Chapter four:
A month has passed since the border fight.
Leo heads to the medical building which he turns as someone races to him. He sees that it's Usagi making him feel a little annoyed.
"Leo? Are you alright? Why are you going to med?" Usagi questions with worry flashing through his eyes.
"I've just been feeling a bit off. A little sick for awhile. I'm just going to get checked to be sure." Leo turns away continuing his way into the building with Usagi. He tells one of the mutants there about how he's been feeling. He is taken in and checked over.
Usagi hovers nearby pacing as if anxious about if Leo will be okay.
The mutant he spoke to, an otter named Rain, pulls back giving Leo a smile. "You're fine." She tells him actually looking happy. "Your symptoms are normal. You just have some eggs inside of you." Her words give Leo pause in surprise.
Even Usagi freezes in shock.
"We are mutants." Rain points out still smiling. "The rules of nature kind of change for us. It is possible though less likely compared to females for males to have kids. Since you're a turtle you'll give birth to eggs that will hatch." She moves away as Usagi approaches Leo.
Leo turns to glance to Usagi when he leans close.
"I may not know who the father is. But what is clear is that he is somewhere outside of the group." Usagi whispers to Leo. "I won't pry into who it is. But to cover your ass you can pretend that they're mine. I'll play along. We can say that though things were rocky we tried to be together. And this was all unexpected."
Leo is a little grateful for this.
Usagi is a wonderful friend even though Leo has to reject his advances.
Leo wonders how Raph is going to react to the news. He is excited himself and he hopes that Raph will be as well.
That night...
Raph turns as Leo arrives to their spot. He heads over to him embracing him as the other does the same. "I've missed you." He mentions with a rumble nuzzling Leo's head.
"I've missed you too." Leo responds then pulls away with a serious look.
Raph blinks as his smile falls in worry. He places a loving hand on Leo's cheek. "Darling? Is everything alright?" He inquires to which Leo takes a breath.
"Raph. I'm expecting eggs. Your eggs." Leo explains causing Raphs eyes to widen.
Raph then can't help but grin. He pulls Leo back into an embrace. "We're going to be parents!" He says happily as Leo happily hugs him back. His heart is racing and so warm with excitement. He can imagine them laying together with their babies against Leo's body. He then remembers that they are in different groups. He nuzzles Leo's head lovingly. "What do you want to do now that this has happened?" He inquires to the other wanting his thoughts and feelings.
"I think once the babies are here then I'll come to your group."
They pull away only enough to be able to look at each other.
"I don't want to raise them in Niles group. I can handle being there until they are born though. So we have a ton of time to prepare in our own ways. I think it'll be a bit better if we have kids to show for when I ask to join your side." Leo informs Raph who nods to this.
"Alright. I will wait for that time to come. You do whatever you need to over there. Just let me know if you ever want to switch over earlier." Raph tells his mate who nods to this.
"I will." Leo promises and nuzzles Raph when the other places a hand on his stomach.
Raph doesn't have any doubts that Splinter will accept Leo, especially when he learns that Leo is Raphs mate. He snuggles together with his mate in the moonlight. He can't wait for the time to come where they'll meet their children. He wants to raise them happily with his dearest mate.
The next day Leo is sitting in the living room slouched as he is relaxing. He looks up as Nile approaches him.
"I heard from Usagi." Nile tells Leo who shifts to sit up properly knowing they need to talk. "Why didn't you tell me as soon as you found out?"
"It was only yesterday I found out." Leo informs Nile. "You would have been told. I just wanted to settle the surprise of it within myself first."
Nile snorts at this though seems to accept that answer. "Fine. But you listen here Leonardo." He tells the other who does as he's told. "You're no longer allowed on border patrols or anything that could or will involve you fighting. You can hunt for now. This group could really use some more children to train up. We can't risk losing your children. Especially since I've seen how you are with Usagi. There's a chance that this might not happen again. We just got lucky. So let's not mess this one chance up. Also you will keep me updated on how things go. Just to make sure everything is done for this pregnancy to go well. Do I make myself clear?"
"I understand." Leo does like that agreement as he actually likes the idea of no fighting. He doesn't want anything to happen to his and Raphs children either.
"Good. And don't let me catch you breaking my orders." Nile nods then heads away leaving Leo be for now.
Leo sighs softly actually glad that Nile has left. He knows that Nile is thinking about what kind of fighters Leo's kids will be. He silently reminds himself that he'll be taking his kids to live with Raph in Splinters group. He just has to play along with all of this until then.
Luckily Usagi understands Leo not wanting to share a bed or be all lovey dovey. He knows they're not actually together, hence why Leo doesn't want any couple stuff, despite pretending to be the father of the eggs.
Leo will let him pretend to be the father so that way everything will go smoothly here.
A few months go by and the two lovers meet up at their usual spot.
Leo's shell has expanded showing that he is gravid with Raphs eggs. He is a mutant and so he gets to show that he's pregnant. He is laying on his side with Raph spooning him from behind. He gently places a hand over his mates that is on his expanded stomach.
Raph places loving kisses on the back of Leo's neck making him giggle softly. "You're so beautiful."
"Really? Even though I'm so big?" Leo's questions earns a small warm chuckle from his mate.
"Even so. You haven't lost any of your beauty." Raph confirms to which Leo turns his head giving the other a kiss.
Raph kisses back as they share their feelings of love in the simple kiss.
They pull apart after a few moments to look into one another's eyes warmly. They share a happy smile as they know that it's only a little longer, then they can be like this all they want at any time.
"You know when it's closer to time for the eggs to come I'll be stuck at home. So we're ready when the time does come. I won't be able to come meet you for a bit." Leo informs him to which Raph gives an assuring look.
"That's okay. We can plan around that. To find a way to communicate that we can meet up again, as well as communicate anything else." Raph tries to think of a good way that they might be able to do this.
"Well from what I was told they're estimating a two month time, after laying, for the eggs to hatch." Leo informs Raph who listens to what he has to say. "So we could plan for something around then."
Raph hums softly in thought at this. He thinks that Leo's suggestion could help. He doubts that Leo would have a way to send a message to a location without suspicion. He knows that they should be careful with this whole thing. So he wants it to be the safest plan that they can think of. He gets an idea. "Okay. Then how about this? Once we know about the time they're expected to be laid then I'll know the timing. After two months since whatever date we get I'll come here each night. For our usual time of course. You can come and we can either plan the day to bring the little ones, or you can come with the little ones."
"I think that I'll bring the little ones. The sooner I can get them out of there the better." Leo tells Raph who nods in agreement to this. "I do think that we'll need to wait until the day. I want the introduction to go as best as possible. Night might make them feel like an attack could come. Plus if no one even sees us come they could get defensive in the morning. I don't want to stress anyone out. Not the best first impression."
"Whatever you want. I'm sure it'll all be fine." Raph gently strokes his lovers cheek. He places a kiss on Leo's other cheek when his mate nuzzles into his hand. He gets a small happy churr in response to his affection. That morning Raph is at home sitting on the couch. He glances up to see Mikey and Donnie snuggling against each other on the floor.
They're not doing it sexually and are instead clearly just being affectionate. They even nuzzle their heads together happily.
Raph smiles at the sight before turning away letting them be all loving.
It is about a month before Leo is expected to lay the eggs. He is at his home and he gathers all the blankets on his bed trying to tuck them into a nest. He doesn't feel satisfied with it. He's been craving a nest of soft things to help prepare for his eggs. He gets up and goes to the closet. He grabs the extra blankets where he ends up grabbing them all. He takes them back to his room and adds them to his nest he's making. He feels a little better at that it's gotten bigger and comfier looking. "Still needs more." He whispers to himself glancing around. He doesn't have any other blankets here to add to the nest. His eyes land on his pillow.
Of course!
Leo grabs his pillow not sure why he didn't think of that sooner. He places it in the pile of blankets that makes his nest. He gets up going to the living room. He grabs the throw pillows from the couch and goes back to his room. He adds them in and is finally satisfied. He climbs in laying down in it feeling so comfortable. He made a pile of blankets folded and placed with slight walls on the outside, pillows on the bottom for extra comfort. He raises his head to look to his doorway at hearing a chuckle.
Nile is standing there leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.
"What is it?" Leo questions. He isn't surprised that Nile is here since the other has him living with him. He doesn't get noticed leaving at night, not that the other would really care since he doesn't know what's actually going on.
"Need more blankets?" Nile offers clearly teasing Leo.
"I'm fine." Leo huffs at him slightly. He isn't sure what to make of Nile being more subdued than usual. He thinks that it is probably because of the eggs he's carrying. "You're being all soft." He points out still staring at Nile.
"What? You don't like it? I thought it'd help keep your eggs healthy if you didn't have to worry about anything." Nile points out with a snort. "I can drop it if that's what you would prefer. But I want you to be able to have healthy children. And I want you to be as relaxed as you can be."
Leo sighs softly. "It doesn't matter to me." He tells Nile lowering his head to rest it in the nest. "You can pick." He isn't staying anyways so it really doesn't matter. He just has to last long enough for his eggs to hatch.
"Then guess you'll have to get used to this." Nile tells him pushing himself away from the doorframe. He uncrosses his arms as he does so. He moves into the room as Leo watches him. He stops by Leo's bedside. "Just don't expect me to be so nice outside of the house."
"Never expected it from you in the first place." Leo points out keeping his eyes on the other.
Nile lets out a breath at this. "Look. I know that despite that I was supposed to be a father to you it's been rocky. Just know that I had been hoping that you'd find someone you'd want to start a family with. Things may not have been how I was hoping they'd be. Since it's clear you and Usagi are not really even working out. However at least you'll have little ones of your own. So I'll just accept that."
"Yeah sure." Leo slightly glances away. He is at first a little unsure about those words. He decides that it's fine. He may feel like it is nice to hear that, though he's never really belonged here. He wants a life with his actual mate. He knows that Nile will be upset that he left, he just now wonders if he'll be at least somewhat happy that he's with his real mate; the one he actually loves.
"There is something that I guess I should have told you sometime ago." Nile admits causing Leo to turn back to him. "Leo. It's about your past." His words do cause Leo to raise his head. "I kind of pushed it away. Figuring that you didn't need to know. If you don't want to know I won't tell you."
"Tell me." Leo requests to which Nile gives an okay nod.
"I found your egg when I checked out the unclaimed area. At the time thinking of expanding our territory. It was clear no one had been there for awhile. Though your egg was in a nest that did keep you a little warm. You hatched right there and then. I waited to see if anyone would come for you. No one did. So I took you back with me. I decided we wouldn't be expanded the territory. There would be so much to do and we'll just take care of the territory we do have. We raised you here as one of us. That's how you came to be a part of our group."
Leo blinks kind of not having expected that. He had thought that perhaps his parents had just been killed.
That it was why no one wanted to talk about it.
"I don't know what happened to your parents. I never saw any turtles ever beyond our border. I did explore past it just to see. Nothing. None of the other mutants out there I spoke to knew of any turtle mutants out there."
"Well I don't plan to go searching. I mean what good would it do after all this time anyways. I did want to know where I came from. If I was born in the group or not. I don't really care about them. Maybe one day I'll come across what happened to them, maybe by a trespassing mutant. Thatd be it for me." Leo shrugs to this. He doesn't think it really is worth it to go out there to try to find anything.
If his parents are alive they clearly didn't want him, on the other hand if they're dead why go out to try to figure out what happened years ago.
Besides Leo's made a life for himself and is going to be raising a family with his mate. He doesn't really have to go find out what happened to his parents, especially ones who possibly didn't even want him anyways.
"Well that's good to hear." Nile smiles as if he only told Leo now since he thinks Leo won't be going anywhere. He places a hand on the top of Leo's head. "I'll let you get some rest. Let me know if there is anything that you need." He removes his hand and leaves Leo's room with that.
After a few moments Leo hears a shout.
"Hey! Get your asses out on patrol if you're bored!" Nile sounds like he's shouting out a window.
Leo lets out a breath with a slight roll of his eyes.
Nile never actually changes.
Leo closes his eyes letting himself take a small nap for now.
On the other hand Raph is laying back on his bed. His arms up with his hands tucked behind his head. His gaze looking to the ceiling. He thinks about when Leo comes to be a part of Splinters group with him. He can imagine the looks of surprise on his brothers faces. He can especially see it when he thinks about when they learn Leo is his mate, plus that the kids with them are theirs. He smiles softly to himself at the thought of giving his brothers such a surprise. He knows that his family is going to love Leo. He can't wait to be able to show off his mate to everyone, and not have to hide that Leo is indeed his. He knows his bed is big enough to fit him and his mate. He'll get extra beds for the babies when Leo comes. He doesn't want to potentially spoil the surprise. "The time is ahead." He whispers to himself. He gets up and goes to see what his brothers are up to right now.
Mikey is working on drawing with his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth. He likes to draw and is actually pretty decent at it.
Donnie on the other hand looks to be either making something or fixing something.
Raph heads over to Donnie curious what he is doing exactly. "What are you doing?" He can see the insides of the machine which confuses him. He just knows that Donnie has no problems as he is pretty smart.
Donnie pauses in his work to glance to Raph. He turns back to what he is doing. "I'm actually fixing up an old breaker box. If I can get it working it could be used as a back up in case any fail."
"Pretty smart idea." Raph hums softly with a slight nod.
"Yeah. I just have to replace quite a few parts." Donnie explains as he removes a part from the device.
"Need any help?" Raph looks from what Donnies doing to Donnie himself. "Or for me to go get something?"
"I'm good. Thank you." Donnie pauses his work to give Raph a smile.
Raph gives Donnie a gentle pat on his shoulder as he returns the smile. He sees his brother smile a little more at this. He moves his hand away as Donnie goes back to work. He heads over to the couch sitting to join Mikey. He glances over the others shoulder to see the drawing.
The drawing appears to be of Donnie slightly leaning back, hand on the back of his head so his bent arm is raised to be visible above his head. He also seems to be looking at whoever is looking at the drawing with a calm look.
Mikey seems to be currently working on getting the shading just right.
"Looks good." Raph mentions as Mikey nods not looking up. He does notice a slight pink to his brothers cheeks when he mentions this. He can tell it's because he saw what the other is drawing. He smiles and whispers to the other. "It's okay. He's your mate. I understand."
Mikey nods softly at the reminder that it's okay. He keeps going until he finishes the shading. He pulls his tongue back into his mouth before he speaks. "I was playing around with the shading. I think I got it just right now."
Raph nods his head at this as it does look pretty good. "Are you going to add colour to it? Or leave it as is?" He flickers his eyes to Mikey who looks thoughtful for a moment.
"What do you think?" Mikey turns to Raph letting their eyes meet. "Do you think that it needs some colour?" He inquires to his brother.
"Well why not. Really show off how you see your mate." Raph encourages to which Mikey looks to Donnie before nodding.
Mikey puts his drawing down then hurries away to get supplies for the colour. He comes back a few moments later. He puts the colours by the drawing. He then heads over to Donnie. "Hey Dee."
Donnie pauses his work turning to look at Mikey.
Mikey leans in eyes closed as he seals their lips together in a kiss.
Donnie is surprised at first before closing his eyes leaning in as he kisses back.
They're kiss full of the love they have for one another.
Raph looks away as the two sit there sharing a kiss of love. He doesn't need to watch them show their feelings for each other.
Mikey and Donnie continue to kiss, leaving out tongue as this is just a kiss. They do this for a few moments before Mikey pulls back.
Mikey smiles at Donnie who smiles back at him. "Love you Donnie." He tells his mate happily. "Have fun with your fixing this up." He plants a kiss on the others forehead before heading to go colour his drawing.
Raph slightly glances to them as Mikey returns.
Donnie sits there for a moment watching his mate leave then settle down to colour. He is smiling softly. "Love you too Mikey." He speaks up so the other can hear him. "Have fun with your art." He gets a smile from his mate in return before he turns back to his work. He looks much more enthusiastic now perhaps even slightly less focused.
Raph knows that Donnie will still do a good job even so. He looks to Mikey who picks out the green for Donnies skin. He leans back where he's sitting as he just enjoys this time of peace.
Any of them could be called away for patrol or hunting.
So might as well take in the moment of being able to relax.