Afterglow - Chapter 27

Rated: T

Pregnancy Scare and April Fools Jokes

Chapter Summary: It's April Fools Day and somehow, Mikey gets involved...need I say more?

Raphael should have known; he really should have...

Having Michelangelo as a younger brother pretty much guaranteed that pranks were nearly a daily occurrence in the Hamato household - the red-banded terrapin growing used to the frequency and intensity of said pranks over the course of his lifespan. They ranged from finding plastic or rubber cockroaches in the shower all the way up to putting fuckin' live ones on his pizza (the youngest turtle still had the scar from that particular rampage). To make a long story short, with Michelangelo as a little brother, you just didn't know what prank would be waiting around the corner, or under your pillow; after 18 years, Raphael had believed he'd seen them all...but, oh little did he knew how wrong he was about to be...

...and for once he didn't see it coming...

April 1st and what should have been a normal day was disturbed when his girlfriend came through the turnstiles after attending her one morning class at college. It was a bit strange when the redhead came in without the normal spring in her step or cheery greeting. He couldn't ponder for long when April approached him as he sat alone on the couch, reading a magazine when she stopped to stand in front of him. In the corner of his eye, he saw her face and the first thing he notices was that she appeared apprehensive and nervous.

That should have been his first warning...

Green eyes glanced up above the top of the motorcycle monthly mag and fully looked at his girlfriend. Brows furrowed as to what cold be the matter and knowing April, it was probably something he did wrong but somehow forgot about... Oh crap, did he leave the toilet seat up again?

"Hey, Raph..." April said, interrupting his inner monologue.

"Hmm?" he muttered in reply, lowering the reading material from his face a bit in order to look up at her.

"I have something to tell you." April continued and Raphael's heart jumped into his chest.

That wasn't at all what he was expecting.

"What is it?" Raphael reiterated, sitting up straighter.

"I-It's really important.." she whispered and the look in her eyes had him swallowing back a lump that clogged his windpipe.

Raph went silent, thoroughly freaked out by how April was acting. Her eyes were wide and troubled, and for some reason, both of her hands still remained behind her back.

That should have been another clue...

"What's wrong? Is everything okay?" Raph asked, finally standing to his feet and grasping lightly at one of her arms to pull her slightly closer to him; his heart continued to hammer away in his chest.

April's other arm that still rested behind her back suddenly appeared, a weird small plastic device presented in her dainty fingers. Raph's brows furrowed as he stared at it, not exactly sure what it was but knew it looked strangely familiar...where had he seen it before?

"I-I'm pregnant, Raph..." April whispered and suddenly, everything went silent.

Raphael's eyes bugged out as he stared at the small plastic stick and all of a sudden, there was no noise, only the sound of the pulse hammering in his eardrums. Time seemed to stop as he looked at what was no doubt a pregnancy test then back at his girlfriend over and over again, her words striking him deep in his soul...

His first thought was it was impossible.

He was a mutated turtle - she was a human...well, human, Kraang-hybrid, but human nonetheless! A mutant turtle and human-Kraang hybrid couldn't procreate! It wasn't possible!

...or was it?

All of a sudden, pieces started falling into place... (combining all the research he'd done of the female human anatomy and their reproductive cycle and whatnot stemming from the first time April mentioned her period). he realized their last time having sex was a little over a month ago and they never used protection, because why would they? They never even thought about it! ...But come to think of it, he couldn't remember her mentioning having her period lately or even smelling a hint of blood as of late...

...Oh God...was the only thought that crossed his mind before his world went black.

"April...Fools?" April muttered just milliseconds after her boyfriend's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor in a heap. She yelped and kneeled next to the passed-out turtle as Mikey's laughter suddenly rang out from his hiding place behind the couch.

April knew this was a bad idea from the start.

When the youngest turtle came to her with his big baby blue eyes and hopes and dreams of playing the ultimate April Fools Day prank on his hotheaded brother - April couldn't find it in her heart to say no. The redhead agreed to help but little did she know exactly what the orange-banded turtle had in mind. All she really recalled after his explanation of faking a pregnancy to her boyfriend was her face turning an ungodly shade of red and her exclaiming "You want me to do WHAT!?" before large, light green hands were shoved unceremoniously over her mouth to mumble her exclamation.

Michelangelo begged her to remain calm and telling her the fact she already pinky-promised as if it was comparable to signing her name in blood on an ancient scroll. Her fate was sealed and by Mikey standards, if she did back out or give a hint to Raph on the plan, she would be sorry... There were enough horror stories told by the rest of his brothers that Mikey would indeed keep that promise and the last thing she needed was the youngest turtle having a chance to blackmail her into doing something stupid...or putting her through one of his infamous pranks.

To make a long story short - she reluctantly agreed.

April even went out to buy a cheap pregnancy test, and was relieved to know she didn't need to make a fake positive one because Raphael wouldn't know the difference between a negative and positive one anyway - most people had trouble figuring them out, let alone a mutant turtle with very little knowledge of the subject. After making it back to the lair, Mikey went over with her what she was being told to do and April was prepared for the shit to hit the fan the second the words left her mouth...

...but she was not expecting this...

The story went off without a hitch but the second Raphael hit the floor was when none of this was funny anymore. She was certain she had never seen her boyfriend's eyes wider and while she was expecting such a reaction, him passing out was not one she anticipated.

Currently, she was ignoring Mikey's onslaught of laughter while tending to her boyfriend, who proceeded to wobble precariously on his shell upon the flat living room floor.

"Oh my God, Raph! Are you okay!?" April screeched, shaking his shoulders which only caused him to wobble further, and that seemingly made the situation even more hilarious to Michelangelo, who curled behind the couch holding his stomach as the guffawing intensified. "Ugh, Mikey! I told you this was a bad idea!" April continued to the tune of what seemed to be all-encompassing hilarity.

It was half an hour later when the unconscious turtle finally woke up.

Donnie and Leo were able to move him to his room and Splinter had a few choice words for Mikey once April told him the situation... Yet even with Sensei behind her, April knew somehow this would all come back to bite her in the ass...

That didn't matter the second her boyfriend opened his bright green eyes. Before April could say a word, she was stunned into complete silence when Raphael suddenly became aware of her presence and the first thing he did was reach over to gently rest his large hand upon her flat stomach...

Wow, karma really doesn't take a break, does it?

Yet April could not speak, only take in how sincere his eyes were - how she could read the depths of those green pools so easily that it hurt. She went in expecting anger and the dreaded question "how could you let this happen?" but instead was greeted with acceptance and if she was mistaken - happiness? There was the softest smile gracing the edges of his lips and the cruelness of this prank only twisted in her gut further.

"I-I'm not pregnant. It was a joke." she blurted out and all to soon, the look upon his face disappeared and hand retreated. His eyes met hers and she swore her heart broke in two.

"...Y-You're not?" he asked; his voice small and raspy.

"No. I'm not - It's April Fools." she reiterated, hating herself for ever agreeing to this in the first place... Mikey sure had hell to pay...and she didn't understand the new feeling that was occurring within her.

"Oh." he replied after only a moment, looking rather embarrassed and rubbing the bump on the back of his head; looking away from her to stare blankly at some random poster on his wall.

...was he...disappointed?

It was quiet for what felt like an eternity before he spoke again, "Heh. Guess you got me pretty good, huh?" he continued and his chuckle never sounded more forced. "Nice one, O'Neil."

April's stomach tightened when he smiled at her and she felt tears built in her eyes and one of them escaped down her cheek. Raphael didn't comment on her tears, only indication he even noticed was his smile deflating and he gave her a silent once-over.

"You would've been okay if I was pregnant...wouldn't you." April stated more than asked.

"Of course I would." he replied to it anyway.

The ease of which he said those words was enough to break whatever spell fell over her. Falling forward to lay on his chest, she pressed her face pressed into his throat. "I'm sorry, Raph. I told Mikey it was a stupid idea! I didn't want to do it but -"

"April, it's okay. I mean, that was a good one and it's been a long time since one of Mikey's pranks actually worked on me." he said and this time, his smile looked genuine. "...and if by some miracle we'd even be able to have kids, I'd take responsibility for it. I love you and I'd love any little turtle-human-Kraang-ish freaky hybrid children we'd make." he continued in a serious tone and after pulling back to get a look at his face, April couldn't help but chuckle at the mental image it brought to her mind; picturing little mutant turtles with blue or green eyes, red hair, and pink tentacle arms was quite disturbing yet strangely adorable at the same time.

"...Really?"

"Yeah...Although, I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda relieved you're not though." he continued after a moment with a shrug of his massive shoulders and April's smile fell a little, "I mean, let's face it April; I doubt either of us are ready to be parents, but if it was possible and it did happen...I'd be happy..." he finished, reaching over to grab her small hands in his large mitts.

"Me too..." April admitted, her cheeks pleasantly flushed as he brought her in for another hug; the redhead melted into his embrace, smiling widely when he kissed the side of her face. These following moments were silent and comforting as she relaxed in his thickly-muscled arms; well, until his next comment ruined it.

"Heh...but you did freak me the fuck out, O'Neil. Maybe we should start thinking of using protection."

April just snorted at his statement, "Yeah, right! If there was any chance you could get me pregnant, I would have got pregnant a looooong time ago." she defended, pushing away from him to glare at the terrapin.

"You just don't want to shell out the extra dough for those extra, extra, extra large condoms, huh? Notice the XXX thing I did there?" he said with a smug chuckle and wiggle of his brows that April couldn't help but smack his plastron.

"Such a smug, little ass." April groaned and yelped when she found herself underneath him on the bed. How did he move so fast?

"Oh, there's nothing little about me..." he growled into her neck, making her gasp when he suddenly pushed himself flush with her body.

"Definitely not your ego, that's for damn sure." April muttered against the top of his head as he continued his ministrations on her neck.

"Y'know you love it babe..." he said, giving her neck one last kiss before pulling himself up on his elbows to look at her.

April couldn't help but smile at him, her arms happily encircling his neck and she was prepared to pull his mouth closer to hers...

"Ooh! Looks like I may be an uncle after all!" Mikey's voice suddenly rang out from the now open door and the couple flew from each other until April was left sitting on the bed and Raphael was standing near the end of it. "Oops... Don't mind me. I just stopped by to say no hard feelings...right, April?"

April just stared at the youngest turtle and for once those big baby blue eyes were not working on her. "Get him, Raph."

"With pleasure." her boyfriend replied while cracking his knuckles; before April could blink, Raphael was chasing the screeching youngest turtle out the door.

April screamed after her boyfriend, "Don't kill him!"

"Can't promise that!" Raph screamed back.

The second the two were out of sight and earshot, April plopped back down on the bed with a sigh and a smile; daydreaming about a little girl with messy red hair and big green eyes...