A week later, Don and I summoned up the courage to finally tell Raph, Mikey, and Casey they were going to be uncles. We wanted to tell them when everyone, minus Leo, was going to be here in the lair.

"Donny and I have an announcement to make." I said.

We both looked at each other, then Don said, "The reason why (I) have been sick for so long is because we are expecting a baby."

The 3 boys just froze.

"Don's going to be a daddy?" Mikey broke the ice.

"Yes. I'm afraid so." I said. "And that's why I haven't been training."

"Did Splinter know?" Raph asked.

"Yes. We told him the morning after we found out the night before, which was a week ago." Don replied.

"What about Leo?" Casey asked.

"No. I haven't written Leo to tell him. I'm not ready to tell him. But we'll work on that part when we come to it." I said.

"Why would you cheat on Leo?" Raph demanded, crossing his arms.

"I know you know we were real close once, Raph. But Leo turned cold on me, and all of us. I know he still cared, but it wasn't the way I wanted it. I wanted it to be like before the exile of the Shredder. I needed more from him, like his love, and he wasn't giving that to me. So, Don took over. I never meant to cheat on him, though he doesn't know yet. Don was giving me what I needed to be happy. I'm just trying to make you understand why, and we didn't expect to get pregnant."

"I'm still scared out of my wits about this baby. I have thought about it a bit more, and I have decided that because you guys do need a family line to continue, I will have this baby after all." I explained. "Now I just need the support from all of you. Pregnancies are complicated at times, and pregnant moms need a LOT of support."

Don smiled. He was happy that I had decided to carry his baby after all.

I had done a lot of thinking over the week. Don's baby would be special for me. I hope it would look like a turtle more than a human. Don was the most gentle of the turtles, and I was glad that it was his. I would have been happy too if it was Leo's, and it might have given Leo a reason to stay, but he had needed to move on to get his own happiness back. There was just no telling how long he was going to be gone before he found out that he was going to be an uncle.

The guys were still disappointed that I had cheated on Leo, but I made them understand about what had happened, and they had even seen it too. So they understood, and weren't too mad about it. It had been Leo's fault why I had even done what I had done with Don.

But in the end, they all said they would protect me and be there for me when I needed them. Don mostly.

April had been there and helped out as well to make them understand about my condition as well. I would need lots of support and all, but most of all, understanding, if this was going to work out.

….

A few weeks went by. I was now about 3 months along. My morning sickness was finally going away, and I began to eat more.

Donny tried to help me out as much as he could. I was happy to have him around. He was very good to me. But I didn't bother him too much when he was working, unless he was working too much and he needed sleep or to eat. I wasn't going to let his health get bad just because this pregnancy wasn't happening to him.

I still wondered what was happening with Leo. The whole family did. We all missed having him around, but I know I just didn't miss that snappy behavior. I was still worried about what he was going to think when he found out that I was pregnant and was not carrying a baby of his.

Raph wasn't as moody now with Leo gone, except when he fought bad guys or Mikey pulled a prank on him. Don helped to try to straighten him out when he needed evening out.

Mikey did his best to make healthy meals for me, and be an entertainer. But he also had to be careful of what he said. I couldn't help myself if I started crying or got mad. The hormones.

Now that the morning sickness part of over, I was beginning to somewhat like being pregnant. I had no monthly gross time anymore. I had energy. But the one thing I did hate was just having my stomach touched and examined, or anything else lower than the waist.

Master Splinter wasn't letting me train with anybody, but did encourage me to still keep in shape.

Because I am human, I did go for walks about every other day with April in the evenings, and in the mornings after training, Don or Mikey would go walking with me in the sewers.

It was good for Don to spend some more time away from his lab.

Don and I were now staying in the same room, which it was a reluctant part on Master Splinter to let us. But we had already made love and gotten pregnant, and he saw how I got Don out of his lab more to eat and relax, so he was seeing how good of an influence I was on his brainy son. So now, he didn't mind much at all.

I was anxious about wanting to think of names for our precious baby right away, but Donny assured me we had plenty of time for that. But I just wanted to find a good name now. I really hoped that the baby picked up more of Donny's traits than mine.

Since I was up to 12 weeks now, I was just barely expanding in the belly now. From the last sonogram, the baby was showing signs of at least looking like its daddy more. I was glad for that, but it meant that I was guaranteed to give birth by c-section. I wouldn't be able to deliver a child with a shell. I didn't want to risk losing it, or injuring myself, especially with my bad pelvis.

….

In Japan, Leo was enjoying learning things from the Ancient One, but he still did miss his family. He really did feel guilty for how he had treated us for so long. He had written to all of us and said he was sorry for it, and he just wanted to get over that.

The Ancient One had gotten him back to his old self, and he had learned that he needed to learn to accept failure and to learn from it, not obsess over it, like he had here for so many months.

As for me, Leo wrote me letters too, but I was still mad enough at him that I didn't read them. So I had no idea what he said to me, though I'm sure he said he was sorry.

The others read his letters and wrote back to him though.

Don asked me if I would ever write to him.

"I just can't think of anything to say to him, Don."

"We have to tell him about the baby some time." Don said.

"I know, but I'm not ready to tell him. If he stays in Japan till after the baby's born, that's fine by me." I said.

Don could tell I was still mad. "But was how he treated you that bad?"

"For me, I hold grudges against people who treat me like I'm nobody. And he treated me like that, Donny. It's not easy for me to forgive that." I explained. "And don't tell him Don. I mean it."

Don held up his hands in surrender. "I won't. I'm too nervous to tell him too."

…

Leo enjoyed the letters that he got from his friends and family, but he was disappointed that he didn't get any letters from me. Surely, there had to be some things that (I) could tell him about, he wondered.

He read from the others that I was doing fine, but just didn't have anything to say.

I had made my point clear that not anyone was to tell Leo about me being pregnant. If he was going to find out, he was going to have to come home and find out that way.

Leo began to get worried about me and told the Ancient One.

"I don't know if I need to head home and see if things are really going ok with my family. I know there's so much that you can teach me." Leo said.

"If things are not looking good back home, you can go if you feel the need, Leonardo. You have learned much from me, and found yourself again." The old man said.

"Thank you, Master." Leo said, and he began to pack his things. He was coming home.

Leo boarded a ship after the long journey from the Ancient One's home. He got on as swiftly and quietly as he could. It would take him awhile to get home. He had only been gone three months, my whole pregnancy so far.

He was going to in for a surprise when he got home.