Diversity

Part 12

"WHAT?!" Raph roared in shocked anger. His yell could be heard all over the lair and it brought everyone running to the lab.

"What happened?" Leo asked, running into the lab.

"I'm NEUTERED!" Raph shouted.

The girls all ran into the lab on Leo's heels, but they had heard the shouted words that Raph had bellowed, causing all of them to look at each other in shock. Mikey and Splinter entered the lab, their expressions grim and worried. Of course they had known.

"Why did you tell him, Don?" Leo hissed.

"I had to." Don replied miserably.

"Why?" Mikey asked as he shifted his worried gaze to Raph, who was clenching and unclenching his fists in fury.

"Because, he and Sara were trying to have a baby." Don said. "Sara found out she was fertile and asked Raph to talk to me. I couldn't lie to them both, Leo. It's bad enough that we have been lying to Raph all these years. All the trying and nothing. Can you imagine that happening?"

Everyone looked at each other as an uncomfortable silence filled the room. Finally, Leo spoke to Raph, his voice gentling. "Raph, we didn't know that you wanted kids." Leo said.

"Why didn't ya tell me sooner?" Raph snarled, ignoring Leo's statement. "I had a right to know!"

"We felt that if we told you what had happened, that you wouldn't feel like... like a 'man' anymore." Leo answered.

"Those shots that I give you every month, Raph, are actually testosterone shots. You're not diabetic." Don said next. "But I needed to find a way to replace the hormones that your body was no longer producing on its own."

"And because of Bishop, I can't become a father." Raph bit out in bitter fury.

"No, you can't." Leo agreed sadly. "We wanted to tell you, but were worried about you wanting to go after Bishop and getting hurt, maybe even killed. We went after him and got retribution for you. What he took from you cannot be replaced. We're sorry, Raph." Leo explained in genuine sorrow and regret.

"I hate you!" Raph snapped angrily, storming out of the lab. He had to get away from his brothers and the pity in their eyes before he hurt someone.

It hadn't been the first time Raph had ever said those words, and he almost meant them. But he knew that he was just angry and upset right now. But now he knew the bitter truth. His family would give him his time to cool off before talking to him again. But this seemed like the first time he had been that mad since halfway through his recovery.

Raph knew Sara was going to be disappointed and upset. Right now she was working.

...

It had taken him several hours to calm down enough to come back to the lair. He had run through the sewers since it was daytime outside.

Sara was home now. She hadn't been told the news because they knew Raph needed to be the one to tell her. But she knew something was wrong. She saw it on her family's faces.

That evening at bedtime, Raph and Sara sat on their bed to talk before bed. "So, did you find out the results from Don?" She asked.

"I have something to tell ya. And it's not going to be easy for ya to hear, as it wasn't for me." Raph said. "We ain't havin' a baby."

"What?" She asked, incredulous.

"Don didn't have to do anything with me, and I didn't have to give him anything. He and my brothers knew that I was sterile this whole time." Raph growled bitterly, his voice still containing the thread of hurt and anger that still simmered just below the surface.

"Raphael."

"When Bishop decided to dissect me, turns out that the bastard neutered me!"

"Oh, Raph! I'm so sorry." Sara moved over to just hug him. "That evil bastard!"

Raph just hugged her back, some tears appearing in his eyes. This was just too awful for the both of them.

...

The next day, Sara stomped up to Leo angrily and hit him in the shoulder.

"Hey!" He cried out in shock as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Sara!" Melanie chastised her.

"How could you not tell Raph that he was neutered years ago?!" Sara demanded. "He's so upset that he can't even come out of the room right now." Sara demanded.

"Because we didn't know immediately after it happened. We thought he was fine and then when we did find out... we just couldn't bring ourselves to tell him what Bishop did. He had been under enough stress while he was recovering. We were wanting to find a right time to tell him, but just never felt any time was a good time. And now we know that you both wanted a baby and we are upset as well." Leo explained as quickly as he could before she decided to hit him in the face.

"Bishop wanted to do the same thing to us as well. But we did the best we could to get revenge for Raph." Don said. "And he has stayed away from us ever since Leo threatened to do to him what he had done to Raph if he ever bothered us again."

"You still should have told him. He feels like an outcast right now. I've done my best to calm him down. And now I know I will never get the chance to be a mom!" Sara left the room to go be with her husband again.

"Poor Sara. I wish there was something we could do for her and Raph." Mel said.

"I hate that that happened to Raph. It changed his life, and our lives forever. During his recovery, he had started changing. He wasn't as hot tempered as he was a lot of times. I was glad that he had lightened up, so to speak, but it just wasn't the Raph we were so used to." Leo said.

After breakfast, Leo went to talk to Don.

"Raph still is very upset, Don. He won't come out of his room, and Sara hit me." Leo said to his brother.

"After Raph no doubt told her last night, she is obviously upset too. She was looking forward to a baby of her own with Raph." Don said.

"So what happens now? You are still going to give Raph the shots of testosterone, right?" Leo asked.

"Yes. Raph still has to be on them the rest of his life." Don said. "But he's probably going to start eating junk again because he knows he's not diabetic, which is a shame because the diet was good for him."

"I still feel guilty about not telling him sooner." Leo said.

"I know. I do too. But we didn't think this would ever happen. But being with a girl makes couples sooner or later want to have kids." Don said. "We did."

"Yeah, and the three of us each have a kid now. It just won't happen for our brother." Leo said.

Don nodded sadly.