Jack knocked on April's window from the fire escape landing. A few moments later the red headed woman came and opened up the pane of glass and let her young friend in. The hugged briefly before April gestured to the sofa behind the toddler playing on the floor.
"You had me a bit worried after your call. Is everything okay?"
She nodded. "Probably. I just… I'm probably over reacting. I just needed to get out of the house. A little cabin fever I guess." She was wringing her hands in her lap.
"Do you want a… drink or something?" April offered, trying to think of something to settle the other woman's nerves.
"Sure. But I'm going to use your bathroom first." Jack excused herself. She made her way down the hall and to the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Then she pulled open the medicine cabinet. He hands started to rummage through all the bottles of pills and tubes of creams and paste. "No no no…." She couldn't find what she was looking for. Things were clattering off the little shelves and into the sink as she looked in a panic but she still couldn't find anything. Then the woman hunched down and wrenched open the doors that revealed the underside of the sink. She pushed aside rolls of toilet paper and paper towels, spare packages of diapers and wipes until she found a little box she was hoping April would still have.
"April?"
The red head turned around to find her husband walking in the front door. "Casey!" She went over and kissed him. "Thank god you are home."
"Is something wrong?" He scratched the back of his head and brushed his long hair back out of his face.
"It's Jack. She came over and went to the bathroom… she's been in there for over half an hour! She won't open the door!"
Casey dropped his coat onto the table and walked back down the hall with his wife. "Is she alright?"
"I can hear her crying in there but I can't get her to open it up and I can't find the key." April frowned.
Casey sighed and knocked on the door. "Jack? Jack it's Casey. Is everything okay in there?" No answer. "Come on Jackie, open up the door we are really worried about you." Still nothing. " Alright Jack, I'm going to open this door so, don't be in the way." He grabbed the door knob and slammed his shoulder against the door. It took a few tries but eventually the door frame busted and the couple made their way into the bathroom.
They found Jacquelyn sitting on the edge of the bathtub, her arms wrapped around her legs and face buried in her knees. April went over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Jack… Jack what's wrong? Talk to me."
Meanwhile Casey picked something up off the sink's edge. "Uh… April, I think I know."
April looked over. "A pregnancy test?" The color seemed to drain from her face. The news anchor got to her feet and too the little test from her husband and looked down at the plus sign displayed on it. In the trash can April found three other positive tests, Jack had used the whole box. April turned back to Jack. "Is this what this is all about? You're pregnant?"
Jack slowly nodded. "How… how am I supposed to tell Raph?"
Casey was scowling behind his wife. "Tell him what part? That your pregnant or that you cheated on him?"
Jack was on her feet in a second. Her hand connected with the side of his face. "How dare you say that. I would never do that to him!" More tears rolled down her cheeks.
"So it's Raph's?" April asked a bit surprised herself.
"Who else's would it be?" Jack asked defensively, wrapping her arms around herself. "He's the only one I've been with."
Casey's shoulder's sagged. "I just… didn't think something like this was possible."
"I wasn't exactly planning on it either."
"it has to be from the mutation." April said suddenly. "Because it shouldn't be possible. It's the only explanation."
Jack closed her eyes. "I don't care about how it happened… I just… Raph and I have never even discussed the remote chance of ever having children or raising something like children. How am I supposed to tell him this? Especially now when we are supposed to be going to Xanus…"
"Well you can't hide it from him. He's the father, he has a right to know." Casey told her.
"I know… I just don't want this to get in the way of what we are trying to do."
April took one of Jack's hand. "All of the decisions are yours. We will be here for you no matter what you decide okay?"
The girl nodded and got to her feet.
"Look I really think you should see a doctor about all of this. Make sure everything is checking out and you aren't just being paranoid about a missed period and a few positive tests."
Jack looked at April and pointed to her own face. "I can't exactly walk into a clinic like this! Besides… I don't even know what my baby is going to look like… I can't… if a doctor saw something on the screen that wasn't 'normal' how am I going to explain that?"
Casey frowned. "What about that friend of yours. Arionna. Isn't she a med student or something? Couldn't she get something to look at you?"
Jack nodded again. "I um… I didn't tell anyone I was leaving. They are going to be furious when I get back. I should go." She grabbed her jacket from the side of the tub and put it on. "Please don't tell anyone." Then she slipped out of the room and left the apartment without another word.
April looked up at Casey. "Do you think they are going to be alright?" Casey asked her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Once she calms down a bit I think so. Raph I think will freak out more than she did."
Jack tried to sneak her way back into the warehouse. She wasn't all that successful. As soon as she opened the door, a big green hand grabbed her.
Raphael pulled her inside. "Where the hell have you been!?" He almost shouted. "I was worried sick!"
"I went over to April's." She said quietly.
"Aprils?! But..!" Then he noticed the streaks down her face. She was no longer crying but the tear trails were still there. "Jacquelyn?" His voice was much softer now. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing." She brushed passed him and headed for the steps to their room.
"Jack-"
"How's Ant feeling?" She cut him off.
"Better. His head still hurts, Donnie wants to give him another few days here at home where we can keep an eye on him before we try to infiltrate Xanus with him."
"That sounds like a good Idea." She said without turning around.
"Will you please tell me what's wrong?" He asked as he started up the stairs after her. "You know how much it pisses me off when you don't talk to me." He grumbled.
"I'm pregnant." She didn't even pause as she reached the second floor.
Raphael's foot missed the next step and he fell forward skidding back down to the first level. The clatter of shell on metal stairs caused his brothers to come rushing out of the other rooms and see what was going on. It wasn't like Raph to be so clumsy. The turtle on the floor seemed pale, his eye wide as he sat there stunned.
"Raph? You okay?" Mikey asked as he helped him to his feet.
The bigger turtle shoved his brother off of him and rushed up the stairs and into his room leaving the other's scratching their heads as he slammed the bedroom door shut behind him.
Jack jumped a bit and turned around. "Damn it Raph, don't scare me like that…" She put a hand on her racing heart for a moment before she went back to stripping off her clothes and pulling on pajamas.
"Are you serious?" He barely breathed the question as he walked up to her.
"What?" She looked up at him.
"What you said on the stairs… was it true?" He seemed desperate, almost begging for an answer but Jack wasn't sure if it was in a good or bad way.
Jack swallowed hard and then slowly nodded. "Yes."
Raphael grabbed her face and pulled her into a hard but passionate kiss. When he pulled away he was grinning like a fool. "I love you."
Jack looked up at him, confused. "I…"
"Why didn't you tell me first?" He asked her as he pulled her over to the bed to sit with him.
She hung her head. "I didn't want you to be angry or anything. We've never discussed this, I had no idea how you felt about it."
He wrapped his arms around her. "Jack… We… my brothers and I…we never thought it was possible really… We are mutants, I thought that kind of negated the whole having children thing, at least with anyone that wasn't also a giant mutant turtle. And since there are only a few of those around…" He smirked. "I didn't think it'd ever happen. Leo was always the one adamant about having kids, I just kind of ignored the thought… I didn't think it was possible so why think about it and get depressed about something I couldn't have. That's not to say I never wanted it to. Granted, a bit more preparation would have been nice but I guess I've always kind of wanted kids at some point." It seemed like admitting it was a bit hard, like he was coming to terms with the idea all over again.
Jack kissed him. "So you are okay with all this?"
"Of course I am!" He hugged her tight.
"I was going to call Arionna in a few days, ask her to come over and see if she could get an ultra sound or something." She said anxiously, the more she talked about it the more it seemed real.
The turtle kissed the side of her head. "I just… I can't believe it." He was grinning, his own heart racing. Jack could almost hear it against his shell.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Jack pulled herself from Raphael's arms, despite his protests, and pulled their bedroom door open. Mikey was standing there rubbing the back of his head and adjusting his mask.
"You two okay up here?" He asked a bit embarrassed to be interrupting. "'Honestly, didn't know you were home, but Raph was acting strange… We were getting a little worried."
Jack smiled softly. "We are fine. How is Ant doing? Any progress?"
"He's good. His head still hurts but he hasn't freaked out or anything if that's what you mean."
Raph came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Later." She simply told him. Turning back to Mikey she was about to say something but the turtle was already talking,
"Leo wants us all to make sure we get some rest. Donnie fixed up his leg so Leo wants us all to train with him tomorrow, test it out and get some practice."
"Okay." Jack nodded.
"Goodnight you two." Mikey turned and left.
Raph shut the door and pulled Jack back to him. "You aren't coming with us." His voice was firm.
"Like hell I'm not!" Jack pushed his hands off of her.
Raph's brow furrowed. "I am not about to let you put yourself and our future child in danger!"
"But you were fine with putting me in danger before?" Jack put her hands on her hips. "Look, you need me there and you know it!"
"I…" Raph shut his mouth and snorted. She was right, although he'd never say it outloud.
"Exactly! You know that you need me, especially if we are going to run into Adam." Her tone softened.
The turtle grabbed her shoulders and rested his forehead against hers. "I never liked the idea of putting you in danger… especially not now."
"You'll be with me. I think I'll be okay."
"You better be." He kissed her and then pulled her over to the bed.
"Hey! Time to wake up you two!" Ant flung the bedroom door open. Then his face went instantly red when he found Raph and Jack together in bed. With the blanket barely covering Jack, and the amount of exposed skin, it was easy to imagine what they had been doing.
"Ant." Raph nearly growled as he pulled the blanket up over his lover. "What exactly are you doing in our room?"
Antonello turned away from them. "I uh… Leo told me to come get you… breakfast is getting cold and uh.. he wanted to start training with Don to test out his new leg."
"Get out." Raph snapped. "We will be down in a few minutes."
The other turtle rushed out, half slamming the door behind him. Raphael looked down at the woman who was curled into his side. He ran a warm hand down her side.
"You should probably put some clothes on. You might have given Ant a heart attack."
She smacked him. "Oh my god…. How much did he see?!" She suddenly looked over her shoulder to see how much of herself was uncovered.
"Just about everything when he opened that door." Raph chuckled a bit.
Jack smacked him again. "That's not funny! He doesn't need to see that!"
"I think it looks great though…"
"For you… not for him or anyone else." She kissed his chin.
Raph leaned over and kissed her shoulder. "We should get up before Leo has a fit. Put some clothes on." He climbed over her and got out of bed to find his bandana and his weapons. "I am… I'm going to talk to Donnie really quick about something. I'll meet you downstairs."
"Okay." Jack slid out of bed and grabbed some clothes. After getting dressed, straightening out her hair and finding her own weapons she made her way to the kitchen. No one was around so she found herself a seat at the table and got a plate of food. The eggs were cold but Jack wasn't going to waste them so she ate them quickly as she looked around for the boys.
In Donnie's lab Raph was leaning on the back of Don's chair peering over his shoulder. "So, do you think you can do it?"
Donatello pulled his prosthetic off the table and put it up to his stump. After connecting it to his leg and adjusting a few things, he looked up at his brother. "Making her some gloves like Ant's arm guard won't be a problem. I'm just curious as to why now? Her fighting skill is primarily defense and dodging."
"Still, if she's close enough to hit them, she's close enough to get hit. I'd like her to have something to help block any blades that might get to close."
"Getting a little extra protective aren't we?" Donnie smirked.
Raph smacked him on the back of the head. "Just do it for me okay?"
"I'll do it for her. Not for you." He got to his feet and tested out his ankle. "But after some practice."
The pair made their way out into the hallway where they found Jack just about to head into the training room. Following her in they found Mikey and Ant already locked in a series of blows. Leo stood across the room, his arms folded across his chest, frowning.
"Ant! You have to protect your head more! Until we get that signal cut, that bug on your skull is the only thing keeping you sane! If it gets knocked off you are gone!"
Ant growled. "I know!"
Mikey hunched down and swept the younger turtles legs out from under him.
Antonello fell back to his shell and swore. Jack hunched down and helped the turtle up to his feet as Leo walked over.
"It's about time the three of you joined us."
Ant wiped his hands off on his legs, but couldn't bring himself to look at Jack as he mumbled a thank you, his face turning red. The woman just rolled her eyes and looked over at Leo. "Oh stop. I'm pretty sure we are plenty ready."
Leo pointed at Ant and then at Don. "Do they look plenty ready?!" Then he got in her face. "When was the last time you practiced? Are you sure you are ready to face Adam?"
Her eye brow twitched. Without a word her arm lashed out and grabbed his wrist. Pulling him towards her she got him off balance, the turtle not expecting an attack. Her leg hooked under one of his and he was on the ground in a second. Jack was kneeling on his plastron, her shobo at his throat. "Don't say I'm not ready to see my brother."
Leo held his hands up.
"I'm more ready than any of you." She glared at him.
"I can see that. I'm sorry I offended you." Leo said to her.
Raph put a hand on her shoulder and eased her up off of his brother. Jack put her weapon back into the strap on her thigh. "Did he press a button?" He asked.
She just elbowed him, still a bit miffed.
Leo hopped up to his feet. "Well, Jack might be ready, but Donnie still needs to test out his leg." He motioned for the nerd to come into the room and get ready. Mikey faced him and they readied themselves to spar. The others all took up stances and found a partner to start their own sparing.
They trained well into the afternoon until they were all tired and sore. Mikey was quick to order them some pizza for dinner while Donnie went back into his lab to work on the special project Raph had requested. His leg had held up rather well as far as training went, he used it as a support leg and wouldn't jump off of it or anything, but it did well for as much as he used it. Jack went to get a shower and clean up while Ant and Leo went to meditate and try and control the buzzing still plaguing the teens head.
Raph let himself into Donnie's room and made his way to a cupboard on the far wall. The one in purple looked up at his brother and watched him pull a small box out and shove it into his belt.
"I was wondering if it was you who brought those with us to the warehouse…" Donnie looked back down to the work at hand. "You haven't touched one in years… what's making you start up again?"
"I just need to calm down." Raph snapped before he turned and left the room.