I am so sorry for the long wait guys. I'll try not to take so long next time. I really struggled with this chapter and with a lot of things in RL - but hopefully it won't take me so long next time. Thanks for those of you who've reviewed and stuck with me. I appreciate it. Because of some emotional problems I face on a daily basis that I really struggle with I just hope you guys bear with me on the updating. I'm planning on wrapping this story up here before too long. But in the meantime, thank you again for your support and understanding with everything. See you next time
Chapter 22
Donatello was right of course, Leonardo was up as soon as he found the strength to get off the bed. Elizabeth could tell that Donatello wasn't happy about this, especially since Leo refused to take it easy on his sprained ankle and had tossed the sling for his arm onto the bed, saying he hadn't needed it. Elizabeth was a bit surprised by Leo's solemn, almost angry attitude. She'd seen him cold before but she hadn't really seen him angry or so closed off until now. Over the next week or so Leo refused to spend more time out of his bedroom than he had to and wouldn't join them for meals.
To Elizabeth's surprise, however, his brothers didn't seem at all worried about this. They acted as if… this were normal behavior for the blue-banded turtle. Curious Elizabeth asked Raphael about it one night as they lay in bed together. He'd explained to her that Leo was often hard on himself but that it wouldn't last forever.
Donatello was not at all happy with Leo, mainly because Leo's limp was growing more pronounced as the days passed. It hadn't escaped Elizabeth's sharp eyes either. But Leo had been determined to resume training, despite his injuries. He'd only been able to use one arm to wield his katana, though Don was working with him to strengthen the muscles in his shoulder and he had been forbidden from using it in his training sessions until Donatello cleared it.
Leo had seemed content to follow Don's orders for this – but had ignored Donatello's warnings about his ankle. At first the limp hadn't seemed so bad but now it was much more pronounced and from the way Leo favored it when he thought no one was looking at him Elizabeth was sure it was paining him greatly, despite his reassurances that he was fine.
Elizabeth lay on Raphael's lap as they watched wrestling. She didn't really find it all that interesting but she was content to be with Raphael. The brothers had decided by mutual agreement that they wouldn't be going topside again until Leo was once again at top form – and from the way he was pushing himself Elizabeth wasn't sure if that was going to happen anytime soon. If his limp continued to get worse she knew that he could seriously hurt himself if he didn't let it rest.
"Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth looked up as Donatello walked around the edge of the couch.
"I've got the sonogram ready. I really want to get an ultra sound – want to make sure everything looks ok with the baby."
Elizabeth swallowed hard but nodded. "Ok, I'll be right there, Don." She sat up slowly and rubbed her bare arms nervously.
To her surprise Raph turned off the TVs and stood up with her. He smiled. "Ya want me der with ya?"
Elizabeth bit her lip but nodded. She really did want Raph in there with her, but was afraid he wouldn't want to be since this wasn't his baby – at least not biologically. Raphael smiled and wrapped his arm around her waist and together they walked into the infirmary.
Elizabeth was a bit embarrassed when Donatello told her to take off her pants but she did as he instructed and climbed onto the bed, lifting up her shirt and was relieved when he spread a sheet over her legs giving her some semblance of decency. He spread a cool gel over her rounding belly and stared at the machine.
"You should be far enough along that we can tell the sex of the baby now," Don said as he ran the scanner over her belly.
Elizabeth wasn't sure if she really wanted to know. Would it really make that much of a difference to her? She was still more than willing to give the baby up for adoption – she had never wanted a baby with Graham, and being forced to keep the baby, always having that part of him with her no matter how small would remind her of how trapped she had always felt in that marriage with Graham.
"There's the head," Donatello said pointing at the screen.
Elizabeth couldn't help herself, she turned to look. Donatello was grinning at the screen, and at what was unmistakably the baby's head as it lay there in her womb. It was moving a little and she could hear the baby's heartbeat. She felt herself tearing up despite herself as she realized with a shock that again this was her baby – that this thing was actually growing inside her, and what a marvel that really was. She felt herself tightening her grip on Raph's hand. He squeezed it back gently.
"And the arm, and I'm pretty sure that's the leg." Don said as his eyes narrowed behind his mask in concentration. "I should be able to tell what it is here in just a minute."
A couple tears worked free despite Elizabeth's efforts to hold them back.
Don and Raph were both quiet and then Don's face lit up in a grin. "It's a girl."
"Akemi," Elizabeth whispered. She looked at Raphael who was smiling at her, his golden orbs seemed to be glowing as he touched her hair gently. "I want to name her Akemi."
Elizabeth found herself getting hungrier more often now that her morning sickness had finally faded away and as her stomach continued to get larger with her growing daughter. It had been nearly two weeks now since the turtles disastrous night out in which Leo had been injured, and Raphael was spending a rare night in his own room as he hadn't slept well in almost four days what with Elizabeth getting up and down in the middle of the night as she sought out food to satisfy her cravings.
It was nearly three in the morning when Elizabeth's stomach woke her. She got up quietly and headed for the kitchen, hoping to find something that would curb her appetite until breakfast. After poking around in the fridge for a few minutes she found what she needed to make fried chicken. She pulled out a pan and put oil into it, letting it heat up and adding spices that she wanted for the fried chicken. She dug out a jar of peanut butter to snack on while the chicken cooked. She dug a spoon into the silky smooth peanut butter and put it in her mouth as she used prongs to put the chicken into the frying pan piece by piece. The chicken popped and sizzled, and the homey smell of fried chicken began to fill the lair. Elizabeth helped herself to more peanut butter and turned the heat down a little so the hot oil wouldn't splatter her arms.
"Can't sleep again?"
The voice startled her so much she almost knocked the edge of the frying pan, which would've made the chicken and hot oil go flying. She spun to see Leo watching her from the entryway to the kitchen. He limped over to the table and winced as he sat down.
"You're up late," Elizabeth said frowning a little as she stared down at Leo's swollen ankle, it was almost double the size of his uninjured ankle and it was obviously paining him greatly, though he never complained about it."You should put some ice on that."
Leo watched her pull an ice pack out of the freezer and took it without arguing with her. Elizabeth returned to the chicken as it popped and sizzled.
Elizabeth could feel Leonardo's eyes on her, but she didn't feel at all uncomfortable by this. It wasn't a hostile glare he was giving her, it was more of patient tolerance. She was well aware that she had been the one who had woken him, though she hadn't been noisy. But Leonardo was the most easily woken of his brothers because he was always on edge, always hyper aware of his surroundings, always ready to defend his home and family when the need arose. It hadn't been the first time she'd woken him the week and they had often sat at the kitchen table together sitting in silence, but there had been no real need for conversation.
Elizabeth put the tea kettle on the stove to heat up the water for his tea and just as she turned off the burner for the fried chicken the tea kettle whistled. She poured the hot water into a cup and handed it to Leonardo. He accepted it with a nod and she sat down across from him with a few pieces of fried chicken.
She didn't say anything to him, didn't push him about his ankle. She had asked him about that the first night he'd joined her in the kitchen but he had ignored her questions and had left her alone shortly after that. Elizabeth had gotten the message, he wasn't going to talk to her about it. He accepted her offered ice packs, but that was all, and after Elizabeth went back to bed she was sure Leonardo headed to the dojo to meditate.
Elizabeth had never seen Leonardo so distant before though, not since she'd first met him. But even then it had been different. Then it had been a worried stressful Leonardo. Worried for his family and for the complications having Elizabeth being there could have for his family. Elizabeth knew that nothing was more important to Leonardo than his family. But he even seemed distant from his brothers now, it was so unlike him and she'd seen the worried looks on the others faces when Leo wasn't around. She had a feeling that the brothers hadn't expected Leonardo to distance himself for so long – or to isolate himself as much as he had. If it wasn't for the extra dish she saw later in the afternoon in the drying rack she wouldn't have been sure that he was even eating. And he was pushing himself harder than Donatello thought was wise during their training sessions, but he also paid the consequences of that and the evidence was obvious in his swollen ankle he was now nursing.
If Leonardo picked up on Elizabeth's emotions he didn't show it. He finished his tea, put the cup in the sink, put the icepack back in the freezer and quietly left the room. Elizabeth finished the fried chicken she made and after she cleaned up her mess she too left the kitchen. She could see the flickering lights of candles inside the dojo and knew Leonardo had retreated again to meditate. She frowned and headed back to her room, quietly closing the door behind her.
Leonardo winced, coming back from the spiritual plain as his ankle throbbed. His eyes snapped open and he glared down at the offending joint. He rubbed it gingerly, but that did nothing to ease the pain. He sighed and unfolded his legs from the lotus position, it wasn't helping his throbbing ankle and the pain was getting too bad for him to continue to ignore. He had tried to pass it off as a mild sprain and ignored the fact that he should let it rest and heal as Donatello had instructed. He hadn't wanted to let his brothers down again.
He wasn't blind, nor ignorant of the worry they were all carrying because of him. But the fact was that he had let them down. Again. When Hun had stuck that needle into his thigh he'd known at once that he had been in trouble. His limbs had felt like dead weights and he had been unable to lift his arms or even throw them out to break his fall when his legs had given out on him. He'd been completely powerless. Hun could've done anything to him and no matter how hard his brain had fought against the drugs, to try and force his body to respond to his wills and commands, he might as well have been disconnected completely from his body for all the good it had done. He had been in charge of getting his brothers back home safely, and he had failed at it.
Michelangelo had already been injured, and the wound was deep enough that Leonardo had known that his youngest brother would need stitches to repair the damage. He'd been angry and worried and had underestimated Hun for a split second and it could've cost him or one of his brothers their lives. He had sworn after his final fight with the Shredder and after Karai had sent his own katana through his shoulder that he would never underestimate anyone again. That he would never again be weak when his brothers needed him to be strong. The Ancient One had shown him that he wasn't expected to be perfect, and that there was only so much he could do – and that even giving his all wouldn't be enough in certain situations. But this time had been different.
He and his brothers had fought Hun before, he had taken Hun out several times on his own. So what was it that had given Hun the advantage this time? Leonardo had meditated for several hours about this but was unable to come to a conclusion or find an answer that really hit him. He had been surprised to discover that Hun was working for Graham – it made sense but it was still surprising. And he had no doubt that Graham had told Hun that he and his brothers had rescued Don and Elizabeth from him that night. Of course Hun already knew about them, which just made their situation with Elizabeth more dangerous because Hun always seemed to have access to unlimited teenagers who were willing to lower themselves to Hun's standards to get a few extra dollars in their pockets. It seemed to be human nature to want things that didn't belong to them and Hun's methods, though unethical, were nonetheless effective.
And then there were those new enemies that they had faced, obviously better trained than street punks, but they weren't the foot either. Leonardo wasn't sure what to make of that, and hadn't been able to figure out who they were. He had asked Don shortly after he'd woken if he'd found anything on the strange symbol that had been sewn into their outfits but Donatello had already admitted that so far he had come up with nothing, and from the discouraged looks on Donatello's face after several hours in the lab on several occasions Leonardo was sure that that hadn't changed.
Leonardo didn't blame Elizabeth. Not at all. She hadn't asked for this. Leonardo knew that Elizabeth had fallen in love with a completely different person and that it had changed after they had made their vows. Elizabeth had confided this with him once they'd gotten closer and she'd felt more comfortable talking to him about such things. He also knew that Elizabeth would never want them to get hurt in her place. She'd proved that the night she had tried to save Donatello's life by handing herself over knowing full well that she probably wouldn't make it out of that building alive. If she was willing to do that for them then Leo wasn't going to put her in harm's way. He couldn't do that to her.
His ankle sent another sharp pain up his leg again and he sighed. It was time to stop being stubborn and talk to Donatello. He wouldn't be any good to his family or to Elizabeth if he couldn't even walk properly because the pain made it such a chore. He'd talk to his brother after Don had breakfast. Resigned to this he got to his feet and slowly made his way back upstairs to his room.
Over the next several weeks Elizabeth was relieved to see things return to normal in the lair. She'd been surprised, but happy to see Leonardo walk into Don's lab and return to the couch a while later with his ankle properly wrapped and with a pair of crutches to keep his weight off the injured joint so it could heal properly, and from the relief in Raphael and Michelangelo's eyes they too were delighted that Leonardo seemed to have finally come around.
Whatever issue Leonardo seemed to be dealing with he seemed to be working through, though it didn't seem to be that far from the front of his mind. There were times where his face would fall and he'd become very serious in times that didn't necessarily require such deep meditation on whatever thoughts were bothering him. But Elizabeth was very happy to see Leonardo coming around again, joining them for meals, and being much more relaxed around her and his brothers. And as his ankle continued to heal Leonardo's mood improved considerably and he once again became the turtle that Elizabeth had come to really care about.
Elizabeth was beginning to feel very fat. She'd never been large but now that her stomach had grown well past her normal size she was very self conscious of how she looked and to make her looks slimmer she had taken to wearing extra baggy shirts and sweatpants. But even hidden under the baggy clothes she noticed how the elastic in her sweatpants seemed tight against her ever growing stomach. But she was also aware of something that distracted her from how uncomfortable she'd become with her fat stomach. She could actually begin to feel her daughter really moving around inside her.
At times this really annoyed her, especially when she wanted to sleep. It seemed that whenever she would lie down to take a nap or to sleep at night her daughter would sense it and that was when she decided it was the best time to squirm around inside her. Raphael had found this funny at first, but as Elizabeth slept less and less she could see the amusement had faded away and concern had set it. She knew that fatigue was normal with pregnancy, but after she'd fallen asleep at the breakfast or dinner tables several times this week she too was concerned on whether or not it was normal to be this tired while pregnant. She found herself craving sleep more often and little tasks were wearing her out. Concerned that it might be something more than simple fatigue Donatello had insisted on checking her out, but had come to the conclusion that she was simply exhausted. He'd called April to see if there was anything they could do to help Elizabeth get more sleep, but Elizabeth wasn't sure if April had found anything.
Another concern Elizabeth knew that the brothers had was when she would deliver in a few months. Donatello had told her that he didn't have the equipment necessary to help her properly, and if something went wrong he wasn't sure he'd be able to help the way a hospital would be able to. He'd encouraged her to arrange it with April and Casey to take her to the hospital when she went into labor.
Raphael on the other hand took the opposite view, he didn't want her in a hospital in case Graham had put out an alert for her, he didn't want to risk him finding her there. Even with Casey there he felt it was too dangerous.
But Elizabeth knew that Donatello was right – she should be in a hospital to deliver her daughter. It wasn't safe or hygienic to deliver in the sewers and it would be best to be with the professionals in case something did go wrong. She dreaded telling Raphael what she'd decided to do, knowing he'd been worried and angry but she knew it was best to tell him sooner rather than later so he wouldn't be so surprised when she went into labor and had a suitcase ready to go to the hospital. She wasn't leaving him – she loved him. But she wasn't going to risk her life or her daughter's life by not going somewhere that people knew what they were doing and did it on a daily basis.
Elizabeth finished sliding the hot eggs onto the English muffins and put a couple pieces of crisp bacon on top of each before adding a slice of cheese. Such a simple breakfast, but she wasn't up for much more than that these days anyway.
"Good morning, Elizabeth," Leonardo greeted her as he walked in, well, more like half walked since he was only using his good foot still and had to use the crutches to continue to get around. Elizabeth smiled at his warm greeting, so different from the greetings he would give her a couple weeks ago. She already had his tea ready for him and Leo sat in his usual spot, and sipped at his tea before starting in on one of the English muffins.
"Is there coffee?" Donatello asked as his way of a morning greeting. He yawned and stretched and sat down, still half asleep and stared blankly at the food. Elizabeth poured him a fresh cup of hot coffee and put it in his right hand. He seemed surprised for a minute and then took a sip to help clear away the fog that had settled there during the night. Although Elizabeth was sure that he had only gotten a couple hours of sleep – she'd seen his lights still on at four this morning. She knew Leonardo would make sure Donatello got to bed at a decent time tonight though. Especially since Leonardo was sending his brother a slightly dirty and disapproving look across the table.
"Food! Elizabeth, I love you!" Mikey said with a grin as he hurried to his spot next to Donatello.
"Get yer own girl, Mikey." Raphael growled. He walked around the table and gave her a quick hug and kiss good morning. Elizabeth was surprised to smell her own soap on him. She'd had April go on a supply run for her as she'd needed more shaving cream and a new razor and was tired of the spring fresh soap and had preferred her own strawberries and cream. But she hadn't thought it was that strong.
Raphael smirked and sat down next to Leo and grabbed the plate that was practically over flowing with the English muffins.
"Hey," Mikey protested as Raph helped himself to several of the muffins. "Don't eat all of them, Raph!"
"Keep yer shorts on, Mikey," Raphael said rolling his eyes as he pushed the plate back towards his orange-banded brother.
"We don't wear shorts," Mikey said with a grin as he helped himself to three muffins.
All three of his brothers rolled their eyes at Mikey's bad joke. But Elizabeth chuckled as she sat down on Raph's other side and helped herself to several of the muffins as well.
Elizabeth saw Donatello give Raphael a pointed look. Elizabeth was a little confused. What was that supposed to mean?
To her surprise Raph smirked again and bit into his muffin again, then cleared his throat. "It's been a while since April an' Case came down fer a movie. T'ought dey'd like ta come down tonight."
Leo and Mikey smiled, delighted with this notion. Elizabeth smiled as well. She'd really come to like April, though she was still a little unsure of Casey sometimes. He was so flamboyant sometimes that it made her a little uncomfortable. But she knew that Casey was a good man at heart, he'd never done anything to purposefully scare or her make her uncomfortable. And she knew the turtles really cared about the vigilante as did April, so Elizabeth always made an effort to be friendly with him.
"Sounds great – I can make dinner." Elizabeth suggested.
"Ya don't have ta do dat, 'Lizbeth. Ya cook all da time – I tink Case an' April can bring some pizza or someting give ya a break from all da cookin'."
Elizabeth was a bit surprised by this, she knew that the turtles loved her cooking, but it would be nice to have a break from cooking for a change. She loved to cook but it was a lot of work and a break only for one night would be nice.
"It's my turn to pick the movie!" Mikey announced.
His brothers groaned but Elizabeth didn't mind. She liked super hero movies, well most of them anyway.
"I'll give April a call, tell her that tonight will work." Donatello said with a grin. He put his empty plate into the sink, refilled his coffee mug and headed for his lab. Elizabeth knew that they probably wouldn't see him again until tonight. She returned to her breakfast, barely paying attention as the brothers talked excitedly about the night ahead.
Elizabeth retreated to her room after breakfast as the brothers headed for the dojo to get in their morning training session. She attempted to read but after a half hour or so she found she couldn't keep her eyes open.
To her surprise she actually slept well, it was only when she felt someone gently shaking her that she awoke. She opened her eyes and saw Raphael sitting next to her.
"Ya wanna come out, 'Lizbeth? Everyone's 'ere."
Elizabeth's eyes widened. She'd slept all day? She slowly got off the bed. "I'll be right out – let me change."
Raphael nodded and left the room. Elizabeth slipped out of her pajamas and into her usual sweatpants and baggy shirt. A quick glance in the mirror told her that her hair was utterly impossible so she pulled it up into a loose ponytail. For a movie night she really didn't care. She stepped out of the bedroom and saw that the others were already sitting on the couch. Mikey was obviously making popcorn in the kitchen. Elizabeth walked over to the couch and sat down next to Raphael.
"Come on, Mikey! We're waitin' fer ya!" Raphael called.
"No rushing perfection, Raph!" Mikey called back with an overflowing bowl of popcorn.
Raphael rolled his eyes and stretched a little bit. "Let's git dis movie over with. What are we watchin'?"
Mikey grinned and didn't answer but put the DVD into the player. Elizabeth was very happy to see Mikey had picked Batman Returns. It was her favorite Batman movie. She loved Cat Woman. Even the others couldn't complain about Mikey's selection tonight. None of them, it seemed, had a problem with Batman.
Elizabeth curled up against Raphael and enjoyed the movie and helped herself to some of the popcorn Mikey offered her.
When the movie ended Casey and April stood up and stretched. "Well, we should be getting back," Casey said.
April nodded. "But first, we have something for you Elizabeth."
Elizabeth's eyebrows rose in surprise. "You do?"
April smiled and walked to the kitchen. She came back with a few bags. "Just in case you decide to keep the baby." She said gently.
Elizabeth was surprised and opened up the bags to find several baby outfits, pacifiers, bottles, toys, bibs, and a couple blankets. She looked back at April, wide-eyed. "April, Casey, I… I don't know what to… I can't… "
April silenced her by hugging her firmly. "Yes you can. They're gifts."
Casey wrapped his arm around April's waist and nodded his agreement.
"Uh, Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth looked at Donatello. He was looking sheepishly at her. "We have something for you too."
Elizabeth's eyes widened as Leonardo and Raphael carried a crib out of the lab. It was made of wood, obviously hand made by Donatello, probably from spare parts and pieces of wood he had been able to get his hands on. Elizabeth walked closer and was surprised to see engravings in the larger flatter pieces of wood on both ends of the crib. Those too were obviously hand done. By someone who knew what they were doing. Mikey, she was sure was the one who'd drawn the pictures. She touched the pictures of the pack of wolves, her favorite animals besides horses, which she'd admitted to Raphael one night.
The pack of wolves were all howling at a large full moon on one end and down by the foot of the crib more wolves ran, their tongues hanging from the corners of their mouths. The details in the pictures were incredible, and all of them carved with obvious care. Elizabeth touched the polished wood and tears stung her eyes.
"Oh I forgot." April said she left and returned quickly with a mobile. This too had many wolves dangling down. Elizabeth touched one of the polished wooden wolves on the mobile as it dangled down.
"Mikey drew da pictures – I carved 'em out. Leo did da mobile – an Don put everyting tagether. April was jus' finishin' puttin' da mobile tagether but she told us dat she'd finished it. So we wanted ta give 'em ta ya."
Elizabeth stared at her gifts, she was incapable of speech. But as the tears began to stream down her cheeks and drip off her chin she felt Raphael's rough fingers wipe them away. She had never been given such nice gifts from people who cared so much. Not since she'd married Graham. In all the time they'd been married Graham had bought her many extravagant things but all of them dulled in comparison with these simple things, made with the care and love that the turtles, April and Casey had put behind them. She felt Raphael touch her hair and she turned into him, hugging him before finally turning her head back towards the others.
"Thank you. Thank you so much."