Together As Mutants (Book Six)

CXIV. Talking It Out

Raphael sits on a rooftop near Casey and April's apartment. He wanted to be near his friends' place just in case he didn't get up the courage to go back home before dawn and needed a place to crash.

He rests his head in his hands, his mind on a fritz. He keeps saying it over and over in his mind, trying to make sense of this situation.

"Taylor is pregnant. Taylor is pregnant."

He wants kids, but he didn't want them right away. They've been married for a few months, and it's been amazing for both of them, but this...he feels like this is the ultimate severance of their honeymoon stage. This is the real part of being married now, and that thought is scaring him more than he wants to admit.

In fact, there's a lot that he doesn't want to admit. He doesn't want to admit to Taylor the real reasons behind his wanting to wait before having a kid. He doesn't want to admit that he's the one who told her that not using protection once or twice wouldn't be awful.

If he's going to blame anyone for messing up his plan for how his future was going to look, it's himself. He's the reason she's got a baby to care for now.

He takes a deep breath, getting to his feet as the sun's glow starts to edge on the horizon.

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Taylor feels sick waiting for Raphael to come home, and it's not because of the pregnancy. She can hardly get herself to move, her hands resting on her stomach as she waits for her husband's return.

She won't even consider it if he asks her about keeping it or not. She already loves this little mutant baby inside her more than anything, and she isn't about to let his fear ruin that. He may say that this was an accident, but she doesn't want to call it that. To her, this is some miracle, some tiny chance that she managed to grasp before it faded away.

She tenses as she hears the greetings of Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo towards their brother, announcing his return. This is it. She has to tell him that she's keeping their baby and that he'll just have to stop being a coward and deal with it.

She hugs a pillow against her chest, watching and listening for the telltale footsteps.

The door opens, Raph's silhouette appearing. She rolls over instinctively and clutches her pillow to her chest, burying her face in it. There's a pause as the door swings shut, then a few more footsteps before the bed dips with his weight.

"Taylor-" he starts.

"I'm keeping him or her," she croaks, her voice thick. "I don't care whether we were gonna wait. This is what happened and I'm not changing it."

"Can you let me talk?"

She shuts her eyes as his hand rests on her shoulder, turning her over gently so that she's looking up at him. Her face falls into a sort of shocked neutrality when she takes in his expression. It's almost...frightened, underneath the love in his eyes.

"I'm...I'm sorry I walked out like that," he whispers. "Really...I just had to think."

"You're such an idiot," she mutters, turning her face away from him.

He sighs. "Tay...that's my baby, which means I'm the dad, and I'm not about to leave you out in the cold."

She's about to snap at him before she realizes what he said. She rolls over, her teary hazel eyes wide.

"You...you mean you want to keep it?" she asks, her voice trembling slightly.

He nods. "I wouldn't want to do anything else."

She exhales in relief and rolls over completely, snuggling against his chest. He wraps his arms around her, pressing his lips to her forehead gently.