I slowly slipped down the chair and on to my knees as the contraction passed and the pain subsided. From the dampness I could feel and see, I knew that my water had broken. My child was ready to be born.
Raphael had been alerted by my sudden cry of pain and he was next to my side in a few seconds.
�What�z the matter?� he asked, gently tugging my arm to help pull me upright. �You fall ovah, again?�
�Sort of.� I whispered, breathing deeply and wiping my tear stained face with one hand. �Raph, I, I�m in labour.�
I watched as Raphael looked panicked for a split second. He quickly regained control of himself.
�You�re SURE?� he asked, giving me a skeptical look.
�Of course I�m sure.� I snapped back, putting a hand on the wall next to me. �I can sort of TELL you know.�
�Yeah, yeah, yeah...� dismissed Raphael, heading for the phone. �I�ll try and get hold of dah others.�
As he picked up the phone and started dialing, I slowly paced round the room in discomfort. Raphael started to look a bit angry.
�Come on someone. Pick up the fuckin' phone!� he swore, angrily twisting the cord between his fingers. Eventually he slammed the phone back down in its holder.
�No one�s answering.� he growled. I was about to make a reply when another contraction, more painful than before, passed through me. All I could utter was a low moan for the time it lasted.
When I looked up from my preoccupation, I saw Raph looking at me weirdly.
�What?� I said, scowling. �You wanna try doing this?�
�Hey! Calm down already!� commanded Raph, putting up a hand defensively towards me. �What do you want me to do?�
I paused to think for a moment, trying to remember what I had learnt from the books Dr. Wood had let me read, and the others April had got hold of for me. Of course! The books!
�Raph,� I started, �go to my room and fetch the book by my bed. Then just do as it says.�
Raph gave me a very dirty look.
�You want ME to deliver the fuckin' thing?�
I replied with an evil look that I didn�t know I could do. Raph scowled at me, then he shook his head and headed to my room.
I walked over the kitchen table and leant onto it, arching my aching back as much as possible with a shell. Raphael returned, flicking through the book I had told him to fetch.
�Oookay...� he said, thumbing through the pages. �Right. Um. Has your water broken?�
�Yes.� I replied sharply. Raph turned a few more pages.
�Are you dilated?� was his next question.
�How the bloody hell should I know?!� I swore back at him, tears streaming down my face.
�Chill!� he ordered, going back a page. �Uh, how far apart are the contractions?�
�I don�t fucking know!� I howled. �I don�t know the time!�
Raph thought about this for a moment, and then disappeared into the room Don and Leo shared. I doubled up again as another contraction hit me.
Raphael returned with Donatello�s watch and thrust it into my hands.
�There. Start countin�. Call me when you know, cuz I can't do noffin till then.� He went over to continue tidying the floor, leaving me gasping in the middle of the room. I wanted to call after him and tell him to stay near me, but either fear or pride meant I couldn�t do it. I occupied myself with attempting to read through the book and timing the painful contractions and when they occurred.
Leaving me by myself at that point was probably the best thing Raphael could have done as I was so stressed out and anxious that I really couldn�t control myself. Having the time to reflect meant that I could think more rationally about what was happening.
About an hour later, at 9pm, I had managed to �chill� and also determine that the contractions were coming every seven or so minutes for about 40 seconds of pain.
After a particularly strong bout of pain, I staggered over to where Raphael was putting the last few items on the train top.
�Raph, I need your help.� I panted, looking pleadingly at him.
�Yeah, well...� he started, not even turning to look at me.
�I can�t do this by myself!� I whined. Raph looked up at me. He sighed and rose to his feet.
�Look, I know NOTHING about babies and stuff. You need Mikey and he ain�t answerin� the phone.� Raph walked over and dialed April�s again. But there was still no answer and in the end he was cut off.
I whimpered in pain and dropped onto my knees, the tears starting again. I was starting to get really scared. I wasn�t ready!
Raphael sighed and shook his head. �I�ll walk to April�s an� fetch Mikester. Probably take me an hour or so to get there and back...� he said, tugging on his large trench coat from where it had been slung over the back of a chair.
�No! Wait! Raph, don�t leave me!� I pleaded, starting to push myself off the ground to physically hold Raphael. I dropped back down again rather heavily as pain attacked me once more.
My chest started to tighten more, all I could do to breathe was small jerky sobs. I covered my face with my hands and wept.
Raph started to look a little awkward. As he glanced between me and the ladder leading out of the lair, I could see he was unsure what to do. Eventually with what was almost like a growl, he forcefully tugged off the coat and dropping it on the floor, limping over to kneel at my side.
�I hope you appreciate this...� he muttered, scowling at me. He then spoke a little louder. �So, what do I do? Just catch it when it comes out?�
"Muh, muh, maybe a towel or something to wrap the buh, baby in?" I suggested, still struggling to breathe as I cried.
�Uh huh. Yeah.� replied Raphael, lacking in enthusiasm as he stalked off slowly, I could see that the gunshot wound evidently still troubled him.
Taking a deep breath, I tugged of my mask and wiped the back of my hand across my eyes. This baby was going to be born anytime now, whether I liked it, or not.
It must have been some time around eleven-thirty that I started getting urges to �push�. Up till then Raphael had remained by my side, trying to be supportive.
In between my contractions we had talked about all sorts of things. Half the time I wasn�t aware what he or I were saying at all, I was trying to dull the pain that throbbed through me, whilst trying to remember to breathe. But I did notice that Raphael was generally sympathetic and usually managed to be nice.
In sudden and sharp anguish I reached across and grabbed blindly at Raphael, eventually grasping the rim of his shell. �Raph...� I moaned, �It�s coming, I can feel it.�
�Shit.� cursed Raphael. �I guess now ya want me t�go �tween ya legs and get the damned thing out?�
All I could do was cry out in pain. Raphael sighed and moved away from my side to position himself by my feet. He glanced up between my legs, probably trying to find out what was happening as I had gone quiet again after the contraction had passed.
�Ya know, that ain�t a pretty sight...� he joked, looking back at my face.
�You�re not helping!� I wailed, throwing the first thing that came to hand at him.
Raphael caught the towel and put it down next to him. I started making complaining noises in the way of loud wails as the strongest contraction yet occurred. I instinctively started �pushing� even though at that point I was almost totally unaware of what was going on around me and felt as though I didn't have any control at all over the situation.
After what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes of pain, I subsided back to aching as my body gave me a bit of a breather.
�Oh geeze...� exclaimed Raph, raising an eyeridge at me. �There�s a head stickin� out your butt.�
�Just get the rest of it out!!!� I screamed, clenching my fists with sobs racking my body.
With another contraction that felt like it was trying to rip my body in two right down the middle, I pushed as hard as I could, my mind set only on trying to get the baby out while screaming out all sorts of profanities at the world.
�I didn�t know you knew that much bad language!� grinned Raph jokingly, both his hands now being used to support the head and upper body of the baby, which as of yet I couldn�t see.
I had realized at an earlier date that the final part of the birth would be harder for me than for humans. As for human babies, once the head was out, the rest just slipped into the hands of whoever was holding it. However now I had got the head out, I needed to work to push past the shell, which I imagined would be fairly soft on the infant, but still an obstacle that I needed to overcome.
With one final scream and burst of pain, I pushed with all the energy I had left. I let out a deep gasp of relief as I felt the baby leave my body.
Totally exhausted, I collapsed back onto the pillow behind me. I closed my puffy eyes, but opened them a few seconds later when I heard the sharp sound of crying.
Raphael smiled and handed the baby, now wrapped in the towel, to me.
�Congratulations Andy.� he beamed, �It�s a... turtle.�
I smiled as I took the infant, and was about to reply, when a loud commotion from the TV caused both Raph and I to look up.
�Merry Christmas Folks!� said the actor cheerfully. �It is officially Christmas Day and that little baby Jesus would have just have been born now. Here�s a festive song to celebrate!� The camera view switched to inside a large extravagant church where a vast number of people started belting out �Silent Night�. Raphael walked over, cleaning his hands on another towel, and kicked the television off at the mains.
As Raph walked back I started to speak but was interrupted by the phone ringing. Raphael scowled at the phone and then looked down at his still filthy hands.
�Aww hell.� he cursed, before reaching over to hit the button on the �talk box� (which enabled both him and I to hear and reply to the conversation).
�Yeah?� he said to the box.
�Hey Raphy! How come you never got over here? Still tidying?� replied Michaelangelo�s cheerful voice. �Anyways, just callin� to wish you and Andy a Merry Christmas!�
�Mikey, you get your good for nothing ass back here RIGHT NOW.� demanded Raphael. �Andrea�s had her baby.�
�She WHAT?� there was an apparent scuffle on the phone at Mike�s end and he was heard repeating what Raph had just said.
�I, is she all right?� came Leonardo�s voice, with wails of �Give the phone back!� being heard in the background.
�I�m fine.� I called from my seat on the floor, still panting heavily while trying to control my happy sobs. �You�ve got a beautiful baby daughter, Leo.�
There was a small silence in which it was almost possible to hear Leonardo blush. That was followed by another commotion in which it was possible to hear both Michaelangelo and Donatello firing questions at Leo. Then everything died down as April�s voice cut in, but it was impossible to identify what she was saying from our end.
�April�s gonna give us a lift to the manhole.� Leonardo then explained hastily. �We�ll be there in about 5 minutes.� He then slammed the phone down, leaving Raph and I with a dialing tone.
As Raphael reached to hit the talk button again, I looked down at the tiny girl who was falling asleep in my arms. My daughter. MY daughter. I was a mother!
Raph flopped down onto the floor next to me, and we both examined the tiny infant in silence. The tiny fingers that could already curl and flex. The three little toes on each foot that were so delicately formed. The lips that were already trying to suckle my finger.
I watched Raphael go into the kitchen, and he returned a couple of minutes later with a bottle of warmed milk, made from the powder that I had thoughtfully bought just that morning.
Due to the total mesmorised silence from both of us as we watched the baby gently suck at the bottle, we could hear the others approaching before they even started to desend down the ladder.
Leonardo and Michaelangelo had a minor scuffle at the top of the ladder over who should enter first. Leo eventually half climbed down the ladder and half jumped.
He then jogged over to where Raphael and I were sitting, Mikey at his heels.
�Awww... How k-yooooot!� crooned Mike, grinning at the baby and tilting his head to one side.
�C, can I hold her?� asked Leonardo, reaching for our daughter. I carefully reached my aching body forwards to place her in his arms.
As Leo looked down into the face of the infant, his face stretched into a goofy grin.
�She�s beautiful.� he said softly.
I smiled. �Merry Christmas, Leo.�