Chapter 18

He had faced deadly enemies, powerful forces of nature, mystical madmen, crazy scientists, and death itself. However, nothing seemed more nerve racking and intense as the moment he was in right now.

Raphael sat across from his brother in a clearing in the woods far from the farmhouse. It was the only way of insuring their privacy besides taking a three hour road trip back to New York without the others. Raph preferred the woods anyway. Less of a chance of interruption, unless a rabid badger felt like stopping by, or a huge bird felt like shitting on one of their heads. Other than that the clearing was just right for their conversation. Now if only he could think of what to say.

"All right, Raph. You brought me out here so we could talk, right?"

"Uh...yeah."

"So talk already!" Leonardo could tell that his brother was very nervous about something, and would be glad to know the cause.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that, bro." He cleared his throat and looked up at the clan leader while avoiding direct eye contact. "Ya remember last year when I made a big stink about the whole having kids situation?"

"Well, yeah. I don't think any one of us could forget that. What about it?"

"Ah...ya see the main reason I made such a big deal about it had to do with, ya know how we grew up strugglin' to survive and stuff..."

"Yes. And your point?" Leo could kind of see what Raph was getting at, but wanted his nervous sibling to say it himself.

"I...I've been watching you and Mike with your kids, and I've even been watching them grow and learn. You guys look so damn happy and the kids are healthy and well adjusted. So what I'm saying is, I take back all that stuff I said about having kids being a bad idea." Raph quiet as he picked at some blades of grass. Leo sat in silence for he had a feeling his brother wasn't finished yet. "I've also been thinkin'...about having a kid of my own."

"Well, why don't you?"

"That's the thing, Leo! After Venus had that health scare with Don's kid I've been havin' second thoughts about it. I know she's feeling much better and looking great now, but I don't want to risk her gettin' sick again. Besides, it's pretty obvious you and V have this bond going and I don't want to be all disrespectful and sneaky about it by going behind your back, and..."

"Raph, say no more." Hearing those words Raphael looked over at his older brother and saw something he didn't expect. There was a smile on Leonardo's face. It was as if he was proud of Raph for some reason. "Raph, I have to thank you right now, my brother."

"What for?"

"For approaching me about this with respect, and like an adult. Things could have been so much easier if the others had done the same thing."

"So, you're saying it's ok?"

"As long as Venus agrees. We can both talk to her about it now, if you want."

Raph couldn't believe it. He had come prepared for a fight, or a heated argument at least. He had seen how jealous Leo could act. Then again, maybe it wasn't jealousy he observed, just Leo acting out of irritation because of disrespect. His epiphany felt kind of good, in a weird way. The whole baby situation had altered the family dynamics leaving Leo and Don butting heads and Raph and Leo getting along better than ever. It was nice to get along with his brother for a change, but still weird.

"Ok, Leo, that'll work. You up for some sparrin' though? If we come back to the house too fast the others might think that's kind of strange for us."

"Yeah, you're right." Leo back flipped into a battle stance. "Ready to get your shell kicked?"

"Shouldn't that be my line, bro?" Raph retorted with a smirk as he balled his fists.

Back at the farmhouse Venus was preparing dinner when she sneezed. Michelangelo was at her side in a flash.

"What's the matter, sweetness? You're not getting sick again are you?"

"No, Mikey, I'm fine," she answered, giving the worried Turtle a kind smile. "Guess I used a little too much pepper." Mike had a little taste of the champuru.

"Nah, you didn't use too much. Tastes fine. Maybe someone was talking about you."

"Oh, Mikey, you've been watching too much anime again," Donatello playfully scolded as he stared at his laptop screen.

"C'mon, bro! You can never watch too much anime, or horror movies, or action thrillers, or...hey, what are you looking at, Don? Hardcore porn?"

"NO, MIKEY!" Don growled. "I'm checking out some baby names."

"Yeah, right. You keep telling yourself that bro," Mike snickered as he patted his techno geek brother on the head. That is until Don practically shoved the laptop in his face. "Oh. So you are checking out baby names. Cool. Why are you looking at girls' names, though?"

"Because my egg is incubating between 30 and 35 degrees Celsius, that's why."

"Huh? What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

Donatello was about to explain in detail when Venus announced that dinner was ready.

"Have Leo and Raph returned yet?"

"Haven't seen 'em, sweetness. Guess they're off somewhere beatin' the shell outta each other," Mike responded as he and Don placed the babies in their high chairs. "Raph's been disappearing a lot again and you know how much that pisses off Leo. He's probably givin' Raph a stern talking to, which leads to Raph cursing him out, then Raph tries to leave, and then Leo tries to stop him and they end up..."

The babbling Turtle stopped when the two siblings he was referring to walked into the dining room looking quite calm and no worse for wear. Don and Mike watched in silence as the often warring Turtles went into the kitchen to wash their hands. Venus greeted them both with a smile as she put the family meal on a serving plate.

"Food smells good, Mei-chan," Leo complimented as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Why thank you! I aim to please." Moments later a very cordial Raphael offered to take the serving plate off her hands.

"I got this, V. You've done enough so go relax."

He didn't have to tell the mama Turtle twice. As he set the table Mike watched Leo and Raph out of the corner of his eye. While their family was far from normal they were acting strange even for them. But Mike was one nosy, and at times sneaky, Turtle so he just had to find out what the deal was with his brothers.

'In due time, Mikey. In due time,' was his inner chant as they all sat down for their meal. Dinner was pretty much uneventful. Venus was proud that her eldest managed to feed himself...for the most part. About half of the food made it into his mouth. The rest either landed in his lap or on the floor. Raphael didn't hesitate to help Venus clean up the mess. Donatello took notice but didn't say anything. He had been quietly romancing Venus the past few months and was very watchful of the other males. He remembered when Raph claimed he wanted not part of becoming a father over a year ago, but he knew feelings and minds can change. As Don cleared the table he nearly dropped the plates when he saw Raphael lean over to whisper something to Venus. After making a quick recovery and avoiding breaking all the dishes, Don rushed off to the kitchen. Leo was competition enough for Venus' heart. If he had to deal with Raph too he could really have a fight on his hands.

Later that night while Michelangelo and Donatello were on watch, the three other adults met in the dojo. Raphael had asked Venus to talk with him after dinner, so she didn't understand why Leonardo was there also.

"Would you guys care to explain what this is all about? I need to catch up with Mike and Don on patrol."

Raph gave her quite a serious look before giving her an answer.

"Well, V, this is all about one important thing. That kiss Karai gave Leo in the Battle Nexus."

Wrath exploded across the female mutant's visage while Leo's bore an expression of borderline panic.

"Raph, don't make me regret helping you out with this! Be serious!"

Ok, ok! Gomen!' Raph apologized momentarily reverting to Japanese. "Sorry to bring up that hardheaded harpy, Venus. I'm just kind of nervous about what I'm about to tell ya.." Her features softened as Raphael cleared his throat. "I've been watchin' you guys with the kids and it got me thinkin' about having a kid of my own. But I know you had a hard time with the last one so I didn't want to put you in a bad situation again."

"It's all right, Raphael. The Ancient One showed me what to do in case that ever happened again."

"Ok, but..."

"Raph, I'm a Turtle of my word. As I said before, I will give all of you an opportunity to have little ones. All I ask is for a few more weeks to regain my full strength. During that time we can discuss any concerns you have on your mind." Venus also wanted to give them time to form a closer bond before initiating a physical relationship, but she left that unsaid. Raph frowned while in deep thought as he considered everything Venus said.

"All right, that all sounds good to me. Leo, you gonna be cool with that?" He didn't want to have to kick the ass of a raging jealous Leo.

"We already talked about this, bro."

"Not with V around. I just wanted to make sure..."

"Ok, ok! I'm cool with it!" The cool headed mutant paused as he glanced between his brother and mate. "Just make sure I get to watch." He waited for the shock registered on their faces before he burst out laughing. "I'm just kidding! But seriously, you can make a video for me."

"Leo!" Venus admonished him as she slapped him on the arm.

"Just joking! Had a Mikey Moment there. You still love me, right?"

"Yes." Venus chuckled lightly as Leo leaned over and gave her a kiss. She then gave an uncomfortable looking Raph a hug and a kiss on the cheek, hoping he would enjoy the thrill of the chase that was to come.

The next several weeks were interesting to say the least. Mikey's hands were full since the twins had finally learned to crawl instead of scoot. Mike had fun making videos of the pair as they explored and got into one mess after another. The young father thought it was hilarious, until Venus gave him 'the look' and made him clean up the mess. He just made sure to make a photo of the twins with his knee pads on their heads the background on his Shell Cell.

Soon July 10th had arrived and it was Donatello's 21st birthday. Everyone was curious about how he would celebrate. They wondered if he would have a few margaritas while watching a Forensic Files marathon or unveil some useful invention he had been working on. Perhaps he would rig up some homemade fireworks to mark the celebration. However, Donatello didn't do any of those things. He spent his birthday in the sub-basement with the egg...reading to it. In fact, he had been reading to his unhatched offspring every day since he placed it in the nest. He read all kinds of literature to it it from books about colors and numbers to books about string theory and complex robotics. Of course Mikey teased Don about his choice of reading material.

"Geez, Don! You're gonna make the kid a total egghead before he or she's even hatched!"

"And what's wrong with stimulating my child's brain while in-vitro? By the way, it's a she, Mikey."

"How do you know?"

"I already explained to you how I know!"

"Yeah, but you explained it in nerd-lish. You know I'm not fluent in that even after all these years of living with you." Don gave his little brother a good hard glare before returning to reading Steven Hawking's A Brief History of Time. "So, did ya pick a name for your baby girl yet?"

"Yes I did. Aphrodite will be her name," the resident genius proudly announced.

"Nice! After the goddess, huh?"

"Actually, I named her after Aphrodite Jones, my favorite criminologist and forensic psychologist." Michelangelo stared at his brother for a solid ten seconds.

"Why am I not surprised. Poor kid's gonna grow up with a complex!"

"Whatever, Michelangelo!" Don scoffed. "Now could you please go bother someone else? I'm getting to the best part of the book and I don't need any interruptions."

"Yeah, sure. You would have been better off naming her Donatella since she's already doomed to a life of nerd-dom."

Mike ran up the steps, barely avoiding a bottle of algecide pitched at his shell.

On a quiet evening at the end of August Donatello and Venus welcomed Aphrodite into the world. Of all of the Turtle babies she was the biggest at the time of her hatching. She was long limbed and built solid. She inherited her beautiful complexion and coloring from her father. There was one thing about her that was very different from the other hatchlings. Her eyes. Her right eye was a deep brown like Donatello's, but the left eye was amber. Venus immediately recognized those eyes from the great within. As she cradled her baby in her arms the mother could sense that powerful chi the overwhelmed her months before. She could tell there was something curious about this child, just from the wise look in her eyes. Venus got the feeling that this little one had something to tell her or show her that was very important. Since the baby lacked the ability to speak the young mother knew she would have to wait. She knew from the contented smile on Aphrodite's face it had to be something good.

Next Chapter: Venus and Raph make baby plans and try to keep it on the down low. However, can anyone ever keep anything from nosy Mikey?