Ransom and Strange Blessings

Part 19

At twenty-five weeks along, there was quite the surprise in store for Leo. He hadn't quite expected that his friend, Usagi, would be coming for a visit.

Leo swallowed. He really didn't want his friend to see him like this.

"Well, Leo, it was your choice to carry them." Raph said.

"Usagi wants to come and see how you are doing. We told him that you were missing when we went to the Battle Nexus." Don said.

"I wish I could have been there." Leo said, wistfully.

"Well, at least Mikey lost this time. He couldn't think straight with you gone." Raph said in an attempt at humor.

Leo was a bit glad for that. Now Mikey wasn't rubbing his big win in their faces all the time. But it wasn't fair why he couldn't be there. Another three years and Leo would finally get his chance to compete.

When Splinter told Leo that it was almost time for his friend to come through a portal, Leo immediately high tailed it to his room. He was nervous about Usagi seeing him this way.

The portal finally appeared from the water and the samurai rabbit stepped out. He knew by now of the turtles' new home. Splinter stepped forward first to greet him.

"Hello, Miymoto Usagi. It's good to see you again." The wise rat greeted.

"Hello, Master Splinter. Yes. It is good to see you too. And this new home is even bigger than your last one."

"Yes, well, it gives us more space when we want it."

"Hey, Usagi!" Mikey said as he and Don came up. Raph was in the rear.

"Hi, my friends. Well, I see you, but I haven't seen Leonardo-san yet." Usagi said.

"He's here. He's in his room, but Usagi, before you go see him, he's in a current condition that most would find very unusual." Don warned.

"What sort of unusual, Donatello?"

"When he came home from his kidnapping, we found out that an experiment done on him had made him look a little different. This is... hard to say as Leo is a guy like us, but..."

"He's pregnant." Raph blurted out.

That made everyone glare angrily at Raph. Usagi's eyes lit up.

"Yeah, the ones who did the experiment managed to get him pregnant." Don said reluctantly.

Usagi found that shocking and unbelievable. That would normally never happen to a male.

"We've been taking good care of Leo. He might be nervous about you seeing him like he is, but if you want to see him, he's in his room, that way." Mikey said and pointed to the direction of Leo's room.

"Thank you, Michelangelo-san." Usagi said and went to see for himself about Leonardo.

Moments later, Usagi was standing outside Leo's door and he knocked gently.

Leo was sitting nervously on his bed and he got up when he heard the knocking. When he got there, he asked, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Leonardo-san. Usagi."

Leo took a deep breath and opened his door a little. "Hi, Usagi. It's good to see you again after so long."

"May I come in?"

"Sure." Leo nodded, stepping aside.

The rabbit noticed that Leo did seem to be hiding behind his door when he first entered his friend's room. But it didn't take long to see why.

"Your family said that you were expecting a child." Usagi kept it simple. He saw the size of Leo's stomach.

"Yes. I know it's strange, for this to be happening but it is. And it's not one, but two babies." Leo said.

"An experiment?" Usagi asked.

"Yes." Leo was nervous, but he proceeded to tell what had happened to him all those months ago. Including about the two that he had lost.

"I'm sorry about the two that were lost." Usagi said when he heard it.

"Thank you. Now I just have to do my best to make sure these two make it." Leo said.

"I know you'll do your best and you'll be a great father." Usagi gave him a compliment.

"Thanks. I know it will be hard, but my family and I will take good care of them. Don and Mikey have fully accepted this, but Raph still hasn't because of who did this to me. He dreads the twins becoming dangerous. Of course we all do, but I don't believe they will be anything like that. They're just little turtles."

"Well, I wish you all the luck in raising them, my friend, but yes, be careful as well." Usagi wasn't going to go any further, but he would have been worried too after what he had heard.

Once the story was done, Usagi and Leo went out to join the rest of the family.

They all had dinner and Usagi did want to go out exploring the city again, but Leo sadly couldn't go topside for his own safety. But Leo did let his brothers take his friend out. Later on, Leo helped to show him the trains and anything that was underground.

Usagi fully understood that his friend wasn't allowed to do full all out training. He just wanted to be his friend and give support for the coming babies. He would be worried about the babies in a pregnancy too if sparring and such could cause stress to the babies.

Leo did show Usagi what he could still do at this far along. He wasn't lazy by any means and did the moves as smooth and gently as he could.

Usagi saw that Leo was about as limber as a turtle could be in his condition. He saw that the stomach didn't get entirely in the way, at least not yet.

"Do you feel them move?"

"Oh yeah. They can keep me from getting a decent sleep at times." Leo chuckled. "It's not easy to try to sleep and they're in there having a party."

Even that made Usagi giggle.

"Usually after eating, before eating, and at bedtime they are the most active." Leo said. "The movements aren't too painful yet, but my back is starting to have problems." He had just put his katana down and he put a hand on his back.

The rabbit knew his friend was going through what every pregnant female was going through back home, but normally, turtles had eggs, not live babies. But the experiment had made it this way.

Usagi was open for staying with Leo's family if he was needed, but he didn't want to overstay his welcome either.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think my family can look after me." Leo said.

"If you need anything, I'll be sure to help out if needed."

"Thank you."
................

Usagi left the next day. He was glad to see Leonardo was back and alive and well. The pregnancy was more than a shock, but he had accepted his friend was going to be having new life in his life soon. He even asked if he could have a special place in the babies' lives.

"You could be their godfather." Leo said.

"I would appreciate that honor, Leonardo-san."