One more chapter before the weekend. Thank you to Forgottenforever again for your awesome support!

Chapter 22

Raphael turned as Leonardo and Michelangelo crashed through the door. "Donny we need to talk...now!" Leonardo barked as they set the girls down on their feet. Leonardo looked at Katherine who was looking at him in surprise. Leonardo and Michelangelo looked pale and Leonardo looked as if he was possibly going to faint. Raphael frowned wondering what had happened to put the look of stunned horror on his brother's face.

"Mommy!" The girls shouted in unison as they launched themselves at Katherine knocking her to the ground.

"Great. Now they've picked a mom. Don't mind them Kitten, they seem to be attaching themselves to, holy shit." He swore as three sets of eyes turned towards him.

"Daddy, no swearing." Starlight said frowning at him.

Raphael looked at the girls and Katherine. The girl's hair wasn't white blonde, but white, the same colour as Katherine's, but this alone wasn't what had made him swear and the blood drain from his face. Starbright was Katherine, but miniature. The same green eyes looked at him in a face that had the same nose, same stubborn chin, the same cupids bow lips, the same pale complexion. Starlight was Katherine's double as well except for her honey brown eyes. The same colour of eyes he had. His world swam. He felt Michelangelo grab at him.

"Mommy, why is your hair a different colour and why are you pretending to be human?" Starbright asked her.

"I...what?" Katherine asked in confusion.

"Well, maybe mommy was human for some reason once." Starlight said with a shrug. "Mommy we're hungry." They said completely unconcerned with the turmoil they had just caused.

All eyes turned to Katherine. "Because my life couldn't get even more weird." She grumbled rubbing at her temples.

"Leo...I know what this looks like..." Donatello began.

"Starbright, sweetheart, why don't you tell Daddy Donny about your grandfather." Leonardo said to her.

She looked at Leonardo then shrugged. Raphael looked at Leonardo's pale face. "But Daddy Donny knows that Grampa Splinter is in Heaven. Daddy Donny took us to see him last week." She said with a frown. "Don't worry daddy," She said to Leonardo. "Grampa is happy because he is with Master Yoshi." She said with a smile.

Donatello paled and Raphael felt none too steady either.

Katherine slowly stood up."Peanut butter and jam sandwiches okay?" She asked the girls.

The girls looked at her in confusion. "What's a peanut butter and jam sandwich?" They asked together.

"Seriously!" Michelangelo said grabbing his head in frustration.

"Daddy Mikey...you're silly." They said laughing at him.

"Okay, girls at the table, here, you'll like it." Katherine said putting down the sandwiches she had quickly made.

She grabbed Raphael and Donatello and dragged them from the room. Leonardo and Michelangelo followed. She dragged them into the library.

"Okay, somebody had better start talking, and why are you all looking at me like that?" Katherine questioned.

They looked at Donatello. He shook his head. "I have to think for a moment." He said giving Katherine a speculative look. "Katherine are you sure you are human?" Donatello asked her.

They all looked at her. "You're kidding right?"

Donatello shook his head. Katherine closed her eyes and opened them. "I am human. I was born in a hospital. I have had blood tests, allergy tests, and x-rays. I am human. Besides being able to sense ghosts, the weird stuff has only happened since I came to New York, starting with meeting you guys." She huffed out. "So now that that is out of the way, let us begin with what is going on? What changed in the moment from Raphael telling me we needed to find these girl's parents to the OMG looks I am getting now?"

"The girls seem to think that Raphael and Leonardo are their fathers, and seem to think you are their mother." Donatello began.

"Okay, but obviously we aren't so...Wait, you believe them." She said in surprise.

"We didn't up until right now." Leonardo said softly. "They look exactly like you. We have never mentioned Master Splinter or Master Yoshi, and they knew our names, our full names." Leonardo said softly.

"Of course we know your names. Mommy always calls all the daddies by their full names." Starbright said from the couch. They turned and looked at them startled.

They blinked in shock. Raphael hadn't even seen them enter the room let alone sit down on the couch. His gaze caught Katherine's whose face had paled. She did always call them by their full names.

Katherine walked over and knelt down in front of the girls. She looked at them as if she were trying to see the similarities they had seen. She frowned obviously seeing the resemblance. "Okay so Starbright has green eyes and,"

"Starlight." Raphael supplied.

"Has brown eyes." She finished. "And you are twins."

They nodded. "Daddy Raphael is my daddy." Starlight said proudly.

"And Daddy Leonardo is my daddy." Starbright said happily.

Katherine nodded. "Why do you call them 'the daddies'? Why not Uncle Mikey and Uncle Donny?" She asked them.

"Cause all of the daddies are mommy's...Con...Consor" Starbright paused as she tried to figure out the word.

"Consorts?" Katherine asked.

"That's it. You are married to all the daddies and they are your Consorts." Starlight said nodding happily.

"Okay." She said with a nod. "How did you get here?" She asked them.

"We already told the daddies." Starbright said with a pout.

"Well now you get to tell me." She said to them.

"We were playing hide and seek. We know we aren't supposed to be playing in the Control Room when there is no one there, but Trick and Treat are too good at playing hide and seek so we decided to hide up there. We hid but Trick and Treat found us anyway and then they began to play with Magi then we were in a place that smelled funny, and we were really scared but then daddy found us." Starbright said to her.

Katherine looked at Donatello who was frowning in thought. A look was exchanged between them and she turned her attention back to the girls.

"Okay so who is Magi?" Katherine asked calmly.

"Magi is..." She looked around the room as if she was looking for something. She brightened. 'Magi is like that laptop." She said pointing to the laptop on the desk. "Auntie Mon is always on her laptop, but Magi talks and is much bigger. Daddy Donny and mommy spend lots of time with Magi. Daddy Donny told us it is how mommy makes sure that everyone behaves."

"So Magi is a big...computer?" Katherine asked.

Starlight shook her head. "Daddy Donny says Magi is sorta like a computer, but also like a big scry...scry-something mirror."

"Scrying mirror?" She asked.

They nodded. Katherine frowned in thought looking at Donatello again. She stood up and looked down at the two girls.

"What is your mother's name?" She asked the little girls.

"Darkness." They said to her.

Katherine frowned. "That's a strange name." She said to them.

They shrugged. "Mommy is Darkness."

"Okay." She said with a nod of her head. "Do you like movies?" She asked them.

They smiled. "Yes." They said together.

"Come on, you girls can watch some movies while me and your...fathers, talk." Katherine took each girl by the hand and began leading them from the room. Starlight and Starbright stopped. "Uncle Lucy and Uncle Gabe call mommy by a funny name though." Starbright said suddenly.

Starlight nodded. "Uncle Lucy and Uncle Gabe are the only ones that call mommy by that name. And only when no one is around." Starlight said frowning.

"And what name is that?" Katherine asked curiously.

They both shrugged and said in unison, "Kaethryn."

Katherine went white as chalk and Raphael felt all the blood drain from his face. He strode over to Katherine who waved him off. She took the girls and led them out of the room.

Raphael sat down before he fell down. He put his head in his hands. Too many emotions and too many thoughts were crowding around in his head for him to make any sense of any of it.

He felt Michelangelo flop down on the couch next to him. They were silent, each too absorbed by their own thoughts to speak.

Raphael looked up as Katherine walked into the room. She closed the door behind her. She looked pale and tired, but if she was reeling from what they had literally dropped in her lap, she didn't show it. Instead her face was filled with cool detachment.

"Donatello, probability, go." She said to him.

Donatello blinked and tried to snap out of it. "I don't..." He said at a loss. Their brainiac brother was so shaken he couldn't even focus.

"Pull it together Donatello. Can we or can't we have children together?" She asked him.

Donatello shook his head. "We're reptiles, you're a mammal..." She cut Donatello off.

"Different species, got it. Probability of twins with two different fathers?" She asked.

"If circumstances were ideal, then it is possible, rare, but possible." Donatello said to her.

She nodded. "Chances of you constructing a time machine?" She asked rapidly changing gears.

"I...I suppose it is not beyond the realm of possibility...but...I wouldn't..." She cut him off.

Katherine frowned in thought. "In the realm of impossibilities and improbabilities one must allow for the possibility that the impossible and improbable are possible, somewhere and somehow." Katherine said to Donatello. Donatello paled.

"What?" Raphael asked in confusion. "I didn't understand a thing you just said."

Donatello swallowed. "She basically said, that since the possibility of us, not only being able to have children, but of me somehow building a time machine is pretty much impossible, it is therefore so beyond the realm of possibility that it is possible." Donatello explained.

"Sorry, I still didn't get that." Raphael said in frustration.

"She believes them." Leonardo said softly from where he was leaning against the desk arms crossed.

"What!" Raphael said in surprise.

Katherine shrugged. "They aren't lying, they truly believe that we are their parents, even if we aren't." She said with a shrug.

"But you just said that...I'm confused." Raphael said to her.

"I said it was possible, I didn't say it was. The best thing we can do now is make sure the girls are well taken care of until their actual parents find them." Katherine pointed out reasonably.

"How can you be so calm?" He asked her in frustration. He felt like his world had tipped sideways and could barely breathe.

"Who said I was calm? Besides there isn't much we can do about the situation, but deal with it the best we can." She said with a shrug.

"What's a scrying mirror?" Michelangelo asked softly.

"The medium can be different, a crystal ball, a mirror, a still pool of water, fire, smoke, stone or even glass. It is a means of seeing spiritual visions, but it can also be used in divination." She said to him. Michelangelo looked confused. "Basically you can see the past present and future in the mirror." She said with a wave of her hands.

"What's a Consort?" Michelangelo asked.

"A Consort can be a husband or wife, and in some cases multiple wives or I suppose husbands. But what the girls are describing would be fraternal polyandry. One woman married to multiple brothers."

"But Kitten, that isn't...it's not..." Leonardo began.

"It happens, it's rare though." She shrugged."It is still practiced in some parts of the world. Usually though it has to do with multiple factors ranging from land divisions and social hierarchies to biological sustainability. " Katherine said lapsing into silence.

Raphael could see her mind working. She looked at the moment very much like how Donatello looked when he had just discovered something, and right now he knew Katherine had just hit anthropological pay dirt.

"I wish the girls were a little older..." She said with abstraction. "Multiple wives make sense biologically speaking. You can produce more offspring that way, but multiple husbands would be..."

"Kitten." He said gently.

She blinked at him pulling herself out of her abstracted state. "Sorry." She apologised. "The thing is the specific term Consort is usually only used for people in very high positions like Emperors, Kings, gods, you get the picture." She shrugged.

"Katherine, who is Kaethryn?" Donatello asked quietly.

Katherine froze. "Kaethryn is dead Donatello. Please just...don't ask." She said steadily as she walked to the door and left the room.

Donatello looked at the door, his mind obviously trying to figure out who Kaethryn was.

"I'm still confused." Raphael ground out through clenched teeth.

"They are ours Raph." Leonardo said softly.

"But...but." Raphael stammered.

He looked at his brothers. He still felt lost and confused. He looked at the closed door. He frowned in thought. Katherine did not seem bothered with the idea of having children with them. His frown deepened. Big emphasis on the them.

"Okay truthfully, does anyone see a situation where all of us would share her?" He demanded. Michelangelo shrugged as he shared a look with his other brothers. "Wait, you're telling me you would share Mikey?" He asked in shock.

"I love her Raph. If I had to share her to have her, I would." He said with a shrug.

He looked at Donatello who looked uncomfortable. He met his brother's eyes. "I don't know Raph. Truthfully I think the jealousy would kill me, but when I think about life without her..." He shook his head. "I love her too much to lose her."

Leonardo frowned looking at Raphael. "I hate it when you touch her Raph." He growled. "I could not think of any possible situation where I would be okay with knowing you were with her at the same time as I was."

Raphael stood up. "That's okay Leo. I would never share her. Ever." He strode angrily from the room.

He needed to talk to Katherine, but at the same time he knew he needed to calm down first. He strode to the workout room.

He didn't know how long he punched, kicked and hit the heavy bag, but when he had finished he was dripping with sweat and no closer to being calm. He felt exhausted and overwhelmed. He had no idea if Starlight was actually his daughter, and he had no idea what Katherine's feelings were. He was lost.

He walked to the mirror and slid down until he was sitting on the floor. The problem was that some of the things the girls said made sense, but other things sounded so fantastical that he felt as if there must be some other world out there where mutant turtles ruled the world or something. He smirked. "Ruled a very messed up world." He said to himself.

"Are you okay daddy?" Starlight asked him.

He jumped and looked at her in shock. "Jeez you scared me." He told her. He frowned. "How'd you get here?" He asked her. He hadn't seen her come in, and hadn't seen her sit down.

She frowned. "I walked." She said giving him an odd look. He nodded and blew out a breath. "Mommy's tired." She said to him. "I've never seen mommy tired before, at least, not fall asleep tired."

Raphael stood. "Mommy's been having problems sleeping." Raphael said to her then stopped and shook his head at calling Katherine 'mommy'.

She frowned but nodded. "Mommy isn't using..." She began but was cut off when Katherine ran into the room.

"Oh good, she's with you. I turned my head for a second and she was gone." Katherine said to him. "They don't seem to be tired or want to go to bed." she said to him.

"Yeah their internal clocks are messed up, they want to sleep all day and be up all night. They keep saying that their bedtime is sunrise." Katherine frowned but nodded. He looked at her and realized she looked ready to collapse.

"Come on Kitten, time for bed." He said to her. Her eyes opened wide as fear crowded into her eyes. "Mikey can look after the kids, you need to sleep." He said as he grabbed her hand.

Starlight grabbed his other hand. They walked out of the room together. He shoved Katherine in the direction of her room. Raphael went to find Michelangelo who was already watching a movie with Starbright. He told him that Katherine was going to bed and to look after the girls.

"G'night Raph." Michelangelo said with a glint in his eye. "But until this whole thing is sorted out, I'll still be mad if you touch her, so don't even think about it." He said in a low voice as he walked to the door with Michelangelo. Raphael looked at him in shock. "Don't think I don't know what's been going on." Michelangelo said with a smirk. "Now go get some rest. You and Kitten need it."

"How...who?" He managed to ask.

"Don't worry bro, I'm the only one who has figured it out, and I don't mind, as long as you be a good little turtle and keep your hands to yourself." Michelangelo said as he walked back and settled himself on the couch between the two girls.

Raphael frowned but walked out of the room and up the stairs to Katherine's room. He opened her door and found it empty. He looked across the hall at the room that had been Donatello's. He thought about it and realized that it was the biggest of all of the rooms, which meant that Katherine had given up her room for Donatello.

He walked across the hall and opened the door. He found the room empty, but the bed had been slept in, or at least tossed in. Raphael closed the door and waited for Katherine to come to bed.

Leonardo stood by the fireplace watching the flames dance in the grate. He didn't know why, but this room was his favourite. It was the room he would go to when he needed to think, and right now, he had a lot of thinking to do.

He looked up at the door as it opened. Katherine walked in closing the door behind her gently. She was still wearing his shirt but she had changed into her plaid pj bottoms and he could see the pink shirt beneath his.

He looked at the woman he loved and didn't know what to say. His mind was filled with too many questions and too many emotions for him to think straight.

"Are you okay Leonardo?" She asked him softly.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. He didn't trust himself to speak. She walked up to him and pulled him into a hug. He clutched her to him tightly. He took in a shuddering breath. He needed her. He needed her so badly it hurt, but he couldn't share her. He would never share her with his brothers, she had to choose. She had to make a choice. But if he forced her at this moment to make a choice, he knew it wouldn't be him she chose.

"Don't choose Raph yet." He said to her, his voice coarse and rough with too much emotion.

She pulled back looking at him in shock. "What?"

"I know, all I've done is try to push you away, but I love you." He said to her. She opened her mouth to tell him something. He leaned in and kissed her. He kissed her with all of his pent up emotions. He needed her, wanted her, and the possibility that they could have some sort of life together, have a family together had been dangled in front of him and he wanted to take it.

She kissed him back with a fervour that matched his own.

He pulled away and looked down into her eyes. "I know I've been an ass, and I am so sorry, but please don't choose Raph yet. Please just give me a chance to show you the man I am, instead of the man I have been these last few months."

"Leonardo..." She began.

"Please Katherine." He said as he clutched at her upper arms desperately. She sucked in a breath of pain. He looked down at his hand in confusion. He wasn't holding her that tightly. He frowned, grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and pulled it up exposing her upper arm. There was a large angry purple bruise. Anger roared through him. Someone had bruised her. He looked at the bruise which had been made by a three fingered hand...like his. He felt the blood drain from his face as he realized that it had been him who had given her the angry bruise. It was his hand that had grabbed her arm in a punishing grip after Raphael had kissed her.

He stumbled away from her. "Kitten, I didn't mean...I didn't know that I..." He stammered.

She looked at the bruise and shrugged as if she was unconcerned with it. "Leonardo, you have to calm down." She said to him.

"Calm down, how can I calm down!" He shouted at her. "For a whole month I watched Raphael, and that whole month I waited for him to hurt you when his temper snapped. I waited for his hand to finally strike out at you, and it never did, not once. I didn't believe he would ever have the ability to restrain himself, but you always believed he wouldn't hurt you, and he didn't. Instead it was me. I was the one who, in a fit of rage, took my anger out on you." He whispered. He closed his eyes against the concern in her face. He swallowed. "Go...go be with Raph. He deserves you." He managed to choke out.

"You are doing it again." She said in a low angry voice. "Don't tell me how to run my life."

He opened his mouth but she waved away whatever he was going to say. "You don't get to tell me who to be with and who not to be with." Katherine said to him in frustration."You can't tell me who to love and who not to love."

"You can't be with me Katherine." He said shaking his head. It hurt his heart to say it, and he knew that Starbright was supposed to be his, but he didn't really believe she was, no matter how much he wanted her to be his. And he wanted so badly for her to be his. "I'll just hurt you again. I can't stop hurting you, first with words and now..." He stopped unable to finish his sentence.

"You are used to dealing with your brothers, they aren't as delicate as I am, it was an accident, you didn't mean to bruise my arm." She said to him.

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter." He said to her. He was done talking. All he had to do now was wait until she left, and then he could fall into the black pit of despair he had created for himself. He would leave tomorrow morning. He knew Starbright would be upset, but he couldn't stay here and watch Katherine with his brother.

"Leonardo." Katherine said in an low voice.

He looked into her angry eyes. "My life. Mine. You understand? You don't get to decide to opt out of it. Since the wrong was done to me, I decide what the punishment is, not you."

He looked at her in shock. She drew her fist back and he looked at it in confusion. The next thing he knew he was staring up into her face from the floor. He had taken many a punch and many a kick to the face, and most had never literally floored him. Hers had. He rubbed his jaw in pain. "You're lucky I didn't give you a black eye." She growled at him as she pulled him to his feet.

"Where did you...?" He wondered still trying to get his jaw working.

"Grew up with two brothers remember." She said with a quirk of her lips. "Anyway, now we are even. Now stop being an ass, stop feeling sorry for yourself and accept the fact that for a short while you are a father. Don't think about it too much, you will just hurt your brain playing the' is she my daughter from a future timeline or isn't she', game."

She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed out a breath. "Michelangelo talked to me on my way in here. He seems to think I should date all of you." Leonardo opened his mouth but she cut him off. "I'm not exactly thrilled with the prospect. It seems like it would be a lot of work and I would feel like a bone stuck in the middle of four very hungry dogs. That being said, I can't argue with Michelangelo's logic that I may be able to figure out my own heart if I do. For reasons I can't explain I love you, I have no idea why but I do. Is Michelangelo's idea ideal, no, but right now, I think it's all we've got." She said as she turned and walked to the door. "Goodnight Leonardo." She closed the door gently behind her.

He stared at the door in shock. "What just happened?" He asked the empty room. He rubbed his jaw. He didn't want to share her, the thought of her with any of his brothers made him burn with jealous anger.

He sat down on the chair. He rubbed his jaw. Starbright was right. Their mommy was scary. She had a hell of a right hook too.

Raphael looked up as Katherine walked into the room flexing her fingers and shaking out her hand. She was pale and no emotion crossed her face. It was then that Raphael realized that it was when she was the most emotional that she appeared the most unemotional. He walked up to her and pulled her into a hug. She just sighed in contentment. "I missed you." She whispered to him.

"I missed you too." He said as he tipped her face up and kissed her. He pulled away and looked into her eyes. "They are the 'but' aren't they?" He asked her.

She didn't pretend to misunderstand him or be confused by his question. "Yes." She said softly.

"You love me. But, you love my brothers as well." He said his voice wavering with pent up emotion, anger mixed with sadness.

"It has been a very long day and there are now children, apparently mine, who have been dropped into my lap. I am trying to wrap my head around such a scenario, but I can't. But truthfully I could care less right now. I am tired Raphael. So very tired. All I want to do is climb into bed and go to sleep in the arms of the man I love, and hope that I don't dream." She said to him.

"Fine," he said as he grabbed at Leonardo's shirt pulling it up and over her head. "But I don't want you wearing...When the hell did you get this?" He growled looking at the bruise on her arm. She sighed shoulders slumping.

"Raphael..." She began.

"Leo. That bastard." He growled. He strode to the door.

"If you leave, don't think about coming back. Ever." Katherine said to him.

He stopped dead. He turned and looked at her in shock. She was furious. "Kitten he..." He began.

"And since when do I need you to fight my battles for me Raphael." She asked him, her voice low and controlled.

"Kitten." He said slowly walking over to her.

"No Raphael, you listen to me. I have already taken care of the situation, Leonardo has been properly chastised." She said to him unconsciously flexing her hand.

Raphael frowned looking at her hand. Her knuckles were scraped. "Wait, did you punch him?" He asked in shock. She shrugged looking at her hand. "Well, if you did you probably didn't hit him hard enough." He growled.

"He seemed pretty surprised when I had to help him up off the floor." She said with a smirk.

"Wait, you knocked Leo, to the floor?" He asked in surprise.

She smiled up at him. "It's funny though. I was sure the first one of you I was going to end up punching for being an ass was going to be you." She said with a smile but her face grew serious. "Leonardo and I are good. Leonardo is..." She seemed to search for what she was thinking. "Leonardo is very much like me. We have to always be in control, everything has always got to be our way." She said to him.

He frowned. He got that Leonardo was bossy and controlling, but not Katherine. "You aren't..." He began then looked at her. She was. She was very controlling and everything did always have to be her way, but..."Okay so how come I didn't notice you being controlling, but Leo continually pisses me off?" He asked her.

"Because I ask, Leonardo orders. That isn't the point I'm trying to make though. My point is that Leonardo is so out of control right now he has no idea what to do. He can't control his emotions no matter how hard he tries. He can't stop loving me. He can't control any of you anymore. His nice orderly world has been replaced by chaos and it is tearing him apart. He is lashing out as he tries to make his world orderly again. But with Starbright and Starlight falling into your laps his world has become even more chaotic." She said softly.

"So why aren't you freaking out?" He asked her.

She tipped her head to the side in thought. "I don't need to have my world make sense. That has never bothered me. The world has always been, to me, chaos. There is no point in trying to make sense of something that is so illogical. It is much easier to just accept it as is and deal with it as best you can." She said with a shrug.

He brushed his fingers across her cheeks. "I won't share you." He growled at her.

She sighed. "I'm not asking you to." She said gently. "For now, there is just sleep." She said pulling him towards the bed.

Thoughts, feelings, opinions?