did it twice before you stormed in on us…"

Donnie snorted, not meeting his brother's gaze. "D'you remember that evening? D'you remember that April and I were out having a picnic that night, and that we came home completely exhausted?" Raph was silent. Donnie knew he remembered, though he may not have realized that detail. "Raph, I had her seven times before she came after you. Seven. So unless you think you hit some magical window when you did her, or you think that I'm impotent—which I wouldn't put past you—"

"Hey, c'mon, Donnie, don't put words in my mouth!"

"—then there's practically no chance it's yours."

Rapahel considered his brother's words for a few moments, becoming suspicious. Donnie was usually more precise about numbers. " 'Practically none' isn't 'none,' though, is it?"

Don let out an aggravated sigh. "If it was yours, Raph, what did you plan to do? Knock me out with your club and drag April off to your man-cave by her hair?" He managed to get a guffaw out of his brother with that one, but the humor went out of his brother as soon as it had appeared and the mask of concern reappeared.

"I just…" the red-banded turtle started, frustratedly, then cut himself off. "If I'm the father, I need to stand up and take responsibility… take care of her and the baby."

"And, what, you think you can do that better than me too?" He smirked as Raph gave him another wide-eyed look. "I've got this. She's not going to be one of those soap-opera single mothers, you know… she has me. I'll take care of her, provide for her. Even if by some pale chance the kid was biologically yours, which isn't something I'm going to delve into unless it's really necessary, it's not like that would make me reject it or treat it any differently than if it was mine… which it is, Mr. My-Sperm-Are-Better-Than-Your-Sperm."

A fist came around the side of the pillar, smacking Donnie in the shoulder. He winced, rubbing the spot so it wouldn't bruise. Clearly, Raph was feeling back in his element again. "Donnie… Thanks."

He smiled. "Sure."

Having exhausted her conversation with Leo, April headed toward the two turtles leaning against the pillar. "So, what're you guys talking about over here all quiet-like?"

"Oh, Raph's just going on about how he's going to steal you and the baby away from me. I guess he wants a little family for him—" He dodged a second blow as Raph's fist came around the side of the pillar again. "—self!"

Raph let out a low growl. "Donnie!"

"…especially since I'm so much more virulent than him!" He was tempting fate, taunting his brother, but his excitement had made him a bit punch drunk. He danced out of the path of another of Raph's swings. "Whoo-ha-ha!"

Raph pounded a fist into his hand. "April, congratulations… 'scuse me while I knock some humility into your baby's daddy…" With that, he lunged at Donnie, chasing him across the lair with a yell.

April gave an appreciative chuckle as Raph tackled his brother and delivered a series of punches. Don did his best to block, used to this treatment from years of experience, but still emitting the occasional "Ow!"

"Don't rough him up too bad, Raph… I wanted Donnie to come with me to tell my dad tonight."

"Hah-wha?" Donnie's head came up, promptly receiving a blow to the side. He caught Raph's next punch and held it, focus on April. Raph eased off his roughhousing, seeing the shocked look on Don's face. "You haven't told your father yet?"

She gave an awkward shrug. "I was waiting to see how you'd react first, to see what I'd need to do afterward…"

Donnie picked himself up off the floor, hurrying to her side, concern etched on his face. "Did you tell anyone before me?"

She shook her head slightly. "I tried to tell Casey, but… I just couldn't…"

"And you broke down crying." April gave him a nod with an odd inquiring expression. "He told me," Don explained.

"You've been keeping tabs on me?!" she asked mock-indignantly. "I didn't know I had a stalker!"

He led her back to the entryway steps and sat down with her. "Nothing like that… I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay."

"I wasn't," she admitted softly.

He sighed and wrapped her in his arms. "I should have been there for you. If I wasn't such a coward, I would have been."

"Donnie…" April chastised warmly, "I know you're no coward."

"Oh yeah? Well…" He connected to her mind, sending an image of himself transferring the food she had left for him to a different plate, rewrapping the foil so it looked like he hadn't deigned touch it, and putting the empty dish back in the refrigerator.

April swatted his shoulder. "You horrible sneak!" she laughed, then sobered as she picked up on some of his related feelings: how much it had scared him to lose control of his body to the force of her driving lust, the horror that it nearly used him to rape her, the disgust of being defiled and used in such a way, the terror that he would be used to hurt her… He was justified in his avoidance of her, she realized. And then, shame: shame at his failure to recognize the problem, at being taken advantage of, at being used as a sex toy, in telling his brothers about the encounter, at being too afraid to so much as talk to her, ashamed of… being ashamed? Yes… part of him was embarrassed at having had these feelings. Tears sprung into her eyes and trickled down her cheeks. No wonder he had sent her away! She'd been the source of so much pain to him… Donnie, I'm so sorry! she repeated.

A feeling of love and warmth blanketed her from him. It's all right… it's all over now, he comforted, wiping the damp trails on her cheeks away with his thumb. We're together again, like we should be, and I'll never leave you. Besides, he added, placing a three-fingered hand just below her ribcage, where a tiny life was growing within her, some good came out of all this.

I love you, she sent, leaning in to gently capture his beak with her lips.

I know, Beautiful, he replied. I love you too!

The pair spent several minutes just kissing, their wonderful, warm emotions swirling around them as they reveled in each other's presence: something that they had not experienced in weeks. They would have stayed there longer, lost in one another, had Mikey not arrived with a shout of, "Pizza's here!" right behind them. April dodged as she was nearly stampeded by Leo and Raph, who were drawn as if magnetized at Mikey's summons. Donnie stood and helped her to her feet, ushering her in front of him to grab a few slices before obtaining some for himself.

She mindfully checked her watch. "It's getting late… maybe we ought to take this to go," she mentioned to her turtle companion.

"You're not staying?" Mikey asked, pouting. "But… it's movie night!"

"Sorry, Mikey… we've got something important to take care of tonight," Donnie informed his brother. "We'll have to take a rain-check."

The younger turtle wilted slightly. "Aww. All right…"

"Next time," April assured him. "We'll do a double-feature to make up for it."

Mikey brightened. "I know just what we can watch! Night of the Crawlers 1 and 2!"

April chuckled. "Sounds great. See you!" Donnie put his arm around her shoulder and the two of them walked out, munching their pizza.

"I've known him my whole life, and still, I think you know how to handle Mikey better than I do…" Donnie mused, then glanced over at April. "You're not picking the peppers and olives off?"

"Mmmh," she answered with a nod as she swallowed. "Normally, I really hate them, but now, for some reason, they just smell delicious…"

Donnie laughed and hugged her close as they walked. "My beautiful pregnant angel is having cravings!"

April gave him a sidelong look. "You had better not be this enthusiastic about me having morning sickness, or I may have to kill you."

He grinned widely at her. "I'll try not to."

April entered her building at ground level while Donatello silently dropped down to her fire escape from the rooftop, where she let him in moments later. He noted the distraught look on her features, and how she fidgeted. Her nervousness reached him through their link. He tried to send soothing vibes to her.

I really don't know how he's going to react to this… She fussed with her hair. How do I look?

Donnie put his hands on her shoulders. Absolutely radiant.

She rolled her eyes at him. You're biased. She checked herself over, using his eyes to see herself through their link.

Yes, I am, he admitted.

She giggled, then sighed. "Well, this is it…" Taking his hands from her shoulders, she led him over to the sofa.

As the two of them sat on the couch, Kirby O'Neil emerged from the kitchen, having just poured himself a large glass of soda. "Well, good evening, you two! Only Donatello tonight, or are the others here and doing their ninja thing?" he laughed good-naturedly, joining them on the couch.

"No, it's just the two of us," April responded, reaching behind her to take one of Donnie's hands, searching for support. "Dad... we have something we need to tell you…"

"Oh?" Kirby asked in a knowing manner, swirling the ice in his drink. "Is it going to keep me from watching Late Night?"

"Maybe…" April fretted.

"If it's that you're in love," he chuckled, "I'm already well aware."

She winced. "No, that's not it…" She paused, bracing herself. "Dad, I'm pregnant."

Though Kirby had thought he was prepared for their announcement, this wasn't the one he was prepared for. His glass slipped out of his shocked hand and bounced off the cushion of the couch, landing in April's lap. She stood at once with a gasp, shedding ice cubes and dripping soda. "Dad!" she chastised.

"Sorry, Honey…" her father apologized, now the one fretting instead of his daughter as he scrambled for a roll of paper towels and a can of rug cleaner.

April threw her hands up. "Now I'm gonna have to go get all cleaned up!"

"We've got this, you go…" Donnie waved her off, disconnecting from her mind as he took a handful of paper towels from Kirby and started sponging cola off the couch. She shot him a grin over her shoulder as she left the room.

With the soda spill cleaned up, and April taking a shower to wash the stickiness off of her, Donnie found himself sitting awkwardly across the couch from April's father, who was giving him a steady glower in the uncomfortable silence. When he thought Donnie had sweated it out long enough silently, Kirby finally asked, "How did this happen?"

Donnie's nervous brain immediately dove for its comfort zone. "Well, when a spermatophyte enters a female's ovum, the zygote that forms attaches itself to the placental wall—and this is not at all what you meant…" he halted, more unnerved than ever.

The intensity of Kirby's glare only increased. "What were your sperm doing anywhere near my daughter's ova?!"

"Well I… She was… um…" He fidgeted, tapping his fingers together. "Oh, come on! She was a turtle! Possibly the only female mutant turtle in the world—an absolutely gorgeous female turtle whom I was already deeply, deeply in love with! How was I supposed to resist that?!" he blurted, his frustration tinged with a bit of temper.

Kirby snapped back, "She's barely seventeen! She's still in school! Honestly, Donatello, I had taken you as being more responsible than this…"

Donatello looked as though he had been physically struck. His level of responsibility within the lair rivaled Leo's, possibly even exceeding it in the broad scope of his duties. He was in charge of maintenance of the lair and vehicles, taking care of the family's medical needs, creation of retro-mutagen for first Kirby, then April, and now their friend Frito, and soon, other friends and victims of mutation… even their enemies; his responsibility extended to them too. It fell on him to invent and patch together all sorts of electronics to help them in their daily lives, from the T-phone network to the mutagen tracker to the tech on board the Shellraiser. He took care of all their research and developed an algorithm to decrypt whatever came through the Kraang communication orb. For April's father to accuse him of being irresponsible rankled him.

Kirby fired off another pot-shot at him. "You couldn't have at least used protection?"

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, because I can just saunter into any mini-mart in the city and purchase a condom the length of my arm!"

Kirby shook his head as though he didn't want to think about the turtle biology implied in that statement and ploughed forward. "I'd like to say I know you well enough that you could have developed some sort of contraceptive..."

Donatello looked flabbergasted. "Was I supposed to make a turtle birth control pill before or after April's retro-mutagen, Kirby?" he snapped, reminding April's father where the priorities lay.

The man dropped his head onto his balled fists, as frustrated with this conversation as Don himself was. He let out a quavering sigh and looked Donnie in the eyes, now a bit calmer. "I'm just worried for her. It's bad enough that she'll carry the stigma of teen pregnancy through her last year of high school, but she may lose her chance to go to college, or find a good job… And the expenses… Neonatal care costs so much, I'm afraid we'll have to dig into April's college fund to take care of everything. Plus all the trappings: the crib, clothes, diapers, carriers, toys… I don't know that I can afford to feed another mouth on my salary…"

Money, that's what half of it came down to. Donnie chuckled, staring into space for a moment. "Could it be that simple?" Kirby shifted his gaze to the turtle querulously. "All I really need to do is get a job," he stated optimistically.

"Pardon me, Donatello, but you don't seem like your typical suit-and-tie commuter…"

He shook his head. "Wouldn't have to be. You're thinking in terms of your generation, where everything is brick and mortar buildings and driving through rush-hour traffic to work, whereas I can work from the lair, or here, or wherever I want—relatively speaking. I'd never have to be seen… doing programming on commission, web-design, tech support… who knows what?"

"You would be able to do that? You'd be willing to?"

The blissful grin returned to Donnie's face. "For my Darling Blossom and our baby, anything!"

Satisfied with this solution and unable to remain dour in the face of such a bright smile, the man at last gave in and allowed Donatello a lopsided smile in return. "You remind me of myself when I was asking April's grandfather permission to marry her mother…"

The idea seemed to smack Donnie upside the head from out in left field. Why hadn't he thought of that? "Proposing…" His jaw went slack. Kirby didn't seem to notice, continuing his ramble.

"Took three times before he said yes. Wouldn't have his daughter marrying some long-haired miscreant. I finally made the sacrifice to cut it back. Funny thing, though, there was less and less left from that point on…" he said, running a hand over his bald pate.

"Kirby," Donnie asked, his mouth suddenly going very dry, "would I have permission to marry April? I know it's a lot to ask, me being a mutant and all…"

Kirby gave him an even gaze that wasn't quite the glare he'd held on Donnie before, but Don's stomach lurched as the psychologist shook his head. "It's not my permission you need, but hers." When Donnie gave him an astonished, recovering look, he added, "Women's Lib Movement. Granted, a mutant turtle wouldn't have been my first choice for my daughter to marry, but at least it would be a step above having that obnoxious Jones boy as my son-in-law…"

Donnie snickered, thinking about how April's time as a turtle had solidly knocked his rival out of the running for her affections, and how Casey certainly would have balked at such a subject as April being pregnant. Still, the boy's heart was in the right place… had Donnie not been there, and Raph not willing to step up, Donatello had no doubt Casey would have been there for her.

Had it come to that, really, Donnie had to admit, April could have done much worse than Casey Jones. Still, he was immensely glad that April's accidental mutation had skewed so much in his own favor. They'd become nigh inseparable.

April appeared from her bedroom, dressed in lavender and pale yellow pajamas. "How's it going?" she asked Donnie. "Did you manage to bring Dad around on how awesome it's going to be to have a grandchild yet?"

"Well, we haven't gotten that far yet, but I think he's starting to come around…" the turtle smirked.

Kirby stood, opening his arms for his daughter to run into. "Well, after the initial shock, and your beau allaying some of my fears, I'm actually thrilled about it! Congratulations, Bug."

April beamed up to him. "Thanks, Daddy," she said, hugging him tight.

"But now, it looks like Donatello has something he'd like to say to you," Kirby smiled down on her.

She turned, curiously and met Donnie's eyes. Their synergy surged to life, and she gasped at the thoughts awaiting her. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. Donnie had his answer before he dropped to one knee before her, of course, but he did so for show and for Kirby's benefit. "April, will—"

"Yes!" she squeaked, diving into his embrace and showering him with love in their connection and kisses in the physical plane.

Kirby chuckled. "I believe that's my cue to head to bed. Good night, you two lovebirds."

"Goodnight, Kirby," the pair said concurrently, earning a strange look from April's father.

April waved him off. "I'll explain later, Dad."

Kirby nodded amenably and left the room. "Don't stay up too late, you two."

He didn't receive a response this time; the synergists' lips locked together as firmly as their minds.

-The rest of this chapter has been excerpted, due to adult content in the next scene. Find the full version on AFF, Ao3, or Stealthy Stories.-