Nine Months with Leonardo (TMNT)

Chapter 1: Mommy

Leo stared at her, his eyes nearly bugging out of their sockets. He looked at her with a surprised expression, yet he maintained the air of authority and calm. It annoyed Clara.

"Are you sure?" Leo asks quietly, careful not to attract any attention.

Rolling her eyes, she dug into her tote bag then carelessly threw five boxes onto the table between them. The loud clatter caused Leonardo to wince. He didn't want his brothers hearing them.

Warily, Leo picked up the closest pink box to him, reading the title of the product, First Response , under it, it read: "Early result PREGNANCY TEST."

"Two per box," Leo nods, seeing that information on the front, "and there are five boxes, I used them all, Leonardo." In his head, he quickly calculated, ten tests.

"And?"

"And? What do you think? They all had two pink lines. Which means I'm pregnant."

There was a pause as Leonardo continued to stare down at the box in his hands, its feminine shade ever so vibrant against his green skin.

The sound of rummaging brought Leonardo back to reality, focusing on what Clara had been trying to do. A sigh was released when she had found the item in her bag, she pulled out a cigarette box, and pulled out one of the long, thin stick.

With quivering hands, she lifted the cigarette and placed it in between her lips. Leo clenched the box in his hands, reminded of the situation. "Don't smoke. It'll hurt it."

Clara's hold released from the lighter, causing the flame to die. A sudden realization washed over her, "Oh yeah," looking almost remorseful, she tucked the cigarette back into its home and chucked the box into a nearby trashcan. Leo saw the look of regret on Clara's face as she longingly stared at the waste bin. Her eyes then wandered back to the turtle, curiosity shrouding them. "Does that mean you want to keep the baby?"

"I don't know," Leo mumbled, realizing he hadn't even thought about keeping the unborn inside Clara yet. It was too difficult to think while in shock. "Isn't it your decision, I mean, it is your body, after all."

"Don't you dare place the weight on me, Leo!" her voice had started to rise, but with a raise of his hand, Leo had her down to a whisper, "It's not just ME, it's you too! You're the one that--"

"I know. I know, I'm sorry," with his hand, he ran it over his hairless dome as stress started to weigh down on him. "...I... I don't know what to do."

Leonardo, the leader, the oldest of the brothers, usually knew what to do and had everything under control. To see him at a lost was unnerving for Clara, who was use to his responsible nature. To end the anguishing silence, she quickly said, "Why not get an abortion then? It's not too late," her eyes were wide and frightened, in a panic, "It has been a month and a few weeks I think I can do it,"

The look on Leonardo's face was anything but approval. "...Abortion?" he asks, "You want to go through with that?"

Clara nods, "We can't raise this baby, we can't. I... I didn't even think it was possible for us to make anything. You know, since we're..."

"Different." She heard in Leo's tone of voice he had meant that in more than one way.

"Yeah," Clara agrees and continues, "Leo, what we did was out of... you know what," her cheeks flushed, her thoughts returning to the unclear, intoxicated night. The turtle himself was turning a different shade. "We just can't have one like this. Besides, I want to get rid of it before we become attached." A small smile pulled at her nude-colored lips.

With his head bowed shamefully, Leo soundlessly places the pink box back on the table.

As quietly as she could, Clara walked towards the door of Leo's room. Stopping in front of it, she turned back to look at Leo, whose head remained lowered as he sat in front of the many boxes, "We're doing the right thing, Leonardo." She said, noting the clenching of Leo's fists. 'He's chastising himself.' she thought as she closed the door behind her.

'Don't worry, Leo. It'll be over soon.'

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Clara's gaze laid on the simple, plain pattern of the carpet that stretched across the waiting room, which was occupied by three other women, two who were there for the same reason as she. 'Probably not by the same species of the guy who did it.' she thought humorously to herself as she considered the scene. Her joke did little to ease her jitters.

She glanced to her left, catching sight of the oldest women of the room who were probably in their mid-thirties as they chattered amongst themselves, coated with thick makeup, talking to one another as if they were in a jubilant coffee shop.

'How can they act that way, or better yet, how can the one getting it done act that way?'

Shrugging away the smiles and soft giggles, Clara switched her observations towards another woman that sat across from her, one who suited the mood. She must've been her age, or a bit younger. Unlike the two other ladies, this young woman looked genuinely frightened, and pale.

There was a sheet of white paper in her hands. She wrung it in sheer frustration and anxiety as if the worries and problems of her life could be taken out on something so insignificant. She was thinking about it, deciding whether to go through with it, Clara thought, knowing she was right. She was familiar with the expression. Clara herself has come face to face with that look recently in the mirror.

'Did she love him?'

Clara tried to imagine what had caused the girl to be here. Was it her parents? Did anyone know? Was the man who did this to her still stand besides her? Or was she doing this herself?

Her hand slowly slid down to her own stomach, her stare now on her hand. 'A living being is in here, one that'll be different from the rest, I'm sure.' Clara thought back to Leo and imagined just how miserable he had appeared. She wondered if he was feeling empathetic towards her, the baby, or was it for himself?

Hearing a whimper, Clara tore her eyes away from her stomach to the image in front of her. The woman had started crying, her hands covering her face as she tried to drown out the noise. Being a small, almost silent room, it would be impossible to not attract attention. Clara glanced at the woman at the front desk, not seeming too concerned, she just sat and flipped through this month's Vogue.

'The workers here are probably use to it.'

Sighing, Clara rose from where she sat and carefully approached the weeping lady, "You okay, honey?" she asks sweetly, startling the young woman.

Furiously wiping her eyes, she shook her head, "No, no," making eye contact, she says, "I'm about to kill my baby, how can I be okay about that?"

"Keep it then." Clara said, disliking the snippy tone the crying female was using with her.

"I can't."

"Why not then?"

The woman seemed to hesitate, her mouth slightly opened, "My family will disown me if I kept it," she clenched her eyes together, "but that's all I have left of him..."

At this, anger welled up inside of Clara, "What? He left you to deal with this?" she wanted to spit on the ground and curse. There was nothing she hated more than rotten men who run away. Those types of guys had a thing for her, or she gave off some weird energy to attract the wrong types. Maybe that's why she stuck with giant turtle men.

The woman sadly shook her head, her own hands falling to her stomach, "He's dead. This child is all I have of him."

Immediately, the fiery rage died down inside of her and was replaced by sympathy. After a pause, she whispered, "I'm sorry."

"This baby is all I have, but if my family... if I didn't have them..."

"They, your family should love you no matter what, it's wrong that they'd do such a thing to you," Clara smiles and places a comforting hand on the other woman's shoulder, "I think you're gonna need this kid to face the world."

It wasn't until the room grew silent again when Clara realized her name was being called. Turning around, she saw a smiling nurse clutching to a clipboard, "Are you Clara?" she asks sweetly.

Clara nods before looking back at the complete stranger of a woman she had been consoling. "Guess that's me." She smiles.

"Clara," she must've heard her name being said, "are you lonely?"

Clara doesn't say anything.

"The world is a cold, big place, maybe you need your baby too." With that, the tiny woman stood up, her tears still fresh on her face. "Thanks." She then turned around and left the office, leaving Clara with the nurse, and an opened door.

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"Leo?"

Donatello carefully approaches his motionless brother who was on the couch, catching his attention only when his hand had made contact with his brother's shoulder.

Leo started, looking wide eyed at his younger brother. His eyes were bloodshot, maybe even puffy as if he had lost sleep, or had been crying. Don had doubted the second one though, it wasn't likely that his oldest brother cried, and over what if he had?

"Oh, hey Donnie," Leo weakly smiled at the worried Don, "What's up?"

"Actually, I was gonna ask you the same question."

Leonardo frowned at that, "I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine. After training you just kind of... shut down. Even Mikey and Raph are worried," Donatello blinked before lowering his voice, "Don't tell Raph I told you though."

"I'm fine," he laughs, not at all convincing Donatello, "Just had a rough night is all."

"Rough night? What were you doing, fighting the entire Foot Clan? You look like a wreck, bro." Donatello said, taking a seat by Leo, "What's the matter?" a thought came to him, one he told himself to bring up a little over a week ago, "Did Clara say something to you? Ever since her last visit, you've been acting strange."

Leo calmly stared at Don, "It's nothing. Maybe..." he got up from his spot, walking towards the exit of their home, "Maybe I'll tell you later. I might need some help."

"Where are you going?"

The brick wall/door groaned as it opened, "Before I can get any sort of assistance with my problems, I need to check on someone who probably needs it more than I do."

Leo left and the door closed behind him.

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Leonardo placidly trudged on the roof, taking his time to getting to the other end. He wasn't in the highest of spirits, who would be in his situation? 'There's no way I could tell Donnie what I did, not yet at least,' he mused, feeling guilty about not telling his brother, 'I'm even having a hard time trying to comprehend with this...' He pulled his trench coat tightly around him and adjusted his fedora, the winter's wind biting at him.

"I wonder if Clara is alright..."

He shuddered at the process, which she was to undergo today, the retirement of the baby, their baby. She called him in the morning, right after he and his brothers had returned from their early practice runs. Neither his father nor brothers were present in the kitchen when the phone rang, he was thankful. Clara had spoken to him briefly, trying to sound cheerful and not at all worried. Her tone had bothered him, he hated how she tried to hide the fact that she was just as depressed as he was. Leonardo knew she was lying to him. Her blithe tone was lying to him.

But that was just the way she acted, he concluded. Hopping onto another roof, nearing Clara's apartment, Leo conjectured, 'Was it over yet? Was she home?' Maybe they had her stay in the clinic for a few days. Despite the possibility of not finding her, he continued on anyway, hoping the long walk would occupy his thoughts eventually, so that he could return home with less of a glum.

'Maybe she wasn't faking the tone,' Leo's lips quirked ever so slightly, 'maybe she's really thrilled. She can smoke and drink her wine with the baby gone. Maybe my state of mind is interfering with my judgment. '

Leonardo hopped onto the fire escape, stealthily moving towards Clara's apartment window and went through her unlocked window into her room. 'I'll have to tell her to lock her window, some people can bust in here... besides us.'

Catching sight of Clara's bed, disarrayed with sheets twisted and unorganized Leo frowned. Memories of that night flooded back to him. 'Maybe she should keep off the wine, that's what got us into this mess in the first place.' he reminded himself to have a small talk with her about the wine and window.

"Clara?" he calls out, not receiving a reply. He waited a few moments before roaming the home. He checked the bathroom, kitchen, living room, and everywhere else, checking the whole place three times. "She's not here." He muttered, figuring that out after the second round of searching.

He walked back to her room, peeking outside onto the street. 'Well, her car is here.' A black Jetta with tinted windows sat idly on the street.

"Maybe she's lounging in her car," Leo says aloud, doubtful of that chance. Figuring he was on a roll for wasting his time and already knowing the results of his attempts, he made his way to the streets. With his disguise, he knocked on the car window.

"Clara?" Leo was shocked to see the window roll down, revealing a crying Clara, her mascara sloppily smearing down her face. Unlocking the door, he climbed inside and sat in the passenger seat, locking the doors and rolling up the window again.

Clara turns away from Leo and rests her head on the steering wheel, crying.

'Maybe she is torn up about it then.' Slowly, Leo draws her into a hug and allowed her to cry against his shoulder. She didn't fight, if anything, she wept harder.

What felt like hours later, Clara's crying finally stopped. She remained in Leo's arms though. He didn't even considered about letting the girl go, although he wouldn't admit to it, he too was in need of comfort. What better consolation than another person feeling the exact pain of loss? Better yet, the person he did It with to make the thing they lost.

"I'm sorry." Her voice croaked, sounding strange with all its sadness.

Leonardo patted her back, "It had to be done."

Pulling away, much to Leonardo's disappointment, Clara shook her head, "No, you don't understand Leo."

The turtle just stared at her, his warm set of brown eyes waiting and questioning.

"I couldn't go through with it." Clara says quietly after wiping her eyes.

There was a long silence as the two sat across from each other, staring. Leo was surprised, and he had felt something else... what was it, relief perhaps?

"I almost did it. But," she shut her eyes, as if trying to remember. "But I ran out, I can remember the freaked expression of the women in the room when I ran out. " she laughed, not sounding the least bit happy. "I didn't have the heart to do it. I'm sorry."

"So, we're keeping it." Leo states aloud after another pause.

"We? I'm keeping it. Don't feel like you have to be involved because you impregnated me,"

"Aren't I though?" Leo recalled Clara scolding him about not concerning himself with the decision of keeping the baby. "Look, I can't have you watching the baby yourself. That would be a dishonorable thing to do. I'm definitely not going to do that to you."

Clara felt her smile, it felt nice. Her crying and frowning was starting to ache. "You're not mad?"

"No, I'm not." Leonardo replied sincerely.

Placing a hand on top of Leo's, Clara stared at him with a warm gaze, "Thanks." Leo returned a grin of his own, a genuine one.

As the two sat there, holding onto each other's hand, Leo realized he was going have to start adjusting to this position. He and Clara had made a decision, a very important one. They were going to be with each other a lot, whether they like it or not. Their differences were going to have to be set aside and they were going to have to become parents.

"Guess no smoking for me, huh?" Clara jokes, getting a chuckle from Leo.

"Yeah, definitely. Oh," he remembered, "No drinking anymore of that wine neither, any alcohol for that matter," he smiled at her deflated mirth, "Can't be a healthy mom with those types of stuff."

It was then her expression brightened, her eyes glinted slyly, "Good start, Daddy." she nudged him, "Come college time, our kid is going to love you."

"It'll thank me later."

"How so?"

Leonardo chuckled, giving Clara a knowing look. "Look where a little bit of wine got us."