Chapter 17
Life was good for a certain young Turtle mommy. Well, it was good to be alive at least. No more nausea, night sweats, and chills. Mother and child had a heart to heart in the great within and it was decided that the strong spirited little one could no longer take up residence in Venus' body. The egg now rested quietly in the nesting area in the sub-basement. It was nowhere near as large as the basking area in New York, but it was equipped with everything that was needed.
A very grateful Donatello made sure the egg was stable and kept at a certain temperature before he cordoned off and secured the nesting area. Once he returned to Venus' room he smiled at the sight that met his eyes. Little Tokio was squatting next to his mother on her bed while Mike and Raph set Gidget and Milan on the comforter. Venus laughed when Milan immediately buried his face in the pink fluffiness then looked up at her grinning. Tokio took that as his cue to tell his mama about all the things she missed while she was sick.
"Ama, giji sahk heh tow! Lum lau spineh, puteh choo choo!" The baby looked up at his mater to see if she was enjoying his little story. Venus merely smiled down at her little one then glanced over at Mikey.
"He said Gidget sucked her toe. And he ate some spinach. I fed it to him with the 'here comes the choo choo train' bit and he enjoyed that...a lot," Mikey translated. Venus had an 'aha' moment then praised her little one for eating all his spinach. Raphael scoffed with a lopsided smirk.
"You really think you can understand that baby babble, bro?"
"Or course, my skeptical sibling! Great minds think alike!"
"Whateva, Mikey." With a chuckle the proud uncle tickled Tokio's chubby thighs as the baby snuggled with his mother. Venus noticed Don as he stepped into the door.
"Good morning, Donatello."
"Hey, Venus. Glad to see you up and in such a good mood."
"I'm always in a good mood when I'm with my babies!" she cooed as she nuzzled Milan's little beak. "Where is Leo?"
"Down in the dojo with the Ancient One and Karai." The females Turtle's smile vanished from her face.
"What is that woman doing here?" Donatello was a little taken aback by her venomous tone.
"The Ancient One had her and Leo stabilize your chi so he could concentrate on his part."
"Who's idea was it to bring her here and who brought her into our home?"
"It was the Ancient One's idea, V," Mikey explained. "He used one of his mystic porthole thingies to go get her. It's a good thing cuz we're a little low on gas." Raph feigned a backhand at his brother's quip.
"Was she checked for tracking devices to prevent the Foot from discovering our home?" she further inquired as she patted Gidget on her carapace.
"Well, yea. Leo made sure to check her thoroughly..." Don started before Venus interrupted him.
"What do you mean by 'thoroughly', Don?" Her imagination ran wild with thoughts of her mate checking every hidden part of the human woman's body. "Never mind. I'll ask him myself!"
Venus picked up each of the children and placed them in their cribs. She moved towards the door as fast as she could on her still wobbly legs. As Raphael reached out to stop her but Venus nudged his hand away. Once she made it down to the dojo she didn't bother knocking. She stopped short when she saw her mate standing next to the dark haired woman. Their backs were to her and they were standing too close to each other for her liking. Leo and Karai turned at the sound of the dojo door sliding open.
"Mei-chan, what are you doing up? You should be resting." Venus strategically placed herself between her mate and the human as she grabbed Leonardo by the hand. "You may or may not remember her, but this is Karai."
"We've met before," came her response as she gave the human a cold glare. Karai only raised an eyebrow in response. "Why is she here?"
"I am here at the behest of the honorable Ancient one to help with your precarious health situation," Karai practically snarled. She didn't appreciate being referred to in the third person when she was standing right there.
"Well, I'm better now, so leave."
"I beg your pardon?"
Leo squeezed Venus' hand while giving her a sharp look.
"What Venus is trying to say is that she's very grateful for your help and appreciates your support in a difficult situation."
The hard look in Venus' eyes told Karai otherwise. However, the kunoichi was not so easily intimidated. She crossed her arms and returned the glare with a smirk.
"Still upset over an innocent little kiss, girl? Pathetic. You know if I wanted him I would already have him. You wouldn't be able to compete with me."
Leo got a firm grasp on Venus before she could move an inch toward Karai.
"What she talking about, kumquat?" the Ancient One inquired as he waddled out of a dark corner.
"Nothing, most honored one," came Leo's quick response as he slapped a hand over Venus' mouth.
"Oh well, if it nothing then I might as well take you on home, Karai-chan."
The Foot Clan leader turned up her button nose at the use of the childish honorific.
"Very well, Master. It's time I got home to Kashi anyway." She turned to bow towards Leonardo. "It was good to see you again, friend. Stay strong and look towards a bright future for your growing clan."
"It was good to see you too, Karai-san. Have a safe journey."
With that the Ancient One opened a mystic portal, and for a brief moment they could see the opulent Oroku mansion on the other side. After the portal closed behind the two visitors Venus yanked Leo's hand from her mouth, glared at him for a solid five seconds, then quietly headed to the stairs.
"Mei-chan, what's gotten into you?" the young father called after her.
"You should have never let her come here. That woman cannot be trusted," his mate called back.
"I know, that's why I took precautions..."
"Don't let it happen again, Leonardo."
Leo wasn't sure why Venus had such a harsh tone with him, and it irritated him that she was trying to give him an order. He was the head of this clan, damn it! However, he held his peace for the time being. He was going to get to the bottom of her foul attitude.
One early morning in mid-May a certain crimson-masked mutant was up and about. It was May 15th, and Raph was up for some serious riding. He geared up and stepped into the sunroom, which was the fastest way to the barn where they parked all of their vehicles. He paused at the sight of his oldest sibling sitting in one of the wicker chairs while a little Turtle tot sat on his own little plastic seat. He was flipping through a little cardboard book and making up his own little baby babble story to go along with the colorful pictures.
Raphael gave his brother and nephew a quick wave before heading out of the sunroom door. As he made his way to the barn he heard Leo say, "Ok, Toki-chan, play time's over. Be a good boy and go potty."
"Heh, that's not something I ever expected to hear on my birthday, especially from Leo," Raph mused as he pursed his lips.
Tokio was developing faster than the average human so at five months he was very mobile. He was even attempting to walk and trying very hard to talk like the grown-ups surrounding him. Unfortunately only two people could understand him: June and his uncle Michelangelo. On top of that his increased mobility caused problems with his diaper situation. Because of his shell he couldn't wear disposable diapers and he was starting to get too big for the cloth ones. His parents decided he must be fully potty trained as soon as possible to help prevent future nasty accidents. For now they were using an awards system to help him become aware of his bodily functions and respond accordingly.
So far the little mutant could say the word potty quite clearly, but he only voiced the term after the deed was already done. His parents would watch for signs in his face and behavior in order to get him to the potty before he soiled himself. They hoped he would soon make the connection to the physical signs and getting to where he needed to be on his own. His training was an urgent need since the twins were only a few months behind in development.
April and Casey warned Leo and Venus that the potty training could take time and that they should have patience. June was over a year old and still had the occasional accident. They knew over time those incidents would become less and less frequent. That didn't make the clean-up any less frustrating. The potty training could be so stressful for Leo at times the young father often felt he was the one being trained, not his son. When he was not out patrolling their territory his every move seemed to revolve around his little boy's 'movements.' The fact that Leo was a neat freak didn't help matters either, so he often found himself venting his frustrations in the dojo. Venus seemed to be handling the whole thing with quiet patience, with the occasional sigh and shake of the head. She never lost her smile, though. After she recovered from her illness she was pretty much grateful to be in the land of the living.
Gidget and Milan were pretty curious about their older cousin's plastic throne. Gidget had crawled up to Tokio and reached up to grab his book. As the older tot held the book out of her reach she pulled herself up on Toki's knees and leaned into his face until they touched beaks. This was her 'watcha doin'?' pose she often used while watching her uncle Donatello.
"All right, Gidge. Give Toki some room so he can do his business," Leo admonished as he lifted the little female terrapin into his arms. Moments later Gidget was frowning and Milan had his nose turned up while staring at the little prince on the pot. "Ahh! Finally! Good job, Toki-chan! Let's get you all cleaned up and get you that popsicle I promised you!"
Hearing that the twins gave each other a look that said, 'we make a stinky mess every day and we don't get a popsicle! What's up with that!'
Meanwhile, the birthday Turtle had made it to the other side of the man made lake to meet up with his good buddy, Casey Jones. Raph's best friend loaded some fishing gear onto a small motor boat while Raph found a secluded spot to park his Shell Cycle. Once the Turtle got to the edge of the pier Casey slapped a fishing hat covered with lures on top of Raphael's round dome.
"Man, I've been lookin' forward to this, Case," Raph crowed as he donned a fishing vest.
"Yeah, this is gonna be great! The weather's fair and we got the lake to ourselves. Can't get any better than this!"
Soon the pair boarded the motor boat and headed for the center of the large lake. They cast their lines and relaxed, enjoying the sights and sounds. Raph enjoyed the quiet splendor of nature, for it contrasted greatly with the hustle and bustle of the city. Though there were some things about the city he did enjoy, like the convenience of easy access to certain resources, and of course, bustin' the heads of bad guys, he really did appreciate the openness of the countryside. It gave him a great sense of freedom.
The two friends didn't care if the fish were biting today. The two gear heads enjoyed discussing how they had improved the fuel efficiency of their respective bikes and any new features they planned to add in the near future. Somehow the subject turned to children. Casey bragged about how smart his little girl was and how she was growing up so fast. Raph spoke of how he was surprised at how much he enjoyed his niece and nephews, and how each of them had their own little quirks and unique personalities.
"Say, Raph, you ever thought about having a kid of your own?" The presently maskless Turtle sat in quiet reflection for a moment.
"Actually, yeah, I gave it some thought. I guess it would be kind of cool havin' my own little bastard runnin' around raisin' hell. Then again...I don't want to disrespect Leo."
"Well, shit, that didn't stop Mikey and Don! Besides, isn't it up to Venus? She did say she's up for it..."
"Why you gotta say it like that? Like she's some whore in a back alley ready to spread her legs for anybody?"
"Oh, c'mon, Raph! You know I didn't mean it like that!"
"Whateva..." He humphed as he recast his line. "Look, don't you worry about whether or not I'm gonna have kids, Case. When I'm good and ready I'll see to it that it happens. But when I do it I want to do it the right way. We got enough issues going on with us without me stirrin' up trouble."
"Since when do you have a problem with stirrin' up trouble?" Casey teased.
"Shut the fuck up and reel in your catch. Your line is jerkin'."
Casey reeled in his line to reveal one of the most pitiful catches either one of them had ever seen.
"Damn, Casey. What are you waitin' for? Throw it back!" The human turned to his mutant friend with a mischievous grin.
"Maybe I oughta throw you with it!"
That lead to a shoving match that escalated until both friends tumbled into the water. Casey surfaced first, then Raph popped up by his side and spit water into his face. They both snickered as they watched Raph's fishing hat float by. The Turtle then slapped the soaked head gear onto his head.
"Casey, ol' buddy...this has got to be...THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER! I LOVE NATURE!"
His loud outburst frightened an entire flock of water birds into flight. By now both of them were laughing in earnest.
"You know, Raphie-boy, this calls for a beer!"
"I agree!"
The soaking wet comrades spent the next couple hours sitting on the pier, knocking back beers, and getting drunk off their asses. Needless to say, Raph was in paradise.
*Next Chapter: Raphael can't deny his growing desire to become a father. But who should he talk to about it first? Leo or Venus? Also, Turtle baby number four is soon to arrive and no one knows what to expect.