Ransom and Strange Blessings

Part 29

The big day had finally arrived for the surgery and Leo could finally have his twins. It had been nine long months. He had made it to thirty nine weeks and nothing had happened.

Leo did know that he had been scheduled for his surgery, but while waiting for the big day, he had wondered if he would go into labor or not. Well, he never had.

The twins were kicking and pushing so much inside him that the movements were painful now. He was more than ready to have them taken out.

When the time came, Leatherhead helped him up from his bed, and he and Don escorted him to the infirmary part of the house.

The infirmary had been cleaned to the last detail and kept sterile. It was time for the excitement to begin!

Raph, Mikey, Splinter, and Casey all waited anxiously outside the infirmary.

Leo was helped to lie down on the table. He was hooked up to a heart monitor and would be hooked to a respirator. Then they washed up.

"Am I going to be awake or asleep through this?" Leo asked.

"Leo, you're going to need to be asleep during this. There's no way you could have an epidural for this like a woman could." April said. She had joined Don and Leatherhead. She was now washing up.

Leo began to panic. He raised himself up in a panicky mode. "Don! I had a bad dream! I was awake and I was dying! I want to be there for my kids!"

"Leo, relax. It was just a dream. I promise, we will take very good care of you. We won't let anything happen to you." Don said, hugging his scared brother.

"Raph hated them again. He might have tried to kill them later." Leo cried.

"Raph won't try to kill them. We'll keep them safe, just as you would."

"Leo, you need to calm down. This stress is not good for the babies. We will get them out of you and get you awake as quickly as possible so you can see them." April said.

Leo managed to calm down and he was laid back down. The others continued to prep him.

A needle was put into his right arm and not long after, the sedative was given. Leo went to sleep.

The respirator tube was put down Leo's throat to make sure he got help to breathe while he was out. Then Leatherhead wiped down Leo's swollen stomach. He cleaned it up and put the sterile sheets over his body.

April would be in charge of his vitals as Don and Leatherhead would do the operation. At least until the babies were born. Then she would be in charge of cleaning them up and get them into blankets. And she would still watch Leo's vitals.

Once everything was ready, it was time to get the babies out of Leo.

Leatherhead felt Leo's plastron. It had softened up as it had swollen out over the months, but it still had a certain hardness to it.

"It feels soft enough to where I don't need the saw after all. I was worried about using the saw might hurt the babies." Leatherhead said.

"That's good that you don't have to use the saw, but use the scalpel. We need to get the babies out of him. There's only a certain amount of time before something could go wrong." Don said.

Leatherhead picked up the scalpel and began cutting alongside the lower scute line, where Leo's belt would have been. Blood began appearing as the cut was made.

Don used a sucker to suck up the blood. This felt like the oddest thing he had ever done, but he would see this through and save Leo and his babies.

Leatherhead continued to cut all the way across, then he and Don switched jobs. Don had smaller hands and arms.

Don opened the incision up and he cut away at the tissue from the plastron and found two big, red balls inside Leo's belly. They weren't connected to each other, but they were connected to some tissues along the plastron.

Don used the scalpel to cut into the first red ball, and within a couple minutes, Don pulled out a squirming baby turtle. April rushed over to help expel the mucus in the baby's airway. Then it began to cry. Leatherhead got the glory of cutting the umbilical cord.

Outside the infirmary, the family heard a baby cry!

"The first one is here!" Mikey shouted excitedly.

"We know, shell for brains. They'll tell us what they are when ready." Raph said.

Back in surgery, Don handed the first baby to April. She rushed it over to get it cleaned up. Then Don went back to work on the twin and did the same thing.

April came back over and got the second baby once the cord was cut and it cried after its airway was cleared.

The family cheered again.

Once the babies were out, Don picked up a cauterizing tool and he began cutting along the tissues on the plastron to disconnect the alien wombs. He burned where he cut so there wasn't any major bleeding. After what seemed like forever, he pulled out the alien wombs, one at a time, and laid them aside on a tray for study later.

Leatherhead sucked up excess blood. "We have done it, Donatello." The croc said proudly.

Don sighed heavily in relief. "Yes. But now we have to get Leo patched up and woken up."

April had by now finished wrapping the twins up in blankets to keep them warm. To help prevent bacteria growth, the room was kept cold.

"April, what were the sexes?" Don asked.

"There was one boy and one girl." April replied.

Don went back to patching up Leo's belly. Once the plastron was put back down, he used some epoxy glue and cover to patch the incision. Leo's belly was also quite noticeably a little flatter, but still held a little fat. He would lose it in time.

Once he was patched up, Leatherhead put Leo on the recovery bed. His vitals were strong and stable. The tube was taken out of his throat and he was still hooked to the IV. He was now going to be able to wake up.

April and Don took the babies out to introduce the twins to the family. April had the girl and Don had the boy.

"Here you go guys." April said. "Meet the twins. One boy and one girl."

"Awww!" The other guys were in awe of them.

Since they were warm, the babies had quieted down now. As the family looked at them, they noticed the skin tones on them.

The girl looked more like Don and the boy looked like Mikey.

"Looks like Don and Mikey are the fathers of these two." Casey said.

"Poor Leo. The one that he didn't get to see must have been his." Don said. He looked at his daughter carefully. "He's still welcome to take care of them though. He did a wonderful job caring for them all this time."

Raph looked at the little innocent turtles just as carefully. They didn't look dangerous. In fact, their small size, little grasping hands that were out now, and little faces made his expression soften greatly. Why had he hated them for so long? He regretted it now.

But still, they had been created by Bishop's Agent Johnson. They had been made by government cronies. That's why Raph was still a little worried. Then he asked, "How's Leo doin'?"

"He was fine, Raphael. He's resting off the sedative." Leatherhead answered.

Raph had seen Don's daughter and Mikey's son. Now he wanted to check on Leo. He was allowed into the infirmary to check on him.

He found Leo sleeping peacefully. He sat down on a chair and waited for him to wake up.

After the babies were done being held and fussed over, they were taken to their incubators that were there in the infirmary. They all knew that Leo would ask for them when he woke up. He would want to know that they were safe and close by.