Chapter Text
Okay well, giving birth KINDA SUCKS!
It’s kinda not the coolest thing! Y’know pushing eggs out of you really fucking hurts!
Leo had started feeling the familiar pains of his body getting ready to start laying sometime around midnight, he told his brothers and they made him a nice comfy nest in one corner of the medbay.
He expected it to be quick! Easy and over with pretty fast like it usually is, but, here's the lovely thing about fertilised eggs; they're bigger than unfertilized.
So, instead of taking the usually thirty minutes to maybe an hour- it took all fucking night!
Great, awesome, he so loved getting his bodily fluids all over the nice soft sheets Mikey brought to make his nest. What a great way to show his appreciation.
Thankfully! He did not lay very many eggs! He only laid four, according to Donnie two looked similar to box shell turtle eggs, one looked like a softshell turtle egg and the last one- the biggest one- was obviously a snapping turtle egg.
Mikey was very happy about having two eggs, and he made it very known throughout the lair.
Donnie also said the eggs should hatch within one or two months! He already had an incubator in the nursery for them and once Leo got the turtle part of his brain to actually let them come near the eggs they (and Leo) were moved to the nursery!
He had to admit, despite his body desperately begging for sleep, he couldn't help but stay awake and watch his brothers carefully place each egg in their own little tiny nest.
Leo laid there for hours even after that, curled up in the bed he made Donnie build so he could do exactly this, watch over his little clutch from the safety of their nursery.
The bed was big enough for all four of them to comfortably lay in, and for the first hour or so his brothers kept him company watching over their little ones, talking quietly to each other about what they'll be like once they hatched.
It was a nice moment of calm. It made Leo feel safe and warm, bringing out a happy chirr from him as Raph stroked his shell.
But then Mikey had to make breakfast, and Donnie had to call April and tell her about the eggs' arrival, and Raph had to go wake up pops so he could know his grandkids were almost here.
And then Leo was alone, in the nursery watching the incubator keep his clutch nice and warm.
Which was fine, Leo liked laying there watching his babies, he liked the soft sheets and comforter surrounding him in his mates scents and he liked the fairy lights keeping everything lit just enough to see.
He didn't like the worry gnawing at him though.
He didn't like the 'what if I'm not good enough to be a parent' or the 'what if I get my babies hurt or killed because I'm reckless and stupid' and he really didn't like the 'what if I'm just like pops and ignore my babies when they're too little to care for themselves but they have to do it anyway to survive'.
No, he definitely didn't like those thoughts, they made his chest ache and his eyes water, where were his mates? Where did they go? Why did they leave? When were they coming back? Would they ever come back?
He couldn't take care of the babies all by himself! No he couldn't, he could barely keep his brothers safe. How could he possibly keep his little ones safe?! They were gonna die!
They'd die and it'd be all his fault, they're practically already done for if he's the only one taking care of them, they'll die and then his mates would come back and hate him for it and it'd be all his fault just like everything else has been just like-
"Leonardo? Are you awake my son?"
"Chirp?"
His dad looks at him with a gentle smile on his face from the doorway of the nursery, a hand held over his heart and tears building in his eyes.
"Oh my little Baby Blue, I am so proud of you." The rat man says, stepping to the side of the bed and cupping Leo's face in his hands gently, like he was something breakable.
"Look at the lives you've brought into this world! How big you've made our family grow!" Splinter exclaims, still quiet in the space between them but so loud in Leo's ears.
Dad's proud, did good, good mama good for babies, good for mates.
"I hope that when these little ones hatch they are you just like you, with all your wit and charm and sass!" His dad peppers Leo's face with kisses, making the slider giggle breathlessly.
The thoughts he doesn't like are still there, but now they're replaced with the knowledge that his dad thinks he's good.
He wants to be good! Good for his mates and babies and for his whole family.
"Hey! Don't hog him, I wanna get some Leo luvin' too!" April says indignantly as she steps into the nursery, hair messily tied back at the nape of her neck and glasses thrown on her nose lopsidedly.
"He is my son! I get all the love!"
"Bullshit! Scoot over old man!"
April promptly plops herself halfway on top of Leo's shell, curling into his side and placing a big kiss on the top of his head.
"Look at you! You're a dad now Leo!"
He was! He had babies! Sweet little turtle tots who he'd get to hold in another month or so!
He chirps his excitement up at her, his face was starting to hurt from how big his smile was but he just can't help it! He was so happy! So happy to be so close to holding his babies he could barely contain it!
Dad and April talk more to each other as he finally feels himself drifting off, the little round shapes of his eggs blurring a bit as his eyes droop closed.
He's warm, and safe, and his babies are just an arm's length away if they need him. He can sleep now, knowing that everything would be ok.
—
Waiting for four little eggs to hatch was hard.
Leo was overjoyed each time he woke up and saw the incubator every morning, but each time he couldn't help but be a bit sad that today wasn't the day his babies finally hatched.
Donnie says they shouldn't be too long now, maybe another week or so but Leo doesn't wanna wait that long!
He wants to hold his babies now!
"Leo, you have to be patient, it takes time for the eggs to finish developing and we can't rush that process."
"But I want my babies!"
"I know you do Nardo, I do too, but we just have to wait for them to be ready." Donnies soothes, reaching over and briefly brushing his knuckles over Leo's cheek. He leans into the touch, whining a bit at having to wait.
Donnie sighs and pulls Leo into his side, snuggling them further into the couch and tugging the blanket Leo had around them. It was one of the rare times Leo was out of the nursery since the eggs had arrived, his brothers practically had to drag him away from the incubator in order for him to get some fresh air and exercise.
"I promise it won't be too much longer now, and then you can hold them all you want."
"Bleh." Leo pouts, huffing into Donnie's shoulder. Which only earns him a laugh from his twin.
“LEO! DONNIE! GET IN HERE HURRY!”
Leo doesn’t even wait for Mikey to finish yelling for them, already bolting over the back of the couch and tripping over himself to practically throw himself into the nursery’s door.
“What’s wrong?!”
Please don’t let his babies be hurt, please let the still be alive pleasepleaseplease-
“The eggs are hatching!”
Leo’s heart skips a beat, mind skidding to a halt as processes what his brother had just said.
The eggs are hatching.
His babies are here.
His babies are here-
He crowds around the incubator with Mikey, eyes wide roving over each egg.
Mikey pokes the glass to point out the one he was talking about, the biggest one, Leo can see a big crack down its side and he can hear his baby scratching at the inside.
Donnie presses in close behind them, hovering over their shoulders watching as tiny claws eventually break their way through the shell.
A tiny tiny hand wiggles its way out of the hole his baby's made, scrabbling at the surface of the egg before disappearing back inside.
"Can they get out? Should we help them? W-what they get stuck forever and-"
"Leo, it's gonna be ok, I promise! If they do end up getting stuck, which isn't very likely, then I can take them out of the incubator and we can help them get out." Donnie tries to soothe, tapping his fingers along the back of Leo's shell "I'm sure they won't need any help though, baby turtles do just fine getting out in the wild!"
Yeah they ended up getting stuck. The poor thing wiggled around so much they got all twisted around and started chirping frantically. Which then caused Leo to go in what Mikey has coined Raph Mode™, practically stressing himself into an early grave as Donnie opened the incubator and carefully scooped their baby out so he could help them finish hatching, the sounds of both baby and Leo's distress being what finally brought their eldest brother into the nursery.
With gentle hands the softshell pried open the hole their baby had already made, carefully removing the top half of the egg until a little head poked out.
And yeah this is Raph's baby alright, the size alone was enough to prove it, but their eyes and scales screamed snapping turtle. Well, except for the absolutely precious little red stripes running from the bottom of their eyes down their cheeks.
Once the baby was safely out of their shell Leo barely stops himself from snatching them out of Donnie's hands, instead gently taking them and holding them close to his chest, a huge smile making his face ache with how happy he is.
"Well, glad to say we have our oldest child now! A girl!" Not even Donnie's Bad Boy act could hide the excitement on his face, eyes glistening with brewing tears at the sight of their little girl.
Their little girl who has a lot to say!
She hasn't stopped making the cutest little chirps and trills and clicking noises since Donnie started helping her hatch! She has to pause every few moments to suck in a big breath before going right back to telling them all about what she has to say.
Which, frankly, isn't much. But that doesn't stop her!
Leo doesn't stop his own chirping either, answering each of her tiny sounds with his own as she presses her lil face into his plastron and gazes up at him with the bluest eyes he's ever seen.
And he thought Mikey's were blue!
"Ooh, here Leo, she must be so hungry!" Mikey says, passing him a freshly made bottle of formula and leading them both to the nursery bed, helping Leo get comfortable before sliding in next to him to watch her eat in stunned silence.
Raph takes a spot on the floor, resting his cheek against Leo's arm and failing at concealing his sniffles.
Leo can't honestly blame the big guy for crying, Leo himself (who's already done far too much crying the last few months) feels tears building in his eyes ready to spill over.
Donnie keeps close to the incubator in case any more babies want to hatch, and the four of them sit there in gentle silence, the only noise the sound of their beautiful baby girl filling her belly.
"Artemisia." He states simply, like this had been common knowledge to all of them long before she had hatched.
"That's perfect." Mikey agrees, Raph and Donnie make similar sounds of agreement, and even little Artemisia herself seems pleased with the name. If the little happy purring from her was anything to go off of.
"What about Dahlia for her middle name? It's a flower meant to represent femininity." Donnies suggests.
"Artemisia Dahlia. I like that."
—
The next baby to hatch is one of the little box shell eggs, this baby didn't need any help getting out of his egg, quickly poking his little head out and loudly announcing his presence before Donnie can even get the incubator open to get him out.
He looks more like Leo than Mikey, bright green scales and yellow stripes running across his ittt bitty arms. All he's missing are the red stripes on his face, those are replaced with little yellow and orange freckles dusted across his beak.
His eyes are green, like Raph's, though not as bright.
He's given the name Merisi, after the murder guy, Donnie looks very pleased with that choice.
"Alright flower man, give us a middle name for Merisi!" Leo prompts, his face aches with how much he's smiling but he can't bring himself to stop.
"Veratrum, it's a lethaly toxic flower often confused for garlic. It's found all over the mountains in the Northern Hemisphere."
"Nice, a muder flower for our murder baby."
—
The third baby (the softshell egg) to hatch takes a bit longer, Donnie almost takes him out of the incubator to help him when his little head pops out and he starts screaming.
Yeah, he was definitely not happy to be out of his egg.
But once he was handed to Raph and given a bottle just like his brother and sister he calms down, only making angry chirping noises everytime Raph has to shift or tries to get him to slow down.
He's a hungry boy!
A hungry boy with little purple stripes running dow his face over his eyes, similar purple stripes running across his arms and legs. He got Donnie's eyes, a deep reddish brown, and soft shell.
"How about Giovanni?"
"That's a perfect idea Mikey, Dee?"
"Verbena, it means creativity and had a very deep religious impact."
—
Finally the tiniest egg hatches, and Donnie cradles him close to his chest as he eats from a bottle, the biggest smile Leo's ever seen on his twin's face.
This baby looked like Mikey had laid him instead of Leo, dark green scales speckled with orange and yellow spots. The only thing different were his eyes, they were blue, but looked just like Leo's eyes instead of Mikey's. He had a soft shell too!
"Whatcha think Dee?"
"Annibale Yarrow. Yarrow means everlasting love."
"Awe, growing sappy on us Dee?"
Donnie doesn't say anything in reply, just hums quietly and continues rocking back and forth with Annibale.
It's mostly a quiet morning from then on, when Dad wakes up they call him into the nursery and immediately starts crying over his grandbabies. Holds each of them in turn and peppers their tiny faces with kisses much to their disapproval.
They sit and they talk and they coo over their babies until April gets there and then promptly has to leave so she doesn't scream and upset the babies. Cassandra all but melts into a puddle on the floor while holding Artemisia, big tears welling in her eyes to the point Leo is positive she can't actually see her.
Junior gets to hold Merisi, and he does start crying, clutching the baby turtle to his chest and sniffling into the side of his head.
They don't comment on it, just let him have his moment of tears before he takes a deep breath and rejoins the delighted conversation.
April finally comes back in and takes Giovanni from Raph, cooing and making her own chirping noises at him.
Their whole family spends the rest of the day taking turns holding the babies, talking about anything and everything as they lounged around the nursery with well fed and sleepy turtle babies sprawled across their laps.
They only leave for breakfast, everyone except Leo actually, carefully depositing each baby on the centre of the bed and slinking away to go eat. Raph promises to bring him something to eat as soon as Mikey's done cooking.
Until then he lays there, partially curled around his four tiny angels, he's never felt so much love spilling out of him in waves.
He lays there, gently stroking Merisi's shell and watching Artemisia's little face scrunch up as she dreams.
He stays there till Raph brings him food and the room is once again filled with his family, bright happy voices filling his chest with so much love and warmth.
He loves his family.