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Braving it in the New World	By : EvaBrick Category: Comics > Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Views: 10091 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own the Ninja Turtles, nor am I making any money from them. I'm just borrowing the boys for a while. I do own my original characters.

Chapter List
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Donatello sank down on the living room couch and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. He stared at his feet and wrapped his arms around his head while he tried to take the deep meditative breaths that Splinter had taught them to do as children. It wasn’t working. He was pretty close to hyperventilating.
The bottom of Raphael’s shell clunked against the coffee table as he sat down in front of his brother. He leaned down and put his head next to Don’s and grabbed his shoulders to steady him. “Breathe with me, Donnie,” he said, calmly. “Come on, bro. In and out.”
“I feel sick,” Don gasped.
“Yeah, well, you’re havin’ a panic attack,” Raphael said. He rubbed the back of Don’s neck. “Come on, breathe with me.” His voice was gentle and soothing.
Leo sad on the next couch, wringing his hands and trying to stay calm. “I can’t believe Don’s still conscious,” he said. “My heart rate is through the roof and I’m not even the one having the baby.”
Mike was pacing in front of the tv, waiting for April to start streaming from the hospital. Charlie’s water had broken in the early hours of the morning and April and Yoshi had taken her in right away. April had sent them a few texts to let them know they’d been checked in and that Splinter was settled down the hall in the waiting room but nothing had happened yet.
Raphael kept stroking Don’s neck and talking softly to him and gradually Don’s breathing slowed down a bit. “Yer doin’ great, Donnie,” Raphael said. “You’ve gotta be strong fer Charlie. She doesn’t need ta see ya like this… not today.”
Don nodded and kept breathing with Raph. “I’ve never been so scared in my life,” he said. “What if she dies? What if something’s wrong with the baby?”
Raphael shook his head. “I don’t think ya know how tough our girl is,” he said. “She’s no quitter.”
“The baby will be fine,” Mike said. “The doctors know what they’re doing. They deliver babies every day. This is as easy for them as brushing their teeth.” He checked his shell cell for the hundredth time. “Come on, April!” he muttered.
“Are you sure you want us here for this?” Leo asked. “I mean it’s a huge honour to be invited to watch your daughter being born, but… y’know… we’re gonna see your wife naked.”
Don actually chuckled as he breathed with Raphael. “Trust me, guys,” he said. “You’re not going to see anything that’s even remotely sexy here. In fact, this may turn you off sex for the rest of your lives.”
“Fat chance,” Raphael said. “I’ll cut of my own arm before I give that up.”
“Now that’d make a beautiful valentine’s card message for Estrella,” Mike said. He flopped down on the third couch. “You could put some glitter and shit on it.”
Suddenly, the blank blue screen on the tv lit up with an image of April’s face. “You there guys?” she asked.
Don’s head snapped up and Raphael moved to sit beside him on the couch. He kept an arm around Don and the purple turtle leaned into him for support.
“Yeah, April!” Don said. “How’s Charlie?”
April spoke low into the shell cell. “She’s doing great. Stuff’s happening fast. Brace yourselves, this ain’t pretty.”
She turned the cell around and the turtles saw Charlie in a hospital bed. Her knees were up and her bloated vagina was leaking lots of red fluid. Charlie looked stoned but Donatello wasn’t surprised… she’d already told him that she’d be taking any and all drugs they would give her.
“April?” Charlie groaned.
“I’m here, honey,” April said. She moved up beside the bed and the turtles watched as she stroked Charlie’s sweaty forehead. “Don’s watching now,” April said. “You wanna say hi?”
Charlie sniffled and looked up to the cell. “I love you,” she said.
Tears flowed down Don’s face. “I love you too, honey,” he said. “I wish I was there with you. Does it hurt a lot?”
Charlie nodded. “It’s not so bad now,” she said. “They gave me happy gas.” Suddenly her face scrunched up and she screamed.
“Breathe, honey,” April said. She put the gas mask back over Charlie’s face. “Breath deeply and get as much as you can.”
Charlie sucked in some deep lungfulls and relaxed. Her eyes looked glazed.
“She’s on more than just the gas,” April said quietly as she went back to stroking Charlie’s head.
A doctor and two nurses busied about the room. Donatello watched with his hand over his mouth. Raphael kept his arm firmly around Don’s shoulders. Leonardo moved to sit beside Don when the doctor told Charlie to start pushing. When the contractions hit and Charlie screamed, Mike kicked the coffee table to the side and sat on the floor in front of the others. She screamed again and Mike felt something wet hit his shoulder. He looked up and saw fresh tears dripping from Don’s cheeks. Mike reached up and squeezed Don’s hand. Don wrapped his arm, with his hand still joined with Mike’s, around Mike’s chest and pulled him in closer. Leo hugged Don at the waist and gripped Mike’s shoulder. No one took their eyes from the screen. The baby’s head crowned and Charlie howled in pain.
Raphael tried to speak but his mouth felt dry. “I don’t see how men can joke about women’s health,” he said, gruffly. “She’s a goddamn warrior.” The others grunted in agreement.
And then, all of a sudden, the baby slid into the doctor’s hands. April cried. Charlie cried. All four turtles cried. Then the baby cried.
“Holy shit!” Don yelled. “That’s my kid! Do you hear her?”
“We hear her,” Raphael laughed.
They watched as the baby was weighed and swaddled and placed in Charlie’s arms. April, ever the journalist, zoomed in on the baby’s face just as she opened her eyes. Her face looked very much like Charlie’s but her eyes were dark and shaped like two perfect almonds.
“She’s Japanese!” Mike yelled in Japanese.
Don was choking on tears and he couldn’t stop smiling. “She’s perfect,” he said.
*
Two days later, April brought Charlie and the baby home from the hospital. Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo did their best to give them and Donatello lots of space, since they hadn’t had any time to bond as a family but they were all dying to meet the baby. Raphael suggested they all go upstairs to give Don a private moment with Charlie to meet his baby.
Don watched as his brothers scurried upstairs. He leaned on the back of a couch and took a deep breath as the cab pulled up outside the church. A minute later, the key turned in the lock. Don turned to face the door as April walked in, carrying a car seat and diaper bag. She set them both down, grabbed Don in a ferocious hug, and peppered his face with kisses. “I am so proud of you,” she whispered. “I’ll go put this stuff away in the nursery.” She gave him a wink and disappeared with the car seat and bag.
“Hi Donnie,” a tired voice said.
Donatello looked back to the door where Charlie stood in the golden morning sunlight with a little bundle in her arms. She had dark circles under her eyes and she needed a shower. Don’s heart skipped a beat. He rushed to her and kicked the door shut as he pulled her smaller, weakened body to his. She rested her head against his chest and he stroked her back and hair. Something moved between them and he looked down at the tiny girl who was nestled against his strong plastron. The baby yawned and gave a little stretch. Don’s heart melted and, in that moment, a new kind of love surged through his body. He tried to speak and choked up.
“Want to hold her?” Charlie asked. She was smiling at him. She put the baby in his arms and he tried to remember all the YouTube tutorials he’d watched on supporting a baby’s head. His legs felt weak so he sat on the floor in the lotus position. Charlie winced and sat down next to him. She put her arms around him as he rocked the baby.
“Charlie,” Don croaked. “She’s wonderful. She’s better than anything I imagined!” He leaned down and smelled the baby.
Charlie wiped her eyes and rested her head on his big shoulder. “I know,” she said. “It’s a whole other kind of love, isn’t it? I’ve never felt this before.”
Don nodded and smelled the baby again.
“What does she smell like?” Charlie asked.
“Hospital chemicals, you, and new baby,” he said, dreamily. “I’ve never smelled that new baby smell before that people talk about… I’ve never been this close to a baby before.”
Charlie stroked his head. “Get used to it, handsome,” she said.
Don tore his eyes away from the baby’s face and kissed Charlie. “I’ve had some great moments in my life,” he whispered. “The first time I built a computer that actually worked… when Master Splinter presented me with his own bo and told me he’d taught me everything he knew… the night the guys and I snuck out to see Aerosmith… the day I killed Rocksteady… that time when you said you’d be my girlfriend… the first time we made love… the first time you told me you loved me… our wedding day… but this… oh, Charlie, this…” Don sniffed back some happy tears. “This is the greatest moment of my life. My heart feels so full… I didn’t know something was missing until now.”
Charlie smiled through her tears and pulled his face down to hers. She wiped the tears from his cheeks and he shifted the baby a little so he could put one arm around her to hold them both. “And just think,” she said. “We’re only four feet inside the door. Imagine all the other great moments we’ll have together.”
Don laughed and then sobered up. “Are you sure there’s nothing on her that looks like a turtle?” he asked. “No marks, no green skin?”
“I’m sure, Donnie,” Charlie said. She turned her head and kissed his shoulder. “Want to look at her?”
Don hesitated so Charlie reached for the baby and pulled the swaddle off. “It’s okay,” she reassured him. “She’s half your DNA. You can look at her.” She unsnapped the baby’s pajamas and even took off the diaper. She picked the baby up and turned her around so Don could see all of her. There wasn’t a mark or even a freckle on her fresh skin. Don sighed in relief and took her back in his arms. He ran his big fingers down her back and gently pinched the tiny muscles in her legs. Her whole body was half the size of his own thigh muscles.
The baby shivered and woke up. Her dark almond eyes were a little blurry and Don remembered that new babies were very near-sighted. Her eyes fell on his face and, for a moment, he was worried that she’d be frightened of him, but she just blinked a few times and made some soft baby noises. She smacked her lips.
“She’s cold and hungry,” Charlie giggled. She reached for the diaper and Don helped her put it back on. “I’ve learned to recognize those two things in the last two days.”
Don helped her dress and wrap the baby again and then he got to his feet. He passed the baby to Charlie and then picked them both up in his strong arms. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go home.”
After Charlie was settled in bed and Donatello was sat in the rocking chair next to her, giving the baby her bottle for the first time, April went home to have a rest. She promised to come back the next day. The fatigue was finally catching up to Charlie and she dozed off and on. When she was awake, Don couldn’t stop telling her how much he loved her and thanking her for giving him a child. He’d never been so happy in his life and he told her so over and over again. He even changed a diaper all by himself… it worked exactly like the YouTube tutorials said it would. Finally, Charlie told him to go show the baby to his brothers before they broke the door down.
Don kissed her lips and carried his daughter out of their apartment, through the kitchen, and to the huge living area. His brothers had come downstairs and were fidgeting on the couches. They got to their feet as they saw him approach. Against Donatello’s large chest, the baby was just a tiny bundle. They gathered around, barely breathing, as Don pulled back the blanket.
“Guys,” he said, very softly so he wouldn’t wake her, “I want you to meet my little girl… Emily.”
Raphael wiped his eyes first but no one laughed at him. Don smiled and held her out to him. “Wanna hold her?”
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Braving it in the New World